00:00Thank you so much, Tani. I wanted to ask you what the State Department of Secretary Rubio's position is on what to do with warehouse excess food from USAID, some of which has not spoiled biscuits in Dubai, peanut paste, and whether that should be distributed.
00:18It's all been paid for by the taxpayers, so is there a view toward whether it should be incinerated or distributed or some combination? Is there a plan afoot?
00:30Well, there's many moving parts, I can say. There is a dynamic involving various different considerations regarding expired food, regarding our Mexico City policy when it comes to certain items as well, and food.
00:47We discussed this before, but it's worth repeating. We have food that is purchased meant to be distributed to specific locations, and then there is food.
00:59Food in various locations around the world that is for global emergencies, that sits. It's food that is meant not to be moved. It's food to be there if there is an emergency where people have to be fed in a quick way with food that is sustainable, and that can be maintained for an extended period of time.
01:21But that is food. But that is food. That's all right. The electronic world. It's food that is meant to not be moved. But then there's food, of course, that is there, that is stored in certain places, that is meant for a location.
01:37And that moves out, and it gets distributed where it should be. But if food is spoiled, it will be destroyed. We are not going to distribute food that is expired.
01:49And if there is food that is meant for emergencies that has expired, we'll deal with that also accordingly.
01:56Is there any circumstance under which the State Department would countenance destroying unspoiled food for some reason?
02:06Well, I, again, don't know of all the circumstances. I can say that there could be a reason of all the things that exist around the world, whether it is the inability for us to move it, a refusal of a government to allow us access, or to move it to another country.
02:25I can't speak. There are many, many different fronts about why certain decisions are made.
02:30What I can tell you is, what I've watched over the last six months are people who've been here for years, sometimes, I see you, sir. Keep your hand down. Thank you very much.
02:39Of people who've worked here on these issues for a very long time, others of us who are new because of the election.
02:47And the focus has been on how can we make these things work? How can we save enough of whatever the issue is?
02:55If it's if it's about funding, if it's about food, if it's about what do we need? How can we make it work?
03:01But within the smartest, fastest, a most nimble way to be able to help as mo as many people as possible.
03:08No one is sitting in a room thinking, how can we destroy as much stuff as possible?
03:13That's not our goal. We it is. I've spoken in this room many times about the impact of the people who are foreign service officers and who are civil servants who've dedicated their lives, their professions to making a difference for people around the world.
03:32They are still here. They still care deeply. And we are here to try to manage.
03:37Right. The largest, the most amazing government in the world and what we can do for the people around the world while still paying the respect and the deference to the American people and what they deserve first so that we can remain the powerhouse and the helper and the friend that we are around the world.
03:58So I each situation is different. But we our goal is to make sure that we, of course, we do remain in the foreign aid business.
04:08We remain a facilitator of things that the world needs. Many people probably didn't know that we have these food stores around the world waiting in case something happens.
04:19But we need to be able to facilitate that. And we're doing so transparently. We discuss this with you. And that's what I know about the people who work here. All right. Yes, sir.
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