This House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing is an hour and a half. We will now call a hearing to order. This is a very important hearing in my opinion. Some of them are not nearly as important as others. This one is extremely important because greg and i, the Ranking Member, we are all concerned about the influence of iran in the entire region, also in the gulf region. So today we are here to discuss the expanding influence in the south caucasus, but were also talking about, i intend to talk about some of the problems in the Persian Gulf Region because thats a vital interest to us. The straits of hormuz, persian gulf, or the swiss canal are blocked in any way they could have devastating impact on the United States because we still get a large part of our energy from the region. I traveled to azerbaijan an armenian in early september. And i also stopped in georgia and met with the president. When i talked to these leaders, iran was one of the things that came up at the very beginnin
Opec which will mobilize 500 million in private capital to invest in projects that empower women in latin american. This initiative will break down barriers for women this the economy and eaffirms the Trump Administration he is commitment to empowering women in latin make and around the globe. As you all saw yesterdays confirmation hearing for mike pompeo as secretary of state went very well. From his years in the army to his time in the House Intelligence Committee to a tenure as cia director. The secretary has excelled as one of the nations key leaders in Foreign Policy and security. As a result of mike pompeos leadership, america has been safer, more secure and more prosperous. There is no reason why secretary pompeos confirmation process should not be done in a speedy and bipartisan manner. Even the Washington Post Editorial Board hardly cheerleader for this administration published an editorial yesterday with a simple straight to the point headline, confirm mike pompeo. Democrats