I thank the Chairman for calling this important and timely hearing. 

As the hearing title suggests, North Africa presents the United States with significant policy challenges. 

In this post 9-11 world, we simply can not afford to turn a blind eye toward the very real and expanding threat of Islamist extremism and militancy emanating from North Africa. 

In Algeria alone, between 150,000 and 200,000 people have been killed by terrorism and related violence since 1992. 

Still, until recently, terrorism in Algeria was largely considered a localized problem. 

While the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) were responsible for countless civilian deaths, their operations were formally directed against Algerian officials and institutions. 

However, recent successes by Algerian security forces in disrupting terrorist cells are thought to have forced AQIM to operate outside of Algerian territory. 

This was demonstrated by the April 10th attacks in Casablanca, Morocco, for which AQIM claimed responsibility. 

Further, following the September 11, 2006, announcement by al-Qaeda’s second in command, that the GSPC was now al-Qaeda’s “representative” in North Africa and would henceforth be known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), we have seen a significant shift in the sophistication and reach of these attacks.
   
In response to this growing threat, the Administration initiated the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership in 2005, which expands upon the work of its predecessor, the Pan Sahel Initiative. 

We are anxious to learn more about this initiative from our distinguished witness, including how our partner countries perceive the program; how many training exercises have been conducted; and how is success being measured.

While we must focus significant attention on the growing menace of radical Islam and terrorism in North Africa, we must not sacrifice our other worthy objectives in the region.  
   
According to the UN Development Program’s Arab Development Report, the Arab world continues to face fundamental deficits in freedom, education, and human rights.
 
The states of the Maghreb are no exception. 

In Morocco, some progress has been made in the areas of economic reform and women’s empowerment. 

However, reforms are directed from the palace, and the development of truly democratic institutions has been limited.

In Algeria, the radicalization of Islamist groups and years of civil strife have hampered economic development and democratic reform, and women continue to face significant societal discrimination.

I am eager to learn what the United States Government is doing to help all the countries of North Africa to realize their full potential in terms of democratic and economic development.

Another goal that must be pursued in North Africa is that of regional integration, because success in this area will prove essential to the advancement of all  our other objectives.   

Unfortunately, the conflict over Western Sahara has severely strained relations between Morocco and Algeria, and as a consequence, is widely regarded as one of the key obstacles to regional integration. 

The people of the Sahara have been seeking a resolution to this crisis for three decades.  They should not have to wait any further.

I urge the Polisario, Morocco and Algeria to immediately commence with negotiations without preconditions to find a viable, lasting, political solution. 

The final issue I will raise with regard to U.S. policy challenges in North Africa is the future of U.S. relations with Libya. 

While the dismantlement of Libya’s WMD programs serves as a major accomplishment for this Administration and an example for other nations, there are those of us who believe Libya has a long way to go before fully shedding its pariah status.

Libya remains one of the most repressive regimes in the world, ranking on Freedom House’s “Worst of the Worst” list along with Cuba, Burma, North Korea, and Sudan, among others. 

Most importantly, Libya has yet to fully reconcile its past support for acts of international terrorism. 

Fifty-eight of 90 passengers were killed during the hijacking of Egypt Air Flight 648 in 1885, including one American. 

Three people were killed, including two American servicemen, and 229 others were wounded, including 60 U.S. citizens, when a bomb exploded in the La Belle Discotheque in Berlin in 1986. 

Two hundred and seventy people were killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

The Libyan Government has been linked to all of these attacks.

Though a number of the victims’ families from Pan Am Flight 103 have received compensation through a group settlement, they have yet to receive a final payment, because Libya linked this payment to an arbitrary deadline for removal from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list. 

Some Pan Am families have received nothing to date – even after having received separate judgments in U.S. courts. 

One such individual is here with us today, my good friend and constituent, Victoria Cummock.

The American victims of Egypt Air 648 and the La Belle Discotheque bombing also have received nothing, despite Libyan assurances that these cases would be resolved in good faith.

It is difficult for these victims, and for me personally, to accept the notion that Libya has become a so-called partner in the war on terrorism, when it has yet to resolve these cases.

It is also difficult to support plans to upgrade diplomatic relations with Libya by building a new U.S. Embassy and appointing an Ambassador to serve in Tripoli, when the Libyan Government has so callously disregarded the suffering it has bestowed upon our own citizens.

We must send the Libyans a clear signal that all is not yet forgiven, and they must resolve these cases before U.S.-Libyan relations can reach the next level.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.