WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, on Thursday chaired a hearing of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the nominations of Jennifer D. Gavito, Joshua M. Harris, Peter W. Lord, Juan Carlos Iturregui and Tracey Ann Jacobson to serve as U.S. Ambassadors to Libya, Algeria, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, the Dominican Republic, and Iraq, respectively.

Murphy expressed skepticism towards the current U.S. military presence in Iraq, pointing to declining utility and growing risks to personnel: “I talked about my distaste for the drawdown of diplomatic presence in Baghdad at the end of the Trump Administration. I think it’s important that we have robust diplomatic and economic engagement with our Iraqi partners, but I do worry about the middling number of American military forces in the region. We’ve got about 2,500 troops, about 6,000 contractors — our presence is really not enough to shift the balance of power, but what it is, too often, is an easy, sometimes unprotected, target for anti-American militias.”

Murphy continued: “There is an argument to be made that our presence, on balance, is starting to become more of a liability than a net benefit – I’m talking about our military presence. David Schenker, who was the previous administration’s Assistant Secretary of State for the region, and who I have a lot of respect for, recently argued that it’s time for the United States to start thinking about how to best downsize the U.S. military footprint in Iraq. Outside of the Kurdistan contingent, there is less and less utility in the ongoing U.S. military deployment. “

Turning to the Caribbean, Murphy asked Iturregui about the role that a U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic could play in bolstering efforts to reduce gun trafficking and violence in the region: “I want to talk to you about gun violence in the Caribbean. It’s amongst the highest in the world. Customs data indicates that it’s U.S. weapons that are almost always the ones being recovered in crime scenes in the Dominican Republic. 97% of firearms recovered in the D.R. and submitted to the ATF for tracing were manufactured or imported from the United States. There’s a Caribbean firearms roadmap that’s been developed to try to cut down on gun trafficking, largely coming from the United States into the region. Obviously, this matters a lot because of the instability in Haiti today. Can you just say a word about what you understand about this roadmap and what kind of contributions our embassy and an ambassador on the ground can make in trying to interrupt the flow of weapons into the region, and specifically into the D.R., many of which end up moving very quickly into the conflict in Haiti?”

Murphy also pressed Gavito on U.S. plans to reestablish a diplomatic presence in Libya, underscoring the importance of balancing risk-mitigation with engagement: “We’ve got a request to establish a diplomatic travel support operation facility, a DTSOF. Tell me a little bit about how we make sure that doesn’t become the new permanent normal. How do we stay on track to get an embassy back up and established, and while we are in this interim period, where we’ve got this sort of temporary facility, how do we manage our risk tolerance to make sure that we are actually getting our diplomats, who may be temporarily housed there, out into the field to talk to people instead of just sitting in this facility and monitoring from inside high walls?”

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

MURPHY: “Thank you all for your testimony here today. We have a busy morning in the Senate, and so many of our colleagues may submit questions for the record and may join us, many of them watching from their offices. Let me start with you, Ambassador Jacobson. Obviously, this is a very difficult assignment. I talked about my distaste for the drawdown of diplomatic presence in Baghdad at the end of the Trump Administration. I think it’s important that we have robust diplomatic and economic engagement with our Iraqi partners, but I do worry about the middling number of American military forces in the region. We’ve got about 2,500 troops, about 6,000 contractors — our presence is really not enough to shift the balance of power, but what it is, too often, is an easy, sometimes unprotected, target for anti-American militias.

“There is an argument to be made that our presence, on balance, is starting to become more of a liability than a net benefit. I’m talking about our military presence. David Schenker, who was the previous administration’s Assistant Secretary of State for the region, and who I have a lot of respect for, recently argued that it’s time for the United States to start thinking about how to best downsize the U.S. military footprint in Iraq. Outside of the Kurdistan contingent, there is less and less utility in the ongoing U.S. military deployment.

“I’m not going to ask you to take a position on our force numbers. But, as you’re preparing for this assignment, what is your understanding of the comparable efficacy between our diplomatic presence and our military presence, and can you speak at all about how our military contingent there sometimes complicates relationships with the Iraqi government, for instance, when we have to take retaliatory strikes against the militias inside of Iraq as a means to protect our military contingent inside Iraq?”

JACOBSON: “Thank you for the question, Senator. As you know from the time we spent together in Kosovo, I have always approached our engagement as the United States as a three-legged stool. We have to have diplomacy, we have to have development, and we have to have our defense structures together. As you know, last year, the U.S. and Iraq announced a higher military coordinating commission which is looking at how our military component of Operation Inherent Resolve eventually evolves into a bilateral security arrangements, and that is informed by a series of important factors including operational and environmental concerns, the threat that’s continued to be posed by ISIS and the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces. I think this engagement remains very important with regards to the diplomatic platform. As you know, we have several of our agencies present in Iraq, and if confirmed, I would want to play the appropriate role of an ambassador in a whole-of-government approach which gets to our national interests in the

region. And I would look at security, economic development, democratic development and the relationship with the Iraq Kurdistan region as all parts of a broad 360-degree relationship which is not only important for Iraq's advancement but also stands as a way to bolster the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people against Iranian influence.”

MURPHY: “I don’t obviously expect for you to have an opinion today, but I look forward to consulting with you once you have boots on the ground to really understand what the comparable efficacy is of a relatively small military deployment there, which too often end up being sitting ducks for the folks who are trying to provoke our forces and interests in the region.

“Mr. Iturregui, I want to talk to you about gun violence in the Caribbean. It’s amongst the highest in the world. Customs data indicates that it’s U.S. weapons that are almost always the ones being recovered in crime scenes in the Dominican Republic. 97% of firearms recovered in the D.R. and submitted to the ATF for tracing were manufactured or imported from the United States. There’s a Caribbean firearms roadmap that’s been developed to try to cut down on gun trafficking, largely coming from the United States into the region. Obviously, this matters a lot because of the instability in Haiti today. Can you just say a word about what you understand about this roadmap and what kind of contributions our embassy and an ambassador on the ground can make in trying to interrupt the flow of weapons into the region, and specifically into the D.R., many of which end up moving very quickly into the conflict in Haiti?”

ITURREGUI: “Thank you Senator. Indeed, it is a very serious problem. From what I read—I haven’t had the opportunity to be fully briefed— but I know that we have a robust presence in the embassy in Santo Domingo of U.S. law enforcement agencies, and they are working very closely with the Dominican government in tackling this challenge. The administration, as you know, also has, with your support, in motion, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, and I understand that those efforts are being ramped up. We are not only coordinating with Dominican authorities but with other governments in the Caribbean basin.”

MURPHY: “I’ve got more questions. I’ll save them for a second round and I’ll turn it over now to Senator Young.”

MURPHY: “Thanks, Senator Ricketts. Senator Young and I going to start a second round of questions. Mr. Harris, Algeria has historically supported the Polisario front, whose main goal is the independence of Western Sahara from Moroccan control. They regularly deliver arms, training, financial aid. The Biden Administration has sought to revive the U.N. process on the final status of the Western Sahara, but at the same time, they haven’t rescinded the Trump Administration’s policy of recognizing Morocco's claim of sovereignty over the territory. Do you perceive these policies to be at odds, and what kind of progress do you think that we can make on trying to move forward concessions or actions that we would need from Algeria to resolve this long-standing crisis?”

HARRIS: “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I think that we have spoken very clearly to the importance of enabling a U.N. political process on Western Sahara to move forward; [the importance of] negotiations leading to a lasting and enduring resolution to this extremely difficult challenge developing over many years without further delay. I have had the good occasion to work very closely with the personal envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. de Mistura, as he works to intensify these consultations and also to consult privately with partners including Algeria about how all players could lend their influence to the success of that U.N. political process. I believe there is a recognition of the fundamental challenges at play and also the importance of ensuring that political process is successful. Algeria certainly has a very important role to play in that conversation, and if confirmed, a central element of my efforts with the Algerian government would be to further intensify that dialogue so that that U.N. process could finally gain some traction.”

MURPHY: “Great, thank you for that. Mr. Lord, talk to us a little bit about U.S.-Senegal security cooperation. Senegal is really critical to U.S. security efforts in west Africa. It’s probably got the most competent security forces in the Sahel. Given the myriad problems facing Senegal's neighbors, what can we do to expand Senegal’s positive security influence in the region? What are going to be the first, second and third steps you’re going to take and ask Congress to support on this mission?”

LORD: “Thank you, Senator, for the question. Indeed, we have a long history of cooperation with Senegal on security arrangements and assistance, which has included professionalization of their forces so that they can engage in global stability operations. Senegal is, on a security and diplomatic level, engaged on the difficult problems in the Sahel, both through the west Africa sub-regional organization ECOWAS and through the United Nations. I think one of the key things that we can do is listen to the new government's ideas about how to approach this situation. They have intense interest in seeing a resolution. Many of our interests overlap with them. And so working together with them on a diplomatic plan, as well as providing additional support to their security forces. If confirmed this will be a top priority in working with the new government on how to move this forward in west Africa, because we have very serious concerns but also shared interests with Senegal.”

MURPHY: “I also sit on both the Defense Appropriations subcommittee and the Foreign Relations subcommittee, so I look forward to your recommendations on how we can continue to support that cooperative relationship. Ms. Gavito, let’s talk about the embassy. So we’ve got a request to establish a diplomatic travel support operation facility, a DTSOF. Tell me a little bit about how we make sure that doesn’t become the new permanent normal. How do we stay on track to get an embassy back up and established, and while we are in this interim period, where we’ve got this sort of temporary facility, how do we manage our risk tolerance to make sure that we are actually getting our diplomats, who may be temporarily housed there, out into the field to talk to people instead of just sitting in this facility and monitoring from inside high walls?”

GAVITO: “Thank you very much, Senator. I think that this is an extraordinarily important step forward, and I was remiss in responding to Senator Ricketts with the same. So much of what we do requires us to be present on the ground. With so much at stake with Russia, with China, having a persistent presence there is absolutely key to having the flexibility, the agility to engage Libyans on all of these range of issues on a consistent basis. This decision to move forward with a persistent presence, affectionately called the DTSOF, came after 2-2.5 years of an increased tempo of short visits into Libya.

“Throughout that process the department of state has reviewed at every juncture the security to ensure that everything that is being done is done with an eye towards ensuring that our personnel on the ground are able to stay safe. Of course, that requires constant evaluation. And I think that is fundamentally the answer to your question. There is no automaticity to any part of this process. At every juncture I commit to this committee that we will continue, that I personally will continue, to review the security on the ground, which remains complicated despite the fact that the 2020 cease-fire has largely held, to make sure that everything that we are doing to advance our mission there is again done with the prioritization of the security of our personnel. I’d like to, if I may, add that this commitment is extremely personal to me. Chris Stevens was a friend. I had dinner with him the week before he was murdered. It is never far from my mind, and as I said, I can only commit to you that as we move forward with engaging in Libya on a more sustained basis– you’re right, we cannot sit behind walls. The Russian ambassador in Libya is using as a talking point, ‘We are here and the United States is not.’ It’s all over the media. So we have to get out, we have to engage.”

MURPHY: “His death and that tragedy is never far from our mind as well. But the reality is that tragedy did fundamentally alter our risk tolerance and calculation throughout the foreign service in a way that I think has not always accrued to the benefit of the projection of U.S. influence. So I say this to all of you, I think that Senator Risch and I have had a particular interest in trying to reorder the way in which we do reviews of incidents in the field so as not to be overly punitive of our leadership that often has to make tough decisions to put people in harm's way in order to represent the United States.

“I’m going to use my prerogative to ask Ambassador Jacobson one last question which is sort of a ‘step back’ question. You’re a rare breed, having served three times as ambassador. You’ve served at a very difficult time in the Foreign Service, a moment when American foreign policy changes very quickly from administration to administration. It is just an absolute marvel to me, the quality and commitment of the people who work in our embassies despite the fact that they might be running one mission before an election and asked to do something fundamentally different thereafter. Talk to me about how you try to make sure that we continue to boost and maintain morale amongst the people that work for you. We teach flexibility and agility to our workforce, even in a moment when from election to election the mission becomes very, very different. Give us a little advice as to what you’ve learned during this difficult time as a leader of men and women at three different embassies.”

JACOBSON: “Senator, thank you so much for this question. This is very near and dear to my heart. And when you are someone as long in the tooth as I am, there is no greater privilege or pleasure than supporting the teammates who are rising up through the ranks. So the focus on morale and professional development has really been a hallmark of my career, including during three years in a leadership role at the Foreign Service Institute. It’s true that we often serve in difficult conditions, war, postwar, illnesses, our families may or may not be with us. You have to think of what motivates people to join the foreign service in the first place, and that is a sense of service. I come to this naturally from a military family. Both of my grandparents, my maternal grandparents, served in the British army during World War II. My sister was married to a Navy pilot. Service is in our blood. I think all of my classmates, all of my colleagues here, have a similar story. Keeping morale up means keeping focus on why we joined in the first place— the privilege of representing the American people overseas – and also, what are the missions that we are striving to achieve. I think that one of the most important things that an ambassador does as a facilitator of the team’s work is to keep that vision of the overarching goals first and foremost in everybody’s mind. If we know what we are about and trying to achieve, if we have organized ourselves as an interagency team, including in collaboration with Congress, to keep our eye on those overarching goals and bring all the different skills and experiences and authorities to achieve those goals, and we make a little bit of progress, that’s what motivates people to keep doing the job, even when conditions are tough.”

MURPHY: “Thank you, Ambassador.”

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