give more economic rights to open businesses, have an opportunity to pursue their own economic futures goes hand in hand with the promotion of democra democracy. i wouldn't claim our movements were a direct cause but they were incident with. very often in oppressive regions like cuba economic freedom precedes political freedom. >> you would agree if there has been economic freedom, and i dispute that, i don't believe there has really been genuine economic reforms in community, if you can agree there have been, we can disagree on that, there certainly have been no political reforms or move toward democracy notwithstanding the economic movement. >> despite can oour very strong objection to the treatment of allan gross, the unjustified charge and detention, a great number of political you

prisoners have been released. again, in and of itself is not final evidence of anything. the fact that so many political prisoners have been released in the last few years -- >> are you aware those releases were required by expulsions from the country. they weren't released into the country. they were expelled from the country. >> i am aware of that, congressman. as i look out over the world and take a historic perspective, i see sometimes political prisoners are released and expelled where they continue to pursue their democracy work and advocacy of human rights outside the country. the fact is letting political prisoners go is a positive development. i wish they were inside cuba continuing to agitate and advocate for freedom and democracy, but their voices are new communications pecially in environment in which bloggers and others exist. >> i hope -- >> thank you, mr. rivera.

>> thank you, madam chair. >> thank you, mrs. secretary. >> thank you, madam chair and secretary. i have a couple of written questions i want to submit for your consideration. madam secretary, this may be be one of the last times together, so i wan to thank you for reestablishing america's influence abroad especially towards the asia pacific region. as you aptly stated, and i quote, the future of politics will be decided in asia, not in afghanistan or iraq. and the united states will be right at the center of the action. thanks to your efforts, madam secretary, i believe the united states will be front and center, so i thank you for bucking tradition for your first trip overseas. on your first trip overseas you visited asia to convey a strong message that america's relationship across the asia pacific region are in dispen

dispensable in your many trips since then, cambodia, myanmar, south korea, japan and beyond you have been about the commitment of making strategic commitments that will pay dividends many times over. i applaud you for recognizing the importance of pacific island nations in this multifaceted undertaking and in the context of this hearing with the foreign relations budget hearing i reiterate what you stated and i quote, those who say we can no longer afford to engage with the world have it exactly backward. we cannot afford not to. opening new markets for american businesses, to kurk nuclear proliferation to keep sea lanes free from commerce and navigation, our work abroad holds the key to our prosperity and security at home, end of quote. i want to also note for the record, madam secretary, that

when american samoa and independent samoa were hit by the most powerful earthquake in 2009 and that set off waves of tsunami and to this day have not fully recovered, yet your office was among the first to stand with us. you fought to make sure supplies were airlifted to us and tireless efforts of those do not go unnoticed. i thank assistant secretary dave adams for his help in this regard. you personally made it a point to visit my little district. on behalf of samoan men and women who proudly serve in the armed forces of our country, we are grateful for your recognition of their services." my people thank you for the many thing you have done for the people of our nation. madam secretary, it has been a honor to serve with you. i commend you for the

initiatives you have taken outlined in this budget submission for east asia and pacific region. i'm glad i still have a couple of seconds to ask you a couple of questions, madam secretary. can you reiterate for the record our fundamental policy of engagement with the republcha eo the crisis we're faced with at the south china seas? >> well, first, thank you for those very kind comments. it's a great honor to represent the people of your district and out to the south pacific region on behalf of our government we are working to further a positive cooperative and comprehensive relationship with china. we think that is in the interest of the american people both economically and strategically. we have welcomed the peaceful rise of china, and we expect as

china continues to develop that it will assume more responsibilities globally. with respect to the south china sea, it has been our position that although we do not take any stand on the rights attached to any territorial strongly support the peaceful resolution of such claims new orleans with international law. that has been the position we have taken at asean at the east asia summit. because it's not only about the h which is as you know so well a very important part of the world's oceans through which more than 40% of the world's trade passes. it's also about how we resolve d disputes in territories in or near bodies of water, whether it's the arctic or south china the rule of law and standr reso

disputes. we've made that known to our friends in the region as well as china. >> thank you. madam secretary, lack k other members mr. berman and i have agreed to share our five minutes with you if that would be all right. >> thank you very much. >> i'm going to ask about the keystone pipeline so start the clock. >> i withdraw mine. >> as gas prices continue to soar, madam secretary, burdening the american people in this time of economic hardship, we must continue to examine avenues to depend less on foreign oil from rogue regions. in october of 2010, you mention that you were, quote, inclined, end quote, to sign off on the keystone project because the u.s. will either be, quote, dependent on dirty oil from the gulf or dirty oil from canada end quote. what was it about the pipeline

that led to you change your previous assertion. can you please explain why an additional stable source of oil from a democratic ally such as canada does not deserve a national interest determination from the department of state? and mr. berman, if you would like to ask your question. >> a very specific question about syria. the security of chemical and biological record in syria should the assad regime fall. how real is the danger of these horrific weapons and substances leaving syria and falling into the hands of terrorists and nonterrorist group what about nonluger program to dismantle chemical weapons and technology from syria. >> keystone, what i said in 2010 was that energy security considerations exist and needed to be taken into account but

that it had to be part is the legal and regulatory requirements for evaluating any pipeline application that crosses an international boundary. the state department was in the process of making determination. when it became necessary to make a decision, we did not recommend that the president say no but rather that the presidential permit for the project be denied. and with respectth interest, what we were working on was a resolution of the very strong concerns expressed by one of the states through which the pipeline would move, a state that did not have its own process and needed to pass legislation, figure out what th then, of course, it fell upon the state department to evaluate

the alternative route. been established when we were required to make our decision. therefore, it was impossible to assess the impact of that new route that had been requested. >> thank you. >> now, just in the last two days, trans canada has made a move through a letter indicating their intent to submit a new application which crosses the u.s.-canada border. at the same time they are moving fo pipeline, like from oklahoma to texas that don't cross the border and don't need state department evaluation or decision. so i think we've handled this, madam chairman in a way that was commensurate with the law and regulation. i strongly believe we have to increase our energy security. i strongly support the creation of a new energy bureau. just last week we

important agreement with mexico to encourage transboundary exploration in the gulf of mexico, something that we are committed to do what we can to get the supplies we need. >> thank you, madam secretary. now to syria. >> we are concerned. i think it is an issue that deserves the attention of the international community. non-lugar was in a per missive environment. it was after the soviet union had fallen. the new russian federation came into being. they welcomed our work with them as did kazakhstan, ukraine and other countries. at this time there was not a per missive environment but we're going to stay focused on the potential dangers posed on the store house or depots of such

welcome. >> thel rights is recognized. >> thank you very much, madam secretary. let me associate myself with remarks on cuba. we had a hearing with a man who had a 25-year sentence. he's now out of prison but not out of prison. he spoke via telephone right here. the man is unbelievably brave. he's calling for freedom, human rights. we've got to be very hard lined, i believe but also prudent. i would hope -- gentle lady made an important point about not attending. we'll have a resolution on the floor later today, if you could speak to the iranians, if you would, and to the world. there is a ratcheting up of persecution against christians that is unprecedented. i've held two hearings on the

kidnapping of christians girls kidnapped in islam and given to a man in egypt who happens to be muslim. it's not an isolated incident. it's a serious, ongoing and pervasive human rights hearing. i held my first hearing on the global persecution of christians february 15, 1996. it was getting worse is w awfu. in china, north korea, we all know people are tortured to death simply because they are christians. if you could speak to that. i would like to ask you if you would in a very specific and yes or no answer might suffice, and i thank you for the briefing on bosnia and the work you're doing to bring bosnia into nato as well as the other countries in line, is there any madam secretary, or instances where the obama administration has withheld or threatened to withhold or plans to wi and voto

national lending institutions to reward with debt relief or loans or to deny such or in any way provide a retaliatory means based on that nation's policies on abortion and based on that nation's support or opposition to resolutions at the u.n. regarding abortion. >> as to that second question, congressman, i'd like to take it for the record because it had so many parts to it. i don't want to give you an .nswer that's not as accurate as i will certainly get back to you on that. as to the very troubling case of the pastor, you are 100% right. his case is particularly egregious, but it is unfortunately part of what we see as increasing persecution on the basis of religion. in some parts of the world it's sex of islam, in some parts of

world is christians. wherever it occurs, it is deplorable against freedom of religion, against human rights that are universally recognized. the united states has condemned the sentence against the pastor. we have pushed hard, reached out to like minded countries to get a stay of execution to get him released from prison. he's done nothing more than maintain his faith. it is absolutely contrary to every element of the universal basis for human rights that someone like that would be condemned to death for being as he is, worshipping as he chooses, exercising his freedom of conscious. so we call on iran on it's obligations under international

law. they could begin by commuting this death sentence and letting this man go free. >> if we could get back on the other question. we hear from ambassadors some fear they will lose aid if they don't back the position on abortion at the united nations. you're shaking your head no. i'm happy to hear that. if you could provide a definitive answer it would be helpful. you saw the spate of articles china is changing it's policy on one child. that's one yahoo! had and a whole spate of articles. i hope we would redouble our efforts to combat the one child poll sichlt the fact there are so many missing girls. as we all know in excess of 1 million exterminated simply because they happen e in 2050, i've had 38 hearings on human rights abuse in china by 2050 -- 2020, 40 to 50 men won't

be able to find wives because they have been systematically eliminated. china is becoming and will increase as a trafficking magnet. i'm almost out of time. if you could strongly speak out against forced abortion and baby girls in china suffering immensely as are the mothers. >> thank you very much. mr. sherman ranking member on subcommittee on terrorism, nonproliferation and trade is recognized. >> madam secretary, glad to have you back here. i want to join so many of my colleagues who praised work for our country and how much you've been able to do with 1% of the budget. i have lots to cover and would expect you want to respond for the record. interrupt me at any point if the spirit moves you. the first is to focus on the region of georgia.

we've been very generous to the republic of georgia. a region in georgia with a large ethnic armenian population. the embassy of georgia is now in support of the idea of the united states focusing a good portion of its aid for georgia to the region. this would bind them to the republic of georgia and would help achieve our goals in the caucuses. last time you were here mentioned voice of america broadcasting in the sendi language. this committee adopted unanimously to direct the voice of america to spend a $1.5 million broadcasting in the language.

i'm not sure become law but does show the wisdom of the city. there are elements in the government in islamabad that wee want to impose the urdu language on the whole country. imposing on what was east bengal created as much as anything the independent republic of bangladesh. i would hope that in deciding whether to broadcast in the sendi language we would hope not to broadcast extreme elements of islamabad. because right now we're broadcasting in urdu and sindhi is spoken by more people in pakistan. we have a complicated relationship with the pakistani government. we need to reach out to the pakistani people particularly those south of pakistan where

the vrgs of islersion of islam compatible with american values. i know i won't be the only person up here to talk about camp liberty and how important it is we assure the humanitarian safety of everyone who is there. there are certainly elements to how that camp has been set up that makes it look not -- almost like a prison camp. there are reports that the residents have no access to lawyers. their family no freedom of movement. obviously the iranian government is going to be pressing the iraquis to be as inhumane as possible to the residents of that camp. and i hope that we will be pressing on the osidtr finally, this is a propicious

day with regard to this issue. as you know, there is the swift system, society for worldwide financial telecommunications. there's an effort to exclude all iranian banks from that system. earlier today i had a chance to talk to chairman bernanke who represents us in the swift system and has a role in supervising that system. and he said that he didn't have a nam security adviser over at the federal reserve and would want to hear from elements of a government that do focus on national security, whether it is in our interest not just to exclude some iranian banks but all iranian banks from the swift system, thursday further isolating iran's financial system. so perhaps you could respond

here as to whether or not you would advise the chairman to do everything possible to exclude all iranian banks from the swift system. >> yes, we certainly would. we believe that using the swift system is a very effective way of further isolating iran and the iranian flow of transactions. so we will engage with the federal reserve in terms of providing such information. and with respect to all of your other issues, congressman, we will get back to you in a timely manner. >> thank you. i hope your advice to bernanke will be all iranian banks and not just those sanctioned by the eu. >> thank you madam secretary. mr. burton, the chairman on your asia and europe is recognized.

>> nice to see you again. i understand we might once again open a dialogue with north korea. i just checked, we gave north korea during the clinton administration over $1 billion in fuel and food aid as well as money we spent building their light water reactor. and of course they violated the agreement that they made. the only reason i bring that up, i hope that if we start a dialogue with them we realize their history is one of -- that you certainly can't trust. even though kim jong-il is gone and we have a new leader there, i think it's extremely important that the state department get everything written in blood, so to speak, to make sure we're not shafted again. recently tom do not lynn and

chairman of the joi -- donnellin went to visit israel. the tone was, they were urging israel not to take any unilateral action as far as attack on iran is concerned. i know just recently they said they certainly weren't in any way going to involve the united states to give us some semblance of separation from that. i wonder why it is that the administration doesn't give complete support to israel and say if ran continues with its program, we will do whatever is necessary to stop the program and give israel the support that i think they need. right now they are surrounded by all the potential enemies you can count. they really need, i think, in the world of public relations to

know, and the world to know, that the united states is with them through thick and thin. the last thing i talked to you onabout before and i'll give you time to respond. i've been concerned about the entire northern tier of africa become radicalized. tunisia, libya, egypt, maybe syria, and in the persian gulf area i've been talked to -- i talked to a number of ambassadors there. they are all concerned about radicalism taking over. although we want to get rid of people like moammar gadhafi and mubarak, although he was a pretty good friend as far as the camp david accords were concern, although we want to get rid of the bad guys, i want to know what we're doing to know we're not supporting a bigger problem

than we already have. i understand we want to get rid of people that are persecuting their populations. but we also have to be concerned about what it means to the united states as far as energy is concerned, stability in the region, israel and all those things. and i'd like to know what guarantees we have that the governments we're supporting over there or fledgling governments we're supporting over there are not radicalizing and supporting or implementing the law and thus we would face a more difficult problem down the road than we face right now. >> congressman, with respect to israel, i can assure you that not only does the obama administration strongly support the defense and security of israel, but we have put more money behind that pledge than e. we are -- we've increased u.s. security assistance to israel

every year since fy '09. this budget includes $3.1 billion for foreign military financing, a $25 million increase from the fy '12 level. we have a very strong support for israel's missile defense programs, which are an essential aspect of what israel needs in these very challenging times. you know, prime minister netanyahu has called the bilateral security cooperation unprecedented, particularly with respect to cooperative missile defense developments and realistic military exercises. there is an ongoing consultation at the very highest levels between our two governments. we share our assessments with the israelis. we listen to their assessments. i think the prime minister's words speak for themselves, it's

unprecedented the level of cooperation and funding we're providing. i look forward to providing an answer on the record regarding north africa. i just returned from a visit to tunisia and algeria and morocco. i think we have an opportunity there but i'm conscious of the risks and dangers you identified. >> thank you, madam secretary. thank you, mr. burton. mr. meeks, the ranking member on the subcommittee on europe and eurasia. i want to say on behalf of all splendid job you're doing. i have three questions. one, russia, significant accomplishments, challenges, opportunities. our areas disagreement are sometimes profound, coordinated action to confront efforts of

life like syria or global security as in iran. no coly, war is behind us. united states and russia are no longer eyeball to eyeball withv that would release arsenals at each elb to elbow at conference tables, which i think is a good thing. madam secretary would you comment on your priority and strategy with respect to russia. you may or may not know that i am ic expanding trade and economic relationship with russia, which in the year ahead i hope will be a good news stories for the united states. secondly turkey, which continues to be a strategically important player in a challenging part of the world. stinted leadership and supporting change and peace in syria and receiving tens ofh refugees that spill across the common bored. they have stepped into the spotlight regarding