WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this week asked Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken about the war in Yemen and the path forward for the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia at his confirmation hearing. Blinken reiterated the Biden administration’s commitment to end U.S. support for the war in Yemen, which has been a top priority for Murphy in the United States Senate.

“[Yemen] has been just a national security disaster for the United States. Over 100,000 children have died of starvation and disease, [Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula], to Senator Graham's point, maybe the arm of Al-Qaeda with the clearest intentions to hit the United States, remains active controlling territory and I would argue it has strengthened Iran the longer that it has gone on,” said Murphy. “President-Elect Biden made a commitment during the campaign to end our military support for the Saudi-led coalition and I wanted to ask you to speak to that commitment, but then also maybe to step back and talk about what our work through this coalition has taught us about the path forward in our relationship with Saudi Arabia. This is an important ally, a strategic partner, but one that has begun to act very differently, and Yemen is an example of a set of behaviors that has gone off the rails in many ways, and probably argues for us to take a different approach to an ally, but an ally whose interests often do not align with ours any longer.”

Murphy also asked Blinken about the capacities the United States State Department needs to effectively respond to threats abroad and compete on the global stage.

“[W]hat are the capacities that State doesn't have today that it needs to be able to compete? If the threats that are posed to the United States in the next 50 years are by and large not conventional military threats, what does State need to be able to respond? And second, especially in these really dangerous, fragile places, how do we get the State Department out of its bunker? Right? Especially in the wake of Benghazi, the walls have gone up, and so 18-year-old Marines are out doing the work of diplomats. So what kind of new capacities do we need? How do we get State out on the front lines?” Murphy asked.

Murphy added: “It doesn't make sense to me, given the threats presented to the United States today, that we have more military band members than we do diplomats. And we have to watch what China's doing. 2019 was the first year in which they had more diplomatic posts around the world than the United States did. If we're going to meet them on a playing field of even strength, then we need to recognize that.”

Lastly, Murphy also asked Blinken about the need to provide Ukraine the political, economic and military assistance to help them maintain independence from Russia and stamp out corruption, and the path forward for U.S.-Kyiv relations. In December, Murphy met with Blinken ahead of his confirmation hearing to discuss the need to rebuild the U.S. Department of State, how the U.S. can revitalize diplomacy in the post-Trump era, and restoring Congress’s role in foreign policy.

A full transcript of Murphy’s exchange with Blinken can be found below:

MURPHY: “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good to see you Tony. Thank you for sharing that really wonderful story about your stepfather at the outset. We are not a perfect nation, we have been flawed from the beginning, we are always seeking perfection, but I imagine at that moment, America looked perfect. And it's a reminder of the unique power that this country has to affect change and be a force for good in the world. Thanks for beginning us with that inspirational story.

“I wanted to come back to this question of the war in Yemen for a moment. I thank Senator Coons for beginning this conversation. It has been just a national security disaster for the United States. Over 100,000 children have died of starvation and disease, [Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula], to Senator Graham's point, maybe the arm of Al-Qaeda with the clearest intentions to hit the United States, remains active controlling territory and I would argue it has strengthened Iran the longer that it has gone on.”

“President-Elect Biden made a commitment during the campaign to end our military support for the Saudi-led coalition and I wanted to ask you to speak to that commitment, but then also maybe to step back and talk about what our work through this coalition has taught us about the path forward in our relationship with Saudi Arabia. This is an important ally, a strategic partner, but one that has begun to act very differently, and Yemen is an example of a set of behaviors that has gone off the rails in many ways, and probably argues for us to take a different approach to an ally, but an ally whose interests often do not align with ours any longer. So the specific question of military support for the coalition and then a broader look at the alliance.”

BLINKEN: “Thank you very much, Senator. The President Elect has made clear that we will end our support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and I think we will work on that in very short order once the President Elect is President. For the reasons that you've cited we have seen Yemen become the worst humanitarian situation in the world. And, of course, as we were discussing earlier, the Houthis bear significant responsibility for what's happened in Yemen, but the way the campaign has been conducted has also contributed significantly to that situation. And so our support should end.

“We, of course, as you cited, have a partnership with Saudi Arabia. We, I believe, should do what we need to do to help defend Saudi Arabia against aggression directed at Saudi Arabia, including from Yemen and from the Houthis. But, again, as you've said, we have real concerns about some of the policies that our Saudi partners have pursued and accordingly, the President Elect has said that we will review the entirety of the relationship to make sure that as it stands, it is advancing the interests and is respectful of the values that we bring to that partnership.”

MURPHY: “You made an interesting and, I think, very candid comment in response to Senator Johnson's query about Libya, that we were met with realities on the ground that we didn't expect. You could probably tell a very similar story about our engagements in most Middle Eastern theaters of war; that we had a plan, and then once we got on the ground that plan was met with realities we did not expect, whether it's the ability of Iran and Al Qaeda to fill vacuums in Iraq, the difficulty of finding moderate, vetted rebels in Syria to train that can be effective and pushing back against Bashar Al Assad.

“And I think there's probably a lot of reasons for the series of mistakes we have made, hubris is probably one of them, and so I appreciate your comment about humility. But I also think it's due to the secondary role that State has played, often, in many of these strategic conversations over the years because of a lack of capacity that State has. In Syria, when we put 2000 troops on the ground, we had, at times, only one diplomat, one State Department personnel there, even though every single general came before us and told us that there was no military solution inside Saudi Arabia, inside Syria.

“And so this leads me to two connected questions: One, what are the capacities that State doesn't have today that it needs to be able to compete? If the threats that are posed to the United States in the next 50 years are by and large not conventional military threats, what does State need to be able to respond? And second, especially in these really dangerous, fragile places, how do we get the State Department out of its bunker? Right? Especially in the wake of Benghazi the walls have gone up. And so 18-year-old Marines are out doing the work of diplomats. So what kind of new capacities do we need? How do we get State out on the front lines?”

BLINKEN: “I really appreciate the question. I think it goes to the heart of the mission I would have responsibility for if I'm confirmed to this job. First, in terms of State capacity, in the first instance, we have, as a result of attrition, as a result of morale, we've seen a drop-off in State personnel, where we're now about 1000 short of the numbers we were at just four years ago. That in and of itself is a problem. 

“But it's not simply a matter of bringing people back filling the slots that are now empty. It's making sure that, to the best of our ability, we're building a workforce that has the skill set to deal with the incredibly complex challenges that we're facing that are very different than the challenges we faced in previous generations. We have some authorities, I suggest we probably need more, that give us the flexibility to bring talent in in different ways at different times to meet some of those needs. We need to have the expertise in global health, we need to have the expertise in climate, we need to have the expertise in technology given the dominant role that it plays.

“And that's something that if confirmed to this job I'm going to spend some real time on and working with this committee to make sure that we have the ability to do that. Part of this is about spreading the message that this is a wonderful career to have and a good place to be. I've been distressed by the fact that applications to take the Foreign Service exam dropped significantly, so that's something we need to repair.

“And then finally on this point, Senator, we talked about this a little bit earlier. The skill set, the talent set, that's usually important. But the workforce also has to look like the country it purports to represent. And so one of the things that I am determined to focus on if confirmed is on making good on building that kind of workforce, making sure that we're recruiting, we’re retaining, and we're accountable for a workforce at State that looks more like the country it represents. And I think there's a lot of things that we can do to achieve that and make real progress.”

MURPHY: “I think you're right, this is about capabilities. I do think it's also just about a finite number of resources. It doesn't make sense to me, given the threats presented to the United States today, that we have more military band members than we do diplomats and we have to watch what China's doing. 2019 was the first year in which they had more diplomatic posts around the world than the United States did. If we're going to meet them on a playing field, even strength, then we need to recognize that.”

BLINKEN: “I’ve got to say I very much agree with that and my colleagues will probably take this out on me for saying it, but when I look at the fact that the last requested increase for the Defense Department, the increase over its existing budget equaled the totality of the State foreign operations budget, I think something's out of whack.”

MURPHY: “In the minute I have remaining, I'd love to turn to a subject we haven't touched upon and that's Ukraine. Obviously the subject of much consternation and discussion in the United States Congress over the last two years, but a country that is still enormously fragile, and a country that is in need of a much more stable friendship from the United States.

“The focus here has been largely around this question of lethal arms, I came around to support that notion. At the same time, I don't think Putin has any intention of actually marching an army to Kyiv if he wants to disempower that nation economically and politically so that eventually they just give up and hand the keys back to a Kremlin friendly government. And so it's really a question of ‘can we give them the political tools and the economic help in order to stay sovereign and independent?’ And I'd love your quick thoughts on the path forward with Ukraine.”

BLINKEN: “I spent a lot of time on Ukraine when I was last in government. I share both your commitment to trying to help it, particularly to stand up against the aggression that we've seen from Russia, both with regard to the attempted annexation of Crimea and, of course, what's happening--the conflict in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine. And I very much agree with you that we have to have a comprehensive approach. 

“I supported the provision of lethal defensive assistance to Ukraine. But to the extent that Russia is the threat from without, the threat from within is corruption, the threat from within is a lack of institutions that can effectively manage the country, and we have to help the Ukrainians deal with that too. Because even if we're successful, in at least helping them keep Russia at bay, if that threat from within continues, then it's going to be very difficult for them to build a viable democracy."

MURPHY: “Thank you for your candid conversation with us today, and notwithstanding all of that agreement with Lindsey Graham earlier, I look forward to supporting your nomination. Thank you, Tony.”

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