mr. connolly for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ambassador bradtke, i was looking at your long and distinguished record of service to your country in the state department. but allow me without being disrespectful to mr. sherman's question, do you speak arabic? i'm sorry i can't hear without the microphone. >> do you have any expertise in the arab world. >> i've traveled with secretary christopher extensively -- >> you were never assigned to the region. >> no. >> so, is it not true that most of the foreign fighters recruited by or attracted to isil in syria come roughly from a handful of countries mostly arab countries, is that not true? >> many of the foreign fighters come from north africa, from arab countries that's correct. >> maybe you do or don't subscribe toy think the premise behind mr. sherman's questions but as the united states moves forward it stems me that the state department needs be promoting leadership from within that has particular focus on this region since that's what we're dealing with. and i mean that without,

mr. connolly took the words out of my mouth already. having watched some of your proceedings, if you had that gavel your whole tenure, you might see different results. let me add my congratulations to you as well. it is great to be here with my friend rob portman and ek yog what you both said, it is remarkable when we do something significant. that could have as much effect as mr. cummings just said on future generations. yet how little attention it gets when we actually do our job. especially on a subject like there. i think it is appropriate at times that we all rightfully argue about how big or small the federal government should be. but i think we all share a common belief that whatever side the government should be, the dollars that we spend, we need to make sure are spent wisely. and one of the things i want to again commend you and the ranking member on, as a former governor, often the difference between a governor and legislator was a legislator thought the job was over once the bill was passed when in actual ality, it is the im

mr. connolly. >> amb., i was looking at your long and distinguished record of service to our country and state department. to mr. me, to follow up sherman's question. do you speak arabic? >> i do not speak arabic. >> you have any expertise in the arabic world? >> i have traveled with secretary christopher extensively. >> but you were never assigned to the region? >> no. >> is it not true, that most of the foreign fighters recruited by -- or attracted isil in syria -- come handful of m a countries -- mostly arab countries. >> many of the foreign fighters come from north africa. >> to the question -- it just seems to me that the state department seems to be promoting leadership from within that has particular focus on this region. i mean that without -- with no disrespect -- sometimes well ne can function very without any expertise. presumably, that is true about you. i do think mr. sherman has a point. s. have to m, the u. expertise in about we're going to address challenges we face. when he asked your question, not see a mention of the kurdish community which seems to one of the military

mrs. connolly, governor connolly on your left. >> it was whether kennedy, using all his charisma and influencet all the squabbling democrats in texas to come together before the election the next year. >> and here comes the president now. in fact he is not in his limo, he is reaching across the fence shaking hands. >> in those days everybody could get a lot closer to the president. i was standing behind mrs. kennedy and saw a hand reach through the chain link fence and break off one of the red roses. >> thousands of children now swarming, trying to get over the fence. the dallas police trying to keep them back. >> this is great for the people and makes the egg shells even thinner for the secret service, whose job it was to guard the man. >> the trip had gone terrifically well in texas. pretty hard to write a script for it going any better. >> thousands will be on hand for that motorcade now, which will be in downtown dallas. >> a number of my classmates were gone, they were at the parade. my father had been invited to have lunch with kennedy at the trade center. there was a mood, a climate of

mr. connolly, i do feel i want to say a word or two about -- >> i have to ask you to move closer to the mics very hard to hear you. thank you. >> i would like to say a word or two about your initial comments. i was happily retired, mr. connolly. >> i saw that. >> was asked by senior officials in the state department to come back and take this job. i was asked to take this job not because of my expertise in arabic or countries in the middle east. i was asked to take this job because there was a belief that in 40 years of working for the state department i was able to deal with a wide variety of countries, that i could conduct dialogues with those countries on an effective basis and that i could draw on the many experts in the state department who are experts on those part of the world. this is not an effort i undertake by myself. this is the effort i have the support of many people within the department of state. i have found as i've traveled i've been in morocco, tunisia, uae, qatar, kuwait, that i don't think the fact that i don't speak arabic has been a hindrance. i've had meetings with l

mr. connolly. >> amb., i was looking at your long and distinguished record of service to our country and state department. allow me, to follow up to mr. sherman's question. do you speak arabic? >> i do not speak arabic. >> you have any expertise in the arabic world? >> i have traveled with secretary christopher extensively. >> but you were never assigned to the region? >> no. >> is it not true, that most of the foreign fighters recruited by -- or attracted to isil in syria -- come roughly from a handful of countries -- mostly arab countries. >> many of the foreign fighters come from north africa. >> to the question -- it just seems to me that the state department seems to be promoting leadership from within that has particular focus on this region. i mean that without -- with no disrespect -- sometimes someone can function very well without any expertise. presumably, that is true about you. i do think mr. sherman has a point. longer term, the u. s. have to get serious about expertise in this region if we're going to address challenges we face. when he asked your question, i did not see a

mr. connolly from virginia about the situation in the collapse of the iraqi army in the face of such 10.i want to comment and provide an answer because the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. that is the fact we prematurely left iraq after the president made a campaign promise to be out of iraq by the end of his first term and we saw a force there. even nicer prime minister maliki offered immunity to u.s. troops the executive order because the president wanted to see the iraqi parliament cast iraqi parliament cast a vote on mac, which they did and it failed. we don't have a contingency force we need in 2014 and 2013 in iraq that could have faced off again isis. ambassador, sitting here listening to this and the president really fails to articulate what success in iraq where success against the isis or isil looks like. what does success look like to you against isis quick >> it is a three-phase campaign to dismantle an defeat and what we look at number one in the first phase is helping iraqis control cyberspace. they do not control a third of their country. helping them

mr. chairman. i would echo your words about congressman connolly as a matter of fact, he and i talking about his efforts just yesterday. and i said almost the identical words. i swore you overheard me. but i want to begin by recognizing mr. chairman, that it was your vision and bipartisan approach that patched the way to the successful -- and i really do mean that.ched the way to the successful -- and i really do mean that.vched the way to the successful -- and i really do mean that.hed the way to the successful -- and i really do mean that.ed the way to the successful -- and i really do mean that. this is not about this moment but about generations yet unborn. we are to track tax dollars that hardworking taxpayers pay. they give their blood, sweat and tears. they look at their returns on april 15th and say, well, where does the money go. they look at their paychecks, every two weeks, every month. and they say, where does the money go? and i think this legislation goes a long ways towards helping them understand where the money goes. they simply want it spent in an effective and efficient manner. hopefu

mr. connolly, is recognized for one minute. . connolly: i'm pleased to join you in welcoming our stor, pastor from the korean presbyterian church in the 11th congressional district. this church has been active in our community since it was founded 1 years ago in -- 41 years ago in vienna. i chaired the fairfax board of supervisors where i had the opportunity to collaborate with that congregation on many of its activities throughout our community. within its many activities, the church founded a senior center 20 years ago, offering meals, recreation, training skills and a computerization for our senior population. under the pastor's direction, the church has been recognized by the commonwealth of virginia and the republic of korea as an outstanding volunteer organization. this and the many activities exemplify the many tremendous contributions that the korean american community are making throughout the united states. mr. speaker, i'm proud to represent one of the most vibrant korean american communities in the united states and t