Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

March 21, 2019

The Department of State has amended the terrorist designations of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to include Amaq News Agency, Al Hayat Media Center, and other aliases. These aliases have been added to ISIS’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. Additionally the Department of State has reviewed and maintained the FTO designation of ISIS.

Amaq News Agency and Al Hayat Media Center are two media wings of ISIS. Amaq News Agency is part of the terrorist organization’s propaganda apparatus, and is used for claiming responsibility for ISIS or ISIS-inspired attacks, spreading terrorist messages online, and recruitment. Al Hayat Media Center is ISIS’s multilingual media outlet and is also used for recruitment purposes.

Today’s actions notify the U.S. public and the international community that Amaq News Agency and Al Hayat Media Center are aliases of ISIS. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of the United States and other governments.

A list of State Department-designated FTOs and SDGTs is available here: https://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/index.htm.

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External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Michael R. Pompeo

Secretary of State

David Citadel Hotel

Jerusalem

March 21, 2019

MR PALLADINO: All right. Do we have any questions?

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah.

MR PALLADINO: Please, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thank you. There are reports that the United States is considering recognizing the annexation of the Golan Heights, which would obviously be of enormous strategic value to Israel. Can you give us any insight into where that would stand?

SECRETARY POMPEO: No.

QUESTION: Why not?

QUESTION: Is it being considered?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I don’t have anything to say about that.

QUESTION: What is your view toward that? What —

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’m not going to comment. We – the administration’s considering lots of things always, and I try to make sure we get to answers before we talk about them publicly.

QUESTION: And could you talk about what the downside of that would be? What would be the risks?

SECRETARY POMPEO: No. I’m just not going to comment on it.

MR PALLADINO: Let’s move on. Next question, Barbara, please.

QUESTION: Just on that same idea and the question I’ve been asking previously, you said yesterday that the policy hasn’t changed with regards to whether the U.S. considers the West Bank and Golan occupied territory. Can you just tell – you didn’t say what the policy was. What is the policy?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, so I’m not going to spend time talking about this. I’ve answered this question previously, and you’d asked yesterday. I’ll give you the same answer. Our mission statement in the Human Rights Report is to —

QUESTION: No, it’s not the Human Rights Report. Just generally speaking on —

SECRETARY POMPEO: But this is where the language – this is what you’re – this is why you’re asking. Am I mistaken?

QUESTION: Well, more than that because —

SECRETARY POMPEO: No, but this is where you saw the language, right?

QUESTION: That’s what’s triggered this round of questioning.

SECRETARY POMPEO: And that’s the question I’m going to answer, yeah.

QUESTION: But the use of the term occupied or occupation has been decreasing over time, and when we ask the spokespeople doing the briefings, they always say the policy hasn’t changed.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yes.

QUESTION: So I just would like – it would be helpful for us to get a clear statement of what the policy is with regards to whether the U.S. considers the West Bank and the Golan occupied territory.

SECRETARY POMPEO: I understand the question you’re asking. I understand why you’re asking the question. We used that language in the Human Rights Report with great intentionality. We didn’t make a mistake. It’s there for a reason. It’s not a change in U.S. policy. It was our intent, as it is in every element of the Human Rights Report, to be as factually descriptive as we can, and that’s what we did.

QUESTION: Can I ask —

SECRETARY POMPEO: So it wasn’t a mistake; it wasn’t an error. It was done knowingly, and we believe we have the most factual actual description that was appropriate for the report.

Yes, sir.

MR PALLADINO: Go ahead, Matt.

QUESTION: Thanks. Slightly different. When you talk about this – what you’re going to be doing this afternoon, in terms of going to the wall with the prime minister, you apparently are going to be the highest-ranking foreign official to go there with him. Is that meant to signify anything about Israeli sovereignty over that particular part of the city or not? Is it just a coincidence?

And then looking ahead to tomorrow, can you give us any kind of a preview about just how tough you’re going to be on Hizballah and the Iranian role not just in Lebanon but in Syria and Iraq?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. So the trip to the wall is something that I had talked with Prime Minister Netanyahu about doing some time ago, and it’s our first chance to go there together. I think it’s important. I think it’s symbolic that a senior American official go there with the prime minister of Israel. It’s a place that’s important to many faiths, and I’m looking forward to it. I think it’ll be – I think I’ll be very special.

With respect to the trip tomorrow, Hizballah is a terrorist organization. So when you ask how tough I’m going to be, we’re going to —

QUESTION: But it’s also part of the government.

SECRETARY POMPEO: No, it’s a terrorist organization – period, full stop. These are – this is an organization underwritten by the Islamic Republic of Iran with the intention of the destruction of Israel and, if you listen to them closely, the destruction of Western democracy, including the United States of America as well. Maybe that answers your question about how tough I’m going to be. (Laughter.) But there’s – we –

QUESTION: Well, that sounds like you’re not to mince words, clearly. You’re going to be on their home turf, and so that’s —

SECRETARY POMPEO: We’re going to be very clear about how America sees Hizballah and our expectations about how Lebanon’s success depends on – the Lebanese people will demand that a terrorist organization not be in control of their government and not drive policies and create risk for their country as well. We all know the risk, right? Hizballah does something inside of Lebanon; the risk of escalation is real. The people of Lebanon don’t want that. The people of Israel don’t want that. The people of the United States of America don’t want that. And we’re going to make that abundantly clear, and then we’re going to make sure that they have all the information we have about this as well.

MR PALLADINO: AFP, Francesco.

QUESTION: Thanks. Mr. Secretary, to follow on Matt’s question on the wall, if it’s important and special that a U.S. official goes there with the Israeli prime minister, why is it the first time? Why wasn’t it the case for President Trump or Vice President Pence? Is this an evolution in the relationship and how you see the Western Wall?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I don’t know. I don’t know why they didn’t go there before. I can’t answer that.

QUESTION: It’s not an evolution in the U.S. stance towards Israel and —

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’m looking forward to going to the wall with the prime minister.

MR PALLADINO: CBN, David.

QUESTION: Secretary Pompeo, anti-Semitism and the Democrats, did some of that come up with Prime Minister Netanyahu? And can you kind of term – give us a sense of what was discussed about the concern he has, you have, on that?

SECRETARY POMPEO: We didn’t talk about it in terms of U.S. – I don’t want to give – I try to stay away from conversations we have privately, but I will say we didn’t talk about U.S. domestic politics. For that matter, I’m sure of your next question. We didn’t talk about Israeli internal politics either. (Laughter.)

We did talk about anti-Semitism, that I made some remarks yesterday about it. It is a growing threat in Europe and around the world and something that this administration takes incredibly seriously and something that presents increasing risk not only to Jews but to all of us.

MR PALLADINO: New York Times, Ed.

QUESTION: The prime minister said yesterday that the two of you spoke about additional ways to apply pressure to Iran. Can you elaborate on that?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I won’t say what we talked about, but each of the pillars that we have – each of the vectors we’ve used to put back – push back against them, the sanctions that are in place – we have another decision about waivers that’ll be coming up in 60 days, I guess it is, the beginning of May. The sanctions regime that we’ve put in place for designating those connected to Iranian malign activity, wherever we find then, including in places like Iraq. You would have seen that recently we designated an organization inside of Iraq, which we had not done before. Our cooperation with Israel, our attempts to deny the Iranians the resources to continue to foment terror. We’re going to continue to increase the pressure we’re applying along each of those vectors of pressure.

Remember the simple goal. The simple goal is to get Iran to behave like a normal nation: stop blowing up things around the world; stop fomenting terrorism; stop their assassination campaign in Europe; stop underwriting the Houthis, Hamas, Hizballah. Simple things – the same things we ask every nation in the world to do we’re asking of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

MR PALLADINO: LA Times, Tracy.

QUESTION: Thank you. President Rivlin this morning spoke to you about the Palestinians as a very important issue, and he even raised the idea of Israel having to take care of the Palestinians if the Palestinian Authority were to collapse. Is that something the United States is now thinking about, how to take – how to help Israel take care of the Palestinians?

SECRETARY POMPEO: You have to put this in context, right, of the larger U.S. Middle East policy and what we’re trying to accomplish. I’ve been talking about this since I – since almost the beginning of my time as Secretary of State. The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is a component of that, right? These threats that I just talked about in Iran, these are all pieces of it. The work that we’re doing in Syria, the Defeat ISIS coalition that we built up – these are all elements of the Trump administration’s policy in the Middle East.

With respect to the particular question there, look, the Israelis and Palestinians live side-by-side. We need to help them figure out how to do that. And that’s what I think the president was pointing to. He and I had a chance to talk about that a little bit more. It’s a fact, and this administration wishes well for the Palestinian people.

QUESTION: But not necessarily a two-state solution, right?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, we want the Palestinian people, whether they live in the West Bank or in Gaza or, frankly, Palestinians that live anywhere in the world – I mean, think about where we are, where we’re sitting today. We’re sitting in a country that has Christians, Jews, Muslims all living in a democracy.

This is unique and special and what we would hope for broader parts of the Middle East as well. It’s a – this is an amazing, unique place in which we’re sitting. And so you asked this question in the context of the Palestinians. We hope they have a brighter future as well, and as you see us lay out our plans over the coming months, I think you’ll see that very clearly.

MR PALLADINO: Question? Let’s go ABC, Conor.

QUESTION: You mentioned before we arrived in Kuwait that one of the things you’d focus on while here would be Syria. There have been some reports that SDF forces have taken the final square kilometers of territory.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah.

QUESTION: Are you ready to declare the end of the ISIS caliphate?

SECRETARY POMPEO: We’re close. People – there’s – it’s an amazing accomplishment that the coalition achieved there. I’m incredibly proud of having been a small part of continuing to build that coalition out and the work that United States did, Department of Defense did, that the folks fighting down the Euphrates River valley did. The threat from radical Islamic terrorism remains. We need to finish out the last few square meters there in Syria. Still work to do.

MR PALLADINO: One more. New York Times, Ed.

QUESTION: Can you give us a preview of the conversations that might take place between the prime minister and President Trump next week? What will be at the top of the agenda?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Oh, goodness, I think it’ll be the same set of things I came here to help prepare for their meeting. I think it’ll be the same set of issues, right: the great relationship between our two countries, the critical nature of that relationship, our common threats from terrorism, including terrorism that emanates from the Islamic Republic of Iran. I would guess those would be the issues that will dominate their conversation.

MR PALLADINO: NBC, Andrea.

QUESTION: Can you share whether you, in your conversation with the crown prince that was the day before yesterday, if my time is – did you discuss the women who were arrested? There have been reports of torture involving al-Qahtani, in fact, his close aide – Khashoggi – were any of those human rights issues more broadly discussed in that conversation?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, it was actually a pretty short conversation. I had a couple of specific things I wanted to talk to him about, but never a conversation goes by where we don’t talk about the human rights issues broadly, those in Saudi Arabia as well.

QUESTION: And the investigation, are they getting any closer to (inaudible) clearing it up for you?

SECRETARY POMPEO: There’s still work to do. We are still keenly interested in making sure that all the facts come to bear and are brought, and that not only do the Saudis handle this properly inside the country, but that we get the information that we need so that we can make good decisions for the United States government as well as we continue to honor the commitment we have made since the beginning, which is that we will follow the facts to wherever they go.

MR PALLADINO: BBC, Barbara.

QUESTION: Mr. Netanyahu has been criticized by some elements in Israel and also amongst American Jews about aligning himself with the extremist right wing here in Israel ahead of the elections. Have you – does that concern you and have you expressed any concern about that?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’m going to stay far away from the decisions that the Israeli people will make here in a few weeks. It wouldn’t be appropriate for the U.S. Secretary of State to comment on Israeli domestic politics.

QUESTION: In that line – oh, sorry.

MR PALLADINO: Go ahead, please.

QUESTION: I’m sorry. In that line, though —

SECRETARY POMPEO: Go ahead. Yes, ma’am.

QUESTION: — you spoke of Israel being this great democracy where everyone’s living freely.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah.

QUESTION: It’s not the elections; what about the law that they passed that this is only a Jewish state?

SECRETARY POMPEO: The Israelis will have – this is Israeli domestic politics. I must say, as I stare around the world at democracies, this is pretty close to the top of the list, right? When you see the freedom, the pluralism, the ability to jostle, to ensure that rights are protected, Israel is something that the world can look up to in terms of its democratic values and institutions. I’m very comfortable saying that.

We don’t get it right in the United States every day either, but this is what our republic, their democracy, does. We have competitive elections. People get to make judgments about their leaders – in our case, every couple years or every four years for our president; in Israel’s case, their elections are timed differently. But in each case, these are places where the people get to have their voices heard on a recurring basis, and when they don’t like the direction of travel of their nation, they can change it.

MR PALLADINO: Last question. CBN, David.

QUESTION: Has there been a narrative, Secretary Pompeo, that has frustrated you from what is dubbed the “mainstream media,” whether it be U.S. policy or Middle East policy or what’s been reported? Is there a story – not necessarily that’s not being told, but you feel frustrated over at all when you see headlines and certain articles written?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’m going to just pass on that. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Thank you.

SECRETARY POMPEO: But I must say, I’m not prone to frustration.

QUESTION: Why’s that?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Because you – I’m a deep believer in our republic, and my task as the Secretary of State is to get up every day and drive towards achieving the mission that President Trump lays out for me. The Constitution that I’m sworn to defend and uphold, I work at it every day. I’m very focused on the mission. There’ll be critiques from all across the political spectrum. I’m not immune to reading them. My son makes sure I don’t miss the good ones. (Laughter.)

But my mission set is clear, and I’m – if we have a story to tell, if we have a thing that’s important for you all to know, it’s our task to make sure that we share that and we communicate what we’re doing and why we’re trying to do it. And we certainly have constraints on what we can say and what we can’t from time to time, but our mission is to make sure that the American people understand what it is President Trump’s trying to deliver, and how it is he’s trying to deliver that for the American people.

QUESTION: As a matter of faith, can you just say —

MR PALLADINO: We need stop there. I’m sorry. We’re out time, Mr. Secretary.

QUESTION: — how important to you the events —

SECRETARY POMPEO: I’ll take one more, and then I’ll go.

MR PALLADINO: Okay.

QUESTION: As a matter of faith, can you just say how important the events here in Jerusalem are to you? You’re going to be seeing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Wailing Wall and so on. What does it mean to you?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, so I don’t know. I’ve been to Israel now a whole handful of times. I came here the first time as a private citizen, long before I entered Congress, brought my son here, because I wanted him to see this place that had a special meaning for the people of my faith of Christianity. We had a chance to see most of the main Christian sights and travel up north to the Sea of Galilee and see the Christian sights up there as well.

So each time I get a chance to come back and see the history and remind myself of the – of this place that you read about in the Bible, it’s of enormous value to me personally. It always reminds me of the spirituality that I hope informs many of the things that I do, trying to fulfill my mission to the Constitution and on behalf of America and President Trump.

MR PALLADINO: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you all very much.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR PALLADINO: The embargo is lifted.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. You all have a good day.

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Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

March 21, 2019

The below is attributable to Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino:

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met today with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. The Secretary and the President reaffirmed the close relationship between the United States and Israel, including the Administration’s unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself. The Secretary highlighted U.S. efforts to combat anti-Semitism wherever it manifests, including through the recent appointment of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Elan Carr. The Secretary and the President also discussed shared regional priorities, including countering the Iranian regime’s malign influence and expanding economic cooperation with Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus.

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External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Robert Palladino

Deputy Spokesperson

Washington, DC

March 21, 2019

The United States deeply values the contributions of Kazakhstan’s first President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in establishing and promoting enduring, dynamic relations between the United States and Kazakhstan. At this historic moment in Kazakhstan, we salute Nazarbayev’s role as the father of today’s modern, sovereign, and prosperous Kazakhstan, and acknowledge the example he sets for responsible regional and global leadership. We once again applaud his significant efforts in the nonproliferation sphere, his leadership in global denuclearization efforts, his exemplary commitment to the peaceful transition of power, and his contributions to peace and prosperity in Kazakhstan and the region.

Our relationship with Kazakhstan is based in our shared ideals of prosperity, respect for fundamental freedoms, and regional security. We congratulate Kazakhstan’s new President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev and look forward to continue working with him to deepen our enhanced strategic partnership and advance our longstanding mutual interests in economic development, trade and investment, and safeguarding regional and global security.

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External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Michael R. Pompeo

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

March 14, 2019

QUESTION: So let’s talk about Senator Dole. Who is Bob Dole to you?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Bob’s a friend and a legend and a true patriot, a truly great American. When you think about the arc of American history over the last, what, 50 years now, Senator Dole’s been at the front of a lot of it, whether it was his time in the service, whether it was his time in Congress, the work he’s done back in Kansas all have been for the benefit of Kansans and Americans. And so when I think of Bob, it brings a great joy to my heart. It also inspires me to try and do my job even better every day.

QUESTION: His endorsement of you at the Senate confirmation hearing for Secretary of State, he said, President “Trump is lucky to have Pompeo.” How important is you – is it to you to have him as an ally?

SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s been important in lots of ways. Personally, he and Elizabeth have both been great friends to Susan and me. We’ve known them for years and years. We – Susan worked on one of his early campaigns, too long ago now. Wouldn’t want to say how long ago. So we’ve known them for a while. We love and admire them. To have his support means an awful lot. It’s also the case that I see him and talk to him with some frequency. I ask him advice about things around the world. I ask his wisdom on the political situation on the ground. Bob will always tell me you need to get out to Wilson County and help someone. He still cares so deeply about Kansas. And so it also brings personal joy to me to get to work alongside such a legendary Kansan.

QUESTION: Yeah, I was going to ask you that, if you still get advice from him. What have you learned from him getting that advice? What kind of advice does he give?

SECRETARY POMPEO: This is a man of incredible deep honor and integrity, and frankly, I think that’s the most important thing. He’s been around this town in Washington, D.C., an awful long time, and one of the things he told me when I first came here now, goodness, almost a decade ago as a member of Congress was your reputation you get to do once. Always tell the truth. Always get it right. Always be nice. Be friendly. You can disagree, you can fight – there’s been no one who’s fought for the things he cared about more passionately than Senator Dole. But when that’s done, it’s time – it’s time to be a good Christian man, work hard, tell the truth. Mike, if you do those things, you – whenever it is you leave Washington, you’ll leave with something that’s really important: a reputation for the way that we know Kansans all want to be.

QUESTION: Speaking of his reputation, what do you think he’ll be known best for? Because he has a lot of political achievements. You’ve got the World War II Memorial, you’ve got so much. What do you think Kansans will remember him the most for?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, it’s a long list. The work that he did on the Americans with Disabilities Act was truly changing for lots of lives all around America and, indeed, all around the world. What I’ll probably remember most is the times I got to go down and see the veterans who came back to the World War II Memorial. I would go out and greet the honor flights and Senator Dole would often be there as well, and whoever was talking to me at the moment he arrived was no longer talking to me. (Laughter.) They wanted to see – they wanted to see Senator Dole. And I know how much he cared about that. I know how much he cared about those who fought and served on behalf of our nation in World War II. He did each of them honor, and the work that he did to make their lives better I think will be something that they remember forever and that I will too.

QUESTION: Kansans are sure proud of you, and they’re sure proud of Bob Dole. What do you think Bob Dole means to Kansas?

SECRETARY POMPEO: I don’t think you should use our names in the same sentence. This is an amazing man. He embodies the best of Kansas. As Susan and I think about what Kansas delivers for us every day, the values that we bring here, Bob was here long before me, working on these same things. He’s earnest, he’s witty, he’s funny, he works hard, he cares deeply about every single person and treats them with dignity and respect. Those are Kansas values that Bob brought here to Washington and they never left him.

QUESTION: He thinks the world of you. We were over there interviewing him and we told him who else we were speaking to. He could not say enough good things about you. He sees a lot for your future. What is it – how does it make you feel that someone like Bob Dole sees a great and bright, brilliant future for you?

SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s humbling. There’s a good story. When I was nominated to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, I called Senator Dole, and on the phone came both he and Elizabeth, and they were so happy.

QUESTION: You feel like their kid.

SECRETARY POMPEO: “It’s so great that we have a Kansan, and you’ll do a wonderful job, Mike. Tell me what I can do to help you.” I still had the confirmation battle yet ahead. “Tell me the things we can do to help. You’ll be great.” They were so kind, so generous, so willing to step out. This is a man who’s accomplished so much. They were still so willing to engage. It was enormously humbling and gave me confidence in what I was about to undertake.

QUESTION: Can you share some personal stories? Since you guys go back so far, with your wife working for him, is there anything that kind of comes to your memory when you think of Bob Dole and just him being a human being? Because for so many people, he’s up on there on that pedestal.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. Boy, the list is pretty long. I remember he called me – it’s not been too many years ago – I was a member of Congress. And he said, “Mike, I’m going to go to the state fair. I’m going to Hutch. I want you to come sit with me at the state fair. I’m going to shake a few hands in the way that I have done for decades,” and I – of course it was an honor, and we literally sat at the booth at the Kansas fair, and there were lines of hundreds of people, each of whom had their own story. Their mother had known him from a campaign, their grandma had seen him or known him, their cousin knew them from his days in Russell, Kansas. Every one of them wanted to thank him for his service.

And what I remember so much is Bob was always so humble. He was always – “I remember,” and he has a great memory. “I remember so and so, and he, she was fantastic, and these are the things that that person did for me. Please, please thank them.” It was something to really behold, to watch the lines of people from all across the state of Kansas want to just shake his hand and tell him a little part of their history with Bob Dole.

QUESTION: I talked to him in December when he saluted the casket of President George H.W. Bush, and that resonated throughout the country. I mean, that moment people were talking about, and I called him and I said, “Why did you do that?” And he said it just felt right, that moment where he stood up and did that. Part of the Greatest Generation, and we’re losing the Greatest Generation. His impact and his role in this country, in the state of Kansas – I don’t think you see that so much anymore.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, they don’t make them like Senator Dole very often. The work that he did – look, we all know the history. He and President Bush had their moments for sure, but this was a man who had profound respect for our country and for its leaders and for service to the nation. I think that’s what drove Senator Dole that day. He knew too that this was one of the last of the great American leaders from that generation in the same way that he is, and what you saw too was the respect for both of those individuals – certainly for the president, but for Senator Dole as well.

QUESTION: Moving forward and that advice that you get from Senator Dole still to this day, anything else you want to just continue to suck out of that guy? (Laughter.) Anything – any of that knowledge base that you still want to learn from him?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So many things. He still has lots of wisdom. One of the things he always does is he tells me when I get it wrong too.

QUESTION: He does?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Sure. “Mike, I think you got the wrong end of the stick on this one.”

QUESTION: And does he persuade you?

SECRETARY POMPEO: He makes his argument, right. He makes the case and he – he’s a keen observer, still to this day a keen observer of the American political movement, Kansas. He knows all of the tales. He’ll tell me, “Mike, oh, Smitty’s not doing too good out there.” He loves that – he’s passionate and he wants to make other people’s lives better. Even at this stage of his life, he’s still so committed to public service. And so I take heed when Senator Dole picks up the phone and says, “Hey, Mike, you ought to think about this one more time.”

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, we’re wrapping up here, so my last question for you. Anything else you want to add if you’re speaking directly to the senator and the impact he’s made on your life, your political career, and anything in the future?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Oh, goodness. If I was talking to Senator Dole directly, I’d just tell him I love him, that Susan and I admire him, appreciate him. We wish him all the best in the coming days, and we’d tell both he and Elizabeth how much we enjoy being around them and we are so thankful they’ve been part of our lives.

The Office of Website Management, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.