I appreciate all the work that you all do and for being here to testify before this committee today.

I was proud to be a sponsor of the bill to designate the New River Gorge as our nation's newest national park.

Streamlining permitting processes across a variety of sectors is something Congress could do right now to expand energy deliverability.

Unfortunately, West Virginians know all too well that the government doesn't always offer the best solution.

I introduced the Western Hemisphere Security Strategy Act with Chairman Menendez. It is the beginning of doing just that.

China is aggressively all over the hemisphere.

The Chinese Communist Party is actively exporting its governance model across the hemisphere.

I completely agree that we need ambassadors in these countries.

It just seems to me that we do not have a strategic comprehensive plan.

The war unleashed by Vladimir Putin's ambitions in the Ukraine lays bare the implications of the PRC attempt to assert moral neutrality.

Without urgent action, this economic downturn could last for a decade.

The Communist Party of China is taking advantage of its economic importance and political relationships to encourage governments across the region to make domestic and foreign policy decisions that favor the CCP.

Imagine that. Mind boggling. Our directors there, basically, allowed it to happen.

We have a huge problem coming out of the pandemic with the reality that IMF requirements... these countries not going to be able to meet it.

The Western Hemisphere is in a period of extraordinary upheaval.

You cannot govern without having your team in place.

We simply cannot afford to let the Chinese Communist Party expand its influence and absorb Latin America and the Caribbean into its private political economic bloc.

Beijing sees this and they are seizing the opportunity to grow both their influence and their power in the Western Hemisphere.