Im going call the meeting to order, the subcommittee. Thank you all for coming today. A couple of things to start with. Number one, were going to have votes starting at 3 00. Well deal with that when we have to deal with that. Second thing is this committee doesnt meet as frequently as many other committees. But primary reason being that the issues we deal with are of significant magnitude that theyre generally dealt with by the whole community. So either this committee wraps itself around the other or vice at it. But in any event, we really deem that this was an appropriate subject, however, for this subcommittee. Obviously, the complexity of dealing with the issues on north africa are certainly worthy of our consideration. Thus the meeting today. And we have a very good panel to help us deal with these people who deal with this all the time. So thank you all for being here. Ambassador sales, i know your travel schedule has been quite robust. And as a result of that, i appreciate you accommodating us to actually be able to be here yourself today. North africa is an important region for United States as well as transatlantic security. Several years ago we watched the arab spring begin in tunisia and then spread across the middle east. People in the region wanted a better life and were clearly tired with the slow pace of change. Despite their aspirations, the pace of change has not met their expectations. Today we still see weak institutions and strong leaders make change difficult. And in the process, safe havens continue to exist for terrorists. The region, especially morocco and tunisia has seen a significant number of their people, of their citizens join isis in iraq and syria. Now these fighters pose a threat as they return to the region, to their own homeland. Morocco and algeria have strong institutions to collaborate with the United States. In tunisia, the government is stable, but still fragile, and requires a commitment to help build their institutional capacity. Isis increased presence in the sinai is troubling, to say the least. The attacks against Coptic Christians and muslims like the recent mosque attack highlight how large a threat isis still is in the region. In libya, we see rival factions in weak institutions undermine the capacity to govern the country. Leaving few partners to work with the fight against terrorism. The byproduct is freedom of movement for terrorists to plan, train, and finance their activities. At the same time, countries around the region are competing for influence and power rather than helping the domestic leaders build capacity and effective institutions to governor their own country. This only undermines counterterrorism efforts. However, this challenge is not something that can be con front solely to military force. Targeted u. S. Air strikes have been helpful, but political resolution in libya is vital to building longterm partner capacity and actually rooting out terrorism. If factionalism persists, we will never get beyond military action. Also, i worry that the broader region is becoming not just a Training Ground for terrorist camps, but a base of operation as deeper affiliations with International Terrorist organizations are growing. This has profound implications for European Security as smuggling and extremists themselves cross the mediterranean into europe there is an opportunity for the United States to partner with our allies in europe and the gulf to help bring more stability to the region. And i look forward to hearing our witnesses help explain how we can accomplish this challenging task. I know that senator keene wants badly to join us today, like all of us he has challenges. He will be here. Well look forward to his Opening Statement when he gets here. In any event, i want to thank both ambassador sales andpoliscu to honor us with what you have to say, and well start with ambassador sales. Thank you very much, chairman risch, Ranking Member kane and other members of the subcommittee. I would like to thank you for inviting me to discuss u. S. Terrorism efforts in north africa. Mr. Chairman, should i pause now to hear from senator kane . Very good. Well, id like to thank you for holding this hearing. And im especially grateful to you for scheduling this hearing at a time that allows me to personally participate. Our top priority in the region is to prevent terrorist groups from threatening the United States by denying them the ability to operate in the continents vast ungoverned spaces. Terrorists who enjoy safe haven are capable of exporting violence around the world, striking us here at home and striking the homelands of our closest allies. We saw al qaeda do this from afghanistan in the 1990s through 9 11. More recently we also saw isis do the same thing from its false caliphate in syria and iraq. This is the reason why were helping the sometimes fragile states of north africa build their counterterrorism capacity. We want to develop their capabilities to the point where theyre able to defend themselves without relying on assistance from the United States. Today, isis is on the ropes in syria and iraq, but significant challenges remain. Isis networks in north africa, as youve already mentioned, senator, foreign terrorist fighters from the region who have traveled to the war zone and now seek to return home. Al qaeda affiliates, like aqim. Today im going to highlight several areas where the ct bureau and the rest of the state department have been working with our north african partners to address these and other problems. First, Law Enforcement and criminal justice. Strong, stable, and responsive governments are an important bulwark against terrorism. Thats why we help partner nations develop appropriate legal frameworks to effectively prosecute terrorist offenders. In particular, we strengthen our partners ability to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate terrorismrelated crimes. We also help them build Crisis Response teams that are capable of responding to terrorist attacks in realtime. Second, Border Security. Terrorists exploit long porous borders in remote and loosely governed parts of the continent. An important part of the solution to that problem is information sharing. For that reason, weve worked with our inner Agency Partners to conclude hspd6 agreements with dozens of countries, including a number in north africa. As you know, hspd 66 calls for information sharing about known and suspected terrorists. Weve also worked to stem the flow of ftfs across international borders. This means getting our partners to use interpols stolen and lost document database and other resources. Were also expanding the pisces program. That rather elaborate anak anymore is personal identification secure comparison and evaluation system. Its a mouthful, but what it does do is provide stateoftheart border screening systems to 24 countries. A third important ct tool is designations. The state department has listed a number of foreign terrorist organizations that are active in north africa. Examples include isis sinai, isis libya, aqim, and ansar al sharia. Using these designations enables us to help cut off the financial flows that are the lifeblood of these organizations. Fourth, we work to counter radicalization in a way thats tailored to each north african countrys unique circumstances. It isnt enough to stop fts from traveling to the war zone or remove them from the battlefield. This is a battle of ideas, and we also need to delegitimize the radical ideology that attracts them in the first place and prevent them from getting into terrorist pipelines. Finally, looking beyond foggy bottom, the department of defense continues to advance u. S. Counterterrorism priorities in north africa by taking the fight directly to the enemy. On october 29th, our soldiers captured Mustafa Al Imam who was allegedly involved in the 2012 benghazi terrorist attacks. Weve transferred him to the United States for prosecution where he will face justice for his alleged crimes. We continue to investigate the perpetrators of this attack, and we look forward to bringing them to justice. Mr. Chairman, mr. Ranking member, thank you again for holding this hearing. Ill now turn the floor over to ambassador polischik who will discuss some of the political aspects of the efforts in the region. Thank you. Ambassador polischik . Chairman risch, ranking mr. Cain, subcommittee members, thank you for the invitation to appear before you. As ambassador sales just described, isis and other terrorist groups have been significantly degraded in this region. Nevertheless, these groups continue to capitalize on political friction, economic frustrations, and regional fragmentation in their quest to destabilize our partners and threaten attacks against u. S. Interests. As an integral component of our counterterrorism efforts, the United States is working closely with our partners in north africa as they seek to advance political reconciliation, promote economic reforms, and strengthen Civil Society to ensure a robust and comprehensive approach to our collective threats. Id like to speak briefly about our specific efforts, and also would like to submit a statement for the record. Turning first to libya, where the ongoing political crisis continues to Impact Security throughout the region, libya must first overcome the current political impasse to achieve lasting stability. That is why the administration recently hosted Prime Minister al siraj in washington to reconfirm support for his government of National Accord and u. N. Facilitated efforts to negotiate a settlement. We urge all libyans to engage constructively in the u. N. Process and pursue their ambitions through the ballot box. Any attempt to impose a military solution will only fuel civil conflict, providing isis and al qaeda with opportunities to use libya as a base to threaten the u. S. And our allies. The potential for greater instability in libya is of particular concern to the unnisha. As tunisia consolidation its economic transition, economic stagnation and social marginalization have prompted approximately 4,000 tunisians to join isis. The u. S. Effort is promoting tunisias efforts to respond to the threat, bolstering capacity to investigate and incapacitate those involved in terrorism and tackling the root causes of the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon. In tunis last month, the deputy secretary of state spoke directly with tunisian leaders about the countrys economic challenges, pledging u. S. Support, but urging quicker implementation of reforms that are vital to ensuring all tunisians are able to participate fully and political and economic life. Algeria, where i recently served as u. S. Ambassador, has witnessed a dramatic improvement in its political, economic, and security situation since the 1990s. Today algeria stands as a highly effective counterterrorism partner, able to deny terrorists safe haven within its borders and working to build the capacity of its more fragile neighbors. A measured butificive political in recent years has undergirded this transformation. Morocco continues to distinguish itself as a capable Security Partner and regional leader, particularly with respect to countering violent extremism on the african continent. Morocco is a net exporter of security. For example, in close cooperation with us, moroccan personnel have Trained Counterterrorism forces in senegal and chad, while morocco has lent powerful support to the g5 to strengthen the Regional Response to terrorism. Egypt remains an important strategic partner. Its most pressing internal security challenge is the isis affiliate in northern sinai. Let me pause to reiterate the u. S. Governments condolences for the horrifying november 24th mosque attack which killed over 300 egyptians. Isis has also targeted Egypts Christians via appalling Church Bombings and attacks on pilgrims. Other terrorist groups have claimed attacks on egyptian officials and Police Outside the sinai. For cairo, instability in libya and the potential for isis to regroup there represent critical threats to egyptian security. We remain committed to supporting egypts efforts to defeat terrorist threats. Building on decades of Strong Security ties, we are seeing growing counterterrorism cooperation and continuing Strong Military to military efforts across a range of programs. Turning briefly to economic stability, president asisisi ha taken bold and necessary steps on reform and the economy is improving, albeit slowly. Finally, we will continue to emphasize the importance of a comprehensive approach to counterterrorism that protects and minimizes damage to civilians. We have been engaged in a frank but as yet inconclusive dialogue about egypts restrictive ngo law and restrictions of employments of ngos. We have raised and will continue to raise at senior levels policies that challenge governance and continue to stress the fundamental importance of the respect for human rights, Civil Liberties and the need for a robust Civil Society. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member kaine, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you and we look forward to hearing your questions. Thank you very much that was a really good comprehensive overview. Obviously weve got the right panel here to delve into this. With that, mr. Ranking member, tim, did you want to make a statement . Im going to reserve my questions so ill jump to you. I apologize for being a few minutes late, but it spared you hearing an Opening Statement from me. So there is some good news. Let me jump right into questions. One of the things that im always puzzled by, and i think you can each offer some insight into this, there are relatively stable countries in north africa that we work closely with tunisia, morocco, algeria. And yet a large number of the foreign fighters that go to fight with isis come from these nations. Why that the case . Why have they been such producers of foreign fighters to go fight with isis . Well, no question, senator. Let me say its good to see you again. I think the answer to that question is very context specific. I think Different Countries have experienced radicalization and the migration of foreign terrorist fighters for different reasons. So tunisia, for instance, has sent anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 terrorist fighters from north africa into syria and iraq. Morocco by contrast has sent about 1,700. The numbers for some of the other countries are substantially lower. In the case of algeria, which exhibits a very low incidence of foreign terrorist fighter movements, i think part of the reason for their relative success in the region is because of their long history throughout the 1990s of combatting islamist violence in algeria. I think that that experience has helped algeria create governmental institutions and Civil Society institutions that help their population, that sort of inoculate their population against the siren song of radicalism. Of course, not perfectly. All countries could stand to do a better job. But i think that experience from the 1990s has been one factor that has contributed to the relatively advantageous situation when it comes to foreign terrorist fighters there. Let me ask a second question. The president s announcement today about jerusalem, this is a this body has long recognized the reality of jerusalem as the center of government for israel. But the reason that president s have not taken this step before now has not been because of that reality. Its been because of advice by allies in the region, including allies of israel like jordan, saudi arabia, egypt, who have basically said if the u. S. Weighs in on that, it may well lead to extremism in the region that could be dangerous either to israel or potentially dangerous to the u. S. , the u. S. Embassy personnel, et cetera. Is that a concern that we should be taking seriously following this announcement . And what is the state department doing to try to protect our Embassy Personnel in the region . Well, senator, i hope that youve had a chance to listen to the president s statement. I know you all have very busy schedules. I was just reading very quickly that the transcript myself to make sure that i had the latest information. I think we need to look at a few issues here. First, as you said, the president recognized jerusalem as the capital of israel and its seat of government. But in his remarks the president also said a number of important things about final status and stressed that the specific boundaries of israeli sovereignty in jerusalem are subject to final status negotiations between the parties. The United States has not taken a position on boundaries or borders. We realize that maam, if i could just interrupt, because i dont want to run over time. Have i the statement here, and it does include that. The piece im particularly interested in is one aspect of the president s statement. The departments, and this is a summary, departments and agencies have implemented a robust security plan to ensure the safety of our citizens and assets in the region. That suggests that the administration was aware that this could have some negative security consequences for Embassy Personnel and others in the region prior to making the announcement. What is the state department doing . What are these robust security plans . What is the state department doing to try to protect our people in the event that this announcement leads to the kinds of events that the king of jordan and others have suggested it might . The safety and security of american citizens both working for the u. S. Governme