During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last month, Sen Chris Coons (D-DE) asked Development Finance Institution nominees about their willingness to follow ethics codes and enforce sanctions on Russia.
00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, and just a comment.
00:05I share many of Senator Ricketts' priorities and concerns and look forward to working with you on them.
00:09We jointly went to Taiwan a number of weeks ago, and the energy security concerns, I think, are broadly shared.
00:16If I could, to both Mr. Black and Mr. Helberg, congratulations on your nominations.
00:21My thanks to your wife, Charlotte, who I hope will enjoy an anniversary once this confirmation is over,
00:26and to your husband, Keith, and your family.
00:28If I could just speak to you first, Mr. Black, about the reauthorization of the DFC.
00:34As a co-author of the BUILD Act and someone who has strongly supported the DFC, I welcomed our constructive conversation.
00:42I look forward to working with Chairman, Rish, and Ranking Member Shaheen on timely reauthorization.
00:47I hope the administration will share reauthorization priorities promptly, because we have to pass this before October,
00:52or it will hold up significant deal flow impacting the reputation of the DFC and have a chilling effect on our private sector partners.
01:01A few just quick questions.
01:03Mr. Black, if confirmed, do you commit to timely and consistent consultation with Congress in the run-up to DFC reauthorization to ensure it meets its objectives?
01:12Mr. Senator, if confirmed, thank you.
01:15I would absolutely look forward to working with Congress on the reauthorization.
01:19And do you commit to continuing the DFC's dual strategic development mandate by continuing investments in programs that support development objectives,
01:29including, for example, health care and agribusiness?
01:31Mr. Senator, thank you.
01:33As we discussed, I have said consistently that I feel the dual mandate is not in conflict.
01:41Development is very much strategic and has been from the earliest development projects inside the United States.
01:49I appreciate that and look forward to working with you on it.
01:51And what's your view on the equity fix and whether or not it could be a critical part of expanding the scope of the DFC's reach?
01:58Mr. So, Senator, as we discussed, you know, as currently authorized under the BUILD Act, the DFC has a $60 billion statutory budget.
02:09At most conservative estimate, likely larger, China's Belt and Road has spent $1.5 trillion, if not, and most likely more.
02:21No matter what the reauthorization is, the number for the DFC will be smaller than that, and it should be.
02:30Because the beauty of the DFC and the United States system is not going into countries, not even...
02:38Mr. Black, would you agree that an equity fix might help expand the scope of the DFC's work?
02:44Being able to take equity risk would be instrumental to working with the private sector and creating good capital structures.
02:49Last point that we discussed, the New York office provides greater access to the markets and to private sector partners.
02:58Will you commit to maintaining a ratio that includes career folks in a significant percentage, as opposed to political folks in the New York office?
03:07Senator, thank you.
03:09As you know from our conversation, I'm not in the building yet.
03:12We were with my chief of staff, who has been speaking with that, and if confirmed, I think it's absolutely crucial that careers get exposure to New York finance firms and be able to work consistently with them so that careers in the DFC going forward are constantly on the radar and in conversation with the financial...
03:35I think it's important to keep that balance.
03:37If I might, both Mr. Helberg and Mr. Black.
03:39Mr. Black, you spoke about your grandfather as your hero, and a key part of why you admire him is his integrity.
03:45As someone who worked in global business for an American manufacturing firm, I think that our reputation as a nation committed to integrity in business dealings,
03:54and our refusal to engage in practices comparable to our key adversaries, in particular the PRC, where they use bribery as a tool of economic advantage, and we refuse to,
04:06it makes things like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act having clear guardrails really important.
04:12You both currently work in industries with significant overlap with the responsibilities of the positions to which you've been nominated.
04:18If confirmed, will you both commit to sustaining robust due diligence practices to ensure economic engagement remains honest,
04:27to recusing yourselves from any deals or matters or agreements with potential for conflicts of interest,
04:33and to upholding the FCPA?
04:34If you might, Mr. Black.
04:36Senator, thank you.
04:37If confirmed, I fully commit to leading the DFC following all strictures of the law,
04:44as well as my ethics agreement and processes enforced and oversight by DFC's ethics lawyers.
04:51Mr. Black, currently there's no inspector general at the DFC.
04:54Do you recognize the central role that independent inspectors general play in every federal agency?
05:02Senator, I am not as familiar with the workings of inspectors general
05:09and how the processes work from agency to agency.
05:13If confirmed, I will look into and look forward to working with Congress and looking at...
05:19I'll tell you that inspectors general in every agency play a critical role in maintaining an independent review of the processes and conduct.
05:26They also help identify inefficiency and often help improve operations.
05:31Mr. Helberg, your comment about sustaining due diligence guardrails,
05:36making sure that there's neither an actual or appeared conflict of interest,
05:39and your very important work running the E-family within state.
05:44Senator, thank you.
05:46And I appreciated the time meeting with your staff.
05:49And I share your sentiment on the importance of maintaining high integrity and ethics standards.
05:56If confirmed, I will work...
05:59My ethics agreement lays out a process by which I will work with state ethics attorneys
06:05to ensure, in close consultation, to ensure that all clauses in my ethics agreement
06:11and statutes passed by Congress are complied with.
06:15Mr. Helberg, two quick last questions.
06:18You'll be responsible for overseeing the State Department's implementation of sanctions.
06:21One of our primary sanctions targets is Russia, and it's critical to pushing Putin to the table.
06:29And frankly, we haven't seen the active, ongoing work to prevent sanctions avoidance
06:35using shell companies and elsewise.
06:37Will you commit to fully enforcing sanctions on Russia, consistent with U.S. policy?
06:44Senator, my knowledge of the internal decision-making process of the State Department
06:49is limited as a private citizen.
06:50However, my understanding of current U.S. policy is the maintaining of sanctions on Russia
06:58while the President is pursuing active negotiations in the pursuit of a lasting peace in Eastern Europe.
07:05If confirmed, I will absolutely ensure that the sanctions that are currently in place
07:10have the highest levels of enforceability, and will use the sanctions office to coordinate
07:15with allies to make sure that sanctions are enforced.
07:18Thank you, Mr. Helberg.
07:20Senator Graham and I have worked hard to help create two public-private foundations
07:24to address both food security and conservation, and the use by terrorist organizations of ungoverned spaces.
07:32I look forward to working with you on both of these initiatives.
07:35Is that something you'll commit to me that we'll be able to do together?
07:39Senator, I've very much enjoyed over the years working with industrious members of the Senate,
07:46members of your staff have briefed me on the U.S. Foundation for International Conservation,
07:54which seems like a very important bill.
07:57And if the Congress passes the statute and it goes into full effect-
08:00It has been signed into law.
08:02I will fully commit to working with you to make sure that the law is applied.
08:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your great-
08:08I have questions for the other members.
08:10I apologize for not getting to them, and I apologize to my colleague for going over my time.
