Programming and score opposing opinions. 100,000 will be awarded in cash prizes. The grand prize of 5000 will go to the student or team with the best overall entry. For more information, go to our web site, studentcam. Org. The House Foreign AffairsCommittee Questioned deputy secretary of state John Sullivan this week on the departments restructuring forts d a broad range of diplomatic priorities. Other questions focused on Foreign Policy priorities in north korea, iran, and myanmar. This overnight hearing is 2 1 2 hours. This hearing has come to order, ill ask the members all to take their seats if they will. Today we hear from deputy secretary of state John Sullivan on the proposed reforms that he and secretary tillerson are working on for the state department, and for the agency for international development. I dont think there are many that question the need to improve the operation of both agencies. A more efficient and effective state department and usa id would better promote our National Security and interests around the world. I have welcomed the administrations undertaking. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson has started a process here as those at state will tell you, where hes focusing on listening to the diplomats and listening to the employees. Our Foreign Service officers. I think ats very commendable. He has sought feedback here from the bottom up. Many employees he reports have asked, and i think this speaks volumes. They have asked for more responsibility and in turn accountability for their performance. They also want better training throughout their careers in a modern it infrastructure, and i think they deserve these tools and we would be all better off if they had them. So i welcome secretary tillersons efforts to address the departments aging Technology Infrastructure and to strengthen the diversity of the departments work force, including increased recruitment. He is focused specifically on veterans and minority candidates and this is a goal, the committee here has long supported, but as a country with global challenges and opportunities, i do have continued concerns about whether our diplomats and Development Specialists will have the resources they need. Yes, there is room for savings. We need savings. But we should not, we cannot lose sight of the fact that our diplomacy and assistance improves our National Security. Improves our economic well being for a relatively small amount of money. Consider this committees work to sanction rogue regimes like iran over their Missile Program or like north korea, it takes skilled, properly resourced diplomacy to build International Support for sanctions enforcement. And the same is true when it comes to convincing nations to turn away cheap labor from north korea, for example, takes our diplomats going out and explaining, when youre doing an arrangement, where youre not paying those workers from north korea. Youre only feeding them and sending the check, the foreign currency to the regime, that money is going to do Nuclear Weapons program. That has to end because there are sanctions. That has to be explained by our Foreign Service officers. Or working with us to counter hezbollah or granting access to halt an emging pandic in his tracks as was done in west africa with the ebola virus. Robust diplomacy is also needed in conflict zones to defeat isis. And to defeat other threats, and that is what we hear from our generals who understand the critical need for our country to have successful political and not just military strategies. But this leadership requires us being present. And im concerned about reports of closing embassies and consulates, where we depart, we create a void for unfriendly actors to step in and promote interests to hostile to our interests. Where there is a diplomatic void, we have no eyes, we have no ears to detect the next threat or the next opportunity. And so i want to thank the department. I want to thank the department specifically for starting a dialogue with congress on these reforms and on its policies and on its management, more broadly, and some of the proposed reforms that we see here will require legislation, while others can be undertaken administratively, but in both cases the committee has a significant oversight role to play, as we are doing today. And after our successful work well ask congress to get the first state authorities bill signed into law in well over a decade. The committee continues to have reform ideas of its own, which we look forward to sharing, and i will now turn to our Ranking Member for mr. Ankles opening remarks. Thank you very much for calling this hearing, and mr. Deputy secretary, welcome to the Foreign Affairs committee. Thank you for your service and your time this morning. I was grateful that you hosted the chairman and myself at the state Department Yesterday to discuss your reorganization effort. Im going to raise some of the concerns this morning that i mentioned to you yesterday. Theres no doubt that the state department and all our federal agencies should be as effective as possible to address the challenges and to seize the opportunities were facing. This committee has taken some steps to modernize our Foreign Affairs agencies including last years state department authorized bi. Erare plenty of good ideas that could bring the state department, us a id into the 21st century. I was troubled that the apparent first step in the reorganization process was the announcement of a 3 it percent cut to our 32 cut to our International Affairs budget. I will ask you to repeat some of the things that you said that are more optimistic about that. I worry about starting with the budget and finding the reforms is doing things in reverse. To me it makes more sense to lay out a vision for what modernization looks like, set clear priorities to bring if the diplomats, Development Professionals and other experts and to determine the right budget to get it done. In your testimony and afterwards, youll mention some of the things you mentioned yesterday, and clarify why the decision was made to start with the dollar figure and work back from there. I worry about the reorganization, i wanted to be more transparent and collaborative, i dont think that goes against until you told us yesterday. The department has called this an employee driven process and i have no doubt that the career employees involved in the exercise of totally honorable intentions, but i understand those involved are not allowed to discuss the plans with their colleagues and that the private sector consultants brought on have kept tight control over documents related to the plan. The administration committed to this committee that there would be consultation with Congress Every step of the a, and obviously we have more of the way, and obviously we have more questions so i hope we can talk about that today. Overall, i must ask what is the goal of the ocess, the administrations vision for american Foreign Policy, for americas role in the wod, for how the state department fits into that vision, and for how this process will make the state department more effective. The only consistent answer that weve gotten is finding deficiencies and i worry when the administration talks about efficiency, its not a code for budget cuts. Cost savings that undermine effectiveness arent efficient. In the long run, they make america less safe. As the department focuses on redesign, i worry the critical daytoday work of diplomacy is suffering. Far too many senior positions, we talked about this again yesterday, remain vacant and make it harder for adversaries and allies to know who to call and whos calling the shots in washington. I wish you could explain some of that today. Overseas our diplomats jobs are getting harder because they cant know if established american Foreign Policy will be reversed. Morale as the department continues to suffer as senior career officials blocked the exits, report to continue to surface of a group surrounding the secretary uninterested in the expertise of our most seasoned professionals. Taken together, americas credibility around the world is we believing. Our leadership seems to be waning and most importantly without a strong, functional state department with a clear Foreign Policy vision, our interest, values and security are increasingly at risk. And let me be clear, i do support modernizing the state department. I want to see it leading and directing american Foreign Policy. Civilian leadership at the center of National Security policy is integral to our democracy at home and to our adership abroad. The Years Congress has sat on the sidelines when it comes from the state department, and what do we have to show for it, antiquated it systems, Personnel Shortages make it harder to address crises or allow the professional development. Traditional responsibilities of a department moving to other agencies like the pentagon, distracting from its core diplomatic mission. Im glad that the president sees the necessity for more funds for dod but we dont want it at the expense of the state department. Ty making sure our embassies are safe. In 2020, the Foreign Service act will be 40 years old. It was written during the cold war and the world has changed. We need to modernize the department. Thats why i have instructed my staff to consult with former diplomat Civil Servants and other experts to begin thinking about what states should look like for the next 40 years. I would value the input of any member of this committee as we move move forward, and again move forward, and again deputy secretary, i look forward to your testimony, and i hope you shed additional light on this process. Mr. Chairman, i ask unanimous consent to place in the record the following documents dealing with the reorganization of the state department and usa id. The first is a report by modernizing foreign assistance, new foreign aid architecture fit for purpose, the second is a report from the u. S. Global leadership coalition, entitled opportunities for reforming and strengthening diplomacy and development, the third is a report from the center for Global Development, a practical vision for u. S. Development reform. Next is a report from Refugees International called honoring a distinguished tradition, Crisis Response and u. S. Government reorganization. And finally, a submission from Amnesty International usa calling on the state department to preserve the structure, staffing and resources for the Refugee Bureau of War Crimes Office and global womens issues office. So i thank you mr. Chairman. Subject to the length limitations in our rules, so without objection, we will put those reports and include them. Thank you. Thank you. We now go to our introduction here of deputy secretary John Sullivan. Prior to this position, mr. Sullivan was a partner at the mayor brown law firm. He cochaired the National Security practice and previous to that, mr. Sullivan served in senior positions at the Justice Department, then at the Defense Department, and the commerce department. Without objection, the witness full prepared statements will be made part of the record. Members are going to have 5 calendar days to submit a statement or any questions or any other extraneous materials that they want to submit for the record here, and we would ask Deputy Secretarysullivan if you would, please, summarize your remarks and well go to questions. Thank you. Thank you chairman, royce, Ranking Member, ankle members of the committee. Thank you all for inviting me here to discuss. Secretary sullivan, lets make sure you push that and then get it very close right there. And everyone will be able to hear you. Thank you, mr. Chairmanment Ranking Member ankle. Im honored to discuss the redesign of the state department and usa id. We appreciate the interest the committee has shown in the departments efforts to be better equipped, more effective in serving the American People. On secretary tillersons first day, he promised to deploy the talent and resources of the state department in the most efficient ways possible. He also committed to harnessing all the constitutional knowledge of our work force to do that. Our state department and usa colleagues to determine where reform was most needed. From the very beginning, our reform effort has been employee led. We commissioned a listening survey that produced feed back for more than 35,000 employees. We also set up state and u. S. I. D. Web portals for star to provide input and continue to guide our planning. We have received 1400 submissions to those portals. After hearings from so many of our own colleagues, we convened a Cross Section of the most 300 rising leaders and seasoned professionals to create a reform plan. I want to stress that the employee led nature of the redesign is not an empty slogan. The secretary wanted employees to drive the process from the benning the department and usa i. D. Can better serve them as they serve our country. The redesign committee which i chair is composed of a balance of usa i. D. And state department leaders. The five work streams, the groups that drafted the proposals that fed into the reform plan were comprised almost entirely of career staff, both in the u. S. And abroad. 72 of work stream members were working level employees. Those who deal with the dayto day business of diplomacy and development, their presence and contributions prove to be invaluable. The resulting Agency Reform plan incorporates the suggestions and feedback from thousands of our public survantas serving servants serving all over the world. Consistent with the president s executive order, 13781 which calls for improvements, efficiencies and effectiveness for each federal agency. Let me share a few key features of our proposed plan. First, we need to streamline the policy creation process and optimize and realign the global footprint. The world is changing quickly, and state and usa i. D. Needs to be nimble. That means turning them into evidence based recommendations and executing them as quickly as possible. We will use the same approach to assess our physical footprint around the world to ensure our missions abroad align with our Foreign Policy priorities. Second, we must maximize the impact and accountability of u. S. Foreign assistance. We need to strengthen planning among the agencies that provide some type of foreign assistance to make sure our Foreign Policy goals are focused, integrated and supported. Third, we need to implement a more effective Global Service delivery frame work to reduce operational costs and redundancies, increase efficiency, and improve Service Quality for all personnel around the globe. We want to reduce red tape and bureaucratic hurdles by making management and Administrative Functions do what they were intended to do. Support our professionals as they change posts, develop their skills and serve our country all over the world. Fourth, we need to empower and retain a 21st Century Work Force by optimizing our hr support. Too often employees are bogged down trying to navigate broken processes or redundant systems. We envision hr to a more strategic role to help attract a more diverse work force and to invest more if our most valuable assets. We need to improve our i. T. Platforms, and upgrade our Technology Infrastructure so our employees can work anywhere, anytime and as effectively as possible. We need to integrate our i. T. Systems and Cyber Security platforms. By upgrading our systems and modernizing our technology, we can save money in the long run, reduce overall risks and facilitate better Decision Making in the future. The redesign provides a new foundation for diplomacy. And significant savings as we steam line processes and increase efficiencies across the department. The proposals we are pursuing will save the taxpayers 5 billion over the next five years with an aspirational hole of government target of up to 10 billion. Some of these changes will require further guidance and approval from omb. Others will require close coordination with other agencies. Others will require a change in law by congress, and be assured that for all aspects of the redesign, whether or not a change in law is required, we will consult with this committee and congress before any actions are taken. We are working to move quickly on the redesign, the reforms of the department will be ruled out as soon as possible after a consultation with congress. For example, in the coming months, we hope to move the state department toward a Cloud Computing platform a