Eliot Engel

The two biggest complaints we have on transparency is they don't audit government expenditures and income, and the other complaint is they don't prosecute people for public corruption.

The reason we don't give money directly to the Government of Haiti is because we don't have any assurances that it will be accounted for accurately.

How does USAID's reliance on contractors and NGOs impact the effectiveness of USAID in Haiti, in your opinion?

In your report you said that USAID and State did not brief Congress adequately. What specifically should or could be done about this?

The threshold question we need to ask today is not whether we are on track to rebuild Haiti to a pre-earthquake standard, but, rather, if we are helping to build Haiti back better.

I call on President Martelly to find a quick constitutional resolution to this matter and hold elections as soon as practicable.

Suffice it to say that some of their findings came as a surprise to many of us in Congress, and it gave rise to some tough questions.

This committee dispatched a staff delegation to Haiti last month to dig deeper into these issues and to help us set the stage for this hearing.

I have been focused on U.S. policy toward Haiti for many years, and I sincerely appreciate your willingness to bring this issue before the full committee.

What is the relationship, the nature of the relationship, between al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab?

Well, many observers have suggested that the attack at Westgate was a desperate attempt to bolster recruiting and provoke an overreaction against the Somali community in Kenya.

I hope Kenya will continue to provide a safe haven to those fleeing from violence, hunger, and constant fear.

Al-Shabaab banned most international organizations from gaining access to large parts of the country during the devastating famine in 2011, leading to the deaths of thousands of Somalis.

The Westgate Mall attack was particularly ruthless. It was the worst terrorist attack Kenya has seen since the 1998 al-Qaeda bombing of the U.S. Embassy.

We are here today to discuss al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based terrorist organization that continues to threaten the Horn of Africa and Western interests there.

It is my pleasure now to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a former member of our committee.

I mentioned before Ms. Frankel had worked very hard, and we incorporated some of her work into this bill as well. So I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel).

At this time I yield 3 minutes to the gentlelady from New York (Ms. Meng), a very valuable member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, whose provision will hold the State Department more accountable, and her provision was incorporated into…

It is very important, Mr. Chairman, that the American public and that this Congress see the complete story of Burma.

I believe this is a very dangerous course and should be reexamined and thoughtfully reviewed by this committee and by all.

I want to make sure that we do everything we can so that there are no future Benghazis.

I would like to reiterate my hope that we can manage a high level of civility in our discussions today.

The Congress cut funding for Embassy security. There are lots of fingers to be pointed all the way around.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are no more responsible for what happened in Benghazi than George Bush was for what happened on 9/11.

Secretary Clinton took personal responsibility for the attacks and accepted all of the recommendations of the ARB.