Chris Smith

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), who is actually the prime sponsor of this amendment.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I thank the distinguished gentleman for yielding. I want to associate myself with the remarks of the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde). This is a very creative amendment; 9/11 should not mean that the welcome mat has been pulled. As the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) points out in the amendment's findings, $13 billion every year is earned from foreign students coming in. But it is not the money, per se, although that helps our colleges and universities. It is the fact that these students have the opportunity to learn what democracy is all about, to learn what a capitalist system can produce for their people when they return. They can also learn skills that will save lives in the area of medicine as well as in law and so many other areas. It is a very, very creative amendment, I think, and will lead to best practices that will result in more students taking the good infection back to their respective countries. I again want to congratulate the gentleman on this excellent amendment.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the majority of the committee, I want to express our strong support for this amendment. This amendment, the Watson-Issa amendment, will continue to support programs similar to those that were begun in fiscal year 2004. The State Department has designed programs to target areas of the world that have significant rates of intellectual property rights piracy with unique law enforcement assistance. This assistance has been tailored to particular activities in various regions of the world. It is critical to support the intellectual property rights community, Mr. Chairman, as the United States is the world's single largest creator, producer and exporter of copyrighted materials. Rampant piracy of creative works poses a significant risk to U.S. creative work products, including music, movies, video games and other software. As the U.S. copyright industry alone accounts for nearly 6 percent of this Nation's GDP, it is an economic security issue as well for the United States. Mr. Chairman, I commend my two colleagues for offering this very important amendment.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, we appreciate the concern of the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Eshoo) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardoza), and for their strong statements here. The problem of the Chaldo- Assyrians has been brought to the attention of the committee. The committee has brought these concerns to the attention of the administration. I have met with people myself who have expressed concerns about this, and believe that they should not get short shrift when it comes to U.S. foreign aid and efforts being made in Iraq. The administration has prepared materials attempting to show it has been fair and inclusive in its distribution of assistance, but this amendment puts every one of us on guard that we need to watch this very carefully to make sure that they are not shown the door or in any way denied the kind of assistance that we are capable of offering and I think we are obligated to provide to them. I appreciate the gentlewoman's amendment.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for his courtesy. Mr. Chairman, I do oppose the amendment. It is merely an amendment authorizing a study to determine whether or not the U.S. Office in Pristina ought to provide consular services. There are about 15,000 people that make that trip to Skopje every year. It is a burdensome situation for them. But let me also point out there is some value to this debate in the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks), because it underscores the clear and nonambiguous intent here that we do not want to prejudge or predetermine the final status with regard to Kosovo. That is to be left to the negotiations. Even if the State Department makes a recommendation that it is going to be left to a status negotiation, I think the gentleman's amendment and the fact we have had this debate helps to bring some light to that. This amendment would merely facilitate and expedite those individuals that would like to get their visas and to come here. I thank the gentleman for yielding, I oppose the amendment, and I respect the gentleman.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, it is very obvious that family planning includes contraception, and our language makes that very clear.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, for several years now I have pushed USAID and the Congress to establish a program to assist women who suffer from obstetric fistula. According to the USAID, an estimated 2 million women suffer needlessly from fistula and from 50,000 to 100,000 new cases are added every year, mostly in Africa. Fistula occurs during obstetric labor, which sometime damages soft tissues. The destroyed tissues leave a hole or fistula in the pelvic floor area which causes incontinence. Tragically, the constant leaking of urine and feces leads to sickness, desertion by husbands and family, extreme social isolation, and poverty. Who are vulnerable, according to the USAID, very young mothers, women experiencing their first birth, women whose growth has been stunted due to malnutrition or illness, and poor women who lack access to the most basic of obstetric services. My amendment and the underlying language in H.R. 2601, section 901, that I put into the bill, establishes 12 centers for the treatment and prevention of obstetric fistula. Funding is authorized at $5 million in 2006, and the amendment increases the authorization by $2.5 million to $7.5 million in fiscal year 2007. Amazingly, for $150 to a couple hundred dollars, a woman victimized by fistula can obtain a surgical repair that gives her back her life. No woman should be denied this minimal, life-saving surgical repair. My amendment requires that the centers include increased access for women to emergency obstetrical care, including increased access to skilled birth attendants and care facilities. My amendment states that the centers may include activities to expand abstinence education, postponement of marriage and child bearing until after the teenage years, and access to family-planning services. During markup, an amendment was offered to exclude, and this would be the result of that language, certain faith-based health care providers who, while deeply committed to mitigating the pain of fistula, would be barred from receiving funds. I have been in contact with Dr. Kent Hill, the Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID, and he concurs that my amendment is preferable and balanced because it permits inclusion of family planning programs, gives USAID the flexibility to get the job done, and is consistent with the conscience clause we secured through an amendment I inserted in Mr. Hyde's $15 billion HIV/ AIDS law. Section 901 is a modest $5 million in 2006, $7.5 million in 2007, and we need to begin in earnest to give women who suffer the tragedy of fistula the basic care that they need. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Just to make the very clear point to my colleagues, this section 901 creates a brand new program that, until this legislation is enacted, has not existed. I authored section 901, and the emphasis is on surgical repair. We have 2 million women who are in dire need of repair--the walking wounded--and it takes a very modest amount of money to effectuate the repair of their damaged bodies so, again, they can get their lives back. Secondly, the gentleman from New York's (Mr. Crowley) amendment, wittingly or unwittingly, will preclude a number of faith-based hospitals--language that he added that at first blush looked okay but upon further scrutiny and study, we found that it was a major problem. There are at least four hospitals, one in Uganda, Congo, Ethiopia, and in Bangladesh, that would be denied fistula funding, because under Crawley, inclusion of contraception is absolutely mandatory. It should be discretionary. These are proposed fistula centers pursuant to AID's plan to role out and to implement. So we are talking about those who could provide fistula services being told they cannot have the money. Let me also point out to my friends and colleagues that the U.S. spends about $450 million in overseas family planning per year in the budget. Nobody is touching that. That will go forward in FY '06. Some of that money can be used to try to prevent and repair fistula and to incorporate the two. But let me point out to my colleagues, that my language says the centers may include: ``Activities to expand abstinence education, postponement of marriage'' and ``expand access to family planning services.'' That is my amendment. Expand access to family planning services. It is discretionary however. I would suspect that some--maybe most--of the fistula centers will do just that. But there are faith-based health centers for which that is a problem, and we want to get this fistula repair program out to as many women as humanly possible. Let me just tell my colleagues as well if they vote against this amendment, they are also voting against $2.5 million in addition to what is in the bill to expand surgical repairs for these women.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, while H.R. 2601 funds the protection of foreign missions operations' account at the administration's request of $9.39 million, there are ongoing recurrent high expenses for the protection of foreign missions and officials, especially in New York, that make this amendment necessary. In addition, the Department of State agrees that the City of New York is owed $19.58 million in back payments for security work the city has done in relation to the United Nations. This amendment authorizes the necessary funds to pay what we owe to New York for protection services already provided and covers projected costs in the next two fiscal years. The majority accepts and supports the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment, but I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. With all due respect to my friend and colleague from California, I know that the gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella), who is really the prime sponsor of this amendment, had prior knowledge of that potential language that you just offered and he did not want to accept it. So on his behalf and my own I would have to reject it regrettably.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am offering this amendment on behalf of the gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella), my good friend and colleague, who was unavoidably detained on official business. As a supporter of the Fossella amendment, I offer it on his behalf. This amendment very simply seeks to withhold U.S. funding from any U.N. commission, organization or affiliated agency that is chaired or presided over by a country the government of which the Secretary of State has determined has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism until such time that the President determines that they are no longer doing so. If Members of the U.N. elect known state sponsors of terrorism to lead U.N. organizations, we believe U.S. tax dollars should not support those entities. In a post-9/11 world we are seeking to build multilateral strategies to address threats of global terror. We must use all available diplomatic tools and leverage such as U.S. contributions, to halt the influence of countries that sponsor and export terror. This amendment seeks to prevent identified state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba and Libya from being able to attain leadership positions at U.N. commissions, organizations or affiliated agencies such as the Conference on Disarmament and U.N. human rights bodies. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Chairman, I thank my friend for yielding me time. Madam Chairman, despite almost universal acknowledgment of the problems that exist within the U.N. human rights system and in its peacekeeping operations, there has been little reform, a lot of talk, but very little actual reform. This amendment is needed to help end this deplorable state of affairs. Even U.N. officials like Kofi Annan have said, ``Unless we remake our human rights machinery, we may be unable to renew public confidence in the U.N. itself.'' No truer words have ever been spoken. It is a mess and it must be rectified. But it is not just the Commission on Human Rights that is broken. Other U.N. bodies, especially the treaty bodies, have strayed from core mandates and failed to act against severe violations of human rights. Groups like CEDAW and others, without absolutely any mandate, promote a right to abortion, nothing mentioned about the unborn child. They promote violence against children and they call it a human right. Nowhere in their documents, including the CEDAW Convention, can that be found. Let me also point out that the Hyde amendment mandates that countries that fail to uphold the Human Declaration of Human Rights should be ineligible for membership on the Human Rights Commission or any followup, like the Human Rights Council that is being proposed. We will get rid of those items where Israel is singled out by itself at these Human Rights Commission meetings for all kinds of false charges and slander, and other countries like Sudan or the People's Republic of China get away unscathed. The Hyde amendment also mandates that the Economic and Social Council, or ECOSOC, abolish secret voting, which has led to all kinds of abuse. Like I said, we would no longer allow members, rogue nations with despicable human rights records, to be a part of it. The Hyde U.N. Reform Act also focuses on the area of peacekeeping. I would ask Members, look at this legislation that is pending before you, H.R. 2601. It doubles the amount of money available for U.N. peacekeeping, doubles it. I will give you the numbers if you would like to hear them. We go from $483 million to $1.035 billion. We are for peacekeeping. We want to assure that the kind of abuses that we have seen in Congo, in other countries are stopped, and hopefully this legislation will help to do that. Every single reform that has been proposed is eminently doable, if and only if the political will is there to effectuate it. We need to ensure accountability and transparency in the $1.2 billion in taxpayer money we spend on peacekeeping every year. The Hyde amendment does it. We need a U.N. that speaks strongly and clearly for the universal respect and observance of fundamental human rights and the dignity and the worth of every human person, the equal rights of men and women, as the foundation for freedom, justice, and peace. The Hyde amendment promotes that. More high-sounding words will not help the U.N. reform itself. As the chairman said a moment ago, we have seen resolution upon resolution here, as well as in New York at the U.N., and what happens? It dies a slow and ceremonial death because it never gets acted upon. We are giving it a push, a real prod. This will not end peacekeeping as we know it. I think it will make it transparent and, hopefully, make it much more effective and stop the horrific abuses that have been committed by U.N. peacekeepers in places like Congo.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I thank the very distinguished chairman for yielding me this time. I would echo the statements of the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) in applauding Chairman Hyde for his extraordinary leadership on the Committee on International Relations. He is the best and the most effective chairman I have ever seen, and I want to thank him for his leadership. Mr. Chairman, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for 2006 and 2007 is a comprehensive 332-page bill. With 11 titles, it authorizes funding for the State Department, international broadcasting, education and exchange programs, peacekeeping, international organizations and much, much more. H.R. 2601 funds the all-important framework by which the United States carries out its foreign aid and foreign policy programs and authorizes U.S. contributions to the United Nations, NATO, the OSCE, and other vital international organizations. The cost of the bill is $10.8 billion for fiscal year 2006, $10 billion for 2007, with some costs in the outyears totaling $1.9 billion, for a total multiyear price tag of $22.3 billion, and it is within budget. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Relations, I chaired eight hearings on issues related to the bill, and the full committee met twice for consideration of these provisions. There were 10 amendments considered during markup in our subcommittee and another 52 amendments considered during the full committee. This bipartisan bill, as the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) pointed out, passed 42 to 0, and the rule today permits 39 additional amendments for consideration. The legislation, Mr. Chairman, puts a heavy emphasis on security and authorizes $1.5 billion for security-related construction at U.S. missions, $690 million to increase security for diplomatic personnel and $930 million for border security programs. This funding continues the work begun after the devastating terrorist bombings in the late 1990s of our two U.S. embassies in Africa. Subsequent to that, Admiral Crowe, who headed up the Accountability Review Board, reported that some 85 percent of our missions at the time were vulnerable. Since then, Congress has stepped up and provided funding to try to close that gap. This bill continues that work and includes funding for 55 additional diplomatic security personnel positions and 55 new consular positions. Under the capital security construction program, eight new embassy compounds in Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Ukraine, Rwanda, Zambia, Mozambique, Bosnia, and for St. Petersburg in Russia, and four USAID annexes in Nigeria, Ghana, Nicaragua, and Georgia would be funded. The bill also increases funding for minority recruitment, and continues the annual report on minority recruiting efforts at the Department of State. It increases the ceiling on differential pay for hardship and danger at a time when we are operating new posts in extremely dangerous locations. It supports human rights efforts at the Department through targeted funding for the Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; promotes programs to fight anti-Semitism, protects religious freedom in OSCE countries; provides a permanent authorization for Radio Free Asia; and funds scholarships for outstanding individuals from the Southern Sudan region to study in the United States. Given the unparalleled threat to the United States and to the world from the continued proliferation of nuclear weapons, strengthening our nuclear nonproliferation effort is an important and vital piece of this legislation. Title VII of the bill revises and strengthens strategic export controls and mandates a comprehensive review of U.S. strategic exports, including arms and dual-use items. Its aim is to ensure that U.S. military superiority remains, and that terrorist states and organizations are denied the means to advance their nefarious goals. The bill also states that U.S. national interests would be advanced by a stronger International Atomic Energy Agency, or the IAEA, including ensuring that a recurring delay in the U.S. annual payment is corrected. Title VIII upgrades policies related to the elimination of the U.N. nuclear black market and establishes that nonproliferation is a condition of U.S. foreign aid. The bill mandates that countries must be fully cooperative with U.S. efforts to eliminate the nuclear black- market network, again as a precondition to receiving U.S. foreign aid. One title, title VI, the ADVANCE Democracy Act of 2005, authored by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), creates a new office at State to work with democratic movements, establishes an annual report and a list of countries, countries that are either undemocratic or democratic transition countries, and launches a more robust coordinated effort to systematically promote democracy. Mr. Chairman, I am grateful the committee has included a number of provisions that I proposed, including services for overseas children suffering from autism; a global prevalence study on autism; steps to promote human rights and democracy in Vietnam, Belarus, and Zimbabwe; support for a strengthened rule of law in Northern Ireland, as well as assistance to maternal and child victims of Chernobyl; and the creation of a program to repair and prevent the tragic condition of obstetric fistula. Mr. Chairman, I urge strong support for this bill.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I want to commend my friend from Texas for a very constructive amendment which the committee supports. This provision seeks to alleviate the plight of hundreds of thousands of Burmese who have been forced to flee from their native villages by the repressive policies of the military dictatorship in Rangoon, the same dictatorship that represses Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. This amendment would facilitate the provision of much needed food, medical and other humanitarian relief, and I thank the gentleman for offering it on the floor today.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I want to assure the gentleman that the committee stands ready to work with the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) to ensure that he gets the cables he has requested. It is an important part of the gentleman's work and our Congressional oversight function. We will work very closely with the gentleman on this.

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. This legislation that we bring to the floor is a comprehensive bill, 332 pages long. It will probably grow significantly during the course of the day because there are a number of amendments that will be offered and I believe accepted. As chairman of the Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations Subcommittee and as author of H.R. 2601, I am very proud of the way we worked in a bipartisan way on crafting this legislation. I point out to my colleagues that this legislation has been crafted over the course of several months. I chaired eight hearings at which we looked at various component parts of this bill and policies related to this bill, and the full committee met twice to consider the State Department request and the other associated requests that are contained within this legislation. I would point out to my colleagues that I know I have had amendments in the past that were not made in order over my last 25 years as a Member of Congress. It is always disappointing. But there were 10 amendments considered by our subcommittee. And then when we moved to full committee, there were 52 additional amendments considered. Today we have another 38 that will be considered as well. So this bill will be subjected to an enormous number of amendments, and I think that is good and healthy and very important. I would point out to my colleagues that the bill passed the committee 42 to zero. People on the left and on the right, conservatives, moderates, and liberals, came together realizing that we had crafted a truly bipartisan piece of legislation for our Foreign Relations Authorization Act. We often debate money on the floor, and having the monetary resources necessary to carry out our foreign policy tasks are indeed critical. But equally if not more important, it is how we spend the money. This authorization measure contains important new foreign policy directives and reflects a consensus on both sides of the aisle. Together we have produced a very strong piece of legislation that protects our national interests abroad, robustly funds our public diplomacy efforts, and promotes those values that we hold dear such as the protection of human rights, support for democracy, and assistance to those in crisis or in need. H.R. 2601 fully funds the operations of the Department of State, especially its diplomatic operations abroad, and meets the President's budget request. It authorizes $22.3 billion over 2 years plus for the Department of State, international broadcasting activities, international assistance programs, and related agencies. Again, I hope my colleagues will support the rule and the bill when it comes to the floor.