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93–821PDF 2015

DOES THE PRESIDENT’S FY 2016 BUDGET

REQUEST ADDRESS THE CRISES IN THE

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA?

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

MARCH 18, 2015

Serial No. 114–18

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

CURT CLAWSON, Florida 

SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee 

REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin 

DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

TOM EMMER, Minnesota 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

CURT CLAWSON, Florida 

DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESSES 

The Honorable Anne W. Patterson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, U.S. Department of State ................................................................ 7

The Honorable Paige Alexander, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for the 

Middle East, U.S. Agency for International Development ............................... 19

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

The Honorable Anne W. Patterson: Prepared statement ..................................... 10

The Honorable Paige Alexander: Prepared statement ......................................... 22

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 44

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 45

The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, a Representative in Congress from the 

Commonwealth of Virginia: Prepared statement .............................................. 46

Written responses from the Honorable Anne W. Patterson to questions submitted for the record by: 

The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of Florida, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Middle East 

and North Africa ............................................................................................... 49

The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly ..................................................................... 68

(1)

DOES THE PRESIDENT’S FY 2016 BUDGET 

REQUEST ADDRESS THE CRISES IN THE 

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA? 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2015

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o’clock p.m., in room 

2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 

(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. The subcommittee will come to order. After 

recognizing myself and Ranking Member Deutch for 5 minutes 

each for our opening statements, I will then recognize other members seeking recognition for 1 minute. 

We will then hear from our witnesses and without objection the 

witnesses’ prepared statements will be made a part of the record 

and members may have 5 days to insert statements and questions 

for the record subject to the length limitation in the rules. 

And before we begin today, I wanted to take a moment to express 

our condolences to the people of Tunisia, Poland, Italy, Germany 

and Spain for today’s senseless and cowardly terror attack in Tunis 

that has left at least 19 people dead. 

We all have great hopes for Tunisia as it leads the way on its 

path toward democracy against all odds and this attack reminds us 

that we must continue to support it as it strives to make progress. 

The Chair now recognizes herself for 5 minutes. First, let me 

again welcome you both for being here and thank you for your 

service. 

Each year as part of our oversight obligations we hold this hearing to examine the President’s budget request for the State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs Bureau and USAID’s Bureau for the 

Middle East. 

We are all aware of just how difficult the Middle East and North 

Africa is with all the instability, the sectarian tensions, the violence and the terror. So we know it isn’t an easy task to address 

all of these crises and protect our own national security interest. 

What I hope to hear today from our two distinguished guests is 

the administration’s plan to address the most pressing issues in the 

region and how the budget request is commensurate with what we 

are aiming to achieve. 

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In this year’s budget, the administration is requesting $7.14 billion in overall non-humanitarian bilateral aid for the Middle East 

and North Africa countries, an 8.7 percent increase over last year’s 

request. 

It is also requesting an additional $873.4 million in bilateral aid 

for these countries as part of its overseas contingency operations—

OCO fund—a 5.7 increase since 2014. 

On top of that, there is a request for an additional $1.64 billion 

for humanitarian aid for the crisis in Iraq and Syria. I am fully 

aware that this region poses probably the most difficulty for us to 

address. 

But in a time when we don’t seem to have a clear and decisive 

plan to tackle these crises, these increases must be closely scrutinized by us and the administration must justify them. 

This is a significant sum of U.S. taxpayer dollars and we can’t 

just sign off on such increases without identifying our policy goals 

and objectives and this administration has been plagued by indecision and half measures. And time and time again, we hear that the 

administration was surprised or caught unaware by certain events. 

We heard the President say the rise of ISIL was a surprise. Then 

the administration was surprised when ISIL easily captured Mosul. 

More recently, even though President Obama hailed our counterterrorism efforts in Yemen as a model of success in September, the 

administration acknowledged that it was surprised by the collapse 

of the U.S.-backed government in Yemen earlier this year. 

Yet all of these events were foreseeable. In Syria, the President 

still has not defined a clear and comprehensive plan for dealing 

with ISIL, al-Nusra and Assad nor has it been able to put forth a 

clear and distinct strategy for addressing the humanitarian crisis 

that has resulted. 

Instead of seeking the removal of Assad, now Secretary Kerry 

has lowered the threshold and is seeking to negotiate with Assad, 

a man responsible for over 220,000 deaths and who used chemical 

weapons against his own population. 

But this is part of the administration’s willingness to negotiate 

with the world’s worst regimes at the expense of our allies and 

partners. In the meantime, Iran is essentially in control of four 

capitals in the region—Damascus, Beirut, Sana’a and Baghdad. 

Yet, we carry on these misguided P5+1 nuclear talks while continuing to alienate our traditional partners and allies in the region, 

which is a recipe for disaster. 

While in Israel and the Palestinian territories the administration 

failed to prevent Abu Mazen from agreeing to a unity government 

with Hamas and failed to prevent Abu Mazen from going to the 

U.N. Security Council with a resolution that would establish a Palestinian state outside of the Palestinians’ obligation to come to a 

negotiated settlement with Israel. 

And though that initiative may have failed, at least for now, we 

were unable to prevent Abu Mazen from ceding to the Rome Statute and joining the International Criminal Court, the ICC, which 

has since launched a preliminary investigation against Israel. 

In each of the President’s requests for economic support funds, 

ESF, is $150 million, $50 million less than Fiscal Year 2014, and 

3

we were told that this decrease was a result of a policy decision but 

we were given no specifics. 

This is somewhat puzzling since a GAO report that I requested 

with Mr. Connolly recently made public shows that we still have 

nearly $1⁄2 billion in previously unobligated funds for Egypt. So 

why are we requesting an additional $150 million and what are we 

doing with the $1⁄2 billion? 

There are significant funds from the OCO account that are intended to go to Iraq including $250 million in FMF for the Iraqi 

security forces. But what about the Kurds who bear the brunt of 

much of the fighting against ISIL? 

The administration has recognized the continued progress that 

Tunisia has made on its path toward democracy but the tragic and 

deadly attack and hostage situation in the Bardo Museum in Tunis 

today serves as a reminder that there is still much work to be done 

on the democracy and security front. 

There are plenty of good programs and good work that this budget request supports and I am pleased to see that it commits continued support to our ally, Morocco, and recognizes the increased assistance to Jordan as part of the new memorandum of understanding as the kingdom continues to be on the front lines of the 

humanitarian crises and fight against ISIL. 

So I do hope that we will hear from our witnesses today on how 

the administration plans to address these challenges head on and 

how we can all work together to make the region more secure, 

more stable while furthering our interest as well. 

I will now yield to my friend, the ranking member, Mr. Deutch 

of Florida. 

Mr. DEUTCH. Thank you, Chairman Ros-Lehtinen. 

I look forward to these budget hearings each year as it gives 

members a chance to take a broad look at the region, assessing our 

priorities and gaps. 

Before we start, though, I would like to echo the chairman’s comments on the attack today in Tunisia. Our thoughts are, clearly, 

with the victims and their loved ones and I am afraid this is a 

stark reminder of exactly why we need to continue to support and 

keep Tunisia stable. 

Secretary Patterson, we welcome you back to this committee. Assistant Administrator Alexander, it is a pleasure to have you join 

us for the first time and I would like to first acknowledge the truly 

remarkable work that both the Department of State and USAID 

provide. 

I am particularly—I particularly want to acknowledge the aid 

workers and the members of our Foreign Service who are out in 

the field day after day, standing up and representing this great 

country. 

They deserve our recognition and they deserve our thanks, and 

we hope that you will pass that along to them. 

The President’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget bilateral request for this 

region amounts to roughly 13 percent of the international affairs 

budget. 

The region is facing no shortage of complex crises, many of which 

have grown exponentially over just the past several years. Regional 

4

instability is not just a security threat to this country and our allies. 

It also presents humanitarian challenges that could last well 

past the end of the military conflicts. In the aftermath of the Arab 

Spring, we face an entirely new landscape. 

Orders have in some cases become nearly obsolete and one of the 

reasons that today’s news is so disconcerting is that there have 

been promising developments in countries like Tunisia where a relatively stable government has emerged. 

And if we are to prevent any further destabilization in Tunisia 

and help set the country back on the path to economic prosperity, 

the United States has to continue to provide support both politically and economically. 

I am pleased to see this year’s budget request contains $134 million for Tunisia and I look forward to hearing how these funds will 

continue to support the country’s fragile democracy, particularly 

with the closing of USAID’s Office in Transition Initiatives. 

And while we continue to foster great regional security cooperation in North Africa with our larger partners like Morocco, we have 

been set back significantly by the chaos in Libya. 

What seemed like a chance to rebuild a democratic Libya in the 

aftermath of Gaddafi has unfortunately devolved into a perilous security situation and virtually ineffective if not in some cases a nonexistent government institution. 

The United States has a clear interest in seeing stability return 

to Libya but we cannot be alone in this effort. Regional actors must 

recognize that a terrorist safe haven in Libya will significantly 

complicate the international effort to counter violent extremism 

and prevent the growth of groups like ISIS. 

The horrific beheadings of Egyptian Christians in Libya by those 

claiming allegiance to ISIS should be an extraordinary wake-up 

call to the international community that Libya needs greater focus 

and attention, particularly on the United Nations’ efforts to reconcile the country’s political system. 

Egypt, the country perhaps currently most affected by Libya’s instability, given its shared very long and porous border, has posed 

another great challenge to the United States. 

Egypt serves as an incredibly important security partner and has 

faced a growing threat of terrorism in the Sinai that must be confronted. 

Egypt has cooperated with Israel on securing its shared borders 

and has been at the forefront of our efforts to combat Hamas’ building of terror tunnels and its vast smuggling network. 

I want to see Egypt succeed. I recognize it is a long road to democracy, and while I am still concerned about the perceived severity in which the state has cracked down on civil society, I hope that 

we can address some of the ways in which we are balancing our 

vital relationship with Egypt and our concerns about human rights 

and how the $150 million in economic support funds can be used 

to support civil society and good governance. 

I also support critical funding for security cooperation between 

Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This cooperation provides an 

enormous security benefit to Palestinians and to Israelis, and I 

5

hope that those who use the threat of an end to this cooperation 

recognize the devastating effect that it could have. 

I also believe there comes a time when we have to assess whether there is a credible partner to work with and this means that 

President Abbas must stop his attempts to bypass negations via 

unilateral means. 

Moreover, we must continue to remind the world that Hamas is 

a terrorist organization and whatever humanitarian aid we provide 

to those suffering under its rule in Gaza must be carefully tracked 

to ensure that it is not diverted. 

Palestinian Authority must take responsibility for its people and 

must ensure the greatest transparency and accountability for any 

U.S. funding if it is to continue. 

The bulk of the NEA budget, of course, will go to supporting the 

crisis in Syria and Iraq. The United States has led a coalition of 

over 60 nations including five Arab states in the fight against ISIS. 

There have been over 3,000 coalition air strikes that have devastated much of ISIS’ leadership but there are many of us here 

who are still unclear as to our long-term strategy for dealing with 

ISIS in Iraq and Syria and I hope that we continue to see an inclusive governing process in Iraq. 

Part of our strategy also addresses the use of religious extremism 

as an recruitment tool and I would like to know what the United 

States’ role in that process looks like. 

But wrap up by reminding everyone that Assad is still Assad. He 

is still the biggest threat to the people of Syria. 

We have to support a political solution that ends his brutality 

and, Ambassador Patterson, I hope you will clarify for everyone the 

Secretary’s recent comments on Assad’s role in that process. 

Finally, looming over the region, of course, is Iran’s role and influence from its meddling in Yemen and the Gulf States to its support for Hezbollah and Assad in Syria to its influence in Iraq and 

to its nuclear weapons ambitions and threats against our regional 

allies. 

This regime has made the calculated decision to disrupt the stability of our partners. And regardless of the outcome of the nuclear 

negotiations, we cannot ignore the myriad of dangerous activities 

that Iran promotes. 

Increased cooperation with our Gulf partners can help counter 

Iran’s actions and in addition we must highlight the regime’s repression and human rights abuses and I hope we will do our best 

to continue to support the Iranian people. 

Chairman, I don’t think there is any doubt this is the most challenging region to work in but the security of this country and our 

allies is too important for the United States to disengage. 

I support a robust international affairs budget that allows us to 

respond to complex challenges and advance our interests, and I 

thank the witnesses for being here today and look forward to their 

testimony. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Deutch. 

I will now turn to the other members for an opening statement 

that they wish to make. 

Mr. Clawson of Florida. 

Mr. CLAWSON. Thank you for coming today, both of you. 

6

A couple things if you will keep in mind in your comments today 

that you could help me with as I think about these things and 

study these things. 

From the view of the State Department, it just feels generally 

speaking like do we do more harm than good in this region, and 

it feels like we need a regional solution that involves other people 

but that our interventions have been far from perfect and we spill 

a lot of blood and treasure in the region and I am unsure of what 

we get back for that sometimes. And that is kind of a nonpartisan 

comment and, you know, will we get it right this time. 

I have deep respect for USAID and whenever I run into them 

overseas, Ambassador, I just think they are doing a great job and 

under very difficult circumstances. 

The question there that I have that you could keep in mind as 

we talk today should we be involved in these sorts of efforts where 

there is a war going on or where we have hostile regimes? 

Because it seems like the aid ends up in the wrong hands. So I 

don’t question the mission. I am always worried about accountability. 

But I worry that if we are doing these sorts of activities in Cuba 

or in the Middle East where we have people hostile to our allies 

in Israel, are we doing the right thing by focusing our efforts in 

those sorts of areas. 

With that, I yield back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Clawson. 

Mr. Cicilline of Rhode Island. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you, Madam Chairman and Ranking Member Deutch, for calling this hearing and thank you to our two distinguished witnesses for being here today to discuss the important 

topic of U.S. priorities in the Middle East for the Fiscal Year 2016. 

As we all know, the current situation in the Middle East is incredibly turbulent and constantly changing and the United States 

must have the funding and the flexibility to respond to existing 

threats and crises as well as future issues that may come up in the 

region. 

The request of the administration of $7 billion for the region is 

an almost 9 percent increase over the Fiscal Year 2015 enacted levels, and while this increase certainly seems justified given the vast 

security and humanitarian needs in the region, I look forward to 

hearing from our witnesses on the United States—how the United 

States can ensure that our resources are being used effectively to 

advance American strategic priorities. 

I am particularly interested in asking some questions that relate 

to the Syrian refugees as well as our efforts to, again, invest in 

training the Syrian—so-called Syrian opposition. 

I know most of that goes through the Department of Defense but 

I hope the witnesses will address those two issues and I look forward to your testimony, and I yield back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Cicilline. 

We are pleased to welcome our two witnesses, a good friend of 

our subcommittee, Ambassador Anne Patterson, who is Assistant 

Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Ambassador Patterson 

has served as the U.S. Ambassador in El Salvador, in Colombia, 

Pakistan and Egypt. 

7

She has also been Assistant Secretary of State for International 

Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N. and State Department’s Deputy Inspector 

General. Welcome back. 

Then we are also so pleased to welcome Assistant Administrator 

Paige Alexander of the Bureau of the Middle East at USAID. 

Previously, Ms. Alexander has served as Assistant Administrator 

of the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia as well as an associate director for Project Liberty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy 

School of Government. 

She has also served on the board of the Basic Education Coalition and the Project on Middle East Democracy. 

Welcome, ladies, and we will start with you, Madam Ambassador. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ANNE W. PATTERSON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Thank you, Madam Chairman and 

Ranking Member Deutch, members of the subcommittee. Thank 

you for inviting us to appear today. 

With your permission, I will submit my full testimony for the 

record. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Without objection. 

Ambassador PATTERSON. I will focus on a few of our budget highlights and I look forward to answering your questions. 

The Middle East and North Africa is experiencing a difficult period of instability with serious consequences for both our national 

and regional security. 

It has shaken the foundations of these societies, many of whom 

are our long-term partners where rapidly growing youthful populations are pressing for change. 

Although the region’s challenges take many—will take many 

years to resolve, American engagement and leadership is critical to 

reaching a new equilibrium that will protect our vital interest and 

spur economic progress. 

The President’s Fiscal Year 2016 request seeks $7.3 billion in 

U.S. foreign assistance to the Middle East and North Africa. 

This figure is an overall increase of 5 percent, or $351 million, 

from Fiscal Year 2014 levels and will support U.S. national security interests, enable us to pursue our vital interests and allow us 

to remain an engaged and productive partner to the region’s people 

and governments. 

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has become the most 

pressing threat to U.S. interests and our allies in the region. As the 

President has clearly stated, we are committed to degrading and 

ultimately defeating ISIL. 

This request includes a total of $1.8 billion to counter ISIL and 

to support the moderate Syrian opposition and the security and 

stability of Syria’s neighbors. Bashir al-Assad, whose brutality toward the Syrian people catalyzed a civil war, has lost legitimacy 

in the eyes of Syrians and the international community. 

We are requesting $255 million for programs to enhance the 

moderate Syrian opposition’s capacity to provide governance and 

8

essential services to the Syrian people and to establish the conditions to advance a political solution. 

We will provide needed nonlethal support to vetted armed units 

to complement the DoD Train and Equip program. We are also requesting $355 million for Iraq to help the Iraqi security forces respond to the threat ISIL poses and over time establish security 

through unified national force and provide public services for all its 

citizens. 

We are also seeking funding for our continued engagement in the 

search for a just and lasting two-state peace agreement in the Middle East and our deep commitment to Israel’s security. 

We continue to believe that only a two-state solution that results 

in a secure Israel alongside a sovereign and independent Palestinian state can bring lasting peace and stability to both peoples. To that end, we are requesting $3.1 billion for Israel as part of our 10-year $30 billion memorandum of understanding. We are requesting $442 million to support the Palestinian people 

and remain engaged with the Palestinian Authority in spite of its 

unconstructive agenda at the International Criminal Court. 

The resources enhance security for Israelis, Palestinians and others in the region and help pay many Palestinian Authority debts 

to Israel. 

In Egypt, the Fiscal Year 2016 budget request of $1.5 billion supports our longstanding partnership with Egypt and maintains our 

commitment to Egypt’s security. This request includes $1.3 billion in FMF, consistent with prior 

years, and will support sustainment of U.S. weapons systems previously provided to Egypt, maintenance of the Egypt-Israel peace 

treaty and protection of the Suez Canal. We are focusing our $150 million economic support programs on 

fostering private sector-led growth and we will continue to press 

Egypt to improve its human rights situation while promoting religious tolerance, especially for the Coptic Christian community. 

Today’s terrorist attacks at the Bardo Museum complex killed at 

least 19 people, including 17 foreign tourists, according to Prime 

Minister Essid. We condemn this attack and have expressed our 

condolences to the Tunisian people, the victims and their family 

and friends. 

This act of violence, while deeply troubling, in no way diminishes 

the achievements of the Tunisian people in establishing their new 

democracy or our confidence in Tunisia’s future. 

This horrific attack underlies the critical need to support Tunisia 

as addressed in the Fiscal Year 2016 budget. Our Fiscal Year 2016 

request of $134 million represents a nearly $77 million increase 

above our Fiscal Year 2014 allocation and demonstrates our commitments to Tunisia’s nascent democracy. 

In particular, the $62.5 million in FMF requested will increase 

Tunisia’s counterterrorism capacities by building its intelligence 

surveillance, border security and reconnaissance capacities and 

maintaining aging U.S. equipment crucial to the fight against terrorism. 

The combined $14 million in INCLE and NADR supports training, the provision of equipment and technical assistance to the Tunisian minister of interior. 

9

Madam Chairman, Ranking Member Deutch, it is important to 

remember that behind all these budgetary numbers lay programs 

that provide assistance to millions of people who are seeking jobs 

and economic opportunities, education for their children and a 

chance to live in peace. 

Since the start of the Syrian crisis, the United States has provided more than $3 billion in humanitarian assistance to assist refugees from Syria, including significant funding for humanitarian 

activities, helping countries like Lebanon and Jordan cope with the 

effects of the crisis. 

This request will advance the diplomatic and security interests 

of the United States while enabling us to help the people of the 

Middle East and North Africa during a time when American leadership in the region remains desperately needed. 

Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Ambassador Patterson follows:]

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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Ambassador. 

Ms. Alexander. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE PAIGE ALEXANDER, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR THE MIDDLE EAST, U.S. 

AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Ms. ALEXANDER. Thank you, Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking 

Member Deutch and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for 

inviting me here today to discuss the Fiscal Year 2016 budget for 

the United States Agency for International Development and our 

efforts to respond to the development needs in the Middle East and 

North Africa. 

We face unprecedented challenges in this region. The economic 

frustrations that lack inclusion that brought people to the streets 

4 years ago has not engaged and it remains a daily reality. 

Unemployment among the young people is the highest in the 

world. The region faces substantial water challenges and instability 

in key countries further complicates our work. The administration’s 

2016 budget request is focused on addressing these needs, providing assistance that is critical to advance America’s strategic, 

economic and security interests. 

USAID is working with local partners in private sector growth 

and inclusive economic opportunity, education, civil society and responsive government. We are investing in programs that will help 

individuals in communities build resilient stable societies. 

We are constantly innovating and thinking creatively about how 

to best operate in high-threat environments while leveraging our 

limited dollars to address development needs. We work not only 

with governments but also with grass root level folks, changing the 

lives of individuals and transforming communities. 

I just returned from a trip to the region and when I was in Egypt 

I was able to see how this works together with government and society. I visited a USAID program that helped teachers create innovative classrooms for an early grade reading program. 

USAID actually did the first 166 schools as a pilot and the Government of Egypt picked up the other 16,000 schools throughout 

the country. This is how we work collectively together. 

My statement for the record includes more details of USAID priorities and challenges in the regions and I would like to briefly 

mention some of them here. 

The Syrian crisis is the largest and most complex humanitarian 

emergency of our time. The United States, with the support of Congress, has been the largest single international donor, providing 

more than $3 billion to date. 

In addition to humanitarian assistance, the 16 requests will support programs in Syria intended to help the moderate opposition 

maintain basic governance and services to provide alternates to the 

regime and the violent extremist groups. 

The emergence of ISIL has had an unprecedented impact on our 

region. The majority of Syrian refugees have been absorbed into 

local communities in Jordan and Lebanon, doubling and in some 

cases tripling the populations of towns that were already hard 

pressed to provide these essential services. 

20

The United States provides critical support to these host communities by building schools, expanding health facilities and increasing access to water. In Iraq, we anticipate enormous assistance 

needs in liberated areas from ISIL to help the displaced return 

home and communities recover. 

USAID’s plans for Fiscal Year 2016 include highly targeted and 

focused assistance to help Iraq generate revenue and provide services with limited U.S. taxpayer resources. 

In Libya and Yemen, U.S.-funded programs continue to operate 

with local staff and careful third party monitoring, remote monitoring at this point while our American staff manage the programs 

from outside those countries due to the security concerns. 

We remain committed to the pursuit of a negotiated two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To that end, the Fiscal 

Year 2016 budget will continue to support peace efforts by funding 

programs that benefit the Palestinian people including in education, health, humanitarian assistance, private enterprise and infrastructure. 

On my recent trip, I was introduced to Muhummad, an olive oil 

farmer who tripled his yield through farming practices learned 

with USAID’s Olive Without Borders. 

This project, with our support, more than 1,500 Israeli and Palestinian olive farmers and distributors came together to share 

farming methods and promote understanding. 

With our help, the Palestinian and Israeli officials also agreed to 

allow Israelis to purchase Palestinian olive oil for the first time in 

10 years, resulting in $20 million in new revenues for the Palestinian farmers. 

In Fiscal Year 2016, we intend to do more to support farmers 

and entrepreneurs like Muhummad because a strong Palestinian 

economy is good for everyone and U.S. assistance plays a critical 

role promoting the stability and prosperity, not just for the Palestinians but for Israel. 

Egypt continues to be a key strategic partner in the region. In 

Fiscal Year 2016, the United States will continue to support initiatives that help Egypt and the Egyptian people. 

We have intensified our commitment to help the Egyptian economy become more competitive and more inclusive. Our investments 

will continue it improve the basic quality of basic education and 

higher education as well as addressed issues such as fundamental 

freedoms, which are essential to Egypt’s long-term political and 

economic development. 

Elsewhere in North Africa, USAID supports Tunisian people as 

they lay a foundation for a future of economic prosperity and democratic governance. 

As the chairwoman said and you all have mentioned, we will continue to support Tunisia in their drive to make this progress even 

in light of today’s events. 

In Morocco, we continue to promote economic growth, improve 

educational opportunities and strengthen the effectiveness of civil 

society. 

The President’s request responds to development needs and challenges in the Middle East and North Africa and USAID programs 

21

remain essential components of the U.S. foreign policy interest in 

security and stability. 

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and I 

look forward to answering your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Alexander follows:]

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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, both of you, for excellent testimony and I will recognize myself to start the questions. 

Assistant Secretary—Ambassador Patterson, as I mentioned earlier in my remarks, Mr. Connolly and I recently received a report 

from GAO regarding our assistance program in Egypt. The report found that we have about $460 million in unobligated 

funds for Egypt from previous years, yet this budget request seeks 

an additional $150 million for Egypt. What is the status of the 

nearly $1⁄2 billion in unobligated funds? 

Is it going to be reprogrammed for something else? Why are we seeking an additional $150 million when we already have this $460 

million unused? And my office also learned that the decrease from 

$200 million in the previous request for Egypt’s ESF to $150 million this year reflected the administration’s policy decisions. 

So what is the rationale or the policy decision behind this seem- ingly random $50 million cut? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Thank you, Madam Chairman. 

We have certainly over the past several years had difficulty disbursing in Egypt because of the huge political turmoil, the issue 

with NGOs. The—I think the last year I were there there was 

something like six finance ministers. 

So the environment has been very unsettled for a number of 

years. We have tried—we have just signed six agreements. We are 

trying to move ahead with our higher education initiative, particularly focusing on economic growth, and we think we can liquidate 

that pipeline in a speedy manner. 

One reason we did drop the request though was because we had 

a substantial backlog. So we wanted to allocate those resources to 

another area. 

But we are doing everything we can now to liquidate that pipeline and put in place a number of promising new programs, particularly reaching directly to the Egyptian people. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. And will use those unobligated funds for 

other programs? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Yes. We have signed up a lot of programs I think in the last 3 months, six new major programs including a higher education initiative. 

For instance, we have a girl’s school that focuses on science and 

math and—but our main focus is going to be on economic growth 

and trying to reduce the unemployment and to get the economy 

growing in Egypt because it is 90 million people in the center of 

the Arab world. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. And on my question about the $200 million 

and then $150 million, and it was said it reflected the administration’s policy decisions, what policy decisions guided that cut? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. The main policy decision was, as you 

say, we had a lot of unliquidated pipeline. So we decided to reallocate that money or to at least assign that money to other areas. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Okay. Again, staying briefly with GAO report, this one touches on another GAO report that I commissioned 

on security assistance to Lebanon. But it was referenced in the 

Egypt report. 

In 2013, GAO reported that bureau evaluation plans for security 

assistance were due in May 2012 yet none of them were completed 

34

at the time and, remarkably, GAO reports that the State evaluation of Lebanon is expected to be the basis for informing future 

evaluations of security assistance to Egypt and other countries. 

Where do we stand with these evaluations? How is it possible 

that we still have never conducted such reviews? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Yes, Madam Chairman. 

The GAO had an entirely valid point about that and we are certainly on the hook to conduct an assessment of Egypt’s security 

programs—security assistance program which is, of course, very 

sizeable and very complex. 

And we have been working with our colleagues in the Bureau of 

Political Military Affairs to get that going. They are trying to develop a template that they can use worldwide for these security assistance programs. But I hope to report back to you and members 

of your staff shortly about how this is proceeding. 

That said, Madam Chairman, we have worked closely with the 

Egyptian military to encourage them to modernize their military 

and to use our assistance to meet more current threats such as 

counter terrorism and border security. As you noted, they are facing serious problems both in the Sinai and on their western border. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Well, we look forward to receiving the 

progress report on those evaluations. 

Regarding the budget request for Iraq, how much of this request for Iraq—$250 million in OCO FMF—is going to arming and helping the Kurds? Where are we in the process of sending military 

arms to the Kurds and to Baghdad? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Madam Chairman, we had a—we have 

had a very extensive program to arm the Kurds and we can provide 

details to this committee. 

DoD had a task force set up to provide small arms, medium-sized 

arms to the Kurds and to rush those in during the first stages of 

the campaign against ISIL. 

I think at issue here is the heavy weaponry and our analysis, I 

think, as members of this committee know that it would not be 

legal to provide those directly to the Kurds and I understand members of the committee are considering legislation to redress that. 

We have very close cooperation with the Kurds. We have a joint 

intelligence center. We have a large consulate up there. We work 

very, very closely with them on military operations. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. We appreciate that. Keeping with Iraq and 

Syria and the administration’s humanitarian request of $1.6 billion, Congressman Deutch and I have requested a new GAO report 

that evaluates our humanitarian assistance on the Syrian crisis. 

Our concern is to ensure that our assistance is getting to where 

it is designed to go yet most of it goes to U.N. agencies. What kind 

of oversight do we have over this considerable amount of U.S. taxpayer money going through the U.N.? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. I would—I would go back to my assignment in New York about this. We have worked hard over the years 

to put in place an inspector general, accountants, auditors, oversight committees. 

The fifth committee in New York that is—that has very robust 

American representation oversees these agencies or the agency directly, and I think if we could provide you more detail you would 

35

be satisfied that there is an oversight program with the U.N. agencies that basically pretty much mirrors ours. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I look forward to getting more information on 

our oversight of this humanitarian aid being funneled through the 

U.N. 

On Monday, Secretary Kerry actually stated that Assad should 

be included in the negotiations to reach a political solution in 

Syria, which unsurprisingly was immediately dismissed by Assad, 

and it is absolutely astonishing to think that the administration believes that Assad could or should be part of the negotiations, 

though it is not surprising considering the President’s penchant for 

opening communications with other rogue regimes like Cuba and 

Iran. 

Do you believe that Assad must go or should he be part of the 

negotiations? Where are we with Assad this week? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Madam Chairman, let me try and clarify that. Let me state unequivocally that our policy toward Assad 

had not changed. He must leave. He is a brutal dictator. 

He is responsible for the deaths of 250,000 people as well as 

enormous displacement. What the Secretary meant with his statement and, believe me, the Secretary of State did not mean that he 

was going to sit down at the same table with Bashar al-Assad—

that any negotiation to remove him from the scene, and we all hope 

for a political negotiation, would have to involve some people close 

to Assad who could speak for him to get him to move out. 

And that is basically what it boils down to. But I assure you our 

policy vis-a`-vis Assad has not changed. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. And, lastly, it is my opinion that Abu 

Mazen’s initiative at the U.N. and the ICC have triggered the law 

to cut off funding for the PA. 

I know we may have a disagreement. There is an ongoing review. 

But given the recent statements by the lead Palestinian negotiator 

who said that a victory for Prime Minister Netanyahu would give 

them no other choice than to continue pressing for action at the 

ICC, does this change that review? 

Will we cut off funding for the PA, close the PLO office in DC 

and what is the status of that review? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. I think my colleagues have told you we 

are looking at all the assistance to the Palestinian Authority. We 

know that the situation has changed and there may be a reallocation among accounts. 

But you hit the nail on the head. I do think we have a disagreement about this—whether the law has in fact been triggered—and 

let me assure you that the Secretary and many other American officials but particularly Secretary Kerry are in constant contact with 

Abu Mazen and senior members of the Palestinian Authority to encourage them to take the right path. It is a, believe me, an ongoing 

dialogue. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Ambassador Patterson. 

Did not mean to ignore you, Ms. Alexander. We just have so 

many questions for the Ambassador. 

Ranking Member Ted Deutch. 

36

Mr. DEUTCH. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Let me just pick up 

where you left off on that last point. Ambassador Patterson, I appreciate the statements and the encouragement that President 

Abbas take the right path but can you tell us when the review 

might be complete, when we might know with some certainty 

whether that law has been triggered and if not so that we can 

make determinations about how best to proceed? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Well, Mr. Deutch, we don’t think the 

law will be triggered until there is a formal investigation underway. But that quite apart—that is quite apart from our internal 

evaluation of essentially the aid package, and I can’t give you a 

date but I will give you my assurance that I hope it will be done 

very shortly. 

And I will go back and check on that and we will give you a call 

and try and pin that down because I know that is a interest of 

great concern for this committee. 

Mr. DEUTCH. We would appreciate that. Let me—let me go back 

to Egypt for a second and, again, just picking up on the exchange 

that you had with the chairman. 

So the Secretary was quoted this week as saying we should expect a decision soon on certification for aid to Egypt, and as I said 

earlier I support our partnership with Egypt. I think it is very important. 

It is critical. But as we look at the relationship and we balance 

our very real concerns with civil society and human rights with our 

very important security relationship, could you just continue again 

where you started and what does that actually look like going forward? How do you anticipate this playing out over the coming 

weeks and months? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Well, there—frankly, as you well know, 

we have essentially conflicting objectives in Egypt and it is very 

important to promote our security relationship and, frankly, 

Egypt’s security relationship with Israel, which has never been better, and is even more important now than in the past because of 

the upheavals in the Sinai, which threatens both Egypt and Israel. 

So the security relationship is paramount. Egypt has to—Egypt’s 

armed forces have to evolve to meet new threats. They have quite 

legitimate concerns on the Western border now with the growth of 

ISIL and the uncertainty in Libya. 

But I think all of us are concerned, as you are, about the crackdown on civil society and the crackdown on secular activists and 

the large number of people in Egyptian jails who probably 

shouldn’t be there or at least should be there under some semblance of due process. 

So we are just going to have to balance these objectives going forward and we are, frankly, doing the best we can. We pressed—the 

Secretary was in Egypt last week. 

He met with President el-Sisi. I know from previous conversations that human rights and the future of civil society is always 

high on his agenda. 

But he is also very mindful of the role that Egypt plays vis-a`-

vis Israel and Gaza and now Libya and the threats that they are 

facing. 

37

Mr. DEUTCH. I just—I agree with you completely and I just want 

to echo what you have—how you laid that out. It is not an eitheror scenario. 

There is—we can continue to address—work to address our concerns about civil society while also providing the necessary and 

critical security support that Egypt desperately needs at this time 

because of their role—because of their relationship with us, because of their role in the region, because of the role they are playing with Israel. It is not either-or. 

It is an important message from you and from the administration. Because that is the case, I think a lot of us would like to see 

it—see us move forward on both paths quickly. That is my message 

to you. 

And, finally, on Iran, how does the—how does the budget allow 

the United States to strengthen relationships with our regional 

partners to counter Iran’s dangerous and destabilizing influence in 

the broader region? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Well, I think a key to that is our relationship with the Gulf countries, frankly, who don’t need foreign 

assistance, and Secretary Kerry has spent a good deal of time reassuring our Gulf partners. 

He was just in Riyadh 10 days ago. He is planning to have a 

meeting of GCC countries early in April, reassuring them of our 

commitment to their security, not the least of which is the presence 

of 35,000 troops in the region. 

But, certainly, as far as the request goes to improve the capacity 

of Lebanon’s security forces is also paramount because it is a truly 

national institution that prevents, shall we say, the rise of other 

armed groups from playing a more prominent role in Lebanon. 

And then, of course, the request for Jordan is very important 

throughout the region. 

Mr. DEUTCH. Thank you. I yield back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you. 

Mr. DeSantis of Florida. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Thank you. Has—Ambassador Patterson, has the 

administration spoken with Netanyahu to congratulate him on the 

Likud Party’s victory? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Yes, sir. Secretary Kerry—I saw an 

email a couple hours ago—called him to congratulate him sometime 

today. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Has the White House, to your knowledge? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. I don’t know. 

Mr. DESANTIS. I appreciate both of your statements and testimony. This—I know the two-state solution has been something that 

has been discussed in diplomatic circles for decades. 

But given the election results, given the security posture that 

Israel faces right now, do you honestly think it is realistic that you 

would have a Palestinian state on the horizon, given all the terrorism that we are seeing not only from ISIS but from Shi’ite 

groups like Hezbollah, to have—the experience in Gaza was when 

the Israelis pulled out you had Hamas take over. 

So why would they want to run the risk right now of having that 

same history replicate itself on the West Bank? 

38

Ambassador PATTERSON. Well, this has been longstanding U.S. 

policy to—because it is the only——

Mr. DESANTIS. No, I understand that. But I am saying as right 

now, given where we are, is that really a realistic——

Ambassador PATTERSON. Yes, I think so because critical to this 

issue, and Secretary Kerry has spent a huge amount of time on 

this, will be robust security guarantees for Israel. 

And my understanding is that that process and that discussion 

and that analysis was much more advanced in this round of discussion than in any previous round. Another element——

Mr. DESANTIS. Well, let me just—I appreciate that. Because I 

think it gets to kind of the broader policy. So as the chairwoman 

pointed out, you had the Hamas-Fatah unity government and 

many of us, including me, think that the law called for a suspension of aid as a result. 

And the administration rationalized it, said well, they are not—

there is no undue influence—these are really just technocrats with 

Hamas. One, if there is any unity, the money is fungible, so that 

frees up more money for Hamas. 

But whatever. So there was no suspension of aid. Now you have 

the ICC gamut. Abbas has asked for an investigation. He signed 

a letter and the administration’s position is well, they haven’t initiated an investigation so we don’t think the law is triggered. 

And we know that there have been threats to do other things 

unilaterally to the international community to try to attain Palestinian statehood. 

So I guess my question is, if you are always going to read those 

things in Abbas’ favor and in the Palestinian Authority’s favor, 

aren’t you really just emboldening him to push the envelope with 

his unilateral actions? 

If he doesn’t think there are going to be consequences, why not 

try to do what he is doing? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Congressman, I guess—I guess I would 

say in response to that that it strikes me as important for Israel’s 

security too because at this point, for instance, the Palestinian civil 

servants are at 60 percent of their salary level. 

So if you cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority and you 

have a considerable degree of disruption and civil unrest on the 

West Bank, Israel is going to——

Mr. DESANTIS. No, I understand that. But at the same time, with 

respect to Abbas, I think we have sent him a message that he is 

going to be able to push the envelope. 

Let me ask you about UNWRA. It was very distressing to see all 

these reports of Hamas rockets in these UNRRA schools where 

they are firing into the Israeli population. 

And we have sent money to UNRRA and you would ask questions—they would say oh, well, you know, we are not working with 

Hamas. Really? You are not working with Hamas? How did those 

rockets get in those schools? 

What is the administration’s position with respect to UNRRA 

and how those UNRRA schools were used to launch rockets against 

the Israelis? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. We talked, at least I talked as did many 

others, to the head of UNWRA just 2 days ago and they are doing 

39

and have done an exhaustive investigation of those claims, and we 

will be happy to provide it to you. 

Mr. DESANTIS. What is the conclusion? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. The conclusion is a lot of it was false. 

There were other—there were—yes, there were things stored there 

but it is important that we get all the facts and provide them to 

you. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Yes, we would definitely like to see that. With respect to Egypt, does the administration consider—I know you said 

there are competing values at stake, but does the administration 

consider President al-Sisi to be an ally in the war against terrorism? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Certainly. I mean, he is—I know President el-Sisi very well. Yes. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Great. 

Ambassador PATTERSON. That is the short answer. 

Mr. DESANTIS. Because I appreciate the problems with civil society, and I agree with you on that. But it seems to me the Muslim 

Brotherhood you had—it was negative in both ways because they 

would have cracked down on civil society. 

They were doing that, and they would not have been a reliable 

ally in the broader fight against Islamic extremism. And so I think 

we need to work with the military there, and I appreciate those 

comments. 

My final question is, if you look at over the course of the Obama 

administration Iran has had a pretty good run of it. They have 

really expanded their influence throughout the Middle East. 

They are in de facto control of Iraq. They have a client now controlling Yemen. Clearly, they have been propping up the Assad regime—very big patrons of Gaza. 

Are we concerned—is the State Department concerned about the 

expansion of Iranian influence throughout the Middle East and, if 

so, what are you going to do about it? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. Well, certainly, we are concerned about 

the expansion of Iranian influence and we are certainly concerned 

about what is taking place in Lebanon and Yemen and other countries. 

And the broader concern, if I might say, Congressman, is sectarian conflict is at the highest level that any of us recall with 

years of experience in this region in the Middle East. 

The Shi’a-Sunni conflicts are very deep and very extreme. And 

let me be clear that we are doing everything we can through a variety of means, which we can perhaps talk about in another setting, 

to arrest some of this confrontation. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Mr. DeSantis. 

Mr. Cicilline. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the witnesses for the excellent presentation. 

I just returned with some colleagues from the Middle East and 

it reminded me that this is a very complicated region of the world 

and there are no easy solutions and I really appreciate the testimony, Ambassador, that you gave with respect to our competing interests because it seems to me that is the case in virtually every 

40

part of this region and striking the right balance is really an important objective. 

I don’t think there are competing values, as was just suggested. 

Actually, hopefully, we have a set of American values that we are 

promoting and the interests are what are competing in some of 

these contexts. 

I would like to focus for a moment, again, on Egypt because I 

know that that is a place where their kind of competing interests 

are really obvious. But I am wondering if you would just speak to 

whether or not we are seeing—I recognize the security interests are 

deep and longstanding and continue to be strong. 

But are you seeing any progress on the civil society—on the release of the detained individuals, on efforts to free the NGO workers, on implementing laws that really advance democracy, taking 

steps that are consistent with protecting or advancing the rights of 

women and religious minorities? 

Is there any progress that we are seeing and what is the United 

States doing to really insist on some progress in these areas? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. First of all, let me say that the request 

contains a lot of money—resources that could support these 

projects. But let me sort of—I mean, I think what I would say in 

Egypt we are seeing modest progress. 

For instance, on—I think—I think there isn’t a serious problem 

and I think the Coptic Christian community is, frankly, much 

happier under President al-Sisi than they were under the previous 

government and I think if they were here they would say that they 

enjoy—he came to Christmas Mass, which was a first in Egypt’s 

history—I think they would say they are enjoying a higher degree 

of freedom than they have in years. 

On NGO laws, I will admit there is not much progress on that. 

I would be the first to say that, and we will press and have pressed 

for a new NGO law that would provide for greater freedoms for 

both local and foreign NGOs. 

And in terms of the electoral progress, they did set a date for 

elections and the courts have just overturned it. So we will be 

ready with technical assistance. 

They have been very willing to take our technical assistance for 

elections. We will be willing to provide that as soon as they set another election date. But they need to move on with the democratic 

process and elect a Parliament. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you. 

And Ms. Alexander, I want to—I just returned as part of that 

trip to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan right on the Syrian border and the crisis, as you know, facing the Jordanians in particular 

but the Syrian refugee crisis continues to be really extraordinary, 

and the United States, I know, has been the lead donor. 

But the demand and the needs are enormous. And I am just 

wondering are we—what are we doing to persuade our partners in 

the region, particularly the Saudis, the Emiratis, the UAE, to really undertake a greater responsibility? 

I mean, the Jordanians—the Hashemite Kingdom—has taken on 

an incredible responsibility and don’t even really complain about it. 

They just sort of see it as some—their responsibility. 

41

But it is clear to me that we are doing our part, the Jordanians 

are doing their part but are we doing things to press others in the 

region to undertake some more of this humanitarian work? 

Ms. ALEXANDER. Thank you, Congressman. In fact, we are. I am 

glad you were able to see the camp and I hope that you were able 

to see the assistance the U.S. Government has been giving up 

there. 

There is a donors conference in Kuwait at the end of the month 

and one of the main pitches is to make sure we speak with the Gulf 

States and other regional players to recognize that this refugee—

the refugee flows are so destabilizing to all of the neighbors. 

And without being able to provide essential services and the 

basic humanitarian needs that are there, we are going to face a 

larger humanitarian crisis than just the refugee flows we are seeing now. 

So that is something that we are focused on. USAID has bene 

out and doing a tin-cup exercise with a lot of these other countries 

to make sure that they come to the donors conference prepared to 

recognize the incredible needs that are there. 

Mr. CICILLINE. And it is an important moment to recognize the 

incredible workers from the respective agencies, particularly 

USAID, who are doing extraordinary work and from the U.N. and 

the other agencies. 

One final question I want to ask about is Section 7008. There is 

a provision in the appendix to the budget request, which—where 

the administration is seeking a change in U.S. law, a law that has 

been in place for about three decades which requires the suspension of U.S. aid in the event of a coup d’etat against a democratically-elected government. 

As you know, this section has been applied many times in places 

like Fiji and Mali and Thailand and Madagascar and provided an 

incentive for power to return swiftly to the democratically-elected 

governments. 

And so I would like to hear a little bit about what is the justification for proposing this national interest waiver and what kind of 

signal might that send and should we be concerned about sending 

to governments that have come to power by military coup and foreign ministries globally, especially in this moment? 

Ambassador PATTERSON. I didn’t know, sir——

Mr. CICILLINE. Yes. Ambassador Patterson. I am sorry. 

Ambassador PATTERSON. I didn’t know we were requesting a 

waiver. I mean, generally speaking we want—we would seek the 

most flexibility we have in the interpretation of the law, and there 

was a recent issue in our part of the world in which we had, you 

know, shall I say, some difficulty in making that determination. 

But I can’t answer that. We will get back to you. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Madam Chairman. I yield back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Cicilline. 

Thank you, ladies, for excellent testimony. We hope that President Obama will be calling Prime Minister Netanyahu very soon. 

Thank you very much, and with that the subcommittees are adjourned. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 3:53 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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