Ranking Member Shaheen Opening Remarks for Nominations Hearing for Key State Department Positions

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered opening remarks during a Committee hearing on the nominations of Kari Lake to be Ambassador to Jamaica, Rudolph Bauer to be Ambassador to Belize, Juan Pablo Segura to be Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation, Brendan Hanrahan to be Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Michael Vance to be Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research.

You can watch her opening remarks here.

"I think one of the real benefits that the United States has enjoyed has been its credibility," said Ranking Member Shaheen. "I think the credibility of this country is a strategic asset, and distrust of U.S. statements really matters. Iran, Russia and China understand that. Last year Tehran increased funding for its state broadcaster by 50 percent. At that very moment our adversaries were investing in the information battlefield, the United States was retreating from it. Dismantling programs designed to deliver independent, fact-based news to people living under authoritarian regimes."

Ranking Member Shaheen pressed Ms. Lake, nominee for Ambassador to Jamaica, for her attempted cuts to USAGM and Voice of America, which weakened America's voice abroad and allowed our adversaries to fill the vacuum.

"You placed hundreds of employees at the U.S Agency for Global Media and Voice of America on administrative leave," said Ranking Member Shaheen. "You attempted to cut off funding for Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia until a court intervened. USAGM and Voice of America survived. But our adversaries exploited that chaos. Iran's LEGO-video campaign mocking and humiliating the President reached more than a billion views in just thirty days. Its purpose was not to strengthen Iran. It was to weaken confidence in the United States."

Ranking Member Shaheen also emphasized the importance of pushing past the challenges of interagency bureaucracy and standing against Russian influence operations in Europe to Mr. Hanrahan, nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Europe.

"The threats in this region are not waiting for Washington to sort itself out," said Ranking Member Shaheen. "Vladimir Putin has spent years investing in far-right parties across Europe-parties that oppose Ukraine aid and want to dismantle European institutions. Ukrainian battlefield successes have complicated those influence operations. But they have not stopped Putin from exploiting our political divisions. If confirmed, I hope you will be a strong voice against Russian influence and for those governments that have stood with us and with Ukraine."

The Ranking Member's remarks, as delivered, are below.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and welcome to our nominees this morning. To your families and supporters who are here with you, thank you for being willing to be considered for these positions.

I think one of the real benefits that the United States has enjoyed has been its credibility. I think the credibility of this country is a strategic asset, and distrust of U.S. statements really matters. Iran, Russia and China understand that. Last year Tehran increased funding for its state broadcaster by 50 percent. At that very moment our adversaries were investing in the information battlefield, the United States was retreating from it. Dismantling programs designed to deliver independent, fact-based news to people living under authoritarian regimes.

Ms. Lake, the Administration put you in charge of that effort. I have a different view than Senator Haggerty about your work on that effort. You placed hundreds of employees at the U.S Agency for Global Media and Voice of America on administrative leave. You attempted to cut off funding for Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia until a court intervened. USAGM and Voice of America survived. But our adversaries exploited that chaos. Iran's LEGO video campaign mocking and humiliating the President reached more than a billion views in just thirty days. Its purpose was not to strengthen Iran. It was to weaken confidence in the United States.

Ms. Lake, this is the information environment you may soon have to navigate as Ambassador to Jamaica. If confirmed, I hope you will push back not only by advancing the Administration's message, but by contesting the narratives our adversaries are spreading throughout the region. Beijing and Moscow are investing heavily in shaping perceptions of the United States across the Global South.

Mr. Segura, [...] you have been nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, and Mr. Bauer you have been nominated to be Ambassador to Belize. Russia has trained more than 1,000 Latin American influencers to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda messaging across Latin America. And that network didn't stop operating when Maduro fell. If confirmed, I hope each of you will take these efforts seriously.

Mr. Hanrahan, you have been nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary for Europe. But I think we have to ask a threshold question there, and that is what is the portfolio that you are going to have? Ukraine peace talks are being run by Special Envoy Witkoff. The Armenia initiative is led by the Policy Planning Staff. Bosnian policy appears to have been outsourced to the White House.

The threats in this region are not waiting for Washington to sort itself out. Vladimir Putin has spent years investing in far-right parties across Europe-parties that oppose Ukraine aid and want to dismantle European institutions. Ukrainian battlefield successes have complicated those influence operations. But they have not stopped Putin from exploiting our political divisions. If confirmed, I hope you will be a strong voice against Russian influence and for those governments that have stood with us and with Ukraine.

And finally, Mr. Vance, you have been nominated to lead the Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research. As the Chairman said, INR occupies a unique role within the intelligence community. It is independent of other intelligence agencies, and it's charged with providing objective, fact-based analysis to the Secretary of State. I have concerns given your unwillingness to affirm the basic fact that President Biden won the 2020 election. I have concerns about your commitment to that fact-based mission. You have also written that Western Europe is succumbing to what you call "soft authoritarianism" and have compared some European practices to the Soviet Union. If confirmed, I hope you will put aside prior views and provide Secretary Rubio with the unvarnished intelligence he that needs to operate. Again, thank you all.

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