Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the Gallagher family will lay to rest a beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather and great grandfather--Mark Gallagher.

I worked with Mark for many years in his capacity as the key U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lobbyist for the poor and unborn. Mark was a quiet but extraordinarily powerful force. While the full reach of his impactful life can only be known to God, those of us who were blessed to know him witnessed the many ways his persevering work made a positive difference for the lives of the weakest and most vulnerable.

First hired by the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment in 1974, Mark formally took up the cause just one year after Roe v. Wade stripped the unborn child of all legal protection. He eventually represented the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as their lead lobbyist until his retirement in 2007. Over the course of those three decades, Mark played an integral role in every pro-life effort in Congress.

He educated an entire generation of lawmakers on the arguments for protecting the unborn, at a time when few others could be found on Capitol Hill with this expertise.

Mark's skillfulness and serene demeanor was critical to the enactment of and defense of the Hyde amendment--the landmark amendment preventing federal funding of abortion that has saved the lives of at least two million people. Two million people who have been aborted instead survived because public funds were unavailable to effectuate their violent demise.

Mark was as concerned about the plight of women facing an unplanned pregnancy as he was about their unborn children. A former worker for U.S. anti-poverty programs like Catholic Charities, he was happy to take part in efforts to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Refundable Child Tax Credit.

A brilliant strategist for the causes he served, Mark was always selfless and self-effacing. Thanks to Mark's mastery of intricate details of the rules of Congress, all the legislative recommendations of the Meese Report, i.e. the Attorney General's commission to combat pornography, were enacted into law.

Beyond living out a Christ-like care for the vulnerable in the political realm, Mark also labored for souls, becoming a permanent deacon in the Catholic Church in 1996.

Someday soon, America will protect the weakest and most vulnerable. And into eternity Mark Gallagher played a critical part in this all- important human rights struggle. We are grateful for the gift of his life and pray for his family in their time of grief.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H. Res. 354, condemning the violence perpetrated against peaceful protesters outside the Turkish Ambassdor's residence during Turkish President Erdogan's visit last month. This timely and critically important measure was introduced by my good friend, and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Ed Royce.

Mr. Speaker, as representatives of the American people, we take a solemn oath to ``support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.'' This sworn commitment spurs us to speak out now after the violent attack last month on peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C. who were peacefully exercising their First Amendments rights.

On that day a group of peaceful demonstrators--including a resident from my home state of New Jersey, Ceren Borazan--gathered outside the Turkish Ambassador's residence to protest the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Shortly after President Erdogan's arrival at the residence during his official visit to the United States, a contingent of his security guards, joined by some supporters, rushed across the street where the protesters were gathered. Before the demonstrators knew it, this group of thugs was upon them, throwing them to the ground and raining blows upon them.

By now we are all familiar with the shocking video images captured of men in dark suits, some with guns, and others in plainclothes mercilessly kicking protesters in their faces while they lie helplessly on the ground. Some demonstrators were outnumbered four to one by their assailants who punched and manhandled them until DC police intervened. When police stepped in, some attackers turned to assault our uniformed officers.

Among this group of protesters were Kurdish- and Armenian-Americans, members of minorities with a painful history of persecution and marginalization in their ancestral homelands. These individuals came to the United States to seek the freedom and safety they were deprived in their lands of origin.

The United States and its Bill of Rights are a promise to these people that must not be broken. That members of the President's security detail and others felt they could attack these sacred rights with impunity should offend us all. That Erdogan would calmly watch the melee unfold--as video evidence shows--is as galling as it is unsurprising. Indeed, just a year ago his security detail was involved in an all-too-similar incident at a public event in Washington.

Mr. Speaker, the steps recommended by this measure should be urgently implemented. Among other things, the United States should charge and prosecute all those involved in the attack. The State Department should request a waiver of immunity for any Turkish officials charged and detained in connection with the incident. Finally, the United States should redouble its efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Turkey.

Mr. Speaker, this was a brutal physical assault on a group of peaceful demonstrators in our nation's capital and a brazen insult to all Americans. I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join their voices and votes in strongly condemning this incident and calling for justice.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership on this bill. I want to thank Ranking Member Engel for his support and also Majority Leader McCarthy for making sure this bill came to the floor. Without that, we wouldn't be here, so I want to thank him especially for his support.

Mr. Speaker, I start off by saying that, since 2013, I have chaired nine congressional hearings focused in whole or in part on atrocities in Iraq and Syria. The distinguished chairman has had another dozen or so such hearings that have brought to light these atrocities.

In one of our hearings in December of 2015, Gregory Stanton, president of Genocide Watch, testified that ``weak words are not enough,'' noting that 21 human rights organizations, genocide scholars, and religious leaders wrote to President Obama imploring him to recognize the ISIS genocide.

At that same hearing, Chaldean Bishop Francis Kalabat said that ``since the fall of Mosul in early June 2014, Christians have endured targeted persecution in the form of forced displacement, sexual violence, and other human rights violations.'' He said, ``ISIS has committed terrific atrocities against the Yazidis,'' and then he bottom-lined it and said the Christians are ``under threat of extinction.''

On May 9, 2016, the House passed Jeff Fortenberry's genocide resolution 393-0. A few days later, Secretary of State John Kerry declared ISIS atrocities to be a genocide.

The existential threat to Christians and Yazidis and other minority faiths, however, continues to this day. Some of the fortunate ones have made it to the relative safety of Erbil but, astonishingly, have gotten no assistance from the United States Government.

Since 2014, as a matter of fact, the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil has provided almost all of the medical care, food, shelter, and education received by over 13,200 Christian families,

almost one-third of the Christians remaining in Iraq, who escaped ISIS. The archdiocese also provides assistance to Yazidis and Muslims. The funding for all of this has been private, with money from Knights of Columbus, Aid to the Church in Need, and a few others.

Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, which has donated more than $12 million to the effort, testified in one of my hearings and said the Knights and other private sources have responded. ``But nongovernmental organizations can only do so much.''

``The rich tapestry,'' as he pointed out, ``of religious pluralism in the region must be preserved now or it will be lost forever,'' noting that there has been an 80 percent decline of Christians in Iraq and 70 percent in Syria.

He said: ``With its loss will come increased instability and threats to our own security and that of the world.

``We have a unique opportunity--and, some would say, unique responsibility--to protect the victims of genocide.''

Mr. Speaker, just before Christmas of last year, I traveled to Erbil with a staff delegation at the invitation of the Chaldean archbishop, Bashar Warda, to meet with survivors and to visit an internally displaced person camp of about 6,000 individuals. Both my staff and I were amazed and inspired by the genocide survivors' resiliency and deep faith in the Lord, despite the cruelty that they had endured.

There was so much joy, love, and courage despite the loss of family and friends to ISIS. They had deep hope. The children sang Christmas carols--it was December 23 when we were there--with smiles and with reverence. The leaders, especially Archbishop Warda, trusted in God while working unceasingly and unselfishly for others.

Because the needs on the ground have always exceeded private support, the archdiocese has had to battle chronic funding crises over these last several years. Archbishop Warda told me recently that they had to temporarily suspend their distribution of medicines, and are on track to run out of money for food sometime this June.

H.R. 390 provides authority and direction to the secretary and the administrator of USAID to identify the humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs of these communities.

This bill also authorizes and directs the secretary to fund entities, including faith-based ones, that are effectively providing assistance to meet those needs on the ground.

It addresses another urgent aspect of this crisis: evidence linking specific ISIS perpetrators to specific atrocity crimes that is being destroyed or lost. And we have seen this in the past in Rwanda, in Sierra Leone, and in the former Yugoslavia. You have got to collect the information that is actionable in order to prosecute these crimes against humanity. This legislation directs that, and that is why it has the support of all four former U.S. Ambassadors at Large for war crimes issues.

It also directs the Secretary of State to work with foreign governments to ensure that they are including identifying information about suspected perpetrators in their security databases and security screening and are prosecuting perpetrators of these horrific crimes.

President Trump and Vice President Pence have strongly, publicly, and repeatedly committed the administration to providing relief to Christians, Yazidis, and other genocide survivors. This legislation tangibly supports this commitment and is a blueprint for action.

I especially want to thank tonight the coauthor of this legislation, Anna Eshoo. Her tireless efforts on behalf of all Christians and other persecuted religious minorities has been really fantastic, and I want to thank her for that and for working so cooperatively together with me and my staff and the full committee staff.

I would also like to thank the great staff work of Nathaniel Hurd, Piero Tozzi in my office, Matt McMurray in Anna Eshoo's office, Doug Anderson and Joan Condon in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Roger Mahan and Luke Murry in the majority leader's office. And, as always, I want to thank Kelly Dixon, who ultimately helped us bring this legislation to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the statement of Mr. Carl A. Anderson before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.

Opening Statement of Mr. Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight, Knights of

Columbus

(Before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health Global

Human Rights and International Organizations of the Committee

on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, at a

hearing titled The ISIS Genocide Declaration: What Next?, May

26, 2019)

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before this

subcommittee and to discuss the next steps that need to be

taken needed to protect the survivors of ongoing genocide in

Iraq and Syria. Let me begin by saying that the House of

Representatives, the State Department and the United States

Commission on International Religious Freedom are all to be

commended for the important step of declaring the situation

confronting Christians and other religious minorities in the

Middle East genocide.

The world's greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II

is unfolding now in the Middle East. In addition to millions

of refugees, many of the region's indigenous communities now

face extinction. These communities may disappear in less than

a decade. But their fate is not inevitable. The United States

can avert this unfolding tragedy.

A unique historical moment

Around the world, people of good will, Muslim and non-

Muslim alike, wish to differentiate themselves from the

horrific and violent theology espoused by ISIS.

It is certainly true that such extremists make up a small

percentage of Muslims overall. But among the world's billion

Muslims, the majority simply want to raise their families in

peace and are scandalized by what ISIS is doing in the name

of Islam.

Prominent Islamic leaders and scholars from around the

world have recently taken an important step in the Marrakesh

Declaration. Attempts such as this, which seek to align Islam

with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be

supported.

At the same time, it is clear that Christians, and other

indigenous minorities, are experiencing genocide, at the

hands of the Islamic State and related groups. Their plight

is now at the top of the world's agenda in a way that it

never has been before.

These factors together create an unparalleled opportunity

for the United States, and for all those opposed to ISIS'

radical vision--Muslims and non-Muslims alike--to advance an

agenda of equality, justice, peace, and accountability in the

region.

Six principles for sound policy in the region

The United States can avert the extinction of indigenous

religious and ethnic communities in Iraq and Syria with a

policy that contains the following six principles:

(1) Increase aid and ensure that it actually reaches those

most in need;

We are reliably informed that official government and U.N.

aid does not reach the Christian genocide survivors in Iraq

and Syria.

Repeatedly, we hear from Church leaders in the region that

Christians--and other genocide survivors--are last in line

for assistance from governments. Significantly, the

Archdiocese of Erbil, where most Iraqi Christians now live,

receives no money from any government whatsoever. If

assistance from outside Church affiliated agencies ends in

Erbil, Christians there will face a catastrophic humanitarian

tragedy within 30 days. The situation is similar in Syria,

according to Christian leaders there.

Those who face genocide are a tiny fraction of the

population. They often must avoid official refugee camps

because they are targeted for violence there by extremists.

As a result, these minorities often do not get ``official''

aid. This will continue to be the reality unless specific

action is taken to bring the aid to where these minorities

are forced to reside by continuing violence.

The Knights of Columbus and others private sources have

responded to this situation. Since 2014, we have raised more

than $10.5 million for relief, assisting Christians and other

internally displaced persons and refugees in Iraq, Syria,

Jordan, and Lebanon. We have partnered with dioceses and

religious agencies working in the region to provide general

relief, food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care.

In doing so we assist both Christians and non-Christians. We

are also working with church entities to ensure that they are

making use of all government or U.N. resources available.

But non-governmental organizations can only do so much.

Government aid is essential to the long-term survival of

these indigenous religious and ethnic minorities. It is

urgent that Congress appropriate funding to save those who

have escaped genocide. I urge you to consider special

emergency appropriations, however modest, to improve the

humanitarian conditions on the ground in Iraq.

This funding, whatever the vehicle, should come with

mechanisms in place--reporting

requirements and oversight--to ensure that American aid does

not get diverted from its intended purpose.

(2) Support the long-term survival in the region of these

ancient indigenous religious and ethnic communities;

In Iraq, the Christians population has declined by more

than 80 percent, and in Syria by nearly 70 percent.

American policy should recognize the important differences

in the situations of those fleeing violence and those

targeted for genocide. And we should prioritize the latter.

Consider this analogy. After World War II, there were

approximately 50 million refugees, and only a small fraction

were Jews. Yet the world understood that Jews, who had

survived genocide, faced a qualitatively different situation,

and deserved heightened consideration.

The same is true today for the indigenous religious and

ethnic minorities of the region. They have an indisputable

right to live in their country--in whatever region of it they

wish. Depending on the circumstances, this may mean where

they are originally from, or where they find themselves now,

but as survivors of an ongoing genocide, they deserve to be

prioritized, not left behind by American policy decisions.

(3) Punish the perpetrators of genocide and crimes against

humanity;

The United States should support action by the U.N.

Security Council to refer key perpetrators of genocide for

prosecution. Equally important, we should support the Iraqi

Central Government and the Kurdish Regional Government's

adjudication of the cases of thousands of ISIS fighters

and supporters who currently remain in local detention

centers.

As the population of captured ISIS fighters increases,

local detention centers and jails risk becoming their own

humanitarian issue. The need to improve this situation cannot

be overstated.

Additionally, although substantial evidence of genocide

exists, the United States should cooperate in taking further

action to develop additional documentation and preservation

before physical evidence is lost. Appropriations intended to

assist in the adjudication of ISIS fighters will be critical

in the coming months.

(4) Assist victims of genocide in attaining refugee status.

A news report last week indicated that of the 499 Syrian

refugees admitted to the U.S. in May, not one was listed as

being Christian or as explicitly coming from any of the

groups targeted for genocides. How long will this situation

be allowed to continue?

The U.S. should appropriate funding and work with the U.N.

High Commissioner for Refugees to make provisions for

locating and providing status to individuals--such as Yezidis

and Christians--that have been targeted for genocide. Many of

these genocide survivors fear going into official U.N.

refugee camps, where they are targeted. Thus they are

overlooked, and find it nearly impossible to acquire official

refugee status or immigrate.

Congress should act now. Senator Tom Cotton has introduced

the Religious Persecution Relief Act, S. 2708, to provide for

overlooked minorities in the prioritization of refugees. We

support this bill and urge its passage.

(5) Prepare now for foreseeable human rights challenges as

ISIS-controlled territory is liberated by ensuring that

Christians and other minorities have equal rights to decide

their future;

We should prepare now for the consequences of the

liberation of ISIS controlled areas, including Mosul and the

Nineveh Region, as well as regions in Syria. We are likely to

see another humanitarian crisis as civilians flee the

fighting or return to their former communities when fighting

ceases.

There has been much debate concerning plans for victims of

genocide in Iraq. Some have argued for returning people

safely to the Nineveh Region, others that they should be

allowed to stay in Kurdistan, still others that they be

allowed to immigrate. But these are not necessarily mutually

exclusive, competing proposals. People should be allowed to

decide their own future. And when they do, we should work to

ensure they are treated with fairness, dignity and equality.

This also means that it will be increasingly important to

ensure that the property rights and claims of minority groups

are respected.

(6) Promote the establishment of internationally agreed

upon standards of human rights and religious freedom as

conditions for humanitarian and military assistance.

The United States should advocate for full and equal rights

for religious and ethnic minorities in the region in exchange

for our military and humanitarian aid. A necessary first step

to prevent genocide is to overcome the social and legal

inequality that is its breeding ground.

Religious hatred, discrimination and second-class

citizenship too often constitute a way of life in the

region--and it is a way of life that is an antecedent to

genocide. We cannot accept one standard for human rights in

the region and another standard for the rest of the world.

The guarantees in the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights--and the First and Fourteenth amendments to our own

constitution--regarding equality under the law and freedom of

speech and religion must become a reality for all citizens of

Iraq, Syria and elsewhere throughout the region.

Conclusion

The rich tapestry of religious pluralism in the region must

be preserved now or it will be lost forever. With its loss

will come increased instability and threats to our own

security and that of the world.

We have a unique opportunity--and some would say, unique

responsibility--to protect the victims of genocide. The

United States can provide such protection with a policy that

includes the principles outlined above. Mr. Chairman, thank

you very much for your leadership and that of the members of

this subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, since 2013, I have chaired nine Congressional hearings focused, in whole or in a large part, on atrocities in Iraq and Syria.

At one hearing in December of 2015, Professor Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch testified that ``weak words are not enough'' noting that twenty one human rights organizations, genocide scholars, and religious leaders wrote to President Obama imploring him to recognize the ISIS genocide.

At the same hearing, Chaldean Bishop Francis Kalabat testified that ``since the fall of

Mosul in early June 2014, Christians have endured targeted persecution in the form of forced displacement, sexual violence, and other human rights violations.'' He said ``ISIS has committed horrific atrocities against the Yazidis.'' The bishop said Christians are ``under threat of extinction.''

On May 9, 2016, the House passed Jeff Fortenberry's Genocide resolution 393 to 0. A few days later, Secretary of State John Kerry declared ISIS atrocities to be a genocide.

The existential threat to Christians and Yazidis and other minorities continues to this day. Some of the fortunate ones, however, have made it to relative safety in Erbil but astonishingly have not gotten assistance from the United States.

Since 2014, the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil has been providing almost all of the medical care, food, shelter and education received by 13,200 Christian families, almost one third of Christians remaining in Iraq, who escaped ISIS. The Archdiocese also provides assistance to Yazidis and Muslims. The funding has been private-- Knights of Columbus, Aid to the Church in Need, and a few others.

Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus--which has donated more than $12 million to the effort--testified that the Knights and other private sources have responded, ``But non-governmental organizations can only do so much.'' He also made numerous recommendations including supporting the ``Long term survival in the region of these ancient indigenous religions and ethnic communities. In Iraq, the Christian population has declined by more than 80 percent, and in Syria, it has declined by almost 70 percent . . . The rich tapestry of religious pluralism in the region must be preserved now or it will be lost forever.'' He said, ``With its loss will come increased instability and threats to our own security and that of the world. We have a unique opportunity--and some would say, unique responsibility-- to protect the victims of genocide.''

Just before Christmas last year, I travelled to Erbil at the invitation of the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, to meet with survivors and visit an IDP camp.

Both my staff and I were amazed and inspired by the genocide survivors resiliency and deep faith in the Lord despite the cruelty they endured.

There was much joy, love, and courage despite the loss of family and friends to ISIS. They had hope. The children sang Christmas carols with smiles and reverence.

The leaders--especially Archbishop Warda--trust in God while working unceasingly for others.

Because the needs on-the-ground have always exceeded private support, however, the Archdiocese has had to battle chronic funding crises. Archbishop Warda told me they recently had to temporarily suspend their distribution of medicines and are on-track to run out of money for food sometime this June.

H.R. 390 provides authority and direction to the Secretary and Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development to identify the humanitarian, stabilization, and recovery needs of these communities. The bill also authorizes and directs the Secretary and Administrator to fund entities--including faith-based ones--that are effectively providing assistance to meet those needs on-the-ground.

H.R. 390 addresses another urgent aspect of this crisis: Evidence linking specific ISIS perpetrators to specific atrocity crimes is being destroyed or lost. It is vital that evidence that can be used in a range of court settings is collected and preserved. This will enable accountability and support our efforts to counter terrorist groups by demonstrating that the perpetrators are chronic rapists, child abusers, drug dealers and human traffickers.

This legislation authorizes and directs the Secretary and Administrator to fund entities that are conducting criminal investigations into perpetrators of atrocity crimes in Iraq.

The Commission for International Justice and Accountability is an example of a non-governmental organization that has been conducting such criminal investigations on-the-ground. CIJA has collected and preserved ISIS recruitment forms, foreign fighter passports, and ISIS instructions from ISIS facilities, laptops, hard drives, and memory sticks. It has taken hundreds of witness statements from victims, perpetrators, detained fighters, defectors, insiders, witnesses, and other witnesses. CIJA has developed pretrial briefs and perpetrator profiles that are of a world-class quality.

In 2016, CIJA received 409 requests for assistance on cases from law enforcement agencies in many countries, including the Department of Homeland Security and FBI and works closely with both agencies. Yet, CIJA has received no financial support from the U.S. government.

H.R. 390 also directs the Secretary to work with foreign governments to ensure that they are including identifying information about suspected perpetrators in their security databases and security screening and are prosecuting perpetrators.

ISIS fighters in Iraq are being captured and detained in the battle for Mosul and beyond. Others are escaping the region and attempting to return to their home countries around the world. We should help ensure that in addition to being screened and prosecuted for terrorism, they are screened and prosecuted for atrocity crimes.

President Trump and Vice President Pence have strongly, publicly committed the Administration to providing relief to Christians, Yazidis, and other genocide survivors, and ensuring perpetrators are brought to justice. H.R. 390 supports this commitment and is a blueprint for implementation.

H.R. 390 has the bipartisan co-sponsorship of 46 members, support from a range of prominent Christian, Yezidi, religious freedom, and accountability organizations, and has been endorsed by all four former U.S. Ambassadors-at-Large for War Crimes Issues.

I especially want to acknowledge my co-author and good friend Anna Eshoo. Her tireless efforts on behalf of Christians and other persecuted religious minorities, and the fantastic partnership with her and her staff on this bill, are a testament to the hi-partisanship of H.R. 390 and international religious freedom more broadly.

And finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the great staff work of Nathaniel Hurd and Piero Toni in my office. Matt McMurray in Anna Eshoo's office. Doug Anderson and Joan Condon in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Roger Mahan and Luke Murry in the Majority Leader's Office. And Kelly Dixon who ultimately helped us get it to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, over the past forty-two years, much has changed in Vietnam. The Vietnamese people are a little richer, but still have few rights.

The Vietnamese Communist Party has opened up a bit to the outside world, but remains closed to democratic reforms and the rule of law.

U.S.-Vietnamese relations have warmed because Vietnam fears China's increasing economic power and its incursions in the South China Sea, but we see few human rights improvements emerge from better relations.

Over the past two years, Human Rights Watch has used the words ``dismal'' and ``abysmal'' to describe Vietnam's human rights record. Vietnam scored a 7, the lowest score, on Freedom House's ``Freedom in the World'' index.

From sex and labor trafficking to the censorship of the press and Internet; from restrictions on independent labor unions to severe repression of faith communities, the Vietnamese Government and Communist Party is one of the world's worst abusers of human rights.

For too long Vietnam has gotten a free pass on human rights. Diplomats are so focused on the fact that Vietnam is ``not China'' that this oppressive police state is granted trade and security benefits without condition. There is a silent human rights crisis going on in Vietnam that must be addressed.

Human rights should be a top talking point when President Trump meets next week with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Doing so will advance U.S. economic and security interests and it will be warmly welcomed by the Vietnamese people.

The President has a real opportunity to bring about tangible reforms in Vietnam if he links better U.S.-Vietnam relations to tangible human rights improvements.

I have been to Vietnam. I have met with its rights advocates and young activists for decades now, like imprisoned rights activist Nguyen Van Dai. I know there is a younger generation in Vietnam--66% of Vietnam is under the age of 40--that looks to the U.S. as a land of opportunity and freedom. They want the same liberties enjoyed by their relatives in California, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana and so many other places where former Vietnamese refugees have flourished.

The Vietnamese people want the U.S. to be a voice for freedom-- because their voice is silenced.

No government that represses its own people or restricts fundamental freedoms can be a trusted ally of the United States. No government that censors the Internet, tortures and jails dissidents, and crushes civil society should be given generous trade or security benefits without conditions.

The President will face pressure from his advisors and the business community to look at Vietnam through the lens of trade deals and the containment of China. Hopefully, he will be able to see the situation more clearly than past Administrations.

Failing to press for real and concrete human rights improvements underestimates U.S. leverage and will disappoint the young generation in Vietnam who are that country's dynamic future.

It should be clear by now that Vietnam needs the U.S. markets and security commitments much more than the U.S. needs Vietnam's markets and security cooperation.

If history is any guide, the President's, championing of individual rights will meet with some success. If his interest in human rights is sustained, those successes could be tangible and far-reaching.

The Vietnamese government has responded to concerns expressed by the last two Administrations when they linked human rights improvements to better U.S.-Vietnam relations. Whether to gain entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or to address U.S. concerns over religious freedom abuses, the Vietnamese government took steps toward reform when pressed by past American Presidents.

It is when the U.S. loses interest in human rights that conditions regress.

The Communist leaders in Hanoi take our trade benefits and security commitments and continue repressing those seeking political reform and universal freedoms.

The business of the Communist Party is staying in power and repressing those they believe will challenge their power. They will not embrace human rights improvements or the rule of law unless it is a firm condition of better relations with the U.S.

I am circulating a letter for the signatures of other Members of Congress detailing the strategic opportunities available for the United States and the Vietnamese people if the President pursues a robust human rights agenda.

The letter urges the President to pursue Internet freedom, religious freedom, independent labor unions, and the release of prisoners of conscience--as a condition of U.S. assistance.

These fundamental freedoms are directly related to U.S. interests in a better business climate, less corruption, investor confidence, expansion of economic freedom, and civil society development.

I also wrote to Secretary Rex Tillerson to urge more robust human rights diplomacy in Vietnam, particularly on the issue of religious freedom.

I urged the Secretary to use the authorities given him by the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act and the Global Magnitsky Act, legislation I introduced, that was passed into law last year to hold individual government officials accountable for human rights abuses and restrictions on religious freedom.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that Vietnam be designated as a ``Country of Particular Concern'' for severe and egregious religious freedom restrictions. That report provides compelling evidence of egregious and ongoing religious freedom violations in Vietnam.

The President should follow USCIRF's recommendation and immediately designate Vietnam as a CPC for its religious freedom violations. This designation carries with it potential sanctions and visa denials for Vietnamese government officials complicit in religious freedom abuses.

No Vietnamese government official who tortures political dissidents or restrictions the activities of religious communities should profit from access to the U.S. or our financial system.

Let me say that the violence and intimidation faced by Hmong and Montagard Christians, by Khmer Krom Buddhists, by the independent Hoa Hao and Cao Dai groups is outrageous. The torture faced by Ms. Tran Thi Hong is shocking. She was on her way to meet religious freedom Ambassador David Saperstein to advocate for the release of her husband Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh.

If there are religious prisoners, if forced renunciations of faith are happening, if pagodas and churches and places of worship are forcibly closed--how does Vietnam not meet the criteria for CPC? We know it does. Politics should not play a part in designations.

I will be working closely with the State Department to make sure international religious freedom is a diplomatic priority. This fundamental freedom is not merely a humanitarian issue with little strategic value--it is critical to our security and prosperity.

Research shows that countries that embrace and protect religious freedom are more economically successful, protect women's rights, and experience less terrorism and political instability. There is not a single country that respects religious freedom that poses a security threat to the U.S. In fact, just the opposite is true--countries who are the worst violators of religious freedom are often those who seek to do Americans the most harm and seek to tear down democratic values and institutions. These facts alone should give us pause in expanding relations with Vietnam.

President Trump should not prop up Vietnam's Communist old guard because they are not Vietnam's future. That future lies with Nguyen Van Dai and the many bloggers and advocates of political reform and human rights who seek our freedoms more than our trade.

U.S. policy must send the unmistakable message to the Government of Vietnam that human rights improvements are fundamental to better relations, critically linked to our mutual economic and security interests, and will not be ignored or bargained away.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to express my strong support for the significant package of the veteran's bills that we considered in the House both yesterday and today.

As the former Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee (2001 through 2005), I am acutely aware of the challenges our veterans face, especially as they transition from military to civilian life. As Chairman, I authored more than a dozen laws to expand health, education, job training and homelessness benefits for the men and women who served in uniform. Thankfully these laws continue to help our veterans today.

Still, there are new problems and new issues that urgently need our attention. Massive wait times, forged documents by VA officials, ineptitude, lack of equipment and under-staffing at VA medical facilities are just a few of the significant transgressions that have been exposed and are undermining the quality of service and the treatment our veterans receive.

In 2014 and 2016 Congress passed the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act (P.L. 113-146) and the Faster Care for Veterans Act (P.L. 114-286), respectively, to usher in a complete overhaul of VA systems and to institute new technological services for scheduling and in order to secure more timely appointments. Some, but not nearly enough, progress has occurred. Much more must be done.

I commend Chairman Phil Roe, MD and his team at the Veterans Affairs Committee on the package of bills before us this week. All seven will help improve the benefit programs and the delivery of healthcare service for our veterans.

For instance, The Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 (H.R. 2288) will empower veterans who have been denied benefits to have more options as they pursue their appeals. Under the new bill, vets will be able to waive a hearing and submit additional evidence, pursue a hearing and submit additional evidence, or transfer the jurisdiction of their case to the Board of Veterans Appeals. The new options should help cut through some wait time.

The VA Scheduling Accountability Act (H.R. 467) would require an annual certification of compliance with scheduling directives. Additionally the bill blocks awards and bonuses to any leadership personnel at any medical center that fails to comply with the scheduling directives. Another bill before us, H.R. 1005 would allow the federal government to enter into agreements with state veteran's homes to pay for adult day health care for certain eligible veterans.

The No Hero Left Untreated Act (H.R. 1162) will create a one year pilot program at the VA to use innovative therapy to treat veterans who suffer from invisible wounds, which include post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury (TBI), military sexual trauma, chronic pain, or opiate addiction. As the author of the Veterans Health Programs Improvement Act (P.L. 108-422) which authorized regional veteran polytrauma centers for multiple injuries including TBI, I fully support H.R. 1162 as a way to ensure that the VA is able to adapt to the newest and best practices for treating veterans with these unique traumas and conditions.

The Quicker Veterans Benefits Delivery Act of 2017 (H.R. 1725) will require stronger reporting requirements from the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding the necessity for in-person disability examinations; and the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2017 (H.R. 1329) will increase the cost-of-living-adjustment for disabled veterans who receive compensation to equal the same rate of increase for citizens who receive Social Security in 2018.

Finally, the VA Prescription Data Accountability Act (H.R. 1545) will help combat drug addiction among our veterans by creating better information and data sharing between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the states' recording programs.

Mr. Speaker, let me remind my colleagues that while this package of veterans bills marks another step forward, we cannot be lulled into thinking that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the delivery of veterans' benefits and healthcare will be forever fixed simply with the enactment of new legislation, no matter how well written.

Good legislation is the necessary, minimum first step. But equally important is the full and consistent implementation of the new laws, along with regular and aggressive oversight by this Congress. We must be vigilant and continue to push to ensure that all veterans get the care they have earned--at the time they need it--not months or years later.

Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to offer my strong support for all six bills under consideration tonight to prevent children from suffering the horrors of sexual exploitation and ensure justice for traffickers and abusers.

I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for his consistent work to fight human trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation of children.

As the prime author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and of its 2003 and 2005 reauthorization, I know the heavy lift such bills can be--and also their critical importance. The Majority Leader's personal commitment to tonight's legislation, as well as to moving other anti-trafficking bills over the next few weeks, builds upon the work he has done in previous congresses to effectively help the victims of trafficking who are primarily women and children.

Sexual exploitation of children is a human rights violation that results in serious, lifelong consequences for the physical, psychological, and spiritual development and well-being of a child In many instances, it is a form of human trafficking.

According to the International Labor Organization, almost 2 million children are still victimized every year by commercial sexual exploitation, which includes the use of girls and boys in sexual activities remunerated in cash or in kind, child sex tourism, the use of children in sex shows (public or private), and the production, promotion and distribution of pornography involving children.

Millions of other children suffer the honor and wounding of other forms of sexual abuse; most do not come forward out of misplaced shame, or the fear that the justice system will re-traumatize and then fail them.

The Strengthening Children's Safety Act of 2017, H.R. 1842, seeks to strengthen our efforts against repeat child sex offenders and ensure they are subjected to increased penalties. As drafted, the bill will crack down on sex offenders who fail to register and then commit violent crimes under state law. It will also ensure that an offender's prior child-related sex offenses under Uniform Code of Military Justice are taken into account in subsequent prosecutions.

The Targeting Child Predators Act of 2017 (H.R. 883) also seeks to improve accountability for suspected crimes against children by ensuring that offenders are not tipped-off to law enforcement investigations of their IP addresses before law enforcement has a chance to gather the critical digital evidence of crimes against children.

The Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act of 2017 (H.R. 1188) ensures continued finding for the original Adam Walsh Act with important updates. The original Adam Walsh Act created a national registry of sex offenders and the means to enforce registration. While each state has its own registry, the national registry provides an efficient way to track sex offenders who move between states, and helps to systematize standards across states.

The Child Protection Improvement Act of 2017 (H.R. 695), ensures that organizations serving youth have access to the national sex offender registry--so that they are not limited to background checks within their state. This ensures that children are protected from sex offenders whether or not the offender has followed the law and registered in their state.

Last year, I applied this concept worldwide with the International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders (P.L. 114- 119), so that countries are warned when individuals on a U.S. sex offender list for a crime against a child is traveling to their country. Since my bill became law, more than 2,000 notifications of pedophile travel have been sent to 64 countries, with a particular emphasis on countries known to be primary destinations for child sex tourism.

One of the other bills under consideration tonight, the Global Child Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 1862), will make it easier to prosecute known offenders and others who abuse children abroad by expanding the definition of the term ``illicit sexual contact'' to cover any sexual contact with a child.

The TARGET Act (H.R. 1625), encourages accountability for international traffickers by allowing the State Department to provide rewards to people who are willing to bring down international criminal organizations trafficking in women and children. I am a cosponsor of HR 1625 and pleased to see it and all the aforementioned legislation advance tonight.

In addition to the legislation we adopt tonight, Mr. Speaker, many of my colleagues may know that a strong bipartisan coalition is also working on the comprehensive reauthorization of America's leading anti- trafficking legislation--The Trafficking Victims Protection Act(TVPA). This additional legislation, the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 2200), honors the 200th birthday of slavery survivor and great abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and will reauthorize $130 million in current funds across several federal programs dedicated to fight human trafficking over the next four years.

I am pleased to be the prime author of the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act with lead Democrat cosponsor Rep. Karen Bass along with a strong

bipartisan group including Chairman Ed Royce, Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, Susan Brooks, Lois Frankel, Ann Wagner, Tony Cardenas, Ted Poe, and Ryan Costello.

H.R. 2200 is also endorsed by a broad-based coalition of NGOs that work on the frontlines in the battle against human trafficking including.

Mr. Speaker, for the past 17 years, we have seen progress on a number of anti-trafficking fronts: more than 250,000 victims have been rescued worldwide; the Department of Justice has federally funded some 42 anti- human trafficking task forces across the United States and more than 85,000 law enforcement officers have been trained. Additionally, over 300 laws around the world, influenced by American leadership, have enacted to combat trafficking.

We look forward to building upon this record through passage of The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention, Protection, and Reauthorization Act. Some of the important provisions of H.R. 2200 include:

Ensuring vulnerable children and other at-risk populations are educated to avoid traffickers;

Focusing grants for survivor care on housing for vulnerable groups;

Preferring in government travel contracts airlines and hotels that have in place anti-trafficking training and victim reporting policies for their employees;

Creating a special complaint mechanism in embassies whereby the U.S. is warned of traffickers exploiting the U.S. entry system;

Increasing transparency and oversight of U.S. government grants to fight trafficking;

Facilitating trafficking-free supply chains in private business by clarifying in Department of Labor reports the products that incorporate slavery-made goods;

Encouraging enforcement of the Tariff Act of 1930's prohibition on the importation of goods made with forced labor;

Strengthening federal efforts to reduce demand for services from trafficking victims by increasing prosecution of those who purchase services;

Designating one prosecutor in each of the Department of Justice's focus districts to investigate and prosecute labor trafficking cases;

Preventing abuse of domestic servants in embassies and diplomatic homes in the U.S.;

Encouraging credible and effective use of the trafficking tier ranking system by the U.S. Department of State in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report;

Educating procurement officers in U.S. government agencies to apply all U.S. law and regulations preventing purchases of goods made with trafficking or services from contractors who participate in human trafficking;

Ensuring that U.S. military assistance does not go to foreign governments that use child soldiers; and

Encouraging USAID to integrate human trafficking prevention into disaster relief.

Mr. Speaker, lawyer Xie Yang was tortured for the better part of two years because he dared to represent China's poor and persecuted. The account of his detention is both harrowing and horrible.

Xie Yang was sleep deprived and kept in isolation. Squads of police punched and kicked him for hours at a time. He was forced to sit still for hours on a precarious stack of plastic chairs; his feet dangling painfully off the ground. Police made threats to his wife and children and said they would turn him into an ``invalid'' unless he confessed to political crimes.

Xie Yang and his fellow human rights lawyers wanted the best for China, but they got the very worst.

Since July 2015, almost 250 lawyers and legal assistants were detained sending a chilling message to those fighting for legal reforms and human rights.

At yesterday's hearing in the human rights subcommittee that I chair, we came together to shine a light on the brutal, illegal, and dehumanizing use of torture and forced disappearance of human rights lawyers and rights advocates in China.

We shine a light on dictatorships because nothing good happens in the dark. And, as we learned yesterday, there are some very dark places in China.

Chinese officials repeatedly tell me I should focus more on the positive aspects of China and not dwell so much on the negative.

That is a difficult task when you read Xie Yang's story, read Gao Zhisheng's account of his torture, or read the accounts of Yu Jie or Golog Jigme or Yin Liping.

It is a difficult task when you look at Li Chunfu and his brother Li Heping.

These are some of China's best and bravest--now with broken bodies, shattered minds and faces that have aged 20 years after two years of solitary confinement and torture.

It is shocking, offensive, immoral, and inhumane. It is also completely possible that Chinese officials believe the international community will not hold them accountable.

While President Xi Jinping is feted at Davos and lauded in foreign capitals for his public commitment to openness, his government is torturing and abusing those seeking rights guaranteed by China's own Constitution and its international obligations.

One Oxford university scholar has said that Xi has built the ``perfect dictatorship''--an increasingly repressive garrison state that avoids any international censure.

Through the UN and the sanctions available in the Global Magnitsky Act, we should be seeking to hold accountable any Chinese officials complicit in torture and illegal detentions.

Xie Yang identified at least 10 police officers who tortured him. We are in the process of gathering names and identifying information. I will then send those names to President Trump, Secretary of State Tillerson, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and the Chairs and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

We will seek UN investigations into the torture of China's human rights lawyers and human rights defenders because their treatment in detention violates China's obligations as signatory of the UN Torture Convention.

We will also seek investigations under the Global Magnitsky Act. I introduced the House version of that bill, which was signed into law last year.

That law says explicitly that any foreign government officials who engages in or is complicit in torture can be sanctioned--by denying entry visas into the United State or by imposing financial sanctions.

Those who tortured Xie Yang and Li Heping should never benefit from access to the United States or our financial system.

We will hear testimony yesterday from the wives of detained human rights lawyers. We also heard from Ms. Li Ching-Yu, the wife of detained Taiwanese democracy advocate Lee Ming-che.

After entering mainland China in March of this year for a personal trip, Mr. Lee went missing for 10 days before Chinese officials confirmed that he was being held on so-called ``national security'' grounds.

Many fear Mr. Lee is being detained under a harsh new Chinese law to monitor and control foreignfunded NGOs, enforced earlier this year as part of a crackdown on civil society. His detention fits the trend of the Chinese government targeting activists, dissidents, or even scholars based abroad.

The Taiwan government is working behind the scenes to resolve Lee Ming-che's case, though I am sure such efforts are hindered by Taiwan's lack of international clout and its complicated diplomatic ties with Beijing.

As I have said before, Taiwan is an important democratic ally and a beacon of peace and democracy in Asia. The U.S. should remain committed to the Taiwan Relations Act and the ``Six Assurances'' as cornerstones of U.S.-Taiwan relations.

Political issues between China and Taiwan should be resolved through appropriate mechanisms between the two sides. The Chinese government decision to detain Lee Ming-che signaled Chinese officials' willingness to break its international human rights obligations for political gains, needlessly straining cross-strait relations.

We welcomed Ms. Li Ching-Yu's testimony yesterday in order to increase the level of international interest and attention to her husband's case.

The Chinese government is facing a new and unexpected phenomenon-- effective advocacy campaigns waged by the wives of tortured and detained rights advocates. I truly admire the brave women who are challenging the Chinese government to live up to its highest ideals. They are an inspiration.

Through the testimony provided during yesterday's hearing, we considered the almost two year effort by President Xi Jinping's government to eviscerate China's network of human rights lawyers and consider how the continued detention of Lee Ming-che has negatively impacted cross-strait relations between Beijing and Taipei.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in my capacity as Co- Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, I participated in a hearing to examine Russian military threats in the OSCE region.

Russia today stands in violation of the central commitments of the Helsinki Final Act. These commitments include respect for the territorial integrity of States, fundamental freedoms, and the fulfillment in good faith of obligations under international law. In violating these commitments, Russia is threatening the

foundations of European security and recklessly endangering the lives of millions.

One such victim of Russian aggression is Joseph Stone, the 36-year- old American medic who was killed by a landmine while on patrol in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine with the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission on April 23rd. If it weren't for Russia's unjustifiable aggression toward Ukraine's sovereignty there would be no need for such a monitoring mission. And yet, day after day, OSCE monitors put themselves in harm's way to try to reduce the tensions created by the reckless conduct of Russia and its proxies in eastern Ukraine. It is a conflict that has already claimed over ten thousand lives, and sadly is sure to claim more.

Russian aggression is not a localized phenomenon--it threatens the entire region. Moscow has seized sovereign territory by force, threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons against other countries, harassed U.S. and NATO military assets, and abandoned key transparency measures and commitments. These actions are unacceptable.

In the face of such provocations, the United States must leave no doubt that we stand behind our Eastern European and Baltic Allies. There is no time to waste: we must ensure the confidence of our friends at this critical juncture.

One way to do this is to continue building a credible conventional deterrent to Russian aggression alongside our allies, in particular Poland and the Baltic States. I have consistently supported robust funding for the European Reassurance Initiative. With the support of this initiative, since 2014, NATO members have held over 1,000 military exercises in Europe. ERI has allowed the U.S. to participate more extensively in such exercises and increase its deployment of soldiers and military assets in allied countries. Furthermore, it has helped us to build the capacity of our partners and generally make our commitment to European security felt. These kinds of activities must be sustained and expanded to ensure that we are ready to counter any threat at any time.

Mr. Speaker, the United States must act, bilaterally and within NATO, to robustly deter, defend against, and roll back Russian aggression in the OSCE region. This includes ensuring that Ukraine has the defensive weapons it needs to more effectively repel Russian occupying forces and respond to Russian-backed proxies. As Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko told a joint session of Congress several years ago, ``One cannot win the war with blankets.'' That is at true today as it was then.

If Russia's invasion, occupation, and fracturing of Ukraine stands, then Russia will be emboldened to do likewise in other neighboring countries. It is in the interests of the United States to help ensure that the Russian Federation does not become the new Soviet Union, invading, occupying and annexing its neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 672, the Combating Anti-Semitism Act of 2017, sponsored by my friend Nita Lowey. I and all of our fellow Co-Chairs of the Bi-Partisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism are original cosponsors.

Among its provisions, the bill would require the State Department to include in existing annual reports information about the security challenges and needs of European Jewish communities and European law enforcement. This report would also document related U.S. government efforts to partner with European law enforcement agencies and civil society groups.

H.R. 672 is important and timely. As witnesses testified at a hearing I chaired in March on ``Anti-Semitism Across Borders,'' physical attacks on European Jewish communities, and other forms of anti-Semitic hatred, remain rampant on the continent. Rabbi Andy Baker, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti- Semitism and Director of International Jewish Affairs at the American Jewish Committee noted that even after the deadly anti-Semitic attacks in Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen, ``problems still remain. Governments have taken different approaches, and some only in stop-gap measures.'' Rabbi Baker also emphasized that ``We need to be clear-eyed in confronting and combating anti-Semitism, which manifests itself on both the right and the left.''

At the same hearing, Paul Goldenberg, Director of the Security Community Network and Senior Advisor to the Rutgers University Faith- Based Communities Security Program, warned that ``Ever-more connected, extremist groups in the United States are borrowing, adapting and enhancing the tactics and strategies adopted in Europe.'' This is an especially sobering warning, given the man recent anti-Semitic incidents here in the United States.

Mark Weitzman, Director of Government Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, emphasized that ``Fighting antisemitism has always been a bipartisan commitment and in today's fractured political world it is more necessary than ever that the U.S. maintain its diplomatic and moral leadership in this issue. . . . we would strongly suggest that the position [of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti- Semitism] even be upgraded, to that of Ambassador, thus demonstrating the importance attached by our government to this issue.''

H.R. 672 is an example of such bi-partisanship. It would ensure that the Special Envoy, other U.S. officials, the Congress, and civil society--especially European Jewish communities that their security groups--have key information to act fully and effectively. With the right information, and robust action, the United States can help ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities in Europe and elsewhere.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the subcommittee I chair held a hearing on accelerating the fight against human trafficking with particular focus on the new Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Act of 2017--the comprehensive, bipartisan legislation that my friend and colleague Karen Bass and I introduced last Thursday joined by Chairman Royce, Representatives Jackson Lee, Brooks, Frankel, Wagner, Cardenas, Poe, and Costello.

In the fight to end modern day slavery, and as the author of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the new bill honors the extraordinary legacy of one of the greatest Americans who ever lived.

Born a slave in 1818--we look forward to celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth next year--Frederick Douglass escaped slavery when he was 20 and dedicated his entire life to abolishing slavery and, after emancipation, to ending Jim Crow laws while struggling for full equality for African American citizens. A gifted orator, author, editor, statesman (and Republican), he died in 1895.

The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act authorizes $130 million over 4 years to prevent human trafficking, protect victims, and beef up prosecution at home and abroad. Among other things, I note that this bill encourages more hotels at home and abroad to put policies and trainings in place so that the hotels are less likely to be used by human traffickers to exploit children. To the extent practicable, the U.S. Government will direct U.S. Government travelers using taxpayer money to use hotels that have taken affirmative steps to end trafficking within their walls.

The new bill seeks to restore the credibility of the Trafficking in Persons Report, produced annually by the Department of State, to hold countries accountable for progress, or the lack thereof, in the fight against human trafficking. Talk is cheap--we insist on sustainable action.

This report scrutinizes more than 190 countries--with the credible threat of serious sanction for egregious violators branded Tier 3--to improve their trafficking laws and actions.

But in several notable cases, particularly in 2015, countries that should have been held accountable by the last administration with Tier 3 designations were given a pass--countries such as Malaysia, Cuba, China, Oman, Uzbekistan, and others. The new bill tries to ensure that countries complicit in trafficking are held accountable. No politics. Ever. And it will remove from current law the presumption that countries failing to quantify convictions and identify victims somehow deserve passing grades.

IJM's Policy Director Tim Gehring underscored that concern in his testimony today stating, ``The politicization of the tier rankings, against the advice of the anti-trafficking experts at TIP Office is to the detriment of the annual report, the U.S. Government's leadership on combatting this human rights abuse, and, ultimately, to the people exploited in the countries which receive an undeserved higher ranking.''

Last year alone, I chaired two hearings on this: ``Accountability Over Politics: Scrutinizing the Trafficking in Persons Report'' in July and earlier in March, ``Get it Right This Time: A Victims-Centered Trafficking in Persons Report.''

I was profoundly disappointed that the Obama Administration chose to politicize tier rankings rather than speak the truth to power. If the Trump Administration follows that dangerous precedent I will be no less a critic.

The Frederick Douglass Act will limit the amount of time a country can stay on the warning, Tier 2 Watch List, inspiring countries to take action against trafficking today, not in four years when their warnings are up.

The Act will also ensure that countries still using child soldiers, such as Afghanistan, where boys are on the front lines fighting the Taliban by day and being used as sex slaves at night, stop this obscene practice before being allowed to partner with the U.S. military-- something Green Beret Sergeant First Class Charles Martland tried to do at great personal cost.

The Act will also ensure that waivers for countries using child soldiers are not abused. In 2016, only three of 10 countries designated as using child soldiers were not allowed to access funds, and these were the countries we did not fund anyway. The Act will ensure that the waiver is used only in cases where the President can ensure steps are being taken to address the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

In addition, the Act will help keep goods made by child trafficking victims out of the United States by ensuring continued funding for and enhancing the specificity of Department of Labor reports on slave-made goods.

Provisions in the Act will prevent the abuse of domestic servants in embassies and diplomatic homes in the United States. Diplomats and their families in the U.S. are getting off scot-free after trafficking domestic servants in their homes--we are going to change that. Trafficking is illegal here, no matter who you are.

The Act encourages accountability for U.S. Government funds going abroad to help trafficking victims, and strengthens implementation of U.S. laws and regulations to prevent government purchases from putting money in the hands of traffickers.

We welcomed several of the top anti-human trafficking organizations who have endorsed the legislation, including ATEST, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which submitted testimony for the record, and Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, whose work educating children about the threat of trafficking has inspired this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I made the following remarks at the hearing held by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China which I co-chair with Senator Marco Rubio regarding human rights in Hong Kong:

Two and half years ago, tens of thousands of Hong Kong's residents peacefully gathered in the streets, yellow umbrellas in hand, seeking electoral reform and greater democracy.

Joshua Wong was at the forefront of that movement--along with Nathan Law and Alex Chow and so many young student leaders. The Umbrella Movement was not only composed of students, but included veterans of the democracy movement in Hong Kong, including Martin Lee.

It is good to see Joshua and Martin here today, bringing together the generations of advocates committed to Hong Kong's freedom and autonomy.

Joshua Wong and all those associated with the Umbrella Movement have become important symbols of Hong Kong's vitality and its freedoms. They are now part of Hong Kong's unique brand and any effort to detain, censor, or intimidate them damages that brand.

Over the past two years, Senator Rubio and I, along with other members of the China Commission, have introduced the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act and we have worked in Congress to maintain the State Department's annual report on Hong Kong.

We have issued statements of concern about the political prosecutions of Joshua and other Umbrella Movement leaders; the unprecedented interventions by the Chinese government in Hong Kong's courts and political affairs, and the abductions Hong Kong booksellers and other citizens.

We have also discussed the erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms with both U.S. and Chinese officials.

I want to commend Senator Rubio for his leadership on human rights issues and on Hong Kong. We have worked together closely and I am honored to work with him on the China Commission. Senator Rubio is a true champion of the globe's oppressed and persecuted.

As long as I have the privilege of serving as a Chair of the China Commission, I promise to continue shining a light on Hong Kong. Maintaining Hong Kong's autonomy is a critical U.S. interest. The U.S. also has a clear interest in Beijing abiding by its international agreements--in Hong Kong and elsewhere.

The democratic aspirations of the people of Hong Kong cannot be indefinitely suppressed. I promise to stand with Hong Kong and call attention to violations of basic human rights as long as I serve in Congress.

Though Beijing's increasingly rough oversight of Hong Kong may not be as brutal as that pursued on the Mainland, it is no less pernicious. The ultimate goal is eroding Hong Kong's guaranteed freedoms and the rule law and intimidating those who try to defend them.

This year will be the 20th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong. Unfortunately it seems the territory's autonomy looks increasingly fragile.

We are coming up on another anniversary as well, the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong Policy Act.

At this juncture we should be examining both the health of the ``one country, two systems'' model and examining the very assumptions that underlie U.S.-Hong Kong relations. What can be done differently, what new priorities should be set?

The Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 was based on the assumption that freedom, the rule of law, and autonomy promised to Hong Kong would be protected and respected.

It was also based on the assumption that time was on the side of freedom--that trade and investment would eventually bring political liberalization and human rights to Mainland China.

As Chairman Rubio and I have been saying for some time, one can no longer base U.S. policy on the ``fantasy'' that China's future will be more democratic and more open.

Mainland China has become more repressive, not less. Prosperity has turned a poor authoritarian country into a rich authoritarian country with predictable results for China's rights defenders, ethnic and religious groups, labor and democracy advocates, foreign businesses and Hong Kong's autonomy.

Some will argue that the best course of action would be to retreat into a hard realism, recognize China's interests and spheres of influence and protect U.S. interests. We could ignore what is happening in Hong Kong and shift responsibility to the British or some undefined international body.

I disagree.

We don't need a new realism to govern our China policy. Instead, we need a new idealism--a renewed commitment to democratic ideals, to human rights, and the rule of law in ways that compete directly with the Chinese model in Asia and Africa and elsewhere.

Chinese leaders need to know that the United States stands for freedom of expression, the freedom of religion, Internet freedom, the rule of law, universal suffrage, and an end to torture as critical interests, necessary for bilateral relations, and linked to the expansion of mutual prosperity and integrated security.

The U.S. should also push back hard against the erosion of freedom and autonomy in Hong Kong.

It is in everyone's interest that Hong Kong remain a free and prosperous bridge between China and the West, but the city's unique vitality and prosperity are rooted in its guaranteed freedoms. If Hong Kong is to become just another Mainland Chinese city, we will have to reassess whether Hong Kong warrants special status under U.S. law.

The arc of history does not bend toward justice without concerted action from all freedom-loving peoples. If the U.S. and the international community does not defend the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong's citizens now, there is little hope that freedom can take root in China's future.

Mr. Speaker, the era of strategic patience is over. In its place there is a need for more concerted action to counter North Korea's nuclear proliferation, its horrific human rights abuses, and its sponsorship of terrorism globally. This bill strengthens the tools the Administration can use to counter the threat posed by a nuclear armed North Korea. It targets the shipping and financial sectors and also targets those, in China and Russia and elsewhere, who profit from using North Korean slave labor. I strongly support this legislation and commend my colleagues on the House Foreign Affairs Committee--Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel for their leadership.

The Administration must continue to uncover and sanction both Pyongyang's enablers and those it enables. We should further target with sanctions those individuals responsible for gross human rights violations inside the so-called ``hermit kingdom'' and stop money and materials from reaching terrorists and nuclear proliferators globally.

Not taking the North Korea threat seriously enough have been a bipartisan problem of the last three Administrations. I commend the Trump Administration for taking more strategic actions. The U.S. cannot sit on the sidelines while Kim Jong Un proliferates nuclear and missile technology that will threaten the United States. We cannot stand idly by while Kim Jong Un sponsors terrorism and traffics his own people for profit. We cannot be silent while an estimated 120,000 people are being held in political-prison labor camps, suffering and dying in barbaric conditions. Torture, rape, and the public executions of religious believers are part of the daily life in these camps.

North Korea's political-prisoner camps are inhumane, they are horrific, they are a crime against humanity and they must be dismantled.

We know that the threat posed by North Korea was high on the agenda of President Trump and President Xi meeting in Florida several weeks ago. As we all know, the Chinese government's actions have not always been helpful. China usually describes the China-North Korea relationship as being one of ``like lips to teeth.'' It was good to see this formula changed after the Trump-Xi meeting. Foreign Minister Wang Yi know says China's relationship with ``the Peninsula'' both North and South Korea is like lips to teeth. That is big change in rhetoric and hopefully China will no longer prop up Kim Jong Un's deliberate attempts to destabilize the Korean peninsula.

In addition to a more robust sanctions regime, the Administration should pay more attention to undermining the faith of the North Korean people in Kim Jong Un's leadership. The cult of personality that surrounds the Kim family remains a strong deterrent to protest and uprisings within North Korea. The Kim family is accorded god-like status--the cult of personality is sometimes called Juche--and it offers Kim Jong Un a `divine mandate' to pursue nuclear weapons, national security, and human rights abuses with impunity.

More needs to be done to tarnish Kim Jong Un's image and that of the Kim family. The U.S. should be actively seeking to undermine the cult of personality and drive a wedge between North Korea elites and the Kim family. Sanctions are one way to drive such a wedge, but also needed are more radio broadcasts and USB drives with South Korean pop culture and news and information targeting North Korean military and elites. The more information the North Korean people have, the less isolated they are, the more likely they will see the Kim family as false gods.

Some of this work is being done by North Korean defectors living in South Korea. But their efforts are tiny and were not supported by the previous Administration.

The current sanctions regime is having some effect. High-level diplomats, military leaders, and the families of high-ranking officials are defecting--they are recognizing that they will be held accountable if they continue to support Kim Jong Un's barbaric regime.

Nevertheless, recent evidence shows that North Korea has become very good at evading sanctions. Last month a U.N. report made clear that North Korea is using `increasingly sophisticated' tactics to evade existing sanctions. Money, arms, and people are moved across borders by networks of middlemen and banks to avoid detection. The U.N. report concluded that sanctions enforcement `remains insufficient.' This legislation will expand U.S.

sanctions to target those help Kim Jong Un avoid sanctions and fund his nuclear program and human rights abuses.

I urge support for the legislation offered today and commend my colleagues for bringing this important legislation before the House.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman for yielding and for his leadership. I especially thank my good friend and colleague, Ms. Bass, for this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, last August, my staff director Greg Simpkins and I visited Juba, South Sudan, to press President Salva Kiir, his Vice President, the minister of defense, and five of his top generals to end the civil war, protect innocent lives, and reverse the conditions causing rampant disease and severe malnutrition that could soon lead to a famine.

Mr. Speaker, just 2 months ago, famine was formally declared in South Sudan. I especially asked President Kiir to personally intervene and issue and enforce an executive order of zero tolerance on rape and sexual abuse by his soldiers and security personnel against mostly humanitarian aid workers and civilians. I told the President that it was unconscionable in the extreme that South Sudanese soldiers had raped, beaten, and murdered humanitarian aid workers in July at the Terrain compound. One of those workers that was sexually assaulted, as it turned out, was from my own district. I didn't know until 3 days before leaving on that trip that she was in the compound and came close to being raped and it was the intervention of other forces that precluded her from suffering that horrible trauma, but she was, indeed, severely traumatized.

I asked him for a review to hold people to account and put them in prison--yes, there have been arrests, but there have been no prosecutions yet--and, again, to issue a zero tolerance policy.

On March 28, I chaired a hearing on the famine and the growing crisis in South Sudan, which is also being chaired by some of the other neighboring countries in the region.

Matt Nims, the acting director of the Office of Food for Peace testified that for 3 years the international community has employed massive efforts to stave off famine in South Sudan. Yet, as conflict intensified, the food security situation continued to deteriorate. And he said:

This is a man-made crisis and the direct consequence of

prolonged conflict.

Ken Isaacs, the vice president of Samaritan's Purse--and Samaritan's Purse has an extensive footprint in South Sudan doing unbelievably great humanitarian work--testified:

The most significant driver of the current crisis in the

worst hit areas of South Sudan, however, is the political

insecurity and brutal conflict that continues to engulf

the region. In South Sudan alone, 1.85 million people have

been internally displaced because. Because of this, many

people are calling this a man-made famine, and it is hard

to argue with that assessment.

Today, the United Nations reports that two-thirds of South Sudan's population requires humanitarian assistance, and almost 5 million people--more than 40 percent of the population--are in urgent need of food, agriculture, and nutritional assistance.

Clearly, the Government of South Sudan and the rebels they face are more interested in winning and holding territory than in finding ways to feed and nurture their people and allow humanitarian access. Two months ago, there were 70 humanitarian-access incidents reported, causing suspension of operations in multiple locations. Aid workers are being targeted in South Sudan, where eight Samaritan's Purse workers were kidnapped and later released in February, and six African aid workers in South Sudan were killed in March.

Stephen O'Brien, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, accused South Sudan's Government of blocking foods and medicines and restricting U.N. peacekeepers from protecting civilians. He described active hostility, access denials, and bureaucratic impediments to humanitarian organizations serving that beleaguered nation. This is a manmade crisis. This resolution puts us on record and, again, encourages our administration and the world to do more to end it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce that I have introduced the bipartisan Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act of 2017 (H.R. 1911), along with my colleagues and lead

original cosponsors, Brad Schneider, Peter Roskam, Eliot Engel, Randy Weber, Nita Lowey, Ted Deutch, Gus Bilirakis, and Marc Veasey are also original cosponsors.

I wrote the provisions of the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 to create in the State Department the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and the Special Envoy to lead it. President Bush signed the bill into law and since then the Special Envoy and Office have been crucial tools in our global fight against Anti-Semitism.

However, as witnesses testified at a recent hearing I chaired on ``Anti-Semitism across Borders,'' the ninth hearing I have chaired on Anti-Semitism, Anti-Semitic hatred has metastasized across the ideological spectrum. Secularists, Islamists, extremists on the right, and extremists on the left, propagate Anti-Semitism. Violent Anti- Semitic attacks have become more frequent and perpetrators are learning from and sometimes even cooperating with each other across national boundaries.

It's urgent that we enhance the position of Special Envoy to match the threats to Jewish communities and make sure our response is strong and focused. This legislation:

Elevates the position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti- Semitism to the rank of Ambassador;

Directs the Special Envoy to report directly to the Secretary of State;

Prohibits the Special Envoy from being double-hatted with another portfolio of issues;

Emphasizes that the Special Envoy should be a person of recognized distinction in the field of combating Anti-Semitism or religious freedom; and

Clarifies that Special Envoy shall be the primary advisor and coordinator for U.S. government efforts to monitor and combat Anti- Semitism and Anti-Semitic incitement in foreign countries.

Mr. Speaker, many leading groups support this bill, including Agudath Israel of America, American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith International, The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, The Jewish Federations of North America, National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry, Orthodox Union, Secure Community Network, Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the World Jewish Congress of North America.

I call on my colleagues to cosponsor this bill so that it moves through the Congress and gets to the President as soon as possible. With these enhancements, and full staffing, the Special Envoy can help ensure that America continues to lead the world toward defeating the ancient, unique evil of Anti-Semitism and keeping Jewish communities throughout the world safe and secure.

Mr. Speaker, North Korea is an existential threat to its neighbors and a global menace that requires constant vigilance and close cooperation between the U.S. and its regional allies. Ignoring North Korea's dangerous actions has been a bipartisan problem of the last three Administrations--and it is one that continues to need bipartisan solutions from the Congress.

Secretary Tillerson announced recently that the U.S. will no longer be guided by the policy of ``strategic patience.'' The U.S. cannot sit on the sidelines while Kim Jong-un proliferates nuclear and missile technology, sponsors terrorism and human trafficking efforts, and continues to abuse the North Korean people.

We trust that the threat posed by North Korea will be high on the agenda of President Trump and President Xi meeting this week. As we all know, the Chinese government's actions have not always been helpful.

Though the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on North Korea recommended the U.N. impose targeted sanctions on the North Korean leaders responsible for massive crimes against humanity, China blocked effective U.N. actions.

China's February announcement that it would cut off coal exports to North Korea is a needed and important step. But senior Chinese officials, such as Foreign Minister Wang Yi, continue to describe the China-North Korea relationship as being one of ``like lips to teeth.'' In other words, there is little daylight between Beijing and Pyongyang.

Such statements are not helpful when North Korea's nuclear proliferation and its development of multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles threaten to destabilize the world. The U.S. Intelligence Community's 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment concluded that North Korea is ``committed to developing a long-range, nuclear- armed missile that is capable of posing a direct threat to the United States.

Despite China's objections, there is need for deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and to conduct joint military exercises to strengthen coordination and cooperation posed by the threat of the North Korean military.

The threat to the U.S. and its allies is not only in East Asia, but in the Middle East as well. We are certain that Iran, to whom the past Administration released billions of dollars, is one of North Korean's nuclear partners. As witnesses testified at a joint hearing last July held jointly by three Foreign Affairs subcommittees, there is ample evidence that Iran has a longstanding nuclear collaboration with North Korea.

We should be very concerned that the Iranians will at some point acquire fissile material beyond what they are allowed to produce for themselves and threaten U.S. regional allies, including Israel.

We must continue to uncover both Pyongyang's enablers and those it enables. We should target with sanctions those individuals responsible for gross human rights violations inside the so-called ``hermit kingdom'' and stop money and materials from reaching terrorists and nuclear proliferators globally.

There is growing evidence that sanctions are having some effect. We know that high-level diplomats, military leaders, and the families of high-ranking officials are defecting--they are recognizing that they will be held accountable if they continue to support Kim Jong-Un's barbaric regime.

I urge support for the legislation offered today and commend my colleagues for bringing this important legislation before the House.