Remarks By Secretary Mattis at an enhanced honor cordon welcoming Qatar Minister of State for Defense Affairs Al-Attiyah to the Pentagon

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JAMES N. MATTIS:  Well Minister, Ambassador, members of the delegation, welcome back to Washington.  You brought perfect weather.  We've come to expect this from you, so that I'm sure in the future you'll bring the same perfect weather like you did last time, as well.

But it's a pleasure to host you after meeting with the Emir Tammim last week and engaging with you and Minister Al Thani at January's US-Qatar  Strategic Dialogue.  We thought that was a very successful discussion that was hosted by the U.S. Department of State.

I'm glad that you could join us after your stop in San Diego to see the first Qatari officer graduate from our Navy BUDS course.  It's a very demanding course, it's a legend around the U.S. military.  So your officer did very well.  Also, congratulations are in order for your upcoming induction into our Air University International Honor Roll.

I would just say that both of these events do serve to reinforce our nation's enduring military relationship and partnership.  As I highlighted during our meeting with your Emir last week, the U.S. thanks Qatar for its longstanding support of America's commitment to regional security.

To include information sharing and counter-terrorism efforts.  Your nation's continued generous hospitality in Al Udeid Air Base helps to maintain this commitment’s credibility by providing a home for U.S. Combined Air Operations Center and headquarters for U.S. Central Command Forward.

Minister, to borrow your word, the base helps to keep our birds flying, providing crucial support for the fight against ISIS and the NATO mission in Afghanistan.  And as a fighter pilot once yourself, I know you have a unique appreciation for the opportunity this base provides for enhancing our military to military cooperation.

Today, we reemphasize the U.S. appreciation for Qatar's significant investment in the Combined Air Operations Center and your offer to expand critical facilities at the base, thank you very much.  We must continue to work together to ensure a secure and stable Middle East.

As we confront terrorist threats and counter the spread of Iran's maligned influence around the region.  So today I look forward to reinforcing a lasting U.S. Qatar security relationship, one that will continue to bolster our efforts against our common security threats.

But Minister again, you're most welcome here.  Thank you for making time.

MINISTER OF STATE FOR DEFENSE AFFAIRS DR. KHALID BIN MOHAMMED AL-ATTIYAH:  Thank you, sir.  Mr. Secretary, dear colleagues, I would like to thank you again for this meeting.  This is -- I appreciate our relation and I am so proud that during my time, we managed to lift this relations.

As you say, yesterday I witnessed the first BUDS graduate from Qatar and we were very proud, having our young generation going through these type of courses.  And again, I am here with my colleagues today to respect and to show the solidarity and to show the -- the vision that His Highness the Emir have set for us to strengthen the strategic relation with our colleagues and the strategic ally of the United States.

So thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.  It's good to see you again.

SEC. MATTIS:  Absolutely.  You and your officers are always welcome here.  Now ladies and gentlemen, if the press will excuse us, we'll get down to work.  Thank you very much for coming up.

Q:  Mr. Secretary, could you just speak to Mr. Pompeo's visit to North Korea?  What did the U.S. learn from it and what will be -- what will happen going forward?

SEC. MATTIS:  Yeah, I'd prefer you speak to Mr. Pompeo and the White House about that, since those are the leading people on our negotiations right now.

Q:  Can you tell us if you are concerned that after the OPCW's been blocked from getting into Douma that it is too late to learn precisely what kind of chemical nerve agents the residents of Syria may have been exposed to?

SEC. MATTIS:  We're very much aware of the delay that the regime imposed on that -- on that delegation.  But we are also very much aware of how they have operated in the past to seal what they have done using chemical weapons.

In other words, using the pause after a strike like that to try to clean up the evidence before the investigating team gets in.  So it was unfortunate they were delayed.  But thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, good to have you here.

Q:  Quickly. Lastly, any comment on the New York Times story today about concerns of notifying Congress beforehand or objections?

  SEC. MATTIS: I have no idea where that story came from. I found nothing in it that I could recall from my own last week’s activities.