During a House Armed Services Committee hearing held before the congressional recess, Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) questioned Military officials about the biggest threat to the Indo-Pacific Region.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The gentleman yields back, Chair now recognizes the gentlelady from New Hampshire, Ms. Goodlander.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today.
00:09Admiral, you are the commander of America's oldest and largest combatant command.
00:16I just want to begin by talking about the threats we face.
00:19Can you confirm for us what your current assessment is of the top threat to our national security
00:25that America currently faces in the Indo-Pacific region?
00:30Congresswoman, the People's Republic of China and their capabilities that they built within the People's Liberation Army
00:37are the biggest threat to the security, the freedom, and the well-being of the nation.
00:41Russia also has a sizable Pacific fleet with whom they are growing in their exercises with the PRC.
00:52I also acknowledge the threat of North Korea, which is significant and growing in cooperations
00:59with the others, and violent extremist groups as well.
01:04Thank you for that, Admiral, and thank you for your testimony on the importance of public shipyards in this country.
01:10My home state that I'm proud to represent of New Hampshire plays a central role in our maritime security,
01:16and protecting the livelihood of our shipyard workers is a top priority for me here in Congress.
01:23I want to ask you about China's growing aggression in the maritime domain.
01:30We just saw last month the threat that Chinese warships pose to our partner, Australia.
01:37How should we be thinking about China's growing naval capabilities,
01:41and who our most important partners and allies will be in addressing this line of threat?
01:47Well, thanks for affirming the role of Congresswoman.
01:50Thanks for affirming the role of public shipyards.
01:52My dear father was a shipyard worker at a shipyard that is no longer in commission.
01:56That's what he did for his life's work.
01:59So thank you for that.
02:00And Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is tops, absolutely tops.
02:04And we affirm that, and we benefit directly for that in Indo-PACOM.
02:08The People's Republic of China are building six combatants per year.
02:14They're actively building aircraft carriers, and they're getting better.
02:17They've embarked on a program of nuclear ballistic missile attack submarines.
02:24They're working on the next generation.
02:25They're working on nuclear-powered submarines in their Shang 3 series,
02:32and they're building at a high rate.
02:35But as we think about it, too, it's not just Navy on Navy,
02:40because when we say all domain, that is really the capability of the entire joint force
02:45to action that which is threatening us, and to do so in unison,
02:50to be affecting it cross-domain.
02:53So these rates of build are concerning,
02:57and we've got to pace that with the entire joint force,
03:01but that includes significantly increasing our shipmaking capability.
03:06Thank you for that.
03:08You've testified that America's network of allies and partners
03:13is our most significant asymmetric advantage in the Indo-Pacific region.
03:20We heard testimony yesterday about the importance of the role
03:24that our support for Ukraine has in deterring threats in Europe.
03:30Does our support for Ukraine deter threats in the Indo-Pacific region?
03:36Congresswoman, Russian failure and or Russian success
03:40has a direct bearing on the PRC's calculus,
03:44and they're watching very closely.
03:45So I want to ask more about how we strengthen our partners and allies.
03:53I agree with what has been said by many of my colleagues in this hearing.
03:57I'm very concerned about what impacts a global trade war
04:01against some of our most important allies in the region
04:03will have on our national security and our national defense.
04:06General, I want to ask you about South Korea.
04:09You testified just a few minutes ago
04:11that the South Korean system is working.
04:14It's in the midst of a constitutional crisis right now.
04:17What do you see?
04:18Why is that system working?
04:19What have been the most important checks in that system
04:22for the continuance of South Korea's democracy?
04:27Briefly, I will say simply that they read their rules.
04:31They understand the rule of law well.
04:34They also are following exactly what they said they were going to do.
04:38They were going to send things to a constitutional court.
04:41They were going to continue to move forward.
04:42What I would like to note is the stabilizing force
04:45that the military has been in that country,
04:48whether it be wildfires in the East
04:51or a training incident which affected a great portion of the population.
04:57The military has been able to do all the things
05:00that are necessary for that country
05:01to give time and space for their Constitution
05:04to do exactly what it said it was going to do.
05:06General, these times expire.
05:08Our share.