Debate over U.S. Aid to Egypt Continues
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, expressed concerns and raised a number of questions ...
October 5, 2012
Category: Committee Meetings, Congress, Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, Political transition, US foreign policy
U.S.- Morocco Strategic Dialogue Begins
Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation for Morocco Saad-Eddine Al-Otmani launched the U.S.-Morocco Strategic Dialogue on September 13 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. In opening remarks, Secretary Clinton said the U.S. is "not satisfied with simply ...
POMED Notes: Implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry Report
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing on the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI). The hearing consisted of three panels. The first panel featured Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). The second panel featured Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. The third panel consisted of: Matar Ebrahim Matar, former member of Bahrain’s Parliament; Leslie Campbell, senior ...
POMED Notes: “Next Steps in Syria”
On Wednesday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the conflict in Syria and how the U.S. should or should not respond. Witnesses included the Honorable Martin Indyk, Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy for the Brookings Institution; the Honorable James Dobbins, Director of International Security and Defense Policy Center for the Rand Corporation; and Andrew Tabler, Senior Fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at the ...
POMED Notes: “Chronic Kleptocracy: Corruption Within the Palestinian Political Establishment”
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing on the topic of corruption within the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Fatah party. Rep. Steve Chabot chaired the hearing, with Reps. Gary Ackerman, Ted Deutch, Gerry Connolly, and Tom Marino also present. Testifying witnesses included Elliott Abrams, Jonathan Schanzer, and Jim Zanotti. For full event notes, continue reading below or click here. Chabot began the hearing by stating that the purpose of ...
POMED Notes: “Threats to Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders Worldwide – Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing”
On Thursday, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing on threats and restrictions faced by human rights defenders and civil society. Congressman James McGovern (D-MA) chaired the hearing. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) was also present. Panel one featured Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the State Department, Donald Steinberg, Deputy Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Tomicah Tilleman, ...
May 20, 2012
Category: Bahrain, Civil Society, Committee Meetings, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Human Rights, NGOs, US foreign policy
May 19, 2012
Category: Committee Meetings, Congress, Democracy Promotion, Featured, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: “Assessing U.S. Foreign Policy Priorities and Needs Amidst Economic Challenges in the Middle East”
On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held a hearing entitled, "Assessing U.S. Foreign Policy Priories and Needs Amidst Economic Challenges in he Middle East." The committee heard testimony from Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and Mara Rudman, Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for the Middle East at USAID. Mark Ward, Deputy Special Coordinator for Middle East Transitions ...
May 10, 2012
Category: Committee Meetings, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Countries, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, NGOs, Palestine, Political transition, Syria, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: Syria: U.S. Policy Options
On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing to discuss U.S. policy options for Syria amid the recent developments of the deployment of U.N. monitors, a fragile ceasefire, and a continued humanitarian crisis. Presenting testimony was Professor of Middle East Studies at the NESA Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University Murhaf Jouejati, Director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic ...
April 20, 2012
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Category: Committee Meetings, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Event Notes, POMED, Syria, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: High Stakes and Hard Choices: U.S. Policy on Iran
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing on U.S. foreign policy options pertaining to Iran. The speakers were the Honorable Thomas R. Pickering, former under Secretary of State for political affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, General James E. Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Mr. Karim Sadjadpour, senior associate at the Middle East Program Carnegie Endowment for International ...
March 29, 2012
Category: Committee Meetings, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Diplomacy, Event Notes, Iran, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: The Human Rights Crisis in Syria – Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing
On Tuesday, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing to examine the systemic and grave human rights abuses by the Syrian government, and the impact of those abuses on the Syrian people. Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) chaired the hearing. Congressman James McGovern (D-MA) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) gave opening remarks. Panel one featured Ambassador Robert Ford as the witness, and Panel two featured Maria McFarland, deputy Washington ...
March 27, 2012
Category: Committee Meetings, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Syria, UN Human Rights Council, UN Security Council, United Nations, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on Syria
On Wednesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing to discuss the Syrian crisis. The Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-AZ) gave opening statements. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey were the witnesses. For the full text of the hearing notes, continue reading below, or click here for the PDF Carl Levin, who described Bashar Al Assad’s ...
March 8, 2012
Category: Committee Meetings, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Featured, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Syria, US foreign policy
Committee Approves Ros-Lehtinen’s Bill Imposing Strong Sanctions on Syria
Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved bipartisan legislation strengthening sanctions against the Syrian Regime. The Syrian Freedom Support Act, H.R. 2106, introduced in August, was authored by Committee Chairman lleana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) with U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY). The bill imposes new sanctions focusing on Syrian energy and financial sectors and weapon proliferation activities. The bill also contains human rights sanctions targeting top regime officials, including an amendment ...
POMED Notes: Senate Hearing: Syria: The Crisis and Its Implications
On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford. The hearing addressed the growing concerns over developing events in Syria. Senator John Kerry (D – MA) presided over the committee, co-chaired by ranking member Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). To read the full text of the hearing continue reading below, or click here for ...
March 4, 2012
Category: Committee Meetings, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Democracy Promotion, Featured, Human Rights, Protests, Syria, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about national security and the foreign policy priorities in the $51.6 billion fiscal year 2013 International Affairs budget. Senator John Kerry (D – MA) presided over the committee, which was co-chaired by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). To read the full text of the event notes, continue reading below or click here for the PDF Senator John Kerry began by ...
March 1, 2012
Category: Afghanistan, Committee Meetings, Congress, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Syria, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: House Appropriations Committee Budget Hearing
On Wednesday, the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs within the House Appropriations Committee held a Budget Hearing for which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was the witness. Chairwoman of the Subcommittee Kay Granger (R-TX) and ranking member Nita Lowey (D-NY) presided; Chairman of the Appropriations Committee Hal Rogers (R-KY) also gave an opening statement. For the full text of the hearing, continue reading below or click here ...
March 1, 2012
Category: Committee Meetings, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Egypt, Featured, Foreign Aid, Iran, NGOs, Syria, US foreign policy
Senate Committee Passes Iran Sanctions Bill
The Senate Banking Committee has approved Chairman Tim Johnson’s (D-SD) and Ranking Member Richard Shelby’s (R-AL) Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act (Note: the linked version is a draft, and amendments were made. This is not necessarily ...
POMED Notes: Congressional Hearing on U.S. Assistance to the PA
On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on the issue of U.S. financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority and more broadly, to the United Nations. For full event notes, continue reading. Or, click here for the PDF. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) chaired the committee hearing and opened the hearing with an opening statement. Ros-Lehtinen stated that the purpose of the hearing was to “address the troubling turn of events ...
September 17, 2011
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Category: Committee Meetings, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Foreign Aid, Palestine, United Nations, US foreign policy, US politics
House State & Foreign Op’s Bill Makes Significant Cuts
On Wendesday, the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee held a markup session and voted to pass the 2012 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, as is, to the full committee. The bill would dramatically reduce funding ...
July 27, 2011
Category: Committee Meetings, Congress, Featured, Foreign Aid, Legislation, US foreign policy
POMED Notes: HFAC Hearing on Middle East Transitions
On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia held the first in a proposed series of hearings entitled, “Shifting Sands: Political Transitions in the Middle East.” Testimony was given by a panel featuring, Elliott Cohen, Ph.D, Professor of Strategic Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, J. Scott Carpenter, Keston Family Fellow at Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and ...
April 18, 2011
Category: Civil Society, Committee Meetings, Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (House), Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Islam and Democracy, Protests, US foreign policy, US politics