| <html> | |
| <title> - MARKUP OF H.R. 391, H.R. 1079, H.R. 1145, H.R. 1500, H.R. 1158, H.R. 1083, H.R. 1392, H.R. 1464, H.R. 256, H.R. 2118, H.Res. 245, H.R. 1934</title> | |
| <body><pre> | |
| [House Hearing, 117 Congress] | |
| [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] | |
| MARKUP OF H.R. 391, H.R. 1079, H.R. 1145, H.R. 1500, H.R. 1158, H.R. | |
| 1083, H.R. 1392, H.R. 1464, H.R. 256, H.R. 2118, H.Res. 245, H.R. 1934 | |
| ======================================================================= | |
| MARKUP | |
| BEFORE THE | |
| COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS | |
| HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | |
| ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS | |
| FIRST SESSION | |
| __________ | |
| March 25, 2021 | |
| __________ | |
| Serial No. 117-20 | |
| __________ | |
| Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Available: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http:// | |
| docs.house.gov, | |
| or http://www.govinfo.gov | |
| ______ | |
| U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE | |
| 43-863 PDF WASHINGTON : 2021 | |
| COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS | |
| GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York, Chairman | |
| BRAD SHERMAN, California MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas, Ranking | |
| ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey Member | |
| GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey | |
| THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida STEVE CHABOT, Ohio | |
| KAREN BASS, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina | |
| WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania | |
| DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island DARRELL ISSA, California | |
| AMI BERA, California ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois | |
| JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas LEE ZELDIN, New York | |
| DINA TITUS, Nevada ANN WAGNER, Missouri | |
| TED LIEU, California BRIAN MAST, Florida | |
| SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania | |
| DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota KEN BUCK, Colorado | |
| ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee | |
| COLIN ALLRED, Texas MARK GREEN, Tennessee | |
| ANDY LEVIN, Michigan ANDY BARR, Kentucky | |
| ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Virginia GREG STEUBE, Florida | |
| CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania | |
| TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey CLAUDIA TENNEY, New York | |
| ANDY KIM, New Jersey AUGUST PFLUGER, Texas | |
| SARA JACOBS, California PETER MEIJER, Michigan | |
| KATHY MANNING, North Carolina NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York | |
| JIM COSTA, California RONNY JACKSON, Texas | |
| JUAN VARGAS, California YOUNG KIM, California | |
| VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR, Florida | |
| BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois | |
| Sophia Lafargue, Staff Director | |
| Brendan Shields, Republican Staff Director | |
| C O N T E N T S | |
| ---------- | |
| Page | |
| BILLS AND AMENDMENTS EN BLOC | |
| Bill H.R. 391.................................................... 20 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 391 offered by Mr. Connolly.................... 38 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 391 offered by Mr. McCaul...................... 47 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 391 offered by Mr. Chabot...................... 76 | |
| Amendment offered by Mr. Perry to the Amendment offered by Mr. | |
| Chabot......................................................... 86 | |
| Amendment offered by Mr. Perry to the Amendment offered by Mr. | |
| Chabot......................................................... 89 | |
| Amendment offered by Mr. Perry to the Amendment offered by Mr. | |
| Chabot......................................................... 95 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 391 offered by Mr. Perry....................... 100 | |
| Bill H.R. 2118................................................... 108 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 2118 offered by Mr. Perry...................... 116 | |
| Bill H.R. 1464................................................... 120 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 1464 offered by Mr. Malinowski................. 134 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 1464 offered by Mr. Malinowski................. 138 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 1464 offered by Ms. Omar....................... 147 | |
| Bill H.R. 256.................................................... 156 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 256 offered by Mr. Perry....................... 176 | |
| Amendment to H.R. 256 offered by Mr. Issa........................ 180 | |
| APPENDIX | |
| Hearing Notice................................................... 193 | |
| Hearing Minutes.................................................. 194 | |
| Hearing Attendance............................................... 195 | |
| Bills and Amendments............................................. 196 | |
| Votes............................................................ 387 | |
| Markup Summary................................................... 390 | |
| Information for the Record....................................... 392 | |
| MARKUP OF H.R. 391, H.R. 1079, H.R. 1145, H.R. 1500, H.R. 1158, H.R. | |
| 1083, H.R. 1392, H.R. 1464, H.R. 256, H.R. 2118, H.Res. 245, H.R. 1934 | |
| Thursday, March 25, 2021 | |
| House of Representatives, | |
| Committee on Foreign Affairs, | |
| Washington, DC. | |
| The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:15 p.m., via | |
| Webex, Hon. Gregory Meeks (chairman of the committee) | |
| presiding. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The Committee on Foreign Affairs will come | |
| to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare | |
| a recess of the committee at any point. | |
| Pursuant to Committee Rule 4, the chair may postpone | |
| further proceedings on approving any measure or matter or | |
| adopting an amendment. Without objection, all members will have | |
| 5 days to submit statements or extraneous materials on today's | |
| business. | |
| To say something into the record, please have your staff | |
| email the previously circulated address or contact full | |
| committee staff. | |
| As a reminder to members, please keep your video function | |
| on at all times, even when you are not recognized by the chair. | |
| Members are responsible for muting and unmuting themselves, and | |
| please remember to mute yourself after you finish speaking. | |
| Consistent with House rules, staff will only mute members | |
| as appropriate and they are not under recognition to eliminate | |
| background noise. | |
| I see we have a quorum. As members were notified yesterday, | |
| we intend to first consider eight measures and their amendments | |
| en bloc. And then we will move to consider four measures and | |
| their amendments separately. | |
| Any roll call votes will be postponed until the end of the | |
| markup. | |
| Pursuant to notice, for purposes of markup, I now call up | |
| the measures and their amendments that were previously | |
| circulated to members' offices which without objection will be | |
| considered en bloc that each measure is considered as read and | |
| the amendments to each are considered as read and are agreed | |
| to. | |
| Without objection, after remarks, the committee will vote | |
| to order the measures favorably reported en bloc, as amended if | |
| amended, and each member or amendments to each bill shall be | |
| reported as a single amendment in the nature of a substitute. | |
| The measures in the en bloc package are H.R. 1145, To | |
| direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain | |
| observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, | |
| and for other purposes, with the Meeks amendment in the nature | |
| of a substitute. | |
| H.R. 1500, To direct the Administrator of the USAID to | |
| submit to Congress a report on the impact of the COVID-19 | |
| pandemic on global basic education programs, with a Houlahan | |
| amendment in the nature of a substitute and a Perry amendment. | |
| H.R. 1158, To provide women and girls safe access to | |
| sanitation facilities in refugee camps. | |
| H.R. 1083, Southeast Asia Strategy Act. | |
| H. Res. 245, Calling for continued and robust international | |
| collaboration and coordination to fight COVID-19 across Africa, | |
| with a Bass amendment in the nature of a substitute. | |
| H.R. 1079, Desert Locust Control Act, with a Smith | |
| amendment and a Perry amendment. | |
| H.R. 1934, Promoting United States International Leadership | |
| in 5G, with a McCaul amendment and with another McCaul | |
| amendment. | |
| H.R. 1392, Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act of 2021, with | |
| a Connolly amendment and a Meeks amendment. | |
| I now recognize myself to speak on the en bloc package. I | |
| support all of these bipartisan measures and I am grateful to | |
| all of our members on both sides for their hard work and | |
| Ranking Member McCaul. | |
| The legislation in our en bloc is reflective of an | |
| overarching theme of this markup: global health. Over the last | |
| year, it has become apparent to the entire world that viruses | |
| do not respect borders and that problems that develop on one | |
| side of the world can devastate people halfway around the | |
| globe. | |
| Since COVID-19 was first detected, trillions of dollars of | |
| global economic output had evaporated and over one billion | |
| children have missed in-person schooling. According to the WHO, | |
| over 2.7 million people around the world have lost their lives | |
| to coronavirus. Of course, the old adage one million deaths is | |
| a statistic, one death is a tragedy is relevant to the COVID-19 | |
| pandemic. No figure can truly capture the suffering, | |
| heartbreak, and loss that the virus has caused. | |
| I can vividly remember when we were at the height of the | |
| pandemic in New York City exactly 1 year ago today when so many | |
| people in my community were saying their final goodbyes to | |
| loved ones or thinking about how they were going to pay their | |
| rent and the rent after they were laid off. | |
| Similarly, scenes have been repeated, not just over all of | |
| our great country, but indeed around the entire world. With | |
| Representative Karen Bass' resolution calling for decisive | |
| action to assist African nations is exactly the formula we | |
| should be putting forward in Africa and indeed around the | |
| world. | |
| This resolution demands the U.S. Government to support | |
| efforts to distribute vaccines to Africa to support the GAVI | |
| Alliance and COVAX Facilities and calls for continued and | |
| aggressive efforts to address other unfortunate consequences of | |
| the pandemic. | |
| I would also like to thank Representative Bass for her work | |
| with Representative Smith of the important legislation to | |
| address the locust swarms that are exacerbating food insecurity | |
| in parts of East Africa. | |
| Representative Grace Meng also has an instrumental bill | |
| that will address one of the at-risk populations in the entire | |
| world, women and girls living in refugee camps. Often, these | |
| camps around the world do not provide safe and secure | |
| infrastructure to protect the tens of millions of women and | |
| girls that reside in them. This bill will work to ensure safe | |
| and secure access to sanitation facilities for these women and | |
| girls. | |
| Representative Houlahan's legislation, H.R. 1500, requires | |
| a report on the impact of COVID-19 from USAID basic education | |
| programs. As a global humanitarian leader, we must understand | |
| the effect of the pandemic on education if we are going to | |
| effectively address the consequences. This legislation will | |
| provide us the insights we need to fix the problems of the day | |
| and plan for the problems of tomorrow. | |
| I am also proud to support a trio of bipartisan bills that | |
| will bring renewed attention and call for carefully developed | |
| strategies to a number of important issues, particularly with a | |
| focus on Asia. | |
| Representative Kim's bill calls for a State Department | |
| strategy to get Taiwan observer status again at the WHO. | |
| Representative McCaul's legislation addresses 5G networks | |
| and the importance of American leadership from global telecoms | |
| technology. | |
| Representative Wagner, working with Representative Castro, | |
| also has an important role that calls on Secretaries of State | |
| and Commerce to develop a strategy to engage with ASEAN and | |
| South Asian nations. | |
| And finally, Representative Connolly's bill the Protection | |
| of Saudi Dissidents Act. Saudi Arabia is a long-standing U.S. | |
| partner in a complex region. Nonetheless, for far too long, | |
| Saudi Arabia's routine suppression of free expression and | |
| political dissidents has gone unaddressed. This legislation | |
| imposes reasonable limits on U.S. weapons transfer to Saudi | |
| intelligence agencies shown to be involved in the killing of | |
| Jamal Khashoggi and other political repression until such | |
| repression and abuse of dissidents abates. | |
| To be clear, I want to be clear, the bill does not limit | |
| U.S. arm transfers to Saudi's defensive capabilities and Mr. | |
| Connolly has graciously incorporated my amendment which ensures | |
| that nothing in this legislation will deny the Saudi Government | |
| the ability to defend its territory against attacks, from | |
| external threats, or hinder its ability to defend the United | |
| States military, diplomatic personnel, or facilities in the | |
| kingdom. | |
| I strongly support all the measures that we are considering | |
| today in the en bloc. And I urge all members to join me to do | |
| the same. | |
| I will now recognize our Ranking Member, Mr. McCaul of | |
| Texas, for his remarks. | |
| Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Chairman Meeks. And I want to thank | |
| you for holding this important markup and moving several | |
| important bills. I want to thank you for carrying on the | |
| traditions of this committee, working in a bipartisan manner | |
| and I want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle for | |
| their hard work leading up to this markup. | |
| I want to point out three bills from my Republican | |
| colleagues, one, Representative Smith's Desert Locust Control | |
| Act; Representative Wagner, Southeast Asia Strategy Act; and | |
| Representative Kim's bill directing the Secretary of State to | |
| develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the | |
| World Health Organization. It is important to note, Mr. | |
| Chairman, that Taiwan actually warned the Chinese Communist | |
| Party and the WHO that COVID was transmittable to the human and | |
| that warning went unheeded sadly and now we are in the | |
| situation we are in. | |
| I also want to thank Representatives Connolly, Chabot, and | |
| you, Mr. Chairman, for working with me on what I think are | |
| strong amendments to help improve the Global Health Security | |
| Act. It is critical that we apply the painful lessons learned | |
| from this pandemic so that we are better prepared in the | |
| future. I appreciate all of you for approaching such an | |
| important issue in a bipartisan manner. | |
| I also want to thank Mr. Connolly for working with us on a | |
| compromised text that we got to within a matter of days for his | |
| Protection of Saudi Dissidents Act, and Mr. Chairman, thank you | |
| for your amendments because that is what got us to yes on this | |
| bill. It does not prohibit in any way Saudi's ability to obtain | |
| weapons to defend itself. | |
| The killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi | |
| journalist was an outrageously gruesome crime. It was also a | |
| major setback for our relationship with Saudi Arabia. This | |
| amendment will help us better use our leverage to push | |
| improvements in the kingdom's human rights practices. It will | |
| also help preserve our strategic interest in the Middle East | |
| including, as I mentioned, Saudi's ability to defend itself | |
| against an attack from Iran. | |
| I am also pleased that we are considering my bill to | |
| promoting U.S. international leadership in the 5G Act. The | |
| Chinese Communist Party poses a generational threat to our | |
| country that we can no longer ignore. They are erasing ethnic | |
| groups in Xinjiang right now with the Muslim Uyghurs. They | |
| stole American national security data in the OPM hack including | |
| mine and are believed to be responsible for the Microsoft hack | |
| earlier this month. Now the Chinese Communist Party has designs | |
| to become the world's technology powers especially on 5G with | |
| their Huawei surveillance telecom program. | |
| To achieve their goal, the CCP is launching cyber-attacks | |
| stealing intellectual property and spying on our companies and | |
| research institutions. That is precisely why in Houston, in my | |
| State, the consulate was shut down because they were stealing | |
| from the Texas Medical Center biomedical research, including | |
| research on the vaccine, and from NASA. They used that to | |
| increase their participation at standard setting bodies like | |
| the International Telecommunications Union, or ITU, to embed | |
| their technology around the world. And with the full backing of | |
| the CCP, military companies like Huawei have gained significant | |
| global market share in 5G and are positioning themselves to | |
| gain even more. | |
| My bill will help the United States counter China's | |
| aggressive 5G expansion around the world by maintaining and in | |
| some cases increasing U.S. leadership and participation at | |
| critical international standard setting bodies for 5G. | |
| Specifically, it will allow our Government to better understand | |
| the security risks posed by the CCP's participation in 5G | |
| standard setting bodies. Setting 5G standards and increasing | |
| cooperation between the United States and our allies and | |
| partners puts us in the driver's seat for the future, not the | |
| CCP. | |
| So Mr. Chairman, with that, I look forward to a healthy | |
| debate on all the measures and I want to say I think we all | |
| agree that we need to exercise our Article 1 authorities. We'll | |
| be debating AUMF. We just have a little different position on | |
| that, but as we always do, we'll debate in very civil and an | |
| educational way. Thank you so much for holding this markup. I | |
| yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. I thank you for that, Representative | |
| McCaul, and yes, we will be very civil as we markup as we | |
| always do. Thank you for that. | |
| I will recognize members by committee seniority alternating | |
| between Democrats and Republicans for the purpose of speaking | |
| on the en bloc package. Please use the raise your hand function | |
| on Webex and I will recognize members by committee seniority | |
| alternating between Democrats and Republicans. If you miss your | |
| turn, please let our staff know, and we will come back to you. | |
| Does anyone wish to speak on the en bloc? | |
| Mr. Sherman. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes. I recognize, Representative Brad | |
| Sherman of California for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Sherman. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for taking | |
| up H.R. 1145 to direct the Secretary of State to develop a | |
| strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan. I think it | |
| should be full status, but we will start with observer status | |
| for Taiwan at the World Health Organization. I am glad to join | |
| with Representative Young Kim, who is the lead Democrat on this | |
| important bill. | |
| Just in the short amount of time that I have been in | |
| Congress, Taiwan has spent more than $6 billion providing | |
| international medical and humanitarian needs to more than 80 | |
| countries. Furthermore, Taiwan has used its public health | |
| expertise to respond to this pandemic effectively within its | |
| borders while donating tens of millions of masks and PPE | |
| equipment to other nations in need. | |
| Due to the Chinese Communist Party, Taiwan was excluded | |
| from the WHO in 2017. This is outrageous as it shuts out Taiwan | |
| from important WHO information and makes it more difficult for | |
| Taiwan to share the information it has on its successful | |
| handling on the virus. And as Mr. McCaul points out, it was one | |
| of the first countries to ring the bell and to show us that | |
| indeed this disease is transmissible. | |
| Following Tuesday's important hearings on Reclaiming | |
| Congress's War Powers Act, it is fitting that we will move on | |
| to H.R. 256, which I am pleased to cosponsor, To repeal the | |
| Authorization of Use of Military Force Against Iraq in 2002, | |
| AUMF. I have long supported this and voted for the repeal of | |
| this AUMF. The AUMF was there to protect us from Saddam | |
| Hussein's what we thought were weapons of mass destruction. It | |
| has clearly outlived its usefulness. | |
| But we also need to make sure that the War Powers Act is | |
| fully enforceable against any administration. We had excellent | |
| witnesses in our hearing on Tuesday. We need a provision that | |
| gives Congress, Members of Congress, standing to go to court | |
| and as I have championed since 2011, we had a major floor vote | |
| on this in 2011. It has now been part of every appropriations | |
| bill. We must use our power of the first to say no money shall | |
| be spent in contravention of the War Powers Act. We need now to | |
| make this part of permanent law. I have introduced a bill with | |
| 30 cosponsors, H.R. 2108, that will do just that and whether it | |
| is in that legislative vehicle or another legislative vehicle, | |
| we need to make the War Powers Act enforceable against | |
| presidents. | |
| Mr. Connolly has put forward a good bill, H.R. 1392, | |
| Protection of the Saudi Dissidents Act and others have spoken | |
| about how important that is. And Mr. Malinowski has another | |
| bill that I believe that is important, 1464, the Khashoggi | |
| Accountability Act, demanding visa sanctions on anyone being | |
| responsible for Khashoggi's killing. And of course, that bill | |
| has important waivers in there for diplomatic visas. | |
| Finally, I want to thank Chairman Bass for her resolution | |
| calling for a new, decisive, and robust international | |
| cooperation on the fight against COVID-19 across Africa. I was | |
| just on the phone with Dr. Marx, the Director of the FDA's | |
| Center for Biologics about how we are wasting vaccine here in | |
| the United States and how we can improve our own program, thus | |
| saving vaccine which can be used by the United States, but then | |
| around the world, particularly in Africa. | |
| I want to commend Mr. Bera for his bill, Securing America | |
| from Epidemics Act. And finally, although it is not in this | |
| package, I do have almost a minute left, I want to comment on | |
| Mr. Perry's amendment dealing with the Wuhan lab. I will point | |
| out that Congress has already mandated in the omnibus that we | |
| get a report. That report is due in just a few days. That | |
| report should be on the origins of this virus. If that report | |
| is going to be adequate, it will answer a question a lot of us | |
| have and that is what did escape from the Wuhan virology | |
| laboratory. If that report fails to address that issue, then it | |
| will be defined for Congress to go back and mandate that that | |
| particular issue be the subject of a serious intelligence | |
| community report to Congress. I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes. The chair recognizes Representative | |
| Chris Smith of New Jersey who is the Ranking Member on the | |
| Subcommittee of Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I want to | |
| thank you and Ranking Member McCaul for including H.R. 1079, | |
| the Desert Locust Control Act in today's markup. H.R. 1079, | |
| which I introduced, joined by Africa Subcommittee Chair Karen | |
| Bass, will establish an inter-agency working group to develop a | |
| comprehensive, strategic plan to control locust outbreaks in | |
| the East Africa region and address future outbreaks in order to | |
| avert mass scale food insecurity and potential political | |
| destabilization. | |
| According to USAID, Mr. Chairman, the desert locust is one | |
| of the most destructive migratory pests in the world, rapidly | |
| consuming most vegetation in its path including crops and | |
| pasture land, critical to maintaining the food security and | |
| livelihood of populations in East Africa. Locust swarms are | |
| highly mobile. And carried on the wind, swarms can travel up to | |
| 100 miles per day. And even a relatively small four-tenths of 1 | |
| percent square mile size swarm can consume an amount of food | |
| sufficient for approximately 35,000 people in 1 day. | |
| The World Bank notes that and I quote, ``A new generation | |
| of locusts emerge every 8 weeks. Each generation on average | |
| seeks a twentyfold increase in the population. The growing | |
| swarms spread to new areas, disrupting the food supply, | |
| upending livelihoods, and requiring substantial resources to | |
| address.'' | |
| At the end of the year, Mr. Chairman, as you know, some 42 | |
| million people in East Africa alone were suffering acute food | |
| insecurity and this does not include the Gulf States such as | |
| Yemen or India or Pakistan which are also highly impacted. | |
| Acute food insecurity is defined as the sudden lack of food or | |
| the ability to produce or access minimum requirements of food. | |
| The theme for the legislation came about with the | |
| realization last year that various agencies in the Federal | |
| Government which shared partial responsibility for addressing | |
| the compounding locust, food, and COVID crises were not | |
| adequately coordinating their efforts and thus not achieving | |
| the best possible outcome. This including not only the State | |
| Department, USAID, but also the NSD, the Department of Defense, | |
| and the Department of Agriculture. It is in large part, thanks | |
| to the herculean efforts of our Ambassador to the U.N. Food | |
| Agencies in Rome, Kip Tom; the Executive Director of the World | |
| Food Program, former Governor David Beasley, that awareness of | |
| this crisis and steps to mitigate it have been at least a | |
| partial success. They prodded countries, all of which were | |
| under a COVID lockdown, in the FAO into action, without which | |
| we would have had an even greater food security crisis. | |
| The crisis persists, Mr. Chairman, and the upsurge in | |
| locusts continues. The bill will help coordinate our | |
| Government's response and it will do it at a de minimis cost. | |
| And what is the cost of not acting? In testimony last week | |
| before the Africa Subcommittee in a hearing chaired by my | |
| friend and colleague and Congresswoman Bass, Ambassador Tip Tom | |
| noted that today some $240 million has been spent to address | |
| the crisis. Of this, USAID provided some $26 million in | |
| assistance, as of February 1st of this year for Fiscal Years | |
| 2020 and for 1921. | |
| The German Government has provided the largest amount of | |
| assistance to combat the locusts. But if this blows up into a | |
| full-scale famine, abetted by on-going hostilities in Ethiopia, | |
| Ambassador Tom estimates that the humanitarian cost will | |
| balloon to $3 to $3.5 billion. And that would mean millions of | |
| lives, lives potentially lost to a horrific death by | |
| starvation, and implicate U.S.'s disaster assistance funding. | |
| So again, I am glad that you are putting this up on the markup | |
| today and I hope my colleagues will cosponsor and support the | |
| bill. | |
| I also want to voice my support to my good friend and | |
| colleague, Karen Bass's Resolution 245, calling for a continued | |
| and robust international collaboration and coordination to | |
| fight COVID-19 across Africa. | |
| Mr. Chairman, in 2020, Africa had fewer COVID deaths, about | |
| 3.5 percent of the world cases, according to the African | |
| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and fewer deaths | |
| than other parts of the world. However--and that is | |
| attributable in part to robust containment and a younger | |
| population which were factors. But the emergence of variants | |
| that are more transmissible and deadly has now resulted in a | |
| fatality rate in 2021 that is above the global average. | |
| And finally, I want to thank Congresswoman Young Kim for | |
| her bill, as well as all the bills today, but I just want to | |
| make sure I point this one out because we need a strategy with | |
| Taiwan to gain observer status at the WHO and I wanted again to | |
| remind my colleagues, I know you all know this, Taiwan has been | |
| a model citizen in how it engages the world with regards to | |
| health crises and its exclusion from the WHO at the behest of | |
| the Chinese Communist Party is a scandal. | |
| I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I ask unanimous consent to | |
| revise and add some additional remarks. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Thank you. I now recognize Representative | |
| Albio Sires of New Jersey, who is the chair of the Subcommittee | |
| on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration, and | |
| International Economic Policy, for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Sires. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want say from the | |
| beginning that I support all these bills, but I want to speak | |
| briefly about H.R. 1145, important legislation to help Taiwan | |
| regain the status as an observer in the World Health | |
| Organization. Taiwan has long been a leader in global health as | |
| shown most recently throughout the ongoing pandemic. Not only | |
| did Taiwan manage the pandemic at home, it worked to share | |
| equipment and expertise with other nations including the United | |
| States. | |
| I am particularly grateful for Taiwan's strong friendship | |
| in the early days of this crisis when my home State of New | |
| Jersey was extremely hard hit and personal protective equipment | |
| was scarce. Taiwan was sending regular shipments of masks to | |
| the United States. By regaining observer status in the WHO, | |
| Taiwan has helped other nations who are struggling with this | |
| pandemic. It is in the best global interest to have Taiwan | |
| regain observer status in the World Health Organization so that | |
| other nations can learn from Taiwan's success in battling | |
| COVID-19 and can be kept up to date on this international | |
| health emergency. | |
| As the co-chair of the congressional Taiwan Caucus I am | |
| proud to co-sponsor H.R. 1145. I would like to thank my | |
| colleagues, Representatives Young Kim and Brad Sherman, for | |
| introducing this important legislation and I urge my colleagues | |
| to support it. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize | |
| Representative Steve Chabot of Ohio, who is the Ranking Member | |
| of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and | |
| Nonproliferation for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Chabot. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to voice my | |
| strong support, first, for H.R. 391, the Global Health Security | |
| Act, bipartisan legislation that my good friend Gerry Connolly | |
| and I first introduced in 2018 to strengthen U.S. and global | |
| preparedness for and capacity to respond to pandemics like | |
| COVID-19. | |
| And I want to thank Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member | |
| McCaul for working with us to improve this Congress' version of | |
| the legislation as it heads toward enactment. | |
| After a year of lockdowns and masks and social distancing, | |
| working from home, school closures, and, worst of all, a | |
| mounting death toll both here at home and around the world, | |
| COVID-19 has taught us like nothing else has the true cost of a | |
| pandemic. | |
| COVID-19 has also shown just how vulnerable the U.S. is to | |
| a disease outbreak on the other side of the world. As we all | |
| know now, diseases do not respect borders, and a corrupt and | |
| nontransparent health system in another country, in this case | |
| China, can cause millions of deaths here in America. | |
| China's politically motivated censorship of coronavirus | |
| information early on caused the world untold suffering. But a | |
| disease like COVID-19 could start anywhere. It could start in | |
| the Middle East, in South America, Africa, or even here. | |
| That's why we must help less-prepared countries identify | |
| and contain future emergency deadly diseases when they | |
| originate, and mitigate their impact before they have a chance | |
| to grow to pandemic scale. | |
| If I may say, our legislation was prescient in this regard. | |
| When we first introduced it back in 2018, COVID-19 did not | |
| exist. | |
| However, we realized that Congress needed to support, | |
| direct, and provide oversight for the global health security | |
| work that had been done by the Obama Administration and carried | |
| forward by the Trump administration. | |
| We also realized that the proper personnel needed to be in | |
| place to coordinate our response to emerging disease threats. | |
| Our legislation supports each of these goals and so I | |
| strongly support it and would urge my colleagues to do so as | |
| well. I'd like to comment briefly on two other pieces of | |
| legislation that we have before us today. | |
| I want to these--the first one I'd like to mention as a | |
| founder and a current co-chair of the congressional Taiwan | |
| Caucus, as a couple of the members have already mentioned, also | |
| as the ranking member of the Asian Pacific Subcommittee, I'd | |
| like to voice my support for H.R. 1145. | |
| I'm an original co-sponsor of this legislation, which was | |
| introduced by a vice ranking member in one of our new and, I | |
| think, one of our best committee members will be for sure, | |
| Young Kim, as well as Congressman Brad Sherman, who is pretty | |
| good, too, to strengthen the State Department's efforts to get | |
| Taiwan included by the World Health Organization, and I long | |
| supported Taiwan's participation in international | |
| organizations. | |
| The 23 million people of Taiwan deserve to have their | |
| voices heard. So I strongly support this, would urge my | |
| colleagues to support this as well. | |
| And then, finally, I'd like to mention briefly H.R. 1500, | |
| of the Global Learning Loss Assessment Act, which was | |
| introduced by Ms. Houlahan and Mr. Fitzpatrick. | |
| In 2017, I introduced the Girls Access to Education Act, | |
| along with my Democratic colleague, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, | |
| here in the House, and then Senator Rubio introduced it over in | |
| the Senate. | |
| This legislation, which ultimately did become law, | |
| prioritized education in our humanitarian assistance to | |
| displaced individuals. | |
| Unfortunately, COVID-19 has set that work back | |
| significantly. The pandemic has taken a serious toll on | |
| education as countries around the globe have closed down their | |
| school systems. | |
| Worse, millions of children, especially girls, have dropped | |
| out of school as a result of the pandemic and may never return | |
| to the classroom in some of those countries across the globe. | |
| H.R. 1500 is a critical step in understanding this problem | |
| and getting a grasp of who is being impacted and how so that we | |
| can craft an effective response as the pandemic comes to an | |
| end. | |
| So thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this markup, and I | |
| want to thank Mr. McCaul, our ranking member, on this as well. | |
| It's good to see us working in a bipartisan manner. And I yield | |
| back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia, | |
| who's the president of the NATO Parliamentarian Assembly, for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much | |
| for holding this markup. It's great to see the committee | |
| actively moving on its legislation under your leadership and | |
| that of Mr. McCaul. | |
| I want to join Mr. Chabot, as the co-chair of the Taiwan | |
| Caucus, in expressing specific support for H.R. 745. I think | |
| it's vitally important that we include Taiwan in the family, | |
| international family, especially when it comes to international | |
| health issues during a pandemic. It's absurd not to include the | |
| Taiwanese expertise and experience. And I congratulate both | |
| Brad Sherman and Young Kim for bringing that bill before us. | |
| And I'm pleased to support it. | |
| I also want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, and you, Mr. | |
| McCaul, for your bipartisan leadership in putting together an | |
| en bloc package of legislation, and I particularly want to | |
| thank you for including the Saudi Dissidents Act. | |
| You know, we had a lot of hurdles to overcome. We have | |
| managed with your help and your input to improve the bill and | |
| to make it something that is a strong bipartisan bill. I think | |
| that's very important. | |
| Jamal Khashoggi was my constituent. His brutal murder must | |
| not be forgotten and there has to be justice. This bill will be | |
| a vehicle for moving us toward eventful justice, and I might | |
| add that it isn't just about Jamal Khashoggi, bad as that was. | |
| It's also about protecting dissidents. I've met--this bill | |
| grew out of a series of meetings I had with Saudi dissidents | |
| and Saudi American families who have folks back home who are | |
| being imprisoned and detained simply because they have a | |
| different political point of view and not a radical one, just | |
| one like Jamal Khashoggi's, to try to improve things in the | |
| kingdom, and there is no tolerance for that dissent. | |
| And people are being killed. They're being detained. | |
| They're being tortured. They're being brutalized. We, as | |
| Americans, we, as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, cannot | |
| stand idle during that time. And just in the last 48 hours, if | |
| we needed a reminder of how important this subject is, we | |
| learned that the author of the U.N. report on the murder of | |
| Jamal Khashoggi, Agnes Callamard, has been threatened by Saudi | |
| officials. | |
| Her safety has been threatened if she continues to persist | |
| in her findings. That is impunity of the of the highest order | |
| of magnitude, and that, I think, underscores why we cannot be | |
| silent, why we must take this measure today. | |
| And I'm very proud of the fact we are, I hope, going to do | |
| this in a very broad bipartisan way, in a measured but | |
| assertive way. | |
| And finally, Mr. Chairman, all of the bills are worthy and | |
| are certainly going to have my support in the en bloc package. | |
| But I want to also thank you and Mr. McCaul for your support, | |
| and Mr. Chabot for his support. He's been unwavering for 3 | |
| years. And, you know, we look back on it and maybe we | |
| anticipated something in terms of the need for early monitoring | |
| of global health developments that could lead to pandemic. | |
| Well, it happened. And on a bipartisan basis, we have never | |
| picked one administration over another. We believe that we have | |
| got to restore that capacity by code, by law, whoever is the | |
| president, and Mr. Chabot has been a wonderful Republican | |
| partner in that effort. And it has not always been easy. It's | |
| passed the House, I believe, four times, and we hope it will | |
| come out of our committee today on a big bipartisan vote. | |
| And, again, I want to thank Mr. McCaul and you, Mr. | |
| Chairman, for thoughtful additions to this bill that make it | |
| stronger, and I would hope the committee upon reflection will | |
| maybe not yield to the temptation to burden it down with other | |
| issues that could make this very difficult to pass. | |
| It's passed four times. It's passed the test in the House. | |
| I believe we're very close to getting support in the Senate | |
| that would allow it to become law, and let's try to do that | |
| during the middle of a pandemic on a bipartisan basis. | |
| But, again, I thank you and Mr. McCaul for making that | |
| work. I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Joe Wilson of South | |
| Carolina, who's the ranking member of the Subcommittee on the | |
| Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism, for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Chairman Gregory Meeks and Ranking | |
| Member Michael McCaul, for bringing these bipartisan measures | |
| before us today. | |
| I support each of the eight bills. I am grateful for the | |
| wisdom and the initiative by our new colleague, Representative | |
| Young Kim, with H.R. 1145. Taiwan has contributed tremendously | |
| to global health but has not participated in the World Health | |
| Assembly as an observer country since 2017. | |
| Following the election of President Tsai Ing-wen, efforts | |
| to curtail Taiwan's increasing international participation has | |
| been persistent. International challenges such as the ongoing | |
| pandemic require international cooperation. | |
| I'm deeply concerned by the amount of undue influence | |
| Beijing wields over international organizations, especially | |
| given their repeated concealment of information during the | |
| pandemic. | |
| I'm grateful for Taiwan's voluntary generosity during the | |
| pandemic. At the height of the supply chain strain, Taiwan | |
| generously donated 100,000 items of PPE to the citizens of | |
| South Carolina for front line workers, which my office helped | |
| to facilitate. | |
| Congratulations to Representative Young Kim, Congressman | |
| Brad Sherman, Congressman Albio Sires, Congressman Steve | |
| Chabot, and Congressman Gerry Connolly for their work on this | |
| measure. | |
| It is so meaningful to me to see the bipartisan support for | |
| the courageous people of Taiwan. | |
| I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Ted Deutch of Florida, who | |
| is the chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North | |
| Africa, and Global Counterterrorism for, 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Deutch. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for your | |
| continued leadership and ensuring that we accomplish meaningful | |
| work, while also asserting our authorities. | |
| Thanks to Ranking Member McCaul for continuing to work in | |
| good faith and in the spirit of bipartisanship. | |
| I'm proud to support the measures before us today, the en | |
| bloc. I also would like to comment briefly on some of the other | |
| bills in today's agenda. | |
| I want to thank my friends, Mr. Connolly and Mr. Chabot, | |
| for their leadership on the Global Health Security Act, which | |
| I'm proud to co-sponsor, with respect to our fight against | |
| COVID-19. | |
| We are not out of the woods yet. We cannot claim victory | |
| over this global pandemic until we stop its spread everywhere. | |
| Not just in the United States, but everywhere. This will | |
| require years of sustained vigilant U.S. leadership, harnessing | |
| the expertise of our government agencies, and working with our | |
| partners overseas. | |
| Moreover, COVID-19 will not be the last infectious disease | |
| that threatens to become a global pandemic, and a Global Health | |
| Security Act will ensure we are prepared for years to come. | |
| Although it's unfortunate we could not pass this into law | |
| before the emergence of COVID-19, it isn't too late for this | |
| legislation to make an important difference for all of us and | |
| for the world. | |
| I'd also like to thank Mr. Connolly and Mr. Malinowski for | |
| their work on the two bills pertaining to Saudi Arabia and the | |
| murder of Jamal Khashoggi, which I--bills which I support. | |
| Just last week, I chaired a hearing on human rights in | |
| Saudi Arabia, where our witnesses described how the kingdom | |
| continues to brutally repress speech and dissent. As I said | |
| then, we cannot be afraid to speak truth to our partners, | |
| important partners, and we can never sacrifice American values. | |
| Saudi leadership must address American concerns about the | |
| treatment of our citizens and residents, and stop its targeting | |
| of Saudi dissidents and political activists. | |
| Two and a half years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi | |
| and after the release of the intelligence report, Congress | |
| should reinforce the message that the United States will not | |
| tolerate gross human rights abuses, including the targeting of | |
| dissidents abroad. | |
| I believe this is part of the challenging but necessary | |
| recalibration of U.S.-Saudi relations that the Biden | |
| administration has spoken of. So I'm hopeful that we once again | |
| have a partner in the executive branch as we pursue this goal. | |
| Finally, I want to address H.R. 256, which repeals the 2002 | |
| AUMF. Frankly, it is long past time for Congress to take up | |
| meaningful debate and action on war powers authorities and this | |
| bill is an important first step. | |
| Congress, America, and the world have changed significantly | |
| since 2002, and as we heard repeatedly at Tuesday's hearing, | |
| the 2002 AUMF is now completely unnecessary for addressing any | |
| of the security challenges that we face today. | |
| Some of our colleagues have argued that while they might | |
| agree in principle, they take issue with the process of | |
| repealing the 2002 AUMF without also taking up the replacement | |
| of the 2001 AUMF. | |
| I absolutely agree that we should work urgently along with | |
| the Biden administration to reconsider and modernize the 2001 | |
| AUMF. | |
| But there is no reason that that needs to happen | |
| simultaneously with repealing the 2002 AUMF. We need to get it | |
| right. We can take these steps in succession and I very much, | |
| very much hope that we will. | |
| And so I'll just close by thanking and commending the | |
| chairman and the ranking member again. Thanks for elevating | |
| these important issues. Thanks for ensuring this committee | |
| plays an active role in discussions and actions over war | |
| powers. | |
| And I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Ann Wagner of Missouri, who | |
| is the vice ranking member of the full committee, for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mrs. Wagner. I thank you, Chairman Meeks, and I'd also like | |
| to thank Ranking Member McCaul for including my bill, H.R. | |
| 1083, the Southeast Asia Strategy Act, in today's en banc | |
| markup. | |
| I'd also like to thank Congressman Castro, with whom I | |
| founded the ASEAN Caucus, for working with me on this | |
| legislation and for his great support of U.S.-ASEAN relations. | |
| Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian | |
| Nations, or ASEAN, are vital to the prosperity of the U.S. | |
| economy, generating hundreds of thousands of American jobs. | |
| H.R. 1083, the Southeast Asia Strategy Act, will deepen | |
| U.S. engagement in the region by requiring the United States to | |
| develop a coherent regional strategy that addresses all aspects | |
| of the relationship from trade and humanitarian goals to | |
| diplomatic and security arrangements. | |
| U.S.-Southeast Asia relations are at a critical, critical | |
| juncture. People's Republic of China is working aggressively to | |
| expand its influence in this strategically important region, | |
| using predatory investment, threatening new military | |
| installments, and outright bullying to achieve its goals. | |
| But Southeast Asian countries do not believe that China and | |
| its--China's interests are well intentioned. Our partners seek | |
| assurances that the United States will continue to demonstrate | |
| strength in the region, and we must support our partners and | |
| allies as they stand up to China's erratic and aggressive | |
| behavior. | |
| The U.S. should be proactively crafting and implementing | |
| its Southeast Asia strategy, and this bill would require the | |
| administration to do just that. | |
| My legislation will ensure that the United States seizes | |
| its opportunity to engage meaningfully and productively with | |
| this dynamic and growing region. | |
| It will position the U.S. and its partners to safeguard | |
| freedom of navigation, promote mutually beneficial economic | |
| development, and strengthen the democratic norms that China | |
| seeks to undermine. | |
| Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you again for your great work | |
| on the U.S.-Southeast Asian relations, and I urge my colleagues | |
| to support H.R. 1083, the Southeast Asia Strategy Act. | |
| And I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Karen Bass of California, | |
| who is the chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, | |
| and Global Human Rights, for 5 minutes. | |
| Ms. Bass. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and let me thank | |
| the ranking member for this markup today. I also want to thank | |
| the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa as I join him | |
| in co-sponsoring H.R. 1079, the Desert Locust Control Act. I | |
| want to thank Ranking Member Smith. | |
| COVID-19 has forced us to acknowledge that the world's | |
| fates are intertwined and that the world cannot be safe from | |
| this pandemic until everyone is. | |
| That is why I introduced H. Res. 245, calling for continued | |
| and robust international collaboration and coordination to | |
| fight COVID-19 across Africa. | |
| I'm pleased that this resolution is bipartisan and hope | |
| that we can move forward together to continue to work in a | |
| bipartisan manner to fight COVID-19. | |
| Again, I want to thank the Ranking Member McCaul and the | |
| Africa Subcommittee Member Smith for supporting the resolution | |
| and showing that Congress can work together for the good of the | |
| American people and those around the world. | |
| This resolution reaffirms that decreasing the spread of | |
| COVID-19 and preventing future COVID-19 variants globally and | |
| in Africa is in the national interest of the United States. | |
| It also calls for continued and robust international | |
| collaboration and coordination to fight COVID-19 across Africa. | |
| Resources are increasingly limited in the United States and | |
| abroad. World economies are impacted due to the pandemic. | |
| I recently had a hearing on the effect of COVID-19 in | |
| Africa, and one of the witnesses was the director of the Africa | |
| CDC. He stated how he was worried about a vaccine war on the | |
| continent because of shipment delays. This will significantly | |
| impact the ability to fight the virus on the continent and | |
| weaken solid economies and destroy weaker ones. | |
| Botswana, for example, a pillar of democracy on the | |
| candidate--on the continent has had to shift its focus from | |
| development to defense. Its citizens are worried that the | |
| pandemic will destroy its tourism economy and the government is | |
| worried about maintaining its borders from outside countries | |
| with more severe COVID-19 cases. | |
| This week, I spoke with the Ambassador from Botswana about | |
| the effects COVID-19 has had on his country, and he reiterated | |
| that several African countries allocated money for COVAX and | |
| Botswana paid for 20 percent of its population to be | |
| vaccinated. | |
| But at this point, it doesn't look like this mark will be | |
| reached due to the supply. In another conversation I had with | |
| the U.S.--the Ambassador from India to the U.S. about his | |
| country recently made a grant in aid delivery of 30,000 COVID- | |
| 19 vaccines to Botswana on March 9th. The country has also made | |
| vaccines available to 30 other countries in Africa. | |
| Although there are reports that the Serum Institute of | |
| India is suspending major exports of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 | |
| vaccine to the continent, they have shown a good faith and | |
| humanity. | |
| It is time the United States do the same and I'm asking my | |
| colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help ramp up our | |
| efforts to the continent. This is why we must also leverage | |
| resources and utilize multilateral tools available in an | |
| equitable and efficient manner. | |
| And this is why the United States must remain actively | |
| engaged and lead a sustained and robust COVID-19 recovery | |
| effort. | |
| In Africa, that means working with the African Union and | |
| the Africa CDC to collaboratively tackle the continent's health | |
| system challenges by equipping them to deliver science-based | |
| and quality health care. | |
| This resolution calls for the U.S. and international | |
| partners to work collaboratively to address the impacts of | |
| COVID-19 in Africa, the other impacts, including food | |
| insecurity, education challenges posed by the pandemic, global | |
| supply chain disruptions, equitable access to secure internet | |
| and digital connectivity, and good governance. | |
| We must seize this renewed sense of urgency to help build a | |
| true partnership with Africa by looking beyond a short-term | |
| recovery to mitigate the growing number of complex | |
| interconnected risks. | |
| I hope you will join me and my colleagues across the aisle | |
| and vote to support this resolution. Reaffirming decreasing the | |
| spread of COVID-19 and preventing future variants is in the | |
| national interests of the United States. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Young Kim of California, | |
| who's the vice ranking member of the Subcommittee on Asia, the | |
| Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation, for 5 minutes. | |
| Ms. Kim of California. Thank you, Chairman Meeks and | |
| Ranking Member McCaul. I am honored to speak in support of the | |
| bills included in this en bloc package before us today. | |
| That includes my bill on directing the State Department to | |
| implement a strategy to help Taiwan regain its observer status | |
| at the World Health Organization and its decisionmaking body, | |
| the World Health Assembly. | |
| In 2017, Taiwan was unjustly kicked out of the WHO by its | |
| leadership, under pressure by the Chinese Communist Party, | |
| which prevented it from sharing and receiving vital information | |
| before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. | |
| Taiwan has long been a leader in global health security, | |
| collaborating with countries around the world in combating | |
| deadly disease outbreaks. | |
| Since 1996, Taiwan has invested more than $6 billion in | |
| international medical and humanitarian aid efforts in more than | |
| 80 countries. During the 2014 Ebola crisis, Taiwan donated over | |
| a million dollars and provided 100,000 sets of personal | |
| protective equipment. | |
| Additionally, Taiwan was one of the first countries to | |
| raise the alarm during the initial spread of COVID-19 using its | |
| public health expertise to respond to the pandemic very | |
| effectively within its borders while donating tens of millions | |
| of masks and PPE equipment to other nations in need. | |
| Taiwan's actions have proven that not only do they deserve | |
| a seat at the table, but having Taiwan as an observer at the | |
| WHO also brings tangible healthy security benefits to the | |
| United States and the rest of the world. | |
| I want to thank Chairman Meeks, Ranking Member McCaul, Asia | |
| Subcommittee Chairman Bera, and Ranking Member Chabot, all of | |
| whom are original co-sponsors of the bill for including this | |
| initiative in today's markup and passing the first Taiwan- | |
| related initiative of the 117th Congress out of this committee. | |
| And I also want to thank my good friend, Congressman Brad | |
| Sherman, for co-leading this bill and ensuring that it received | |
| broad bipartisan support. Taiwan is a bipartisan issue, and I'm | |
| very encouraged by our committee's action today. | |
| Thank you, and I yield the balance of my time. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Ted Lieu of California for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Lieu. Thank you, Chairman Meeks, for holding this | |
| markup, and I want to, first of all, talk about the legislation | |
| related to Taiwan in directing the Secretary of State to have a | |
| strategy for putting Taiwan back into observer status at the | |
| World Health Organization. | |
| I note that, unlike the Chinese government, which lied | |
| about the coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic, Taiwan | |
| did everything right. They told the truth about the virus, | |
| which is that it could be transmitted by humans, and Taiwan | |
| relied on the science. | |
| They used mask protocols. They engaged in social | |
| distancing. They put in effective virus suppression measures. | |
| And because of what they did, Taiwan reopened their economy | |
| much sooner than the United States. | |
| The United States and the world has a lot to learn from | |
| Taiwan, and I fully support that legislation. | |
| I also rise in support of the two bills regarding Saudi | |
| Arabia. I just want to remind everyone that the Kingdom of | |
| Saudi Arabia lied to United States for 17 straight days. They | |
| lied to us, they lied to the world, about the murder of a U.S. | |
| legal permanent resident who was also an opinions columnist for | |
| the Washington Post. | |
| And what we know is that Saudi Arabia has not suffered a | |
| lot of consequences that other normal countries would have | |
| suffered for lying about murdering a legal U.S. resident. So I | |
| support both of those two bills related to Saudi Arabia. | |
| And then finally, I want to talk briefly about the AUMF. We | |
| shouldn't have forever wars, which means we shouldn't have | |
| AUMFs without sunsets that allow for these forever wars, and | |
| it's time that we repeal the 2002 AUMF and I want to commend | |
| Representative Barbara Lee and all the others who have worked | |
| on this issue. | |
| And thank you again, Chairman, for holding this important | |
| markup, and I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Abigail Spanberger of | |
| Virginia, who is the vice chair of the Subcommittee on Europe, | |
| Energy, and the Environment and Cyber, for 5 minutes. | |
| Ms. Spanberger. Thank you very much, Chairman Meeks, and | |
| thank you to Ranking Member McCaul for your legislation, the | |
| Promoting U.S. International Leadership in 5G Act. It is | |
| difficult to overState the long-term effects of the global | |
| transition to 5G and it's also important that we take seriously | |
| the risks involved in this transition, especially those posed | |
| by the Chinese government and Chinese government-backed | |
| companies. | |
| According to a 2018 NATO report, Huawei's growing influence | |
| as a leading supplier of 5G technology could be exploited by | |
| China to engage in espionage, monitor foreign corporations and | |
| governments, and support Chinese military operations. | |
| As China works hard to take advantage of this moment, the | |
| United States must redouble our efforts to support U.S. | |
| competitiveness and innovation in the telecom space and protect | |
| against threats to Americans and U.S. interests that are posed | |
| by foreign-backed 5G technologies and networks, and work with | |
| our allies and partners to pursue similar strategies to do | |
| this. | |
| My bipartisan legislation that required a national strategy | |
| on 5G, one that would protect U.S. consumers and assist U.S. | |
| allies in maximizing the security of their 5G telecommunication | |
| systems, was signed into law by President Trump, and I | |
| appreciated Ranking Member McCaul's support for my legislation. | |
| And today, I am happy to support your legislation, Mr. | |
| Ranking Member McCaul. It is critical that the United States | |
| develop strategies to better engage in international standard- | |
| setting bodies to ensure that U.S. interests are integrated as | |
| the international community deliberates on the standards that | |
| will shape the future of the international telecom industry. | |
| By engaging diplomatically in these multilateral forums, | |
| the United States can enhance U.S. competitiveness and national | |
| security. | |
| Thank you for your leadership on this, Ranking Member | |
| McCaul, and I look forward to continuing to work with you to | |
| ensure that the United States is leading the 5G transition and | |
| that we do our part to protect American security and economic | |
| considerations. | |
| I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Chrissy Houlahan of | |
| Pennsylvania for 5 minutes. | |
| Ms. Houlahan. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to | |
| everyone on the committee for your support of my critical piece | |
| of legislation, H.R. 1500, the Global Learning Loss Assessment | |
| Act. And I'd also like to thank my colleagues, Representatives | |
| Fitzpatrick, also from our home Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, | |
| and Representative Quigley, for their work on this bill. | |
| Together, through this legislation, we are requiring the U.S. | |
| Agency for International Development, or USAID, to submit a | |
| report to Congress on the impacts of COVID-19 on USAID-based | |
| education programs and global learning. | |
| Over the past year, COVID has disrupted the education of | |
| over 90 percent of the world's children. The Research Triangle | |
| Institute predicts that most students will return to school | |
| looking more like students in the middle or close to the end of | |
| their previous grade, and this disruption has compounded the | |
| global learning crisis that preceded the pandemic. Already, | |
| students were behind on literacy comprehension and much more, | |
| which makes the next few months incredibly important. | |
| My colleagues and I on this bill are clear-minded about | |
| what needs to happen. To shore up the increasing gaps in | |
| learning and preserve the massive gains that the United States | |
| has made in global education rates, we need to understand the | |
| extent of the damage that this pandemic has caused. This bill | |
| will arm us with data that we need to move quickly, to invest | |
| effectively across our USAID programs, and to make our | |
| international basic education programs more resilient to crises | |
| like these. | |
| We cannot afford to ignore the devastating effects of | |
| COVID-19 on students around the world. Education loss will | |
| continue without intentional steps on our behalf, and inaction | |
| will most certainly lead to further loss. | |
| We must also recognize the disproportionate impact that | |
| this pandemic has had on vulnerable populations, particularly | |
| young girls. Education is key to the success and well-being of | |
| women and girls. It often provides economic opportunity that | |
| would otherwise not have been available. | |
| And I am particularly concerned about the harrowing | |
| consequences that school-age girls are facing in the light of | |
| their school closures, including an increased likelihood of | |
| gender-based violence and unplanned pregnancies. Since the | |
| outbreak of COVID-19, emerging data and reports from those on | |
| the front lines have shown that all types of violence against | |
| women and girls has intensified during this time. | |
| The United States has been an historic leader on global | |
| education, investing in USAID and partner programs to pave the | |
| way for a more educated global society. And I believe our | |
| leadership here is even more important and should continue. Our | |
| work in this space helps us to build mutually beneficial | |
| relationships with countries around the world, and investments | |
| in education extend far, far beyond the classroom. | |
| Educating children helps lead to more prosperous and | |
| economically stable societies that are less likely to be | |
| gripped by conflict and extremism. We have the opportunity to | |
| empower young people across the globe, and I believe our Global | |
| Learning Loss Assessment Act is a necessary step in seizing on | |
| that opportunity. | |
| With that, thank you, and I yield back, Mr. Chair. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back her time. | |
| Does anyone else wish to speak on the en bloc? | |
| Hearing no further request for recognition, the committee | |
| will proceed to consider the notice of items en bloc. | |
| Pursuant to the previous order, the question occurs on the | |
| measures of en bloc, as amended, if amended. | |
| We're going to take a vote by voice. All members, please | |
| unmute your microphone. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| Those opposed, say no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the | |
| motion to reconsider is laid on the table. | |
| The measures considered en bloc are agreed to, and the | |
| motion to reconsider is laid on the table. And pursuant to the | |
| previous order of the committee, each measure is offered | |
| favorably reported, as amended, if amended. And each amendment | |
| or amendment to each bill shall be reported as a single | |
| amendment in the nature of a substitute. | |
| Without objection, staff is authorized to make any | |
| technical and conforming changes. | |
| Now it's time to move on to the next item of business. We | |
| will be considering separately the following measures and their | |
| amendments: H.R. 391, the Global Health Security Act of 2021; | |
| H.R. 2118, Securing America from Epidemics Act; H.R. 1464, the | |
| Khashoggi Accountability Act, and H.R. 256, to repeal the | |
| Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution | |
| of 2002. | |
| Now we will move on to consider H.R. 391, the Global Health | |
| Security Act of 2021. | |
| Pursuant to notice, for purposes of markup, I now call up | |
| H.R. 391. The clerk will report the bill. | |
| Ms. Stiles. H.R. 391, a bill to authorize a comprehensive | |
| strategic approach for United States foreign assistance to | |
| developing countries to strengthen global health security, and | |
| for other purposes. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, the first reading of the | |
| bill is dispensed with. | |
| Without objection, the bill shall be considered as read and | |
| open to amendment at any point. | |
| [The bill H.R. 391 follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. Two bipartisan amendments to this bill were | |
| distributed to members in advance, and I understand members are | |
| prepared to accept them. | |
| So, without objection, the two bipartisan amendments, | |
| Connolly Amendment No. 40 and McCaul Amendment No. 20, are | |
| supported by myself and Mr. McCaul and Mr. Connolly, and are | |
| agreed to en bloc. | |
| [The amendments en bloc follow:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. At this time, I recognize myself to speak | |
| on the measure. | |
| The past year has taught all of us the importance of global | |
| health security. Never has it been so clear that the pathogens | |
| around the world can dramatically affect American life here at | |
| home. | |
| Representative Connolly has been a persistent leader on | |
| this issue in the past, and I so appreciate his work this | |
| Congress to further update this legislation. | |
| As the saying goes, one ounce of prevention is worth a | |
| pound of cure. And that is undoubtedly true in global health. | |
| Pandemics do not respect borders. They do not care about | |
| nationalities, and we have spent the last year seeing that play | |
| out with horrific results in the COVID-19 pandemic. | |
| Having a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to both | |
| preparing for and responding to these threats is critical, even | |
| more so, as we face a growing coronavirus outbreak. | |
| This measure today would institutionalize the best | |
| practices the United States has learned in global health | |
| security. The bill establishes an Interagency Review Council to | |
| advance global health security and mandates a U.S. Global | |
| Health Security Coordinator to manage the U.S. response in | |
| these emergencies and to speak with one voice. | |
| It also requires a strategy and reporting to Congress, | |
| which has communicated throughout this latest coronavirus | |
| outbreak its conviction that global health security is in our | |
| national interest, not just in playing catchup, but in getting | |
| ahead of the curve. | |
| I support this important legislation and encourage everyone | |
| to do the same. | |
| I realize that members wish to speak on the bill, and that | |
| some members have amendments to offer. Please use the ``raise | |
| your hand'' function on Webex, and I will recognize members by | |
| committee seniority, alternating between Democrats and | |
| Republicans, for the purpose of speaking on the bill first. If | |
| you miss your turn, please let our staff know. We will circle | |
| back to you. Then, we will move on to amendments. | |
| I now recognize Representative Steve Chabot of Ohio, who is | |
| the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, | |
| Central Asia, and Nonproliferation, for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Chabot. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for yielding. | |
| I'm not going to take the full 5 minutes because I spoke on | |
| this at the beginning. | |
| But I want to again commend Mr. Connolly for his leadership | |
| on this. We've been working on this now for 3 years. And as I | |
| mentioned before, this really was prescient because we had | |
| never heard of COVID-19 when we put this legislation together | |
| and introduced it. We were concerned that we were vulnerable, | |
| and the rest of the world was vulnerable, to something like | |
| this. And so, we thought that we ought to be prepared for it | |
| here, and that, most importantly, we ought to be working with | |
| other countries across the globe who may not be as prepared as | |
| we are. And it turned out that Mr. Connolly and I were right, | |
| and obviously, this has been devastating to so many people. The | |
| worse, of course, is losing over half a million lives, but it | |
| has devastated small business; it's devastated families, and | |
| you name it. So, it's been a terrible pandemic, and this will | |
| prepare us for the next one. | |
| And so, I just want to, again, commend him and all the | |
| other members who have worked with us to get this to this | |
| point. I am hoping that we can actually pass this into | |
| legislation if we can get the Senate to act on it. So, I want | |
| to thank all the members for working on this with us. | |
| And I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia, | |
| the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. | |
| McCaul. And thank you to my good friend and partner in this | |
| enterprise, Mr. Chabot of Ohio. | |
| This is an important bill. Tragically, we did not know how | |
| prescient or desperately needed this was when we first | |
| introduced it in December 2018. The global COVID-19 pandemic | |
| underscored not only the need for a robust Federal response to | |
| such a crisis, but also the importance of investing in global | |
| health security and pandemic preparedness around the world, | |
| because diseases do not respect borders. | |
| I welcome the fact that the House Foreign Affairs Committee | |
| has coalesced around a bipartisan solution that addresses | |
| deficiencies in the current pandemic response effort, as well | |
| as demonstrating a commitment to a comprehensive and | |
| sustainable approach to global health security going forward. | |
| We must rise to this occasion. We are in a pandemic that | |
| has cost over a million lives worldwide, but 600,000 lives here | |
| in our home country and tens of millions of Americans have | |
| suffered from COVID infection, many still with lingering, | |
| prolonged symptoms. | |
| This bill would establish a Global Health Security Agenda | |
| Interagency Review Council, overseen by the National Security | |
| Advisor, and whose membership would include the heads of | |
| agencies relevant to carrying out the Global Health Security | |
| Agenda. It would establish a U.S. Coordinator for Global Health | |
| Security responsible for coordinating the interagency response | |
| to a global health security emergency. It would require the | |
| President to develop a Global Health Security Strategy with | |
| specific and measurable goals, benchmarks, and performance | |
| metrics that will improve U.S. leadership in global pandemic | |
| preparedness, and it would establish, finally, an International | |
| Fund for Global Health Security and Pandemic Preparedness. | |
| I want to again thank you, Chairman Meeks and Ranking | |
| Member McCaul, for working with Mr. Chabot and me to strengthen | |
| this legislation. I also want to thank our respective committee | |
| staffs and our personal staffs for their commitment to this | |
| enterprise. | |
| I really believe the result of our collaboration is a | |
| better bill that will have an even greater impact on our | |
| ability to emerge from this pandemic with a plan, with | |
| infrastructure and resources in place to prevent another | |
| catastrophic global health crisis. | |
| Improvements to the bill include elevating the participants | |
| of the Interagency Council in a manner commensurate with the | |
| scope of the work that Council will need to carry out in the | |
| aftermath of the pandemic; strengthening the scope of the | |
| Global Health Security Strategy with lessons learned from | |
| COVID-19, and the addition of a multilateral fund. These | |
| improvements happen to consistent with the Biden | |
| administration's now Security Memorandum on the Global United | |
| States Leadership to Strengthen the International COVID-19 | |
| Response and to advance global health security and biological | |
| preparedness. | |
| Our statutory framework is careful not to be overly | |
| prescriptive and to prejudge the outcome of the current | |
| Response Framework offered by the administration. To that end, | |
| I want to thank Ranking Member McCaul for his willingness to be | |
| flexible on our vision for the U.S. Coordinator's role. Our | |
| approach does not mandate how or where the position should | |
| reside ultimately, and we think that approach gives us an | |
| opportunity to continue to have a dialog on this point and | |
| pursue a coordinated model that's informed by the best | |
| practices and lessons learned from this pandemic. | |
| Republican and Democratic Presidents alike have recognized | |
| the critical importance of global health security, President | |
| Obama's role on launching the Global Health Security Agenda to | |
| President Trump's National Security Strategy and the National | |
| Biodefense Strategy. | |
| Whether it's the current COVID-19 pandemic or the next | |
| crisis, it's clear these threats are ongoing and increasing, | |
| saving lives when the next global pandemic starts with | |
| investing and preparedness before is strikes. And we have seen | |
| time and again diseases do not respect borders and global | |
| health crises have immense security, economic, and humanitarian | |
| consequences. | |
| Our Global Health Security Act recognizes the critical role | |
| of U.S. leadership in international health security, enshrines | |
| U.S. global health security policy in statute, and ensures that | |
| there is a permanent designated official responsible for | |
| coordinating these efforts and accountable for response | |
| outcomes. | |
| I am proud that our Global Health Security Act has passed | |
| the House four times, and I think we are even better positioned | |
| now to pursue this effort and get it into law. | |
| In closing, I want to thank all of my colleagues--Steve | |
| Chabot, Rick Larsen, Brian Fitzpatrick, Ami Bera, Ann Wagner-- | |
| for serving as original co-sponsors of this bipartisan bill. | |
| And again, I cannot thank the chairman and ranking member | |
| enough for their involvement and their active support. | |
| I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired. | |
| Seeing no further requests to speak, let's move on to | |
| amendments. | |
| For what purpose does the Representative from Ohio, Mr. | |
| Chabot, seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Chabot. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at | |
| the desk. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The clerk shall distribute the amendment to | |
| your staff virtually. | |
| Mr. Chabot. Thank you. | |
| Chairman Meeks. I'm pausing briefly to give all members | |
| enough time to review the amendment. | |
| Has everyone received a copy of the amendment? | |
| The clerk will please report the amendment. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Chabot Amendment No. 12. Strike Section 7 and | |
| insert the following: Section 7, Strategy and Reports. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, further reading of the | |
| amendment will be dispensed with. | |
| [The Amendment No. 12 of Mr. Chabot follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. The Representative from Ohio, Mr. Chabot, | |
| is recognized for 5 minutes in support of Amendment No. 12. | |
| Mr. Chabot. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will not need to | |
| take that much time. | |
| Throughout my time in Congress, I've always sought to | |
| ensure that taxpayer money is spent effectively. One way to do | |
| it is to include strategy and reporting requirements in | |
| legislation we pass to enhance our ability to do effective | |
| oversight. | |
| If adopted, this amendment would strengthen both the | |
| strategy and the reports required by the Global Health Security | |
| Act to enhance better oversight over U.S. efforts to advance | |
| pandemic preparedness and response capabilities around the | |
| globe. | |
| This amendment is a consensus product of bipartisan | |
| negotiations between myself, Mr. Connolly, Ranking Member | |
| McCaul, and Chairman Meeks. And I would urge that my colleagues | |
| support the amendment, and I yield back. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Would my friend, Mr. Chabot, yield to me, Mr. | |
| Connolly? | |
| Mr. Chabot. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from | |
| the Commonwealth of Virginia, Mr. Connolly. | |
| Mr. Connolly. I thank you, Mr. Chabot. | |
| I just want to briefly say I support the amendment, and I | |
| think it's a very thoughtful and substantive addition that | |
| strengthens the bill and strengthens our effort going forward. | |
| And I urge its adoption. | |
| Thank you for yielding. | |
| Mr. Chabot. I'm happy to yield, and I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize myself for 5 minutes. | |
| I support Mr. Chabot's amendment. Mr. Chabot's amendment, | |
| along with the McCaul and Connolly amendments to the GHSA, | |
| represent a bipartisan group of changes to the bill which I, | |
| the ranking member, Mr. Connolly, and Mr. Chabot support. | |
| Mr. Chabot's amendment includes greater detail in the | |
| Global Health Security Strategy required by the bill, adding | |
| pieces like commitments to transparency, avoiding overlap and | |
| duplication, and supporting public-private partnerships. The | |
| strategy also calls for working closely with allies and | |
| partners, a crucial component to maintain global health | |
| security. | |
| I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important | |
| amendment, and I yield back. | |
| Is there any further debate on Chabot Amendment No. 12? | |
| [No response.] | |
| Chairman Meeks. I understand that there are a couple of | |
| amendments to the Chabot amendment. | |
| For what purpose does the Representative from Pennsylvania, | |
| Mr. Perry, seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have what I think is | |
| a friendly amendment at the desk. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The clerk shall distribute the amendment to | |
| your staff virtually. | |
| Let's pause briefly to give members enough time to review | |
| the amendment. | |
| Has everyone received a copy of the amendment? | |
| The clerk will please report the amendment. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Perry Amendment No. 51. At the end of Section | |
| 7(b), add the following---- | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, further reading of the | |
| amendment will be dispensed with. | |
| [The Amendment No. 51 of Mr. Perry follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. A point of order is reserved. | |
| The Representative from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, is | |
| recognized for 5 minutes in support of the amendment. | |
| Mr. Perry. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| This is the first of three I have on this piece of | |
| legislation. | |
| I certainly thank the gentlemen and ladies on both sides of | |
| the aisle that have worked diligently for years to bring this | |
| to fruition. I just want to bring it up-to-date, especially | |
| based on what has happened in the last year and some-odd | |
| months. | |
| A discussion on this legislation cannot go without | |
| mentioning the lack of global health security as a result of | |
| the action of the Chinese Communist Party. Now this amendment | |
| does not for anything except accountability. We simply must | |
| acknowledge that the main reason we're discussing global health | |
| security today is because of China. | |
| Understandably, there have been epidemics and/or pandemics | |
| in the past, including the outbreak of H1N1 in this country and | |
| the outbreak of Ebola in Africa. However, the fact that the CCP | |
| controls or has outsized influence in so many international | |
| institutions is a very real threat to the success of any | |
| interagency or multilateral effort to combat the spread of | |
| diseases around the world. | |
| Now this amendment would address serious concerns that have | |
| been raised in numerous outlets regarding gain-of-function | |
| research being conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. To | |
| be clear, gain-of-function research is the deliberate | |
| manipulation of a virus to make it more transmissible and | |
| fatal. | |
| In a letter I led to the HHS OIG last month, I noted that | |
| the Wuhan Institute was somehow eligible for NIH grant funding. | |
| This is entirely unacceptable. And a few hours after my | |
| colleagues and I delivered that letter to the OIG's office, the | |
| Biden administration pledged to not provide funds to the Wuhan | |
| Institute, thank goodness, because I was pretty sure they were | |
| prepared to continue to fund the Institute again. | |
| This is a good start, but we need to continue to hold China | |
| accountable. We know that the NIH has previously provided funds | |
| to the Wuhan Institute, and we know that the NIH grantees, | |
| including the EcoHealth Alliance, have provided funds to the | |
| Wuhan Institute as well. | |
| Aside from preventing funds from going to the WIV, or any | |
| institution in the People's Republic of China engaging in gain- | |
| of-function research, we need to assess the extent and scope of | |
| such research in preparing for future virus outbreaks. And we | |
| need to be fully in the know, which leads to my last point. | |
| China has been far from a helpful partner during this | |
| pandemic. We know for a fact that they lied to us and made the | |
| virus far more impactful than it had to be. | |
| The second part of this amendment includes a strategy for | |
| ensuring maximum readiness against future pandemics, in light | |
| of the PRC's historic refusal to cooperate on issues of global | |
| health security. Put plainly, they're not going to want to | |
| cooperate with us. So, we need to begin to assess how we might | |
| otherwise avoid putting ourselves in a position that doesn't | |
| again leave millions of Americans out of jobs and hundreds of | |
| thousands of American families without a loved one today. | |
| This amendment is less about how we can work with China-- | |
| they have shown time and time again they have very little | |
| interest in working with us on issues of global health | |
| security--but it is more about how we can best monitor China's | |
| roguish behavior. | |
| With that, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I yield | |
| back the remainder of the time, Mr. Chair. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. But I want the | |
| gentleman to know that we called up the Perry Amendment No. 51. | |
| I think that you were articulating about the Perry Amendment | |
| No. 48, if that's not correct. We called up 51, the proposed | |
| amendment which requires the President, in collaboration with | |
| ODNI, to make a determination on the likelihood that COVID | |
| originated in a Chinese lab. That's No. 51. | |
| Mr. Perry. Mr. Chairman, I apologize for being out of order | |
| here. Somehow, they had it up that way on my sheet, and I do | |
| not have them listed in the numbers that you have them listed | |
| in. | |
| Chairman Meeks. So, let me just let the record reflect that | |
| now I'll call up, since you debated Perry No. 48---- | |
| Mr. Perry. Okay. | |
| Chairman Meeks [continuing]. I will respond to No. 48, and | |
| we will recall 51 after we debate 48. | |
| So, I have to make sure now that everyone has received a | |
| copy of the Amendment No. 48 for their review. | |
| Okay. Has everybody received 48? | |
| Seeing that everyone has Perry Amendment No. 48, I now | |
| recognize myself for 5--oh, no, let me let the clerk read 48. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Perry Amendment No. 48. At the end of Section | |
| 7(c), add the following: Determination. The report required | |
| under paragraph (1) shall include: (A) A determination of the | |
| President, acting through the United States Coordinator for | |
| Global Health Security, which may be submitted---- | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, further reading of the | |
| amendment will be dispensed with. | |
| [The Amendment No. 48 of Mr. Perry follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. And now, since I had yielded such time to | |
| Mr. Perry, I will recognize myself for 5 minutes. | |
| Gain-of-function research is an ongoing issue, including in | |
| the United States, and should be looked at globally, not just | |
| in a single country. The strategy required under Section 7 | |
| already seeks to prevent, detect, and respond to future | |
| outbreaks. Additionally, the current strategy in the bill | |
| includes prioritizing working with countries who have | |
| demonstrated commitment to transparency and the international | |
| health regulations, the language that was included at the | |
| request of the minority. | |
| We need to remain vigilant regarding China when it comes to | |
| public health, but the next pandemic could start anywhere in | |
| the world. An effective strategy must be holistic and global in | |
| nature, and thereby, I oppose this amendment and yield back the | |
| balance of my time. | |
| Is there any further debate on the amendment? | |
| Hearing none---- | |
| Mr. Connolly. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes? | |
| Mr. Connolly. This is Mr. Connolly. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes, Mr. Connolly is recognized for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for | |
| your clarification. | |
| The whole issue of gain-of-function research is a global | |
| issue, not limited to one country. And I might add, I made a | |
| counteroffer to Mr. Perry with broader language that would have | |
| incorporated I think what he is trying to get at without | |
| fingering a specific lab in a specific country. That | |
| counteroffer was rejected. | |
| Second, as you point out, we added Republican language to | |
| the bill that incorporated a goal of working with countries | |
| dedicated to transparency and international health regulations. | |
| I believe that these two amendments, if I can speak to both | |
| of them, specifically imply that the virus outbreak came from a | |
| laboratory with Wuhan in the Republic of China. That is not a | |
| proven assertion. And for this committee to go on record as | |
| doing that will fracture bipartisan support for this bill, and | |
| there's something else. | |
| We just witnessed eight people mowed down in a violent gun | |
| attack in Atlanta, Georgia. Six of those eight people were | |
| Asian-Americans. All across America, our fellow Americans, | |
| Asian-Americans, Asian-American descent, are expressing fear | |
| and anger about a pattern of harassment and hate in correlation | |
| with a pandemic for which they bear no responsibility, but all | |
| too many fellow Americans blame them. | |
| The FBI has reported an increase to 3800 hate crimes aimed | |
| at Asian-Americans during the pandemic. When key figures refer | |
| to the ``China flu'' or the ``Wuhan virus,'' they apparently do | |
| not understand that some who hear them, then, act on that and | |
| blame Asian-Americans for something they are blameless for. | |
| How can we, while this Nation is grieving of the loss of | |
| these lives in a violent act of hatred, how can we add to that | |
| agony and that pain by fingering a particular lab in a | |
| particular country that will have racial ramifications in | |
| America, and will say to the world we've learned nothing? | |
| The House Foreign Affairs Committee cannot do this, even | |
| though, privately and personally. Many people may very well | |
| feel or believe China is believe, this bill is not the place in | |
| which to encumber ourselves with enshrining this through this | |
| amendment in law. It would be a mistake, it would be | |
| retrograde, and it would be a slap in the face of grieving our | |
| Asian-Americans all over our country. | |
| I urge the committee on a bipartisan basis to reject these | |
| two amendments. They serve no purpose other than ventilation, | |
| and they will do real harm. | |
| I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Is there any further debate on Amendment No. 48? | |
| Mr. Chabot. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes, who seeks recognition? | |
| Mr. Chabot. Mr. Chabot. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Mr. Chabot, you're recognized for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Chabot. Yes, I hadn't necessarily intended to speak on | |
| this, but since we've had a bit of a discussion, I think I | |
| should, just to clarify where I stand and where I think some of | |
| my colleagues may stand on this. I do not know for sure. | |
| But this has been a very bipartisan process. We worked very | |
| closely with Mr. Connolly and Mr. Meeks, and others. Mr. Perry | |
| has offered amendments. I think it's perfectly legitimate to | |
| call out Beijing and the Wuhan region where this happened, and | |
| whether it actually came out of the lab, I do not think we know | |
| for sure, but it may well have. And I do not think there are | |
| any racial overtones to this whatsoever. However, obviously, | |
| members can agree or disagree on those types of things. | |
| But I personally think that Mr. Perry's amendments make a | |
| good bill better. So, I intend to support them. If they do not | |
| pass, I certainly intend to support the legislation without | |
| that particular amendment. | |
| The other amendments were worked on in a partisan manner. | |
| This part couldn't be, and that's why we are where we are. But | |
| I will support this whether this amendment passes or not. | |
| And I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman | |
| yields back. | |
| Is there any further debate on Amendment No. 48? | |
| Mr. Mast. Representative Mast seeks recognition. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Representative Mast is recognized for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Mast. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly will not | |
| need 5 minutes. | |
| It's just I think our colleague, Mr. Connolly, my friend | |
| Mr. Connolly, has sparked some debate among us, and I would | |
| only offer this comment: that should every white person in the | |
| United States of America take offense and feel at risk because | |
| somebody is calling out white supremacy within our country? I | |
| do not think that we would jump to that conclusion, nor should | |
| we jump to, because we are pointing to the origins of a | |
| pandemic, that every person of an Asian descent should feel as | |
| though we're somehow pointing a finger at them when we're | |
| talking about a specific origin. It would be hyperbolic in both | |
| instances, in my opinion, to do so. | |
| And in that, I yield my time back. | |
| Mr. Green. Mr. Chairman, this is Congressman Green. I'd | |
| also like to make a quick comment about this, if I could. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Mr. Green---- | |
| Ms. Bass. And, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, this is | |
| Congressman Bass. I would like to as well. | |
| Chairman Meeks. I now recognize Congresswoman Bass for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Ms. Bass. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| I was just a little concerned at my colleagues' comments. I | |
| think what is actual fact is that, since the virus--since the | |
| President, since President Trump started calling it ``the China | |
| virus,'' there has been a massive increase in hate crimes | |
| directed toward Asians, over a 200 percent increase. And many | |
| times when those crimes take place, the person that is | |
| attacking the individual specifically links it to that. So, | |
| that is the concern. There is no such correlation between | |
| denouncing white supremacy and, then, white Americans being | |
| concerned. There is no relationship to that at all. And I am | |
| very concerned that, after a year of vitriol from the | |
| administration, that it is not shocking to me that we had what | |
| happened last week. | |
| So, with that, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Green from Tennessee for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Green. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| First, I want to say that the Chinese scientists who were | |
| silenced by China because they took the same position that this | |
| amendment takes, that China has suppressed the truth about the | |
| virus, were Asian. They were Chinese. So, this isn't about any | |
| demographic. This about the leadership of a country who even | |
| suppressed and disappeared their own Chinese Asian people's | |
| scientists from telling the truth about the origins of this | |
| virus and the truth about its spread, and the truth about what | |
| was going on in the Wuhan Lab and the Wuhan region of China. | |
| So, making this somehow a racial thing, sure, it may serve some | |
| political agenda, but it has no purpose in this committee. | |
| And in regards to Atlanta, the FBI has clearly not released | |
| an intent for that murderer, just as in Colorado he is of | |
| Muslim descent, but there is no intent yet that has been stated | |
| from those shooters. So, to assume that there is some kind of | |
| racial motivation because most of the people were of a certain | |
| demographic is unfair at this point. Now it may very well prove | |
| to be true, but at this point that's unfair. So, we're | |
| conflating things that we shouldn't. | |
| This virus came from that area. Their own scientists were | |
| accusing their government of making huge mistakes, and those | |
| scientists were silenced. It has nothing to do with race or | |
| ethnicity, or anything like that. | |
| And with that, I yield. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Is there further debate on Amendment No. | |
| 47--48? | |
| Ms. Wild. Mr. Meeks? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes? | |
| Ms. Wild. Susan Wild here. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Ms. Wild is recognized for 5 minutes. | |
| Ms. Wild. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not need 5 minutes. | |
| I wish to associate myself with the remarks of | |
| Representative Bass and, also, to comment upon my colleague's | |
| statement about whether all whites should be threatened by the | |
| media's and public's denouncing of white supremacy, to which my | |
| answer would be, only those whites who are themselves white | |
| supremacists. | |
| And with that, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. | |
| Who seeks recognition? | |
| Mr. McCaul. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes, I recognize Ranking Member McCaul for | |
| 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. McCaul. Well, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| I would like to see the tone of this debate really more | |
| fact-based and not go down the way it's going. I just want to | |
| offer, factually, when I chaired the China Task Force, what we | |
| were able to uncover is really evidence. We do know it came out | |
| of Wuhan. There's some uncertainty whether it came from the wet | |
| market or the laboratory. | |
| And I think Mr. Perry's amendment is proper in terms of | |
| reporting, so we know about the origins of COVID-19, so we can | |
| stop this from ever happening again. Millions of people have | |
| died. Millions of jobs have been destroyed. We're entitled, as | |
| Congress, to know the truth. | |
| The fact is that they were researching coronaviruses from | |
| bats, how they could extrapolate to humans, at the lab and to | |
| develop a vaccine. We also know from Department of State cables | |
| that were declassified that there were many safety concerns | |
| about the protocols being used at the lab. As we saw in 2004, | |
| researchers walked out contaminated with the SARS virus. It's | |
| not a huge stretch, but we just do not know what all the | |
| evidence would be with respect to it leaking from this | |
| laboratory. | |
| But I think Congress is entitled to have a full both | |
| classified and unclassified briefing on this. It's a very | |
| important issue, and I think the extent to which the Chinese | |
| Communist Party went to cover this up, it needs to be talked | |
| about here. They silenced the doctors that were on WeChat | |
| talking about a SARS-like virus. They destroyed lab samples. | |
| They would not take the Taiwanese or the WHO's own expert's in | |
| Wuhan advice that it was human to human. And instead, the | |
| Director General Tedros and the WHO did not issue that alert, | |
| the international pandemic alert, but, rather, chose to sit on | |
| it. | |
| And meanwhile, the big festival in January took place, and | |
| 5 million people exited Wuhan, traveled through mainland China, | |
| and then, traveled internationally. That's precisely, Mr. | |
| Chairman, when this went from a contained, local epidemic, or | |
| not contained, but local epidemic, to a global pandemic. And | |
| those are just facts. | |
| I do not think this discussion has anything to do with | |
| someone's race or anything. I think it's just it's fact-based, | |
| and I think Congress is entitled to know the facts about what | |
| happened, what did or did not happen at that laboratory. | |
| And so, I thank you. I think I would like to return to more | |
| civility in our discussion, and I thank the chairman for the | |
| time. And I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. Is there any | |
| further debate on Amendment No. 48, Perry No. 48? | |
| Hearing no further requests to speak, the question is on | |
| Perry Amendment No. 48. | |
| We're going to take a vote by voice. All members, please | |
| unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All those opposed, say no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it, and the | |
| amendment is not agreed to. | |
| And without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid | |
| upon the table. | |
| For what purpose does the Representative from Pennsylvania | |
| seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at | |
| the desk. I believe it's No. 51 on this occasion. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The clerk shall distribute the amendment to | |
| our staff virtually. | |
| Let's pause briefly to give all members enough time to | |
| review the amendment. | |
| Has everyone received a copy of the amendment? | |
| The clerk will please report the amendment. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Perry Amendment No. 51. At the end of Section | |
| 7(b), add the following: (3) Determination. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, further reading of the | |
| amendment will be dispensed with. | |
| [The Amendment No. 51 of Mr. Perry follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. A point of order is reserved. | |
| The Representative from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, is now | |
| recognized for 5 minutes in support of the amendment. | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. | |
| The greatest mystery surrounding the coronavirus pandemic | |
| will almost certainly never be solved--how it began. Whether it | |
| originated in a wet market in Wuhan or leaked from a laboratory | |
| as a result of gain-of-function research promoted by Chinese | |
| health authorities, we'll likely never know because the CCP | |
| will do absolutely everything they can to avoid cooperating on | |
| the subject and having the world find out the truth. | |
| The lab theory was dismissed early on as a right-wing | |
| conspiracy less than 1 year ago. However, just last month, The | |
| Washington Post, not exactly an outlet known for advocacy of | |
| conservative viewpoints, published an article on the lab | |
| hypothesis in an op-ed. More and more questions continue to | |
| surround this hypothesis, especially in light of circumstances | |
| immediately preceding the pandemic. | |
| For example, in 2018, the State Department offered a | |
| briefing regarding the potential pandemic risk of research | |
| conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology indicating that | |
| our government knew about the potential of coronavirus experts | |
| at the WIV as well as biosafety concerns at the facility in | |
| general. | |
| The National Institutes of Health until recently, | |
| apparently, made research grants available to the WIV and, | |
| also, made grants available to benefactors of the WIV, | |
| including the EcoHealth Alliance. It would seem unlikely that | |
| the NIH was unaware of the scope of the gain-in-function | |
| experiments occurring in Wuhan. More than a month ago, after | |
| sending a letter to the HHS OIG office requesting specific | |
| information on the NIH's relationship with the WIV, I have not | |
| received answers to any of my questions. | |
| Now this has been a very long year for the American people, | |
| and after a devastating pandemic that has left more than half a | |
| million dead and millions out of work, the very least they | |
| deserve are answers to the questions they continue to have. | |
| This amendment would offer that option by directing the | |
| President to offer an assessment on the likelihood that the | |
| coronavirus was leaked from a laboratory within the People's | |
| Republic of China. It allows for a classified annex to be | |
| applied to this requirement if the President judges it to be in | |
| the national security interest of the United States. | |
| It is true that a simple reporting requirement cannot | |
| establish with certainty that this virus may have escaped from | |
| a lab. However, conducting as thorough an analysis as possible | |
| may allow for a greater clarity as to the potential origins of | |
| the virus, and they could go a long way to informing us on how | |
| to avoid future pandemics. Knowing as much as possible about | |
| the virus' origins is crucial to the future of global health | |
| security. | |
| And before I close, I just want to say, quite honestly, how | |
| disappointed I am in the tenor of this discussion that it has | |
| taken, and I hope we can remain on the subject at hand, which | |
| has nothing to do with race and has everything to do with the | |
| Communist Chinese Party who revels--who revels and delights--in | |
| the fact that we would not even reference them, that we're | |
| cowed, that we are suppressed at referencing their involvement | |
| in whatever happened, wherever it happened, regarding China and | |
| around the globe. And the fact that we would conflate the | |
| horrific acts that were conducted around the country and | |
| somehow link them to our business of trying to get to the truth | |
| for this thing that has plagued not only the world, but the | |
| United States of America is just very, very disappointing to | |
| me, to say the least. So, again, we're just trying to get to | |
| the facts. | |
| I associate myself with the comments of the members on my | |
| side of the aisle in the last portion of the debate, and I | |
| appreciate the opportunity to try and make our country, and the | |
| world, a safer place and acknowledge--and acknowledge--who has | |
| not been helpful, who has not been forthcoming and transparent. | |
| And that is the Communist Chinese Party. That's who it is, not | |
| Chinese-Americans and not the vast majority of Chinese people. | |
| But if we cannot discuss it, well, China's going to win, and | |
| I'm not going to aid or abet that. | |
| And with that, I'm going to calm down, Mr. Chairman, and I | |
| yield back the balance of my time, and urge passage of this | |
| amendment as well. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back the balance of | |
| his time. | |
| As Mr. Sherman has noted in his opening, this is an | |
| unnecessary amendment, given that the Fiscal Year omnibus bill | |
| contains a reporting requirement on the origins of the virus. | |
| We expect to receive this report from the administration in the | |
| next few days. | |
| Separately, it is critical that any approach to | |
| understanding the virus origins be unbiased and based on facts | |
| and appropriately scoped. And that is not the case with this | |
| amendment. | |
| Mr. Connolly's bill looks forward, seeking to increase | |
| pandemic preparedness, improve interagency coordination, and | |
| leverage support from others to address global health security, | |
| period. Thereby, I oppose this amendment, and yield back the | |
| balance of my time. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Would the chairman yield to me, Mr. Connolly? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes, I yield to Mr. Connolly. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Thank you, rather than seeking simple | |
| recognition. | |
| I would just point out, first of all, references to the | |
| tragedy in Atlanta are about context. They're not accusing | |
| anybody on our committee of anything untoward, and certainly | |
| not Mr. Perry in terms of his motivation, which I'm sure is | |
| sincere. | |
| I am recalling for my colleagues, though, we act in a | |
| context, and the context right now is one of great fear in the | |
| Asian-American community throughout our country. That's a fact, | |
| and you can talk to your own Asian-American communities to | |
| confirm it. And therefore, doing something specific that points | |
| to China, when we do not have to do it, I think in this context | |
| is harmful. | |
| Second, I offered a compromise, Mr. Chairman, in terms of | |
| language today. Here's the language: in lieu of both of Mr. | |
| Perry's amendments, we offered to say, add an amendment that | |
| said, ``The President, in coordination with the United States | |
| Coordinator, shall include''--shall include--``in the initial | |
| report,'' required under paragraph 1, ``an evaluation as | |
| practical and appropriate, concerns regarding gain-of-function | |
| research and the potential origins of pandemics, including the | |
| ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.'' | |
| That language would have absolutely encompassed what I | |
| thought Mr. Perry was seeking. But, obviously, my friends, some | |
| of my friends on the other side of the aisle want to be much | |
| more specific in pointing the finger at China. I believe in the | |
| current context in America that's a mistake. I think it would | |
| hurt the bill, and I think it's unnecessary. And that's why I | |
| posed this amendment as well. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Reclaiming my time, I now yield back the | |
| balance of my time. | |
| Is there any further debate on the amendment? | |
| Hearing no further requests to speak, the question is on | |
| the Perry Amendment No. 51. | |
| We are going to take a vote by voice. All members, please | |
| unmute your microphone. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All those opposed, say no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it, and the | |
| amendment is not agreed to. | |
| And without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid | |
| upon the table. | |
| For what purpose does the gentleman, the Representative | |
| from Pennsylvania, seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at | |
| the desk. I believe it's designated Amendment No. 54. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Hold 1 second. | |
| I believe that there should be the Chabot amendment first. | |
| Mr. Perry. All right, Mr. Chairman, I'll yield. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Mr. Chabot? | |
| Hearing no further requests to speak, the question is on | |
| the Chabot Amendment No. 12. | |
| And with that, I'll take a vote by voice. All members, | |
| please unmute your microphone. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All those opposed, say no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the | |
| amendment is agreed to. | |
| And without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid | |
| upon the table. | |
| Now are there other amendments? | |
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Pennsylvania seek | |
| recognition? | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe I have an | |
| amendment at the desk. I believe it's No. 54, unless I stand | |
| corrected. | |
| Chairman Meeks. All right. You're right. | |
| The clerk shall distribute the amendment to your staff | |
| virtually. | |
| Let's pause briefly to give all members enough time to | |
| review the amendment. | |
| Have everybody received a copy of the amendment? | |
| The clerk will please report the amendment. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Perry Amendment No. 54. Amendment to H.R. 391. | |
| At the end of the bill, add the following---- | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, further reading of the | |
| amendment will be dispensed with. | |
| [The Amendment No. 54 of Mr. Perry follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. A point of order is reserved. | |
| And the Representative from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, is | |
| recognized for 5 minutes in support of the amendment. | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'm certainly | |
| grateful for the opportunity to speak on this amendment today, | |
| a proposal that would mandate the fulfillment of the | |
| recommendations listed in the 2020 China Task Force Report. | |
| Mr. Chairman, we believe that global health security is an | |
| important goal and we must also hold both our adversaries and | |
| our partners accountable when they undermine global health | |
| objectives and U.S. security interests. Specifically, this | |
| amendment would ensure that none of the funds made available to | |
| carry out this Act, the Global Health Security Act, may be used | |
| to make contributions to the World Health Organization until | |
| the WHO undertakes organization-specific reforms. These reforms | |
| include: | |
| First, and very specifically, the resignation of Dr. | |
| Tedros. Dr. Tedros refused to declare a public health emergency | |
| of international concern on January 23d, 2020; in fact, was the | |
| deciding vote against doing so, stymying international | |
| cooperation to contain the spread of this pandemic. He know | |
| that the PRC was withholding information and willfully | |
| promulgated the lies the Communist regime in Beijing was | |
| spewing. On every possible metric, Dr. Tedros has demonstrated | |
| stunning incompetence and bears responsibility for making this | |
| pandemic as bad as it is. | |
| Next year, Dr. Tedros is up for reelection. However, I fear | |
| that the CCP, who promoted Dr. Tedros to this current role, may | |
| use their influence to maintain him in that position. We should | |
| take up the recommendations for reforms of the WHO by removing | |
| by Dr. Tedros from his post before he has an opportunity to | |
| marginalize global health security even further. | |
| Second, we must make sure that Taiwan regains observer | |
| status in the WHO. On this topic, I do not think there is much | |
| opposition among committee members. Taiwan has more than proven | |
| themselves to be a reliable partner on issues of global health | |
| security, and at the very least, merits readmittance to the | |
| World Health Assembly as an observer. But note this will never | |
| happen with Dr. Tedros in power. Both of these reforms go hand- | |
| in-hand. | |
| Third, we must continue to insist on an independent | |
| international investigation with like-minded partners, | |
| including Taiwan, into the CCP's lies during the early going of | |
| the pandemic and the WHO's actions in concealing the missteps | |
| taken by the PRC. | |
| Finally, we must ensure the World Health Organization | |
| undertakes international health regulation reform. It is clear | |
| that, while many countries have still failed to ensure | |
| compliance by the 2005 IHRs, China routinely ignores the IHRs, | |
| despite unquestionably having the capacity to fulfill its | |
| obligations. In doing so, the PRC has clearly highlighted the | |
| need for IHR reform. You've got Article 6, Article 9, Article | |
| 10, and Article 12, all that need compliance and adherence to | |
| by the CCP. | |
| It's irresponsible--it is irresponsible--to simply re- | |
| engage with the World Health Organization with no strings | |
| attached. We should be holding them to account and ensure that | |
| they fulfill these recommendations listed in the China Task | |
| Force Report to ensure accountability in international | |
| organizations when they fall short. | |
| I encourage adoption of this amendment, and I yield back | |
| the balance of my time. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back the balance of | |
| his time. | |
| I now recognize myself for 5 minutes. | |
| Even prior to the current pandemic, Congress recognized the | |
| need to address global health security and to help ensure that | |
| the different actors in the Federal Government helping inform | |
| its response must act collaboratively and with one voice. | |
| The bill does not include any funding for the WHO. Rather, | |
| it is intended to enhance coordination and proposes a mechanism | |
| to actually encourage other donors to invest in global health | |
| security. | |
| While the WHO is not perfect, its technical capabilities | |
| and capacities, and relationships around the world, make it | |
| uniquely placed to help confront the global health challenges | |
| addressed by this Act. The United States is best positioned to | |
| effect positive changes by maintaining our seat at the table. | |
| Attaching artificial limits to our funding forfeits our voice | |
| and erodes our ability to seek reforms. | |
| We're in the midst of a pandemic. The Trump administration | |
| did enough damage to the global public health response by | |
| disengaging with the WHO. The best way to implement change is | |
| to do what the Biden administration is doing, reasserting U.S. | |
| leadership and strengthening our ties with our partners to work | |
| collaboratively--collaboratively--to reform the WHO. | |
| And I yield back the balance of my time. | |
| Who seeks recognition? | |
| Mr. McCaul. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Mr. McCaul, you're recognized for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. McCaul. I thank you, Mr. Chair. | |
| And let me say I support this amendment, but let me just | |
| say, Mr. Chairman, whether or not this amendment passes or | |
| fails, I do think you and I and the committee should be | |
| looking, as we're doing with my 5G bill, at the rise of the | |
| Chinese Communist Party within the United Nations. They almost | |
| got the Intellectual Property Organization leadership, which | |
| would be laughable, given their theft of IP. Just like we're | |
| doing with my 5G bill, I think we need to have a thorough | |
| examination of the leadership at the WHO. | |
| We know that Director General Tedros is very close to | |
| President Xi, and he utterly failed the world in the most | |
| important role that he has, to notify the world about the | |
| threat of a global pandemic. When the issue was presented to | |
| him, and when his own expert in Wuhan was telling him it was | |
| transmittable human to human, he cast the tie-breaking vote to | |
| not warn the world of an international global pandemic, or the | |
| risk of it, or that it was human to human. I think he utterly | |
| failed in his most important mission in that job, and I | |
| personally would like to see him replaced. | |
| But I think, moving forward, when we have hearings in this | |
| committee, and particularly, on the Asian-Pacific, we need to | |
| really be examining the leadership of the WHO, because I think | |
| it's factual and it's correct, and it's important for the | |
| United States and the world to have a WHO that does its job | |
| without the influence of the Chinese Communist Party, but, | |
| rather, with the entire world, you know, the best interests of | |
| the entire world, and to protect them from a pandemic in the | |
| future. | |
| So, with that, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with | |
| you on this important issue, and I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Is there any further debate on the amendment? | |
| Hearing no further requests to speak---- | |
| Mr. Barr. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Who seeks recognition? | |
| Mr. Barr. Barr, Kentucky. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Recognized for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Barr. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I will not take the | |
| full 5 minutes. I just want to make the point that, in our | |
| hearing with the Secretary of State, I mentioned this issue and | |
| expressed my concern with the administration's decision to | |
| rejoin the World Health Organization and re-engage without a | |
| plan to reform the institution. | |
| We know now, after the WHO's recent report, that the World | |
| Health Organization was aware that there were individuals in | |
| the Wuhan Institute of Virology who were sick in the fall of | |
| 2019. And they were aware of human-to-human transmission, and | |
| yet, collaborated and conspired with the Chinese Communist | |
| Party to facilitate this disinformation that enabled the spread | |
| of a global pandemic. | |
| I think the issue of corruption at the World Health | |
| Organization, the legitimate issues of capture of Mr. Tedros | |
| and others at the World Health Organization that have close | |
| ties to the CCP, in facilitating and enabling the spread of | |
| this virus, points to, at minimum, a need to have major | |
| reforms. | |
| And what Mr. Perry's amendment seeks to do is to simply | |
| say, look, if we are going to take the Biden administration's | |
| approach--and there is an argument for re-engaging in the WHO, | |
| and I take the Secretary of State's word that he earnestly | |
| believes that that is the best way forward--if that is the | |
| case, and if you take that position, if we, as Members of | |
| Congress, agree with the administration's approach, at least we | |
| should want the administration to give us a plan for how they | |
| intend to reform the WHO through that engagement and re- | |
| engagement in the WHO. | |
| So, I fully support Mr. Perry's amendment because it just | |
| simply says that, if we're going to rejoin the WHO, we do so on | |
| the condition that there be reforms that make sure that this | |
| kind of misconduct at the WHO never happens again. | |
| With that, I yield back. | |
| Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Who seeks recognition? Who seeks | |
| recognition? | |
| Mr. Smith. Chris Smith, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes. Hold on. Let me go to the Democrat | |
| first. | |
| Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia---- | |
| Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment. Like Mr. Chabot, I'm | |
| the Co-Chair of the Taiwan Caucus. There's been no more | |
| relentless critic of the Communist Party in China and its | |
| leadership than myself. And I would gladly join in a bipartisan | |
| effort to look at, as Mr. McCaul suggests, the nature of the | |
| communist government in China and its malign activities around | |
| the world. | |
| This bill is not about that. This bill is not about WHO. | |
| The fact that Mr. Tedros may have overly praised Chinese | |
| reaction in the early stages of the pandemic is regrettable, | |
| but he was not alone. Perhaps we conveniently forget President | |
| Trump publicly praised President Xi Jinping of China for his | |
| robust and strong crackdown in Wuhan in response to the virus. | |
| It was only later he changed his mind about it. | |
| And so, maybe we need a new leader at WHO. The best way to | |
| decide that is to re-engage in WHO as a member. The decision by | |
| President Trump to withdraw from WHO actually only strengthened | |
| China's influence in the organization because we weren't there. | |
| So, if there are going to be internal reforms, I favor | |
| them, and let's be engaged. But this bill is not the vehicle in | |
| which this committee should be addressing that. This bill is | |
| about how our government organizes itself, so that we're | |
| prepared, so that we have plans, so that we are not caught | |
| short again, as we were a year ago. And I think we need to | |
| stick to that focus. And therefore, I join in your comments, | |
| Mr. Chairman, and I would oppose this amendment on this bill. | |
| I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize the Representative from New Jersey, Mr. | |
| Smith, for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. | |
| And I appreciate that you said that there needs to be | |
| reforms, and I think the more we are specific as to what those | |
| reforms are at WHO, the better. I mean, the lack of | |
| transparency on the part of, first, China and Xi Jinping, who | |
| to this day says that no genocide is occurring against the | |
| Uyghurs in Xinjiang, who has broken his word with impunity vis- | |
| a-vis Hong Kong. I mean, it's a matter of treaty obligation. | |
| And what has the Chinese Community Party done in Hong Kong? | |
| They have put some of the best and the bravest and the | |
| brightest into prison, including Joshua Wong and Martin Lee, | |
| who is undergoing a trial. | |
| So, you've got to realize that when an organization like | |
| WHO, then, poll parrots the disinformation, we have a very | |
| serious problem because it now affects the health of people in | |
| my district, your district, and, of course, the entire world. | |
| With over half a million people dead in the United States | |
| alone, we absolutely deserve absolute transparency, not a group | |
| that goes over there and finds that the Chinese interlocutors | |
| that they're investigating with are not being forthcoming. | |
| So, this has been, I think, very serious, and we should | |
| never ever, ever allow this to be replicated again. And so, | |
| those reforms have to be very real and we've got to get the | |
| transparency. | |
| So, there's been a cover-up here. Xi Jinping is a notorious | |
| liar. He does it in human rights abuse across the board. I have | |
| chaired 75 congressional hearings on human rights abuse in | |
| China. It has never been worse than under Xi Jinping. | |
| And Tedros got his job courtesy of the Chinese Communist | |
| Party. I knew when he was in Ethiopia as a minister, argued | |
| with him many times. There were allegations that he covered up | |
| certain sicknesses that occurred in Ethiopia over time. You | |
| know, he was a very affable guy, very good to talk to, and very | |
| civil. But when you poll parrot misinformation that so | |
| disastrously affects the world and kills so many people, | |
| there's time for accountability. | |
| I have introduced a bill--maybe members of the committee | |
| would like to join in--to provide justice for victims of State | |
| misrepresentations to the World Health Organization, and it's | |
| patterned after JASTA, you might recall, in which we focused on | |
| Saudi Arabia and their complicity in 9/11, to waive the | |
| Sovereign Immunities Act, so that we can try to get some kind | |
| of discovery in a court of law in the United States. Nobody | |
| thought it would happen with JASTA. It was the only bill, to my | |
| recollection, over 8 years where Barack Obama was overridden by | |
| way of veto, because he did veto that bill. And it was | |
| bipartisan because we wanted the truth. We're still not there | |
| in getting the truth about 9/11 and the Saudi Arabian | |
| complicity in that, but we have to have it here. | |
| There's just the loss of life, the morbidity, the economic | |
| losses are incalculable around the world, including in my | |
| district and yours. So, transparency, Mr. Chairman, and we | |
| ought to really be dogged in demanding--do not poll parrot what | |
| this man says, Xi Jinping and his cronies in Beijing. Be | |
| independent. We wouldn't settle for this in a democracy. We | |
| absolutely cannot settle for it in a Chinese Communist Party | |
| dictatorship. | |
| And I thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Is there any further debate on the amendment? | |
| Mr. Vargas. Vargas from California. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Is recognized for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Vargas. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. | |
| I also believe in truth and transparency, and I believe | |
| that we shouldn't parrot misinformation, as was stated. So, I'd | |
| like to read some remarks that are direct quotes. | |
| This direct quote: ``I just spoke to President Xi last | |
| night, and, you know, we're working on the problem, the virus. | |
| It's a very tough situation, but I think he's going to handle | |
| it. I think he's handled it really well. We're helping wherever | |
| we can.'' | |
| February 7th: ``Just had a long and very good conversation | |
| by phone with President Xi of China. He is strong, sharp, and | |
| powerful, focused on leading the counterattack to the | |
| coronavirus. He feels they are doing very well, even building | |
| hospitals in a matter of only days. Great discipline taking | |
| place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a | |
| very successful operation. We are working closely with China to | |
| help.'' | |
| Remarks again on February 7th: ``Last night, I had a very | |
| good talk with President Xi, and we talked about, mostly about | |
| the coronavirus. They're working really hard, and I think | |
| they're doing a very good, professional job. They're in touch | |
| with the world, the World Organization, CDC also. We're working | |
| together. But the World Health is working with them. CDC is | |
| working with them. Had a great conversation last night with | |
| President Xi. It's a tough situation. I think we're doing a | |
| very good job.'' | |
| February 10th: ``I think China is very, you know, | |
| professionally run in the sense that they have everything under | |
| control,'' Trump said. ``I really believe they are going to | |
| have it under control fairly soon. You know, in April, | |
| supposedly, it dies with hotter weather, and that's a beautiful | |
| date to look forward to. But China, I can tell you, is working | |
| very hard.'' | |
| ``I spoke with President Xi.'' This is February 10th. ``I | |
| spoke with President Xi, and they're working very, very hard, | |
| and I think it's all going to work out fine.'' | |
| February 13th: ``I think they've handled it professionally, | |
| and I think they're extremely capable, and I think President Xi | |
| is extremely capable. And I hope that it's going to be | |
| resolved.'' | |
| I will not go on and on, but I could because there's many, | |
| many more quotes here. So, I do think that it's important to | |
| stop misinformation and not to parrot, and that's why I wanted | |
| to read exact quotes. | |
| Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. | |
| Mr. Smith. Will my good friend yield for a second? | |
| Mr. Vargas. Sure. Of course. | |
| Mr. Smith. Yes, I appreciate that. | |
| Mr. Vargas. Of course. Of course. | |
| Mr. Smith. And, of course, in those early days, the WHO, | |
| and weeks before, which had access to the information, or | |
| should have, put the gloss of they're doing everything | |
| possible. So, why wouldn't we, all of us, believe at that point | |
| that it wasn't as bad as we might have thought it would be just | |
| a month later, or 2 months later? | |
| So, my point is, the source of the information, the WHO, | |
| which their source was Xi Jinping and his government, you know, | |
| they're the ones who had the primary access to the information. | |
| And, of course, in retrospect, those quotes were misinformed, | |
| no doubt about it, but the people who should have known better | |
| were the top brass, including Tedros, at the WHO. | |
| And I thank my good friend for yielding. | |
| Mr. Vargas. Of course. I reclaim my time. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Will my friend yield, Mr. Vargas? | |
| Mr. Vargas. Why shouldn't we have trusted them? | |
| Yes, of course, I yield to my good friend, Mr. Connolly. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Vargas. This is Mr. Connolly. | |
| I just want to point out what Mr. Smith failed to point out | |
| was, what you quoted were direct conversations between | |
| President Trump and President Xi. They weren't filtered through | |
| the WHO. So, if Tedros made the same mistake, so did Mr. Trump. | |
| Mr. Vargas. Thank you. I reclaim my time. | |
| I was about to State that these quotes were actually not | |
| through the WHO, but I think Mr. Connolly has pointed that out | |
| well. This was a conversation, conversations held between | |
| President Trump and President Xi. | |
| I yield back. Thank you. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Is there any further debate on the amendment? | |
| Hearing no further requests to speak, the question is on | |
| the Perry Amendment No. 54. | |
| We're going to take a vote by voice. All members, please | |
| unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All those opposed, say no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it, and the | |
| amendment is not agreed upon, is not agreed to. | |
| And without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid | |
| upon the table. | |
| Seeing no further amendments, then, without objection, the | |
| committee will postpone further consideration of H.R. 391. | |
| The committee will be taking a short recess, and we'll, | |
| then, take up the SAFE Act, the Khashoggi Accountability Act, | |
| and H.R. 256. | |
| We stand in recess for 30 minutes. | |
| [Recess.] | |
| Chairman Meeks. I now reconvene this markup. | |
| The question is to report H.R. 391, the Global Health | |
| Security Act of 2021 to the House with the recommendation that | |
| the bill do pass, as amended, and amendments to the bill shall | |
| be reported as a single amendment in the nature of a | |
| substitute. | |
| We're going to take a vote by voice. All members, please | |
| unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All opposed, no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. | |
| And without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid | |
| upon the table. | |
| Now we go to consider H.R. 2118, Securing America From | |
| Epidemics Act. | |
| Pursuant to notice, for purposes of markup, I now call up | |
| H.R. 2118. The clerk will report the bill. | |
| Ms. Stiles. H.R. 2118, to authorize the United States | |
| participation in the Coalition for Epidemic---- | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, the first reading of the | |
| bill is dispensed with. | |
| Without objection, the bill shall be considered as read and | |
| open to amendment at any point. | |
| [The bill H.R. 2118 follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. At this time, I recognize myself to speak | |
| on the measure. | |
| The COVID-19 crisis has shown just how interconnected our | |
| world is, and how important vaccines are to ending one of the | |
| greatest catastrophes of the 21st century. This bill addresses | |
| these vital issues. The scientists, researchers, and health | |
| care workers have stepped up in a big way and created a vaccine | |
| in record time. But vaccines by themselves do not end | |
| pandemics. Shots in the arms do. This means we need to have the | |
| means to mass produce vaccines rapidly, as well as the | |
| resources, the logistical knowhow, and political will to get | |
| them out, not just here in the United States, but around the | |
| world. | |
| We must also ensure people around the world have proper | |
| confidence in the vaccine. The collective resources of the | |
| private sector, of multilateral organizations, national | |
| governments, civil society, and health experts are all very | |
| important. | |
| This bill would authorize the United States to participate | |
| in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a | |
| private-public partnership that helps accelerate the | |
| development of vaccines against emergent infectious disease, | |
| including Ebola and COVID-19. This has never been more | |
| important, I know, in my lifetime--and I'm getting old. By | |
| supporting CEPI, we demonstrate the value of leveraging the | |
| individual strengths toward collective action, helping develop | |
| vaccines to stop future pandemics. | |
| Now I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for this | |
| important legislation. | |
| I realize that there are members who wish to speak on the | |
| bill and that some members have amendments to offer. Please use | |
| the ``raise your hand'' function on Webex, and I will recognize | |
| members by committee seniority, alternating between Democrats | |
| and Republicans, for the purpose of speaking on the bill first. | |
| If you miss your turn, please let our staff know, and we will | |
| circle back to you. Then, we will move on to amendments. | |
| Do any members wish to speak on the measure? | |
| Mr. Bera. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to speak. This is | |
| Congressman Bera. | |
| Chairman Meeks. You're recognized for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Bera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank both | |
| the chairman and Ranking Member McCaul for including my | |
| legislation, H.R. 2118, the Securing America From Epidemics, or | |
| SAFE, Act. | |
| This legislation, as you mentioned, Mr. Chairman, would | |
| authorize our participation in the Coalition for Epidemic | |
| Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI. Last Congress, this | |
| committee, our committee, passed this. The bill went through | |
| the committee and passed on the House floor on suspension, and | |
| it was also part of the second HEROES Act. In this Congress, | |
| let's get this legislation to the President's desk. | |
| CEPI was an organization that was created in the aftermath | |
| of the 2015 West African Ebola crisis, and its sole function | |
| was to help us get ready for the next pandemic. One of CEPI's | |
| earliest successes, it was one of the early investors in the | |
| Moderna vaccine, which is one of our most effective and safest | |
| vaccines as we combat COVID-19. | |
| By authorizing participation in CEPI, the bill will enable | |
| the United States to firmly claim a seat at the CEPI table, | |
| shape its priorities and governance, and allow Congress to | |
| provide contributions to the organizations. It will also help | |
| us be ready to respond even faster to the next pandemic and | |
| prevent another large-scale event like what we're living | |
| through right now. | |
| Thank you again to Chairman Meeks for your hard work. Thank | |
| you to my colleague, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, for being | |
| the co-sponsor of this and the co-lead on this. | |
| And again, I will yield back. Thank you. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Any other members who wish to speak on the measure? | |
| Hearing no further requests, let's move on to amendments. | |
| For what purpose does the Representative from Pennsylvania, | |
| Mr. Perry, seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Perry. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The clerk shall distribute the amendment to | |
| your staff virtually. | |
| Let's pause briefly to give all members enough time to | |
| review the amendment. | |
| Has everyone received a copy of the amendment? | |
| The clerk will please report the amendment. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Perry Amendment No. 53. Add at the end, the | |
| following: The authorization provided under section 3---- | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, further reading of the | |
| amendment will be dispensed with. | |
| [The Amendment No. 53 of Mr. Perry follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. A point of order is reserved. | |
| The gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, is recognized | |
| for 5 minutes in support of his amendment. | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. | |
| I'm proud to introduce this amendment before this committee | |
| today. It is a testament to the great friendship between Taiwan | |
| and the United States and a manifestation of what we've learned | |
| in the past year. Taiwan is a necessary U.S. partner in issues | |
| related to global health security. | |
| From December 31st, 2019, Taiwan has proven that its voice | |
| is one worth having in international institutions. Today, we're | |
| also marking up a bill to 1 day secure Taiwan's position as an | |
| observer in the World Health Organization. This amendment to | |
| the Securing America From Epidemics Act continues the effort to | |
| ensure Taiwan's increased participation in international | |
| organizations. | |
| I recall last year, when the SAFE Act was first taken up, | |
| that one argument in favor of U.S. participation in the | |
| Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations was that the | |
| People's Republic of China did not contribute or participate in | |
| that organization, and it was an opportunity for the United | |
| States to exercise its sorely needed leadership in pursuit of a | |
| coronavirus vaccine. By allowing Taiwan to join our | |
| international partner on CEPI's Scientific Advisory Committee, | |
| we would be extending a genuine offer of cooperation to a like- | |
| minded partner in pursuit of advancements in global health. | |
| Lest anyone think otherwise, this is in no way a | |
| politically motivated amendment. This is not an amendment aimed | |
| at disparaging the People's Republic of China. It does not | |
| address the fact that an active member of China's Center for | |
| Disease Control sits on the Scientific Advisory Committee. | |
| However, concerning that fact, it actually is. | |
| However, this amendment is solely focused on Taiwan and our | |
| interest in including a partner with a strong track record on | |
| global health issues and working toward the common good. | |
| Specifically, the language of this amendment conditions U.S. | |
| participation in CEPI on the organization's simply extending an | |
| invitation to the agency executive of the Taiwan Center for | |
| Disease Control to join CEPI's Scientific Advisory Committee as | |
| a full voting member. | |
| Certainly, my hope is that this committee, in recognition | |
| of Taiwan's great contributions to the international community, | |
| adopts this amendment in a bipartisan fashion. | |
| With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my | |
| time. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back the balance of | |
| his time. | |
| I now recognize myself for 5 minutes. | |
| This authorization supports efforts to develop and | |
| distribute vaccines, including for COVID, and has strong | |
| bipartisan support. We've seen through this COVID crisis how | |
| important it is for the United States to lead an efforts to | |
| combat the outbreak, engaging in institutions to positively | |
| influence their actions. | |
| Conditioning our participation in CEPI would not cede the | |
| playing field, not advance the efforts of vaccine development. | |
| CEPI is an association with engagement and support from a | |
| variety of entities from philanthropic foundations to | |
| countries, to individuals, to NGO's. It is not a U.N. body with | |
| member States. The U.S. Government does not determine the | |
| Scientific Advisory's Committee's composition. The Advisory | |
| Committee solicits public nominations. It's free to be | |
| nominated and considered. | |
| While we welcome greater participation by Taiwan in more | |
| international fora, conditioning Taiwan's participating on the | |
| Scientific Advisory Committee, a process we do not control, | |
| could hold up much-needed progress and advancement at this | |
| critical time. Further, CEPI's Scientific Advisory Committee is | |
| a group of experts who support CEPI's work, but explicitly it | |
| does not have final decisionmaking authority over CEPI's | |
| activities, and it is not representative of CEPI's | |
| participants. | |
| Therefore, I oppose this amendment. And I yield back the | |
| balance of my time. | |
| Mr. Bera. Mr. Chairman, may I make a comment? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes. | |
| Mr. Bera. This is Congressman Bera. | |
| I appreciate my good friend Pennsylvania's sentiment here, | |
| but I echo the comments of the chairman that anything that | |
| would delay U.S. participation in CEPI is not a good thing, | |
| particularly in the middle of this pandemic. And we have to be | |
| sitting at the table. | |
| I look forward to working with my colleague from | |
| Pennsylvania on ways we can strengthen our relationship with | |
| Taiwan, get Taiwan into multilateral and international | |
| organizations, where they belong, and again, continue to send a | |
| strong message of our friendship and partnership with Taiwan. | |
| So, with that, Mr. Chairman, I will yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes. I gave you time. So, I now will | |
| reclaim my time and yield back the balance of my time. | |
| Is there any further request for debate on the amendment? | |
| Hearing no further requests to speak, the question is on | |
| the amendment. | |
| We're going to take a vote by voice. All members, please | |
| unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All those opposed, no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it, and the | |
| amendment is not agreed to. | |
| And the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. | |
| Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Chairman, I request a recorded vote. | |
| Chairman Meeks. A roll call vote is requested. | |
| Pursuant to Committee Rule 4(a)(2), further proceedings on | |
| the amendment shall be postponed. | |
| Are there any other amendments? | |
| Seeing no further amendment, then, without objection, the | |
| committee will postpone further consideration of H.R. 2118 and | |
| move to consider H.R. 1464. | |
| We now move on to consider H.R. 1464, the Khashoggi | |
| Accountability Act. Pursuant to notice, for purposes of markup, | |
| I now call up H.R. 1464. The clerk will report the bill. | |
| Ms. Stiles. H.R. 1464, to impose sanctions with respect to | |
| foreign persons listed in the Office of the Director of---- | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, the first reading of the | |
| bill is dispensed with. | |
| And without objection, the bill shall be considered as read | |
| and open to amendment at any point. | |
| [The bill H.R. 1464 follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. Three amendments to this bill will be | |
| distributed to members in advance, and I understand members are | |
| prepared to voice vote them. | |
| Without objection, the three amendments, the Malinowski No. | |
| 1 amendment, Malinowski No. 2 amendment, and Omar No. 26 are | |
| agreed to en bloc. | |
| [The Amendment No. 1 of Mr. Malinowski, Amendment No. 2 of | |
| Mr. Malinowski, and Amendment No. 26 of Ms. Omar en bloc | |
| follow:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. We're going to take a vote by voice. All | |
| members, please unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All those opposed, say no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the | |
| motion to reconsider is laid on the table. | |
| At this time, I recognize myself to speak on the measure. | |
| The brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post | |
| columnist and U.S. permanent resident, shocked Americans, | |
| including myself. The Biden administration's release of the DNI | |
| report on the killing was a good step toward accountability, | |
| but further steps need to be taken. | |
| Together with Mr. Connolly's bill, Mr. Malinowski's | |
| Khashoggi Accountability Act ensures a thorough and sufficient | |
| response to Saudi Arabia's repressive actions of the killing of | |
| Mr. Khashoggi. Rep. Malinowski's bill mandates visa sanctions | |
| on anyone, including Saudi officials, deemed responsible for | |
| the killing. It absolutely will result in an expanded universe | |
| of sanctions on Saudi officials who have not yet been punished. | |
| This will be a strong imposition of Congress' authority and an | |
| important step in defending not only American values, but | |
| American residents and American citizens. | |
| The legislation does include national security waiver | |
| authority, but such waivers must be exercised each time such a | |
| Saudi official seeks U.S. entry and a justification must be | |
| sent to Congress for each entry. | |
| I want to thank Mr. Malinowski for his work on this | |
| legislation and, indeed, for his tireless work on behalf of | |
| human rights around the entire world. | |
| I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for this important | |
| legislation. | |
| I now recognize the ranking member, Mr. McCaul, for his | |
| remarks. | |
| I realize that I do not see Mr. McCaul. | |
| So, I realize members wish to speak on the bill and that | |
| some members have amendments to offer. Please use the ``raise | |
| your hand'' function of Webex, and I will recognize members by | |
| committee seniority, alternating between Democrats and | |
| Republicans, for the purpose of speaking on the bill first. If | |
| you miss your turn, please let our staff know and we will | |
| circle back to you. Then, we will move on to amendments. | |
| I now recognize Representative David Cicilline of Rhode | |
| Island for the purpose of speaking on the bill for 5 minutes. | |
| [No response.] | |
| Chairman Meeks. Are there any other members who wish to | |
| speak on this measure? | |
| Mr. Connolly. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Mr. Malinowski. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes, Mr. Malinowski, you're recognized for | |
| 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Malinowski. Thank you. I heard Mr. Connolly also ask to | |
| speak. I would be happy to let him go first, if he would like | |
| to. | |
| Mr. Connolly. I sought to speak simply to thank you, Mr. | |
| Malinowski, for your leadership on human rights in general and | |
| your deep interest in the grisly murder of Jamal Khashoggi. I | |
| know that insisting on justice in this case is something | |
| vitally important to the Saudi community here, but to his | |
| family and to especially his fiancee who needs closure. And we | |
| need not only closure on this terrible tragedy, but we need to | |
| bring people to justice. Your persistence in this matter is | |
| something that I very much salute, and I want to congratulate | |
| you and thank you for this piece of legislation. | |
| With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Is there anyone else who would like to speak on the | |
| measure? | |
| I recognize Mr. Malinowski for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Malinowski. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. | |
| Thank you so much, Mr. Connolly. I think our measures are a | |
| good one-two punch here today, serving the same interest. I | |
| know that Mr. Khashoggi was your constituent and you have a | |
| particularly personal in making sure that his family sees the | |
| accountability that they deserve. | |
| Look, we've spoken a lot in this committee about important | |
| issues inside Saudi Arabia--about the treatment of dissidents | |
| and women's rights activities. We've talked about the suffering | |
| imposed on the people of Yemen and that country's brutal civil | |
| war. And those are all very important issues that are part of | |
| the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. | |
| But the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, as I've often argued, is | |
| a very different matter. This is not something that the Saudi | |
| government did to somebody inside Saudi Arabia. This is a | |
| deliberate decision by the de facto ruler of the country to | |
| reach inside the United States to threaten and, then, kill a | |
| resident of our country because that person living in our | |
| country was criticizing the Saudi leadership. | |
| And it's not the only example of this kind of behavior. The | |
| former Saudi intelligence chief, Saad Al Jabry, a very close | |
| ally of the United States, has made, I think, very credible | |
| allegations that the Saudi government sent a hit squad to kill | |
| him. He's living in Canada. And they operated inside the United | |
| States. | |
| Yesterday, just yesterday, the United Nations confirmed a | |
| story that a Saudi government official had threatened Agnes | |
| Callamard, who was the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial | |
| Executions, threatened that she would be ``taken care of,'' | |
| quote-unquote, if she continued her advocacy on the Khashoggi | |
| case. | |
| Now the Biden administration, very, very commendably, | |
| released the report identifying the Crown Prince MBS as being | |
| the author of this crime. And in addition, the administration | |
| laid out a much-needed policy of zero tolerance for this kind | |
| of extraterritorial repression--Saudi Arabia and other | |
| countries reaching into the United States to go after their | |
| enemies. | |
| This bill makes good on that pledge. It's very measured. It | |
| basically gives effect to existing U.S. laws, no more. For | |
| example, Section 7031 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, | |
| current law, says that, if the Secretary of State has credible | |
| evidence that a foreign government official is responsible for | |
| a gross human rights abuse, that official shall be denied entry | |
| into the United States, unless the Secretary of State issues a | |
| waiver. This bill simply gives effect and clarity to that | |
| provision of law. It is identical to legislation we passed in | |
| the House in 2019 overwhelmingly. | |
| A second key provision in existing law--it's been in place | |
| for over 30 years--says that, and this is under the Arms Export | |
| Control Act, says that, if a foreign government is engaged in a | |
| consistent pattern of trying to threaten, intimidate, or harass | |
| persons in the United States, then we cannot sell arms to that | |
| country. | |
| This legislation simply asks the State Department to make a | |
| determination to us in 6 months as to whether Saudi Arabia is | |
| still at that point engaged in such a consistent pattern. | |
| Again, this is about threatening and killing people inside the | |
| United States of America, not really talking about human rights | |
| inside Saudi Arabia. | |
| I do not want to blow up our relationship with Saudi | |
| Arabia. We have interest in maintaining that relationship, | |
| including helping them defend themselves and defending our | |
| troops. But Saudi Arabia also has an interest in preserving its | |
| relationship with the United States. In fact, they need us a | |
| lot more than we need them. | |
| This legislation, just as Mr. Connolly's, is about shifting | |
| the burden of preserving this relationship where it belongs, | |
| onto Saudi Arabia, so that we are not constantly asked to | |
| overlook Saudi Arabia's sins against us for the sake of our | |
| relationship with them. That is the definition of an unhealthy | |
| and unbalanced relationship. We are trying to restore that | |
| balance. | |
| I thank the chairman for his support. | |
| I see my colleague Andy Kim as well, who is co-sponsor of | |
| this bill. Thank you, Andy. | |
| I'm also very pleased to have been able to work with | |
| Ranking Member McCaul to bring the legislation to fruition. | |
| Thank you all. I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired. | |
| I now recognize Ranking Member McCaul for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank | |
| Mr. Malinowski and you for working with us. | |
| I want to thank the staff that worked tirelessly around the | |
| clock to continue the bipartisan spirit of this committee and | |
| to reach a compromise agreement on Mr. Malinowski's bill. | |
| It's an attempt to really balance our concerns about the | |
| gruesome murder of Khashoggi versus geopolitical interests in | |
| the region and the threat from Iran. I think our relationship | |
| with the Saudis covers many strategic interests, including the | |
| very real and deadly threat of Iran. Iran attacked Saudi Arabia | |
| in September 2019, and Iran-backed Houthis are attacking Saudi | |
| almost every day. | |
| As Congressman Malinowski mentioned, I think we can | |
| strongly advocate for human rights in the Kingdom and Saudi | |
| nationals abroad without leaving Saudi Arabia and Americans | |
| living in Saudi Arabia vulnerable to these threats. With these | |
| changes--and again, I want to thank the gentleman from New | |
| Jersey for working really almost to the last minute to get a | |
| good result, so we can call this bipartisan--with these | |
| changes, I believe this measure now allows us to help the | |
| Saudis defend themselves against these threats. And that was my | |
| biggest concern. | |
| This sound measure recognizes the importance of human | |
| rights while preserving our strategic relationship with the | |
| Kingdom. And I'm grateful for the teamwork here. | |
| And I think, as Congressman Malinowski stated, the events | |
| of what happened to Khashoggi were horrible, but I also think | |
| we need to look at, again, the alliance of Israel with Saudi, | |
| our partnership with the Saudis. We know from the Ayatollah | |
| that they're on a path to a nuclear bomb; that they're about 60 | |
| percent enriched now; that they could be at 90 percent in a | |
| matter of months. And they have short-range missile capability | |
| that I do not believe the Saudis are capable of defending | |
| themselves, unless we help them. And so, this bill condemns the | |
| human rights violations while at the same time preserves the | |
| security of Saudi to defend itself as a Nation. | |
| And so, I want to thank the two of you for working hard | |
| with me to get to the point where we are today. | |
| And with that, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Susan Wild of Pennsylvania | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Ms. Wild. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| Two years ago, Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, | |
| testified before this committee, and in heartbreaking detail, | |
| she recounted his disappearance inside the Saudi consulate in | |
| Istanbul, where he was brutally assassinated under direct | |
| orders from the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, or | |
| MBS. | |
| And after her testimony, I spoke with Ms. Cengiz and | |
| assured her that the United States would ultimately work to | |
| deliver justice and accountability in the wake of her fiance's | |
| assassination. We must keep that promise. That means rendering | |
| MBS and every individual implicated in this case ineligible for | |
| admission into the United States, as this legislation would do, | |
| regardless of the position, power, or wealth that they possess. | |
| The report by the Office of the Director of National | |
| Intelligence that the Biden administration recently | |
| declassified could not be clearer. It stated, ``We assess that | |
| Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an | |
| operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Mr. | |
| Khashoggi.'' | |
| This isn't only about exposing a major breach of | |
| international law and an attack meant to silence journalists | |
| and dissidents everywhere. It is also about sending an | |
| unequivocal message: we will not allow these kinds of acts to | |
| be committed with impunity. | |
| Reporting just this week underscores why this legislation | |
| is so crucial. According to these reports, officials at the | |
| highest level of the Saudi regime made death threats against | |
| the United Nations Special Rapporteur who led the U.N.'s | |
| investigation into Mr. Khashoggi's assassination. Even in the | |
| midst of global outrage, the Saudi regime continued to engage | |
| in gangster-like tactics against anyone working to expose the | |
| truth about the regime's actions. We cannot allow it to | |
| continue to operate like this. It is beyond time to make clear | |
| that Members of Congress and this committee, and beyond, are | |
| prepared to stand up against the abuses of the Saudi regime. | |
| I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this legislation | |
| by a resounding bipartisan margin. | |
| With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. | |
| And I just want to just add to the conversation, while I | |
| think that, certainly, accountability and responsibility in | |
| this matter, which is, indeed, horrific and did, indeed, shock | |
| me and the rest of the world, this accountability, this | |
| responsibility is absolutely in order. | |
| And I would also say that accountability and responsibility | |
| regarding members of the Muslim Brotherhood, even though they | |
| do not occupy a nation State, so to speak, as a government, but | |
| they exist within governments, and they exist to terminate the | |
| U.S. Government as we know it and Western civilization as we | |
| know it, and Americans, and they have done so in the past. And | |
| I hope that in the future that the members of this committee | |
| will join me and endeavor to call them out and assign | |
| responsibility and accountability for the actions that they | |
| have conducted and the actions they seek to conduct, not only | |
| in the United States, but in the Western civilized world, and | |
| hold them accountable as well. | |
| And so, whether it's this journalist or whether it's United | |
| States journalists as well, I'm concerned about the silencing, | |
| not only by authoritarian regimes, but we see it right here in | |
| the United States of America. We see this cancel culture | |
| happening, and I'm not wishing to draw the exact parallel for | |
| what happened to Mr. Khashoggi, but it doesn't start with the | |
| untimely death of journalists. That's not where it starts. | |
| That's where it ends. It starts with this intimidation that is | |
| happening in our country as well by certain portions that | |
| dislike certain narratives that they do not want to hear about | |
| or want to discredit. | |
| And so, I think we need be mindful of that. We need to be | |
| mindful of the Muslim Brotherhood as well. And I look forward | |
| to working with the committee members on bills in the future | |
| that hold them accountable for their malign activities and | |
| wishes as well. | |
| And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Andy Kim of New Jersey for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Kim of New Jersey. Thank you, Chairman, for yielding to | |
| me here. | |
| I want to thank my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. | |
| Malinowski, for his leadership here. I've been very proud to be | |
| able to work alongside him to be able to move this forward, | |
| because I really want to make sure that we understand that this | |
| is not a choice between accountability and justice on one side | |
| and our national security and our interests on the other. I am | |
| doing this, I am voting in favor of this because of our | |
| interests, because of the need for us to be able to demonstrate | |
| what a successful and healthy alliance and relationship and | |
| partnership is all about. | |
| This is not an element where this would potentially derail | |
| our partnership or our engagement and our relationship with | |
| Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince has already done the damage. The | |
| damage has been done to our partnership, and this is an effort | |
| to try to heal that, to try to put forward steps for us to be | |
| able to heal and see whether or not we can repair this in the | |
| way that is necessary for us to be able to move forward. | |
| This is potentially a person who will be leader of his | |
| nation for half a century, and it is very important for us at | |
| this point to make sure that we very clearly articulate what | |
| terms that will be on. And I'd rather it be on our terms rather | |
| than their terms, and this is our way of trying to assert | |
| American leadership and determination of how we define our role | |
| with our partners, as well as globally. | |
| So, I would just very strongly support this effort. I'm | |
| appreciative of Mr. Malinowski and others for moving this | |
| forward and being able to get the wide support that we need to, | |
| and look forward to its passage. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Are there any other members who wish to speak on the | |
| measure? | |
| Hearing no further requests, let's move on to amendments. | |
| Are there any amendments? | |
| Hearing no amendments---- | |
| Mr. Malinowski. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes? Who's seeking---- | |
| Mr. Malinowski. I have an amendment at the desk. | |
| Chairman Meeks. You have an amendment at the desk? I'm | |
| trying to find it. I think we passed your amendment. | |
| Mr. Malinowski. Oh, did we pass it? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes, sir. | |
| Mr. Malinowski. You're right. Sorry, I was following the | |
| old script. I apologize. | |
| [Laughter.] | |
| Chairman Meeks. Not a problem. So, we're going to now move | |
| to final passage. The question is to report H.R. 1464, the | |
| Khashoggi Accountability Act, to the House with the | |
| recommendation that the bill do pass, as amended, and | |
| amendments to the bill shall be reported as a single amendment | |
| in the nature of a substitute. | |
| We're going to take a vote by voice. All members, please | |
| unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All opposed, no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the | |
| motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. The measure is | |
| favorably reported, as amended, and without objection, | |
| amendments to the bill shall be reported as a single amendment | |
| in the nature of a substitute. | |
| Without objection, staff is authorized to make any | |
| technical and conforming changes. | |
| Now we move on to consider H.R. 256, to repeal the | |
| Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution | |
| of 2002. | |
| Pursuant to notice, for purpose of markup, I now call up | |
| H.R. 256, and the clerk will report the bill. | |
| Ms. Stiles. H.R. 256, a bill to repeal the Authorization | |
| for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, the first reading of the | |
| bill is dispensed with. | |
| Without objection, the bill shall be considered as read and | |
| open to amendment at any point. | |
| [The bill H.R. 256 follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. At this time, I recognize myself to speak | |
| on the measure. | |
| Early this week, we heard from a bipartisan panel of former | |
| executive branch attorneys who are among the foremost experts | |
| on authorizations to use military force. All of them, whether | |
| Republican or Democrat, testified that this committee should | |
| repeal the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force against | |
| Iraq and not replace it. | |
| The conversation about a 2002 AUMF did not begin this week, | |
| however, or this year, or even in the last decade. This | |
| committee has held numerous hearings on this issue. The text we | |
| are considering today has already been passed by the House as | |
| an amendment to the NDAA. | |
| I am always the first to emphasize the importance of | |
| dialog, conversation, and negotiation, but we must also be able | |
| to distinguish between issues that need more discussion and | |
| issues that are ready for action. The 2002 AUMF is ready for | |
| action. | |
| It was passed to authorize a war against Saddam Hussein | |
| almost 20 years ago, when I had first arrived at the Congress. | |
| The text of the resolution makes the purpose clear. It | |
| authorizes the President to, one, defend the national security | |
| of the United States against the continuing threat posed by | |
| Iraq, and, two, enforce all relevant United Nations Security | |
| Council resolutions regarding Iraq. These resolutions are long | |
| since expired. Iraq is a security partner of the United States. | |
| Saddam Hussein is long gone. No current operations depend on a | |
| 2002 AUMF. Those operations would continue under the 2001 AUMF, | |
| which is the AUMF we passed to deal with terrorists. | |
| Some members may look to the ``whereas'' clauses of the | |
| 2002 AUMF, which mention debunked links between Saddam | |
| Hussein's regime and terrorist groups. But, again, the text is | |
| what makes the purpose clear. Each clause builds a case against | |
| Saddam Hussein's regime. None of them authorize force against | |
| terrorist groups. | |
| This AUMF also does not authorize force against Iran. It | |
| doesn't mention Iran at all. America's resolve to stand up to | |
| Iran and its proxies is not in question here. So, this | |
| resolution simply is not about Iran. | |
| America does face serious challenges in Iraq. There are | |
| continuing threats from Iranian-backed militants. There are | |
| threats from ISIS and Al Qaeda. That said, the 2002 AUMF | |
| doesn't help us deal with any of these threats. Our forces | |
| would stay in Iraq under the 2001 AUMF, and the President can | |
| always defend America and our forces under Article II. All of | |
| our witnesses made that clear. | |
| Now some of our witnesses also said we should take out the | |
| 2001 AUMF along with the 2002 AUMF. And I understand that view. | |
| Many of us have been calling for action on the 2001 AUMF for | |
| years, and I committed to replacing the 2001 AUMF with a more | |
| focused authority. But much more work is needed on that effort. | |
| So, in the meantime, there is absolutely no reason to delay | |
| the 2002 AUMF simply because we do not have an agreement yet on | |
| the 2001 AUMF, which is the 2001 is entirely a different | |
| authority for entirely a different war. The authority provided | |
| in the 2001 AUMF is still needed. The authority for the 2002 | |
| AUMF simply is not. Repeal the one that's not needed. Keep the | |
| one that is. That's simple. | |
| Some might ask, what harm could come from leaving the 2002 | |
| AUMF on the books, even though it's not needed? Keeping it in | |
| place leaves the door wide open for future administrations to | |
| claim Congress already authorized action we clearly never | |
| envisioned when the 2002 AUMF was written. It's happened many | |
| times before. That's the whole point of this effort. | |
| If you agree the President should come to Congress before | |
| taking action beyond his Article II power, we cannot leave | |
| unneeded AUMFs on the books. I assure all of my colleagues that | |
| we will continue to discuss the solemn issues surrounding | |
| Congress' war power, including the 2001 AUMF and the War Powers | |
| Resolution. Those laws will need to be carefully reformed, but | |
| the 2002 AUMF, it's different. It doesn't need to be reformed. | |
| It simply needs to be repealed. | |
| I urge all of my colleagues to support this important | |
| bipartisan legislation and to repeal the 2002 AUMF in this | |
| historic committee vote. | |
| I now recognize Ranking Member McCaul for his remarks. | |
| Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I appreciate the | |
| excellent hearing and discussion we held on Tuesday to begin | |
| exploring serious war powers reform. I think we all agree we | |
| would abdicate our Article I responsibility. And we need to | |
| look at updating these very old authorized uses of military | |
| force. | |
| I think we have kind of the same goal in mind. I think we | |
| just have a different way of getting there. For that reason, I | |
| oppose rushing this standalone repeal just 2 days after having | |
| this conversation without the due diligence I think is | |
| required. And as insightful and as helpful as the witnesses | |
| were, I think, in fact Professor Goldsmith agreed that if we | |
| repeal 2002, we need to concurrently have an updated authorized | |
| use of military force, but I also think we need to consult with | |
| more than just three professors who have not had access to | |
| intelligence or targeting decisions for years. | |
| Doing this the right way I think involves consulting with | |
| the Department of State and the Department of Defense, the | |
| White House, the intelligence community, the Government of | |
| Iraq, and our coalition partners and allies to fully understand | |
| the impact of just an outright standalone repeal. | |
| And I understand the desire--and I think the chairman makes | |
| some good points--I understand the desire to repeat 2002 AUMF, | |
| as well as the 2001. But I believe we must do this as part of a | |
| comprehensive, updated replacement to provide clear authorities | |
| against the terrorists who still plot to kill Americans at home | |
| and abroad. And we were reminded of that with the recent proxy | |
| Shia militia attacks against our servicemen and women. | |
| I believe the threat is not gone, it has just evolved. The | |
| 2002 AUMF clearly addresses terrorist threats arising in Iraq. | |
| And while people can disagree about whether it should still be | |
| used, it has been used for that purpose by every prior | |
| administration since 9/11, both Republican and Democrat. | |
| The Obama and Trump administrations even used identical | |
| language to describe the scope of the 2002. ``The statute, in | |
| accordance with its expressed goals, has always been understood | |
| to authorize use of force for the related dual purposes of | |
| helping to establish a stable, democratic Iraq, and of | |
| addressing, most importantly, terrorist threats emanating from | |
| Iraq.'' | |
| I think this could be updated to terrorist threats | |
| emanating out of Iran. | |
| There are terrorist groups that are very active today, as | |
| we heard in our classified hearing. And I appreciate the | |
| chairman putting that together. Inside Iraq they threaten our | |
| diplomats, our soldiers, and our partners who cannot be | |
| targeted under the 2001 AUMF because they are not associated | |
| with the forces of Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or ISIS. A rushed, | |
| standalone repeal of our Iraq force authority sends a message | |
| of U.S. disengagement that could destabilize Iraq, embolden | |
| Iran, and strengthen Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. | |
| I think it sends the wrong message. It could cost life. | |
| That danger could be eliminated if we, if we took up the task | |
| of repeal and replacement together, as was discussed at our | |
| hearing. Real AUMF reform requires Congress and the | |
| Administration, working together on actual texts, to replace | |
| the aging 2001, 2002 AUMFs to provide authorities needed to | |
| keep the American people, and most importantly, our deployed | |
| troops, safe from terrorists. | |
| I look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman. I think | |
| you will see, honestly, there is a lot of bipartisan support. | |
| And we, we have had our discussions. I think this committee | |
| should continue to discuss updating the old AUMFs after all. | |
| Some of our troops over there serving weren't even born, | |
| they were born after 9/11. And I do think it is time. And I am | |
| willing to go down a discussion of repealing the 2001 and 2002 | |
| AUMFs, but only if we can update it with a AUMF that really | |
| addresses the modern day threats and, with the 2002 one, | |
| particularly the threats emanating out of Iran that we have | |
| seen recently. | |
| And I was actually supportive of President Biden's decision | |
| to proportionately strike back because that is the only way you | |
| are going to deter them. And I think President Biden--you may | |
| not hear me say this all the time--I think he did the right | |
| thing here. | |
| And I know that that got some on the other side of the | |
| aisle upset, but I think it was the right message to the | |
| terrorists who attacked our Green Zone and servicemen and | |
| women, including in Erbil. | |
| And so, let me close with I look forward to having this | |
| great debate. Nothing is more serious on this committee than | |
| issues of war and peace. And this is right to the heart of it. | |
| I am all for re-exercising our authorities. I just want to do | |
| it the way I think is the right way to proceed. | |
| And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I realize members wish to speak on the bill, and that some | |
| members have amendments to offer. Please use the raised hand | |
| function on Webex and I will recognize members by committee | |
| seniority, alternating between Democrats and Republicans, for | |
| the purpose of speaking on the bill first. | |
| If you miss your turn, let our staff know and we will | |
| circle back to you. Then we will move on to amendments. | |
| I now recognize Representative David Cicilline of Rhode | |
| Island for 5 minutes to speak on the bill. | |
| Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Chairman Meeks. And thank you for | |
| including H.R. 256 in today's markup. And thank you to my | |
| friend Barbara Lee for her longtime advocacy on this very | |
| important issue. Her leadership on the fundamental question of | |
| the role of Congress in matters of war in Congress has been | |
| unwavering, and we owe her a debt of gratitude for her | |
| commitment to bring this issue to the forefront. | |
| Nearly two decades ago, Congress passed a resolution | |
| authorizing military force against the Iraqi regime of Saddam | |
| Hussein. That resolution, aided in its passage by deeply flawed | |
| intelligence that we now know had no basis in fact, authorized | |
| the use of force for two express purposes: to defend the | |
| national security of the U.S. against the continuing threat | |
| posed by Iraq, and to enforce all relevant U.N. Security | |
| Council resolutions regarding Iraq. | |
| It has been 18 years since Saddam Hussein was deposed. It | |
| has been a decade since the United States declared a formal end | |
| of operations in Iraq. The Iraqi Government is a regional | |
| partner and the U.N. Security Council resolution referenced | |
| above has been fulfilled. In short, there is no reason to allow | |
| the 2002 AUMF to continue to stand. | |
| Congress must not forfeit its constitutional responsibility | |
| to directly authorize the use of force. Any administration | |
| should receive direct authorization from the Congress to engage | |
| in global conflict. | |
| Just 2 days ago, this committee had a productive hearing | |
| where each of the three expert witnesses testified that this | |
| AUMF is not necessary. It does not enhance our national | |
| security. It does not make Americans any safer. It does not | |
| make the mission of our men and women in uniform any easier. | |
| To repeat this resolution would not tie the hands of the | |
| current Administration, or any future administration in their | |
| responsibility to preserve the national security of the United | |
| States. It would, instead, ensure that it could not be | |
| manipulated to take us into a war that Congress did not | |
| authorize. | |
| We must act to let Congress again assert its ability and | |
| responsibility to authorize war. We must pass H.R. 256 and show | |
| the American people and our men and women in uniform that this | |
| country only goes to war when absolutely necessary, and all | |
| other options are exhausted, and when specifically authorized | |
| by Congress. | |
| I again thank Representative Lee for her leadership on this | |
| issue. And I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting | |
| H.R. 256. And with that, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, Mr. Chairman, | |
| Ranking Member McCaul, and colleagues, I oppose H.R. 256 to | |
| standalone repeal of the 2002 authorization for use of military | |
| force against Iraq. I support the Perry Amendment No. 57. | |
| As the grateful dad of two servicemembers who have served | |
| in Iraq, I know firsthand the success of liberating the people | |
| of Iraq from an authoritarian dictatorship for an opportunity | |
| for freedom. While modernization of this authorization is | |
| prudent, any repeal should be done concurrently with | |
| replacement after full consideration and consultation with | |
| relevant partners. Our primary focus should be updating the | |
| 2002 AUMF to provide our national security apparatus the | |
| necessary authorization to mitigate and defeat transnational | |
| terrorist threats abroad to protect American families at home. | |
| By bypassing key stakeholders, the White House, Department | |
| of Defense, Department of State, the Iraqi Government, and our | |
| allies, the consideration to repeal the 2002 AUMF, with no | |
| replacement, is counterproductive. This amounts to a largely | |
| symbolic measure designed to address shortsighted ideological | |
| demands, and will embolden enemies in the region who are | |
| targeting American families. | |
| Mr. Chairman, I strongly oppose the standalone repeal and | |
| urge colleagues to avoid weakening our ability to conduct | |
| counterterrorism operations and, instead, to address repeal and | |
| replacement simultaneously, as proposed by the Perry Amendment | |
| No. 52. | |
| I yield back my time. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back his time. | |
| I now recognize Representative Ted Lieu of California for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| I now recognize Representative Susan Wild of Pennsylvania | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Ms. Wild. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | |
| H.R. 256, repealing the authorization of military force | |
| against Iraq is an important step in a much broader effort, | |
| clearly reasserting Congress' constitutional authority to | |
| authorize and limit our country's military operations. We in | |
| the House are the elected representatives of the American | |
| people. We are closest to the people of our communities and to | |
| the men and women from our communities that serve on the front | |
| lines of our armed forces. | |
| For far too long, presidents of both parties have | |
| overreached beyond their roles as defined in the Constitution, | |
| using existing AUMF to prolong or extend conflicts beyond what | |
| Congress had authorized. It is past time that we reclaim the | |
| authority that the framers clearly established in our hands. | |
| There are no more consequential decisions than those which | |
| placed our servicemembers in harm's way. After putting their | |
| lives on the line for their country, the very least they should | |
| be able to expect is that every decision affecting them will be | |
| taken with the greatest care and consideration, and always | |
| according to our Constitution. | |
| With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Brian Mast of Florida for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Mr. Mast. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me start by saying I | |
| agree with almost everything that you said in your opening | |
| remarks about this piece of legislation. You | |
| [inaudible]. Our previous colleague just spoke about giving | |
| our servicemembers, of which I am a veteran, the assurance that | |
| we take the greatest care and consideration in our decisions. | |
| That has not been done. I would challenge anybody to prove | |
| me wrong. We have heard from a professor from Harvard, Yale, | |
| and NYU. Can any of the ten freshman that just joined Congress, | |
| that have been a part of no other hearing, I would yield my | |
| time to any of the ten freshman right now who can tell me that | |
| they spoke to a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one of our | |
| military secretaries. Happy to yield to any one of our ten | |
| freshman that heard from one of them on AUMF. | |
| Mr. Meijer. Representative Mast, are you including those | |
| who spoke at the briefing we had on the CBC? | |
| Mr. Mast. Can you go ahead one more time? | |
| Mr. Meijer. Are you including the CBC briefing? I am not | |
| sure if we are able to reference that, given the setting that | |
| it was provided in. | |
| Mr. Mast. I think you can reference all you want. But this | |
| is what I am saying. Speak up. If your--you know, have our ten | |
| freshman heard--have our ten freshman spoken to our joint | |
| chiefs, our military secretaries? | |
| Mr. Jacobs. Mr. Mast, this is Representative Jacobs. I am a | |
| freshman. And I have talked to many members and leaders in our | |
| military about this issue. And I also have a master's degree in | |
| international security policy. | |
| Mr. Mast. Congratulations. I am glad to know that you spoke | |
| to them. | |
| Any of our other freshmen? It shows some diligence, that is | |
| great, which is what our committee has not done here. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Mr. Mast, would you yield? | |
| Mr. Mast. I do not know who asked, but---- | |
| Chairman Meeks. It is the chairman. | |
| Mr. Mast. I will in a moment to you, Mr. Chairman. I do | |
| want to give a little bit more time to some of our freshman. | |
| But I will bear in mind that you asked for time. So, yes, Mr. | |
| Chairman. Hold on a minute. | |
| Any of our other freshmen want to say that they heard on | |
| this? This is a big deal. We are aligned on this, but my point | |
| is simply in my opinion we make a joke out of this committee, | |
| which is very important to me. We spend a lot of time on this | |
| committee dealing with very serious issues to not hear from the | |
| correct people on such an important matter, especially an issue | |
| where there is common ground among us. But to not give it that | |
| due diligence is a very serious issue to me. | |
| Mr. Chairman, I see that I have 2 minutes here. I will | |
| certainly, you know, yield you a little bit of time. I am | |
| probably going to reclaim at some point, but go ahead, Mr. | |
| Chairman. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes. Mr. Mast, I just wanted to remind you | |
| that the witnesses that were before us were not just simply | |
| professors. They held high senior positions in the White House, | |
| in DoD, and DOJ. So, I just wanted to remind you of the | |
| credentials of the witnesses that were before us. They were not | |
| simple professors. | |
| I yield back to the gentleman. | |
| Mr. Mast. Yes, happy to yield to you, Mr. Chairman. I | |
| appreciate your comments. But, I would remind you of this: it | |
| was literally given to us in answer by the witnesses that they | |
| do not have the same access to information as us. Some of those | |
| witnesses literally said that to us as they were answering our | |
| questions: Representative, I do not have the same access to | |
| information as you do, but let me give you my opinion. | |
| That is a problem. That is a problem in diligence that we, | |
| as our colleague, your Democrat colleague just mentioned. We | |
| owe that to our men and women. This is common ground that we | |
| have here. Like I said, we agree on almost everything here. But | |
| let's give this the diligence that it deserves and call before | |
| the Foreign Affairs Committee, show the rest of Congress that | |
| this committee will be taking that seriously. Call before us | |
| the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of | |
| Defense. Take your pick of secretaries out there that we will | |
| have that conversation with them. Because it is owed to our | |
| servicemembers. | |
| And anybody again I would challenge you, tell me that | |
| having a conversation with one of them isn't at a substantially | |
| higher level than having a conversation with the individuals | |
| from Yale, Harvard, and NYU. Because it is, it deserves that | |
| diligence. | |
| I think I have made my point, Mr. Chairman. And I am making | |
| this point as somebody that loves our committee, that loves our | |
| military, that has lost over 67 friends in combat, killed in | |
| action, personal friends of mine. I take this with the utmost | |
| seriousness, and that is why I ask that this be taken with the | |
| utmost seriousness by our committee. | |
| I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Andy Levin of Michigan for 5 | |
| minutes. I ask Mr. Levin if he would give me just 10 seconds, | |
| the opening 10 seconds. | |
| Mr. Levin. I yield to you such time as you may consume, Mr. | |
| Chairman. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes. I just want to remind everyone on the | |
| committee, and Mr. Mast, that we had a classified briefing on | |
| the use of force in Iraq that no one would have been able to | |
| talk about in the forum that we had our hearing. So, we had | |
| additional information about Iraq in a classified session. | |
| So, it was not taken lightly as to what we are doing today | |
| and why we are doing it. We had expert and classified materials | |
| to do it. | |
| I yield back to the gentleman. | |
| Mr. Levin. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. And thanks for your | |
| leadership on this issue. | |
| I strongly support this move. It is long overdue. I think | |
| Congress needs to reclaim our responsibility and, frankly, the | |
| courage to authorize force when it needs to be authorized. We | |
| ought to, as one of our witnesses said, we ought to put a | |
| sunset on every authorization. | |
| In my view, every person in our country who served for 2 | |
| years in this House ought to have to vote on whether we ought | |
| to continue authorizing force for a given reason. Here we are | |
| not talking about eliminating all AUMFs in this moment, we are | |
| talking about repealing the 2002 AUMF, which was for a very | |
| specific purpose. And it is not, it has been stretched beyond | |
| belief, it is not needed anymore. And it is not appropriate for | |
| us to just fail to do our duty, frankly. | |
| And, so, I appreciate the ranking member's comments very | |
| much. And I think he has a case to make about, you know, if | |
| perhaps in discussions of the 2001 AUMF he might say, well, we | |
| ought to negotiate something in its place. I think the | |
| Administration is interested in talking to us about, you know, | |
| what new authorization might be necessary. But this, that | |
| doesn't apply to this one. | |
| So, I think it is incumbent on us to do this. And we ought | |
| to have done it a long time ago. It doesn't need any further | |
| study. Everyone knows what it says. And this is a matter of | |
| basic our, really, our form of government that we are the | |
| branch that declares war, we are the branch that raises the | |
| funds for war, and then the President is the commander-in-chief | |
| to carry it out. | |
| And let's step up to the plate, clean this mess up, and | |
| decide precisely what offensive war powers the President needs | |
| and do that, and not leave these things hanging out there which | |
| are, as you said, Mr. Chairman, vulnerable to misuse. | |
| So, let's get this done. I appreciate your leadership on | |
| this and our colleague Barbara Lee's leadership on this, who I | |
| believe, Mr. Chairman, was a member of this committee long | |
| before I was here. And I yield back the balance of my time. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back the balance of | |
| time. | |
| I now recognize Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. | |
| And I want to begin by associating myself with the comments | |
| from my very good friend Mr. Mast, who has sacrificed on behalf | |
| of this country things that any single, every single one of us | |
| can scarcely imagine. | |
| That having been said, I have listened very diligently to | |
| the conversation from beginning to end to this point. Democrat, | |
| Republican, conservative, liberal, anything in between, quite | |
| honestly I almost agree with every single bit of it. So, you | |
| know there is a ``but'' coming. | |
| This has been used by presidents of both parties. And | |
| whether they should have or shouldn't have is part of the | |
| discussion here. But I think that there has been for an issue | |
| so weighty--and the chairman knows that I am a fan, we are | |
| friends, and I appreciate him--but this is a weighty, weighty | |
| issue that I think deserves much more careful contemplation. | |
| And it is not about me just trying to slow down the train or | |
| anything like this. I have had an AUMF written, a replacement | |
| written for 6 years, Mr. Chairman. So, I agree that we should | |
| enforce and take back, claw back our Article I authority, just | |
| like every single one here. That is the purview of Congress. | |
| And so, we are in complete agreement there. | |
| I agree that it is outdated, which is why I wrote a | |
| replacement. So, we are in agreement there. | |
| I think where the disagreement for me comes is in process. | |
| I think that we need much more careful deliberation because in | |
| my mind, while we have servicemembers down range right now when | |
| we sit in the comfort or our office, or our kitchen, or our | |
| living rooms, or wherever we are, we are back at Fort Living | |
| Room, they are out on the wire. They are out over the wire. | |
| They are in contact. | |
| And we are going to send a message to the world today that | |
| we are just going to throw down our arms. All of us people in | |
| our nice shirts and, you know, sitting in comfort, we are just | |
| going to walk away and embolden the enemy that while the next | |
| time somebody attacks us, or something like that, we are going | |
| to have to discuss it. | |
| Ladies and gentlemen, when you are out there on the edge | |
| the people back in Washington, DC. are far, far away, and you | |
| have to deal with what is right in front of you right then at | |
| that moment. You have to make decisions. And anything that | |
| helps the enemy have a leg up on you is unacceptable. It is | |
| unacceptable to me. | |
| So, I would just say to me, while I agree that it needs to | |
| be repealed, but it also, it also at the same time must be | |
| replaced. And we haven't discussed that at all as far as what | |
| the tenets of that are. So, we are walking away. | |
| You know, it is like sitting on one side of the firing | |
| line, you at your cannon, the enemy's at theirs, and you | |
| decide, well, look, we are not being real effective here so I | |
| am just going to walk away and let them first rounds in on my | |
| side. | |
| I do not know who would do that. I do not know why we would | |
| do that. I do not know why we would do that. We are for repeal, | |
| but repeal must be followed immediately, or concomitantly, | |
| concurrently, with replacement so that we have the--there is a | |
| reason it was used. There is a reason it was used by presidents | |
| on both sides of the aisle. | |
| Now, we might disagree with that, but there is a rationale | |
| for that. And we haven't gotten to that. We haven't had that | |
| discussion. | |
| And so, I understand we want to work together with the | |
| majority here, and there is a lot that we agree on. But | |
| unilateral disarmament is provocative, it is dangerous in my | |
| opinion, it is irresponsible, and it is a disservice, in my | |
| opinion, having been very honored to wear the Nation's uniform | |
| and serve, and serve literally in Iraq as well, to those | |
| members, those United States citizens who are out there on the | |
| line, you know, for an idea, for an ideal which is represented | |
| in our flag and this piece of paper called the Constitution. | |
| And with that, Mr. Chairman, I know I am going to get to | |
| speak on my amendment, but I just, I just felt like I, I had to | |
| say that. | |
| And one just final thing to correct the record. It was in | |
| this very committee under my questioning that John Kerry | |
| admitted, as Secretary of State, that there were weapons of | |
| mass destruction in Iraq. He knows it. I know it. I was there. | |
| Anybody that was there knows it. I know it is the narrative, I | |
| know it is the rhetoric, but I get tired of hearing that. Might | |
| not have been what you thought it was, but for people that were | |
| there, they know what it was. | |
| And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back the balance of | |
| his time. | |
| I now recognize Representative Sara Jacobs of California | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Ms. Jacobs. Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to first | |
| thank you for making this repeal a priority and for bringing | |
| this legislation forward so early in this session. The | |
| legislation you have prioritized for this committee over the | |
| past 2 months will undoubtedly improve the lives of millions of | |
| Americans, our diplomats, and servicemembers, and people around | |
| the world. | |
| And I also want to recognize and thank Congresswoman | |
| Barbara Lee for authorizing this--for authoring this bill, and | |
| for her enduring commitment to a responsible and just American | |
| foreign policy, and reasserting Congress' role in it. | |
| I was in middle school when this authorization for the use | |
| of military force was approved. And today, as a Member of | |
| Congress, I will vote to repeal it. | |
| I emphasize this because my generation has grown up in the | |
| shadow of America's protracted wars. And San Diego, the | |
| community I am proud to represent, is home to servicemembers, | |
| veterans, and military families who understand better than most | |
| the human impact of our foreign policy and our decisions to go | |
| to war. To my constituents the issues of war and peace, of | |
| whether we send their loved ones into harm's way are kitchen | |
| table issues. And Congress has abrogated that responsibility | |
| for too long. | |
| I often wonder whether the Members of Congress who voted in | |
| favor of the 2002 AUMF had any idea of the impact that vote | |
| would have on a generation of Americans. But the reality is I | |
| may never know because many of them have long since retired. | |
| This AUMF outlasted even them. | |
| In fact, on this distinguished committee only six of our 51 | |
| members were in office in 2002. And as just one young American | |
| whose life was shaped by the decisions made by this body 19 | |
| years ago, I want to especially thank you, Mr. Chair, for being | |
| the last remaining member of this committee to have voted no. | |
| Today we have a chance to at last turn the page. This | |
| repeal is an important first step in reasserting Congress' | |
| rightful and primary role in authorizing war. | |
| And to my colleague Mr. Mast's concerns, I want to thank | |
| you for your service to this country. But it is not the | |
| military generals, nor the President, nor any professor's job | |
| to tell us what to do. The principle of civilian control of the | |
| military places ultimate authority over the U.S. armed services | |
| in the hands of civilian leadership. This decision is ours, and | |
| ours alone. And as we have heard from so many others, there is | |
| not a single operation that would be impacted by this decision. | |
| With that, I am proud to vote for this repeal. And I want | |
| to thank my colleagues and staff who have worked toward this | |
| day for years. Let this vote mark a new chapter in American | |
| foreign policy and in Congress' role in it. | |
| And with that, Mr. Chair, I yield back the remainder of my | |
| time. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back the remainder of | |
| her time. | |
| I now recognize Representative Darrell Issa of California | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sorry for forgetting to | |
| unmute. | |
| I want to associate myself, surprisingly, with several of | |
| the earlier speakers. And as Congresswoman Jacobs said, there | |
| aren't too many of us who were here for that vote. And, Mr. | |
| Chairman, you and I were. | |
| I stand with those who want to see an end to open-ended use | |
| of military force. And I would like to see a sunset clause put | |
| in any future use of military force. | |
| Later today I will be offering an amendment that would | |
| modify this legislation to simply put a ending date not later | |
| than January 2023, with a requirement that the President extend | |
| by specific request for no more than 90 days at a time. I | |
| believe it is the middle ground that could cause all of us to | |
| realize that this, and every other outdated use of military | |
| force, should in fact be given a terminal date. And if a | |
| President wants to, and I believe this President wants a new | |
| use of military force authorized, then he can negotiate in good | |
| faith with both sides of the aisle between now and January of | |
| year after next. | |
| If we do that, I believe we can come to common ground. | |
| Having said that, I am not in a position to vote for an | |
| immediate elimination of this before the Administration has | |
| been able to weigh in on whether they would use this the way | |
| the previous Administration and the Obama Administration did. | |
| But, I look forward to each of these amendments. Hopefully, you | |
| will consider my amendment as an extremely friendly one, one | |
| that Congresswoman Lee and I could cause as a--could consider | |
| as a base for future use of military force so that we never | |
| again have a no sunset use of military force. | |
| And with that, Mr. Chairman, thank you, I will not use my | |
| whole 5 minutes, and I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Spanberger of Virginia for 5 | |
| minutes. | |
| Ms. Spanberger. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you | |
| for bringing up Representative Barbara Lee's legislation to | |
| repeal the 2002 Iraq War AUMF. I appreciate Representative | |
| Lee's strong leadership on this issue. | |
| Last Congress I, like so many on the committee, voted with | |
| the bipartisan majority of the House to repeal the 2002 AUMF. | |
| In this Congress I am an original co-sponsor of this bipartisan | |
| legislation, and I am hopeful that it will pass out of | |
| committee today. | |
| Since coming to Congress I have been very clear on this | |
| topic: Congress, please, must take the steps to reassert | |
| congressional authority in decisions of war and peace. It is | |
| required by the Constitution, and it is fundamental to our | |
| ability to represent our constituents, particularly | |
| servicemembers we represent. | |
| I join with members of my own party and members across the | |
| aisle and across the political spectrum to introduce | |
| legislation and make the case to the American people, in | |
| interviews and joint op-eds, that there is not only an interest | |
| in Congress reclaiming our constitutional authority, but we | |
| have a recognition that we must finally take steps to do so. | |
| Repealing the outdated, inactive 2002 AUMF is a first step. | |
| And we heard that clearly from the witnesses who testified | |
| at our hearing this week. They affirmed that repealing the 2002 | |
| AUMF is a priority, a principal first step and, importantly, a | |
| step that would not impact ongoing military and | |
| counterterrorism operations which are authorized under the 2001 | |
| AUMF. | |
| But, repealing the 2002 would prevent our country from | |
| entering into another potentially protracted engagement without | |
| Congress having a voice. And for too long we have seen men and | |
| women fighting and dying under authorities voted on decades | |
| ago, a generation ago. And the American people, especially the | |
| American men and women in uniform, deserve to see us take a | |
| vote on these issues. | |
| Repealing the 2002 AUMF is not only a step that we need to | |
| take, but we must address Congress' ongoing challenges with the | |
| 2001 AUMF. We must replace and update the 2001 AUMF in the | |
| future. It is an authorization that has been stretched beyond | |
| its original intent to contend with threats that were certainly | |
| not present at the time that it got a vote a generation ago. | |
| But, addressing the 2001 AUMF is not the question before us | |
| today. Repealing the 2002 outdated and unused AUMF is. And for | |
| those who say we should keep old authorizations on the books | |
| just in case we need them, I would remind them that that is not | |
| how it is supposed to work. | |
| If there is a new threat, then those decisions to initiate | |
| new actions should be deliberated and should involve Congress. | |
| And the President has authorities provided by the Constitution | |
| and by the War Powers Resolution. But no President should be | |
| able to reach for irrelevant authorities that are just left on | |
| the books to engage in military action. | |
| For those who are saying that we are moving too fast, I | |
| would like to remind them that this bill is bipartisan and has | |
| passed the House multiple times. And it is severely overdue. | |
| And let's remember that the 2002 AUMF was enacted by Congress | |
| prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq that toppled the government | |
| of Saddam Hussein. And U.S. military deployments for related | |
| purposes ended back in 2011. | |
| I would also like to speak not only in support of | |
| Representative Lee's bill but in opposition to Mr. Perry's | |
| amendment that would tie the 2002 AUMF repeal to a replacement | |
| of the 2001. My colleague from Pennsylvania and I joined with | |
| our colleagues at the time, Justin Amash, Ken Buck, Jared | |
| Golden, Dean Phillips, and Chip Roy, in writing an op-ed on the | |
| 16th of January 2020. And we wrote, ``To start, it is time to | |
| have a serious debate and vote on the repeal of the 2002 AUMF | |
| which authorized the use of force against Saddam Hussein's | |
| Government in Iraq. This authorization has fully outlived its | |
| purpose, given the death of Hussein, regime change, and the | |
| withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2011, regardless of how one views | |
| the merit of that withdrawal.'' | |
| ``The 2002 authorization, as well as the lingering 1991 | |
| authorization, should be removed from the books,'' we wrote, | |
| ``lest either be used to justify further military engagement | |
| beyond what Congress intended.'' | |
| And we continued and noted separately, and I quote, ``We | |
| must also foster an informed debate on a strategic alternative | |
| to the 2001 authorization.'' | |
| Yes, we need to keep working on reform to other AUMFs. We | |
| have to repeal the 1957 and the 1991 AUMFs that are still on | |
| the books. But Mr. Perry's amendment would hamper our ability | |
| to take a first step by requiring that progress and the repeal | |
| of the 2002 be tied to our ability to address the 2001 AUMF all | |
| at once. | |
| Moving Representative Lee's common sense, bipartisan piece | |
| of legislation is a first step, and it is one that we should | |
| take. I look forward to taking this action today. And if | |
| Congress is actually ready to engage, ready to reassert | |
| ourselves in these hard conversations, these decisions where | |
| for too long certainly many of our predecessors have shirked | |
| those responsibilities, then we can move forward in the future | |
| with replacing the 2001. | |
| But, today's vote is not about that. Today's vote is not | |
| about a particular president, a particular party, or the | |
| Administration, it is about reasserting the role of Congress in | |
| decisions of war and peace. And I urge my colleagues on both | |
| sides of the aisle to join me in voting to repeal the 2002 | |
| AUMF. And I look forward to future conversations about | |
| replacing the 2001 AUMF. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady's time has expired. | |
| I now recognize Representative Mark Green for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Green. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I wasn't planning | |
| on speaking on this today, but I have heard a lot of passion in | |
| the discussion, and I thought I would just share a little bit | |
| from my personal experience. | |
| Many people today have talked about this being a multi- | |
| generational war, folks in grade school, or wherever it was | |
| when the thing was written. I was actually in combat on this | |
| AUMF in Iraq. | |
| It is a multi-generational war because then my son just | |
| last year deployed to Syria under this AUMF. And the reason | |
| that I would implore my colleagues to let's replace, repeal and | |
| replace together, those forces that are there that may possibly | |
| need either somebody, some group changes its name or changes it | |
| location where it hides out, where it bases itself from, our | |
| enemy so to speak. We need the flexibility. | |
| And as I thought of my son being there in Syria during that | |
| time, I was glad to know that those authorizations were there. | |
| So, I am for replacing it. I am not for repealing without a | |
| replacement. And that comes not, you know, from anything other | |
| than just having been there myself, having taken on these | |
| terrorists, having looked them in the eye, and knowing that my | |
| son has done the very same thing as a young Army Ranger. | |
| So, that is my impassioned plea to the committee. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for | |
| having this markup and including maybe the most consequential | |
| issue any Congress ever faces, the issue of war and peace. | |
| Since World War II, Congress has, frankly, abrogated its | |
| responsibility under Article I of the Constitution. We have | |
| yielded to encroachment after encroachment, assertion of power | |
| and accretion of power to the executive branch that the | |
| Constitution never foresaw. And lives were lost because of | |
| that. | |
| It is time that Congress reasserted its Article I powers, | |
| explicit and imputed. | |
| The commander-in-chief role has expanded far beyond the | |
| imagination of any of the writers of the Constitution. When | |
| they wrote the Constitution, granted it was a different period | |
| of time, but they were deeply suspicious of too much power | |
| being vested in an executive. They had just, after all, | |
| successfully revolted against an absolute monarch, George III. | |
| They were not about to repeat that experience by imputing or | |
| even devolving powers for an all-powerful chief executive, | |
| especially in matters of war and peace. | |
| They envisioned in Article I the Congress playing the | |
| primary role and the chief executive essentially executing the | |
| direction of the Congress, where to deploy troops, how many | |
| troops to deploy, what engagements we might have, what | |
| hostilities we might be engaged in. | |
| Now, we live in a more complex world. Challenges require | |
| sometimes instant reaction. But in the case of both Iraq and | |
| Afghanistan, we have been involved in the two longest wars in | |
| our history. They began with an authorization of use of | |
| military force in response to a very specific set of | |
| circumstances. And, unfortunately, once again the executive has | |
| encroached on that authorization and used it to rationalize and | |
| justify many, many actions not envisioned by Congress just a | |
| dozen years ago. It is time to repeal the AUMF and, | |
| thoughtfully, to consider what and how we replace it. | |
| We cannot do that on the fly, but we most certainly can | |
| start by repealing an outdated and I think dangerous | |
| authorization, dangerous in its extended use, dangerous in the | |
| commitments and entanglements and military hostilities that we | |
| might be engaged in without any of it having been contemplated | |
| by the original Congress that authorized it in the first place. | |
| So, prudence dictates we take action. The American people | |
| want us to take this action. And it is in the process a very | |
| focused rebalancing of powers that have gotten way out of whack | |
| between the legislative and executive branches about the most | |
| significant decisions we ever make, those of war and peace. | |
| I support the motion with respect to the AUMF, and yield | |
| back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Andy Barr for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Barr. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank all | |
| my colleagues for all of the thoughtful comments and opinions | |
| offered today, and especially want to thank my colleagues who | |
| have either served the country before their service in Congress | |
| in uniform, or in other capacities. My colleague Representative | |
| Spanberger in her capacity and certainly Representative Jacobs | |
| in her service to the country, all my colleagues I really | |
| enjoyed listening to the thoughtful comments and the arguments | |
| that are being offered. | |
| But I have to rise today in opposition to H.R. 256 and in | |
| support of Mr. Perry's amendment. And I will offer a couple of | |
| thoughts for consideration to my colleagues about why. | |
| Certainly I cannot speak from the same position of | |
| authority on this as General Perry or Representatives Mast or | |
| Green having served in uniform in Iraq. And I also understand | |
| that the AUMF for both 2001 and 2002 are certainly arguably | |
| outdated, probably are outdated, and they need to be updated. | |
| Perhaps we need a consolidated single replacement for both. | |
| I also am well aware that the American people, including my | |
| constituents, are weary of protracted war and that we may need | |
| AUMF reform in general. I agree with Representative Connolly | |
| that we need to reassert our Article I powers. | |
| And, Mr. Chairman, you made a point at the outset that | |
| these were entirely different wars, the wars related to the one | |
| AUMF and the war, the Iraq War, the 2002 AUMF. They are | |
| different in some respects in that they are different types of | |
| enemies perhaps, but there is a connection. And the connection | |
| is that it is all the global war on terror. | |
| So, my view is that we need to be very clear about what we | |
| are doing today by repealing the 2002 AUMF, admittedly | |
| outdated, without a replacement at the same time. What we are | |
| doing is we are repealing or we are withdrawing the authority | |
| that we, as Congress, has given to the commander-in-chief to | |
| protect Americans against threats in and emanating from Iraq. | |
| We are voting to cutoff the President's power to protect | |
| Americans who are in harm's way without a replacement. | |
| I see this as a vote to disregard the terrorist threats | |
| that remain in Iraq such as the Shia threat; the Shia militia | |
| groups that we see active right now; the Iranian proxies; the | |
| remnants of Sunni radicals in Iraq, including ISIS; jihadist | |
| groups that are connected to ISIS. | |
| And so, you know, I understand that this is a protracted | |
| war, as Representative Jacobs pointed out, but these are | |
| protracted threats. The threats remain, and we still have | |
| servicemembers in harm's way. | |
| I do agree with Ranking Member McCaul when he says this | |
| sends a very bad signal. We have to remember what happened when | |
| President Obama totally disregarded the threat of the rise of | |
| ISIS. I think this is an analogous, wrong message that we send. | |
| I agree with my colleagues who support this bill that we | |
| need to repeal the 2002 AUMF. We just cannot do it without | |
| doing anything replacing it right now immediately because of | |
| the remaining threats. | |
| And maybe the command-in-chief has inherent executive | |
| power. I have heard several of my colleagues to act if we do | |
| face a problem here. I have heard several of my colleagues talk | |
| about how this bill would not interrupt or disrupt any ongoing | |
| operations, no ongoing operations would be impacted, that it | |
| wouldn't in any way compromise the ability of the commander-in- | |
| chief to act. But I have to say, I mean, if that is the case | |
| then why have an AUMF to begin with? It implies that the | |
| commander-in-chief can act without authorization. | |
| And I thought the whole point of this, the point of our | |
| hearing and the testimony of the professors the other day was | |
| that Congress needs to reassert itself in the authorization of | |
| use of military force, we shouldn't allow the commander-in- | |
| chief to act unilaterally. And in effect we are inviting the | |
| commander-in-chief to do so when our troops will be inevitably | |
| threatened without this AUMF in place. | |
| So, look, I agree with many of my colleagues in what they | |
| are saying here on both sides of this debate, but I would urge | |
| that we, that we take this repeal up with a replacement at the | |
| same time, and do our job under Article I. | |
| Let's do our job. Let's reassert our Article I authority in | |
| this context, but let's not invite these threats without giving | |
| the commander-in-chief the ability to act in defense of our | |
| brave men and women in harm's way. | |
| And I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired. | |
| I now recognize Mr. Pfluger of Texas for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Pfluger. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this | |
| hearing. Ranking Member McCaul, thank you for the leadership. | |
| The efforts that have been taken I think are a good step in the | |
| right direction. As somebody who served in this area at the | |
| height of ISIS, and saw not just things that were happening in | |
| Iraq but also in Syria, which involved national States, non- | |
| nation States, and a tremendous amount of actors in the region, | |
| this is a very, very complicated issue. | |
| And I would also like to say that I very much appreciate on | |
| both sides of the aisle today the acknowledgment that the most | |
| important thing that anybody in Congress can do is make a | |
| decision whether or not to send our troops to war. And I | |
| couldn't agree more. And as somebody who has been sent into | |
| harm's way by both Democrat and Republican presidents, it is a | |
| very emotional thing. And I would like to thank everybody for | |
| their service, whether it was in the military or in other | |
| departments that have dealt with this. | |
| But I would like to ask the question: if it truly is the | |
| most important thing that we do in Congress, if that truly is a | |
| fact, then I would ask all of my colleagues on both sides of | |
| the aisle today, let's have the discussion because we owe it to | |
| those troops that are fighting right now. And then let's | |
| proceed to a dialog, and then we can end in debate. | |
| And let's give the time--the proportional amount of time-- | |
| required to this very important subject, to ask the Department | |
| of Defense at the very highest levels--and I appreciate, Mr. | |
| Chairman, the opportunity to have a classified briefing. | |
| I think we need more of those with each of the service | |
| chiefs and the joint chiefs and the combatant commanders, with | |
| the secretary of State and with other key leaders and | |
| principals who can guide us in the reform because it is a | |
| dynamic environment. | |
| As I served there, it changed in the course of a year, but | |
| every single day as a pilot, as somebody who was tasked with | |
| carrying out the orders of our President and of our government | |
| to keep not only ourselves safe, but to also make sure that | |
| every instrument of power that we had continued to keep the | |
| world safe, I would ask that we look at that dynamic | |
| environment and we take this into account and we do a good | |
| bipartisan job because security is not partisan. And I know | |
| everybody on this hearing appreciates that, and I appreciate | |
| listening and learning from each of you on this subject. | |
| We need to take some time to put thought into it, so that | |
| the authorizations appropriately meet the threat and that we | |
| understand what Iraq is going to look like with the actions | |
| that we take. | |
| And, Mr. Chairman, I would just implore everyone here to | |
| consider how important it is to send our troops into harm's | |
| way, and to give it everything we have, which means sitting as | |
| a bipartisan committee, in classified briefings together, | |
| without TV cameras, so that we can have that debate and we can | |
| come up with the solutions that we need. | |
| And, Mr. Chairman, with that, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now recognize Representative Peter Meijer from Michigan | |
| for 5 minutes. | |
| Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wish to associate | |
| myself with the remarks of both yourself, Chairman Meeks, and | |
| also Ranking Member McCaul, in strong agreement and how | |
| positive it is that there is bipartisan support on this issue. | |
| As many have noted before, I think we share broadly a sense of | |
| where we need to go. We just are on different sides in terms of | |
| how to get there. | |
| I just want to clear something up. The 2002 AUMF has not | |
| been used in the sense of being the operative authorization for | |
| any military action undertaken in and around Iraq roughly since | |
| the time I left Iraq in 2011. If we had repealed this AUMF in | |
| 2012, it would not have constrained American operations. It | |
| would not have hampered our ability to defend ourselves. | |
| The majority of the operations that have taken place since | |
| then, whether it was ISIS using the 2001 AUMF or some of the | |
| attacks--or some of the--I shouldn't say attacks--some of the | |
| operations we have seen more recently that have been predicated | |
| on the Article 2 self-defense provisions, while they may have | |
| tangentially referenced 2002 as a backstop, they were not | |
| solely predicated on that 2002 AUMF. | |
| So the idea that we would be left defenseless I find | |
| disingenuous, and that is exactly why we have Article 2 self- | |
| defense provisions, so we are well-equipped to defend | |
| ourselves. | |
| And I actually do not think this bill goes far enough. In | |
| addition to the outdated and irrelevant 2002 AUMF, we still | |
| have authorizations on the books, as my colleague Ms. | |
| Spanberger said, from the original Gulf War in 1991 and 1957 | |
| around some Middle East operations. | |
| In fact, I am proud to co-sponsor legislation with Ms. | |
| Spanberger, Mike Gallagher, Jared Golden, in order to do | |
| everything we can to not only repeal 1902 but also 1991 and | |
| 1957. | |
| And a preemptive response to Mr. Mast's question, I have | |
| not asked the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, nor the | |
| secretary of defense, their thoughts on the 1991 or 1957 | |
| repeals for the simple fact that they are irrelevant to current | |
| operations. | |
| Perhaps not holding 6 months of hearings to check might be | |
| hamstringing our efforts to check Communist influence in The | |
| Levant or to liberate Kuwait, if it is re-invaded by Iraq. But | |
| if that happens, there is a very easy solution to those | |
| outlandish hypotheticals, and that is we pass a new AUMF or we | |
| can engage in Title 50 operations or we could find | |
| justification under Article 2 self-defense provisions. | |
| Or, frankly, we could probably find a way to finagle it | |
| into the 2001 AUMF, because in this hypothetical scenario there | |
| is just about no way that we haven't been able to find that | |
| Sunni terrorist nexus to justify operations. | |
| We have used it to justify going after groups that did not | |
| even exist on 9/11. We have used it to go after groups that | |
| have actively fought al-Qaeda. So we could probably figure out | |
| a way to shoehorn other threats in as well. But at the end of | |
| the day, it is the 2001 AUMF that has been the basis for our | |
| offensive operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. | |
| And I strongly agree and second all of the efforts of--or | |
| all of the comments on this committee talking about the need to | |
| reform it, and I think it should be reformed in a thoughtful, | |
| forward-looking way. But the 2002 AUMF, in comparison, is | |
| simply dead letter. | |
| And in response to the idea that by doing this we may be | |
| emboldening the enemy, I think we are fooling ourselves if we | |
| think evildoers are tenting their fingers, watching this | |
| hearing and seeing weakness. In fact, you know, not only do we | |
| not need the 2002 AUMF to drop a hellfire on Qasem Soleimani, | |
| but I think this whole conversation that we are having, the | |
| vibrancy of this discussion, shows the strength of our | |
| commitment to thinking in a thoughtful way. | |
| The passion in this debate I think is incredibly healthy. | |
| You know, it projects that we as a committee are stepping up, | |
| we are committed to stepping up, and that we are not stepping | |
| back. And I think the best way to do this is to discard these | |
| irrelevant AUMFs, so we can step forward and strengthen our | |
| Nation for that long term. | |
| Therefore, I will probably be voting to support this bill, | |
| Congresswoman Lee's bill to repeal the 2002 AUMF. | |
| And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| Do any other members wish to speak on this measure? Hearing | |
| no further requests, let's move on to amendments. For what | |
| purpose does the representative from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, | |
| seek recognition? | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I have got an | |
| amendment at the desk. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The clerk shall distribute the amendment to | |
| your staff virtually. Let's pause briefly to give all members | |
| enough time to review the amendment. | |
| Has everyone received a copy of the amendment? The clerk | |
| will please report the amendment. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Perry Amendment Number 52, amend the bill, add | |
| the following, effective date. | |
| [The amendment offered by Mr. Perry follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, further reading of the | |
| amendment will be dispensed with, and a point of order is | |
| reserved. The representative from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, is | |
| recognized for 5 minutes in support of his amendment. | |
| Mr. Perry. Thank you very much again, Mr. Chairman. And | |
| like many of my colleagues, I was a little surprised to see a | |
| clean repeal of the 2002 AUMF on the schedule for today's | |
| markup. | |
| It seemed to me a bill of this magnitude, and the | |
| implication it can carry for U.S. strategy in the Middle East, | |
| would have required feedback from numerous key stakeholders in | |
| the security arena, including DoD, Department of State, et | |
| cetera. To unilaterally pursue this measure I think would be, | |
| as I said before, grossly irresponsible. | |
| It, therefore, begs asking if due diligence was undertaken | |
| to buffer the integrity of this proposal. Did the architects of | |
| this bill consult with the intelligence community in bringing | |
| this repeal before us today? Did they consult with the | |
| Department of Defense? Did they consult with the Department of | |
| State? | |
| I am not sure I have really any indication that any of that | |
| happened. And I guess it doesn't have to to bring a bill, but I | |
| think it speaks to what maybe is lacking. | |
| Who did the architects of the bill consult? All indicators | |
| point to the leftist wing of the--the leftist wing of the | |
| Democrat party, disappointed that the President chose to launch | |
| a strike in Syria last month. And let me just say, many of us | |
| were not critical of that. In the last administration, anytime | |
| President Trump lifted a finger everybody acted like World War | |
| III was going to start. | |
| Nobody likes exercising military authority. It is the last | |
| resort. But if it keeps America safe, at least I will tell you, | |
| I am for it whether it is President Trump or President Biden. | |
| These individuals I think are infuriated that the President | |
| chose to attack select targets in Syria, targets that could | |
| have been justified by the 2002 AUMF. The 2002 AUMF has | |
| provided the past three administrations with legal cover to | |
| pursue Iran-backed militias in Iraq and the wider region. | |
| You know, I know there is a border between Iran and Iraq, | |
| and I know they fought a war. But I will tell you this: when | |
| you are standing on it, it is hard to tell. You know, one grain | |
| of sand looks like the other grain of sand right next to it. | |
| To be clear, it needs to be replaced. There is no doubt. We | |
| agree on that. It seems like everybody on the committee agrees. | |
| It is outdated, and everyone here can see we are no longer | |
| trying to get rid of the Ba'athist regime in Iraq. | |
| That being said, I think it is foolish to risk doing away | |
| with the 2002 AUMF with no replacement. Some of the left want | |
| to get rid of this amendment because they want to | |
| disincentivize the administration from pursuing similar | |
| activities in the future. But it is clear that we should be | |
| able and willing to target Iran-backed militias, especially | |
| when they attack U.S. targets in the region. | |
| They are attacking--they have been attacking them almost, | |
| it seems like, my whole life, and they are attacking right now. | |
| This amendment would allow for the repeal of the 2002 AUMF, | |
| but in a responsible way that secures U.S. national security | |
| interests. It would provide new, specific statutory | |
| authorization for the use of military force against specified | |
| terrorist groups. In doing so, it would repeal the 2001 AUMF | |
| but not without denying the United States the ability to | |
| specifically target new and emerging threats since the 9/11 | |
| attacks, including the Islamic State. | |
| This amendment would secure war powers reform and place | |
| decisionmaking, including decisions regarding specific targets, | |
| squarely in the purview of Congress where it belongs. On that | |
| we all agree. | |
| Today we have the opportunity to put an end to years of | |
| debate on critical issues of U.S. national security, given | |
| everything at stake. And I know, look, I am sure it is going to | |
| get rammed through the committee, and it will probably get | |
| rammed through on the floor. And that is a shame because I | |
| think if we were a little--spent a little more time personally | |
| and were a little more thoughtful and deliberate about this, we | |
| could have overwhelming bipartisan support in the committee and | |
| on the floor. | |
| But, unfortunately, this is going to go I think the way of | |
| a lot of things where one side generally supports it and the | |
| other side doesn't. And it is not indicative of how most of us | |
| on this committee feel, and quite honestly, I do not think it | |
| is indicative of how most Americans feel. | |
| They want Congress to do its role. They do not want | |
| unilateral unrestricted powers vested in the executive branch. | |
| They want us to be thoughtful, but they do not want us to walk | |
| away from the responsibility we have to safeguard America for | |
| the sake of politics and scoring points. And, unfortunately, I | |
| feel a lot of--that that is what this is about. | |
| I agree with Abigail. I did sign the letter, and I agree | |
| with the assessment of the letter. But I never said we should | |
| walk away from our commitment, especially to troops in contact | |
| right now. I never said we should disarm unilaterally. | |
| Absolutely, like I said, I support repeal. I wrote an AUMF 6 | |
| years ago because I support repeal--repeal and replacement--not | |
| repeal, unilaterally disarm, and walk away. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired. | |
| I now recognize myself for 5 minutes. I oppose this | |
| amendment. The Perry amendment would keep the 2002 UMA--UMF-- | |
| AUMF, excuse me, getting tired--AUMF on the books until | |
| Congress provides new, specific statutory authorization for the | |
| use of military force against specified terrorist groups. | |
| The problem with that is, the 2002 AUMF does not authorize | |
| force against any specified terrorist groups. So the amendment | |
| will prevent Congress from repealing an authority that does not | |
| apply to terrorists until we enact a new authority that does | |
| apply to terrorist. | |
| That doesn't make any sense, especially because Congress | |
| authorized force against terrorist groups in a separate | |
| authority. It is called a 2001 AUMF. That is what authorizes | |
| force against certain terrorists. It is not in the 2002 AUMF. | |
| I know we have been urged to take up 2001 AUMF also. | |
| Believe me, I support doing so. But replacing the 2001 AUMF | |
| requires much more work, much of the work that you are talking | |
| about now, of which I am saying we will get done in a | |
| bipartisan manner. We will work with the 2001 AUMF, as most of | |
| us are saying needs to be updated. And we need to do that in a | |
| bipartisan manner and take our time and make sure we are doing | |
| it right because it is still needed. | |
| But replacing the--and the 2001 just isn't so--the bottom | |
| line is that the 2002 AUMF is not needed for any current | |
| operations. Can't protect us because it is not needed for any | |
| operations. | |
| Look, a repeal passed the House 2 years ago. There is no | |
| reason to wait now. And it was bipartisan. It was done in the | |
| NDAA. But guess what, folks? It should have been done in the | |
| Foreign Affairs Committee. It is our jurisdiction. We do not | |
| want to pass up the vote. I know many members on both the | |
| Foreign Affairs and the Armed Services. But it is the | |
| jurisdiction of the Armed Services to pass any AUMF. | |
| We need to do our job in this committee. So, clearly, our | |
| job is to be very clear about where Congress stands on the 2002 | |
| AUMF, unlike the 2001. Keeping the 2002 AUMF in place does not | |
| help the President fight terrorism. It just helps the executive | |
| branch avoid working with Congress. | |
| We need to be decisive about Congress' power to authorize | |
| force. The hardest vote that I have had to take in my 22 years | |
| in the U.S. Congress is whether or not I send our women and men | |
| into war. I do not want to punt that responsibility. I do not | |
| want to give it to the executive branch. I want it to be right | |
| here with Congress, and I want this committee to lead in that | |
| regard. And for that reason, I oppose Mr. Perry's amendment. | |
| Is there any further debate on the amendment? Hearing no | |
| further requests to speak, the question is on the amendment. We | |
| are going to take a vote by voice. All members, please unmute | |
| your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All those opposed, say no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it, and the | |
| amendment is not agreed to. And without objection, the motion | |
| to---- | |
| Mr. Perry. Mr. Chairman, I request a recorded vote. | |
| Chairman Meeks [continuing]. Reconsider is laid upon the | |
| table. | |
| Mr. Perry. Mr. Chairman, I request a recorded vote. | |
| Chairman Meeks. A roll call vote is requested. Pursuant to | |
| committee Rule 4A(2), further proceedings on the amendment | |
| shall be postponed. | |
| Are there any other amendments? | |
| Mr. Issa. Mr. Chairman, this is Congressman Issa. I have an | |
| amendment at the desk. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The clerk shall distribute the amendment. | |
| Let's pause briefly to give all members time to review the | |
| amendment. | |
| Everyone has a copy of the amendment? The clerk will please | |
| report the amendment. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Issa Amendment Number 18, strike Section 1 and | |
| insert the following. Section 1---- | |
| [The Amendment offered by Mr. Issa follows:] | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| Chairman Meeks. Without objection, further reading of the | |
| amendment will be dispensed with. A point of order is reserved. | |
| The representative from California, Mr. Issa, is recognized for | |
| 5 minutes in support of his amendment. | |
| Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I will be brief. As | |
| I explained a little bit earlier, this would make two | |
| substantive changes to the existing elimination of the AUMF. | |
| One is it would move its | |
| [inaudible] no matter what to January 30, 2023. | |
| Second, it would require that the President of the United | |
| States, on an every-90-day basis, request with specificity a | |
| reason for extending or continuing it. I believe that the | |
| current administration would likely extend once or twice while | |
| we work together to fashion a new AUMF if they needed one. | |
| However, if they continue to use it every 90 days, they | |
| would have to come to the realization that less than 2 years | |
| from today that ability would disappear completely. I think | |
| this puts the administration in the right position to have to | |
| come to Congress, if they anticipate some portion of this | |
| legislation or this authorization continue to be used. | |
| If they truly do not believe that they will need it, then | |
| this would be almost moot because this would--90 days after | |
| enactment of the Act, the AUMF would be canceled, since the | |
| President would not have asked for a specific 90-day extension. | |
| I think this finds some middle ground between both sides | |
| where Ms. Lee would like to have this be upon enactment, but if | |
| we do not get an enactment--in the last Congress we did not-- | |
| that we get immediate enactment. If, on the other hand, we are | |
| willing to allow the administration the possibility of a short | |
| extension based on specific need, with the recognition that if | |
| they do not need it, then Congresswoman Lee's vision would | |
| happen just 90 days later and likely would allow for the Senate | |
| to enact this bill. | |
| So I fashioned this after listening to what I thought were | |
| the arguments over the last 2 years by both sides and believing | |
| that this legislation that I voted for in my first term in | |
| Congress truly does need to have a sunset certainty. And this | |
| would allow for us to get sunset certainty. | |
| And with that, Mr. Chairman, I would yield for whatever | |
| time you need. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back. | |
| I now yield 5 minutes to myself. Let me first thank, as | |
| many of my colleagues, Barbara Lee for her great work for all | |
| of these years in putting this bill together in regards to the | |
| AUMF. | |
| And I respect Rep Issa's interest in some sense, but the | |
| problem is the 2002 AUMF doesn't need a sunset. It just needs | |
| to be repealed. It is not for anything else. It doesn't need a | |
| sunset. It needs to be repealed. It is our duty to consider and | |
| vote on authorizations to use military force. We simply cannot | |
| keep avoiding that responsibility. | |
| I repeat again, the 2002 AUMF is not needed for any current | |
| operations. That is what the 2001 AUMF is for. | |
| If the President needs authorization for a future | |
| operation, he should come to us in Congress, and we should | |
| consider an issue on its own merits. That is how it is supposed | |
| to work. The President can take defensive action without | |
| Congress, but if he wants to take offensive action, he needs to | |
| work with Congress. And we need to do our jobs and work with | |
| him. | |
| Letting the President just continue to extend the 2002 AUMF | |
| for any purposes he sees fit is exactly how Congress ended up | |
| on the sideline on issues of war and peace in the first place. | |
| I am cutting my remarks short there, because that is the | |
| reason I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. | |
| Do any other members wish to speak on this amendment? | |
| Hearing no further requests to speak, the question is on the | |
| amendment. We are going to take a vote by voice. All members, | |
| please unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All those opposed, no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the noes have it, and the | |
| amendment is not agreed to. And without objection, the motion | |
| to reconsider is laid upon the table. | |
| Mute me for a second. | |
| The committee will now resume consideration of the | |
| amendment to H.R. 2118, the other measure of which roll call | |
| votes were requested and postponed. The question is on the | |
| amendment designated number--what was that designation? 53. We | |
| are going to do 53, to H.R. 2118, Securing America From | |
| Epidemics Act. | |
| A recorded vote is ordered. All members, please make sure | |
| you are visible to the chair, and unmute your microphone when | |
| your name is called. As you cast your vote, please be sure to | |
| say your name for the record first, and then for your vote. For | |
| example, Representative Jones votes no. | |
| The clerk, will you please call the roll? | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sherman. | |
| Mr. Sherman. This is a vote on final passage? | |
| Chairman Meeks. This is--yes, on the amendment to H.R. | |
| 2118. | |
| Mr. Sherman. Oh. So this is a vote on the amendment offered | |
| by which member? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Perry. | |
| Mr. Sherman. Sherman votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sherman votes no. | |
| Representative Sires. | |
| Mr. Sires. Sires votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sires votes no. | |
| Representative Connolly. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Connolly votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Connolly votes no. | |
| Representative Deutch. | |
| Mr. Deutch. Deutch votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Deutch votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Bass. | |
| Representative Keating. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Can somebody mute until your name is called | |
| by the clerk? | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Keating. | |
| Chairman Meeks. You have to unmute, Representative Keating. | |
| I see you, but I do not hear you. | |
| Ms. Stiles. I will come back to you. | |
| Representative Cicilline. | |
| Mr. Cicilline. Cicilline votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Cicilline votes no. | |
| Representative Bera. | |
| Mr. Bera. Representative Bera votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Bera votes no. | |
| Representative Castro. | |
| Mr. Castro. Castro votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Castro votes no. | |
| Representative Titus. | |
| Ms. Titus. Titus votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Titus votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Lieu. Oh, there you are, sir. | |
| Representative Lieu. | |
| Mr. Lieu. How did the chair vote? | |
| Ms. Stiles. The chair has not voted, sir. It is Perry | |
| Amendment Number 53. | |
| Chairman Meeks. It is a vote on the Perry amendment. | |
| Mr. Lieu. No. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Lieu votes no. | |
| Representative Wild. | |
| Ms. Wild. Wild votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wild votes no. | |
| Representative Phillips. | |
| Mr. Phillips. Phillips votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Phillips votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Omar. | |
| Representative Allred. | |
| Mr. Allred. Allred votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Allred votes no. | |
| Representative Levin. | |
| Mr. Levin. Levin votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Levin votes no. | |
| Representative Spanberger. | |
| Ms. Spanberger. Spanberger votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Spanberger votes no. | |
| Representative Houlahan. | |
| Ms. Houlahan. Houlahan votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Houlahan votes no. | |
| Representative Malinowski. | |
| Mr. Malinowski. Malinowski, no. And not because it is from | |
| Mr. Perry. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Malinowski votes no. | |
| Representative Kim. | |
| Mr. Kim of New Jersey. No. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Kim votes no. | |
| Representative Jacobs. | |
| Ms. Jacobs. Representative Jacobs votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Jacobs votes no. | |
| Representative Manning. | |
| Ms. Manning. Manning votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Manning votes no. | |
| Representative Costa. | |
| Mr. Costa. Costa votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Costa votes no. | |
| Representative Vargas. | |
| Mr. Vargas. Vargas, no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Vargas votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Gonzalez. | |
| Representative Schneider. | |
| Mr. Schneider. Schneider votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Schneider votes no. | |
| Ranking Member McCaul. | |
| Mr. McCaul. McCaul votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Ranking Member McCaul votes aye. | |
| Representative Smith. | |
| Mr. Smith. Smith votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Smith votes aye. | |
| Representative Chabot. | |
| Mr. Chabot. Chabot votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Chabot votes aye. | |
| Representative Wilson. | |
| Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wilson votes aye. | |
| Representative Perry. | |
| Mr. Perry. Even if it is Perry, Perry votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Perry votes aye. | |
| Representative Issa. | |
| Mr. Issa. Aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Issa votes aye. | |
| Representative Kinzinger. | |
| Mr. Kinzinger. Kinzinger, aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Kinzinger votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Zeldin. | |
| Mr. Zeldin. Zeldin votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Oh. I am so sorry, sir. One more time? | |
| Mr. Zeldin. Zeldin votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Thank you. Representative Zeldin votes aye. | |
| Representative Wagner. | |
| Mrs. Wagner. Wagner votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wagner votes aye. | |
| Representative Mast. | |
| Mr. Mast. Representative Mast votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Mast votes aye. | |
| Representative Fitzpatrick. | |
| Mr. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Fitzpatrick votes aye. | |
| Representative Buck. | |
| Mr. Buck. Buck votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Buck votes aye. | |
| Representative Burchett. | |
| Mr. Burchett. Burchett votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Burchett votes aye. | |
| Representative Green. | |
| Mr. Green. Green votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Green votes aye. | |
| Representative Barr. | |
| Mr. Barr. Barr, aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Barr votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Steube. | |
| Representative Meuser. | |
| Mr. Meuser. Meuser votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Meuser votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Tenney. | |
| Representative Pfluger. | |
| Mr. Pfluger. Pfluger votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Pfluger votes aye. | |
| Representative Malliotakis. | |
| Ms. Malliotakis. Malliotakis votes yes. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Malliotakis votes aye. | |
| Representative Meijer. | |
| Mr. Meijer. Meijer votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Meijer votes aye. | |
| Representative Jackson. | |
| Mr. Jackson. Representative Jackson | |
| [inaudible]. | |
| Ms. Stiles. I am sorry. One more time, Representative | |
| Jackson? | |
| Mr. Jackson. Representative Jackson votes yes. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Jackson votes aye. | |
| Representative Young Kim. | |
| Mrs. Kim of California. Representative Young Kim votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Young Kim votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Salazar. | |
| And I am going to go back through, make sure I did not miss | |
| anyone here. | |
| First, I will start with Chair Meeks. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Chairman Meeks votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Chair Meeks votes no. | |
| Mr. Keating. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Yes. | |
| Mr. Keating. Representative Keating. Have I been recorded? | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Keating, I do not have a vote | |
| for you yet, sir. | |
| Mr. Keating. Keating votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Keating votes no. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Have all members been recorded? | |
| Ms. Stiles. One moment, please, sir. | |
| Chair Meeks, all members have been recorded. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The clerk will report the tally. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Chair Meeks, on that vote, we had 24 noes and | |
| 21 ayes. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The amendment is not agreed to. | |
| Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon | |
| the table. | |
| The question is to report H.R. 2118, Securing America From | |
| Epidemics Act, to the House with the recommendation that the | |
| bill do pass. We are going to take a vote by voice. All | |
| members, please unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All opposed, no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the | |
| motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. | |
| The question is on the amendment designated Number 52, the | |
| Perry Amendment Number 52, to H.R. 256, repeal the | |
| Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution | |
| of 2002. | |
| A recorded vote is ordered. All members, make sure you are | |
| visible to the chair and unmute your microphones when your name | |
| is called. As you cast your vote, please be sure to say your | |
| name for the record first, and then your vote. For example, | |
| Representative Jones votes no. | |
| The clerk will call the roll. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sherman. | |
| Mr. Sherman. On the Perry amendment, Sherman votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sherman votes no. | |
| Representative Sires. | |
| Mr. Sires. Sires votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sires votes no. | |
| Representative Connolly. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Connolly votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Connolly votes no. | |
| Representative Deutch. | |
| Mr. Deutch. Deutch votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Deutch votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Bass. | |
| Representative Keating. | |
| Mr. Keating. Keating votes no. People should mute, please. | |
| I could barely hear you. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Keating votes no. | |
| Representative Cicilline. | |
| Mr. Cicilline. Representative Cicilline votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Cicilline votes no. | |
| Representative Bera. | |
| Mr. Bera. Representative Bera votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Bera votes no. | |
| Representative Castro. | |
| Mr. Castro. Castro votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Castro votes no. | |
| Representative Titus. | |
| Ms. Titus. Titus votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Titus votes no. | |
| Representative Lieu. | |
| Mr. Lieu. Lieu votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Lieu votes no. | |
| Representative Wild. | |
| Ms. Wild. Wild votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wild votes no. | |
| Representative Phillips. | |
| Mr. Phillips. Phillips votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Phillips votes no. | |
| Representative Omar. I am sorry. I do not see | |
| Representative Omar here. All right. | |
| Representative Allred. | |
| Mr. Allred. Allred votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Allred votes no. | |
| Representative Levin. | |
| Mr. Levin. Levin votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Levin votes no. | |
| Representative Spanberger. | |
| Ms. Spanberger. Spanberger votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Spanberger votes no. | |
| Representative Houlahan. | |
| Ms. Houlahan. Houlahan votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Houlahan votes no. | |
| Representative Malinowski. | |
| Mr. Malinowski. Malinowski, no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Malinowski votes no. | |
| Representative Kim. | |
| Mr. Kim of New Jersey. No. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Kim votes no. | |
| Representative Jacobs. Representative Jacobs, I see you on | |
| camera, ma'am. Would you like to vote? Representative Jacobs, | |
| would you like to cast your vote? | |
| Ms. Jacobs. Representative Jacobs votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Jacobs votes no. | |
| Representative Manning. | |
| Ms. Manning. Manning votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Manning votes no. | |
| Representative Costa. | |
| Mr. Costa. Representative Costa votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Costa votes no. | |
| Representative Vargas. | |
| Mr. Vargas. Vargas, no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Vargas votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Gonzalez. | |
| Representative Schneider. | |
| Mr. Schneider. Schneider votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Schneider votes no. | |
| Ranking Member McCaul. | |
| Mr. McCaul. McCaul votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Ranking Member McCaul votes aye. | |
| Representative Smith. | |
| Mr. Smith. Smith votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Smith votes aye. | |
| Representative Chabot. | |
| Mr. Chabot. Aye. Chabot is aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Chabot votes aye. | |
| Representative Wilson. | |
| Mr. Wilson. Wilson votes aye on the Perry amendment. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wilson votes aye. | |
| Representative Perry. | |
| Mr. Perry. Perry votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Perry votes aye. | |
| Representative Issa. Representative Issa, I see you on | |
| camera, sir. | |
| Mr. Issa. Representative Issa votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Issa votes aye. | |
| Representative Kinzinger. | |
| Mr. Kinzinger. Kinzinger, aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Kinzinger votes aye. | |
| Representative Zeldin. | |
| Mr. Zeldin. Zeldin votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Zeldin votes aye. | |
| Representative Wagner. | |
| Mrs. Wagner. Wagner, aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wagner votes aye. | |
| Representative Mast. | |
| Mr. Mast. Representative Mast votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Mast votes aye. | |
| Representative Fitzpatrick. | |
| Mr. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Fitzpatrick votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Buck. | |
| Mr. Buck. Can you see me now? | |
| Ms. Stiles. Yes. Now I can, sir. Would you like to cast | |
| your vote? | |
| Mr. Buck. Buck votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Buck votes no. | |
| Representative Burchett. Representative Burchett, you are | |
| muted, sir. | |
| Mr. Burchett. Burchett votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Burchett votes aye. | |
| Representative Green. | |
| Mr. Green. Green votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Green votes aye. | |
| Representative Barr. | |
| Mr. Barr. Barr, aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Barr votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Steube. | |
| Representative Meuser. | |
| Mr. Meuser. Meuser votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Meuser votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Tenney. | |
| Representative Pfluger. | |
| Mr. Pfluger. Pfluger votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Pfluger votes aye. | |
| Representative Malliotakis. | |
| Ms. Malliotakis. Malliotakis votes yes. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Malliotakis votes aye. | |
| Representative Meijer. | |
| Mr. Meijer. Meijer votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Meijer votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Jackson. | |
| Mr. Jackson. Representative Jackson. Can you see me? | |
| Ms. Stiles. Sorry, sir. I do now. Would you like to cast | |
| your vote? | |
| Mr. Jackson. Yes. Representative Jackson votes yes. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Jackson votes aye. | |
| Representative Young Kim. | |
| Mrs. Kim of California. Representative Young Kim votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Young Kim votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Salazar. | |
| Chair Meeks. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Chairman Meeks votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Chair Meeks votes no. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Have all members been recorded? | |
| Mr. Gonzalez. No, sir. Congressman Gonzalez, Vincente | |
| Gonzalez, votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Gonzalez votes no. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Have all members been recorded? Any members | |
| wishing to change their vote? | |
| Will the clerk please report the tally? | |
| Ms. Stiles. Chair Meeks, on that vote, there were 27 noes | |
| and 19 ayes. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The amendment is not agreed to. | |
| The question is to report H.R. 256, to repeal the | |
| Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution | |
| of 2002, to the House, with a recommendation that the bill do | |
| pass. | |
| We are going to take a vote by voice. All members, please | |
| unmute your microphones. | |
| All those in favor, say aye. | |
| All opposed, say no. | |
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the | |
| motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. | |
| Without objection, staff is authorized to make any | |
| technical and conforming changes. | |
| Pursuant to the House Rule---- | |
| Mr. McCaul. Mr. Chairman? | |
| Chairman Meeks. Mr. McCaul? | |
| Mr. McCaul. With that, I ask for a recorded vote. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The question to report H.R. 256 to repeat | |
| the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq | |
| Resolution of 2002, with the recommendation that the bill be | |
| passed. All members, please turn on your video, so you are | |
| visible to the chair, and wait to unmute your microphone until | |
| your name is called, as you cast your vote. Please be sure to | |
| say your name for the recording--for the record first, and then | |
| for your vote. | |
| The clerk will please call the roll. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sherman. | |
| Mr. Sherman. Sherman votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sherman votes aye. | |
| Representative Sires. | |
| Mr. Sires. Sires votes yes. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Sires votes aye. | |
| Representative Connolly. | |
| Mr. Connolly. Connolly votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Connolly votes aye. | |
| Representative Deutch. | |
| Mr. Deutch. Deutch votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Deutch votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Bass. | |
| Ms. Bass. I am here. I vote aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. I am so sorry, ma'am. | |
| Ms. Bass. Can you see me? | |
| Ms. Stiles. Yes, ma'am. I do. Representative Bass votes | |
| aye. | |
| Representative Keating. | |
| Mr. Keating. Yes. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Keating votes aye. | |
| Representative Cicilline. | |
| Mr. Cicilline. Representative Cicilline votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Cicilline votes aye. | |
| Representative Bera. | |
| Mr. Bera. Representative Bera votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Bera votes aye. | |
| Representative Castro. | |
| Mr. Castro. Castro votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Castro votes aye. | |
| Representative Titus. | |
| Ms. Titus. Titus votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Titus votes aye. | |
| Representative Lieu. | |
| Mr. Lieu. Lieu votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Lieu votes aye. | |
| Representative Wild. | |
| Ms. Wild. Wild votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wild votes aye. | |
| Representative Phillips. | |
| Mr. Phillips. Phillips votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Phillips votes aye. | |
| I do not see Representative Omar. | |
| Representative Allred. | |
| Mr. Allred. Allred votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Allred votes aye. | |
| Representative Levin. | |
| Mr. Levin. Levin votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Levin votes aye. | |
| Representative Spanberger. | |
| Ms. Spanberger. Spanberger votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Spanberger votes aye. | |
| Representative Houlahan. | |
| Ms. Houlahan. Houlahan votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Houlahan votes aye. | |
| Representative Malinowski. | |
| Mr. Malinowski. Malinowski, aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Malinowski votes aye. | |
| Representative Andy Kim. | |
| Mr. Kim of New Jersey. Aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Andy Kim votes aye. | |
| Representative Jacobs. | |
| Ms. Jacobs. Representative Jacobs votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Jacobs votes aye. | |
| Representative Manning. | |
| Ms. Manning. Manning votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Manning votes aye. | |
| Representative Costa. | |
| Mr. Costa. Representative Costa votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Costa votes aye. | |
| Representative Vargas. | |
| Mr. Vargas. Vargas, aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Vargas votes aye. | |
| Representative Gonzalez. | |
| Mr. Gonzalez. Gonzalez votes | |
| [inaudible]. | |
| Ms. Stiles. I am sorry, sir. One more time? | |
| Mr. Gonzalez. Gonzalez votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Gonzalez votes aye. | |
| Representative Schneider. | |
| Mr. Schneider. Schneider votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Schneider votes aye. | |
| Ranking Member McCaul. | |
| Mr. McCaul. McCaul votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Ranking Member McCaul votes no. | |
| Representative Smith. | |
| Mr. Smith. Smith votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Smith votes no. | |
| Representative Chabot. | |
| Mr. Chabot. Chabot votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Chabot votes no. | |
| Representative Wilson. | |
| Mr. Wilson. Wilson votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wilson votes no. | |
| Representative Perry. | |
| Mr. Perry. Perry is no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Perry votes no. | |
| Representative Issa. | |
| Mr. Issa. No. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Issa votes no. | |
| Representative Kinzinger. | |
| Mr. Kinzinger. Kinzinger votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Kinzinger votes no. | |
| Representative Zeldin. | |
| Mr. Zeldin. Zeldin votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Zeldin votes no. | |
| Representative Wagner. | |
| Mrs. Wagner. Wagner votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Wagner votes no. | |
| Representative Mast. | |
| Mr. Mast. Representative Mast votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Mast votes no. | |
| Representative Fitzpatrick. | |
| Mr. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Fitzpatrick votes no. | |
| Representative Buck. | |
| Mr. Buck. Buck votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Buck votes aye. | |
| Representative Burchett. | |
| Mr. Burchett. Burchett votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Burchett votes no. | |
| Representative Green. | |
| Mr. Green. Green votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Green votes no. | |
| Representative Barr. | |
| Mr. Barr. No. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Barr votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Steube. | |
| Representative Meuser. | |
| Mr. Meuser. Meuser votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Meuser votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Tenney. | |
| Representative Pfluger. You are unmuted, sir. Or, I am | |
| sorry, you are muted. Representative Pfluger. Representative | |
| Pfluger, your audio is cutoff, sir. I am going to keep going, | |
| but we will ask after we are done. Okay. Let the record show | |
| that Representative Pfluger did a thumbs down sign. So | |
| Representative Pfluger votes no. | |
| Representative Malliotakis. | |
| Ms. Malliotakis. Malliotakis is no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Malliotakis votes no. | |
| Representative Meijer. | |
| Mr. Meijer. Meijer votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Meijer votes aye. | |
| Representative Jackson. | |
| Mr. Jackson. Representative Jackson, no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Jackson votes no. | |
| Representative Young Kim. | |
| Mrs. Kim of California. Representative Young Kim votes no. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Representative Young Kim votes no. | |
| I do not see Representative Salazar. | |
| Chair Meeks. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Meeks votes aye. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Chair Meeks votes aye. | |
| Chairman Meeks. Have all members been recorded? Any members | |
| wishing to change their vote? | |
| The clerk will report the tally. The clerk will report the | |
| tally. | |
| Ms. Stiles. Chair Meeks, on that vote, there were 28 ayes | |
| and 19 noes. | |
| Chairman Meeks. The ayes have it. And without objection, | |
| the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. The measure is | |
| ordered favorably reported. Without objection, staff is | |
| authorized to make any technical and conforming changes. | |
| Pursuant to House Rules, members will have 2 calendar days | |
| to file with the clerk of the committee supplemental, minority, | |
| additional, or dissenting views for inclusion in a report to | |
| the House on any of the bills ordered reported by the committee | |
| today. | |
| This concludes our business today, and I want to thank | |
| Ranking Member McCaul and members of both sides of the aisle | |
| for all of their contributions to--and assistance to today's | |
| markup. It is a markup that I think that we had some very good | |
| debate, and I look forward to continuing to work together to | |
| make America stronger. | |
| I now adjourn this markup. | |
| [Whereupon, at 7:02 p.m., the committee was adjourned.] | |
| APPENDIX | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| BILLS AND AMENDMENTS | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| VOTES | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| MARKUP SUMMARY | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| INFORMATION FOR THE RECORD | |
| [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] | |
| [ | |
| <all> | |
| </pre></body></html> | |