00:00Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
00:02As I mentioned in my opening remarks, we're working with your department to increase investments
00:07in energy security, digital security, economic growth, strategic infrastructure in your workforce.
00:14Given the difficult cut of FY24, a 5 percent cut, and that FY25 will likely again be a
00:20very challenging overall budget environment, any increased investments you will have the
00:25chance to do will likely come at the expense of other efforts.
00:29What are some examples of what you'll have to scale back and the impact of doing so if
00:34your budget is not increased?
00:35Look, first and fundamentally, there are some huge tradeoffs that we'd have to bring to
00:40bear on some of the big strategic issues that we're working on.
00:44So if we have to look at how do we do the tradeoff between funding for strategic ports
00:50and transportation projects that we're engaged in, for example, the Luzon Corridor in the
00:55Philippines, for example, the Libido Corridor in Africa, that's critical.
01:00But at the same time, can we do that and then continue to fund the necessary programs to
01:06counter Russian aggression against Ukraine?
01:09What about our ability to meet all of the global challenges that, again, are going to
01:13have inevitably an impact back home – irregular migration, fentanyl, pandemic preparedness,
01:17food security?
01:19As we've looked at it, we have to make – we would have to make fundamental tradeoffs
01:23among these big-ticket items.
01:25But let me be even a little bit more parochial.
01:28What does it actually mean if we're dealing with a world in which we have a 5 percent
01:33cut or, as some in the House have proposed, an 11 percent cut?
01:37We are going to have to reduce passport and consular services that we've managed to
01:41build back after COVID.
01:43We have plans to open new passport centers in this country.
01:46They would stall out, and that would be to the detriment of the ability of Americans
01:51to travel around the world, see family, do business, get an education.
01:56We would have to decrease the embassy security programs that we have.
01:59We're trying to add new posts so that we're present around the world.
02:02Not only would we have trouble adding those posts, we'd also have to look at cutbacks
02:06to security for existing posts.
02:08And even if we were to insulate that particular program, well, those reductions would get
02:15passed on to everything else.
02:18We were recently in Ukraine, and you forcefully underscored the message that the United States
02:23continues to stand with Ukraine.
02:25And as I said, I'm grateful for the leadership of the chair and vice chair, and finally delivering
02:29on critical and needed assistance.
02:32That additional security and economic and humanitarian assistance needs to be delivered
02:37as soon as possible.
02:39You mentioned in your opening statement for every dollar that we've delivered in terms
02:42of economic and development assistance, our partners have delivered three.
02:48I'd just be interested in how you're continuing to engage partners and allies in ensuring
02:52that they're continuing to contribute, in fact, exceeding our contributions, and what
02:57you see as the prospects for the year ahead in Ukraine.
03:00Well, first, I have to tell you that thanks to leadership here in getting the supplemental
03:06done, that was the biggest difference maker, the biggest difference maker, practically
03:09speaking, in Ukraine, as that assistance is now getting delivered, but also in making
03:13sure that we keep our allies and partners moving forward with us in making the necessary
03:17investments for Ukraine to continue to defend against the Russian aggression, but also this,
03:24to set Ukraine up in a way that, as I believe strongly, it will be a success militarily,
03:30economically, democratically, able to stand strongly on its own feet without the same
03:35level of investment that we've had to make in these few years.
03:38We have programs underway in each of those areas, and you can see the single best rebuke
03:43to Putin is a strong, successful, thriving Ukraine.
03:46We have the means now to make the necessary investments to do that.
03:52Our partners remain fully on board, but again, the supplemental was a big shot in the arm
03:56both for Ukraine and European and other partners on this.
04:00Thank you.
04:01Since the horrific attacks by Hamas on October 7th, I've strongly supported Israel's right
04:06to defend itself.
04:07Like many of my colleagues, I am also deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis in
04:12Gaza, which has become more dire in recent weeks given operations and the threat of further
04:16operations in Rafah.
04:19What are you seeing in terms of assistance and the delivery of humanitarian relief?
04:22What impact is the new pier having in Gaza that's been constructed by the United States?
04:27What diversion are you seeing by Hamas of assistance we're delivering?
04:31What diversion are you seeing by Israeli settlers and other protesters?
04:35And what do you think is the prospects for some positive path forward for a day after
04:40in Gaza?
04:43People of Gaza, children, women, and men are experiencing a humanitarian crisis.
04:48Food, water, medicine, shelter all remain in far too short supply.
04:57We've been working on this from day one to try to get the necessary access to Gaza so
05:02that supplies could get in, to try to get adequate distribution within Gaza, to try
05:07to get proper deconfliction so the humanitarians can go about their work safely and securely.
05:13And this remains absolutely essential work that we're at every single day.
05:19In recent weeks, we've made important progress because of openings of access points in the
05:24north because north Gaza was particularly aggrieved.
05:29But now we see the situation to some extent reversed because of the conflict taking place
05:35in and around Rafa, those access points, Rafa itself, as well as to some extent Karem Shalom,
05:42have either been shut down or not operating at full capacity.
05:46So we have that challenge, and it's imperative that those access points be fully operational.
05:51At the same time, even as we've seen progress in getting Erez open, in getting the route
05:57from Jordan moving with trucks, those trucks have been disrupted in Israel by protesters.
06:05And that – it's imperative that that stop and be brought to order so the trucks can
06:09move freely.
06:10We did have a convoy yesterday that went through without impediment.
06:13In Gaza itself, there remain problems of deconfliction with the humanitarians.
06:18It's better at a sort of strategic level.
06:21There are good procedures in place, but we continue to see some problems at the operational
06:25level, at the tactical level, where a given unit may not know in real time that a convoy
06:31is supposed to go through.
06:32So we're working on significantly improving that, finally fixing that to make sure that
06:38humanitarians can proceed safely, getting designated corridors, if necessary, designated
06:44times, getting real-time communication between those providing the assistance and those on
06:49the ground who are engaged in military activities.
06:51All of this is a day-in, day-out work in progress, but we have to do better by the
06:57people of Gaza.
06:58Thank you.
06:59I want to thank Senator Graham and Senator Cardin, led, as you know, a bipartisan delegation
07:03of 10 of us to the region right after October 7th.
07:06You've been working tirelessly to try and move forward some sort of reconciliation between
07:11the Saudis and Israelis, and I hope we'll get a chance to turn to that.
Comments