Eliot Engel

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 31) to require certain additional actions in connection with the national emergency with respect to Syria, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this is the third time I have stood on the House floor to argue in favor of passing this bill, to argue that we need to dial up the pressure on the Assad regime; that we need to crack down on his enablers, namely, Iran and Russia; and that we need to push for a political solution that will end the years of horrific bloodshed. I made that case in November 2016, when the House unanimously passed a version of this bill. I did it again in May of 2017, and again it passed unanimously, only to languish in the other body for the rest of the Congress, stopped by one single Senator. In Syria, in the last 26 months that have come since the House first passed this bill, the suffering has continued. Over the last few weeks, in the Rukban refugee camp, 13 babies froze to death, and 50,000 more displaced people in this camp are at grave risk. They have nowhere else to go. Unchecked, the Assad regime will likely move in and massacre these innocent people. I could go on and on, detailing the horrors the Syrian people have endured at the hands of this butcher, Assad. I could describe the atrocities we saw in photographs smuggled out of Syria by Caesar, the government photographer who defected and after whom this bill is named. But after years of unremitting bloodshed, it is long past time for more talk about Syria. We need action, and my legislation would be an important step in the right direction. This bill would slap sanctions on anyone who does business with the Assad regime. It would go after anyone who provides financing or parts for aircraft that are used to bomb civilians or works with the energy or construction sectors controlled by the Syrian Government. We don't want to do accidental harm with this bill, so we have made sure that it would not affect NGOs providing assistance, and we want the administration to use this tool to create leverage, so sanctions could be waived or suspended if meaningful negotiations were moving forward. In this respect, this bill encourages diplomacy and a peaceful, sustainable solution to the conflict in Syria. Some people may be resigned to the idea that Assad is simply going to take over the country. I disagree. The United States should not abandon our options for applying pressure to the regime. Syria with Assad at the helm is a recipe for sustained conflict, not sustainable peace. For me, sustainable peace for the people of Syria has always been the goal. Let me be very clear: This bill would impose Syria-related sanctions; it would not impose nuclear-related sanctions. I know many of my colleagues are concerned about our withdrawal from the JCPOA. This legislation is entirely consistent with what President Obama promised us after entering into the Iran nuclear deal, that we would continue to sanction Iran for its destabilizing activities in the region. Sanctions under this bill would not prevent a future President of the United States from returning to the Iranian nuclear agreement. There is obviously no easy solution for the crisis in Syria. It wouldn't have raged on for years and years if there were a simple path out of it. But this bill represents one tool the administration can use to try to move toward that solution, to break the status quo. I also want to mention the fact that so many wonderful Syrian American groups have been fighting for this legislation, have been fighting against the Assad regime, and have really worked so hard over these past years. It has really been good working with them, although, obviously, very, very difficult. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services, Washington, DC, January 5, 2019. Hon. Eliot L. Engel, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Engel: I am writing concerning H.R. 31, the ``Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019.'' As a result of your having consulted with the Committee on Financial Servicing concerning provisions in the bill that fall within our Rule X jurisdiction, I agree to forgo action on the bill so that it may proceed expeditiously to the House floor. The Committee on Financial Services takes this action with our mutual understanding that, by foregoing consideration of H.R. 31 at this time, we do not waive any jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this or similar legislation, and that our Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as this or similar legislation moves forward. Our Committee also reserves the right to seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this or similar legislation and request your support for any such request. Finally, I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming this understanding with respect to H.R. 31 and would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the Congressional Record. Sincerely, Maxine Waters, Chairwoman.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 31, the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, as amended, currently under consideration.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee).

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We have supported a strong U.S.-Taiwan relationship since we passed the Taiwan Relations Act back in 1979. It is critical that we continue to support our close friend and partner, Taiwan, on the world stage and ensure they maintain a seat at the table when discussing global health challenges. But China sees it differently, in pursuit of its own narrow political agenda. Beijing is jeopardizing international efforts to improve global health and fight transnational disease outbreaks by redoubling efforts to prevent Taiwan from participating in organizations like the World Health Assembly. Our response to global health challenges and crises is stronger when more countries are involved in the discussion and prevention. After all, diseases go from border to border and across borders. It is ridiculous to try to keep Taiwan out. Our response to global health challenges is stronger, again, when more countries are involved in prevention. There is no reason that the international community should accept a scenario where we allow Beijing to compromise global health as they play the bully with respect to their neighbor. That is another reason why Kosovo should be admitted as well. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking the author of this bill, the gentleman from California (Mr. Panetta). I was glad to join him as an original cosponsor, and I am grateful as well to our ranking member, Mr. McCaul, for his strong support of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, for nearly 70 years, the NATO alliance has been the bedrock of transatlantic peace, security, and stability. For seven decades, NATO has been synonymous with Western democracy. The organization's architects had a tremendous vision, and that vision translated into the most successful political military alliance in history, an alliance that won the Cold War, that brought peace to the Balkans, that fought terrorism in Afghanistan, that today is guarding against Russian aggression in Europe and training forces in Iraq and elsewhere. Now, Mr. Speaker, we have heard, most notably from the President, that NATO is obsolete, that it is ill-suited to 21st century challenges. That is just plain wrong. Would we be safer without Article 5, the principle that says an attack on one is an attack on all, an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all NATO members, the commitment that brought our NATO allies to fight at our side after September 11? Would we be better off without 28 other countries that share our values and that know how to fight together effectively? Of course not. NATO is not a burden, Mr. Speaker. It is a bulwark against aggressive forces that seek to undermine democracy and the rule of law, against strongmen who flout international law and act as though might makes right. NATO is our greatest strategic advantage, one built over time and at great sacrifice. We simply cannot cede such an advantage. Past and future generations alike would never forgive the squandering of something so precious. We cannot betray our young soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines by sending them into battle alone, without capable allies to share the burden. So this bill, again, reiterates Congress' commitment to NATO. It would also prohibit any withdrawal from NATO. I am glad we are considering it so early in this Congress. It sends a clear message to our allies, to our adversaries, and to the administration that this branch of government fully supports the alliance, the collective defense of our allies, and peace across the North Atlantic region. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 676) to reiterate the support of the Congress of the United States for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and for other purposes.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 676, reiterating the support of the Congress of the United States for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, currently under consideration.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), a very respected member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me again, in closing, thank my friend from Texas (Mr. McCaul); Mr. Panetta; our majority leader, Mr. Hoyer; and all of this bill's sponsors. As this debate has made perfectly clear, there is no partisan disagreement in this body when it comes to the importance of NATO. Right now, we are dealing with an adversary in Russia that desires nothing more than to see the western alliance splinter. Vladimir Putin's aim is to undermine democracy, to split us apart from our allies, to drive division in the organizations that have kept Russia in check. The last thing the United States should do is send mixed signals about our commitment, as this President, unfortunately, has done. It plays right into Putin's hands. From Congress, you will get no such ambiguity. We hope our allies hear that and we hope Putin hears it as well. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support this bill strongly, I urge Members to do the same, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Ted Lieu), the author of this bill and a very honored member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 328) to require the Secretary of State to design and establish a Vulnerability Disclosure Process (VDP) to improve Department of State cybersecurity and a bug bounty program to identify and report vulnerabilities of internet-facing information technology of the Department of State, and for other purposes.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume. Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking Representative Lieu, a valued member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for his hard work on this bill and on everything else. This important legislation passed the House in the last Congress with strong bipartisan support, and I certainly support passing it again. Mr. Speaker, it is critical that we modernize our government to better deal with 21st century challenges. The State Department is under the constant threat of cyberattack from foreign actors bent on stealing our secrets, disrupting our foreign policy, and undermining our security. Mr. Lieu's bill will help shore up the State Department against this sort of intrusion. First, it requires the Secretary of State to get out ahead of this problem. Instead of waiting for the next attack to happen, this bill would mandate a plan for researchers to actively seek out and report vulnerabilities. Secondly, this bill launches a new initiative, the so-called ``bug bounty program.'' This seeks to tap the expertise of everyday Americans by rewarding citizens who uncover and report security risks in the Department's computer system. It will allow security researchers and friendly hackers to find the cracks in the system so that the Department can patch them. This effort is modeled after a successful program at the Defense Department, which got off the ground in 2016. Since then, 1,400 people have registered to participate, and they have found roughly 140 vulnerabilities. Our Federal agencies should learn from one another. It is just common sense to put this tested practice to work at the State Department and elsewhere. Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank Mr. Lieu for this important piece of legislation. It seems to me, Mr. Speaker, that we have been caught flat-footed before a range of new threats, including cyberattacks. Our agencies haven't done enough to root out vulnerabilities, and, frankly, Congress hasn't done enough to make sure that our government agencies have the tools they need to tackle these challenges. As we head into the 116th Congress, I will be leading the Foreign Affairs Committee in focusing on this. We will be taking a comprehensive look at cyber threats to make sure the State Department and all our departments and agencies are properly equipped to handle this challenge. For now, this bill is an important step in the right direction. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the measure before us, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Virginia.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, might I inquire of the gentleman from Texas if he is prepared to close.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and my classmate in Congress.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, let me first say to Mr. McCaul that I am very happy to hear those words come out of his mouth. As you know, we have had a tradition of bipartisanship on the Foreign Affairs Committee with Chairman Royce and myself, and now with me as chairman and Mr. McCaul. So I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for speaking out forcefully and saying the right thing. That is why Congress overwhelmingly passed sanctions on Russia in 2017, because Members of both parties understand the threat that Russia and Putin pose. From the illegal annexation of Crimea to the war in eastern Ukraine to the support to Bashar al Assad to the attack on our own democracy in 2016, Russia is clearly a major adversary that needs to be dealt with strongly. So when we see the administration--and I would say this about any administration, Democrat or Republican--when the administration appears to go easy on one of Putin's closest pals, we understandably have serious questions. We need to see the whole picture, and right now we are not. Congress cannot be left out of decisions this important. That is something I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle understand, and I hope we can send the administration a strong bipartisan message to that effect. This resolution represents Congress doing our job, exercising oversight and using checks and balances provided in the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), who is our majority leader and the author of this joint resolution.