During a House Armed Services Committee hearing held before the Congressional recess, Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS) questioned Military officials about President Biden's assistance to Ukraine.
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00:00I recognize a gentleman from Mississippi. My guess is no. Mr. Kelly. It's unfortunate that this committee, which has always been bipartisan, this is a ways and mean tariffs and those things, but I'm going to address some.
00:12Is being a weak and feckless leader, does that make you more respected by your allies and partners? And I won't, I don't expect an answer, but I can tell you we lived through four years of a weak and feckless and non-existent leader.
00:29And I'm trying to remember whether or not Russia invaded Ukraine under President Trump or whether he invaded under a weak and feckless Biden.
00:40I'm trying to remember over the last four years whether China has become more aggressive or less aggressive.
00:46And I know for a fact that they've become more aggressive because weakness invites bullies to attack.
00:53I'll talk about tariffs just a little bit is appeasement, giving everyone everything that they want at your expense.
01:05That is not a partnership. That is not a partnership.
01:10I'm reminded in 2017 when President Trump said NATO needs to pay their 2% fair share.
01:18And I remember the same kind of reactions across the aisle.
01:22Oh my God, how dare we ask our allies. They're going to hate us. They're going to get away.
01:27But if you, if you look back now, they have increased their ability to defend themselves and to help us defend them in NATO.
01:35I will tell you that tariffs being taken advantage of is not how we become strong leaders in the community.
01:44Giving your kids everything they want is not good parenting.
01:48It is not about likability. It is about respect.
01:53And so with that said, Admiral Papara, in the Indo-PACOM, is arguably the most consequential theater of this century.
02:02Specifically as it pertains to fuel, both in the air and on the sea, are there gaps or are there things that we can do
02:10as far as air and sea in fuel delivery?
02:15Yes, sir. There are gaps in defense fueling support points.
02:19Those are those locations where aircraft and or ships would load fuel and distribute fuel.
02:26There are shortfalls in our tanker fleet and keeping enough fuel in the case of a contingency.
02:32And there are gaps in the combat logistics force in order to sustain the force.
02:36And I'd like to work with the committee to identify those gaps.
02:41And Admiral Papara, we've talked about USAID, but another strength that we have is our state partnership program
02:48where our National Guards partner with allies and partners.
02:52In the Indo-Pacific, are there any of those that are valuable or are there places where we need new ones?
02:57Every one is highly valuable, sir, and indispensable to our capability.
03:02They build long-lasting relationships and the continuity of the training that we execute.
03:10I will tell you, there are no gaps partner to partner just because of the good faith of the state partners
03:19and the good faith of the National Guard Bureau that assigns those.
03:23But there's always room for improvement everywhere.
03:27Because we can never be satisfied with good enough.
03:30We must always strive for excellence.
03:33And I want to address just a little bit because I also sit on the House Select Committee on Intelligence.
03:39And the signal chat, while ill-advised, and I'll be the first to say that,
03:45there's no indication that any classified real-time information about strikes that are not specific in the location,
03:51that would not be top-secret information, would it?
03:53If it doesn't disclose location, time, systems, that would not be top-secret unless it disclosed beforehand sources or methods
04:02or direct specific things that could be used.
04:06Is that correct to Admiral Paparo and General Brunson?
04:09Agreed, sir.
04:09Yes, sir.
04:12And, Mr. Noe, you've had a lot of hard questions, and I hate to put y'all – listen, y'all are the secretary –
04:19y'all work for the Department of Defense, not the Department of Commerce or for the Ways and Means Committee and tariffs.
04:26But I want to ask you, relationships, Mr. Noe, when we're looking for strength of partnerships and alliances,
04:31are we looking at someone who just takes everything we give them and gets mad when we want something back?
04:37Are we looking for mutually beneficial relationships with nations where we both can be more successful?
04:45Absolutely. Mutually beneficial relationships, Congressman.
04:48And do you agree, under the Trump administration, the last time and this time also, that he is striving to build relationships
04:56that are duly – help both sides, not just one side of the equation, their side?
05:02Absolutely, Congressman.
05:03Okay. With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.