Ed Royce: “I thank the gentlelady. And I do think it's important, as we move forward here, to expand the State Department's rewards…”

“I thank the gentlelady. And I do think it's important, as we move forward here, to expand the State Department's rewards program. We have found a technique that works; and if we can deploy this in order to bring Joseph Kony to the bar of justice for the mass killings that he's committed with the Lord's Resistance Army, or if we can use it to bring to the bar of justice some of the international crime figures that would be turned in under this bill, then it could be very, very beneficial. The bill has already passed the House. It was included as a provision in the State Department authorization bill that the House Foreign Affairs Committee moved earlier this year. I think it's regrettable that the Senate chose not to act on the House's comprehensive State Department authorization bill; but with today's action, this bill can now go to the President's desk for signature where it promises to have an immediate impact. The House companion bill that I introduced, H.R. 4077, has enjoyed very strong bipartisan support, and I want to thank Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. I want to thank Ranking Member Howard Berman and others for the support they've given to this measure. As has been explained, this rewards program, to date, has had some very, very successful cases here; but it's been targeted mostly on those involved in drug trafficking, occasionally on terrorists.…”