Also want to thank the witnesses for being accommodating knowing vote scheduled interfered with the original hearing schedule and accommodating us today. The topics covered in this hearing and i said this previously are not necessarily what is going to make cable news every night but incredible importance when we think of how best to serve the United States of america, our interests and Foreign Policy and the foundation for any real Successful Organization always starts with the right people and make sure they are equipped with the right resources and ability to do their job effectively. I said multiple times previously and want to reiterate we are proud of the men and women that serve us in our diplomatic corps overseas and in Development Work around the world and these are patriotic americans. I once again want to reiterate the work of how important it is for foreignpolicy and american strength. The last few months as subcommittees chairman i had the pleasure of meeting with many ind
Giving you a front row seat to democracy. Commanders u. S. Northern command u. S. Southern command testify on security challenges affecting the western hemisphere from the Senate Armed Services committee this is just under two hours. [laughter] [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] the Committee Meets today to receive testimony from general gregory geo commander of Northern Command and aerospace defensee command and Laura Richardson of u. S. Southern commands. Hearing as commander and we welcome you sir. I would also note this is general richardsons alaska. Before the committee and her current role. General, i would like to express my appreciation for your decades service to the nation including outstanding leadership for the forces, thank you very much maam. I like to take aoing crisis in haiti. The situation is very concerning and i understand the u. S. Military forces have beenrfdeployed to augment security at her embassy in portauprince and evacuate nonessential personnel. This cri
And im joined by my colleague, the director of the Aerospace Security project at csis. We are delighted to welcome general laura richardson, the commander of United States Southern Command to csis, to talk about her perspective on whats happening down south. General richardson is an army aviator flying helicopters. Shes trained soldiers, deployed into a rack into iraq and afghanistan, has seen policymaking at the highest levels and understands the role of congress. I had the pleasure of meeting her when she was in the role of legislative liaison, where she met relationships with members of congress to establish policy and fund the army, and also got to meet her again during her deployment to afghanistan, where i saw her lead in a complex and challenging security environment , so i can think of no better leader than general richardson to tackle these tough issues and strengthen our relationship. Its a privilege to have you today. Thank you very much. Its my honor to be here and have the
Next, army general laura richardson, commander of the u. S. Southern command talks about security challenges facing latin america. A Virtual Event hosted by this the center for strategic and International Studies which includes migration, and her connex trafficking, Climate Change, checking the amazon rain forest and competing with china amidst their investment in infrastructure in the region. This is about 50 minutes. Central and south america is arguably a divisive region in competition with authoritarian actors. For example, the peoples republic of china is doing things like investing in Critical Infrastructure across the region including strategically useful ports as well as cyber and space facilities that could be used by beijing civilian and military agencies. Russia continues its support of authoritarian and malign actors across the area including disinformation campaigns and those are only part of the strategic challenges to the United States that are emanating from that region
All of these are on the agenda of the United States southern community. I am the director of the more womens, more Power Initiative and im joined by my colleague, the director of the project. We are delighted to welcome general laura richardson, the commander of the United States Southern Command to talk about her perspective on whats happening down south. General richardson is an army aviator flying blackhawk helicopters. She has trained soldiers, she has deployed into iraq and afghanistan in combat. She seen policymaking at the highest level of the white house and understands the role of congress. I was fortunate to meet her, first while in a key role of legislative liaison or she built relationships with members of congress to establish policy and importantly, fund the army. I also got to meet her again during her deployment to afghanistan. Where i saw her lead in a very complex and challenging security environment. I can think of no better leader than general richardson to tackle t