The Foreign Relations committee to order. Our hearing today is to hear from five of President Bidens nominees dealing with career positions and ambassadorships. Its wonderful to have you here. We thank you all for being here. Thank you to the senator for being here to lead of the republican side of the hearing. Its not always easy to find members that are willing to adjust their schedules to accommodate the hearings ander i think the senator for always being available to the committee to carry out our important work. Im going to have some opening comments and i want to recognize senator reid and allow him to make an introduction and thank t him for being here in the committee. Sometimes have a friendly rivalry but since i will soon may need his help thank you very much, chairman and senator. Its my pleasure to introduce kristine, assistant secretary of state for oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. Anyone whos had the pleasure of working with chris knows a a couple of things, one, shes only partisan about one issue, the university of michigan football. Number two, if you want to get something done, then you want to work with chris. Time and again over her career, chris has worked on a partisan divide to reach consensus on difficult issues. Shes smart, she does the hard work to berk wellinformed and e does harder work to understand the views of other people. She also has the integrity to follow through on her commitments. As a Senate Staffer and advisor to the department of commerce and management of budgeting the department of interior, a reputation as a Problem Solver and Coalition Builder among b other things her work to permanently fund the land and waterot Conservation Fund laid e foundation for the Great American outdoors act. Most recently chris served as the president and ceo of the National MarineSanctuary Foundation where she transformed the organization into a leading voice for conserving and restoring u. S. Borders primarily by aging local communities and businesses in stewardship. If confirmed as assistant secretary and skills and Coalition Building for science and thet environment. Mr. Chairman, as you know it is vitally important to effectively move theec nations interests forward and in my view there is no onerd more prepared and well qualified for this post than kris. I urge the support for her nomination and for kris i would say go wolverines. Thank you. [applause] we have a little bit of l controversy. Its go navy indigo maryland. [laughter] but other than that, you are fine. We appreciate the input. Thank you very much for being with us. I will shortly introduce the other nominees but before i do that, let me just welcome the nominees and their families and thank you all for your willingness to serve in these public positions. These are extremely challenging times to be in any position of a Foreign Service, so we thank you for your willingness to come forward and we also thank your families because we know you cant do this without a supportive family. So, strengthening Global Health security by applying the Lessons Learned from the covid pandemic and implementing the approach and reducing the spread of Infectious Diseases is very much on our agenda today. Advocating for International Human rights standards, accountability for past atrocities and Good Governance as we support its economic recovery and its stabilization of the Financial System very much onh our minds. Building consensus to protect Marine Environments from unreported and unregulated deep seabed mining a trafficking of endangered species, toxic substances, a lot of issues we want to talk about. Protecting mulled over from the aggression as a democracy that implements anticorruption reforms andco negotiation sessis with the European Union very much on the agenda today. The reopening with all the mission in regards to the International Environment and Scientific Affairs with the most recent new marine sanctuaries. The subject matters are responsible for the ones once critically important to the country and let me yield to the senator for his comments about the nominees. Thank you very much mr. Chairman and i would add my thanks to all ofreh, you for yor willingness to serve the country and your families forr the sacrifices. As governor, ive been under a number of administrations under the gold and appreciate all of the Foreign Service people who helped us on those and the sacrifices you made it to be able to represent the country so thank you very much. As the chairman said these are not easy jobs especially as we think about the time thats so critical for the United States to advance the interest and security of the American People around the world today we are considering nominees for the important positions all of it required for some of the greatest challenges. Moldovan continues to face hybrid warfare is independent stops at nothing to replace the prowestern leadership bought and paid foruk by the kremlin. We cannot let him play and we must do all we can however the future is also dependent on the success of the battlefield and the only thing standing between moldovan and a russian attack is the ukraine army. One of the reasons why its important that we continue to support ukraine. Ambassador fitrell, the 20 year absence created acumen the prc has been more than happy to fill so its got a significant geopolitical significance. If confirmed you will face a difficult task of reestablishing an embassy from scratch. Thats not going to be easy. We cant waste any more time, butmo we appreciate your willingness to doo this. Eits vital that we get it done right and your efforts will send a clear signal that we are back here to stay. For sri lanka its been a poster child for the dangers of the death trap, diplomacy of the prc. Nothing illustrates this more than the port, did i get that right . Okay, good enough, which was eventually forfeited under that 99 year lease. Reckless spending fueled an economic crisis in sri lanka and is struggling to get itself out of that. What happened illustrates why the United States must provide viable alternatives, and im encouraged by the recent efforts to finance a shipping container. These types of Strategic Investments that were envisioned was set up asit a way to effectively push back the bill and wrote initiative. A broad portfolio i wont have enough time to cover everything. One area that i do want to touch upon aso a science and technoloy agreement for years weve seen with the United States to steal technologies for domestic Civil Military fusion objectives. The Biden Administration is renegotiating with the prc and i and others have significant concerns thats why ive introduced the common sense legislation to ensure congress is able to provide necessary oversight over a deal that is reached and i hope you would agree when it comes time for something this important, the administration should show its workforce. This legislation passed unanimously out of the House Foreign Affairs and i hope the committee will do the same. And doctor nkengosong the position was with the objective to help us get ahead of the next pandemic. When covid first began, it was high Income Countries that were hit the first and hardest and in these countries we had to lead with diplomatic engagement not Development Assistance and the prc the who capable of negotiating access and investigators. Again thank you all for your willingness. Mr. Chairman i yield back. There is a common theme among all five of you. You have an incredible experience on Foreign Policy and your commitment to Foreign Policy. Through your career and the other two have extensive experience in the Foreign Policy agenda so you all made a career out of the Foreign Policy. I will introduce you in the order in d which you will be speaking. Doctor John Nkengosong confirmed by the United States senate as thee u. S. Global aids coordinatr may 5, 2022. He also leads the state departmentss bureau of Global Health security and diplomacy. That bureau serves as the departments coordinating body for working strengthening Global Health security to prevent, detect and respond to Infectious Diseases including hiv aids as well as elevates Global Health security is a core component of u. S. National security and Foreign Policy. Elizabeth horst the Deputy Assistant secretary and a Deputy Assistant secretary responsible for pakistan. She came from the u. S. Embassy berlin where she was the administer counselor for Public Diplomacy for mission in germany. Shes a member of the senior Foreign Service previously she served as the director of security Transnational Affairs and Assistance Office and charged the deputy chiefef missn of estonia and she focused on transatlantic security on natos eastern flank. Next we have troy fitrell of the Foreign Service counselor most recently held the position of director of the office of west African Affairs at the department of state. He serves as the deputy chief mission at the u. S. Embassy in ethiopia and as Deputy Director of the Departments Office of tosouthern African Affairs and Deputy Director of the office of International Security cooperation in the bureau of political military affairs. He was the Senior Advisor to the United States special envoy for the great lakes of africa coordinating u. S. Policy on the crossborder security political and Economic Issues in the great lakes region. Welcome. Kelly and smith is the kelly adamssmith arrived in brussels in julyy of 2021. A career diplomat and u. S. Foreign service with rank of counselor. Before arriving at brussels, mse coordinator for National Security affairs in the office of Vice President harris and previously served as the deputy chief mission of the u. S. Embassy in prague. Welcome. Youve been introduced by senator reid but we welcome you and thank you for your willingness to serve. R so, with that, let us start with doctor nkengosong. Your testimonies will be made a part of our record and you may proceed as you wish. We ask that you try to summarize so we can ask questions. Members of the committee, i come beforee you today at a pivotal time is one of the greatest threats to the National Security and the potential for the pandemic the covid19 pandemic taught us that we are more connected and vulnerable than a we ever thought. More than 1 million americans lost their lives in over 14 trillion in damage. Climate crisis, Rapid Movement ofov misinformation, disinformation are all making the jobs harder. U. S. Leadership matters now more than ever. Hi last year secretary lincoln included collaboration with congress established the bureau organized around four core missions. One, to lead the diplomatic engagement ono the Global Security. Number two, to leverage and coordinate foreign assistance, three, to elevate security as the top National Security on Foreign Policy priorities for the country. Let me highlight three examples. First, we continue to make progress in the fight against hiv aids. Congress has enabled us to save over 25 million lives. The bureau has demonstrated the platform to address the security threats. I look forward to working with of this committee in a bipartisan fashion to pass the reauthorization to be a second i recently chaired the committee that launched later this month and last the bureau launched the channel for Global Health security that would work to coordinate, collaborate and effectively with other likeminded countries to fight these threats. Its not the bureau stands by to lead to the efforts to support these goals. Thank you. Thank you f very much for yor comments. Ms. Horst. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member and distinguished members of the committee thank you for holding this hearing. Im honored to be here today as the nominee for the ambassador of sri lanka. I started my diplomatic career more than 20 years ago and a long champion fundamental principle including respect for human rights andn economic freedoms. U. S. Interest in sri lanka i wouldd like to thank a few special people. Most importantly, my husband, he is my anger and joy and weve built our lives around the love for Public Service and adventure. We are joined by my sister and my nieces and i hope that being in the senate today inspires them on their own path of Public Service and i want to thank my parents. My father who taught me empathy and my mother who taught me generosity a vital partner in the Indo Pacific Region for over 76 years in a focus on the pillars of interest. A broadening economic cooperation, bolstering security interest in the deepening ties with people across the entire country. Sri lanka has shown resilience and continues to make progress on economic growth. As the country regains its economic footing we will continue toti support its peopl. The strategic significance in the indian ocean calls for cooperation to address security challenges and competitors. If confirmed, i will reiterate the commitment to the order. I look forward to expanding the ties with the dynamic community. I will support members of marginalized populations, accountability, truth and reconciliation and transparency and justice. Let me close bypaju noting a foh pillar of diplomaticc success. The people at the u. S. Embassy. If confirmed, i will empower the agency team and local staff to make a difference in the bilateral relationship into practice a Foreign Policy that benefits the American People. I look forward to working with congress on these priorities. Thank you very much. We will next hear from mr. Fitrell. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, im deeply honored to appear before you today and grateful for the confidence theyve placed in me as their nominee. Im proud to have my family today with my wife a fellow Foreign Service officer and my children who spend their lives immersed in the Foreign Service as well including visits. Sam graduates from Virginia Commonwealth University tomorrow morning so this is a pretty special week for us. We recently reopened in embassy after shuttering it in 1996. If confirmeded i would be the first in 28 years. The role having been performed since then by thee credential. I previously had the honor to be that person and while we had significant success in our bilateral relationships both sides were aware that the absence of the residence ambassador was an opportunity cost. If confirmed it would be the honor of my career to establish that position. Some of the busiest and bilateral relationship between the two nations is built on a foundation of shared values and mutual respect. If confirmed my top priority would be the safety and security of american citizens that make their way to the shales but i would also act energetically to promote the other National Interests. I would support the democratic process andpo partnership in the international and promote Economic Development including advocacy for the experts and further develop a robust security partnership. Thank you mr. Chairman, Ranking Member and members of the committee for the opportunity to be here. My wife andnd i are both former staffers and a so i would like to thank your staff. I know how hard they work for you and your constituency and how we