Just watching as this subcommittee meeting coming together. The hearing featuring the lead singer of u2, bono, and also policy and foreign experts from the u. N. Here. Meeting today to talk about violent extremism. Live coverage here on cspan3. Well hear from state department and u. N. Officials and among the witnesses, again, the lead singer of the band u2. All right, folks. Take a seat. This is what its like to be chopped liver. The subcommittee will come to order. Hearing today is on the causes and consequences of violent extremism and the role of foreign assistance. I would like to welcome our distinguished panel of witnesses. Demonstratety secretary of state tony blinken. Bono, lead singer of u2 and cofounder of one and red. General james jones, former National Security adviser, supreme allied commander in europe and president of the jones group international. And kelly complements, deputy United Nations high commissioner for refugees. Ill make a short opening statement. Let senator leahy do the same and then sevenminute round. So, number one, this was a good day for photographers. Hope you got a good shot there. I just gotten back from my 30something trip to the region. Had the pleasure of being in turkey with bono and egypt. And each person here is tasked in their own way of trying to inform the congress and making policy decisions to deal with what i think is a crisis that you either pay now or you pay later. To the American People, we cannot ignore this. The goal is for people to stay at home and not come here. Not go to europe. But stay in syria. You name the country. They dont have to leave. The reality is the average refugee has been displaced from their home for 17 years. In turkey, we met people in a camp, preschoolers that were 4 years old. Most of them were born in the camp. I could not tell them when they would get to go home. If the war in syria ended tomorrow, it would be a nightmare to reconcile syria but that day i hope is coming and well have to deal with that problem. The idea of humanitarian assistance is absolutely necessary because some of these people are without food and water and shelter. It is in our National Security interests, and i think general jones will tell us, to get ahead of this problem before it turns into the Jihadist Army of the future. But humanitarian aid has to be locked at in terms of reality. Theres an oped piece today by bono in the New York Times. I would recommend you read it. But it talks about the dilemma of aid and developmental assistance. When you realize that most of these kids and their parents are not going back home any time soon, what kind of skill set should they possess to make them viable human beings in the country where theyre going to live for a while . And if they ever do go back to their home, what do they bring back to their home . Every day goes by a kid is not educated in one of these camps, and most of them are not in camps. Theyre actually in the cities of the country that theyve been displaced to. In turkey, the government of turkey has been extraordinarily generous making payments, free health cacacacaca jordan, our friends in jordan, are completely overrun. In lebanon, there are more syrian refugee children in lebanese Primary School than lebanese children. To think that will not affect us is naive. To think that theres no solutions well, thats just wrong. To think its easy is just crazy. So heres the deal. Im going to with the members of this committee to put together an emergency relief package and if you dont think this is an emergency, i welcome the contest. I welcome the debate. This account is 1 of the federal budget and because of world events it is tremendously under siege. And i dont want to take money away from pet far. I dont want to take money away from malaria. I dont want to take money away from the peace corps. Im not going to take money away from embassy security. So what do we do . I think we have to recognize we have an emergency on our hand. Then we have to come up with a longterm strategy and it has to be world driven, not United States driven. And the oped piece i referenced, bono suggested that nows the time to think big. I could not agree more. We know in the past that radicalized populations were turned around. Germany and japan were very radicalized populations. The marshal plan did work. Out of that effort now we have two stable democracies that are allies. The war is still going on and we dont have an occupation force. Radical islam is spreading its wings autoover the mideast and throughout africa and the question for this committee, the country and the world is, how do you destroy radical islamic extremists and other radical ideologies . General jones will tell us about the limitations of military power. Mr. Blinken will tell us about the limitations of diplomacy. Mr. Bono will tell us about the possibilities of the private sector joining with the government. To give people hope that have none now. Im pretty hawkish fellow but i have learned a long time ago about 30 trips ago youre not going to win this war by killing terrorists. The biggest threat to radical ideology is a small schoolhouse educating a poor, young girl. That will do more damage to the radical islamic extremist than any bomb to drop on their heads. We have schoolhouses here. We have domestic needs and 19 trillion in debt and counting. I am sorry the world is not more convenient. In terms of the needs back here at home. I do not ignore people in South Carolina when i say, we need to spend some money over there. I tell people back home, either we invest over there or theyre coming here. 9 11 is becoming a distant memory but not for me. The money this country spent just on the money side after the attacks of september 11th, 2001, is in north of a trillion dollars. The two wars of afghanistan and iraq is about a trillion and a half. We can argue about how we spent the money, should we have spent the money but we are where we are. Im not here, tony, to argue with you about syrian policy. Im here to find a way to go forward, to use whats commonly called soft power to supplement a military strategy. I would conclude with this. To our ngo community, you can do just as much good as any battalion of soldiers. Because without your assistance on the ground trying to give people hope, nothing will ever change. To take the land from the enemy is one thing. To hold it is another. Thats where we come in. For a fraction of what we spent in the past if we do it wisely through a worldwide effort i think we can turn this around before its too late. If we do nothing, i know exactly whens going to happen. Some of our friends are going to fall. And the people in these camps today are going to be our enemies. So you have two choices when it comes to these young people. Get involved in their lives now or fight them later. I choose to get involved their lives now. And let them do the fighting later. Because without their help, well never win this war. So i want to thank each member of the panel to come and share with us your vision of how to move forward. To this subcommittee, i think we have a great opportunity with a modest amount of money to make a huge difference. I intend to do that but i cannot do it without your buyin, without your support and without your advice. Times are tough at home. But when you go to one of the refugee camps and you visit the mideast, you know it could be worse. Senator leahy. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I appreciate the fact youre holding this hearing. I also appreciate the four witnesses. They each bring unique perspectives on the challenges. Once introduced bono in an event and said that there are millions of people who never know your name, never be able to purchase your music or go to one of your shows. All they know is their life is better because of the work youve done. And you havent stopped since that time. Youve focused the worlds attention on poverty in africa. The very tangible ways we can dramatically improve the lives of millions of people. Im glad aly and your children are there to be there with you because i know they share strongly in your great commitment. General jones is one of the most distinguished Public Servants i know. I knew him from way back when i think he was a major there long before he became four star, commandant, long before he was our head of nato. He has this long and distinguished career. But ive also heard general jones say so many times as important as military force is, its no substitute for diplomacy and development. And the general has been concerned about africa and where we are long, long before this hearing, and general, i admire you for that. And deputy high commissioner clements is no stranger to any of us here. Shes worked on refugee issues at the state department, the United Nations for i think over 25 years if im correct. Seems that every time weve had an issue here youve been involved. I appreciate it. And then i could take a list of 40 issues and secretary blinken is involved in every one of the 40 with expertise on those issues. Thats been helpful to those of us here in the senate but i know from president and others its been helpful to them. We look at the horrific crimes committed by groups like isil and boko haram. Now, we can as chairman, you said and others have, we can limit the territory control of these organizations through the use of force but were not going to defeat terrible and pernicious ideas by bullets and bombs. And i think our foreign aid programs cant substite of Government Policies in north africa and promote stability and opportunity. They have to protect fundamental freed freedoms. If they dont, then they dont have a real counter to terrorist recruitment. And those policies and strategies in that area are often lacking. Now, we have supported wide range of programs to address these issues. And these threats clearly economic and social development and so on. But spending just spending more money is not going to do it. With toef do better. We have to know the underlying causes. So thats why i want to hear from everybody here. I have an article written by admiral and general zini and we were talking about the general earlier. And a letter to the Appropriations Committee signed by 18 of our former colleagues, including former majority leaders frist and daschle. I ask for those to be part of the record. Without objection. Ill do this on the floor and ask that bo ins oped of the the New York Times be made part ort record. Without objection. Because they talk about diplomacy and how we need that to be used to combat terrorism so i mention these things because you have a republican and a democrat from different political backgrounds. And we have worked together on these issues for years and years. I was almost going to say way back when i had hair but you werent born them. Im catching up with you on the hair part. But the thing is, give us the ideas of what to do. Well try to do it. Thank you very much, senator leahy. General jones, when it comes to what to do, youre a military man and had a distinguished military career. Can you tell us why you support this idea of economic assistance, foreign assistance in general from the Military Point of view . Mr. Chairman, thank you, and members of the committee, senator leahy, thank you very much for this invitation to testify today. I commend your leadership on a matter of great importance to our interests in the future of the human enterprise. Im very honored to be here with our fellow witnesses who devoted much of their lives to the cause of human development, peace and stability. Secretary blinken and i go back a long ways to his days in the Foreign Security committee and the National Security council and id like to publicly recognize the tremendous work hes doing over at the state department. From personal observation, theres no more passionate, thoughtful and informed and effective advocate for development in the security nexus than bono. Millions live better and more hopeful and peaceful lives because of his work and because of many efforts of this committee and i thank you for that and congratulate you, bono. You have my full statement, mr. Chairman, and with your permission, ill summarize briefly. During most of my military active duty service our National Security was defined by the struggle against communism in the soviet military threat. Security was expressed in the calculus of comparative troop strength, weapons cut and nuclear through weight. Todays threats are diverse and complex than those we faced in the world of the 20th century. The include the likes of cancerous terrorists and criminal enterprise, failing states and conflict triggering massive refugee flows, grave Natural Resource threats and the ongoing battle for hearts and minds between the forces of ma americanty and those of hate and intolerance. These challenges are synergistic and extreme. Yet so are the opportunities created by many positive trends in the march of human advancement. If our future is defined by the opportunity and not the threats it demands and i stress demands interNational Security. One less reliant on reaction and far more focused on anticipation and even prevention. One that centers on disarming the root causes and major multipliers of conflict and instability and one that in the long run is much less costly than what we practice today. Viewed through that lens, what comes in sharp focus in my view is that the premier strategic threat to Global Security and to our own is not any single country or any single ideology or any single weapon. Its human need. The unsatisfied demands for life basics including food, energy, water, dignity and a Better Future for masses living on the edge. And as i understand it, the purpose of this hearing is to examine the causes and consequences of island extremism. For many, extremist leaders the attraction to violent islam is born of fanaticism and the selfish lust for love. Overs find a belonging. For multitudes, fear, cohersier and whats abundantly clear is they leverage on want and desperation. They to seek to exploit human misery in the pursuit of scale. As scale, at scale and with increasing access to sfirs kated weaponry, violent extremism is as great a threat of global stability and prosperity as any state power. I have long felt that the United States and developed nations have a deep moral obligation and self interest to end the plague of isis, boko haram and their ilk. Unquestionably, defeating this threat has a military element associated with it but defeating radicalism requires a far broader tool kit and thats where we and the like minded allies and foreign assistance play the most crucial role. U. S. Foreign assistance produced great achievements over the last century to alleviate poverty, advance health and respond to natural disasters and human emergencies. The return on investment in global influence and National Security is e nor house is. The key now is investing resources more wisely to leverage the spectrum of u. S. And allied capabilities to defeat violent extremism and the conditions that give it oxygen in the most vulnerable populations and places on earth. The it seems to me to real align the strategy to face todays threats, same way we calibrated to combat the dark isms of the last century such as the 1947 National Security act and the 1986 Goldwater Nichols legislation. We need Global Development and a counter Extremism Campaign as sophisticated and passionate and resourced as any fight we have taken on in our history, designed and resourced as if the future depends on it because it does. I would submit such a new framework guided by four principles. One, the battle plan must recognize that stability and the 21st cent vi a complex ecosystem. And integrated symphony of security, development and Good Governance rooted in the rule of law. Our foreign engagement and sy ace tans programs to cultivate the three 0 efficients in concert. Two, must integrate the public and the private sector, no amount of foreign assistance can substitute for the power of Economic Growth and employment which is fueled by private sector investment. Three, it must recognize that the threats posed by lack of education, food, energy and water insecurity to stability. Lack of access to these resources is a major driver of poverty, conflict and extremism. That means core to everything we do, diplomacy, policies, practices and innovations must be promoting wise stewardship of the Natural Systems for human well being. Four, the Campaign Must engage the whole of the u. S. Interagency and the alliances to deliver Security Development and governance assistance that changes peoples lives. In essence, these are the pillars of a refugee and state failure prevention strategy. They are the arsenal that will cause the lasting defeat of radicalism, maintain u. S. Influence in a needy world and assure the triumph of our interests, principles and values. Shaping a world of peace and prosperity requires American Leadership at the best. With it, we can, we must and i believe we will rise to the extreme challenges and opportunities in the still young and hopeful century. With your approval, mr. Chairman, i would like to submit three documents for consideration. One sa article from the atlantic counsels task ahead publication. The second is a relevant ngo nicinitiative on the topic and third is a recent speech i gave on water security. Please accept my deepest appreciation for the committee and to my fellow witnesses for your devotion to American Leadership in the cause of Global Security development and stability. It is the mission of our time and it is a cause for the ages. Thank you, sir. Thank you, general. Ill recognize senator on the last trip and thank you for coming, senator purd