Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds hearing on reforming the UN

[15:45] Test test test test test for the information of the body and our guests [16:05] we're waiting for three more we have a very short business meeting we're going [16:10] to conduct prior to going to our full hearing so be patient with us three of [16:16] our colleagues are I'm told on the way and as soon as we get there we will go [16:20] and besides United States Senate committee on foreign relations to come [20:58] to order thank you for everyone's cooperation we have a very brief [21:02] business meeting to move some nominees and thank you to the to the minority for [21:09] their cooperation we'll start with miss Kate Dillon of Maryland to be an [21:14] assistant secretary of state education cultural affairs is there a motion to [21:17] center floor with recommended she be confirmed second moved in second is there [21:22] debate senator Sheehan yes I would like to express my reservations about miss [21:28] Dylan her responses to the questions at the hearing left me concerned over a [21:33] willingness to work with this committee she did not outline a plan to protect the [21:38] ECA Bureau against unprecedented efforts by the office of OMB to undermine [21:42] important programs and she was completely unresponsive when I followed up with her [21:47] to understand who in each regional bureau is responsible for functions once [21:51] carried out by the office of global women's issues so I intend to oppose her [21:55] nomination thank you senator is there further debate on the nomination [22:01] senator yep if I might I did not have a chance to meet with her individually but my [22:07] staff did and conveyed their alarm at the lack of relevant experience and [22:12] qualifications this is a critical bureau for the State Department a critical [22:17] assistant secretary position and I will also oppose and hope that we will see a [22:23] nominee who has the skills and relevant ability to lead at a critical moment in [22:28] our world and for this department thank you senator Coons a further debate [22:31] there being no further debate the clerk will call the roll [22:59] no by proxy no by proxy no by proxy no by proxy no by proxy I click a report her [23:12] nomination will be sent to the floor with a do pass recommendation we now have [23:16] before us the proposed nomination of mr. Diwali Sadiq of New York to be the [23:23] United States director of the African Development Bank for a term of five [23:26] years is there a motion to send them for it's been moved and seconded that we [23:33] send the nomination floor with a do pass confirmation recommendation is there [23:39] debate sir sheen mr. chairman I I intend to vote for this nominee and I'm glad the [23:46] administration has nominated somebody to be the executive director of the African [23:49] Development Bank but I just want to point out that the administration has [23:53] also proposed zeroing out funding for the African Development Bank which I [23:57] think is inconsistent with not only the nomination but the policy that we [24:03] should be pursuing so I hope that the nominee mr. Diwali Sadiq will address the [24:10] administration's concerns with the fund and not just walk away thank you [24:15] senator Shaheen is there further debate burn being no further debate clerk call [24:18] roll I put the report next motion is passed the nominee will be referred to [25:04] the floor the do pass recommendation we'll have before us mr. Kevin Kim of [25:08] Texas to be representative of the United States of America to the Association of [25:12] Southeast Asian nations with the rank and status of ambassador is there a [25:18] motion been moved and seconded that we send him to the floor with do pass [25:22] recommendation and is there debate there be no debate clerk will call the roll [25:28] aye I click a report thank you very much the motion is passed the nomination will [26:20] be sent to the floor with a do pass recommendation now the ranking member and [26:25] I have negotiated on three lists and they are FSO lists number eight nine three pn eight [26:33] nine four pn eight nine five consisting of a couple hundred or so people and we've [26:43] gone through these we believe these are we need we really want to get these people [26:47] move their their important positions they'd be they'd be sent to so with that is [26:53] there a motion to send the three lists the floor with recommendation that these [26:59] people be confirmed to their positions second it has been moved and seconded [27:05] that these three lists be sent to the floor as indicated is there debate [27:12] Sarah Shaheen mr. chairman I think it's very positive progress that we are finally [27:18] getting these foreign service officer lists but it has taken way too long we are a [27:24] year and a half into this administration we still have ambassadors in places around [27:30] the world who we don't even have nominees for and I think it is well past time this [27:38] committee receive and approve the foreign service officer promotion lists and I [27:42] hope we will send a very strong message to the State Department that we expect to [27:48] see these lists move much more expeditiously in the future thank you very [27:53] much senator Shaheen on the bright side it isn't often we get to move we don't get we [27:59] don't often get to move a couple hundred like this so that is very significant [28:04] progress so with that is there further debate there being no further debate the [28:10] clerk will call the roll [28:19] I clicker report please note we had a unanimous vote to send 200 of these to the [28:51] the floor great cooperation and progress thank you very much the nominations will [28:56] be sent to the floor to move forward with recommendation that they do pass thank [29:02] you very much thank you everyone senator Cruz I know you've got other things you've [29:06] got to get to and others do too but nonetheless we have an important hearing [29:11] this morning and we want to welcome two witnesses this morning to help us out on an [29:19] issue that all of us every member of this committee is interested in and that is reforming [29:24] the United Nations and assessing the United States efforts and priorities and we welcome Mike [29:31] Waltz and Jeff Bartos to the committee and the way we're we're going to go through [29:36] this is I'm going to make a few remarks I'm going to turn it over to the ranking member [29:43] to make a few remarks we'll then turn it over to you gentlemen and I know you have [29:50] some good information for us we will then go back and forth on questions between the [29:56] majority and the minority and hopefully make some progress here this is an [30:01] incredibly important subject that all of us talk about from time to time and none of [30:09] us seem to have much ability to do much about it but on the other hand you do have a lot [30:15] to do with it so both of you thank you for being here today and it's almost seven months [30:21] to the day that you were both confirmed by the Senate you've accomplished remarkable and [30:27] unprecedented reforms across the UN and I know you plan to do even more this coming year you [30:33] have a target rich environment in front of you as you know the United States has historically [30:38] been the most generous donor to the United Nations that is an understatement we have consistently [30:44] paid 25 percent at minimum of the union UN peacekeeping budget and 22 percent of the UN regular [30:50] budget this doesn't even include our voluntary contributions which easily reach into the [30:54] billions over the last few decades that is a staggering amount of money yet this massive [31:01] very generous contribution has given American people very little return on their investment the UN [31:07] UN has become an inefficient and bloated bureaucracy that has departed from its original mandate [31:12] of maintaining international peace and security to instead focusing on politicized mandates and woke [31:19] ideology I'd like to say that was breaking news but it is not it has been happening for some time [31:25] worse many UN agencies have deep-rooted anti-American and anti-Israeli biases and even provide preferential [31:33] treatment to our adversaries this is not what the American people signed up for and it's certainly [31:38] not what they want to pay for I'm glad that President Trump stood up for the American people and withdrew [31:44] the United States from organizations that do not serve our interests like UNESCO and the ill-fated UN [31:51] Human Rights Council in both of your hearings last year I told you that I believe you had two of the [31:57] hardest jobs and trying to reform the UN I'm I'm pleased to see that you've taken that challenge in [32:03] hand and are demanding radical transparency real accountability and enacting actual reforms that [32:09] will hopefully transform a broken body into one that actually works for the American people in today's [32:15] hearing I hope the committee can discuss the unprecedented reforms you've achieved over the last seven [32:20] months and how you will capitalize on this momentum to further align the UN with the administration's [32:27] priorities with that senator Shaheen well thank you mr. chairman and welcome ambassador walls and [32:35] ambassador Bartos we're delighted to have you before the committee the war in Iran and the struggle over [32:42] the strait of Hormuz underscores a basic point American power is strongest when we are exercising it with [32:49] allies for more war two through the cold war our major successes have come through broad multilateral [32:56] coalitions because alliances multiply American power but unfortunately instead of working with NATO [33:04] allies like France Germany and the United Kingdom the administration has been criticizing them for [33:09] refusing to join the US effort in the strait of Hormuz as a result we're not up we are now operating [33:16] without shared burden political cover or international legitimacy that's reflected in [33:22] how the United States is voting at the United Nations both in substance and who we are lining up with [33:28] increasingly the United States is voting with Russia China Belarus and North Korea in [33:37] February on the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion the United States abstained from a [33:44] general assembly resolution reaffirming Ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity that [33:50] resolution passed 107 to 12 as I'm sure you know and we were on the side of the 12 more concerning the [33:58] United States advanced a proposal to strip out that language and although that effort failed it was [34:04] supported by Russia Hungary and Belarus just weeks later the United States opposed a resolution warning [34:11] that attacks on Ukraine's energy grid threatened nuclear safety a resolution backed by our allies [34:18] across Europe as well as partners like Canada and Australia however the United States joined Russia [34:25] and China in opposing it and sadly it's not just limited to Ukraine the United States is becoming [34:32] increasingly isolated from our partners and multilateral forums we're supporting resolutions but we're not [34:39] leading outcomes we vote for you in action but we are not leading a sustained diplomatic effort to end [34:45] for example the war in Sudan as it enters its third year we're not voting we are now voting against [34:52] resolutions on gender human rights development and climate that have previously passed by consensus [34:59] for example in the recent vote on the annual conclusions of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women a [35:06] document that sets out recommendations to protect women's rights and expand economic and political [35:11] opportunities for women only the United States I'm going to say that one more time only the United States [35:18] voted against it that kind of isolation has consequences we have withdrawn from international [35:25] organizations and in some cases stop paying our dues to the United Nations Congress has made clear on a [35:31] bipartisan basis that the United States should stay engaged and our allies are watching whether or [35:38] not we do I just returned from a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan Japan and South Korea what we heard [35:45] consistently is that as the United States pulls back China is stepping in more aggressively we see [35:52] that dynamic at the United Nations China is now the second largest contributor to the UN budget and the [35:58] largest troop contributor among the permanent members of the Security Council over the past decade the [36:04] number of Chinese personnel in the UN system has doubled while US representation has declined and Beijing [36:11] is using this to shape outcomes and to advance its priorities so I'm not clear about what the strategy is [36:18] here I don't understand how alienating our allies stepping back at the UN aligning with adversaries on key [36:25] votes advances US interests I know both of you understand these dynamics I appreciate what you're doing at the UN and [36:34] your efforts for reform I think all of us believe that the UN should be more effective and efficient but I just [36:41] don't understand some of these moves and I don't see how they help the United States thank you Mr. Chairman [36:47] Thank you Senator Shaheen we'll now turn to our witnesses [36:52] Ambassador Walts we'll start with you and we welcome Julie always glad to have you join us and I know you [37:01] have some some important matters to take up with us Ambassador so the floor is yours well thank you Mr. [37:09] Chairman ranking member Shaheen and members of the committee I do appreciate the opportunity to appear to [37:16] you appear before you today I think we've made a number of real strides in reforming this organization and [37:23] I'll just say out the gate we use this committee's name and and you and the ranking member quite a bit as [37:30] we are driving reform your oversight strengthens our hand in New York and when we are Ambassador Bartos and [37:38] I and the team are pressing the UN to spend American dollars wisely I remind them the United States Senate the [37:47] American people are watching last year senators the American people returned President Trump to the [37:55] White House with a clear band-aid to put America first in our foreign policy that included a hard [38:02] look at the United Nations and these international organizations and from the very beginning Americans [38:08] measured it by a simple test that if the United States is going to be the largest funder the biggest [38:15] bill payer of their hard-earned money towards the UN the UN must work for American interest now 80 [38:23] years later frankly the UN has drifted its budget has quadrupled in terms of assessed and voluntary [38:33] giving over the last 25 years yet we have not seen a quadrupling of of peace wars rage dictatorships [38:40] are honored at human rights agencies the bureaucracy has grown and the results have lagged meanwhile [38:48] the UN pushes costly ideological agendas from its 2030 agenda to the by the Secretary General's own admission [38:57] failing sustainable development goals instead of focusing on the basics instead of focusing on peace and security [39:05] so yes Americans ask I think our family members our constituents ask is it worth it is their money [39:11] being well spent honestly I wondered the same thing when I first arrived at New York president Trump's answer was [39:21] clear when he gave me when he nominated me for this job the UN has tremendous potential but it needs to do its job it needs to [39:32] to realize that potential so my charge our missions charge is get the UN back to basics and conflicts keep [39:38] the peace and deliver life-saving assistance and to that end we have had some notable successes on Gaza when [39:45] we came in war was raging dozens of hostages including Americans were in those god-awful tunnels being forced to [39:53] dig their own graves and aid was still at a standstill President Trump changed that he put forward a [39:59] comprehensive 20-point peace plan it was celebrated by world leaders including the Palestinian Authority [40:06] at Sharm el-Sheikh and then we brought it to the Security Council and got it endorsed without opposition [40:13] 13 to zero that framework now does a number of things it anchors an international stabilization force it put [40:21] in place local Palestinian governance and aid has been moving and exceeding the UN's own standards [40:30] since that plan was put in place and now you have a World Bank managed fund focused on reconstruction [40:36] funded largely by regional partners not by American taxpayers so I know a number of you have asked of [40:45] what's our approach and model going forward that is emblematic of the model American leadership American [40:52] diplomacy but sharing the burden and getting actual results for the people that we represent we've also [40:59] applied it in Haiti building support for a gang suppression force that now the UN is providing the [41:05] logistics for cutting the cost for that effort by three-fourths not US troops international troops [41:14] restoring order and taking on the gangs in Sudan we are pushing for humanitarian corridors we do think we [41:22] are close to getting to getting that deal across the finish line we are pressuring warlords and we are not [41:29] handing out blank checks on Western Sahara a 50 year long conflict we are finally making some progress I've learned now as a diplomat I often question [41:41] what's the point in all of these meetings but sometimes as we just saw in Lebanon as we've seen in Western Sahara just getting all sides in the room is a victory in and of itself at the same time we are closing and downsizing missions that have outlived [41:57] their purpose from Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen and Colombia we have cut roughly 200 million we've reduced boots on the ground no more missions sitting around for 30 to 40 years [42:09] and an important reform in that regard led by ambassador Bartos and his team we've been paying for decades for these peacekeeping missions for 90,000 around the world if they bring their equipment they get paid [42:22] whether they use it or not so the incentive was use it as little as possible incur as little maintenance as possible [42:29] and collect is the most money believe it or not we had to drive that reform now they have to use that equipment on the humanitarian side we have we are using pooled funding to force these agencies to use the same warehouses the same ships the same planes same back offices on the development [42:47] side we are heavily engaging the private sector let's lower barriers to capital drive foreign investment and create jobs not dependency and we're calling that trade over aid we are continuing to engage in these key bodies these international regulatory bodies that set standards like the international telecommunications union the world intellectual property organization but we're fighting things that will be bad for our industry [43:17] like the carbon tax that was almost placed upon all global shipping that would have passed on a billion dollars a month and then finally senators I'll just say in terms of the UN itself we drove and it's through an elaborate and painful committee process that has to be done by consensus imagine if everything in the Senate or the Congress had to be done by consensus all 100 to get anything done that's the UN system [43:46] not 60 100 190 nations joined us in in cementing the UN's first budget cut in its history ever that will save over half a billion dollars in the overall budget and will save our dues over a hundred million a year that will result in nearly 3000 headquarters bureaucrats being cut that will result in 25% of peacekeepers around the world and [44:17] and this is allowing these peacekeeping unit commanders to send underperforming or some that are even accused of sexual exploitation and abuse to send them home and to clean house and that is that is just the beginning in terms of reform finally I'll say we still have a ways to go we know we have work ahead of us we have 80 years of bloat and growth ahead of us case in point the civil servants of the UN make a hundred and seventeen [44:47] percent of what an equivalent American makes they get a sixteen percent contribution to a pension fund that's over a hundred billion dollars under management they get a private school and secondary school paid for as a former congressman I couldn't stand before our constituents and say that that money is being well spent so we are looking at [45:17] again we have our work cut out for us but we have our work cut out for us but we have a great team here [45:22] Ambassador Bartos has the very unenviable job of doing nothing but reforming the UN and he has a great team of civil servants and foreign service officers behind him and with that I'll conclude and just tell you just conclude with the president means it when he says there's so much potential you know when we look at some of these some of these [45:47] conflicts that have sat around for 30 40 50 years with peacekeeping forces that cost nearly a billion dollars a year we have to tie them to a political process our special envoys in the State Department and our great team there are driving those processes and then we're hooking those peacekeeping forces and missions to those processes so they can work themselves out of a job and we can share the burden [46:18] and that finally as I say to my family members that ask about the UN all the time we need one place in the world where everybody can come and talk [46:25] and I want that to be right here in the United States not in Brussels or Moscow or Beijing or anywhere else and with that I'll conclude and it's an honor to be with you [46:34] Thank you Ambassador well said Mr. Bartos I understand you don't have any prepared remarks but are ready to be grilled by the committee on reform which we which we are all interested in [46:47] and so I'm going to I'm going to start there and I think Ambassador Waltz opened up an area I think that's appropriate really to focus on and that is [47:00] I've always been a minimalist as far as the UN is concerned they started with a really really good idea a place where everybody could come together and debate [47:10] it's a whole lot more than that today with the thousands and thousands of people that work there and the billions of dollars that are spent [47:17] and I've I've told the secretary general I can't tell you how many times to get back to basics if you look at the charter of the UN it was put together to stop conflicts to stop wars to stop countries from fighting each other and [47:32] they're not even coming close I mean you you've got two very major conflicts going on right now with Iran and Ukraine and of course who knows how many of the smaller conflicts that are going on [47:45] and the UN is is really powerless to engage in that it really doesn't do much about it whenever I ask the secretary general about that he goes on and on and on about their programs on DEI and food and medical things things like that they're just spending our money we could we we do that ourselves [48:03] so I I guess I'm a minimalist but a minimalist approach if you could just do that would be a huge huge benefit to mankind and so mr. Bartos wants to talk a little bit about the view of other people that you deal with at the UN as far as their view of how engaged the UN should be in what like we always say what's the [48:33] proper role of government as far as America is concerned what's the proper role of the UN mr. Bartos floor is yours thank you mr. chairman good morning to you and to the whole committee before I answer your question I did not have prepared remarks but I do want to say it's an honor to be here today with you this is a very important topic and working with you and your team your excellent team and with the ranking member and her excellent team we have our team here at the management reform section and throughout the mission we've worked really hard to keep close collaboration and [49:03] coordination with this committee and it has been I have learned a ton working with not only the staff from the majority staff but also the ranking member staff and so your guidance and as I shared with you yesterday we use we use the committee's name and your charge often in our negotiations sometimes without permission yes sir yes sir but effectively but effectively it's true but effectively as ambassador Walt said the historic reforms that we were able to achieve [49:34] the resolution of the budget of the budget of the 5th committee the budget that we closed in December with 193 votes as the ambassador said was a remarkable achievement and it was made possible [49:41] possible if you track it from January 20th when the president was sworn in his vision and leadership drove that our outstanding colleagues at the State Department took that reform mantle from noon on January 20th all the way through to today in September Ambassador Waltz and Ambassador Lissetta and I joined the team right before UNGA thank you for confirming us right before UNGA and so we hit the ground quite literally running not knowing where anything was but we got a lot done and in that sprint to the end we were able to take the [50:11] outstanding work of our career foreign foreign service officers and civil servants in the management reform section in particular who've been chomping at the bit to drive reform for most of their careers and we were able to take that good work make sure it fit with what we were trying to achieve to execute the president's agenda and that was why we saw the 570 million dollar budget cut first time in history of any budget cut let alone 15% as ambassador Walt said almost 3,000 post cut U.S. leadership was indispensable in making that [50:43] happen we were quite literally at the center all of it and so while the press may cover that the U.S. is not doing this and the U.S. is not doing that the reform effort [50:52] presence vision and leadership direction from Secretary Ruby and Ambassador Waltz working with this committee working with our colleagues in the house that drove reform and it was U.S. leadership that brought everybody together our team worked it's a crazy process our team worked 10 20 hour days at the end of the budget process and 44 hours straight calls meetings meetings meetings [51:13] Ambassador Waltz was the first perm rep from the United States to come down to the basement of the United States to come down to the basement of the U.N. late at night during the fifth committee negotiations to put his mark on what what we wanted to see what the president expected and so that has been how we got it done as Ambassador Waltz said there is so much left to do we've made a good positive start towards reform but the U.N. and I'll just share with you briefly coming back from my trip to Africa I visited Manuska Manuska and Kenya and I was a [51:44] back in February talking to the U.N. talking to the U.N. about what they do well which is the delivery of humanitarian aid at scale in remote locations with a robust supply chain at a reasonable predictable price day in day out and sadly unfortunately year in year out watching that happen on the ground is outstanding and the message I have been trying to deliver to all U.N. leadership from the secretary to the deputy secretary general all the way through the cabinet of the leadership team at the U.N. is focus on what you're excellent at chairman to your point [52:16] minimalist you're excellent at this do more of this there's a lot you're really not very good at and there's some things that are quite destructive not only to our interest but to the interests of the West and to freedom and and to sovereignty stop doing the things that are destructive focus on what you're excellent at is it getting through we'll see we're seeing a lot more nations use the terminology that we started using about back to basics focus results on the ground that was not a phrase you heard from other nations before we got there [52:47] in September results on the ground delivering for the people that the U.N. is meant to serve that is what we're trying to focus on every day and it's an honor to do this work and again thank you for having us here today well thank thank you so much best I I we don't get good news on this committee very often and when you hear that you guys are actually able to negotiate a 570 million dollar cut I mean that is big news you will not hear about this on the cable TV channels that's that's not what they want to report [53:18] and so you're to be commended for that and we certainly recognize it on this committee and and and we're very appreciative of 570 million dollars is not loose change and particularly when it comes to the fact that 100 million of it is US taxpayer money 3000 posts eliminated is not a small matter when it comes to parking in New York City you're going to be highly thought of as things change a little bit particularly during [53:46] during the general assembly but congratulations on that and and we we want to encourage you to continue that approach of getting them to focus on what they do well and focus what their basic obligation is under the U.N. charter and that is to promote peace create peace and everybody work for peace and it just it's incredibly frustrating [54:16] to see these votes in the security council where you can't even condemn Russia for invading a country and crossing boundaries and trying to take land when that is a direct violation of the very foundation of the United Nations and its charter to do business and they can't even pass a resolution not only can't they do anything about it they can't even condemn it and that that is that's just incredibly frustrating and I the the [54:45] the whenever the whenever the secretary general comes to see me I'm sure he has to take his blood pressure medication before he comes in because I I drill that with him pretty hard anyway with that to the ranking members and her Shaheen well thank you Mr. Chairman I would just like to make a correction though to something that you said because you said that they the General Assembly can't condemn Russia's action in Ukraine and actually the United States voted with Russia against condemning the war in Ukraine [55:15] Ukraine the vote was 107 to 12 and we were one of the 12 so I I share your frustration about a lot of the votes that the U.N. takes but that's one where we were on the wrong side and we continue to be on the wrong side so I'm not going to ask you all to respond to that because I don't whatever you say I'm not going to agree with I'll be very upfront no matter what they say [55:41] with respect to that vote against Ukraine in support of Russia it's complicated no but I do want to follow up Ambassador Bartos on your comments about what the U.N. does well because I agree the humanitarian assistance is really important [55:59] and our foreign assistance funding for the world food program has fallen by half since this administration took office in 2025 from 4 billion to 2 billion and that included a decrease in U.S. commodity assistance from American farmers so corn wheat soybeans other commodities [56:18] were backlogged were backlogged by the administration's foreign assistance review now we know that the number of people in acute food crisis is projected to jump by 45 million for a total of 363 million people and that's really the result of the war in Iran and what it's doing to food to fertilizer to prices increases for fuel and for food so I guess this is directed at both of you can we count on the [56:49] administration to utilize the available appropriated funds to provide funding to the world food program and other U.N. humanitarian agencies to mitigate the impact of this crisis [56:59] Ambassador Walsh you can senator and and I'll just say just a few things in that regard the administration has taken a different approach actually that a number of our partners have asked for for quite some time and pooled funding we even though those funds have cut as have [57:21] all humanitarian aid budgets around the world as we all wrestle with our debt in fact I think one of the things that's getting lost in the headlines is much of the increase from our European partners and their defense funding has come from their humanitarian and development assistance funding they've moved one over the other a lot of consternation over USAID being pulled into the State Department the United Kingdom did that seven years ago Australia did it five years ago [57:50] in order to align and make those dollars more efficient that's our goal as well I can't tell you how many times I've pulled up to a little baby ministry in the middle of Africa when I was operational that maybe has 10 people inside and there's 18 U.N. cars outside with 18 drivers from 18 different agencies they are now using pulled vehicle fleets [58:20] and pulled human resources we are really pressing them hard and we're actually getting a good response so while it to the individual agencies may have been cut we're putting it with the office of the coordinator for humanitarian affairs and you know case in point the first tranche just went out to Sudan for 200 million dollars I don't know if you got anything you want to add [58:44] yeah I would just add to that senator the when I was on the border of Sudan in the northeast part of Central African Republic a couple months back meeting had the privilege but very you know very difficult meetings with Sudanese refugees who had recently fled the atrocities some of them walking as far as Khartoum to to car to a person when I met with the men I met with the men and women separately when I met with the men most of whom were farmers the their message to me was [59:16] me to take back to Washington to take back to New York was we're excellent farmers we have fertile soil we know how to do this please please help us stop this conflict so we can go home and take care of ourselves thank you for the I mean they were very clear thank you for taking care of us thank you providing this this food medicine shelter for providing a safe a safe harbor here but we want to go home and so it is the tie-in and we're very conscious of it it's the tie-in between peace and security and this emergency response that we are [59:46] we're constantly we're constantly not only watching but we're constantly engaged with not only in our mission which we have some just outstanding humanitarian coordinators within our within our mission who work in the ECOSOC and who work throughout the political section and in MR but but also with our colleagues at the State Department who are constantly traveling to the region to try to get peace and security stability so that we can get people back to farming but in the meantime when I was there every bag of food I saw had the American flag [1:00:18] the high calorie for children who were very serious caloric deficit provided by American companies so we're highly engaged I know our more importantly our colleagues at the State Department are highly engaged in making this whole system work [1:00:33] um well I appreciate that and I think the members of this committee share the view that anytime we can end the conflicts that that's the critical thing to do but in the meantime we hope that people are not going to starve while they're waiting for that thank you [1:00:47] well said senator Ricketts [1:00:49] thank you mr chairman uh leader of the state of the united nations will select a new secretary general and this will mark a consequential moment for the future of the institution [1:01:00] for the united states as the largest financial contributor it's an opportunity to demand real reform we should support leadership that prioritizes accountability [1:01:10] transparency and confronts anti-semitism within the UN system and pushes back against adversaries like communist China [1:01:17] concerningly one of the candidates gained traction for this role is Dr Michelle Bachelet her record raises serious doubts about whether she meets that standard [1:01:27] as high commissioner for human rights Dr Bachelet was given a platform to investigate [1:01:32] credible reports that communist China was attaining over 1 million Uyghurs in internment camps carrying out forced sterilizations [1:01:40] and using coerced labor instead of clearly calling out those abuses she conducted a tightly controlled visit [1:01:47] coordinated with Beijing and stopped short of labeling these actions genocide now while the report did have serious allegations of mass detention [1:01:56] sexual violence uh and forced sterilizations a diplomat cited by politico at the time claimed that sections particularly with regard to the forced sterilizations [1:02:06] were watered down uh right within uh hours of the final report being released [1:02:12] um she also has uh promoted the view that abortion is a fundamental human right [1:02:20] these actions reflect a poor a pattern of poor judgment misplaced priorities [1:02:25] and a failure to uphold uphold the UN's core mission this disqualifies her from leading the UN [1:02:32] in fact i recently co-signed a letter to secretary rubio urging the united states to use its veto to block her nomination [1:02:39] and master waltz based on her record do you believe dr bachelet would advance meaningful reform at the UN [1:02:45] thank you for the question senator and i agree with you this is really uh and truly a turning point year for the UN [1:02:58] UN in terms of new leadership it is two five-year terms so we could be looking at the next secretary general over the next decade [1:03:08] uh and uh i'm not in a position today uh to publicly uh say who we will or we will not support but i'll tell you [1:03:18] i didn't ask you everything that's out there i asked you would she or that who we will uh who we will use our veto for [1:03:24] but i could tell you uh i share your concerns uh and i am sure i'm safe in speaking for the secretary [1:03:31] he shares your concerns just from a a broader kind of a broader perspective the conventional wisdom in up in new [1:03:39] york is it's never been someone from latin america and there's never been a woman so therefore it must be [1:03:45] uh a latin american woman um we have taken the position of we just need the best uh and this institution [1:03:52] desperately needs strong effective leadership and i can assure you reform reform reform along the lines of [1:04:00] development aid humanitarian aid and getting back to basics on peace and security will be at the top of our [1:04:05] criteria ambassador bartos and i are conducting those interviews and meetings right now as we speak [1:04:10] but i want to under underline i share your concerns okay should the united states be prepared to use this [1:04:15] leverage including its security council position to block candidates like dr bachelet who failed to meet [1:04:20] the standard i think the united states will absolutely be prepared uh to ensure that the next secretary [1:04:27] general is aligned with american values and interests francesca albanese the u.n special rapporteur [1:04:34] on the palestinian territories has repeatedly used her position to advance extreme and inflammatory [1:04:39] claims against israel she's accused israel of genocide claiming it has a license to torture [1:04:44] and using rhetoric that many have identified as anti-semitic including language that distorts [1:04:49] or trivializes the holocaust she has also gone beyond rhetoric she directly targeted american [1:04:55] companies accusing dozens of u.s firms of complicity and war crimes calling for investigations and [1:05:00] potential prosecution that is why the united states rightly decided to sanction her but what is [1:05:06] especially concerning is that since this has happened she has continued to double down she has [1:05:11] continued to accuse israel of genocide and promote false narratives on the world stage she is doing so [1:05:17] under the banner of the united nations at some point this is about whether the u.n is willing to [1:05:21] tolerate anti-semitism and political targeting from within its own system ambassador bartos do you believe [1:05:27] the u.n has taken any meaningful steps to address francesca albanese conduct no senator uh the u.n this [1:05:35] is one of those examples as i was sharing with the chairman of where the u.n if you'll pardon i'm an [1:05:39] educated guy but this is very simple they're doing stupid things they're poisoning their brand it's [1:05:45] self-sabotage and the message i've delivered to the leadership at the u.n when i talk about and my [1:05:51] observations about the outstanding work they do to deliver life-saving aid in these remote locations [1:05:56] at scale with a robust supply chain the contrast to that and what i say to the u.n leadership is how [1:06:02] and i'll clean my language up because we're in the u.s senate how the heck do you allow someone to put [1:06:07] on your uniform like this lunatic albanese put on your uniform and poison all the good work of the [1:06:14] humanitarian workers that you have on the front lines risking their lives every day to help save [1:06:18] total strangers of course fleeing hell to just a little bit better than hell that's what people are [1:06:23] putting their lives on and it's inspiring to see how can the same organization allow this lunatic [1:06:28] to put on the uniform and poison all that good work and it's self-sabotage of the worst in corporate [1:06:34] america senator where we both come from in corporate america this business would be out of business for [1:06:39] behavior like this and i've made that point now where we need to get better and stronger and smarter [1:06:44] is i'm heading to geneva next week and i'm going to be meeting with many of the perm reps who can [1:06:51] decide that it's time to fire this lunatic am i going to be successful sir i look forward to reporting [1:06:57] back on those conversations but it's time to operationalize i think the secretary's leadership [1:07:02] ambassador waltz's leadership the president's leadership and our team's leadership on sanctioning [1:07:06] this lunatic was absolutely the right thing to do it is now time to hold the u.n accountable and make [1:07:10] sure she's fired along with some other special rapporteurs who are poisoning the good work and [1:07:15] the good name and the good work of all those brave humanitarians who are out there in the field it has [1:07:19] to happen and it has to happen now it's this self-sabotage has to stop well thank you very much i [1:07:25] appreciate that answer i agree with you 100 please continue to do it because there's many of us who feel [1:07:29] the u.n is a deeply anti-semitic organization and to the extent that you can start getting rid of the bad [1:07:34] actors who contribute to propagating that i think you'll do the u.n a huge favor thank you [1:07:40] mr chairman thank you uh mr bartos uh i concur with those statements and i really concur with uh [1:07:47] your analysis and approach to this thing as to uh how when you have something uh that's decent uh you [1:07:54] you have just this incredible poisonous uh thing going on i you i use the same uh analogy uh when it [1:08:02] came to unra uh you had this uh organization called under within the united nations that was just [1:08:08] absolutely poisoning the uh the rest of what uh what u.n tries to do so i hope you'll uh i hope [1:08:16] you'll keep that up senator coons thank you mr chairman um thank you ambassador waltz and representative [1:08:23] bartos and julie great to have you with us and appreciate your service at the united nations [1:08:28] um and i i do want to get to a question about the war in iran and a concern i have and dedicate most of [1:08:34] my time to talking about your good work and trying to advance u.n reforms i am encouraged that the [1:08:40] outset um ambassador waltz and representative bartos to hear you say that you believe the u.n is doing [1:08:46] good and valuable work that there's entities like the wipo and the itu itu where we have to participate [1:08:53] we have to push back on chinese influence and competing views that would impact our role in the [1:08:59] world our safety and our security and that if they get back to basics they can really contribute [1:09:03] to the world to humanitarian relief to peace and security and hearing from you mr bartos about your [1:09:09] recent trip to three countries in africa to see peacekeeping refugee support uh humanitarian aid [1:09:16] delivery was encouraging um there's plenty we disagree about um i want to focus on a few of the [1:09:21] things we agree on and then a few concise questions if i could um ambassador we're six weeks into a war [1:09:28] in iran we haven't had the secretaries of defense or of state or any other senior representative in [1:09:34] front of us um so you may be surprised we we agree on a lot um that an unchecked come any regime is is [1:09:42] a profound threat to us and our allies and our values that a nuclear armed iran is unacceptably [1:09:47] dangerous that it's in our interest that the strait of hormuz be free and open uh and internationally [1:09:53] controlled um but you know this far into this war i'm gravely concerned that we still have an ayatollah [1:10:00] the son of um that we still haven't controlled their enriched uranium that we still haven't [1:10:05] reopened the strait of hormuz um and the president announced today um the deployment of thousands of [1:10:11] more u.s troops we may be on the verge of major combat operations um on the ground in iran i hope and [1:10:19] pray that the ceasefire holds that negotiations resume that the blockade is effective and that [1:10:25] there is a better deal than the jcpoa achieved i suspect we both hope that but if the tempo of [1:10:32] this war resumes again and we lose more american service members and we spend more of the american [1:10:37] taxpayer dollar um one of my core concerns has been the lack of any effort to consult and inform congress [1:10:44] or to seek our authorization we share an understanding that the president has not asked [1:10:49] for a declaration of war is that correct the president has not asked congress for a declaration of war no [1:10:58] and we haven't declared war officially in decades but we have in the previous conflict in the [1:11:04] persian gulf had hearing after hearing after hearing and votes in congress for an authorization [1:11:09] of the use of military force and we also in a number of conflicts have respected the war powers [1:11:14] resolution 60-day termination clock which if we were following that would have about 15 days left [1:11:21] my simple question is are you aware of any plans to seek authorization from congress [1:11:27] if a full-scale ground war begins or if this conflict resumes if the ceasefire stops [1:11:33] and would you support congress authorizing this conflict so that the war fighters who we are sending [1:11:39] into this region know that they have the support of the american people through their elected representatives [1:11:45] well senator thank you for the question i certainly uh wouldn't and shouldn't get ahead of the [1:11:51] president and his engagement with congress uh and i certainly wouldn't presume that we will have as [1:11:56] you described full-blown ground uh combat i think we've seen the president as we're seeing right now [1:12:05] there is a whole um slew of options uh in between where we are now and some type of of ground combat and [1:12:14] you know taking the leverage away from iran they are trying to punish the world uh and we with the [1:12:23] closure of the straits of orbus with attacking civilian shipping i can tell you uh in the u.n we had a [1:12:30] u.n record 135 nations join bahrain the gcc countries in the united states condemn iran for its attacks on [1:12:38] hotels and ports resorts uh and and neighborhoods which was incredibly notable to see that kind of [1:12:45] unity uh but i'm glad i'm glad also that we agree that we cannot have a nuclear armed iran and i'm [1:12:52] thankful the president is taking bold decisive action now before it's a fait accompli before i run out of [1:12:58] time ambassador i just we were not briefed on an imminent threat we were not presented with information [1:13:05] either in a classified setting or an open setting that justified the idea that there was an imminent [1:13:09] threat and we couldn't pursue negotiations and the absence of either that briefing or a clear request [1:13:16] for congress to engage in authorizing this conflict has given me a great pause we share our view on the [1:13:22] dangers of the of the region and of our increasingly aligning adversaries around the world dprk iran russia [1:13:29] i am hopeful that you will be uh that you'll convey the message back that a prompt briefing on what [1:13:36] was the imminent threat that precipitated this conflict and an urgency around requesting authorization [1:13:44] instead we will simply keep voting on war powers resolutions here that will send a divided message and [1:13:50] i don't want us to send our young men and women uh into harm's way with a divided message from this [1:13:55] congress if i could beg 30 seconds mr chairman i do just want to say i appreciate that you're making [1:14:01] progress in reducing the bloat and the personnel and the overreach and the expenditures at the u.n [1:14:07] i do hope you'll also listen to the ranking members comment up front which i agree with strongly [1:14:13] we are better off when we are with our allies when we are voting in the u.n and when we are acting in [1:14:18] the u.n in concert and partnership with the countries that share our values standing up to those [1:14:24] actions and statements that don't but also partnering with those that do and so whether [1:14:29] it's the conflict in ukraine and russia's aggression where we should be standing much more closely and [1:14:34] consistently with our partners and allies the resolution of the war in iran or the urgency of [1:14:40] actually deploying and using the humanitarian funding that's been appropriated i look forward to [1:14:46] working with you on making sure that we make the u.n the effective and meaningful partnership for [1:14:54] peace that it can and should be thank you uh thank you senator cunson it's good to hear your uh initial [1:15:00] statements about the matters uh regarding iran that we all agree in as far as not being able to have [1:15:06] nuclear weapon and that sort of thing uh just so the record is uh totally clear uh it is true that the [1:15:14] administration uh uh did not go to the 535 members of congress and indicate the uh imminent threat but [1:15:22] uh a number of people were well advised of the uh imminent threat particularly those of us who work [1:15:29] in this in the uh i i have the highest level of classification access and have asked for it [1:15:33] repeatedly and have gotten nothing as do i and uh yeah i have that the inequality of access to [1:15:41] information is at the core of the point i'm trying to make if you don't inform and brief democrats [1:15:47] and republicans in the relevant senior roles i am the senior democrat on defense appropriations [1:15:52] i should know and i have not been briefed thank you so much and we'll move from there to senator [1:15:58] hagerty thank you mr chairman and i want to thank the gentlemen here today for your willingness to [1:16:03] serve uh i'm very heartened to see such strong leadership at the united nations uh and delighted to [1:16:09] have you here today um i'd like to talk with you ambassador waltz just a bit about [1:16:15] our allies and and their support of our efforts particularly our efforts in iran and if i think [1:16:21] about it president trump has been i think rather concerned about the response of some of our allies [1:16:27] even allies who serve as permanent members in the un national on the un security council [1:16:33] i just wanted to get your thoughts on the dynamics on the un security council how our allies are [1:16:39] working well with us and what you'd like to see more from our allies well thank you senator uh and [1:16:47] while there's a lot of consternation i would say especially focused uh on our european partners [1:16:55] and their positions which frankly uh i think most americans find outrageous uh they're we're not asking [1:17:02] to commit ground troops who are not asking to commit um other forces i mean simple overflight rights uh [1:17:11] simple use of bases that we have contributed to for many decades um i don't think are unfair asks and [1:17:18] certainly will affect the relationship uh going forward but here's the good news uh and here's what i [1:17:26] absolutely think will backfire is backfiring on iran for the foreseeable future our gulf allies have [1:17:34] never been more united uh they've had real issue with each other in yemen in sudan and in other places [1:17:41] but right now uh as they get bombarded um you know iran could have responded in all kinds of ways [1:17:50] uh i think some people expected them to perhaps attack our bases in the middle east but to launch [1:17:57] the hundreds and thousands of drones and missiles into resorts and hotels and civilian neighborhoods [1:18:04] and civilian infrastructure uh is absolutely outrageous and i was very encouraged to see 135 [1:18:12] countries align with bahrain align with the gcc and stand firm to condemn that in international law [1:18:20] through the u.n uh security council and going forward now many of these gulf uh it's a tough [1:18:26] neighborhood yeah cutter uae others you know cutter had a free trade zone that iran used they had banking [1:18:33] services that iran used cutter shares a gas field they are solidly uh on our side uh in this conflict [1:18:40] they've seen iran for what it is and they are all thanking us profusely at the highest levels uh that [1:18:47] we've taken action if before iran could blackmail the world in the region with a nuclear weapon i [1:18:55] think that the world has had the opportunity to see what iran truly is as you said and it's been [1:18:59] heartening to see our allies in the middle east step up it's also been quite disheartening i would [1:19:04] say to see some of our allies some of our long-standing allies who i would have thought would have been [1:19:09] standing shoulder to shoulder with us uh behave in such a feckless manner and i very much appreciate your [1:19:15] leadership and and i hope showing a mirror to uh to those members that have been our allies for a [1:19:21] long time particularly those on the on the un security council that um the united states is going [1:19:25] to lead from a strong position and i hope they'll see the uh the opportunity to be inspired to do the [1:19:30] same thank you and i just i want to be clear though senator look we share the same values we share the same [1:19:38] goals um we can be friends and family and have disagreements uh but you know i wouldn't call it a [1:19:45] divorce uh by in by any means but we do need our european allies regardless of their political position [1:19:52] there's a real lack of military capability uh in in many ways and that is being exposed uh right now as [1:19:59] iran tries to hold the world's economy hostage and we cannot have a situation whether it's the straits of [1:20:05] gibraltar uh the bering straits the straits of malacca where two parties have a conflict regardless [1:20:11] of what you think of the conflict that one side uses international waterways to in to impose [1:20:17] collective punishment on the rest of the world yeah and so we are taking strong action in uh the [1:20:23] security council and there's even discussion now finally of um of the un labeling the irgc a terrorist [1:20:30] organization uh which is exactly what it is i applaud that i applaud that um gentlemen in the short time [1:20:36] i have left i just want to raise one other issue it's a concern that we all have and that is the [1:20:41] united states is the largest funder of the united nations and it's a very simple question i i think [1:20:46] we all ask ourselves how effective is the un are we getting our money's worth are we getting an adequate [1:20:50] return on our on our investment and i'll start with you um mr bartos and then ambassador waltz if you [1:20:56] would comment as well uh senator i think it's a mixed bag uh it's a great question it's the question [1:21:01] we ask ourselves every day and our team has worked on some of our colleagues uh the career civil service [1:21:06] and foreign service officers have worked on for a decade or more care deeply about the organization [1:21:11] and making it fit for purpose and making it work and so i think on the humanitarian side from what i [1:21:16] got to see in the field the un is uh doing really good work and i think the american taxpayers if any of [1:21:21] them any of my my uh fellow pennsylvanians uh and my fellow floridians uh i got both i guess uh if we [1:21:29] if we if they were in the field in car or drc or or kenya they'd be really proud of seeing those american [1:21:35] flags helping these these inspired inspiring courageous people who fled the atrocities to to get to seek [1:21:42] refuge and and the un is taking good care of them so i think we can be proud of that and then as uh senator [1:21:47] ricketts pointed out and he's absolutely right and as you know we have tackled in this administration [1:21:52] the pervasive unconscionable bias against not only our ally israel and against the west but blacklisting [1:21:59] u.s companies through through some special rapporteur and so-called human rights council [1:22:04] it's it's unconscionable it has to stop and the un has to stop doing stupid things and so that we are not [1:22:10] getting our money's worth there and so it's really on the peace and security i think it's a mixed bag [1:22:15] uh the central african republic the mission it's called minusca that's trending in the right [1:22:20] direction some missions are not getting it done and we'll see sun setting of unifil later this year [1:22:26] because of u.s leadership because of ambassador waltz's leadership and because of the team's [1:22:29] leadership and the vision and leadership that the president the secretary have have asked us to [1:22:33] execute on so i think it's a mixed bag you know god willing have a couple more years to to drive these [1:22:39] reforms and uh i hope to report back to you you know before the end of 2028 that we've achieved [1:22:45] a whole number of reforms so i think it's a mixed bag and we're we we recognize we have a long way [1:22:49] to go that's encouraging uh senator uh thank you senator haggerty as soon as i just wanted to [1:22:55] correct my understanding is that our european partners have not denied us over flight um rights [1:23:02] that there was one flight that france denied over a paperwork issue but that um they are giving us [1:23:08] over flight um use for the war in iran so i'm not uh absolutely certain of that at the very beginning [1:23:18] at the very beginning i think there was absolute prohibition on over flights and they had domestic [1:23:24] political issues at home to do that but i think we can yeah and i agree with that that has softened but [1:23:30] it was a it was a horrible mistake they made right at the beginning particularly as uh ambassador waltz [1:23:36] indicated uh where we uh we'd actually paid for uh the the basis that we wanted to land in and they [1:23:45] were saying we couldn't but that's uh argument for another day so let's move on to senator murphy [1:23:50] who i know has some things to tell us uh thank you mr chairman we're having a discussion about the iran [1:23:59] war right now because mr ambassador you're the most senior member of the president's national security [1:24:04] team to testify before this committee on the most significant military engagement the united [1:24:09] states has entered into in the region in decades those of us on the democratic side do find it amazing [1:24:16] that we still have not had an open hearing on this committee or the armed services committee [1:24:21] on this conflict the un has historically been at the center of the development of the laws of war [1:24:29] which have helped prevent millions of unnecessary civilian deaths in conflict the united states has [1:24:34] traditionally been at the center of that process but president trump has said that if iran does not [1:24:40] comply with his demands that he will end iran's civilization with specific threats to target civilian [1:24:49] infrastructure this looks to a lot of us into the world like a promise by the president of the united [1:24:57] states to commit war crimes i'm sure you don't i'm sure you don't agree with that assessment but we have [1:25:04] never had a president before threatened to end an entire civilization and double down on that claim [1:25:12] if that country does not accede to the demands of the united states so what does the president mean [1:25:20] when he says that if these negotiations don't work out he will end iran's civilization well senator [1:25:30] i think that statement in the broader context he also talked about attacking uh infrastructure [1:25:37] bridges power plants and we all know iran has a long history of co-mingling both civilian and military [1:25:44] of hiding weapons and hospitals and schools uh and uh using what could be just pure civilian infrastructure [1:25:51] to also power factories for drones for missiles uh and and the irgc controls nearly 50 percent uh of the [1:25:59] economy i think it looks like frankly um well look i guess what does it mean what does it mean to end [1:26:06] a civilization but i think we have to look at the fact that you have uh a regime that literally chants [1:26:13] death to america for the last 47 years and has acted on it has killed thousands of americans has [1:26:20] slaughtered its own people do you know i mean i mean how many machine gun bullets does it take over the [1:26:25] course of a week to kill 40 000 of its own people right but does that know does that merit a threat [1:26:31] to i think it's civilization senator it was some tough talk and what are the result what are the [1:26:36] results was we had the highest level engagement in the history of the iranian regime with the vice [1:26:44] president and speaker of the parliament less than a week later we had a ceasefire 48 hours later they [1:26:51] clearly got the message and they clearly came back to the table yeah and i guess it's an open question [1:26:56] as to whether we should try to pursue our aims by threatening another nation with mass civilian [1:27:03] casualty i don't know that that's something that we should celebrate that we are able to cow nations [1:27:08] to our demands by threatening to kill well as a billion but as a as a former military member and i'm [1:27:14] safe and speaking for our military uh they take every precaution possible uh to avoid civilian casualties [1:27:22] but this regime responded and again if we focus on the results over the rhetoric uh they came to the [1:27:29] table they got the message they put the ceasefire in place they haven't honored it with the straits of [1:27:32] or moves and now uh we have talks ongoing um let me ask you about the straight because obviously that is [1:27:39] what is impacting our constituents um in in a in a significant way um did the administration [1:27:46] anticipate that iran would close the strait um or was that a surprise oh i can tell you having [1:27:54] formally uh worked in the pentagon and been in the military for 27 years and the committees i sat on [1:28:00] in congress that has been war gamed over and over and over again by centcom and as you know the [1:28:06] centcom commander uh was the former fifth fleet commander out of out of bahrain so it was it was [1:28:13] anticipated well it was anticipated uh to my knowledge again i'm sitting you know up at the u.n uh [1:28:21] absolutely uh but at the same time you know the the measures they took to sink nearly two dozen mine [1:28:29] layers uh to go after those land-based missiles that are they are using to go after uh the drone not [1:28:37] just the drones but the manufacturing capability was to drastically reduce that threat which is [1:28:43] why i think you've seen now dozens of ships moving over the last few days and dozens of ships moving [1:28:49] compared to hundreds of ships normally sure i mean iran in violation of international law declared now the [1:28:55] straits of hormuz its own waters last uh it's it's essentially punishing the entire world and i think [1:29:02] the president should be applauded for flipping the script because now their ships can't move lastly just [1:29:07] one clarification on another war goal is it a goal of the war um to enact regime change and if so [1:29:14] have you accomplished that goal the president has referred to the regime having change and that being a [1:29:20] successful byproduct of the war senator i think the president's made his uh his goals quite clear [1:29:26] from a military standpoint the vice president made it clear in islamabad open the sea lanes no nuclear [1:29:33] program end its decades of support uh for terrorism and have a negotiated arrangement that's verifiable [1:29:41] and enforceable so not regime change well if you if the regime ends up changing in some fashion or form [1:29:47] i'll tell you what the regime's got to change its behavior it's unacceptable and we cannot let it have a [1:29:51] nuclear weapon thank you mr chairman thank you senator lee thanks so much to both of you for being here and [1:29:58] thanks for all you do on behalf of our country um with respect to both of you i just want to begin [1:30:06] by thanking you for your tireless work to improve things within the u.n and especially to advance [1:30:13] american interests at the u.n i can't imagine actually i can't imagine but i can only imagine [1:30:20] that you how much work this has to have entailed to bring about that reform there's an immense [1:30:29] difficulty involved in trying to reform this 193 member state organization especially one as deeply [1:30:37] flawed and often backwards as the u.n is organizations as large and bloated as the u.n tend to resist change [1:30:46] it's almost an organic response yet through your efforts uh the u.n did something for the first time [1:30:53] something remarkable it cut outlays by 570 million dollars both of you and president trump should be [1:31:01] commended for your work to reform the u.n but i want to zoom out on that uh for a second i i don't want [1:31:08] to merely make the u.n more efficient more streamlined because if we lose sight of the ultimate goal [1:31:16] then reform efforts can be a little bit like putting lipstick on a pig and then just calling it a reformed [1:31:22] pig or something other than a pig the ultimate goal in my view has to be something that involves [1:31:28] advancing u.s interests the the interests of of the united states of america and it's getting harder [1:31:35] and harder at least for me to to see how the united nations does that the u.n def aggressively defends [1:31:45] and demands uh a very rigid uh orthodoxy in terms of the type of multilateralism uh uh that that the u.s faces [1:31:56] at the u.n and it demands that we relinquish sovereignty often to serve the interests of adversaries [1:32:04] like china but in a in an age of of great power uh competition like ours multilateral institutions [1:32:14] cannot find themselves cannot allow themselves to become impartial to one great power over another [1:32:20] great power our adversaries flourish in a system we created because of how that system was designed [1:32:27] and how it's evolved we see this from time to time at other multilateral institutions but especially [1:32:35] within the united nations we cannot rely on the u.n and we cannot let the u.n continue to be a drain on [1:32:42] u.s resources and efforts especially if it's going to be undermining us ambassador walls i'd like to [1:32:48] start with you now i frequently hear that if you the u.s were to disengage at the u.n either completely [1:32:56] or to whatever degree then china would step in and fill the gap some say that that's the reason that [1:33:03] we've shoveled billions upon billions of dollars into the u.n continue to do so um uh to the tune of [1:33:10] tens of tens of billions of dollars a year um even though these are efforts that don't really help us [1:33:16] don't advance u.s interests if is our main objective at the u.n as you see it is it to counterbalance [1:33:25] adversaries like china or or does the u.s materially benefit from uh from the u.n in other ways senator i [1:33:35] think it's a it's a fundamental question and one that we wrestle with every day but i would say [1:33:43] both um for example uh for our industries uh it's kind of one of those things if we didn't invent it [1:33:52] somebody else would for our entrepreneurs and our businesses we have to have their ip protected uh and [1:33:59] treated a certain way on uh when it leaves our shores and it's outside of u.s jurisdiction so the [1:34:05] world intellectual property organization incredibly important i don't know about you when pilots are [1:34:10] flying around the world i want them speaking english i want the air traffic controllers train [1:34:14] and mechanics trained to a certain standard of the international civil aviation organization [1:34:19] things like spectrum space telecommunications radio undersea cables international seabeds how that's [1:34:27] treated with the new mining efforts you know essentially everything that's regulated here [1:34:33] and as painful as that is is regulated internationally but now you have the eu the russians the chinese [1:34:39] and everyone else involved my argument is we have to get in there and fight block and tackle and win [1:34:44] for american industry uh and for the american people and to your point on how else we benefit [1:34:50] burden sharing is a key component of an american first approach uh we have gangs that have taken over [1:34:56] haiti right off the shores of florida that are moving drugs and thugs all over the region the united [1:35:00] states europe and elsewhere i don't want american troops there like we saw president clinton do in [1:35:05] the 1990s now we have an international force going in and rather than paying a billion dollars a year [1:35:11] as we were under the last administration we're going to cut that bill by three quarters and hopefully [1:35:17] at least arrest the problem so they can get some kind of political process uh moving forward i can [1:35:23] cite you other places where we are pushing uh that burden sharing that america first approach and that [1:35:29] fight and block and tackle approach we just haven't done it in some of these organizations uh and we [1:35:35] need to be thank you thank you chairman thank you senator king thank you mr chair and to our our witnesses [1:35:42] good work on the reform efforts and and keep pushing on them they're very important to my constituents [1:35:48] to this committee i think a challenge that you have is pretty much everybody in america would agree with [1:35:55] america first but most people in america would not agree with america alone and i think the interpretation [1:36:03] of the actions of the administration a lot of people are wondering whether it's america first or america [1:36:08] alone i would like to introduce for the record a list of organizations and treaties that the u.s has [1:36:16] withdrawn from during president trump's first and second administrations it's a five-page list if i might [1:36:21] mr chair folks see that they see the president trash talking allies talking about canada as a 51st state [1:36:31] or an invasion of greenland connected to a nato ally um they they look at a president willy-nilly [1:36:40] imposing tariffs on allies including allies with which we are in trade surplus like australia not trade [1:36:48] deficit and they raise the question is this about america first or is about america alone they look at [1:36:54] the president's threats to withdraw from nato and they ask the same question and i think those [1:36:59] questions have been very sharpened by the war in iran it's a war where the president has not sought [1:37:06] congressional authorization as other presidents have in the past it's a war where the president did not [1:37:12] consult in advance with allies whose economies are being significantly affected by the war um it's a war [1:37:21] that the administration has not yet presented to my satisfaction to congress a clear rationale or a [1:37:29] clear plan and the information that has been presented thus far has only been presented and [1:37:34] classified so that we're not able to share fully with our constituents even those who have kids [1:37:40] deployed in the theater of war what we know about it we're still awaiting the first sets of public [1:37:46] hearings and and mr secretary it is unfair for for you to be the the first you know kind of [1:37:51] principle before us because these are questions that aren't completely in your remit and i and i get [1:37:57] that but the issue of this war has really sharpened this question of is the administration pursuing an [1:38:04] america first policy or an america alone policy as you know the war has cost 13 service members their [1:38:11] lives hundreds have been injured innocent civilians have been killed which is always the case even under the [1:38:17] best of circumstances it's sad that you can't avoid that and the economic consequences to the united [1:38:25] states are sharp my constituents are paying a dollar more for a gallon of gas than they were on february [1:38:30] 27th virginians buy eight million gallons of gas a day that's eight million dollars coming out of virginians [1:38:36] pockets every day and this is spread throughout the country and throughout the world we're reading news about [1:38:41] allies like australia and how they're really suffering because they import oil and what that [1:38:48] escalating oil costs since february 27 has done to them do we care about allies or are we pursuing an [1:38:55] america alone strategy now mr ambassador or to to the honorable waltz representative not ambassador you [1:39:04] have an ambassador's rank you know you you've talked about the president wanting to make sure that iran [1:39:11] doesn't have a nuclear weapon and you know this but just in case there are folks who are watching who [1:39:18] don't know this the united states over the course of two years negotiated a deal with iran with [1:39:25] with our european allies and with adversaries china and russia and the first page of that agreement [1:39:33] said as following iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will iran ever seek develop or acquire [1:39:43] any nuclear weapons that was a forever promise there were some aspects of the deal that were [1:39:48] 10-year promises or 15-year promises there were two forever promises one was accession to the [1:39:54] additional protocol requiring intrusive inspections by the iaea and the second one was this forever [1:40:01] promise that iran would never seek to acquire or develop nuclear weapons and iran abided by that [1:40:09] until the united states under president trump's leadership tore up the deal unilaterally our allies [1:40:15] said it was working the international atomic energy agency said it was working president trump's first [1:40:22] secretaries of defense and state madison tillerson urged him to stay in the deal that it was working [1:40:29] the president tore it up and what i find tragic is we have service members now losing their lives [1:40:36] because the united states destroyed a diplomatic deal when you make diplomacy impossible you make war [1:40:44] inevitable so i'm just going to ask this one question at what point should the deep public unpopularity [1:40:52] of a war be a factor that the nation's civilian decision makers need to take into account to decide [1:40:59] whether to continue it or not senator there's a there's a lot in that question and i'll tell you um [1:41:07] one uh nato is far better because of the tough love it has received from this president and from this [1:41:14] administration we've gone from seven to thirty to thirty i don't disagree in the last 10 years [1:41:19] president we are going to make evasion helped nato it might be some mean tweets it might be some tough [1:41:26] love but they've got the message and we now have every nato ally meeting the minimum and then if you [1:41:31] had said 10 years ago they would be going to five percent that's good you would have been laughed out [1:41:35] laughed out of the room on the international organizations yes it's 66 but it's out of 400. we have [1:41:41] never taken a comprehensive review of where is all this money going and what are we getting for it [1:41:47] and when we have organizations like the pan-american institute of geography or the permanent forum on [1:41:52] the people of african descent or the international cotton advisory committee i think we ask those tough [1:41:57] questions and i want to direct those dollars that we pulled out of our commission into those and human [1:42:02] rights or latin america into those organizations that are directly affecting our businesses and then [1:42:09] finally on uh on iran uh i just looked at two polls this morning 70 percent and this is according [1:42:16] to um uh this is according to a widely used pollster 74 agree that iran can never have a nuclear weapon [1:42:24] and they have shown their true colors rasmussen has it at 54 percent that says they can never we [1:42:30] had controlled it diplomatically but why do we need to risk american service lives because we tore up a [1:42:36] diplomatic deal it's it's madness that diplomatic deal senator would have had iran flush with cash [1:42:43] its terrorist proxies flush with cash the missile component has already expired the enrichment [1:42:48] components expired last year the deal did not forbid us from going to any of those activities [1:42:53] but this is incredibly important because the iaea went to its board of governors and for the first [1:42:57] time in decades said iran was absolutely not in compliance there is no after the u.s tore up the deal [1:43:03] there's no need to enrich to 60 percent no country in the world has 60 percent enriched and they [1:43:08] wouldn't have had we not tore up the deal they did not do that until we tore up the deal we shouldn't [1:43:14] have torn up they were cheating but senator they were cheating on the deal before the deal that was [1:43:20] exposed in 2018 you were only allowed to see certain sites with a month's advance notice and they had a [1:43:26] whole slew of hidden military sites that not only uh our allies but the iaea exposed they were absolutely [1:43:33] i representer kane i've i've been really generous you have time and and i uh we've had this debate [1:43:38] here a number of times uh obviously we haven't resolved the debate but uh uh appreciate that we're [1:43:43] off subject so i'd like like to stay on the reform subject but uh thank thank you for uh for those uh [1:43:49] remarks senator scott thank you chairman today's hearing on reforming the united nations could not [1:43:56] come in a more important moment across america families are asking whether their tax dollars are [1:44:00] working for them or against them as secretary rubio said with every dime we spend we must ask [1:44:05] does this make america safer stronger and more prosperous and we need to be able to look our [1:44:10] constituents in the eye and say absolutely yes today i'm introducing two bills to do that the [1:44:16] first is the stop support for unra act of 2026 for decades unra has operated as a permanent refugee [1:44:24] bureaucracy but since october 7th terrorist attacks evidence has clearly shown that under employees [1:44:29] actively supported hamas have promoted anti-semitic and extremist content in schools [1:44:35] and have even participated in atrocities against israelis civilians this bill will make permanent [1:44:40] what has rightly been u.s policy since october 7th an end of all funding to unra as well as any [1:44:46] entities related to it or any that may come after it this bill will revoke the privileges and immunities [1:44:52] that unra officials currently hold under the international organizations immunities act so those who [1:44:57] support terrorism can be held directly accountable in our courts rather than shielded by diplomatic status [1:45:03] more broadly this bill ensures that u.s taxpayers will never again be forced to sponsor u.n bodies [1:45:09] chaired by governments that the state department self-identifies as repeatedly supporting terrorism [1:45:14] the american people should not have to hand over their hearted money to support organizations that [1:45:19] funnel their resources to state sponsors of terror the second bill i am introducing today is the igo [1:45:25] anti-boycott act the 1970s congress acted to stop the arab league's attempt to economically isolate israel [1:45:32] they passed laws which made it clear american company to to american companies that they would [1:45:37] face financial consequences if they participate in this boycott and it worked today however the same [1:45:42] campaign of economic pressure now works through international bodies u.n agencies and other igo's [1:45:47] that compile blacklists of israeli companies and seek to delegitimize israeli economically the [1:45:54] principle is simple and vital we in congress could never let the whim of an international body [1:45:58] override the security and prosperity of the american people america's sovereignty means we will [1:46:04] decide who we support whom we trade with and whom we defend my bills affirm that our commitment [1:46:10] to our allies will never be supported into the agendas of unaccountable international organizations [1:46:15] they say clearly that america stands for accountability for freedom for allies who share [1:46:19] our belief in liberty not those who rip us off by taking our tax dollars to defend terrorists [1:46:24] i want to thank senators hoven senators tim scott since ricketts hagerty burraso brit bud and lee for [1:46:30] their support sir representative waltz i want to invite you to share any thoughts you have on these [1:46:36] bills and on the broader question of how the united states can ensure its contributions to international [1:46:40] organizations advance not erode our values thank you uh senator scott and i for one certainly appreciate [1:46:48] your leadership on this obviously i will have to look uh carefully at the text of it but i certainly [1:46:55] supported in concept uh the president one of the first things he did coming out the gate was uh [1:47:02] put an executive order in place of no funding to unra congress has voted for years unfortunately off [1:47:08] and on to not fund unra and i hope uh you know pending a hard look at it that your bill moves through [1:47:15] the senate secretary rubio has said unra has been completely infiltrated by hamas uh and has to go [1:47:22] uh the good news is with the national committee for the administration of gaza which sits under the [1:47:30] board of peace instituted and established through the u.n security council they will start taking on [1:47:37] those functions of both aid delivery public services and the most important education we're working with a [1:47:45] number of our gulf arab uh partners and muslim majority nations on education reform curricular [1:47:52] reform so we don't have that next generation of gazans of palestinians getting absolutely radicalized [1:48:00] and pushed towards violence with uh hamas's stated goal of eliminating israel as a nation and the jewish [1:48:07] people so what are you most proud of that you've gotten accomplished since you've been there well i'll [1:48:15] tell you uh getting the president's 20-point peace plan uh stamped into international law uh seeing [1:48:22] the entire world including many of our european partners stand with him celebrate the plan sharm el [1:48:28] shake then getting that through the council 13 uh to zero uh you know as i told the council members [1:48:36] you had two choices you have hamas continuing to rule gaza uh you had the idf uh in terms of occupation of [1:48:43] gaza or let's let's work together and try this new path uh and i have to tell you too [1:48:51] seeing those hostages come out uh having their families come and visit uh jeff and i and hug us [1:48:59] when they never thought i don't think anybody thought we'd see every single living and deceased hostage [1:49:06] come out of those tunnels uh it was uh and i think the president his team special envoys whitkoff uh [1:49:14] jared kushner the secretary deserve enormous credit from history uh for saving those lives there is not [1:49:20] a single hostage in those tunnels for the first time in a decade and that's something that i would [1:49:25] hope we could all celebrate all right thank both of you for your hard work thank you senator senator van holland [1:49:33] uh thank you mr chairman welcome both of you mr ambassador your response to the senator with respect [1:49:42] to unra is completely inconsistent with u.s intelligence community reports so i would urge you [1:49:49] to review those reports i know that sometimes some in this administration don't pay attention to them [1:49:55] but i would urge you to do that we can agree that the u.n would benefit from reform i hope you will [1:50:04] also agree that we should work collectively to uphold international law including international [1:50:10] humanitarian law and the geneva convention all of which the united states helped shape in the [1:50:15] aftermath of world war ii would you agree with me on that absolutely senator of course good now we need [1:50:24] to enforce that and when you were a member of the house you said that president biden needed to make [1:50:31] clear that quote putin is an absolute war criminal unquote do you stand by your statement that putin [1:50:39] was an absolute war criminal i'll tell you uh senator statements i made as a member of congress [1:50:46] very different than what i make now as an ambassador of the un working for president trump and [1:50:51] representing the united so are you retract so i certainly i support president trump uh in everything [1:50:57] he is doing and trying to end this awful i just find it very interesting mr ambassador that you [1:51:03] called upon the former president biden in no uncertain terms to condemn putin as a war criminal and you [1:51:09] won't call upon president trump to do the same thing as you know he has refused to do what you called [1:51:15] upon president biden to do let me move on as you know senator it's quite difficult to mediate the end of [1:51:20] the war uh if you take such maximalist approaches and now being a diplomat and a mediator and fulfilling his [1:51:27] goals working for him and his agenda is very different than when you're elected it's interesting [1:51:33] though i have to say mr ambassador i it was a simple question i guess you are you're not asking this [1:51:39] president to do what you asked the last president to would you agree that we should enforce and that [1:51:47] there be consequences for war crimes and let me ask you a different way would you agree it would be a [1:51:54] violation of international law to blow up a bunch of civilian infrastructure in iran because [1:52:00] iran did not agree to open the strait of hormuz that would be a violation of international humanitarian [1:52:06] law if we actually did actually that's that that is incorrect uh there are that we have a long history [1:52:13] we could show look at video after video of the bridges that we bombed in world war ii and vietnam [1:52:19] and conflict after conflict of power plants in serbia under the clinton administration mr ambassador [1:52:24] this was not my question particularly my question was that has dual use mr well i'm gonna have [1:52:29] military with civilian uses mr ambassador that was not my question president trump threatened to hit [1:52:36] civilian infrastructure if iran did not open the strait of hormuz we all know international law [1:52:42] we know there are some exceptions to the general rule that you shouldn't hit civilian infrastructure [1:52:46] the enemy is occupying it but my question was different you don't think it's a violation of [1:52:52] international law to blow up a bunch of civilian infrastructure because the government of iran [1:52:56] refused to open the strait of hormuz you don't think that would be i think president trump the [1:52:59] american you think that would be a violation of international law use every bit of leverage that [1:53:03] he uh that he i'm asking you and if you have if you have military units using bridges to go down to [1:53:10] the straits of hormuz to attack international shipping and launch missiles into resorts and airports and [1:53:16] ports across the strait so that's absolutely a valid ambassador essentially and i gotta tell you as a [1:53:21] veteran who who had to pull these triggers mr i think the president's absolutely in the right i know [1:53:27] you all like to talk rather than answer questions but let me ask you this your testimony is that if [1:53:32] you have an authoritarian regime anywhere in the world that because they're authoritarian regime if [1:53:36] they don't obey the u.s demands you can wipe out their civilian infrastructure let me ask you this [1:53:42] would it be a violation of the international law to destroy a civilization would that be a violation of [1:53:47] international humanitarian law i think what you're talking about senator is a mean tweet that got [1:53:54] with a regime that's genocidal chants death to america and you're going to talk about some tough [1:54:00] language that actually the result of it was diplomacy well the result of it was the highest meeting in [1:54:06] the history of the united states in the iranian regime uh was a return to the ceasefire so [1:54:11] mr once again we're focused on what he says and maybe we should return to the time when the strait [1:54:17] of hormuz was open before we started the war that closed the strait of hormuz and got a more radical [1:54:22] and more extremist one could only imagine what they would let me just say let me just ask you this i'm [1:54:27] going to submit some questions for the record on sudan but i do have one simple question uh do you did [1:54:35] you see that senator secretary rubio had confirmed in earlier uh testimony that the rsf was committing [1:54:43] genocide in sudan i did not uh see that but we have a number of actions in uh the u.n security council [1:54:52] sanctioning uh leaders the leadership of the rsf do you agree that um our partner the uae should not be [1:54:59] sending weapons to the rsf which the u.s government has concluded is committing genocide do you think they [1:55:07] should stop there are i i would submit there are outside entities providing weapons and funding to [1:55:13] both sides of that conflict uh special advisor or senior advisor bulos has led the effort to pull the [1:55:20] quad countries together uh and we are getting incredibly close to at least having humanitarian [1:55:26] corridors for to provide life-saving aid which the u.n will take a leading role in if that happens [1:55:32] we then want to move that through the security council which would be [1:55:36] not nearly enough progress but would certainly be a better situation than we're in now are there [1:55:41] any other parties to the conflict where the u.s government has concluded they're committing [1:55:45] genocide other than the rsf not to my knowledge so i i would think that given those facts as [1:55:51] established by our own government that we should get the uae to stop sending weapons to the rsf would [1:55:59] you agree i would agree that we should get all sides to stop sending weapons into that conflict thank [1:56:04] you thank you thank you thank you mr chairman thank you uh senator senator parasso is up next [1:56:24] thank you mr chairman ambassador walls great to see you again good to see you again important uh thank [1:56:31] you i want to talk about something that's going on about a week ago the u.n's economic and social [1:56:35] council held elections they elected uh some of the world's most notorious human rights abusers [1:56:41] to roles on the committees that are charged with protecting human rights and civil society [1:56:47] the islamic republic of iran the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism is now going to help [1:56:52] shape policy on women's rights and counter-terrorism and that's what we saw happen a week ago china [1:56:57] cuba nicaragua is going to decide which human rights groups receive accreditation at the united nations [1:57:03] and the united states you the only member to object are there specific reforms that you would support [1:57:09] to prevent these serial human rights abusers from securing these kinds of u.n roles in the future [1:57:15] uh thank you for the thank you for the question senator and it's one of the the constant evaluations [1:57:24] that we're having are some of these organizations just so unredeemable uh that it's not worth another [1:57:30] dollar of hard-earned taxpayer dollars good money after bad like the human rights council [1:57:36] that opens nearly every one of its meetings condemning israel that has these so-called special [1:57:42] rapporteurs these experts that have uh a a boycott list of american companies uh doing business there [1:57:51] and why this is so insidious is then they take these um they take these lists to these international [1:57:57] organizations like the icc and the international court of justice and try to debank them [1:58:05] they even had things like a george floyd commission uh so you have these serial human rights abusers [1:58:11] staffing committees to come pass judgment on our uh judicial system so in that case the president [1:58:18] made the determination we'll walk away in other cases we're getting in there and blocking and [1:58:24] tackling the situation with iran that you just mentioned is incredibly unfortunate especially [1:58:28] that we had a number of european allies support the nomination which was outrageous but the united [1:58:34] states stood and fought it and we actually supported other candidates for other organizations like the [1:58:39] commission on the status of women uh to ensure iran which serially abuses women uh killed the young [1:58:47] girl masa amini for daring to not wear a hijab uh we were able to support other candidates and [1:58:53] defeat them so in some we're going to fight block and tackle and win we don't win them all [1:58:58] and some it's just not worth it we're going to walk away wanted to move on to climate agreements in [1:59:03] the united nations president trump did exactly the right thing one of the first acts of the [1:59:07] administration was to restore fiscal sanity and energy reality and he officially ended our participation [1:59:14] in the paris climate agreement uh we stopped a dangerous practice we're no longer subsidizing our [1:59:19] competitors economies while we're hampering our own on january 7th the president went even further [1:59:24] directing our withdrawal from several international organizations so we're no longer going to be the [1:59:30] world's atm machine for their radical climate policy so how can the u.s ensure that future agreements [1:59:36] with the u.n actually strengthen our energy policy and national security instead of what the u.n seems [1:59:41] to want to do is undermine us well case in point regardless of where you are on the debate of climate on [1:59:48] either side of the aisle i would hope we would all agree we don't need seven u.n agencies that with their [1:59:53] own headquarters staff executive boards uh focused on the climate issue we were very proud in the month [1:59:59] that the united states was president of the security council to have secretary of energy chris wright [2:00:05] there to preside over the council uh and and talk to the world on that stage about energy addition [2:00:13] not transition with the demands of ai both he said i have said we can't win the ai race on wind and solar [2:00:20] it's just physically impossible we can't when we look at uh where master bartos just visited in places [2:00:27] in africa they just need to eat uh and in fact because of these ridiculous policies pushed by the u.n [2:00:34] uh these people are dependent on burning wood uh because the these renewables don't work don't [2:00:42] provide enough energy and because they've been dissuaded from using things like coal and clean gas [2:00:48] so it is something where we have a lot of work to do these policies in terms of esg and these [2:00:55] discriminatory policies emanate from these u.n bodies we were able to defeat what would have been the [2:01:01] world's first global carbon tax which would have levied a billion dollars a month on global shipping [2:01:07] that's powered by fossil fuel it was insane uh and so again some you walk away some you fight and win [2:01:14] um but but rest assured you have fighters here yeah i would i was going to turn to the other fighter [2:01:20] ambassador bardo specifically with the status of china's being a developing nation and you know the [2:01:28] world's second largest economy second largest contributor to the u.n uh in september they [2:01:33] announced that they would no longer be seeking special treatment given the developing countries [2:01:38] uh in the world trade organization agreements but how can the u.s use china china's uh world trade [2:01:44] organization announcement to instigate a change of their designation from being a developing country [2:01:48] because clearly they're not thank you for the question senator it's great to see you um i never miss an [2:01:54] opportunity when i engage with the u.n officials to mention that the developing the large developing [2:02:00] nation with a space program uh called china and they always chuckle um they they leadership understands [2:02:08] how absurd it is and it is something that we are uh focused on and the abuse that china is able to uh [2:02:15] use by that designation in the system and to if you will get tax taxpayer dollars from many contributing [2:02:21] countries uh to go to development aid in that country is is absolutely unacceptable and it's [2:02:26] something that as we negotiate budgets not only that we have a budget negotiation coming up on [2:02:32] peacekeeping but we then have uh we'll have the main session in the fall right after the general [2:02:36] assembly and it's something that our team is focused on great thank you mr chairman thank you very much [2:02:40] senator rosen thank you mr chairman i want to thank senator brasso before he leaves for bringing up human [2:02:46] rights and women's rights they're really important especially i want to talk i'm going to talk about women [2:02:51] and girls so thank you for that lead in ambassador walz i'm concerned that the administration is [2:02:57] retreating from and even attacking efforts to support women and girls globally despite secretary [2:03:04] rubio's commitment to the contrary the u.s has withdrawn the only u.n agency strictly focused on women [2:03:11] and women's health issues u.n women and the u.n population fund as well as the u.n secretary [2:03:17] general's office of sexual violence and conflict sexual violence against women in conflict and the [2:03:26] u.s was recently the only no vote on the annual guiding document for the u.n commission on the [2:03:32] status of women so ambassador waltz how and where is the administration carrying out support for women [2:03:38] and girls globally as they are often um victimized in conflict and and through just other governmental [2:03:49] factors in their country and they're really suffering senator thank you for the question um i would say [2:03:57] two things uh one uh as a green beret i served all over the world and i have seen over and over again [2:04:04] in societies where women thrive in business and politics and civil society from the village level to [2:04:10] the municipal level to the national level that is a better society for it uh and you have far less [2:04:16] extremism because of it uh the famous words of nobel peace prize laureate malalav yusuf zai the thing [2:04:23] the extremists fear the most is a girl with a book so uh and i was a co-chair of the of of the um [2:04:31] women's peace and security caucus uh in in the house the second point is i would not conflate um [2:04:37] to the extent we can uh funding to an organization uh compared to importance of the issue uh secretary [2:04:46] rubio is committed to it i'm committed to it for the reasons that i just laid out for you [2:04:51] but as we look through these organizations many of them are duplicative many of them were symbolic [2:04:56] many of them weren't really delivering the results that i think american people would expect so despite [2:05:02] some of the titles where we do where we are supporting is our funding that i talked about [2:05:06] earlier in unicef and world food program and international organization for migration that do [2:05:13] support women and girls in crisis situations really important perhaps we could meet offline i just met [2:05:17] with unicef they have a lot of issues they're really trying to uplift children and take care of [2:05:22] children some of these other programs and so maybe we could talk about some of these i've met with their [2:05:27] leadership as well and just of note we have the first lady is the first first lady ever to preside [2:05:32] over the security council and talking about ai and i have limited time so let me get to my two minutes [2:05:38] because i see senator cruz over there and i do agree with you that when women lead we do have less [2:05:43] extremism and that is a good way that we fight terrorism it really is counter-terrorism to support [2:05:50] women and children but the administration has also vastly expanded the global gag rule to include [2:05:56] not just reproductive health but also gender-based and lgbt policies and programs that apply to [2:06:02] multinational corporations or organizations excuse me for the first time and it's likely again to have [2:06:08] a huge impact on women and girls and other vulnerable communities so are you telling impacted organizations [2:06:15] about the policy what's the status for waivers for international organizations so they can continue [2:06:21] their work without uh with non-us funds and i'll just say very quickly i'm happy to uh hand it over to [2:06:28] ambassador bartos we are engaging on the implementation as we speak our chief legal uh [2:06:34] advisor for the state department was just up in new york uh the the uh under secretary for foreign [2:06:41] assistance is heading to geneva to sit down with these agencies on the implementation it is go forward [2:06:47] not existing awards not existing grants but as we implement new grants together the lawyers are [2:06:53] working through effective implementation but i can tell you we are committed to getting life-saving aid to [2:06:58] people in need and uh and also to reform development aid so it's creating jobs and not and not dependency [2:07:05] um thank you uh did you want to add something to that well it's a great question senator and it's [2:07:10] something i can just report to you and it's good to see you that uh our team in up in new york i [2:07:15] personally met with the legal counselor over at the un and the under secretary general is in charge of the [2:07:20] budget working very closely with our colleagues at the state department we have taken a whole of mission [2:07:25] approach and working very collaboratively with the state department to not only address this issue to [2:07:29] make sure that we are a very effective the word they use up in new york in the interlocutor i never [2:07:35] heard that word before i got to new york but that's the word they use effective interlocutor to make [2:07:38] sure that these concerns are heard and that we're finding solutions as we roll out the program and i think [2:07:43] we do have to remember as we fight terrorism around the world so as a co-chair of the counterterrorism [2:07:49] subcommittee here it is important that we look at marginalized communities how they're being attacked [2:07:57] how they're being used as pawns oftentimes and how they may be subject to the will of our adversaries [2:08:04] in order just for their survival or for their family survival this leads uh lets places like china [2:08:10] and our adversaries to have maybe more influence so protecting these vulnerable communities protecting [2:08:16] women protecting children this is a way to your point to stop the terror terrorism or china or [2:08:24] other folks from getting into communities and working against america's best interest and so [2:08:30] there is a diplomatic mission there to protect those human rights thank you mr chairman senator cruz [2:08:37] thank you mr chairman ambassador waltz a few minutes ago senator van holland was berating you [2:08:43] about the military conflict in iran and was asserting that the president's threat [2:08:49] to attack civilian power plants was a war crime it has long been said that that you can have your [2:08:56] own opinions but you can't have your own facts and what senator van holland said was both factually and [2:09:01] legally incorrect the pentagon has a manual on the law of war here's what the pentagon's manual on the law [2:09:10] of war says on the question senator van holland was raising quote electric power stations are generally [2:09:17] recognized to be of sufficient importance to a state's capacity to meet its wartime needs of communication [2:09:24] transport and industry so as usually to qualify as military objectives during armed conflicts it further [2:09:32] notes quote economic objects associated with military operations or war uh or or or or with war [2:09:42] supporting a war sustaining industries have been regarded as military objectives is is that consistent [2:09:49] with your long-standing experience both with military conflict and with the laws of war of course [2:09:55] that is consistent uh both as legitimate military tactics and targets in my experience as a veteran [2:10:03] and also now sitting in the world's flawed but premier international international legal body [2:10:11] let's turn to a different topic within the state department the u.s aid oig has traditionally taken [2:10:18] a leading role in tracking the terrorist diversion of american assistance when it comes to aid flowing [2:10:25] into hamas-controlled gaza strip that task can only be described as incredibly daunting the biden [2:10:31] administration poured unaccountable billions of dollars into hamas-controlled gaza strip and they [2:10:38] deliberately obfuscated where it was going and to whom it was going we have only begun to see the [2:10:45] outlines of that scandal a recent report in the washington free beacon revealed that numerous u.n agencies [2:10:52] have been stonewalling the oig's efforts to track their ties to terrorism and how they spent american [2:10:59] aid they are even refusing to disclose whether they used american money to directly pay the salaries of [2:11:07] hamas terrorists the oig sent letters to six separate u.n agencies asking them to name all of the [2:11:14] employees quote who worked on u.s government funding awards and to provide their contact information the [2:11:21] agencies were unresponsive how concerned are you about these dynamics and what should we be doing [2:11:27] about them i share your concern senator it's one of the reasons that unra in particular should be [2:11:37] defunded i think we should put it in law that it is permanently defunded and why an american-led [2:11:46] not only board of peace but the civil military coordination center our kind of headquarters coordination [2:11:55] center that is uh is in israel right now is is so vital and so effective and i was able to visit it [2:12:02] in in december it's pulling together the israelis the egyptians all the humanitarian aid agencies [2:12:10] and de-conflicting and ensuring that as we provide that aid in the gaza and much of it is absolutely [2:12:16] needed that it doesn't get diverted like we've seen for decades and decades just think of the [2:12:22] hundreds of kilometers the hundreds of miles of tunnels concrete and steel these things were [2:12:29] i mean they have factories underground they just used those to improve the lives of their people [2:12:34] one could only imagine so it's one of the reasons amongst many hamas has to go and it's one of the [2:12:41] reasons that this structure that we've set up under american leadership from the international [2:12:46] stabilization force to the civil military coordination center i think is the best chance [2:12:52] we've had perhaps ever to finally resolve this conflict all right one final topic sure uh as you [2:12:59] have said and i believe this view is widely shared on the committee china poses the greatest geopolitical [2:13:04] threat to the united states over the long term that threat is global it is systematic and it includes a [2:13:10] sustained effort by the chinese communist party to shape and in many cases dominate international [2:13:16] organizations china has taken over international organizations made them unaccountable and used them to [2:13:22] advance chinese interest against the united states and our allies this pattern has been repeated over [2:13:28] and over again across dozens of international organizations can you speak more broadly about china's [2:13:34] systemic effort to shape international organizations and what specific steps are we taking to counteract the [2:13:41] chinese communist party's efforts to do so i think the biggest uh near-term step we should and are doing [2:13:49] uh is to make sure we have american or like-minded allies in some of those key international organizations [2:13:56] that most americans have never heard of but absolutely affect their everyday lives um uh again whether it is [2:14:04] governing uh ai governing intellectual property uh governing how we export our crops and where they go [2:14:11] uh kind of the world uh fda for lack of a better term we have to have american leadership there we are [2:14:19] aggressively running qualified people to the extent we can't have an american we have like-minded [2:14:24] individuals like the singaporean businessman that now runs uh wipo where we hope to focus going forward [2:14:31] and where china is incredibly active is literally funding interns and junior officers into these organizations [2:14:38] and then kind of growing them up from within and of course with that comes then the demand that the [2:14:43] organization uses deep seek or uses huawei we've seen this pattern whether it's airports in africa or [2:14:50] organizations uh that that govern our daily lives in the global economy um but i can assure you uh we are [2:14:59] in there they are the second largest funder uh and but but we are the largest we establish these [2:15:05] organizations and we have to get in there and lead thank you looks like we've uh gotten participation by [2:15:23] everybody who's going to ask questions so a sincere thank you uh to both of you for all that you do [2:15:29] and for the benefit of your testimony today for the information of our members the record for this [2:15:36] hearing will remain open until the close of business tomorrow the 16th of april we ask the witnesses to [2:15:43] respond as promptly as possible your responses will also be made part of the record for this hearing [2:15:48] with the thanks of the committee and its members the hearing now stands adjourned