Order. Without 0, all members will have five days to submit statements, materials and questions for the record, subject to length limitation and the rules. We immediate today to examine the fiasco surrounding the Trump Administrations decision to invoke Emergency Authority under the arms expert control act. And abuse of authority in my view and ram led to 8 billion in arms sales to gulf countries. Well hear testimony from assistant secretary of state for plate political clarke cooper. Thank you for appearing before us today. Welcome to members of the and can the press and thank you to your friends on cspan who are broughting this important proceeding. Before i recognize myself for opening stam i want to just say to the member isll be heavy with the gavel because we want to get in as many people asking questions as possible. So, the five minutes will be pretty hard and fast. Instead of let it go for six or seven minutes. If ask people to please speak within the fiveminute recognized period. Let me say that the war in yemen and americas role it in have been a major focus of this committee since the start her to congress. Ive made my views clear. While our Gulf Partners have legitimating security concerns, the coalitions war effort has been reckless. We have heard too many heart breaking reports about hops, school buses, weddings and funerals wiped out in a firey flash of destruction. The same time im also angry. Im angry because once again the administration wants to cut congress out of the picture. Out of the process. We are a coequal branch of government. And its not simply the executive branchs decision to disregard what congress is, and we have seen unfortunately too many times, time and time again. Some of the weapons that cause the destruction are made in the United States. Other weapons made in our country hey have end in the hand avid mill hill militias in yemen on the terrorist lives. A few of the Reasons Congress has voiced deep kearn but american policy on these matters and why offensive arms sales to gulf faced a rocky path forward when subjected to congressional review. Lets be clear. Congress able to review arms exports is upheld by law and upheld by longstanding tradition. And n lying office these concerns in congress, did the administration negotiate a path forward . No. Did they listen to members on both sides of the aisle who wanted greater assurance that american weapons would not be used in the vlad over civilian . Ditheyd pay the least amount of respect to a coequal branch of government and its legitimating and vital role . No. No, instead they employed an obscurity and rarely used provision of the law to declare a phony emergency, ram the sales through, and undercut congress ability to carry out its oversight role. If there were a real emergency, if our security were under such an imminent threat, that the transfer of weapons was the only way to prevent a catastrophe, then we wouldnt be setting here today. Would be a real catastrophe. But here is reality there is no emergency. Do you hoe how i know . I know because a real emergency would require weapons that could be delivered immediately. If you need them right now, you want weapons that can be delivered immediately, not months or years from now as these do. A real emergency would require weapons that have already been built and are relevant to whatever the immediate threat it. A real emergency would not justify building new factories and saudi arabia and the unite i Arab Emirates to manufacture weapons built to the United States for years and years. A real emergency would not be followed by our defense secretary tell us the threat has now diminished. Again, there is no emergency. Its phony. Its made up. And its an abuse of the law once again, attempting to cut congress out of the whole picture. This is not a dictatorship. We dont rule this country by fiat. Again we are coequal branch of government. In school you lander the checks and balances. Congress is a coequal branch of government. We are not going to permit this to go by without a whimper. Just a few days before the administration notified congress about the socalled emergency, we got a briefing on the threat that iran poses in the region. I have no doubt that iran is a threat to the United States, to our interests and our allies and partners, its the worlds most prolific state sponsor of terrorism. Its activities in the gulf could paralyze economy and air travel. Tehran provided the houthis with dangerous weapons and the houthis have avoided negotiations to end the conflict and blocked in the astance to help alleviate the world residents worst humanitarian catastrophe. This is nothing new. Cannot talk about the detail 0 the briefing we received but suffice to say, we did not hear a single word about an emergency or a plan to move ahead with this sale. For this major fiasco the administration quietly let us know on a friday afternoon, before a holiday weekend. Its really slap in the face. Congress is going to have to give itself stronger tools before the Administration Just starts ignoring us completely. Ive been working with Ranking Member mccall on legislation to make sure future arms sales only go forward if the country buying those weapons meetes certain conditions. Also have to strongly consider changing the arms export control acts emergency provision which the administration again has flagrantly abused in this case, and were looking at every possible avenue stop the transits before that go forward under this phony justification. Including measures that members of the committee will introduce later today. But for now id like some answers. Like no know but the process that led to this outrageous decision. Id like to know who was involved, who thought it was good idea to conjure up an knowledge in in and cut an entire branch of the federal government out of the conversation and well get to those questions and others, mr. Assistant secretary, following your Opening Statement. I yield to my Ranking Member, mr. Mccall of texas. Thank you, mr. Champ let he me say what a honor it was to attend the normandy ceremony with you this past weekend. Make no mistake, iranian wreck anytimes are the number one state sponsor of terror in the world today. They have a brutal history of american bloodshed. From marine barrackses bombing in lebanon in 1983 to the death of 600 u. S. Members Service Members from 2003 to 201. Continue to hold american hostages and plot against our allies in europe. Irans destablizing behavior in the middle east thens the region and is a growing threat to the security of the United States. Our military and our citizens. Just last week marine general frank mckenzie, the top military commander in the region, warned about attacks by iran its forward proxy, staying i think the threat is imminent. Allies in the region face this menace every day. I fully support the efforts of saudi arabia and the United Arab Emirates to defense. The defendant thens it against iran and training, he support the evident to overthrow a legitimate u. N. Backed government in iran by the houthi rebels. The rebels launch missiles and armed drones into saudi arabia. But im also troubled by the numerous civilian deaths in this war, including from Coalition Air strikes. I firmly believe we can support our Strategic Partners while also insisting they broad the war more responsibly and for this reason im working with chairman engel on legislation conditioning future armed sale weapons the goal of helping stop civilian deaths. Were here today because the state Department Certified to congress that the iran threat stutzman an emergency. Requireing the immediate provision of certain Defense Systems of saudi arabia, the ua and jordan. The rarely used Emergency Authority bypassed article 1, congressional review, of the sales. The Founding Fathers put article 1 first, which represents the American People before article 2 in the constitution, and they did that for a reason. There have been times when International Emergencies required expedited sales, President Trump, george h. W. Bush using the Emergency Authority in the immediate wake of the iraqi invasion of kuwait. President reagan made the determine during the iraniraq war. Critical weapons were delivered very quickly during hot wars. But as i said last month the recent use of this Emergency Authority in my judgment, was unfortunate. Some sale noise be ready for delivery for over a year. Would have preferred to adhere to the formal statutory 30day congressional review process toed and do it the 22 arms sales where a resolution of disapproval process could have been an option. In fact i had a very good conversation with ambassador bolton, about a week or two before the decision was made. Discussed the legislation, the chairman and i were working on and i thought things were going in the correct and proper direction. I do share the administrations frustration that some of these informal holds or these arms sales for over a year was a little too long. In your written statement you have said these arms sales are necessary to ensure the United States remains a credible supplier of choice for our partners, rather than russia and china. And i agree with that. Last week it was reported that saudi arabia, however, has been buying Ballistic Missiles from china and while were not discussing Ballistic MissileTechnology Today its difficult our allies are depending their defense relationships with oured a veer series like china. Assistant secretary cooper, i want to thank you for your service to our country in so many ways, some ways we cant discuss here in public. I look forward to hearing you view oles the threat, the Decision Making process and designating this an emergency and the details on the 22 weapons sales and with that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. Thank you. I want to thank the gentleman from texas, Ranking Member. With is this mr. R. Clarke keep, assistant secretary of state for Political Military Affairs. Mr. Assistant secretary, thank you for coming. I recognize you for five minutes to summarize your testimony and and everything will in the record including your written testimony. Yes, the floor is yours. Chairman engel, Ranking Member mccall, members, in recent days, mutual shipping has been attracted by providing a deterrent against hostile actions this transfer throws risk of a broader conflict. The determination reflects the United States grave concern with the growing escalation in the gulf and its implication for the security of our friends in the region. These words could precisely describe the context of the recent emergency certification this hearing has been convened to discuss but theyre actually from a state Department Statement from 1984. Then, as now, irans revelation near gunfight threatened International Ship neglect gulf some supported attacks on american interests in the region. Resulting in the dealts of 241 american Service Members in beirut. Then, as now, our partners required the reassurance provided by an american demonstration of resolve, and then as now, the administration took steps to deter war, not to bring it closer. In his recent sea secretary tom payow supporting our partners in this current crisis. These capabilities include aircraft support, munitions, logistic services, unmanned intelligence, surveillance and recognizance platforms, training, and advisory services. None of these constitution introductions of fundamentally new capables to he region, none alter the military balance of power. None are a nate or category that congress has not previously approved for these particular partners. The secretarys decision to exercise his statutory third under arms export controlling a reflect the concern threat from iran but before speaking to that i would like to describe the broader context. First, in todays world our partnerships are more vital north less. So we must ensure or partners they have the capabilities, the staples, the communications, the intelligence, and the training to play their picker role in maintaining the stability and surety of their regions. Our adversaries recognize the importance of partnerships and have adopted purposeful tracks of trying to disrupt them at all levels, including in terms of our Security Cooperation, for instance, by seeking to replace us as has been noted as suppliers of choice. Congress is very much aware of this which is why you passed the enact 2017. Act in 2017. At the same time we deeply appreciate the particular considerations that relate to arms tran fers. Many members, many americans, are concerned about the use of the armses be provide oversea including the can text of theemn self war. Is the premium we place on ensuring that our capabilities are not contributing to gross violations of human rights. We have worked with the Saudi Led Coalition of the course of this operation to reduce the occurrence of civilian casualties. Our support in this regard as ranged from the provision of training on targeting and the supply of more precise in missions to mentoring and advising the coalition on best practices, lessons learned, integrating complex data that is designed to reduce civilian casualties. Weve also provided higherand Legal Training on the law of Armed Conflict and have directly and regularly engaged both military and Political Leadership on this topic. This is the context. The need to remain engaged partners, to ensure we remain their primary Security Partner, to make clear that we support our partners in the defense of their relatives and the security of their regions and to deter our shared adversaries from disrupting those objectives. This mention of adversaries links me back to emergencies decided by the secretary in his certification. Iran and its maligned activity. As secretary pompeo stated publicly and secretary shanahan briefed the congress, we have to increased threat streams from iran relating both to us and partner equities in the region. These troubling and ask a tory indications and warnings from the Iranian Regime have prompted a increased Us Force Posture in the region. The iran back huthis target in the emirates and the Saudi Led Coalition in yemen. Access as ambassador bolton described, iranian attacks on shipping off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle attacks on pumping stations of the saudi eastwest pipeline and the rockets fired into a park just a kilometer from our us enmity embassy in baghdad afew days after that and just today, today , a huthi Cruise Missile fell on the arrival swale of the ad is about the airportinjuring 26 civilians. These provocative actions mark a new evolution in the threat ran coaches for the region, to our partners and our own National Security including the security of hundreds of thousands of americans and their families who live and work in the gulf states. It is this situation, this significant increase in both the intelligence of threat streams and clear provocative and damaging actions taken by irans government that the secretary did determine a constituted an emergency. It is this confluence of Strategic Priorities and vitality of our bilateral relationships that urgent regional threat that drove him to make the certification. Before closing, i would like to make one further point. In the process of his confirmation and my own, the secretary and i each provided congress with a congressional review process. This commitment stands. I value deeply congresss role in the role of the armchair process, take pride in the depth of the detail and working relationship we have with the committees in the course of this process and do not view the secretary certification as setting aside this process. Indeed, by carving out a certain set of cases in the context of the Statutory Authority longgranted by congress , secretaries actions is an affirmation of the value we place on our engagement with you on arms transfers and broader Security Assistance issues. Mister chairman, in 1984, ambassador michael our massage explained president reagans emergency certification to congress in these words quote, our decisions were a clear response to an escalating emergency which threatened saudi america and the goal. They satisfied a clear military need. In addition we sense a political signal both reassurance anddeterrence. It was a measured response which promotes regional stability and security. Mister chairman, mister Ranking Members, the political signal of reassurance and deterrence, a measured response which promotes regional stability and secu