00:00This hearing will provide a greater insight into how the department's reorganization plan
00:05will change the division of labor between the so-called regional and functional bureaus
00:09and how the President's America First foreign policy will be implemented in the field.
00:15And I will now recognize myself for an opening statement.
00:18Under the Biden administration, the State Department, in my opinion,
00:23operated without clear lines of command.
00:25I believe that it blurred responsibilities in many cases and that it had a culture that prioritized process
00:34over the outcomes that the State Department would produce.
00:39I would use the DEI office as an example, where they were worried about what the bucket of applicants would look like
00:46rather than the outcomes of those applicants and what they were delivering for the American taxpayer.
00:53That was a direct quote from the former DEI Secretary Abercrombie Wynne Stanley.
00:59That has changed under President Biden, President Trump, and Secretary Rubio.
01:05This committee is working to restore real command and control at the State Department,
01:10something that the Pentagon has had for decades and something that the State Department desperately needs.
01:17We are crafting the first comprehensive stand-alone State Department authorization bill in over 20 years.
01:25This is not meant as a gesture.
01:28It is meant as a serious institutional overhaul.
01:32We're not doing this for symbolism.
01:35We're doing it because there needs to be common sense and logic within our diplomacy.
01:42Our goal is simple.
01:44Bring order, bring clarity, and bring effectiveness to a department that too often prioritized institutional interests above the American interest.
01:54A perfect example is how members of Congress, in too many cases, are more concerned about somebody being fired from the State Department
02:02after 10 or 15 years of employment when they should be asking how productive those employees were
02:09and what were the measurable outcomes that were provided by them approving transgender operas
02:15or drag show tutorials or DEI musicals or LGBTQ comic books abroad.
02:23Under President Biden, the department suffered from a structural identity crisis.
02:27Maybe policy was delivered by one group, altered by another, and implemented by a third,
02:34often with no clear authority or accountability.
02:38Turf wars between regional and functional bureaus slowed everything down.
02:43The Undersecretary for Political Affairs is treated as first among equals.
02:49But that phrase itself reveals to me a problem.
02:53Too many equals, not enough leadership.
02:56No mission succeeds without a chain of command, and I believe that diplomacy is no exception.
03:03The State Department must operate like a strategic institution with a clear hierarchy,
03:10mission clarity, decisive leadership, and measurable outcomes.
03:16It should not be a think tank that looks at the world as an academic exercise with no measurable outcomes.
03:24And our reforms aim to correct that.
03:28Some will resist this.
03:29They'll defend the status quo as if it's sacred.
03:32But we've seen what the status quo produces.
03:35Mission drift.
03:37Strategic confusion.
03:39A sprawling bureaucracy that's often more focused on virtue signaling
03:43than actually projecting American strength abroad.
03:47Let us be clear, this is not about copying the Pentagon.
03:52It's about applying common sense.
03:55At DOD, policy is made at the top through a chain of command that is recognizable to everybody.
04:02At the State Department, that discipline has been missing.
04:05We don't expect the State Department to be soldiers in uniform,
04:09but we should expect it to have a command structure that is recognizable and followed.
04:15We can't afford what has happened to happen again.
04:20Not when adversaries like China and Iran are using every tool at their disposal to undermine American power.
04:26We can't have a foreign service officers that freelance social experimentation.
04:32Our vision is straightforward.
04:35Functional bureaus and undersecretaries should focus on developing policy,
04:40clear, coherent, and grounded in national interest.
04:45Regional bureaus with their area expertise should adapt and execute that policy on the ground.
04:51This creates a clear flow of authority, streamlines operations, and ensures accountability at every level.
04:58What we've had are regional bureaus providing loose oversight of embassies
05:02that frequently operate like personal fiefdoms
05:06rather than the implementing arm of the State Department.
05:10Under President Biden, we had embassies funding gender-inclusive leadership through Ultimate Frisbee
05:15in India for $100,000 or spending $425,000 to help Indonesian coffee companies be more gender- and climate-friendly.
05:25This hearing is part of a broader effort to realign the State Department with the mission it was meant to serve.
05:33Putting America first as the State Department of the United States of America.
05:40That requires more than tweaks.
05:42It requires structural change, cultural change, and a willingness to change the old order.
05:50I want to thank our witness for appearing today.
05:52We do look forward to your insight as we take the first step towards restoring command and control,
05:59discipline, and mission focus at the United States Department of State.
06:04And in that, I now recognize my friend and my colleague,
06:07the ranking member from New York, Representative Meeks.
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