staal. mr. staal: thank you very much for inviting us to testify regarding the humanitarian response to the nepal earthquake and thank you for your continuing support to our efforts. and of course, we would like to express our deepest condolences to all of those who lost their lives and the loved ones in this tragedy, including the families of the six u.s. marines and the two soldiers who died. we are grateful to our research teams who are taking risks to save lines in nepal. the earthquake on april 25 and the aftershocks that followed caused huge widespread damage across nepal and especially in the rural areas. but preparedness measures that usaid has supported has helped save lives. i want to provide an overview of our humanitarian response and how we have leveraged to ensure the most effective and efficient response. and then i'll turn it over to my colleague, who just returned from nepal to provide steps. as you mentioned the u.s. government provided nearly $47 million in humanitarian assist

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 th

looking forward to hearing about your findings there.admini we're also grateful to hear fromoini thomas staalthe 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 b