raj shah, the administrator of usaid. i thank you for your support yesterday and the important mum mental vote. we're mindful of the difficulties presented by such votes and we greatly appreciate your support. before i begin, madam chairwoman, i'd like to extend on behalf of the administration our deepest condolences to the victims of the plane crash in islamabad today, air blue flight ed-202. i understand from our embas in islamabad that the smoke is visible throughout the city. we hear there's going to be a national day of mourning. there are apparently two americans who were on that plane, and i just want to express on behalf of the u.s. government the administration, our deep condolences. secondly, with your permission, madam chairwoman, i'd like to make a bri comment about the recent leaks that were from wikipedia -- excuse me, from wikileaks. to be clear as president obama said yesterday, that, first of all, the leaks themselves are pretty appalling and for somebody like myself who has been in and out of the governm

if you could please explain what's being done beyond usaid.ut the whole government approach to tackling this pernicious issues for haiti itself? >> thank you, eric. and you two? yes, whoever gets the microphone first. >> thank you. margaret daly with editors based resear. i'm also interested in the governance question. i'm a political scientist. we use the word governance as if it's the solution to all things. we have trouble defining what it means. i'm curious as to what more specically the european union is doing in terms of building sustainable government capacity. the article by prime minister bellerive and president clinton in today's "new york times" called for a more visible and robust role for the world bank, especially in administering these funds. what is to be the role of the world bank? you haven't -- nobody has mentioned that in this discussion. and then finally, julissa, out of curiosity, my friends in the dominican republic obserd that their response to this crisis really is one of national security. because they know that the b

audits from the department of the state, usaid and others have found problems in embassy construction, fuel delivery and educational outreach programs. the government accountability office, another of our witnesses here today, has reported that the agencies are not even able to accurately report the number of contract personnel working on united states contracts. just yesterday, the "wall street urnal" reported that over $3 billion in cash has been flown out of afghantan the last three years. that's $3 billion of cash on a plne flying out of afghanistan. officials believe that at least some of that money has been skimmed from united states contracts. the conflicts in iraq and afghanistan have changed the way the united states wages war. with more contractors than troops currently in both countries, the role that he's civilians play has become important. the changing role of contractors has challenged the agencies that employee them. thus far, the agencies have not risen to meet those challenges. congress s tried to impose greater control over contingencies contractors and subcontracto

it seemed to be a groundbreaking education program from usaid. it took place during the war.s is what made it so groundbreaking. it was the sudan basic education program. the concentration for the refugees and teacher training at the same time accelerated learning programs. that was an area that was relatively stable. you could do that during the war era. you could not do that in other places. there was a quality education going on for western ecuadorean s. the quality of education, where there was a lot of investment, was not high. in uganda, the repeat you can support much better. -- the refugee camps were much better. looking ahead, i think that what we have is a highly unusual situation. it is a profound need for educational capacity right away. an educational level that has been very low, not for the fall of the southern sudanese. it is just the way it has been. the brazilian population that values education very highly. the fact that it takes awhile to allow people to learn. there is this press for its to be needed right away. we have never had that before. i suppose th

the headline in the code the new york times" attributes to usaid. i'm not trying to downplay the seriousness of those concerns. they are serious. that is why we have taken steps to try and improve the relationship so they can take certain steps, in pakistan and afghanistan, a situation that improves our security. >> those same things were said about the pentagon papers. >> i do not think the material that is in the undergone, the the pentagon papers is a fairly exhaustive review by the pentagon. as major said, this is a serious about one of documents about an operation here and there, up one instance here or there. this is not a broad review of aspects of progress we have or have not made and civilian casualties. and is just on the ground reporting. >> the navigation of these documents, -- >> again, because there is only a certain time. cumming you just do not know what was and what was not leaked or posted. >> would you compare this to abu ghraib? >> i will say this. i always loathe to look back and compare one event to something else. i think we h

region's central helmand valley is so fertile is because of a usaid project was useless successful. and they remember the americans for that. all of that is founded on security, to be sure. beyond that, there were some news stories honor present way that afghanistan is not without natural blessings in a whole host of ways, an upstart -- including extraordinary mineral resources. extensive resources when it comes to lithium, iron ore, coal, 10, it has precious gems and so forth, but this all has to be -- you have to extracted to me that at the extraction industries and the line of communication and security. you also have a government structures in which that can function. there has to be a legal framework that provide sufficient incentives. but it is my hope in all seriousness that we could see what is called adventuress venture capitalist enter afghanistan who could see -- help the government take advantage of these extraordinary mineral blessings that they have. >> thanks, very much, general, and thank your commitment. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator jim was. senator ben nelso

the work they've done with usaid, the work they've done in helping to build schools, and it is the responsibility of the pakistan government to be able to emphasize what the presence of the united states is all about. i do not want boots on the ground dealing with hostility. but we have boots on the ground all around the world, but they're not engaged in hostility. they're providing, if you will, a level of peacekeeping and friendship and cooperation. now, we need to rid ourselves of the involvement of the i.s.i. in undermining american soldiers in afghanistan. . pakistani army military forces are investing their treasure and we are providing them the training that is necessary. i believe what the congressman has done here is important and he is absolutely right to be able to have this discussion and to recognize that something is awry. we have to work together on the humanitarian side to be able to inform the pakistani people and the pakistan parliament and government officials to not run away from the humanitarian work that the united states is doing. we just passed a multibillion dollar bill t

in recent weeks the committee staff conducted 16 briefings with the state department and usaid in order to examine how we are spending the taxpayers money. dollar by dollar, sector by sector, in afghanistan and pakistan. it is our intention needless to say to continue to keep a close eye on how that money is being spent to promote stability in the region. i might add that the committee will shortly be releasing a report. i have informed ambassador holbrooke about this, a report on this topic of corruption and hopefully it is a report which will set out some recommendations for how we might be able to better respond to some of these issues. in the end, all of the billions of dollars and all of the united states's best efforts, all of the sacrifices for our troops, are all going to be irrelevant if the united states and their partners do not have the right strategy to establish an effective afghan governance and ultimately effective afghan takeover of responsibility. the problem is that the key element of this strategy is the one over which we have the least control, and that is the willi

in coordination with the administrator of the united states agency for international development or usaid to continue to develop a strategic plan with the goal of mitigating the effects of the recent national natural disasters that have devastated these three countries. guatemala, honduras and el salvador face a major challenge as they recover and rebuild. they deserve our continued support. and for these reasons, mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues to support this important resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i would like to yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. ros-lehtinen: ros-lehtinen i'm a proud co-sponsor of h.r. 1462 which expresses the support of the united states to the people of guatemala, honduras and el salvador in the aftermath of tropical storm agatha. having already declared a state of emergency following a volcano eruption issues 50 miles from guatemala c

the work they've done with usaid, the work they've done in helping to build schools, and it is the responsibility of the pakistan government to be able to emphasize what the presence of the united states is all about. i do not want boots on the ground dealing with hostility. but we have boots on the ground all around the world, but they're not engaged in hostility. they're providing, if you will, a level of peacekeeping and friendship and cooperation. now, we need to rid ourselves of the involvement of the i.s.i. in undermining american soldiers in afghanistan. . pakistani army military forces are investing their treasure and we are providing them the training that is necessary. i believe what the congressman has done here is important and he is absolutely right to be able to have this discussion and to recognize that something is awry. we have to work together on the humanitarian side to be able to inform the pakistani people and the pakistan parliament and government officials to not run away from the humanitarian work that the united states is doing. we just passed a multibillion dollar bill t

i know that later, there are probably in the middle of doing that briefing, our usaid administrator is doing a presentation on our efforts in haiti today. >> the offshore drilling moratorium. what is different about this that allows you to believe you can escape another -- >> i do not want to get ahead of their announcement later this afternoon. i will say two things. first and foremost, the president has and continues to believe that we need to be careful with what we are doing given the uncertainty about what happened 84 days ago. we know that it is not without some economic consequences to the region, but it is imperative that we have a sense of what happens before we continue to do this again. secondly, again not to get ahead with the department of interior will say, but they will take into account what the judge laid out in his initial ruling that the district court level. >> so you think you can crafted so it is potentially able to stand up in court? -- so you think you can craft it so it will stand up in court? >> yes. i think there was a summit misreporting of the appeals court