00:04Mr. Secretary, I'll continue the same line of questions in the conversation we were having just a minute ago.
00:09Since 2005, the United States has funded an effort to train Palestinian security forces
00:14and help coordinate security between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
00:18The mission led by an American general has received bipartisan support over the years,
00:24helping to support critical security cooperation between Palestinian and Israeli security forces.
00:29What are the current plans for the continuation of this function in the region,
00:34and what funding do you anticipate for FY20?
00:36The function will continue.
00:37I think what's being contemplated is whether the function should be brought under the auspices of the Embassy and the Ambassador.
00:43That's really the internal conversation that we're having right now,
00:47and I tend to believe that it should because I think it needs to be part of our coordinated response
00:51to the challenges in Israel in particular.
00:54So I think that's really, but the function will continue.
00:58The question is, is it under the authority of the Ambassador?
01:01Yeah, and I, again, agree with your streamlining of these services and the mission that we have in order to reach that objective.
01:11On that vein as well, one consistent frustration we had with USAID under the previous administration
01:17was a lack of information and data shared with Congress on the impact of the programs paid with taxpayer dollars.
01:24I believe that any U.S. taxpayer dollar that leaves the country must be working in our national security interests
01:29and have strict accountability metrics to be measured and see what's working and what's not, as you previously mentioned.
01:35If you can elaborate on this a little bit, you kind of touched on it, but how will you ensure the consistent and open communication between the State Department
01:42and this subcommittee going forward and part of that and how you're planning on repositioning our aid towards prioritizing national security?
01:50Well, a couple I think will be very helpful, and I used to, you know, when people used to tell me this when I was in the Senate, I didn't fully appreciate it.
01:56Now I really appreciate this idea that we do need to get more of our Senate confirmed people on board.
02:00We're starting to get some of them, but if we can really start to get our undersecretaries in place that oversee some of these bureaus, you'll start.
02:06We have good people functioning there now. Many of them are career foreign service officers who are acting as the chief bureau officer for the time being.
02:14But it is helpful to have someone there that you brought in for that specific purpose.
02:18And in fact, many of these senior bureau officers are welcoming of that.
02:21So I maybe did not fully appreciate it while I was in the Senate and we were slowing up some of these nominations in the past.
02:27How critical, not me, I wasn't a big holder of nominations, but others were.
02:31How critical having some of these Senate confirmed positions are.
02:34We're making good progress on it now, but I think, I don't know, we're 18 weeks into the job.
02:38I believe I have five or four and four or five in the building currently.
02:42And I don't think any of our undersecretaries are in yet.
02:45So we're anxiously awaiting them.
02:46And that will really help us improve everything from legislative relations to, you know,
02:51to actually answering your questions on the national security component of it.
02:54Everything we do is driven by the national security because the national security is at the core of our national interest.
03:00The most important thing the federal government does is keep America safe.
03:03Without safety, you can't have prosperity.
03:05So it's the most important thing we do.
03:07And all of our foreign policies should be geared first and foremost on what keeps America safe.
