Ben's Briefing - Anti-terrorism and Yemen

Statement

Week at January 18th

NEW SESSION OF CONGRESS: This week, I look forward to the beginning of the Second Session of the 111th Congress. On Tuesday I will be presiding on the Senate floor for a Pro Forma session. Later in the week, we will turn our attention to the debt limit, and in the coming weeks and months we will focus on health care reform, financial regulatory reform, the economy, the FY 2011 budget and climate change legislation.

YEMEN: On Wednesday, I will participate in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing entitled "Yemen: Confronting Al-Qaeda, Preventing State Failure." The threat al-Qaeda and its allies pose in Yemen is alarming and it must be part of our national security strategy, particularly because violent extremists have fled to Yemen from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. I'm also deeply concerned about the well-being of the Yemeni people. More than 150,000 civilians have fled their homes since 2004 in response to conflict between government and al-Houthi rebel forces. Thousands of Yemenis remain displaced -- some of whom urgently need medicine and drinking water. In December, the Senate passed a resolution that I introduced with Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) supporting peace, security, and innocent civilians affected by conflict in Yemen. The United States and the international community need to use all appropriate measures to help the people of Yemen address the severe security threats and the humanitarian crisis in their country.

ANTI-TERRORISM: On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled "Securing America's Safety: Improving the Effectiveness of Anti-Terrorism Tools and Inter-Agency Communication" to address the attempted attack by Nigerian national, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, onboard Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on December 25, 2009. One of the issues we will be exploring is information sharing. As Chairman of the Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee, I believe that our top priority must be to protect the American people, and we must make sure that our law enforcement, intelligence, and homeland security professionals have the tools they need at their disposal to prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks. At the same time, we must ensure that our government uses its resources wisely, and that it strikes an appropriate balance between national security and protecting civil liberties.

MOLDOVA: As Chairman of the Helsinki Commission I will hold a hearing on Thursday entitled "Democratic Change and Challenges in Moldova." Last year there was tremendous political change in Moldova as nearly a decade of Communist rule came to an end. As the poorest country in Europe in the midst of a global economic downturn, a prolonged impasse poses serious challenges to reform and recovery in Moldova. At the hearing we will welcome Prime Minister Vlad Filat on his first official visit to Washington and listen to his assessment of the political future of his country and new opportunities in U.S.-Moldova relations. This will be the first time a head of state will participate in a hearing of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

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