have for their participation. it's extremely important. as many of you know, this month is an important month for the biden administration as they hold the summit for democracy. this event will bring together nations of similar values and principles to bring together democratic resiliency. many nations have made great strides including those in central and eastern europe. after the fall of the berlin wall 3 years ago, the countries of central and eastern europe made the transition from communism to democracy, developed market economies and integrated into the trance atlantic community. these countries are now members of the european union, a union founded on economic integration bound by common values such as freedom of the press, rule of law and an independent judiciary. together they've sought to protect the basic human rights of their citizens while working to ensure access to the fundamentals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. in addition, these countries have become strong national security partners of the united states and other members of the north atlantic treaty organization. as much, congress continues to develop and support these security alliances and work together with our european partners to address joint security challenge. this is the one advantage we all have together in the face of more malign activities in the world today. in addition, these countries have become strong national partners. unfortunately, however, in recent years, many of my colleagues and i in the transatlantic community including civil society organizations like freedom house which assesses levels of democracy around the world, have become increasingly concerned with some policies and rhetoric that emerged in central europe. slovakia, freedom house notes that, quote, while civil liberties are generally protected, democratic institutions are hampered by entrenched discrimination against the roma community and growing political hostility against refugees. they note that political corruption remains a problem. in the czech republic, freedom house asserts that several corruption scandals and political disputes have, quote, hampered normal legislative activity and that, quote, illiberal rhetoric and influence of power for business entities in the political arena are becoming increasingly visible. in poland, the rapid economic growth experienced since 1989 has benefited some parts of the country more than others. freedom house believes this disparity in wealth has contributed to, quote, a deep divide between liberal and pro european parties and those purporting to defend national interest and traditional polish catholic values, unquote. the law and justice party which has led the government of poland since 2015 has encouraged anti lgbtqi plus policies and attitudes, politicized the judicial system, threatening to reverse much of poland's democratic development and increase in nationalist homophobic and anti-semitic concerns. while freedom house yanks the czech republic, slovakia and poland as free countries, there's no doubt there's work to be done to protect marginalized communities, hold down the rule of law. finally and most concerning since 2019 freedom house classified hungary as, quote, unquote, partly free. hungary is the first eu member state to ever be designated as partly free, following the election of prime minister or ban in 2010 there's been constitutional and legal challenges that have allowed the party doing what freedom house describes, to consolidate control over the country's independent institutions. these changes also, according to freedom house, hammer the operation of opposition groups, journalists, universities, non-governmental organizations criticizing the government. in recent years, the central european university has forced to find a new home in austria. employees of russian international investment banks were given diplomatic status. independent journalism has been threatened by de facto government control over much of the media, and the government has adopted legislation restricting the rights of transgender individuals, to name a few. concerning policies we've seen in hungary. malign influence in the region particularly from russia and china encourage democratic back sliding to slip further and further away from the ideals of our transatlantic alliance. although the scope is different in the u.s. than it is in europe, we're also dealing with threats to our democracy through a malign influence campaigns, disinformation and more only together as a transatlantic community can we tackle many of the problems facing our democracies. to meet these challenges and many others, our four witnesses here today launch the pact of free cities. the pact launched in 2019 as an alliance of central european mayors has pledged to protect and advance liberal democracy, recognizing the challenge of democratic development in the region and establishing joint initiatives to solve climate, housing and many other social issues that face these cities. the pact has since expended from four capitals to include over 20 cities from los angeles to taipei who have joined in the fight to solve the world's challenges. recognizing the progress being made in the pact today i've invited the founding four members of the group, matus vallo, from bud pift, from prague and warsaw. we're so proud to have you as witnesses here today. as we saw during the covid-19 pandemic here and around the world, local leadership is critical in times of peace and times of crisis to respond and prepare for emergencies as well as to develop initiatives in innovative solutions to local and loebl challenges. for example, in the united states during the previous administration our country moved away from climate change commitments, but local leaders here in the u.s., from state and municipal governments rose to the occasion and undertake environmental ichbishives to reduce our carbon footprint. as such, like many of our people listening here today, i read a lot about the local policies and programs developed by these mayors, these leaders, and i'm eager to hear from them directly. i'm proud to have the mayors here today and hear of their successes and their failures. with that, i welcome an opening statement from our ranking member, mr. brian fitzpatrick. then we'll call on the mayors in alphabetical order to present their testimony. i now turn to ranking member ryan fitzpatrick for his opening remarks. >> dude morning and thank you chairman keating. thank you to our witnesses for joining us today. the cornerstone of this committee is the defense of democratic values around the world. we do so by supporting the rule of law, independent media, peaceful assembly, religious freedom and the ability to participate in the political process. these democratic values form the background of the transatlantic bond between the united states and the european allies. we're inextricably linked with the strength of our democracies. as recognized in the new brussels summit, autocrats in china and russia are actively leveraging predator investments and hybrid tactics to subvert western institutions. nair coercive policies stand in stark contrast to the fundamental western values we all share. our like-minded allies and partners need to prove that democracy, not autocracy can provide more for the citizens of the world. i'm encouraged by some of our witnesses' efforts to stand up to the chinese communist party and their bullying and denouncing the threat it and vladimir putin pose to all of our democracies. i'd like to hear more from mr. gee. meeting with civil society leaders like -- your efforts have included some of the most pressing issues on the planet. particularly your efforts to strengthen issues with taiwan are incredibly commendable. we thank you for that and encourage you to do that. both the czech republic and slovakia have welcomed taiwan's foreign minister. please keep this going. with that, i'd like to hear more about your decision making in standing up to the intimidations of the chinese communist party and what more the transatlantic alliance can do to stand united in the face of their coercive behavior. mr. karacsc, when the proposed construction of china's university threatened to spread china's influence at the expense of taxpayers, you took a strong stand in opposition. i'd like to hear from you on what motivated you to take these strong stances. poland and mr. trzaskowsky have spoken out on nord stream 2. i agree with your assessment that gas must never flow through nord stream 2. please continue to do that. we encourage that and support that. firm opposition to the authoritarian threats are fles to ensure freedom and democracy prevail around the globe. these goals must not be a partisan issue. destabilizing actions from moscow and beijing and the threat they pose to democracies across the globe demand and deserve our full attention. i look forward to hearing from you all today on these pressing matters, splarly as relates to the existential threats posed. with that, mr. chairman, i yield back. >> thank you, ranking member. i'll introduce our witnesses. again, thank you for being here and thank you for your commitments to democracy. first mr. matus vallo is the mayor of brits lava in slow voc yeah. he served in that position since 2018. he's an architect by trade and an urban activist, someone who has brought those skills to his position. welcome. mr. ger gay is the mayor of budapest, hungary since 2019. he previously served in the 14th district as well as a member of the hungarian parliament. i want to note for the record that he'll speak in english for his opening statement but use simultaneous translation for the question and answer portion of today's hearing. the mayor of prague czech republic since 2018, a member of the czech party and the first member of the party to be elected as mayor in the czech republic. mr. rafal kaz cow ski is the mayor of warsaw, poland since 2018. in 2020 mr. trzaskowsky was a candidate for the presidency in poland. served as deputy minister, in 2014 as minister for administration and digitalization. i now recognize each witness for five minutes. without objection, your prepared written statement will be made a part of the record. mr. vallo, you're now recognized for your opening statement. >> thank you very much. i hope you can hear me chairman keating, ranking member fitzpatrick, me and my colleagues, mayors from central european capitals, we are honored to be here today and discuss the information in central europe and our cities and present our collaborative activities. the four of us here today created the pact of free cities two years ago from a very specific moment. voters in our four capitals ex-prepared a clear wish for an alternative to their corrupt and populist national governments. we realized -- exceed the boundaries -- then we became -- then we became standard bearers for democratic hopes of many in our countries. that's a mission we take seriously. we have teamed up so as to share experience to encourage each other but also to jointly represent the hopes of our countries abroad as we are doing today. we are speaking to you at the moment of rising anti democratic sentiment -- public trust -- weakened partly because our democratically elected leaders are failing to lead. our democracies are young -- and centuries of democratic tradition. we're still searching for a new identity that will define us in 21st century. we're no longer countries in transition. we're no longer defined by being -- but what kind of societies exactly do we aspire to be that has not been settled yet. western liberal democrats should be -- western democrats themselves are under pressure from populists at home. countries with much longer democratic traditions than ours have fallen victim to the populist buck. the global crisis of democracy has -- back home. when you no longer have a clear beacon to follow, it becomes easier for populists to peddle alternatives. when democrats sell the idea of a positive future, but that is often too distant -- far right leaders sell the idea of hate which is immediate, almost tangible -- they say that when the going gets tough the tough gets going. that's what the mayors on the screen in front of you have done. we believe that the best way to represent democracy through direct experience and people experience stress and freedom at a local level, it ceases to be the distant destination which may never be reached. it is here and now. if it can work in a city, why not a country? where the nations and governments are failing, the cities continue to be island of freedom and democracy, not only serving the citizens, but serving as an example to others in our nation. -- only through our intertwined history and culture we can stand together stronger as the mayors of free cities in central europe and offer each other solidarity, mutual support and collaboration in good times and bad. we in slovakia closely watch difficult situation of our colleagues of hungary and poland who have to stand for the basic pillars of democracy because we know democracies are fragile everywhere and we must stand up for it together. we almost stand together. in 2020 general election slovakia people voted for change after the murder of a journalist. the slow vac people clearly bee that it is the building of trust that leads us through the tough times and it is strongly believe it is mainly the building of trust that lead us through the tough times, and it's's extremely important to invest in. our cities could immediately implement the cultural change since the imminent threats, a climate crisis or democratic process, can be only overcome through a completely new political culture and pro found changes to the way of life and thinking of our societies. let's stand in this uneasy fight for democratic and positive future together. thank you very much for your attention. >> thank you mr. vallo. i'll now turn to mr. karacsc. you're now recognized for your opening statement. >> distinguished members of subcommittee, i am honored to speak with you today on behalf of the people in butte pest. today i'll speak about the decline of democracy in hungary and also speak about the mayors in hungary and internationally to safeguard democratic principle. just as in the united states the global financial crisis in 2008 is very hard in hungary. social discontent and a new form of regime between democracy and autocracy. the government changed electoral law, crushed civil society and occupied the media. it's declared an opening to the east and increased cooperation with russia and china. hungary's two most public investment projects both serve the interest of these countries. the budapest railway out of the belt and road initiative is being financed by a chinese loan. similarly the nuclear power plant is financed by russia serving russian interests. details of both contracts are kept secret. the governments also employs -- last year the speaker of the national assembly thought hungary intelligence services that the opposition is the greatest national security threat in hungary. yet, the actions speak just as loud as their words. from 1918, spy wear has been used against hungarian journalists, businessmen and opposition politicians, and there is no sign that intelligence operations have stopped. honorable members of congress, there is hope. i assure you that the hungarian government values do not mirror throws of hungary and society. millions of my fellow citizens embrace a very different political agenda. in 2019 these voters made their voice heard, then the democratic opposition in budapest and many other cities and towns. running these cities and towns became more difficult because the central government chose to financially squeeze opposition and local governments. yet we managed to showcase once more the value of democratic, respectful and inclusive governance -- hungarian citizens. this together with the democratic opposition, running together from the first time in the more than a decade, provide us with a unique opportunity to defeat or ban's populism and restore hungary -- honorable members of congress, lastly on the pact of three cities we believe cities where democracy was born have a responsibility to protect it and improve it. we are proud to represent a broad spectrum to say know to tribalism and illiberalism -- recognizing the values and challenges that our initiative is based on in the central eastern european region, we decided to expand our alliance and cities worldwide are answering our call. earlier this year, 21 city leaders from all over the world signed to the new pact of three cities declaration, and more will be joining soon. the pact stands ready to work with american cities and u.s. congress to address all that threatens to undermine our democrats. thank you for your attention. >> thank you for those significant statements. we look forward to questions as we go forward. now i'll turn to mr. hrib. you're now recognized for your opening statement. >> chairman keating, ranking member fitzpatrick and distinguished members of the subcommittee, it is a great honor for me to have been invited to speak alongside my colleagues from central european capitals. i'm happy to provide a few remarks on the state of democrats in the czech republic, the role of the cities in defending global democratic principles and human rights. considering the increasing urbanization or why it's inevitable that cities are stakeholders in defending freedom and democrats. this brought us together to establish the pact of three cities in 2019. another driving force was our shared concerned over the state of democracy in our respective countries. to name a few examples from the czech republic, in the previous government, there was an unprecedented conflict of interest. his ways of governing and scandals undermined the rule of law, press freedom and other crucial democratic values. the czech foreign policy experienced a diversion from human rights agenda. the fear of migration became a new political topic. i became the mayor of prague in 2018, representing the cherk private party. one of my aims was to restore prague's reputation as an open-minded, liberal, democratic and progressive city which is a stronghold of human rights and local leader in tackling climate change. i have been strongly promoting these values domestically in opposition to the government. i have expressing concerns over violations of human rights abroad. this is a moral duty of liberal, democratic politicians. for instance, prague has been supporting the opposition, we've formed a brilliant relationship with taiwan and taipei, the capital of taiwan. just a few weeks ago, the general assembly -- i had the privilege to meet uyghur survivors from the concentration camps, and i was horrified to hear what they had experienced. i would like to use this opportunity to call on the international community to work towards ending these concentration camps, the forced labor, forced organ harvesting and uyghur genocide. i would like also to emphasize my belief that truly democratic and liberal cities should not be -- to countries such as china and russia which try to exercise their business related and political influence on the municipal level. currently the czech republic is going through a crucial political change. the populist government of andre back bish is being replaced. the rule of law in the country -- i would like to say there is positive development in the czech republic, does not mean that prague will be less dedicated to the mission of the pact of three cities. on the contrary, our experience with the previous populous government was a reminder of the fragile nature of democracy. prague is ready to keep supporting our partners. so in addition, i see an important task for the pact. we should promote the link between human rights and the crucial contemporary global challenge of climate change. so in september 2022, prague will be hosting the pact of three cities summit during the czech republic's eu presidency. this will be an opportunity to bring all the member cities of this growing alliance together and to voice our readiness to fight for democracy, human rights and the fairer, greener and more resilient soes siechlt i would like to quote the former mayor of denver. he said the 19th century was a century of empires. the 20th century was a century of nation states, and the 21st century will be the century of cities. i would like to slightly modify this great quote by adding that we need to strive for a century of responsible, sustainable and truly democratic cities. this is how we make a real difference and help the world. thank you for your attention. >> thank you, mr. hrib. i will now turn to trzaskowsky. you're now recognized for your opening statement. >> chairman keating, ranking member fitzpatrick, distinguished members of the subcommittee, on november 1989, addressed congress with the we that? it is funny because of the co-chair of our teachers that polluted with a learn about our historical hearing. poland has not yet been turned into an undemocratic regime thanks to the strength of the pot is off the parliamentary opposition, and the coach and dynamism of our civil society. as the european post today didn't demonstrate of the opposition to were to be united it would win the next parliamentary election. honorable members of congress, but it is a battlefield between freedom and authoritarianism, between a democratic society and the populist government that ties to try to or politicize independent institutions meant to get what the red excesses of readily and by the government power. in times when [inaudible] so volatile the russians are amassing troops at the ukrainian border, the kremlin is weaponizing energy policy, and look at santa has descended provoking the migratory crisis on our eastern border, the transatlantic community cannot afford to have a weak link in our part of europe. regrettably, i must confirm the negative developments taking place in our country enumerated by the chairman, confirming the assessments of independent experts. regardless of what the populist government in poland claims, the knowledge of these developments is well known, and is a source of concern for the friends of polish democracy. i therefore confirm that most importantly the constitutional tribunal has been turned into a partisan political body body, which rubberstamp the illegal actions of the government. the government unleashed it vicious media campaign against the lgbtq eye community and is trans traveling over women's rights, proposing a draconian ad day abortion law. moreover, the constitutional prerogative has recently issued a very controversial ruling undermining our membership in the european union. the polish public media became a blunt propaganda instrument of the governing party which at the same time is also trying to limit at the freedom of independent media. the government also restricts the prerogatives of local communities and excessively centralizing power in his hands. honorable members of congress, poland still is a democracy because the overwhelming majority of polls have not given up their fight. over the past years, we have seen hundreds of thousands of men and women gathered on the streets of poland to protest against the government. and the measures described above have been met with a staunch opposition of the civil society. the iron will of the freedom loving polls has not been broken. we will fight for and open, free society which cherish is common values and diversity. the honorable members of congress, i would like to appeal to you and everyone in the u.s. government, sustain your commitment to poland, countries of the region, and europe as a whole. keep on promoting the values of democracy and human rights, support civil society society, ngos and the local governments initiatives. and above all, don't lose hope for poland, because the democratic forces will be back. honorable members of congress, a liberal democracy is an oxymoron. you are [inaudible] statements you either stay true to the common values of a democracy or you slide into authoritarianism. you must protect the common values of democracy together. the u.s. engagement in europe and in poland guarantees our peace, freedom and democracy. the chairman is absolutely right. if a vacuum is created in our part of europe, it will be filled by malign influence from russia and china. we all need a strong eastern flank of the north atlantic alliance, democratic and resilient, and most importantly, inoculated against manipulation and propaganda. we see our membership in the european union and nato as well as strong relations with the united states of america as a guarantee of our independence. that is why we treat the commitments to overall security of the continent and the world so seriously. but solidarity of all partners is required in the face of serious threats. therefore, i strongly urge the u.s. congress to prevent russia from having a leverage against the eu nato members in the form of [inaudible] two, and introduce further sanctions against the russian regime. honorable members of congress, regardless of what happens in politics today, do not lose hope. i remain confident that poland will be back as a strong, crowd and democratic member of the transatlantic community. we, the signatories of the pact of three cities, remain committed to hold the democratic values, protect minorities, fight for tolerance ansparency, and realize the common [inaudible] cause of the western community. you know, whatever the government is not doing, we are doing it. we teach tolerance across the scores. we prioritize women's rights. we support independent cultures and ngos. and we seriously fight for climate change, with climate change. because that is what the proud citizens of warsaw and of poland expect from us. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. he assured we are not giving up in poland. the assured that we understand in all your countries how important our relations are an in the transatlantic way and be assured too that all of your testimony here in the common thread of making sure that basic democratic freedoms are our core and our strength. we certainly have security needs together under greater threats than we've seen in decades. yet democracy and our security needs don't travel in different lanes. they travel together and are strengthened together. and your opening statements of all of you indicates how important that is going forward. so i thank you for your testimony. all recognize members for five minutes each, and pursuant to the house rules, at all time yielded is for the purpose of questioning our witnesses. because of the virtual format of this hearing, i recognize members by committee seniority. alternating between democrats and republicans. if you miss your turn, please let our staff go and we'll circle back to you. if you seek recognition, you must unmute your microphone and adjust [inaudible] verbally. now now recognize myself for five minutes with questions. i think all of you for what you are doing, and you are terrific examples of how the importance of major cities, municipalities and obviously their importance to the surrounding communities of cities, how important that is. and you've raised issues of transparency's, and contacts, contracts, and freedoms of the press, basic human rights issues. all course to what we are dealing with. and you understand in all of your roles that this isn't, these are issues that in that city barriers. they johnson not only the cities to the suburban areas to the country as a whole but globally. along those, lines have noticed your work and the pact are free cities, work on by climate change. here in our own country, during the last four years as some we've reneged on some of our commitments here in the u.s., globally, which we've now moved forward to reconstruct. but so many of our states and cities move forward during this period so importantly. so i would ask all of you if you'd like just to jump in to talk about the work you have done on climate change, and how your work has been so important and transformative and how it translates to the people you represent. maybe perhaps i'll start with mr. vallo and then the others can jump in. >> thank you very much. we, of course, i'm having a lot of support in the united states as a mayor of warsaw, rafal, [inaudible] bloomberg, harvard city leadership initiative, and we're taking a lot of know-how from city organizations that this organization as well. and one of the main thing, of course, for us, to fighting climate change, is everything it's green. we have this program called 10,000 trees. i know it's called 1 million trees i can new york city. but we have 10,000 trees, and we are planting a lot of trees and of course we know the effect of trees today. it's not only scientifically data based effect. you know what is happening to rainwater yet co2, but it's also very important for health of our cities and this is just one of the programs we, a lot of public space that something that we kind of having this program of completely renewable of public space. but a lot better severe important for us. a very important agenda again is our minorities we have a as every city in the world today problem of citizens without a home. responding a lot of work ideology to try and ensure and agree everyone can own and own bed for the night and own house, and that's very important for us. so we tried to just go with this already tested and already working agenda of other cities, which are maybe a little bit, but a bit, more using the game, and trying to follow with examples, and that supported. for us i wanted to reassure him, we had him as -- we reassure him that as a witness, a couple of years ago, i saw him connect to younger people here, as he did back home. the climate change issue also connects generations. what have you been doing? >> like violence oh, he was having his famous speech, i was working at capitol hill for months with john dingell. when it comes to fighting climate change, our government, the conservative government of poland is very lukewarm toward the idea of global warming. unfortunately, they have taken some commitments, but unfortunately they're not very diligent in implementing them. again, the cities have to do it on our own. i've declared that warsaw will be carbon neutral by 2050, even with our very difficult energy. you are doing a number of things in warsaw, raising awareness. prioritizing public transportation, we invest billions of euros in public transportation. we are greening our city, we are eliminating coal powered stoves we are helping citizens in using renewables and we are paying for that. we are doing quite a lot in order to meet the priorities of the european union and the world. we have to take some of that responsibility ourselves. >> thank you. i make note of the fact that our secretary of energy for the united states, secretary granholm, one of her first stops was in poland. it opens the door, not just there, but around the world for important cooperation between the u.s. and all our transatlantic allies. it will create not just a greener environment but more jobs and more independent security wise from other powers that don't share our values. there is a tremendous opportunity in this area for mutual growth. i wish i could go to everyone, my time has expired and hopefully some of the other members will follow up with questions in this regard. i will now turn for questioning to representative, him you sir. >> thank you, mister chairman. to ranking member fitzpatrick, thank you very much. the incredibly interesting ended formative. thank you. your cities over the course of the 20th century, of course, survived nazi occupation. soviet communism, throughout the soviet area we saw uprisings notably in hungry and prague. solidarity movement in poland, the pelvic revolution in 1989, brought an end to communism and czechoslovakia. so, today, freedom is under threat. china continues to crackdown on hong kong's autonomy and threatens taiwan. russia, similarly, is cracking down on opposition and threatening various sovereignty's of its neighbors and a militarization of the ukraine border. so, mayor mayor hrib, we you have are a strong supporter of taiwan at tibet hosting tibetan and taiwanese officials and -- mr. mayor, how has beijing responded to these actions? -- >> well, thank you very much representative meuser for this question. the fact is, of course they are trying to threaten us and the logic, or their narrative, or actually it's not mainly the narrative that will be told by them, they're using some sort of proxies to speak up for them. for example, in prague, we have found that a company which is business interests in china -- because they have a company which sells the mobile phones on installments there. it is by the way our company owned by the richest check guy. this is recently, however, they have created a whole network of politicians, journalists, academic people to support their view of china and they've had these invoices, payments and -- this was all published. this was leaked into the media. in this way, they are trying to form the public opinion. so, for example, that their primary narrative is that if we damage the relationship with china, the economy of the whole country will be damaged. but, specifically, in case of czech republic, i'm not sure if we have equal countries, but i believe it can be pretty much the same. the business influence of china is actually quite overrated. for example, the promises of billions for investments from china into check industries, but actually only a fraction of them happened, and they were not investments. they were merely acquisitions of already existing sports clubs, breweries and other things. it was not about investments with know-how transfer, or creating new jobs, and so on. so, for example, we have done this trip to taiwan with our chairman of the upper chamber of our parliament. that was a huge, huge threat from china about the impact of this trip on the czech economy. the next result, the next result was that the chinese company team was not some -- they canceled their plan to buy 11 pianos from a check company, which meant a loss of 5 million check crowns, which is roughly tens of thousands of euros. these pianos were actually immediately bought by a sponsor of news except, classical music in the czech republic. they were donated to schools. -- >> i think we're out of time. thank you. i yield back, mister chair. >>, you are on mute, mister chair. >> see, they're already muting us. i now turn -- thank you very much for your testimony and your questioning. i now turn to the vice chair of the committee. >> thank you very much mister chairman. i want to say thank you to all of our guests today, thank you for being here and to answer our questions in your opening statements were extraordinary. these virtual hearings really do allow us to give experts and government officials from around the world, i appreciate you making the time to speak with us. mr. trzaskowski, i would like to ask you a couple questions. the united states and poland have a strong security partnership through the nato alliance. as we know, the types of security challenges that localities are facing continue to evolve. i would like to hear more about how warsaw is working to build some resiliency against the emerging security challenges. climate change, cybersecurity or on the ground physical threats. what is underway in warsaw to combat the security threats. if they're a structure of engagement, internationally that exists? >> you know, obviously, today there are threats of very different nature. we see what is happening on the eastern border of poland. the migratory crisis is being created. it's being helped by luke russia and his regime. we also see what is happening on the border of russia and ukraine. it gives us -- a level of the cities, the biggest threats are the threats of the hybrid nations win, the war is not wage. differently there is a question about resilience when it comes to energy. in my introductory statement, i felt so strong about -- not only because we have to save the planet, but we cannot allow russians and others to use -- that's why we invest as much as we can and renewables, that's why we greener cities, that's why we increase violence. there's also a problem of cybersecurity. we cannot do a lot because we are the mayors and it's the responsibility of the government. what we try to do, we talk to the kids, we introduce programs at schools where we teach wet manipulation is and how it can be used. we sift information so students know with a talking about. unfortunately, the populist government is trying to push the ngos out of schools. they want to have schools for their own purposes. they are trying to introduce propaganda. they're pushing out will -- we do what we can. >> and terms of engagement with companies that might be impacted by cyber attacks, what is the structure in terms of your ability as the mayor of this city to be part of the education of students for issues related to propaganda, but how about companies and commerce within your city in terms of the threats that exist online to them? >> again, this is a problem which needs to be addressed on the governmental level. i was the minister of digitization seven years ago. i know this problem pretty well. we are the local government, we cannot do much. but there's a lot we can do together. at the end of the day, when we talk about cyber, we need to collaborate with nato, the european union. we need to talk to the big giant american companies when it comes to resilience. i will give you an example. recently, the government used the peg assists -- this is a device used an israel, it allows them to catch terrorists. but apple has to actually send a warning to one of our prosecutors that the government of poland is using it against prosecutors. sometimes, there are doubts whether it is using such instruments about the members of the opposition. we need to address these questions, we need to ask these questions to the polish government. they are quite serious doubts about that. of course, there is a question of regulating the big tech companies. we can only do it together. the european union and the united states of america. we need to protect free speech and the possibilities that technology gives. us we need to also -- we are worried about cybersecurity. those capabilities can be used by populist governments. >> my next question, which you got two unanswered, was focused on how democratic values and human rights across the world is under threat, and about the role that cities can have in strength and i sing and revitalizing these principles. you spoke about making sure children are aware of propaganda, certainly -- i do hope in the future, mister chairman, we can talk about the international community supporting cities and leaders like mayor trzaskowski. -- thank, you mister chairman, i yield back. >> thank you for your comments on bringing home the point of how renewables create energy independence, and how critical that is to our security right now. all of these issues overlap. we turn to representative pflger for five minutes. >> thank you, i don't want to start this conversation by disagreeing. but what we're talking about here is we power. i come from a district -- i know this is not the line of questioning i was gonna start with, but my district produces more wind energy than the entire state of california. and it's wonderful for the state of texas, but i've talked to -- i've had dozens of conversations from the baltic states through central europe and all the way into the balkans. one of the major concerns that i'm hearing from every single country is the malign influence that is being, basically held hostage on the energy front. mister chairman, i agree with the need to diversify sources. that's not only the type of energy, but it's also where they are red energy originates from. what i would like to focus on, and maybe will start with doctor trzaskowski, but i'd like to hear from all of you on the three season issue. -- a billion dollars, 300 million of additional -- that's been delayed. i want to hear how that would counter the influence that we are seeing in things like the pipeline. dr. trzaskowski, over to you. thank you for all the witnesses, but i'll start with you and we will get to the other witnesses as well. >> they put a questioned, very important. i mean, that's the problem, that some of those countries actually use energy as a leverage. and use energy security to influence the situation in countries such as violent. and that's why all the initiatives that we have mentioned are so important. it is very important to work within nato and within the european union to counter that. and we have created an energy union, we have created quite a lot of tools to get our independence but unfortunately, you know, there are some decisions on the table which try to sort of go around it. and when you, and when you mention the initiative of the seas, fine. that's another initiative which can actually make us a bit more independent, for example, of the chinese influence. you know, they've invented this form of 16 plus one in order to have more influence in the balkans, especially in those countries which are not members of the european union. so this immensely important for us to use all of those initiatives in order to make it stronger, more resilient and more independent. and at the end of the day, we need to collaborate. we, in the european union, and of course the united states of america, because we are the begins of freedom and only us, working together, we can actually counter those malign influences. and that's why it is so incredibly important that countries such as followed and hungry remain democratic. we cannot have it weak link here. >> well, thank you for that. and i appreciate the acknowledgment of all the initiatives, specifically 3cs countering ccp efforts or others. i'll just open it up at this point to anyone that has an opinion on the delay of the funding that has been promised to the tune of $300 million through this 3cs. can anybody speak to whether or not that is hurting or how it would help would be a better way to posts question? >> well congressman i, would just say one sentence. i mean if, the european union apologist commitments as it always does, because we are a member of this organization, but if the united states stay committed and help us in investing, and then there is no room for other investment. no one can show us a carat and try to say that they have a better idea. that's why this absolutely crucial that we keep your engagement in europe. there is no room for anyone else. >> that [inaudible] point of trying to make is our commitment needs to be argument. mr. vallo, just over two, you i don't know if you have any thoughts on this? >> just very, very few words. i mean, in all of this, nobody is happy to be called forced in the corner by energy crisis and that's what's happening during this these weeks in here and i mean i want to point out the word, to mayor trzaskowski already mentioned this, this collaboration, is the only way we have [inaudible] we are a small nation here with our neighbors which are much bigger country, as [inaudible] and also czech republic, so we are completely dependent on europe right now. we are completely dependent on good collaboration with these two for countries, and the day of democracy is absolutely necessary also for us. >> well, thank you. does anyone in the last 15 seconds have any thoughts on lithuania's decision to pull out of the 17 plus one and to fully support taiwan? >>. >> well, if i might just say one, i support that. that that is the thing that is very, very, very always specific to a southern country and the points of it. for me, as a medical doctor, i would perhaps like to emphasize -- and i'm always emphasizing that if i'm asked about this question about supporting taiwan i would like to support the membership often in w.h.o., because that is something that has been proven, that is crucial nowadays, as we face the global pandemic, as they obviously knew it's coming. they have prepared, and their experience is crucial if we look on what have chinese done and how they are basically light to the world. >> well, there, thank you. now, mister chairman, my time has expired, but thank you for this hearing, and the opportunity with the witnesses giving us their testimony. >> thank you, representative. the chair recognizes represent to divvy susan well for five minutes. >> thank you, mister chairman. mayor vallo, you write in your testimony that the climate crisis is also a democracy crisis and the viability of our democracies will be tested by their capacity to face the existential danger of global warming and ability to mitigate its negative impact on our societies. my question is about the intersection of these two challenges. we are seeing an alarming tendency of xenophobic leaders on both sides of the atlantic. you oppose strong action on the global climate crisis was seeking political gain by demonizing the growing numbers of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers who seek safe harbor, at least in part due to the many direct and indirect ways that the climate crisis is destabilizing their societies. how do you assess this duel crisis, and what lessons have you learned from your time as mayor that can help us find solutions and particularly when it comes to helping people see through attempts to scapegoat and divide our societies? >> thank you very much. i mean, for me, what i learned in the last few years is that any reform, maybe sometimes -- of course data based decision for this is very important to have trust of our citizen. that the main thing, and of course, climate crisis, today we have it data [inaudible] exactly what is going to happen in the next years, and we know everybody who believes data and science know that the climate crisis, here is clear, it's happening. but you still have people, you still have president and prime minister who are saying that it is not an issue. so the thrust, the general thrust, not only in politics, but also to the scientists in numbers and everybody who wants to be transparent, and democrats is absolutely pivotal here, and this is what we are doing in very small scale, you know, how in our city, bratislava, we are trying to bring trust, with the relationship with our citizens. >> all right, thank you. and i'd like to direct my seat next question to mayor trzaskowski. so, you write in your testimony, the polish public merely media, the biggest media outlet in our country, funded with taxpayer numb money, ceased to be an objective source of information but instead formed a part of the ruling party's propaganda machine aimed at fighting the opposition. this is still your quote, i experienced that during the presidential election in 2020, when all public news programs openly turned against my candidacy, spreading crude propaganda and misinformation at the same time openly supporting my opponent. can you elaborate for us on some of the specific ways that polish public media worked to undermine your candidacy and support the incumbent president? >> well, you understand you, lead to understand. nothing i mean the polish public media is first of all funded by taxpayers money. and this is the only channel which can be watched everywhere in paul. and other independent generals, by the way, which are under attack by the law and justice government, are much more difficult to reach. and you know, i'm almost 50 so i remember the communist propaganda. it was much more subtle that what they do now on public tv. and it's not only my campaign, where all the independent institutions said that the campaign in poland was still a free, but not fair. because all the outlets were attacking me, presenting manipulations all the time, twisting facts, and of course, in ending spending much more time covering the president. but it's more that they use it actually to stop fears that they've started a vicious campaign against the lgbt plus people, that they are saying incredible things about refugees, and they are magnifying the threats. the threats are there, that's not minimalism, we need a strong border in eastern poland, but we cannot simply allow for this propaganda to spread because manipulations are then spread all around poland. and they're using it all the time, constantly, to do that. and that's why it is very problematic in poland to wage a normal and fair campaign, because you can spend just a small amount of money and all the state institutions, propaganda included, are used against the opposition. and that's why the government is also undertaking, the government, the conservative populist government, is now undertaking to threaten and limit the freedom of other independent outlets and press. one example to end this -- a state don't completely, an oil company, was asked by the government to buy local press. and they bought newspapers you, know, in order to kill some of those local newspapers and turn them to the government and against, and again, and again on propaganda. >> very sensitive to that. we're seeing the buying of media outlets throughout our country. i'm sensitive to that. thank you very much, mayor. with that, mister chairman i yield back. >> very interesting line of questioning. the chair recognizes -- >> thank you very much, mister chairman. thanks for calling this hearing. thanks for the mayors for participating. i want to echo some of what you said. this is not just an interesting hearing, it is critical to the way that we think about europe, to the way that we think about the challenges in europe. i have to say to all of the mayors who are participating, your words today and the way that you govern and the commitment that you have shown too liberal democracy is inspiring! i am really grateful for this opportunity. i want to follow up on some of the conversations about them the pact of free cities. the members of the pack to free cities, i'm looking ahead to the summit for democracy's that the biden white house is gonna be hosting. i would like to know whether the patch of free cities is participating in the summit for democracy, and what you would like to see as local leaders result from the summit for democracy. since in your countries, what you are doing is so critical to that effort to sustain democracy. mayor trzaskowski, i guess we can start with you. >> the problem today is that, if we really want to meet the challenges that are before us head on, you cannot do it without the cities. if you really want to fight climate change, if you want to resolve the problems of education, migration and so on and so forth, we need to do it together. that is why it's very important to also recognize the role of the cities. for example, when our friends in the european union, but also in the u.s. are exacerbated by our governments, that is why it's absolutely crucial that we talk to each other, we keep on supporting the ngos, we keep on fighting for minorities and we keep on realizing common priorities. that's why we decided to set up the pact for free cities. very different cities from all around the world, from paris to london to los angeles, they are joining. we have the same problems. we are doing the benchmarking, we are learning from one another what to do, we are adopting breast practices to meet those challenges head on. that's why i'm very much satisfied that there is a side event on monday that mayors were invited to. i will be there with the mayor of napoli's and jakarta. >> thank you, mayor karacsony. >> thank you for the question, it's important for hungry since, now in the hungary -- soon in the international press, we heard that hungry wasn't invited by the biden administration to the summit. i think this is a clear signal about the future of democracy. the u.s. would like to talk to countries that are building -- demolishing democracies. the hungarian government is trying to get the eu to join the summit and say that the eu cannot represent all countries, since hungry is not invited. this is a typical reasoning from -- he always equals himself to the nation and the whole of the nation. he says that he is representing all of us. as a government, if they are criticize, they will be -- every criticism is directed to the hole of the nation. he is trying to look at the eu participation on the summits, and to say that the eu cannot talk on behalf of hungry. i was invited to this forum. i'm not speaking on behalf of hungry, i tried to speak on behalf of the population of budapest we and about the values that i believe. of course, the democracy cannot represent everybody. everybody has the right to express their opinion. the fact that the hungarian government is blocking the eu participation, i think it is a message to all the friends of democracy about the hungarian government's opinion on democracy. i'm sorry that i have to apologize, because of this project. i ask you not to equal hungry to viktor orban and his government, thank. you >> -- you would have very important very will take it by. as mr. chairman, i don't know if -- i have one quick question, a put it on the question, but it on the table. >> because of the delay in the translation, yes, take a little bit more time. >> i appreciate that. i just want to circle back to mere trzaskowski one last time. there was a recent [inaudible] law adopted by poland that effectively presents the jewish and non jewish families who are processed prosecuted by the nazis from receiving restitution for property seized in world war ii. we saw some of [inaudible] antisemitic rallies around paul and last month. president [inaudible] dipped illness, those but i wonder what has been done in warsaw to protect the jewish community, specifically in response to the [inaudible] antisemitism, and whether the jewish committee feels safe in warsaw poland--. >> yes, unfortunately, we had those incidents in pollen that were largely shamed on and is very good that the president denounced time and those guys were actually caught by police and they will be prosecuted. we do everything we can to protect other minorities in warsaw and unfortunately for example in our national holiday and independence day, the government allowed for the quasi-fascist organizations to actually take over that day and to organize the festivities. and i was in court, fighting, so that these elements could not organize rallies on the streets of warsaw, and one. but the government at the end of the day decided to sort of give an umbrella to some of those elements. and no mistake, some of those guys are just, you know, nationalistic elements. but unfortunately they think that they said, of course, should never be condoned. we do everything that we can to protect minorities less. my job. i'm the mayor of the city. you know, we need to not to meddle with the efforts of those who get by and protect all of those who are weaker -- minorities, senior citizens, people with disabilities. that's what we do, that's our mission. the mission of the local government. >> thank you very much. mister chairman, i'm going to fit again just wear started. this has been an inspiring hearing. i'm so grateful to our witnesses, to these mayors, and i look forward to continuing this this conversations to advance democracy in europe. and ensure the continuation of the strongest possible liberal democracies. and i thank you very much, yield back. >> thank you. and i couldn't agree more. with the tenor and the remarks and the significance of our witnesses testimony. how inspiring that is. now, our next member who will have questions is a former bear. and of course, in a leadership role in a national associations with mayors. and now he's a congressman, and he's recognized, so it's one of you [inaudible] recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mister chairman. and thank you for this hearing. and you know, thank you for these extraordinary mirrors for being here. and also who have served as a mayor, i'm not at all surprised that mirrors are going to save democracy around the. wealth and just thank you for the cities that the organization that he founded. you know, we always talk cities as the great innovators, the great incubators of great ideas, but placing government closest to the people and so the work that you are doing to preserve democracy around the world's extraordinary, and as [inaudible] said, really inspiring to hear. and we, as members of congress, want to support you in every way that we can. and so, my first question is to mayor trzaskowski. you talked about the vicious campaign against the lgbtq community. and obviously, you know, the diversity of citizens is one of the great strength of cities. could you speak a little bit about what the national government was doing and how we can productively work with you and other cities to help support vulnerable populations, whether it be the lgbtq community, the jewish committee as congressman dodge mentioned, or otherwe will always fight for diversity in our city. we are in agreement and all the cities and p so forth. and we will always fight for diversity in our city. and we are in agreement in all of the cities in poland that that's what we need to do, and that's when we need to protect minorities. i was one of the first mayors to sign the lgbt charter in warsaw, because i wanted to protect the minority, i wanted to allow for more tolerance in schools. i wanted to actually talk about this subject. we've created, for example, it shelter for people from lgbt community who are just thrown out of their houses. and i was viciously attacked by the media, the public media outlet and by the government, because the cynically wanted to use that as an argument to fight mayors in poland. and then when i was running a presidential campaign, they used it against me because they wanted to stock up xenophobic and homophobia. for example, you know, the president of the republic was on record saying that, and other officials, saying that lgbt is not, those are not people but ideology and so on and so forth. but we will keep on fighting. because we think that our beautiful cities should remain open and transparent and we will not allow anyone to attack our citizens who have full rights. and as i said, that's our mission. whoever is attacked, in warsaw, will be defended by me and by the people who work with me. we'll never allow it. and again, it was just used cynically by the government, because they always undertake such attacks when they see or think that they can score some points. >> and may i ask, mayor vallo, whether or not the role of social media, will it's played in terms of darren disowning information that has led to the undermining of democratic institutions and the module nation marginalization of minority populations and what role that has played in your country, in your city? >> mayor vallo? >> can you hear >> can you hear me? our. perfect today, we already know that what we thought is going to be an instrument for democracy, better the democracy is becoming an instrument for hate. this is what we strongly feel, that some social networks are just not protecting the democracy enough, just giving the podium and stage two hate speech and populism and to people who are pressing hard to minorities. that's also what's happening in slovakia and i think around all the europe. so in my case again i'm going back to the trust and the relation with the citizen what we are trying to do is to explain, to communicate, ensure we have all the instruments. we're not the populist, we are, as we say, we have all the instruments how to fight it, to show our results, to show the work. the work must be done. and that's the only way how we can can show the people that democracy is working. >> thank you. mayor, i'm just trying to get one last question, trzaskowski i -- hope i'm pronouncing that okay -- i had in a very interesting conversation with prime minister orban when i visited hungrily. he said there are three areas of common interest, economics, security and human rights. when i pressed on him right, he said isn't two out of three enough. i tried to break the case that two out of three isn't enough. but will you speak a little bit to the role about the role of chinese and russian investments in hungary, and how [inaudible] that is impacting the [inaudible] the doctors in hungary, and how we can effectively work with you as a mayor of a city to promote democracy and human rights? >> [interpreter] once prime minister orban viktor said that you shouldn't see what i do, look at what it, that's how you translators [inaudible] . so, he says something that is lip service and he says that to serve human rights and democracy but at the same time you can see that he does everything what he can see in poland, these attacks against different committees. for example, here in hungary, again, there's an attack against sexual minorities. it is very important to point out that democracy and pushing it, marginalizing it, and opening toward the russians and chinese, these to go hand in hand. and as i have mentioned earlier, the hungarian government is eager to build on investments from russia and china, and obviously it is paid by hungarian taxpayers. but they serve chinese and russian interests. and i would like to draw your attention to the fact that within the european union, the [inaudible] the commission, there is a representative, a hungarian representative, who is responsible for the western balkans extension. and they did everything to increase chinese influence there. the budapest [inaudible] railway is closely connected with the thought that china wants to have oversight over critical infrastructure so that they can have access to west balkans ports so they can get chinese boots to europe through these ports. so they have economic interests, and hungary does not have any economic interests here, only those companies which are close to the fides party, the ruling party. for me the extension of the european union is important is very important and at the same time i think the you are the eu and the u.s. should closely follow not only eu countries but also the western balkans region, where there is a very strong chinese influence. and hungary is something like a trojan horse within the eu. because it wants to represent this influence within the eu and in this way they weaken our international alliance. >> thank you so much. thank you mister chairman, i yield back. >> thank you, mister. mayor and the chair now recognizes representative titles with about five minutes. >> thank you, mister chairman. and thank you to our mayor. it's been most interesting and very impressive. and reassuring as we see democracy backslide in so many parts of the world to hear your values and what you all are doing. we heard a little bit about the harassment in the one presidential campaign. but just speaking politically, is being such a popular mayor in your city a good steppingstone politically to run for national office, where you might find yourself with some support from over here? >> well yes. there is of course this increasing understanding that democracy at the local level is very important. so when you're doing a good job at your hometown or at your regional level that allows you to actually carry the banner of not chrissy, of values, of freedom [inaudible] . yes, that's true. >> that's reassuring. let me ask you. in the u.s., with our federal system, there are a number of laws and constitutional provisions and systemic features that make local governments have to cooperate with the federal government. you know, they do some of the implementation, some of the carrying out of policies. sometimes there are too many strings attached, it can be good and bad. you don't seem to have that relationship generally with the national government. but i think in the case of hungary, have you seen some negative impact from this power you are gaining through the pack, and in the case of prague and czech republic, are you seeing something positive coming from the fact that your party is now part of the national coalition? is it really just political or are there systemic things that also affect that relationship? >>? anybody? >> the national government is treating the national government doesn't enemy, they are trying to do whatever they can to take away our prerogatives, to take away our. money, so for example half of the taxes to in the local government. they are changing the code in order to actually take money away from us. so it is problematic. even when we fight together the pandemic, we try to collaborate, but unfortunately the government is introducing politics into that as well. that is why we have to keep fighting because local government is so important. >> any other may or want to comment? >> [interpreter] unfortunately we have a similar truth in the past years. in the past two years, since i have been mayor, our city has lost 40% of our income. and this loss was not because of the pandemic, it was because of governmental stats which targeted the drowning of our city. they do not look at us as a partner who are illegitimate partner. they look at us as a power challenge. they know it all too well that if the municipality is successful, then it will be visible that they are not so strong, they only want to have power, and they want to influence politics. with such an amount of loss of money, you are just unable to manage that. for us, next elections are going to be of key, a lot of things are going to be decided in hungary, among others the fate of municipalities, because without money, even the best mayor cannot do anything for the development of the city. [end of translation] >> i think from four to about 20, does this strengthen your power, or -- international partners, you are going to work on cross lines even if you cannot work with your own government? >> yes, of course. because at the end of the day what really counts is access to knowledge, access to facts that we can actually look at the best practices, that we can benchmark together. we are doing it in very different forms, as mentioned by the mayor, we are -- worse is the only city from the region which is part of the c 40 organizations which fight climate change. the fact is that it also allows us a platform to collaborate. for example, when we are going within the european union, at least a small part of the money can be used directly with the local government. so that it does not go through the national government, but we can realize certain projects together. such as for example, taking the diesel power buses off the streets of european cities, we are much more effective when we do it with other cities such as paris, or florence, or milan. >> thank you very much, mister chairman. i think a lot of this is worth pursuing. it is quite interesting, and valuable. >> sorry if i may add. i believe that the situation of my colleagues in poland, and worship, in budapest, in hungary, is actually much harder than our position here, judging from information from them, and the situation on -- with the media, and so on. and also with the finds. actually, we had experience recently that means a year ago, actually a similar situation, one in the central government had lowered the taxes which would be a good thing, but at first they did not have irrelevant savings planned. second, actually lower the taxes that is used for financing the cities. so they basically took the money from us, and this is actually how regimes start, they take away the money from the cities, that means that they are usually subsidy programs only the friends get the subsidies, and if you suddenly became a non friend, you were a friend and became a non friend, that means that probably some audit, or some people will come and they will try to criminalize you for example, some formal problems with the subsidy. there is always some. this is actually, i think, the way how the authoritarian regimes start. this was a situation that was very, very eminent in czech republic a year ago. we have had opposed that, and we had at least partially saved the situation. >> that is interesting. thank you mister chairman, thank you. >> thank you representative. the chair recognizes representative costa for five minutes. it is representative costa here? i can see him on the screen. representative costa? okay, we will move to representative schneider, you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you mister chairman. i would like to think everyone today, not just for sharing your vision, experiences, and perspectives with us in this hearing, but for what you guys are doing collectively, and with your colleagues in the past. you know, i have been struggling to conceptualize liberal democracies falling -- and, earlier that conversation, the turned nationalist populism which is as good a definition of the opposite that i can think of. i believe that it was the mayor who said that the national governments are treating the cities of the enemy. the flip side of that is also about the cities, and the work you are doing in defending and protecting, and nurturing liberal democracy is a challenge to those who are seeking power, and trying to establish their legitimacy for their nationalist names. my broad question for the group is, what do you see as the biggest threats to the ongoing ability of the pact to hold together, and to continue to nurture and develop liberal democracy? second backup question to that is, what can the united states to the extent that we could be involved as the united states congress do to support your efforts, in addition to giving you a form like we have today? >> congressman, if i may. we will persevere. we will keep on collaborating. nothing will change that. but of course, why the local government is under attack in poland, and why they are trying to take away money from us, institute centralized programs, and then distribute money according to political criteria? because we are independent. all of the independent institutions are under attack. because the government does not like independent institutions. we are strong enough, and the civil society is strong enough for us to be effective. but at the end of the day, yes, they take away prerogatives, they take away the money, but we keep doing what we are doing. the important thing is, that is what i said in my opening remarks, is that you need to stay committed. the united states of america, the european union, it needs to do whatever it can to support network such as the pact of three free cities. or other networks that we collaborate with, the cities of the mayors of the cities of the united states. because we could really do a lot of things together. exchange information, so for example, we were working together throughout the pandemic, and the information that we had from our american colleagues helped us a lot in managing better our hospitals. so there is a lot we can do. helping directly. it is not just a question of money, it is the question of creating -- supporting institutions, or networks that really help us do it we do. >> thank you. if other mayors want to add to that. >> maybe i just want to outline, underline everything that may or trzaskowski just said. we are on the same place. i -- it is very important for us to keep the cooperation going on. and of course, any help from outside, any help to any network we are fighting for here in europe is a big help. >> great. thank you. before i get on to my next question, the sign behind you always seems impossible till it is done, i love that quote. our former secretary of state is making the impossible seem inevitable. i think that is the challenge we all face in serving our communities, and ensuring liberal democracies, it is the path we can all proceed. let me turn again to mayor trzaskowski. following up on what the congressman touched on, i appreciate you bringing up the antisemitism across the globe, i very much appreciate your answer. speaking to the jewish community and poland, this probably can apply to communities everywhere, what are you saying to the community to tell them that there is a place for them in poland, in poland's future, and that they are safe and secure in their homes? >> yes. thank you very much for that question. i would just add one thing because you said what the united states can do. what we are doing in poland, and hungary, and czech republic, and other cities, we are supporting the non governmental organizations which do a lot of work for us. they fight homophobia, they work with minorities, they help refugees, and so on, and so forth. that is why we should keep on supporting them. but, answering your question, i wanted to say that poland is one of the safest countries in europe. and, when it comes to safeguarding the constitutional rights of the minorities, we do whatever we can. i have to say honestly that there is no agreement of the conservative governments to attack for example are jewish minority. that is just not happening. unfortunately, sometimes they create an atmosphere in which those nationalistic elements can actually do what they do. but i can assure you that the jewish community in warsaw is safe. we are doing everything to collaborate with them, and of course, they are part of our dna, part of our culture in warsaw. and of course they have an incredibly important part of our life. that is why we support the museum of polish jews, where we show the contribution of polish jews to our nation, to the development of poland. that is why they are springing up jewish schools in warsaw, and other cities, and the jewish culture is incredibly vibrant in poland. we will keep supporting that. because that would give us richness and diversity that warsaw was always so well known for. we will keep undoing that regardless of whatever happens. >> thank you. i appreciate that. just in closing, i had a chance to visit warsaw in 1990 before world war ii, warsaw was one third jewish, that is part of the history of poland. i am grateful for your remarks. and to everybody, thank you again for all that you are doing, continuing our conversations, and working to make sure that we are supporting what you all are doing, but also collaborating to do this work around the world together. with that, mister chairman i yield back, thank you for this. >> representative, i think all of the committee members that participated, with all that is going on around congress right now, we had an amazing participation from our members, because of the interest of the mayors that we're here today. your comments have inspired, informed, and i hope create a continuation of a dialogue that we can have on important issues that are about shared values we have. while we are here in this hearing, the world goes on, and i will inform you that during this time the u.s. has announced sanctions, the sanctions against belarus, for the russians targeting migrant smuggling and victimization of migrants. and also russia has issued a warning of fight in the separatist region, as they term it. so we can see going ahead that the challenges we have in front of us, the threats of -- two security and military action, and aggressiveness. the use of economic factors, particularly energy, to break this unity, to break this greatest strength that we share together. our coalition, our transatlantic coalition, or you appear in u.s. coalition, for our shared values, and for democracy. i hope those that -- from an authoritarian standpoint realize, i hope this hearing was greater proof that these types of aggressive actions, these heavy-handed actions, these authoritarian actions, potentially these military actions, will never be ultimately successful. if we hold together in unity, and we surround ourselves at the core of shared values and beliefs in democracy. when you look at this, from any of those ten points, a security standpoint, a military standpoint, an economic standpoint, the strong colors of our major cities remain one of the most critical elements of this united strength. so your leadership, what you said today, your beliefs, your courage, keep going forward. it is not just important to the president, but we will face continued, and i am afraid greater challenges in the near future. and this alliance to our transatlantic and shared democratic beliefs, which all four of our witnesses this played today, with great strength and courage will continue to inspire all of us in this coalition as we go forward. so, i cannot tell you how much i appreciate your time that you are taking, the content of what you have said, the strength of what you have debated, the strength and democracy. and the strength thought will be, i believe, a bond of people you represent. because ultimately it is those people in our countries. we cannot fail to recognize this. i think there are some comments that were made before about, do not give up on us, we look to your people, as you do as mayors, as the strength. so we look to continue to work together, even given greater challenges we may face. so thank you so much for being here. this is one of the most important hearings that we have had, and it was because of your participation, and what you had to say, so i want to thank you, and remind the members we have five days to submit statements, materials, and questions for the record. to the rules of this committee, again, thank you for the support, and for that, this hearing is adjourned. military officials and defense experts took part in a good discussion on u.s. security and the strength of military alliances and partnerships. hosted by the reagan national defense forum. >> they descend gentlemen. welcome to panel five. in the interest of an advancing international security with allies and partners. please welcome colonel john aquilino, jen neural laura j. richardson, inboden [inaudible] and moderator david ignatius of the washington post.