During Wednesday's House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) grilled Secretary of State Marco Rubio on budget cuts.
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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
00:06You know, I keep hearing you say your job is to carry out the mission of the executive branch and the agenda of the president.
00:12It's kind of hard to figure out what the president's foreign policy is.
00:16It jumps around from Gaza being a resort area to we're going to help Ukraine or we're not.
00:21We're going to have terrorists on China or we're not.
00:23We're meddling in the Romanian election.
00:26I don't know how you figure out what the agenda is.
00:28Also, you say you want to make the State Department stronger, but everything we've seen coming from y'all is that you're dead set on kind of killing it or at least undermining American interests.
00:39I think you've proposed an 84 percent budget cut, plans for widespread diplomatic closures, laying off staff across the board.
00:47I don't see how any of those things really makes us stronger and delivers for the American people.
00:54Now, I believe that jeopardizes our national security, but I want to ask you something a little more arcane, a little more specific to my district that has to do with some economic investments, and that's about tourism.
01:07You know, we've been working very hard to improve the visa services over the last few years.
01:13Seems to me what you're doing is going to undercut that and move us backwards.
01:17We're already seeing this as a problem in Las Vegas where tourists are down by 8 percent just in a few short months, and this problem is going to become more acute as we look to host the Olympics and we host the World Cup.
01:34So could I just ask you, are you planning to cut the Consular Affairs Bureau that does the visas by 15 percent like we're hearing?
01:42No, Consular Affairs may actually even be expanded, and in fact, we are looking for ways to do double shifts in some of our embassies around the world because of the visa requirements.
01:51For example, if you haven't applied for a visa from Colombia already, you probably won't get here and type for the World Cup unless we go to double shifts.
01:58So we've even talked about reassigning Foreign Service officers, many of who are trained earlier in their career in Consular Services, to provide 24-hour presence in some of our embassies and consulates around the world just to handle the visa load for things like the World Cup, the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Club Cup, and then the Olympics two years behind it.
02:17How are you going to do that with an 84 percent budget cut?
02:21There's no 84 percent, but I think you're referring to USAID when it comes to the State Department.
02:26I know that's part of it, but just generally.
02:27Yeah, but when it comes to the State Department, our Consular Services are actually intended on ramping up efforts because of the reasons that I've just outlined below, because of the reasons I just outlined earlier, and we recognize that as a top priority.
02:40We want it to be a success.
02:41It's a priority for the President, and I think there are good numbers because it's the same division that handles it.
02:46We are setting records in the numbers of passports that are being processed, same group of people.
02:50So it shows that our systems are improving.
02:52And finally, we're looking at ways to infusing technology and AI to even further and rapidly increase that process even further, particularly for people who have had visas in the past, so we're just restoring visas.
03:04We can move even much quicker on many of those.
03:06Well, I'm glad to hear you say that, but I want to look and see what you do, not just what you say, because when you talk about cutting budgets, talk about cutting personnel, talk about closing embassies and consulates,
03:17I don't know how you can increase the visa process or make it quicker.
03:20There's no proposal at this time to close embassies or consulates.
03:23That's been media reporting because people like to leak lies, but there's no such work.
03:27So that's not happening?
03:28None are proposed, and I think I would know.
03:30How about it?
03:31Well, okay.
03:32Well, let's check that out and see where that information is coming from.
03:37If I could switch just a little bit to Afghanistan, you've heard a little bit about that.
03:42I introduced legislation to authorize the CARE Act, the Coordination for Afghan Relocation Efforts.
03:49You voted for that, Mr. Secretary.
03:51Mr. Mass voted for that.
03:54We called for this to be created and have an appointment made.
03:58I wonder, can you tell us what's happening with that to help us serve these Afghan refugees?
04:04Are you wearing that hat, too, or is there somebody else that you're going to appoint to that position?
04:09Well, that's primarily the DHS responsibility for the intake of people into our country.
04:13I can certainly take that back and give you information on what progress they've made in that regard.
04:17But I will also tell you that one of the things we're tackling right now is we have to be able to properly vet anyone who comes into this country,
04:23given the mass migration events we've confronted over the last three years.
04:27I suspect these people are vetted as much or more than just about anybody else coming into the country as a refugees.
04:33Well, some of them.
04:34They include dependents, and in many cases, a higher level of vetting is necessary because they're coming from countries where we don't have a lot of information.
04:41Not every country keeps, including Afghanistan, has perfect records.
04:45Some of them, we know them because they've worked with us in the past.
04:48Others, we just have limited information on them.
04:50So, but we are going to continue with this Afghan relocation efforts and this office, this CARE office, is what you're committing to me?
04:59Well, we're going to comply with the statutory requirements, but we also have to be more careful about who we let into this country.
05:04Well, I didn't say that.
05:05I know we have to be careful, but I'm just saying we need to continue with that effort.
05:09You voted for it.
05:10Mr. Mass voted for it, but I don't see any progress on it.
05:13I hear just the opposite, so I appreciate that commitment.
05:16Thank you, and I yield back.
05:17Thank you, and I yield back.