00:00I thank you. I now want to recognize my colleague, the ranking member, Representative Sherphalice McCormick, for five minutes of questioning.
00:15Thank you, Mr. Lagoffo. I don't want to doubt your commitment to the organization, but leadership in the moment like this requires more than presence.
00:24It requires pushback. It requires telling the truth and standing up.
00:29What we're looking at right now, we're looking for more details.
00:33And so I want to hear not just that you'll implement whatever structure you've been given.
00:37I want to hear whether you believe that this structure serves the mission and whether you're willing to fight for it.
00:42We cannot let institutions' memory be erased.
00:45We cannot allow the strategic capacity of the United States government to be hallowed out behind closed doors while we pretend everything is proceeding as normal.
00:55Mr. Lagoffo, what is lost when counterterrorism coordination is split across multiple regional bureaus without a central hub like yours?
01:04Thank you, Madam Ranking Member, for the question.
01:11We are fully confident that the structure that we have in place following the reorganization will enable us to coordinate properly on counterterrorism issues to keep America safe and secure.
01:28And I don't believe that we have bled out talent in any way.
01:35In fact, we have moved talent from our bureau, the counterterrorism bureau, into other bureaus so that we have counterterrorism advisor expertise in the regional bureaus.
01:46And we are, these are our colleagues, we communicate every day, and at the same time, we have the benefit of being in the undersecretariat for security policy, the T family, if you will, which is an enhancement.
02:00So I'm very confident that we'll be able to pursue the core mission of the administration's policies and to keep America safe and secure and the statutory functions of coordination on counterterrorism that we have.
02:14Well, I want to switch focus and look at Syria.
02:18In May of this, in May, on his visit to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, President Trump announced he was going to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria following the fall of the Assad regime.
02:29He said this decision was part of his effort to give them a chance at greatness.
02:34I have some questions related to the administration's policy on this issue, as I believe it is crucial to our CT and stabilization work in the Middle East.
02:42During a recent trip to the region, the importance of supporting Saudi Arabia at this moment of great transition and opportunity was expressed in almost every meeting.
02:52Do you agree with President Trump that Syria deserves a chance at greatness?
02:58On May 13, 2025, as you mentioned, the United States recognized the government of Syria and Ahmed al-Sharah as president of Syria.
03:09The United States is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors, a Syria that will not offer a safe haven to terrorist organizations.
03:20So I have a series of questions.
03:22I just wanted to know if the yes or no, do you believe in that?
03:25I take it as a yes from what you're saying.
03:26The answer is yes.
03:27Yes.
03:28Do you agree with the stability is an important factor in ensuring it has a chance to be great?
03:33Stability?
03:34Mm-hmm.
03:35That's a yes or no.
03:36Yes.
03:36Okay.
03:37Do you agree that poverty alleviation and reparation are important to fostering stability and plays an important role for CT functions?
03:47Yes.
03:47Then would you agree that the reckless, rushed, and political-motivated shuttering of the USAID was a complete disaster for Syria?
03:56No.
03:56Or do you think there's a strategy there that can help it?
03:59The president showed leadership in lifting the sanctions on Syria to give the Syrian people—
04:04Well, we're specifically looking at USAID.
04:07Yeah.
04:07So, but your question was about the Syrian people, and my answer is that the president, through his courageous step and leadership, to recognize the Syrian president and to lift sanctions from the Assad regime,
04:23is the greatest thing to give the Syrian people a chance to turn the page.
04:31And we are going to continue to support that.
04:33We're going to continue to support, through Ambassador Barak's leadership, ensuring stability and security as well as—
04:40I'm going to reclaim my time, because what we're really looking for, because we hear a lot of slogans, I'm hearing a lot of just positions, but I'm really looking for the nooks and the crannies of implementation and how we're going to achieve this goal.
04:54I believe that for America to win and to survive and to thrive, that I would love for the administration to be successful, and I really want the State Department to be successful and you to be successful.
05:03So I'm asking questions to figure out how we can work together so we can get towards success.
05:09So how are we going to fill in the gap with USAID being gutted, and what is your plan, and what steps are you taking to alleviate poverty and to fill in that gap specifically?
05:18Well, the department has a plan to develop—to deliver development assistance.
05:23My role as a counterterrorism coordinator, because these are, I would say, adjacent issues.
05:29You're right that conditions can lead to instability and can lead to violence.
05:37In my role as coordinator, I'm working with our interagency.
05:40We are going to move forward.
05:42I'm not in charge of the plans to resume or to refresh our development assistance plans, although I believe that we will move forward with that at some time.
05:52I will say that, again, the president's bold leadership to lift sanctions, the Assad-era sanctions, has given the Syrian people a chance.
06:03And I would say, I was in Madrid last month with over 30 diplomatic delegations.
06:10They were all ecstatic, as well as the UNHCR representative for Syria, who told us that in Damascus, on the day that the president took his decision,
06:20there was cheering in the streets, there was ebullient praise and support for the administration's leadership and for the president's leadership.
06:28Well, I'm going to reclaim my time again.
06:29And that will allow us—
06:30I'm going to reclaim my time.
06:31And that will allow us, if I may—
06:32I would like to reclaim my time.
06:33I want to reclaim my time because we agree with the decision to lift sanctions.
06:37That's not up for dispute.
06:38But what we're looking at, and I would like to know your opinion based on your years of experience, having a decree or signing a paper or having a treaty or making decisions, these are great things.
06:50But there are scaffolding that needs to be on the bottom of that to help hold up and make sure that this agreement or, you know, lifting these sanctions will lead to success in Syria.
07:00And like I was saying earlier, that is my goal.
07:03And so, in your opinion, do you believe that we need more pieces of scaffolding for you to be successful in what you're doing?
07:08And what would that look like?
07:11The Bureau of Counterterrorism, with respect to Syria, we have all the resources that we need to advance the president's priorities, to keep America safe and secure,
07:21and to advance the president's vision in the Middle East, including to turn the page for the Syrian people and give them another chance.
07:28In February, Mercury Corps warned that it would stop clean water delivery to 1.8 million Syrians.
07:37Save the Children was forced to close 20 out of its 50 nutrition programs in Syria, which had left over 400,000 children at risk for severe malnutrition.
07:49The reckless funding cuts also impacted democracy and gave governance programs and good governance programs.
07:55At the time when the support would be crucial to helping the new government succeed.
08:01So, my question for you is, do you provide input into the closure of USAID and these programs in Syria,
08:08specifically with the impacts in development on the ground?
08:14Sorry, I understand the question.
08:16You're asking me if I had input into that decision?
08:18No, I'm asking you, do you provide any input?
08:20As I mentioned earlier, the goal is to see that the scaffolding that you need to be successful in order to support your mission and your agenda.
08:28What do you provide input?
08:29What would be some of that input?
08:31Because as we're looking at proposals or legislation to support you, I would like to know what would be some of your input,
08:38being that USAID now has been removed, what is it that you need to be successful in addition to what your department offers?
08:46Well, from the perspective of counterterrorism, we're 100% focused on preventing an ISIS resurgence,
08:54working with the Syrian government to make sure that doesn't happen,
08:58and then ensuring that the Syrian government has what it needs in order to confront that threat.
09:04That's the counterterrorism role that we fulfill.
09:08The broader picture here is that I think we share this goal and we probably share the same vision that the Syrian people have the opportunities to move forward
09:23and the Syrian people have the resources they need to live prosperous lives.
09:27and the lifting of the sanctions and then, of course, the lifting of the designations of HTS as a foreign terror organization
09:36will enable greater investment in Syria.
09:41The CESAR Act will, pausing the CESAR Act, will enable investment, will enable support from all over the world,
09:50including from the region, to ensure that we can, as you say, give some scaffolding or give some life,
09:57give some legs, to the president's courageous and strong decision to lift sanctions.
10:02Thank you, I yield back.
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