House Foreign Affairs Committee U.S. House of Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Republican
	Opening Remarks of Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen at Hearing,  The Caucasus: Frozen Conflicts and Closed Borders
	June 18, 2008
	Thank you Mr. Chairman. Secretary Fried, welcome back to the Foreign Affairs Committee. I look forward to your testimony and comments today concerning   the Caucasus --- a region that perhaps should get more attention than it does these days. Some critical issues in that region in which the United States has a vital interest include: •    energy transit; •    the rise of Islamic insurgency; and •    separatist conflicts that may boil up into wider conflict. Most recently, for example, we have seen rapidly-escalating tension between Georgia and Russia. Russia is playing a very destabilizing role within Georgia. There is no longer any real doubt that Russia has been and is supporting separatist regions in Georgia with arms and outright military support. A key question for this hearing, then, is whether Russia is already following a similar pattern in the rest of the Caucasus. Our hearing today is focused on Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan --- the three independent states of the South Caucasus. We often forget, however, that the other half of the Caucasus, the northern part, lies within Russia. There also, we see a great deal to be concerned about. The brutal Russian military tactics of recent years appear to have defeated the separatist rebellion in Russia’s Chechnya. The spread of Islamist extremism and continuing bombings, attacks and deaths across the North Caucasus, however, demonstrates that there is danger just below the surface. Thus, we can’t really engage in a discussion about the Caucasus --- either the independent states in the South with their separatist conflicts, or the Islamist turmoil in the North --- without talking about Russia. We need to be clear-eyed about what Russia is actually doing and what it wants in that region. You have done good work in the search for stability and democracy for the Caucasus region. You have also undertaken important efforts to draw attention to the role of the Caucasus region in ensuring future energy security for Turkey, Europe and, ultimately, the United States. It now seems clear that the Russian Government is determined to increasingly dominate future energy supplies to Europe --- and use that growing dominance to directly influence political decisions in Europe. This is a vital issue that neither we nor the European Union have yet to fully address, but the existence today of the oil pipeline that stretches across the Caucasus, from Azerbaijan to Turkey, demonstrates what US leadership can accomplish.   The proposed “Nabucco” natural gas pipeline, which would bypass Russia and ensure safe transit of Caspian and Central Asian energy to Europe, is now an important goal for our foreign policy toward the Caucasus. I encourage you to make that clear, not just in Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus, but also here at home, at the highest levels of the State Department. Your recent tenure as Acting Under Secretary of State appears to indicate that your views on such issues carry much weight at the high levels. Again, thank you Secretary Fried, for coming to testify here today on this important region and its future. I have a number of questions that I will ask the Chairman to submit in writing, and I hope that you will ensure that their answers are expeditiously provided.