Thank you very much for being here, and i want to thank him because he graciously allowed to have the subcommittee hearing and for me to be able to chair it. This is a discussion really important to so many of us here and so many of our colleagues. Information is power today, and we see it all over the globe when its used improperly, hes used as a weapon. Democracies like ours require a well informed electorate, but our enemies are increasingly trying to undermine that principle through socalled disinformation campaigns designed to mislead voters. Malign actors like russia systematically exploit social media, radio, television, and print to twist facts to suit their needs and distort the truth to an unsuspecting populous. Its not just about elections. We see it today with regard to the coronavirus and misinformation thats being spread. Its an interesting tactic because its inexpensive and yet can be very effective. It has a high degree of deniability. Its anonymous almost always and if left uncheck, it can be devastatingly effective. In 2016, senator chris murphy and i established this organization within the United States government through legislation. The idea was to have an Interagency Group to lead this global disinformation effort and work with International Partners for a unified response. The Bipartisan LegislationGlobal Engagement center within the state department is now law. Its taken awhile, frankly, to get it up and going. Were going to hear a lot more about that today. But were pleased that were making progress. The mission of the gec is to, i quote, lead, synchronize, and coordinate efforts of the local government in combatting disinformation efforts. Its a broad and important man dade. Its to provide a shield against the falsehoods that threaten our democracy and other democracies. Were pleased to have leah gabriel here with us as our first witness. Shes the special coordination of gec. Shes a former human intelligence operations officer, a defense foreign liaison officer, a u. S. Navy program director. A navy atnc Fighter Pilot and National Television news correspondent and anchor. Shes done all that within her short life. So its very impressive. Shes well experienced in combatting disinformation campaigns. Were glad to have her leading in this initiative. We look forward to hearing how she has staffed the center to meet the mission. We look forward to the assessment of the emerging threats we face and the budgetary requirements moving forward. I think its critical that we resource the gec to meet this Important Mission and therefore i support the f21 president budget request of 138 million. An increase of about 76 million over last years budget, more than a doubling of the current funding. I think thats important. Our second panel will have dr. Elaina paulyokovik. I always call her elaina. From the center from european policy analysis and Dan Blumenthal from the American Enterprise institute. Those are our experts witnesses as we have a frank and serious discussion about the global weaponization of information and the u. S. Governments response. Doctor and mr. Blumenthal have testified before, before this and other committees and are hirely regarded for their work. We look forward to hearing their insights. Today, well also aim at exploring the inAccurate Information imflaming societies. Here in the United States, we have extensive documentation that russia conducted a coordinated interference campaign in our 2016 elections. Something were working hard to prevent this election cycle. Elsewhere, ukraine has been the subject of a sustained Russian Disinformation Campaign in its efforts to break free of moscow. Were seeing a rise in the tactics from china, both in the indopacific and in europe. This is truly a global problem that requires an integrated global response. I was recently at the Munich Security Conference with some of my colleagues here and we had a robust discussion about this and the European Partnership in fighting this disinformation. Today i want to dig deeper into that subject as well. With regard to the indopacific region, theres been a commitment that is a model for others to follow. And how the prc manipulates or blocks information that doesnt meet their narratives. Its important that the u. S. Continue to be a world leader i combatting this disinformation. Where the United States goes others tend to follow. We have established a close and effective relationship with some of our european counterparts and our joint efforts are beginning to join traction elsewhere. The topic of disinformation is now a topic of discussion across the globe as we saw at the conference in munich. To continue our leadership on this issue, weve got to have an Effective Organization within the federal government to coordinate our response. This hearing will address how we can address the issue better and make the gec even more effective. The problems caused by deliberate statesponsored disinformation are going to be here for a long time. The tactics are inexpensive, highly effective, and its important we understand the dangers they present. I look forward to hearing from our winces and from the members of the committee, i turn to senator booker for his opening remarks. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Its incredible to be able to be sitting here today next to you. You, frankly, not only helped to get this hearing done but you and senator murphy, your extraordinary leadership in drafting the legislation that authorized the gec, if i understand it correctly, you took it from an executive order at the whims of president and really was something that was established and its incredible youre here, and i want to thank senator murphy for his continued leadership as a more Junior Member on the committee, just being a friend and a mentor. I am disappointed, i want to say, this is a very bipartisan hearing. I mean, this is legislation that the two of you wrote together. Its something that bonds us all and concerns the mission of the organization, but the state department refused to provide the committee with the witness it requested. And thats unacceptable to me. Its not the way we should be doing business. We all have shared interest and shared values and a shared understanding of the growing and more sophisticated threat. Its unacceptable to me. Its not helping us to do the business of the people of this country in protecting us and keeping us safe. And that brings me to where my thoughts are for the moment, which is in the aftermath of september 11th, the u. S. Created the gec with the goal of reducing the influence and effectiveness of terrorist and extremist groups that were seeking to harm americans. Today, the scope of the gecs work is incredible to me. It extends beyond terrorist, violence, extremist groups and statesponsors propaganda, disinformation is growing to be an incredibly Critical Mission given the complex challenges from our adversaries. As were sitting here in this hearing, there are actors seizing on widespread concern rarting the coronavirus to intentionally spread disinformation at a time when people are worried and vulnerable and willing to believe what theyre reading often, and we understand that in the context of this, fdrs words are very profound. We have nothing to fear but fear itself. We have a real threat and the additional threat threat of fear. The Washington Post has been reporting on this. Talking about the use of social media and the conspiracy theories being thread that put us at danger. The report revealed evidence of a coordinated inauthentic activity which was responsible for pushing these dangerous falsehoods. One Conspiracy Theory is seeking to attack people in this country, blame them in this case, bill and melinda gates. If people in the u. S. And across the globe are turning to social media for information about this looming threat, they find these lies, these malicious actors who are trying to really prey upon our vulnerability and put us more at danger. And so this intentional desire to muddle the facts, to undermine our security and our safety, to make us doubt our institutions, to make us doubt each other, will weaken the bonds of our democracy as well as put people at risk. And this brings us to the gecs work. Theyre at work getting to the bottom of this disinformation about the coronavirus was exactly why it was created by congress, led by the gentlemen on my either side, but i have questions about why both the gec and the state department have so far refused to comment about the report and about the reliable news outlets seeking to expose this disinformation. And so i hope to have that conversation as this goes on. Im also hoping to get to the bottom of Important Information the gec themselves have uncovered about those who are spreading the falsehoods and what purposes they see and what effects its already having. Russian interference in the 2016 elections demonstrated the dangers b s posed by disinforma and we know the russians and other countries are trying it get better and better and more sophisticated at what theyre doing. This is their playbook, targeting democracies, attempting to weaken relationships between allies. There is no reason for us to believe that theyre not going to continue to employ this playbook, to get better at it, to come at the coming elections and to seize any opportunities like the coronavirus to undermine our safety, security, and our very bonds here in the United States of america. While the state department does not have the authority over the homeland through the data and analysis the gec collects on russian techniques and practices, we know a lot more about what they may do to meddle in this years election and to meet a lot of the challenges they present. I want to know how this is being shared with relevant agencies including the department of homeland security, fbi, and more. And while the u. S. Recently has begun to see these russian threats more broadly, russias democratic and prowestern neighbors have had to contend with russias attempts to reverse democratic gains for years. We also know these russian efforts are not limited to europe and the United States. As in europe, were seeing this now growing in africa. Moscows engagement enables autocrats and fostered corruption, especially in already fragile african countries. We know the kremlins activities designed in part to weaken the u. U. S. s leadership in that region. Last year, facebook identified accounts targeted eight african countries saying although the people behind these networks attempted to conceal their identities in coordination, our investigation connected these campaigns to entities associated with a specific Russian Oligarch who is described as the architect of russias interference in the 2016 election. China, too, has rapidly increased the use of influence tactics in the information space. The near peer competition is clearly playing out in the misinformation space as well. And so to me, the gecs task is considerable, to lead interagency efforts to counter propaganda and disinformation from International Terrorist organizations and foreign countries. I look forward to hearing from both panels about how we as congress can continue to strengthen our work to make sure we are meeting what i believe is a growing threat tactic and techniques being used by our adversaries to undermine this country as well as critical allies as well as the stability and strength of free peoples all around the country. Thank you again for being here. And mr. Chairman, i turn it back to you. Thank you. I appreciate those statements. We look forward to getting into more of those issues as we move forward. Our first witness is ms. Lea gabe rielle, the special envoy and coordinator for the u. S. Department of state. Your written record will be in its entirely in your record. We ask you limit your oral remarks to five minutes. We look forward to your testimony and an opportunity to ask questions. Your opening statement. Thank you, chairman portman, Ranking Member booker, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify before you today. Im pleased to be here to talk about the Global Engagement centers work. This is abimportant topic with serious implications to u. S. National security and i appreciate the subcommittee devoting this time to it. The gec is dedicated to the mission of leading and coordinating the u. S. Governments erchts to decisively expose and counter foreign state and nonstate disinformation propaganda. Secretary pompeo has called upon the gec to employ a broad suite of tools to stop americas adversaries from weaponizing information and using propaganda to undermine free societies. Since becomes the special envoy of the gec just over a year ago, my team and i have made significant progress towards building International Partnerships, executing dynamic programs, and deploying robust Analytical Capabilities globally to address foreign propaganda and disinformation. I have worked to insure my team has the necessary tools and resources to do the job given to it by congress. At the state departments recent chief conference, i spoke with our u. S. Ambassadors who represent us around the world. I shared our threat assessment on disinformation and propaganda and i listened to their perspective on how gements are playing out on the ground. We at the gec recognize the crucial role that our missions and our Public Diplomacy officers play on the front lines of this information battleground. My teams are working with embassies overseas and with the departments regionals bureau daily to execute and to coordinate activities. Today, ill outline how we view the disinformation the kremlin and the Chinese Communist party are propagating, what were doing to counter each, and the role that data and analytics play in our work. Ill also describe the gecs role in coordinating a whole of u. S. Government efrfort to respond to disinformation. And also discussions about how they Counter Terrorist organizations like isis as well as disinformation from the iranian regime. Lets start with the kremlin. The intent, scope, and style of disinformation and propaganda spread by the kremlin and the Chinese Communist party are distinct from one another. The kremlin swamps the media environment with a tsunami of lies. Outside of russia, the kremlin seeks to weaken its adversaries by manipulating the information environment in nefarious ways, by polarizing political conversation, and attempting to destroy the publics faith in good governance, nld media, and democratic principles. To counter the kremlins disinformation, the gec is creating Strategic Partnerships with foreign governments to enable the information sharing and the coordination that allows us to get ahead of the russian governments Information Operations. The gec is also providing support to our missions abroad and our International Partners for a wide range of efforts to counter the kremlins disinformation. These include supporting Civil Society groups in central and Eastern Europe that build resiliency in their local communities. These also include running joint Communications Campaigns with allies to counter russias historical revisionism and to empower Fact Checkers in latin america to stem the surge of russian disinformation in that region. With increased funding, we intend to provide more of this type of support to additional allies and partners globally so that they can increase their own ability to resist these russian tactics. The investments we have made have also allowed us to expose elements of the russian governments information ecosystem. This exposure inoculates audiences against this threat and its critical. Now, while moscow wants to disrupt the current world order, the Chinese Communist party seeks to shape it to beijings advantage. Beijing is pursuing a comprehensive and coordinated influence campaign to advance its interests and to undermine the United States. But when you take a closer look, its clear that many of the ccps actions in the economic, security, and human rights space are built on propaganda. The gecs programs are focused on puncturing those false narratives. Our efforts to counter ccp propaganda include increasing awareness of the problematic aspects of the belt and road thisative, increasing awareness of the problematic aspects of human rights abuses in china, as well as beijings abuse of open research and academic environments to achieve its military objectives. We also have programs to build global resilience to prc disinformation through Media Training and support to investigative journalists and to map prc influence in the information environment to guide current and future approaches. Beijing also wants to shape third country perspectives of u. S. Foreign policy. In order to restrict the space, where ccp propaganda can take root, the gec partners with our missions overseas on efforts that provide Accurate Information about u. S. Policies and the contributions of u. S. Business to the local communities. In all of this, our success depends on leverages analytical tools as well as networks of credible partners and local voices overseas, capabilities