Michael Richard Pompeo

“ Indeed, that’s the whole point of President Trump’s trade talks.
At the same time, we need to make sure that our companies don’t do deals that strengthen a competitor’s military or tighten the regime’s grip of repression in parts of that country. We need to make sure American technology doesn’t power a truly Orwellian surveillance state. We need to make sure American principles aren’t sacrificed for prosperity.
So ask yourselves just a few questions: Who am I dealing with? What’s the true risk-return calculus to doing business in China? ”

“ The one that’s not good is, I must say, as I travel the world, the absolute level of corruption around the world in so many countries. We take for granted that in America it’s just not like that – you do a deal, we have a court system, we have the rule of law; it works. In so many places, that simply doesn’t exist. You have corruption at levels that are difficult to even see one’s way through. ”

“ Last year, a friend, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dunford, said as following in testimony before the United States Senate. He said, “The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military.”
Look, the commercial decisions are yours to make. You’ve got shareholders for which you hold – which hold you accountable, and boards of directors to which you have fiduciary obligations. And I know. I know your job is to make money for your shareholders. The Trump administration is all for it. Invent new things. Change the world. ”

“ He knows that economic security is, in fact, at the core of my mission set: to provide national security, to protect each and every one of you.
And we’ve put export controls on parts that go into the CCP’s nationwide surveillance machine. We’ve applied much greater scrutiny to technology exports that could have military use. We’ve dramatically reduced the nuclear technology we share with China, even for nominally peaceful purposes.
Our government agencies are cooperating in new ways to stop the Chinese military from using our own innovation against us. ”

“ But defending freedom and national security isn’t just the government’s job; it’s one for each and every and citizen. I know you’ll all be part of that. You’re a natural fit. There’s hardly a community in the world that prioritizes environmental, social, and governance principles more than does Silicon Valley. ”

“ We have wonderful questions from our Commonwealth Club/Silicon Valley Leadership Group audience, and since we’re both proud Italian Americans whose grandparents came here at the turn of the last century, let’s start with that: immigration.
Silicon Valley was built in large part through the brains and on the backs of immigrants who came to this country, risked all, worked in American companies or started their own. What do you view as the administration’s role moving forward to ensure that the U.S. remains an attractive place for attracting the top talent from around the world? ”

“ And so the work that’s done here, the work that’s done by entrepreneurs succeeding and failing and growing and putting enormous sums of capital at risk, create true power for me as America’s most senior diplomat. ”

“ It’s central to what we do. It’s not about nation building. It’s about reminding the world about the greatness of our founders, of our Constitution, and what it means for every human being to have dignity by – just by the nature of their humanness. ”

“ So we continue to be in conversation with them about convincing them that it is in the North Koreans’ best interest to deliver on the commitment that Chairman Kim made now, goodness, 18 months ago in June of 2018. It’s been slow. It’s been two steps forward and a step or two back. I still remain hopeful that North Korea will make the right decision, not – certainly the right decision for the world, but the right decision for the North Korean people as well.
The weapons systems that they have do pose a real risk. America doesn’t pose a security risk to the North Koreans. ”

“ We don’t get it right every day by any stretch of the imagination, collectively, but the effort and the risk that they take – you saw this just this past couple of weeks in Baghdad, where there were many of the folks who work directly for me who were at real risk in not only the embassy in Baghdad but embassies throughout the region. They were prepared to leave their families, go into hardship places, take real risks for themselves – all for the purpose of working to deliver America’s message, America’s diplomatic message, so that we can be a force for good in the world. ”

“ So many of you are on the front lines not only in protecting information for our private industry but assisting the United States Government in making sure that we’re thoughtful and capable in defending American national security networks as well, governmental networks. ”

“ And so when you see people marching at Qasem Soleimani’s funeral, it is unlikely to be the case that a gentleman who had killed so many of their brothers and sisters would be someone that they would admire and love. ”

“ How’s your enforcement system for property rights? Do your universities begin to match the task? Can you create the human conditions for the growth of human capital?” And if you have corruption, that almost never exists. ”

“ There are still several hundred million people in China that need to be lifted out of poverty. America should be a part of that, but we’ve got to do so in a way that fundamentally treats American businesses the same way in China that Chinese businesses are treating here – treated here in the United States. ”

“ There are attacks taking place that are a direct result of personal animosity and not based on what indeed is best for America. I hope, as I perform my function around the world trying to deliver American diplomacy around the world, that I’m not part of that, that I’m doing my level best every day to represent President Trump and this administration. The American people gave us a mission set, gave the President a mandate. ”

“ The good news is – and I am thankful and I want to thank folks in this room – many in private industry have expended enormous resources to ensure that these networks are protected. We’ve done real good work. Since I came into Congress back in 2011, I’ve watched us become more nimble, more capable, at defending our financial infrastructure, our energy infrastructure – these things that pose real costs if we get it wrong. ”

“ The answer is you’re sitting in an authoritarian space and the resources of the state are dedicated to putting people in the streets. In the moments that followed, in the days that have followed, you’ve watched – you’ve watched the Iranian people take to the streets with a very different message, and they have done so at enormous personal risk. ”

“ Americans will come up to us, and it always reminds me and it heartens me, because it gives me the courage to try my best every day to deliver and to know that there is a group of people out there who are going to be supportive of the things we do, not on a partisan basis but as a nation. ”

“ Woe be it to the leaders who just simply think that it’s Russia that’s trying to have an impact on our elections. There are many actors who are actively involved trying to figure out how they can impact America’s elections, how they can exert influence, how they can mess with our system. ”

“ It makes – it makes it harder, as someone who ran the Central Intelligence Agency for 18 months; if it’s not done properly, the close information-sharing relationships we have with these countries are potentially at risk. We will never permit U.S. sensitive information to transit across a network that we knowingly believe is not a trusted network, and this technology, for all of its glory – indeed, some of the things that make it so special – create those very risks in spades.
MR GUARDINO: Secretary Pompeo, let’s pull back just a little bit to the overall role of the State Department. ”

“ It’s always easier to play offense than defense, and so some of the things that were put in place in 2016 and ’17 to harden energy infrastructure and water and waste treatment systems probably need to be looked at even again. ”

“ I think they understand when their government is treating them improperly and treating them unfairly, they can’t always find a path forward; but over time – and frankly, with the encouragement of European countries and Asian countries, and as you’ve seen the President tweeting these past couple of days with the support of the United States of America saying that we will be with you, we’ll do the things that will help you, we can create better outcomes for those people as well. ”

“ You should all know that freedom underpins every bit of this great work: the freedom to think and communicate what each of us wants; the freedom to innovate and protect your own property, your inventions ”

“ Examples include GPS, touchscreen technology, and the internet. Yet many countries proportionally invest more in their own R&D than the U.S. What is the administration’s view on funding medical and technology R&D, and what can we – what can be done to ensure the U.S. does not suffer an innovation deficit?”
SECRETARY POMPEO: So there is a role in basic technology and basic research that is best performed with government dollars. There are multiple ways one can approach that. ”

“ It’s a powerful team, a big team. If we get it right, a lot fewer of our boys and girls will have to ever go into armed conflict, which creates enormous risk and has enormous cost. I take that on board every morning with my counterparts at the Secretary of Defense, knowing that if we do our job at the State Department, we can save an awful lot of American military lives.
MR GUARDINO: Wonderful. And Mr. Secretary, if I may just say, working with your team these past three weeks in preparation of today, they’re an outstanding group of American citizens.
SECRETARY POMPEO: That’s very kind. ”

“ You can try and create big, highly-centralized bureaucracies to do it, or you can allocate capital based on projects as best you see. I always am an advocate for making sure that those who have the right incentives do it best. ”

“ There are grants and assistance that are provided to small communities, to cities both rural and urban, to help them at least identify their needs. Often it’s the case that those cities are responsible for executing the plan themselves. ”

“ It’s why some of these countries – very difficult for you all to invest in them because there’s no way that you can ensure that you will have the opportunity to invest in a clean fashion, in a way that’s consistent with both U.S. law and good governance side of your companies. ”

“ We’ve tried to deliver on that every day. And I hope that everyone, from wherever they come, whatever part of America they come from, whatever party that they belong to, that they’ll be part of that, too. ”

“ If we have a good, lively discussion about policy – how we get it right, what the attendant risks are when we don’t – those are valuable conversations that I try to take on board and I tell my team at every level to take on board as well. ”

“ The other thing that I shouldn’t have been surprised but I have been surprised by in my three years is the enormous decency that I find throughout America. There are a lot of people who don’t think Mike Pompeo is very whippy from a policy perspective ”

“ I don’t think a lick for the way you’re thinking about the world, but I appreciate what you’re doing trying to make a better place and appreciate that.” We’ve seen that as we’ve traveled around the world. ”

“ We spend a lot of time at the State Department trying to figure out how to take that level of corruption down, to reduce it. We have leaders all the time say, “Mike, we want more American investment in our country.” ”

“ And too, protecting America’s innovating – innovative capacity is at the center of what we’re trying to do in these talks. We’ll do our part in the government and we’ll keep ramping up our enforcement. ”

“ I’ve seen different counts – is between one and a quarter and one and three-quarters percent of GDP that’s spent on basic research. There are a handful of countries that spend more on a percentage basis, but very few that spend as much on a dollar basis. ”