■í

■d n;■[background noises] this hearing of the senate foreign relations committee will come to order.+z for thousands of years pacific islanders have been masters of the seat navigating oceans by canoe guided only by the stars. with climate change and globalization hitting their shores they have become innovators on how to save their heritage. there are over a million and a pacificisland ancestry. over 1000 citizens from freely associated state serving in the united states armed forces. this put people to people ties at the heart of our relationship to a part of the world that has been a vital and strategic interests of the united states.

during world war i built an airstrip what is now the nation. but today it is the people's republic of china that i the for american airstrip. beijing is signaling is -- policing deals to provide ■[cybersecur and community policing assistance in the region. since the islands change their recognition from taiwan to china, prc nationals the island. flooding the market with low-cost goods. distracting timber and fish and other resources. bringing in tours and that threaten the natural environment. in some cases setting up transnational criminal operations that in the limited capacity oflobal law enforcement. all of this compounds the forces that drive young people to search for economic opportunities elsewhere. developmen a concerning to the united states and our allies in the region like australia, new zealand, and japan.

at the same time pacific island nations on the front lines of the climate crisis. many are only a few feet above sea level. this makes them particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events on climate change. not only these could be uninhabitable in the coming decades a serious threato important military installations. earlier this year's series of extreme waves of damage and marl islands. the base use of space and missile test range for the united states the department of defense and some of the army's most sophisticated tracking equipment. i am pleased by the administration is to prioritize our engagement in the region. builng new embassies is not easy we all know that. especially wetland in the domestic capacity is limited ocean levels are rising. department to be creative and move as quickly as possible. beijing will not slide out its

efforts to gain influence in this important region should we. congress recently passed and funded for all three free association nations: we are glad it was enacted. for more than 40 years agreements have governed the critical relationships printed by the administration has called the bedrock of u.s. role in the pacific. i want to thank senator manchin, barrasso ranking member for ei getting the agreements across the finish line signed by the president also want to acknowledge the leadership of senator schatz and her ohno in regard to that agreement. i wish the same spirit of cooperation applied toward china bill and the administration outcompete cna proposal which is proposed to get in this year's budget. the u.s. competition with china concerns almost every single member of our committee as well as most members of the united states senate. i appreciate the staff on both sides getting us about 80% there but we now need to reach the

finish line. if we are serious about countering china i asked the ranking member to work with me and every member of this committee to finish the job the next work. i also want to witnesses for appearing before us today. we have distinguished panel of witnesses i look forward to your presentations. i hope you will speak on about how we can speed up the expansion of a diplomatic presence, how we work with australia, new zealand and japan and others to support and foster economic opportunities in the pacific islands. what we can do to climate proof our military installations to defend our national security interest years to come recognize the great risk there. when finally asked cutely at what is at stake for the night six military in a region we failed to i look forward to your testimony. that let me turn to distinguish ranking member senator risch. >> thank you very much mr. chairman. before i start my prepared remarks let me say china

issue, like the issues we are talking about this is a bipartisan issue. on a favorite six as you know i wrote you a l we had a response but we should air these things privately and will continue. we had a long history of friendship in this hearing just last week congress acted your new free association as you noted mr. chairman.■< they are a promise to the three compact countries. micronesian of the marshall islands. we partner with them to advance economic. to provide for u.s. military and nations. to provide cooperation of law enforcement and training and much more.

further security partnership with the states are critical. world war ii we fought her way f cross causing significant american in those decades we stay for years to come. there strategic investments in in the end of pacific region. however in order to maximize the partnerships, the administration must adjust the demonstrate u.s. focus and commitment are not going anywhere. first diplomatic presence in this region's only serious work. we've been too slow toet our diplomats firmly on the ground to push back against chinese influence. i am also concerned about the lack of support for the diplomats we do have in the pacific. nowhere isn't more evidence in the solomon islands. by the time a state of parma start paying attention china was already signing a major security agreement. the■x department asked for personnel for the post it did not ask for a single public affairs officer to push back against the chinese propaganda.

this is a large globe. there's a lot of countries but my staff has been monitoring this particular region for numerous important reasons that i just mentioned. this is not just about getting our people on the ground once there they must be able to do and advance u.s. interests it is clear we are moving at the speed of bureaucracy and not the speed of relevance. i've sent five letters to secretary blinken urging a nuanced expeditionary approach to expansion for it and encourage using the embassies construction and counterterrorism act provides to stand up our diplomatic presence and creating a management platform to improve support to these commissions. the solomon islands example brings me too a second issue, security cooperation. in addition to greater chinese military law enforcement other nations continue to explore security arrangements with

in 2022 pacific island countries came together and rejected china's push for security agreement. that was proof of what dedication to sovereignty and unity can achieve. senate new security pack with us last year's been approached by china about a new security arrangement. chinese and police are present we note chinese set insight on other nations i like the departments of state and def to discuss the implementation of a security pack and help the committee understand how this agreement serves our interest lso like it update on an updaten where chinese security cooperation initiatives are causing the greatest concern and how we are working with our partners to address it. especiae defense department to discuss australia's role in security for the pacific islands. we all know there is certainly

more to it than that. finally i like it updated economic development in this region. i'm aware of our work from illegal fishing but want to know what other concrete projects we are pursuing. i want real details on this not just descriptions about creating and enabling stakeholder networks et cetera, et cetera. we note some chinese projects like a hospital in fiji did it backfire. this means the u.s. and their partners need to get our act together more quickly. with that i turned back to the chair. lex thank you for opening comments we will always attempt to work together on all issues. including this region. i want to welcome all three of our witnesses to today's hearing. i will introduce you that will have approximate five minutes give your opening statements wif the record. welcome assistant secretary.bere

senior foreign service and is been american diplomat since 1994. he has served in numerous post in the end of pacific region as a former u.s. ambassador to vietnam. assistant secretary, welcome. assistant secretary of defense for indo pacific security affairs and also along with this committee under then chairman biden's y privileges you can speak for five minutes and 10 seconds. [laughter] he has also served as a senior adna to the secretary of defense. then we have assistant administrator who is no stranger to this committee and we welcome his return to st 419 his capacity usaid to talk about his work on theac it again we will e you an extra 15 seconds because you network together when i was chair of the subcommittee. hes senior advisor

and counselor in the foreign relations committee covering issues related to the end of pacific. in theory should be abl to anticipate and answer every one of our questions. he also brings an abundance of experience prior to his service from the senate foreign relations committee where he served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for east asia program officers of the stanley foundation responsible for the foundation asia program. ■owith that we will start production mr. chairman, in it for just a moment? i like to note is actually from nebraska so maybe he should get 10 seconds for that? [laughter] absolutely the committee's getting a little out of hand. [laughter] i understand, mr. secretary? >> secretary? >> mr. chairman good morning. ranking member and members of very much for convening this hearing and the opportunity to testify on your strategy and is strategically important pacific island region.

and aren't original by my colleagues in the department of defense and usaid today and understand my good friend pacific island here as well and honored by his presence as well. the united states is a pacific nation. we share long-standing historic dultural@g ties to the pacific island neighbors. the history[ are inextricably linked spirit u.s. prosperity and security depend on the region free and open prosperous and secure ande. pacific islands are important partners in a global issues, standing together at the un on human rights in opposing russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion of contributing to global security peacekeeping operations and tackling the climate crisis as well as combating illegal unreported and unreguled fishing. the pacific islands face significant challenges to their the pacific islands face significant challenges to

security and prosperity including from climate change and economic shocks making the region more vulnerable to influence from the prc. the the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and increasingly the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do it. that certainly holds true in the pacific, foreign assistance, a lead capture and robust public messaging campaigns, the prc has moved aggressively to assert itself in the pacific islands. in recent years three pacific island countries have switched up o-matic ties from taiwan to the prc. in 2,022 as the chairman and ranking member noted above with the prc the details of which have not been publicly released. as we've often said, we are not in the business of forcing countries to choose, neither in the pacific nor anywhere else but we want to ensure countries in the pacific have a choice and the ability to make their

own sovereign decisions, free from coercion. under the administration's in the pacific strategy andategy d states has expanded its engagement with the pacific islands. president biden has convened two summits to engage with leaders on shared priorities including climate change, trade in investment and a free and open pacific region. since e first summit in 2022 we have announced plans to work with congress to provide over $8 billion in new funding and programs. we opened embassies in the solomon islands in tonga in 2,023 and we will open an embassy later this year. we also continue to work with the government on a plan to w8 open an embassy. we recognize the cook island hanoi as a sovereign and independent state. t score volunteers returned to fiji, samoa, and tonga and are planning to return later this year to palau in 2025. we sent an envoy to enhance cooperation with the region's

leading foreign policy body. we've also increased our presence and assistance to the us coast guard and maritime domain awareness programs. in 2,023 recited defense cooperation agreement with papua new guinea which will increase our engagement of the region's most populous country. we are working with partners to increase internet access in the pacific and together with australia, $65 millione future capability for pacific island countries and announced her intention to request from congress $600 million over ten years beginning with the fy 24 request in support of a new economic assistance agreement related to the south pacific treaty which is critical to the region's economy and is a cornerste of our relationship in the region for over three decades. our strategies also multilateral. in 2,022 the united australia, japan, new zealand, and the united kingdom launched partners in the pacific, and informal strategic coordination initiative guided by pacific priorities. since expanded to

include additional partners and announced tangible initiatives on disaster relief, disaster resilience, cybersecurity and ocean and fisheries research, the us shares and especially close relationship with the republic of palau, the republic of the marshall islandd states. are association with these three countries and the economic assistance we provide in support of are key to maintaining the stability and prosperity of our closest pacific islander partners and safeguarding our shared long-term defense and strategic interest in the region. i want to sincerely thank congress and members of this committee for proving the authorizing the necessary funding and authorities on a bipartisan basis that will allow us to move ahead in partnership with these countries. j< in conclusion i wish to reiterate the pacific region's creek importance to the united states and our long-term strategic interest. i look forward to working with

renewed engagement across the pacific in an era of increased geostrategic competition, thank you very much. >> chairman carbon, ranking member risch, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today about how the department defen peace and security with us partners across the pacific islands. i'm here friend secretary daniel kritenbrink and administrator michael schiffer want to underscore the administration's whole of government approach, from a national security perspective islands form and a central part of the region, the us military's assess in the pacific islands are crucial for logistics, sustainment and power projection throughout the region. moreover, hundreds of billions of dollars in maritime trade islands and our partners there provide critical linkages between the continental united states and our allies across the indo pacific. that is why the united states is strengthening our

diplomatic, economic, security ties throughout the pacific significant role in deepening these partnerships and sustaining our defense posture. importantly this also includes our posture in hawaii, in the territories of the commonwealth of the northern mariana islands and american samoa. the department is doubling down on our relationships with the freely associated states and we are capitalizing on our momentum with paa after a landmark defense cooperation agreement last year. we are building capacity through security cooperation and conducting humanitarian assistance and disaster relief activities with our partners. we are also working together with allies and partners like australia, japan, and new zeald.more than ever we are de attention and resources that reflect the strategic significance of this region. mister chairman, i would like to take a moment to wonderscore the importance of our compacts

of free association with the federal states of micronesia, the republic of palau and the republ of the marshall islands. for decades our relationships with these partners have been anchored in the economic assistance the united states is delivered under the compact. thanks to strong bipartisan support from congress, including critical leadership by members of this committee that economic assistance will now extend to the 2040s through the appropriations bill the president biden signed last week, last year, our state depd a strong deal with each of the freely associated states to renew our compact. providing the necessary funding was one othe most important things congress could do this year to advance our priorities in the indo pacific, defense experts, diplomats, senior military officials, and friends in the region all agreed that we had to get this done and because of you, we did. the compacts ensured that the

united states maintain a military presence in the freely associated states and enable citizens to serve in the us military. these agreements provide assured access for our operations and prevent would b sovereign land, airspace and territorial waters, the bottom line is the compacts help secure part of the indo pacific that's larger than the continental united states. mister chairman, we also know the prc is drawing from a ran to erode long-standing us partnerships and advance china's own influence. inr recent years these activities have included covert efforts to bribe local officials, economic pressure and sovereign nations that maintain diplomatic ties with taiwan and illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing that harms both the environment and local economies. mister chairman, our commitment to the pacific islands and the

peace, stability, and prosperity in the indo pacific region will endure. the departmen forward to continued work with congress in this endeavor. what we have achieved with our pacific islander partners in recent years would not have been possible without your support in delivering meaningful results in the years ahead will continue to require urgency, attention, resources, and strong partnership with capitol hill. thank you for your time and attention and i look forward to your questions and i yelled back my alumni to 10 seconds. >> all right! you are very mindful of this committee's protocol, you know how to get on the good side of the committee. no pressure on time, administrator michael schiffer. >> members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify on the strategic importance of the pacific islands, and how usaid is s to the complex problems of the

indo pacific is the 3ds of diploma see, defense and develop an, drawing on apt successful whole of government approach. we've learned the hard way that one deal without the others or not a sustainable pathway to success. has a steadfast partner in the pacific islands, usaid plays a key role in advancing free and open connected, prosperous, ski secure, resilient indo pacific region which our relationships shared history and shared values of diversity, fairness, and freedom. consistent with the pacific way, it starts with listening.e of joining usaid power at the opening of the pacific islands in our country representative office in papua new guinea. it was a creek on milestone delivering on a promise made by the president illustrating aid listen, partner and deliver

together with the people of the pacific islands. we've states heard our pacific partners loud and clear. enduring presence matters. our vision for the pacific framework for the pacific islands approved in march of 2022, reflects our shared aspirations. it's about listening to the voices in the region and partnering to deliver on our commitments. we are ensuring our engagement with the region is guided by pacific islands, respects the existing architecture and delivers sustainable benefits to pacific islanders contrast to the approach of the people's republic of china. we are clear died about prc capabilities and intent, we have no objection to engagement ■ific by any country including the prc. on the contrary if it generates a race to the top, that's a good thing. in recent years, we have seen problematic prc behavior in the

region. predatory including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, investments that undermine good governance. usaid offers a dferent way. a tailored department model responsive to their needs and their aspirations rooted in economic integration, inclusivity, locally led solutions and democrat values that can transform our shared plan. address what the region itself defined as its most pressing challenges in climate, health, democratic governance, infrastructure, onomic á1 growth. meeting these goals depends on enhancing cooperation with local communities, individual countries as well as pacific led organizations including the pacific island forum and the pacific community. in papa one new guinea usa mobile id is exciting access to readable energy, protect4ñinthe country's environment, combating the hiv-aids

epidemic, addressing gender-based violence, promoting peace and stability. in palau, we've partnered with australia and japan to support development of an undersea cable spur that will connect the country to the world's longest undersea cable and increase reliable, safe, secure internet bandwidth to support economic growth. to advance the country's economic competitiveness and inclusiveness which specific emphasis on developing the agribusiness sector and improving natural resource governance. through the usaid climate ready activity we've mobilized $550 million for pacific island countries to improve access to climate finance, from various institutions like the green climate fund, the adaptation we are also responsible, responding directly to request from pacific island governments to expand opportunities for economic growth. last year's us pacific island forum summit, president biden

announced the us would launch a flexib micro-finance facility valued at $50 million to expand access to competitive finance s in the pacific islands. usaid and development finance corporation are bringing ge lastly the united states as a whole remains one of the largest bilateral and disaster pacific, providing year-round disaster preparedness, responsiveness, and resilience to pacific island nations to more effectively lead their own disaster responses. across these efforts, usaid works with like-minded allies and partners we do so to ensure our work is complementary, guided by the pacific islands. mr. chairman, members of the committee, usaid's investment

in the region is a critical and open indo pacific, a vision that animates our activities not just in this region but around the globe. thank you for your support in ov necessary resources to implement our strategy and policy with partners in the pacific and the opportunity to share with you today what you are sameid is doing in this important region of the world which i look forward to your guidance and answering your questions. >> i want to thank all our witns for their appearance here and it is true that the united states is a pacific nation but we have one pacific island state. i will yield the place for questioning, senator schatz is our leader on pacific island issues. >> thank you, thank you all for being here. i want to recognize the secretary-general for continued and productive engagement and the finance mr.

of tonga for being here. i want to start with daniel kritenbrink. the united states provided $4.5 million to the pacific. can you talk about the importance of prf and how you see it as a mechanism for the kind of engagement secretary blinken and president biden talked about. we are all on a bipartisan basis in the middle of execut i talk to the pif, they are prioritizing the pacific facility, talk investment and why we should consider continued investment. >> thank you for the question and the opportunity to be here today. i wonderscore what you said. our whole approach to the pacific islands is to listen to the pacific isla leaders, what their top needs are, to study the pacific island forum's own 2050 strategy and

make sure that we meet the needs that are outlined in that strategy, the number one need is the x essential challenge of climate change, the pacific resilience facility is one of sevesteps taken to show our support for meeting the pacific islanders where they live, so to speak. that initial investment is designed to build local resilience and capacity to combat climate change but it's just the beginning of what we are doing and what we need to do and we need to do more going forward. my colleague may have more details on the actual implantation on the ground but i couldn't agree more with the importance of climate change. >> i want to pivot little bit tong you said in your testimony about predatory economic arrangements with least in the last 3 or 4 years

has been to really listen, to try to respond, to understand these are sovereign, not colonies, not insular areas, and to be more sensitive to that and to understand that as sovereigns they get to have whatever economic partnerships make the most sense to them. i would likeou to make the case a little more explicitly about how these predatory, economic arrangements are, in the end, bad for some of our friends across the pacific. >> thank you for that question, and let me underscore from the outset and as the assistant secretary daniel kritenbrink offered, we fully recognize our partners in the pacific are sovereign and that they can make and should make their own choices and our role is to support them in that process, that is what we seek to do but as we look around at prc behavior in the pacific, we see

that the prc is violating many of the pools and norms that have been established by the international community for its own benefit and impacts the work that we do including in the pacific island and economic growth and development sphere. so, for example, we've seen a surge in investment by the prc and telecommunications sector in recent years which can lead nations vulnerable to cybersecurity risks and other national security concerns and so we see our role as q partneringit partnering with our pacific island friends to ensure that they have the options that they need for fast, secure and reliable connectivity. >> sorry to interrupt. i want to get to what is the catch. when you go into a partnership with prc on a harbor or whatever it may be, what's the

catch on the back end? >> the catch on the back end often times the prc is not motivated by developing an economically viable and sustainable program but is motivated geostrategic considerations and will work to create a project that is not economic, not >> f. thank you very much. final question, as quick as you can do, how important is it, important is it to ratify the laws? >> i think secretary blinken has spoken to this before. it would be very effective to our diplomacy in the region. on the previs question to underscore the point, countries make their own decisions and their own choices, we want to make sure they can do that

freely. often times we find can underm sovereignty and can lead to giving china leverage over our country that undermines this position, thank you. >> senator risch. >> can you describe for us the challenges, if there are any, of attracting diplomats to serve in the eap area that you oversee? is it difficult, is a challenging, what's unique about it? >> the challenging -- i would say two things. there are certain challenges because we need to make sure we have diplomats who ready to serve our creative and expeditionary and conserve in our most important, smallest b gratified that thus far there's been a lot of enthusiasm for service in the pacific.

as noted, in addition to our previously operating six embassies we've open two new ones and have two more on the way and time gratified two■ moe stepped up in every instance, at the senior level and the working level. >> we appreciate that and we try to help. i passed the secure embassy construction and counterterrorism act, assume you are familiar with that. and it was in 2022, provides the state with flexibility to stand up which is especially useful. since you are here and your boss isn't, you get the ain to why he has only entered two of the five letters i have written about that subject to him and one of those two that he answered we just got this week. it's been a long time. when you see him, tell him i

want to chat with him. >> i immediately. we are grateful to you and members of this committee for your support. because of your support we've been able to open our two■ new embassies in the solomons and tonga in record speed and i'm confident we will do the same in the very near future. grateful for the support. >> appreciate that. theaw we just discussed requires that the secretary issue official guidance to implement it. that hasn't been done. i don't suppose you can enlighten me as to when that might be done. >> make that part of the record please. okay. mr. ratner. i'm intrigued by the fact the

stly successful in these policing agreements they've entered into with some of the countries. when we go out to try to work with another country, we offer things in food, medical area, education, human like that, the chinese focus on policing agreements. i think i know why, but can you enlighten us a little bit why the chinese focus on that? >> i believe the prc is focused on policing agreements to the mechanism through which they can support and gain leverage over host regimes. >> and the population itself. would you agree with that? yes. >> have we thought about at all offering the same kind of services, for the people who run the country, security becomes number one particularly

thei o hopefully being able to stay in office so it seems like that's a pretty attractive basis to get countries to bite. have you thought at all about making an offerik >> the defense department has a number of activities, military to military cooperation activities i islands, not to internal policing, support in that regard, to talk about that. >> there are two different lanes are in different ones. may be you could -- >> 5 could speak to that briefly, we have increased our own law enforcement assistance we work together with partners in the pacific family, fiji, papa one new guinea, australia, new zealand to have a traditio

helping countries in the region was security and policing and that has been quite effective to show that there are obvious alternatives to prc policing that is deeply concerning. >> we are all concerned about that. strongly suggest that you guys revisit your effort and make it more attractive. when they do bite on the hook, it's our hook and not the chinese. time is up, thank you. mister chair. >> senator menendez. >> secretary daniel kritenbrink, is it fair to say that china remains an important market for pacific island countries, natural resource exports and tourism? >> yes, i think that is an accurate statement. >> ten pacific island countries

have joined china's wealth and road initiative which promotes prc infrastructure develop and? >> i don't know that figure but i would not dispute it. happto >> i'm pretty sure it is ten.■k is also fair to say since china is the economic force within that region, that we are challenged in terms of our own national interests in meg wit that can compete. >> senator, i would agree with that but i would say having engaged with our pacific island leader friends the demand signal for us engagement as as strong as we've seen in any region. certainly there are economic engagements with china that are important to these countries and we are not asking to choos

pacific island friends want to have options, they have a desire to partner with the united states and we doing everything we can. >> i would like to hav options. the problem is we provide them no option in terms of economic or trade agenda. there is no trade agenda of consequence with theacific island countries and for so long as they do not have an option for their economic vitality and well-being of their citizens, they are somewhat hostage to china. >> we certainly tried to meet their needs. >> how so? >> as i indicated, our strategy is based on meeting their needs climate change, infrastructure investment and the like. our focus has been primarily in those sectors. we promote good governance but those are the priorities.

>> those are all worthwhile things, things that i've advocated for for the better part of two decades in congress but we have to be realistic that if we do not have a robust trade agenda in the pacific island countries, they will not by desire, but by default, deal with the chinese and the urgency of climate change, we be doing as it relates to climate change which is in our collective interests as well as glob interest that we have, but is really an x essential challenge to our pacific island neighbors. i just hope the administration gets to a better place, because

it is a nice framework but doesn't deal with any market access at the end of the day and without market access i think that wg to be at a competitive disadvantage over china. michael schiffer, good to see before the committee. you adopted the state department ways of extending beyond the 5 minutes so i hope that's the only thing you adopt from that experience. let me just say, our colleague was trying to get to this. at the end of the day, isn't what china often does is to trap many of these countries in debt diplomacy? >> that is exactly the behavior pattern we've seen, were china offers what appears to be an attractive proposition, but the backside of dirt and entrapment

and leverage and additional openings for corrupt practices create serious problems down the line. debt but trap them in their political, diplomatic questions. >> yes. beijing is very skilled at using leverage. >> finally, secretary ratner, in march of 22 of the solomon islands and security agreement ostensibly aiming in part to address, quote, internal threats including protecting chinese owned businesses in the coand 23 the two countryside a deal on police cooperation as part of their comprehensive strategic partnership. while i certainly applaud last year'smbassy in the solomon islands, what tools is the united states using and utilizing to encourage the solomon islands commitment to continue working with the united states, and australia as security? >> again, i would d for to this

particularly on the question of policing but as it relates to role throughout the pacific islands much of our cooperation depends on the nature of the island, the size, resident forces. pacific islands that have militaries, png, tonga, and fiji, we maintain to military relations with them and maintain status as partner of choice there. we have a number of section 333 capacity building programs, dod state partnership program through national guard programs, we do a number of es island partners and we are deeply engaged with australia, new zealand, france and other partners. >> that's not the question i was seeking an answer to. for the record, mr. secretary, would you respond to that question. what are we doing to get the solomon islands to be aligned

with us and secured or partnership. >> senator ricketts. >> i'm actually going to follow-up with that w with regard, if you could go into more details, we covered a number of countries already like theua new guinea, that have established security arrangements with people's republic of china. can you talk in more detail about at we are doing to supply the international standards, australia and new zealand, to counter the things the prc is doing. i can understand countries wanting to have security, but the malign influence, if you could hit upon what we are trying to do to counter it and

talk about what the prc those, we've seen the be able to expedite peopledissidents and h about once the prc gets a hold of security forces what malign countries. >> thank you for the question. it is deeply concerning when we see these agreements inked because they are have caused concern in the individual countries and across the region as well and are most effective approachinue to enga partner including those who signed the use agreements but we are effective when we work with others to sha those concerns, who can convey the depth of our concern offer alternatives. that's the crux of the approach. >> get into the alternatives your offering. and encounter china saying we

will provide -- what can we do to counter that? >> we have our own law enforcement training programs active throughout the pacific, providing an explicit alternative and boots on the ground, and that can help these cohere partners like fiji, papua new guinea, and australia and new zealand and police forces on the ground in many of these countries but that's the mos effective way forward and finding that solution that is comfortable with friends in the pacific that the most effective way forward and the countries that i mentioned that help provide security even after this. >> so we offer new trag ike th islands? >> i would have to look at the details of each country but yes, we provide training in the partners in the pacific in particular are very active because they have police forces on the ground in many of these places. >> can you also talk a little

bit about prc length organized crime in these places and how it undermines security, we know a lot about that and how that rates in security issues? >> i don't have a great deal of depth on that. we have to bring that back. but when you think about some areas where countries ought to be cautious about their engagement with china, part of it is leverage, and coercive avenues that are opened up for the government and part of it is organized crime as well. i would have to take that back and i would be happy to do so. >> talk in detail about when security forces are on the ground in some of these countries and how the prc then uses that to suppress dissidents who may be there? >> that's the concern voiced partners, citizens of countries in the region. i'm not sure if we've seen much of that yet but that is certainly the concern and as

assistant secretary ratner indicated, when we've seen china do this elsewhere they are often looking for an avenue to get in the door and expand security arrangements from there and so that would be a deep concern to ma i region including ourselves. >> can you talk about after the taiwan elections and how they switched their diplomatic ties in taiwan to the prc. how much awareness do we have of that in the state department, this is not the first time it happened but flipping back to taiwan recognition. >> there is back-and-forth so there's that precedent. what disappointed us in that move is the way it was done. the excuses used by the prc including certain economic inducements, which was misused

and misinterpreted but our message to the three remaining partne of taiwan, countries ought to be careful and clear eyed about entering these arrangements and promises to remain unfulfilled that can have negative consequences and with those three remaining partners three formal diplomatic partners of taiwan, we work carefully and closely with them to make sure their needs are met and we try to close off any opportunities that china could exploit. >> did we know they were going to do that?rr >> we had known for some time that there were concerns and we were workingit in this instance they decided to flip. there was a history in some of these places of going back-and-forth on a we will have to see but again, you should a public

statement after this was done. every country has a sovereign decision to make their own decision including these recognition questions but we encourage countries to be cautious given the track record of the chairman. >> i want to ask you a question related to the local media information space, we talk a lot about the need for western engagement on infrastructure. we recognize in many cases china might be the only player in town to deal with infrastructure projects and therefore they give a deal that too good to believe in turns tt it was going to be and the debt/diplomacy issues but also seems the prc is actively engaged in influencing local media and information in the

region, what is the united states doing to try to counter that activity? . >> thank you. very important question. i will mention two critical efforts at the first, in every place we have a presence and are on the ground, we are active in the local media space to make sure there is alternative messaging to the prc so our countries, partners in the region have choice and accurate information. secondly, we are working partners in the region with access to credible newswires. so a newspaper on the ground is not completely dependent on should work for its news. that's what i would mention at the outset. >> if i can build on that, mr.

chairman. in addition to the cable spur project i talked about earlier in the work with other with department of state colleagues supporting free and independent press in the region through a number of journalism fellowships particularly targeting natural resource management. that addresses a number of corruption and governance concerns that we have and we recently also recently launched with the university of south pacific a digital cyber connectivity partnership that allows us to step into the digital space in a forward leaning way responsive to our partners to provide them the digital services that they

need, to be able to control their own information destinies. is an area we need work on. i am going to turn the gavel to senator kane. i have to be on the floor in regards to our nominee for haiti. we will be voting on it, haiti which is extremely important in our foreign policy decisionmaking so let me thank you all. i will recognize the senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i don't watch as closely as i'm sure you do to see what china is doing but i must admit it strikes me that theyca■ have a very comprehensive plan to establish global leadership and replace us with international institutions where they insinuate themselves into

people of leadership or the movement away from democracy generally, and the growth and autocracy, freedom house indicates the trend continued again this year. they dominate certain raw materials, the raw materials of the future whether it is nickel or magnesium or rare earths and so forth, the mining of things, the processing of them, put in place the rail lines to get raw materials for their ports, they on the ports to get products to their market. than they have tick-tock which allows him to gather data on the american people and provid taiwan election. they likewise. i shouldn't say dominate, they lead in new technologies and businesses, solar panels, they invested in hypersonics which

allowed him to threaten our ■u fleet. look at the things they do, a comprehensive plan and appears to be a very effective strategy. if we have a strategy to counter china it is not working so two years ago or longer the chairman of this committee, requiring the state department to gather internally and with external input experts with different points of you to create options and develop a china strategy we include that in legislation that was passed, it was due to be provided this committee and congress in june 2022 so it is obviously late. calmly old-fashioned, i thought when we passed a law and required the state department to do something that they would

do it and the state department has not or someone has not, don't understand why. i understand people say we are late, we will get it to you, but apparently, the work is done but this is not provided. what i can tell, has a game be plan, and it is succeeding, we don't have a game plan i recognize, and whether we do or not, we are not succeeding. daniel kritenbrink, why do we not have this in hand, and when will we? you knew that was coming. >> i will say two things which we have a strategy, we talked about publicly, the pillars of that strategy. >> three words does not make a strategy.bq it is a wonderful headline. invest, align, compete, and the

secretary gave a speech of tha right, but we need a comprehensive strategy. i described a few things china has in their strategy. we don't have that. it has not been provided the congress or the american people and we are losing on the strategic battlefield. >> i committed to you before to provide this report and apologize that that hasn't been number 2, the point i take issue with, the strategy is more than those three elements and if you look at the actions the administration has invested, the aligned piece, the alignment with allies and partners and friends around the world in the indo pacific and the actions we have taken to

compete against china, including protecting sources of economic strength at home but in many other domains as well. i'm confident we can have a strategy and the china strategy is succeeding, has been successful and is succeeding but this is an unprecedented challenge but i commit to being responsive to your request, thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. senator duckworth. >> thank you to all the witnesses for being here today. i would like to say congratulations to joseph you and the team that worked for two years to renegotiate the compact of free association with the republic of the marshall islands, federated states of micronesia and powwow. this is critically important to our national security and i'm today. over a thousand citizens serve proudly in the united states military. they are more than just good pacific, they serve alongside us, study,

innovate and trade together with us and they should not be put in a position of doubt, to doubt our commitment continuing our decade-long partnership, nor the inability to right the wrongs of the past including providing compensation for damages caused by past nuclear testing. secretary ratner, i want to tht task force micronesia. as you know, we mandated an assessment on implementation of jcf micronesia while we await the results of that report and related assessments pertaining to guam i want to make my interest in this issue clear. their plans and reports recognize the pacific, we have to make sure our structure and resourcing also reckons with for example, our coast guard has realigned assets to honolulu to better meet the heightened demand signal, a ■2sign t coming for our planning process and our allies and partners who are asking us for more opportunities to work

together. what are your thoughts on the question of how our resources in that region align with the actual vastness of scale of the region. >> thank you, senator. i will tell you that about what is currently looking at the evolution of our command and control structures throughout the indo pacific, not just as5 it relates to current structure and potential reforms of that, what that looks like down the road is something to look at including as it relates to how we operate in the pacific islands. the national defense strategy is laser a pacing challenge and that has informed a lot of our resourcing as it relates to the pacific islands including major posture initiatives throughout the pacific islands and we have ongoing exercises and daniel kr doing everything we can to leverage our allies and partners to have great contributions to make so

per onestepped up our game, we new guinea, looking for additional opportunities. >> i feel a special responsibly to ensure strong interagency coordination to addressing pressing national security challenges and i spoke to the commander of centcom about how rtant it is to do this in their areas of responsibility. what can you say about how tay include not only from across different service branches but also the interagency coordination across the planet, develop insulin defense functions directly from the region as it is already being done,■v■: that's done at atf w. >> i will refer to specific staffing but i 100% agree with your point. it is a broader point to make as relates to security issues,

the usaid is doing, and other department agencies are fundamental contributions to our security in the region so when we talk about concerns about china's influence and military resourcing and funding some of our economic assistance important and we work closely with the state department and usaid. admiral aquilino hosted a conference where daniel kritenbrink attended and we are taking every chance we get to our posture and military strategy with our assistance and diplomacy. >> that speaks strongly to the importance of our presence in the region. i would like to stay on the topic of the interagency cooperation when it comes to implanting the with pacific is in particular in the context of

co fa specifically. our failure to pass a budget on time did nothing to make the case for us leadership and reliability in the world including in the pacific but now that funding has passed, your assessment of whether the us government is presenting unified consistent presence to our allies and partners particularly the marshall islands, micronesia and powwow. in yours the united states building strategies the project not only our strength but our value to make the case the united states is a responsible power and democracy does deliver because you know the prc is making these opposite arguments. our investments, and the reputation as a reliable partner of choice. >> thank you for your leadership and interagency cooperation. to colleagues at the white

house, and colleagues at the department of the interior as well. i fully agree are values have to be on display. my experience over the last couple years. many leaders and most of the people on the ground, to look at the capacity of partners. i couldn't agree more. i want to thank you and congress for leadership passing co fa was one of the most have done in the last decade, very >> i think we've had exceptional interagency cooperation under the biden/harris administration. p

to the community deliver to our partners. to present the unified phase to demonstrate america's value as a partner. our approach has been to listen, to deliver, and to your point delivery is just as critical as any of the other pieces. i've stepped up again in the last couple years. >> if i summarize, and have senator haggerty -- >> my apologies, mr. chairman. i was going to offer the president made commitments at recent pacific island summits but the state department, usaid. to make sure we are showing up

in tangible ways >> i apologize, senator hagerty. >> good discussion, senator hagerty. >> welcome, administrator michael schiffer, secretary ely ratner, good to see all three of you. the investment strategy we undertake, you have different tools, ely ratner, you have the office of strategic capital which i would like to hear about. administrator michael schiffer, the micro finance program you are dealing with. dani kritenbrink, we talked about the strategy document you are putting together, i am deeply concerned about our ability to show up particularly end infrastructure in the region. i may have shared this with some of you but in my previous role as ambassador to japan, i was reading about bankruptcy that was underway in the philippines.

a south korean shipyard in bankruptcy.i reached out to th appropriate people and found out they are affiliated with prc trying to take control of a strategic shipyard, when in the u.s. navy post back in the 80s when i was in japan the first time. i would won't go into details of it here but we put tremendous effort into trying to address the situation and that asset now is a us asset, strategic asset in the region. the way we got that done was making a lot of phone calls, the state department, department of defense coming together on an ad hoc basis, capital management in new york, taking an important role in this and the japanese

ment helping us as well. the us government making this happen, took the better part of two yearso the development of finance cooperation which i thought would be the tool we could use top able to participate in this. we were not able to get direct participation. a lot o effort and elbow grease but not direct participation. starting with you, to talk about the office of strategic capital. is this a tool by which you might do hard inastrture? you talk about technology here but are there other tools you can step up and play a more direct role? >> yes. i will get back to you specifically on the object of strategic capital as relates to pacific islands. what i will say related to

infrastructu w number of posture initiatives underway in the pacific islands, in territories such as guam, marshall islands, major projects underway, and defense cooperation agreement with papua new guinea and had one survey team down and another one on the way to start looking at some of the infrastructure projects, this is a huge priority that connects the development of economic issues we have been talking about, looking to do more throughout the region and some of those projects are included in the 25 budget request. >> i encourage you to take a look at the philippines. there are more assets, i am sure you are aware of the chinese communist party's interest in that region. we should have a great interest in projecting our own relationship. i've been very happy with the

philippines, can you speak to fjthis in terms of your though as you prepare the strategic document you promised to senator romney, i would love to hear how this infrastructure is. >> thank you for your leadership on the philippines, one of the best textbook examples5 we have over the success story. we are focused especially with other partners to catalyze astructure, subsidy cables is the place we've been most active. work on the google cable and elsewhere and we partnered with australia. we were going to co-finance maritime infrastructure at charlie wharf. and to underscore the

president's budget request. to allow the united states to fund hard infrastructurproject and strategic connectivity projects in the region. >> if you could get me more detail on that. thank you all. >> thank you to the witnesses. i will do my questioning now and call on senator young. i'm a big fan of the oca s framework, president biden a couple years ago, canoing forward. i have home state equities involved as well. the submarine portion of the deal involves a lot of work at the shipyard. i will tell a funny story about that, a thank you to this committee. secretaryr, about ten

years -- 10 days before the defense, he marked up the nda in june, the pentagon sent a group to meet with me in the you are the chairman of the subcommittee, we need to get this legislative language in the nda and he said i'm not going to help you. they said wait a minute, you are an office supported. why won't you help us? because none of this is jurisdictional in the armed services committee. i can't get it in the nda, it's the foreign relations committee. we worked together, great members on this committee, really helped get the framework through the foreign relations committee so that by the time the nda hit the floor, we were to attach the legislative framework to the defense bill on the floor. ..thank you to this committee for working expeditiously to make itn. we're still in process this in kay while nda has been signed. we have a supplemental bil

that passed in house. one piece of that has -- been p and the one piece of the supplemental that has proven controversial is the the auguste investment than it's been made in the suffering and industrial base to make sure we can match with our investment what the aussies are putting i a databaso complete this important part of project. just from the pentagon standpoint of like you talk about the importance of the aukus framework in terms of stability a deterrent in indo-pacific because i think when you did do more education of the american public and others about this. so talk about why this is such an important priority for theha. this is an absolute top priority insofar as our undersea capabilities are critical he indo-pacific at they are in part of u.s. overmatch and it's essential we keep it that way. when we apply our allies and partners to that overmatch, it's

l deterrent. so . so maintaining our m undersea advantage is going to be key in maintaining peace and stability and richard burr theou aukus legislation helps to do that. he mentioned submarine building. the the president's budget ret for fy 25 would provide $4 billion toward submarine and social base of the national screw supplemental on top of that and that will be critical to keep pace with the challenget submarine building. the navy has start up a manufacturing center of excellence back in danville virginia to train the suffering a database. on my last visit to the center that was pretty heartwarming to walk in these classrooms and see not only u.s. shipbuilders from around the country but also aussies, aussies have been dispatched her from australian companies to learn side-by-side with their a,=meterparts. theac other thing i does is each of the classrooms i went into also included a number of afgh served

bravely with the united states and afghanistan. they moved to the united states and looking for a new career and i'm going to be a shipbuilder. watching the aussies and the afghans at the young people from danville with all the conflicting as since learning side-by-side to become part o the subway and industrial base, and yesterday and a database, was really positive. secretary kritenbrink, the of the of aukus is pillow two which means sort of anything else, and when is about sobs that pillar ai, is as technologies,se innovation. one of opportunities there is partnerships between research universities in the7/ u.s., australian and uk and innovative companies. my sense is in the same way that the u.s. has alliances that arey china as, threatening, wheels with deep ties between universities in our country and australia and the uk and other

nations. i think that is kind of annoyed that pretty powerful. from. from the state department standpoint looking at pillow two what do you see as ways we can cooperate with the u.s., with australia and the uk to find new innovative technologies on which we can cooperate to promote stability in the region? >> senator, completely agree with the way you framed it, tremendous opportunities i think undercover two as well for butter-based technological cooperations. certainly among our three countries as you've outlined between our our universities and her companies. as you know we've also indicated we are open to potentially cooperating with other countries in pillow two as well. i think this is quite an exciting and strategically important area. >> well, if the big 12 kenaf 16 teams, then the quad can have eight members, or aukus can have names are not in the title. i'm going to not g to senator young. >> thank you, chairman. i was really encourage you asked

about color two of aukus. i have writer, no two, that's one also also is going to follow up on, just emphasizing the importance of that piece of the aukus relationship. it's been a lot less attention focused at least inllow two butk opportunities between our research institutions and high-tech companies are just, it'she really exciting to me. so thank you to the state department for your emphasis on haimplement that. i would like to turn to the topic of illegal fishing activities. china has by far beenn the leading aggressor ineg illegal fishing throughout the region. it's affected the economy's of each country that relies onppor. chinaa through their illegal activities have diverted all manner of economic resources and, therefore, our armed forces

have been doing their part to help. they conducted missions to counter what we cometed and unregulated or i use you fishing. mr. kritbr diplomatic effort has the state department been leading to challenge chinese fishing in the region and has anys they made especially on what we call ship writer agreements with our coast guard? >> senator, thank you. really important question and that was was going to go first that a thinker coast guard is the most effective. in the ship writer agreements in particular. i don't have it in front of the those of all the countries we have shipped right agreements but i think our coast guard presence in thehe region crackig down on illegal fishing especially through shipwright arrangements, helping countries in the region understand what's happening in the maritime domains and to defend the r prot thing we can do.

i can get back to honesty just. i would say cyclic what we done just across the board more broadly we've tried increasing partners a time domain awareness in indo-pacific maritime domain awarenessss initiative. again the theory of the case uns happened in the domain they can better protect them. thirdly i think the more we can do to publicize and shine a brightig are correct, that we be that the prc is by far the country to carry out the vast illegal fishing in ways that truly detrimental to the economy's of the region. >> thank you. if you would kindly get whatever information you have the list of shipwright agreements which is a great start to the committee, we'll take a look. and then by way of when the chinese government does nothing to control fishing fleets engage in illegal fishing, maybe you can tell us, how does the u.s. government differentiates. our adherence to

international conventions on fishing and maritime % boundari? >> i'm sorry, senator, i don't, i didn't catch the last part. my apologies. >> when they respond, when to do absolutely nothing to control the fishing fleets that are engaged in the sort of illegal fishing, does that make it difficult to follow international conventions on fishing and maritime boundaries? >> i understand, yes, sir. so really appreciate the question. i think there are two challenges. yes, there's shipwright agreements and other actions cardio country to control the maritime domains. and then there are also waters on the open sea that are overfished and over utilized in ways again this detrimental to the region. our effort is one through shining a bright light on these issues and he can secondly try

to build the capacity of partners in the region to understand that in addition to her own operations. >> thank you. so staying on this topic, the coast guard is currently analyzing what resources they require t increase their operational tempo in the western pacific. this followsec a directed that i secured inhe authorization, ande findings should become available and reported to congress and the state department as we hit the end of this year. so can i have your commitment to review thosedithey become avail? >> absolutely, senator. and can is a coast guard leadership indo-pacific has been committed and when we get the second specific carbon summit, one of the most effective since we had was at coast guard headquarters to cut think our pacific other pars really encouraged and depressed by the resources and capabilities we can bring to bear.

>> well thank you. we will look to the findings and al have about how this committee can be helpful and informed byme the findings, doing whatever is needed to empower sta coast guard to help address illegal fishing activities moving forward. thank you so much. >> senator van hollen. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i think all of you for your testimony and your service. i just want to say themsenator s regarding maritime security and protecting fisheries. and the know a lot of been covered in this hearing already. i just want to stress that enough you all know this but when we're dealing with china's influence in the pacific region, it5# can't just all be no, don't work with china.ll in fact, quite the opposite. we need to a better alternative both in terms of the vision of the future but also

material support. you can't beat something with nothing. and again io want%c to encourage all of you to continue to use all the tools at our disposal, economic tools, whether the dfc or other agencies to put forward proposals that support people in this region.■u assistant secretary kritenbrink, i do a specific question about to her boss at a know it's been referenced, china's police presence there. i also know there's an i.t. component i understand to their involvement. one question is, what are we doing to counter prc's influence? but the larger question is how can we anticipate these kind of challenges and not play waccamaw after they come up? in other words, hackley proactive rather than just

reactive? >> senator, thank you fantastic question and thank you for leadership and support. i think the number one thing that we need to do is to be present, to be active in all these countries and to as you said offer alternative. >> specific in the case of kiribati our ambassador, i understand the scene right now. again to hear the needs of our friends in kiribati and to determine the best way forward. i know friends at the millennium challenge corporation have a threshold compact of about $30 million if i remember correctly. education and building local capacity. i mentioned a little while earlier some of the work we're doing together with friends in australia■b refurbish the canton wharf and another war there. and also we are following up on the agreement■# we have from kiribati leadership to establish the u.s. embassy in kiribati as

rubrics are getting that permit present on the ground worki on all those alternatives from infrastructure to other areas across the board i think that's the best way both with the friends in kiribati but across-the-board indo-pacific we have to be present, active and bring alternatives to the table. we think our strategy is designed to do just that. ipas you say we're not there on the ground, we are not going to be in the game, can't offer you know proposals or engage. can you give a brief update on how we've expanded our diplomatic presence in the >> thank you, senator.e need to we've identified four countries in which wemb want to establish new embassies. we've successfully done so in the solomon islands and in tonga. tonga. we will be open imminently in manitowoc, and as i said where working diligently to follow up on kiribati and we will need parliamentary approval for that

but working actively that. in each instance of the two new embassies with open thus far, wy quickly and that we're moving to build up the staff, built out the permanent facilities, the long-term facility in which our staff will be there. and then we're also working on the personal side to get ope temporary duty personnel, boots on the ground a plant a flag and that were followed up with e full-time staff and also together with this committee hope to be nominating ambassadors to these new countries as well. but as you said this a substitute confident we will be present in these four countries and then we will build out the present i think it would will make you two different, and already is in the fall of man's. >> thank you. i do have one last question on the implementation of for you, dr. ratner. i know senator duckworth raised

the issue at a figure focus with some of the work id is doing in aftermath of passing funding for the compact of free association. on the defensives are you takinw that that's passed? >> senator, we obviously have a range of activities associated in terms of exercises and operations, rotating to the sta. in terms of major investments under way, we have a couple specific major posture initiatives there. and posture sites in rmi, republic of marshall islands, host the ronald reagan ballistic missile testing site at u.s. army garrison which is a really important location as it relates to space operations and space situational awareness. and then of coursexw■p we have e radar, the tactical multi-mission mission over the

horizon radar and palau which is going to give the department of9 military unprecedented situationalil awareness over a huge swath of the pacific. certainly impornt posture initiatives underway. >> appreciated. thank you. thank you all. >> we've been formed senator cruze is on his wit and a going to get into minutes. ly at your desk, and if easier within two minutes then he will be up next and then we will conclude bickering, and if he isn't i will gavel us to a waiting in those two minutes of money, we had an armed services committee hearing right before ce of theenator ernst and senator hirono had been quite involved in the convene act which was v on security agreements with the culmination of this cosponsor that. senator van hollen i think you as w was hard to include in the ndaa. when i told senator hirono that

is comingpa up to this hearing that was focusing upon the pacific islands and strategy and that it was to my recollection the first time that we fêted on this topic in this committee during the time i been on a, ylad and said it's about time. there was some have the armed services committee members knowing that this was happening today, two,ent up patiently wait for now i think it's 62 seconds now now to see if senator cruze [inaudibleversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> as were counted down i will do the homework, which is there may be members of the committee of what is a bit questions in writing including senator cruze. we will keep the record of the ring open until the close of business on friday, march 15. if images of the question we promptly and thoroughly.espond there is a vote on going on the senate floor right now, an important one, wh respect to our nominee to be ambassador to haiti, every time he won. and with that and the concurrence of the ranking member is your guy coming? okay. with the concurrence of the ranking member we will be slightly graceful to a colleague who is said to be in the

building. so we will wait a bit$ longer. >> senator kaine, do you have any more aukus jokes while we're waiting? thought the story would be appreciated. it is a great initiative and good, good work moving out on u■ >> thank you so much for your support on that. that legislation is ready critical. >> australian sailors training in a nuclear power program in south carolina with u.s. sailors, to take a nation that only has, the only nuclear and australia's medical isoto3ñs abo operate, maintain and eventually built a nuclear subs the most complex items manufactured on the planet earth thato is a lot of work. that would be great were to be able to do together. well, with that i'm going to decide that hearing is now to be adjourned with the thanks of the e. we adjourn, please do follow up on questions if they are submitted. thank you.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]%w

[ile conversations] >> congress returns urney facing under the deadline of friday at midnight eastern to fu partial shutdown. the house is back at noon stn, and along with the senate, plans to vote on the six remaining spendinil to fund the federal government ed the deadline later this week. later today the hse will consider several foreign policy bills including legon to sensitive personal data by data brokers to foreign adversaes fisted returns tod at.m. eastern. lawmakers will votn the confirmation of service employees intertial union general counsel nicole berner to see as aou fourth circuit at p.m. eastern. if confirmed she would be the first openly lgbtq judge to serve on that court. on c-span, theerage of the house