[House Hearing, 114 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ASSESSING PRESIDENT OBAMA'S MIDDLE EAST
AND NORTH AFRICA FY 2017 BUDGET REQUEST
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
APRIL 13, 2016
__________
Serial No. 114-164
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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
DANIEL DONOVAN, New York
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
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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
DARRELL E. ISSA, California BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina GRACE MENG, New York
TED S. YOHO, Florida LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
CURT CLAWSON, Florida BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Anne W. Patterson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of
Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State................. 9
The Honorable Paige Alexander, Assistant Administrator, Bureau
for the Middle East, U.S. Agency for International Development. 19
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Anne W. Patterson: Prepared statement.............. 12
The Honorable Paige Alexander: Prepared statement................ 22
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 46
Hearing minutes.................................................. 47
The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, a Representative in Congress
from the Commonwealth of Virginia: Prepared statement.......... 48
The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Florida, and chairman, Subcommittee on the
Middle East and North Africa: Questions submitted for the
record and written responses from:
The Honorable Anne W. Patterson................................ 50
The Honorable Paige Alexander.................................. 54
ASSESSING PRESIDENT OBAMA'S MIDDLE EAST
AND NORTH AFRICA FY 2017 BUDGET REQUEST
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:30 a.m., in
room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. The subcommittee will come to order.
After recognizing myself and Ranking Member Deutch for 5
minutes each for our opening statements, I will then recognize
other members seeking recognition for 1 minute. We will then
hear from our witnesses.
Without objection, ladies, your prepared statements will be
made a part of the record and members may have 5 days to insert
statements and questions for the record, subject to the length
limitation in the rules.
The chair now recognizes herself for 5 minutes.
We are here today to discuss the President's FY17 budget
request for the Middle East and North Africa Region. I fully
support the request to honor the terms of the Memorandum of
Understanding, MOU, with our closest ally, the Democratic
Jewish State of Israel and helping to ensure that she has what
she needs to defend herself and her citizens.
In the aftermath of the weak and dangerous Iran nuclear
deal and the corresponding race to arms by many of the nations
in the region that feel threatened by a newly-empowered Iran,
Israel is facing a new dangerous environment, so it is critical
that we ensure that Israel's qualitative military edge is
intact and vigorously enforced, as our policy stipulates and as
our laws state. So, I strongly urge the administration to
conclude the negotiations on a new robust MOU with Israel in an
expeditious manner and in a way that reflects the new reality
that the Jewish State faces in the region.
I am also pleased that the administration is following
through with the additional support for Jordan, as agreed upon
in last year's MOU, with $1 billion to help the Kingdom cope
with the strain on its resources from the Syrian humanitarian
crisis and the influx of refugees, as well as help provide
Jordan with the tools that it needs to continue to fight on the
frontlines against ISIS.
However, this request for Jordan highlights one of the most
noteworthy trends of the current request, which is the
administration's continued shift to move a significant amount
of assistance from the regular Foreign Affairs budget to the
Overseas Contingency Operations, OCO accounts. Nearly half of
this year's budget request is OCO funds, $3.5 billion of the
$7.1 billion for the Middle East and North Africa in non-
humanitarian bilateral aid. That is over 100 percent more than
last year's request, with almost all of the $1 billion for
Jordan coming in OCO. This is a troubling trend that the
administration needs to explain in greater detail, as we are
seeing funds that should be in the base budget that are being
shifted into the OCO fund.
Tunisia is strategically important and this is where the
democratic transition has been referred to by the
administration as a model for other states in the Arab world.
However, when compared to Egypt, Jordan, or even Lebanon, our
aid package to Tunisia does not really indicate that the
administration views its future as a high priority. The people
and Government of Tunisia needs us now more than ever.
While this year's request may represent an increase,
foreign military financing assistance for Tunisia's security
accounts for $45 million, while slightly more than that is
being provided for democracy and governance and economic
assistance. Tunisia is facing some trying times at the moment,
and we want to support it and ensure that it remains on the
transition toward democracy. Yet, the administration does not
appear to be making a successful transition a priority in this
request.
While Lebanon may be facing significant problems as a
result of the Syrian conflict, it has been mired in a political
crisis for nearly 2 years and has no elected leader, and
concerns remain over Hezbollah and Iran's increasing influence
in Lebanon. This raises questions over how our assistance to
Lebanon is being used to advance our interests. The same can be
said over continued assistance requests for Libya or Yemen, two
other countries in dire political straits.
When it comes to strategic interest, in the region, Egypt
remains near the top. Egypt's security and stability are key
U.S. national security interests, which is why we continue to
provide Cairo with the foreign military financing assistance it
needs and we will continue to work with Egypt to tackle the
terrorist threat, in the Sinai.
Yet, in Egypt we are facing a significant pipeline issue
where between $500 million to $700 million in previous years
funds have not been spent nor obligated. Yet, the
administration continues to request $150 million in ESF for
Egypt without presenting a concrete plan on how it will spend
these unobligated funds and without having the flexibility to
operate in Egypt that we once had.
When we discuss using our assistance as effectively and
efficiently as possible, we have to talk about our response to
the Syrian humanitarian crisis. The United States has been the
single largest donor in response to the Syrian humanitarian
crisis by providing over $5 billion and we'll continue to do
what we can, but our policies to get at the root cause of the
problem have failed and Assad still remains in power. While
most of this assistance is being funneled through the U.N., it
raises questions about whether or not we are maximizing our
assistance in this humanitarian response.
But when talking about using our assistance effectively in
furtherance of our interests, perhaps the most egregious
failure of this budget request is the continued request by the
administration for hundreds of millions in assistance for the
West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinian Authority and Abu Mazen
have continued to incite violence against Israel, have
continued to support terrorism, have continued to fund the
salaries of terrorists in Israeli prisons as well as their
family members. And the Palestinians continue to seek to de-
legitimize the Jewish State at the United Nations and are
moving forward with plans to undermine the peace process by
seeking unilateral statehood. The administration may argue that
it has sought less for the Palestinian Authority in this year's
budget request, but we should have cut off all assistance to
the PA for violating several provisions of U.S. law.
So, I welcome our distinguished guests. I look forward to
hearing from the administration about the justifications for
its budget request and how these line up with the
administration's objectives for the coming year in the Middle
East and North Africa.
With that, I am so pleased to yield to the ranking member,
my good friend, Mr. Deutch of Florida.
Mr. Deutch. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I hope you feel
better.
And thank you, Assistant Administrator Alexander and
Assistant Secretary Patterson, for being here today. It is a
pleasure to welcome you back to the subcommittee. We look
forward to a positive discussion about the region.
I want to take a moment, again, to thank the hard-working
USAID and State Department employees and Foreign Service
Officers who work in dangerous and difficult places to help
those in need and promote American values around the world.
Their work too often goes unnoticed and underappreciated, and I
just wanted to take a moment today to highlight what they do
and to thank them for it.
It is no doubt that some of our greatest foreign policy
challenges are in the Middle East and North Africa. New threats
have emerged that endanger the security of the United States,
our regional interests, and our regional partners. This year's
State Department budget request for the region is $7.3 billion,
a 9-percent increase from what we spent in 2015. Of the $6.1
billion requested in global humanitarian aid, $2 billion is to
address the humanitarian crisis in Syria.
For over 5 years, the region has been struggling to deal
with the effects of the war in Syria. The devastating
humanitarian crisis will certainly have implications not just
this coming year, but for years to come and for decades to
come.
I have repeatedly expressed my deep frustration over the
international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, but
I would like to applaud the administration for the contribution
that it has made to address this crisis, the largest from any
donor country to date.
But, as the crisis continues to drag on, we must look for
sustainable ways to support those displaced by war. Efforts to
shore up host countries like Lebanon and Jordan must focus on
increasing capacity of schools and healthcare centers, finding
work that will allow refugees to contribute to the communities
that are hosting them. I was pleased to see the conclusion last
spring of the new MOU with our ally Jordan that will help to
strengthen one of our best partners in the fight against ISIS.
We all know that the only end to this crisis will come
through a political solution. Speaking yesterday, Ambassador
Power said there is, and I quote, ``an inextricable linkage
between the political transition negotiations--which, of
course, urgently have to take place--the deterioration in
humanitarian access, and the escalation of violence on the
ground, which is having a very negative bearing on the
cessation of hostilities, which had reduced violence
substantially.'' There is so much that we have to be engaged in
at so many levels in Syria.
In addition to Syria, the humanitarian situation in Yemen
continues to worsen. As political talks stall, the needs of
those on the ground are increasing, and the U.S. and other
donor countries must be able to respond accordingly.
In Tunisia, we look for ways to bolster the country's
economy and nascent democracy while stabilizing the security
situation. The Tunisian Government has thus far responded well
to the number of deadly attacks over the past year, and we have
seen positive results from our efforts to help Tunisian
security forces professionalize in these difficult
circumstances.
However, it is troubling that the largest contingent of
foreign fighters to ISIS are Tunisian, and the entrance of ISIS
to Libya will continue to pose a threat to the region, and
especially to Tunisia.
The security situation in Libya is tenuous. Just last week,
U.S. General David Rodriguez, the outgoing Commander of
AFRICOM, said that the number of ISIS fighters in Libya has
doubled in the past year. That is why it is more important than
ever that Libya move forward with implementing a unity
government. A strong central government backed by Libyan
security forces is the only way to keep ISIS at bay.
Combating ISIS in North Africa will require strong
cooperation across the Maghreb. Morocco and Algeria must play a
significant role in intelligence-sharing, both with its
neighbors as well as with the U.S. and Europe, to track foreign
fighters and terrorist cells. As we work to combat extremism,
we appreciate the cooperation between Egypt and Israel in the
Sinai and Egypt's efforts to control the flow of dangerous
materials in and out of Gaza and destroy Hamas' terror tunnels.
But, however strong and necessary our security cooperation
and coordination is, we must also prioritize human rights.
Human rights must always be a part of the conversation, even
when difficult. And I am troubled by continued reports of mass
sentencing, restrictions on civil society, and most recently,
the potential reopening of the NGO case that saw 43 NGO workers
arrested and convicted, including several Americans.
We have also deepened our coordination with our GCC
partners to confront mutual security threats, including Iranian
aggression. These countries must also be committed to
countering violent Islamic extremism and speaking out against
the radicalism and terrorism. We must always be sure that
nothing we do in the region threatens Israel's qualitative
military edge. Israel remains under constant threat from
Palestinian terror attacks, Hamas rockets, Hezbollah advanced
weaponry, and ballistic missiles launched from Iran emblazoned
with the words, ``Israel must be wiped off the earth.'' I would
urge the administration to ramp up its efforts to conclude a
new Memorandum of Understanding that will ensure that Israel
has what she needs to defend herself for years to come.
As we continue to work toward the goal of two states for
two peoples, I would hope that the administration will work to
prevent any attempts to circumvent the direct negotiation
process, which is the only way that peace can be achieved. Our
efforts would be better served urging President Abbas to build
up state institutions, to reform his economy, to commit to
transparency and accountability, and to return to the
negotiating table.
With respect to Iran, I cannot urge the administration
enough to fulfill its promises to crack down on Iran's myriad
of bad behavior, including the repeated missile tests in
blatant disregard of international law, its egregious human
rights violations, and its continued support for terrorism. The
U.S. Navy last week intercepted a shipment of Iranian weapons
bound for Yemen, and this continued bellicosity is
unacceptable. No agreement precludes this country from
sanctioning every person, every entity, and every sector
involved in these dangerous activities. The Nuclear Agreement,
as we all know, was meant to apply only to nuclear activities
and the nuclear program. International law and U.S. law
permits, and I think requires us, to take strong action to stop
and to combat Iran's bad behavior in these other areas.
And I would also be remiss if, Secretary Patterson--if,
Madam Chairman, you will just grant me an extra 30 seconds--I
would be remiss if I didn't once again implore the
administration to continue to working to bring home my
constituent Robert Levinson. Just days before the ninth
anniversary of Bob's disappearance last month, I had the honor
of joining Bob's wife Christine and the Levinson children at a
rally in Bob's hometown of Coral Springs in south Florida. No
family deserves to go through what the Levinsons are going
through, being away from their husband, their father, and
grandfather, with no answers for 9 years. And I know that
Secretary Kerry continues to push for Bob's return, but I would
ask that this be the highest priority in every single
discussion with the Iranians.
There is no substitute for robust American engagement and
leadership in this challenging region as a whole, and I look
forward to hearing how the President's budget request will help
fulfill that goal and protect the security of this country and
of our friends and allies in the Middle East and North Africa.
Thank you, Madam Chairman. I yield back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you for an excellent opening
statement, and thank you for your leadership, especially on the
Levinson case. They are fortunate to have such a strong leader
voicing their concerns.
I would like to recognize members for opening statements,
and we will begin with Mr. Wilson of South Carolina.
Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Madam Chair, for your dynamic
leadership.
Secretary Patterson, you have provided that the top line
for the State Department and for the Agency of International
Development will have a budget of over $50 billion with around
$35 billion in the base budget and $15 billion in OCO. I have
seen firsthand America being successful in the Middle East and
around the world to aid our allies for their citizens to have
fulfilling lives.
The budget number is particularly significant this year
because of the threat of Iran who stands to gain as much or two
or three times this amount in cash windfall due to unfrozen
assets as part of the tragic Iranian nuclear deal. We have seen
Iranian support and financing of the Houthi rebels in Yemen,
funding and support for Hamas in Hezbollah, providing rockets
to threaten Israel, funding for terrorists and insurgents in
Iraq, and support for Afghani Taliban for their terrorist
activities. All of these groups have a goal of killing American
military and bringing mass murder to families at home in the
United States.
The concerns of Congress of the failing Iranian nuclear
deal have been bipartisan. I particularly appreciate today the
ranking member Ted Deutch raising issues and concerns. With all
the United States can accomplish in the Middle East with the
funding that we are providing, the damage that Iran stands to
do in the region with $150 billion of cash windfall is
dangerous. I look forward to continuing to work with my
colleagues on the committee in ensuring proper oversight of the
implementation of the bizarre Iranian nuclear deal.
Thank you.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you so much, Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Cicilline of Rhode Island.
Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member
Deutch, for calling this hearing to assess President Obama's
Fiscal Year 2017 budget request for the Middle East and North
Africa.
And thank you, Ambassador Patterson and Administrator
Alexander, for being here today. I look forward to hearing from
you, and I want to thank you both for your dedication and your
service to our country.
The Fiscal Year 2017 request of $7.17 billion for the
region is an increase of almost 9 percent over Fiscal Year 2015
enacted levels. The vast security and humanitarian needs in the
region certainly justify increased spending levels, and I look
forward to hearing from our witnesses about how the United
States will make sure this money is used for effectively to
achieve American strategic priorities.
This budget request is an issue of critical importance,
especially during this time of great flux and threats to global
security. From the civil war in Syria and its subsequent
humanitarian and refugee crisis to the threat of ISIL, Boko
Haram, and other extremist groups who seek to undermine
stability and security throughout the region, to many
humanitarian perils faced by millions of people in the region,
it is more important than ever that U.S. foreign assistance is
targeted, responsive, and able to meet our principal goals.
As Ambassador Power states in her written testimony, the
Middle East and North Africa present the most demanding
challenges to U.S. foreign policy and national security.
Through the work of the State Department and USAID, we must
remain engaged and do all that we can to help the nations of
this region to be more self-sufficient in terms of providing
for its people through good governance, democratization, and
less susceptible and better able to repel extremist threats.
Thank you, and I look forward to your testimony. And I
yield back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Cicilline.
Mr. Issa of California.
Mr. Issa. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And for each of our two witnesses, it is incredibly an
opportune time for you to be here. I have two areas of
particular concern that I will be following up with questions
on.
Ambassador Alexander, in your case the education of as many
as 800,000 Syrians in Lebanon and countless more internally
displaced concerns me in that USAID and all of our refugee
organizations seem to be looking at doing, but not
accomplishing the ultimate goal. Lebanon is ill-equipped to
educate 500 to 800,000 additional students, and even if they
were, they have no structural plan to do so.
Some of the programs USAID has begun with are interesting,
including the radio broadcast as a form of education, but they
fall far short of two goals. One is education that can be
verified for purposes of higher education later. The second is
a form of education that clearly allows us to have our imprint
of non-radicalization on that education process. I think both
of those fall clearly within, between the two of you, a
requirement to make sure there is a strategic plan for all the
youth in the region, both those who work much of the day and
get limited education and those who may be able to participate
in more conventional.
Secondly, Ambassador Patterson, you and I have visited many
times. You are always at the center of tough situations. Your
time in Egypt causes me to say this today: The multinational
force observers has out lived its historic role. That has been
made very clear by my own and another Congressman's visit to
the region into the North Station. They are today simply
sitting ducks hunkered down, highly protected, including
massive EOD assets, for purposes of a count that has not been
miscounted or misunderstood or argued for more than 8 years,
even with a minor exception, and more than a decade without any
real argument.
As you know, Israel today counts on very large forces of
Egyptians to help with the fight against ISIS in the Sinai. I
urge you to recognize that now is the time to recognize that
that force existed, although technically to count number of
soldiers and police, it really existed to ensure a peace in the
region between two countries. Today that force must be
positioned to assist both Israel and the Egyptians in
recognizing where ISIS and Hamas are operating, what they are
doing, and providing the eyes necessary to help them do their
job better. I am not calling for a moment for the withdrawal of
those troops or those personnel, brave as they are, but I want
their purpose to be one of peacekeeping between two allies
today in the war against ISIS. I hope you can take that back to
Secretary Kerry on behalf of the committee.
And I thank the chairwoman for her indulgence.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Very good items that you bring up.
Ms. Frankel of Florida.
Ms. Frankel. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I just thank you all for being here again, once again.
I had the honor of traveling with our chair, Mr. Royce,
this past week. We were in Jordan, Iraq, and Tunisia, and it
was quite an enlightening and rigorous schedule. Madam Chair,
my back is still hurting from the body armor really.
But some takeaways. It is not only the threat of terrorism,
which is real in so many of these countries in the Middle East,
but they are in terrible economic crisis, to the point where--I
will use Iraq as an example. I mean, they are not even able to
pay for their own army.
There are a lot of moving parts, but what was very clear to
me, No. 1, our own security and the security of allies, not
only in the Middle East, but in Europe and other places, will
be affected greatly by the stability in the Middle East.
My second takeaway was that, or this may be my third
takeaway, is that our leadership is absolutely needed. There is
no question about it, not only from a military point of view,
but just in terms of economic development, education,
humanitarian, other humanitarian assistance.
So, I very much look forward to what you have to say this
morning. And again, thank you for your service.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Ms. Frankel.
Mr. Trott?
Mr. Trott. I would thank Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen and
Ranking Member Deutch for holding this hearing, and to our
esteemed witnesses for testifying and sharing their valuable
insight on an unstable, but crucial part of the world.
Ambassador Patterson, before assuming your current post,
you were our Ambassador to Egypt and served during a very
turbulent time. You had a unique perspective on the Muslim
Brotherhood, one that I am hoping to hear more about from you
today. For reasons unclear to me, the State Department still
refuses to recognize the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist
organization.
I am proud to cosponsor legislation in the House, the
Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, and I am eager to
see it on the Floor for a vote in front of the full House. In
recent years, the copts have suffered terrible attacks and
violence. The attacks were clearly well-planned and
coordinated, not random acts of violence, as some have
suggested. After listening to their rhetoric laced from remarks
coming from their leadership, it is not surprising that they
would take out their anger on Egypt's most vulnerable. To make
matters worse, the Muslim Brotherhood's official account still
espouses and congratulates violence while implicitly, if not
explicitly, trying to encourage violence against the state and
religious minorities.
I am disappointed the State Department hosted them for
official meetings last year. When I questioned Secretary Kerry
about this, he claimed that the State Department somehow didn't
know they were part of the Muslim Brotherhood until after the
visit, something I find difficult to believe.
As a country that promotes religious tolerance and
acceptance all over the world, I find it reprehensible that the
administration claims to promote these values, yet goes around
and invites and holds meetings with the various people that
have dedicated themselves to religious intolerance and
violence.
I look forward to your testimony and explanation as to how
much more damage the Muslim Brotherhood needs to cause before
we call them terrorists.
Thank you. I yield back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Amen. Thank you very much, Mr. Trott.
And we are so happy to welcome back wonderful witnesses who
are always accessible to us, and anytime we call them, they
say, ``Yes. When do you need us?'' So, thank you, ladies, very
much for being so good to our subcommittee.
First, we are pleased to welcome back Ambassador Anne
Patterson, who is Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs. Ambassador Patterson has served as the U.S. Ambassador
in El Salvador, in Columbia, in Pakistan, and in Egypt. She has
also been Assistant Secretary of State for International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Deputy Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, and the State
Department's Deputy Inspector General.
Welcome back, Ambassador Patterson.
We also want to welcome back another good friend, Assistant
Administrator Paige Alexander of the Bureau of the Middle East
at USAID. Previously, Ms. Alexander has served as the Assistant
Administrator of the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, as well as
Associate Director of Project Liberty at Harvard University's
John F. Kennedy School of Government. She has also served on
the Board of the Basic Education Coalition and the Project on
Middle East Democracy.
Thank you so much, ladies, and the floor is yours. We will
start with Ambassador Patterson.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ANNE W. PATTERSON, ASSISTANT
SECRETARY, BUREAU OF NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
STATE
Ms. Patterson. Thank you, Madam Chairman, Ranking Member
Deutch, members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting us
to appear before you today to discuss the President's Fiscal
Year 2017 budget request. We appreciate the subcommittee's
continued support and congratulate its initiatives, most
recently, for the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention
Act of 2015.
The Middle East and North Africa present the most demanding
challenges to U.S. foreign policy and to our national security.
As you know, the administration's highest priority continues to
be the safety and security of the American people and the
American homeland. This is why we are leading the global
coalition that will defeat ISIL, are actively engaged in
supporting the cessation of hostilities and political
negotiations in Syria, and are advancing peace in Yemen and
Libya. Each of these conflicts poses its own unique challenges
to our national security with the potential for serious
economic repercussions.
Continued full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action will ensure Iran's nuclear program remains
exclusively peaceful. Nevertheless, we remain deeply concerned
about Iran's destabilizing activities.
The President's foreign assistance request for the Bureau
of Near Eastern Affairs is $7.3 billion. This includes $3.1
billion to support our enduring commitment to Israel's
security, $1.5 billion for bilateral cooperation with Egypt to
advance our national and regional security interests, and $1
billion to continue our strategic partnership with Jordan on
issues ranging from countering violent extremism to advancing
Middle East peace.
In the coming year, potential openings in Yemen and Libya
further highlight how we must work to support U.S. engagement.
We must be poised to further our relationship with the Libyan
Government of National Accord as it works to reunite the
country, revive the living economy, and confront ISIL. In
Yemen, we must help the Yemenis reestablish governance, reclaim
space from AQAP, and counter a growing ISIL threat, as well as
revise their badly-damaged economy.
Our capacity to react quickly in changing environments like
these will require your continued support and flexibility.
However, we cannot focus on crises alone. There are examples of
success in the region, and it is in our long-term interest to
invest strategically.
In Tunisia, we see a burgeoning democracy in need of our
support, and in Morocco our strong partnership spans from
security cooperation to addressing economic challenges. This
budget provides the resources to support U.S. engagement with
both Morocco and Tunisia.
As part of our efforts to degrade and defeat ISIL, the U.S.
is leading a coalition of 66 states and organizations. The
request also includes funding to provide training and equipment
to forces fighting ISIL, help stabilize communities liberating
from ISIL and Syria and Iraq, strengthens our regional
partners, and supports a political solution to the Syrian civil
war.
For Iraq, the FY17 request includes $510 million, an
increase over previous years, largely to provide increased
economic assistance to stabilize the Iraqi economy and maintain
critical security assistance.
In Syria, the request of nearly $239 million will provide
support to the moderate Syrian opposition to help achieve a
political solution and counter extremist threats, including
from ISIL and Jabhat al-Nusra.
In Jordan, we remain a strong supporter of the government's
efforts to maintain security, stability, and prosperity,
particularly in light of the crises on Jordan's border.
And in Lebanon, we are supporting their efforts to cope
with the spillover effects of the crisis in Syria.
Our request also represents our firm commitment to working
with Israel and other regional partners to counter Iran's
destabilizing activities in the region. Let me assure you that
Israel's security remains a top priority for the
administration. It is critical for both the Israelis and the
Palestinians that steps are taken to promote stability. So, we
are requesting $364 million in foreign assistance to support
the Palestinian people with programs to bolster economic
development, improve health and education, and enhance security
on the ground.
In Egypt, we have long enjoyed a strategic relationship
which furthers our national interests. Nonetheless, we continue
to press the Egyptians about our concerns regarding their human
rights record.
Madam Chairman, I also want to stress the importance of our
regional programs. They not only complement our ongoing
bilateral assistance, but they are also a tool for advancing
our interests.
The Middle East Partnership Initiative furthers U.S.
engagement with civil society across the region. It empowers
women, fosters entrepreneurship, engages at-risk youth, and
develops the capacity of local organizations.
I want to thank this subcommittee for your ongoing support
as we continue to advance our interests in the Middle East. I
look forward to answering your questions.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Patterson follows:]
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Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Madam Ambassador.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE PAIGE ALEXANDER, ASSISTANT
ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR THE MIDDLE EAST, U.S. AGENCY FOR
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ms. Alexander. Thank you, Chairman Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking
Member Deutch, members of the subcommittee. We appreciate the
opportunity to be up here to talk about the President's Fiscal
Year 2017 budget.
The region is faced with complex challenges driven by deep
political divides, economic and social forces. It is critical
that the U.S. maintain its engagement and interest in this
region. Conflict and the resulting humanitarian and refugee
crisis have significantly compounded the challenges. These
conflicts have cut economic output in Syria by 30 percent. The
influx of refugees has lowered wages in some of the most
vulnerable host communities. And most alarming is 13 million
children are out of school due to this conflict.
It may be useful to think of USAID's response in three
critical areas: Mitigating the human impact of ongoing
conflicts, supporting core U.S. national security objectives,
and fostering inclusive development and reform opportunities as
they arise. My statement for the record includes more details
of AID's priorities, but I wanted to go through a few here.
Serious development challenges and indicators show a
rollback of nearly four decades due to the conflict. In
addition to the U.S. remaining the world's largest donor of
humanitarian assistance for the Syrian conflict, the
President's budget will request continued American people's
support for the development needs within Syria as well as
critical support for Syria's neighbors.
The crisis has placed an enormous strain on the neighbors,
many neighboring countries, including our ally Jordan. We
continue our six-decade partnership with Jordan to address the
development challenges, including low economic growth,
overcrowded schools, and scarce water resources.
NBC Nightly News recently did a story about a school
principal in Jordan who was trying to talk about the
overcrowding in her school and that Syrian parents continued to
come and ask that their children be allowed in. She offered
that they could come if they just brought a chair. We work with
this principal and thousands of other educators like her to
make sure that we are providing these services.
In Lebanon, some estimates say that one out of every three
people is a refugee. The President's request would support the
Lebanese communities hosting refugees, helping them provide
basic services like education, water, infrastructure, and
support municipalities and civil societies, as well as job
creation and economic growth activities.
For Iraq, the President's 2017 request includes an increase
of funding to help address the grave economic challenges that
they are facing. We will also work with Baghdad and the local
governments in support of decentralization efforts. Our support
will ease the burden of Iraq's fiscal crisis as it struggles to
defeat ISIL and stabilize liberated areas.
The U.S. Government and the American people have a
longstanding relationship with Egypt and the Egyptian people.
USAID continues to work in partnership with the Egyptian
people, but we remain deeply concerned about the restrictions
in space for civil society and the reported investigations in
NGOs by the Government of Egypt. USAID and the State Department
continue to engage with our Egyptian counterparts on this
issue.
Given the current challenging environment, AID continues to
focus its programs in areas where we believe we can achieve
results. In the West Bank and Gaza, U.S. assistance to
Palestinian people is a key part of the U.S. commitment to
negotiate a two-state solution. Our assistance contributes to
building a more democratic, stable, prosperous, and secure
Palestinian society, a goal that is in the interest not only of
the Palestinian, but of Israel and the United States as well.
For Fiscal Year 2017, we will promote stability in the West
Bank by improving service provision and healthcare, education,
water, and roads, while also supporting the private sector and
civil society. In Gaza, we will provide needed humanitarian
assistance while at the same time addressing pressing needs,
particularly in the water sector.
As the peace process proceeds in Yemen and the security
environment allows, USAID will provide the expertise to support
the negotiation process while supporting civil society and the
inclusion of women and youth.
In Libya, the 2017 funding will support the Government of
National Accord and deliver targeted assistance to support a
stable political transition.
Where we are able to in the region, we aim to help our
local partners address frustrations brought on the people in
the streets 5 years ago. In Morocco, USAID is well-positioned
to advance the country's critical economic and social reforms.
Among those who benefit from our programs were to teenaged
boys in northern Morocco who were planning to head to Syria and
stopped in first at a USAID-supported youth organization. A
trained youth officer was able to convince them of an alternate
path, setting them up, instead, with jobs at a local
construction company.
Before I conclude, I would like to speak about Tunisia,
which has been relatively successful in its transition, but
still needs our support. Tunisia is the only country from the
2011 Arab Awakening that has defined a path toward democracy.
The President's 2017 request will provide additional resources
to support Tunisia as it consolidates these gains, including
expanding economic and governance partnerships between the U.S.
and Tunisia.
AID's efforts in Tunisia have created nearly 4,000
sustainable private sector jobs last year, and we expect our
interventions will result in more than 5,000 additional jobs
this year.
We face significant challenges in the Middle East and North
Africa, but the American people can be proud that, through
USAID and with the support of Congress, we are helping millions
of people in the region, whether it is the girl at the STEM
school in Egypt who has conquered intel science or whether it
is the teacher and the principal in Jordan who have invited
other Syrian children into her classroom. These are some of the
concrete examples of our programs.
I am proud of the innovative work that we have been doing
to meet the many challenges of the region, and we will continue
to work better, smarter, and faster to support the people of
the Middle East and North Africa on behalf of the American
people.
Thank you for your support, and I look forward to your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Alexander follows:]
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----------
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you very much to both of our
witnesses. I would like to, once again, welcome you both back
here and thank you for your continued service on behalf of our
country.
Assistant Secretary Patterson, I wanted to follow up on a
question that I had posed to Secretary Kerry in February. I
asked if the administration will veto any resolution at the
U.N. supporting Palestinian statehood. He stated that it was
the policy of the administration to oppose any one-sided
resolution that would be unfair to Israel, but he didn't give a
blanket statement that, yes, the U.S. would veto.
So, I want to clear this up just a bit more because last
week the Palestinian Authority, the PA, distributed a draft
resolution to a number of members at the U.N. Security Council
similar to the one that the U.S. did, in fact, veto in 2011.
This absence of an American voice saying that we will veto
gives wind beneath the wings of the Palestinians to continue
this unilateral statehood scheme.
So, will the administration state unequivocally that we
will not introduce, we will not support, that we will block,
that we will veto any resolution at the U.N. Security Council
that seeks to impose a two-state solution on Israel or that
offers some artificial timeline for negotiations?
Ms. Patterson. Madam Chairman, let me answer this question
this way: This administration, there was an article in the
newspaper a few days ago that this administration has been the
most vigorous in history in pursuing and protecting Israel's
interest in the United Nations system. And I can speak to that
from personal experience, both at the Security Council and the
GA and in the specialized agencies.
I can't say without seeing a resolution--and we are
familiar with this resolution----
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. But there is--it is not a hypothetical.
Ms. Patterson. No, it is no hypothetical.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Have you seen the resolution?
Ms. Patterson. But it has not been introduced into the
Security Council.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. But the draft exists.
Ms. Patterson. A draft exists and----
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Have you seen it?
Ms. Patterson. And I haven't personally seen it, but it
hasn't been introduced into----
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Do you think that perhaps this lack of
clarity to say we vetoed it before, we are going to veto it
again, and here is the draft, and if this draft is going to be
worked, we will veto it--when we don't say that, they are going
to continue with their unilateral statehood schemes. Wouldn't
you?
Ms. Patterson. Madam Chairman, all I can say is I think the
administration's record on this is pretty clear. It is very
clear----
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. I know. That is why it is worrisome. It
is clear.
Ms. Patterson. And we have defended Israel vigorously. So,
I can't say without seeing the resolution because, like most
things----
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Well, it is not a hypothetical. It
exists.
But, staying with the PA, Madam Ambassador, money is
fungible, and any amount of money that--oh, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Royce. Good to see you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Let me just wait right here. I heard a
lot of rumbling here, but I did not look aside. So, I will stop
here and let me recognize the chairman of our committee, Mr.
Royce, for his questions.
Mr. Royce. Well, thank you. I thank our chairman emeritus
here.
And, Secretary Patterson, it is good to see you again.
Let me ask, since that issue was the one you were speaking
on, and Mr. Deutch and I have had some discussions about this
as well, and you have really led on this issue: What concerns
us is twofold. It is not just that for some years now you have
a system where, basically, there has been an inducement to pay
human assassins to seek out innocent people and kill them. And
then, a stipend is given for the time that those individuals
serve in custody for their crime, and that stipend is dependent
upon the severity of their crime. In other words, the amount
per month paid into the fund or going to the family is
dependent upon how heinous the crime, how many victims. In
addition, if it is bad enough, you serve enough time, then you
are automatically given a position in a Palestinian Authority
once you get out. That was the old system.
Now you were before the committee before and were asked
about this. At the time you indicated, well, that is being--
what were your words at the time?--I think ``phased out'' or
something, words to that effect, and that we should give them
more time because they are phasing it out.
Let me just share for you and for the committee members
here, Mr. Deutch and others, what we have observed since then.
And that is that this process is not only continuing, but
rather than the PA make the stipend directly out of the budget,
what they have instead done is go to the PLO budget and make a
transfer to the PLO for a sum. Let's say the original budgeted
item for assistance with the Palestinian Authority's prison
funding was $8 million. Suddenly, it goes up. Suddenly, it goes
up to $140 million. Well, the difference is the sum taken off
of the books of the PA, but it is in the same building. The PA
Ministry of Prison Adjudication, or whatever, is the same
ministry as the PLO. As a matter of fact, it is the same
minister. I believe you will find that to be the case.
So, in fact, they weren't phasing it out. What they were
simply doing was transferring the entire sum over to the PLO,
so that that payment could continue to be made. And I think we
should understand that, besides the fact that the donor
community is paying into the Palestinian Authority and the end
result is to create a system to recruit human beings to carry
out attacks and, then, serve their time and be rewarded with a
stipend not just for the family, but a retirement afterwards
and a job in the Palestinian Authority if it is egregious
enough. These are real concerns about how we prepare people to
put the foundation down for peace.
Second, I want the Europeans to know what is going on, and
you are going to have the opportunity to dialog with Europe
about this and other problems. As I shared with Dr. Abbas and
Mr. Deutch shared as well, when we were there talking with him
about the issue of incitement, it is very, very important that
the right foundation be laid for preparing future generations
of young Palestinians and young Israelis to live in peace. And
surely a system which tries to recruit more girls to do killing
because you get an additional stipend if you are a girl or
there is a stipend upon a stipend if you are an Israeli and
commit an act against another Israeli--this is a very perverse
creation, unbelievably perverse. And I would like your response
there.
Second, how did you mean that to be taken by us at the
time, by the committee, when you said they are phasing this
out? Did you know that they were going to simply transfer this
to the PLO, and in that sense they were phasing it off their
books, but they weren't phasing it out? They were simply
disguising the funding. I wanted to ask you about that.
Ms. Patterson. Well, thank you. Thank you, Chairman Royce.
No, I didn't know that. What I was basing that on was my
own discussions with Palestinian members who said they had been
phasing it out for financial and the other reasons that you
discuss. And I totally agree with you that this is an egregious
practice.
But let me also stress, Mr. Chairman, that I think our
assistance to the Palestinian Authority does many beneficial
things in maintaining security and promoting entrepreneurship
and promoting better health standards and infrastructure
development, and is absolutely essential for the stability in
this part of the world.
So, we will continue to press them on this issue, which I
entirely agree with you is an unacceptable one.
Mr. Royce. Ambassador, the donor community is helping the
Palestinian Authority basically pay people to slay other
people. So, here is my point: I want us to use our considerable
leverage to end that practice. And second, I would really like
the European community, in our dialog with them, to fully
comprehend what is going on in this process of the inducements
of paying people to get them to go out and slay other human
beings. Can you do that? Can you assure us----
Ms. Patterson. Yes. Yes, sir.
Mr. Royce [continuing]. That both of those----
Ms. Patterson. We will certainly take that up with----
Mr. Royce [continuing]. Will be at the top of your agenda,
conveying that? So that, when the European delegations come in,
they will be asking me as well, ``What are we doing as Members
of Congress to end this practice?''
Ms. Patterson. No, we will certainly talk to our European
colleagues.
There is a point, another point, I would like to make, Mr.
Chairman. None of our money goes to this. It is not fungible in
that respect. Our money goes essentially to pay PA Authority
debts to Israel and to other creditors. So, the budget relief,
the budget support that you see in the budget goes to creditors
and cannot be diverted to these stipends.
Mr. Royce. Yes, but the reality is that the donor community
is coming together internationally to fund the Palestinian
Authority. Our hope had always been that this would be used for
a certain type of textbooks, to actually teach kids in
education, instead of how to hate; for a certain kind of
broadcasting that would be inclusive, that would maybe be about
political tolerance and about, oh, you know, religious
tolerance and laying the foundation for peace. And that, also,
in terms of the prison system, it might be about rehabilitation
instead of creating a system where you are encouraging
additional people to go out and commit murder in order later in
life to get a position of high authority in the Palestinian
Authority itself.
And so, since the donor community is putting money into
that pot in order, in one way or the other, to help the
Palestinian people, regardless of how we perceive it, we have
to use our leverage to cut this out. And now is the time to do
it, and now is the time to have this dialog, because they just
upped the ante basically by now paying people an additional--an
additional--stipend if you commit crimes within Israel, within
the borders of Israel.
I know they don't recognize borders because I asked Mr.
Abbas that very question. Mr. Deutch will remember I asked him,
``By the way, where is Israel on your map?'' when we were
discussing incitement. And he said, ``Where is your map? Show
me your map.''
Here is the point: We, the donor community, are putting the
money in. Let's make sure that it goes to the next generation
of young Palestinians having an attitude of wanting to have
peace, wanting to negotiate with Israelis, and wanting to do
something other than wipe them off the map or slay them. And
that is my point.
Ms. Patterson. Mr. Chairman, rest assured that this will be
a subject of discussion with the rest of the donor community.
We see Europeans and other donors all the time. And rest
assured your points will be conveyed with our full concurrence.
Mr. Royce. Thank you. Thank you, Secretary Patterson.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Mr. Chairman, you are welcome to come in
and crash our subcommittee anytime. [Laughter.]
Please do so more often.
Mr. Royce. Well, actually, I am a member of the committee,
too.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Okay.
Mr. Royce. But I appreciate your forbearance. I appreciate
the forbearance.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. It is much more fun to say ``crash.''
[Laughter.]
Are you sure you are done?
Mr. Royce. Yes.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Because you are fired-up. We will keep
you going.
Mr. Royce. No, no, I yield back, Madam Chairman.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. All right. Thank you.
And I will just wrap up, because everything he said, ditto.
Let me just ask a question on Morocco. Recently, U.N.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon claimed Morocco is occupying the
Western Sahara, an unbelievable violation of U.N. neutrality.
The U.S. is tasked with drafting the resolution that will renew
the mandate of MINURSO. It is very important that the draft
resolution be clean without any divisive language. Is the
administration willing to work with Congress and our ally
Morocco to strengthen our bilateral relationship while avoiding
this mess created by Ban Ki-moon? And where does that draft
resolution currently stand?
Ms. Patterson. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Yes, this was a very, very unfortunate occurrence. The
Secretary has been on the phone with the King and with his
counterpart, Foreign Minister Mezouar. And we have tried to do
everything possible to basically help them restore relations,
because, again, a very unfortunate incident between the U.N.
and the Government of Morocco.
Morocco is one of our strongest allies. They are a critical
partner in the counterterrorism field. They have made very
significant advances in governance and human rights. We very
much value our relationship.
The resolution, Madam Chairman, hasn't been drafted. We are
discussing that in the administration. We certainly will take
your views into account, and I stress the----
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. What is the timeline for the resolution?
Ms. Patterson. The timeline for the resolution, I think we
have a few more weeks. Thank you. But we will talking with the
committee.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Please keep us abreast. Thank you so
much.
And thank you, Mr. Deutch, for your patience, and take as
much time as you would like.
Mr. Deutch. Thanks very much, Madam Chairman.
Ambassador Patterson, there were a lot of stories in the
media over the past couple of weeks that Congress was not in
session about the administration's plans with respect to Iran,
stories about giving Iran direct access to dollars or to the
U.S. financial system as part of sanctions relief, the rules
about indirect use of dollars from transactions with Iran as
long as they didn't go through U.S. banks.
Obviously, there are real concerns that many of us on this
subcommittee share about looking for ways to provide access to
the U.S. financial system that is not permitted, nor should it
be permitted, since it is not part of the Iran deal, or access
to the dollar. So, understanding that much of this falls under
the purview of your colleagues at Treasury, can you tell us
anything to help clarify some of these reports, help us
understand what it is we have been reading?
Ms. Patterson. Yes. Thank you.
Secretary Lu said to the Council on Foreign Relations--and
let me repeat that and make it very clear--Iran will not have
access to the American financial system. I think there was some
confusion about this in the financial press.
But let me say that we do want to carry out our commitments
under the JCPOA, and companies have not done business in Iran
for a long time and they need to get comfortable with the
prospects of this nuclear deal remaining in effect. So, our
colleagues in Treasury and other agencies are talking to
businesses. They come to visit us in the State Department
because our sanctions policy is very complex, so we try to
explain how they can do business in Iran, should they wish to
do so.
But let me say that, while Iran so far has followed the
letter of the agreement, they also need to send signals to the
business community that they are not going to engage in
provocative behavior. When, as Mr. Wilson said, Iran is sending
weapons to the Houthis in Iran and when they are helping out
Hezbollah, when they are shooting off ballistic missiles, this
raises concern in the business community about the safety and
security of their investment. So, Iran needs to understand what
a financially-successful country does, that you need to provide
a safe and secure environment for businesses. So, that is also
at play here.
Mr. Deutch. Just a couple of followups. The confusion in
the financial press, has the administration--I understand what
Secretary Lu has said. At a lower level has there been an
engagement with that financial press to help clarify, if there
were mistakes made, to help them understand, so that they could
write about those as well?
Ms. Patterson. I think so, Mr. Deutch, because I, frankly,
was in a meeting where this was discussed. And one leading
financial newspaper, I think, was in the forefront of this. I
think there has been outreach to sort of clear up this issue.
Mr. Deutch. Just before moving on, I would just point out,
when we talk about Iran having lived up to its obligations
under the nuclear deal, without engaging in a longer back-and-
forth about this, the Security Council resolution which does
lay out the obligations of Iran under the nuclear deal also
includes the prohibition on ballistic missile tests. And for
those of us who have real concerns about their ability to
continue to test ballistic missiles and to develop ballistic
missile programs, the fact that there have now been multiple
tests, which clearly violate that Security Council resolution,
I am appreciative of the administration's position of the
sanctions that have been imposed, of the strong statements by
Ambassador Power at the United Nations. I, also, though, would
take this moment to suggest that, if the Security Council,
despite our best efforts, will not take action in response to
these violations of the Security Council resolutions, then the
ballistic missile tests, which were not part of the nuclear
deal, as you explained, there needs to be more done to penalize
Iran. And if the international community won't do it, then the
United States Congress I think has an obligation to do that,
something that I know we are looking at, and I think it is
important for us to move forward on.
Just quickly--I see I don't have a lot of time--we are over
5 years now. The London Donor Conference took place February
4th. The State Department announced over $925 million in
additional assistance with more than $600 million going to
lifesaving humanitarian assistance and over $300 million in
development assistance, including $290 million for education,
Jordan and Lebanon. And the budget request continues our
tradition of robust humanitarian assistance.
But, Ambassador Patterson, given the unfulfilled pledges of
past years, what do we do to work to ensure that the money that
is pledged by others is actually received, that they actually
live up to that commitment?
Ms. Patterson. Could I first say about the ballistic
missiles, first, we are pursuing this at the U.N. We are
imposing sanctions. And critically, I think, we are helping our
Gulf partners increase their capacity to handle this ballistic
missile problem, which they are, of course, the most vulnerable
to Iran's ballistic missiles.
On the pledges on Syria, I think there has been
considerable improvement in the compliance with the pledges,
but it is certainly not perfect. And we are in a very constant
dialog with the other donors on this to encourage them. I will
get you the figures later in the afternoon.
Mr. Deutch. And just one very quick question, Madam
Chairman. And I am sure this is a question that my staff and
others on the committee could easily answer, if I had asked
them, but I didn't.
Can you help those of us who--we are all so concerned about
the situation in Syria and the slaughter of Syrian civilians by
the Assad regime with the support of Hezbollah. The number of
people killed went up in reports from month to month as reviews
were conducted. The last official report, the number was
200,000, 250,000. There are some who now suggest the number is
closer to a \1/2\ million people. I have heard 350,000. Do we
have a sense of what the number is? Because the fact that we
are now well into the hundreds of thousands can't let us just
accept that the number is so big that 200,000, 400,000--we know
that Assad is terrible. We know that there is a slaughter. We
know that the humanitarian impact has been so dire. It is
important to recognize every one of the people, every one of
his own citizens that Assad has butchered. Do we have a current
number?
Ms. Patterson. Mr. Deutch, the number we use is somewhere
between 250,000 and 300,000, which I appreciate lacks
specificity. But it is hard to access some of these areas. For
instance, mass graves exist. I don't think we really will know
until this conflict is over.
But let me also say that that is why it is so important
this cessation of hostilities holds. Violence has dropped very
significantly. There are still areas of very intense conflict,
but throughout most of the country violence is down. So, the
most important thing we can do now with Syria is try to
maintain that ceasefire in place.
Mr. Deutch. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Deutch. Excellent
questions.
Mr. DeSantis of Florida.
Mr. DeSantis. Ambassador Patterson, I just want to be
clear. You said that Iran under the proposed changes would not
have access to the U.S. financial system. Does that mean they
would have no even indirect access to the U.S. dollar? In other
words, would the dollar be allowed to be used to facilitate
transactions between Iran and other countries?
Ms. Patterson. They can use the dollar offshore. I mean,
they can access, if a bank in Malaysia holds dollars and trades
with a bank in India, yes, they could use dollars.
Mr. DeSantis. Okay. So, that represents a change from how
those regulations have been interpreted in the past, correct?
Ms. Patterson. I don't believe so, sir, but I will have to
check on that.
Mr. DeSantis. Because I think there was a lot of talk about
whether the administration, when the Iran deal has said no
access to the financial system at all, and that was very clear,
and now people are saying, ``Well, it is not necessarily going
to be access because the transactions may be dollarized, but no
money is going to actually come into the U.S. financial
system.''
But, as I understand it, there were members of the
administration who said even dollarized transactions were not
going to be something that was going to be permitted. And so,
am I wrong about that? Have we been getting mixed signals
throughout these many months?
Ms. Patterson. I don't know, sir. This is at an
extraordinarily technical level, and I will get somebody up
here who knows this subject backward and forward to talk to
you.
Mr. DeSantis. Okay. Well, we definitely want to hear that.
There have been a lot of great questions about money going
to the Palestinian Authority. I know under the appropriations,
as those are done annually, there is usually a requirement that
the President ask for a waiver by certifying that there is a
single Palestinian treasury and payroll and that the
Palestinian Authority is acting to counter incitement of
violence against Israelis. Have those certifications been made
in the last several years?
Ms. Patterson. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
Well, I will find out.
Mr. DeSantis. Well, do you believe that the Palestinian
Authority is acting to counter incitement of violence against
the Israelis?
Ms. Patterson. This is, as you probably know, a subject of
constant dialog with us and the Palestinian Authority. We have
many discussions about this.
On the issue of the single payroll, I was a little
surprised at that, but we have many discussions with Minister
Bashar, the Minister of Finance of the Palestinian Authority. I
honestly would not expect that to be a problem, but we will
look into this.
Mr. DeSantis. Because there are, I think, really, really
grave questions about these families of terrorists who are
getting paid. A lot of them, they end up better off, their
families are better off if they commit acts of terrorism
against the Israelis than if they were to just work at a normal
job inside areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
And I listened to your back-and-forth with the chairwoman
and with Chairman Royce, but I am just not clear. Is the
administration going to do something to address this problem?
Because it seems like we have money going over there. They may
say it is with other funds that they are paying it, but money
is fungible. So, we are effectively helping them do that. So,
what do we do? Are we deducting the amount that we give them
based on how much money they are paying families of terrorists?
Ms. Patterson. Well, no, sir, because we think that our
program for Palestinian Authority is absolutely necessary, all
elements of it, and particularly the advances they have made in
development of the police and the justice system and the
humanitarian relief that is going both into Gaza and the West
Bank. But, as I say, we discuss this with them. We take it up
with them. There are always in all these assistance programs
conflicting priorities, but I would just stress how important
this program is for overall stability in the region.
Mr. DeSantis. Well, I think that if they are actually
facilitating payments to families of terrorists who are killing
Israelis, then we should be deducting the amount of money, at a
minimum. I mean, I would go further than that. But, I mean, at
a minimum, we can't be complicit in that.
Let me ask you, there is a bill that is working its way
through the House of Representatives to have the State
Department categorize the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign
terrorist organization. Does the State Department have a
position on that?
Ms. Patterson. The State Department's position, the
administration's position for many long years has been that the
Muslim Brotherhood is not a terrorist organization and that
they denounced violence many years ago. I can't remember the
exact year, but they denounced violence many years ago. They
are a legitimate political party in a number of countries in
the Middle East.
Mr. DeSantis. So, you don't believe that they are involved
with international terrorism, the Brotherhood?
Ms. Patterson. I am sure that some elements of the Muslim
Brotherhood as well as many other parties are involved with
terrorists, of course. There may be individual members who are
involved. But, as an organization, they denounced terrorism
many years ago. I haven't seen the most recent version of the
legislation, so I couldn't comment on that.
Mr. DeSantis. Well, I think that they are really a problem
aspect of all this. President Sisi, you know, he views the
Brotherhood as a major threat to security in Egypt.
I guess, is it the administration's view still that the
Brotherhood is largely a secular political organization and
less an Islamist organization?
Ms. Patterson. Of course it is an Islamist organization. It
is based and it is the oldest of the Islamist organizations
and, of course, it advocates, and did in Egypt and elsewhere,
has a preference, of course, for Sharia law over what we would
call typical civil law. So, of course, it is an Islamist
organization.
Mr. DeSantis. Yes, I mean, I think that their views, they
do support Sharia. They have a totalitarian ideology.
Certainly, the treatment of women is terrible. The treatment of
religious minorities is terrible. And their tentacles really
stretch. They are involved, I believe, financially in
supporting violent Islamist groups, and I think that they are
very much a cause for concern throughout the region.
I am out of time. I thank you guys for coming, and I yield
back.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you so much, Mr. DeSantis.
Mr. Cicilline?
Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Ambassador Patterson, the President's budget removes
Egypt's partial aid conditions, the company national security
waiver, and the reporting requirement entirely. Would you
describe the justification for proposing this removal of
language? And do you think Egypt has made substantial progress
on human rights that would warrant removal of these conditions?
This is a pretty significant action.
Ms. Patterson. Congressman, I think you will find that the
administration in all these budget documents has removed most
of those restrictions because, of course, the administration,
as I mentioned in my oral statement, wants the maximum
flexibility to implement its programs. So, I wouldn't comment,
but I will comment, of course, Egypt's human rights situation
is of great concern to us. There have certainly been reverses,
significant reverses, in the past few months. So, yes, we are
very concerned about that, but I wouldn't read the removal of
that as a comment on the administration's view of Egypt's human
rights.
Mr. Cicilline. Well, I guess my concern is, is it read that
way by the Egyptians? I mean, it may be that that is the policy
of the Department, but it just seems to me, in the context of
what we see happening in Egypt, it sends a very strange message
at a time of increased human rights violations to remove these
conditions. And so, I would just raise that because I think it
is very important that that not be the message.
Would you also describe how the budget reflects resources
being devoted to combat Iran's terrorist and destabilizing
activities in the region? There has been a lot of conversation
about the limitation of JCPOA and our expectation that we would
be pushing back hard on Iran in a variety of other areas. I
would like you, if you could, speak to how the budget supports
responding to Iran's activities in the region. And if there is
any indication of a change in Iran's behavior and, as a result,
particularly in the area of human rights, has there been an
increase in the imposition of sanctions for human rights
violations by Iran?
Ms. Patterson. I think the budget supports countering
Iran's influence in the region in several ways. One is to
strengthen Iraq, and you notice a very substantial increase in
our budget for Iraq. So, they are certainly running an
influence in Iraq that we need to counter, a malign influence.
In Yemen, we have asked for a substantial amount. We also
have a good pipeline with Yemen. But it is very important to
get the Iranians out of Yemen and, to do that, we have to have
process and, then, strengthen the government, so it can counter
Iranian influence.
I might also add that we are very active with our GCC
partners in strengthening their capacity through maritime,
through cybersecurity, through ballistic missile defense,
through improved special forces activities. They pay for most
of this themselves. It isn't reflected in the budget. But we
are engaged in a very active dialog. The President is going to
Riyadh next week to talk to them in more detail about this.
Then, finally, sir, our Navy and Armed Forces are very
active in this. There have been, for instance, four
interdictions of Iranian weapons going to Yemen in the past few
weeks. So, this is a very high priority for our military
colleagues operating in the Gulf.
Mr. Cicilline. And my last two questions, Ambassador. What
is the status of the MOU negotiations with Israel? Are there
some additional options being considered, a lot of new threats
to their security?
And finally, does the budget reflect any rebuilding in
Syria or is it really still focused on responding to the
immediate crisis? And how are we supporting this work to ensure
that the ceasefire holds? And does the budget provide some
resources to do that and in what way?
Ms. Patterson. On the MOU with Israel, there have been a
number of meetings, very intense and long meetings with the
Israelis about this. They were extremely useful in giving us a
good picture of Israel's security needs. As the chairman said,
they are certainly more acute over the next few years. So, we
have had a lot of intensive discussions. I honestly don't know
if we are going to finish this before the end of the
administration because it is hard, and there are a lot of
issues underway.
Let me also stress, Madam Chairman, that protection of QME
is a centerpiece of this. There is no doubt that that is going
to be rigorously observed. So, I don't know if we are finished.
There are lots of financial implications. There are
implications on sourcing of materials. But we are working hard
on this. It is a very high priority for the administration.
And you asked, sir, about Syria. We have asked for
additional resources for Syria. Some of it will go into
rebuilding. We have a fund. We have a multinational donor fund
for rebuilding. It has about $100 million in it. That is
probably going to be a drop in the bucket. But our efforts
through Turkey to support the moderate opposition--for
instance, we have managed to keep 30,000 civil servants and
teachers and policemen employed through all this. We have given
grants to local councils. We managed in some places to keep
health clinics open, even in places that were overrun by ISIL.
So, we have asked for an increase in Syria, and we hope that
these mechanisms will provide at least some kind of baseline
for rebuilding Syria.
Mr. Cicilline. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you, Madam
Chair.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Cicilline.
And now, we turn to Mr. Issa.
Mr. Issa. Thank you.
Administrator, I will start with you. As I mentioned in my
opening statement, the number is staggering, but let's just
look at Lebanon with 500 to 800,000. In this particular case,
unlike the usual numbers in the Middle East, I think the number
is probably accurate at 800,000 school-age children who are
beyond Lebanon's ordinary capability to educate.
I am going to pose a minute question. My understanding is
the Minister of Education, who is here in the U.S. right now,
has issued a number of MOUs. As a matter of fact, it appears as
though anyone who comes in saying they would like to educate
these Syrians with Lebanese standards is getting an MOU. And
then, my understanding is they come to you for money. Is that a
fair statement, that you are getting a lot of people with
proposals of how to do it, if you will just provide the
dollars?
Ms. Alexander. We have worked very closely with Minister
Abu Saab, and we are meeting with him again this week. My
colleague signed an MOU with him last week.
Mr. Issa. That is the 42----
Ms. Alexander. That is the $41 million for the basic
education program. And this program is going to address needs
for first- through fourth-graders to give them access to basic
education and early grade reading. This is going to affect over
100,000 or over 10,000 children.
Mr. Issa. But it is conventional education expansion?
Ms. Alexander. It is conventional education. But, at the
same time, as you had asked in your opening statement as well,
we are talking to the minister about verification or
certification of being able to take students who have been out
of school and get them back into formal education through non-
formal education programs. This is a very important part
because, as I stated, there are 13 million children out of
school because of this crisis. Those that are in Lebanon and
Jordan are both suffering. Without non-formal education, you
can't have a student who left school as a 9-year-old to go back
to school as a 15-year-old. They need something in between, and
they need to get back into the system.
Mr. Issa. So, how do we leverage e-learning and other
abilities to provide, if you will, free, notwithstanding the
delivery device, free education to people on both sides of the
conflict area? I mentioned the radio one because I became aware
of it. It is novel. But it is pretty much old school. Most
people in the Middle East that learn English learn it by
American songs. Many people who learn Arabic learn it by Arab
songs. But that isn't necessarily any more productive to real
education than memorizing the Quran is to producing moderates.
So, briefly--and you are welcome to follow up with me
beyond this hearing--what is it we can do to sort of leapfrog
the incremental dollars where $41 million is proposed to
provide you 100,000? And those are probably the easiest 100,000
because they don't include the expansion of schools and
conventional brick-and-mortar, which could easily be in the
many billions for what we hope is a shorter period of time. And
it wouldn't address the people on the other side of the
conflict line.
Ms. Alexander. Thank you. I would be happy to follow up
with you.
We are actually in the process right now of a co-creation
with a number of organizations that do non-formal education and
informal education to look at what some of the best practices
are worldwide in trying to bring education to populations like
this. And we would be happy to follow up with you.
Mr. Issa. Okay. I am going to not make a suggestion that is
anything more than just a thought that I have had listening to
many of the groups. In the day of the internet, it would seem
that today the entire curriculum necessary to provide a
Baccalaureate, including teaching, should be online, hosted
somewhere in the world, probably by us in the Cloud, for Arab-
speakers at least in the Levant language designation area to
get their degrees. It would seem like that is a question of
producing the content.
Now, then, getting that delivered is a complex question of
bandwidth, servers, iPads, whatever the delivery system is. But
it would seem that, until USAID finds who is going to produce,
if you will, a complete content that would lead to a
Baccalaureate and get the Lebanese and other Arab countries to
buy into the idea that this is moderate, educational, and
doable, we don't yet, then, have the distribution.
And I appreciate you keeping teachers working, but I don't
think we can produce enough teachers ever and paper to deal
with this in a way that is going to address the young man or
woman who is working 14 hours a day and only got a fourth grade
education and will never get more education until we come up
with an alternate delivery plan.
Madam Chair, since I appear to be the last, would you mind
if I go a little longer?
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. No. Please do.
Mr. Issa. Thank you.
Ambassador, I am going to switch to you. I mentioned the
multinational force, and I think I was fairly bold in echoing,
to be honest, The Washington Post and others who have
recognized that we have a substantial investment there of
people who are daily often being shelled, who are in harm's
way, for a mission that is now, from your own experience in
Egypt, is now by anyone's reasonable expectations no longer the
mission they were placed there for in the late 1970s.
What would you say, recognizing that you can't speak for
the whole administration, to that basic concept that their
obligation is to peace in the region and not necessarily to
counting heads at borders?
Ms. Patterson. Mr. Issa, we are, as you probably know,
concerned about some of the same issues that you have raised,
particularly about the safety of American and other----
Mr. Issa. And our allied partners.
Ms. Patterson [continuing]. And our allies, the Colombians,
the Fijians, the others that work with us there----
Mr. Issa. The Czech?
Ms. Patterson [continuing]. Who have bravely for many
years. So, we are discussing a reconfiguration plan that would
reduce the risk to our personnel and still maintain the
necessary monitoring through better technology and other
instruments that have evolved over the past few decades.
I think the Israelis and Egyptians may not quite see it
that way, that the mandate is outmoded. And there were, in
fact, when I was there, some events that required sort of the
traditional role of MFO to take care of.
But I thought your idea was an interesting one. I think it
is contrary to sort of the mandate of MFO, that it would stay
there as a peacekeeper, but I think it is an interesting idea.
Let me say that.
Mr. Issa. Okay. Well, in closing, I love interesting ideas.
When Congressman Farenthold and I went there now more than a
year ago and looked at where rounds had landed, met with the
explosive ordnance disposal team, looked at the threat,
recognized the active engagement by the Egyptians, active both
in the air and ground of the newly-formed, if you will, or new
partnership of ISIS in the Sinai, it became obvious that we
were currently not participating. And yet, we were there and we
were, obviously, being attacked by ISIS.
So, I guess as we look at the interesting idea, I would
only ask that, if not something similar to the direction that I
was suggesting that Secretary Kerry and the administration
might be able to convince--and I am happy to go there. I am,
fortunately, very well-received on both sides of the Sinai. For
the fact that we can do more if we have a will to do it and if
they are willing to let us do it, but if we do just what we are
doing, we are, in fact, sitting there inevitably waiting to
lose brave peacekeepers for something which, quite frankly, is
unlikely to happen.
As you know, the Egyptians are not likely to mount an
offensive across the border, and the Israelis are not in
particular peril, that that would occur. That doesn't change
the fact that they don't want us to leave, but I do think they
want us to do more, if we can, and do it in cooperation with
both countries. So, I leave that with you because I have no
greater message from that trip than the status quo would seem
to be less than we should do.
Ms. Patterson. Mr. Issa, let me say, we entirely agree with
you about the status quo. This is, frankly, unsustainable. And
since you were there a year ago, the security situation has
deteriorated. So, a mandate that needs modernization I think is
fair to say and a force configuration that needs a reassessment
to minimize risk, if nothing else. As you know, security
cooperation between the Israelis and the Egyptians,
particularly in the Sinai, has never been better.
Mr. Issa. Yes, we got to witness that. Madam Chair, that
was the good part of that visit, that the relationship between
the current Government of Egypt and the current Government of
Israel is one with common enemies of both the ISIS in the Sinai
and, of course, Hamas, both of which are know terrorist
organizations.
I would close by saying I am equally concerned that the
Muslim Brotherhood is a political organization with a strong
bent against the type of freedom that America stands for. And
if we cannot determine them to be a terrorist organization in
this body, we certainly have to recognize that they showed
their true colors during their short time heading Egyptian
Government. And to the Coptic community and others that people
on the dais talked about, I think it goes without saying that
America must take a stand against the activities of the Muslim
Brotherhood, both as a political organization and as what I
believe to be a terrorist wing.
And so, Madam Chair, thank you so much for the indulgence.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Issa.
They are a terrorist group. It is ``The Emperor has no
clothes,'' but if we don't want to see it, it doesn't mean that
he is, nonetheless, naked.
And I wanted to ask just one question. Even though Mr.
Deutch is not here, he has allowed me to do this, so I am not
speaking out of school.
All of us in our subcommittee, we are very interested in
keeping the Iraqi Jewish Archives operating here in the United
States because many people want to see these historical
artifacts, and it would find a good home here. We understand
that perhaps they will eventually go back to Iraq. But have any
of the 3,500 items, do you know if they have been returned to
Iraq and, if so, how many, if you could let us know? And have
we been able to secure the Iraqi Jewish Archives going to other
museums, other exhibition sites?
I had talked to Brett McGurk and he assured me that State
was working with NARA to identify venues where the archives
could go. And we are willing to work with the State Department
to see how we can be of help to making sure that these very
important artifacts of the Iraqi Jewish Archives stay safe and
in a place where people can see them.
They were there in my District in Miami Beach, the FIU
Jewish Museum. And what a great turnout. So, people are
interested. They want to see them and this is a great place for
them here in the United States where people can admire them.
Maybe in Iraq they are not as appreciated. We are willing to
have it go back, but once they do the whole tour. I want to be
a roadie for that tour.
Ms. Patterson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I will get back to
you on that. I think that that is right; they were on a trip
around the United States to suitable museums. And at some point
they would go back to Iraq under proper security and
appreciation for their historic value. But let me get back to
you on exactly where they are now.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. I would love that. Thank you very much.
With that, our subcommittee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:02 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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