SPEAKERS CONTENTS INSERTS
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2002
AMENDING THE MICROENTERPRISE FOR SELF-RELIANCE ACT OF 2000 AND THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961, INCREASING ASSISTANCE FOR THE POOREST PEOPLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES UNDER MICROENTERPRISE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS UNDER THOSE ACTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES; AND THE FREEDOM PROMOTION ACT OF 2002
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON
H.R. 4073 and H.R. 3969
APRIL 25, 2002
Serial No. 107–88
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Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations
COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman
BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York
JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa
DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELTON GALLEGLY, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina
DANA ROHRABACHER, California
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
PETER T. KING, New York
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
AMO HOUGHTON, New York
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York
JOHN COOKSEY, Louisiana
THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado
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RON PAUL, Texas
NICK SMITH, Michigan
JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania
DARRELL E. ISSA, California
ERIC CANTOR, Virginia
JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
BRIAN D. KERNS, Indiana
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia
MARK GREEN, Wisconsin
TOM LANTOS, California
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American Samoa
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey
ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey
SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY, Georgia
EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama
BRAD SHERMAN, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida
JIM DAVIS, Florida
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
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BARBARA LEE, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania
EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
GRACE NAPOLITANO, California
ADAM B. SCHIFF, California
DIANE E. WATSON, California
THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel
ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director
DOUG SEAY, Professional Staff Member
LIBERTY DUNN, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
Markup of H.R. 4073, To amend the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase assistance for the poorest people in developing countries under microenterprise assistance programs under those Acts, and for other purposes
Text of H.R. 4073
Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 4073, offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith (for himself and Mr. Roemer), a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey
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Markup of H.R. 3969, the Freedom Promotion Act of 2002
Text of H.R. 3969
Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 3969, offered by the Honorable Henry J. Hyde (for himself and Mr. Lantos and Mr. Berman), a Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois, and Chairman, Committee on International Relations
Amendment to the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 3969, offered by the Honorable Tom Lantos (for himself and Mr. Schiff and Mr. Engel), a Representative in Congress from the State of California
Amendment to the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 3969, ofered by the Honorable Jeff Flake (for himself and Mr. Delahunt), a Representative in Congress from the State of Arizona
Amendment to the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 3969, offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith
Amendment to the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 3969, offered by the Honorable Howard L. Berman (for himself and Mr. Cantor), a Representative in Congress from the State of California
Amendment to the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 3969, offered by the Honorable Joseph Crowley, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York
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LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Tom Lantos: Prepared Statement on H.R. 4073
The Honorable Henry J. Hyde: Prepared statement on H.R. 3969
The Honorable Jeff Flake: Material submitted for the record
APPENDIX
The Honorable Henry J. Hyde: Materials submitted in support of H.R. 3969
The Honorable Joseph R. Pitts, a Representative in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania: Prepared statement on H.R. 4073
The Honorable Howard L. Berman: Prepared statement on H.R. 4073
The Honorable Barbara Lee, a Representative in Congress from the State of California: Prepared statement on H.R. 4073
AMENDING THE MICROENTERPRISE FOR SELF-RELIANCE ACT OF 2000 AND THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1961, INCREASING ASSISTANCE FOR THE POOREST PEOPLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES UNDER MICROENTERPRISE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS UNDER THOSE ACTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES; AND THE FREEDOM PROMOTION ACT OF 2002
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THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2002
House of Representatives,
Committee on International Relations,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:08 a.m. in Room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry Hyde (Chairman of the Committee) presiding.
Chairman HYDE. Pursuant to notice, I call up H.R. 4073, ''To amend the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase assistance for the poorest people in developing countries under microenterprise assistance programs under those acts, and for other purposes,'' for purposes of markup and move its favorable recommendation to the House. Without objection, the bill will be considered as read, and open for amendment at any point. And the Chair recognizes Mr. Smith to present a statement.
[The bill, H.R. 4073, follows:]
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for scheduling this important bill for a markup today that will help many of the poorest of the poor around the country, and re-authorize a program that has proven itself. We have contained in the bill, I think, a significant increase for microenterprise, particularly in the second year, pushing the authorization level to $200 million for microenterprise work around the world.
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Currently, AID provides help and assistance to some 2.1 million clients who have gotten their loans through U.S.-funded programs. Seventy percent of these individuals are women, and it has proven itself an invaluable way to provide assistance to those who want to raise their standard of living, their quality of life.
I want to thank Mr. Payne. Mr. Payne is our principal co-sponsor on this legislation, and 17 other Members who have co-sponsored it. I also want to thank Mr. Roemer and Mr. Houghton who have been very effective in providing insights. They had their own piece of legislation that was pending before the Committee, and thankfully, with the amendment in the nature of a substitute, have been able to provide this Committee a blend, a compromise, but also a consensus document that we think will significantly move the ball forward.
Chairman HYDE. Mr. Smith. We have been notified of three votes on the Floor for 15 minutes, 5 minutes, 5 minutes, normal extension of those times. So we will recess and go vote. Following the third and final vote, we will return and continue.
The Committee stands in recess.
[Whereupon, a recess was taken.]
Chairman HYDE. The Committee will come to order.
Congressman Chris Smith indicates that he has said all he cares to say right now anyway and so the——
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Mr. GILMAN. Before Mr. Smith yields the rest of his time, will he yield a moment for me?
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. I will be happy to yield, Mr. Hyde.
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I want to lend my support to this outstanding bill. As my colleagues know, I have been a long-time supporter of microenterprise concept and moved the previous ''micro'' bill through our Committee. I very much appreciate Mr. Smith, Mr. Houghton, and Mr. Payne accepting certain suggestions I made relative to the bill, to make certain that to the greatest extent possible our efforts concentrate on the poorest of the poor.
And again, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, the Microenterprise Self-Reliance Act of 2000.
And Mr. Chairman, I thank you for bringing it before us at this time.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you. The Chair will recognize Mr. Lantos, the Ranking Democratic Member for an opening statement, and then I will request the other Members to submit their opening statements for the record because of time constraints. I would like to move on this and the other legislation. So without objection, so ordered.
And the Chair recognizes Mr. Lantos.
Mr. LANTOS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a powerful, persuasive and eloquent statement which I will place in the record for the benefit of time. [Laughter.]
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[The prepared statement of Mr. Lantos follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE TOM LANTOS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
I want to thank Mr. Smith and Mr. Payne as well as Mr. Roemer and Mr. Houghton for creating a compromise bill that truly improves upon the original legislation.
I also want to acknowledge the pioneering work on Microenterprise that was done by the former Chairman and Ranking Member of this Committee, Reps. Gilman and Gejdenson who introduced the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 which was signed into law by President Clinton.
Microenterprise programs have proven to be an effective means of providing poor households with the financial tools needed to generate income, create savings and develop businesses to help alleviate poverty.
Therefore, I am very pleased that we are not only reauthorizing this program but also increasing the amount of funding for these programs.
However, in the two years since the original legislation was enacted, we have gained new insights on how these programs function.
One such insight is that due to a lack of precise tools to measure poverty and the difficulty in identifying and reaching the very poorest households, there is growing concern that these programs are not focusing on the poorest and most needy individuals.
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In the original legislation, we used loan size as an interim measure of poverty, thinking that if we made the loans smaller, it would attract only the most needy. However, most microenterprise practioners are in agreement that loan size is not an adequate proxy for reaching the poor.
This legislation seeks to improve the targeting of assistance to the very poor by amending the definition and requiring USAID to develop more precise tools to measure poverty.
Specifically, it ensures that at least half of all microenterprise funding authorized be specifically set aside for programs or services in which half of the incoming clients are among the very poor.
Finally, I want to reiterate my strong support for USAID and groups such as Results, FINCA, Freedom from Hunger, Save the Children, and countless others, that are working in poor communities around the world to help the very poorest families get the financial tools they need to provide for the families.
I hope that by passing this legislation, we will be giving them the tools and resources they need to continue this important work.
Chairman HYDE. You sure convinced me. [Laughter.]
And without objection, as I said, any Member may place his or her opening statement in the record of today's proceeding.
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Mr. Smith is recognized for purposes of an amendment.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment in the nature of a substitute at the desk.
Chairman HYDE. The clerk will report the amendment.
Would you press the microphone?
Ms. RUSH. Amendment in the nature of a——
[The information referred to follows:]
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Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman, I ask that the amendment be considered as read.
Chairman HYDE. Without objection, so ordered. The gentleman is recommended for 5 minutes.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment, which has been very carefully worked out with my good friend and colleague, Mr. Payne, who is the principal co-sponsor of our legislation, and other people, including Ben Gilman, who has been a real leader in this effort for so many years; Mr. Roemer who has also had a bill pending before the Committee. He and his staff have been very, very helpful in drafting this; and I especially want to thank Peter Smith and Nisha DeSai for their work on this legislation. They have been very, very effective in working through all of the details so that we now have a compromise text that is very tangible and that moves the ball forward so that by the year 2004 there will be additional means of measuring how well or how poorly we are doing, and measuring especially how we define poverty, and whether or not we are reaching the people that we hope to reach.
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There have been criticisms in the past that current tools being used are inadequate. That may or may not be true, but we want to add additional layers of tools so that we can better analyze whether or not people are poor and how to best reach them.
We also increased the authorization to $175 million for next fiscal year, and $200 million for the following fiscal year, 2004. Again, this is a program or project, an initiative that has proven itself. As I said earlier, Mr. Chairman, about two million people have been directly affected by AID-assisted programs this year. Seventy percent of those are women. The average loan is between 300 and 400 dollars. It is enough to make a huge difference.
And most of the loans, and I say this with emphasis, most of the loans are paid back, unlike with our own country where there is a high loan default rate. Because of good management, and AID deserves a lot of credit for the good job it has done on this program, because of the selection of the clients who are recipients of the loans, there has been an outstanding repayment rate and a very low default rate.
So I hope that this amendment can get the support of the Full Committee and get to the Floor as quickly as possible.
Chairman HYDE. Does Mr. Payne want to be heard on this?
Mr. PAYNE. Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Let me thank you for allowing me to have a few words, and let me thank Mr. Smith for this legislation amendment in the nature of a substitute, the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act.
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I would also like to thank Mr. Roemer and Mr. Houghton for creating this compromise because it truly improve the original legislation, and the former Chairman who introduced the legislation, Gilman and Gadensen, when the legislation was originally written into law.
Microenterprise have proven to be effective tools for providing poor households with financial tools needed to generate income, create savings and develop businesses to help alleviate poverty.
Microenterprises are small, informal businesses run by the poor, usually comprise of about 10 employees. Microenterprise leading programs are diverse, and they are different i nature, but USAID's microenterprise programs are the kind of support system that the world needs for the poorest of the poor, as we have indicated that this particular legislation is targeted for.
We think that it is a great way to have self-sufficiency. It has much support from groups like World Vision, who actually will be raising matching funds to go along with the grant.
And so, as you know, we support the increase in funding for the program in the amount of 175 for fiscal year 2003, and 200 million for fiscal year 2004.
And so we certainly appreciate the spirit behind this legislation that says that people living on one dollar a day or less should have the opportunity to have access to funds to support their moneymaking activities.
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And so with that, Mr. Chairman, once again let me thank you for that and urge support for this legislation.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
Chairman HYDE. A question occurs on the amendment.
All in favor say——
Mr. BROWN. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. Mr. Brown.
Mr. BROWN. Mr. Chairman, I would like to speak in support of this amendment.
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BROWN. I would like to thank Mr. Payne and Mr. Smith and Mr. Lantos and the Chairman and Mr. Gilman for their fine work on microenterprise. It is a powerful anti-poverty tool. It has a particularly significant impact on the lives of poor children. Families that do not have access to credit or other financial services are often forced to rely upon predatory local lenders, what you and I might call loan sharks.
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And in the worst case, this literally requires families to use their children's labor as collateral. UNICEF looks to microenterprise as one key solution to the terrible problem of bonded child labor or child slavery. Families that have access to credit and to other services can support themselves financially and can provide for their children.
The bill we are considering today, the substitute, Chris Smith's substitute is especially important because of the new steps it takes to better ensure that microenterprise and resources reach the very poor, with expanded funding to make sure that half of all microenterprise resources go to programs that serve very poor clients, will better define the very poor to include people who survive on less than a dollar a day.
I commend the Committee. I support Mr. Smith's substitute.
I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. Is there any further discussion?
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman for purposes of a colloquy with Mr. Payne, I would like to be recognized.
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. I yield to my good friend, Mr. Payne.
Mr. PAYNE. Yes. I would like to thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his leadership on this legislation. I am proud to be a co-sponsor of the legislation.
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However, I notice that the amendment in the nature of a substitute does not provide for the establishment of an accelerated grown fund. Members of the Microenterprise Coalition have asked that we establish and capitalize a fund that would facilitate the growth and expansion of microenterprise.
Can the gentleman explain how we intend to address this issue?
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. I would be happy, and I thank my friend for asking that question, and for his support and co-sponsorship of our legislation.
In response to your question, we did consider the coalition's request for establishing the accelerated growth fund. However, we are still awaiting a report from USAID which was mandated in the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000, Mr. Gilman's bill. USAID is delinquent on that report, and staff did not have adequate time or information to resolve this issue in time for inclusion in the bill at this time.
It is my hope and expectation that USAID will be forthcoming with this report in the very near future. I intend to have my staff and the Committee staff work with AID and the Microenterprise Coalition to determine the best way to go forward in establishing the accelerated growth fund.
And again, I want to thank the gentleman for asking that question.
Mr. PAYNE. For that answer, thank you.
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Chairman HYDE. Are there any amendments?
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. The question occurs on the amendment in the nature of a substitute. All in favor say aye.
[Chorus of ayes.]
Chairman HYDE. All opposed, no.
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it, and the amendment is agreed to.
The question occurs on the motion to report the bill H.R. 4073 favorably as amended. All in favor say aye.
[Chorus of ayes.]
Chairman HYDE. Opposed, no.
[No response.]
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Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it. The motion to report favorably is adopted.
Without objection, the Chairman is authorized to move to go conference pursuant to House Rule XXII. Without objection, the staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes.
The next item on the agenda is H.R. 3969, the ''Freedom Promotion Act of 2002,'' for purposes of markup and move its favorable recommendation to the House without objection, the bill will be considered as read, open for amendment at any point, and the Chair yields himself 5 minutes for purposes of a statement.
[The bill, H.R. 3969, follows:]
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Chairman HYDE. As Americans, we are justly proud of our country. If any nation that has been a greater force for good in the long and tormented history of the world, I am unaware of it. We have guarded whole continents from conquest, showered aid on distant lands, sent thousands of youthful idealists to remote and often inhospitable areas to help the world's forgotten.
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Why, then, when we read or listen to descriptions of America in the foreign press do we so often seem to be entering a fantasy land of hatred? Much of the popular press overseas, often including the government-owned media, depict the United States as a force for evil, accusing this country of an endless number of malevolent plots against the world. Today, as we strike against the terrorists who masterminded the murder of thousands of Americans, our actions are widely depicted in the Muslim world as a war against Islam. Our efforts at self-defense, which should be supported by every decent person on this plant, instead spark riots that threaten governments that dare to cooperate with us.
How is it that the country that invented Hollywood and Madison Avenue have such trouble promoting a positive image of itself overseas? Over the years, the images of mindless hatred directed at us have become familiar fixtures on our television screens. All this time, we have heard calls that ''something must be done.'' Clearly, whatever has been done is not enough.
I believe that the problem is too great and too entrenched to be solved by tweaking an agency here or reshuffling a program there. We must rethink our entire approach and seek out new perspectives and approaches. We must address both our immediate needs and also lay the groundwork for long-term changes, changes that must include utilizing the full range of modern media and tapping into the private sector's vast expertise in the creation and the promotion of compelling messages and images. Our goal should not merely be to talk to the government and the leaders of the world but to engage all levels of the public in every country. We have tens of millions of real and potential allies out there that we have yet to reach.
To that end, along with my co-sponsors, Mr. Lantos and Mr. Berman, I have introduced H.R. 3969, the Freedom Promotion Act of 2002.
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This bipartisan legislation lays out an activist agenda for the Department of State's public diplomacy programs, focuses new resources on exchange programs with the Muslim world, and strengthens our international broadcasting efforts. Its provisions represent input from a wide variety of sources and expertise, including current and former officials in the State Department and other government agencies, the academic community, the private sector, in addition to two hearings this Committee has held on this subject last fall.
The bill is divided into three titles. The major provisions of Title I elevate the role and prominence of public diplomacy in the State Department's programs and decisionmaking and include a requirement that the Secretary of State prepare an annual strategic plan for the use of public diplomacy, along with an operational plan for its implementation.
Title II establishes a series of initiatives focused on the Muslim world, the goal of which is to increase those populations' direct contact with the American people for the purpose of enhancing their understanding of the United States and its values.
Title III establishes greater clarity and responsibility regarding decisionmaking in our international broadcasting operations. All sources agree that the current organizational structure produces great confusion. One senior Administration official has told me that, because that structure is so diffuse and overlapping, when they call over there, they have no idea who to ask for. Our purpose, however, is not merely to rationalize decisionmaking but to do so with the aim of promoting a process of reform throughout our broadcasting efforts. For the truth is that much of our current effort is grossly inadequate in terms of its reach and the effectiveness of its message. Keeping the status quo intact is simply not an acceptable option.
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Overall, there is broad agreement regarding what our public diplomacy goals should be. However, there are some philosophical and institutional differences among people of good will regarding the best way of achieving these. I should note that the State Department has a few outstanding concerns regarding this legislation, and we are continuing our discussions toward a mutually satisfactory resolution of these issues.
It is, of course, understandable that the Department of State and other agencies would prefer that Congress authorize broad programs and provide general appropriations which would allow these agencies a maximum flexibility regarding their programs and decisionmaking.
I take a different view of our responsibilities. Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution—which I believe remains a relevant document—empowers the Congress, and I quote,
''. . . to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.''
The language could not be more clear. We, the elected representatives, have a duty to act when the public interest is at stake. We are offering this bill because our government's efforts to date regarding public diplomacy have been far from satisfactory. In saying that, my intention is not to lay blame on any individual or any Administration. The problem is a long-standing one. But it must be corrected, not in the future, but now.
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The President has said we are in a war. We simply do not have the luxury of continuing to operate in a casual, business-as-usual manner. To those who might oppose this bill, let me ask: What other option have you or anyone else put forward? I am surprised and somewhat saddened to have to point out this is the only bill that has been put forward that addresses this vital subject.
It is my intention to offer an amendment in the nature of a substitute. This amendment addresses many of the concerns raised by Members of this Committee and by the Department of State and other agencies. I reiterate, it is a bipartisan effort that greatly strengthens the original.
Having said that, I must add, this legislation cannot do everything. It is not intended as a final word on anything. There are many issues it does not address and we will turn to those in the near future.
I am not interested in making symbolic gestures; I intend for this bill to be enacted. Our goal should be to get something done, to start a process that is long overdue, and which our country is in great need. It is for the sake of that effort I ask for the Members' support of this bill.
I also ask their forbearance in offering other amendments that, while well-intentioned, and with which I may actually agree, will only have the effect of reducing this bill's chances of becoming law and thereby hinder the preparations our country must begin now if it is to triumph in the long battles that lay ahead of us.
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And I am now pleased to yield to my indispensable co-sponsor, Mr. Lantos.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hyde follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE HENRY J. HYDE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, AND CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
As Americans, we are justly proud of our country. If any nation has been a greater force for good in the long and tormented history of this world, I am unaware of it. We have guarded whole continents from conquest, showered aid on distant lands, sent thousands of youthful idealists to remote and often inhospitable areas to help the world's forgotten.
Why, then, when we read or listen to descriptions of America in the foreign press, do we so often seem to be entering a fantasyland of hatred? Much of the popular press overseas, often including the government-owned media, daily depict the United States as a force for evil, accusing this country of an endless number of malevolent plots against the world. Today, as we strike against the terrorists who masterminded the murder of thousands of Americans, our actions are widely depicted in the Muslim world as a war against Islam. Our efforts at self-defense, which should be supported by every decent person on this planet, instead spark riots that threaten governments that dare to cooperate with us.
How is it that the country that invented Hollywood and Madison Avenue has such trouble promoting a positive image of itself overseas? Over the years, the images of mindless hatred directed at us have become familiar fixtures on our television screens. All this time, we have heard calls that ''something must be done.'' But, clearly, whatever has been done has not been enough.
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I believe that the problem is too great and too entrenched to be solved by tweaking an agency here or reshuffling a program there. We must rethink our entire approach and seek out new perspectives and approaches. We must address both our immediate needs and also lay the groundwork for long-term changes, changes that must include utilizing the full range of modern media and tapping into the private sector's vast expertise in the creation and promotion of compelling messages and images. Our goal should not merely be to talk to the governments and elites of the world but to engage all levels of the public in every country. We have tens of millions of real and potential allies out there that we have yet to reach.
To that end, along with my co-sponsors Mr. Lantos and Mr. Berman, I have introduced H.R. 3969, the Freedom Promotion Act of 2002.
This bipartisan legislation lays out an activist agenda for the Department of State's public diplomacy programs, focuses new resources on exchange programs with the Muslim world, and strengthens our international broadcasting efforts. Its provisions represent input from a wide variety of sources and expertise, including current and former officials in the State Department and other government agencies, the academic community, and the private sector, in addition to two hearings this Committee held on this subject last fall.
This bill is divided into three titles. The major provisions of Title I elevate the role and prominence of public diplomacy in the State Department's programs and decision-making and include a requirement that the Secretary of State prepare an annual strategic plan for the use of public diplomacy, along with an operational plan for its implementation. Title II establishes a series of initiatives focused on the Muslim world, the goal of which is to increase those populations' direct contact with the American people for the purpose of enhancing their understanding of the United States and its values.
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Title III establishes greater clarity and responsibility regarding decision-making in our international broadcasting operations. All sources agree that the current organizational structure produces great confusion. One senior Administration official has told me that, because that structure is so diffuse and overlapping, when they call over there, they have no idea who to ask for. Our purpose, however, is not merely to rationalize decision-making but to do so with the aim of promoting a process of reform throughout our broadcasting efforts. For the truth is that much of our current effort is grossly inadequate in terms of its reach and the effectiveness of its message. Keeping the status quo intact is simply not an acceptable option.
Overall, there is broad agreement regarding what our public diplomacy goals should be. However, there are some philosophical and institutional differences among people of good will regarding the best way of achieving these. I should note that the State Department has a few outstanding concerns regarding this legislation, and we are continuing our discussions toward a mutually satisfactory resolution of these issues.
It is, of course, understandable that the Department of State and other agencies in the executive branch would prefer that Congress authorize broad programs and provide general appropriations which would allow these agencies a maximum flexibility regarding their programs and decision-making.
I, however, take a different view of our responsibilities. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution—which I believe remains a relevant document—empowers the Congress:
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'To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.''
The language could not be more clear. We, the elected representatives of the American people, have a duty to act when the public interest is at stake. We are offering this bill because our government's efforts to date regarding public diplomacy have been far from satisfactory. In saying that, my intention is not to lay blame on any individual nor on any Administration. The problem is a long-standing one. But it must be corrected, and not at some future time, but now.
The President has said we are in a war. We simply do not have the luxury of continuing to operate in a casual, business-as-usual manner. To those who might oppose this bill, let me ask: What other option have you or anyone else put forward? I am surprised and somewhat saddened to have to have to point out that this is the only bill that has been put forward that addresses this vital subject.
It is my intention to offer an amendment in the nature of a substitute. This amendment addresses many of the concerns raised by members of this Committee and by the Department of State and other agencies. It is a bipartisan effort that greatly strengthens the original.
Having said that, I must add that this legislation cannot do everything. It is not intended as a final word on anything. There are many issues it does not address, and we will to turn to those in the near future.
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I am not interested in making symbolic gestures; I intend for this bill to be enacted. Our goal should be to get something done, to start a process that is long overdue and of which our country is in great need. It is for the sake of that effort that I ask for the Members' support of this bill. I also ask for their forbearance in offering amendments that, while well-intentioned, and with which I may actually agree, will only have the effect of reducing this bill's chances of becoming law and thereby hinder the preparations our country must begin now if it is to triumph in the long battles that lie ahead of us.
Mr. LANTOS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Let me first say that today that we all celebrate yet another milestone in Henry Hyde's extraordinary distinguished legislative career.
I applaud you for tackling this important issue, Mr. Chairman, and crafting this very serious and important piece of legislation. Due to your strong leadership, public diplomacy has become a central concern of this Committee and integral part of public debate since September 11. Your efforts to promote American interests and values through public diplomacy reflect very well upon this Committee, Mr. Chairman. I am proud to support you in pursuing this noble goal and to co-sponsor this important bill.
I also wish to commend a distinguished colleague and my good friend, Mr. Berman of California for spearheading efforts to craft the substitute amendment we are considering today.
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Since enactment of your 1994 international broadcasting reform bill, you have been a tireless advocate for broadcasting America's message abroad while ensuring the credibility and professional integrity of our broadcasters. I deeply appreciate your strong leadership on this vital matter.
Winning the information war is critical to winning the war on terrorism. To prevent future terrorist attacks against Americans, we must enhance international understanding of U.S. policies and U.S. values, and we must respond to the hateful anti-American propaganda that fuels terrorism. This can only be done through strong public diplomacy, including aggressive amplification of our message, expanded cultural and educational exchanges, and intensified international broadcasting.
Mr. Chairman, the substitute amendment we are considering today represents the very best in bipartisanship in the pursuit of U.S. national security interests. With the modifications included in this amendment, the management of U.S. international broadcasting and the political firewall essential to maintain its credibility will be strengthened. It deserves strong bipartisan support, and I ask all of my colleagues to support this legislation.
Chairman HYDE. Without objection, any Member may place his or her opening statements in the record of today's proceedings.
I have an amendment in the nature of a substitute which all the Members have before them. Without objection, the amendment in the nature of a substitute will be considered as read. I yield myself 5 minutes to explain the amendment in the nature of a substitute.
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This bipartisan amendment that reflects accommodations among the Republicans and Democrats on this Committee also responds to some of the concerns expressed by the Administration. Significant changes are made to Title III which is the reorganization of international broadcasting.
I want to be sure to express my appreciation for the extensive role Mr. Berman took in shaping this compromise which will go a long way toward achieving the goal of creating an efficient international broadcasting organization. Essentially, the amendments to title III clarify the purpose of the original bill, which was not to reduce the authority of the current Board of Broadcasting Governors, but to increase the efficiency of our broadcasting agency by putting day-to-day executive functions in the hands of a single full-time official, the Director of the U.S. International Broadcasting Agency.
I am fully supportive of this bipartisan amendment in the nature of a substitute for the original text of H.R. 3969, and I urge my colleagues to support it. I ask unanimous consent that my fuller description of the amendment in the nature of this substitute be inserted at this point in the record.
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Chairman HYDE. I now recognize Mr. Lantos.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of this amendment, and I publicly want to acknowledge our enormous debt to Congressman Berman for his extraordinary contributions in developing this legislation.
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And I would like to yield to him the balance of my time.
Mr. BERMAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Lantos, and Chairman Hyde, as well, for your fine comments. I will be very quick.
But I think the key in terms of title III is doing just what the Chairman said, trying to improve a structure to rationalize broadcasting operations because of its critical public importance by creating a new position of director accountable to the board, with responsibility for many of the day-to-day operations of the U.S. International Broadcasting Agency, which we create as an amalgam of all of our different features.
So you have this new director, at the very same time you maintain a strong bipartisan board as a firewall to shield broadcasting from inappropriate political influence. The structure here is key to preserving journalistic integrity and the credibility of our broadcasts.
As the Chairman mentioned earlier, there are still some provisions in other sections of the bill that the State Department has some concerns about, the Broadcasting Board of Governors have some concerns about, and I know the Chairman and all of us will remain open to dealing with this complicated question of the key national message that we want broadcasting to implement while at the same time maintaining the journalistic integrity and firewall that all of us thought was so important when we originally created the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
These are really a wonderful group of people who devote far more time than I think citizen board members would ever devote to this process, and I do believe and hope that this reorganization will make their jobs easier because their mission is very important.
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Thank you, Mr. Lantos, for yielding me the time.
Chairman HYDE. Are there any amendments?
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman from California.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk, and I ask unanimous consent that my amendment and the Schiff and Engel amendment be considered en bloc.
Chairman HYDE. Without objection, so ordered. Without objection, the amendment en bloc will be considered as read, and the gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes in support of his en bloc amendment.
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Mr. LANTOS. I will not take the whole amount of time, Mr. Chairman.
These are fairly straightforward amendments, and I believe they are acceptable on both sides. Our amendment clarifies that the public diplomacy programs authorized by this act should be conducted in a number of countries in Africa, including some friendly countries such as Nigeria, Senegal and Guinea that have predominantly Muslim populations.
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In several of those countries groups linked to militant Muslim organizations promote a philosophy of intolerance. Radical clerics are mobilizing public sentiment against the United States and we must counteract that.
The second amendment is an important amendment from our colleague from California, Mr. Schiff. His amendment highlights a potentially powerful tool in our public diplomacy campaign, foreign assistance.
In our generosity and in our self-interest the United States provides more foreign assistance than any other nation. Broadcasting this fact abroad will help in building support for U.S. foreign policies. Mr. Schiff's amendment directs the secretary to take advantage of this enormous untapped resource, and I commend our colleague, Mr. Schiff, for this critical amendment.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, the Engel amendment would authorize $5 million for programs to carry out rule of law, democracy and good government programs in the Middle East and in North Africa.
We are all familiar with the excellent work that is being done throughout the world in this area by United States organizations, and bringing their enormous talents to bear to promote democracy in the Middle East is a very good proposal. I urge all of my colleagues to support the en bloc amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. Mr. Gilman.
Mr. GILMAN. I want to take this opportunity, Mr. Chairman, to thank the gentleman from New York, Mr. Engel, for taking the initiative in offering an amendment for our consideration relating to the ongoing congressional concerns about incitement, anti-American and anti-Semitic propaganda.
Just a few days ago, our Middle East Subcommittee took testimony from three experts about this pervasive cancer in our midst. Mr. Engel's amendment is a step in the right direction as an attempt to promote democracy and good governance throughout the Arab world.
Accordingly, Mr. Chairman, this amendment has my strong support, and I urge our colleagues to adopt this amendment.
Chairman HYDE. Mr. Houghton.
Mr. HOUGHTON. I agree with Mr. Gilman. I agree with everything that has been said so far. I have just one comment.
I have a sense we are on the edge of a precedence here, and I wonder if this goes far enough. I mean, we are not spending a lot of money compared to the extraordinary costs to advertise our cause under these provisions, and I hope this will not be the last of such provisions.
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I really think that we ought to take, as a Committee, an entirely fresh look at this. Thank you.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you.
Mr. Bereuter.
Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I strike the last word to ask the question. Mr. Engel, since his amendment is covered as a part of the unanimous consent that he consider these three en bloc.
Mr. Engel, on lines 13 and 14, you restrict the assistance you are giving to those Muslim countries in the jurisdiction of a particular bureau of the Department of State—the Bureau of Middle Eastern Affairs.
I am wondering if you are limiting those provisions more than you might, particularly in light of the sense of the Congress resolution offered by Mr. Lantos, which includes certain Muslim nations in sub-Saharan Africa that are not a part of the Near Eastern bureau. And if so, if we can discuss and solve that problem right now.
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Mr. ENGEL. If the gentleman would yield.
Mr. BEREUTER. I would yield to the gentleman.
Mr. ENGEL. Thank you.
Certainly would be open to your suggestion. The reason that the language reads the way it does is because, while we promote democracy in other places of the world, we have found that in the Middle East, which probably needs the most promotion of democracy, we have not done that. So the language that was put in was specifically designed to deal with the problem in the Middle East.
But I would certainly be open to work with the gentleman in other areas as well.
Mr. BEREUTER. Go ahead.
Mr. ENGEL. No, no.
Mr. BEREUTER. I will recover my time then for another question.
Understanding that you may not wish to extend these limited resources to South Asia and Southeast Asia Muslim countries, how would the gentleman feel if we simply enlarged it to say Muslim states in Africa?
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Mr. ENGEL. If the gentleman would yield.
My only reluctance would be that we are not really appropriating a tremendous amount of money, and that given the limited resources, I think that it probably would be best to focus in in the Middle East.
For instance, monies to promote democracy from NEW essentially have gone to lots of different stages, Albania, which as the gentleman knows, I chaired the Albanian Issues Caucus, and have been pushing very hard for help. Albania is a predominantly Muslim country, and so there is no desire to exclude anybody. But I think with the limited amount that we are appropriating here, I would prefer to keep it within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs of the Department of State, which would involve the Middle East.
Mr. BEREUTER. I understand your response.
I would ask the Chairman and the Ranking Democrat Member if they have a view on this, and if they have a view that Mr. Engel's authorization amounts could perhaps be enlarged, I will not persist in this question. However, if it is something that the Chairman and the Ranking Member feel we could do, I could imagine these countries could certainly benefit from it, too.
If either gentlemen cares to be yielded to, I would do so.
Chairman HYDE. The gentlemen——
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Mr. BEREUTER. I yield to the Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you. I would tell the gentleman that the theme of this bill is the Islamic world, and we have to be careful about spreading its reach beyond that. I think what Mr. Houghton said earlier is certainly true—more resources must be allocated. But we would prefer keeping the reach of this bill to the Islamic world, where it is most needed.
We can certainly not consider the problem you mention as solved, and that is something that we should undertake to look at. But, I would prefer getting this off the ground first.
Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the Chairman.
I did, of course, restrict it to Muslim countries within Africa, but I yield back the balance of my time.
Chairman HYDE. Well, I thank the gentleman.
Ms. Watson.
Ms. WATSON. Yes. I have some language that I would like to submit that I think might address exactly what the author and the Chair might want to do.
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If you will look at lines 11, 12, would the language that says——
Chairman HYDE. Of the amendment by Mr. Lantos?
Ms. WATSON. The amendment by Mr. Engel.
Chairman HYDE. Oh.
Ms. WATSON. On the Engel amendment.
Chairman HYDE. All right.
Ms. WATSON. ''. . . in countries to be determined that have predominantly Muslim populations.'' That would allow you the leadway to look in other areas too if it is determined that there is another hot spot that needs to be addressed with this same authority. So if you put a period at the end of ''population,'' I think you would have some leeway to decide where you need to invest your activities at this point.
The amendment would read, ''. . . in countries to be determined that have predominantly Muslim population.'' Then you would delete down to line 14.
Chairman HYDE. How does Mr. Engel feel about that?
Mr. ENGEL. Well, I would have some questions—I would ask if Ms. Watson would yield—to be determined, first of all, by whom, and then my only concern would be—that would be one concern. And my other concern would be, the whole purpose of this was to specifically try to promote democracy in the Middle East, in countries that we have all been very acutely aware that really don't have any kind of democracy. And I think that since we spend money all over the world with democracy promotion from the NED, to me, it was glaring that no monies were appropriated specifically in the Middle East, where all the problems are occurring.
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And so, again, my only concern would be, and I think Mr. Bereuter, to his credit, raised an important point, if there are going to be limited funds, I would prefer that those funds go to the Middle East. If, at some point, we can raise the five million dollars, then I wouldn't have any objection. But, my big fear is, if we start watering down the very small amount, relatively five million dollars, we are not going to achieve the kinds of things that I was hoping to achieve with this amendment, which is to try to promote democracy in the Middle East.
Chairman HYDE. If the gentlelady would yield. This is a problem that bares further discussion. We can talk about it and make changes, if we can agree on them, in the manager's amendment. So, the gentlelady and Mr. Bereuter and Mr. Engel, we can all meet and further discuss——
Ms. WATSON. That is fine.
Chairman HYDE [continuing]. To see if we can accomplish what you want without——
Ms. WATSON. That is fine.
Chairman HYDE [continuing]. Violating the reach of the bill.
All right. A question occurs on the amendments in block. All those in favor, say aye.
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[Chorus of ayes.]
Chairman HYDE. Oppose, nay.
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to.
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman?
Chairman HYDE. Are there further——
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman?
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Flake.
Mr. FLAKE. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk—actually, two amendments that I would like to offer en bloc.
Chairman HYDE. The clerk will designate the amendments.
Mr. RADEMAKER. Amendment offered by Mr. Flake, page 45, after line three——
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Chairman HYDE. Without objection, further reading of the amendments is dispensed with. The amendments will be considered en bloc and the gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes, in support thereof.
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Mr. FLAKE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your comments about this bill, in general, about our goals and our immediate needs, and long-term goals, in terms of public diplomacy. I feel that these amendments push toward that goal.
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Since 1984, U.S. taxpayers have spent $157 million on TV Marti and $249 million on Radio Marti, for a total of $406 million. It is time that we ask, it is long past time that we ask if we are getting our monies worth. I would submit that we are not.
According to the Broadcasting Board of Governor's report from August 2001, regular listening to Radio Marti declined for the first time since 1998. According to that BBG report, in surveys in 1998, 1999, and 2000, unprompted weekly listenership to the station held steady at 9 percent of those interviewed, but had dropped to 5 percent in 2001. That is a 44 percent decline in just 1 year.
This is a trend. We have had a downward shift in—or trend in listenership to Radio Marti over the past 10 years. In 1989, it was said the former head of the Radio Marti audience surveys, Christian Jeffers, said that there was a 95 percent listenership, 71 percent. Those were probably overstated. But, still, at 5 percent, it shows we have dropped a long ways. Something is obviously wrong.
Unfortunately, when you compare Radio Marti to TV Marti, Radio Marti sounds like a big bargain. As we all know, no ordinary Cuban citizen watches TV Marti at all. TV Marti goes on the air at 3 or 3:30 a.m. every morning and signals off at 8 a.m. It operates that way, because their international broadcasting agreements enforce that. To ensure that not even Cuban insomniacs tune in, Fidel Castro jams the signal. So, nobody listens—or nobody watches TV Marti. They simply can't. It is scrambled. Whether we like it or not, it is scrambled. It can't be watched. It is an awful waste of U.S. taxpayer's money, and I am not the only one that feels this way.
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In 1991, in a report issued by the President's task force on U.S. government international broadcasting, they stated that TV Marti should be terminated. In 1994, the Chairman of the task force, John Hughes, stated that the views were the same as the 1991 report, which characterized the 1991 report as saying, it is pointless and wasteful to continue TV Marti's operations. In 1993, the commission reiterated its statements from 1991. We have series of studies that have been done over and over again, saying get rid of TV Marti. It is a huge waste of money.
I don't know how anyone can say that we are furthering the goals that we have the public diplomacy department by sending up a signal that nobody can watch in the middle of the night, and there is no prospect of that changing. So, we have to ask ourselves, should we continue this or should we put that money to better use.
Last month, I had the opportunity, along with my colleague Bill Delahunt, who is offering these amendments with me, to visit the offices of Radio and Television Marti, and it was striking to see what is going on there. We asked about the surveys, about listenership to Radio Marti. Of course, TV Marti, nobody pretends to defend. But Radio Marti, we asked how it has gone down to 5 percent and what the methodology was to use—for those surveys, because they were claiming that they are up about 95 percent again. They had no idea or didn't share with us what methodology was used.
Here, what we are asking in the first amendment is for the Broadcasting Board of Governors to require that there be some kind of outside review. And we ask that there be some kind of acknowledgment that we have to survey outside opinion.
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The problem is, from my perspective, the content. When I visited Cuba last year, I asked several Cubans, many Cubans, if they listened to Radio Marti. The response was nearly the same with all of them. They said, we used to, but we don't anymore, because it is not news anymore. It is just rhetoric. It is just anti-Castro drivel that we have heard before and there is no reason to listen to it.
That is the consensus of opinion and I would like to submit two reports for the record. The Miami Herald did a great expose and so did the Miami New Times and, Mr. Chairman, I would like to submit those articles for the record. They all say the same thing, we are going the wrong direction there and we need some outside review.
With that, Mr. Chairman, on the second amendment, what we would like to do is eliminate the funding for Television Marti and push it over to Radio Marti. Radio Marti can be very effective. It should be very effective, but it is not now. It is wasted and will continue to be wasted unless we do something there.
So, these are, I believe, friendly amendments. And I yield back the balance of my time and hope my colleague, Mr. Delahunt, will speak to these, as well.
Chairman HYDE. Without objection, the articles the gentleman refers to will be included in the record.
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RADIO MARTÍ BOSS CREATES LOTS OF STATIC
BY ELAINE DE VALLE
(EDEVALLE@HERALD.COM)
When veteran broadcaster Salvador Lew was tapped to take over the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, he pledged to revitalize Radio and TV Martí with more relevant programming for Cubans on the island.
More than seven months after his appointment, Lew has dramatically increased the amount of news broadcast, using more than 20 freelancers to write, edit, broadcast and produce a slew of new programs, including a call-in show for dissidents, a program on the Santería religion and a show hosted by former Cuban military officers.
But staffers and observers say Lew has gone beyond a mere housecleaning typical of a new administration. They claim he has hired friends and associates to well-paid posts, including several with a hard-line view, and manipulated news coverage.
''He acts like a mayor in Cuba,'' said Enrique Patterson, who has cohosted a political satire program for five years. ''Anyone who is his friend has a job.''
Four women have sued for sex discrimination, claiming a hostile work environment for women. The annual personnel budget has been nearly depleted to pay for the freelancers. A federally mandated nine-member advisory committee does not exist.
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Most recently, the station was accused of editing a sound bite to make it appear the Mexican government had opened its doors to Cubans wanting to leave the island. The broadcast was blamed for a gate-crashing incident at the Mexican Embassy in Havana by 21Cubans.
The 73-year-old Lew, a longtime figure on Cuban Miami radio famed for breaking the story in 1962 that Soviet troops had arrived in Cuba, stands by the broadcast and dismisses the manipulation claims as typical Castro rhetoric.
''I would never permit that,'' he said, adding that he would not jeopardize his credibility.
He defends the choices he has made since taking over the $25-million-a-year operation. He recognizes that the changes, which he said have improved the station's programming mix, have ruffled some feathers.
''There are some very professional journalists here . . . but we also have some people who are resistant to change,'' makes $132,000 a year. ''I'm not here to be popular.''
NUMEROUS INQUIRIES
Controversy is not new to Radio Martí, which first aired on May 20, 1985, to provide an alternate source of news and information to the state-run media in Cuba. There have been more than two dozen investigations, audits, inquiries or policy reviews at the Office of Cuba Broadcasting in the past 15 years. But 10 staffers who spoke to The Herald, all but two on the condition that their names not be published, said things are different this time.
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''Every time there is a new administration, there are problems, but this is a total revolution,'' said one employee who has worked under three directors.
Most complaints center on the hiring of the freelancers, many of them Lew's friends and former associates.
Zaida ''Sashi'' Alfaro hosts Aché, the Santería show. For more than 10 years, she and Lew cohosted La Peña Azul on La Cadena Azul, then later on La Poderosa.
Olga Connor, a columnist at El Nuevo Herald who hosts an arts program on Radio Martí, is a friend.
Nancy Pérez Crespo, a director at La Nueva Cuba Press—a website that publishes dissident Cuban journalists—has known Lew for 15 years.
'LOT OF HIS PEOPLE'
Crespo, who also has a weekly program on Radio Mambí, hosts a half-hour call-in show for dissidents on Radio Martí.
''He has brought in a lot of his people under contract to do the work of the employees,'' said one of the employees who claims to have been demoted for complaining.
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Patterson said his salary was cut by $15 from $100 a show to $85, while some of the new freelancers are making more than four times as much.
''I don't care about $15,'' said Patterson, a Spanish teacher at Miami Northwestern High School. ''I don't make my living off this. But it's the principle.''
He and others said most of the new programs were rejected by the in-house advisory committee because they duplicated existing shows or were inappropriate for the station.
''Then he abolished the evaluation committee and did what he wanted anyway,'' Patterson said. ''This is a government office, not a private company.''
DIRECTOR WAS MOVED
Lew said the advisory committee fell apart after he transferred the program director, who chaired the committee, to another department. The director, Martha Yedra, would not comment because she is one of the four women suing for sexual discrimination.
Lew also admits having a personal relationship with many of the new hires but said there are others he still has not met.
All of them, he insists, were tapped for their professional experience.
''It's only logical that I know some of them. It's logical that one contracts people you know that are good,'' Lew said. ''That's something all bosses do—surround themselves with people you can trust to do the job.''
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He said the personnel budget is ''practically he had to bring in more people to increase news from one to five hours a day and to add shows that speak to previously ignored sectors of the Cuban population—the military, youths, blacks, women.
NO LOVE FOR CUBA
''There are problems here with a lot of people who do not put their hearts into this office and the situation in Cuba,'' Lew said. ''They do their job as journalists, but there is no love for homeland.''
Lew said the complaints come from employees upset about having to work weekends or disgruntled radio hosts whose programs were canceled to make room for more news.
''Our principal mission is to inform, not entertain,'' he said.
But Roberto Bermudez, who hosts a cultural show called El Gato Tuerto, said the issue is more about fairness than bruised egos. His show on Cuban literature, art and films was cut back from five to three times a week.
''They said they had to cut everyone's programs to save money,'' he said.
Eliminating two of his three freelancers, who made $50 a show, saved $100 a week.
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Then Radio Martí hired Connor of El Nuevo Herald to host a similar program twice a week—at $440 a show.
''So they cut $100 from me to give $880 to someone else to do the very same thing. That is an injustice,'' Bermudez said.
Connor said her program replaced canned music aired on the weekends.
''I was asked to do this program because of my wide experience,'' she said, ''and also because I am in contact not only with the Cuban culture outside the island but also in the island.''
HARD-LINER EXILES
Another issue causing controversy is that many of the new freelancers come from the ranks of the hard-line Cuban exile community.
Lew has hired Santiago Aranegui, a longtime commentator on Radio Mambí, considered the voice of the diehard conservative Cuban community.
In addition, Radio Martí also broadcasts the Tomen Nota editorial by Armando Perez Roura, news director of WAQI–AM (710), every Monday.
Perez Roura is the dean of conservative Cuban radio. And Lew said La Peña Mambisa, another Mambí show, is also rebroadcast to Cuba.
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The concern is magnified because other hard-liners are also becoming regulars.
Luis Zuñiga and Horacio García Sr., two former Cuban American National Foundation members who are now directors of the breakaway Cuban Liberty Council, host a weekly show titled The Voice of Truth.
Said Lew: ''They cannot talk about any organization that they belong to or had belonged to. They only talk about human rights in general, and Luis Zuñiga knows a lot about human rights because he has been to the commission in Geneva for years and years.''
Last week, Fernando Rojas—another former CANF member now on the Cuban Liberty Council board—was hired as an advisor and assistant to Lew.
''I have given him some projects to develop,'' Lew said.
BOARD POSSIBILITIES
Lew said another CANF defector, Feliciano Foyo, may get tapped by President Bush for a new advisory board. The other name mentioned from Miami's Cuban community is Amancio Suarez, former owner of Radio Mambí.
''This operation has been taken over by the ultra-right, hard-line exile community,'' said one woman who has worked at Radio Martí for more than 10 years. ''We can't broadcast any news that presents a good image of Cuba or that hints at anything good that can happen there.''
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Some in Washington, where the proposed $26 million budget for next fiscal year will soon be discussed, are concerned.
''More news is good, until you ask what kind of news it is,'' said U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, who visited the Office of Cuba Broadcasting last week with Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass. Both men were in South Florida for an anti-embargo conference at the Biltmore Hotel. ''Is it objective? Is it balanced?''
SUPPORTS CONCEPT
Flake, one of 34 lawmakers who recently formed a task force to chip away at the U.S. embargo and travel restrictions, said he supports the concept of Radio Martí. But he and Delahunt are suspicious of changes that would give the hard-line exile community more airtime.
''If Radio Martí is working well, I just want to improve it,'' Flake said.
''Unfortunately, what we've been hearing from the people I talked to in Cuba is that it's not about news anymore. It's all Fidel-bashing, and they're not interested in that,'' he said.
Lew said Radio and TV Martí will always have enemies in Congress but the operation also has its staunch supporters.
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They say internal flaps are expected when a new administration takes over.
''There have always been attacks,'' said U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart, a champion of Radio and TV Martí funding who pushed for the appointment of Lew in July. ''Those who like to see a policy of appeasement with the Cuban dictator are constantly attacking Radio Martí.''
Díaz-Balart said Lew should be commended for the changes he has made.
''Everything I've seen points to a dramatic improvement under his stewardship.''
NEWS WELCOMED
Ambassador Vicki Huddleston, principal officer at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, said human rights activists, opposition leaders and dissident journalists on the island—who call Radio Martí ''our station''—are pleased with the increase in international news.
What they want is more news from inside Cuba, such as Cuba's $35 million grain purchase from U.S. suppliers last year.
''Recently, they have asked for more information on the food sales because they don't see the food benefiting people in need in Cuba,'' Huddleston said.
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EXILE NOSTALGIA
But dissidents are also ''quite adamant,'' she said, that Radio Martí not become a station run by the exile community.
''They really don't like programs that reflect prerevolutionary events. They say that this is just nostalgia,'' Huddleston said. ''It must be different in tone and substance from Radio Mambí and La Poderosa.''
Cubans contacted by The Herald agree. A woman on a visit to Miami last week from Santa Clara said her family listens often in the early morning and late evening because the government's interference is heavier in the middle of the day.
''It is not just a source of news, it is the only source of news. The state-run media tell you nothing,'' she said, citing the December slaying of a family of five, including a couple from Hialeah Gardens.
Lew says he knows people are counting his days, but he isn't moving until he is told by Bush himself.
''The president named me, and the president, if he thinks I'm not doing the job, can name someone else,'' he said. ''There have been people who have tried to get me thrown out. But here I am.''
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INCESSANT STATIC: EVERY YEAR MILLIONS OF YOUR DOLLARS ARE PUMPED INTO RADIO AND TV MARTÍ. WHAT DO YOU GET IN RETURN?
BY KATHY GLASGOW
Published by Miami New Times Mar 28, 2002
2002 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
Even in Miami, where Cuba conspiracy theories grow tall and thick like sugar cane at harvest time, some of Salvador Lew's Miami listeners were surprised when he warned of Fidel Castro's latest subversive campaign. Lew, director of the United States government's Radio and TV Martí, appeared on Radio Mambí (WAQI–AM 710) last month to talk about the changes he's making at the taxpayer-funded stations, which are broadcast to Cuba. Radio Martí, Lew told listeners of the evening talk show Mesa Redonda, is now so popular on the island (TV Martí has virtually no viewers) that el comandante en jefe must attempt to discredit the operation.
''It was immediately evident,'' affirmed the 73-year-old Lew, a former friend and schoolmate of Castro, ''that the order had come from the Cuban government to attack Radio Martí, and me as well.'' Pausing for a verbal nod of the head, he added, ''I've been told that Fidel's brother [Raul] is also involved in the campaign against us.'' That wasn't unbelievable, since the Cuban government had indeed blasted some recent Martí news coverage and in a few weeks would be harshly accusing Radio Martí of causing an international incident when a group of young Cubans, evidently encouraged by provocatively edited comments made on Radio Martí, gate-crashed the Mexican embassy in Havana.
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But when Lew attacked critics within his own Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), which runs the Martí stations, the brief remarks instantly provoked rumblings from Miami to Washington to New York. ''Here too they started to criticize me,'' Lew acknowledged, referring to Martí employees here in Miami.
''That doesn't worry me, because when you have a clear conscience you're not worried about criticism or fabrications or anything. But it's very clear to me that [the critics] receive their orders from Havana. What they are doing is called moral assassination. That's how it works. It's the same method used by the castristas there and here.''
Lew didn't name names, but he didn't have to. Those remarks were discussed heatedly throughout the small world of federal broadcasting, with most observers dismissing the accusations as attempts to deflect attention from mounting discontent at Radio and TV Martí.
But in Miami, comments like Lew's are normally taken as threats. One of the targeted employees half-joked: ''I mean, what are your chances of having a coffee at Versailles now?'' The landmark Cuban restaurant and gathering place on Calle Ocho is perhaps less a den of intrigue these days than it was during the bombings and shootings within the exile community of the Sixties and Seventies. Still, to be branded a Castro agent in this town can be devastating. Never mind if there's no proof.
Lew, appointed to his $132,000-per-year job by President George W. Bush this past July, was supposed to be the savior of what had become essentially a rogue operation. Independent investigations in the past had questioned the professionalism and balance of Radio Martí's news and programming, and the government's own audience surveys showed listenership plummeting in Cuba.
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The white-haired, genial Lew is a respected political moderate, a 41-year veteran of Miami's AM radio business, and a living historical treasure. His nomination to the highly political post—after the forced resignation of a Bill Clinton appointee—was happily received among South Florida's Cuban exiles as well as by Gov. Jeb Bush, the man who will need continued close relations with that community in his upcoming re-election campaign.
After Lew assumed control of the stations, it took him only about a month to begin drawing fire on several fronts. His makeover goals were laudable, and in some aspects Radio Martí has undeniably improved. But even a number of the people who backed Lew most heartily now admit to being distressed by the administrative and financial turmoil over which he is presiding. And the Martí stations still largely look and sound more like a Little Havana meeting of Los Municipios de Cuba en Exilio than a credible U.S. government information source. Among the critiques:
Lew has already used up the OCB's $25 million fiscal-year budget, even raiding specially dedicated funds, to pay an unprecedented number of freelancers—without firing the virtually untouchable permanent employees. Many of these independent contractors are longtime personal friends of Lew, and some have been turned down in the past for employment at the Martí stations.
He has increased the presence on Radio Martí of el exilio's most prominent, sometimes inflammatory, hard-line anti-Castro spokesmen and politically powerful commentators. For example, Radio Mambí's general manager Armando Perez-Roura, a mesmerizing orator and arguably the king of exile radio, is heard in Cuba every day thanks to Mambí's 50,000-watt AM signal. But in addition to that, he is heard for four hours and five minutes every week on Radio Martí. Also included on the government's program list: Rafael Diaz-Balart, the father of outspoken Cuban-American Republican Congressman Lincoln.
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Soon after Lew became director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, he disbanded the long-standing editorial-review committee. As a result, none of the new freelance programs has had to pass any independent scrutiny.
Two audience surveys released this past January show overwhelming acceptance in Havana of the ''new'' Radio Martí. So overwhelming, in fact, many skeptics have trouble believing them. The listenership figures in both surveys are in the 60-percent to 90 percent range, the station's highest in 15 years. They come after an official U.S. study in August 2001 concluded the Radio Martí audience throughout Cuba was at an all-time low of five percent.
Lew inherited a political snake pit, but some of his administrative moves have made the environment even more venomous. Already four women have filed sexual-discrimination complaints against him with the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the OCB's oversight agency. Two of the women were demoted from positions of authority and replaced by men whom they allege are less qualified. All the women state in affidavits that they have been subjected to demeaning remarks and inferior job assignments. In addition, other OCB workers have contacted federal authorities alleging civil-rights violations, apparently prompting two recent visits to the OCB from investigators in Washington.
Cuban author Norberto Fuentes, who was among the Havana elite before defecting to the U.S. in 1994, is one of numerous observers who believe hope for the Martí stations is lost as long as Washington puts the Office of Cuba Broadcasting at the disposal of South Florida exiles. ''Radio Martí has become for . . . [U.S. presidential] administrations the carrot attached to the stick with which they can entice the Cubans in Miami, the objective being above all to obtain those important votes in South Florida,'' Fuentes opines on his Website (www.norbertofuentes.com). ''[Radio Martí is no longer] an instrument of U.S. foreign policy, which was the objective of its creation.''
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U.S. foreign policy, including its Cuba policies, lately has been subject to rethinking. Now facing a $46 billion federal budget deficit and the prospect of reordering its economic priorities, Congress will soon decide where the Martí stations will stand in the newer world order. The White House has repeatedly expressed its determination to maintain a hard line toward Castro and to find ways to overcome the jamming of Radio and TV Martí, thus allowing the U.S. to more effectively reach the Cuban people. But the Clinton administration vowed the same thing. The technical and political obstacles to reforming the Martí stations have always proved greater than the will to change.
The proposed 2003–2004 budget now before Congress provides almost $26 million for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, with $15.8 million of that going to Radio Martí and $10.2 million to TV. This is more than the $25 million the OCB received in 2002–2003. The Martí stations are fortunate because many other federal programs stand to be cut back drastically; however, if the administration is serious about making real improvement in its broadcasts to Cuba, that will take more money. And it will take even more technical expertise and political will to make TV Martí the tool of democratic change its supporters insist it can be. The television station has been seen by virtually no one since it first went on the air in 1990 (Radio Martí started five years earlier). The Castro government has always maintained that the broadcasts, transmitted in predawn hours from a blimp over Cudjoe Key, violate international treaties forbidding the use of other nations' airspace. The UHF signal is easily jammed. Thus nearly every year there is a move in Congress to eliminate funding for the station. And nearly every year attempts to mess with TV Martí are squashed by the tiny but influential Cuban-American delegation. Now, however, a growing number of Republicans are pushing for normalization of relations with Cuba, and combined with the present economic uncertainties, the pressure to eliminate TV Martí may be stronger than ever. But it's the 24-hour Radio Martí (broadcast on short-wave and at 1180 AM) that Cubans can more readily receive, and it's Radio Martí that everyone is fighting over.
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Soon after Lew moved into the director's office in the OCB's complex northwest of Miami International Airport, he freed up much more airtime on Radio Martí for news. He scheduled a total of five hours of news in one- or two-hour blocks scattered throughout every weekday, with bulletins at the half-hour. Previously the time allotted for newscasts had totaled less than two hours per weekday.
Lew wanted quality as well as quantity. For several years the professionalism of Radio Martí's news and other programming had been lambasted by independent and government analysts. The content of the current Martí broadcasts is somewhat limited in scope and perspective—much of it has been pulled off newswires and Internet services, including the independent news associations proliferating throughout Cuba, not all of which are verifiably factual. A generally positive aspect of the news programming is the participation of many independent journalists on the island, as well as Cuban activists newly arrived in Miami.
The coverage of news within the United States is limited to issues and events directly relating to the island, especially reactions of exile groups to whatever bad news is coming out of Cuba at the moment. As with all of
Miami's AM exile radio stations, good news about Cuba does not exist on Radio Martí. Other news without a specific Cuban connection but that would be of interest to many people—the sex scandals in the Catholic church, for example—receive little attention. But now there are also regular dispatches from Washington, New York, and the United Nations, and a few foreign posts in Europe and Latin America.
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The expanded news broadcasts were applauded by almost everyone except the newsroom employees who were reassigned to make way for squads of new contract, or freelance, workers. In his quest to improve Radio Martí and to a lesser extent TV Martí, Lew has hired an unprecedented number of freelancers: at least 40, approximately the same number as permanent employees, swelling the freelance ranks to about 125. (OCB employs a total of approximately 200 people.) The ostensibly temporary workers have strained Radio Martí's facilities and finances to the limit. ''We've had some bad [OCB directors],'' remarks a senior employee who doesn't want to be identified, ''but this takes the cake. They remove people from their positions to replace them with friends on contract. The waste and abuse was rampant in the past; now it's immoral. I had to go through a series of investigations to get my ID, whereas these people get them in a few days, and they're using the government's facilities, they get the computer passwords—they've even taken all the parking.''
According to some veteran contract workers, the new arrivals have also taken much of the money. For instance Enrique Patterson, one of the few black people appearing on any Martí program, had his half-hour program fee cut from $100 to $85. ''I'd do my show for free because I am so committed to the situation in Cuba,'' declares Patterson, a Miami-Dade schoolteacher and occasional El Nuevo Herald columnist. ''But I can't understand why they pay some new guy $200 a program and another girl $400 a program. I consider it offensive. They might be professionals, but at the same time they're newcomers and I have been on the air more than five years. Why is this? Do you have to be white and a friend of the director?''
Lew angrily denies that race or friendship determine pay. But how does Patterson's $85 compare to the $220 per half-hour paid to Olga Connor, a writer for El Nuevo Herald who recently launched a twice-weekly hourlong arts show? Or $275 per hour for psychic and poet Sassy Alfaro, a friend of Lew, who now hosts a twice-daily weekend program about Santería? In addition Rolando Espinosa, longtime business partner of convicted felon Demetrio Perez, Jr., and former school board member, makes $125 per half-hour show about prerevolutionary Cuban history.
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There's one form of discrimination no one can accuse Lew of practicing ageism. He's put senior citizens, most of whom happen to be his close associates, in top positions throughout the OCB. Lazaro Asencio, 75 years old and Lew's friend from their childhood in Las Villas province, was recently named news director, a position that pays $80,000 per year. In Cuba Asencio was a commander in Castro's rebel army who later fought against the communist regime.
Asencio's right-hand man is his friend Agustin Alles, who was Radio Martí's news director from 1991 until 1995, when he was transferred to the assignment desk following repeated allegations of incompetence, bias, and retaliation. The 75-year-old Alles, like Asencio, was in the thick of revolutionary activity in Cuba during the Fifties. Asencio, Alles, and Lew—all veterans of Miami's anti-Castro radio industry—now make the news decisions at Radio Martí. Despite decades in the U.S., neither Alles nor Asencio is fluent in English, a liability when supervising news coverage in the U.S. and Europe. Lew insists it's more important for him to work with people he's comfortable around. He has always remained loyal to his friends, he says—at least everyone but Fidel Castro. Lew has maintained ties with a fascinating collection of former Cuban ministers and revolutionary heroes, artists, and intellectuals. He's close to Fidel's younger sister Juanita, a Miami resident, and other Castro family members.
In Havana Lew was an attorney at a firm that once represented American Mafioso Santo Trafficante. He went into exile in 1960. Less than two years later, working as a show host at WQBA–AM (1140), he was informed that Russian ships bearing missiles were docking in Cuba. Lew broke the news weeks before the Kennedy administration acknowledge the Russian presence 90 miles from U.S. shores—the start of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
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Lew continued at WQBA for another eleven years, eventually becoming news editor. From 1976 to 1978 he served as assistant Dade County manager, then went back to radio. He's best known for his lunchtime talk show, Peña Azul, which he broadcast live for fourteen years from a table at the now-defunct Centro Vasco restaurant on Calle Ocho. For three years, until he assumed his OCB job, he and his various invited guests lunched and philosophized amid the bustle at the Rancho Luna restaurant on SW 22nd Avenue.
During the Eighties Lew lobbied unsuccessfully to be appointed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but in 1989 President George Bush named him to the bipartisan President's Advisory Board for Cuba Broadcasting, a body created by Congress to monitor the content and technical viability of Radio and TV Martí. From this board, which had been dormant for three years, Lew stepped into the OCB directorship.
Today, more than five years after the Martí stations moved from the dignified bureaucratic halls of Washington, D.C., to the Third World hothouse of Miami, it's undeniable that the relocation did—as critics of the move warned—transform the stations into exile mouthpieces. A Washington source familiar with the Martí stations relates a comment he heard from an elderly black Cuban who immigrated to Miami a few years ago. ''We were at the funeral in Miami of Willy Portuondo, a legendary Cuban sportscaster and one of the few blacks who ever worked at Radio Martí,'' the source relates. ''I was talking to his friend, a very sophisticated guy, and he just looked at me and said, ''I stopped listening to Radio Martí [in Cuba], because if I want to hear Radio Mambí, I'll listen to the real thing, not an imitation.' He said, '[Radio Martí] has to provide credible news and it doesn't.' ''
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Indeed Mambí's influence over Radio Martí is unmistakable. For one thing, a huge proportion of Radio Martí's reporters and editors used to work at Mambí or WQBA–AM (formerly La Cubanísima). Another Mambí touch is the five-minute commentary, once per week during a regularly scheduled newscast, by Armando Perez-Roura. An hourlong edited version of one of Perez-Roura's programs on Mambí, Peña Mambisa, also runs four times every weekend on Radio Martí. Perez-Roura doesn't get paid for his Martí airtime, although Jesus Garcia, a Mambí employee who produces Peña Mambisa and transports the edited tapes from Mambí to Martí, bills the government $175 per week for that service.
This arrangement isn't new; Lew's predecessor at the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Herminio San Roman, originally asked Perez-Roura to appear on Radio Martí. Lew, however, has more than doubled Perez-Roura's airtime. Perez-Roura himself takes a modest measure of his influence and sees nothing wrong with Radio Martí airing his programs. ''A good station presents a cocktail of programs,'' he offers. ''It informs, analyzes, orients, entertains.'' Lew explains Perez-Roura's presence on Radio Martí this way: ''It's inconceivable that the most popular commentator in Miami is not Heard in Cuba.'' (This despite the fact that Radio Mambí carries his voice to Cuba every day.)
Perez-Roura is hardly the only Mambí voice heard on Radio Martí. Lew's friend Santiago Aranegui hosts programs on both stations, and Rafael Diaz-Balart is a regular guest and commentator on both. Diaz-Balart, who recently proclaimed on Radio Mambí that the Castro government is ''worse than the Taliban'' in its treatment of women, is Fidel Castro's former brother-in-law, a former minister in the Batista government, and father of politicians Lincoln and Mario and TV personality José.
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When the elder Diaz-Balart and historian Enrique Ros, father of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, were first contracted to appear on Radio Martí in 1997, protests erupted over the wisdom of giving taxpayer-sponsored airtime to the fathers of Florida's two Cuban-American members of Congress, who also happened to be the most vocal champions of the Martí stations in the House. Ros subsequently ceased his Radio Martí appearances.
Lew's friend Nancy Perez-Crespo, a regular contributor to Radio Mambí's Mesa Revuelta program, is under contract to host a show five evenings per week on Radio Martí, for which she is paid more than $45,000 annually. One of Perez-Crespo's frequent guests is Ninoska Perez Castellon of WQBA–AM (1140), former spokeswoman for the Cuban American National Foundation before leading an exodus of influential members last summer. Perez Castellon is already famous both here and in Cuba for her crank calls to the island that fluster and embarrass top communist party officials.
Recently on Radio Martí, Perez-Crespo interviewed two men who ''investigate the activities of Cubans in the United States who work for the Castro regime.'' The Cubans working for Castro turned out to be those who advocated normalization of relations with Cuba and who helped bring Cuban musicians (such as Los Van Van) to perform in the United States. The entire half-hour was dedicated to trashing, by name, prominent organizations and individuals, including Democratic Party activist and Bay of Pigs veteran Alfredo Duran and University of Miami scholar Max Castro, a regular contributor to the Miami Herald. ''They call themselves Cubans, they talk about intolerance here, when they're intolerant,'' Perez-Crespo protested. ''Maybe they've been sent directly from the [Castro] regime.'' Max Castro, she added, was ''Fidel Castro's columnist in the Miami Herald.''
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Daily listening to Radio Martí (accessible via the Internet; see sidebar) leaves the distinct impression that many of these Miami Cubans reaching out to those on the island are talking to the Cuba of the Forties and Fifties, or to a land they have reconstructed secondhand from contacts with dissidents and newly arrived immigrants. The majority of those now calling the shots at the Martí stations (as at all the other exile stations) are white, middle-class men who departed Cuba soon after the revolution.
When he took office, Lew said that Radio Martí programs would emphasize that most Cubans were better off economically under dictator Fulgencio Batista than they are under Castro. And sure enough, in show after show, a plentiful supply of dissidents on the island and activists in exile recount, discuss, and protest the terrible conditions on the island. But the very monotony of this complaining tends to dull the impact of hearing about Cuba's pressing economic and human-rights depredations. ''[Martí management] is clueless as to what Cubans really want to hear,'' scoffs one longtime OCB employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''[Cubans on the island] know how bad they're doing. They don't need to hear about it all the time, and they don't care how great the economy was under Batista. [The Martí stations] always had a quality newscast in Washington, where they would cover world events. Now we're covering somebody's friend's stuff in Miami.''
Lew counters that he's gradually making the station more relevant to contemporary Cubans. He touts Sassy Alfaro's Santería show as an outreach to ''Afro-Cubans,'' and he's proud of an upcoming program about the Cuban military, to be produced in Washington by Radio Martí's respected first news director, Jay Mallin. The Miami-Dade Housing Authority director, Rene Rodriguez, has agreed to present (free of charge) a weekly program about the kinds of housing available to low-income immigrants.
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None of these or the other new shows have been screened or approved by anyone except Lew. When the Martí stations were in Washington, each proposed show was evaluated by a professional review board and often revised before it went on the air. By the time the OCB had settled in Miami, the review board had been reduced to a panel of politically placed employees. Then Lew did away with even that. He promises to reinstate a review committee when he can find the right people to be on it. Enrique Patterson, for one, isn't encouraged. ''My program passed for quality when I started,'' Patterson relates. ''But Dr. Lew canceled the board, and after that they make programs like Mambí: people talking and not presenting any basis [for their statements]. This is government money and you have to follow certain procedures. If they still had the [review] board, just about all the programs at present would have been rejected.''
Lew and his supporters dispute that, and have released the impressive results of two listener surveys to prove Radio Martí is regaining its old vigor. In one survey, members of a Cuban independent journalists' association (the Foundation of Associated Independent Journalists) claimed to have interviewed 1000 people on the streets of Havana. The responses indicated 92.5 percent of them listened to Radio Martí every day and 62.3 percent listen all day, every day. A much smaller sampling at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana also reported that a high percentage of the types of Cubans likely to be found at the Interests Section (professionals and dissidents) listened to Radio Martí.
These results were surprising in light of the U.S. government survey of August 2001, which reported a rock-bottom five-percent listenership. When the two highly favorable surveys were made public, the reaction in Washington and Miami was generally skeptical, with some knowledgeable observers labeling the independent journalists' appraisal fraudulent; they doubted that so many Cubans, normally reluctant to admit doing something for which they could be punished, had answered the extensive list of questions the journalists claim to have posed.
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If the surveys raise questions about the integrity of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting's external affairs, the recent raft of employee complaints does the same for its internal affairs. These complaints to federal oversight offices add to the ugly mess left by Lew's predecessor, Miami attorney Herminio San Roman. When San Roman resigned as OCB director last July, at least four lawsuits against him and his top managers were pending. The complaints alleged unfair demotion or dismissal, discrimination, even blackmail. The plaintiff in one suit who alleged discrimination based on national origin won her case a year ago and was awarded $300,000 in compensatory damages. Now the new complaints are piled on the pending cases.
The four women alleging sexual discrimination against Lew referred questions to their Miami attorney, Robert Weisberg. Two of the women, Christina Sansón and Martha Yedra, were removed from positions of authority (acting news director and program director, respectively), replaced by men, and given jobs they believe were designed to force them to resign. The other women, Michelle Sagué and Carmen Steegers, allegedly were diverted to inferior assignments and denied promotions that were given to men. All four claim they complained several times last summer to the Broadcasting Board of Governors' Office of Civil Rights but received no response until January or February 2002.
Other employees say they're consulting attorneys after contractors, some of whom allegedly had been rejected for employment in the past, took over all or part of their former duties. Several employees and freelancers say they have spoken with representatives from the U.S. state department's Office of the Inspector General or the Office of Civil Rights at the BBG. Enrique Patterson vows to ''go to court'' if he doesn't receive equal pay for equal work.
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The Martí stations' history is marked by regular investigations of bias, favoritism, journalistic incompetence, and mistreatment of employees. Several scathing reports have been issued, the most recent by the State Department's Office of the Inspector General in early 1999, which called for closer supervision of the Martí stations by federal administrators. But the political unrest—fueled by internecine conflicts among exile interests and Washington's willingness to relinquish the Martí stations to these interests—dooms the OCB to a future of endless, debilitating power struggles. Lost amid the turmoil is the mandate to speak with the voice of America, to provide credible, uncensored information to Cuba.
''Maybe the situation at Radio Martí has become so dysfunctional they could appoint Sir Lancelot to run the station and there'd be complaints,'' muses a Washington source familiar with OCB operations. ''I think the place no longer knows what its mission is. The move to Miami has given many dedicated people nowhere to go. They've lost their moorings, and there's no professional supervision that would fix this.''
Chairman HYDE. And the Chair recognizes Mr. Delahunt.
Mr. DELAHUNT. I thank the Chair for recognizing me, without seeking recognition. I continually appreciate that, Mr. Chairman.
I would just simply echo the statement by my friend from Arizona. We did visit the operations there. It is clear that the Marti operations are in disarray, total disarray, and that was pointed out by the articles that have been introduced to the record. I thought one quote from the Miami Herald was particularly noteworthy.
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I know that there have been a number of investigations involving Radio and TV Marti in the office of Cuba Broadcasting, dating back to 1987. But, it appears that at the current moment, the operation has hit its nadir, if you will. One staffer said, and again I am quoting from the Miami Herald article,
''Every time there is a new administrator, there are problems.''
But this is a total revolution.
We owe it to the American taxpayers, we owe it to the Cuban people, to take a hard look at what is occurring with the operation at Radio Marti. I would commend to all of my colleagues on the Committee to review these articles. They are particularly enlightening and I would add profoundly disturbing.
In terms of TV Marti, as the gentleman from Arizona indicated, it is time to end that particular operation, because it is a TV station without an audience. It simply doesn't penetrate. No ordinary citizen in Cuba sees any programming from TV Marti and it costs the American people, to this point in time, 157 million. Next year, it will be another 10.2 million, an increase in the budget.
I guess we could call it a joke, but it is a very bad joke. And I would point out, as Mr. Flake has indicated, that any authorizing monies that were allocated to TV Marti would be authorized to be reallocated to Radio Marti and, hopefully, the problems that are plaguing Radio Marti could be dealt with and remedied.
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At this point, I yield back.
Chairman HYDE. The Chair recognizes Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, so much, Mr. Chairman. I love it when my colleagues say that they have spoken to the Cuban people. You know, my uncle, who lives in our house in Cuba, went to jail for telling a joke about Fidel Castro. You guys really think that you go to Cuba and you meet with the Cuban people and the Cuban people tell you what they think. And you guys really think that you can do a survey in Cuba and the Cuban people tell you what they think. People go to jail in Cuba for telling you what they think.
Let me tell you what the Cuban people think, and I will read you this quote from Ernesto Diaz. He is a gentleman, who spent 23 years in prison for saying what he thinks, and what he thinks is freedom and democracy, and those are unlawful acts in Cuba. And I will read it to you in Spanish and loosely translate it.
''Radio Marti y TV Marti reflejan el espiritu de Jose Marti, el gran lider de la independencia de Cuba, al que deben su n obre las dos estaciones. Del ideal martiano es el pensamiento: Los hombres se dividen entre aquellos que aman y construyen, y aquellos que odian y destruyen.''
What he says is Radio and TV Marti reflects the spirit of Jose Marti, the grand leader of the independence movement of Cuba, whose name bears in the station. The ideal Marti philosophy can be summarized by his quote,
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''Men are divided in two camps: those, who love and construct and build, and those, who hate and destroy.''
This amendment that Mr. Flake is presenting, both amendments, are hateful amendments and destructive amendments. Mr. Chairman, last Friday, just last Friday, at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the Castro regime was condemned for its systematic violation of human rights. Its record is so egregious, so deplorable, that its own hemispheric neighbors, for the first time ever, authored, sponsored, and voted for the resolution. The Castro regime's reaction was to attack the leader of these countries, to denigrate our own President, our own Secretary of State, our Ambassadors, our State Department personnel, and underscored that it will never allow any human rights investigators into Cuba, reflecting that it rejects the requirements set forth in the resolution passed at the Commission, that calls for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to further investigate the situation in Cuba.
But, this is nothing new for the Castro regime. It has never allowed the U.S. Special Repertoire on Cuba to enter Cuba, nor has given entry to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or the OES Special Repertoire for Freedom of Expression. There is no freedom of expression in Cuba.
What do you think, the people are telling you the truth? The surveys? These are the surveys, who said that Daniel Ortega was going to be elected President in Nicaragua, when people were scared to say who they were going to vote for when he was booted out of office.
As a result of these and other unacceptable behavior, what has happened this very week? This very week, the government of Uruguay broke diplomatic relations for Cuba. While we are, in the U.S. Congress, is trying to help Fidel Castro, the government of Honduras has refused to send an Ambassador to Cuba this very week. And even the Mexico-Cuban relations are significantly strained, with The Washington Post reporting yesterday, and Mr. Burton will allude to that, that Castro's light may finally be dimming, as his isolation intensifies.
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Therefore, within this context, how can we, in the U.S. Congress, even think or suggest providing a victory to the Cuban dictatorship. At every meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, at every international fora, Cuba's tyrannical regime denounces Radio and TV Marti, as violations of Cuban sovereignty, and calls for an immediate cessation of its transmissions.
That is what Mr. Flake's amendment tries to do, immediately stop these transmissions. He may want to cover it up in any way he wants, but their efforts to prevent Radio and TV Marti transmissions are so extensive, that Cuba has recruited military experts and engineers from China's communist regime, to upgrade Cuba's equipment in jamming capabilities.
The fact is that Radio and TV Marti is one indivisible unit, which composes the Cuba broadcasting. It removes the veil of silence that the regime imposes on its people. And that is why the dictatorship will do anything in its power to halt the broadcast.
Should we work to achieve a wider audience? Certainly. However, rather than cutting funding for Radio Marti or TV Marti, what we should be doing is providing the resources to overcome the jamming of TV Marti that is taking place.
Voice of America and Radio Free Asia broadcast to China, Tibet, Vietnam, and North Korea are jammed to such an extent that barely anything gets through. However, where are the amendments to cut funds for these important endeavors? If you want to save these taxpayer dollars, let us cut those programs. Is that what you want to do?
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In fact, in the February 12, 2002 letter to Chairman Hyde and Appropriations Chairman Wolfe, the Broadcasting Board of Governors proposed a transfer of $1.2 million to defeat jamming and reach a wider audience for Radio Free Asia and Voice of America. That is what we need to do for TV Marti. Why should we assist and support the independent voices in that region, but seek to deny the Cuban people any element of Cuba broadcasting?
These amendments are disingenuous, because their goals are to provide the Castro regime with a much needed victory, at a time when it is being isolated by its own hemispheric neighbors and ostracized by the international community, as demonstrated by the U.N. vote last week.
If passed, this amendment will mean that this bill will not progress, as the leadership and the White House are committed to blocking any effort to soften U.S. policy toward the regime. The President is personally committed to make both TV and Radio Marti a success. They are critical tools in the U.S. efforts to bring democracy to Cuba.
And if we had had the opportunity to know, instead of in the dead of night, that these amendments were going to be offered, we would have been glad to bring up Cuban exiles, former political prisoners, all these people, who you surveyed, who, you know, free expression in Cuba, many of them former political prisoners, to attest to the fact that Radio Marti may be jammed in Havana, but it is reaching the interior parts of the islands. And proponents will say that they spoke to Cubans and experts and complained about programming. Come on, guys. Don't you know a dictatorship when you see one?
And when you talk about investigations and audits, since the fall of 1987, Radio and TV Marti has been subjected to 52 investigation and audits, 52, including programming evaluations. Changes have been made, but Cuban broadcasting, overall, has passed these reviews with flying colors.
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This amendment is a waste of taxpayer funds. We've done this, been there, done that. You want to do it again? Come on, it is the same old thing. Given that Radio Marti's listenership has increased, there is no reason, no justification for these amendments. The only thing this would do, to accomplish, would be to empower those, who want no Radio Marti, so that they can continue to exert absolute control over the medium of communication, that is the Castro regime.
So, please, I ask our colleagues, do not do this to the Cuban people. Do not take away their hope. Vote against these amendments, and they are very disingenuous.
Chairman HYDE. The gentlelady's time has expired.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Muchos gracias, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. Mr. Menendez.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I strongly oppose the Flake-Delahunt amendment. And I urge my colleagues—I know that many on this Committee had a different view about U.S.-Cuba policy. And while I disagree with them very strongly, I respect it. However, what they seek to do, in this regard, sets a precedent for surrogate broadcasting throughout the world, that I think is a dangerous one. And for those Members of the Committee, who care about our surrogate broadcasting in the world, understand at what level you want to create the judgment, as to whether something is efficient or not. And that is, in part, what you are going to do here today.
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As the gentlelady referred to, if we look at our surrogate broadcasting in different parts of the world, which have been with great advocacy offered by many Members of this Committee, which I have supported, you will see that we have never, ever, because of jamming, ceased to operate the efforts of our surrogate broadcasting.
We recognize that totalitarian regimes will jam, because they are afraid of just the simple information that will get to its people. But, we have never allowed that to stop us. We have never allowed a relatively small market share, by what we consider to be significant market shares, to stop the surrogate broadcasting in other parts or the world. We understand that the efforts to do surrogate broadcasting are important to the window, that we can penetrate, and important at key crucial moments, where changes in those countries may take place, and in which having that structure to operate is crucial.
So this is far more than those, who just seek to change our policy toward Cuba. You are looking at creating a threshold level, that I don't know how many surrogate broadcasting systems that we do will be able to survive. And I would be happy to look at them.
Mr. BERMAN. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. MENENDEZ. I have limited time. I would be happy on the gentleman's time to yield, as well.
Secondly, we have the capability, if we have the will, to penetrate and have a greater market share. We already have significant market share, when you think about the tens of thousands, who visit the U.S. Interest Section, where Television Marti is constantly being played. And all of those, who are waiting there, as they try to process their documents and get out of Cuba to come to the United States, see Television Marti there.
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You do not estimate the value of the Cuban military that has access to Television and Radio Marti, for which we transmit messages and have specific programming going to that military, which is crucial at the moment of change, as to how that military will react. Will they turn their guns on their brothers and sisters, or will they refrain from doing so? That is an important aspect.
You do not think about all of the hotels, where Television Marti is penetrating through, where Cubans are working and having access to it. And, clearly, if Radio Marti was so dismally effective, then why does the Castro regime spend enormous amounts of money, which it should be using to put food on the plates of Cuban families, to jam it, if it is so damn unsuccessful?
I would say to my colleagues that I know of people in my district, and I welcome you to visit people in my district, those, who are recent arrivals from Cuba, those, who have arrived in the last year, those, who have arrived in the last 5 years, who will tell you, now that they are in freedom, the attention and opportunity they had to Radio and Television Marti. I will tell you about the human rights act of its political dissidents and those, who were political prisoners, who will tell you that, in part, their recognition of what was happening on one side of the island to another, to the extent that they could not communicate with each other in Cuba, Radio and Television Marti gave them that opportunity to understand what they were doing to the island and create a sense of solidarity.
We have enormous opportunities to make all of this broadcasting more successful. You know, in southern California, there are beams to Iran done privately. Cuba has a large number of cassettes and VCRs. We could be taking Television Marti's programming and giving those VCRs to the Interest Section and to other human rights organizations. We could have broadcast to—we could have 12-inch dishes to Cuba. Many of the Cuban people, through their ingenuity, have already created similar type dishes. We could be creating CD ROMs, to be able to provide Television Marti's broadcasting to the Cuban people.
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So, my friends, since I don't want to delay the time, the question is, instead of opening up ways of information to one of the closed societies in our hemisphere and in the world, the people, who often speak about democracy and human rights all over the world and want to create more opportunities, here cease to close the opportunities that exist to the Cuban people. And after they slay Television Marti, then their next thing will be to slay Radio Marti, because since this has been created in 1990, every year, the opponents of U.S. Cuba policy have had an incessant number of investigations just to cripple that agency. No other agency has had to suffer what the Office of Cuba Broadcasting has had to suffer, simply because people disagree.
Let us open up the window of information. Let us not shut it tight.
Chairman HYDE. Mr. Burton.
Mr. BURTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. I am going to ask the membership—and everybody wants to talk on this and I can understand why. It is with maximum effort I am restraining myself. But, I would like us to move along. So, if you could be brief, I would appreciate it. I am going to observe the 5-minute rule more rigorously than I have heretofore. Mr. Burton.
Mr. BURTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for deciding to do that when I got the mic. [Laughter.]
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Chairman HYDE. Do you suspect a hidden agenda?
Mr. BURTON. I don't know, Mr. Chairman, but I hope you come before my Committee before too long.
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman's time has expired. [Laughter.]
Mr. BURTON. Mr. Chairman, one of the things I think my colleagues and I have great admiration for Mr. Delahunt and Mr. Flake, one of the things I think that they may not be aware of is that Castro's Cuba—Cuba's Castro got his marching orders originally from the Soviet Union. And when he created his communist state, he created a bloc captive system. And in almost every bloc, there is an informant, who informs on the people in that bloc, if they complain against the government in anyway.
And when you talk about surveys, I echo what my colleague from Florida said, Ms. Lehtinen said, and that is, those surveys cannot be accurate. There is absolutely no way that the people in that country are going to tell somebody, who is conducting a survey, what they think about Radio Marti, TV Marti, or anything else.
If you don't believe that, if you don't believe the pressure that is put on those people, I hope you will all read a book. There is a book by a fellow named Armando Valaderes and it is called Against All Hope. I wish everybody would read that book. I read it on a plane and I started crying when I read that, and the guy next to me thought something was wrong with me and he started asking me if he could help. But, if you read that book and you start getting a flavor of what Castro does to his people, you will start to realize the repression that they have to live under everyday and the fear they have to live with. And any way that we can, to get the message of freedom and hope into that country, we should do it. We should do it every single day that we can.
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Now, I went to the Human Rights Commission meeting in Switzerland some years ago, in Geneva, and we passed by one vote a condemnation of Cuba, regarding their human rights, and we got almost no votes out of Latin America. Let me just tell you how they voted last week: Uruguay sponsored the legislation to condemn Castro's human rights record; Peru; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Nicaragua—Nicaragua, remember they were a communist state not long ago; Guatemala; El Salvador; and even Mexico voted for it, who has never voted for it.
Now, the reason I bring that up is they are starting to see what Castro is all about. And here we are, the last bastion of freedom, the best bastion of freedom in the whole world, and we are starting to open up to Fidel Castro, while the rest of the world is starting to see him for what he really is.
I could go on and on and on, but the Chairman is going to try to cut me off here in a minute, which might be difficult to do and I don't want to get into it with him. But let me just tell you that I think it is very important that we continue to support and expand our support for TV Marti and Radio Marti.
And lastly, let me just say to my colleague, the Chairman, he wanted to limit this to the problems in the Middle East and I think that is the intent of most of the amendments. So, I think this is reaching into an area that we don't want to get into today.
And last, let me just say this, if you ask those people from the State Department out there, if Cuba is still on the terrorist list, they are. They are still supporting the ELN in Colombia and the FARC guerillas, who are providing terrorist activities to the government of Colombia, and providing to our kids on the streets, the largest amount of cocaine and heroin of any country in the world. And Castro is working with them today, as he always has, and I don't think we ought to be doing anything to let up on him.
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Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. Ms. Lee from California.
Ms. LEE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, obviously, TV Marti is not working and neither is Radio Marti, so this resolution, quite frankly, does not go far enough. TV Marti and Radio Marti really have not destabilized the Cuban government. So, we are talking about millions of taxpayer dollars going down the tube. It has really been a horrible waste for both. So, minimally, we should review and look at what is going on there, minimally just in deference to our own taxpayer money here.
Central to public diplomacy, which we all have heard this morning and which we all know is engagement and dialogue. Taxpayer money would be better spent by increasing diplomacy, cultural, and educational exchanges. We need to promote democracy by example and by dialogue and by interaction.
Of course, the greatest impediment, I believe, to our public diplomacy efforts, especially with regard to Cuba, is the embargo, which should end. Then, the Cuban people will really have a better understanding of what America stands for. But, minimally, I believe, that this resolution should at least be past, because I think it is one step in the right direction.
I yield the balance of my time.
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Mr. DELAHUNT. Would you yield to me, for a moment?
Ms. LEE. Yes, I yield to Mr. Delahunt.
Mr. DELAHUNT. I am going to have to respond. I have great respect for the gentleman from New Jersey and while we disagree on this particular issue, I think it is recognized that on most issues involving this hemisphere, we are in agreement.
But, I think that the argument that you cannot make the distinction between TV Marti and Radio Marti is one that is not based in fact. They both started at different times; one in 1990, in the case of TV Marti, and in the case of Radio Marti, in 1985.
If you read this particular amendment, it authorizes any funds that have not been appropriated for TV Marti, which is a joke—it is a joke. There is no audience. It is a TV without an audience. There is nobody, unless you go and sit down on the sofa at the Interest Section. And those folks, who are at the Interest Section, hopefully are on their way here. They are on their way here. Let us do it sensibly.
I would like to be able to sit down with the Chairman of the Government Reform Committee. I got to know him well during the course of the past year. He is a man of genuine conviction and sincere passion. But, Congressman Burton, TV Marti just doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
And on the area of human rights, there is no disagreement among us. But, I, also, would note that when that particular resolution passed, there was language in there that condemned our embargo. So, let us, as they say on Fox News, let us be balanced. Let us be respectful, in terms of our debate. Let us have a healthy discourse on that. And I bet if we all sat down, we wouldn't have to indulge in strident rhetoric and be accusatory and make statements that have absolutely no basis in fact.
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I yield to the——
Mr. MENENDEZ. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. DELAHUNT. I yield to Mr. Menendez.
Mr. MENENDEZ. I hope you are not using Fox News as an emblem of balance.
Mr. DELAHUNT. I agree with you, Mr. Menendez.
Mr. CHABOT. Would the gentleman yield? To be perfectly accurate, it is fair and balanced, not just balanced.
Mr. DELAHUNT. I yield to Mr. Chabot, fair and balanced.
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman's time has expired. Mr. Royce?
Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a couple of points. One is, in terms of the jamming of Television Marti, that is something that is being addressed as we speak. There are new technologies that the Administration is trying to implement that would prevent jamming of the television broadcast.
Second, we have, in the past, successfully developed technologies in Asia that allow us to offset jamming. I would point out that even in North Korea, where there is a very, very small audience listening, what has been the result of people monitoring those broadcast? One is the former minister of propaganda of North Korea, himself, defected.
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I have talked personally to a senior military commander from North Korea who defected, and a single civil servant that also defected. Both told me the same thing: keep those broadcasts going, because even though it is only the elites right now in North Korea that have the radios, they are monitoring it. If you are ever going to have a chance of the truth going through that society and ever have a chance should the unthinkable ever occur and they be ordered to fire on their own people, this is an opportunity for them to really learn what is going on inside the country.
Now, certainly, these broadcasts are much more effective. In the early FE80s, I had the opportunity in the East Bloc to talk to a lot of people. Nobody wants to tell you they are listening to those broadcasts. What did we find out afterwards from Valklahava, from Lec Walesa? They told us, they were listening to those broadcasts. And more than anything else, it shaped those societies. It prepared people.
Lastly, I would just make the obvious point, which Congressman Rohrabacher, I think, wants to make. When we travel overseas, when I am in Vietnam, we go to the prisons. We talk to political dissidents. They don't like it, but we ask them, how effective is the broadcast. They tell us, the broadcasts are essential.
So my question to Mr. Flake would be, did you go to the prisons and did you ask those being held there, how they feel about these broadcasts? And I would yield.
Mr. FLAKE. Thank you. I thank the gentleman for yielding. The question isn't what I found out down there. The question is what our own Office of Cuba Broadcasting found out. They went down there and interviewed people. Just in 2001, they asked 1,000 Cubans if they had watched TV Marti. Nine-hundred-ninety-seven—997 said no.
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Mr. ROYCE. Well, reclaiming my time.
Mr. FLAKE. We know that it is jammed.
Mr. ROYCE. On the television, it is jammed. Reclaiming my time. I just explained——
Mr. FLAKE. Radio, we want to double the funding for radio.
Mr. ROYCE. I just explained that the Administration is working right now on new transmission technology, so that we will not be transmitting cite to cite, which the regime can jam. Instead, we use an alternative technology, which uses a plane, which transmits in a way that it cannot be jammed. Under those circumstances, knowing that now, would you withdraw your amendment?
Mr. FLAKE. I will stipulate that and I would amend the amendment to say that as soon as that technology is available, then restore the funding; take it back from Radio Marti, where I am trying to put it. Radio Marti, some people do listen to it. It is just not as effective as it could be. We are trying to make it more effective. So to move it back, you bet, as soon as we can do it. But right now, it is a joke. Nobody watches it.
Mr. ROYCE. Reclaiming my time. Since the Administration is working on this technology and since I believe that technology will be successful, I am opposing your amendment, because I think we are not far removed from the day when that television station can be heard by the people in Cuba.
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Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. Thank you. You know, it is a shame this matter—I will put you down on the list of speakers, Mr. Paul—it is a shame this matter wasn't submitted to the Subcommittee, because this requires evidence, requires testimony from the State Department, from Radio Marti, the broadcasting board. This is an important subject and——
Mr. DELAHUNT. Would the Chairman yield?
Chairman HYDE [continuing]. To have it dealt with on an amendment with all of us citing the Miami Herald——
Mr. DELAHUNT. Would the——
Chairman HYDE. Yes.
Mr. DELAHUNT [continuing]. Chairman yield?
Chairman HYDE. Yes, I yield.
Mr. DELAHUNT. If the Chair would request the appropriate Subcommittee to conduct a thorough hearing, where evidence could be taken, where we could have people not just from the State Department, but from the exile community, from the Cuban-American community anywhere in this country, from any source that might be able to provide us information, I commend to my colleague to withdraw the motion.
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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Chairman?
Chairman HYDE. Yes, the gentlelady.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Chairman, I would be more than happy to, as Chairperson of the International Operations and Human Rights Subcommittee, to have such a hearing. And, in fact, Mr. Delahunt and Mr. Flake, you can invite those famous Cuban dissidents with whom you meet, you know, the 12 Cuban dissidents that every congressional delegation is allowed to meet with. They are the Castro-Cuban dissidents. They have the Good Housekeeping seal of approval and they can come. They get to go to Paris——
Mr. DELAHUNT. Well, I think it is my time and——
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN [continuing]. And go to Cuba. I think——
Mr. DELAHUNT. I would like to speak——
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. It is not your time.
Mr. DELAHUNT [continuing]. To the issue of the dissidents that we met with.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I have been recognized by the Chairman.
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Mr. DELAHUNT. They have earned their bona fides by serving in Castro's prisons.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. They can come to Washington. They have been to Paris more times than I have.
Chairman HYDE. This is my time and I want to censure myself for not thinking of this an hour ago. If the gentleman from Arizona will withdraw his amendment upon the pledge that your amendment will be an early business item before our Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, chaired by the gentlelady from Miami, will the gentleman agree to that?
Mr. FLAKE. Just in a minute, in a heartbeat, I would love to. I think that is an excellent suggestion. We need to hear testimony.
Chairman HYDE. Is there any objection?
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. Without objection, so ordered. Are there further amendments?
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
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Chairman HYDE. Mr. Smith is recognized for an amendment. Would you designate the amendment?
Mr. RADEMAKER. Amendment offered by Mr. Smith of New Jersey.
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be considered as read.
Chairman HYDE. Without objection, so ordered. The gentleman is recognized for 5——
[The information referred to follows:]
78949j.AAB
Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Mr. Chairman, I will just take a moment. This amendment strengthens sections 305, the authorities and functions section. I think it is a necessary amendment, to ensure that human rights are fully incorporated in the agency's work. When resources are allocated, we simply, by having this language in the statute, need to know who needs it most. Strategic goals ought to be based on human rights criteria and this works, I think, in a mutually reenforcing way, with the other provisions of the pending amendment.
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Chairman HYDE. Is there any further discussion?
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. If not, the question occurs on the amendment. All those in favor, say aye.
[Chorus of ayes.]
Chairman HYDE. Oppose, nay.
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it. The amendment is agreed to. Mr. Berman?
Mr. BERMAN. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Cantor and I have an amendment at the desk.
Chairman HYDE. The clerk will report the amendment.
Mr. WEINBERG. Amendment offered by Mr. Berman and Mr. Cantor to the amendment of a nature of a substitute to H.R. 3969——
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[The information referred to follows:]
78949k.AAB
Chairman HYDE. Without objection, further reading of the amendment is dispensed with. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes, in support of his amendment.
Mr. BERMAN. Thank you, very much, Mr. Chairman. We are talking about appropriating enormous amounts of supplemental funds and defense funds and other funds, to deal with the aftermath, the deterrence, and, hopefully, the turning around of this situation created by the terrorist attacks, both here and in other parts of the world. This amendment takes one part of this. Mr. Houghton raised earlier the question of the need to start talking about putting in real resources.
This amendment authorizes $135 million to create a 24-hour Arabic language satellite television service in the Middle East and new television services and expanded radio broadcasts to countries with large Muslim populations in Central, South, and East Asia. It is based on proposals developed by the Broadcasting Board of Governors and we think it represents a very promising and cost-effective approach to combat incitement and anti-American sentiment.
Mr. Gilman held a hearing last week with Mr. Ackerman. It was a hearing on the incitement in the Arab media. The Middle East Media Research Institute played a video with excerpts from Friday sermons that have been broadcast on official Palestinian authority television. Mr. Lantos and Mr. Ackerman sent copies of this video out. I urge you to watch it, when you have a chance, because when you see this, you understand how things could have devolved, notwithstanding the promise of Oslo, to the situation that we are in now.
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It contained some of the most vile, hateful statements you can imagine. It would have a terribly negative influence on any people and it has a terribly negative influence on the Palestinian people. Even Al-Jazeera, which at least is not government controlled, but it is a Qatar-based satellite TV station that has been very popular in the Arab world, lacks one key ingredient: objectivity. Many observers believe it has made a significant contribution to the growing anti-U.S. sentiment in the region.
It is our interest to offer the Arab public a balanced alternative to these one-sided broadcasts. We earlier made efforts to start increasing and developing an independent and sensible approach toward Middle East radio. This is to follow up with Middle East television. It is in the tradition of surrogate broadcasting. It promises objectivity. The fire wall is maintained. And I would be happy to yield or, if he wants his own time, to my co-sponsor on this amendment, Mr. Cantor.
Mr. CANTOR. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, first of all, Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you and Ranking Member Lantos for your leadership on the underlying bill and would also like to express my gratitude for the work of the gentleman from California, Mr. Berman, on this amendment, as well.
I want to just concur with Mr. Berman's statement. This amendment expands TV, radio broadcasting in the Muslim countries, and it does so at a very critical time. As we have seen after September 11, the United States needs to provide a counterbalance to the anti-American television and radio programming in the predominantly Muslim countries. And this amendment would do that. It would establish a pro-American voice in a region where anti-American sentiment is higher than it has probably ever been.
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Once again, I thank my colleague from California for his leadership and I yield back.
Chairman HYDE. Is there any further discussion?
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman?
Chairman HYDE. Mr. Lantos.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, just a sentence to express my very strong support for Mr. Berman's and Mr. Cantor's amendment. I think it is extremely appropriate and should be very effective.
Chairman HYDE. The gentleman from New York, Mr. Gilman.
Mr. GILMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I rise to strongly support the Berman-Cantor amendment. At our hearing last week, we made it clear that poisonous anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism permeate official and unofficial Arab media. That sort of propaganda will make it all but impossible to achieve a just piece in the Middle East region. We must do all we can to combat it and the Berman-Cantor initiative, as well as other initiatives in this bill, are important steps in that direction.
I only want to add one note. It is impossible for our nation, even with all of this new activity, to drown out the voices of hate in the Arab world. They have been pervasive. It is a duty of responsible Arab leaders, not only to stop whipping up and inciting this sort of hate, but also to find it in their hearts to take the lead against it. Making this point must be the job of our diplomats and our political leaders.
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And I hope that President Bush will make this point explicitly in his ongoing meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. Saudi Arabia regrettably is a source of much of this sort of incitement, incitement to murder, and the Saudi leadership must step up to its responsibilities.
And I yield back the balance of my time and I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Chairman HYDE. Thank the gentleman. Is there any further discussion?
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. If not, the question occurs on the Berman-Cantor amendment. All those—I am sorry. There were——
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Let me note, Mr. Chairman, I have raised my hand several times today and have been ignored by whoever on your staff is informing you about who is requesting time, and I resent that.
Chairman HYDE. I'm sorry. I take full blame for that. I have not deliberately ignored you at all.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Well, certainly, the Chairman is not; but, certainly, the staff has been aware of my desire to speak on several issues and I resent that.
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Chairman HYDE. They have told me a couple of times and I have written your name down. They keep stealing my list. So, we will recognize you, to strike the last words, right now.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you, very much, Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of this amendment, but I think that we need to note that, number one, the purpose of the amendment is to offset hateful rhetoric that is going on in Arab countries and throughout the region against the United States and against the Israeli people. That is a worthwhile cause, to try to bring information to them that will be balanced and create a more peaceful environment in that region. I support it. I support the expenditures of those funds.
But let me, also, note that when we are talking about the level of rhetoric in that part of the world, there is just as much—I won't say just as much, there is a great deal of hateful rhetoric coming out of Israel. And, yes, they have a free press there, free to broadcast what they want. There are many people with voices of hatred in Israel, who have their opinions printed and broadcast throughout that country.
And let us not forget that we have to be a voice of moderation to both sides, try to appeal to the better hearts in the Arab world and the better hearts in Israel, who want peace, rather than just always focusing on the fact that there are people, who are overwhelmed with negative feelings and with feelings of vengeance for the killings that have been taken place for these last few decades.
Yes, we need to have America's voice there, to the Arab world, trying to present a more moderate picture and a more balanced picture. But, let us, also, recognize that in Israel, there are voices of hatred, as well, and go on record in saying those voices need to be confronted. We need to talk to the Israeli people, as well, and say that those voices, who are saying racist things about Arabs, also need to be confronted.
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I would be happy to yield to my friend, Mr. Berman.
Mr. BERMAN. I thank you. I will be very quick. On the question of vile comments and horrible statements coming from people under Israeli jurisdiction, I couldn't agree with you more. There are statements that talk about Arabs in the most demeaning and atrocious terms, that offer views that I find contemptible. But the difference is that the voices of peace and reconciliation and moving the process forward and debate and all views are aired there, there is no contrary view in many of these other areas.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. And that is why I am supporting your amendment.
Mr. BERMAN. And that is why—I am happy to have your support.
Mr. ROHRABACHER. All right.
Chairman HYDE. Is there further discussion? The gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Smith.
Mr. SMITH OF MICHIGAN. Mr. Chairman, just I guess partially a question, a little bit of a concern, that sometimes we, if you will, cavalierly throw more money at the problem, hoping that is going to solve it. Hopefully, this bill will accommodate more effective use.
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But what this amendment does, as I understand it, is almost doubled the current authorization, from 155 million, to an additional 135 million, a substantial increase in funding. And how we phase into increasing that funding and the effectiveness of that additional money would be part of my concern in simply doubling the money and saying that we are not—we are going to do a better job by simply spending more money on broadcasting.
I would love a response.
Mr. LANTOS. I would be happy to respond, if the gentleman yields.
Mr. SMITH OF MICHIGAN. Certainly.
Mr. LANTOS. The President is requesting, in this very difficult and dangerous period for our country, tens of billions of dollars in additional military expenditures. They may be necessary. This amounts to 50 cents per capita, in winning the battle of ideas. It is an extremely modest request and it is an extremely appropriate placement of our priorities.
We cannot win the war against terrorism globally purely by increasing the military budget, which I support. We also have to see to it that our ideas and values get through, and this is a singularly important step in that direction.
Mr. SMITH OF MICHIGAN. If I may reclaim my time. We are suggesting today, in this discussion, that the $155 million, that is currently authorized, is not being used very effectively, and——
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Mr. LANTOS. We are not suggesting——
Mr. SMITH OF MICHIGAN [continuing]. That is part of my concern. The bill tries to implement a system, where we are more efficient and effective, in terms of communicating some of our concerns.
Mr. BERMAN. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. SMITH OF MICHIGAN. No, I will yield back my time.
Chairman HYDE. A question occurs on the Berman-Cantor amendment or, as some would have it, the Cantor-Berman amendment, all those in favor, say aye.
[Chorus of ayes.]
Chairman HYDE. Oppose, nay.
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it and the amendment is agreed to. The gentleman from New York, Mr. Crowley.
Mr. CROWLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at the desk.
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Chairman HYDE. The clerk will report the amendment.
Mr. WEINBERG. The amendment offered by Mr. Crowley, to the amendment in the nature of a substitute——
[The information referred to follows:]
78949l.AAB
Chairman HYDE. Without objection, further reading of the amendment is dispensed with. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes, in support of his amendment.
Mr. CROWLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, let me thank you for bringing this bill before us. I think every Member of this Committee is well aware of the problem that exists, not only in the Middle East and South Asia, but throughout the Islamic world and the world in general, I think, in terms of the approach that journalists take towards—their attitudes toward the United States.
I laud your attempt, in this bill, to bring young journalists to the United States, to foster not only a better attitude toward the United States, but to foster better practices in journalism, in general, wherever that may lead. And I think the examples that they can learn from this country are very, very good ones, indeed.
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But, I just want to make it clear, that I don't believe that the Middle East or South Asia is the only phenomenon that we should be concerned about. For example, in South Asia, the attack on the Indian parliament was reported quite differently by the Indian press, than it was by the Pakistani press. In India, it was made plainly clear that the attack was perpetuated by Pakistani terrorists, in conjunction with the Pakistani intelligence service. In Islamabad, the papers read that the incident was a product of an Indian plot to discredit President Musharraf in the eyes of America. This sort of blatant bias in the press on both sides is a significant factor in the subsequent military escalation that took place and drastically altered public opinion in both nations, making their opinions more solid behind each government.
I believe that it is the responsibility of the media to report facts and not simply to spin the political agenda of the day. Unfortunately, the current practices of the media of the world do not follow those types of rules.
I am asking, in this amendment, that we broaden the language beyond the Muslim or Islamic countries that you have pointed out in this legislation, to go beyond that to other regions of conflict in the world. The current bill provisions only, again, provide for programs for predominantly Muslim nations. I, for one, would suggest that when we have programs here that would encourage the Saudis, Egyptians, and Jordanians, as well as Palestinians, that we should also have Israelis in that program, or we should have with Pakistani journalists, Indian journalists. When we have Azerbaijani journalists, we should have Armenian journalists. That is where the conflicts are on both sides; not only their attitude toward the United States, but, again, toward each other.
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And if we are going to do this, we need to do it, I think, correctly. In this global war on terrorism, we find ourselves in Afghanistan today, but we don't know where we will be tomorrow. And President Bush, himself, has said that we will go after terrorist cells wherever they may exist. He has also said this is not a war on Islam or Muslim nations.
I believe that by passing this, it will broaden the scope of what I think you are trying to attempt and I think it is laudable what you are trying to attempt, but I think we need to do more. And I would yield back and ask——
Chairman HYDE. Would the gentleman yield?
Mr. CROWLEY. Certainly, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman HYDE. I want to commend the gentleman for a very useful concept. But, I want to plead with him to agree to rework, redraft his initiative for the time being, to a sense of Congress. It broadens the reach of this bill to the point where it may invite a veto, because you are looking at a global situation. The money that might be required, the personnel, the languages, we just don't know what we are getting into.
The idea is a good idea and ought not to be discarded. But, this bill is concentrating, I concede, on the Muslim world the gentleman is looking at the big, really big picture. I am not sure we can get from here to there, in terms of funding and resources. But, the idea deserves to be enshrined in the bill. If you would agree to have staff rework it, to make it a sense of Congress, I would certainly accept it and push the idea at every opportunity.
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Mr. CROWLEY. If the Chairman would yield.
Chairman HYDE. Surely,
Mr. CROWLEY. Before I agree to that, I would just express my desire to see that additional funding be put in place in the future for this, because I think, in terms of a cost that would be outlaid, we would be saving hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars in potential conflicts around this world that we engage in. I appreciate——
Chairman HYDE. It is part of the answer, rather than the problem, I agree.
Mr. CROWLEY. And I would be happy to work with——
Chairman HYDE. My suggestion is that you withdraw the amendment and between now and when we reach the Floor, we will get some language and incorporate that in a manager's amendment.
Mr. CROWLEY. I agree to do that. I will withdraw my amendment, at this time.
Chairman HYDE. Very well. Are there further amendments?
[No response.]
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Chairman HYDE. If not, the question occurs on the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. All in favor, say aye.
[Chorus of ayes.]
Chairman HYDE. All opposed, no.
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it and the question occurs on the motion to report the bill H.R. 3969 favorably as amended. All in favor, say aye.
[Chorus of ayes.]
Chairman HYDE. Opposed, no.
[No response.]
Chairman HYDE. The ayes have it. The motion report favorably is adopted. Without objection, the Chairman is authorized to move to go to conference pursuant to House Rule XXII. Without objection, the staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes.
I want to thank the Committee for your long patience and I think we have done a good day's work. The Committee stands adjourned.
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[Whereupon, at 1:46 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Material Submitted for the Hearing Record
FURTHER DESCRIPTION OF THE AMENDMENTS CONTAINED IN THE HYDE AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE FOR ORIGINAL TEXT OF H.R. 3969
The amendment in the nature of a substitute makes the following changes to the original bill, H.R. 3969:
Section 102 requires the State Department to develop a comprehensive strategy for the use of public diplomacy resources. The amendment requires that this strategy be done in coordination with the US International Broadcasting Agency. In addition, the Secretary is to develop long term measurable objectives for public diplomacy in coordination with the US International Broadcasting agency.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute adds a provision for the Secretary to reimburse the US International Broadcasting Agency for reasonable expenses for the State Department's use of the broadcasting agency's television studios or other facilities.
In response to concerns expressed by the Administration, the requirement that 25% of the new jobs created at the State Department be for public diplomacy was deleted. Instead, a finding that recognizes the efforts the Secretary has made in 2002 to channel people into public diplomacy jobs was added.
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In Section 103, the reporting requirement for an annual plan on a public diplomacy strategy was consolidated.
In Section 104, the requirement for foreign service officers to serve in at least one public diplomacy assignment in order to be qualified for advancement into the senior foreign service, and a reporting requirement on the public diplomacy training enhancements undertaken by the Secretary of State both were dropped.
Section 105 was amended by deleting the requirement that the GAO be involved with the U.S. Commission on Public Diplomacy in a report and study of the effectiveness of public diplomacy programs. The section now requires that the Commission undertake this review.
Section 106, authorizing programs to assist foreign governments in upgrading their public libraries, was moved from Title II because these programs are more appropriately funded under the heading of general public diplomacy rather than in the educational and cultural exchanges account.
In section 107, the amendment reduces the earmark for public diplomacy programs funded by the Diplomatic and Consular Programs account in Fiscal Year 2002 from $497 million to $298 million. This number reflects the current budget allocation for these programs, plus supplemental requests and the new activities authorization level in this bill.
Section 201, at the request of the State Department, adds an exchange program in the library sciences. This complements section 106, but is funded out of the exchange account.
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The most substantial changes made by the amendment are in Title III—the reorganization of international broadcasting. The amendments clarify the purpose of the original bill, which was not to reduce the authority of the current Board of Broadcasting Governors, but to increase the efficiency of our broadcasting agency by putting day-to-day executive functions in the hands of a single full-time official, the Director of the U.S. International Broadcasting Agency.
Section 301 of the amendment provides that the new agency will be headed by a Board of Governors. (The original bill had provided that the Director would be the head of the agency, subject to the supervisory authority of a Board for International Broadcasting.) Finally, section 301 provides for a Director to be appointed by the Board of Governors, and sets forth his authorities. (The original bill provided that the Director was to be appointed by the President.) The authorities of the Director under this section consist of administrative functions which were assigned to the Agency under the original bill.
Section 302 of the amendment is similar to the original bill in that it sets forth the authorities of the Agency, which are similar to those assigned to the Board of Broadcasting Governors under current law. The amendment, however, omits certain functions that are purely administrative in nature and which are assigned to the Director in section 301. The amendment makes clear that the Board is to exercise these authorities, except where certain authorities can be delegated to the Director or to other officials or agencies.
Section 303 of the amendment, dealing with the advisory role of the Secretary of State, makes no change in the original bill.
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Sections 304 through 310 of the amendment are substantially identical to sections 305 through 311 of the original bill.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE JOSEPH R. PITTS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA
I am pleased that we are considering today the reauthorization of the microenterprise program.
Effective foreign assistance can be vital to promoting global stability and fighting poverty, disease, and related problems.
Microcredit is a crucial solution that helps lift people out of poverty, transforming their lives and stabilizing communities from the bottom up. It is one of the most effective and cost-efficient programs within our foreign aid budget. It is also an economically sound, even profitable, method of fighting poverty.
In fact, in developing countries, the rate of repayment of well-established microcredit programs ranges from 95 to 99 percent—a repayment record that puts commercial banks to shame.
Microcredit also enables poor people to support themselves financially over the long term, even after their micro-loans have been repaid. For example, in 1998, the World Bank found that in Bangladesh, extreme poverty among borrowers from the Grameen Bank was cut by over 70% within 5 years.
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Microcredit stabilizes communities from the bottom up by improving the nutrition, health and educational opportunities of a society's poorest, most desperate members. It helps break the cycle of poverty and can help create a more stable world.
I especially want to highlight the efforts of the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), an international organization based in my district. MEDA brings hope, opportunity and economic well being to low-income people around the world through a business-oriented approach to development. They are a model in service and compassion. Their microenterprise programs are evidence that this model works.
In closing, we must work to expand access to microcredit for the world's poor. That's what we are doing today, and this is why I am a cosponsor of this legislation. I thank the Chairman, Mr. Lantos, and Mr. Smith for bringing this legislation forward for our consideration today.
I urge all Members of the Committee to support it.
Thank you and I yield back the balance of my time.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE HOWARD L. BERMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
I'd like to thank all of those who were involved in crafting this legislation, which represents a significant improvement over current law.
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I'd also like to acknowledge the past efforts of our former colleague Sam Gejdenson, who had a strong interest in microenterprise and helped lay the groundwork for what we're doing today.
Microenterprise programs are a critical component of our international development efforts.
They have proven to be an effective means of providing poor households with the financial tools needed to generate income, create savings and develop businesses to help alleviate poverty.
This legislation not only increases authorized funding levels for microenterprise programs, but provides for the development of new tools to ensure that our funds are directed to those who need it most.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE BARBARA LEE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
I am pleased that this Committee is considering the microenterprise issue, and has done such excellent work to put together this bill, as microenterprise is a vital issue for the developing world, especially for Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa's infant mortality rate is one-and-a-half times the world average. One third of all children under 5 in Sub-Saharan Africa suffer from chronic malnutrition. An African child's chances of entering a primary school are less than 50 percent, and the rate of female enrollment is half that of males.
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The formal financial sector in African counties has not provided sufficient employment opportunities to the majority of Africans. Many of those excluded from participation in the formal economy (primarily the poor and women) have turned to the informal sector to generate income. In many African countries, the microenterprise sector employs as much as 80 percent of the economically viable population. Yet the World Bank estimates that less than 5 percent of the population in Africa has access to formal financial services.
According to FINCA International (the Foundation for International Community Assistance), most if its borrowers in Africa are caring for AIDS orphans with the proceeds of their small businesses. With 40 million AIDS orphans expected in the world by 2020, we must expand support for microenterprise, especially in Africa and especially for very poor families—so that we can give people tools to deal with this human disaster.
USAID has the expertise to help utilize the existing capacity in Africa for microlending and other services and to provide expanded resources to build capacity for increased investment. USAID must do more of this. That is why I am so pleased that we will be ensuring that half of all microenterprise resources will be directed to programs and services for the very poor.
Given the great number of very poor people in Africa and the continent's struggle with the AIDS pandemic, this is a vital priority for this region.
I am pleased that this legislation will help better support efforts to serve the poorest people and women, and I thank Chairman Hyde, Ranking Member Lantos, Mr. Smith, Mr. Payne and Mr. Houghton for putting forward such a well-crafted measure.
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