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97–857PDF 2015

VARIOUS MEASURES

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

H.R. 1654, H.R. 3654, H.R. 4154,

H. Res. 346 and H. Res. 536

DECEMBER 9, 2015

Serial No. 114–125

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 

DANIEL DONOVAN, New York 

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 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF 

H.R. 1654, To authorize the direct provision of defense articles, defense services, and related training to the Kurdistan Regional Government, and for 

other purposes ...................................................................................................... 2

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1654 offered by the 

Honorable Edward R. Royce, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of California, and chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs .............. 12

H.R. 3654, To require a report on United States strategy to combat terrorist 

use of social media, and for other purposes ....................................................... 22

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3654 offered by the 

Honorable Ted Poe, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

Texas .................................................................................................................. 26

Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 

3654 offered by the Honorable Darrell E. Issa, a Representative 

in Congress from the State of California ................................................. 30

H.R. 4154, To direct the President to submit to Congress a time frame 

for the transfer of certain naval vessels to Taiwan pursuant to section 

102(b) of the Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2013, and for other purposes ....... 32

H. Res. 346, Condemning the use of toxic chemicals as weapons in the 

Syrian Arab Republic ........................................................................................... 34

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 346 offered by the 

Honorable Ted S. Yoho, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Florida ........................................................................................................... 39

H. Res. 536, Supporting freedom of the press in Latin America and the 

Caribbean and condemning violations of press freedom and violence against 

journalists, bloggers, and individuals exercising their right to freedom of 

speech .................................................................................................................... 44

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 536 offered by the 

Honorable Albio Sires, a Representative in Congress from the State of 

New Jersey ........................................................................................................ 49

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

APPENDIX 

Markup notice .......................................................................................................... 72

Markup minutes ...................................................................................................... 73

Markup summary .................................................................................................... 75

(1)

VARIOUS MEASURES 

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2015

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m., in room 

2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward Royce (chairman of the committee) presiding. 

Chairman ROYCE. This committee will come to order. 

Pursuant to notice, we meet today to mark up five bipartisan 

measures. Without objection, all members may have 5 days to submit statements for the record and extraneous material on any of 

today’s business. 

As all were notified yesterday, we intend to consider these measures en bloc, and so without objection the following items previously provided to members will be considered en bloc; they’re considered as read: H.R. 1654 to authorize the direct provision of defense articles and services to the Kurdistan Regional Government; 

Royce Amendment 87 in the nature of a substitute; H.R. 3654, the 

Combat Terrorist Use of Social Media Act; Poe Amendment 81 in 

the nature of a substitute and Issa Amendment 56; H.R. 4154, the 

Taiwan Naval Support Act; House Resolution 346, condemning the 

use of toxic chemicals as weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic; 

Yoho Amendment 72 in the nature of a substitute; House Resolution 536, supporting freedom of the press in Latin America; and 

Sires Amendment 13 in the nature of a substitute. 

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Chairman ROYCE. And after recognizing myself and the ranking 

member, I’ll be pleased to recognize any members seeking recognition to speak on these measures. 

So, we go first to H.R. 1654. This goes to the issue of the effort 

by Kurdish forces. We heard testimony in the House, from Secretary of Defense Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 

General Joseph Dunford. Both stated that they would be prepared 

to recommend providing direct military assistance to the Kurds and 

Sunni tribes. 

I would point out to the members that the Peshmerga is organized under the Iraqi constitution. Their role is to safeguard Iraqi 

Kurdistan. And, in particular, the Kurds are the sole U.S. allied 

force operating on the ground against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and 

this has allowed them to conduct ongoing coordinated offensive operations in North Eastern Syria and in Sinjar, Iraq. This offensive, 

if they’re successful ultimately, could sever control of the road connecting the major ISIS-held cities of Raqqa and Mosul in Syria and 

Iraq. So, it is very much in our interest to make certain, especially 

given the significant territory and the some 8 million people under 

that territory that’s controlled by ISIS, that ISIS do not have the 

safehaven that they used to plan the attacks in Paris and that, 

frankly, inspired the attacks on the United States. And to keep 

America safe, I believe we’ve got to work with our partners on the 

ground to eliminate these sanctuaries and deny ISIS both the space 

and resources to drive additional attacks. 

For the last year and a half we’ve had one effective fighter in 

this fight. It is the 160,000 strong Peshmerga force, 30 percent of 

these battalions by the way are women fighting on the battlefields 

in their own battalions on the front lines against ISIS on a 650 

mile front. They have proven themselves as the most dedicated and 

effective force against ISIS in Iraq; not without considerable casualties, by the way, with 8,500 killed and wounded on those front 

lines. And we’re told by our friends in the Pentagon a lot of those 

losses are caused by the fact that they’re outmatched in firepower 

in terms of the weaponry on the front lines. They are poorly armed, 

poorly equipped, especially when compared to either the Iraqi 

Army or the Iranian-backed Shia militias, or most crucially here, 

ISIS itself. 

Light arms from Saddam’s rule, some of their materiel dates 

back to the Second World War, a lot of it’s Soviet-era equipment 

that will break down. This isn’t enough against an enemy that is 

determined to rip Iraq and Syria apart, butchering Iraqis, and Syrians, and now Americans. 

So, the Iraqi military remains unable to field a joint Sunni-Shiite 

force. We hope they’re able to do so in the future, but at this moment they’re relying instead on Iranian-backed militias to fight 

ISIS. On the other hand, the Kurds in Northern Iraq are our best 

allies in the theater, the most effective local fighters against ISIS. 

And rather than fleeing from ISIS, they stand to fight with antiquated weapons as they continue to share with us. 

Last month it was the Kurdish forces on the ground and the 

Americans in the air that retook Sinjar. The Kurdish forces have 

accompanied U.S. special forces on night raids, a role that will likely increase given Defense Secretary Carter’s announcement last 

55

week. They would like to get those night-vision goggles, by the 

way. 

So, this legislation would allow the United States to directly arm 

Kurdish forces so they can get the artillery, the anti-tank weapons, 

the long-1range mortars, and the training and combat medicine 

that they need. 

This authorization, which is time-limited, would allow U.S. security assistance to go directly to the Kurdish Regional Government 

rather than routing it through the sectarian maze that is Baghdad, 

where they’ve yet to get the kind of heavy equipment that they 

need in this fight. 

The goal, obviously, is not Kurdish independence and we make 

that clear in the language of this legislation, but it is to get the 

needed materiels to the most active battlefront with ISIS. This is 

urgent legislation to counter the grave and direct threats ISIS 

poses to the United States, and ultimately is going to require the 

combined efforts of all Iraqis, including the Sunni tribesmen who 

have not gotten the support they desperately need from the United 

States. We met with them last week, some of their leadership, tribal leadership, and certainly it’s going to require Baghdad to be inclusive here to finally defeat and destroy ISIS. 

Second, we have H.R. 3654, the Combat Terrorist Use of Social 

Media Act of 2015. And I appreciate Judge Poe introducing this 

bill. It’s going to force and put the heat on the administration to 

put forward a strategy to combat terrorist use of social media, a 

strategy that the President talked about in 2011, but we haven’t 

had that strategy put forward yet. So, this is Congress weighing in 

and saying let’s have that strategy developed, because exactly 1 

week ago in San Bernardino, California we had 14 people killed, 

21 people injured by radical Islamists. And we know that these extremists, the husband and the wife, used social media, one of them 

making a pledge on Facebook to support ISIS. 

Extremist groups have turned to Twitter, to Facebook, and 

YouTube to recruit, and it’s the strength of momentum of ISIS on 

the ground that allows them to do this, but they’re recruiting, 

they’re radicalizing, and they’re encouraging attacks on our free society. Social media companies have taken some steps to remove terrorist content, but it is clear that much more needs to be done. 

The administration must lay out how we will contend with these 

terrorists hijacking the social network, ironically created by the 

free and pluralistic society that they so despise for their own twisted purposes. 

And I want to thank Representative Issa for working with Representative Poe and the committee on changes to strengthen this 

bill, and to allow us to learn more about the ways the U.S. Government and the private sector are using social media to push back 

on extremist messaging. 

Then we have House Resolution 346 condemning the use of 

chemical weapons in Syria. And earlier this year, Secretary Kerry 

testified that the administration had succeeded in getting all the 

chemical weapons out of Syria. That, unfortunately, as we’ve had 

hearings here about the barrel bombs and the chemical weapons 

that are still being dropped, the first responders are telling us from 

the front lines in Syria that Assad has been pummeling his own 

56

people with an unending series of bombs filled with weaponized 

chlorine, and this has been confirmed. These attacks fuel the flight 

of refugees both inside and outside of Syria, and create an environment in which ISIS can thrive. So, members on this committee 

have long pressed for consideration of a no-fly or safe zone to stop 

the barrel bombs, the chemical weapon bombs, something this resolution addresses. 

I want to thank Representative Yoho for his leadership on this 

critical issue, and urge all members to support this resolution. 

Then we go to the Taiwan Naval Support Act. This is 4154. It’s 

been almost 1 year since the President signed into law the Naval 

Vessel Transfer Act. That’s legislation that I had authored, and we 

pushed through which authorized the President to transfer decommissioned Naval vessels to Taiwan. Since then, the administration 

has failed to notify Congress of its intent to transfer these vessels, 

which has caused the U.S. Navy to delay its refurbishment and 

transfer one of the ships out of Hawaii. This is an unnecessary setback, and complicates planning for Taiwan’s Navy, as Representative Sherman has pointed out to us. And I want to thank Representative Sherman for introducing this measure today which will 

press the administration to submit a timeline to Congress for when 

these transfers will occur. Insuring they are timely is important to 

bolstering Taiwan’s defense and to insuring peace in the Taiwan 

Straits. 

And turning to the Press Freedom in the Western Hemisphere 

Act, I think this is a cornerstone of any democracy. It’s our obligation to promote and protect this fundamental human right. We 

have all been troubled by the erosion of press freedoms in our own 

hemisphere at the hands of authoritarian, populist leaders and 

transnational criminal organizations to boot, so this resolution is 

an important expression of our support for the fundamental right 

to free expression, and of our belief that regional leaders and the 

OAS need to do more to condemn what in some parts is the systemic violation of press freedom. 

So, I commend Mr. Sires for introducing this resolution, and all 

who champion freedom of expression as a fundamental part of a vibrant, dramatic tradition. As he says, ‘‘This resolution will champion their cause.’’ So, with that said, I’ll turn to Mr. Engel, our 

ranking member. 

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this Markup, 

our final Full Committee Markup of 2015. Let me say again how 

proud I am of the work of the Foreign Affairs Committee and of 

our members on both sides of the aisle. This year we’ve racked up 

an impressive record of achievement, and I want to thank you, Mr. 

Chairman, for your leadership and your commitment to leaving politics at the water’s edge. And I want to also take this opportunity 

to remind our colleagues on both sides of the aisle that today at 

5:00, from 5 o’clock to 7 o’clock in this very room the Foreign Affairs Committee is having its holiday party, and we hope that every 

member will attend. There’ll be plenty of food, and it’ll be another 

nice chance to get together. 

So, we have a raft of good measures before us today, and I’ll say 

a few words about each. I’ll start, Mr. Chairman, with your legislation to provide defense training and equipment directly to the 

57

Kurdish Regional Government. Kurdish forces in Northern Iraq 

have been some of our closest partners in the fight against ISIS. 

They’re tough fighters getting real results, rolling back the gains 

ISIS has made. We need to make sure the Kurds have everything 

they need to defend themselves and keep the pressure on ISIS. 

They have really been loyal and true allies and friends. 

Current law requires all military assistance for the Kurds to flow 

through Baghdad. Now, this has caused some delays in the shipment of arms to Kurdish forces, and complicated efforts to supply 

the Kurds with the heavy weapons they need, including anti-tank 

missiles, armored vehicles, and long-range artillery. 

This legislation removes those roadblocks. It would authorize the 

President to provide military equipment directly to the Iraqi Kurds 

for a period of 3 years. It urges the President to continue consulting with the Iraqi Government, and it requires that the weapons provided to the Kurds be used to meet our shared goal of defeating ISIS. This just makes sense. The Kurds are making 

progress, and we need to keep the wind at their backs. But while 

the Kurds are great partners and formidable fighters, they cannot 

take on ISIS all by themselves, particularly outside of the traditional Kurdish areas of Iraq. 

At the end of the day, defeating ISIS will take the combined efforts of all Iraqis, and I want to be absolutely clear on this point; 

while the legislation is focused on supporting the Kurds, it does not 

in any way dial back America’s commitment to other Iraqi partners. It does not endorse a divided Iraq, rather it gets military 

equipment where it will do the most good more quickly, period. In 

fact, it’s imperative that we do keep working closely with Iraq’s 

Government. 

Many of us have serious questions about the performance of the 

Iraqi Army, and deep concerns about the role of Iran-backed militias, but it’s clear that the Iraqi security forces have a central role 

to play. I know on another day we can talk about the Kurds because I think the Kurds are people that deserve international support, and that’s another issue to talk about later on, whether or not 

the Kurds should be trapped in an Iraq that seems spiraling, continuing to spiral out of control. But right now, it’s very important 

that Iraqi security forces do have a central role to play. 

We should also support Christians, Yazidis, and other ethnic and 

religious minorities. Many of these groups have borne the brunt of 

ISIS terror and now want to help liberate their towns and villages. 

Finally, we should find new ways to collaborate with the Sunni 

population of Iraq. The Sunnis will play a vital role defeating ISIS, 

just as they were key to the defeat of al-Qaeda during the Iraq 

War, but they need training and equipment, so we need to work 

with the Iraqi Government to get them the support they need, and 

to make clear that they have a stake in the future of a unified Iraq. 

I know we are all aggravated over the fact that they seem to cut 

and run and let ISIS take over swaths of territory. Well, instead 

of just wringing our hands, we really need to do something about 

it. And this, I believe, will. 

Next, I’ll turn to Mr. Poe and Mr. Sherman’s bill to Combat the 

Use of Social Media by Terrorist Groups. I’m very proud to cosponsor this legislation. Perhaps the most searing images we’ve seen of 

58

ISIS are of Jihadi John, as he was known, standing over the bodies 

of his victims, images and videos that ISIS blasted around the 

world on social media. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about 

him any more, but whether on Twitter or YouTube, terrorist groups 

continue to take full advantage of social media to spread their message of violence and hatred. With the click of a button, groups like 

ISIS can use these platforms to broadcast video of their heinous 

acts, solicit foreign fighters, and radicalize vulnerable people 

around the world. 

We need a strategy to push back against terrorists use of social 

media to foster greater collaboration between government and provide sector companies, and to help identify and stop terrorist activities online. This bill calls for that strategy and will help us take 

on ISIS and other groups on the virtual battlefield. I urge all of my 

colleagues to support it. 

Moving on, I’m happy to support this Taiwan Naval Support Act 

sponsored by Mr. Sherman, the ranking member of our Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. I’m a strong supporter of Taiwan, and I think Taiwan needs to maintain a strong defense. Nearly a year ago, the Naval Vessel Transfer Act was signed. This bill 

authorized the sale of four guided missile frigates to Taiwan. Taiwan is ready to buy at least two of them, and restoration is underway, but Congress has yet to be notified of a transfer. 

Now, in my view we should be seeing even more regular transfers of equipment that would help shore up Taiwanese security. I 

know sales to Taiwan are always a touchy issue because our dealings with China are sensitive. We don’t want to derail our work 

with China on issues of mutual concern, but our desire not to upset 

Beijing shouldn’t come at the expense of Taiwan security. 

This bill would require the President to commit to a timeline for 

these sales, and communicate that timeline to Congress. It 

wouldn’t force a deadline, but it would let us know that these sales 

are on track. We owe at least this much to our friends and partners 

in Taiwan. I support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do 

the same. 

I also want to voice my support for Mr. Yoho’s resolution condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and I thank him 

for his work on this measure. Two years ago, the world was 

shocked when the Assad Regime killed 1,400 of its own people, including hundreds of children in a chemical weapons attack in the 

outskirts of Damascus. 

In response to pressure from the international community, including the threat of force from the U.S., the Assad Regime agreed 

to give up all of its chemical weapons and join the Chemical Weapons Convention. But even before I wrote the Syria Accountability 

Act a decade ago, I never trusted Assad to keep his word. And true 

to form, he hasn’t lived up to the letter or spirit of what he promised to do. 

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen partnered with me on the Syria 

Accountability Act when few knew about Assad, but we knew about 

Assad. And we knew that Assad was a negative force in the region, 

to say the least. 

Many experts believe that Assad failed to declare all of his 

banned chemical weapons to the international community. And we 

59

know for a fact that the regime has increasingly used chlorine as 

a chemical weapon, which is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention. 

This resolution condemns the Assad Regime’s use of chlorine as 

a chemical weapon, calls for those involved in this unlawful activity 

to be held accountable, and urges the administration to support efforts to collect evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria. 

And lastly, let me thank Mr. Sires for offering this resolution 

supporting press freedom in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 

condemning violence against journalists. I am deeply troubled that 

the freedom of the press is under grave threat in some countries 

right here in our neighborhood. We hear a great deal from regional 

leaders in the Americas when electoral democracy is at risk, and 

I appreciate this. Unfortunately, we hear too little about the subtle 

challenges to democracy, particularly violations of press freedom. 

When the Ecuadorian Government threatened to close down 

Punta Medeos earlier this year, Chairman Royce and I strongly 

condemned the effort. Fortunately, President Correa relented in the 

face of international condemnation, but this is just one example. 

Violence against journalists has become a scourge in the Americas. 

Being a journalist in Colombia, Mexico, and Honduras is a very 

dangerous business. Of course, there is no press freedom in Cuba. 

Venezuela is also a worry, and a country that represses freedom; 

although, the election held there a few days ago gives us pause for 

hope. 

This resolution shines a light on the problem and urges these 

governments to do more to provide protection to those journalists 

under threat, and I’m pleased to support it. 

So, once again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership and 

for bringing all these measures forward today. I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Engel. We now go to Ileana 

Ros-Lehtinen, and any other members who are seeking recognition, 

but Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman and 

Ranking Member Engel for convening this Markup, and bringing 

up all of these important measures in front of our committee in a 

bipartisan manner as you always do. 

I would also like to express my strong support for House Resolution 536 introduced by my dear friend, Albio Sires, of which I am 

the lead Republican sponsor. Freedom of expression is under attack 

in Latin America. We’ve seen it in Venezuela where the Maduro regime has used intimidation and control of the media to repress the 

opposition. Courageously, the opposition was able to beat the odds 

and took control of the legislature by a super majority just this 

past weekend. I congratulate the Venezuelan people on their tremendous win, but there’s still a long road ahead. 

We need all political prisoners to be released immediately, including pro-democracy advocate, Leopoldo Lopez. In Nicaragua, Ortega just forced through a new sovereignty security law that could 

be used to further harass and intimidate the people in the media 

to impede freedom of expression. I worry that Ortega will use this 

as yet another tool to clamp down on civil society and silence the 

media as we approach next year’s Presidential election. 

60

In Cuba, as both of you have pointed out, the Castro regime continues to control all print and broadcast media, and blocks and censors the internet. The regime also threatens, beats, jails, and tortures any perceived opposition, intimidating the Cuban people into 

self-censorship. Cuba has long been infamous for these tactics, but 

we also see in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador many likeminded dictatorships in Latin America. Regimes that want to control the flow of information to stay in power, repress any dissent 

before their survival is threatened, employ these tactics. 

It’s crucial that we as a country continue to speak out against 

these tactics and that we do everything that we can to stand up 

for this fundamental human right to express freely one’s views. So, 

I thank Albio for offering his important resolution. I offer my full 

support, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. 

I also want to thank my friend and colleague from Florida, Dr. 

Ted Yoho, for introducing House Resolution 346, condemning Assad 

for committing mass atrocities and for the use of chemical weapons, 

including chlorine barrel bombs. 

I was an original cosponsor of this measure, and I fully support 

it. This important resolution reminds us all of the grim reality and 

the true nature of the Assad regime. The idea that Assad should 

be part of a political solution, or that he can be a partner in the 

war against ISIS, and the war against terror, is appalling. Assad’s 

ruthless tactics and wanton disregard for human rights and the 

sanctity of life has been a key reason why the Syrian conflict has 

been so devastating, and why ISIS has grown dramatically. 

Assad’s actions have led to the deaths of over 220,000 Syrians. 

Because of Assad, we have millions of refugees fleeing into the 

Middle East and Europe destabilizing these regions and taxing 

their resources. 

In July, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. intelligence 

agencies concluded that the Assad regime did not give up all of its 

chemical weapons, and now some reports suggest that ISIS may be 

in possession of chemical weapons, as well. And what has been the 

punishment from the international community for Assad’s deception? Nothing. So, if the international community is not willing to 

punish Assad for using chemical weapons, and then lying about destroying all of its stockpiles, what faith do we have in keeping the 

Iranian regime accountable for its nuclear weapons program? This 

is a very dangerous situation, Mr. Chairman, and I believe that it 

is not receiving the attention it merits, so that’s why I thank my 

Florida colleague, Dr. Yoho, for bringing this bipartisan resolution 

forward. I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and condemn the use of chemical weapons. 

Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Ileana. We now go to Mr. Brad 

Sherman of California. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re considering five 

excellent bills here today. They’re commonsense, they’re bipartisan, 

and that reflects the leadership that the chair and the ranking 

member have brought to this committee. 

I’ll address three of those bills. First, the Taiwan Naval Support 

Act. I want to thank the chairman for bringing up this bill, which 

we put together with a lot of input from others. And I want to 

61

thank the chairman, ranking member, and Mr. Salmon, the chairman of the Asia Subcommittee for cosponsoring the bill. 

When we look at the East and South China Sea, we see China 

becoming more aggressive. Already, we are spending tens or hundreds of billions of dollars on research, procurement, planning, and 

deployment designed to confront China. That invariably creates 

risks for the United States, and most of that is focused on 

uninhabited islets. In contrast, look at Taiwan. What is at stake is 

not uninhabited reefs but the entire country. And Taiwan is not 

asking us for deployment, or to spend money. They are simply asking for the tools to defend themselves. 

When it comes to these frigates the time has come to transfer the 

frigging frigates. We should be helping Taiwan defend——

Mr. CONNOLLY. Is that a technical term, Mr. Sherman? 

Mr. SHERMAN. Yes, it is, and it’s in the statute with a page and 

a half of definition. Yes. 

When it comes to helping Taiwan defend itself, I think it should 

be classified as a major non-NATO ally, and I offered an amendment back 15 years ago to do just that. If that had passed, we 

wouldn’t even need, I think, to prod the administration as we do 

now. 

In 1979, the Taiwan Relations Act was signed into law, and it 

requires the United States to make available to Taiwan such defense articles as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain 

sufficient defense capacities, self-defense capacities. 

In December 2014, this Congress passed the Naval Vessel Transfer Act, and authorized the sale of four frigates to Taiwan, and the 

President signed that bill into law. Taiwan has indicated it’s ready 

to purchase two frigates out of the four. It has the money to do so. 

It faces a budgetary deadline at the end of 2015, and it’s time for 

the administration to move forward with this transfer. 

What this bill does is requires the administration to give Congress a timeline. I hope they transfer the frigates before they give 

us the timeline. That would be a very good timeline. 

Next, I’m pleased to join with Mr. Poe as the lead Democratic 

sponsor of the Combat Terrorist Use of Social Media Act. Three 

things about the bill. The State Department’s current strategy for 

countering ISIS and other extremist groups online is obviously not 

working. That’s not my opinion, that’s the State Department’s internal opinion which concluded in June of this year, when it comes 

to the external message, our narrative is being trumped by ISIS. 

We are losing a popularity contest to people that behead women. 

Public information also shows the State Department’s strategy 

isn’t working. The Think Again Turn Away Twitter campaign has 

24,000 followers. In order to reach out to those who might be 

swayed by ISIS, you’re going to need a much bigger following. This 

bill requires the State Department to reassess their approach and 

come up with a better, more effective strategy. 

Second, I’m hoping that this bill will prod the State Department 

to hire experts in Islamic theology, and in Islamic jurisprudence. 

Not everybody they hire has to be a graduate of an Ivy League 

school, or a top American school. We need just a couple of folks 

over there, graduates of Al-Azhar University in Egypt. I’m not saying the State Department can issue a fatwa, but somebody at the 

62

State Department should be paid because they’re an expert at 

knowing who should be issuing a fatwa, and how to make our arguments consistent with all of the intricacies of Islamic law, and Islamic jurisprudence. 

Finally, the social media companies have played a role in this. 

I believe Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have a responsibility to 

make sure that their platforms are not used by terrorists. 

Facebook, YouTube, and with some prodding from members of this 

committee, Twitter, have made changes to take down bad content, 

but that won’t work effectively if the State Department isn’t identifying the bad content. The only thing worse than playing Whac-AMole is to not whack the moles. And every time one of these terrorist sites pops up, we should get it before the intended audience 

and have it taken down before the intended audience. So, I look 

forward to the passage of the legislation and to a much better 

strategy from the State Department. 

Finally, as far as arming the Kurdish regional government, it’s 

about time. We wouldn’t have to do it if Baghdad had been reasonable, but if Baghdad had been reasonable we wouldn’t even have 

ISIS to begin with. I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. We go now to Mr. Dana Rohrabacher of California. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and 

again I appreciate your leadership on these issues that are of vital 

importance to the security of our country and the peace of the 

world. 

Number one, obviously, we need to move forward as quickly as 

possible. It’s long overdue of helping our friends, the Kurds, who 

are bearing the brunt of this whole battle against radical Islam in 

that part of the world at this time. Certainly, we need to combat 

terrorists use of the social media, and certainly our friends in Taiwan, if they have the money and they want to buy our frigging frigates, we should be able to make sure we provide it for them. And, 

of course, supporting press freedom in Latin America is vitally important because you have forces at play that can be combated with 

an informational combat rather than physical combat. And we 

should be part of that competition. 

But let me note to this condemnation of toxic chemicals by the 

Syrian regime. There’s no doubt the Syrian regime is a murderous 

regime, it’s a brutal regime. They’re tyrannical, they’re corrupt, 

blah, blah, blah. The Assad regime is the last Baathist regime of 

the region, but let us be honest about what’s going on here. There 

is an uprising going on in Syria. 

I will tell you, I don’t know any of the regimes in that part of 

the world that would not be as murderous and as brutal in suppressing, they might not use chemical weapons, but they will kill 

as many civilians as they need to maintain their power. In that 

part of the world, an uprising against a regime is the equivalent 

of World War II to them. They know if they lose, they lose everything. 

Now, I’m not excusing the use of chemical weapons or the killing 

of civilians, but remember collateral damage is what we’re talking 

about here. And we, ourselves, understand a certain level of collateral damage when you are at war. The Assad regime, which is a 

63

tyrannical regime like our other allies in that region, know that if 

they lose an uprising they will be killed. And yes, we hope that collateral damage in our own troops is kept to a minimum, but we 

also know that during World War II when we were threatened, we 

carpet bombed the cities of Germany and Japan. We incinerated 

about tens of thousands of civilians in order to end that war, and 

we did that. So, number two, I would hope that we understand that 

we’re not going to be hypocritical here by claiming that Assad is 

so bad as compared to everybody else. He’s not. He’s tyrannical, 

he’s horrible, but he is no different in terms of the brutality that 

he would rain upon his people as any other regime that is allied 

with us in that region. 

And, finally, let me just note that I disagree with my good friend, 

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on the point that Assad is causing all of these 

people to flee. It’s not Assad that’s causing it, it’s ISIL. You have 

a new force moving across that part of the world, and without 

them, and I believe even without Assad in there, that force in that 

part of the world would be creating this refugee flow from Lybia, 

from Africa, and from that part of the world. So, I would have to 

say that—and one last note on this condemnation of toxic chemicals. It also says we should be open to the idea of a no-fly zone. 

What you’re saying there is yes, we should be open to the idea that 

American airplanes will shoot down Russian airplanes, Russian 

military aircraft. I think that we need to do a lot of thinking before 

we approve anything like that; although, the actual resolution just 

says we should be looking at alternatives, including that. But do 

we really want to send American airplanes there to do combat with 

Russian military aircraft in order to bring Assad down, in order to 

create a more benevolent regime, which may end up being immediately overthrown like what happened with Qaddafi by racial Islamic forces. This is a very complex area, and it’s a complex fight. 

Let’s make sure that we’re being honest with ourselves in our analysis of what’s going on. 

And thank you very much. I will be voting with you, Mr. Chairman, if these are en bloc, but I stated my objections. And I certainly support everything in all the rest of the amendments. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Rohrabacher. Now we go to 

Mr. Albio Sires of New Jersey. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, 

and the staff for their support of promoting democratic values 

around the world, and their efforts to markup this bill. 

I want to thank my good friend, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for serving 

as the Republican lead on this legislation. And my colleague, 

Chairman Jeff Duncan, for his leadership on this issue. 

Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of any democratic nation. It is the number one tool to hold people and governments accountable for their actions. In recent years, many organizations 

dedicated to freedom of speech and advancing civil societies have 

been trying to bring attention to the deterioration of press freedom 

in parts of the Western Hemisphere, specially Latin American and 

the Caribbean. 

Cuba has consistently been characterized as having one of the 

most repressive media environments in the world with the Castro 

regime controlling all aspects of the print and electronic media. 

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Venezuela and Ecuador have harassed and fined the media, shut 

down their operations, and even physically attacked journalists 

who are trying to expose the state-sponsored crackdown against 

peaceful political dissenters. 

In other countries, such as Mexico and Honduras, an increase in 

drug-related violence and worsening security situations are creating a culture of impunity, allowing violence against journalists 

and press institutions to go unpunished. As a child in Cuba, I witnessed the deterioration of Democracy as the Castro regime took 

over the island and systematically destroyed all aspects of freedom 

of speech and expression. 

There is a strong connection between a country’s democratic values and the freedom afforded to their press. Working to preserve 

freedom of speech and pushing back against those who seek to 

quiet their dissenters should be a top priority when engaging our 

neighbors in the region. That is why I introduced H.R. 536, a resolution condemning violations of press freedom and violence against 

journalists, bloggers, and individuals exercising their right to freedom of speech. 

This resolution condemns these violations, and urges countries in 

the region to implement the recommendations of member states 

made by the Organization of American States Office of Special 

Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, and urges our administration to assist the media in closed societies to promote free press. 

I thank the committee for their time, and I’d urge my colleagues 

to support H.R. 536. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Sires. We now go to Mr. 

Chabot. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be brief. I support 

all the resolutions. I’ll just comment on two of them. 

One, I certainly support the—with respect to Kurdistan, I think 

it’s embarrassing how long it’s taken the administration basically 

to arm those people that have been willing to stand up to these 

murderous miscreants of ISIS. And it reminds me a bit of Ukraine 

where we’ve been embarrassingly delayed in helping those people 

who need help in standing up to Putin’s bullies over there. 

And relative to Mr. Sherman’s frigging frigates bill, I totally support him there. I was one of the founding Members of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, and it’s ridiculous how long it’s taken to get 

this to happen. And following pretty closely what’s going on in Taiwan, there’s a lot of speculation there that the most recent delay 

has been related to the administration’s not wanting to offend or 

upset President Xi of China who the Obama administration has believed that they need the support, and the assistance, and the cooperation, and their global warming/climate change conference in 

Paris. And, of course, they were very quick to announce the cooperation that we have with China, everything down the road, 

nothing up front. You know, we’re supposed to do this stuff up 

front, which is going to affect our economy and if passed, which it 

won’t, but if it did pass, we’d kill an awful lot of jobs here in the 

United States. But they push this stuff, they work with Xi. It looks 

like we’re cooperating, but everything China does is way out in the 

future. Everything we do would be now. But a lot of speculation in 

Taiwan that that’s what the most recent delay on this frigates is, 

65

they didn’t want to upset President Xi. But I commend Mr. Sherman for pushing this, and will support all these measures. I yield 

back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much. Mr. Connolly is recognized. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Madam Chairman. 

I support all five bills in front of us today, and commend both 

the chairman and ranking member and their respective staffs for 

bringing bipartisan legislation before us. 

Two I’d like to just highlight briefly. One is H.R. 1654, authorizing the direct provision of defense articles to the Kurds, to the 

Kurdistan Regional Government. We need to do this. The only 

thing succeeding on the ground in that region that we’ve invested 

in is the Peshmerga. They’re willing to fight, and they’ve got successes. And we ought to be supportive of them as robustly as we 

possibly can, and that’s why this bill, I think, is so important. 

Whatever reluctance there’s been in the past well, we’ve got to 

go through the central government of Baghdad and so forth, we 

can’t afford to do that. They’re effective, they’re willing to fight, 

they’re willing to take the risk, all they need is our assistance. And 

I think we need to provide it, and I’m happy to support this bill. 

And the second bill I want to highlight, as the Co-Chair of the 

Taiwan Caucus, I agree with the sentiments that have been expressed with respect to H.R. 4154, the Taiwan Naval Support Act. 

This is about us keeping our commitment pursuant to the Taiwan 

Relations Act. It’s not about tweaking somebody else, or trying to 

provoke. It’s about keeping our commitment so that Taiwan has 

the ability to defend itself. And this is a modest effort, and it’s been 

going on, as Mr. Chabot said, way too long. And I might add, the 

reluctance to provoke Beijing is a bipartisan reluctance in terms of 

White Houses, and it’s time we move on. 

Beijing needs to understand we’re going to keep our commitment 

with respect to the Taiwan Relations Act. This is not aimed at 

them, it’s not to provoke them, but we have a commitment, a statutory commitment, and we want to keep it. We’re only talking about 

four frigates of the Oliver Hazard Perry Class, hardly something 

that’s a threat to somebody else in the region, but definitely designed to help a country or a nation defend itself. And that’s all 

we’re doing here. I support the legislation as long overdue. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Connolly. Judge Ted Poe of 

Texas. 

Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank the 

chair, ranking member, and especially my friend, Mr. Connolly 

from Virginia for helping get the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act to the House floor last night, passed the House by 

voice vote unanimously, and hopefully the Senate will take this bill 

up. As the chair knows, this bill passed the House 4 years ago in 

December, and the Senate blocked it, so maybe we can get some 

accountability with the State Department and Foreign Affairs. 

I want to echo also what Mr. Connolly mentioned about the 

Kurds. It’s ironic that when ISIS first started their battle with the 

Iraqi troops, the Iraqi troops cut and ran, left American equipment 

on the battlefield. ISIS took that equipment, including tanks and 

66

trucks, and every type of weapon you can come up with. It seems 

only fair that we get the same kind of equipment to the Kurds who 

are now fighting ISIS with the equipment that we sent the Kurds 

who left it there on the battlefield. So, I think that we—I support 

this bill with helping out the Kurds. 

The bill I really want to talk most about is the bill that my 

friend, Mr. Sherman, and I are cosponsoring, and that’s the social 

media bill, that terrorist organizations have used social media, and 

it’s exploded over the last few years. A recent Brookings Institution 

found ISIS has 40,000 Twitter accounts, and they use these accounts for not only propaganda, not only to recruit, but also to 

raise money for their terrorist organizations. 

Al-Qaeda affiliate Al Shabab live-tweeted its attack on a Kenyan 

mall that killed 72 people. The recipes for bombs used in the Boston marathon attacks were published in al-Qaeda’s Inspire Magazine online. Al-Qaeda branch in Yemen known as AQAP held a 

press conference on Twitter allowing users to submit questions that 

were answered by a terror group and posted back on Twitter the 

following week. 

In October, ISIS issued a new instruction manual on how terrorists can use social media, so they can pull up the instruction manual on social media and read about how to use social media to further their activities. There are between 27 and 31,000 foreign fighters in foreign countries, 86 countries. That’s double the number 

from last year. 

The FBI says that instead of terrorists now having to go to Syria 

or Iraq to train, all they have to do is log on and get online training. That is quite disturbing. 

Since March 2014, 71 people in the United States have been 

charged with crimes related to ISIS. They don’t fit any ethnic profile. There’s a trio of teenagers, siblings from Chicago, former Air 

Force mechanic in his late 40s from New Jersey, and a mother of 

two from Philadelphia. But nearly all of them had spent hours online voicing their support for ISIS, and later were arrested on their 

online posts after that drew the attention to the FBI. 

The Federal Government does not have a strategy to counter this 

problem of online radicalization. In 2011, the administration acknowledged terrorists’ use of social media and promised a strategy 

to prevent online radicalization. We don’t have that strategy. This 

legislation says let’s come up with a strategy to prevent terrorist 

groups, foreign terrorist groups using social media. 

Facebook and YouTube have done a pretty good job of bringing 

down these sites. Twitter has not. This bill, H.R. 3654 to combat 

terrorists use of social media, requires the President to come up 

with a strategy. A suggested protocol would be the same strategy 

that social media companies use to bring down child pornography 

sites. They have a strategy, a protocol that works to bring down 

these sites. It would seem to me they could use the same strategy, 

the same protocol to bring down these terrorist sites. 

And just to be clear, a foreign terrorist organization does not 

have a constitutional right under the First Amendment. That’s already been ruled in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project in 2010. 

If it’s a foreign terrorist organization, the constitution doesn’t protect those foreign terrorist organizations from using social media to 

67

radicalize, to preach their propaganda, and to raise money, and I 

support this bill. 

Thanks again, Mr. Sherman, and I support all the other bills, as 

well. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Poe. Lois Frankel of Florida. 

Ms. FRANKEL. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the ranking 

member, and all my colleagues who brought these good bills and 

resolutions, which I will support. And I want to add my voice to 

my colleagues who have pretty much said what I feel about Bashar 

al-Assad, which he is a scourge to humanity. And to me, it doesn’t 

matter whether there’s anyone better or worse than him. He needs 

to be condemned for what he’s going. 

But moving on, I wanted to make a comment. You know, yesterday, one of the Presidential candidates whose name I will not promote, he called on our country as a way of combating terrorism to 

ban Muslims from entering the country. Not only were his remarks 

unfair, and prejudicial, and contrary to our American values and 

way of life, those remarks were dangerous, they were inflammatory, they serve to further pit the United States against the 

Muslim world at a time when we need allies in that arena who will 

fight with us and join with us to destroy the terrorists that would 

take away our lives and our way of life. 

And that’s why I am very proud to be here today, Mr. Chair, 

with my colleagues as we are showing our constituents and the 

American people that there are sensible efforts that we can make 

to combat terrorism, while maintaining our respect, our dignity, 

and our American values. And I’m honored to support these efforts 

today, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Lois Frankel. We now go to Mr. 

Jeff Duncan of South Carolina. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to align myself with the comments of Judge Poe from Texas on H.R. 1654, 

arming the Kurds. And I would encourage anyone that hasn’t traveled to Erbil to meet with the Kurdish leaders and understand 

these noble people, I would encourage that because we need to arm 

them. They’ve been a strong ally in the region. 

I also want to align myself with the comments that Judge Poe 

made on 3654 about the use of social media. And I’m glad we’re 

taking that bill up in this particular committee hearing Markup. 

As cosponsor of H.R. 536 with Congressman Sires, I want to 

raise my voice in support of it, and thank the ranking member of 

the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee for his efforts and passion 

on the issue of press freedoms in the Americas. The ability to speak 

openly without censure or fear of reprisal is a hallmark of free peoples everywhere, and the freedom of the press is critical to sustaining Democracy and the Rule of Law. 

In July, the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee held a hearing 

to examine the threats to press freedoms in the Americas, and we 

heard testimony of severe government repression and outright targeting of journalists by Cuba, Venezuela, and Ecuador, and the terrible impact to journalists from organized crime, corruption, and 

impunity in other countries in the region. 

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aged to score in the top 20 of 180 countries documented, and those 

were Canada, Jamaica, and Costa Rica. Notoriously, Mexico and 

Cuba were among the worst offenders in the Western Hemisphere 

listed in that report. In addition to these countries, Ecuador, Honduras, and Peru all received the worst press freedom scores in over 

a decade from Freedom House. So, all in all, it’s important for the 

United States to promote freedom of the press, and this resolution 

is an important step in doing that. I fully support it as Chairman 

of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee. And with that, I yield 

back. 

Chairman ROYCE. We’ll go now to Joaquin Castro of Texas. 

Mr. CASTRO. Thank you, Chairman. And I, too, echo the sentiments that these are five very good pieces of legislation before us 

today, and I’d like to quickly address three of them. 

The first one is H.R. 1654 with respect to arming the Kurds. 

What I appreciate most about this piece of legislation is that it represents the United States Congress taking an active role in shaping 

our policy in the war on terror, and the war against ISIS. For too 

long, I think this Congress has been both a spectator and a Monday morning quarterback when it comes to dealing with the war 

on terror. We have to take action. We have to eventually pass another AUMF for the President. So thank you, Chairman, for bringing this piece of legislation forward. 

The second one is that by Chairman Poe, H.R. 3654 to combat 

terrorist use of social media. We understand that there are many 

components to the war on terror, but to really win this war, we 

have to stop these folks from communicating their message and inspiring people to commit heinous acts in the United States and 

other parts of the world. It’s important that our social media companies partner with us in that endeavor. So, thank you to Chairman Poe for that. 

And then, finally, H. Res. 536, supporting press freedom in Latin 

America. Thank you to my colleague, Albio Sires, for that. When 

you think about what’s going on in places like Cuba, 31 journalists 

detained in 2014 in Venezuela with the rough few years that 

they’ve had under President Maduro, and also in Mexico where 

dozens of journalists have been hurt, injured, or killed not only 

sometimes by the government there, or governments, whether it’s 

the Federal Government or the local governments, but also by 

those involved in the drug trade. So, this is not just an issue of protecting the press from state action or government action, but also 

asking the governments in these countries to make sure that journalists are being protected from private actors, from criminals. So, 

Albio, thank you for this piece of legislation. I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Ted Yoho of Florida. 

Mr. YOHO. Thank you, Chairman Royce and Ranking Member 

Engel. I have an amendment in the nature of a substitute that updates the numbers of the Syrian death and refugees, as well as a 

few other points to H. Resolution 346. 

This resolution is extremely important as it condemns the Assad 

regime for the atrocities against the Syrian people despite the 

adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2209, 

including the use of barrel bombs which are made up of liquid chlorine as a weapon placed in 55-gallon drums filled with scrap metal, 

69

TNT, and dropped in residential neighborhoods at night on their 

own people. 

The civil war in Syria has been raging for over 4 years resulting 

in over 250,000 deaths, six and a half million internally displaced 

refugees, at least 4 million people have fled that country. This has 

led to the largest displacement of people since World War II, creating a refugee crisis not just seen in Syria and the Middle East, 

but in the world. This has facilitated ISIS’ growing strength in terrorist activity. 

As recently as last June, Samantha Power testified before this 

committee that there are serious and alarming reports that Assad 

has been turning chlorine into a chemical weapon via the barrel 

bombs. This resolution condemns this abhorrent behavior, and 

urges the United States and her allies and partners to seek a comprehensive strategy in Syria. 

If we are serious about bringing this civil war to an end, I urge 

unanimous support for this large bipartisan- supported resolution, 

for a period of 4 years is way too long for there not to be a plan 

to stop this atrocity. And thanks again to Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, Eddie Acevedo, Tom Sheehy, and on the Foreign Affairs Committee, their staff and our team, Jimmy Walsh, 

and all who have helped with this resolution. And I yield back. 

Thank you. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Yoho. Do any other members 

seek recognition? 

Hearing no further requests, the question occurs on the items 

considered en bloc. All those in favor say aye. 

[A chorus of ayes.] 

Chairman ROYCE. All those opposed, no. 

[No response.] 

Chairman ROYCE. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it 

and the measure is considered en bloc are agreed to. And without 

objection, the measures considered en bloc are ordered favorably reported as amended, and staff is directed to make any technical and 

conforming changes. 

And also without objection, the chair is authorized to seek House 

consideration of these measures under suspension of the rules. And 

that concludes our business for today. 

I want to thank Ranking Member Engel and all our committee 

members for their contributions, and all of their assistance with today’s Markup. The committee is—oh, and Mr. Engel is right to remind everyone that at 5 o’clock this evening, the committee will readjourn here for the holiday. Okay? All right. Until then, we stand 

adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:39 a.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

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