[Senate Hearing 117-623]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       S. Hrg. 117-623

                        FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET
                           REQUEST FOR AFRICA

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                         SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA
                        AND GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY

                                 OF THE

                     COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION
                               __________

                             JULY 27, 2022

                               __________

       Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations
       
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                  Available via http://www.govinfo.gov

                               __________

                                
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
51-544 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2023                    
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------     

                 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS        

             ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey, Chairman        
BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland         JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        MARCO RUBIO, Florida
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut      MITT ROMNEY, Utah
TIM KAINE, Virginia                  ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts      RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 TODD YOUNG, Indiana
CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey           JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 TED CRUZ, Texas
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland           MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota
                                     BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
                 Damian Murphy, Staff Director        
        Christopher M. Socha, Republican Staff Director        
                    John Dutton, Chief Clerk        



                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA AND        
                      GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY        

              CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland, Chairman        
CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey           MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota
TIM KAINE, Virginia                  MARCO RUBIO, Florida
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 TODD YOUNG, Indiana
CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
                                     RAND PAUL, Kentucky

                              (ii)        

  
                         C  O  N  T  E  N  T  S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Van Hollen, Hon. Chris, U.S. Senator From Maryland...............     1

Rounds, Hon. Mike, U.S. Senator From South Dakota................     3

Phee, Hon. Mary Catherine, Assistant Secretary of State for 
  African Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC......     5
    Prepared Statement...........................................     7

Putman, Dr. Diana, Acting Assistant Administrator, Bureau for 
  Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, 
  DC.............................................................     8
    Prepared Statement...........................................     9

              Additional Material Submitted for the Record

Responses of Ms. Mary Catherine Phee to Questions Submitted by 
  Senator Chris Van Hollen.......................................    28

Responses of Ms. Mary Catherine Phee to Questions Submitted by 
  Senator Tim Kaine..............................................    30

                                 (iii)

  

 
                        FISCAL YEAR 2023 BUDGET
                           REQUEST FOR AFRICA

                              ----------                              


                        WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2022

                           U.S. Senate,    
                     Subcommittee on Africa
                          and Global Health Policy,
                            Committee on Foreign Relations,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:13 p.m., in 
room SD-419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Chris Van 
Hollen presiding.
    Present: Senators Van Hollen [presiding], Kaine, and 
Rounds.

          OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM MARYLAND

    Senator Van Hollen. This hearing of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy will 
come to order.
    I want to start by recognizing my colleague and partner on 
the committee, Ranking Member Rounds, and thank him and his 
team for all their work and collaboration.
    It is a honor to welcome our two witnesses, Assistant 
Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, and Acting 
Assistant Administrator in USAID's Bureau for Africa, Dr. Diana 
Putman. Welcome to both of you.
    Today, we will focus on the Biden administration's Fiscal 
Year 2023 budget request for AFRICOM. The full slate of 
Africa's policy priorities across nearly 50 countries in sub-
Saharan Africa cannot be distilled into just one hearing and we 
will not be able to address every item in the budget.
    Fortunately, the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
has invested considerable time in addressing many of the issues 
that impact the African states with recent hearings focused on 
the Sahel region, food security, and security assistance, as 
well as hearings earlier this year on Ethiopia and Sudan.
    We may look for some updates on some of those areas, but we 
have covered a lot of territory in the earlier hearings and I 
appreciate the work of our colleagues through that process.
    I also want to highlight that 1 year ago this subcommittee 
organized and held a hearing on trade and investment in Africa 
where we discussed the real promise and the potential of 
African states now and into the future.
    We explored practical ways to bolster U.S. investment in 
African states and harness the power of targeted economic 
engagement to unlock opportunity, build prosperity, and bolster 
security both on the continent and here in the United States of 
America, and I hope that same spirit will drive today's 
conversation on the budget.
    I think we all know that new opportunities in Africa are 
growing and continue to grow at a rapid pace. In the next 30 
years, the population of the entire African continent is 
expected to double and one-quarter of the world will live in 
Africa by the year 2050.
    It is also the continent with the greatest number of young 
people with 60 percent of Africans under the age of 25, and 
this wave of young people provides new opportunities for 
innovation, for consumption, technology, and growth.
    Of course, it also brings challenges, making sure that 
there are job opportunities and the resources are there to 
serve that growing population, and those are opportunities and 
challenges faced not just in those countries and not just on 
the continent, but where we all share an interest around the 
world.
    Today, I hope we can address several key themes through the 
lens of the budget that are central to seizing these 
opportunities, meeting the challenges, and strengthening our 
relationship with African states: First, by looking at how we 
can help promote peace and security; second, how we can address 
the most pressing and urgent challenges of food insecurity, 
global health crises, and climate change through development 
and humanitarian aid; third, how we can position the United 
States as the partner of choice for African states by 
strengthening our bilateral economic ties and fully utilizing 
the tools that we have available to promote trade and 
investment, including tools like AGOA, which I think will be up 
for reauthorization in a few years, Prosper Africa, Power 
Africa, and Digital Africa; and fourth, what we can do to 
promote democracy, fend off the forces of autocracy, and stand 
up against violations of human rights.
    I would like to just briefly end by dwelling on the final 
point because this is an issue of crucial importance in the 
ongoing fight between democracy and autocracy as that battle 
unfolds around the world, not just in Ukraine, but everywhere 
else including on the African continent.
    I am deeply concerned about the democratic backsliding in 
Africa. We saw this acutely in Sudan where a peaceful 
revolution leading to a democratic transition was thwarted by 
an unconstitutional military takeover.
    According to Freedom House, fewer than 10 countries in sub-
Saharan Africa are considered ``free.'' The Council on Foreign 
Relations asserts that more Africans live under fully or 
partially authoritarian states than at most points in the last 
two decades.
    This trend toward autocracy has been accelerated by the 
pandemic and by the growing influence and pressure tactics from 
other autocratic nations like China and like Russia, which 
attempt to use economic incentives and disinformation to export 
their models of authoritarianism to developing countries.
    This includes opaque security agreements that prop up 
undemocratic regimes, economic investment that is really used 
as leverage and debt traps for African countries, but used to 
help silence them from taking action at the U.N. or other 
bodies about Chinese human rights abuses, Russia weaponizing 
its grain exports to Africa, which we see right now as we 
gather.
    That said, I have been optimistic about democratic bright 
spots and I think it is important to dwell on the positive as 
well as the challenges. We see positive developments in 
countries like Botswana, Ghana, South Africa, Namibia, and 
others.
    Moving forward, we must ensure that we are strengthening 
our relationships with these states while encouraging others to 
adopt policies that allow for greater democracy and freedom.
    I am glad that President Biden will be hosting leaders from 
across the African continent here in our nation's capital on 
December 13 to help move these objectives forward, and my 
ranking member on the committee, Senator Rounds, and I have 
been very invested in the YALI program and hope to make that 
program permanent through authorization.
    Let me just close by urging our witnesses here today to 
focus on many of these issues, but obviously we will have a 
great back and forth with questions.
    Again, a lot to cover. We will not get to all of it today.
    We are grateful for your being here today, and let me turn 
it over to Ranking Member Rounds.

                STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE ROUNDS, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA

    Senator Rounds. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    It is a pleasure to serve as the ranking member here today 
and to work with you, Mr. Chairman, and your team as we do this 
hearing on the Biden administration's Fiscal Year 2023 
Department of State foreign operations and related programs 
budget request for sub-Saharan Africa.
    Last month, the NSC previewed the Biden administration's 
Africa strategy to this committee. That strategy is 
aspirational, as many strategies of this sort are, but today we 
are talking about one of the central topics of importance in 
implementing an Africa strategy, financial resources.
    I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about 
how the fiscal year budget request sets up the State Department 
and USAID to implement President Biden's Africa strategy.
    The staff at our embassies and USAID missions on the 
continent are critical for the implementation of the new Africa 
strategy. Unfortunately, it is no secret that our embassies and 
USAID missions in Africa are some of the most critically 
understaffed in the world.
    I am eager to hear more about staffing in the context of 
this budget request and want to know if there is more that 
Congress can do to help make sure posts in Africa are 
adequately staffed with well qualified members of the Foreign 
and Civil Service.
    I am glad to see that the White House has finally announced 
dates for the second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. That is 
December 13 through 15 of 2022.
    I hope it will be an opportunity for substantive engagement 
with our Africa partners on important topics that also have 
budget implications for discussion today, including economic 
engagement, democracy and human rights, food security, and 
peace and security.
    Within the Fiscal Year 2023 budget request for Africa there 
is funding for a number of regional initiatives that I am sure 
will be part of the discussion at the summit, some long-
standing such as the Power Africa and Young African Leaders 
Initiative, which have strong bipartisan support.
    I was also happy to partner with Senator Van Hollen to 
introduce the YALI Act of 2021 in the Senate last year. Others 
are new, like Digital Africa. I look forward to hearing more 
about plans for this new initiative today.
    Another regional initiative I hope to discuss today is 
Prosper Africa, a Trump administration program that has been 
fully embraced by the Biden administration. Prosper Africa has 
bipartisan support here in the Senate. I am eager to hear from 
USAID and the State Department about the current state of 
Prosper Africa.
    Over the last 2 years we have seen some dramatic 
backsliding of democracy in Africa, as Senator Van Hollen has 
indicated, most clearly demonstrated by numerous coups without 
a single case of return to constitutional democratic rule.
    We have also seen some encouraging democratic victories 
such as the peaceful democratic transfer of power in Zimbabwe. 
Our support to democracy, human rights, and governance in 
Africa is a relatively small portion of our budget, but perhaps 
one of the ways in which the U.S. best supports our African 
partners to build strong, resilient, citizen-oriented 
institutions.
    I am looking forward to discussion about how the resources 
requested for Fiscal Year 2023 will be put to impactful use.
    Finally, we have had a number of discussions including last 
week in a full committee hearing about the impact of the war in 
Ukraine on food security around the globe. Certainly, Africa is 
one of the hardest hit regions, but food security is about more 
than emergency food aid.
    It is about making sure that our partners are resilient to 
shocks, including through domestic agricultural production. We 
also know that some of the areas hardest hit by the global food 
crisis are also beset with conflict and instability like South 
Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
    I look forward to discussion about how the Fiscal Year 2023 
budget request addresses these root causes of food insecurity 
beyond catastrophic shocks currently being felt in the region.
    I look forward to today's conversation.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Senator Rounds.
    Now I will introduce our witnesses for today.
    Ambassador Molly Phee was sworn in as United States 
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs on September 
20 of last year.
    She has worked to advance the administration's strategic 
priorities in African nations through efforts to support 
stability, good governance, and self-reliance in African states 
and advance trade between the United States and Africa.
    She served previously as the Deputy Special Representative 
for Afghanistan Reconciliation from 2015 to 2017 and 
represented the United States abroad as our ambassador to South 
Sudan.
    As a career member of the United States Foreign Service she 
has held posts in Ethiopia, Sudan, Jordan, Egypt, and Kuwait. 
Ambassador Phee has also served as Acting Assistant Secretary 
for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Deputy 
Security Council Coordinator at the U.S. mission at the United 
Nations, and director for Iraq on the National Security 
Council.
    She is a graduate of Indiana University and earned a 
master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. 
It is great to have you back. Thank you.
    Dr. Diana Putman is the Acting Assistant Administrator in 
the Bureau for Africa at USAID where she oversees efforts to 
improve access to health services, support democratic 
institutions, encourage business growth, and strengthen 
communities on the African continent.
    Dr. Putman has worked for USAID for 39 years and is a 
career member of the United States Foreign Service with posts 
in Timor-Leste, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, 
Tunisia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Jordan.
    In addition, Dr. Putman spent 3 years on detail at the 
U.S.-Africa Command where she oversaw humanitarian health and 
pandemic response activities and was acting senior development 
advisor for significant periods of time.
    Here at home, Dr. Putman has held posts on both the Newly 
Independent States Task Force and the Democracy Working Group 
for West Bank Gaza Task Force at USAID, and holds degrees in 
anthropology from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and a 
master's in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.
    As you can see, both of our witnesses have a great depth of 
knowledge and experience. Welcome to both of you.
    Why do we not start with you, Assistant Secretary Phee.

STATEMENT OF THE HON. MARY CATHERINE PHEE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY 
    OF STATE FOR AFRICAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
                         WASHINGTON, DC

    Ms. Phee. Thank you, Chairman Van Hollen, Ranking Member 
Rounds. It is my pleasure to see you again to discuss the 
Biden-Harris administration's Fiscal Year 2023 budget request.
    My opening remarks will review the resource requests and 
then we are looking forward to a conversation about specific 
countries of interest.
    I would like to start by expressing our deep appreciation 
to Congress for the supplemental funding for Ukraine, which 
included over $5 billion specifically to mitigate the global 
food security impacts of Russia's invasion.
    To date, more than $1 billion in humanitarian food security 
assistance from the additional supplemental has been provided 
to countries in Africa. An additional $337 million will be used 
for the Feed the Future Initiative and other programs to meet 
the immediate needs of people in Africa suffering from food 
insecurity exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
    This budget request will reinforce the actions by Secretary 
Blinken and his team to build partnerships across Africa in 
support of U.S. interests and our shared goals with African 
leaders and peoples.
    State and USAID remain focused on advancing peace and 
security, promoting democracy and human rights, supporting 
economic growth, and building resilient societies. The State 
and USAID joint regional strategy and the forthcoming U.S. 
strategy towards sub-Saharan Africa will guide our diplomatic 
and development work.
    We are also, as you noted, preparing to host a U.S.-Africa 
Leaders Summit in December. President Biden's budget request of 
$7.8 billion for the State Department and USAID will provide us 
with the resources needed to continue to elevate our engagement 
and build upon our previous efforts.
    With this funding, we will continue working to fulfill our 
commitment to provide COVID-19 vaccines. To date, we have 
provided more than 160 million doses to 44 countries in sub-
Saharan Africa. We have provided more than $2 billion in COVID-
related assistance for emergency health and humanitarian 
support.
    Because the pandemic underscores the need for additional 
investment to strengthen African health systems to deal with 
future challenges, we are requesting $5.7 billion, including 
$3.8 billion for PEPFAR.
    Simultaneously, we are relentlessly working to mitigate the 
continuing economic impact of the pandemic including by 
increasing engagement with the American private sector and 
engaging young people across the continent.
    This request includes funding for administration 
initiatives for the Leaders Summit, including boosting trade 
and investment through our signature U.S. Government programs 
such as Prosper Africa and Power Africa.
    It includes funding for a new digital initiative to expand 
affordable and inclusive digital connectivity and a request to 
scale up YALI regional leadership centers.
    As we discussed earlier this month, recent extra 
constitutional changes of government in several African 
countries highlight the need for greater investment in 
democracy and governance programming, and increased development 
assistance to target underlying social, environmental, and 
economic deficiencies.
    The President's request includes $285 million to strengthen 
democratic institutions, promote respect for human rights, and 
directly respond to the democratic backsliding across the 
continent that you identified, Mr. Chairman.
    We are requesting increases in democracy funding as well as 
resources to promote health and economic growth to advance the 
Sahel strategy. In support of these shared priorities, the 
President's budget includes $438 million to strengthen the 
ability of African regional and subregional organizations, 
government institutions, and civil society to better confront 
state fragility and armed conflict.
    We appreciate your commitment to and dedicated resources in 
support of the Global Fragility Act and are working hard to 
bring that project to life.
    None of these critical efforts, however, would be possible 
without our greatest resource, our people. It is an honor and a 
privilege for me to represent the incredibly talented dedicated 
public servants that work tirelessly every day to build and 
advance U.S. relationships in Africa.
    This fiscal year we will add 30 new positions that will 
serve as an important start in reinvesting in our people and 
strengthening our capability to achieve our desired policy 
outcomes, but as you noted, Senator Rounds, this staffing start 
is inadequate to properly address the complex challenges in 
front of us, so we will also be requesting 95 new positions.
    In partnership with this committee, I welcome your counsel, 
resources, and flexibilities from Congress as we carry out this 
important work. As you know, funding for sub-Saharan Africa is 
heavily earmarked. There is only a limited amount of 
discretionary funding for bilateral and regional priorities to 
meet dynamic situations.
    Additional discretionary programming would enable us to 
seize opportunities and respond quickly to rapidly changing 
conditions.
    In closing, let me share my thanks for your support in 
upholding our shared commitment to advancing democracy, 
inclusive prosperity, and national security as the benchmarks 
for the U.S.-Africa partnership.
    Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Phee follows:]

             Prepared Statement of Ms. Mary Catherine Phee

    Chairman Van Hollen, Ranking Member Rounds, it is pleasure to see 
you again and thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today 
to discuss the Biden-Harris administration's FY 2023 Budget Request. 
Before I start, I would like to express my appreciation to Congress for 
the additional supplemental funding for Ukraine, which included over 
$5.1 billion specifically for addressing the global food security 
impacts of Russia's invasion. To date, more than $1.27 billion in 
humanitarian food security assistance from the additional supplemental 
has been provided to countries in Africa. An additional $337 million 
will be used for the Feed the Future initiative and to help address the 
immediate needs of people suffering from food insecurity exacerbated by 
the Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Thank you.
    This Budget Request will continue to advance the priorities of the 
Administration and the Secretary of State to build partnerships across 
Africa in support of U.S. interests and shared goals of African leaders 
and their citizens. State and USAID remain focused on advancing peace 
and security, promoting democracy and human rights, supporting economic 
growth, and building resilient societies through our efforts to combat 
climate change, strengthen good governance, and promote healthier 
lives. The State and USAID Joint Regional Strategy and the forthcoming 
U.S. Strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa will guide the diplomatic and 
development work of posts and staff based throughout the region. We are 
also preparing to host the second U.S. Africa Leaders' Summit in 
December. President Biden's budget request of $7.8 billion will provide 
the resources needed to continue to elevate our engagement and build 
upon our successes.
    With this funding, we will continue working to fulfill our 
commitment to provide COVID-19 vaccines. To date, we have provided over 
169 million doses to 44 countries in Sub- Saharan Africa. We provided 
more than $2 billion in COVID-related assistance for emergency health 
and humanitarian support. The pandemic continues to underscore the need 
for investment to support African health systems and we are requesting 
$5.7 billion, including $3.8 billion for the President's Emergency Plan 
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
    Simultaneously, we are relentlessly working to mitigate the 
continuing economic impact of the pandemic, including through increased 
engagement with the American private sector and especially engaging 
young people across the continent in these efforts. This request 
includes funding for Administration initiatives ahead of the U.S. 
Africa Leaders' Summit, including support to bolster trade and 
investment through signature U.S. Government programs like Prosper 
Africa and Power Africa. It includes funding for a new digital 
initiative to expand affordable and inclusive digital connectivity and 
the scaling up of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Regional 
Leadership Centers.
    As we discussed during a hearing earlier this month, recent 
extraconstitutional changes of government in several countries 
highlight the need for greater investment in democracy and governance 
programing and more development assistance that targets underlying 
social, environmental, and economic deficiencies. The President's 
Request includes $285 million to strengthen democratic institutions, 
promote respect for human rights, and directly respond to democratic 
backsliding across the continent. We are requesting increases in 
democracy funding along with health and economic growth funding to 
advance the Sahel Strategy. To that end, the budget also requests $440 
million to continue Feed the Future programs to address global hunger, 
nutrition, strengthen social safety nets and food insecurity. This 
coupled with the emergency supplemental funding will help to offset the 
impact of sharply increasing food prices and market disruptions.
    In support of these shared priorities, the President's Budget 
includes $438 million to strengthen the ability of African regional and 
sub-regional organizations, government institutions, and civil society 
to better address state fragility and armed conflict. We appreciate 
your commitment to and dedicated resources in support of the Global 
Fragility Act. We will utilize these critical resources to prevent and 
reduce conflict in priority countries that include Mozambique and those 
in Coastal West Africa.
    None of these critical efforts, however, would be possible without 
our greatest resource: our people. It is an honor and privilege to 
represent the incredibly talented, dedicated public servants that work 
tirelessly every day to build and advance U.S. relationships across 
sub- Saharan Africa. This fiscal year, we will add 30 new positions 
that will serve as an important start in reinvesting in our people and 
providing the resources needed to achieve the policy outcomes we seek. 
Still, as our partnerships on the African continent grow, more 
positions are needed to sufficiently address the complex problem sets 
we are tackling in DC and abroad; therefore, we are requesting 95 new 
positions to advance the foreign policy priorities mentioned and to 
provide support to our overseas posts.
    In partnership with this Committee, I welcome additional input, 
resources, and flexibilities from Congress as we carry out this 
important work. As you know, funding for Sub-Saharan Africa is heavily 
earmarked. There is only a limited amount of discretionary funding for 
bilateral and regional priorities; discretionary programming would 
enable us to seize opportunities and respond quickly to rapidly 
changing conditions. In addition, we welcome additional resources to 
continue addressing the dire global food security crisis and expand our 
efforts to counter Russian misinformation. As stated earlier, the 
funding to date has been invaluable for our programs and personnel 
overseas.
    In closing, let me reiterate my appreciation to this Committee for 
your frequent engagements with me and my team. Throughout our 
conversations, I have greatly valued your support in upholding our 
shared commitment to advancing democracy, inclusive prosperity, and 
national security as the benchmarks for a successful U.S.-Africa 
partnership.

    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Madam Ambassador.
    Next, we will turn to Dr. Putman.

STATEMENT OF DR. DIANA PUTMAN, ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, 
 BUREAU FOR AFRICA, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 
                         WASHINGTON, DC

    Dr. Putman. Good afternoon, Chairman Van Hollen, Ranking 
Member Rounds, and distinguished members of the subcommittee.
    I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the Fiscal 
Year 2023 President's budget request for the U.S. Agency for 
International Development Bureau for Africa and I, too, want to 
thank you for the generous supplemental to deal with the crisis 
in Ukraine, which is having major impacts on the continent of 
Africa.
    The United States has partnered with the nations of Africa 
for decades, working alongside African governments, regional 
institutions, civil society, and the private sector to address 
challenges, foster opportunities, and improve people's lives.
    The Fiscal Year 2023 budget request for Africa takes its 
key policy considerations from the State-USAID joint regional 
strategy for Africa and from the interim National Security 
Strategy guidance.
    The strategy details four strategic goals for engagement in 
the region: increased mutually beneficial economic growth, 
trade, and investment; advance mutual peace and security 
interests; strengthen democracy, human rights and good 
governance; and promote inclusive country-led development.
    The Fiscal Year 2023 total funding request of $7.767 
billion for foreign assistance accounts is a reflection of the 
critical importance of development and humanitarian assistance.
    Increased trade and investment between the United States 
and African nations brings high-quality financing, products, 
services to African nations, and creates jobs on both 
continents while giving African businesses more open access to 
U.S. markets.
    The request of $100 million for Prosper Africa will enable 
the U.S. to compete on a new scale, expanding the U.S. private 
sector's engagement in Africa's fast-growing markets and 
partnering with firms on innovative programs.
    The request of $100 million in funding for Power Africa 
will allow for accelerated energy access for the nearly 600 
million Africans who still lack it and to lead on driving 
Africa's transition to cleaner renewable energy sources.
    To advance mutual peace and security, the Fiscal Year 2023 
Budget request reflects the need to strengthen the intent and 
objectives of key initiatives such as the Trans-Sahara 
Counterterrorism Partnership and the Global Fragility Act.
    The request of $284.9 million in democracy funds will 
support a broad range of U.S. objectives with partner countries 
and regional organizations.
    This budget request places inclusive country-led 
development at its center. As African countries continue to 
battle the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID will provide robust funding 
that strengthens local health systems and health security.
    The President's request for Africa allocates approximately 
$3.83 billion for PEPFAR and $1.84 billion for other health 
programs including malaria, tuberculosis, and maternal and 
child health.
    The Fiscal Year 2023 request of $249.7 million for climate 
recognizes this and will ensure African countries are building 
capacity to adapt to climate change.
    To catalyze agricultural-led growth, improve nutritional 
status, and reduce future humanitarian needs, the budget 
request of $440 million for agriculture includes assistance for 
19 countries and five regional operating units implementing 
Feed the Future.
    This funding will respond to the global food security 
crisis driven by supply chain shocks that stemmed from the 
COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine.
    While the narrative about Africa is often dominated by its 
challenges, it is a continent better characterized by 
resilience and transformation, and with your support we look 
forward to building a promising future together.
    Thank you, and I look forward to responding to your 
questions.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Putman follows:]

                 Prepared Statement of Dr. Diana Putman

    Good afternoon Chairman Van Hollen, Ranking Member Rounds, and 
distinguished members of the Subcommittee. I am grateful for the 
opportunity to discuss the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 President's budget 
request for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) 
Bureau for Africa.
    The United States has partnered with the nations of Africa for 
decades, working alongside African governments, regional institutions, 
and civil society to address challenges, foster opportunities, and 
improve people's lives. Today, our world is at an inflection point. On 
the key issues we face--from the COVID-19 pandemic, to the climate 
crisis and food insecurity, to conflict and mass displacements, to 
global struggles to prevent democratic backsliding and preserve gender 
equality and human rights--Africa is essential to our collective 
progress.
    Africa's increasing integration into global markets, demographic 
boom, and thriving culture of entrepreneurship present a remarkable 
opportunity for the United States to invest in Africa's future, and 
thereby our own future. We have the chance to progress beyond the 
pandemic and begin building a better, stronger, more secure, and 
inclusive strategy for African nations and the United States.
    The FY 2023 budget request for Africa takes its key policy 
considerations from the State-USAID Joint Regional Strategy for Africa 
and from the Interim National Security Strategy guidance. The Strategy 
details four strategic goals for engagement in the region: 1) Increase 
Mutually Beneficial Economic Growth, Trade, and Investment; 2) Advance 
Mutual Peace and Security Interests; 3) Strengthen Democracy, Human 
Rights, and Good Governance; 4) Promote Inclusive Country-led 
Development.
    The FY 2023 funding request of $7.767 billion for foreign 
assistance accounts fully or partially implemented by USAID is a 
reflection of the critical importance of development and humanitarian 
assistance. Overall, the FY 2023 request is a 4.6 percent increase over 
the FY 2022 request level. It includes vital assistance to respond to 
the increasing importance of development priorities and continuing and 
protracted humanitarian crises across sub-Saharan Africa. The request 
will allow the United States to lead, and in leading, allow us to 
mobilize allies, organizations, and private sector partners to 
contribute more to the causes critical to our nation's interests.
  increase mutually beneficial economic growth, trade, and investment
    Increased trade and investment between the United States and 
African nations brings high quality financing, products, services, and 
expertise to African nations, creates jobs on both continents, and 
gives African businesses more open access to U.S. markets. Through 
Prosper Africa, USAID is committed to strengthening trade and 
investment ties between African nations and the United States, and 
spurring responsible private investment at a scale that could never be 
matched by foreign aid alone.
    The FY 2023 request of $100 million for Prosper Africa will enable 
the U.S. to compete on a new scale, expanding the U.S. private sector's 
engagement in Africa's fast-growing markets and partnering with firms 
on innovative programs that will allow the U.S. to create a positive 
alternative to the People's Republic of China's often-attractive but 
dangerously non-transparent financing offers. Funds will mobilize 
billions more of investment in African economies and support hundreds 
of thousands of jobs beyond what is possible at current funding levels. 
USAID will expand our private sector-led approach to advance recovery 
from the COVID-19 pandemic and bolster resilience to global shocks from 
the further invasion of Ukraine and climate change. Prosper Africa's 
work will engage businesses and investors led by young people, women, 
and the African Diaspora, as well as small businesses, which are 
powerful job creators and the lifeblood of our economies.
    The FY 2023 request of $100 million in funding for Power Africa 
will allow Power Africa to accelerate energy access for the nearly 600 
million Africans (75 percent of global total) who still lack it and to 
lead on driving Africa's transition to cleaner, renewable energy 
sources. Power Africa supports critical reforms to bolster 
transparency, increase competition, and enhance host country partners' 
technical capacity. The initiative promotes mutual economic prosperity 
between the U.S. and African partners via technical expertise, 
innovation, investment, and enabling environment reform. With a strong 
emphasis on renewable energy and achieving the pledged climate 
ambitions of both the U.S. Government and African leaders, the goal of 
Power Africa remains to advance universal energy access--adding 30,000 
megawatts and 60 million connections by 2030. This work is complemented 
by USAID's regional trade and investment activities that continue to 
focus on building a strong enabling environment for economic growth for 
African countries.
              advance mutual peace and security interests
    USAID investments save lives, strengthen economies, prevent and 
mitigate fragility, promote resilience, and enhance freedom around the 
world. The Agency's work complements the efforts of the Departments of 
State and Defense, helping reduce threats to both Africans and 
Americans at home and abroad. The FY 2023 budget request reflects the 
need to support the intent and objectives of key initiatives such as 
the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership, the Partnership for 
Regional East Africa Counterterrorism, and the Global Fragility Act. 
Through these efforts, we also advance women's meaningful participation 
in preventing and resolving conflict, countering violent extremism and 
terrorism, and building post-conflict peace and stability, all 
important elements of the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security.
        strengthen democracy, human rights, and good governance
    In large part due to years-long trends of democratic backsliding 
and rising autocracies, we are at a critical moment for the United 
States and fellow supporters of democracy around the world. Now is the 
time to unite in the pursuit of a freer, more prosperous world. This is 
especially true in sub-Saharan Africa, where 93 percent of the 
population now lives in ``Partly Free'' or ``Not Free'' countries per 
the 2022 Freedom House rankings.
    The FY 2023 request of $284.9 million in democracy funds will 
support a broad range of U.S. objectives with partner countries and 
regional organizations, and will stabilize and build democratic 
institutions; strengthen respect for human rights, good governance, and 
effective service delivery; enhance gender equality and social 
inclusion; and address causes of fragility and violence. These funds 
will also empower local partners, provide transparency in political 
systems, and address authoritarianism and disinformation through 
activities like strengthening independent media and digital 
technologies.
    To address the projected doubling of population in Africa by 2050 
to 2.2 billion people and to set them up for success, USAID will create 
opportunities for Africa's children and youth with programs that 
increase equitable access to foundational learning and encourage 
talented youth, such as through the Young African Leaders Initiative 
(YALI). The FY 2023 request level of $20 million for YALI will expand 
opportunities to support transformational local leaders who contribute 
economically to their communities and advocate for peace, security, and 
democratic governance.
               promote inclusive country-led development
    Finally, this budget request places inclusive, country-led 
development at its center. As African countries continue to battle the 
COVID-19 pandemic, USAID will provide robust funding that strengthens 
local health systems and health security. The President's FY 2023 
request for Africa allocates approximately $3.83 billion for PEPFAR, 
and $1.84 billion for other health programs including malaria, 
tuberculosis, and maternal and child health.
    Sub-Saharan Africa is vulnerable to natural resource degradation 
and the effects of climate change, including shocks from extreme 
weather events. The FY 2023 request of $249.7 million for climate 
recognizes this and will ensure African countries are building capacity 
to adapt to climate change while growing their economies and optimizing 
the use of natural resources and human capital in a socially, 
economically, and environmentally sustainable manner.
    To catalyze agriculture-led growth, improve nutritional status, and 
reduce future humanitarian needs, the FY 2023 request of $440 million 
for agriculture includes assistance for 19 countries and five regional 
operating units implementing Feed the Future. This funding will respond 
to the global food security crisis driven by supply chain shocks that 
stem from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's war on Ukraine. These 
funds will also enable the expansion of Feed the Future to eight new 
target countries in addition to the existing 12. These target countries 
reflect interagency consensus on where U.S. Government investments can 
achieve sustainable reductions in poverty, malnutrition, and hunger 
while meeting the statutory requirements under the current Global Food 
Security Act.
    It is crucial that USAID engage more frequently and sustainably 
with a broader and more inclusive range of partners. That's especially 
true of the community-led organizations and companies based in the 
countries in which we work. Our approach to community-led development 
builds on more than a decade of the Agency's prior experience working 
directly on localization. It devolves more power and leadership to 
local actors, elevates diversity and equity in our partnerships, and 
addresses some of the systemic and operational constraints at USAID. We 
have created intentional shifts in the way we design and implement our 
programs, placing local communities and stakeholders in the lead, and 
we continue to integrate this approach throughout our work.
                               conclusion
    While the narrative about Africa is often dominated by its 
challenges, it is a continent better characterized by resilience and 
transformation. We saw this in the innovations that sprang up to 
mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, the resilience shown by individuals 
experiencing negative outcomes of climate change, and the thousands of 
voices that have spoken out to safeguard democracy. These actions all 
illustrate the spirit of Africa and USAID, and with your support, we 
look forward to building toward that promising future together.
    Thank you, and I look forward to responding to your questions.

    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Dr. Putman.
    We will lead off and take turns. The other members will 
join us possibly, but let me start with a question for you, 
Ambassador Phee, that also has a component for Dr. Putman at 
USAID.
    It has been a little while since we have had a hearing in 
this committee that covered the situation in Sudan. I was in 
Sudan in May of last year with Senator Coons at a very hopeful 
moment after the peaceful revolution and a lot of excitement 
about the transition toward democracy at that time.
    That, of course, has been derailed with the repressive 
crackdown. We saw just last week security forces killed more 
than 30 people and injured a hundred during clashes with 
protesters.
    If you could update us on where we are in terms of using 
our policy levers to try to put Sudan back on the road towards 
stability and democracy and, Dr. Putman, back in I think it was 
2020, we appropriated $700 million to support various programs 
in Sudan, money that was channeled through USAID.
    I know that a lot of that was put on hold. Some of it was 
redirected to other purposes to make sure that it did not flow 
through the regime, but if you could both address what we are 
doing in terms of our policy and what we are doing with our 
resources there, beginning with Ambassador Phee.
    Ms. Phee. Thank you very much.
    We share the disappointment of the Sudanese people that the 
transition to democracy fell off the track.
    Since January, there have been intensive discussions 
throughout the country on how to move forward and restore a 
civilian-led transitional government.
    We helped energize a trilateral or tripartite process that 
involves the U.N. mission in Sudan, an AU mission in Sudan, and 
the regional organization IGAD. They held over a thousand 
meetings with different Sudanese to discuss how to identify a 
new path forward to restore the transition.
    That process, however, has lagged and in June of this year 
I traveled to Khartoum, in part because I was concerned about 
the looming economic challenges and I was concerned that if the 
Sudanese did not find a way forward to restore their 
transition, that political process could be quickly overwhelmed 
by economic problems, which are very grave and serious and 
exacerbated by their dependence on commodities from Russia and 
Ukraine.
    I am happy to report to you today that conversations among 
the parties have intensified and this is, I think, in large 
part due to the strength and inspiring resilience of the youth 
and the people of Sudan who continue to resist military rule.
    Right now, there are serious conversations underway between 
the military and the different components of civil society.
    As you may have seen in recent days, both General al-Burhan 
and General Hemetti have each issued statements claiming that 
they are committed to leaving politics and to establishing a 
civilian-led government.
    The discussions have accelerated. They are looking at the 
difficult issue of the role of the military during a 
transition. There are positive ideas being exchanged.
    We, in concert with our troika partners, issued a statement 
on July 14 suggesting guidelines or benchmarks that would be 
needed to be seen in any agreement that they reach.
    These include that, again, the government--transitional 
government should be civilian-led and have broad-based 
nationwide support. There should be a clear timeline for free 
and fair elections, procedures for selecting a transitional 
prime minister and other key officials, and a dispute 
resolution mechanism to avoid future political crises.
    Most importantly, as I said, there must be full clarity and 
oversight about the military's role and responsibilities and 
that the military cannot define those roles and 
responsibilities unilaterally. They must be agreed to by the 
civilians.
    We continue to work with our partners in Sudan, both 
Sudanese and external parties, to encourage completion of these 
active and dynamic discussions on a new constitutional 
arrangement to restore the civilian-led transitional 
government.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you for updating us on that--on 
your efforts.
    Dr. Putman.
    Dr. Putman. Sure. Thank you for the question.
    Just to let you know, briefly, that of the $700 million 
appropriated by Congress, we have allocated $108 million of 
that, $30 million for programs focused on human rights, 
elections, agriculture, and conflict mitigation, and $78 
million for transition initiatives that support civil society.
    Prior to the military takeover, we had been working with 
the government, but we have pulled back and we are not doing 
any activities with the government at all at this point.
    We are having consultations with staffers of the full 
committee to actually discuss what will be done with the rest 
of the funding at this point in time.
    Thank you.
    Senator Van Hollen. I appreciate that.
    There is the question of whether it is put to other 
purposes within Sudan or reprogrammed elsewhere, at least until 
things change in Sudan, but we look forward to continuing those 
conversations.
    Senator Rounds.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to both 
of our witnesses for your opening statements.
    Secretary Phee, Africa is home to the most critically 
understaffed diplomatic corps in the world. I am glad to hear 
that this budget addresses some of that and that they are 
requesting some new positions.
    However, it seems to me that the State Department is having 
trouble just staffing the positions that already exist. How 
will adding new positions address the understaffing of 
positions that already exist in Africa?
    Just to kind of push the conversation a little bit, what is 
the department doing to encourage more qualified Foreign 
Service Officers to bid on positions and serve in Africa?
    Finally, what can Congress do to help make sure those posts 
that are in Africa are adequately staffed and staffed with 
well-qualified members of the Foreign and Civil Service?
    Kind of a broad ranging question, but, really, I think, to 
the heart of some of the challenges that you are facing right 
now.
    Ms. Phee. Thank you very much for your concern about this 
issue.
    We would all be more influential and impactful if we had 
more personnel resources, and as you know well, sort of the 
first ring of this problem is that the State Department as a 
whole is understaffed because of a previous freeze in staffing 
and failure to hire to address attrition.
    If you consider us a free market where people move to 
different regions of the world, every region and also here back 
in Washington we are suffering from insufficient staffing.
    Then the question becomes, first, how do we address that. 
That is the Administration's strategic staffing initiative, 
which I referred to.
    Then the second question is what can we do in the Africa 
Bureau to attract more talent and to encourage Foreign Service 
Officers to serve in Africa, which is an enormous opportunity 
and privilege, given the opportunities and the strength of the 
peoples in Africa.
    The good news I have for you is that the situation across 
the bureau is not as dire as it is in the Sahel, which we just 
discussed a few weeks ago. If you will allow me, if I look at 
the numbers--and the numbers that we have are a little bit 
confusing because they are a snapshot in time.
    For example, I have numbers from last week. Some people 
might be on leave, but we have in AF, as we call it, we have 
about 1,757 authorized positions overseas and 1,527 of those 
positions are staffed. Globally for the bureau, it is not as 
dire as it is in the Sahel and also in Sudan, where we also 
have shortages.
    We have different options to address the challenges. As you 
know, in unaccompanied posts or in countries with poor 
educational or medical facilities it is hard, depending on 
where you are in your life cycle in your family, to bring 
certain colleagues to posts.
    We look at financial incentives. We have pioneered in the 
AF Bureau what we are calling the spoke bidding experience so 
that we are actually sitting down and speaking with interested 
bidders about different options throughout the continent, 
specifically reaching out to talented officers to encourage 
them to come in.
    I think it is a combination of financial incentives, 
helping address a family or individual's particular needs, 
finding a post that works for them in Africa, focusing on 
recruitment within the State Department and the continuing 
support we see from our leadership about--and from you that 
Africa matters for itself and our country and to encourage 
people to serve there.
    Those are some of the types of steps we are taking.
    Senator Rounds. Do we really have to kind of take a look 
more at focusing? I know there are some areas where we consider 
them hardship or areas where flat out people just are not 
applying because there is other places that they would prefer 
to be, and yet, we need qualified individuals here.
    Does Congress need to take steps to give direction or 
guidance with regard to filling these in the near future or are 
we going to see improvements in the filling of these here in 
the next few months?
    Ms. Phee. I am not sure about the time frame, but I 
genuinely believe if the State Department as a whole had more 
people that Africa would attract that talent.
    I think we saw in the past 20 years and particularly in 
Iraq and Afghanistan, when we use financial incentives we were 
able to attract individuals to serve.
    I am personally interested in looking at financial 
incentives that would encourage a 2-year assignment. I think it 
is very difficult to build relationships, which is the heart of 
what we do, in a 1-year assignment.
    That would be my preference for applying financial 
resources.
    Senator Rounds. Then one last question on it. Do you have 
the resources to be able to make those financial commitments at 
this time?
    Ms. Phee. No.
    Senator Rounds. Then would that not be something that we 
need to address?
    Ms. Phee. Yes, but that, of course, is not something that 
I--as you know, I, individually, can address. That would be 
part of the Administration's request and its partnership with 
you.
    Senator Rounds. I recognize that I am out of time, but my 
point being we recognize that you have a challenge in filling 
these and that you have identified, perhaps, one way to do 
that, but if you do not have that tool available to you, you 
will not get it done. My question straightforward is do we need 
to make some modifications or policy recommendations that would 
allow you to do what you have just suggested?
    Ms. Phee. To the best of my understanding, Senator, and 
with the support of the State Department leadership, which is 
also focused on this question, I think it is a question of 
resources both in hiring and providing incentives.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you.
    Ms. Phee. Thank you.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Senator Rounds, and we look 
forward to working with you to try to provide some of those 
incentives.
    Senator Kaine.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen, Senator 
Rounds, and thank you to the witnesses for your important 
service.
    Virginia has a fairly sizable Ethiopian diaspora community 
and they are very, very focused on the challenges there.
    As you know, since the war in Ethiopia began in November of 
2020 there have been two million displaced, tens of thousands 
of deaths. Observers have found credible reports of human 
rights abuses including ethnic cleansing, massacres, sexual 
violence, and the U.N. reports that the humanitarian situation 
in Ethiopia has significantly deteriorated this year, leading 
to dire humanitarian needs across the country.
    Compounding these humanitarian needs driven by war there 
has been a prolonged drought. Twenty-nine million people are 
estimated to need humanitarian assistance and protection this 
year, compared to 23.5 million last year and 8.4 million in 
2020.
    In May of 2021, the State Department--and this is, 
Ambassador Phee, a question for you--the State Department 
restricted some assistance to Ethiopia based on conflict and 
human rights-related concerns.
    How much and what type of assistance was affected by the 
freeze and of that assistance what activities, if any, have 
since resumed?
    Ms. Phee. Thank you, Senator.
    As you know, we have focused intensively on trying to stop 
the war. That was the number-one priority in order to stop the 
grave human rights violations committed by all fighting forces.
    I am happy to report to you that in January of this year 
the government effectively ceased air operations in Tigray and 
there has been a durable effective cessation of hostilities 
between the parties since March.
    We continue to encourage talks between the parties to 
consolidate that important beginning.
    The second critical need was humanitarian access. As you 
know, we intensively engaged the parties on improving 
humanitarian access in Tigray and we have achieved enormous 
success with our partners at USAID and our implementing 
partners, and I am happy to report that this week the 
government has started to allow duty-free import of fuel from 
Djibouti to assist in the humanitarian response in the north.
    That is about 2 million liters per month and that fuel was 
the sort of critical last step to ensuring the humanitarian 
assistance got moved around Tigray to people in need.
    Services still have not been restored in Tigray so that 
remains an area of concern that we continue to work on.
    Thirdly, on human rights and accountability, we have been 
working to arrange for the U.N. Human Rights Commission of 
Inquiry to visit Ethiopia. That visit took place this week to 
start discussions about accountability. That is a very critical 
step forward.
    I think we are in a much better place today than we were in 
May of 2021. The most, I think, important program from the 
Ethiopian perspective was because of the way we have structured 
AGOA, we were forced to end AGOA because they were not meeting 
the commitments under AGOA.
    Those are the benchmarks that we are now looking at to 
review whether or not we could resume assistance, whether it is 
our development assistance, which I will defer to Dr. Putman, 
or other types of engagement that we effectively ceased during 
the conflict.
    Is that----
    Senator Kaine. That is a good way to get started. I am 
going to follow up.
    How much assistance--this is a budget hearing of the State 
and USAID budget for Africa--how much assistance requested for 
Fiscal Year 2023 would be focused on mitigating or resolving 
conflict in Ethiopia or helping people there, both from the 
State Department and the USAID perspective?
    Ms. Phee. I do not have those numbers, but I am focused on 
getting them in a position where they will be available. I will 
come back to you on that.
    Senator Kaine. That would be great.
    Then from the USAID perspective, talk a little bit about 
what we are doing to ameliorate the suffering on the ground 
today.
    Dr. Putman. Thank you, Senator.
    As you know, USAID has put a tremendous amount of money 
into humanitarian assistance. We have provided more than $1.2 
billion in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia since the crisis 
began, including nearly $590 million from USAID and more than 
$26 million from the U.S. Department of State this fiscal year.
    We have just made a new announcement that we will be 
providing another $488 million in critical humanitarian 
assistance that will be both for northern Ethiopia, but 
particularly in the areas affected by the ongoing drought, 
which is basically unprecedented.
    We also have--because of Congress' willingness to allow us 
to use notwithstanding authority, we have been able to continue 
a large amount of our development assistance to Ethiopia, but 
we are not providing assistance through the government. We 
stopped all of that assistance when the conflict began.
    We are able to continue doing life-saving work in food 
security, in health, COVID response, those sorts of activities, 
and we have been able to maintain that as well as a focus on 
educating children.
    Senator Kaine. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chair.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Senator Kaine, and thank you 
for raising that.
    I do want to pick up a little bit on the Ethiopia 
situation.
    Ambassador Phee, I want to thank you for your personal 
efforts. I know how much time and effort you have put into 
trying to bring the parties together to seek a political 
solution.
    As I understand the current state of play, you have got the 
government that appointed their negotiating team. You have the 
TPLF that appointed negotiators as well.
    There is a dispute as to who should be--what should be the 
forum for these negotiations with the TPLF wanting the Kenyan 
President Kenyatta to mediate and Ethiopia asking that the 
mediator be the African Union.
    Number one, is that an accurate description of this current 
state of play and what are we doing to resolve it? It seems to 
be something we should be able to help them overcome if they 
are both interested in getting to the negotiations.
    Ms. Phee. Thank you.
    First, I would observe that, generally speaking, Kenya and 
Ethiopia have positive relations, including Prime Minister Abiy 
and President Kenyatta.
    I do not think--I think it would have been very possible to 
work out an arrangement where Kenya hosted these first public 
talks.
    As you are aware, I am sure, because we are all excited 
about it, the presidential election in Kenya is on August 9 and 
it is our expectation that a natural focus on that event may be 
affecting the scheduling of these talks.
    Fortunately, our new envoy for the Horn, Ambassador Mike 
Hammer, will be in Ethiopia this week and he will be having 
discussions with the parties to see what we can do to move 
forward on those talks.
    That is the current state of play.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, and thank you for mentioning 
AGOA.
    As you know, in other conversations I have raised my 
concern that the freezing of AGOA impacts the people throughout 
Ethiopia. It does not specifically punish the government. It 
hurts farmers no matter where they live and other 
entrepreneurs.
    I am glad that you are taking a look at that and making a 
determination about whether or not that freeze can be lifted 
and, as I understand it, you have the authority--you, the 
President, the Secretary, have that authority once you make 
such a determination.
    Is that right?
    Ms. Phee. I think USTR would say they have a primary voice 
in this discussion.
    The interagency is looking closely at that and I know 
members of Congress are interested as well. We will try and 
find a way forward that meets, I think, the interests and 
concerns of all parties involved.
    The points I outlined to Senator Kaine are, as you know, 
components of the AGOA criteria that we are measuring. Thank 
you.
    Senator Van Hollen. Yes. Thank you.
    Dr. Putman, let me turn to the request for the Digital 
Africa program.
    This committee has been--is, I think, more familiar with 
Power Africa and Prosper Africa. This is a new request.
    Could you speak a little bit to how USAID plans to invest 
the $20 million that you are requesting for Digital Africa?
    Dr. Putman. Yes. We are very excited about working in the 
digital domain.
    There are three components, and one is to expand affordable 
and inclusive digital connectivity, the second is to build 
digital resilience, and the third is to grow human capital 
through digital approaches.
    When my staff gave me that I said, what on earth are you 
talking about? Because when I look at this, I see it as, 
essentially, saying we are talking about building the 
infrastructure, getting the internet and all the infrastructure 
that is needed onto the continent and expanding that and access 
to it.
    Secondly, really thinking about the enabling environment 
and hoping to build an enabling environment that will allow, we 
hope, more of a democratic approach to the internet than we are 
seeing in some of the authoritarian regimes, which are trying 
to move into this space.
    Then, lastly, training and getting particularly young 
people who, as you so rightly stated, are over 60 percent of 
the continent's population, giving them access to the skills 
needed to work in the digital space.
    It is infrastructure, enabling environment, and people.
    Senator Van Hollen. My time is about to expire here. I may 
pick up on in the next conversation because, again, I support 
this initiative. Twenty million dollars is not a lot of money 
when you are talking about connectivity for the African 
continent, and when you compare it to the investments that some 
of our competitors and adversaries are making in the digital 
space in Africa, this is a small amount.
    Again, I appreciate the request. I just think it will 
require a longer conversation about what we really hope to 
achieve in this space and whether you can also be helped by 
other parts of the U.S. Government like the DFC, but let me 
turn it over to Senator Rounds.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I think that 
both you and Senator Kaine have touched on the issues in 
Ethiopia and I would like to follow up just a little bit with 
Secretary Phee.
    The Administration officials have described the U.S.-Africa 
relationship as an enduring partnership and Secretary Blinken 
has asserted that it is time to start treating Africa as the 
major geopolitical player it has become, but the U.S. 
Government has cut off Ethiopia from AGOA, recognizing we have 
guidelines and so forth. Prime Minister Abiy is the duly 
elected leader. He won the elections. The Tigrayans, who had 
been in power, were ousted--Tigrayans in the northern part of 
the country. Now we find a civil war and there have been 
atrocities committed.
    Rather than setting back and looking at the duly elected 
government of Ethiopia as being just exactly that, we seem to 
now set aside that recognition in this particular case, whereas 
in Ukraine, where we have a duly elected leader and we support 
that duly elected leader, we seem to play a different game in 
Africa with another duly elected leader.
    Is there a difference in policy here that we should 
consider and perhaps reflect on?
    Ms. Phee. Senator, we have been engaged with Prime Minister 
Abiy.
    You will recall that President Biden spoke with him in 
January to encourage the cessation of the bombing campaign in 
Tigray and a move towards resolution of the internal conflict.
    I had the privilege of traveling to Ethiopia in January and 
meeting with the Prime Minister. Our previous Special Envoys--
Jeffrey Feltman, David Satterfield, now Mike Hammer--have the 
opportunity to meet with him.
    Our Charge d'affaires, Ambassador Tracey Jacobson, meets 
with him and members of his government and we are working to 
support efforts in Ethiopia to address the unrest that is not 
only in northern Ethiopia, but also affects, as you know, the 
Amhara and the folks in the Oromo region, and as Dr. Putman 
talked about, the drought.
    Administrator Samantha Power was just in the Horn of Africa 
and announced I think it is a billion dollars in aid for the 
countries in the Horn including Ethiopia that are suffering 
from drought.
    I think it is fair to say that we are seriously engaged 
with the government and with other parties in Ethiopia to help 
them get back on their feet.
    When I spoke with Prime Minister Abiy, I told him that I 
did not want to be the Assistant Secretary of State for African 
Affairs while there was a broken Ethiopia and a broken U.S.-
Ethiopia relationship.
    All of our efforts are designed to help ameliorate the 
suffering that has--the people of Ethiopia have endured to 
promote stability and to put them back on their feet.
    I would say I think we are legitimately and seriously 
engaged.
    Senator Rounds. I am pleased to hear that you are making 
progress. I think Prime Minister Abiy, being the duly elected 
prime minister, deserves our attention and our support and 
hopefully we will be able to help them resolve the challenges 
that they face.
    On another issue--and this is for both you and for Dr. 
Putman--this budget reduces funding for water and sanitation 
programs by nearly 40 percent from the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget 
although diarrheal disease, cholera, and other waterborne 
diseases remain threats in the region.
    At the same time, the fiscal year 2023 request proposes a 
$174 million increase for climate change initiatives focused on 
clean energy and sustainable landscapes.
    It would appear to me like the Biden administration is 
prioritizing its climate change agenda over global health 
programs.
    Have Africans asked us to reprioritize our foreign 
assistance away from health programs and towards combating 
climate change?
    Dr. Putman. Senator, I am not familiar with all the details 
of the changes in funding.
    I know that sometimes our requests are based on making 
tradeoffs between where the Administration has new priorities 
and where we have seen interest on the part of others, 
including your committees.
    I think we are trying to determine how best to balance 
everyone's different priorities in this arena.
    Senator Rounds. This particular one kind of stands out 
because this is one area in which, I think, our aid to these 
areas within Africa has been appreciated and very clearly 
accepted while at the same time it appears that the change--the 
dramatic change in the funding--and we know we have got limited 
funding in Africa right now.
    I would just ask you to go back in and look and see if, 
perhaps, this particular challenge might be one that we could 
take a second look at.
    Dr. Putman. Yes. I just want to mention very briefly that 
we do look at--one of the issues in Africa is the increased 
droughts and so partly we are trying to look at how do we 
address that through our data adaptation programming, which 
would allow us to then better respond to some of the health 
needs as well as the economic needs.
    Senator Rounds. I understand that there is a long-term 
desire to address climate change and the focus within the 
Administration, but it would seem to me that judgment would 
suggest that if we really want to help these folks in Africa in 
the near term that we not do it at the expense of taking care 
of those programs, which have been appreciated and accepted by 
them, including for water and sanitation programs.
    It seems to me that that is kind of a tough place to have 
the reduction at, but I would appreciate having that discussion 
continued on, okay?
    Ms. Phee. Senator, I will defer to USAID to look at the 
WASH numbers, and you are absolutely right, I think we have all 
experienced the positive impact that WASH investment has had 
for our African partners and friends.
    To your direct question as to whether we have been asked 
for climate change support, I can tell you we have.
    Most recently, in mid-May I joined Secretary Blinken in New 
York where, you may recall, we hosted several meetings on the 
food security crisis and we invited African ministers to come 
and speak with us in a separate group in that day of sort of a 
big focus on this issue and I will tell you, they said to us--
and I do not think that we were expecting this--they said, 
first of all, thank you very much.
    As Americans, you always show up and help us in crisis. We 
really appreciate it, but what we are really concerned is about 
having sufficiency and resiliency as we go forward in the 
medium term and the long term, and we are quite concerned in 
particular about the impact of climate change on our 
agricultural production.
    Senator Rounds. I do not mean to be argumentative--and my 
time has expired, but I would just make it a point I think if 
you said we are going to reduce the amount that we are going to 
provide you for water and sanitation programs and we will put 
it into climate change, I think you might have had a different 
response.
    Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My time has more than 
expired.
    Senator Van Hollen. Sure. Sure. Not a problem.
    Look, I want to pick up on that because I did want to 
address the issue of food security and especially in the Horn 
of Africa, where it is most acute.
    We have had a number of hearings. I think we know, we need 
to make sure the world knows, that a lot of people's immediate 
food insecurity on the African continent and in the Middle East 
and elsewhere is a direct result of Putin's war in Ukraine and 
the fact that he has tied up over 20 million tons of grain in 
the port of Odessa, but we also know that, especially in the 
Horn of Africa, we have seen a long drought and ongoing food 
insecurity.
    While we address the immediate challenges that have been 
brought on by Putin's war we also want to focus on the long-
term issue, and I imagine some of that climate change money can 
go to address some of those mitigation pieces. I do think it is 
important to get the details.
    Can you both speak to our long-term strategy as opposed to 
our sort of immediate relief efforts when it comes to food 
insecurity?
    Because obviously in the moment we provide, through the 
World Food Programme and other programs direct food assistance, 
but the ultimate goal is to increase agricultural production in 
these countries and obviously continuing droughts make that 
harder, but there are new agricultural techniques that can 
help.
    Can, maybe, you both speak to our efforts in that area?
    Dr. Putman. Senator, I welcome the question.
    My father is actually an agriculturalist and we started in 
Africa in 1965 and so I have seen tremendous changes.
    First of all, we are seeing an expansion of the numbers of 
Feed the Future countries. The new countries will all be in 
Africa. That is very important, but a former Ethiopian minister 
of agriculture many years ago started talking about the 
importance of looking at climate change actually on the 
continent and saying that to the African researchers themselves 
we have to start looking at alternative crops for when we see 
different countries' climates warming up and starting to 
develop the new technologies including drought-resistant seeds, 
figuring out new micro irrigation schemes, better ways to feed 
livestock.
    All these new techniques, as well as the ability to trade 
seeds and technologies across countries.
    While we are seeing that adoption, it is not going to scale 
fast enough and so the resources that we are getting and we are 
requesting for agriculture are really intended to scale that up 
in a whole range of countries.
    The other area to look at--again, my dad, not just an 
agriculturist, but actually a livestock man--I did my work--all 
my work in my graduate days with pastoralists in Africa--is 
looking at those places where pastoralism will be able to 
continue and thinking about providing alternatives to those 
pastoralists that are interested in looking at new forms of 
livelihoods.
    We are very much committed to and focused on increasing 
agricultural production in Africa across a wide range of 
countries.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you for that.
    Let me--well, we talked about food insecurity. I want to 
briefly ask you for an update on our effort to fight COVID.
    Obviously, part of this budget includes our efforts to work 
with our African partners to address a whole range of diseases 
on the continent and it is really important we not forget about 
them, neglect those, as we move forward.
    If you could give us a brief update on our efforts with 
respect to fighting COVID on the African continent. My 
understanding is at this point there is plenty of supply of 
vaccines, but the issue is the distribution and getting 
vaccines into people's arms and that is part of building out a 
health network in these countries--a public health 
infrastructure.
    Could you just speak to where we are on that?
    Dr. Putman. Absolutely. We are totally committed to getting 
shots into arms and the Global VAX effort is aimed explicitly 
at that, at trying to work with countries to speed up getting 
those shots into arms--using existing health systems, but 
getting the vaccines out to those people who are willing to be 
vaccinated.
    People talk about vaccine hesitancy and often we have 
discovered when we really looked into it that it is less the 
hesitancy, but people not having the ability to get to the 
locales where the vaccines are available or the community 
health workers not having the additional incentives to take on 
this challenge.
    We are working on that in a range of countries.
    Senator Van Hollen. I appreciate that.
    I mean, I think this is a global effort to address the 
pandemic and make sure that we save lives, especially in those 
countries where there may not be access to the antivirals and 
therapeutics we have here, but it is also, of course, directly 
in our interest because we have witnessed that, I believe, most 
of the variations that have developed to date arose in Africa--
in African countries.
    I think it is important that the American people and the 
American taxpayer recognize that, yes, we want to provide 
public health resources as a country that has been focused on 
health, but it is also in our direct interest to do so.
    Senator Rounds.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I just want to touch base a little bit on what Chairman Van 
Hollen has talked about here with regard to the food shortages 
that have been caused by the war in Ukraine, and the Russia-
Ukraine war clearly has exacerbated the preexisting food 
security crisis in parts of Africa.
    I would like you, first of all, to perhaps describe what 
you see as the current impact of the Russian invasion of 
Ukraine and the limitation on their ability to bring out the 
grain that, really, a huge amount of Africa depends on.
    I want to do it in this light. Right now, Africans have 
been receptive or, I should say, I hope they have been 
receptive to our point of view on Russia's role in not only 
increasing the insecurity with regard to food, but also what is 
going on with the Wagner Group right now and the fact that they 
are there right now in a real malign way.
    How do we go about addressing and sharing with our friends 
in Africa: number one, Mr. Putin is causing a food shortage 
that they will see now this year; but second of all, there is a 
malign influence, not just from Russia, but from China as well, 
but specifically with the Wagner Group, and how do we go about 
addressing that as a part of this discussion about where the 
problems are coming from?
    Ms. Phee. Thank you for raising that question. That is an 
area where we are putting a lot of intensive focus, given 
current events.
    Very simply, the Russians are trying to weaponize food and 
we are, through your generosity and the generosity of the 
American people, are responding in a different way.
    We are trying to help solve the problems with this 
supplemental. That is a really powerful message. Administrator 
Power's trip this past week begins to share that message 
publicly. I expect travel in the next 2 weeks of other senior 
officials to get that message out on the continent.
    We also took on the canard that our sanctions were 
disrupting the movement of trade and we have looked 
specifically at the challenge of the suspension of the SWIFT 
system and are working now to respond to any African company or 
government that is having trouble. We have essentially 
established a help desk if there really is a problem because of 
the SWIFT suspension. We can help find a workaround.
    Two weeks ago, the AU held a summit in Zambia. My principal 
deputy, Ervin Massinga, attended for us and had the opportunity 
to speak both with the AU Commission as well as many African 
foreign ministers who were attending, and he had serious 
discussions with them about Wagner, about Prigozhin.
    He found that many of them are very aware and share our 
concerns, and we intend to continue those consultations to make 
sure that our African partners have the information that we 
have.
    Thirdly, we are working to do better in the--to countering 
Russian disinformation and misinformation and get our message 
out. Those are some of the ways in which we are trying to 
respond to the challenge.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you.
    Dr. Putman, would you like to add anything to that?
    Dr. Putman. Yes. I would like to mention just that, as 
Ambassador Phee said, I think we do not always get our messages 
out to everyone in a country and so frequently the technical 
ministries, for instance, in Africa know exactly what we are 
doing in the health or the education or the food security 
sectors, but the senior leaders in countries are not always 
aware of the full breadth and depth of American assistance.
    I think we are making new plans to try to ensure that 
knowledge is there at the top echelons and also expanding our 
public messaging campaigns out to people in local communities, 
again, so they recognize how much of the assistance they are 
receiving is the generosity of American taxpayers.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you.
    Dr. Phee, what is the Digital Africa Initiative?
    Ms. Phee. We have a lot of programs that try to get at 
infrastructure. For example, we are concerned about 
agriculture. If African countries do not have roads or 
railroads or ports to move goods in and out, they are not going 
to be successful.
    I think we are looking at digital as the same type of 
modern infrastructure that will help move ideas and markets. 
That is why there is a focus on that.
    I think you are right to be concerned about the modest 
amount for the initial foray, but that will only be one 
component of the U.S. Government effort. You know we have the 
great tools of DFC, of MCC, and Prosper, and those tools also 
look to see where they could contribute to build out the 
digital infrastructure.
    We should also be working more with the American private 
sector and that is underway. I heard the skepticism in your 
voice. I share that skepticism, but I think there is more we 
can do and we can mobilize all the tools at our disposal.
    Thank you.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Rounds.
    Look, I think this is a frustration we all share and I want 
to sort of get at it a somewhat different way.
    Ambassador Phee, there is polling data that was released in 
June of this year from a prominent think tank in South Africa 
that found that among African youths, 77 percent said that 
China was the most influential ``foreign actor on the 
continent.'' The United States was at 67 percent.
    My first question is does that surprise you and, if not, if 
you agree that that is likely accurate, what do you think the 
reasons are?
    Ms. Phee. Like many big problems, there are probably many 
contributing factors. I think it is fair to say, perhaps, we 
have not been in recent years as active on the continent as 
many of us would like us to be.
    I know that China has been extremely active in publicly 
visible infrastructure projects. That could possibly account 
for different views there.
    I remain convinced that we remain the best partner for 
Africans. We offer the best model, the best opportunities. We 
are the best friends, as we have discussed today, for example, 
with the COVID and food security responses.
    That is not a great statistic, but I am confident that we 
can address the gap that was reflected in that poll and, as I 
said, you will see very shortly increased senior level 
engagement on the continent. We will conclude this year with 
the Leaders Summit.
    These are the types of engagement activities that can help 
turn that perception around.
    Senator Van Hollen. I want to applaud you on the Leaders 
Summit. I think that is a way to demonstrate that the United 
States cares, is involved, and very focused on the continent, 
but I agree with your assessment, which is that part of this 
has to do with just our--first of all, our presence on the 
ground and this is both governmental, private sector, and 
investment, and I agree and want to work with my colleague, the 
ranking member, on the staffing issue just in terms of the 
people power that we have in our embassies and consulates.
    I also think it reflects our priorities with respect to a 
lot of our own public investment, and I remember decades ago we 
made a lot of investments through USAID in dams, in schools, 
and libraries, in things that were much more visible and, 
certainly, as you said, Dr. Putman, more on the minds of the 
government leaders who are trying to deliver services directly 
to people.
    We moved away from that, and this--I am not criticizing our 
focus on health care and education and food security, but it is 
more dispersed.
    I am not arguing that we should displace any of that, but I 
do think we have to come up with the resources to add in this 
other dimension of investment in infrastructure because I 
remember years ago landing in Uganda.
    The road I drove in from was all just made by China, and I 
think African countries are recognizing the problems that come 
with that in terms of debt traps and all the conditions that 
apply, and our assistance has been much more open.
    I mean, we do not attach conditions to health care support 
or education or any of these other things, but I think in terms 
of the public mind some of those infrastructure projects that 
we used to do decades ago did get a lot of attention in those 
countries and I think it is something that we need to look at 
more closely.
    We had a hearing in the full committee this morning on 
economic statecraft, and I was actually surprised that none of 
the administration witnesses, at least in their opening 
statements--I do not think in questions--raised what I 
understand is the Biden administration's new big initiative in 
the area of infrastructure coming out of the G-7, which is the 
Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.
    I really hope that this is more than just an announcement 
by these countries, but that we quickly put some meat on the 
bone. I mean, we are talking $600 billion over 5 years.
    I think I am expressing all of our frustration in those 
numbers that we see reflected in public polls with respect to 
our relative influence and we want to turn it around for a 
variety of reasons.
    Maybe you could just speak, Ambassador Phee, to your 
understanding of how this new partnership for global 
infrastructure and investment would apply in Africa and our 
investment opportunities and challenges in Africa.
    Ms. Phee. Sure. We are all very excited about PGII and I 
believe our African partners are as well. I think the three 
areas of initial focus, as I understand it, will be critical 
minerals, ports, and railroads. It would get to, I think, what 
you are referring to, Senator.
    On a different program, I want to tell you that there is a 
Nigerien delegation in town this week to talk to the MCC--
Millennial Challenge Corporation--about an innovative regional 
program with Benin to build infrastructure between Niamey and 
Cotonou so to allow movements from the port up into the desert.
    We are continuing using these different tools and this new 
tool, PGII, to get at the very point that you raised.
    Senator Rounds. Just one serious one here, and it kind of 
follows up on what the chairman has started talking about here.
    The United States worked with China to establish Africa 
CDC. Unfortunately, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative, 
China is now building the headquarters where Africa CDC will be 
located.
    We know from China's construction of the Africa Union's 
headquarters in Addis that the PRC bugged it, used it to spy 
and otherwise exert influence over the AU's agenda.
    What will be the effect of China's construction of Africa 
CDC headquarters on our influence in the future and should the 
United States Government consider backing large-scale strategic 
infrastructure projects like constructing the Africa CDC 
headquarters in the future, and is this something that we 
should really take a hard look at and are these types of 
projects, literally, putting us--can they put us back in front 
of the populations within Africa similar to what China is 
trying to do today?
    Clearly, we would be a better partner. The question is, is 
this an area where our resources would be appropriately used, 
and I think that is a lot of what the chairman is asking as 
well. Is that the direction we should be considering in the 
future?
    Ms. Phee. I think in the health sector my assessment would 
be, starting particularly with the PEPFAR program, we have 
really helped African health systems develop in a way that is 
enormously significant.
    It is essentially the backbone that helped Africa respond 
to the COVID pandemic. Through our efforts in the past year, we 
have, for the first time on the continent, manufacturing 
facilities for vaccines, which, incredibly, did not exist 
before.
    Now in Kenya, South Africa, and Senegal, there are efforts 
underway to develop that kind of manufacturing capability.
    We have seen South African scientists, who are the 
beneficiaries of partnerships with American scientists, help 
identify the new strains that the chairman referred to.
    It is, of course, of concern. You are right to raise the 
concern, but if you compare a building to the decades of our 
investment and our engagement and, in fact, it was our 
initiative to help develop an Africa CDC, which the AU 
Commission has played such an important role in responding to 
the COVID pandemic, I think the fundamentals in this sector are 
positive.
    The idea of infrastructure does remain potent and powerful 
to people, as you both have identified, and I certainly think 
it is something we could review what type of infrastructure 
would be most beneficial to advancing our interests.
    Thank you.
    Senator Rounds. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Senator.
    Just on that last point, Ambassador Phee, I want to be 
really clear. I am not talking about displacing the really 
important long-term investment we have made in public health as 
well as food security and education.
    I think those are essentials and I think that the people at 
the grassroots level in these countries, over time, recognize 
that we have been there to help.
    I do think that we need to up our game significantly when 
it comes to infrastructure investment and that is why I want 
to--I applaud the $20 million request for Digital Africa. I do 
not want to diminish it.
    We have got to make sure we have a multiplier effect, you, 
USAID, working with DFC and others, because when you are 
talking about competing with--and I know you are not in this, 
you are competing with the big infrastructure investments of 
China in the area. Huawei has got a lot of Africa wired.
    We just need to, in my view, rethink our whole approach to 
public infrastructure and work with our private sector partners 
which I think bring great benefits to making sure that projects 
are actually carried out in an efficient way and to the long-
term benefit of people in Africa.
    I know you all share some of the frustrations that we do 
and I am just grateful for all that you have done.
    I do want to close by emphasizing the point that Senator 
Rounds made regarding our personnel on the ground.
    First of all, please, both of you, thank everybody who is 
at the State Department and USAID for all their work on behalf 
of our country. It does make a huge difference.
    We are here today to try to outline areas where we can do 
even better by working together, so please thank everybody.
    Then I do agree with Senator Rounds about the urgent need 
to increase our presence--our diplomatic presence in Africa, 
and so I look forward to working with you and with him and 
others on ways that we can do that.
    Part of that is the overall resourcing of the State 
Department. You are right, that hiring freeze that was put in 
place, goodness, probably about 4 or 5 years ago now did have 
long-term harmful impacts. No doubt about it. We have to regain 
lost ground.
    We want to work with you to do that and to build on it 
because my view is even the pre-freeze presence in staffing was 
not sufficient to meet our goals around the country--around the 
world.
    Thank you. I look forward to working with Senator Rounds on 
that effort and with all of you, and unless you have any other 
questions?
    Senator Rounds. Mr. Chairman, no, I do not. I just want to 
say thank you for the opportunity again today and thank you to 
our witnesses today.
    This is an opportunity that I think you can find bipartisan 
support, moving forward, in terms of improving our standing in 
Africa with a number of the different nations.
    This is an important area of the world that clearly wants 
to be our friends and they clearly want our attention, and most 
certainly it is an area that can be very beneficial to the 
citizens of the United States as we develop those friendships, 
those relationships--those business relationships.
    We just thank both of you for your service in this 
endeavor.
    Senator Van Hollen. There--of course, as you both well 
know, there are large parts of the African continent we did not 
get to today.
    We did have a separate hearing on the Sahel recently and 
thank all of you for your input on that, and we have a lot more 
conversations and area to cover, going forward.
    Again, I do think for today we have covered a lot of 
territory, thanks to the two of you.
    I am going to hold the record open for the subcommittee 
until close of business, Thursday.
    Thank you both very much for your service to our country.
    The meeting is adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 3:34 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
                              ----------                              


              Additional Material Submitted for the Record


           Responses of Ms. Mary Catherine Phee to Questions 
                 Submitted by Senator Chris Van Hollen

    Question. AGOA: The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has 
been a cornerstone of U.S. trade policy toward sub-Saharan Africa since 
2000 by providing duty-free access to the U.S. market for most exports 
from eligible African countries. AGOA's current authorization expires 
in September 2025. Total bilateral trade between the United States and 
Africa has been hovering around an average of $60 billion for the past 
10 years--down substantially from the 2008 peak of $141 billion.
    Why has U.S.-Africa bilateral trade been frozen at these same 
levels, despite our multiple programs of support and trade preferences, 
like AGOA and Prosper Africa?

    Answer. The peak years of U.S. imports from sub-Saharan Africa were 
dominated by petroleum imports. Non-petroleum imports from the region 
have seen a limited increase over the course of the AGOA program, but 
have not kept up with overall increases in U.S. worldwide imports. 
There are a number of factors at play, including the recent economic 
downturn related to the COVID-19 epidemic, a lack of investment in 
value-added manufacturing, and a lack of capacity to comply with U.S. 
import requirements.
    Targeted U.S. assistance in specific areas has produced positive 
results. Apparel manufacturing is one example that has been a boon for 
exports and employment for several AGOA partners. We continue to work 
with our interagency partners to identify additional strategic 
opportunities to improve AGOA utilization and overall economic growth.

    Question. As we approach the expiration of AGOA's current 
authorization, what improvements and reforms should we be considering 
to encourage more investment, help small and women-owned businesses, 
and assist countries to make better use of the program?

    Answer. Our goal is to support responsible and sustainable trade 
and investment that secures good livelihoods for both Africans and 
Americans. Supporting small and women-owned businesses are important 
parts of achieving this goal. We are working with our interagency 
partners under the Prosper Africa initiative to increase our focus on 
small and women-owned enterprises to include linkages to the African 
Diaspora here in the United States. USAID's Africa Trade and Investment 
Program is working to support these efforts and boost utilization of 
the AGOA program.
    The future of AGOA is a focus of our African partners and I look 
forward to supporting USTR in any consultations with Congress on this 
important issue. The AGOA-eligible countries are focused on: 1) 
addressing the challenges facing AGOA's utilization and trade capacity 
building efforts; and 2) securing trade and investment relations beyond 
2025, including increasing the number of eligible countries and 
products. The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in December will be an 
excellent opportunity to discuss the future of AGOA, as it will include 
an AGOA Ministerial meeting led by USTR.

    Question. In March, I teamed up with Senators Risch and Rounds to 
introduce the Somaliland Partnership Act, which encourages the State 
Department to enhance our cooperation and engagement with Somaliland. 
We were glad to advance that legislation out of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee recently and look forward to moving it on the floor 
as well. I also saw that in May, General Stephen Townsend, Commander of 
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), and U.S. Ambassador Larry Andre visited 
Somaliland to meet with President Bihi and members of his cabinet and 
tour the Port of Berbera and Berbera International Airport.
    How would you characterize the contours of our current engagement 
with Somaliland and what opportunities do you see to enhance our 
cooperation in an effort to support broader regional stability?

    Answer. The United States recognizes the sovereignty and 
territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia within its 
1960 borders, which includes Somaliland. Within that framework, the 
Administration engages with Somaliland as we do with other regions of 
Somalia on political, development, humanitarian, and security issues of 
mutual interest. We have expressed an interest in strengthening 
cooperation on border security and terrorist watchlisting and are open 
to expanded cooperation in other areas of interest to Somaliland. 
AFRICOM has visited Berbera to assess its ability to support the U.S. 
military pursuant to U.S. national security priorities.
    While the Federal Government of Somalia supports U.S. engagement 
with Somaliland within our single Somalia policy, the disagreement over 
Somaliland's status is a politically sensitive issue within Somalia and 
the region. U.S. legislative proposals, like the Somaliland Partnership 
Act, that encourage the United States to explore a partnership with 
Somaliland that could circumvent or undermine Somalia's sovereignty and 
territorial integrity are strongly opposed by Mogadishu and could 
jeopardize our relationship with the Federal Government of Somalia, 
including its support for our current efforts in Somaliland.

    Question. Do you support the application of Leahy vetting to 
Section 127(e) security assistance to ensure that the United States is 
not supporting foreign forces that have committed gross violations of 
human rights?

    Answer. Leahy vetting is an important tool for ensuring that U.S. 
security assistance managed by the State Department is not provided to 
any foreign security force unit or member that is credibly implicated 
in the commission of a gross violation of human rights. For questions 
about 10 U.S.C. 127(e) authority, I respectfully defer to the 
Department of Defense.

    Question. I'm concerned that the budget request calls for a sharp 
decrease in environmental activities in Africa like conservation and 
countering wildlife trafficking. I led, with 28 other Senators, a 
letter this year to the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations 
Subcommittee pushing for strong support to biodiversity programs and 
countering wildlife trafficking programs. The destruction of tropical 
forests and commercial trade in wildlife are major drivers of the 
spillover of zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19, and threaten to spark 
future pandemics.
    How would USAID support wildlife conservation and counter wildlife 
trafficking efforts under this budget?

    Answer. USAID is committed to robust biodiversity programming, 
including responsive action to address wildlife trafficking. USAID 
supports wildlife conservation and works to counter wildlife 
trafficking through partnerships that focus on protecting threatened 
species and biodiverse ecosystems, supporting protected and community 
conserved areas, and reducing conservation crime. Our programs 
contribute to Agency objectives related to climate, water, food 
security, governance, conflict, inclusive development, and private 
sector engagement. USAID programs also work to reduce deforestation, 
forest degradation, and wildlife trade and consumption in order to 
mitigate the risk of zoonotic disease spillover, making conservation 
important for public health, economic resilience, and U.S. national 
security.
    We appreciate and share Congress' interest in conserving wildlife 
and ecosystems in Africa. The FY 2023 request for biodiversity funds 
balances this interest with the need to meet numerous priorities across 
all areas of engagement. To maximize the impact of Agency resources, 
USAID requests biodiversity funds for missions with the greatest need 
and ability to combat wildlife trafficking.
    Where appropriate, USAID extends the reach, impact, and 
sustainability of biodiversity investments by designing programs that 
receive multiple funding streams to address shared challenges, 
including the root causes of biodiversity loss. We also leverage 
private sector funding and market influence for greater impact, and 
work with communities and civil society organizations to efficiently 
engage and benefit people who rely on nature the most. The FY 2023 
request for biodiversity funding in Africa reflects an expectation that 
integration, private sector engagement, and localization will make each 
dollar go further.
                                 ______
                                 

           Responses of Ms. Mary Catherine Phee to Questions 
                     Submitted by Senator Tim Kaine

    Question. How much, and what type of assistance was affected by 
that freeze?

    Answer. In May 2021, the State Department assessed that the 
restrictions in sections 116(a) and 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961 (FAA) apply because the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) was 
engaged in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally 
recognized human rights. These restrictions cover all security 
assistance for the country, defined to include Economic Support Funds, 
and most assistance for the government.
    As a result of these restrictions, we have paused State's 
International Military Education & Training (IMET) and Peace Keeping 
Operations (PKO) training programs. Ethiopia is also ineligible for 
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) funds and the armed forces, 
police, intelligence, or other internal security forces of Ethiopia are 
prohibited (under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations--ITAR) 
from receiving military assistance or defense articles commercially.
    While some USAID assistance was paused in the last Administration, 
the vast majority of USAID programming continues or was resumed at the 
beginning of the current Administration. Most USAID programs are in the 
areas of humanitarian assistance, health, food security and education. 
USAID programs that are still paused include economic growth activities 
and support to most government institutions in certain areas such as 
democracy and governance.

    Question. Of the affected assistance, what activities, if any, have 
since resumed? Can you speak to how the U.S. is continuing to support 
the Ethiopian people directly?

    Answer. Ethiopia remains subject to assistance restrictions under 
sections 116(a) and 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA) 
due to its engagement in a consistent pattern of gross violations of 
internationally recognized human rights. USAID continues to aid the 
people of Ethiopia where there is an available authority to provide the 
assistance. The majority of USAID programs are in the areas of 
humanitarian assistance, health, food security and education and are 
all ongoing. Recently, USAID expanded education activities country-wide 
and approved some support to government institutions in climate and 
environment activities in light of the current drought.

    Question. How much assistance requested for FY 2023 would be 
focused on mitigating or resolving conflict in Ethiopia?

    Answer. Resolving the conflict in Ethiopia is a top diplomatic 
priority. In terms of what we can expect in assistance in FY 2023, the 
bulk of our programming and financial assistance will go directly 
toward ``basic human needs,'' which includes direct humanitarian aid, 
sanitation and medical supplies, and other healthcare necessities. We 
also plan to support transitional justice and national dialogue 
organizations, though the exact funding will depend on how viable these 
processes prove to be as the year goes on.

    Question. Please provide funding data broken out by funding account 
(ESF, DA, INCLE, etc).

    Answer. It is difficult to give exact funding numbers across USG 
programming given the time and geographic scope of some programs. Where 
possible, the U.S. Government has resorted to notwithstanding 
authorities to retain key programs, such as those related to basic 
human needs, to mitigating and resolving conflict in Ethiopia, or to 
U.S. national security.
    To give one example, State's Bureau of International Narcotics and 
Law Enforcement recently obligated $3 million in FY21 INCLE funding for 
Ethiopia, focused on atrocity prevention and accountability in the rule 
of law. Some USAID programs, which had been previously paused, have 
also been deemed to satisfy the basic human needs criteria. State will 
also continue to provide support via its PISCES border management 
system.
    The interagency has agreed to consult on any new programming if 
there is any doubt on whether it is subject to the assistance pause.

    Question. How is the Department engaging with the government and 
international partners to prevent this violence, to investigate all 
credible allegations of these killings, and to hold perpetrators 
accountable?

    Answer. The Department regularly engages at all levels with the 
Ethiopian Government, both in Addis Ababa and here in Washington. Where 
the security situation allows, our diplomats in Addis Ababa have made a 
point of visiting sites in Amhara and Oromia to meet with local 
populations, civic leaders, government officials, and others. Within 
the UN Human Rights Council, the United States co-sponsored a 
resolution mandating the International Commission of Human Rights 
Experts on Ethiopia to investigate allegations of violations and abuses 
in Ethiopia committed since November 2020 by all parties to the 
conflict.
    Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack 
traveled to Ethiopia August 8-9 to reinforce this message. Ambassador 
Van Schaack and Charge d'Affaires Ambassador Jacobson met with the 
deputy prime minister/minister of foreign affairs, minister of justice, 
federal Supreme Court president, National Dialogue commissioners, and 
civil society. They stressed the importance of including the voices of 
the victims and affected communities in transitional justice, 
accountability for human rights violations and atrocities in Ethiopia, 
and offered U.S. assistance in pursuit of these efforts.

    Question. How is the Department working with the government and 
other international partners to ensure that Tigrayans receive the 
humanitarian aid that they need?

    Answer. The Department and USAID engage regularly with the 
Ethiopian Government as well as international partners in Washington 
and in Addis Ababa to coordinate and advocate for significant, 
sustained, unconditional, and unhindered humanitarian assistance to all 
Ethiopians in need. Our embassy works closely with UN humanitarian 
agencies to assess and fill humanitarian assistance gaps.
    We also partner with other stakeholders. The embassy regularly 
convenes groups of like-minded diplomats to share assessments of the 
developing situation, coordinate messaging, and encourage increased 
humanitarian support. Similarly, the Department periodically hosts 
high-level ``Contact Group'' meetings for representatives of other 
concerned nations. Additionally, the Department and USAID conduct joint 
high-level visits to the conflict-affected areas to advocate for 
greater access and the unhindered movement of cash and fuel, and 
restoration of basic services, which are crucial to the humanitarian 
response. By keeping partner nations on the same page we ensure that 
the international community presents a united front on the need for the 
delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance.

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