U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

33–669PDF WASHINGTON : 2018

DEVELOPMENT, DIPLOMACY, AND DEFENSE:

PROMOTING U.S. INTERESTS IN AFRICA

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

DECEMBER 12, 2018

Serial No. 115–176

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://docs.house.gov,

or http://www.govinfo.gov 

(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 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., 

Wisconsin 

ANN WAGNER, Missouri 

BRIAN J. MAST, Florida 

FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida 

BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia 

JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah 

VACANT 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

AMI BERA, California 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

NORMA J. TORRES, California 

BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

TED LIEU, California

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESSES 

The Honorable Tibor P. Nagy, Jr., Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African 

Affairs, U.S. Department of State ...................................................................... 4

Mr. Ramsey Day, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Africa, 

U.S. Agency for International Development ...................................................... 16

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

The Honorable Tibor P. Nagy, Jr.: Prepared statement ....................................... 8

Mr. Ramsey Day: Prepared statement ................................................................... 18

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 56

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 57

The Honorable David Cicilline, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Rhode Island: Material submitted for the record .......................................... 59

(1)

DEVELOPMENT, DIPLOMACY, AND DEFENSE: 

PROMOTING U.S. INTERESTS IN AFRICA 

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2018

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m., in room 

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

Mr. ROYCE. This hearing will come to order. This hearing is on 

Development, Diplomacy, and Defense: Promoting U.S. Interests in 

Africa, and today we will hear from the administration on U.S. policy toward Africa. This is particularly timely as tomorrow the administration will roll out a new Africa strategy. 

There is longstanding bipartisan consensus in Congress that the 

U.S. must be fully engaged on the continent of Africa. U.S. diplomacy and assistance saves lives. It increases our security. It builds 

capacity. It advances conservation. It spurs economic opportunity 

for both Americans and Africans. 

Africa is a continent of immense opportunity and challenge, 

blessed with tremendous resources, newly empowered consumers, 

entrepreneurial youth. In many places, this means significant potential for U.S. companies to increase their trade and investment. 

In other areas, however, despotic leaders continue to exploit power 

and pilfer resources for personal gain, ignoring pressing social and 

economic needs. 

Meanwhile, unfortunately, in some parts of Africa, terrorists and 

transnational criminal organizations have found safe haven in vast, 

ungoverned spaces. This committee has been at the forefront in responding to these opportunities and challenges. Landmark legislation like the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and Electrify Africa have energized U.S. economic engagement on the continent, and 

more recently the President signed into law the BUILD Act which 

increases our ability to support private sector investment. 

These and other initiatives are helping the next generation of entrepreneurs and civil society leaders to create jobs in their communities and demand more accountability from their governments. 

Improved health, thanks in large part to programs like PEPFAR 

and the Global Food Security Act, means Africans are living longer 

and healthier lives. 

The committee has also been a leader in efforts to crack down 

on poaching and illicit trafficking so that elephants and rhinos and 

magnificent natural resources are preserved and local communities 

2

there benefit rather than be plundered by criminal and terrorist organizations. In tackling these challenges, we shouldn’t engage with 

only the countries who are our friends. Our interests are diverse 

and continent-wide. We simply must work in the toughest places 

to defend these interests. 

And we know what happens when the U.S. fails to engage. We 

know who fills that void, it is China and Russia. They already are 

by ramping up business investment, access to finance, arms sales, 

and military partnerships. Several of us on the committee have 

seen this firsthand. Last year, China opened its first permanent 

military base co-located with the U.S. base in Djibouti. We must 

get this right. Our diplomatic, economic, and national security interests are at stake. 

We must deploy adequate resources to support our interests in 

Africa. We must continue to not back away from building partner 

capacity, to improve security, to foster trade, to foster economic development, strengthen health systems, combat wildlife trafficking, 

and support good governance. We must be steadfast in our support 

of the men and women, Americans and Africans, working to advance democracy, stability, peace, to ultimately create better lives. 

That is the foundation of an effective Africa strategy. 

And I would like to thank Ranking Member Eliot Engel, as well 

as Chairman Chris Smith, and Ranking Member Karen Bass of the 

Africa Subcommittee for their dedication to these issues. This is my 

last hearing as chairman of this committee. It has been the honor 

of a lifetime to work with my colleagues to strengthen our country 

and advance neoliberal values worldwide. I am forever grateful to 

your support. 

And, lastly, I want to thank Staff Director Tom Sheehy and Chief 

of Staff Amy Porter who are leaving the committee. They have 

been essential to our many successes. I now turn to the ranking 

member, Mr. Eliot Engel. 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for calling this 

hearing. As you mentioned, I am guessing this will be the final 

hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 115th Congress 

and, Mr. Chairman, your final hearing as chairman. And so, this 

is a fitting subject to focus on, because there is not a member of 

this body who has done more than you when it comes to American 

engagement across the African continent. 

Legislation to expand access to reliable electricity, to provide better sources of food and nutrition, to crack down on wildlife trafficking and the criminal networks responsible for it, to help foster 

growth and development and stability. Bill after bill after bill 

passed through this committee and the Congress are now law, 

thanks to the leadership and vision of Chairman Ed Royce. 

And the committee’s work on Africa has looked like the vast majority of the work this committee has done under Ed’s chairmanship. It has been thoughtful, it has been bipartisan, it has reflected 

the commitment of this committee’s members to push legislation 

that advances American interests and values leaving politics aside. 

So, Ed, let me just thank you for the way you have run this committee. If I am elected chairman by the Democratic caucus it is my 

full intention to handle things with the same sort of fairness and 

collegiality that you have. So I want to thank you for everything 

3

you have done. Thank you for being our colleague, thank you for 

being our friend. And we have made the lives of countless people 

better because of your hard efforts. 

We always say that the Foreign Affairs Committee is the most 

bipartisan committee in Congress and we always say that partisanship should stop at the water’s edge. And that is what you and I 

have tried to do and it has been a pleasure working next to you 

and working with you. Thank you. 

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you. 

Mr. ENGEL. Turning to today’s hearing, I want to welcome our 

witnesses. It has been rare in the last few years that we have had 

administration officials before the committee, so we hope this begins a new trend. So we are glad to see you. 

We have seen a number of promising developments in Africa 

lately. In Senegal, a new Millennium Challenge Corporation compact worth more than $.5 billion will help meet the growing demand for reliable electricity in one of Africa’s fastest-growing 

economies. In Ethiopia, after months of protests in a violent, destabilizing crackdown, the Prime Minister committed to reform has 

risen to power. We need to help sustain the momentum of the 

country’s positive trajectory. 

Nigeria’s elections, planned for February of next year, will be 

massively consequential. The progress Nigeria has made demonstrates the importance of continued American support for Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission and other organizations like it. 

At the same time, we are keeping an eye on some seriously troubling trends when it comes to human rights: In Uganda, the arrest 

and torture of opposition politicians even as that country receives 

massive American counterterrorism assistance; in Tanzania, crackdowns on free speech and press along with threats to the LGBTQ 

community; Cameroon’s longtime leader just elected to a seventh 

term continues to cling to power in the face of a growing insurgency; and Zimbabwe, where July’s elections were marred by fraud 

and intimidation and where the government has shown little interest in enacting desperately needed reforms. 

So there are plenty of areas that demand our continued focus 

and I think that we need to work hard to make sure that these 

things are taken care of. After the Nigerian army massacred 40 unarmed civilians, they tweeted a clip of the President suggesting our 

own military use lethal force against asylum seekers on our southern border. 

In August, the President tweeted a white nationalist conspiracy 

theory that offended our partners in South Africa, a country to 

which he has nominated an Ambassador. And in January, the 

President referred to African countries in general using a term that 

I won’t repeat here. So these words send a troubling message, but 

our country’s actions are even more important and that is why I 

am opposed to the administration’s trying to slash funding for global health efforts. 

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC’s North Kivu province 

is the second largest in history and the region is so unstable that 

we have had to withdraw CDC personnel from the area. This crisis 

underscores why strong funding for global health is so critical. We 

4

want countries to be able to stop epidemics quickly and effectively, 

hopefully before they start and definitely before they reach our 

shores. So we can’t go along with fewer resources and it troubles 

me that the administration seems to be pushing in that direction. 

And, broadly speaking, we should not have a foreign policy of 

withdrawal and isolation because we leave a void that our adversaries are only too happy to fill. Africa is a prime example. If we 

fail to stay engaged, there is no doubt that China and Russia will 

swoop in and exert influence. In my view, we simply cannot let 

that happen. So I am eager to hear from our witnesses about how 

we are going to advance American interests and values in this critical region. 

Mr. Chairman, I thank you again and I want to point out the 

wonderful work that Karen Bass and Chris Smith have done in 

order to get to the point where we are really making a difference 

in people’s lives. So thank you again, I yield back. 

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you very much, Mr. Engel. I appreciate it, 

Eliot. 

So this morning I am pleased to welcome the Honorable Tibor 

Nagy, Jr. and Mr. Ramsey Day to the committee. Ambassador 

Tibor Nagy currently serves as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Prior to his appointment, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ambassador to Guinea, and as the Deputy Chief 

of Mission in Nigeria. In total, Ambassador Nagy has 20 years of 

experience working across Africa. 

Ramsey Day is with us, currently serving as the Senior Deputy 

Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID. Previously, Mr. Day 

was the Senior Director for the Center for Global Impact at the 

International Republican Institute. He has held numerous positions 

within the international development and foreign policy communities both in the United States and various overseas posts. 

And so we appreciate you both being with us today. Without objection, the witnesses’ full prepared statements will be made part 

of the record. Members will have 5 calendar days to submit any 

statements or questions or extraneous material for the record. 

Before proceeding, I would like to take a moment and recognize 

in the audience Florie Liser of the Corporate Council on Africa for 

her steadfast leadership to increase trade and investment in Africa; 

Troy Fitrell, who worked as a fellow on this committee, is just back 

from serving as Deputy Chief of Mission in Addis Ababa, in Addis; 

Kathleen Moody of the State Department who has been working on 

African issues for as long as I have; Tony Carroll who is with us, 

former Peace Corps, who has testified in front of this committee before on Africa. 

So, and we see many other old African hands in the audience as 

well, so it is great to have you with us here in the audience. And 

so, Ambassador Nagy, I would ask you, please summarize your remarks. Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE TIBOR P. NAGY, JR., ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you, Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, members of the committee for the opportunity to testify 

5

today on U.S. policy toward Africa, and to my colleague and friend, 

Ramsey Day of USAID, here with me today. I also want to express 

my gratitude and on behalf of the Africa Bureau at the State Department to Chairman Royce for his decades of service to Africa, 

Africa relations, and other members for your longstanding interest 

in Africa. 

Today’s hearing comes at an opportune time. We are at a critical 

juncture for the relationship between the United States and the nations and people of Africa. Africa faces an uncertain and challenging, but by no means predetermined future. The choices we 

make now will affect not only our relationship with the continent 

but will have ramifications worldwide. 

Africa is facing a demographic tsunami. Its population will double by 2050 to around 2.5 billion people, 50 percent of whom will 

be under the age of 24. Challenges with infrastructure, corruption, 

and terrorism continue, and China is asserting itself on the continent economically, militarily, and politically. 

We must remain a positive alternative and make clear that engaging with the United States will mean greater prosperity and security for Africa. I am very fortunate to be in my current position. 

Virtually, my entire career centered on Africa, much of it living 

there in eight different countries. 

Since my first diplomatic assignment 40 years ago, Africa has 

changed dramatically. I recently concluded two trips to the continent in West Africa and East Africa where I also addressed the 

African Union. Let me assure you of this, our potential with Africa 

is limitless. With every challenge there is opportunity and we must 

capitalize on our successes. 

Here, I would like to articulate some of the focus areas of the Bureau of African Affairs. First, we are promoting stronger trade and 

commercial ties between the United States and Africa, working 

with our African partners to build a level playing field across the 

continent’s markets. African governments need to increase transparency and fairness in their commercial environments to attract 

more business and have predictable policies, laws conforming to 

international standards, and a credible dispute resolution process. 

Second, more than 60 percent of sub-Saharan Africa or 600 million people is below the age of 25, representing 40 percent of subSaharan Africa’s unemployed. We are working to match American 

investment and ingenuity with a dynamism and entrepreneurial 

spirit of young Africans, anchoring them to their countries and 

keeping them from resorting to migration, militancy, or crime. 

The third area is working to advance peace and security through 

partnerships with African governments and effective regional 

mechanisms. Finally, we are focused on countering the Chinese 

narrative and setting the record straight. The United States has a 

longstanding commitment to Africa as a partner positively supporting economic growth, good governance, rule of law, enhance 

gender equality and the health of the African people. 

Let me begin with the promotion of stronger trade and investment ties. Everywhere I speak to an African audience I emphasize 

we seek to do business not just in Africa but with Africa. Our promotion of free trade agreements with the United States communicates to Africans that transparency, fairness, and good governVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:53 Dec 20, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Z:\WORK\_FULL\121218\33669 SHIRL
6

ance attract U.S. investment and we hope to negotiate a first-ever 

free trade agreement with a sub-Saharan country. 

Trade has greatly expanded. Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, from 2000 to 2016, U.S. investment in sub-Saharan 

Africa increased from $7 billion to $29 billion, providing opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Africans. 

Since 2000, U.S. exports to Africa rose from 6 to more than $14 

billion last year, and U.S. imports from Africa total nearly $25 billion. The total two-way trade of $39 billion in 2017, up 5.8 percent 

from 2015. The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation provides 

assistance to the world’s poorest countries who demonstrate commitment to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in 

their citizens. 

This week I attended a ceremony with Secretary Pompeo where 

MCC and the Government of Senegal signed a $550 million compact that will modernize Senegal’s power sector to increase economic growth and reduce poverty through improved access to electricity. The BUILD Act, and thank you very much to Congress for 

the BUILD Act which President Trump signed into law in October 

with strong bipartisan support, will establish the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. This new law consolidates, modernizes, and reforms the U.S. Government’s development 

finance capabilities. 

Africa is the largest regional exposure totaling more than $6 billion and the BUILD Act will help mobilize additional private sector 

investment. With our second focus, we go beyond investing in Africa to invest in Africans. Through the Young African Leaders Initiative or YALI, we equip the next generation of Africans with leadership and entrepreneurship skills. The YALI network, a virtual community of more than .5 million members, helps young Africans develop skills and connections needed to make change in their communities. 

Our third focus, promoting peace and security, is essential to secure Africa’s opportunities and prosperity. We support African-led 

efforts against terrorism and other transnational threats. U.S. assistance has brought some success in the Lake Chad region, Somalia, and elsewhere. And we seek burden-sharing opportunities with 

non-African actors as well. 

We have provided training to peacekeepers from more than 20 

African countries with substantial impact. Ten years ago, Africans 

comprised only 40 percent of the continent’s peacekeepers. Now 

that figure has exceeded 60 percent. U.S.-funded programming is 

vital to these forces as it is to the G5 Sahel Joint Force and African-driven efforts in the Lake Chad region to counter terrorism in 

West Africa. 

Our African partners are working to ensure stability and defeat 

terrorist organizations in East Africa as well. The AMISOM mission composed of regional states is helping Somalia become more 

stable and prosperous and we are providing development and security assistance to the Somalis to govern themselves. Additionally, 

we support efforts by African partners to strengthen their maritime 

and border security and their efforts to address trafficking in arms, 

drugs, and wildlife. 

7

Finally, we want to be clear to all Africans that the United 

States has an unwavering commitment to the continent shown 

through our longstanding partnerships and support for good governance, security, human rights and economic growth, and provision of humanitarian assistance. African countries should know 

that some infrastructure projects and seemingly attractive loan 

terms from other countries can lead down a dangerous path to indebtedness, loan defaults, and concessionary extraction of natural 

resources stifling the economic growth needed to create jobs. 

In contrast, the United States is pursuing sustainable alternatives for African growth and development. U.S. programs like 

AGOA, PEPFAR, Power Africa, and Feed the Future opened the 

U.S. market to African goods, countered HIV/AIDS, brought electricity to rural areas, protected vulnerable women and children, 

supported youth entrepreneurship, and helped Africans in innumerable ways. 

As we continue to engage with Africa we must assess how to best 

work with each country and multilateral institution to advance our 

mutual interest and priorities. The State Department cannot do 

this alone. We need to continually synchronize our approach among 

all elements of national power. Only by balancing resources among 

development, diplomacy, and defense can we speak with a coordinated voice to the governments and the people of Africa. 

I do not exaggerate when I say Africa is the continent of the future, but a future envisioned by Africans and not one seen as 

forced upon them, and success must ultimately come from developing African solutions to African problems. We must look at Africa 

through the windshield not through the rearview mirror. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I look forward to 

your support as our nation continues our engagement with Africa. 

[The prepared statement of Ambassador Nagy follows:]

8


33669a-1.eps

Statement of Assistant Secretary Tibor Nagy 

Bureau of African Affairs, lJ.S. Department of State 

House Foreign Affairs Committee 

"Development, Diplomacy, and Defense: Promoting U.S. Interests in Africa" 

Wednesday, December 12, 2018 

Thank you Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and 

Members of the Committee for the opportunity to testify today on U.S. 

policy toward Africa, and to my colleague and friend Ramsey Day of 

USAID here with me today. I also want to express my gratitude to 

Chairman Royce and other members for your longstanding interest in 

Africa. 

Today's hearing comes at an opportune time. We are at a critical 

juncture for the relationship between the United States and the nations 

and people of Africa. Africa faces an uncertain and challenging, but by 

no means predetermined, future. The choices we make now will atiect 

not only our relationship with the continent, but will have ramifications 

worldwide. 
9


33669a-2.eps

Africa is facing a demographic tsunami. Its population will double 

by 2050 to around 2.5 billion people, 50 percent of whom will be under 

the age of 24. Challenges with infrastructure, corruption and terrorism 

continue, and China is asserting itself on the continent economically, 

militarily, and politically. We must remain a positive alternative, and 

make clear that engaging with the United States will mean greater 

prosperity and security for Africa. 

I am very fortunate to be in my current position. Virtually my 

entire career centered on Africa, much of it living there in eight different 

countries. Since my first diplomatic assignment forty years ago, Africa 

has changed dramatically. 

T recently concluded two trips to the continent, in West Africa and 

East Africa, where I also addressed the African Union. Let me assure 

you of this: Our potential with Africa is limitless! With every challenge 

there is opportunity, and we must capitalize on our successes. 

Here I would like to articulate some of the focus areas of the 

Bureau of African Afiairs. 

2 
10


33669a-3.eps

First, we are promoting stronger trade and commercial ties 

between the United States and Africa, working with our African partners 

to build a level playing field across the continent's markets. African 

governments need to increase transparency and fairness in their 

commercial environments to attract more business, and have predictable 

policies, laws conforming to international standards, and a credible 

dispute resolution process. 

Second, more than 60 percent of sub-Saharan Africa, 600 million 

people, is below the age of 25, representing 40 percent of sub-Saharan 

Africa's unemployed. We are working to match American investment 

and ingenuity with the dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit of young 

Africans; anchoring them to their countries, and keeping them from 

resorting to migration, militancy, or crime. 

A third area is working to advance peace and security through 

partnerships with African governments and effective regional 

mechanisms. 

Finally, we are focused on countering the Chinese narrative and 

setting the record straight. The United States has a longstanding 
11


33669a-4.eps

commitment to Africa, as a partner positively supporting economic 

growth, good governance, rule oflaw, enhanced gender equality, and 

health ofthe African people. 

Let me begin with the promotion of stronger trade and investment 

ties. Everywhere I speak to an African audience, I emphasize we seek to 

do business not just in Africa, but with Africa. 

Our promotion of free trade agreements with the United States 

communicates to Africans that transparency, fairness, and good 

governance attract U.S. investment, and we hope to negotiate a first-ever 

Free Trade Agreement with a Sub-Saharan African country. 

Trade has greatly expanded. Under the African Growth and 

Opportunity Act, or AGOA, from 2000 to 2016 U.S. investment in subSaharan Africa increased from seven to 29 billion dollars, providing 

opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Africans. Since 2000, U.S. 

exports to Africa rose from six to more than 14 billion dollars last year, 

and U.S. imports from Africa totaled nearly 25 billion dollars, a total 

two-way trade of 39 billion dollars in 2017, up 5.8 percent from 2015. 

4 
12


33669a-5.eps

The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation provides assistance to 

the world's poorest countries who demonstrate commitment to good 

governance, economic freedom, and investing in their citizens. This 

week, I attended a ceremony with Secretary Pompeo where MCC and 

the Government of Senegal signed a 550 million dollar compact that will 

modernize Senegal's power sector to increase economic growth and 

reduce poverty through improved access to electricity. 

The BUILD Act, which President Trump signed into law in 

October with strong bipartisan support, will establish the U.S. 

International Development Finance Corporation. This new law 

consolidates, modernizes and reforms the U.S. government's 

"development finance" capabilities. Africa is the largest regional 

exposure totaling more than six billion dollars and the BUILD Act will 

help mobilize additional private sector investment. 

With our second focus, we go beyond investing in Africa, to 

investing in Africans. 

Through the Young African Leaders Initiative, or Y ALI, we equip 

the next generation of Africans with leadership and entrepreneurship 

5 
13


33669a-6.eps

skills. The YALI Network, a virtual community of more than a half 

million members, helps young Africans develop skills and connections 

needed to make change in their communities. 

Our third focus, promoting peace and security, is essential to 

secure Africa's opportunities and prosperity. We support African-led 

efforts against terrorism and other transnational threats. U.S. assistance 

has brought some success in the Lake Chad region, Somalia and 

elsewhere, and we seek burden-sharing opportunities with non-African 

actors as well. 

We have provided training to peacekeepers from more than 20 

African countries, with substantial impact. Ten years ago, Africans 

comprised only 40 percent of the continent's peacekeepers. Now that 

figure has exceeded 60 percent. U.S.-funded programming is vital to 

these forces, as it is to the G5 Sahel Joint Force and African-driven 

etiorts in the Lake Chad region to counter terrorism in West Africa. 

Our African partners are working to ensure stability and defeat 

terrorist organizations in East Africa as well. The AMISOM mission 

composed of regional states is helping Somalia become more stable and 

6 
14


33669a-7.eps

prosperous, and we are providing development and security assistance 

so the Somalis can govern themselves. 

Additionally, we support efforts by African partners to strengthen 

their maritime and border security and their efforts to address traflicking 

in arms, drugs, and wildlife. 

Finally, we want to be clear to all Africans that the United States 

has an unwavering commitment to the continent, shown through our 

long-standing partnerships and support for good governance, security, 

human rights and economic growth, and provision of humanitarian 

assistance. 

African countries should know that some infrastructure projects 

and seemingly attractive loan terms from other countries can lead down 

a dangerous path to indebtedness, loan defaults, and concessionary 

extraction of natural resources stifling the economic growth needed to 

create jobs. 

In contrast, the United States is pursuing sustainable alternatives 

for African growth and development. U.S. programs like AGOA, 

PEPF AR, Power Africa, and Feed the Future opened the U.S. market to 

7 
15


33669a-8.eps

African goods, countered HIV/AIDS, brought electricity to rural areas, 

protected vulnerable women and children, supported youth 

entrepreneurship, and helped Africans in innumerable ways. 

As we continue to engage with Africa, we must assess how to best 

work with each country and multilateral institutions to advance our 

mutual interests and priorities. 

The State Department cannot do this alone; we need to continually 

synchronize our approach among all elements of national power. Only 

by balancing resources among development, diplomacy, and defense can 

we speal( with a coordinated voice to the governments, and the people, 

of Africa. 

I do not exaggerate when I say Africa is the continent of the future, 

but a future envisioned by Africans and not one seen as forced upon 

them, and success must ultimately come from developing African 

solutions to African problems. We must look at Africa through the 

windshield, NOT through the rear-view mirror. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I look forward to 

your support as our nation continues our engagement with Africa. 

8 
16

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Ambassador. 

Mr. Day? And feel free, Mr. Day, to just summarize those remarks. Try to keep to 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF MR. RAMSEY DAY, SENIOR DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR AFRICA, U.S. AGENCY 

FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Mr. DAY. Thank you, Chairman. 

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. DAY. Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, members of 

the committee, I am grateful for the opportunity to testify before 

you today. I would like to extend a special thank you to the committee and your colleagues in Congress whose longtime bipartisan 

commitment to the peoples of the African continent provides the 

foundation for USAID programs and the springboard for their success. 

And while challenges remain, I truly believe that Africa’s future 

is bright. The investments and commitment of the American people 

to the people of Africa are paying off and USAID has set its priorities to capitalize on the region’s emerging opportunities. Under 

Administrator Green’s leadership, USAID is focusing its resources 

in places where the conditions are right to establish and sustain 

progress. 

U.S. assistance in Africa certainly saves lives and it also spurs 

trade and investment and advances peace and security. Take the 

President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR, this program is a powerful expression of the compassion and generosity of 

the American people. In 2016, a PEPFAR assessment showed the 

first evidence of the epidemic becoming controlled in three key African countries—Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 

These same countries have reduced the new HIV infections by as 

much as 75 percent since the start of the PEPFAR program. And 

with continued focus, the U.S. Government is poised to help control 

the HIV epidemic in ten African countries over the next 4 years. 

The United States is also the world’s leading humanitarian donor. 

USAID provides humanitarian assistance across the continent including in Nigeria, South Sudan, and Somalia where conflict and 

instability are fueling food insecurity and displacement. 

USAID experts have also been deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo or DRC to help respond to the current Ebola crisis. 

But even as USAID mobilizes the best of American generosity, we 

also work to prepare for future shocks and equip countries with the 

tools they will need to feed themselves. 

USAID is also highly focused on the immense trade and international investment opportunities, which we believe is the fastest 

way for Africa to boost its economic growth, which is in the interest 

of the United States. We believe that African nations can tap the 

trillions of dollars in private sector resources needed to advance the 

continent’s development and ultimately eliminate the need for 

unsustainable foreign-backed loans. 

One area where we are using a market approach or private sector engagement is the power sector, an area where we greatly appreciate Chairman Royce’s leadership with the enactment of the 

Electrify Africa Act. Power Africa, a whole of government effort led 

17

by USAID, employs a partnership approach to engage U.S. Government agencies, international donors and finance institutions, host 

country counterparts, and of course the private sector. Power Africa 

has helped add over 12.5 million new electrical connections, which 

means more than 57 million people have access to electricity who 

did not have access prior to the initiative’s launch. 

USAID Trade and Investment Hubs in Africa are helping to 

transform African economies and deepen the U.S.-Africa trade and 

investment relationship. They reduce regional trade barriers and 

promote trade and investment under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act or AGOA, legislation that this committee championed. 

The Trade and Investment Hubs have also directly leveraged $1.3 

billion in African exports under AGOA and many of the jobs created are held by women who tend to invest job-related income into 

their families and communities. 

However, we can’t talk about successful economic future for African countries without addressing peace and security. USAID works 

with our African partners to address the underlying factors that 

allow transnational crime, violent extremism, and internal conflict 

to flourish. Working in partnership with African governments and 

civil society, our support strengthens institutions; protects the 

democratic gains that have been made all across the continent. 

USAID is also combating the threat of wildlife trafficking in 

countries across sub-Saharan Africa. USAID and its partners are 

making it more difficult for people to poach, move, and sell wildlife 

products across borders. This helps secure our natural resources 

and fight the criminal networks that threaten security and the rule 

of law and ultimately undermine development progress. 

Our focus is on helping countries on their journey to self-reliance. 

USAID’s goal is to end the need for foreign assistance. As Administrator Green has said, it is our core belief that each country must 

lead its own development journey. We are focusing on ending the 

need for foreign assistance not because we wish to retreat from our 

friends, but because we believe in them. 

If a country is willing to take on the difficult journey to self-reliance, we want to walk alongside them along that journey. At 

USAID, we are looking toward the day when the transition to a 

new kind of relationships that move beyond traditional assistance 

and enduring relationships, a relationship in which countries move 

from recipients of aid to partners to even fellow donors. 

And on a personal note, I am truly honored to be here today. I 

am deeply committed to USAID’s goals and the integrated role that 

USAID plays with the Department of State as well as the Department of Defense in advancing U.S. policy and national security objectives. So thank you for the opportunity to be here and I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Day follows:]

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33669b-1.eps

Statement of Ramsey Day 

Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator 

Bureau for Africa 

United States Agency for International Development 

Before the 

House Foreign Affairs Committee 

on 

DECEMBER 12, 2018 

Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, members of the Committee, I am grateful for the opportunity 

to testify before you today as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Athca at the 

United States Agency for International Development (USAID). I would like to extend a special thank 

you to this Committee and your collea;;ues in Congress, whose long-time bipartisan commitment to the 

peoples of the African continent has provided the foundation for USAID programs and the springboard 

for their success. Whether meeting with you here in Washington or at USAID missions overseas, 

USAID staff always value the opportunity to discuss the Agency's work and demonstrate how our 

investments there are making a difference in people's lives. 

Some Americans see only Africa's seemingly intractable problems, but I truly believe that Africa's 

future is bright. The investments and commitment of the American people to the people of Africa are 

paying off, and USAID has set its priorities to capitalize on the region's emerging opportunities. Under 

Administrator Green's leadership, US AID is focusing its resources, policy tools, and engagement in 

places where the conditions are right to establish and sustain progress. 

U.S. assistance in Africa saves lives; spurs trade and investment; and advances peace and security. 

Take the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for example. This program is a 

powertul expression of the compassion and generosity of the American people. In 20 16, a PEPF AR 

assessment showed the first evidence of the epidemic becoming controlled in three key African 

countries: Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These same countries have also reduced new HIV infections 

by as much as 76 percent since the start of PEPF AR. With continued aggressive focus, analysis, and 

partner alignment, the U.S. Government is poised to help control the HIV epidemic in 10 African 

countries over the next four years. PEPF AR has provided 12.8 million men, women and children in subSaharan Africa with antiretroviral medicine, meaning they can now live long, healthy lives with HIV. 

We are also seeing progress on The U.S. President's Malaria Initiative. In fact, this past January, during 

the 30th African Union Summit, Madagascar, The Gambia, Senegal and Zimbabwe were honored for 

reducing malaria cases by more than 20 percent from 2015 to 2016. PEPFAR and the U.S. President's 

Malaria Initiative together have significantly improved the health status of Africans, especially children. 

Under-five mortality rates in Africa dropped 50 percent between 2000 and 2015. 
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33669b-2.eps

We work through PEPFAR and with all of our partners in the fight against these devastating diseases to 

empower communities and countries to gradually assume ownership of their own health care challenges. 

That means incentivizing reforms, strengthening in-country capacity. We are helping prepare a 

generation to claim their rightful leadership roles, propelling them on their journey to self-reliance 

USAID' s generosity extends beyond development. The United States is also the world's leading 

humanitarian donor. USAID is providing humanitarian assistance across the continent, including in 

Nigeria, South Sudan, and Somalia, where conflict and instability are fueling food insecurity and 

displacement. USAID disaster response experts have been deployed to the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo to help respond to the current Ebola crisis there and we continue to support Ebola preparedness 

etforts in neighboring countries. And even as USAID mobilizes the best of American generosity to feed 

hungry people and provide lifesaving aid, we also work to prepare vulnerable populations against future 

shocks and equip countries with the tools they will need to feed themselves. 

In a country like South Sudan, which has been embroiled in conflict for the past 5 years, I saw firsthand 

that USAID assistance is literally saving the lives of women, men, and children, providing clean water, 

basic health care, and emergency food to people across the country. I visited South Sudan this past May 

and was incredibly inspired by what USATD is doing to assist the people and uplift the country. From 

life-saving food and nutrition assistance for infants on the brink of starvation, to a youth center where 

young people learn computer skills and access the Internet, television and radio, to a traditional 

authorities court that helps resolve disputes and break cycles of violence, USAID is making an impact. 

USA TD also looks to the opportunities presented by trade and international investments- they are 

among the fastest ways for Africa to boost its economic growth, which is in the interest of the U.S. We 

advance enterprise-driven solutions to unlock the continent's growing markets. We work closely with 

the private sector to identify and resolve the binding constraints to investment. We believe that by 

leveling the playing field for free, fair, transparent investment, African nations can increasingly tap the 

trillions of dollars in private-sector resources needed to advance the continent's development and 

ultimately eliminate the need for unsustainable foreign-backed loans. 

One area where we are using a market approach-- or private sector engagement-- is the power sector, 

an area where we greatly appreciate Chairman Royce's leadership with the enactment of the Electrify 

Africa Act. Nearly two out of three people in sub-Saharan Atiica do not have access to electricity, which 

limits access to quality health care, education, and economic opportunities for more than 600 million 

people. 

Power Africa, a whole-of-government effort with the Departments of Commerce, Energy, and others, 

but led by USAID, employs a partnership approach to engage U.S. Government agencies, international 

donors and finance institutions, host-country counterparts, and the private sector, to level the playing 

field and encourage investments in electricity infrastructure. 

2 
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33669b-3.eps

Power Atiica, along with more than 160 public- and private-sector partners, about half of which are US 

companies, seeks to add 30,000 megawatts and 60 million connections of electricity in sub-Saharan 

Africa by 2030. Partnering in this way has leveraged billions of dollars in additional financing critical 

for development of the sector. 

To date, Power Africa has helped 119 projects, comprising over 9,500 megawatts, reach financial close. 

Power Africa has helped add 12.5 million new electrical connections, which means more than 57 million 

people have access to electricity who did not have access prior to the initiative's launch. 

Additionally, through Power Atiica's investment in Beyond the Grid, USATD is helping to accelerate 

off-grid electricity access, focusing on two strategic priorities- household solar and micro-grids- to add 

25-30 million new connections by 2030, in support of achieving Power Atiica's overall goal. 

Another facet of our work seeks to enhance the ability of African businesses to supply the US. market. 

In Madagascar, where 80 percent of the world's vanilla is sourced, USAID partnered with Baltimorebased McCormick and Company and the National Cooperative Business Association to counter the 

corruption degrading the quality of vanilla exports. The result is better wages for fanners in Madagascar 

and direct access to high-quality products for American businesses. 

In addition, USAID's Trade and Investment Hubs in East, West, and Southern Africa help to transform 

African economies and deepen the U.S -Africa trade and investment relationship. They work on the 

ground to reduce regional trade barriers, deepen regional economic integration and promote trade and 

investment under the African Growth and Opportunity Act, legislation that this committee championed. 

The Trade and Investment Hubs have directly leveraged $1.3 billion in African exports under AGOA. 

The Trade and Investment Hubs attract investment and leverage private-sector partnerships with 

businesses ranging from micro-enterprises to multinational corporations. 

Since 2010, the Trade and Investment Hubs have created 46,000 African jobs. Many of these jobs are 

held by women who tend to invest job-related income into their families and communities. The Trade 

and Investment Hubs have also assisted 2,300 private enterprises and non-governmental organizations 

working on food security. 

Across sub-Saharan Africa, growth in agriculture has been associated with reductions in extreme 

poverty. The Global Food Security Act continues to demonstrate the U.S.'s commitment to ending 

global poverty, hunger, and malnutrition Thanks to your strong support, the Feed the Future initiative 

has made an incredible impact. 

In countries like Ethiopia and Ghana, Feed the Future investments have improved agricultural 

productivity, boosted harvests, and connected farmers to markets. For example, in Ethiopia, poverty 

dropped by more than 12 percent in Feed the Future target regions between 2013 and 2015. 

3 
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33669b-4.eps

Our work in Feed the Future focus countries in Africa reduced child stunting by an average of32 

percent between 2012 and 2017 in the regions where we work. Stunting occurs when a child is subjected 

to chronic malnutrition early in their lives. By reducing stunting, children's growth is not limited by 

impaired brain development, lower TQ, weakened immune systems, and greater risk of serious diseases 

Feed the Future is helping governments in our partner countries create better policies and systems for 

food security and to ultimately help them move away from vulnerability to self-reliance. ln Africa, Feed 

the Future partner countries have increased their domestic investments in agriculture by 25 percent, a 

rate four times that of African countries as a whole and representing an additional $719 million per year. 

And it's not just a handful of individual countries that are seeing the positive impact USG assistance 

brings. United States assistance has had a transformative impact across sub-Saharan Africa. Between 

2000 and 2015, the percentage of Africans living in extreme poverty declined from 57 to 41 percent. 

However, we cannot talk about a successful economic future for Atiican countries without addressing 

peace and security. USATD works with our Atiican partners to address the underlying factors that allow 

transnational organized crime, violent extremism, and intemal conflict to flourish. Central to these 

etforts is citizen-responsive democratic govemance. According to the latest survey of African citizens, 

democracy is the preferred form of government. A 2016 study by USATD shows that there has been an 

unprecedented wave of social and political protest across Africa, with citizens voicing their demands for 

services, accountability, and citizen-responsive democratic governance. While we have witnessed recent 

declines in political rights and civil liberties in some countries, the long term trend points to the fact that 

more than half of all Africans today live in functioning democracies that are demonstrably freer than the 

regimes that previously dominated the continent. 

The United States helps advance democracy, human rights and good governance in Atiica by promoting 

the rule of law, respect for fundamental freedoms, credible and legitimate election processes, a 

politically active civil society, and accountable and participatory governments. Working in partnership 

with African governments and civil society in countries as diverse as Kenya, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, our 

support strengthens governance institutions and protects the democratic gains that have been made 

across the continent 1 believe that democracy, human rights, and governance underpins all other 

development programming, and this is a key priority for USAID. 

USAID is also combating the threat of wildlife trafficking in countries across sub-Saharan Africa. 

Wildlife trafficking is a major threat to biodiversity. The value of wildlife and wildlife products, and the 

minimal risk of punishment for poaching or illicit trade, have attracted the involvement of transnational 

criminal organizations lllicit wildlife is one of the largest black markets in the world, worth tens of 

billions of dollars. 

4 
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Through more than 65 projects in 25 countries, US AID and its partners are making it more ditTtcult for 

people to poach, move and sell wildlife products across borders. This helps secure our natural resources 

and fight the criminal networks that threaten security and the rule of law, and undermine development 

progress. 

In southeast Angola, USA TO tunded comprehensive management plans for the newly created LuengueLuiana and Mavina National Parks. The plans will bring jobs to the 12,000 people in the area, and 

improve the management of more than 6.8 million hectares of important habitat-an area larger than 

West Virginia. 

Supporting and protecting these resources also protects local communities' ability to raise their own 

food, and make their own income- key elements of global prosperity and self-reliance. 

Our focus is on helping countries on their journey to self-reliance. USAID's goal is ending the need for 

foreign assistance. As Administrator Green has said, it's our core belief that each country must lead its 

own development journey. We are focused on ending the need for foreign assistance not because we 

wish to retreat from our friends, but because we believe in them. 

If a country is willing to take on the ditTtcultjourney to self-reliance, we want to walk alongside them on 

that journey. At USAID, we are looking towards the day when we transition to a new kind of 

relationship that moves beyond traditional assistance. An enduring relationship, in which countries 

move from recipients of aid to partners to fellow donors. 

We tailor our programs, and the partnerships we forge, to address each country's unique journey to selfreliance, and to build their capacity to manage their own development. 

Administrator Green has set a clear path forward for the Agency, and we are excited to advance his 

priorities. The dedicated staff in the Bureau for Africa gladly continues in USAID's tradition of 

supporting African partner countries on their development journey to progress beyond assistance. 

On a personal note, I am honored to be here, deeply committed to USAID's goals and the integrated role 

that it plays with the Department of State and the Department of Defense in advancing US. policy and 

national security objectives. 

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I welcome any questions. 

5 
23

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Day. 

Let me bring up some testimony last December. Deputy Secretary Sullivan and Department of Defense Under Secretary 

Trachtenberg testified that as terrorist groups are facing defeats in 

the Middle East, we are seeing activity increase and expand elsewhere, including and especially in Africa. 

So we know that terrorist groups benefit from poor governance 

and instability, which is present in parts of Africa, and we know 

that terrorists abroad pose a direct threat to U.S. interests even 

here at home. The State Department leads on our counterterrorism 

efforts through train and equip authority and other law enforcement capacity programs. The committees work to ensure that this 

remains the case. 

And I know it has been reported that the administration intends 

to shift to combating great power competition in Africa and shift 

away from the robust counterterrorism engagement that we have 

had our eye on here, and I wanted to ask you, Ambassador, how 

will this shift in priorities impact our progress toward building the 

capacity of partner nations in Africa to counter these dangerous security threats themselves? 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you very much, Chairman. During my 

last two trips to the continent just concluded a couple of days ago, 

that is one of the questions and one of the issues that I looked into 

extensively both in discussions with the host government, also I 

stopped off both in London and Paris to discuss with some of our 

allies some of those considerations. And this time I was with 

AFRICOM Commander General Waldhauser both in Ethiopia and 

then I stopped off in Stuttgart to have extensive discussions there 

and I also visited Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti again to discuss 

that various issue. 

And while I have to leave any details and specifics to the Department of Defense, I just want to assure you that that is at the top 

of our list in discussions to make sure that we continue to move 

forward with the counterterrorism, because as you say it is extremely problematic. Also during my time in West Africa, I had 

held discussions with the Prime Minister of Togo and with the 

President of Guinea, and both the Guineans and the Togolese now 

are concerned over the terrorism seeping into their own countries 

from the previous area in the Sahel. 

So I assure you that issue is very much front and center and we 

are going to continue focusing on it and coordinating with our 

friends at AFRICOM. 

Mr. ROYCE. I understand. But I reached out to the Department 

of Defense and they are not here today and so it falls on you——

Ambassador NAGY. Yeah. 

Mr. ROYCE [continuing]. To convey to us the intentions here, because this committee is going to continue to have a focus on exactly 

this issue. 

But I will ask both of you, we have got to engage with countries 

across Africa even the most challenging countries with which we 

have significant differences. Too many policy priorities, frankly, depend on it. You know better than we do just how true this is, just 

as we are dealing now in Congo with the Ebola crisis in the East. 

24

So if we were take an example of wildlife trafficking, we have a 

tenuous relationship with a number of East and Central African 

countries yet we support their park rangers. We support their law 

enforcement agencies to combat poaching and trafficking. We try to 

enforce the bill we passed here to abolish the ivory trade, right. 

So if we shift away from working with challenging nations what 

happens to these partnerships? I would like to hear you articulate, 

Ambassador, and Mr. Day as well, what is the intent here? I 

haven’t seen the plan rolled out yet so I would like to hear your 

thoughts on this. 

Ambassador NAGY. Exactly, Chairman. The partnerships in those 

critical areas will certainly go on. We have both a bilateral strategy 

and we will continue our discussions with AFRICOM with a regionwide strategy. 

During my visit to Stuttgart, we discussed some of these very 

issues both for the Sahel, for Lake Chad, for East Africa, Somalia, 

for Djibouti, and then also especially for providing for the safety 

and security of U.S. personnel and properties throughout Africa. 

So again I can’t give you any specifics, but I can assure you that 

that is an ongoing discussion. We had a general meeting here with 

AFRICOM several weeks ago. I met with the entire AFRICOM 

staff when I was in Stuttgart, had the same discussions in Djibouti 

at Camp Lemonnier, so that goes on. 

Mr. ROYCE. My time has expired, so we will follow up——

Ambassador NAGY. Absolutely. 

Mr. ROYCE [continuing]. Afterwards with you. 

Karen Bass of California. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me just begin 

by saying that, one, I want to join in with my colleagues to thank 

you for your leadership and say that it is particularly meaningful 

that you chose your last hearing to be on this region of the world. 

And I just wanted to take note of that and to let you know that 

when I am in the community or in the press or whatever, when 

they are always attacking us for never working on a bipartisan 

basis, I always use this committee and I especially talk about your 

leadership, as over these years you have always led this committee 

in a bipartisan way and you will be missed. But I will also put you 

on notice that you are from Southern California, as am I, and so 

you might be retiring from Congress but I don’t intend to let you 

just retire. I will be calling on you, in other words. 

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you. 

Ms. BASS. Let me fire off a series of questions and then leave it 

to the two of you to respond. You mentioned, Ambassador, about 

AGOA. And I appreciate you mentioning that because a number of 

African countries are getting concerned with a push toward free 

trade agreements that what does that mean for AGOA and especially recognizing that some countries might be ready but others 

aren’t. And so what does the future of AGOA hold? 

In terms of elections coming up, we have DRC in just a couple 

of weeks, we have Nigeria in February and want to know what role 

we are playing and particularly concerned in DRC. And you mentioned, Mr. Day, about Ebola and that we are there, but it is my 

understanding that CDC is not allowed there and so maybe you 

can respond to that. 

25

So if you two could respond to both of those. 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you very much. I think on AGOA I 

want to make it clear that AGOA goes on for another 5 years. 

Ms. BASS. Right. 

Ambassador NAGY. So we have that time to figure out how we 

want to move beyond it because we do want to move beyond it. Up 

to now, I didn’t even know this until I came back to work in the 

diplomatic side, we don’t have any free trade agreements with subSaharan Africa. 

Ms. BASS. Right. 

Ambassador NAGY. The only one we have on the African continent is with Morocco. 

Ms. BASS. Morocco, right. 

Ambassador NAGY. Meanwhile, the Africa Union is heartily pursuing the continent-wide free trade agreement——

Ms. BASS. Yes. 

Ambassador NAGY [continuing]. Which we totally support. We 

think that is a phenomenal idea and hopefully at some point we 

can engage with them through that format. But right now, and this 

is of special interest to me, we would like to identify, start with one 

sub-Saharan country to explore a model free trade agreement that 

we can then perhaps expand on with other countries. We have had 

several, about a handful of countries come to us and ask specifically to engage with them. 

Ms. BASS. So let me—and I am sorry. I am going to have to cut 

you off to make sure I can cover it all. 

Ambassador NAGY. Sure. 

Ms. BASS. In those 5 years we know that a lot of countries are 

not even taking, aren’t even able to utilize AGOA. 

Ambassador NAGY. Exactly. 

Ms. BASS. But we might think about a two-tiered approach because for AGOA to just go away in 5 years doesn’t seem to make 

sense. But could you respond to the DRC. 

Ambassador NAGY. Elections? 

Ms. BASS. Yes. 

Ambassador NAGY. Absolutely, okay. In Nigeria, when I visited 

Nigeria I specifically looked at what we were doing on the elections 

and I was so proud of Ambassador Symington and his mission. 

They engaged with everybody. They sent everybody everywhere. He 

had me meet with the National Electoral Commission chair. He 

had me meet with the chairs of both parties, ask them to sign a 

peace agreement. Last night President Buhari and his party did 

sign a peace agreement. 

Ms. BASS. Great. DRC? 

Ambassador NAGY. DRC, 2 weeks to go, some major concerns remain especially with the voting machines. They have 100,000 voting machines coming. We will see. They have a great opportunity 

to have the first peaceful transition of power since 1960. 

Ms. BASS. And there is also some signaling that maybe the elections are premature too, so coming from both sides which we know 

that that is false, but just to flag that. 

Ambassador NAGY. It is false. Hopefully, I see no reason why 

they cannot go forward. 

Ms. BASS. Ebola in DRC? 

26

Mr. DAY. On Ebola, thank you for the question, Congresswoman. 

We are deeply concerned about the Ebola outbreak in the DRC. 

This is the tenth outbreak. It is the largest we have seen. 

Ms. BASS. Is CDC allowed? 

Mr. DAY. The security environment in the immediate area of 

Beni town is not permissible for U.S. Government employees, but 

we do, USAID in partnership with CDC and WHO and the Ministry of Health of the Government of DRC does have, we have contractors on the ground and we are working in partnership. 

Ms. BASS. So what are we doing specifically then? We are providing what? 

Mr. DAY. So we are doing everything from disease surveillance, 

case management, risk communications, ensuring that information 

is getting out and getting out properly. 

Ms. BASS. And you can let me know later who our partner is that 

we have on the ground there? 

Mr. DAY. Of course. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you. 

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chris Smith of New Jersey. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very, very much, Mr. Chairman. And I do 

want to join Eliot Engel and other members of the committee in 

thanking you for your extraordinary leadership especially on Africa. As former chairman of the committee, I thank you for that leadership, but it continues to this moment. So thank you, Ed, great 

job. 

I want to welcome our two very distinguished witnesses, thank 

them for their leadership as well, and Greg Simpkins, our former 

staff director on the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global 

Human Rights, and International Organizations working over at 

USAID on behalf of the continent. 

Let me just ask very quickly some questions. The festering crisis 

in Cameroon, Ambassador Nagy, you had said that the last thing 

we need is a growing radicalization in response to the actions of 

security forces. You compared it to the response to Boko Haram 

and how that actually caused it to worsen not get better. You 

might want to please speak to that and what we are doing to try 

to mitigate that danger. 

Congratulations on the breakthrough with Ambassador 

Yamamoto being deployed to Somalia. Your historic meeting in Eritrea, which I think is just incredible, you might want to comment 

on that briefly. And Karen Bass and I visited Ethiopia and met 

with Prime Minister Abiy in Addis last August. We were very impressed. We held a follow-up hearing about what we thought were 

significant progress, release of prisoners and all. Obviously there is 

so much more to be done. Please, if you could spend a little time 

on that. 

On the issue of China, we know that China is attacking the dollar as the world’s reserve currency and of course if that goes our 

ability to hold countries to account is diminished, it is lessened. 

Fourteen African countries met in Zimbabwe in early spring talking about looking at the yuan as a potential reserve currency. 

A few months ago, African leaders met in Beijing and were offered some $60 billion in financing, which shows—and we know 

what they are after. They are after minerals. They are after wood. 

27

They are after fossil fuels, and the spread of a bad governance 

model under Xi Jinping who is cracking down in his own country 

on Muslims. 

I just had a hearing on the Uyghurs, the fact that 1 million people are now are in concentration camps in Xinjiang, the autonomous region. Just the wrong country to be partnering with African 

countries given the fact that their abuse of human rights almost 

has no, maybe North Korea has very parallels anywhere in the 

world. So if you could speak to this Chinese influence, I know there 

is not much time, but on those issues. 

And on Chemonics, we did have a hearing and the subcommittee 

and the full committee has been on oversight on the lateness of 

ARVs, you know, if you are late that could be a death sentence. Is 

that being rectified, Mr. Day? 

But Ambassador? 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you, sir. I will make this as quick as 

possible. On Cameroon, not much improvement. We were hoping 

that after the election of President Biya he would make some 

moves to open up some dialogue with the Anglophone provinces, he 

has not. Extremely disappointing, the problem goes on. We continue to engage, but right now unfortunately not much optimism, 

just pessimism. 

On Isaias, absolutely. I spent 2 hours with the President, extremely interesting points of view on the region. I hope that it 

leads to further discussion because of course we continue to have 

our bilateral problems with Eritrea and hopefully we can resolve 

them in the future going forward, but Eritrea is one of the key participants in the region and thanks to Prime Minister Abiy for opening up that political space. 

Yes, sir, your views on Ethiopian Prime Minister are right on. I 

had a chance to engage with him as well. He is continuing to move 

forward energetically not getting much sleep at night, so let’s hope 

for the best with him on both his external and his internal 

changes. 

On China, very interesting. I engaged about China with all of my 

contacts and with the business communities at all of my stops. I 

do have to say that I think the bloom is finally starting to wear 

off as countries realize that China represents a lot of debt, not 

much employment created, and not necessarily the types of companies and business environments that they want, especially the 

young people. I think if the United States can capture the young 

people, I will leave the venal autocracy to the Chinese and I will 

stop there. 

Mr. DAY. Thank you, Congressman. On the program that you are 

referencing, the Global Health Supply Chain, I will get the latest 

status on—I know there was a report that was released last month, 

but I would like to say that we certainly appreciate the oversight 

role that the committee plays and we are absolutely committed to 

ensuring the highest standards of accountability. But I will get a 

status on the report. 

Mr. SMITH. Finally, I just want to thank the President. Yesterday, he signed into law a 5-year reauthorization of PEPFAR. And, 

obviously, I was here with many of us who were here when George 

W. Bush and our former chairmen, Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos, 

28

led the effort for what is now, in my opinion, the most successful 

global health initiative ever, anywhere in the world. 

It has ended largely the pandemic, 16 million to 17 million people’s lives have been saved, 2 million kids have been born without 

HIV/AIDS, which they probably would have gotten as they were 

being born through mother to child transmission. So congratulations on that signing yesterday and thank you and I yield back. 

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Brad Sherman of California. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It has been an honor 

to serve with you and I want to join the praise from the entire chorus here. 

And, Ambassador, I am thrilled to see you here, not out of personal respect, although I certainly have personal respect for you, 

but an administration witness who is actually confirmed and not 

holding the position temporarily, it has been 2 years since I remember that occurrence. 

Uganda is one of the largest recipients of U.S. security assistance. Bobi Wine is free but still has this charge held over him. Has 

the United States made it clear to the government and Museveni 

that we are watching how Bobi Wine is treated? 

Ambassador NAGY. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I met with 

the Angolan Prime Minister on the margins of the United Nations 

and underlined that fact and a number of other concerns. 

Mr. SHERMAN. You said the Angolan? 

Ambassador NAGY. Pardon me? The Ugandan——

Mr. SHERMAN. Ugandan, okay. 

Ambassador NAGY. Ugandan Prime Minister on the margins and 

underlined that fact very strongly. We continue to do that with our 

engagements. Unfortunately, President Museveni shows no signs of 

thinking about a transition and unfortunately——

Mr. SHERMAN. I want to move on to Uganda to talk about the 

North Korean contractors to their security forces. Obviously the 

North Koreans don’t bring a dedication to the rule of law and conduct of military operations in a humane manner. The Wall Street 

Journal did a major report on this just a few days ago and says, 

in part, U.S. officials say that Trump administration has been instructed to remain quiet on North Korean involvement in Uganda 

over concern that speaking out would undercut the image of an effective sanctions regime. 

Have you been instructed to, or I will put this in the positive, can 

you now speak out against and describe what the North Koreans 

are doing in Uganda? 

Ambassador NAGY. Absolutely, Congressman. Our instructions 

are and it is always included in our points of engagement with all 

governments in Africa to urge them to comply with all Security 

Council resolutions to minimize——

Mr. SHERMAN. Is Uganda complying? 

Ambassador NAGY. I cannot answer that technically. I can get 

back to you on that. I don’t want to give you the wrong answer. 

I do know that we urge them at every opportunity——

Mr. SHERMAN. Given the importance of the North Korean nuclear 

program how would that not be something you would already have 

an opinion on? I know the chairman has already answered the 

question for us, so I yield to him. 

29

Ambassador NAGY. I don’t want to say that they are compliant 

right now if they are not, but I will double check that and get back 

to you. But I can assure you that that is one of our strongest points 

in every engagement with every African government. 

Mr. SHERMAN. China is using this debt trap. They have used it 

in Sri Lanka where they offer and then say, well, you didn’t pay 

so we are taking this or that over. And these are sovereign countries, so they could simply say no, we are not going to pay and no, 

you are not going to take our port. The problem they have is that 

American and other financial institutions would regard that as a 

default. 

I wonder if you could work with me and perhaps others on this 

committee to establish an international financial order where if you 

don’t pay a China debt trap debt your FICO score still remains at 

800, that there is basically no harm, no foul. What can we do to 

make it plain to the financial markets that it is simply illegal for 

them to count against a country that its failure to pay one of these 

debt trap debts to China? 

Ambassador NAGY. I would look forward to further discussion on 

that and see exactly what we could do, because that is the last 

thing we also want to do is see these countries get into that trap. 

Mr. SHERMAN. And I assume the State Department could look at 

individual deals, identify which ones constitute this debt trap financing, and declare that those are particular debts with the nonpayment of which should not be considered by any financial institution doing business in the United States. 

Finally, Human Rights Watch has reported that the Government 

of Tanzania is shutting down basically everything involving the 

LGBTQ community. What is our approach to protect the community in Tanzania? 

Ambassador NAGY. Our approach is to raise our extreme concern 

with that, to engage with civil society every means that we can 

possibly do that to protect them, because Tanzania is closing political space everywhere. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you. 

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Rohrabacher of California. 

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

congratulations to you for making it through this difficult assignment of being the chairman of this committee. And I know I have 

made it a little more difficult myself for you at times, but we certainly appreciate your effort and those of Eliot. You have been a 

good team and done good things for America and the world. 

So let me just suggest that the job that our witnesses have had 

to do has been equally difficult and that trying to balance off stability with reform and progress in Africa has got to be one of the 

most daunting tasks of any group of our professionals that are out 

there in our Foreign Service. And I would note that I am going to 

mention a couple of negative things, but let me just say that that 

does not mean that I don’t also recognize the positive things. 

I think one of the worst things that we have done in our country 

in terms of Africa is when our government suggested to Ethiopia 

that they could negate and they could just ignore the arbitration 

of the fight between Ethiopia and Eritrea. That did more to underVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:53 Dec 20, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Z:\WORK\_FULL\121218\33669 SHIRL
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mine peaceful solutions in Africa than anything I have seen in my 

lifetime. 

And the fact is that the peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea 

seems to be something that came from within and not something 

that we actually pushed on. In fact, the repression and the corruption of the Ethiopian Government over the years was not ended because we, the United States, pulled back from that corrupt and repressive regime. Instead, it came from within even when there 

were signs for all of us. 

I don’t think that—I would hope that we learn from that, that 

we should really be supporting reformers as came to power in Ethiopia via a people’s movement. And the signs of corruption were everywhere in Ethiopia before the current government, before the 

current Abiy came forward and led his people toward peace with 

Eritrea and actually reforms. 

Let me note that for years I have been active in pressuring Ethiopia to try to give back the property, especially the property of 

Americans that was confiscated by the Ethiopian Government. Now 

the chairman and I have a family in Orange County which we represent, the Berhane family, who owned some very important and 

valuable assets, property in Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Government in the past never gave it back and that is because some people were profiting from that. 

I think that we should have been much more aggressive on that 

and I would hope the Ethiopian Government, the current government, moves on this problem because we have an American family 

whose property is not being returned. And that is wrong and it 

should be a symbol to us that that Ethiopian Government is not 

going to be, or it will be corrupt. We are going to watch to see what 

happens there and other pieces of property. 

And to the degree that we had OPIC even denied Ethiopia the 

right to have OPIC funds until that and other issues were resolved, 

I suggest we continue that but I would hope we can discard that 

type. I would hope that we could discard all of those pressures on 

Ethiopia and Eritrea and promote their peace and progress rather 

than looking at their faults. But it is up to them to give us the sign 

that they mean real reform. 

I would, as I say what can we do? We just had some reference 

to China and how that makes these countries vulnerable and I 

want to add to that but what can we do that would prevent corruption in these African countries? What can we do to regulate our 

own bankers not to profit by taking money that was earned by corruption in these African countries? 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you very much for that. In my view, 

the best thing we can do is encourage civil society because they are 

a great watchdog on government wrongdoing. You know, sir, in 

many of these countries there has not been a tradition of any kind 

of civil society, and governments, especially corrupt governments, 

are scared to death of civil society. That is why they often go after 

them and try to close the political space exactly because they hold 

them accountable. 

And also of course a free and vigorous press, because the media 

tends to be a wonderful watchdog as well, and then a level playing 

field so that other businesses besides the ones from the large counVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:53 Dec 20, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Z:\WORK\_FULL\121218\33669 SHIRL
31

try in East Asia have an equal chance at contracts and dispute resolution. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. ROYCE. Greg Meeks, New York. 

Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Chairman, I want to join the chorus in thanking 

you for your leadership as chairman of this committee and the way 

that you have conducted yourself and I do think it says a lot about 

this hearing being your last is to show your continued focus on the 

continent. I have traveled with you several times to the continent. 

I have seen firsthand and I was so inspired by what you do on this 

committee I decided to take your old office. [Laughter.] 

Thank you, gentlemen, for being here. I actually just came back 

from South Africa with Global Citizens and they had pledges to 

raise for worldwide $7 billion as a result of what they are doing 

to eradicate poverty by 2030 and moving quite briskly in trying to 

get attention particularly to the continent of Africa as to what we 

need to do. 

Unfortunately, oftentimes or as just happened at this time while 

I was in Africa I asked about U.S. involvement, U.S. investment, 

U.S. trade, and they are saying that they don’t see enough of us 

and so they have to deal with the individuals that seem to have 

interest. Oftentimes that has been China. 

And so I know and I am, as you have indicated how Africa’s on 

track to have 25 percent of global population in just 30 years, I believe that leveraging the resources of the U.S. Government to support greater private sector investments which I think is key is a 

win-win. And so from your perspective, especially with DFI’s ability 

to make equity investments in Africa, will it encourage U.S. financial investors such as pension funds, because that is, you get everybody to scale up their investments alongside the new DFI, putting 

it together, working in a combination way to help our presence and 

make a difference and have some real equity investments in Africa. 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you, sir, absolutely. I have found so 

much enthusiasm amongst American businesses wanting to take 

their money to Africa because they have so much money available 

right now looking for a place. And at the same time, in all my travels I found the African governments equally enthusiastic at wanting to bring U.S. businesses because U.S. businesses offer something totally different than what Chinese investors do. 

That is why I really want to thank you all for the BUILD Act, 

because I think it finally puts some arrows in our quiver that we 

didn’t have before because it offers, with its $60 billion plus the 

possibility of equity investment, it offers opportunities that we 

have not had before. And I can tell you that the U.S. business community in Africa is enthusiastic about it and all of the African governments we engage with really wanted to know more about it. So 

we are going to energize our Embassies to be there to come up with 

bankable projects and to engage directly. And I told the African 

governments, I can push you as businesses, but they need to do the 

pulling by putting in place environments that actually welcome and 

are fair to you as businesses. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. MEEKS. And we need to work and continue that because I 

know even if you look at the work of China doing in there, but even 

in China, China looks at the U.S. businesses, at least the Chinese 

32

they wouldn’t want to work for our companies in China. So I know 

what we can do a better job in Africa than what we have. 

And also I know that USAID created a partnership with NASP 

which was very important to target infrastructure investments in 

Africa and I know that some of my New York pension funds have 

been involved including the New York State Common Retirement 

and the New York City Employees Retirement Funds. And I think 

this is a tremendous initiative that moves in the right direction 

and we oftentimes before when we want to divest from bad things, 

we want to make sure now we are investing in that regard. 

And so I am a big supporter of initiatives like NETA, however, 

what my concern is and what I think that would give us even 

greater more investments would be is the fact that there is a lack 

of diversity and inclusion of small, women, and minorities in development finance opportunities at USAID and OPIC. So how can we 

do better, because I think that diversity will help us more on the 

continent also in that regards. 

Mr. DAY. Thank you, Congressman. You are absolutely right. We 

at USAID believe we are facing immense challenges of course on 

the African continent and we truly believe that those challenges 

cannot be addressed with USAID official development assistance 

alone. The private sector is absolutely critical to this. In fact, Administrator Green is actually rolling out a USAID private sector 

engagement policy as we speak. 

So this is something that is at the forefront of our vision for how 

USAID is going to be engaging with our African partners so we 

fully agree with your vision as well. 

Mr. MEEKS. I yield back. And I just look forward to working with 

you because we have small, minority, and women owned businesses 

that I know are very interested if we can work together on that. 

Mr. CHABOT [presiding]. Thank you very much. The gentleman’s 

time has expired. I now recognize myself for 5 minutes and I would 

like to start off with, a couple of our colleagues have already talked 

about, China. I know Mr. Sherman did and I think Mr. Smith did 

as well. 

But Ambassador Nagy, let me ask you this. If you were in a room 

with a number of, let’s say, African countries specifically, but they 

could be from other parts of the world, where they were really trying to decide whether it made sense to take advantage of the loans 

and opportunities that China is putting out there versus working 

with the United States or other countries, banks, et cetera, what 

would you tell—and we have already talked about some of this. But 

what would you tell them to look out for with China versus why 

it makes sense to work with the U.S. or the West? 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you very much for that question. What 

I would tell them to look out for is, number one, are they going to 

bring over every single employee above turning a shovel from 

China instead of hiring locally? How much technology and professional transfer will there be when the project is done? How good 

is the quality of the work that will be done? Will they also bring 

over shopkeepers who will open up shops to service the company’s 

employees who will then displace African mom and shopkeepers? 

And when everything is done how much debt will there be left, 

and by the way what will the environmental impact be? Will there 

33

also be wildlife trafficking? Maybe timber cutting in addition to 

that. So I would urge them to look at the entirety of the project 

and what will be the true benefits not only to putting down that 

road but to the country at large. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. And having seen and followed this 

closely firsthand for quite a few years now, what do you if they 

said, well, what do you think on these things will happen, what 

would you expect? Could you answer those questions that you just 

asked what is likely to happen? 

Ambassador NAGY. Well, I think that there is, as I said, a shift 

in perceptions of the type of projects that they provide. I just have 

to tell you one of the things that really, really irritated me during 

my trips to Africa is you go to an African city and there is a stadium invariably built by the Chinese. 

And then the people say to me, well, what have the Americans—

I said, well, what about the millions and millions of people we keep 

alive because of PEPFAR, what about the tremendous educational 

programs that we have done to educate the young people. And as 

I mentioned before, the young people in Africa really do get this. 

They want American companies. They want the type of expertise 

Americans have. They want the transfer. 

So I am actually very encouraged by the future and I think that 

this BUILD Act will now really give our businesses some weapons 

to compete fairly. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. Ms. Bass was asking a question before about and you were talking about the bilateral free 

trade agreements, because I know the administration, bilateral 

agreements are more appealing than regional deals, I understand 

that. I am basically a free trader and I will accept both. 

But getting back to the bilateral agreements in sub-Saharan Africa, you were about to say, I think, what countries are we kind 

of working with or thinking about and then she had a limited 

amount of time so you never really got into that. 

Ms. BASS. Thank you. 

Mr. CHABOT. What countries are we talking about? 

Ambassador NAGY. Can I respectfully not mention them yet, because we haven’t really fully engaged on that yet. So we are at the 

point of actually just looking at possibilities and I would not like 

to offset progress before we can start. 

Mr. CHABOT. How many are we talking about? 

Ambassador NAGY. At least four have come forward and then 

there are a couple of others that we would like to look at on our 

own. 

Mr. CHABOT. Okay. Thank you. 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. CHABOT. We mentioned, I think, briefly before Museveni in 

Uganda too. My very first codel was back in 1997 and one of the 

countries we visited was Uganda and I remember particularly 

memorable because Lady Di happened to die while we were on that 

version so I remember specifically when this was. And I remember 

Museveni at that time was being talked about as the new African 

leaders and he had been in office, what, 12 years or so then, so he 

was getting a little long in the tooth at that point. 

34

Well, we are two decades later. And don’t get me wrong, I think 

compared with previous and obviously in Uganda what a breath of 

fresh air. He has been there awhile now. Could you comment on 

that without asking a specific question about? 

Ambassador NAGY. Absolutely. I have to tell you, sir, that actually Museveni was one of my early heroes because of his willingness to engage on HIV/AIDS when others were not. And at that 

time Uganda’s ABC strategy was the world leader in confronting 

HIV/AIDS and also he did quite a lot of empowering women politically in Uganda. 

Unfortunately that was decades ago and the decades go on and 

at some point leaders have to consider political transitions and 

right now there seems to be an awful lot of focus on keeping in 

power instead of the future of Uganda. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. My time has expired. 

The gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Sires, recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you. First, I would like to thank the chairman. 

He is not here, but 26 years of service always in a bipartisan fashion in this committee and I just want to thank him even though 

he is not here. 

Mr. Ambassador, I sit here and I listen to all the things that you 

have said, all the things that you are accomplishing, and I can only 

imagine it must be a very difficult job for you to do especially with 

the rhetoric coming out of the White House when he calls shithole 

countries, he calls people from Western Hemisphere criminals, sick, 

and everything else. 

When you get off the plane how do you deal with that? I mean 

do you ignore what the President says? I don’t want to put you on 

the spot, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. But I have 

got to tell you, it has got to be very difficult for you getting off a 

plane and trying to work these deals. 

Ambassador NAGY. Congressman, I have to be absolutely honest. 

I have never had a problem getting off the plane because I engage 

and talk about the wonderful things that America as a whole is 

doing and I also talk about Africa is one of the leading nonpartisan 

issues of our day and programs, involvement, engagement. 

Mr. SIRES. I mean we all know China’s effort in Africa and certainly in the Western Hemisphere. Basically it is the same tactics, 

wouldn’t you say so, what they are doing in the Western Hemisphere in countries? I mean I just read an article where in Panama, China bought a big piece of property and what they are trying 

to do is build this warehouse to equal Amazon and they want to 

be the Amazon of the Western Hemisphere. I guess the tactics are 

the same and how do you coordinate fighting this? 

Ambassador NAGY. I have to admit, and this is one of the things 

I told my African interlocutors is that up to now I have not blamed 

them in dealing with China, because when there was a knock on 

the door for an investor and they opened it and only China was 

standing there that is who they had to deal with. I want to make 

sure that the next time there is a knock on the door that there is 

American investors standing there as well and that we can present 

what is more attractive about dealing with the United States of 

America. So I would like to be very aggressive in pursuing that, sir. 

35

Mr. SIRES. And in terms of you are talking free trade, free trade, 

free trade, and again the rhetoric out of the White House seems to 

be let’s look inward, not let’s look outward. I mean it is just, to me 

it is two and two don’t really add to four with this particular administration. 

Ambassador NAGY. Well, I get a lot of support from the White 

House on expanding the free trade agenda and on engaging U.S. 

businesses in Africa, so I can tell you that is my experience, sir. 

Mr. SIRES. All right. I won’t put you on the spot anymore. Thank 

you very much. I yield back. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Would my friend yield? 

Mr. SIRES. Absolutely. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. I thank my friend. 

Ambassador Nagy, I appreciate the diplomatic skill with which 

you answered my friend from New Jersey, but that White House 

support certainly doesn’t extend to USAID programming in Africa. 

I mean last year he cut it 37 percent in his budget and this year 

he has cut it 33 percent. How do you explain that to African nations when you travel? We don’t mean it? We are kidding? We are 

counting to Congress to restore it? Don’t read anything into it in 

terms of the value we put in the relationship or Africa? And what 

does it mean in terms of the void it creates vis-a-vis China that has 

fortyfold increased its trade posture vis-a-vis Africa in the last 20 

years. 

Mr. Day? 

Mr. DAY. Thank you, Congressman. I would also echo Assistant 

Secretary Nagy’s comments in that every time I am on the continent USAID and our officials are welcomed with open arms. And 

that is, I think, a reflection of the seven decades——

Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Day, excuse me. That really was not my 

question. I have been to Africa too. I know USAID very well. I 

helped write the last foreign aid bill passed by Congress in 1985. 

I have been around awhile. My question wasn’t are you welcome, 

my question was how do you explain the fact that the administration you represent cut their budget 37 percent last year and another 33 percent this year? 

We didn’t go along with it because we actually see the primacy 

of the relationship and the fact that is the world’s fastest-growing 

market. But nonetheless, a statement of value is being made to 

those African countries and I am asking you how you handle that 

on the ground. I am repeating, I am building on the question my 

friend Mr. Sires asked Ambassador Nagy. 

Mr. DAY. Congressman, at USAID we are laser-focused on ensuring that taxpayer investments on the African continent are deployed in the most efficient and effective manner and to the benefit 

of the American people and the African people as well. 

Mr. CHABOT. The gentleman’s time has expired. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Well, thank God, because I don’t know what that 

answer meant. 

Mr. CHABOT. I thought it was a great answer. 

The gentleman from South Carolina. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. I bet you did. 

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Wilson is recognized for 5 minutes. 

36

Mr. WILSON. And thank you, Mr. Chabot. And I want to join with 

everyone commending Chairman Royce for his service. It is really 

an indication of our appreciation of his service, the portrait which 

is hanging up front which indicates again what an extraordinary 

person Ed and his wife Marie have been on behalf of our country. 

And, Ambassador, thank you for being here. Mr. Day, thank you. 

I saw your background with the International Republican Institute. 

I was a volunteer with IRI. I know what a difference it makes promoting freedom and democracy around the world. Also, your work 

now with USAID with Administrator Mark Green, how incredible. 

As we travel around the world it is so impressive to see the signs 

as I saw in rural Afghanistan of a school that had been built by 

USAID, to see the food supplies being provided to the refugees in 

Sudan, to be present with Chairman Royce in Tacloban, The Philippines, to see the recovery efforts for persons from Super Typhoon. 

USAID makes such a difference and I hope more American citizens 

find out how significant it is. 

With that, Ambassador, this year has been very hopeful with 

Ethiopia and Eritrea signing an agreement in September that 

ended the 20-year conflict and reopened land crossings to allow 

people and goods to move freely between the countries—a 20-year 

war concluded. To what extent can the very positive reforms implemented by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Ethiopia have toward assisting internal challenges in Eritrea? 

Ambassador NAGY. Indeed, sir, the changes have been incredible. 

In my 40 years of following Africa, I don’t think I have ever seen 

anything that positive. And I would like to ensure you that the 

United States Government is engaged in a whole of government response to figure out how best we can support those openings both 

on the internal side with Prime Minister Abiy opening political 

space for his own citizens, but also on the external side as literally 

waves of peace wash over the whole subregion. 

And as Ethiopians like to say, they are renaming the Horn of Africa to the Hope of Africa and in many respects that is a true characterization. So we are sending teams to engage directly with different components of the government and we have been invited to 

engage with many sectors and institutions in Ethiopia to help rebuild them in a noncorrupt, totally different model. Thank you, sir. 

Mr. WILSON. Well, again, your positive attitude just is reflected 

by the hope of Africa. That is great. Additionally, what are the 

prospects for reestablishing diplomatic relations between Eritrea 

and the United States? 

Ambassador NAGY. Sir, thank you for the question. As I said, 

when I was in Eritrea my dream is to eventually for the United 

States to have the same positive relations with Eritrea that we 

have with Ethiopia now. We have started the first steps. We will 

continue the steps and hopefully it will lead there. We still have 

some outstanding bilateral issues, which they very well know, but 

we will deal with them one at a time and it is a very valuable 

country to have as a friend and we look forward to that, sir. 

Mr. WILSON. Well, again it has just been so hopeful to see the 

developments in Ethiopia and now Eritrea too, hopefully. Next, 

what is the extent of African-based terrorist groups, what challenges do they have as a direct threat to the American people? 

37

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you, sir. The problems with those terrorist groups are as they occupy space which is not occupied by 

governments it gives them freedom of action. And they may start 

off as local terrorist groups, but as we can see that they can then 

develop into interregional and even intercontinental types of terrorist groups especially once they affiliate with global ISIS or alQaeda. So they present an imminent and a long-term danger, sir. 

Mr. WILSON. And we saw, sadly, the attack last night in 

Strasbourg. 

Ambassador NAGY. Exactly. 

Mr. WILSON. So we need to be ever-vigilant. And with that, what 

more can the United States working with our African partners do 

to prevent the spread of extremist ideologies to protect the people 

of Africa and around the world? 

Ambassador NAGY. Sir, that involves what we are doing is closely 

working with the African states with outside interested parties 

such as France, the European Union, the United Kingdom, African 

Union, and the United Nations, and with the various U.N. peacekeeping forces, because they are an imminent threat, sir. 

Mr. WILSON. Well, again thank you for your efforts. And the 

thought of having the agreements between Eritrea and Ethiopia, 

which would have been unimaginable, have occurred so best wishes 

for continued success. Thank you. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. The gentleman’s time has expired. The 

gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. Cicilline, is recognized for 5 

minutes. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too want to begin by 

thanking outgoing Chairman Royce for his extraordinary leadership of this committee and the bipartisanship which he has always 

demonstrated. And I hope the letter that you sent to us about your 

tenure as chairman you will make an official part of the record, because I think it really recounts in a very meaningful way the great 

work that has been done under your leadership. And I just want 

to thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. CHABOT. Without objection, so ordered. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you. 

Thank you to our witnesses. Ambassador Nagy, I would like to 

start with you. As I am sure you are aware, U.N. peacekeeping 

missions are currently deployed in several countries on the African 

continent including South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, 

and the Democratic Republic of Congo where they work to promote 

stability in conflict-torn societies, protect civilians from violence, 

and facilitate humanitarian assistance to communities in need as 

well as monitoring human rights abuses and supporting the rule of 

law and the creation of democratic institutions. 

The U.N. successfully wound down two peacekeeping missions in 

Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire just this year. The United States has long 

supported U.N. peacekeeping operations as a cost effective method 

of conflict mitigation that helps prevent fragile states from collapsing, keeps civil wars from morphing into unwieldy regional disputes, and creating the conditions necessary for long-term, sustainable peace. 

In fact, the GAO recently found that U.N. peacekeeping missions 

are eight times more cost effective than a unilateral U.S. military 

38

engagement. Yet, Secretary Pompeo recently made some troubling 

assertions about U.N. peacekeeping missions claiming that they 

drag on for decades and bring us no closer to peace. 

I would certainly welcome a clarification on the Secretary’s remarks. And, specifically, my first question is, does the Trump administration, which has voted to renew the mandates of 12 U.N. 

peacekeeping missions since it took office, still find value in their 

work? 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you very much, Congressman. Yes, absolutely. There are phenomenally effective U.N. peacekeeping missions, then there are some others that may be less effective. And 

I think that is the whole focus of the administration is to evaluate 

each mission on its own terms to see if it is accomplishing its tasks, 

or if it is not do the tasks need to be realigned. For example, I 

would like to point to the one in Mali. 

In February, the Secretary General, the U.N. Secretary General 

will be issuing a report specifically on how that peacekeeping mission is achieving its mandate and will take a look to see if it needs 

to be modified or adjusted or whatever else needs to be done, because as you know, sir, Mali is in a very critical situation and there 

are a number of other peacekeeping missions like that. 

So absolutely, I agree with you totally, even though we are paying, I think, right now 28 percent of the total cost of peacekeeping 

missions. Some are phenomenal. 

Mr. CICILLINE. At a fraction of the cost of what it would be if it 

were a military engagement obviously. 

Ambassador NAGY. Absolutely. 

Mr. CICILLINE. I hope you will share those strong sentiments 

with Secretary of State Pompeo. Do you see, Mr. Ambassador, any 

missions today that you think should close? 

Ambassador NAGY. Not any today, sir. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Okay, thank you. As you are aware, the U.N. 

peacekeeping mission to Liberia wound down this year after nearly 

15 years in that country. Would you characterize that mission as 

a success and can you also tell us what assistance the U.S. is currently providing bilaterally to continue the progress and the momentum in Liberia? 

Ambassador NAGY. I would consider that one a success, absolutely, because I remember when it started under ECOWAS and 

then it transgressed to the U.N. But I will turn that over to my 

colleague from USAID for what we are doing to continue to support 

the country. 

Mr. DAY. Sure. Thank you, Congressman. We of course have had 

a tremendous partnership with the Liberian Government for a 

number of years and we have a robust program based in Monrovia, 

everything from humanitarian assistance to health to supporting 

civil society, democratic governance. There are still tremendous 

challenges of course. Extreme poverty is one of the major issues 

that we are dealing with. 

But we have a good partner in the Liberian Government and the 

new President, President Weah, has been actively engaged with 

USAID programs. And so where we have good partners and good 

partnerships we feel like USAID programs are the most successful, 

39

so we have a very good partnership with the Government of Liberia. 

Mr. CICILLINE. And, finally, if I would ask both of you to comment on the current status of our work in the Central African Republic. I traveled there at a time when I think it was sort of a very 

critical moment and either the progress could continue or there 

could be a significant retreat of that. And I know there has also 

been some new reporting that the Russians have engaged in a significant way. So if you could each share the current status of CAR. 

Mr. DAY. From the USAID perspective we are primarily focused 

on health and humanitarian assistance for the people of CAR. 

Ambassador NAGY. From the diplomatic perspective we are really, really encouraging the African Union to be hyper-engaged in the 

peace process there, because the Russians are looking at the Central African Republic as an opportunity and they are very much 

trying to work into a parallel peace process to put themselves forward. So we really are calling on the African Union to be very engaged and to make sure that there is only peace process to bring 

the country back, sir. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Thank you very much. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. The gentleman’s time has expired. 

It was noted earlier today it is the last Foreign Affairs Committee meeting for a number of members of this committee and one 

of those is Darrell Issa from California, who I would just note for 

the record has been an extremely valuable and thoughtful member 

of this committee for a long time and thank him for his service as 

well. And the gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you. That is very kind. It has been a quick 18 

years, but I am leaving it with good people behind and this committee, I am sure, will function next Congress in the same bipartisan way it has for so many years. 

I have got a bunch of questions and let me try to go through 

them. The first one is an umbrella one. With EXIM Bank currently 

not able to fully function, with good intention by USAID and the 

funding you have, obviously USTDA could be mentioned in that 

group and OPIC, all of it together in Africa, if you had to say what 

is our effort worth and what is China’s effort worth in dollars and 

capability, how would you measure those, our dollars and capability and their dollars and capability, based on the effort they are 

placing and the money they are putting in? 

Mr. Day, you probably see it every day. 

Mr. DAY. Thank you, Congressman. I say that is an excellent 

question. I think when we think about how USAID and the Americans engage with our partners on the African continent compared 

to other potentially——

Mr. ISSA. No, and I want you to answer that. I fully buy that we 

go in there giving. We go in there with a real effort to develop 

countries and their own independence. We go in there as a gift to 

the rest of the world for safety and security, and perhaps the Chinese have a different intent. 

I want people to understand for the record, if we are looking at 

the size of the army, so to speak, the size of the guns, the size of 

the programs coming in from just China, there are players, Russia 

40

and so on, and their effort in dollars and capacity regardless of our 

good intention and regardless of the goodwill we have, what are 

you faced with, their efforts, your efforts, and some of the results? 

Mr. DAY. From a cash perspective in terms of an infusion into 

Africa, we are not on the same level with China. However, the 

value, the superior value proposition——

Mr. ISSA. Meaning we give more almost anywhere in the world, 

but they put more into Africa in dollars. 

Mr. DAY. In cash dollars. However, the superior value proposition 

of American innovation and American companies investing and 

two-way trade between Africa and the U.S., I don’t think that is 

a comparison either. I would put my money on America every day. 

Mr. ISSA. Well, and there is one follow-up question that I have 

been keenly looking at for many months. The difference in a country which goes to based on, if you will, the 20- or 30-year cost of 

building out, and particularly Power Africa, if they go out based on 

lowest initial cost, isn’t it true that China wins every time? 

And if they go out based on what is going to happen over the life 

of those loans and support and maintenance that in fact many 

Western countries including the United States almost always 

would be better choices. Is that a fair statement? 

Mr. DAY. I believe that is a fair statement. 

Mr. ISSA. So one of the questions I have because a lot of what 

we do as America is to help people temporarily, but we always use 

that term that if you teach someone how to fish they will be fed 

for a lifetime. What are the winning programs in Africa that you 

either have or want to have that are funded, but you might want 

to have funded more to teach them how to fish so that the decisions 

and the programs and the long-term Power Africa are sustainable 

and go further? What is it that we need to do? 

Mr. DAY. You are absolutely right. I think Power Africa is probably the shining example of a successful program in Africa that 

really catalyzes American investment. I certainly believe that a 

whole of government effort to coordinate all of the interagency resources to bring those to bear to actually go to our African partners 

and demonstrate the superior value proposition that the U.S. has 

I think would be well received. 

Mr. ISSA. Okay. One last question, if I may. I was at the change 

of current leaders in Zimbabwe some time ago. It is one of those 

things you only get to do every 36 years or so. We, the United 

States Government, are currently keeping out of Zimbabwe, either 

a little bit here and maybe more for the record. 

What is it that you could accomplish if you were allowed to come 

up with systems that would isolate the current government from 

USAID or programs but at the same time would have some positive? You are engaged in war-torn countries, you are engaged in 

other dictatorships. Zimbabwe uses only $20 bills for their money 

and they have been cut off from everyone except basically the 

South Africans for a long time. 

So, let me rephrase that. The Chinese are actively in there, but 

would you give me your, for that particular country because I was 

so recently there. 

Ambassador NAGY. Yes, sir. And, interestingly enough, we had a 

trade delegation from Zimbabwe not long ago visit here and they 

41

were warmly welcomed. They had some of the government ministers with them. And we told them exactly as did I in my meetings 

with the high level officials, if they could take a couple of steps 

then we could start reevaluating our whole relationship because 

Zimbabwe has phenomenal potential. 

And I am passionate about Zimbabwe because my triplets were 

born there and I know what the country can do. So if they could 

very quickly return to a prosperous path if the government would 

just—they are saying the right things. It would be nice if they actually did some of the things that they are talking about. 

But I think the United States business community would stand 

ready to engage with them very quickly because there are a number of sectors where we could have very fruitful relations, sir. 

Mr. CHABOT. The gentleman’s time has expired. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you. And if you would just for the record share 

with us, if you can, the request you made that would allow for that. 

Ambassador NAGY. Is that okay, sir? 

Mr. CHABOT. Yes, briefly. 

Ambassador NAGY. All right. Yes, very quickly. There are two 

acts that they have passed, one is the Public Order and Security 

Act and the other is the Access to Information and Protection of 

Privacy Act, which is if they would just withdraw those that would 

be quite significant. Thank you. 

Mr. ISSA. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. CHABOT. Another gentleman from California, Mr. Bera is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. BERA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I will echo the remarks of our colleagues with thanks to Chairman Royce as he 

moves on to his next endeavors as well as the other members of 

this committee. And certainly with incoming chairman Eliot Engel 

hopefully we will continue to operate in a bipartisan way. 

Also, while I disagree with the President’s approach to foreign 

policy, I appreciate the lifetime of service of our diplomats and our 

aid and development workers all around the world and applaud the 

work that both of you are doing. We have had Ambassador Green 

in front of this committee several times and I do think USAID is 

moving in the right direction looking at capacity building and certainly expect Congress to support that. 

So given we have talked about the potential in Africa. If I were 

to just frame the challenges that we see, we obviously see a tremendous youth bulge that is occurring. Thirty thousand Africans 

entering the job market on a daily basis, that is a tremendous challenge. We see millions of people displaced throughout Africa. We 

see future challenges of food and water and security on the continent which will continue to create some instability. 

I was just in Sierra Leone, a fledgling democracy that is coming 

out of years of civil war and had tremendous challenges with the 

West African Ebola crisis where we are engaged, but I would say 

I saw more Chinese while I was there as well, which again presents a challenge that many of my colleagues have talked about. 

So we are framing the challenges, but I am an optimist and we 

have been spending some time trying to understand how PEPFAR 

came about being in a Republican administration with Democratic 

Members of Congress. And really underlying that was a national 

42

security threat assessment that if millions of people died of 

HIV/AIDS it would create massive instability on that and create 

governmental instability. And what we have just laid out suggests 

that if we don’t take a long-term view of these challenges in Africa 

you will continue to have an unstable continent. 

I think my question to both of you is as Congress reasserts its 

authority and Members of Congress tend to be here longer than 

one administration to another, we have to take a nonpartisan approach to looking at Africa in the long term and often we don’t. We 

shift from one administration. So that is if we were looking at longterm strategies, what would that time frame look like and then if 

you were recommending Congress looking at what the foundational 

strategies would be for the continent, what would you recommend 

our focus be? And I think the BUILD Act is a real strong first step. 

Ambassador NAGY. Exactly, sir. I want to again congratulate the 

Congress with the BUILD Act because that has strengthened my 

talking points when I go to Africa. The other one I would really 

point to is the Young African Leaders Initiative, because as you 

said, sir, Africa’s future is its youth and there is going to be millions and millions and millions of young Africans that are going to 

be wanting good jobs and if they don’t get them they will either go 

to Europe or choose a very destructive path. 

So programs such as that I have found to be so successful because everywhere I go to visit in Africa I run into the Young African Leaders Initiative network and those people are so dynamic, so 

entrepreneurial, and we are teaching exactly the skills that the future Africa will need. 

Mr. BERA. The programs like that don’t require a lot of taxpayer 

dollars and in fact they are capacity building. 

Ambassador NAGY. No, they don’t. And no, they are just phenomenal programs. So those are the two that—how we can encourage foreign direct investment from U.S. businesses and how we can 

build on this huge youth bulge to make sure that they look to the 

Western models for the future and not other places. 

Mr. BERA. And then, Mr. Day, if I could just ask a quick question. As we think about aid and development in the 21st century, 

we have already touched on it won’t just be U.S. taxpayer dollars, 

it will be trying to leverage private investment, public investment, 

and then also working with the international community as well. 

And if you could just briefly give a vision of what you think aid and 

development looks like in the 21st century. 

Mr. DAY. Thank you, Congressman. I think Administrator Green 

has laid out a very clear vision for how he views USAID’s future 

and that future is what we term the journey to self-reliance, which 

is working with our African partners to help them on their path 

toward self-reliance, which we ultimately define as their ability to 

plan, finance, and implement their own development solutions to 

their own challenges. 

And so if we have the level of commitment which is so critical 

and we have a good partner on the ground, then in many cases our 

programs are more successful, we get much better results. And so 

the private sector is absolutely a critical component of this, but it 

is also important that we have good partners on the ground. And 

in many cases we do, in some cases we do not. 

43

Mr. BERA. All right. My time has expired. 

Mr. ROYCE [presiding]. We will go to Mr. Mike McCaul of Texas. 

Mr. MCCAUL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just got out of my 

monthly threat briefing as chairman of the Homeland Security 

Committee, and I think the good news is that in the last—well, in 

2016, the threat from ISIS was extreme. External operations, we 

were arresting one per week in the United States it seemed like, 

and I think over the last 2 years we have crushed them and the 

so-called caliphate. 

But the threat hasn’t completely gone away. I think the good 

news is it has been downgraded to some extent, but then they have 

moved. They are still maybe in the Euphrates area, but the threat 

seems to be emerging more in Africa. And so I know there are 

about 10,000 ISIS and al-Qaeda jihadists in Africa today and to put 

that in perspective, before 9/11 there were about 100 al-Qaeda that 

existed. 

So it concerns me. I think, and I look forward to next Congress 

in this committee focusing on this issue because I think we are 

going to be looking at foreign adversary nation states, but I think 

the threat of radical Islamist terror is going to be focused in northern Africa and the Sahel. 

Then-Congressman Pompeo and I, we traveled to Sinai and the 

Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, Camp North, they evacuated it the day 

we left due to the threat. We were in Tunisia, got briefed by the 

Libyan team in exile. It is very much a hot threat there and it is 

very hot in the Sahel region. We passed, thanks to the chairman, 

my Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Act out of this 

committee which authorizes a program that you all are working on. 

I think it is very valuable and I just wanted to maybe just get your 

general assessment of what I am talking about in terms of the 

threat in Africa and what can we do. 

And we also passed a fragility of states bill which I think deals 

with fragile nations where terrorism can breed out of. Can you 

kind of talk about holistically what the State Department is doing 

to counter this threat? 

Ambassador NAGY. Yes, sir. Thank you very much. Indeed, the 

threat is increasing in Africa especially in the Sahelian region, a 

whole number of reasons which would take a long time to discuss, 

but basically the fundamental issue remains. We can get rid of the 

terrorists thanks to the efficiency of forces and allies and people 

that we are with, but once you get rid of the terrorists you have 

to fill that space with the government because if you don’t then another group of terrorists will come along, which is in many cases 

worse than the last group, which is exactly what had happened in 

Somalia up to now. 

So we are working very, very closely with the French, with the 

Malians, with the Nigerians, with the Chadians, with this new G5 

force that five of the countries have set up and we are supporting 

them exactly, so that not only is it a military campaign but it is 

also a governance campaign that once you recapture territory then 

you do start providing the services that the people demand so it is 

not another terrorist group that comes along and does the exact 

same thing, sir. 

44

Mr. MCCAUL. I agree. I think Libya is a good example where 

even the military can’t get General Haftar in the east and one in 

the west and they can’t get—if you have no military, you have no 

governance and so it is a big problem there. 

Mr. Day? 

Mr. DAY. I certainly agree with the Assistant Secretary’s comments. Particularly in the Sahel there are just chronic 

vulnerabilities, water scarcity, low access to education, low access 

to health services and we think that this is absolutely critical to 

address. And so we have robust programs throughout the region, 

particularly in Burkina Faso and in Niger that is where our best 

partnerships are, but we continue to be very concerned about the 

situation. 

Mr. MCCAUL. Well, thank you. And I look forward to addressing 

this again next Congress. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I am going 

to yield back the balance of my time. 

Mr. ROYCE. Well, thank you, Mr. McCaul. Thanks for introducing 

that resolution for wildlife trafficking and rhino horn in China. I 

think keeping Beijing engaged on this issue is important. 

Mr. MCCAUL. And will the gentleman yield? I think that is another issue where they illegally sell rhinos and wildlife and then 

it is a terror-financing operation. And so I look forward to—thank 

you, Mr. Chairman, for——

Mr. ROYCE. Yeah, we appreciate the fact that when we put the 

legislation forward to abolish the ivory trade that Beijing stepped 

up and closed those carving stations. But keeping the pressure on 

is going to be important. 

We go to Lois Frankel of Florida. 

Ms. FRANKEL. Thank you. It is sort of sad that I say thank you, 

Mr. Chair, to you, Mr. Royce, for the last time here. I just want 

to thank you. It has been such an honor and a pleasure to serve 

with you. And I think it is very fitting, I think of how many times 

I have ended up being here with you at the end with hardly anyone 

around. 

So I think it is——

Mr. ROYCE. You always saw these hearings through and thank 

you. 

Ms. FRANKEL. And so did you. 

And I want to thank you two gentlemen for the work that you 

do. I want to start with a story and then I will make a point, and 

it is the story of a 30 year old HIV positive mother of two living 

in Mozambique who lost her husband to AIDS last year and she 

turned to a local clinic for help when she discovered she was HIV 

positive, the clinic gave her medicine to stay alive and healthy. 

Now because of the expansion and expanded global gag rule, her 

clinic is one of dozens in Mozambique that has been forced to shut 

down and she has nowhere to go. Now I want to be kind to you 

because I don’t think you invented this policy, but I am very 

alarmed. I am very worried about what is happening to women all 

over the world because some of the policies of the Trump administration. 

And I will say this. No matter what you want to talk about and 

talk about progress, if we don’t advance girls and women there will 

be no progress. There will not be economic progress, there will not 

45

be progress in security of the world. Now I saw a chart that has 

shocked me and this chart shows me what the Trump’s global gag 

rule is doing. 

Now what we have had other administrations have gag rules 

which is basically prevents, they have prevented U.S. foreign aid 

for family planning to be cut off if even there is a mention of abortion or referral to a service that does abortion. Now under the 

Trump version—and that cut off $575 million in foreign aid which 

is terrible. I don’t think the original gag rules are good. I think it 

is inhumane and I think it is stupid, all right. 

But here is Trump’s version. It can cut up to $8.8 billion in U.S. 

foreign aid for health programs including family planning, HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health because it is cutting 

off funding to these entities even if with their own money either 

perform a legal abortion or they refer to a legal abortion or they 

give all the information that is necessary for women to understand 

what her choices are. 

And I just, it would be absolutely, you would be outraged—I 

don’t mean you personally, but we would be outraged and we are 

if women were forced to have abortions. That would be wrong and 

inhumane, but to force women to have children against their will 

is also to me inhumane. And now that is not all that is going on 

though. I wish I could say that. 

The Trump administration has also cut off millions and millions 

of dollars in funding to the U.N. Population Fund which works in 

150 countries to provide critical services including maternal care, 

treatment for survivors of sexual violence, and combating harmful 

practices like child marriage, genital mutilation. So, I mean, you 

can talk all day about advances, but if we are holding women back, 

we are pushing them back, there is not going to be advances. So 

I guess my question to you is what is the replacement for all these 

maternal and women’s health services that are being cut off? 

Mr. DAY. Thank you, Congresswoman. And I certainly agree with 

you that for communities to progress women and children must 

progress as well. That said, the U.S. remains by far the largest 

donor of global health programs in the world and we remain committed to supporting the health of women and children. And we 

have programs all around the world. I will certainly check on the 

particular issue——

Ms. FRANKEL. Thank you. 

Mr. DAY [continuing]. In Mozambique, but ending child marriage, 

ending FGM, gender-based violence, these are all issues that 

USAID continues to have robust programs in support of all across 

the continent of Africa. 

Ms. FRANKEL. Well, to just finish up here, Mr. Chair. This is not 

a criticism of USAID which does very, very good work. But what, 

from my point of view, the Trump administration has been eliminating many, many good partners and what I would ask is that you 

bring back to this committee a full report as to who is making up 

the difference for all these programs that are potentially defunded 

because of the expansion of the global gag rule and because of the 

cutting off of the money to the U.N. Population Fund. 

46

And I thank you again for your service and with that, Mr. Royce, 

I am so sorry for the last time to yield back, but again it has been 

an honor. 

Mr. ROYCE. Congresswoman Frankel, it has been an honor for 

me to work with you. Thank you very much. 

And I want to thank Ted Yoho here because we have been talking about the BUILD Act and as we have heard today that is going 

to double your book of business and all the new authorities that 

you have there. I appreciate his travels to Africa, his work also in 

Asia, but on this BUILD Act as a counterweight to Beijing, this is 

really critical. And I also thank him for his work on wildlife trafficking. 

And Congresswoman Frankel, thank you for your work and traveling with me on so many occasions. I really appreciate it. 

Congressman Yoho? 

Mr. YOHO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I too want to reiterate 

what everybody says. But I know I am in good hands because I 

have got you looking right over my shoulder up there on the wall 

of the Foreign Affairs past chairmen looking over us, so I know we 

will do well. We will miss you and I thank you for your leadership 

and your mentorship. 

Moving on, it is apparent that the U.S. must be fully engaged in 

Africa as the chairman stated in his opening statement, because if 

we do not, a void is created and grows as Africa grows and others 

will fill that, primarily China, Russia, or terrorist organizations. 

With the right lack of governance and all that they can expand, as 

we have seen. And with Boko Haram, there are 2 million displaced 

because of them and so that void has to be filled. 

But how we engage matters and I know you will agree with that, 

we can engage post breakdown of societies or not the development 

of societies or then conflicts are there and it is a rougher way to 

go in there to try to fix something that is broken, or we can be 

proactive and help direct the direction of those countries to be able 

to fulfill the needs of what those wants are in that country. And 

the best way is through smart investments and infrastructure leading to economic development and to develop those countries it is essential that we move. 

And, Mr. Day, I heard you talking about transitioning from the 

aid and trade, and our mantra has been saying we want to transition countries from aid to trade as quick as we can and if we look 

at our top 15 trading partners, of those where 12 of them were once 

recipients of foreign aid. Saying that, my questions are recognizing 

the diversity among African countries, what is your assessment on 

the region’s economic growth and how do you choose the best country to work with? 

We will start with you Ambassador Nagy. 

Ambassador NAGY. How do we choose the best countries to work 

with. That would come through our engagement with them on 

which countries are really, really ready to move forward and to accept the types of business environments which exactly you were 

talking about, low levels of corruption, being really interested in 

their own people bilaterally, but also there is another factor because the regions also matter. 

47

And this time I am really, really encouraged because the MCC 

is able to do regional projects, so that is also very important because Africa’s natural units are in fact its regions because of the 

old colonial boundaries——

Mr. YOHO. Right. 

Ambassador NAGY [continuing]. But often regions make a lot 

more sense. So we can really engage to see which of the regions 

are ready, which of the countries are really ready to move forward 

to put into policies and priorities which will benefit their own people. 

Mr. YOHO. It perplexes me, because we look over there and there 

are places that don’t have water. They don’t have electricity. This 

is the 21st century. We know how to do these. And what we see 

prohibiting that are bad government or the despots they don’t care 

about the people, they care about their personal gain. 

We can’t fix every country today, but if we can build on the success. And you were talking about the mission in Liberia was a success and we know success breeds success. So can we build around 

countries in that same area and that same region that say I want 

what they have and we are willing to come to the table and do 

what we have to, are you finding that, Mr. Day? We will ask you. 

Mr. DAY. We are, the short answer. And I think also to answer 

your question about how do we choose, how USAID engages with 

our partners on the ground, USAID is transforming the way that 

we do business and that is all part of the journey to self-reliance. 

But part of that is we want to be more data-driven in our decision making. In fact, we have developed these self-reliant road 

maps that actually can bring together 17 third-party objective open 

source data sources so that we can have a better picture as to 

where these countries are on that path and then also helps us 

guide some of those investments. It is not determinative, but it is 

a conversation starter and a tool that we use. 

Mr. YOHO. Okay. We wanted, when we started to draft the 

BUILD Act our goal was to move countries from aid to trade. 

Mr. DAY. Yeah. 

Mr. YOHO. We wanted to build on the OPIC model that has returned money to the American taxpayers 40 out of 41 years. How 

will the BUILD Act improve U.S. companies’ competitiveness in Africa and what should their key areas of focus be as they look to 

better support U.S. companies? And I have only got a few seconds. 

Ambassador NAGY. With each country that will be different, sir, 

because in some, for example, the tourism sector could really, really be exploited to create work. Others it is agricultural development and productivity and processing, so it depends country to 

country. But thanks to the BUILD Act it is a wide spectrum and 

again I heard that from the American business community and the 

African leaders themselves. 

Mr. YOHO. Thank you. 

Mr. Chairman, I take this opportunity to yield back to you for 

the last time and it has been an honor. 

Mr. ROYCE. It has been an honor, Mr. Yoho, to work with you. 

Ambassador Ann Wagner. 

Mrs. WAGNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for hosting this hearing and I will echo my colleagues. I cannot think of a more fitting 

48

way for you to close out your esteemed time and leadership on this 

committee than to reflect on the immense progress we have seen 

in relations between the United States and our African partners 

and a chart path toward future shared growth. 

Ambassador Nagy, I am deeply concerned about China’s attempts to expand its control over the global cobalt market to African producers. It has recently come to my attention that China is 

now seeking to derail a U.S.-Cameroonian memorandum of understanding on cobalt production. This strikes me as a serious national 

security risk. Already the U.S. military buys most of the cobalt it 

uses for guided missiles production from China, and frankly a partnership on cobalt production with Cameroon would greatly benefit 

both countries. 

How is the State Department working with the Cameroonian 

Government to get the memorandum of understanding back on 

track? 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you for the question. Unfortunately I 

am not familiar with the issue so I will have to get back to you 

on that. 

Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Day, anything? 

Mr. DAY. I will defer to the Assistant Secretary. 

Ambassador NAGY. But I will—can I just add one quick—during 

my last visit to West Africa, interestingly, the President of Guinea 

said that they had some potential cobalt there and we are following 

up on that one. 

Mrs. WAGNER. We could use the extra partnership. It would be 

helpful to both, and I do not want China once again interfering in 

a very important memorandum of understanding. 

So moving on, my colleagues and I have long sought to counter 

Boko Haram’s campaign to use unspeakable violence against 

schoolgirls to gain international notoriety. Last February, I was appalled to learn that Boko Haram had abducted 112 schoolgirls from 

a town in northeast Nigeria. While most were thankfully released 

a month later, one brave little girl, a 15-year-old, Leah Sharibu, remains in captivity because she refused to abandon her Christian 

faith. 

Ambassador Nagy, how is the United States working to secure 

Leah’s safe release? 

Ambassador NAGY. Leah Sharibu definitely remains a priority for 

us. Our Ambassador is seized with it as is the rest of the mission. 

We bring her up and as a matter of fact President Buhari himself 

is following up on that on a continuous basis. But one of the things 

that we have avoided is mentioning it too much in public because 

then the value to the terrorists keeps going up. But I can assure 

you that we are working very energetically as much as possible to 

obtain her release. 

Mrs. WAGNER. Thank you. Although Rwanda’s authoritarian government under Paul Kagame recently acquitted opposition leader 

Diane Rwigara of trumped up charges brought against her, many 

worry that the government’s intent is to intimidate its critics and 

political enemies. 

Mr. Day, what does Ms. Rwigara’s acquittal mean for dissent and 

free speech in Rwanda? 

49

Mr. DAY. USAID has been working in Rwanda for quite some 

time and with a wide variety of different programs. And you will 

have to forgive me, I will have to look into that particular issue. 

Our primary support has been for the Rwandan people. We certainly have been concerned with some of the closing spaces in 

Rwanda, but we continue to work with civil society and a variety 

of different groups to support the people of Rwanda so that they 

have a voice into their own future. But I will look into that particular issue. 

Mrs. WAGNER. Thank you. A few months after Emmerson 

Mnangagwa replaced strong man Robert Mugabe as President of 

Zimbabwe, we have seen disappointingly few improvements. Mr. 

Day, what is the situation on the ground in Zimbabwe and how 

does USAID support the growth of Zimbabwe’s civil society? 

Mr. DAY. I will defer this to the Secretary on the political analysis, but similar to Rwanda we are certainly very concerned about 

the political situation in Zimbabwe in terms of an operating space. 

Our priority of course continues to be the support of the 

Zimbabwean people who have been under tremendous distress for 

a number of decades. And so our programs are focused on humanitarian assistance and supporting civil society so they again can 

have a voice in their own. 

Mrs. WAGNER. Thank you. Ambassador Nagy? 

Ambassador NAGY. Yes, ma’am. On the ground, the Zimbabwean 

Government is saying some fairly positive things, but we are still 

waiting for some action on the two laws that I mentioned previously. 

Mrs. WAGNER. Right. All right, well, thank you. I look forward 

to some responses to some of the questions that I had and I appreciate your service and your time today. 

Mr. Chairman, I also for the last time yield back. It has been an 

honor and a privilege to work with you here in Congress. 

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Ambassador. 

We go to John Curtis of Utah. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I would, like many of my 

colleagues, like to emphasize two themes that we have heard 

throughout these hearings. One is thank you for your service. It 

has been an honor to be the youngest member of your committee 

and to be here. 

The second theme is this influence of China, and I think you 

have adequately answered this over and over in today’s hearing, so 

I am not going to really ask you a question other than to join my 

colleagues in expressing concern and acknowledging that despite 

the amazing work that we do, the over $8 billion of investment that 

we make there, that sometime China comes in and negates all of 

that with these tempting short-term offers. So just add my voice to 

the concern and the reality of that. Usually around the globe you 

see as a partner in crime Russia in many regions and we haven’t 

really touched on that. Could you share with us the influence of 

Russia on the continent and tell us what concerns you have there? 

Ambassador NAGY. Thank you very much, exactly right. Russia, 

while in no way bringing the amount of resources that China has, 

they are trying to be very opportunistic and transactional where for 

a low investment they can maximize their influence. I point specifiVerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:53 Dec 20, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Z:\WORK\_FULL\121218\33669 SHIRL
50

cally to the Central African Republic where the Russians used an 

authorization from the U.N. Security Council to provide some 

weapons to the Central African Government to bring in several 

hundred private security people. 

Now the President’s security advisor is a Russian. The Russians 

have trained the presidential guard. They are also exploiting some 

mineral resources, so they have inserted themselves into the Central African Republic at relatively low cost. Those are the types of 

opportunities that they are looking at and they will continue looking at and we have to be very vigilant and monitor their activities 

closely, sir. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. Botswana is home to a large population 

or a high percentage of the elephants in the region. And we talked 

and you have referred a little bit to the illegal hunting and problems that we have had and we have had almost no discussion 

about potential legal opportunities there, and the ban on elephant 

hunting is viewed in many regions in Botswana as harmful. Some 

of the economic development of the small villages is dependent, 

was dependent on that. 

So while the illegal trafficking is going on, we have kind of shut 

this down, the folks on the ground will tell you they don’t mind 

reasonable restrictions based on scientific data, but that there has 

been almost no scientific data put behind the ban. What role would 

be appropriate for the United States in determining what is good 

for legal harvesting of elephants in the region? 

Mr. DAY. I would be happy to look into the issue and get back 

to you. The only thing I will say is that we have had a longstanding and good partnership with the Botswanan Government 

and we have robust wildlife trafficking programs. Our programs 

particularly in Botswana have been focused on HIV and AIDS, but 

I will look into the particular issue of them. 

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you. I walked in—I was here for almost all 

21⁄2 hours of the hearing but stepped out for a moment and when 

I came back in you were talking about Rwanda. And so I don’t 

know if you touched on this while I was gone, but if not could you 

address the problem with the closing of the churches? And Rwanda 

has made so much progress it seems to be a step backward. Is that 

on the radar of the administration and are we seeing some improvements there? 

Ambassador NAGY. It is. We have not seen any improvements 

lately, but it is very much on the radar screen of the administration because we believe that that particular law was very counterproductive. We understand the purpose that they were trying to get 

at, but we felt that the mechanism was totally wrong because it 

was infringing on freedom of religion instead of—if there is a problem with certain churches that are breaking the law or are not real 

churches, then you use the law to affect them, not with a sledgehammer. 

Mr. CURTIS. That is what it felt like. 

My final question is that oftentimes in these voids of uncertainty 

and disruption you will find ISIS and al-Qaeda. We haven’t talked 

about that much today. Can you tell us what you are seeing in the 

region with the growth of these terrorist organizations and what 

we need to be looking for? 

51

Ambassador NAGY. Absolutely. Both of those are very opportunistic and different terrorist groups in Africa have aligned themselves with one or the other global organizations. And sometimes 

they do that as a mark of trying to be recognized, and other times, 

for example, the new group that has crept up in Mozambique are 

also calling themselves that even though there is absolutely no ties 

to them. 

Mr. CURTIS. Right. 

Ambassador NAGY. But as I mentioned before, the terrorist 

threat is growing. It is becoming much more serious. It is creeping 

into places and countries where it has not existed before. That is 

why we have to be very, very active and engaging with international partners, with the African countries, and all of our friends 

to confront them wherever they exist. Mozambique is a good example because it has just started and there is still an opportunity to 

stop it in its infancy. So it is critically important to give it attention 

there, not to let happen what happened with, say, Boko Haram, sir. 

Mr. CURTIS. Good. Thank you. I am out of time. Mr. Chairman, 

I yield back. 

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you very much, John. We go now to Mr. Ted 

Poe of Texas. 

Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to echo my colleagues’ comments. Thank you for chairing this committee for so 

many years. It has been a wonderful privilege to be here with you. 

We are both leaving Congress. I am back to Texas and you are 

back to the foreign country of California. It has been a pleasure 

working with you and best wishes in the future. I think the country is better because of your leadership over the last 6 years and 

even longer than that. You chaired the same subcommittee that I 

am chairing, the Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee, so thank you on behalf of the people of Texas for your 

leadership in foreign affairs. 

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Judge. I might come see you sometime 

in the winter in Texas. 

Mr. POE. You are always welcome. You are always welcome, sir. 

Gentlemen, thank you for being here. I want to cut right to the 

chase. Wildlife trafficking in Africa is a great concern especially as 

I see things taking place and it is not getting better for the animals. You have corruption with governments in Africa. You have 

the slaughter of rhinos for their horns. And the horns, I understand, are grounded down into powder and shipped illegally to 

Vietnam. 

You have the elephants and the tusk being sold in China on the 

illegal market, but the bottom line is you got the disappearance of 

wildlife in Africa that may become extinct. My 12 grandkids, it 

may be the only time they see rhinos or elephants are in Disney 

movies or Disney cartoons in the future. I am not being facetious. 

So what is the plan to improve that situation especially in those 

two areas, those two animals? 

Mr. DAY. Thank you, Congressman. As you said this is an absolutely critical issue. Biodiversity conservation is absolutely critical 

to the health of African communities. USAID has prioritized this 

issue and will continue to do so. Twenty-five percent of the agency’s 

biodiversity funding goes directly toward wildlife trafficking. We 

52

have 65 projects in 25 countries and so it is something that we 

work tirelessly at protecting. 

Mr. POE. Excuse me, Mr. Day. 

Mr. DAY. Yes. 

Mr. POE. Are we winning, are we losing? 

Mr. DAY. It is a complex issue and it is——

Mr. POE. That means we are losing. We are losing. Complex 

means we are losing. I am not faulting you, I am just, I want to 

know because this is a—I guess, really, the question is what can 

we do better to make sure that these animals don’t become extinct. 

What can we do, Congress, administration? 

Mr. DAY. I think from our perspective if we had more greater engagement both at the host country level, the international donor 

community, as well as the private sector, as I mentioned earlier in 

the testimony we can’t do this without the engagement of the private sector. And that is not to say that they are not engaged now, 

but we do need more engagement from the private sector. We believe that that is where the vast majority of the force and the 

power is going to come from. 

Mr. POE. And I agree with you on that too, the private sector as 

well. 

Ambassador, do you want to weigh in on this? 

Ambassador NAGY. The only thing I would add, sir, is that I 

think it is also critically important to engage local communities, because if you can persuade them of the value of the wildlife for their 

own livelihood when it is tourism, economic development, and factors like that, then that helps us win that much easier because the 

local folks know what is going on. 

Mr. POE. It seems to me I can understand why the bad things 

are happening. You have everybody involved. You have the local 

game wardens, if I can use that phrase, who make almost nothing 

a year, all of a sudden being given a bribe to look the other way 

while terrorists or whoever wants to kill animals on the property 

and it just seems that the international community, especially the 

United States, needs to be directly involved in this before it is too 

late. And then we will wring our hands and say, oh, I wish we 

would have done something different in the past. 

I don’t know if it is going after the Vietnamese Government, 

going after the Chinese Government, certainly going after the terrorists who were involved in doing this and getting rid of those dobads, in my opinion. I would just hope that Congress, the administration, the private, and God bless those private entities that are 

trying to do what they can to preserve animals. 

Is there any talk about—one last question, Mr. Chairman—any 

talk about removing those species from certain areas of Africa and 

relocating them somewhere else? 

Mr. DAY. I would have to check on those types of discussions. I 

do know that removal of certain species from certain areas is extraordinarily expensive, so I know there are resource issues there. 

But I am happy to look into what the current discussions are. 

Mr. POE. I would appreciate you getting back with me on that. 

We certainly can bring some of them to Texas, it would be fine with 

me. I am just speaking on my behalf. 

53

Thank you both, gentlemen. Thank you again, Mr. Chairman. 

And that is just the way it is. 

Mr. ROYCE. Well, thank you. I share the judge’s sense of urgency 

on this and I think that is why we need fully funded programs. 

That is why we need full diplomatic engagement and also why we 

need the Departments of State and Defense, both working with the 

game wardens whose lives are on the line there in Africa who are 

trying to stand off these poachers where they are outgunned and 

outnumbered. 

But let me thank Ambassador Nagy and Mr. Day for being here 

to testify before us and I hope the entire administration is listening 

to us today. Clearly there is strong bipartisan support for wellresourced, broad engagement in Africa. We have got to be present 

there. We have got to continue our effort there to be active in Africa, to build partner capacity, to combat terrorism, to foster trade 

and development. 

As the judge said, to end wildlife trafficking there, to strengthen 

health systems there, and of course to support good governance. 

Too much is at stake, too much for Americans, too much is at stake 

for Africans alike. And with that, this hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 12:21 p.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

(55)

A P P E N D I X 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

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FULL COMMITTEE HEARING NOTICE 

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

WASHINGTON, DC 205I5-6128 

Edward R Royce (R-CA), Chairman 

December 12, 20 I 8 

TO: MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

You are respectfully requested to attend an OPEN hearing of the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs to be held in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building (and available live on the 

Committee website at http://ww)V.FOJ:ei~tnAffai rs.house.gov): 

DATE: 

TIME: 

SUBJECT: 

WITNESSES: 

Wednesday, December 12,2018 

10 00 a.m. 

Development, Diplomacy, and Defense: Promoting U.S. Interests in Atiica 

The Honorable Tibor P. Nagy, Jr. 

Assistant Secretary 

Bureau of African Affairs 

U.S. Department of State 

Mr. Ramsey Day 

Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator 

Bureau for Africa 

US. Agency for International Development 

By Direction of the Chairman 
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33669m-1.eps

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

MINUTES OI' fULL COMMITTEE HEARING 

Day Wednesday Date. __ -"'12:::'11=2£:.:2:.::0.:o1:::.8 __ Room ___ :::.2;:_1:...:72:___ __ _ 

StartingTime lO:lOAM EndingTime !2:21PM 

Recesses (.__:__to __ ) L_tn __ )( __ to __ ) L_to ___) ( .. _to_) L._to ___) 

Presiding Member(s) 

Choirmcm Edward R. Royce 

Representative Steve Ch~hot 

Check all of tile following that app~v: 

Open Session lZl Executive (closed) Session D Televised lZJ 

TITLE OF llEARlNG: 

Elec!ronical!y Recorded (!aped) lZJ 

Stenographic Record lZJ 

Development, Diplomacy, and Defense: Promoting U.S. Intere.,tes in Africa 

COMMTTTF.E MEMBERS PRESENT: 

See attached. 

NON-COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: 

NIA 

HEARING WITNESSES: Same as meeting notice attached? Yes[] No 0 

(lf "no", please list below and include Iitle, agency, deparzment, or orJ;onf1'LJtion.) 

STATEMENTS FOR THE RRCORD: (Dst any statements submitted for the record,! 

lnfiJrmation for the Re.wrd- Representative David Cicilline 

QuestWns for the Record- Ranking Iff ember Eliot Engel and Representatives Chris Smith, Brad Sherman, 

114ark Ii,feallows, Ami Berfl, Joaquin Castro, Brendfln Boyle, and Dina Titus 

TIME SCHEDlJLED TO RECONVENE ___ _ 

or 

TIME ADJOURNED 12:21]''11!___ 
58

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PR~SR?vT 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

FUJI COMMJTTF.F HF.ARJNCi 

M~:\fli~R PR~S~?vT M~·cfli~R 

Edward R. Royce, CA X Eliot L. Engel, NY 

Christopher H. Smith, NJ X Brad Shennm1. CA 

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, FL X Gregory W. Meeks. NY 

Dana Rohrabacher, CA X Albio Sires. NJ 

Steve Chabot, OH X GeraJd E. Connolly. VA 

Joe Wilson. SC X Theodore E. Deutch, FL 

Michael T. McCaul, TX X Karen Bass, CA 

Ted Poe. TX Willimn Keating, MA 

Darrell Tssa. CA X David Cicilline, RT 

Tom Marino, PA X Ami Bera. CA 

Mo Brooks, AL X Lois Frankel, FL 

Paul Cook. CA Tulsi Gabbard. HI 

Scott Perry. PA X Joaquin Castro. TX 

Mark Meadows. NC Robin Kelly. TL 

TedYoho. FL Brendan Boyle, P A 

Adam KinzingerJL X Dina Titus. NV 

Lee Zeldin. NY Nom1a Torres, CA 

Dan Donovan, NY X Brad Sclmcidcr, IL 

James F. Sensenbrenner_ Jr .. WI X Tom Suozzi, NY 

Ann Wagner, MO X Adrim1o Espaillat, NY 

Brim1l Mast. FL X Ted Lieu, CA 

Brim1 K. Fitzpatrick, P A 

Frm1cis Rooney. FL 

Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.. VA 

John Curtis, UT 
59

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR RECORD BY THE HONORABLE DAVID CICILLINE, A

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND


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Committee Colleague 

)/ovember 27, 2018 

Page 2 of7 

sending bipartisan delegalions to the reglon to encourage partner countries to reject Nmih 

Korean forced labor and shipping industry, among other efforts to isolate this dangerous 

and brutal regime. The Conunlttcc also continued to raise awareness of the regime's 

horrific h1m1an rights record~ including by reauthorizing lhe North Korea Human Rights 

Act~ which updated critical U.S. programs to help North Koreans acce...;;;s ba'!ic news and 

information. 

• Opposing the Fnll Range of Iranian Threats. Tehran's rogue regime is waging an 

increasingly successful etiort to holster its influence across the Middle. East, fomenting 

conflict and violence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen. and Lebanon and threatening regional stability. 

The Committee supported the self-defense capabilities of regional U.S. partners, including 

by reauthorizing critical security assistance to Israel at historically high levels and 

streamlining arms sales to Jordan. In addition to conducting vigorous oversight and 

scrutiny of the nuclear agreement with Iran, the Committee successfully enacted multiple 

pieces of bipartisan legislation to sam:tion lran' s halJistic missile program, and lts foremost 

regional proxy, Hezbollah. The Committee also profiled, through public hearings and 

House resolutions, Iran's suppmt for terrorist proxies) wide-scale corruption, and gross 

human rights abuses, and pressed the Obama and Trump Administrations to improve U.S. 

broadcasting of these abuses into Iran. 

Counteling Russian Aggression and Disinformation. The Committee condemned and 

worked to respond to Russia's systematic campaign to undermine VVestern dernocratk 

institutions. After profiling the Kremlin's "'weaponization of inronnation" in eastern 

Europe, the Committee pressed lhr the successful enactment of bipartisan legislation to 

overhaul U.S. international broadcasting efforts and cowlter state-led propaganda through 

the creation of the Global Engagement Center within the Department of State. After the 

2016 U.S. election, Ranking Member Engel and I also worked to enact last year's 

Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which levied powerful 

sanctions on Russian hackers, intelligence agents, and industry. Following Russia's usc of 

a military-grade chemical weapon to poison British citizen Sergei Skripal and his daughter 

on British soil in March of 2018, the Committee sncccssfnlly pressed for the imposition of 

mandatory sanctions on Russia under the Chemical and Biological Weapons and Waifare 

Elimination Act. 

• Standing with our European Partners. The Committee reaffirmed Congress' 

conuuitmcnt to om NATO allies, including by passing resolutions supporting the alliance 

through the House with overwhelming support, and holding hearings and briefings with 

Administration officials and foreign delegations Lo discuss how best to counter Russia's 

increasing aggression in Central and Eastern Europe. The Committee strongly condemned 

Russia's aggressinn against Ukraine, adopting tough sanctions against Russian officials 

and businesses, and authorized lethal defensive military systems to Ukraine. 

• Addressing Threats in Cyberspace. Through legislation and diligent oversight, the 

Committee pressed the Obama and Trump Administrations to develop. a strategy for U.S. 

leadership on critical issues in cyberspace, including security, the digital economy, internet 
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Committee Colleague 

November 27, 2018 

Page 3 of7 

governance, m1d intemet freedom. The !louse pa'"ed the Cyher Deterrence and Response 

Act, to name, shame, and sanction foreign actors who carry out cyber attacks against the 

United States, including atiacks (m our infrastructure, cconmny, and elections. 

Challenging the Brutality of Assad, Rnssia, and Iran in Syria. In 2014, the Committee 

heard the hanowi11g testimony of Syrian army defector "Caesar," who produced thousands 

of photos documenting the Assad regime's honific brutality, including detention and 

torture ofthoiL'"nds or Syrians. The Committee passed legislation to sanction Assad and 

his backers, including Russia and Iran; hold war criminals accountable; and suppmtjustice 

for the victims of Assad's atrocities. 

l>egrading ISIS and Terrorist Networks. The Committee held numerous hearings and 

briefings with Administration officials and private experts to track the rise of terrorist 

organizations like ISIS, Al-Qacda, Boko Haram, and al-Shabaab. The Committee advanced 

bipartisan legislation to help pmtner countries defend themselves from these threats and 

improve management of U.S. security assistance, including military education and training. 

The Committee also successfully enacted legislation to limit the black market for Syrian 

antiquities looted hy ISIS, denying a source of funding to the organizntion and improving 

coordination around li.S. government cffurts to preserve cultural property. 

Advancing Diplomacv and Strengthening U.S. Foreign Assistance. The Committee continued 

its work to strengthen and retbrm U.S. diplomacy and roreign assistance so that U.S. dollars stretch 

fmther and improve and save mnre 1lves. 

• Investing in Diplomacy, Development and Defense. U.S. Foreign Service Officers and 

other personnel serve our couutry abroad with distinction, often in difficult oircmnstances 

and without their families, to advance American interests. But supporting our allies, 

opening markets for U.S. businesses, and combatting terror networks and global health 

threats takes resources and commitment from Washington. The Committee successfully 

fought back against proposals fbr disproportionate budget cuts that would have undermined 

critical diplomatic and development efforts~ while continuing to pmsue reforms to make 

U.S. foreign a".lsistance more efficient and accountable. 

• Promoting Economic Development and Trade. fhe Commil!ee successfully enacted 

landmark legislation to move countries from aid to trade hy establishing a modern U.S. 

development finance institution, \Vhich Will catalyze r .S. private-sector investnent in 

emerging markets. The Committee also enacted critical refonns to strengthen U.S.-Africa 

trade at no cost to taxpayers. These reforms not only snppmt America's exports and jobs, 

they strengthen U.S. national sccmity by offering the developing world a rules-based 

altemative to the predatory practices of authoritarian regimes like China. 

Com hatting Hunger and Promoting Food Security. U.S. overseas food assistance saves 

millions of lives every year, but has long been plagued by ineWciendes and outdated 

regulations. Through successive pieces of legislation, including the Global Food Security 
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Page 4 of7 

Act. the Committee secured conm10n-sense refonns to our food-assh;tnnce programs~ 

allov,ing us to stretch our dollars further, reduce long-tem1 dependence upon food aid, and 

ultimately~ save more Jives. 

Advancing Global Health. The Committee worked to reauthorize the President's 

Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPf AR), which is widely regarded a' the most 

effective U.S. !()reign assistance program since the \.farsha1l Plan. Since its inception~ 

PEPF AR has saved and improved millions of lives, prevented millions of HIV infections, 

and changed the conrsc of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. 

Protecting Human Rights Worldwide. The Comrn_ittee remained a vigorous adv{)caie of human 

rights and a voice for oppressed people around the globe. 

Demanding Accountability for Genocide and War Crime•. The Commillee continued 

to play a leading role in demanding ac~.:ountability for war crimes and mass atrocities. 

Through hearings and legislation, the Connnittce pressed the Obama and Trump 

Administrations to declare a genocide in the face of lllilSS atrocities committed by ISIS in 

the Middle East and Burmese secmity forces in Myanmar. The Conunittee also enacted 

legislation to support etlorts to collect and preserve evidence of crimes against humanity 

canied out by ISlS, so thai, u1llmate1y, justice may be served. 

Supporting Democracy in Africo. The Conunittee continued its legacy of supporting 

democracy in Aftica by enacting legislation to outline congressional expectations tbr 

benchmarks the Government of Zimbabwe must meei regarding free and fair elt.."Ctions, 

respect for human rights, and economic refonns in ordcr'to receive relief from existing 

sanctions and debt. The Committee a!Bo pushed to codify sanctions against the Democratic 

Republic of Congo in response to the government's continued refusal to schedule elections, 

and the deteriorating human rights situation. The Committee also advanced resolutions 

supporting freedom and democratic values in Liberia, Ethiopia, Keny;J, and elsewhere. 

• Promoting Human Rights and Condemning Corrupt Regimes. The Committee enacted 

the "Global Magnitsky Act" to sanction individuols responsible for significant corruption 

and gross violations of human rights. The Comrnillee also continued to shed light on 

corrupt regimes, especially in the 'Western fiemisphere. Members traveled to the region to 

observe the humanitarian crisis caused by Venezuela's dictator Nicolas Madnro. and 

pushed for legislation to continue hmnanitarian assistanec for the V cnczuclan people and 

impose targeted sanctions on Madura's regime. The Committee also responded actively to 

escalating violence in 1'\icaragua, and conducted oversight of U.S. democracy promo lion 

and anti-corruption programs in the region. 

Conducting Rigorous Oversight. The Committee continued a tradition of robust oversight of the 

agencies and laws tmdcr its jurisdiction, holding over eight hundred hearings, markups, briefings, 

and meetings over the last six years. The Committee also secured a number of impmtant refonns 

to modemize m1d refocus key U.S. diplomacy and development activities. 
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• Revitalizing America's International Broadcasting. Through persistent oversight, the 

Committee pushed Radio Free Europe/Radio Libe1ty, Radio Free Asia, and other U.S.-

backed broadcasters to be more eflective in combatting propaganda from ISIS, Russia, and 

others. The strategies employed by the Kremlin today, for example, arc highly 

sophistica!ed and Jdgned to help Puti.n both consolidate power at home and divide 

societies abroad. Unfmtnnately, the U.S.-backcd outlets that were critical in taking do"11 

the Iron Curtain with timely and accurate reporting have since lost their edge. The 

Committee led a successful push to reform the agency- widely deemed. "defunct"- that 

oversees U.S. :international broadea.<;ters, empowering a CEO to improve management at 

the ne"vly-named "U.S. Agency for Glohal Media," so that American can ultimately win 

the in ronnation 'var against authoritarian regimes and terrorist groups. 

• Reforming l~xpurt Controls. Following years of diligent oversight and hearings, the 

Committee successfully enacted the most comprehensive export-control reform in decades, 

closing critical gaps in U.S. export controls that could othcrnisc pcnnit the transfer of 

cutting edge technologies - like artificial intelligence and advanced semiconductors - to 

China and other countries of concern. The legislation also ensures thai our controls are 

regularly updated to support continued U.S. leadership in science, technology, engineering, 

manufacturing. These reforms eru;ure that U.S. national security and our technological edge 

are protected without creating a sprawling new bureaucracy or mmecessarily burdening 

U.S. job creators competing in overseas markets. 

• Bolstering Embassy Security. The Commillee passed legislation to improve the security, 

functionality, and cflicicncy of America's cmhassies and consulates through enhanced 

oversight of the selection, design, and consm1ction of new facilities. The Committee also 

conducted rigorous oversight of the newly constructed training facility for diplomats in 

Southwestem Virginia. This oversight is a continuation of this Committee's efforts last 

Congress, which ultimately saved taxpayers roughly $500 million in unnecessary 

construction costs. 

Strengthening the Global Health Supply Chain. After conducting dozens of interviews, 

reviewing thousands of pages of documents, traveling to the region., and holding a 

subcommittee hearing on the issue, Committee members released an extensive report 

outlining problems with USAID's largest-ever contract that jeopardized access to lifesaving health commodities. Among other recommendations, the report outlined key ways 

in which the Dcpa1tmcnt of State and USAID must improve communication, coordination, 

and oversight. As a result, resources will be better spent, and lives will be saved abroad. 

Using our Aid as Leverage to End Support for Terrorism. The Committee successfully 

enacted legislation to cut offfi.mding that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority (PA), 

unless and until the PA stops making payments to Palestinian terrorists and their fu.milies. 

The PA~s abhorrenl practice of rewarding tenorism incentivizes violence and jeopardizes 

the security of om ally, Israel. The Taylor Force Act was named after a courageous and 

patriotic yom1g American, Taylor Force, whose life was tragically cut sh01t when he 

murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in Israel. 
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Page 6 of7 

Supporting Anti-Corruption Efforts. The Committee cond11cted rigorous oversight of 

U.S. anti-corruption efforts, particularly in the northern-triangle region of Central America 

The Committee investigated allegations of overreach on the part of the !ntemational 

Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and proposed refonns to address 

legitimate concerns, while defending the organization's overall eff01is to combat 

corruption and impunity. When the Guatemalan govenm1ent announced its plans to expel 

CTCIG, the Committee demanded written goals and plans for the transfer of capacity from 

CICIO to the Guatemalan Attorney General"s orfice. 

Empowering Women and Girls. 'I 'he Committee worked to ensure that women and girls around 

the world arc included in and empowered by ongoing U.S. investments in diplomacy, 

development, and security. 

• Promoting Peace Processes. While women are frequently excluded fi·om negotiations to 

bring an end to war and conflict, peace processes that include women are much more likely 

to succeed in restoring pe.:1.ce. The Comn1ittee successthlly enacted !egislalion to require a 

goven1ment-v..ide strategy to promote womenls participation in preventing and resolving 

conflicts globally, along "1th training for State and Defense Department personnel on 

women's inclusion and efforts to protect civilians from violence and exploitation. 

• Improving Economic Empowerment and Access to Digital Resources. The Committee 

passed legislation to address gender-related barriers to economic gro"1h and support 

women-led enterprises, by expanding microcnterprise assistance to small and mediumsized women-owned businesses. Additionally, tl1e Committee pushed for legislation to 

promote internet access in d~veloping countries, v,ith special attention to women and 

underserved populations, to improve education and economic opportunities. 

I'rotecting Girls' Education. The Committee led the way in enacting legislation to expand 

girls' access to q1Jality basic education in developing and conllict-affected countries, by 

encouraging attention to some of the uniqlle barriers girls face: ;:,;uch as child marriage and 

gender-based ;iolence. 

Chlll11pioning Conservation. The Committee 1vorkcd to protect the world's most unique 

landscapes, the iconic animals that inhabit them, and the communities that call them home. 

• Ending Wildlife 'rrafficking. The Committee passed the END Wlldli±e Trafficking Act 

to target the international criminal syndicates poaching wildlife m1d selling their ivory on 

the black market- often to the benefit oftcnorists and other criminal gangs. 

Strengthening Conservation Coordination. The Conunittee continued to promote 

international conservation efforts, including passing nvo major pieces of legislation that 

help conserve the Okavango River Basin, home to the largest remaining elephant 

population in Africa, and usc existing State Department global rewards programs to target 

transnational vdldlife traffickers. These important pieces of legislation, along with those 
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33669c-7.eps

Committee Colleague 

November 27, 2018 

Page"/ of7 

previously enacted, not only serve to protect some of the world's most endangered animals, 

but provide the State Department wiih tools to capture and convict wanted transnational 

criminals ami terrorists who profil from the illegal wiiUiire tratle. 

In conclusion, I thank each of you for your role in seeming these and our many other important 

policy achievements. I also want to thank the talented and hardworking Committee staff, including 

Amy Porter, Tom Sheehy, Jason Steinbaum, and Doug Campbell, who have led the Committee's 

Republican and Democratic staff over the }ao;;t six years. 

I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve as your Chairman, and wish you the best in 

your future endeavors. 

Sim.:erely, 

Ch:iirman