Overview of US Interests in the Western Hemisphere: Opportunities and Challenges"
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OVERVIEW OF U.S. INTERESTS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION FEBRUARY 28, 2013 Serial No. 113–13 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 79–582PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:57 May 09, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\_WH\022813\79582 HFA PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania AMI BERA, California STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California RON DESANTIS, Florida GRACE MENG, New York TREY RADEL, Florida LOIS FRANKEL, Florida DOUG COLLINS, Georgia TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas TED S. YOHO, Florida LUKE MESSER, Indiana AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE MATT SALMON, Arizona, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina Samoa RON DESANTIS, Florida THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TREY RADEL, Florida ALAN GRAYSON, Florida (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:57 May 09, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_WH\022813\79582 HFA PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES The Honorable Roberta S. Jacobson, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State ................................................. 12 The Honorable Mark Feierstein, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development ..... 19 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Matt Salmon, a Representative in Congress from the State of Arizona, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere: Pre- pared statement ................................................................................................... 3 The Honorable Albio Sires, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey: Prepared statement .................................................................... 7 The Honorable Roberta S. Jacobson: Prepared statement ................................... 15 The Honorable Mark Feierstein: Prepared statement .......................................... 21 APPENDIX Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 54 Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 55 The Honorable Jeff Duncan, a Representative in Congress from the State of South Carolina: Prepared statement .............................................................. 56 The Honorable Theodore E. Deutch, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida: Prepared statement ................................................................. 58 Written response from the Honorable Roberta S. Jacobson to question sub- mitted for the record by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representa- tive in Congress from the State of New Jersey ................................................. 59 Written responses from the Honorable Roberta S. Jacobson to questions sub- mitted for the record by the Honorable Jeff Duncan ........................................ 63 Written responses from the Honorable Mark Feierstein to questions sub- mitted for the record by the Honorable Jeff Duncan ........................................ 76 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:57 May 09, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_WH\022813\79582 HFA PsN: SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:57 May 09, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_WH\022813\79582 HFA PsN: SHIRL OVERVIEW OF U.S. INTERESTS IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Matt Salmon (chair- man of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. SALMON. A quorum being present, the subcommittee will come to order. I will start by recognizing myself and the ranking member to present our opening statements, then I will recognize the members of the subcommittee to allow them to present their opening re- marks, if they have any, in order of seniority, and please keep your remark to 1 minute. Now I would like to yield myself as much time as I may consume to present my opening statement. Good morning, and welcome to our first hearing of the Sub- committee on the Western Hemisphere, where we will be exploring the opportunities and challenges the U.S. faces in the region. When I returned to Congress this year, I was privileged to rejoin the Foreign Affairs Committee and honored to have been given the gavel of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. As a native Arizonan, I know what many of my colleagues have yet to realize: Our neighbors in the Western Hemisphere are critical to U.S. secu- rity, energy independence, and economic prosperity. I believe that our strong cultural, trade, and investment relationships and demo- graphic ties with Canada and the Americas connect the region and open the way to a constructive dialogue on how we can make our hemisphere safer and more prosperous. First of all, let me welcome the subcommittee’s distinguished new ranking member, Congressman Albio Sires, who represents the Eighth Congressional District of New Jersey. I look forward to working with you on a bipartisan basis to help foster positive re- sults for U.S. Foreign policy in the region. In addition to our senior members of the committee, it is my pleasure to give a warm welcome to our freshman majority mem- bers. We have got Trey Radel here today from Florida. We also have a new freshman member, I believe will be joining us later, Ron DeSantis, both of whom hail from the great State of Florida. (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 16:57 May 09, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_WH\022813\79582 HFA PsN: SHIRL 2 And although not new to Congress, I would like to welcome two new additions to the subcommittee on the minority side of the aisle. Theodore Deutch, and Alan Grayson are also both from the great State of Florida. It is my firm belief that we have an opportunity to positively en- gage our friends and neighbors in the hemisphere not only on the security issues as we work together to combat transnational crimi- nal and terrorist organizations, but in strengthening bilateral and multilateral relationships that promote democratic values and free- market principles. I am looking forward to the opportunity to take a closer look at the process being made under the Merida Initiative to determine if there are ways to make the program more effective. Insecurity in Mexico and throughout Central America continues to threaten our own security, and I believe it is in the U.S. national interest to promote a safer and more secure region. I also plan to make sure this subcommittee does everything in our power to foster and build upon our strong relationship with Canada, with whom we already maintain the world’s largest bilat- eral trade relationship. Our subcommittee will also focus attention on the incredible op- portunity we have to achieve energy security and economic growth in North America by encouraging the administration to give its final approval to the Keystone XL pipeline. In addition, I will seek to promote energy independence and economic growth by seeking to promote and strengthen U.S. trade relations with Mexico and by supporting the U.S.-Mexico transboundary agreement that was signed in February of last year. I hope to see that the United States will reinsert its role in pro- moting hemispheric free trade policies, strengthening trade and in- vestment relations in Brazil and throughout the entire region. Lastly, we must not forget the key economic role of travel and tourism in the region, especially in the Caribbean, and the impor- tance of limiting the negative effects that transnational crime can have on regional economies. We do