Washington, D.C. - Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) announced the following upcoming Committee events.
Tuesday, March 28
Hearing: The Budget, Diplomacy, and Development
10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 28 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include.
Stephen D. Krasner, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow
Hoover Institution
Ms. Danielle Pletka
Senior Vice President
Foreign and Defense Policy Studies
American Enterprise Institute
The Honorable R. Nicholas Burns
Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
(Former Under Secretary for Political Affairs, U.S. Department of State)
Chairman Royce on the hearing: “From fighting ISIS to feeding the starving, diplomacy and foreign assistance plays a critical role in advancing U.S. values and national security. With no shortage of grave threats, we must ensure our foreign aid is effective, efficient, and adequately funded. This hearing will be an opportunity to discuss ways to more strategically deploy foreign assistance programs at a time when resources are limited."
Tuesday, March 28
Subcommittee Hearing: Venezuela’s Tragic Meltdown
2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include.
Mr. Steve Hanke
Co-Director
Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise
The Johns Hopkins University
Mr. Russell M. Dallen, Jr.
President and Editor-in-Chief
Latin American Herald Tribune
Hector Schamis, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor
Walsh School of Foreign Service
Georgetown University
Michael McCarthy, Ph.D.
Research Fellow
Center for Latin American and Latino Studies
American University
Chairman Duncan on the hearing: “Today, the crisis in Venezuela has regressed on every level. Although once the richest country in the region, Venezuela has suffered severe corruption, economic mismanagement, and the deterioration of democracy first under former President Hugo Chavez and now under President Nicolas Maduro’s oppressive tenure. Thousands of people have fled the country in search of food, medicine, and basic goods. Political prisoners are at a record high, and the Maduro regime continues to forcefully silence dissent. There are no separation of powers or independent institutions in the country, and drug trafficking and organized crime are rampant. This hearing continues the Subcommittee’s oversight begun last Congress with two previous hearings on Venezuela, and I look forward to getting a clearer picture of the situation in the country and the regional response from our witnesses as well as suggestions for U.S. policy moving forward."
Tuesday, March 28
Subcommittee Hearing: East Africa’s Quiet Famine
2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28 in 2200 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations
Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include.
Panel I
Mr. Matthew Nims
Acting Director
Office of Food for Peace
Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance
U.S. Agency for International Development
Panel II
Mr. Ken Isaacs
Vice President
Programs and Government Relations
Samaritan’s Purse
Mr. Michael Bowers
Vice President
Humanitarian Leadership and Response
Mercy Corps
Mr. Thabani Maphosa
Vice-President for Food Assistance
World Vision International
Ms. Faustine Wabwire
Senior Foreign Assistance Policy Advisor
Bread for the World Institute
Chairman Smith on the hearing: “The East Africa famine of 2011 gained significant news coverage and a very active international response. In contrast, the current East Africa famine has gotten much less obvious news attention despite the fact that at least 16 million people in the region face hunger or even starvation. This hearing is intended to examine the dimensions of the current famine, the reasons why it has become so acute and existing government and civil society efforts to meet the desperate needs."
Wednesday, March 29
Markup: H. Res. 54, H. Res. 92, H. Res. 137, H. Res. 145, H.R. 390, H.R. 479, H.R. 672, and H.R. 1644
10:45 a.m. on Wednesday, March 29 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman
Measures to be Marked Up Include.
H. Res. 54, Reaffirming the United States-Argentina partnership and recognizing Argentina’s economic reforms ;
H. Res. 92, Condemning North Korea’s development of multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles, and for other purposes ;
H. Res. 137, Honoring the life of Shimon Peres ;
H. Res. 145, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the fight against corruption in Central America ;
H.R. 390, Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act of 2017 ;
H.R. 479, North Korea State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation Act of 2017 ;
H.R. 672, Combating European Anti-Semitism Act of 2017 ; and
H.R. 1644, Korean Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act.
Wednesday, March 29
Subcommittee Hearing: Testing the Limits: Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program, Sanctions, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29 in 2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman
Invited Witnesses Include.
Kenneth Katzman, Ph.D.
Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
Congressional Research Service
Mr. Michael Eisenstadt
Kahn Fellow
Director of Military and Security Studies Program
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Ms. Elizabeth Rosenberg
Senior Fellow and Director
Energy, Economics and Security Program
Center for a New American Security
Chairman Ros-Lehtinen on the hearing: “Iran’s illicit behavior has only gotten worse since implementation of the JCPOA, taking U.S. citizens hostage, seizing U.S. Navy vessels, and increasing its support for Assad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. The most troubling example, however, may be the advancement of its ballistic missile program, a program historically proven to correspond to the pursuit of nuclear weapons, in open defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231. This hearing will explore Iran policy options before Members and the administration, including revisiting the JCPOA, reevaluating Resolution 2231, and fully implementing all available sanctions, in order to curb the dual-threat of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs."
Thursday, March 30
Joint Subcommittee Hearing: Consequences and Context for Russia’s Violations of the INF Treaty
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Committee on Armed Services
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chairman
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), Chairman
10:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 30 in 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building
Invited Witnesses Include.
The Honorable Frank Rose
(Former Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, U.S. Department of State)
The Honorable Robert Scher
(Former Assistant Secretary for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities, U.S. Department of Defense)
Mr. Jon Wolfsthal
(Former Senior Director for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, National Security Council)
Chairman Rogers on the hearing: “After promising military responses and economic sanctions, the Obama Administration did nothing about Russia’s blatant violations of arms control agreements like the INF treaty. It was thus not a surprise that the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had to warn that Russia has now deployed its illegal weapons system and that such a deployed system poses a direct threat to U.S. forces and U.S. allies. The question now turns to what the new Administration can do about this mess it inherited from President Obama? Mr. Poe and I provided the previous Administration tools to use to deal with Russia’s violation; but they chose to appease Russia to prioritize other matters, like the fantasy of cooperation in Syria and the dangerous Iran deal. The new administration must do better, and I hope this hearing will help to show how it can. Russia cannot continue to believe it will pay no price for its belligerent and unlawful actions."
Chairman Poe on the hearing: “Russia’s ongoing violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty are a direct threat to U.S. national security. It was bad enough when it appeared that Russia was testing missile systems in violation of the arms control agreement. Now we have indications that Putin actually deployed prohibited cruise missiles at two sites in Russia late last year, crossing a threshold that could have dangerous consequences. Chairman Rogers and I have long called for reviewing U.S. compliance with the INF Treaty in light of consistent Russian violations going back to 2008. The time is ripe to study our contingency plans and make sure that the U.S. is not left unprepared and vulnerable due to its strict compliance with an agreement that Russia does not honor. This hearing will allow members to hear about these serious concerns from former U.S. officials who worked directly on our arms control agreements with Moscow and learn more about potential responses we can take to protect our national security."
***See www.foreignaffairs.house.gov for updates.
***Coverage note: All Foreign Affairs Committee proceedings are webcast live at www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/live-video-feed.
