Rep. Gary L. Ackerman Holds a Hearing On the Iraqi Refugees

Political Transcript Wire › August 25, 2009

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Rep. Gary L. Ackerman Holds a Hearing On the Iraqi Refugees

HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND OVERSIGHT AND SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND SOUTH ASIA HOLD A JOINT HEARING ON IRAQI REFUGEES

MARCH 11, 2008

SPEAKERS: SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND OVERSIGHT REP. BILL DELAHUNT, D-MASS. CHAIRMAN, REP. RUSS CARNAHAN, D-MO. REP. DONALD M. PAYNE, D-N.J. REP. GREGORY W. MEEKS, D-N.Y. REP. JOSEPH CROWLEY, D-N.Y. EX OFFICIO

REP. DANA ROHRABACHER, R-CALIF. RANKING MEMBER REP. RON PAUL, R-TEXAS REP. JEFF FLAKE, R-ARIZ. REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, R-FLA. EX OFFICIO

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND SOUTH ASIA REP. GARY L. ACKERMAN, D-N.Y. CHAIRMAN REP. HOWARD L. BERMAN, D-CALIF. REP. DAVID SCOTT, D-GA. REP. JIM COSTA, D-CALIF. REP. RON KLEIN, D-FLA. REP. BRAD SHERMAN, D-CALIF. REP. ROBERT WEXLER, D-FLA. REP. ELIOT L. ENGEL, D-N.Y. REP. RUSS CARNAHAN, D-MO. REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, D-TEXAS EX OFFICIO

REP. MIKE PENCE, R-IND. RANKING MEMBER REP. STEVE CHABOT, R-OHIO REP. JOE WILSON, R-S.C. REP. J. GRESHAM BARRETT, R-S.C. REP. JEFF FORTENBERRY, R-NEB. REP. BOB INGLIS, R-S.C. REP. CONNIE MACK, R-FLA. REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, R-FLA. EX OFFICIO

WITNESSES: REP. ZOE LOFGREN, D-CALIF.

REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.

REP. PETER WELCH, D-VT.

AMBASSADOR JAMES B. FOLEY, SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT COORDINATOR FOR IRAQI REFUGEE ISSUES

AMBASSADOR LAWRENCE BUTLER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS

LORI SCIALABBA, SENIOR adviser TO THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY FOR IRAQI REFUGEE AFFAIRS

GREGORY GOTTLIEB SENIOR DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR USAID'S BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

STEPHEN A. "TONY" EDSON DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR VISA SERVICES

[*] ACKERMAN: The subcommittees will come to order.

First I would ask unanimous consent that Representatives Welch, Lofgren and Waters be permitted to participate, although not being members of the committee, to sit in with the members, as if they were members of the committee.

Is there any objection?

So ordered.

Almost a year ago, the Middle East and South Asia subcommittees held a hearing on the Iraqi refugee crisis, and we learned several disturbing things. We learned that the administration was doing next to nothing to assist those Iraqis who put their lives in jeopardy in order to assist the United States in our efforts in Iraq.

Not only wasn't the administration helping them; they didn't even know how many Iraqis actually worked for us, so they naturally had no idea how many people needed our help.

We learned that the administration was woefully unprepared to process refugees referred to us by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. We learned that it took up to five months to process a refugee referral. We learned that the United States had the capacity to process merely a few hundred refugees a month, but wasn't working anywhere near even that limited capacity.

We learned that we were telling Iraqis seeking our assistance and protection to flee to a safe place -- like Syria, imagine that -- because we weren't processing at-risk populations inside of Iraq. We learned that the need for refugee assistance was so great that Congress ultimately had to take the lead in providing an additional $150 million to address it.

So our two subcommittees have reconvened today in the hope that the administration will be able to tell us all sorts of good news, such as that it has provided the protection necessary to those Iraqis who risked their lives for us -- translators, guides, intel providers.

We hope to learn the administration has worked out the bureaucratic kinks between the Departments of State and Homeland Security and that the United States is now efficiently processing refugees referred to us.

We hope to hear that it takes far less than five months to process a refugee case, and as a result, the administration is on target to meet the president's goal and the administration's assurance of resettling 12,000 refugees this fiscal year, and that the administration has established a mechanism to process at-risk populations of Iraqis inside of Iraq so they don't have to flee to a neighboring co...

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