[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
IMPLEMENTING THE U.S.- CARIBBEAN STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT ACT
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 19, 2017
__________
Serial No. 115-82
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 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 KAREN BASS, California
DARRELL E. ISSA, California WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina AMI BERA, California
MO BROOKS, Alabama LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
PAUL COOK, California TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
TED S. YOHO, Florida DINA TITUS, Nevada
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois NORMA J. TORRES, California
LEE M. ZELDIN, New York BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois
DANIEL M. DONOVAN, Jr., New York THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
Wisconsin TED LIEU, California
ANN WAGNER, Missouri
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida
FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
THOMAS A. GARRETT, Jr., Virginia
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
MO BROOKS, Alabama NORMA J. TORRES, California
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
TED S. YOHO, Florida GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida
C O N T E N T S
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Page
WITNESS
The Honorable Kenneth H. Merten, Acting Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary, Special Coordinator for Haiti, Bureau of
Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State........... 10
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Jeff Duncan, a Representative in Congress from the
State of South Carolina, and chairman, Subcommittee on the
Western Hemisphere: Prepared statement......................... 4
The Honorable Kenneth H. Merten: Prepared statement.............. 13
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 28
Hearing minutes.................................................. 29
The Honorable Eliot L. Engel, a Representative in Congress from
the State of New York: Material submitted for the record....... 30
Questions submitted for the record by the Honorable Jeff Duncan
and the Honorable Eliot L. Engel............................... 33
IMPLEMENTING THE U.S.-CARIBBEAN STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT ACT
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:00 p.m., in
room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jeff Duncan
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Duncan. A quorum being present, the subcommittee will
come to order.
I would like to now recognize myself for an opening
statement.
Our hearing today will provide oversight on the State
Department's implementation of the U.S.-Caribbean Strategic
Engagement Act, which became law last year.
I commend the leadership of the ranking member of the full
committee, Mr. Eliot Engel, and Chairman Emeritus Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen, for their leadership on this legislation and I
appreciate the State Department's efforts to craft a strategy
establishing a framework to enhance U.S.-Caribbean relations.
This is the second hearing this subcommittee has held on
the importance of Caribbean since I have begun my chairmanship,
and there is strong bipartisan interest in this issue.
With the exception of Haiti and Cuba, free and fair
democratic elections in the region have, for the most part,
been the norm.
Since 2015, 11 countries in the region have held elections
for head of government. Regional integration efforts by the 14
countries in the Caribbean community, CARICOM, and in the six
countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States have
also led to multiple lines of effort to strengthen the economic
prosperity and security of the region.
Today, the World Bank classifies five countries as high
income and most others as upper middle income. However, Haiti
is still the poorest country in the hemisphere and the region
remains vulnerable to natural disasters, public health threats,
drug trafficking, and rising crime and violence.
The U.S. has provided considerable foreign assistance to
the Caribbean through a variety of bilateral and regional
programs. Haiti is the second largest recipient of U.S. aid in
the Western Hemisphere.
We have worked to help these island countries improve
security and economic development for decades through tools
like the President's emergency plan for AIDS relief, the
Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, Caribbean Basin
Initiative, Caribbean Energy Security Initiative.
After all, the U.S. has a wide array of interests in the
Caribbean. Our country is the Caribbean's largest trading
partner. Millions of American tourists visit the region
annually. Many businesses invest in the region and thousands of
students from the Caribbean receive their academic training in
the United States.
From a border security perspective, the U.S. has
significant interests in seeing the Caribbean achieve greater
capacity to address organized crime networks, interdict the
rising number of illicit drugs, and identify potential
terrorist threats from radicalized individuals returning home
from Syria.
According to the State Department, five Caribbean
countries--the Bahamas, Belize, the Dominican Republic, Haiti,
and Jamaica--remain major drug-producing or drug transit
countries.
In addition, the crisis in Venezuela has only exacerbated
drug trafficking through the Caribbean.
As a consequence, unemployed and vulnerable youth in the
region are often attracted to local criminal gangs and have
increased the level of violence and insecurity in the region.
Human trafficking and smuggling are also significant problems,
particularly in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Furthermore, the drug trade has attracted Colombian and
Mexican cartels, Chinese organized crime, and the attention of
terrorist groups like Hezbollah, which has used the drug trade
for financing its terrorism worldwide.
ISIS has also used the Caribbean as a recruitment tool,
radicalizing individuals who have traveled from the region to
Iraq and Syria. I am glad to know that the State Department's
new strategy recognizes these challenges in its approach to the
region.
At the same time, tremendous opportunities exist for the
Caribbean in the area of energy. Today, the average Caribbean
resident pays three times the amount U.S. residents pay for
electricity. Due to such high costs, many governments in the
region are considering how to switch from oil to natural gas
for electricity generation.
As the region considers how to diversify its energy matrix
and pursue greater energy security, the United States has
technical skills and companies interested in energy investments
in the region and an abundance of LNG that could be shipped to
the region if the right infrastructure and integrated energy
markets exist.
Furthermore, given its significant offshore commercial
finds in Guyana and French Guyana, the oil and gas potential in
the Suriname-Guyana Basin and the energy opportunities in the
Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago, I see energy as a
huge area for enhanced U.S. engagement in the Caribbean.
In conclusion, I believe the timing for this strategy is
very important as well. The OAS General Assembly meeting in
Cancun, Mexico a few weeks ago was a disappointment in regards
to CARICOM countries' unwillingness to support the regional
consensus on democracy and human rights in Venezuela.
As the situation in Venezuela remains unresolved and
continues to deteriorate, there still remains an opportunity
for CARICOM to do the right thing.
I sincerely hope that enhanced U.S. engagement with the
Caribbean through this strategy will lead to greater
cooperation on Venezuela as well as other key United States
interests.
So with that, I will turn to the ranking member, Albio
Sires, for his opening statement.
[The opening statement of Mr. Duncan follows:]
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Mr. Sires. I will turn it over to the ranking member, Eliot
Engel.
Mr. Duncan. I was going to let him have a statement in
addition to yours. Mr. Engel, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Engel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also thank Mr. Sires.
You know, participating at the Western Hemisphere
Subcommittee, for me, always feels like coming home. I was
chairman of the subcommittee for 4 years from 2006 to 2010 and,
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your leadership and that of Ranking
Member Sires on U.S. policy toward Latin American and the
Caribbean.
Thank you very much for holding today's hearing on
implementation of the U.S.-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act,
which I authored with my good friend, Congresswoman Ros-
Lehtinen, and the coffee's from her office, too. Really makes
this feel like Western Hemisphere.
When President Obama signed our bill into law in December,
we took an important first step in prioritizing our neighbors
in the Caribbean, a region that is far too often,
unfortunately, taken for granted.
On June 19th, the State Department submitted to Congress
the U.S. strategy for engagement in the Caribbean mandated by
the law.
This ambitious strategy was welcomed by Democrats and
Republicans alike but now comes the hard part. We need to work
together to ensure that it is fully implemented and has the
resources it needs to succeed.
I look forward to hearing from Ambassador Merten about the
specific first steps that the State Department and USAID will
take to prioritize the Caribbean in the coming years.
An estimated 3.5 million people from the Caribbean live
here in the United States, which accounts for 9 percent of the
total foreign-born population here in the United States, and 6
million people self-identify as members of the Caribbean
diaspora in the United States.
They represent an extraordinarily rich and vibrant part of
the fabric of America. It can do so much to make our country
stronger and strengthen our ties to countries across the
Caribbean.
Ambassador Merten, I urge you to reach out the Caribbean-
American diaspora and tap into their expertise and energy as
you implement the new strategy.
Finally, as my colleagues know, I am extremely troubled by
the draconian cuts to the FY 2018 international affairs budget
proposed by President Trump and Secretary Tillerson, including
the devastating 37 percent cut for the Caribbean Basin Security
Initiative to a level of $36.2 million.
Representatives Ros-Lehtinen, Clarke, Love, and I led a
bipartisan letter to the Appropriations Committee rejecting
this proposed cut and today it was announced that CBSI will be
funded in the FY '18 House bill at the FY '17 level of $57.7
million. That is a tremendous victory.
So Ambassador Merten, I look forward to your testimony
today and I thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
important hearing.
Mr. Duncan. I thank the gentleman.
And I will now recognize the former full committee
chairwoman and now the chairwoman of the Middle East and North
Africa Subcommittee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for 5 minutes.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Well, thank you so much, Chairman Duncan
and Ranking Member Sires. You have both been doing an excellent
job of guiding this subcommittee.
And what an important and timely hearing we have today.
Thank you, Ranking Member Engel, for your leadership over the
years on this issue and for authoring the United States-
Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act, which mandated the strategy
which we are discussing here today. I was just a small part of
that.
And I have been proud to work with Mr. Engel as well as
you, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member Sires on ensuring that
the United States enhances our relation with our partners in
the Caribbean.
We often overlook the importance of our neighbors in our
own hemisphere, particularly in the Caribbean. But not only do
they play an important role in the region, they play an
important role for our own national security interests.
And that is why I join Mr. Engel in pushing for the
administration to develop this multi-year strategy because we
stand to gain from greater engagement with our Caribbean
allies, particularly in areas like energy, education, health,
and security.
And so the State Department has responded by putting
forward the strategy that we are here to discuss today. Thank
you, Ambassador.
The Caribbean 2020 strategy is a good framework document.
It addresses many of the concerns and it focuses our foreign
policy to endeavors that are worthwhile to advance U.S.
national interests.
But as we all know, a good strategy on paper still has to
be implemented fully and properly in order for it to be truly
effective.
I hope to hear more in-depth a response on how the
administration plans on implementing this strategy and how we
in Congress can help in this effective rollout.
As a member who represents south Florida with a large
number of Caribbean Americans, this is so important to me and
to my constituents and to my colleagues in south Florida.
Of particular interest is, of course, engagement with the
Caribbean what role the diaspora can play in helping bridge the
gap between the United States and the region.
The diaspora community can be one of the most effective
tools we have for ensuring that our partners are properly
aligned and that we are meeting the goals of our strategy and
that can be key to creating more jobs both here in the U.S. and
the Caribbean and in promoting prosperity and economic growth
for all.
I am also interested in hearing how the administration
plans on addressing energy issues within the region. You have
heard from the chairman how concerned he has been about the
energy costs and many Caribbean countries also are dependent on
Venezuelan energy.
Venezuela has used its oil and natural gas to wield undue
influence over the region. In fact, we have seen many important
initiatives at the OAS fail to get the support that they need
to pass because Maduro is still able to sway some votes with
his oil and gas, and this is a travesty as these initiatives
are aimed at supporting the people of Venezuela in their
pursuit of a return to democracy, to put an end to corruption,
and end to the violence in Venezuela.
And as the chairman has pointed out, it is all so sad
because the Caribbean pays an average of three times more for
its energy needs than we do.
And by working together, we can help lower their energy
costs, wean our neighbors off of their dependency on Venezuela,
find better alternatives.
An effective energy strategy can help us address several
areas of concern. I am eager to hear how we can plan on doing
this. But perhaps the most important issue is the
administration's strategy for addressing our mutual security
concerns.
The administration has rightly identified the threats to
our security that we currently face in the region--narco
trafficking, smuggling of illicit goods, and transnational
criminal and terrorist organizations.
Securing the Caribbean only serves to strengthen and secure
our own borders and protects us from these greater threats. So
I am pleased that the strategy identifies denying ISIS a
foothold in our region as a priority because this is a serious
threat, as we have seen some of those fighters come from
certain areas.
But when looking at the President's FY 2018 budget request,
it seems as though the request may not be enough to meet our
priorities.
So I am eager to hear from our administration how to take
this strategy from the planning phase to the implementation
phase and it is an important undertaking, one that I think we
are all here fully ready, willing, and able to support.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Ranking Member.
Mr. Duncan. I want to thank the gentlelady and Mr. Engel
for their leadership on this, as you hear from their
statements.
And I will now recognize Mr. Sires for 5 minutes.
Mr. Sires. Thank you, Chairman Duncan, for holding this
hearing and thank you to Ambassador Merten for being here today
with us.
The U.S.-Caribbean relationship is characterized by
extensive economic linkages, significant security cooperation,
and strong U.S. assistant programs that support economic and
social development including efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and to
mitigate the effects of climate change.
In order to grow this relationship, we must address key
issues vital to the progression of the Caribbean. Last
Congress, thanks to the leadership of Ranking Member Engel and
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the House approved H.R.
4939, the United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of
2016.
Designed to increase engagement with the Caribbean, this
legislation required the secretary of state to submit a multi-
year plan to Congress for U.S. engagement with the Caribbean
region and an update on its U.S. diplomatic efforts to engage
the eastern Caribbean countries.
We are here today because the administration has sent us
its reports outlining avenues to increase engagement. It is
clear that one of the most important issues to address is
energy security.
The Caribbean must search for other sources of energy as
Venezuela, the region's largest energy trade partners, tumbles
further into political and economic turmoil and the U.S. should
be at the forefront helping the Caribbean make this transition.
Supporting energy diversification in clean and sustainable
energy projects is a must to improve the region's energy
security and to help it move away from its dependence on oil
from Venezuela.
I am eager to hear how the administration plans on
implementing their plan and how Congress can be supportive. I
am concerned that President Trump's proposed budget cuts will
prevent the implementation of these strategies from getting off
the ground and want to hear how the administration is going to
make this a priority.
How can the U.S. push its objectives in the Caribbean with
less and less funding? How can we engage with the Caribbean
while eliminating the mechanism of engagement?
As a global power, the United States faces challenges and
threats from every corner of the world. However, it is vital
that we remain engaged in the Western Hemisphere and not lose
sight of our interests close to home.
This subcommittee understands the importance of keeping a
close partnership with our friends in the Caribbean and I hope
to gain further insight into how the administration plans to
continue and grow this partnership.
So I look forward to hearing from our witness on how this
plan would further increase engagement with the Caribbean
despite these drastic budget cuts.
Thank you.
Mr. Duncan. I thank the ranking member.
Other members are advised they can put opening statements
in the record, and before we get started, Ambassador, there is
a lighting system in front of you. I will recognize you for 5
minutes.
The light will go from green, yellow, to red. Get to red,
we will start trying to wrap up. I will be a little lenient.
But Ambassador's bio was provided to all the committee members
beforehand so I won't read that.
So at this time I recognize Ambassador Merten for 5
minutes.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE KENNETH H. MERTEN, ACTING PRINCIPAL
DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR HAITI,
BUREAU OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ambassador Merten. Well, thanks so much, Mr. Chairman and
Ranking Member Sires and members of the subcommittee. It is
great to be here, and thanks for the opportunity to testify on
the Department's multi-year Caribbean strategy, which we
submitted, as you noted, on June 19th under the U.S.-Caribbean
Strategic Engagement Act of 2016.
I would also like to thank particularly both
Representatives Engel and Ros-Lehtinen for their leadership and
efforts enhancing the relationships between the United States
and the Caribbean.
As we, I think, heard already, the Caribbean is United
States' third border, characterized by common interests,
societal ties, and other things that yield daily benefits for
our countries' shared prosperity but also many common security
threats as well.
The department's multi-year strategy establishes a
framework for enhancing U.S.-Caribbean relations in six broad
areas--security, diplomacy, prosperity, energy, education, and
health.
On security, we will work with Caribbean governments to
strengthen regional security and advance the safety of our
citizens by pursuing programs to dismantle transnational
criminal organizations, curb trafficking, and smuggling of
illicit goods and people, strengthen the rule of law, improve
citizens' security, and counter vulnerability to terrorist
threats.
On diplomacy, we will undertake increased institutionalized
engagement that will forge greater multilateral cooperation at
the Organization of American States and the United Nations.
On prosperity, we will support U.S. exports and job
creation by engaging with our Caribbean partners to promote
sustainable economic policies and job-creating private sector-
led growth.
On energy, we will seek to increase the use of low-cost
reliable sources of energy to spur economic development that
will create new opportunities for globally competitive U.S.
energy firms and exports, particularly, as noted, in the area
of LNG.
On education, we will promote educational and cultural
programs between the Caribbean and the U.S. that builds
stronger economic partnerships, counter vulnerability to crime
and extremism, and promote export of U.S. higher education
services.
On health, we will serve the U.S. national and security
interests by improving health security, advancing public health
and strengthening resilience to emergencies and disasters in
the Caribbean.
In consultation with USAID, the department has developed
this Caribbean strategy by establishing a consulting multi-
stakeholder group that included members of the Caribbean
diplomatic corps, some of whom are here today, Caribbean
diaspora, private sector, civil society, and at least 18 U.S.
Government agencies.
I personally met with the Caribbean community's caucus of
ambassadors and members of the Caribbean diaspora several times
to solicit their input to the report which we submitted to you
in June.
The department has already developed an internal process to
implement this strategy. The process relies on the same multi-
stakeholder group that provided input for the strategy itself.
We have established interagency working groups on security,
diplomacy, prosperity, energy, education, and health that have
already begun meeting to plan and implement the various goals
and initiatives featured in our strategy.
We have designed an internal system for tracking the
progress of these working groups, which we will use as the
basis for the administration's 2-year update to Congress under
the act.
The department has already begun to deliver on the
commitment to the enhanced diplomatic relations delineated in
the strategy. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Tom Shannon went to meet with the CARICOM heads of government
recently earlier this month.
Our acting assistant secretary, Paco Palmieri, last month
was in Trinidad and Tobago, and in March and in April I visited
Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic to talk about the
strategy and other issues.
We have begun planning a Caribbean trade conference
scheduled to take place this autumn in Miami which will
facilitate trade and investment opportunities for U.S. and
Caribbean companies alike.
As we begin this multi-year process, the department remains
committed to continue working closely with you and your staffs
to implement this Caribbean strategy.
I look forward to your questions, and if I may just add one
item. I am particularly gratified to you for creating the
impetus for us to do this report because having served as
Ambassador to Haiti at the time of the earthquake and
thereafter, I can realize and know firsthand how
transformational U.S. engagement on the ground in these
societies can be. There is nobody that can really replace the
United States and to augment in these close friends and
partners of ours.
I will leave it there, and I am ready to take your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Ambassador Merten follows:]
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Mr. Duncan. Thank you, Ambassador.
I will now recognize myself for 5 minutes.
We heard about the situation in Venezuela, which we all
know about, continues to deteriorate ahead of the Constituent
Assembly scheduled for the July the 30th, which I think is a
mistake.
I think the Trump administration has been pretty clear
about how it feels about the Constituent Assembly that Maduro
is proposing.
Aside from the influence of oil, to what extent does
corruption or financial debts play into the reluctance of many
Caribbean countries to address the political situation in
Venezuela directly or at the OAS?
Ambassador Merten. You know, I think, you know, our
engagement with many of these countries has been focused on
enhancing the rule of law, our projects through USAID, and
State Department's INL as well as some of the things we do to
the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative I think have all worked
to develop a partnership with these countries to hopefully
strengthen institutions to make them more resilient and
resistant to corruption.
I think those efforts will continue. We are certainly going
to redouble our efforts to engage. As I mentioned, you know, we
have had Under Secretary Shannon meet with CARICOM heads of
government and our other engagement by senior officials at the
State Department is ongoing.
We think that, you know, continuing to work with these
partners to strengthen their institutions, to increase their
prosperity so that people don't need to resort to corruption to
line their pockets are key initiatives and I think one of the
ways we can help do this is to increase private sector
engagement in the Caribbean--not only private sector from the
United States, but local private sectors and I think this can
serve as a type of inoculation against corruption.
Mr. Duncan. So we heard in my opening statement people from
the Caribbean nations that have traveled to Syria to fight for
ISIS. Many have come back.
How concerned is the administration over that?
Ambassador Merten. It is certainly a concern. We have had
good conversations not only with State Department elements but
elements from other agencies like the Department of Defense and
others in countries where this is a particular concern.
I have to say we have been very, very pleased with the
information sharing and the cooperation we have received.
Obviously, it is an area where we need to remain continuously
vigilant and we encourage our partners to remain vigilant.
Where we may have an ongoing challenge is, in some cases, their
ability to track and follow these individuals.
But, again, through, hopefully, good information sharing we
can facilitate their task in that regard.
Mr. Duncan. All right.
With the U.N. pulling their troops out of Haiti, is Haiti
ready for the security of the country?
Ambassador Merten. You know, we have all, for many years,
used the benchmark of 15,000 Haitian police officers or agents
on the street in the country as the benchmark at which point
Haiti can think about really policing itself.
Haiti has reached that number and I think we need to
realize that MINUSTAH never really was a typical peacekeeping
mission. It was really a law enforcement mission, and with that
law enforcement capacity in place, granted, I don't want to in
any way imply that the work is done there.
The Haitians need to continue to train, and they are--to
continue to train and deploy new officers and get them out in
the field. But I think as that happens, we are going to see
things in Haiti stabilize.
But I think we have been very proud of our involvement with
the Haitian National Police and we have been pleased to see how
that force is developed.
In the recent difficult election cycle, it was really the
Haitian National Police alone that ensured for the security and
safety of voters and they did an excellent job, quite frankly.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you for that.
My last and final question--Secretary Tillerson comes from
an energy background. You have heard me talk in this committee
many times about energy. I think it is a great segue for
bilateral cooperation.
The Caribbean nations are relying on Venezuela and we know
the situation there. There is opportunity for American
businesses, especially in the area of LNG exports, to provide
energy to the Caribbean nations.
I realize there is some infrastructure upgrades that are
going to be needed, not just from the power plants themselves
but transmission pipelines and LNG reversing plants and
everything else to make it feasible.
Is that a focus of the State Department as far as using LNG
or energy in general as a segue for more cooperation in the
region?
Ambassador Merten. Well, I think that is a great
observation and something certainly that we are encouraging.
You know, our involvement with the Caribbean on energy goes
back many years. In fact, Vice President Biden in the last
administration started an initiative to look at various types
of alternatives to petroleum-based energy or power generation
in Caribbean countries, and as several of you pointed out,
their electricity generation costs are, in just about every
country, significantly higher than here.
I think the LNG example is a particularly good one. It's
one where I believe that is already we have a good example in
the Caribbean and that is Jamaica where I understand they are
in the process of really allowing that to take off, thus
reducing the cost of electricity generation there.
It is something that I think does not necessarily need a
huge amount of government involvement. What it needs is a
framework which will allow the companies to operate and build
the necessary infrastructure, as you pointed out.
I am hoping in our discussions with our partners in the
region that we can actually have this kind of discussion with
them and perhaps with members of the private sector, energy
companies who are specializing in this area to perhaps educate
all of us a little bit more on this.
Thanks.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you for that.
I now yield to Mr. Engel, 5 minutes.
Mr. Engel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Ambassador, I have three questions. I am going to try
to condense them and be as brief as I can. But I think they are
all important.
You have been mentioning Haiti a lot so let me just say
that temporary protected status for Haitians living in the
United States expires on January 22nd, 2018.
If President Trump does not extend TPS, 50,000 Haitian
Americans will be sent back to the poorest country in the
hemisphere, which is still suffering from the effects of not
only the 2010 earthquake but also Hurricane Matthew and the
ongoing cholera epidemic.
I would like to insert into the record a letter from the
New York delegation to Secretaries Tillerson and Kelly on this
topic that was sent on May 5th of this year. I was one of the
people who signed this with Mr. Espaillat and other members of
the delegation. So I would like to enter that into the record.
And given the country's food insecurity crisis and massive
homelessness, how well prepared is Haiti to absorb this
population and if these individuals are forced to return to
Haiti, what would be the implications for migration flows
through the Dominican Republic and other countries in the
hemisphere?
And finally, we know that 15 percent of Haiti's GDP is made
up of remittances from the United States. If we end TPS at the
same time when we are cutting foreign assistance to Haiti, what
could the impact of this dual blow be?
Let me see if you can answer some of those and, if not, you
can put something in writing and then we could do it at a later
date.
Ambassador Merten. Sure. I am happy to talk a little bit to
that.
As I think you know, DHS Secretary Kelly made a decision in
either late May or early June of this year to extend the
benefits of TPS for the Haitian TPS beneficiaries for 6 months.
At the end of that period, so sort of in November of this
year, he will look again at the situation and make another
determination as to how DHS will act.
In the interim, we will be asked--we, the State Department,
will be asked and the Embassy will be asked to provide a
country conditions report to DHS.
I don't want to prejudge the outcome of the report that
they are going to generate. They are going to look at facts on
the ground and submit that and that will be our submission
effectively to DHS.
I understand your concerns and we are certainly very aware
of the delegation's concerns about TPS. In my discussions with
the Haitian diaspora community, it is a subject that comes up
with great regularity. So I am most familiar with the concerns.
Mr. Engel. Thank you.
One of the things that I have been pushing for for a long
time, and I continue to be shocked that the United States still
has no diplomatic presence in five key countries in the eastern
Caribbean--St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis,
Dominica and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
Venezuela and Cuba have Embassies on all five of these
islands while the United States does not have a single diplomat
in place.
I was pleased that the State Department's new strategy
acknowledged this fact. But now we need a plan to move forward
in establishing a diplomatic presence.
These, of course, don't have to be costly multimillion
dollar Embassy compounds but can be smaller diplomatic posts.
So what is the impact of our diplomatic absence in these
countries, particularly when countries that are not so friendly
to us are there?
What are the State Department's plans in the short- and
long-term to expand our presence in the eastern Caribbean?
Ambassador Merten. Thanks for the question.
I think--you know, in the immediate term I don't think
there is going to be funding available to open new diplomatic
facilities.
What we are looking at is ways at which we can--internally
we are looking at ways which we can bring--do a better job of
bringing some of those diplomatic services to those countries.
Currently, as I think you know, they are all handled out of
Bridgetown, Barbados. So we are looking at our processes and
seeing what we can do.
Currently, these countries are served by our Ambassador to
Bridgetown, Barbados, who is accredited to all those countries
and who makes regular visits to them and members from the
Embassy country team, and we are going to be looking at ways at
which they can continue to improve their outreach.
But should funding become available then certainly we will
be working with our OBO, Official Buildings Office, I believe,
is what it is called, within the State Department to see what
will be within the realm of the possible.
Mr. Engel. Let me just say, I appreciate your answer, but
let me just say that I think some special funding should be
found for this because it would go a long way and it is crazy
while Cuba and Venezuela are there and China is there, the
United States, which is so close, is not.
And then finally, very quickly, I want to raise the issue
about LGBT Americans who travel to the islands of the
Caribbean. There is a lot of anti-LGBT climates in many of
these countries with laws that are really arcane.
Has the State Department implemented any strategic dialogue
with countries of the region on the need to temper some of
these climates with a view to supporting the tourism that is so
important to their economy? And if not, can you please commit
to doing so?
Ambassador Merten. Thanks for the question.
I think, you know, we have been active. The State
Department has been active on this issue in the past. I think
there are certain cases where we have continued to talk to
people quietly.
I think it is a situation where you need to judge each
country differently and judge what is going to be the most
effective way to ensure that you approach a government to get
the desired output, which is nondiscrimination and embracing
all people.
So we continue on that path.
Mr. Engel. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You have been very generous with
the time. Thank you.
Mr. Duncan. I thank the gentleman.
I will now go to Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for 5 minutes.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman
and Mr. Ranking Member, and thank you to Mr. Engel about
bringing up two issues that we have worked together on--LGBT
issues and also TPS for Haitians.
As Mr. Engel has pointed out, it would be a blow to our
south Florida economy to see these wonderful members of the
Haitian diaspora have to leave our community and it would be, I
think, a difficult situation for Haiti to have to absorb so
many people so quickly, remittances being such an important
part of the Haitian economy.
Well, as I had mentioned earlier and was echoed by my
colleagues, especially the chairman, Venezuela has been able to
wield such incredible influence, particularly at the OAS over
these Caribbean nations, which has led to some unfortunate
events--results when voting on important measures. We saw that
just recently in their latest voting fiasco in the OAS.
Does this strategy give us the ability to create enough
leverage over our partner nations in the region to have them
turn away from Venezuela, become more in line with the
interests of the entire region, and how can we in Congress be
more effective in helping to promote this initiative?
Ambassador Merten. Thanks.
I think, you know, we more than share your disappointment
about some of the votes on Venezuela. I think it is important
to note, though, that we, through, I think, pretty intensive
engagement, again, by Under Secretary Shannon, my colleagues,
and others, going to many countries in the Caribbean including
many CARICOM countries we were able to get a number of
countries to support our position.
That work is ongoing. We are going to continue. I think the
strategy is very important in that it mandates us to increase
our engagement, as I think you will notice from what we have
submitted.
We have called for enhanced higher-level dialogue with our
Caribbean partners and we keep up a regular schedule of
meetings and, again, we hope that our engagement not just at
the times we are seeking a vote but our ongoing engagement,
which is something that the strategy insists that we do and
which we will do, is going to give us more leverage with our
partners in the Caribbean to hopefully line up better with us
on what priorities are, in this case Venezuela.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Well, we hope so, and, as you know,
Sunday was the pivotal day in favor of democracy for the
Venezuelan people.
Over 7.7 million Venezuelans voted against Maduro's regime
and in favor of freedom and the constitution and the rule of
law.
Another important turning point will come at the end of
this month when Maduro holds his fraudulent Constituent
Assembly vote, which violates the constitution.
And so I hope that our Caribbean neighbors take note of
what this is doing and if they are true to their own charters
and their own reflection of their democratic governance they
should be rejecting, as the United States has been, this
fraudulent election.
On the budget, FY 2018 budget requests for the Caribbean
Basin Security Initiative--$36.2 million--represents a 37
percent cut from last year.
Fortunately, yesterday the State Foreign Ops Subcommittee
released its appropriation request. Got $57.7 million, so maybe
we will end up somewhere in between.
How will we be able to provide adequate security support
for the Caribbean if these cuts are going to be implemented,
sir?
Ambassador Merten. Well, you know, we are here to support--
I am here to support the President's budget as submitted. I
think we need to realize as we have gone through this process
back at our department that some of our most powerful assets
are not necessarily always our assistance.
But we have assets on the ground in our Embassies in terms
of our ambassadors and diplomats from all different U.S.
Government agencies on the field and we are going to be as
smart as we possibly can be in deploying those assets and we
are going to continue our engagement and, again, as I said,
ramp up our engagement with our partners.
So I think, you know, we need to--we need to focus on what
assets we have available on the ground and we are going to----
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you.
Ambassador Merten [continuing]. Make best use of that.
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Ranking
Member.
Mr. Duncan. Absolutely, and great questions.
I will now go to the ranking member, Mr. Sires, for 5
minutes.
Mr. Sires. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
You know, Congress has appropriated about $500 million in
funding for the Caribbean Basin Secure Initiative from FY 2010
through FY 2017 to help the region bring down crime levels and
deter illicit trafficking through the region.
How effective has that program been?
Ambassador Merten. I think--you know, we have in fact just
gone through an analysis of the CBSI and how effective it has
been.
Our estimation is overall that we have got a good return on
our investment for that engagement. We have been blessed by
good levels of funding in past years for it and I think we have
been able to do a lot not only to provide security but to
provide other infrastructure and rule of law support for our
partners in the region.
So overall, I think we have made good use of it. Again, I
think it is important to remember that these investments that
we have made through CBSI are really an investment for us, the
United States, because they help these countries which are, as
several of you mentioned, our third border, really help
themselves to build more secure societies.
Mr. Sires. And what population do you consider the most
vulnerable in the Caribbean right now?
Ambassador Merten. That is actually a very good question. I
think, you know, Haiti, as the chairman mentioned, remains the
poorest country in the hemisphere.
I think while Haiti has, thankfully, come through a good
election process and inaugurated a new President this year,
much work remains to be done there in terms of justice reform,
in terms of creating a more business-friendly environment.
In my analysis, the key to really seeing Haiti take off is
to create an environment where Haitians can really begin to
help themselves through creating economic opportunity and
through investment--through foreign and domestic investment
there.
So but having said all that, I think that Haiti remains
perhaps the most vulnerable place.
Mr. Sires. And can you give me a couple of success stories
in our engagement in the Caribbean? Can you be a little
specific?
Ambassador Merten. I will give you one right off the top of
my head, which I hate to be a Johnny one-note, as my mother
used to always say.
But I think our engagement in Haiti after the earthquake
saved hundreds of thousands of lives and the kind of
infrastructure that our military and our colleagues at USAID
and, frankly, our Embassy on the ground was able to provide in
an incredibly short period of time was really a life changing
experience for many, many Haitians and I think it is something
for which we as American citizens can be very, very proud.
I think our engagement throughout the Caribbean in terms
of, you know, not only the tourist dollars that are spent but
the investments that we can bring, whether it is through
companies that are in mining or other types of things.
As you mentioned, in Guyana there will be U.S. companies
that will be deeply involved there. I am hoping that that is
going to be a real success story for the future as we see
private investment go to work there.
Mr. Sires. And what are we doing to promote human rights in
Cuba if we get some of these cuts? Promoting human rights in
Cuba--how are we doing there?
Ambassador Merten. We are still working with the Cubans on
that. That still remains an absolute priority for us. As you
know, the administration announced a couple weeks ago a change
in our policy toward Cuba.
One of the key goals of that change is to get them to take
seriously the concerns that they hear from this committee and
certainly from us--the shortcomings on human rights and to
address those challenges.
Mr. Sires. Thank you, Chairman.
Mr. Duncan. Okay. The Chair will now go to Ms. Kelly for 5
minutes.
Ms. Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My previous two colleagues asked a couple of the questions
I wanted to ask but I wanted to know also how will our new
relationship with Cuba potentially affect our relationships
with economic and political contributions of other nations in
the Caribbean since a lot of the other nations wanted to--
seemingly wanted us to better our relationship with Cuba and
now that we have made some changes under this administration
what are the other countries saying?
Ambassador Merten. To be quite frank with you, I am not
really aware that we have heard strong statements from most of
the Caribbean countries about the changes in our Cuba policy.
You know, I think tourism for many of our partners in the
Caribbean remains a key industry and I think that, you know,
the more tourists that they can attract the better their
economies are going to be.
Ms. Kelly. And have you had any feedback from even American
citizens because so many people went to Cuba when they had the
opportunity?
Ambassador Merten. I am happy to take that question back. I
am not the person that deals with Cuba on a day to day basis.
And I am not trying to dodge your question.
I just don't know the answer and I don't want to give you
the wrong information But we can take that back and get you a
written response if you would like.
Ms. Kelly. Okay. I would appreciate that. Thank you.
I yield back.
Mr. Duncan. The Chair will now go to Mr. Espaillat.
Mr. Espaillat. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
Sires.
The Caribbean is an important region for us not only
because of its proximity and its geopolitical importance but
for the economic and security partnership that traditionally
has characterized the relationship between the United States
and that region of the world.
Therefore, I am appreciative of Chairmen Duncan and Sires
for hosting this hearing and also for Ranking Member Engel and
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for their leadership in passing the
U.S.-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act last Congress.
These countries in the Caribbean, as I said, are important
because of their proximity and the role that they should play
to curb and control drug trafficking, human trafficking,
anything that goes on--negatively that goes on and that
eventually manifests itself in our country.
The State Department's multi-year strategy they referred,
as you said, to the Caribbean as the third border and
emphasized the need for strengthening our mutual national
security and the need to curb trafficking, smuggling of illicit
goods and people.
That is why funding--fully funding the Caribbean Basin
Security Initiative is crucial for national security. We cannot
afford to cut it. It is deeply troubling to me that the White
House and Secretary Tillerson have proposed a 37 percent cut.
Congress must reject it. We were encouraged by
Appropriations' allotment of $57.7 million to the CBSI for this
fiscal year of '18.
While the Fiscal Year 2018 foreign operations
appropriations bill leaves much to be desired, it is important
that we continue to fund this initiative. As General Mattis
said, if we don't fund diplomacy we got to buy more bullets.
And so it is important that we continue to encourage these
initiatives. I am proud to have commissioned a request--a
letter signed by Congressmen Duncan, Sires, Engel, and
Congresswoman Lehtinen asking the GOA to study the impact of
the Caribbean Basin Initiative.
This includes asking them to prepare a report that responds
to the measurable outcomes and progress that CBSI has made
toward reaching its intended goal.
So my question is to you, Ambassador, if these cuts are
eventually approved, what do you have on the chopping blocks in
regards to this particular program?
What is our priority untouchable that you would not touch
if these cuts are actually fulfilled and what will eventually
have to be gone from the table if the 37 percent cut sustains
itself?
Ambassador Merten. Thanks for the question.
You know, as I understand it, that the idea behind the CBSI
initiative was eventually that that funding would taper off and
perhaps it was not intended to taper off as early as FY 2018
but that is the current vision.
I think we need to remember that at least in our analysis
that what CBSI helps these countries do is just that. It is
help. At the end of the day, these are responsibilities and
programs that we would hope these countries would take on and
develop on their own one day at a certain point when CBSI
funding is no longer there, whether that is in FY '18 or much
further in the future.
And I think we need to realize that at the end of the day
these are sovereign countries who are going to need to be
responsible for undertaking these kind of responsibilities on
their own.
Regarding what we would look at as--in that, I think we
haven't started that process yet of determining how we would
envision that cut.
So I don't want to go into that now and mislead you or give
you some ideas that end of proving not to be the case.
Mr. Espaillat. Thank you.
I yield back my time.
Mr. Duncan. Thank you.
And the Chair will now go to the gentleman from Florida,
Mr. Yoho, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Yoho. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I appreciate you
being here, Ambassador.
This has been an interest of mine since I have been on
Foreign Affairs and I applaud Chairman Duncan for putting an
emphasis on bringing energy security down there to the
Caribbean nations and to other nations in that area as far as
economic development and things that we can do about that.
I recently spoke to the gentleman that was in charge of
WAPA in the U.S. Virgin Islands and we were talking about
getting LNG coming from the United States down in that area and
he informed me that they had just signed a--I think it was 7-
or a 10-year contract with a Norwegian company--I can't
remember the exact company--and my goal is to--hopefully, to
where we can get the United States gas in that area.
What impediments do you see when we look at the whole
Caribbean basin? And I know you deal a lot with Haiti--you
represent Haiti--and give us your thoughts on that, please.
Ambassador Merten. Thanks.
I will speak specifically to the Haiti case since I know
it. I think what is lacking in Haiti is a legal framework to
allow there to be a significant change in the way power is
generated and distributed within the country.
We actually have some of USAID funded in the north--
northern part of the country where we are generating
electricity as part of the Caracol Industrial Park and
delivering some of that power that is delivered to surrounding
communities.
This is a model that hasn't existed in Haiti before and it
is running independent of the Central Electrical Authority. Not
only does it generate electricity but they also recover their
costs and provide cheaper power than people would get from the
Central Electricity Authority.
I think that is a good model for Haiti and something we
hope that the Haitians will find the political will to change
their legal system.
For the other Caribbean countries, I am a little bit--I
will be honest with you, a little bit less well informed. I
believe there, too, in many countries there are legal
frameworks which are in place which make it difficult to
quickly install these kind of alternatives.
This is something, though, that we have been working with
several Caribbean partners on and hope to continue to do so.
And as I mentioned earlier, I believe before you arrived, I
think--completely agree with you on LNG.
I think there is--as I recall from my visit to Jamaica I
believe there is a good model there of a situation where LNG
has helped them reduce their costs of generating electricity.
Mr. Yoho. The U.S. Virgin Islands also have got a model.
Ambassador Merten. Also. Right. And this is a great
opportunity----
Mr. Yoho. It is.
Ambassador Merten [continuing]. That people should be
looking to and borrowing from.
Mr. Yoho. Well, it is and it is an area that America can
lead in this and, you know, it would be a stable source. It
would be good for America. It would be good for our Caribbean
partners.
What about the willingness of the governments, especially
Haiti? You know, they have gone through so much turmoil. I am
62 years old and it seems like they are always a country under
turmoil.
The willingness of the government to play a supporting role
in this--what do you see as their primary impediment? Is it the
rule of law? The lack of the rule of law or corruption?
Ambassador Merten. In the case of Haiti, I think the
primary impediment is that a system of centralized control of
national power generation was set up a long time ago, frankly,
under the Duvalier regime and it has never been changed because
there are some very entrenched political and economic interests
from a number of different persuasions who benefit from the
current structure and therefore it has been very, very
difficult to get people to the point where they see it is in
the national interest to change that structure.
Mr. Yoho. Expound on the political structures. What is the
block there? Because I have heard something about a couple
administrations ago a brother-in-law had the rights to an area
in Haiti as far as power.
Ambassador Merten. There is, I think by our standards, a
somewhat complex structure the way electricity is generated,
produced, and distributed in Haiti.
The actual electricity company--and tell me to stop if I
get too much in the weeds here on this--but the actual
electricity company generates very little electricity itself.
It pays other companies to generate that electricity and the
rates that it pays those companies to generate that electricity
varies significantly from company to company.
Some companies get paid less. Some companies get paid more.
That tends to hearken back to when those deals were signed with
those power producers and their political access.
Mr. Yoho. I am going to cut you off because I am out of
time and I----
Ambassador Merten. There we go. Sorry.
Mr. Yoho [continuing]. Appreciate the chairman's
indulgence. But I will follow up with you. Thank you.
Mr. Duncan. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Chris from New Jersey, any questions? Statement?
Anything?
Mr. Smith. I'd ask that there could be questions submitted
in the----
Mr. Duncan. Yes. That would be fine. Okay.
Pursuant to Committee Rule 7, the members of the
subcommittee will be permitted to submit written statements to
be included in the official hearing record.
I want to thank the Ambassador for being here. Fabulous job
answering questions. This is an interesting topic to this
subcommittee as well as the full committee, as you know.
We are going to keep the hearing record open for 5 days to
allow statements, questions, and extraneous materials to be
submitted to the record, and there might be additional
questions that come your way.
I doubt it, but we could have some written questions coming
your way. I just ask if you will try to answer those in a
timely manner. I don't believe that will be the case.
Thank you so much for being here and all the folks in the
gallery that show an interest in this topic, that is important
to us. We don't say that enough. I appreciate you being here as
well.
So thank you, Ambassador, and with that, we will stand
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:30 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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