aqap's leader is a follower of bin laden and like bin laden also seeks to strike western targets including right here in our homeland the united states. iran has reportedly dispatched a naval destroyer near yemen in a game of chicken over one of the most important shipping routes in the gulf of aden. this area is a gateway between europe and the middle east, and iran must not be allowed to escalate any tensions nor attempt to disrupt the shipping lanes. yet we continue to see the administration make the same mistakes it made in syria. and just like in syria today yemen is in utter chaos in large part due to iran's antagonism and meddling. but we must learn a lesson from syria and engauge in the yemeni crisis head on with a comprehensive strategy before it spirals further out of control. there will be no political solution in yemen based on the

gcc initiative or restarting the national dialogue conference that collapsed in early 2014 without addressing the underlying issues. the houthi were reluctant participants in the national dialogue in yemen but it was clear that they had no interest in ceding power over to a centralized government. as a result they withdrew from the national dialogue, it collapsed, and the houthi took control over sanaa and now other areas. so why would the administration think that the circumstances have changed that would allow for a rekonconciliation to occur? it is naive and dangerous to think a political situation is achievable as long as the houthi are unwilling to cede their power and as long as iran continues its support for these fighters just like it is naive and dangerous to believe that a political solution in syria is achievable as long as assad remains in power. even more absurd is the fact

that iran just this morning has allegedly proposed a peace plan for yemen. this is the same iran that continues to use its terrorism tentacles throughout the region to undermine u.s. interests and by supplying arms and fighters aim to further destabilize its neighboring countries. so today we hope to hear from the administration that we have a comprehensive plan on how to get to a political solution rather than just supporting a reconciliation process while also addressing the current gap in our intelligence and counterterror capabilities in yemen as well as the deteriorating humanitarian situation. because if we act in yemen in the same way that we have acted in syria then we are likely going to see the same crisis follow in yemen. a war with no end in sight. the rise of dangerous terror groups. a dire humanitarian crisis and iran's increased power grab in

the region. and with that i will go to mr. connolly for perhaps one minute because when mr. deutch comes he will give his five minutes. mr. connolly is recognized. >> thank you madam chairman. thank you for having the hearing. in listening to the recitation just now of what happened in yemen and what happened in syria, one would i guess infer or one is meant to infer that it's all the problem and result of policies pursued or not pursued by president obama and his administration. nothing could be further from the truth. the inherent instability in yemen is not new and it certainly is not unique to the administration currently in power. yemen is inherently unstable. it has multiple militia forces and jihadist forces at work. towns have been taken and retaken and transferred. terrorism and brutality have

occurred. and we may very well -- there are movements to bifurcate the country as it once was. the instability in the region is not the fault or responsibility of any administration. our question really has to be how do we respond when there are no good options? how do we reduce harm? how do we limit our exposure in how do we try, however indirectly, to affect outcomes positively? i don't think throwing pot shots at this administration as if it were omnipotent on the world scene, especially in this region, is very helpful. thank you, madam chairman. >> thank you mr. connolly. mr. chabot of ohio. >> thank you, madam chair, for holding this hearing. i want to say at the outset that i've got an honor flight coming in shortly and i have somebody from bangladesh back here, the speaker of the house, that i have to meet with.

so i'm not going to be able to stay for the testimony but i will have staff here and i will certainly read the testimony. i was chair of this committee a while back. during that time i went to yemen and i think -- mr. connolly's right. there have been problems there for years. but i would argue that they certainly have gotten worse under this administration and, you know, it was this administration that claimed that yemen was a success story, and clearly it has been anything but that. when we were on our way over there, there was a terrorist attack on a graduation at the military barracks, and over 100 new soldiers were murdered by terrorists. it's been going on for a while. but the problems in yemen are just incredible. i think the thing that's particularly disturbing is the iranian involvement there and around the region. it's four or five capitals now in the region that are controlled by the iranians. so it's a very dangerous situation. i look forward to the testimony.

even though i won't be here i'll certainly review that testimony. and thank you for being here mr. ambassador. >> thank you, mr. chabot, and good luck with that honor flight. it's always very emotional. and we will recognize mr. deutch after the one minutes with his consent. we will go to mr. higgins of new york. >> thank you, madam chair, for holding this important hearing. you know another trouble spot in a region that has pervasive trouble. there are no good options here for the united states. but obviously, we have a great interest in trying to influence stabilization in that influence. so i'm very curious to hear the thoughts of our distinguished panelist today. additionally it was announced the u.n. security council approved an arms embargo against the houthi. that resolution which prohibits the sailt of weapons to three named houthi leaders its former president and its son. i'm just kind of curious as to

what if any impact that resolution will have relative to the dynamic that's going on in yemen right now. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you, sir. excellent question. mr. wilson of south carolina. >> thank you madam chair. and thank you for your leadership on this issue. ambassador i just can't imagine a more extraordinary time for you to be serving as the deputy assistant secretary for the bureau of near eastern affairs. and hey, i want you to succeed. but i am obviously very concerned about the yemeni evacuation, what this means for the security of the united states and our allies. i'm obviously concerned about libya, its dissolution the murders in benghazi, with the rise of isil the failure to have a status of forces agreement with with iraq, which leads to the destabilization of iraq. the regime in iran, which has an ideology of death to america death to israel. that's their plan.

and as they're moving ahead with the nuclear capability, also building missiles to include an icbm which could only be interpreted as a threat to the american people and american families. and then finally, of course, i'm very concerned about chaos and civil war in syria. the purported red line of the president which simply did not have any life and credibility. but i still want you to succeed. so i look forward to working with chairwoman ileana ros-lehtinen for your success. thank you. >> thank you, mr. wilson. mr. cicelyni of rhode island. >> i think it's fair to say the deterioration of the situation in yemen took many people in washington by surprise. for many years it was held up as an example of counterterrorism cooperation. and it looked as if a political agreement might ab cheefd in the aftermath of the arab spring. the united states poured

approximately $9.50 million in foreign aid to yemen since the transition in 2011 to support counterterrorism, political reconciliation, the economy, and humanitarian aid. now we face a vastly different landscape and have to revise our assumptions and expectations. furthermore, we risk being drawn deeply into another iranian-backed armed conflict in the middle east. i'd particularly like to hear from the witness, hear from you mr. ambassador how we might have better detected the oncoming houthi rebellion and what if anything could have been done to prevent it. what the u.s. role is and should be in the conflict between the parties in yemen and how we're cooperating with reenggional partners and what the prospects are for a solution to this conflict. i'm also very concerned about the plight of civilians. one of the poorest countries in the world. fighting has fractured an already suffering economy. i'd like to hear from you what we're doing to alleviate the humanitarian situation. i look forward to your testimony. i yield back. >> excellent questions. thank you.

dr. yoho does not need to address the panel now. so we'll go to miss meng of new york. >> thank you, chair and ranking member, for assembling this hearing and our distinguished ambassador for joining us here today. on january 21st a fragile power sharing deal between democratically elected president hadi and the houthi rebel group in yemen fell apart and the houthi began seizing control of large portions of yemen. these actions were troubling because of the houthi' illegal usurpation of power and their immediate dissolving of the yemeni parliament. the houthi have very close ties to iran, which is supporting their aggression and seeking to expand its own sphere of influence in the middle east. on march 26th saudi arabia and more than ten arab partners began air strikes to weaken the houthi stronghold and reinstate president hadi to the presidency. while i'm supportive of arab solidarity and intervention

here, i'm deeply concerned about the possibility of a large humanitarian crisis in yemen and look forward to delving into these issues this afternoon. i yield back. >> thank you miss meng. miss frankel of florida. >> thank you madam chair. mr. ambassador, thank you for being here. well, we've heard some of our colleagues here describe iran's support for the houthi forces as another iranian takeover in the region. and so i'm interested in your assessment of that.cicilline. and so i'm interested in your assessment of that. given that the houthi have ruled northern yemen for a millennium and have been seeking greater recourse now for a decade with strong ties to the former regime. i hope you can put iran's involvement in yemen in this broader context, or if you

would. and just would add to the question to what extent is iran actually controlling events in yemen. is it more than funding, supplies, weapons or are there iranian forces actually directing action in the country as we've seen in syria and iraq? i yield back. >> thank you miss frankel. and we were all the warm-up group for our lead guy mr. ted deutch of florida. >> thank you, madam chairman for calling today's hearing and allowing us to address the recent troubling events in yemen. deputy assistant secretary feierstein, welcome back. i understand you just returned from the gulf. we look forward to hearing the administration's assessment of the conflict, its impact on broader regional geopolitics and what role we should play going forward. following the deposition of yemen's long-time autocratic ruler salah in 2011 the u.s. supported an inclusive transition process. we had national dialogue aimed at rebuilding the country's political and governmental institutions and bridging gaps

between groups that have had a long history of conflict. yemen's first newly elected leader, president hadi made clear his intentions to cooperate closely with the united states. hadi's government remained a partner in counterterrorism cooperation and operations. yemen, the poorest country on the peninsula, needed support from the international community. the united states has long viewed yemen as a safe haven for al qaeda terrorists, and there's alarming pornl for recruitment by terrorist groups given the dire economic conditions that they faced. in fact, u.s. department of homeland security considers al qaeda in the arabian peninsula the affiliate most likely -- the al qaeda affiliate most likely to attempt transnational attacks against the united states. while the national dialogue was initially viewed as successful, the process concluded in 2014 with several key reforms still not completed, including the drafting of a new constitution. the hadi government had continued to face deep opposition from yemen's northern tribes mainly the shiite

iranian backed tuthi rebels in the past year. the houthi in coordination with tribes and military units still loyal to salah began increasing their territorial control eventually moving in to sanaa. salah had long been thought to use his existing relationship to undermine the hadi government. the houthi are well trained, well funded, and experienced fighters, having fought the yemeni government and saudi arabia in 2009. now, much has been written by experts and analysts about how deep iran's connection to the houthi go. some argue it's overblown and that while the houthi welcome iranian support they are not an iranian proxy in the same way as hezbollah. others suggest the united states has not in the past recognized how deep the level of support provided by iran is or what iran's real motives are in supporting the houthi. perhaps the fullest extent of iran's involvement remains unknown. but as secretary kerry said last week, there are obviously supplies that have been coming from iran, he said. there are a number of flights every single week that have been flying in. we trace those flights and we

know this, we are well aware of the support that iran has been giving to yes, ma'amen and iran needs to recognize that the united states is not going to stand by while the region is destabilized or while people engage in overt warfare across lines, international boundaries of other countries. the most troubling question i think to examine today is whether the conflict in yemen has now become a symptom of the larger power struggle in the gulf. the saudi-led military intervention is now in its third week. the u.s. has been providing resources and support to our regional partners engaged on the ground. madam chairman, i would point out that this is yet another examplon yf we must act in the closest of cooperation with our gulf friends to counter all of iran's destabilizing activities in the region. and i was pleased to see reports this morning indicating the united states has stepped up our support inspecting ships bound for yemen in search of arms. similarly today's 14-0 vote by the security counsel toll impose an arms embargo on the houthi is a welcome step and a need show of unity from the international

community. iran is in turn responding sending a flotilla to the gulf of aden. and last week on social media iran's supreme leader personally attacked saudi arabia and its defense minister tweeting that inexperienced youths have taken over the affairs of the state and are replacing dignity with bar bar barbarity. we're asked by our constituents why the u.s. should be involved in the middle east. they tell us years ever conflict won't be solid by u.s. intervention. but yes, ma'am zen a clear example of what is our international interest. we cannot allow groups like al qaeda in the arabian peninsula which tried to tact united states in 2009, 2011, and 2012 to take advantage of chaos in yemen. we need a yemeni government that is going to be a partner in our counterterrorism and regional security efforts. and finally, the people of yemen have suffered -- have long suffered under dire economic conditions. the population has more than quadrupled in the past 30 years. conflict is only making the

humanitarian situation worse. saudi arabia is delivering medical and humanitarian supplies but it is necessary for the international community to continue to support the people of yemen. we have seen all too well how quickly humanitarian crises can slip from the front pages of our papers. ambassador feierstein, thank you again for being here. given that u.s. personnel has been evacuated we look to you to tell us where u.s. policy toward yemen currently stands. will we continue to see increased level of involvement in the saudi-led intervention? how can the two u.n. security council resolutions pertaining to salah be enforced? and can there ultimately be a military solution to yemen's internal crisis? we look forward to your responses. appreciate your being here. and i yield back madam. >> thank you very much, mr. deutch. excellent statement. and we're so pleased to welcome ambassador gerald feierstein who is the principal deputy assistant secretary of the bureau of near eastern affairs. previously he served as our ambassador to yes, ma'amen from 2010 to 2013. so he knows this area very well.

he has served in several different postings throughout the middle east including as deputy chief of missions in islamabad and deputy consul general in jerusalem. thank you for your service, mr. ambassador. we look forward to your testimony. and may i point out your lovely fiance sitting behind you. welcome. does she know the hours you that put in every day at your job? she might want to reconsider. mr. ambassador, your honor. >> thank you so much madam chairman. madam chairman ranking member deutch, members of the subcommittee, i greatly appreciate this opportunity to come before you today to review recent developments in yemen and the efforts that the united states is undertaking to support the government of yemen under president abdul rabbeh mansour hadi and the saudi-led coalition decisive storm that is aimed at restoring the legitimate government and restarting the

negotiations to find peaceful political solutions to yemen's internal conflict. during the week of april 4th to 11th i traveled with deputy secretary of state anthony blinken to saudi arabia at the united arab emirates and oman. as part of our consultations we met with president hadi and members of his team, the saudi ministers of foreign affairs defense and interior. the emirati minister of foreign affairs as well as other senior emirati officials in the ministries of foreign officials and defense and the omani minister of state for foreign affairs and his deputy. in all of these engagements we found a broad degree of consistency and their determination to bring "operation decisive storm" to a rapid and successful conclusion to establish that no party to the internal conflict in yemen will be able to achieve its objectives through violence and coercion and to set the

framework for a return to negotiations leading to a clear verifiable commitment on the part of aurll parties to the conflict to implement agreements and complete the political transition on the basis of the gcc initiative, the conclusions of the national dialogue conference and applicable u.n. security council resolutions. there was also a broad agreement among the yemeni leadership and yemen's neighbors that yemen should not be allowed to become a locus for foreign intervention that destabilizes yemen or threatens the security and stability of yemen's neighbors in the region at large. madam chairman, as you know, the conflict in yemen is enormously complicated and has roots that have largely parochial and locally focused. yemen, the poorest country in the arab world, with a long history of weak central governance, has for many years struggled to meet the needs of its diverse constituencies and address their grievances. those failures of governance led

to the fall of the previous regime in 2011. reflecting significant engagement by the united states and the international community, the gcc initiative was put in place to help yemen transition to a new, more inclusive government that would be responsive to the needs and aspirations of all of yemen's communities. the tragedy of the current situation is the political process that the yemenis established in 2011 was achieving success and we and they had reason to believe that it would lead to a more open democratic and prosperous nation that was the goal of the yemeni people. regrettably that transition has been sidetracked by the houthi movement aided and abetted by ali abdullah salah and his allies, who decided they would seek to achieve by force what they had been unable to accomplish at the negotiating table. we hope it's only a temporary delay. we remain deeply concerned about

iranian support for the houthi' military ambitions to thefof our understanding the houthi are not controlled directly by iran. however, we have seen in recent years growth and expansion in iranian engagement with the houthi. we believe that iran sees opportunities with the houthi to expand its influence in yemen and threaten saudi and gulf arab interests. iran provides financial support, weapons, training and intelligence to the houthi. in the weeks and months since the houthi entered sanaa and forced the legitimate government first to resign and ultimately flee from the capital we have seen a significant expansion of iranian involvement in yemen's domestic affairs. we're also particularly concerned about the ongoing destabilizing role played by former president salah, who since his removal from power in 2011 has actively plot theedted to undermine president hadi and the political process.

despite sanctions and condemnation of his actions salah continues to be one of the primary sources of the chaos in yemen. we have been working with our gulf partners in the international community to isolate him and prevent a continuation of his efforts to undermine the peaceful transition. success in that effort will go a long way to helping yemen return to a credible political transition process. finally the destabilizing actions of the houthi and their allies have created conditions that are beneficial to aqap. the deterioration of the political situation in yemen has provided new openings for aqap to regain the ground that it's lost in recent years owing to the efforts of the u.s. and yemeni governments to combat it. only through a negotiated resolution of the ongoing political conflict can we resume cooperation with the government of yemen to deter defeat sxumtly to eliminate the aqap threat to yemen, the united states, and our friends and

partners around the world. thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you this afternoon. i look forward to answering any questions you may have about the situation in yemen and our policy responses. >> thank you so much, mr. ambassador. and you're certainly an expert in this area. and i note it's important not to minimize iran's role in yemen nor the sectarian nature of this conflict, as i believe the administration seems determined to do. the administration has so far provided only limited eded logistical support to the saudi-led coalition. we waited to give them the intelligence that they needed, for example, to know exactly where to hit. and the administration is hoping for a political solution without also having our own comprehensive strategy in the region. so we are essentially outsourcing our yemeni policy to

the jcc and iran -- gcc and iran, the gulf countries. are we in conversations with iran about the situation in yemen or with houthi rebels and what is our plan if the houthi refuse to accept a political resolution? >> madam chairman we believe the iranians are well aware of our views and our positions on the situation in yemen. we have been very clear in articulating that. as far as the houthi are concerned, we have expressed an interest in establishing a dialogue with them going all the way back to frankly the time that i was still in sanaa. the houthi up until now have declined the opportunity to engage with us directly. nevertheless we have been able to communicate with them to pass messages to them through

various intermediaries, and again i believe that the houthi are fully aware of our views and the positions we've taken on their issues going all the way back to the early years of the 21st century. >> thank you sir. you testified that current conditions in yemen are beneficial to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and that isil is an emerging presence in yemen. how large of a presence does isil have in yemen? what kind of pressure are we applying against them? and now that our embassy is closed all of our personnel have been evacuated, our intelligence capabilities have been severely restricted, what kind of intelligence can we collect without a presence in country and what insight do we have into the various factions? >> it's a very good question.

in terms of isil it's extremely difficult for us to have a clear picture of the extent to which they are a factor there. as you know they claim credit for several attacks on mosques earlier this year. this was the first time isil as an entity emerged in yemen. we would still consider aqap to be by far the larger and more significant threat. we have heard some yemenis and others speculate that what we're seeing is the return perhaps of some yemeni fighters who were in syria or iraq who've come back to yemen and are now operate inging as isil but i think that that is something we couldn't confirm at this point. in terms of the complications in

our ability to have a clear picture, there's no doubt that the fact that we're not present in yemen at this moment and that we aren't able to maintain the level of xhixs and dialogue and the daily interactions we were able to have with yemeni counterparts while we were there and while president hadi's government was in place certainly is an obstacle to our ability to continue to conduct operations. >> thank you, sir. now, state and d.o.d. have provided a variety of capabilities to yemeni security forces including some sensitive equipment such as nightvision goggles. with the closure of our embassy and with the relocation of special operation forces from yemen it's much more difficult to monitor the use of such equipment. what do we know in the u.s. government about the current

status of the equipment that was previously provided to yemen? have they fallen into the hands of houthi, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, or isil? >> we have rnt seen any direct evidence that those items of equipment we've provided in the past have been taken by the houthi or by other elements. there's been some speculation in the press but we couldn't confirm that. and we don't have any independent information. >> thank you. and we've seen reports that coalition forces have amassed along the saudi-yemeni border and that some saudi forces are already on the ground in yemen. do you expect to see gcc coalition ground forces in yemen? and what would egypt's role be in such an effort? what role would the united states play in such a scenario? >> based on the discussions that

we had with our counterparts in riyadh and in abu dhabi last week i think that at this point in time what we understand is that they don't have any current plans to actually have a ground presence inside of yemen. they are, as you said, moving forces to the border. we believe that's largely for defensive purposes. and they are clear that this is something they would consider if they see the requirement. but right now we haven't seen anything. as for the egyptian role those discussions are onand there have not been any commitments that we're aware of on the part of egypt to participate in any kind of ground activity. >> thank you. and lastly, you testified that the humanitarian situation was already dire in yemen before this crisis and that malnutrition, bad sanitation, no access to water, internal

displacements, they're all rising internal concerns. what is the u.s. doing to work with saudi and the rest of the gulf council nations to prioritize the transportation of water, essential food and fuel humanitarian supplies like medicine into the country via air and sea ports? >> one of the fundamental items in deputy secretary blinken's agenda with our partners in riyadh and in abu dhabi was precise ly precisely to encourage them, to urge them to ensure that humanitarian access to yemen was possible. i think that the latest information that we have is that the picture has improved somewhat. it remains very serious.

nearly half of the population in yemen right now based on the estimates that we've seen is food deprived. so this is a very serious situation. we're doing a better job, i think, in getting some of the humanitarian supplies, not only food but also medicines and other essential humanitarian goods, to yemen. the internal distribution is extremely difficult because of the various military activities that are going on around the country so the movement has become complicated. and probably the most significant concern that we have right now is the availability of fuel which is essential not only for the movement of goods and people but also is essential in order to provide water and also bread because the bakery is run

on propane gas. without propane, they can't bake their bread. so this is having ripple effects throughout the economy and making the humanitarian situation that much more serious. >> thank you again for your service, sir. mr. deutsch of florida, the ranking member is recognized. >> thank you, madam chairman. mr. ambassador you mentioned you just got back from the region and you don't think -- you don't think the saudis see this campaign as an open-ended one. do they think there's a military solution? you had said that they don't have plans to launch a ground war. do you envision the situation in which saudi or coalition ground troops would go in? >> under the current set of circumstances, no. they are looking at various scenarios.

but they've been very clear with us that that's not where they want to go. and the history in yemen is not favorable for foreign ground forces. and i think that the saudis are well aware of that. i do believe and based on the conversations that we have, the saudis do not believe that there's a military solution to this conflict. they understand as we do that ultimately the only solution is to bring the parties back to the negotiating table and their intent is to try to demonstrate through their current military activities that a military solution on the part of the houthi or ali abdullah salah is not achievable and therefore they need to return to negotiations. >> there was -- there were two -- so far anyway, two stories with respect to iran in yemen

that have arisen today. one reports that iran may be trying to send surface-to-air missiles to the houthi and that the united states is stepping up our inspections of ships bound for yemen. first on that one, can we expect to see greater u.s. involvement as the conflict drags on? >> i think that at this particular moment our intent is trying to support the saudi coalition and our partners. and so what we're doing is aimed at empowering, facilitating and enhancing their capacity to take on this mission. and in the situation of the shipping, we will be taking very careful look at and examining very closely efforts to violate the embargo. of course, we had the arms embargo passed today by the u.n. security council.

but we also have longstanding arms embargo on iran and any effort on the part of the iranians to export weapons would be a violation of other u.n. security council resolutions. and we would be looking at ways to ensure that embargo is enforced. >> and iran allegedly released some draft of the peace plan today. can you comment on that? >> well, i think the comment that we have on that is it's ironic that the iranians have put forward a peace plan that encompasses the four points that we were actually trying to implement when the houthi winnerian encouragement blocked the negotiations and created the humanitarian crisis that we're confronting today. and so i think from our perspective, if the iranians are serious about their peace plan, in the first instance they should stop sending weapons to the houthi and they should also

give their advice to the houthi that they should be returning to the peace talks and the negotiating table. >> that would be sound advice. mr. ambassador, has this become a -- or does it risk becoming a proxy war for regional influence between the saudis and the iranians? >> i think from our perspective, i would say that yemen is a unique situation for the saudis. that this is on their border. it represents a threat in a way that no other situation would represent. and while, of course, there is concern in the gulf and we heard from our partners in the gulf about the situation in syria and iraq and also the concerns about developments in lebanon and

elsewhere in the region, i think our sense is that the perception of the situation in yemen is different and more threatening. >> and, again, my last question. what do we make of the iranian flotilla that has moved in? >> we're -- again, we're tracking it. the iranians claim that they're only there as part of the larger international effort to prevent piracy in the red sea. we'll be keeping a careful eye on it. we also have significant forces in the area and we'll be tracking. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> they just want to help. they're just misunderstood. thank you mr. deutsch. mr. wilson of south carolina. >> again, thank you, mr. secretary. and i appreciate, too, you and i have something in common in that i have two sons who've served in iraq. one is a physician and another

is field artillery. and i know that you've had a son serve there. and then with your background, what a distinguished background. as i stated from the beginning, i'm just so hopeful for your success. i believe, sadly, that as safe havens are created throughout that region and into central asia and north africa that the american people are at risk. and so we want you to succeed. and with that in mind, and you referenced it a minute ago, and that is that what impact do you believe the administration's nuclear negotiations with the regime in tehran have had with the support of the iranian government to be provided to the houthi? >> thank you very much, congressman wilson, for your kind words. in terms of the relationship or any correlation between the nuclear talks and the situation in yemen or more broadly in the

region, i think that our perspective is that -- is that what we have achieved by establishing the framework for an agreement that, of course, we hope is completed by the end of june that this is something that will contribute to regional security and stability. and that -- and that certainly one of the things that we discussed with our friends in the region and i think that president obama when he meets with the gcc leaders in summit in a few weeks will also make clear that despite the negotiations on the nuclear account and despite what we hope is an agreement to block any further iranian effort to acquire nuclear weapon nevertheless the other concerns

that we have about nuclear -- about iranian activities including in areas like yemen have not changed and that we will continue to pursue aggressively a program of confronting and challenging any iranian efforts to destabilize the region. >> and i see actually a direct relationship of the negotiations and what's going on in yemen. and that is untruthfulness. the iranian regime has indicated that they have no presence, no support, no interest whatever, and then as correctly pointed out an armada of ships appear off the coast. but with proven untruthfulness, i just can't imagine that we would be placing faith in regard to their now -- or denial of developing nuclear capability while they're building a missile system.

do you see the relationship of untruthfulness? >> well i think that certainly iranian behavior merits very close observation and i don't think that it's the intent of the administration to place any faith whatsoever in what the iranians say. the important thing is to establish a very tight system of verification that would enable us to see if in fact the iranians are cheating or otherwise violating the terms of any agreement that we might reach. so i don't think there's any trust or faith involved in this. >> well, i appreciate your concern there. and what impact do you believe the depletion of yemen's oil reserves as early as 2017 will have on the houthi relationship with other nations in the region? >> well, i think more broadly of course one of the issues and

one of the things that we as the united states were working on along with our international partners was the effort to try to provide yemen with a foundation for economic development. we recognize that it's the failure of the government to provide for its people, the failure to provide any kind of economic horizon or any optimism for the future is feeding into these issues not only with the houthi but with aqap and other violent extremist organizations. and so one of the things as we go forward not only to try to resolve some of the outstanding political issues, but also to work on these economic issues and to provide for future. having spent three years in yemen, i can say that i was always optimistic that given an

opportunity yemen could actually develop and provide for its people economically. unfortunately, the political situation and security situation have undermind their ability and our ability to really build that kind of a future. >> well, i appreciate your service there. i know it must be very distressing to you to see the current conditions. but your service means a lot to the american people. thank you. i yield back. >> thank you, mr. wilson. and thank you to your family for valuable contribution of keeping our homeland safe. thank you. mr. cicilline. >> thank you, madam chairman. thank you, mr. ambassador. first i'd like to ask you as much as you can share in an open setting, would you speak to how the current conflict has impacted our counterterrorism efforts within yemen? you mentioned in your opening remarks that aqap is taking advantage of this opportunity.

and my question is do we have in place alternative -- a counterterrorism plan that will continue to disrupt aqap and isis operations? what's the relationship of these groups on the ground? are they coordinating? during this period of unrest how are we protecting american security interests? >> it's a challenge. and certainly in the efforts we've been make over the past several years with the support of president hadi and his government a lot of our cooperation, or a lot of our effort was dependent on the cooperation that we were receiving from the yemenis. and that really enabled and expanded our ability to act effectively against violent extremist organizations. that of course both because we're not physically present in yemen right now and because of

the overall collapse of the government of yemen, that kind of cooperation is no longer viable, at least for the moment. what we're trying to do of course is that to the extent possible we will continue to use our own independent means to gather intelligence and to try to understand what's happening in yemen. but it is not as effective or efficient as it would otherwise be. and so our effort is really -- is part of a return to political negotiation and hopefully the restoration of a legitimate government in sanaa to be able to resume the kind of cooperation that we had earlier on. in terms of the interactions of the various extremist organizations, very difficult to see. we really don't have much of an

understanding of isil or what their relationships are or who they are. it's possible of course there are simply people who are using that name because they believe it adds a certain amount of veracity to what they're trying to do. so in the absence again, of any kind of presence on the ground and ability to really collect intelligence it's difficult to say. >> and mr. ambassador in light of the current situation in yemen are there any changes that need to be made to the administration's fy16 request for yemen to reflect these realities or to reflect an adjustment in the policy goals for yemen? >> it's something that we're looking at, and i think that we'll adjust. obviously our hope would be that if we can get the situation stabilized and get the political process going again that we

would be able to return and that we would be able to continue implementing the kinds of programs that we were trying to achieve that are aimed at economic growth and development as well as supporting democratic governance and the opportunity to try to build solid political foundations for the society. at this particular moment we can't do that. but it's hard to predict where we might be in six months or nine months from now. >> thank you. and mr. ambassador, my final question is the united nations reports that yemen relies on imports for 90% of its staple food. and we can surmise that as a result of the conflict that there will be a disruption in that and obviously the world food program reports that 10 million people, 42.5% of the population, were already unable to meet their basic food needs. so would you speak a little about what we're doing, what the kingdom of saudi arabia is doing, to ensure food is getting

to the right places, that the transportation is being permitted, that medicine is getting in and also are we tracking it? do we have some oversight to be sure that it's getting to the people who need it? because this has all the makings of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. >> yes, sir. and again i think, one, of course the united states is and has been traditionally the largest donor to the world food program, unicef, other international organizations that are providing humanitarian relief to the yemeni people. we'll continue to do that. there has not been any interruption in our support for humanitarian assistance. secretary blinken during his visit to riyadh and to abu dhabi had at the top of his agenda urging our partners in the gulf to ensure that they made accommodations to allow for

humanitarian relief supplies to reach yemen and our understanding from what we're seeing over these last several days in by both ship and plane over the last several days. so we are seeing improvements on that side. the internal distribution as you pointed out, the internal distribution remains problematic. understand that, for example, truck drivers are very concerned, unwilling to move because of the fighting in the country.

there are fuel shortages that complicate that and so internally we're still seeing difficulties getting the necessary supplies to the right places. it is something that we're discussing with our partners in the humanitarian community and we'll see if we can improve it. >> thank you. i yield back. >> thank you so much, mr. cicilline. dr. yoho. >> thank you, madam chair. is it feierstein? >> feierstein. >> good, i am satisfying you both. what warning signs were present prior to the fall of the hadi government? what did we see, did we know this was coming or was this kind of out of the blue? >> the situation with the houthis has been complicated for a long period of time and we have been in a situation when we had the initial uprising, political uprising in 2011 and 2012, the houthis were part of

the opposition to the saleh regime, there was strong desire on the part of all of the political groups in yemen to see if they couldn't bring them into the political process. i think there was a broad understanding that the houthis had legitimate concerns and grievances about the way they were treated over the years, there was a hope that they could be accommodated through the negotiations and implementation of the gcc initiative in a way to make them part of the larger political fabric and that was really the main effort for a long period of time. unfortunately, low level conflict continued through that period between the houthis and some of the other elements, some of the conservative sunni elements of the society, and that flared up last summer in an area north, in the northern part

of the country near the traditional houthi area. >> let me interject here. what you're saying, i think what i am hearing, the houthis didn't feel like they were involved sufficiently in the hadi government, didn't have enough input? >> they weren't technically part of the hadi government, didn't have any seats in the hadi government. they were part of the larger political process, participants in national dialogue conference and implementation of gcc initiative. >> okay, the appointment of the vice president sufficient to satisfy what they're looking for as far as representation and the other part of that question, does the appointment of mr. baha as vice president, does that weaken the hadi -- president hadi's effectiveness if he were to go back into power? >> the appointment of cal add

baja was one of the elements that resolved the first confrontation with the houthis last year when they signed an agreement and they approved the appointment as prime minister. yesterday or the day before yesterday when he was named as vice president, they objected, not because they have any concern about him. he is somebody that i think is universally respected inside yemen but because they objected to the process that led to his appointment. but we think that he is someone who is acceptable to all of the elements of society. we don't think that it would undermine the legitimacy of president hadi's government. in fact, it accomplishes something that president hadi had been encouraged to do for a period of time. >> do you see him with the

resolution of this conflict, do you see president hadi coming back and running that country? >> i think both the united states and more broadly the international community see that the legitimacy -- >> see him as a legitimate president. >> what exactly the format might be that would bring him back to sanaa is negotiable. >> all right. >> if there's some other format that would be acceptable to the yemenese, it would be acceptable to us. >> we have known the iranian influence with the houthis has been there a long time. have you seen their interference in this conflict more prevalent than it has been in the past? >> yes. >> you have seen a step up. >> yes. >> do you have any feeling that there's increase of that activity due to the iranian nuclear negotiations that we are going through, have they been embolden more? >> we believe that there are a number of factors that are

feeding into iran's sense that it has the upper hand because of its engagement elsewhere in the region, because of the weakness or disarray within the sunni community, the iranians may be involved. i think our sense is that the iranian nuclear negotiations would not be a factor. >> i find it interesting that the iranians stepped up their involvement and have taken over four capitals, we see a big influence of them in venezuela. all this time when they have been under sanctions, are supposedly struggling internally, yet we see more influence. in fact, just purchased that missile defense system from russia for $800 million. doesn't look like a country that's in financial constraints or having difficulties making this presence. i think for them to step forward, show this kind of

leadership in that region certainly not the kind of leadership would i want to see, i would think the influence we have with saudi arabia would be stronger. what are your thoughts on that? >> certainly i think that what we would like to do is see, you know, we have the nuclear agreement now. i think our view is that potentially that could contribute to regional security and stability. certainly the support that we are providing to saudi arabia and the saudi coalition and operation decisive storm is an important element, important opportunity for us to demonstrate to our friends in the region that despite the nuclear negotiations and framework agreement our commitment to their security and stability is not effected and that we will continue to confront and challenge iranian

activity where we see it playing a negative role in the region. >> ambassador feierstein, i appreciate your time. i yield back. >> thank you, dr. yoho. miss meng of new york. >> ambassador, i thought when the campaign started, the saudis were smart to brand this as a panarab effort. with the rising of civilian casualties, can you give us a sense of the perspective of this on the arab street today? >> it varies, and i do believe that broadly on the arab street i think there's a great deal of support for what the coalition is trying to accomplish in the sense that it is appropriate for the saudis to take a leadership position in confronting iranian malign intent. within yemen, of course, the situation is a little bit different and the concerns about some of the civilian casualties is obviously and understandably much higher. one of the things we are trying to accomplish in providing support to the international coalition is precisely to help them avoid those kinds of civilian casualties and make

sure when they're going after a particular target that they're doing everything possible to make sure there's no collateral damage. >> my last question. appears that turkey and pakistan backed off their initial support for this operation. can you speak about that and do you foresee the new found arab coalition working effectively together beyond yemen? >> i think for turkey and pakistan the issue is more complicated. i can speak a little bit, more familiar with the situation in pakistan than in turkey.

in pakistan you have of course a long border with iran, an important relationship between pakistan and iran as well as an important and long-standing relationship with saudi arabia and so for the pakistanis, this was probably a situation where they didn't see frankly that there was a good way forward for them to participate. they had been very clear in saying they would be absolutely committed to supporting saudi arabia if there were any kind of threat to saudi arabia specifically, but in the case of yemen a little bit more complicated for them and probably something that

politically inside of pakistan would have been extremely difficult. >> thank you very much, miss meng. >> mr. desantis, my colleague from florida. >> thank you, madam chairman. i think it -- this is important topic, i am going to get to this, but we just got news over the wire that the president is planning on removing cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. now, this is something that is although outrageous for us, something that i think we expected, i think it was baked in the cake, but i think it is really, really troubling when cuba hasn't done anything, have given no concessions, haven't done anything on behalf of their people, they're arresting more people, repressing more people since this change. they have harbored somebody on the fbi list of most wanted terrorists. nothing is being done.

this is just a pure unadulterated concession with absolutely no basis or grounding in facts. and i was happy to lead a special order on the floor last night with some of the post 9/11 veterans who are in congress and the two countries that we seem to have better relationships with now, iran and cuba. the question is what have we received in return for that, mostly it is us giving concessions to these countries and i think foreign policy based on the idea that we're going to be dancing with dictators is not a foreign policy that is going to succeed and i think it is really alienating us from a lot of our allies and tragically i think is leaving people who are fighting for freedom in places like cuba completely in the lurch. this is not the last we talk about this, i know, but it is

really, really disappointing. sorry about that, ambassador. i know that's not your cup of tea, but something that we work on on this committee and i know that the chair woman especially has done it for a long time. did the state department approve president obama's remarks in september when he announced the campaign against isis and cited yemen as a success? >> i'm not entirely sure. >> do you know -- i know there's a lot of discussion back when bush was president about approving the wmd passages. is it standard that that goes through state when president makes a major speech about foreign policy or is it just kind of state has to respond to what the white house said? i am not clear about how the process normally works. >> i think as a matter of principle it is up to the

president to decide how he wants to prepare his speeches. >> once the statement was made and yemen was cited as an example of success, were there concerns in the state department that were raised about that given the actual reality on the ground in yemen at the time? >> i would say that the record of our activities in yemen from 2011, 2012 until quite recently in terms of the effectiveness of our unilateral actions against aqap as well as the cooperation and the ability of the united states to partner effectively with counterparts in side of yemen was positive. and as a result of what we were able to accomplish together we saw a number of positive developments. in terms of taking some leadership elements of aqap off the table and also forcing aqap to change its strategy when the political crisis came in yemen in 2011, aqap was able to take advantage of that and increase its territorial control to the

extent they were actually declaring areas of the country to be an islamic caliphate, not unlike what we see with iraq and syria these days, and because of our cooperation, primarily our cooperation with yemeni security forces, we were able to defeat that at significant loss of life for aqap. as a result of that, they changed their tactics, they went back to being a more traditional terrorist organization.

they were able to attack locations inside of sanaa and elsewhere, but the fact of the matter is that we were achieving progress and our ability to pleasure them and to keep them on the defensive as opposed to giving them lots of time. and remember, in 2009, in 2010 we saw aqap mount a fairly serious effort, the underwear bomber and also the cassette tape effort to attack the united states. after 2010, they were not able to do that, despite the fact that their intent was still as clear and strong as it was before.

so while aqap was by no means defeated and continued to be a major threat to security here in the united states as well as in yemen and elsewhere around the world, nevertheless i think that it was legitimate to say we had achieved some success in the quite against aqap. unfortunately what we are seeing now because of the change in the situation again inside of yemen is that we are losing some of the gains we were able to make during that period of 2012 to 2014 and that's why it is so important that we have the ability to get the political negotiations started again so that we can re-establish legitimate government inside of sanaa that will cooperate with us once again in this fight against violent extremist organizations. >> great. my time is expired. i appreciate that.

there was a lot there. i yield back. >> thank you, mr. desantis. i look forward to watching the video of your remarks along with our other vets last night. congratulations. i wanted to ask an additional question so the members can as well. because of its geographic location, yemen is close, a short boat ride away from africa. very unstable. we have got -- do you worry about the -- were the movement to take place, that the houthi rebels, isil, whatever faction of terrorist organization could very well move their troops a little boat ride away and be yet in another area where they can control that land and destabilize an already troubled region? >> we certainly worried a lot about linkages between

particularly the aqap in yemen and shabab in somalia. we know that shabab was sending people to yemen to receive training. as you say quite correctly, the distances are very short. we are talking about from yemen to gentleman bud ee, maybe 20 miles by sea. so it is very close by. and it is something that would be of concern to us and again as part of our efforts against both aqap and al shabab, it is something that we were trying to monitor and defeat aggressively. >> well, i do worry about it and we have a lot of american personnel, embassies, consulates, we have a presence throughout that region so that is a worry some future development perhaps.

thank you, mr. ambassador. mr. deutsch? >> one more question also. with the coalition focused as it is on the houthis, and since we lost at least for now our counter terrorism partner in the yemeni government and military, is there -- what pressure is there, to the extent there is any, on al qaeda and isis as well? >> we of course to the extent we can, it is more limited now, to the extent that we can, we will continue to engage aqap unilaterally in order to try to disrupt or defeat any threats against us. when secretary was in the

region, it was an issue we raised with the saudis in particular and urged them as part of their effort to go after aqap targets as well as other targets so we can continue the pressure. >> can you tell us how that was received? >> they agree because aqap is a direct threat to their security, too. >> have we seen that happen? >> i can't say for certain, a, whether we have given any targets to go after, whether they have been effective in servicing those. >> thank you. >> thank you so much, mr. deutsch. dr. yoho. >> thank you, madam chair. just kind of a follow-up question. with the administration coming out, saying it is a success over there back in september, still

touting that as of march 24 or 25, how can we be that far off. you explained the counter terrorism portion, but to have a country taken over while we are sitting there, it feels like overnight, the marines have to take the weapons with them. i don't understand how that happens, how we can be that disconnected? what are your thoughts on that? is it just denial or is it -- i don't know what it is. i am confused because before you answer, it its counter intuitive claim, says it enrages republicans, i am sure it enrages a lot of people. i am kind of baffled. >> it was very frustrating. we again, i think that if you go back to where we were a year ago successful conclusion of the national dialogue conference, which was really the last major hurdle in completion of the gcc

initiative, houthis participated in that, participated in constitutional drafting exercise, which was completed successfully, and we were in the process of moving through all of the requirements of the gcc initiative that would allow us to complete successfully the political transition. i think there were a combination of things. one, that there was a view on the part of the houthis that they were not getting everything they wanted. they were provoked by saleh, who never stopped plotting on the first day of the gcc initiative, never stopped trying to block the political transition, and there was to be frank, there was

a weakness in the government, an inability on the part of the government to really build the kind of alliances and coalition that would allow them to sustain popular support and to bring this to successful conclusion. so i think that all through this period there was a sense that we were moving forward and that we believed we could succeed in implementing this peaceful transition, yet always knew on the margins there were threats and risks. unfortunately we got to a point where the houthis and saleh, where they reached the last moment to interrupt the peaceful transition, it was bad for them,

it would mean they wouldn't get everything they wanted, they saw that time was running out for them and decided to act and unfortunately the government was unable to stop them. >> i appreciate it. it just concerns me extremely a lot that we are calling this a success and missed the mark, way past the mark. if we're missing this, what else are we missing in our foreign policies. can i ask one other thing? we've invested $900 million since 2011 roughly. it doesn't seem like we've gotten the bang for our buck in foreign policy. in your opinion how would you direct foreign policy in a country like yemen to where we get the results we want? >> that's a good question. what i would say, in a place like yemen we have to recognize what the limitations are in those societies and accept the fact that if we are going to make a difference, it is going to be a very long term

investment on our part. it is unfortunate that yemen has taken a turn that it has taken. i don't think that the situation is irretrievable. i think with some effort on our part, part of the rest of the international community, we can get back on track. i would hope that we would then stay with it and help the yemeni people achieve a good outcome. they're good people. they're, you know, they're people who probably deserve a lot better than they've gotten, it would be good if we could be part of that success. >> ambassador, appreciate your time. madam chair, thanks for the indulgence. >> thank you, dr. yoho, mr. ambassador, yemen is a quickly moving terrain. we would appreciate if you can keep the subcommittee abreast of developments. we don't have to have a formal

hearing, we can have a meeting in one of the meeting rooms. thank you for being accessible. lots of moving parts. we would like to be abreast of every development. >> thank you. >> thank you, sir. your testimony was excellent. with that, the subcommittee is adjourned.

the road to the white house continues across the country as candidates prepare for the upcoming primaries and caucuses. join us friday when the new hampshire republican party kicks off its so-called first in the nation leadership summit. speakers include chris christie senator marco rubio and jeb bush bush. our coverage friday gets underway at noon eastern on cspan and we'll continue our coverage from new hampshire saturday morning with remarks from senators rand paul ted cruz and lindsey graham. also, donald trump is expected

to address the crowd. saturday coverage gets underway at 10:00 on cspan. at 25 a, she was one of the wealthiest widows in the colonies and during the revolution while in her mid 40s, she was considered an enemy by the british. later, she'd become our nation's first first lady at 57. mar martha washington. the sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cpan's original cities. first ladies, influence and image. examineing the public and private life. from martha washington to michelle obama. sundays at 8:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv and as a compliment to the series, cspan's new book, first ladies, presidential historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women providing lively stories of these fascinating women,

createing an inspiring read. through your favorite bookstore or online book site. friday, howard university's school of divinity hosted a panel discussion on the killing of unarmed african-americans by law enforcement. benjamin crump the attorney who represented -- gave a keynote address. that's followed by a panel edition. this is about two hours. dr. harris, thank you and i think we all want to show stom appreciate for the fact you were able to envision a need of this type of forum and put your money where your mouth is as people would say. i know you're well thought of by in many of the elected officials in

office who are students in political science here at howard and you've done a fine job and thank you for the endowment of this program. i received a phone daul from qualmy and he asked many if i would be the moderator. tell me what it's about where it is and what's going on. he said at the school of divinity at howard. okay, i'm in. tell me what the subject matter. as you see the caption title transitioning from the moment to the, from the moment to the movement. analyzing social issues revealed in recent killings of unarmed african-americans by law enforcement. that's a subject matter that if

you put your head in the sand, you still hear and didn't want to see it. the only issue i take with it is that we're analyzing social issues revealed in recent. this is not resent. one of the things i hope our speaker will get into is how is it that for so many years, with the efforts by the distinguished psychological scholars and lawyers we've had here at howard and throughout the country and we've fought so very hard for our civil rights laws and for the constitution and the laws to equally apply to all of us. how is it we're still here today talking about rekent killings?

if you look at the lynchings and kiings of african-americans throughout the history of this country, this is not a recent phenomenon, so i am honored to be to be the moderator of a panel that will present to you the views of some very distinguished, highly successful and well-known lawyers. our lecturer is ben ja man l. crump. if you did not know the name, if you see his face, you'll know him from tv. but it's now the tv law, per son na you're going to hear today and it's not the tv that has been fighting on some of these issues throughout the country. there's a statement he makes that he understands that the practice of law is a privilege that carries responsibilities and that's one of the issues i hope we all must get into.

who owns that responsibility and how should it be applied? he has long history of fighting for individuals. he has long history of fighting for civil rights. i'm not going to name the individual clients that he has. but you all know that last year, when the world was dealing with the shooting death of trayvon martin, and the trial of trayvon martin and acquittal of george zimmerman, there was an attorney standing by the family speaking, attorney, i don't want to leave your partner out of this, attorneys standing with the family speaking and making people appreciate the issues. whether you agree with the issue or disagree. attorney crump has been very successful at bringing these issues to the forefront of the american society. you'll see him frequently on cnn, abc on 20/20, on nbc today

on msnbc and he's always take ing the position fighting for his clients. we all know that mr. crump is recently involved in filing of a lawsuit and the representation in cleveland. and we have with us, the mother of tamir rice. sorry about that. who will talk with us about some of those experiences. but attorney crump going to talk about how it is that the -- of law is a privilege that carries a great responsibility. in addition, we will have a response, our respondents first wan da moore and wanda is an assistant is attorney general in new jersey. her office focuses on strengthening community police partnerships, community and

police partnerships. she spearheads the implementation of community based crime prevention strategies to reduce tru ensy. she's the past, present and founding member of the thor good marshall coalition. already, with that introduction what we're trying to say of wanda moore, there's a concept called community policing. you're familiar with that aren't you? it is a concept in its basic form where the police become a part of the community as opposed to the rolling in wlen there's trouble. i know mrs. moore will help us understand that concept what policies are are being implemented now and what the strategies are.

she will talk about this because some of the allegations and criticisms that i'm sure mr. crump will make is that there is a shoot first mentality and i know we're going to hear about tamir who was shot and -- i was going to say one second. of an officer getting out of the car, so, we're going to talk about community policing and training and police conduct and i know she will have some rebuttal ab things to add as to what mr. crump will share with us. we also have professor trulair. and he has served as associate professor of the theology director at howard since 2003. prior to joining howard, he was a distinguished professor of

religion and the temple there ises ton honors college at eastern university. he also had positions at yale, the center for urban studies at geneva and state college. the rest of his information is is contained in the brochure that you have in front of you. but i know that he will talk about some of these same programs. some of the impact of prisoners, some of the stigma associated with an arrest and dismissal and i hope that when we talk about some of these issues, we'll talk about the fact that sometimes, police officers will lock somebody up that may be questionable. have the charges dismissed as soon as it gets to the prosecutor's office, but then you have a young person there with a criminal record. ladies and gentlemen, that is our, those are our panelists.

and with that, i'm going to ask mr. crump to come up to share his words. our futured lecturer will talk about that transition from the moment to the movement and the role of lawyers and he play in this transition. mr. crump? >> thank you. his administration especially sylvia who have made me feel so welcome. for the absolute honor of being the charles harris lecture i was so moved when i read about

what you did, mr. harris, because that's what it is about when we think about what god why god gave us the blessings. not to keep it to ourselves, but to pass them along, so i salute you and i thank you. before i begin my comments there's a few people i want to recognize that are dear to me. i have the honor of being the president-elect of the national bar association. and -- billy, i know they say lawyers are always trying to bill hours and they have a lot going on, wu they took time out their busy schedules to come and be here, so i want to aung

knowledge one of my personal heroes and you all know her well here in d.c. when i was running for president, she gave me advice and told all her friends, this is my horse. i'm going with crump as my candidate. that is none other than the great ali lattimer. please stand if you will. when the nba was looked at as a all boys club, it was ali saying no we have to remember that the black women were on the front line the whole way and everybody everything. there are others jennifer, margot cynthia, all the lawyers, all lawyers please

stand. i don't want to leave anybody out. i want all of you to be with me in los angeles. great lawyers. a lot of time, you know one or two get the spotlight, but really, we're all in this together and we can never forget that and i can never be what i am to be if you're not what you're supposed to be, so cynthia, all of you, i thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for being here and giving me advice and counsel. when you're on the front lines and you fighting if fight, you need your brothers and sisters to encourage you and give you wisdom that it's hard to see when you're right down in the pinnacle of the battle. also, you know billy is is a great lawyer but he's part of a

dynamic duo. one of the thing, i'm going to talk to you from the heart. i didn't prepare notes because his wife is one of the great journalists in america and every time i would go national public radio, tell me more, with michelle martin, whatever i had prepared to say, michelle was going to ask me what she wanted the people to know, so y'all give a round of applause for michelle. i mean, she was incredible. we started the journey with trayvon, she was there from the beginning and i think it was people like her where some of the other major media didn't particularly think it was important to talk about the life of a young black male. it was michelle martin and so many of her listeners who continued to push the envelope and say, no, we want to talk about this little black boy who got killed in sanford, florida

r who was walking home. i have a very special person here with us as billy said and i'm going talk about it in great detail. because if you know the name of trayvon martin, you know the name of michael brown in ferguson it's not a list. anybody wants their children names to be added to, remember, trayvon was 17. michael brown was 18. tamir rice was 12 years old. and i don't want you to take ben crump's word for it. i want you to take my most able co-counsel, walter madison's word for it i want you to go look at the video for yourself. it's on youtube. it just google the name on the internet. and you see the video of her, her baby her baby boy. her last child.

was taken from her and you would know that when the grand jury's convened in cleveland, ohio, sometime in the next few months the face of police brutality in america would be that of a 12-year-old child. a baby tamir rice. we have his mother here with us. y'all please give her a round of applause. thank you and i'm so happy that we have so many people here, especially young people. i saw you come in from the back, i know you were coming from class.

but young people, we're so happy to be here because this really is is about you all and we have to remember that you know, billy, i have pleasure of speaking to 2700 women last night. not too far from here in virginia at the mid-atlantic regional conference and it was so interesting that all the media folks showed up and they said, well mr. crump, why -- we know you got this conference and you talking to these women, but why do you why aren't you talking with the young black men and try inging to say what they got to do. the obligation. almost trying to shift the burden to us. and you know michelle, it's always they try to find the reason to try to justify killing our children and putting the

problem on us. and i remember telling all those sisters out there, what we have to do. and it's so important that we remember our children are watching us and the whole world are watching our responses, and so, i told them from the very beginning, no, we're here with these women speaking up for our children. standing up for our children. defending our children. ready to fight for our children. and if need be, ready to die for our children because they're our children and you're not going to be allowed to tell our children that they can't be children. you know they try to demonize trayvon martins of the world. demonize michael browns. i don't know how they going to try to demonize tamir rice a 12-year-old kid, but as i stand here dr. harris, i can guarantee you this being part of this criminal justice system that we're a part of they are going to try to blame tamir rice

for what you see in tla video. and so, i start my comments they said, after i got them off of that talking about what message are you giving to young black men and all these sisters and they said well, why do you take on these cases? why do you keep making these issues? you know, these controversial ib issues. i looked at the newspaper in richmond, virginia and tvs the same headline. all across america. and they said, because of what just happened to walter scott in north charleston south carolina, black men still targets. and so, i told him, the word, this is why i take on the cases i take on, but i have a news flash for you. it's not just black men.

it's black women. it's black boys. and it's black girls. it's brown boys. it's brown girls. and y'all, i said, it would be so easy for us to look the other way. we comfortable. we making money. you know, we got these fancy law degrees and stuff. but as i stand here at the school of divinity at howard university, attorney ray, wouldn't god be ashamed of us if we didn't use the blessings and the talents and the education and everything he's given us to not stand up for the least of you? to not stand up for our little brothers and sisters who are looking to us. our community is screaming out to us. for leadership. screaming out to the lawyers screaming out to the preachers. the doctors.

all those people who sacrificed for us to get these degrees. you know and the one time they need us, we look the other way and say, oh, i'm not going to get involved in that. the it's too controversial. i'm not going to get involved in that because i wonder what they'll say at my job. and so, it is for these reasons that we have to speak up because it's not just a black man. but i think about it you know trayvon, 17. michael brown 18. and i remember being very honest with brothers and sisters. i said the reason i take these cases is because 17-year-old trayvon martin mattered as he laid on that ground dead in

sanford, florida, in that gated community with a bullet hole through his hoodie where his heart was located. michael brown 18 years old in ferguson missouri, mattered as he lay on the ground dead, in broad daylight in ferguson, missouri, for over four hours. tamir rice life mattered. 12 years old. playing with a toy gun. who he had got from his friend. attorney madison and i, we went through pain staking measures ali, to make sure america understood that even though everybody knows police officers are trained to deescalate situations, certain times in

certain communities for whatever reason billy, they use different procedures seems like to escalate situations. and so, when when you watch that surveillance video in cleveland ohio ohio, the police officer comes up in such a reckless way. i mean he's driving that police cruiser that if they were other children at that playground, we probably would be dealing with more than just one fatality and they pulled that driver wrecklessly and within less than two seconds, from the car stopping two seconds they made a decision, they didn't try to give any verbal commands, even though they would have us believe if you take their word for it, that they yelled three

times at him to drop the weapon and put his hands up. they will have you believe that but don't take my word for it. google tamir rice and watch the video yourself and you decide whether they really gave that child a chance to surrender. i think tamir, like trayvon, went to his grave never knowing what he had did wrong and so in less than two seconds, they got out and you see tamir falling over. and i know this is very emotional and i apologize, but we got to let people know the story because if not, they just sweep it under the rug. and so tamir this 12-year-old baby is down there on the ground in the snow. in cleveland, ohio. and the community center and

samaria would tell you what, how normal that day was when she gets the opportunity to speak to you, but his sister, his 14-year-old sister she came running out the community center with the other children laura, and she is crying and it's so riveting to me. she's screaming they killed my baby brother. they killed my baby brother. and the other chirp have the cell phones out and they are record ing recording it and one of the young men says, no, no, he's not dead. he's still moving. and i'm listening to this and i'm saying, how terrible this is for this little 14-year-old child. but it gets worse. when they finally get to the tragic scene of where the, her brother has been killed and she's screaming, they killed my

baby brother, the police officers would like to say well, this 12-year-old looked like a adult, so we didn't know. but at this point with his 14-year-old runs up screaming they killed my baby brother, they now know that this is a child and that this is obviously his sister because she's screaming, they killed my baby brother. and what humanity do they offer this little black girl? what kind of comfort? what kind of counsel do they try to extend to her? well, the fortunate thing attorney madison and i have in this case now is the fact that the video surveillance keeps run ing and so, we get to see not only what they do to her, but what they do to samaria when she a i rooifs on the scene and her

brother and we get to a vantage point into the mentality of these police officers on that tragic day. and what they do to her, this 14-year-old girl who sees her brother lying on the ground just been shot, kicking in the snow, they man handled her. they tackle her. they tackle her not once but when she tries to get back up off the ground, they tackle her again and she's yus trying to get to her baby brother. and to add insult to injury, they then put handcuffs on her and it's all the video. don't take my word for it. they drag her in the snow. in the same police cruiser that you see them just minutes ago get out the car and shoot her baby brother. they put her in the backseat of

that police cruiser handcuffed while she lays there watching her baby brother kicking in the snow, dying. and they then try to justify it in the answer to our complaint, right, attorney madison by saying 12-year-old tamir rice responsible because he should have been more careful. and so when the reporters asked me last night, why do i do this, why do i do this i think of my own children. i think of sa brie na fulton at the first million hoodie rally when she said, i was nervous out there.

excuse me. in new york city. she said thank you all for standing up for my son, trayvon martin. but he's not just my son. thank you. but he's not just my son. he's your son. he's all our son. because if it can happen to my child, it can happen to your child. and we all got to stand up for our children. we all got to stand up for justice. and i'm here to tell you, i'm trying to go tell it on the mountains to everybody. don't think that it can't happen to your child. remember trayvon was in a gated community. all these affluent african-americans there today, they like to think of it that's swrus something that happened in the hood. well, it's happening more and more in these suburbs because

they don't think you all, your children supposed to be there and when they see your children black or brown faces, they don't distinguish anything from the people who they are bad people because they live in the hood. they just see black. they just see brown. they just see color. and in a matter of seconds sometimes, two they make a life or death decision and it's not just the police. it's the police like -- neighborhood watch folks making these decisions that our children are being taken from us. and then we look in a i'm talking from the heart. then we look at what happened in south carolina. time magazine called me bill, and they said crump you been

on these cases now all over america. we want you to write a op-ed piece about what this means. what this video means. dr. harris. and so, i thought it and it's going to be in a magazine coming out next week. the only thing i wrote i chose the title. will america finally challenge the standard police narrative? and you all know what the narrative is. oh, i feel threatened. i felt my life was in danger. the person of color reached for my weapon sao i had to kill him. and they keep justifying these things based on just this narrative, the sanctions of killing of innocent people of

color. all over america, in every city it's happening, and it's the same narrative over and over and they just accept it as the gospel. and it's just tragic, because when you really think about it, no matter how ridiculous it is they still accept that narrative. you have. our children, our boys have been shot in the back multiple times. yet the police were like i felt in fear of my life so they just say justify, sweep it under the rug rug. you have people getting shot in the back of the head, they say, i was in fear of my life. handcuffed, i was in fear of my life. sweep it right up under the rug. i'm here to declare to you all, they're on their way to doing

that in south carolina. they have already. the standard police narrative was there. he said he reached for my taser. and i'm thinking, but you shot him in the back how many times? and so he reached for your taser, but he's running away from you why do you feel your life is in danger? this happening all over america. alicia thomas. the police kill her they say, we were in fear of our life. they try to sweep it under the rug, when will america challenge the narrative. we hope and pray. do you think because it's so defining it will change? well, it didn't change for ta

mere rice. it didn't change for eric gardiner itten did the change for antonio zambruno who is the hispanic version of mike brown. he puts his hands up and police shoot him seven times. it didn't change -- this was a 27-year-old man who was driving the car, who had never committed any crime in his life. and the police stopped him, beat him, and then, if you believe he planted cocaine in his car and they took him to jail, he said no, no, take a drug test, take my hair, whatever, i've never used drugs in my life, he said, i didn't do anything these police officers attacked me.

he had been charged. he was found not guilty now he was with a small police department. and so you ask yourself why don't we ever listen to our community versus just accepting the narrative. they accepted the narrative, he went to jail he was well on his way of being convicted of a felon. and then the video came out. and you saw what these guys did. and you saw the evidence being planted. and so why do we keep accepting the standard police narrative. i felt in fear of my life, it happens over and over again. let me back up one quick second. the shooter.

you should have pulled my coat tail the shooter, the person who shot tamir rice had been previously forced to resign from a neighboring police department because they said he was unfit to be a police officer. and that he was untrainable. it didn't matter how much training he went to. they said he was untrainable. but yet he kills tamir race in less than two seconds and the district attorney still don't say there's enough probable cause to go ahead and charge him him, we have to go to this secret grand jury proceeding. as lawyers we all know you send it to the grand jury when you want a case to die. when you don't want to bring

charge s charges. i'm going to make a few more points here. i'm talking to you from the heart, because it just matters. our children's lives just matter. our brothers and sister's lives just matter. and we talk about transitioning from the moment to the movement. i think about all those phone calls when they first call when these people are dealing with the worst hour of their life. they lost a husband, a wife, a son or a daughter. and those moments are just. i think about tracy martin and trayvon, you never can get that sound out of your head, that phone call when they first call,

and you know, they try sometimes to still type black man as if we don't love our children. man, i'm here to tell you, tracy martin loved his son trayvon. when he was on that call -- you have to remember tracy is it a manly man, he drives trucks. he has the beard the women like to look at him. and tracy was on that phone and -- i mean, when he said about the neighborhood watch volunteer with a nine millimeter gun kill my son when he was walking home from the 7-eleven. it's almost like he was whisperring. when you see this on tv, this real manly man it's the sound of heart brokenness. i mean, just hopelessness.

i mean, he was telling me they weren't going to do anything about him. i was almost debating. you don't need me mr. martin give it a couple days. i kept thinking to myself you know your son is unharmed, he's walking with a bag of skittles and a can of iced t and the neighborhood watch volunteer has a nine millimeter gun and shoots him in the heart, i'm like no, you got your dead child unarmed body. the smoking gun in a self-professed killer's hand of course they're going to arrest them i really believe that, i'm an officer of the court, you know. i see in our community people in court get arrested every day with no evidence at all, with an

innuendo somebody said you look like him they thought he was in the area. they allowed evidence. probable cause is such a low standard to arrest them and give us our due process, give us our day in court our constitutional right. this whole notion that it's equal and fair whatever happens to anybody in america, we treated them all the same. i'm believing that. and mr. morris says, no. they're not going to arrest him, because this stand your ground thing. and at that point we have to make a decision. when nobody's watching. when there is no cameras, there's no crime you know, there's nobody saying i am trayvon, president obama has said if i had a son, he would look like trayvon lebron james

put on the hoodie with the miami heat and said, we are tray van 2.7 million people saying a little black boy's life matters before that, it was just the father on the phone and i had to make a decision whether i was going to answer the bell. we have to make the decision whether we're going to answer the bell, when nobody's watching but god and when you do that, god just takes over from there. you don't know what god has planned until you answer the bell to try to do right. when you try to do right, he's going to help you along the way.