Michael McCaul

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Laredo, Texas, who really made a good case for this bill. He knows, being the largest land port in the United States, what trade and tourism means for Mexico and the United States. This bill will not only strengthen our economies, which is always a positive thing, but I think it will strengthen our relationship. It will also strengthen our security, working together, and it deepens our rich cultural ties that we have and that we know is so important. I think it is good for both nations, a step forward in the right direction. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my good friend Henry Cuellar for bringing this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis).

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution that Chairman Engel and I introduced because of our serious concerns regarding the United States-Turkey alliance. Turkey has been a member of NATO for almost 70 years. Through our bilateral and multilateral relationship, we have worked together to advance our shared objectives. However, I am deeply disturbed and concerned that our relationship is increasingly characterized by bumps in the road. And right now, we are all watching as Turkey stands at a fork in the road. This summer, Turkey is scheduled to obtain the Russian S-400 defense system. Purchasing the S-400 would have unavoidable negative consequences for U.S.-Turkey relations. By law, the purchase would trigger congressionally-mandated sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions law. The purchase also puts at risk Turkish participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program and broader security cooperation, including future U.S. arms sales. The F-35 program promotes NATO interoperability. And Turkey's decision to complete the purchase of the S-400 would erode its partnership in this multilateral alliance. While we are deeply, deeply concerned about our alliance with Turkey, we very much want to rehabilitate our relationship. Both sides of a bilateral partnership need to take steps toward strengthening and preserving it. That is why this resolution expresses full support for the United States Government's offer to sell Turkey the Patriot system if Turkey does not acquire the S-400. We want to give Turkey the ability to accommodate its security needs without endangering its place in NATO. So Turkey really has a clear binary choice between buying Russian S- 400s and the U.S. offer to accelerate the delivery of Patriot missiles. So I call upon Turkey to now step forward and choose the United States and NATO over Russia. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 1158, the DHS Cyber Incident Response Teams Act of 2019. I want to thank the gentleman from Texas for managing this on the floor. I want to thank the gentlewoman from New York for her comments. Every day, we are facing threats from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and other malicious actors trying to hit not only our Federal Government networks, but our private sector. During my time as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, I prioritized ensuring that our Nation had the capacity to respond to cyber threats and protect our critical infrastructure. I am proud to say that we have made important strides in recent years, including standing up the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within DHS. However, we must press forward with innovative solutions to respond to a constantly changing threat landscape. To that end, my bill authorizes CISA's ability to maintain cyber incident response teams to assist against cyberattacks on the government and private sector. These teams not only help respond to cyberattacks, but also help mitigate the potential destruction they cause and restore damaged networks after. Additionally, my bill allows for leading industry specialists to serve on these teams with the government and DHS to provide outside expertise. It really provides a force multiplier, and I think it is a very important step forward in the right direction. It ensures that we have the best and brightest from both the public and private sector working in unison to secure our critical infrastructure and vital national networks. These response teams are a force multiplier, enhancing our cybersecurity workforce and helping protect our interconnected world. This bill is critical to keeping our digital networks and communications systems resilient and protected. I would like to also thank Congressmen Langevin, Ratcliffe, Ruppersberger, and Katko for joining me in introducing this bill. This bill actually passed the House last Congress, and I sure hope we can get it passed by the Senate and signed into law, because it is urgently needed by the Department to protect the United States from these critical cyberattacks. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I would like to associate myself with Speaker Pelosi's comments, that we have been riding the dragon for too long. Thirty years ago today, the so-called People's Liberation Army turned their guns on the people of China, killing hundreds and possibly thousands of unarmed civilians in Beijing. Many were Chinese students, who had been peacefully protesting for reform, democratic transparency, and respect for fundamental human rights. The victims included young children and people in their 60s, cut down by indiscriminate gunfire. The dramatic days of May and June 1989, left the world with many indelible images: the huge expanse of Tiananmen Square packed with hundreds of thousands of people rallying for freedom; the 30-foot tall Goddess of Democracy statue built by Beijing art students in the center of the square; the rush of tanks and armored personnel carriers into the area to, quite literally, crush the protest and protesters on June 4; the heroism the next day of someone the world only knows as Tank Man who halted an entire column of Chinese Army tanks, armed only with shopping bags and resolve. But those indelible images are hidden from the people of China by the Communist regime that inherited the bloody mantle of Tiananmen. Hiding behind the great fire wall, the Chinese Government refuses to allow any reckoning with that history, and fiercely quashes discussion, whether online or in public. Obsessed with control, it uses its massive Orwellian apparatus to try to erase the events of June 1989 from the memory of the world. But as John Adams once wrote: ``Facts are stubborn things,'' so, too, are the memories of the many Chinese who experienced those events up close. Western journalists on the ground during the massacre reported that people in the streets of Beijing pleaded with them to tell the world what had happened there. Today's resolution is a continuation of that sacred charge. So I want to thank all of the bipartisan authors of H. Res. 393, and Mr. McGovern and Mr. Smith, for giving this House a renewed opportunity to testify to the true events of June 1989, to tell and call for a just and open accounting for the Tiananmen massacre, and to condemn serious, ongoing human rights violations by the Government of China. Dictators need to understand that freedom can only be held back for a finite period of time. They may succeed in crushing a democratic protest, but they will always fail to crush the democratic spirit. So I am proud to stand with the people of China who want to break the chains of Communist oppression, and I urge support for this resolution. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close and I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I must say at a time when the American people see this Congress so divided, it is refreshing for the American people to see the Congress so united with one voice standing up for good over evil. We must keep the memory of Tiananmen alive. Secretary Pompeo said yesterday that China's one-party state tolerates no dissent and abuses human rights wherever and whenever it serves its interests. Today their party's methods are more subtle than rolling the tanks in--but no less horrifying: The Communist Party deprives one-fifth of mankind of fundamental human rights; it has imprisoned up to 3 million Muslims in what the Department of Defense has called and labeled concentration camps; and it is seeking to spread its totalitarian ideology and repression along its physical and digital Belt and Road Initiative. In the Foreign Affairs Committee, I know I and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will keep working to shine a light on China's threats, impose consequences on their malign actions, foster partnerships with NATO and other allies, and help build up an alternative to China's predatory Belt and Road influence. With that, Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution to honor the memory of those who have sacrificed for freedom and to remain clear-eyed about the nature of our adversary. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Refugee Sanitation Facility Safety Act. I want to commend my two colleagues from New York, Representatives Meng and Zeldin, and also Chairman Engel for the good work on this bill. Around the world, conflict and humanitarian disasters are causing unprecedented levels of displacement in places like South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Nigeria, and Venezuela. Some of these crises have dragged on for years and even decades. Generations of young people are growing up knowing only life in a refugee camp where conditions can be dire, and even dangerous, for women, children, and other vulnerable populations. In these situations, things as basic as lights and locks can make a difference between safe restrooms and bathing facilities in dangerous environments where refugees are vulnerable to sexual violence and other crimes. This bill amends the Foreign Relations Act to ensure support for safe sanitation facilities for refugees and displaced persons living in camps around the world. The U.S. continues to be the largest donor to refugees and displaced persons around the world, and we will continue to lead, while encouraging other countries to step up and do more. In closing, Madam Speaker, the United States is a leading donor of humanitarian assistance to refugees around the world. Through the work of UNHCR and NGO partners, we are saving millions of lives every day. This bill does not increase those assistance levels but will help ensure that our funding is put to effective use in protecting the safety and dignity of vulnerable refugees. Madam Speaker, I want to, again, thank Chairman Engel and Representatives Meng and Zeldin for their leadership, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Global Fragility Act. I want to thank my good friend, Chairman Engel, for introducing this bill. I am proud to be the lead Republican on this vital bipartisan legislation. Violent conflict costs the global economy more than $14 trillion every year, killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions from their homes. In the past, the United States has been investing billions of dollars to stabilize fragile states and conflict areas, often with little to show for it. We are successful militarily. For example, we have destroyed the so- called caliphate in Iraq and Syria. But as former Secretary of Defense James Mattis once said: ``The more that we put into the State Department's diplomacy, hopefully, the less we have to put into a military budget as we deal with the outcome. . . . `' Simply put, we need to be more effective in helping to prevent conflicts before they erupt. That is what this bill is designed to do. Weak governance, corruption, and extreme poverty fuel instability. Jihadi groups prey on these conditions and plague key parts of the world with their violence and oppression. Fragile states provide fertile recruiting ground for these terrorists and, also, transnational criminal organizations. Sadly, we are seeing jihadists expand in the Sahel region of Africa. Violent attacks linked to terror groups have doubled every year since 2016. When I was in Africa last month, I heard tragic stories of this growing threat. I am glad that we are taking action here today to help bring stability to this vital region by passing the Global Fragility Act. Our bill requires the administration to launch a new initiative to coordinate our assistance in fragile states. This will ensure that the United States takes a whole-of-government approach to preventing violent conflict rather than individual agencies funding piecemeal, uncoordinated activities. The bill requires the State Department to coordinate with USAID, the Department of Defense, and other agencies in standing up a pilot program in a select number of countries. It also ensures consistent future funding in order to take a long-term approach to our programs and objectives in those key selected locations. Madam Speaker, we must get this right. We are seeing unprecedented levels of instability, displacement, and humanitarian needs around the world in Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, the Sahel, South Sudan, and elsewhere. Preventing conflict and violence can save the U.S. taxpayer dollars and make our country and the rest of the world safer. I want to recognize the development community and NGOs, like the ONE Campaign, for the important work that they have done on this critical humanitarian and national security issue. They have been extremely supportive of this bill, and I look forward to working with them to get to final passage. Madam Speaker, in closing, I would like to say that we have done a lot of good things in terms of defending this Nation. As chairman of Homeland Security, I think that we stopped probably 95 percent of the threats that we saw coming at us. We have done very good offensively in our military, defeating and destroying extremist groups like al-Qaida and ISIS in Iraq and Syria and the collapse of the caliphate. But, Madam Speaker, I think where we have been probably not as good and where we need to do better is in prevention and getting at the root causes of the problems. Getting to the root cause of the problems, particularly in Africa, is extremely important, as the military tells us the Sahel will be the next caliphate. We have to pass this bill because it gets to the root cause. It is the prevention piece that the State Department, USAID, and the Department of Defense will work together to stop and prevent extremism at its core roots, and I believe it will make the world a safer place long term. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), the senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a former chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution reaffirming the United States commitment to Taiwan and the implementation of the Taiwan Relations Act. I also want to thank my good friend Chairman Engel and Congressman Sires for offering this resolution, which gives us an opportunity to reflect on the importance of U.S.-Taiwan relations at a very critical time. As the House considers this measure today, the United States and Taiwan share in a celebration, the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, which occurred on April 10 of this year. The Taiwan Relations Act remains one of Congress' most distinguished and lasting contributions to U.S. foreign policy. The TRA built an unshakable foundation for U.S.-Taiwan relations, and the people of Taiwan have repaid this gesture by transforming Taiwan into a beacon of democracy and individual liberties. As is often said, Taiwan is a force for good in the world. Reaffirming the U.S. commitment to Taiwan at this moment is also essential because we are standing together to face a growing threat. Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping is using all the tools at his disposal--military, economic, informational, and diplomatic--to try to destroy Taiwan's democracy. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution to remind him once again that he will not succeed on our watch. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my Championing American Business Through Diplomacy Act, which I was pleased to introduce with the support of my good friend, Chairman Engel. Promoting American business abroad means promoting American leadership, prosperity, and our values. It has always been, and should remain, a key component of global diplomacy. The very first edition of the Foreign Service Journal, then called American Consular Bulletin, published in March of 1919, included a letter from the editor that stated: ``The Consular Service was organized by our Government for the purpose of furthering the interests of American businesses abroad.'' This legislation makes the promotion of U.S. economic interests a principal duty of our missions abroad and requires economic and commercial training for our diplomats. It also directs our foreign missions to promote trade agreements and establish points of contact who can assist American businesses interested in entering those foreign markets. Promotion of American businesses abroad has never been more important. As transitioning economies work to expand their wealth and capacity, they look to America to bring expertise, financing, and ingenuity. If America does not step up its economic engagement in the world, this vacuum will be filled by others, with a potentially devastating impact on American national security. While I speak, China is aggressively filling that void. However, its approach does not respect the rights of workers, the environment, or even the sovereignty of other nations. China's Belt and Road Initiative is ensnaring developing nations into Chinese debt traps from which they may never escape. This effort is also leading to a new Chinese adventurism, complete with military outposts and expanded leverage in various countries. Ground zero for this competition in the developing world is Africa. I have spent much time with African Governments and business leaders. All have told me that America is just not there to compete. I applaud the administration for its new Prosper Africa efforts and know that this legislation is key to its success. I can think of no better antidote to combat this predatory influence than unleashing the vitality of American values through our private sector. I naturally think of the world-class tech and energy companies in my own district and home State of Texas. Creating more international opportunities for American businesses will help push back on growing Chinese influence across the globe. It is time for America to fully wake up and get on the field, or we may ask ourselves later why we did not do more to contain the Chinese threat. For these reasons, the Championing American Business Through Diplomacy Act is a critical initiative that deserves our unanimous support. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to just, again, thank Chairman Engel for his support of this bipartisan bill, which was adopted unanimously at our committee markup last month. American businesses represent ingenuity, industry, and opportunity. Unlike our strategic competitors, they do not go overseas pushing large, government-subsidized construction projects that involve massive debt or giving up control of strategic infrastructure. They seek only access to markets and a fair playing field, which allows the kind of win-win partnerships that are the genius of the free enterprise system. In this era of strategic competition, supporting their access to these economies abroad should be a priority of American diplomacy. The stability that we help provide with our enterprise will help bring us and the world security as well. That is the aim of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of the Taiwan Assurance Act, a bill introduced to deepen and expand U.S.-Taiwan relations. I want to thank Chairman Engel and all those on the other side of the aisle and the gentleman from New Jersey for agreeing to be the lead Democratic cosponsors of this important bill that deepens our ties with Taiwan. Of note, the bill urges the State Department to eliminate self- imposed restrictions on U.S. diplomatic interactions with Taiwan and to provide Congress access to those policies for the first time. Prior administrations have applied unnecessary and arbitrary restrictions on their own interactions with officials from Taiwan. At times, these restrictions expanded, apparently in response to complaints by Communist China. As the body that produced the Taiwan Relations Act, it is necessary and appropriate for Congress to have awareness and a say in how these policies are made. They go well beyond what is required by the carefully crafted TRA, which does not even state that U.S.-Taiwan relations are unofficial. Since the TRA was enacted in 1979, Taiwan's Government has evolved into a vibrant democracy, while the Chinese Government has become more and more authoritarian. It is improper to restrict relations with Taiwan to avoid offending the Chinese Communist Party, and it is out of step with reality to keep pretending that Taiwan is anything other than a fully functioning democracy. Taiwan deserves a more elevated relationship with the United States, and I urge my colleagues to join me in rewarding Taiwan's commitment to democracy by supporting the Taiwan Assurance Act. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would just like to, once again, thank Chairman Engel and the entire Foreign Affairs Committee for their enthusiastic support of this measure and their support for the democracy of Taiwan. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Chair, I will close once the gentleman has yielded back. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Chair, again, I agree with the premise of this amendment, but it does not address reducing emissions. We should debate bipartisan solutions, as I stated in the past. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin Hern), a member of the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Chair, I will close once the gentlewoman yields back. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Chair, we all agree with the premise of this amendment--food security, ending hunger. Again, this amendment does nothing to reduce our emissions. We need to debate bipartisan solutions, such as boosting research, advancing technologies, and promoting innovation. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Chair, again, I agree with the premise of this amendment. Drought conditions, water scarcity are important in, I know, the gentlewoman's home State, certainly important in my home State of Texas. It will be--as climate change advances, the entire continent of Africa will face drought conditions. But, again, this is a finding. It doesn't, in and of itself, reduce the emissions, and I would again urge bipartisan solutions to advancing technologies and promoting innovation. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Chair, I will close once the gentlewoman yields back. I reserve the balance of my time.