President’s Hall, Malacañan Palace
8 August 2014

President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomed the delegates from the United States Congress, headed by U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg, to discuss appropriation strategies for local and international defense along with other world economic issues.

The delegates from the U.S. Congress consisted of the following representatives: Senator Ronald Wyden (Democrat – Oregon), member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; Senator Robert Corker (Republican – Tennessee), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Vice Chairman of House Appropriations Committee – Defense (HAC – D); Rep. Kay Granger (Republican – Texas) and other members of HAC – D, including Rep. Ken Calvert (Republican – California) and Rep. Jim Moran (Democrat – Virginia).

Present during the courtesy call were Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General and Socio-Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

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