Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6018) to establish an interagency program to assist countries in the Sahel, Maghreb, and adjacent regions of Africa to improve immediate and long-term capabilities to counter terrorist threats, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6018, the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues here, Chairman Mike McCaul and Ranking Member Keating, for their bipartisan leadership to advance this important measure.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, Boko Haram, ISIS-West Africa, as well as ISIS in the Greater Sahara, al-Qaida affiliates, and other armed groups continue to create havoc across north and west Africa. Thousands of civilians, including countless women and children, have died at the hands of these terrorist organizations.

In response to these threats, the U.S. has deployed over 1,000 troops in the region, but the many diverse and increasingly pressing security threats across Africa demand more than just a military presence.

Realizing this, in 2005, the U.S. established the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, known as the TSCTP program, to bring together the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and they did that to coordinate and streamline U.S. and partner nations' efforts to combat terrorism, as well as preventing the spread of violent extremism in north and west Africa.

This program rightly recognizes that we must build the capacity of countries so that they can themselves detect and defeat terrorists within their own countries. This is a long-term approach that can produce high returns with relatively low investment. We are investing in the future security of partner nations.

But TSCTP is not just about security assistance. Strengthening democratic institutions of partner nations to ensure responsive democratic governance and rule of law is also a key part of this program. Often our efforts help bring government officials around the table with local communities, including women's groups and including civil society at large, to increase dialogue on peace and security. Having women at the table not only makes peace agreements more likely, but also makes agreements last longer.

This region is home to some of the poorest countries of the world, and the humanitarian and development needs are immense. High youth unemployment, food insecurity, low education, and severe lack of government services together create an environment ripe for terrorist recruitment.

To improve these underlying conditions, USAID is supporting vulnerable populations through livelihood training, through access to health resources, and through agricultural development.

TSCTP coordinates our diplomatic, defense, and development tools to counter these terrorist threats and to help bring stability to this region. The bill we are considering today supports this program by establishing core objectives in benchmarks and strengthening congressional oversight so it continues to be efficient and effective and timely.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this important measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the author of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), who chairs the Subcommittee on the Middle East and north Africa and is the former chair of the Africa Subcommittee as well.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act mandates an important interagency effort to combat terrorism and to prevent the spread of radical extremism. It increases congressional oversight by requiring increased reporting and regular monitoring and evaluation, frankly, of all of our programs. In doing so, through programs like TSCTP and with just a relatively small amount of foreign assistance dollars, we are investing in the future stability of these nations and their own ability to defeat terrorist attacks.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Mike McCaul for this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure and I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking Mr. McCaul for putting forward this important bill, which would authorize the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership. I want to also thank Congressman Keating for his hard work on this bill as well.

This interagency program was established in 2005 to help America's partners in the Sahel and Maghreb counter terrorism and violent extremism.

In places where instability leads to terrorism and conflict, it is important that we collaborate with our allies and that our policy is driven by united interagency effort. That is why this bill is so critical.

It requires the Secretary of State to work with the Secretary of Defense and the USAID administrator to create a comprehensive strategy. By coordinating our diplomatic, military, and development efforts at home and with partners abroad, the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act strengthens our response to the international security threats facing these regions of Africa.

Mr. Speaker, the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership is an important program that will enhance our international security efforts in an area that demands attention.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I, again, want to thank Mr. McCaul for his hard work on this measure and to Chairman Royce for moving it forward.

This bill authorizes a very important program that strengthens our efforts to assist partners in the Sahel and Maghreb to counter terrorism and violent extremism.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel, both of them this Congress, in their leadership. We are going to miss Chairman Royce as we move on to the end of this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I do rise in support of this bill, the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act. This bill will strengthen our counterterrorism operations in Africa, an area where the threat of terrorism is rapidly rising.

While our attention has been focused on the Middle East, terrorism in Africa has spread.

Our military successes in Iraq and Syria have splintered ISIS, squeezed terrorists out of the Middle East, and sent them fleeing to Africa.

The numbers, Mr. Speaker, are alarming. On the eve of 9/11, it is important to point out, that al-Qaida on the eve of 9/11 only had a few hundred followers. Today, it is estimated that 10,000 ISIS and al-Qaida jihadists have established bases across the continent.

Along with other existing terrorist organizations, such as Boko Haram, terrorism is taking hold in Africa and prohibiting its prosperity.

My bill, which I introduced with my friend, Mr. Keating, authorizes, for the first time, a program called the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership. This program works with countries such as Chad, Mali, and Nigeria to build their capacity to conduct counterterrorism operations and strengthen the rule of law.

Furthermore, my bill requires the State Department, USAID, and the Defense Department to work together to develop a counterterrorism strategy in Africa. By taking a multifaceted approach, we may be able to prevent terrorism from gaining a larger foothold in these countries.

Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to thank Mr. Keating, Chairman Royce, and Ranking Member Engel for all of their support in this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their leadership, for their bipartisan spirit, for everything that they are doing to bring our Congress together. We need more of them around here. I thank them for bringing Mr. McCaul's bill to the floor today. I thank my esteemed Foreign Affairs Committee colleague, Michael McCaul, for his authorship of this important bill.

The Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act codifies an important program, the program after which the bill is named, and helps build partner capacity in a critical region of the world.

Thanks to Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel, I recently had the privilege of leading a delegation to one of those partner countries, Morocco, where I met with the Moroccan equivalent of the FBI. On the front lines of terrorism in north Africa and the Sahel, Morocco has successfully thwarted plot after plot that was threatening U.S. interests, and is positioned to play an even bigger role in our joint counterterrorism efforts.

Programs like the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership help bring law enforcement services in places like Morocco even closer together, allowing us to share information about terrorist groups like ISIS, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, and helps to protect our homeland.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support Mr. McCaul's important bill, and I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) for yielding me time.