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Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSS. It is my pleasure to showcase just a few statistics about our program this year that highlight the diversity of the Congressional Study Groups' programming.

In the past year, the study groups have led five study tours for Members of Congress and their senior staff. They have engaged over 500 unique attendees across all study group events. They have held over 30 study group events on issues ranging from global security to trade relations. They have elevated this programming with new undertakings, including a series of roundtables with Members of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and a retreat for the chiefs of staff and leading experts on the Indo-Pacific in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the University of Virginia.

FMC study tours have provided the opportunity for Members and staff to hear directly from our friends in Berlin, Tokyo, and Seoul about the challenges faced by everyday citizens and our closest allied nations. These visits go beyond brief exchanges with policy experts, with each study tour thoughtfully designed to incorporate disparate voices and travel outside the capital city of each respective designation.

In addition to Berlin, Tokyo, and Seoul, 2024 saw visits to Busan, Okinawa, Kobe, Mainz, and Dusseldorf. By reaching beyond political and financial hubs, the tours engage in a diverse range of voices and underscore the breadth of our bilateral relationships.

Delegations have met with student groups, media representatives, and cultural and historical experts, which offer a comprehensive and representative perspective on the connections between these Nations and the United States.

In the spirit of furthering this dialogue among our friends and allies, FMC is proud to count 29 United States Ambassadors stationed in Washington as members of our Diplomatic Advisory Council. Each Ambassador is an active and engaged participant in our programming. The Ambassadors from Belgium, Singapore, the Philippines, Sweden, the European Union, the Republic of Korea, and Japan have hosted over 30 individual Members of Congress for our series of programs this year.

Our work would not be possible without the support of our many, many partners. For example, FMC's Business Advisory Council list is impressive and long. I will not take the time to go through it, but I will take the liberty of submitting their names for the record.

I now invite the gentlewoman from Illinois, Cheri Bustos, for her remarks.

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