highlighted how effective some of our disaster response mechanisms really are. f i've heard that safer buildingat t techniques meant that we suffered zero u.s. embassy or ur par local personaltn fatalities. it's also very exciting to hear i' that some of our partner nations are using u.s. built e capabilities to contribute to that response. i'm interested to hear the witnesses' insight on what this inc meansre regarding the efficacy of these investments in the region whether u.s. capacity building can r in theed region has increased in the effectiveness and now these typerm. of investments can reduce the cost of disaster response operations for the united states this in the long term. it's under extremely unfortunatee organi circumstances that we discuss these efforts, but this is the precisely what we have many of these organizations for

discussing the challenges we face in the region is necessary pare f to prepare for future potential disasters. and working toward minimizing the loss of life as well as ncere depleting limited resources associated with relief efforts. i give my sincere thanks to our colleagues and our witnesses forer joining us in this conversation today. and i yield to the ranking m member, mr. connolly. >>d st thank you, mr. chairman. and welcome to our panel. the united states has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to assistance in disaster readiness in nepal. for over 60 years we've had a presence in nepal in the form of our bilateral aid program. and we've been focused on strengthening the country's disaster response capabilities

for the last two decades. include the establishment of a disaster risk office to make the country more resilient. implementation for the program -- the enhancement of emergencyme response to train nepally first responders and medical personnel and publication of a disaster risk reduction strategic framework for the country. we will be interested in hearinghe how some things worked and some things didn't in the face of ear this natural disaster. o as part ofn ap the u.s. response to a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred on april 25th the development office of disaster ite ur assistance deployed a disaster assistance response team that a. included elite urban search and rescue teams from my home countyts, pa and los angelesra california.ms and

technical search and rescue specialists, paramedics and other personal volunteer to seven on these teams. it makes one's heart feel better on television watching the backs saying l.a. team fairfax team because you know americans are putting themselves at risk to they'v try toe save fellow human beings quick they've never met in a far away place. once in country, the team task quickly begins to facilitate relief efforts. this time, that task was immense. the team found a dire situation e whic in theh region.6,000 most heavily affected by the earthquake which killed more than 8,000 people and injured at d least 16,000am more. the seismic impact left over 750,000 homes damaged or destroyed. and 1.5 million people displacedne even withoutl access to clean

water. team members helped the nepali personnel assess whether structures were safe to inhabit. the u.s. search and rescue teams also helped to pull a 15-year-old boy from the rubble of a building five days after the earthquake had struck. additionally, after experiencingued a 4 a 7.3 magnitude after shock the team quickly went back to work and rescued a 41-year-old woman trapped in a four-story how building.ev cer u.s. assistance efforts are not es cost-free endeavors however, and they certainly are not without while on risk. tragically, six of our marines . were killed in a helicopter de crash while onpl a humanitarian mission in response to this earthquake. the dangerous nature of these the deployments on behalf of vulnerable populations abroad, this m further demonstrates the

resolve. we should honor the men and li women who step forward to put themselves in harm's way on behalf of this mission. it tests the limits of domestic institutions as well as in internationa nl assistance and lea cooperation.w we i certainly look c forward to hearing about the performance ofpal and the u.s. team in nepal, lessons learned, and how we can further r improve our coordination with nepal and other partners when the need for such disaster relief effort arises again. i welcome recommendations on how to promote the democratic transition in nepal and put a s decadeoc of civil war firmly in the rear-view mirror. nepal will be able to develop fully its own disaster response ter pr cape b89s resilient enough for this disaster prone region in the world. with that i yield back. >> thank you.

does anybody else wish to be recognized? >> thank you mr. chairman, for calling this important hearing. the devastating earthquake that hit nepal on april 25th was heartbreaking. the loss of life is tragic beyond words. and the loss of thousands of be ab years of history. picking up will not be easy and unfortunately nepal will never be able to get back all that it has los lost.rable an the international response has rts been considerable. and in particular, the u.s. government's response efforts from the state department and aved m department of defense, the rapid fire response made a difference and saved many lives and you're th to be e commended and thanked for your considerable effort there. and a ths e dedicated u.s. team that and joined the response effort deserves our gratitude. and ranking member mentioned six of our marines paid the ultimatee price to help the nepal people. an

they'll forever be missed and we should remember them. three years akboe, i happen to visit vonepal. as soon as i heard this i remembered it like it was he yesterday, the ambassador voicing his concern to us as we drove through there about the l stone buildings and the brick buildings and the vulnerability to the quake when the big one hit. the thing that's particularly frightening is this apparently lnerab wasn't the bigil one. there's probably one even bigger. hopefully that can be considered in the efforts, everything that's happening right now, but n long term maybe preventing more people from losing their lives down the road and how we can assist in that effort.r: thank all of you for all you've done to help. yield back. to >> wouldma you like to make an opening statement? >> thank you mr. chairman and our witnesses for being here of

course.om new york city is home to thousands of nepalese americans. so this earthquake has affected my constituents in a very personal way. i want to thank all of your departments for the immediate response to the crisis and your on going efforts. in a tragedy like this one every saved minute and hour is important and can mean the difference between a life saved and a life lost. this has been a humanitarian crisis of immense proportions. the government of nepal estimates that more than 8200 people have been killed and over 17,900 injured. from what i understand an earthquake in nepal was considered one of the worst case scenarios. i'd like to hear from you on how your preparations helped facilitate appropriate aid in nd i

this crisis and what more needs to be done to prepare for futuredyfuturepa dy dy sasters. >> we're proud and very ling t appreciate today to speak withhi the panel of some of the administration's most knowledgeable and senior figures handling this crisis. appearing before the nd subcommittee once again is nisha biswal. assistant secretary of w state forg south and central asian affairs.e she's just returned from nepal. we're very much looking forward to hearing about your findings there.admini we're also grateful to hear fromoini thomas staal of the bureau for democracy conflict and humanitarian u assistance. also joining us is jonathan this stooifers. great to have you here. assistant administrator of the

bureau for asia. this is his third time before the subcommittee. f we are very glad that you keep coming back, that we haven't scared you away. that's good. and finally ann sslswitkowski. the subcommittee gives sincere thanks to the panel for their hank y insights this afternoon. for and i'm going to start with ms. biswal. >> thank you so much for this important and timely hearing on nepal. ranking member connolly and members of the committee, it is but tragic that the i earthquake in ry nepal is what brings us togetherrtfelt here, but i want to thank you stron for your very comprehensive and nited heart felt statements and for the very strong support of the united states congress in the relief efforts from the united ne states and really from around

the world for the people of nepal at this time. i'm particularly proud to be appearing at this hearing with i my colleagues from usaid and the department of defense which is aooperati really true indication of the spirit of civil and military cooperation in the united states when it comes to issues of humanitarian response. in the interest of time and because we have such detailed expertise, i want to ask that my full statement be entered into k the record and i will summarize a few key points here. mr. chairman, the outpouring of concern from the u.s. congress c in the days and weeks following the earthquake and the surge in contributions to relief f organizations is a real testament to the generosity of the american people and a true th indicator of the common values that unite us during difficult nepa times. as you noted, the 7.8 magnitude d

over earthquake in nepal took over 8,600 lives and injured over 17,000 people. last week, i traveled to nepal and witnessed firsthand the devastating losses suffered by the nepalese people, but also the triumph of the human spirit and the courage and commitment hav of the relief workers as they all came together to help nepal of recover from this devastating an earthquake. i saw the grit and determination in the faces of those who had lost their homes and family eaking members, but who had not lost their hope. it was heartbreaking news as i hed arrived in nepal that the american uh 1 helicopter had crashed with no survivors. that newsreac reached our team in kathmandu as we had kept our

search efforts and our hopes alive for four days in search of that helicopter.eople we salute those brave military professionals. americans and nepalese who perished in their nation's service while helping those in s need. i also want to take a moment to joine expressd our extreme gratitude to sea the strongrc support of the indian and nepalese forces that joined us in the extensive search or s that helpicopter. they joined in that search as ife u.s. it was one of their own that had gone missing.team and the u.s. civilian responders ledch by the aid dart team and the embassy team and our search and rescue teams from fairfax and los angeles all worked to

tirelessly to save lives and tha bringt em assistance.best they are o heros that embody the best of american values. mr. chairman, nepal is a nation the ve of tremendous strength and bravery. it was just on the verge of emerging from a ten-year civil war and moving towards strengthening its democracy and moving down a path of development. it is now a country that is recovering from a major tragedy she and focusing on the most immediate needs of shelter, of food, and of health. if we are to help nepal not only recover from this earthquake and but also continue down that path of political transition and progress, it is going to requireunity an the considered effort of the united states and the international community and most importantly of nepal itself.

our immediate focus, mr. chairman, is on beating the cted i clock as the monsoon rains that are expected in about a month's time threaten to bring a new onset of disaster. we are racing against time to provide shelter, to help people get crops in the field and to en move towards post-monsoon about recovery phase. when i was in nepal i had a chance to visit a town about an hour outside of kathmandu where was i saw devastation which was e heart rending with 50 to 60 to 70% of the buildings and structures destroyed or damaged beyond habitation. yet, at the same time, we saw persevereance in the faces of thethe people who were already undertaking the task of trying

to put their lives and homes back together., but, the u.s. government has already committed nearly 47 million in assistance, but mr. chairman, i want to note that some of the most important life-saving as yo assistance that the united states provided happened before su the earthquake struck as you noted.stment and because of the strong support of the united states and the american people and the and investments we have made over h the years, the nepalese government and military which had been training with our military was in a much better capacity to respond to this earthquake. our embassy staff under the leadership of ambassador peter ca body and deputy chief of mission, the embassy staff performed above and beyond the call of duty after undergoing tha that tragic earthquake. they were up and ready to assist

within hours.d over and that team because of the investments that the american congress has supported over the last five years, did not lose a single life on the embassy staff.and done we had put everybody into tions earthquake resilient housing and we had done drills and y preparation that proved to be extremely life saving in this thers important moment. and they were able to go about the business of rendering been assistance tota others in need because their own needs and their own families had been taken care of. we learned important lessons in that process and we will be looking at the best practices ofher what we did in nepal in terms of e ourmb embassies and people in other seismically prone areas. the embassy has been open since the time of the earthquake providing services to american thir

citizens and others in need. over 800 u.s. citizens and third country nationals were sheltering at the embassy for a number of days in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. over 50 u.s. and third country nationals were rescued by the . efforts of the embassy team, by chartering private aircraft before the u.s. military assets arrived on the ground.american and they continue to work to provide assistance to american third citizens in need across nepal as well as third country nationals as necessary. r mr. chairman, i want to talk about -- a little bit about the regional responses to this the earthquake. we have seen a remarkable response by the neighboring countries certainly the indian government and military but also assistance was mobilized by

bangladesh sri lanka, japan effort thailand. it'ss been a tremendous outpouring of either from within the region and across asia. that has been an important indicator of the increasing capabilities throughout asia to that respond to i humanitariandy sasters. a lot of that is work that has been done by the united states working with our partners across asia to build capacity, both our office of foreign disaster amou assistance andnt military has put in a tremendous amount of effort over the past decades building disaster response capabilities and that was on full display y, mr. during this recent tragedy. f finally, as we are still in the midst of relief, we are already the lo talking about andng focusing on the longer term recovery and we nited arena working together with the k, t internationalhe communicate with the world bank, the united ors

states, the asian development bank, the european union and bilateral donors to come together around a common framework of needs. there will be a post-disaster needs assessment led by the world bank and u.n. under which the government of nepal and all of the donor community are work o working together to have a common assessment of need. based on that, we will work as together to ascertain the assistance pledges from within asia and around the international community. we do expect that a lot of the a recovery will be asian led, but the united states will have a very important role to play if we are to help nepal not only recover from this earthquake, chairm but build backan better. we will have more on that as we progress. but mr. chairmansely i want to pledge to you that we will work very closely with congress as we determine those needs and as we licacy

move forward.ue it is also a time of political delicacy as we continue to g strengthen nepal's efforts for thenin political reconciliation for constitutional drafting and for strengthening its democracy moving forward. we will seek to work through the relief and recovery phase in ways that build political consensus and unity and help strengthen the democratic th process in nepal. finally, there are particular vulnerable groups within nepal that are more affected by this earthquake. pa and wert are very mindful of the lity needs of women and children particularly the vulnerability to tracking at a time when the law enforcement capabilities are neigh focused on search relief. we are working with the law enforcement authorities of nepal but also of neighboring countries to ensure we are so

addressing the needs of these most vulnerable victims of the earthquake so that they do not also become victims of trafficking. we're also working to ensure that minority populations and refugee communities listen nepaladdres whose have long found refuge by the government of nepal are also addressed in terms of the impact a of the earthquake on tibet ten and other communities. f finally, as we are looking at the long term impacts let us not forget the impact on nepal's cultural heritage. -- the beautiful and ancient architecture of nepal took a severe blow. i had a chance to walk through the square. it was just a deeply moving sight to see some of these beautiful ancient buildings reduced to rubble. and it will take an effort from wh not just nepal but from the

world to preserve this her tanl. it is the world's heritage. and with that, let me just thank youcongre again for the leadership of this committee and of this congress and the support that you have provided to the people of nepal and to the u.s. government's response to this tragic earthquake. i lookth forward to your questions. >> thank you, mrha. staal? >> chairman salmon ranking member connolly, thank you very much for violating us to testifyo our regarding the humanitarian response to the nepal s our earthquake. and of course thank you for your continuing support to our efforts.ed we'd like to express our deepest condolences to all of those who lost their lives and to the loved ones in this tragedy marine including the families of the six marines and the two nepali

soldiers who died. we're grateful to our military e partners and staff who are a taking risks every day to save lives in nepal. as you mentioned the earthquake on april 25th and the especia aftershocks that followed caused huge widespread damage across nepal and especially in the rted rural areas. but preparedness measures that w of usaid has provided over the ho years. i would like to provide an overview of our response and share how we've leveraged effic investments inie disaster risk reduction over the years to y ensure the most effective and efficient response.ide then i'll turn it over to my colleague who just returned fromoned nepal to provide an overview of u.s. the next steps and initial plans for recovery. $47 as you mention, to date the u.s. h government provided nearly $47 uding million in humanitarian we assistance.

the funding is being used to address priorities including emergencyrink shelter. we've got some plastic sheeting right here, safe drinking watermen an food improved hygiene protection of survivors especially women and children, and quite a broad spectrum of respon assistance. within hours after the earthquake hit, we deployed a disaster assistance response team. thisxper included 20 usaid disaster experts plus the search and rescue teams from fairfax and los angeles and their famous now 12 rescue k-9s. here's a photo of two f on the usar members and her k-9 from fairfax.ed from i think we've got it there vious somewhere. there you go. you know, we've learned from previous disaster responses the value of strong interagency

coordination. based on initial disaster lo assessments we promptly requested assistance to provide air lift and logistical support. since may 4th we've worked with the military to transport more than 109 tons of relief supplies to remote areas. the coordination has been exceptional. our dart urban search and rescue, the usar specialists played a critical role in this dentify response. i got another photo here that many of you have seen where they helped to identify and then puller the a 15-year-old boy out of the rubble in kathmandu five days rescue after the earthquake hit. the yellow hats are the search and rescue folks in there. and then of course nepalis as the m well. as you mentioned, they also rescued a 41-year-old woman ers at after t the may 12 aftershock. and they worked with u.s. mail

tear to set up triage centers at the airport and treated people. the u.s. air teams are home now but our disaster experts remain th to direct the u.s. response in coordination with the government of nepal and other donors. with the monsoon season fast approaching as my colleague san said we're focusing on providing emergency shelter improving water, sanitation and hygiene. we'vepl airlifted so far 6,200 rolls of this heavy duty plastic sheeting. we've got a picture of that being distributed. this can help 310,000 people rai build temporary shelters, protect their homes from damage and rain. and the last cargo flight with use sheeting just landed this morning. not only for homes, but you can showi use that plastic sheeting for other purposes. i think the next photo we've gotrooms showing that the nepal red cross

is using it as temporary classrooms and safe spaces for children to play. that's another way of protecting wan the women and children. before i turn over to john i want to briefly identify some insights on response from nepal previous investments. over two decades we've part nerd with the government of nepal to bolster its emergency response capability. we supported the nepal red cross society to preposition water treatment plants and stock hours warehouses with emergency supplies out in the rule areas. and these were distributed to 3,000 families within hours of the earthquake happening. we worked with the international organization of migration to athman preserve more than 80 open spaces through the kathmandu chools valley about half of which are now being used to shelter s, we displaced. we retrofitted schools to make

them more earthquake resistant. we checked these schools. only six had damage and very rednes minor damage. and also thanks to support for hospital preparedness. the hospitals were able to stay open and quickly provide support to earthquake survivors. one hospital it's treated 700 have b survivors from the -- aneed performed 300 surgeries. p sore the impact of the quake could have been a lot worse without e inve these preparedness efforts.been and none of these investments of course would have been possible con without your continued support. so thank you very much. now i'd like to turn to john to lay out some of the plans for the recovery phase. thank you. >> mr. stivers. >> thank you. thank you for scheduling this important hearing. thank you for your continued support for usaid's humanitarian

and development initiatives. i join with this committee and my colleagues in expressing deepest condolences to all that lost their lives in this tragedy including the six marines and two nepal soldiers who died. i can attest to the expertise, determination and bravery of our personnel who are saving lives and mitigating the damage of this terrible earthquake. i can also attest to the resilience of the people of nepal. building on the remarks of my colleagues i'll focus first on the context of the earthquake then second on our efforts to protect vulnerable people especially women and girls, and third, some early thoughts on nepal's long term recovery. in regards to development, nepal's one of the poorest prior countries in the world and continues to cope with the cant d effects of a decade long

insurgency. prior to the earthquake, nepal had made significant development gangs including with the global lped health and global climate change initiatives. first, we've helped nepal cut extreme poverty rate in half to 25% in recent years. second, we've helped significantly decrease maternal . and infant mortality and giving mothers and children a better future. and third since the conflict ended in 2006, we have supported nepal in carrying out two free e and fairle elections with high ite th voter turnout and support for their election commission. nepal has significant challenges ahead.l a natural disaster threaten the have stability of this fragile democracy and the gains made n over the last decade.rent in regards to gender based

violence, prior to the earthquake human trafficking was a prevalent problem.r usaid is leveraging its human s and trafficking program to respond. for example, our partner the asia foundation is identifying e those in need and providing support to help vulnerable people cope with the problem of loss. usaid is expanding on those efforts to five more earthquake affected districts building on our ongoing legal counselling and training of justice sector officials to effectively investigate and prosecute trafficking cases. thank you to the members of this committee for really keeping this issue front and center.ing reco in regards to the long term recovery time and again we've seen the value of initiating gover recovery effortsnm even as a nterna disaster response is underway. we will work with the government

of nepal and the international community and local civil society to advance the long term recovery effort. we're working closely on a post-disaster needs assessment that should provide a framework. mid-j whileun that assessment will not be completed until mid-june, we anticipate that shelter and infrastructure will be the greatest need. we have learned it's contingent on people having a safe place tohe live. i had an opportunity to participate in an aerial survey in one of the worst hit districts in the mountains of kathmandu. it's estimate d that 70% of the rem structures were destroyed and 40% of the deaths occurred here. the remoteness makes delivering relief supplies extremely ry difficult.

assessing the full scope of the nd reconstruction effort is a major challenge. but we know it will need to if he kus on livelihoods and food security, education prekts of vulnerable people and disaster risk management.ve ensure t is that recovery investments are transparent accountable and responsive to local needs. we look forward to working with the u.s. congress to determine the appropriate u.s. role.governme nepal will not walk this road the alone. the u.s. was one of the first countries to enter nepal in 1951. we are nepal's longest standing o development partnerf and we will work alongside them on the front lines in the recovery. i look forward to answering any questions. thank you. >> thank you. committ

>> thank you. mr. chairman ranking member o sherman and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today -- >> forred record, i am not rapging member sherman. conno >> sorry. may i try again? ranking member connolly and th distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding the department of defense role in the u.s. response to the april 25 nepal my d earthquake and may 12 aftershock. first, i would like to express my deep sadness and offer by r condolences to the families of the six marines lost in a serv helicopter accident supporting the relief either. it's a reminder of the vital e role that u.s. service members t with play inou delivering humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, but one that is not without he risk.

the department has a long history of military to military engagement in nepal in the vera pacificl region. this engagement has focused on several areas most relevant to today's hearing, increasing nepal's humanitarian assistance as and disaster response capabilities. in recent years, through u.s. pacific command, dod has worked with the government on initiatives to design specifically and mitigate the impacts of disasters like this one. establishment of an earthquake main resistant central blood bank.d rapid construction of earthquake resistant emergency faelts. training on rapid repair of of runways. establishment of emergency operation centers and the construction of multiple disaster material warehouses. in addition, we have engaged in disaster reduction exercises andd

exchanges including an r earthquake scenario field training exercise in 2013 and a summit hosted in 2014. alo another round of exchange es training is scheduled for later this year. deepe such efforts along with other dod humanitarian assistance projects help to deepen our cooper p cooperation with our nepal partners. p for example, the dod funded deep tube well project is currently being used to provide water and power to more than 5,500 25, displaced persons as well as villagers and police in the kathmandu value. the dep on april 25th secretary carter directed that the department provide support to the government of nepal led relief either responding to usaid's request for assistance.he the commander of u.s. specific

command ordered two u.s. special forces teams to assist the embassy team with immediate life savingo relief and medical support. they provided two c-17 aircraft nse te to air lift the previously mentioned usaid disaster assistance response team as wellms. as the two urban search and he ini rescueti teams from fairfax county virginia and los angeles county california. the u.s. pacific command also y mari deployed a 20-person joint humanitarian assessment support le team to provide subject matter expertise to the dart leader andcame better frame military requirements. as the disaster assistance response team came to understand the scale of the disaster, it became clear that more military ts support would be required.lp the rotary wing air lift and

airfield management specialist e were needed to help increase throughput at the backlogged international airport. the u.s. military response named operation nepal for helping handwhistl is under theel control of joint m task force 505. the jtf has had more than 900 total personnel in nepal. up to 300 have been forward staged to nepal with brigadier general ortkennedy. they have provided air lift u.s airfield services, search and t rescue support and other fted support. as of may 19 the joint task force had felony 290 relief lights airlifted passengers and airlifted material and relief id supplies. in conclusion, the department of e defenseff has responded swiftly to a assist the government of nepal.

the relief efforts to date highlight the unique nati capabilities the department withk bring to bear in the u.s. government response to notch ral raldy sasters. thank you again for this in th opportunity to highlight the great work that the men and women of the department of ok for defense are going alongside our the partners in usaid and the state department and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you. i understand mr. connolly has another scheduling issue. i'm going to let you ask the first question. >> mr. chairman thank you. i really appreciate it.upport welcome to our panel. i'm particularly interested as a long time supporter of and participant in usaid programs, lessons learned. nepal s what worked what didn't. we've been in nepal since 1951. we've done a lot of training and spent a lot of money on emergency preparedness knowing with.

this is a high risk area to two begin with.s you're in, you know -- you're between two technical tonic plates that created the him lay yas. so i mean this is real stuff. what worked?your opi what worked well mr. staal in your opinion and what disappointed us that we have to beef up and improve? >> thank you, congressman connolly. very important question and something that we take very seriously. in fact, every time we do a be humanitarian response like this,ut as we do an after action. so that will be coming out as w well. even early on, i think we can jus already see that a number of things worked well. certainly our coordination with the military. and not just that it worked well now, but the fact that we had already developed good m relationships, good working

relationships. in fact, paul kennedy that she mentioned also helped us on yea the -- >> you're talking about our military. >> yeah.to exactly. that latchedsh up really well. that's an important thing that we continue to build that. also our relationship on the ground. you know training of search andthe gove rescue teams within nepal first responders there both in the government and even volunteers. i mean, they -- that made a huge difference prepositioning supplies around the country. both from us and from the military side made a huge erence. difference. it's hard to measure the negative, but i think that made oing a huge difference. coordination is still an ongoing c challenge, certainly in any disaster this big, especially in a disaster in a country that has, you know governance

challenges. we've had to u provide quite a bit up of support to that in a number tem ofwh ways. the u.n. system quickly set up a cluster system where you have sector groups, protection cluster and so on so that all different agencies providing humanitarian assistance can work e together. that helped the government in notice terms of their leadership. but still -- and even one of the abili issues wety noticed was at the airport, the ability of the nepalese government to manage all the a supplies coming in was you know inadequate. so again we called on our friends from dod to come in.nagement they helped to provide a very important part of that kind of ru commodity management at thera airport. there's still weakness in a rural area where you'vehe got the

majority of the problem way out icult in the countryside in a very buil difficult terrain. and they have building codes that they've developed, again imple with our support. and we've done a lot of trainingll needs for the government on implementing those building codes, but it still needs a lot % of work especially as you get out of kathmandu. in kathmandu 90% of the buildings were basically undamaged. any kindld of new buildings are really untouched. it's really the older buildings, some of the ones with a heritage unfortunately -- >> on temples and things. >> and then when you get out into the small villages on the hat we hillsides, frankly they don't know about building codes and very that's a bigger challenge that we still have to figure out how we're going to address that in aed very rural setting like that.

>> just real briefly anyone else want to take a crack at lessons learned, things we thought worked well things we got work to do still. ms. biswal. >> after the devastating guj rat earthquake of 2001, congress tween appropriatedth and usaid aster implemented over a number of years a partnership between the government of india and the united states on creating a national disaster management ind agency. we provided some of the technical expertise. that capability in india today is quite sophisticated, quite a advanced. the recent super cyclone was the l tremendousos reflection of india'simal i capabilities because the loss of life was minimal in a, you know c

category five super cyclone. that capability was on display in nepal as part of india's response to the earthquake. and the united states can feel proud for the role that it has played around the region in investing in disaster response capabilities. there's more to be done in trying to foster more regional t coordination andhe advanced planning of regional responses, by the fact that there are -- experi there is so much capability in tries the region today and the tha experiences of many of these countries in their own earthquakes is something that we have a direct hand. >> very heartening to hear. thank you all so much. mr. chairman thank you so much just for your gray shousness.- i really appreciate it. f >> thank you very much.statemen i just want to start out with --

it's a little bit of a statement. and and i wanted to direct it to you. regarding a conversation i had with the hug family whose son jake died in that tragic crash.ther u they were obviously upset by his passing. but they were further upset because in some dialogue that they had with their -- the bereavement folks they were f working with within the department of navy kind of told been them off the record that while if their son had been killed in t of combat that they would be ceremo afforded the opportunityny and the full support of our country to long w go to the dover ceremony. and the funding that goes along with that so that his parents v could go to that extremely old th important vigil for them.er but they were told that there's

kind of a double standard, if you're killed in a mission like this a search and rescue mission, it's not considered combat and that they wouldn't be covered to go. ameri i've first reached out to the chairman of armed services. he was pretty upset by that. i don't think the american people would understand that at but all. much less the family of the hero. but niav know that we've reached out to the secretary of the navy and i believe in my heart he will do the right thing. so would you please pass that on that we're expecting good ion i ha things. >> i will absolutely do that mr. chairman. thank you. >> thank you very much. a question i have is regarding getting the actual food and different emergency provisions to the people of nepal. i understand there are some

complications -- and i'm told that it's regarding the rules of cargo preferences and that 50% of the u.s. government cargo's got to be transported on u.s. flag vessels. is that the reason that the estimates in taking this ke prepositioned food shipped from overland to nepal that it could take 45 to 60 days. do to is that s why this is happening? are there concessions we can make to speed that up? >> thank you. that's an important question. was foo let me clarify. first of all, what we were able to do there was food als prepositioned already in nepal. so that got things out. >> that was obviously quick. >> and then also we were able toprovided use ida funds that with the flexibility provided us by like congress to allow wfp to buy food locally like within

northern india and nearby to get com some food going very quickly. so the food that's coming in it from sri lanka you know, it doesn't need to be there within days. it's okay that the timing will e then sort of refill the pipeline and provide for needs over the next few months. so it didn't delay any of our pref food aid. tha i want to clarify that to begin compli with.ca secondly regarding the cargo preference, that's a more complicated question. in a case of a dire emergency, the cargo preference rule is a an b little moree generic. t we do haveha the 50% but it's notarticula on every individual shipment. that doesn't really hold us up on this particular issue. ef >> so we can look for every effort to expedite -- >> absolutely. yeah, for nsure. >> great. an another question i have a regarding the local government, eading the nepal government and their reaction.

obviously they've got to take a leading role in the response efforts.eading could you please discuss the role of the government of nepal in leading the response to this disaster and describe the structure of its disaster d response mechanism and how wouldechani you assess their strengths and to their weaknesses of their response and with some of the fierce regarding government corruption, what if any measures are in place or plan to address er corruption with the relief swal effort underway. >> thank you. invit let me provide some initial comments and then invite my colleague as well if he wants to weigh in. clearly, there's an issue in terms of the n capacityep of the long-t government ofer nepal on the bigger challenge of long-term relief and recovery. in the initial relief phase, thets and nepale ex- nepalese military played a a

critical role in deploying their forces and coordinating and aced e assisting in the delivery of relief. i think they have performed admirably. they haveha interfaced extremely well with our military and civilian forces. the we've had little come plant in terms of the efficacy of this ther effort in light ofe the magnitude of the disaster that we were be facing. there is an issue in terms of how the longer term effort will be coordinated. com nepal has a national planning he commission and we are working with the planning commission. we are working with the home ministry and with the finance ministry. it'sng t a time when the picture is way fo still evolving in terms of what is going to be the most rts an effective way for nepal to coordinate the longer term efforts. and they are thinking through that. there's a team that is in kathmandu from india's national

disaster management agency to provide technical assistance. we've also worked with our pakistani colleagues. because the general who oversaw the pakistan earthquake response and reconstruction and who has been very lauded globally for the transparency and the efficacy of the response that he usa oversaw has also been brought in under usaid's leadership to come in and help provide some sment assessment and some assistance al in terms of how nepal can think cou about managing its relief going forward.ng i this is a country that is still institut co-lessing in terms of to democratic institutions and institutions of government. so it's going to require the persistence and the partnership of the international community in supporting them in their o take

efforts to manage a recovery w effort. we want them to succeed. we don't want to take it over from them, but we want them to succeed. and there will be an element of partnership over the coming that months in helping them get this right.lenge in >> thank you. there's no question that govern answer is a major challenge in nepal. institutionally it's difficult for the government to deliver basic services, enforce buildingogether codes. the parties haven't come together in terms of a constitution. they haven't had local elections yet, which is a major challenge when it comes to the relief and long-term recovery effort. we continue to help them try to he lon work together on all these issues. and the bui international community needs to make sure that the with long-term recovery takes into isaste accountrs how to build nepal's capacity to not only better withstand naturaldy sasters but also move forward and come out of their fragile democratic

stage to consolidate democrat i. wan >> thank you.t i wanted to follow up on hel secretary biswal's comments ht about helping vulnerable ncreas populations in light of potential human traffickin g increase. specifically with women and m girls that often have unique after needs that may be overlooked during crises. after food water and shelter are in place, there is rarely a budget left for basic health and hygiene needs for girls and d women like prenatal care and visi safeons. childbirth delivery pport services for expectant women and sanitary for menstruation.ask fo how is the u.s. supporting for t me these needs? often times women are too ashamed to ask for hem. >> let me give you initial comments and also begin turn to at

mr. strivers and particularly is a t focusing on health and hygiene. but you're correct to say that this is a time of extreme vulnerability vulnerability. over the years, we have learned that it isas in times of crisis and disaster response that particular attention has to be paid to issues of protection and issues of addressing the particular needs of vulnerable res groups and populations. but and so i think not only in termsms of the u.s. government's response, but really what i'm hearing in terms of the awareness of the civil society in nepal, when i was in india coming two days after the earthquake, the civil r society organizations in india were themselves coming up to me and raising with me the the need to focus on these groups. so there's an extreme attention headi to the issue. i was in new york just a couple

days before heading to nepal meeting with the united nations with the ocha and undp teams andls, again the issue of particularly an addressing thed needs of women parti and girls, addressing the needs of children and addressing particularly the health needs were something that the u.n. system was putting an integrated team in place so that unicef, the world health organization, were all coordinated on making sure there was an integrated and comprehensive response. >> well, in terms of before the earthquake we've had -- in terms of the success something o we're very proud of having a role in. we know that saving the life of the mother not only transforms the health of her family but the strength of a country. we've a scaled up the use of a gel

applied to the umbilical cord which has been very successful at that.n in terms on f the earthquake, theaf numbers are staggering.0 wome i think 2.8 million children have been affected and 40,000 women are at immediate risk of ifican gender based violence. so the situation, the problem is so significant and thank you to this committyee and members of congress for really putting that forward. we are expanding our combatting trafficking and persons project that works with the ngos and a government to prosecute those recentl responsible. that program has strengthened inotection just the sector of human trafficking leading to a number of convictions recently. and in the long term protection of vulnerable populations has to be a key point.

we have to keep our eye on the ball. so thank you forthan your leadershipadminist and for that question. >> i know i'm running out of time. urg i again want to thank the administration for contributing to these urgent relief efforts. another significant way i believe that we can help limit esigna the strain onti that country's resources is by designating st nepal for tps temporary protected status.meland in a very similar circumstance, after haiti's massive t. earthquake, the secretary of homeland security acted very quickly to designate haiti for tps.as i know the new ambassador met with secretary kerry last year my understanding is that the government of nepal has requested tps. i know that dhs heaviry relies of the on the state department's recommendation recommendation. i just want to ask what the status of the state department's recommendation and this request

is. >> thank youue o for that question priori congresswoman. i know that this is an issue of also greatwi importance and prioritization.st we do think that the provision of temporary protected status. relief to the citizens who are in the united states and who need to stay here for some time until the situation in nepal becomes more stabilized. the secretary of state has submitted his recommendations and a decision is now with the deept of homeland security. so we will be awaiting their determination. ms. meng: i yield back. the chair: thank you. this concludes the questions. i would like to make another brief comment thatone, i think in the world, when it comes to world disaster relief. one of the things that the united states does exceptionally

well. and i commend all of you for the amazing job that you do in balancing our priorities overseas. i have been all over the world in my capacity both in the private sector both in my capacity as my ninth year on foreign affairs and i'm proud when i go to the embassy and meet with the usaid people and i meet with the defense folks. they are the brightest and best of the world and i'm proud of the job that you do, so very proud and done your country proud today in your testimony and we appreciate you coming here and doing that. without objection, members' statements will be allowed to be inserted for the record. and there is no further business this committee is now adjourned. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]