Some other nominees, so today we will consider three nominations and i want to thank my colleagues for helping working through the nominations in an appropriate fashion to allow us to take the steps forward today. Any comments you would like to make . No, mr. Chairman. We are trying to get confirmed em bas duirs to make your job a little bit easier, i hope you appreciate the fact that chairman corker are moving through nominations as quick as possible and one of the things to do if confirmed to get nominations a little bit sooner. In any respect, we are supportive of the three nominee that is we have here today and the list that we are going to take up and strongly urge our colleagues in regards to governorbran governor branstead. I dont think anybody misunderstood why he had been governor for 23 areas. Certainly i was able to answer questions in a way that it related to people. Im going to read the names of the nominees and at the appropriate time we will have a boat. Honorable bransted and mochinga mr. Todd to the republic of congo and officer list as modified. That will be what we vote on in the appropriate time and with that we will leave the business meeting open and move to your hearing. Mr. Chairman, i have no objection if you want to start the roll call so we can keep it as a rolling roll call, if you would like to do that. I have no objection to that. We have a few members here, all in favor of these, signify by saying aye. Oppose. Thank you. We will count those five and move on. Thank you so much for that. Thank you for appearing before the committee today mr. Sullivan and youre willingness to serve our country once again. A confirmation of a deputy secretary of state is one of the most important appointments this committee will consider. The person who occupies this position will serve as chief advertiser to secretary tillerson and secretary in absence and as a principal officer for management of personnel and resources at the state department. Given recent management, budgetary and Information Technology challenge, this is no small task. Fortunately the president has nominated somebody with extensive background in federal service, having served at the department of justice, department of defense and deputy secretary of commerce, i believe mr. Sullivan has the Knowledge Base necessary to understand the inner workings of a large federal bureaucracy and the capacity to manage multiple priorities at the deputy level. Mr. Sullivan also has developed a reputation in the legal field as authority on trade and National Security issues. If confirmed, mr. Sl van will be reentering Government Service at a highly procurious time in world history. From europe to the middle east to east asia we are witnessing a number of major threats to Global Security and stability. These events give rise to a common question, what will americas role be. We are at a Crucial Point where we can decide to leave lead from the front and observe what happens in the sidelines an hope for the best. Its my hope that we will choose to appropriately gauge engage on the hard problems, that we will restore u. S. Credibility and provide strong pragmatic leadership on the world stage. It is also mandatory that the person who fill this is position understand not only the importance of this office to the daytoday operations of their department, but also the responsibility of keeping this committee fully informed of the departments operations, plans and policy objectives as we exercise our oversight authority. I have spoken with mr. Cull sullivan in private to have candid answers to our questions both now and in the future if confirmed by the senate. We are here to confirm nomination and i look forward to hearing about him in his exceptionally important position. Typically we would allow visiting senators to go ahead and speak, but do you wanting to ahead no, im more than willing to yield if its all right with you. Senator sullivan, its a little confusing with sullivan. [laughter] theyre not related, i understand. But im willing to yield to senator sullivan. We are honor to have senator sullivan who has served i think in the past with mr. Secretary sullivan and thank you for being here and spending a few moments, go ahead as a courtesy i will let you start right now. Great, thank you, mr. Chairman and Ranking Member and members of the committee, honor for me to come before committee on behalf of friend, colleague, Great American mr. John sullivan. And despite what his last name would suggest, we arent related although as i mentioned probably somewhere back in history ireland we are all related. Yeah. [laughter] thats why hes the biggest supporter yeah. I met john when we first served in the administration of george w. Bush, myself as an assistant secretary of state working on economic, energy, trade, innocence finance issues and john is the deputy secretary of commerce and we worked on policy issues particularly in the economic realm together. Youve had an opportunity to see his resume but i wanted to highlight a few elements of personal background and experience. John started out as law clerk for judge wisdom on fifth Circuit Court of appeals and later as law clerk in u. S. Supreme court. In 2004, secretary of defense rumsfeld appointed john in the department of defense and then moved to the department of commerce where he served as general counsel and then as deputy secretary n. The private sector john currently cochairs major browns National Security practice and serves as chairman of the United States iraq business dialogue. I mention these positions because i think we can all agree that americanForeign Policy is not just formed in the halls of foggy bottom, but in the departments of defense, energy, commerce, treasury, justice and many other agencies throughout washington. It is in this vain that i believe johns diverse experience in the federal government will serve an important complement to secretary tillersons background in the private sector. Johns experience also speaks to a greater understanding of what it takes to develop and execute u. S. Foreign policy and understands the importance of robust interagency and cooperation of our government. He understands that our nations Foreign Policy is most effective when we combine all instruments of american power, diplomatic, military, energy, trade, private sector, he understands the critical importance of working with allies around the world and he understands what it means to honorably serve our nation and has a career of doing so. And with a name like sullivan im confident that he will bring irishmans wit, charm, gift of and man of integrity and i know he will serve secretary tillerson, the men and women of the Foreign Service and Civil Service and this nation well and i urge you to support his nomination. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for coming and supporting someone you are glad to be here to support and you can return to your other duties. Thank you. All right. With that i would like to go and have a voice unblocked for the foreign embassador and the embassadors that were previously layed out. But all in favor say, aye. All oppose, thank you so much. Senator garden. Let me thank mr. Sullivan for his willingness to serve our country again. He seems to always want to come back to Public Service and we very much appreciate that, very talented person who has a distinguished record and we thank your family for willing to share you with our nation because in the position that youve been nominated for, it will takes 10 of your time and effort, the challenges are great and as chairman corker pointed out, so much goes through the deputy secretary, the person who really makes sure that the personnel systems are working, that the different regional areas are held accountable. It is critically important position. Im going to use my time and my Opening Statement to share some of the comments that we had talked about in our private meeting because i think its important at this nomination hearing to review a couple of areas of concern that we have on the Trump Administration and get your views if confirmed a critical person in developing a Foreign Policy of our country. The first is what i led our private discussion, is talk about American Values, american strength. I just came from adl meeting where we were talking about what makes america the strong nation that it is, yes, we have a Strong Military and you help developed our Strong Military, thats important, we have a Strong Economy and senator sullivan was involved in help to go develop that Strong Economy, but americas strength is in our ideals, our values, speaking up for democracy, speaking up for human rights, anticorruption and embracing diversity. So i want to start with that because i want to have a dialogue i hoped today during this nomination hearing as to how you value the importance of what america stands for. Its in context to secretary tillersons Statement Last week that gives me grave concern where he said that our Foreign Policy is out of balance, that our policies and values arent the same and if we condition our National Security efforts on someone adopting our values, we probably cant achieve National Security goals or National Security interests. That doesnt just concern a democratic senator from maryland but senator mccain who is well respected globally for his commitment to American Values said, indeed, let me quote from senator mccains oped this week. In the real world as lived and experienced by real people, the demand for human rights and dignity for longing for liberty and opportunity and hatred of corruption and cruelty is reality. By denying this experience, we deny aspirations of billions of people and enduring resentment. Mr. Mccain went onto sate, our values are the greatest strength and treasure, we are distinguished from other countries because we are not made from a land or tribe or particular ride or creed but ideal that liberty is inialiable right. Its more dangerous than realized. It could cost us our reputation and history as the nation distinct from all others in our achievements, our identity and enduring influence on mankind. Our values are central to all three. I hope that we have a chance to talk about this. The Russian Federation made strategic decision to undermine our values as an effort to spread their influence in countries that currently have democratic values. The second point i want to mention is our respect for involvement internationally and i say that in context to the fact that i led a tensenator delegation to bolls ster u. S. Leadership and provide calm and confidence in the United States commitment to the global efforts to fight the existential threat of Climate Change. Now, we may disagree as to what the solution should be. I happen to guide where signs tells me but we may have Different Solutions to it. I hope that we would all agree that the United States must be at the table during the discussions an that we need to remain part of the International Family as we talk about these issues because without the u. S. Leadership, theyll be other countries that will try to fill it, but we will be on the side of very few countries, nicaragua and syria, thats not the neighbors that we want to associate ourselves with. I hope that we will hear your view as the importance for americas engagement globally and that it would be wrong for us to sit on the sidelines. In that vein, we will talk about the president s skinny budget in the 36 cut in the state department and we understand that congress will draft its own budget and i fully respect that and i know the commit mint members of both sides of the aisle to make sure we have adequate resources to deal with international commitments, but we want to hear your view as to americas engagement. Over and over, involved in afghanistan, iraq, they are talking more of the soft power so we can avoid military engagements. We know that in africa we need to do more on spreading democracy in that country. We know about the challenges that we have to deal there. I would be interested in hearing your view as to how resources can be more efficiently spent and allocated but americas role will be one of increased influence not reduced influence in using whats under the state department to provide stable neighbors for us to work with. And the last point is with the chairman has said in our private discussions you made it clear that you would respond to request by members of this committee and i would ask that that also be reaffirmed at todays hearing. Welcome, we look forward to your hearing and we look forward to the continued partnership between this committee and the state department. And before i move onto your Opening Statement which we look forward to, senator coons, menendez and young want to register nomination . I have a procedural question. Sure. Is the business meeting over . Its going to be over as soon as you vote . And its going its rolling. Thats correct. This hearing started already. Its supposed to start at 10 15. Is there a way to give members notice . The yeah. That would be acceptable for the gavel in the hearing. I would like to be voted as a yes on a nominee. Just one sentence, one of the folks who is being promoted through the foreign list is andy who has very able power africa, coordinator being advanced to minister counselor, i wanted to comment him and anybody else on foreign list to our service to our country. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator young. Aye, please record me as yes. Absolutely. With that the ayes have it, the nominations and promotions are approved. Without objection, so orders, with that, the business meeting will stand adjourn. We look forward to your opening comments. We hope that you look and introduce your wonderful family thats with you today. I do hope you will affirm the fact that if we have any questions that you will promptly come before us in hearings in the future, but with that, we look forward to your comments. They are in the midst of final exams at college and not able to join us today but i am proud of all of them. I hope there is a future for them in Government Service. I tell people that they are cia, cuban irish americans. Also with us are my motherinlaw and my sisterinlaw susan rodriguez. It was an honor to be introduced by senator sullivan of alaska, my dear friend and former colleague from the bush administration. I am very thankful for his kind words. I want to express gratitude gratitude to President Trump and secretary tillerson for the trust and confidence they have put in me. I will put all that i have to be worthy of that trust and confidence. By way of personal introduction, i am the grandson of irish immigrants who arrived in south boston in the 1880s. My parents, born in the 1920s endured the Great Depression and with millions of their generation, fought and won the second world war. My father served in the u. S. Navy submarine service. My mother was a uso volunteer. We would now call and members of the greatest generation but they never thought of themselves that way. They really spoke of their experiences during the war. One thing they did make clear and instilled in me was a profound love of country and respect for the high calling of Public Service. In the 32 years since my law school graduation, those values have animated my career. As senator sullivan mentioned, ive had the privilege of serving in a variety of positions in government. During the service ive learned a great deal about our country, the role in the world and the functioning of the executive branch. Most important lessons ive learned were humility and respect. As deputy general counsel of dod, i saw firsthand the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and i learned to walk humbly through the walls, through the halls of the pentagon. I also learned respect for the career Civil Servants who really get the praise they deserve. The executive Branch Functions because of these men and women, many with decades of experience. A small number of Public Servants are accepted into the Foreign Service which i know well. My uncle Bill Sullivan was a Foreign Service officer for 32 years. He was the last u. S. Ambassador to iran in the 1970s. It was his staff in tehran that was taken hostage on november 4, 1979, a few months after the president had recalled him. It is an earlier date from 1979 that sticks in my mind. February 14, valentines day. The u. S. Embassy was overrun and my uncle and his staff were seized. After a few hours the americans were released and the embassy reopened. My uncle appeared in a picture on the cover of the next issue of newsweek. He was surrounded by iranians carrying assault weapons, one of whom was brandishing a bayonet in his face. That day in 1979 is significant, not merely because of the drama but also because of the tragedy in afghanistan. Our ambassador was kidnapped and assassinated. Like my uncle, ambassador was a u. S. Navy world war ii veteran in a career Foreign Service officer. The assassination and seizure of our embassy in 1979 made a huge impression on me. I was a College Student at the time. I have remained in all of our Foreign Service officers who venture into such dangerous places on our behalf. If confirmed, it would be my highest honor to work with the Foreign Service, the Civil Service, and the departments locally employed staff in the conduct of american diplomacy. In a world in which we face significant and enduring threats, these challenging times require leadership from the United States. The secretarys tillersons dad when he came before this committee, to achieve the stability that is foundational to peace and security in the 21t century, American Leadership must not only be renewed, it must be asserted. We will be aided in the assertion of the leadership by two of our abiding strengths. Our allies and our values. We have relationships with allies in this hemisphere and across the globe that extend back many decades and have been the cornerstone of our National Security in the postwar era. Our greatest asset is our commitment to the fundamental values expressed at the founding of our nation, the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These basic human rights are the bedrock of our republic and at the heart of American Leadership in the world. Should i be confirmed, i commit to work with the members of this committee as the administration implements an american foreignpolicy that is worthy of our ideals as a people, ideals that have been handed down by the many generations that preceded us. Thank you for your time, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you very much. Just one question, do you commit to appear and testify by request of this committee. I do. With that i reserve my time and turned to our distinguished Ranking Member, ben carden. Thank you for the testimony today. You make it very clear your commitment to American Values. I appreciate that. I want to drill down a little bit on that. I quoted from senator mccain in my Opening Statement, i thought part of his experience in the way that he related to the fact that as a prisoner of war, it was the belief in our values that kept him strong and that he felt if america was transactional, thats how we do business rather than our values, then why shouldnt prisoners of wars be transactional also and give up our country in order to achieve more comfort for themselves. They didnt do that. Our soldiers dont do that in our diplomats shouldnt do that. I want to hear from you, your commitment that as we deal with russia and china and countries around the world that we need to deal with, but dont share our commitment to universal values, how americas Foreign Policy will always be framed in the values that have made us the great nation we are. Senator, our values as i said in our Opening Statement are the bedrock of our republic. Before we became a world power, before we have the worldclass military that you mentioned, before we became the economic juggernaut that we are today, we had our values. We achieved those successes because all of that was based on our values of americans expressed in the declaration of independence and our constitution. I will tell you some specific examples and you will have a chance to visit a lot of countries if you are confirmed. Visiting with the opposition, visiting with ngos not particularly liked by the government, visiting people who are persecuted by the government is a clear sign that america stands on the side of universal human rights. Are you prepared to make those types of visual commitments so our leadership is maintained . Not only am i prepared to make that commitment Going Forward, i have made that commitment in my Prior Service in government. Im a roman catholic. When i travel, i always go to mass and meet with catholics in the country in which i travel and that includes country where the Catholic Church is, oppressed, in particular, china. Thank you. I appreciate that. The congress has taken steps to try to give the administration greater tools. In one case the minuscule Global Human Rights bill that was championed by senator mccain and myself is now available globally and its a congressional initiative. It allows the state department to promote names of individuals who have violated basic human rights for sanctions in the United States. Our leadership has been recognized globally and other countries are following suit. It requires a robust administration. Are you prepared to use that tool to advance american human rights and values . If i am. There is legislation that we are working on in congress to deal with corruption. We have a model dealing with trafficking and i applaud many members of this committee that wil that were deeply involved including our chairman who is passionate about stopping modernday slavery. Its a very valuable tool in advancing our goals on fighting trafficking in humans. We want to use a similar model to fight corruption. Corruption is growing into many places in the world. No country is immune from corruption or trafficking. There are countries taking steps to protect our country against trafficking and there are countries taking steps to protect against corruption. Having guys and how we conduct our foreign country, are you prepared to work with members of this committee on legislation that would give greater tools for evaluating how well we are doing at fighting corruption globally . If i am. Thank you. Thank you for your willingness to serve once again in government. I want to continue on the theme of human rights. I do think its an essential part of our Foreign Policy. I think you know this from your time in government and outside that so many of the groups around the world who are fighting for the principles that we stand for, democracy, the free press, freedom of religion and expression, they look for america for inspiration. I have been touched deeply by examples of that in the past three months. Sometimes you give the speeches on the senate floor we dont think anybody hears them. Then you get to interact with someone who was recently released from prison and they tell you what we did in a resolution or hearing or on the senate floor was impactful and iran counter to the oppressors message that they dont matter and nobody cares. While i take it important that we continue to stand for these principles i think its important we have a state department that is structured in a way that shows this is a priority of the United States. There is no shortage of these. In iran we know about the grotesque human rights record. In syria weve seen the horrifying crimes committed against innocent civilians. We also have challenges with allies in the region. I think that is some of the messaging that the secretary was pointing too. Egypt is an ally. Its also a human rights violator and its important to tell them that is an unsustainable position moving forward. Saudi arabia is a country we work with very closely and yet it is not a human rights star, to say the least. In asia we talk a lot about the north Korean Nuclear weapon. We dont talk nearly about the forced labor camps that exist there and the horrifying reality. In china we could have days and days of testimony about the thousands of political prisoners. In europe we are aware of russias horrifying human rights record. Weve seen recently in pro russian area of chechnya hell lgbt men have been rounded up and put in jail. In our own hemisphere, even as we stand now, we see horrifying human rights violations. Dozens of people who have been in jail for upwards of three years, ignoring the constitution of that country. There are people in jail in cuba, people being rounded up in cuba, people being suppressed. I believe they are deserving of freedom and democracy just like the people in dominica republic and haiti and columbia. Why are cubans any less worthy of those basic freedoms. What ive ask you this share with the committee is what you shared with me on the issue of human rights. This is not just an issue of academic interest. In your own family and through marriage you actually have a gentleman who experienced the horrifying violation of human rights who experienced being jailed by an oppressive regime and who is a floridian. You shared that story with me, and to me its very important because it tells me we have someone here before us who understand human rights and oppression not because he read about in a book, because he knows and loves someone who has been a victim and i would invite you to share with the committee the story of this incredible man and the impact he has had with regard to all the. Thank you. You are referring to my wife and my motherinlaws uncle. He was a political prisoner in cuba for 27 years. He was one of the. [inaudible] individuals in castros prison. It was the prisoners who refused to cooperate, refuse to wear prison uniforms. They were planted in their cells and he was in solitary confinement for seven years. He was sustained by his religious faith, his catholic faith, his wife who despite the fact that she had the opportunity to leave cuba and come to the United States stayed on the island so she could expose those opportunities and meet with him. He was released from prison a week after my wife and i got married in 1988 and he is still alive today. He is 92 years old. He is a great inspiration to our family and an inspiration to me and someone that my experience in talking to him inspires me to serve in the United States government to ensure that our government provides the leadership thats necessary to protect human rights around the world, to protect men like jose. I would close by saying there is justice in the universe. Today he is alive in his oppressor is dead. A man. Senator coates. Thank you chairman. Thank you for returning to Public Service and your strong assertion of your commitment to our basic values and your willingness to take up this work on behalf of the american people. I am encouraged by your statement and your opening that you have remained in all of our Foreign Service members. I look forward to working with you and finding ways we can continue to speak up about human rights and democracy, to meet with an advocate for the Foreign Service officers around the world who are a little anxious about their place in the state department and are looking for clarity about support for their service in their mission. Three quick questions, we talked a little bit about your service in the Commerce Department. How do you view the Power Africa Initiative is mark i think it has been a successful Publicprivate Partnership that helps bring privatesector ingenuity and effort into the basic Development Challenge of infrastructure on the continent. Is that something you think the Trump Administration might well embrace and continue to move forward . Yes, i agree and we discussed that yesterday in our meeting and i would also add that we discussed Subsaharan Africa as a place that we cant lose sight of the opportunities that are there, both for the sake of promoting Human Development and Economic Development in those countries, but also has protection of u. S. Interests, National Security and Economic Prosperity. I look forward to working with you on that. Thank you. One of the things im concerned about is in the absence of russia paying some price for its interference in our 2016 election, arguably in frances election, just this past week and potentially in the election in germany thats upcoming, they will simply continue to become more aggressive and more robustly engaged. How do you think we could best at her russia from future Cyber Attacks an effort to subvert democracy throughout our western european allies and here in the United States . Senator it is a persistent threat we face. Most recently from russia in our election, and as you mentioned in the elections in europe and france and the netherlands and Upcoming Elections in germany and italy next year or maybe later this year. As the secretary has said, he has met with the foreign minister and Vladimir Putin raise these issues directly with the russians. I believe we have to be robust in our response to this intrusion into our democracy when we talk about basic human rights. Our republic is premised on a representative democracy. Interference with our political process is simply unacceptable. It is a profound threat to our way of life and we need to respond as robustly as we can using all of the means at our disposal. Im encouraged to hear you say that. Ive heard expressions of concern from representatives of some of our european allies , particularly those closest to russia geographically who say if we are not to defend our democracy how can they count on us to defend theres. That sense of uncertainty about our future actions makes all of us weaker. Lastly, what do you think we should be doing to restrain irans destabilizing actions in the middle east and throughout the region . I think they continue to engage in destabilizing actions throughout the region in yemen and syria and iraq and elsewhere, and coming up with a sustained bipartisan approach to iran is one of our major foreignpolicy challenges. I agree. Iran policy is currently under review in the administration. I would say iran has been a persistent threat to u. S. National interest, National Security interests in many areas including those you mentioned. The secretary has sent a letter to this Committee Regarding iranian compliance with the jcp away. I thought secretary mattis best characterized the jcp away in his testimony before the Armed Services committee in which he described it as an imperfect arms control agreement, not a treaty of friendship. We have a lot of other problems that we need to address with iran beyond the jcp away and their Nuclear Program. We need to make sure they comply with the terms of that agreement, but we have a number of other problems we need to address with them whether its their sponsorship of terrorism, human rights in their own country, ballistic missiles, the list goes on. I agree and i look forward to having you testify before this committee in the future and hearing that you visit with Foreign Service officers as well as the political oppositions, human rights activists in your travels around the world. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and also to hear your testimony here. I enjoyed the discussion that senator rubio had with regard to cuba. Many of us feel strongly about ways we can hasten the change in cuba and move toward democracy. I happen to think that some of the measures taken by the last administration with regard to allowing cubanamerican travel , allowing an increase in remittance remittances have allowed a lot of cubans, i think weve gone to a lot of cubans being employed by the cuban government to now one in four being employed in the private sector and have some independence from the government. I think that is a good development. There are obviously still human rights abuses that take place. The question is, how do we best insure that freedom is hastened and we move forward. I know that those policies are being reviewed. I hope we will look at the whole picture there and see where we are as opposed to where we were a few years ago. We have had policies in place for 50 years that havent moved the needle very far until now. With regard to state department and some of the things you will be involved with, there is a report recently noting there are 67 special envoy, special representative and special coordinator positions at that department. Most of them outside the regular bureaus and a handful have been authorized by congress. From a managerial perspective, how do we deal with this . Is there going to be an effort to wind down some of these special envoy positions, just as a note, they seem pretty duplicative. We have a special envoy and coordinator for International Affairs as well as the special envoy for Climate Change and the special representative for environmental and water resources. This is over and above any positions we have at state, and then we have a special envoy for north korean human rights issues and a special envoy for the Six Party Talks in a special representative for north korea policy. Again, this is all in addition to regular state department positions. From a managerial perspective, how are we dealing with these positions. Thank you. This is all part of the secretary tillersons review of the mission of the department with the intent of basically bringing the department into the 21st century to address the challenges we have now. He has reached out to all employees of the department, having listening sessions with employees of the department to discuss the best way to define and accomplish our Missions Head with respect to the special envoy positions youve mentioned senator flake, my concern without addressing any particular office is that when an office like that is created outside of the chain of command in the bureaucracy, it removes some level of accountability for those individuals who have been nominated by the president , reviewed by this committee and confirmed, whether they serve as the assistant secretary or undersecretary level. We appoint a special envoy for a particular issue which outside that chain of command, this committee has not reviewed that persons qualifications, and in many ways it will undermine the leadership and of authority of those individuals who have been put in positions of substantial authority. Is there someone outside the chain of authority who has responsibility for that narrow issue. That is my concern as well. I hope that we can move forward and make some changes. My colleague just mentioned maybe we need a special envoy for special envoys. Absent that, weve got to get a handle on this. With only 20 of the 67 even authorized by congress. So many very duplicative, it would seem fully functioning state department would seek to get some of its power and authority back. Thank you. I would point out, its not just the envoys, in many cases very large staff that support them and we had testimony in a prior hearing where republican and democrat witnesses who have served in the state department and in many cases these envoys were put in place to work around folks that otherwise couldnt perform in those roles. I do hope youll look closely at that and i appreciate the top and bottom review thats taking place. Congratulations on your nomination, and i look forward to continuing the conversation we started last week along with many others in this committee, i am deeply concerned about the lack of Senior Management positions that have yet to be filled at the state department and we welcome the opportunity to move forward with many more nominees because i believe senate positions undermine the ability of the department to carry out its mission which ultimately comprises or. [inaudible] are Foreign Security objectives. This is a department, for those of us who care deeply about form policy and the men and women who dedicate their lives to serving this country overseas. It is critically important that we see Senior Leadership who also values the mission of the state department, will fight for its employees, its proper place in the National Security apparatus and its budget. My question is, are you that person . I am senator. And, youre committed to those goals . I am committed to making the state department the preeminent force to protect American Values and promote American Values in the world. So, given your experience at the Commerce Department and in the private sector, youve come to some degree of greater business orientation toward foreignpolicy. One of the things i found my 25 years in congress is that sanctions can be a powerful tool in terms of peaceful diplomacy arsenal. I know you have experience advising clients on sanctions compliance. Do you believe sanctions are an effective tool. Absolutely. You believe the network of sanctions we have in place in adversarial countries like russia and iran should be kept in place at this time. I believe they should be reviewed to make sure they are adequate. Kept in place and potentially ratcheted up as necessary. Okay. Now, i want to echo the remarks of the Ranking Member. One of the hallmarks of my career has been human rights and democracy globally. Most of us who Pay Attention to form policy recognize that leading with our values including prioritizing human rights in our diplomacy is a critical part of promoting our National Security. I am really concerned about secretary tillersons comments but im also concerned that notwithstanding his comments, i havent seen, so far human rights and democracy raised very often. Theres no question there are times there may be an immediate National Security goal in which that must take precedence, but history has proven unequivocally that countries who share our values of human rights, democratic governance, fundamental freedoms make more stable countries and more prosperous countries. The less likely to create war on their neighbors or potentially against us. We have somehow forgotten that history and were engaged with dictators and tyrants and in the shor shortterm it may have saved us, but in the long term we are paying huge consequences for it. I could rattle off a series of countries in which we did that. If you are sitting in cuba, believe me you want someone speaking about human rights and democracy. If you are being human trafficked by some slave traffic or, whether for sex or labor, you want someone speaking out about human rights and democracy. If you are struggling inside of your country in Southeast Asia to change the essence of your life under government that is totalitarian, you want somebody to speak out about human rights and democracy. So, i hope what i heard you say to senator rubio, your comments to me, others who have said for the record, i cannot emphasize that enough because we need someone who has the moral clarity that nikki haley has. I voted for her even though i didnt think she had a lot of foreignpolicy experience, or any and i wouldve hired her for my senior policy person. I think shes outstanding but she has moral clarity. That moral clarity can ultimately drive us in the right direction. I hope you have that moral clarity as the number two person at the state department. Thank you senator. On that note we had some issues and continuing discussions on the tip report. I think most of us felt like political interference took place to accommodate the ttp as it relates to certain countries on the tip report itself. As a matter fact, im pretty certain that did occur. Since that time weve had a much different relationship with the state department under two administrations. I just wish and hope you will do everything in your power to assure us that the tip report will be done with the utmost integrity and when you meet with foreign officials it will be an issue you bring up when that is necessary. I will senator, i know secretary tillerson feels that way as well as he said to this committee. Mr. Sullivan i enjoyed our visit together in our office and thank you again for your interest in serving. There is a matter that has come to my attention since our meeting. On april 21, the Ethiopian Government issued an order to suspend and definitely International Adoptions from their country. According to our state department, this has left dozens of u. S. Families in the u. Sthe late stages of the adoption process unable to obtain the paperwork to bring home there children. This includes the Orange Family from indiana. They adopted their son but are unable to bring him home because of the Ethiopian Government which is unwilling to issue the paperwork for an exit visa. In an email this morning, mrs. Oren wrote the following, we met, interacted with and began the attachment process with our son while we were in ethiopia. He is almost four years old. He knows we are his parents and he was supposed to come home with us on our trip. He was upset and confused when we had to say goodbye, leaving him in an orphanage where we had to return to the states without him. I had an opportunity to speak with the ethiopian ambassador and my hope is it wil will be resolved quickly. Mr. Sullivan, if its not resolved, we you work with my office to not only elevate this issue but to make clear to the Ethiopian Government that this is important and that we need to resolve this issue and we need their assistance, especially for families like the ones who have already legally adopted their children when this order was issued. Senator young, if confirmed, i would be honored to do so. Thank you. Mr. Sullivan, i am a strong supporter of the International Affairs budget. Ive made that very clear as have so many of my colleagues on this committee. As of yesterday, the General Accountability Office lists 132 recommendations including 22 priority recommendations for the department of state that have not been implemented or fully implemented. Some of these open recommendations go back to 2011. Among other issues these relate to important topics such as International Food assistance, human trafficking, fraud oversight, diplomatic security, north korean sanctions and terrorism. In order to maintain strong support for International Affairs among the american people, they will assist upon proper and responsible stewardship of every single dollar we spend on that account. Mr. Sullivan, as a nominee to serve as deputy secretary of state which historically has played a very Important Role with respect to these management and budgetary challenges, do you believe this is important for this committee to have full visibility on the status of these open recommendations . Yes i do. Okay. Thats why i along with senators menendez, rubio and coons introduce legislation, the department of state and the United States agency for International Development accountability act of 2017. Mr. Sullivan, once confirmed you commit to providing to this committee and my Office Without delay detailed written unclassified updates regarding the status of all open gao recommendations for the department of state . Senator young, if confirmed, yes i do. I take gao reports and ig reports very seriously. Okay. For any recommendation state has decided to adopt will you provide a timeline and explanation for any delay. Of course, i will consider that part of our interaction with you and members of this committee. For those recommendations, the state has decided not to implement or fully implement what youd provided detailed justification. Certainly. I have a bit of remaining time. In your prepared statement you mention the 1979 seizure of our embassy in tehran and the assassination of ambassador spike dobbs in afghanistan on march 9. The idea for the department of state testified before the state and forema foreign subcommittee. In his written testimony he cited systemic issues in the Department Related to physical security measures. The ig cited a lack of coordination and an inability to prioritize needs. More than four half years after the terrorist attack in benghazi and with the events of 1979 in mind, would you agree that the department of state can and must do better when it comes to physical security in Emergency Action plans that are posted overseas . Senator, i would have no higher priority if confirmed them protect our men and women that we send a broad on our behalf. Have you reviewed this testimony . I have not but will make that a priority if confirmed. Thank you. I yield back. Let me ask you, do you have any sense of the contours of the top or bottom review the stake in place on what type of realignments might take place within the state department. In my discussions with the secretary, he has made clear he has no preconceived ideas on what the outcome should be. He started this interaction with all the employees in the department to get their feedback and their impac input and i look forward to working with them. You have any sense of when that will be complete. I havent spoken to the secretary, but my goal would be to have it completed as quickly as possible. Is that having any impact on appointing assistant secretaries and other positions . Im not involved in the process. My perception as an outsider is that any slowness in making payments is not related to the review of the structure thats ongoing. I commit, if i am confirmed to making sure those appointments are move forward as quickly as possible. My sense is theyve selected most of those positions prior to being there. Thats my sense. You dont have any sense of when the top to bottom review will be complete and you will have a layout as to how the new state department is going to function . I havent spoken to the secretary about the timing of what he thanks the timing should be. Weve talked about the mechanics and the process hes going through. I havent had that conversation with him yet, but i look forward to it and to also working with you and members of this committee are making sure that review is done as expeditiously as possible. Senator murphy. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I would be happy to pick up on that line of questioning. Thank you for your willingness to serve. I really enjoyed our meeting together. Your resume is impressive. Your willingness to come back into government to serve the country that you love. To be honest, your resume is maybe not the one we had expected to receive for this position. We have a president who has no diplomatic experience, secretary of state who has note diplomatic experience and while you have extensive experience running the operations of government, you dont have direct the dramatic experience either. These questions about the reorganization of the department, which i assume you will be riding over are really critical given the fact that as youve acknowledged, you are unlikely to be sent out around the world as a frontline diplomat given that your responsibilities will largely be in helping to run the operations of a very large department. You took this job understanding there was a reorganization that was going to be undertaken. I think youve done a good job of articulating what you think the core mission of the state departments, but this reorganization is done under the principle that the state department has departed from the coremission. Thats what the secretary of state has said in his belief is that we need to get back to the core mission. Explain to me your view of how they have departed from its core mission, thus necessitating this mission. I would characterize it, first of all, thank you for our discussion yesterday. I very much enjoyed it. I think the world has changed in the 21st century and in our state department and the way its organized hasnt changed. The Defense Department has, in my experience, has reorganized several times in the same timeframe in which the state department has not. Me give you an example of an area where i think we need to focus on Management Issues and that the intersection of our regional bureaus which we need to have, obviously, and the functional bureaus that have been created and multiplied overtime as issues have arisen. I think the interconnection between those two, and to make sure they are united in promoting our common interest on National Security and Economic Prosperity is an area where we really need to focus. Its not so much that i think the world has changed, we have added functional bureaus as issues have arisen, but we havent integrated our approach to this new world with new technologies and new means of communication, new threats that are much different from the world that existed in the mid 1990s. I agree. I think thats exactly the problem. The world has changed and while we have seen some of our adversaries beef up their military capacity, what has really changed is the nonmilitary threats that are not conventional threats presented to the United States. These epidemics, famine, online terrorist organizations , global warming, creeping corruption, and yet what worries me is that given the fact that the world has changed and all of these nonmilitary threats have multiplied, this organization has essentially been predetermined by a president who has called for a 30 reduction in the capacity of the state department while calling for a 50 billion investment in the department of defense. Given the fact that the world has changed, i think you would agree that the number of nonmilitary threats presented to the United States is multiplied. How can you take on a job of reorganization which you have said is not prejudged its outcome, given the fact that the president of the United States, your boss is commanding you to conduct the reorganization through means that results in thousands of layoffs and dramatic cuts to the department. How is the outcome not predetermined that the organization is essentially just an excuse to slash and burn the department. I would repeat that the outcome from the secretarys perspective is not preordained , for example on job cuts that you mentioned. I know from speaking to the secretary there is no decision made on either despite whats been reported on the press and job cuts, what the secretary is undertaken is review of the mission of the department to make sure that the workflows, the work product meets those missions and we are organized in a way to accomplish those missions in the most efficient and accountable way possible, and thats my commitment to you. Thank you very much. I really appreciate your willingness to serve. Its a very tough job and this gives me confidence that we can build on the conversation. Thank you. If i could, personally, i think top to bottom reviews are good things for everyone. I will say the reason the state department is being cut by 30 in this initial budget is that the real drivers are unwilling to be looked at, and so the Administration Needs to look into the department that many people him around america believe doesnt spend its money well. For some reason americans think we spent 25 of our money on aid and other diplomacy efforts when we spend one. I think weve done a pretty good job recently causing people to understand the importance of this. For fortunately our military generals have done the same. I do think its incumbent on all of us to not just make sure were spending the dollars well, but i think as a committee, to point out to the extent that we dont carry out these activities, our men and your women in uniform will more likely be in harms way. I think weve done a good job of that, but lets face it, the skinny budget came out because this administration nor congress is willing to deal with the major drivers and it was a way of looking as if we were addressing it when were really not. Thats whats happening here and i think its incumbent upon us to understand thats whats happening. Congratulations on your nomination and welcome. There has been some discussion as to whether or not diplomacy out or our countries policy should be the spreading of human rights and somehow the abusers around the world or whether it should be more realistic. Theres been many voices saying it really needs to be the preeminent part of our foreign policies. Those are human rights abusers. I guess while were all for that and the notion that we wish there were these human rights abuses around the world, sometimes i think that policy leads to unintended consequences. For example, was colonel qaddafi a human rights abuser. I dont think theres any question he probably was. We wish there was someone better in running libya. Yes, but after his negotiating away his Nuclear Weapons, there are some ramifications that we are still living with. The message that that sent to north korea and the message that sent to iran was, if you get rid of your Nuclear Weapons you may be toppled by the west. My question to you is, and balancing the realism of how the world is and how we see it with human rights, would you say there were unintended consequences of toppling in libya. Absolutely. I think we are seeing them on a daily basis. The same would go with regard to iraq. He saying was accused of gassing the kurds and using chemical weapons. Weve had another incident of that and they said he was a terrible person we should get rid of prayer the problem is it also led to unintended consequences and i think now the same people who wanted to get rid of hussein now want to get rid of the government of iran. For each action there is a reaction and i think its important that we have people involved in the state department that understand your job is diplomacy, not war. That doesnt say we dont have military might and that we dont have the expression of that and the potential threat of that, but weve got plenty of voices for that. My hope is yours will be a voice for diplomacy and you recognize it as your role or the Job Description of the management of the state department that they in general is supposed to be about diplomacy. If you could comment on the role of the state department and diplomacy i would appreciate it. Thank you. Yes, i think that is emphatically the mission of the state department and i think our secretary of defense would agree with that. I was originally selected to work for, nominated to work for secretary james mattis. I have a different job at the state department. A different mission which im committed to. With respect to our most recent discussions, i think concerns about the use of military force and forcing regime change are very serious concerns, use of military force should only be as a last resort when our national interests, our Vital National interests are at steak. We agreed our diplomacy should be at the heart of what we do. I agree, and i think thats the point of discussion of realism versus human rights. We should never shy away from saying and being the symbol of freedom and liberty around the world and justice, but at the same time, if we as our form policy say we are going to topple every regime that has human rights abuse, we will be at war with about 50 countries right now and the unintended consequences, one of bankrupting the country and two of getting us involved in wars for which we have no answer and there is no end would be interminable. I think the overall debate that many have tried to cast a spurgeons on tillerson comments but i think he was recognizing there is a balance. We never give up on what we stand for and we are a shining light as a free nation, but we also dont need to be naive enough that we think we are somehow the descendents, if for unwilling to look at the ramifications around the world and getting involved in another war in yemen, whether it was better or worse, i have cautioned that in yemen i have a fear that we get involved in a war that both sides are eaten down in al qaeda shows up the same way isa showed up in syria, ready to pick up the pieces of the chaos and if we dont think that through in advance and dont think that there has got to be a diplomatic arm to our government that we are making a big mistake. I wish you well and i hope you will be one of the sane voices for diplomacy. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for placing yourself forward for this responsibility. I wanted to ask about the Paris Agreement discussion. There is a tremendously High Percentage of the worlds government that has joined up for voluntary commitments to try to address the issue of Carbon Pollution and its impact on a warming planet, and the question is should we be in. What do you think . Should we be in the Paris Agreement quest much we stay in or otherwise . Thank you senator markley. I understand there is an ongoing discussion within the administration on continued participation in the Paris Agreement. There are complex issues as you know better than i, including legal issues with respect to article 4. 11 and so forth. I havent been involved in those discussions, but what i would say is my view as a general matter is that the United States is best served in its interest protected when it has a seat at the table. Now, with respect to the Paris Agreement, i havent been involved in the discussions, i know they are ongoing, but thats my general approach. That is the point that the secretary of state has made in the point that he is arguing that we should keep a seat at the table. In keeping a seat at the table we can either decide if the agreements are nonbinding, we can seek to uphold the pledges we made or we can ignore those. If we do set the table, should we seek to honor the pledges we made for reducing our Carbon Dioxide production . I understand there is both a policy and a legal component to that question. I have not been involved in the discussions on that and have not studied those issues in sufficient detail to provide with a definitive answer. I would be happy, if confirmed to participate in that discussion with you personally. Let me turn to north korea. We have had statements coming out of the administration from different individuals and some arguing that military pressure is going to make the difference and we have the straight group positioned off north korea. We have others saying pressure from china will make the difference. We have others saying we are laying the ground for negotiations. All of this creates a wide space for potential miscommunication which could lead to events spiraling out of control. Should it be the state Department Taking the lead in creating a clear consolidated message to avoid misunderstandings. Yes, and i think thats the primary function of the state department to be the president s principal form policy advisor and spokesperson on u. S. Foreign policy. Having said that, i think the secretaries approach to north korea has been very clear, our goal is to have a d nuclear rise to Korean Peninsula. We are going to use all of the means at our disposal to accomplish that and in using and having the use of other means. The pressure has been used to stop provocative acts then d nuclear is asian. I havent been involved in those discussions. I really know only what i read in the news media, giving us hope that as the secretary has described it and trying to convince them how important it is for us and them that the chinese peninsula be the nuclear rise too, it gives us somoptimism Going Forward with this policy. He had concerns about being merged with the state department because the vision for assistance is a longerterm vision while often they wreak choir six months or two years. Should they be brought under the more direct influence. I would say senator markley, ive met with virtually every former deputy secretary of state to discuss this and other issues. I understand both the cultural and policy differences between a id and the Foreign Service. In some ways it reminds me of the differences when i was at commerce between scientists who do Climate Science which is a longerterm and the weather scientists who are focused on shortterm weather. I understand that difference in the eid state Foreign Policy context so, i would look forward to working with you and members of the committee as we consider the best way forward to implement our foreign aid policy in a way that promotes u. S. Objectives, protects our interests, and does so in an efficient way, understanding the unique role, the culture of the agency and the Important Role that its employees provide. I will take that as at least a point that you understand the argument and the concern about diluting the division and work of a id. Absolutely. If i can give a comment, i get the sense there is no beginning point that says they should be combined, thats not where people are starting. It may be where they finish, but for what its worth i do not think thats where the beginning. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Sullivan, to thank you for your willingness to serve and thank you to your family for your willingness to serve alongside as well. Thank you for being here. Do you believe in sustained and consistent american engagement around the globe west mark. If i do. What does that mean to you . What does that mean to you . From the state departments perspective, it means we have a cadre of Foreign Service officers, junior to senior around the world representing u. S. Interests, both on the National Security sphere, political sphere, economic sphere and our embassies, offers officers who are employees of the Commerce Department. They worked very closely with them in promoting u. S. Business interest abroad, protecting our u. S. Companies doing business abroad. Thank you. I think that questions that were brought up about restructuring are important. Of course we talk about different bureaus, the East Asia Bureau is one of the most important bureaus around the globe dealing with a population that will be soon. [inaudible] the regional economy will soon be 50 of world gdp yet we have a bureau that is perhaps the lowest funded of all the bureaus around the globe. I hope we can pay additional attention as we restructure state department and reflect the priorities, i hope we will increase our priorities on asia and the regions represented because its where our treaty alliances reside in where the Worlds Largest standing armies will reside and where our trade is certainly growing and opportunities reside. I want to talk a little bit about north korea. If you look at china right now , with north korea, it was recently announced that chinas trade with north korea grew in the First Quarter of this year by nearly 40 . Iron exports to china from north korea grew by 270 . Imports from china to north korea grew. I have met with chinese officials, met with government officials, and while there may be some positive signs over the past couple of weeks that china is willing to implement the United Nations cutie Council Resolutions to agree that they had not before, i was disheartened and some of the meetings with chinese officials that when you have a long conversation about north korea, their opinion seems to slide back into what it has been, and that is basically to allow north korea to continue to develop a Nuclear Program with little pressure from china. China controls 90 of north koreas economy. Its responsible for 90 of their economy. If china is serious about holding bad actors responsible for those bad actions, we cannot, as the United States, allow china to backslide into a posture that doesnt hold kim jongun responsible for his bad actions. I would hope the state department would continue our pressure, abandonment of the failed strategic doctrine and continue to apply pressure on the north korean regime as well as china and other actors who are enabling the proliferation of north koreas Nuclear Program. Do i have your commitment that you will continue to push for pressure on china. Absolutely. I hope that includes fully utilizing, following through with the laws this congress has passed with the sanctions act, unanimous approval, bipartisan support for a bill that says if somebody is violating our actions there is a mandatory investigation a mandatory placement of sanctions on that entity, be it in china, north korea or anywhere around the globe. Do i have your commitment you will work with us to make sure those laws are fully executed. Certainly. The secretary has made clear that we will use all of the legal and policy authorities we have to turn the dial on the pressure of china to make sure we are leaning in on china, leaning on them more than we ever have to make clear how important this is to the United States. I hope in your interactions with the chinese officials that you will make north korea the highest priority possible because this concern that china will continue to slide back into its own doctrine of patients with north korea. If you could report back to the committee, that would be helpful. What i dont want to see is any kind of softening of our approach toward our allies or other nations around the globe to try to make china happy because we think they are going to take actions against north korea. Until they show that sustained commitment to pressuring north korea, we shouldnt be avoiding news reports that site we may be forgoing a sale of arms to taiwan. I dont know if thats true. I dont know if taiwan has asked for that sale to be followed through, but i dont think we should be forgoing that kind of sale of defense equipment to taiwan because we think china will suddenly change their behavior because they havent proven that it will be sustained and consistent commitment to the do the nuclear ideation. Where do you think the Cyber Security will be. The russian hack of our election is an example of failed Cyber Security. It has got to be one of our highest priorities. Because of our lack of Cyber Security 12 years ago, all of our systems were open to a number of different foreign governments such that we had to create our own internal operating system to communicate among ourselves and prepare documents for the secretary to send to the white house because we had so little confidence that the system we were using wasnt penetrated. Cyber security, for me as a very high priority. Thank you mr. Sullivan for your willingness to take on this responsibility. I just want to follow up on senator gardners point about china because we had a hearing before the Armed Services committee where experts testified that there were really only two things that the chinese were going to respond to from the United States perspective. One was whether we sanction their Financial System in a way that meant doing business with north korea would be a challenge and the other is if they truly believed there was the danger of war on the Korean Peninsula because of the statements from President Trump. While i appreciate secretaries tillersons reassurances, there doesnt seem to be unanimous agreement on what is going to make china respond. I want to go to questions about reorganization at the state department. I servic serve as Ranking Member thats tasked with the oversight of the state department along with senator isaacson. The department has not shared any information with me or with my colleague about what changes they are contemplating to the state department and to usaid. Do you think it would be helpful for congress to have a role or at least have an understanding of what the state department is contemplating in terms of a reorganization . Yes. Would you commit to sharing with this committee the plans once they are i dont want to say finalized because i think it would be helpful to engage this committee in understanding what you are thinking about because there are years of experience on this committee that might be helpful in looking at some of the analysis that the department comes up with. My experience in government, both at the justice defense and Commerce Department has been weve always been best served in the executive branch when we have consulted and coordinated with members of congress, and in fact, as i was speaking to members of the staff yesterday, there have been occasions in my career in government when i have met with staff or members or senators and had very productive conversations, gone back to my department and had people question, what were you thinking going to talk with those people. My experience has been that collaboration, coordination, it is a way to anticipate problems, eliminate problems, a laminate issues before they become problems. We have to protect executive privilege so i understand that. Look. There are legal issues and so forth, but as a general matter my view is the u. S. Government is at its strongest when there is cooperation and coordination between the branches of government. Particularly those in article one and article two. Thank you. I appreciate that. Again, i know you have suggested the reports are not correct that point to 2300 people who will be let go at the department and that id will be faulted, but the lack of transparency and engaging people who are concerned about these issues is what leads to these kind of reports and these concerns that you hear and express today. I would certainly hope your point about engagement is one that you will follow. Not only have we been a leader around the world because of our values, but we have also, as a country, been a leader in promoting the rights and empowerment of women and girls around the world. Thats been a good investment because what we know is that women tend to give back 90 of what they earn to their families, their communities and to their country. Men only give back 35 . It has been a good investment. I want to hear from you what steps you will take to ensure we continue to support these womens programs that have been so important, everything from Child Marriage and genderbased violence and peace and security. One of the other rumors about restructuring at the state department is that the office of global womens issue will be eliminated. Can you tell me what you know about that and what your commitment is to ensuring these programs continue. What i know about that is only what i see in the press. I am confident that no decisions have been made about whether that officer any particular office would be reorganized, eliminated or anything done to it. With respect to womens issues and womens empowerment, senator cardin is smiling at me and i feel as though i shouldve put a paper bag over my head as i am sitting in front of all the women in my for family behind me. Its an extremely important issue to me, but its important to secretary tillerson as well who has been quite forceful in statements about the very points you have raised about the investment in womens health, education, womens ho empowerment that pay dividends many times over than other organized programs. You have my commitment that it will remain a priority at the department and more portly the secretaries priority. I appreciate that and the secretary talking about that and what he has seen in the private sector at his hearing and then the next thing i saw was the report that the office is going to be eliminated. Again, a little transparency and engagement would go a long way in reassuring people about what the intent is of the restructuring at the state department. If i could follow up, is it transparency or lack of progress . Has anything actually occurred relative to the streamlining. No decision to my knowledge. Hasnt even begun . The secretaries process of soliciting feedback from employees has begun. His own staffs planning on these issues to key up issues for his decisions is underway. I havent participated in that so i really dont have more definitive information for you. I think would be good for the committee to know wherever the processes right now. Mary waters behind you, i know with your confirmation hearing its not the time for you to commit, i dont think you really know whats underway, they probably havent talked to you much about it she probably cant answer these questions, but mary, if you would get back to us this afternoon and share where you think that is. I know we have a Committee Meeting tomorrow with mcmasters and we could shared at that time but obviously people would like to know. If i could just interject, this is what i wanted to come back to you. Several members have asked you that we be engaged and how the state department handles reorganization. You have been very forthcoming about the value of that type of working relationship between members of congress, this committee and the state permit. I think the key point is before decisions are made, its important that the input be received. When we are talking, they are members of this committee that are prepared to support decisions that could be perceived to be controversial. If we read about it being done, you are able to develop a political backlash that will make it impossible for you to achieve what youre seeking to do. I urge you, at the earliest possible moment to share information. It can be in an informal setting. For us to understand your thinking and for you to get the benefit of our thinking as you go through a reorganization of the state permit. To me that will be critically important for the success of a reorganization. Thank you thank you to the witness, i enjoyed our visit. I just want to raise a concern at the start. We have a rule on this committee and i think generally that nominees should not presume confirmation and it seems to go way beyond presuming confirmation