Eliot Engel

Mr. ENGEL

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

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

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

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. In the summer of 2013, we passed a very tough sanctions bill against Iran. The chairman and I worked on it together very closely, and we passed it unanimously out of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Think about that--unanimously. We have so many different ranges of ideologies on the committee; yet, when it came to slapping sanctions on a murderous regime, we found bipartisan consensus unanimously. That bill went to the House floor and passed by a margin of 400-20. We sent it over to the Senate, and, unfortunately, the Senate sat on it. It didn't pass it. I raise this because it shows what can happen when we work in a bipartisan fashion on important foreign policy issues. This is important. My friends and colleagues on the other side of the aisle who came up and who spoke disparagingly about Iran and the Iranian Government will get no quarrel from me. I am no fan of the regime's and I am no fan of a lot of things, but I do think that if we are going to pass legislation that is going to have meaning, then we ought to do it together in a bipartisan form. For the past 3\1/2\ years, Chairman Royce and myself have worked really, really hard to put our heads together and come up with bipartisan legislation, and this could have been the same. This could have been the same. This could have come to the Foreign Affairs Committee. We would have debated it, and we would have passed it probably. There would have been some changes with some difficulties that some of us find in the bill, and perhaps we would have had a very similar vote. But it wasn't done that way. No regular order. Taking the bill out of the Foreign Affairs Committee, where no one on the committee had a chance to either vote or speak on it or give their opinion--absolutely nothing. It was taken to the Rules Committee, rammed down, and came to the floor of the House. There was no process, no transparency, no regular order, no bipartisanship. My God, if we cannot be bipartisan when it comes to foreign policy, what can we be bipartisan on? Here is a perfect example. So what happens is this bill is going to pass. I predict it will pass, mostly along political lines. The President won't sign it. It won't probably pass the other House. But maybe if we had put our heads together and all worked together and sent the bills to the Foreign Affairs Committee and came up with legislation, maybe we could have had a bill that did 80 percent of what this bill did, or maybe 90 percent, or maybe 100 percent but had certain things in there--waivers and other things that are necessary-- in the bill. That is why I know that this is not a serious attempt at doing it. It is an amendment attempt to score political brownie points, and that is not what we should be all about, and that is not what we should be doing. My friends on the other side of the aisle and on my side of the aisle know, when I talk about foreign policy, I try to be principled. We may not always agree, but I try to be principled on it. I try to say what I feel. I try to find common ground. So I hope this will be an anomaly. I hope that we can go back to the bipartisan ways of the committee. I know tomorrow morning when we mark up all those bills we will be doing it in a bipartisan way and, when we come to legislation, the final product, that it is bipartisan. It is not being bipartisan for the sake of it being bipartisan. It is not just a semantical debate. It is the fact that it is good legislation on foreign policy, and we always say that partisanship should stop at the water's edge. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle have gone on trips all over the world. We have bipartisan delegations all the time. And what we always find is, as Americans, when we go around the world, there is very little that divides us. There is very little that divides us. When we were in the majority and I was chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee for 4 years, we went around to all these countries. Everyone on my committee on my trip, Democrat or Republican, had the ability to say whatever was on their mind and not once was there ever a problem because, as Americans, we have so much more in common than we have differences. And that is why, again, bipartisanship should stop at the water's edge. I worry because the world is watching as American foreign policy falls victim to partisan politics. And, tomorrow, unfortunately, with another bill, we are going to get more of the same. So I hope that, in the future, we can get back to business as usual because I know that Congress can work to push back on Iran's dangerous behavior. I know that we can hold Iran's feet to the fire and make sure that the nuclear deal, which passed--again, without my vote, but it passed--and I want to make sure that that nuclear deal is being implemented properly. That is what we have to do: hold Iran's feet to the fire, do it in a bipartisan way, not try to score political brownie points. We all love this country. We want the right thing for this country. Let's work together to make sure that foreign policy is as bipartisan as it can be. For now, I have to vote ``no'' on this bill. I urge my colleagues to oppose it as well. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Massachusetts. I think he just put it correctly. These are difficult choices. They are moral choices. They are choices from the heart and choices from the gut. But I do think that a woman who is in need of an abortion in her mind has the right to have those kinds of services and has the right to not have her boss veto them for her. The Conscience Protection Act is the latest in a long line of attempts to interfere with women's autonomy and medical care. I have come to the floor a number of times to defend a woman's right to make her own healthcare decisions, a concept that, frankly, shouldn't need a defense at all. I respect decisions, one way or another. This bill is marketed as one that would protect conscience rights, but let's be clear. Current law already allows health professionals to object to providing abortions for moral or religious reasons. The Conscience Protection Act would take this concept to a new extreme, expanding opportunities for employers to discriminate against women based on their reproductive health choices. We have said this before and we will say it again: women's personal healthcare decisions are not their boss' business. An employer should not have the right to veto a medical decision by a woman. It is just not right. Every patient should be able to make fully informed decisions about her health care without interference of her employer, and certainly without interference from Congress. I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill. Again, whatever your moral choices are, I respect them; on both sides, I respect them. But it is not right for a woman who is seeking an abortion to have that abortion vetoed because her boss doesn't like abortions. I think that is a decision that should be left to the woman alone, not put more pressure on her, not force her to go against her will. This is something dealing with her body, her rights, not her boss' rights, so I urge my colleagues to oppose the bill.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 1217, the bipartisan expanded background checks legislation, to honor the memory of this brave soldier, Captain Antonio Davon Brown. I also want to honor the memory of people in my district who were victims of gun violence: Brandon Lawrence, New Rochelle, New York; Charles Smith, Mount Vernon, New York; Wilbert Francis, Mount Vernon, New York; Kevin Shaw, Mount Vernon, New York; Allashun Clay, Mount Vernon, New York. We want to honor their memories. They are all victims of gun violence who never received a moment of silence on the House floor. We ought to be passing sensible gun control legislation in a bipartisan fashion.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of the proverb, ``If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for the rest of his life.'' That is the aim of our food assistance efforts. We want to help populations to feed themselves. We want to get at the root causes of poverty and malnutrition. We want to help build strong, sustainable communities that contribute to stability and prosperity in their countries, across regions, and around the world. We need to invest in the initiatives that have made a difference. That is what we are doing here by authorizing strong support for Feed the Future and working to ramp up other foreign assistance efforts focusing on food aid. This is a good bill. This is Congress at its best. This is bipartisanship at its best. I am glad we are sending it to the President's desk. This was done, really, as a collaborative effort by both sides of the aisle. I thank my colleagues again for their good work on this, and I urge a ``yes'' vote. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this measure. I am very proud that we are about to take our final step on the Global Food Security Act and send it to the President's desk. I want to thank Representatives Smith and McCollum for their hard work on this issue here in the House, as well as Senators Casey and Corker for steering this effort in the other body. I also want to thank our chairman, Ed Royce, as always, for his leadership. This is another great example of bipartisan, commonsense cooperation on foreign policy issues. Mr. Speaker, nearly 800 million people around the world live without the certainty that their families will have enough to eat. When children don't make it to the age of 5, half the time it is because of malnutrition. That is just heartbreaking. There is more than enough food on this planet to feed everyone. The idea that so many are starving is simply unconscionable. It is also a major roadblock for countries and communities. Underfed populations are less productive and more vulnerable to disease. Without reliable access to food, it is much harder for a country to achieve stability and prosperity. So we have an interest--and a moral obligation--in trying to tackle this problem as part of our foreign policy. This bill places a special priority on foreign assistance programs that aim to reduce global poverty and hunger. It also authorizes a robust investment in the Obama administration's signature Feed the Future initiative as well as other State Department and USAID efforts dealing with global hunger. This bill has moved forward with tremendous bipartisan support, and I am glad to cast one final vote for it today. I support this bill. I urge my colleagues to do the same. I thank Chairman Royce once again. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this measure. I want to again thank our chairman, Ed Royce, for his leadership on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I want to thank my colleagues who have worked so hard on this bill, Mr. Poe of Texas and Mr. Connolly of Virginia. We marked up this bill in the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House approved it last winter. The Senate sent it back to us with a few changes, and now I am pleased that we are taking a final vote on this measure before we send it to the President's desk. Mr. Speaker, I view foreign assistance as one of our most important foreign policy tools. Whether we are helping a community build a school and train teachers, helping a country improve its power grid, or making it easier for farmers to irrigate their fields and families to get clean water, foreign assistance shows the rest of the world that the United States is eager to be a friend and eager to be a partner. And partnership is good for us as well. Of course, foreign assistance isn't about handouts. It is about helping build capacity and capabilities. We want to see countries become vibrant and productive. We want to see societies become strong and prosperous. Stronger partners around the world mean better lives for the people in those countries and greater stability and security for their neighbors and regions and, of course, a greater partnership with the United States of America. That is important to us as well as to the nations we are helping. At its best, foreign assistance is like planting a seed, nurturing it, and seeing it grow into something strong and self-sufficient. If we are doing it right, it will give us a tremendous bang for our buck. Foreign policy, foreign assistance is less than 1 percent of the total American budget. Although people think it is 15 percent or even more, it is less than 1 percent. But we don't have a lot to work with because our foreign assistance represents that 1 percent, just a small sliver of the Federal budget, so we need to know that these investments are being put to the best use. We need to take a hard look at the results in order to cut away dead wood and focus on the efforts that are giving us the best outcomes. The administration has already taken tremendous steps to provide accountability and transparency in our foreign assistance programs. This bill would write many of those steps into law and build on them, requiring measurable goals for foreign aid and requiring strong plans for monitoring and evaluation. We need to see just what a difference our foreign assistance is making and get a better understanding of the way foreign assistance programs tie into our own national security interests, and they do. We have national security concerns, and foreign aid is one way of addressing those concerns. So I am glad to support this measure. I am grateful for the hard work of Mr. Poe, Mr. Connolly, and Chairman Royce. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I again want to thank my colleagues for their work on this measure, and I am pleased that we are getting near the finish line. Let me just say that, as ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I often hear the question: Why are we sending tax dollars overseas when we have our share of problems here at home? It is a fair question, but there are good answers. The United States isn't an island. Our stability and security are tied to those countries around the world. We see where threats emerge. Often they emerge in places where there is a lack of opportunity, poor access to education, weak justice systems, poor governance. When we send assistance overseas, we are not just putting cash in people's pockets willy-nilly. We are targeting these areas that we know are tied to making countries more stable. We are looking at the root causes of instability and helping countries overcome those challenges so, hopefully, they can thrive on their own. But we need to make sure we are using these limited dollars efficiently and effectively. The administration has taken the groundbreaking measures to track and publicize the effectiveness of our foreign assistance programs. This bill will make those efforts stronger. It will help us and all the American people know exactly what our foreign assistance investments are paying for and that they are paying dividends in the long run. I want to again stress the partnership because it is a fair question to say: Well, we have pressing needs here at home. Why are we sending money abroad? We look at the instability of the world. We see terrorism. We see what is happening. The United States has a stake in having partners all around the world. The United States has a stake in making conditions better for people all around the world so that radicalism isn't appealing. People can understand that what we have to offer is just so much better. This partnership is important. This bill sustains that partnership, so I am glad to support the bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote. I thank Chairman Royce. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, if Democrats sound frustrated with the House's failure to act on gun violence, it is because we are. In New York City over this past weekend, 14 people were shot in 10 incidents. Three weeks ago, more than 100 people were shot in a single evening in a single club in Orlando, and 49 of them died. My Democratic colleagues and I have been running through the statistics over and over again for years now--tens of thousands of deaths every year. Since we had the sit-in on the House floor just a few weeks ago, more than 1,000 Americans have died from gun violence. That is shameful. So, yes, we are frustrated because this is the only country in the developed world with gun laws like these. Australia changed its gun laws, and as a result, they virtually have no gun homicides in that place. We just sit and mourn and do nothing. You can order one over the Internet. We don't require background checks, and they will ship it to your house. We are asking for no fly, no buy, and we are asking for background checks. You can walk up to a booth at a gun show and hand a stranger a stack of cash and walk away with a semiautomatic assault rifle, no questions asked. Under current law, even if the FBI has probable cause to believe you are a terrorist, you can walk into a gun store and pass a background check. That is shameful. We have to make a choice. We have to act. I ask my good colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together and pass sensible gun control legislation.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Orthodox Christian community, and recognize the historic Great and Holy Council meeting in Greece from June 19-26, 2016. Bringing together 350 leaders of 14 Orthodox Christian Churches from Istanbul to Antioch to Romania to Slovakia, this Council represents more than 300 million followers worldwide, including one million Americans. While Council attendees self-govern their churches, they remain united in their values, faith, liturgy, and following of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. Under the leadership of the Ecumenical Patriarch, this is the first gathering of Orthodox churches in 1,200 years. The Council will underscore the direction, purpose, and mission of Orthodox Christian Churches. It is an opportunity to discuss the Diaspora and relations with other Christian churches worldwide. The Ecumenical Patriarch has an unsurpassed record for steering cooperative effort, adding this remarkable Council to his record of success. Often referred to as the ``first among equals'' by his followers, the Ecumenical Patriarch maintains collegial relations with other Patriarchs and hierarchical leaders. His effectiveness as a leader is complemented by his gracious and generous spirit. Mr. Speaker, at a time when religious division remains a source of conflict and suffering, I celebrate this Council for its message of unity, tolerance, and peace.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor two members of the New Rochelle community who this year have the distinct privilege of being named honorees at the Beth El Synagogue Annual Gala, Elise and Barry Richman. For nearly 30 years, Elise and Barry have been dedicated and active members of the Beth El community in New Rochelle. Elise grew up in Yonkers, where her parents remain members. She attended Hebrew School, celebrated her bat mitzvah, and led Junior Congregation services there. When LPJC started sending its Hebrew School graduates to Beth El's Community Hebrew High School, Elise was in the first group of students to carpool to New Rochelle. After high school, Elise headed to Boston to attend the Boston University where she met Barry. Three years later, they were married. In 1987, expecting their first child, the Richmans decided to move to New Rochelle to be closer to family. Elise and Barry happily relocated and immediately joined Beth El Synagogue Center, since Elise's older brother Teddy and wife, Beth, were already members, and her former teacher, Rabbi Sirner, was now Beth El's senior rabbi. As Elise and Barry's family grew, it was enriched by Beth El in countless ways. Not only did they regularly attend Shabbat and holiday services with their family, their children benefitted from Beth El's terrific Nursery School, summer camp, Religious School, youth services, and programming. But Elise and Barry take the greatest pride in their three grown children, Nate, Allison, and Jason, all living in Manhattan. They are the light of the happy couple's lives, and each one is incredibly accomplished and successful in their own right. The Beth El Synagogue community is lucky to have Elise and Barry, and they are very worthy of this honor. Congratulations to them.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, when committed and proactive citizens are dedicated to the community, it is important to recognize and honor their actions. Ellen and Paul Lewis embody that type of commitment to the Shaarei Tikvah community. Ellen grew up in Mt. Vernon, where her parents were active in the Emanuel Jewish Center. Ellen found a real passion in Hebrew School, becoming the first woman to chant Haftarah on a Shabbat morning in the early 1990s. Ellen later attended Tufts University, earning her Master's in Math Education at Yeshiva University and returned to Mt. Vernon upon graduation to teach math at Mt. Vernon High School. Paul was born in Alton, Illinois, and later moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana. He attended St. Michaels College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and earned his Master's Degree at Notre Dame. Ellen and Paul were introduced while the two taught together in Mount Vernon. Their love story grew from there, and they married in August 1973. Together they have a daughter, Rachel, a pediatric critical care physician in the metropolitan area. To both Ellen and Paul, Shaarei Tikvah means one word: community. At Shaarei Tikvah, Ellen has chaired the Adult Education Committee for ten years, the Ritual Committee for two years, and serving the Board of Trustees and the School Board. Ellen still reads Haftarah four to six times a year and often chants from the Megillah on Purim. Paul has also been actively involved in the Shaarei Tikvah community, knowing how important it is to both Ellen and the Scarsdale community as a whole. This year, Shaarei Tikvah is honoring both Ellen and Paul at their annual JeoPARTY dinner. I want to congratulate both of them on this wonderful honor, and on the occasion and thank them for all they do for both the Shaarei Tikvah and Westchester Communities.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, the strength of any religious institution comes from the dedication and commitment of the congregation. For Beth El Synagogue in New Rochelle, that strength is derived from members like Shery and Howard Rosenstein, who have been intimately involved in the Synagogue's operations for over 17 years. When Shery and Howard were living in Manhattan and decided to move to the suburbs, their journey to Westchester began with ``shul-shopping.'' Once they experienced the warmth of Beth El, their decision to settle in New Rochelle was easily made. After joining the shul, they enrolled their three-year-old son Adam in Nursery School, and, along with newborn son David, quickly immersed themselves in synagogue activities. Daughter Shayna was born three years later, and by then Beth El had become an extension of their family's home, where they have all continued to make deep-rooted friendships, share meaningful lifecycle events, and experience everlasting memories by their ongoing involvement. Shery has worn a variety of hats within the Beth El community, including co-chairing the Nursery School's Board, Parents' Association and Family Fun Day, working as a Nursery School teacher, storyteller, and head counselor of the Day Camp two-year-old group (the ``Scoops'') since its inception seven years ago. Howard's involvement began as the Day Camp Chair and he has been a familiar face working on various programs over the years, including the Family Kallah, delivering father/son Divrei Torah at the Family service, singing in Beth El's choir Shirat El, and serving on the Dinner Dance Committee which he co- chaired with Shery in 2010. This year, Beth El is honoring Shery and Howard with their 2016 Service Award, and they are both extremely worthy of the honor. Congratulations to them both.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, communities thrive when hard work, dedication, and sacrifice are set by voluntary example. Ileen Kodish's actions embody these ideals for her community and it is why she is being awarded the Gates of Hope Award as Shaarei Tikvah's Volunteer of the Year. Ileen grew up in Akron, Ohio, where she and her family became active in the Jewish community, involving themselves in B'nai B'rith Youth and USY. Following fashion school in Chicago, Ileen worked overseas; studying design in Paris and teaching at the Pratt Institute. Ilene became Head Nursery School teacher at Genesis Agudas Achim, teaching two-year-olds who are now young adults actively engaged in our community. In recent years, she has worked as an au pair community counselor and as an office manager. Within Shaarei Tikvah, Ileen served as School Board Co-Chair from 2008 to 2014, devoting countless hours and extensive organizational skills to bring about the most efficient operation possible. She brought the PJ Library program to Shaarei Tikvah while organizing and leading family workshops around the stories. Currently, Ileen lives in Yonkers and has three daughters--Danielle, Nola, and Hali--who are graduates of Yonkers public schools, of our Religious School, and carry on the family tradition by volunteering in the school. Ileen also completed her Associates degree at Westchester Community College in 2011. It is clear that Shaarei Tikvah has found a most deserving and accomplished honoree for recognition this year. Congratulations to Ileen on receiving the Gates of Hope Award and thank you for your years of contributions to the community.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Before I begin, this is the first time I have spoken on the House floor since the horrific attack in Orlando, and I just want to take a brief moment to talk about it. This was a shocking hate crime against the LGBT community, a jarring and disgusting attack on our LGBT brothers and sisters, and on the progress LGBT rights have made in this country. And, of course, this was also a terrorist attack, and we need to look at it in the broader context of how we're working to meet the challenge of violent extremism here and around the world. Mr. Speaker, since yesterday morning, there has been an outpouring of thoughts and prayers for the victims in Orlando and their loved ones; and, to be sure, moral and spiritual support are a part of how we grieve and heal. We are all angry about this heinous attack. We are all heartbroken. We are all committed to finding answers. We are all standing together, and we will move forward from this tragedy together. But, as lawmakers, we are empowered to do more than think and pray. In fact, we are certainly empowered to do more. I certainly have my views on what is necessary on the domestic side to stop this slaughter by gun violence, but I will leave that contentious debate aside for the moment. What I will say is that, on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Republicans and Democrats have found a great deal of common ground on what sort of measures will help to keep us safe and to confront the threat of violent extremism. What has guided us in the past: the spirit of nonpartisanship and the belief that politics should stop at the water's edge, should continue to inform our work. Turning to this bill, let me thank the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce; and I want to thank Mr. Trott and Mr. Deutch for all of their hard work on this measure. The World Health Organization estimates that 10 percent of all transplanted organs worldwide are illegally obtained. That is an alarming number; but, like so many illegal enterprises, this is a crime that is poorly understood, that seeks out zones of impunity where the light of the law doesn't shine and where information is hard to come by. So with a handful of estimates and reports, we are left asking: Who are the victims of this crime? How do they become trapped by this illegal trade? What pressures and vulnerabilities made them susceptible? What are governments doing to halt the practice to track down those responsible and to provide services to survivors? Should this challenge be included in our efforts to confront modern slavery, or is this a different sort of problem altogether? This bill will help us get answers to these questions. It calls for a report on this crime that will allow us to connect the dots. Once we know what we are dealing with, then we can figure out the best way to act and chart a path forward. So I am glad to support it. I thank the chairman and the bill's sponsors again. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, a commitment to human rights for people around the world is a fundamental American value and a pillar of our foreign policy. So when we hear reports of horrific abuses, such as state-sanctioned organ harvesting, we have a responsibility to determine the scope of the problem and respond. I want to thank Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for her tenacity in bringing this forward. I want to thank Mr. Smith, who is always there for human rights. I want to thank Chairman Royce, again, for allowing this resolution to come forward and, again, for making this a bipartisan concern. I have heard from colleagues and constituents again and again about grievous violations of human rights that Falun Gong and other prisoners of conscience have endured at the hands of Chinese authorities. We need to send a clear message that this sort of abuse is unacceptable. So again, I want to thank Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen for bringing our attention to this issue and bringing forward this measure. This is a resolution that everyone should vote for, and I urge a ``yes'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ENGEL

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a leader on the Caribbean and author of a resolution honoring Caribbean American Heritage Month.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), a very valued member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which I was proud to introduce, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to thank our chairman, Ed Royce, for bringing forward my legislation to ramp up our country's engagement with our Caribbean neighbors. I also want to thank our former chair, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who joined me in offering this bill and who knows better than anyone the strategic importance of the Caribbean region. We spend a great deal of time focusing on challenges and opportunities in faraway places, but it is important that we never lose sight of our interests closer to home. Indeed, we should be working to strengthen our ties with countries in the Caribbean. That is the aim of this bill, which would prioritize U.S.-Caribbean relations for years to come. This bill would require the Secretary of State, along with the USAID Administrator, to devise a multiyear strategy for Caribbean engagement. We want to see how our diplomatic and development efforts are focused on the Caribbean, with particular attention to energy security, the rule of law, efforts to combat drug trafficking, and ways to enhance economic cooperation. We also want to increase our engagement when it comes to regional issues by improving our diplomatic efforts with respect to key votes at the United Nations and the Organization of American States. In my view, the best way to put together a new strategy toward the Caribbean is to tap into the large and vibrant Caribbean American community here in the United States. I did that for the 4 years that I was chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee. So this bill underscores the importance of consulting with the Caribbean diaspora community, promoting their involvement in economic development, and civilian security in the Caribbean. Finally, H.R. 4939 commissions two reports from the Government Accountability Office, or GAO--one which evaluates the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative and another which assesses U.S. diplomatic engagement in the eastern Caribbean. I have long believed that we do a real disservice to our country by having no physical diplomatic presence in five of the countries in the eastern Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I have long said it makes no sense for us to continue to conduct diplomacy on these islands from our embassy in Barbados. They say you can't conduct diplomacy from a bunker. It is also true that you cannot conduct diplomacy from hundreds of miles away. I hope to work with the State Department to ensure that we establish a diplomatic presence in the eastern Caribbean as soon as possible. China has it. Venezuela has it. Others have it. We should have it. It is especially appropriate that we are considering this bill in June, which is National Caribbean American Heritage Month. As the President said in his proclamation: ``The bonds between the United States and the Caribbean remain strong. Both rooted in similar legacies--of trial and triumph, oppression and liberation--our narratives have advanced on a similar path of progress, driven forward by our shared dedication to fostering opportunity and forging a brighter future.'' I couldn't agree more. I urge my colleagues to support this measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.