Secretary of state Rex Tillerson testified last month before a Senate Appropriations subCommittee Hearing on his departments 2018 budget request. The Trump Administration wants to get 30 of the budget for the state department. South carolina senator Lindsey Graham chairs this twohour hearing. The subCommittee Hearing will come to order. Id like to welcome secretary of state tillerson. We need to increase defense spending. But once you do that, then if youre not going to deal with entitlementeds, you have to go to nondefense discretionary funding to find the off sets. And this account gets pretty much devastated. Im not blaming you. Im not blaming anybody. I just want the country to know i think this budget request is in many ways radical and reckless when it comes to selfpower. And i look forward to working with you, mr. Secretary, to find a better budget but also to find a better state department. You just got there, been there for a few months. A year from now, i think youll have a better idea of how the state department can be reformed. I intend to be your partner and champion for reforming the state department. Lets give it a good once over, see what works, what doesnt, how many people we actually need. All of that is long over due. I welcome that kind of analysis. But basically today is a number thats driven by increase defense spending, and this account gets hit pretty hard. I dont think as a result of the scrutiny of how the state Department Works as much as budget pressure given from increased military spending. So the first chart i have is to my right. If you dont fund the state department fully, then i need to buy more ammunition. General mattis, and i think we have other generals cutting the International Affairs budget. Well place our interest, values, and lives of our men and women in uniform at risk. Heres the point. I believe after 42 trips to iraq and afghanistan, were never going to win this war by killing terrorists alone. There has has to be a soft power connection, the terrorists offer a glorious death and we must offer a hopeful life. And we must be had included to form a better life for those that are having to choose between terrorism and modern thoughts. So i believe as the generals do if you dont believe me, listen generals that the state Department War on terror is just as important to me as my any military power we have. So how much do we spend on soft power . We spend 1. 4 . So a lot of people think foreign aid is about aide is about 25 of what we spend, but compared to hard power, we spend a very small amount on soft power. And that 1. 4 includes things beyond just traditional soft power. So i want the country to know if you eliminated the state department, you would not even begin to move the debt needle. The question is it if you cripple the state department, its not to me about debt but American Values being impeded. So look at gdp on defense and nondefense. So what you see is that the gdp owned hard powers about 3 of gdp on soft powers. And this chart shows you were going downward dramatically on soft power and upward on hard power. So comparison of dod state Department Work force. How many people do we have in the hard power world and soft power world . Okay, you see over here the numbers of state usid, which is very small percentage. And we have well over a Million People in uniform. So if you believe soft power is important are and the generals tell me you do, look at the balance. So heres what i would suggest. We do need more hard power because sequestrations hurt hard power. But youre going to have a hard time telling me soft power can withstand a 25 cut. International affairs historically, look here. Look at the big drop in 2018. Plus up in 2017, the worlds gone to hell in a hand cart. Now, our response to increase hard power, which i agree with. But a 29 reduction in hard power in 2018 doesnt make a lot of sense to me. Just look at that drop and say given the role as we know it and according to the generals, not Lindsey Graham, is this wise . I really dont think so. Indices security funding, we all remember bengazi. Look at this reduction in funding for security of our embassie embassies. Given the threats i see, now is not the time to decrease Embassy Security funding unless youre going to close embassies, and im not sure now is the time to be closing a lot of embassies. Kuts cuts to hiv aids one last thing. Heres what the benghazi review board told us. The mission of the state department to the world is smaller or larger . Then it comes to the need, not just some artificial number. Lets go to hiv aids. As a republican, i am proud of president 43 bush who came up with a program called p ee eed r president obama continued this. And as you can see in the return on the dollar for the pepvar program has been absolutely astounding. Millions of Young Africans are alive today because of the pepvar program. Mothers to child aids transmission has gone down by 75 . Every american taxpayer should be pleased that your hard earned dallass we dollars went to a continent being consumed by a vicious disease called aids. Were beginning to turn the corner. Were not there yet, but there are five countries that are going to be selfsufficient. And this budget cuts by a billion dollars when were inside the 10yard line. I could give numbers what it means to the program, but hundreds of thousands of people will not be treated by this budget cut. Iy wise and pound foolish. There are currently 65. 4 Million People displaced worldwide. Thats the highest in modern history. Now, what role does the state department play in this . 20 Million People are currently at risk of famine. So you have famine and you have man made wars and disasters. Look at what were doing with assistance. Were cutting it at a time when assistance needs are at an all time high. The president s budget cuts International Disaster assistance and food aide by 3. 4 billion, 77 below the 2017 numbers. The terrorists love this. The terrorists hate the idea that an american shows up with some food and an education. From a terrorist point of view, this is really a recruiting tool. From an American Point of view, weve got to fix this problem. Because if we cut back, other people will follow. And youve got to pay now or pay later. Youve got to deal with these people now or end up killing them later with the young people become terrorists. So got a real problem with that one. Georgia, not my neighbor georgia, the country. For a record, i like the people in georgia. Georgia is fighting in afghanistan without any caveats. Theyre one of the few countries that go to afghanistan to partner with our soldiers and do whatever we ask them to do. Theyve died in fairly large numbers. They have absolutely no restrictions on their force. They help us in afghanistan when we cant afford to lose. Their neighbors are pretty tough hombres, the russians. What signal are we sending to georgia when we cut their assistance 66 at a time when russia is on the prowl and we need more help in afghanistan, not less. This just really is the wrong message to our friends and certainly the wrong message to russia. I am at a loss at why we would cut aid to georgia given what russia is doing in the region now. And im at loss why we would want to send a signal to a people that are sending their troops in without any conditions. Small place. Its within 20 miles of sealanes that carry over two thirds of the worlds Oil Shipments and half of the container cargo. Chinas a big player there. We just ended a 26year conflict, democratic progress is in our interest to have a democracy that close to the worlds shipping lanes. China is a competitor. And unfortunately were reducing our assistance to sri lanka as china is going allin. Not a wise move. This is a question to you, mr. Secretary. I think you ran some of the best businesses in the world, youre a smart guy but heres whats on your plate that i can think of. Isis, youre going to beat them militarily but if you dont have a plan for the day after, were going to do again. What do you do with raqqah, mos mosul, anbar province. How do you hold it . So defeating isis permanently has to have a hold and build strategy thats for usaid and all your smart people come into play. Qatar, you read the op ed piece, things are not going well. Youve got 10,000 airmen and soldiers there. For god sakes, we cant let this get out of hand, so youre going to be pretty busy with qatar. Russia, dont have time to talk about whats on your plate with russia. Its a lot. Youll be at the table trying to find a way to put syria back in together to make sure that the war doesnt start again and lebanon and jordan dont fall because of endless war. The resources necessary to prepare the damage in syria makes iraq look like a walk in the park. Part of those resources will be you and your talented people who will go in there and help the Syrian People deal with the devastation. North korea. I like whats youre doing in north korea. I dont think were out of the woods yet, so youre going to be a busy guy. 65 Million People displaced on your watch. By the way, the war in afghanistan, we need more soldiers. And i think the president s going to give the generals what they want. But we also need to make sure the soldiers sacrifice is not forsaken because you better have a plan to rebuild those areas we lost from the taliban once we take it back, or were going to lose them again. So thats where your people come in. The president said the Iranian Nuclear agreement is terrible and he wants to replace it. If you had nothing else to do but that, that would be a fulltime job. Good luck. The ukraine, doesnt seem to be Getting Better to me. China, i really like what youre doing with china regarding north korea. President trumps not going to allow them to get a missile theater at homeland. But chinas tough. 20 Million People impacted by famine. And they tell me were going to start the mideast Peace Process all over again. Youre the man. Youre going to do all that and cut the budget by 29 . Thank you for coming. Well, i was going to be tough. But what ill start off by saying is like he said, i agree with senator graham. Weve worked together on this subcommittee for a long time, part of the time hes been chairman, part of the time ive been chairman. But usually the bills been brought out of here have gotten a virtually unanimous vote. Let me just read a few passages from a may 25th, guest column from the new york times. By colin powell, served as dh df of staff under george h. W. Bush and secretary of state under president george w. Bush. He wrote, and i quote, at our best being a great nation has always been a commitment to building a better, safer world, not just for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren. This is meant to advance the cause of peace, responding when disease and disaster strike, lifting millions out of poverty and inspiring those yearns for freedom. This calling is under threat. Administrationss proposal to slash approximately 30 from the state department and foreign assistance budget signals an american retreat, making us far less safe. Proposal to bring resources for our civilian forces to a third of what we spent at the height of Ronald Reagans peace through the years. It would be internationally irresponsible to stress our friends and encouraging our enemies undermining our own economic and National Security interests. The idea of putting America First requires withdrawal from the world is simply wrongheaded. He goes onto speak of his own experience. Many thought that the end of the cold war would allow us a retreat. It isnt. Do we really want to slash the state department u. S. Aid at such a perilous moment . No. We were saying talking about make america great, but were stepping aside. Were letting other countries come in, fill the vacuum and making the United States irrelevant. Id like to think our values are the relevant ones, not other countries. I want to know why you disagree. Obviously you do disagree but secretary powell. Why you believe that eliminating thousands of personnel positions, cutting billions of dollars from programs administered by the department of state and u. S. Aid is in our best interest. I would ask consent of the chairman to put the powell article in the record. No objection. Secretary powell also said that many had assumed the cold wars end would allow us to retreat from the world but cuts that may have looked logical at the time came back to haunt us as tensions rose in the middle east, africa, the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere. Confronting such challenges requires not only the military thats second to none, but also our resource effective in power diplomats and aid workers. But i think general powell has said and others have said u much of the world has looked to the United States for leadership. Were walking away with that leadership. If we say let somebody else fill in for us, let somebody else take over. We go around talking about look at the huge amount of money we spend on foreign aide. Its the lower 1 of our budget. On a per capita basis, a lot of countries spend more. Why would we give up that influence . Does that make us safer . Why would we let some of these totalitarian regimes expand their influence versus american influence . Does that make us safer . Does it make us safer if we allow epidemics to accelerate around the world . Does it make us safer if we dont do anything to help with the refugee situation thats overwhelming allies of ours like jordan . Does it make us any safer if we pretend that we can go fortress of america. Saudi arabia sent so many people to fly airplanes into the twin towers. Weve faced a terrible terrorist attack, one of the worst ever in this country by an american in Oklahoma City. Now we face the saudis coming in here, saudi citizens. We cant be fortress america. We face problems at home, of course. I use Oklahoma City as an example. We face problems have abroad. Those who came from saudi arabia and destroyed the twin towers. So i dont need to give you a speech, but i want you to know that i agree with the chairman, and we have very strong views on this. Mr. Secretary, the floor is yours. Thank you for coming. Thank you, chairman graham, Ranking Member lay leahy. As we all know americas Global Competitive advantages and standing as a leader are under constant challenge. The dedicated men and women of the state department and usaid, carry out the important and often perilous work of advancing americas interests every single day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That mission is unchanged. However the state department and usaid like many institutions here and around the world have not evolved in their responsiveness as quickly as new challenges and threats to our National Security have changed and are changing. We are challenged to respond to a post cold war world that set in motion new Global Dynamics and a post 9 11 world characterized by historic threats that present themselves in ways never seen before, enabled by technological tools that we have been ill prepared to engage. The 21st century has already provided many evolving challenges to National Security and economic prosperity. We mist develop responses to protect and advance the interest of the American People. With such a broad array of threats facing the United States, the fiscal year budget request of 36 billion aligns with the administrations objective of making our security our top priority. It first responsibility of government is to its citizens. The state departments primary focus will be to protect our the state citizens at home and abroad. Our mission is at all times guided by our longstanding values of freedom, democracy, individual liberty, and human dignity. The conviction of our countrys founder is enduring, that all men are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. As a nation we hold true the aspiration that one day our children will experience the freedoms we have known. The more we engage with other nations on issues of security and prosperity, the more we will have opportunities to shape the human rights conditions in those nations. History has shown that the United States leaves a footprint of freedom wherever it goes. Ensuring the security and prosperity of the American People and advancing our values has necessitated the difficult decisions in areas of our budget. The fiscal year 2018 budget request includes substantial funding for more foreign assistance programs under the auspices of usaid and the state department. But we have made hard choices to reduce funding for other initiatives. Even with the reductions in funding we continue to be the leader in international development, Global Health, democracy and america will respond with care and support. I am convinced we can maximize the effectiveness of this these programs and continue to offer americas helping hand to the world. This budget request also reflects a commitment to ensure every tax dollar thats spent is aligned with the department and usaids Mission Critical objectives. The request focuses on missions which deliver the greatest value and opportunity of success for the American People. The state department and usaid budget increased over 60 from fiscal ye