Credit and procurement cards issued to Government Employees for their expenses can be used with apple pay and were working on initiatives with leading banks and networks to use this technology with benefit programs like Social Security and veterans pensions, citizens of both the state and federal level. We can imagine a day in the not so distant future when your wallet becomes a remnant of the past your passport your drivers license and other Important Documents can be digitally stored in a way thats safe, secure and easy to access. But only by you. After all, we shouldnt have to trade our security for the convenience of having all of this information at our fingertips. When a system is designed properly, security and convenience can actually work in harmony. This is a world of greater privacy. And a world where criminals find it much more difficult to carry out their crimes. Without a doubt, safeguarding a world of digitized personal information is an enormous task and no Single Company or organization can accomplish it on its own. That is why were committed to engaging productively with the white house and the congress and putting the result of these conversations into action. Because when it comes to the rights of customers, and the rights of citizens, its important to realize were all talking about the same people. People have entrusted us with their most personal and precious information. We owe them nothing less than the best protections that we can possibly provide. By harn eszing the technology at our disposal and working together as businesses, governments and citizens, we believe we can bring about a future that fully embraces both privacy and security. We must get this right. History has shown us that sacrificing our right to privacy can have dire consequences. We still live in a world where all people are not treated equally. Too many people do not feel free to practice their religion or express their opinion. Or love who they choose. A world in which that information can make the difference between life and death. If those of us in positions of responsibility fail to do everything in our power to protect the right of privacy, we risk something far more valuable than money. We risk our way of life. Fortunately, Technology Gives us the tools to avoid these risks. And it is my sincere hope that by using them, and by working together, we will. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The president will join us shortly. Thank you. Well, coming up today at 1 00 p. M. Eastern on cpan, eric holder will talk about proposed changes to the criminal Justice System include his support for abolishing mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent crimes. Hes speaking today here in washington. Back in september, the attorney general announced he was stepping down and president obama has nominated u. S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to take his place. A vote on her nomination is still pending in the senate. Live coverage of the speech starts about 1 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. This week, book tv and American History rv are in prime Time Beginning tonight at 8 00 eastern. Features programming on topics like the war on terror with conversations on the report of torture, the green berets and the guantanamo diary. On wednesday its world affair talking about chinas secret plan to replace america as a super power. The egyptian revolution and emerging crisis in europe. On thursday, politics and the white house. From our afterwards programs, with david axelrod, Mike Huckabee and april ryan. And then on friday, biographies of robert e. Lee and joseph stahlen and a look at pakistan through the eyes of a woman raises in kairachikarachi. Tonight at 8 00 interviews with korean p. O. W. S. On wednesday, the 100th anniversary of the release of the film, the birth of a nation, with dick lair. With civil war historian harry jones. And thursday, historians debate the social changes of the 1970s at the 2015 American Historical Association meeting in new york city and friday, japanese american during world war ii. Book tv and American History tv, this week in prime time. With live coverage of the u. S. House on cspab and the senate on cspan 2, here, we compliment that by showing you the most relevant congressional hearings and Public Affairs events and on weekends, we are the home to American History tv. With programs that tell our neighs story, including six unique series. The civil wars 150th anniversary, visiting battlefields and key events. American artifacts, touring inging museums. History book shelf with the best known American History writers. The presidency looking at the policies and legacies of our nations commanders in chief. Lectures in history with top College Professors delving into americas past and our new series real america, featuring archiveal government through the 30s and 70s. Created by the cable tv industry and funded by your local provider provider. Next, a joint House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on syrias humanitarian crisis. Members here from state department and u. S. Aid officials to speak about monetary aid for the countrys crisis. From capitol hill, this is an hour and 35 minutes. With all due apologies, to the members who are not here yet, im going the start because pretty soon, well be going back into the session and be voting. So thank you very much and i know that the members will be coming right quick and when they come here, i will recognize them for their Opening Statements. So the joint subcommittees will come to order. After recognizing myself, chairman smith, Ranking Members deutsche and bass, as soon as they come for five minutes each for our Opening Statements i will then recognize any other members seeking recognition for one minute. We will then hear from our witnesses and without objection the witness prepared statements will be made a part of the record and members will have five days for the record. Subject to the lents, limitation and rules. Before i begin i want to take a moment to offer our most sincere condolences to the friends and family of Kayla Mueller. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in the most trying of times. Kayla was taken hostage while doing humanitarian work in syria, which is the subject of our hearing, helping those who are in such dire need of her help and all of america mourns her loss and the familys loss. The terrorists have proven time and dwen that they have no respect for human rights and that is why we must redouble our efforts to defeat the scourge and its radical ideology. Kaylas legacy will be the work she had done to alleviate the suffering of the countless many in syria and around the world. Its important that our government will continue to respond to this humanitarian crisis, but also that we will make the respect for human rights across the globe a priority and not just an afterthought. And with that, the chair now recognizes herself for five minutes. Next month will mark the fourth anniversary since the start of the syrian conflict and there are no signs that the crisis be abade soon. Hasan has demonstrated no remorse and indeed, his intransigence has only hardened. Syria and they, too, have no intention of giving up the have claimed. Since president obama announced strikes against syria last september, isil has gained more territory and that leaves little territory for those syrians who wish to flee the fighting and flee the violence. While we are seeing untold, what were seeing unfold in syria is one of the worst humanitarian crisis in recent memory and it isnt limited to syria and iraq. Jordan and other neighboring countries have been forced to bear the brunt of a massive influx of refugees flee inging the fighting and thats tested the limits of their already streaming capable theties. Last congress, the Ranking Member ted deutsche and i convened four hearings on the humanitarian situation in syria. One, we were pleased to join with smith and bass in an effort to continue to shine a light on this aspect of the conflict that gets ignored. When we held our first subcommittee hearing on the situation in syria, 80,000 syrians had been killed and 1. 5 Million People had been displaced. Less than two years later, those numbers have swelled. Over 200,000 have been killed. More than 3 million have fled and now, more than half of syrias population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance. The u. S. Has been the largest provider of humanitarian assistance in response to the crisis providing much needed aid to syria to iraq to jordan and other countries that have been severely impacted by this crisis. We spent over 3 billion since the start of the conflict and the president s budget request released last week is seeking an additional 1. 6 billion to address the humanitarian needs in syria and in iraq. And while system of this goes directly to the neighboring countries, the host refugees and directly to the ngos, the vast majority of our funding for syria supports multilateral initiatives through the united nations. I worry that some of the assistance we provide that goes to the u. N. And its implementing partners might get diverted to isil or other terrorist groups by force or through bribes in order to gain access to certain areas. While i understand there are some very real and dangerous obstacles in place to reaching the maximum amount of people americans are concerned over where this 5 billion are going especially if most of it could be going through third and fourth parties as evidence shows that it is. There have been reports that some of the humanitarian assistance is going through middlemen in syria when the implementing partners cant get access to the locations that they are trying to reach. And more recently, food rations have been handed out by the World Food Program and theyre tagged with the Islamic State symbol. So, there are some very real and pressing problems that need to be corrected. Congress and the administration we have a responsibility to the American Public to be good stewards of their tax dollars. So, it is imperative that we find the right balance of efficiency and transparency. Our comprehensive strategy must take into effect the humanitarian crisis that we are confronting today. Thats why its so important, its imperative, that we hold these hearings, not only to hear from the vital work that we are doing and the lives that we are saving, but also conduct our proper oversight role. It is also why i was joined this week by Ranking Member deutsche, mr. Desanctis and mr. Conley in sending a request to the office requesting a report to ensure that our aid is reaching its intended recipients and to get a better understanding regarding ourg visibility into the large sums of money that we send through the u. N. The syrian humanitarian crisis is not a problem thats going away soon. Not until we defeat isil and assad but, the u. S. Cannot afford to continue to provide billions indefinitely. It is imperative that we have confidence that what we are providing is not suggest to waste, fraud abuse or diversion to terror groups so that we can continue playing a key role in responding to this crisis and maximize our effectiveness. And with that im proud to yield to the Ranking Member of our subcommittee mr. Deutsche. Thank you. I, too would like to associate myself with the chairmans remarks about the tragic death of Kayla Mueller at the bhararaic hands of the isis terrorists. Our hearts and prayers go out to her family. We will continue to honor kaylas work by gives this the attention it deserves and i want to thank the chairman for starting this congress with the hearing specifically focused on the humanitarian effort of the syrian conflict. The title of this hearing speaking volumes to this situation inside syria and in neighboring countries. There is no end in sight. Members of the opportunity to discuss the political and security components of this conflict in the full Foreign Affairs committee this morning, but this afternoon, we are here to focus on the growing humanitarian crisis. There are now 12. 2 Million People in need of humanitarian assistance. As mr. Stahls testimony notes, that is the populations of new york city and los angeles. The two largest cities in the United States combined. There are 3. 8 million refugees in neighboring countries. There are 241,000 people in the areas inside syria. 9. 8 Million People who are food insecure. These numbers are truly staggering. The situation inside syria has complicated the anyonety of humanitarian organizations to effectively deliver aid. Despite the first authorization of cross border deliveries, 2165 it is becoming increasingly difficult to get aid into the country and to its recipients. Deputy secretary clemens i hope you speak to the effectiveness of cross border and cross line aid. An effort that would at least help deliver aid to those with the most critical needs. Syrian refugees in jordan b, lebanon and turkey at a staggering rate. Lebanon and syria lebanon the Syrian Refugees make up onefourth of the population. These numbers dont include potentially hundreds of thousands of unregistered refugees that have been absorbed into urban areas. Weve got to continue to support these Host Communities and help to mitigate the strain it places on their resources. The United States has now provided over 3. 5 billion in humanitarian assistance. We are the largest individual donor. Full support of continued humanitarian funding for this crisis. I also want to make sure our aid is effective and not falling into the wrong hands. I was troubled by reports last week that showed isis fighters handing out u. N. Food packages. Thats why i joined with her in commissioning a report so we can be sure that the proper mechanisms are in place to spend our aid dollars most effectively. Ive got to say ive been shocked and truly dismayed through the this crisis at the lack of Financial Support coming from the international community. Last year, only half of the u. N. Budget was funded. These unfulfilled places of assistance let to the World Food Program literally having to stop its operations while an Emergency Fund raising campaign took place. This is unacceptable. I recognize that most of us were unprepared to deal with a protracted crisis. Now, after four years we are at risk of losing a generation. 5. 6 million children have been affected. Weve seen the operate formally eradicate diseases like polio simply because infants and children couldnt get vaccinations. Refugee children have been absorbed into unfamiliar r School Systems many of which didnt have the staff or resources necessary to shoulder these additional students. Many forced to abandon school all together in order to fight work to help support their families. Women and children have born the brunt of this humanitarian crisis. Before i close i want to remind everyone one kritcritical factor. That despite the horrific brutality of isis and its devastating attacks in syria and iraq and against american other western citizens, it is still the ruthless assad regime that remains the biggest threat to the Syrian People. We may share a common enemy in isis, but we are not partners with this deadly regime that has the blood of hundreds of thousands of its own people on its hands. And finally, i want to commend the work of state and u. S. Aid. This is a tremendous challenge. And we recognize the work you do is not easy. And the work of your partners on the ground bho risk their lives to help those this need deserves to be recognized in this body and in capitals around the world every day. I thank our witnesses for being here. Very good thank you, mr. Deutsche, and im so pleased to yield to the subcommittee chairman, chairman smith, who has made it his lifes mission to fight Human Rights Violations and to spearhead humanitarian missions. Thank you. Thank you so very much and it is an honor and a privilege to join you for both of our subcommittee subcommittees to be receiving this testimony and really broadcasting to all who will hear our solidarity for victims. Those who are being beat and raped and tortured by assad. As we know since the beginning of the syrian conflict in 2011, the u. N. Estimates that more than 200,000 have been killed. It would be terrible enough to count to the dead in syria as Collateral Damage for the civil war gone out of control. Unfortunately, if truth is more horrific than that. According to the u. N. , the government of assad initiateded the conflict to crush the opposition to his brutal rule and in the process he has used chemical weapons, barrel bombs and other weapons of mass destruction to kill his own people. This regime has been involved in widespread killings including children tortured against children. As well as hospital patients arbitrary arrests and imprisonment on a massive scale. Deployment of tanks and helicopter gun ships in densely populated areas. Heavy shelling of civilian areas and forced disappearances, system denial of food and water in some areas and prevention of medical treatment, again, including children. So depraved has the assad regime been, reported to have indes krim nantly shown fakeries with artillery rounds, even though the targets were civilian and not military. Davd nod reported in 2013, victims of government snipers would display wounds in a particular area of the body on particular days. Indicating that they may have been targeted in a gruesome game. The Syrian Government came to be doctors and nurses because they were willing to help rebels in need of medical care. Earlry on the assad regime imprisoned hundreds of Health Workers and tortures many of them to death. Others have swrus disappeared. Government forces targeted Health Workers and the tax erasing the universal principle of medical neutrality. However, the government isnt the only perpetrator of human rights vilgs in syria. Groups including militias supporting the assad regime have been responsible for torture and abuse including hostage taking. One rebel commander told the Associated Press that his group had released prisoners in bomb rigged cars turning them into unwitting suicide bombers. Other groups have perpetrated crime too agree jous to present today in detail. The Free Syrian Army and syrian revolutionaries front alqaeda andal nursa front, isis, operate that in this conflict committee crimes against those unable to leave siryria. We know and this was in the testimony by the Deputy Assistant secretary clemens half of its prewar population in syria has been displaced. And that is almost without precedent anywhere in the world. The Mediterranean Human Rights Network reported in 2013, that least 6,000 women have been raped and that the genuine figure was likely much higher. It was reported two years ago that the primary reason for syrians to flee their country has been fear of rape. Fz the various armed groups terrorizing people in syria operate with impunity. It is not a party to the rome statute, International Criminal court has no jurisdiction over these human rights violators. Although there could be a referral from the security counsel. Even if they the icc could get involved, russia has already indicated its opposition to that kind of referral. That is why again i introduced last year and will do it again soon, a resolution to create an independent tribunal to begin the process of investigating human rights crimes in syria and bring the reality to reality the promise of justice to those who now no fear any kind of accountability. Yugoslavia rwanda and sierra leone. The perpetrators of mass atrocities, war crimes, no matter who committed the crime. And hopefully, these individuals will be brought to justice. Again, i want to thank you for doing this hearing with our subcommittees. The Ranking Member of mr. Smiths committee is not here i would like to recognize miss frankel and mr. Boyle to share those five minutes however you would like to divide them. Thank you, mad dam chairman. I thank you you and Ranking Member for this hearing which is very important and i want to share your sentiments or sorrow for the loss of Kayla Mueller. We have heard from the administration obviously in the past several months, why we should train and arm syrian rebels. We now have a request for authorization for the use of military force so i am very pleased that youre here to talk about, its a little change of pace, lets put it that way. This is what im particularly interested in. Not only the type of human humanitarian assistance and ansing some of the questions about whether we are getting to those who are suffering, but im also interested in your opinion as to the role that humanitarian assistance plays in the larger goal of defeating those forces like assad, like isil, that are causing the pain and then what else i would be interested in especially in in light of what happened to Kayla Mueller, is how safe it is for our aid workers in delivering this humanitarian assistance. I thank you and ill yield the rest of my time to mr. Boil. Thank you very much and i i have to say being on the armed Affairs Committee and this subcommittee for the last six weeks, i keep waiting until we get to have hearings about good news. I suspect that well be waiting a very long time. The scale the human tragedy has taken place in syria now, over 12 million human beings, 12 Million People who have been this has created stability, not just in syria, but obviously in Northern Iraq and in other nearby areas. I would just ask and a lot of my comments were echoed earlier, so rather than being repetitive. I would just ask that when you are giving your statements, while this subject might be specifically about syria, this is part of a regional fight. Part of a fight that king hussein of jordan said has been going on for approximately 1400 years. I would like you to talk about the, to the extent that youre knowledgeable about it the stability of the regime in jordan because with being bordered by israel and what was going on last summer in gaza and the disruptions to a lesser extent in the west bank and then of course what is going on the de facto shia sunni civil war and also at the same time, a war between those who believe in a very radical militant violent form of islam and those who do not. With all of that going in the region, we have one Little Island of stability smack dab in the middle there. And i am deeply concerned you dont hear about this much but im deeply concerned that the syrian conflict, if it were to spread to the west would finally topple one of the few regimes that we can actually count on as an ally, so i hope that when you give your comments, you broaden it and talk about that a bit. I thank the madam chair. Its an honor to be on our subcommittee. I thank the Ranking Member and to say this in person ive watched human rights work that chairman smith has done for many, many years and im a big admirer of it and great to be a part of this. Its an honor to have you. Thank you very much. Mr. Chabot of ohio. Thank you for calling this important joint hearing. The violence in syria over the past four years has spiralled out of control. Yielding a serious and grave humanitarian crisis. It was in august 2012 that the president famously declared the red line however, today, nearly 200,000 people have been senselessly killed. Over 3 million are refugees in neighboring countyries with millions more internally displaced and were no closer to ending this tranlsy. As this work continues, i believe this crisis will unfortunately only get worse. The refugee flows into is jordan lebanon and turkey have hardly diminished and these countries are at their peek in terms of the numbers they can support. At the same time, unprecedented numbers are streaming into syria to join isil and other groups which are further complicating this situation. As the u. S. Is the largest contributor of humanitarian assistance, we need to implement a strategy and most effectively deals with this growing crisis will ensuring those are receiving our support. Support has indicated u. S. Assistance is reaching the hands of isis and other terrorist groups and thats very alarming. I hope that todays witnesses will discuss what is being done to discuss this, address this issue and all the other things my colleagues have talked about. Theres a lot to talk about today. Thank you, i yield back. Thank you, mr. Chabot. Dr. Yoho is recognized. Thank you. And i just want to say i look forward to hearing your information so that we can come to some Common Sense Solutions to the middle east over there and work with the aumf and the president to get some resolution, so, with that, i yield back. Thank you very much. And so now, we turn to our witnesses. Let me introduce our panelist is. First, we are pleased to welcome kelly clem enter kelly clemenses at the department of state. She has detailed, chef detailed to the office of the u. N. High commissioner of refugees in bangladesh and has served in the state departments task force on kurdish refugees and displaced persons. She has also been a special assistant to the under secretary of state for Global Affairs and europe during the balkan crisis. And we will hear from thomas dahl at u. S. Aid. He has served since the late 80s and has managed product developments in eastern and Southern Africa as well as in the west bank and gaza. More recently, he has served as the director of the Iraq Reconstruction Office here in washington, d. C. And as Mission Director in lebanon ethiopia and iraq. Well begin with you. Prepared statements will be made a part of the record. Thank you so much, chairman. Ranking member deutsche. Chairman smith and members of the committee for inviting us to this very important hearing on humanitarian assistance. For those in peril and uprooted by the worst human maid catastrophe of our time i have submitted by full testimony for the record and im grateful for the opportunity to update you and to thank you for your leadership and to congress for its unwaivering support. The Syrian Crisis has claimed nearly 200,000 lives, forcibly displaced half of syrias prewar population of 24 Million People. Almost 4 million have fled to neighboring countries and many will remain in exile for years to come. The assad regime and extremist groups target innocent civilians already suffering from food shortages, inadequate shelter and preventable diseases. Right now 12. 2 Million People need urgent aid and half of them are children. The humanitarian response has been the most expensive in modern history and the needs have outstretched eded available resources. Although humanitarian appeals have grown, the total amount pledged has plateaued. The 2014 appeals very just over half funded as you noted earlier. The United States remains the single largest donor and that has contributed over 3 billion since the crisis began. In 2014, my bureau provided more than a third of all funding. That 725 million is the largest single year contribution in our bureaus history. Roughly half of all u. S. Aid has gone to conflict victims inside syria and half to refugees and communities hosting them. Over the last six months, u. N. Security counsel resolutions 2191 2139, 2165 enabled u. N. Convoys to cross borders and battle lines and to reach millions of civilians and governors including deta, idlib and aleppo, that have been under siege. In 2014, the agency provided aid to more than one out of three syrians in need including one Million People in difficult to reach areas. U. S. Aid feeds nearly half of our syrian refugee, roughly 2 Million People, and provides relief items, everything from cooking pots to shoes and blankets to insulated tents to help Refugee Families survive the winter. Elderly and disabled people and with u. S. Support in 2014 the u. N. And its strong ngo partners were able to triple the number of syrian children enrolled in school. But vast needs remain. Half of syrian children are still not in school. Last week, tom stahl and i saw thousands of them while visiting the domese camp in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. The it is bursting at the seams with a tally of 35000, but far more are seeking services not able in overwhelmed Host Communities. Heroic efforts are underway to educate, feed, shelter the displaced, but everything is in short supply. More than 8 in ten refugees live outside of camp in a renal that was already economically fragile and politically vol hit. Refugees are crowded into syria lebanon, jordan, iraq and egypt. In lebanon, one in four residents is a refugee. Schools and hospitals are overcrowded. Municipal services cannot keep up. Tensions are rising and governments have responded by closing or managing borders. To ease these pressures, the department and u. S. Aid are coordinating humanitarian and Development Assistance and funding projects that provide important services, clean water sanitation, education and Economic Opportunities to both Host Communities and refugees. We have encouraged other donors to come forward and many have been generous including saudi arabia and kuwait. The United States is also accelerating resettlement of Syrian Refugees. We have received referrals from over 10,000 Syrian Refugees and ek pegt to admit between 1 and 2,000 this year and many more in 2016 and beyond. Thank you very much for your support and i welcome your question questions. Thank you very much. Chairman Ranking Member deutsche, chairman smith and members of the subcommittees, thank you for the opportunity, okay. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for highlighting the needs of the Syrian People and the needs of people in their neighborhood. For me its especially important because i grew up in the area and have lived and worked there for many years. As deputy assistance secretary clemens has mentioned and many of you, the Syrian Crisis is the largest and most complex humanitarian emergency of our time. More than 2. 2 million syrians in need of humanitarian assistance. You mentioned in new york and los angeles, its also just about the entire population of the state of pennsylvania. Another way to look at it. We continue to do Everything Possible to help those most in need. And our fy 16 request you mentioned, the u. S. Aid piece of it 735 million for the syrian humanitarian response demonstrate demonstrates that continued commitment. Now, four years into this conflict, syrians see no end in sight to the violence. Isils abuses including the death of Kayla Mueller you mentioned, have been layered on top of the assad regimes bombings. Our partners are working through all possible channels. Often at considerable risks to reach those in need, including areas in opposition and isilcontrolled areas of syria. For over three years, weve provided Emergency Care to patients at nearly 300 facilities throughout the area. I saw some of those parntds myself last week at a hospital in jordan. Thanks to the aggressive Vaccination Campaign by the way the number of polio cases in syria is is now down to zero. We have improved water and sanitation for 1. 3 million syrians. Repairing water networks, installing bathrooms in camps. These efforts have helped to prevent the spread of disease and then were working tirelessly to help the most vulnerable cope with winter. Especially those who are liveing in makeshift homes and tents. So far, we have distributed blankets, warm clothing plastic sheeting to almost half a Million People. Weve also distributed air heaters and put up windows and doors to help insulate homes and we know that women and children are the most impacted in this crisis. And so we also prioritize and integrate their protection into all of our humanitarian assistance efforts. As you mentioned, the United States is the largest donor and including the largest food donor to the crisis, providing more than 1. 1 billion worth to date to feed more than 4. 8 Million People inside syria and 1. 7 million in the refugee, in the neighboring countries. The food vouchers we provide to Syrian Refugees so they can buy locally have also injected about a billion dollars into the economies of lebanon and jordan turkey, egypt and iraq. In fact, within jordan it equals to about. 7 of their gdp. And we have a robust system for monitoring our humanitarian assistance to ensure it does indeed get to the most in need people. For whom it is intended. We know that syrias neighbors are stretched beyond capacity and thats why we are helping working in Host Communities in cop ration with our state Department Colleagues to build systems so that can witt stand the increased demand on services from the flow of refugees into their countries. In jordan, for instance, were working to con serve water with the complex crisis fund resources, weve built cisterns to collect rainwater in 90 schools in jordan and provided more than 2,200 no interest loans so that families can install rainwater harvesting systems. These efforts have saved 200,000 cubic meters of water equal to 5. 5 million showers. In lebanon, were working to increase tensions between host following clashes between militants and armed forces in tripoli, our partners worked with those to reha billuate the young city and young people. So, were doing everything we can, but important challenges remain. Constrained access, insecurity including targeted tax against humanitarian workers are a prime challenge and as kelly mentioned, were working with donors the try to jointly meet the needs for resources. Despite many challenges we remain committed to saving lives and to helping Host Communities recognizing this is a longterm crisis. Thank you for your support for this hearing. And again, i look forward to your questions. Thank you. Our members thank you foryour service, your dedication your hard work and responding to this serious humanitarian crisis. Unfolding before us. As you both have said, the United States plays a Critical Role in the International Response as the largest doenor country, having contributed more than 3 billion, but as i mentioned earlier, we have a responsibility to ensure that we are being good stewards of u. S. Taxpayer money. And that these funds are being used to maximize efficacy and transparency. How many of that 3 billion has gone directly to neighboring countries or directly to ngos and implementing partners on the ground and how much has gone through multilateral initiatives through u. N. Appeals . It seems the majority of our assistance goes to the u. N. And third party implementing partners. Also, while it was positive that the u. N. Security counsel passed resolutions 2139 and 2165 calling upon all parties to allow delivery of humanitarian assistance and authorizing the u. N. To carry out relief delivery across these conflict lines, thats really a fanciful notion to think that the assad regime, isil al nuzra, other belligerent actors are actually going to adhere to these resolutions, yet since those passed, the u. S. Has been going into the war zones and the most difficult to reach areas of syria. How are these resolutions being enforced . Weve seen reports that isil and others have gotten some of this assistance or that implementing partners are forced to go through middlemen. To get some of, to get to some of these most dangerous areas. Do we have an idea of how much of our assistance is being coopted by these belligerent actors or going through middlemen . What kind of visibility do we have . How can we ensure that the billions of dollars we are providing are reaching the intended recipients and not falling into the wrong hands and also do we have any oversight over how these u. N. Agencies operate . Is there a transparency or reporting requirements for the agencies for implementing partners or is it more of a case of well, our responsibility ends once we hand the money over to the u. N. And finally, what are the reporting requirements for the ngos directly funded by the u. S. Government . Do we have enough oversight mechanisms . Are they sufficient . Thank you. Thank you. Thats a critical question. I think we have a good news story there. Its always important that our aid gets to the right people and we realize the challenges in this crisis, so, weve actually upped the ante and increased our systems for overseeing that, so, in addition to the regular quarterly and annual reports, we actually are required now weekly reports from our partners. Where they identify particular issues. And remember, in syria, were working with partners that are experienced. That worked in these kind of areas before. And know how to work in these areas. And theyre careful about taking risks, but also understand the importance of oversight, so theyve instituted multiple systems to ensure that oversight. They work through local partners, but once they know, they get their regular reports but in addition to that because its a relatively sophisticated society, syria was a middle income country and people have cell phones, so, we have a system where when food is delivered, they can send a picture taken from the cell phone with the bar code so we know exactly where it went and when it arrived. Thank you. Multiple systems like that going on. Let me ask about a majority of assistance. Does it go through the u. N. And third party implementing partners or directly to . And thank you for that question. The about 72 of that 3 billion goes through u. N. Mechanisms. About 750 million goes to ngos through a joint effort really in terms of collaboration. You know our number one humanitarian objective in this crisis is to get as much aid through as many channels as we can. Whoever is best placed in certain circumstances are the ones we ask to deliver. Obviously, to the extent they are comfortable delivering given all the challenges that are there. You asked in particular about the crossing lines and cross border Ranking Member deutsche. Since the resolutions have passed in the security counsel, weve had about 54 of these aid shipments reach about 600,000 people. That doesnt mean that were keeping up with need though, so i dont want you to be left with a good news story. The needs are vastly outstripping the humanitarian aid were able to provide. Tom mentioned the enhanced monitoring. We too, on the u. N. Refugee agency and others that we support have asked for enhanced monitoring plans. Thank you. Diversion. My time is up and we have votes on the floor. But would you like for me to recognize you or we have mr. Deutsche. One observation. We have to go to the floor for votes, but i just, before we leave, listening to the two of you give your testimony and respond to the questions i think reminds us that is a good reminder of why were proud to be americans. Amen. Thank you very much. Excellent work and we will be back and mr. Smith will chair the remainder of the hearing. With that, our subcommittees are in recess. Thank you. Well be joined by mr. Deutsche, who is under a time constraint and i will yield to him when he comes back for any questions he might have. But let me thank you again for the tremendous work youre doing. In saving lives. I think you know, sometimes, people are very critical of foreign aid. They should know the robust efforts you, the administration, the congress in this supportive role role, is undertake tog save lives of the most precious and the most vulnerable people, particularly women and children. Let me echo what we all satd in our openings, just how grateful we are for the work youre doing for people who have been displaced, refugees idps, women and children who are being savagely attacked and women who have been raped. Ill never forget years ago during the balkan wars, i had hearings with women who had been raped and one was so traumatized, she thought she could handle speaking. Bianca jagger was here as well. She froze she couldnt speak. She had been so traumatized and i know youre helping women who have been so whoviolated. You mentioned on regards to vaccination, 2. 9 million children require life saving vaccination vaccinations. If one of you could break that down, they have not gotten it or some of those have already received it. What vaccinations are we talking about . Ive always believed that vaccinations like antibiotics as well as anesthesia are among the wonders of the world in terms of how they mitigate disease and pain. So the question would be 2. 9 million. What are they lacking and what is being done to try to get those vaccine nayeses to them . Thank you very much chairman smith and thanks for your kind words. I have to say to follow up on a point that the Ranking Member made before he left, it is a moment to be proud as an american in terms of what the u. S. Taxpayer is doing to help us provide this kind of humanitarian aid to so many people in need and we deeply appreciate that. In terms of the vaccination question and we can take that back and get more gran lair tyty lar fi for you, but between u. S. Aid and the states humanitarian programs, very Strong Network of Health Providers and through unicef and the World Health Organization with a large number of implmentors, there has been a great effort underway to vaccinate as many kids as possible. It is a core part of the Health Services that were providing every day. Thanks for that question. Its important i mentioned the polio vaccine and thats an indication that they are able to get out to a lot of places that you might not think they could. Its still not perfect and we continue to try to get out as far as we can. Last week, when i was in jordan, i visited one of our implementing partners and theyve been able to establish and are continuing to expand their network of field hospitals and clinics in opposition held areas from across the worder and theres another way we can start to push out the reach of Health Care Including vaccination. But thats a critical issue. Let me ask you a question with regards to, i mean, we all know from history that the spanish flu epidemic of course had nothing to do with spain, but was a terrible pandemic. Following world war i, it infected some 500 Million People. Up yard wards of 50 million. Some say more, some say less, actually died. 5 of the worlds pop ligs. Health services have been disrupted with more than 73 of hospitals, 27 of primary Health Care Facilities and 65 to 70 of the pharmaceutical companies out of service. Couple of weeks ago, i met with dr. Peter hotez who was in here before to testify. He was the leader on neglected tropical diseases and i have a pending bill that we wrote with his very, very insightful suggestions on what it should look like. But i know he has said that he has concerns that a pandemic could arise out of syria or the region, war conditions lack of sanitation cholera all the other attending problems. The longer this conflict goes on, again, the spanish flu occurred near the end or at the end of all of the blood letting in world war i. Im just wondering what your thoughts might be on that. I know were more advanced than back in 1918. But when we and people like you dont have access to contested areas or Health Care Workers are being killed because theyre trying to assist, it makes it harder and these things could happen. Whats your thoughts on that. I wonder sometimes whether or not youve read so much into my bio that you know that my husband works on pandemic prepare preparedness at u. S. Aid actually. With the war thats raged on, the concern in terms of the Health Concern inside syria, losing 30 years in that time at least and as you know, the medical facilities and the personnel delivering those services have been under attack and until recently in some of the cross border, cross line operations, some of the partners could not put any kind of medical help into the their kits. So, it is a real concern. I think we do the best we can in terms of the areas we can access is. I think our support systems are much stronger in the neighboring countries. In jordan in particular and lebanon. And the Iraqi Kurdistan region and so on in terms of what were trying to do and turkey has done a tremendous amount on the health side, wu thats something we need to continue to try to work on to try to prevent what youve just outlined. Its all the more reason why its important this u. N. Resolution last year, 2165 being able to work across borders so organizations like w. H. O. Can move across those lines of conflict. And you need to continue to support that. The other maybe helpful mitigating factor is that syrians are used to getting vaccinations. And they demand it. Some refugees we work with or people in underdeveloped county countries are not used to it. They are used to it and so, theyre looking for vaccination and that does help mitigate some of the problems. Ranking member deutsche. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Id like to and thanks again, both of you, thanks for being so patient for allowing us to do the other part of our job. Id like to ask about another issue ive raised several times in this committee. What are we doing to increase our support from so how do we get our partners around the world to not only continue to care about the human tear yan crisis and talk about the crisis but to actually do their part to help alleviate the suffering . Thank you very much congress. Were approaching a year where were dealing with and weve talked about this a little bit, the global human darian crisis humanitarian crisis and sudan and other things diverting from this crisis so it is very important for this hearing to take place and to continue to bring attention to it. Weve worked very hard with other governments with traditional and nontraditional donors to try to increase support and obviously we continue that effort. Tom and i were in kuwait city about ten days ago at a top donors meeting hosted by kuwait to try to bring attention to the syrian response, what were going to do this year and perhaps even more importantly what comes next year and the year after and given that this is going to be protracted we need to continue that support to jordan and other neighbors shouldering the burden. There is high priority and senior levels at the government priority and so that will continue. And what is the response. I appreciate the engagement. The number of crises, the places were asking people to put their money. That is increasing and rather than decreasing. We have seen saudi arabia, when wfp had thur fundraising campaign, and it was saudi arabia that helped to close the gap of 78 million and that was unexpected. We saw the u. E. Announce a support and the u. K. And the visit of Prince Charles and the secretary of state announce another 100 million pounces s pounds but we are still not getting to the number of aftstronomical numbers that we need. Were about to start the debate to combat isis and were devoting an enormous amount of money to the security of the region and including the number of the countries that we have asked to step up for humanitarian assistance and i trust that in terms of engagement those points are made loudly and clearly to our allies when we have these discussions. Mr. Staal, i want to return to a topic on humanitarian needs and i have an update and that is the issue of branding. Chairman roslehtinen and i had the saudi arabia flag and other flags and we didnt see a lot of u. S. Flags and we understand of branding inside of syria and we wouldnt want to put aid workers at risk but in communities have we increased u. S. Branding so the Syrian People know they have the full support of the United States . Yes thank you very much for that question, Ranking Member deutch. It is an issue we continue to discuss with our partners. As you mentioned, inside of syria it is dangerous and so we dont require that. Within the surrounding countries, we are asking them to step up their branding. It may not be on every bag because some of that goes into syria and some doesnt because it is difficult to differentiate and to put up more signs around and portray that and also just to in discussions with the officials who are working in those camps to make sure they understand where the assistance is coming from and we are able to do that even within inside of syria in a quiet way to let people know the local organizations where it comes from to get the word out. Miss clements . I quick add. Weve had a number of discussions with unhcr, Patrick Harter with the issues related to zautry as soon as the u. S. Flag goes up, it quickly comes down and so we are a requirement that the American Flag be on things that we have provided, in jordan and iraq where it is quite safe but it is a challenge keeping it visible for extended periods of time. And i appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you to the witnesses and if you could please pass on our sincere appreciation for those thatta peer here for today. Thank you. Mr. Meadows. Thank you for being here. This particular issue is not as telling from a standpoint of getting the American People to act as perhaps other things that we see on tv on a regular basis. But yet when it comes to asking for people to give either personally or allow the government to give on their behalf, it is the one thing that typically can unite people on both sides of the aisle. The American People are generous and caring and giving people and it is hard for them, miss clements, when you make statements like the American Flag goes up and it gets ripped down and it makes it difficult for people to continue to say, why give money for humanitarian purposes when they dont care. So i think in getting back to the branding issue that the Ranking Member was talking about, i think it is important for us to tell the stories of the impact and the lives that we really are affecting, because not only in syria and jordan and other places where the refugee and the migration from this conflict is huge, were making a reallife difference to moms and dads and kids and weve got to do a better job of sharing that, if we can. And so i guess my question to both of you and is how, as a member of congress can we do that . How, as either ngos or the like, how can we do a better job of thanking the american taxpayer back home in telling the stories . We see ads all of the time of starving children and people willingly give because they believe they are making a difference. How can we do a better job of that . Thank you very much, congress congressman. I could not have said it better than the way you do in terms of telling individual stories. Because i think with the way this war has raged on and the number of people it has effected, that unfortunately the public has become numb to the numbers. So to try to pull out the stories of the people assisting and what important work the partners that were supporting are providing every day under difficult circumstances to try to disentangle saving lives from the broader extremist takeover of certain communities and assads aggressions and if we can keep it focused on life saving we might have a better chance. Unfortunately we have the pikes to go along with the devastation. But the individual stories i think tell the best story. Okay. If i might add, congressman meadows, thank you for that question it is tough. And i have relatives back home and they say what is happening with all of this assistance. And there is a big story and then there is the individuals. And as you say, that is so important. In the big story even though you have 12 Million People displaced, but yet no major malnutrition problems, no we had a small outbroke of polio but that was quickly put to a stop. And from a lifesaving thing nobody froze to death because of the winter we were able to get winterization and so on a big scale it is pretty good. And even in our protection programs weve been training women in Peace Keeping and it has made a difference. There is a place like in what they call roof damascus, the rural areas around damascus, with women peace circles they were able to negotiate 20day ceasefires. And with the women, they were able to end price fixing. So they were able to step in and make difference to people on the ground that way. And then when i visited the hospital in northern jordan where they are getting refugees coming out who have been injured, it is not only medical support but we are providing psycho social support. And i visited with a small child that had been injured and obviously they had not only the injuries but the psychological injuries and part of our work was supporting and training women who then provide psycho social support to the child so their issues can be dealt with. Well let me close with a sincere thank you for your work. But also request on those individual stories, like the story you just shared, if you can get that to committee, most of the members of congress can tweet out and facebook out and reach hundreds of thousands of people. And if we can help tell that story, because if we dont, the American People will grow weary of giving and if they dont see that they are making a difference it will become very difficult to fund worthwhile projects. So thank you both and thank you for your leadership, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Meadows. Mr. Higgins oh, sorry, mrs. Frankel. Thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you for your testimony today. I know that humanitarian aid by its nature sh the purpose is so save lives and alleviate suffering. I maintain human dignity. I was interested in your discussion with mr. Deutch. Because i have heard people say that when you get to if you give them food and medicine that helps shapes peoples minds also. So my question is the overriding goal of trying to defeat isis and assad and so forth, i want to understand how the humanitarian aid plays into that. And do the folks who are receiving the aid do they know that it is coming from do they have any idea where it is coming from . And does the humanitarian aid help shape their thoughts or ideas, in your opinion . Yeah, thank you. That is an important question. Not always easy to quantify. Certainly through our aid programs, even within syria, our partners are working through local organizations. And they make sure that the local organizations know, even though it is not branded that they know that it is coming from the u. S. And that it is taxpayer u. S. Taxpayers that are providing the funding for that. So the word is getting out. Not as much as wed like and it is an ongoing challenge but i think that is important. And i think part of it is you have to provide the immediate humanitarian assistance but you also need to do it as much as possible in a way that protects their dignity. And so were trying as much as possible to move to a system of distribution of our assistance that just doesnt make them totally dependent on handouts and that is part of the reason weve gone to the ration cards. I have one in my pocket here. And so that way instead of getting a bag of rice and a can of vegetable oil, they get a card and they can go to a supermarket and buy the goods they think they need. They gives them a feeling of dignity and of course it helps the local economy. May i just change you can answer that, why dont you answer the other question i have also, which is this in terms of our aid workers first of all, do we have aid workers in syria . And given what we just saw happen with Kayla Mueller, i think we have a concern of whether our aid workers in the region are safe . Could you also speak to that . Maybe if i could just respond to the last and let tom respond on the other. Please do that. I think it was congressman boyle mentioned this being a regional issue and when we talk about syria, we talk about iraq too because we view this as very much a regional issue. And we in terms of the antiisil fight, humanitarian support is one of the lines of effort but it is not to battle isil, it is to aid those victims and those people in need. So we try very much to keep it as a needs focus as opposed to part of the fight. So it is a distinction that is important to protect the need of humanitarian workers and to continue to save lives. Okay. Thank you for that. Can you answer the question on the safety . Yes. Thank you, congresswoman and mrs. Frankel. 150 humanitarian workers have been killed over the last three years. And it is something that we had continually had on our minds. The partners we are working with and through, u. N. And International Ngos are well experienced in working these kind of regions and conflict areas so they are even more careful than we are. They work primarily through local partners and some are working there in the governmentheld areas but in the opposition areas it is primarily the ngos and they in turn work through local organizations so there is very few of our International Staff going in. It is more focused with the local organizations who know the scene. And this is in syria . In syria yep. Thank you, mr. Chair. Mrs. Frankel. The chair recognizing mr. Yoho. You recognized that the largest donor in that area and mr. Staal in, all of the places you looked you have not found people starving, did i understand that correctly . Now are you talking about the refugees outside of syria or the ones within syria that you work with . Because reading my notes here it says there have a lot of nutritionally deprived people there. What is the dichotomy of the difference there . Visibly . Is it distinctive . Yeah. Thank you very much, congressman yo ho. In syria they are worse off than inside of syria. And when you are trying to get access into syria are you running you have to worry about the Assad Government forces and then you have to worry about Freedom Fighters and isis and all of the other ones. Just seems like one of the things ive seen on these other meetings that weve had, in particular i think it was afghan last year when we were talking to dr. Shaw he said that afghan was allocated or appropriated a billion in foreign aid through usaid but they cant account for 300 300 million and as you are going through taking our aid and i would feel better if it was branded. That is the american taxpayers money and i agree with these other people if we are sending our money over there, i think they need to know where it is coming from. And i know that is an issue in itself because that causes resentment but as you go into those areas what are the biggest obstacles you are going into to make sure we have accountable of the products or whatever it is you are taking in there, that it is not falling into the wrong hands. That is something we take issue with. It is less about the resentment and more about the protection of our partners. If they are seen as working for the americans, then that can put them in danger. So that is the real issue rather than the resentment issue. How do other countries handle that. And this is another question. Weve given 3 billion since the beginning of this. Are the collection of other countries, have they come close to that, as far as monetary input, miss clements . Sure. We are about 30 of the overall giving last year was from the United States. Okay. And collectively, were obviously the largest single donor. But no it is burden sharing. So you are seeing other countries step up and help out. Yes. And this is only going to get worse until we have a resolution of the problem within syria and i think it will wind up being a regime change which at this point i think the rest of the world would be safer off and the people of syria obviously. When you are going in and putting in say water, are you putting in infrastructure or just bottled water, are you putting in wells or septic tanks or sewer systems . That is a critical question. Thank you very much. We are indeed putting in smallscale infrastructure. As much as possible, where we can, in oppositionheld areas and even in some of the government areas. But its at a small scale but we are doing it in both water and other types of local infrastructure repairing Health Clinics and schools and things like that. And when you go into a host country, housing the refugees, is the government working with you, or are you finding them an impediment of making the situation better . I was referring to within syria but in the surrounding countries in jordan and lebanon and the neighboring countries weve really stepped up our programs. Jordan for instance, weve put in a second Deputy Director for u. S. Aid and increased our assistance to the jordanians to handle this huge influx. So Additional Schools and Water Systems and so on. And i appreciate the work youre doing and ill get right back to you. And the work youre doing and in the course of the work you do over the next two or three months let us know of what we can do better here to let us do better there on the accountability so we are not wasting our money. And miss clements, you were going to say something. Thank you for the work you are doing. On the water issue inside of syria. Ill give you an example, the red cross for example has worked very closely to try to put stopgap measures in place to make clean water available for 10 Million People. That does not mean building big treatment water plants but just to put things into place that are tremendously important. And in follow up to your question, could you provide the committee a break down of what each country has pledged and how much they have lived up to their commitment. And secondly for this new round, what countries are pledging so we can i mean 30 is certainly very, very generous on the part of the American Public and the administration and congress and it would be nice to do where the lag rids are and as you said saudi arabia stepped up on the food issue so we have contacts, all of us all of the time from people from the countries and it would be good to say do more or well done. So if you could provide that, that is very helpful. If i could respond to that, chairman smith. Sure. At the end of march, the kuwaitys have invited the donors to come to kuwait for a pledging conference for syria and the pledging countries and we are encouraging our friends out there to be ready to step up with some major contributions. Would a letter from members of congress or a bipartisan letter be of any help in terms of backing what you are trying to acome police . Yes. You could give us some insights on how you might booflt the ago aggregate. Yes. Thank you. Mrs. Frankel. Yes. I wanted to follow up on something at the other end of the table. This is one way to move up in rankings. Send everybody else away. I think i understand your testimony on separating the humanitarian effort from the fight against certain forces. So my question is in syria for example, is isil or assad, are their forces, do they try to keep the humanitarian aid from getting to the syrians . That is one question. Yeah that is a very important question. And it is something we watch carefully in our partners. As i mentioned earlier, we have robust systems tracking our aid very carefully. Truckload by truckload that goes in there. So we have a very good idea of where it is going. There has been very little pressure to divert or try to control it. When it does happen, the partners, they are experienced and theyve worked in iraq and south sudan and somalia and they push back hard. If it gets to the point they feel they have to pay a bribe or allow some of it go to a local official, theyll just stop and we dont go into that town. And that has happened. There are times when we just say, we cant work there. But then the surrounding towns continue to get it and then we find they come back and say, okay, well well let it in after all. Did you want to respond to that . I would. Thank you very much. Yes, they are in hinting humanitarian workers from delivering aid. We talked about those in besieged areas, about 212,000 about 145,000 of them are besieged by the regime and not allowing aid workers or aid organizations to get in. We probably come closest to your example of starvation in the place like yarmuke where it is difficult for the palestinian u. N. Agency to get in and provide health and food and so on. So it is administrative and bureaucratic obstacles, bombs and barrel bombing and not being able to get into key areas but it is a huge issue. Thank you. And in the surrounding regions, which countries are actually helping you or assisting not necessarily both with resources but are friendly towards the efforts . We are so fortunate to have the neighbors that we do surrounding syria. We could go through them one by one, but jordan first and foremost. 640,000 registered refugees, many more in communities. Most are being supported outside of those two camps in jordan. Billions of dollars spent in terms of gdp and economic revenue lost and so on. There has been outpouring support to welcome refugees in but the welcome mat is wearing thin because of the needs and the burdens in terms of the Economic System and the infrastructure and the water, health, education, you name it. But i think in every circumstance, every one of those five, we have support from the government and in terms of being able to help us help them in terms of spobdsing to responding to the massive needs. So what i hear you saying also and you may have said this before, is that this humanitarian aid not only is to reduce suffering and dignity and so forth, but giving relief to some of the neighboring countries that will prevent their destabilization . Right. It is a really important point, congresswoman, because we try very hard not just to target aid towards the refugees or the displaced but also the host community. And aid in state programs and the partners were serving it is a dual approach because we do not want to increase tensions and we see tensions rising and it is essential for regional stability. Thank you very much. Mr. Chair. I yield the rest of my time. Just a few final questions and if my colleagues have any further, if you would answer those. As i think you may know, im the author of the trafficking victims and it seeks to execute the traffickers and the women and children that are overwhelmingly the victims. Syria is a tier three country and in the recommendations page of the tip report it talks about child soldiers and i wonder if you could shed any light on how many child soldiers you could talk about. And in your testimony, mr. Staal, you strongly pointed to the bar barrettity of selling child girls, as young as 10 years old and is there any guesstimate as to how much of this abuse is going on and what happens when there is a rescue. Some young 12yearold who has been so brutally abused finds their way particularly in the area of psychological treatment you mentioned that generally for those who are suffering trauma of war and im wondering an additional question is it a faithbased response muslim or christian, with best practices for psychological help . One of the things ive learned being in trafficking shelters all over the world is that the healing process the sense of personal reconciliation with trauma but not reconciliation, but reconciliation with how you are a victim and you are not in any way responsible for this happens more effectively in a faithbased setting where there is also the best psychological practices by psychologists being employed and im wondering what were doing along those lines and if you could speak to the trafficking part. Mr. Staal . Yes. Thank you. Critical issues that you raise chairman, smith. In all of our humanitarian systems we include protection issues. In addition to that, weve put in 26 Million Dollars specifically in protection programs. Genderbased violence issues and child protection. And as included in a piece of that, has been tracking abuses that could some day be a way of keeping records that could some day be used later as you mentioned with the icc or whatever. And then also state department drl program is continuing to try to track those kind of abuses for future issues. Well to track get back to you on the child soldiers. I dont know that we have a number on that. Are you coordinating with the tip office . Perhaps i could respond on the trafficking issue. This is something as a high priority to us as it is to you as well. All of our programs have a gbv or prevention element and when i say that protection is important. There are a couple of things that weve tried to do very explicitly. Civil registration and identity documents because often we find those instances of trafficking is because they dont have something to be able to provide for themselves in terms of livelihoods or what have you. So we have made a special effort through partners to make sure that is certainly in place. We found that the best defense is robust assistance so making sure kids are in school and information is flowing in terms of the dangers of early marriage and all of these things combines have provided a comprehensive approach to try to decrease the sturj. Scourge. And i was just talking with a Traffic Office yesterday about this issue. Anything you can provide on that with sex trafficking and soldiers that would be greatly appreciated. And 86 of those killed are men. And with regard to women and pregnant women are they getting to safe venues to have their children . Do they have access to safe blood for example if there is an obstructed delivery to a cesarean delivery or has bhortality gone up because mortality gone up because of that in syria because of the wartorn areas . Critical questions. We have a partial answer but not a great answer. There are still women not able to get to a proper facility, as youve mentioned. Their Health Facilities have been targeted especially by the regime. And that has reduced our ability to help. On the other hand, that is a major focus on some of our programs. I mentioned earlier that the hospital i visited in jordan last week they have an Outreach Program and are setting up field hospitals in southern syria so those kind of things we are trying to address that issue. But certainly in isilheld areas we are not able to get there and provide that kind of assistance. It is an ongoing problem, no question. Just a few final questions if i could. You mentioned, mr. Staal, history mas been made in the number of dart teams. As you said, four Disaster AssistanceResponse Teams and three Response Management teams have been deployed. Could you elaborate on that, because many of people, particularly those watching the cspan channel what is a dart . Ive been in areas where they have been in operation and it is amazing how effectively they coordinate. If you could elaborate on that. Yes thank you chairman smith. That is one of the things i think we as americans can be most proud of. That is a unique aspect of our humanitarian assistance that other countries cant do and that is to actually put people on the ground within hours and days of a crisis. Whether it is a tsunami or an earthquake or in this situation, a conflictrelated crisis. So dart is a Disaster AssistanceResponse Team and we send them out to the effected area literally within hours or days and sometimes even if we know there is a big typhoon coming, we send them out a day or two ahead of time and they include whatever is needed in terms of technical specialties. They coordinate the assistance. Ebola, for instance we have a huge d. A. R. T. There. We coordinate the assistance provided by cdc and World Health Organization and d. A. R. It. Provides that help. And we have the Operations Center back here at headquarters that provides all of the support that responds to your questions about what is going on and to our leaders in the administration. So it provides that ops center for that. And so we have a dart for iraq, a dart for syria that has people both in jordan and in turkey. We have a dart for south sudan. And then the huge dart for ebola. Thank you for that explanation and for that work. You point out in your testimony, mr. Staal that we have improved water and sanitation for 1. 3 million syrians in all 14 governance. And you are right that it is important for survival. How important is the oral therapy salts since diarrhea disease is one of the leading killers of children. Thank you. I dont have the exact details. If you like i can track those down. Yes. But it is a part of whatever we do in our health on our Wash Programs where we are working. There are still areas we cant reach. But it is important that our humanitarian assistance also address some of those resilience issues so that people are not as dependent on humanitarian assistance. If they have clean water they are less likely to get sick. If we have a program provide flour to bakeries across line so people can get bread that, helps the economy. So we try to do our humanitarian assistance in a way that builds resilience reduces cost and then reaches out to people. You testified 9. 8 million syrians are foodin secure. That number declining or increasing . I think i would have to look at the exact details but im afraid to say it is probably declining i mean worsening. Their situation is declining because of the scale of the crisis. And one final question youve pointed out that since 2011 prm has extended 1. 4 billion. Has that impacted funding from other programs. Have you had to dep pleat or draw down from other accounts whether it be in africa or other accounts, there is no diminution to those areas. Thank you for the question. Thanks to you and congress that i can say we have not taken funding for africa or other important programs to meet the other megacharities because you generated to us in 2013 and 2014 and can you see a significant upturn not just in the middle east but in other regions as well. Thank you. Mrs. Frankel. Thank you, mr. Chair. I want to go back to my questioning on the sort of the domino effects of humanitarian aid or not having it. I do believe in humanitarian aid, but i want to just play the devils advocate because what we may hear constituents saying and some of my colleagues mentioned it. There was so much suffering in this world all over the world including the United States of america. So i would like to hear your thoughts again in terms of what if we were not we did not provide this aid, what are some of the dominos . What would we see happening and what would be worse . What is the spinoff and how does it affect somebody who lives in florida . Its a terrific question congresswoman, in terms of not being to provide aid. We touched on it earlier in terms of regional stability. I think in terms of humanitarian aid, the best way to be able to support those that need to flee syria is being able to provide that aid to the Host Communities and the neighboring countries to keep that protection space open and make it possible for people because it is much easier for us to assist those in