▶ 0:00:00We Begin I ask everybody to rise about face and join me in reciting the Pledge Allegiance I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all
▶ 0:00:33pursuant to notice the committee is meeting today to organize which involves considering three items that were previously provided to member offices committee rules a professional staff list and the committee's oversight plan without objection the chair May recess the committee at any point and any recorded votes may be rolled so ordered before I begin I'm going to recognize chairman ameritus Michael McCall for just a few words no thank you Mr chairman I want to congratulate you on uh becoming the uh
▶ 0:01:03successor to being chair of this very historic committee uh going back to the Continental Congress a committee of War and Peace uh issues are so important on this committee more so than any other and it has been the uh opportunity of a lifetime uh of my career to serve as chairman of this committee um and I want to thank um all the members on both sides of the aisle and on the other side Mr Meeks particularly for
▶ 0:01:34his friendship during the years and partnership that's how we got things done uh I also want to thank the staff uh I couldn't have been effective without my staff and my staff director Brenan Shields and Laura Fullerton and so many others um and uh for the new members um this is your time and uh I think the times to find my chairmanship more than anything with the fall of Afghanistan the invasion
▶ 0:02:04of Ukraine to Chairman she's Unholy alliance with Putin threatening Taiwan and the Pacific and the aat ra rearing his ugly head in the Middle East with the invasion of Israel on October the 7th so uh it's my hope uh Sir with your leadership and working as a team and the incoming the new president that will'll strength so that we have peace strengths we have deterrence against these dictators that threaten our
▶ 0:02:34our very civilization um and I know under your leadership we're going to get this done and sir I look forward to working with you you'll back thank you chairman amerus McCall it's uh been an honor to serve with you it'll be an honor to continue to serve with you I'm going to start by uh recognizing myself for an opening statement and uh again just we appreciate your leadership and look forward to seeing a continuation of everything that you've given us already so I'm going to Begin by uh welcoming the committee's new members and uh Mr Meeks will be recognizing
▶ 0:03:04his new members following that in just a few minutes uh first of all representative Michael bount Gardner of Spokan Washington representative Jefferson shrie of Indianapolis Indiana representative Ryan Mckenzie of Pennsylvania representative Sher bigs of South Carolina's thirdd district and representative Anna Paulina Luna who is sick today uh but out of St Petersburg Florida my home state each of these new members they have a unique perspective and a unique background and
▶ 0:03:34we're excited to have them on the committee and uh I'd also like to recognize our vice chair of the committee representative Isa down there and uh appreciate all of his work uh representative representative Isa has worked together with myself on many things and look forward to working with you uh in this role representative Chris Smith will serve as the chair of the subcommittee on Africa representative young Kim will serve as the chair of the subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific Representative Keith self will serve as
▶ 0:04:04the chair of the subcommittee of Europe representative Mike laa will serve as the chair of the subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa representative bill haena will serve as the chair of the subcommittee on South and Central Asia and representative Maria valra Salazar will serve as the chair of the subcommittee on Western Hemisphere and representative Cory Mills will serve as the chair of the subcommittee on oversight and intelligence we're also going to have a foreign military sales and Export controls task force which will be chaired
▶ 0:04:34by representative Ryan ziny and that task force will examine the process make it more transparent ensure that we're getting the instruments of war which are also the instruments of Peace into the hands of the right allies at the pace that war deterrence and require our mission will be very clear as a foreign affairs committee that every Diplomat and every dollar that we authorize will put America our national security and our advancement first we accomplished
▶ 0:05:04this by conducting the first comprehensive state department reauthorization since 2002 a reauthorization is the only way that we ensure the state department is accountable to Congress under both Republican and Democrat administrations right now we literally have career State Department employees sending millions of American tax dollars out the door to foreign companies foreign fore countries foreign Nos and foreign adversaries like the Taliban
▶ 0:05:34with less scrutiny that it could take an average American to get a driver's license at the DMV and that will change right now only 15% of the state department is strictly authorized by Congress and you can see it up on the board if you're interested know what the 15% is up on the television on the state Department's organizational chart there are nearly 66 offices that Congress has not authorized this isn't even counting the nearly 40 special envoys
▶ 0:06:05appointed during the Biden Administration through reauthorization we will ensure that the dollars of our people are not being wasted on programs like transgender operas we will have an honest conversation about what programs are being funded and do they get America what we need does it make us the partner of choice and is it the best use of our dollars good programs will get the attention they deserves and bad programs will be defunded every single thing that we authorize should be something we are proud to put our name on
▶ 0:06:35and go home and defend the Foreign Affairs committee has been reorganized to conduct reauthorization we are still going to have Regional subcommittees that have an easily identif identifiable brand chaired by those mentioned earlier but each subcommittee is also going to be assigned a state department branch and Bureau that will be their portfolio for reauthorization for instance and you can see these again up on the screen as I go through them if you sit on the Western Hemisphere subcommittee you are now in charge of everything underneath J branch
▶ 0:07:05which is the under secretary for civilian security democracy and human rights and this is everything from money going towards International religious freedom to State Department's population refuge and migration program if you're on the East Asia subcommittee you are in charge of everything under eBranch for example this is State Department's energy programs and policies to the office of global Partnerships if you're on the Europe subcommittee you are in charge of everything under T branch which deals with arms control and International Security the subcommittee on South and Central Asia will be in
▶ 0:07:36charge of everything under R Branch for instance public diplomacy and public affairs the subcommittee on Middle East uh and North Africa will be in charge of everything under M Branch for example this is the Foreign Service Institute and cular Affairs the AF Africa subcommittee will have the office of foreign assistance and Global Health security and others the Office of Intelligence the the the subcommittee of oversight and intelligence will be responsible for every single dollar that we send to the UN and the state
▶ 0:08:06Department's intelligence and research division the oig and other parts of the state department we do this so that every area of State Department is clearly delineated to every single subcommittee and every Bureau agency and bureaucrat gets the rigorous oversight that is needed we will expect the state department to defend repent or in some cases make the case for the continuation of their programs under this system every member of this committee is going to be more empowered than ever
▶ 0:08:36before and you're going to help ensure that our tax dollars are not used to fund things like prostitution in Colombia or fund the expansion of Atheism in Nepal with every program we will evaluate what does America need from each country or region what does that country or region want from the United States of America and have these programs gotten America what it needs have they failed to get America what it needs or have they exhausted their lifespan because if it's not getting us everything that we need then we are being played
▶ 0:09:06for suckers in that I would like to just before I yield uh to ranking member Meeks I want to highlight that our committee's rules have been set forth the jurisdiction for the full committee and our seven committees I want to clarify that while the rules do not specifically state it I have talked with subcommittee chairman haena and South and Central Asia subcommittee will also have jurisdiction over the
▶ 0:09:36Department of Commerce the department of commerce's Bureau of industry and security and the international trade Administration additionally I'd like to add for the record that I've provided ranking member Meeks with the same commitment that chairman McCall gave uh the ranking member in regard to subpoenas that I will consult with the ranking member not later than 48 hours before the issuance of any subpoena and with that I now yield to my friend ranking member Meeks for his opening comments thank you Mr chairman and congratulations to you
▶ 0:10:06uh and I look forward to working with you and working with all of our colleagues here in this Congress I also want to say to uh to Chairman ameritus Mr mcco it was been a delightful opportunity to work with you both uh in Your Capacity as chair and ranking member quite frankly because we work together in that in that same capacity uh and looking looking forward to moving things forward because we left things at The Waters Edge to show that we are united when it comes to the United States security and I look forward to
▶ 0:10:36continuing to do that with you chairman Mass uh now I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce the new Democratic members of the committee and I know we've got a particularly talented group of members ready to get the work done and tackle the biggest challenges in global Affairs so they are uh representative uh prila jaap Paul who's representing Washington seventh congressional district congresswoman ja Paul's father passed away earlier this week and that's why she's unable to be here today but
▶ 0:11:06I wanted to take a moment to offer my condolences and prayers to representative ja Paul and her family representative George ladimer representing New York's 16th Congressional District representative Johnny oesi representing Maran Marilyn's second congressional District representative Julie Johnson representing Texas's 32nd congressional district and representative Sarah McBride representing the state of Delaware I also want to
▶ 0:11:37welcome our vice ranking member representative Gabe Amo from the great state of Vermont is Rhode Island what am I talking about Island Rhode Island the little State the great state of Rhode Island I love great Island so also representative Sarah Jacobs will be the ranking member on the subcommittee on Africa representative William R keading will be the ranking member on the subcommittee on Europe representative
▶ 0:12:07Sheila CIS mccomic will be the ranking member on the subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa representative Amy barah the ranking member on the subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific representative waim Castro ranking member of the subcommittee on Western Hemisphere representative Sydney camer Dove ranking member of the subcommittee on South and Central Asia representative Jared moscowitz ranking member on the subcommittee of oversight and intelligence and I also welcome
▶ 0:12:37all our returning members and look forward to serving with you again in this Committee in the Congress I will enter into the record the complete list of Democrats on the Foreign Affairs committee as well as committee assignments I'd like to also say a few words about the documents we were about to adopt I support all all three documents the proposed committee rules for the 119th Congress the committee staff list and the committee's oversite plan
▶ 0:13:08and I want to say this too I want to thank the chairman uh uh for Consulting the minority on these documents we did this in a bipartisan way uh we have had constructive dialogue and the opportunity to provide suggestions and comments and I also would like to thank the chairman for upholding the minority 48 hour notice requirement for subpoena issuance let me just say that this committee has long exemplified successful bipartisan Corporation
▶ 0:13:38when it comes to matters of National Security and diplomatic relations it's important that we as a congress show a united front to the world we may not always agree but when it comes to our national security or the United States competitiveness on the world stage we share the same goals that is a commitment I am to keep Mr chairman and I look forward to working collectively to advance American interests I come to this work believing that there is much in common ground
▶ 0:14:09there's much Common Ground we share particularly as it pertains to the greatest challenges facing our nation for example I believe there is consensus around the fact that China will remain the preeminent challenge facing the United States economic and National Security objectives it will be up to the membership of this committee to consider how to best resource the diplomacy and the foreign assistance that protects us interests whether that's combating PRC efforts to Buck
▶ 0:14:39the International rules-based System that has promoted peace and prosperity for decades it's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea and towards Taiwan Taiwan and his efforts to outcompete the United States on emerging Technologies like AI however I remind everyone that this is the house Foreign Affairs committee and not the armed services committee or the intelligence committee our focus is on matters of
▶ 0:15:10diplomacy by building coalitions of like-minded allies and engaging in multilateral institutions we can better achieve us priorities and resolve disputes before they slide into conflict why because diplomacy is our first and most effective itive line of defense and to ensure that the United States Department uh the US state department and US Aid Remain the world's
▶ 0:15:40Premier diplomatic and development institutions we have an obligation to conduct legitimate oversight and to regularly pass reauthorizations so that those serving America at the state department and US Aid have the tools they need to carry out there many missions around the world and if Democrats and Republicans alike believe that one of our key National Security objectives is ensuring
▶ 0:16:10we out compete China as one example then we should also be of like mind on the importance of fully funding our state department after all we can't win a great power competition on a low power budget and allow China to pass our Global diplomatic footprint we must show up if we don't or if our agencies are not sufficiently resourced or staffed who will fill the Gap
▶ 0:16:41China or Russia or another adversary will fill that vacuum that is created when American leadership is missing it is also critical that the state reflects the American it represents leveraging the diversity of this great country knee-jerk reversals of initiativ that broaden the talent pool for the state department is nothing short of self-sabotage finally it's important
▶ 0:17:12that going forward this committee's oversight prerogative should not be weaponized for political purposes least we risk delegitimizing that serious work there will be many challenges both new and old that we as a committee will need to address this Congress and the work we do here and the bills we pass will have enormous Global imp implications and impact on our national security cooperation
▶ 0:17:42will be Paramount which is why I look forward to working with each and every member of this committee Republicans and Democrats to achieve our shared objectives As Americans and on behalf of the American people we serve so again my warmest welcome to all of our new members on both sides of the aisle as well as our returning members and again my congratulations to the subcommittee ranking members my congratulations to you Mr chairman my congratulations to
▶ 0:18:12the chairs of the subcommittees As We Begin the 119th Congress and Y back thank you re member Beeks now we'll move on to the organizational items on today's agenda without objection I move that the committee rules the professional staff in the committee's oversight plan which were circulated to offices in advance be adopted without objection so ordered and the committee rules professional staff list and the committee's oversight plan are adopted without objection
▶ 0:18:43staff are authorized to make Technical and conforming changes to the committee rules and the oversight plan this completes the organizational business required by the house rules I want to thank all of our members for their attendance and their cooperation today I want to thank them for their desire to be on this committee serve on this committee and serve the United States of America which I know that we all love and I look forward to working with you all further in the future and without objection the committee stands
▶ 0:19:27job for