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Source: Congress.gov
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A quorum being present, the Committee on Foreign Affairs will come to order. The Committee is meeting today for consideration of a number of bills. Before we begin that, we'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for
The committee is meeting today for consideration of HR 747 to impose sanctions with respect to Chinese producers of synthetic opioids and opioid precursors to hold Chinese officials accountable for the spread of illicit fentanyl and for other purposes. introduced by Representative Barr. HR-1998, to require the imposition of sanctions with respect to foreign persons engaged in piracy and for other purposes, introduced by Representative Jackson of Illinois. HR-2635, to support the human rights of Uighurs and members of other minority groups residing primarily in the Xinjiang
H.R. 2619, to require a report on sanctions under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage Taking Accountability Act, and for other purposes, introduced by Representative Baumgartner. H.R. 1422, to impose sanctions with respect to persons engaged in logistical transactions and sanctions evasion relating to oil, gas, liquefied natural gas, and related petrochemical products from the Islamic Republic of Iran and for other purposes, introduced by Representative Lawler. H.R. 2503 to require the development of a strategy to eliminate the availability to foreign adversaries of goods and technologies capable of supporting undersea cables and for other purposes, introduced by Representative Kane. H.R. 2683, to provide for control of remote access of items under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, introduced by Representative Lawler. H.R. 260, to require a strategy to impose financial or material support by foreign countries and non-government organizations
The chair announces that requests for recorded votes may be rolled and I may recess at any point. Without objection, so ordered. Pursuant to House rules, I request that members have the opportunity to submit views for any committee report that may be produced on today's measures. Without objection, so ordered. I now recognize Ranking Member Meeks for any opening statement that he may have.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. But just before I turn to the end block to want to raise an issue that I think should concern all of us on both sides of the aisle. And that's our shared responsibility to conduct oversight of the agencies within our jurisdiction. Late last month, the administration notified us of its intent to reorganize USAID, an agency that has already tried to gut. I've sent and despite sending repeated letters requesting more information. The State Department has failed to respond in a meaningful way. So I know that we may differ on how best to deliver foreign assistance. But we should all agree that Congress has a duty to conduct oversight. And that's why every Democrat on this committee has signed a letter asking you to call Secretary Rubio to testify publicly on this proposed reorganization and to also hold the notification until all of our requests for information are satisfied. So I'm hoping, Mr. Chairman, that we can work together and you can commit that we will be bringing the secretary forward to testify sometime in the very, very near future.
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