[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




 
 THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY AND FISCAL YEAR BUDGET 
                                REQUEST

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                      COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                              JUNE 7, 2021

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-41

                               __________

        Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
        
        
        
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       Available:  http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://
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                             ______                       


             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
44-804 PDF           WASHINGTON : 2021                        
                       

                      COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                  GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York, Chairman

BRAD SHERMAN, California             MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas, Ranking 
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey                  Member
GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia        CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida         STEVE CHABOT, Ohio
KAREN BASS, California              JOE WILSON, South Carolina
WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts      SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania
DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island       DARRELL ISSA, California
AMI BERA, California                ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas               LEE ZELDIN, New York
DINA TITUS, Nevada                  ANN WAGNER, Missouri
TED LIEU, California                BRIAN MAST, Florida
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania            BRIAN FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota            KEN BUCK, Colorado
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota               TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
COLIN ALLRED, Texas                 MARK GREEN, Tennessee
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan                ANDY BARR, Kentucky
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, Virginia        GREG STEUBE, Florida
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania      DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey          CLAUDIA TENNEY, New York
ANDY KIM, New Jersey                AUGUST PFLUGER, Texas
SARA JACOBS, California             PETER MEIJER, Michigan
KATHY MANNING, North Carolina       NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York
JIM COSTA, California               RONNY JACKSON, Texas
JUAN VARGAS, California             YOUNG KIM, California
VICENTE GONZALEZ, Texas             MARIA ELVIRA SALAZAR, Florida
BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois

                                     
                                    
                                     

                    Sophia Lafargue, Staff Director

               Brendan Shields, Republican Staff Director
               
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

                               WITNESSES

Blinken, the Honorable Antony J., Secretary, U.S. Department of 
  State..........................................................     7

                                APPENDIX

Hearing Notice...................................................    71
Hearing Minutes..................................................    72
Hearing Attendance...............................................    73

                        STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD

Statement for the record submitted from Represetative Connolly...    74

            RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

Responses to questions submitted for the record..................    76


 THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S FOREIGN POLICY STRATEGY AND FISCAL YEAR BUDGET 
                                REQUEST

                          Monday, June 7, 2021

                          House of Representatives,
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.

    The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., via 
Webex, Hon. Gregory Meeks (Chairman of the committee) 
presiding.
    Chairman Meeks. The Committee on Foreign Affairs will come 
to order.
    Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a 
recess of the committee at any point, and all Members will have 
5 days to submit statements, extraneous material, and questions 
for the record, subject to the length of the limitation in the 
rules.
    To insert something into the record, please have your staff 
email the previously mentioned address or contact full 
committee staff.
    As a reminder to Members, please keep your video function 
on at all times even when you're not recognized by the Chair. 
Members are responsible for muting and unmuting themselves.
    Consistent with House rules, staff will only mute Members 
as appropriate when they are not under recognition to eliminate 
background noise.
    I see that we have a quorum, and I now recognize myself for 
opening remarks.
    Pursuant to notice, we meet today to review the State 
Department's foreign policy strategy and the Fiscal Year 1922 
budget requests.
    Mr. Secretary, it is fantastic to have you back before our 
committee so soon after your testimony before us in March, and 
this is precisely the kind of relationship that we seek with 
the Administration--one of regular constructive dialog and 
debate. And we're so glad that you're here and we appreciate 
you setting the tone from the top at the State Department on 
maintaining a productive engagement with Congress as we carry 
out our oversight legislative responsibilities.
    An Administration's budget demonstrates its priorities. As 
President Biden said when he was a senator, ``Don't tell me 
what you value. Show me your budget and I'll tell you what you 
value.''
    So I'm pleased to see that Fiscal Year 1922 budget requests 
strive to direct funding directly to address what I believe are 
America's most promising opportunities and pressing challenges.
    As you heard me say the last time you appeared before this 
committee, Secretary Blinken, personnel is policy, and if the 
United States wants to continue with its global leadership 
role, it is critical that the Department's work force look like 
the America it represents abroad with a diversity of 
backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
    This was a key component of our bipartisan State 
authorization bill that was passed in the House a few weeks 
ago, and though I welcome the more than doubling of the funding 
dedicated to broadening recruitment and diversity and inclusion 
programs at the State Department in the Administration's Fiscal 
Year 1922 budget request, I'm hopeful the department will soon 
provide us specific programs it will undertake to address the 
systemic barriers to retention and promotion for ethnic and 
racial minorities in the mid and senior levels.
    Let's continue to build on that work, including by shifting 
to paid internships in the department. Internships help open 
the doors to careers in foreign affairs, and without a paid 
internship program these opportunities are accessible only to 
those from more affluent backgrounds.
    A paid internship program will help broaden the pool of 
candidates interested in pursuing a career in public service at 
the State Department.
    I also applaud the Administration for proposing to increase 
the U.S. contribution to the Green Climate Fund and more than 
tripling climate funding across the board. Climate change is, 
indeed, an existential threat with a shrinking window for 
action.
    Not only does America need to work multilaterally with our 
allies and partners and even competitors, we must galvanize 
global action, and as the wealthiest nation on Earth, it is 
incumbent upon us to help those nations adapt, whether it be 
through implementation of clean energy or resilient 
infrastructure.
    This is one example of coalition building on which America 
must lead. Now that the United States is back at the table, 
effective multilateral engagement is critical, and this starts 
with fully funding the United States commitments to the United 
Nations, including by paying down our arrears.
    As you know, the U.N. has long served as a force multiplier 
for the United States to protect our interest and promote 
democracy, human rights, peace, and stability, and I appreciate 
that the President's budget request does a far better job of 
prioritizing our multilateral commitments than the previous 
Administration ever did.
    However, we must recognize that continuing to avoid our 
full financial obligations is against our interests and costs 
us our credibility and champion multilateralism.
    We must also forge new bonds
    [inaudible] including our Latin American and Caribbean 
neighbors in the Western Hemisphere and the continent of 
Africa, and we need to modernize not only working with 
governments and regional organizations but also directly with 
local civil society and historically marginalized communities.
    And the committee is pleased to see the Department's 
continued support for close allies such as the State of Israel 
and related efforts to improve the lives of the Palestinian 
people and leave the door open to a two-State solution.
    So I look forward to the discussion today on this budget 
request and a range of other foreign policy matters that I know 
will come up, and to also listen to the Administration's plan 
to provide COVID vaccines globally, to strengthen our posture 
in the Indo-Pacific region, to seeking a lasting peace between 
our ally, Israel, and the Palestinian people.
    Success rests on ensuring that the brave men and women of 
the State Department have the resources to do the critical work 
you do every day to advance and defend America, work for which 
this committee is very grateful.
    I now will recognize Mr. McCaul, the Ranking Member, for 
his opening remarks.
    Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. 
Secretary, for joining us here today.
    I've repeatedly said that Vladimir Putin is not our friend. 
In addition to last year's SolarWinds hack in my hometown of 
Austin, he and his cronies are responsible for at least three 
additional cyber attacks in the last 2 months, including two on 
U.S. companies which seriously disrupted our supply chain.
    He continues his illegal occupation of Crimea. He 
orchestrated the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. He publicly 
reports and supports the illegitimate despot Lukashenko in 
Belarus, even though he scrambled a MiG to hijack a commercial 
airliner to arrest the journalist, and he's holding two 
Americans hostage, Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan.
    Yet, late last month, the Biden Administration made the 
baffling assertion that waiving sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, 
a Russian Gazprom subsidiary, and its CEO and corporate 
officers is somehow in the U.S., quote, ``national interest.''
    Let me be clear. Allowing a Russian malign influence 
project to be built that will enrich Putin, give him greater 
strength in Europe, and further endanger Ukraine is absolutely 
not in our U.S. national interest.
    Now President Biden is rewarding Putin with a summit in 
Geneva next week. This sends a very powerful and very dangerous 
message. It is my hope this summit will provide at least some 
good.
    So I would urge you and the president to call for the 
release of Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan as a precondition to 
this meeting.
    Now I'd like to turn to Afghanistan. I made very clear I 
oppose the ill-advised and arbitrary withdrawal from 
Afghanistan. But the decision has been made.
    Now we must mitigate the fallout, and that starts with 
honoring our promises to those Afghans who risked their lives 
to work alongside our troops and personnel.
    I've spoken with officials at your departments as well as 
people at DHS, and their conclusion is that there's no way to 
process enough Special Immigrant Visas for these Afghans to 
withdraw by September 11th.
    So, Mr. Secretary, the clock is ticking, and the Taliban 
are on the march. And that's why I'm calling for this 
Administration to evacuate any person who has reached a 
significant stage in the security vetting process to a third 
country to finish their visa processing before the U.S. 
completes its military retrograde.
    The time for platitudes and vague promises are over. We 
need action and we need it yesterday. While we have, certainly, 
turned a corner in our fight against COVID-19, the devastating 
impacts are still being felt in this country and around the 
world.
    More than 3.5 million people worldwide have lost their 
lives, including approximately 600,000 Americans. I want to 
thank the president for finally calling for a full 
investigation into the origins of COVID-19, and I also want to 
thank the Chairman for organizing last month's classified 
briefing on the topic.
    Last year, I conducted an extensive investigation into the 
origins of COVID, and I would like to submit that here for the 
record and send you a copy, Mr. Secretary.
    [The information referred to follows:]

    *********COMMITTEE INSERT**********
    Mr. McCaul. I hope you will provide guidance to the 
Administration as you vigorously search for answers. If we 
cannot get to the bottom of how this happened, we are doomed to 
watch as history repeats itself.
    And if it turned out this did leak from a Chinese lab, it's 
just one more example of how the CCP's malign behavior damages 
the entire world.
    Confronting the generational threat posed by the CCP isn't 
a Republican issue or Democrat issue. It's an American issue, 
and it's vital we work to solve this issue, as this committee 
has already done with our bipartisan genocide resolution.
    So I thank Chairman Meeks for working with me on this 
important resolution. I urge Speaker Pelosi to bring it to the 
floor for a vote as soon as possible.
    And, Mr. Secretary, I want to thank you again today for 
joining us. The world is facing many crises. As we speak, new 
reports from Ethiopia find 2 million people have been displaced 
in failing conditions that are threatening the lives of 
millions more in Tigray.
    Starvation is being used as a weapon of war there. The work 
of the U.S. State Department and this committee's oversight has 
never been more important.
    And with that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you, Mr. McCaul. With that, I'll 
introduce our witness.
    Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was sworn in as the 
United States Secretary of State on January 26th, 2021, and he 
really needs no further introduction than that. We know of all 
of his past work, and as I mentioned in my opening statement, 
Secretary Blinken testified before this committee in March, and 
here he is again, just a short time thereafter to appear before 
us again, and we are grateful for his appearance before the 
committee again today to present the Administration's budget 
request.
    So without objection, Secretary Blinken's prepared 
testimony will be made part of the record, and I now recognize 
the witness for 5 minutes to summarize his testimony.
    You're on, Mr. Blinken.

 STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY, U.S. 
                      DEPARTMENT OF STATE

    Secretary Blinken. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member McCaul, all 
committee Members, thank you very, very much for this 
opportunity to talk about our proposed budget and how it will 
help achieve our national security priorities and deliver 
results for the American people, which is what I know all of us 
are about.
    This is a critical moment for the United States and our 
global leadership. We face major tests--you've alluded to some 
of them already--including stopping COVID-19, rising to the 
challenge of the climate crisis, supporting a global economic 
recovery that delivers for our workers and their families.
    We have got to revitalize our alliances and partnerships, 
outcompete China, and defend the international rules-based 
order against those who would seek to undermine it, renew 
democratic values at home and abroad, and push back against 
malign activity by our adversaries.
    In a more competitive world, other countries are making 
historic investments in their foreign policy toolkits. We need 
to do the same. That's why in this budget we have requested 
$58.5 billion for the State Department and USAID for Fiscal 
Year 2022.
    Here are some specifics. This budget will strengthen global 
health. The United States has been a leader in this field for 
decades in Africa, around the world.
    We're asking for $10 billion for global health programs, 
including nearly $1 billion for global health security to help 
us prevent, prepare for, and better respond to future global 
health crises so we can stop outbreaks before they turn into 
pandemics that put our safety and our prosperity in danger.
    The budget will accelerate the global response to climate 
change and the climate crisis by providing $2.5 billion for 
international climate programs, including $1.25 billion for the 
Green Climate Fund to help developing countries implement 
climate adaptation and emissions mitigation programs, which is 
directly in our interest as well.
    The budget will double down on the fight for democracy, 
which, as we all know, is under threat in too many places. Our 
budget requests includes $2.8 billion in foreign assistance to 
advance human rights, to fight corruption, to stem the tide of 
democratic backsliding, and strengthen and defend democracies, 
for example, through technical training for elections and 
support for independent media and civil society. It also 
requests $300 million for the National Endowment for Democracy.
    The budget will support a comprehensive strategy to address 
the root causes of irregular migration from Central America. It 
will--it will invest $861 million in the region as a first step 
toward a 4-year commitment of $4 billion to help prevent 
violence, reduce poverty, curtail endemic corruption, and 
expand job and educational opportunities.
    The budget will reestablish U.S. humanitarian leadership 
with a request for $10 billion in assistance to support 
refugees, victims of conflict, and other displaced people, and 
to rebuild our refugee admissions program.
    It will support our partners in the Middle East by fully 
funding our commitments to key countries, including Israel and 
Jordan, and by restoring humanitarian assistance to the 
Palestinian people, and includes a budget request of $3.6 
billion to pay our assessed contributions in full to 
international organizations, initiatives, and peacekeeping 
efforts, including to restore our annual contributions to the 
World Health Organization.
    As China and others work hard to bend international 
organizations to their world view, we need to ensure that these 
organizations instead remain grounded in the values, 
principles, and rules of the road and rules of the world that 
have made our shared progress possible for so many decades.
    Finally, to deliver in all of these areas, the budget 
reinvests in our most vital asset, our people. It will provide 
new resources to recruit, train, and retain a first rate 
diverse global work force with nearly 500 additional Foreign 
and Civil Service positions, the largest increase to the State 
Department staffing in a decade.
    And it will modernize our technology and cybersecurity, 
protect our embassies and consulates, and include a direct 
appropriation of $320 million for consular services worldwide 
so we can continue to provide these vital services to Americans 
and those who seek to travel, study, or do business in the 
United States.
    Our national security depends not only on the strength of 
our armed forces, but also our ability to conduct effective 
diplomacy and development. That's how we solve global 
challenges, forge cooperation, advance our interests and 
values, protect our people, and prevent crises overseas from 
turning into emergencies here at home.
    And that's why diplomacy and development are smart 
investments for our taxpayers. A top priority for me as 
Secretary is to restore the traditional role of Congress as a 
partner in our foreign policymaking.
    That's the spirit that I bring to today's conversation, and 
I'm grateful for the chance to answer your questions.
    Thank you very much.
    [The prepared statement of Secretary Blinken follows:]
    
    
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    Chairman Meeks. Thank you for your testimony, Mr. 
Secretary, and I'm now going to recognize Members for 5 minutes 
each pursuant to the House rules, and all time yielded is for 
the purposes of questioning our witness.
    Of course, I will recognize Members by committee seniority, 
alternating between Democrats and Republicans. And if you miss 
your turn, please let our staff know and we'll come back to 
you.
    If you seek recognition, you must unmute your microphone 
and address the Chair verbally and identify yourself so that we 
know who is speaking. I will hold strictly to the 5-minute rule 
so that we can get as many questions in as we can.
    The Secretary has graciously given us three and a half 
hours, and we intend, as I've said, Mr. Secretary, if you could 
keep your answers brief and if the Members can make sure that 
they stay within the confines of that 5 minutes.
    Unfortunately, because of that, I will have a strict 5-
minute rule, and I will start with that strict rule for myself. 
So I'll ask you, Mr. Secretary, to be succinct with your 
answers as I must try to get in some questions and we have got 
a lot around the room.
    So I'm going to leave some for some of my colleagues who 
are going to be asking you about questions, I'm sure, about the 
Middle East and the Indo-Pacific, et cetera.
    But I want to start out now with my 5 minutes of questions, 
and I'll start out about COVID and the vaccines and vaccine 
diplomacy, particularly as we look at our friends and allies to 
our south, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
    I was pleased to see the Administration's plans for the 
initial distribution of vaccines bilaterally through COVAX 
including to, of course, our neighbors in Latin America and the 
Caribbean.
    To me, that was an important first step toward supporting 
the region and their recovery for this pandemic and one I 
encouraged the Administration to take.
    So my question is when do you expect these vaccines to 
arrive in the region and what support is the U.S. providing to 
actually distribute these vaccines and provide overall support 
for their health response?
    Secretary Blinken. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And 
you're right, we are very, very aggressively now pushing out 
vaccines. We have 80 million vaccines that will be distributed 
either working through COVAX and with COVAX, or directly by the 
United States--80 million vaccines between now and early July.
    So this is happening--starting to happen as we speak. We 
want to make sure that anything we send out is safe and 
effective. But it's starting now and it's going to roll out 
over the coming days and weeks between now and the end of July. 
And as you noted, we have dedicated--we started--of the 80 
million that we have currently available we're starting with 25 
million.
    We have allocated them by region and within regions by 
country. About 75 percent of that first 25 million will be done 
in coordination with COVAX. The other 25 percent we'll be able 
to do directly, making sure that we're taking account of the 
science and the needs where there are surges, where there are 
variants, where some countries need second shots and have a 
deficit, all of this based on science, based on equity, and 
without political favor being demanded in return, unlike some 
other countries.
    By the time we complete the distribution of these 80 
million, there will be more to follow as we have excess 
vaccines in the months beyond July. And beyond that, we are 
working to increase significantly the international production 
of vaccines so that the overall supply of vaccines increases 
significantly.
    Latin America, our neighbors, our partners in the region, 
in the Caribbean, will be among the first beneficiaries of the 
vaccines that are going out. We are working closely to make 
sure that we have in place the support system necessary so that 
the vaccines can get there, be distributed and used 
effectively.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you for that. And I have another 
question about the Northern Triangle. I'm going to jump to the 
other side of the world real quick in the time that I have 
left, and that is to talk about last month I unveiled the 
Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement Act, or what 
we call the EAGLE Act, which will reinvigorate our institutions 
and our diplomatic efforts to effectively respond to the 
challenges posed by China and boost U.S. engagement in the 
Indo-Pacific region.
    In these efforts, we must attack from a position of 
strength that emphasizes human values that set our Nation apart 
including multilateralism and building relationships, promoting 
human rights and democracy, and leading the fight against 
climate change.
    So my question to you, Mr. Secretary, is what do you see as 
the most critical step to take to advance U.S. engagement, 
values, and interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and how is 
the Administration's budget request supporting those steps? And 
is that enough--do you think it's going to be enough?
    Secretary Blinken. Mr. Chairman, thank you for putting the 
spotlight on that. As you know, from your own engagement and 
leadership, this is the fastest growing, most dynamic region in 
the world and it's on the front lines of the strategic 
competition that we have with China.
    By the way, China invests about 50 percent of its global 
assistance and 50 percent of its economic diplomacy in the 
Indo-Pacific. So this is, clearly, a priority for them. We are 
working closely with partners to promote a free and open Indo-
Pacific, and our budget reflects that.
    We have a significant budget allocation for work in the 
Indo-Pacific that we hope that the Congress will support, and 
this will help us engage effectively in the region.
    I think you know that the president held the first ever 
leader summit among the so-called Quad countries--the United 
States, India, Japan, Australia. We are working with them 
across a number of fronts to strengthen the work that we do 
together in the region.
    We have a number of tools that I know this committee and 
others believe strongly in to make us even more effective in 
the work we're doing.
    For example, with our economic diplomacy, we have the 
Development Finance Corporation and other tools that we're 
bringing to bear in the region on different projects, 
leveraging the private sector.
    But I think, as you'll see as you look at the budget 
request, we have asked for a significant allocation of 
resources for our work in the Indo-Pacific.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. My time has expired.
    I now go to Ranking Member McCaul for his questions. You 
have 5 minutes.
    Mr. McCaul. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. 
Secretary.
    Last month, Chairman Meeks and I sent you a letter on these 
Special Immigration Visas regarding Afghans who have worked 
with us over the years. General Milley said, quote, ``We must 
remain faithful to those Afghans who risked their lives to help 
the United States troops and personnel,'' and he said we must, 
quote, ``Do what's necessary to ensure their protection and, if 
necessary, get them out of the country.''
    Just last week, Secretary Austin ordered General McKenzie 
to develop a plan to evacuate these people. But we need a place 
to temporarily house them while their visas finish processing, 
which falls within the State Department.
    And most importantly, we need President Biden as commander 
in chief to give the order. The military retrograde in 
Afghanistan could be complete as early as July, according to 
latest reports, and I've been told by your senior officials in 
your department that there's no way the Special Immigrant Visas 
can be processed that quickly.
    So that means that these people will have a bull's eye and 
a target on their back from the moment we leave the country. 
According to No One Left Behind, there have been 300 targeted 
killings of these people since 2014, and if we abandon them we 
are signing their death warrants.
    Have you spoken to any country about temporarily housing 
these Afghanistans, to process these visas? And if so, which 
countries and where are you in negotiations?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you very much for that question. I 
appreciate it because I share both your concern and your 
commitment to those who put their lives on the line to help us 
in Afghanistan--our diplomats, our military--and let me do two 
things, if I can.
    First, let me just, in direct response to your question, we 
are looking very actively at every possible contingency to make 
sure that we can accommodate and care for those who are 
seeking--who've helped us and are seeking to leave.
    And whether that's through the Special Immigrant Visa 
program, whether that's through the refugee program, whether 
that's through parole, other things, we're looking very 
actively at everything.
    Let me just quickly tell you where I think we are with the 
Special Immigrant Visa program itself. There are about 18,000 
so-called principal applicants in the system. Of the 18,000, 
half are at the very early stages, by which I mean they've 
expressed interest. They haven't submitted applications or 
forms but we think they're interested.
    Then there's another 9,000 who are much further along. Of 
those 9,000 about 30 percent are awaiting so-called chief of 
mission approval. That is the approval that the chief of 
mission gives to determine that they are in fact eligible for 
the--for the program.
    Once that determination is made, they move into the 
immigration process and that's where about another 20 percent 
of them actively are. We have backlogs. When it came to chief 
of mission approval, we had a backlog of about 5,500. We have 
surged staff, mostly here in Washington because a lot of this 
work is actually done in Washington.
    We're adding by the end of July at least 50 people here in 
DC to expedite this. We expect to be able to clear the backlog 
over the next few months at about the pace of a thousand a 
month.
    We have also had an immigration backlog, those who are past 
chief of mission approval and are in the immigration process. 
That's because we have had challenges interviewing folks in 
Kabul.
    But there, and that was slowed by COVID, we have cleared 
that backlog. It was about 1,400. We're scheduling appointments 
in regular order. We have a quarterly report coming to you that 
will show, I think, the progress.
    The current cap, as you know, for Special Immigrant Visas 
for Afghanistan is 26,000. That's what's been allocated. We 
have used 15,000, so we have got 11,000 left to accommodate, 
potentially, these 18,000 if everyone who's expressed interest 
actually follows through.
    So we're asking your support to add 8,000 to our cap so 
that we can accommodate everyone, and then be able to come back 
to you if we need more. But we are seeing----
    Mr. McCaul. And if I could just--yes, if I could reclaim my 
time. And I feel very confident on the National Defense 
Authorization we will increase that cap that you're requesting.
    Again, though, they're--we only have 2 months before the 
DOD is completely out of Afghanistan, leaving these people 
behind? Is the department considering a process to get them out 
of country while these claims are being processed that I've 
been told could take up to a year or two, possibly?
    Secretary Blinken. Two things, quickly. We're considering 
every option. Yes.
    Second, I do not think that the fact that our forces are 
withdrawing--one, we're not withdrawing. We're staying. The 
embassy is staying. Our programs are staying. We're working to 
make sure that other partners stay. We're building all of that 
up, and whatever happens in Afghanistan, if there is a 
significant deterioration in security, that could well happen. 
We discussed this before.
    I do not think it's going to be something that happens from 
a Friday to Monday. So I would not necessarily equate the 
departure of our forces in July, August, or by early September 
with some kind of immediate deterioration in the--in the 
situation.
    Mr. McCaul. Well, I think you're going to have a 
humanitarian crisis and a refugee crisis, and I think 
humanitarian parole is something, as you mentioned, we should 
be looking at as well.
    I yield back.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize Mr. Brad Sherman--Representative Brad 
Sherman of California--for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Sherman. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, not only 
for your second visit to our committee for a formal hearing but 
your availability to us as individuals. I hope that the 
Administration will support a prohibition on Americans 
purchasing Russian State debt or loaning money to Russian 
sovereign--the Russian sovereign or State-owned enterprises, 
not just Americans acting as underwriters but Americans buying 
in the secondary market. That could raise Putin's borrowing 
costs by about half a percent.
    In 2019, Congress recognized the Armenian genocide. I want 
to commend the Administration for doing the same in April of 
this year.
    However, the Administration has issued a Section 907 waiver 
to allow for the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan, and I hope that 
you would reconsider that in light of Azerbaijan's violations 
of the territorial integrity not of Nagorno-Karabakh, although 
that is important, but of Armenia itself in an unprovoked 
aggression.
    As to Myanmar--Burma--you have come before Congress asking 
for another $106 million in aid. The Marshall Plan demonstrates 
that economic aid can help a government stay in power, and I 
hope that you would reevaluate your request for education, 
economic development, and agriculture assistance, in light of 
the fact that that money might help the regime stay in power 
and the incredible needs that we have to help Africa, the 
Caribbean, and the Northern Triangle countries.
    But I hope also in your policy toward Burma that you'll be 
fighting for full citizenship for the Rohingya people. Even 
those who are champions of democracy are resisting making that 
pledge and are, unfortunately, talking only about respecting 
Burma's existing and hostile laws.
    I hope that you'll work with Congress over the years to 
repeal the Helms Amendment and allow our international funds to 
provide abortion care around the world.
    I want to thank you for everything the Administration is 
doing to help countries around the world deal with COVID, but, 
particularly as co-Chair of the India Caucus--everything you're 
doing for India.
    As you come before us to talk about the budget, one issue 
that you'll always confront is where should work be done. 
Should it be done in Foggy Bottom or in our foreign missions?
    Having an American citizen overseas costs two or three 
times as much to provide the security, the housing, the 
education, the private sector, and we here in this committee 
are doing business differently. This is a virtual hearing.
    And I hope that you will reevaluate, and you may determine 
that you're--that the no change should be made, but at least 
reevaluate. For example, should a visa interview be done onsite 
or by Zoom?
    Now, Hamas has fired 4,500 rockets into Israel for the sole 
purpose of killing as many civilians as possible. Every one of 
these rockets was a war crime. President Biden has committed to 
replenish Israel's missile defense system. We have saved 
countless Israeli civilian lives and also countless Palestinian 
lives by helping bringing this fight to a more speedy 
conclusion.
    Every one of those 4,500 rockets that was an attempt to 
kill as many civilians as possible is a war crime. 
Unfortunately, we will not bring the criminals to the 
International Justice, but we can prevent those crimes in the 
future by replenishing Iron Dome. What is the status of 
potential supplemental assistance for missile defense for 
Israel?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you very much, Congressman. I 
appreciate all the comments that you've made. You put the light 
on a number of very important subjects, which I very much 
appreciate.
    With regard to Iron Dome, we're committed to its 
replenishment. The Israeli defense minister was in Washington. 
I met with him. Most importantly, Secretary Austin met with 
him. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan did, and we are 
working with the Israelis to fully understand their needs and 
working with Congress, most importantly, to make sure that we 
can secure the funding for that replenishment.
    So these are--this is under very active review, and we look 
forward to working with you to make sure that that happens.
    Mr. Sherman. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired.
    I now recognize Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, 
who is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global 
Health, and Global Human Rights, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and welcome, 
Mr. Secretary. Two decades ago, the great Jewish human rights 
leader and former political prisoner in the Soviet Union Natan 
Sharansky testified at one of my hearings on combating anti-
Semitism.
    He said, and I quote, ``There are two important components 
in this new phenomenon of anti-Semitism. One is using an anti-
Israeli campaign for strengthening anti-Semitism and the other 
is classical anti-Semitism, the old deep, primitive prejudices 
against Jews.''
    He proposed a simple formula for exposing anti-Semitism 
that masquerades as policy differences and he called it the 
three D test: demonization, double standard, and 
delegitimization.
    I'd like to ask you, Mr. Secretary, do you and does the 
Administration regard the 4,000 missiles that were launched by 
Hamas against Israeli citizens, which was reminiscent of the 
bombing of--with the V2 in London by the--by the Nazis--did you 
see that as an act of violent anti-Semitism?
    Second, could you tell us if, as prime sponsor of the law 
to create the Ambassador for combating anti-Semitism, will the 
president soon nominate that person? I hear that there's a name 
or names that are under active consideration.
    Thirdly, May 18th I Chaired another hearing on the Lantos 
Commission on the Beijing genocide Olympics--as we all know, a 
genocide against Muslim Uighurs that is personally led by Xi 
Jinping.
    In one statement, he said, ``We will show no mercy.'' And, 
of course, what's happening in the gulags and all the elements 
of the U.N. Convention on Genocide, obviously, have been met. 
It is a horrific, horrific killing and change of forcing people 
to give up their culture.
    And I wanted to ask you, one of our witnesses said that at 
the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, Xi Jinping said that 
among his goals for hosting the Olympics was to demonstrate to 
the world the superiority of China's political system and to 
promote its products worldwide. Doesn't sound like sports to 
me.
    Some have suggested a mere diplomatic boycott, and I would 
ask you and I would appeal to you, that would not be enough 
when you put that side by side with a genocide to be going on 
simultaneously with the Olympics.
    Will the Administration try to move the venue to another 
city, or will we lead a boycott of nations of conscience?
    And finally, just speak to the issue on the budget. The 
U.S. Agency for Global Media has pretty much flatlined and yet, 
the Russians have really--and others, but they have really done 
a terrible focus against Radio Free Europe and Radio Free 
Liberty. Will that be brought up at the summit, Mr. Secretary?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you very much. Appreciate all 
those questions. Yes, we're moving forward expeditiously with 
the envoy to combat anti-Semitism. I hope that's before the 
Senate very, very soon.
    And with regard to Hamas, Hamas is engaged in terrorism, 
period, and the idea that the--that any country could accept 
and, for that matter, the world could accept a terrorist 
organization which is valid in its own charter to destroy 
Israel, to indiscriminately launch rockets against Israeli 
civilians, that anyone finds that acceptable or does not 
understand that it constitutes terrorism is hard to fathom.
    And Israel has the right to defend itself against these 
attacks and we have stood strongly for that proposition.
    With regard to the Olympics, we're consulting closely with 
other countries, with allies, with partners, to make sure that 
we understand what the common concerns are and, ideally, to 
establish a shared approach. So more on that in the weeks to 
come.
    And with regard to our work on combating misinformation, I 
couldn't agree with you more. I think it's vital. 
Unfortunately, we have seen our competitors and adversaries 
engage in more and more of it.
    We have a number of tools to do that. One of them is the 
Global Engagement Center, where we have asked for, I think, 
important resources. I think we have seen success in its 
efforts to expose misinformation, whether it's coming from 
Russia or whether it's coming from China, and very much would 
welcome the support that you can give to that request.
    Mr. Smith. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Chairman, just let me also say that I would disagree, 
respectfully, with my good friend, Mr. Sherman, on the issue of 
public funding for abortion.
    I do believe that abortion takes the life of a child and 
wounds many women--harms many women, and the public funding for 
overseas abortion, i.e., the Helms amendment, the prohibition 
is strongly backed by the American people.
    The most recent Marist poll in January show that 77 percent 
of the people are against publicly funding abortion overseas 
and domestically it's 58 to 60 percent in terms of the Hyde 
amendment.
    So let's----
    (Simultaneous speaking.)
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize Representative Albio Sires of New Jersey, 
who's the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western 
Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration and International 
Economic Policy, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Sires. Mr. Secretary, thank you for being with us for 
the second time. I know you have your hands full. But I am very 
concerned about the Western Hemisphere as I look around.
    First of all, I'm glad to see that the budget request 
maintains a consistent level of funding for Cuban democracy and 
human rights programming. I thank you for that. They've been 
really cracking down on dissidents, and that should help.
    I'm also very concerned about what's going on in some of 
these countries like Nicaragua, Venezuela, especially Colombia. 
It seems like the Russians, the Cubans, the Venezuelans, are 
happy to see what is going on with the stabilization of 
Colombia, and I'm happy that the Administration has decided to 
continue the assistance to Colombia.
    People should have the right to demonstrate. They do not 
have a right to be killed. But this is important that we 
recognize that there are other groups who are trying to 
destabilize many of these countries in the region.
    Nicaragua is very troubling to me. They keep putting the 
opposition in jail, and I would just like to hear what you have 
to say about some of these directions that these countries are 
going.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you very much. And, look, I share 
and we share many of the concerns you've expressed and we are 
very much focused on them. I was just in Costa Rica, and not 
only was that an opportunity to meet with our counterparts from 
a very strong and important partner, but we also had a meeting 
of all of the Central American foreign ministers and so I was 
able to spend time with them.
    I recently met with my Colombian counterpart in Washington 
just a few days ago, and with regard to Colombia, first, I 
share the concerns that you've expressed. Colombia is a vital 
strategic partner for the United States.
    We strongly support the 2016 peace accord with the FARC and 
its implementation, and they're a very strong partner as well, 
as you know, in counter narcotics, as well as making sure that 
we have rural development and security.
    With regard to these protests, to your point, people have 
the right to protest peacefully and to make their views known, 
and the government needs to protect that right and to make sure 
that people can express their opinions peacefully.
    We have called upon the police to respect that peaceful 
protest. We appreciate the government is investigating the use 
of excessive force and making sure there's accountability. At 
the same time, the government is working hard to bring together 
the different stakeholders in a dialog to address the issues 
raised by the protests and we applaud that effort.
    With regard to Nicaragua, as you know very well, it 
continues to move in the wrong direction, not the right 
direction, including with the recent detention of the leading 
opposition leader, Mrs. Chamorro. We call for her immediate 
release as well as the colleagues who have been incarcerated as 
well.
    Beyond that, for the past many months the Organization of 
American States has called on Nicaragua to take concrete steps 
to make sure that elections that it plans to hold can go 
forward freely and fairly.
    And instead of heeding the call of the Organization for 
American States, instead of making good on its own commitments 
that it's signed up to in the Inter-American Democratic 
Charter, it continues to move in the opposite direction, 
squeezing space for the opposition, for civil society, making 
it impossible to hold free and fair elections.
    I had an opportunity when I was in Costa Rica to briefly 
see the Nicaraguan foreign minister--he was there--and pressed 
him on behalf of the United States and the Organization of 
American States to make good on these commitments and to make 
good on putting in place measures that would allow free and 
fair elections.
    He went on a long exposition of the allegedly positive 
things that the regime has done for the people, to which I 
responded, if you have that much confidence----
    Mr. Sires. Mr. Secretary, I only have about 30 seconds.
    Secretary Blinken. All right. Go ahead. I'm sorry.
    Mr. Sires. Thank you very much.
    But I think we should keep an eye on Costa Rica because of 
all the Nicaraguans that are going there. I think they're 
trying--they're putting a lot of pressure on this country and 
they were one of our best partners.
    Colombia, we have to keep an eye--there are groups in 
Colombia that are stirring things up that we do not seem to 
focus on, and we should really keep an eye on that. And I 
appreciate the Administration keeping the funding to one of our 
closest allies.
    Thank you very much for being here. My time is up.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired.
    I now recognize Representative Steve Chabot of Ohio, who is 
the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, 
Central Asia and Nonproliferation, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Chabot. Thank you. Let me begin with this.
    Mr. Secretary, how likely is it, in your opinion, that the 
COVID-19 pandemic began in that laboratory in Wuhan, China?
    Secretary Blinken. Congressman, I cannot put a percentage 
on it. I think there are two possible and likely scenarios. One 
is the one you just described, that it emerged from the 
laboratory. The other is that it was naturally occurring.
    President Biden has ordered a comprehensive government wide 
review to try to get to the bottom of what happened. He 
initiated an initial review back in March. The results 
concluded that it was likely to be one of these two scenarios.
    He's now asked on a 90-day basis for the entire government 
to really dig into everything we have, including working with 
experts, to see if we can make a determination. At the same 
time, we're pressing the World Health Organization to move 
forward with its Phase 2 study to understand the origins.
    Mr. Chabot. Thank you very much. The COVID-19 pandemic has 
made it clear that the economic interdependence with the 
Chinese Communist Party threatens American lives and 
prosperity, and the CCP is continuing to poison economic ties 
that were previously thought to be benign.
    They're degrading Hong Kong's legal and financial system, 
contaminating supply chains with Uighur forced labor, and 
extracting technology from corporations as the cost of 
admission to China's market.
    Secretary Kerry acknowledged before this committee that 
China's dominance in solar panel manufacturing comes with 
Uighur forced labor. What is the Administration going to do 
about the CCP's continuing economic exploitation that threatens 
our security, our economy, and our American way of life?
    Secretary Blinken. Well, a couple of things. First, with 
regard to the Uighurs and with regard to forced labor, we're 
working very hard to try to make sure that products made with 
forced labor do not come to the United States and, similarly, 
that our companies do not, one way or another, inadvertently 
aid and abet the repression of Uighurs or anyone else by the 
technology that we export, including surveillance technology.
    We have a new executive order that covers that to try to 
make sure that we're using all the tools at our disposal to 
prevent that.
    More broadly, to your question, we're working across the 
entire spectrum to deal with many of the things that you just--
that you just raised, for example, building more resilient and 
diversified supply chains.
    Second, working with countries around the world to shine a 
light on the need to have trusted vendors in their networks, 
especially when it comes to high tech, 5G, for example, to have 
laws on the books to allow them to do that and to make sure 
that, especially when it comes to sensitive areas of their 
economies or sensitive technology, they have their guard up and 
are not doing business with some of these vendors to include 
Huawei.
    Mr. Chabot. Thank you. Let me move on.
    Most fentanyl and fentanyl-related products in the United 
States, let's face it, originate in China. These substances 
continue to fuel the opioid crisis in this country.
    President Biden has said he will make fentanyl a, quote, 
``top priority in our dealings with China,'' unquote. Have you 
spoken with the president about this issue and what adjustments 
have been made at the State Department to advance this 
priority?
    Secretary Blinken. I've, certainly, spoken to him about it 
in the past. So you're exactly right, he is deeply concerned. 
He's deeply concerned by the countries that export precursors 
or export fentanyl to the United States, whether it's China, 
whether it's coming through Mexico and other places and we are 
very focused on that.
    This is something that we engage directly with our Chinese 
counterparts and we are looking to see concrete action to stop 
and, certainly diminish the export of fentanyl or precursors to 
the United States.
    Mr. Chabot. Thank you. Let me squeeze one more in.
    The national security officials in the Biden Administration 
have argued that it would be destabilizing to clarify U.S. 
support for Taiwan's defense. Does the department agree with 
this sentiment, despite its being sharply at odds with the 
analysis of our uniformed commanders?
    And, basically, I'm talking about the so-called strategic 
ambiguity, which I think is a terrible idea. Where are you at 
that--at this point on that?
    Chairman Meeks. Very briefly.
    Secretary Blinken. I'm sorry?
    Chairman Meeks. I just said very briefly. Two seconds.
    Mr. Chabot. Very briefly.
    Secretary Blinken. Sorry. We are committed to the 
proposition that Taiwan must have the means to defend itself 
and that is consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act. We have 
continued to provide significant equipment and sales to Taiwan 
for that purpose and I will continue to work closely with them.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you for that.
    I now recognize Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia, 
who's the president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, for 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Secretary, 
welcome back to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Thank you 
so much for joining us today. As the Chairman indicated, I am 
serving on this----
    Chairman Meeks. We're having a hard time hearing you, Mr. 
Connolly. You're coming in very (inaudible). You're breaking 
up. It's hard to hear you, to understand you.
    Mr. Connolly. Can you hear now?
    Chairman Meeks. Well, maybe. Let's go ahead and try it.
    Mr. Connolly. Mr. Secretary, can you hear me?
    Chairman Meeks. Mr. Secretary, can you hear Mr. Connolly?
    Mr. Secretary, can you understand Mr. Connolly?
    Secretary Blinken. It's coming in a little--a little----
    Chairman Meeks. Choppy.
    Secretary Blinken. Choppy. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. Yes.
    Mr. Connolly. I'm sorry, I----
    Secretary Blinken. There we go. That sounded better.
    Mr. Connolly. I'm very far away in Fairfax.
    Chairman Meeks. There you go.
    Mr. Connolly. OK. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. 
Chairman, and I was saying welcome back, Mr. Secretary. Thank 
you so much for joining us as at the House Foreign Affairs 
Committee.
    As the Chairman indicated, I serve as the president of the 
NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which, as you know, is kind of the 
legislative arm of NATO representing all 30 member countries 
and parliamentary delegations, as well as 12 associate Members.
    Our top priority, our top priority, that we're recommending 
to the Secretary General and to our respective governments is 
the creation of a Center for Democratic Resilience within NATO.
    NATO is 71 years old. It has all the architecture 
imaginable in terms of collective security and military 
preparedness and cooperation, and interoperability and 
mobilization.
    It has no architecture, none, dedicated to what we say we 
are organized around, namely, shared democratic values. We are 
experiencing backsliding among some Members. We see some 
backsliding among prospective Members.
    We, certainly, experienced an insurrection in our own 
country at the cradle of democracy, at the Capitol. And so we 
feel that creating a center that could serve as a resource, a 
clearinghouse, best practices, the place people could go to how 
do you do judicial reform, how do you--how do you run a 
parliament in a democratic way, how do you build in 
accountability in prospective governments, we think, is long 
overdue.
    And I was very pleased that the working group that's doing 
the spade work for the Secretary General in preparation of the 
strategic concept embraced our recommendation and recommended 
it.
    We have taken this idea on the road to the Marshall Fund, 
the Wilson Center, lots of other bodies, most of whom have 
embraced it. So I want to commend the idea to you and strongly 
urge you to press it as a position of the United States with 
respect to the Secretary General.
    But I'd also like to give you the opportunity to react.
    Secretary Blinken. First, thank you. Thank you for all of 
the work that you and your colleagues have done in support of 
NATO. It's vital and the legislative connection could not be 
more important. So we're really grateful for that.
    Second, we have, I think, an important opportunity at this 
upcoming NATO Summit to, hopefully, bless the work that 
Secretary General Stoltenberg has been doing to help NATO more 
effectively address exactly the kinds of challenges that you're 
talking about, including democratic resilience.
    He has a NATO 2030 initiative, as you know very well, that 
incorporates some of these--some of these ideas, and revising 
the Strategic Concept is a critical piece of that.
    The last time, as you know, it was revised was 2010, at 
this point in the Strategic Concept Russia was referred to as a 
partner and China was nonexistent. So we have our work to do. I 
think we also have a real opportunity that the president is 
deeply engaged in as we head to the summit meeting in just a 
few days.
    So, in short, I think, and I expect and certainly hope that 
we'll see significant progress, in particular, in strengthening 
NATO to deal with democratic resilience.
    Mr. Connolly. So, Mr. Secretary, our view, though, is that 
this has to be part of the architecture of NATO itself. It 
cannot be an outside center. We have outside centers. You know, 
democracy is not on a par with dealing with the cyber threat.
    Democracy is the raison d'etre, and I know you know this 
and believe it for why we have NATO, and from our point of 
view, shared democratic values are as potent an antidote to 
authoritarianism, propounded by Putin and Xi, as is our 
strength--our military strength. Otherwise, we become just 
another military bloc.
    And so I just strongly urge you to take under advisement 
the idea of building into the architecture of NATO itself a 
Center for Democratic Resilience that could really serve as a 
resource not only for Members but for prospective Members. And 
I commend that thought to you.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you.
    Mr. Connolly. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I yield 
back.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
    I now recognize Representative Joe Wilson of South 
Carolina, the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Middle 
East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Wilson. Thank you, Chairman Greg Meeks, for your 
bipartisan leadership.
    Mr. Secretary, sadly, American media of the left have 
become a propaganda arm of Hamas terrorists. Sickening proof, a 
page of the New York Times 10 days ago, May 28th, picturing 64 
dead children of Gaza and Israel, ignoring total Hamas 
responsibility.
    But for the 4,500 rocket attacks by Hamas war criminals of 
Iranian missiles targeting Israeli families, no child would be 
dead.
    But for Hamas using children as human shields no child 
would be dead. The photo display is a disgusting smear of 
Israel and the people of Israel.
    What is your view of the American media coverage? What can 
the State Department do to provide the truth of the rocket 
attacks on families by Hamas with Iranian rockets?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. I guess the first thing I'd 
say is that in my--in my position, the one thing I do not do is 
politics. I'll focus on the policy, and so I'll leave it to 
others to do the politics.
    Second, to the point that you've made about Hamas, it is--
it would be unacceptable for any country to have rockets rain 
down on it indiscriminately targeting civilians and not do 
something about it.
    And as you know, we strongly supported Israel's right to 
defend itself, to defend its people, against these 
indiscriminate rocket attacks. As a democracy, Israel also has 
an extra burden to do everything it possibly can to avoid 
civilian casualties.
    And I have to tell you, I think we're all--and irrespective 
of politics, we also cannot lose sight of the fact that lives 
were lost on both sides in this most recent conflict, 
including----
    Mr. Wilson. Mr. Secretary, respectfully, this would have 
not occurred if there hadn't been rocket attacks. This was not 
just an incidental occurrence. The rocket attacks were the sole 
cause of the death of these children. And that's--it's not 
politics.
    As a former journalist myself, I'm just shocked that we 
would have American media be so complicit in promoting a false 
narrative that Hamas is not totally responsible. And you can 
only make so many--and I've been to Israel to see mothers there 
protecting their children. It's just horrifying. And so we need 
to be specific and go after the war criminals. Congressman 
Sherman was correct.
    And on another issue, in regard to the Iranian nuclear 
deal, there's an effort to resume that but there's no mention 
of addressing the Iranian efforts of ballistic missile 
capabilities.
    There's only one reason for ballistic missile capabilities, 
is provide a nuclear attack against the people of America to 
promote their view death to America, death to Israel. Why is 
there no effort to include a bar against continuing development 
of intercontinental ballistic missiles?
    Secretary Blinken. There are multiple egregious activities 
that Iran is engaged in including missile activity, 
proliferation, support for proxy groups, terrorism, 
destabilizing actions.
    Each and every one would be even worse if Iran had a 
nuclear weapon or was on the threshold of having one. It would 
be able to act with even greater community.
    So the first urgent thing that we need to do, if we can, is 
to try to put the nuclear problem back in the box that it was 
in under the agreement and, unfortunately, it has now gotten 
out of.
    And that takes away not in the least from our ability and 
determination to deal with these other actions that Iran is 
engaged in, including the ones you rightly point to with regard 
to missiles.
    Mr. Wilson. But their actions, clearly, indicate they're 
not serious, OK. They're developing missiles to deliver what 
they plan to do in the future. Additionally, there's no 
provision to stop regional instability by providing the rockets 
to Hamas and Hezbollah to attack Israel, by providing the 
rockets to the Houthis to attack Saudi Arabia, beginning with 
the Beirut bombing killing hundreds of Americans, the IEDs 
killing hundreds of Americans in Iraq. Why is there no 
reference to blocking the instability which Iran is promoting 
throughout the region?
    Secretary Blinken. Congressman, there are constant 
references to it. Not only references, efforts and actions 
taken to stop it, curb it, deal with it. But at the same time, 
we have a nuclear program that was in a box that is now 
escaping from the box.
    Each and every single one of those activities is going to 
be even worse if Iran has a nuclear weapon or has the ability 
to produce one on very short order. So none of--these things 
are not inconsistent. We are working to deal with the nuclear 
program and to combat Iran's other actions in these other 
areas. We're committed to doing both.
    Mr. Wilson. But----
    (Simultaneous speaking.)
    Mr. Wilson [continuing]. Thing. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Meeks. I now recognize Representative Ted Deutch 
of Florida, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle 
East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Deutch. Thank you, Chairman Meeks, for holding today's 
hearing. I appreciate the commitment that you and the Ranking 
Member have made to this committee's engagement with the 
Administration, and Secretary Blinken, thanks for rescheduling 
your appearance here so quickly and we appreciate your 
willingness to keep an open line of communication.
    I want to start just by acknowledging and thanking you and 
the Administration for the efforts on providing vaccines around 
the world. The commitment to distribute at least 80 million 
COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide by the end of this month is so 
important, and from Mexico to India, throughout Africa, Asia, 
the Americas, it's really critical that America leads here and 
you are, and we're grateful for that.
    I also want to thank you for the Administration's strong 
commitment to fighting the disturbing rise in global anti-
Semitism. Attacks are up 80 percent, and I know you're deeply 
and personally committed to combating anti-Semitism. I 
appreciate your statement today that the Department's going to 
move quickly to appoint a special envoy to monitor and combat 
anti-Semitism. We look forward to seeing that happen very soon.
    And I want to followup on your trip to the Middle East last 
week. Over the course of the 11-day conflict between Israel and 
Hamas, the Administration engaged in sustained quiet diplomacy, 
helping to facilitate the cease-fire agreement.
    You and the president repeatedly reaffirmed Israel's right 
to defend itself from a terrorist organization's rockets, and 
I'm deeply appreciative of the commitment the Administration 
has made to Israel's security, including the work that you're 
doing now as you committed again this morning to ensure the 
replenishment of Israel's life-saving Iron Dome missile defense 
system.
    So just to followup on Mr. Wilson's question, Hamas 
launched 4,500 rockets over 11 days, rockets that have long 
been supplied with support from Iran. At the same time, the 
Administration is deeply engaged in indirect negotiations with 
Iran over mutual reentry into the JCPOA.
    And as you and I have discussed previously, I support 
reentry into the JCPOA so long as it gets us to a stronger and 
longer deal, as you've committed, one that will ensure that 
Iran never gets a nuclear weapon and can lead to an 
international agreement with our P5+1 partners to limit the 
nonnuclear behavior of Iran, like its support for terror 
proxies, ballistic missile advancements.
    So while talks have been ongoing, we are hearing troubling 
reports from the IAEA about their ongoing access to Iranian 
nuclear sites, failure to explain uranium traces at three 
sites.
    We also have Americans still held hostage by Iran, and I 
will not miss an opportunity to raise the resolution of the 
case of my constituent, Bob Levinson. The Levinson family 
deserves closure from the Iranians.
    So your position thus far has been compliance for 
compliance, the continuation of non-JCPOA sanctions leading to 
a deal that, as you say, is longer and stronger. There are some 
who are arguing once you lift any sanctions you lose the 
possibility of ever getting to longer and stronger.
    I'd ask if you could help us understand the path from JCPOA 
reentry to a follow-on agreement, and at what point do we deal 
with the nonnuclear issues? When do those come into view and 
how do we address them?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. Thank you very much, and 
thank you also for raising Bob Levinson. We're determined to 
bring closure and resolution to that as well as to bring home 
any arbitrarily detained American or any American held hostage 
anywhere. This is a real focus, irrespective of anything else 
that we're doing.
    With regard to the JCPOA and any follow-ons, first of all, 
we're not--we're not even at the stage of returning to 
compliance for compliance. We do not know if that's actually 
going to happen.
    We have been engaged in indirect conversations, as you 
know, for the last couple of months and it remains unclear 
whether Iran is willing and prepared to do what it needs to do 
in compliance. So we're still testing that proposition.
    But to your point, what we what we do know, unfortunately, 
is that, meanwhile, its program is galloping forward. It has 
lifted restraints imposed on it by the agreement, including the 
amount of enriched material that it has, material that's now, 
in some cases, enriched up to 20 percent and even a small 
amount to 60 percent.
    It has started to deploy some more advanced centrifuges. 
The longer this goes on, the more their breakout time gets 
down. The agreement, it pushed it to a year or more. It's now 
down by published reports to a few months at best, and if this 
continues, it will get down to a matter of weeks, exactly what 
we have sought to avoid and what the agreement stopped.
    And so we have a real incentive, if we can, to at least put 
that back in the box and then, to your point, use it as a 
platform both to look at whether the agreement itself can be 
lengthened and, if necessary, strengthened. And also, to 
capture these other issues.
    We're going to be in a much better place with our allies, 
with our partners who've wanted to stick with the agreement for 
all this time, to do exactly that, to insist that Iran engage 
on these other issues, and there will be a united front to hold 
them to--hold them to account.
    We continue, as you know, even if--even with the agreement 
if we return to compliance to have all of these other tools, 
which we will very actively use to deal with the other problems 
presented by Iran.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    Secretary Blinken. But we are actively talking to our 
partners about exactly what----
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. The gentleman's 
time has expired.
    I now recognize Representative Darrell Issa of California 
for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Secretary, I guess the first question, as you know, in 
wartime we look to the military to look for peace, and in peace 
time we look for you to conduct many times things which are 
warlike.
    In the case right now of vaccine distribution, China has 
aggressively denied countries that recognize Taiwan vaccines. 
Will you commit to either directly or through our allies to 
provide what would otherwise be available to those countries 
from China an equal or greater amount as part of our diplomatic 
efforts?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you, Congressman. We are--with the 
distribution of the vaccines and anything that follows from 
that, based on need, based on--based on science, based on 
equity, based on a whole series of factors, we're going to make 
sure that those who need it get it and that would include 
Taiwan.
    Mr. Issa. No, no, I wasn't talking about Taiwan. I was 
talking about countries in Central America that recognize 
Taiwan.
    Secretary Blinken. I missed--I missed--I apologize. I 
missed your question. Yes. Yes.
    Mr. Issa. Yes. Right. And the question is the--you know, 
the equity, obviously, moves when China is denying them access 
to the drugs they----
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. Yes. Yes, absolutely, and I think 
in the first allotment, the 25 million, about 6 million or so 
are dedicated to our own hemisphere, including Central America.
    Mr. Issa. OK. And I guess the second question goes right 
back to vaccines again. As you know, the Administration has 
committed or at least proposed that they may invalidate or set 
aside patents and other materials by those country or those 
companies which have vaccines and are supplying them under U.S. 
patents.
    And I know that I'm not asking you to go against policy, 
but from a--from a practical standpoint, isn't one of your 
mandates to promote and defend our historic recognition of 
patents and trademarks and intellectual property?
    And from an equally practical standpoint, 6 months from 
now, essentially, will not the entire world have had an 
opportunity to receive from one or another source at least the 
current vaccine?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. Yes, protecting patents, 
protecting trademarks, protecting intellectual property is very 
much a part of our mission, our national mission and the State 
Department's mission.
    In this case, first of all, as you know, this would be a 
very lengthy process, but a very now issue-bound time-bound 
exception. That's what's being discussed.
    As we have looked at it, Congressman, I think the challenge 
we have is this. If we stayed on the current course before we 
were distributing the 80 million, before we're looking at 
increasing production around the world, not just in the United 
States, we're on track to have the world vaccinated or at least 
to have 75 or so percent of the world vaccinated not until 
2024. And even if we're fully vaccinated, as you know, that 
does not do it because variants start to perk up, spread and 
come back. Economies----
    Mr. Issa. Yes, and if I can--if I can quickly----
    Secretary Blinken. Please.
    Mr. Issa [continuing]. Focus the question, there were only 
a relatively small amount of laboratories and facilities around 
the world in maybe 15 or 20 countries that have the capability 
of producing safely and effectively these drugs and a fraction 
of those have the ability to develop them.
    From a practical standpoint, many of the countries that 
would see these invalidated do not currently and are not likely 
to have the ability to safely produce them. And, of course, the 
technology, if it became widely available, would give China and 
some of our other adversaries--Russia--access to technology 
that allows them to compete.
    Isn't there a way to encourage or facilitate those 
additional assets to be put online to maximize production 
without giving up intellectual property to, if you will, our 
current adversaries?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. Look, there may well be. We 
just want to make sure that we have every tool at our disposal 
to accelerate the production of and the access to vaccines.
    So we want to make sure everything's on the table. We'll 
have to make a determination of what is most effective, what is 
most efficient, and also does not have unintended consequences, 
or second or third order effects that would be problematic.
    Mr. Issa. Thank you. And in order to save time, I'll 
followup with a suggestion offline.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you. I yield back.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired.
    I now recognize Representative Karen Bass, who is the Chair 
of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human 
Rights, for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Bass. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and, certainly, 
thank you, Mr. Secretary, for coming back to our committee 
again, and I actually wanted to followup on my colleague, Mr. 
Issa.
    I, too, am concerned about intellectual property. But in 
this instance, I'm way more concerned about global health. And 
so I know that there are at least a couple of countries in 
Africa that are ready to manufacture and--vaccines, and so I 
wanted to know where we are in terms of that, exporting our 
technology to a manufacturer.
    And I think that's so important, not just because of COVID 
but because of future pandemics. How do we think about the 
world in terms of increasing the capacity and not just thinking 
about the profits that can--that could be made?
    So I wanted to ask you that. I have a couple of other 
questions, too, but maybe you could respond to that right now.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. And, in short, we need to do 
two things. Beyond the distribution of vaccines that we have 
access to, we need to increase production and that means both 
in the United States but also around the world.
    And I think we also need to increase production capacity in 
different parts of the world for precisely the reasons that you 
cite, whether it's for this pandemic or for anything coming 
down the road in the future.
    And it makes sense, certainly, on a regional basis, to 
have--to have countries that can be production hubs that's 
going in the future to facilitate getting vaccines out 
effectively and efficiently or other health products out 
effectively and efficiently.
    So we're looking, in short, at that and looking to see what 
can be done to either increase or develop as necessary 
production capacity in different parts of the world, including 
Africa.
    Ms. Bass. Now, I didn't see that in documents I looked in. 
Are there specific line items or categories of the budget that 
you are requesting to do just that? Is there any support that 
you need from us?
    Secretary Blinken. I think that there are a couple of 
things. In our own budget, we have asked for resources 
dedicated to helping countries, including in Africa, better 
develop the capacity to detect, prevent, mitigate the potential 
outbreak of pandemic. So that's one category and that's very 
important.
    When it comes to the production piece, I do not think--but 
let me--let me come back to you, if I can, on that. I do not 
think that's part of our----
    Ms. Bass. OK.
    Secretary Blinken [continuing]. Budget. But let me come 
back to you on it.
    Ms. Bass. OK, no problem. I noticed that you had several 
accounts that were decreased in Africa. Ethiopia, for example, 
is $34 million below. Kenya and Mali accounts are also 
decreased, too.
    For Ethiopia, I'm wondering is that directly related to the 
conflict? And then I do not--I do not know why that would be 
the case with Kenya and Mali, especially given the problems 
that Mali is currently facing.
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. With Ethiopia, we are more than 
deeply concerned about the situation in the country as a whole, 
but particularly right now in Tigray, and I think we need to 
look very carefully at the allocation of resources because, as 
you know better than I do, we not only have the horrific 
violence and the atrocities that have been committed, we now 
have a famine right on top of that.
    Ms. Bass. Right.
    Secretary Blinken. So I do want to go back and make sure 
that we have the appropriate resources dedicated to deal with 
that. In the first instance, though, we have to get 
humanitarian access.
    We have to get a cessation of hostilities so that people 
can do their jobs. We have to get an end to the intentional 
destruction of food sources, which is one of----
    Ms. Bass. So----
    Secretary Blinken [continuing]. Which is driving it. So I 
need to--I need to take a look and make sure that we are 
effectively resourced. And let me come back to you, in the 
interests of time, on the--on the other countries you 
reference.
    Ms. Bass. OK. So the other area I wanted to ask you about 
is the staffing of the State Department. No. 1, when you 
entered, are you facing a large number of vacancies? I'm asking 
you that specifically in regard to the diversity issue because 
oftentimes when diversity is mentioned, people feel like 
they're going to lose something.
    And so the commitment that I made to the Staff Association 
was that I would push for an expansion of mid-career positions. 
I want to know, do you need them? Did you encounter a large 
number of vacancies in general about the work force?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. Thank you. Yes, we have significant 
vacancies to fill and we also have to have new positions in 
order to deal with many of the challenges that have already 
been alluded to this morning where we are understaffed or under 
resourced.
    That's why we have asked for almost 500 new Foreign Service 
or civil service positions, including also, on top of that, 70 
for global health security----
    Ms. Bass. Are those career? Are any of those for career?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. Yes.
    Ms. Bass. OK. Great.
    Secretary Blinken. And USAID would have the 70 or so 
positions. But I'd actually love to come back to you on some of 
the specifics, because we do have gaps that we need to fill and 
we need Congress' help. We very much appreciate the support for 
that.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. Thank you for that. The 
gentlelady's time has expired.
    I now call on Representative Lee Zeldin of New York for 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Zeldin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Secretary, thank for being here. You recently announced 
sanctions on the former president of Albania, Sali Berisha, for 
many that seemingly came out of nowhere. As far as a history of 
U.S. political associations, he was a guest, an ally, of the 
Bushes. He was also known to be an aggressive opponent of 
George Soros.
    What specific information can you share with the committee 
at this time to justify this dramatic move?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. We continue to look across 
the board at those who are engaged in corrupt activities who 
are undermining human rights or pose a challenge to democracy 
or democratic principles.
    We had--in his case, the case developed through the--
through the normal process, including our lawyers, and I'd be 
happy--if it's helpful happy to share with you exactly what 
went into that.
    Mr. Zeldin. Yes. Is there any specific information that you 
can share with the committee at this time in this hearing?
    Secretary Blinken. I do not have anything to share right 
now for the committee, but I'd be happy to come and make sure 
that we share that with you and anyone else who's interested.
    Mr. Zeldin. I tried to do some research as to what type of 
new information involving his corruption and I couldn't find 
anything. So where should anybody go--a member of the media, 
let's say, wants to find out information, because there's some 
back and forth going on right now between the State Department, 
your decision on the sanctions against him and his family, as 
well as Mr. Berisha's defense. Where would a member of the 
media go to get information on what corruption you're referring 
to?
    Secretary Blinken. Sure. Two things. First, with regard to 
Members, before I get to the media, please come to our Office 
of Legislative Affairs and we'll make sure that you get the 
information.
    And second, with regard to the media, of course, please 
come to the office of the spokesperson and Public Affairs, and 
we'll make sure that, consistent with whatever other 
obligations or restrictions we have, we make information 
available.
    Mr. Zeldin. OK. But are you aware of anywhere that is open 
source info backing up this claim that there was some new 
allegations of corruption involving Mr. Berisha?
    Secretary Blinken. I think that certainly, anyone from the 
media can ask that question, for example, in the briefings that 
we do every single day at the State Department and get whatever 
information we have that's publicly available.
    Mr. Zeldin. Just to clear up one item of Mr. Berisha's 
defense, have you--I'm just trying to understand what's true 
and what's not true. Have you or anyone on your behalf had any 
communication with Mr. Soros and anyone on his behalf? Just 
trying to clarify what's true and what's not true.
    Secretary Blinken. I have not. I cannot speak to the entire 
State Department, but I have not.
    Mr. Zeldin. If--with regards to the COVID origin question 
that you were asked, what would the U.S. actually do of 
substance to pressure China to give access to the lab if China 
does not grant that access?
    Secretary Blinken. Congressman, what we have seen, 
unfortunately, more than unfortunately, from the PRC since the 
beginning of this crisis is a failure to meet its basic 
responsibilities in terms of sharing information, providing 
access, and doing that in real time with transparency.
    That was true at the start. It remains true, unfortunately, 
today, and I think what you're seeing is through the work 
that's being done, for example, at the WHO, the work that we're 
doing and the concerns expressed by countries around the world 
that there is a strong course insisting that China make good on 
its commitment--on its responsibilities to provide the 
information.
    I do not want to get into hypotheticals, going forward, in 
the future about what we would or would not do. But I think I 
can say with confidence that there is going to be an increasing 
international demand that countries, including China, meet 
their responsibilities when it comes to providing information, 
access, and transparency on global health, including COVID.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And there's 
just many in Congress who are skeptical of whether or not China 
is going to grant access to the labs and we're trying to 
understand what the next step is going to be if and when China 
says that lab access will not be granted.
    Also, clarify one other point. Does the Biden 
Administration recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan 
Heights?
    Secretary Blinken. With regard to that, as a practical 
matter Israel has a control of the Golan Heights irrespective 
of its--of its legal status, and that will have to remain 
unless and until things get to a point where Syria and 
everything operating out from Syria no longer poses a threat to 
Israel, and we are not anywhere near that.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you for that. The gentleman's time 
has expired.
    I now recognize Representative Bill Keating of 
Massachusetts, who is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Europe, Energy, and the Environment and Cyber, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. 
Secretary. Thank you for the State Department's work, 
particularly with trying to free Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed.
    My question, first question is this. Despite sanctions, we 
have seen an escalation of attacks--cyber attacks in our 
country, disrupting the food production chain, disrupting our 
energy chain, and I have great concerns about that expanding to 
healthcare institutions as well, among so many others.
    Despite these sanctions, they are escalating and they are 
becoming more of a concern. The president has moved 
domestically to try and shore up cooperation with the private 
side. We're advancing a bill here in our committee for the 
Cyber Diplomacy Act. What can we do to better coordinate and 
what suggestions do you have for dealing with this great 
threat?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. This is front and center in 
our focus, the cyber threat writ large and, of course, its most 
recent manifestations in terms of ransomware, which is deeply, 
deeply, deeply concerning.
    So on that, let me just speak to that very quickly. We are 
working whole of government to develop a counter ransomware 
strategy to better protect all of our networks and, of course, 
this requires working closely with the private sector, since 
many of these things are controlled by the private sector, to 
disrupt and destroy ransomware infrastructure and ecosystems, 
to find and bring to justice those responsible, to build an 
international coalition to hold countries who harbor those 
engaged in ransomware attacks accountable and, of course, much 
more international coordination with regard to the use of 
infrastructure, money laundering, et cetera, that is required 
for these attacks, as well as getting at some of the crypto 
currency challenges to find ways to stop transactions.
    So this is a whole of government effort and it is building 
out a comprehensive strategy. One of the things that President 
Biden will make clear to President Putin when he sees him is 
that States cannot be in the business of harboring those who 
are engaged in these kinds of attacks.
    Mr. Keating. I have legislation also in the CROOK Act, and 
I'm glad you mentioned President Putin because in Russia, as we 
know, this kind of nonactor activity would not go on without 
the knowledge or the tacit approval of Russia.
    So I look forward to those discussions.
    This Friday, Mr. Secretary, we're going to have the first 
hearing, to my knowledge, on the human rights issue dealing 
with the LGBTQI community. There's been progress in the Balkans 
in this respect. But in Russia, Poland, Turkey, and even 
Hungary, we have seen a greater concern for attacks on this 
civil rights issue.
    The U.S. has to be in a leadership role in this regard, I 
think, to make progress. What could you--what do you advocate 
in terms of moving forward on this important human rights 
issue?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes, I very, very much agree with you. 
We are deeply concerned by not just the ongoing challenges to 
LGBTQI rights but actual backsliding in a number of places, 
which is not, in some sense, surprising since we're seeing 
backsliding on democracy writ large.
    And this is very much a part of the State Department's 
portfolio and our work. We are engaging directly with countries 
where we're seeing either backsliding or the failure to uphold 
LGBTQI rights, and this is something that our Ambassadors are 
seized with, our diplomats are seized with, and I am seized 
with.
    And so whenever--and whether it's in the countries that you 
referenced or others, when we're seeing a problem we're putting 
a spotlight on it. We're engaging with these countries to make 
sure they understand that we are--we're looking at this very, 
very closely and carefully and we want to see progress.
    Mr. Keating. Thank you. It's great to hear that the State 
Department is going to take a leading role on this. It's an 
important priority. I'll have written questions on J-1 visas 
and other issues to come. But my time is waning quickly. So I 
want to thank you.
    And I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman yields back his 
time.
    I now recognize Representative Brian Mast of Florida for 
questions.
    Mr. Mast. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. 
Secretary, for being here. Appreciate the time.
    I just want to start with this question, Mr. Secretary, and 
that is this. Who is in charge of Gaza?
    Secretary Blinken. Who's in charge of Gaza? As a practical 
matter, probably more than anyone Hamas.
    Mr. Mast. I'm glad this is an acknowledgment that we can 
both agree on. Would you say that any Palestinian police forces 
did anything to try to disrupt the thousands of rockets that 
were fired into Israel?
    Secretary Blinken. I guess I would distinguish--well, first 
of all, it's not clear what capacity they had. In terms of any 
forces in Gaza, absolutely not. As you know, Palestinian police 
forces in the West Bank work in coordination with Israel to try 
to provide for security in the West Bank.
    There's been, I think, tremendous success with that over 
the years, and it's something that I know the Israelis value. 
But with regard to Gaza, no.
    Mr. Mast. Nothing in Gaza. The Palestinian National 
Security Forces, they have no--I mean that they have a 
jurisdiction that they couldn't function in that way over 
there.
    But as we talk about that and what's going on in Gaza and 
the thousands of rockets that were fired in May, those that 
were fired in April, those that were fired back in January, 
could you give any assurances that we're not going to be 
talking about rockets fired in July, August, September and 
throughout the year?
    Secretary Blinken. I think I got the import of the 
question, Congressman. I lost you a little bit there. But can I 
give assurances that this will not happen again in the future? 
No, I cannot. And in fact, I think that underscores the 
importance as well as the urgency in making sure that as we 
engage in addressing the deep humanitarian challenges in Gaza 
and rebuilding and reconstruction, we do it in a way that does 
not benefit Hamas and allow it to further rearm or put itself 
in a position to engage in further attacks.
    And it's also pretty hard to ask countries around the world 
to contribute to rebuilding and reconstruction if there is a 
real prospect that everything that is--that is rebuilt will 
wind up--wind up losing because Hamas decides to engage in 
further rocket attacks. I would hope that Palestinian people 
would see that Hamas has brought nothing but ruin and misery to 
them and----
    Mr. Mast. So let's start with that. Let's go there a 
minute, Mr. Secretary. I know--I appreciate your time and 
you're answering these questions. Hamas is in charge there. Why 
would you say Abbas is cancer?
    Let me ask it this way. Would you agree Abbas has canceled 
elections because in all likelihood Hamas would take the 
majority again, as they did previously back in 2006?
    Secretary Blinken. Mr. Abbas says that elections couldn't 
go forward because of the--because of the inability to vote in 
East Jerusalem. But I would certainly suspect that part of his 
calculation is concerned that Hamas would do--would do well in 
elections.
    Mr. Mast. So it's not just that Hamas is taking over by 
force. If Hamas would do well in the elections, then we're 
talking about the people fundamentally supporting Hamas, which 
makes it a false hope that the people would realize that 
they've been drastically hurt by Hamas and all of their--they 
would--in your speculation, as you've said, Hamas would 
probably win the majority of people voting for them.
    Secretary Blinken. Hamas--Hamas feeds very effectively on 
despair and the lack of hope, and so in the absence of that, 
some people will, unfortunately, tragically, horrifically turn 
to extremes, which I think only underscores the imperative 
including for Israel's security, that we find ways to 
effectively offer----
    Mr. Mast. It's not some people. It's the majority. It's the 
majority----
    Secretary Blinken. Not necessarily. Again, it depends how--
it depends how the--you know, the way the elections if there 
were elections go forward. Groups come together in coalitions.
    If the Palestinian Authority groups are divided, they may 
well represent a majority of the people but still not win an 
election or Abbas might do better. There are all sorts of 
different permutations. But the point is, and I think an 
important point----
    Mr. Mast. What's policy, though? I think we largely agree 
on this. We're, largely, agreeing that Hamas is in charge there 
and Hamas--Abbas certainly recognizes that Hamas may very well 
win a popular election, and we're going to give them hundreds 
of millions of dollars or invest hundreds of millions of 
dollars into their infrastructure.
    Secretary Blinken. In a way that does not benefit Hamas and 
in a way that benefits the----
    Mr. Mast. That's impossible. It's impossible to not benefit 
Hamas.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize Representative David Cicilline of Rhode 
Island for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being back before the 
committee and for your extraordinary work. In the 3-months 
since you last appeared before this committee, the United 
States has confronted an array of challenges including the 
COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the developing world, 
climate change, the conspicuous rise of authoritarianism and 
the renewed crisis in Gaza.
    It's clear that the United States needs to robustly fund 
the Department of State and the Agency for International 
Development and all of the related foreign affairs programs so 
that we can address the challenges of the 21st century head on.
    And so my first question, really, is as we seek to reenter 
or reengage with the world and recenter our foreign policy of 
focusing on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law as 
pillars of United States foreign policy, we need to ensure that 
our diplomats have all the tools that they need to do this 
work.
    And Representative Bera and myself along with Senator 
Murphy and Senator Van Hollen have been leading on this 
proposal, Investing in the 21st Century diplomacy, a plan that 
would call for an increase of $12 billion for State and USAID.
    So the challenges are daunting and you are providing 
extraordinary leadership. But my question really is, are there 
enough resources there and what can we do to further support 
your work?
    Because I think we all recognize that additional funding 
for key departments and agencies and programs are going to 
really be necessary to give our country the best chances of 
leading successfully.
    Secretary Blinken. Congressman, I deeply appreciate that 
and deeply appreciate Congress' support for the resources that 
we need to effectively represent the United States and advance 
our interests around the world.
    I think the budget requests that we're making answers the 
needs that we have, the gaps that need to be filled, both in 
terms of programs and also in terms of personnel.
    And there are, as you know, a whole host of areas where we 
have to make sure that the State Department, USAID, the other 
agencies of our foreign policy, have not just the programmatic 
resources, which are vitally important, but the human resources 
necessary to do the work, and there are a number of areas where 
we have to buildup even more our skill set.
    I'm thinking particularly of global health, of technology 
and emerging technologies, climate and the environment, and, of 
course, China, the one country that poses economically, 
militarily, politically, diplomatically, the biggest challenge 
the United States.
    So the budget requests tries to, among other things, fill 
some of those gaps and make sure that we're resourced 
appropriately.
    Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I just want to get 
one more question in. I know human rights remain a priority for 
the Administration in a time when we have seen a real decline 
globally in human rights.
    The LGBTQI community particularly has faced increased 
hostility from governments that seek to scapegoat LGBTQ people 
to shore up their political base or deflect from their failed 
leadership.
    And while you've increased the number of things you've 
referenced--global climate change and gender equality and U.S. 
leadership in international organizations--funding for LGBTQ 
accounts have remained flat, and I just wonder how the 
Administration is going to meet this challenge--Congressman 
Keating mentioned it as well--of expanding the rights and 
protections for global LGBTQI populations with flat funding 
when the problem is really increasing dramatically all around 
the world, and kind of how you expect to meet that challenge 
with that flat funding.
    Secretary Blinken. I think it starts with making it clear, 
as we have, that this is an important component of our--of our 
foreign policy and our diplomacy--that is, defending and 
protecting rights of LGBTQI persons.
    And that's why, as I was discussing a little bit earlier 
with our colleague, from our embassies to right here at main 
State, in our engagements, in our conversations with 
counterparts around the world and in countries in particular 
where we have seen a failure to protect those rights or even 
backsliding on those rights, this is very much in--part of what 
we're talking to them about engaging with them on. So that--it 
starts there.
    We will have an envoy to put full time focus on this work. 
That is vitally important, and that person and the team that 
the person has will be engaged with all of our different 
offices and all of our different bureaus to make sure that they 
are, in their own work, keeping a spotlight and keeping 
engagement on these issues.
    So I think that based on the direction from me and from the 
president this is something that we have the ability and the 
commitment to focus on.
    Mr. Cicilline. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for that 
assurance. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
    I now recognize Representative Ann Wagner of Missouri, who 
is the Vice Ranking Member of the full committee, for 5 
minutes.
    Mrs. Wagner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for organizing the 
important meeting here today and hearing, and I want to thank 
you, Secretary Blinken, for your time.
    Mr. Secretary, just yesterday you committed to holding 
China accountable for COVID-19's origins. I strongly agree. We 
all do. But talk is often cheap, and we all want to see action, 
a full investigation led by the United States of America.
    As we continue to combat the coronavirus pandemic, we must 
be united in ensuring that the People's Republic of China 
cannot use this time of uncertainty to further undermine global 
prosperity, stability, and the rule of law.
    We should have acknowledged that right from the outset of 
this devastating crisis. The Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, 
suppressed, they misrepresented, and they falsified information 
necessary to prevent a pandemic, and holding the CCP 
accountable is the only way to deter the release of another 
deadly virus on the global community in the future to ensure 
that the Communist Party stops violating international law and 
provide compensation to millions of Americans who suffered 
tragic unthinkable losses over the course of this pandemic.
    That's why I introduced the Compensation for Americans Act 
in the 116th Congress, which will establish a compensation fund 
for those affected and allow the president to freeze Chinese 
assets to bring the Communist Party to this negotiating table, 
which has been used in the past, and it also gives the United 
States a comprehensive toolbox of punitive measures to further 
incentivize China's cooperation. I will again be introducing 
this legislation in the 117th Congress, and I hope my 
colleagues will support my efforts to ensure that the United 
States leads the way in holding the CCP accountable.
    Secretary Blinken, the World Health Organization's abject 
failure to combat China's coronavirus--related misinformation 
campaign in the early days of the pandemic cost the 
international community precious time it needed to avert a 
crisis.
    The WHO remains a deeply flawed institution and is highly 
susceptible, as you know, to China's malign influence. The 
president's budget request includes an additional $124 million 
for the WHO.
    I want to ask you, sir, is this funding contingent on the 
implementation of stringent reforms that will prevent 
totalitarian States like China from co-opting global health 
policy to serve their interests? If not, what leverages does 
the United States have to secure these badly needed reforms?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you very much. I very much agree 
with you that the WHO is in need of reform and that's precisely 
why the president reengaged the United States. It's very hard 
to be a strong advocate and successful advocate for reform when 
not only are you not at the table, you're not even in the room, 
and in your absence, who is at the table and in the room? Well, 
China, among others.
    So the very first step that was important to be taken was 
to reengage the United States, and that puts us in a much 
better position and stronger position to advance the kind of 
reforms that you're talking about and that we agree on. That 
needs to happen and that's what we're focused on.
    We also need to make sure that the WHO is appropriately 
resourced in order to carry out the important work with 
stronger tools and stronger commitments to prevent, detect, 
mitigate the next pandemic and that requires, among other 
things, not just that the WHO will have these tools and that 
commitment, but that countries including China live up to their 
responsibilities, which is what we're going to be focused on.
    Mrs. Wagner. Mr. Secretary--Mr. Secretary, whatever we can 
do to leverage the U.S. to secure these badly needed reforms 
must be done and must be done urgently.
    The United Nations Population Fund, or the UNFPA, was 
complicit in the tragic and highly coercive implementation of 
China's one child policy, which relied on the use of forced 
sterilizations and abortions as forms of population control.
    China is now restoring or resorting to similar tactics in 
its horrifying persecution of the Uighur Muslims.
    Secretary Blinken, the Biden Administration is restoring us 
funding for the UNFPA. How can the United States justify 
sending taxpayer funds to an organization that looks the other 
way as China implements genocidal family planning programs.
    And I know my time is short here. If you'd like to respond 
briefly or in writing, sir.
    Secretary Blinken. We conducted a very full review to make 
sure that any funding provided to the Population Fund would not 
be used in these ways and we're confident that's the case that 
they have not--the U.N.--this program is not engaged in 
coercive abortions or other coercive measures. On the contrary, 
it seems that it has--its influence has helped move China in 
the other direction.
    Mrs. Wagner. I yield back. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize Representative Ami Bera, Chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and 
Nonproliferation, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Bera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And, Mr. Secretary, I'll reiterate our gratitude for your 
availability both to the subcommittee, but I also want to 
recognize the men and women that work for you and how available 
they've been both to myself as well as to my subcommittee.
    I also want to recognize the Chairman for his focus on the 
region and the complexity in the region.
    Mr. Secretary, as we work on the budget process, I do want 
to make sure as we shift resources to the region, we also make 
sure the budget reflects that both in the East Asia and South 
and Central Asia bureaus.
    I also want to associate myself with the Ranking Member, 
Mr. McCaul's, comments on addressing Afghanistan, the folks--
the men and women--that supported our effort and mission there.
    And, again, I know you and I have spoken about the Special 
Immigration Visa as well as the urgency of protecting these men 
and women.
    So you'll find strong bipartisan support both in the 
committee as well as in Congress to get the resources necessary 
to honor our commitments.
    I'm going to actually shift to a topic that hasn't come up. 
As someone who supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership, I'm not 
asking the Administration to reengage in that, although 
obviously, we'd like that.
    It was a tool not just of movement of goods and services 
but also a geopolitical tool of strategy in setting the rules 
and norms.
    I actually think you would find some support in Congress. 
Again, maybe it's not CPTPP but if we focused in on digital 
trade or something like that. I talk to our like-minded allies 
in the region, our friends in Singapore or New Zealand, 
Australia, Japan, there really is a hunger for a reengagement 
of the U.S., again, in setting the norms and the rules of 
movement of goods and services and on issues like data privacy, 
data localization.
    I actually think you would find strong bipartisan support. 
I would just point to the strong support that USMCA had with 
over 193 Democrats and 192 Republicans voting in favor of 
moving that deal forward on the House side.
    So I'd be curious, again I think there is strong bipartisan 
support for something in digital trade. I think it's urgent to 
protect our privacy but also to set those norms and rules and 
not let China set those norms and rules. So I'd be curious to 
your thoughts.
    Secretary Blinken. Yes, thank you. I very much agree with 
the basic proposition. We need to be in the--in the business of 
helping to set these norms and rules, particularly when it 
comes to technology. That is something that we're engaged in a 
number of conversations on right now.
    I also want to defer to my colleagues at USTR and other--
Commerce, other places, that are very much focused on this. But 
I agree with the basic point, and I think you'll see the United 
States both engaged and leading in those areas.
    Mr. Bera. Great. And again, I think you'll find a 
bipartisan coalition as a member of the Digital Trade Caucus, 
which is bipartisan, and a leader in that New Democrat 
Coalition, 96 of us in the Democratic Caucus. I think you will 
find strong partnership.
    Let me shift to an area and region we do not talk as much 
as I think we should, the freely associated States Micronesia, 
Palau, others. We are seeing a lot of Chinese incursion into 
this area that we have obviously had compacts with and a strong 
partnership between the United States and the freely associated 
States.
    I am very worried about the Chinese influence in this 
region and, again, want to express to those countries the 
strong partnership and importance of the U.S. relationship. I'd 
be curious how State Department is thinking about this region 
and approaching it.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. Yes, I agree with that as 
well. I had the opportunity to speak to a gathering of those 
very States just a few weeks ago, virtually.
    And in addition, when it comes to the vaccine programs, 
they are also part of the vaccines that we're--that we're 
pushing out. And we are looking across the board at places 
where China is engaged economically, diplomatically, 
politically, militarily, to include--to include those States.
    Mr. Bera. And last, in my last 15 seconds as I look at 
Myanmar and what's happening in Burma I think there's a strong 
commitment from the committee and the subcommittee to support 
the people of Burma. This may be a long-term proposition, and 
we look forward to working with the Administration and 
supporting the people of Burma.
    Secretary Blinken. Appreciate that. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired.
    I now recognize Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, the 
Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Europe, Energy and the 
Environment and Cyber, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Fitzpatrick. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Mr. Secretary, good to see you again, sir.
    Mr. Secretary, when representatives of the Chinese 
government came to our country in Alaska and disrespected you, 
they disrespected all of us, and I just wanted you to know, 
sir, you stand strong against China, we will stand strongly 
behind you, and this will be something that will unite our 
country.
    So I wanted you to know that you will have Republicans and 
Democrats strongly supporting you and we know you're going to 
stand strong against China and their abuses.
    Sir, if you look back at the three coronavirus--based 
pandemics that we faced this century, 2002 SARS1, roughly, 700 
people died. The host source bat was found within 4 months.
    Fast forward to 2012, MERS. Roughly, 800 people died. We 
found the host source bat within eight to 9 months.
    Fast forward to 2020. COVID-19, 3.5 million lives lost. No 
indication that we will ever find the source, and I suspect 
what we will ultimately discover, and we're going to have to do 
it on our own through circumstantial evidence because we're not 
going to gain access to anything in China, is that 75 percent 
of that virus will have been natural, 25 percent will have been 
genetically modified.
    And I'm not going to ask you to answer a hypothetical, 
sir--I do not like answering them myself--other than to say, I 
hope to God that there is significant consequences to China 
should anything come out, and we will stand behind you in a 
bipartisan fashion. It will unify our country.
    Because could you imagine if a virus leaked out from the 
United States that killed 3.5 million people, cost $30 trillion 
of lost economic growth worldwide, permanent psychological and 
emotional damage to our kids? There would be protests in every 
street across the planet.
    I wanted to shift, sir, though to Nord Stream 2 and give 
you an opportunity to address that. Our Eastern European 
friends--Ukraine, Poland, the Baltics, Czech Republic--they are 
very concerned about this, sir, about the message it sends 
where we are opening--doing what America has done, which is 
essentially lift sanctions and open up Nord Stream 2, allowing 
Russia to not only transport gas, bypassing that whole region, 
directly to Germany but, basically, funneling corruption to 
them as well and really risking our allies in the East.
    It's hurt relations with Germany and the United States with 
these allies. I wanted to give you an opportunity to respond 
and help us understand that.
    Secretary Blinken. Great. Thank you. And let me just, 
first, say how much I appreciate your comments about China and 
I look forward to working with you on that.
    With regard to Nord Stream 2, as you know, construction 
started in 2018. By the time we took office, the pipeline was 
over 90 percent physically completed. A couple of weeks ago on 
May 19th, we actually sanctioned more entities, 13 ships, four 
companies, that had ever been sanctioned under PISA.
    What we also did, though, as you know, under the law was 
issue a national interest waiver with regard to Nord Stream 2 
AG and its CEO. That waiver can be rescinded.
    There's a reason that we did that. As a practical matter, 
the physical completion of the pipeline was, I think, a fait 
accompli, and irrespective of sanctioning that entity and its 
CEO, that would not, in our judgment, have changed anything in 
terms of the physical completion.
    So the worst of all worlds is a pipeline that's completed, 
which we continue to believe is a fundamentally bad idea, a 
poisoned well with one of our closest partners, Germany, which, 
whether we like it or not, has invested a tremendous amount in 
this, wrongly, I think, but they did it. They had a lot of sunk 
costs.
    They were determined to see its completion. So pipeline 
complete, poisoned well with Germany, and no incentives for 
Germany to actually work with us to mitigate and correct some 
of the damage that this is likely to do.
    Now Germany has come to the table and we are actively 
engaged with them to look at what can and should and, I 
believe, must be done to do some of the things that you've 
alluded to.
    Make sure that the transit fees that Ukraine at some point 
in the future may lose as a result of this pipeline being able 
to go around Ukraine, that they--that they are made hold, that 
the ability of Russia to use gas as a coercive tool or weapon 
against Ukraine or anyone else is eliminated and there are ways 
to do that, and that we have agreements in place up front to 
come back on any activities by Russia that are challenging the 
security of any of these countries that we will take action 
against them.
    So I think we have an opportunity to make something 
positive out of a bad hand that we inherited when we took 
office.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired.
    I now recognize Representative Joaquin Castro, the Chairman 
of the Subcommittee on International Development, International 
Organizations and Global Social Impact, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Castro. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you, Secretary 
Blinken, for joining us again.
    Secretary Blinken, over the past several months, the 
situation in Colombia has seriously deteriorated and I'm very 
concerned about the reports of police violence and brutal 
crackdowns on protesters by the Duque government.
    As you know, the United States provides a significant 
amount of security assistance to Colombia, and I want to ask my 
question in a historical context, that, for some reason in 
Latin America, the United States has always found it easy to 
press and challenge and sanction left-wing leaders, but for 
some reason has given the kid glove treatment to right-wing 
leaders over the years.
    So I want to ask you, will you consider using our security 
assistance to Colombia as leverage to stop these human rights 
violations?
    Secretary Blinken. When it comes to human rights 
violations, democratic backsliding, other concerns we have, we 
make no distinction between left, right, and center. Doesn't 
matter, and we are going to address the situation as we--as we 
see it and do what we can to help correct it.
    When it comes to Colombia, as you know, Colombia has been, 
remains a vital partner for the United States. We invested a 
tremendous amount both diplomatically and in terms of resources 
way back in dealing with narcotics.
    That continues, and then helping to bring peace, including 
the historic agreement in 2016 with the FARC, and we continue 
to be invested in trying to make sure that we help Colombia 
implement that agreement in a meaningful way.
    And when it comes to the protests, we have been very 
concerned about the use of excessive force by the police, other 
concerns about human rights abuses that have been raised, and 
we have called upon the government and, in fact, I met with the 
foreign minister just about a week ago to make sure that the 
police respect peaceful protest and also that the government 
investigate and hold accountable any of those engaged in the 
use of excessive force.
    At the same time, what we have seen is the government 
working to bring together all of the stakeholders in a dialog 
to try to both understand and then, hopefully, act on the very 
legitimate concerns and grievances that many of the protesters 
have brought to the fore, and that process is ongoing and we 
support it.
    Mr. Castro. Well, thank you very much for those actions 
and, of course, our committee will be monitoring the situation 
closely in Colombia.
    I want to ask you about separated families. A few weeks 
ago, I sent a letter to you and the other co-Chairs of a 
reunification task force asking you to support my legislation 
with Senator Blumenthal, the Families Belong Together Act, to 
ensure these families are given permanent status in the United 
States.
    After my conversations with executive director Michelle 
Brane, my understanding was that the task force will be looking 
at different policy recommendations to support these families, 
and your department told my staff that these families are being 
reunited under parole authority, which, as you know, is not a 
long-term fix.
    Will you commit to working with me in Congress to find a 
permanent solution for these families, such as through the 
Families Belong Together Act?
    And just for the committee, these were the kids that were 
separated from their parents, their mothers, oftentimes, 
without any way to track them.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. Thank you for putting a 
spotlight on that. Thank you for your engagement on it. And we 
want to find the most effective and most humane ways to make 
sure that families come together and are reunited.
    So we'll look at whatever tools we have consistent with 
our--consistent with the law, consistent with our obligations, 
consistent with, of course, maintaining a secure border, to do 
that.
    And whether it is through the asylum program, whether it's 
through parole, whether it's through the refugee program, 
whether it's through various legal pathways, we'll look at--
we'll, certainly, look at everything and work with you on that.
    As you know, the responsibilities and equities of other 
departments are front and center on this to include, obviously, 
DHS, HHS. We're working closely with them. But I also invite 
you to engage directly with them.
    Mr. Castro. No, absolutely, and we certainly have and I 
appreciate that, and would just ask that in the end that all 
the departments of the Administration work together on a long-
term solution as we intend to try to do in Congress.
    And then in my last few seconds--I do not have enough time 
for full question--but I just wanted to bring to your attention 
we sent a letter on May--some of us sent a letter on May 26th 
on diversity again at the State Department, and we just ask for 
your review of it as we'd like to get a response back.
    Thank you again, Secretary, for being here again in such a 
short time. Thank you.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired.
    I now recognize Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee 
for 5 minutes.
    We cannot hear you, Representative Burchett.
    Mr. Burchett. Ah, there we go. I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. I'm 
sorry you missed that. I said some really nice things about 
you.
    [Laughter.]
    Mr. Burchett. I want to yield some time, if I could, a 
minute to Representative Maria Salazar from Florida before I 
get up to speak, Mr. Chairman, if that would be appropriate.
    Chairman Meeks. That is appropriate. The gentleman yields.
    Ms. Salazar. Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you, Chairman, 
and Secretary Blinken, thank you for your time and for being 
here with us.
    I am Maria Salazar from District No. 27 and we have a 
deeply problem situation in Nicaragua. I commend you for caring 
about this topic, and I serve hundreds of thousands of 
Nicaraguans exile community in my district.
    In Costa Rica, as you know, a few days ago you met with 
Nicaraguan--you met with Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis 
Moncada and reinforced the importance of free and fair 
elections this coming November.
    I am disgusted, and I am sure you are too, by Daniel 
Ortega's response to your good advice. Immediately after your 
conversation, the Ortega regime arrested two Presidential 
candidates, Christiana Chamorro and Arturo Cruz.
    At this hour, Cruz is in a military jail and Cristiana is 
under house arrest. Daniel Ortega is following Fidel and 
Chavez's textbook on how to rig a Presidential election, and as 
you know, sir, Nicaragua is part of the free trade agreement 
with this country with the United States, known as the CAFTA-
DR.
    So I have one question for you, Mr. Secretary. Should this 
country, the United States, a free country, the beacon of hope 
and human rights, have a free trade agreement with dictators in 
this hemisphere who rig elections and jail his political 
opponents? I would like your answer, Mr. Secretary.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. First of all, I very much 
share all the concerns that you've expressed and call, as you 
do, for the immediate release of Ms. Chamorro and her 
colleagues. And that was outrageous, not--maybe not surprising, 
but certainly outrageous.
    Second, we're going to look at all the tools that we have, 
economic and otherwise, to try to move Nicaragua on a better 
path. Unfortunately, to your point, it's moving in exactly the 
opposite direction.
    Ms. Salazar. And I--yes, thank you very much for that 
answer and I certainly would love to followup with this 
discussion with you and the U.S. Trade Representative Katherine 
Tai in order to discuss this topic even more. I think Ortega 
only understands when the United States speaks loud and clear, 
and I thank you very much for caring.
    I commend you and I continue helping you in this. This is a 
bipartisan issue. This has nothing to do with parties, and 
we're here to help you. Thank you very much.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. I appreciate that.
    Ms. Salazar. And now I want to yield back to the gentleman 
from Tennessee, and I thank you very much for your time.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman reclaims his time.
    Mr. Burchett. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, sir, 
for being on here with us.
    In a speech, President Xi recently told his subordinates to 
focus on a trustworthy, lovable--which is kind of laughable--
and respectable image for China. Does this mark the end of the 
Chinese Communist Party's wolf warrior diplomacy and why this 
sudden change in tactics?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. I cannot--I cannot speak for 
President Xi or what he may have in mind. But here's one 
possibility. It may well be that China has concluded that soft 
power is pretty important, too, and the way it is engaging 
around the world is alienating more people than it is 
attracting. So this may be a manifestation of that recognition.
    Having said that, I do not want to draw any--you know, any 
clear conclusions from that. I cannot get inside their thinking 
on this.
    Mr. Burchett. OK. When Secretary Kerry was here with us a 
few weeks ago, I asked him why his office even existed, given 
the fact that the State Department already has an entire bureau 
devoted to oceans and international environment and scientific 
affairs.
    He admitted that it was a fair question, and last month, I 
also sent you a letter regarding Secretary Kerry's role in the 
Administration. It seems it's very duplicitous. It's in several 
other departments doing the exact same thing, and I've yet to 
hear back from y'all.
    And so what I was wondering what the necessity is of the 
Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate has.
    Secretary Blinken. No, appreciate the question and, just 
quickly, let me say a couple of things. We have been disengaged 
from international climate efforts for some time, and yet we're 
at a critical time and a critical year heading to the COP 26 
meeting at the end of the year.
    And it was very important in the--in the view of president 
to make sure that the United States was not only reengaged but 
leading in the effort, not only to do what we need to do here 
at home but to make sure that other countries were meeting 
their own responsibilities.
    And that requires intensive diplomacy and day in day out 
sustained engagement at a very senior level, and that's exactly 
what Secretary Kerry offers.
    He's been able to, in the short space of time that he's 
been there and that we have been in office, to move other 
countries to raise their ambitions when it comes to what 
they're going to do to curb emissions.
    So we're not the only ones doing the hard work. So that's 
good for us and it's good for the world. We have had many 
situations in the past at the department where a particular 
issue has demanded concentrated, sustained, high-level focus.
    We had that when we did the Coalition to Counter ISIS, and 
we had Special Envoys John Allen and then Brett McGurk working 
on that. We had that before for Afghanistan and Pakistan when 
Mr. Holbrooke did the same thing. And I can go back in time, 
but there are times and places including on climate where 
having that is vitally important.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired.
    Mr. Burchett. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Hey, I was wondering, Mr. Chairman, if when you introduce 
me I'm the only who does not have a title. If you could just 
say something like he's an all-around good guy and one of your 
favorites. It would help my very fragile ego to sustain a 
little longer. So thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. We'll work on it.
    Mr. Burchett. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Meeks. I now recognize Representative Dina Titus 
of Nevada for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that. I 
think I'm an all-around good guy, too. So keep that in mind.
    [Laughter.]
    Ms. Titus. Nice to see you, Mr. Secretary. I wonder if you 
could comment just a little bit about the elections yesterday 
in Peru and Mexico and how they may change the State Department 
priorities or need for resources.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. Look, too soon to tell, 
especially when it comes to Peru. We do not have a--we do not 
have a result. It looks like it's too close to--too close to 
call, and so we need to see what government emerges and what 
positions they take and how we engage.
    But I'm determined that one way or another, we engage Peru 
effectively. It's an important country that we need to find 
ways to work with. But let's see what happens.
    With Mexico, I think we are more interconnected, 
intertwined with Mexico than--maybe other than Canada--with any 
other country in the world for obvious reasons and the 
relationship is usually important to people on both sides of 
the border day in, day out, whether it is on economic matters, 
whether it's on migration, whether it's on security, whether 
it's on real opportunity.
    So we're building and trying to strengthen even further a 
comprehensive relationship and partnership with Mexico that 
will be there irrespective of which--you know, which government 
is in office.
    I'm working very closely with my counterpart, the foreign 
minister. The president has engaged repeatedly with President 
Lopez Obrador and will continue to do that, because this is too 
important to the lives of our fellow citizens.
    Ms. Titus. Thank you. It will be interesting to see the 
results. You're right.
    Another question I have is during the Obama Administration, 
the State Department's International Disability Team was very 
active and engaged, and, of course, like so much of those good 
programs or many of them, they were lost over the last 4 years.
    I just wonder if you have resources or if the president's 
budget proposal includes the necessary resources to get them 
reactivated so that we can be a leader again, dealing with 
individuals with disabilities, be sure they have access to our 
facilities abroad, and if there's a plan to develop any kind of 
outreach?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes, thank you very much for raising 
that. I'm determined that we do that both in terms of our own 
missions in the State Department itself and then, of course, 
with regard to disability rights around the world.
    We are going to have a person who is responsible for that 
full time at a senior level and that should be, I think, coming 
forward fairly soon. And I'm going to make sure that we are 
focused on that both in terms of what we're doing within the 
department itself, including building a diverse work force, but 
also making sure that we are engaged in standing up for those 
rights around the world.
    Ms. Titus. That's wonderful, and I know that community will 
be very glad to hear you say that.
    Just briefly, before I leave, could you talk about what the 
State Department's doing to encourage international travel? 
That is such an important part of Nevada's economy and the 
whole country, both our folks going abroad and people from 
other countries coming here.
    Secretary Blinken. Yes, we've--needless to say, we are very 
eager to do that, especially as we, hopefully, are moving 
beyond or starting to move beyond COVID.
    That just underscores the fundamental importance of 
actually moving beyond COVID, what we're doing on getting 
vaccines out there, working to boost production, trying to end 
this much earlier than it otherwise would if we left things as 
they were, and I believe we can do that.
    At the same time, we want to make sure that the department 
has the resources it needs to facilitate and enable travel 
whether it's for tourism, for business, for students.
    We know how much that brings to our own economy. We know 
how much that does, actually, for our diplomacy, because people 
traveling back and forth are the best Ambassadors that we have.
    Our consular services have taken a huge hit. As you know, 
it's a money--it's been a moneymaker for the State Department, 
but with COVID, of course, and travel going to a near 
standstill, we have not been issuing visas except in essential 
circumstances and doing that work. The fees that come in have 
not been there.
    So the budget tries to make sure that we're making consular 
services whole so that they can get back to the business of 
doing what they do so well, which is to look out for Americans 
abroad and to facilitate travel to and from the United States.
    Ms. Titus. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. I yield 
back.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentlelady yields back.
    I now recognize Representative Mark Green of Tennessee, 
who's the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Western 
Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration, and International 
Economic Policy, for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Green. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank you 
and the Ranking Member in holding the committee today and, of 
course, Mr. Secretary, thank you for testifying. Thanks for 
giving us three and a half hours.
    Before I start, I'd like to remind all the Members of the 
committee about Journal Club. The first meeting of the 
bipartisan Journal Club on Foreign Affairs led by myself and my 
colleague across the aisle, Dean Phillips, will be on the 16th 
at 5:15 p.m.
    Of course, the goal is to go beyond sort of the 5-minutes 
we get to have in committee and dig deep into a dialog across 
the aisle about key issues, and we'll just take two Journal 
articles that are published and you'll get those.
    In fact, all the details will be to your schedulers by COB 
tomorrow. And if you could and if you're coming, let us know 
and then read the articles before we get there.
    Now for my comments. As Congress considers the State 
Department's appropriations, we have to prioritize a lot of 
things.
    But I'd like to mention three that are really important to 
my constituents: countering Communist China, reinforcing our 
ally, Israel, and of course, strengthening alliances in the 
Western Hemisphere.
    First, countering the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP is 
the greatest threat facing the world. I believe that, and I'll 
use sort of a dime paradigm--what I call the dime paradigm to 
describe that diplomatic, informational, military, and 
economic.
    Diplomatically, China has deployed the Belt and Road 
Initiative to drive a wedge between the United States and 
developing nations and our allies. They've perfected the art of 
debt trap diplomacy, taking advantage of struggling countries 
to bend them to their will.
    Informationally, you look no further than COVID-19. Rather 
than alerting the world about the coronavirus outbreak, the CCP 
focused on silencing their own doctors, scientists, and 
journalists who tried to warn us.
    Additionally, the CCP cyber attacks on U.S. military 
personnel information, the F-35, submarine bases, are well 
known, and China has deployed Western technology to supply on 
and oppress the Uighurs and have even conducted genocide 
against them.
    Militarily, China has been deploying its forces and 
building islands in the South China Sea in violation of 
international court judgments. Just a few weeks ago, the 
Chinese People's Liberation Army and Navy opened its first 
overseas base in the Horn of Africa, and lately, we have seen 
alarming trends in the Chinese State-backed entities looking to 
gobble up American companies critical to our national security.
    Economically, China continues to steal intellectual 
property from Western nations, especially the U.S. Huawei's 
theft of Motorola technology, which led to the company's 
demise, the loss of thousands of U.S. jobs, and billions from 
the U.S. GDP.
    It's a case study in their predatory behavior. The U.S. 
Trade Representative has estimated that China's IP theft has 
cost our GDP between $200 and $600 billion annually, and of 
course, China continues to practice currency manipulation and 
unfair trade behavior.
    The second priority must be--that must be reflected in the 
budget is supporting Israel, our greatest--one of our greatest 
allies. From my experience fighting the war on terror, I know 
that the Middle East is fraught with instability, insecurity, 
and lots of uncertainty.
    While we have other solid allies in the Middle East, by far 
the Nation that aligns with our values the most is Israel. It's 
a thriving democracy that respects human rights and shares our 
Western values.
    Unfortunately, Israel has once again come under threat. 
Just last month, Hamas militants reportedly fired over 4,000 
rockets deep into Israeli territory. Given the importance of 
Israel to regional security, we have to ensure that the State 
Department's budget enhances our diplomatic and security 
partnership.
    Last, strengthening the Western Hemisphere. As Ranking 
Member of the Western Hemisphere, working side by side with 
Chairman Sires, it's our job to advocate for strong 
relationships with Latin America and Caribbean countries. It's 
a region of significant opportunity that's too often 
overlooked.
    There are weak economies there, areas of human rights 
violations. Corruption and violence have increased, and the 
dangerous surge of illegal migration on our southern border is 
due to push factors in those countries. Over the last few 
decades, many manufacturing jobs have left Latin America and 
gone to Communist China.
    According to the Inter-American Development Bank, up to $80 
billion in annual imports from China to the United States could 
be replaced by Latin American exports, and that's why I'm 
drafting near-shoring legislation, to bring those jobs back, 
working with leaderships of the IDB and DFC.
    And, Mr. Secretary, I'd like to let you know that Mr. 
Zuniga has been very cooperative and we have plans for 
breakfast soon.
    In addition to advancing economic opportunities, we must 
stand up to oppressive socialist regime regimes in Cuba, 
Venezuela, and the increasingly authoritarian government in 
Nicaragua. Human rights are universal and America must support 
freedom and democracy in the region.
    Finally, we must work with our allies to combat corruption, 
disrupt drug and human trafficking networks, and reduce illegal 
migration.
    Mr. Secretary, just one real quick question. No one's asked 
you, that I've heard about----
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman is out of time. The gentleman 
is out of time.
    Mr. Green. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. I now recognize Representative Susan Wild 
of Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Wild. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. And 
welcome, Mr. Secretary. So proud and happy to have you here 
with our committee, and I've been listening to your testimony 
with great interest.
    I want to ask you first, Mr. Secretary, in the year 2020, 
China, for the first time, surpassed the United States as the 
European Union's greatest or largest trading partner. And at 
the same time, the U.S.'s overall trade deficit in 2020 reached 
its highest point in 12 years.
    So I'd like you to address, if you would, from the State 
Department's perspective the priority for restoring our role 
with the EU and others in terms of being trading partners and 
the importance of it for our economic and national security.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. I think it's fundamental and 
central, and we're very, very focused on it.
    Two things, very quickly. The president will be going to 
Europe in just a few days and as part of that he'll be having a 
very important meeting with the leaders of the European Union, 
and I know he will focus on these issues.
    We just reestablished a dialog with the EU on China, a 
U.S.-EU dialog on China. I think that's particularly important 
and timely, and we started that up again.
    And I myself have engaged repeatedly, including going very 
early to the EU to start to work on these issues. Our Trade 
Representative, Katherine Tai, very focused on this as well.
    So is Secretary Raimondo at Commerce, Secretary Yellen, all 
of the different agencies and departments that have equities, 
and I think we all agree on the centrality of that economic 
relationship and the desirability on our--on our part to 
strengthen it.
    Ms. Wild. Well, thank you, and I really do hope that that 
is a strong priority because I think it's so incredibly 
important for our position in the world with our--with our 
allies and adversaries, quite frankly.
    My other great interest in addition to trade is human 
rights, Mr. Secretary, and I know that many of my colleagues 
will join me in welcoming your strong commitment to a foreign 
policy that centers human rights concerns at its core.
    And I'd like to ask you specifically about human rights 
concerns as they relate to our relationship with the 
Philippines.
    We know that in March of this year authorities in the 
Philippines conducted raids that led to brutal deaths of at 
least nine labor activists and dissidents, only a latest 
example of a pattern of mass human rights violations under the 
Duterte regime.
    So without going any further, can I just ask, has the 
Administration taken any substantive actions in response to 
these specific events and/or talked and conveyed to the--this 
regime our view of their actions?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. In short, yes, and certainly 
when it comes to concerns about human rights in the 
Philippines, we and I, personally, have been directly engaged 
on this including with my--with my counterpart.
    This is very much a part of the conversation and engagement 
that we have with the Philippines. And as you know, the 
president has been determined and committed to put human rights 
at the--at the center of our foreign policy and that's 
irrespective of where we see these concerns arise, whether it's 
the Philippines or anywhere else.
    Ms. Wild. Well, can I ask you, is this Administration going 
to review current military assistance to the Philippines?
    Secretary Blinken. We will make sure whether it's, again, 
with regard to the Philippines or anywhere else, that we are 
effectively using whatever tools we have to try to make sure 
that human rights are being respected, defended, advanced.
    We have to make judgments based on the particular 
situations in specific countries and--but in each case, we'll 
look to try to make sure that we're doing and making the best 
judgment possible on how to most effectively advance the 
defense of human rights.
    Ms. Wild. Well, thank you. I look forward to working with 
you and the Administration on human rights issues, and I do 
believe that it's important for the United States to leverage 
its support and assistance to other countries to some extent 
in, particularly, those countries that have a pattern of human 
rights abuses.
    But thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. With that, Mr. 
Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back. I now recognize 
Representative Andy Barr of Kentucky for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Barr. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Secretary Blinken, 
thank you for responding favorably to my letter to you that was 
signed by over 60 of my colleagues requesting vaccines for 
Taiwan.
    Recently, the Administration announced 7 million vaccines 
for Asia, including Taiwan. What is the status of delivery of 
those vaccines to Taiwan and what more can the United States 
and our partners do to help the Taiwanese stem the spread of 
COVID within that island?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for that.
    We are moving out as expeditiously as we possibly can 
getting the vaccines out there, including to Taiwan. I think 
work is being done on that as we speak, and I think things will 
start to flow in the--in the coming days and, certainly, in the 
next couple of weeks.
    We're committed to getting the 80 million vaccines 
allocated by the end of the month, early into July, but the 
first 25 million should start to move soon.
    We want to make sure that we're doing it, obviously, safe--
safely, effectively, efficiently, that as you know, the 
logistics of this are not without complication. But I think 
you'll see that happening in the--in the days and, certainly, 
weeks ahead.
    Mr. Barr. Well, Secretary, thank you especially for helping 
the Taiwanese with COVID there. And building off of the topic 
of strengthening relationships with Taiwan, I assume you're 
aware Taiwan lifted a ban on certain pork imports from America 
in the hopes of pursuing a broader trade agreement with the 
U.S. I believe deepening trade ties with Taiwan is important to 
countering Chinese malign influence.
    Mr. Secretary, what is the Administration's position on a 
bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan?
    Secretary Blinken. So I'd have to refer you to Katherine 
Tai, the U.S. Trade Representative. But I know we are engaged 
in conversations with Taiwan or soon will be on some kind of 
framework agreement, and those conversations should be--should 
be starting.
    Mr. Barr. Thank you.
    Secretary Blinken. But I would ask you to talk to the U.S. 
Trade Representative.
    Mr. Barr. Thank you.
    On climate diplomacy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry 
spokesman recently warned the Biden Administration that 
cooperation on climate change is, quote, ``closely linked with 
bilateral relations as a whole,'' unquote.
    Given China's clearly Stated intention to condition climate 
negotiations on other issues and the Biden Administration's 
prioritization of climate, which, according to a recent article 
in Foreign Affairs magazine, has given the CCP significant 
leverage to advance Chinese interests in other areas, will you 
and Envoy Kerry fully commit to rejecting any demands from 
Beijing to make compromises on economic, technological, 
security, human rights issues as a means of extracting what I 
would--what I would say are illusory commitments from China on 
climate?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. Yes.
    Mr. Barr. Great. Thank you very much for that.
    Let me ask you about the Administration's position on 
holding the CCP accountable on COVID and COVID origins. I do 
appreciate the fact that President Biden has ordered an 
intelligence community inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.
    I also, by the way, commend the Administration for 
expanding on President Trump's order banning U.S. investment in 
Chinese companies linked to the military.
    But I do remain mystified by why the State Department 
terminated the Pompeo investigation into COVID origins and I 
remain disappointed by news reports that President Biden has 
yet to have a conversation with General Secretary Xi regarding 
China's role in the origins of the pandemic.
    There was a recent article--I think it was just over the 
weekend--in the Wall Street Journal that says that the science 
suggests a Wuhan lab leak. I commend it to your attention if 
you haven't read it. It's a fascinating read, and evidence of a 
lab escape is mounting.
    Do you and the Administration remain open to the 
possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic was genetically 
manufactured and intentionally released by the CCP as a 
bioweapon against the United States and the international 
community?
    Secretary Blinken. We remain open to most possible 
explanations if the evidence is there to support it. The 
initial inquiry that the president ordered back in March and 
that reported out some weeks ago concluded that the two most 
likely scenarios were a natural occurrence and transmission 
from animal to human and a lab--a lab leak, and I think no one 
has yet found conclusive dispositive evidence that makes clear 
which one of those it is, which is why the president--you just 
referred to this--ordered the intelligence community to do an 
intensive whole of government 90-day review to see if we can 
finally come to a determination of what happened, where it 
happened, why it happened.
    Mr. Barr. Well, thank you. And take a look at that article. 
It's fairly interesting about this case.
    Yield back.
    Chairman Meeks. Gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize Representative Ted Lieu of California for 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Lieu. Thank you, Chairman Meeks, and thank you, 
Secretary Blinken, for your leadership.
    At our last hearing, we discussed the issue of assignment 
restrictions, which is the practice of the State Department to 
prohibit certain employees from working on issues related to 
certain countries.
    This practice affects a number of current State Department 
employees as well as, potentially, a number of there are 500 
new employees that you seek to hire. We have asked for data on 
assignment restrictions from the department including a 
breakdown by categories such as race, gender, and ethnicity. 
I'm wondering if you have an update as to when we might get 
that data.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you, and I do--I very much 
appreciate you putting a light on this. This was a concern of 
mine when I actually served as deputy Secretary back in 2015 to 
2017, and in the time since and under our Administration--and I 
have to credit as well former Deputy Secretary Steve Biegun--
the department has focused on this, and we, basically, ordered 
two reviews be conducted.
    There's an assignments restrictions task force that is 
looking at how to mitigate any security concerns in background 
investigations, and then diplomatic security itself has been 
conducting an internal audit on the effectiveness of the 
restriction process.
    We're basically looking at both the broader policy and 
individual cases, and I am determined that we leverage 
diversity and the skills of our work force in ways that make 
the department and our foreign policy more effective.
    I think we will be in a position to report out on this in 
the next few weeks. The work is coming to--coming to a 
conclusion and we should have more to say and I'll be happy to 
make sure we're engaged with you on this in the coming weeks.
    Mr. Lieu. Thank you very much. And what I would like to ask 
of you is in addition to looking at making the process better, 
I want you to consider eliminating the practice in its 
entirety, and so I'm going to offer you at least three reasons 
why that should be.
    First, I do believe that this practice is offensive and 
disrespectful. It's, basically, telling a number of State 
Department employees that we believe you're going to be a 
traitor, that given a choice between the United States of 
America and the foreign country in which you've been given an 
assignment restriction that we believe you are going to pick 
that foreign country.
    The U.S. military does not do this. I previously served in 
active duty in the United States Air Force. I was granted a top 
secret security clearance. The Department of Defense didn't 
then come in and say, hey, we're going to give you an 
assignment restriction and not let you serve in U.S. Pacific 
Command because you have family Members that live in Taiwan.
    Second reason is, as you have Stated, this does affect 
recruiting and retention. We know that this policy kneecaps 
immediately the career of State Department employees. They're 
simply never going to rise to the highest levels of this 
department.
    I had a meeting last month at an event with former 
Ambassador of South Korea, Harry Harris, who was appointed by 
President Trump, and he agreed that this was a deeply 
problematic practice. As you know, he also happened to have 
been the first Japanese-American admiral of U.S. Pacific 
Command.
    If the Pentagon early in his career had gone to him and 
said, hey, you cannot work on issues related to Japan, would he 
have ever risen to the rank of admiral and commander of U.S. 
Pacific Command? He would not. But the military does not do 
that and that's a reason that the U.S. benefited from his 
expertise and his talent.
    And then finally, I just want to note that in the 21st 
century virtually every country has interests beyond their 
borders. So it makes little sense to have geographic 
limitations with assignment restrictions.
    Let's say a Russian-American employee is given assignment 
restriction because she has an aunt that lives in St. 
Petersburg. And so the State Department then decides to put her 
in Azerbaijan, while Russia can still leverage that familiar 
relationship and try to seek U.S.-Azerbaijan communications.
    And so I just want to extend this policy to an extreme. It 
would mean that virtually no State Department employee could be 
stationed anywhere as long as they have a family member 
stationed or living in a foreign country.
    And I want you to look at, really, the entire conceptual 
basis to see if it makes any sense in the 21st century. I know 
the process is ongoing, so thank you for doing that.
    And then I'm just going to briefly conclude on subnational 
diplomacy. This is a practice that's been occurring for decades 
where mayors, council Members, State Governors use their 
tremendous talents and energies to engage with foreign 
governments and foreign cities and foreign organizations.
    The State Department, I think, would do well to try to 
benefit from that expertise and help them coordinate it. I have 
legislation with Republican Congressman Joe Wilson. We're 
working with your department to get it done and I appreciate 
you taking a look at that as well.
    Secretary Blinken. First of all, thanks for the very 
compelling comments on the restriction process. Very much 
appreciated. And on the subnational piece, yes, we'd really 
welcome working with you and Congressman Wilson on that.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman's time has 
expired.
    I now recognize Representative Greg Steube of Florida for 5 
minutes.
    We cannot hear you.
    Mr. Steube. My apologies. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    I signed on to a letter urging President Biden not to 
rejoin the JCPOA and provide sanctions relief to Iran. This 
would directly and negatively affect not only our national 
security but Israel's security as well.
    Since President Biden took office, Iran has started 
enriching uranium at its highest level ever and Israel was 
under a multi-day assault from Hamas. Hamas is financially and 
materially backed by Iran.
    Lifting sanctions on Iran, a well-known financer of 
terrorism, is a gift to Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist 
groups that will threaten both Israel and our troops in the 
region.
    I also co-sponsored a bill that would enable any remaining 
funding appropriated for Gaza assistance to be repurposed for 
Israel to support the Iron Dome. President Biden even mentioned 
support for Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, which 
receives U.S. funding. The system intercepted most of the 3,000 
rockets Hamas fired in the recent conflict, keeping Israel's 
death toll relatively low.
    However, President Biden also promised $110 million to go 
toward rebuilding Gaza with assistance and funding through the 
U.N. efforts. Hamas controls Gaza through its security forces 
and obtains resources from smuggling, informal taxes, and 
reported external assistance from some Arab sources in Iran.
    How do you plan on ensuring that Hamas does not benefit 
from the $110 million in U.S. assistance?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. I was just, I think as you 
know, in Israel about a week, 10 days ago, meeting with 
officials from the government across the board, and I think 
there is an increased understanding that Hamas has fed off of 
misery, fed off of a lack of hope, and if that is perpetuated 
it's, unfortunately, likely to get stronger, despite the fact 
that it itself has been responsible for bringing much of that 
misery onto the Palestinian people.
    There is an understanding and a commitment, I think, on the 
part of Israel both to respond to the real humanitarian crisis 
that exists in Gaza now--water, electricity, sanitation, 
sewage.
    If you look at what is--what is happening, it is, on a 
human level and our Israeli counterparts agree with us, 
unacceptable.
    So we need to do something about that.
    And when it comes to reconstruction, there is both a belief 
and a commitment, I think, on the part of Israel, the United 
Nations, Egypt, ourselves, and others, that we can do this in a 
way that does not result in materials being siphoned off by 
Hamas to rebuild tunnels or reconstitute more of their rocket 
forces.
    I agree with you, it's very important that we have a 
mechanism that we are confident in, that the Israelis are 
confident in, that allows us to do that and that's exactly what 
we're working on.
    Mr. Steube. Well, how are you going to do that if--if Hamas 
controls Gaza how are you going to ensure that American 
taxpayer dollars are not going to be inadvertently directed to 
Hamas?
    Secretary Blinken. We have worked in the past and others 
have worked in the past, including Israel, with different 
organizations, institutions, entities to make sure that, first 
of all, we know exactly what needs to be legitimately rebuilt, 
and then that the resources are allocated to do just that and 
nothing more. And we, certainly, look forward to be able to 
come to Congress as these plans develop with how that would 
work.
    Mr. Steube. Yes, I look--I would look forward to us doing 
oversight on that after the resources are spent.
    Mr. Secretary, you would not admit when asked during the 
conflict that Hamas was getting their arms from Iran. But then 
after the war ended, the head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, thanked 
Iran for the weapons.
    The other terrorist organizations in Gaza, the Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad, is a direct proxy of Iran. How can you say you 
support Israel's security while wanting to enter a deal where 
Iran is going to get billions in new weapons?
    Secretary Blinken. Iran's support for Hamas has been a 
persistent problem for a long time, a problem that existed 
before the nuclear deal, that continued during the nuclear 
deal, and continues today, despite the so-called maximum 
pressure campaign when we're out of the deal, and that's a 
problem that we have to address.
    When I was--when I was asked about this, I needed to make 
sure that I understood from our own intelligence, from the 
Israelis, from others, exactly what was--what was going on.
    I think Hamas has provided--has been provided by Iran in 
the past with key components, technical knowledge for the 
program. The best assessment, public assessment, that we have 
is that in this most recent incident most of the rockets were 
indigenously produced in Gaza by Hamas. It is not in any way an 
excuse for Iran's support for Hamas, including very strong 
rhetorical support in this most recent incident.
    Chairman Meeks. Gentleman is out of time. Time is expired.
    I now recognize Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota 
for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Phillips. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Greetings, Mr. Secretary. Grateful for your service to our 
country.
    Mr. Secretary, do you agree that it's a net benefit to our 
national security by addressing State fragility proactively by 
providing assistance and helping reduce political instability 
and reduce opportunities for nonState actors?
    Secretary Blinken. I do.
    Mr. Phillips. And as you surely know--and by the way, I 
agree, of course--the FYI 2019 NDAA authorizes the Secretary of 
Defense to transfer up to $75 million to other agencies in our 
government for foreign assistance programs and activities that 
are necessary for security cooperation.
    However, as far as I'm aware, none of those dollars have 
been released or utilized to date. The Fiscal Year 2020 NDAA 
also allows for the DOD to support stabilization activities and 
national security interests of the United States.
    Clearly, the president's budget places a strong emphasis on 
the need to address global fragility. So using the authorities 
that Congress has already provided, are there ways for DOS and 
DOD to better collaborate with one another on such important 
strategies?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes, I believe there are. I have 
constant dialog conversation with my friend and colleague, the 
Secretary of Defense. We're talking about this every single 
week, and we're all looking, not just Defense and State, but 
all the departments to look at how we can both better 
coordinate and leverage the resources that we may have in 
individual departments to advance common objectives.
    And I think Secretary Austin would be the first to agree 
that State fragility is a real concern for him. I know it's a 
concern for the president of the United States, and they both 
know that if we do not address these things up front, then 
we're likely to have to address them in different more costly 
ways at the other end.
    So we're all focused on this and we want to make sure that, 
yes, we use the authorities that we have to focus resources 
where they need focus.
    Mr. Phillips. Great. I couldn't have said it better, and 
grateful for your shared interest.
    I want to talk about the world's kids, too. As you're well 
aware, a surging global youth population around the world is 
the opportunity for enormous potential, can drive 
transformation and unleash quite a bit of disruption.
    I would say also the effects of COVID-19 has 
disproportionately affected kids around the world. 1.6 billion 
students out of school, one in six have stopped working, social 
political unrest in many nations driven by youth protests 
spreading around the world.
    And yet the global youth population hasn't even peaked yet. 
It's expected to reach 1.4 billion by 2065. In the poorest 
nations in the world, youth population is expected to increase 
by 62 percent by 2050.
    So with the largest youth population boom ever and COVID-19 
robbing so many kids around the world of education, employment, 
and engagement opportunities, what is the Department of State's 
and USAID's strategy to ensure that young people around the 
world are at the center of our pandemic recovery efforts?
    Secretary Blinken. That's a really--that's a really great 
question and an important observation, and I think both with 
regard to COVID itself and recovery from that, but even more 
broadly, we have to have this youth population front and center 
in mind.
    Africa is among one compelling and immediate example 
irrespective of COVID but, of course, exacerbated by COVID. 
You've got 1.3 billion people on the African continent. The 
median age is 19, to your point.
    That presents both a tremendous opportunity but also, I 
think, a real--a real challenge, because if this population is 
left unattended, without opportunity, then that inevitably is 
going to produce bad results.
    Conversely, if we can find ways to help countries maximize 
the human potential that they have, then I think the 
possibilities are almost endless.
    So we--programmatically across the department, we are 
looking for ways to make sure that we're engaged with young 
people and/or engaged with countries and governments to make 
sure that to the best of our ability they're pursuing policies 
that address their needs and their concerns.
    So I think it's hard to put it in any--in any one place. I 
mean, I can point to, again, Africa. I can point to what was a 
wonderful program that we continued, the Young African Leaders 
Initiative that President Obama created.
    But we have those kinds of programs. But this also goes to 
our economic engagement, our diplomatic engagement, our 
engagement on technology across the board. But I'd be happy to 
and would welcome your thoughts on that, going forward.
    Mr. Phillips. And I would encourage you to consider a 
senior level advisor or youth advisor to help in these efforts. 
I only know I have a couple seconds left.
    I just want to make a statement quickly about Ethiopia. 
We're all aware of our concerns there and the circumstances, 
and pleased by the fact the president has brought Ambassador 
Feltman as a special envoy for the Horn of Africa.
    I just want to support your efforts to address what is 
becoming a terrible humanitarian crisis in a country of great 
importance. Thank you for your service. I yield back.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
    Let me just ask the Secretary. I know you're not as old as 
I am, Mr. Secretary, but I want to offer you a 5-to 10-minute 
break if you need it.
    [Laughter.]
    Secretary Blinken. I'm happy to power through.
    Chairman Meeks. OK, we'll continue.
    So next I will recognize Representative Dan Meuser of 
Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
    Mr. Meuser. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate that very 
much, and my thanks to Ranking Member McCaul, and Mr. 
Secretary, we all greatly appreciate you being here with us 
today.
    I represent Pennsylvania's Ninth. We are nationally 
renowned in Pennsylvania's Ninth for many things, including 
Christmas trees, candy, beer.
    Chairman Meeks. You're muted.
    Mr. Meuser. I hit it by accident. Thank you, Chairman.
    But we're also in Pennsylvania's 9th and throughout 
Pennsylvania renowned for our anthracite coal. Anthracite coal, 
Mr. Secretary, is very rarely used as a energy product. It is 
primarily used to serve as the most important raw material for 
domestic steel production.
    So anthracite coal is an almost pure form of carbon. Its 
low levels of sulfur and other impurities make it the most 
important raw material in the production of domestic steel.
    Today, anthracite is the most efficient and cleanest type 
of coal for this--for this purpose. A stable domestic 
anthracite industry is critical to the resiliency of the steel 
industry.
    I'm concerned Russia is attempting to undermine our 
domestic supply, which creates a national security well as a 
threat to our economy, but also a threat to our national 
security that does, in fact, need our attention.
    Russia's systematic and exponentially growing dumping of 
Russian anthracite coal to the United States steel industry 
directly impacts anthracite production in my district, 
primarily in our Schuylkill, Northumberland, and Luzern 
counties.
    Pennsylvania anthracite is, again, a key component of U.S. 
steel production, and because it can be purified before its use 
it represents, again, a very clean and efficient method.
    But these numbers, Mr. Secretary, are actually staggering. 
Over the last 5 years, Pennsylvania anthracite production has 
shrunk from approximately 2.27 million tons of anthracite to 
1.8 million tons. This reduction is 20 percent--a little over a 
20 percent reduction in only 4 years.
    Conversely, total sales of Russian anthracite have 
increased from approximately 6,000 tons in 2016 to 
approximately 22,000 tons in 2020, which is 12 times higher 
than our domestic usage.
    So 90 percent of the most important raw material in our 
Nation's steel production comes from Russia.
    So, Mr. Secretary--so, Mr. Secretary, I ask you, first, are 
you aware of the enormous increase in Russian anthracite coal 
that is being used in our U.S. steel production?
    Secretary Blinken. No, I have to acknowledge this is--this 
is news to me, not something I focused on, and I very much 
appreciate you bringing it to my attention.
    Mr. Meuser. That's great. I appreciate that as well. Are 
you then aware or is the State Department or can you look into 
what are--what are strongly considered to be very questionable 
and, perhaps, illegal dumping of Russian anthracite into the 
U.S.?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes, and what I'd like to do, 
Congressman, is, first of all, make sure that from your office 
we have all the information you have.
    Second, I will share that or make sure it's shared with my 
colleagues who have direct responsibility for this, starting 
with the U.S. Trade Representative and her office as well as 
other departments like Commerce, and then go from there.
    But I'd really welcome getting the information.
    Mr. Meuser. That's great, Secretary. I will get you the 
information, and it sounds as if you will be willing to work 
with me and other stakeholders in trying to counter what very 
well could be illegal dumping and help support the U.S. steel 
industry.
    Secretary Blinken. Yes, Congressman.
    Mr. Meuser. That's terrific. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    And, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the remainder of my time.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back.
    I now recognize Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota for 
5 minutes.
    Ms. Omar. Thank you, Chairman.
    Mr. Secretary, last time you were here I asked about the 
Trump sanctions on the ICC staff. So I wanted to thank you 
publicly for doing the right thing and lifting them.
    I know you oppose the court's investigation in both 
Palestine and in Afghanistan. I haven't seen any evidence in 
either cases that domestic courts can--both can and will 
prosecute alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
    And I would emphasize that in Israel and Palestine this 
includes crimes committed by both Israeli security forces and 
Hamas. In Afghanistan it includes crimes committed by the 
Afghan national government and the Taliban.
    So in both of these cases, if domestic courts cannot or 
will not pursue justice and we oppose the ICC, where do we 
think the victims of these supposed crimes can go for justice 
and what justice this mechanism is for?
    Secretary Blinken. I'm sorry, Congresswoman. I lost you for 
1 second there at the end of your question. Could you repeat 
that, please?
    Ms. Omar. Yes. I said in both of these cases, if domestic 
courts cannot or will not pursue justice and oppose the ICC, 
where do we think victims are supposed to go for justice, and 
what justice mechanisms will you support for them?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. First, let me just say at the 
outset that it is impossible not to be profoundly moved by not 
just the loss of life in the recent violence and conflict but 
especially the children whose lives were lost.
    And we all have a tendency to throw statistics and numbers 
out there. But we are talking about boys and girls, Israelis 
and Palestinians, as well as men and women, and I think none of 
us whatever--from whatever perspective we come can lose sight 
of that. So that's one thing that's very important.
    Look, you know our views on the ICC and its jurisdiction. 
We continue to believe that, absent a Security Council referral 
or absent the request by the State itself, that that's not 
appropriate. I continue to believe that whether it is the 
United States or Israel, both of us have the means and----
    Ms. Omar. Mr. Secretary, I do understand that point. I'm 
asking what mechanisms do you believe is available to them.
    Secretary Blinken. I believe that we have, whether it's the 
United States or Israel, we both have the mechanisms to make 
sure there's accountability in any situations where there are 
concerns about use of force and human rights, et cetera.
    I believe that both of our democracies have that capacity 
and we have demonstrated it, and we'll need to continue to 
demonstrate it, going forward.
    Ms. Omar. And in the case of Afghanistan?
    Secretary Blinken. With regard to Afghanistan, if it's--our 
objection, as you know, was to the assertion of jurisdiction of 
the United States in the absence of a Security Council 
referral, and I believe that we have the means if there are any 
cases to be brought to adjudicate them and to find justice.
    Ms. Omar. Appreciate that, and sorry about the connection 
issues. There are now nine detainees at Guantanamo who have 
been cleared for release. The State Department has a crucial 
role in--to play in finally closing the prison, which 
represents such a complete stain on our Nation's morality. I'm 
wondering if you will prioritize reestablishing the Office of 
the Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure at the State 
Department or create a similar position.
    Secretary Blinken. The short answer is yes. We're working 
actively on these cases, and I want to make sure that the 
department has what it needs, both in terms of resources and 
personnel and including someone who can focus on this full time 
to do that. So we're actively looking into doing that, yes.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady's time has expired.
    I now recognize Representative Claudia Tenney of New York 
for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Tenney. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Ranking 
Member McCaul, and thank you, Secretary Blinken, for being here 
for so long. We really appreciate your willingness to sit here, 
and we know these are tough questions and we're grateful for 
your leadership.
    I just wanted to ask you a little bit about some of the 
reports that we have seen where there's been alleged that State 
Department has actively discouraged officials and employees 
from referring to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Israeli 
normalization agreements as the Abraham Accords, despite that 
being their official name. Do you support the Abraham Accords?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes, I do.
    Ms. Tenney. Have you heard any of this alleged activity 
where State Department officials have discouraged the use of 
the term Abraham Accords?
    Secretary Blinken. I have not, and it's certainly not 
coming from me. I'm happy to refer to them as the Abraham 
Accords. I think they were an important achievement, one that 
not only do we support, but we'd like to build on.
    Ms. Tenney. Thank you. That's my next question. I just 
wonder if you could explain a few things that you may have in 
the works that you could speak about, if possible, on how 
you're going to build on the Abraham Accords and continuing 
with the six--you know, with a comprehensive plan building on 
the success of those accords?
    Secretary Blinken. I think they are two things, 
Congresswoman. One is that with regard to the countries that 
have already engaged in this normalization process with Israel, 
we want to look to see how we can be helpful in moving things 
along and supporting those efforts, and that's actively 
underway. It's come up in a number of conversations that I've 
had.
    And then separate from that, we're looking at countries 
that may want to join in and take part and begin to normalize 
their own relations with Israel. That, too, has been very much 
part of the conversations I've had with several of my 
counterparts.
    Ms. Tenney. Thank you. I really appreciate that. That's 
going to be great for us in the future, I'm sure.
    One other question just dealing with the Three Seas 
Initiative, just the regional effort between Central and 
Eastern Europe to extend cross-border energy, transportation, 
digital infrastructure, and to help boost economic development.
    This initiative will help a lot of our Members diversify 
away from Russia's energy supply dominance and serve as a 
powerful counterbalance to the influence of China on the 
financial investments, diplomatic engagement in the region, 
including the Belt and Road Initiative.
    And thank you for your comments on explaining a little more 
in depth on Nord Stream 2. I know it's not an easy issue. Is 
the Biden Administration prepared to robustly support this 
Three Seas Initiative, and if so, how would you be doing that 
similar to how the Trump Administration did?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. Thank you for flagging that. The 
short answer is yes, I've had--I had the opportunity to 
actually speak to countries involved in this. I've, in my own 
engagements and diplomacy, encouraged their engagement and our 
own, and as you know well, we have our own tools that I think 
can strengthen that including the DFC, and so we're very much 
focused on that and making sure that we're bringing to bear the 
tools that we have to strengthen it, to advance it.
    Ms. Tenney. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Also, just 
want to say thank you to you and your team for meeting with us 
and keeping us abreast, along with Representative Castro, on 
the situation in Burma. We hope you continue to focus on those 
so we can find some kind of peace and some kind of resolution 
to this situation.
    Obviously, we have introduced legislation for an arms 
embargo against China and against Russia in the Security 
Council. We know that's hopeful, but we hope that you'll 
continue to support that and the Burmese people in our 
communities will have some kind of relief and restore democracy 
there and restore the government that was democratically 
elected. But we appreciate your efforts and really grateful for 
your comments today.
    And I yield back my time. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. Thank you. The gentlelady yields back.
    I now recognize Representative Colin Allred of Texas for 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Allred. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Secretary 
Blinken, it's great to see you again so soon. I want to thank 
you for coming before us again, and I'll just mention how 
impressed I've been with your responses on a wide range of 
topics.
    There's so much going on in the world and so many things I 
would love to discuss with you. But I wanted to try and drill 
down on two things, and then perhaps we can find time for the 
other things another time.
    The first is about the direct access program for U.S.-
affiliated Iraqis. A constituent of mine, Allen Bach, who 
bravely served our country and fought in Iraq, wrote to me for 
assistance with his interpreter, Abdul Salam Muhammad Jamil al-
Basri, or Sam for short.
    So let me just tell you a little bit about Sam. Sam had 
applied for refugee resettlement through the direct access 
program and had been cleared through the process. When 
President Trump suspended the program in 2017, Sam had to 
reopen and start over from the beginning with his case, and he 
has once again made it to the final stage of the process only 
to find that the program has been suspended again due to an 
ongoing fraud review.
    And although I certainly understand and appreciate the need 
for a full review into any fraud committed by U.S. officials or 
anyone else, the suspension was supposed to end in April and it 
seems as though the suspension has been now extended 
indefinitely.
    With the humanitarian and security concerns, do you have 
any updates on when this program will be able to continue or 
when consular operations will resume at the U.S. embassy in 
Baghdad?
    Secretary Blinken. Thanks for flagging that because, look, 
I share your strong commitment to doing right by the people who 
did right by us. We have to do that. And I am going to go look 
into the status of this.
    I do not--I do not know exactly where it stands. We did 
have a concern related to fraud. We wanted to make sure that 
the program is fully secure and not take any chances. So there 
was a review. I do not know the status, but we'll come back to 
you on that.
    Mr. Allred. Yes, I appreciate that and I--you know, I was 
going to say you need to get back to me on this. I'm happy to 
work with you on it. You know, I think there's a lot of us who 
are concerned both with Iraqis and Afghanis who served with us 
and we're happy to work through anything that the Congress can 
help you with there.
    Turning now to a totally different topic, Mr. Secretary, I 
want to just quickly discuss the G-7 summit, the upcoming 
summit, and ask about cooperation among our allies to combat 
the misinformation campaigns perpetrated by countries like 
China and Russia that we all have discussed today and at 
length.
    Now, this is something that I've actually been working on 
with my colleague from across the pond, a member of Parliament 
named Stephen Morgan who represents Portsmouth, and it's deeply 
concerning to both of us.
    And it was, of course, great to see the development of the 
rapid response mechanism that found that misinformation is one 
of the key tactics used to undermine democracies in the West 
and around the world.
    These campaigns also have negative effects on vaccination 
rates, as you know, and have led to extremist violence, and I 
want to see if you could speak to what work the U.S. is doing 
with our allies to disrupt these misinformation campaigns both 
at home and abroad and whether or not that's something that 
will be discussed at the G-7.
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. The short answer is yes, and again, 
I really appreciate you flagging that. There was a preparatory 
meeting of the foreign ministers for the G-7 that I took part 
in a few weeks ago in advance of the president going, and this 
was very much on the agenda. It'll be on the agenda for the 
leaders.
    I'm very proud of the fact that the Global Engagement 
Center here at the State Department is the premier platform now 
for sharing information, including among our G-7 partners, on 
misinformation of one kind or another. When we see it we're 
able to share it, and to your point, and I know you've been 
focused and leading on this, having in place this rapid 
response mechanism is really important to be able to turn that 
information about misinformation into a practical way of 
countering it.
    And so we're--the department, the Global Engagement Center 
very focused on this, and yes, it will be on the agenda for the 
president in a few days.
    Mr. Allred. Well, great. I just want to say I appreciate 
the leadership that you and President Biden have shown in not 
only protecting American democracy but trying to be a beacon, 
as we always have been, for democracy around the world.
    Of course, as a former voting rights attorney, I can say 
that the best medicine for us and our foreign policy is to get 
our own house in order, and I'm working on that as well.
    But thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being with us. I'll yield 
back my final 30 seconds and say congratulations on nearly 
getting through this hearing with us. We appreciate it.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back.
    I now recognize Representative August Pfluger of Texas for 
5 minutes.
    Mr. Pfluger. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. Ranking 
member, thanks for holding this, and, Mr. Secretary, thank you 
for being here. I appreciate the conversations we have had 
about my constituent, Trevor Reed. It's, obviously, very 
important that we bring him back home to Texas.
    Just in the past couple of weeks, he was diagnosed with 
COVID, reportedly tried to get medical care and help from the 
prison that he is unlawfully being held in, and was refused 
that service until several days afterwards.
    So in the upcoming--and thank you for your efforts publicly 
to bring him home, among others--will President Biden be 
bringing this up with his counterpart, Mr. Putin, in the 
upcoming summit?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes.
    Mr. Pfluger. I appreciate that. Anything that you can do 
publicly to continue to apply pressure is very important.
    Moving to the next topic, I'm very concerned--continued 
concern, and a lot of my colleagues have talked about the Nord 
Stream 2 and the project there.
    Just a few days ago, Vladimir Putin threatened that the 
Ukraine must show good will if it wants Russian gas transit. 
This underscores what we have been saying about the pipeline 
the whole time, that Putin will exploit the Nord Stream 2 
pipeline as a coercive tool to render the Ukraine more 
vulnerable to Russian influence and aggression.
    And given the Ukraine president's comment yesterday he 
basically said, how many Ukrainian lives does this relationship 
have to cost us. It sounds like Kiev feels somewhat abandoned, 
and I want to also say that the Baltic States--Latvia, 
Lithuania, and Estonia, among others--feel the same way.
    So when it comes to some of the--some of the insurers and 
other folks that we previously had as sanctionable, what is the 
Administration going to do at this point in time to give our 
allies, especially our Baltic allies and those on the front 
lines the reassurance that we're with them?
    Secretary Blinken. I appreciate those comments very much. A 
couple things on that.
    First, I think President Biden was going to be speaking 
with President Zelinsky today. That may already have happened. 
But that was on the books.
    As you know, I think in Ukraine about a month ago, I 
strongly reiterated our commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and 
territorial integrity, and to defend Ukraine against aggression 
in all forms coming from Russia to include using energy as a--
as a tool of coercion, and we're determined to do that.
    We had a conversation a little bit earlier about Nord 
Stream 2 and the reality that the pipeline began construction 
2018. It was more than 90 percent complete by the time we took 
office, and as a practical matter, preventing its physical 
completion, in our judgment, was at that point not likely to 
happen, irrespective of sanctions.
    We did sanction more entities under PISA than had ever been 
sanctioned before just a couple of weeks ago. But we waived, 
and the waiver can be revoked, sanctions on the--on Nord Stream 
2 AG, the corporate entity behind it, and the CEO.
    But as said to our partners in Germany, that they now need 
to work with us and work with others to make sure that any of 
the potentially bad consequences from this pipeline going into 
operation are mitigated and averted and that means making sure 
that Ukraine is made whole for any transit fees that in the 
future it may lose as a result of the pipeline going around 
Ukraine, that Russia cannot use energy as a coercive tool 
against Ukraine or anyone else in the region, and to put in 
place various mechanisms to do that.
    So we're actively engaged with Germany on that. The outcome 
that we wanted to avoid was pipeline complete, poisoned 
relationship with Germany because of sanctions, and no prospect 
for actually doing something practical and concrete to help 
protect Ukraine and the others.
    So we all share the same objectives, and we're working to 
get there.
    Mr. Pfluger. Mr. Secretary, thank you very much.
    And I've said this many times, especially because the 
district that I represent includes the Permian Basin, but 
energy security is national security and there's not a single 
Ambassador that I talked to that are on the front lines with 
Russia that do not wake up every single day thinking about how 
they're going to provide energy and how they're going to ensure 
that they're not dependent on malign actors around the world.
    They're very fearful and concerned that Russia is going to 
hold them hostage through coercive and malign activity, and I 
would just ask the Administration and urge the Administration 
strongly to continue to give our allies, especially those in 
that geographic position, the utmost confidence that we're with 
them and that we continue to hold their security in the utmost 
of importance.
    And with that, I yield back. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I now recognize Representative Andy Levin of Michigan for 5 
minutes.
    Mr. Levin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Hi, Mr. Secretary. Good to see you. Thanks for your service 
and sticking with us today.
    On May 24th, the managing editor of the news outlet 
Frontier Myanmar, Danny Fenster, was arrested at Yangon 
International Airport where he was heading home to visit his 
family in Huntington Woods, Michigan, in my district.
    He has been transferred to Insein Prison, which, according 
to CNN, is one of the country's most notorious political 
prisoner prisons known for its deplorable conditions.
    Journalists like Danny put their lives on the line because 
they believe in truth telling. His case hits home because it's 
about our fundamental values on democracy and good government, 
and it literally hits home for me because Danny and his 
brother, Brian, went to my high school. They're Berkeley Bears. 
His loved ones and his many supporters are in pain and I just 
cannot rest until he arrives home safely.
    My staff and I have been on the phone with your department 
staff, embassy officials, and Danny's family every day doing 
everything we can to draw attention to his case and make sure 
his immediate and unconditional release remains a top priority.
    I want to thank you, the State Department, and especially 
our Ambassador in Burma, Tom Vajda, for your hard work. I'm 
truly grateful for that.
    Nevertheless, Danny remains in prison with no charges and 
no consular access. We need him freed immediately and 
unconditionally.
    Mr. Secretary, I need to ask you to redouble your efforts. 
What can you do more and what can we do in Congress to support 
the State Department's efforts to bring Danny home?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. I appreciate everything 
you've said. We share the deep concern for Daniel Fenster. We 
have another American citizen journalist, Nathan Vaughn, who is 
also being detained--arbitrarily detained. We have had access 
to him. We have not had access to Daniel Fester.
    That's a violation of, among other things, the Vienna 
Convention. We are pressing this in every way that we can. We 
have very limited, if any, contact with the military regime, 
but certainly through others. We're pressing this as best we 
can and we will--we will continue to do so.
    I think we have--other countries also have detained 
citizens in Myanmar. Deep concern there as well. And we are all 
working together as well to try to get our people home.
    And it's, as you point out, even extremely egregious in the 
case of journalists who are doing their jobs on behalf of all 
of us.
    So all I can tell you--all we can commit to is the doubling 
down on our efforts to do this. I wish I had a--you know, a 
sort of silver bullet answer here except to say we are very 
focused on this, very engaged. We want to get them out, get 
them home.
    Mr. Levin. Great. Well, we're here to help you in any way.
    Let me ask you about Haiti. As you know, an OAS delegation 
is visiting Haiti this week, and while I certainly welcome all 
efforts to bring about a Haitian-led solution to the current 
political and constitutional crisis, I'm concerned by reports 
that the delegation does not plan to discuss the constitutional 
referendum plan for June 27th.
    This referendum is widely considered, almost universally 
considered, illegal, and any discussion that sidesteps it 
cannot produce workable solutions. In addition, I'm worried 
that our Administration is focused on pressing for elections at 
any cost, even though elections held under the auspices of the 
de facto President Moise's regime would not be free or fair.
    Instead, we should be tackling the corruption, the 
violence, the impunity, and other conditions fueling this 
crisis, and pushing back on this planned referendum forcefully.
    What is the Administration doing to make clear that this 
illegal referendum should not take place?
    Secretary Blinken. Well, thank you. And our position is, 
indeed, that it should not. That is the position of our 
government. We're making that position known. I believe we're 
part of the OAS delegation that is in Haiti or is about to be 
in Haiti, and----
    Mr. Levin. So you believe the OAS delegation will raise 
this? Because we have heard they're not even going to raise it, 
sir.
    Secretary Blinken. Well, let me come back to you on that 
because I'm not sure. All I can tell you is our own policy, 
which would be reflected in anything that we say or do, is to 
oppose the referendum for the reasons you cite.
    We're supportive of other pre-election activities. We still 
think there's a possibility and an opportunity if the 
appropriate steps are put in place to have an election. But the 
referendum we oppose for the reasons that you cited.
    Meanwhile, we are trying to provide additional assistance, 
including to the--to the police to more effectively do their 
jobs and deal with the profoundly, profoundly troubling 
insecurity that exists in Haiti.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman's time has expired.
    Mr. Levin. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. I now recognize Representative Nicole 
Malliotakis of New York, who's the Ranking Member of the 
Subcommittee on International Development, International 
Organizations, and Global Corporate Social Impact, for 5 
minutes.
    Ms. Malliotakis. Just reading my title took half my time 
away. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for 
your time today.
    As you know, we give hundreds of millions of dollars to the 
World Health Organization. We are actually paid for about a 
quarter of the assessed fees more than any other nation, and 
I'm concerned about their transparency, their accuracy, and 
their willingness to truly investigate the origins of the 
COVID-19 pandemic.
    As you know, the report that they had issued recently had 
said that the laboratory leak was the least likely hypothesis, 
and certainly this was something that where the Communist 
Chinese Party had a lot of influence in putting together this 
report.
    I'd like to know what are you doing, working with our 
international partners to demand accountability and 
transparency on the origins of this virus, and what can we do 
as Members of the World Health Organization to demand that they 
work with us to provide these answers to the American public?
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. I share your share your 
concerns.
    First, it was important for us to reengage with the World 
Health Organization in order to actually be in the room and at 
the table to advance reform and to help deal with the deficits 
that are manifest in the organization.
    In our absence, others fill the void and others may have no 
interest in actually seeing the World Health Organization 
become effective and have the tools it needs to deal both with 
this pandemic and future pandemics.
    So we're now actively engaged in doing that. And to your 
point, the first report that was issued, the so-called Phase 
One report, was not meant to be the final answer. We strongly 
support moving forward with the Phase Two report, which the WHO 
is committed to doing, although the PRC is resisting that.
    And, as we have said on many occasions, we have deep 
concerns about the methodology used on Phase One to include the 
inappropriate role that officials from China apparently played 
in that report.
    In parallel, though, to pushing with other countries to 
move forward with Phase Two, we have, as I think we talked 
about a little bit earlier, the president has ordered the 
intelligence community and the whole of government to dig into 
everything we know and can find about the origins of the virus, 
and he's given us 90 days to do that.
    We had an initial study that was done at his instruction 
back in March that concluded that there were two likely ways by 
which this happened. One was natural occurrence and 
transmission from animal to human. The other was a leak from 
the lab.
    But the report did not--could not conclusively say it was 
one or the other. What we want to do now is see if we can make 
a better determination with some more certainty.
    So that's what we're working on. We're working both on the 
WHO track to make sure that they are doing what they need to 
do, and we're doing what we need to do.
    Last thing I'd mention, very quickly, is that it's so 
important, going forward, that, one, we get an understanding of 
the origins, that we get accountability, but, vitally, that we 
get change, and by that I mean the responsibility of countries 
in real time to share information, to give access to 
international experts, to have transparency--everything that 
was absent in this case, and that is not acceptable, going 
forward, and the WHO needs to be, among other things, in the 
lead on insisting on those norms and making sure that they're 
implemented.
    Ms. Malliotakis. Thank you. One other question I have is 
many Americans have expressed to me I, myself, was unhappy with 
this decision, and I wanted to know if this is a change in 
policy of yours and the Administration to fly flags of 
organizations--political organizations--at our embassies.
    I believe that it should be the United States flag only 
that flies above our embassies, with the exception of another 
government flag or military flag. But I would like to just know 
from you if this is a change in policy and we're going to 
expect this, going forward.
    You know, political organization should not have their 
flags flying above our embassies and that is something that I 
believe strongly and I believe many of my colleagues also 
believe, and I believe most Americans believe that as well.
    And so I would just ask that you reconsider this because I 
think it is really setting a bad precedent, going forward, in 
how we represent our Nation and on foreign lands.
    Secretary Blinken. I appreciate that and I understand the 
perspective. We have given chiefs of mission the authority and 
discretion to make these decisions, and I think that, in fact, 
it actually puts our best foot forward, especially in countries 
that do not allow different groups, constituents, citizens, to 
express themselves freely.
    We do, and I think that's actually a very important thing 
for the United States to do, and I believe that most Americans 
would support that as well. It's at the essence of our 
democracy.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady's time has expired.
    I now recognize Representative Chrissy Houlahan of 
Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
    Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. I just want to confirm that you 
all can hear me OK.
    Chairman Meeks. Yes, we hear you.
    Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank 
you very much, Secretary Blinken, for joining us.
    I want to kind of circle back to something that happened a 
little earlier in the conversation and affirm that the State 
Department has verified time and time again that the UNFPA does 
not support China's harmful coercive family planning policies, 
and I'm really, really pleased that the Administration has 
requested now record levels of funding for this critical 
program, the UNFPA.
    Fifty-six million has been requested in this budget and 
that's the highest level that's ever been requested by a U.S. 
Administration.
    It has been a little while since that's been the case that 
we have been funding the UNFPA. So my first question is, how do 
you envision working with the UNFPA to support its core work as 
well as the important assistance of girls and women in 
humanitarian settings? In short, how will we be able to 
reinvigorate our commitment to the UNFPA, sir?
    Secretary Blinken. Well, we're--I think we're just getting 
started, and as you pointed out, we have made taking these 
steps to resume the funding consistent with the law, and I 
think that's very important.
    And what I'd be happy to do is make sure that our teams 
link up both to get your own thinking and ideas about how we 
can most effectively engage and also to share our own.
    Ms. Houlahan. I would very much welcome that opportunity. 
I'm very enthusiastic about the purpose and mission of the 
UNFPA and very grateful that we are once again reclaiming that 
important responsibility that we have to the globe.
    Similarly, unfortunately, that while I am happy to see the 
Administration is reengaging with UNFPA after quite a lot of 
years of absence, unfortunately, it looks as though the UK is 
doing the exact opposite. The current UNFPA's biggest donor is 
now making severe cuts to its own assistance programs.
    So if I could, sir, I was wondering if I could ask for you 
to engage with other donors at your upcoming June 30th 
Generation Equality Forum in Paris to coordinate a funding 
response to fill that gap that will be created by these cuts by 
the United Kingdom. Is that something that I can ask for you to 
do?
    Secretary Blinken. Happy to take that up.
    Ms. Houlahan. Thank you. I appreciate that.
    And then in my final couple of minutes, I'm really also 
passionate about global learning and learning loss, 
particularly over the last 15 or so months with the pandemic.
    Ninety percent of our world's learners have been impacted 
by COVID-19-related school closures, and history definitely 
teaches us that the longer that students are out of school, the 
less likely it will be that they can return.
    And so as the lead sponsor of the Global Learning Loss 
Assessment Act, I would love--I very much believe that the U.S. 
foreign assistance should address long-standing inequities that 
are exacerbated by this pandemic, especially access to 
education and especially for girls.
    I am concerned that the budget requests that you all put 
forward does not include sufficient funding for education and 
would result in the United States scaling back our support for 
children and youth at the very time when we most need to be 
stepping up.
    So if you would not mind, sir, speaking to how our foreign 
assistance can help students and education systems recover from 
the pandemic, and improve the delivery of quality education, 
especially for girls, and other marginalized children in need.
    Secretary Blinken. First of all, I very much share your 
concern. We had a preexisting concern, obviously, about the 
fundamental importance of education and gaps that we see around 
the world, and that concern has been dramatically exacerbated 
by COVID-19, and of course, we have experienced that ourselves. 
But we know that it's even--the impact is even worse and much 
greater in many other countries.
    I'm happy to look at this and would welcome getting any 
information or ideas that you have. I believe that in a variety 
of ways and through very different--and different programs we 
are adequately resourced to advance this mission. In some 
cases, there are, as a result of technology, greater 
efficiencies that we can bring where we can actually do more 
with less. So in some cases, that's the case.
    Having said that, I'd welcome looking at anything you have, 
your office has, and we can take a closer look at that.
    Ms. Houlahan. You have gotten three for three. I really 
appreciate all of your feedback to me and all of your 
commitments to me. I will look forward to our teams connecting 
so that we can move forward on all of us.
    And with that, I yield back the remainder of my time.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentlelady yields back.
    I now recognize Representative Pete Meijer of Michigan for 
5 minutes.
    Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I begin my 
question, I would like to yield 1 minute to Representative 
Young Kim of California.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields.
    Ms. Kim of California. There. Thank you, Congressman 
Meijer.
    Secretary Blinken, it's good to see you again. I want to 
quickly touch on the recently announced international vaccine 
distribution plan. While this is a welcome start to reasserting 
U.S. leadership on global health, 25 million doses are not 
nearly enough to compete with the vaccine diplomacy of China 
and Russia.
    So I would hope and expect the Administration to send even 
more doses abroad soon and update this committee regularly on 
expected time lines for delivery and to which countries.
    So let me now move on to an issue from your last visit to 
this committee where you assured me that President Biden was 
interested in appointing a special envoy on North Korean human 
rights issues.
    That was 3 months ago, and human rights issues in North 
Korea have still not been substantially addressed by this 
Administration. So can you now provide a time line for when 
President Biden plans on appointing a special envoy on North 
Korea human rights as required under the North Korean Human 
Rights Act?
    Secretary Blinken. Two things. First of all, let me answer 
your second question first.
    We will be coming forward with that. I cannot put a time 
line on it. We're determined to do that. I think, as you know, 
the vetting process has become ever more complicated, ever more 
time consuming, ever more laborious. We want to make sure that 
all of that is done properly.
    But we will do that, and if I--as soon as I have a better 
sense of timing, I'm happy to share that with you and your 
office. But we're committed to doing that.
    And second, with regard to COVID, it's not just these 25 
million. It's 80 million vaccines between now and early July. 
We will have shared more vaccines by a factor of five than any 
other country on Earth, including China. And it does not stop 
there.
    There will be excess vaccines going forward beyond July, 
and as I noted, we're also working very hard on increasing 
capacity to manufacture vaccines so that there's a much greater 
supply and that we can be the leader in getting the world 
vaccinated as quickly as possible.
    Ms. Kim of California. Thank you very much. I'd like to 
yield back the balance of my time.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman reclaims--the gentleman 
reclaims his time.
    Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member McCaul, 
and Secretary Blinken for joining us here today.
    I just want to reemphasize what several of my colleagues 
and what the Ranking Member said about the Special Immigrant 
Visa Program for especially our Afghan interpreters who served 
with and under the United States military during our conflict.
    As that conflict comes to a close, Mr. Secretary, I know 
you mentioned that we will continue some of the processing 
ability even after the troop withdrawal. But I would like to 
continue to emphasize the need to explore options in a third 
country or in Guam, as was done with Operation New Life in 1975 
under President Ford's Administration at the conclusion of the 
Vietnam War. Within a matter of weeks, over 100,000 folks were 
able to get settled, processed, and prepared.
    I know we have spoken with DHS on the vetting side, and 
that chief of mission approval does seem to be the major 
backlog. So we are fully here to support what we can do to make 
sure we are doing right by our allies.
    And I also wanted to emphasize what my colleague, Mr. Levin 
from Michigan, said about Danny Fenster, the Michigan 
journalist who was arrested by the Tatmadaw on May 24th. I know 
you've already spoken to those efforts.
    I just wanted to, again, emphasize our need to make sure 
that American citizens who are being held in custody overseas, 
especially those in an evolving conflict as in Myanmar, are 
being taken care of and that we're doing everything we can to 
get and secure their safety.
    I have a large Burmese population in my district. I've 
spoken with them on multiple occasions. I was heartened to see 
that Chevron and Total have suspended some dividend payments to 
the MOGE pipeline and the Yadana field.
    But I just wanted to ask, Mr. Secretary, has the State 
Department had additional conversations or work with our ASEAN 
allies and others to locate and freeze Tatmadaw assets located 
offshore, such as in Thailand and Singapore?
    Secretary Blinken. Yes. First of all, I appreciate all of 
your comments very much and agree with you.
    Second, yes, we're looking at various ways to--both to make 
sure that the military regime does not enjoy the benefit of 
assets that allow it to keep going. For example, we're 
encouraging countries that are invested in enterprises that 
directly support the military regime to reconsider those 
investments, and we're in close conversation with many 
countries, ASEAN Members, focused on Burma.
    Mr. Meijer. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Please let us know of 
any additional assistance we can provide. We do not want to see 
Myanmar become a failed State with ethnic armed groups 
throughout the region looking to exploit that security 
situation with them.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. The gentleman yields back, the time 
allotted for questions has now expired. I want to thank the 
Secretary for giving us three and a half hours. I know that 
there's one or two other Members that were waiting for 
questions.
    I apologize to you. I know how awkward it is to be on the 
bottom row. I've been there. I was there for a while. But the 
Secretary has given a tremendous amount of his time, and so I 
thank--I just wanted to ask the Ranking Member McCaul and thank 
him for his cooperation in putting this hearing together.
    Do you have any quick closing additional comments before we 
close?
    Mr. McCaul. No, just thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank 
you, Secretary, for your three and a half hours. I know you're 
a busy man.
    And I just want to conclude with if there's anything 
Congress can do to help you, again, with these Afghans who were 
so loyal to our troops and put theirselves in harm's way that 
when they're put in harm's way we protect them from the 
Taliban.
    I think the worst thing I could think of would be if the 
Taliban took over and slaughtered them.
    And also, force protection at the embassy is very important 
as well, and I've had several briefings on that and I know 
you're acutely aware of that as well.
    So if there's anything that we can do, I think this is an 
issue the Chairman and I are in agreement on and as with most 
issues we are, and we thank you for your time today, sir.
    Secretary Blinken. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. 
Chairman, Ranking Member McCaul. I really appreciate all of 
this time with the Members. I especially appreciate the, I 
think, very good, important conversations we have had about so 
many different issues and I really appreciate the spirit in 
which we're having those conversations.
    I apologize to colleagues who didn't get a chance. I have 
obligations to another committee in the House in just a short 
while. But I'm happy offline to try to speak to folks who 
didn't get a chance to get questions in today and followup that 
way.
    So, again, thank you.
    Chairman Meeks. Let me thank you for that, Mr. Secretary, 
because it's been a short time since you last testified before 
this committee and your work has taken you, among other places, 
from Tokyo to Brussels to Kabul to Reykjavik, and most recently 
back to our own hemisphere in San Jose.
    So we know that your schedule is jam packed and itinerary 
is proof positive of the urgent challenges that U.S. foreign 
policy must address from nonproliferation to conflict 
resolution, from migration to climate change, from rebuilding 
democracy-based alliances to countering malign or corrupt 
actors.
    So in your first appearance before this committee in March, 
you laid it out at a high level for foreign policy and matters 
of priority that you're going to measure.
    But this budget request puts the Administration's money 
where its mouth is, and I look forward to continuing to engage 
with you and the Administration as we move forward with the 
activity identified by Fiscal Year 1922 and the budget request, 
including on our priorities I and the other Members have.
    I'd like to, again, thank Ranking Member McCaul for his 
partnership and working in a bipartisan way on this committee.
    Good luck with your next committee hearings, and thank you 
for appearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in 
such a short period of time. We look forward to the next time.
    As of now, the committee is now adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 1:36 p.m., the committee was adjourned.]

                                APPENDIX
                                
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                        STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
                        
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            RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
            
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