'This Is Public Information—I Was Able To Get It Off The Internet': Andy Kim Grills Trump Nominee

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At a Senate Banking Committee hearing, Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) questioned Jovan Jovanovic, nominee to be Chairman of the Export-Import Bank.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, sir. Senator Kim. Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Yovanovitch, I want to start

00:06with you. I wanted to ask you, do you view US dominance in biotech and

00:10biomedical science as critical to our strategic competitiveness with China?

00:15Senator Kim, first off, thank you for all of your impassioned support of the

00:20Export-Import Bank and all the legislation that you supported. Yes,

00:23absolutely. Do you think the Ex-Im Bank is doing enough on biotech and

00:28biomedical sciences? Sir, as you know, I'm not yet confirmed. I'm not in the

00:33building. But what I can affirmatively say is that the China and Transformational

00:39Exports Program that's been outlined and designed to enable the bank to support US

00:45companies that are looking to address these issues and in total 10 critical

00:52sectors should be put to use to address this very issue. I agree with that

00:57wholeheartedly. About 2.4 billion dollars went through the China and

01:02Transformational Exports Program. Only 50 million of that went to biotech and

01:07biomedical science. So I just point that I know you're not there yet, but you know,

01:12we're talking about 8.7 billion across Ex-Im in financing, 50 million. I know there

01:19are a lot of priorities that are out there, but I just want to draw your attention. You

01:22know, the Belfer Center, for instance, just came out saying that of the five

01:26critical tech sectors out there, China has the most immediate opportunity to

01:30overtake the US in biotech. Our own US National Security Commission on

01:35Emerging Biotech said that our window to act is closing. So I just want to hear

01:42from you just right now your assurance that this is something that you will

01:45look into, that you will work with me on, and we'll try to find the appropriate way

01:49for us to make sure that we are meeting this moment on biotech and biomedical

01:53research and science. Senator, you can count on me to work with the committee to

01:59ensure that every single tool, but especially CTEP, is ready and mobilized to

02:05address this very key issue. One thing that I saw in the 2023 Ex-Im report to

02:11Congress, it revealed that nuclear energy is a growing area of foreign demand for US

02:15goods and services. From your perspective, do you think that that's an area of

02:19opportunity for Ex-Im? I do. Good, I hope to work with you on that. Mr. Peters, I'd like

02:26to just turn to you. I wanted to just ask, you know, with the work that you do in, that

02:30you would be doing in BIS, I just wanted to ask you, what is the entity list? Thank

02:36you for the question, Senator. The entity list is a somewhat comprehensive list of

02:41individuals and organizations throughout the world that require a license,

02:46regardless of the item, for that item to be exported from the United States to that

02:51entity. As I understand it, there is a presumption of denial that comes with that

02:56licensing request. Do you think it's an important tool? Clearly, it's an important

03:00tool for us, Senator. I just raise that because I guess, you know, in the previous

03:04administration, we saw, for instance, when it comes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine,

03:091,056 entities added to the entity list. I wanted to ask, are you aware of how many

03:18the Trump administration has added to the entity list regarding Russia? Senators,

03:23you're aware. I'm not yet confirmed. I'm not in the building. So this is public

03:26information. I was able to get it just off the internet. Are you aware of the number?

03:30No, I'm not, Senator. Okay, the number is zero. You know, I just want to point that out in terms

03:36of how many entities have been added to the entity list regarding Russia's invasion. You know, I just,

03:42I say this because even, not just on Russia, but globally, I'm guessing you're not aware of globally

03:48how many the Trump administration has added to the entities list at this point. I am not, Senator.

03:53So that number is 12 in the entirety of this administration so far. So I guess I'm just

03:59trying to get a sense of what priority this administration is placing on something that

04:04you thought was an important tool. And I get it. You're not there yet. But if confirmed, you will

04:10be. So I guess I just wanted to ask you if you would commit to restarting the regular cadence of the

04:16entity list actions, including entities supporting Russia's illegal invasion and war.

04:22Senator, I can commit that I'm going to approach this with the seriousness that it deserves.

04:27The enforcement side of BIS has a role in nominations to the entities list without prejudging

04:34any particular entity. I would take that portion of our responsibilities very seriously in working

04:38with my colleagues. Okay. I mean, look, I'll be honest, that's not a satisfying answer,

04:42but I hope to work with you if you're confirmed on this because look, I want BIS to succeed.

04:48In fact, I've been advocating for additional resources to BIS at a time when those resources

04:53are actually being pulled away. Things are getting much more complicated in this world when it comes

04:57to export controls, when it comes to the proliferation of critical technologies that are out

05:03there. And I don't think BIS is meeting the moment. I don't think they're staffed to the level that is

05:09needed. And I'm worried that this administration is going to be pulling that back. So I just want to

05:13say that and I hope to have a chance to work with you if you are confirmed. But I am concerned about

05:18where this administration is going when it comes to BIS and these important tools that we have. And

05:23with that, I'll yield back. Thank you.

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Transcript

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