Transcripts For CSPAN2 Political Situation In The Congo Part 1 20171111

The hearing will come to order. I think committee is privileged to see our distinguished chairman joining us monopo. I thank him for his leadership on africa. So great to see you and thank you for your ongoing leadership and for yesterdays important briefing on nikki haley our ambassador to the United Nations and a major portion of that important briefing late in the afternoon was on the congo. So thank you, chairman royce. The democratic republic of congo was supposed to conduct elekdss one year ago this month to achieve the required transition of political power by december 19th. However, after years of stalling on making preparations for elections, the government failed to hold elections last year and relied on a provision that he could not step down until an election was held. Our Ranking Member have had had ongoing meetings with the roc officials, including high level people who have flown to washington and time and time again we haved a monished them stick to the schedule and insure theyre free and fair. The interpretation of the constitution is an apparent contradiction requiring elections to be on time and limiting president to two terms. The Election Commission has just anounced they cannot be held until sometime in late 2018. We were told by Ambassador Nikki Haley they were talking about december of and then we would be in 2019 and i think she made it very clear in yesterdays briefing tat there are an abundance of sanctions almost like a sort of dam clees that would hold over the heads of those who would push to delay and i think thats very real and i hope very compelling pressure to insure that they do exactly what they say they would do because this is what the people of the congo want. They want a free and fair election. They want to choose their next leader. Polling is indicated. To end and be replaced by a Transitional Government until a new one can be elected. We do want to make sure the peoples will prevails and durlidu during conflict hot spots back in 2005 i travelled along with my good friend Greg Simpkins and we saw on the ground and met many of the people who have been raped, many of the women who had been so horrifically sexually abused. Like africa compassion and organization that did wonderful work with epihhelping to heal a mitigate the damages saw people were on the ground that cared so much they were going to extra mile to make sure that fighting stops and also that there would be a way forward for those who been abused. In two of the regions the conflicts in kasai have caused a displacement of nearly 2 Million People since mid2016 and this in a country where a war that seemed to never end took the lives of some4 Million People. Well focus as we should on dar 4. And congo historically eclipses that which is a tarerrible, terrible legacy. They have one of the highest rates of human displacement in the world. A streng of large prison breaks. A religious sect that has declared itself have further contributed to the worsening security. The conflict dh was first starked by the murder of state Security Forces. Featuring severe atrocities and widespread recruitment and abuse of children. Meanwhile, the ongoing conflict at one time saw violent activity by 2 million and an out of control National Army resulting in the systematic rape of 50 women and girls per hour. This hearing is intended to look at possible solutions to a political stalemate tat could lead to further violence and upheaval in a large african country boardering on nine neighbors. It was passed by the house last year. The new legislation were introducing very soon. We understand theres no easy solution to the Current Crisis in drc. It likely could be achieved. And were convinced neither he nor his family would be prosecuted. However, that would reward them for plundering the countrys resources and that is even if members of her his government were not covered. A palace coup could take place. His father was assassinated in office in 2001. The elder over thrown had himself over thrown and fled into exile in 1977. However a coup would not support International Efforts to insure democratic processes and could lead to protracted end fighting. And national chaos. Thats what the International Community is asking and demanding. The status quo as detailed earlier is already leading to growing violence. Enfact, its more likely that violence could spill over if to neighboring countries as the conflict did in 1967, 1977 and 1998. Wreerb heard many, many promises of when the elections would be held. There have been several dates for when Voter Registration would be completed. Elections couldnt be held in the drc until late 2018 with inauguration late in 2019. That would mean joseph cabilla would have an extraterm in office. Consequently we will hear from the state department on the diplomatic efforts to resolve the transition stalemate in the u. S. Agency of International Development to promote democracy and free and Fair Elections. Our second panel consests oof scholars and activists who will give them their informed insights as to how we can prevent more blood shed. Aagain no solution will be easy or without cost but nonaction would have an even higher cost in terms of human livelies and that we must not tolerate. Go to chairman. Ill defer first to the Ranking Member. I thank you, mr. Chairman and mr. Chairman. Appreciate that. Thank you for your leadership for holding this hearing today and i want to thank and welcome our distinguished witnesses today. You know what is so tragic is that we all know that drc is potentially one of the richest countries on earth. We know it has an abundant composites of gold, copper, diamond and many other minerals. We know the congo is the second longest river in the world and the most powerful river in africa which means the country has enormous potential for power. We know the stark reality of living in drc today. We know its one of the poorest countries in the world. Ranking 176 out of 187 on the latest index. More than half of the country lives in extreme poverty and we know theres 3. 8 million inhadternaly displaced persons and we also know there are parts of the drc on the brink of hunger and famine. We shouldnt forget that in march of this year all of the humanitarian efforts we had two un investigators of american and swedish nationality and their cong oleze interpreter were found dead. They were there to investigate alleged Human Rights Violations. So we know what the worlds most complex humanitarian crisis, the drc has 7. 3 Million People in need of hooum anitarian assistance. But aid workers are finding it increasingly difficult and many face it risk of attacks and are unable to access areas in most need of humanitarian assistance. So the signs coming out of the drc are not encouraging. The condo leze government reached a political agreement to organize a vote and camilla committed to not run for a third term. However, yesterday, we met as the chairman mentioned we met with our u. N. Ambassador who said that the drc has anounced that they will hold president ial elections in december of 2018. That seems like a ridiculously long time to wait considering the elections were supposed to be held long ago and i think you mentioned thats a way of really extending it to another term. But my concern is even if it is genuine there will be elections held in december of 2018 im not convinced that does not mean that cubillau wont be on the ballot. Until we hear definitively a public announcement that he will not seek a third term and will not change the constitution and i believe if i heard the ambassador right she did say that he said he wouldnt change the constitution, correct . But i do not believe he has made it Public Statement he will not be on the ballot. Which obviously if he was on the ballot, thats a violation of the constitution. However, we all know that sometimes people find ways of saying theyre not violating the constitution. Like in berunldy it was just a different interpretation. I was encouraged by the ambassador yesterday making strong statements 24 s that the United States will not be there unless we see a commitment for a peaceful transition. With that i yield to the other chairman. Look, i want to thank you and i want to thank Ranking Member karen bass for the focus that both of you kept on the drc and for the trips that both of you have taken, the resolutions that the two of you have passed, the effort to sort of galvanize our attention on this tragedy, a tragedy like no other as you mentioned. When you talked about the millions and millions have lost their livelies. And a lot of it is a governance issue with respect to a lack of rule of law and that emanates unfortunately from lurent and then joseph cabilla. I also want to thank greg here for back in 1997 we were in a delegation from this committee were in neighboring angola trying to with our ambassador trying to broker peace there and that night the government was over thrown. When we were there and greg was our inhterpreter, luckily and w were able to take a plane into it airport in conchausau and we met with the new government tat was one day new and he was able to also communicate. And we have struggled under the cabillas. I think weve made through trips and weve met numerous times here or new york. K i have to give ambassador hailey credit for not just the commitment she got in terms of the december 23rd election next year but the bench marks to be put in place and the announcement on the part of joseph cabilla that there will be that election. Now it falls on us and it International Community. We finally have an election callcal call callender and i think we got to welcome not only it announcement but the sense among it people in congo when you see them in Civil Society aserting their rights to have to be part of this process because they felt the consequences more than anyone and so i think that the state department, the administration and us on the committee weve got to monitor this progress and if deemed insufficient we must use every tool we have to pressure the government in congo. Now is the time. If we do not address the political instability then the unrest across tat country which has cost over 4 million lives so far is only going to escalate and as we watch people flee and recently weve seen another 1 million try to escape the violence. When we see the 2 million that there displaced on our trips there living in camps, we know that the humanitarian situation is dire and warrants our immediate attention and the worlds immediate attention and we encourage the ngo communities, some who are here today because too many are suffering. So we look forward to the witnesss testimony today and again chairman smith i thank you for this hearing. Thank you very much for your long standing decades long leadership. Appr appreciate it. Thank you, mr. Chairman and since im not a chairman or Ranking Member and i learned so much more by listening than speaking. I just learned how long greg has been here. Im going to yield my time so that secretary yamamoto can have more time. Id like to introduce our first panel. Two very distinguished public servients starting with yamamoto in the u. S. Department of state. He has served as Deputy Assistant secretary of state and where he was responsible for coordinating u. S. Policy towards 20 countries in east and central africa. Ambassador yamamoto was also our ambassador from 2000 to 2003 as well as to ethiopia. He was it director of east African Affairs from 1998 to 2000. And without objection your full resume and that of our distinguished other ewitness wil be part of the record. For usa id, the agency for International Development. More than 20 years of Development Experience since joining as a Foreign Service officer, shes worked in the democratic republic of collegeo, uganda, sudan and east africa. And also served as a peace core volunteer in gana. Shes also testified before our subcommittee. So both of you welcome back and we look forward to your insights and recommendations. The floor is yours. I ask for the longer version to be submitted. Without objection, so ordered. And thank you very much chairman smith and chairman royce. Thank you very much for this very important hearing today. Todays hearing comes at a critical juncture for the drc and the country faces two starkly different possible trajectories over the next 12 months. We have president ial elections on december 2018 and the first peaceful democratic transfer of power or will we see the absence of free and Fair Elections . We could see the drc return to widespread violence and instability. Our immediate focus is to support the stability of the drc through genuine free and Fair Elections tat are credible and inclusive and lead to a peaceful democratic transfer of power. With the november if i evfifth announcement, the elections will be held had in november 2018. We have an opportunity to support the congoleze people achieve a historic transfer of power. However, this will require political will, organized credible elections, participate through it democratic process and continued if gaugement, pressure and support including the United States. Ambassador haileys october visit sent a very clear, powerful message to it president and his government that further delays and an unrealistic Electoral College would be unacceptable. She said that United States does not support calls for unconstitution to change and stress the need for are had actors to work within the framework of the drc constitution and the december 2016 agreement. The administration is building on the momentum provided by ambassador haileys visivisit. To push are parties in the drc to advance the electoral process. Theres much at risk due to the vast size, population and location, including ninefort national boarders. Delays has increased tensions, undermined already weak or nonexistent state authority and risked increased violence and instability. Itted administrations focus is if su insuring that they implement the calendar and do not undertake any actions that post pone the long over due elections. We believe theres a possibility for progress despite the challenges. A transfer of power is essential for the people. The african subregion and the u. S. Strategic interests across the including preventing widespread stability which have been precursors to multistate wars and genocide. The illegal armed groups and International Actors and regimes such as north korea and isis. Access to black markets to which trade and minerals and s and ot Natural Resources. Preventing it from becoming a stateless zone making it impossible to respond and preventing the recruitment of child soldiers and atrocities such as rape and women of girls. While elections alone will not stop the daunting challenges they are critical to the countrys stability. We have prepared to work with our International Partners to if sure hat hthat the electoral pr is in accordance with international standards. Its important to understand the extremely complex country. The drc, the size of the United States with more than 80 Million People and almost no basic infrastructure. All nationally elected politicians, not just president cabila, have over stayed their elected terms of office. Society is deeply distressful of the sunnis and the governments commitment to elections. Restrictions on freedom of assembly as well as politically motivated prosecution of opposition leaders have significantly exacerbated tensions. And even absent in many areas and sp elements of the Security Forces have committed mass atrocities. Numerous nonstate arm groups continue to omerate in the drc. Its one of the poorest countries despite having enormous Natural Resources. We know genuinely free and Fair Elections can be held in 2018 and theres no question that the people deeply desire to choose a new leader through elections. The africa, the state department is working with our interagency partners to insure theyre generally free, fair, timely and if clusive and result in a peaceful democratic transfer of power. Were similarly coordinating with our International Powers and multilateralinstitutions. We are coordinating closely with our nart International Partners to press the sunni, the drc government to fully implement the required steps in the electoral process. Were actedively pressing to operate within it framework of the constitution and the december agreement to reject violence and calls for unconstitutional change. Third, we are actively pressed through Public Statements and private diplomatic engagements to respect Political Freedom and rights and refrain from excessive and unlawful use of force. Next we coordinate our messaging and advocacy for key partners including our european and regional partners and finally since june 2016 if we have imposed target sanctions on six current and former drc government officials, we remain committed to imposing further sanction. While our immediate focus is on the electoral process the urgent and ongoing security and humanitarian needs remain important priorities. The United States has driven to end the violence throughout the drc including specifically in the kasai in the east. Were continue to provide assistance in response to the humanitarian process and insure that those responsible for abuses and atrocities are held accountable we have worked with International Partners to address humanitarian needs, over 620,000 congoleze refugees now living out std country and nearly 543,000 refugees who are if h inside the drc. We will continue to engage in finding a longterm solution to bring about peace and stability. In conclusion the stability is a key administrative objective in africa and given the geopolitical importance, we need only recall the ramifications from 1998 to 2002. We understand it enormous transnational negative impact of Armed Conflict in the congo and through free, fair, credible Inclusive Elections leading to a peaceful democratic transfer of power, the regions long term stability and development. There remains many challenges and risks to achieve these goals but our engagement and commitment are unwavering. Thank you and i welcome your questions. Thank you very much, mr. Ambassador. Ms. Anderson. Good morning, chairman smith, Ranking Member bass, congressman donovan, thank you for invietding me to speak about the democratic republic of congo. Its always an honor to have an opportunity to discuss our work with supporters of africa and for me its a pleasure to be back testifying before this subcommittee. U. S. Aid has maintained a longterm relationship with tdrc and its people since the country became independent in 1960. With its vast mineral wealth, the country has tremendous opportunity for Economic Growth that could lift citizens out of poverty and propel the country if had to middle income status. Instead protracted Political Uncertainty is fuelling vile ole and instability and prevents the countrys full potential. The reality is theyre teetering on the brink of a crisis such as it has not seen since the formal end of the second congo war in 2003. Due to the political crisis and continued electoral delays, the mandates of all elected government officials have officially expired. While an election alone will not solve the drcs many challenges, credible inhad clusive president ial and legislative elections are kritdical. To insuring a peaceful transition of power, reducing wad widespread violence. Were pleased with the recent release of an electoral calendar but Voter Registration already months behind schedule must be completed. Revised laws have to be passed and funding has to be appropriated by the drc government to cover the cost of organizing national elections. Finally the government of the drc needs to take immediate steps to allow Civil Society, journalists and citizens to express themselves. Protect the human rights of its citizens and insure all Political Parties are afforded equitable access to the media and tat their rights to assemble peacefully are respected. Along side other Government Agencies were committed to supporting the timely organization of peaceful, and Inclusive Elections. We have provided approximately 37 million in election and political processes since 2013. This includes five components. Civic and Voter Education, targeted Technical Assistance to the Electoral Commission. Political party strengthening and electoral justice. U. S. s Election Observation is by the apiskple Peace Organization. This is the leading organizati n organization. Were epihadding their capacity to train domestic election observers in accordance with nrtd national helping to inform citizens and particularly youth and other marginalized groups about the electoral process, their rights and roles as voters and peaceful participation in elections. A grant to the United Nations Development Program provides Technical Assistance to the Election Commission for logistics and effective use of information technology. U. S. Aids Political Party strengthening Program Provides training to 10 Political Parties, five from the it ruling majority and five from the opposition. To better represent and respond to citizens concerns. And improve the internal management and organization of the parties. Finally our human rights and electoral justice activity strengthens the capacity of National Level justice actors, the courts and Civil Society organizations to conduct legal education, provide Legal Services and monitor and respond to Human Rights Violations if hadcluding electoral disputes. The stakes for the drc and its neighbors could not be higher. E electoral calendar but we need make sure this time line is respected and implemented and are measures are taken for credible, peaceful elections. This includes an end to politically motivated prosecutions, the release of Political Prisoners and respect are it right of Peaceful Assembly and association so opposition parties and Civil Society org fgzations may hold peaceful Public Meetings without government interference or intimidation. Thank you, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member bass, members of the subcommittee i look forward to hearing your counsel and are esponding to your questions. Thank you so much. I want to make clear especially for the cspan audience following. Someone say why do we care if the president follows his own constitution . Why are we so concerned about it . I think the seemingly eso tarik concern about rule of law is eclipsed by the potential for horrific conflict, loss of life that were already seeing shapg up. We know when elections and people from various parties or tribes as with the danka in south sudan, that flair ups are huge. Large numbers of people are slaughtered and women are raped and horribly abused as a result. So we are on the cusp of what could be, as you have pointed out in your testimonies, an incredible new flair up of violence in a region, as you pointed out, ms. Anderson, thats the size of western europe with 100 Million People approximately. A large country where it potential loss of life is very real. My questions first beginning with the violence in the kasai region. The number of internaly displaced congo reached and the un has declared a level three humanitarian emergency, putting it on par with crisis in iraq, syria and yemen. I wish you could speak to how were working to mitigate this humanitarian crisis festering before our eyes. Regards to Peace Keeping. Im who as you might know, im the author of the trafficking victims protection act. And subsequent laws as well. It is a passion of mine, a passion of this committee to stop all trafficking because it is a it is modern day slavery. As we all know the peace keepers who are deployed to the congo early on had particularly during ambassador swings tenure had a terrible record of bribing or taking gifts from young people, raping 13yearolds. These are the peace keepers from the u. N. Greg and i travelled to goma and met with it peace keepers there and have raised it at the United Nations here in washington and in country. We understand that and ive been tracking this. The efforts are far better than theyve ever been but certainly not there yet. People who do commit crimes against congoleze, particularly women and girls, are not only sent back to their home countries but theres a heavied a monishment by the un to keep fwhem hind bars. If you could speak, if you would whether or not its practicing what we thought . The zero tolerance policy. I had one hearing where we said zero tolerance policy, zero compliance because it was so ineffectively being implemented, not with standing the great efforts of an american in a key position there. And finally let me ask you about the most credible, in my opinion and reliable and effective interlockteres for peace and free and Fair Elections is the Catholic Church. We urin south sudan last may and we met with the president and had a very straight forward conversation with him. Not all that happy because of the terrible killings that are occurring there. He wouldnt even meet with the faithbased consortium of leaders, bishop, clergy who really are the key to reconciliation and now we see potentially a deja vu of that in the congo. How do we support the church in its efforts and all those that are trying to have free and fair eection alls . It amount of money, who is it going to if you would . And as nikki haley said if this road map does not happen, we wont support the election. Were not going is support a fraud and a sham. So if you could speak to those three. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thats a long list of issues that we need to tackle. First is going to munusko and as you know 63 of all u. N. Ops is in africa. And what we have been firmly committed and especially with the new un security general and our own commitment to human rights and to your legislation, mr. Chairman, which has been supportive and very helpful. Is that we look at had munusco, that they have taken this necessary and proper steps on the Sexual Exploitation and assure tat those have r held accountable. And in all the other organizations. The cong duct and Disciplinary Team is currently composed of 23 personnel and theyre implementing strong preventive actions in training, etc. Through risk assessment, military police deterrent patrols n forcement of strict curfews and theyve taken a very strong and tough position on the sea. As you know the United States and state department retrain Peace Keeping troops for over 300,000. Part of that is human rights protection and protection of sea. Let me go into the other areas on the violence is that munuscos main goal is to protect civilians. And in trump 2013 an intervention prigade used to target groups like n23 and prevent other problems and militias from rising. And so those are some helpful uses. But it other is that we need to keep up a very, persistent observation of the growth human rights abuses taking place in the drc. Not only just by militias and the truth but by all groups and we have to hold each person accountable. As you may recall, mr. Chairman, that in june the human rights counsel we supported the International Experts being sent to kasai to look at the human rights atrocities. But not only looking at the atrauszties but investigating the cases. Particularly it death of sharp and catalan. That remains this murder case well remain a priority for us to look at and to investigate. The other thing is during ambassador haileys visit to the drc she met withal sinko and the Catholic Church and faithf hba groups and strong supported. We agree. In strong supporting the facilitation it Catholic Church had had arranged in the agreement of 2016 and as you know faithbased groups have been a corn stone of pillar for a lot of our operations. Not only there but east africa, and etc. Because of their commitments and quality of work. Low over head cost. And i guess and on the Peace Keeping . You did touch on that somewhat. Are we satisfied theyre protecting and the duty to protect is being followed . The issue for Peace Keeping is not. But the issue is the complexity of the drc. By having a political empass, it as emboldened a lot of the militias to engage in very striking human rights abuses. And one way to rein in some of this abuse is to have a free, fair and open elections tat is going to be executed and implemented in 2018. We have to hold those people accountable. If i can go off one tachgant on three issues and that there are three requirements were going to be focussed on. Thats the technical aspect requirements. The other is the political requirements and the human rights requirements. The technical is the electoral process, the announcing and registering voters, insuring their scrubbed, looking at the candidates registrations, thats on the technical side. On the political side, what were looking at very carefully that the government as well as the opposition, the government has to have confidence building measures, in other words, they cannot arrest Political Prisoners, they have to have open political space and allow assembly of people to assemble and discuss. There has to be looking at excessive use of violence and force. Those are some issues. That goes into the human rights issue looking at and trying to prevent and stop the excessive gross human rights abuse. Lets go into the chairman smith, you asked about the situation and the peacekeeping and the churches. Id like to start with the situation in the cosi provinces. First of all, the widespread violence and Human Rights Violations weve seen there are totally unacceptable. This is against innocent civilians. We know that the violence has been subsiding but that should not take our attention away from the fact this is a very serious security and human rights and humanitarian situation in with them starting to come back. We also have to make sure that we dont lose sight of the fact people need to be accountable for the abuses that weve seen. So the United States, along with our bilateral and multilateral partners have been responding with our efforts to end the violence and hold people responsible for the heinous acts. But also on the humanitarian side we have been responding. We scaled up our funding. It has been hard to operate. It had been previously hard to even get in there, as you mentioned, it can be very treacherous for humanitarian workers but we did scale up a response for health and Food Security as well as protection of children affected by the violence. We airlifted 300 metric tons of blankets and cooking kits and other kinds of humanitarian supplies into the area in cosi and two other provinces there. There are a number of others. We have as much as 3. 9 million internally displaced people the most for all of Subsaharan Africa and 300,000 refuges who left the drc. We provided in fiscal year 2017, the u. S. Government provided 190 million in humanitarian assistance across the country. Of that, 128 million is from u. S. Aid. Weve always remained committed to providing humanitarian assistance to people in need working with the u. N. And our ngo partners. I wont speak on peacekeeping except to say in the area of genderbased violence, i think youre aware u. S. Aid has been very engaged since 2002 preventing and responding to genderbased violence. On the Catholic Church and faithbased organizations, definitely these groups play such a Critical Role in the country in keeping peace and helping to insure the people hold their government accountable and involved in the election process and also in providing services across the country to people. We have repeatedly endorsed the Catholic Churchs 31st agreement and provide respect for that agreement. Were working with the episcopal justice and Peace Organization on domestic Election Observation efforts. Thank you. With that objection we will put the december 31st agreement into the record so all can see. Thank you for your testimony. I yield to Ranking Member bass. Thank you, mr. Chair. A few questions. I wanted to get some specifics, because when you are talking about both of our witnesses, when youre talking about Holding People accountable, i wanted to know how we do that. Ambassador yamamoto, you were talking about political, technical, confidence building measures. Technical, political and human rights, is that what you were saying . I want to know how we specifically go about that. I hear from people all the time of folks being arrested and i dont know what our role in that is. Or when we see the violence taking place, especially government initiated violence. Let me give one introductory remark and go into the discussion. Since asking the assistance secretary i made a considerable effort to talk to our partners and colleagues with the drc. We find it extremely unacceptable the elections in drc has taken so long and the instability that has given rise to militias and other groups because theyve been emboldened by the lack of political certainty. We talked to the African Union and our european colleagues, the donors. The issue that comes in by holding kabila and the opposition accountable, in this case, president kabila, he doesnt have political space to maneuver, escape, delay, he is held focused that you will have elections. The other issue, too, you discussed with the opposition, one of the areas was they want to look at a transition of government. We said, no, under the constitution and the agreement that kabila will be there until the new president is selected. That means we will hold him responsible and accountable implementing the agreements according to the constitution the process for election of the government. I understand. I want to know what measures we specifically take. Is there something we would hold back . What do we do . I think on a broader scope, by having the africans and europeans committed and focused, that puts on president kabila the onus he has no political space, he has to implement and be committed to doing this, that there is no alternative or no ability to delay that process. Yes. Although he has delayed it. You mentioned also that there were sanctions that were prepared. I was wondering what kind of sanctions. You know were looking at legislation and i wanted to know what your thoughts were about that. Everything has to be on the table. We did implement target sanctions on six specific individuals. Sanctions are on the table. So if we target the specific individuals, what are we sanctioning them for . They cant come to the United States . Their assets. Do they have assets here . Assets not only here but other countries with the banking institutions, that helps restrict their operations, something similar we have done in other countries to other individuals. I have the thats on the ofax side. The other is we can look at limiting their ability to come to the United States through visa processes and with the United Nations and u. N. Sanctions and build on it sanctions from the European Union as well. It has to be a very concerted effort. When we lose sanctions on individuals, i dont know the group youre talking about, some have children here going to our universities, do our sanctions ever refer to that . The sanction is only on a specific individuals. Not like on a family . Obviously if the person had illgotten assets, that will affect the family members because they cant access the banking and get the illgotten money out. Does it depend if their family members are here . Only if theyre targeted. I understand the financial part. One of the strategies used is their relatives are not in the countries when all the strife is happening, their individual families are protected. You raise a very good point. Thats something were discussing acceptly. The issue that comes in is family members from outside the country benefitting from illgotten assets. Right. Those people as well cannot access the banking facilities but any of the benefits from those assets so they, too, will be because one thing we do, we allow folks to come here and buy real estate and all sorts of things, theyre living well. The way we do the target sanction has to be negotiated, has to be looked at. We cant go into who we are considering for sanctions but everything is on the table for discussion and the breadth and depth of those sanctions. On our end, do we have an ambassador . Currently, we have not had one since december of last year. Is there one in the pipeline that just hasnt been confirmed . There is one but i defer to our the white house personnel system. Do you know i understand you defer for the specifics. Do you know if the person is waiting Senate Confirmation . Im not at liberty to say. Its again a secret. For the white house personnel. You said that you are we are really looking at the case of the two murders. I wanted to know what that meant. What are we doing . We have an american citizen. One was an american. American. But that doesnt matter because both of them were part theyre investigating the mass atrocities taking place. Right. Their work is important to us. As part of the process we are coordinating looking at investigations, pushing the United Nations, pushing operations, pushing the drc who is doing the investigation . Is the drc doing it or International Investigations . We said everyone is going to be participating in the investigation because this is a priority for the United States, to look at who were involved in the murders and to hold those people accountable. One thing is we supported the u. N. Secretary generals recent appointment of robert pettitte of canada to head a team that will assist in the National Investigation into the death of mr. Sharplan and miss katalin. Were looking at other means and methods to help those investigations. Also, on our end, i know we were talking about the peacekeeping troops. We pushed for a rather deep reduction in the troop levels. Right. How does that work, because i think you were saying was that you, miss anderson . Were you talking about the real need for troops but yet we proposed cutting them back . So the Ambassador Haley and her trip to the dnc, one of her missions was fit for purpose, that was the key word, fit for purpose. Its probably one of the largest and longest serving peacekeeping operations for the United Nations. How do you make those more efficient, effective, targeted . On the other hand, yes, i know Ambassador Haleys took issue with the troops. How did they respond or not respond . How about the Intervention Battalion . Its not enough to target and to go after all of the problems that are in i was just referencing that we asked for a reduction. Yes. But yet we said more were needed, so i didnt understand why we asked for a reduction. I think right now currently to assess the effectiveness of munisco and do we have the right mission set and fit for purpose according to what Ambassador Haley i see. There might be fewer but youre saying it might be more specific. Specific and targeted. You were mentioning the Electoral Assistance we provide over the years and you mentioned quite a span and what does it mean that we provide Electoral Assistance . I mentioned we have been providing assistance since 2013 in preparation for this election thats coming up. Its not just the one day of the election but its a process. Our 37 million in funding is for those five components i mentioned. A lot has been in process because we have been working on voter and Civic Education so the people know what to expect, how to get involved in elections, with Political Parties. To understand specifically because i certainly understand that in the abstract, but specifically do we fund an nco that goes to villages and sits down to talk to people . Is that an example given Voter Registration is real behind, are we doing anything and if we are, can you give an example of a project we fund and what we do. Thats important because we have to keep adjusting. Now, we have a date, means we can put a number of things into motion towards the date of the election. I can talk about the civic and Voter Education xroent of our program. Weve invested 19 million in this program thats implemented by Counterpart International and they work with 38 is that a u. S. Company . Working with 38 different congole Congolese Society organizations. Those organizations now they inform the citizens. They work with them to talk about the electoral process, what are your rights as a voter, whats your role as a voter, what do you need to do to get involved. They have a specific component on peaceful participation. Is it a Consulting Firm . Counterpart international is i may have to get back to you maybe a notforprofit organization. We have the four other components. I would like to mention the component on elections observation. That is one of our few direct awards to drcbased organization. Do you fund is it ndi and iri, or that comes out of another on our part . Ndi is involved in the component of our assistance we call Political Party training. Then you fund the drc group to do the observation . Right. So they coordinate a number of congolese groups to do the observation. This is the episcopal peace and justice organization. Given the election is December Next year, is more money needed . Or because these elections have been stalled, have you been holding onto the dollars in anticipation one day we get a date . Were hustling now to get a look at what we have. We have extended our awards into 2018 and 2019. At this point, we may have to make some adjustments to get us through the period of the elections. For the most part, we had done extensions to the programs to allow us to continue into 2018, potentially 2019. Thank you. Its a long process. Especially when you dont know yes. We hope that they stick to the date, too. We have to hold them to that. As you realize unmet need, hopefully you will be advising the Appropriations Committee as well to try to meet that need. I yield to my good friend and colleague. Thank you very much. I have one question for both of you. Mr. Secretary maybe speak about the elections process and you speak about the humanitarian efforts. We are a passionate nation particularly when it comes to democracies and humanitarian efforts, we are a compassionate nation. How do you see the United States role in the governments of other countries . Theres a lot of talk about other countries influence on our election process here in the United States. Now, were talking about maybe United States involvement in elections in another country. I was wondering how do we define our role and what do we see as proper in humanitarian efforts in a country im not sure theyre cooperative with usaids efforts to help but we as a nation reach out to those folks and the rest of the globe who are suffering and sometimes their countries or their government might not appreciate our efforts and may see what were trying to do in humanitarian environment. As trying to influence their people in other ways. I was wondering if you can give me some background on that. Our role in the political process, were not picking losers or winners or any candidate. This is the constitution of the drc and st. Sylvester agreement 2016 negotiated by the Catholic Church both the government and the opposition signed. What were doing is holding both parties accountable and committed to what they had signed. For four years i led peace talks and negotiations in the congo. Everywhere i went the United States stands as a symbol, that we are going to work for what the people of congo want. They demand an election, a credible free, fair, open election. In that context, we are going to support the people of the congo to say, yes, we are behind you, we are going to hold the government and opposition accountable to do these electoral processes. Do we do it as a nation or as a group as the United Nations . How do we do it . Does the United States stand alone in doing that are our partners at the u. N. Assist in doing that as well . Yes. We do that in context of Donor Community and United Nations, also African Unions and local communities within the congo and various groups. Mr. Secretary. Can you speak about our humanitarian efforts . Yes. We always do our best to respond to humanitarian crises wherever they are. In the drc, we have a very challenging environment. We work closely with the u. N. , with other bilateral and multilateral departments and ngos. We always have to coordinate our efforts. We always encourage the government. We need their cooperation and we always encourage them to do increasingly more to respond to humanitarian crises. This is a tough one in the drc. I can say we are a major donor in humanitarian assistance in Subsaharan Africa. That includes the drc. So many of the other players look to us to play a leading role. I would just conclude by saying once again, this is a very challenging environment and its very difficult for us to kind of get ahead of the situation as well as to decide what to do because it is a dangerous environment for our humanitarian work. We say we are great donors. Is that just in Financial Resources . Is it in Human Resources . What is our actual presence there . We have we have personnel on the ground who work on humanitarian assistance and we work with local and other international organizations, especially the United Nations, to deliver humanitarian assistance in the form of food assistance, Emergency Health assistance, other types of relief supplies and also one thing we work on is the protection of citizens, especially children, in dangerous situations. My last question, do you find resistance in the drc from the efforts that you just described . I would say that one of the Biggest Challenges is the questionable will of the government to move forward on its commitments in the december 31st agreement and also their the fact we have such a dangerous environment with violence and Human Rights Violations makes it very hard for us to do our humanitarian work. I thank you both. The chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. Garrett. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for convening this important meeting. Its interesting, as a freshman member of this committee to do the learning curve on africa in particular. Certain trends have emerged in my observations. First let me thank the panelists and mr. Chairman, and the oversight goes back all the way to Tiananmen Square and miss anderson served on the peace corps and i thank you for putting a good face for the remainder of the world and an investment a lot of my colleagues undervalue as it relates to the opinion of america across the world who might otherwise only get that from the opinion mass media has and thats so important. Thank you for that. I dont want anybody to break out in laughter as i ask this question. As we work towards hopefully free, fair and Transparent Elections in congo, the democratic government of congo, what can we say the chinese influence in the electoral process doesnt tilt the scales in the election to the benefit of the chinese. Thats an open question. Thank you, mr. Congressman. Weve looked at in our coordination with the International Community. We do hold annual discussions with the chinese specifically on what theyre doing in africa. Were trying to steer not only china but all these countries to play a helpful supportive role. The other area, too, we have concerns is the exploitation of resources in western congo. Thats my next question. Thats the area weve been working on very long and hard. That the people of the congo need to benefit from the resources. There has to be a rational process whereby you develop these resources. One of the things is that looking at your question, we do discuss with the chinese on a whole aspect. Not just china, all the other countries that are involved positively and negatively in the drc. Miss anderson, if you want to and if you dont want to, i will keep going. I guess i would just say if youre referring to the elections and our involvement related to the chinese, were focusing on local capacity. Were working so the congolese can be prepared to participate in their election and hold their own government accountable so they can start to be able to define their own future. Thats the role were playing in the elections, quite different from the chinese. Thats something thats noteworthy here, we as americans recognize perhaps american, dear i say, overreach globally manifest itself in ways we didnt anticipate. There are certain types of aid greatly appreciated and others taken because theyre aid but come with a backlash, if you will. Theres a vacuum inherently created and the chinese are all too happy to fulfill it. I havent spent time in africa but i did speak to a member of the north africa country where the residential palace was built by china, they built a palace. When you get off the airport and you served in ethiopia, a dynamic country, if we get it right great things will happen and if we dont, tragic things will happen, you almost feel like youre in a chinese annex. The chinese record of exploitation of individuals is apparent in 2007 in the drc as to exploitation of child labor and monopolization of deposits and should make the drc one of the most prosperous nations on the planet. The chinese efforts are historicry and demonstrably towards things like tungsten and cobalt that have manufacturing applications in anything from lithium ion batteries to jet engine components. I get it, except what were trying to do is empower the people in the drc to be leaders of the people in the drc without a combative tone and knowing there is an economic struggle at foot and theyre strong competitors, how do we make sure our money isnt put to the exploitation we all create to enrich the chinese at the expense literally of the poorest and weakest people in places like the drc. Im asking for suggestions because i dont know the answer, understanding we dont want to take a combative stance, my primary function on this committee to the extend its relevant and possible to create a better circumstance for human rights to do that. How do we do that without empowering the chinese to continue exploitive practices. Its a very difficult question and complex situation. Its not just the chinese, a lot of outside countries and regional states as well exploiting those resources. Our effort is to insure we monitor, we hold people accountable and we look at how these resources are being distributed and find mechanisms and ways the people can benefit from those resources. Since your question is on china, we do have were womening up to another annual discussions with china to see where they can play a helpful role. In the past theyve done an Engineering Battalion in south sudan, done Road Construction to aid and u. S. Projects. Looking and seeing where we can have areas of commonalty and areas we do not, how do we make sure its beneficial to the people in africa. Will the gentleman yield . Absolutely. To my colleague, from california, miss bass. Thank you very much. One of the things i wanted to say in terms of chinas development, i want to see more development from our companies. One of the areas im really interested in promoting our companies in the u. S. To get involved in infrastructure. China is famous for building roads in africa. Its a real mixed bag in temps of what did you say exactly not so good roads. We know the quality of our companies. I would like to, with you in the future in ways to establish partnerships to promote u. S. Business involvement. Im distressed by the chinese involvement as well. One answer is to step up ours. I would thank the congresswoman and pile on there. Weve spoken a couple times as to repressed minorities in africa and it seems like it always heads from the Natural Resource to the ports. Go figure. In some ways its a National Security for our nation as it relates to rare earth minerals, et cetera. There is a role for this country to play in basic human dignities and expectations. We can spend another entire hearing on alleged abuses and peacekeeping forces. We have. A real problem. Its tragic. To paraphrase president reagan, im from the u. N. And here to help and it gets worse. That doesnt mean we should stop trying. When we have people of your caliber and your experience getting within the appropriate role of the u. S. Government, if the chinese say well help and theres strings attached, its still help. If we withdraw and create a vacuum somebody is going to fill it. The challenge is how we are good stewards and work within the realm federally allowable in this country and dont subsidize bad outcomes. In no way shape or form do i see an adversarial tone from you two people, it feels good but what are the answers. I think the congresswoman and i are on the same page there. There are opportunities to be had. If a corporate entity wants to make money and help, thats fine. How do we insure our investments arent undergirding those our geopolitical rivals potentially military and do so without victimizing people who have a 200 year history of being victimized by outsiders. I would like to point out very briefly on one trip, i had dinner with a member of parliament who also has a farm. He said, i can grow anything. I really loved his attitude. He showed me his farm, i can grow anything. I cant get to it market. No roads or bridges, very few. The chinese have come in, in a quid pro quo, in a fleecing of the congo they have done elsewhere in africa, they have gotten minerals, all kinds of commodities at unbelievable prices for those roads and bridges. We have the act that prevent others from engaging in those practices but the chinese have no such law. Its a serious issue. The congolese are not getting n anywhere what they should be getting for getting those roads and bridges. We need to do much more and i would say our friends and allies truly democracies with Something Like the foreign corrupt practices act but especially the United States. I do have one final question of many but ill finish with this. Mr. Chairman, if i can interrupt, i apologize, thank you for yielding. The first thing we can do is tell the world the chinese are exploiting people. I dont have a problem with chinese corporate entities or building a road, fleecing is a great word. We had several hearings on that kind of corruption and African Resources from ghana and many other countries. Unfortunately it doesnt get covered by the press. We hold these hearings, put in resolutions and get bills passed and its not even on page 15. That is very discouraging, but we have to do it anyway and do whats right. I thank my friend for raising that. The 2017 humanitarian plan is now running this year at about 42 . My question is the u. N. Needs assessment, is it accurate . Do we have confidence they have a handle on what needs to be done to mitigate disease, death, mortality, from things like hunger and illnesses . Secondly, what does a near 60 underfunding of u. N. For the drc mission humanitarian needs mean to women and children in vulnerable populations . Mr. Chairman, we always have some involvement when the u. N. Is doing their assessments because we are engaged with them on a daytoday basis. By the same token, we look at the assessments with a critical eye, based on our knowledge of the situation and the ground, and the reality is that often the requirements are much higher than what we all together can meet. So it means we always have to prioritize. Thats what were constantly doing is prioritizing and looking at what we can provide, what is the highest priority that will really make the most difference. The United States will always be there for people in need. Our resources are not unlimited. So its very important for us to prioritize. Thats why its important for us to have a good assessment of what the situation is on the ground. I thank you. I would point out ive chaired hearings in the past about the mass exodus of people in the middle east. Once they got to refuge camp, they found there, once there, the gross underfunding including the World Food Program that massively cut their allocation it was order of magnitude about 40 what the u. N. Assessment was for those and thats why they uprooted and left and flocked into europe and elsewhere. They saw no future. No Education Opportunities and certainly not enough food, clothing and shelter to meet their legitimate needs. For the International Community to go cheap on refuges and idps is a very bad bargain first and foremost for the victims and second, they will move somewhere else, they have to. They care for their families. I thank you for your great leadership and testimony today. One quick comment. We agree with you, mr. Chairman, excellent. I would make one comment on congressman bass had said, the point is that i dont like to play defense, i like to play offense. One of the offensive issues is why need more american companies. How do we encourage more american companies. The areas are Risk Insurance and financing and other support. Our embassies are supporting 100 . Were looking at means of bankism. Were going to continue to do that, madam congresswoman. Id like to welcome our second panel beginning first with a writer and Foreign Policy analyst, independent journalist, veteran of the United States marine corps. She was a grantee of the center on crisis reporting and covered the 2006 historic collections in the democratic republic of congo. With the Paulson Center he developed a documentary report of the conflict and scramble for Mineral Resources and served as Election Monitor in 2006 with the congo and 2011 and embedded in u. N. Peacekeepers congo district as a reporter. He has testified before various subcommittees and both chambers and we welcome him today. We will hear from mr. Fred balma, with an organization known as the american acronym name is the struggle for change. This nonviolent party was 2012 in goma, the capital of the north drc. It campaigns for social justice into the drc and encourages congolese citizens to push for human rights. He was arrested in march of 2015 but later released and currently resides in the United States. Well then hear from a professor of political science, specializing in International Relations in African Studies at columbia university. She works on civil wars, peacekeeping and building and humanitarian aid. The professors latest Research Project is Successful International contributions for peace building. Her earlier Research Project focused on violence and International Intervention in the eastern part of the democratic part of congo where she traveled regularly since 2001. Her field work and analysis resulted in the trouble with congo, local violence and International Peace building published by Cambridge Universe press in 2010. Then, well hear from ida sawyer, the Central African director for Human Rights Watch based in congo since 2008, first in goma, since 2011 and the capital. The authorities barred miss sawyer from continuing her work in the country following a series of human rights publications on political repression. She is now based in brussels where she overseas human rights work there. Miss sawyer has conducted research in areas in northern congo and areas affected by the Lords Resistance Army and she has informed the world what is going on. If i could, if you could begin. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for the invitation and honor to testify before you, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member bass and distinguished members. The views i express today are mine and mine alone. With your permission, sir, i would like to submit my remarks for the record. Over the years, i probably provided analysis of the congo to several subcommittees in both parties of congress. Today, i beg for your indulgence. I do not wish to speak as an academic lawyer, journalist, analyst or fellow. I want to speak as a human being talking to other human beings. Id like to speak plainly, no academic speak, no diplomatic jargon. In other words, what i want to say is there is possibility for the suffering of the congolese people rests with one man, joseph kabila, he shared with a shrinking small number of family members. They have captured the states with h with total impugnity at the expense of the people. A series of reports including the carter center, paradise papers, Bloomberg News and the Congo Research group have documented and exposed the wide extent to which drs Natural Resources of billions of dollars have been diverted to benefit this small group. The kabila regime has been characterized by plundering, looting and deadly violence. It is time for new leadership. Kabila must go. His biography is a cinderella story with bloody twists. Having grown outside congo showed up for the first time at the age of 26 during the war that eventually vanquished the late president. When he took over, he mnamed a two star general in charge of the ground forces. Four years later after his father was assassinated the young younger kabila became president. The International Community fully embraced him while others disapproved with total economic, financial and political support. Donors submitted a number of projects to help him end the war he inherited from his father, the sun city, transitional referendum and 2006 election. On the security front the world raised the largest peacekeeping force, peacekeeping mission to help kabila to build an army. They remidst the debt at a tune of about 13 billion, again to help him start a new economy. Then the World Bank Also wrote a new mining code that eventually he would use it to trade his power for financial and political gains. So we were determined, the world, to make kabilas success and nothing could derail what it started. In november, to get others out of the way so kabila would succeed. Unfortunately kabila did not succeed. He himself set out to undermine the political gains of the country. Despite the legitimacy he gained he led the country in 2011 in highly contested and botched elections. Despite this good will he has not succeeded. Since then the country has gone from crisis to crisis. When we confront him and his associate about his abysmal record they typically blame everyone and everything, the weather, rwanda, the United States and militias. Everybody except themselves. Nobody ever takes responsibility for actions in drc and the government definitely never fire anyone and nobody ever resigns. Even by the standards of central africas disfunctional states, the regime stands alone in its mediocrity. He is so unpopular he cannot face his fellow citizens and explain why he should stay in power. Every time he has made an attempt to stay longer he has fac faced resistance so his government decided not to fund and organize the elections. His actions fund those there when he leaves office. I believe we should not be as the government seems to propose today blissfully naive about a decision that we will be holding the election next year by december. The record stands for itself. Its been 16 years. I dont have to go further into this. I have to say internally he has no good options. He tried everything. Subvert the constitution, kill and oppress. The International Community has helped him, he has failed. The only option he has is to rely on military force and bloody repression. Weve already seen too much of that. At this point, the congolese see him as illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional president. He is. Theyre already referring to him as the former president. So should we. Kabila and his associates are spending lots to launder his image and fend off the pressure. An israel firm represented his interests in washington, d. C. For nearly 6 million. This is in a country where civil servant, nurses and doctors are on strike because theyre not being paid, nurses and doctors yet the government is spending over 6 million in lobbying effort. When it expired, they tried to give him another year. Thats too long to accept. Kabila must go. The longer he stays in office the greater risk for violence and stability. For my recommendation this body and the government of the United States should impose sanctions on kabila and his family and inner circle and totally irrelevant generals, ministers. He should be held accountable. Weve spoken to kabila a long time, at the highest level of the government. President obama, secretary kerry, clinton, feingold, and in a way most dictators would have wished for and hes not adjusted. The head of the independent National Electoral commission. His delaying ac tactics fuel detentions and he is convinced in his own bubble makes since but most of all know most of the time hes incoherent and incensecle. They have reset assets for a monthly fee of 30,500, to represent him, head of an Electoral Commission. The group, llc, represent the independent national Election Commission for a fee of 35,000. This is a red flag. The message is the Electoral Commission cares more about what the u. S. Government is or does while showing contempt for the congolese opinion. While they almost never meet to update the electoral process theyre spending millions of dollars in the u. S. And congo on frequent travels and expensive lobbying effort in candidates. This is un7thible. He should be held accountable on the sanctions list. The oldest body has been Holding Hearings for years. I feel we are all accomplices, and these hearings will remain abstract deductions. Your committee has been considering six months. Now is the time to show resolve forcefully and much more stronger. I think i will stop here and wait for q a. Thank you very much. Thank you. I was reading your bio. I think you probably speak more languages than the rest of the room combined which is unusual for a marine. I was an army guy. Thank you. Without objection the full remarks of all witnesses will be entered into the record without request. We have votes coming up relatively quickly but i want to get everyones testimony in if we can. I would ask you all to continue and mr. Balma, we welcome your comments. Thank you. Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member and members of the committee, thank you for hearing my testimony to the drc. I hope to share some insights. On monday, october 13th, several men all under 20 years of age were shot by the National Congolese police and military police who were peacefully there. Those called by the Coalition Including movements. They wanted to call president kabila to resign as a consequences for his failure to organize election and respect the timelines in our constitution. It should concern the United States that this violence broke down on Peaceful Protesters to take place so bluntly the week after Ambassador Nikki Haley visited the drc. Calling for timely free and Fair Elections have escalated as he shows contempt and a term limit has become increasingly obvious. I have personally experienced this, and when i spent 17 months in jail for emphasizing my rights. But my story is not unique. Since september, 2016, almost 150 peaceful demonstrator have been killed while 100 more have been arrested or kidnapped by Security Forces and many of them remain in jail. Government official including mayors and head of police in some cities has been we quipping guns, called antigun or some other name, those group deployed to arrest and sometimes arbitrary arrests. And members of your position. His groups have been responsible for severe human rights in many places in drc and work with the National Police an congolese intelligence service. At some time, the arrests and Media Outlets are shut down. According to a new report, an independent watchdog, the congolese government are responsible for 80 of the attacks. While fighting oppression, they have the same message, the need for a peaceful transition by the end of this year as shown by the agreement saying kabila must go. The political repression is a small part of the overall human right crisis that affects millions of congolese people. Over 4. 5 million of persons including 1. 5 million in the region meant it more than 30,000 refuges to angola, 80 mass graves and over 500 5,000 killed and hundreds of schools destroyed. In the east of congo, there has been the search of massacres and intercriminals. This is linked to the political crisises leading Mass Organization and attempt to overstay his power in violation of the constitution and the agreement. This agreement granted the government one year to organize election and transition of power. It is entities causing trouble that potentially may undermine the security not only in drc but also the region. While poverty in the region is decreasing significantly and the economy of the country is collapsing, president kabila and those in his inner circle are known of building illicit by illicit means. Theyre invoking massive looting of resources, corruption, money laundering, potentially implicated terrorist groups. These activities include some individuals and companies to the u. S. Citizen and u. S. Financial system that the u. S. Treasury could target. By refusing to respect the constitution, by refusing to oppress the Political Parties instead of implementing in good faith the agreements, kabila has undermined the trust and credibility necessary for any dialogue. It will be a total waste of time to push yet for another round of negotiation between kabila and his opposition. Their routine of nldless and useless dialogues cannot only be considered on the crisis. This government has extended again and again that they are delayed tactic used to divert attention that the fact that the government has no intention to organize an election that will remove kabila from power. This is a way to ensure the election will not be held and if and when they are, this will be washed in the manner that they will never be free of failure. This is dangerous path for congo and one that i hope the u. S. Also means one to avoid. We the people of drc are not seeking pity or charity from the u. S. We are seeking your support in our effort from putting drc once again under a protective sheet. We are prepared to oppose by all peaceful means a president who has violated rule of law of our state constitution. The u. S. Should impose direct targeted sanctions against kabila and his inner circle responsible for Human Rights Violations, money landering, corruption and sabotage of the political and election process. The u. S. Should stop stop any kind of support to the army and police, who are the main perpetrators of Human Rights Violations. Any kind of conditional support by the remembery or police are akin to supporting institutions responsible for atrocities and Human Rights Violations. St. Stead the usa should work with civilians to help protect the u. N. Should start we have a credible Voter Register and in environments where all participants are free to conduct campaigns and have access to public. Finally the u. S. And International Partners particularly the African Union should push kabila to resign any contact of kabila should aim to affecting his resignation. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, i hope this committee and u. S. Citizens understand our hunger for peace, democracy, liberty and happiness. I hope that you understand as did the u. S. Founders that whenever any form of government becomes destructive in its ends as is the case of the dnc it is not only the sacred right of the people to abolish its irresponsible duty. Thank you. Thank you very much. We do have a vote on the there voting on hr 271, the microsafe harboring act. Well take a very brief recess and then reconvene for our hearing. And i apologize for the delay