00:00Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I am really excited about the U.S.-Greece relationship and the promise and the possibilities.
00:07I've so been grateful, Ms. Guilfoyle, of what you've already discussed.
00:11Can we dive a little bit more deeply into some of the strategic importance of the work that we're doing and that we can build upon, I think, in the coming months with your leadership?
00:24Thank you. If you could put your microphone on, I appreciate that.
00:26You mentioned the base in Alexandropoli. Also, I want to mention the base at Souda Bay and how important they are to the U.S.-Greece mutual defense cooperation agreement.
00:38I'm wondering if the administration is planning any upgrades to those existing bases, given their pivotal strategic importance in that region, as you already discussed.
00:48Do you share the perspective that maintaining and increasing the capacity at Alexandropoli is important?
00:56Yes. Senator, thank you for the question. It's nice to see you.
00:59I believe this is such an important relationship. The administration believes it as well.
01:04This is a post where we are dealing with EU-G20, a lot of complex issues geopolitically in that area.
01:11And I think it is incredibly important. Again, I am speaking now in the role of a private citizen.
01:16I would work in conjunction with the State Department, Senator Rubio, the deputy secretaries, and also following in the mission of American interests moving forward to make sure that we are ready in that area, that that relationship and partnership is maintained, that if there are necessary improvements or expenditures that need to be made, that I would advocate in that fashion very strenuously.
01:39On behalf of the United States of America and the American people.
01:43I am grateful for that. That's the kind of strength I want.
01:46The tradition in the ambassador to Greece we had with George Souness, who's probably the best bipartisan ambassador, and I'm sure you know him.
01:52My dear friend who is here today.
01:53Yes. Yes. I didn't want to call him out. He does not like attention. He's very shy.
01:57He's Greek. I mean, fake news.
02:03Yes. Yes. Thank you. Let's continue.
02:07I have a lot of concerns about the Greek-Turkey tensions, and it's something I think all of us should be giving more attention to.
02:16When I visited Greece last year and had the pleasure of being with the ambassador for some time, there was really calm between Greece and Turkey, between Athens and Ankara.
02:27The Prime Minister of Greece and the President of Turkey met last year twice to try to reduce those tensions, but I am concerned that with regard to sovereignty challenges, maritime borders, those tensions exist and could be real points that get inflamed.
02:42Tell me about your concern, and I've heard from a lot of my constituents in the Greek diaspora, as well as from my travels, it is critical, I believe, that the U.S. doesn't tolerate any threats to the sovereignty of our European allies, especially Greece.
02:58Senator, again, thank you for the question.
03:00Yes, this is a very important issue, and I know there is a lot of concern from Greece, from Israel, from Cyprus, et cetera, regarding any increasing of weaponization in Turkey with the F-35s.
03:13Again, I'm speaking as a private citizen.
03:16I do not direct or maintain the policy, but I know this is an area of concern to the administration as well.
03:22I know that President Trump is the best negotiator and diplomat to be able to engage with different countries to find meaningful ways to work together.
03:32I would like to make sure that we are protecting and honoring our strategic, consistent, stable and reliable allies with Greece.
03:41They have answered the call every time.
03:44They have exceeded our expectations.
03:45They have readily committed to the 3% consistent in that regard, and Greece remains strong and proud as the fifth largest spender for military equipment in the world.
03:58I'm going to interrupt you there because I'm running out of time, but I want to say I thank you.
04:01I associate myself with a lot of that bravado when it comes to Greece, so thank you very much.
04:07I just want to say I've got some bipartisan work on really the importance of the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor.
04:17It's really vital.
04:18I hope to be able to talk to you about that.
04:20I know you know the importance of that and how the 3-plus-1 framework between Israel, Greece, and Cyprus work into that.
04:27But I want to shift in my remaining seconds really to talk to Ms. Blanchard.
04:32I'm really concerned about food security, and things are getting exponentially worse on our planet.
04:41It's estimated right now, unfortunately, the Trump administration's foreign assistance cuts have already resulted in over 63,000 children dying unnecessarily from hunger.
04:52This is heartbreaking.
04:53It's a violation of the decency and values of our country.
04:56The Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the WFP, the FAO, the IFAD, these are critical tools to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities who are at risk of hunger.
05:09Hunger leads not to horrible death that is deplorable, but it also leads to instability that ultimately could affect our security.
05:20So we've confirmed how will you seek to advance the programs that address long-term food security challenges.
05:26How do you propose to do that if the U.S. is actually reducing its funding and commitment?
05:30And as you know, other nations, watch us.
05:33When we reduce, they reduce.
05:35When we challenge them to do more, as I've done in a bipartisan way here in past years, they do more.
05:40And so what impact, ultimately, do you think the reduction in U.S. funding will have on food insecure countries and communities worldwide?
05:48Senator, thank you for the question.
05:50As we all know, food security is bipartisan.
05:54We all are in agreement of that.
05:56But I do believe we're all in agreement as well of our accountability for our checkbooks.
06:01I mean, I account for things that go in and out of my checkbook at home.
06:06And I think it's wonderful to reevaluate, and I look forward to the reevaluation process.
06:10I personally, and I would never want to put words in the president's mouth, but the fact that he has nominated someone for this position is encouraging to me.
06:22I've worked for the last 20 years in helping orphans and the most vulnerable abroad in 12 different countries.
06:30I'm a believer in it.
06:32I realize it's national security.
06:34But I do also realize that there's been instances where malaligned players have gotten a hold of food and used it against us or our allies.
06:45So I certainly look forward to meeting with you and this whole committee in the future.
06:51I'm out of time.
06:51I want to be respectful.
06:52I just want to say this.
06:53When I was on the Chad-Sudan border, and I've never had a situation.
06:57I've visited refugee camps all around this world where pleading Americans were begging me to up food assistance and were being very clear with me as I looked at malnourished babies of what would happen if we didn't increase food assistance.
07:11Well, we have done worse.
07:13We've limited funding, and I've now heard directly about the children that have died there.
07:19There is a moral urgency that I know reflects deeply within your faith tradition and my faith tradition.
07:25I beg of you publicly when it comes to crises like we're seeing in Sudan to please be a call of conscience to this administration should you be confirmed,
07:35to please demand in private that we step up to American tradition and the moral urgency that has been supported in a bipartisan way.
07:45We are watching children die at rates that should stun the conscience of Americans, and I'm hoping that you can help us to address that crisis.
07:54So thank you very much.
07:55Thank you, Senator.
07:58Senator Risch.
08:00Ms. Guilford, I want to drill down a little bit more into the issues between Greece and Turkey.
08:07Certainly.
08:08They're both NATO allies, and I have to tell you, I've started to use that word.
