Ed Royce

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by saying the United States is increasingly under attack by foreign actors online. Nobody knows this better than our members on the Foreign Affairs Committee, but especially Mike McCaul, who assisted me on this bill. As you know, Mike McCaul also chairs the Homeland Security Committee. So this legislation is focused on correcting a serious threat. Malicious cyber activities by state and non-state actors threaten our U.S. foreign policy, our security, and our economic interests right now around the globe. Last year, the intelligence community's Worldwide Threat Assessment summed this up well. As they looked at the problem, they said: ``Our adversaries are becoming more adept at using cyberspace to threaten our interests and advance their own, and despite improving our cyber defenses, nearly all information, communication networks, and systems will be at risk for years.'' But it is not just the security of our networks that the United States needs to protect. It is the very fabric of the internet itself that is increasingly under assault by governments that want to erect digital borders, that want to impose more control, and that want censorship online. The State Department has a critical role to play in promoting an open and secure cyberspace by developing international norms of responsible state behavior and deterring malicious actors from carrying out destructive cyber operations. Last year, the President signed an executive order charging the Secretary of State with creating an interagency strategy to protect the American people from cyber threats along with a plan to improve international cooperation in cybersecurity. Despite the prominent role assigned to the Department by the President's executive order and support from this body for such work, the office tasked with leading this effort for the State Department was merged into the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. The concern is that this limits the Department's ability to confront the full range of issues in cyberspace--such as security, internet access, online human rights, and cybercrime--beyond the clear economic challenges. So I believe this sends the wrong signal to Moscow, to Beijing, and to other governments around the world. The United States should make it clear that we place a high priority on the whole range of cyber issues, including cybersecurity, internet access, online rights, deterrence, and cybercrime. In testimony before the Foreign Affairs Committee--and here is the good news--I was relieved to hear our Deputy Secretary Sullivan say that this was just an interim step and that he expects cyber issues will ultimately be elevated to a Senate-confirmed role. This is exactly what this bill requires. So now, more than ever, we need a high-ranking cyber diplomat at the State Department to prioritize these efforts to ensure that we keep the internet open, keep it reliable, and keep it secure. The bipartisan Cyber Diplomacy Act is going to help counter foreign threats on the internet, it is going to promote human rights abroad, and it is going to also, by the way, create new jobs and economic growth here at home. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1660) to direct the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to submit to Congress a report on the development and use of global health innovations in the programs, projects, and activities of the Agency.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1660, the Global Health Innovation Act. I thank Mr. Sires of New Jersey, the ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, for bringing this forward in a timely manner. Over the past two decades, we have made unprecedented progress in addressing some of the most difficult global health challenges of our time. When you think about it, global rates of child mortality have dropped by 53 percent. The prevalence of tuberculosis has been cut, in fact, by half. Malaria deaths are now down 47 percent. Five countries in sub-Saharan Africa once ravaged by HIV/AIDS are on the verge of controlling their epidemics. The eradication of polio is within reach. The only place it still exists is on the Pakistani-Afghan border, which the Taliban controls. As you know, the Taliban resists vaccinations. They, in fact, assassinate health workers who vaccinate. That is the only reason we have not been able to eradicate this last spot where polio continues to create damage to young lives. Yet, despite these successes, we still do have a long way to go. Part of that is reflected in the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa that resulted in 11,000 deaths in 10 countries. It serves as a very stark reminder of the global threat of infectious diseases. Though global child and maternal death rates have been cut in half, there is still an estimated 830 mothers around the world who continue to die from preventable causes every day. That is why we talk about maternal health. USAID is working to address these global health challenges by harnessing the power of science, technology, and innovation to develop low-cost, high-impact health technologies. They are devoting considerable time and resources to developing these innovations. This bill makes sure that we ensure that they are being effectively deployed. It supports USAID's efforts, while also enhancing congressional oversight. It directs the Administrator of USAID to report on the development and use of global health innovations in its programs, particularly those related to HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and combating infectious diseases to ensure that our investments in global health are deployed and are delivering results. Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), chairman emeritus of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it was 20 years ago that we here in Congress spoke with one voice. We passed a law to support Taiwan's inclusion in the World Health Organization. It took a decade of advocacy; it took pressure before Taiwan was finally invited to participate in that assembly for the first time in 2009. So you can imagine it is with great disappointment that we learned that Taiwan was excluded from the meetings last year for the first time after 8 years of consecutive participation in Geneva. Mr. Speaker, Taiwan's participation at the World Health Organization is a matter of public health, as our friend, Mr. Sherman, and as the chairman of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee, Mr. Yoho, have both reminded us. This is a matter of public health. Taiwan has contributed greatly, so greatly to the international efforts to prevent epidemics. It has provided critical humanitarian aid and medical training around the world; financial assistance, investing $6 billion in international medical and humanitarian aid efforts since 1996, all over this globe, 80 countries. During the 2014 Ebola crisis, it was Taiwan that was there, providing also 100,000 sets of protective gear for health workers. Through the global cooperation and training framework, the U.S. and Taiwan have jointly conducted training programs for experts to combat diseases from Dengue fever to Zika. Mr. Speaker, yes, as Mr. Yoho reminded us, and Mr. Sherman, we know from this experience that infectious diseases know no borders. They so quickly spread, and the global health community does not benefit when Taiwan is kept in the dark on these critical matters. We are all safer when Taiwan has meaningful, unobstructed participation in international health cooperation forums. All of us recall that Taiwan had an awful experience during the SARS epidemic that was 15 years ago when the World Health Organization directed Taiwan officials not to approach them, but to approach Beijing for information-sharing instead. It is clear that Taiwan's exclusion from last year's World Health Assembly will only hurt. The health and safety of the people of Taiwan should not be needlessly held hostage by politics, and world health should not be put at risk. Taiwanese doctors have so much to offer, given their experience providing this humanitarian assistance around this world. Last fall, I met with the Director-General of the World Health Organization. I pressed him for Taiwan's participation. Unfortunately, this meeting did not relieve my concerns about Taiwan's future outlook. And it is for this reason, Mr. Speaker, that it is all the more important that the U.S. use all of its diplomatic leverage to support Taiwan's efforts to regain observer status to the WHO. I applaud the administration for sending our Health Secretary to meet with the delegation Taiwan sent to Geneva for bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the assembly meeting last year, and I think, by doing so, the U.S. demonstrated leadership by putting international cooperation ahead of politics. Passage of this bill demonstrates our support for Taiwan's inclusion. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In closing, I would like to share with the body that I led a delegation to Taipei this last summer, and I was there when Taiwan pledged to donate $800,000 in disaster relief to Houston. That was in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. It is generous actions like this that I can think of, 80 occasions, that remind us again and again that Taiwan is a positive actor in the international community, and that is why we must continue to support Taiwan's international standing and well-being. So I would like to say in closing that I thank my colleagues for being original cosponsors on this bill. In addition to Mr. Yoho and myself, I want to thank Mr. Engel. And I want to thank Mr. Sherman. I want to thank the gentleman for his leadership on this issue, and Mr. Connolly as well. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3320) to direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization, and for other purposes.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), our chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho), the author of this important bill which counters the harmful and unacceptable efforts being made to undermine Taiwan's inclusion at the World Health Organization.

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), who is the author of this bill.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 535, the Taiwan Travel Act, and I recognize Mr. Chabot for his longstanding dedication and support to the people of Taiwan. Mr. Speaker, Taiwan succeeded in a momentous transition, a transition which took them to democracy. They did this decades ago, and since, it has become a beacon of democracy across the Asia-Pacific. Taiwan is a strong friend and critical partner to the United States. Congress has been central to this longstanding bond, championing a strong relationship with Taiwan through a number of landmark measures, like the Taiwan Relations Act, impressing successive administrations to fulfill their obligation to sell defensive arms to Taiwan. Today, Congress continues this legacy with this Taiwan Travel Act, which has gained strong, bipartisan support. We should encourage our officials to visit Taipei, to meet with their democratically elected counterparts on the many issues, the many programs, that we work on together, such as global health, commercial ties, global cooperation and training, the framework that we have in place. We should also welcome Taiwanese officials here. Mr. Speaker, there are, in fact, no laws that bar our executive branch officials at any level from visiting Taiwan. The EPA Administrator in 2014 was the last executive branch official to visit Taiwan. A total of six Cabinet-level officials have visited Taiwan since 1979. As our 10th largest trading partner, Taiwan deserves more attention. U.S. interests in the region deserve more respect. This bill encourages officials, at all levels of the U.S. Government, including Cabinet- level officials, to travel to Taiwan to meet their counterparts and vice versa. Mr. Speaker, we must build stronger ties in our relationship with Taiwan. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), the chairman emeritus of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am a decades-long supporter of Taiwan; and as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have made supporting stronger U.S.- Taiwan economic and security ties a priority for our committee. I have traveled to Taiwan many times, as have members of the committee. I really want to thank Chairman Chabot for introducing this important measure, and I want to thank him for being a long-time champion for Taiwan, especially when he was chairman of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee. The U.S. and Taiwan share a common commitment, and that commitment is to democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Taiwan's successes serve as an example of what can be built on these important principles. We should be supporting countries that have achieved democracy to serve as an inspiration for those values across the world. The Taiwan Travel Act is important because it will encourage more interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan. This is long overdue. It is needed, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 535. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 535) to encourage visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels, and for other purposes.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today we stand with the people of Iran. We stand with people who are engaged in legitimate protests against an oppressive, corrupt regime. There is a certain irony to this. This is a great people, the people of Iran. It was the Persian king, Cyrus the Great, who drafted the first declaration of human rights, the Cyrus Cylinder. As you enter the United Nations, you see this quotation from him. This was a document meant to protect other cultures and it secured a special place in the history of civilization. His humanitarian values that he laid out of freedom for all peoples, respect for culture, for religious liberty, recognition of the fact that it is better to be loved than to be feared, these are remarkable attributes, especially at that point in time, and they were handed down as part of this deep Persian culture. We, who live in free societies, owe a great debt to the Iranian people. They are the heirs to this culture. They are those who hold those values and ideas for governance that originally inspired the European Enlightenment, leaders of our own government here, our own Founding Fathers. It was Thomas Jefferson who told his grandson: These are the ideals you study first of Cyrus the Great in terms of governance. Now, it is amazing that Iranians at this moment enjoy far fewer rights than their forefathers did. Cyrus was lauded for the protections he offered religious and ethnic minorities. We look at the state of affairs today and we see the repression of Iran's ethnic and religious minority populations from the Azerbaijanis to the Balochs, from the Kurds and the Arabs to the Baha'is and the Christians and the Zoroastrians. You know, the regime authorities routinely deny those citizens the most basic human rights, and they do it through harassment and intimidation and detention and violence. And if you want to know what kind of violence, talk to the young Persians or talk to the young minorities who suffered through the torture in those prisons. Why do they suffer through it? Because they are trying to bring attention to the oppressiveness of that regime. Those young people yearn for human rights. They stand for the celebrated culture of the Persian people and for human rights. As this resolution makes clear, the United States House of Representatives fully supports those who have taken to the streets in Iran to exercise the fundamental freedom of expression and assembly. We join them in the hope that their bravery will build the foundation for the emergence of a freely elected, open democratic political system in Iran. It is a moral imperative to support those who risk their lives demanding the freedoms that people in free societies enjoy every day. That is why this resolution calls on all democratic governments and institutions worldwide to join us in clearly supporting the Iranian people's right to live in a free society. We all face a clear choice. We stand with the protesters and we stand with those who demand the basic rights and opportunities enjoyed in free societies. We are not going to stand with the oppressors, those who steal the wealth of a great nation to enrich themselves and to fund violence abroad. Supporting the people of Iran is a strategic imperative. These brave men and women are standing up against the Revolutionary Guard's violent intervention in Syria and Lebanon as well. We must join them in demanding an end to the single greatest source of instability in the Middle East, and this is this obsession that the regime has with this ideology. In standing with the Iranian people, we must explain that they are not the target of our sanctions. U.S. sanctions target the oppressive destabilizing regime, not the people of Iran. That is why, as this resolution makes clear, Congress has provided authority to license communications technology that improves the ability of the Iranian people to speak freely. Today we call on the agencies involved to expedite those licenses. U.S. international broadcasting must also turn up the volume of its efforts in Iran and convey a message of hope and support. This should be conveyed by the young that know that this debate today in the American people's House is about this issue. Iranians must know that they are not alone in their struggle for freedom. We also call on companies to reject requests by the regime to cut off the Iranian people from social media. These technologies are at their best when they are used to empower people and undermine the efforts of oppressive regimes. There is more we can do, and I welcome Chairman McCaul and Congressman Deutch's introduction of bipartisan legislation that will give the administration greater leverage to target those responsible for ordering and carrying out human rights abuses in Iran. This includes the regime's practice of holding Americans and other foreigners hostage. Many of the regime's hostages are people of Iranian descent who came to visit family members, came to visit loved ones. I am also working to introduce legislation that has the same goal as those who have bravely taken to the streets: to push the corrupt revolutionary guard out of the Iranian economy. In doing so, it seeks to deny the guards the funds they use to hold power over the Iranian people while destabilizing Syria and destabilizing Lebanon. Mr. Speaker, Congress and the administration have a great opportunity. We must work together on an approach to Iran that empowers the Iranian people and targets the corrupt regime which oppresses a great people. We cannot be quiet with the passage of this resolution. We state that America stands with the Iranian people. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin).

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.