Transcripts For CSPAN3 State 20240706

From china . Its a bit like cotton. Producing 90 of cotton. In so its a very High Percentage its a very high risk that anything related from china is implicated. One strategy or the strategy to go for draw out its staff were citizens before the violence began. The United States cannot be blindsided like this. I want to understand what is being done to prevent this in the future. Now, i realize that if the views of some ends up being the reality, our ability to predict and prepare for situations like we are seeing in sudan will be dramatically affected of the potential cuts that are being talked about in discretionary domestic spending. Everything we do at the state departments domestic discretionary spending. So i dont know how we are going to get better with less. Undersecretary newland, i want to hear a clear articulation of our short, medium and long term goals in sudan and the horn of africa. As well as the administrations strategy for achieving them now that we dont have any diplomatic presence on the ground in sudan. Mrs. Charles is one of the emerging humanitarian catastrophe, we need to plan to deliver assistance as quickly as possible to the people of sudan, to empower Civil Society invoices advocating against all odds and its great personal cost for democracy. Millions of lives in sudan and the horn of africa are it stake as our Strategic Interests in the horn of africa and the red sea corridor. We need to put democratic transition back on track in sudan. With that, let me turn to the Ranking Member for his opening statement. Thank you, mister chairman. I would certainly concur in your remarks. I think you are kind of than im going to, be but nonetheless we have the situation before us. This is not a happy occasion. Its disappointing that we are here today having this hearing. The humanitarian and security catastrophe playing out in sudan was predictable. This committee has tried to ensure sudan had the highest levels of attention from the state department. Sadly, that has not happened. I concur with the chairman that this is not an easy situation. Its no question that things are difficult there, but we dont have the luxury of just dealing with the easy ones. More should have been done to protect the cities people from the military junta. We have to should have done more to warn american citizens and respond to the predictable scenario that we all saw unfolding. We have seen this movie before. As sudan faces a potentially catastrophe fake civil war instead collapse, like those we have seen in syria and libya, urgent leadership by the United States and its allies is required. Certainly, the state department is on the front line for this. No one should be surprised they were involved in refused to relinquish power. Im concerned the United States continues to partner with the same authoritarian actors in the region that have bargained away sudans democratic future in order to secure their own interests. Even neil, current efforts in saudi arabia yield a real humanitarian ceasefire, but we must also be very honest with ourselves about the motivations of some of the regional actors. In the four years and students general removed Omar Albashir from hope, a knife up towards corrupt military leaders has driven u. S. Policy in sudan. This approach has powered sedans strongman, while victimizing the sudanese people, undermining the countrys democratic future. The Biden Administration has sanctions only one sudanese entity under global minutes key, while President Biden issued an executive order last week, there were no designations with the announcement. Very disappointing. The u. S. Has also not put its best to diplomatic foot forward to deal with the problem. We did not name a ambassador to sudan for more than two years after normalizing relations. During a critical time in sudans transition. U. S. Embassy in khartoum has also faced persistent understaffing and leadership challenges. Congress has spoken in a bipartisan manner, with an unmistakable voice on sudan to ensure transition, but the sudanese people need to be put first and we need to and the stranglehold of Sudanese Security forces on the however the administration does not seem to be listening. During our last meeting 15 months ago i called for the administration to articulate a clear vision for what it wants in sudan. Im still waiting. The Administration Must change not only the architecture, but also the architects of this policy. We need a policy that empowers the sudanese people, we can see the generals, shuts off the foreign meddling and finance that empowers them, and leads a coalition of partners committed to putting sudans democratic future first. We must and this cycle of doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. I look forward to hearing from our Witnesses Today just as the chairman indicated about how the administration plans to meet immediate needs in sudan, and make an urgent course correction in its sudan policy. Before i close, i would be remissed, and i want to express my deep disappointment, for your failure to respond to mine and many of my colleagues questions for the record in a timely manner. You left testified before this committee on january 26th. Then after that hearing, as usual, questions for the record were submitted because we have limited times in airings. That was over 100 days ago. I received answers to those questions for the record. Do you know when . The delay in responding to these questions underscores serious doubt in my mind that the state department to put any value on communication with congress, and holds no respect for this committees oversight rule. Some of the questions i submitted to you were about sudan. And now, we get an answer over 100 days later. The day before the next hearing on this subject. I really feel that this demonstrates that the department is just going through the motions, and continuing on its happy way keeping us in the dark. I expect to receive meaningful explanation of why these questions for the record took over 100 days to complete. Thank, you mister chair. Thank you very much, senator risch. Our Witnesses Today are ambassador Victoria Nuland, under secretary of state for Political Affairs. Miss sarah charles, assistant to the humanitarian assistance. Under secretary Victoria Nuland as a distinguished 33 year career as a diplomat, we joining the departments undersecretary for Political Affairs in april of 2021. And i wont go through all of that history, but suffice to say its an incredible career. Sarah charles its a system to the administrator usa i. D. In charge of the briefing humanitarian affairs. The u. S. Governments Leader International Disaster Response before joining the bureau she was senior director for policy and advocacy for the International Rescue committee and has worked with the National Security council. As director of humanitarian affairs. We thank you both for your participation and your service through to our country. I would ask you to summarize your statements in about five minutes. Your full statements will be included in the record without objection. Ambassador nuland, we will start with you. Thank you chairman menendez, Ranking Member risch, distinguished members of this committee. We appreciate the opportunity to be with you and exchange views at such a difficult and consequential moment for sudan. The Third Largest nation on the african continent, sudan holds enormous promise and opportunity. It should be a thriving bread basket for its people, the region, and the world, but its dead it has been plagued, as you both noted, by decades of authoritarianism, economic turmoil, and civil war. In 2019, the sudanese people longing for a different future led a peaceful protest movement that ended the 30year reign of a dictator only to endure a military takeover two years later. Our engagement since has focused on restoring the promise of that 2019 revolution and supporting a civilianled transition to democracy and civilian rule. We have worked over the past 18 months with civilian partners in sudan to build a coalition to lead this effort while simultaneously putting pressure on sudans generals to engage seriously in a political process. Despite the courageous effort by sudanese civilian leaders and intensive engagement by international actors, which did yield considerable progress since last fall on elements of their own framework for a political agreement, those negotiations as you know broke down over the unwillingness of the two military leaders to resolve the last issue which stood in the weight of a return to democracy. Namely had erected support forces and the Sudanese Armed forces would integrate under a unified command structure. On april 15th, we saw months of progress erased overnight. You have seen the images, hundreds killed in pillaging, looting, Armed Conflict across the city. Food, water, medicine, electricity, telecoms cut off. Hundreds of thousands of families displaced or hiding in their homes. Our first priority, as you noted, was the safety of our people. Over seven days, we consolidated all u. S. Personnel at the Embassy Compound where our military than bravely extracted them by helicopter on april 23rd to ethiopia and onward to djibouti. Then with the help of partners, british, french, germans and saudis, we organized three overland convoys from khartoum to port sudan, transporting more than 700 more people, and hundreds of our own people also boarded allied and partner flights. In total, we facilitated the departure of 2000 people including 1300 u. S. Citizens and Family Member is along with u. S. Al p o rs, locally employed staff, and nationals from other allied and partner countries. From the outside outset, we have also worked to silence the guns. Secretary blinken, assistant secretary malik fee, our vaccinators then anthony godfrey, and teams across the department have been tirelessly engaged. First with secondary blinkens intense personal effort, we have secured six sequential short term ceasefires, which have lessened the fighting and allowed these evacuations and some initial movement of humanitarian aid. And then working intensively with saudi arabia and other partners, we began on sunday these prenegotiations with the warring parties. To date, the secretary has made seven separate cards to generals abdel fattah alburhan and hemedti to stop the guns, jumpstart this emergency diplomacy, and get talks going. He has also been in touch with African Union chairperson and leaders across the region and europe. And as you know, for the last three days, starting on sunday evening, assistant secretary defeat and ambassador godfrey have led the u. S. Delegation to these emergency prenegotiations that began in jeddah. Our goal for these talks has been very narrowly focused. First, securing agreement on the declaring shun of humanitarian principles. And then getting a cease fire that is long enough to visit the steady delivery of badly needed services. If this stage is successful, and i talked to our negotiators this morning who are cautiously optimistic, it would then enable expanded talks with additional local, regional and International Stakeholders towards a permanent cessation of hostilities and then a return to civilianled rule as the sudanese people have demanded for years. We and our partners continue to make clear to the warring parties led by these two generals that there can be no military solution to this crisis and negotiations are the only way forward. We have also made clear anne through President Bidens may 4th executive order to authorize future sanctions that we will hold those responsible for stealing sudans future to account. These new authorities reinforce a consistent message from the u. S. That the world is watching. The fighting has to stop and we will hold those responsible to account. Meanwhile, we appreciate saudi arabias role hosting these talks, and we will continue to work closely with all regional partners including the African Union, he gad, the sudan that includes the uk, to bring the conflict to an end. Mister chairman, if i could, and mr. Ranking member, in this context, thank you for passing our ambassador to the ambassador designate, Stephanie Sullivan for the African Union, through this committee and urge your support and help getting hurt confirmed on the floor. Despite many setbacks, we will continue to stand with the sudanese people in their demands for a peaceful and democratic future. They deserve better. I thank you look forward to listening to your questions and Ranking Member risch, you are absolutely right. Those questions should not have taken 100 days. That is on me. It will not happen again. I apologize. Miss charles. Chairman menendez, Ranking Member risch, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. About the unfolding humanitarian crises in sudan and the u. S. Governments response. It has been less than one month since the hostilities between the Sudanese Armed forces and the Rapid Support forces erupted, but the impact on the people of sudan has already been devastating. Ongoing violence has led to the death of hundreds, injured thousands, and destruction of Critical Infrastructure and disruption basic services. Attacks against humanitarian staff and the looting of humanitarian assets forced many of our partners to temporarily suspend hundreds of lifesaving programs, and relocate their staff, impacting millions of people who relied on these programs to meet basic needs. Before the conflict, 16 Million People in sudan, more than one third of the population, quite humanitarian assistance. We do not yet know the full extent to which humanitarian conditions have worsened since april 15th, but the early reports are grim. An estimated 70 of hospitals across conflict effect afflicted areas are not operational. More than 3 million women and girls are at risk of gender based violence. More than 19 Million People in our latest analysis could be food insecure in the next 3 to 6 months if fighting continues. More than 700,000 people have been internally displaced, more than 170,000 people have been crossed into neighboring countries. Meaning the ramifications of the conflict do not and at sudans borders. They stretch into the region, compounding existing humanitarian needs across several countries. The United States is the largest of humanitarian assistance to sudan, that while the operating context is changed, our commitment to providing assistance to the people of sudan has not. On april 23rd, u. S. Aid administrator Samantha Power announced the deployment of a Disaster Assistance response team, or d. A. R. T. , to the region to lead and coordinate the u. S. Governments humanitarian response. While some of our humanitarian programs are temporarily suspended, as of yesterday 19 of our longstanding partners with Strong National networks continue to operate albeit with limited capacity, and dwindling prepositioned supplies. Since the beginning of the conflict, national staff, neighborhood committee, and other Civil Society organizations have shown tremendous bravery, responding to the needs in their communities amid incredible risk and uncertainty. One of our partners has been dispatching in network of midwives across khartoum to manage emergencies and support homeworth amid airstrikes, gunfire and rubble. When its been too dangerous for pregnant women to travel to any of the few operational hospitals. Their bravery and commitment to the sudanese people has helped save lives and bring new life into the world and other wives in otherwise grim circumstances. Despite incremental progress, the insecurity operating environment, lack of access, limited supply levels, inaccessibility of cash, on reliable electricity, and telecoms, will impact their ability to sustain this limited delivery of assistance in the coming weeks. Looking forward, we are working closely with our partners to respond now even as we assess additional humanitarian needs. While rapid assessments are ongoing, we are working with partners now to use existing programs and prepositioned stocks to scale up and pivot emergency programming or conditions where conditions allow. We are also working closely with our colleagues at the department of state and the United Nations to advocate in jeddah and elsewhere for the conditions that will allow for the scaling up humanitarian operations including Overland Routes and averages from neighboring countries. We are also asking Government Entities in sudan and in neighboring countries to decrease bureaucratic barriers that limit relief organizations ability to respond to the crises and scale. For example, by expediting customs procedures, issuing visas visa waivers for workers, and waiving requirements issued by the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission to fasttrack humanitarian activities. For many years, has chronically hampered humanitarian action and delayed lifesaving assistance in sudan. These restrictions were egregious before, and all the more so now. Amid ongoing attacks on aid workers and assets, including the one that chairman menendez just mentioned, we remain focused on the safety and security of our humanitarian partners. To date, fighting has resulted in the tragic death of at least six u. S. Aid partner staff, and injuries to others. In conclusion, this conflict is the combination of decades of impunity for crimes committed across sudan. Impunity that has affected our own staff, when the murder of u. S. Aid employees, john granville, and of juul were killed in khartoum 2008, was replaced from prison in january. The sudanese people have been demanding an end to injustice and impunity for decades and we stand with them. The humanitarian crisis in sudan will continue to deteriorate if humanitarian access and the delivery of assistance to millions of Vulnerable People continue to be limited by the ongoing conflict and the actions of the parties. By seeking a resolution to the conflict and commitments from the parties involved to uphold humanitarian principles, we can scale up lifesaving programs across sudan. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify and i look forward to your questions. Thank you both very testimonies, but fiveminute rounds. Madam secretary, let me preface what im about to say buy say you have a big portfolio umbrella. Some of the issues that we will be discussing here are more specific to your colleague, who is the assistant secretary for african affairs. And i get it, since you are the representative of the state department here, take my questions in that spirit. So, there have been published reports that are highly critical of the administration of sudan policy. Among the things that it says is that there was memos written and circulated within the state Departments Bureau of african affairs, warning of a current u. S. Policy in sudan, and listing potential scenarios that could emerge in a rivalry between including full skill conflict. They were heavily redacted and put on the secretarys desk. It was note that prompt abdel fattah alburhan were amassing forces around khartoum. And lower levels, the statements were being made about that as a reality of a real challenge to the possibility of conflict breaking out. There were talks about, from several dozen, both officials and advocates, sudanese activists, who describe a deeply flawed u. S. Policy process with talks in sudan and the runoff of a conflict, monopolized by a select few officials that shut the rest of the agency out of deliberations and quieted over the direction of u. S. Sedan policy. It goes on to say, from the outset, there is a consistent and willful dismissal of views that question whether you and talks will be a recipe for success for failure. Those warnings were ignored, and instead the u. S. Built, im quoting, now a dream policy of a political process that is crashed down on the people of sudan. I have noted, on several occasions, that assistant secretary of state seems to have a diversions of sanctions as any tool anytime, for any purpose. Thats a problem. I dont know how else you induce, especially to individuals like this, to act when you have, i dont know what you have to offer at the end of the day, what consequences they face. Lastly, Civil Society seems to be cut out, and disillusion activist lost faith in the United States. Thats all bad news. None of which has responded to any of the testimonies that we heard here today. Can you take a minute or so to talk to me about all of that . Thank, you mister chairman. Let me start by saying that, when the leader hamdok was thrown out, we, and october of 21, we did institute harsh penalties against sudan, which were controversial, internally, given how strong they were. If you recall after that move, we designated the Central Reserve police, we also suspended all bilateral aid and debt relief, and support, there were questions internally of whether that was the right thing to do. Of course, some of that has implications for the sudanese people. But at the goal of those, which are made on the secretarys watch, and this administrations watch, were too shocked the parties into getting serious about a broad framework for transition. There, after we supported the sudanese zone framework that emerged, which was largely by the civilians, now you can ask the questions about whether or not there was a broad enough communities of civilians involved, but this was a process designed by the sudanese themselves. And steadily used to pressure on the generals and the parties to try to work through all of these issues getting back to a transition. As i said to you, yes, we saw in generals keeping their own options opened, they did not put all of their forces into garrison. However, that structure did work through many of the issues preparatory to return to civilian rule. We were left with one issue. Which was whether these two generals would integrate their forces, because you cant have more than one army in a country at a time. There was incredible effort made, including by the secretary himself, to offer options for the two of them for how these forces can be integrated various different ways, not just bias, but the African Union, by their partners. As i said, unfortunately, they chose the path of war, not the path of integration. At various points during these talks, since october and onward, we have seen tensions spike between these two generals. At every previous point, with our partners, with the sudanese civilians, we were able to tamp things down and get them back to the table, that was not successful on april 15th. That said, throughout this period, we have been warning american citizens not to travel to sudan. We have been strengthening our own internal procedures should things get violent again. Look, it is a tragedy yet again. Can we get them this process restored . We will see. Will it be the same process . No, they will have to be broader. Look, i will close by simply saying, it seems to me that we need to have a process. That number one, uses our intelligence in the bureau at the state department pretty good they, have been on the mark sometimes better than some of our other intelligence agencies. We need to read tag or read ten, however you might refer to, it some of our presumptions because you cant work under everything that will be the rosiek thing and hope it will turn out that way but nonetheless you have to have either availabilities to think through what other process of consequences im concerned we do that more on one occasion, we find ourselves at the consequences of not doing so. I think thats incredibly important for the department to internalize and to think about, because im deeply concerned about the information that exists. I know i use a deal with the senator as he is trying to find a path forward, and he is insisting on taking care of sanctions and it approving the ability to get us there in the right way. But, for it, i dont think we wouldve taken care of those victims. Senator . Thank you, mister chairman. I know you think the chairmans states were statements were kind of harsh, but i can assure you, there are worse stuff out there that you probably have read yourself. Let me say, i do understand, i think everybody understands, this is a very, very difficult situation. I think it needs more ten more attention than what it is getting. This morning, Foreign Policy published an article called how the u. S. Fumbled sudans hopes for democracy written by Robbie Graham or, have you had a chance to review that . I have, Ranking Member. Miss chairman, i would like to submit that for the record, please. I think its a good discussion of the issues and the problems, how we got here. To be honest with you, i dont see how we move forward with the Current Situation the way it is. Most people agree its not a full blown civil war at this point, but you know, history tells us what will happen. Then it will move towards a full blown civil war. Of course, the country is in difficult enough positions. Let me ask, first of all, the african african portfolio is a tough portfolio, is all things that have to be done, as you know, i have staff that is focused on that. They tried to work with you as much as you would permit. This is an area that we have been focused on for sometime. And its just not working. I guess the question i would have for you is, give me some hope here. Sitting down with the two generals again, as we have done a number of times, we all look back at the time in our invoice, they promised, that nothing would happen on the airplane, on the way, back they found out that they were conducting a coup. It seems to me that we have got to do things differently than what we are doing. Give me some hope here, what are your thoughts about a Bigger Movement outside of the block than what we are talking about, sitting down again saying, will you guys be good guys . Yeah, we will be good guys. Away we go. Give me some hope. Thank you, Ranking Member. First of all, we cant get anything done in sudan. We cant even restore a process in which civilians are participating until the violence stops, and we get some aid in. Thats where these general talks are scoped, but . You have to work with the guns. The fact that some of that both of them sent delegations, that was not easy to get done either, and we are cautiously optimistic that this first installment on getting humanitarian support in will allow us to get going in the coming days. Then the ceasefire has to be more durable. We have the sanctions tool that can allow us to continue to pressure them. Frankly, we agree that we are going to have to have a broader process. Its going to have to include more sudanese voices. But when you have a population that is either largely displaced or hiding in their houses, we are going to have to get to enough piece to do that. The sudanese people are the briefest and strongest voices in this. They dont want to live this way. And under ambassador godfrey, with the support of the assistant secretary feet, we have far broader connectivity and connection with voices throughout society that need to be part of this. Even from the talks in jeddah, ambassador godfrey, they are staying in contact with sudanese civilians with how he would move forward. How you should support them with International Assistance as well as carrots and sticks. If we can get there. I want to just go back, if i may, sherman, to something you said about the african bureau. I oversee the african bureau, i take responsibility for this as well for secretary blinken. This sudan policy has been very difficult. I would say that the debate within the bureau, they debate within the, building the debate within the inner agency which i participated in many times has been robust and difficult. We have not taken any option off of the table but we were, as i said, believing that the framework, that the sudanese themselves put forward was making progress. We have the sanctions and then we have this choice, by the general. I want you to know that this is a secretary that sir courts rigorous debate inside the building, and i support that as well. And frankly, we have it all the way through this crisis. Let me just underscore that, we will continue to, as you know, he cares deeply about this one. And is regularly bringing people up to have different views, including through the ascension. Secretary, you yourself, and the chairman underscored, and i do too about all of the problems in africa, and the difficulty there. Has any consideration been given to getting a lawyer, or someone who is specifically focused on on sudan. We have had that before, we all know that the ambassador is out of the country when the last blow up happened. It just seems to me, it needs more attention, more individual attention. As you noted, you have a whole lot on your plate, and so do the other people who work in at the african desk. What are your thoughts on that . So, we are obviously looking at all of the options, things to look forward. Ambassador godfrey is central to all of this, so until we get him back into sudan, he will continue to work both on the sudan internal conversations, and as i said, he is in contact with a broad carcross section on the ground, but he is also likely to play a stronger role in some of the regional diplomacy, and global diplomacy that we need on sudan. That is how we are thinking about it at the moment. As you know, the our envoy for the horn, ambassador hammer, has been focused primarily on ethiopia and the governor, he will also play a reinforcing role as necessary on this, which is also within his mandate. Thank you, time is up. I will have more questions for the record. I hope i dont have to wait until the leaves get an answer. Thank you. Just a comment, you mention Civil Society, Civil Society does not feel that they are in this. As a matter of fact, they feel the two generals have dictated that they have to be out in order for them to talk. That is fundamentally wrong. First, let me thank you for your service. I wants to follow up on the point about our capacity here. The khartoum mission has always been characterized as historically difficult to staff. One of the challenges that we have had is, do we have did we have adequate personnel in our emissions in order to deal with these challenges . That is an issue i want to talk about. Not generally today, but we do need to figure out how we can staff these challenging conditions with adequate resources to have the attention you we need to avoid conflicts. I want to talk about the americans that are still in sudan. We understand that we are able to get those who served in our mission is safely out of sudan. There are many other americans that are in sudan today. We have an estimate of the numbers, particularly those who are interested in leaving sudan. The circumstances there are certainly anything but certain. As to what is going to happen as far as safety. What is our game plan on helping americans . Senator, when the conflict began on april 15th, we had connectivity with about 5000 americans who had registered with us in one foreman or another, that enabled us to push out messages, and i think 12 times so far about various options for leaving a country, traveling on flights with allies, or the overlay of convoy that resulted in being able to get 1300 of them out. We are in contact with a number of them who are continuing to weigh their options. But as we have americans who are more ready now than they were at the time as we were doing the overland convoy to get out, we were giving them advice are various ways that they can do that that are considered more safe. Were we to have critical mass, larger number that wanted to come out, we will look at other options. At the moment, our sense is that the majority of the americans who have stayed in sudan, have a state for either reasons of a family or work or history. We are in contact with a large number. Do we have an estimate as her how Many Americans are interested in leaving sudan . When i asked this question yesterday, they felt quite comfortable that as we were getting in small handfuls, people making a decision now to come out who did not want to come out when one week or two ago, we were able to accommodate them on transit. That situation changes every day as people evaluate their personal situation,. The notifications youre talking about, can you explain what notifications were given to americans, i guess after april 15th . As i said, first of all, just do laid the predicate that the travel guns to americans have been since october 21, they should not travel to sudan. If they do travel to sudan, then they should register with the embassy. We had about 5000 americans registered with the embassy, as i said, that enabled us in a much more moderate and a efficient way to send over 12 messages to them in the last two weeks, offering them various options. We use text, we use whatsapp, we use email, we use the Contact Information that they give us. The Registration Form that we are now using asks for multiple ways to contact, including family at home, which allowed us to be more complete this time than we might have been in the past. It sounds like you are, you have some confidence that we can get information to those who wants to leave sudan, as to the opportunities that are available on different options, you are in contact. Is that fair to say . Thats absolutely right. Frankly, we invite any of you who are hearing from constituents et cetera, about people who have not captured from our system, please send in our way. Let me ask this, i would like to talk, how confident are you kidding us being able to get the humanitarian assistance into sudan. You mention the midwives, do we have a network that is reliable to try to get help in . Currently 19 of the 33 humanitarian partners are operational in some capacity. Although, at a much limited capacity than they were. We have a lot of supplies that are flowing into sudan right now, including more than 30,000 metric tons of u. S. Sourced commodities that are anchored in the u s right now. One of the key elements of those talks in general are the kind of security arrangements that would allow their suppliers to come in, and come in at scale, and be distributed in a way that is more reliable. Even right now, we worked with our partners, authorize the partners, used preexisting stocks in the country to respond when we can. Thank you. Senator. Thank you very much, mister chairman. Thank you ambassador for being here. I want to talk about the americans that were in sudan as well. Help me understand, because it seems to me that once again, the Biden Administration was caught flatfooted by the events that were developed a. , that the change in a way that you did not anticipate. What were the steps taken, what plans were in place to be able to help americans, if i understand americans, the fighting started on april 15th, you evacuated the embassy on the 22nd. The Overland Route did not start until april 28th or 29th in that area. Tell me, britain evacuated 1573 people by air. France and germany had 1700 people by air. Yet, initially, we were told that the security situation mediate so that it was too dangerous to be able to evacuate americans, while other nations were evacuating their people. Days later, you are organizing a ground convoy instead of an air convoy. Did you not do Contingency Planning with regards to this . Why did it take so long to be able to evacuate americans out . Thank you, senator. Good to see you on this committee. Let me break it down in time and space. As i said, first of all, we have not placed a broad warden system that captured about 5000 americans, we were able to push messages to them. We initially, for those americans who could get to the airport, because one of the reasons that we did our First Embassy evacuation at the Embassy Grounds was in those days between the u. S. Evacuation by helicopter, and our allies beginning to fly up to the airport, the airport was too dangerous. So by the time the airport was more safe, and i can talk to you in another setting about how that was enabled with u. S. Support and health, we were able to put americans who can get to the airport on allied flights. The uk, germans, others began taking americans to the airport. A number of them still could not do that. Which is why we determined that arranging an alternate route overland, would provide an option, not only for our citizens, but for other countries. So, as they were enabled by, as we also provided the second, for those who could not get to the airport. 700 overland of a land convoy, but in total, 1300 americans, some of them who took the allied flights, some took a land route. So, what i hear you saying, and correct me if im wrong, the news reports say while other nations like france, britain, germany were able to evacuate their citizens by air, the United States had coordinated with them to evacuate people by air, and we will take the overland row and take their citizens . So really, it was misstating what was going on that we had a plan here, they would do the, air we would do the overland. Because the reports i read it made it seem like the United States had no plan to evacuate people by air. And we did this Overland Route that happened, you know, on april 20 either 29th, almost two weeks after the fighting started. Is that accurate . You would actually get it all wrong. And what is going on here is america took the Overland Route, and the other allies took america out through the airlines . Is that what youre saying happened . A division of labor, if i may say, when the airport first opened, that allies were doing the flying, americans were going on those flights if they can get to the airport. And you are doing the land route how Many Americans were going out on the flight. If you do the math, we have 1300 americans out, and 700 whereby, i dont know. More americans got out on island flights the probably 700 americans got out, we are grateful for that. Is this a plan in place that you had prior to april 15th working with the allied nation . Did you didnt Contingency Planning that the general sorted fighting, heres what we would do to evacuate americans . We do continual planning with our allies and partners, largely bullet base at the military commands, we can do a classified briefing for you, if that would be helpful, for all high threat posts, and various contingencies, with regard to this decision on the division of labor, it had to do with various concerns about who was best position to do what at the time, and it was negotiated under realtime at african injured booty as well as african instance good with our allies. Thank you, ambassador. Mister chairman, thank. You senator coons. Thank you for the full committees attention. To this difficult urgent challenge undersecretary nolan, assistant to the secretary charles. Thank you for your focus on this. It vast country, the size of alaska with 45 Million People that is teetering on the brink of an all out civil war. We could be on the verge of a dramatic largescale humanitarian crisis. Or we could, depending on the outcome of the towns preliminary negotiations, you see the attorney going back for hope of stability, as you know, i worked hard with other members of the committee. Senator van hollen and i went to khartoum to meet with the event civilianled government toured general of han and others to continue. A subsequent coup, and very difficult period of negotiation has left us in a place of real difficulty and desperation. We cannot allow the civilian leadership of the groups that led the brave uprising that overthrew bashir to be shoved aside. I appreciate, the secretarys early comment that we need a broader process, and we need to implement the president s executive order. Help me understand how we would do both of these. How do we engage the civilian leadership and empower them in the next step of the process . And would you welcome legislative action here to give you more tools to target individual sanctions . I respect that the administration took tough actions in terms of suspending bilateral aides, suspending that relief, i think that had a real impact on leaders. There are critics that say in the absence of targeted individual sanctions, there is a continuation of a sense of impunity that, in some ways, came from brashear no longer being successfully prosecuted by the icc in decades of widespread corruption and depression. I introduced the democracy act to reflect the urgent need of all the military leaders would, you support legislation at this point or welcome Additional Support for sanctions . How do we brought in this . Senator coons, let me first start by thanking you for your indefatigable personal diplomacy on our hardest challenges in africa, including your willingness with senator van hollen to roll up your sleeves and get to sudan, talk to the generals, it makes a difference, and we appreciate the partnership that we have on that. , let me say that weve got to get to a situation where we can engage the civilians again, can we do that, do we have to wait until we can do that from khartoum . Can we begin, assuming we can do the most urgent, which is get the humanitarian aid in, and silence or lessen the guns . Can we start to do that in a more 21st century way with video meetings and et cetera, that remains to be seen, as we know at the beginning, ambassador godfrey is trying to cast, even as we work the talks in jeddah, as see if people are wanting, this has to be a process that is broadly representative of the desires of the people of sudan. And the 2019 revolution. We welcome thought to have their. We are doing the work, we had done it already, but now that we have the executive order, we are doing the work to look at the appropriate targets in various categories, particularly if we cannot get these generals to allow the humanitarian aid in and put their guns down. With regard to legislation, let me get more information about our negotiations after this round is over and come back to you, if we may. We look forward to prompts input, and i do think, i understand, in this moment, focusing on the commanders of these two armed forces that are battling it up, literally in khartoum, we have to be able to find a way to include in this conversation, not just regional actors, but the sudanese people themselves and their legitimate leaders, if i might, i have a few minutes, do you have the resources you need . Im concerned about the looting of humanitarian store houses, about the deaths of humanitarian workers. Many of your partners, our partners are still willing to take on this very difficult dangerous duty. What Additional Resources and support do you need . And are we doing enough to ask our regional and Global Partners to also be engaged given the scale of the humanitarian need and other crises around the regions of the world . Many competing needs right now around the globe, our ability to sustain a robust response as sudan is going to be very challenging. Even before this crisis last year, suzanne was one of the most Vulnerable Countries in the world to russias war on ukraine because of how dependent it was on imports. We had already tried to scale up the systems in sudan. It was already going to be hard to sustain that this year. We are definitely pressing, we are pleased to see the saudis and now its 100 million last week, we want to see that delivered to the partners that could actually deliver on the ground. Thank you, mister chairman. Thank, you mister chairman. I want to touch on something that was quite disturbing to me, on january 20th, 2021, this administration was presented with a great opportunity, sudan had just parted with Abraham Accords, the Abraham Accords develop the economy a sitdown in a new way, there was an opportunity there to expand Economic Opportunities for the people of sudan and stabilize the region. But for months, the Biden Administration would not even refer to the term, use the term Abraham Accords. On may of 2021, may 18th of 2021, the White House Press secretary jen psaki demonstrated the content that the white house had for the Abraham Accords, she told reporters the following, i want to record, this aside from putting a peace proposal dead on arrival, we dont think they, me in the prior administration, did anything constructive to put an end to the longstanding conflict of the middle east. Thats why i sent President Biden a letter on may 19th 2021, i asked him to confirm whether we supported the Abraham Accords. Mister chairman, i want to present this letter for the record. Thank you, mister chairman. What is worse though is that we recently saw china advance, what i would call anti Abraham Accords deal. When you had a chief diplomat of china negotiate a deal in the middle east between saudi arabia and the adversary in iran. What i would almost prefer to see happen was our own secretary of state negotiating a deal between saudi arabia and israel. Furthering the Abraham Accords, i think we missed a huge opportunity. Lets turn to the american citizens in sudan right now. So far, ambassador, at least two american citizens have already been killed. Intelligence community assesses that the conflict is likely to be protracted, and we are saying little prospect for negotiation. Senator carson and i sent a private letter to the secretary blinken urging the department to take all necessary steps to protect the lives of u. S. Persons that remain in sudan, particularly as the security situation deteriorates. I wanted to go back to the conversation we had a minutes ago. When i served the u. S. Ambassador of japan, i understood clearly the Statement Department foremost responsibility is safety and security of the american citizens and the nation. What i was serving, and the ambassador there, i worked closely with those civilians in the military leaders to revise and update the to be able to evacuate 60,000 american citizens should that arise. Secretary, under what conditions will the Biden Administration implement the civilian evacuation plan, im not about the evacuation plan in sudan to bring the remaining american citizens in our home in sudan . Senator hagerty, just so we talk about this a little bit before, you are able to join us, we will have in total, 5000 americans registered with the nbc. We were able, throughout this conflict, to push repeated messages to them requesting information about who wanted to leave, about half of them left on allied aircrafts. The other half left on who wanted to go. Some 1300 total. They left or Ground Transport that we organized. We are in touch on a weekly basis, daily basis with those who remain forever rightly ever reasons that you know well. Mixed families. Yes, i heard that family that conversation with senator rick. It specifically, that communication, this process, part of the neil plan . You have a neil plan in place . Yes. Are you prepared to exercise that plan further . Do you have the resources and capabilities to do that is necessary to get the american remaining citizens out . Again, as you say, desire to leave. As we evaluate the options for americans, we are continuing to get out americans who want to go. If there is critical amounts, we have to evaluate if we need to do more. I think its critical, we need to be prepared to execute this after seeing what happened in afghanistan. We dont want to see another failure like this, and we are in a great deal of concern about the american citizens left behind. I would also, senator, invite you, if you have particular americans you are concerned about, please send them our way, we will work with them. Thank you. Thank you, mister general. Senator van hollen. Thank, you mister chairman, and madam secretary. Great to see you. Great to have you at the key representatives from a i. D. Thank you for your efforts to provide muchneeded humanitarian assistance as well as try to make the ceasefire hold, so we can build on that. I do want to start by thanking you and your colleagues at the state department, the assistant secretary molly fee as well as the Consulate Affairs division for helping get americans out who wanted to get out. Including every marylander who is contacted in the office, who wanted to exit sudan, or have the relatives get out of sudan. Including an 89 year old escape through the egyptian border. I want to thank. You everyone we have heard from has been listened to. And have their needs met. Let me turn to the current state, the ceasefire negotiations, if you can talk a little bit about the role of the uae and saudi arabia. I understand that the senator coons represented a trip that we took in 2021, we met with many of these players. I know there will be more time to evaluate this as we go forward. My take away from that trip, which we share from those in the state department is, we probably should have made a choice than to isolate comedy. That is my view. Hes a war criminal, we know about his war history in darfur. The fact that he was able to continue to assemble his power base in sudan, which was already considerable, i think it contributed to the situation we are here now. Not that it would have been easy, it would have been hard. I think we see what happens when he continues to play the role he has. Can you talk about having a way forward. If you can also address the potential challenges in neighboring ethiopia. We have a very fragile peace in ethiopia. Obviously, there is some territorial dispute between sudan and ethiopia. And, we need to be doing everything we can to make sure the conflict in sudan does not make the situation even worse in ethiopia. If you could address those questions. I, senator van holland, its great to hear that the consular system worked for your constituents in the marylanders, very good to hear. We welcome any improvements, comments that you have in that system Going Forward, or any other members of this committee. And second, you missed our shout out to your diplomacy, along with senator coons, which made a big difference for your willingness to roll up the sleeves and talk to these difficult actors. So in this particular around in jeddah, first of all, the saudis are acting as hosts that have been instrumental to getting conversations going between these warring parties without that, it might not have happened at all. I will say that, although, as you know better than many, the regional players, including the uae, have their own economic interest and long term ties to various parts of this. The uk has been very constructive in these efforts to get the gun stopped and to get the humanitarian groups going. We, and they have actually been pressuring both sides and sending strong messages. We look forward to that continuing Going Forward and tuesday, because its going to take everybody to press on. With regard to ethiopia, i think you talk to secretary blinken after he came back from his trip, and we have had progress, as you know, implementing key elements in the november sensation of hostilities, including formation of the Tigray Interim Regional Administration and current aleph discernment. Just the African Unions Monitoring Mission is playing, and i will say, back on sudan, we are working with the African Union on what we hope will be a large support in convening function that they will play if we can get to these larger talks that we talked about. These initial elements are beginning to show to bear fruit. Obviously, weve got continuing difficulties with some parts of sudan, with ethiopia, weve got to ensure that the government in a pew ethiopia continues to fulfill the commitment of unhindered access to humanitarian actors for accountability, and it continues to meet the commitment for real justice, that journalists have safe access, we continue to see good conversations with other constituent cohorts of ethiopia, thats what we are working on. We appreciate the support of all of that. Thank you. I think we are all incredibly disappointed that the hopes for democracy in sudan have been hijacked here. Can we share the goal of possibly getting it back on track, we should look at some of the lessons that arrived and happened the way we wanted in the first time. Thank you, thank you mister chairman. Senator scott. Thank you, mister chairman. Thank you for both being here today. Good to see you. Wish it was under different circumstances, but certainly, always good to see a south carolinian representing the nation. Its been nearly a month since the hostilities in sudan. Since then, we have seen cease fire after cease fire fail. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes, nearly 600 have been killed, 5000 injured, figures that are likely underrepresented, hospitals have been taxed, medically scarce access, to food and water is quickly running out. In a country played with secretary and strike, sorry, humanitarian crisis, situations used to be getting worse. All of this is the direct result to selfish men and their desire to keep power at all costs, it seems, to me. At the expense of their own people. Propped up by the inadequacy of the u. S. Policy. Apart from the loss of the human lives, im greatly concerned about the risk, that further instability in sudan, and causing reaches behind it. I will start with the first question, how did we get where we are, and how do we bring the conflict to an end . Particularly, not with one strongmen, but two strong men that overthrew thank you senator scott. Without going through a decade and tragic history in sudan, i will start with where we were after Abdalla Hamdok was ousted. And our efforts with the International Partners to support the sudanese people in creating a larger process that included more sudanese Civil Society, more of their civilian voices in this Framework Arrangement for a transition, which was painfully negotiated among them. And then months and months of effort which was, we felt, there is real fruit to get to that transition, particularly in the fall, and throughout the winter. We were, as i said, down to one issue, the one of the eu identified, whether these two generals would agree to unify their forces. And we were in the process of not offering various options for how that could happen along with the International Partners, we were concerned because tensions between them would flare on and off. The and then we would have the very disappointing choice on april 15th, for them to pick up their guns rather than continue to get where we are. We are first and foremost how they get them down, down long enough, and well enough so that, as mr. Secretary charles and colleagues can get serious humanitarian aid, and we are now on our sixth, seventh short term ceasefire, which is a direct result of the International Pressure that everybody is putting on them, including more than 12 phone calls to the parties by secretary lincoln. So what we are trying to get done in a jet at now is to negotiate a declaration of commitment to protect the civilians of sudan, that we would be agreed by both of the warring parties to open corridors and follow humanitarian principles on the ground in sudan, that is stage one. Stage two, we try to make the ceasefire enduring. Stage three would be to get back to a civilianled process, probably with a broader contingent of civilians involved that we had the last time. It is extremely difficult, as you noted. Yes, maam. Quick thought on evacuation plans for americans, it challenges that they assumed to face. Look at the fact friends able to evacuate 500 people in the first 48 hours, germany, but 70 people, china, about 2000. All before the u. S. Even started their efforts of evacuations of american citizens. My thought is why . Second, as i think about the needs, in khartoum, have been asking for assistance, there seems to be no actual plan received from the state department. I would love to hear, what happens next . How do we do a better job of helping our american citizens who want to leave . I think your microphone went off, man. After the initial evacuation of the embassy, we were able to support our allies in establishing a beach head at the airport, more than half of the americans who got out, as we have determined through the mass of this hearing, 1300 americans got out altogether, more than half of them went on those allied flights in the first few days, while we were working in a division of labor if you will, on the land routes which were able to get another 700 people out through the landlords, including some of our allies in exchange. We are continuing to give advice to any remaining americans, sometimes at the beginning of an evacuation, people are not ready or not sure about their family circumstances, so we have continuing advice to americans who want to come out now. If you have constituents, please send them to us and we will work on it. Thank you, mister chairman. Senator booker. Thanks to the witnesses and chairman for holding a full committee on this. I have obviously gathered a lot from listening to my colleagues. Obviously, there are multiple fronts to this effort, in terms of america. One is we heard a lot about getting american citizens out, i have spoken to Jake Sullivan and others, have been working with offices. Another front is obviously trying to cease hostilities, these pre negotiations in jeddah are so critical. Finally, helping Civil Society, we will talk about extensively, and finding a way, but only to deal with the current crises going on, threatening civilians, displacements of internal persons, people fleeing to other unstable countries like chad, ethiopia are a crisis. And this is a day to day changing, i am trying to stay up with a few reports from the Research Service and more. I want to drill down on a couple of themes within those three areas i talked about. The first is the still challenging bureaucracy of getting aid into the country, which is really frustrating when you think about things being held up at the port of sudan, critical supplies, who are the controlling Government Entities on the ground right now . Humanitarian Aid Commission and more. And then, is there an opportunity to more center civilians in this larger negotiations, that are going on . Because clearly in jeddah, the two parties are the warring generals. But the desire is for civilian society to begin to be elevated, and the democratic governance, to be empowered for the future as well. Sir, on a personal note, early in my career, i helped start off the darfur response for one of our humanitarian partners nearly 20 years ago. So i have been dealing with the hack that the commissions offer on and on for almost two decades now. Their behavior is egregious even under the best of circumstances, particularly now. So we have been pressing both in the discussions in jeddah, but also in bilateral conversations, including with the embassy here and others, with the need to lift those bureaucratic restrictions. It is egregious to have goats held up in customs, clearances in the port of sudan, having partners feel like they have to go to the hag for position to draw on preposition supplies. So were actively working those issues, they continue to be a top priority. We have seen some of the food we are bringing into port of sudan cleared in the last couple of days, seen some small progress there, but something we are certainly staying very much on top of. And just to say that the humanitarian declaration of commitment to protect civilians in sudan, but we are working on in jeddah and beds in some of these basic humanitarian principles, that have undergirded the work, mister secretary. Charles i done this your whole life, but the sudanese actors need to enforce, so we will see how that concludes. With regards to where we go on broadening that initial framework, i think that we completely agree that it will have to be broader. I will say, i think you have been involved in this as well, that we have notlimited our own engagement in terms of how to move the transition forward, just to those who are participant in the framework, ambassador godfrey has really broadened our outreach to the ngo community, to different aspects of Civil Society, secretary has had some of those folks in his office, i had a group of Civil Society folks in my office. I think the question will be, if we have that good news that we get beyond, put down the guns, get a ceasefire, get the food in it to get back to framework, i think the question will be how to structure it. So that it is sufficiently broad, to capture the various views and ideas, but not so broad that it becomes wielding, right . So obviously, this is a colossal breakdown, here. In a sense, a failure in democracy to take root. It means we have to reevaluate all of our actions, the rules that we played in try things differently. I know those conversations are going on. I know that we see vulnerable citizens, armed militia is once again targeting refugees in there for. There are so many crises and fronts to this. I want to just get in the last moments i have, a little bit more input from you, because i know, but understanding is that you are the chair of a working group on wagner, overall. So clearly, there are operations going on there, a large percentage, around 70 of the gold being exported is going to russia. We know whats going on on the ground. In the final seconds, can you give me some insight into the wagner group, and how are we countering what is going on there, really destabilizing efforts in the region. As you know, senator booker, and as you said, wagner plays a maligned role no matter where it shows up. In africa, whether it is in sudan, whether it is in the Central African republic, whether it is across the sahel, it has brought nothing but more violence, a looting of the sovereignty and the wealth of these countries. And we are working with multiple countries across africa, to help them. Many of whom have buyers remorse now that they have invited wagner in at all. And we can talk to you in a more secure setting on some of our efforts there, everything from countering disinformation, to offering Better Options in terms of security, et cetera, to disrupting the supply chain of wagner weapons, gold and other things. We are working intensively also with other partners in the gold supply chain, including the uae on these problems. But you are absolutely right, percussionist brought nothing good to sudan, and he is running the country of this gold and its future. My time is expired, by want to say, first of all i want to take either you, knowing how many demands on the timeline, but someone upon sitting in a classified setting have this conversation, the scope of the wagners operations, i just saw facebook shutting down 100 plus accounts. They are working on so many different fronts in the african then you context, it is so disturbing, i would like to better understand our efforts to counter their malign activities. Good, we will look forward to that. Thank you. Let me ask you some final questions. I know that the may 4th executive order on sudan, issued by the president , but there is also an executive order issued related to the conflict ethiopia that was never fully utilized. Not a single ethiopian was designated under the executive order. Even though 800,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of the conflict in northern ethiopia. So, sanctions are only effective if used as part of the well thought out strategy that contains specific policy goals and aims. Does the administration have a strategy to use targeted sanctions to obtain the outcomes we are seeking . Will we use targeted sanctions to pressure the parties in jeddah to come to an agreement . Chairman, i think you have seen around the world, the administrations commitment to using sanctions, including on a subject that we work on a lot together, russias war in ukraine. I would argue that the fact that the executive order on may 4th that we gave ourselves this tool, had an effect on the parties being willing to come to jeddah. As i said, we are working on how that executive order could be populated with names, depending on how the talks go. We have done the same in ethiopia, i would argue just having the executive order played a good role in getting us to the better place we are. Our packages, that are ready to be deployed, if you make that decision . There are, there are. Do we have any diplomatic outreach to allies and partners to join us in imposing sanctions, if in fact we decide to do so . Yes, the secretary and assistant secretary and i have all been involved in ensuring if we go in that direction we do not go there alone. Now, i want to refer back to senator rischs remarks about a special envoy to sudan. That has grown with a growing chorus of voices. Our special envoy with the horn of africa, unlike his predecessors, does not cover sudan, nor does he directly report to a president or the secretary of state. What is the administrations position on the special envoy that reports directly to the president or secretary of state . Chairman, at the current moment, particularly since he is now outside sudan, and not running a massive embassy, we are deploying ambassador godfrey, not just to maintain broad contact with the sudanese and participate in these talks in jeddah and any onward talks, we also anticipate using him to maintain tight links to regional partners, to the global coalition. We will meet on this, including working intensively now with the African Union, although having Steph Sullivan confirm would even be an augmenting of that. There are pieces of this so done work but my camera, our ethiopia envoy has been helpful in. And he will continue to be helpful, and we will call on him. So you do not support, the department does not support a special envoy. I hear all of your answers, they are around the edges, but not on to my question. At the moment, we see ambassador godfrey as that envoy. Did he really not do all the shuttle diplomacy you are talking about . He will if we need to, yes. And he reports to he does. It seems to many of us that, given the stakes in the region, that we urgently need a highlevel representative to deal with interlocutors in africa, the gulf, in europe, and one who reports directly to the president or secretary of state. And while you are here, please take that back to the department, i intend to press it at various different levels, but i think it is incredibly important. I want to concur. And senator risch joins me in that regard, he raised originally. Finally, miss charles, i heard some of your answers. Secretary general guterres of the u. N. Said, it middlebrook, the military and situation in sudan is already precarious, now it is a catastrophe. I hear, you set up a team in nairobi. But if a fiveday humanitarian ceasefire is agreed, our organizations ready to move into assistance in sudan, to deliver it to conflict in affected areas . Our partners are already gearing up. In fact, many are trying to send more staff into sudan right now, part of the reason why we press on things like waivers of visas. They are also bringing supplies into port of sudan. The key is to have sufficient security to move those from port of sudan, and to then distribute them where they are most needed, both inside of khartoum and darfur, where we are seeing the fighting. What does that security entail . Who will provide it . It is really having the assurances from the parties that they will respect that access. So now, given the urgency of the situation, what happens if we dont get this humanitarian ceasefire, is there any way to deliver humanitarian assistance to sudan, and talks of to fail . Even right now, we are working with our partners to very quickly use what is already in sudan, and also to pursue all available routes, including from neighboring countries to bring supplies in, to try to diversify where supplies would be coming in from, and not be so reliant on just port of sudan to khartoum route. Let me ask you about this sudan humanitarian response, it is already severely underfunded. They just received about 14 of the required funding, before the current crisis. So, what actions are we undertaking to galvanize financial constitutions from International Partners, in order to be able to meet the challenge, assuming that we have the wherewithal to do so . Yes. It was already underfunded. We were funding the majority of that, even a response plan. We have been pleased to see the saudis make an announcement of 100 Million Dollar pledge. We want to see that delivered to actors on the ground, who can responsibly deliver that assistance. We are certainly pressing others, we have seen indications from the canadians, from the European Union as well that they will put support behind this. But we see in particular, in the gulf i will say, stepping away from humanitarian assistance. Particularly in their neighborhood, we would love to see them step up. Now, many of the International Staff of aid organizations have evacuated khartoum. So we might not be able to, even if the window of opportunity is open to rely on our traditional partners, our beneficiaries, are we supporting sudanese organizations that might be able to, in fact, given the opportunity, be able to do that . Yes. Among our partners are 30 sudanese local ngos, that are either direct or more often in direct partners of ours. We have been in close contact with them, not just our International Partners, even our International Partners, most of their sudanese staff are still in country, albeit many have relocated to other areas, and they are reconstituting, we are working again with them to kind of reconstitute as quickly as possible to get them theories races they need. One of the consequences, this is always true, in the western hemisphere as it is in sudan, but if we cannot come to a successful conclusion here, up to 1 million sudanese may very well be on the move and seek refuge. That already has a growing reality on the borders of egypt what is your. Assessment of egypts willingness and capacity to process a large number of refugees, who reached the border with sudan . I can let undersecretary speak more about egypt. I really thought it was her the speak, but if you have insight, i will hear that as well. We certainly did not press colleagues at the state department of egyptians to allow international organizations, particularly i want to the border, those missions move to the first time four or five days ago, so we have seen some progress on that front. Also, we would like to see the opening of kind of a land route from ethiopia into sudan so that we can address conditions on the sudanese side of that border as well. So just to compliment that, we have about 70,000 sudanese who have already, third Country Nationals who have already arrived in egypt. Egypt as you know is not the richest country on the planet, so looking at how to encourage support their, International Support for egypt, we are also talking to chad, who is beginning to see its own stream of refugees, and to ensure that the egyptian red crescent on the border is doing as much as it can, that the crossing points are open, and easy to maneuver, as assistant secretary charles just said, the first problem was getting the u. N. And i owe humanitarian access to the border, that is now happening, that is something we are watching and working on. I mean, this is a challenging conflict. We see this in the western hemisphere, 20 Million People who are displaced in the southern hemisphere, seeking refugee status, or they are seeking asylum, or they simply are displaced. And if they cant be assimilated into the countries that they have moved to, then they will march north. In this case, they will march elsewhere. So, thinking about that in advance as a reality, a real possibility, hopefully not a reality, will be critical. Otherwise, we will then again deal with the aftermath, and not be prepared for the aftermath, instead of thinking about it proactively, over here. I urge you both to look at that. Let me thank our witnesses for appearing before the committee to discuss the crisis in sudan, its obviously an extremely volatile situation. We urgently need to use all available tools to put an end to the fighting, to trot a new path forward towards a civilianled democracy. Given how rapidly the events are changing on the ground, i urge both of your departments and agencies to continue to keep the committee apprized of your actions. The committee will remain open until close of business, so friday, may the 12th. Sure the records are submitted no later than that day, lets hope that we can get an expedition response to that, hearing is adjourned. This afternoon, fbi director Christopher Wray and dea administrator and milgram testified to a Budget Hearing about a number of Law Enforcement issues. Live, before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee at 2 30 pm eastern on cspan 3. You can also watch on our free mobile video app. Cspan now, or online at cspan dot org. Watch video on demand, anytime online, at cspan. 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