Sen. Collins Questions Secretary Marco Rubio on Iran, Gavi Funding
Sen. Collins Questions Secretary Marco Rubio on Iran, Gavi Funding
Q&A on Commercial Impacts of Military Hostilities in Iran
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Q&A on Releasing Gavi Funds
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Washington, D.C. – At a hearing to review the 2027 budget request for the Department of State, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, questioned Secretary Marco Rubio on the economic and commercial impacts of the closure of the Straight of Hormuz and the Iran conflict. Senator Collins also urged Secretary Rubio to release $600 million in appropriated funds for Gavi, emphasizing that the organization has helped vaccinate more than one billion children in the world’s poorest countries.
In May, Senator Collins led a letter with Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and committee members Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), requesting that the State Department resume U.S. contributions to Gavi. Click HERE to read full letter.
Q&A on Commercial Impacts of Military Hostilities in Iran
Sen. Collins: Secretary Rubio, it's wonderful to see you, and I want to thank you for your service in this new post. Mr. Secretary, before the military hostilities with Iran began, did the Department of State and other parts of the government, Department of Defense, obviously, make an assessment on the likelihood that Iran would close or interfere with commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz? Especially since 20 percent of the world's oil goes through that narrow passageway.
Sec. Rubio: Yes, not only was that a known risk factor, but there were others, like the launches against neighboring countries that they wanted to punish. All of those factors were understood and weighed when the President made his decision about whether or not to do it. He felt it was imperative and I agreed, that Iran would not be able to establish a conventional shield that they were building with massive number of drones and missiles, and they were on their way to getting double what they had, and if they reached the point where they had so many missiles and so many shield and so many drones, plus their naval capabilities that existed at the time, Iran would then say to the world, "There's nothing you can do about our nuclear program, because if you do, we will overwhelm your defenses with the sheer volume of launches that we have." And then they could do whatever they wanted on their nuclear program.
That was an unacceptable risk. It was a risk that we were running out of time to address. That was weighed against the risks that you've just outlined, not just the straits, but also the attacks against Kuwait and Bahrain and UAE and Saudi Arabia and Qatar, it was weighed against that, and the President made a decision that them not having a nuclear weapon above all else had to be the priority.
Sen. Collins: Is our country working with our allies in the region or with American oil producers, Canadian oil producers, to look to the future on what could be done to mitigate the consequences of such a dependence on this particular strait in the future, it wasn't the first time that Iran has done this? During the Iran-Iraq War, we saw Iran tried to take control of the strait, so it is disturbing that nothing was done in the intervening years to try to figure out. Are there alternative routes that could be used, more pipelines, other ways, so that Iran does not have such an ability to control the strait?
Sec. Rubio: Well, there is an existing Western pipeline. It certainly doesn't have enough sufficient capacity out of Saudi Arabia to make up for what's happening through the straits, potentially, but a couple points. Yes, the answer is I think the indications are that in the aftermath of what's happened with the straits supply lines, where the world is going to be getting its energy is going to diversify away from at least the straits traffic through a variety of means.
The first is you are going to see, I believe, the construction of more infrastructure that goes to the West and even to the North to avoid the straits, it's a bit less efficient because the straits are quicker shot, but I do think you're starting to see the alignment, but those are long-term projects. I can't exactly tell you how long it takes to build these pipelines, it's not my area of expertise, but I certainly know it takes more than a month or even a year.
The second, I think you're going to see that the existing global capacity is going to shift. For example, there are now markets that are increasingly seeking to buy US energy, which we can supply and which we can provide. Historically, it hasn't made any sense for them, because they could get it faster from the straits, but given what's happened, you're seeing increasing interest, and in fact, I think you'll start to see some real-time deliveries from U.S. refiners and producers to the Pacific region, that's beginning to happen, and the Canadians are stepping into that world as well.
Q&A on Frozen Gavi Funds
Sen. Collins: Last month, I led a bipartisan letter to you, urging the department to release the $600 million appropriated in Fiscal Years 25 and 26 for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and I would ask unanimous consent that that letter, which many members of this subcommittee signed, be entered into the record.
Gavi, as you well know, plays a critical role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases around the globe and helps to protect public health in our country as well, by stopping outbreaks before they reach our borders, and that's particularly important right now as the world is responding to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC. Can you update us on the status of the funding for Gavi, and when we can expect to see it obligated consistent with clear congressional intent?
Sec. Rubio: Yeah, and I think a number of you are aware of the particulars, but let me share publicly as well, so that people understand better. On this account, we took into account at the President's directive, HHS’s view, and is particular about one thing, and that is a certain preservative that's used in vaccines, we don't use them in the vaccines in the United States, but they are used in vaccines around the world.
And the ask of Gavi was that they would stop providing these vaccines without preservative, but the problem Gavi has, according to them, is that they have purchased stocks of these vaccines, the millions of doses, and they can't just throw those away because they have this preservative in there, and so what we're trying to do is find, and we have now reengaged more heavily, and I know some of you have been personally involved in this to try to get this thing resolved, to try to figure out an outcome in which, perhaps there's a phased approach to it.
They did make us a counteroffer, I haven't personally seen it in the last couple of days from Gavi, but it is my hope we can bring this to a resolution on the issue of these preservatives, you know, they make the point, Gavi, is that in some of these countries where these are distributed, they don't have the same refrigeration system, so they need to have this preservative in there. Perhaps there's a way to phase our way through that, so we'll consult with HHS on it as well. But ultimately, we would like to see this problem solved, and we think we can. We're certainly going to try, because we want it to be solved.
Sen. Collins: But in the meantime, the United States needs to get that money out there. This is the first time that the United States has given up its seat on the Gavi’s board in the partnership's history. I don't think that's a good outcome, so I hope we can get that money, which is desperately needed.
Sec. Rubio: And that was a consequence of us missing that dues payment. My sense, I'm pretty sure that, as in any deal we strike with them, part of the deal will be we get our seat back and the money comes, but we want to deal with this central issue. I think you're well aware of it, and I think we can get there, but we got to work a little bit on it.
On Improving Maternal Health and Child Health
Sen. Collins: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I know my time has expired, so I'll submit the rest of my questions for the record.
I just want to point out that there are proven high-impact interventions for pregnant women in prenatal vitamins made in the United States, and a food supplement, RUTF, again, made in the United States, that dramatically improve maternal and child health outcomes, and it's something that I'll be talking further about, the public-private partnership to get this kind of supplement out to those who need it globally.
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