[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S807-S808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

  Mr. WICKER. Madam President, I rise this evening with a simple and 
sober message: The United States has entered a very dangerous period, a 
dangerous national security moment the likes of which we have not seen 
since the height of the Cold War. Although alarming, the moment is 
clarifying. The job of the Department of Defense and Congress is and 
always has been to provide for the common defense, as provided in the 
Constitution. We must stay focused on American military might and so 
prevent our adversaries from changing the course of our future.
  An American-led 21st century is a peaceful and prosperous century. 
That is not what a century led by the Chinese Communist Party would 
look like. It is no surprise the pariah states of Russia, Iran, and 
North Korea are growing closer to Beijing and to each other. A free 
world is actually something that threatens them.
  As the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, it is my hope 
that we will decide not just to compete in this dangerous era but that 
we win. To that end, I have identified three priorities: deterring 
conflicts, winning technological competitions, and investing in our 
military's personnel.
  First, deterring conflicts. In American history, one foreign and 
defense policy has succeeded above all others: a national policy of 
preparedness.
  President Washington said:

       To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means 
     of preserving peace.

  Theodore Roosevelt called it ``wielding a big stick.'' President 
Reagan called it ``peace through strength.'' Indeed, we ought to listen 
to those great captains of American purpose. We should rearm and 
strengthen the United States so no adversary dreams of acting against 
our interests.
  With that in mind, I want to start with Taiwan and Ukraine. Without a 
doubt, there is no greater challenge than deterring Xi Jingping from 
taking Taiwan. Failing to defend Taiwan would plunge the globe into an 
economic depression and end our hopes for an American-led century.
  To ensure that never happens, Congress should pursue four priorities 
with Taiwan this year.
  First, we should pressure the Biden administration to exercise the $1 
billion of drawdown authority we provided them in the Taiwan Enhanced 
Resilience Act last year.
  Second, we should match Taipei's growing investment in critical 
capabilities. I am disappointed that the Biden administration has once 
again failed to request foreign military financing money for Taiwan. 
Congress will have to act.
  Third, we should fix the foreign military sales backlog and pursue 
real reforms to the process. Right now, it takes us too long to get 
crucial weapons to our allies. For example, unless something changes, 
Taiwan will wait nearly a decade to get a recent order of Harpoons.
  Fourth, we should expand our work with allies and partners to help 
Taiwan defend itself with military and nonmilitary tools of power.
  Yet, when it comes to deterring conflicts in the Western Pacific, 
helping the Taiwanese defend themselves is only part of the puzzle. The 
U.S. military itself must also be ready.
  First, Congress and the Department of Defense should act this year to 
accelerate the most important short-term capabilities for our forces in 
a Western Pacific scenario. As in prior years, we will focus on a 
concise list of near-term joint capabilities, such as advanced naval 
mines, munitions, nonkinetic cyber and electronic warfare techniques, 
space capabilities, and a range of battle management software 
technologies related to the Joint All-Domain Command and Control 
effort.
  Second, we should accelerate the innovative work in the Army and 
Marine Corps to reestablish their presence in the first island chain 
and expand our alliance partnership networks. Specifically, I look 
forward to continuing the committee's focus on the Pacific Deterrence 
Initiative. This initiative seeks to enhance our basing and logistics 
infrastructure west of the international dateline.
  Third, we should focus on our munitions industrial base this year. 
Congress and the Department of Defense will expand the efforts in the 
Reed-Inhofe amendment, which has actually cut bureaucratic redtape and 
has pushed the Pentagon to sign multiyear contracts for 17 different 
munitions. We must promptly provide the industrial base with resources 
to expand production of key munitions, such as the Long Range Anti-Ship 
Missile and Standard Missile-6.
  Fourth, we must tackle structural supply chain and workforce issues 
that hamper our munitions production. These activities are key to 
expanding our magazine depth, and they will significantly add to 
deterring China.
  Even as we seek deterrence in the Western Pacific, we note that 
deterrence did not work in Ukraine. Our goal now should be to maximize 
U.S. interests through Ukrainian victory and deter further Russian 
aggression, including against our NATO and our non-NATO allies.
  I will continue to focus on providing the Ukrainians with everything 
they need to achieve battlefield gains faster and hasten Ukraine's 
victory. As General Kellogg testified to our committee 2 weeks ago, 
Beijing is watching our actions in Ukraine. They are weighing whether 
to join the fray in this conflict.

[[Page S808]]

  That brings me to my second priority: investing in our 
competitiveness. While our fundamentals remain strong here in America, 
the Chinese are outcompeting us in multiple arenas. The Chinese are 
running the so-called 100-year marathon. To them, victory in that race 
means toppling American global leadership. We need to make the long-
term investments to compete in the coming decades in this marathon. The 
Chinese Communist Party is working overtime to achieve what they call 
``the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation'' by 2049. Their goal is 
to be the global center of economic, political, and military power.
  China has pulled off the fastest military buildup in history, and 
they are still building. Beijing has achieved real growth in its 
defense budget every year for two straight decades--every year for two 
straight decades. It is quite likely they already spend more than we 
do, particularly if we count only our China-focused military spending. 
These investments are paying off for Xi Jingping.
  Quite honestly, in many areas of warfare, China's military already 
exhibits greater quantity and sophistication than our own. I am 
particularly concerned about the rapid advancement of the Chinese navy 
compared to ours. The Secretary of the Navy recently shared a troubling 
fact: In one shipyard alone, the Chinese now boast more productive 
capacity than in every American shipyard combined.
  I had the privilege of leading Congress to pass the SHIPS Act, which 
requires the Navy, in statute, to achieve a 355-ship fleet as soon as 
practicable. Unfortunately, the Biden administration has shirked its 
responsibility to enforce this statute and to maintain American naval 
superiority.

  The administration has repeatedly sent Congress requests to actually 
shrink the fleet. This is unacceptable. It should be unacceptable on 
both sides of the aisle.
  Thankfully, we took important steps in last year's National Defense 
Authorization Act to prevent the Navy from retiring 12 ships. We now 
need to make sure the Navy's battle force inventory grows each year 
instead of shrinking. I will push to make sure we build three 
destroyers per year, maximize the production of amphibious ships, and 
restore a healthy submarine industrial base.
  For centuries, naval power has been the cornerstone of American 
defense policy. When we defeated the Axis Powers in World War II, our 
victory took place just as much in the steam and sweat of our shipyards 
as it did on the shores of Normandy or Iwo Jima. It validated George 
Washington's words from a century and a half earlier when he said, 
``Without a decisive naval force, we can do nothing definitive.'' So 
let's do the most definitive thing we can: make a monumental investment 
in American command of the seas.
  It is also critical that we revitalize our capabilities in the air 
and in space. In many ways, our challenges in aircraft production 
mirror those of our shipbuilders: Years of anemic budgets have created 
a brittle industrial base. We need to expand our orders of tactical 
fighter aircraft above 72 per year to get our combat air forces 
healthy. We need similar actions in tankers and other aircraft. We 
cannot continue to buy fewer aircraft every year while our older 
aircraft costs more to maintain. This is a death spiral. The same 
problems hold for our nuclear weapons production infrastructure, which 
my predecessor, Senator Inhofe--along with Senators Fischer, King, and 
others--has worked for years to rectify.
  Our defense industrial base should focus less on efficiency and more 
on effectiveness. Again, it is helpful to look back to World War II to 
understand what I mean. In the beginning of 1942, the Nazi war machine 
controlled all of Western Europe. Japan's empire spanned from the 
borders of India to our smoldering fleet in Pearl Harbor. The forces of 
liberty were not on the march but on the defense. It took what one 
author called ``freedom's forge,'' or American industrial capacity, to 
defeat evil. We need to unleash our forge of freedom again--complete 
with all the 21st-century technologies that make it superior. Pentagon 
bureaucracy cannot keep getting in the way of this goal.
  To that effect, we must also focus on improving the Department of 
Defense's ability to develop, integrate, and purchase innovative 
technology at scale. It is time for a culture shift at the Pentagon and 
here in Congress, one that prioritizes speed and effectiveness over 
compliance and efficiency. We may have to assume a bit more risk 
together, but we can and must accelerate innovation--accelerate 
innovation--while also improving oversight if we have the right tools.
  We will win by deterring conflict, by winning the tech race, and 
thirdly and finally, by investing in our military personnel. We have 
long had cutting-edge technology, but our secret weapon has always been 
our people.
  As a veteran myself, I know how important it is to attract the best 
personnel to serve our country in uniform. Unfortunately, we find 
ourselves in the worst military recruiting shortfall in 50 years. The 
injection of a hyperpolitical culture into our fighting forces I think 
takes a sledgehammer to military readiness and recruiting. I think it 
is part of the problem with our recruiting.
  I will partner with any Member of Congress to expand the population 
of Americans eligible for military service. I will also promote 
solutions in this Congress, including increased support for Junior ROTC 
and ROTC programs and expanded incentives for servicemembers. As we 
recruit, we must never lose sight of our current troops. We will 
continue to care for servicemembers and their families.
  All this will take hard work, new ways of thinking, and new 
partnerships between Congress and the executive branch. It will also 
require additional funding.
  We must achieve continued real growth in the defense budget. 
Significant real growth is absolutely required to strengthen deterrence 
against the Chinese Communist Party to an acceptable risk. Any 
additional investments in our national defense should have the best 
return possible, and we should innovate in new ways that will result in 
real savings to the taxpayers over the long run.
  In conclusion, the challenges we face are significant. Our 
adversaries are testing us every day, and we cannot afford to make 
mistakes in our defense policy or to try to do defense policy on the 
cheap. Legendary columnist the late Charles Krauthammer reminded us 
often that ``decline is a choice.'' But I am confident we can choose to 
pass this generational test of American resolve if we work together in 
the spirit that has so long defined the work of this Congress and the 
Armed Services Committee.
  To my colleagues on the committee and across this Chamber, I say: 
Let's get to work.
  I yield the floor.

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