mr. lesser? >> chairman blumenthal, ranking member johnson and distinguished members of the subcommittee, i am the global chair of boston consulting group, or bcg. i joined bcg in 1988. i was chair for north and south america from 2009 through 2012 and ceo from 2013 through 2021. i appear before you today proud to represent bcg. all 33,000 colleagues across 50 countries and more than 100 offices, including 25 in the united states. we strive to take on the hardest problems and create enormous value for our clients while living our purpose and our values every day. our work in the public sector, including with governments and government owned entities is guided by a mission to improve the financial, economic and societal well-being of the countries in which we operate and for their citizens. in all our work, we apply consistent standards that dictate who we will work with and on what topics. bcg opened its first office in the kingdom of saudi arabia when i was ceo in 2015. our office there