Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, made the following statement during today's hearing entitled, "The State Department’s Rewards Programs: Performance and Potential":
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, made the following statement during today's hearing entitled, "The State Department’s Rewards Programs: Performance and Potential":
Today, the Subcommittee examines the State Department’s rewards programs and proposals for its expansion.
The State Department currently runs three distinct programs which offer reward money: Rewards for Justice, Narcotics Rewards, and the War Crimes Rewards programs. Monetary awards are offered to individuals who come forward – often at great personal risk – to provide information that helps locate and capture terrorists, drug traffickers, and certain wanted war criminals.
The terrorism rewards program - which dates back to the Reagan Administration and the Beirut Embassy bombings - is the most recognized of the three. Besides paid newspaper and radio spots, the program uses billboards, flyers, and posters to publicize reward offers. Given the prominence of smoking overseas, matchbooks - like the one I have here – are distributed. Several years ago, however, the program faced criticism that its publicity campaigns were poorly constructed. We look forward to hearing today how that's changed.
As we will hear today, all three programs can point to victories. Terrorism rewards helped locate and put Ramzi Yousef behind bars. The narcotics rewards program has helped nab FARC commanders in Colombia and drug traffickers operating out of Venezuela and Thailand. The war crimes program has led to the arrest of some of the world’s worst criminals.
A reward on your head creates significant angst. As the State Department will testify, one captured narcotics target told DEA agents that he could no longer trust anyone in his organization after a $5 million reward was offered. He felt "like a hunted man." Given the destruction many of these characters do, this is money well spent.
But we live in a much different world than the one of the 1980s, when these programs were first designed. Today, transnational criminals are diversifying – looking to sell anything to anybody – it could be arms, intellectual property or even people. One such arms trafficker was Viktor Bout, who supplied weapons to insurgents, militias, and terrorists until his conviction in federal court.
Reportedly, the Narcotics Rewards program helped to bag Bout.
The overlap between the networks employed by criminals and terrorists is growing. To keep pace, I have introduced legislation, H.R. 4077 -- cosponsored by Ranking Member Sherman and Subcommittee member Poe – that would target transnational organized crime figures with a rewards program. Just as important, the legislation allows the rewards program to target those wanted for genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity – the world’s worst human rights abusers.
A likely target of this new war crimes authority would be Joseph Kony and the top commanders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). This group has terrorized northern Uganda and central Africa for over two decades with unspeakable crimes. In accordance with U.S. policy, a small team of U.S. troops are currently in the field, helping local forces hunt this megalomaniac. Our U.S. troops believe a rewards program aimed at Kony could bolster their efforts – generating intelligence and boosting defections.
The Subcommittee looks forward to the testimony today and advancing this important legislation.
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