state department.ate department know if somebody is lgbtqi+? because we cannot ask that when we hire anybody. i'm generally on —- genuinely curious to know. >> is also helpful to know so i can pace my questions over the sign that we have. i don't know if the number exist to your first question how many diplomats do we have being denied credentials? and i don't know because not everyone chooses to disclose their sexual orientation or sexual characteristics and those that think disclosure will not lead to the results that they want, they may not choose to disclose. >> do we know that there is at least one right now? we have at least one individual from our state department one death diplomat that is denied credentials or do we not even know that much? >> bringing up accreditation come i have an adjacent relationship to the issues of human resources but it's not squarely one of the issues that i work on so that i would have to get back to you make a mistake about data collection it is too serious of a que

department of state. miss sison was recently confirmed by the senate in december two liters critical bureau and previously served as the united states ambassador haiti, sri lanka, and the maldives, lebanon, and the uae. miss sison, you have five minutes. welcome. >> good afternoon, and thank you, chairman castro, ranking member molly attack us, and members of the subcommittee for having me here today. president biden has made clear that we will flip our core u.s. values at the center of our foreign policy. this means we must actively outcompete efforts by nations that stand in opposition to u.s. values on human rights, democracy, labor rights, and transferred economic practices. to achieve this we must work in partnership with other nations, and in my short time as the new assistant secretary for international organization affairs i can state with real confidence that the multi lateral world becomes more complex and more important with each passing year. i've seen across my state department career the rea

that is why the state department must assert its role. e state must also be a participant of coordinating with the defense department. trieste -- security assistance is one of the most essential tools. we must succeed in helping ukraine defend itself. we must ensure that all of our efforts benefit from the hard lessons over the past 20 years. the world is a more dangerous place than it was. our security population must agonize this reality as we work with partners around the world. >> let's turn to our witnesses. it is now my privilege to welcome back to the committee the assistant secretary of the bureau of military affairs, jessica lewis. there are few better able to address the congress then assistant secretary lewis following her nearly two decades following her issues -- military issues in congress. she served here at the committee at -- as the democratic staff -- or five years. she was the national security advisor and senior security advisor to harry reid. we welcome back dr. merrick garland -- she is working for her sixth secretary

i expect the state department to get what it is rightfully responsible for. i don't care what type of brotherhood or sisterhood exists between the two departments. you need to meet your statutory responsibilities. that's what the committee is going to continue to pursue. finally, i know that as you may know, i have long been concerned about the circumstances under which we provide u.s. assistance. a report that i commissioned under the gao was released last week that found that over several years, the state department and dod failed to meet statutory reporting requirements to congress on the impact of u.s. assistance and on the military balance between armenia. this is deeply concerning, as his actions in the are onhave lead to the deaths of 6,000 people extracted a steep tole on armeniaens uprooting them from their homes. are you familiar with the reports findings? do you commit to review state's compliance with the waiver requirements for providing assistance? >> yes, i am familiar and i commit to do that. and ooismi'm aware it raised concerns about informat

these requests include barriers to recruitment, hiring and retention, the state department's efforts to improve u.s. representation, and of the u.s. efforts to fund junior officers at the united nations across the range of u.s. agencies that participate. the united states efforts on this has at times been strong, and at other times week. i'm encouraged by the biden administration's efforts to contest elections and international levels, but the only way to be succeed, is to be consistent. a gao report is an important counterpart to the state department's own reporting on their efforts and will ensure this effort will continue to be on congress's agenda in the coming years so we can work with the administration to advance our values and priorities through these international bodies. i hope this hearing is the first of many where the committee can hear from the bureau of international organizations on your work, priorities, and continue to conduct oversight on these issues. thank you again for your

we are singularly focused on interoperability in the state department and defense department and as we work with partners and allies, work with our military and upgrade systems we already have. we worked across europe and other close allies to move forward with upgrading all the equal and when necessary and providing what they need. on the tech side we always have to be careful as we are working with our partners to make sure we are protecting our technology and something we work on as we work on interoperability. >> my time is up. i yield back. >> mister wilson is recognized. >> in the midst of vladimir putin's war i regret your focus on climate change based on extremist science is particularly bizarre today, the biden policies of destroying energy jobs in america led to the united states purchase of vladimir putin's oil to finance the mass murder going on today in ukraine and now to focus additionally on electric cars with chinese batteries by this extremist philosophy to finance the largest military buildup in peacetime in world history which will empower the chinese communist party

the state department and the defense department.nd as we work with our partners and allies, we are looking at providing them with systems where they can work with our military, and sometimes that also includes upgrading systems that they already have. so we have worked across europe. and then with other close allies to make sure we are moving forward with upgrading all of their equipment when necessary. and again, providing them with what they need. on the tech side, i think i will say that we do always have to be careful as we are supplying and working with our partners to make sure that we are protecting our own technology, and that, you know, is something we also work on at the same time as we work on inter operability. thank you. >> very good. thank you. i think my time is just about up so thank you, mr. chairman. i yield back. >> thank you. mr. wilson is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for the witnesses being here today. dr. karlin, in the midst of putin's war, i regret your focus on climate c

but that policy directly impacts your work and the work of the state department and the ability of the united states to live up to its u.n. obligations as a partner with other nations around the world in respecting human rights, the rights of the persecuted, the rights of refugees and migrants. and so given the serious legal concerns about this policy and its implications for our commitments to the united nations, i'm hoping if one has not been made, you'll seek out a determination and share it with the committee and the cdc. >> thank you, mr. chairman. of course i do want to underscore that the u.s. and io bureau of course are committed to supporting in our work safe, orderly, and humane migration. >> thank you. okay. with that, let me go over now to -- >> i'm back, ambassador. i'm back, mr. chairman. >> darrell, you're up. >> thank you. i just wanted to follow up briefly. i know that immigration is going to continue to be a global issue. in your opening remarks you talked about the migration problems on a global basis. and as you know, we're seeing at our southern border people from

and i expect the state department get what is responsible for. i don't care what type of brotherhood or sisterhood exists between the two departments . you need to meet your statutory responsibility and that's what the committee will continue to pursue. finally, i know that as you may know i have long been concerned about the circumstances under which we provide us assistance to azerbaijan. a report by commission under the gao was released last week that found over several years the state department and the od failed to meet statutory reporting requirements to congress on the impact of the us assistance on military balance between armenia and azerbaijan. asked deeply concerning as i survived john's actions in the region have led to the deaths of 6000 people extracted a steep toll on armenians uprooting them from thousands from their homes. are you familiar with their reports findings secretary lewis and do you connect to review state compliance with the 907 waiver requirements for providing assistance to azerbaijan. >> i am familiar and i can do t

. >> a hearing with officials from the state department and pentagon on u.s. efforts to provide financial and humanitarian assistance to ukraine. congressman adam smith of washington state chair to the house armed services committee. >> the hearing to order. welcome to the witnesses and members. this is a hybrid hearing we have some members participating remotely so i have to read this statement. members joining remotely for the purpose of identity verification establishing and as members must continue to use the software platforms into video function while in attendance unless the experience connectivity issues but render them unable to participate on camera if a member experiences technical difficulties they should contact the committee staff. the member participation will be via the television feed members participating must seek recognition verbally and they are asked to mute their microphones when not speaking. the support issues only and finally i designated the committee staff. on allies and partners. strategy plans and capabilities from the dod and the

state department is telling americans to leave russia immediately.r brittney griner has been detained by russian customs officials. it is unclear exactly when this reported tension may have happened. and new warnings from russian president vladimir putin today. he is likening western sanctions to a declaration of war, and he is warning against the creation of a no fly zone, although president biden and nato have said repeatedly that a no fly zone is off the table. putin is also meeting with israel's neftali bennett. and new details on ukraine president's

and it changed the way the state department function. imagine that she was a child of the cold war in her role as a secretary of state. she had to sort of map out the post cold war period, and she pushed for nato to intervene in place like kosovo. how do you look back on that foreign policy decision? well, every presidential administration pretty much since harry truman has had some big ah, failure, or a mistake on its record. going back to john f. kennedy in the bay of pigs, or lyndon johnson and vietnam, that could have happened in bosnia and kosovo, had things gone wrong. fortunately, i, they didn't go wrong. and the intervention in kosovo turned out to save a lot of lives and resulted in the independence of casa, we don't even think about it anymore. except that last i checked, serbia still hadn't recognized casa bos, independence, and albright pushed so those decisions through what they call the fudge factory at the state department. where for every policy there's some counter policy or somebody arguing against it. and she did do tha

and it changed the way the state department function. imagine that she was a child of the cold war in her role as a secretary of state. she had to sort of map out the post cold war period, and she pushed for nato to intervene in place like kosovo. how do you look back on that foreign policy decision? well, every presidential administration pretty much since harry truman has had some big a failure or a mistake on his record. going back to john f. kennedy in the bay of pigs, or lyndon johnson and vietnam, that could have happened in bosnia and kosovo. had things gone wrong. fortunately, i, they didn't go wrong. and the intervention in kosovo turned out to save a lot of lives. and ugh, resulted in the independence of kosovo. we don't even think about it anymore. except that last i checked, serbia still hadn't recognized casa bos, independence, and albright pushed so those decisions through what they called the fudge factory at the state department. where for every policy there some counter policy or somebody arguing against it. and she did d

he emphasized the department of state and other u.s. partments will be documenting the facts surrounding the law. the assessment has concluded with a careful review of currently available information, both public and from intelligence sources. this review underpins the assessment that the secretary announced today that russian forces are indeed committing war crimes in ukraine. as with any alleged crime, ultimately, it will be for a court of law to determine individual criminal responsibility, who was directly responsible for these particular cases. the u.s. government will continue to track reports coming out of ukraine of war crimes and we will share this information with our friends and allies and with international and multilaterally institutions as appropriate. we are also supporting the ukrainian prosecutor general's office and their war crimes director in supporting civil society documentation efforts. i want to reiterate our solidarity for the people of ukraine. we are committed to pursuing full accountability for war crimes in u

state department and the embassy in romania. >> yeah.involved with is it really shady. it is the end of the obama-biden administration. you have a corrupt person there in romania who is accused of crimes, getting a piece of property at a sub rate, that he shouldn't have, and he thought he could lean on the united states to help him get out of it. he leans on hunter biden. hunter biden says you need an attorney. that attorney happens to be louis freeh, former fbi director. fbi director gets a book of business. the former fbi director deposits $100,000 into the account of joe biden's grandkids in a trust. i mean this is one of the most outrageous stories there is. so "the new york times" sues. the state department to get those emails. they shouldn't have to sue them. but they're prevailing, there is an agreement that the state department still negotiating the deal, march 25th, we'll know the specifics, they're supposedly going to turn over the documents but why is it that joe biden's grandkids are profiting $100,000 while he is vice presid

military and state department personnel. they are in touch and in communication with their counterparts that are still in ukraine in the thick of the fight there. those are the first set of needs that are identified by u.s. personnel, by their counterparts. military and civilians. so that's our top priority. the second is with the ukrainians that we have known since 2015, i'll give a good example of that. the ukrainian who was behind this army f.m. radio stations that i mentioned earlier, his name is ruslan. before the russian war began, he was the deputy director of ukraine's first holocaust museum and memorial. after the war began, he dropped what he was doing with that, and he's now running a training center for the ukrainian civilian volunteers who were stepping up to defend their country. so he's running a training center. so we've heard from ruslan. he sent us a list about an arm long of different things that they needed. the meals ready to eat, m.r.e.'s, a food source for ukrainians on the front line. helmets, body arm

from the state department. e on what we saw there in that unusual and striking diplomacy directly to the united states congress. also tonight, coy tell you we have an expert, i'm sure you've heard of it, the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, she was also at the heart of the first trump impeachment and is skilled and knowledgeable about all of these diplomatic challenges in that region. she's my guest live tonight. and new comments for an anti-war protesters who crashed the russian newscast and where she is wored legitimately for her own safety in putin's russia. what happens when performance... meets power? you try crazy things... ...because you're crazy... ...and you like it. you get bigger... ...badder... ...faster. ♪ you can never have too much of a good thing... and power is a very good thing. ♪ with relapsing forms of ms... there's a lot to deal with. good thing. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too. it can all add up. kesimpta is a once-monthly at-home injection... that may help you

that is run by the department of state. we support logistically but those decisions fall within the department of state. i will close by saying we had the capability to support this effort and systems and procedures in place well into the future. >> thank you. once again thank you to both of you for your service to our country. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator rounds. senator manchin, please. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you both again for your service and thank you for the hard work you doing here. i just have two to my questions really, however i think probably general mckenzie might come to you. first of all gift in a situation, i was reading an article that said basically the road from kabul to kandahar is now safe. people, people are saying different things going on and this and that. basically for the peace in the country, do you see that basically where people are embracing that and believe they have vividly to build any type of an economy whatsoever or without our assistance? because i i

s. state department where secretary of state anthony blinking is giving a briefing hundreds of thousands of placement. hilton loaded there. now more than 174000 refugees. h d n. you're by countries rising cranes. so in your crime are sheltering wherever they can, including children receiving cancer treatment, who are now living in the basements of ukraine's children's hospitals, with doctors and nurses doing their best to care for them as explosions boom overhead. this is shameful. the numbers of civilians killed and wounded, the mandatory consequences will only grow in the days ahead. in the face of this violets, the courage of the ukrainian people is inspiring the world. as president biden said, in the state of the union address last night, the response to russia's war has been unity, unity among world leaders, unity in europe, unity among people gathering around the world to protest president putin's war of choice, including thousands of people in russia. and b l roofs coming out to protest peacefully, even though they know what they risk. and so do it because the by the administratio

rich edson at the state department.ent zelensky continues to appeal to the nations of the west telling germany to tear down the wall that separates them in his words from freedom and captivity. >> ronald reagan once said in berlin, "tear down this wall." i want to tell you now, chancellor scholz, tear down this wall. >> congressman mike mccaul and dan henninger from the "wall street journal" when our breaking coverage continues. my mental health was much better. my mind was in a good place. but my body was telling a different story. i felt all people saw were my uncontrolled movements. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't

iran were in possession of a nuclear weapon. >> officials say irgc threats are also forcing the state departmento provide security for former secretary of state mike pompeo and former iran envoy brian hook. about three years ago, the trump administration designated the irgc as a foreign terrorist organization. that's the first time a government entitiy made that list. a foreign terrorist dessignature nation automatically hits that entity with sanctions. bret? >> bret: rich edson at the state department. thanks. now for some other headlines. 59 least 9 people were killed in a head-on collision in west texas last night, including six students and a coach from new mexico university who were returning home from a golf tournament. a sargent with the texas department of public safety says a pickup truck crossed the center line of the highway and crashed into a van carrying members of the university of the southwest men's and women's golf teams. they had been playing in a tournament in midland, texas. federal prosecutors are charging five people with acting on behalf of the chinese government in planni

corner at the state department in every single corridor. and all right was a secretary of state from 97 to 2001 extraordinary, how would you be remembered in the us just briefly caroline and what will her legacy be there? well, she was a woman who lived the american dream. she came to the united states, as he already mentioned, as an 11 year old political refugees keeping with her family, hers from that see europe a to the u. k. and then from communist repression to the united states. and she later became the 1st female u. s. secretary of state of this country before albright the inner circle of u. s. foreign policy making had been almost exclusively dominated by men. so her role in the foreign policy establishment was also an inspiration for many women. with her ambition and her strength, she quickly became a key personal exit example to them. carolyn eci more in washington. thank you. in watching data, but the news has a recap of our mind story on the one month anniversary of russia's full scale invasion of ukraine. president, val, autumn

we used five different authorities across two departments, the department of state and the department of the treasury. there were visa restrictions under the department of state and foreign relations. there were designations for pursuing the executive order. there were visa restrictions and now it is under the integration and nationality a lacked -- nationality act. this allows us to go after current and former russian officials leave to be -- around the world. there were visa restrictions on six individuals under a new authority we announced earlier in the administration last year in response to governments around the world pursuing this extraterritorial really. andrew used this in 2015 to undermined individuals going after democracies in belarus. we will go after those responsible for the work in ukraine, we will continue to go after those who -- we will continue to go after private individuals whose closeness to the russian government and the kremlin as a result of atlas it -- elicit activity plundering what has belong to the russian people. >> to the second part, do you think that

the state department advising u.s. citizens to leave russia immediately as visa and mastercard suspend all operations in russia. our team on the ground. >>> the mounting pressure to ban russian oil, as the invasion of ukraine drives up gas prices here at home, making everything from home heating to food more expensive. how high the costs could climb. >>> also breaking tonight, the wnba all-star arrested in russia at an airport near moscow. tonight, reaction from the state department. >>> millions on alert as a storm system sweeps east, expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds. reports of a possibly tornado touching down. rob marciano standing by to time it all out. >>> and how communities across america are stepping up to support the people of ukraine from far away. >>> and good evening. it's great to have you with us on another busy saturday. i'm whit johnson. we begin tonight with the new dire warning from vladimir putin. the russians saying sanctions are akin to a declaration of war. hopes of a limited cease-fi

the state department telling nbc today, quote, the u.s.un mission personnel expelled for their abuse of privileges for residents. the special exception was done in accordance with federal regulations, to ensure russian mission personnel and their families departed by the day we had instructed. meanwhile, thousands of refugees across ukraine forced to flee the home they love. that truck, that quest to find safety, comes with the price of not knowing if you are ever be able to return. john sparks of sky tv tonight with a look at that journey aboard a train from enerhodar dnipro two lviv. >> reporter: no one knows if or when the train will come. but in the city of dnipro, there are thousands of people keeping watch. their past and their present has been packed into backs, while their future lies on platform one. the trains head west to the city of lviv, which stands as some sort of beacon. but nobody wants to leave their home. >> how do you feel? >> very bad. very, very bad. >> why? >> i'm very angry. >> why? >> because putin's bleep. >> repo

our state department warned americans still in russia to leave while they still can.an 300 of our federal lawmakers met by video with ukraine's president zelenskyy this morning as congress considers $10 billion in aid for ukraine. another intense week for the world. we begin in ukraine. let's go to nbc's kyle perry out of lviv ukraine. thousands of refugees arriving from other cities to lviv by trains and buses. what is the latest dispatch from where you're seeing on the ground there. >> reporter: what we're seeing is the war has arrived. it's arrived in the form of these refugees who are scared and confused and they don't know where to go. they're fleeing now some of the worst fighting we've seen just in the week this war has started. the eastern part of the country has seen a dozen or so villages, towns and some cities being heavily bombarded by russian troops. there was talk of some humanitarian corridors, but the cease fire didn't hold, the bombardment didn't stop. we're talking about cities that have had the power cut, the water cut, that doesn't have heat. a pop

today in your written testimony you stated that quote the department of defense assesses isis k could establish an external attacks capability against the united states and to our allies and 12 -- 18 months but possibly sooner if the group experiences on anticipated gains in afghanistan". what has caused this intelligence estimate to shift from october, and secretary made those comments to what you are telling us today? >> again i will talk a little bit more about this in the? closed session. the. i gave which is 12 to 18 months for isis k represents our best whole of intelligence community thinking on this. and it does change over time as we see groups gather, as we see groups fall apart. i will be able to give you a lot more detail on that in the closed session for. >> okay let me shift gears a little but then with you we will continue the ct in closed session. we look at iran's proxies throughout centcom ao are and they continue to pose a significant threat to our own forces of the region. what more do you think can be done to deter from their malign activities? >> we have establis

now, the state department is saying american citizens in russia should get out now using whatever method they can. those methods obviously dwindling now that there are fewer flights out of russia. the state run airline cancelling all international flights starting in a few days, and no u.s. or eu airlines, able to fly back and forth to russia. and in the latest indication of the reasons that the u.s. and others are so concerned about their citizens in russia right now is the reports of the detainment of this wnba player who according to the customs officials from russia was found with some hashish oil at the airport in her luggage. we know that the wnba and the mercury, the team she played for, they are very concerned about this as well. the state department saying they are aware of reports of a u.s. citizen who has been detained in russia, are looking into it, but at this time, not much more information other than fresh evidence of the u.s. concern about american citizens who might be in russia right now. >> 100% we're following those reports too about brittney griner. let me ask you ve

david and others at the state department whether the state department could release a statement in in support of me because i could see that if the department preferably pompeo himself didn't come to my defense robustly. yeah that i mean i would have to i would have to leave because you know once you have the president and the president's family sort of putting stuff out like that. you know, the ukrainians would be be understandable if they wondered whether i was really representing the president and his policies but that was a saturday and they would talk to pompeo about it on monday and in the end there was no statement of support that night. i did tape something but i i just i just couldn't do what what i think they wanted and and again it was a question of why why is she doing that? and so what i did because presidential elections in ukraine were coming up within a week. i talked about the importance of democracy the importance of our institutions and and so forth rather than that, and i said, you know, i'm working to implement the president's policies or something. you never hear

state department issued a new warning for americans in russia, that is depart immediately, they could this breaking news and or on "the cross connection" right after the break. n "the cross connection" right after the break. scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire ♪ ♪ ♪a little bit of chicken fried♪ ♪cold beer on a friday night♪ ♪a pair of jeans that fit just right♪ ♪and the radio up well i've seen the sunrise...♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's (vo) small businesses are joining the big switch. save over $1,000 when you switch to our ultimate business plan for the lowest price ever. plus choose from the latest 5g smartphones. get more 5g bars in more places- switch to t-mobile for business today. >>> a very fluid situation in ukraine and

he's in morning state department officials discuss how to fight authoritarianism.

state. we support them logistically but those decisions are all within the department of state. will close by saying we have the capability to support this effort with systems and procedures in place well into the future. >> thank you for your service to our country. >> thank you mr. chairman both again for your service and for all the hard work you're doing here. >> the afghanistan situation that the road from kabul to kandahar that congress is coming back and seeing different roadside things and do you see that where people are embracing that and they can build any type of an economy whatsoever? because i read of all the different hardships going on. that is gone. >> i do not believe it's a particularly safe place to be. >> you could drive on the ring road in a way you cannot do in the past but at the same time we know the taliban is carrying out searches for former afghan government officials and women are in a repressive existence in their world. why it may not be the violence you saw over the last ten or 15 years i'm not sure it's a place anybody wants to be in those that w

and later at the state department. >> she certainly did.leaders have been so perfectly suited for the times in which they served. that's a direct quote. how did her life experience prepare her to take on some of the biggest crises facing the united states and the world? >> first of all, she knew how to live under a cloud of uncertainty. her family had to flee czechoslovakia twice, once because of the nazis and once because of stalin. she didn't like either option because she knew that the czechs wanted to be free to chart their own course in life. it left an indelible impression on her. they finally came to the united states, her dad was a professor at the university of colorado. madeline wound up teaching at my old alma mater georgetown where i think on at least two occasions she was voted by the students as the most outstanding faculty member. but she was far more than an academic, partly because of the agonizing personal experiences she had been through as a child, and she understood clearly that the people caught in the middle between g

to this and a department of state continues its full spectrum of approach to counter the influence ofauthoritarian regimes. and equally as important, the value of democratic governments. departments for thousand public >> all right. i guess we have lost ms. gottfried. we will go to questions and see if we can reconvene her at some point. let's begin the five minute rounds. last congress, so secretary zeya, last congress i got released a report about authoritarianism and hold on i'm not sure if we can get miss but godfrey on. as autocrats we have new tools to spread disinformation. and repress dissenting voices, how is the administration building a consistent and strategic approach through combatting digital authoritarianism, and making sure that new technologies work for democracy. and how is the state department engaged in in localizing the private sector for this work? >> thank you senator for raising a critically important question. and for the report that he referenced. but as you've mentioned and the ranking members, digital authoritarianism, represents one of the most concerning

welcomed his arrival and hoped that he would, in fact, help to rebuild not only the core of the state departmenthe department accordingly. none of that happened. >> and what is your concern about the state department now? it's being reinvigorated, but how much has the u.s. lost by all of these veterans leaving the government? including yourself, of course. >> i think any time -- any time you have a hollowing out of an institution, it takes years to rebuild. so i think we're in the beginning of that process. we need the resources, we need the personnel, we need political -- political cover to do our jobs and to do them in the way that we -- that makes us most effective. we also need to look at the challenges of this century. and modernize how we do our work. so there are a lot of challenges ahead but i think the state department can become that strong diplomatic force again. >> and and your thoughts about volodymyr zelenskyy and the way he's leading the nation now? >> it's incredible. it's really inspiring. the way he has rallied his -- his countrymen and inspired the world, it's -- the man has m

one is strengthening our whole of government efforts, so this is not simply the job for the department of state, but we are very closely looped up with department of justice, dhs as well as treasury and commerce who all have a role to play in a more effective and strategic u.s. response. we are also working to impose costs for the practice of transnational repression, so one specific example of that would be the creation last year of the global khashoggi ban which promotes specific accountability for authoritarian regimes engaged in transnational repression. and then the other piece, i would say, is the global networking piece to ensure other governments are aware and attune to this increasing threat and they do not allow their own territory to be misused for the practice of transnational repression against diaspora or exiled citizens. >> well, thank you very much. i'll just close with saying i think this is such an important area in this global competition between freedom loving nations and autocracies, that i'm very concerned about the trends freedom house reports in the last 16 consecutive y