Ed Royce

Mr. ROYCE

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3750) to waive the passport fees for first responders proceeding abroad to aid a foreign country suffering from a natural disaster, as amended.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material for the Record.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), a senior member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the author of this bill.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I begin by thanking Representative Darrell Issa, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the former chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for authoring this very straightforward piece of legislation. When catastrophe strikes overseas, America's first responders deploy all over the world. They assist in some of the most difficult and damaged environments that we could only imagine: the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2014 flooding in Paraguay, earlier this year following the earthquake in Nepal. Rushing to the front lines of human need, leaving their own families, they represent the true face of American compassion. The gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) is at the cutting edge of this issue, and his trips to visit these spots speak on an issue that he knows of very well when he says that these brave men and women have saved countless lives on this planet over the years. This bill that he has written, the First Responders Passport Act, is an important amendment to the Passport Act of 1920, allowing the Secretary of State to waive passport fees for those first responders who have volunteered to serve our country and volunteered to travel abroad to aid others in their time of greatest need. Currently, the passport fee waiver can only be exercised for a very limited group, largely comprised of officers or employees of the U.S. traveling abroad on official duty. What this bill would do is to extend that waiver to include first responders that are working under a contract with the United States Government. The U.S. Agency for International Development contracts with approximately 450 first responders every year. These first responders are required to maintain a valid passport in case of immediate deployment, which can cost as much as $165 per passport for a first- time applicant. These fees are not covered by the USAID contract or the country but, rather, are paid out of pocket by the individual. These first responders are serving in support of our national interests. They are putting their own lives at risk to provide immediate medical response following a natural disaster like the '04 Indian Ocean earthquake, which unleashed devastating tsunamis on Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. Many of the first responders that deploy abroad come from the search and rescue teams based in Los Angeles County, California, and Fairfax County, Virginia. Waiving the passport fee for those brave and selfless enough to help those in the greatest need is the least we can do. I commend Congressman Issa for doing this. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to recognize the work of Representative Issa and also Representative Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania. I think that this bill, this First Responders Passport Act, is going to be an important change in the law in terms of encouraging people to be first responders. By extending a courtesy that we currently grant to employees of the government, we here have an opportunity to get first responders who have that expertise, those volunteers who travel the greatest distances to work in the harshest of conditions and to help those in greatest need. This, to me, I think is a great concept. I urge my colleagues to support this bill so that we can take care of those who take care of others, our first responders. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Walorski), a member of the House Committee on Armed Services.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I would just remind our colleague that, yes, indeed, Hezbollah has cost the lives of 260 marines and other U.S. service personnel. I would share with you that in 2006, during the second Lebanon war-- during the Hezbollah war, as I would call it--I was in Haifa. At that time, I witnessed what were probably 4,000 to 5,000 rockets being fired over a period of time into Israel and saw firsthand the human cost of this. I mentioned the 260 marines that died in two attacks. Going down to the trauma hospital and seeing firsthand the 600 victims of those Hezbollah attacks, including the realization that Hezbollah had tunnelled underneath Israel's territory to bring fighters up within Israel, you see the impact that Iran's encouragement, money, and training is having on these terrorist fighters, and you see the consequence and the cost in terms of human lives lost. Representative Eliot Engel and I, after the Gaza conflict, by the way, were in one of these tunnels that came up right outside of a school. This one was coming from Hamas but, again, financed by Iran. The engineering work for the tunnels in Lebanon underneath the border there was, again, done by Iran. You look at these rockets, whether they are the antiaircraft rockets or the antiship rockets and missiles or the ground-to-ground missiles, where do they get these rockets? They get them from Iran. When I was in Haifa, there were maybe 15,000 of those rockets. Today, as you know, there are over 100,000. Mr. Engel and I have held a number of hearings on this subject. But those 100,000 rockets have a much longer range, again, thanks to Iran. Hezbollah, in the meantime, is gaining in its position and strength monetarily, both from the money it gets from Iran and from its clandestine activities in smuggling. We have an opportunity with this legislation to cut off its international financing. I want to thank my colleagues for their work because we have got to have a strategy that cuts off their illicit activities and that holds other countries and banking systems accountable. We have got to go after the vulnerabilities that Hezbollah has in terms of sustaining this terror network. Let's cut off their cash and their support system with this legislation. I urge passage. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 2297) to prevent Hezbollah and associated entities from gaining access to international financial and other institutions, and for other purposes.

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

Mr. ROYCE. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this measure. In particular, I want to thank the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Mark Meadows, for being an early leader on this issue, focusing on Hezbollah and on this legislation. I also want to thank Congressman David Scott of Georgia. He served for 8 years on the Foreign Affairs Committee as vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. I would just mention that, as chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Committee that researched and wrote the report on Iran's nuclear weapons program, he has unique insights with respect to the threat posed by Hezbollah--not just to Israel, but to the West. We thank them both for their work on this measure. I also want to thank Senators Rubio and Shaheen for recognizing the urgency of this problem and working in a bipartisan way to ensure that this legislation was able to pass the Senate so that today we can send it to the President's desk. And, most importantly, I want to thank my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from New York, Mr. Eliot Engel, for his work to push back against Iran and its proxies that threaten the United States and threaten our allies globally. Now, I will say that this day is overdue. This past May, the House passed this bill by a vote of 423-0. In fact, last Congress the House also passed legislation spearheaded by Mr. Meadows in the 113th Congress 404-0, which the other body failed to take up. Thankfully, this year is different because right now, Iran is on a roll. Last week we learned the regime test-fired another ballistic missile in violation of two U.N. resolutions. Meanwhile, Iran continues to hold American hostages. And its terrorist proxy--which is Hezbollah--is wreaking havoc throughout the Middle East. Mr. Speaker, it is critical that we confront this kind of aggression. We cannot stand by while the Iranian regime exports violence and exports its revolutionary ideology. That is why this legislation targeting Hezbollah is so important. Prior to September 11, 2001, Hezbollah was responsible--before that attack by al Qaeda--for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization on this planet. In 1983, Hezbollah suicide bombers struck the U.S. marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 American servicemen, and in a similar attack in 1996, in Saudi Arabia, killed 19 American servicemen. Hezbollah continues to serve as Iran's frontline against Israel, with 100,000 rockets pointed at our ally. The terrorist group also plays a key role in Iran's effort to prop up Syria's murderous Assad regime. Thousands of Hezbollah fighters freely cross the border between Lebanon and Syria to join the fight. Unfortunately, the threat posed by Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies is poised to become even more dangerous. Iran is Hezbollah's primary benefactor, giving the Lebanese political party and militant group some $200 million a year in addition to weapons, training, intelligence, and logistical assistance as well. Over the past few years, Iran has been forced to cut back its financial support to Hezbollah due to the international sanctions regime that the Obama administration will dismantle in the coming months. As a result of the sanctions relief due to Tehran under the Iran deal, Hezbollah will see additional funding come its way, a boost that will benefit Hezbollah's regional and international operations. With more money, Hezbollah will step up its aid to Shia militias in Iraq and Yemen in cooperation with Iran. It will increase its presence in Syria, and, most significantly, it is going to increase its threat to Israel. Finally, increased funding will help Hezbollah rebuild its capabilities beyond the Middle East. A newly enriched Hezbollah will be more aggressive at home and abroad, boosting its destabilizing activities inside and outside of Lebanon. Yet, this is not a foregone conclusion. This legislation represents an important first step in pushing back against Iran and Hezbollah and repairing the damage that the administration's sanctions relief for Tehran has done to our national security. Hezbollah is worried, as this bill puts Hezbollah's sources of financing under additional scrutiny, particularly those resources outside of Lebanon, given that many Lebanese banks have stepped up their game now to prevent money laundering. It will also promote the application of advanced antiterrorism and antimoney laundering methods to both financial institutions and business enterprises operating as financial institutions, such as those adopted by regional banks, including many in Lebanon. In addition to targeting the terrorist organization's diverse financial network, the legislation also requires the U.S. Government to focus on Hezbollah's global logistics network and its transnational organized criminal enterprises, including its drug smuggling operations, key areas of expansion for that terrorist organization. How do I know they are worried? Because they said so in their own words. After the Senate passage of this legislation, Hezbollah issued a formal statement condemning the Senate vote and describing it as a ``crime'' against Hezbollah. With their international networks, particularly their most lucrative networks outside of Lebanon in Africa and Latin America, in our crosshairs, they should be worried. They should be worried. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this critical measure. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. ROYCE

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, the Global Health Innovation Act will enable Congress to conduct more effective oversight of USAID's effort to develop and expand access to low-cost, high-impact health technologies. I support this bill, and I urge its adoption. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2241) 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, as amended.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. ROYCE. 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. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of the Global Health Innovation Act introduced by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires). I would just point out that, over the past two decades, we have made unprecedented progress in addressing some of the most difficult global health challenges of our time. Global rates of child mortality have dropped by 53 percent. Malaria deaths are down by 47 percent. Maternal mortality has been reduced by 44 percent. The eradication of polio is within reach. Yet, despite these successes, we have a long way to go. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa should serve as a stark reminder of the global threat of infectious disease. Though child and maternal mortality rates have been drastically reduced, there are still 5.9 million children under the age of 5 who died from preventable causes in 2015. There were 830 mothers who died from preventable causes every day. I have been to Africa and have often seen the disastrous effects of these diseases. USAID's Global Development Lab and Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact is working to address these global health challenges by bringing together science, technology, innovation to develop low-cost, high-impact health technologies. This legislation, written by Mr. Sires, before us today seeks to support these efforts while bettering congressional oversight. It directs the administrator of USAID to submit to Congress five annual reports on the development and use of global health innovations in its programs, particularly those relating to HIV/AIDS, to maternal and child health and to combating infectious diseases. I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, for bringing this forward in a timely manner. I urge Members to support the bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the primary cosponsor of this resolution.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to bring forward this resolution, introduced by my friend and colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires), on the important issue of press freedom in the Western Hemisphere. Freedom of the press is the cornerstone of democracy. It is our obligation to promote and protect this fundamental right, particularly here in our own hemisphere. Undoubtedly, Mr. Speaker, we have seen a troubling erosion of these rights in several parts of the Western Hemisphere at the hands of authoritarian, populist leaders, as well as violence against journalists by transnational narcotics trafficking organizations. In Ecuador, President Correa silences discourse and dissent by intimidating and censoring the media. Hefty fines are issued for any reporting unfavorable to him or his policies. In Mexico, narcotics traffickers intimidate the press and violently target journalists to silence those journalists. In Cuba, despite the administration's naive rapprochement, a lack of free expression is underscored by the continued political imprisonment of anyone who dares to speak or write against the Castro dictatorship. This resolution is an important demonstration of our support for the fundamental right to freedom of speech and our belief that regional leaders in the Organization of American States need to do more to condemn what, in some parts of the region, has become the systemic violation of press freedom. The United States must stand with brave journalists who are on the front lines of exposing corruption in government. Earlier this year, Chairman Duncan's Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere held a hearing on threats to press freedom in the Americas. One witness told the committee that there is now a growing regional trend of government persecution and harassment of journalists, as well as an increase in violent attacks carried out by state and nonstate actors with near complete immunity. I applaud Mr. Sires and the chairman emeritus of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for introducing this resolution and all who champion freedom of expression as a fundamental part of a vibrant, democratic tradition. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 536) supporting freedom of the press in Latin America and the Caribbean and condemning violations of press freedom and violence against journalists, bloggers, and individuals exercising their right to freedom of speech, as amended.

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

Mr. ROYCE

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this legislation, H.R. 3654. It is entitled the Combat Terrorist Use of Social Media Act of 2015. I want to recognize the leadership of Judge Ted Poe, a Member of this body, on this critical issue. The threats posed by Islamist terrorists have evolved, but the administration's policies have not evolved. If we are going to prevent additional attacks, then the President must lay out a broad, overarching strategy needed to win. That strategy must include a plan to counter terrorists' use of social media. Terrorists are skillfully exploiting social media to recruit supporters, to radicalize, to raise money, to spread fear. Two weeks ago in San Bernardino, California, 14 innocent people were killed, and 21 people were injured by radical Islamist terrorists. We know these extremists--husband and wife--used social media, with one of them making a pledge on Facebook in support of ISIS. This pledge was identified by Facebook and was taken down immediately. Yesterday, it was revealed that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security actually prohibited immigration officials from reviewing the social media postings of all foreign citizens who were applying for U.S. visas and that they only intermittently began looking at posts from some visa applicants. So imagine a situation in which you have people who are going to Syria, who are posting on social media, and you have a blanket prohibition on reviewing those social media postings. That was the state of the situation as we were trying to defend the homeland. Frankly, the failure of this administration to incorporate a review of social media posts into the visa approval process is absurd. Ignoring the online statements of terrorists who are trying to enter the United States puts our country at risk. This must fixed. This bill, frankly, is timely; it is important; and it forces the administration to put forward a strategy to combat terrorists' use of this social media. In 2011, the President promised to create that strategy, but he never delivered anything. We are, simply, not going to defeat ISIS or other terrorist groups without combating their social media recruiting. Following a bipartisan letter from Representatives Poe of Texas, Engel, Sherman, and myself last March, Twitter strengthened its policies to assert that statements threatening or promoting terrorism were against Twitter's terms of service. Most of the other social media companies have similar user guidelines that prohibit threats of violence and the use of their platforms by terrorists. We need a strategy that clearly articulates our country's goals, the responsibilities of each Federal agency, what role each one will play, a vision of how our government is going to work with the private sector, and a vision of how we are going to pull civil society into this effort. Without a strategy, the administration's effort to combat terrorists' use of social media appears to be disconnected, and it appears to be ineffective. Then, of course, after we have that strategy, we are going to need action. It is ironic that extremist groups have turned to Twitter, to Facebook, and to YouTube in order to encourage attacks on a free society when these companies would not have been created without there having been a free society, one which upholds free speech, free thought, and encourages entrepreneurship. Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that the administration lays out how we will contend with these terrorists in their hijacking of the social network for their twisted purposes. We truly have, basically, a caliphate today on the Internet--a virtual caliphate, if you will, on the Internet. This bill by Judge Ted Poe is intended to force a strategy to solve this problem. I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, December 10, 2015. Hon. Ed Royce, Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Dear Chairman Royce: On December 9, 2015, your committee ordered H.R. 3654, the ``Combat Terrorist Use of Social Media Act of 2015,'' reported. As you know, H.R. 3654 contains provisions within the jurisdiction of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. On the basis of your consultations with the Committee and in order to expedite the House's consideration of the bill, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will not assert a jurisdictional claim over the bill by seeking a sequential referral. This courtesy is, however, conditioned on our mutual understanding and agreement that it will in no way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of the Permanent Select Committee with respect to the appointment of conferees or to any future jurisdictional claim over the subject matter contained in the bill or any similar legislation. I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming this understanding and would request that you include a copy of this letter and your response in the committee report for the bill and in the Congressional Record during floor its consideration. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Sincerely, Devin Nunes, Chairman.

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

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3654) to require a report on United States strategy to combat terrorist use of social media, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.