[House Hearing, 114 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
POACHING AND TERRORISM: A NATIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGE
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, NONPROLIFERATION, AND TRADE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
APRIL 22, 2015
__________
Serial No. 114-25
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
94-308 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015
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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 BRAD SHERMAN, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TED POE, Texas BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
MATT SALMON, Arizona KAREN BASS, California
DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
MO BROOKS, Alabama AMI BERA, California
PAUL COOK, California ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas GRACE MENG, New York
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
RON DeSANTIS, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
TED S. YOHO, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
CURT CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin
DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York
TOM EMMER, Minnesota
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
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Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade
TED POE, Texas, Chairman
JOE WILSON, South Carolina WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
DARRELL E. ISSA, California BRAD SHERMAN, California
PAUL COOK, California BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Judith G. Garber, Acting Assistant Secretary,
Bureau of Oceans and International and Environmental and
Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State................... 11
Mr. Robert Dreher, Associate Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, U.S. Department of the Interior....................... 22
The Honorable John Cruden, Assistant Attorney General,
Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of
Justice........................................................ 31
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Ted Poe, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas, and chairman, Subcommittee on Terrorism,
Nonproliferation, and Trade: Material submitted for the record. 5
The Honorable Judith G. Garber: Prepared statement............... 14
Mr. Robert Dreher: Prepared statement............................ 24
The Honorable John Cruden: Prepared statement.................... 33
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 52
Hearing minutes.................................................. 53
POACHING AND TERRORISM: A NATIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGE
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2015
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 3 o'clock
p.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ted Poe
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Poe. The subcommittee will come to order.
Without objection, all members may have 5 days to submit
statements, questions, and extraneous materials for the record
subject to the length limitations in the rules.
I will proceed with my opening statement. Elephant and
rhino populations in Africa are being decimated by poachers
looking for high profits with little risk and little
consequences. Between 1990 and 2005, poachers killed an average
of 14 rhinos each year in South Africa. In 2013 and again in
2014, they killed over 1,000 rhinos each year. The black rhino
population has declined by 93 percent since the 1960s. A total
of only five white rhinos are left in the whole world today.
Elephants are in just as much trouble. And I have a slide, and
members of the panel also have this poster in front of you
somewhere that you can refer to.
As you can see from this map by National Geographic, there
were approximately 1.3 million elephants in Africa in 1979. The
light brown areas are where elephants roamed in 1979. The dark
brown areas are where they roamed in 2007. The dark brown areas
are just a fraction of the light brown areas. We see that the
elephants and their population are being diminished
considerably.
I also have a poster here of Satao, the elephant. Some say
he was the oldest elephant in Africa. We don't know. His tusks
were so long that they hit the ground before poachers got to
him and killed him for the tusk and left the rest of him in
Africa.
The elephant population has dropped 60 percent since 1979,
and poaching numbers rise. Why? It is all about the money. The
black market price of ivory in Africa is anywhere between
$1,000 and $1,800 per pound. A rhino horn is now worth about
$60,000 per kilogram. That is 2.2 pounds. That is twice the
value of gold and platinum and more than cocaine or diamonds.
In all, the illegal wildlife trade is estimated as a $10
billion to $20 billion a year business. With all the money, it
is no surprise that poachers are using more advanced weaponry
that leaves park rangers looking like Little Bo Peep trying to
fight against Arnold Schwarzenegger. Poachers can now swoop
down in the dead of night in helicopters, with high-powered
rifles. Even if the traffickers are caught and convicted, the
penalties are far less than if the traffickers were convicted
of crimes in drug trafficking. Punishments in most countries
are little more than a slap on the wrist or none at all. Low
risk and high profits make for a deadly combination.
Demand is being driven mainly from the Asian countries.
Once again, there is a slide in front of our panelists, and it
is on the monitor for those in the audience. This map is from
an NGO called TRAFFIC. The main ivory seizures follow trade
routes from Africa to Asia. Ivory is shipped out in places like
Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa; trafficked through the
Philippines and Malaysia; and ends up in Thailand and, yes,
China as well.
Vietnam is the largest consumer of rhino horns that are
poached. Users there believe the rhino horn can cure everything
from cancer to hangovers. Many see it as a status symbol. I
understand the rhino horn is ground down into a powder and put
in different products and is sold at an expensive rate. People
want it because there is a demand. They believe there is some
magic, so to speak, or benefit from the rhino horn powder.
Criminals and thugs are not the only bad actors involved in
this dirty business, and that is what this hearing is about
today. Terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab,
Boko Haram, the LRA, and others, are all involved in poaching.
We do not know to what extent these groups are involved, how
much money they make off of poaching, or their interactions
with criminal and smuggling groups. We can't solve the problem
if we don't understand it.
The intelligence community needs to commit more resources
to understand this problem. The Obama administration released a
strategy to combat wildlife trafficking in 2014, February. It
took another year to develop an implementation plan to execute
the strategy. The strategy and the implementation plan are
important steps in the right direction, but we need to do a
whole lot more.
While there are sections devoted to measuring progress,
nowhere in the plan is there a commitment to rigorous
evaluations. Impact of those evaluations are the only way that
we can know if our programs are working. Nor is there a
timeline mentioned anywhere in the plan.
The Achilles' heel of the implementation plan could be its
lack of dedicated resources. The administration needs to have a
crosscutting budget that will outline exactly how much money we
are spending on anti-poaching efforts.
There are other steps we can take. One easy step is to
increase the penalty for those caught trafficking wildlife so
as not to let them come into the United States. A consular
official should be able to reject a visa for those that have
been convicted of wildlife trafficking. The Treasury Department
should aggressively sanction wildlife traffickers. This does
not need to be an act of Congress. The administration has the
authority to do this.
The problem is so bad that those in Africa that are trying
to enforce the law have very little resources. They are
unarmed. Several of the rangers that work in these national
parks are murdered each year. The bad guys have, as I
mentioned, helicopters, automatic weapons. They shoot these
animals from the air, and there is very little defense against
them that is being taking place in my opinion.
We need to empower law enforcement. Right now a drug
trafficker's profit is going to help a designated foreign
terrorist organization, and our law enforcement can go after
the drug trafficker regardless of whether or not there is a
nexus back to the U.S. We now know wildlife trafficking money
goes to help terrorists, like the drug money does. We should
change U.S. Law so law enforcement can go after wildlife
traffickers just like it can go after international drug
traffickers.
Strengthening law enforcement and reducing demand is a
solution to this problem, but it will not be quick. If we don't
act, terrorists will keep taxiing in big profits while driving
elephants and rhinos into extinction. Meanwhile, they find
money to further their terrorist enterprises throughout the
world.
I will now yield to the ranking member. I didn't say Yankee
member. I said ranking member.
Mr. Keating. As long you didn't say Yankee member.
Mr. Poe. For his opening statement.
Mr. Keating. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
conducting this hearing.
I would also like to thank our witnesses for being here
today. It is important we have each of the co-chairs of the
President's Task Force on Combating Wildlife Trafficking this
afternoon. We understand your schedule is in very high demand,
and we appreciate your willingness to accommodate this
important hearing. As we honor Earth Day today, it is
particularly timely that this afternoon's hearing will discuss
an integral facet of international conservation effects.
Illicit trade in wildlife is a serious global environmental
crime with significant negative impacts for endangered species
protection, ecosystem stability, and biodiversity conservation.
Unfortunately, this problem is only growing. It is estimated
that illegal wildlife trafficking is the fourth largest global
illegal activity after only narcotics, counterfeiting, and
human trafficking.
Of particular concern is the rise in demand for products
from illegally poached animals, particularly from elephants and
rhinoceroses in China, Vietnam, and other destination
countries. This has dramatically increased the prices and led
to a rapid expansion of illicit markets. In fact, this illegal
trade is believed to have more than doubled since 2007. The
black market price of rhino horn is over $30,000 per pound,
more than the value of platinum, and poaching is bringing
rhinoceroses to the edge of extinction.
Wildlife trafficking is also a real and increasing threat
to our national security. Ivory like so many blood diamonds, is
funding many armed fighters in Africa. Reports indicate that
terrorists and militant groups--such as Al Shabaab in Somalia;
the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Central Africa; and
Janjaweed in Sudan and Chad--are involved in poaching elephants
and dealing in ivory. There are also reports that militants
affiliated with Al Qaeda are involved in the illegal trade of
ivory, tiger pelts, and rhino horns in India, Nepal, Burma, and
Thailand.
Further, much of the global illegal trade in wildlife is
run by transitional criminal organizations, which are attracted
to wildlife trafficking because of its low risk of detection,
high profits, and weak penalties. These organized criminal
groups often use smuggling routes, money-laundering schemes,
and other techniques similar to those of drug traffickers.
According to the U.S. intelligence community, the illicit
ivory and rhino horn trade is enabled by official corruption in
many source countries which undermines the rule of law and
contributes to border instability. There are even reported
instances where government military forces are directly
involved in poaching and wildlife trafficking, such as in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Tanzania,
Uganda, and Zimbabwe. And it is important that we do not
overlook the role of illegal, unreported, and unregulated
fishing, including shark finning and how that plays to the
condition, and how it surrounds additional illicit activity,
including piracy, smuggling, and illegal trafficking of weapons
and people. Each year it is estimated that 100 million sharks
are killed, and stripped of their fins, to meet demand for
shark fin soup, a delicacy in fine menus across China.
Indeed, these activities are inexorably linked with illegal
fishing activities often supported by forced labor and human
trafficking of migrant traffickers and children, both in the
oceans and the Great Lakes region in Africa. The United States
needs to know more about these links between militant groups,
transnational organized crime, and corrupt state actors in the
illegal wildlife trade.
In responding to this growing environmental and national
security threat, I am encouraging the administration's recent
implementation plan giving effect of the National Security
Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking. I look forward to
learning more today about our progress and meeting the
objectives of this implementation plan, particularly with
respect to efforts to assist our international partners in
strengthening global enforcement and reducing demand for
illegally traded wildlife.
I also look forward to an update on the potential changes
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulations and further
restrictions surrounding ivory trade within the United States
and whether these regulations will provide clarity for antiques
and other proper commercial and educational uses of ivory.
Thank you, again, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
Mr. Poe. I thank the gentleman for his opening statement.
I want to introduce into the record an article that was
written today in Business Insider by Gretchen Peters and Juan
Zarate.
[The information referred to follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
You probably know these individuals. I will just read two
short sentences: On Earth Day 2015, prospects for many of the
planet's most iconic species are bleak. Unless poaching rates
deadline across Africa, the rhino and elephant will be extinct
within a decade. The world has lost 97 percent of its tigers in
the last 50 years, and the great apes are on the pace to
disappear within a generation. It is a national security
crisis.
Anyway, I will now introduce our three experts: Ambassador
Judith Garber is Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of
Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
at the Department of State. Ambassador Garber has held
diplomatic positions all over the world, including serving as
the U.S. Ambassador to Latvia.
Robert Dreher is Associate Director of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service at the Department of the Interior. Before
joining the Fish and Wildlife, Mr. Dreher served as acting
assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural
Resources Division of the Department of Justice.
Mr. John Cruden is the new Acting Assistant Attorney
General for the Environmental and Natural Resources Division at
the Department of Justice. Mr. Cruden has a long history of
public service at the Department of Justice and in the
military.
Ambassador Garber, we will start with you for your opening
statement of 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JUDITH G. GARBER, ACTING ASSISTANT
SECRETARY, BUREAU OF OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ambassador Garber. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon, Chairman Poe and Ranking Member Keating. I
greatly appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today.
With your permission, I would like to submit my written
statement for the record.
Mr. Poe. Without objection, it will be made a part of the
record.
Ambassador Garber. At the outset, let me extend my thanks
to the subcommittee for holding this hearing today, which marks
the 45th anniversary of Earth Day. Events are being planned
today in the United States and around the world, including by
our missions overseas to raise awareness and concern for the
environment, including wildlife. Wildlife trafficking is a
multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise that poses a serious
and urgent threat to conservation and national security. The
increasing involvement of armed groups and criminal elements of
all kinds, including some terrorist entities, threatens the
peace and security of fragile regions, strengthens illicit
trade routes, and destabilizes economies and communities that
depend on wildlife for their livelihoods.
Recognizing the scale and seriousness of this problem, I am
determined that the United States should be part of the
solution. President Obama issued an Executive order that
established an interagency task force co-chaired by the
Departments of State, Justice and Interior, and charged it with
developing a strategy to guide U.S. efforts. The resulting
National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking fortifies
U.S. leadership on countering the global security threat posed
by wildlife trafficking. It directs our efforts to, one,
strengthen domestic and global enforcement; two, reduce demand
at home and abroad; and, three, build international commitment,
cooperation, and public-private partnerships to combat wildlife
trafficking.
As you both noted, the task force has also developed an
implementation plan for the strategy. Released in February, the
plan is our road map going forward. It lays out specific next
steps, identifies lead agencies for each objective, and defines
how we will measure our progress. The plan demonstrates that we
are in this for the long haul.
Our work over the past year has been intensive. I will just
highlight a few of the key actions the Department of State has
taken. We are expanding our existing efforts to improve cross-
border law enforcement cooperation, strengthen wildlife
trafficking legislation, and enhance wildlife management. We
are providing critical training to park rangers, police, custom
officials, prosecutors, and judges. For example, the Department
recently supported INTERPOL police investigative training in
Vietnam, a key demand country.
The strategy also recognizes that we must address demand
that is driving poaching to unprecedented levels. We must raise
awareness about the devastating impacts of wildlife
trafficking. To this end, we are working closely with NGOs,
many of whom have ongoing public outreach campaigns, as well as
the private sector. For example, we are providing over $37,000
to support the NGO WildAid for its African Wildlife Pride
campaign to focus on the urgent need to stop poaching. We are
continuing to catalyze political will and action by
highlighting wildlife trafficking in multilateral fora.
Last year we were able to include language addressing
trafficking in two Security Council resolutions sanctioning
African armed groups. In December, at a conference in Tanzania,
Under Secretary Novelli jump started regional cooperation in
East Africa to address the poaching crisis.
We have made significant progress in interactions with
China. Last July, during the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic
Dialogue, Secretary Kerry and China's Vice Premier Liu
confirmed their commitment to stamp out illegal trade in
wildlife. In November, President Obama and President Xi
reaffirmed this commitment and agreed to cooperate in the areas
of e-commerce, public outreach, joint training, and law
enforcement. Last month I met with Chinese officials in Beijing
to push these issues forward, as well as with Chinese wildlife
NGOs who expressed appreciation for our attention to these
issues.
Moving forward, we are also leveraging trade agreements to
press countries and regions which account for a sizeable
portion of the illegal trade in wildlife to live up to their
commitments to combat wildlife trafficking and strengthen
wildlife conservation. Indeed, the administration is pursuing
such obligations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
with 11 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as
the Transatlantic Partnership Agreement negotiations with the
European Union. These commitments will be fully enforceable,
including through recourse to trade sanctions, which will be a
powerful incentive for parties to match words with actions.
In closing, let me just say that we are working across the
U.S. Government to focus our international investments to
combat wildlife trafficking in the most strategic and effective
way possible. Congress has shown great leadership on this
issue, and we truly appreciate your support. We look forward to
working closely with you in our continuing efforts to stop this
global scourge.
I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today,
and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Garber follows:]
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Mr. Poe. Thank you, Ambassador.
Mr. Dreher, we will hear your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF MR. ROBERT DREHER, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, U.S. FISH
AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. Dreher. All right. So I lost 5 seconds without a
microphone. I am sorry.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Keating,
and members of the subcommittee. I am Bob Dreher, Associate
Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
I appreciate the opportunity to be here today, on Earth Day
fittingly, to discuss the current wildlife trafficking crisis
that threatens to wipe out the African elephant, rhinoceros,
and a host of other species around the globe. As you noted,
elephants are being slaughtered for ivory today at
unprecedented rates, and the poaching of rhinos for their horns
has surged upward.
Wildlife trafficking once was predominantly a crime of
opportunity committed by local individuals or small groups.
Today it increasingly involves highly organized criminal
networks capable of moving large commercial volumes of illegal
wildlife products. Through our law enforcement investigations,
we have seen direct links between wildlife trafficking and
organized crime. My written testimony highlights some of our
work disrupting large-scale wildlife trafficking networks:
Operation Crash, for example, an ongoing nationwide criminal
investigation led by the service that focuses on U.S.
involvement in the black market for rhino horn and elephant
ivory.
I wanted to give the subcommittee members a more graphic
sense of what is happening, and I have some slides. The first
two are photos illustrating the brutal slaughter of elephants
and rhinos. And we have seen these pictures before.
What I want to point out is that this sort of wanton
killing is no longer just the action of local individuals. It
is increasingly the work of organized criminal networks who
send heavily armed teams into protected areas with commissions
to take elephant ivory or rhino horn, who organize the shipping
of the still-bloody ivory and rhino horns through international
channels, and who deliver these highly valuable products to
buyers in undercover markets ranging from East Asia to the
United States.
Photo 3, to give you a sense of the scale of these
operations, these photos show the evidence seized in 1 day in
one of our Operation Crash cases from safety deposit boxes,
residences, and businesses in the United States in southern
California: Over $1 million in cash, $1 million in gold, as
well as rhino horns, and other wildlife parts.
The next three slides just show a number of the individuals
and businesses convicted here in the United States as part of
Operation Crash. What I think you can see is that what was once
a local or regional problem has become a global crisis, as
increasingly sophisticated, violent, and ruthless criminal
organizations have branched into wildlife trafficking.
To address this escalating wildlife trafficking crisis, the
Service is building on decades of its work to increase our
efforts in our Office of Law Enforcement and our International
Affairs Programs. We are working across the U.S. Government to
take a coordinated approach. In February, the White House
released the implementation plan for the National Strategy for
Combating Wildlife Trafficking. The implementation plan
reaffirms our Nation's commitment to work in partnership with
governments, local communities, nongovernmental organizations,
and the private sector, to address wildlife trafficking.
We took an enormous step forward in 2013 when the United
States destroyed its 6-ton stock of confiscated elephant ivory,
sending a clear message we will not tolerate wildlife crime.
Several other governments have since followed suit, and we now
are in a much better position to work with the international
community to crack down on poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
I would also like to commend Congress for passing
legislation last year to reauthorize the Save Vanishing Species
stamp. Since the stamp's inception in 2011, more than 26
million stamps have been purchased by the American public,
generating more than $2.6 million for conservation of
elephants, rhinos, tigers, great apes, and marine turtles.
With assistance from the State Department, we have begun
stationing Service law enforcement agents at U.S. Embassies as
international attaches to coordinate investigations of wildlife
trafficking and support law enforcement capacity building. The
first attache began work in Thailand last year. Others will be
located in Tanzania, Peru, Botswana, and China. We are
continuing to work on administrative actions called for by the
National Strategy to eliminate most commercial trade in
elephant ivory in the United States with certain narrow
exceptions, making it harder for criminals to sell poached and
trafficked ivory.
We are also providing technical assistance and grants to
build in-country capacity. A substantial portion of the funding
awarded through the multinational species conservation funds is
invested in projects aimed at combating wildlife crime through
improved law enforcement, anti-poaching patrols, demand
reduction, and economic alternatives.
While we have made great strides recently to address
wildlife trafficking, there is still much work to be done. The
President requested $75.4 million, an increase of $8 million,
for the Service's Office of Law Enforcement in Fiscal Year 2016
to combat expanding wildlife trafficking.
Wildlife crime still offers low risk and high rewards
compared to drug and weapons trafficking. We need to change
that calculus by stiffening penalties for wildlife crime.
Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony today. I
appreciate the subcommittee's support of our efforts, and I
would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Dreher follows:]
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Mr. Poe. Thank you, Mr. Dreher.
Mr. Cruden, your opening statement.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JOHN CRUDEN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY
GENERAL, ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Mr. Cruden. Chairman Poe and Ranking Member Keating, thank
you again for the opportunity to discuss the work of the
Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of
Justice with respect to combating illegal wildlife trafficking.
You have my prepared testimony, which I request that you add to
the record.
But I want to highlight three things out of that testimony:
I want to talk to you a little bit about the key role of our
environmental prosecutors, our environmental criminal section--
we are prosecuting wildlife criminals--and then, finally, a
little bit following up on one of your questions, and that is
our work in training and building capacity abroad.
The Environment Division through the Environmental Crime
Section is a recognized leader in the fight against wildlife
trafficking. The recent Executive order on combating wildlife
trafficking brought increased attention to the severity of
really a global crisis that we are facing now. Wildlife
trafficking, which includes poaching protected species and
trafficking in their parts, has become a highly profitable
crime with profits in the billions of dollars. Illegal activity
at this scale has devastating impacts. It threatens security.
It hinders sustainable economic development. It undermines the
rule of law. And the illicit trade in wildlife is decimating
many species worldwide, and some of those species, including
such majestic animals as rhinoceroses, elephants, great apes,
sharks and tigers, face extinction in our time or maybe our
children's time.
The National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking
identifies three priorities: Strengthening enforcement,
reducing demand, and building global cooperation. Just last
month I had the honor of being, along with Bob Dreher, at the
U.S. delegation to the Kasane Conference in Botswana on Illegal
Wildlife Trade, where the ranking leaders from more than 30
nations came together to discuss both the problem and the need
to work together to address the crisis. I spoke on behalf of
the United States about our efforts to combat wildlife
trafficking, but I had the opportunity then to discuss with
many African leaders the challenges that they are facing. My
testimony today is influenced by those comments.
You know this: At DOJ, we prosecute. The Environment
Division along with U.S. attorneys across the country in
partnership with Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for
prosecuting wildlife trafficking crimes, including related
crimes, things like smuggling, money laundering, conspiracies.
This is serious crime, and we treat it seriously. And we seek
significant periods of incarceration, fines, restitution,
community service to help mitigate the harm caused by the
offense; forfeiture of wildlife and instrumentalities used to
commit the offense; and, where possible, disgorgement of the
proceeds of the illegal conduct.
You just heard from Bob Dreher about Operation Crash, which
was a multi-agency effort. It resulted in more than 20
successful prosecutions, and you saw some of the defendants in
the slide that was presented. I put in my prepared testimony a
whole series of descriptions of other wildlife criminal
enforcement that we have done in the relatively recent past. I
just wanted to give you an idea of what is happening on the
ground right now. I don't think there will be any question of
this, that we are recognized throughout the world as the leader
in wildlife prosecutions.
In addition to our own direct prosecution, however, we are
also doing capacity building right now. Through the assistance
of the State Department, we are developing a new program in
Africa that will focus on wildlife trafficking. We are planning
two regional programs: The first will go in Southeast Africa;
the second in central West Africa. And we are focusing on
prosecutors and judges.
Just last week I met with some of the leaders of a new task
force from Togo. We told them about what we were doing. They
told us that is exactly what they needed. We are also
participating extensively in trading in wildlife enforcement
networks. These are the networks of prosecutors who come
together to try to share experience and gain from others.
We are proud of what we have done, but there is so much
more to do. We know that we need to be focusing our efforts on
bringing down high-level traffickers, closing their networks,
and disrupting the illegal funding flows. We are seeking to
take the profit out of wildlife trafficking by using all the
tools that are available to us. We look forward to working with
you and Congress to strengthen our legal framework, and we
would welcome the opportunity to talk about such steps as
recognizing wildlife trafficking as a predicate crime for money
laundering and RICO offenses. Another important step could be
legislation authorizing forfeiture of all proceeds gained by
illegal wildlife trafficking.
In closing, the Department, working with other agencies,
particularly those two that are sharing right now--Department
of State and Fish and Wildlife Service--we look forward to
vigorously prosecuting those who poach and traffic illegally in
wildlife across the world.
Thank you. Happy to answer any questions you might have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Cruden follows:]
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Mr. Poe. I recognize myself for some questions and
recognize you all for the answers. It is important that we, as
you have all said, understand as Americans the consequences of
doing nothing. The disappearance of elephants, it is hard to
imagine that that would happen in this world, but it could.
And as Mr. Cruden has said, in our lifetime and in our
kids' lifetime, the only place they are going to see an
elephant is in a Disney cartoon maybe because there won't be
any. And rhinos are in worse shape and tigers as well.
I am going to focus my questions on terrorism, terrorist
groups, poaching, where they sell these items, and the money
that is involved. Do we have any idea how many terrorist
organizations are involved in Africa in the poaching business?
Ambassador.
Ambassador Garber. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an
illicit trade by its very nature. So, of course, it is
something that it is difficult for us to have very firm
knowledge about. There is no question that the shadowing
adaptive financial flows that fund illicit crime and illicit
activities are at play. We do have evidence that militant
groups, such as the Lord's Resistance Army and Janjaweed,
benefit substantially from illegal trade in wildlife. Some
terrorist entities we believe are benefitting, but the details
are very sketchy. By how much, it is very hard for us to know.
Mr. Poe. I understand that in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, 150 park rangers have been killed since 2004, and
according to the International Ranger Federation, worldwide,
park rangers, two are killed every week that are protecting
these parks where all these animals are. It seems to me that
the Lord's Resistance Army, which you mentioned, is using
Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a
base of operations. What can you say a little more specifically
about the connections between the LRA and the ivory trade as a
source of its financing?
Ambassador Garber. I can say the Lord's Resistance Army is
deriving significant revenue from poaching and illegal trade in
elephants, and we have seen these activities intensify over the
last 2 years.
Mr. Poe. Under current law, the U.S. Government can deny a
foreigner a visa if they are convicted of human trafficking,
terrorist activity, violations of religious freedom. Do you
think we should add wildlife trafficking to that list,
Ambassador?
Ambassador Garber. It is something that we could consider.
We need--I think part of what we need to be doing is, as you
said very clearly in your statement, Mr. Chairman, is that we
really need to understand what is going on better and in more
depth. And that is something that I think the National Wildlife
Strategy and the task force has really done. We have seen the
strategy and the whole-of-government approach truly elevate the
attention that the intelligence community is giving this
problem; we are being able to identify the gaps in what our
knowledge is and where we need to focus that. And I think as
that all becomes clear, we will be in a better position to
really understand if that kind of a step is what makes the most
sense at this time.
Mr. Poe. If U.S. law enforcement suspects a foreign-owned-
and-operated outfitter of violating wildlife laws in a foreign
country and the foreign country refuses to arrest or prosecute
the owners and operators, does the United States have any
enforcement actions, such as denying or freezing assets, Mr.
Cruden?
Can we do anything about that?
Mr. Cruden. When we are bringing our prosecutions, we are
doing it fundamentally under the Lacey Act and the Endangered
Species Act. Under the Lacey Act, where we actually do look
violations of host country laws, but we are looking at that
with a nexus to us. They are violating the laws, and they are
coming to the United States. And so that is the connection that
we have right now.
By the way, the Lacey Act is, in fact, a model for the rest
of the world. In country after country that we are talking to,
they are talking about whether or not they would emulate
something like the Lacey Act, so I do not want to minimize its
importance right now. But it does require that nexus to the
United States before we would have the ability to prosecute.
Mr. Poe. By ``nexus'' you mean what?
Mr. Cruden. By coming into the United States. You are
importing something into or exporting something out of the
United States.
Mr. Poe. We deal with international drug cartels, and my
understanding is they don't have to physically be on the United
States land to go and prosecute them if the money chain comes
into the U.S. Is that right or not?
Mr. Cruden. I believe that you are correct. Still the same
issue, that there has to be some connection to the United
States. But, by the way, under drug trafficking laws, those are
a predicate offense to money laundering, an ability we really
don't have under wildlife trafficking laws. So drug laws are,
in fact, more powerful than some of our wildlife trafficking
offenses, which is why I brought that up in my testimony, that
that was something else that we would be interested in
exploring with you.
Mr. Poe. So, if I understand you correctly, if we could
balance the enforcement with--using, let's use international
drug trafficking. If we could have international wildlife
trafficking be treated the same way to some extent as far as
jurisdiction and enforcement, do you think that would help?
Mr. Cruden. Similar to what we have for drug trafficking.
Mr. Poe. Similar to what we have for drug trafficking. Not
kind of merge the laws. Make the laws very similar.
Mr. Cruden. I believe very clearly that wildlife
trafficking, as you have stated, is a very serious crime
similar to drug trafficking. And, therefore, we should be able
to look at that and gain from that experience and benefit, and
that might actually help us strengthen some of our laws. So I
agree with you.
Mr. Poe. And the same would be true of different terrorism
laws because of the fact that these terrorist groups use the
money to commit terror, maybe the Congress should explore
expanding the trafficking issue because, as you have all said,
this is a real problem. And it is the disappearance of certain
wildlife soon if something is not done very quickly and
effectively. Let me ask one more question, and I am going to
yield to the ranking member for his questions.
What countries are the worst offenders as far as
cooperating in preventing wildlife trafficking in their
country? Nobody wants to say? I will ask you one specifically.
How about Tanzania? Is Tanzania doing a good job of protecting
the wildlife in their parks?
Mr. Dreher. I think the facts, there is an old saying about
res ipsa loquitur. The issue here is that we know that recent
data coming out of Tanzania from the Pan-African elephant
survey shows that elephants are suffering enormous mortality in
Tanzania and in their national parks in the areas of Selous and
the Ruaha. They have a terrible poaching problem. And they are,
at least at this point, from what we can tell, not able to
control it. So they are working. We give them credit for
engaging in this.
And we are working with them. I mean, our Ambassador in
Tanzania is very much engaged in working with the government
officials there, including providing assistance and training
from AFRICOM. I mean, we are doing as many things as we can to
try to strengthen their capacity, but they face an enormous
challenge. Right now, I mean, as you may know, a year ago the
Fish and Wildlife Service concluded it could not allow the
import of sport hunting trophies of elephants from Tanzania
because we could not conclude that their management of the
populations in Tanzania was stable and sustaining. So all of
those, I think, indicate that that is a country with serious
challenges.
Mr. Poe. And the biggest problem is in Central Africa and
South Africa--is that a fair statement--of where the poaching
is taking place?
Mr. Cruden, you nodded, so I will ask you.
Mr. Cruden. I want to nod, and remember I said in my
opening statement that some of my comments are affected by what
African leaders said. African leaders that I talked to talked
about in Tanzania as a transshipment place, and your map that
you gave us shows that. So not only do they have a problem, but
it is a place where it goes to other places.
They also told us that they do go not directly to places
like China or Vietnam because if you put China or Vietnam on
your manifest, you are more likely to get checked at the
customs office. So they put intermediary places like Malaysia
or Philippines as a place that makes it less likely then that
their illegal exportation of things like ivory will get looked
at.
So I agree with everything that Mr. Dreher said, but I also
think it is relevant as a transshipment place as well in this
whole concept of organized crime.
Mr. Poe. All right. Thank you. Mr. Keating.
Mr. Keating. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking
specifically refers to the need for new technologies to
identify poaching hot spots and trafficking patterns. It also
calls on agencies to work with local communities to strengthen
reporting of these activities. I am aware of some existing
high-tech international partnerships between conservation
organizations. For example, the International Fund for Animal
Welfare and the Kenya Wildlife Service recently launched a
project, tenBoma, to use geospatial monitoring and pattern
analysis to predict and prevent poaching incidents before they
happen. How does the State Department plan to integrate
projects like these into its work?
Ambassador Garber. Well, we certainly think that everybody
has to be part of the solution, and new technologies and
innovation is a key part of moving forward. And this is not the
State Department per se, but this really is a whole-of-
government approach; but my understanding, and I hope I am not
going to do anything to steal someone's thunder, but it is my
understanding that USAID today is going to be officially
launching the Tech Challenge to be addressing this problem. So
I hopefully won't have the Acting Administrator ready to take
my head off by having announced that and maybe having stolen
someone's thunder. I didn't see that it already happened today.
But we are working very closely with the NGO community
trying to bring strong ways forward. We are doing this not just
on wildlife trafficking, but you also talked about in your
comments about illegal IUU fishing and ways to be approaching
that. And we are going to be hosting a meeting in May with
several of the NGOs to look at ways we can use some of these
same new technologies to be addressing that question as well.
Mr. Keating. Do other witnesses want to comment on some of
the high-tech assistance we can get?
Mr. Dreher. There are varieties of tech, from high to low,
that the folks in Africa that are fighting this problem really
need. I mean, the high-tech things can include things as simple
at night-vision scopes. A lot of the poachers are well-
equipped, well-equipped with military surplus hardware. It can
include relatively high-cost things like helicopters for aerial
surveillance, but it can also include training and just making
sure that the rangers are being paid decent living wages. So
there is a whole range of things they need, but they clearly
are outgunned and I think out-tech'd right now.
Mr. Keating. Drone technology helpful at all?
Mr. Cruden. I mean, technology is--the GPS capability now,
which is sweeping over Africa, will be enormously beneficial.
They are working on fences. They are working on radar. They are
using night-vision goggles, and all of those things are
beneficial. But I will only, again, two things out of my Africa
trip. One was a national park official telling me that their
biggest challenge was they were outgunned. I thought maybe he
was speaking metaphorically. I said, ``What do you mean?'' He
said: ``I mean, they have rocket-propelled grenade launchers
and automatic weapons, and we have World War II weapons.'' And
so that was a challenge.
But also on not so high tech but just telling you what
better coordination, we met with the local pilots association,
you know, all over Africa. And we were in Botswana. There are
hundreds of these small planes that are just couriering people
back and forth. And the pilot I met with said:
``We are banding together. This is important to us.
This is 15 percent of the gross national product of
Botswana, and it pays for our salary. We are reporting
to the government. We are getting together, and we will
tell them when we see suspicious activity in the area
because we know what strange vehicles look like, and we
know what strange people look like.''
So I think the high tech really helps, but I also think
that low-level activity can be enormously beneficial. And they
are just getting there now.
Mr. Keating. I know that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, they
have listed several potential changes in regulations related to
ivory trade within the U.S., and many museums and antique
dealers and scrimshanders are concerned that the rules could
inadvertently but not drastically impact their trade while
economically affecting U.S. consumers. When you are dealing
with these regulations, will you be able to draw the lines
clearly enough so there won't be any inadvertent effect?
Mr. Dreher. We are looking very closely at that. As you
know, we are hoping to be able to get a draft rule out on the
street very soon that would reflect the input we received from
the interest groups that you have discussed and other folks
that have, you know, well-intentioned interests that they are
trying to maintain.
Our sole goal in trying to regulate the ivory trade in the
United States is to eliminate the potential for it to serve as
cover for illegal ivory. And there are di minimis amounts of
ivory that are included, for example, in old musical
instruments. And our goal is not to impede the movement of
orchestras in and out of the United States. They are subject to
CITES regulations, but we do everything we can to facilitate
that. Similarly, we are going to do everything we can to
accommodate truly di minimis uses of ivory. But the heart of
the issue is, things that are multi-million-dollar antique
ivory carvings are going to have to be able to demonstrate
provenance. They are going to have to be able to demonstrate
that they were not created, brought into the country, and then
passed off as antique ivory. We had a major case just a year
ago, where we--and John's folks successfully prosecuted an
antiques dealer in Philadelphia who had a ton of ivory. And he
was having it antiqued in Africa and shipped here to be passed
off. That is what our concern is, is that our market here will
end up being a front for illegal ivory. And we are going to do
our best to cut down that kind of big-scale use.
Mr. Keating. Lastly, in enforcement, it is so difficult
because you are dealing with so many different nations. Some of
them have varying degrees of rule of law. But one of the areas
that you mentioned, Mr. Cruden, in terms of forfeiture, it is
more administrative in nature. It is something that I think
could be enforced a little better than a rule of law and
actually going through judicial proceedings. Is there hope for
that and getting into bank accounts and providing from
enforcement people an incentive to go after these people in
different countries?
Mr. Cruden. I want to answer in two ways: One of them is
what we are doing; and, second, what we are promoting because,
I told you, we are trying to do capacity building, and we are
right now trying, working to set up programs in Africa. For us
to be effective, for us to really deter illegal conduct, we
have to make it not profitable. Even though we are seeking
sentences, and we are putting people to jail. There is no
question people are going to jail. That is not a bad deterrent
effort, by the way, is putting you in jail. But that does not
mean we are getting the higher network. That is what you do
with RICO-like capability.
But when we are seeking restitution, when we are seeking to
take the profit out of crime, right now what our statute does
is we can actually do anything you do illegally. But some of
these people are involved in a whole host of trafficking, some
illegal, some not. And that would be one advantage is if we had
a broader authority that we could take all of the profit out of
it. But when we are going overseas--because sometimes it is
very hard for them to come up with a penalty analysis, but it
is not as hard for them to talk about restitution. It is not as
hard to talk about seizing the assets of the illegal act. That
is easier conceptually and easier for their courts to get their
hands around. So not only is it valuable for us, but I think it
is also valuable for us to explain and help and build capacity
in some of these prosecutors that we are dealing with.
Mr. Keating. And the timeframe can be drastically reduced,
too.
Mr. Cruden. Yes, and the time frame is quickly reduced.
Mr. Keating. I yield back.
Mr. Poe. I have a couple of questions, and I am going to
yield to a member that has joined us on the panel. I understand
that, on Saturday, Thailand seized 4 metric tons of ivory. We
have a Fish and Wildlife enforcement agent there in Bangkok.
First of all, how many elephants would you have to kill to get
4 metric tons of ivory? All right. Somebody majored in math.
Seriously, how many elephants are we talking about for 4 metric
tons of ivory? Anybody have an idea, Mr. Dreher?
Mr. Dreher. My rule of thumb on this I think is that a tusk
is about 20 pounds. So if you are talking about an adult
elephant, 2 tusks, 40 pounds, to get to 4 metric tons, you are
talking thousands of elephants that had to go into that
shipment.
Mr. Poe. So since we have an enforcement agent there in
Bangkok from Fish and Wildlife, is there anything we can do to
help Thailand track the criminal networks responsible for this
slaughter of elephants?
Mr. Dreher. That is exactly why he is there. I wish I could
take credit for the fact that it was our enforcement agent that
helped bring this seizure to fruition, but I don't have that
information. But what I can tell you is the reason we are
placing attaches there and in the other locations we are
proposing, all of which are hot spots for wildlife trafficking,
is precisely to be able to coordinate with the law enforcement
authorities of the country, with the other Federal agencies
that are part of the Embassy and part of the mission there, and
to try to coordinate this information.
Mr. Poe. If I did my math right, there were 740 tusks at 20
bucks a piece. That is $14,800.
Ambassador Garber. Our colleagues in the back who can
actually do math better than me sitting here can actually do,
are saying it is approximately 500 elephants.
Mr. Poe. 500 elephants. Okay. I am going to ask unanimous
consent that we have a Member that is not on the Foreign
Affairs Committee ask questions, unless there is some
objection, for Mr. DeFazio to be recognized for his question.
Mr. DeFazio. Thank you for not objecting, Mr. Chairman. I
appreciate it.
First, I would observe, Mr. Chairman, that I did introduce
a bill today we called--cleverly--called the TUSKER Act, H.R.
1945, that would require that countries that are identified
under CITES as significant source, transit, or destination
points for illegal ivory or rhino horn, immediately enter into
consultations with the U.S. to discuss measures to end their
importation and facilitation. Absent that, then the U.S. has
the option of imposing sanctions. I think the Chinese with
their, whatever their current trade deficit is with the U.S. at
risk, would take some measures.
And I actually got some of the ideas from Jack Fields,
former Republican Representative from Texas. You might know
Jack. Jack worked on this on a bipartisan basis the last time
we had a huge crisis. And we did pass a bill. It was
particularly targeted at Hong Kong and some other areas at that
point. They got the message pretty quickly, and it stopped.
But, of course, now ivory is infinitely more valuable than it
was then, and now you are talking about dealing with Lord's
Resistance Army or ISIS or who knows who are financing their
nefarious activities with this.
I would just put to the panel, I mean, first, I am not
aware that, even though the President has CITES--has authority
under Pelly, that he has thought about or has initiated any use
of it against these target countries, even though we are
initiating rules here. Secondly, if you are not aware of that,
don't you believe that, given the fact that absent us sending
in the SEALS and the Special Forces to level the playing field
in terms of weaponry, that this is one of the best things the
U.S. could do, which is to threaten meaningful sanctions
against Vietnam, China, and the other major importers who are
facilitating this trade.
So two questions, one, has there been any consideration or
discussion of invoking Pelly, yes or no? And if not, would this
not be potentially an effective tool?
Mr. Dreher. I am not aware of discussions within the
administration of invoking Pelly. I know that it is an issue
that from time to time is raised with us and that we do
consider.
As to the issue of trade sanctions, I mean, a part of me
wants to say that one of the great facts of coming to this
hearing is that we are seeing people, including this
committee--and we are very grateful for it--taking the wildlife
trafficking crisis very seriously. And one of our messages has
been throughout the National Strategy and our testimony here
today that it should be considered to be on a par with other
forms of extremely dangerous and lucrative international
organized crime. And so we ask for the full strength of the
government to be brought against it. I can't, however, give you
any answer on the specific issue that you have raised for your
bill about applying trade sanctions. There is a host of issues
that would go into that, and I know that----
Mr. DeFazio. Sure. We always give into the Chinese, let
them run a huge trade deficit, and steal our jobs. But maybe
this is a time when we stand up for the last remaining
elephants on Earth; send them a strong message; and say, ``Hey,
you want us to pay you $200 billion more in deficit next year,
well, guess what, not going to happen unless you''--and I know
you can't go there with this administration, but since the
administration has not shown any inclination to act
meaningfully. It is one thing to go after some guy who was
trying to bring a piano back into the U.S., and I did see that
load of stuff, which was antiqued, and that was massive and
huge, and I am glad you got him. But you need to be careful in
writing this rule in terms of, you know, going so far that we
end up--there is a provision Congress passed in the Gingrich
era--rarely used--the Congressional Review Act, where every
rule of major importance has to come to Congress for 60 days,
and it can be essentially vetoed by Congress.
So the rule needs to be very thoughtfully done. I mean,
when you get people excited about little, tiny embellishments
in a gunstock and stuff like that, that is something we don't
need. Thank you. Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Dreher. If I could just supplement my answer because I
am informed that in fact we are looking at the issue of Pelly
sanctions with regard to Vietnam and its role in the rhino horn
trade, and we are also looking at Mozambique. So those things
are being considered for those two countries.
Mr. DeFazio. Thanks. Let's look at China on ivory. I know
it is tough to ever stand up to China, but we should do that.
Ambassador Garber. If I could add and supplement what Mr.
Dreher said, in our negotiations of the Trans-Pacific
Partnership as well our negotiations with the European Union on
possibly a transatlantic trade agreement, we are including
environmental aspects, including wildlife trafficking, that
would be subject and bound to dispute resolution and binding
enforcement. So that is one tactic we are taking to look at the
trade side.
And, specifically with regard to China, we have certainly
been elevating the issue of wildlife trafficking in our
engagement with the highest levels of Chinese Government.
President Obama has raised it to President XI. I know that
Secretary Kerry has raised it and will be using it again during
a strategic and economic dialogue. I know that the Treasury
Secretary raised it when he was just out in China last month.
And I believe we have agreement to be raising it at the highest
levels.
What we have found with China is that really significant
change is going to have to come from the top down. We saw that
with the success of shark fin. So we believe that we are really
making some progress, and we are going to continue on a
sustained basis raising this at the highest diplomatic levels.
Mr. DeFazio. I appreciate hearing that.
Thank you for your generous grant of time, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Poe. Thank you for being here.
One last comment following up on Ambassador Garber. China
is by far the number one offending nation as far as where this
ivory ends up. Is that a fair statement?
Ambassador.
Ambassador Garber. Yes, that is our understanding.
Mr. Poe. And then Vietnam would be the number one nation
where rhino tusks end up. Is that correct?
Ambassador Garber. Yes.
Mr. Poe. Thank you all for being here. Members have 5 days
to submit other questions and statements for the record.
And this subcommittee is adjourned. Thank you all.
[Whereupon, at 4 o'clock p.m., the subcommittee was
adjourned.]
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