▶ 0:08:59the subcommittee on national security, Department of State, and related programs will come to order. Secretary Rubio, it is a deep sense of honor and privilege to have you here with us today to provide testimony in the president's fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department of State and related programs. Now, before I get started, uh I want to recognize the subcommittee's new members. We've got a tremendous group of members.
▶ 0:09:27Each member has something very unique to contribute, and I'm so grateful uh to have them on the panel. I want to welcome our new subcommittee ranking member, my dear friend Lois Frankl. Lois uh Lois uh the secretary actually Lois and I go back many many years. We served together in the Florida legislature and while the ranking member and I don't agree on everything, I cannot think of a better partner in leading the subcommittee.
▶ 0:09:54Uh I would also like to welcome the new members of the subcommittee uh from the majority. Uh Julia's not here, but we have Julia Lelo, who is a returning member of the subcommittee. Uh John Molinar, who's the chairman of the select committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Uh Mark Alfred who brings important experience from the Armed Services Committee among other things.
▶ 0:10:17And from the minority, uh we have again a personal friend of mine, Mike Quigley, who has joined uh the subcommittee. Now, I'd also like to take a moment to recognize our subcommittee vice chairman. I didn't forget you, Chuck. On the contrary, Chuck has been a tremendous vice chair, and I look forward to continuing working uh together with you. And I want to thank the chairman of the full committee, obviously, for for appointing us such a great member.
▶ 0:10:42Finally, I need to acknowledge our tremendous leader, full committee chairman Tom Cole, uh who again I think there's nobody better in the country to lead uh this committee and his counterpart, ranking member Delora chairman uh Cole did an important thing uh among the things that he's done this uh to this subcommittee at the beginning of Congress, change its name to better reflect the investments being made on behalf of the American people that are intended to advance US national security.
▶ 0:11:12I am committed to ensuring that the fiscal year fiscal year 26 national security department of state and related programs appropriation bills does just that. Let me once again welcome Secretary Rubio. I firmly believe that there is no one better in our entire country who could serve as our Secretary of State in this critical time. Mr.
▶ 0:11:37Secretary, your steadfast leadership, your devotion to country and to freedom, and your focus on national security are exactly why you have my full confidence in advancing President Trump's foreign policy agenda. In just four months, in just four months, the president, with your assistance, Mr. Secretary, has achieved really remarkable victories for the American people and our national security. Let me just name a few.
▶ 0:12:05taking back the Panama Canal from China's influence, freeing 47 American detains abroad, designating the Hoodies uh cartels and also dangerous criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, obtaining the Bahamas' pledge to directly pay Cuban doctors, ending the practice of human trafficking, compelling the government of Colombia to accept deported migrants as to what was arranged.
▶ 0:12:33All of this while count carrying out several other important official duties. It's really been tremendous to watch, Mr. Secretary. So again, I congratulate you and the president uh for the choice that he made and and and having you in this position. Now uh turning to the matter at hand, Mr. Secretary, this the spending proposal of the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Department of State represents a reduction of about 48%.
▶ 0:12:59It is also largely offset by recisions from prior year balances. Uh I intend to provide the same scrutiny on the budget requests as I have in the past years. As you know, there are some large gaps obviously in the information that we have at this time.
▶ 0:13:17So I hope we receive the details backing up the request as quick as Since I became chairman of the subcommittee over two years ago, I have overseen and supported a notable reduction in funding for the international affairs budget.
▶ 0:13:33The last two house bills cut funding in the double digits and the FY24 bill enacted into law saw the largest cut of all 12 appropriation bills at 6% in real numbers. The fiscical year 25 bill made a few additional reductions. Now, there was a reason why I pressed for those cuts. The Biden administration was pushing, frankly, an an extreme agenda across the State Department and USAD.
▶ 0:14:03I repeatedly repeatedly warned and publicly and privately warned that promoting controversial programs abroad would not only weaken American support for foreign aid, but also really more importantly harm US interest and even endanger national security.
▶ 0:14:23In last year's budget hearing for USID, I told administrator power that funding and promoting polarizing and politically charged programs will mean additional cuts to the subcommittee's top line because it is just indefensible. So I completely understand, Mr. Secretary, and support support your efforts to carry carry out a review and defund woke programs and misguided activities.
▶ 0:14:51I have a number of inquiries remaining about the review process and status of awards and as do many of the subcommittee members here. So I know Mr. Sarker that I can count on you to work with us in those very important steps. Now it's time to work together on the fiscal year 26 budget to determine the appropriate funding levels going forward for the people and programs needed to advance our national security.
▶ 0:15:20And if we can't show that we're doing that, we shouldn't be funding it. Now, from ensuring our key allies and partners around the world have the military assistance required to defend themselves to preventing deadly infectious disease from reaching our shores to investing uh investments that lay the groundwork for American businesses abroad to supporting those suffering under tyranny by standing in solidarity solidarity against oppressive and often dangerous
▶ 0:15:50dictatorships. That is American leadership. something President Trump has shown and that has been sorely lacking, I would add, in the last four years. In the meantime, it is critically important that we work together to ensure that you have a a domestic and overseas workforce with the size and capability necessary to manage and oversee the programs that were funded in fiscal year 25 and that are potentially forthcoming in fiscal year 26,
▶ 0:16:20especially as you continue to uh take on certain responsibilities obviously that were previously carried under by USAD, whatever those may Even as we better align our foreign assistance with strategic priorities and Mr. Secretary, you've been very clear about that, oversight remains essential and requires the right amount of people with the right skill sets. So again, Mr.
▶ 0:16:47Secretary, I look forward to working with you on uh on this in the weeks and months ahead as you further develop your plan and your reorganization. Mr. Secretary, the president's foreign policy is clear and showing results for the American people and your capacity, your capacity to advance it, that foreign policy, is frankly unmatched.
▶ 0:17:14I look forward to working with you to ensure you have the resources and tools to be successful in advancing President Trump's America first foreign policy. Now, let me turn to the very distinguished ranking member for her opening remarks. You have the floor. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is an honor to work with you and um welcome, Mr.
▶ 0:17:38Secretary, and I hope you're going to find this is a very thoughtful committee, both sides of the aisle, and I like your mission for us to work together. Okay. Uh so you know you and I and chairman uh DBart we go way back to our time in the Florida legislature and I was very happy to join you at your welcoming ceremony when when you came into the state department. I I I thought your speech was inspiring. Thank you for that.
▶ 0:18:09But today I come with a deep sense of alarm and not to be personal in any way because I have a serious disagreement with some of the policy. With so many conflicts around the world, we're at a crisis point. Americans foreign policy and humanitarian leadership.
▶ 0:18:27The progress of this country under both Republican and Democratic administrations has built over decades that we built over decades is now being dismantled recklessly, needlessly, and dangerously. And I say, why should Americans care? And the answer is simple. Foreign assistance is a strategic investment. It costs less.
▶ 0:18:50It has cost less than 1% of our federal budget, yet delivers enormous returns for our national security, our economic competitiveness, our health, and our global standing. I don't know if you know this, but my son Ben is both a United States an officer, United States Marine, an artillery officer. He served all over the country, including Afghanistan and Iraq. Then he went back and served in USAID also around the world.
▶ 0:19:21And he agrees with many military experts who will tell you that investing in soft power means less spending on weapons of war and less brave soldiers coming home in body bags. USID, our nation's premier development agency, has been central to this strategy. It has helped prevent violent extremism through education, stopped deadly pandemics before they reached our shores, and delivered American grown food to the world's most corners.
▶ 0:19:52And yet, under this administration, we are witnessing Elon chainsaw taken to the entire system. While taking away food security, healthcare, and economic opportunities away from the poorest people in the world, Republicans are sadly focused on giving tax cuts to billionaires. My my my committee often hears me say that my my the richest man in the world, not you, Mr.
▶ 0:20:22Musk, killing the poorest children in the world. President Trump's January 12th executive order launched what was called a review of foreign assistance. And it's hard to believe that a responsible review was done in such a short time. It became a chaotic freeze and termination of over 80% of foreign aid programs, more than 5200 across 100 countries without consultation with Congress, without public criteria, and without a plan.
▶ 0:20:52Just just canled. Let's talk what what this actually meant on the ground. Just some examples. Millions of people in the world left starving, including in Nepal, a critical nutrition program serving over a million women and children were canled overnight, leaving no transition, no staff, no delivery mechanism. And the government has now stopped purchasing therapeutic food because there's no one to distribute it.
▶ 0:21:18Education for 40 million children around the world was halted, including education and work opportunities in Central America aimed at preventing violence in communities and making people less likely to migrate, undermining United States immigration goals. And in April, we heard from a PET for impletor who told this committee that HIV testing programs were cut even while prevention services were still technically funded. funded.
▶ 0:21:46It was impossible for pregnant women to know they even needed care. And that itself was projected to add 26 million new infections in just a few years. Uh and although these programs were lawfully appropriated and competitively awarded and underway, yet Congress was not consulted. And this is also which was just so sad.
▶ 0:22:15Thousands of hardworking Americans and foreign partners who were sent on a mission by us had their lives turned upside down in in minutes. Implementing partners were left in the dark. Embassies had no answers. The sold life saving waiverss were announced with funfair fanfare. Not fun fair. Fanfare, but with no process. So instead of building allies, we're leaving vacuums.
▶ 0:22:44And what happens when the rest of the world is hungry, illiterate, agitated, and afraid for their future? They turn to whoever is offering offering help. Whether that is China or an armed terrorist group. China's conducting development projects all over the world.
▶ 0:23:05And in co Cambodia, just one week after we cancelled maternal and child health programs, Chinese officials announced nearly identical efforts. And let's not forget what happens when disenfranchised men turn to ISIS or al-Qaeda. And here at home, the fallout continues. Florida farmers, actually all our farmers around the country, have lost international food contracts. US university research labs have gone dark.
▶ 0:23:35Nonprofits in our communities have had to lay off workers. DA data shared uh just recently reported that in European business bookings in April, it's down 26% because of the message that we are sending to other We all want efficiency and we all want accountability, but a serious government doesn't throw Humpty Dumpty off the wall and hope we can put him back together again, which is what we are afraid of here.
▶ 0:24:05Uh the haphazard and chaotic way this it just makes waste fraud and abuse more likely. And that's it's actually reported reported in our USAD and state inspector generals in a report. And Mr. Chairman, I I ask consent to enter into the record two recent reports by the State Department and USAD Office of Inspectoral Generals highlighting the complexity and changes needed to successfully integrate humanitarian global health and development assistance into the State Department.
▶ 0:24:35So done without objection. Thank you. Um Mr. Secretary, you mentioned in your uh we have a a typewritten statement that you made and there's there was a mention of what looks like a 20 billion dollar recision. I'm not sure whether that's a takeback from the 25 uh budget or the 26, but I could tell you this to me it's a no-go. And I do have an ask and it's very respectful and I want to say this again.
▶ 0:25:06the people on this committee, we got we put we got on this committee because we believe in the value of foreign assistance and I think every one of us wants to work with you and this is a thoughtful group of people. So, I am just respectfully suggesting this that you hold off on these staff and program reductions immediately and and develop with us a plan to go forward because I think we if we work together, we can make our country safer, stronger,
▶ 0:25:36and more prosperous. Thank you. And I I yield back. Thank you uh to the ranking member. It's a privilege now to yield to the chairman of the full appropriations committee, Mr. Tom Cole for his opening statements. Mr. Chairman, actually, Mr. Chairman, the privilege is to be the first person who's not a member of the bipartisan Florida mafia to actually be able to speak at this uh meeting, and I want to commend my colleagues for their rise and position.
▶ 0:26:02My friend, the chairman, is a my classmate as well as my partner on this committee and my co-chairman, and it's a great honor to be with him. And uh Miss Franklin is a wonderful member. We've served a lot of years together on Labor H. This really is, Mr. secretary, one of our very very best committees and it's always a pleasure to be with the ranking member of the full committee again my partner for many years on labor h as well and now uh at the uh pinnacle level of the committee. Um Mr.
▶ 0:26:30Secretary uh it's a great honor to have you here today. Uh as you know um this is the newly renamed subcommittee on national security, department of state and related programs. More than mere terminology, the change reflects a renewed commitment to strategic engagement and diplomacy to build a stronger and more secure future. We're leading with sharpened purpose to ensure Americans are safer at home and abroad. The work of the State Department is core to this mission and the cause of freedom.
▶ 0:27:00And every action and investment we make should protect and promote US security, prosperity, and values. Secretary Rubio, we know your commitment to that duty and it's an honor to have you here with us this afternoon. From day one, you've acted as a force multiplier for the president and we deeply appreciate your service to our country. As you know, Mr. Secretary, peace through strength isn't a matter of chance.
▶ 0:27:24It's the result of effective policy, national focus, and marshalling resources to where they drive maximum impact. The America First agenda, which has been mandated by the people, advances that critical doctrine. It's not about retreating from the world's stage, but resetting our guiding principles. No longer will weakness and the detrimental policies of the previous administration harm our nation.
▶ 0:27:48And no longer will US taxpayer dollars be funneled to extreme agendas and initiatives that have undermined trust in foreign assistant program. The Trump administration has been clear about a new path forward from the very beginning. That's why I support your efforts, Mr. Secretary, to reorganize and streamline department operations and better integrate programs with our diplomatic and strategic objectives.
▶ 0:28:13I'll note that the rapid pace of certain restructuring has caused some concerns and may require adjustments. Reforms must uh ensure meritorious programs are not lost while also improving the benefits that they deliver. We recognize that being accountable and effective are not bionary choices and we should ensure that deployed instruments of power support our interest, deter our enemies, and deepen our strength on the world stage.
▶ 0:28:39As we look to the summary of your fiscal year 2026 request, these efficiencies and mandates are reflected. This committee commends this start and is eager for a complete budget to ensure you have the resources uh needed to carry out core diplomatic functions, effectively counter China and other adversaries, strengthen our alliances and critical partnerships such as our ironclad commitment to Israel, grow economic competitiveness, and keep America the
▶ 0:29:10beacon of the free world. Moving forward, we're committed to working with you, the and the authorizing committees to ensure that the department has the capabilities, flexibility, and people it needs to represent the full range of our interests abroad in the service of American national security. Finally, again, let me reiterate uh what I said at the beginning. We are exceptionally proud of your appointment.
▶ 0:29:35Uh, I think the president uh chose wisely and well when he put you in this position and I'm extraordinarily impressed with the speed and the energy uh that you've acted on since your day of confirmation. Uh so we want to be your partners and your friends and uh as you push forward on a new agenda that frankly needed to happen uh and that we're fully supportive of. So with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you uh Mr.
▶ 0:30:04Chairman, uh, I will now yield and it's a pleasure to the ranking member of the full appropriations committee, uh, Mr. Laura, for her opening statements. You have the floor. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and ranking member Frankle. Uh, and honored to be here, uh, with the chair of of the appropriations committee, my dear friend. Um, and, uh, I want to say thank you for holding what is extremely important hearing on the Trump administration's budget request for the Department of State. Secretary Rubio, good afternoon.
▶ 0:30:32I welcome you to the House Appropriations Committee for the your first budget hearing. Thank you for appearing with us here today. As you know, bipartisanship als um allows us to govern in the interest of the nation. Um however, I cannot thank you for your proposal to slash funding for the Department of State by 51.6 billion, an 84% cut to our ability to conduct diplomacy and save lives around the world.
▶ 0:31:00But before we talk about your request to suffocate your own department next year, I want to talk about what is happening right now. Mr. Secretary, this administration is dismantling programs that save lives, protect our national security for the sake of a tax cut for billionaires. It is recklessly and unlawfully freezing and stealing congressionally appropriated funds from agencies, programs, and services across the government. Congress holds the power of the purse.
▶ 0:31:30It's right there in the Constitution. Article 1, section 9, clause 7. And while this administration has engaged in the unrestrained destruction of institutions across our government, nothing compares to the human consequences of what is happening under your watch.
▶ 0:31:49I might add that we um for 2025 we are uh uh in the continuing resolution we are following the 2024 budget and uh there are directives in that budget and if we are to follow the letter of the law uh which is you pass it in the house you pass it in the senate the president signs a legislation and uh you have a law and that law says that for
▶ 0:32:192025 we are going to move uh in the direction of the 2024 budget. Uh that is not happening and uh we need to uh question question that um uh there is as I pointed out unrestrained destruction of institutions across our government.
▶ 0:32:40You follow the orders of unelected billionaire Elon Musk and oversaw the evisceration of USID and a freeze on programs actively saving the lives of vulnerable people around the planet. Food for people on the verge of famine already on ships was halted. Administration of lifesaying treatments for horrific diseases was stopped. Your actions have cost human lives already and will cost many more in the near and long-term future. It is despicable.
▶ 0:33:11It is shameful. And it is a stain on our nation that may never be fully erased. The funding freezers made under the guise of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. But the American small farmers who feed millions around the world are not waste. And human lives they support are not either. I'm all for finding and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
▶ 0:33:35something inspectors General Richardson and Martin at State and USID, USID respectively, were tasked with doing before they were illegally purged in the dead of night. The administration has not brought one allegation of fraud or misuse to this committee either. And Mr. Secretary, I know that I do not need to lecture you on what soft power is and how it works.
▶ 0:33:59You used to be well aware of how having the world on our side through diplomacy, cultural influence, and through humanitarian role keeps Americans safe and our economy strong growing. But your familiarity with the irreplaceable role of the institutions you oversee makes it even more baffling as to why this administration has seemingly done everything in its power to estrange us from our allies. So distrust of America around the world.
▶ 0:34:30Insulting and abandoning our allies does not put America first. Cosing up to dictators and accepting lavish gifts from pro states does not put America first. Taking food from the mouths of the most vulnerable people in the world, millions of whom are children, does not put America first. When we are helping impoverished communities and nations treat diseases.
▶ 0:34:53When we are feeding starving ch children in conflict zones, and when we help ensure villages have drinkable water, we are using and gaining soft power. We do these things because they are the right thing to do. We also do these things because they are in our own interest. They build influence, our global standard, and strengthen our national security.
▶ 0:35:15When we retreat from the global stage, China and Russia fill in the gaps and the world becomes a more dangerous place for Americans. Whose name is on the sack of flower, the door of the clinic, on the school book, the United States of America, period. It must remain that way. Both parties and you understood that in the past.
▶ 0:35:41While we only have a few lines of political rhetoric masquerading as a budget to work with, this is what we do know about you, what you are proposing for the Department of State next year. You create a slush fund for the president while abandoning our allies and partners around the world with an 84% cut to diplomats and de development experts. You cut educational and cultural exchanges by 93%.
▶ 0:36:05You cut support for people in the poorest country in the world, depriving millions clean water and sanitation, putting them at risk of death from chalera and diarrhea, and depriving them of food and shelter. You cut our ability to cooperate on narcotics control and law enforcement by over$1.2 billion dollars, increasing the threats of transnational crime, terrorism, and drug and human trafficking. This does not make America stronger, safer, or more prosperous.
▶ 0:36:33The administration is putting billionaires and our adversaries first. Americans, our allies, and vulnerable people around the world will be worse off for it. As a leading Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, I assure you we will not stop fighting to protect America's interests and against this administration's dangerous dismantling of our diplomatic and humanitar humanitarian efforts across the world. I thank you and I look forward to your testimony. I yield back. Thank you very much, Secretary Rubio.
▶ 0:37:03Your full written statement will be placed in the record, so you know, feel free to summarize your testimony. As I said before, it's a privilege and an honor to have you here. You're now recognized, sir. Thank you. And uh thank you for having me here today. And uh I'm not going to go off the written testimony. How about I just tell you what's happening and what we're trying to do to the United States of America. It is your responsibility as a father and as a human to save children. The committee will be in order.
▶ 0:37:30The chairman reminds our guests that disruptive demonstrations from audience are a violation of the house and will not be So let me just talk to you about the the goal here. Our foreign policy has to once again return to the national interests. That's what it needs to be built on. We need to define what the national interest is. What is good for America. That doesn't mean we don't care about the world. That doesn't mean we don't care about great causes on this planet.
▶ 0:37:57But it means that when it comes to the conduct of foreign policy, whether it's the policies we stake out or the dollars we're spending, it has to be aligned to a defined national interest. What is in it for America? Now, you could argue that alliances are in it for America. You can off you can argue and we can that in some cases humanitarian assistance or development assistance and all these sorts of things are in our national interest. And we're going to continue to make that argument.
▶ 0:38:21We're not, we are going to continue to be the world's most generous provider of humanitarian assistance, of food assistance, of development assistance, way more than any other country. We already are and we're going to continue to be, but we're going to do it differently. We're going to do it differently and we have to do it differently because we are engaged in a very different world than the one that existed 30 years ago or 40 years ago or in some cases 50 years ago when some of these programs were set up. So, there are two things that I want to focus on today in the the three minutes that I have or less here with you. Obviously, we'll get into your questions.
▶ 0:38:50The first is the reorganization of the State Department. It is not designed to either the department or in any way, it's not even a cost-savings endeavor. It is more about being able to deliver results in a better way. What we want to empower is our regional bureaus and our embassies. Here's how I want this. This is how we want this to work. We want to be able to go to our we let me let me back up. The most important thing I read every single day, every morning, I get a book with 10 or 15 cables from our embassies around the world.
▶ 0:39:18The best ideas, the best innovations that I get from our building, and this is not disrespectful to the people working here in Washington is from the embassies and from the cables. They are identifying problems and opportunities well in advance of some memo that works its way to me. We want to get back to a a situation or we want to get to a situation where we are empowering ideas and and action at the embassy level and through our regional bureaus. Those are literally the front lines of American diplomacy. And so we have structured a safe department that can deliver on that.
▶ 0:39:49The second thing and included in is is to understand the full toolbox available to us to advance the national interest and in the past unfortunately humanitarian assistance and development assistance and aid and what the state department does have been some cases been unrelated and other cases have found themselves to be in conflict.
▶ 0:40:07So what I want and what we want is for our regional bureaus to have available to them aid, diplomacy, economic development, all of these different tools in the toolbox of Statecraft and tailored to the specific country andor region based on our national interest. That's what we seek to deliver on and that's why we wanted and by the way I'm not the first secretary of state.
▶ 0:40:27Multiple secretaries of states starting with uh Condisa Rice, I believe Secretary Albbright herself and others privately have wanted to bring aid and all of it underneath the fold of the State Department so that aid is provided through the context of our broader foreign policy. And I want to be frank with you about this as well. There are a lot of great causes in the world, but we are at a we don't have unlimited resources. We never have and we never will. And even though we spend more than anybody else, these resources have to be tailored as part of a broader strategy.
▶ 0:40:57And frankly, they have to have some return on the United States as well. There are countries in this world where we've invested a lot of money, I mean a lot of money, in humanitarian assistance, even in development assistance. And so you go and you hear about these countries. We feed people. We take care of their medical systems. We even help them build their security services. But all the minerals contracts are with China. All of the other benefits are with China. There's got to be some situation here where we say, "Hold on a second.
▶ 0:41:22There has to be some relationship between the amount of help we give and what's and and and what the United States is getting out of it." That includes their votes in international organizations. There are countries we have poured billions of dollars into over the year who consistently vote against our interests in international relations. You know who doesn't do that? You know who doesn't tolerate that? China doesn't tolerate that. They don't tolerate that. All of their help is leveraged. By the way, all of their help is primarily loans.
▶ 0:41:46So they lend you money that you pay them back so you can hire Chinese companies to do work in their country with Chinese workers. That's what they call aid and that's what they still call aid. So the purpose here is to structure a state department and ultimately that that can deliver on the foreign on the national interest of the United States driven at our regional bureaus. We are not withdrawing from the world. We are not withdrawing from foreign aid but we're going to engage in the world and we're going to conduct foreign aid and foreign and foreign assistance in a way that furthers the national interest.
▶ 0:42:16Not only do I look forward to working with you, I have to work with you because you are the appropriators and you are the ones that write the budgets and you are the the appropriations bills and and by the way, we're welcome to taking input through this process. We need that input because our intention here is to leave something behind that is good, not something that is counterproductive or in some ways does something that's negative. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Um members, I will call on members based on seniority of those present when the hearing was called to order. are obviously going between side to side.
▶ 0:42:47Each member will have five minutes uh for questions and the responses and I anticipate that we'll have enough potentially time for maybe two rounds. We do have a hard stop uh at 4:00. I will start. Mr. Secretary, uh you know more than most the uh the plight of the oppressed and the fragility of freedom.
▶ 0:43:09Uh and I think democracy programs when potentially done right without an extreme policy agenda, woke agenda, agenda dour, uh can be a valuable national security tool uh to advance our safety, our security, and frankly our our our values uh abroad. And so now, while the skinny budget, we understand why, doesn't address democracy programs, uh but a lot of these awards were uh terminated during the assistance review. Um now, I will tell you, Mr. Mr.
▶ 0:43:38Secretary, I had a sadly a front row seat uh to the B administration's effort to co-opt important bipartisan programs to advance her woke agenda while damaging our national security. And by the way, democracy programs were a big part of that. So I get it. Um but you know, we we need to get back into basics and get back into the game in the right way.
▶ 0:44:02So what can you tell me about your plans and president administr the president's uh plans and policies to support support freedom um around the globe and what are your plans as far as potentially for you know democracy uh is that a is that a priority democracy programs so give me your read on that well a couple things first of all I think in the context of our broader foreign policy we need to recognize that there are countries for example whose governance systems are not the ones we would want for our own country
▶ 0:44:32but nonetheless we need to have a relationship with them because it's in our geopolitical interests. Um two countries I recently visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi Arabia is not a democratic society but yet they're important strategic partner for us in the Middle East for a variety of reasons. On the other hand I you see where there are opportunities and you would hope to be able to support a vibrant democracy development in places in our hemisphere as an example.
▶ 0:44:58And I think what that draws to bear is that what democracy promotion or programs like this mean will vary from region to region and country to country. I think we all wish we lived in a polyiana world where everything was equal across the board. But the fact of the matter is that foreign policies never looked like that. We have always had to treat different countries in different ways sometimes because our geopolitical interests require it. That said, I think it's also important in these programs, just because a program, and I'm not criticizing any program in particular, but just because a program has a nice and impressive title, democracy promotion.
▶ 0:45:29Well, I think we would all be supportive of democracy promotion, but at some point, these programs have to prove that they are actually promoting democracy, that they are actually delivering on an outcome. And so again, I'm not speaking about any program in particular, but when you've been promoting democracy in some society for 20 years and have made no advances, you have to ask yourself, at least at a minimum, you have to ask yourself, are we spending the money on the right thing? Is it with the right people and in the right way?
▶ 0:45:54And so I do think that uh these things are worthy of review but ultimately if we see opportunities that fit our national interest to promote democracy to promote plurism in a society we're going to I give you I keep going back to this because it's very recent but but uh you know you would hope one day for example that we would be able to promote if possible and whatever efforts we can do a society in in Syria which right now is under a transitional authority run from by some people that I know have some difficult pasts but nonetheless have expressed a desire at
▶ 0:46:24a national project, meaning they're they want to build a country. They're not interested in fighting a war with Israel. They're not interested in exporting revolution or becoming a playground for jihadists. And in order to have a real functioning society in Syria, you're going to have to have a government that's inclusive of Alawoies and Drews and Sunni, some elements of Shia and Kurds and Christians. And if we can help somehow and bringing that together, we'd be open to doing it. But it's got to be a program that actually has a chance to succeed, not just some NGO with a nice title and they pitch us a contract.
▶ 0:46:54Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Very little time and I'm going to keep myself uh to the clock as well, Mr. Secretary. I may cut you off at the end of your answer if you so very briefly. Look, one of the flaws I think during President Obama's uh Iran JCPOA was that it did not cover Iran's ballistic missiles, their support for truck, you know, for for terrorists and proxies. Can you give us an idea and then and again I don't have a lot of time and I'm going to cut you off so just know that a little bit about about those talks with Iran.
▶ 0:47:22Well again I can't say as much because you know when you're in the middle of a negotiation you don't want to imperil it. Suffice it to say that the president and his entire team's been very clear Iran cannot have an enrichment capability because that ultimately makes them a threshold nuclear power. Um and there are sanctions related to terrorism, sanctions related to their ballistic missiles program and the like. Those sanctions, if they're not part of the deal, they'll remain in place if those things are not addressed. But the enrichment piece is the key piece. And we continue to say that Iran cannot have an enrichment capability. Thank you.
▶ 0:47:50And members, you see that the chairman stuck to the clock. I am going to demand that everybody else does the same thing. Uh to the distinguished ranking member, you're recognized. Thank you. And I agree, Mr. Chairman, in terms of Iran, no enrichment, but no funding proxies. We got to stop their terrorist activities. Uh, Mr.
▶ 0:48:11Secretary, we all like efficiency and every president has a right to review programs, but I with all due respect, it just seems to me what's been happening is is backwards. Congress, we created USAD as an independent agency. Then without Congress, the administration has unilaterally dismantled USAD. Now you're bringing some functions you say over to the state department.
▶ 0:48:38So I just I want to ask you about what's going on with all these people who are working first of all who are working for the USAD. There are thousands of them all over the world. I understand some have been brought back some haven't and and they have been what's called I guess some are waiting until uh June or July and they will be permanently fired. you maybe you can give me those statistics.
▶ 0:49:02Under title five authorities, if an agency function is transferred to another agency, you must hire the employees from the old agency first. Is that something that you're going to do? Well, first of all, you're right about employees are in staggered return status. Some of them, frankly, are because their kids are finishing school or some medical need or a pregnancy. And so, we wanted to be accommodating. We've actually allowed some to come back as late as September, October, depending as far as the function is concerned.
▶ 0:49:29Well, the function will be the same in essence, humanitarian assistance, food aid, but it'll be conducted out of the State Department and with new contracts. And we are in the process today of hopefully by July 1st having personnel in place to assume these responsibilities. And some of them will be former USAD employees. In fact, we're involved in the interview process. Now, I can't give you a percentage of how many will be. There's some others that maybe have not done were not working at USAD that are interested in applying.
▶ 0:49:54And there are some individuals within the state department that perhaps have done development work in the past that would seek to transfer to that as foreign service officers or career civil servants that could fill that role. But I can tell you for certainty that we have had numerous large number of former USA ID or soon to be former USA ID employees applying for employment on in the state department in in these different uh bureaus that we're setting up. So I understand what's underway. What I don't understand is why what was the rush about?
▶ 0:50:22I mean to just upset people on a mission working dedicated no fault of their own. You've turned their lives upside down. But not only that, disrupted all kinds of programs. I won't go through that. Why was such a rush to do that without coming to Congress and working with us as partners? Because I'll tell you, it's it's it's maddening. You want me us to give you money for another budget. It's it's like it's and you want us to rubber stamp these actions.
▶ 0:50:52Well, I would say that um these are reforms that people have talked about for a long time. As I said, multiple secretaries of state have wanted to bring the function of foreign aid, humanitarian assistance, the like under all of it under the umbrella of the state department and it never happened. And so I think in this case quite frankly there's just a real impatience to get to reform and to restructure. When you move at that pace obviously there's going to be some disruptions as there have been.
▶ 0:51:15Um, I've talked to several of you during this period of time about some of this in the process and it was a lot of hard work, but we feel like we've turned the corner and are now heading in a direction of building something that will be able to deliver on the national interests. But but let me just say in this case uh h not having patience is not a virtue and I I I really hope that you're going to halt some of these actions till we can actually work with you.
▶ 0:51:41I I I there are as as our uh ranking members said there are congressionally directed programs like family planning, democracy, education, women, peace and security. Are these things that you are planning to continue in the state department? Yeah, none nothing that is statutory has changed in the organizational uh changes. We did not touch any statutory um functions.
▶ 0:52:02Um, obviously if Congress a an authorization, you know, or andor its own reorganization, uh, obvious and we would hope it would look a lot like ours. If we could work with you on it, then that would be ideal because it would make some of these changes permanent. The thing is, you haven't we don't we don't know what your plan is. It doesn't sound like you know what your plan is yet. So, how do you know what your staffing needs are? I mean, you're firing all these people before you we even know what the plan is. Well, that's in USA ID.
▶ 0:52:30There's been no real I mean we've about 180 employees is the only numbers that have been released from the state department because we got rid of an entire bureau the global engagement center and one other. So that that's different from USA ID. I think that's what you're referring to in terms of the large numbers as far as our plan. Well, we here's what we did. We sort of sent a proposed or organizational structure and you're now receiving comments as a result of that proposal including from members of this committee and your staff and people inside of our building.
▶ 0:52:57And then we hope to bring you a congressional notification on reorganization on the basis of that comment period. I'm I'm getting hammered, but I m Mr. Chair, I do I do I just have one very important question left very quick, which is this because we want to work together, but I want to ask you whether you will commit yourself to using the funds that we put in to to the congressional directives of this and the next budget.
▶ 0:53:25Well, that's a decision OMB will have to bring before you in terms of what they seek to do with the remaining funds that are un at this point unspent. All right, we we're we're going to move on and and again, thank the the ranking member uh Chairman Cole. Uh thank you. And just before I ask my question to that point, it would be helpful and I know you're trying to do this. If you could urge OMB to get us a full budget and we are months behind when one should happen. I give them any new administration a lot of latitude. Nobody can possibly meet the congressional deadlines on this.
▶ 0:53:55But we're at the time now if we're going to give you the budget you need in a timely fashion. We need the kind of information that you and the ranking member of the subcommittee were talking about and we need a detailed proposal more than we've gotten. So I would just ask you to lend your voice. Help us help you.
▶ 0:54:11Uh now my question um you know obviously you walked into office or came into office at a time of unprecedented international upheaval war in places we did not expect to see war Europe in particular have not seen it on a scale like this since 1945. Um you know it's been a tragedy obviously the loss of life and I commend you and the president for talking about that in those kinds of terms. This is a contest that does need to end.
▶ 0:54:39On the other hand, I look at it and I see an unmititigated disaster for Russia to this point. I mean, they pushed Sweden and Finland into NATO. They suffered 900 casu thousand casualties or so. Uh they, you know, are busy rearming Europe uh quite frankly and the president was right on that in his first term, warning the Europeans about the danger of this kind of threat, but they are rearming and and doing so rapidly.
▶ 0:55:06Uh I know you've been in discussions obviously uh with Russia and its leaders and I know the president has as well as recently as yesterday. So I'm just curious of what your assessment the state of play is and what you think the United States ought to be doing to try and bring the war to an end without rewarding an aggressor. Well, first the state of play I think is as follows and that is that Russia wants what they do not have. They want to conquer lands they do not currently occupy.
▶ 0:55:34And Ukraine wants what they cannot get, which is pushing Russia all the way back to the lines in 2014 or even before that when the the previous incursions happened. And so what we have here basically is in many ways a protracted stalemated conflict in which people are dying every day. And in fact, that's why you're seeing these long range strikes.
▶ 0:55:52Since they can only make small advances in one direction or another on the front lines, they they launch UAVs and they launch drones and they launch rockets into populated areas far from the battlefield and and inflict tremendous harm as we see every single night. The the president's goal is to end it. In order to end this war, this war has no military solution. It it will not this war will end at some point in a negotiated settlement. And the question is when does that happen? The sooner it happens, the less people will die, the less destruction there's going to be.
▶ 0:56:20It has to be a negotiated settlement to a peace that is sustainable, not a peace that lasts for three years and then restarts another war. In order to get to that peace, in order to get to that negotiation, you have to be able to talk to both sides. And both sides have are going to have to make concessions. As as hard as that sounds, both sides are going to have to give up things they want and give the other side things they want. That's the way negotiations work. The president has wanted to preserve our opportunity to be able to engage with both sides of this debate, and that's what we've done.
▶ 0:56:48The president's also been clear and we've been clear with the Russian side. Number one, that the president retains sanctions authorities that he has not yet used. All the current sanctions remain in place. None of the sanctions that were in place on the day he became president have been lifted. But there are additional sanctions and he's alluded to those.
▶ 0:57:04And the others which I and others have directly reminded the Russians of is there's a congressional effort to impose sanctions which at some point in time Congress will lose its patience with the pace of advances on a peace deal and may very well impose sanctions that in some ways are even more crippling than what the president could do on his own. But we hope we can have a peace deal. Again, it's difficult.
▶ 0:57:24The Russians are supposed to produce a document or a memorandum of peace as they've called it in the next few days that will outline what they will require for a ceasefire that could then lead to a broader negotiation and then a final settlement. Um and I think we'll learn a lot from what that memorandum of peace contains. If it's if it's reasonable, then I think we've made progress. If it's not, um then I then I think we're not any closer here and and the president will have options available to him. Let's hope it's the former, not the latter. Thank you very much. That's very helpful.
▶ 0:57:54U I don't have a lot of time but I want to ask one quick question and take what little time you have to respond. Look, I was the ranking member and I the full committee were actually in the Middle East in October. Um Egypt, Jordan, uh Saudi Arabia, Israel. Um I'm enormously impressed with what the president accomplished in this recent visit. Could you talk to us briefly about the opportunities that you see coming out of that visit? Well, there are a number.
▶ 0:58:22The first is to attract foreign investment into the United States and for a bunch of different industries here. And I think that's always important. I think the second obviously is the ability to find strategic joint partnerships in different ventures like for example AI and and in particular semiconductors. The production of semiconductors is heavily energy dependent.
▶ 0:58:41And so to find nations that have surplus availability of energy that they can dedicate to the production of semiconductors and increase the global supply chain of semiconductors so we're not overly reliant on one chip plant in Taiwan uh is is critical to our national security but frankly to global stability. And I think the third and really was meaningful was the speech the president gave uh in Saudi Arabia at the forum. It was I I think a pretty important speech if you go to it where he said a number of things. He doesn't believe in permanent enemies.
▶ 0:59:11He's a builder, not a destroyer. He wants to see peace. He he actually outlined these two paths that exist. The path of destruction and war and then the path of prosperity as as witnessed in these uh three countries that he visited and that's what we are hoping to advance and and I think we helped advance in an important part of the world. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. You back, Mr. Chairman. Well, thank you.
▶ 0:59:32And I want to thank the ranking member because since she went a little bit over, it made me it made it possible for me not to cut off the full committee chairman, which is always a good thing to to not have to do uh to the full uh now we'll go to the full ranking uh member. Yes. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I just would might quickly say that a while ago we had a briefing by um uh USAD senior officials Jim Condor, Chris Milligan, and just a a quote.
▶ 0:59:57It's it what what what had been done was an 84% cut uh to uh USID. It scatters the remnants of USID across a dozen uh state bureaus and almost guarantees that um our competitors uh will dominate in local competition. The fact is people have been fired and and uh uh uh agencies and uh programs have been terminated. Uh, Secretary Rubio, human lives have been lost.
▶ 1:00:27Extensive damage is done to the US international standing under your watch. This would not have happened if the administration had followed the law and congressional intent. Congress appropriated foreign aid funding with a clear set of directives yet with no notice to Congress. The administration has broken the law, completely dismantled US foreign aid, hijacked funding for the State Department and USAD at the behest of Elon Musk and Doge.
▶ 1:00:51I might just say uh you don't have the authority, Elon Musk doesn't have the authority, the president doesn't have the authority and uh OM doesn't have the authority. The authority uh to appropriate funding comes from this body, the United States Congress, and it is so stated in the Constitution. You're now sitting on billions of dollars. This subcommittee, which appropriated that funding in the first place, has no idea of how you plan to use them.
▶ 1:01:16Secretary, how do you plan to spend your AY's remaining fiscal year 2025 uh money if not as directed by the Congress? Well, I think the president through OM is going to work with you and the Congress on how best to, you know, reset the funding levels for the new year and how to move those funds and we await OM guidance in that regard. Well, I would just say for months we have been asking for a list of which programs were cut and why. And all we have received is this unintelligible spreadsheet, a sheet that does not seem to reflect reality.
▶ 1:01:47We need clear answers on how you need to plan to spend this year's funding and asking for a commitment that you let us know because you have terminated uh programs. You have fired staff. What are you going to do with that money that was already appropriated? Well, again, we're waiting for OMB guidance and obviously they'll reach out and work with Congress on these uh funds. OMI is not working with Congress. The president is not working with Congress. You are not working with the Congress.
▶ 1:02:13We need to understand if we are going to appropriate dollars, what it is that has happened. What is it that you propose to do with the billions of dollars uh that you have expropriated? Yeah. Again, that's a function as you know that's OMB has those decisions to make and they'll have to work. You don't have much control over your agency. Mr. Ultimately, we have a lot of control reporting. You have terminated more than 90% of US aid programs, 60% of programs at state.
▶ 1:02:41All our the firing of all our development experts in the next few weeks and are preparing to fire hundreds more at the State Department. We need an accountability and if we can't I I I don't know if we can't get it from the secretary then from whom are we going to get this accountability? It is your department. Well, with all due respect, some of your numbers are incorrect. We have not cut 60% of the funding at the State Department. If you're referring to the budget request, that's different. There has not been mass layoffs at the State Department.
▶ 1:03:09I think there's been less than 200 people that have that have been rifted from the State Department. From the state department talking about well USAID and that's a different Well, no, it's not a different issue. You now plan to take on and the gentleman said you're going to scatter the remnants of USID throughout throughout the State Department. Who was going to make sure appropriated funds are spent properly? Well, they're not going to be scattered. They're actually going to be consolidated in a number two couple of funds that deliver, for example, international humanitarian assistance fund.
▶ 1:03:39We'll also have an increase to the emergency refugee and migration assistance. You mentioned previous secretaries who have moved in this direction. And I just want to say to you that they decided not to do it because it was ill advised. 15% of the planned cuts, there's 15% planned cuts of state staff. Now, who is going to make sure that appropriated funds are spent properly if you have fired all the staff with experience overseeing the process.
▶ 1:04:10Will you personally be approving every expenditure? I know you have a lot of jobs already. No, we're not. First of all, we haven't fired any experienced staff other than the people that were rifted out of the two divisions in the department, but other than that, I said at the State Department, there's been only under under 200 people have been removed. Some have retired and so forth, but that's normal in any cycle. We are also going to hire new people, including I've already you have my time is short, Mr. Secretary. So is mine. And that's why I want to tell you that my time is short here. My time is short.
▶ 1:04:40I reclaim my time. You've have terminated key monitoring and evaluation programs allow us to account for the use of this funding. How does allowing the money to flow out the door while hamstringing your own ability to track that money make our government more efficient and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse?
▶ 1:04:57It's clear that from the administration and Musk that the process is ignorant of the purpose of foreign aid, utterly unprepared to manage their own dictates, taking a chainsaw to foreign aid with no concern for human lives or the broader consequences for our security, no plan for the future. I yield back. Thanks. Thank you.
▶ 1:05:17Before I recognize the vice chairman of the uh sub committee, I just want to remind members that uh let's please obviously these conversations are helpful, but if if if we can allow the secretary to answer uh I think that that would also be helpful. Uh to the vice chairman, Mr. Edwards, you're recognized, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Secretary, thanks for being with us. Uh thanks for taking on the task that you have.
▶ 1:05:41Uh contrary to the comments you heard immediately before the Mr. Desbolark called on me, uh I applaud the work that you're doing. I firmly believe that you're doing the job that the American people asked of President Trump and uh I'd like to associate myself with the comments from Chairman Dez Balard.
▶ 1:06:03Although I'm not part of the Florida Mafia, uh I have a great deal of confidence in the in in the job that you're doing and I applaud the work that that that you're doing. It takes a great deal of courage uh to make bold decisions like you have uh like President Trump has in looking at funding that many of us for years have questioned.
▶ 1:06:30The American people have questioned the money that goes out of Washington into foreign countries. I applaud the fact that you reminded us that the United States is a humanitarian nation, that we're going to perform our duties to uh humanity.
▶ 1:06:47uh that we are committed for to help development in uh other countries and uh that you're going to demand that in return the United States get uh a a return uh that that we're building relationships and uh and I look at what you're doing as what most fiscal uh responsible folks in government would want us to do.
▶ 1:07:17It's a form of zerobased budgeting. There are so many programs. Uh I've I've gone through the list of programs. There's so there's so many none of us on this panel can read or understand. Uh I believe that it was the right decision to hit the pause button and ring out some of the things that most of us on this panel would uh agree that don't need to be there and then begin to rebuild.
▶ 1:07:45I I think it's the right thing to do even though it uh it it takes quite a bit of courage and I also thank you for your openness to restart those programs.
▶ 1:07:58The things that the thing that is not being talked about up here is the State Department as you're learning of the programs as you're hearing from the embassies are restarting programs every single day uh because you recognize our role in the world. I'm going to ask one simple question, but I need to use another moment uh just reiterate my observation in uh Ukraine.
▶ 1:08:28I had an opportunity uh a year or so ago to spend several days in Ukraine. There's no question that uh Putin is the aggressor. Uh he has committed atrocities beyond the comprehension of most average Americans.
▶ 1:08:46I realize the difficulty that it is uh when you've got two very egotistical leaders, world leaders that we do and I thought you eloquently pointed out the difficulty in getting those folks uh to together to stop the killing. Uh I would urge you and the president to continue uh applying the sanctions uh that that we have a available to us with all that pontification.
▶ 1:09:15Now I'll just ask a simple question. Uh while I was in Europe I realized that Radio Free Europe is an organization which has traditionally gotten funds from this sub subcommittee through US agency for global media uh to educate the folks as to really what's going on out there and to fight the propaganda war which most of us just do not realize that's taking place. I had a chance to witness that.
▶ 1:09:43What are what are your thoughts about continuing to fund organizations like Radio Free Europe? Well, I think a couple things. First of all, they're not in the State Department. We don't operate those are operated independently. I know that they're going through their own process that uh the administration is reviewing. So, I don't want to speak about their reform efforts or what their what their what their plans may be because I'm just not a portfolio that I'm working on. I'm working on a lot of other things, but I'm that that's just not underneath the State Department.
▶ 1:10:08There are some that have suggested that global engagement or global media uh be brought under the uh opices of the state department. That is not a concrete proposal. I've seen that bantied about by some. If that's a decision that's made then, you know, we'll look forward to creating programs that are effective at delivering news and most importantly access to unfettered and free information uh given changes in way people the way people consume information in the world today. But that's that's not something I'm involved in right now because it's outside the umbrella of the state department.
▶ 1:10:39It is under the umbrella of your committee. However, thank you. Thank you to the vice chairman. Privilege to recognize Miss Mangno. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and ranking member. Uh thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here today. Uh first, I wanted to continue to urge you and the president to do everything in your power to bring home the 58 hostages who Hamas still holds in captivity.
▶ 1:11:03that includes four American citizens, Etihan, Gadi Hagai, Judith Weinstein Hagai, and Omar Neutra. Uh, and I want to urge you to continue efforts to please get humanitarian aid into Gaza and make sure it's getting to Palestinian civilians and not Hamas. Um, Mr.
▶ 1:11:22Secretary, I too am extremely concerned that your actions will prevent the State Department from fulfilling requirements under federal law to comply with congressional directives and fund programs that Congress agrees bipartisan agreement uh are a priority. One example is basic education authorized by the Reinforcing Education Accountability and Development or READ Act.
▶ 1:11:49This is a bill that you personally introduced in 2017 and I was proud to co-lead its reauthorization last year in the House. Uh however, during your review of foreign aid, you personally cancelled all international basic education programs. As a result, an estimated 44 million learners will lose access to education, vocational, and workforce development programs supported by the US government.
▶ 1:12:16These are programs that make us safer, stronger, and more prosperous by building stability and helping kids stay in school. This is statutory. Under federal law, you are required to spend these funds. What is your plan to fulfill the congressional directives of the Reed Act and ensure millions of children around the world can stay in school? Well, number one, uh we always look that I would characterize that as development assistance because that's what it is.
▶ 1:12:44is you're trying to build the development capabilities of a country and I think those would have to be driven you know we would be open to doing programs that work but they would have to be driven because an embassy or a regional bureau thinks these kinds of programs would work in this particular setting as opposed to this global view on it but just because something's called something nice doesn't necessarily mean that's what it's delivering on there are many of these programs where frankly if you talk to the partner nation they would say I'll give you an example I was recently in one of the Caribbean nations and they're very grateful for help with schools but their number one need is security they have to build up
▶ 1:13:14their police departments and their security assistance. So they would tell you before we can focus on our educational systems, we want to build capacity in our law enforcement so we can provide security so that then our society can flourish and that could be possible. That doesn't mean education is not important. It just means that our the nation has identified that as a more important need and we want to have the flexibility to be able to prioritize what could be most helpful.
▶ 1:13:38So that I agree and we would love to work with you on potential legislation and programming on safety and security. But this legislation, it's not just something that sounds nice and has a pretty title. We worked on this together, the Senate, uh the House, Republicans, Democrats, it's something that's important and and keeps us safe and and that is, you know, statutory. That is not that is something that has been touched.
▶ 1:14:03Um, and so I wanted to follow up also in the same vein with international family planning and reproductive health programs. You have also canled all international all of these programs. These programs are lifesaving. In 2024 alone, they were estimated to save the lives of 34,000 women and girls, prevent over 5 million unsafe abortions, and serve over 47 million women and couples around the world with modern contraceptive care.
▶ 1:14:31You are statutoily required to spend 575 million in bilateral international flaming planning awards as Congress provided in 2024. Uh what is the plan? There is no plan as I said on those programs with regards to that. There's no plan to spend that money. We're not going to be in that business globally. I mean we we don't we're not going to do it. So it doesn't matter that Congress passed the law.
▶ 1:14:56Well, the money that's not that the the money that's been appropriated is for that purpose, but the money has been spent those programs, the way that money was being spent and the specific uses, we're not going to continue to do it in that same way. What what is the plan then? You I know you talked about reorganization. Again, all of those funds that will be brought under one of the two buckets of human it could humanitarian assistance, it could be development assistance, it could be refugee and migration assistance.
▶ 1:15:20We will work with Congress to find a way to channel those funds in a way that comply with the statute, but at the same time are not funding activities that the administration feels is outside even the purview of the statute. I just want to say that that is statute, that is law. Uh and contrary to your testimony, you are touching and changing it. Um and and you said you wanted to work together with Congress. On April 24th, almost 90 members sent you a letter about these programs requesting a response. Uh we still have not received a response.
▶ 1:15:50I respect that you say you want to work with us, but we need more than uh words. We need actions. You'll get a response. What What day was that letter? Uh April 24th. Okay. Thank you very much. I yield back. Thank you. Uh Chairman Mullinar. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr.
▶ 1:16:06Secretary, it's good to see you again and uh it was a privilege to work together with you on issues uh related to China when you were in the Senate and I'm excited to do so again in your new capacity especially as you undertake this much needed reorganization of the department and uh following up on your earlier testimony and statement, you rightly identified China and the Chinese Communist Party as a principal threat to the United States and for decades as part of its strategy.
▶ 1:16:36of civil military fusion. The CCP has stolen intellectual property to stand up its stateowned enterprises and build up its military. It's constantly working to evade export controls to get cutting edge and legacy chips to leapfrog the US in the AI race and to supply its missile systems. We cannot give the CCP the means to displace the United States.
▶ 1:17:02Recently, the Department of Congress commerce rescended the overly complex AI diffusion rule, which it intended to cement our lead in AI technology by limiting US chip sales, particularly to countries that may allow Chinese entities access. As Secretary of State, you have a vital role in protecting dualuse technologies from being used by America's adversaries.
▶ 1:17:28I wanted to ask you, how do you see the replacement to the diffusion rule taking shape and what guard rails do you think are needed to prevent China from siphoning more US innovation to build up its military? Well, as you know, the commerce department is undertaking a review of the previous administration's decisions with regards to specific countries and also specific technologies and uh so we we providing guidance for them on that regard or we're providing input. Ultimately, they're the ones that will have to do that.
▶ 1:17:56We've heard from a lot of partner nations, some who feel they were un unfairly treated in that decision, others who feel um were happy with the outcome. So I know some of those decisions are ongoing, but it's at highest priority that the fact that we have to assume that basically every country or any company that operates in communist China um is under the control of the CCP. They can be an independent country company.
▶ 1:18:19They can argue that they're a corporate entity that's not related to the government, but the truth of the matter is that based on their national security law in China, every company has to do whatever the government tells them to do and turn over any technologies they tell them to turn over. In addition to that, because of the civil military fusion that exists, virtually any company in China is basically part of their defense industrial complex. They are. And we've seen that repeatedly over and over again.
▶ 1:18:44And we've seen advances that the Chinese have made in their own defensive capabilities and offensive capabilities militarily as a result of technology transfers. So it is among the highest of priorities for this administration to protect against that. And frankly, it's also an issue that I raise with every one of my engagement with our partners. It was a big topic of conversation at the recent foreign ministers gathering of NATO um last week in Turkey.
▶ 1:19:10So a growing number of our allies are also interested in similar moves on their front. Well, thank you very much for raising that issue because as you know the acquiring US technology through third parties is something China is actively trying to do. Um, there are also national security concerns with Chinese nationals coming to the United States to study at our colleges and universities since the CCP has previously threatened some students families if they don't spy for them.
▶ 1:19:40And there have been instances, including in my home state of Michigan, where Chinese nationals study in the US engaged in trespassing on a military base. What can the state department do to protect our college campuses and improve the vetting of Chinese nationals who come to the US to study? I mean that's a it's not a difficult issue. I mean it's difficult in the sense that our that um where I think we as a people are generally uncomfortable with saying an entire group of people from one country cannot come.
▶ 1:20:07On the other hand, it's hard for us to ignore the repeated and large number of industrial, commercial, and educ and and educational research, intellectual property theft being tracked back to partic primarily graduate students from China. Now, on the one end, you can sort of vet it at the front end and there are some that have had links prior to their studies in this country to the intelligence services or military services. Those are easy to to to take out.
▶ 1:20:33But the others are more complicated and that is someone who could be uh threatened because their family's back home. And in many cases, some of these students do not consider what they're doing to be espionage. They considered totally sort of acceptable that if you come across a secret or something that's valuable, you would bring it back home to your country. So, it's a huge challenge and it's one that we take very seriously and it's one that's under consideration now. In fact, there's an inter agency conversation happening on different proposals to address it, but it's one I was been raising for years, especially with our institutes of higher education in our country.
▶ 1:21:04Thank you very much, and I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Mr. Secretary, welcome. Thank you for being here. Uh, congratulations on your appointments. With uh, great power comes great responsibility. the responsibility to our Constitution, to the American people, and to the truth.
▶ 1:21:27You have built a reputation as someone who stood up to dictators, someone who defended our democracy from foreign threats. And I know that firsthand because you, Mr. Secretary, defended me in the past when President Ble of El Salvador uh targeted me, telling his followers, don't vote for Rep.
▶ 1:21:50Torres, endorsing my opponent and unleashing a campaign of vile threats, harassment, intimidation, and leading an online lynching against me three times. Your response, Mr. Secretary, was clear and direct. My home was vandalized with gang graffiti. My husband was confronted in our front yard while we were having a toddler swim. That child is watching us right now.
▶ 1:22:21A man filmed himself planning to shoot me. Our justice department agreed with us in a 2022 court indictment, alleging that Bugle has a deal with MS-13 gang leaders, receiving support from MS-13 and strategizing on how to better hide murderers from the public, disappearing them.
▶ 1:22:46In fact, a woman who dared to lead an anti-corruption unit in El Salvador was just arrested by Buchell's attorney general, and no one knows her whereabouts. You understood what was at stake then. You called it out. You stood with me against this outrageous, authoritarian. I'm a bit confused with what has happened.
▶ 1:23:14Um, you're now shaking hands and cutting deals with him. And you facilitated what our Supreme Court has ruled as an illegal rendition. A Maryland father sent to a torture prison in El Salvador. In my hand, um, I have evidence here, news reports, and affidavit that detail the deal you worked on with El Salvador and Bella's deal with MS13.
▶ 1:23:43I have here interviews with MS-13 gang members revealing the truth behind Bella's gang ties and I ask unanimous consent to enter these documents into the record without objection. Done. Congress has been very clear. The law requires you to share these secret agreements. Um, and let me be clear on which agreements I'm talking about.
▶ 1:24:06The State Department is usually the lead agency, but at the very least a part of negotiations with foreign countries, not the Homeland Security, the State Department. The US has an agreement with El Salvador. According to the US law, state must share all international agreements with Congress when requested. And Congress has requested this agreement numerous times. You've so far ignored us.
▶ 1:24:35So let me ask you directly. Will you commit right now to handing over the requested agreement that the United States has entered into with El Salvador under your watch as required by Yeah, I'm not sure what you're referring to. The United States number two things have happened. The first is El Salvador agreed to take back nationals, Salvadorian nationals, including the individual you mentioned. These are people that were in this country unlawfully had MS-13 ties and they were repatriated to their country. Okay.
▶ 1:25:04Then there was a group of gang members from trainagua in the United States and he agreed to take them into his prison system. The United States in addition to that has provided uh law enforcement funding to El Salvador which they are free to use any way they want. They can use it for their jail system. They can use it for other law enforcement functions. That's the deal. That is not correct. Um No, that is that is correct. when when but those agreements did include giving MS-13 gang members to El Salvador at their request. Right.
▶ 1:25:34We g we turned over a gang member who committed a murder in the US without allowing for our judicial system to try him to give some justice to that family of that murdered victim. But we sent him to El Salvador because Bell requested him because it is in his best interest to hide his ties with MS-13 gang members.
▶ 1:26:02So, do the agreements to send migrants to El Salvador contain provisions saying that the US retains any future control over the individuals transferred? Well, th those who Salvadorian citizens are citizens of El Salvador. They're here unlawfully. gang association is a crime in El Salvador and he will face justice. Venezuelans, we send other uh country uh nationals um to El Salvador.
▶ 1:26:27We disappear them to a prison that is known for torture and inhumane dealings with their imprisoned people. H how much US taxpayer money did your department send to Buchalis regime? Mr. Secretary, I I would ask you to answer very briefly and because we have to move. Bottom line is we gave them law enforcement funding as we do for other countries in Central America and who we sent to them were gang trained at Aagua gang members that Venezuela won't take. So we have to send them somewhere else. We don't want them in our country. We don't want these gangbangers in the United States.
▶ 1:26:56I agree with you on that. Yeah, Mr. Alford. Thank you, Chairman Diaz. Uh thank you, Ranking Member Secretary Ruby. I I want to thank you for your efforts to to really refocus as you talked about the State Department uh and its foreign aid programs and what their core mission should have been all along should be now going forward safeguarding US interests abroad as a first line of defense. And I agree with you wholeheartedly. We must see some return to the United States of America on these programs. Foreign aid is not never should have been a private charity.
▶ 1:27:26While we lap the world in humanitarian aid, we have to make sure that these taxpayer funds are spent in accordance with security needs. That's why Chairman DSVart and Chairman Cole renamed the subcommittee National Security Department of State and Related Programs to better reflect what we're doing here. And that's why I would like to propose to you, sir, that we reorganize the best, most impactful foreign aid programs that remain into national security investment projects.
▶ 1:27:55Basically, sir, if it doesn't have to do with our national security interest, we shouldn't be spending taxpayer money on it. A lot of those things fall into this bucket, though, sir, of national security investment projects. Uh, in Jordan, we were in Jordan last October. I was honored to go with uh uh Miss Delaro and and Chairman Cole on this uh congressional delegation trip. There's a desalinization plant that takes water out of the Red Sea.
▶ 1:28:20as you know we've invested millions of dollars in this supplies drinking water to Aman Jordan uh that country as you know is growing the parliament uh is growing number of Muslim Brotherhood members uh King Abdullah we met with him and he's very concerned about the state of that country the uh uh folks of Oman spend onethird of their paycheck on drinking water and so it's in our national interest I feel projects like these to go forward so these state uh these friends of ours that we rely on and they rely on
▶ 1:28:51us uh can have great relationships. But as you know, uh this whole program has gotten screwed up. We spent $50,000 in taxpayers money to fund transgender opera in Colombia, $2 million for sex changes in LGBTQ activism in Guatemala, $70,000 for a DI musical in Ireland. Mr. Secretary, we're getting a handle on how this all happened. Okay, I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around this. How do we get this screwed up with these programs?
▶ 1:29:20How do we keep it from happening again, sir? Well, I think that's precisely the point of these reforms. If someone has to speak up and say they own these projects, I think it's going to make a difference. You highlighted a few. I just looking here on my papers because I wanted to read you a few from the, you know, the greatest hits. Please do of some of the programs that we've identified that I mean, look, I this is not fully representative of a but you know, $10 million for voluntary medical male circumcision in Mozambique. uh 20 $227,000 for Big Cat's YouTube channel.
▶ 1:29:50I don't know what that is, but um $20 million for fed fiscal federalism in Nepal. Um $1.5 million for voter confidence in Liberia. One 14 million for social cohesion in Mali. Um you know, it goes on and on. I mean, there's more here, but the point being is that some of these programs, look, there are programs that are really good in our national interest. You spoke about the dissalination programs in Jordan. We brought most of those back right away. They actually were part of the initial carveout that was an error made.
▶ 1:30:18Those were added in and the remaining two programs are coming online. There are programs that are not bad but are not necessarily core to our national interest. And then there are some that were just absurd and ridiculous and nobody owned them and no one could raise their hand and say that's my program. This is why I think it's important. And in many cases we're coming at the expense of something else they could have been spent on. That's what we're trying to avoid. And that's why driving these decisions and this ownership of what we fund down to the front lines at our embassies and regional bureaus is so critical to preventing this from happening again.
▶ 1:30:48Since its inception in the 1980s under President Bush, PEPAR has saved more than 25 million lives. This is a program that is critical, but it was never meant to be permanent program. How do we work to ensure and I've got a plan to to to curtail this US spending uh over a period of years, not to just cut it off entirely, but to turn it over to secular entities uh rather than being taxpayer funded through these programs. We've got to keep this program going until it can uh gain other legs from other sources.
▶ 1:31:18What is your thought on that? Well, 85% of beneficiaries under PEPAR are back on and have been. So, that that's a good news. You're right about the program and that is that ideally foreign aid and development programs are programs that end and they end because they achieve their goal and the goal here is to either a end the transmission of the disease which is critical and also to improve our partner capacity basically the nation state's ability to deal with it themselves what cannot be the foreign policy of the United States is that we are for an in undefined period of time period of time or
▶ 1:31:48in perpetuity we're going to fund every great cause on the planet we just can't do it we can't afford and um and we're not going to continue to do that. We can't continue to approach foreign aid in that way. Thank you, sir. I yield back. Thank you. Uh Mr. Secretary, uh Mr. Quigley, you're recognized, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I appreciate your comments last week.
▶ 1:32:09Uh he said the US is troubled by the humanitarian uh situation in Gaza, echoing in some respects the words of our new pope Pope Leo that uh it is the calling the situation in the Palestinian enclave yet more worrying and saddening. Quote, "I renew my fervent appeal to allow for the entry of fair humanitarian help and to bring the aid to the hostilities, the devastating price which is paid by children, the elderly, and the sick.
▶ 1:32:34I I know your heart's in the right place on that and you stated that the engagement from the US and other countries uh Israel has started to allow that aid to reenter. We were talking about a 100 trucks we're hearing reports entering yesterday far fewer than the 600 during the ceasefire per day, but that the aid is still not even from that 100 trucks is still not getting through to the Palestinians.
▶ 1:33:01what further dem diplomatic efforts are we going to do and what are the benchmarks what what are we telling Israel that has to happen and and what are we saying the consequences are if any if it doesn't happen yeah thank you for that question that's a very serious and important question and I want to answer it here and what I'm not trying to filibuster but you deserve a the answer to it obviously Israel is a key ally of the United States and so we are always careful about what we say about
▶ 1:33:31the nature of our conversations with them. But I think they've acknowledged in their own statement that due to the intervention of the United States and others is the reason why they've started to allow aid, albeit as you've pointed out, not at the levels that are necessary. I can tell you I was in Rome this weekend on was it Saturday and I met with Sydney McCain at the World Food Program just to get a better understanding of the systems they have set up for distribution um and whether they would what amount of aid is ready to move in and we've been engaged constantly.
▶ 1:33:58Obviously, I've been on the hill all day, but I know members of our team and and this includes Mr. Whit, our special envoy and ambassador on the topic has been working on that as well to ensure that additional aid is provided to people there. Uh because as we said, we were concerned about the conditions and the directions that they were headed. I think ultimately we would like to see is for this to end, for all the hostages to come home, all of them, including those who are deceased, but their families deserve to have that closure and we're committed to that as well.
▶ 1:34:26And um I've said this a number of times in the past, so I don't want to get over my um ahead of myself or over my skis, but I have some level of optimism that we may have breakthrough achievements here pretty quickly, hopefully on an end to to this um and the release of all the hostages. Again, I have felt that way now at least four separate times in the last couple months. And for one reason or another, at the last minute, didn't happen. And so I don't want to be disappointed on it again.
▶ 1:34:54But I want you to know there are efforts ongoing uh to both provide more humanitarian assistance and bring about uh the end to this to to this conflict as it's ongoing because frankly you can't begin to provide the lives that the people who live there deserve free of Hamas until that ends and agreed as to the issue with um hostages and that Israel has every right to defend itself.
▶ 1:35:18But the manner in which they conduct the war has consequences as well for the safety of Israel uh in the meantime. So beyond just the talk and the diplomatic efforts and and I know you don't want to reveal negotiations, but there has to be at least some framework of benchmarks in which we we're talking to the Israelis about what at the bare minimum has to happen on the humanitarian side with at least some repercussions.
▶ 1:35:48And we hear from our allies who are talking about sanctions, but at the very least we we have to have some sense that the US is in this beyond just please would you do this because it's the right thing to do. Well, I would say that um our conversations are more substantive than just please do this because it's a nice thing to do. Obviously, again, uh Israel, we support 100% their their right not just to defend themselves but to protect themselves from Hamas to frankly we can't have a a future for the people of Gaza.
▶ 1:36:16there can't be a future that that's prosperous and safe as long as Hamas or any group like Hamas is governing it and there's a lot of work to be done post conflict in that regard but in the interim period the one thing we've made abundantly clear is that uh the humanitarian situation and I think this was acknowledged by the prime minister in his statement the humanitarian situation and the direction that it was headed was undermining Israel's standing in national security and so we've had these conversations in a frank manner I don't want to characterize them or go further because again
▶ 1:36:46they're an important ally and I also don't want to imperil the work that's being done both to bring a permanent end to that conflict but also to get the aid in uh in a in an increased and timely manner. It's in both countries interest. It's in the Palestinian and Israelis interest that there is a long-term agreement that allows both to exist uh peacefully with some security assurances for both. Thank you Mr. Quigley. Um Mr. Latlo. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 1:37:15Chairman, and thank you, Secretary Rubio, for being with us today. And I wanted to start with a topic that is uh very important to me personally, but also to my constituents. And we've been battling it at a national level, but unfortunately, it's a worldwide issue, and that's human trafficking. It remains an urgent and devastating human rights issue worldwide. It disproportionately targets women and children, trapping them in cycles of forced labor, sexual exploitation, and modern-day slavery.
▶ 1:37:44Combating this crisis requires sustained commitment to prevention, prosecution, and survivor support. An anti-human trafficking group recently shared with me that although this takes place overseas, it has a direct impact on our own citizens. I've learned that human traffickers have forced victims to work in scam call centers where they are made to target vulnerable Americans, particularly the elderly, with the intent to steal money and commit identity theft.
▶ 1:38:10Secretary Rub Rubio, what strategies is the department employing to ensure that anti-trafficking efforts remain effective and targeted, particularly in high-risisk regions where women and children are most vulnerable? And what steps is the department taking to strengthen international cooperations and enforcement mechanisms to disrupt and expose trafficking networks and safeguard survivors? Yeah, thank you for the question.
▶ 1:38:32First of all, that that's one of the reasons why uh we preserved and actually um advanced one of the bureaus um under the office of coordinator for foreign assistance and humanitarian affairs. We have a new division um or not a new division but moved under that branch of population refugee and migration. And the key is we're not in the business in many cases some of these programs in the past were about frankly accelerating migration helping people along the migratory path as they came towards the United States.
▶ 1:39:01And we want to prevent mass migration because mass migration lends itself to human trafficking. I would argue in many cases mass migration frankly is human trafficking because you are getting people you are charging them money promising to bring them to the border of the United States and then committing horrifying atrocities along the way including in many cases handing those people over at the border to traffickers inside our own country who then uh tell them they have to pay off their debt by working for them. And this was happening and it was happening on a consistent and horrifying basis. There's nothing humanitarian.
▶ 1:39:31There's nothing compassionate about mass migration. The only people who benefit from mass migration are the traffickers. And so that is one of the things that we want to be able to prevent. I think you also see obviously the opportunity to disrupt it at the ground level. I'm very concerned about Haiti, a country that we have seen a long history of not just the abduction of children and young girls, but of people at large into trafficking networks. And um so that's what instability creates in places like that.
▶ 1:39:57And I think all of our missions around the world already have a mandate, but we'll have an increased mandate in our view, not just to prevent mass migration, but to identify networks that are preying on vulnerable individuals for purposes of human trafficking. And and I would say that there are many countries around the world that have a willingness to tackle it, but don't have the capacity. And then there are other countries, frankly, who look the other way because it's an industry or it's run by people who have ties to the to the government. And that needs to be called out as well. Thank you so much.
▶ 1:40:27My constituents will appreciate that response. Um, I appreciate the administration's continued commitment to protect life and ensuring that US taxpayer dollars are used responsibly. I also understand the desire to refocus State Department funding towards core priorities like safeguarding our own national security by addressing the spread of infectious diseases abroad that could impact the US and its citizens.
▶ 1:40:48As the budget priorities evolve, it may be worth considering how the US health investments align with the broader objective of supporting effective programs that address preventable infectious diseases, improve health outcomes, and save lives and reduce long-term dependence on external assistance. Programs such as gave and pepar, which you discussed earlier, have contributed to these types of goals.
▶ 1:41:09Secretary Rubio, with the adjustments in the proposed budget, how is the department planning to reorganize or rep prioritize its health resources in a way that reflects the original intent behind these initiatives? Yes. Well, on the I mentioned on the question of PEPAR already where we have preserved it. 85% of recipients are are now receiving PEPAR services and we want to build on the program and improve it because it's one that a strong bipartisan commitment has been successful, but it needs to be measured not just by uh how much money we spend, but by the success of empowering local government.
▶ 1:41:38the the host governments to eventually build their capacity and graduate from the program. In the case of vaccines, we continue to provide vaccine services. What we have problems with is a number of these international organizations like Gavei and others and the way they've conducted themselves. I would extend to that the way the World Health Organization behaved during the pandemic where frankly I think they did not just a poor job but but an outrageous job of covering up for China and and the irresponsibility on the Chinese end when that started.
▶ 1:42:05So we are looking actively at alternatives to multinational organizations like GAVI to provide the same service but in a better way in a way that actually ensures our purpose which is to prevent disease and instability in other countries. That's encouraging news. Thank you so much. I yield back. Thank you very much Mr. Suskamani. You're recognized sir. Thank you Mr.
▶ 1:42:24chairman and uh thank you Secretary Ruby for being here and thank you for um your words especially at the beginning when u your describing and through the questions on um your fast and I would say intentional actions and restructuring uh refocusing the department and and its true mission of expanding American interests around the world. I think that is exactly what we should have been doing for a long time and you're definitely getting there um very very quickly. I uh I'll start off with with this.
▶ 1:42:51I I represent Arizona's sixth congressional district, which is along the US Mexico border. First, I'd like to state how impressed I am with um how uh how fast the administration has been able to combat the transnational criminal organizations and secure our southern border. However, uh low border encounters by CBPR fentinel crisis continues to ravish many of our communities across the country.
▶ 1:43:17Still, how is your budget request going to prioritize programs for counterdrug initiatives and border security, particularly with relation to fentinel? Well, we've remained very committed, especially I mean, we've preserved the bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement at the assistant secretary level that's underneath the broader new trajectory that directory that we've built on the under secretary for international security and it's a top priority for many of our partners. I can give you a few examples of places where we think we can make a difference.
▶ 1:43:45First, let me say in in full concession, the Mexican government has been probably more cooperative and forward-leaning than at any time that I can recall in my 15 years here for a couple reasons, but but one, because I think they too identify the cartels as a threat to their government and their national stability. There are parts of Mexico today that are governed by drug cartels and they recognize the threat that it poses.
▶ 1:44:09But I think it's also be and by the way if you go all down Central America and country after country the primary threat they face in Ecuador in Costa Rica in in Panama to some extent certainly in Guatemala is the threat of these transnational organizations that use their countries as as transfer routes and and which we seek to help them develop the capability to partner with us and disrupt and that'll be a priority in the Caribbean basin that's also been an issue of great grave concern but primarily what we hear there one of the things we're working on now with the
▶ 1:44:39Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the the ATF, is how can we disrupt the flow of illegal gun shipments, primarily leaving the Miami River in containers embedded, among other things that's finding its way into the hands of Haitian gangs, gangs in Trinidad, gangs in Jamaica, that's also destabilizing the region uh in those countries.
▶ 1:44:59And what they want, if you talk to our embassies and you talk to those governments, is for us to help them build the law enforcement capacities so that it's foreign aid that ends because one day they will have the capacity to disrupt it. The Dominican Republic is currently seeking radar systems to be able to detect uh boats and planes that may be coming to their shores because they become a very uh attractive place to bring drugs through because it quickly can from there be shipped into Puerto Rico and at that point has entered the US and crossed our border.
▶ 1:45:27So I think this is an example of where embassy and regionalbased policym will help us to identify the critical capacity needs that each individual country gets and then drive our assistance based on what they need as opposed to what we think they need. That's great to hear especially on the and I agree with you on on the uh we've talked to Coast Guard about that about the uh interdictions also of drugs across the the ocean and uh what you mentioned about the Mexican government. I agree with you. I've worked on that issue for a while and and I've seen a very open willingness from them.
▶ 1:45:57I think it's a win-win for for both countries to be able to tackle that. In the little time that I have left and and you already covered some of this, I was going to bring up also the situation with the hostages and the uh the interactions with with Hamas there uh and and the hostages remaining, especially the four Americans. Uh Israel has successfully destroyed much of Hamas terror capabilities, but the group is not yet defeated and and all hostages are are not free. you talked a bit about that. So, I'll focus my question really on uh on ENRA.
▶ 1:46:25And uh does the administration support the continued prohibition on on funding of ENRA? And um is the administration working with others in the international community to design an alternative to ENRA as well that meets the needs of um of all Palestinians without perpetuating perpetuating the we do oppose working with ENRA.
▶ 1:46:43In fact, that's exactly what we're working on is finding alternative mechanisms to deliver aid that doesn't find its way into the hands of Hamas where they steal it and in some cases resell it at exorbitant prices to people that are hungry and suffering and and in many ways is the grip they had now, you know, on on the population there as well. One of the things they used to be able to control population is their ability to steal this and in some cases they weren't stealing it. They had people inside the organizations that were cooperating with them.
▶ 1:47:08We do need to find alternative mechanisms and uh and there are some that exist that are independent of UNRA that are out there. And so we I said we've put out some proposals. We're open to any proposals that exist that provide assistance and aid, especially if we can get to a peaceime posture to help rebuild that does not help a group like Hamas benefit or restart and grow again. You're right on that. Over a billion dollars stolen in the last 18 months on on that. So I'm glad you're you're on it and I trust you to get that done. So thank you, sir, for your time today, Mr. Chairman. I yel back.
▶ 1:47:37Thank you, Mr. Suskamati. Uh folks, uh members, um the secretary uh has agreed to to uh we'll do another round. We're going to have to stick everybody to three minutes. I'm going to be a little bit more uh aggressive and keeping people uh to three minutes. Uh so, thank you all very much for your cooperation. Mr. Secretary, I will start. I mentioned in my opening remarks that, you know, you've hit the ground the the you you've hit the ground running in a serious way, in a successful way.
▶ 1:48:05uh the Latin American policies of the last uh four years under President Biden did tremendous damage I think to the US security interest and to the to the region. Um the previous administration cozied up to anti-American dictators and you know tended to pressure our allies.
▶ 1:48:23Uh so let me let me if you could in broad strokes uh how does the Trump administration approach to Latin America differ uh from the previous administration you know specifically when we're dealing with uh rewarding our democratic partners our allies countering the PRC and anti-American regimes and and making sure and something that you know we've talked a little bit about already together all of us have ensuring that US assistance actually advances our core national security interests Well,
▶ 1:48:53I mean, it first starts by characterizing we have three kinds of countries in the Western Hemisphere. We have democracies that have elected leaders that are friendly to the United States and want to be friends with us and ally with us. And we need to make sure there's benefits to being an ally of the United States. I tell people in foreign relations, your counterpart, whether they're elected or they're not, are politicians. They're in politics, too. They have domestic audiences and domestic constituencies. They have to be able to go back and show people that being a friend of the United States is beneficial.
▶ 1:49:19And this is one of the things that maybe it's aid, sometimes it's trade or commercial relations and the like. There's a second group that is, you know, democratically elected, but not so friendly. We're not seeking to get into conflicts with them, per se, but obviously we can't treat them the same as we treat those who are friendly to us. There's benefits to being our friend, and frankly, I mean, maybe not as many benefits to not being our friend. But again, that's our national interest. And then there's a third group that are autocracies.
▶ 1:49:43Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, um that that we just simply can't ignore that what's happening there because in addition to the fact of of of lack of democracy and the like, they are sources of grave instability. 11 12% of the Cuban population has abandoned the country in the last year and a half. 8 million Venezuelans have abandoned that country over the last decade. One of the largest migrations in all of human history. And in addition, destabilizing Colombia and other countries in the region.
▶ 1:50:10In fact, Venezuela allows a narot terrorist group to operate within their territory with impunity, constantly threatening the Colombian state. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Uh, again, leading by example, I'm going to go to the ranking member with still almost half a minute left. All right. Well, I'll use your first half minute. Not part of the deal, but good shot. All right, Mr. Frank.
▶ 1:50:34I I just want to remind the chairman that our president just tries is trying to accept a $400 million plane from a country that funds Hamas. Okay. With that said, this has been a bad day for the women. You've already nixed education and birth control. I do want to ask you about women peace and security. That's an act that President Trump signed into law. You were a co-sponsor.
▶ 1:50:59also the Wii Act which is an economic empowerment act that was actually championed by Ivanka Trump and it's rooted in a recognition that uh we the WPs the participation is essential to have women in peace talks for stability and that's because women bear the brunt of war in so many different ways from men not that men are not affected by war uh but that we're talking about sexual violence trafficking widowed forced to become breadwinners
▶ 1:51:29and taking over new uh the becoming refugees. And so when it comes to trying to figure out what to do, it's very important to have women at the table. Uh the the office the the secretary's office have had what's called the office of global women's issues in order to implement this law.
▶ 1:51:54What worries me right now is although it looks like your intentions are to scatter uh this program but not have a central office at with with you that's going to oversee this. I I think that would be a mistake. And I just I want to just ask you if you could if we can discuss that because I can tell you I've spent a lot of time on this issue and I think it's very very important that you do not dismantle that particular office. Yeah. No.
▶ 1:52:24And I will engage with you. I know it's important and I share your commitment on it because I sponsored that and supported that bill as well. So I think the question really is do we need to have a bureau that that's all it does from a global perspective or is that a function that we should insist each of our regional bureaus prioritize and have someone assigned to working that because I do think that while the challenges women face are global they are different in different parts of the world and in different regions.
▶ 1:52:47I assure you the challenges being faced in the European continent and women are very different than the challenges that they probably face in the endoacific andor in the African continent or somewhere else. And so I think that what you're mo you're I'm not trying I'm trying to paraphrase what you're saying is you want to make sure that the issue doesn't lose focus because it no longer has a centralized office. I hope I can convince you by interacting with you that we can stay committed to the goal but do so at the regional making it a regional priority as opposed to a one-size glo. Okay.
▶ 1:53:17said, "Well, I hope we can agree to this because I don't want you to lose your staff and I don't want you to lose your staff on all these programs until we can together work and see what's best moving our country forward." And with that, I'm just going to put some letters into the record. Mr. Chair, we we have a bunch of questions for you. I know you've been traveling. I hope you can get to them. And if I could put them absolutely without objection. Thank the ranking member to thank you for sticking to the clock. Uh Mr. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um Mr. Mr.
▶ 1:53:46Secretary, I I I'll continue the same line of questions in the conversation we were having just a minute ago. Um since 2005, the United States has funded an effort to train Palestinian security forces and help coordinate security between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Uh the mission led by an American general has received by uh bipartisan support over the over the years, helping to support critical security cooperation between Palestinian and Israeli security forces.
▶ 1:54:11What what are the current plans for the continuation of this function in the region and what funding do you anticipate for FY2? The function will continue. I think what's what's being contemplated is whether the function should be brought under the opices of the embassy and the ambassador. Um that that's that's really the internal conversation that we're having right now and I tend to believe that it should because I think it needs to be part of our coordinated response uh to to the challenges that in Israel in in particular. So I um I think that's really but the function will continue.
▶ 1:54:40The question is, is it under the authority of the ambassador? Yeah. And I and I uh again agree with your streamlining of of these services and and these uh and the mission that we have in order to to reach that objective. Um on that vein as well, one consistent frustration we had with USAD under the previous administration was the lack of information and data shared with Congress on the impact of the programs paid uh with taxpayer dollars.
▶ 1:55:06I believe that any US taxpayer dollar that leaves the country must be working in our national security interest and have strict accountability metrics to be measured and see what's working and what's not as you previously mentioned. Uh if you can elaborate on this a little bit, you kind of touched on it, but h how will you ensure the consistent and open communication between the State Department and this subcommittee going forward and part of that and how you're planning on repositioning our aid towards um prioritizing national security?
▶ 1:55:32Well, a couple I think will be very helpful and I used to, you know, when people used to tell me this when I was in the Senate, I didn't fully appreciate it. Now I really appreciate this idea that we do need to get more of our Senate confirmed people on board. We're starting to get some of them, but if we can really start to get our under secretaries in place that oversees some of these bureaus. You're start we have good people functioning there now. Many of them are uh career foreign service officers who are acting as the chief bureau officer for the time being. But it is helpful to have someone there that you brought in for that specific purpose.
▶ 1:56:00And in fact, many of these senior bureau officers are welcoming of that. So I I I maybe did not fully appreciate it while I was in the Senate and we were slowing up some of these nominations in the past how critical, not me, I wasn't a big holder of nominations, but others were. How critical having some of these Senate confirmed positions are. We're making good progress on it now, but I think I don't know, we're 18 weeks into the job. I believe I have five or four in four or five in the building currently, and I don't think any of our under secretaries are in yet.
▶ 1:56:27So, we're anxiously awaiting them and that will really help us improve everything from legislative relations to um you know um to actually answering your questions on the national security component of it. Everything we do is driven by the national security because the national security is at the core of our national interest. The most important thing the federal government does is keep America safe. Without safety, you can't have prosperity. So, it's the most important thing we do and all of our foreign policy should be geared first and foremost on what keeps America safe. Thank you. Thank you for that. I yield back. Um Mr.
▶ 1:56:56Laura, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, just a note, um, it would appear that in terms of it, the estimate is in terms of money that has been impounded or, if you will, stolen, this is congressionally directed money, it's about $40 billion in development and humanitarian funds. Uh, this is from State Department USAD. This money not being spent.
▶ 1:57:20Secretary, we need to have an accounting of what those uh what has um been cut, what has been terminated, uh and what may be being restored. We asked Mr. Morocco uh several weeks ago to let us know about uh what was cut, what were the uh the criteria for making the cuts and to date we this is again several weeks ago. We have not heard one word. So this committee would like to know that before dealing with an appropriations bill. Uh Mr.
▶ 1:57:48Secretary, warehouses full of food rations that could feed millions, including the entire population of Gaza for a month and a half are rotting in warehouses because of this administration's decision to gut US foreign aid structure. Some of the food supply will be incinerated, will expire as soon as July, while children across the world are starving. The administration's haphazard cancellation of contracts and freezing of funds have stopped food aid from getting to the most vulnerable people.
▶ 1:58:15uh World Ferd Program uh director Cindy McCain called me. They ran out of food at um WFP and uh the the and the Israelis would not open the gates. So the the the food is there rotting. Uh this food is grown by US producers, paid for by American taxpayers and and I really I don't know how the administration justifies allowing this food to rot while ci civilians are starving.
▶ 1:58:41Uh, can you commit to us to ensuring that food aid will not go to waste in warehouses and will instead be distributed to people in need as directed by the Congress? Will you ensure this food aid moves as quickly as possible to its intended destinations? Well, you just outlined the answer is yes because you just highlighted the impediment was not us. We're not telling them they can't distribute the food. The impediment you pointed out that Cindy McCain told you about was that some government was standing in the way and that's been part of the conversations that I was speaking about with Mr. with Mr. Quickley.
▶ 1:59:10you were do doing that. But that that that really gets to the question of how strong the US is going to be in leading the humanitarian assistance that needs to get into Gaza and some of these other places. That is a leadership role. That is a role for the Secretary of State. That is a role for this for this administration. And with regard to UNRA, uh 1949 set up to be there for dealing to the Palestinians only meant to be temporary.
▶ 1:59:39It has been the major source the major source of distribution of of food and also with education and health care services. I would like to ask you tell us your alternatives. To date we have not had any alternatives. Well, we would love to find an alternative. We need to find an alternative. We're actively looking if not to build an alternative with our regional partners, but it's not going to be a group that's controlled by Hamas and has a bunch of the fact of the matter is gutter is controlled by gutter deals with Hamas. folks. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 2:00:10Laura. Look, we are we have a hard shutdown at at four o'clock. And so what I would like if that's possible is if folks can limit them because because otherwise the folks at the end of the of this are not going to get time. So let me go to Mr. Molar. Mr. Molar, if you can limit it to really quickly, you're doing a favor to everybody. Mr.
▶ 2:00:30Secretary, this month the CCP implemented new laws severely curtailing religious liberty in its campaign to control religion and people of faith in China, including foreign missionary missionaries. What can the administration do to raise this issue to ensure that it's clear to the CCP that religious freedom is an inalienable human right and that no one in China should be persecuted for their Yeah. Obviously, in the case of China, we have very little influence over their internal politics.
▶ 2:00:58It's a repressive communist regime and you know the second largest economy in the world um and and a powerful government unfortunately if you think um but it would be the top priority of our religious freedom uh under secretary and um our assistant secretary and all the efforts that we place is calling out anywhere in the world where religious freedom is under duress particularly in places like this I'm well aware of the challenges of religious minorities in fact the Chinese Communist Party is unfriendly to anything anything religion or otherwise that challenges the authority of the communist party but we'll continue to be
▶ 2:01:29a strong voice on their behalf um nonetheless in the hopes that global pressure and attention as we've done it to some extent with a weaguer um situation that a lot of people weren't even talking about many years ago and now it's become globalized people's awareness of it although the atrocities there continue as well thank you I yield back chairman leading by example uh missing thank you Mr.
▶ 2:01:53Secretary, as a mom, I'm really troubled by the way that the department has treated public servants, uh, USAD public servants who dedicated their lives to this country, including some who my own are my my own constituents from Queens. One example, in February, a USA ID foreign off service officer who was overseas needed a medevac for his pregnant wife who was at risk of hemorrhaging due to a life-threatening condition.
▶ 2:02:19She was 31 weeks pregnant after having spent tens of thousands of dollars on fertility treatments. Her Medicvac request was denied twice. The response was there's no USAD funding for medevac and it took intervention from a senator to finally get her the care she needed. Uh should we be abandoning our dedicated public servants this way?
▶ 2:02:42And was there a plan in place uh to ensure the health and safety of our own public servants uh and make sure that it wasn't compromised? Yeah, that that was a media account of that. That was inaccurate. That's not accurate. The medevac has been provided to anyone who needed one, including in that particular case. The problem is the med under the state department mandates and the state department mandates are we medevac you to the nearest available facility that can treat your medical emergency, not one you choose. I'd rather go here than there.
▶ 2:03:10But that one was not had nothing to do nothing to do with funding. The medevac was available. They wanted to go to a different site than the one that was that that that the policies allowed them to go to. Okay. And just a quick followup. Earlier today, you told uh HFAC that no one has died because of the actions uh to destroy USID. Uh do you stand behind that testimony? And has there been any assessment conducted by the department to this point of how many people have died?
▶ 2:03:39I think that's that question about people dying around the world is unfair one. First of all, the United States is the largest humanitarian provider on the planet. I would argue how many people have died because China hasn't done it. How many people have died because the UK has cut back on spending and so has other countries. Fran, Canada, they've cut back on humanitarian spending. So, the United States continues to provide more than anybody else by far. We we feed more people than anyone on this planet does in humanitarian assistance by far.
▶ 2:04:06Sorry, I I'm running out of time and I want to make sure my colleagues have time. But these, just so you know, they were programs and commitments and contracts made uh statutoily promised to the people around the world. Uh and to withdraw them in a very sudden, impatient, and irresponsible way uh may have led people to die. And I I I would love to have more transparency in the future. We could work together. Thank Mr. Alfred. Uh thank you, Chair. Uh Mr.
▶ 2:04:35Secretary, these are the programs that are being cut in the US aid program. These are the ones that we are retaining. There are five columns on these sheets. I'm I've reviewed a lot of these. I'm trying to make heads or tails of why these programs would be eliminated. I know that we're refocusing. That is great. National security investment projects. I'm with you on that. There are five columns. Contract number, vendor name, contract title, description, estimated life contract value, and obligations to date.
▶ 2:05:01Would it be possible to go through here and add a six column to let us know as a committee why programs are being terminated and why specifically some programs are being retained? Yeah, I mean in some cases programs are being cancelled simply because we just don't view why that's in the national interest. Why are we funding some cultural program some part of the world? We just don't think that's a core mission of the United States. So I mean we could elaborate more in a six column in that regard. Some of them we're not claiming fraud.
▶ 2:05:31We're just saying we shouldn't be spending money on that. I mean, I I was reading the list here a moment ago. I probably put it away, but there are a bunch of programs here that I would ask myself. I mean, do we really need to spend give you one example here. Do we need do we need $7 million for the American Bar Association to promote the resilience of the Eurasian legal sector and civic society? Right. I sir, so I would say that's I don't know why that's in our national interest. I can put a column that I'm in I'm in total agree withment with you. We are we want to work with you.
▶ 2:05:58We want to to to fund the programs that need to be funded. We want to fund the state department. We want to help you, but we need help from you. Uh would you commit to having your senior official staff spend some time with us and our staff and our committee staff going through these spreadsheets so that we can more in detail understand where you're coming from? Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. It's you're the one between uh the secretary and the last one, but you're always quick, so go ahead.
▶ 2:06:28I I don't want to hold um you back uh Mr. Secretary. Uh can you tell me um how much money have you given to uh the Boule regime? Well, it's not a regime. He got elected by an enormous majority. Well, the second his reelection was actually an illegal re-election. remember that he took over Congress and then uh by bringing the military and uh fire all of the entire judiciary. Yeah, they still had an election. He won by I don't know what the margins were, but they were extraordinary.
▶ 2:06:57I just don't think it's fair to call him a regime. I know you don't like him and you have reasons not to like him, but I don't think it's fair to say they're a regime. A regime is in Venezuela. This guy had a real election. How much money, sir? Well, I have to give you the number, but I think it's 1.4 million or Let me not per I have the exact number. I don't have it in front of me, but it was law enforcement funds provided to them as we do other countries under that program. It had nothing, you know, they could use it for any purpose. 15 uh million dollars. Uh are you saying that that amount is incorrect?
▶ 2:07:24That amount sounds incorrect to me, but I'll get you the exact number because I owe you that much. And are we doing a second round to give him more money? I other than maybe in No, I don't believe that there's a second round per se. Well, there might be because it's it's these are 20 $24. possible they're eligible for $25 with you at another time maybe in in a private setting so that we could really talk about Yeah, but these are law enforcement funds so he may they could receive under 2025. I can't say they won't. Obviously, we're working through that process.
▶ 2:07:53The Leehy law prohibits uh you know sending money to a country that um terrorizes people and and punishes punishes them um without due process. Yeah, that's not our assessment of what's happening there. Our assessment is that he's cleaned up the country and gotten rid of gangs. That was a country you couldn't even walk in the street four years ago. No, they're not disappeared. They're in the jail. Okay, I yel back.
▶ 2:08:24Um just in terms of Ukraine, my concern is that when you equate these two uh powers at the negotiating table, it it does seem to diminish the fact that Russia was the aggressor and having been there five times since the war started, stood at BHA uh at the mass grave and heard accounts of rape and murder and the kidnapping of kids.
▶ 2:08:48I I just don't hear the administration talking about holding Putin accountable for these things as part of these discussions. And and finally recognizing that Putin doesn't seem to have any reason to negotiate in good faith because he has what four to six times the manpower. He treats his troops like cannon fodder. Uh and I I think he probably recognized this is an administration that will do another supplemental.
▶ 2:09:15So what in the world are we doing to hold him accountable and to actually force him into negotiating in good faith and again not rewarding him with de facto land that he currently occupies and what is it we're punishing him that he can't have additional land. So what is it we are doing to actually hold him accountable and force him to negotiate in good faith beyond really stern tweets? Yeah. On the second point, um th those are the details that would have to be worked out in any negotiation.
▶ 2:09:45And as I said, he'll have to make concessions and so will the Ukrainian side. I don't know what those are. We're not going to predetermine what those are. That's why we want him to enter into direct negotiations. We honestly continue to believe we're open to any peace deal, but we think it's very difficult to enter peace negotiations without a ceasefire because something blows up somewhere, some attack happens in the interim and the negotiations fall apart. on your first question. Listen, I sense and I think we all do what you're arguing here, okay, about the imbalance in the relationship, by who's the invasion, things of that nature.
▶ 2:10:14But the bottom line is this war has been going on for three years and there was no end in sight. And the only way you can end it is you got to be able to bring both sides to the table. And we feel like the president, we we know the president was in a unique position to be able to bring both sides to a table and be able to talk to both sides. It may ultimately not work out.
▶ 2:10:32It may ultimately not work out but but we have to at least try to make it work and I think it's the same position for example the Vatican has adopted there's a lot of pressure on the Vatican to condemn the Russians for their but the way the Vatican has viewed it is unless we have both unless we're able to talk to both sides we have no hope whatsoever of trying to force a negotiation there's no impetus on Putin to do anything he won't do anything and he will be rewarded this is more like Chamberlain than someone who's trying to win a Nobel Peace Prize Chamberlain didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize conceding
▶ 2:11:02this and saying, "Well, this war could be going on for a long time." FDR didn't say, "This war has been going on a long time. You know, we're not going to engage in evol. We're just going to see if both sides can work this out." Uh, aggressors like like a tyrant like Putin aren't going to listen to goodwill. Well, I understand. I think the goal here is to reach a ceasefire so they can negotiate a broader deal that's fair and frankly sustainable. If it's an unsustainable peace, meaning if it's an unfair imbalance piece, it won't be sustainable. And our goal is to get them to that point.
▶ 2:11:32I hope we're successful because the alternative is more people will die. I agree much for your time and your service. This concludes today's hearing. The subcommittee on national security, Department of State and related programs stands adjourned.