On Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the second in its ongoing series, "Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East.” The witnesses for the hearing were Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), and Tamara Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, both at the U.S. Department of State. ...

On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the first in a proposed series of hearings entitled, “Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East.” Testimony was given by a panel featuring, Elliott Cohen, Ph.D, Professor of Strategic Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family Fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and ...

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations hosted a hearing of witnesses to discuss the foreign operations budget allocations for the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget. The Subcommittee chair Kay Granger (R-TX) presided over the hearing with ranking member Nita Lowey (D-NY) in attendance. The witnesses who testified before the subcommittee were Representatives David Dreier (R-CA), David Price (D-NC), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Frank Pallone Jr. ...

On Thursday, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing to discuss the current situation in Libya and U.S. involvement.  The committee—chaired by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), with ranking member Howard Berman (D-CA) in attendance—, requested the testimony of Deputy Secretary James B. Steinberg. To read full notes, continue below or click here for pdf. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen opened by stating that the President’s address to the nation on Monday was a ...

On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations held a budget hearing for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Administrator of USAID, Dr. Rajiv Shah, testified before the subcommittee. The Congressional panel was moderated by subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX). Ranking Member Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) and House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) were also in attendance along with Reps. Jesse ...

The House Foreign Affairs Committee held an open hearing on the future of foreign assistance along with USAID and Millennium Challenge Corporation FY 2012 budget requests. The committee, chaired by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and with ranking member Congressman Berman (D-CA) in attendance, requested the testimony of two individuals: Daniel Yohannes, Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation and Dr. Rajiv Shah administrator of the U.S. Agency for ...

On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs held a hearing on the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s budget.  Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX), with ranking member Nita Lowey (D-NY) in attendance, requested the testimony of Dr. Daniel W. Yohannes, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). To read full notes, continue below or click here for pdf. In her opening statement, Kay Granger stated that the Administration’s request ...

The House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs of the House Appropriations Committee held a budget hearing on Thursday, March 10, 2011 for the administrations FY2012 budget request.  Subcommittee Chairwoman, Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), chaired the hearing with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifying before the subcommittee.For full notes, continue below. For PDF, click here.Congresswoman Kay Granger made opening remarks stating that both the administration and Congress must make ...

The House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held an open hearing on U.S. policy in response to the political unrest across the Middle East as well as to discuss the economic  issues facing the region, the committee – chaired by Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) and with ranking member Congressman Gary L. Ackerman (D-NY) in attendance – requested the testimony of two individuals: Jeffrey D. Feltman Assistant Secretary ...

On Thursday, the House Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, and Related Programs of the Committee on Appropriations, held a hearing on "Key Issues for Congressional Oversight."  Managing Director of International Affairs and Trade for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Jacquelyn Williams-Bridgers testified before the subcommittee. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) is Chair of the subcommittee.  Bridgers testified that direct U.S. investment in Afghanistan and Pakistan is at considerable risk given the ...

On Tuesday, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs held an open hearing to assess U.S. foreign policy priorities in light of the country’s current economic challenges.  The Committee — chaired by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and with Congressman Howard L. Berman (D-CA) in attendance — requested the testimony of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.To see full notes, continue below or click here for pdf.  To see webcast, click here.Rep. Ros-Lehtinen opened ...

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held an open hearing on Wednesday, focused on the future of Egypt and Lebanon in light of recent political instability in Lebanon and unrest in Eygpt. To discuss the issues facing these countries and the region, the committee – chaired by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and with Congressman Howard L. Berman (D-CA) in attendance – requested the testimony of three individuals: Elliott Abrams Senior ...

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held its first Members’ briefing on Tuesday. The briefing focused on the future of Sudan following the completion of referendum elections on secession. To discuss the issues facing the country, the committee – chaired by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and with Congressman Howard L. Berman (D-CA) in attendance – requested the testimony of three individuals: Princeton Lyman, Special Advisor for Sudan, U.S. Department of State; Richard S. Williamson, ...

The Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs held a public hearing addressing corruption in Afghanistan. The committee, headed by Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (D-NY), requested the testimony of two witnesses: Richard C. Holbrooke, Ambassador and Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan; and Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator. (POMED's full notes continue below or view them as a pdf) In her opening ...

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing yesterday to explore ways to improve the effectiveness of government efforts to promote democracy and human rights abroad through foreign aid. This was the latest in a series of committee hearings focused on foreign assistance reform, in light of Chairman Berman’s efforts to rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The hearing sought to address challenges such as the need for ...

Earlier today, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing to explore the human rights situation in Bahrain. Credible human rights NGOs and the State Department have documented violations of Bahraini constitutional protections, and have expressed concern for women’s rights, trafficking, freedom of speech and religion, domestic violence and discrimination against the Shi’a population and foreign workers’ rights. To discuss these issues, the commission – chaired by Congressman James McGovern (D-MA) ...

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing this morning to address President Obama's FY2011 budget request for global development and international aid. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah provided testimony about particular goals and objectives for USAID moving forward, and answered the committee's questions regarding a variety of development trends and projects.For POMED's notes in PDF, click here. Otherwise, continue below the fold.Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) opened by stating his appreciation for Secretary ...

In a hearing on the administration's recently released budget request, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs invited Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to give testimony on particular budgetary items relating to U.S. diplomatic and development efforts abroad. Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) opened the hearing with an affirmation of the value of investing in international diplomacy; not only to promote American values, but also as a method of prevention in ...

Yesterday, POMED released a report about the briefing for the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight about the status and future of U.S. policy on international religious freedom. Thomas F. Farr, a professor at Georgetown and former American diplomat, was one of the panelists who presented at the briefing.A PDF file of Farr's full remarks can be found here.Some highlights from Farr's remarks include: "Our international religious freedom efforts are widely viewed ...

The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held a hearing to address the prospects of developing U.S. policy tools that will avoid harming Iran's opposition movement. Four witnesses provided expert testimony: Geneive Abdo, Director of the Iran Program at The Century Foundation; Mehdi Khalaji, Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Fariborz Ghadar, Distinguished Scholar and Senior Advisor at the Center for ...