Chris Van Hollen

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

President Duque himself has repeatedly said that he has a zero-tolerance policy for human rights violations.

It is imperative that we renew efforts to strengthen our alliances and closest partnerships, particular those close to home.

It is long past time that we modernize our relationship with Colombia to focus on the realities of the present rather than the ghosts of the past.

I believe that the complexity of the world today demands that we embrace the opportunity to address different challenges.

I have been concerned by reports of increasing violence in Colombia's rural regions, especially near the Venezuelan border.

So, Mr. Secretary, I see my time is running out, so is your answer that none of our funds are going to that unit?

Despite billions of dollars that we have provided, the Colombia security forces continue to be involved in serious human rights violations.

Are we encouraging our European partners to do the same, and would that unity prove to be more effective in trying to accomplish our goals?

These disinformation campaigns were having an impact.

Clearly we need to bolster our strategy, because the ability of leaders in these countries to pursue policies of freedom, human rights, democracy obviously depend on their standing with the public and how the public perceives those ideas.

The bottom line is we have two important goals. Obviously, we want to deploy clean energy technology as quickly and efficiently as possible. And we also want to make sure that . . . communities that have been overlooked in the past are not…

If you do not remove the chokehold on the Afghan economy, there is really no point.

I think it is also clear, and we need to be coordinated in this, that any steps toward any kind of normalization in the future with the Taliban... requires meeting these conditions that we have laid out.

I appreciate that and we look forward to continuing to work with you on this effort.

I support the Administration's decision to dedicate an additional $308 million to humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.

Addressing that crisis without empowering the Taliban is going to require some creative thinking and some political courage.

I appreciate the work of the International Rescue Committee in Afghanistan and other places around the world.

I would urge very, very strongly that you see the interdependence of the humanitarian effort and the broader economic support for the country.

There is, frankly, moral hazard in putting billions into Afghanistan right now.

I think all of you would serve the country very well, and our economy well, on the Federal Reserve.

I believe that risk is amplified around.

Cyber is an omnipresent risk, and we should all be alert now.

I hope you will urge the President to appoint an administrator for that part of OMB, because there are lots of important actions that are awaiting final decision.

Before we enacted the American Rescue Plan CBO projected that GDP growth in 2021 would be 4.6 percent. It turned out that real GDP growth was 5.7 percent, ahead of projections.