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EVEREST TREMBLED: LESSONS LEARNED FROM

THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

MAY 20, 2015

Serial No. 114–48

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

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

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

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

CURT CLAWSON, Florida 

SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee 

REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin 

DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

DANIEL DONOVAN, New York 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

MATT SALMON, Arizona Chairman 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

AMI BERA, California 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

GRACE MENG, New York 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

WITNESSES 

The Honorable Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South 

and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State ...................................... 6

Mr. Thomas H. Staal, Acting Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy, 

Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for International Development .................................................................................................................. 18

The Honorable Jonathan Stivers, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia, 

U.S. Agency for International Development ...................................................... 20

Ms. Anne A. Witkowsky, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Stability 

and Humanitarian Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense ................................. 30

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

The Honorable Nisha Desai Biswal: Prepared statement .................................... 10

Mr. Thomas H. Staal and the Honorable Jonathan Stivers: Prepared statement ...................................................................................................................... 22

Ms. Anne A. Witkowsky: Prepared statement ...................................................... 32

APPENDIX 

Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 46

Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 47

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

Commonwealth of Virginia: Prepared statement .............................................. 48

(1)

EVEREST TREMBLED: LESSONS LEARNED 

FROM THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:30 p.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Matt Salmon (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. SALMON. As I mentioned during markup, Nepal was hit with 

a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake on April 25, followed by 

another 7.3 magnitude earthquake on May 12, claiming the lives 

of over 8,000 people and leaving millions affected and at risk. 

Some have argued that the disaster in Nepal was partially mitigated by advanced preparation of USAID and others through its 

60-year presence in Nepal engaging in disaster risk reduction. 

Today, we will discuss the U.S. Government efforts to alleviate 

the circumstances of disaster in Nepal. We expect our distinguished 

witnesses to highlight successful, effective preplanning efforts. But 

I also expect an honest assessment of the long-term implications 

and challenges for rebuilding and protecting vulnerable communities. I would also like to hear about what we can do to make our 

foreign aid efforts more efficient. The United States has committed nearly $47 million for response 

and recovery efforts in Nepal. We are working with a dozen other 

nations in cooperation with the United Nations, as well as thousands of foreign personnel on the ground in Nepal assisting with 

our relief projects. Our efforts have been particularly concentrated 

on search and rescue, shelter, water, and sanitation. But we have 

been involved in nearly every aspect of the response to some degree. 

As far as USAID is concerned, they deployed a Disaster Assistance Response, or DART team the day of the event, sending over 

120 people, search and rescue dogs to Nepal aboard military aircraft within hours. The team’s urban search and rescue personnel, 

some based in nearby Fairfax, Virginia, as was referenced, spent 

weeks working miracles, pulling survivors out of the rubble in 

Kathmandu and elsewhere, while other DART personnel investigated the safety of damaged structures. 

I look forward to hearing more about their heroic activities and 

how preparations such as the DART’s readiness and prestaged supplies helped in Nepal. 

2

The State Department helped to connect thousands of American 

citizens with their loved ones in Nepal during the earthquake. I 

have also heard that the U.S. bilateral connections are playing an 

important role in the crisis response. Our partner nations in the region are leveraging U.S. capabilities to help shoulder more of the 

burden. 

I would like Assistant Secretary Biswal to inform the committee 

on whether this may be an indication that future disaster responses in the region might be less reliant on U.S. agencies. 

The Department of Defense supported these efforts by providing 

airlift and other support at USAID’s request. Though DOD does 

not take the lead in comprehensive disaster support such as this, 

without their support such efforts would be impossible. 

Our military is also our country’s most significant strategic presence in Asia, and we rely so heavily on their capabilities both to 

support our existing partners and to develop new ones through 

military cooperation. I look forward to hearing about the military’s 

engagement during the crisis and how their support of operations 

in Nepal will inform their strategies in the future. 

Enduring needs and increased risks for Nepal. Despite these incredible efforts for our country and many others, the crisis is far 

from over in Nepal. The coming months and years will be the true 

test of our response capabilities. Monsoon season is fast approaching. Large numbers of homeless people exposed to the elements 

during this time would be a dire enough problem in and of itself. 

The earthquakes have also changed the water tables in Nepal, 

reducing water quality, creating large amounts of displaced earth, 

and increasing the risk of flooding. Nepal faces enormous water 

and sanitation dangers. 

Food shortages are also a major concern. I understand the crisis 

hit just before the planting season and that there were efforts to 

help farmers get their crops in the ground. Additionally, I am concerned by reports that U.S. food assistance, including food that has 

been prepositioned in Sri Lanka in order to reduce delivery times, 

will take up to 45 days to arrive in Nepal. I would appreciate a report on this delay and any idea of Nepal’s longer-term food outlook. 

These and other challenges will disproportionately affect the vulnerable populations among Nepal’s displaced peoples, including 

women and children. Given the history of trafficking-in-persons 

issues in Nepal, support of these vulnerable populations will be of 

the utmost importance, and I would like our administration witnesses to discuss how we are working to ensure their safety. 

As we consider these horrific enduring challenges, however, we 

should not forget that the response to the Nepal crisis highlighted 

just how effective some of our disaster response mechanisms really 

are and reduced some of the earthquake’s devastating impact. I 

have heard that safer building techniques meant that we suffered 

zero U.S. Embassy or local personnel fatalities and that prestaged 

supplies in Nepal are helping us get people shelter faster. It is also 

very exciting to hear that some of our partner nations are using 

U.S.-built capabilities to contribute to that response. 

I am interested to hear our witnesses’ insight on what this 

means regarding the efficacy of these investments in the region, 

whether U.S. capacity building in the region is increasing regional 

3

disaster response effectiveness, and how these type of investments 

can reduce the cost of disaster response operations for the United 

States in the long term. 

It is under extremely unfortunate circumstances that we discuss 

these efforts, but this is precisely what we have many of these organizations for. Discussing the challenges we face in the region is 

necessary to prepare for future potential disasters and working toward minimizing the loss of life, as well as depleting limited resources associated with relief efforts. 

I give my sincere thanks to our colleagues and our witnesses for 

joining us in this conversation today. And I yield to the ranking 

member, Mr. Connolly. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome to our 

panel. 

The United States has demonstrated a longstanding commitment 

to assistance in disaster readiness in Nepal. For over 60 years we 

have had a presence in Nepal in the form of our bilateral aid program. And we have been focused, as you indicated, Mr. Chairman, 

on strengthening the country’s disaster response capabilities for 

the last two decades. 

U.S. efforts include the establishment of a disaster risk reduction 

office to coordinate government investments that make the country 

more resilient in the face of natural disasters, implementation of 

the program for the enhancement of emergency response to train 

Nepali first responders and medical personnel, and publication of 

a disaster risk reduction strategic framework for the country. 

We obviously will be very interested in hearing how some things 

worked and some things didn’t in the face of this natural disaster. 

As part of the U.S. response to a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that 

occurred on April 25, the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Disaster Assistance deployed, as it often does, a Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, that included elite 

urban search and rescue teams from my home county, Fairfax, Virginia, and Los Angeles, California. Physicians, K–9 handlers, structural engineers, technical search and rescue specialists, paramedics, and other personnel volunteer to serve on these teams and 

deploy abroad on a moment’s notice, and we have done it all over 

the world for decades. And it makes one’s heart feel better on television watching the backs saying LA team, Fairfax team, because 

you know Americans are putting themselves at risk to try to save 

fellow human beings they have never met in a faraway place. 

Once in country, the team quickly begins to facilitate relief efforts. This time, that task was immense. The team found a dire situation in the region most heavily affected by the earthquake which 

killed more than 8,000 people and injured at least 16,000 more. 

The seismic impact left over 750,000 homes damaged or destroyed 

and 1.5 million people displaced, even without access to clean 

water. 

Team members helped Nepali personnel assess whether structures were safe to inhabit and provided technical guidance on how 

to shore up buildings that needed to reinforced. Miraculously, the 

U.S. search and rescue teams also helped to pull a 15-year-old boy 

from the rubble of a building 5 days after the earthquake had 

struck. Additionally, after experiencing a 7.3 magnitude aftershock, 

4

the team quickly went back to work and rescued a 41-year-old 

woman who had been trapped in a four-story building. 

U.S. assistance efforts are not cost-free endeavors, however, and 

they certainly are not without risk. Tragically, six of our marines 

were killed in a UH Huey helicopter crash while on a humanitarian mission in response to this earthquake. 

The dangerous nature of these deployments on behalf of vulnerable populations abroad further demonstrates the resolve of U.S. 

foreign assistance operations. We should honor the men and 

women who stepped forward to put themselves in harm’s way on 

behalf of this mission. 

Disaster response tests the limits of domestic institutions, as 

well as international assistance and cooperation. I certainly look 

forward to hearing from our witnesses about the performance of 

the U.S. team in Nepal, lessons learned, and how we can further 

improve our coordination with Nepal, and prospectively other international partners, when the need for such disaster relief effort 

arises again, as we know inevitably it will. 

I welcome recommendations on how we can promote the democratic transition in Nepal and put a decade of civil war firmly in 

the rear-view mirror. It is only through strengthened governance 

and civil society institutions that Nepal will be able to develop fully 

its own disaster response capabilities, resilient enough for this disaster-prone region in the world. 

And with that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. SALMON. Thank you. 

Does anybody else wish to be recognized? 

Mr. Chabot. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling this important hearing. 

The devastating earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25 was 

heartbreaking. The incredible loss of life is tragic beyond words, 

and the loss of thousands of years of history places an enormous 

gap in the historical record of Nepal’s people. Picking up will not 

be easy, and unfortunately, Nepal will never be able to get back all 

that it has lost. 

The international response to the quake, however, has been considerable. And in particular, the U.S. Government’s response efforts from the State Department, USAID, and the Department of 

Defense, its immediacy and rapid-fire response made a difference 

and saved many lives. You are to be commended and thanked for 

your considerable effort there. 

The dedicated U.S. team that joined the response effort deserves 

our gratitude. As you already mentioned, Mr. Chairman, and the 

ranking member mentioned, six of our marines paid the ultimate 

price to help the Nepalese people, and they will forever be missed, 

and we should remember them. 

Three years ago, I happened to visit Nepal, and as soon as I 

heard this, I remembered it like it was yesterday: The Ambassador 

voicing his concern to us as we drove about the stone buildings and 

the brick buildings and the vulnerability to the quake when the big 

one hit, which ultimately it would. The thing that is particularly 

frightening, is that this apparently wasn’t the big one. There is 

probably one even bigger coming. Hopefully, that can be considered 

5

in the efforts, not just the rescue efforts and the recovery effort, everything that has happened right now, but long-term preventing 

more people from losing their lives down the road and how we can 

assist in that effort. 

So, again, thank all of you for everything you have done to help. 

And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing. Yield 

back. 

Mr. SALMON. Ms. Meng, would you like to make an opening 

statement? 

Ms. MENG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Sherman, and our witnesses for being here of course. 

New York City is home to thousands of Nepalese Americans, and 

we have Nepalese community centers in our districts and throughout the borough of Queens. So this earthquake has affected my constituents in a very personal way. 

I want to thank all of your departments for the immediate response to the crisis and your ongoing efforts. In a tragedy like this 

one, every minute and every hour is important and can mean the 

difference between a life saved and a life lost. 

This has been a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions. As 

of May 13, the Government of Nepal estimates that more than 

8,200 people have been killed and over 17,900 injured. From what 

I understand, an earthquake in Nepal was considered one of the 

worst-case scenarios as far as potential environmental disasters in 

Asia. I would like to hear from you on how your preparations 

helped facilitate appropriate aid in this crisis and what more needs 

to be done to prepare for future disasters. 

Thank you, and I yield back. 

Mr. SALMON. Thank you. 

Mr. Brooks, did you have an opening statement? 

Mr. BROOKS. No, sir. 

Mr. SALMON. Well, thank you. 

We are proud and very appreciative today to speak with a panel 

of some of the administration’s most knowledgeable and senior figures handling this crisis. Appearing before the subcommittee once 

again is Nisha Biswal—great to see you again, I am glad to have 

you here—Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian 

Affairs. Assistant Secretary Biswal has just returned from Nepal. 

And we are very much looking forward to hearing about your findings there. 

We are also very grateful to hear from Thomas Staal, USAID’s 

Acting Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance. Also joining us, again from 

USAID, is Jonathan Stivers—great to have you here again, Jonathan—Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Asia. This is Mr. 

Stivers’ third time before the subcommittee. 

I am getting to see more of you than my family members. So it 

is great. And we are very glad that you keep coming back, that we 

haven’t scared you away. That is good. 

And finally we have Anne Witkowsky. 

Did I say that right? 

Ms. WITKOWSKY. Yes, you did. 

6

Mr. SALMON. I hate it when people mispronounce my name, so 

I want to make sure I get it right. The Deputy Assistant Secretary 

of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs. 

The subcommittee gives sincere thanks to the panel for their insights this afternoon. And I am going to start with Ms. Biswal. 

Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE NISHA DESAI BISWAL, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF SOUTH AND CENTRAL 

ASIAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

Ms. BISWAL. Mr. Chairman, thank you so much for this important and timely hearing on Nepal. Ranking Member Connolly and 

members of the committee, it is tragic that the earthquake in 

Nepal is what brings us together here, but I want to thank you for 

your very comprehensive and very heartfelt statements and for the 

very strong support of the United States Congress in the relief efforts from the United States and really from around the world for 

the people of Nepal at this time. 

I am particularly proud to be appearing at this hearing with my 

colleagues from USAID and the Department of Defense, which is 

a really true indication of the spirit of civil and military cooperation in the United States when it comes to issues of humanitarian 

response. 

In the interest of time, and because we have such detailed expertise at the dais, I want to ask that my full statement be entered 

into the record, and I will just summarize a few key points here. 

Mr. Chairman, the outpouring of concern from the U.S. Congress 

in the days and weeks following the earthquake, and the surge in 

contributions to relief organizations, is a real testament to the generosity of the American people and a true indicator of the common 

values that unite us during difficult times. 

As you noted, the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Nepal took over 

8,600 lives and injured over 17,000 people. Last week, I traveled 

to Nepal and witnessed firsthand the devastating losses suffered by 

the Nepalese people, but also the triumph of the human spirit, the 

resiliency of the affected communities, and the courage and the 

commitment of the relief workers as they all came together to help 

Nepal recover from this devastating earthquake. I saw the grit and 

determination in the faces of those who had lost their homes and 

their family members, but who had not lost their hope. 

It was heartbreaking news, as I arrived in Nepal, that the American UH–1 helicopter had crashed with no survivors. And that 

news reached our team in Kathmandu, as we had kept our search 

efforts and our hopes alive for 4 days in search of that helicopter. 

We salute those brave military professionals, Americans and Nepalese, who perished in their Nation’s service while helping those in 

need. 

I also want to take a moment to express our extreme gratitude 

to the strong support of the Indian and Nepalese forces who joined 

us in that extensive search for our missing helicopter. As General 

Wissler, the lieutenant general task force commander of Joint Task 

Force 505, noted to me, the Nepalese and Indian forces joined in 

that search as if it was one of their own that had gone missing. 

7

The U.S. civilian responders, led by the AID DART team and the 

Embassy team, and our search and rescue teams from Fairfax and 

Los Angeles, all worked tirelessly to save lives and bring assistance. They are heroes that embody the best of American values. 

Mr. Chairman, Nepal is a nation of tremendous strength and 

bravery. It was just on the verge of emerging from a 10-year civil 

war and moving toward strengthening its democracy and moving 

down a path of development. It is now a country that is recovering 

from a major tragedy and focusing on the most immediate needs 

of shelter, of food, and of health. 

If we are to help Nepal not only recover from this earthquake, 

but also continue down that path of political transition and 

progress, it is going to require the considered effort of the United 

States and the international community, and most importantly, of 

Nepal itself. 

Our immediate focus, Mr. Chairman, is on beating the clock, as 

the monsoon rains that are expected in about a month’s time 

threaten to bring a new onset of disaster. We are racing against 

time to provide shelter, to help people get crops in the field, and 

to move toward a post-monsoon recovery phase. 

When I was in Nepal, I had a chance to visit a town of Sankhu, 

about an hour outside of Kathmandu, where I saw devastation 

which was heartrending, with 50 to 60 to 70 percent of the buildings and structures destroyed or damaged beyond habitation. Yet 

at the same time, we saw perseverance in the faces of the Nepalese 

people who were already undertaking the task of trying to put 

their lives and their homes back together. 

The U.S. Government has already committed nearly $47 million 

in assistance. But, Mr. Chairman, I want to note that some of the 

most important lifesaving assistance that the United States provided happened before the earthquake struck, as you noted. And 

because of the strong support of the United States and the American people and the investments we have made over the years, the 

Nepalese Government and the Nepalese military, which had been 

training with our military, was in a much better capacity to respond to this earthquake. 

Our Embassy staff, under the leadership of Ambassador Peter 

Bodde and our Deputy Chief of Mission, John Carwile, who is actually with us today at this hearing, the Embassy staff performed 

above and beyond the call of duty in the recent weeks. After undergoing that tragic earthquake, they were up and ready to assist 

within hours. 

And that team, because of the investments that the American 

Congress has supported over the last 5 years, did not lose a single 

life on the Embassy staff. We had put everybody into earthquakeresilient housing and we had done drills in preparation that proved 

to be extremely lifesaving in this important moment, and they were 

able to go about the business of rendering assistance to others in 

need because their own needs and their own families had been 

taken care of. 

We learned important lessons in that process, and we will be 

looking at the best practices of what we did in Nepal in terms of 

our Embassies and people in other seismically prone areas. 

8

The Embassy has been open since the time of the earthquake, 

providing services to American citizens and others in need. Over 

800 U.S. citizens and third-country nationals were sheltering at the 

Embassy for a number of days in the immediate aftermath of the 

earthquake. Over 50 U.S. and third-country nationals were rescued 

by the efforts of the Embassy team by chartering private aircraft 

before the U.S. military assets arrived on the ground. And they 

continue to work to provide assistance to American citizens in need 

across Nepal, as well as third-country nationals as necessary. 

Mr. Chairman, I want to talk a little bit about the regional responses to this earthquake. We have seen a remarkable response 

by the neighboring countries. Certainly the Indian Government and 

the Indian military, but also assistance was mobilized by Bangladesh, by Sri Lanka, by China, by Japan, by Thailand. And it has 

been just a tremendous outpouring of effort from within the region 

and across Asia, and it has been a really important indicator of the 

increasing capabilities throughout Asia to respond to humanitarian 

disasters. 

A lot of that is work that has been done by the United States 

working with our partners across Asia to build capacity. Both our 

Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and our military have invested a tremendous amount of effort over the past decades in 

building disaster response capabilities, and that was on full display 

during this recent tragedy. 

Finally, Mr. Chairman, as I noted, that as we are still in the 

midst of relief we are already talking about and focusing on the 

longer-term recovery, and we are working together with the international community, with the World Bank, the United Nations, the 

Asian Development Bank, the European Union, and bilateral donors to come together around a common framework of needs. There 

will be a post-disaster needs assessment that will be led by the 

World Bank and the U.N., under which the Government of Nepal 

and all of the donor community are working together to have a 

common assessment of need. And based on that, we will work together to ascertain the assistance pledges from within Asia and 

around the international community. 

We do expect that a lot of the recovery will be Asian led, but the 

United States will have a very important role to play if we are to 

help Nepal not only recover from this earthquake, but build back 

better. We will have more on that as we progress, but Mr. Chairman, I want to pledge to you and to the ranking member that we 

will work very closely with Congress as we determine those needs 

and as we move forward. 

It is also a time of political delicacy as we continue to strengthen 

Nepal’s efforts for political reconciliation, for constitutional drafting, and for strengthening its democracy moving forward. And we 

will seek to work through the relief and recovery phase in ways 

that build political consensus and unity and help strengthen the 

democratic process in Nepal. 

Finally, there are particular vulnerable groups within Nepal that 

are more affected by this earthquake, and we are very mindful of 

the needs of women and children, particularly the vulnerability to 

trafficking at a time when so much of the law enforcement capabilities are focused on earthquake relief. This is an area that we are 

9

already surging technical expertise and assistance to address, and 

we are working not only with the law enforcement authorities of 

Nepal, but also of neighboring countries, especially India, to ensure 

that we are addressing the needs of these most vulnerable victims 

of the earthquake so that they do not also become victims of trafficking. 

We are also working to ensure that minority populations and refugee communities within Nepal, who have long found refuge by the 

Government of Nepal, are also addressed in terms of the impact of 

the earthquake on Tibetan, Bhutanese, and other communities. 

Finally, as we are looking at the long term impacts, let us not 

forget the impact on Nepal’s cultural heritage. The beautiful and 

ancient architecture of Nepal took a severe blow. I had a chance 

to walk through Durbar Square, and it was just a deeply moving 

sight to see some of these beautiful ancient buildings reduced to 

rubble. And it will take an effort from not just Nepal, but from the 

world to preserve this heritage, which is not just Nepal’s heritage, 

but it is the world’s heritage. 

So with that, Mr. Chairman, let me just thank you again for the 

leadership of this committee and of this Congress and the support 

that you have provided to the people of Nepal and to the U.S. Government’s response to this tragic earthquake. I look forward to 

your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Biswal follows:]

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Mr. SALMON. Thank you. 

Mr. Staal. 

STATEMENT OF MR. THOMAS H. STAAL, ACTING ASSISTANT 

ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT 

AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Mr. STAAL. Chairman Salmon, Ranking Member Connolly, and 

members of the subcommittee, thank you very much for inviting 

us, for USAID especially, to testify regarding the humanitarian response to the Nepal earthquake. And of course thank you for your 

continuing support to our efforts. 

And of course we would like to express our deepest condolences 

to all of those who lost their lives and to the loved ones in this 

tragedy, including the families of the six U.S. marines and the two 

Nepalese soldiers who died. We are very grateful to our military, 

urban search and rescue teams, partners, and staff who are taking 

risks every day to save lives in Nepal. 

As you mentioned, the earthquake on April 25 and the aftershocks that followed caused huge, widespread damage across 

Nepal, and especially in the rural areas. But preparedness measures that USAID has supported over the years have helped save 

lives and mitigate damage. 

Today, I want to provide quickly an overview of our humanitarian response, and then I also want to share how we have leveraged investments in disaster risk reduction over the years to ensure the most effective and efficient response. And then I will turn 

it over to my colleague, John Stivers, who just returned from 

Nepal, to provide an overview of the next steps and initial plans 

for recovery. 

As you mentioned, to date the U.S. Government has provided nearly $47 million in humanitarian assistance. The funding is 

being used to address priorities, including emergency shelter—we 

have got some plastic sheeting right here—safe drinking water, 

food, improved hygiene, protection of survivors, especially women 

and children, so quite a broad spectrum of assistance. 

Within hours after the earthquake hit we deployed a Disaster 

Assistance Response Team, as you mentioned. This included 20 

USAID disaster experts, plus the search and rescue teams from 

Fairfax and from Los Angeles, and their famous now 12 rescue K–

9s. I think we have a picture of that that we can show too. Here 

is a photo of two of the USAR members, Teresa MacPherson and 

her K–9 Port, from Fairfax. I think we have got it there somewhere. There you go. 

We have learned from previous disaster responses the value of 

strong interagency coordination. Based on initial disaster assessments, we promptly requested assistance from our colleagues in the 

Department of Defense to provide airlift and logistical support. So 

that since May 4 we have now worked with the military to transport more than 109 tons of relief supplies to remote areas. The coordination has been exceptional. 

And our DART urban search and rescue, the USAR specialists, 

played a critical role in this response. In fact, I have got another 

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tify and then pull a 15-year-old boy out of the rubble in 

Kathmandu 5 days after the earthquake hit. The yellow hats are 

the search and rescue folks in there. And then of course you have 

got Nepalis as well. 

And then, as you mentioned, they also rescued a 41-year-old 

woman after the May 12 aftershock. And they worked with the 

U.S. military to set up triage centers at the airport and treated 

more than 50 people using medical supplies purchased and airlifted 

out there by USAID. 

The USAR teams are home now, but our disaster experts remain 

to direct the U.S. response in coordination with the Government of 

Nepal and other donors. With the monsoon season fast approaching, as my colleague said, we are focusing on providing emergency 

shelter, improving water, sanitation and hygiene to hard-hit communities. We have airlifted so far 6,200 rolls of this heavy duty 

plastic sheeting. We have got a picture of that being distributed. 

This can help 310,000 people build temporary shelters, protect 

their homes from damage and rain. And the last cargo flight with 

sheeting just landed this morning. 

And not only for homes, but you can use that plastic sheeting for 

other purposes. I think the next photo we have got showing that 

the Nepal Red Cross is using it as temporary classrooms and safe 

spaces for children to play. And that is another way of protecting 

women and children. 

Before I turn it over to John, I want to just briefly identify some 

insights on response from previous investments. Over two decades, 

we have partnered with the Government of Nepal to bolster its disaster management and emergency response capability. For example, we supported the Nepal Red Cross Society to preposition water 

treatment plants and stock warehouses with emergency supplies 

out in the rural areas, and these were distributed to 3,000 families 

within hours of the earthquake happening. 

We worked with the International Organization of Migration to 

identify, prepare, and preserve more than 80 open spaces throughout Kathmandu Valley, about half of which are now being used to 

shelter displaced. We retrofitted 50 schools to make them more 

earthquake resistant. And through our USAR teams, we checked 

these schools. Only six had damage, and very minor damage. 

And also, thanks to support for hospital preparedness, the hospitals were able to stay open and quickly provide support to earthquake survivors. One hospital has treated 700 survivors and performed 300 surgeries. 

So the impact of the quake could have been a lot worse without 

these preparedness efforts. And none of these investments of course 

would have been possible without your continued support. So thank 

you very much. 

And now I would like to turn to John to lay out some of the plans 

for the recovery phase. Thank you. 

Mr. SALMON. Mr. Stivers. 

20

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JONATHAN STIVERS, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR ASIA, U.S. AGENCY 

FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Mr. STIVERS. Thank you. Chairman Salmon, members of the subcommittee, thank you for scheduling this important hearing. It is 

always an honor for me to testify before this subcommittee. Thank 

you for your continued support for USAID’s humanitarian and development initiatives, which save lives and put people on a path toward democracy, resilience, and prosperity. 

I join with this committee and my colleagues in expressing their 

deepest condolences to all who have lost their lives in this tragedy, 

including the six marines and two Nepalese soldiers who died. 

I was in Nepal shortly after the earthquake, and I can attest to 

the expertise, determination, and bravery of our personnel who are 

saving lives and mitigating the damage of this terrible earthquake. 

I can also attest to the resilience of the people of Nepal, who are 

determined to put their lives back together and move forward 

stronger than before. 

Building on the remarks of my colleagues, I will focus first on the 

context of the earthquake, including the U.S. role in Nepal’s development in recent years, then second on our efforts to protect vulnerable people, especially women and girls, from trafficking and exploitation, and third some early thoughts on Nepal’s long-term recovery. 

So first, in regards to development, Nepal is one of the poorest 

countries in the world and continues to cope with the effects of a 

decade-long insurgency that ended in 2006. Prior to the earthquake, Nepal had made significant development gains, including 

with support from President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative 

and Global Health and Global Climate Change initiatives. 

Three development accomplishments that we can be proud of. 

First, we have helped Nepal cut its extreme poverty rate in half, 

to 25 percent, in recent years. Second, we have helped significantly 

decrease maternal and infant mortality, putting Nepal on track to 

meet its Millennium Development Goals and giving mothers and 

children a better future. And third, since the conflict ended in 

2006, we have supported Nepal in carrying out two free and fair 

elections, with high voter turnout, due to our voter registration efforts and support for their Election Commission. 

Despite these achievements, Nepal has significant challenges 

ahead. The combination of weak democratic governance institutions 

and a natural disaster threaten the stability of this fragile democracy and the gains that have been made over the last decade. 

In regards to gender-based violence, prior to the earthquake 

human trafficking was a prevalent problem, and the current disaster puts women and girls at great risk. USAID is leveraging its 

anti-human trafficking program to respond to these heightened 

protection needs. For example, our partner, the Asia Foundation, 

is identifying those in need and providing support to help vulnerable people cope with the trauma of loss and make decisions that 

do not put them at risk of trafficking, sexual abuse, and exploitation. USAID is expanding on those efforts to five more earthquake-affected districts, building on our ongoing legal counseling to 

21

survivors of trafficking and training of justice sector officials to effectively investigate and prosecute trafficking cases. 

Thank you to the members of this committee for really keeping 

this issue front and center for U.S. priorities in Asia and around 

the world. 

In regards to the long-term recovery, time and again we have 

seen the value of initiating recovery efforts even as a disaster response is underway. In the coming weeks and months, we will 

work with the Government of Nepal and the international community and local civil society to advance the long-term recovery effort. 

USAID is working closely on a World Bank-led post-disaster needs 

assessment, PDNA, that should provide a framework for a donors 

conference to consider the long-term construction needs. 

While that assessment will not be completed until mid-June, we 

anticipate that shelter and infrastructure will be the greatest need. 

We have learned from past disasters that recovery in other areas 

is contingent on people having a safe place to live. 

Shortly after the earthquake, I had the opportunity to participate 

in an aerial survey and observe the distribution of relief supplies 

in Sinhupalchowk, one of the worst-hit districts in the mountains 

north of Kathmandu. In this district, it is estimated that 70 percent of the structures were destroyed, and 40 percent of the deaths 

occurred here. 

The remoteness of these hardest-hit towns makes delivering relief supplies before monsoon season next month extremely difficult, 

and assessing the full scope of the reconstruction effort is a major 

challenge based on this terrain. But we know that the recovery will 

need to focus on livelihoods and food security, health and hygiene, 

water and sanitation, education, protection of vulnerable people, 

and disaster risk management. 

Efforts to strengthen governance systems will also be critical to 

ensure that recovery investments are transparent, accountable, and 

responsive to local needs. We look forward to working with the U.S. 

Congress to determine the appropriate U.S. Role in Nepal’s longterm recovery. 

Nepal will not walk this road alone. The U.S. Was one of the first 

countries to enter Nepal in 1951 when the government opened its 

borders to the outside world. We are Nepal’s longest-standing development partner, and we will work alongside the Nepalese people 

on the front lines of this response and recovery. 

Thank you for the congressional support of our disaster response 

and development efforts in Nepal and around the world, and I look 

forward to answering any questions. Thank you. 

[The joint statement of Mr. Staal and Mr. Stivers follows:]

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Mr. SALMON. Thank you. 

Ms. Witkowsky. 

STATEMENT OF MS. ANNE A. WITKOWSKY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, STABILITY AND HUMANITARIAN 

AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

Ms. WITKOWSKY. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member 

Sherman and distinguished members of the committee, thank you 

for the opportunity to testify today. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. For the record, I am not Ranking Member Sherman. 

Ms. WITKOWSKY. I am sorry. Ranking Member Connolly. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you. 

Ms. WITKOWSKY. I apologize. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Apparently we look a lot alike. Just teasing. 

Ms. WITKOWSKY. May I try again? 

Ranking Member Connolly and distinguished members of the 

committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding 

the Department of Defense role in the U.S. Response to the April 

25 Nepal earthquake and May 12 aftershock. 

First, I would like to express my deep sadness and offer my condolences to the families of the six marines and their Nepalese counterparts lost in a helicopter accident supporting the relief effort. 

This tragedy is a reminder of the vital role that U.S. 

Servicemembers play in delivering humanitarian assistance and 

disaster relief, but one that is not without risk. 

The Department has a long history of military-to-military engagement in Nepal and the Pacific region. This engagement has focused on several areas most relevant to today’s hearing, increasing 

Nepal’s humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities. 

In recent years, through U.S. Pacific Command, DOD has worked 

with the Nepalese Government on initiatives designed specifically 

to mitigate the impact of a disaster such as this one. These efforts 

include construction of Deep Tube Wells to provide water in the 

event of an earthquake or landslide, establishment of an earthquake-resistant central blood bank, construction of earthquake-resistant emergency facilities at Nepal’s main airport, training on 

rapid repair of runways, establishment of emergency operation centers, and the construction of multiple disaster material warehouses. 

In addition, we have engaged in disaster-reduction exercises and 

exchanges, including an earthquake scenario field training exercise 

in 2013 and a regional disaster preparedness summit hosted in 

Bangladesh in 2014. Another round of exchange training is scheduled for later this year. 

Such efforts, along with other steady-state DOD humanitarian 

assistance projects, help to deepen our cooperation with our Nepalese partners and appear to have mitigated some of the impacts of 

the earthquake and facilitate its subsequent response efforts. For 

example, the DOD-funded Deep Tube Well Project is currently 

being used to provide water and power to more than 5,500 internally displaced persons, as well as local villagers and Nepalese police in the Kathmandu Valley. 

On April 25, just hours after the quake, Secretary Carter directed that the Department provide support to the Government of 

31

Nepal-led relief effort, responding to USAID’s request for assistance. The Commander of U.S. Pacific Command ordered two special forces teams already in Nepal for training to assist the Embassy team with immediate lifesaving relief and medical support. 

Additionally, U.S. Transportation Command provided two C–17 

aircraft to airlift the previously mentioned USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team, the DART, as well as the two urban search 

and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles 

County, California. These teams launched in the hours after the 

initial earthquake and arrived in Kathmandu on April 28. 

U.S. Pacific Command also deployed a 20-person Joint Humanitarian Assessment Support team, commanded by Marine Brigadier 

General Paul Kennedy, to provide subject matter expertise to the 

DART leader and better frame military requirements. 

As the Disaster Assistance Response Team and the Joint Humanitarian Assessment Support Team came to understand the 

scale of the disaster, it became clear that more military support 

would be required. Rotary wing airlift and airfield management 

specialists in particular were needed to help increase throughput of 

the increasingly backlogged international airport. 

The U.S. Military response, named Operation Sahayogi Haat, 

Nepali for Helping Hand, is under the control of Joint Task Force 

505, commanded by Marine Lieutenant John Wissler. The JTF has 

had more than 900 total personnel in Nepal, Thailand, and Japan. 

Up to 300 of those personnel have been forward staged to Nepal 

with Brigadier General Kennedy. 

To date, Joint Task Force 505 has provided airlift, airfield services, search and rescue support, and other support to the USAIDled response. 

As of May 19, the joint task force has flown 290 relief flights, airlifted 1488 passengers, and airlifted more than 728 tons of material, including relief supplies. 

In conclusion, the Department of Defense, in support of our 

USAID and Department of State partners, has responded swiftly to 

assist the Government of Nepal. The relief efforts to date highlight 

the unique capabilities the Department can bring to bear in the 

U.S. Government response to natural disasters and humanitarian 

crises. 

Thank you again for this opportunity to highlight the great work 

that the men and women of the Department of Defense are doing 

alongside our partners in USAID and the State Department, and 

I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Witkowsky follows:]

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Mr. SALMON. Thank you. 

I understand Mr. Connolly has another function or another 

scheduling issue, so I am going to let you ask the first question. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Chairman, thank you. You are most gracious. I really appreciate it. 

And, again, welcome to our panel. 

I am particularly interested as a long-time supporter of and participant in USAID programs lessons learned. What worked? What 

didn’t? We have been in Nepal since 1951. We have done a lot of 

training and spent a lot of money on emergency preparedness, 

knowing this is a high-risk area to begin with. You are between 

two tectonic plates that created the Himalayas, so I mean, this is 

real stuff. 

What worked? What worked well, Mr. Staal, in your opinion, and 

what disappointed us that we have to beef up and improve? 

Mr. STAAL. Thank you, Congressmen Connolly. It is a very important question and something that we take very seriously. In 

fact, every time we do a humanitarian response like this, we do an 

after-action. So that will be coming out as well. 

But even early on, I think we can already see that a number of 

things worked well. Certainly, our coordination with the military. 

And not just that it worked well now, but the fact that we had already developed good relationships, good working relationships. In 

fact, Paul Kennedy that Ms. Witkowsky mentioned, also helped us 

on the Haiyan response. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. You are talking about our military? 

Mr. STAAL. Our military, exactly. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Yeah. 

Mr. STAAL. So we lashed up really well, and that is an important 

thing, that we continue to build that. 

And also our relationship on the ground, training of search and 

rescue teams within Nepal, first responders there, both in the government and even volunteers. I mean, that made a huge difference. 

Prepositioning supplies around the country, both from us and from 

the military side, made a huge difference. It is hard to measure the 

negative, but I think that made a huge difference. 

Coordination is still an ongoing challenge, and certainly in any 

disaster this big, especially in a disaster in a country that has governance challenges. So certainly the government is leading the effort, but we have had to provide quite a bit of support to that in 

a number of ways. The U.N. System quickly set up what they call 

a cluster system where you have sectoral groups, health cluster, a 

logistics cluster, a protection cluster, and so on, so that all different 

agency who are providing humanitarian assistance can work together, and that helped the government in terms of their leadership. 

And even one of the issues we noticed was that at the airport the 

ability of the Nepalese Government to manage all the supplies that 

were coming in was inadequate. So, again, we called on our friends 

from DOD to come in, and they helped to provide a very important 

part of that kind of commodity management at the airport. 

There is still weakness in a rural area where you have got the 

majority of the problem way out in the countryside in a very difficult terrain. They have building codes that they have developed, 

38

again with our support, and we have done a lot of training for the 

government on implementing those building codes, but it still needs 

a lot of work, and especially as you get out of Kathmandu. 

In Kathmandu, 90 percent of the buildings were basically 

undamaged. And it was any kind of new buildings are pretty untouched. It is really the older buildings, some of the ones with a 

heritage, unfortunately, where——

Mr. CONNOLLY. Temples. 

Mr. STAAL. Temples and things like that. 

And then when you get out into the small villages on the hillsides, frankly, they don’t know about building codes, and that is a 

bigger challenge that we still, I think, have to figure out how we 

are going to address that in a very rural setting like that.

Mr. CONNOLLY. Just real briefly, anyone else want to take a 

crack at sort of lessons learned, things we thought worked well, 

things we have got work to do still? 

Ms. Biswal. 

Ms. BISWAL. Congressman Connolly, after the devastating Gujarat earthquake of 2000—I think it was 2001—Congress appropriated and USAID implemented over a number of years a partnership between the Government of India and the United States on 

creating a national disaster management agency. We provided 

some of the technical expertise. 

That capability in India today is quite sophisticated, quite advanced. The recent super-cyclone that hit Orrisa was a tremendous 

reflection of India’s capabilities, because the loss of life was minimal in a category 5 super-cyclone. That capability was on display 

in Nepal as part of India’s response to the earthquake, and the 

United States can feel proud for the role that it has played around 

the region in investing in disaster response capabilities. 

There is more to be done in trying to foster more regional coordination and advanced planning of regional responses, but the fact 

that there is so much capability in the region today, and the experiences of many of these countries in their own earthquakes, is 

something that we have a direct hand.

Mr. CONNOLLY. Very heartening to here. 

Thank you all so much. 

And, Mr. Chairman, thank you so much for your graciousness. I 

really appreciate it. 

Mr. SALMON. Thank you very much. 

I just want to start out with, it is a little bit of a statement, and 

I wanted to direct it to you, Ms. Witkowsky, regarding a conversation I had with the Hug family, whose son Jake died in that tragic 

crash. 

They were, obviously, upset by his passing, but they were further 

upset because in some dialogue that they had with the bereavement folks that they are working with within the Department of 

Navy, they were told off the record that, well, if their son had been 

killed in combat that they would be afforded the opportunity and 

the full support of our country to go to the Dover ceremony and the 

funding that goes along with that, so that his parents could go to 

that extremely important vigil. But they were told that there is 

kind of a double standard. If you are killed in a mission like this, 

39

a search-and-rescue mission, it is not considered combat, and that 

they wouldn’t be covered to go. 

Now, I first reached out to Mac Thornberry, the chairman of 

Armed Services. He was pretty upset by that. I don’t think the 

American people would understand that at all, much less the family of the hero. But I know that we have reached out to the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, and I believe in my heart he will 

do the right thing. 

So would you please pass that on, that we are expecting good 

things? 

Ms. WITKOWSKY. I will absolutely do that, Mr. Chairman. Thank 

you. 

Mr. SALMON. Thank you very much. 

A question I have is regarding getting the actual food and different emergency provisions to the people of Nepal. I understand 

there are some complications, and I am told that it is regarding the 

rules of cargo preferences and that 50 percent of the U.S. Government cargo has got to be transported on U.S. flagged vessels. Is 

that the reason that the estimates in taking this prepositioned food 

ship from Colombo to Calcutta and then overland to Nepal, that it 

could take 45 to 60 days, is that why this is happening? And if so, 

are there some concessions we can make to speed that up? 

Mr. Staal. 

Mr. STAAL. Thank you, Chairman Salmon. That is an important 

question. 

Let me clarify. First of all, what we were able to do, there was 

food prepositioned already in Nepal. 

Mr. SALMON. Right. 

Mr. STAAL. So that got things out. That was obviously quick. And 

then also we were able to use IDA funds with the flexibility provided us by Congress to allow WFP to buy food locally, like within 

northern India and nearby, to get some food going very quickly. 

So the food that is coming in from Sri Lanka, it doesn’t need to 

be there within days. It is okay that the timing will then sort of 

refill the pipeline and provide for needs over the next few months. 

So it didn’t delay any of our food aid. I want to clarify that to begin 

with. 

And secondly, regarding the cargo preference, I mean, that is a 

more complicated question. But in the case of a really dire emergency like that, the cargo preference rule is a little more generic. 

We do have the 50 percent, but it is not just on every individual 

shipment. It can be generalized. So that doesn’t really hold us up 

on this particular issue. 

Mr. SALMON. Okay. So we can look for every effort to expedite 

this? 

Mr. STAAL. Absolutely. Yes, for sure. 

Mr. SALMON. Great. 

Another question I have is regarding the local government, the 

Nepalese Government, and their reaction. Obviously, they have got 

to take a leading role in the response efforts. 

Could you please discuss the role of the Government of Nepal in 

leading the response to this disaster and describe the structure of 

its disaster response mechanism, and how would you assess the 

strengths and their weaknesses of the response? And with some of 

40

the fears regarding government corruption, what, if any, measures 

are in place to address corruption with the relief effort underway? 

Ms. Biswal. 

Ms. BISWAL. Thank you. Let me provide some initial comments 

and then invite my colleague, John Stivers, as well if he wants to 

weigh in. 

Clearly, there is an issue in terms of the capacity of the Government of Nepal on the bigger challenge of long-term relief and recovery. In the initial relief phase, the Nepalese military has played a 

critical role in deploying their forces across all of the affected districts and in coordinating and assisting in the delivery of relief. 

And I think that they have performed admirably. They have interfaced extremely well with our military and our civilian forces, and 

we have had little complaint in terms of the efficacy of this effort 

in light of the magnitude of the disaster that we were facing. 

There is an issue in terms of how the longer-term effort will be 

coordinated. Nepal has a National Planning Commission, and we 

are working with the Planning Commission, we are working with 

the Home Ministry, and with the Finance Ministry. 

It is a time when the picture is still evolving in terms of what 

is going to be the most effective way for Nepal to coordinate the 

longer-term efforts, and they are thinking through that. There is 

a team that is in Kathmandu from India’s National Disaster Management Agency to provide technical assistance. 

We have also worked with our Pakistani colleagues, because 

General Nadeem, who oversaw the Pakistan earthquake response 

and reconstruction, and who has been very lauded globally for the 

transparency and the efficacy of the response that he oversaw, has 

also been brought in under USAID’s leadership to come in and help 

provide some assessment and some assistance in terms of how 

Nepal can think about managing its relief going forward. 

This is a country that is still coalescing in terms of its democratic 

institutions and institutions of government. So it is going to require 

the persistence and the partnership of the international community 

in supporting them in their efforts to manage a recovery effort. We 

want them to succeed. We don’t want to take it over from them, 

but we want them to succeed, and there will be an element of partnership over the coming months in helping them get this right. 

Mr. SALMON. Mr. Stivers. 

Mr. STIVERS. Thank you. 

There is no question that government is a major challenge in 

Nepal. Institutionally, it is difficult for the government to deliver 

basic services, enforce building codes, et cetera. The parties haven’t 

come together in terms of a constitution. They haven’t had local 

elections yet, which is a major challenge when it comes to the relief 

and long-term recovery effort. 

We continue to help them try to work together on all of these 

issues, and we need to make sure, the international community 

needs to make sure that the long-term recovery takes into account 

how we can build Nepal’s capacity not only to better withstand natural disasters, but also to move forward and come out of their fragile democratic stage to consolidate their democracy. 

Mr. SALMON. Thank you very much. 

Ms. Meng. 

41

Ms. MENG. Thank you. 

I wanted to follow up on Assistant Secretary Biswal’s comments 

about helping vulnerable populations in light of potential human 

trafficking increase, specifically, with women and girls that often 

have unique needs that may be overlooked during crises. After 

food, water, and shelter are in place, there is rarely a budget left 

for basic health and hygiene needs for girls and women, like prenatal care and safe childbirth delivery services for expectant 

women and sanitary provisions for women during menstruation. 

How is the U.S. Supporting providing support for these specific 

needs? Oftentimes women are too ashamed to ask for help. 

Ms. BISWAL. Let me give you some initial comments, and then 

I will also, again, turn to Mr. Stivers on some of the work that AID 

is already doing in Nepal with respect to women and girls, and particularly focusing on health and hygiene. 

But you are correct to say that this is a time of extreme vulnerability. And over the years, we have learned that it is in times of 

crisis and times of disaster response that particular attention has 

to be paid to issues of protection and issues of addressing the particular needs of vulnerable groups and vulnerable populations. 

And so I think, not only in terms of the U.S. Government’s response, but really, what I am hearing in terms of the awareness 

of the civil society in Nepal. When I was in India 2 days after the 

earthquake, the civil society organizations in India were themselves coming up to me and raising with me the need to focus on 

these groups. So there is an extreme attention to the issue. 

I was in New York just a couple of days before heading to Nepal, 

meeting with the United Nations, with the OCHA and UNDP 

teams who are also looking at their earthquake response, and, 

again, the issue of particularly addressing the needs of women and 

girls, addressing the needs of children, and addressing particularly 

the health needs were something that the U.N. System was putting 

an integrated team in place so that UNICEF, the World Health Organization, OCHA, UNDP were all coordinated, and the World 

Food Programme, on making sure that there was an integrated and 

comprehensive response. 

Mr. STIVERS. Well, in terms of before the earthquake, we have 

had, in terms of the successes in decreasing child and maternal 

mortality, is something we are very proud of having a role in. We 

know that saving the life of the mother not only transforms the 

health of her family, but the strength of a country and the profound impact that has. 

We have scaled up the use Chlorhexidine, which is a gel applied 

to the umbilical cord, which aids in reducing newborn mortality, 

that we have scaled up in Nepal, which has been very successful 

at that. 

In terms of the earthquake, the numbers are staggering. I think 

2.8 million children have been affected, and 40,000 women are at 

immediate risk of gender-based violence. So the situation, the problem is so significant, and thank you to this committee and to Members of Congress for really putting that forward in terms of the resolution that I saw from the committee. 

USAID, in the short term, we are expanding our Combating 

Trafficking in Persons project that works with NGOs and the govVerDate 0ct 09 2002 17:20 Jul 09, 2015 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_AP\052015\94690 SHIRL
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ernment to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute those 

responsible. That program has strengthened the justice sector on 

human trafficking, leading to a 63 convictions recently. And in the 

long term, protection of vulnerable populations has got to be a key 

point in the longer-term recovery. It is a high priority certainly 

now in the relief effort, and in the longer-term recovery we have 

to keep our eye on the ball. So thank you for your leadership and 

for that question. 

Ms. MENG. I know I am running out of time, but I, again, want 

to thank the administration for contributing to these urgent relief 

efforts. 

Another significant way I believe that we can help limit the 

strain on that country’s resources is by designating Nepal for TPS, 

temporary protected status. In a very similar circumstance, after 

Haiti’s massive earthquake, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

acted very quickly to designate Haiti for TPS. 

I know that the new Ambassador met with Secretary Kerry last 

week, and my understanding is that the Government of Nepal has 

requested TPS. While it is ultimately a DHS determination, I know 

that DHS heavily relies on the State Department’s recommendation. I just want to ask what the status of the State Department’s 

recommendation and this request is. 

Ms. BISWAL. Thank you for that question, Congresswoman. I 

know that this is an issue of great importance and prioritization 

not only in the U.S. Congress with the Nepali Government, but 

also within the State Department. We do think that the provision 

of temporary protected status is an important way to provide some 

relief to Nepalese citizens who are in the United States and who 

need to stay here for some time until the situation in Nepal becomes more stabilized. 

The Secretary has sent his recommendation to the Department 

of Homeland Security, and the decision is now with the Department of Homeland Security. So we will be awaiting their determination. 

Ms. MENG. Okay. Thank you. 

I yield back. 

Mr. SALMON. Thank you. 

This concludes the questions. I would like just to make another 

brief comment, that we are second to none, I think, in the world 

when it comes to disaster relief. I think that that is one of the 

things that the United States does exceptionally well. And I want 

to commend all of you for the amazing job that you do in balancing 

our priorities overseas. 

I have been all over the world in my capacity, both in the private 

sector as well as in my capacity of my ninth year on Foreign Affairs, and I am always so very proud when I go to the Embassy. 

I meet with the USAID people, I see our defense folks. They are 

the brightest and the best in the world, and I am so proud of the 

job that you all do, so very proud. And you have done your country 

proud today in your testimony, and we appreciate you for coming 

here and doing that. 

Without objection, member statements will be allowed to be inserted for the record. 

43

And there is no further business, this committee is now adjourned. 

Mr. STIVERS. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 3:40 p.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

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49

Æ


94690d-2.eps