[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 73 (Friday, June 9, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1109-E1110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN SUPPORT OF A CONFLICT RESPONSE FUND AND A COMPREHENSIVE USG APPROACH 
               TO ADDRESSING THE THREAT OF FAILED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 9, 2006

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, the most significant threat to 
our national security in the 21st Century is from failed countries. 
Nearly 2 billion people live in countries that are in danger of 
collapse. According to the 2002 U.S. National Security Strategy, the 
United States is now threatened less by conquering states than we are 
by failing ones.
  Stop and think about our recent defense and foreign policy 
obligations--Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo--and our current 
engagement in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan. These are all failed states 
and their instability imperils U.S. national security.
  The U.S. defense and foreign policy apparatus formally acknowledged 
the threat of failed states when the National Security Council directed 
the State Department to establish a Coordinator for Stabilization and 
Reconstruction to incorporate ``lessons learned'' from previous 
stabilization operations so that future

[[Page E1110]]

U.S. engagements will save lives--both U.S. and indigenous and use U.S. 
resources judiciously so that failed states don't deteriorate.
  In December 2005, the Defense Department issued a directive, 3000.05, 
that places Stability Operations on par with Combat Operations. These 
are significant first steps and I commend the Administration, however, 
much more needs to be done. The first improvement I would recommend is 
that the State Department not Defense Department be the lead agency for 
planning and implementing the overall strategy for rebuilding a failed 
state.
  I commend my colleagues on the Subcommittee who have done the best 
they can with an allocation this year that is $2.4 billion lower than 
the President's request. Those budget constraints prohibited them from 
funding the Conflict Response Fund, which would allow State Department 
reconstruction officials to immediately draw down such resources as 
necessary to rapidly initiate programs like democratic and electoral 
reform economic and infrastructure development so that the indigenous 
population sees tangible improvements.
  The second improvement I would recommend is stronger support from the 
State and Defense Departments for the Master's degree in Stabilization 
and Reconstruction, being offered by the Naval Postgraduate School in 
my district. This is the only school in the country where U.S. military 
and foreign officers are being educated with U.S. civilian agency 
personnel and the NGO community so they can better understand their 
respective roles in the classroom rather than the battlefield.
  I am glad we are gaining a better understanding of the threat of 
failed states, so that we can confront the challenges of these threats 
to U.S. national security.

                          ____________________