The Tsunami Tragedy: How the U.S
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THE TSUNAMI TRAGEDY: HOW THE U.S. IS RESPONDING AND PROVIDING RELIEF BRIEFING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JANUARY 26, 2005 Serial No. 109–7 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 98–206PDF WASHINGTON : 2005 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) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:35 Apr 21, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\FULL\012605\98206.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa TOM LANTOS, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, HOWARD L. BERMAN, California Vice Chairman GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American ELTON GALLEGLY, California Samoa ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey EDWARD R. ROYCE, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio PETER T. KING, New York BRAD SHERMAN, California STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ROBERT WEXLER, Florida JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts RON PAUL, Texas GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York DARRELL ISSA, California BARBARA LEE, California JEFF FLAKE, Arizona JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon MARK GREEN, Wisconsin SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada JERRY WELLER, Illinois GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California MIKE PENCE, Indiana ADAM B. SCHIFF, California THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan DIANE E. WATSON, California KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida ADAM SMITH, Washington JOE WILSON, South Carolina BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky CONNIE MACK, Florida DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska MICHAEL MCCAUL, Texas TED POE, Texas THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director MATTHEW MCLEAN, Professional Staff Member JEAN CARROLL, Staff Associate (II) VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:35 Apr 21, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\012605\98206.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES The Honorable James A. Leach, A Representative in Congress from the State of Iowa ......................................................................................................... 10 The Honorable Earl Blumenauer, a Representative in Congress from the State of Oregon ..................................................................................................... 16 The Honorable Andrew S. Natsios, Administrator, U.S. Agency for Inter- national Development .......................................................................................... 24 The Honorable Alan P. Larson, Under Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State ................................................. 34 The Honorable Peter W. Rodman, Assistant Secretary, International Security Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense .................................................................. 41 Brigadier General John Allen, Principal Director for Asian and Pacific Affairs, International Security Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense ........................... 43 Mr. Peter Bell, President, CARE-USA ................................................................... 66 Dr. Richard Brennan, Director of Health Programs, International Rescue Committee ............................................................................................................. 75 Ms. Afshan Khan, Deputy Director of Emergency Operations, United States Fund for UNICEF, Public Policy and Advocacy ................................................ 80 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD The Honorable Henry J. Hyde, a Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois, and Chairman, Committee on International Relations: Prepared statement .............................................................................................................. 2 The Honorable Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Representative in Congress from American Samoa: Prepared statement ............................................................... 5 The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey and Vice Chairman, Committee on International Relations: Prepared statement ............................................................................ 8 The Honorable James A. Leach, a Representative in Congress from the State of Iowa: Prepared statement ............................................................................... 13 The Honorable Earl Blumenauer: Prepared statement ........................................ 19 The Honorable Andrew S. Natsios: Prepared statement ...................................... 28 The Honorable Alan P. Larson: Prepared statement ............................................ 36 The Honorable Tom Lantos, a Representative in Congress from the State of California: Prepared statement ...................................................................... 45 Ms. Krista Riddley, Deputy Director of Policy, Oxfam America: Prepared statement .............................................................................................................. 63 Mr. Peter Bell: Prepared statement ....................................................................... 68 Dr. Richard Brennan: Prepared statement ........................................................... 78 Ms. Afshan Khan: Prepared statement ................................................................. 83 APPENDIX The Honorable Dan Burton, a Representative in Congress from the State of Indiana: Prepared statement .......................................................................... 101 The Honorable Katherine Harris, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida: Prepared statement ................................................................. 102 The Honorable Andrew S. Natsios Responses to questions submitted for the record by the Honorable Henry J. Hyde .............................................................................................................. 103 Responses to questions submitted for the record by the Honorable Earl Blumenauer, a Representative in Congress from the State of Oregon ........ 106 (III) VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:35 Apr 21, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\012605\98206.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL IV Page Letter requesting information from the Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld, Sec- retary, U.S. Department of Defense, by the Honorable Henry J. Hyde .......... 107 VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:35 Apr 21, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\012605\98206.000 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL THE TSUNAMI TRAGEDY: HOW THE U.S. IS RESPONDING AND PROVIDING RELIEF THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2005 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 1:40, p.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry J. Hyde (Chair- man of the Committee) presiding. Chairman HYDE. The Committee will come to order. We have some new Members of the Committee; however, there are others who could not be present and we shall more formally introduce them at our next meeting. Well, good afternoon, and welcome to the briefing of the Com- mittee on International Relations. On December 26th, a massive earthquake off the western coast of Indonesia launched a wall of water in all directions. The geography of the destruction is stag- gering, from the near epicenter of Indonesia to Sri Lanka and India, to Thailand and Malaysia, to the Island of Maldives to the Seychelles and across the expanse of the Indian Ocean to the east- ern coast of Africa. The scale of human loss is devastating. We have all experienced the shock of seeing the video footage of the rush of ocean with bod- ies and debris flowing down the streets of coastal villages or of hearing accounts of waves pulling children from the desperate grasp of their parents. The latest numbers indicate that over 200,000 people have been reported dead, with over 26,000 missing and over 1 million displaced or otherwise in need. The suddenness and the magnitude of this disaster should re- mind all of us of the fragility of human life in the face of nature’s awesome power. The tremendous response from around the world to this crisis, however, should also remind us of the compassion and the humanity of those who rushed to help those in great need. My fear is that the world’s attention will soon shift to some other big news item, some other catastrophe, and with it the window of compassion and assistance will grow smaller. We must understand that many, many needs will remain when the cameras are turned off. My hope is that our commitment and dedication will remain steadfast, and we will maintain our focus on the difficult and ardu- ous task of helping victims reconstruct their lives and their liveli- hoods. The Committee commends President Bush with a pledge of $350 million in emergency aid, and commends the urgent and ongoing efforts of U.S. relief workers on the ground. Of this amount, USAID (1) VerDate Mar 21 2002 11:35 Apr 21, 2005 Jkt 000000 PO