Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00as President Trump's nominee to be the US Arctic ambassador at
00:00:04large. I'm grateful to President Trump and Secretary
00:00:07Rubio for their confidence in me, and I appreciate the committee's
00:00:10consideration of my nomination. I'm joined today by my
00:00:14husband Mike, sister Dina, stepdaughter Anderson, dear friend
00:00:18Michelle, former hostage Jiju Wang and his who
00:00:22was freeed from Iran after being held prisoner for three years and his wife
00:00:26Wa. I'm also joined by fellow veterans who I served with in.
00:00:43of
00:00:47of
00:00:57of held our family
00:01:01together, she taught us that America does not owe anyone easy
00:01:04path, but rewards grit, dedication, and a willingness to
00:01:09of serve. That lesson took me from a small Florida town in the United
00:01:13States Army. After September 11th, I served as a military
00:01:16intelligence officer,
00:01:18in deployed in support of operation enduring freedom and Iraqi
00:01:21freedom. I later served across three administrations, beginning
00:01:25with helping to establish the office
00:01:26of the director of national intelligence
00:01:29in at the State Department. I served as Deputy
00:01:31a Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources and later as deputy and acting
00:01:35special presidential envoy for Hostage Affairs. I later
00:01:39became Florida's first chief resilience officer. I was then appointed the 10th homeland
00:01:43security advisor to
00:01:44in the president where I was responsible for the Arctic, coordinating our national
00:01:47strategy for the region, working closely with the US coast guard and
00:01:51Navy to build our Arctic fleet and chairing National Security
00:01:55Council meetings on closing our Ice
00:01:57in breaker gap. I later served as a commission.
00:02:25a of
00:02:30of Our interests extend far beyond Alaska, the region is
00:02:34of central to the defense
00:02:35of the homeland, the
00:02:37of security
00:02:37of the North Atlantic, trusted supply chains,
00:02:41energy,
00:02:42of minerals, and the alliances that have long advanced American interests. It
00:02:46is also the frontier for American innovation. The high north
00:02:50is not only ice and shipping lanes, it is space awareness and missile
00:02:54warning from northern latitudes. It is undersea cables,
00:02:57communications and the data that moves. across them, it is
00:03:01whether the next generation of energy, computing, artificial
00:03:05intelligence is powered and connected by trusted American
00:03:09and allied systems, or by infrastructure built under the influence of
00:03:13our competitors. cold climates and energy potential
00:03:17can support advanced computing and data centers. polar orbits and
00:03:21of arctic ground stations already matter for space operations. if the United
00:03:25States does not lead in these areas, others will treat them as
00:03:28openings.
00:03:30of "a rapidly changing Arctic and longer periods of open water are changing the
00:03:34operating environment faster than our institutions have adapted.
00:03:38longer periods of open water may create
00:03:40of opportunities for maritime activity and American energy
00:03:43exports. They also stress the roads, ports,
00:03:47airfields, fuel systems and networks that enable military
00:03:50operations, investment, commerce, and community
00:03:54resilience. In
00:03:56a region of fast distance, the failure of a single node can have a strategic..."
00:04:00consequences. These are operational challenges. They
00:04:04affect
00:04:06of of readiness, mobility, search and rescue, disaster response, and our ability to act in
00:04:09a crisis. Our competitors
00:04:13of understand this:
00:04:14of Russia
00:04:14of continues to strengthen its military posture and infrastructure behind
00:04:18it. China is not an arctic nation, yet
00:04:21it is seeking long-term advantage through research, investment,
00:04:25technology and commercial projects with dual use
00:04:28potential. Secretary Rubio has warned that Beijing's
00:04:32pattern is to use commercial cover for
00:04:34in facilities that could later serve military purposes. Arctic shipping
00:04:38lanes will matter for exports, critical minerals trusted digital
00:04:41infrastructure,
00:04:43in space-related of access will shape competitiveness for decades. We cannot
00:04:46allow Moscow and Beijing to write the rules of this region by
00:04:50default. America's response must be nimble and
00:04:54effective. Advancing the administration's America first
00:04:57of priorities will be the core of our approach. Military strength
00:05:01is indispensable, but it is not enough. Lasting
00:05:05leadership also depends on diplomacy, economic
00:05:08statecraft, strong infrastructure,
00:05:12innovation.
00:05:42from our adversaries, it also means a steady eye on the
00:05:46security, military activity, economic deals,
00:05:49resources, cyber, science, and politics, so we are
00:05:53not surprised. if confirmed, I will work every day to
00:05:57strengthen our alliances, advance the interests the American
00:06:00people, counter those who would exploit the arctic against us and help
00:06:04keep the region secure, stable, prosperous and prepared.
00:06:08Thank you,
00:06:09and I welcome your questions. Thank you, Miss Neshrab.
00:06:12appreciate it uh, Mr.
00:06:14Gillen, chairman
00:06:18Rish, ranking member Shahin, distinguish
00:06:21members the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear
00:06:25before you today as President Trump's nominee to serve as the next United
00:06:29States ambassador to the Kirgize Republic, I am deeply
00:06:33honored to be considered for this role, public service has been
00:06:37the defining commitment of my career, and I do not take
00:06:41lightly the trust. the president or secretary and secretary
00:06:44rubio have placed in me, nor the
00:06:48responsibility this committee bears and advise and consenting to
00:06:52this nomination. if confirmed, I will
00:06:55bring to this post the same dedication to mission,
00:06:59integrity, accountability that has guided me
00:07:02throughout my time serving the American
00:07:05people. I am grateful for the chance to
00:07:08continue that service a region
00:07:10I believe is of growing, importance to our nation's security and
00:07:14prosperity. Before I go further, I would
00:07:18like to recognize my family, especially my wife
00:07:21Grace, is here with me
00:07:24here today, and has been all in with me for almost 25
00:07:28years. I remain ever grateful
00:07:31also to my late World War II generation
00:07:34grandparents raise me with their profound sense of
00:07:38duty and love of country, and who
00:07:41were very, very proud of me. for representing her country as an
00:07:44officer
00:07:45in the United States foreign service. my family support and
00:07:48sacrifice make this work possible and any success I
00:07:52have had in service to our country reflects their love and
00:07:56partnership as much as my own effort. I
00:08:00could not undertake this responsibility without them. As
00:08:04the Kiriges Republic celeb 35 years of independence, the
00:08:08United States has an opportunity to offer a transparent, mutually
00:08:11beneficial... partnership that advances the prosperity of both
00:08:15nations. this is not a new commitment, but one this
00:08:18administration is reinforced through sustained high-level engagement,
00:08:22including the historic C5+1 summit at the White
00:08:26House last November, which marked the platform's 10th
00:08:30anniversary and brought together President Trump, the leaders the
00:08:33central Asian countries. if confirm, if
00:08:37confirmed, I will work to hold, I will work to build this on this
00:08:41foundation, that means...
00:09:42never been clear, if confirmed, I will
00:09:45work tirelessly to protect and advance American
00:09:49interests, strengthen our bilateral relationship and ensure the United
00:09:52States becomes the partner of choice for the Kirges
00:09:56people. I look forward to answering the committee's
00:09:59questions. Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
00:10:03Gullen, Miss Patel,
00:10:07Chairman Rish, Ranking member Shaheen, and distinguished members the
00:10:10committee. Thank you for the privilege. coming before you today as the
00:10:14president's nominee to serve as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Cabo
00:10:17Verde. I deeply appreciate the confidence and trust President
00:10:21Trump and Secretary Rubio have shown in nominating me. If
00:10:25confirmed, I commit to working closely with Congress to advance our interests in
00:10:29Cabo Verde. I come from humble
00:10:32beginnings, raised to understand the importance of hard work,
00:10:35empathy, integrity and resilience. Even when times were
00:10:39tough, I always dreamed big. I am grateful for the family and friends
00:10:43here with me today, and those watching from afar who have shaped who I have
00:10:47become and why public service means so much to me.
00:10:51I also want to acknowledge my nearly two year old son, Adi,
00:10:55motivates me to be better each day. Cabo Verde is a
00:10:58small nation with an outsize story. Since gaining independence in
00:11:021975, it has become one of Africa's strongest
00:11:05democracies, reflected time after time through its peaceful transfers
00:11:09of power. Its government acts against officials who engage in
00:11:13corruption, and its laws provide freedom of expression, including for the
00:11:17press. Cob overday and leaders have shown remarkable
00:11:20resolve from interdicting multiton narcotic shipments in the Mid
00:11:24Atlantic. to standing firm against pressure from actors seeking to exploit
00:11:28its strategic location, and its people to people
00:11:32ties with the United States, dating back to the 18th century, has built a
00:11:36bond with America that spans generations. If
00:11:39confirmed, my highest priority will be the safety and security of US
00:11:43citizens in Cabo Verde, including the thousands who travel there for
00:11:47business, tourism or to spend holidays with loved ones and our mission
00:11:50team doing incredible work in praya. Part and parcel of
00:11:54support. the mission is ensuring our new embassy compound construction is
00:11:58on track for completion in 2029. i
00:12:02will also work to promote broad-based mutually beneficial economic
00:12:05development, encouraging US businesses to seize opportunities a market
00:12:09with a stable political environment and low corruption. i will
00:12:13advocate for American businesses and look forward to encouraging investment in
00:12:17infrastructure, tourism, fisheries and digital services and
00:12:20addressing barriers to us commercial success.
00:12:25I will prioritize our security partnership, particularly in maritime domain
00:12:29awareness. Cabo Verde is made up of 10 islands and
00:12:33eight islets within a maritime domain that is over 170 times
00:12:36larger than its actual land mass. This presents
00:12:40challenges to combat transnational crime, illegal fishing and narcotics
00:12:44trafficking. If confirmed, I will work to deepen our security
00:12:48efforts in support these areas of mutual
00:12:51concern. Finally, I would be remissed not to...
00:12:55mention that Cabo Verde made its first ever appearance at the FIFA World Cup this
00:12:58year and became the smallest country ever to make it to the knockout round
00:13:02the tournament. It was moment of tremendous national pride for
00:13:06Cabo Verdans and brought this small nation into the American
00:13:09consciousness. I hope to build on this momentum to bring our two
00:13:13countries even closer together. If confirmed, I will work every
00:13:17day to to strengthen this vital partnership. Thank you, and I welcome your
00:13:21questions. Well, thank you, and thank you to the panel.
00:13:25Uh, we're going to do a round of questions, and uh, I'm going to start with
00:13:28myself, and then we'll go back and forth between the minority and the majority.
00:13:32Um, I'm going to start uh,
00:13:35with uh uh, Miss Neshuad. I'm,
00:13:39I'm the senior Republican on the Intelligence Committee as well as being here, and we
00:13:43hear a lot, I mean a lot about the Arctic uh, in the
00:13:47Intelligence Committee. Um, I'm always impressed with the fact, and
00:13:51not in a good way, how little it gets covered in in the media.
00:13:55and uh particularly with the issues that are there, so this gives us an opportunity
00:13:59to highlight
00:14:00uh uh some of those issues, so I'm going to give you a minute if you'd like to talk about
00:14:04some the challenges and maybe drill down into an example or
00:14:08two as to why the artic is
00:14:11important and uh why we should take it as
00:14:14such. Thank you uh, Mr. Chairman for
00:14:18for that for that question and opportunity to really try to explain, I think you're
00:14:22exactly right, there's there's a a little
00:14:24bit of... lack of understanding and awareness with the general public when it comes to the
00:14:28strategic importance the arctic and and what this role would would
00:14:32encompass. um, as as I said earlier in my
00:14:35remarks,
00:14:36the the ice is melting in certain parts the Arctic, it is opening the navigation
00:14:40seaways, we're seeing increased traffic of Russian and Chinese
00:14:44ships, there's there's quite a bit of vulnerabilities and gaps up in the
00:14:48high north, we rely very heavily on our our
00:14:51fisheries, on on the salmon industry up in the Alaska region.
00:14:55and there's a lot of national security, economic uh
00:14:59security concerns when it when it comes to the high north, and being
00:15:03able to explain, I i'd say, especially from a public diplomacy standpoint will
00:15:07be, I think quite critical for this role and and this and this
00:15:11opportunity to serve, to really be able to explain that
00:15:15strategic importance when it comes to also countering the
00:15:18malig influence of China and Russia that that are in the
00:15:21region, opening opportunities to see what kind of access... we have when
00:15:25it comes to critical minerals and energy resources and then
00:15:29finally building those coalitions and those partnerships
00:15:32with arctic nations across the board and not
00:15:36just with the Arctic Council. but beyond that as well, we have lot of arctic
00:15:40observer states including Japan, ch,
00:15:44Korea, and India for example, so it is a
00:15:47global issue, when we think about what's happening in the world today, everyone focuses
00:15:51on certain choke points in the middle east and so forth, where where this
00:15:55the arctic can be truly new frontier if we put the right
00:15:59focus and capabilities behind it, thank you, well thank you, I think you've
00:16:03got that just right, it's going to continue to growing important.
00:16:08particularly is as the use in the navigation
00:16:11gets gets more use up
00:16:14there uh mr gillen um as noted i
00:16:18participated in that meeting at the at the request the
00:16:21president with the c5 plus one and i have to
00:16:25tell you i was was incredibly
00:16:28impressed i see people from all over the world from the 200
00:16:31countries and never saw much the
00:16:35c5 plus one uh but when um
00:16:39when the war started uh they they came to see me and wanted to
00:16:43underscore the fact that uh they didn't have anything to do with this and they
00:16:47didn't want to participate in that even though the Russians had uh
00:16:51strongly uh urged them to do so,
00:16:55but any event I was impressed when we had that meeting with
00:16:58them and I think saying that they have an interest in engaging
00:17:02with us is an understatement. I was I was really surprised at
00:17:06their enthusiasm. for wanting relationship with us
00:17:10uh economically and and every other way, so
00:17:14um, your thoughts on
00:17:15that. thank you,
00:17:19Mr. chairman, and for that for that
00:17:22question, but also thank you for your support and participation in the
00:17:26C5+1 summit. truth be told is throughout the my foreign service
00:17:30career, the most effective moments we had when when engaging partners
00:17:34and influencing those who were teetering back and forth between, us
00:17:37and maybe other powers throughout the world was when there
00:17:41were the the legislative branch and the executive branch put up a united front
00:17:45and they saw that there was no daylight between constitutional branches and
00:17:49saw where American policy was heading so thank you so much for
00:17:52President Trump's efforts to press forward and reinvigurate and and
00:17:56to maximize uh keyges republic's
00:18:00participation in the C5 uh format. it is difficult
00:18:04strategic context for the Kierise republic as you know
00:18:0720% their economy is dependent on remittances from Russia
00:18:11and upwards of 90% and some estimates out open sources put it higher
00:18:15of fuel their fuel supplies are from
00:18:19Russia and Republic and
00:18:21so it's a difficult strategic context in some respects for the Kirise
00:18:25Republican and and what is essential to enabling them
00:18:29to be a trusted transparent sovereign partner
00:18:33our strong shows of American commitment to find ways to
00:18:36expand
00:19:07ili eur sa biksnom stopom. Šparka se
00:19:11bank. Za razliku od
00:19:15vas, mi smo samo umjetna inteligencija. Mi nemamo
00:19:18srce, ali vi imate neko računa na njega. Aspirin
00:19:22Protect 100 m. Preporučuje se osobama sa visokim i
00:19:26vrlo visokim rizikom od kardiovaskularnih bolesti, radi smanjenja
00:19:30rizika od akutnog srčanog moždanog udara. Prije upotrebe baživo pročitati uput o
00:19:34lijeku za obavijesti o indikacijama mjerama opreza nežljenim dejstvima na lijek posavjetujte se sarom. ili
00:19:37farmaceutom Bayer Samo u Fisu na
00:19:41odjelima kućnog tekstila potražite Jastuk
00:19:44690 deka 25 20 plahte na
00:19:47gumu dostupne u više dimenzija već od 15 80
00:19:51satenske posteljine već od 48 maraka prekrivači
00:19:55već od 14,5 maraka. Kupujte sa zadovoljstvom.
00:19:59Fis. 25 godina
00:20:02povjerenja, više od 600.000 zadovoljnih pacijenata,
00:20:0680. vrhunskih oftalmologa i najsuvremenija tehnologija,
00:20:10jamstvo su znanja i kvalitete. Zdravlje očiju povjerile su nam i
00:20:14najpoznatije svjetske zvijezde. Birajte i vi najbolje,
00:20:18posjetite nas u Zagrebu, Splitu, Sarajevu, Budvi i Skoplju.
00:20:22Klinika Svjetlost. Uštedi uz super
00:20:25bonbonijeru. Goveđi pršut premi. Uštedi
00:20:2925%. Ajvar volim, uštedi 2
00:20:33km. Sladoled, uštedi 40%.
00:20:36Crvena jabuka. bolji izbor svaki dan već
00:20:4040 godina, svaka štednja je korak
00:20:44ka cilju i pretvaras nove uzbilju, ko špara taj
00:20:47stvara, akcija oročine štednje u...
00:20:57Yeah, I appreciate that, I'm assuming you have had some discussions
00:21:01with
00:21:02uh uh ambassador gore, Sergio Gore, was the ambassador to
00:21:06India, but also the special envoy for the region that includes the C5. Am I
00:21:10correct on that? Sir, I have
00:21:13consultations lined up with him, but I've been engaging with his
00:21:17people, and look forward to... working with
00:21:20him as well as the secretary back at the SA
00:21:23Bureau um
00:21:25I appreciate that you're going to find him fully engaged in
00:21:29that envoy position that the president has given him he's he's
00:21:33ambassador of course to India right now but he is I can tell
00:21:36you uh uh heavily and deeply and
00:21:39wisely engaged uh in the C5 so you'll be
00:21:43well served in uh dealing with him as you proceed with
00:21:47your ambassador your amba ship to
00:21:50Kind, so with that, Senator Shaheen, thank you,
00:21:54Mr. Chairman, and I apologize for missing everyone's opening
00:21:58statements, I had
00:21:59a another briefing in the armed services committee that I had to go
00:22:02to, but
00:22:04to do it again, well, if you would like that, I'd be happy to
00:22:08listen, we got it on the record, hopefully I can,
00:22:12get some insights based on the questions to all of you, as
00:22:16I mentioned in my opening statement, Mr. Young, last week a Serbian.
00:22:20plane flew the body of Ratco
00:22:23Maladic from the Hague to Belgrade, and despite the fact
00:22:27that he was convicted by the international criminal tribunal
00:22:31former Yugoslavia of genocide and
00:22:34Trebra, what we saw was some government officials who attended
00:22:38his funeral and he was granted military honors, I think
00:22:42to see honors bestowed a convicted war
00:22:45criminal like that is outrageous and I think it's important
00:22:50for the US to be clear on what happened in
00:22:53trebranitza, so do you consider as the international
00:22:57criminal tribunal does, as the US congress does and as the US
00:23:00Holocaust Memorial Museum does, that what took place in
00:23:04Shrebritza was a
00:23:05genocide? Senator,
00:23:09thank you so much for your question, and your decades long work in that area
00:23:12laser tremendous ground work, I think for
00:23:16future work in Serbia, so thank you uh...
00:23:20Yes, what happens in Serbaniza as genocide
00:23:24is a historical and legal fact. Thank you,
00:23:27and if confirmed based on your answer, I assume
00:23:31you commit to affirming that, in your new
00:23:34role, should you be confirmed? Senator,
00:23:38yes, if confirmed, would certainly continue to aver
00:23:41that. Um, most recently, it was reported
00:23:45that Russian nationals responsible for the hybrid attack at
00:23:49Leipsig. report use Serbia um as means to
00:23:53return home, it underscores the growing
00:23:56concerns that Serbia's ties with Russia undermine European
00:23:59security, so if
00:24:03confirmed, how would you seek to put greater pressure on Serbia
00:24:07to sever its ties with Russia, um, so that
00:24:11it can support it stated interest in pursuing EU
00:24:14membership. Senator, thank you so
00:24:18much, that's a... difficult but important, very important
00:24:22question, I think there are number of ways in which one turns
00:24:25to enlighten Serbia about the
00:24:28disadvantages of deeper cooperation with Russia and the
00:24:32advantages of cooperation with the United States and I
00:24:36think there are number of variables in there that you want to address
00:24:39including helping them develop
00:24:41energy, reduce their energy independent or the
00:24:45dependency on Russia, I think is an important element of that,
00:24:49number two... I think is to work
00:24:53to um urge the Serbians to create
00:24:57a environment that allows American
00:25:00companies to compete fairly and to become even greater part
00:25:04the economic ecosystem of Serbia uh I think
00:25:08also deepening our conversations
00:25:12over military cooperation become an important element as
00:25:15well so those are all things that need to be done the more to be
00:25:19sure but certainly particular emphasis in those areas, I
00:25:22think is potentially helpful. Well, thank you, um,
00:25:26I think it was Wor Wilson who said that academic politics are the
00:25:30toughest, and so given your experience academia, hopefully you'll
00:25:34be prepared for the Balkans, because politics there are pretty tough as
00:25:38well. Um, Mr. Johnson,
00:25:42we passed, um, last year, the Western
00:25:46Balkans democracy and prosperity Act, um, which...
00:25:50requires the administration to sanction within 90 days any
00:25:54actors who are responsible for undermining peace, stability or
00:25:58territorial integrity in the Western Balkans, and yet
00:26:01nearly nine months. later, the administration has still not imposed
00:26:05any sanctions despite what appears to be clear
00:26:09sanctionable conduct, so for
00:26:12example, Miller Ad Dotic, again, who I referred to in my
00:26:16opening comments, attended the funeral of convicted war
00:26:20criminal
00:26:22Maladic, and he has advocated for the
00:26:26Republic of Serpska's independence, just four months after US
00:26:30sanctions on him were lifted, he said, I quote, you have to
00:26:33inflict some losses on the enemy every day, because he is your
00:26:37enemy, and Muslims, the Sarajevo political
00:26:40establishment and Muslim Sarajevo are our
00:26:44enemies, end of quote, so if
00:26:48confirmed, do you commit to reviewing the available
00:26:52intelligence and following very
00:26:55closely what's happening in the Republic of Serbsca and
00:26:59making recommendations on what we need to. do if
00:27:03there is ongoing rhetoric and action that
00:27:05undermines the law with respect to the western
00:27:09balcans integrity
00:27:11act. thank you senator, again i
00:27:15echo my colleague and thank you for your
00:27:19service, especially in the balcans, we're going to miss you next
00:27:23year when you're there. with that said, in respect
00:27:26toic,
00:27:28i think that at this stage right now, again we're a
00:27:31political. and rhetoric is on all
00:27:34sides is before next month's elections in
00:27:38Bosnia, but I can assure you senator if
00:27:41confirmed that I'll be a strong advocate
00:27:44for what was stated in the NDA and be able
00:27:48to provide uh our
00:27:51country accurate portrayal of exactly what is going
00:27:55on. Well, thank you, I appreciate that. I hope you will also make
00:27:58recommendations about how you think we should respond to what's going on.
00:28:02"I'm out of time, Mr. Chairman, but hopefully we will be able to do another round
00:28:06later. That uh usually happens, doesn't
00:28:10it? Senator Lee, thank you. Mr. Young, let's start with you,
00:28:14uh, one of your areas of expertise in in legal academia, and that you've
00:28:18also got have lot of experience in uh
00:28:21practice, in your previous government service involves international
00:28:25religious freedom, uh, one of your previous ambassadorial roles involved
00:28:29that in particular, you see any particular aspect." your
00:28:32service uh in Serbia that will benefit from that, and what do you think
00:28:36there are some the religious freedom issues you might confront
00:28:39there? uh, Senator Lee, thank you for that
00:28:42question, and recognition the importance of that
00:28:45issue, Serbia is, of
00:28:49course, predominantly Serbian orthodox,
00:28:52and strongly support the capacity of people in
00:28:56that context to worship freely in whatever way they think
00:29:00appropriate, at the... same time there are other religions
00:29:04as well, there's certainly adherents to Islam, there are other Christian
00:29:08faiths there as well, and if confirmed, I would certainly
00:29:12strongly urge the Serbian government to ensure that
00:29:16everybody have that capacity as they are obligated under
00:29:20the UN treaties to preserve uh
00:29:24freedom of thought, conscience and belief as well as freedom of
00:29:27assembly uh in all of its
00:29:29manifestations. I i would imagine that, many them,
00:29:33including their clurgy will be honored to know that one of our major establishment
00:29:36clause cases in the United States bears their name
00:29:40uh uh arising out of that church. I as chairman at the energy and natural
00:29:44resources committee, I'm always interested in energy issues around the
00:29:47world. um, anything there of interest to you on
00:29:51the energy front? uh, I think the uh, yes, senator, the
00:29:55energy front is very important at the moment, while on with respect
00:29:59to electrical energy, they are largely self-sufficient with about
00:30:03produced by coal and about 30% by
00:30:05hydroelectric, but over 80% their liquid
00:30:09natural natural gas is imported from
00:30:12Russia, and they also have
00:30:16Russian ownership their major energy company,
00:30:19those those issues
00:30:21need to be addressed, and if confirmed, I will certainly continue to
00:30:25urge that NIS be
00:30:29there be a change in ownership and control from Russian owner. and
00:30:32control to something else, which is under negotiation, as I understand
00:30:36it, addition, I think looking at completion of pipelines
00:30:39uh from the west that allow them to get energy
00:30:43sources become very important in terms their
00:30:46capacity to engage the
00:30:49west to the
00:30:52exclusion on occasion of Russia and other
00:30:55countries with somewhat less
00:30:58rable in and