East, in the public diplomacy section, have at least one individual who has a fluency speaking and reading in Arabic.

Mr. COSTA. Is that sufficient?

Mrs. WELCH. It is not sufficient, and we need to do a lot better. Part of the problem we are having with our Middle Eastern assignments, quite frankly, is many of our posts now have 1-year assignments because of the hardship situation. Arabic training is 2 years. So we have to pull people out of our assignment process

Mr. COSTA. So what are we doing to get these folks trained? Mrs. WELCH. We are putting increased emphasis on training and putting people into language training at the expense of filling a lot of our posts overseas because we pulled them out of the assignment cycle. It is absolutely a priority, and Under Secretary Hughes has made it a priority for us, that in each of our posts there is at least one person in the public diplomacy section with Arabic capability. Now, there are often people in the political section-the ambassador, the DCM-who have language proficiency as well, so we feel that helps us cover it.

Mr. COSTA. So do you have a strategy, a plan, in the next 6 months, the next 12 months, the next 18 months, in which you are going to ratchet up so that you can get the level of people proficiently trained in the language skills necessary to fill these positions at a level we should have them at? We have been here 4 years. I mean, this has been a priority for 20 years.

Mrs. WELCH. I think, in the Secretary's budget request, she asked for an additional, what she calls a "training float," an additional number of positions, so we have the flexibility to put people in language training for 2 years, in the case of Arabic, while we continue to cover all of our vacancies in the world. That would be our strategy.

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Chairman, I would like to suggest that we ask the Department to provide a response to the subcommittee as to what their timelines are for increasing the number of proficiency change with some timelines because, you know, moving people around

Mr. ACKERMAN. That is an appropriate request, if the panel would provide that, Mr. Curtin.

Mr. COSTA. And the last thing I appreciate your patience the GAO also we talk about strategy-indicated that after 4 years, the Department still lacked an interagency communication strategy, but now you are working on that. Can you give us a timeline as to when the communications strategy will, in fact, be completed? Mrs. WELCH. We expect Under Secretary Hughes will issue it this month. She intends to have a PCC, the Policy Coordinating Committee, meeting later this month, and we would be happy to share the strategy with you.

Mr. COSTA. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ACKERMAN. Thank you, Mr. Costa. Ms. Jackson Lee?

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and recognizing the time constraints, let me thank the witnesses and try to get yes-or-no questions.

Frankly, I believe that the intent has been good of the new Under Secretary. I think the results have been very poor. I do not, frankly, see any new face of America going forward, and I request

this information. I would like the ethnic breakdown of the State Department posted staff, meaning staff at Embassies around the world: African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and others.

The real question that I think we are going up against is, of course, the major policies of this country. There are posts where the only way that the Embassy can see the head of government, and I know that I have gone to those countries-is when Members of Congress or others go, and they go with them. That is how bad our relationships are.

So let me ask how quickly. I heard a question about when the strategic plan will come out, but how quickly are you going to get guidance to the overseas posts? How quickly are you going to get the message out to places-I will use an example-like Pakistan and like countries in the Middle East that we do more than war, that we do things like social services, the social help, micro-credits, et cetera? When are we going to put that face because I, frankly, think that we have lost a lot of ground, and I do not think we are making it up, and I do not think there have been any improvements. I am asking that quickly to

Mr. ACKERMAN. If the panel can be brief in their yes-no answer. Mrs. WELCH. Your question, ma'am, was, would the guidance be issued to posts? It will be issued when we issue the strategic plan. Ms. JACKSON LEE. Right. That is how long?

Mrs. WELCH. The end of this month.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me just go ahead and ask this question: What are you doing about people thinking all we do is war versus the humanitarian issues that we address?

Mrs. WELCH. I think that one of the things the Under Secretary emphasized, as you remember from her testimony, is emphasizing our "diplomacy of deeds," doing programs like micro-scholarship credits, English language education improvement, exchanges. We have active budget proposals for those and are very anxious to implement them, if the budgets are approved.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Anyone else quickly? I will just take one more answer. Anyone else?

Mrs. ROMANOWSKI. One of the ways in which we are addressing that is by forming public-private partnerships and reaching out to partner with the private sector in the United States to have them work with us overseas. Probably one that reaches to some of the themes is the work that we have done in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, et cetera, on breast cancer, and working with the Coleman Foundation and inspiring those in the Middle East to take that issue quite seriously, and that has been a private partnership, and there are many other examples which we can send to you. Mr. ACKERMAN. The chair wishes to thank

Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank the chairman very much.

Mr. ACKERMAN [continuing]. Thank the panel. You are dismissed with the thanks of the subcommittee. It proved to be a lot more interesting than some of the members thought at first, and we are going to anxiously await our return, which will take, my guess is 40 minutes, for the sake of planning, of those who have to remain here, in case you want to freshen up. The committee is recessed until the call of the chair.

[Whereupon, at 1 o'clock p.m. a recess was taken.]

Mr. ACKERMAN. The committee will resume. The chair will announce that there is a problem with the monitor. Everything else is back in working order, and we will proceed.

We turn to our second panel. Mr. Joaquin F. Blaya of Miami, Florida, is chairman of Blaya Media Inc. Mr. Blaya has held a number of senior management positions with media companies, including chairman of Radio Unica, a Spanish-language radio network; and CEO of the Telemundo Group, Inc., the nation's largest Spanish-language television network. Mr. Blaya also served as president of Univision Holdings, Inc., the nation's largest Spanishlanguage media company.

Mr. Jeffrey Hirschberg is a partner in Kalorama Partners, a consulting firm that deals with corporate governance and risk assessment. Mr. Hirschberg retired from Ernst & Young in 1999 as vice chairman, government affairs. Previously, he worked as a private attorney in both Washington, DC, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Mr. Blaya, I understand that you will be presenting testimony followed by some remarks from Mr. Hirschberg. Thank you. Without objection, your formal statements will be placed in the record, and you may proceed, Mr. Blaya.

STATEMENT OF MR. JOAQUIN F. BLAYA, BOARD MEMBER, BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Mr. BLAYA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee. We appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the programs of the Broadcasting Board of Governors as they relate to the Middle East and South Asia. You have also asked us to talk about our strategic goals and objectives, so I will begin with some remarks to illustrate our challenges and the tools and strategies we employ to address them.

My whole career has been devoted to private sector television. I am part of the team that built Univision, and I ran the company for many years. Univision is the largest Spanish-speaking company in America. I also was president and CEO of Telemundo, which is the second largest company and Univision's competitor. I also launched the first 24-hour news television network in Spanish for the Spanish world. I am pleased to bring this experience to the BBG.

International broadcasting is a critical means of reaching audiences around the world who do not have access to accurate, objective, and comprehensive information about the United States and the world. The BBG strategy has been to create credible new channels of communications, capable of reaching significant audiences in regions and countries critical to U.S. efforts to counter extremism.

Toward that goal, we have launched 24/7 radio and television channels for the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan, and we have boosted broadcasting in key countries, such as Indonesia and Pakistan, and, most recently, we initiated service for strife-torn Somalia and Sudan.

We have grown our global audiences from 100 million in 2001 to 140 million today. Almost all of that growth has come in countries with Muslim majority populations. In the Middle East and South Asia, the epicenter of the War on Terror, we now reach over 60 mil

lion people each and every week. In my formal testimony, I have outlined a number of important goals, objectives, and tools used by the BBG to carry out our mission of advancing freedom and democracy overseas.

In the interest of time, I will not go into all of those issues now. Instead, I will address the question that seems to be most on members' minds regarding certain broadcasts of the Alhurra Television Network that have caused consternation for this committee and for all of us in the BBG.

Last November, the board appointed a new vice president for news at Alhurra. Larry Register, a veteran television journalist, was selected by the board to replace Martha Card, who had requested reassignment to the Middle East for personal reasons. Mr. Register was directed by the board to increase Alhurra news output, and he has done so. Despite reports to the contrary, he has not changed Alhurra's editorial policy. That which was unacceptable in the first 3 years of Alhurra television broadcasting remains unacceptable today.

Unfortunately, mistakes were made during this transition period. Between November 2006 and February 2007, Alhurra aired a number of reports that lacked journalistic or academic merit. These were a very small fraction of the network's broadcasting output, but, nevertheless, they are unacceptable. It is intolerable to any of us, including Mr. Register, that existing internal controls were not sufficient to prevent this.

With these program errors standing as painful indicators of the need for additional controls, we are moving forward to shore up our management structure to better ensure journalistic accountability and professionalism in all programming.

As a result of these errors, Alhurra is expediting the establishment of enhanced editorial structures to centralize editorial control, and to ensure that programming adheres to the standards under which all BBG broadcasting entities operate.

A central assignment desk has been established to provide quality control and communicate more effectively on existing reports and plans for future coverage. The assignment desk instills a work flow that makes editors accountable for monitoring news items before and while they are delivered. It creates a central point of communications in the news room and links the news producers and the teams working in the field. Staffed by three assignment editors and a chief editor, this desk is the first line of editorial control for field coverage.

The vice president for news is also creating news teams to improve consistency of reporting and an enhanced sense of mission. Comprised of senior producer, producer, writers, associate producer, production assistants, and news presenters, these teams will increase cohesiveness and a common standard among the staff. They will also foster consistent evaluation and monitoring through the news staff.

Recruitment of key managerial positions and additional highly qualified journalists is ongoing. Positions have been filled that directly affect internal editorial controls. Mr. Register has appointed a chief editor of news and a senior coordinating producer to train

and monitor the staff. Both new hires are Western-trained journalists.

Staff training is an activity that will be ongoing and rigorous. The training plan for Alhurra to enhance the skills of our employees and the quality of our programming will be implemented by the end of the fiscal year through a series of mandatory workshops.

In addition, the BBG will contract for an objective, independent review of Alhurra programming to examine the journalistic integrity and adherence to the standards and principles of the U.S. International Broadcasting Act. Our expectation is that the study will be conducted by an impartial United States center of learning with specialty in Middle Eastern studies and the field of journalism, with particular focus_on_the_medium, environment, and practice of journalism in the Middle East. We have already commenced the process to do this.

The program segments at issue, while egregious, are examples of what we do not want to broadcast to the world and are not representative of our overall programming. They are anomalies in the thousands of hours of Alhurra's accurate, comprehensive, objective, and professional coverage. The staff at Alhurra, from top to bottom, are devoted to their broadcast mission and are anxious to work to restore confidence in all of its programming.

Many have left behind families, friends, and property to work with us, often at risk to themselves and their families. They have lost colleagues in this cause, and yet they remain dedicated to our mission. They should not be tarnished by the mistake of a few.

In my recent letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, I noted that the feedback I received from Israeli and Arab leaders, inside and outside of government, in my recent trip to the Middle East, I was told consistently that Alhurra is filling a void in the Middle East by providing accurate, objective information about America and by addressing issues absent on other Arab news stations, including free speech, human rights, women empowerment, and government accountability, all building blocks for freedom and democracy.

Alhurra is continuing to gain respect in the region and making a difference. The board is committed to Alhurra's achieving its important mission of allowing America to communicate directly to the people in the Middle East, and we look forward to working with you to ensure that the network is successful in accomplishing its mission.

After Jeff Hirschberg presents a few remarks, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have about international broadcasting. Thank you.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Blaya follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MR. JOAQUIN F. BLAYA, BOARD MEMBER, BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, we appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the programs of the Broadcasting Board of Governors as they relate to the Middle East and South Asia. You have also asked us to talk about our strategic goals and objectives, so I will begin with some remarks to illustrate our challenges and the tools and strategies we employ to address them.

Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the President and Congress called on all elements of our country's public diplomacy to do more to reach out and