Relations committee. This is an hour and a half. This hearing of the subcommittee. Civilian security democracy human rights and global womens issues will come to order. And the title of the hearing is tax on u. S. Diplomats in cuba. Response and over sight. We have one Government Panel testifying today with the following three witnesses who are here. And were grateful if r you joining us here today on behalf of the executive branch. The acting assistant secretary of state. For the bureau of western hems fear. Todd brown. The department of state. And the medical director of the bur reof medical services. For the department of state. Thank you all again for being here. There are two goals to the hearing today. The first, is to accompliestabl facts of what occurred. The second is conduct over sight over the conduct and the activities of the United States state department. Here are the facts as will be testified to today. By our panel. Late 2016, staff at the United States embassy in havana began complaining of strange noises and among the scription they complained of high pitch beam of sound. Baffling sensation. A kin to driving with windows open in the car. Or intense pressure in one ear. At the time of the report, the post leadership and the supporting office here in washington dc viewed this activity as harassment from forces hostile to the United States. Or to u. S. Presence in cuba. Later, those information gathered from additional individuals including some of these which suggest the events that led to these complaints actually began as early as november. Of 2016. The initial events that were reported o dured at diplomatic residences. Later these events occurred at hotels. Individuals first visited the medical unit at the embassy in december 20616. And january of 2017. From february through april of 2017 this was an evaluation conducted of 80 members of the community. 16 of these were identified with symptoms and medically verifiable clinical finding of some combination similar to patients that have had a mild traumatic brain injury or concussion. Unquote. And early july the bureau of medical services at the state department convened a panel of experts to review case history and the test results up to that point. They arrived at the consensus. Quote the pattern of injuries were most likely related to trama from a nonnatural source. End quote. Later in august, the Brain Injury Center at university of pa p reevaluated employees. That were reporting symptoms. Additional individuals and incidents prior to april 2014. Were added to the list. Of confirmed case kas. Subsequently two additional individuals reported exposure in midaugust. Of last year. And those cases were medically confirmed. Bringing the total number of cases to 24. All while the symptoms may vary all of the medically confirmed cases all 24 of them have described some combination of the following symptoms. Sharp ear pain. Headaches rk, ringing in one ear, vertigo, visual focusing issues, disorientation, nausea and extreme fatigue. As we said earlier time line of the reported incidents are as follows. Initial weave that report the in december may have begun november 2016. And occurred through late march of 2017. From march of 2017 through late april of 2017. There was a sper rattic period. They stopped. And then two additional reports happened in close proximity in august. Of last year. They were medically confirmed in september. These are the facts that will be testified to today. By our panel. I turn to the Ranking Member. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Im appreciate we are starting the new year with a much needed hearing on the brazen attacks on our diplomats in cuba. I ask my full statement be included in the record. Its unfortunate that since the news of these bizarre and vicious attacks broke last summer we have not seen more public out cry against the cuban government. For whatever scope of ownership it has over the attacks. Or more accountability for the health and well being of the diplomats. Some of whom continue to suffer lingering Health Conditions from the attacks. The castro regime proved time and time again its to the a Community Actor in the nations. It cannot be counted on. And most certainly the regime has no regard for individual human rights. Security, or dignity. The cuban government may or may not at the end of the day be directly responsible for attacking our diplomats. Someone who personally witnessed the cuban government it is that the castro regime and the Intelligence Services specifically were not aware of the attacks. If seen your cuban officials did not directly order the attacks they must have been aware or given task approval to foreign agents to operate in cuba. The scope of the attacks is too specific. So i hope to hear some more sound explanation from our witnesses today. Now our own diplomats have the burden of the truth. And that is that being in a foreign location in terms of your duty, runs risk. And in this particular case, no amount of placating or diplomatic overture will change that. The cuban government tried to under mine their dangerous and irresponsible behavior. By under mining the va willedty of the claims. Why would a regime that demonstrated the ability to intimidate, oppress and harm citizens give. They accuse the United States of fabricating the attacks. Of course the castro regime doesnt understand that in a democratic and free country citizens have a right to privacy. And to a government that would prioritize their privacy and health over using them as political tools. Turning to our witnesses you cannot be held accountable for the behavior of the cuban government. Or those who were responsible for this. But you are responsible both for the appropriate diplomatic response and the health and safety of our diplomats. And from what i can see the actions the department has taken are insufficient and unacceptable. Despite rhetoric from the president about rolling back ill conceived policy changes the reality is that the cuban government continues to enjoy many of the benefits it received. While the Administration May champion the new regulation prohibiti prohibiting transactions that it grandfathered in all contracts that began during the last administration. Further more because the administration took so long to announce the guidelines Major Companies finalized deals between the months. At the enforcement level ot remains under staffed. With no indication that personnel will be hired. At the state department the president hasnt everyone nominated an assistant secretary for the western hemisphere affairs. Failing to put critical senior staff in place at appropriate agencies under mines the United States ability to project our interest and protect our citizens abroad. The administration and the Department Reaction to the cuban government completely obligations under the convention to protect our diplomats is laughable. The fact that somehow the cuban government managed to pantd a narrative that there were no attacks at all is outrageous. Expelling a handful of diplomats removed from havana for safety is hardly a bold move. When new treasury guidelines were announced the administration stressed they were not in response to the attack on personnel. I appreciate the over view thats been provided but the truth is from the accounts we have heard the Department Response was simply bureaucratic. Inadequate and troubling. I will have a number of questions later. Let me start by saying the stories we heard are shocking. Failure of leadership by the department and the post. The sluggish reaction to the initial report of afflicted personnel. The aloof response of the medical team at the state department. Silence from Diplomatic Security to the rest of the department is staggering. The members of the u. S. Foreign service made a commitment to serve their country over seas. They agree to spend their hives often taking families with them in pursuit of promoting american interest. Some serve in combat zones. Large embassies and small. Sometimes communist islands. According to to accounts from those who suffer directly when diplomats first reported symptoms to the protopeople at post they were rebuffed. It is also post, they were rebuffed. On understanding the Department Took months to arrange the appropriate care. Only after reports surface in the media. Alarmingly, the department did not warn diplomats going to cuba for permanent or temporary assignments about the risk of their health and the health of their families. Department leadership failed to inform the rest of the department and including those who served and in place of those evacuated. This lack of leadership and responsibility is shocking and unacceptable. I sincerely hope this panel can provide us a much needed answers. The cuban government must be held accountable for its failure to uphold International Commitment and failure to protect diplomats. The Department Must be held accountable in appropriate policies and response and ensuring the safety and security and help of the men and women services. Thank you, we begin with our witness, welcome to the committee. Chairman members and Ranking Member menendez and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak, efforts and respond. At the out set, i want to thank you for your concerns for our diplomatic personnel in havana. This is secretary tillersons top priority. It is mine as well. I am pleased to be here today with my colleagues from the bureau Diplomatic Security and the bur eau of medical services who have worked closely on this complex issue. I would like to emphasize up front that the investigation into these Health Attacks is ongoing. We have the best experts of the government and private sector working to help us understand it. At every step, we have worked closely with our medical with our tactical experts in evaluating the conditions and the nature of the attacks. I will walk you through a general time line which will describe the diplomatics and reviewing many actions we have taken today. I will refer to my colleagues to address security and medical issues. In late 2016, some members of our Diplomatic Community serving u. S. Embassy in havana complained about strange noises and a variety of physical symptoms. As the department investigated, we began to see signs of these events and later at hotels may have begun as early as november of 2016. As soon as we identified the patterns and connecting these events with Certain Health symptoms, u. S. Officials approaching the cuban government in mid february demand it meeting its observations and protect our personnel. The cubans denied involvement, offered their cooperations and open their own investigation. Since then we have engaged the cubans more than 20 times from the working level to the highest level of the cuban government both here in washington and in havana. We prioritize of our personnel. The doctor will provide you with additional details. Secondly, we launch a government wide effort to fiend the cause and culprits behind these attacks. We have met with u. S. Agency partners more than a dozen times to discuss and well find whos in response of this attack. But, starting in late march, sporatic attacks continued into late april and seemed to stop. Beginning of mid april, we allow everyone serving at Embassy Havana who did not feel safe at post to return to the United States. We also expel two cuban diplomats in may in order to under score the cuban governments responsibility to protect our personnel. After a period without any attacks, there were two additional attacks reporting close proximity in late august which were medically confirmed in september. Based on the attacks, secretary tillerson ordered the departure of non Emergency Personnel from post on september 29th. The secretary assessed this was the only way to reduce the risk to our diplomats and their families. As a follow onto the order departure decision, we expelled 15 more cuban diplomats in october to ensure the equity and the impact on the perspective operation and under score to cuba. Its obligation to stop the attack. These decisions to draw down our personnel at Embassy Havana and to expel cuban diplomats did not signal a change to president trumps new policies. Prior to the decision, to institute departure, our department held 17 meetings with american staffs. We have held a number of meeting with them since returning to washington. Secretary tillerson met with evacuees to explain his decision to institute orders of departures and we have organized a number of meetings to address evacuee earn concerns. The well being of the 24 victims as well as the wellbeing of all of our evacuees and those remaining in havana continues to be in our priority as thus the investigation. With that, i will turn it to my colleagues to discuss their areas of expertise and i will be happy to answer your quicestion. Thank you mr. Palmeri. Mr. Brown. Good morning chairman rubio and other distinguish members of the committee. Thank you for your invitation to appear today to discuss Health Attacks involving u. S. Attacks of personnel and the family of wh havana. Welcome to any discussions that may lead to a better understanding of this issue and stronger safe guards to employees. From an security investigative standpoint, we continue to work to counter and mitigate and better understand who and what are causing injuries to our diplomatic staffs. Unfortunately, this remains a perplexing case. Our Regional Security officers at havana first became acare of potential Health Attacks in late december of 2016. In the early stages of trying to understand what maybe occurring post leadership and supporting offices in washington believed it was a form of harassment by forces hostile to the United States and our president in cuba. As more incidents were reported in early 2017, and greater awareness of the seriousness of symptoms became known, our level of concerns and mitigation efforts rose exponentially. After meeting cuban officials in february, outlining cubas responsibility to protect diplomats under the Vienna Convention, we received confirmations from the cuban counter part that the cuban government were conducting its own investigation in this matter. Emergency Action Committee met frequently as part of our ongoing attempt to better understand the nature of the apparent attack and protect staffs. As many victims have soeshlasso the attack with an acoustic event. The federal investigation opened the case in early may. The team have visited havana several times. However, the investigation remains ongoing and we would refer specific questions concerning the investigation to the fbi, thank you, i will be glad to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, doctor. Good morning. Good morning, chairman rubio and distinguish members of the kmi committee. I will be describing the medical response and what we know of the Health Effects. From the individual of the Public Health perspective, managing the evolving situation is challenging. Missing personnel describes a multitude of symptoms. Many are not used to attributed to a specific cause. As typically as any outbreak also can complicate an evaluation. However, the most challenging factor is the lack of certainty of the cause of agent and therefore, injuries of suffering. Individuals first visit our medic unit in havana in 2017 reporting various symptoms including headaches, ear pain and dizziness and pain problems. Descriptions were given and a high pitch beam sound and a bathing sensation and driving with the windows partially open in a car or intense pressure in one ear. Since the symptoms first reported, the university of miami highly experienced and evide evolving acoustic memory. Of the individuals evolaluated,6 were identified and in july, my office convened the panel of academic expert to review the cases and test results gather to dates. Some of the symptoms such as other things such as traumas and aging and stress, the con wilhelms consensus was related to a t trauma to a natural source. The brain center at the university of pennsylvania was identified to provide detailed evaluations of employees with prior exposures and evaluate Embassy Community members who reported new exposures. To further evaluations that come in late august, additional individuals with exposure to the prior of 24 added to the list of confirmed cases. Two other individuals reported exposures occurred in mid august, confirmed and bringing the total number of cases to 24. I now have to describe the Health Effects described so far. All medically confirmed cases of the following symptoms beginning of minutes and hours of their exposure. Sharp, localized ear pain, vertigo and visual focusing issues, distortion and nausea. Other Health Issues emerged more persiste persistent. This includes cognitive problems and working memory and attention, reoccurring headaches and High Frequency unilateral hearing loss, sleep disturbance and balance walking. These later symptoms varied widely. To find the prognosis confirmed cases are difficult. Some patients remain systematic months after their exposure. However, some after extended therapies, some overtime without treatments. Ten of the 24 have returned full of part time work or others seek treatments of anticipation return to duty. We are unable to state whether or not the injuries may result in adverse longterm consequences to the individuals future health or functional abilities. All government personnel travels to a official duty now is encouraged to un