confidence that the president and secretary of state clinton have placed in me. if confirmed i will work closely with you, the committee and entire congress to advance america's goals and interests in tajikistan. i would like to thank my wonderful friends, colleagues and family who supported me over my years in the state department. since recognizing tajikistan's independence and establishes diplomatic relations 20 years ago the united states supported their sovereignty and urged its development as a more prosperous and tolerant society. shortly after its independents, tajikistan was in the midst of a civil war. today the people of tajikistan enjoy peace and stability. as deputy april assistant secretary of state for central asia over the last two years i often traveled to tajikistan and developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the importance of tajikistan to u.s.

policy interests. tajikistan share as long border with afghanistan. although the terrain is mountainous, tajikistan plays an important role in the northern network brings vital supplies to u.s. and coalition forces in afghanistan. tajikistan also provides vital air transit routes for u.s. and coalition cargo and military personnel. the government of tajikistan recently co-hosted with the government of afghanistan a successful regional economic cooperation conference on afghanistan. the conference achieved consensus on a concrete set of achievable projects and inform initiatives that can advance new opportunities for private investment in the region. if confirmed, i will encourage tajikistan to maintain and expand where possible this important support. narcotics trafficking and terrorism plague the neighborhoods in tajikistan.

over the years u.s. cooperation has grown in addressing this and other transnational challenges through engagement, assistance and training. currently we are working with the government of tajikistan to develop cooperation with a goal of targeting organized the traffickers bringing them to justice and reducing the flow of narcotics through tajikistan. if confirmed i will work to further our partnership and combat the flow of narcotics and other goods. it's also the poorest country in central asia. the people of the government are working to improve their economy and inspire to become members of the world trade organization. if confirmed i will work with tajikistan to develop its agricultural sector and to improve the regulatory environment for foreign investment and trade. if confirmed, i will also continue encouraging tajikistan to take steps necessary to attract u.s. companies to help develop and diversify its economy with american goods, expertise and services. secretary clinton visited

tajikistan in october of 2011. during her visit she met with the citizens of tajikistan from all spectrums of society. from human rights activists to human rights leaders to members of the media. stressing the importance for government and leaders to provide space for citizens to have a voice in the government, pursuing aspirations and promote ideals and emphasized the belief that an open democratic tolerant society provides a firm foundation for a stable, secure and prosperous nation. if confirmed, i will work with the tajik government to take concrete steps towards continuing the development of this kind of society. if confirmed, i will also engage the government and people of tajikistan to increase not only our bilateral security and economic engagement, also continue our dialogue on human rights, civil society issues, such as allowing freedom of the press and freedom of religion or belief. i know that success in all aspects of our engagement

depends on my taking a leadership role in encouraging and supporting a strong, dedicated embassy staff that coordinates closely with the administration, members of congress and if confirmed, i look forward to continuing this active dialogue with you as we seek to advance america's interests with the government and people of tajikistan. thank you, and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, ms. elliott. before i get to my questions, we're joined by two ranking members. a ranking member of our foreign relations committee, senator lugar and the ranking of our sub commit senator risch. and i think senator risch has a statement? >> just go ahead. >> okay. we'll do as many rounds as we can. probably it looks like five-minute rounds.

i wanted to ask you about leadership, which is a, of central concern in any confirmation process but maybe especially so for the position that you've been nominated for. there will be those who say and i want to have you respond to this that you have based upon your record broad experience in iraq. early -- several time periods within which you've served and you've been called back for service add i indicated under two administrations. but they will also say that you haven't had the leadership position that would with lend itself to the kind of experience that would prepare for such a substantial assignment. and i want you to answer that question, because i think it's an important one in terms of demonstrating in this confirmation process your ability to lead, not just an embassy but an embassy and a mission of this size and

consequence. >> thank you, senator. thank you for allowing me to address that, and i'd like to do it in really three ways. first, leadership of the embassy starts at home at the embassy. as you noted in your opening statements, i've served with all five of our prior ambassadors to iraq and seen every permutation of the embassy from the beginning to where it is today. throughout that process i have learn and seen and been involved in what it takes to lead in iraq. and to lead in iraq, need really a fingertip understanding of the operational tempo in iraq, of what it's like day to day, of knowing when something's a crisis and when it's not. managing mothral and keeping people focused on the goals. it also takes a team. and if i'm fortunate enough to be confirm i'd would be inheriting a team of extraordinary talent and the depth at the embassy. i've been fortunate to have worked with every member of the

country team in iraq. one of whom happens to be sitting to my left, ambassador sisson. that team incorporates individuals from across the u.s. government. the whole government approach from commerce to transportation, to treasury to state to the intelligence community. i've been fortunate also, gratified, one of the key members of that team have volunteered to stay on another year, and if i'm confirmed would serve with me. as ambassador, the buck would stop with me, and as i think i said in the opening statement, very a very clear vision in cooperation with the president and secretary where we need to take this mission. but i would be working with with a very strong team. ambassador steve beecroft, worked with him a number of years. i think we'd make a unique leadership team in the front officer. the regional security officer mark hunter extraordinary job. he would be staying on. worked with him a number of years.

it would be my honor to lead them. leadership also in this context i have to look at interagency experience. leading a whole of government approach. as a senior director for president bush in the nsc, particularly during one of the most intense periods of the war from the time of planning and implementing the surge through the end of his administration, he was at point to implement the surge. throughout that process i developed extremely strong relationships across the entire u.s. government. i was involved in setting goals, such as negotiating strategic framework agreement that started in march of 2007. organizing u.s. government getting the right team in place, the right people in place, the right inputs in place and having an operational plan and lieding through to fruition. that's one of many examples of my experience. finally, one of the most important criterion, the relationship with the iraqis. i've been calmed back into public service to come back to iraq over the past years is due to my unique relationships with the iraqis. i worked with these individuals since i first got to iraq in

january 2004. i was involved in those early days in the negotiation of iraq's interim constitution called the transitional administrative law. and it dealt with the same laws we're dealing with now, and the same individuals we're dealing with now. i have deep and strong relationships across the board in the iraqi government and just talking to ambassador jim jeffrey who just returned from iraq and talking about the leadership question. a lot of it is politics and personal. one of the key jobs for the ambassador be, making sure the iraqis were working in a seamless way to run an effective mission requiring daily interaction with the highest leveling of the iraqi government. something i've done in iraq for a number of years. >> thank you very much. i'm almost out of time on this round, but madam ambassador, i'll come back to you in a couple of minutes to ask especially about sri lanka's -- what i would assert as a lack of progress after the llrc work that was done.

i'll pick up with that. senator risch? >> thank you, mr. chairman. first of all, let me say that mr. mcgurk, i don't think anyone can question your knowledge and understanding of what's happened in iraq. you've had an incredible amount of experience there. in fact, i would be hard-pressed i think to find someone who won have a resume like would you as far as dealing with that is concerned. having said that, iraq, of course, is in a volatile postconflict situation, and it's one in probably arguably the most unstable region in the world. it's the largest embassy we have anywhere in the world. last year the united states spent about $6.5 billion there and this year about $4 billion there. very substantial amounts. more than my state when i was governor as an entire annual budget. also given the lack of

representation that we don't have today in both tehran and damascus, the ambassador in baghdad's going to be responsible for and have the responsibility for the, a much larger regional context. and the ability to navigate all of these issues with the right balance and the right leadership and the right management will certainly be critical to the success of our ambassador there. and, again, recognizing the experience that you've had in iraq, i appreciate that. i will have to say, you're going to be challenged, i think, in as much as the size and the complexity of this operation confronts you. nerve are having been and ambassador before, and i wish well in that and certainly the administration recognized your understanding and abilities to pick you for the ambassador

there, but as ambassador, obviously, your responsibilities will be substantially larger and more, much broader than what you've done there before. so i wish you well. ms. elliott, i want to talk briefly about tajikistan and one of the things you did not mention is relationship tajikistan has with iran and i think that's a concern to all of us. particularly when it comes to the purchase of crude oil from iran. what are your thoughts on that regard? >> thank you, mr. senator. that's actually a very important question. the people of tajikistan have close cultural ties with the people of iran, and, of course,s, they're in the same neighborhood. i will say in terms of sanctions that we have been working very closely with the government of tajikistan on the recent iran sanctions act. we have discussed with them at high levels and had an inner agency, the treasury department and secretary visited to talk with the government of tajikistan about this.

we feel that from our discussions that they are very supportive and will be in compliance with the sanctions, and we look forward to continuing that discussion with them. >> they're not in compliance with the sanctions now. did they give you a time frame as to when they would comply with the sanctions? >> we've been talking and, and they're working on through the banking structure. working on improving those. so we look for, and that will be a priority of mine to work with them to make sure they stay and become in compliance with them. >> have they given you that timetable? >> i have not received a timetable. >> have you requested a timetable of them? >> i believe that we have. but i can get back to you on the specifics of the timetable. >> i'll take that for the record. >> thank you, senator risch. senator lugar? >> thank you, mr. chairman.

mr. mcgurk, at the time that our country decided to build that embassy in baghdad, there was considerable discussion in this committee as well as in our government as a whole, about the size and the scope of that embassy. the very fact that it was an -- a very insecure situation, which you'll be able to testify from your experience there, and the thought, perhaps that we had ambitions that perhaps that embassy might be a fulcrum for activities really throughout the area. almost headquarters for the united states ambitions for democracy and human rights and so forth throughout the middle east. we still have that embassy. it's still huge and has been suggested in addition to the diplomatic employees of the united states, maybe as many as 16,000 people are affiliated

with it. in a situation that does not have the security of our troops being on the ground there and the numbers they were. i'm wondering about your reflections having served in all the capacities through the five ambassadors and so forth. just physically. how do you plan to administer this building quite apart from the people. and this is sort of a several chapter answer i appreciate. but have you given thought really to a specifically given predicaments, like wise, not diminished ambitions on our part. but nevertheless, more hostility on the part of the iraqis to our participation. how do you plan to manage this? >> senator. thank you very much.

i've given a great deal of thought to this. in my last assignments in iraq, i participated in almost every internal conversation in the agency and in baghdad about how not only to plan the transition, but also how to get the size down. quite frankly, our presence in iraq right now is too large. there's no proportionalty also between our size and our influence. in fact, we spent a lot of diplomatic capital to sustain our presence. so there's a process underway now as you may know to cut our presence by about 25% next fall. i fully agree with that approach. and i think we can do more. it's important to keep in mind, the reason we're so big now, is that the transition was planned -- it was all con tins enscy planning. the department wasn't quite sure what we would face in the early months of this year. and so we planned for every possible contingency. where we are now, i think we need to really focus. are we secure?

are people safe. is it strategic? that means, is it a core priority to advance our national interest. we need to ask that directly, because we're institutionalizing our long-term presence now. is it effective? that means they have adequate buy-in from the iraqis. is it sustainable, something we can do long term. if i'm confirmed as the next a.m. bass store, i will put everything to that test. in terms of the manage the day-to-day management of the embassy. i've been involved. we need to go discuss something with the iraqi national security adviser and i'm often doing that shuttle. as i mentioned in my earlier answer, i have a very strong team in iraq. steve beecroft would be the dcm and the coo of the shop. i've worked with him for a number of years. we would sit next to each other. offices would be next to each other. the buck would stop with me for

every single decision. steve is a terrific manager of the day-to-day operation 37 i think we would make a very strong team. i cannot discount the challenges i had. >> i appreciate that answer very much and the very specifics of each and every program. and the expense of this is enormous. and all of these impact on the whole state department budget as you know. i appreciate that managerial idea. let me ask. how are you going to advise the prime minister maliki under the current circumstance in which he's not getting along well with the opposition, to say the least, and the kurds are lifting off by themselves. what are our challenges for diplomacy here. >> thank you, sir. it's a critically important point. i have worked with the prime minister maliki for a number of years and all the iraqi leaders. i've worked with him in his capacity as the prime minister. as i said in my written statement, i'll try to focus now

on dealing with the iraqis in an inty stugsal way. dealing with maliki as a prime minister now. if there was a new prime minister tomorrow, i would have the same close working relationship with him. i've worked with four speakers of the parliament. we need to focus on the institutions. when with you're in iraq and dealing with all sides, there are different narratives to the political process. the government put in place in 2010 took eight months to put in place. when it finally came together, it represents 98% of the council of representatives -- are represented in the cabinet. that naturally leads to a lot of inefficiency, a lot of rivalry, a lot of intrigue. and that's certainly going on now. maliki will say that his opposition figures who are in his cabinet won't share responsibility for gouv earning. the opposition figures say maliki is consolidating power. they're all right. and we need to work with all of them to live up to the prior

agreements and to work within the constitutional system to change the process. you mentioned the kurds. this is critically would plan t kurdistan region as much as possible. i would like to be up there if i'm confirmed at least once a week because it's the personal interaction between the iraqi leaders and the u.s. bad door that is so important for keeping everything stable, and for bridging areas of disagreements. the kurds are having some difficulties with the baghdad government right now. the baghdad government is having difficulties with the kurds. the real rivalry is massoud and maliki. i would just leave it at there is a constitutional system in place now. this is the third iraqi government. this is the second parliament. the iraqis are going to fight through their politics under the constitutional rules that they themselves have devised. we cannot direct outcomes through that process. when we try to do that the

unintended consequences are quite enormous. but we can help bridge differences. we can mediate back and forth and be constantly actively engaged. and that's what i will intend to do if i'm confirmed. >> thank you for a very comprehensive and thoughtful answers. i appreciate it. >> thank you, senator lugar. senator udall? >> thank you, chairman casey and ranking members that are here. good to see you. and thank you for the panel being here, and very much appreciate all of your service to our country. in april of 2012, special inspector general for iraq reconstruction found in his report that there was a record low amount of casualties for the month of march and a drop in violence overall in the last few months. and specifically, reported that 112 iraqis died as a result of violent attacks in the month of march, the lowest toll since the

united states invade in 2003. based on such statistics, do you think the iraqi government on the right track? and how do you think the fact that iraq is accountable for its own security change the security calculus in the country and in the relationship, the u.s. relationship with iraq? >> thank you, senator. at the very top of my mind is the safety of all americans serving in iraq. i track this extremely closely. over the course of this year, we have had on average zero to three attacks a week on the u.s. -- the overall u.s. presence, almost entirely 107 millimeter rockets from the group which is the remnants of the bathist party in the north zero to three attacks a week on our presence compared to about a thousand a week which i can remember very well five or six years ago. so that's positive. we want to make sure that that

trend continues. the reason for that trend is really five militant groups in iraq right now. first there is al qaeda in iraq. al qaeda in iraq remains active. their operating tempo, they're able to strike every 30 to 40 days. sometimes those attacks are quite spectacular. senator casey mentioned recent attacks just this past week. al qaeda in iraq is now striking at a level that is about the same as it was over the course of last year. so they have not been able to -- the iraqi government has not been able to degrade al qaeda in iraq. that's a serious concern, and we need to work with them on that. the second is the group that primarily only targets us then there is al saab al haqq. there is khattab hezbollah. and sadder's army is part of the

political process. those groups since january 1st have really gone to ground. i was just discussing this with general mattis. and it's interesting. we're watching it very cloer closely. our withdrawal seems to have taken them, their ability to recruit and sustain operations has really been depleted. they have almost stopped attacking us. however, i would not bank on that. i remember very well when the iraqi army went into basrah, and we took hundreds of rockets on the compound from groups that were lying in wait to strike us. and i watched this very carefully with all of our assets within the u.s. government. in terms of internal security and the iraqis being able to secure their country, they're not doing a bad job. they secured the capital to host an arab league summit. they secured the capital to host the p5 plus 1 talks. that would have been unheard of three to five years ago. so they're doing very good

internal security. they're weak in external security, and that's where the office under the embassy is working very closely with the iraqis to try to close some of their capability gaps. >> thank you. i have another couple of questions, but i think it will run over if i pursue those right now. but with the chairman -- >> senator, we allow like an extra minute. >> okay. well, that's good. let me. i'm changing direction here a little bit. i want to ask you about the future stability of iraq and its ability to have a sustainable water supply in the tigris and euphrates river basin. this area is considered one of the birthplaces, as you know, of human agriculture and their ability to sustain the ecology of the areas threatened by increase water use upstream. we're seeing this i think in rivers across the region. how will you work with iraq's neighbors to develop sustainable

use of water, and how can the u.s. work to leverage its scientific and engineering talents, especially those at the national labs to find a long-term solution to the problem? >> senator, it's a really great and overlooked point. the water situation in iraq in the region is very serious. if you look at iraq's agriculture, it used to be breadbasket of the world. today agriculture is approximately at best 20% of gdp. but agriculture in iraq uses 90% of iraq's water. that is not sustainable. and it's to the point if we get their agricultural going again, they're going have a serious water problem. maliki and the iraqi government recently hosted a conference to discuss this with some of the regional neighbors in baghdad. and maliki said we face a real crisis. so the iraqis are now ceased of it. we have a way forward because it

calls on cooperation between the u.s. and iraq to address issues like this. and to call on the expertise, i know there is some of it in new mexico, to call on the expertise from within our country to help the iraqis think in a systemized way. do they need dams? to redirect water supplies and to work with turkey in particular to address this problem over the long-term. all i will say is it has been overlooked. it's been overlooked because iraq has been involved in a fierce sectarian war. now that we're coming out of that phase, these very important issues need to rise to the highest priority within our embassy. >> thank you. thank you for your courtesies, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator udall. ambassador sison, i wanted to ask you about the so-called llrc in sri lanka, the lesson learned on reconciliation commission. i guess a two-part question. one is you heard me assert that i don't think they made anywhere near substantial progress.

but i guess the two-part question is assess where sri lanka is as it relates to the llrc, the implementation of the results or maybe more pointedly, the imposition of accountability on individuals for their actions, especially at the end of the civil war, number one. number two, why hasn't and will the united states and other countries in the international community insist upon an independent investigation? >> thank you, senator. the lessons learned and reconciliation commission recommendations were of course front and center as a topic when the sri lankan foreign minister

met with secretary clinton last month here in washington. we've asked the government of sri lanka to provide regular and public updates on the implementation of what is the government's own commission, particularly with regard to demilletarization of the in order, to sets a date for provincial elections in the north, focus on human rights protects, including increased space for civil society to operate, increased focus on media freedom. i agree, we do need to see in more specific terms benchmarks met on the recommendations of the action plan set out by the