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Hearing A New Beginning for Colombia
house Western Hemisphere Subcommittee · Jul 15, 2026 · Transcript · 10 transcript matches
CASTRO, JOAQUIN "as it does to other members of his body. The President-elect has proposed walking away from peace negotiations with armed groups in Colombia and has pledged a stepped-up military offensive against armed groups. The American people are not looking to start new wars, especially after the ongoing"
CRS Report
Syria: Regime Change, Transition, and U.S. Policy
Posts · Dec 13, 2024
Rapid offensives by Syrian armed groups opposed to the government of Bashar Al Asad (alt. Assad) forced Asad’s resignation and exile to Russia on December 8, 2024. This inflection point in Syria’s...
CRS Report
Iran-Supported Groups in the Middle East and U.S. Policy
Resources · Sep 26, 2024
Iran has long backed a network of armed groups in the Middle East to advance its regional interests. These groups, which include U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and which...
Hearing Business meeting to consider S.342, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize an individual who is awarded the Purple Heart for service...
senate Veterans' Affairs Committee · Mar 18, 2026 · Request transcript
Hearing Hearings to examine S.342, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize an individual who is awarded the Purple Heart for service in the...
senate Veterans' Affairs Committee · Dec 10, 2025 · Request transcript
Hearing Business meeting to consider S.4726, to promote efforts to bring about stability and security in Sudan, S.3984, to authorize a 2-year extension of...
senate Foreign Relations Committee · Jun 17, 2026 · Request transcript
Testimony CASTRO, JOAQUIN
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"as it does to other members of his body. The President-elect has proposed walking away from peace negotiations with armed groups in Colombia and has pledged a stepped-up military offensive against armed groups. The American people are not looking to start new wars, especially after the ongoing"
CRS Report
Peace Process in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: Issues for Congress
Legal Sidebar · Dec 2, 2025
On December 4, President Trump is slated to host President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame in Washington, DC to highlight a U.S.-mediated...
CRS Report
Mali
Resources · Dec 17, 2024
Once seen as a rising democracy in Africa, Mali has become an epicenter of conflicts and instability since 2011. A military junta seized power in 2020, Mali’s second coup in nine years. Coups in...
CRS Report
Veteran Status Based on Service with Certain Civilian Groups
InFocus · Nov 2, 2022
Throughout history, civilians have played a role in supporting U.S. Armed Forces both at home and abroad. In some circumstances, civilians have deployed to a theater of combat as government employees...
CRS Report
Terrorist and Other Militant Groups in Pakistan
InFocus · Mar 25, 2026
U.S. officials have identified Pakistan as a base of operations and/or target for numerous armed, nonstate militant groups, some of which have existed since the 1980s. Notable terrorist and other...
CRS Report
Child Soldiers Prevention Act: Security Assistance Restrictions
Resources · Oct 11, 2023
The recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is broadly viewed as a human rights problem, a form of trafficking in persons, among the worst forms of child labor, and a war crime. The United...
Hearing Confronting Haiti’s Terrorist Gangs: The Gang Suppression Force and the Path Ahead
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 21, 2026 · Transcript · 3 transcript matches
SPEAKER_04 "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Maas, Ranking Member Meeks, distinguished members of the committee, the U.S. overarching objective in Haiti is baseline stability. A network of armed groups threaten to take over the Haitian state while destabilizing the region. We estimate the gangs have approximately 3,000 well-armed"
CRS Report
The Middle East: Selected Issues for the 119th Congress
Resources · Jan 13, 2025
Developments in the Middle East during 2023 and 2024 transformed the security landscape of the region with profound and still unfolding implications for the United States. Changes in the relative...
CRS Report
Iraq
InFocus · Jun 8, 2026
The Republic of Iraq (Figure 1) sits at a crossroad in the Middle East region, with ties to Iran, Turkey, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula that shape Iraqi interests, create constraints and...
Testimony THE HONORABLE TULSI GABBARD
Hearings to examine worldwide threats; to be immediately followed by a...
senate Intelligence (Select) Committee · Mar 18, 2026
"Mexico-based TCOs like the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel dominate the production and smuggling of fentanyl, heroin, meth, and cocaine into the United States. Colombia-based TCOs and illegal armed groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army are responsible for producing and trafficking large volumes of cocaine to the U.S. and European markets, with now some indicators of attempts to expand their market to the Asia-Pacific"
CRS Report
Trade-Based Money Laundering: Overview and Policy Issues
Reports · Jun 22, 2016
Trade-based money laundering (TBML) involves the exploitation of the international trade system for the purpose of transferring value and obscuring the true origins of illicit wealth. TBML schemes...
Hearing Hearings to examine Haiti 2026, focusing on security and foreign assistance priorities.
senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee · Feb 10, 2026 · Transcript · 2 transcript matches
AUSTIN HOLMES "language capability, and local relationships that inform every decision we make. These competencies have allowed us to continue operating even as conditions have deteriorated. However, the scale and trajectory of Haiti's current crisis have exceeded what any non-governmental coalition, no matter how capable, can mitigate without durable support from the U.S. Congress. Haiti is experiencing systemic collapse, as stated. Of the country's 11 million people, roughly 5.9 million are facing acute food insecurity. Armed groups now exert influence over an estimated 90% of Port-au-Prince, with..."
CRS Report
The Islamic State and Its Affiliates
Resources · Sep 8, 2025
The Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Da’esh) is a transnational Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group. At its 2015 height, the group controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria...
CRS Report
International Neutrality Law and U.S. Military Assistance to Ukraine
Posts · Apr 26, 2022
The United States, the European Union (EU), and others have supplied many forms of security assistance to Ukraine in the weeks since Russia’s invasion. Recent U.S. assistance to Ukraine, discussed in...
CRS Report
Colombia: Background and U.S. Relations
Reports · May 30, 2025
Colombia has been a key U.S. security and economic partner in South America for decades, although bilateral relations have grown tense over the past two years. Colombia has been among the top...
CRS Report
Lebanese Hezbollah
Resources · Dec 4, 2024
Hezbollah (“Party of God,” also spelled Hizballah) is an Iran-backed Lebanese Shia militia and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Hezbollah is an Iranian partner force, helping...
CRS Report
Biodiversity and Conservation in Tanzania
Reports · Jul 31, 2024
Tanzania is rich in biodiversity and is home to several iconic species, including elephants, lions, black rhinoceros, and giraffes. Tanzania hosts 6 of 25 globally designated biodiversity hotspots...
Testimony THE HONORABLE F. WEILAND
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"our efforts to stem coca cultivation and cocaine production will reach new heights. Doing that will require us to use all tools at our disposal to rein in armed groups that profit from mayhem and whose raison d'etre often involves perverse ideological crusades. Earlier this year, for example, the FARC-EP said its guerrilla members will give their last drop of blood fighting against the American"
Testimony MR. LUIS MENDEZ
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"Colombia is central to this work. It's no surprise that over the past four years, our partnership with Colombia was tested. The Petro administration's failed policies allowed continued violence, armed group fragmentation, and record coca cultivation and cocaine"
Testimony THE HONORABLE F. WEILAND
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"Well in INL we certainly could do something similar. We could set up forward operating bases in the hard-to-reach territories that right now are essentially ungoverned spaces. That is something that we and INL have experience doing and right now as you know the rural areas is where a lot of these armed groups are operating with impunity. It's for the National Police which you engage in similar tactics and operations as the military. Those lines are a bit blurred in Columbia but I mean the..."
Testimony CASTRO, JOAQUIN
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"I look forward to your testimony, and I yield back. Thank you, Chairwoman. The President-elect campaigned on what he calls, quote, Plan Colombia 2.0, unquote, military operations against armed groups where he's seeking U.S. support. So, my question for Mr. Mendez, has the administration made any"
Testimony CASTRO, JOAQUIN
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"So, the administration may decide to support it. When you have a more firm answer, I hope that you will communicate that to the subcommittee and the larger committee. For Mr. Weiland, is the State Department viewing the fight against these armed groups and organized crime as a principally military mission? Will the Will the INL Bureau support Columbia with judicial, prosecutorial, or investigative capacity building, especially to address organized crime tied corruption? And that's why I ask..."
Testimony CASTRO, JOAQUIN
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"Once those decisions are made, if they're made, I hope you'll report back to the committee. Also, the President-elect campaigned on a platform of rejecting peace negotiations with armed groups, and so Mr. Mendez, my question is, is it your view that the Colombian government should continue to implement the 2016 peace accords with the FARC? What steps, if any, is this administration taking to push Colombia to maintain and fully implement that"
Testimony STANTON, GREG
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"strengthened not only through security cooperation, but through sustained humanitarian and development assistance that helps communities displaced by conflict, supports millions of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, and promotes long-term stability. That investment advances our values, addresses the root causes of instability, and makes both of our nations safer and more prosperous. I'm extremely concerned by de la Espreya's promise to build mega-prisons similar to those in El Salvador, and the..."
Testimony THE HONORABLE F. WEILAND
A New Beginning for Colombia
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 15, 2026
"Thank you. And I would just add, ma'am, I mean, putting aside the legal status of the accord itself, it's very clear that the armed groups that we're all concerned about, that were wrecking havoc across Colombia, were not respecting it. And, you know, so that, I think, is evidence of certain problems. Perhaps the accord was very important in one moment in time, but if nobody in the criminal world is respecting it, then, obviously, the Colombian government in conjunction with the U.S. needs to..."
Testimony SPEAKER_04
Confronting Haiti’s Terrorist Gangs: The Gang Suppression Force and th...
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 21, 2026
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Maas, Ranking Member Meeks, distinguished members of the committee, the U.S. overarching objective in Haiti is baseline stability. A network of armed groups threaten to take over the Haitian state while destabilizing the region. We estimate the gangs have approximately 3,000 well-armed"
Testimony OLSZEWSKI, JOHNNY
Confronting Haiti’s Terrorist Gangs: The Gang Suppression Force and th...
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 21, 2026
"When education and safety collapse, child recruitment by armed gangs intensifies. In 2025, powerful gangs that now control large parts of the country nearly tripled their recruitment of children. Today, up to half of all armed groups in Haiti involve children. How terrible is"
Testimony OLSZEWSKI, JOHNNY
Confronting Haiti’s Terrorist Gangs: The Gang Suppression Force and th...
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jul 21, 2026
"In that time, some families have been displaced again and again. Many of the armed group leaders today, and many of those in their ranks, were children in 2010 when their own schools were shut down, their communities destroyed, and their own futures never rebuilt. Now we are sadly seeing it happen over"
Testimony AUSTIN HOLMES
Hearings to examine Haiti 2026, focusing on security and foreign assis...
senate Appropriations Committee · Feb 10, 2026
"language capability, and local relationships that inform every decision we make. These competencies have allowed us to continue operating even as conditions have deteriorated. However, the scale and trajectory of Haiti's current crisis have exceeded what any non-governmental coalition, no matter how capable, can mitigate without durable support from the U.S. Congress. Haiti is experiencing systemic collapse, as stated. Of the country's 11 million people, roughly 5.9 million are facing acute..."
Testimony AUSTIN HOLMES
Hearings to examine Haiti 2026, focusing on security and foreign assis...
senate Appropriations Committee · Feb 10, 2026
"Stabilization must create the conditions for aid to move, services to function, and institutions to recover. Civil society will continue to act where it can, but today, insecurity is the binding constraint. Even when humanitarian supplies exist, armed groups block roads, seize shipments, and extort convoys. Without secure access, aid cannot reach the people it is intended to serve. Security is the number one humanitarian issue. My partners and I work alongside a coalition of more than 500 local..."
Hearing Hearings to examine worldwide threats; to be immediately followed by a closed session in SH-219.
senate Intelligence (Select) Committee · Mar 18, 2026 · Transcript
THE HONORABLE TULSI GABBARD "Mexico-based TCOs like the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel dominate the production and smuggling of fentanyl, heroin, meth, and cocaine into the United States. Colombia-based TCOs and illegal armed groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army are responsible for producing and trafficking large volumes of cocaine to the U.S. and European markets, with now some indicators of attempts to expand their market to the Asia-Pacific"
Hearing “Northern Exposure: Assessing the Evolving Threat Landscape at America's Northern Border”
house Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee · Jun 30, 2026 · Transcript
SPEAKER_03 "ammunition and dozens of arrests and indictments. These efforts are critical to disrupting the procurement networks that arm violent criminal groups on both sides of the border. TCOs also target U.S. victims through a myriad of fraud and online"
Hearing H.R. 9772, H.R. 9771, H.R. 9721, and H.R. 9722
house Ways and Means Committee · Jul 22, 2026 · Transcript
DOGGETT, LLOYD "It now penalizes grants to 501c4 social welfare organizations. So a charity that supports an allied advocacy group, a union that funds its community arm, its community arm, routine, entirely lawful transfers are now swept in. That is a major expansion of this bill, and it reaches into the everyday life of American civil society. Now I ask the question, who gets excluded? How does this bill affect them? Whose money is safe, and whose is not? Well, the for-profit multinationals and the American subsidiaries of foreign corporations that bankroll their advocacy, their political action"
Hearing Department of State FY 2027 Budget Request: A Commitment to America First Foreign Policy
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jun 3, 2026 · Transcript
SPEAKER_45 "I will say this, and I want to be, everything we've asked them to do, they have tried to do or have done, including counterterrorism cooperation. But they have some capability gaps. They still have individuals within their armed forces, quote unquote, that are members of radical groups and have certain ideologies and don't necessarily neatly disciplined. I think they're working through that, but there's a challenge, again, because of capacity. So this is a long-term project, one that I think is going to exist long after this"
Hearing “From Tool to Weapon: The FACE Act and the Dangers of Federalizing Criminal Law”
house Constitution and Limited Government Subcommittee · Apr 28, 2026 · Transcript
ROY, CHIP "resource centers, and places of worship by prohibiting threats of force, obstruction, and property damage. But like so many federal laws before it, it has become a vehicle for selective enforcement, a mechanism for political targeting, and ultimately a weapon used against conservatives and pro-life Americans. We don't need to speculate. We now have clear evidence from the Department of Justice's own report that this law was weaponized by the Biden administration. That report shows how, under the Biden administration, enforcement of the FACE Act was shaped, if not driven, by outside advocacy..."
Hearing Hidden Wounds: Effectively Supporting Veterans with TBI
house Health Subcommittee · Mar 5, 2026 · Transcript
SPEAKER_02 "When they come to us, I hear the full spectrum of stories. I hear about the positive experiences within the VA. I hear about the negative experiences. I hear about the negative and the positive experiences within the rest of the civilian health care system. This issue isn't unique to the VA. We have a very fractured TBI treatment system within the United States. But when they come to us, we have an opportunity to really wrap our arms around them, and what we hear consistently is, I've never had someone sit down and spend this much time with me. I've never been surrounded by a group of..."
Hearing Business meeting to markup S.1759, to allow for the operation of civil supersonic flight in the national airspace system under certain conditions,...
senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee · Jul 22, 2026 · Transcript
MORENO, BERNIE "have been great to work with, your staff have been great to work with. I'd like to enter into the record many letters of support for this bill, including groups as desperate as the UAW, the United Steelworkers, the Teamsters, but also the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. If you're not familiar with that group, that's a group that represents all auto manufacturers that do business here in America. I'd specifically like to call out Toyota and General Motors for their great work in this bill, and specifically also thank Chairman of Armed Services Roger Wicker and his staff for the hard work..."
Testimony SPEAKER_03
“Northern Exposure: Assessing the Evolving Threat Landscape at America...
house Homeland Security Committee · Jun 30, 2026
"ammunition and dozens of arrests and indictments. These efforts are critical to disrupting the procurement networks that arm violent criminal groups on both sides of the border. TCOs also target U.S. victims through a myriad of fraud and online"
Testimony DOGGETT, LLOYD
H.R. 9772, H.R. 9771, H.R. 9721, and H.R. 9722
house Ways and Means Committee · Jul 22, 2026
"It now penalizes grants to 501c4 social welfare organizations. So a charity that supports an allied advocacy group, a union that funds its community arm, its community arm, routine, entirely lawful transfers are now swept in. That is a major expansion of this bill, and it reaches into the everyday life of American civil society. Now I ask the question, who gets excluded? How does this bill affect them? Whose money is safe, and whose is not? Well, the for-profit multinationals and the American..."
Testimony SPEAKER_45
Department of State FY 2027 Budget Request: A Commitment to America Fi...
house Foreign Affairs Committee · Jun 3, 2026
"I will say this, and I want to be, everything we've asked them to do, they have tried to do or have done, including counterterrorism cooperation. But they have some capability gaps. They still have individuals within their armed forces, quote unquote, that are members of radical groups and have certain ideologies and don't necessarily neatly disciplined. I think they're working through that, but there's a challenge, again, because of capacity. So this is a long-term project, one that I think is..."
Testimony ROY, CHIP
“From Tool to Weapon: The FACE Act and the Dangers of Federalizing Cri...
house Judiciary Committee · Apr 28, 2026
"resource centers, and places of worship by prohibiting threats of force, obstruction, and property damage. But like so many federal laws before it, it has become a vehicle for selective enforcement, a mechanism for political targeting, and ultimately a weapon used against conservatives and pro-life Americans. We don't need to speculate. We now have clear evidence from the Department of Justice's own report that this law was weaponized by the Biden administration. That report shows how, under..."
Testimony SPEAKER_02
Hidden Wounds: Effectively Supporting Veterans with TBI
house Veterans' Affairs Committee · Mar 5, 2026
"When they come to us, I hear the full spectrum of stories. I hear about the positive experiences within the VA. I hear about the negative experiences. I hear about the negative and the positive experiences within the rest of the civilian health care system. This issue isn't unique to the VA. We have a very fractured TBI treatment system within the United States. But when they come to us, we have an opportunity to really wrap our arms around them, and what we hear consistently is, I've never had..."
Testimony MORENO, BERNIE
Business meeting to markup S.1759, to allow for the operation of civil...
senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee · Jul 22, 2026
"have been great to work with, your staff have been great to work with. I'd like to enter into the record many letters of support for this bill, including groups as desperate as the UAW, the United Steelworkers, the Teamsters, but also the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. If you're not familiar with that group, that's a group that represents all auto manufacturers that do business here in America. I'd specifically like to call out Toyota and General Motors for their great work in this bill,..."