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VARIOUS MEASURES

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 4347, H.R. 2283, H.R. 4411, H.R. 4640, 

H.R. 4653, H. Res. 435, H. Res. 562 and 

H. Res. 588

JUNE 26, 2014

Serial No. 113–186

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 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

TOM COTTON, Arkansas 

PAUL COOK, California 

GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

DOUG COLLINS, Georgia 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

SEAN DUFFY, Wisconsin 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

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 

JUAN VARGAS, California 

BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas

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. 4347, To require the Secretary of State to provide an annual report 

to Congress regarding United States Government efforts to survey and 

secure the return, protection, and restoration of stolen, confiscated, or

otherwise unreturned Christian properties in the Republic of Turkey and 

in those areas currently occupied by the Turkish military in northern 

Cyprus ................................................................................................................... 2

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4347 offered by the 

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

State of California, and chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs .............. 10

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

4347 offered by: 

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

the Commonwealth of Virginia ................................................................ 32

The Honorable Alan Grayson, a Representative in Congress from the 

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

The Honorable George Holding, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of North Carolina ...................................................................... 40

H.R. 2283, To prioritize the fight against human trafficking within the Department of State according to congressional intent in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 without increasing the size of the Federal 

Government, and for other purposes .................................................................. 43

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 2283 offered by the 

Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of New Jersey ................................................................................... 51

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

2283 offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith ............................... 58

H.R. 4411, To prevent Hezbollah and associated entities from gaining access 

to international financial and other institutions, and for other purposes ....... 60

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4411 offered by the 

Honorable Edward R. Royce ............................................................................ 80

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

4411 offered by: 

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

of Texas ...................................................................................................... 100

The Honorable Ron DeSantis, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Florida, the Honorable Theodore E. Deutch, a Representative 

in Congress from the State of Florida, and the Honorable Grace 

Meng, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York ........ 102

H.R. 4640, To establish the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission ...... 107

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4640 offered by the 

Honorable Eliot L. Engel, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of New York ...................................................................................................... 120

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

4640 offered by the Honorable Joaquin Castro, a Representative in 

Congress from the State of Texas ................................................................ 133

H.R. 4653, To reauthorize the United States Commission on International 

Religious Freedom, and for other purposes ....................................................... 134

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 4653 offered by the 

Honorable Christopher H. Smith .................................................................... 138

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

4653 offered by the Honorable Grace Meng ............................................... 142

Page

IV

H. Res. 435, Calling on the government of Iran to fulfill their promises 

of assistance in this case of Robert Levinson, one of the longest held 

United States civilians in our Nation’s history ................................................. 143

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 435 offered by the 

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

State of Florida ................................................................................................. 147

H. Res. 562, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with 

respect to enhanced relations with the Republic of Moldova and support 

for Moldova’s territorial integrity ....................................................................... 150

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 562 offered by the 

Honorable Edward R. Royce ............................................................................ 156

H. Res. 588, Concerning the suspension of exit permit issuance by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo for adopted Congolese children seeking to depart the country with their adoptive parents ..................... 161

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 588 offered by the 

Honorable Christopher H. Smith .................................................................... 165

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

588 offered by the Honorable Edward R. Royce ......................................... 168

APPENDIX 

Markup notice .......................................................................................................... 184

Markup minutes ...................................................................................................... 185

Markup summary .................................................................................................... 187

The Honorable Edward R. Royce: Statement submitted for the record by 

the Honorable Gus Bilirakis, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Florida ............................................................................................................... 188

The Honorable Eliot L. Engel: Material submitted for the record ...................... 189

The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly: Prepared statement ..................................... 190

(1)

VARIOUS MEASURES 

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:08 a.m. in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ed Royce (chairman of 

the committee) presiding. 

Chairman ROYCE. This committee will come to order. Pursuant 

to notice, today we mark up eight different measures. And I am 

going to ask the members to take their seats. I want to begin by 

thanking all of our committee members, and I want to thank the 

staff, too, on both sides of the aisle, for the extensive preparatory 

work that went into today’s markup, including those subcommittees that held their own markups. 

Without objection, all members may have 5 calendar days to submit statements for the record on any of today’s business. 

And I now call up H.R. 4347, the Turkey Christian Churches Accountability Act. Without objection, Royce Amendment 117 in the 

nature of a substitute, which was provided to all offices on Tuesday 

morning, will be considered base text for purposes of markup, and 

is considered read and open for amendment at any point. 

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Chairman ROYCE. After opening remarks by myself and the 

ranking member, I will recognize other members seeking to speak 

on the bill before moving to any amendments. And I now recognize 

myself to speak. 

Members, in the midst of a turbulent Middle East lies Turkey, 

a democratic nation that, despite its Muslim majority, has historically bridged East and West, Christian and Muslim worlds. 

I have long been concerned that this balance is shifting as Christian heritage sites in Turkey deteriorate and disappear in the face 

of hostile government policies. 

Despite optimistic claims by Turkish leaders in 2011 that a revised law would allow all church properties to be returned to their 

rightful owners within a year, 3 years later most of those properties remain unreturned. 

Despite the Turkish Government’s numerous promises to reopen 

the Halki seminary, that seminary remains closed. Of course, no 

seminary, nobody then to practice the faith, no future church. 

Recently, two Byzantine Orthodox churches previously expropriated and turned into museums, have been converted into mosques 

by the Turkish Directorate General of Foundations. 

There is even legislation before the Turkish Parliament to convert the landmark Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque. Hence 

the timeliness of this resolution. 

As a beacon for religious freedom around the world and having 

an interest in seeing Turkey maintain its secular tradition, its respect for freedom of religion, the U.S. must hold Turkish leaders 

to their promises. 

By passing H.R. 4347, the U.S. will send a clear message to Turkey that it must return church properties to their rightful owners 

while providing an objective measure of its progress. 

I would like to thank Congressman Gus Bilirakis for his contributions to this bill, and without objection, I will submit his prepared statement for the record. And I urge my colleagues to support this important bill. 

I now recognize the ranking member for any remarks on today’s 

markup that he might wish to make. 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for holding 

this markup of H.R. 4347, the Turkey Christian Churches Accountability Act. I commend you for introducing this important legislation, and I am pleased to be the lead Democratic cosponsor. 

In the last century, thousands of Christian properties in Turkey 

have been confiscated by successive Turkish governments. The 

same has happened in Northern Cyprus since the Turkish invasion 

in 1974. Recently, Turkey has returned some properties, but many 

cases remain unresolved. Clearly, more needs to be done. 

H.R. 4347 directs the Secretary of State to provide Congress with 

an annual report through the year 2021 on the status of stolen, 

confiscated, and otherwise unreturned Christian churches, places of 

worship, and other properties in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. 

The report should include a comprehensive listing of all properties claimed to have been removed from their rightful Christian 

church owners and should describe all engagement over the previous year by State Department officials with Turkish representatives. This bill also mandates that the report be included in the 

23

State Department’s Annual International Religious Freedom Report and in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 

I want to acknowledge two visitors here today who are in the audience, Arch Bishop Vicken Aykazian and Bishop Anoushavan 

Tanielian. I hope I didn’t mess the names up too much, but we welcome you here, gentlemen. 

In this context, let me take a moment to express my concern 

about recent disturbing anti-democratic trends in Turkey. Over the 

past several years, we have seen a lot of red flags: Questionable 

trials of political opponents, increased media censorship, propaganda blaming foreigners and in particular Jews and Israel for domestic problems, and an increase of government control over various state institutions, including the judiciary. 

As Mr. Keating and I wrote in a recent letter to the editor in The 

Economist, the current government of Prime Minister Erdogan is 

eroding Turkish democracy. I ask unanimous consent that the letter be included in the record of today’s markup. 

Chairman ROYCE. Without objection. 

Mr. ENGEL. While I have concerns about Turkey’s current course, 

we should also take note of the bright spots. Negotiations to resolve 

the 30-year Cyprus dispute are moving along. Ending the division 

of Cyprus is critical for stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and 

for prosperity on the island. Also, Ankara’s vitriol toward Israel 

has diminished somewhat in recent months. This provides hope 

that reconciliation between the countries might not be too far off. 

Turkey and the United States have a long history as NATO allies 

and partners. Our relationship is strongest when it is based on our 

shared values: Democracy, human rights, tolerance, and justice. 

When Turkey’s commitment to those values is called into question, 

it damages our partnership and it hampers Turkey’s progress as a 

free and prosperous country. One clear way Turkey could reaffirm 

its commitment is by returning confiscated and stolen church properties to their rightful owners. 

So, Mr. Chairman, I hope H.R. 4347 will bring attention to this 

important issue and make it clear to Turkey that it needs to do 

more to resolve the longstanding and legitimate claims of the 

Christian churches. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. 

And once again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding the markup. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Engel. 

Are there any members who wish to speak on the underlying 

bill? Mr. Rohrabacher, go ahead. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. I just would like to commend you, Mr. Chairman, for bringing up this legislation. And let me just say that I 

share the concerns that were just voiced by our ranking member, 

Mr. Engel. There are some disturbing trends in Turkey. And while 

we recognize that Turkey has made long-term progress over the 

last 20 and 30 years, over the last few years there has really been 

reason for concern here, and that people who wish Turkey well 

need to make sure we are paying attention and that those trends, 

those short-term trends that we have seen, do not continue in the 

wrong direction. 

And finally, one last point about the specific nature of the legislation that we are dealing with today, Mr. Chairman, I agree with 

you totally on the substance of this bill. We are expressing our conVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:48 Sep 25, 2014 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_FULL\062614M\88461 SHIRL
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cern about properties that are taken that also have very significance as to the very nature of the government and the nature of 

the decision making that is going on in that part of the world. 

I would just suggest that as we pass this, with my strong support, that we do note that there are probably properties in surrounding countries, like Greece, for example, that belong to the 

Turkish tradition that need to be addressed as well, and people 

need to respect each other’s rights. And we are demanding today 

that the rights of Christian churches be respected in Turkey. I 

would hope that we respect the rights of Islamic and Turkish institutions in nearby countries, such as Greece. Thank you very much. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

Mr. Cicilline. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you 

and Ranking Member Engel for your continued commitment to 

working across the aisle and marking up legislation to benefit the 

American people. I am happy to see forward momentum on a number of bills that I have cosponsored. 

It is the responsibility of Congress to prevent terrorist organizations like Hezbollah from growing stronger; to emphasize the importance of our relationship with Moldova; and to express our concern about the timeliness of adoption processes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

But I would like this morning to speak particularly in support 

of H.R. 4347, the Turkey Christian Churches Accountability Act, 

which rightly calls out Turkey for the theft of Christian churches, 

religious artifacts, and religious artwork. The United States was 

founded on the principles of religious liberty and freedom, and the 

respect for religious freedom must be central to the values and 

ideals that we promote all over the the world. 

Christian communities in Turkey have long suffered from the destruction and confiscation of their holy sites, the force closure of 

their theological schools, and restrictions on their right to worship. 

There have even been reports that Turkish people are prevented 

from praying in their own churches. Continued persecution of the 

vulnerable Christian minority in Turkey threatens the survival of 

their religious tradition. 

In the 112th Congress, I was proud to work with Ranking Member Berman to offer an amendment during the markup of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, which called on Turkey to end its 

repression of its Christian minority and to return stolen churches 

to their rightful owners. More specifically, the amendment stated 

that Turkey should end all forms of religious discrimination, allow 

the rightful church and lay owners of Christian church properties 

to organize and administer prayer services, religious education, 

clerical training, community gatherings, and social services, and return to their rightful owners all Christian churches, places of worship, and properties, including artwork, relics, and other artifacts. 

The amendment was overwhelmingly adopted by a vote of 43–1 in 

committee and became part of the underlying bill which was 

passed by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

This April, I had the pleasure of visiting Armenia on a congressional delegation trip with Chairman Royce and Ranking Member 

Engel, as well as several other colleagues. On that trip I was disVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:48 Sep 25, 2014 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_FULL\062614M\88461 SHIRL
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turbed to hear more on the ground about the persecution of Christians in Turkey and the desecration and fundamental lack of respect for Christian holy sites. More than 2,000 properties destroyed; reused for things like museums, storage, and even a gas 

station. 

Today, I am proud to continue advocating for religious freedom 

in Turkey, and I urge support of this important bill. Again, I commend you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Engel, for moving 

these important pieces of legislation. I look forward to their passage. I thank you, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

We go now to Mr. Sires. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for marking up H.R. 4347, 

the Turkey Christian Churches Accountability Act, in order to ensure religious freedom for all faiths in Turkey. Christians in Turkey and Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus deserve our assistance 

in ensuring that they can freely practice their faith in houses of 

worship without fear of hindrance or restrictions. 

Since the early 20th century, thousands of Christian properties 

have been confiscated, desecrated, and otherwise taken from their 

owners in Turkey by the Turkish Government, and since the 1970s 

in Northern Cyprus. I have personally been to Turkish-occupied 

Northern Cyprus and seen the devastating destruction to these 

churches firsthand. It is unacceptable that Turkey has yet to return some of these properties. For example, the Halki Theological 

School, the main seminary of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, has been closed since 1971. 

Mr. Chairman, a century is much too long for violations of religious freedom to go unanswered, and I am pleased that by supporting H.R. 4347 a message will be sent to Turkey that the United 

States does not stand for such intolerance. Thank you. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

Mr. Meeks. 

Mr. MEEKS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank you 

and Mr. Engel for working in a bipartisan fashion to actually address some of the concerns that I have had with H.R. 4347, because 

I believe that there has to be balance, et cetera. But I just remain 

apprehensive, and I will have to oppose it, simply because, you 

know, not because I don’t have concerns. I do have concerns. I have 

concerns of the status of stolen and confiscated Christian property 

in Turkey; for example, I am concerned about the continued closure 

of the Halki Theological Seminary, an important Greek Orthodox 

educational institution in Turkey for training, for one. 

But I think we did the right thing when Congress directed the 

State Department to carefully monitor the situation in Turkey, 

which they have been doing. And when I looked at the 2013 State 

Department religious freedom report, it indicated that Turkey has 

been responsive to some of the calls to return stolen and expropriated Christian property. And maybe we need to go further. But 

how do we do it, and what do we do? How do we make sure things 

are balanced in the best way to work forward with an individual 

who has been a strong ally of the United States? 

You know, this comes at a time when we are partnering closely 

with Turkey on issues that are critical to the U.S. global interest. 

26

At this very moment, Turkey is working to secure the release of 80 

of its citizens recently taken hostage by ISIS during the insurgence 

in Iraq. Just a month ago, Vice President Biden indicated during 

a monumental visit to Cyprus that after a 2-year hiatus, talks were 

on the verge of speeding up. That is something that I think that 

needs to be highlighted and we should also talk about. 

Also, in trying to make a decision on how and what I was going 

to do on this particular bill, I talked and asked the State Department where we were, and they say this bill will probably or could 

cause tension between U.S.-Turkey relations, as well as being burdensome on the Department so they can do the very thing that we 

have directed them to do. 

So, again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you for working on this bill 

and trying to alleviate some of my concerns. I just think that as 

we go forward right now we need a little more balance and we have 

got to make sure that—Turkey has been an ally that we are working with, a very important ally in the region, and I think that this 

sends the wrong message at the wrong time. I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

Mr. Connolly. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to first of all 

say that you, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Engel have conducted this 

committee in your tenure in a way that fosters comity and civility, 

and I appreciate that. And I appreciate the attempt we have had 

in the last 2 days with our staffs trying to work together to see if 

we could modify the language of this resolution to make it mutually acceptable. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that, and as 

you know, Mr. Chairman, I will be offering a substitute amendment that expresses our concerns about these issues but in what 

I consider a more balanced way. 

The current resolution in front of us is not about whether you 

favor the return of Christian properties. I favor, all of us favor 

that. All of us want to see more progress in Turkey. This resolution 

shortchanges the progress that has been made. Over 800 properties 

worth $1.5 billion. The restoration of liturgical services in some religious facilities, some very significant religious facilities. 

I am fearful that in our haste to make a statement that provides 

understandable comfort to our constituents, we are going to rupture one of the most important bilateral relationships we have 

right now in one of the most sensitive parts of the world. Turkey 

isn’t a perfect country; neither are we. I know. I come from a 

Roman Catholic tradition. Catholics suffered enormous discrimination in this country for a long time. 

But are we willing to junk the relationship with Turkey we need 

right now? If we are looking at any kind of intervention in Iraq, 

we need Turkey. Turkey has taken in 1 million refugees, unsung. 

An enormous act of generosity in that region. Turkey is strategically in a place where it is as an ally more important than ever 

for the United States of America. 

As we speak, Turkey has had almost 80 Turkish nationals, including diplomats and truck drivers, kidnapped by ISIS in Mosul. 

We are going to pretend none of that happened and none of that 

is about to happen. We are going to make a statement as if Turkey 

27

were a country that is at the very beginning of evolution and needs 

to be lectured by us, and the consequences we will not examine because we are determined to do something else. 

We are the House Foreign Affairs Committee. We are the committee that Congress counts on to show judicious exercise of judgment, pondering and weighing and balancing consequences. The 

consequences of the resolution as worded—words matter—I guarantee you will rupture the relationship with Turkey. 

And by the way, if our objective is to get Turkey to show more 

progress, and I share in that objective, this language will only 

backfire. They have elections pending. We are politicians. A politician in Turkey is going to use this resolution to say, I am willing 

to stand up to the United States of America. I am not going to be 

bullied. I am not going to be lectured like we are some tinhorn dictatorship here in Turkey, when we are not. 

Turkey is not a perfect democracy, but it is an evolving democracy, and it is one we want to encourage to turn westward, to open 

up, to liberalize even more than they have. We want a pluralistic, 

secular society in Turkey. It is the only such in the Muslim world. 

To treat it with such disrespect in the language included in this 

resolution is bound, bound to have negative effects in Turkey. And 

all of the goals I think all of us share in this committee will, in 

fact, be set back for a cause that is noble, but for a resolution that 

is worded in a way that can only be calculated to inflame Turkey, 

Turks, the politics of Turkey, and do terrible damage to the bilateral relationship between the United States and Turkey. 

I urge my colleagues. I am going to offer a resolution that I think 

is more balanced that recognizes the problem but also says they 

have made a lot of progress and let’s move forward. Let’s encourage 

them. If you want to vote as a statement that more progress is 

needed on this subject and that you are on record, my substitute 

gives you that opportunity. But I pray my colleagues look at the 

wording of this resolution. 

I thank the chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Well, I thank the gentleman. The Chair is 

going to recognize himself, and especially inasmuch as we worked 

very carefully on the wording in this resolution. 

I would just remind the members here that this bill addresses an 

issue that has frequently been raised by the United States in the 

past, including at the highest level by President Obama, including 

raised by our Vice President, Joe Biden, including an issue which 

has been raised by Secretary Kerry. It has also been raised by our 

European allies. 

At none of these previous times has there been any deterioration 

in our relations or levels of cooperation with Turkey. In fact, the 

opposite has been true. During or immediately following these dialogues, the Turkish Government has made positive steps on property returns. 

We now face a situation where things are sliding in the opposite 

direction, and if we do not reassert this principle we will find, in 

all likelihood, an acceleration of a trend which will not be reversible. 

And I think we also have to disabuse ourselves of the notion that 

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key is a mature, sovereign state. It evaluates its relationships and 

cooperation with other countries based on its calculus of what is in 

Turkey’s best interest, not solely in reaction to U.S. measures, certainly not solely in reaction to a report by the House of Representatives. 

Primary examples of this, one I would give you, was in 2010, 

when Turkey voted against the U.S. and the U.N. Security Council 

on the Iran sanctions. That had to do with Turkey’s own calculus 

of its relationship with Iran. This was a significant action by Turkey, and it wasn’t in response to any congressional action. 

It is clear that maintaining close cooperation with the United 

States on Iraq and Syria is, in fact, in Turkey’s best interest. 

Should Turkish leaders choose to point to our raising of this longstanding issue, in which they are moving in the opposite direction, 

if they point to that, this well-known religious freedom issue, an 

issue they themselves have repeatedly promised to correct, as the 

reason to cut off security cooperation, as I think was implied here, 

then it would raise legitimate questions about their commitment to 

church property returns and where security cooperation with the 

U.S. weighs in their decision-making process. 

But I think at the end of the day, because the President, the Vice 

President, the Secretary of State are all weighing in with the same 

intention that we have here, we need to do the same. 

And with that said, I am going to recognize Mr. Smith of New 

Jersey. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you so very much, Mr. Chairman. First of all, 

I want to congratulate you and thank you for this extremely important bill. It is timely. It is worded in such a way, I think, that it 

strongly encourages and admonishes Ankara to do the right thing. 

And you even point out in the bill, you and the ranking member, 

that there have been some aspects of progress, but it doesn’t even 

come close, frankly, to where they ought to be. 

Let me just say to my friends and colleagues, unfortunately the 

State Department for years has always taken the view that we do 

not speak about human rights in a substantive way, even though 

the human rights report couldn’t be clearer about those rights violations. I am the one who chaired the Armenian genocide hearing 

in this room years ago. We had a Turkish Ambassador come and 

testify, and he threatened us right from the witness table that if 

you bring up an Armenian genocide resolution we will take away 

your base in Incirlik. That kind of friend in the soft underbelly of 

NATO certainly underscores a weakness, and if that has a chilling 

effect on our ability to speak about human rights, shame on us. 

Let me also point out that today is Torture Victims Day. I have 

written four laws called the Torture Victims Relief Act. I am reintroducing a reauthorization for that legislation today, and I hope 

friends and colleagues here on this committee will join me in introducing that bill. There are torture victim centers in Ankara and in 

other parts of Turkey. Torture is endemic. 

I have held several hearings on the use of torture, and I have 

raised it in Ankara. And as chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the Helsinki Commission, I will be in Baku tomorrow 

and will be meeting with members of the Turkish delegation. Mr. 

Chairman, I will put in each of those delegates’ hands a copy of 

29

your resolution and we will have a dialogue. Friends don’t let 

friends commit human rights abuses. 

Let me also point out that Reporters Without Borders makes it 

absolutely clear—I have chaired hearings on this, as well—that the 

journalists, they claim, and they have good substantive background 

for it, there are 42 journalists in prison suffering because they 

dared to write the truth about what goes on or does not go on in 

Turkey, and especially if anyone mentions the Armenian genocide, 

watch out, they will be knocking on the door and it is off to the 

gulag for you. Seventy-two media people in all. 

Let me also point out that I will never forget, after George Bush, 

first Bush, after the Persian Gulf War, kind of, perhaps unwittingly, suggested that we had the backs of the Kurds, and it looked 

like they were looking to overthrow and topple Saddam Hussein. 

Next thing you know, they were all in flight. Talking about refugees, when it comes to Syria, Turkey has very little choice in the 

streaming of refugees, and we congratulate them for providing temporary housing and help for those who are coming across the border. 

When the Kurds came across the border, the line of demarcation 

between Turkey and Iraq was very strong. If it wasn’t for our special forces, I would say to my friends, colleagues, we were there 4 

or 5 days, after all of these Kurds came to the border and couldn’t 

get across, we would have seen thousands of dead people, who happened to be Kurds, from the elements from sickness and even from 

attack. 

While we were there, a helicopter laden with foodstuffs for Kurdish refugees, women and children, and the elements were killing a 

lot of little children because it was cold—when people went to get 

the meals ready to eat, one of the Turkish soldiers shot and killed 

one of those who were just hungry beyond words. Our military, 

thankfully, helped keep things in check. 

They are friends. They are colleagues. They are allies. But we 

need to speak about human rights. And again, I think this very, 

very prudently written bill will make a difference. And we should 

not act out of fear because then it invites impunity in a sense that 

we can do whatever we want and the Americans and others who 

are concerned about human rights will muffle their criticism. 

So again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for this bill, as well as Ranking Member Eliot Engel. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Would my friend yield for a minute? 

Mr. SMITH. Happy to yield. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. I thank my friend. 

My only point is, I agree with him. We need to speak forthrightly 

about human rights and abuses that may occur and encourage democracy. It is how we say it that is important. And I respectfully 

believe that how this resolution is worded is going to be counterproductive. 

Mr. SMITH. I understand that. But let me just say, if I could reclaim Mr. Royce’s time, the churches, the Christians there, are 

under a constant cloud. The sword of Damocles hangs over them 

24/7. This tells them we have their backs. And again, I think the 

chairman has crafted a bill that is very diplomatically articulated. 

And so I hope the members will support it. 

30

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Sherman. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you. 

I am a co-sponsor of this bill. I think it is well written, and I 

commend the chairman for it. Its passage will build upon the adoption of H. Res. 106, which we adopted in 2011, which I and many 

of us cosponsored, put the U.S. House on record calling for Turkey 

to return Christian religious properties. The vote was 43–1. 

This legislation is needed to address the ongoing destruction of 

Christian religious heritage in Turkey. This is a result of the Turkish Government’s desecration in some cases and just failure to protect in other cases Christian holy sites. Because of this area’s ancient history, so many of these churches are tied to an important 

global Christian heritage. Christians cannot legally train clergy in 

Turkey, any Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Armenian Patriarchate are prevented from owning and transferring property. 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has 

listed Turkey as a serial violator of religious freedom for several 

years. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom 

reported, over the previous 5 decades, the Turkish state has, using 

convoluted regulations and un-Democratic laws, they have used 

these to confiscate hundreds of religious minority properties, primarily those belonging to the Greek Orthodox community, as well 

as the Armenian Orthodox. The state has closed seminaries, denying these communities their right to train clergy. 

Despite a few public pronouncements vowing to return some religious property, as the U.S. Commissioner on International Religious Freedom reports, ad hoc announcements have not resulted in 

systemic changes in constitutional legal structures that would remedy violations of religious freedom for non-Muslim minorities, some 

of which are on the verge of virtual disappearance. 

Now, there is the argument that Turkey will retaliate if anybody 

brings any of this to their attention. The fact is that France faced 

a similar issue about a decade ago when its Parliament recognized 

on the parliamentary floor the Armenian genocide. That, as members of this committee know, is a much bigger issue with Turkey 

than this resolution. The French Parliament passed that resolution 

with France being under threat by Turkey to cut the one thing 

France cared about, which was trade and French exports. After the 

French Parliament acted, French exports to Turkey tripled over the 

next 8 or 9 years. 

So I don’t think we should be dissuaded by bluffs, and I think 

this committee should at least show the fortitude and courage of 

the French Parliament. If we can’t do that, why are we here? 

I will yield to the chair. 

Chairman ROYCE. We have two amendments, Mr. Grayson and 

Mr. Holding, that I was going to bring up on en bloc, but, Mr. 

Connolly, you referenced an amendment that you have at the desk. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Yes, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Do you want to offer that amendment? 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Certainly. I have an amendment at the desk in 

the form of a substitute. 

Chairman ROYCE. The clerk will report the amendment. 

Mr. WALDEN. Substitute for the amendment in the nature of a 

substitute to H.R. 4347 offered by Mr. Connolly of Virginia. Strike 

31

all after the enacting clause and insert the following: It is the sense 

of Congress that Turkey has made progress in ending religious discrimination and in returning church properties to their owners. It 

is further the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State, in all 

official contacts with Turkish leaders and other Turkish officials, 

should emphasize that Turkey should (1) endeavor to end all forms 

of religious discrimination; (2) continue to make progress in allowing the rightful church and lay owners of Christian church properties, without hindrance or restriction, to organize and administer 

prayer services, religious education, clerical training, appointments, 

and succession, religious community gatherings, social services, including ministry to the needs of the poor and infirm, and other religious activities; (3) continue the ongoing process being undertaken 

by the Government of Turkey to return to their rightful owners all 

Christian churches and other places of worship, monasteries, 

schools, hospitals, monuments, relics, holy sites, and other religious 

properties, including movable properties, such as artwork——

Chairman ROYCE. Without objection, the amendment will be considered read. 

[The information referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROYCE. All members now have a copy of the amendment. The Chair recognizes the author to explain his amendment. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. I thank the chair. 

This resolution is fairly simple. It recognizes progress has been 

made but much progress needs to be done. I listened my friend 

from California, Mr. Sherman, and I listened to my friend from 

New Jersey, Mr. Smith, and to listen to them would be to conclude, 

if one knew nothing else, that Turkey has apparently done nothing 

with respect to the return of Christian properties. The report cited 

actually also notes the return of 864 properties worth $1.5 billion. 

In 2013 mass was held at Hagia Yorgi Church for the first time 

in 89 years. Baptismal service was observed at the Akdamar 

Church of the Holy Cross for the first time in 100 years. Structures 

that have been restored, preserved to begin restoring, include the 

Akdamar Church of the Holy Cross, Surp Vortvots Vorodman 

Church, St. Nicholas Church, Mor Petrus-Mor Paulus, and the 

Sahinbey Synagogue—and I am probably torturing the Turkic language here—lands associated with the Mor Gabriel Monastary 

have been returned, Heybeliada Theological School, Surp Giragos 

Church, Hagia Yorgi Church, Bomonti Mkhitarian School, and 

Galata Elementary School. 

Now, one could go on. We are trying to achieve a balance here 

where Turkey can work with the Christian communities to return 

Christian properties. I favor that. I voted for H. Res. 306. But that 

was something that brought us together because it didn’t gratuitously just bash Turkey throughout the resolution. And I am concerned that that kind of gratuitous language is going to get us into 

a situation where the relationship is far more complicated and the 

goals we all seek, in fact, will be retarded rather than progressed. 

And so I am urging my colleagues to vote for an alternative that 

expresses our sense of Congress with respect to the need for Turkey to have a lot more progress on the return of Christian properties, but avoids language that I think can be construed as inflammatory and unnecessary at a very delicate moment in that region 

of the world. And I urge my colleagues to support the resolution. 

With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Connolly. You know, I appreciate your amendment. I appreciate your perspective on these 

issues. I know that you have been deeply involved in this region 

of the world. But I am somewhat disappointed because as members, I know myself and Mr. Engel have worked very hard making 

many changes to the introduced text and accepting changes from 

members yesterday, and we did that in an effort to get this legislation to a place where I hoped all members could support it. 

And of course, that is not always possible. But we did make an 

effort, and in particular we amended the base text from its original 

version to include findings that note instances of progress on 

church property returns to Turkey, as you referenced. We make 

note of the 2011 reforms to the law on foundations, which provide 

a process for churches to apply to get their properties returned. We 

also note that since the enactment of this reform Turkey has returned over 300 properties to the appropriate church authorities. 

And further, clauses 23, 24, 25, clause 27, they all point to positive developments in terms of church property being returned, reliVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:48 Sep 25, 2014 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_FULL\062614M\88461 SHIRL
35

gious ceremonies being allowed, and the historic meeting between 

Prime Minister Erdogan and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew back in 2009. 

But while recognizing these positive developments, there is an 

urgency on some of the issues that are before Turkey today. 

Progress on church returns, as everyone here knows, has been haphazard, it has been very slow. The 2014 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom report notes many religious communities regard this process as biased and of course very, very slow. 

And it highlights that over 1,000 applications by churches to have 

their property returned have been denied. 

But that said, even more troubling, this is why this resolution is 

before us today. Since that time, two ancient Byzantine-era Orthodox churches, which had been seized by the Turkish government 

rather than being returned to their rightful owners, have been converted into mosques. And as I referenced earlier, there is a proposal before the Parliament now to do likewise with the Hagia Sophia, the great church in Istanbul. 

That is one of the most significant religious sites for Orthodox 

Christians in the world. It is the former Eastern Orthodox Cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople for a thousand 

years, and for decades has symbolized Turkey’s efforts to respect 

the rights of Christian minorities while promoting the country’s 

secular democracy. 

I am, and I know many other members are pretty troubled by 

what this says about trends in Turkey. And we feel that if we take 

a stand we may be able to arrest what would otherwise be a very 

unfortunate circumstance here. Turkey has not acted positively 

since we passed the last resolution. We cannot expect sudden 

progress if we pass the same language again. We need to reference 

these discussions that are underway in Turkey and these events. 

And lastly, as to now is not a good time, that argument, which 

we have heard, and I partially answered that, but with all respect 

to my own legislation here, we are just making a report. Second, 

there has never been what has proven to be a bad time to raise 

it, if you think about it. This issue was raised, as I shared with 

you, by President Obama, and that was in 2009 when we were relying upon Turkey’s support in isolating Iran and pressing Iran to 

abandon its nuclear ambitions. 

It was raised by our Vice President, Joe Biden, in 2011, when the 

Syrian conflict was beginning. It was discussed once again a few 

months ago by Secretary Kerry on a visit to Turkey and Cyprus as 

the situation in Syria worsened and as ISIS was gaining greater 

influence in Iraq. And each of these times, I think it is fair to say, 

there was no breach in relations or cooperative efforts with Turkey 

on key U.S. foreign policy and security issues. It was raised because it was important that the United States take a stand. 

And as I said, Turkey is a mature sovereign state. It measures 

its actions based on its calculation of what is in its best interests. 

When we have common interests, Turkey will back us; when we 

don’t, it won’t. 

And thirdly, I would ask why are we so sensitive? Do we change 

our fundamental policies every time a foreign government critiques 

us? No. Maybe a report will be used as an excuse, but a report isn’t 

36

going to tip that balance away from cooperative relations between 

the United States and Turkey, in my opinion. 

And I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this amendment. 

And I recognize Mr. Engel. 

Mr. ENGEL. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to, first of all, commend Mr. Connolly. He is a good member of this committee and very thoughtful and we generally agree 

on most things, but on this one I have to respectfully disagree and 

oppose his substitute. I know his intentions are very, very well, 

very, very good. 

The question here, as the chairman has mentioned, let’s put this 

in perspective. What are we doing here? We are mandating a report. We are not taking any punitive actions against Turkey. We 

are not hitting them over the head. We are mandating a report. 

And I think that we need to put that in perspective. 

The findings on our bill, the findings on the bill, the chairman’s 

bill, is based on the U.S. Commission on International Religious 

Freedom report. It is also based on State Department Human 

Rights Report. So we are taking two reports that have been issued, 

and we are simply stating what these reports, which have already 

been done, are saying. 

Now, Turkey cannot have it both ways. You know, I am disturbed about recent trends in Turkey over the past several years 

by Mr. Erdogan. I am very much chagrined over what seems to be 

his authoritarian rule, his maneuverings to swipe away the secularism of the Turkish state, his attempts to neuter the military so 

that they are no longer a barrier in preventing the move toward 

an Islamist state in Turkey. I think those are very troubling. 

And I think, while Mr. Erdogan doesn’t hesitate to tell the 

United States when he thinks we are doing something wrong, I 

don’t think that we should hesitate to tell him. And they can’t really have it both ways. On the one hand, they say, well, we are an 

ally so that should make you immune of any kind of criticism; on 

the other hand, when we look around and we have needed them, 

they haven’t always been there. 

Yes, they are an important country, but we are not denigrating 

that importance. We are simply saying that the findings in our bill 

are based on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the State Department Human Rights Report. 

The other thing to put this bill in perspective, there are no sanctions or any penalty against Turkey in the bill. It is just a statement of what we believe is fact, which has been documented and 

proven about Christian properties. And so that is what we are 

doing. It is a finding, again, based on the U.S. Commission on 

International Religious Freedom report, the State Department 

Human Rights Report, and we are not imposing any sanctions. So 

I don’t see why the chairman’s bill should be opposed. We are simply stating what is a fact. No one is disputing the fact. 

We are saying, well, Turkish sensitivities, they may not like it, 

it is poking a finger in their eye. Well, you know what, we are entitled to say what we feel and what we see. And since we are mandating a report here, we are not imposing any sanctions here, I 

think this is a very moderate bill and should be supported by everyone on both sides of the aisle. 

37

I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Lowenthal. 

Mr. LOWENTHAL. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

I would like to say, I want to speak against the substitute 

amendment from my dear colleague from Virginia and speak in 

support of the underlying H.R. 4347. You know, one of the groups, 

a little background, one of the groups that I belong to, in fact, that 

I am proud to be a member of, is the Tom Lantos Human Rights 

Commission. And last year, through the Commission’s defending 

justice project, I adopted a Vietnamese prisoner of conscience 

named Mr. Nguyen Tien Trung. My role was to bring attention to 

Trung’s plight, and I am proud to say that recently Trung was released from jail. 

And just this week, I adopted another prisoner of conscience in 

Vietnam, Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh. Pastor Chinh was unjustly 

sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2012 for simply practicing his 

faith and exercising his right to religious freedom. 

These cases have raised my awareness of religious intolerance 

around the globe, particularly in cases where it is systemically and 

institutionally practiced by various governments. 

The reason why we are here today and talking about this amendment and the underlying resolution is another sad situation where 

a government is actively hindering its own citizens’ freedom of religion. 

There is no denying that the Republic of Turkey has a poor 

record on the treatment of Christians, and that is why the substitute amendment does not go far enough. Christian churches and 

communities in the Republic of Turkey and in Northern Cyprus 

continue to be prevented from fully practicing their faith and face 

serious obstacles to reestablishing full legal, administrative, and 

operational control over stolen, expropriated, confiscated, or otherwise unreturned churches, and other religious properties and sites. 

It should be pointed out that in the 3 years since the Republic 

of Turkey revised its law to provide legal process for claims to the 

return of religious properties that it has confiscated, that more 

than 300 Christian church properties have been returned. However, it is an encouraging sight, but with more than 1,000 applications for the return of the properties being denied by the Turkish 

Government, it is clear that much more needs to be done. The only 

way we are going to change this situation is to convince the Republic of Turkey, and that is through international pressure. And that 

is why I think this amendment does not really deal with the underlying factors. And I oppose the substitute motion and encourage the 

support of H.R. 4347. 

And I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Hearing no further requests for recognition—

oh, Mr. Cicilline. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I begin by saying I have tremendous respect for my colleague 

from Virginia, who I rely on a lot as a new member of this committee, a new Member of Congress, and admire his thoughtful approach to this issue and to all the work before our committee, but 

I most respectfully oppose his amendment. 

38

I think it is correct that we have to be careful about both what 

we say and how we say it. And this underlying resolution, or bill, 

sends a message and creates the reporting requirement. But the 

substitute amendment offered by the gentleman from Virginia, I 

think, makes assertions that just aren’t true: ‘‘It is the sense of 

Congress that Turkey has made progress in ending religious discrimination.’’

We have the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom 2014 report, where they say,

‘‘Turkish secularism, as codified in the 1982 constitution, 

requires absolute state control over religion, which leads to 

governmental interference and restrictions that hinder full 

religious freedom in the country. The government limits all 

religious groups’ rights to own and maintain places of worship, train clergy, and offer religious education. This has 

been particularly detrimental to the smallest minority 

communities and their ability to transmit their faith to future generations. Other concerns include the listing of religious affiliation on national identity cards, societal discrimination, anti-Semitism, and persistent religious freedom violations in the Turkish-occupied northern part of 

Cyprus. Finally, it should be noted that the overall landscape for democracy and human rights has deteriorated 

significantly during the past year.’’

So I don’t think we should express the sense of Congress that 

Turkey has made progress in ending religious discrimination. In 

fact, the report goes on to say that they heard views from some religious minority communities that conditions had worsened and 

that the steps taken were negligible, as well as concerns that the 

improvements, which are not codified in law, could be easily revoked, especially in the current political environment. 

So I do think, while some progress has been made on the return, 

or some efforts have been made on the return of property—that is 

reflected on page 3, paragraph 7. The underlying resolution acknowledges that. But this is an opportunity for us to again state, 

or to share our values, to demonstrate that this is an important 

priority for our country, an important shared value. And I urge my 

colleagues to reject the substitute amendment and adopt H.R. 4347 

as originally proposed. 

And, with that, I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Hearing no further requests for recognition, 

the question occurs on the Connolly amendment. 

All those in favor, say aye. 

All those opposed, say no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the noes have it, and the amendment 

is not agreed to. 

I now ask unanimous consent that the following two amendments that were provided to members yesterday be considered en 

bloc and be considered read: Grayson Amendment No. 284 and the 

Holding Amendment No. 851. 

[The information referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROYCE. Do any members seek recognition to speak on 

these amendments en bloc? 

Mr. Grayson. 

Mr. GRAYSON. Thank you. 

With regard to my amendment, Mr. Chairman, it is simply a 

matter of making sure that the terms are accurate and that we, to 

the extent we can, avoid language that might be misconstrued by 

any party. That is the purpose of my amendment. 

I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Grayson. 

Mr. Holding? 

Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for recognizing me and 

want to thank you for all the work you have done advocating for 

religious freedom across the globe. It is certainly an issue that I 

know is of great importance to many members of this committee 

and Members of Congress. 

In this committee, under your leadership and the leadership of 

Chairman Smith, we have examined the plight of many across the 

world who are prohibited from freely and safely practicing the religion of their choosing. 

As part of a delegation to Turkey last year, I had the opportunity 

to meet with Christian church leadership while in Istanbul. And 

there I heard firsthand about the ongoing difficulties in the process 

to get church properties not only returned but correctly identified 

in the inventory. However, it was also expressed that, while this 

process was not proceeding as expeditiously as it should be, the 

Government of Turkey and local communities had been making 

strides, and positive developments were noted. 

That being said, Mr. Chairman, it is certainly my belief and, I 

believe, the belief of many here today that more can and should be 

done to move this process in the right direction. While the base 

text before us today does note some of the positive developments, 

I believe more could be added to recognize some of these positive 

developments, which is precisely what my amendment seeks to do. 

So I urge support, and I appreciate the chairman and ranking 

member’s support for my amendment. 

And I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Well, thank you, Mr. Holding. 


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I appreciate Mr. Grayson and Mr. Holding’s contribution. 

And the question now occurs on the Grayson and Holding 

amendments, considered en bloc. 

All those in favor, say aye. 

All opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the amendments en bloc are agreed to. 

Are there any other amendments? 

Hearing no further amendments, the question occurs on adopting 

H.R. 4347 as amended. 

All those in favor, say aye. 

All those opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the bill as 

amended is agreed to. 

Without objection, H.R. 4347 as amended is ordered favorably reported as a single amendment in the nature of a substitute. Staff 

is directed to make any technical and conforming changes. 

As all members were previously notified, we now intend to consider en bloc the remaining seven bills, whose base texts were circulated on Tuesday. All of the amendments to those texts that were 

provided to your office, you got those yesterday. And so, without objection, the following items will be considered: H.R. 2283, the 

Human Trafficking Prioritization Act; Smith Amendment No. 58 in 

the nature of a substitute to that bill; and Smith Amendment No. 

60 to that amendment; H.R. 4411, this is the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act; the Royce Amendment No. 120 

in the nature of a substitute to the bill; the Poe-Sherman Amendment No. 92; and the DeSantis-Deutch-Meng Amendment No. 5; 

then we go to H.R. 4640, the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy 

Commission Act; the Engel Amendment No. 60 in the nature of a 

substitute to H.R. 4640; and the Castro Amendment No. 36; then 

H.R. 4653, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act; the Smith Amendment No. 55 in the nature of a substitute to the bill; and the Meng Amendment No. 47; 

next, we have House Resolution 435, calling on the Government of 

Iran to assist in the case of Robert Levinson; and Ros-Lehtinen 

Amendment No. 49 in the nature of a substitute; next is House 

Resolution 562 with respect to enhanced relations with the Republic of Moldova; and Royce Amendment No. 123 in the nature of a 

substitute; finally, House Resolution 588, concerning the suspension of exit permit issuance by the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo for adopted Congolese children; we have the Smith Amendment 57 in the nature of a substitute, and the Royce Amendment 

No. 122 to that amendment. 

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Chairman ROYCE. After opening remarks by myself and Ranking 

Member Engel, I will be glad to recognize any member seeking recognition to speak on the en bloc items. 

So, first, let me thank Chairman Smith for authoring his bill, the 

Human Trafficking Prioritization Act. The fight against modernday slavery has long been a priority for this committee. The annual 

report and country rankings by the State Department’s trafficking 

office have turned trafficking into a global policy priority. 

But this annual work is a tug-of-war—a tug-of-war between 

those charged with assessing trafficking conditions and State officials concerned with the potential diplomatic fallout from stating 

very hard truths. 

This bill is intended to help level the playing field by elevating 

the trafficking office to a bureau, without additional cost or personnel. 

Next, we have H.R. 4411, the Hezbollah International Financing 

Prevention Act. It was good to work with Mr. Meadows, Mr. 

Schneider, and Mr. Engel on this critical legislation. 

The threat posed by Hezbollah’s global operations, aided by a 

vast financial network, has exploded. In 2011, we saw the tip of the 

iceberg when a massive drug and money-laundering operation for 

Hezbollah’s benefit in weapons, logistics, and training were uncovered. 

To increase the risk in dealing with Hezbollah, the bill would 

target those financial institutions that knowingly do business with 

what has been called the ‘‘A-Team of terrorists.’’

Then, H.R. 4640, the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act, sponsored by Mr. Engel. The ranking member has been 


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deeply involved in these issues, as has Subcommittee Chairman 

Salmon. 

The bill establishes an independent commission to conduct a 

comprehensive review and make recommendations on U.S. efforts 

to reduce the supply of illicit drugs. This includes an evaluation of 

the link between the illegal narcotics trade in this hemisphere and 

terrorist activities around the world. 

H.R. 4653 will continue the good work of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. 

The Commission is an independent body of distinguished experts 

who advocate for the first freedom of religious practice. 

This function has become even more critical as the State Department has dropped the ball in prioritizing religious freedom. So the 

Department has failed to make the required annual designations of 

the countries of particular concern for religious-freedom violations 

since 2011. And the Ambassador-at-Large position for international 

religious freedom has been vacant now for a total of more than 3 

years. 

So this bill carries forward the important work of this streamlined body and includes some needed management improvements. 

House Resolution 435 addresses the case of U.S. citizen Robert 

Levinson, who disappeared in Iran 7 years ago. 

The Iranian regime has continually obstructed U.S. Government 

efforts to investigate his disappearance, despite promises of assistance. And this individual and his family deserve our every effort 

to secure his freedom and safe return home. 

And I want to commend Mr. Deutch for his relentless efforts in 

securing Mr. Levinson’s release. 

House Resolution 562 voices U.S. support for our relations with 

Moldova and for that country’s sovereignty. They have had a long, 

difficult path. 

Democratic reforms have not come easily, but the Moldovan people have persevered, have absolutely persevered, in their expressed 

desire to join more fully with the West and with Europe. And, recently, the Russian Government has enforced trade embargoes and 

threatened the cutoff of energy supplies as consequences. 

This resolution stands by Moldova, and we urge its support. 

Finally, House Resolution 588. The Democratic Republic of the 

Congo has suspended exit permits for Congolese children adopted 

by foreign parents, affecting hundreds of families. 

And, at this time, I would just like to briefly recognize the families that are here today from across the United States who have 

been impacted by the actions of the Congolese Government. We are 

going to ask them to stand for a minute, those who are here, the 

families, if you would. 

And I want them to know we will continue to do everything we 

can for your families. Thank you very much for attending this 

hearing today. 

And, as you can see, some of them are holding pictures of their 

adopted children. These children are barred from leaving the country to join with their parents here, even though the courts have declared these parents as their legal guardians. Nine hundred American cases are caught up in this adoption limbo, and that breaks 

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a lot of hearts here in the United States, and it breaks a lot of 

hearts of children in Congo. 

I witnessed firsthand the power of providing a child with a loving 

home when my chief of staff, Amy Porter, who is here with us, 

adopted internationally. And these children must be allowed to 

make their way to homes that desperately want to care for these 

children. 

Congressional approval of this resolution, of course, will send a 

strong message to Kinshasa that we need to unite these families. 

I now recognize the ranking member for his remarks on the en 

bloc items. 

Mr. Engel? 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding 

this important markup. And, once again, I am grateful that we 

could work together in bipartisan fashion on all of these measures. 

First of all, let me express my strong support for H.R. 4411, the 

Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act. 

Hezbollah has continued to terrorize the globe, reaching into 

Latin America, Europe, Asia, and across the Middle East. How 

does Hezbollah fund this violence and terrorism? Kidnappings and 

ransom, conflict diamonds, narcotrafficking, and other criminal enterprises. Claims that Hezbollah is simply just a political organization or a social services agency are simply naive. And this bill exposes the group for what it is: A vicious terrorist organization with 

a global footprint. 

This legislation goes after financial institutions that knowingly 

support Hezbollah. It is modeled after the Comprehensive Iranian 

Sanctions and Divestment Act of 2010. And that measure worked. 

It was one of the prime causes of the severe economic downturn 

that brought the Iranians to the negotiating table. 

H.R. 4411 also focuses on Hezbollah’s efforts to spread hateful 

propaganda through its media outlet, Al-Manar, which is, in itself, 

a specially designated terrorist group. 

Through sanctions, we hope to cut off Hezbollah’s lifeline and 

prevent future terrorist attacks. 

I want to thank Representatives Meadows and Schneider for 

their thoughtful leadership on this issue and their bipartisan work. 

And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for moving this forward, especially at this critical time. 

Next, Mr. Chairman, I would like thank you for bringing up H.R. 

4640, my Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission legislation. 

Let me also thank Congressman Salmon, who is the lead Republican cosponsor of this legislation, a great partner of mine, and 

strongly committed to a strong U.S.-Latin American partnership. 

Despite at least $15.7 billion spent on counternarcotics programs 

in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1980 and 2012, illicit 

drug use in our country remains high. In 2012, there were around 

24 million illicit drug users in the United States. And while cocaine 

use at home is declining, heroin use is on the rise. In fact, heroin 

overdose deaths in the United States increased by an alarming 45 

percent between 2006 and 2010. 

This bill would create an independent commission to take stock 

of what is working, what isn’t, and help guide the future of U.S. 

drug policy through recommendations submitted to Congress, the 

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Secretary of State, and the Director of the Office of National Drug 

Control Policy. This commission will save our Government money 

in the long run. Its recommendations will help ensure that we are 

getting the biggest bang for our buck as we tackle this problem in 

Latin America and the Caribbean. 

A similar bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously 

in 2009 but stalled in the Senate. This year, I and Mr. Salmon are 

determined to get this legislation onto the President’s desk. 

I would also like to express my support for H. Res. 435, which 

calls attention to the disappearance of Robert Levinson in Iran 

more than 7 years ago. The United States has repeatedly raised 

Mr. Levinson’s case with the Iranian Government. Now is the time 

for Iran to make a good-faith effort to bring Robert Levinson home. 

Thanks to the leadership and tireless work by Representative 

Deutch, Mr. Levinson’s Congressman, this resolution with lend a 

new sense of urgency to this effort. 

Mr. Chairman, I would like to commend our committee colleague, 

Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, as well as Representative Wolf for their leadership on international religious-freedom 

issues and for their work on H.R. 4653, which reauthorizes the 

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. 

Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states 

that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and 

religion. This right includes the freedom to manifest his religion or 

beliefs in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. Nevertheless, every day religious communities around the world are subject 

to escalating violence, persecution, and discrimination. USCIRF is 

pushing back against violations and helping to uphold our most 

cherished values. 

I would like to again thank Mr. Smith for introducing H.R. 2283, 

legislation that would elevate the Office to Monitor and Combat 

Trafficking to the status of a bureau within the State Department. 

Human trafficking, as Mr. Chris Smith has always pointed out, 

is a modern-day slavery and one of the most offensive violations of 

a person’s freedom and dignity. Around the world, as many as 27 

million people are victims of this heinous crime. 

Elevating this trafficking office to a bureau will send a message 

that combating modern-day slavery is a priority for the United 

States. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. 

Mr. Chairman, let me also express my strong support for H. Res. 

562, a resolution introduced by Representative Pitts. This measure 

reaffirms our support for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Moldova, expresses strong support for strengthened U.S.-Moldova relations, and affirms that Moldova has a sovereign right to determine its own partnerships, free of external coercion and pressure. I am delighted that tomorrow Moldova will 

sign an association agreement with the EU. 

The resolution also calls on Russia to remove its forces from the 

Transnistria region of Moldova and urges all parties to work for a 

peaceful resolution to the Transnistria issue. 

I have met with Moldovan officials. They want to look westward 

rather than eastward. They are frightened to death of Russia’s aggression, and it is very important that the United States stand by 

them. This resolution does that, and I am very proud of it. 

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And, finally, Mr. Chairman, we are taking up H. Res. 588, a resolution introduced by Representative Peterson on adoptions from 

the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We have seen all these 

brave parents stand up before. 

The Government of the DRC has stopped issuing exit permits for 

adopted children, affecting hundreds of children who were set to be 

taken in by loving families. This is a terribly painful situation that 

we need to help resolve. 

This resolution recognizes the importance of ethical and transparent adoptions, and it seeks to raise awareness about the plight 

of the families currently stuck in limbo over these suspended permits. It encourages dialogue between the governments of the U.S. 

and DRC to find a path forward on this issue. And I urge my colleagues to support it. 

So, in closing, Mr. Chairman, I would like to once again thank 

you for holding this markup and for working with our side of the 

aisle in a bipartisan manner. 

I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Engel. 

Do any other members seek—Mr. Smith? 

Mr. SMITH. Chairman, thank you very much. And thank you for 

bringing these very important pieces of legislation to the full committee and, hopefully, to the floor very shortly. 

H.R. 2283, the Human Trafficking Prioritization Act of 2013, is 

a bipartisan piece of legislation. We have 91 cosponsors, including 

some 13 who are members of this committee. I want to thank 

Karen Bass for her co-sponsorship and, again, all the other members of the committee and the subcommittee. 

The Human Trafficking Prioritization Act will keep the fight 

against human trafficking from being downgraded or trivialized in 

the shuffle of politics of other U.S. interests. 

In the 14 years since my legislation, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, was signed into law, legislation that created 

the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking 

Persons, commonly known as the TIP office, many countries have 

said that they have strengthened their own trafficking laws—as a 

matter of fact, more than 130 of them—because of U.S. leadership, 

guidance, prioritization, and accountability. 

The metamorphosis that has happened throughout the world 

really can relate squarely to U.S. leadership, carried out so effectively and faithfully by the personnel at the TIP office. There are 

some 65 people who make up that office. Our Ambassador-at-Large, 

Luis CdeBaca, is doing an outstanding job. And in every Embassy 

in the world, when Members travel, there is always one person, at 

least, who is tasked in the Embassy to work on trafficking issues. 

We hope our Ambassadors and DCMs will also make it a high priority. 

We have found a strategy that works. Now is the time to build 

on successes, however, for the sake of the 21 million people—Free 

the Slaves puts that number at 27 million people—who are captives of modern-day slavery. And we can do it without increasing 

the cost of government. 

H.R. 2283 will raise the status of the TIP office to that of a bureau within the State Department bureaucracy without creating 

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new costs. These changes simply give TIP the latitude it needs, the 

voice it deserves, and, above all, the line authority within State 

that it requires. It gives the Ambassador-at-Large who heads it 

equal stature with the regional and the functional bureaus. 

Mark Lagon, who was the Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and 

Combat Trafficking in Persons from 2007 to 2009, testified here 

that the State Department does a tremendous job in producing a 

report which tells it like it is, offering objective rankings. Yet, at 

times, he pointed out, it pulls punches, typically due to the urging 

of regional specialists rather than the TIP office specialists dedicated to trafficking. This bill will give the State Department’s trafficking team the leverage necessary to allow it to advocate most effectively on behalf of the victims of trafficking. 

And we saw a need for this just last week when China 

undeservedly received an upgrade from Tier 3, an egregious violator of human trafficking, to Tier 2 Watch List, despite their atrocious record on trafficking. 

Hence, I am offering another amendment that limits the ability—

it is in the en bloc—so that, the 4-year cycle of being on the Watch 

List—is as long as it can be. There has to be an automatic movement up or down after 4 years. After you have been downgraded 

to Tier 3 after the 4 years, you get 1 more year, not a recess of 

4 more years. And China would game that system, believe me, for 

another 4 years, and they would stay off being cited, and potentially sanctioned, by the provisions of the law. 

Next, I want to mention H.R. 4653, which reauthorizes the U.S. 

Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF. 

In 1998, Congress had the foresight to make the protection and 

promotion of religious freedom a priority in U.S. foreign policy by 

creating an Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom, the Office 

of International Religious Freedom at the Department of State, 

and, so very importantly, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. 

Importantly, this landmark piece of legislation, authored by 

Chairman Frank Wolf, IRFA, created a system for naming and taking action against Countries of Particular Concern, or CPCs. History has shown that when the U.S. makes religious freedom a priority and that priority is conveyed to Countries of Particular Concern, we have seen conditions improve, with minimal harm to security or economic cooperation, but, frankly, human rights ought to 

trump that. And, in this case, it does mean that prisoners are set 

free, and the record is replete with those examples. 

Two and a half years ago, there were some problems with the reauthorization of USCIRF. It got bogged down in the Senate. I don’t 

think that will happen this year. It has to be reauthorized by the 

end of this fiscal year or it becomes defunct. 

Dr. Robert George, who is the chairman of the Commission, testified here just a few weeks ago before my subcommittee. And if any 

Member travels anywhere, I strongly urge you to read their reports. They are incisive, they are accurate, they have action items, 

and those action items go to the country that is committing deplorable acts against religious believers and leaders, clerics, bishops, 

and the like, but it also admonishes the administration and Congress to take effective action. 

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For example, the President has not designated CPC countries, 

which is supposed to be done on an annual basis, since 2011. We 

have asked the President, we have asked the Secretary of State repeatedly, and USCIRF, Dr. George testified to that effect. Name 

those countries, and, please, apply sanctions where they are necessary. 

And, finally, a brief word about the very important legislation 

authored by Collin Peterson from Minnesota on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the parents, some of whom are here. The 

government took the ill-advised action of cutting off adoptions. 

Many of those were already well into the process. Collin Peterson 

has picked up that baton, and he is pushing very hard. This will 

help. 

And, again, to the families that are here, Congress has your 

back. We will do everything we can. I have been to DR Congo a 

number of times, along with Greg Simpkins. They need to listen. 

A home is awaiting kids who are orphaned. Thank you for your 

generosity. 

And I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

Mr. Deutch? 

Mr. DEUTCH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

And I want to thank you and Ranking Member Engel for bringing forward these important bills today. 

I want to especially thank you both, as well as my colleague on 

the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, Chairman Emeritus Ros-Lehtinen, for your continued support of House Resolution 

435, which calls on the Government of Iran to fulfill its promises 

of assistance in the case of my missing constituent, Robert 

Levinson. 

Thanks to so many of our colleagues on this committee who have 

spoken passionately in the past about securing the release of the 

three American citizens detained in Iran. 

Robert Levinson disappeared from Kish Island, Iran, on March 

9th, 2007, 2,664 days ago. That is 2,664 days that his wife of 40 

years, Christine, and their seven children have gone without their 

husband, their father, and now their grandfather. He has missed 

the birth of three grandchildren in the years since his disappearance. 

When Bob first disappeared, the U.S. was not sitting across the 

table from Iran. Today, we meet almost weekly. And I know that 

our team raises Bob and other American citizens’ cases in every 

meeting, and I am grateful for that. If Iran wants to show the 

world that they can be trusted, whether they can be taken at their 

word, then come through on the promise to assist in reuniting Bob 

Levinson with his family. 

Mr. Chairman, last week in our subcommittee markup, I spoke 

at length about the Levinson family and about Bob’s commitment 

to his country over his 30-year career as an FBI agent. Today, I 

simply want to remind everyone watching here and around the 

world that the United States Congress has not and will not forget 

about Bob Levinson. 

I would also like to commend the chairman, Ranking Member 

Engel, and Congressmen Meadows and Schneider for working to 

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advance our efforts to crack down on the Iranian-backed terrorist 

organization, Hezbollah. Thanks for working with me and my colleagues, Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Meng, to include the language that 

would require reporting on steps other countries are taking to disrupt Hezbollah’s illicit networks operating throughout the world. 

This legislation will help expose Hezbollah for what it really is: 

A global criminal and terror enterprise that uses every available 

avenue to fundraise and finance terror activities around the world. 

To say that Hezbollah is a resistance organization or a political 

party with a separate military wing is simply false. 

In just the past few years, we have seen Hezbollah plot and 

launch attacks in Europe, fully back—fully back and assist the 

murderous Assad regime in Syria, and expand its criminal activity 

in Latin America. We know that Hezbollah’s fingerprints can be 

found on a broad range of activities in all of those countries and 

in Africa, a whole range of activities from counterfeiting and credit 

card fraud to fundraising to weapons trafficking. Hezbollah members and supporters operate front companies, as well as legitimate 

businesses, used for money laundering and other fraud schemes. 

So as we continue to have a debate with some of our friends and 

allies as to whether it is possible to distinguish Hezbollah’s political operations from its terrorist wing—and we know that it is 

not—this amendment will help us get a clearer picture not only of 

Hezbollah’s reach but what other countries are doing to disrupt 

Hezbollah’s global operations. 

In addition, this language will ensure that the administration 

briefs Congress on these activities, ensuring close consultation as 

we work together to thwart Hezbollah’s worldwide terrorism. 

Thanks again to the chairman and the ranking member for working to make these measures bipartisan. It is critical that Congress 

shows that it is united on these vital security measures, and I appreciate it, Mr. Chairman. 

I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Deutch. 

Mr. Chabot? 

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

I want to particularly associate myself with H.R. 4411, the 

Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, introduced by 

the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Meadows. The legislation 

is certainly timely, in view of the developments in Lebanon and the 

Middle East region in general and the nefarious role Hezbollah is 

playing. 

Hezbollah’s sources of power have always been, in addition to 

Iranian-supplied weapons, financial transactions and foreign donations that keep the wheels of this terrorist organization running. 

Sanctioning entities that do business with Hezbollah is a significant step in our efforts to confront this issue. 

So I want to commend the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. 

Meadows, for introducing this legislation, and I urge my colleagues 

to support it. 

I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman ROYCE. We go to Ms. Meng. 

Ms. MENG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member 

Engel. 

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I appreciate the incorporation of the DeSantis-Deutch-Meng 

amendment to the Hezbollah International Financing Prevention 

Act. 

This amendment strengthens sanctions against Hezbollah by enabling the disruption of Hezbollah’s global logistics networks and 

its fundraising and money-laundering activities. Furthermore, it requires the Obama administration to shed light on those countries 

that either overtly or covertly enable any sort of Hezbollah activities within their borders. 

This provision is particularly important in the Hezbollah context, 

because there are far too many countries that outwardly condemn 

Hezbollah’s military and terrorist activities while privately fostering environments where Hezbollah can operate politically and financially. Well, no more, not if you want to do business with the 

United States. 

I thank Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Deutch for their leadership and 

partnership, the sponsors of the bill for crafting such important legislation, and the committee staff for all their hard work in putting 

it all together. 

I would also like to thank the committee for accepting my 

amendment to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reauthorization legislation. USCIRF is invaluable, 

and I am proud to be a cosponsor of this reauthorization bill and 

to support its passage today. 

My simple amendment revises the applicable antidiscrimination 

laws relating to USCIRF to bar discrimination at the Commission 

on the basis of religion. This is only fitting for a commission that 

is devoted to religious freedom. It is also appropriate given the sensitivities regarding which violations of religious freedom around the 

world the Commission chooses to focus on. 

My hope is that this amendment will help ensure the diversity, 

credibility, and strength of the Commission for a long time to come. 

I thank Congressmen Wolf and Smith for their leadership on 

these important issues, as always, and Janice Kaguyutan and Doug 

Anderson for their assistance with my amendment. 

I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Ms. Meng. 

We go to Judge Poe. 

Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to thank you and the ranking member for bringing all of 

this legislation up today. It is a good day in the Foreign Affairs 

Committee, all of this important legislation. 

I want to talk about four of the bills in the time that I have, first 

the trafficking legislation that Mr. Smith has sponsored; I commend him for his long endurance in making sure that international 

trafficking is something that we recognize is a problem and the 

work that he has done over the years. 

And now Congress, 2 weeks ago, we passed the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act out of the House, bipartisan legislation authored by Carolyn Maloney and myself, a unanimous decision on 

a rollcall vote of all Members of Congress that voted, going after 

the traffickers, the demand, and, of course, rescuing children. 

And that is a worldwide problem. That is a national problem, as 

well. Unfortunately, my hometown of Houston, Texas, is the hub 

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for international minor sex trafficking that comes into the United 

States. And this legislation, along with the Justice for Victims of 

Trafficking Act, will let the world know where the United States 

stands on the issue of trafficking: That kids are not for sale—not 

here, not there, not anywhere. 

Hezbollah, a terrorist organization. I commend Mr. Meadows for 

bringing this legislation up. 

My amendment to this legislation encourages the State Department to offer the rewards program to get information about 

Hezbollah’s finances and where that money comes from. It is the 

old-fashioned, kind of the code of the West, the ‘‘wanted’’ poster. 

You post up some outlaw’s photograph—we just say ‘‘wanted’’ now, 

not ‘‘dead or alive,’’ just ‘‘wanted′′—information about them, and 

other outlaws give information to the good guys and they pay to 

get their buddies arrested. 

That has always worked. It has worked in the past with legislation that is already on the books. It has worked in Colombia. It has 

worked in other parts of the country, or other parts of world, as 

well. So I thank Mr. Meadows, but, also, I think this amendment 

will help put some teeth in it and go get some folks brought to justice. 

The other point I want to—the legislation is Moldova. I met with 

Members of the Parliament from Moldova; they came over here. 

They were nervous. They are worried. They think the Russians are 

coming and they are next. 

And we need to recognize the world the way it is, that Putin sees 

himself as Czar Nicholas III. He wants the Russian Empire again. 

He went into Georgia. Mr. Smith was in Georgia right after the 

Russians were there. I was there about a week after him. We saw 

those tanks on the border with Russia and Georgia. Russia took 

one-third of the country, and the Russians are still in Georgia. 

They waited a few years; they took Crimea. Now they are in eastern Ukraine, and I don’t see them stopping. 

So, the West, primarily the United States, needs to make sure 

that the Russians know we are not Chamberlain, we are going to 

act like Churchill. When it comes to aggression, and let the 

Moldovans know that the United States sees them as a partner 

and ally, and Czar Nicholas III needs to stay away from Moldova. 

And the last group I want to talk to are these wonderful mothers 

that are here. 

Thank you. God bless you for your tenacity—I can’t even say it 

right—tenacity and going and getting your children. That is something that is just neat. It is great. It is God’s work. 

I have 11 grandchildren, and my newest one, a 4-month-old, is 

a special child. They are all special, but she is adopted. And my 

youngest daughter and her husband adopted a child. And when you 

get to pick the child, it is just—it is neat. 

So thank you for your work in rescuing children in this humanitarian effort, saving one child at a time. And thank you for your 

perseverance with Congress, hoping we can get in this case the 

Congo to do what is right. And so thank you for that. 

And, Mr. Chairman, I will do something I rarely do; I will yield 

back the rest of my time 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Judge. 

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Mr. Schneider? 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to thank the chairman for the time and for the tremendous bipartisanship you have shown in this committee in general 

and, in particular, with respect to H.R. 4411, to address one of 

most critical national security challenges we face. 

A special thank you to my good friend, Mark Meadows, who, with 

me, initiated this bill, along with the chairman and ranking member, for their tireless effort on this important piece of legislation. 

I would also like to thank the outstanding effort of the majority 

and minority staff, along with Ansley Rhyne from Mr. Meadows’ 

staff and Tyler Stapleton from my staff, who have put so much 

time into perfecting this bill. 

The Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act is a leap 

forward in combating the threat of global terrorism financing. 

We have known for years that the international terrorist organization Hezbollah has planned, funded, and executed terrorist attacks in the Middle East, Europe, and the Western Hemisphere. 

Hezbollah continues to use underground networks and illicit materials to fundraise their global instability efforts. They have used 

U.S. and European banks, along with their subsidiaries, to hide 

and launder money out of South America and Europe to help finance thousands of Hezbollah operatives around the globe. 

One must only look at some of Hezbollah’s past acts to understand the true threat they pose to U.S. national security. In 1983, 

Hezbollah bombed the U.S. barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Marines. 

In 1992, Hezbollah bombed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, 

killing 29. In 1994, Hezbollah bombed the AMIA Jewish cultural 

center in Argentina, killing 85. 

In 2006, Hezbollah operatives conducted cross-border raids into 

Israel, kidnapping IDF soldiers, which led to a 34-day military conflict between Israel and Lebanon. In 2011, reports indicated that 

Hezbollah was behind the bombing in Istanbul that wounded eight 

Turkish citizens. In 2012, authorities apprehended a Hezbollah operative planning terrorist activity in Cyprus against civilians and 

commercial airlines. In 2012, Hezbollah bombed a tourism bus in 

Burgas, Bulgaria, killing six Israeli tourists and their Bulgarian 

driver. 

These are just a few of the activities of Hezbollah that have targeted U.S. interests and our allies around the world. We can and 

must do more to stem the global financing of these activities. Today 

we have the opportunity, and I hope that my colleagues will join 

in combating this pressing threat to U.S. national security. 

The Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act provides 

the administration with important tools to go after financial institutions and satellite providers that provide material support and 

propaganda tools to Hezbollah. This important effort will result in 

fewer resources falling into the hands of terrorists who have shown 

great resilience in attacking Western targets in addition to their 

destabilizing efforts in the Middle East. 

I want to again thank the chairman and ranking member, along 

with Mark Meadows, for working with us to introduce this important legislation. With more than 300 co-sponsors in the House, I 

hope that this committee will support its passage. I also want to 

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express my support for the other measures offered today by members of this committee. It is a real pleasure to work with my colleagues and to share a deep personal interest in solving these complex problems. 

And I also want to welcome the mothers and thank you for what 

you are doing, standing up and continuing to fight so hard. 

Thank you to the chair. And I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Salmon? 

Mr. SALMON. Thanks a lot, Mr. Chairman. 

I would like to just make a few comments about H.R. 4640, but 

before I do, it is hard not to have your heart touched when you see 

such a wonderful group of mothers here. And I just want to remind 

you of one of the best sayings I ever heard, and that is, ‘‘The hand 

that rocks the cradle rules the world.’’ And so you are making a 

difference. We see a lot of terrible things in this world, but, you 

know, it is good to see great things and it is good to see great people like you stepping forward. So God bless you. 

I would like to thank Ranking Member Engel for partnering with 

me and allowing me to partner with him on H.R. 4640. And I agree 

with you; this time it is going the distance. It is going to go all the 

way to the President. And it is so needed. And I thank the chairman for bringing up all the bills today but especially this one. 

You know, we have spent billions upon billions of dollars fighting 

the war on drugs right in this hemisphere, and the work continues. 

And this bill is going to make sure that our precious taxpayer dollars are being spent in the most effective way that we can possibly 

do it. 

It establishes a commission that is going to evaluate across all 

the Federal agencies what is working and what isn’t. And that is 

just common sense. It provides this Congress with a report that 

will allow this committee and our partner committees to implement 

a legislative strategy to attack this vicious narcotrafficking criminal process and eliminate the scourge of drugs from our streets. 

But it is not just about drugs. The narcotrafficking criminal organizations, they support terrorism in our region. And they are actively participating in this current humanitarian crisis that is happening right on our border with the kids from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. 

In fact, I visited the facility in Nogales just a couple of weeks ago 

where 1,250 children are sitting in cages. I don’t know what else 

to call them; they are chain-link rooms with razor wire on the top. 

And every one of those children is being brought to this country by 

coyotes that are aided and abetted by the narcotraffickers, the cartels. And so it is a terrible scourge on our society. 

And I had to ask myself, as I looked at those little children, how 

many of them didn’t make it? How many of them are sold into sexual slavery? How many of them are murdered along the way? How 

many of them die in the desert of dehydration? We have to solve 

the problem, but we have to make sure that our drug policies are 

working, because it is the drug scourge that is funding these animals that are now preying upon these children. 

So fighting these criminal organizations whose staple is the drug 

trade, even though they branch out into human trafficking, is a 

U.S. national security priority. And this commission is going to 

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help us provide lessons learned in the field to ensure we are spending our limited resources in the most effective way and putting us 

on a path to winning this war. 

Finally, I would like to congratulate Congressman Engel, the 

ranking member, for making sure that we are being fiscally responsible, too, and that this bill, once we get the report, it sunsets 60 

days after. So it is not one of those things—like Ronald Reagan 

said, ‘‘The closest thing to eternal life is a government program.’’ 

That is not the case here. 

So thank you very much, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Let’s see. Mr. Perry, were you next? You were 

seeking recognition. 

Mr. PERRY. I will take it, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, 

on House Resolution 588. 

Since September 2013, hundreds and hundreds of Congolese children and their adoptive American families have been affected by 

the suspension of exit permits in the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo. 

Just yesterday, I got to hear firsthand the very heartbreaking, 

heartwarming story of numerous families, including one in the district I represent, that have legally adopted and financially supported their two Congolese children but have been unable to welcome them into their loving homes. 

And I found it fascinating—maybe the world doesn’t know—I 

mean, the Congolese Government is happy to accept the money. 

And these families have gone through every hoop, and they pay 

every month, and they don’t know the status of their children. 

Imagine committing yourself to a child, having that child see you, 

and wonder when the child is coming home. And the child, a little 

baby, doesn’t understand and doesn’t know why they can’t come 

home with their loving parents, but they can’t. 

And the parents here in America, they pay the bill, and they 

wonder what kind of care, what kind of treatment. And they know, 

because they have lived it and they have heard, in many cases they 

have lived it themselves, the horrific stories of the children that 

never do make it while they wait, when they were healthy when 

they started, because of the conditions that they reside in far away 

from their loving parents, and never get to come home. 

As a father of two beautiful little girls, I can’t begin to imagine 

the uncertainty and the anguish these families go through. And we 

owe it, we absolutely owe it, to these parents and the children to 

request that the DRC Government resume immediately the issuing 

of exit permits and to encourage and demand—and demand the 

State Department work sincerely and diligently. 

That is the other thing, Mr. Chairman. I heard stories about 

families that go to our Embassy in the Congo and wait hours and 

hours and hours. These are Americans meeting other Americans, 

and wait hours and hours for a 10-minute appointment to hear 

nothing new. It is unacceptable. We demand that the State Department work on these families’ behalf and those children’s behalf to 

bring this to a successful resolution and conclusion. 

With that, I yield back, Mr. Chair. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

We go to Mr. Weber. 

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Mr. WEBER. I am good. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Cotton. 

Mr. COTTON. Thank you. 

I associate myself with the comments of Judge Poe earlier. It is 

a good and proud day of this committee. 

It has been said by cynics that justice is the interest of the 

stronger, or, put differently, that the strong do what they will and 

the weak suffer what they must. 

We are blessed to live in a country where that is not the case, 

where justice is based on the natural rights of every person given 

to us by our creator. But too often in the world, the strong do, in 

fact, do what they will, whether it is an outlaw regime like Iran 

pursuing nuclear weapons and holding American citizens like Robert Levinson in captivity or a terrorist gang like Hezbollah that engages in drug trafficking, money laundering, arts and antiquity 

looting, and human trafficking to finance its activities around the 

globe, criminal syndicates that prey on the most vulnerable people 

among us to gain their own money through human trafficking, or 

a government that exploits orphaned children at the expense of loving families. 

Fortunately, though, the strongest of the strong in the world is 

the United States. We are also the most noble and the most just. 

So I am proud to stand with my colleagues on this committee, I am 

proud to be a part today of the Foreign Affairs Committee to use 

American power and influence to deliver some small measure of 

justice to the wicked and to their victims alike. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Meadows. 

Mr. MEADOWS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

It is indeed an honor to serve on this committee. Your leadership 

and that of Ranking Member Engel is to be applauded. 

Before I speak on 4411, you know, the tears that I see from 

many of the moms touch my heart. The prophet Isaiah, many, 

many years ago, said that we need to defend the cause of the orphan. So thank you for defending that cause. 

I want to speak on 4411 and offer my thanks to the chairman 

and the ranking member for their leadership, my friend Mr. 

Schneider for his unrelenting work, for the committee staff, for my 

staff, for those 313 co-sponsors that are on this bill, truly for the 

outside groups that have helped perfect this bill, for Mr. Deutch, 

Ms. Meng, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Poe, who made this bill better. 

But in thanking all of them, it is really not about any of us. It 

is about the target that Hezbollah has and about the victims that 

they continue to perpetrate their terrorist activities on each and 

every day. 

When we look at this, it is about the fact that there are, today, 

40,000 to 60,000 rockets aimed at Israel by Hezbollah. Today, there 

are thousands and thousands of Hezbollah fighters in Syria. Today, 

there is trafficking of narcotics in Latin America, in Africa, and 

throughout the world because of Hezbollah. 

This terrorist organization does not relent. But we have a unique 

opportunity today, that because of global sanctions in other areas, 

we can put our foot on the neck of Hezbollah and finish them off 

by taking the financial resources they have and stopping it. 

I am pleased to be a sponsor of this bill. 

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But, more importantly than that, there are many others who say, 

well, what about Hezbollah, you know, it may affect Israel and it 

may affect Latin America, but it doesn’t really affect me. And that 

is where they are wrong, because Hezbollah’s reach is global. It is 

something that must be stopped. 

And I want to conclude with this, Mr. Chairman, by reading a 

quote from the U.S. attorney of the Western District of North Carolina, my district that I represent, because we, too, have dealt with 

Hezbollah. And the quote is,

‘‘Mohamad Hammoud was a student and a member of 

Hezbollah as a youth in his home country, and he came to 

the United States on a Hezbollah-driven mission. His loyalty accomplished his mission by creating a criminal enterprise which accumulated millions of dollars in profits, purchased businesses in the U.S., preached radical Muslim 

fundamentalism, and truly led a clandestine terrorist cell 

in Charlotte, North Carolina, raised funds for the cause, 

and saw that the funds were delivered to Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon. 

‘‘His guilty verdicts rendered by the jury were upheld by 

the Supreme Court of the United States. But during his 

time of imprisonment, while he was awaiting trial, he ordered the murder of the then-prosecuting-attorney and the 

bombing of Charlotte’s Federal courthouse. He continues to 

this day to pose no less a threat to our country and our 

citizens.’’

If this is not enough for us to act today, if not for Israel, if not 

for Latin America, if not for Africa, then for the United States. And 

I urge the support and I thank the support of all my colleagues on 

this particular bill. 

I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. Well, we thank you, Mr. Meadows, for your 

authorship of the Hezbollah Financing Prevention Act and your 

leadership on this. 

We thank all of the members. I want to just mention also the 

contributions of our ranking members, the ranking member of this 

committee, Mr. Engel, as well as all of those who offered up 

amendments and legislation that we have passed out today. 

Hearing no further request for recognition, the question occurs 

on adopting the en bloc items. 

All those in favor, say aye. 

All those opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the measure 

and amendments under consideration en bloc are agreed to. 

Without objection, each of the seven measures as amended is ordered favorably reported as a single amendment in the nature of 

a substitute. Staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes. 

And that concludes our business today. The committee is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 10:53 a.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

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