AMBASSADOR POLASCHIK: Mr. Secretary, thank you for joining us today. We all know how much you have on your plate, and it says a lot about your commitment to the workforce that you made time for us today. I'd also like to give a very special welcome to Representative Yong Kim, member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as a strong supporter FSI; Deputy Secretary Verma; Under Secretary Bass; National Defense University Plehn - sorry, National Defense University General Plehn, president; several former FSI directors, including the indomitable Ambassador Ruth Davis, who inspires all of us every day. (Applause.)
And all of FSI's many partners and friends, thank you for joining us. It is deeply appropriate that we're dedicating Building B this month, as October marks the 30th anniversary of the formal opening of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center. And Building B represents the completion of Secretary of State Schultz's vision for this campus.
Like so many things in life, it took a village to create this state-of-the-art building. More accurately, it took a series of visionary State Department leaders and FSI directors to develop a concept, partner with Congress to fund it, and make this happen. Former Under Secretary of State for Management Pat Kennedy, who's here with us today, was the godfather of this project - (laughter and applause) - while past successors Brian Bulatao, Carol Perez, also with us today, and John Bass, also with us today, oversaw the launch and completion of Building B.
The State Department's Director of Budget and Planning Doug Pitkin was there every step of the way, ensuring we have the necessary resources. And a series of FSI directors dreamed up the possibilities for this building and rallied State Department leadership around the vision. Nancy McEldowney, Marc Ostfield - and most importantly, Dan Smith and Julieta Valls Noyes, who really started this, so Dan and Julieta, if you're here, thank you. (Applause.)
And very special thanks go to the Bureau of Administration, led by Assistant Secretary Alaina Teplitz, for their partnership in this endeavor. (Applause.) Not only did the A Bureau design and manage the construction of this stunning building, but they also secured the transfer of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center from the General Services Administration to the Department of State. And that might sound like a very complex bureaucratic endeavor, and I think, Mr. Secretary, Alaina can tell you that it was. (Laughter.)
And it was also a very big win for the State Department and for taxpayers, because this streamlined the processes and costs related to construction on the property. And that makes it so much easier for us to make the changes necessary to keep FSI at the cutting edge and focus on delivering world-class training to more than 70,000 foreign affairs professionals every year.
It's now my great privilege and honor to introduce our keynote speaker, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. As you all know, Secretary Blinken has a long history of public service, with multiple prior roles in the legislative and executive branches, including here in the department as deputy secretary of state. And as the Secretary always emphasizes to our new-hire classes, he began his career, as so many of us do, in a former junior role as a special assistant.
