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U.S. Department of State Weekly Digest Bulletin Inbox x U.S. Department of State <usstatebpa@public.govdelivery.com> 6:33 AM (5 hours ago)  to me Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With George Stephanopoulos of ABC’s This Week 10/20/2019 You are subscribed to Europe and Eurasia for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With George Stephanopoulos of ABC’s This Week 10/20/2019 02:36 PM EDT Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State Washington, D.C. QUESTION: And we are joined now by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Thank you for joining us this morning, Secretary Pompeo. And let me begin with what we just heard from that Kurdish commander who says the Kurds are not happy, that this is a betrayal that she fears will lead to genocide. SECRETARY POMPEO: George, we need to go back to where this all began for the Trump administration. It began with a situation in Syria where the previous p resident had drawn a red line and failed to enforce it. It began with 4 million people internally displaced or even as many as 6 million people, half a million people killed. This administration came in when ISIS was on the rise. You remember, George, there were people in cages, heads being cut off. This administration came in and worked seriously alongside the SDF forces and our allies as well to built out a counter-ISIS coalition to take down that caliphate. Now the President believes we have accomplished a significant part of our mission and he wants our folks to come home, and we’re beginning to work that on that. This week the Vice President and I traveled to Ankara after Turkey had made its decision – against the President’s desire – to make an incursion into Syria, and we put out a joint statement which we think will really save lives. It’s worked so far. There is much work to be done to continue to implement it, but we’re optimistic. I got a report within the last half hour from my senior leaders, who indicate that there’s relatively little fighting, a little sporadic small-arms fire, a mortar or two, but we got wounded out of a town called Ras al-Ayn last night. We’re hoping that the SDF forces will move out of those towns and this ceasefire that the Turkish leaders and the SDF leaders agreed to while we were on the ground in Ankara will hold. QUESTION: Yeah. And the question is – the question will be how far they have to remove. But as you know, those feelings of betrayal as stated by the Kurdish commander right there are echoed by many of the President’s allies in Congress. We saw Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, saying withdrawing from Syria is a grave mistake. He calls it a strategic nightmare. Lindsey Graham has raised concerns as well, as was Senator Marco Rubio on the Senate floor. Listen: “We had these 2,000 troops working with the Kurds to keep ISIS from re-emerging and to provide leverage in a future Syrian settlement, to restrain Assad’s power, to safeguard Kurdish interests, our partners’ interests, and to limit Iranian influence. Every single one of those stated interests that was our policy less than two weeks ago has been wiped out.” Senator Rubio was your first choice for President back in 2015. You cited the success you felt against ISIS over the last couple of years. The concern is that we’re going to – there’s going to be backtracking on that now that we’ve abandoned the allies we were fighting with against ISIS. SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I listened closely to what Senator Rubio said. Each of the interests that he identified this administration is still fully committed to. I can assure you that the efforts to push back against Iran are real and continuous, unlike what the last administration did that picked Iran as its strategic security partner in the Middle East. We’ve taken an incredibly different approach to that, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is feeling it, and security – stability in the Middle East – has increased because of the work we’ve done on the counter-ISIS campaign. I’m proud of the work that our team has done under President Trump’s leadership not only in countering ISIS in Syria – you know, George, Syria has been a mess for an awful long time – but countering ISIS all around the world. We’ve been serious about it. We’ve been thoughtful. We’ve been strategic. And we will continue to make sure that we take the — QUESTION: But didn’t the President — SECRETARY POMPEO: We take the primary effort, which is to make sure we keep the American people safe from the threats from radical Islamic terrorism wherever we find it. QUESTION: But didn’t the President put those gains at risk by pulling the troops out? We saw the fighting immediately. SECRETARY POMPEO: I am very confident that this administration’s efforts to crush ISIS will continue. QUESTION: And Lindsey Graham raises the other concern about as – with Kurds are withdrawing from that border with Turkey that it would lead to a military occupation that displaces hundreds of thousands. He says that’s not a safe zone, it’s ethnic cleansing. Can you assure the Kurdish people and the President’s allies in Congress that you will not be party to ethnic cleansing? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, we were very clear, and the Vice President could not have been more clear when we were speaking with President Erdogan. Go take a look at the statement that was released jointly. No fewer than three of the paragraphs were aimed squarely at ensuring that in this space, this Turkish-controlled space between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, in that Turkish-controlled space that there wouldn’t be attacks on minorities, that this was about getting a ceasefire, a secure area, and that this, in fact, will save lives in that very space. That was our mission set. We accomplished it and now we need to make sure that the commitments that were made in that statement are honored. QUESTION: The Turks said they got everything they wanted. SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, I was there. It sure didn’t feel that way when we were negotiating. It was a hard-fought negotiation. It began before the Vice President and I even arrived in Ankara. It lasted hours while we were there. We achieved the outcome that President Trump sent us to achieve. QUESTION: Let me move on now to the situation in Ukraine and that press conference by Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff, on Thursday, where he said that decision to withhold military aid, that it was in part conditioned on this – on the Ukraine pursuing a political investigation for President Trump. Here’s what he said: “MR MULVANEY: Did he also mention to me in pass the corruption related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about that. But that’s it. And that’s why we held up the money. Now, there was a report — QUESTION: So the demand for an investigation into the Democrats was part of the reason that he ordered to withhold funding to Ukraine? MR MULVANEY: The look back to what happened in 2016 — QUESTION: The investigation into Democrats. MR MULVANEY: — certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation. And that is absolutely appropriate. QUESTION: And withholding the funding? MR MULVANEY: Yeah. Which ultimately, then, flowed.” A pretty startling admission right there, drawing some criticism from Democrats certainly but also some Republicans in the Senate, including Lisa Murkowski, Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, who said this: “You don’t hold up foreign aid that you’ve previously appropriated for a political initiative, period.” Is Senator Murkowski correct? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I never saw that in the decision-making process that I was a part of, the decision surrounding whether there should be Department of Defense assistance as well as State Department assistance provided to push back against Russia. The conversation was always around what were the strategic implications, would that money get to the right place, or would there be corruption in Ukraine and the money wouldn’t flow to the mission that it was intended for, how did we protect that, is it appropriate for us to provide defensive weapons systems. George, you’ll remember. I don’t know why Barack Obama held up that funding. Maybe he had a theory, too. I don’t know. He never provided it. This administration has done it not once, not twice, but now three times. QUESTION: But President Trump — SECRETARY POMPEO: The people in Ukraine are safer and more secure as a result of that, and the Russians certainly don’t appreciate it. QUESTION: But President Trump ordered Mick Mulvaney to suspend the aid, and you saw Mr. Mulvaney right there say that one of the reasons was indeed this idea that the Ukrainians had to pursue these political investigations. SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ll leave it to the chief of staff to explain what it is he said and what he intended. I can speak clearly to what America’s strategic objectives were in providing this defensive weaponry to the people of Ukraine. QUESTION: So do you agree then with Senator Murkowski that it would have been inappropriate to withhold the military aid unless this political investigation was pursued? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I’m telling you what I was involved with. I’m telling you what I saw transpiring and how President Trump was working to make the evaluation about whether it was appropriate to provide this assistance. QUESTION: But that’s what I’m asking is would it be appropriate to condition that aid — SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I’m not going to get into hypotheticals and secondary things based on someone – what someone else has said. George, you would have never done it when you were the spokesman. I’m not going to do it here today. QUESTION: Well, except it’s not a hypothetical. We saw the chief of staff, the acting chief of staff right there — SECRETARY POMPEO: It is, George. You just said if it – George, you just said if this happened. That is, by definition, a hypothetical. QUESTION: The chief of staff said it did. SECRETARY POMPEO: George, you asked me if this happened. It’s a hypothetical. I’ve told you what I observed, what I saw, the process related to this very funding. What we did and how we thought about that was aimed at the strategic interests of the United States of America in the right and appropriate way to ensure that there wasn’t corruption in Ukraine that would divert these resources to an inappropriate place. QUESTION: The evidence and testimony being collected by Congress is also establishing that the President’s meeting with President Zelensky was being conditioned on him pursuing those political investigations. Were you aware of that? Did you approve? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I haven’t had a chance to see the evidence that you assert is being accumulated. I wish that I could. I frankly wish that State Department lawyers were being permitted in the room to hear testimony from State Department officials. This is deeply unfair to the officers that serve under me. It’s wrong. I can’t comment on what they’re saying because I have not been permitted to either have a lawyer present or to see the recorded transcripts or the translations of what was said in those. So I can’t comment on what people may or may not be saying in that room. QUESTION: Well — SECRETARY POMPEO: Frankly, you can’t either. You weren’t there either, George. QUESTION: Well, I’ve read the reports. We’ve seen the testimony. Some of — SECRETARY POMPEO: You’ve seen reporting. You’ve seen leaked reporting from Democrats. That’s right, George. QUESTION: Some of the testimony has already been released by those who – the witnesses themselves. And of course, the State Department is not complying with some of the subpoena – with some of the subpoenas for documents as well. And we do know that so much – and this is by his own admission – that so much of this activity was being carried out by the President’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Was he acting with your blessing and supervision? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I have had one consistent policy as the Secretary of State to not talk about internal deliberations inside the administration. I’m not going to change that policy for you here this morning. QUESTION: But this was different. This was not a member of the administration. This is the President’s personal lawyer who was pursuing this – as a – at the President’s direction and going around the normal State Department procedures. SECRETARY POMPEO: George, private citizens often are part of executing American foreign policy. You know that. You lived that. Let’s — QUESTION: Absolutely. SECRETARY POMPEO: Do you want to talk about Sidney Blumenthal for a while, George? Let’s go. I can go all day. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, of course, there have been special envoys for presidents in the past. SECRETARY POMPEO: Of course, there have. Of course, there have. There have been private citizens all the time, George. All the time. QUESTION: That’s true. SECRETARY POMPEO: Bill Richardson does this kind of work all the time. There’s lots of good, patriotic Americans who are working trying to deliver and assist the State Department, the Department of Energy – all of the elements of American power – to get good outcomes for the American people. QUESTION: And they — SECRETARY POMPEO: This is completely appropriate. QUESTION: And they generally have formal appointments. They generally go through reviews for conflicts of interest. We now know that Rudy Giuliani, Mayor Giuliani, the President’s personal lawyer, was pursuing business interests in the Ukraine at the time he was acting as the President’s special envoy. Doesn’t that create at least the appearance of a conflict of interest? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I missed Sidney Blumenthal’s conflict of interest clearance. You must have seen that, and I did not. QUESTION: Was there a review of the conflicts from Mayor Giuliani? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I don’t talk about internal White House deliberations. QUESTION: We do know that he – that Mayor Giuliani, the President’s personal lawyer, collected a dossier of materials from Ukraine and passed it on to you through the White House. What did you do with it? SECRETARY POMPEO: That’s true. I received a set of materials. It was in a sealed envelope. I passed it on to the appropriate persons inside the State Department for their review. I never reviewed them. QUESTION: You didn’t look at them? SECRETARY POMPEO: I did not. QUESTION: So did you know what Rudy Giuliani was doing? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, I don’t talk about internal deliberations inside the administration. QUESTION: He said publicly – and there’s been corroborating testimony from several others, including some of the people you worked with in the State Department in the Foreign Service – that he pushed hard for the removal of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch from Ukraine, from her post as ambassador to Ukraine, circulated a series of false – what she called even defamatory – charges against her. Were you aware of that? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, let’s talk about Ambassador Yovanovitch for just a minute. She was withdrawn from her post a handful of weeks early. She still works at the State Department. She is a Foreign Service officer in good standing. You know this, George: Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the President; and when a President loses confidence in an ambassador, it’s not in that ambassador, the State Department, or America’s best interest for them to continue to stay in their post. QUESTION: She testified and she put out this testimony that in late April she met with the Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who told her she was being removed “even though she did nothing wrong.” That’s a quote. Why did you approve the removal of an ambassador who had done nothing wrong? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, again, I’m not going to get into personnel matters inside the State Department. I’ve not done it. I’m not going to do it for you here this morning. QUESTION: But, sir, she is saying that she is being defamed because of this. She said that she was also told that there had been a pressure campaign and that Deputy Secretary Sullivan said there had been a pressure campaign since the summer of 2018 against her led by the President. And many who have observed this, many Foreign Service professionals, say that you have a duty to speak up for her, that you had a duty to protect her in that position. SECRETARY POMPEO: George, in good time, all of the facts surrounding each of these incidents will become clear, but it’s not appropriate for me to comment on all of the things that happened inside of personnel decisions. None of our Foreign Service officers would welcome the Secretary of State talking about why someone stayed, why someone was removed, why someone was transferred. It wouldn’t be appropriate. If we get into it once, we’ve got to get into it everywhere. George — QUESTION: Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? SECRETARY POMPEO: And I just won’t do that, George. QUESTION: But, sir, if someone is – if false things are being said about one of your professionals, don’t you have a duty to stand up and speak out on behalf of that professional? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, no secretary of state has defended its team, its team members, has done things that served them well, that took care of their families, that made sure that they were getting promotions – we have – by the end of this year, more Foreign Servicers on – Foreign Service officers on duty than at any time – any time, George, a couple hundred years of the State Department – at any time in the State Department’s history. We have done great things for these officers. I see these stories about morale being low. I see things precisely the opposite. I see motivated officers. I’ve watched them perform in Syria this week. I’ve watched them perform in difficult situations during my year and a half as Secretary of State. I am incredibly proud of the work that they have done, and I will always defend them when it’s appropriate. QUESTION: That may be, sir, and your senior advisor, Mike McKinley, who also testified on Capitol Hill this week, did praise many aspects of your leadership but pointed out that he tried very hard to get a statement of support for Ambassador Yovanovitch after the July 25th phone call which you were on with President Trump where he called her bad news, yet that statement didn’t come. SECRETARY POMPEO: So Mike McKinley served me well for a year and a half. I chose him. I had people tell me he was a great Foreign Service officer, and in fact, he served America wonderfully for 37 years. He, in fact, had the office that was just, just behind mine. It had a door that he could walk in any time and say whatever he wanted. From the time that Ambassador Yovanovitch departed Ukraine until the time that he came to tell me that he was departing, I never heard him say a single thing about his concerns with respect to the decision that was made. QUESTION: So you were never asked to put out a — SECRETARY POMPEO: Not once. Not once, George, did Ambassador McKinley say something to me during that entire time period. QUESTION: You were never asked to put out a statement in support of Ambassador Yovanovitch? SECRETARY POMPEO: George, again, I’m not going to talk about private conversations that I had with my most trusted advisors. I think it’s most appropriate that trusted advisors keep these conversations precisely where they are. Imagine if it becomes commonplace that a secretary of state would talk about things that his closest advisors said to him. I think you would agree, George, that that advice would change. People would be reluctant to speak. It wouldn’t be appropriate. I don’t intend to do that. QUESTION: Well, this is not a commonplace situation, as you know. And you have drawn criticism from professionals. I want to – Bill Burns, who is the former deputy secretary of state, served Republican and Democratic presidents for over 30 years, wrote an article in Foreign Affairs magazine this week called, “The Demolition of U.S. Diplomacy.” And here’s how he described what you allowed with Ambassador Yovanovitch: “ allowed specious opposition research about Yovanovitch to circulate around the department and sat on his hands as Trump slandered Yovanovitch on the infamous call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and warned ominously that she is going to ‘go through some things.’” He then goes on to say, “The ghost of Roy Cohn was smiling somewhere,” comparing it to McCarthyism. Your response? SECRETARY POMPEO: That’s crazy. I think Bill Burns must be auditioning to be Elizabeth Warren’s secretary of state. QUESTION: But, sir, the question is did you speak — SECRETARY POMPEO: I mean, people have opinions, George. Everyone is entitled to theirs. Bill Burns is clearly looking for a spot in the next administration. That’s fine. He’s entitled to that view. I have to tell you I’ve had a number of Foreign Service officers walk into my offices and tell me how much they appreciate the way we’re handling this process. QUESTION: And finally, sir, one more quote from Mick Mulvaney on Thursday, where he was describing how he saw the Foreign Service professionals going up to testify on Capitol Hill this week. Let’s listen: “What you’re seeing now, I believe, is a group of mostly career bureaucrats who are saying, ‘You know what? I don’t like President Trump’s politics, so I’m going to participate in this witch hunt that they’re undertaking on the Hill.’” Is that how you view those who are testifying? SECRETARY POMPEO: No, I have a different view. My view is that each of us has a solemn responsibility to defend the Constitution and to speak the truth. I said this the other day. I hope those officers who go to Capitol Hill will speak truthfully, that they’ll speak completely. I only wish that this was a process that merited such a response. This has been unfair in the Nth degree. We’ve got officers going up there to testify about important security-related matters without a State Department lawyer in the room, and then we’re not being prepared to – being allowed to know what it says. We’re not able to protect the State Department. We’re not able to protect the United States of America. And Adam Schiff ought to be embarrassed by the kangaroo court that he is running. QUESTION: Will you testify if you’re called by the committees? SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ve said all along I’ll do everything I’m required to do by law. QUESTION: Secretary Pompeo, thanks for your time, this morning. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Wilfred Frost of CNBC Closing Bell 10/21/2019 You are subscribed to Europe and Eurasia for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Wilfred Frost of CNBC Closing Bell 10/21/2019 05:38 PM EDT Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State New York Stock Exchange, New York City, New York QUESTION: Thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate you coming back on the Closing Bell. SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s great to be with you again. Thanks for having me on. QUESTION: We wanted to start on China and to ask to what extent their actions – whether that is limiting democracy in Hong Kong or other actions altogether – to what extent that’s been bad enough that U.S. companies should be criticized for making profit in China. SECRETARY POMPEO: Look, every company’s got to make its own set of decisions, but what we’ve seen over the last few weeks publicly – but we’ve known now for an awfully long time – is that the long arm of Beijing is reaching out into these companies, stealing their intellectual property, forcing technology transfer, making it very difficult to in fact make a profit in China for many, many companies. From a foreign policy perspective, we think it’s completely inappropriate for China to attack U.S. businesses whose employees or customers exercise their fundamental freedoms here in the United States. We just think that makes no sense, and we’d encourage every company to make a – take a good, close look, ensuring that the kinds of things – the reciprocity that President Trump has been demanding from China – actually takes place. QUESTION: Is Hong Kong linked to the trade discussions? SECRETARY POMPEO: No, not directly. Hong Kong is an issue where China needs to fundamentally live up to its obligation. It made a commitment to one country, two systems. President Trump has said that they need to continue to honor that commitment that they made not only to Britain, but to the United Nations and the world, and they need to live up to that there in Hong Kong. QUESTION: On to the Middle East generally, Mr. Secretary. The U.S. is becoming increasingly energy independent, and the majority of Middle Eastern barrels now go east to Asia rather than to the west. Does that alter the long-term commitment that the U.S. administration has to the Carter Doctrine that the U.S. would use military force when necessary to defend its interests in the region? SECRETARY POMPEO: No, it doesn’t change that doctrine at all. But our interests are different today. There’s no doubt about the fact that the United States dependence on crude oil products and other petroleum products transiting the Strait of Hormuz is different than it was back in the 1980s. That’s a fact. In fact, it’s also the case that as you – as you laid out, Asia is much more dependent on this region than the United States is for its primary energy consumption needs. But America’s interests in the Middle East remain. Our mission still remains there. We just got an alteration in the nature of American interests in the region. QUESTION: You were very critical of President Obama’s drawing of a redline in Syria and failing to then enforce it. In Cairo in January you were setting out your Middle East agenda in a speech, and you proudly contrasted that by saying, quote, “The Trump administration did not stand idly by when Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against his people.” You went on to say, quote, “Our words mean something again, as they should. West Point taught me a basic code of integrity. If we commit American prestige to an action, our allies depend on us to follow through.” How, Mr. Secretary, is letting Turkey seize the land of an ally not a major contradiction of all the promises you made personally in that speech in January this year in front of your Middle Eastern allies in Cairo? SECRETARY POMPEO: Oh, yeah, no, it’s fundamentally different. Turkey – the country that Turkey invaded, they conducted an incursion into, is Syria, a sovereign nation. We worked with Kurdish friends, the SDF, up and down the Euphrates River. We jointly took down the threat from the caliphate of ISIS. It was to the benefit of the SDF, it was to the benefit of the United States of America, and indeed, to the benefit of the world. The commitment that we made to work alongside them, we completely fulfilled, we continue to fulfill, even as we sit here today, to fulfill our commitment to counter ISIS not only there in northeast Syria, but in western Iraq, in the Philippines, in Western Africa, all around the world. This nation has fully lived up to the commitments that President Trump and I have made to challenge radical Islamic extremism wherever we find it, and we entered into the discussions with Turkey after they decided to make this incursion, against President Trump’s wishes, and in clear aim to reduce the risk to the very people that you suggested that we somehow abandoned. QUESTION: So the fact that the Kurds, who unquestionably have been an ally, but the fact that they are not a sovereign nation, means that they can be sacrificed essentially in this way, or at least their land certainly has been sacrificed and certainly tens of their lives – probably hundreds of their lives – have been sacrificed? SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, the work that we did was very clearly aimed at exactly the opposite of that. Indeed, I am highly confident that we saved lives. The work that Vice President Pence and the State Department team did to convince the Turkish Government to stop their movement, to cease this incursion – I’m fully convinced that that work saved lives, not only the lives of the SDF fighters, but the ethnic minorities in the region. If you look at the statement that was agreed to, our allies see it the same way. We have got real commitments to protect ethnic minorities throughout the regions from the Turks in the course of negotiating that statement. I think the work that we did saved lives. QUESTION: So the ceasefire may well do that, and we all pray and hope that it does, but nonetheless, as you just said – as you said clearly as well last week in an interview – but President Trump explicitly told President Erdogan not to do this in that phone call. Nonetheless, he went ahead and did it, and lives have been lost as a result. The punishment of this – economic sanctions that have last, what, five, ten days – what would warrant now a military response from the U.S., bearing in mind, of course, we’ve seen a state-on-state – your words – attack by Iran on Saudi Arabia as well? SECRETARY POMPEO: I’m sorry, a military response to what action? QUESTION: What would warrant a military response in the region from the U.S. today if it’s not seizing of an ally’s land and killing of allies’ lives, albeit not one with a sovereign state? SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, look, I never get out in front of the President’s decision about whether to take the awesome undertaking of using America’s military might to protect American interests. But the world should know: We’ve done it before. We took strikes into Syria when chemical weapons were used. We did it to uphold the fundamental norm that chemical weapons can’t be used. The previous administration refused to enforce this basic decent human rights norm. We did it, and the world should know that we will continue to do that. Where we see American interests at stake or fundamental norms around the world that need to be enforced, we’ll use all the powers that we have. You suggested the economic powers that we’ve used – we’ll certainly use them. We’ll use our diplomatic powers as well. Those are our preference. We prefer peace to war. But in the event that kinetic action or military action is needed, you should know that President Trump is fully prepared to undertake that action. QUESTION: Turkey is, of course, a NATO member. They get lots of extra shares intelligence because of that. There is also around 40 or 50 NATO-U.S. nuclear weapons housed in Turkey. How much do you trust President Erdogan personally? SECRETARY POMPEO: I never talk about trust. I always talk about making sure that we work closely, that we use our diplomatic skills, that we verify everything. You should know: We have a number of NATO partners that do things that aren’t consistent with what America wishes we would do. We’re partners in a NATO alliance. It doesn’t mean that we always agree. Look, you’ve seen NATO partners take a very different approach on the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal. We think it’s terrible. Three of our closest friends chose a different path. It doesn’t mean that you break off a relationship or tear everything up. You work, you use diplomacy, you use the skills that you have, you use American power to try and get the outcomes that are in America’s best interest while working with these important allies in all the other spheres where you have real, true, important overlapping interests. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you were on the infamous 25th of July call between Presidents Trump and Zelensky. You’re on record for saying that you felt that call was, quote, “wholly appropriate.” If it is appropriate, have you therefore floated the idea of investigating Joe Biden to your counterparts as well, whether in Ukraine or elsewhere? SECRETARY POMPEO: Look, I was on the call. I’m on lots of calls with the President of the United States. I know precisely what it was we were working on in Ukraine. We were trying to reduce corruption. We were very focused on making sure that we provided weapons systems that the Ukrainian people needed to defend themselves against Vladimir Putin’s incursion into the Donbas, into southeast Ukraine. Those are the things I’ve been focused on. Those are what I have spoken to my new counterpart, the new foreign minister in Ukraine, about. That’s what we’ll continue to be focused on, and I’m very pleased with the work we’ve done. I’m pleased with what the new government in Ukraine is trying to accomplish, and we hope that together we can be successful. QUESTION: You mentioned you’ve been on lots of calls with the President. You also said in an interview on PBS on the 9th of October, quote, “Countries all around the world every day call me” to “try to get America to behave in the best way that’s in the interest of their country. They try to apply pressure to me.” So was the Trump-Zelensky call that you heard and the others you heard in fact the norm, not the exception, and that people should just accept that and get used to that’s what diplomacy is like today? SECRETARY POMPEO: I – as recently as yesterday, I had a foreign leader call me seeking to apply pressure to the United States to get us to act in a way that was consistent with they were trying to do. It’s the nature of politics, of power, of foreign interactions, each country trying to act to deliver for its own people. That’s what sovereign leaders are hired to do, brought on board to do. We do that with our friends, we do it with those that are less friendly to us. We work to achieve aims. It’s often the case that these aims overlap. Where it is, we hold hands and work together, and where it’s not, we find a path forward that’s in the interest of the American people. That’s what President Trump has consistently done. QUESTION: And if it’s the norm these days, does that mean it’s also right? SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s not just these days – it’s not just these days. You can go back thousands of years and watch nation-states interact in this very way, trying to achieve outcomes, working together, coming – forming compacts, treaties, agreements, handshakes, working together to achieve each nation’s best interest. Sometimes that means one country will have to give a little more or a little bit less. This is the nature of nation-state interaction. It’s pretty fundamental. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, my final question. I know we’re up against the clock. The President has turned on a few of his foreign policy chiefs and thrown them under the bus as it were before. He called Rex Tillerson, quote, “dumb as a rock.” He said recently James Mattis was the worst – “the world’s most overrated general.” Do you get concerned when you see the President take down those very qualified past servants who were nothing but loyal to him, as you continue to be? SECRETARY POMPEO: Every day I come work on behalf of the administration, the American people. I raised my right hand to defend the Constitution. It’s what I’m focused on every day. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, as always, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it. SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you very much, sir. U.S. Delegation to Our Ocean 2019 10/21/2019 You are subscribed to Europe and Eurasia for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. U.S. Delegation to Our Ocean 2019 10/21/2019 06:07 PM EDT Office of the Spokesperson The Government of the Norway will host Our Ocean 2019: Our Ocean, Our Legacy in Oslo, October 23-24, 2019. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach will lead the U.S. government delegation which will include senior officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO), and the Office of United States Trade Representative (USTR). The Our Ocean conference began as a Department of State initiative in 2014 to draw international attention to the importance of the ocean for our economies, our food security, and our future — as well as the need for collaboration and concrete action to support ocean productivity, prosperity, and security. The conference draws participants from all over the globe. Representatives from the business community, the science and technology community, governments, non-governmental organizations, and funders will announce major commitments to support a healthy and productive ocean and a sustainable blue economy. The conference in Norway will be the sixth in a series of high-level Our Ocean conferences, reaffirming the United States’ continued leadership with our partners on ocean issues. Top priorities for the United States at this year’s conference include: fostering collaboration among government, business, and other partners to create innovative solutions for the challenges facing the ocean; tackling marine debris and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and promoting a sustainable blue economy and maritime security. More details about this year’s conference may be found at ourocean2019.org. For press inquiries, please contact OES-PA-DG@state.gov. On social media, follow Under Secretary Krach on Twitter @State_E, on Facebook @StateDeptE, on Instagram @StateDeptE, and on LinkedIn @U.S. Department of State – E Under Secretariat; follow the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental Scientific Affairs on Twitter @SciDiplomacyUSA, on Facebook @ScienceDiplomacyUSA, and on Instagram @sciencediplomacy_usa. Trump Administration Diplomacy: The Untold Story 10/22/2019 You are subscribed to Secretary's Remarks for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Trump Administration Diplomacy: The Untold Story 10/22/2019 01:10 PM EDT Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State Heritage Foundation President’s Club Meeting Marriott Marquis, Washington, D.C. SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you all. Thank you. Well, good morning, everyone. So I’ve got a prepared speech, and then I got some thoughts. (Laughter.) And I’ll mix them in this morning. I want to thank Kay and the entire leadership team at Heritage for having me here this morning. We were talking backstage about the gala tonight, and I reminded them that I’d been to the gala a number of times when I was a member of Congress. This is an important institution here in Washington, D.C., delivering on behalf of America, and I value it, and this administration values it, and I know so many leaders all across the United States Government value it as well. And it’s also great to be here. Everybody remembers the Bob Dylan song, “Shelter from the Storm.” It’s good to be with you all. (Laughter.) And I know there are a bunch of friends here, too, that – people that I’ve known an awfully long time who are here with us this morning, too. I want to thank you all for supporting this really important institution. Heritage has indeed schooled many generations of free market believers in free societies. I was a trustee on a think tank back in Kansas called the Kansas Public Policy Institute. We would read Heritage reports all the time to try to make sure we were getting it right, and trying to get it right for the state of Kansas in the same way you all here are doing that for Washington. The last time I had the privilege to speak in front of a Heritage audience was in May of last year. I had been the Secretary of State for a number of days. Yeah, I was already missing the CIA. It was a much quieter – (laughter) – much less public space. Look, we had just pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. I’d laid out 12 conditions, including that Iran end its ballistic missile program, release U.S. hostages, stop financing terrorism – radical stuff, crazy. Stop taking hostages and shooting people in Europe. The Washington Post ran a headline that said, “Mike Pompeo gives a silly speech on Iran.” The New York Times similarly reported, quote, “In Hardline Speech, Pompeo Criticizes Iran’s Behavior.” That was actually partly true. (Laughter.) I was criticizing their behavior. There’s much more hardline. And you’ve seen that. Now, compare that to the headline from the Heritage org that ran the same day, which says, quote, “Pompeo Stands Up for the Iranian People in a Major Speech.” And in fact, if you go back and look at the remarks, that’s what I was attempting to do. (Applause.) And, indeed, I say that – that’s the tone for what I want to talk about today. We were standing up there for the Iranian people. Thank you for getting it right. Thank you for helping me tell the story that sometimes doesn’t get told in other places. That was my first speech – my first major speech as the Secretary of State. And as I said, that central idea, that animating principle that we laid out there about doing our best to help the Iranian people be successful, I think it set the stage for the work that I’ve done what is now in this last year and a half. It also set the stage for the way that we’ve tried to conduct foreign policy. I’ve continued to deliver tough messages that recognize a set of basic facts about the way the world is, because we can’t achieve good policy unless we recognize the reality of what’s going on with the ground. It’s what Vice President Pence did last week when he and I traveled to Ankara, and I’m sure we’ll talk about the situation there when I sit down with Kim. As with Iran, you’ve probably heard one version of that story. But the story that didn’t get told begins with the truth that our administration inherited a mess in Syria. The previous administration had allowed the caliphate to take root in – not only in Syria, but in western Iraq, approaching the outward parts of Erbil. It was the Trump administration, with the help of the SDF fighters and 70 nations that built a coalition – something that never gets talked about – the work that we did to build out that team united around the destruction of the caliphate in Syria and Iraq was important and effective. Kurdish forces there, the Arab fighters that were part of the SDF were great warriors. We also are mindful that our NATO ally Turkey has legitimate security concerns there. Indeed, the United States has designated the PKK as terrorists for an awfully long time. We take those concerns seriously. And so we were working, the State Department in the lead, along with our brethren at the Department of Defense, to build out a safe zone in the region, to try to mediate between the two. President Trump warned Turkey not to invade. Sadly, they conducted the incursion. And when President Erdogan went ahead, he sent a diplomatic team to try and avert disaster. You’ll see here in just a few hours the 120-hour window will arrive. I’ll talk more about the status, but some progress has certainly been made. The truth was – the truth was that it was not in Turkey’s interest as a NATO ally to continue with that incursion. The truth was that our invasion set back our shared fight against ISIS. We think now we’re in a better place. The truth was that President Trump was prepared to cause and raise costs for Turkey in the event that they continued their incursion. So the President used America’s economic might, our economic power, to avoid a kinetic conflict with a NATO ally. And as President Trump tweeted that very day, “There needed to be some tough love in order to get it done.” (Applause.) It is a complicated story to be sure. The success of the outcome there is not yet fully determined. But it’s a microcosm of what we do every day as the Department of State and I do as America’s chief diplomat. My responsibility, for a start, is to help countries see the world for what it is. And there’s no shortage of truth to be told. The truth is that Iran is the aggressor, not the aggrieved. The truth is that China is a strategic competitor at best that uses coercion and corruption as its tools of statecraft. (Applause.) The truth is that we can’t rely on failed strategies to convince Chairman Kim to give up his nuclear weapons; there’s still much work to be done. And the truth is that we won’t achieve peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan without every party at the table. The truth is, too, that restoring democracy in Venezuela is in our hemisphere’s interest and we should expend considerable effort to achieve that. (Applause.) And the truth is that every nation has a responsibility to share the burden of these global mission sets to achieve security around the world. (Applause.) I know the Vice President’s going to talk about that more tonight, but delivering these messages – and many others – sometimes isn’t fun. I sat in a very cold room in Brussels that was colder after my speech than before it. (Laughter.) It certainly hasn’t made me popular with the talking heads. You can just google “Pompeo” and read all about it. (Laughter.) But I must say, as I stand before you today, I’m confident that we are succeeding and we’re awakening the world to these very threats that I just outlined, and more too. So today, I want to just tell a little bit of the story myself. It begins with showing up, like we did last week in Turkey. I’ve been to some 55 countries now, and many of which were passed over by my predecessors. I’ve been to Latin America six times, a place in the Western Hemisphere that had been too long neglected by senior leaders in our government. I’ve been to Colombia and Peru and to Ecuador and Paraguay and to Brazil. I’ll be back down to South America in just a couple weeks with the President in Chile. I went to Finland in May to bring real truth about what’s going on in the Arctic, about Chinese and Russian land grabs and militarization in that region. And I traveled not just to Australia, India, and Thailand to present our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, but I also had the opportunity to be the first Secretary of State in history to go to Micronesia, and when there, I talked about the important interests that the Micronesian people have in ensuring that China is something about which they are fully aware. I had the good joy to go to Hungary and Slovakia and to Iceland and to Montenegro, all of which hadn’t had a Secretary of State visit in way too long. And then I traveled for the first time as the Secretary of State, because it’s the first time it was possible to travel, to North Macedonia, a pro-America stronghold in the Balkans. I guess that the number of Americans that know about this work is few and far between, and that’s okay. But the truth is the story about what the Trump administration is doing needs to be told. That’s my job. It’s why I’m here today. It’s why I travel here domestically probably more than many secretaries of state have done so, too. I think it’s important that the American people get a chance to see what it is their taxpayer dollars are being used for by the United States Department of State. But showing up only matters if you’re there for a purpose and that you’re willing to tell the truth when it’s tough and that you’ll continue to speak to them about things that are hard. It’s a lot of fun to go into a meeting and tell them what they want to hear and talk about what great allies you are and toast and cheer and compliment each other on the important work you’re doing together. It’s much more important to speak about the things that are difficult, where there are disagreements and truths that need to be told. We’ve apparently taking over the truth-telling role from the NBA. (Laughter and applause.) Take – if you go back and look, too, I knew when I was seven years old I was going to be in that league, and it’s just too bad. (Laughter.) Take Iran as a good example. I referenced this at the beginning. Ever since I gave that “silly” speech, the conversation’s turned. Hundreds of private companies are on board with our sanctions. There was this threat that European companies would stay in Europe. I was told so many times, boy, American sanctions alone won’t work. You should ask the ayatollah if that statement is true. And after the regime bombed Saudi oil facilities, Britain, France, Germany – the E3 – released a statement. They said that they believed it was clear – quote, “clear to us that Iran bears responsibility for this attack… the time has come for Iran to accept negotiation on a long-term framework for its nuclear programme.” That is a very different position than they were in before American diplomacy began to put pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran and its corrupt, kleptocratic regime. (Applause.) The world is learning, too, that Iran responds to strength, not supplication. Iran is only one chapter, too, in the story. Look at the way President Trump has changed the global conversation on China or consider the numerous instances of American principles returning to multilateral bodies, thanks in large to bold strategies of this administration. We’ve put together an enormous coalition – I’m incredibly proud of Foreign Service officers of the State Department – put together a coalition called the Lima Group, dedicating themselves to restoring democracy to Venezuela. Fifty-plus countries now recognized Juan Guaido as the duly elected leader of the Venezuelan people. This was good, solid diplomatic work, hard fought and done with the elan of the American State Department. We convinced ASEAN to declare its support for sovereignty and a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific as well. We’ve reconvened “the Quad” – the security talks between Japan, Australia, India and the Untied States that had been dormant for nine years. This will prove very important in the efforts ahead, ensuring that China retains only its proper place in the world. And I’m very proud, too, we hosted more than a hundred nations for the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, the largest human rights conference ever held at the State Department ever. We’ve done it for two years running. (Applause.) It’s underreported. If you google the Trump administration and human rights, you are unlikely to see MSNBC report on this amazing work that brought leaders from all faiths to Washington, D.C. to talk about the critical nature of the fact that this first freedom, this freedom we have in the United States of America, is powerful and important, and sets the trajectory for nations all across the world. Just recently, 20 nations joined us at the UN in a letter that claimed that abortion is in fact – is fact – and just – excuse me – rejecting the claim that abortion is a human right. (Applause.) This is not to say it has been without cost, that we’ve awakened every sleeping mind or snuffed out every fake news story. Far from it. And based on the news coverage that – when I talk to folks back in Kansas where my – our friends are, our family is, our church is, I talk to them. I don’t fault them. Sometimes they don’t have the story right. Sometimes they’ll not see that America is in fact a force for good around the world. Our job is to make sure we tell that story, and when I say “our” I mean mine and yours. Here’s the other story: A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit my ancestral home in a little town called Pacentro in Abruzzo. I know most of you are from there. (Laughter.) There are about a thousand people in Pacentro, and there were 1,050 people on the street. It was a really great experience personally to go back to where my grandfather was from. My dad never had the chance to get there. But I was walking these cobblestone streets, and there were kids waving American flags. I’m not going to read the text to you; it’s not politically correct. But there were people that had been on the planet for a while grabbing my hands, local officials eager to welcome me. They wanted America to be present and to help them, and they knew we were a force for good. This was incredibly representative of what I see every day as I travel the world. All around the world people are happy to see the American Secretary of State. They want to know that America’s there. They want us to forcefully advocate for the things they know that they believe in or know that they ought to, and their government ought to believe in. And I believe firmly that because we’re doing this hard work of diplomacy, many of our friends and partners are beginning to see the world with new eyes. For now, that’s the story. I’m confident that our record backs it up – and that history will reflect that as well. I wish you all the best of luck. Thank you all for being here with me today, and I look forward to taking some questions. May God bless Heritage, and God bless the United States of America. (Applause.) MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, joining the Secretary on stage, Heritage’s Executive Vice President Kim Holmes. SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you all. Thank you. MR HOLMES: Good morning, Mr. Secretary. SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning. MR HOLMES: Good morning to all of you. It’s really a pleasure and honor to have all of you here this morning. It’s an honor to have you as well, Mr. Secretary. We follow what you do very closely. We’re very proud to have you here this morning. And we only have a very little bit of time and I want to use it as wisely and as efficiently as I can. So I’m going to launch into a couple of questions. SECRETARY POMPEO: That sounds great. Thank you. I appreciate that. I’ll try and be efficient as well. MR HOLMES: Yeah, good. (Laughter.) And the first is – is that I have spent the last couple of years, as I mentioned to you in passing just a minute ago, traveling to Europe on a speaking tour, explaining to Europeans mostly what the Trump administration is doing and also where America is heading in the world. And it’s the question I most often get: Where is America heading in the world? Is this a new era that we’re in? Does the Trump administration’s foreign policy represent a change from the past? If so, what’s new? And how is it adapting to the new conditions and the new era that we are now in? SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. So I get this question in Europe too. MR HOLMES: I bet you do. SECRETARY POMPEO: And what I remind all the leaders with whom I meet is that the West, for an awfully long time, since 9/11, has spent an awful lot of resources on the counterterrorism fight. It was completely appropriate. We frankly have done this collectively incredibly well. We should be proud of that and we should not let our foot off the gas or our foot off the radical Islamic terrorists’ throat. But the challenges, the big challenges that the world faces today, are different from that, or at least additive to that. And I remind them that a nation unprepared to speak to their people candidly about the risk that their nation faces is a nation that will ultimately succumb to those risks. And America will never let that happen. President Trump will never let that happen. You see it in not only defense budgets but you see it in all of the elements of American power we’re bringing to bear. I remind every one of these countries that without a strong economy, without free markets and economic growth and well-being, a nation’s capacity is limited, not just their capacity to field an army or to fly an airplane, but their capacity for the world to understand that this is a nation that has true ability to impact outcomes. We see this all the time in how the United States interacts economically. We use those economic tools to the benefit of the American people, and I think to the benefit of the world, and I remind them of that. So it has changed. The changes that have taken place in China is something that the – all of us sat on for too long, didn’t do nearly enough. When I say all of us, I’m – served in Congress for a handful of years. I didn’t do enough. But we now can see this very clearly, and we see the challenges clearly, and we want the world, including Europe, to understand these risks. It gets shorthanded – I guess the word “Huawei” gets shouted a lot, but it’s so much bigger and deeper, and the challenges so much greater than that. So we need to align collectively to ensure that this idea that we’ve had as the central tenant of how the world will engage – there’ll be a set of rules; there’ll be a set of standards; there’ll be free trade and free commerce – all the central principles that animate what our founders talked about in our Constitution need to undergird the world for the next century, for our kids and grandkids. And so in that sense, I think the Trump administration has taken a very realistic view of the world, to call them like we see them, to push back against those threats that are real. We’ve been restrained, too. I talked about this in some remarks I gave at Claremont. We’ve recognized that we can’t be all things everywhere, all the time. No nation has the capacity to deliver that. And that means not that you abandon the field, but that you calibrate your resources to effectively address the relative risks. You do this in your business every single day. We do it in our families every single day. We assign resources against problem sets to match the threat. I think that is a – that those two things undergird a set of changes that I think this administration has set in motion. But I am confident that the next administrations will come into office and they’ll see these issues the same way because they’re right. And I’m confident that American policy will go deliver American capabilities around the world to support our friends and allies and continue to ensure that America has a next century that is as successful and prosperous for our people. MR HOLMES: Do you think the old guard in Europe is getting it? SECRETARY POMPEO: Do I think the old guard in Europe is getting it? Europe’s a big place. (Laughter.) MR HOLMES: That’s why I asked. SECRETARY POMPEO: That was efficient. MR HOLMES: That was very efficient. (Laughter and applause.) Good. Mr. Secretary, you mentioned in your speech the importance of religious liberty. Conservatives in this room – the Heritage Foundation, certainly – believe in the importance of protecting, preserving, and advancing religious liberty. But as you know, not every country around the world values religious liberty the way we do, and it’s certainly – if you go into international organizations like the United Nations, it is not valued as much as we would like it to be. Can you say a little more about why this religious liberty is so important to you and to the administration? And what is groundbreaking in the approach that you’re taking? SECRETARY POMPEO: So I’ll start with – the first question is about why it matters. Facts and data – there is correlation between autonomy, human dignity, respect for every citizen, religious freedom as a component of that, and successful governments, the capacity to have stability. And you can see nations that have more religious liberty tend to view the world much closer to the way the United States views the world. So we have a selfish interest that’s wholly apart from the human rights aspect of this, we have a geostrategic interest in expanding religious freedom. Today, the data is that about 80 percent of citizens of the world live in places where there is either no religious freedom or their religious freedom is limited in some significant way. Our approach has been – and you can see this in the remarks that nearly every Cabinet member gives; you can see it in the ministerials. We’ve invited from all around the world of, goodness, nearly every faith to come to Washington to talk about this. And if you travel to visit a U.S. embassy and meet someone on our team, an ambassador or whomever, I would have failed as a leader if they don’t understand that this is a real priority for this administration. I think you’ll find that they all do. It’s deeply consistent with the way we’re trying to deliver foreign policy around the world, too. We’ve done our best to call out the absence of religious liberty in countries all across the world, even from our friends. If you read the Human Rights Report that we put out every year, it is a compendium not just about religious freedom, but about human rights violations around the world. It is this remarkable document – no other country does this. We identify every single incident where we found some violation of human rights. So we do it; we list our friends. They call me immediately and say, “What the heck are you doing?” But it’s about creating a catalogue so that the world will know where this is taking place. And we watch countries all across the world. They’re watching what we’re doing; they’re watching how America does this. They’re watching how President Trump addresses this set of issues. And I am convinced that the work we’re doing will enhance religious freedom for millions and millions of people around the world. MR HOLMES: Thank you. (Applause.) One last question. And I know that in July the Commission for Unalienable Rights was released. And I know this is a commission and a cause that’s very important to you personally. It was – took some time to get it up and running. Not everybody sees human rights and the tradition of natural law and natural rights that you and I and the founders and many people in this room do. Can you say a few words about why that commission is so important, and also what’s new about it? SECRETARY POMPEO: So I personally have just had this as something I’ve cared about for a long time, since I was a young soldier and was studying just war theory and the central ideas about how human beings had an obligation to interact with each other. It also rises – I’m an evangelical Christian and so I see this in my faith life as well. But when I came to State Department, it became very clear to me – and I had seen this in my time in Congress too – people throw around the word “rights” an awful lot, and bad actors around the world couch their tragic behavior, their evil behavior, in the language of “rights.” And then I watched the State Department not have clarity with how it spoke about rights. There wasn’t a standard for how we were going to think about that as we sent our – these amazing young Americans out to the field to interact with their counterparts all across the world. I wanted to make sure that they had a grounding in what were these rights, the ones that truly mattered and were real. And so I started thinking about this early in my time. It took me too long to get going, but we’re in a good place now. We’ll kick it off tomorrow with our first public hearing and we’ll invite people – there’ll be those who just think we’re all wet. So be it. We’ll have a good, candid discussion. But the idea is to take and reground the rights that we talk about in the traditions of America – what was in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution – and to take another look at them. We all know about the Human Rights Declaration back from 1948. State Department was very involved in that. We want to go lay down with clarity not only what these human rights are, these fundamental rights are, but from what it is they are derived, how we got there, because we think that’s very important to understand as well. We’ll put out a document that I think will be a true marker for the world to talk about human rights in the right way. When you see Venezuela get on the Human Rights Council at the UN, it cries out for a re-examination of these fundamental first principles. And it’s not about policy, it’s about understanding these first principles in a way that are consistent with the American tradition, and that’s the mission set that I’ve asked the Unalienable Rights Commission to engage. And we brought scholars from across the political spectrum together. They’ll think, they’ll work, they’ll talk, they’ll write, and we’ll see what comes forward. MR HOLMES: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for your time this morning. I understand that you get to go home to Kansas for the first time – how many weeks? SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s been too long, yes. MR HOLMES: Too long. SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s been too long. MR HOLMES: Well, have a safe trip back. Thank you very much for coming this morning. Let’s welcome and thank the Secretary of State Pompeo. SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Kim. (Applause.) Congratulations on Canada’s Elections 10/22/2019 You are subscribed to Secretary's Remarks for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Congratulations on Canada’s Elections 10/22/2019 01:23 PM EDT Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State We congratulate Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party on their success in Canada’s recent federal election. Canada’s commitment to democracy is an example to countries around the world. The United States and Canada share one of the most enduring relationships, with robust ties through mutually beneficial trade, border security, and defense. Our shared history and values have made us the best of friends, most reliable of partners, and strongest of allies. The United States will continue to stand together with Canada on the world stage to promote issues of global importance, such as defending human rights, promoting democracy, and responding to humanitarian crises. We look forward to continuing our work together to make North America, the Hemisphere, and the world a more secure and prosperous place. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo’s Meeting with Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák 10/22/2019 You are subscribed to Europe and Eurasia for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo’s Meeting with Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák 10/22/2019 04:36 PM EDT Office of the Spokesperson The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus: Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met today with Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák in Washington, D.C. Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Lajčák discussed ways to strengthen bilateral military cooperation and to counter growing cyber threats. The Secretary thanked Slovakia for prioritizing NATO burden sharing and meeting the Wales commitments. They discussed the importance of promoting progress in the Western Balkans. The Secretary recalled his visit to Bratislava earlier this year, and expressed gratitude for the Foreign Minister’s leadership as Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 36th Anniversary of the Beirut Barracks Bombings 10/23/2019 You are subscribed to Secretary's Remarks for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. 36th Anniversary of the Beirut Barracks Bombings 10/23/2019 08:32 AM EDT Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State Thirty-six years ago today two Iranian-backed Hizballah suicide bombers drove trucks into buildings housing U.S. and French peacekeepers from the Multinational Force in Lebanon at Beirut International Airport. We grieve for those 220 U.S. Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers murdered that day. Today, we remember their sacrifice and the tremendous loss suffered by their families, friends, and partners. Our outrage over this despicable act of terrorism perpetrated on those patriotic men and women remains as deep as ever. As President Reagan said from the White House lawn back in 1983, “These deeds make so evident the bestial nature of those who would assume power if they could have their way and drive us out of that area.” We remain more determined than ever to push back on those who threaten the sovereignty, stability, and prosperity of this vital region. U.S. Announces $1.21 Billion to Support Blue Economy; Commitment Strengthens Sustainability of Ocean Economy, Enhances Health of Planet and Advances Global Economic Security 10/23/2019 You are subscribed to Europe and Eurasia for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. U.S. Announces $1.21 Billion to Support Blue Economy; Commitment Strengthens Sustainability of Ocean Economy, Enhances Health of Planet and Advances Global Economic Security 10/23/2019 11:33 AM EDT Office of the Spokesperson Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach announced the United States’ 23 new commitments valued at 1.21 billion dollars to promote sustainable fisheries; combat marine debris; and support marine science, observation, and exploration. The primary focus of Our Ocean conferences is for invitees to announce significant, new voluntary actions to ensure protection of the ocean, responsible management of marine resources, and sustainable future economic growth. Commitments should be measurable and have a clear timeframe. In his remarks, Under Secretary Krach noted that the key elements to achieving a sustainable blue economy include sound science, innovative management, effective enforcement, cross-sectoral collaboration, meaningful partnerships, and robust public participation. He thanked the Government of Norway for hosting this year’s Our Ocean Conference, and appreciates their focus on action and partnerships, which is making a significant impact on ocean productivity, prosperity, and global economic security. This is the sixth in a series of high-level, by-invitation conferences launched by the United States in 2014 for government and private sector stakeholders from around the world to identify solutions to improve ocean productivity, prosperity, and security. Hosted by the United States (2014, 2016), Chile (2015), the European Union (2017), Indonesia (2018), Norway (2019). To be hosted by Palau (2020), Panama (2021). While in Oslo, Under Secretary Krach highlighted that the United States remains ready and committed to working with partners from all countries and sectors to support a healthy and productive ocean and a sustainable blue economy. He also stressed the importance of public-private partnerships to create innovative solutions for the challenges facing the ocean and global economic security. Cumulatively, from 2014 to present, the United States has made 113 commitments valued at over 4.3 billion dollars. Under Secretary of State Krach leads the 2019 U.S. government delegation and this year’s commitment represent a whole-of-government approach with contributions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office (NMIO), and the Office of United States Trade Representative (USTR). For more details about this year’s conference and commitments, visit ourocean2019.org. For press inquiries, please contact OES-PA-DG@state.gov. On social media, follow Under Secretary Krach on Twitter @State_E, on Facebook @StateDeptE, on Instagram @StateDeptE, and on LinkedIn @ U.S. Department of State – E Under Secretariat; on Twitter @SciDiplomacyUSA, on Facebook @ScienceDiplomacyUSA and on Instagram @sciencediplomacy_usa. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo’s Meeting with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine’s Metropolitan Epiphaniy 10/23/2019 You are subscribed to Europe and Eurasia for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Secretary Michael R. Pompeo’s Meeting with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine’s Metropolitan Epiphaniy 10/23/2019 11:47 AM EDT Office of the Spokesperson The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:‎ Secretary Michael R. Pompeo met today with His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, Primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Secretary Pompeo congratulated Metropolitan Epiphaniy on his receipt of the Athenagoras Human Rights Award for his defense of all Ukrainians’ ability to worship in accordance with their faith, free from external interference. The Secretary and the Metropolitan shared their concerns about abuses against religious freedom in Russia-occupied Crimea and Russia-controlled parts of the Donbas. They expressed their hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the Russia-instigated conflict in eastern Ukraine, now in its sixth year, underscoring the need to heal the wounds of war and foster unity. Welcoming U.S. Senate Approval of NATO Accession Protocol for North Macedonia 10/23/2019 You are subscribed to Secretary's Remarks for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Welcoming U.S. Senate Approval of NATO Accession Protocol for North Macedonia 10/23/2019 01:26 PM EDT Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State The approval by the United States Senate of the protocol to the NATO treaty on the accession of North Macedonia underscores the U.S. commitment to transatlantic security and represents an important step forward in North Macedonia’s progress toward becoming a NATO Ally. We strongly support North Macedonia’s continued path toward closer integration with the Trans-Atlantic community. Yesterday’s vote reaffirmed North Macedonia’s continued dedication to democratic principles and the rule of law and contributions to peace and security throughout the region. We look forward to welcoming North Macedonia soon as the 30th NATO Ally. Welcoming U.S. Senate Approval of NATO Accession Protocol for North Macedonia 10/23/2019 You are subscribed to Europe and Eurasia for U.S. Department of State. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. Welcoming U.S. ... [Message clipped]  View entire message ReplyForward