Transcripts For CSPAN3 Secretaries 20240706

Appropriations committee will please come to order. We are here today to discuss the u. S. China relationship and the investments that we need to keep our nations secure, competitive, strong, and maintain our leadership on the world stage. Let me make clear, from the outset, when we talk about competing against china, and countering chinese influence, we are talking about competing against its government, not the Chinese People or the millions of Chinese Americans who helped make our country great. I am great secretary austin, blinken, and raimondo here to discuss the all of government approach that we need to meet this challenge. This is our first full committee hearing, i do want to thank a vice chair collins, as well as our chairs and Ranking Members testers, coons, shaheen, tester, and moran. For working on us with this topic and others that every member cares about. I want to thank all of my colleagues with their work in the recent weeks to jumpstart the appropriation process. And hold more than 30 very substantive hearings on President Bidens budget requests and critical issues. We have made important progress. I hope that we can keep things on track and markup our bill soon. Vice chair collins and i had hoped that this thursday would be a first full committee markup. She and i are working very hard and will update all of our Committee Members on when we expect to have our first markup in the june work period. This week in the house they are getting ready to markup their own Appropriations Bills. It is my goal, and the goal of senator collings, to be marking up in a similar timeframe. But every member in this room knows that the senate must have its voice heard in this process. To that and this committee has received critical input from nearly all 100 senators to inform our work as we craft the spending bills to meet the nations needs. We owe it to our colleagues, our communities, and most of all, our constituents, to put forward this shared priority of the chamber in a slate of bipartisan spending bills. This hearing offers a valuable opportunity to go indepth on one of those shared priorities. Making the investment that our nation needs to stay ahead of the Chinese Government, and other competitors. Who are doing everything they can to try to overtake america economically, militarily, and on the world stage. As i have said throughout our subcommittee hearings, keeping our country safe and competitive is not just about defense spending. Keeping our country safe means investing in diplomacy and development. To counter political and economic coercion. To promote stability. To stand up to autocrats. To support our allies. And advance our Global Leadership, instead of ceding ground to the governments of china and russia. Keeping our Community Safe means funding to stop deadly fentanyl from crossing our borders. And dangerous cyberattacks that can decimate our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and more. It means funding to ensure that our supply chains for drugs, food, baby formula, and more are safe, stable, and not dependent on the womens beijing, and others. When it comes to keeping our Competitive Edge on the world stage, that means investing in American Innovation with funding for r d. Advanced manufacturing like the chips and science act. Clean energy jobs. Cutting edge by medical research. Emergent Technology Like a. I. , and more. It means investing in our economy at every level. Supporting our farmers and small businesses. Maintaining our ports, railways, and other infrastructure that we need for trade. Strengthening and expanding our trade partnership so we can sell American Goods across the world. Protecting our intellectual property. Of course, we cannot be competitive with the Chinese Government if we are not investing in the backbone of our economy, our working families. We cannot compete without investing in high quality Public Schools for our kids. We cannot compete without investing in Higher Education and workforce programs that help Key Industries find the workers that they need. We are extending the effort to rebuild American Manufacturing and so many others of our economy, if we refuse to tackle the childcare crisis keeping parents out of the workforce. Not only on these issues as important of our defense investments, they are connected. Make no mistake. China is pressing forward with an aggressive modernization and expansion of their military capability. As such there are certain investments that we, absolutely, must make. To strengthen our own defensive and deterrence capabilities. The president s budget request the largest ever amount of funding for the pacific deterrents initiative. That is critical. We need to ensure the military has the resources it needs to stay ahead of chinas military modernization. Strengthen logistical preparedness. Expand cyber capabilities, and more. However, as the secretary defense has said repeatedly, keeping our nation safe requires the whole of government approach. After all, our weapons need ships. Making them ourselves. Working with likeminded partners to secure our supply chains is a matter of National Security. This is key. We need to make sure that we have a regular appropriations process so every department, including d. O. D. , can plan for the year ahead. We cannot settle for crs that frees our progress result in year over year funding progress. And seriously impair every single one of our agencies abilities to fulfill their mission and move our country forward. The Chinese Communist party does not governed by crs. They do not governed by cuts. We cant either. Which is why it has been so important to me, senator collins, and many others to make sure that we meet this moment. Do our jobs. Get our bipartisan funding bills passed in a timely way. Im glad to see that we have bipartisan agreement on the problem that we are here to discuss today. Keeping ahead of the Chinese Government and our competitors. Based on our past bipartisan efforts, i think that we do have a shared understanding that the solution here must be an all of government approach. Just a few months ago we passed an appropriations bill for this fiscal year that showed congress can take this challenge seriously. Senators shaheen and moran Work Together to increase funding for the National Science foundation and funded detects hub program. Filling out our bipartisan science funding act to invest in r d, innovation, in building a strong s. T. E. M. Workforce. Senator coons and graham advanced u. S. Global leadership by growing our diplomatic footprint, especially in the indopacific. Increasing funding for the indopacific strategy. Providing funding and flexibility for agencies like state, usaid. The Development Finance corporation to address emerging strategic priorities. Senators murphy and capito made critical funding increases to improve detection and seizure of narcotics, like fentanyl, and related elicit contraband. And to dismantle and disrupt transnational criminal organizations. Senator feinstein and kennedy worked together to increase funding for the office of science and the department of energy. And fund our National Labs so we could develop Clean Energy Solutions and improve advanced manufacturing. Our funding bill, and the bipartisan infrastructure law also included critical investments to support Infrastructure Improvements to ensure our ports can ship goods around the world. I think it is safe to say we showed, just a few months ago, that there is bipartisan support for an across the board effort to counter the growing influence of chinas communist party. If we want to stay competitive. If we want to stay ahead, we have to stay the course. Build on those investments. Which is why i found the approach House Republicans have called for dangerous. Suggesting massive funding cuts across the government at a pivotal moment. After years of bipartisan consensus for maintaining americas Global Leadership, that tactic will throw in the towel to our competitors. It will give the Chinese Government our spot as the global superpower of the 21st century. Lets be clear, House Republicans arent just proposing one year of cuts to r d, diplomacy, and workforce programs. Essentially everything that keeps us competitive. They are demanding spending caps that will tie our hands and lock in even more cuts over the next decade. I worry that what is being proposed will lead to a lost decade for america at a moment where we cannot afford it. Lets be clear, china is not debating whether to pay its debts, or records economy. China is not debating whether to invest in its future, or cut and cap the investments that keep it competitive. China does not operate on crs. The more we play with the fall and punt investments and teeter on the Anti Government shutdowns, the more we prove china and our competitors are right. Helping them show the world that it is their moment to overshadow our leadership. Helping them demonstrate their core belief that totalitarianism is stronger than Democratic Values here at home, and across the world. That is why it is so critical for the senate to make its voice heard on americas future. We have to show that there is a bipartisan vision to strengthen our nations competitiveness and security by investing in American Leadership across the board. And a bipartisan will to get it done. That is why we have been focused in all of our subcommittee hearings. It is what i have to hear about from our witnesses today. That is why i want all of us to continue their work and markup bipartisan spending bill soon. The bottom line is we find ourselves today at a real turning point. This years Government Spending bills will determine whether or not we are prepared to compete with china. And whether or not we will stay had or fall behind. We cannot close our eyes or plug our ears when it comes to the threat that the Chinese Government poses. We have got to build on the progress we have made. Keep our country safe and competitive and invest in americas future. As we decide what investments we do or do not make, the stakes cannot be higher. They could not be more serious. I want to thank everyone who is here today. Thank our witnesses. We look forward to hearing your testimony today. I will turn it over to vice chair college for her opening statement. Chair murray, thank you so much for holding this important hearing. Before i turn to my formal remarks, let me echo the chairs determination to keep proceeding with the appropriations process in a way that will avoid a late end of the year gigantic continuing resolution that continues to Fund Programs that do not need funding. The province new programs from starting. It makes it impossible for agencies to plan. It also ends up costing the taxpayer more money. I share the chairs determination to keep proceeding. I look forward to beginning subcommittee markups in june. I would note that we have gotten off to a very fast start. Our subcommittees, on both sides of the aisle, have worked together to have a series of hearings that literally have held dozens of hearing on the president s budget requests. That is an essential start for this process. To our witnesses, i want to tell you that i am very much looking forward to your testimony on how we can Work Together to strengthen u. S. Security and competitiveness regarding china. Americas competition with china is an increasing challenge. But it is not a new one. Overlaying chinas modern economic successes with its 3500 years of history and today the world faces and authoritarian government that seeks to regain its hegemonic past and dismantle the International Order created by the United States, and our allies, following world war ii. To be clear, chinas vision is to be the worlds military and economic powerhouse. It is well on its way. Today, china has the Worlds Largest navy. The Worlds Largest army. And the Worlds Largest economy by purchasing power parity. Competition with china occurs in every domain. From the united nations, cyberspace, to africa. Our focus, with regard to our military competition with china, must remain on deterrence. Which is defined by the strength of our readiness, capacity, and capabilities. That of our allies and partners. We must ask ourselves if the pentagon, and taiwan, have the weapons, munitions, and man power necessary to credibly deterred china from using force to accomplish its objectives. As secretary austin knows from our hearing last week, i believe that the administration could do better in this regard. Secretary blinkens challenge is getting our bilateral diplomatic relations with china on a stable footing as possible. Given the inconsistent statements by the president on u. S. Policy towards taiwan, it would also be helpful if the secretary were to clarify today if there has been any change in the one china policy and the strategic ambiguity there in. America is only a strong abroad as we are at home. Including the innovation and technology we can protect. I hope today that secretary raimondo will give us an update on efforts to prevent the theft of intellectual property. To bolster u. S. Leadership in advanced technologies. And to impede china from exploiting American Technologies to advance its military interest. Finally, as one department of Homeland Security official recently testified, the fentanyl crisis begins and ends in china. Many precursor chemicals originate in china. Chinese criminal organizations launder the drug cartels money and source the pill pressers that facilitate the distribution of this deadly poison. Just last month, employees at a restaurant in auburn, maine, opened a crate expecting to find mugs that they had ordered. Instead, they found 14 kilograms of fentanyl. That is enough to kill five times the population of the entire state of maine. Thankfully the employees called local Law Enforcement who sees the fentanyl, undoubtedly saving many lives. Addressing the fentanyl crisis must be at the top of this administrations agenda with china. Again, i look forward to discussing these significant issues with our witnesses this afternoon. Thank you. Thank you vice chair collins. I will now briefly introduce todays witnesses in with testimony. I am very pleased again to welcome secretary of defense, lloyd. Often secretary of state, anthony blinken. Secretary of commerce gina raimondo. I am thankful to all three of our witnesses for the work to do every day to keep our Community Safe and to help us stay competitive. I would like to thank each one of you for taking the time today to be with us and to answer our questions. We will now move to opening remarks. Secretary austin, i will begin with you. Chair murray, vice chair collins, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify about americas strategic competition with the peoples republic of china. Im glad to be joined by secretary blinken and secretary raimondo. We rely on each other every day. To compete and succeed, we must use all of the tools of american power. Im grateful to congress for recognizing the urgency of the china challenge. Taking bipartisan action to meet it i would like to underscore five key points today about how the department of defense is tackling the security challenge of the prc, in lockstep with our partners across the administration, around the world, and here in congress. First we are focusing the entire department on continuing to outpace the prc. As the president S National Security strategy notes, the prc is our only competitor with both the intent. And increasingly, the capacity to reshape the International System to suit its autocratic preferences. Beijing has increased its bullying and provocations in the end of pacific. It has embarked upon and historic military buildup, including space and cyberspace. Of course, war is neither imminent nor inevitable. But we must face up to the prc growing a third of net. The departments mission is clear. To deter aggression that threatens our Vital National interests. We are investing more than ever in a formidable, innovative, fighting force. And a more resilient force posture in the indopacific. Our budget includes a 40 increase over last years request for the Pacific Deterrent Initiative to an alltime high of 9. 1 billion dollars. We are delivering critical capabilities through more agile approaches to testing an acquisition. We are developing novel operational concepts for how we employ the joint force. Our National Defense strategy calls the prc our pacing challenge. We chose the world challenge carefully. The United States does not seek conflict, a challenge, or a new cold war. But we have never shied away from competition. We are working with both our rivals and our friends to strengthen the guardrails against china. To unveil in strategic competition we must Work Together as one team. That is my second point. This demands even closer cooperation at the commerce, department of state, and health. When we work with departments to prevent conflict from bringing in the first place. We protect the trailing to drive the world economy. We are supporting the department of commerce as the leading role in implementing the chips and science act. We work closely with commerce to advance our technological bandages. Third, we are determined to keep the end of pacific free and open. Most countries in the region share a common vision of an open and inclusive end up pacific free of bullying and coercion. We are proud to stand together with them. We will continue to strengthen the rules based International Order by making clear the folly of aggression. Maintaining open lines of communication. Fourth, the whole administration is working to deepen ties with our network of alliances. We are working with our friends around the end of pacific, and the world, through Security Cooperation and assistance and through combining operations and exercises. We are also working to develop Innovative New capabilities and deepen integrated returns. In recent months that strategy has produced historic results. In japan, we are deploying more resilient and mobile assets. That includes our plans to detroit the 12th marine electoral regiment. We are deploying a new force Posture Initiative through australia. And the historic aukus partnership, we will work with our australian and british allies to help establish a more stable bounce power in the end up a civics for generations. Our field plano Alliance Means we will have access to for new locations under the enhanced defense Cooperation Agreement. Meanwhile, we are expanding our Security Cooperation with south korea, india, thailand, singapore, and many others. We are deepening our ties with asean in nepal. We are pleased that the United States will soon provide significant additional Security Assistance to taiwan through the president ial drawn on authority that congress authorized last year. This is part of our longstanding commitment to upholding our obligations under the taiwan relations act and other u. S. Policy. To doing our part to maintain peace instability in the taiwan straight. We need to remain a reliable partner that brings me to my final part. The best way that congress can ensure our strategic advantage is with an on time appropriation that supports the president budget requests. No amount of money can buy back the time that we lose when you are forced to operate under continuing resolutions. Reducing funding to fy 22 levels across the government would hamstring our ability to compete, even if the Defense Department is exempted from cuts. We succeed of the team. The department of defense succeeds when our inter Agency Partners succeed. We are not just shaping our military, but americas entire strategy to compete. I look forward to working with all of you to continue that proud tradition of u. S. Global leadership. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you secretary austin. Secretary blinken . Vice chair collins, Ranking Member graham, the distinguished members of the appropriate committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify before you today. Thank you for bringing us all together. Im very pleased, as well, to be here with secretary austin, secretary raimondo. This administration is committed to leading a bipartisan whole of government china strategy that advances u. S. Interest values, and, delivers for the American People. To your point, chair murray, i think that we do stand at an inflection point. The post cold war era is over. There is an intense competition underway to shape what comes next. China represents the most consequential geopolitical towns that we face today. A country with the intent and, increasingly, the capability to challenge our free, open, and secure International Intern order. We cannot wait for beijing to change its path. We cannot wait for china to change its trajectory. We cant put ourselves into a position to compete strategically. To enhance our vision. We do not seek conflict with china. Or a new cold war. We are not trying to contain china. In fact, the United States continues to have a comprehensive trade and investment relationship with china, as do most of our allies and partners. We are, however, resolutely for derisking and diversifying, not decoupling. That means investing in our own capacities and an executor resilient supply chain. Pushing for a level Playing Field for our workers and our companies. Discouraging harmful prayed practices. Ensuring that the United States and on that technology is not used against us. We are also working with allies and partners to advance a free and open and a pacific. One that is at peace and grounded in respect for rules based International Order. When we talk about free and open what we mean is this. We mean countries being free to choose their own path and their own partners. Partners will be dealt with openly, not course of. The rules will be reached transparently and applied fairly. Goods, ideas, and people will flow lawfully and freely across the land, seas, skies, and cyberspace. The world is watching how we, and beijing, manage this relationship. It is in our best strategic interest to do so responsibly. In a way that promote security and prosperity and delivers solutions on shared challenges that mattered to the American People and the people around the world. Last year i had an opportunity to set out the administrations comprehensive prc tragedy. To invest, a line, and compete. We have made historic investments here and at home. Including the bipartisan infrastructure law, the science. The inflation reduction act. In order to strengthen our ability to can be. We aligned our approach with key partners in europe in asia, and beyond. Working methodically to elevate our engagement around the world. As a result we have achieved greater conversions on how to deal with the danger that china proposes than ever before as we compete we work to maintain open lines of communication at all levels with the prc. In order to avoid miscalculation. To prevent calculations from veering into conflict. Senior administrative officials have demonstrated that commitment. We will purposely engage china. Not as a favor, or with engagement as an end in and of itself, but in ways that reflect our values. And areas where we can find areas of cooperation, benefit our mutual interest. That is about the world respect from responsible powers. The push for progress on priorities like climate crisis, macroeconomic, ability health, it will continue to express the need to curb the flow precursors that exasperate fentanyl and the crisis that they oppose. I appreciate the leadership of this committee on this most urgent challenge for the United States. We have heard from members and both parties on both sides of the how that this unprecedented challenge requires an Ambitious Research gravity that we very much agree that is what the president s proposed fly 24 state Department Budget does. This budget positions the United States to up our game in the end of pacific. The frontline of our competition with china. The endo pacific is the most dynamic and Fastest Growing region in the world. 50 of the worlds population. 60 of global gdp. Eight of the top 15 u. S. Export markets. It supports 3 million jobs here in the United States. It provides about 900 billion dollars in Foreign Direct Investment to our country. It has driven about 75 of Global Economic growth over the past 75 years. Try, not as it happens, invest a full 50 of its assistance and diplomatic resources in the end of pacific. Our Budget Proposal will allow us to further deepen our diplomatic footprint in the indopacific. From new missions in the Pacific Islands to new regions and beyond included in the areas of greatest cost at station with beijing like technology, economics, regional and national organization. Bruising understands that diplomacy is a critical tool. That is why it has invested dramatically building up its on diplomatic capacity. In fact it increased its diplomatic budget last year faster than its military. One today it has more diplomatic throughout the world in the United States. If we are serious about this competition, we have to demonstrate the same diplomatic seriousness of purpose across the board. We are not demanding that other chant trees choose between u. S. And china. Rather, we aim to offer a more attractive choice. If we can spark a race to the top, so much the better. That would be in everyones benefit. Our budget sets us up to work with likeminded partners to strengthen our offer and to ensure it is relative and responsible to the needs and aspirations people around the world. That is why the budget includes two billion dollars in new investments in high quality sustainable infrastructure rather than low quality, opaque, extracted projects that leave countries mired in debt. It would invest two billion dollars to bolster economics and help china the prc dominates in areas, including Maritime Security. Disease surveillance. Clean energy, digital technology. Understands communication cables. Critical mineral mining. It contains over seven billion dollars to extend our Economic Engagement with the freely socially states via the compact of free situation. That is a critical component to our end up pacific and National Security strategy. All together, these funding streams ensure that we can meet a generational challenge and demonstrate our long term commitment on issues that matter most to heat countries in the region so the United States remains the partner of choice. During this decisive decade, our efforts and investments, together with our partners, will determine whether we succeed in advancing our shared vision for the United States or whether the prc can erode or replace the global rules and norms the guarantee peace, security, in the world. I am grateful for this committees partnership to sustain the resources and policies required by the challenge. I very much look forward to taking questions. Thank you. Tank you secretary blinken. [inaudible] we need money for the poor on the planet good afternoon. Chairman collins, members of that committee. It is my pleasure to be here with you with my colleagues to have this opportunity to discuss President Bidens fiscal 2024 request. Our work, as a whole of government approach, to protect Americas National and Economic Security and promote our competitiveness in the face of the very real and increasingly significant challenges from china. As has been said by my colleagues, and by senator murray and senator collins, competing with china requires everyone on the field operating as a whole of government. Working in a bipartisan way with congress. It requires the use of the full extent of our economic, diplomatic, and military tools. Im so honored to be here with my colleagues, doing this Work Together. I look forward to working with you on a bipartisan basis with the senate as you develop additional legislation building on the chips and science act to ensure that we can compete and ensure our economic future. The Commerce Department, in partnership with you, is leading the way on a bold domestic agenda. Bringing advanced manufacturing and Critical Industries back to the United States. At the same time we have never been more aggressive in using our departments tools to address the threats from china. I want to say that again. This communist department, under President Bidens leadership, has never been more aggressive in using our tools and we have been in the past few years. Today, i would like to focus on three key areas of investment in the president s budget request for the Commerce Department that will strengthen our ability to outcompete china. First, this budget makes Strategic Investments and innovation, manufacturing, and supply chains. The fact of the matter is, without Strong Manufacturing and the jobs and innovation and technological leadership that flow from it, we are at a disadvantage in the race to advance and commercialize future technology. The numbers are not reinstatement. The budget supports funding for the National Institute of supporting including the Manufacturing Partnership and the International Trade administration. Which will improve American Manufacturing capabilities. Strengthen our supply chains. And improve our export capacity. Additionally, as has been mentioned today, thanks to the chips and science act, the department is investing over 50 billion dollars to strengthen revitalize and reshore Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing capacity and, critically, research and development. These investments, along with the departments new Tech Hub Initiative which just on friday released its first funding opportunity, will supercharged tech ecosystems all across this country. They are absolutely crucial investments in order for us to compete and outcompete china. Second the budget includes funding for the bureau of industry insecurity to continue activities that strengthen u. S. National security, Foreign Policy, and our economy. Through our strategic use of export controls, including unprecedented restrictions imposed last october on chinas access to advanced computing chips and Semiconductor Manufacturing equipment, be i asked is preventing the use of u. S. Technology that enable chinas military modernization human rights abuses, and other activities that are contrary to the united stateS National Security and Foreign Policy interests. Currently there are over 2500 entities on the entity list that face restrictions on export controls. China and russia represent the top two. When we fawn conduct prohibited by our export controls, we take action. I am very proud to say that last month the Commerce Department announced a 300 Million Dollar civil penalty. The largest ever administrative penalty imposed against an American Company for selling our distrust to huawei without a license. Third, and finally, the budget enables us to partner with our allies to advance our shared values in sheet sister to jake environment as china operates, that secretary blinken just said. The budget includes funding for i. T. Aid to ensure that u. S. Businesses and commercial businesses have a robust advocate on Foreign Trade and market barriers. This will help us fund chinas economic coercion and to fund exports more wild. The budget calls for increased funding for u. S. Economic engagement in the and oh pacific. This budget request is absolutely critical to our economic and National Security. Without this funding or with substantially reduce funding, make no mistake about it we are putting both at risk. As has been said by chairman murray, china is doubling down on its competition with the u. S. And investments. We cannot afford to slow down. I look forward to the discussion were having today. I thank you for your time, and your efforts, in this effort. Thank you very much, secretary raimondo. We will now begin a round of five minute questions of our witnesses. I do ask our colleagues to keep track of your time and to stay within those five minutes. Each of you has testified about the importance of the investments the president s Budget Proposal makes in your agencies. I want to drill down for a minute and make clear to this committee what the stakes really are. If we do not pass the bipartisan spending bills. If we end up flatlineing spending and not making any policy decisions this year under the continuing resolution. Or if we cut non the fence responding backed by billions, what can you say, in this open setting, about the worst impacts . How far will it set us back in our ability to stay competitive with countries like china . Secretary austin, i will begin with you. Thank you, chairman murray. As i said before no amount of money to make up for lost time. As you said, chair murray, the prc is not waiting. Our budget reflects our strategy. We went to great pains to make sure we link our budget request to the strategy. Without a budget is difficult to execute the strategy as designed. We cannot execute severe impacts to procurement. It will affect readiness and our ability to build out our infrastructure, as well. Specifically, what that means, take shipbuilding, for example. We can expect a 9. 7 billion dollar impact to shipbuilding. Our production rate increases. We will not be able to accomplish those. We will not be able to award the contract for the second columbia class submarine. We will not be able to start production on the virginia class some marines. It will delay our ability to delay the critical munitions that we need for ourselves. And also to support our allies and partners, as well. Munitions like gamblers, tomahawks. Am rams, mark 48 torpedoes, just to name a few things, madam chair. Again, the list is rather expensive. Thank. You secretary blinken . Yes, thank you very much. I would just say two things. First, if you look at this, overall, from our perspective before drilling down on china, if we were to open up our ability to do things on a bipartisan basis that congress supports, including support for ukraine and its neighbors. Including limiting harmful prc. Influence including maintaining our leadership from everything to humanitarian assistance to global food security, we would least severely hindered and doing. That we also have real challenges when it comes to investments that we need to make insecurity. Investments in upgrade physical and cyber. Leaving our personnel, facilities, our Cyber Defense more honorable than it otherwise would be. More specifically, in this region and in regard to china, we have in the budget and a number of items that are critical to be able to effectively Counter Chinas growing influence in every region of the world. It would reduce our efforts to engage and build kind of partnerships we need to push back against that influence. To make sure the United States remains the partner of choice. We have, among many other things, funding provided in the budget to make significant investments and to enable us to categorize private sector investments in critical infrastructure. Mining, Critical Materials ran which aerials. In making sure that we can help develop secure communication networks. Underseas cable. And secure cyberspace. These and in so many other ways we would be significantly hindered. Beyond that, investments that we need to make in our own personal. Expanding our missions in the end of pacific. As we are in the process of doing. Making sure that we attract and train the most effective talent. Particularly when it comes to dealing with china. All of that will be hindered it is hard to quantify this but i think we will be sending a broader message of retreat at a very time when we need to be sending the opposite message around the world secretary raimondo . [inaudible] you want to turn on your excuse me, can you hear me . The Congress Department is involved in both our offensive strategy, which is to say investing in our defensive strategy, which is to say protecting our technology. So, id like to very quickly highlight three ways that we would be very significantly prepared in our ability to meet the china challenge. First, bis. So, if we were to go back to 2022 levels, that would be about 125 fewer people in bis. Thats 125 fewer people to do and use checks around a sport controls. Last year, we did 1100 hughes checks in 54 countries. The vast majority relate to china with 125 fewer people we would not be able to do all we do. And u. S. Technology would get into the hands of malign actors and china. Ita, we have commercial Service Officers and 79 countries all over the world. We would have to cut at a time when china is expanding we would be president in africa and south america in the indopacific in the way that we want to be and finally, as it relates to investment, as you said, we need to invest, the federal government has the smartest minds around Artificial Intelligence and cyber. We need to be investing in that. We currently have a billion dollar backlog of deferred maintenance i. At the same time, china is investing in new facilities of their missed equivalent. So, ill stop there in the interest of time. But its significant. Thank you very much. Senate collings . Thank you, madam chair. Secretary blinken, what, specifically, is that state department doing to tear china from continuing to send to mexico the precursor ingredients and that pill presses for fentanyl that eventually makes its way into the United States . Thank you very much. To step back for one second in 2019, china agreed to schedule fentanyl, and fentanyl related substances. The positive development there was that the export of fentanyl itself to the United States, more or less ended. However, what emerged in its place is exactly what you described. And thats the fabrication of precursor chemicals. Many, if not all of them, perfectly illicit. But then, illegally diverted to the production of fentanyl, often made in mexico, and then, as you know, shipped into the United States. We have been in every single engagement that weve had with china, pressing this issue in particular, pressing china to take action to get control of the illicit diversion, precursors into fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. Chinas response has been a number of things, including their view that this is a demand problem for the United States, and while they scheduled fentanyl, we have not. So, this is an argument that they raise. We have also pressed them to not only do what theyve already done, but again, they crack down on the diversion. In the absence of that, weve sanctioned chinese individuals and chinese entities that we have found taking part in this diversion. At the same time, we are Building International coalition of countries on fentanyl and on synthetic opioids, to make this a global challenge. And here is why, and heres how this will affect china. What we are seeing because our market has tragically become saturated, we are seeing criminal enterprises push to make new markets in other parts of the world, in europe and in asia. As a result, the demand signal on china to take affective action, i am convinced, is going to grow, and not just from us, but from other parts of the world. Chinas gonna have to decide whether it wants to be responsive to that demand signal, or whether its going to continue to allow, one way or another, that diversion of these chemicals. We will continue to take resolute action wherever we find those who are engaged in that diversion. And at the same time, we would be better off if we could secure genuine cooperation from china in helping us to deal with this problem and we have that now . We do not have that now. Correct. I mean, china is not only providing the precursor chemicals. It is now providing the pill presses that are used by the cartels. And the only thing id add, chair, is that this of course has to be a comprehensive effort, starting with the actions that were taking at home, moving to the work that we are doing on our border, then with the work that we are doing with mexico, which is absolutely vital, and then the broader international community, to include, of course, china. Secretary austin, last year, congress authorized up to one billion dollars to send existing d. O. D. Weapons to taiwan consistent with the taiwan relations. Youve testified that the administration intends to exercise its authority, and the repressed report just last week that they were contemplating a 500 Million Dollar package for taiwan. Will the administration be requesting the necessary funding to backfill any u. S. Weapons, ammunitions that are provided to taiwan . As we have done with ukraine so that there is no net loss to the u. S. Military capability as a result of the package under consideration by the administration. Thanks, vice chair. First of all, let me thank congress for what youve done to provide us with the authority to effect president ial run out. That is critical in our efforts to provide taiwan with what it needs, for itself, with defense going forward. And you are correct we are working on that initiative and we hope to have an action forthcoming here in the near term. We will absolutely need to have the appropriations to replace those things, which we provide. And so, vice chair, we wont hesitate to come forward in an effort to make sure that we maintain our stock. Thank you. Senator shaheen . Thank you, madam chair, and thank you to each of you for being here. I have right along with me to maps that i know you have seen before secretary austin, because theyre done by the department of defense. And i brought them because i think it shows very clearly the challenge that we have. These are chinas influence and latin america and in africa. And if you look at the maroon color and latin america, central and south america, everything thats in maroon, all of those countries are members of the belt and Road Initiative. 21 of 31 countries in central and south america are members of the belt and Road Initiative. In africa, it also shows the challenge that we have. Now, secretary blinken, you said in your opening remarks that the prc, peoples republic of china, has more diplomatic posts around the world and we do. We cant effectively compete if we dont have qualified confirmed ambassadors in place. And thats important, not just for each country, but also for the multilateral bodies where chinas busy building support, while in many cases we dont have anyone serving. So, i appreciate that the Biden Administration has accelerated the announcement of key nominations in recent weeks. But were still waiting on the reporting on the special envoy to belarus, when the time lukashenko is making visits to china, the administration hasnt nominated an ambassador to haiti or the dominican republic, and they only just appointed ambassador markel to serve in italy, which of course is welcome news, but has taken over two years to get there. I recognize that the holdup here is largely in the senate. I call on my colleagues, particularly those people who are holding in mass ambassador youll nominations from coming to the floor. But we also dont have an ambassador to the arctic region, where both russia and china are looking to a strategic foot hole. We can get our ambassador to the African Union confirmed when were in the middle of a conflict in sudan, and where chinas expanding their belt and Road Initiative in countries like montenegro, and georgia, china is seeking to make Strategic Investments, while our nominees are being held on the senate floor. So, can you, secretary blinken, speak to how many ambassadorships are currently open and pending before the senate . And then, whether there are specific important and bassett are ships that we should be taking up as soon as possible because we have Strategic Interests at stake . Senator, thank you for raising that. As i mentioned, china now has a handful more diplomatic posts around the world and we do. Weve got 173, they have roughly 180. Each one of theirs as a fully accredited ambassador. We currently have 14 nominees on the floor, bending confirmation, many of whom have been in this process for a year or more. We have another 40 who are somewhere else in the process going through their hearings, evaluation by the committee. So, we are acting at a deficit and a disadvantage. China is able not only to be present in more places, but its got full, fully accredited ambassadors in each of those. And that makes a difference. As good as our charges are, as good as our d. C. Ends our, and their terrific, and theyre not the same thing. What happens, and ive seen this time and again, is that a foreign leader, head of government, head of state will engage with one of our Senate Confirmed ambassadors, but maybe more reluctant to engage with someone or whos theyre filling in or quoted it ambassador can get their. That leaves a vacuum. And guess who fills the vacuum . Increasingly, it is china. So, we are penalizing ourselves if we are not getting our full team on the field as quickly as possible. It is simply not a serious way to compete. And, what would you say to those people who say, i am very concerned about the prc as a part of our Great Power Competition as were looking at the challenges that we face. But im not willing to vote for the ambassadors who are gonna be there in countries to help us with this fight. Well, i think there is a contradiction. And i would hope that everyone who is invested in making sure we can compete effectively, and i believe thats probably every member of this body in both parties will take account of the impact of not having accredited ambassadors in every country that we need them. And to your point, im looking at your map, and we know, we see that china is active on every continent, seeking to advance its influence. Again, if we are not there, were not competing. Thank you, thank you madam chair. Thank you, senator graham . Thank you. I have a letter from senator coons, id like to introduce the record of what our subcommittee has done to deal with a china problem. Without objection. Thank you. Secretary austin, ive been telling my constituents in South Carolina that if we fold in ukraine and let putin has his way with ukraine, china is more likely to invade taiwan. Do you more do you agree with that . I agree, certainly, not only china, but we will see other bad actors around the world trying to do the same. I could not agree with you more. So how with you do you believe our disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan embolden our enemies, secretary austin . Senator, as you know, there were three things that happened in afghanistan i dont have time for three things. Do you believe it emboldened our enemies . And if you dont, youve missed a lot. I dont, sir. Okay, good. Well, youve missed a lot. Secretary blinken, you said a couple of months ago that china was on the verge of supplying lethal aid to russia. Was that accurate when you said it . It was, senator. Okay. We all agree we want china not to help russia, right . Heres an idea. 100 u. S. Senators recommended to you that we declare russias state sponsor of terrorism to deter people like china from giving them weapons. Here we are months later, and nothing has happened. And secretary, i like you a lot. But youre never going to designate russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Are you . Never say never. Well, you could well say china sees all talk here. If you really are worried about china giving weapons to russia, instead of picking up the phone, and calling the chinese, please, dont do that, why dont you get 100 u. S. Senators to pass a law telling china, if you give one bullet, were gonna sanction the out of you. It just to that . Please, very quickly. I think china has taken account of the litter deter that we wielded against so, you think making russia a state sponsor of terrorism would not send a stronger signal to china, dont help the russians. I think the authorities that we have which has been very effective. Lets send a clear message yeah, lets go to iraq. Is iran a state sponsor of terrorism under u. S. Law, madam secretary . Yes, i believe it is. They are section to the hilt, right . Yes. You realize it runs on revenue went up 20 last month. I know its gone up. Its gone up 20 every month. Why . Because of china. So, this idea that we have a strong china policy is a bunch of its not the budget that will deter china. Its our will to take on people like china. So, i think we are in a real world world of hurt. Lets talk about the navy. You know, the chairman criticized the proposal act, i quite frankly understand some of your concerns. This would be disaster, i agree. Secretary austin, the ceo of the navy said we need 373 man ships and 150 unmanned ships to deal with the threats we face. Are you aware of that . Im aware that he said that would you agree with it . I agree with a plan that the navy is out with well, heres what the navy said. For us to get 373 ships, what we need, i think its really important to deter china, we would have to spend 5 over inflation to reach that goal. Are you aware of the budget that you proposed in this committee spends 1. 7 under inflation . I am. It is undercurrent rates. Well, i would say, you would never get that 373 ships if you get 5 over inflation, and the budget is 1. 7 below inflation. And heres what the committee needs to know, under the budget proposed by the president , we go from 296 ships this year, to 291 in fy 28. China has 340 ships. And by 2025, they would have 400. And we project by 2030, they will have 440 ships. So, we are not doing what we need to be doing to let china know that we are serious about playing in their backyard. So, this idea of countering china cannot be looked in a budget vacuum. How many diplomats we have underground . Everything weve done in the last two years, in my view, has made every bad actor more emboldened. And it started with afghanistan. And that iranians are making more money under sanctions not less. And china is the biggest reason were not doing a thing about it. We have a chance here in a bipartisan fashion to send a strong signal before its too late. And when it comes to ukraine, i appreciate this committees bipartisan action. But im gonna tell you right now, if the department doesnt provide the icc with the evidence necessary to prosecute russians, and you are holding it up, we are sending yet another signal that were all talk when it comes to bad actors. So, you may be pleased with what youre doing, but i am not. Senator coons . Thank you, chair marie. Vice chair collins, thank you for my colleagues. And thank you to our witnesses in front of us, having the secretary of defense, secretary of state, secretary of commerce jointly appear in front of us is a reinforcement of the need for a joint approach to reinforcing u. S. National security or diplomacy, develop economic competitiveness in the face of the very real challenge of the prc. I will just at the outset repeat what weve heard from the chair, which is that we cannot default, and we cannot fail to appropriate. Xi jinping has assessed the United States as a flawed and failing political and economic system. Nothing we could do would reinforce that impression than defaulting on our National Debt or failing to appropriate it. Let me turn to some of the investments asked for in this years budget that will advance our joint goal. Secretary blinken, raimondo, you saw the posters that senator shaheen put up, in the global south, whether in latin america, africa, the Pacific Islands, southeast asia, we see that the global south is increasingly aligning with chinese economic and Foreign Policy, not because they failed to appreciate the risks of that burden diplomacy, not because they perceive chinas alternative governance model as better. But because they say over and over the absence of an american presence. We have to show up. It is a challenge of presence and engagement, strategic communication, providing credible alternatives, particularly regarding economic investment. You are both on the board of the Development Finance corporation. It is a critical new resource to compete with the belt and Road Initiative. And its investing billions and developing projects with key partners around the globe. Speak, if you would, to what authorities and resources does the drc need to maximize its impact, to meet its moment, and what else are you proposing in this budget to address these critical challenges of engagement to push back on chinas investment globally, secretary blinken, if you would . Thank you very much, senator. And just before i get to that, for the record, im sorry that senator ron is no longer here. But we have sanctioned 40 different entities for oil trade, among the 40 that we sanctioned, 70 or chinese. With regard to these investments, senator, i cannot agree with you more, it is vital for us to be able to compete effectively and in particular because this is our comparative advantage to catalyze the private sector investment. We are not going to match china dollar for dollar instate investments. The way we do it is by capitalizing that the dfc is one of the most critical vehicles for doing that. What we proposed in the budget is a mandatory allocation for that dfc in addition to its regular budget that would allow us to create and affect a new Revolving Fund that would boost Equity Investments in Viable Development to Leverage Private capital, and also to counter some of the predatory lending that we see coming from china. This would in a number of ways support at the very kinds of projects that both people want and need and that advance our positions strategically. Mineral mining, wireless networks, undersea cables, ports, roads, rails, medical manufacturing in different parts of the world, water and sanitation, ill give you just one example quickly in something thats already happening, in fy 22, we have a dfc investment of just 30 million that is allowing us to produce Critical Minerals mining, platform to sport nickel and cobalt mining in brazil, something that is essential to the technology of the century. In addition, airports in sierra leone, and African Investment fund for traditional infrastructure. We are saying that we need to make sure that the dfc is well capitalized, and that also has the flexibilities particularly to make Equity Investments. This is what our partners are most looking forward to. Thank you, mister secretary. Secretary raimondo . Yes, thank you, senator. And thank you to the leadership as it relates to the dfc. I agree with everything that secretary blinken has said. Our ability to Counter China requires us to show up, requires us to show up in embassies and, it requires us to show up on the ground with money. And that includes u. S. Private capital. And so the dfc place a more Important Role now in the years to come down it ever has. A sec secretary said, it is Critical Minerals, but its also basic infrastructure. Basic investments in infrastructure, roads and bridges, clean energy, clean infrastructure. And the dfc can provide consent generate finance, for example, to draw forward a great deal of u. S. Capital. I can tell you this, and all my travels, and i will be going this summer to africa, and all of my travels, the United States is the source of choice over china, and the drc working with us will help us to show up with the capitol that we needed. Thank you both. Senator moran . Senator collins, thank you. Secretary, thank you for being here. Let me start with secretary raimondo. Welcome back. You and ive had a chance to see some Aviation Aerospace activities in our country. The Rand Corporation recently testified that for each three of the aviation categories, military commercial general, the United States is ahead of china and competitive with or better than the rest of the world. However, and i quote, china continues to close the gap with the United States. Secretary raimondo, Aviation Aerospace plays a Critical Role in both our economic and National Security and light of the china continuing closing the gap, their advances in this field, and the Chinese Communist partys explicit intention to challenge u. S. Dominance, what can policymakers do to ensure u. S. Can remain a Global Leader in aviation, aerospace, and the Innovation Associated with both . Thank you, senator, for your question. There are a number of things we can do. But one thing in particular that i will point to at the department of commerce that we are doing is investing in tech hubs. There are regions all around the country that have expertise in aviation scales, our andy, research and development, talent, not necessarily in new york city and since francisco, and so by investing in tech hubs all across america and identifying areas of excellence including in aerospace, in aviation, making those investments which will draw together the public sector, the private sector, and research universities, that is the way we stay ahead of china, investing in our r d, investing in every nook and cranny in this country to tap into the full extent of our innovation and talent, and investing in our workforce. Thank you, secretary. Secretary austin, and i think you would add in regard to the value of technology and capabilities and aerospace amy aviation generally as a manufacturing component, as a Research Component of our country, what does it mean to our National Defense . First of all, i absolutely agree with secretary and asking us to invest. Some 146 billion dollars in r d. Its the largest request for research and development that weve ever made. And you also see us continuing to address it our air forces, we are asking for some 60 billion dollars plus to make sure that we maintain a dominant air force. If you look at things that we are doing with respect to making sure that we maintain that edge, i think that the radar that we unveiled, the 21 radar that we unveiled in december is clear evidence of our focus, of making sure that we remain on that front, and we go after the capabilities that are necessary to support our war fighting concepts. So, we will continue to do that. I think we are investing in the right thing. And we appreciate congresss support. Secretary blinken, during your appropriation subcommittee hearing, i asked you about trade, and particularly, the updated tpp agreement that we are not a part of. And i would highlight this as well for secretary raimondo. Your answer, i dont mean that you are cavalier in your answer, but your answer was in part tpp was a good agreement, but we moved on since then. And the world has changed. I took those words and researched what many countries are saying. In fact, they are asking us to engage in this trade agreement. Countries in the south pacific, australia, for example, thailand, and i would just highlight, again, for both of you, secretary raimondo and secretary blinken, the importance of trade. We need the relationships that perhaps youve described using diplomacy and diplomats and state Department Officials and relationships, but in my view, one of the pillars thats missing in this administrations efforts to connect the rest of the world and the United States together is trade agreements in which were not negotiating and not pursuing. And i think its a mistake for our countrys economy. And i think its a mistake for our countryS National Security. The rest of the world needs to see economic benefits by being aligned. And i can tell you that china does an excellent job of demonstrating at least upfront, temporarily, what an ally and supporter they are of other countriess economies. Senator, i very much appreciate your perspective on the. Let me just say very quickly to things. First, some of the investments that we are talking about and the vehicles for those investments, financed in the president s budget, are actually critical to delivering what people are looking for and need in country after country around the world, and doing it in a way, as i said, that is a race to the top, not a race to the bottom, that we sometimes see with investments coming from china. Second, we are very focused on putting in place and implementing the indopacific economic framework. We have 14 countries that have signed on to do that. It includes trade facilitation, with regard to in the general digital trade. That includes supply chain diversification and resilience. It includes work on clean economy that many of these countries are looking for, including the financing, the development of such an economy. And it includes a pillar on combatting corruption and other things that burrowed corrode the efforts to actually make trade investment work. We found great enthusiasm for that among the countries that have signed on. As i said, theyre not 14. And we are working overtime to actually put that on the rails and make it work. Mister secretary, china has requested to enter that agreement. And Great Britain has entered as well. Other countries are finding the value that i wish we would see. Thank you. Senator tester . Thank you, senator collins, i dont think all three of you for being here today. We have heard and we know some of the things, what were doing with the military, money manipulation, what they are doing with the precursors of fentanyl, cyber attacks, harmful trade policies, opposition to a free and open pacific. Senator shaheen talked about the belt and Road Initiative, what theyve done worldwide, and what theyre doing with technology theft. On the other side of the equation, weve got the United States of america, the greatest country on earth, it did not happen by accident, because we have made good decisions. Unfortunately, were not on that boat. The folks here in congress, i think, i forgot what our mission is. We are dealing with a debt ceiling on money that we have already spent, which would cause us to go into a default, into a depression, if not remedy. Focal is the time that we can even reserve currency. Were dealing with individuals hold on flag officers in the military, i dont have to talk about secretary austin about how negative that is. Senator shaheen talked about the ambassadors who have been held on the floor. And we have got a situation where we are probably under the cost of going into a c r, which i know the Ranking Member of this committee despise as i do. But if we dont at, it thats exactly where were at. That doesnt make us stronger, that makes china stronger. Its on the United States congress. So, we need to wake up because this is a real threat. Secretary austin, i want to ask you about weapons modernization, and how does our weapon modernization compares to chinas efforts with weapons modernization . Thanks, senator. First of all, let me tell you that i truly maintain and believe that we have a Competitive Edge, and we are gonna work to maintain that Competitive Edge going forward. And so, thats why you see us looking to invest not only in research and development, but also 60 billion dollars to maintain the air force that we believe we need another 48 billion dollars to invest in maintaining the worlds where just navy. And i bet on our navy versus any other navy any day of the week. And also, 11 billion dollars to invest in long range one, and that includes hypersonics. So, we are pushing hard to make sure that were going after the right capabilities, to help us maintain the edge and the future. Now and in the future, and thats why were asking you for the budget that were asking you. Are there any areas that you would talk about in this time of the session when you would say we are behind, from a technology standpoint, modernization standpoint . I would like to have that conversation in a secure very good. Thank you for that. Look, ive heard directly from folks in my district, in montana, that the impression, china is buying land in our great state. Weve seen some reports out of north dakota. And i think its not only about food security, its actually about National Security, and both are pretty important. Look, i know this is not an easy not to crack. I think theres 30 bills out there on deals with Foreign Ownership of land, china, russia, iran, north korea. I guess the general question is, are you guys, in any of your capacities, and its not within your capacities, thats fine are you seeing any evidence that chinese are buying land, and are they doing it themselves, the chinese companies, or are they potentially doing it through Shell Companies . Ill start with you, secretary blinken. So, senator, to put this in perspective, and again, not my area of expertise, but based on the facts that i believe them to be, i think about 3 of our farmland is foreign owned. And of that 3 , a very small percentage is owned by chinese individuals or chinese entities, which doesnt mean that there is not an issue because depending, for example, on where that farmland happens to be situated, there may be an issue. But i wanted to put it in perspective. And we are well aware of a number of bills, both federal and state, that would place restrictions of one kind or another on Foreign Ownership to include chinese ownership of agricultural land. The committee on Foreign Investment looks to add anything that involves a strategic investment that could pose a threat to our security. I leave that to them. Thats the problem of the treasury department. Needless to say, we look very carefully in any investments from anywhere, but notably from china, that could pose a threat in one way or another on security. Im out of time. Either one of you can respond to this and writing, unless you have a quick response, i would say, theres a number of bills out there, and i think youre spot on. Its not quality, its not quantity, its quality. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Senator capito . Thank, you madam chair and vice chair. And thank you all for being here with us today and for your service. Secretary blinken, i heard your response to senator collins question on fentanyl. I come from the state that has the largest amount of Overdose Deaths per capita than any other state and a lot of this is directly attributed to fentanyl. What i heard and your answer was highly insufficient because i dont have the impression that we are pressing hard enough. I dont know. We were in mexico sort of a month ago, talking to the president there to try to help with that. He said things going on the border we all know that this drug is flowing across our southern border. Then you give me a better answer here . And give us some hope that we can really clamp down on this illicit color of a drug . Thank you very much, senator. First of all, let me be very clear that i could not agree with you more. I understand the imperative of this challenge. As you know very well, this is the number one killer of americans aged 18 to 49. And as we also know, last year, we seized enough fentanyl to kill every single american. That is what we seized. Its obviously a lot more out there. So, this is at the very top of our priority list. What i was trying to suggest earlier is that we have to deal with this, and we, are across the entire spectrum of the issue, by which i mean that theres obviously work that we are doing that is very significant in terms of what is happening here at home, including demand, treatment, recovery. That is a critical component. I was just in denver visiting, among other things, the police department. We brought together 250 mayors from across our hemisphere. One of the things we focused on what fentanyl, synthetic opioids precisely, because this is a problem thats coming to them, as its already coming to us. With the border, obviously, it is critically important. The most important thing is this. 95 of the fentanyl thats coming into the United States across the border is coming through legal ports of entry. Its best we can tell. That means the technology, among other things, that we need to get to our border to screen for this, which were doing, is a critical component. Mexico, you could not be more right, its a vital, necessary partner in this. Ive spent more important President Biden spent many hours with the president of mexico on this issue. And i would say that weve seen about the glass half full, glass half empty. Glass half full, who saw a record levels of seizure of fentanyl by mexican authorities last year. Weve seen far more people dedicated to try to interject the fentanyl to break up the labs, et cetera. We now have a Cooperation Agreement with them that goes not just along for some, but that also goes to the regulatory agencies. This is a critical component. But clearly, the more effort and more resources need to be dedicated. Finally, the broader picture the china part. So, as we were discussing before. A critical piece of this right now is the diversion of illicit precursors actually, licit precursors that turn into illicit fentanyl. And right now, chinese entities are you communicating with them now every day on this . Every single engagement, i think, i can say that without fear or contradiction, i think every single engagement that i have had with the chinese counterpart when was your last engagement on this . Last engagement in munich, this is a couple of months ago right. Well, im not the only one. Every official that we have who is engaged with china, including officials and my department, this is at the top of the agenda. So, we have one of two ways that this is going to work. Either we are going to illicit genuine cooperation from china on this, and as i said earlier, there is going to be a growing Global Demand for that cooperation because the problem that started here, has you know, is moving around the world. So, we are building, and you will see in a few weeks, a coalition of countries coming together, to Work Together on dealing with synthetic opioids, notably fentanyl. So, that demand signal is going to grow stronger and stronger. In the absence, though, of that cooperation. We have already sanctioned a number of Chinese Enterprises and entities for engaging in the transfer of precursors for fentanyl. We know if we can stop the ingredients from getting to where theyre produced, much less the pill process that i did not realize china is now sending into mexico. If you look at methamphetamine, when it first came on to the drug seen, probably 20 years ago, what did our state governments do . Our state, you know, stop the flow of suit of it. You have to get it behind the counter. Because that was one of the ingredients. And guess what, it would hurt. If you can get rid of the ingredients, you can really make a huge difference here. Youre exactly right. So, whatever we can do, i think, its just horrifying what we see happening. I understand we have a demand issue. I understand we need to work on prevention. That stuff, we can do and will do. But i would just press you, and i know you are pressing hard, we just got a press harder here, because this is a national disaster. Thank you. I share your concern. Thank you. Senator thank, you chair, and thanks to all the secretaries for being here. Secretary blinken, the prc remains the worlds worst environment for internet freedom. Given its global influence, the political advantages of a repressive use of technology and data prc is relatively expensive products. There is concern that this could further the increase number of countries put out a free internet. How would open tools, like the open technology fund, which helps to create circumvention tools in pushing free access to information . Senator, there are a number of things that are critical, and we need to make sure that we are able to get into the hands of people, organizations around the world the tools that we have and are able to circumvent efforts to stifle their ability to communicate. It is something by the way that we have done in iran since the protests broke out, and the efforts were made to crack down on the ability of people to communicate. So, these are vital tools. Theres an even Bigger Picture that i think is vital. And that is the competition that we are engaged in to see was going to actually build the communications, then it works of the future, as well as the present. We have across the board countries that are investing in 5g. We want to make sure that they use, as we call it, in this business, trusting, trusted vendors, not interested vendors. And our diplomacy has been intentionally engaged to work with them to do that. Part of that, is to get countries adopt screening mechanisms. Weve got success over the past couple of years, to get countries do that, to make sure they have the tools, that when someone tries to make an investment in their country, including critical technologies, infrastructure, whether that is someone or an entity that they can trust. So, the macro picture is very important. And then, individual technologies that we can help get into the hands of people to circumvent suppression or important as well. A couple of legislative matters i want you to comment on, please. Ill just give them to you both, although they are not particularly related. How important would it be if we were able to ratify the law of the sea treaty . And as ambassador yun hopefully lands these negotiations of the come back to Free Association with our brothers and sisters in the Pacific Islands, im wondering if you can speak to the importance of implementing legislation and follow through with the nations . So, on the latter, weve made very significant process, progress and getting, expanding and extending these agreements. They are vital to our indopacific strategy. Vital to our overall National Security strategy. As you know very well these island nations and the North Pacific are basically what stands between us and the further reaches of the pacific. We have longstanding agreements with them. It would be vital to make sure that having negotiated their extension, that we provide the resources necessary to do that. And a lot of the sea . Law of the sea, look, in my judgment, not being a part of that is a self inflicted wound. We see again and again, country after country in southeast asia, looking to, pointing to the law of the sea, to assert their maritime rights, as opposed to the rights that china is asserting that bear no relationship to the law. And when we point this out, when we call out china for making Maritime Claims that are not based on the law, they say, well, you dont have much standing to speak about that, because you havent ratified the law of this. My response to them is that thats true. Nonetheless, it would be tremendously helpful to do that its a good life. I think its the best you can do. But the best we can do is to ratify the law of the sea. Secretary austin, can you take those two questions as well . I agree with secretary blinken that these are partners that are really, really important to us. As you know, senator, a significant portion of there the residents have actually served in the military or serving in the military. So they are very, very supportive and where they are in terms of geography is absolutely critical. And so, we are leaning into this and helping secretary blinkens people do everything that we can as a team to get this across the goal line. But the point that he made is, i think, absolutely critical. And i agree with a secretary blinken that we live by the law of the sea. And it would make sense to ratify it. So thank you. Senator kennedy . Thank you, madam chair. And thank you all for being here. Secretary blinken, have you ever visited any of the 15 Pacific Island nation states . I have, yes. They are wonderful people, arent they . I would agree. And they have wellplaced pride in their countries, do they not . They do. Right can we agree that these 15 independent Pacific Island nation states are just that, that they are independent countries, they are not just dots that some World Leaders see out of their blaine windows, when they are traveling to meetings elsewhere . That is correct. And can we agree that china is making a concerted effort to try to bring these independent countries within the ambit of the communist party of china . We can. Can we agree that america should have a deeper strike that, let me rephrase that, mister secretary. Putting china side, do you agree with me that it is the prudent and moral thing to do to have deeper engagement with our fellow countries in the pacific, particularly in terms of trade and investment . Very much so, senator. Would you support showing the 15 Pacific Island nation states the respect and dignity that they deserve by creating an ambassadorship just for these 15 Pacific Island nation states, to be appointed by the president of the United States, and confirmed by the United States senate. Senator, something that were looking at, but let me just put this in context. As you rightly said, these are independent sovereign countries, which is exactly why we have been engaged in a very intense effort to actually get embassies, and to have ambassadors in more of these countries. And as you know, right now, weve opened an embassy in the solomon islands. Weve opened one in tonga. We have one pending in and were also doing the same thing in men want to. So having these ambassadors is critical. Mister secretary, can i interrupt you. Im really sorry. But we are nearing the end of the time. And i have followed the efforts of the Biden Administration in this regard. But what i am talking about is pointing and not relying on other envoys or ambassadors. I am talking about creating a new ambassadorship for the 15 Pacific Island nation states, appointed by the president , and confirmed by the senate who would spend her or his time traveling to all of the island states, talking about trade, investment, and listening. Senator, i say two things to. That one, its important that we continue to engage these countries independently, given their independence to your point, and i agree this is important, we have appointed a senior envoy to the Pacific Island for, this is the main body, as you know, that brings all of this islands together. We appointed someone who is deeply experienced but its not created in law, is it, secretary . Its not. Its appointed by the secretary of state. Right, so a new secretary could come in and say we dont need to do this anymore good he or she not . Thats right. What im saying whats important i think ive heard you say they are, would you support creating an ambassador, ambassador level status, i dont care what you call it, ambassador level status appointed by the president and confirmed by the United States senate. Whats wrong with that . I would say, senator, first the senior envoy that we have who is a foreign ambassador to several of these countries in effect for folks that function. So, thats important. But hes not an ambassador. Hes appointed by a president. Im talking about making this permanent. Of course, the president could decide not to appoint an ambassador in any given country but, why wouldnt you want to embed this in the law, and give the Pacific Island countries that respect they deserve . I am happy to pursue this with you. I think what were hearing i just happen to have a concern, mr. Secretary a very happy to look at it. Welcome back to you on it. I really think we have not given im not criticizing you or your team. I just think that we havent given these countries that respect they deserve, and the best way to do that would be to give them a permanent ambassador. I think, and we should pursue these conversations. I really welcome doing that to talk about it, absolutely. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you, senator baldwin . Thank, you madam chair, and Ranking Member for convening this very important hearing. And thank you to our secretaries for being here today. Secretary raimondo, i want to thank you for including in your testimony the importance of the tech hub program. And youve also responded to a number of questions, referencing the importance of that program. And i certainly appreciate your leadership in the department of commerce. As a member of both the Commerce Committee and this appropriations committee, i work both on the authorization side and the funding side of the regional tech hub program. And our committee delivered an initial 500 Million Dollar investment to get it started. So, i look forward to working with you and my colleagues on this committee to develop tech hubs in more geographically diverse parts of the country, which i would agree is needed to ensure our economy can compete with china. Fiscal year 24 in this coming fiscal year, Congress Needs to deliver additional funding for the program to help ensure u. S. Global economic and technical logical leadership. And the only way we can get this done is bypassing robust bipartisan Appropriations Bills in a timely manner. But my question for you is actually on a different priority, under your purview at commerce, and thats trade enforcement, as secretary of commerce, you are a member of the forced Labor Enforcement Task force, which was established by the uyghur forced labor prevention act. That legislation also specifically tasks the secretary of commerce along with the director of National Intelligence with consulting on the development of a strategy to ensure u. S. Supply chains are free of forced labor in china. So, secretary, could you both explain the nature of that undertaking, but also importantly, the impact that reduced funding or even a continuing resolution would have on the important work being done at commerce to combat forced labor in china . Thank you, senator. Good afternoon. First, very briefly on tech hubs, i do want to reiterate that chips and science authorized a ten billion dollar investment, which i think is about right. And so, half a billion is, you know, barely a down payment. Im very grateful for half a billion. Were hard at work. Were gonna run a pilot program. I believe it would be spectacular. However, as you correctly say, we definitely need more money. The president s budget this year, i believe, calls for another two billion, 1. 4 billion. With respect to trade, we take trade enforcement incredibly seriously. And in this regard, i have always said, america can now compete with china, we all play by the same rules. And china doesnt play by the same rules of trade. They flood our market with heavily subsidized goods and undercut our prices and undercut our industries. And as you say, there is often forced labor at the supply chain. And we should have zero tolerance for forced labor and that supply chain. Right now, one of the things that we do with the Commerce Department is at any given time we are enforcing between 600 and 700 countervailing duties, many of which relate to chinas unfair practices. Any cut in our funding would massively inhibit our ability to do that. You know, we barely have enough people to do that now. And that would affect the uyghur issue, as you say, and also anything else that china is doing to undercut any of our industries. Thank you. Secretary austin, in fiscal year 23, a committee supported our committee supported the establishment of an Industrial Base expansion and Shipyard Infrastructure initiative, specific to the constellation class frigate, a ship that is currently being built in wisconsin. This program will now be supported by a Workforce Development initiative that will equip our workers with a specialized skills, required to support domestic shipbuilding base. As well as keep the navy on track to expand the fleet. This year, im, again, advocating for this program to continue to receive funding, because we know that sustained investment is critical to the health and stability of our defense industry. Again, the only way we look at this is bypassing robust bipartisan bills on time. Secretary austin, can you speak to how the workforce investments that weve been funding, like this program, keep our nation competitive and secure . It goes without saying, senator, thats for the question. But our workforce is absolutely critical. You know, as we we have, our Industrial Base is one of our core strengths, and central to that core strength is the workforce. And as weve been challenged over the years in terms of being able to rapidly expand capacity and capability, some of those challenges our workforce challenges. So, everything that we can do to train and do and empower our workforce, i think is helpful. Its critical. So, i appreciate all that youre doing. I think its the right thing. I asked that we do more in that regard. Senator boozman . Thank you, madam chair. I thank you all for being here. We appreciate all your remarks. Secretary blinken, there is growing concern about the lack of communication between the u. S. And china. I believe you changed the world through personal relationships, and also you deescalate things as they occur, and visiting with some of our allies as we get out and about, theres concern for them that, again, china and the United States are not communicating as well as they should. Can you talk a little bit about that and what steps you take to reach out to your chinese counterparts . Thank you very much, senator. When President Biden and president xi met and volley, one of the things they agreed on was having these lines of communication. At the very least, so that we put a floor under the relationship for some guardrails on it. President xi calls it a safety net. Take your pick up terminology. But it is important because as we all talked about today, we are engaged in intense competition with china across many areas. But it is not in our interest for that competition to turn into conflict if we could do anything to avoid that. We are determined to do that. That starts with communication. So i couldnt agree with you more. I think that we have shown recently bought theres more senior level engagement with china, most recently an ambassador in beijing and the National Security adviser, jake sullivan, meeting with his chinese counterpart over a couple of days in europe. That is important because what we believe would be the right course is to now see more senior level engagement in a sustained way across our administration and theirs. Precisely so that we can make sure that at the very least we are talking to each other. That we are making very clear what we stand for, what are intended, is what we are looking for, as well as finding areas of cooperation, including as we were talking about, on Something Like synthetic opioids, on fentanyl. I also think, senator, that it is not only what is in our interest but the rest of the world looks to us to manage this relationship responsibly. We are determined to do that. I appreciate that. Like i said, i think there has been concern among some of our allies in that part of the world that we can do a better job, certainly they can do a better job so they could make that work. Madam secretary, we had a very good conversation the other day about trade, i know that you feel it was important. We feel it was important. Can you tell us what the challenge is or obstacles that you anticipate in facing and establishing additional trade, many of the potential partners in the region do not want to choose between us and china but they want to hedge their bets as far as where they do business. What are some of the obstacles to getting additional training opportunities going . Thank you, senator. First let me say i want to echo something that tony just said. The Commerce Department is very focused on export controls and we will be vigilant and aggressive as possible. We will protect what we must. But we want to trade where we can. That includes with china. We have no interest to decouple. Many jobs in america depend upon trade with china and things outside of technology completely unrelated to our National Security, and i do think it is important that you hear that from me that we want to treat where we can. With respect i agree. I appreciate you studying that. Thank you. With respect to the rest of the region, i think it is a few things. First, it is showing up. So the Commerce Departments budget, the president s budget, calls for additional funding for Foreign Commercial Service president s in the indopacific. One of the most dynamic, fastestgrowing regions of the world economically. We need to be there, we need to be doing business we need to promote our own exports there. Secondly, as we have discussed, the indopacific framework although not a trade agreement, weve discussed that, it is significant. If we are successful i believe we will be, and getting 14 countries to sign on to a supply chain agreement of Critical Minerals and infrastructure, it will bring more u. S. Industry trade, investment to the region. And i think that is all incredibly important. It is not so much obstacles, because they want us in the region. It is trying, and we shouldnt make these countries choose, but we should be their partner of choice and i believe that we will be when you show up and the way that we are and we need to continue to. Thank you very much, thank you madam chair. Senator murphy . Thank you madam chair. And vice chair for this very important reading, thank you all for joining this afternoon. China is not ten feet tall. They are tall, they are getting taller, but we still enjoy certain definitive events. One of those advantages is our story. Our story, of participatory democracy and open economy is the story of the last 100 years and it can be the story of the next 100 years. So i want to talk to you for one minute, secretary blinken, about our investment in telling the story. But also making sure to push back against false narratives coming out of beijing. It is hard to tell exactly how much money they are spending on their operation, but it is more than us, they are making a lot of mistakes with the information that they spread so they are not flawless in the execution of their misinformation and propaganda. But they do threaten to dwarf ours over the next 10 to 20 years if we do not really get smart about spending more money and spending it any more coordinated way. So you have proposed 12 increase to the Global Engagement center which is the state departments capacity, but that does not feel like a big enough number. And so i wonder if you could just say a word about the importance of the capacity, the importance of the other capacities or agencies have, and we have preauthorized the Global Engagement center. We actually have to get that done by the end of the year in order to make sure that we can continue to push back against these narratives around the world. Thank you for raising that, senator. I think what we are seeing is a number of countries who are in the business of trying to weaponize information as part of competition, or in some cases adversarial relationship with us. One of the reasons we established the Global Engagement center was precisely to be able to push back effectively on that. But with the truth, not with misinformation or disinformation, so the g ece is working with other federal agencies to direct, to lead, to synchronize, and to coordinate our efforts to understand the sources, the trends, in the efforts to spread this and misinformation. Also, to compete in the information space, even when it is not disinformation. With regard to china, the ge sea plays a very Important Role. Just to give a few examples, in our own hemisphere, the western hemisphere, we see china being very active. It is supported Journalistic Research on messaging tactics that china engages in. It has helped them assess their influence in the information environment in the western hemisphere, and we have helped them build out regional expertise in africa. Weve engaged in Capacity Building workshops with scientologys to help People Better understand the influence that china is wielding, its ambitions, and to make this finding public. A final thing, together with the consolidated place that we built in the department to bring all of our china expertise together, we are engaged with proactive messaging to push back on something that is very interesting that china does and russia does. They provided, free of charge, theyre equivalent of the Associated Press to country after country and so if you are getting up in the morning, and dozens of countries, and listening to the news, or reading a newspaper, you are getting information that sounds like it is being locally produced but is in fact directly from the wire service of china or the russian federation. We are now making available to these countries the Associated Press, reuters, and other objective sources of information. It is incredibly important information, thank you for leading. Give us one last piece of advice on taiwan policy to the extent that it gets brought into our discussion about appropriation, youve recommended significant changes in taiwan policy to bolster economic relations security relations, cultural relations, but you have warned congress against implicit security guarantees, or implicit formal recognition of taiwan, recognizing symbols of sovereignty. You have not seen, you do not predict a return on investment related u. S. Security. If we essentially overturn the one china policy and the taiwan relations act. Does not continue to be your recommendation to the congress . It does, the policy the administration after administration has pursued over five decades, republican and democratic alike, grounded in the one china policy, the taiwan relations act of the three communiques has done very well. It has done very well for taiwan, for us, and ironically, arguably done well for the prc because it is preserved. Peace and stability. It has put in place an understanding by which up until now, everyone refrains from taking unilateral actions to try to change the status quo. And thats potentially creating a crisis that would have global effects. One of the concerns that we have going back some years is that beijing no longer seems to except the status quo and taiwan has been taking steps to various kinds to increase the pressure to coerce taiwan and to contemplate perhaps the use of force at some point in the future. I think country after country around the world is increasingly making clear to beijing that that would have catastrophic consequences for everyone. We have 50 of world trade that goes through the street every single day. 7 , manufactured on taiwan. If there were to be a crisis that would result in unilateral action taken by china with regard to taiwan we would have a Global Economic crisis on our hands that country after country would be affected by. But at the same time, we have been resolute. Absolutely resolute in our support for taiwan including its ability to defend itself, to make sure that it has the ability to engage throughout the International System, and with countries around the world, we have ourselves increased our engagement and a whole variety of ways with taiwan because we take very seriously our commitments and again, it goes back many years. I think the basic framework has been in place for many decades over many administrations, and it has served us well, and disrupting that status quo would actually not be in our interest. Thank you. Thank you, senator fischer . Thank you madam chair. I have a number of issues that i would like to touch on today so i will try to not make a long statement. I hope all of you will answer with a short response as well. Secretary austin, section 12 62 of last years ndaa required that both the department of defense and state submit a comprehensive report on the bilateral access agreements to congress. These are agreements with overflight basing agreements, agreements for logistics support, or refuelling support. That report is doing a couple of weeks. Will it be on time . It will. Great. How many planned cooperative Security Locations Forward Operating locations or fuel support points require access agreements that currently do not exist . As you know, there are a number of agreements that we continue to pursue. Of course, when the need arises, when an operation is being conducted, no matter what, even if we have agreements we will have to go back in to that country and request those. We have done something as recently to increase our locations that were operating with our allies and partners in the region. For example, the philippines, a good example of that. We continue to work with countries like japan and australia to ensure that we can rotate forces in and out. And so we are making significant progress. It would be really helpful to have those agreements in place before the are needed. Correct . That is correct. Thank you for the work you are doing on that. Secretary blinken, are you coordinating with the department of defense on these agreements . Absolutely. Thank you. Secretary raimondo, when you were before the cds subcommittee, we brought up, i brought up and we had a discussion over replacing being in an emergency that we have to be aware of with the wall that is installed, im being able to have that funded, do believe that Congress Needs to consider all of the legislative options on the table right now in order to address this emergency . I certainly believe that it poses a National Security risk, and it remains an american network, including near military bases, and i think that congress should fully fund the fccs ripped and replaced program. Thank you. I will quote senator kennedy, i happen to have a bill for that, and i hope that my colleagues will consider that, and we have been working on a bill and hopefully we can use some of those, obligated covid19 funds to fill that gap that exists there. Secretary austin, i appreciate the prior discussions that we have had about the departments fiscal year 2024 budget request, and how it addresses munitions, production issues that we are facing in this country. And i agree that the current request is a step in the right direction. I also think there is more that we can do and i think that there is more that we have to do. From your perspective, would it be useful to be able to add additional munitions multi year procurement authority, and help us to remove some of the low value, i would say contracting requirements that are out there when we are setting up these future contracts . It very much would, senator, and let me thank you for what congress is doing, has done, and i hope well do in terms of its authority for a multi procurement actions. That has been very helpful. As you know, we are asking for some 30 billion dollars to invest in munitions which is just about the limit of what industry can produce in this next year. I have been very concerned about our munitions requirements that we have for ourselves, the security of our nation, but we also obviously have contracts and supplied to other nations as well. Secretary blinken, you testified recently than the long providing equipment for taiwan to defend itself is the production capacity. Do we have the same issue with Foreign Military sales to other nations as well besides that . We do. I think that let me put it this way secretary of state, i have signed out more cases than any of my predecessors. We are looking at ways to make my Department Even more efficient and i know that our colleagues are doing the same thing. But if you actually look at the calendar, the schedule of these things, where we have a challenge is on the production and. And there are a whole variety of reasons, as you know, for that. That is actually changing as a result of intense engagement in the industry. It is changing because of ukraine and the russian aggression. There is growing demand around the world that is getting production lines that have been dormant and moving again but unfortunately it is not flipping a light switch. We are focused on that, and the secretary of defense is doing this every day. Thank you. Senator peters . Thank you madam chair. First of all i thank the panel for being here today and discussing u. S. Economic competitiveness, especially with respect to china. I am particularly focused on ensuring that we are competing and winning at every single level of our economy. That means both in attracting and retaining talent in stem and Technology Innovation including a i. As well as making sure that americas Manufacturing Sector remains the best in the world by first of supporting a strong workforce on the shop room floor, but also just making sure that we are making things in our country. I dont believe you could be a great country unless you make things which is why manufacturing is absolutely essential to that. One example of this dual competitiveness imperatives Autonomous Vehicles. That technology represents the future for mobility. And if the west is going to be a leader in the future of the automotive industry, we have to find ways of not only developing Autonomous Vehicle technology in america, but we also need to manufacture it here in america and deploy it in our country as well. That is why i have worked along on legislation to ensure that america can manufacture this Cutting Edge Technology so we do not use the race with china. Theyve invested massive amounts of money in this technology and they believe that the technology represents in some ways the moon shot for Artificial Intelligence because of the complexity of it and i dont want to be in a position where we are playing catchup for years like we have been in areas like semiconductor chips. Madam secretary, my question is for you. How is the department of commerce working to ensure that its strategy on economic competitiveness, particularly with china, reflects strong support not only for Just Research and development but also the making of things and manufacturing with workers here in the United States. Thank you senator. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to get back into the business of making more things in america. And as my colleagues know, no one believes that more than President Biden. We are doing a number of things ensuring that we can regain our rejuvenate our Manufacturing Sector. First and foremost is the chips act. We create hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. This budget calls for increased investments and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership which would provide Technical Assistance to small manufacturers, which is the majority of manufacturers, even in michigan. All the small suppliers. They will help them to become more digitized to do training, et cetera. We are also investing in a great deal of money and job training and apprenticeship initiatives with the focus on the manufacturing. So in the interest of time i will simply say that we took our eye off the ball as a country in manufacturing. We thought that we could in search of cheap labor outsource everything and now we have problems in our supply chain. We are overly dependent. It is a National Security risk. We have to improve that. The final thing i will say is this. And the budget that we propose we are asking for additional funding to establish a supply chain office at the Commerce Department so that we could be in the business of proactively monitoring and predicting supply chain challenges before they have been and not just be reactive and that would be immensely helpful to us to rejuvenate manufacturing. Thank you. Certainly all of you know that china is an ever evolving threat to our nation as well as our federal government systems. Yet despite this r mean federal cybersecurity law, the federal Information Security act has not been updated for a decade. Secretary austin, i want to ask this question for you. In both the Chinese Government through cyber calm as well as protecting d. O. T. Systems from cyberattack, could you discuss how they empower and benefit from the department of Homeland Securitys mission to protect federal infrastructure here in the homeland and how this committee could support that effort. Thank you, senator. Let me agree with what you have said in terms of china being a persistent cyber threat. It is absolutely the case. As you know, d. O. D. Andy dhs continuously collaborate and ensure information in order to be able to better protect our information in the domestically, but not only do we share intelligence, we actually coauthor advisories when the time, when the occasion presents itself. We also share best practices. So we are very, very tightly connected. But again, the ability to help even more would be welcome and so to your point, everything we could do to ensure that we have the freedom to do that, or the ability to do that would be helpful. Thank you madam chair. Senator . Thank you madam chair. Thank you to senator brit for a differing. I appreciate that. Thank you for your leadership. I appreciate it. I am going to talk about the arctic. Secretary austin, you noted yourself on a trip to alaska in 21, you said here in alaska, we are aware the indopacific nation and us, as an arctic nation, intersect these two critical regions. This is where we could project power in both regions and where we must be able to defend ourselves from threats coming from both places. It is also where we could better posture ourselves and prepare for climate changes that will impact our future. Secretary blinken, you were in anchorage conducting a summit with china just recognizing the geostrategic location of that there. We had a classified briefing this morning with the general and the general is very, very upfront in saying that our direct investment in our capable platforms training and infrastructure continues to lag. You heated that again this morning. So i want to move us because when we talk about the indopacific it is not just about the islands of the secretary, i think we recognize that it extends all the way up north and when we are thinking about china, and where china is partnering right now and where russias gaining advantage even at a time of sanctions coming at them because this awful war in ukraine, the two of them are partnering in bilateral relationships with everything from what is going on in the water, to moving oil from russia to evades those sanctions and help fund putins war. Last year we saw come across the gulf of alaska with chinese and russian ships, warships. There were 75 miles from alaska. We are nervous about all that is happening there and i think that you all probably would agree that we have reason to be nervous. So what we do in sending that message, it comes down to policies, it comes down to personnel, to the senators point, the president has named an arctic ambassador at large. We need to get that moving. Thank you for that. Weve put in place some additional personnel to help on the personal side. Policies, we need to know that the secretary austin, you are right here with us in acknowledging the need to have a deep water port in the arctic. Senator brit and i were down in alabama checking on the security cutters. They are coming but they are not coming fast enough. We need a commercially available icebreaker up there soon because we are not going to see our security cutters for three or four years. Probably longer than the. Because it will be down in antarctica. So we are exposed. We are talking about the u. S. And china relationship. Lets remember how it kind of comes together, unfortunately, because of russia in our proximity there. So i want to ask you, secretary austin, we have waited, acknowledged that we upgraded our strategy. That is so important. But i think that we all recognize the strategy without action is just a paper. When i look at the projects that weve submitted, only seeking funding for two projects and one of the most strategic locations in our country, we talked about what was on the unfunded priority list and theres a lot there. But it causes me to question whether or not we are appropriately resourcing what we need to do in order to have the level of preparedness. The level of deterrence that i think we would hope to see. So secretary as you all know, senator, we have some of our most valued assets in alaska. We have f22s, f35s we are happy about it. That is right. And we are taking very good care of them up there. But we just stood up the 11th airborne, which is going to continue to provide great capability. I asked to invest this year over the horizon radar which would increase our awareness. Last year i asked for 300 and 73 million to advance. So we are going to continue to invest to increase awareness. We will continue to do things, the kind of things that we are doing as we speak. Going in alaska, in the great north, we need more of that with allied partners to make sure that we can operate efficiently and effectively in that environment. We will look to continue to invest france but your points are taken. Thank you. I am out of time. But secretary blinken acknowledging that we could always do more on the personnel side. We are always working with you on that. Thank you. Senator merkley. Thank you all and secretary blinken, we have china engaged in slave labor with the million we had them taken away to boarding schools when they are just five or six years old. We have china stripping the Political Rights of hong kong. Is it fair to say that china is a massive human rights violator . Yes. Is this alone a reason to encourage our companies to develop supply chains elsewhere . In and of itself, i think companies who do not want to face a moral hazard would see it that way, yes. And we have seen that china is flexing its muscles very much in the Pacific Region. I want to thank you for visiting vietnam. How important it is it for china in the region . First, asean itself is vital because it brings together, as you know, all the Southeast Asian nations. They sometimes feel more comfortable tackling a challenging issue collectively as opposed to individually. But for us the bilateral relationship as well as the relationship with asean are increasing in importance we have a growing relationship with vietnam and we had the president of the philippines here for a very important visit there as well as we work in my department has done. I just wish that it didnt take two days. It is hard for the legislator it means a lot if we go, a lot of members and the administration. I strongly applaud and encourage what committees are doing. I think its absolutely vital and it is very important that our counterparts here from you directly with the concerns of the prerogatives of congress. Secretary, you noted that in search of cheap labor we lost manufacturing jobs in the United States, the supply chains moved overseas and particularly, primarily true in china. That effort really gave, i will put it this way, do you agree that the trade relationship with china and the enormous number of supply chain factories arent move from the u. S. And china help accelerate chinas path to wealth and power. Sir, in some ways, yes, i would agree. Well, in many ways, because they ran huge surpluses and it allowed them to invest massively, including helping the belt and Road Initiative. As we look at how china behaves in the world, and the factors of competition, should we be encouraging our companies to develop in the countries in the region . I think companies are certainly increasing risks with operating in china. You are seeing in recent months, chinese officials without notice, reading American Companies. I think every company has to make these decisions and secretary blinken said that they are risks associated with it. What we are doing in the indopacific, and there was recently in india, and the president s posting working with those countries to increase our economic relationship or partnership. But also working to help American Companies be sure that thank you. I love the word reassured. Thank you. I have one more question that i wanted to get in before my time is up but i appreciate that. I just want to acknowledge that even as we are sitting here worrying about the wealth and power of china and continues to grow in part because of the massive amount of products that we buy from china. Which is, in my mind, recent incursion. Ive heard two strategies in relation to taiwan and one is the Taiwan Strait as a very difficult case of water to cross. And we can do a massive amount to turn taiwan into a porcupine with inexpensive weapons that can take out expensive weapons and that lays out a whole strategy and it is important in the context of xis argument that he wants to be military prepared to take out taiwan in 2027. I also heard the argument that we need to greatly enhance our ability to conduct war directly against china including prepositioning tons of material and weapons so forth. And those are two very different strategies. Which strategy do you think its most important . Actually senator, things. I think theyre both important. Number one we have learned the number of important lessons from ukrainians war with russia. And one of those lessons is with asymmetric capabilities and techniques, a smaller forest can do a very good job and defending themselves against a larger forest to turn themselves almost into a porcupine and make it difficult for the larger for us to digest. But in terms of the China Program at large my mandate is to make sure that we continue to deter china on a daily basis and the way that she deter another forest is by making sure that you have a combat credible capability. And investing into things that we know will provide us the edge. And any kind of contest is the right thing to do. The right thing to do. That includes, in some cases, moving things forward and prepositioning things. So i think that it takes both of those approaches to have a complete deterrent capability. Thank you. A lot to explore their. The time is up. Thank you. Thank you chairman. I think each of you for being here today. I greatly appreciated. Secretary blinken, secretary armando, thank you for the time youve given us these last few weeks on this important issue. Particularly, the issue of fentanyl. I hope to be able to dive into that more today. Secretary austin, im actually going to start with you. A special welcome. To a fellow alabamians and a university postgraduate. Secretary austin, i truly believe that we achieve peace through strength. I grew up outside the gates that has recently been named for no bissell. I saw the sacrifice of our service men and women i saw the sacrifice was not just there is. It was that of their entire family. Giving so that our country could remain safe and strong. I have a deep appreciation for men and women in uniform and for the families who also served. As i think about d. O. D. s modernization efforts, alabama has continued to play a vital role. Across our great state, our defense Industrial Base is leading efforts ranging from hypersonics, direct energy, modern modernization of a robbery wing aircraft, National Security space launch, contested logistics and manufacturing and assembling key missile programs such as chaplain, jasmine, and joe gum. This is just a sampling of what their talent and capabilities provided to the defense and National Security community as we face impending threats from the prc. You have been in the seat now for nearly two and a half years. On a scale of eight to f, what grade would you give yourself on aligning the d. O. D. To the National Defense strategy and ensuring the joint force is able, willing, and ready to address the multi domain threat that is posed by china . I would give my team a very high mark. As you heard me say a couple of times today, senator, everything we do is focused on our National Defense strategy. You specifically aligned your budget request to that strategy. It will provide us with the capabilities, and so everything that we do is aligned with the strategy. So number one, it is the right strategy. Number two we are focused on the execution of it. Thank you for that answer. I think we owe it to the American People that we have the resources to ensure that we have the most lethal and best equipped military in the world. Secretary austin, i would be remiss if i did not touch on one more topic. As we consider the multi domain threat that is posed by the prc, particularly from a space perspective, as the leader of the department of defense i implore you to cut through the text and make a final basing decision for the u. S. Space head command headquarters. As you know, huntsville arsenal finished first in both the air forces Evaluation Phase and the selection phase. That leaves no doubt that the air forces decision to twos red stone as the preferred location was correct. And it was done on the merits. That decision should remain in the air forces preview. Media reports have said that the president and those in the white house are preparing to prioritize partisan Political Considerations at the expense of our National Security, military modernization, and our forest readiness. For me, that is deeply disturbing. When you look at this you said earlier in order to compete and succeed against china we must use all of our tools. When you look at that we know those tools are there at Redstone Arsenal. When you look at the city of huntsville in the past two years they have been ranked by u. S. News and world report as number one and number two places to live in the United States. The city also has been ranked number three and most affordable places to live in the country. It was number three in the cities nationwide search for best quality of life and number four, as the most prosperous place in america i could go on and on about the actual city of huntsville and the accolades that have been rightfully given to them. The bottom line its not only is their workforce the best prepared to support Space Commands mission, but also the city of huntsville is the best place for that work for us to thrive and to live the american dream. Locating the permanent Space Command headquarters on Redstone Arsenal undoubtedly remains in the best National Security interest of the United States. He referenced it earlier in your remarks that the buildup of china in both space and cyberspace. My colleague said that he said the u. S. Had a flawed and feeling political system. Do not prove him right. Urge the president to take the politics out of this. Do what is best for making sure that we are ready and capable to face china on all fronts. Urge him to allow the air force to do their job. It is certainly, in my opinion, a past time. Thank you. Senator manchin . Very good. First of all i want to thank you for your Tremendous Service to our country. All three of you. Just a few things, everything has been said so well and where we are doing well, where we can improve, and all of us agree. I had my differences with the administration on the speed of which they are trying electric vehicles and we cannot see we dont have the process, and we do not have the votes. But they are determined to put vehicles out and relying on china for that. I have concerns there. They know it, and we all work through that. The thing i want to bring up is not, whether it be the ships, the missiles, the guns, the bullets, Everything Else that we have to do and what ukraine has shown us in the world, ive been thinking about one thing that makes us different. It is our allies that trust us, believe in us. More than that it is the compassion of humanity that we have. The aid. With over disagreements, i want to thank you all for increasing the aid budget to our allies and our friends and people in need. My grandmother used to say that the best thing you could do is feed somebody. It changes everything. It changes everything. And for that, does any other country do what we do in human aid . As i am understanding it, we never put a condition on food, or health care, or any of that, how we . Senator, we have not, you are 100 right. If you were to just take one very quick example, world troop program, critical. The United States provide more than 40 of its budget china and russia each provide less than 1 of its budget. I could go down the list. Of organizations that are providing i just, we didnt talk about aid. Im here for a couple of hours and we have not talked about the strength we have as the United States of america. It is the heart and soul, the humanitarian, its everything that we are, and so when i go to the other countries, i say when things get tough, youve got to depends on someone. And its going to be the u. S. I think they want to. We can have all the military might in the world, but with having our allies, behind us to fight for us, to me that means almost everything. That makes us different. As long as we do that, and continue that aid, and you all show a bit of a budget increase, about three billion dollars, but it is money well invested and not spending it, we are investing it. Anything you think we could do along those lines with the food and health care and necessities that people have around the world, unless our military is involved or we have strict oversight on how this food and humanitarian aid is distributed. I feel good when i see or military distributing it. But sometimes i know well meaning programs are not seeming to get to the right people. Or we get credit as a country. I could not agree with you more. One of the things we did during covid and providing vaccines, free of charge with no political strings attached, through an international we make sure was branded. It was coming from the United States. When i was traveling around the world country after country has thanked us profusely for coming to their aid and their moment of need in a way different. Back together the only thing i have said is that we cannot change, we cannot change the values of other countries that do not have our same values. And that is basically, i love democracy. We cannot change that. We get caught up sometimes. But i will say this, and i will close on this. I have been long enough that if we didnt fight in vietnam, the communist would come into the country. I remember the goal for that if we didnt go over there disrupt economic markets. I remember the iraq war if we didnt fight a war in iraq we wouldnt have what was the mass in my lifetime this is the only involvement that we have been with the war is the most just cause ive ever seen. Exactly what the United States of america should be is that light on the beaming mountain basically shining bright saying that we will defend democracy wherever people seek it and we will make sure that we do not leave them. And i hope that we maintain that posturing with ukraine. My grandfather used to say when we got in trouble i said that is all i need. If the United States stays behind ukraine until their test hurts they will know it forever. Weve got to win dot and weve got to continue to be committed in our allies so i think you for your services and secretary, i know you lost your mother and ive been thinking about that and it is very difficult and i hope that you are all right and that you are getting through this. All you have our memories and theyve got to be beautiful. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. And thanks to the Ranking Member for holding this hearing today. Thank you to all of you for being here. Secretary austin, the chinese are pcs dramatically building its nuclear capabilities. Are you committed to making sure that we continue to modernize our Nuclear Forces . I am, senator. As you can see from our budget request the promised to continue the modernization efforts are reflected and the budget. Thank you, i appreciate that support. It is vitally important. For both of you secretary, and for the secretary of state blinken, are we providing the weapons that ukraine needs to end the war, to win the war however you define that, rather than stalemate . There has been talk about certain longrange artillery, and so forth. Tanks, are they getting the Weapon Systems that they need to make sure that we end this conflict and they did not end up in a stalemate . Yes, i believe they are. This is something that the minister of defense, the ukrainian minister of defense and i talk about on your weekly basis. Certainly we meet every month along with the and minister of defense in some 50 countries. And we discuss what their needs are and we mobilize the support to provide most recently, you heard us talking about the requirements for air defense. That was a thing that they needed most. What we have seen here in the last couple of days is that focus on air defense has been very helpful for ukrainians as we saw the latest barrage from russia and they defended their skies very skillfully. I think that we are and i think that going forward, we will hopefully see the ukrainians begin to change the dynamics on the battlefield. And can they do that with air to ground as well as patriot systems, as well as more aircraft . Right now these guys on both sides it is absolutely lethal. Anytime you put any meaningful number of aircraft to the sky one or the other is going to shoot it down. So i think that the capability will continue to evolve in terms of what ukraine has understand where you are going with this. Secretary blinken, ending the war, winning the war versus a stalemate. Also very much agree with the secretary of defense, let me add one element if i could. One of the things ive heard my colleague say from the beginning and if you go back to before the beginning, we did drawdown analysis of critical equipment well before russia, so to make sure that the ukrainians hadnt and what they needed to repel the aggression. We did it on christmas, we did it quietly, as to not give the russians some excuse. But we did it. As a result, it allowed them to repel the attack against kyiv, and that whole area was very successful. What weve done every single step along the way is try to adjust to where the war was, where the aggression was, to give the ukrainians what they need to take back the land that has been seized from them. The other critical element that we talk about on a regular basis is the Weapon System is critical. But they do not know how to use it and it doesnt do a lot of good. The maintenance, of the thing is going to fall apart in a week because they cannot maintain it it does not do you a lot of good. And of course the tactics for bringing all of these different systems together. All of that is something that the secretary and the chairman of the joint chiefs has been deeply focused on. And the ukrainians need to be able to get back the land that has been seized from them. Talking about and ending Winning Strategy with the ukrainians and to the American People i think would be helpful in terms of the support that we are doing over here. I think it is important and you need to be explaining that to the American People as part of the support effort. I was recently in both south korea and taiwan. One of the things i am hearing in both cases but certainly from taiwan is that they have ordered about 19 and a half billion dollars worth of military hardware. Very advanced hardware back to the strategy. They need that sooner than later. We also have a situation in ukraine. We also her own domestic needs. How do we get the military, and us to be able to produce these weapons. Particularly the ones we need in these key situations sooner. How do we help them get that done . The highend capabilities hard work as you are talking about, some of it is aircraft and it is ordered, paid for, agreed to. We leaned to that as a group of senior people together to look at where the bumps in the road were and where the friction was. So we did that, and we continually tried to eliminate all of the friction points that we possibly can. There are multiple elements going to this equation, as you know. And we have worked with state to see what you can do to compress timelines. Coming out of two years of covid, part of the industry which is some of it, because of that, some things are going to take a bit longer. In terms of weapons systems, we continue to engage in industry leadership. I talked with ceos, my deputy talks with ceos, not to only work with them to expand their cape possibly or capability but too begin to shrink the amount of time that is necessary to produce a particular product. And in some cases, we have been very successful. Some things are sophisticated to the point where we are not quite there yet but we will continue to work on it. Pgms, for example. It takes a long time, typically to make one, i think that there are things we can do as we look at how we produce those to begin to shorten that process, those processes as well. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. Senator van hollen . Thank you, madam chair. And i think all of you for your testimony and for your service. Secretary austin, thank you for being one of a long line of secretaries who recognizes that in addition to getting a robust Defense Budget to do the work that you and your team at the Defense Department do, we need to adequately fund other elements of our National Security, like the state department diplomacy, and development, like the secretary of commerce and her team. And im fairly satisfied that at the end of the day here we will have a budget that meets the needs of the Defense Department. But im really worried about what were seeing coming out of the house of representatives right now in terms of its impact on other critical elements of our National Security budget. So, i want to ask a couple of questions starting with secretary raimondo, and i also want to say were sorry about the loss of your mom. I know she was proud of the work that you are doing. And let me ask you about that because President Biden laid out a really important vision about the need to invest in innovation, and to invest in which ruminating our Manufacturing Sector, the chips and science act was a big part, as you said. Weve done a piece of funding on the chips part, but we better follow through on the science part, that is the a. I. , thats the quantum computing, thats the other critical elements of technology where china has said that they intend to try to dominate by the year 2025 and beyond. I know that if we do what we need to do in this country, we will continue to have our Competitive Edge, but not if we dont. So, that is one element. The other element, and youve spoken to this in your testimony, is we want to make sure that is we developed a very advanced technologies, including semiconductors and the equipment to manufacture semiconductors, we dont want to fall in the hands of the prc military. And thats why we have worked with our allies and partners, you and secretary blinken and others, work with our partners to make sure that we get an agreement to prevent that from happening. The agency and government that really focuses on implementing that is the b. I. S. , right . The bureau of information and security. And could you just described in a little more detail what will happen, if we go back to 2022 funding levels for this department . It seems to be an entity that fights way above its way, and it is essential in this effort. Can you speak to the impact of keeping our technologies out of the hands of chinas military, and the importance, in terms of the impact on imposing pain on russias economy and slowing down putins war machine. Yes, thank you, senator. Good afternoon and thank you for your sympathy. My family and i appreciate that. First, let me say that our competition with china increasingly revolves around technology. The United States of america, our innovation ecosystem, our entrepreneurship, are the envy of the world. And we need to keep it that way. And that means investing. Investing in talent, investing in research and development, investing in this. This has 1 Million Dollar backlog and offered maintenance, as it relates to Artificial Intelligence, quantum, cyber, et cetera. At the same time, we are behind a billion. China is massively investing in their neutrality institute. So, i strongly believe, as you say, that we have to lean into research and development and invest in science. Ships is an excellent beginning, but it isnt just chips, it is bio manufacturing, it is Critical Minerals, its other areas of advanced manufacturing, and we will not be able to compete. We lead china now in a i. We lead china now in semiconductors. And we have to continue to invest in maintaining the lead. B. I. S. , i appreciate you saying we punch above our weight. I have to agree. Theres only about 500 and somewhat people that work in b. I. S. , which is obviously quite small. If we go back to fy 22 funding levels, we would be down 125 slots. As a percentage of what the 583 ftes, that is crushing. Within days of, you mentioned russia and ukraine within days of the invasion, the Commerce Department working with the inner agency led a 36 Country Coalition to enact sweeping export controls that to this day, you know, reduces russias ability to continue their war. With respect to china, last year, we did, you know, hundreds of in use checks related to the prc. I mean, in october, we put forth the most sweeping Semiconductor Export controls ever and our countrys history. Just last month, we did a 300 Million Dollar penalty on a company because they were violating export controls by selling hard disks to huawei, and on, and on, and on. So, were out of time, so i will stop. But it is a very real risk for our National Security to cut the funding of b. I. S. And i think secretary austin and my colleagues would agree. Well, thank you, and i see time is out, i do want to say, secretary blinken, thank you for all your efforts, your testimony on the indopacific. I was gonna ask you about the Maritime Security issue which president marcos, when he was here, emphasize, and in a trip i took with senator merkley to vietnam and indonesia, it was clear they wanted to protect their territorial waters, theyre eezs, their fisheries, and their resources, and were on the same page here. And if we cut that budget, we will not be able to meet our commitment. So, i want to thank you and your team as well. I thank you for your engagement and leadership on this. Its making a big difference. And one of the things we are working very hard on with allies and partners in the region is to increase what we call that a maritime domain awareness, so that they know whats going on in the waters around them which is so vital to those countries. And thats part of our budget. We dont want to change that either. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. Senator hydesmith . Thank you, madam chair. And i want to thank our distinguished panel today for the willingness to serve and the willingness to step up. We certainly appreciate that. You know, i am from mississippi. And were just very proud that we have played such a significant role in contributing to our Nations Defense capabilities. From shipbuilding to aerospace technology, we have a tremendous talented workforce in mississippi. We have families that have worked in that shipyard for generations. And we just do this very well. And, you know, it does demonstrate our ability to have high quality defense systems, and they do protect our servicemen and our service woman. But the rapid and unprecedented modernization of chinas military and naval fleet is specifically of great concern, as many members here have demonstrated today and ask questions about. Secretary austin, this question is gonna be for you, the security of our National Interest and those of our allies will rely on ensuring the United States maintains air dominance as part of its potential future conflict in the Pacific Region. As part of our air dominance strategy, will you describe that departments efforts to modernize the k c 1 35 fleet, and the k c 46 fleet. And will you also explain the role and significance of the Air National Guard and refuelling missions in the Pacific Region . Thanks, senator. First of all, our refuelling capability is rivaled by not. That is a strategic advantage, and i think it gives us a reach, gives us the ability to project power in ways that no other countries even comes close to. So, as youve seen from our budget request, you know, some 60 billion dollars to invest in aircraft, and to modernize aircraft across the board. We want to make sure that we are able to go after that capabilities that we need. And also, not have to carry capabilities that we dont need anymore, which will prevent us from modern, modernizing the fleet. But were gonna continue to invest in platforms that help us maintain that edge, that i just talked about. But our tanker fleet is truly amazing. As is our national guard, obviously, it bunches above its weight class in every endeavor, and certainly, they add significant value to the world. Thank you for that. Do you anticipate any roadblocks in ensuring that current Air National Guard refuelling units, such as the 186 air if you will or wing in mississippi receive the k c 56, and that we have funded that process adequately. Well, i would certainly i work with the secretary of the air force to visit his specific plans on that unit going forward. And we will get back to you with a detailed answer on the plans. Okay, and i have another month and a half left. And im gonna take advantage of that before we end this very long day. But secretary austin, the rate at which the Biden Administration and your department are requesting funding to modernize our navy is being significantly outpaced by china, as we all know. If this Committee Work to provide additional funding towards ship procurement, how would your department use it, to address the growing threats from china in the indoPacific Region . Well, certainly, i truly believe that we have gone after those capabilities that help us conduct the strategy that weve laid out for ourselves. And i think, you know, comparing numbers is part of the equation, but not the whole equation. Capability, having the right capabilities, the right mix of capabilities, is the major issue here. If you look at our navy, we are the most combat Credible Navy on the face of the planet. Im gonna work to keep it that way. And i think we are investing in the right things, nine battleships, is what were asking for in this budget. And were gonna go after the capabilities that industry can produce for us. Were also gonna continue to invest in the infrastructure and in the Industrial Base. So, we ask you for four billion dollars to do that this year, 2. 7 inside up, and another 1. 2 billion dollars in the submarine base. And i would end by saying that as you know, our underwater capability is matched by none on the planet. And we continue to invest our submarines, the columbia class and its budget, to virginia class submarine, and i think that will help us maintain the edge. Thank you for your answer. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you very much. That concludes our question and answer period. Senator collins, would you like to make any Closing Remarks . Thank you, madam chair. I just want to thank our witnesses for asking, for answering our questions today. There will be additional questions, im sure, for the record. But, thank you for your presence. Thank you. And i want to thank vice chair collins and all of my colleagues, weve had a really good turnout today, for such a thoughtful discussion. And i specially want to thank our witnesses, secretary austin, secretary blinken, secretary raimondo, for sharing your time and knowledge with us today. I look forward now talking with all my colleagues, to take what we have learned today, and make sure that we do quickly markup spending bills that make the investments that we need to compete with the Chinese Government. Lets not parse words here. The prc poses a serious and growing challenge, economically and in terms of our National Security. So, we have to be clear that tackling this challenge isnt just about how we much spent on the military, because if we talk about defense spending, and undercut our critical programs, we are setting ourselves up to lose the 21st century to china. Building semiconductors here at home as a matter of urgent National Security. It requires investments in r d, advanced manufacturing, reliable supply chains, and trade partnerships, and a Skilled Workforce that relies on things like childcare, Higher Education, and workforce investments and more. We need to make sure that we invest in america across the board. That means, yes, investing in defense priorities. But also our families and communities here at home, our diplomacy across the world, and our ability to compete globally. So, ill say it again, china doesnt operate on crs. I hope its plain to members on both sides of the aisle that the single strongest way we can send a message to the prc, saying that america is serious about winning the 21st century is to pass robust bipartisan and on time, full year Appropriations Bills. And before i end, i do want to reiterate something that secretary austin spoke to this afternoon, when he testified that he did not seek conflict with the government of china as necessary or inevitable. It is our shared goal that we Work Together to have a productive relationship with china. So, i appreciate all of our witnesses for their work to make that a reality. That will end our hearing today. And for any senators who do wish to ask additional questions, questions for the record will be due in seven days, on tuesday, may 23rd at 5 pm. The hearing record will also remain open until may 23rd for members who wish to submit additional materials for the record. Again, thank you so much to all of our witnesses today. The committee stands adjourned. On wednesday, lawmakers continue their oversight of Regional Bank failures. Former Silicon Valley bank ceo greg becker, and Signature Bank cofounder and former chair scott testified before House Financial Services subcommittee, live at 10 am eastern on cspan 3. Cspan now, our free mobile video app, and online at cspan. Org. Watch video on demand anytime online at cspan. Org, and try our point of interest feature, a timeline tool that uses markers to quickly guide you to newsworthy and interesting highlights of our key coverage, use points of interest anytime online at cspan. Org. Since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, cspan has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress, from the house and Senate Floors to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee meetings. Cspan gives you a front row seat to how issues are debated and decided, with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely unfiltered. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by these Television Companies and more, including comcast. You think this is just a Community Center . No, its way more than that. Comst is partnering with 1000 Community Centers to crte wifi enabled spaces, students with low income families can get the to