[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
EXAMINING THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S REPORT
ON IRANIAN PRESENCE IN THE WESTERN
HEMISPHERE 19 YEARS AFTER AMIA ATTACK
=======================================================================
JOINT HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
AND THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
AUGUST 1, 2013
__________
Serial No. 113-65
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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______
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III,
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania Massachusetts
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
TREY RADEL, Florida GRACE MENG, New York
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
TED S. YOHO, Florida JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
LUKE MESSER, Indiana
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
TOM COTTON, Arkansas DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
RON DeSANTIS, Florida JUAN VARGAS, California
TREY RADEL, Florida BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III,
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina Massachusetts
TED S. YOHO, Florida GRACE MENG, New York
LUKE MESSER, Indiana LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
------
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
MATT SALMON, Arizona, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina Samoa
RON DeSANTIS, Florida THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TREY RADEL, Florida ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
WITNESSES
Matthew Levitt, Ph.D., director and senior fellow, Stein Program
on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, The Washington Institute
for Near East Policy........................................... 15
Mr. Michael A. Braun, co-founder and managing partner, Spectre
Group International, LLC (former Chief of Operations, Drug
Enforcement Administration).................................... 32
Mr. Eric Farnsworth, vice president, Council of the Americas and
Americas Society............................................... 41
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Jeff Duncan, a Representative in Congress from the
State of South Carolina: Letter to the Honorable John Kerry,
Secretary of State, dated August 1, 2013....................... 8
Matthew Levitt, Ph.D.: Prepared statement........................ 18
Mr. Michael A. Braun: Prepared statement......................... 34
Mr. Eric Farnsworth: Prepared statement.......................... 43
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 60
Hearing minutes.................................................. 61
Written response from Mr. Eric Farnsworth to question submitted
for the record by the Honorable Luke Messer, a Representative
in Congress from the State of Indiana 63
EXAMINING THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S
REPORT ON IRANIAN PRESENCE IN THE
WESTERN HEMISPHERE 19 YEARS AFTER AMIA ATTACK
----------
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2013
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa and
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittees met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in
room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen (chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and
North Africa) presiding.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. The joint subcommittee will come to
order.
After recognizing myself, Chairman Salmon, Ranking Member
Deutch, and Ranking Member Sires for 5 minutes each for our
opening statements, I will then recognize other members for
their 1-minute statement should they seek recognition. We will
then hear from our witnesses, and, without objection, your
prepared statements will be made a part of record. Members may
have 5 days in which to insert statements and questions for the
record, subject to the length limitation in the rules. And Mr.
Deutch is in another committee. He is finishing up there, and
as soon as he finishes, if we are already on the witnesses, we
will yank you out of that microphone--no, we will just briefly
interrupt so he can make his opening statement.
So thank you, Chairman Salmon, who chairs our Western
Hemisphere Subcommittee, and thank you to Ranking Member Sires,
who is the ranking member on that subcommittee.
And the Chair now recognizes herself for 5 minutes.
I came into Congress in 1989 and was here 19 years ago when
the AMIA attack occurred in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1994.
Fast forward to today, and the Iranian presence in Latin
America is on the rise and poses a greater threat to our
national security.
Two months ago the special prosecutor for AMIA, Alberto
Nisman, released a 500-page report citing extensive evidence of
Iran's intelligence and terrorist networks alive and well in
various Latin America nations. This report reaffirmed that Iran
continues to use its diplomatic and cultural centers as a
facade to infiltrate the region.
As our two subcommittees continue to do our due diligence
and shine the spotlight on the Iranian presence in the Western
Hemisphere, it is important to examine this problem through the
prism of the Obama administration's failed policies in Latin
America. Time and again we have seen the Obama administration
fail to hold oppressive regimes accountable for the human
rights violations, constitutional revisions, and a breakdown of
rule of law in the region.
The ALBA nations of Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador and
Bolivia, and to a certain extent now, sadly, Argentina,
continue to undermine U.S. efforts in the region, and it is not
surprising that those same countries have opened up their arms
to embrace the Iranian regime.
Just yesterday the Subcommittee on the Middle East and
North Africa held a hearing on the Iran-Syria nexus, and
Ambassador John Bolton stated, and I quote, ``The largest
Iranian diplomatic facility in the world is in Caracas.
Caracas, Venezuela, because they are laundering their money
through the Venezuelan banks.''
In order for the Obama administration to get serious about
this issue, it cannot ignore the close ties between Venezuela
and Iran, but it has become abundantly clear that the
administration continues to put politics over national
security. To admit that there is a problem in the hemisphere
regarding Iran, the administration would first have to put the
blame on the Venezuelan regime, the same regime that it
continues to attempt to normalize relations with. The decision
is misguided and will only embolden the corrupt Venezuelan
leadership.
One month ago the Department of State presented to Congress
a report on the Iranian influence in Latin America, and we
thank our colleague for passing a bill making that possible; a
report that was required thanks to the efforts of Mr. Duncan.
Our responsibility as policymakers is to do our best to
prevent problems from becoming even worse. We cannot wait until
this threat increases to such a level that it cannot be
contained, so we must be proactive and not reactive. That is
why I was extremely disappointed that the report failed to
reach its objectives required by U.S. law and failed to connect
the dots on what is really going on in the hemisphere with
Iran.
The report lacked a coherent and detailed strategy on what
the Department of State and other Federal agencies are doing to
combat the Iranian threat in our region, and drastically
underestimated that threat. For example, the report states the
U.S. intelligence community works with our allies in the region
to collect information on Iranian activities. What it failed to
mention is the fact that there is a large intelligence gap
within our own intelligence community to gather accurate
information on Iranian activities, and this administration has
failed to appropriately address this threat.
In March of this year, the Commander of SOUTHCOM testified
before Congress and said, and I quote, ``I would be remiss,
however, if I did not share with the Congress my assessment
that the U.S. Southern Command's limited intelligence
capabilities may prevent our full awareness of all Iranian and
Hezbollah activities in the region.'' This is why I offered an
amendment to the NDAA this year that authorizes the Secretary
of Defense to deploy assets, personnel, and resources to the
Joint Interagency Task Force South in coordination with
SOUTHCOM to combat narcoterrorism and the Iranian threat in the
region.
The links between terrorism and drug trafficking are well
known, which is why it is easy to assume why the Iranian regime
and its proxies are in our hemisphere that continues to battle
drug trafficking. What this administration fails to comprehend
is that terrorists fighting in the Middle East, in Syria, in
Iran, in Yemen, in Lebanon are financing their illicit
activities from drug trafficking proceeds being collected from
right here in our own region.
Whether it is the foiled plot by an Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps member to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the
U.S. on U.S. soil, or the DEA-led investigation into the
Lebanese Canadian Bank, and Operation Titan, it is clear that
the Iranian regime is supporting operatives in our region. So
it is in our national security interest to dismantle these
transnational criminal organizations, and we cannot and must
not turn a blind eye to this imminent threat.
And with that, I am pleased to yield for his opening
statement to Ranking Member Sires.
Mr. Sires. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, and thank you to our witnesses for being here
today.
This month marked the 19-year anniversary of the AMIA
Jewish Community Center bombing in Buenos Aires, which killed
85 people. Two years earlier in March 1992, a car bomb exploded
in front of the Israeli Embassy in the same city, killing 30
people and injuring 242. On both occasions Hezbollah, along
with Iranian officials, were implicated by Argentine
authorities in what today remains amongst the most devastating
terrorist attacks Latin America has experienced. Tragic still
is the fact that today justice remains elusive, all of which
makes a Joint Truth Commission between Argentina and Iran to
review the case a puzzling proposition that does more to pour
salt over the wounds of the victims' families than seek
justice.
In recent years pervasive anti-Americanism fueled Iran's
relationship with countries like Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador,
Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The leftist leaders, the so-called
ALBA group, and Iran's Ahmadinejad found favor and ideological
kinship with each other. Their regional encounters, often led
by former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, involved the
announcement of improbable joint ventures and U.S. antagonism.
Nevertheless, these relationships begged the question of
the underlying intent. On one side has been an Iran whose
support of terrorism, international disregard and nuclear and
vision has been an imminent threat to the global community. On
the other are several regional state actors whose leaders have
exhibited disregard for democratic principles and the goal of
reducing U.S. influence in the region.
U.S. intelligence officials have noted that the crippling
effect of sanctions against Iran and attempts to defraud the
international community gave way to an outreach effort within
the hemisphere to reduce its international isolation. For the
ALBA bloc of nations, their associations with Iran has provided
shallow, yet symbolic economic opportunities; above all, it has
given them an international platform to espouse anti-American
rhetoric. While these interactions may be more about
showmanship than brinkmanship, Iran's presence and activities
in the hemisphere must not be taken lightly and should remain a
security concern of the United States.
For instance, a 2011 failed assassination attempt against
the Saudi Ambassador in Washington, DC, involved two Iranian
nationals who sought the aid of Mexican drug cartels,
reflecting a will by Iran to carry out an attack within the
U.S.
Moreover, the State Department's 2012 report on terrorism
noted that while there were no known operational cells of
either Hezbollah or al Qaeda in the hemisphere, they remain
ideological sympathizers, providing financial support in areas
like the triborder region of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
Partly for these reasons, Congress requested that the State
Department submit an assessment of Iran's presence and activity
in the Western Hemisphere. The mostly classified report
submitted to Congress late last month maintains that Iran's
influence in Latin America and the Caribbean is waning.
Therefore, the purpose of this hearing today is to examine the
State Department's determination.
This hearing and the reports released come at the heels of
various significant events that have the potential to change
the course of Iran's presence and influence in the hemisphere.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died in March, and last month
Hassan Rouhani was selected to be Iran's new President. It is
uncertain as to whether Iran and Venezuela's new leaders will
maintain the same level of interaction seen under Chavez.
Additionally, Argentina's prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, recently
released a scathing report on Iran's activities throughout
Latin America.
I remain skeptical of whether anything of substance is
going to be achieved with the so-called Truth Commission. While
I am deeply concerned about Iran's involvement in this
hemisphere, particularly on the financial and security front, I
think it is imperative that as we move forward, we do so in a
manner that does not set back our relations with our friendly
neighbors.
I look forward to hearing the testimony from our witnesses
about the State Department's determination of the Iranian
threat and what directions our foreign policy should take in
regards to the situation.
Thank you.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Ranking Member Sires, for that
great opening statement.
And we are so pleased now to turn to the chairman of the
Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Mr. Salmon.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
I would like to thank Chairman Ros-Lehtinen for joining me
in convening today's hearing, and the witnesses who have taken
the time to come before this joint hearing to show their
thoughts on Iran's presence in the Western Hemisphere, how this
presence may affect our national security, and whether the
State Department's report provided Congress with an accurate
picture of the potential threat.
When the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act,
which was sponsored by our great friend and Representative from
South Carolina, Jeff Duncan, last year and passed in December
of last year, there was a reasonable expectation that the State
Department would draft a thorough and thoughtful report in
response to legitimate concerns that Iran and its proxies
maintain influence throughout our hemisphere.
Unfortunately, the State Department delivered a dismissive
report that lacked the depth and seriousness this very
important national security issue warrants. The unclassified
State Department report concluded that Iran's influence in the
region is waning and based on that assessment--or based that
assessment on several unfulfilled commercial agreements between
Iran and some of the hemisphere's ALBA countries. Nowhere did
the report consider what most security experts agree is Iran
and its proxy Hezbollah's ability to slowly and methodically
establish inroads necessary to launch acts of terrorism as they
did in Argentina while planning the 1994 bombing of the
Argentine Israelite Mutual Association. Therefore, citing the
lack of imminent Iranian or Hezbollah threat or anecdotal
information that Iran has been unreliable after signing
commercial agreements provides very little comfort to those
dedicated to our Nation's security.
Moreover, the report failed to give proper consideration to
the fact that the ALBA-aligned governments that have welcomed
increased Iranian diplomatic presence over the past several
years, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, have been
undermining democratic institutions in their respective
countries, creating exactly the type of environment, complete
with vitriolic anti-Americanism and a stranglehold on liberty,
that makes for an ideal breeding ground for Iranian
adventurism.
As chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
last week I asked Assistant Secretary Jacobson to come to the
Hill to answer the many questions my colleagues and I have
about their dismissive report. I convened today's hearing
jointly with Chairman Ros-Lehtinen to continue to dig in deeper
into the nature of the threat posed by Iran and its proxies
present so close to our homeland. The American people
rightfully expect their Representatives to take the security of
our Nation seriously. I am confident that today's hearing will
shed further light on the nature of Iran's presence in our
hemisphere, and I want to once again thank our witnesses for
coming forth with testimony on this matter of national
security.
Finally, Madam Chairman, I would like to express a warm
thank you to our subcommittee's summer interns. We had two of
them, and they were phenomenal: Emily King and Eric Meroney.
Yeah, thank you, yay. We really appreciate--we really
appreciate the great work that they have done. They brought
with them an exceptional amount of professionalism, hard work,
integrity, and we are just thrilled that they could work with
us this summer.
And I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Salmon.
Now we are pleased to recognize members for their opening
statements, and we will begin with Mr. Schneider.
Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I want to thank
the witnesses for joining us today.
I very well remember 19 years ago when the Jewish Community
Center of Buenos Aires was bombed. My interest at the time was
perhaps heightened because I was then a young leader in the
Jewish community of Chicago.
There were and continue to be very close ties between our
communities, and we all share, as we do here, the same concern
and disappointment that justice remains denied for the victims
of Argentina.
Let me jump forward to today. Last week we were encouraged
see that the European Union acted to finally designate the
military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, a
reality which the U.S. and many of our allies have known for
years. Despite this designation, there is much work to be done.
Hezbollah and, by extension, Iran continue to have global reach
which threatens U.S. interests and those of our close allies.
We cannot let up on the pressure on the European Union until
they agree to join the U.S. and others in a comprehensive
sanctions regime that would stifle Hezbollah's global influence
network.
This hearing focuses on Hezbollah and Iran's influence here
in the Western Hemisphere. Despite the low occurrence rate of
terrorist attacks in our region, this international
organization continues to use its network of local banks, gangs
and drug traffickers to launder money and finance regional
destabilization efforts in the Middle East and elsewhere. I
look forward to hearing from the panel on how the U.S. can best
combat this international terrorism finance network, and what
steps we might take to pursue an all-inclusive sanctions
regime.
I thank the chair for calling this hearing today, and I
yield back my time.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much.
And I am now very pleased to recognize Mr. Duncan, who was
the author and passage of the bill calling for the report on
Iran's presence in the Western Hemisphere was so successful.
You were the only freshman to pass a bill.
Mr. Duncan. I thank you. In this committee, anyway.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Okay. You are recognized.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you so much, and it wouldn't have
happened had it not been for the leadership of Chairman Ros-
Lehtinen, and so I want to applaud her and Chairman Salmon for
holding this joint subcommittee hearing today to examine the
threat from Iran's actions in the Western Hemisphere, and
assess the State Department's recent report to Congress.
Earlier this month, as chairman of the Oversight
Subcommittee on the Homeland Security Committee, I held a
hearing to examine the threat to the U.S. homeland from Iran's
extending influence in the Western Hemisphere. All of the
witnesses highlighted the activities of Iran, and provided
compelling evidence showing Iranian influence increasing,
rather than waning as the State Department claims.
Although Congress has held numerous hearings culminating in
today's hearing, and although Congress passed bipartisan,
bicameral legislation that the President signed into law, the
State Department's report to Congress was inadequate in its
lack of rigorous evaluation conducted in a comprehensive and
coordinated manner. I question the State Department's scope,
methodology, and findings in its report to Congress, evidenced
by the fact that the State Department did not reach out to even
one ally or partner in this hemisphere to craft its assessment
or strategy. The State Department also failed to consider all
of the evidence in the extensive 500-page report by general
prosecutor of the AMIA bombing, Alberto Nisman.
Although Iran has publicly stated that promotion of all-out
cooperation with Latin American countries is one of its top
priorities and among the definite and strategic policies of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, this administration refuses to see
Iranian presence in the Western Hemisphere as a threat to U.S.
security.
Testimony from the Oversight Subcommittee hearing found
that Iran has exemplified steady patience in building networks
within the Western Hemisphere. Iran has penetrated countries
through mosques, Embassies, cultural centers, and recruited
over 1,000 students in Latin America to travel to Iran for
training. Iran also possesses the ability to obtain fraudulent
passport documentation and exploit free-trade zones and loose
border-security measures. Iran's close cooperation with drug
cartels and criminal networks in the region and expanding trade
with countries like Argentina and Brazil should cause the
administration to prove to the American people that Iran's
influence is actually waning rather than simply asserting it.
Today I, along with several Members of Congress, including
Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, and Chairman Royce and Chairman Salmon,
sent a letter to Secretary Kerry requesting specific answers to
questions that have not been answered. I ask that this letter
be submitted into the record.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Without objection.
[The information referred to follows:]
----------
Mr. Duncan. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
I look forward to the State Department's response in a
timely manner.
I also expect the GAO to examine this issue in depth, and I
look forward to their report in the coming months.
And I will finish my comments by just saying in the written
testimony of Mr. Levitt, he mentions 300 Lebanese were smuggled
into this country in the car, in the trunk, and I hope you will
mention this in your testimony, but in the trunk of his car
across the Mexican border into this country. We can't ignore
this issue that Iran is a threat, and there is a possibility
that by saying that it is waning and taking our eye off the
ball, we could be a target and could result in implications and
further complications.
So with that I yield back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much, Mr. Duncan.
Mr. Vargas is recognized.
Mr. Vargas. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I would also like to thank the respective chairs and
ranking members of each subcommittee for this timely hearing
and for the opportunity to speak here today. I want to express
my deep concern regarding Iran's growing presence and influence
in the Western Hemisphere.
As the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism,
Iran's network of proxies and syndicates have conducted
terrorist attacks such as the two bombings in Argentina in 1992
and 1994, and they continue to expand their reach in the
region. Of particular concern are Iran's efforts to develop
ties with Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and
Nicaragua.
Trying to circumvent U.S. and U.N. sanctions meant to
isolate them from the international community, Iranian
officials have declared an all-out cooperation with Latin
America countries, and have invested heavily in mosques,
Embassies, cultural centers, and student recruitment in Latin
America trying to seek favor. We must do all we can to stop
Iranian influence in our hemisphere.
I look forward to hearing from the witnesses today, and I
thank you, and I yield back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Vargas.
Mr. Chabot is recognized, the chairman of the--what is the
name of your subcommittee?
Mr. Chabot. Asia and the Pacific.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. That's it. That's a big chunk of land.
Mr. Chabot. Thank you very much.
Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen and Chairman Salmon, I want to
thank both of you for calling this hearing.
Iran's threat to the U.S. is no secret. Iran's deep-rooted
linkages to rogue regimes around the world and those countries
that are fixated on propagating anti-Americanism and anti-
Semitism are very real and must be taken seriously. Its ties to
Syria threaten the stability of the entire Middle East, and
similarly, its support to North Korea is destabilizing Asia.
As we will discuss this afternoon, Iran's growing influence
in Latin America and throughout the Western Hemisphere is just
as dangerous. The administration's report on Iranian influence
in the Western Hemisphere is troubling because saying that
Iran's influence is waning disregards the real facts. It
mistakes the trees for the forest. Tehran has developed a broad
network through its Hezbollah proxy and relationships with
local criminal organizations to support an extensive strategy
that promotes terrorist activities.
This report does not show that we are doing enough to deter
Iranian-sponsored terrorist acts. Yesterday the Nuclear Iran
Prevention Act was passed on the House floor, which is an
important step in dramatically increasing the pressure on Iran
to halt its nuclear ambitions and cut off its money-laundering
schemes in the region. The question is, what do we do next?
I look forward to hearing the testimony of our
distinguished witnesses here this afternoon, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much, Chairman Chabot.
Mr. Meeks is--thank you, Mr. Meeks, sorry. Albio is a big
guy. I didn't see you there.
Mr. Meeks. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I want to thank you
and Chairman Salmon for convening this hearing today to examine
the security of our southern neighbors. And there is no doubt
that there are nefarious elements in the region that need to be
countered. Specifically, Iran and Hezbollah's interests and
activity in the Western Hemisphere are troubling and should be
diligently countered by a robust and proactive United States
foreign policy. International criminal networks connected by
Hezbollah greatly threaten the security of the United States
and undermine our efforts to promote stability and democracy in
the region and around the world.
We are here today to talk about what findings that the
State Department had, and I wish we had a State--and maybe we
do need a hearing where the State Department is here also so
that we could hear a full and complete report as to what has
taken place, what the State Department found, how they found
it, how did they--what kind of information they have obtained,
as opposed to just dismissing it and going with some--you know,
some other place where I don't know whether they had--I have
had some hearings and some meetings, I should say, some
classified, in regard to that, and I wish--can't talk about all
of those things here--but the State Department should have a
seat here so that we could have them answer some questions, and
they can tell you specifically what they found, how they found
it, and why they found it, as opposed to just making a
presumption that their report just means nothing, and all these
things are going on. I think that we need to do a more holistic
finding, a holistic type of hearing where we can then really
get into the facts and not just fan fire when we don't know
whether it is or not.
So I think it would be fair to have both sides here, have
everyone here, so that everybody could hear all of the facts,
all of the circumstances, and we then know which direction that
we should head in.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Meeks.
And we will be glad to have you cosign a letter that I
routinely send to the State Department. We have been begging
for 3 years to have them come testify. We would be pleased and
honored to have you join us in that bipartisan effort.
Mr. Meeks. I would love it. I know every time we have had a
classified meeting, they have been here and been willing to
give us that information.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. They always do classified, but never
open.
Thank you so much, Mr. Meeks. We will turn that over to
you.
Ms. Meng, so pleased to recognize you for your opening
statement.
Ms. Meng. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Thank you to our
witnesses for being here today.
Yesterday we passed H.R. 850, strengthening Iran sanctions,
but this does not mean we can head off to our August work
periods feeling content with our efforts on the Iranian
question. The Iranian regime is smart and swift, and when we
push it down in one area, it rises in another. That is why we
must adopt a comprehensive diplomatic push against Iran.
In Latin America, for example, the Iranian regime is
seeking to circumvent its isolation and the sanctions directed
against it. We are leading opposition to the Iran/Argentina
Truth Commission, which is a sham ``reinvestigation'' of the
1994 Buenos Aires bombing, despite Iran's clear culpability for
this atrocious attack.
I look forward to hearing from our panelists today on these
important questions.
Thank you, and I yield back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much, ma'am.
And now we are pleased to introduce our witnesses. First we
welcome Dr. Matthew Levitt, senior fellow and director of the
Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Dr. Levitt has
served a long and distinguished career working to counter
international terrorism, having served as Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Intelligence Analysis at the Department of
Treasury from 2005 to 2007 and, prior to this, at the FBI as a
counterterrorism intelligence analyst.
Thank you for your service, Dr. Levitt.
Next we welcome Mr. Michael Braun, who in 2008 retired from
the Drug Enforcement Agency as Chief of Operations, Assistant
Administrator after serving a 33-year domestic international
law enforcement career. During this time he used his expertise
in the confluence of drugs and terror to lead the DEA's
expansion in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2008, and served as Chief
of Staff for the Minister of the Interior, Coalition
Provisional Authority in Iraq. Mr. Braun is a Vietnam veteran,
like my hubby, having served--enlisted in the Marines in 1971
as an infantryman. Hooah.
Then we welcome Mr. Eric Farnsworth--did I do okay?
Mr. Farnsworth. Perfect.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you. Vice president of the Council
of the Americas and Americas Society. Mr. Farnsworth is an
expert in various issues affecting U.S. relations in the
Western Hemisphere, including economic development, trade,
energy, security, and democracy. He has served in various
government positions involving Western Hemisphere and trade
issues, including at the State Department's Bureau of Western
Hemisphere Affairs, the Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative, and as a senior advisor to the White House
Special Envoy for the Americas during the Clinton
administration.
We have quite a set of panelists here today, and,
gentlemen, we will begin with Dr. Levitt. We are about to vote,
and unfortunately, we have a three-vote series, and then 10
minutes motion to recommit, and then seven votes after that, so
we will be gone for a while. Make yourself comfortable.
We will start with Dr. Levitt.
STATEMENT OF MATTHEW LEVITT, PH.D., DIRECTOR AND SENIOR FELLOW,
STEIN PROGRAM ON COUNTERTERRORISM AND INTELLIGENCE, THE
WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY
Mr. Levitt. Thank you so much.
Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, and Ranking Member Deutch,
Chairman Salmon, and Ranking Member Sires, distinguished
members of both subcommittees, it is an honor to appear before
you this afternoon to discuss Iran's presence in the Western
Hemisphere, and, of course, it is an honor to share a dais any
time with Eric and Mike.
On the one hand, the State Department's recent report on
Iranian activity and influence in the Western Hemisphere,
played down Iran's activities in the region; on the other, the
authors of the report themselves conceded in the unclassified
annex of the report that some of their conclusions were
actually based on certain assumptions. That is their word. One
assumption noted that, and I quote, ``Iranian interest in Latin
America is of concern.'' Yet another stated that as a result of
U.S. and allied effort, and I quote, ``The Iranian influence in
Latin America and the Caribbean is waning.''
In fact, Iran not only continues to expand its presence and
bilateral relationships with countries like Cuba, Ecuador,
Nicaragua, and Venezuela, but reportedly also maintains a
network of intelligence agents specifically tasked to
sponsoring and executing terrorist attacks in the Western
Hemisphere.
Iran and Hezbollah both have worked long and hard over many
years to build up their presence and influence in Latin
America. In my written testimony I provide a good deal of
background on Hezbollah and Iran's bombing of the AMIA Jewish
Community Center in Buenos Aires 19 years ago last month. I
included for your reading pleasure an excerpt on the AMIA
bombing from my new book, and detailed Iran's role in the
attack, including funding it, providing cover to operatives,
using diplomats and front organizations, and more.
But as it happens, the same day that the State Department
released its controversial report, Alberto Nisman released his
500-page document laying out how the Iranian regime has, since
the 1980s, built and maintained, and I quote, ``local
clandestine intelligence stations designed to sponsor, foster,
and execute terrorist attacks in the Western Hemisphere.''
Nisman found that Iran continues to build intelligence
networks, identical to the one responsible for the bombings in
Argentina, across the region, from Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay,
Chile, and Colombia to Guyana, Trinidad, and Tobago, Surinam,
and more. It concluded, and I quote, ``In other words, the AMIA
bombing did not constitute an isolated event.''
The driving force behind Iranian activities in the region
at the time of the AMIA bombing was Mohsen Rabbani, who
reportedly continues to engage in Iranian intelligence work
focused on the Western Hemisphere today.
Nisman pointed to the trial of four men in the Eastern
District of New York who plotted to bomb the JFK airport in
2007. Rabbani offered to help the men connect with Iranians.
They sought technical and financial assistance from Iran for
the operation, which was code-named ``Chicken Farm.'' All four
men were ultimately convicted in Federal court. Documents
seized from one of the coconspirator's home in Guyana
demonstrated that he was a Rabbani disciple who built a
Guyanese intelligence network for Iran much like his mentor had
built in Argentina.
In 2011, not long before the last defendant in the JFK
airport bomb plot was convicted, evidence emerged suggesting
Rabbani was still doing intelligence work in South America. In
the words of one Brazilian official, ``Without anybody
noticing, a generation of Islamic extremists is appearing in
Brazil.''
In addition to Nisman's reports, other branches of the U.S.
Government have reached very different conclusions from the
State Department. This March, General Kelly from SOUTHCOM
testified, and I quote, that ``members and supporters of Iran's
partner, Lebanese Hezbollah, have established presence in
several countries in the region. The Lebanese Shi'a diaspora in
the region may generate as much as tens of millions of dollars
for Hezbollah through both illicit and licit means.''
The U.S. Treasury Department, too, has thoroughly detailed
Iranian activity in the Western Hemisphere in several recent
designations in their press releases, and, of course, these
include, bank sanctions for banks in Venezuela, that are
helping Iran evade sanctions; June 2002 designation of
individuals involved in the drug kingpin network of Ayman
Joumma, who is tied to Hezbollah--Joumma himself had been
designated in January 2011--and more.
And then there is Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
visit to Venezuela in January 2012, which seemed rather
unremarkable beyond his normal inflammatory personality, but
then, according to Western intelligence officials cited by
ProPublica, a senior officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps secretly traveled with the Presidential delegation to
meet with Venezuelan military and security chiefs and to set
off a joint intelligence program between Iranian and Venezuelan
spy agencies.
While the State Department's Iranian activity report
downplayed Iran's activities in the hemisphere, the
Department's annual terrorism report separately noted a
noticeable increase in Iranian activity in all other parts of
the world. At least some of that activity has been here in the
Western Hemisphere. Just last week, for example, seven Iranians
were caught using fake Israeli passports at the Vancouver
International Airport.
The growth of the Iranian extremist network in the Western
Hemispheres has immediate repercussions for the security of the
United States. The same day that Nisman and the State
Department released their reports, an Iranian American used-car
salesman from Texas was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his
role in an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's
Ambassador to the United States. The Director of National
Intelligence assessed that that plot shows that some Iran
officials, probably including the Supreme Leader himself, have
changed their calculus and are now more willing to conduct an
attack in the United States in response to real or perceived
U.S. actions threatening their regime.
The bombing of the bus in Burgas a year ago last month was
what spurred the European Union to even consider banning even
just the military wing of Hezbollah, but that occurred on July
18th. Eighteen years ago that was the same day of the bombing
of the AMIA center, which means that this hearing is well timed
indeed.
Thank you very much.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Levitt follows:]
----------
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Mr. Braun.
STATEMENT OF MR. MICHAEL A. BRAUN, CO-FOUNDER AND MANAGING
PARTNER, SPECTRE GROUP INTERNATIONAL, LLC (FORMER CHIEF OF
OPERATIONS, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION)
Mr. Braun. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Ros-
Lehtinen, Chairman Salmon, Ranking Member Deutch and Sires,
honorable members of both subcommittees. Thank you for the
opportunity to participate in this very, very important hearing
today on Iran's growing influence in the Western Hemisphere,
Africa, Europe, and Asia, Mr. Chabot, on the recent Department
of State report that addresses the matter.
It is hard to talk about what we don't know with respect to
this threat. So let us focus on what we do know, some of which
you already talked about. But let me provide you a little bit
more granularity that I think will be even more shocking to the
statements that have already been made by many.
So let us talk about the facts. Let us talk about the
evidence that can, and already has, passed the judicial test in
Federal courthouses right here in the United States. Let us
talk about Hezbollah's growing involvement in the Western
Hemisphere, in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere; Iran's most
important terrorist proxy, as you have said. And let us talk
about the RGC's Quds Force and what they have been up to, more
specifically, or most specifically, in the Western Hemisphere
over just the past few years.
Just about 18 months ago, as you have said, Quds Force
operatives were attempting to assassinate the Saudi Arabian
Ambassador to the U.S. right here in Washington, DC; in fact,
just a few blocks from the White House. They thought they were
recruiting members of the ultraviolent Los Zetas drug cartel in
Mexico, which should be shocking in and of itself. Fortunately,
they were recruiting DEA operatives, and the DEA and the FBI
foiled that plot.
The Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist
organization, partially at least also designated by the E.U.
now, is heavily involved and has grown heavily involved over
the past few years in the global cocaine trade, and it is
involved heavily at the center of gravity for that activity.
The center of gravity has always been, and always will be, the
Andean region of South America and the transshipment routes
that permeate and has been built over many years encompassing
the north coast of Colombia and Venezuela, the isthmus of
Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.
A growing number of international conspiracy investigations
as a result of that activity by U.S. Federal law enforcement
paint an ominous picture of Hezbollah's presence in the Western
Hemisphere and elsewhere.
Just one dimension of just one DEA investigative effort
against Hezbollah focuses on the money-laundering aspect of
their cocaine-trafficking activities, and resulted in the
seizure of $150 million by the Departments of Treasury and
Justice just about a year and a half ago. The Beirut-based
Lebanese Canadian Bank, long known to be heavily influenced by
the Hezbollah and their preferred go-to money-laundering
financial facility, just recently settled with the Department
of Justice as a result of that action, and the bank has agreed
to forfeit $102 million. The bank was sold about 2 weeks after
the PATRIOT Act 311 sanctions against that organization that
were a result of the DEA and DOJ investigations.
A more granular example, and I think even more shocking,
though, is what is playing out, again, at a lower level, at a
tree-top level, Congresswoman, as your husband would probably
say being a former marine, at a tree-top level, granular level,
with the $20 million cash seizure made by the DEA and some
foreign counterparts in Central America after a high-level
Hezbollah associate actually delivered the bulk cash, $20
million, to an undercover DEA agent who was posing--who, by the
way, spoke fluent Arabic and was posing as a money launderer.
Remarkably, another $16 million was supposed to have been
delivered within 48 hours. Unfortunately that did not happen.
The investigation was compromised, and I think is still being
looked at. But suffice it to say that so much Hezbollah cocaine
cash, bulk cash, was being amassed in Central America that they
couldn't figure out how to move it back to Lebanon--or to move
it to Lebanon.
Evidence clearly shows that Hezbollah is involved in the
same kinds of activity that I have just described in Central
America, in Africa, and other locations, as my statement for
the record states. If anyone thinks for a moment, because there
are some inferences in the Department of State report, that
Hezbollah is on the rocks because they are reliant on funding
from Iran, if anyone thinks for a moment that that is the case,
they couldn't be further from the truth.
We have to look at things differently. It is the kind of
criminal activity that I have just described above via
Hezbollah, Iran's most important proxy, and other terrorist
organizations that make them organizationally and operationally
sharp while they wait for the day of reckoning. It prepares
them for war under very realistic conditions. It provides them
with a real-world proving ground to continually test and refine
their tactics, techniques and procedures as they continue to
probe and prod those of their adversaries; namely, us. It is
allowing them to prepare and shape the future battlefield right
here at home. We need to somehow work harder at driving a wedge
between these very powerful forces and keeping them separated.
Thank you very much. I look forward to answering your
questions.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Braun follows:]
----------
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Mr. Farnsworth.
STATEMENT OF MR. ERIC FARNSWORTH, VICE PRESIDENT, COUNCIL OF
THE AMERICAS AND AMERICAS SOCIETY
Mr. Farnsworth. Thank you, Madam Chairman, and Mr.
Chairman, and ranking members, also members of the
subcommittees, for this opportunity. I join my colleagues in
expressing appreciation, and I thank you for the opportunity to
testify with them as well.
The State Department's recent report on Iran's presence in
the Americas, as has already been mentioned, reminds us that
Iranian interest in Latin America is of concern. Of course, we
are dealing with imperfect information that is by its very
nature shrouded, much of it classified or even unknown. What
remains clear is this, however: Nations in the Americas that
disrespect democratic principles tend also to be nations that
offer aid and comfort to global actors who reject the norms of
the international system.
The best example of course, is Cuba, as you, Madam
Chairman, and others, Mr. Sires, have clearly mentioned over
many years, and we have seen that again as highlighted by the
discovery in July of missiles and other weapons parts going
through the Panama Canal intended for North Korea.
It is also a fact that ungoverned regions within countries
offer permissive environments for mischief making, and a weak
inter-American system offers little in terms of the ability to
counterbalance extralegal or threatening acts from outside the
region.
Those countries where democracy is challenged, where the
institutions of the state are ineffective, or where
democratically elected leaders have curtailed sound democratic
practices for their own purposes have proven to be the most
likely portal through which unhelpful influences such as Iran
are introduced into the region. Indeed, it was former
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's intentional pursuit of
Tehran and Tehran's simultaneous need for allies that brought
the two nations closer together and encouraged Iran to develop
deeper ties with Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. Venezuela's
aggressive efforts to midwife Iran's political and diplomatic
entry into the Americas through reciprocal leaders' visits,
trade and commercial agreements, including direct air links,
and friendly votes in bodies such as the United Nations and the
International Atomic Energy Agency have been polarizing and
counterproductive.
The State Department report indicates that Iranian
influence in Latin America and the Caribbean is waning. If so,
in my view, that is largely due to the changing leadership
matrix in the Americas, and potentially in Iran itself, in
addition to the actions by the United States and its regional
allies that the report describes. It is certainly possible that
the death of Chavez will diminish Latin America's appetite for
Iran. It is also possible that despite the benefits to Iran
that have clearly accrued from deepened relations in the
Americas, the inauguration of new leadership in Iran may also
diminish that country's interest in the Americas; although
support for Hezbollah activities, particularly in fundraising
and money laundering, as we have heard, will certainly
continue. This is something we need to watch carefully.
However, if the bilateral relationship has been
institutionalized to the point that it outlasts both Chavez and
the outgoing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and we have heard that it
indeed is, it is also possible for the leaders, such as
Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, in attempting to build his own
international profile and authority as Chavez's rightful heir,
may seek to develop the relationship further. This should be
anticipated and steps taken in advance to limit the success of
any such initiative.
For the United States several actions are therefore
appropriate in order to inoculate the hemisphere from further
Iranian adventurism. First, we should continue to be watchful
regarding Iranian influence in the Americas, while taking care
not to act on incomplete information unnecessarily, or to take
steps precipitously. Communication and coordination with our
friends and allies in these matters, particularly law
enforcement entities, is critical of course, as we work
together to build an expected norm of responsible democratic
behavior in the hemisphere. Sanctions against offending
individuals and entities should continue to be employed.
Second, we should continue to emphasize the hemispheric
growth agenda, including trade and investment expansion, and
the rule of law, which will help build strong and expanding
middle classes and reinforce just, transparent societies that
are less prone to authoritarian manipulations from elected
leaders of any ideology.
And finally, despite efforts to build democracy elsewhere
around the world, the United States cannot be complacent about
such matters closer to home. Democracy offers no guarantees,
but we stand a much better chance of achieving our strategic
goals in the hemisphere, including a peaceful, growing, vibrant
region that works in tandem with us to address issues of common
concern and rejects outside meddling, if democratic
institutions in the Americas are strong.
That requires doing the difficult work of democracy
promotion, building institutions including separation of powers
and electoral systems where the legitimate opposition has equal
chance of contesting elections as government candidates do. It
requires civic education efforts that inculcate democratic
expectations among populations in order to reject the creeping
authoritarianism that some democratic leaders have shown. It
requires the United States to find its voice through more
active and effective diplomacy to promote regional democracy.
We need regional partners in this effort, but U.S.
leadership will continue to be required. To the extent the
United States is able to come alongside Latin America and the
Caribbean to offer meaningful steps on a shared agenda, we will
find that regional leaders may then reciprocate by becoming
more actively engaged in support of U.S. priorities, one of
which clearly must be to keep Iran and other malignant
influences out of the Western Hemisphere.
So I want to thank you again, Madam Chairman, Mr. Chairman,
Ranking Members, for the opportunity, and I look forward to
your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Farnsworth follows:]
----------
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much, gentlemen, and as a
Cuban-born political refugee, I always say I never mind when I
get interrupted by democracy at work. So with our deepest
apologies, we have 1 minute and 47 seconds left to go vote, and
if you could stick around and answer questions, we won't be
back until about an hour and a half. Democracy is like making
sausage: It is not pretty, and it is long. So if you can stick
around, we would welcome you. If not, we will ask one of you
who can stick around.
And with that--so I don't want to impose upon you because
it will take a while; a series of votes and a motion to
recommit. So with that, our subcommittee will be adjourned, and
we hope to hear also from Mr. Deutch's opening statement when
we return.
Mr. Deutch. Great.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. All right. See you later. Hasta luego.
[Recess.]
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. The committee will once again resume. We
have Mr. Meeks, and thank you, sir; and Chairman Salmon. So I
will begin with my question.
In the memo that we prepared for the members, it says here,
Iran has 11 Embassies in the Latin America and Caribbean
region, and you have all mentioned that. Since 2005, it has
opened Embassies in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador,
Nicaragua, and Uruguay. This was in addition to existing
Iranian Embassies in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, and
Venezuela. Former SOUTHCOM Commander General Douglas Fraser
testified to Congress in March 2012 that Iran has 36 Shi'a
cultural centers in 17 countries throughout Latin America.
I think if more people in the United States knew this, they
would be shocked, because usually Embassies are there to
process visas for folks who want to travel, along with many
other things. Some have called our Embassies ``islands of
democracy,'' so I like that. Certainly that term cannot be
applied to Iranian Embassies, and I can't imagine that there
are many Latin American citizens who in and of themselves would
have decided, hey, I know where we should vacation. Let us take
the kids and go to Iran.
So one has to wonder, what are these 11 Embassies in Latin
America and the Caribbean region doing, and what are these 36
Shi'a cultural centers in 17 countries throughout Latin America
doing? How good is our information on this? How many people are
in these Embassies or cultural centers, because certainly they
have got to be dens of plotting anti-American activities, anti-
Semitic acts. And I wanted to ask our esteemed witnesses what
your thoughts are about the Shi'a cultural centers sponsored by
Iran and about the 11 Embassies in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
We will start with Dr. Levitt.
Mr. Levitt. Thank you so much.
The most honest and accurate answer to your question is we
don't know, certainly in the open source, and my sense is that
there is an intel gap, too, as to exactly how many people and
exactly what are they up to. But there is precedent, and the
precedent, while not necessarily giving enough detail to answer
for today, is telling.
Again, if we go back to AMIA, we have detailed
documentation of Iranian front companies, Iranian use of
Iranian-built and -funded mosques, of the cultural centers, of
import-export companies, travel offices, all of which were put
to use for either operational logistical purposes or for
espionage. Rabbani, for example, recruited a whole bunch of
people in Argentina from within the Shi'a community. Others
were Iranians who were employed at the Embassy under diplomatic
cover. He himself got diplomatic cover just weeks before the
bombing. And some of these people were referred to by members
of the community as his, that is to say Iran's, antennas,
because it was well known that this is what they were doing.
The real question for me also is not just the number, but
in certain locations. I have been told that in certain
locations there is very large Embassies completely out of
proportion to Iran's business or other interests in the
country, in some very small countries, and that is something
that we need to be concerned about.
So some of the suggestions I have offered to Congress
before on this is, you know, Iranians are allowed into this
country because of their diplomatic presence in New York, but
their travel is severely limited. What they can do is severely
limited. And we should be pressing our allies in South America
to do the same. You don't necessarily have to shut down the
Iranian diplomatic missions, but you do need to keep them to a
certain size. We should convince them to limit their travel,
limit the kind of meetings they can hold, because clearly there
is stuff happening out of these facilities that goes above and
beyond what would be considered normal diplomatic activity.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much.
Mr. Braun.
Mr. Braun. Thank you, ma'am.
You know, what is going on, as Matt said, you know, we
don't really know. What concerns me most, though, is the
Embassies, the cultural centers all provide cover, top cover,
for the growing presence of the Quds Force, the IRGC Special
Forces that are responsible for foreign operations, clandestine
operations, which include assassinations. We talked about that
earlier with the recent attempt on the Saudi Ambassador to the
U.S., his life, here in Washington, DC.
What also worries me, and, you know, I lose sleep over
this, is this concurrent growing presence of not just Quds
Force, but, again, concurrently of Hezbollah all over Latin
America, the Caribbean, and in some other parts of the world.
You know, what exactly it means, I am not sure, but after 38
years in this business, it is not good. And, you know, I
learned over many years to rely on my sixth sense, and my sixth
sense again says, you know, this is potentially, you know, a
disaster that is looming over our head, and we better get
serious about addressing it.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. So you see a military tinge to this?
Mr. Braun. Absolutely.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you.
Mr. Farnsworth.
Mr. Farnsworth. Well, just very briefly, it is curious that
this increase in activity, increase in personnel, increase in
connection, if you want to put it that way, has been fairly
recent. I mean, Iran's relations in the Western Hemisphere
actually go back quite a ways because of agricultural links and
energy links and all that, but what currently exists seems to
far outweigh certainly the traditional relations that Iran has
had in the region, and they do seem to have tracked with a
certain political emphasis that the Iranians have had in the
Western Hemisphere, largely, again, in my view, brought into
the region in that way through the Chavez regime in Venezuela.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much, gentlemen.
Mr. Meeks?
Mr. Meeks. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Let me just ask, just out of curiosity, it seems as
though--and I know Mr. Farnsworth has said that they had this
agricultural, et cetera, but it seems like that Iran's
activities in the Western Hemisphere really grew in 2005 with
the election of Ahmadinejad. And is it likely that Iran's
strategic objectives in the Western Hemisphere--I am just
throwing this out--will change, or do you think it will be the
same under this President Rouhani, which happens to, you know--
and what happens to the relationship that Ahmadinejad may have
fostered? Do you think that is going to change? Does it have
anything to do with Ahmadinejad, or do you think that, you
know, the same kind of thing is going to continue?
Mr. Levitt. First of all, while they might have increased
under Ahmadinejad, the relationships go back to the 1980s, and
especially agricultural issues, importing beef and chicken.
And, in fact, when the Government of Argentina in the 1990s
cancelled a nuclear agreement with Iran because of concerns
that Iran's nuclear program might not be peaceful--sounds
familiar--Iran threatened to cut off all of this significant
economic contact.
But I worry that people have too much hope for this new
President Mr. Rouhani. He is considered a moderate, but I
include in my written testimony some declassified intelligence
over the past years on the CIA's assessment of past Iranian
Presidents who were considered moderate, Rafsanjani and Khatami
in particular, and they are noting at the time that while these
people were moderate in some ways, their support for the
nuclear program and their support for terrorism waned not one
bit. And indeed, if there were a President who might be
inclined to tamper down support for terrorism, which doesn't
seem to be the case, but if there were such a President, the
President would not have the authority to do it, only the
Supreme Leader would.
Mr. Meeks. One of the reasons why I asked the question,
because I think you are right in that regard, but there was a
relationship prior to Hugo Chavez, and I am nervous, and as
well as the fact that, you know, when you look at Ahmadinejad,
there was a lot of false promises he made to individuals there;
for example, the billion dollars that he promised to Daniel
Ortega that Daniel Ortega never got, you know. And I think one
of you testified to the fact that there is new leadership that
is being elected in Central and South America, and the new
leadership will look at some of those issues, I think, also,
and could that cause them to look at differing the ties, those
that even may have ties now, with Iran. What do you think? Give
me your thoughts on that, Mr. Farnsworth.
Mr. Farnsworth. Well, thank you very much, and thank you
for your continued leadership, Mr. Meeks, on Western Hemisphere
issues as well.
I think that is something that we are watching very
carefully. What we saw is really interesting. For example, in
Brazil, when the previous President Lula da Silva was in power,
you saw a state visit of the Brazilian leader to Tehran in
2010. You saw some outreach that was certainly uncomfortable
for the United States and other Western countries, if not
counterproductive. But since the election of Dilma Rousseff a
couple of years ago, she has changed Brazil's posture with
reference to Iran. She has actually spoken out against the
Iranian regime. And I think that is the type of thing we have
to take seriously in terms of the Western Hemisphere.
There are political changes under way. We don't know where
Nicolas Maduro is going to take Venezuela, but he has a lot of
very difficult domestic political issues he has to resolve
right now, and I think we can assume that at least in the near
term he is not going to strike the same international posture
with Iran that Hugo Chavez did because he has got a lot of
political difficulties at home he has got to deal with to
solidify his own base.
In my view, again, the reason why Iran took advantage, and
I do put it that way on purpose, of the Venezuelan invitation
into the Western Hemisphere to really bolster their presence
was they saw a target of opportunity, and for his own purposes
Hugo Chavez really wanted to portray himself and build himself
as the anti-imperialist, anti-American, anti-Western country,
and in order to do that, he had to make common cause with some
real rejectionist powers around the world, and so he actively
pursued the Iranians. They saw a target of opportunity. They
went in, they have moved aggressively.
Now we have got a leadership change in Caracas. We don't
know what is going to happen, but we do have to watch it
carefully, and I think we can look at similar changes that may
be under way with other elections in the region. That is one
reason why I think it is so important that as a hemisphere
community we continue to focus on democracy development, and
one of those aspects----
Mr. Meeks. With that, because I have a limited amount of
time, democracy development, is there a role for the OAS in
this, in trying to help and work together?
Mr. Farnsworth. Absolutely. And I think one of the--what
happens when leaders, even if they are serially reelected, if
they remain in power for year after year after year, that can
deepen actually those relations with Iran that a new President
may not, in fact, find in his or her interests. And so that
change at the top through democratic processes, I think, is,
first of all, on its face an important aspect of democracy, but
in the concept of national security, that also has important
dividends to pay. And I think from that perspective absolutely
the OAS has to be a part of that, and that is why I would like
to see a more robust posture of the OAS toward things like
election monitoring, and democracy development.
And you have mentioned a couple countries; I would mention
similar ones. But we are approaching now another round of
elections in the Western Hemisphere in many countries. This
year and next year it is going to be really important that
democracy and the electoral process remains clean, open and
transparent, and that the opposition has a legitimate chance to
actually contest for those elections.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Meeks.
I think the OAS is there to make the Senate look like an
active body, but we shall see.
My friend, my colleague Chairman Salmon is recognized.
Mr. Salmon. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman.
Okay. So the statutorily required report that State
Department recently rendered says that the influence of Iran is
waning in the Western Hemisphere. As I listened to the
testimony given today, I sure don't sense that you echo that
sentiment that it is waning.
And so my first question would be--and I am calling for
speculation, okay? So you can't say, I can't speculate. I want
you to speculate. Why the report that kind of glosses over
everything, why do you believe--what could be the motivation,
or was it just that they looked at the wrong criteria? Anybody
care to take it on?
Mr. Levitt. My colleagues will be happy to throw me under
the bus and let me go first.
I asked the same question you did, and I asked a lot of
people around town, and I am convinced that this is an
unexcusable classic example of left hand-right hand. My
understanding is that the people who wrote this report did not
in a timely manner consult with people who would have the
information. Those people, both within the Department and
elsewhere, are quite upset that they were not properly
consulted. It is my understanding that the State Department as
such, the building, does not agree with everything in this
report. There are parts of the building that are quite upset
with it. And those agencies and departments who have
information that might have been able to be used in this
report, I think, are quite annoyed.
I haven't--I no longer have my clearances, I didn't see the
classified version, but the unclassified version appears to
have been written by an intern.
Mr. Salmon. By an intern?
Mr. Levitt. By an intern.
Mr. Salmon. I hope it is an A student intern.
Mr. Levitt. Well, I wouldn't have given it an A.
Mr. Salmon. An incomplete?
Mr. Levitt. I don't think it is complete. And even the
report itself indicates that some of the key points, the
conclusion, if you will, that Iran's activities are waning was
itself put in the unclassified version at the very top under a
section labeled ``Assumptions.''
Mr. Salmon. Thank you.
Anybody else? I don't want to get you in any trouble, but I
really am interested.
Mr. Braun. Listen, I don't think you are going to get any
of us in trouble, but I would echo what Matt said. I think that
the report obviously was written in a vacuum. I don't think
that the authors physically met with probably some of the most
important players in town who aren't going to typically--and I
spent 33 years in government, so I have got a sense for how
this stuff works.
You know, a lot of this can't be answered, you know, in
open emails and that kind of thing. You ultimately have to
reduce them to classified reporting to respond to--you know, to
the questions or the inquiries that are coming in. So----
Mr. Salmon. Kind of like garbage in, garbage out?
Mr. Braun. Well, there you go, left hand-right hand.
Mr. Salmon. Right.
Mr. Braun. You know, another analogy.
You know, I think it was poorly put together, I think it
was done so, just the unclassified piece of it. I have still
got my clearances, but I don't have a direct need to know, so I
did not read the classified side of this either.
You know, suffice it to say I think it was poorly written
by unseasoned probably analysts that contributed, and I would
sense that there wasn't strong leadership involved as well,
and, again, I base that not on direct knowledge, it is very
much speculation, but that is based on 33 years in government.
Mr. Salmon. And that is what I asked for.
Did you care to make a comment?
Mr. Farnsworth. No.
Mr. Salmon. Okay. I have one other question. Given the many
other ways in which Argentina is emulating Venezuela's
behavior, including its crackdown on the independent press, on
the judiciary; its uncompensated nationalization of private
assets; its defiance of U.S. and international legal judgment;
its warming relations with other rogue nations, how far do you
think Argentina is willing to go to work with Venezuela to
continue increasing Iran's ability to evade sanctions?
Mr. Braun. Well, I think the question should be not only
Argentina, but how far is Ecuador going, how far is Bolivia
going, how far is Paraguay going? And, in my mind, I think you
can take this back to, you know, pre--even pre-9/11, the pre-9/
11 era when we packed up SOUTHCOM and moved from theater. You
know, we moved SOUTHCOM to Miami. And Miami is a wonderful
place. Miami is a wonderful place, and just recently visited
again, but, you know, we don't have--and then couple that, Mr.
Salmon, with the fact that post-9/11 well over 60 percent of
our military's detection and monitoring assets packed up and
moved to other parts of the world, and they have never
returned. And you had a diminished or, I should say, a
decreased level of Federal law enforcement presence in theater,
and our intelligence services because they also went to other
parts of the world, and look at what has happened.
I mean, should this be any surprise to anyone? I think not.
But it is something that I believe we can turn around. I don't
think it would cost us an enormous amount of money to do. But I
will tell you, we better get focused on this at some very high
levels before it bites us in the posterior.
Mr. Salmon. I have run out of time. I will yield back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much. Excellent questions.
Mr. Deutch is recognized.
Mr. Deutch. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And, Madam Chairman,
if it is okay, I would like to ask unanimous consent to enter
my opening remarks into the record.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Without objection.
Mr. Deutch. Thank you to the witnesses for coming and
staying.
One of my concerns about Iran's role in the region is that
it is increasingly attempting to use the relationships there as
a mechanism for circumventing sanctions. And I am increasingly
concerned about Ecuador, which I don't think we have had a
chance to discuss yet today. Not only has Ecuadorean President
Rafael Correa repeatedly reaffirmed his support for Iran, but
Ecuador and Iran have attempted to establish illicit banking
channels, and, perhaps most importantly, Ecuador's currency is
the dollar. So our Iran sanctions regime has gone to great
lengths to ensure that Iran does not have access to the dollar,
but essentially any trade with Ecuador has the potential to
undermine that. Therefore, given that we know that Iran often
fails to follow through on their public promises, how
significant is their bilateral trade, number one? What impacts
could that have on our sanctions regime? And what should the
U.S. be doing now to stop that? I would throw that out to any
of you that would like to answer.
Mr. Farnsworth. Well, thank you for the question, Mr.
Deutch, and let me simply say if I can that I think this has
been one of the most troubling aspects of Iran's entry into the
Western Hemisphere, if you want to put it that way, the ability
or the effort to evade international sanctions, no question
about it. I would point to some of the financial issues that
you did. I would point to the offers of gasoline from Venezuela
that should clearly be in violation of international sanctions
against Iran. And more importantly even than that, in my view,
is the political imprimatur that relations with some of the
countries in Latin America has given the Iranian regime as a
legitimate global player.
And this is a real problem when you are trying to create an
international regime in a political science sense or an
international institution of sanctions against a certain
country to have other countries that willfully go out of their
way to try to create avenues to break those sanctions. And I
think some of the things you pointed to, we have seen reports
of financial relations with Ecuador, and we have seen certainly
some sanctions that the U.S. Government has taken against
financial entities in Ecuador as well.
I think those have to be watched very, very carefully. I
haven't seen the classified information around some of those
activities, but I would suggest that the ability to circumvent
some of the international sanctions by Iran certainly is one of
the most troubling aspects of this whole scenario.
Mr. Deutch. And before seeking your input, gentlemen, just
to follow up a bit, in 2008, the Central Bank of Ecuador agreed
to accept $120 million in deposits from the Export Development
Bank of Iran, which Treasury sanctioned for advancing Iran's
WMD programs. In 2012, another state-owned Ecuadorean bank
opened corresponding accounts with sanctioned Iranian banking
institutions through a state-owned Russian bank. There have
also been discussions of clandestine selling of the Ecuadorean
bank to sanctioned Iranian banks.
Obviously, this is all incredibly disconcerting, but the
question is whether this type of behavior is a trend that we
should anticipate. Iran trying to move into the region and what
we have seen here in Ecuador, should we expect that they are
going to try to replicate that throughout the region?
Mr. Levitt. Yes, in a nutshell. Ecuador may be unique
because of the nature of the regime's interest in sticking its
finger in Washington's eye and because it is based on the
dollar, but we should expect to see more of this.
The good news is that we actually have a whole lot of tools
at our disposal for trying to deal with such behavior up to and
including 311 action, and 311 action can be used, by the way,
not only against a bank, as it has been used in the past. It
can be used against a jurisdiction, it can be used against a
country, it can be used against a part of a country, it can be
used almost against any type of entity you can imagine. There
are lots of ways, and before you use it, of course, it is
diplomatic leverage to say you are considering such use. That
would be devastating for the country in question, and so there
are lots of ways to go about trying to convince them to change
their behavior.
Mr. Deutch. Mr. Braun?
Mr. Braun. You know, I would, I think, a bit more
forcefully just add to what I said earlier. I mean, what is
happening in Ecuador is not uncommon. You know, we are seeing
it play out through not only all of Latin America or much of
Latin America, but we are also seeing it play out in West
Africa, North Africa, and throughout Europe now.
I don't want to--you know, listen, I am the former Federal
narcotics guy on this panel, and I don't want to oversimplify
it, but, sir, you missed a little bit earlier my opening
comments. The Hezbollah is now responsible for generating
hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue, contraband revenue,
each year because of their expanding and growing involvement in
the global cocaine trade, and all of the places that I have
just discussed, not strangely it is pretty evident in my eyes
after 33 years in this business it lines up perfectly. And, you
know, when you factor in some other things, you know, that I
have mentioned here, you know, the concurrent growing expansion
of Quds Force and Hezbollah--let us never forget that it was
the Quds that stood them up. They came up with the concept,
they stood them up, they developed them, they have nurtured
them over many, many years, and many experts now believe that
it is the Quds that actually manage and direct some of the
Hezbollah's more sophisticated activities around the globe.
You know, it is all part and parcel of this growing
confluence between the international drug trade and other
transnational criminal activity and terrorist organizations.
The President himself has remarked about this on several
occasions recently, you know, that he and the White House have
seen this growing confluence, and, you know, we have to do a
better job at, again, driving a wedge between these very
powerful forces as they come together.
We are drifting further apart, the good guys, quite
frankly, in this town. You have got counternarcotics
strategies, you have got counterterrorism strategies, and the
two are not interlocking. The funding streams are absolutely
separated; there are no singular funding streams. We have got
to have interlocking strategies. We have got to have singular
funding streams. As they grow closer together, we are drifting
further apart. It needs to get turned around.
Mr. Deutch. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Deutch.
And I am so pleased to turn to Mr. Duncan, who, as we had
pointed out, was the author of the bill that called for this
report. Mr. Duncan.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Isaiah 5:20: What are those who call evil good and good
evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who
put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter?
I believe the State Department failed in its mission given
to them by a bipartisan effort of Congress, signed into law by
President Obama. I believe there was a preconceived or a
predetermined conclusion, and that justified the methods in
their report.
So I have got a few questions, and bear with me, and I will
start with Mr. Braun.
Hezbollah was primarily formed in what country? Michael?
Mr. Braun. Well, Lebanon, but, you know, suffice it to say
that it was Iran that was managing the--I am sorry. You know,
Iran, but----
Mr. Duncan. Primarily Lebanon.
Mr. Braun. Yeah, Lebanon, but suffice it to say that it was
Iran that managed and directed every bit of that through the
Quds Force, the special--you know, the Iran special forces, the
elite folks that are responsible for global clandestine
operations.
Mr. Duncan. It is an Iranian proxy primarily formed in
Lebanon back in the late 1970s, early 1980s, and has been
active ever since.
So the triborder region, primarily a hub for activity of
what nonforeign terrorist organization?
Mr. Braun. You have had a long-standing interest on the
part of Hezbollah, Hamas, and al Qaeda and others in the
triborder area, the Western Hemisphere's usual suspects, the
FARC, the Sendero, and others. But, you know, Hezbollah and al
Qaeda and Hamas have been at work in the triborder area not for
years, but they have been down there for decades.
Mr. Duncan. Okay. AMIA bombings, the plan and the op was
hatched and carried out from where? Dr. Levitt?
Mr. Levitt. Lebanon, Iran, and then in Argentina, the
triborder area.
Mr. Duncan. Triborder area, okay.
When I met with the Paraguayans in the triborder region,
they showed and shared with us the Hezbollah activity and as
well as the Lebanese travel documents that allowed Lebanese
individuals to come into the triborder region and change out,
or forge, or change their identity and actually travel
throughout the South American region, okay?
Dr. Levitt, you mentioned in a statement on July 9th, a
Homeland Security hearing that you couldn't attend because you
were in Europe convincing the European Parliament to do the
right thing and name Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist
organization, which thankfully they have done in the last 2
weeks. I am going to enter, without objection, his testimony to
the Homeland Security Committee written July 9th.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Without objection, subject to the length
limitation in the rules.
[The information referred to is not reprinted here but is
available in committee records on the Internet at: http://
www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/testimony/
LevittTestimony20130709-House.pdf.]
Mr. Duncan. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
On page 8, Dr. Levitt, you say that--you mentioned the
Hezbollah activity in Latin America, and you specifically
reference in at least one instance a highly trained Hezbollah
operative, Mahmaoud--I pronounced that wrong--Youssef Kourani
succeeded in sneaking across the border into the U.S. through
Mexico in the trunk of a car. Kourani paid the owner of a
Lebanese cafe in Tijuana $4,000 to smuggle him across the
border in February 2001. The cafe owner--and I am not going to
pronounce his name--admitted to assisting more than 300
Lebanese sneak into the U.S. in similar fashion over a 3-year
period; is that correct?
Mr. Levitt. Yes, sir.
Mr. Duncan. Okay. So we know or we believe that there are
Iranian Government officials in the U.S. right now. Some of
them are spies for Iran's Ministry of Intelligence Security, or
MOIS. Others may be members of the Iranian Islamic
Revolutionary Guard, IRGC, or Quds Force. Indeed IRGC members
assigned to the Iranian mission at the United Nations in New
York have repeatedly been expelled from this country for
conducting preoperational surveillance of potential terror
targets.
So in light of what the State Department did or did not say
in their assessment that the Iranian threat in the Western
Hemisphere is waning, what action are you to believe that State
should take to mitigate this threat? And I ask that to Dr.
Levitt and to Mr. Braun.
Mr. Levitt. There are lots of different things that can and
should be done. The first is I think there is a need for a
scrub of the next report that delves into these issues a lot
more carefully.
But there are lots of other things that can be done, and we
should be trying to come at this through multiple different
angles. In the current report the State Department stressed its
success at leveraging diplomatic relationships, and that is not
to be scoffed at. There is a lot that can be done by working
with allies to make this region less hospitable to groups like
the Quds Force or Hezbollah.
Mr. Duncan. Let me ask you this: Did it surprise you that
the State Department didn't even talk to any of the allies in
this region?
Mr. Levitt. It did. It did. It should not just be a
diplomatic effort, though. Mike can tell you better than I,
there is so much that can be done at the law enforcement level
in terms of cooperation on counternarcotics or other things.
And I will give you a tangible example that gets back to the
AMIA case that we have centered this testimony around.
After the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy from Buenos
Aires, nothing was done all that serious, and then less than 2
years later the AMIA Jewish Community Center was bombed as
well. One of the things that the U.S. Government--and some of
the leadership here was from State Counterterrorism at the
time--took it upon itself to lead through law enforcement and
intelligence channels something that became known as Operation
Double Tap. Operation Double Tap didn't involve the T word,
``terrorism,'' and it didn't involve the H word, ``Hezbollah.''
It just involved us working with our allies, their intelligence
and law enforcement services with ours, to identify bad
actors--almost every single one of them is also involved in all
kinds of criminal activity, whether it is in the triborder, as
you said, or elsewhere, the human smuggling cases cited or
many, many others--and simply Al Capone-ing them and trying
them for tax evasion, for example, or other things, and it was
very successful. It was disruptive to their activities, and in
some cases we actually saw people from South America leaving
the region, even if they weren't themselves targeted, but
because the pressure was getting too hot, and going elsewhere;
for example, to Africa.
So there is lots of different tools in our toolbox, and I
can't tell you what we are or are not doing, because that is
classified; and it is not that I know and can't tell you, I
don't know anymore. But this report doesn't suggest to me to
reflect the reality as I understand it.
Mr. Duncan. Mr. Braun?
Mr. Braun. Mr. Duncan, I mean, you have heard me say this
before. I think first and foremost the most important thing we
have got to do is, again, demand interlocking counternarcotics/
transnational criminal activity strategies with
counterterrorism strategies. You have got departments and you
have got agencies in this town that are attempting to address
both threats, and they are not even talking internally, much
less externally.
There are strategies that are developed and have been
developed routinely over the past few years; as an example
focused on Latin America, a counternarcotics strategy for Latin
America that doesn't even mention the word ``terrorism''
anywhere. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, for God's
sakes. The case study has been around since 1964.
There are state sponsorship. The Soviet Union, or the old
Soviet Union, comes apart at the seams, that funding stream
dries up almost overnight. And what they had been fundamentally
opposed to, diabolically opposed to, and that was getting
involved in the cocaine trade, literally they made a decision
unanimously, the FARC Executive Secretariat, with less than 5
minutes of discussion in the early 1990s, that they were making
a monumental change. It was the only way they were going to
keep their movement alive.
And as we continue to successfully prosecute the global war
on terror--that may not be politically correct these days--but
as we continue to press hard on the global war on terror, you
are going to see more and more of these groups that are left
with no choice. They have got to and they will inevitably turn
to transnational criminal activity, organized crime, to keep
their movements alive. That is what Hezbollah is doing, Hamas,
Abu Sayyaf. You know, you can go right down the line. Well over
70, 75 percent of all of the designated foreign terrorist
organizations are now involved in this activity, and we are not
doing enough to turn it around.
A couple other things real quick. We have got to break our
obsession with developing strategies to defend the 1-yard line,
meaning our southwest border and our northern border. We can't
take our eyes off of them, but we need to get more resources
downrange, like I talked about earlier, so that we can counter
these threats when they are 1,000 miles out, rather than when
they are on our border, or, God forbid, we have already talked
about this, inside our border. The threat is already inside of
our border. Let us, you know, gate it off, let us fence it off
as best we can and get a handle on this situation.
And then finally, and this is extremely important, we have
really got to revitalize a focus on the traditional threats. If
our Federal law enforcement, and State and local counterparts,
and our foreign counterparts, as Matt was saying, you know, got
refocused on drugs, guns, money, humans, counterfeiting,
extremely important, countercorruption, those kinds of things
take our law enforcement headlong straight in to terrorist
operatives and the organizations that they represent. And we
have seen that play out time and time again with the DEA
investigations over the past few years that I have talked about
and that Matt has talked about many times, and certainly that
you all know about. Thank you.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you for that.
The chairwoman has been very gracious with the time, but I
will remind the committee of Isaiah 5:20. We have got to be
able to talk about the enemy of this country and this war on
terror.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. I yield back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Amen.
Gentlemen, I want to thank you for your patience. You have
been incredible witnesses. Not only was your testimony just so
on point, but you were gracious enough to wait for us to do the
people's business, and for that we thank you. And I have every
confidence that with the leadership of Matt Salmon and Albio
Sires, we will finally get the State Department to come and
testify in an open setting on the issue of Iran's influence in
the Western Hemisphere. May it be thus.
Mr. Deutch and I say muchas gracias, thank you so much. It
was a pleasure. And with that the subcommittee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 5:02 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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