Remarks by secretary of state mike pompeo at the louisville center. His remarks are expected momentari momentarily. Im here at the Mcconnell Center at university of louisville. Many of you are supporters and friends of the center and we really appreciate your support for our programs and for our students. I can say that our students and our soldiers and the other constituents that we try to serve, i think, are thriving in our programs. We continue to add programs and develop and adapt them to changing circumstances. And in particular, i might call your attention to a few new online programs that we have been launching, including a series of podcasts that can be found on anywhere you can get podcasts under the name vital remnants and in the spring we will be launching some new newsletters and some reading guides and some other opportunities for people outside of louisville to continue their education with us. Mcconnell center has been thriving in the year 2019. If you think of just in the last month, we can talk about hosting the ambassador from australia, for instance, and of course, the event that we have happening here today. We can also talk about two of our alumni who in the last election won statewide office. Mike and daniel, wherever you are, right here in the front, were so proud of you. So proud of you and proud of this program for doing what it set out to do from the beginning, that is nurturing the leaders of the commonwealth of kentucky. In last ten days, we sent off to region al competition, three teams of our mcconnell scholars who are over on the right this morning here. Three teams, all three of them in regional competition made it to the sweet 16 and one of our teams won the regional title. Jasper and dasha will be headed to the National Championship and i might brag on them just by saying that they are currently the number six and the number seven orators in the nation and competing for a National Title here in january. Well today we have the privilege of hosting the 7th person who has served the United States as secretary of state and were so excited about it and thats why youre here, not to listen to me. So lets get started. Ladies and gentlemen, would you please rise and help me welcome the president of the university of louisville and leader of the majority Mitch Mcconnell and the 70th secretary of state for these United States of america, mike pompeo. [applaus [applause]. [applause] good morning, everybody. I have to say that was one of the most surreal moments of my life to walk and know behind you is the Senate Majority leader and the secretary of state. As the young people would say, i could make it a meme, couldnt i . Welcome. Im your president and im so honored today to have the opportunity to introduce a man who truly needs no introduction wra anywhere in the world and certainly here, his old stomping grounds and that is of course, leader Mitch Mcconnell. Id like to say first of all, before i introduce him, thank you to dr. Gary greg. Would you mind giving him a round of applause . [applause] he does such an amazing job with our students and our soldiers, that were so grateful to have the opportunity to serve and as you heard, the rest of the republic as well. Leader mcconnell is the longest serving Majority Senate president , u. S. Senator and only the second kentuckian who serve as majority leader in the u. S. Senate. He has so many roles, including Senior Member of the appropriations, agriculture and rules committee, but i want you to remember that well before all of that, his accomplishments started right here. He came to the ufl and majored Political Science and he had a taste for running things and public life. He did attend another kentucky based university for a law degree, but im so broad minded and believe in the redemption of souls so we forgive him for that. His many, many contributions to the university of louisville, to the citizens of this commonwealth and to the country are wellknown, but i have to say a special thank you to him creating what is an Exceptional Program in the Mcconnell Center and the scholarship program. To this program, as you know, we have an opportunity to retain incredible young people who have been admitted to Great Schools all offense the country and the only reason they chose to stay in the commonwealth because this serves only kentuckians, the only reason were able to retain them here is the Mcconnell Center program. To this they have incredible opportunities. I always remind them, do i not, that everyone, dont forget this, you are among such a rare group of young people to sit and visit oneonone with incredible leaders. So i will pause here, stop here and say, leader mcconnell, welcome back as always to your stomping grounds, we are so grateful that you are here. Thank you. [applaus [applause] well, good morning. Im glad youre here. Thank you, and by the way, dont you think shes just been a shot of adrenalin to the university and to the whole community . Thank you for the wonderful job youre doing. [applaus [applause] of course, i dont know where to start with gary gregg. Gary, it will be 20 years in january. Im not sure how long he thought hed be here when he came, but he has grown this Program Beyond anything i had ever envisioned back in 1991 when we got started. And gary, thank you for the wonderful job youre doing, wherever you are. Gary. [applaus [applause] of course, the evidence of all of what gary and the university have accomplished is on full display with our students. Understand youre such good students, you can even skip the last day of classes to attend this mornings lecture. How about that . You got him out of class. Weve graduated now over 250 young men and women. Theyre now taking what they learned here and making a positive impact throughout the commonwealth and around the globe. Last month, as i think gary has already mentioned, two of our alumni were elected to statewide office here in kentucky, i dont know whether you called them out. But daniel cameron, where are you . The new attorney general stand up. [applause] and mike add dollar amounts and mike adams, the new secretary of state. We do have democrats in this program, too. And they just havent run yet or at least havent won yet. So, my honor this morning to present to you our secretary of state. This is a job, as you know, is as old as america. Thomas jefferson was our first top diplomate. His successors include some of americas most respected statesmen. Names you recognize like john marshall, james madison, and a fellow named henry clay all had this job. Great men of enduring legacy such as george marshall, dean atchison, henry kissinger. Here at the Mcconnell Center, we already had the privilege as i think may have been mentioned to host six previous secretaries of state. George schultz was here for the opening of the program in 1991. Madelieine albright, jim bakker, colin powell, Condoleezza Rice and hillary clinton. This morning its our great honor to make it lucky number seven with the 70th United States secretary of state, mike pompeo. Mike graduated top of his class from west point and served an accomplishment in any year, but wait until you hear about a few of mikes classmates. One is an elected member of congress and two serve as high ranking members of the state department. And one we had here, secretary of state mike esper all in the class of 1986 at west point. So this is not exactly a group of slackers. But mike rose to the very top. As a young cavalry officer mike was stationed in the divided german capital in the tenuous months before the fall of the berlin wall. He served with the forces of freedom. After military service he went on to Harvard Law School and an impressive career in the private sector. Entering a call to Public Service he was called to represent kansas in the u. S. House of representatives. There he became a wellrespected member of the intelligence committee. So when president elect donald trump announced mikes heading this department. Leading the house with the clandestined Services Must have been a culture shock. He was forced to trade the cloak room for the cloak and dagger. Hes got the confidence of our intelligence, and the president. He became a brilliant and trusted counsel on some of americas most sensitive matters. We later would learn that included conversations with north korea on denuclearization, a bold effort to advance the cause of peace in the world. With this record its no wonder that President Trump turned to mike when he needed a new secretary of state. Mike moved to foggy bottom and left the cia in the hands of a capable kentuckians, director gina haskell also who has been at the Mcconnell Center. Mike pompeo oversees more than 76,000 personnel working at embassies on Diplomatic Missions around the globe and like his 69 predecessors, tasked with promoting our nations values and ideals abroad. Whether thats supporting human rights and democracy in hong kong. Countering putins aggression. Promoting our enduring relationship with israel or standing strong against iranian bad behavior. Whatever the situation, we can all rest assured that secretary mike pompeo is on the job. Just last month mike went back to berlin. This time not as a soldier, but as our number one diplomate. He joined the celebration of 30 years since the fall of the wall and the beginning of the end of the soviet unions control of eastern europe. Once again, he represented the indispensable role of americas leadership in the world one that shares global prosperity. Im glad to have him as a partner, so pleased hes here today. Ladies and gentlemen, the secretary of state. [applaus [applause] good morning, thank you. Thank you all very much. Good morning. Its great to be here. Beautiful weather down here in kentucky. Senator mcconnell thank you so much for that gracious introduction. Senator mcconnell has truly been a great partner of mine, of the state department, of the Central Intelligence agency in his role as the leader in the United States senate. Its great to be back in kentucky. You know, politicians always talk about being back and this is true. I was stationed down at fort knox not once, but twice, i know every bar in elizabethtown. Its been a couple of decades, but ill bet i could still find them. I do want to thank, too, the Mcconnell Center and the university of louisville for having me here. Its difficult to come on campus. The last time i came on the campus of louisville you were beating wichita, i am not every it and if i struggle today you now know why. Its great to be here. As a former soldier i want to thank you for your Army LeadershipDevelopment Program here and commend your emphasis on civic education, i see all of these great leaders in uniform. It reminds me the campaign commercial, the person putting it together. Hey, mike, why dont you put on your uniform . And my wife said, he might be able to put on his boots. Go look to up, boots, a great campaign. Senator mcconnell says youre missing class today. Youre welcome. [laughter] im glad youre a part of this program. It represents the finest of the american tradition and part of the reason that im here today as well. Its a part of my duty as americas top diplomate to explain to americans how the state department and the work that we do benefits each and every one of you every day and its important, too, that i get a chance to hear from americans outside of washington and ill do that when i get a chance to meet with some of you after that. I come out to recruit. State. Gov so im on a recruiting mission in kentucky as well. Back in may i spoke at Claremont Institute in california. I used those remarks to talk about President Trumps vision for American Foreign policy and i told that group that President Trump is within the american tradition, but is staring at this from the perspective of how the founders thought about americas Foreign Policy. There were three central ideas if you go back and read. First the idea of realism, you have to stare at the problem set as it is not as you wish it were to be. The second idea is restraint, understanding that we live in this unbelievable exceptional nation, we have enormous privilege as american citizens and we have a special role to play in that world, but our powers not limitless, sometimes we have to make difficult choices. Ill talk more about that this morning and the third idea is respect. Respect for our american principles and run their country. I want to talk about this, that gets too little attention, the work on the western hemisphere, where we all live. I looked at where the previous secretary of state would travel, there was neglect to the places most close to us. I want to start with the big picture in latin america. In the last few years, weve seen some truly remarkable things. Many nations made a sharp turn toward democracy and capitalism, Good Government away from dictatorship and socialism and the corruption endemic in some of these countries. You see that bolivians are rebuilding their democracy even as we sit here today. No one believes that its the right path, whether you stare at people in cuba, nicaragua or venezuela. They can see the path forward is different from what theyve been living. When i was in chile we saw how they use Democratic Power for good. This past july, they got together and began the concerted effort to combat terrorism. Argentina designated hezbollah a terrorist organization. First time ever theyve contemplated Something Like that. And regional multilaterals, too, like the organization of american states ap lima group are part of the rio treaty. Theyre taken the lead and allowed america to be the supporting effort. Helping the venezuelan people move and achieving their desire for liberty and to take care of their own. And they put out the first statement affirming the right to religious freedom and something this administration has taken to heart and worked on tirelessly. And bolivia has appointed its First American ambassador in had decades. Weve been a part of helping them get to this place. We do that for a reason. This is how President Trump ports this. People should be able to exercise trar rights to selfgovernment and because freedom goes hand in hand with Economic Freedom and flourishing and it benefits the people in kentucky and across america and we support it simply because its the right thing to do. Authoritarian regimes dont go easily. Take a look at maduro. Hes hanging on today. He rules venezuela, but will never again govern it, but make no mistake, he and other dictators like him to continue to suppress their people. Cuba, too, has tried to hijack legitimate democratic process. In this country and across the region, colombia has closed its border to venezuela out of concerns that protesters from terrorists from venezuela might enter. And maduro regime continues not to place any value on human life and their current lawful president juan guido is working to achieve that freedom for their people. You see, too, maligned interference in the region, weve worked hard to push back against it and russia oil company, and the maduro leadership take millions out of the economy every year. We try to drive with moral clarity that the recognition that authoritarianism is a threat to us in the United States. And trying to deter democracies into dictatorship. And iranians pose a greater threat to the United States. Weve done so in a way thats realistic within the american capacity of power to achieve the ends we shall we seek to achieve. We rolled back obama administrations cuddling up to cuba. We recognized engagement hasnt made it better. Human rights was worse and risk to the United States was worse and capacity to influence venezuela greater. So weve changed that and allowed americans to seek justice by suing the regime in havana to recover property it stole a long time ago. It only makes sense when americans have their stuff stolen to give them a chance to get it back and applauded countries that expelled cubans who come to work as doctors, and really working for the government. Its hard to fathom. They send doctors to countries around the world and they traffic to generate income for the cuban leadership. The doctors receive 10 or 20 of the revenue that they generate and the rest goes to fund the cuban regime. We see those tyrants in the region for what they are and we craft policies to confront them not to appease them. And this really gets to the second point. Its mixed with restraint. Weve seen folks calling for regime change through violent means and weve said since january that all options are on the table, to help the venezuelan people recover their democracy and prosperity. Thats certainly still true, but weve learned from history that the risk from housing military force are significant so weve instead worked to derive maduro and his cronies of oil revenue that should go to the venezuelan people. And looking out of venezuela and the coalition. This information talked about going it alone. We have a coalition of 57 other partners for the economic pressure weve put on the regime. I talked with secretary baker after the fall of the berlin walls. And he reminded me, maturo is still there and eric honaker was still in east germany until the day he was not. There are articles leading up to that glorious event for freedom across the world. That, too, if we do it right and recognize the values that maduro, too, will fall. In july of 1989, nicholas said capitalism will come to romanian wh romanian and by the end of september, he was hanging by a rope. The end will come for maduro, we just dont know what day. And President Trump is working on economic sanctions to restore democracy there. And this demand some level of consistency and relentlessness and the american should should know that the Trump Administration will continue to be relentless. Secretary baker reminded me, too, in 1950, people were questioning why america hadnt succeeded in bringing down the soviet union and then in 1991 it was also gone. The end came slowly and then came really fast. Unending pressure and sensible restraight was the confidence then and im confident now as well. Lastly, our Foreign Policy is built on respect. As entlishrineenshrined. And President Trump knows that the or borders would undermines the rule of law, compromises security, to enables Human Trafficking and the president s taken on these problems. Thats a basic respect for american ideals. One of the diplomatic successes that im most proud of is delivering on that obligation in partnership with mexico and countries throughout south america, it is diplomacy undergirded by frank talk, by respect between neighbors and friends. We simply ask mexico and northern triangle countries of el salvador, honduras and guatemala to do more in their countries to stop the illegal flow coming to mexico and to the United States. We had to cut off some foreign assistance to show that we were serious, but we didnt tell them how to run the country to address it, we just insisted that they be Good Neighbors and look at the results. Were taking in each of the countries important steps. For example, thanks to an amazing new leader in ecuador. The intentions of salvadorans is down thanks to his help. Well help the el salvadorans be successful and build out their great country. In that same vein of respect, weve told that predatory chinese agencies look at deals, but in the end bad for their own nation. But we dont try to stop them from doing business with the Chinese Companies and help them understand the threats that face their country doing deals with the chinese and foreclosing on important assets inside their country. Thats respect. We let each leader make their decisions and do our part to form one. And in taty. We weved provided assistance and told the new argentine government, not eeg eye to eye on Foreign Policy issues, thats respect. And finally its respecting peoples yearning to be free. We know that here in the United States. Ensuring that religious freedom could be had across the world. That economic rights are directed. Helping to see opportunities for prosperity in their countries. Weve seen a number of protests in bolivia, chile, ecuador. And thats a democratic government and democratic expression inside of their countries. The government should respect that the way that democracies do. We are so blessed here. America replains the greatest example of democracy in the history of the world. We in the Trump Administration will continue to support countries trying to prevent cuba and venezuela from hijacking the protests and well work with legitimate governments to prevent protests from morphing into violence and riots that dont reflect the democratic will of the people and well be vigilant, too. That new leaders dont express the leaders to take power to hijack the democracy that got them there. Thats the kind of respect that we owe to other governments and other people so they can have democracy in their own nation. Ill end here. I want to leave plenty of time for questions. Were proud of what weve done, plenty to do in our own back yard and hemisphere. The sun of democracy is dawning many places close to it. Whatever its day brings well bring it in a spirit of realism and restraint and support for the peoples of our region. Thank you, and god bless you. God bless kentucky and god bless the United States of america. Thank you for having me. [applaus [applause] well, we thought wed have a little discussion and i think the good place to start is hong kong. Back in 1992 i introduced a little bill called the Hong Kong Policy act. This is five years before the handover back to the chinese from the british. A very born bill certainly in this country, but it was noticed because the state department would make an annual report whether the chinese after the handover were sticking to the deal made with the british that was supposed to hold up for 50 years. Well, weve certainly witnessed a lot of unrest in hong kong here and just the other day we did an update of the hong kong boil act. Its overwhelming on the house and senate and President Trump signed it. It strikes me, mr. Secretary, that this could be president xis Worst Nightmare that this view that being able to express yourself and maybe being able to elect your own leaders would metastasize into the mainland. Whats your take on hong kong and the chinese governments reaction to it . Leader, mcconnell, youve been at this issue in hong kong for an awfully long time and thanks for handing me the requirement to certify now, but its deeply appreciative. Look, the issue of hong kong you articulated well. Its a people desirous of having the communist Chinese Party to live up to the treaty, united nations, talked about one country, but two systems and their obligation to honor that and our efforts to make sure those werent empty promises made to the people of hong kong. The Chinese Communist party owes it to the people who live up to what they agreed. And you see the flags flying in protest. They want what our next generation wants, the freedom to raise families and commitment for bidding that, chinese communityist party, 50 years, and the United States stands firmly in support of asking them to honor that committee and to do so without violence. And to find a resolution to this that honors the one country, two system policy that the chinese leadership signed up for. You mentioned in your remarks, protests around the world. Youve mentioned and on other occasions and others p have, protests going on in iran, lebanon. Whats behind all of this . Whats your take on the level of unrest, particularly in an adversary like iran . So, im not sure you can draw a line between all the protests and all the different places thats direct, other than each place that you find these protests, you see people who are living under authoritarian regime and demanding a fundamental change. In the middle east, what you see taking place is the iraqi Prime Minister resigned within the last 48 hours. He did so because the people were demanding freedom and the Security Forces had killed dozens and dozens of people. Thats due in large part to iranian influence there. The same is true in lebanon and beirut, a desire for the people of lebanon. Its the people of all religions, you have christians, sunni muslims, you have people from all across lebanon, just demanding basic autonomy for the nation they want, hezbollah out of their country, out of their system as a violent and Repressive Force and the same thing is happening in baghdad and the protests in iran itself in 90 plus cities are taking place because the iranian people are fed up. They see a theocracy that is stealing money. The ayatollah is stealing tens and tens of millions of dollars and putting it in his own pocket. Money to provide resources for the iranian people and theyre demanding basic rights. Our role in this is to support freedom for wherever we are to do so. And in iran authoritying indicates that there are several hundred people who have been killed by the Security Forces. Thousands detained inside of iran and to stand up and say thats not right. These people are asking for a simple basic set of freedoms and iranian leadership, that should change in a way that reflects the desires of their own people. The Administration Made an important decision, that supported to withdraw from the Previous Administrations iran nuclear deal. To what extent are the europe europeans resisting following our lead on that in that decision and the sanctions that the administration levied against iran, how effective have been been so far . So the Previous Administration chose iran to be the primary Security Partner in the middle east. We thought that woos fundamentally flawed. The iran nuclear deal, j cpoa, to prevent iran from having a weapons system when it guaranteed a glide path for iran to have a nuclear weapon. So President Trump made the decision to draw from it. That had a number of salutory effects. First, it stopped funding the regime in iraq. We saw the 150 million transferred there, but they permitted European Countries to trade in iran, creating wealth, underright hezbollah and so shia militias. And now the Iranian Regime has fewer resources to build out their nuclear system. To do r d on weapons or whatever it is they might be desirous of achieving. The europeans chose a different approach, stayed inside the nuclear deal. Weve encouraged them to move away from that. The United States chose sanctions and europeans decided not to do that. Despite what the world told President Trump, that the sanctions would not work. The world is wrong. They have been effective. Die rans wealth will decrease from 2018 to 2019. And 2019 and this does not just impact the iranian people. If the ayatollah can underwrite a Nuclear Program and centrifuges, underwrite hezbollah in lebanon. Underwrite fighters that travel to latin america. If the Iranian Regime has that wealth, it has in you have to take care of its own people. Were simply doing this to keep america safe and enable the iranian people to convince the regime that it needs to change its way in the most fundamental and basic way. Just ask iran to behave like a normal countries. The president called me this morning on matters unrelated to Foreign Policy and headed to england and i assume you are as well. What do you anticipate is coming out of this nato meeting . Yes, ill leave here from louisville to london direct. Were celebrating 70th anniversary of nato. An important force for good and freedom throughout the world for all the postwar period now, 70 years. President trump came in saying we want today make sure that nato was fit for purpose, that its focus was right and my team and the department of defense has worked with our nato partners to ensure that so what have we done . First, weve made sure that we were addressing the proper challenges. So it was created to fight the soviet union and to be a Security Alliance to opposed to the soviet union. Soviet union is no more, russia remains. The threat from russia is a dangerous cyber threat. And chinese poses an enormous risk to nato, trying to infiltrate Nato Communications and technology, all the things that china would want to do to empower itself at the expense of our transatlantic partners so mato needs to prepare to do that as well. And nato has taken on an increased role in fighting terrorism. There are nato forces and around the world counterterrorism. So its important that nato reflect that and be fit for purpose for 2020. The second thing the president was intensely focused on, making sure it wasnt america bearing too great a burden connected to that. So President Trump asked these countries to do the simple thing of honoring a promise that they made. Every one of the nato Companies Made a promised to spend 2 of gdp on defense. And egypt and 28 nations made. Some lived up to that, some of them are struggling to find a way to do so. Were going to encourage them to do that and more quickly. Since President Trump took office about 130 billion more has been spent by those countries in their own and other transatlantic alliance. This is due to President Trumps focus making sure every country will share the burden of our collective defense. Those are the topics well talk about and then spend a fair amount of time talking about the history and successes that the nato countries had over the last seven decades. The country that americans seem to Pay Attention to is our friend israel. Weve observed, theyve gone through two elections and unable so far to form a governme government. I know we dont dabble in these kind of internal decisions in other countries, so thats not my question. Thanks, i appreciate that. [laughter] did israels adversaries in a period of uncertainty like this that its a time of mischief or the government in spite of the western leaning democratic chaos, is prepared to respond no matter what is happening politically and internally in israel . Thats a good question. My observation those who might see this as a positive opportunity know that Prime Minister netanyahu is still the Prime Minister and any threat would be made defense of israel a priority. You saw this frankly a few weeks back when there were attacks. And it was during a time when there was political challenge inside of the Israeli Government and Prime Minister netanyahu took response to that. I dont think that anybody sees that moment of political transition and israel as them working through their democratic processes as an opportuni opportunity. And the United States will do everything we can to do with israel through this process. Ive told we have one more question. Im going around to a completely different place of the world and special interest to me. Its a louisville question, here it comes. [laughter] thats to burma. I had a longstanding note passing relationship with her while she was under house arrest and having watched with great interest the attempt to evolve from a military dictatorship into something more western leaning, with open to commerce, elections, all the rest, but there seems to be some back sliding and shes been under a lot of criticism for not basically standing up to the military and reacting more aggressively to the rahinga atrasties atrocities that occurred. And people have been taking away honorary degrees they gave her. And whats your take . Is she making a sort of a practical decision that she cant take on the military successfully and shes enduring a total loss of status around the world because she hasnt done something that we may conclude would only lead her to lose balance. Shes in a very difficult situation and its a complex situation. I think you characterized completely right. Those are the two polar ends of the two choices she faces there. From the United States perspective, we dont choose leaders, we choose good outcomes. So our efforts there have been to put pressure on the burmese military. Youve seen us sanction burmese leaders. And these are the bad actors, these are the, in this case, men who are engaged in ak sifts that would that would frighten us all and we all know are deeply abhorrent to our way of life here so we put sanctions on the military and try to protect the innocent that suffered so much and weve tried ive met with my counterparts and tried to help them through, but the militarys got an awful lot of power and shes facing a true conundrum. Our hope, our expectation is that she will engage in every activity that she can to try and drive the right outcomes, i believe in her heart she wants for her country and for her people, to drive them in the right direction. Its not unusual. Weve seen this in transitional governments where you have a set of armed military forces under the control or quasi under the control of those outside of government, and the government apparatus trying to get to the right place for their own people and leaders trying to bridge that gap, to get in the right direction, to push back against the military. Iraq is a good example of that, right . The iraqi leaders trying to push back against the iranian militia who are denying sovereignty for the iraqi people. All they really want is to have a Free Independent sovereign iraq, and theyve got arms and military driving inside of that country. And so, we watch the leaders and were continually disappointed they havent done more, but realize theyre in a difficult place, trying to maintain enough influence and capacity to push in the direction, and were very much in the same place. Join me in thanking the secretary of state. Thank you all. [applause] thank you. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it. Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, thank you to all of you for coming. Im sure youll agree that this was a more informative and enlightening opportunity for us to know whats going on. And the world comes to you, and were proud that our roots are in louisville, but our reach is global and i think this is an indication. So secretary pompeo, when i met you first in kansas several years ago, i never dreamt that our paths would cross this way. And i would like to, on behalf of our board, our board chair mary nixon, our faculty, our staff and our students most of all, we have a small gift for you, we hope this will remind you of your time here, welcome back anytime. Ill go with you to fort knox anytime. So, thank you so very much and thank you, everybody, for being here. Thank you. This is a small token. [applaus [applause]. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] and this afternoon a look at security with christopher ford. You can watch live coverage from the stimson center. And a look at china, from the Asian Pacific at 2 00 everyone and the senate is back at 3 00 eastern and vote on a secretary nominee if confirmed hell replace rick perry. Senate will work on judicial nominations. You can follow the senate live here on cspan2. The impeachment inquiry hearings continue when House Judiciary Committee chairman Gerald Nadler holds the committees first impeachment inquiry focused on the constitution and history of impeachment. Watch on cspan 3. Chairman nadler extended an invitation for the president and his counsel to appear before the committee, read the letter to the president on our website, cspan. Org impeachment and follow the impeachment inquiry live on cspan 3, cspan. Org or listen live on the free cspan radio app. A federal court heard oral argument in sierra club versus trump, the Emergency Declaration and funds for the border wall. They requested an expedited hearing for this case before the court of appeals, 9th circuit, following the Supreme Court order to allow the administration to temporarily begin begin construction tuesday using the funds. This is the time set for arguments in the case of sierra