i look forward to building on the excellent work of my predecessor and friend, steve beecroft. i'm delighted to share this panel with dana smith. with your permission, mr. chairman, i would like to induce my daughter, dorothy jones, a rising sophomore at duke university. she flew up to be with me here today. my wife and barbara and sons are in iman. i'm grateful my family has been game for every new busting. i'm grateful for the opportunity to serve. one of our largest and most complex missions. i've served in iraq twice and as director for iraq affairs on the national security counsel. these jobs have helped me to prepare for the complexity and challenges of the assignment ahead. we are all familiar with the history of iraq's past decade. it is impossible to serve in iraq without recalling and honoring the sacrifice and achievement of our u.s. servicemen and women and civilians. more than 4,000 lost their lives there. but they also put an end to the oppression and regional threat of the is a -- saddam hussein regime. today we're committed to building a strong iraq. iraq has in

well, i think to be following in the footsteps of steve beecroft. i think he has established very good relations with all the groups in iraq. i think this is a role that we should continue to play. using our good offices to broker solutions to the myriad of problems that face iraq. i think we've made great progress in recent months to try to broker an arrangement to why the regional government and baghdad could resolve their problems and also support a process of reconciliation between some sunni groups and the government. this is the role that the u.s. has played in iraq in the past ten years. i think we do have significant influence because of our continuing presence in the commercial and petroleum sector as well as continuing presence in the military sector obviously not with groups on the ground. >> ambassador beecroft, we talked a little bit about another topic, a similar topic but for different reasons. our influence of egypt itself. i think people have had really strong believes about what we should be doing relative to egypt and aid. i have

>> well, i think i must be followed in the footsteps of steve beecroft.fsa stones good relations with all other groups in iraq and i think this is a role that we should continue to play, using our good offices to broker solutions to the major problems that face iraq. i think we've made great progress in recent months in trying to broker an arrangement by which the hydrocarbon law could be finalized and relations between the kurdish regional government in baghdad could resolve their problems. i think we can also find ways to support a process of reconciliation between some sunni groups and the government. this is the role the united states has played in iraq for the last 10 years and i would certainly hope to continue to play that role. i think we do have significant influence because of our continuing presence in the commercial and petroleum sector, as was continuing presence in the military sector, though obviously not with troops on the ground. >> thank you. ambassador beecroft, we talked a little bit about another topic, and to some of topic but for di