Chairman. I want to thank you and the gentlewoman from California and the members of the subcommittee for the attention and the funding that you have given to demining activities in this bill. I know that you and the gentlewoman from California are well aware of the challenge that land mines pose to humanitarian development. refugee resettlement and rehabilitation throughout the developing world. Many of these efforts cannot even begin or must be suspended or terminated until the land mines are marked or removed. These areas. mine awareness. education and demining activities. must go hand in hand with humanitarian relief and development programs.