Foreign Relations Committee will come to order. We have a number of distinguished nominees here today and we welcome them. We also have a number of very distinguished introducers. We welcome you and thank you for coming to our committee. In order for you to be able to go ahead and do other Business Today we will defer relative to making Opening Statements and let you go ahead and do what you need to do. We look forward to those comments and we realize youll like to go elsewhere. I know senator mcconnel is coming today. Why dont we start in the order of seniority. We appreciate so much you being here. We welcome you all. Thank you for being here today. If you will, begin. Thank you mr. Chairman and Ranking Member of the committee. It is a pleasure to be back here. Sit the second time in less than a couple of weeks. Its not often i darken the door but as long as a president keeps nominating texans i promise to keep coming back often. She is truly someone that needs no introduction but i be live her one any way. Had the pref lij of serving alongside of ckay. She is tireless. Y she would not stop until she achieved her objective. Most importantly she always did what she thought was the right thi thing for texas, whether it was working for republicans or democrats that was always her guiding star. As i think about the type of individual best suit today represent the u. S. I cant think of no one better than kaykay is not and was in the afraid of working across the aisle. Its the way she was able to get so much done on behalf of the nation. She has been a fierce advocate for families. It is no exageuatigeratioexagge. During her time her she served on the intelligence committee, the Armed Services committee as well. I know strong di ploemt si guided her Committee Work and will prepare her well for our duties in brussels. No, sir one better prepared to successfully navigate and strengthen our relationships on the world stage. Kay will do it and do it with poise and grace. I look forward to supporting her confirmati confirmation. Thank you mr. Chairman and members of the committee for allowing me to say a few words on behalf of Kay Bailey Hutchison. She helped lead organizations like the united way of bluegrass, ymca of central kentucky and the center for rural development. She also served on the board of trustees of our shared alma mater at the university of kentucky. The senate confirmed. It is a new partnership, her ability to build consensus among International Stake holders served her well at the u. N. And also makes her an ideal candidate to be the next ambassador to canada. They are closely enter connected share aing a common history andt of values. It is founded on trade relati s relations. The relationship with canada is sp particularly important from k kentucky. It is the commonwealth number one export market maintaining the strong relationship between our two nations is vital. So she has the necessary skills to continue the long history of friendship between our nations. Her work will continue to serve very well. I would also like to recognize joe craft, another extraordinary k k kentuckian. Thank you for allowing many we to testify in behalf of kelly. I appreciate your consider atio. We look forward to her nomination. Thank you. If you feel like you want to help open the floor youre welcomed to also leave. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you both. Senator cruz. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it is a privilege to join you this morning especially with the great honor of introducing my friend and a true texas legend, senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Many of you served with her and know her well as a friend and colleague. All of you i know respect kay and when you saw her successor. I dont think thats the case. But i have to say, i think Kay Bailey Hutchison is an extraordinary choice. The president has chosen well and i am confident that the senate will agree there that assessment. Kays history in texas, she was born in galveston and grew up in lamar. She has her law degree at the university of texas. Her husband having served in the texas house and also in the state Republican Party and their two children are the joys of her life. Hutchison began her career in the texas house and served our home state for 20 years where she built a distinguished record of service ton senate Armed Services committee and defense and military sub committees that will give her direct and powerful insight into the Security Issues facing europe and north america. Few states men have the qualifications, relationships and graftas that she brings to this position. After year of inadequate resourcing she lead to rebuild our military and help prepare to meet the new demands of the global war on terror. After the conflict she lead the first senate to the region. There she met with nato leaders to discuss the future of our nato endeavor and to bring stability to the region. In fact she toured every major conflict since her arrival in 1993. From bosnia to iraq senator hutchison made it a priority to meet with commanders in areas of combat and to make sure that they had the resources that our military need today carry out their mission. She has a heart for the men and women serving our nation. Her commitment will serve her well in this new role protecting americas and our allys interest as u. S. Ambassador to nato. She also has an eye for talent. When i arrived in this body in my office among the staff we had a john cornin mafia. We had a rick perry mafia as part of the staff. There was no bigger group than the kbh mafia which is a large chunk of our team because she has such a good eye for talent and she trains them well. That will serve her well as our ambassador. It is to represent america and strengthen friendships and alliances. Im prod to support her nomination. Thank you for being here. We have had two very strong willed senators in this seat. So we can save the best for last. I will introduce senator rubio. It is to be the ambassador and to the republic. It is a cofounder and managing partner of iron hill investments. He was the chairman of the Port Authority of new york and new jersey responsible for sea ports, bridges, tunnels and the world trade center. It was the Lower Manhattan corporation which was formed after the 11th of september of 2001. It is for two years from 2001 to 2003. He was a Senior Adviser from 09 to 15. Both in new york from 1990 to 2011, spent 23 years where he was cohead of the division. He has been honored by the American Jewish committee. National conference for community injustice, liberty science center, boys and girls club of new jersey and new Jersey Alliance for action. As you can see he has strong links. It is very typical of florida. But i know him as a resident of florida and i have known him for quite a while w. Im excited. It will be an important ally. He is deeply qualified for this and we are grateful for his willingness to serve his country. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you very much. Senator lieberman. Thanks. Its good to be back here. Let me say first just a loud sincere amen to all of the positive words said about Kay Bailey Hutchison. Im honored to be here to introduce to the committee kay t. Mcfarland. K. Kayt. You can see it in the documents before youchlt if you had a chance to meet her you probably appreciate it. It is in a very unique way about the ark of kay t. s life and service. She worked as an assistant when he was National Security adviser in the National Securities and stayed with him through the nixon and ford administrations. The second is from mcmaster who kay t. Has worked with as deputy National Security adviser. We are in the sixth decade. It has taken us through the opens and downs of life. It allows high principal they will bring with them if confirmed to singapore it is to the important country that are such great allies. I thought that i would tell you two story to indicate briefly who these people are. On Election Night the first time i ran for the u. S. Senate when i got elected i was an underdog. It was very close. It wasnt until well after 11 00 p. M. I felt confident enough to go down and declare victory. We all remember the maxum that has a thousand parent defeat. It had filled up amazingly as returns begin to come in. Somebody came over to me and said somebody named mcfarednelan the foechbphone. It was such a draw back. I went and took the call. She said she had arn narmt new york. If you need a place to live for a while why dont you use it. I got swept up. About a month later because she is going to stay with our kids until they finish school. I had one of those moments where you say where am i going to live . I remember the call and they graciously had my as their tenant as five or six months. I would add that she once operated a shelter far homeless senator and did it well. The second is a very different kind of story. Youll note on her resume her work life has been divided into two. One of them is a story that says a lot about her. In 1995 allens first wife now died within a short period of time. They left a son who was essentially alone. Its a long story but the bottom line is that they stepped forward and adopted luke and have raised him as their child. It really says a lot about them. I grew up with a phrase that if you save one life it is as if you saved the entire world. They saved one life. So for all of these reasons, both professional and personal, i recommend mcfarland. I truly believe she deserves your support, that she deserves nonpartisan support from the senate. Thank you very much. We thank you both very much for being here. Before i turn to senator menendez, whos going to introduce our next ambassador nominee, yall are welcome if you wish to go about other business. We really do appreciate both of you being here and elevating our meeting. Senator menendez. Thank you, mr. Chairman. We generally say that the United States and the United Kingdom have a special relationship. And indeed there are few other nations with whom our bilateral relationship is as expansive and important as the u. K. That relationship is based on shared value, democracy, respect for human rights and having shaped the post War International order. Maintaining and strengthening this relationship is critical for the United StatesNational Security, for our transatlantic relationships in general and many of our foreign engagements around the world. Some fumble in their execution. Hailing from the great state of new jersey, i have no doubt that robert Woody Johnson is up to the task and will be an excellent representative of the United States. He has a wide range of civic endeavors and also sits on the council of foreign relations. As the United Kingdom continues to sort out the Practical Implications of brexit, including future trade deals, his successful private sector experience i think will be critical. And his extensive Management Experience will be an asset in running a large embassy in london. He has assured me that he will consult with this committee and i believe it is critically important that our embassy in london has the leadership it needs to continue strengthening the already deep bond between the two nations. Thank you so much. I apologize for not knowing you were introducing until just a moment ago. We thank you for that introduction. Im glad that all of you are here together and i appreciate your desire to serve the country in the way that you have. Were going to consider, as we all know, the u. S. Ambassador to canada, our largest single trading partner as of may 2017. Throughout the cold war and to today, canada has stood shoulder to shoulder with norad. We have close intelligence sharing and Law Enforcement ties. Canada values its relationship with the United States and we value our very close relationship with our neighbor to the north. This year Prime Minister trudeau joined Vice President pence in speaking to the u. S. National governors association. Canada also supports working with the u. S. And mexico to update the north American Free trade agreement. I will also have a conversation with our nominee as u. S. Permanent representative to nato. Nato facing a threat of an increasingly antagonistic russia which has occupied crimea and eastern regions of ukraine, a country once considered a contender for nato membership. They know that both nato itself and the individual Member States are members of the u. S. Led coalition conducting air strikes against isis. We thank you for being here to do that. We will look to the nominee to the United Kingdom as well. The bilateral u. S. u. K. Relationship has grown into a Global Network of trade partnerships that fight terrorism and drive Economic Growth. United kingdom has not just deployed its military beside ours, it has helped build the International Framework that includes the United Nations and nato together. Our countries Work Together to make the world a safer and more prosperous place. Well have a chance to engage the nominee to be ambassador to italy, where we also have positive and strong relations. Italy is now on the u. N. Security council. We thank you for being here. Lastly, well consider the nominee to singapore. Singapore is one of our strongest Security Partners in Southeast Asia and plays rotational host to the u. S. Naval vessels operating in the region. Singapore is also a key economic and trading partner for the United States and the region. We thank you for being here. I really am elated that all of you are here together. I think youre going do an outstanding job for our nation. I know youre honored to be nominated to these positions. With that i turn to Ranking Member ben carden. Let me welcome all five of our nominees and their families. First, i really want to thank each of you for being willing to serve your country. And thank you families, because we recognize this cannot be done without a supportive family. We thank you. The five positions that are being nominated are extremely important to our country. Mr. Chairman, i hope that well be a little bit lenient as far as the time limits are concerned, because these are extremely important countries and i know members may have questions that they want to ask to more than one witness. Secondly, i would ask our nominees that we do questions for the record. I know were not going to get through all the questions we would want to ask you directly and our questions for the record are very important. I know im going to defer a lot of my questions for the record. Because of the large number that is here and the importance of the countries that are represented, that this is our opportunity get important issues air aired in the portfolios that youll be responsible for. Its particularly a pleasure to have ckay bailey hutchinson. We know that russias aggression really is a major concern to many of our nato partners and our strategies on how we deal with russias incursions into ukraine and georgia, moldova is a real challenge to nato. We know afghanistan is a continued challenge to nato. Youre going to have your plate full and we look forward to working with you on this committee. Whenever we need help, its those countries that we turn to first to help us in regards to our National Security concerns. So these are really close partners. The chairman knows that i always raise issues concerning human rights. You might think that when youre looking at four democratic countries, that maybe thats not as important. Promoting perse ining american always important. Our strength is in our values and our values are respect for human rights. Particularly as it relates to singapore we do have issues. Singapore are ranked near the bottom in their protection of many of the human rights issues. The Reporters Without Borders ranked singapore 151th out of 180 nations in its annual World Press Freedom index behind neighbors such as burma, cambodia and malaysia. We will be asking you, ms. Macfarland, how you will represent American Values in singapore, a friend and trading partner and a major Commerce Center as to how we can get advancements on these universal human rights i believe are very very important. I really did enjoy the conversations i had with several of you. I would just under score the point that senator menendez said in regards to mr. Johnson and mrs. Craft, theres a real genuine desire to work with this committee, members of congress to further the missions of the United States in the countries that you represent. So i look forward to a robust discussion and i thank you all for your willingness to serve our country. Thank you for your comments. Senator hutchinson were glad to have you back. Since youve done this so many times on this s