Rep. Gallagher: I fear we're sleepwalking into a conflict that would be horrific. скачать в хорошем качестве

Rep. Gallagher: I fear we're sleepwalking into a conflict that would be horrific.

On March 20, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, participated in the full committee hearing titled, "U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific Region," to assess the threats to U.S. national security in the region and evaluate the effectiveness of the Department of Defense's use of the resources provided by Congress. During the hearing, Admiral Aquilino affirmed the need for legislation to address significant issue in the defense appropriations and contracting processes that has resulted in $125 billion in previously appropriated funds leaving the Department of Defense over the last decade instead of supplying our military. Last year, Rep. Gallagher introduced the Funding Pacific Readiness and Enhancing Stockpiles (FIRES) Act, which would solve this problem by rerouting canceling funds into a new account, the FIRES Fund, preventing their cancelation and extending their period of availability by 10 years. Read highlights of the exchange between Rep. Gallagher and Admiral Aquilino below. Rep. Gallagher: Is it correct that the President's budget includes barely half, or 58%, of the capabilities and priorities that you list as critical in your CZ initiative report? Adm. Aquilino: Congressman Gallagher, we've identified a requirement of 26.5, of which there's an $11 billion shortfall. Rep. Gallagher: So the total costs of where we're short is about $11 billion? Adm. Aquilino: Yes, sir. Rep. Gallagher: And can you explain to this committee and the American people the consequence of failing to find that funding, which includes money for things like defending Guam and the joint fires network? Adm. Aquilino: Yeah, I think I would define it in the form of time, Congressman. So this intent to emergency and to move faster, any delays in those fundings or reduced fundings push everything out. And then those capabilities we've asked for deliver not in a relevant time or in a time where they don't deliver the deterrent effect soon enough. Rep. Gallagher: So the $11 billion is important to find. Do you know how much expired funding was canceled from the Defense Department last year and returned to the Treasury, where it sits in abeyance for five years and then evaporates? Adm. Aquilino: You know, I don't have that number sir. Rep. Gallagher: The answer is $11 billion, which is the amount of money you need for your critical priorities list. Not only do we fail to take advantage of money that was appropriated, that we could have rerouted for our priority theater, the Indo Pacific, to give you the resources you need to prevent World War Three, the department was actively working against a legislative effort to give DoD the flexibility to reroute that money. I would hope going forward, we would find a way to take advantage of that money for our most critical priorities, particularly stockpiling critical munitions and surging it west of the International Dateline before it's too late. By some estimates, we've lost $125 billion over the last decade, which is unacceptable. And I fear we're sleepwalking into a conflict that would be horrific. // Subscribe to Rep. Gallagher's Channel!    / @mikegallagher3103   Subscribe to Rep. Gallagher's Newsletter! https://gallagher.house.gov/contact/n... Congressman Mike Gallagher has represented Wisconsin’s 8th District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017. Mike was born and raised in Green Bay, where he now lives with his wife Anne and two daughters. Mike served for seven years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, including two deployments to Iraq. Mike also served as the lead Republican staffer for the Middle East and Counterterrorism on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and worked in the private sector at an energy and supply chain management company in Green Bay. Mike currently serves as Chairman of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, as Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, and on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. From 2019-2021 he served as Co-Chairman of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. For more information visit: https://gallagher.house.gov Follow Rep. Gallagher on Twitter:   / repgallagher   Follow Rep. Gallagher on Facebook:   / repmikegallagher   Follow Rep. Gallagher on Instagram:   / repgallagher