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'Could You Just Briefly Describe How You Imagined That Math Working'_ Chris Coons Questions Rubio
Forbes Breaking News
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5/21/2025
At Tuesday's Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) questioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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00:00
Thank you, Chairman Graham, Ranking Member Schatz, and good to be with you again, Secretary Rubio.
00:07
I wanted to make sure that the point's been made, as I suspect it has been by my colleague,
00:12
that reform to USAID and reform to some of the authorities and the spending in the legislation
00:19
that we passed in the last Congress is something that could easily have been done with partnership
00:25
with this committee and with Congress and should have been done that way.
00:30
I wanted to touch on a few things that you and I worked on that I think deserve continued support
00:36
and that I think are important for us to sustain.
00:40
Senator Graham and I worked to pass the Global Fragility Act in 2019.
00:44
You were a co-sponsor.
00:46
It was signed into law by President Trump, and it's designed to save literally billions of dollars
00:51
by addressing root causes of terrorism in fragile countries.
00:55
As you put it at the time, as the U.S. responds to humanitarian crises, we must address the factors
01:02
driving instability and violence.
01:04
It's both moral and international security to promote stable and prosperous countries,
01:09
and I'm proud to introduce this legislation.
01:11
I'm planning to work with Senator Graham on reauthorizing it this year.
01:15
The primary implementing entity had long been the Bureau of Conflict Operations and Stabilization.
01:20
That's a Bureau that's been restructured.
01:25
Do you still agree it's in our national interest to have a targeted strategy to address the root causes of terrorism,
01:31
and will you work with us to sustain the capabilities we need in the State Department
01:36
to continue the Global Fragility Act's work?
01:38
Yes, and let me add to that because it's a good example.
01:41
Number one, part of the reorg, just because we got rid of an office named something,
01:44
doesn't mean the function goes away.
01:46
It means that we want to drive that through the Regional Bureau.
01:48
So a great example of global fragility, I keep going back to this over and over again, is Syria.
01:54
And if we don't, if that fragility is not addressed, there's going to be terror.
01:59
There already is.
02:00
I mean, ISIS is already growing there and potentially growing even more dangerous.
02:04
If there is a civil war in Syria, you're going to have an ungoverned space
02:07
where multiple groups are going to break out and not just threaten the region,
02:10
but ultimately potentially the homeland.
02:12
So it's a great example of how global fragility can be applied to the real world.
02:16
But we have to do it very quickly.
02:17
We have to be able to act quickly in this regard,
02:19
which is one of the things we hope to do by being able to drive this down to the regional and local levels.
02:25
I also work closely with Chairman Graham, with Chairman McCall, with Ranking Member Meeks,
02:30
and over 100 co-sponsors of both parties to enact the U.S. Foundation for International Conservation.
02:37
It was enacted through the NDAA.
02:39
There's funding allocated to it.
02:42
You stated in your confirmation on January 15th that this was the sort of public-private partnership
02:48
that struck you as deserving of support, and I would hope you would move quickly to execute creating it.
02:55
It simply requires your signature.
02:57
And obligating the funds and appointing the board.
03:01
Chairman Graham and I are also working on a similar bill that would address food insecurity,
03:05
again through a public-private partnership, a foundation that would rely on as much private sector funding
03:11
and philanthropy as government funding.
03:14
Do you still support these foundations, and is this something you look forward to working with?
03:18
Yeah, and we'll get you an answer.
03:19
I mean, we'll get you a decision on that very quickly, which is what you're looking for,
03:22
is us to go through and try to implement the law.
03:24
I recall the plan correctly.
03:26
We'll get to that fairly quickly.
03:28
We've had a lot going on over the last four months, but we'll get to it,
03:31
including 100-and-something reports that we inherited that were overdue.
03:34
We're working through those as well.
03:36
But because you raised it here today, if you give me a few days, I'll get you an action on it.
03:42
We have spoken about the MCC.
03:45
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a Bush-era initiative that used metrics and accountability,
03:52
working against corruption and in long-term partnership with countries to give them an alternative to Chinese financing.
04:00
As you've described it, and I agree, debt-trap financing.
04:03
There are current compacts active in countries like Indonesia, the Solomon Islands, Nepal, Kiribati,
04:09
where it gives transparency and cost-sharing.
04:13
You are the chair of the board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
04:18
I understand from our discussion this morning that you're aware it's in some transition.
04:23
Can you just confirm it's going through reform and will not be shut down wholesale?
04:27
I can confirm.
04:28
We're on the board.
04:29
We don't operate it, obviously.
04:30
We're on the board, but it's not a State Department function.
04:33
We are one of the board members.
04:34
I'll be at the chair.
04:35
And actually, our deputy, Chris Landau, is serving in that role when I'm not available to be at these meetings and so forth.
04:42
My understanding, as of the latest updates that I've gotten with the work that's being done,
04:46
is it is undergoing a reform effort or streamline effort, but not a takedown effort.
04:51
I think it would be an unforced error for us to hand away the relationships and the competition with China
04:59
that are metrics-based and transparent that the MCC has put in place, so I hope to work with you on that.
05:04
Last, your testimony highlights an America First Opportunity Fund as a more flexible and responsive account
05:11
that will address waste in foreign assistance and be more agile.
05:16
But at least as I see it in your proposal, the account replaces $9 billion of programs with a $3 billion account
05:24
to cover everything from countering the PRC, countering Russia, aiding Jordan, and others.
05:29
Could you just briefly describe how you imagined that math working
05:34
and how this fund being sufficient to meet a wide menu of needs?
05:39
Well, part of it is we found that some of these programs underneath it, they were scattered,
05:44
some of them were duplicative, there were some inefficiencies.
05:47
So we truly believe, and what the right number is, obviously, that's what we'll have to work with you on,
05:51
but we truly believe that we can deliver on the same goals for substantially less
05:57
than what those combined pre-existing funds or projects would have cost.
06:02
But what it's going to enable us to do is to ensure that assistance funds are directed towards the highest priority projects
06:09
that we may have on any given basis, on any given moment, given global events that are happening.
06:14
It provides enough, in addition to these existing programs, it provides us being nimble enough
06:18
to deal with a contingency in a world that rapidly evolves,
06:22
as opposed to having to go back and repurpose existing funds to do it.
06:26
So that's really the goal of the fund, is to be able to move at the speed of relevance
06:29
when it comes to global events and not have to wait for the next funding cycle to come across
06:35
or work through some reprogramming process that could take time for us to be able to respond quickly.
06:41
I do think, as a former senator, I hope you'll agree that there has to be a modicum of consultation,
06:47
review, and approval by this subcommittee and others.
06:50
But the target of agility, responding to world events, I suspect you'll get bipartisan support for that.
06:56
But there needs to be a congressional role in oversight and accountability.
07:00
Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
07:02
Senator Moran.
07:03
Senator Moran.
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8:35
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