Michael McCaul

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. They foresaw a Congress at one point in history abusing this process for partisan political gain. Madam Speaker, instead of overturning an entire election with a partisan weapon, we should just allow the American people to vote.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to echo Madam Speaker's comments. When we stand united on the floor of the Congress, as Americans, that is when we send the strongest message overseas to adversaries. I want to thank Mr. Engel for his strong work in working with me to get to a positive place where we can actually get to a solution to what has been a challenging and very fluid situation. It is always an honor to work with the gentleman on the Foreign Affairs Committee. In these times of crises we are, I believe, strongest on the world stage when the executive and legislative branch speak in one voice. In his testimony before our committee, Ambassador Jeffrey, the Special Envoy to Syria said: I saw firsthand the effect of congressional sanctions when we visited with the Turkish negotiating team; that these sanctions have been helpful in getting the Turks to agree to the cease-fire. And I believe the resolution that we passed helped get Turkey to the cease-fire as well. Finally, I want to thank our partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces for their ongoing dedication to countering ISIS. And I want to say to the SDF, from the Nation's Capitol, on the House floor, that the American people are grateful for everything you have done for us, for everything you have worked for, and everything you have sacrificed to keep the world safer. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this important legislation, 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 H.R. 4695, the Protect Against Conflict by Turkey Act. The death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi this past weekend is a major win in our counter-ISIS campaign, and I congratulate our brave special operators for a job well done, the men and women of our intelligence community, and our President for a bold decision. The world is better off without this sick and deranged leader of the so-called caliphate. Baghdadi still has thousands of followers committed to terrorism. While their leader's death is a huge blow, we must stay vigilant to keep them from reconstituting or carrying out attacks in the West and to our homeland. With that, we cannot allow Turkey's invasion to hinder, in any way, our counter-ISIS campaign. My friend, Chairman Eliot Engel, and I coauthored this legislation to give the White House additional congressional support to sanction Turkey for its recent actions and the leverage to ensure Turkey upholds the vital cease-fire negotiated by Vice President Pence. In the President's own words: ``Should Turkey fail to honor its obligations, including the protection of religious and ethnic minorities . . . we reserve the right to reimpose crippling sanctions.'' In addition, our bill ensures there are Presidential waivers to provide flexibility for the administration on how almost all the sanctions are administered. This bill incentivizes Turkey to comply with the cease-fire. If they do not, there will be consequences in the form of crippling sanctions. Turkey is also a vital NATO partner, and I am hopeful they will cease their destabilizing actions and act as a responsible partner. With that in mind, let's recap how we got here today. On October 9, Erdogan's forces charged across the border, unleashing a potential humanitarian crisis for the people in northern Syria. The assault has expanded Assad and Putin's grip on Syrian territory. As I said 2 weeks ago, I am concerned this incursion will damage U.S. interests in the Middle East and the Syrian people, including the Kurds, our ally. The only beneficiaries of more violence and more chaos in Syria are America's adversaries, and that is Vladimir Putin, Bashar al-Assad, Iran, and terror groups like ISIS. On October 17, the administration brokered a cease-fire with Turkey, which has held to date. This has helped to stabilize the situation and prevent a worst-case scenario from taking place. I applaud the Vice President and Secretary Pompeo for that delicate negotiation with President Erdogan, and I believe that our bipartisan resolution, which disapproved of the Turkish incursion last week, I believe, helped in these negotiations. Our bill today--my bill with Mr. Engel--codifies the administration's agreement in Ankara and will help to strengthen the President's hand in ensuring that Turkey upholds its commitments. Our bill imposes penalties on Turkey if it continues its offensive in northern Syria. Specifically, it sanctions Turkish officials involved in the military operation in Syria. It blocks U.S. weapons sales to Turkey that could be used in Syria and sanctions foreign entities selling such weapons to Turkey. It sanctions banks supporting Turkey's defense sector in the Syria campaign. Our bill also requires the administration to develop plans to adjust our counterterrorism strategy to respond to the changing situation on the ground. I am pleased that the administration heard our call for a residual force in Syria. I can think of nothing more dangerous than withdrawing all of our troops in Syria, as we saw when we withdrew, under the previous administration, from Iraq to 10,000 forces. That is when we saw the rise of ISIS and the so-called caliphate. We will have a residual force in Syria working with the SDF and the Kurds to help defeat and make sure ISIS is never again a threat to the homeland. Finally, it identifies Turkey's purchase of the Russian S-400 system as a transaction subject to sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. That is very important. How can you be a NATO ally and purchase Russian military equipment? We let Turkey into NATO to protect them from the Soviet Union, and now our NATO ally is buying Russian military equipment and, through its invasion into Syria, threatening our allies. For these reasons, I urge support of this bill and thank Chairman Engel for, once again, coming to a bipartisan resolution. When, once again, they said it couldn't be done, we got it done, and I thank him for that. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hurd).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, in the morning of October 22, 1983, a suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 U.S. service members. This was the deadliest attack against our U.S. Marines since Iwo Jima. These Marines were stationed in Beirut to assist with the Palestinian withdrawal during the Lebanese civil war--they were protecting those who were being persecuted and fought to keep peace in the area. There is a memorial at Camp Lejeune for those who lost their lives that day and it reads, ``They came in Peace.'' I do not think I could say it any better. Our service men and women go overseas to ensure war does not reach our shores. They selflessly put aside their fears, and without hesitation say bravely, ``I will serve, send me.'' Some may know that my dear friend, Congressman Greg Pence, was serving that day in Beirut. I am thankful that my friend's life was spared on that day. For those who perished that day we will never forget your ultimate sacrifice to your country. Of those who passed away, eight were from Texas: Leland E. Gann, Matilde Hernandez Jr. and Timothy R McMahon from Austin; Rodolfo Hernandez from El Paso; Michael S. Fulton from Ft. Worth; Marcus E. Coleman from Dallas; Johnnie D. Caesar from El Campo; and David W. Brown from Conroe. We must never forget this day and those who were murdered because of what the freedoms they believed in so fiercely they were willing to put their life on line.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Reed).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).

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

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hurd).

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time. This is one of those rare moments in Congress when we see both sides coming together, exercising our Article I constitutional responsibilities on foreign policy. I can't think of a better committee than this, the Foreign Affairs Committee, to stand unified as a Congress. This is not just the House, Mr. Speaker. This is a joint resolution with the Senate. This is going to pass the House and the Senate, sending a strong message about our foreign policy. I believe that we learn from history. The National Archives has an inscription that says, ``What is past is prologue.'' You see, history repeats itself, and we need to learn the lessons from history. I remember after we withdrew out of Europe after World War I, it allowed the forces of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler to raise its ugly head, and it took the Marshall Plan to finally put an end to it. Then as recently as 2011, in the previous administration, President Obama pulled 10,000 troops out of Iraq. My side of the aisle strongly objected to that foreign policy decision, arguing that it would create a wave of terrorism, and we were right. ISIS reared its ugly head, and the caliphate was formed. Mr. Speaker, you and I served on the Homeland Security Committee. In the years 2015 to 2016, the terror threat was frightening. My threat briefings were frightening in the SCIF. External operations being plotted out of Iraq and Syria to kill Americans in the United States, almost one per month, we stopped 95 percent of those threats. The 5 percent is what the American people know about. But I will tell you this--from that experience, have not we learned anything?--that we need a residual force, if anything, to protect the homeland from terror threats. Now we have over 10,000 ISIS in-country and over 70,000 family members that are there as part of the insurgency. We had over 30,000 at the time of the peak of the ISIS caliphate. And we can't go back. I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, that this move will embolden the Russians. The Russians have already gone to our military's campsites and mocked us. They are mocking the United States of America. Iran is there, and ISIS is now emboldened. We need a residual force to protect us, as we had in Iraq. We need that in Syria, and, yes, we need that in Afghanistan. We can wind down the number of troops, but we need that residual force. Mr. Speaker, I want to close by saying that I will never forget talking to Condoleezza Rice after she retired at Stanford, and she said that one axiom is true in foreign policy: Your allies must trust you. Our allies are questioning us right now. We told them, ``Trust us. We have your back.'' What is happening now, the Kurds are being slaughtered as I speak in northern Syria. She also said another thing: Our allies must trust us, and our enemies must fear us. That is my foreign policy. It is Condoleezza Rice's foreign policy. I think it is a good foreign policy. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for working with me to stand up on this very important issue. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to first begin with thanking Chairman Engel for his bipartisan work to craft legislation in response to this week's developments. We often say in our committee that politics stops at the water's edge. And, in this time of crisis, I am proud to work with him to lead the most bipartisan committee in the Congress. Today may be a dark day, but it would be much darker if we were divided instead of standing united. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this joint resolution. Simply put, the catastrophe that has unfolded in Syria over the past 10 days is almost beyond words. I am concerned about the extreme, long-term damage this has caused the United States interests in the Middle East and to the Syrian people, including the Kurds. The United States has worked for years to prevent an armed conflict between our NATO ally Turkey and our Syrian Kurdish partners. Our presence in Syria was critical to countering and defeating ISIS, and, until last week, it helped prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Working with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the U.S. and our coalition partners eliminated ISIS' control of territory in Syria and were continuing to fight ISIS insurgents. I understand the administration's legitimate concerns about engaging our U.S. forces in long-term military operations. I, too, want to wind down our overseas conflicts and bring our troops home. But, leaving northwest Syria now does not resolve the problem that brought us there in the first place; it only creates more. We need a residual force in place. The consequences of this decision have already unfolded before our very eyes. We have betrayed the trust of our Kurdish partners who fought bravely with us against ISIS to defeat and destroy the caliphate, and they paid a heavy price in thousands of lives lost. We must remember that Turkey's offensive affects not only Kurds but also the people of northeastern Syria. So far, dozens of civilians have been killed and over 160,000 people have been displaced. Islamic State prisoners, Jihadists and affiliates, are already breaking free, reversing our hard-fought gains to defeat these dangerous terrorists. And, now, our Syrian Kurdish partners have struck a deal with the Syrian regime. This gives Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers more territory and opportunity to advance their destabilizing agendas, including their war on the Syrian people. My colleague Eliot Engel and I drafted this resolution to show that we do not support this decision by the administration and to call on Turkey to end this destructive campaign in Syria. We urge the United States to support the affected communities of northeast Syria, including the Kurds. We call upon the administration to support our Kurdish partners and stand with them just like they have stood with us for so long. Given the grave implications that an ISIS resurgence would have for our homeland security, we call on the administration to provide an updated counter-ISIS strategy. I do support the administration's decision to impose sanctions on key Turkish officials and make clear that there are more consequences for continuing this invasion. But more pressure is needed. Congress is only just beginning its work to repair the damage this decision has caused. Chairman Engel and I are working together on a bipartisan bill to sanction Turkey for as long as it continues this destructive offensive. I look forward to working with the chairman to bring this bill to the floor as soon as possible. I urge all Members to support this joint resolution. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus).

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this resolution commending the Government of Canada for upholding the rule of law and expressing concern about China's use of hostage diplomacy. I thank Chairman Engel for cosponsoring this resolution with me. As always, we work in a very bipartisan way on this committee. This resolution recognizes Canada's help with the extradition of Huawei Technologies' chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. It also expresses concern with China's retaliatory and hostile actions against Canadian citizens detained in China. China's hostage diplomacy is abhorrent. As retaliation for Canada's arrest of Ms. Meng, Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been detained in China since last year. They have been denied due process and have been subjected to harsh conditions, such as limited consular access, no attorney representation, and lengthy interrogations. Meanwhile, Ms. Meng has received proper treatment in Canadian custody and is currently released on bail. The cases show the stark contrast between Canada's commitment to the rule of law and China's. I commend Canada and regret that Canadian citizens are paying the price of China's malfeasance. Canada's citizens must be released immediately. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank the people of Canada for standing with us to uphold the rule of law and assist in the extradition of Huawei's CFO, who is accused of willfully violating United States sanctions to proliferate technology to Iran. It is unacceptable that the Chinese Communist Party is punishing innocent Canadian citizens to interfere in this criminal process. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this and stand in solidarity with Canada. Huawei is creeping around the world with 5G technology. Everywhere we see One Belt, One Road, we see 5G being planted down in these countries. They literally steal data from these countries, now covering half of the globe. We are in a race with China, and we need to combat their espionage and intellectual property theft. Mr. Speaker, I urge support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, which Chairman Engel and I introduced earlier this year. The U.S. alliances with Japan and South Korea remain critical to U.S. national security interests in the Indo-Pacific and around the world. The trilateral cooperation we share with both of these allies is essential now more than ever, as we face China's aggressive expansion with its Belt and Road policy and North Korea's continued nuclear belligerence. But the relationship between South Korea and Japan continues to be burdened by historical grievances surrounding imperial Japan's conduct both before and during World War II. These tensions have flared up since late 2018, developing into an export control dispute and, more recently, affecting our security cooperation. For instance, last month, South Korea announced that it will withdraw from the General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan. This key intelligence-sharing pact is essential to our joint responses to North Korean missile launches and other fast-developing military crises. South Korea's withdrawal will take effect in November, so it is essential that this confrontation between the two important U.S. allies be resolved as soon as possible. Chairman Engel's resolution is a timely reminder of the U.S. relationship with both of these critical security partners and the enduring importance of our trilateral cooperation. In addition, Mr. Speaker, Japan has now banned certain products to be exported to South Korea that are used by South Korea and Samsung, which is in my district. They are the largest foreign investment in the United States. Samsung will be hamstrung in its ability to create semiconductor chips and bring them to the United States and its facility out in Austin, Texas, in my district. For all these reasons, and national security reasons, most importantly, I urge my colleagues to support this measure. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Burma Political Prisoners Assistance Act, introduced by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) and the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner). True to our founding ideals, the United States must continue to stand as a beacon of hope and freedom in the world. This includes voicing our support for political prisoners who are in chains only because of their peaceful dissent. Although recent years have seen elections in Burma, the human rights situation there still remains grave. Burma's brutal military remains constitutionally immune from civilian oversight or control. It still has not been held responsible for the unspeakable, bloody genocide against Burma's Rohingya population 2 years ago, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh and India. Criticizing the government remains a dangerous business in Burma. A lot of things can get you thrown into jail, or worse: honest reporting about military violence against ethnic minorities, telling the truth about the use of child soldiers, or expressing political dissent, among other things. As a result, there are hundreds of prisoners of conscience in Burma. All people deserve fundamental rights of speech and political expression and to be free from arbitrary imprisonment. Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I am pleased to support this bipartisan bill before us today. The brutal Burmese military continues to exercise outsized influence over the government in that country and tramples the rights of many who dare to dissent. True to American ideals, this measure expresses our solidarity and concern for political prisoners in Burma and, really, throughout the world, and it deserves our full support. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague on the other side of the aisle, Mr. Levin, for his strong, bipartisan support for this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Chairman Engel's BURMA Act of 2019. The Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously adopted this bill, reflecting a bipartisan consensus that the Burmese military's atrocities against the Rohingya people must not go unanswered. The committee has a decades-long history of holding Burmese forces accountable for their crimes. This is important, now more than ever after their so-called clearance operations against the Rohingya in August 2017. The world watched in horror as Burmese troops razed villages to the ground, killed indiscriminately, committed unspeakable acts against women and children, and laid landmines in the path of refugees as they fled into neighboring Bangladesh. Today, over 1 million Rohingya remain in Bangladesh, living in desperate conditions, unable to return to their home safely. The scale and scope of this crisis unites this whole House. Last December, this body adopted Congressman Chabot's resolution, H. Res. 1091, declaring that the Burmese military is guilty of genocide. Chairman Engel's BURMA Act of 2019 will selectively revive the sanctions regime against the Burmese military, which was recklessly scrapped during the last administration. This step is long overdue, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan effort. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank Chairman Engel for introducing the BURMA Act of 2019 in this Congress. The Burmese military is responsible for genocide, yet they continue to wield constitutional power over Burma's government and significant influence over Burma's economy. This bill is a long-overdue response to that injustice and will reimpose costs on the toxic influence of the Burmese military. Again, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to thank Congresswoman Wagner, the vice ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, for introducing the Southeast Asia Strategy Act. The administration's national security strategy has recommitted the United States to great power competition, and the People's Republic of China is our primary strategic competitor. The Indo-Pacific region is at the center of this competition, and Southeast Asia is at the center of the Indo-Pacific. Mr. Speaker, for these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), the vice ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the author of the Southeast Asia Strategy Act.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Congresswoman Wagner's Southeast Asia Strategy Act. This bill will promote U.S. cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and establish a comprehensive interagency strategy for engagement in Southeast Asia. ASEAN is the center of Asia's strategic and economic future and critical to the administration's Indo-Pacific strategy. Southeast Asia has been a critical global crossroads for hundreds of years, and it is growing even more important in the 21st century. Trillions in trade pass through regional sea-lanes, including vital energy supplies for U.S. allies and adversaries. China's territorial aggression in the South China Sea and its predatory Belt and Road Initiative are central to the region's geopolitics. Southeast Asia's rising economies are becoming important drivers of regional growth as its developed economies begin to slow. The Southeast Asia Strategy Act is a welcome step to ensure that this critical region receives the interagency focus that it deserves and that it requires. Mr. Speaker, therefore, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan resolution focusing on refugees and displaced persons, and I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Ted Lieu) and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) for introducing the resolution. Today, conflict, violence, and natural disasters have displaced more than 70 million people around the world, the highest levels in history. We see these traumas in Syria, in Venezuela, in sub-Saharan Africa, in Burma and many other places. These huge movements of vulnerable people and populations are not just humanitarian crises, but also strategic challenges to the stability of many critical regions. The United States is and will continue to be a leader in confronting this reality. We remain the largest single donor supporting the needs of refugees and displaced persons around the world. But, as the need is increasing, we must also push our partners and other responsible nations to contribute more to these important efforts. This resolution also, appropriately, recognizes the men and women who risk their lives to provide lifesaving assistance and protection to refugee populations. Without their bravery and dedication, none of this work would be possible. In closing, I want to urge all my colleagues to support this important resolution. Let me also say, on a point of personal privilege, I have enjoyed this exchange, this debate today with my good friend from Michigan (Mr. Levin), carrying on what I consider to be what the Foreign Affairs Committee is most proud of, and that is we are the most bipartisan committee in the House and, I would argue, in the Congress, and it is a great tradition to carry forward. I look forward to working with Mr. Levin in the future. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, America's first responders represent to the world the humanity at the heart of our Nation. I, again, thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) for his expression of support for their overseas activities, 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 today in support of the First Responders Passport Act, and I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot) for introducing this bill. Americans who answer the call to service in response to disasters abroad are some of the best that America has to offer. Often first on the scene when calamity strikes, our fire and rescue teams are the embodiment of the generosity of the American people. Their commitment and sacrifice earn immense goodwill toward our Nation. This bill will help our first responders obtain the overseas travel documentation that they need in a quick and cost-effective way. For these reasons, it deserves our unanimous support, and I reserve the balance of my time.