'Shooting Ourselves In The Foot': Cory Booker Laments 'Stunning' Number Of Ambassador Vacancies

Cory Booker s Booker thanks so much I want to pick up on some of the themes that my my friend Tim Kaine uh brought up but Mr so grateful that you're here um but I I just want to pick up on something because it it it it this concern about China and and and its dealings with Saudi Arabia can we just be specific for a second we are in negotiations with Saudi Arabia on a treaty right now correct so uh I I think it'd be fair to say that we're in deep negotiations with the Saudis I you know the ultimate manifestation there are many Fe I understand I don't want to take all my time doing that I I guess what I'm trying to say is when I'm in the region when I'm I'm sitting with leaders there they want to deal with the United States of America they want deeper ties deeper relationships they know uh that from technology to economy to military we're their preferred dance partner but when we don't engage with them they looking for other dance Partners to hedge their bets that's a fair statement correct yeah now when it comes to our competition with China if we find a way to move forward with Saudi Arabia we get a lot of advantages by locking them in to things that benefit us whether it's while China and Russia are trying to undermine our currency we secure the dollar being used for oil trade while we have a fierce competition going on militarily we we have shown that when we lean into Partnerships not only with our competitors in Russia or China but even with our competition for military sales with European countries we lock Saudi Arabia in and then when it comes to the economy or technology transfers we've been able to use our Partnerships with other countries to box out the Chinese and so this is a time that I see if we're really talking about a global competition to pick our partners and further lock in American advantages wouldn't you say that that's the opportunity that we're at least seeking in this in these Global Competition negotiations uh Senator that's exactly the strategy that we've attempted I I think it has borne the most fruit in the Indo Pacific and that's we talked about this earlier that's the quad that's Aus that's the trilateral with Japan and South Korea mending fences it's bringing the Philippines in it's working with southeast Asia with Thailand with Vietnam with India yeah so whether you're talking about India whether you're talking about Japan whether you're talking about Australia whether you're talking about uh European allies whether whether you're talking about Africa or South America people are looking for strong Partnerships and when we step up people prefer to deal with us because China has a really bad reputation in these countries is is is it correct so look I would say that you American Engagement know a job like mine probably job like yours there's lots of stuff that could get you down but I will tell you that the thing that has encouraged me everywhere I've gone is that the demand signal for American engagement is high and even though they have doubts sometimes I I can I sometimes sense you walk into a meeting with a leader he's trying to size up like you know are are these guys committed and are they going to be there if you're able to show them that you're going to engage with sincerity and that you're not coming alone you're working with other agencies in the US government and with other partners globally that believe in the things that you are um advancing you can have a real impact on the ground and I I've seen that throughout all the one of the things that when in my confirmation here you you asked me said he said Kurt don't just do the indopacific go to Africa so I've been twice I I have found those countries are thirsty for a deeper American engagement I intend to do everything I can to support that so I do think we tend to underestimate ourselves our value proposition is strong military technologically education everything and I just think our most important thing is to have confidence and my my time BR music to my ears to hear you say all that I I I I guess two frustrations one not on you on us I have seen the power of great ambassadors in the global South to extend the American influence connection opportunity I mean if you look at Kenya is a great example of what an ambassador can so the fact that we have so many vacancies is to me stunning it is shooting ourselves in the foot in many ways undermining our ability to compete it's like trying to Stanford trying to play Notre Dame and benching three or four of its players and playing with a short hand that I I just want to add that because I know other people have said it but for the final point I want to bring up here is what is frustrating me when I do travels uh to Africa is to see how obviously important we see our military strength and trying to counter uh what we're seeing in the Sahel with terrorism like nobody can argue with that but the thing that inspires me the most is when I visit and see the power of us Investments not just in feed the future of pepar but business Investments and infrastructure Investments the the the the unbelievable uh uh just the libido Corridor investment yes is to me how you really do counter what uh what China is trying to do and the urgencies for that and so I I I guess what what I want to just have you finish on is something as simple as the development Finance Corporation which is incredible tool to compete with and Congress is going to be considering reauthorizing the build Act which created the DFC um just for the record are there key can you express the urgency for something like this as well as improvements that we could be making in the program as it right now great thank you and great questions can I just just build on a point that you made so you know when you when you're in a job like mine you go to these embassies and you're constantly evaluating leadership there I was just in gon not a lot of Americans go to visit firsttime Ambassador probably one of the most effective young women and I watched her engage her team uh you know the state department occasionally can have highly hierarchical these guys young people first tour pitching in feeling they could talk in meetings hugely impressed and small amount of assistance but taking it to the maximum right so I left there just like when you went to Kenya in incredibly unbelievably motivated wanting to do more and realizing that we can get that done the DFC is an unusually effective tool it is incredibly effective uh Senator before you came I I got to be the person to do the groundbreaking of a major DFC initiative in Sagal it was Sensational because unlike Chinese projects that they build their bring their own people and their own equipment I think we're going have to leave it at that sorry oh you're I give two extra minutes but okay so I so I would just so I would completely support this this is incredibly important DFC what you need to do is leverage financing they need more leverage like all Finance institutions 5:1 6:1 7:1 that would help thanks