▶ 0:06:14Committee on Foreign Affairs will come to order. I'd ask everybody rise, join me in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
▶ 0:06:45Purpose of today's hearing is to discuss the Trump administration's priorities for reforming our defense sales process, including opportunities for congressional action, progress made on implementation of recent executive orders, and potential future efforts. And I will now recognize Ms. Dean for any opening statement that she may have. By all means.
▶ 0:07:12I thank you, Chairman Mast, and I thank Ranking Member Meeks, who is traveling and will be here in minutes. And I'm pleased to sit in just briefly on his stead. I also thank all of you for your work, obviously for coming here to help inform us and inform our policy making and our appropriations, but also for what we do in foreign affairs.
▶ 0:07:36I'm glad we will hear from both State Department's Political-Military Affairs Bureau, along with DOD's Acquisition and Sustainment Under Secretary, and the Director of Defense Security Cooperation Agency. All critical components of the United States security assistance Our witnesses lead thousands of hardworking civil servants. I want to lift them up.
▶ 0:07:59Foreign Service officers, uniformed personnel, and DOD civilians in our national security goals of supporting our allies and partners in furtherance of our values, consistent with our laws, and consistent with congressional oversight. Representative Zinke and I had the privilege of leading a arms sales task I was the ranking member on that. I thank Mr. Meeks for inviting me to do that, and Mr. Zinke served as chair under the auspices of Chairman Mast.
▶ 0:08:30Through our work on the task force, we heard from more than a dozen defense industry executives and trade association officials on all manner of process and reforms. It was not until late July that the majority agreed to allow one, I will point out one Democratic panel, to explore questions of policy related to arms control and verification, civilian harm reduction, and human rights. Only one Republican attended that hearing, though I do thank her for that.
▶ 0:08:58At the self-determined conclusion of our task force work, numerous were presented to this committee in this committee, which described as the outcome of the task force. And while some provided reasonable improvements to process and systems within the security assistance bureaucracy, others, unfortunately, significantly undermined congressional oversight and transparency, which I, along with Ranking Member Meeks and our committee's Democratic members, oppose.
▶ 0:09:24While questions of process are important, and indeed the mechanisms by which national level policy is made, I am sure we will hear plenty about today, we will not ignore or or divorce ourselves from the broader questions of purpose, intent, and strategy. Namely, our goal must not only be to examine the ways, but indeed the ends for which the US provided arms are used abroad.
▶ 0:09:50That's why I must highlight the systemic pattern by this administration, which has ignored, disregarded, and outright blocked appropriate and necessary congressional oversight of US foreign policy, including and especially regarding the use of US-provided arms.
▶ 0:10:09Just yesterday, I was proud to stand with Ranking Member Meeks and every single one of our committee Democratic members in calling for Secretary Rubio and Hegseth, as well as Steve Witcoff and Jared Kushner to appear in public before our committee on critical questions facing our country at war which remain unanswered.
▶ 0:10:30This refusal to publicly argue its case for war, as well as provide not only the two cabinet secretaries, but the two main architects of this administration's foreign policy in the Middle East, Witcoff and Kushner, who have not once appeared before a congressional committee hearing, illustrates this administration's ignorance and deep contempt for Congress's constitutional It is the willful ignorance and contempt we saw just over a week ago when the administration abruptly
▶ 0:11:00and announced it would bypass congressional review to rush more than 20,000 new bombs to Israel worth over $600 million via a little-used emergency authority while the administration insists it was totally prepared for this war. Clearly not.
▶ 0:11:20All of this on top of the multiple occasions last year where the administration ignored the Ranking Member of this committee and numerous Democratic requests for details, answers, and basic matters on its Gaza and Middle East regional policies, instead rushed to authorize to export multiple billions of dollars of arms to Israel.
▶ 0:11:44Yet worse than no clarity, we have an ever-shifting set of rationales for why this administration launched this war in the first place. As more Americans are put in harm's way, harm's way, our allies and partners questioning us, and millions of taxpayer dollars are used to pay for these sales to continue this war through foreign military financing. And as we all know, 16 members, excuse me, 13 members of our military are deceased.
▶ 0:12:14Finally, on top of disregarding basic constitutional oversight, this administration has pulled back from important arms control agreements and deliberately dismantled civilian harm and human rights abuse monitoring offices and programs. All moves which undermine our own interest in the long run and our standing in the world.
▶ 0:12:36I will have specific questions, but broadly speaking, I will need to hear from each of you today how this administration will improve its record of fulfilling this committee's Democratic requests and the basic responsibilities of agencies to the Article 1 branch.
▶ 0:12:53How your bureaus and agencies are squaring the needs and requirements of this open-ended, ill-conceived war with our national interests, as well as why this administration previously refused Ukraine's offer of assistance for counter-drone technology, as recently reported, when our facilities and installations in the Gulf struggle to defeat incoming Iranian drones.
▶ 0:13:19This administration's contempt for Congress, contempt for the law, and contempt for strategies and actions run contrary to our national interests, and it is my prayer that they cease. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back. Thank you. And before I yield to the member from Montana, Representative Zinke, for his opening statement, I'll just say thank you to the administration for the numerous classified briefings that have been provided to brief members of Congress.
▶ 0:13:47And uh I would say as well a thank you for utilizing the emergency powers to send uh those weapon systems to Israel so that people like Ranking Member Meeks don't hold up those sales as they've done traditionally in the past, which is essentially sanctioning our allies in times of conflict, which is beyond stupid. I can't believe that that gets done. And so I thank the administration for uh having the foresight to to work around those incredibly unstrategic acts that end up taking place over and over with my colleagues on the left.
▶ 0:14:17I now recognize Mr. Uh Mr. Zinke for any opening statement that he may have. Uh first of all, I want to thank each of you for your duty and service. It's not easy to serve, um but thank you for stepping up. Uh the country needs you. And just on a on a comment, uh there is a reason why we are fighting in Iran. As a former Navy SEAL commander, I've lost a lot of friends uh due to the actions of Iran in targeting, supplying weapon systems.
▶ 0:14:48And many of my friends aren't here today as a result. It took a president, courageous president, for 47 years. And if there's anyone that that doesn't believe that when the the former Khomeini said, "Death to Israel, death to America," does anyone believe that he didn't mean it?
▶ 0:15:09So when you have nuclear weapons and the capability material, does anyone believe that material wouldn't wouldn't make its way to New York City, perhaps, or LA, or So the world would be a lot better off without Khomeini and his axis of evil between the Houthis, the Hamas, and Hezbollah. And I thank the administration for finally taking a Foreign military sales. Uh we went on a journey, I I thank uh the member from the Commonwealth of uh to look at this in depth.
▶ 0:15:40And I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. Uh it turns out this the foreign military sales initially started with Department of State, primarily for anti-proliferation nuclear weapons. A lot of components uh and systems are targeted for that. Then of course, you have Department of War. What happens is the Department of State meets with the country to put the country says, "This is what I want.
▶ 0:16:05This is what I need in order to have a piece of the arsenal freedom," because there's no doubt our systems are better than anyone else anyone else's. So then it it gets passed over to Department of War, which has a different set of priorities, often times not connected to the COCOM commander or related any op plan. Then it goes into the acquisition And then the the Pentagon, I hate to say it, has 27,000 people over there, mostly fighting for programs.
▶ 0:16:36So the country looks at a a system, they pay for it up front, it goes over to Department of War, it goes to goes to acquisition, and it's substituted off often times because there's program managers that are managing a system that is either obsolete or nearing obsolete. And then of course, it goes over to that neither looks at the op plan nor acquisition, but looks at technology. And as you know, there isn't a database that connects the three.
▶ 0:17:08Folders are being hand-carried between the departments because there's not a In Article 1, we have a primary responsibility of oversight and the power of the purse. Oversight is an impossibility when there isn't a single database where managers, leaders can look at it and form metrics on it.
▶ 0:17:30So I applaud you and try and reorganizing along the ways of speed, lethality, and organizing a database so you can have a metrics and apply this is who's accountable, when is when is that person accountable, and when can I I see a result. So I thank you for that. There's about $250 billion dollars a backlog in the foreign military sales.
▶ 0:17:58That amount exceeds our procurement in Department of War on an annual basis. So if we want to rebuild our command and control, rebuild our our supply chain, rebuilding it from our foreign allies' pursuit of our weapon systems, I think is a is a sound and prudent policy. Again, I thank you for your service.
▶ 0:18:21I thank you for taking a look at Finally, finally, to cut through the When the President of the United States in our Article 2 is in charge and execution of foreign policy, when he says we're going to deliver a system, that system needs to be accountable, it needs to be metricized so we know when that system will be delivered. I look forward to the questions and again, thank you for your service. Thank you, Representative Zinke, and thank you for all your work with the arms sales task force.
▶ 0:18:50It's been yeoman's work and really appreciate everything just the way you you undertook it, you grabbed hold of it, and you had the right knowledge base just from your history as member of SEAL Team Six. Your work throughout all of these years in the military couldn't have been anybody better to go out there and do that work. So thank you for bringing your expertise to bear. Ranking Member Meeks. Thank you, Chairman Mast, and thank you to our witnesses for joining us today.
▶ 0:19:20The State Department's Political-Military Affairs Bureau and its colleagues at the Department of Defense and Defense Security Cooperation lead our government's critical work in providing security assistance to our allies and partners around the world in a way that advances our national security interests.
▶ 0:19:40Nowhere this has been more critical than a US than the United States and NATO support for Ukraine in its fight for survival against Russian aggression since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion. The Political-Military Affairs Bureau led allied efforts to help Ukraine defend its territory and serve as a firewall against Russian aggression in Europe.
▶ 0:20:05This support has strengthened US strategic interests, bolstered our industrial base, and greatly enhanced such defense tech innovation. Ukraine's role in that innovation is Today, several Gulf states have reached out to Ukraine for support in counter-drone technology and expertise in defense against Iranian Shahed Yet, the Trump administration has gutted direct American military support to
▶ 0:20:36crippling Ukraine's capabilities at a critical moment. That decision illustrates a broader So, before I turn to today's witnesses, I'd want to be direct. What unites every concern I will raise this morning at this administration is this administration's systematic contempt for congressional oversight. That contempt is not incidental. It is a pattern, and it has consequences.
▶ 0:21:05As recently as last Friday, just over a week after President Trump chose to start an unauthorized war against Iran, and let's be clear, it is a war, the State Department announced it would bypass Congress, not come to Congress in the natural and it's uh in in in the usual procedure, but bypass Congress, and uh and what we do to review, and to rush more than 20,000 new bombs
▶ 0:21:35to Israel worth over $650 million. How did it do it? Cuz ordinarily, you would come to Congress, and we would view, ask questions, and oftentimes, if we thought appropriate, we would say, "Let's do it." But, what he did it this time, what he did, it did he did so in a rarely used emergency authority, which runs counter to the administration's repeated insistence that it was fully prepared for the war
▶ 0:22:05before the president started it in February 28th. Simply put, this is an emergency of the Trump administration's own creation. And this is not an isolated in incident. It is the latest in what appears to be a pattern.
▶ 0:22:22Last year, on multiple occasions, the administration refused to engage with Congress, or respond to my request as ranking member for information surrounding US policies and the selling of arms to the UAE and to Israel as its plan for for Gaza. The administration, you know, claims that the Gaza the Gaza policy is a success, and if that's true, I don't know why it is afraid to explain that policy to Congress.
▶ 0:22:52Despite over a year of requests going back to February 2025, Special Envoy Steve Witcoff, the official and most directly responsible for the administration's Middle East policy, never once briefed me or members of this committee, or came before this That pattern extends beyond briefings to the administration's deliberate dismantling of civilian harm and human rights abuse monitoring, the effective elimination of the civilian harm incident response guidance guidance process through reckless personnel
▶ 0:23:23cuts and a chaotic and ill-conceived reorganization, which undermines US interests and our standing in the world. These cuts the State Department's ability to fulfill long-standing statutory requirements, including comprehensive investigations into gross violations of human rights.
▶ 0:23:41Arms sales are one of the most powerful tools in American foreign policy, and we are witnessing this in real time as our Gulf partners rely on American weapon systems to defend against Iranian retaliation. But, when arms sales are used without transparency or accountability, they undermine the very alliances and institutions that they are meant to strengthen. Process questions matter, but the deeper problem is strategic.
▶ 0:24:10This administration has no coherent strategy governing the use of arms sales. What it has is a posture of contempt for oversight, contempt for Congress, and contempt for the for the law. That posture has cost, and measured in lost credibility, weakened institutions, and the erosion of the very rules-based order that has benefited the United States and our allies for the past 70 years. So, I welcome your testimony today.
▶ 0:24:39I look forward to hearing how you will work with Congress to meet existing statutory requirements and congressional intent as you consider how to reform the arms sales process, and I hope it's not cutting out congressional oversight. I yield back. Gentleman yields back. Recognize myself for a couple minutes. I'm not surprised, you know, to respond to this.
▶ 0:25:03If the administration has contempt for the oversight that Congress does, truthfully, I have contempt for the oversight that my colleagues have done in the past when they fund things like queering the map, drag shows in uh transgender operas, transgender musicals, transgender plays, transgender job fairs in places like Bangladesh, and the list goes on and on of just beyond stupidity programs that were going on.
▶ 0:25:27I'm not surprised that every American doesn't have contempt for the the oversight that my colleagues on the left were doing to say, "Let's go out there and fund these ridiculous things." But, what's going on right now, what's being worked on right now, there should be no contempt for. I want to thank our witnesses. I'm going to get to to who they all are in just a couple of moments here. Um but, I want to thank them for their work in this in this field. Uh and what we need to be speaking about today is that today's foreign military sales process is a relic. That's why we came together.
▶ 0:25:56That's why I set up this arms sales task force to begin with, because it's a Cold War relic, and it hasn't worked for the requirements of modern times. What worked then no longer meets the needs of what goes on today, faster, more dangerous world. In fact, in many cases, it actively undermines US national security.
▶ 0:26:17It undermines our allies who face years-long lead times for American weapon systems, which can force them to look elsewhere around the globe, which weakens US influence, damages our defense industrial base, and it bolsters our adversaries. Those are the stakes of what's on the line right now. Our ability to put weapons in the hands of our allies is, at its core, about deterring aggression, and when needed, defeating our enemies.
▶ 0:26:44That's what that emergency notification was about, because in the past, my colleagues my left has quite literally, withheld arms sales to Israel. And that's something that, in this moment, has no business going on. I would argue, in all of the other moments that this has gone on, had no business going on whatsoever. And so, it was important that this took place, but we were, in fact, directly notified about the sales that took place on March 6th, even though I'm sure I'll hear more of my colleagues say there was no notification and this never takes place.
▶ 0:27:14This takes place, and we are notified on March 6th, well before these transfers. But, to get back to the point of this hearing, for too long, our foreign military sales process has impeded American arms manufacturers from getting advanced weapons into the hands of our allies at speed. That's what has to take place. That's what we have to fix going forward in the future to be as agile as what we need to be. President Trump has recognized that vulnerability.
▶ 0:27:39He signed a series of executive orders to overhaul foreign military sales and acquisition systems, prioritizing exactly what I just spoke about, prioritizing speed, prioritizing innovation, prioritizing accountability. Congress and this committee, in particular, we have played an important role in advancing much-needed reforms. Like I mentioned, Representative Zinke and his work on this, bringing to bear all of his expertise from a career in the military at our highest level of special operations.
▶ 0:28:06Last year, I did establish this bipartisan foreign arms sales task force, led by Chairman Zinke and led by Representative Dean. Because of that work, Congress codified several major reforms outlined in President Trump's April 2025 executive order, but there's still more work to do, and that's what we want to get to as well, codifying more of those executive orders. We are fortunate to have a president in office who understands the stakes, and is taking the right steps to ensure America maintains its edge.
▶ 0:28:36And what's going on in Iran is a perfect example of that. We have had weakness for year after year, decade after decade, where Americans killed by the hand of Iran have never been avenged.
▶ 0:28:51Have never been responded to to say, "This takes place no longer." Until the first time, when President Trump put Qassem Soleimani into about five separate pieces on the side of an Iraqi That was the first avenging that took place, and now, President Trump's saying Iran will not have any system that can reach out and touch an American, our allies, our forces in the region, all of their war against us, and that's what they've been doing against us every single day that they can, looking for
▶ 0:29:21an opportunity to wage war against the United States of America. Their opportunity to do that comes to an end, period, full stop. I thank President Trump for having that commitment to defend our country that nobody else has had the commitment to do to date. Again, I would say we are very fortunate to have a president president who understands the stakes, is taking the right steps to ensure America maintains its edge.
▶ 0:29:49That if we are to go out there have the greatest sailors, airmen, marines anywhere on the face of this earth that take to their core, to their heart, the seriousness of fulfilling their duty to serve this country, defend our people, defend our homeland at the cost of the last breath in their lungs and the last beat of their heart,
▶ 0:30:21that he's ensuring they have every single tool that they need to bring that fight to bear and have the best possible opportunity to reach mission and come home alive. That is what he works for. At a higher and harder and faster level than anybody has done before. I look forward to today's discussion. I thank the witnesses for their time.
▶ 0:30:50To go to all of our witnesses here, we are pleased to have a distinguished panel before us today on this important Mr. Stanley L. Brown, senior bureau official for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. The Honorable Michael P. Duffey, the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment at the U.S. Department of War. And Mr. Michael F.
▶ 0:31:14Miller, the Director at the Defense Security Cooperation The committee recognizes the importance of these issues and is grateful to have all of you there here to speak with us today. I would ask unanimous consent that the member from Ohio, Representative Miller, be allowed to sit on the dais and participate in today's Without objection, so ordered. Your full statements will be made a part of the record and I'll ask you to keep your spoken remarks to about 5 minutes in order to allow time for member questions. And I now recognize you, Mr.
▶ 0:31:43Brown, for any opening statement that you may have and I thank you for your work on this issue. Chairman Mast, Ranking Member Meeks, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the Trump administration's comprehensive reform of the United States foreign arms transfer system. I'm Stan Brown, senior bureau official for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the Department of State. We appreciate the committee's sustained engagement on foreign military sales and broader security cooperation.
▶ 0:32:14I welcome the opportunity to discuss how the administration is modernizing this critical instrument of American In the last fiscal year, the Department of State authorized more than 330 billion in arms exports through the foreign military sales and direct commercial sales systems. That demand reflects the trust our allies and partners place in American defense technology and in the United States as the security partner of choice.
▶ 0:32:39Despite the strength of our defense industrial base, our system has not always operated at the speed or scale required to meet urgent operational demands. Recognizing these realities, President Trump has directed the most significant overhaul of the arms transfer enterprise in decades. In April 2025, the President signed Executive Order 14268 reforming foreign defense sales to improve speed and accountability.
▶ 0:33:04In January of this year, the President issued another executive order prioritizing the warfighter in defense contracting and most recently, on February 6th, the President signed an executive order establishing the America First Arms Transfer Strategy or AFATS. Historically, our arms transfer system has been largely partner driven, responding to requests for equipment and capabilities as they arise.
▶ 0:33:27Under AFATS, foreign arms sales will strengthen not only an allies military capability, but also America's manufacturing base and technological edge. It integrates economic security into national security policy and makes clear that our arms transfers to foreign partners must expand the capacity of our defense industrial base so it is able to remain the arsenal of freedom for the United States and our partners and allies.
▶ 0:33:51While executive action has established a framework for reform, full realization of these objectives requires targeted legislative updates in three areas. First, congressional notification thresholds governing defense transfers are outdated and no longer reflect economic reality. Several were last adjusted decades ago and inflation has significantly eroded their relevance.
▶ 0:34:13As a result, routine transactions now trigger the procedural timelines that were designated in 2002 for far more strategically significant matters. When approvals are delayed for routine cases, partners and allies face capability gaps and consider turning to alternative suppliers for the capabilities we want to provide them with long-term interoperability and geopolitical consequences in addition to long-term consequences for the health of our own industrial base.
▶ 0:34:40HR 3616, sponsored by Representative Zinke, shows the way forward on thresholds and we urge the committee to join the administration in its support. Second, under current law, the Department of State does not have access to foreign military sales surcharge collections to support necessary staffing to execute our statutory responsibilities effectively.
▶ 0:35:01Granting access to a portion of a surcharge foreign partners pay as part of their FMS cases would close a statutory gap to ensure that the Department of State, which has oversight and approval responsibility under the Arms Export Control Act, has stable, sustainable resources to perform its oversight mission. Finally, we would like to work with you to expand authorities for foreign military funding loans and loan guarantees.
▶ 0:35:27In recent years, FMF loans to Poland and Romania have demonstrated the powerful potential of FMF loan programs to strengthen U.S. national security by enabling key partners to invest in American-made defense systems supporting U.S. jobs in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas, as well as industry and innovation. Other countries are offering much more competitive financing packages that are steering partners away from U.S. companies.
▶ 0:35:55We need to bridge this gap, refocus on competitiveness, and ensure our allies are capable of defending themselves with reliable, proven systems built by the best defense industrial base in the world. The America First Arms Transfer Strategy ensures that arms transfers serve our national interest by strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base, encouraging partner and allied burden sharing, accelerating innovation, and delivering capabilities at speed and scale.
▶ 0:36:24I look forward to working with this committee to implement these reforms fully and effectively. Thank you and I welcome your questions. Thanks for your testimony. I would now like to recognize, let's see, Under Secretary Duffey for about 5 minutes. Thank you, Chairman.
▶ 0:36:45Chairman Mast, Ranking Member Meeks, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear I'm joined from the Department of War by Mike Miller, the Department the Director of Defense Security Cooperation Agency. I'd like to begin by paying tribute to the American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice during Operation Epic including the airmen we tragically lost last week. The memory of their profound courage and their dedication to the ideals of freedom will endure.
▶ 0:37:13I also extend my deepest gratitude to every service member contributing to this vital operation and to all those who stand watch around the globe. Lastly, I want to recognize the allies and partners standing shoulder to shoulder with us in the fight. Their service members have shared in the risk and sacrifice not only for their own security, but in direct defense of American lives. We are honored by their commitment to our common cause.
▶ 0:37:41Our national security is inextricably linked to the strength of both our defense industrial base and our international partners. Amidst the complex threats of today's global security landscape, the convergence of these domains is more important than ever. To that end, my office is now charged with leading a fundamental transformation of our arms transfer enterprise to make this a reality.
▶ 0:38:06And I am here today to personally convey my commitment to this mission and to a strong partnership with this committee. The President's America First Arms Transfer Strategy is the engine for this And let me be perfectly clear, America First does not mean America A strong America with a robust and resilient industrial base is the most reliable partner an ally can have.
▶ 0:38:32By leveraging arms transfers to build capacity for our most critical systems, we create a virtuous cycle, reindustrializing America while building a more responsible arsenal for our friends around the world. A stronger American industrial base means more reliable and more rapid delivery of the world's best capabilities to our partners.
▶ 0:38:54This effort is also directly linked to the Department's broader acquisition By removing unnecessary regulations, empowering greater flexibility for our acquisition professionals, and providing industry bigger, longer deals, we are accelerating delivery timelines and providing industry the certainty they need to invest far more of their own capital, a win-win model for the American taxpayer and the allied warfighter.
▶ 0:39:21This transformation is underpinned by generational changes to the Department's The realignment of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Defense Technology Security Administration under my organization is a powerful union of our acquisition system, industrial base, and defense sales. The move establishes a single line of authority for the execution of our arms transfers and broader security cooperation enterprise with a focus on one goal.
▶ 0:39:51Delivering capability faster while strengthening America's industrial A new Assistant Secretary of War for International Armaments Cooperation within the office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment will orchestrate these efforts proactively guiding everything from cooperative development and production to securing allied investment in the US.
▶ 0:40:15We greatly appreciate Congress's recognition of the increasing importance and scope of this mission and your continued commitment to resource it The United States develops and manufactures the most effective weapon systems in the world and thanks to President Trump and Secretary Heck Seth's leadership we are taking decisive America first action to make the entire defense sales enterprise a strategic driver of our national power.
▶ 0:40:42Over the last year we've made significant progress implementing executive actions and this committee's recommendations to ensure we are delivering capability at speed while empowering our partners to take on a greater share of the burden of their own self-defense. This transformation is a direct result of your efforts to identify meaningful solutions to barriers in the system. And I look forward to discussing how the department is taking a more strategic and proactive approach to reform.
▶ 0:41:11Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning and I look forward to your questions. Thank you for your testimony, Mr. Chairman, excuse me, Chairman [clears throat] Mast, Ranking Member Meeks, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear in front of you today to speak about the work of my agency, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency or DSCA. Just have a few uh brief comments as I certainly uh associate myself with all of Honorable Duffy's comments.
▶ 0:41:42Uh the strategic and economic threats posed by adversaries underscore the compelling need for deterrence and cooperation in concert with allies and And in today's geopolitical environment, the burden of defense cannot rest on any one nation alone. This principle lies at the core of DSCA's mission, building partner capacity to advance US national security by strengthening global partnerships.
▶ 0:42:05Foreign Military Sales or FMS and security cooperation more generally are the mechanisms by which we implement and operationalize burden sharing with our partners and allies. Defense Security Cooperation Agency staff, located at eight locations around the country and at 136 US embassies abroad, are at the forefront of the administration's national security These outstanding professionals, both military and civilian, are responsible for processing more than 100 billion per year in arms transfers
▶ 0:42:36and billions in security cooperation funding and loans each year for providing military education, training, and institutional capacity building to our partners so they can shoulder more of their own defense defense responsibilities for training and professionalizing our own 17,000-member security cooperation workforce in the Department of War for centrally managing and enhancing the capabilities of US military groups at our embassies who interface directly with our partners and for managing the Department of War's disaster
▶ 0:43:07relief, humanitarian assistance, and demining It is an honor to represent them in front of the committee today. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. We're now going to alternate between Republicans and Democrats to ask about 5 minutes of Uh we will begin by Chairman Emeritus uh Representative McCaul. Mr. Chairman and um appreciate you having this important hearing.
▶ 0:43:31When I was chairman, signing off on weapon sales, I thought it was one of the most important uh duties and responsibilities of this Um this is a committee of war and peace and it could not be more relevant than it is today with the actions uh in Iran which I fully support since 1979. A dark veil of terror has reigned over the Middle East and thanks to President Trump, that shroud is being lifted.
▶ 0:44:01Uh these weapons have never been more important than they are right now at this moment. Uh Mr. Secretary Duffy, I I totally agree with you. America first doesn't America alone. We do have allies. Uh we help them with NATO, but they need to help us as well and the Straits of Hormuz is a good example of that. The president's called upon our allies to help to help open up the straits for the uh global supply of energy.
▶ 0:44:30Uh unfortunately, I the news today is they have denied that assistance and it's to their own detriment. Uh but when it comes to the sales uh I set up the Arms Sales Task Force headed up by now UN Ambassador Mike Uh that was a precursor to the chairman's Tiger Task Force.
▶ 0:44:50I want to congratulate you, sir, on the work of that task force and Commander Zinky uh for his great work on that because the way I look at the arms sales is it's a great not only from a military defense tool, but also from a diplomacy standpoint. This can be used to gain allies, say in the Middle East like Saudi against our adversaries like say China.
▶ 0:45:18Uh weapons were withheld in the prior administration to Israel to my great I passed August to get around some of these international restrictions. So, there are a lot of problems that need to be fixed. One is the political bureaucracy of that I think the chairman is is tackled uh head-on.
▶ 0:45:43The other one is the needs that we have throughout the We have several conflict zones or hot zones, if you will, I call them. Started with the invasion, well, let's start with the implosion of Afghanistan, the Russian invasion into Ukraine, Chairman Xi's unholy alliance with Putin, threatening Taiwan, and the Ayatollah raising his ugly head in the Middle East on October the 7th which was supposed to be Hezbollah,
▶ 0:46:14and Iran uh and troops in Syria together to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. So, my question is to Mr. uh Secretary Duffy, as we move the THAAD system, by the way, from South Korea to the Middle we are being stretched very thin.
▶ 0:46:35And given the myriad of uh threats uh that we have and I know some of this gets outside of your domain, sir but what do we need to do to backfill these stockpiles, but more as we look at Ukraine as a laboratory for modern warfare systems like the drones and I I applaud Ukraine for assisting the United States in the Iran conflict to counter these dangerous Shahed
▶ 0:47:05drones that were made by Iran and sold to Russia used to kill Ukrainians, now to kill Americans. What can we do not only to fill backfill the stockpile, which will be passing a supplemental bill to pay for that but how can we move towards of weapon systems like what we're seeing in the in the theater of the Ukraine-Russian conflict?
▶ 0:47:35Congressman, thank you for your question and thank you to you and the committee for your leadership on this issue. I think um uh it's it's uh imperative for us to be able to make the change that we need for us to have such universal commitment to the need for change. Uh I'd like to talk about the fact that we have uh agreement for change on both sides of the aisle, both sides of the river, both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue and that really creates the conditions for us to be able to make change.
▶ 0:47:59I think the ability to reform the FMS process is inextricably linked with our need to inform uh to reform the acquisition process uh because um as you look at what are the constraints in the FMS system, I do believe our industrial base capacity is a key constraint that really uh inhibits our ability to fill the pipeline of FMS orders that we have and we've been working on that since uh at least since uh since I first arrived in the administration and certainly following my confirmation last June, Secretary
▶ 0:48:30Heck Seth rolled out the acquisition transformation strategy on August 7th and I can get into that detail throughout the hearing today, but I think most importantly, what's uh emerged from that uh reform effort are deals that precede these hostilities uh with some of our key industrial partners, Raytheon and Lockheed, to triple or quadruple the production capacity of key munitions like Patriots, THAAD interceptors, Tomahawks, Standard Missile, the kinds of weapons that we rely on for uh the defense of
▶ 0:49:00our our our nation and
▶ 0:49:01You might allow me Chairman allow me one quick question. So, it's asymmetric warfare now in the Straits of Hormuz. Um you know, we we spend millions of dollars on interceptors to take down a drone that's worth maybe That is what I'm talking about, the modern warfare that is happening in in and Ukraine is a laboratory.
▶ 0:49:26What are we doing to advance that cause because we're not going to win uh certainly in in terms of pricing as well. We're paying millions of dollars to take down a $2,000 drone. Yes, sir. So, we we we we do have a partnership with Ukraine and and some of their counter UAS capabilities that are effectively low cost that are are effective in combating the Shahed drone.
▶ 0:49:50We also have developed with partners that Falco system APKWS which is a low-cost rocket that has a high probability of kill for counter UAS. So, I do think we have emerging technologies and then we're always working. I think we're not quite there yet, but we're putting a lot of effort into the directed energy which is a very low-cost option for counter drone. Excellent. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. Ranking Member Meeks. Yeah, just find it ironic, you know, just listening to Mr.
▶ 0:50:18McCaul and talk about Ukraine who we don't fund who the president has decided to sanctions or stop or suspend sanctions on Russia giving them billions of dollars so they can attack Ukraine which is why President Zelenskyy has said the money that is going to now Russia as a result of the president's decision to suspend
▶ 0:50:50sanctions on Russian oil is going to cause more death of innocent Ukrainians. And in the testimony that I've heard thus far, not once did I hear anyone talk about what Congress's role is. Maybe we want to be more like Russia because guess what? In Russia the Duma has no role in oversight of Vladimir Putin. In Congress, we do.
▶ 0:51:21And simply what is asked is if you have a plan if you're going to use weapons if you're going to start a war come to Congress because we don't have a king. WE HAVE A Congress that looks overseas and decides when to go to war.
▶ 0:51:49And if you're going to war as this president has done, a war of it was no imminent threat no urgency, bring it to Congress. And yes Congress has a right to ask questions. And when I was the chair of this no matter whether it's a Democratic president or a Republican president, I had questions.
▶ 0:52:18And when the administration reacted in a timely fashion and answered the questions that we had then my conscious was clear that no human rights violations were taking place. I knew what the plan would be. I knew how we were moving forward. Only in this administration is that at every single time that they can avoid coming to Congress and maybe my Republican colleagues don't want them to come.
▶ 0:52:47Just give all of the authority that the United States Constitution gives to Congress, give it away. Give it to the executive branch. No oversight. I heard no statements, no testimony about Congress's right to ask questions of the executive to make determinations of whether or not and who we're selling what to and for what reasons.
▶ 0:53:13Congress has no authority, no way that the president who comes up with no plan if you're talking about the current war because he's doing exactly what Vladimir Putin Vladimir Putin tries to say that the war in Ukraine is not a What we're hearing now often is the administration said, "This is not a It is a war. Come to Congress.
▶ 0:53:42The Constitution gives one body the authority to declare war. But in this instance, we have no plan no strategy none that was articulated to Congress, no end game.
▶ 0:53:59And apparently the administration was not prepared for this war because now after insulting our allies our NATO allies, insulting them and said, "You're basically on your own." Now he's asking for help. Where was the preparation? None. These are questions that should have been brought to Congress.
▶ 0:54:27So, we're supposed to give up all of the authority that we have to an administration who thinks Congress shouldn't exist, At every exchange I don't think and I've ever heard one time in this administration we talk about what the authority is supposed to be with reference to human rights, for You know, the arms executive sale executive order says, you know, you says end use monitoring coordination group
▶ 0:54:58with the directive of states that ensures allies and partners are complying with US requirements and reducing the risk of diversion. But this coordination group is not directed to assess whether or not the US origin weapons have been used to commit human rights or egregious civilian harm.
▶ 0:55:21It seems as though the administration has deprioritized and minimum of minimizing civilian harm and the monitoring of human rights abuses by foreign partners using US origin weapons.
▶ 0:55:38I can recall a member telling me visiting one of the countries saying that I was happy to be there and we're looking for a good relationship and then they talked about a bomb and the bomb said made in USA. And he wanted to know whether or not we were made in the USA because it killed in the a lot of individuals, innocent civilians, etc. Yes, I want to know.
▶ 0:56:08And so if we're going to do some reform, the reform can't be the reform of cutting out Congress. And we could have had the weapons on a timely fashion if an administration comes back to us and let us know what the plan is. Let us know what these weapons are going to be used for because that's who we are and that's our reputation. I yield back. Ranking Member yields back.
▶ 0:56:33I would thank again the administration for the multiple classified briefings that they've given us from Gang of Eight to the whole of the whole of our congressional body. Looks like you want to say something. Just thank the administration for all of the classified briefings, but I would also talk about the authority very briefly here because there was a question that was brought into about this. And here's what my colleague who was just speaking voted for.
▶ 0:57:02Use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to reorganize and support the freedom of action of partners and allies including Israel to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. So, I along with you voted to give the administration any administration the direction go out there and do this.
▶ 0:57:31We told them, we voted on it. So, I don't maybe you didn't read the resolution. I couldn't say, but I'm going to read it one more time because we voted on it. Use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to reorganize and support the freedom of action of partners and allies including Israel to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. So, I want to thank the administration for fulfilling what it is that we directed them to do. We didn't direct them to go to war.
▶ 0:58:00We directed them to do this.
▶ 0:58:01direct them to go to war. We directed them to do this. No, we did not. Yeah. We did. I mean, we can debate about it all day, but just damn good work. I couldn't be more proud of the work that they're doing and our service members are doing. In that, I'm going to recognize Representative Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have the pleasure of sitting next to Chairman McCaul who actually authored those words. And it's not the only time we voted that way.
▶ 0:58:28When Ranking Member Meeks came here in 1998 and I came 2 years after Iran was a terrorist state and we were regularly either by resolution or in the NDAA and in Foreign Affairs activities urging that we use all measures necessary and we did for more than half a cent or almost half a century, we've used all means except the one we're using now which has for the most part
▶ 0:58:58not been used practically since Ronald Reagan. And he only sunk two ships, but they built a lot more in the meantime, Mr. I'm frustrated a little that Ranking Member Meeks only because I'm pretty sure that particularly the representatives of DOW here today would would find out there's only two things that he objects to what that you do. That which you do and that which you fail to do.
▶ 0:59:29If we fail to stop Iran, it is our fault. If we stop Iran or try to stop Iran, it is our fault. That is true in foreign affairs and it is true at the Department of Defense, now War. My concern today is one that goes beyond just the scope of this hearing.
▶ 0:59:49The fact is there's a chair empty here, not because we invited somebody didn't show up, but because it's outside our normal The Department of Commerce is effectively not here. The BIS is not sitting in that chair. And the fact is you all have shared jurisdiction.
▶ 1:00:10The definition of dual use, and that's going to be my one and only one question, is the evolving dual use means that almost anything, including a toy originally made in China with a chip that might come from here, can in fact kill our soldiers on the battlefield.
▶ 1:00:31program that was originally devised for weapons of mass destruction now has to look at uh the latest chat GPT as a weapon of mass destruction. In the news lately, we've been hearing, in fact, about AI and whether or not even American companies are going to allow us to use it to defend our nation. I have today, and I'd ask that it be placed in the record, uh a state Thank you.
▶ 1:00:59A statement from the semi trade SEMI, or semiconductor, if you will, trade association, which estimates that there are currently $25 billion in licenses pending. Oddly enough the Chamber says it's over 50 billion. In fact what we have right now is a BIS over at Commerce that seems to be stalled and won't even tell us uh that there are in fact pending applications.
▶ 1:01:26I had to go to companies to find out that Defense is not the problem. The problem is, in fact, that over there they they won't tell you when you're going to get them. In fact, the uh haphazard nature is one in which you when you put a request in, you have no idea when you're going to get it out.
▶ 1:01:44Can you imagine trying to sell products from the ever greater manufacturing base in America and not knowing to when you can tell your customer or if you can tell your customer they'll be able to receive it.
▶ 1:01:57So although last year your organizations approved $117 billion in military sales, the question I have today is if we streamline the process, if in fact we do the right thing and make sure that Commerce is doing their job, that you're doing your job, that your coordination system, which is extensive, has timelines. And I'm repeating, timelines for every single application.
▶ 1:02:28And secondly, whenever possible, transparency. So I'll start with you, uh Mr. Miller. Those are my questions because to me this is bigger than just the three of you here Thank you, Congressman, for your
▶ 1:02:45The President's executive order of April last year that was cited uh had a specific request that we establish uh metrics and also in a means to achieve accountability throughout the entirety of the foreign military sales system. So we have uh set about that in in setting metrics for uh each step of the foreign military sales process, going back to the very beginning of whether or not what a partner is asked for is something we can reasonably action and putting a clock on that, and then walking through the entire process from when the request is made all the way out to the end of life, the closure
▶ 1:03:15of an FMS case after everything's been delivered and paid for. And then setting that against uh an end-to-end look, uh as Representative Zinke had mentioned, looking across that from an IT perspective, that again we can have uh accountability and insight and data, real data, uh throughout every single element of that. So we are pairing both the establishment of metrics and then an IT system to track them, which is going to be a game changer for foreign military sales so we can know exactly where interventions are needed to keep the process moving. Thank Mr. Chairman, Mr.
▶ 1:03:44Chairman, I realize there isn't time for everyone to answer, so I'll ask him to put it in the record, but I'll also ask him to opine on whether, in fact, those timelines are implemented uh with your partners at Commerce. I appreciate that and ask the rest be placed in further record. I yield back. Representative Bera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um folks have heard me say this a lot.
▶ 1:04:08I'm proud of the United States of America and what we were able to do in the 75, 80 years post World War II in terms of rebuilding Europe, um creating relative peace and stability around the world, um you know, our men and women going and protecting democracy on the Korean Peninsula. Um there's a lot for us to be proud of um in those 80 years. I also recognize, you know, my this is my 14th year in Congress um on this subcommittee.
▶ 1:04:35When I think about the 21st century, I do think about the threat in the Indo-Pacific and and in Asia and through whether it was Obama administration, Trump 1.0, Biden administration, Trump 2.0, um the recognition that our greatest threat today um comes out of Beijing and Xi Jinping in terms of conflict and challenging um that rules-based order that we put in place in the 21st century.
▶ 1:05:00That's why I've focused most of my time on peace through strength, building alliances in the region and and so forth. And that's why, you know, I I share the the the ranking member's view on the conflict in the Middle East. Um Iran is a bad actor. They've been a bad actor for four decades and the Ayatollahs are a horrific person and his human rights. So we're not shedding any tears there.
▶ 1:05:24Um I do want to focus a little bit on how the conflict in the Middle East is impacting um Asia, but also um want to ask some very direct questions. Um I see the the Taiwan Strait as one of the biggest threats to ignite conflict. Um Recently, on February 26th, um President Trump told reporters that he was considering what to do about arms sales to Taiwan, given that um Mr. Xi opposes them.
▶ 1:05:55Um and he said, "I'm talking to him about it." Um is what he was quoted on Air Force One. I won't ask um any of you to interpret what the President meant by that. That wouldn't be fair to any of you, but I would um like to ask direct a direct question um of both State and the Department of War. Um and remember you are testifying in front of Congress.
▶ 1:06:17The six assurances, going back to Ronald Reagan in 1982, have been our diplomatic strategy um with regards to arms sales to Taiwan. Um in addition to the Taiwan Relations Act. Um that's guided us. We don't negotiate with Beijing with regards to to arms sales. In this committee, um Mr. Chairman, I'm proud that, you know, in the State Department Reauthorization Act, we moved to start to codify um the six assurances.
▶ 1:06:48Um and I would hope that that gets taken up and codified in law. I guess I'll start with you, um Under Secretary Brown. Are you aware of um any move within the State Department to change the six assurances as as they pertain to arms sales to Taiwan? Uh Representative Bera, thank you for your question. I'm not aware of any move to change the six assurances.
▶ 1:07:10Uh we uh as part of those the three communications and six assurances, we have uh stated that we will provide Taiwan what they need for their own uh in that regard. Um Right. Just in the last 90 days uh in December, we notified 11.1 billion in arms sales for Taiwan. So uh we continue to pace and as we discussed the I I And again, I would ask the same of the Department of War, Mr. Duffy. Are you aware of any change to our strategy with regards to the six assurances?
▶ 1:07:40I'm not aware of any change within the Department of War. Okay, great. Um let me shift to um the redeployment of THAAD batteries off of the Korean Peninsula. Again, um I applauded um the first Trump administration, you know, when we saw um conflicts and saber-rattling from North Korea, for the deployment of those THAAD batteries.
▶ 1:08:01Our friends and allies in South Korea paid a a real price for it because China did use their economic coercive tools um to directly impact the South Korean um economy, which they're still struggling to recover from. I do have real concerns at a time where we still see um North Korea saber-rattling. Um I and I understand the need to protect American assets in the Middle East and and redeploy.
▶ 1:08:28Um can either you, Under Secretary Brown or Under Secretary Duffy, comment on how long these redeployments would be if we have an intention to um restock the defensive capabilities uh and protection of our allies on the South Korea with with THAAD?
▶ 1:08:44So So I think um I'm not aware and can't speak to any duration of any particular redeployment of an asset, but I will say one, I think our flexibility and our ability to redeploy assets to ensure that they meet the most poignant and urgent need across the globe is a tremendous strength of our system.
▶ 1:09:09Um Secondly, I think there's a full commitment for us to maintain the alliance with uh South Korea and to provide whatever uh capability that we And I'll go back to what I mentioned in my opening remarks with respect to the efforts that we're making to extend the defense industrial base so we can grow our ability to acquire these weapons and ensure that we have them available wherever that need may be across the You're back.
▶ 1:09:40There's been some liberal use of the time. I didn't know if you had more. Very good. We'll go to Oh, looks like Representative Kim, are you ready or you want us to go to Representative Self? Are you ready or you want us to go to Representative Self? Thank you very much for convening this hearing.
▶ 1:10:11Thank you, witnesses, for joining us. You know, um last month I convened a defense industry round table in Orange County, California, my district. Uh that included small and medium-sized businesses uh across the entire supply chain.
▶ 1:10:28These are the companies that are producing highly specialized components and innovative technologies that are critical to both the US and our allied Uh during that round table, there was a consistent message that these firms want to have a seat at the table in foreign defense sales, but they lack any clear dedicated pathway into the US government or our allied ecosystems.
▶ 1:10:56Uh so, when I asked whether any company had a single go-to advocate inside the US government to navigate the defense acquisition export process, the room went silent. You know, Mr.
▶ 1:11:10Miller, as the primary implementer of foreign military sales, does DSCA have or plan to have a SMB advocate office or reporters so that small and medium-sized businesses can quickly identify the various opportunities in ongoing FMS cases and AUKUS-related procurements? Thank you, Representative Kim, very much for your question.
▶ 1:11:37Um yes, in our office uh in my uh in my agency here in the NCR, we do have an industry ombudsman function where we take regular meetings and inquiries from industry. We can help them, point them in the right direction and how to engage in FMS. Uh be that and often times it may be that it's uh something that may be referred to the Commerce Department and they have abundant resources here in the United States, both here in Washington and geographically distributed.
▶ 1:12:02So, we we do have uh that function here uh and we also engage in trade shows and other engagements, including with industry associations that represent uh small, medium, and large companies. Thank you.
▶ 1:12:13You know, um I've had innovative uh SMBs tell me that they are shut out of the FMS property uh process simply because they lack security clearances or prior FMS experiences. So, can you both, Mr. Brown and Mr.
▶ 1:12:28Miller, can you talk about what targeted reforms, like such as expedited clearance pathways or sandbox pilot programs, are the the State Department and DOD acquisition and sustainment considering to lower these barriers without compromising national Thank you. I'm sorry, I'll start and my colleagues certainly may have uh something to add there.
▶ 1:12:53I would just point to the uh President's Executive Order 14383, the America First Arms Transfer Strategy, which talks about welcoming new entrants into the market, uh non-programs of record, and and small and and medium companies with innovative ideas uh to make sure that we're refreshing the technologies that are available both to our warfighters and also to our foreign partners. So, I think that's a key element that's going to drive us to looking to uh a commercial-first approach, which Secretary Heckseth has also talked about. Thank you.
▶ 1:13:21I would just add to that that the the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and our Regional Security and Arms Transfer Office does a round the worlds with uh with industry. Uh basically, they can come in and we can talk about all the different ways they can participate in the system. So, uh we are doing that uh uh fairly regularly. Thank you. You know, um I want to have a conversation about AUKUS.
▶ 1:13:43The fiscal year 2026 NDAA incorporated core provisions of my bipartisan Armor Act that streamlines the expedited review process for AUKUS transfers, retransfers, and exports while eliminating unnecessary congressional notification requirements for certain low-risk items. Um Under Secretary Duffy and Mr. Miller, hopefully time will allow you to respond to that.
▶ 1:14:10Since that enactment, uh what specific measurable reforms have your offices implemented to accelerate AUKUS Pillar Two technology sharing and Well, thank you for your leadership on that legislation. We certainly look for every opportunity to streamline the process to help ensure that we can transfer technology to our allies and partners.
▶ 1:14:33Uh we have undertaken um a review of the uh excluded technology list uh to ensure that we've got that right-sized to just the most sensitive technologies. And uh I think what we're finding is that uh you know, while the excluded technology list must exist because our most sensitive technologies, we must ensure that we have uh uh traceability on the use case of those.
▶ 1:14:57We're finding industry still coming to terms with what is on that list and there's an for licenses that are unnecessary. So, we have some work to do to communicate with industry so that they understand what flexibilities that you all have helped us put in place. Would Mr. Miller have time to respond Thank you very much. I I don't have much to add to what Honorable Duffy um said just on his last point.
▶ 1:15:25Um again, thanks [clears throat] to leadership of this committee and to you self personally. We've extended and the administration's efforts uh we have extended great flexibility uh to uh exports for Australian and and the UK. Um but uh there's um I think concern among industry that they can't make use of those flexibilities. So, working with our colleagues in the Department of State, Director of Defense Trade Controls, and the rest, I think making them more comfortable with that, I think will speed uh licensing uh that's germane to uh AUKUS Pillar Two. Thank you very much.
▶ 1:15:55I yield back. Representative Jacobs. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um Under Secretary Duffy, nice to see you again. I first want to ask about the 210 milli- million-dollar contract that the Department uh just signed with Tomer, an Israeli state-owned company, to produce the next-generation XM1208 155-mm cluster munition. I'll be clear.
▶ 1:16:18I criticized the Biden administration when it transferred existing US stockpile cluster munitions to Ukraine, weapons that were already in our inventory and given in the context of repelling a full-scale Russian invasion, this is different. This is a no-bid contract to purchase newly manufactured cluster munitions from a foreign government, one that has already been credibly reported to have used this very weapon in Lebanon.
▶ 1:16:40No American company has produced cluster munitions in over a decade, and more than 111 countries have banned them, and the Army's own solicitation says these shells are designed to effectively engage imprecisely located enemies within an area, which is a very weird clinical way of saying that they saturate a zone with nine bomblets, each containing 1,200 tungsten shards, and hope you hit something military. What is the intended operational use of the XM1208?
▶ 1:17:10Uh I'm I'm not uh I'm not an operator, so I don't have expertise on how we would employ that
▶ 1:17:17Okay, is it for stockpile replacement or is the Department planning to deploy these munitions in an active theater, including the current conflict with I'd have to consult with my colleagues and get back to you. Okay. Well, a reminder that um testing conditions and real-world dud rates are very different things.
▶ 1:17:34So, um even though uh you might try and say that this dud rate meets uh the cluster munition policy requirements, as we learned in Lebanon in 2006, when US-origin cluster munitions had a 40% failure rate. Um and you're not just restocking. The Army has solicited bids for domestic production capacity of 30,000 rounds per year. That's not maintenance, that's expansion. Will you commit to notifying this committee before any XM1208 munitions are transferred to a foreign partner or deployed in combat operations?
▶ 1:18:06I'll commit to following whatever the legal procedures are for committee notification. All right. Well, that's not reassuring, Mr. Secretary. Congress has a statutory role in reviewing weapons that pose this level of risk to civilians, and we intend to exercise it. Um next uh Mr. Brown, I'd like to ask you about the civilian harm mitigation.
▶ 1:18:26We set up a system in 2023 at the State Department that both PM and DRL managed, called the Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance or CHIRG process, to investigate reports of civilian harm perpetrated by partner governments suspected of using US-origin weapons, and to recommend subsequent actions in response. Mr. White, what is the current status of the CHIRG process at the State Uh thank you for your question.
▶ 1:18:54That The State Department currently evaluates arms sales in accordance with the 2018 CAT, Conventional Arms Transfer Policy. If you look at that policy, it also includes uh references to evaluating arms sales in in accordance with human rights as well as international humanitarian law, amongst other things like counterterrorism, nonproliferation, and otherwise. That guides our uh process in which we evaluate arms sales. Okay.
▶ 1:19:17Well, just um this last year, this very committee included in the state authorization accompanying report that the Department of State's end use monitoring efforts should to the extent feasible verify that defense articles transferred to foreign governments are used in accordance with the purposes outlined in the letter of acceptance or other relevant agreements including that such equipment is not implicated in incidences of civilian harm. So, can you tell me how many staff are working on civilian harm and their reporting structure within PM?
▶ 1:19:49As of our office of Well, we have a number of people that work on arms sales in the regional security and arms transfer office. It's responsibility of all the individuals that uh uh process arms sales for the department in accordance with the CAT policy uh to look at that. The as far as other offices, I can't speak to what how many there are.
▶ 1:20:08Okay. How many cases are in the review pipeline of the Turk? we are not observing the Turk pipeline at this time. We're not reviewing that.
▶ 1:20:18Okay. And last year, the Government Accountability Office released two recommendations to improve the Turk process. I guess you just said you're not even doing the Turk at all, so I can assume that means you are not implementing the GAO's recommendations for the Turk process? We gave appropriate responses to the GAO at the time uh Yeah, I disagree that they were appropriate, Mr. Brown.
▶ 1:20:38Why do you believe that accepting reporting from external parties would be impractical when the department has experience in processing this very kind of external reporting, for example, for years the department managed the human rights reporting gateway, which external organizations used to report suspected gross violations of human rights um by foreign military units the US partnered with to aid its Leahy vetting process. I in my role as the SPO in PM, we coordinate with the department on these issues.
▶ 1:21:07Again, referring to the CAT policy from the 2018 Trump administration. That is the policy that we're currently using. Okay, so it's clear that this administration doesn't care at all about civilian harm by both their actions and your answers. That is disheartening and also illegal. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Representative Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I commend the uh Trump administration uh um Secretary Brown, I I uh for uh reforming and expediting military sales.
▶ 1:21:34I also commend uh the Trump administration uh in its recent decision to allow 11 billion uh dollars in arms sales to Taiwan, one of the largest in history, including 82 HIMAR launchers, 60 self-propelled howitzer systems, and anti-armor and ground combat systems. I'm glad to see that the Taiwan defense minister says this review process is proceeding on schedule. This is a historic sale and uh I think reasserts deterrence in the Western Pacific.
▶ 1:22:02However, um as you well know, we still have a 21 billion dollar backlog of US weapons intended for Taiwan. Uh Mr. Brown, what needs to happen uh to expedite the delivery of these weapons to Taiwan? This was a major topic of conversation both times that I've traveled uh uh to Taipei with uh AIT. Obviously, TechRow is uh raising this with members as well. I thank you for your question.
▶ 1:22:31Uh we continue to uh look at ways to make sure that we can expedite those sales that are on contract to Taiwan. As you know, much of that is the uh has been the F-16s to Taiwan. So, we continue to work that. I I don't know if our DOD colleagues have anything additional to add, but uh we continue to push that issue. Yeah, I think the F-16s are 8 billion um uh there's 108 Abrams tanks, that's 2 billion. There's uh howitzers, um missile and precision strike systems, Javelins, other systems, drones, torpedoes, various munitions.
▶ 1:23:01There's quite a bit in this backlog. And um outside of uh Epic Fury uh this is a really critical theater and I just uh I know you all are on it. I just uh would like to um send those signals to the defense industrial base to get moving. Um uh my colleague uh Mr. Wittman, my colleague on the China Select Committee uh Mr.
▶ 1:23:25Wittman has legislation called the Porcupine Act, which would help expedite the process and ensure Taiwan receives the defense articles it has purchased in a timely manner. Uh do you view this as a uh positive legislation Are you all tracking that legislation? Sir, I'm afraid I'm not tracking the legislation, but I'd be glad to take a look at it and provide you our views. Yeah, we want to work with both uh DOD and State on this um Mr.
▶ 1:23:53Duffy and um it would it would define Taiwan as a NATO plus country, meaning shorter approval timelines for arms sales to Taiwan and a higher cost threshold requiring approval uh among other things. So, uh thanks for taking a look at that and and again Congress is very, very and this committee, we are very focused on uh the Pacific theater as much as uh what we're And and let's face it. I mean, the defense industrial base is is is strained because of what's happening in the Middle East.
▶ 1:24:22Very important um uh national security objectives being accomplished in the Middle East right now, uh but it it means we've got to redouble our efforts to make sure that we're uh looking at multiple theaters at the same time. Um Mr. Brown, let me ask you another question about um now back to the Middle East. Um I I do remain uh concerned about Israel's quantita- qualitative military edge given Turkey's uh increasingly hostile actions toward Israel and its stepped-up military presence in the region, specifically in Syria.
▶ 1:24:52Uh however, arms sales to Turkey do not have to take Israel's QME into consideration as is the case uh with Middle Eastern countries. Uh given the United States' long-standing objective of maintaining Israel's QME, do you believe arms sales to Turkey should be assessed for their potential negative ramifications on Israel's security? I think in your original statement that Turkey being a NATO country, uh we obviously our commitment to Israel is ironclad.
▶ 1:25:23Uh we are not assessing uh Israel's excuse me, Turkey's sales to Turkey as part of QME. Uh we do for the rest of the region. So, we are we can take that back and uh and come back to you on W- Well, well, Turkey obviously important NATO partner, uh but we also have to uh I think prioritize the QME policy of the United States with respect to Israel, especially given what's happening in the Middle East right now. Finally, Mr.
▶ 1:25:49Brown, um on allied burden sharing, while many of our European allies have increased defense spending since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the United States continues to provide a disproportionate share of NATO's overall defense capabilities. What steps can Congress take to encourage our European allies to meet and sustain this defense spending The president's very very pointed on getting Europe to pay more for their defense.
▶ 1:26:13We have pushed them to get to 5% 3.5 in direct capabilities is 1.5 for support. Uh there is a lot more that can be done to invest in the industrial base support of the arms America First arms transfer strategy is a huge part of that. Some of the legislation that I asked there uh is part of what Congress can do to make sure that we stay on course. Uh this is a different um uh this is a different effort and different time.
▶ 1:26:40I think we can be successful here because of the three-legged stool, it's about we're doing the whole of government approach. It is the uh approval process, it's the acquisition process, and it's the defense industrial base. Anything and any legislation that helps us move the variety of pieces uh to get to success would be welcomed uh by Congress. My time has expired, but I applaud the administration's uh holding our our NATO allies accountable for their for their obligations. That I yield back. Representative Huizenga.
▶ 1:27:10Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh I'm going to take a slightly different tack, but a similar uh similar situation with as Mr. Barr was describing. Um yeah, I the missile technology control regime or MTCR is an antiquated Cold War era agreement that was never designed to address the complexities or advancement in today's military technology.
▶ 1:27:34As the United States has deepened defense cooperation and burden sharing through alliances like AUKUS, the the uh MTCR has not evolved to meet these needs. Uh AUKUS should be seen for what it is, a case study in how to enhance defense cooperation and it can be a vital tool in the foreign policy arsenal.
▶ 1:27:53Uh since day one, I've been a strong advocate for the AUKUS partnership, including by shepherding in Congress passing my bipartisan bill, the AUKUS submarine transfer authorization uh which laid the groundwork for implementing pillar one of the AUKUS agreement. Uh this measure took the entire idea of the AUKUS partnership past just press release and photo ops and actually put some uh some physical uh uh physical uh uh enhancements to it here with the submarines.
▶ 1:28:22But however, MTCR's strong assumption for denial for category one items to allied countries remains the leading barrier for future collaboration on AUKUS pillar two issues. Uh I then introduced a bill, HR 3068, to allow for a defense trade exemption for AUKUS partners. However, as we sit here today, uh we have some uh Dem colleagues who can drone on about the importance of having strong partners in securing a free and open Indo-Pacific.
▶ 1:28:51Every single one of those people voted against my bill, HR 3068, to do just that. And let me be clear, uh 3068 only applies to AUKUS countries and no one else. The only people cheering alongside the Democrats after that vote were Russia and China uh because once again, uh we've deferred our sovereign decision-making process to the whims of a multi-lateral institution built for a much different era.
▶ 1:29:17So, our allies and partners tell us the MTCR is a major inhibitor to enhancing defense but some would rather sit behind red tape and let American national interests in the in the defense industrial base suffer. The urgency for Congress to do something about that is cannot be understated.
▶ 1:29:34So, I too applaud the Trump administration on a few of the things that they've been doing for issuing executive orders for 14268 and 14383 demonstrating both the desire and leadership to revitalize the foreign defense sales process by reducing the regulatory burdens of the past, increasing the reliable delivery of American defense crown jewels to our allies, and safeguarding those technologies from America's adversaries.
▶ 1:30:01So, reforming the MTCR is another opportunity for America to deepen the defense capacity with our closest allies while using American technology, and certainly no bureaucratic process should stand in the way of that collaboration. So, I'm going to go quickly just go down the line and give you an opportunity. Um would you could you support do you support the underlying goal of HR 368 to end the legislative requirement for a presumption of denial for exporting MTCR controlled items to August partners?
▶ 1:30:31Mr. Brown. In collaboration with our ACN Bureau at the State Department, we support we've overcome the presumption of denial in every case in basically Australia and the UK, and we support reducing the number of things on the ETL that are created by having missile technology language in that. I'll interpret that as a yes. Okay. Mr. Duffy. Yes, support all opportunities.
▶ 1:31:01Okay. Mr. Miller. I'll defer to my two colleagues and just offer that I would point also to the Department of State's policy change as it relates to MTCR category one items to treat them as manned aircraft, and that will have benefits for Australia, UK, and other Um uh Mr.
▶ 1:31:19Brown, Executive Order 14268 from April 9 of 2025 required a reevaluation of restrictions imposed by the MTCR on category one technologies and consider consideration for supplying specific partners with these items. Can you give us a status update on that analysis? Could you repeat the question? Please.
▶ 1:31:45Um you were required under the Executive Order from April to uh reevaluate the restrictions imposed by the MTCR on category one technologies in consideration for supplying specific partners with these items. So, that can you give us an update on that analysis? Yes, sir. Thank you. I mean, partly what Mr.
▶ 1:32:05Miller spoke to this, we in September of last year, we changed category one items to be able to be treated like manned aircraft, and we've updated our policy throughout the interagency with our DOW colleagues to do that. As we continue to review the policy, we review it in the context of not just that, but also the accepted technologies list, and our colleagues in ACN Bureau, they're also looking at this and support the efforts that we're doing.
▶ 1:32:34So, we continue that. We'll continue to look at this throughout the entire arms sales reform process. My time's expired, but I look forward to working with you all on this. Thanks. Representative Jayapal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For far too long, the United States has operated under the false assumption that war is always the answer.
▶ 1:32:54There's a very good reason why the founders gave the power to declare war to Congress, not to the executive, so that we could carefully assess and debate the many costs of war, and so that the serious decision to undertake war would be made by the elected representatives of this It's also why Congress has ensured that we have a role to carefully assess and approve arms sales to other partners and allies, not only the executive, so that we ensure that they are not using our weapons
▶ 1:33:24to harm civilians, to commit human rights abuses, or to flout international humanitarian laws. And yet, here we are, entrapped in another illegal, costly war of choice in Iran undertaken by the executive with no authority from the Congress.
▶ 1:33:42A war that has already killed at least 13 US troops, displaced millions of people, and driven up gas prices right here at Under Secretary Duffy, given that you're responsible for the acquisition of defense articles, can you tell me how many taxpayer dollars have been spent on the war in Iran, and how much do you expect that the United States will need to spend to replenish our stockpiles?
▶ 1:34:09Representative, I don't have the figures on the dollars that have been spent or would be required to replenish those. Where I'm focused on is building an industrial base that will be able to replenish that for all future
▶ 1:34:23an answer on how much we've spent. Let me give it to you just from public reporting, the first week of the war cost over $11 billion, and now it's being reported that the administration is planning to request 50 billion in supplemental funding. That's just the first week. A projection from the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates that the war will directly cost American taxpayers $65 billion and will lead to an economic loss of up to 210 billion.
▶ 1:34:53Just imagine, for anyone who's listening, just imagine what we could do to bring down the cost of living for Americans at home with that money. $65 billion would be enough to do any one of these things. End homelessness in America. Restore the ACA subsidies for health care for nearly two years.
▶ 1:35:13Modernize all our US public libraries, and cover a decade of teachers out-of-pocket classroom expenses, or cover the daily nutrition benefits for every American that relies on SNAP for each day of the war. Now, on multiple occasions, the administration pushed through weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates and Israel without clearance from our ranking member, Greg Meeks, who has yet to receive answers to key oversight questions from the administration. Mr.
▶ 1:35:43Brown, why has the administration repeatedly blown through this long-standing practice of seeking clearance from the ranking member before approving sales? I assume you're talking you're discussing emergency notification of arms sales to Israel that happened a couple of weeks ago. As you can see in the Middle East, emergency exists.
▶ 1:36:08Those are capabilities that our allies and partners, in this case Israel, needed for their own self-defense and operations. It is available to us as legislation in the Arms Export Control Act, and we the Hill as we were doing that. Mr. Brown, this has happened on multiple occasions, and these authorities are only supposed to be used when there is an emergency and when the transfer of weapons is in the national security interest of the United States.
▶ 1:36:37They're not supposed to be abused as loopholes for avoiding congressional oversight. So, answer me this, Mr. Brown, yes or no, is it in our national security interest to allow weapons to be used against civilians? We're not using I mean, not allowing
▶ 1:36:57I'm just asking you if it's in our national security interest to
▶ 1:37:00National security interest to transfer weapons to our allies and partners. Is it in our national security interest to allow our weapons to be used to perpetrate human rights abuses or commit acts of genocide? We again, we are not You're not answering me about whether it's in our national security interest to do those things. It's our national security interest to support our allies and partners, and that's why we used the emergency declaration to make sure they have the tools they needed Is it in our national security and Mr.
▶ 1:37:29Brown, is it in our national security interest to allow foreign governments to unilaterally drag the United States into Again, it's in our national security interest to support our allies and partners. I'm asking you a different question than the one you're answering. Lastly, when the United States becomes aware of a country
▶ 1:37:50Representative Self is recognized. And engaging in repeated violations, it's it's it's too bad I didn't get to finish, but I do yield back, and I wish you could answer those questions.
▶ 1:38:00Representative Self is recognized. I want to associate myself with
▶ 1:38:04want to just you cut Miss Jayapal off, but you've given other members time, so I think I've given it back to the other side, but her time had expired, and I think I gave it back in spades to the other side, so certainly try to play fair, but not going to lose any sleep over this. Thank you, Chairman. I will start with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to be awfully concerned about the 13 dead service members and the 65 billion that they keep quoting.
▶ 1:38:33I will just comment that we left under the Biden administration some 80 billion dollars worth of equipment in Afghanistan when we left, and then we also left 13 dead at Abbey Gate, one of the most disastrous moments in US military history. Just a comment to even the scale there. Now, I've been very interested in some of your comments, metrics for FMS process, Mr.
▶ 1:39:03Miller, I think that's an excellent idea, and the acquisition process. So, uh DSCA has about 35 ft, if I remember correctly, of wall space in one room dedicated to the FMS process. Uh it shows that we required and and I'm hoping you can can update some of my information, Mr. Miller. Uh it shows that we need 19 signatures uh in order to approve an FMS procurement for non-allied countries.
▶ 1:39:34Now, I don't pretend to believe that it takes 19 signatures for us to do the one job uh the job that one person in Japan can do, for instance. Uh I do believe that we are more risk-averse and that bureaucrats are shielded from the ability to spread the blame amongst 19 people rather than one assuming Uh I also note that we had, during the Vietnam War, 51 prime contractors, defense contractors, 51.
▶ 1:40:02Today, we are down to five prime contractors. There are virtually no medium-sized contractors. Cuz once a small contractor decides not to go through the valley of death and they get procured by a one of the five big primes, uh I don't believe that's fueling innovation. It's feeding And I I will tell you the five primes seem to be content to protect their legacy systems.
▶ 1:40:31look, Ukraine is is innovating in real time on the battlefield as they go. so I want to um also mention that before we had an acquisition core, uh but in the 16 years between 1975, when Vietnam fell, and 1991, when we took a very powerful uh military, which we frankly frankly don't have today, uh to Desert Storm, the Army alone fielded five
▶ 1:41:01major weapon systems, the big five we call them, five major weapon systems in 16 years. And frankly, I don't think we could do that today. Uh so, my my first question to you, Mr. Miller, is is the bottom-line question, given the EOs and the process that we've talked about already from my colleagues, the question is, has there been significant improvement to FMS since the 2025 EO? Any examples, please.
▶ 1:41:32Congressman, thank you very much for your your question. Um and I appreciate your interest in the FMS wall walk. Uh it's also available now online. Uh so, it is available digitally, as well. Uh and I would just I would just uh second what you've mentioned about making sure we're looking at our process holistically, so we're looking at all steps in it to make sure we're operating efficiently. Um we were very proud to contribute to both executive orders that have been cited by this committee today, uh because I think the practitioners who uh are engaged in the system know where it could be improved.
▶ 1:42:01And we were really excited to work with our colleagues at the White House and State Department and Commerce Department to suggest some of those improvements, which some of which were adopted and we're pleased by that. So, I would offer, again, as I mentioned previously, the establishment of metrics has been, I think, foundational and long needed, uh the development as we are to an IT tracking system that can look end to end at the work that we are doing. We took the FMS
▶ 1:42:24Mr. Mr. Miller, those are generalities. Let me ask you a specific. Uh the Harpoon missile, uh Saudi Arabia paid, I understand, to restart the production line, and yet uh so, they stand with more priority than Taiwan. Uh frankly, given the last couple of weeks uh operation in the Middle East, there is nothing for Saudi Arabia to shoot a Harpoon at anymore.
▶ 1:42:47Uh so, why do we have Saudi Arabia standing in line for Harpoons prior to Taiwan, for instance, when Taiwan could use the Harpoon missile as a deterrent factor? Thank Thank you for your question. In 2023, I signed out guidance to all the implementing agencies for military sales to prioritize Taiwan above all other requirements. That remains standing guidance. So, in the matter of whether there was a competition between the provision of Harpoons to Saudi Arabia or to Taiwan, Taiwan would take priority.
▶ 1:43:14That is also a capability they are working to provide to them, and I credit my colleagues across the Department of War and State for the number of authorities and authorities provided by Congress to facilitate the provision of that capability to Taiwan. Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. To preclude any arguments over time, I yield back. Gentleman yields back.
▶ 1:43:34Before I go to Representative Lieu, I want to submit something for the record, and that is simply a copy of House Resolution 559, uh which I was referencing previously, which does resolve to use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And, to continue on reading it, to recognize and support the freedom of action of partners and allies, including Israel, to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
▶ 1:44:00The authorization that we gave them to conduct uh some of these operations, and as well, a list of those uh who voted for it as well, submitting that for the record. Without objection, and that, now recognize Representative Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under Secretary Duffy, thank you for being here today. I have some questions for you. The Department of Defense has a missiles shortage in the war against Iran, That is not correct.
▶ 1:44:31The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Defense, and President Trump have all declared that we have the munitions we need to prosecute this action. Okay. I don't think you're telling the truth, because the President held an emergency meeting on March 6th with all the top defense contractors, literally talking about the missile shortage and why we have to quadruple missile production.
▶ 1:44:52So, let me ask you a question about what the Washington Post recently reported, quote, "The military also is drawing from its supply of sophisticated Patriot interceptors in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere to bolster its defense against Iran's drone and ballistic missile attacks." Is that true? I'm sorry, can you repeat the question the the statement?
▶ 1:45:12"The military also is drawing from its supply of sophisticated Patriot interceptors in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere to bolster its defense against Iran's drone and ballistic missile attacks." Is that true?
▶ 1:45:24aware of any transfer of stock from other combatant commands. So, the US is in fact not taking Patriots from the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere to move to the war against Iran. I'm not aware of the transfers, no. Okay, I'm not asking if you Okay, all right. So, the Washington Post just got that wrong. There's no transfers of Patriots from other places. I'm not aware of the transfers. Okay. Well, I'm just trying I I I'm not trying to be difficult here.
▶ 1:45:54Is it that you personally aren't aware that this is not happening? If I'm not aware of them, I'm not sure how I can speak to whether or not they're happening. Okay, so it could be happening. Just you personally may not know about it.
▶ 1:46:05I'm not aware of the transfer of weapons from other theaters. So, Pentagon has stated that in the first 2 days of the Iran war, $5.6 was spent on munitions alone. These include Patriots and THAAD missiles and Do you know what the number is as of today, approximately, spent on I'm not aware of the Do you know what the expenditure rate is for these missiles?
▶ 1:46:29is on ensuring that we have the industrial base of the future to supply the weapons that we need for today and future conflicts.
▶ 1:46:35Well, then let me ask you this. How long would it take to replace the munitions that we've already spent in the Iran I'm not aware of the number of munitions that we've spent, but I can say that because the result of the work that we started last summer, and that meeting that President Trump held on March 6th, which was a continuation of efforts that began long before hostilities started in the Middle East, we have cut deals with industry to quadruple triple or quadruple the production capacity. So, that's that's very that's that's very very interesting. So, let's just go through some numbers.
▶ 1:47:06THAAD missiles are made at about eight per month by Lockheed Martin for a total of only about 96 a year, correct? Prior to our uh the the deals that we cut with industry, that is correct.
▶ 1:47:19Sure. So, let's talk about these amazing deals that you keep hyping. How long would it take for Lockheed to actually quadruple production? They've already started making the investment to increase that ramp. Yeah, so well, let me answer it for you, since you don't want to tell the American people. In their own press release, over 3 years. And let's say they do this 3 years from now and manage to make 400 THAAD missiles a year. Do you know how many Iranian drones there are? Estimated? About?
▶ 1:47:49Just give a ballpark Thankfully, it doesn't require a THAAD missile to shoot down an Iranian drone. No, I got it. Over 80,000 Iranian drones. So, let's talk about Patriots and THAADs right now how much they cost. So, how much is a THAAD missile? It's about $11 million, I believe. Okay. Recent estimates are 12 to 15, but we'll go with your $11 million. How about a Patriot missile? $4 million.
▶ 1:48:14Okay. How about an Iranian drone?
▶ 1:48:18Okay. Or as low as 20,000. So, it's like launching Cadillacs at baseballs. This is completely not sustainable. Not only do we not have enough Patriots or they're also massively expensive. And I want the administration and you to come up with a plan as to how we deal with this asymmetry. And then, let me now show you a video.
▶ 1:48:52This is a result of the Iranian drone strike on a facility in Oman. Even with our superior weapons, we cannot stop some of these strikes. And uh let me tell you what Donald Trump said yesterday. They weren't supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Nobody expected that. We were Complete dereliction of duty on the part of the commander-in-chief and the people under him. I yield back.
▶ 1:49:25The chair now recognizes the great representative from Ohio, Mr. Davidson. Uh thank you, Chairman. is a very timely hearing and foreign military sales are a critical part of our strategic posture. Aside from this committee, I serve on the Financial Services Committee where I'm the chairman for National Security and Illicit Finance and one of the most important things we're doing right now is modernizing the Defense Production Act.
▶ 1:49:53So, we just marked up a bill uh earlier this month to kind of keep pace with how the administration has been rightly focused on readiness. Uh and frankly, it's a continuation of what uh President Trump did in his first term uh to get uh our supply chains really focused on uh our America's national security and our interests. He's focused heavily on things like really basic things like steel. If you can't make your own steel, uh you're not really going to stay uh secure as a country.
▶ 1:50:22He's focused on all kinds of things with critical minerals. And when you look at um you know, the use of the XM Bank, I mean, really thoughtful on Project Vault. So, you know, uh Mr. Duffy, could you speak to the administration uh in terms of what work is being done uh to increase readiness and to modernize the defense industrial base? Thank you, Congressman, for your leadership on the Financial Services Committee.
▶ 1:50:47That's the Defense Production Act is an absolutely essential authority that we employ to ensure that we've got a resilient industrial base. Um I think uh you know, the key for us is to ensure that we have awareness of where are those vulnerabilities in the supply chain. Often times, it takes a failure of a business or withdrawal of a business for us to recognize that we have a shortage somewhere down the supply chain.
▶ 1:51:10And so, I think uh you know, our effort has been how do we create a commercial model within the acquisition system so that we get the defense industry to invest in their own their own money, which is what we've done with these munitions deals of the last 2 months and we'll extend to other uh platforms.
▶ 1:51:28Uh but also to employ the Defense Production Act and the industrial uh base uh assessment and and sustainment fund to identify those areas where we have uh a fragile uh element of the supply chain such as a a business that's a sole source uh supplier for a unique or bespoke part.
▶ 1:51:48And having that authority and that ability to uh provide the funds to sustain that business or invest in that business so they can achieve the growth we need to keep a resilient industrial base is absolutely critical. Yeah, and I think you know, de-risking our supply chain particularly with with China but certainly other uh vulnerabilities has just been such a strength for the Trump administration frankly both both terms. Um and and it is frankly far broader than just defense.
▶ 1:52:14I mean, we saw it uh used you know, during the COVID era for example for uh broader things. And so, uh you know, the authority ultimately resides in Treasury but obviously uh the Department of War administers a lot of these funds and um you know, we look forward to continue to work with the administration. So, if you have thoughtful ideas, we still don't find a way to get things through the Senate. Uh so, hopefully we can resolve that uh you know, critical choke point in the defense industrial base uh in in our own in a sort of product development here in the legislative process.
▶ 1:52:43Uh you know, foreign military sales is the the real topic of the hearing and I've worked on that including with the uh support of my friend and colleague Mr. Zinke's bills and my own bills addressing with no revolving doors where people can you know, literally authorize a contract and then go straight from federal government service back to the industry where they authorize the contract. We want to turn those kinds of things off to be good stewards of the American people's tax and frankly, the public trust.
▶ 1:53:13So, uh Mr. Brown, uh I wonder if you could highlight some of the guardrails that we might consider uh putting in place and that we already do have in place on FMS. In the FMS system, we look at every case on a case-by-case case-by-case uh basis. Uh we are trying to uh enter into the foreign military sales system as I stated at the top was 330 billion.
▶ 1:53:44Uh about 103 billion of that was the foreign military sales system. Uh was in the foreign uh foreign military sales system. We work very closely with our Department of War colleagues on a using a variety of tools to make sure that we can accelerate the cases uh that we can get the cases out the door but also provide the capabilities and needs to our allies and partners. That includes the evaluations that I mentioned earlier on the Conventional Arms Transfer Act in accordance with the uh Trump administration CAT policy.
▶ 1:54:11Uh some of the guardrails uh in regards to uh foreign military sales, we want to make sure they go to the right partners for the right reasons for the right capabilities. Uh if you're looking at it through the lens of the uh American First Arms Transfer Strategy, we want to be able to uh uh deliver the exquisite all the way down to the um scalable uh and can deliver it on time and good Excuse me, good enough munitions that we can deliver capability especially in the strike areas for our allies and partners.
▶ 1:54:40So, Yeah, I I like the focus on lethality and getting it out to uh our partners in particular. And you know, when I look at like the exchange you had with Mr. Self, I thought you know, highlighted the human element uh that needs to be there. What is really the priority? You know, you could make a policy decision about you know, the priority is uh one region or another or one partner or another or particularly one technology or another.
▶ 1:55:06Um but you know, 19 sign-offs in an age of AI, we can surely automate some of that and streamline it so everybody's more aware uh but the human commodity needs to be there. I I really fear that the streamlining is broken except that we want to fast-track something and bypass Congress. I I I hope that we can uh make our own streamline process and I think that's been the intent behind the committee's work. I thank Mr. Zinke in particular for it and I yield back. Thank you. And now we turn to the member from Delaware, Ms. McBride.
▶ 1:55:36Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Reforming America's defense sales is certainly a worthy topic of discussion but I have to say it's inconceivable to me that we are not having a different hearing today. 2 weeks ago, this administration launched the United States into a war of choice without congressional authorization, seemingly without without any concrete objectives and without this committee conducting any semblance of oversight.
▶ 1:56:04This is now the second time that this committee has met since the President launched a war in Iran. So, I have to ask, how on earth are we not having a hearing on that today? How do we not have a hearing even scheduled specifically on the most significant military operation in the Middle East in decades? It has been more than 2 weeks of Are we not going to have a hearing to even tackle why we are at war?
▶ 1:56:32Does the President have any idea cuz it doesn't seem like he does and no one in the administration can give us a concrete, direct, and consistent answer on why Americans are risking their lives overseas right now. Is it regime change? Maybe yes, maybe no. Is it nuclear weapons? It was until it wasn't. Have we achieved our evolving objectives? We have but also we haven't.
▶ 1:56:59This President has all but admitted he could end this war whenever he wants to but he is keeping it going. That is by definition a war of choice. This President's choice.
▶ 1:57:12Just this morning actually a a loyalist to this President, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, in protest to this reckless war of choice saying that Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States and that this war serves no benefit to the American people. So, why are we not having a hearing on a foreign policy that is spending over a billion dollars a day on that war rather than on needs here at home.
▶ 1:57:39We could have a hearing on the fact that we've replaced one repressive supreme leader with another except this one is even more hardline. We could have a hearing about how the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs warned the President that war would likely result in the closing of the Strait of Hormuz which the President in all of his infinite wisdom dismissed. gas prices for my constituents are up 20% since the start of the war.
▶ 1:58:04We could have a hearing on the fact that we've already lost 13 service members in this unauthorized conflict. We could have a hearing on the fact that there was an intelligence lapse that resulted in American arms killing 165 school children and teachers in Iran.
▶ 1:58:21We could have a hearing on the fact that this war is boosting Russia's oil revenues, ultimately bankrolling Putin's war in Ukraine making a peace deal even We could have a hearing about how our war of choice in Iran is giving China, which continues to have its sights set on Taiwan, critical information about our operational capabilities. Or we could have a hearing about how this administration essentially planned for none of these factors in preparation for this war.
▶ 1:58:52Our service members, our foreign service officers, are showing up to do their and they're doing it without any real answers from the administration. The American people continue to fund this war without any real answers from this The least we can do in Congress is our damn job and get real answers.
▶ 1:59:10But since this is specifically the topic of this hearing, the administration requested moving back to Taiwan that this committee expedite our review and approve two major arms packages for Taiwan in January totaling about 15 billion dollars. We followed through with that. Yet following the president's call with the president of China last month, reports indicate the administration is now delaying formal notification of those same packages. So, my question for you, Mr.
▶ 1:59:40Brown, the administration asked us to move quickly, we did. Why is the administration now delaying and what is the purpose of that delay? Thank you for your question, Representative McBryde. I would say that in regards to Taiwan, in the last 90 days we have moved 11.1 billion dollars to Taiwan. So, in regards to overall, have we delayed moving things to Taiwan?
▶ 2:00:10We have it. Over the last 10 years we've moved 40 billion. And as far as deliberation on arms sales and notification for future sales is something that we're not prepared to share today. but I'm happy to coordinate and work with this committee in the future as we look to move Taiwan arms sales. Can you guarantee that conversations between our president and the president of China have not resulted in any plan delays moving forward?
▶ 2:00:37I am not privy to the conversations between the president and the president of China. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. A couple questions really quick. Just to remind everyone in the history of Congress, there has not been one foreign military sale that Congress has ever disapproved. Congress is notorious for delaying.
▶ 2:01:02But there isn't one one example where Congress has actually been successful in saying no. So, the congressional notification process is built around delay. But if it doesn't change the outcome then why are we doing it? Because it was when when I talked to the industry leaders they're aghast with the amount of and and bureaucracy behind it, but it doesn't change the outcome.
▶ 2:01:32The process would have to be this this committee would have to vote on it, it would go to the floor and the Senate would have to do the It but and then you'd have to have a number so great that it it would override a veto. It's never happened.
▶ 2:01:46And yet we've created an enormous So, I'm interested in the IT and the To me, when we have a database, one is I'm I'm anxious to know when when you think the database will be will be And your thoughts on whether that database cuz Article 1, we have an obligation for oversight.
▶ 2:02:07And I can't think of a better way to oversight than actually have a database which doesn't exist today, but if it does, I assume that that database will show what system is in place what office is accountable for it and when the expectation is for delivery. I would think that would be at least three of the columns.
▶ 2:02:28But my my kind of thoughts are that if you have a database, then the committee's jurisdiction should have access to that database as we do with the FMS only list or the US munitions list and that should suffice because that's the guide. That's the guide that you would use to hold people accountable and make make sure that someone's in charge and held accountable cuz that's the tool I think that you would use to manage the the system.
▶ 2:02:57I would I would think this this body should have access to that at least at least the the committee's jurisdiction, the ranking member and the and the chair. So, they do have questions on it, they can they can they can they can look with some degree of at least certainty. So, one is when do you expect the database to completed be completed and what do we knew what do we do what do we need what do you need for us expedite it?
▶ 2:03:28Thank you very much, Congressman for your question. As you say, we're we're quite excited about the development [clears throat] of this end end look at foreign military sales. We already have well-established metrics for certain aspects of the process and that's already completed and that is from when a partner makes a request to when we come to them with an offer. So, the LOR to LOA process, that's done. Our colleagues in the the army are are there's not a competitive thing, but our colleagues at the army are furthest along.
▶ 2:03:55They have provided the most data and we expect to have an end to end look at their cases which are about 38% of the total in the coming months. We also have a task under the executive order to provide information on our metrics and provide them publicly. So, we intend to do that as well. I would offer that would be I think an element of our development of cases. I think that'll be a useful way to show our progress.
▶ 2:04:21Is is is the database integrated between Department of Commerce, Department of War and Thank you. The Department of State has done some of its own work related to the DCS our colleagues in DDTC under under Mr. Brown. So, they already are publishing their metrics for license approval on their website. So, they're a bit ahead of us and we're looking to catch up with them. So, they're but they are separate at this time.
▶ 2:04:44You is it separate because you're they're on a different system or is this or is the is the vision to integrate into one database? Well, sir, they are they are quite separate in terms of the data sources they draw from and candidly the complexity of developing FMS numbers versus direct commercial sales numbers which are licensing metrics which are sort of whole wholly sort of retained by the Department of State in concert with the Department of War and in one or two systems. So, it's more complicated on the FMS system, sir.
▶ 2:05:13Is the vision to have one database where someone in charge can can look down at that whether it's an ITAR or FMS only or or a system and say this is where it's Thank you for the question. At this time, the the challenge I mean we are we are head down focused on making sure we can achieve this for foreign military Certainly that it could be something that we would look to integrate fully with the DCS system in the future, but we're really committed to doing our part on the FMS side right now.
▶ 2:05:40Was there anything you need from Congress to to expedite it? Not this time, no. We're able to resource this with our resources from collections from our partners and and a bit of Title 10 resourcing as well. Lastly, would you think it would be a good idea I mean to revamp the congressional notification to use that as a basis? Then the list? I would have to defer to to Mr. Brown on the matters of congressional notification.
▶ 2:06:09I'll give myself an extra minute cuz I'll I'll give I'll give gentleman from Mr. Sherman an extra minute, too. So, first of all, as Mr. Miller said, we are in the DCS case in direct commercial sales, we are already posting the We have chat boxes you can go into the site and search. You can see how long it takes to process a license. That is out there basically in the DDTC website.
▶ 2:06:34You can see that information and we obviously um process about 26,000 licenses a year, about 2,100 a month and you can see you can see that data. This here is almost like a stock market ticker. In regards to congressional notifications if you could give me a little more context to what you're looking for I'm running out of my time, Mr. Chairman. Do you have question? Well, I've got a few I would hope that we would continue the tradition.
▶ 2:07:04I've uh seen in this Congress over 30 years where the Democrats and Republicans would both have equal amounts of of I know that you had asked some questions earlier than 5 minutes here or 6 minutes Although I realize that uh I'm the only Democratic member currently here and maybe
▶ 2:07:23It is the chair's discretion.
▶ 2:07:26I would hope the in in my 30 years, sir, the discretion has always been equally divided. And It is the chair's discretion. You may ask question, sir. Well, I thank you. Mr. Duffy, we're using a lot of weapons first Ukraine, now Iran, who knows what weapons we'll need to invade Greenland.
▶ 2:07:54We need to get our defense plants operating 24/7. That means paying people Is the defense part Department paying per system given the fact that you're going to be asking our defense contractors to work overtime?
▶ 2:08:13We have a standard fixed price contract which sets the cost per missile as fixed and so if the contractor incurs additional cost to pay overtime, that's not passed along to the Department.
▶ 2:08:25So, wait a minute. So, you contract with a defense contractor to make so many missiles, they price that out based on the idea that they're going to be 8 to 5 and now as a country we need twice as many, three times as many, they've got to work overtime and you don't pay any more for the overtime costs? Not only do we not pay more for the overtime cost, we've negotiated so that they'll pay for all the expansion required to triple the production capacity of their munitions.
▶ 2:08:55And then we're surprised when we don't have enough munitions. Well, actually the we don't have enough munitions because we didn't have this deal in the first place. So, you're saying a deal in which we force defense contractors to pay their employees overtime and we don't pay them any more per item. Uh I I realize that everybody's on this kick of let's blame Biden. Oh, I'm surprised they're not blaming Clinton or uh for the problems that we face.
▶ 2:09:24Uh but it's simp The fact is we don't have the weapons and the fact is our plants are not working uh 24/7 the way they should be. Now, there was a um we have they dodged the civilian harm mitigation uh uh uh in the Defense Department. Uh then we bombed a school in Iran. Uh does it make sense?
▶ 2:09:53Uh is the Defense Department even qualified to evaluate the tremendous harm that's done to America when one of our weapon systems is uh uh inadvertently used to uh harm civilians? And can you do that if you slash the civilian harm mitigation uh unit? Congressman, I I regret I don't have familiarity with the office that you're speaking about or the work that it does.
▶ 2:10:22I know that our men and women are doing their best to investigate whatever uh battle damage assessment or civilian
▶ 2:10:29Doing their best to except for the ones that were fired by Elon Musk. And uh this is the Foreign Affairs Committee and I can tell you our members are very well aware of the harm done to America when we hit uh an Iranian school. We are hoping that the Iranian people will align with us. That's a an important part of our um of our efforts.
▶ 2:10:53Now, the chair points out that it is rare if ever that Congress actually officially disapproves an arms transfer. I've been here a long time. What happens here is the arms transfer is withdrawn. So, Congress never actually gets to vote against it, but Congress doesn't just delay it. Congress prevents it.
▶ 2:11:15And to take Congress, which is already being turned into a a Russian Duma of 1905, uh that is to say an advisory body rather than Article 1 of the Constitution, to take us out of the arms transfer process would be a grave uh a grave mistake and an insult to those who framed our Constitution.
▶ 2:11:37Um I would point out that um we have a strong interest in making much quicker decisions. And um I would we can make those better if the administration works with us in advance. Uh there are times when you're going to notify Congress of a proposed arms sale. Does that notification officially go to both the chair and the ranking member of this committee or does it only go to the chair of the committee?
▶ 2:12:13Notification goes to the chair and ranking member. Now, the rules of the House require the chair to then provide that to the ranking member. Uh there was a recent uh incidents where the chair failed to act. Um and uh it is There again, that's a breach of 100, you know, well over 100 years of tradition in this House.
▶ 2:12:34Uh and I refer, of course, to the notification pursuant to a provision that I wrote requiring advance notification uh with regard to a nuclear co-op a possible nuclear cooperation agreement that didn't meet the gold standards for safeguards. So, uh can we get a commitment from either the acting chair of this committee or better yet from the administration that when notifications are sent to Congress, they'll be sent to both Democrats and Republicans, both to the chair and the ranking member?
▶ 2:13:04Can you commit to that? We'll commit to the uh procedures that we continue to follow with the committee
▶ 2:13:12of the fact that those and and I will time and I've given you extra minute just to be fair. So, with that, I turn to the gentleman from the great state of Florida. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um I've got a question for Mr. Miller. Um I I have questions about why we sell why the Department of War has thought selling certain weapons to certain countries is acceptable.
▶ 2:13:34The President of Turkey, President Erdoğan, has said the following as it relates to Islam, quote, "The mosques are our barracks, the domes are our helmets, the minarets are bayonets, and the faithful our soldiers." He also said less than 1 year ago, "May Allah make Zionist Israel destroyed and devastated." Why does the Department of War think it's a good idea to sell American weapons
▶ 2:14:04to a country whose leader makes these statements? Congressman, thank you for your your question and it is certainly a fact that Turkey historically has been one of our largest purchasers through foreign military sales. I I would also point out that my responsibilities at the Department of War for the implementation of security cooperation for Department Department of Defense program Department of War program, excuse me, under Title 10 and also implement programs under Title 22 on behalf of the Secretary of State and Department of State.
▶ 2:14:31So, in terms of the decision of whether or not to take the foreign policy decision to through foreign foreign military sales to Turkey, that would be the Department of State's direction on behalf of the President. Okay. Well, I'll I'll give you another quote and I'll give you another chance to answer the question. Just a few years ago, same guy, Erdoğan, said, quote, "Israelis are murderers." Not the Israeli government. Not IDF.
▶ 2:14:57It was Israelis are murderers to the point that they kill children who are five or six years old. They are murderers to the point they drag women on the ground to their death and they are murderers to the point they kill old "They are only satisfied by sucking their blood. It is in their nature." you're saying it's not your call to do.
▶ 2:15:24I'm asking you as the director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, do you think it's a good idea to sell weapons to a government whose head makes statements like that? Congressman, again, thank thank you for your your question and again, I would refer back to my previous response in terms of my responsibilities to the implementation of Title 22 programs uh through State Department direction on behalf of the President. Thank you. All right. Since you're not going to answer the question, I'll I'll turn to Mr.
▶ 2:15:51Duffy, who's the Under Secretary of War, also works in the War Department. I've read you three quotes from the President of Turkey to whom we are selling um a lot of weapons. Do you think it's a good idea for the Department of War to be selling these weapons to a country whose leadership has made And by the way, I got like 20 more quotes. That's just the first three. Do you think it's a good idea to be selling weapons to a country that's made these statements about Jews and Israel and other things?
▶ 2:16:21My response is similar to Director Miller, which is my responsibility is to fulfill the orders of uh the State Department and the my Department of War colleagues about which allies we would sell weapons to. Okay. Um if it was up to you, would you sell these weapons to a country that said I'll just give you another I'll just give you another one so you have time to think. Um "Zionism is a crime against humanity." Or here's one more.
▶ 2:16:51"The world is watching the barbarity of a psychopath." "Netanyahu is a vampire who feeds on If it was up to you, do you think as someone in the Department of War this is a country we ought to be selling weapons I don't endorse any of the statements. I think they're atrocious.
▶ 2:17:10Uh but in terms of making a decision, I just it's not within my expertise or uh knowledge set to make a balanced decision about whether or not that is in the advantage of the United States to national security to sell weapons to Turkey. Okay.
▶ 2:17:25Well, I'll I'll just I'll conclude my time by by making remarks, which is when we sell our weapons to we need to make sure those weapons aren't going to be used against our interests or that of our And I think that the comments that I've made, by the way, the first quote about the mosques being the barracks and the the worshipers being the soldiers, that's actually an almost 30-year-old quote.
▶ 2:17:54Um but then the quote about may Allah make Zionist Israel destroyed and devastated is a less than 1 year quote. So, a 30-year pattern of making these kinds of very, very offensive statements. I would just encourage the Department of War cuz I know I will be taking a look at that as well as other countries that I don't know should be having American weapons sold to them. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you. Now, I turn to the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Ruseski. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 2:18:23Chairman, and I'll just open by reminding my colleague that yes, our words do matter um and we should be mindful of all those that we put out there. Um thank you for this opportunity. Thank you to our witnesses for being here, for your many years of government service.
▶ 2:18:39I know that we're here to examine defense sales, but I have to first state for the record, as many of my other colleagues have said today, it is extremely frustrating that we are now on the third week of a war with Iran, a war that is costing American lives and tens of billions of taxpayer dollars. And yet this committee has failed to have a single public hearing on it. US foreign policy depends on clarity, consistent, coherent communication with the American people.
▶ 2:19:10And right now that clarity is nowhere to be found. Among other impacts, the Trump administration's decision to circumvent Congress and start this war choice has had significant consequences across the world including for our partners in the I've been fortunate to travel to the Indo-Pacific region twice during my time so far in Congress.
▶ 2:19:32First to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands and then to On those trips, I heard time and again how important consistent and reliable defense partnerships are to security in the region. I think that's as urgent now as ever as we see reports of large-scale Chinese military aircraft near Taiwan. On Sunday, Taiwan Taiwan's Defense Ministry detected 26 Chinese military aircraft around the island.
▶ 2:20:01On Saturday, uh 26 Chinese military aircraft on the island on Saturday with 16 entering its northern, central, and southwestern air defense zones. Seven naval ships were spotted around the island. And last week it was reported the Trump administration had begun the process of redeploying multiple THAAD air defense systems from South Korea to positions in the Middle East. These THAAD missile batteries are critical for deterrence in East Asia and for defending our treaty alliances there.
▶ 2:20:31But deterrence only works if commitments are both credible and sustained. I'm concerned that the redeployment of these air defense systems and other assets from the Indo-Pacific sends the wrong signal not only to our allies but also to Beijing. It also undermines the administration's own stated priorities.
▶ 2:20:50Barely four months ago, its national security strategy probably declared that the day the days quote the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy in both long-term planning and day-to-day execution are thankfully over. Strange. That does not seem at all like what we're doing today.
▶ 2:21:11The administration's national defense strategy goes even further promising to quote deter China in the Indo-Pacific through strength and to quote erect a strong did not denial defense along the first island chain as part of that I'm failing to see how pulling high-end missile defenses out of Asia East Asia to backfill another crisis in the Middle East supports these stated strategies. So again it seems to me to be the exact opposite. It is unfortunately a sad familiar pattern of strategic whiplash.
▶ 2:21:41Short-term crises in one region hollow out our long-term commitments and credibility in another. So I have quite a few questions and Under Secretary Duffy and Mr. Brown if you could uh give me some clear and concise responses. I know my colleague Mr. Lieu talked about the the price um we're talking about. I'm just curious um have we assured South Koreans that this redeployment is temporary of the I've not have been a participant in those conversations. I don't know.
▶ 2:22:10And I have not been part of those conversations either. Okay. Um based on your best assessment and given the recent Chinese military activity around Taiwan, how will the deployment impact short-term deterrence on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific more broadly? I'm sorry, can you repeat the question?
▶ 2:22:31Just On your based on your best assessment and given the recent Chinese military activity, how will the deployment uh impact short-term deterrence on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific more broadly not having those THAADs? Yeah, I mean I'm my focus is on acquisition and industrial base. So my my opinion I I don't have a strong opinion. I have to defer to my colleagues on that. Very much the same answer. Okay. Uh Mr.
▶ 2:22:56Chairman, I would just I guess reinforce the point here that um we are going against our own stated priorities of just a few years ago. Uh we appreciate the work that you gentlemen do. Appreciate your service. Um but in both this space and certainly as we continue this war, I hope that this committee uh will have the opportunity to talk to folks who can answer um given the very real concerns that folks are having across this country. And with that I yield back. Thank you. Thank you.
▶ 2:23:22I now yield from to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Thank the chairman. Thank you gentlemen for being here. I'm going to start with kind of an example and I'm going to probably focus on Secretary Duffy and Mr. Brown for the answer.
▶ 2:23:38Um we we're Congress has basically said we want to build two Virginia class submarines per year but I think we're down to about 1.13 as of 2024 and out of 48 attack class submarines only 32 of them were deemed operational which is less than the Navy's goal of 66 submarines.
▶ 2:24:02Now that's all in context helping out our friends or allies so to speak in AUKUS to sell a proposed three to five Virginia class submarines to Australia by the mid-2030s. And so my question is kind of general.
▶ 2:24:21I'm I've seen it and heard the tenor of your answers in the same vein but we're talking about our allies whether it's Turkey, whether it's Australia, whether it's Great Britain. But I'm wondering and look I I applaud the administration and your work to streamline FMS. It has been cumbersome and troublesome ever since I've known about it where we want to help the people that want to help us and make it easy for them to help us.
▶ 2:24:49But I'm wondering if you can walk us through the process by which we we continue to consider our allies so to speak. I mean the gentleman from Florida brought up Turkey as an example but things are changing around the globe and I think we can see that right now with some of the responses from our so-called allies regarding the current situation.
▶ 2:25:12So what is is there a process if you know one that reviews the support from our allies and at what point do allies no longer be are they no longer allies whether they're in NATO or AUKUS or something else? Is there some red line that you're aware of?
▶ 2:25:30As American citizens, as people in the administration, as people that advise the administration and carry out the administration's order orders, I'm just wondering if either of you can speak to those to that that question so to speak. Yes, Congressman. Thank you for the question. I think uh this is a continual process for us to evaluate um you know our our allies and um the strategic value of transferring arms to them. I think I might ask for Mr.
▶ 2:25:59Miller's help here but I in our original executive order in 2025, there was a specific task to kind of reassess who our partners were and what uh how we prioritize the uh sale of arms to those partners. Can you elaborate on that um Mike? Thank you.
▶ 2:26:15I think Congressman Congressman uh very briefly as Honorable Duffy mentioned there are two executive orders talk about setting priority partners and capabilities and that's also reflected in the America First Arms Transfer Strategy which speaks to the need to prioritize exports to partners who are supporting US interests. I would also point that uh this has long been an element of strategy.
▶ 2:26:35It's also reflected in our conventional arms transfer policy to how we review arms transfers and how we uh view those relationships and it's reflected very deeply in the technology controls that we apply based upon the reliability of a partner. Do do they have the capability and the intent to protect US technology and thereby protect the US military war fighting edge. So these are all elements uh that that factor into our decision making uh led by our colleagues at the State Department on arms transfers. Mr. Mr. Brown, do you have a comment before I kind of refine my question?
▶ 2:27:05Totally agree with Mr. Miller and Under Secretary Duffy. Everything is examined on a case-by-case basis for each country for each sale. So we make independent decisions that can be made at the at a time and also throughout the process.
▶ 2:27:19So is it generally just to protect the technology or is it also does it also include in the in the term ally their willingness to stand with America in you know in in in times of consequence and crisis vis-a-vis our shared enemies?
▶ 2:27:39I think uh what drove the uh thought behind the reissuance of the prioritization was very much how are they both standing with America and willing to provide for their own
▶ 2:27:52And you're saying you review that on a case-by-case basis country by country weapon system by weapon system. I I hope that's the case. I'm not sure I believe it but I hope that's Is that what you're telling us? I don't personally but the process has uh inputs from the combatant commanders, the ambassador team in the country, um and um and my colleagues at the Department of War.
▶ 2:28:13Look, I know we're in a strategic competition particularly with China and so I appreciate um willingness to be helpful so to speak, their need for for for the submarines. But at the same time when we can't produce what we need to produce um and where we can make all the decisions in a in a situation of kinetic activity, I'd rather us have them than allies that uh that aren't always there.
▶ 2:28:39And I think the current circumstances a good indicator of when times get tough who's really going to stand with us. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield. I now turn to the gentleman from the great state of Illinois, Mr. Schneider. Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses for joining us Illinois' 10th District is home to one of the largest concentration of manufacturing jobs in the entire country, and and many of those jobs are deep in the defense supply chain.
▶ 2:29:07In particular, Scot Forge in Spring Grove is a 100% employee-owned company that has been forging components for Navy submarines since 1995. They recently received a co-investment from the Blue Forge Alliance to stand up a new training center so they can double the rate at which we they bring on new They want to do more. They want to help our service members win.
▶ 2:29:31The question, one of the key questions here is whether the administration is doing everything it can, doing what it takes to make sure we win. We're 17 days into Operation Epic Fury. Reports are that the Pentagon burned through $5.6 billion of of munitions in just the first 2 days. CSIS estimates $16.5 billion has been expended through 12 days.
▶ 2:29:55We have fired hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles, possibly more in 2 weeks than we produced in the previous 5 years. Patriot interceptor inventories were at roughly a quarter of target before the war started. A quarter of our THAAD interceptor deliveries were expended during last June's 12-day war with Iran, and now we are pulling THAAD launchers out of South Korea and shipping them to the Middle East.
▶ 2:30:20So we now have to scale, and it's the second and third tier of our defense industrial base, the forgers, the machinists, the precision component manufacturers, who actually have to They need contracts, they need workforce, and they need predictability. So here's what I'm hoping to better understand from the witnesses today.
▶ 2:30:40What is this administration doing to get those contracts signed, get those production lines moving, and make sure the people building the weapons our troops need are not waiting on pure bureaucratic delays while our inventories burn down? I also want to understand something more Did the administration engage the relevant agencies, DOD acquisition, State's Political-Military Affairs Bureau, DSCA, before launching this war to ensure that munitions planning match the operational plan?
▶ 2:31:11Because the decision to invoke the Arms Export Control Act's emergency authority to bypass Congress and and rush $650 million in bombs to Israel after repeatedly insisting the administration was fully prepared for this war seems to tell a very different story. As Ranking Member Meeks said, this is an emergency of the administration's own So I'll start with Director Miller.
▶ 2:31:36After the administration's workforce reductions at DOD and State, how many qualified acquisition professionals are currently processing FMS cases? And what extent is that number meeting the need? Congressman, thank you for your question. I previously cited that there are 17,000 members of the broader security cooperation community, and that's something we a number we've been able to achieve uh due to congressional direction uh to identify and train that workforce through our our university.
▶ 2:32:04In terms of the number of contracting officers we have, I I confess I don't have that number with me. That's something we could uh follow up on. But again, there there there certainly is a large contractor workforce working
▶ 2:32:14What sense is the uh capacity up to what the need is? How close are we to meeting what what is demanded at the moment? I I think I would have to I don't know if Under Secretary Duffy has any thoughts on on the the the state of the contracting workforce. But again, we work day in and day out with the implementing agencies of foreign military sales uh to make sure that we're prioritizing our work and making sure that we're delivering against those contracts for authorized FMS. Okay.
▶ 2:32:40Yeah, and in my last minute I'll ask all the witnesses um you know, in the same way that it it appears so much of the administration has been caught uh surprised or even flat-footed at at the response of Iran and and the uh burn rate of of of material and weapons, um what are we doing to help the especially the second and third tier contractors uh suppliers scale up quickly uh to meet the need?
▶ 2:33:08Congressman, thank you for your focus and interest on the defense industrial I'll talk to these framework agreements that I mentioned earlier where we have entered into agreements with the primary vendors that manufacture the critical weapons, the Tomahawks, the Patriots, the THAADs, the standard missiles.
▶ 2:33:26And part of that um agreement that we entered into was a result of Congress in the National Defense Authorization Act and the appropriations bill providing the multi-year procurement authority so we can enter into 5-year or 7-year contracts with these suppliers.
▶ 2:33:42The reason that's relevant to the sub-tier suppliers is our framework agreement mandates that they flow down that duration of that contract with the subordinate tiers of the supply chain so that the folks in your district can have assurances that they're going to have business for the next 5 or 7 years, and that allows them to do what um our our vendors have done at the prime contractor level, which is make investments in their factory space, in their workforce, so we can have a much more stable, resilient supply chain.
▶ 2:34:10It's our hope that we could take that model, which we believe is taking uh a much more commercial approach to the defense industry, and distributing that across multiple platforms. But munitions was where we started with on that.
▶ 2:34:22So I'm over time. Can never answer this in 5 minutes anyway, but I'd love to engage more. I may be submit for writing questions. How do we accelerate that process because I think it's critical, not just for the the moment we're in right now, but long-term as we face more threats around the world. Yes, sir. I yield back. I now turn to the gentleman to the great state of Washington, Mr. Thank you. Mr.
▶ 2:34:45Chair, look, you guys have three of the most important jobs in in government, and you know, we have to prepare our industrial base. We need to add allies, and we do that with uh uh speeding up and unscrewing up our our military procurement and foreign military sales process. So thank you for your work. Uh Mr. Miller, I just wanted to return to the subject of Taiwan. Uh how much of a priority is it to get the weapons uh to Taiwan that they need to potentially ward off uh invasion from Communist Mainland China?
▶ 2:35:15Uh Congressman, thank you. Uh to state, as I said earlier, uh provision of security cooperation security assistance to Taiwan is our top priority. Okay. So I I have a uh a supplier in in my state that is trying to sell a component through direct commercial sales to the Taiwanese, and he tells me they keep getting bumped to the back of the line cuz there's no prioritization for them in the military uh sales process for direct commercial sales
▶ 2:35:45uh to Taiwan, and so they're they've just been stuck for over a year. So how does how does it get unstuck, or is that just a loophole in the law, or or what are they supposed to do about it? Thank you, Congressman. I would have to defer to Mr. Brown on direct commercial sales, but it sounds like that your constituent is uh registered as a as a producer or an exporter of uh controlled items, and maybe has obtained an export license, and it maybe based on what you're describing, it may be that the partner is not procuring that.
▶ 2:36:14That would be a decision by either a a Taiwan company or the Taiwan government. Uh that would be something that would be directly from that individual uh to them, and wouldn't have an intersection with uh my agency. We would be happy to assist. Like uh Mr. Miller said, the individual will require a license. Uh we would process that through uh Director of Defense Trade Controls at the State Department. We're doing that in 25 to 30 days.
▶ 2:36:37So if he's having a problem, it may be with the partner or otherwise, but we're happy for him to reach out to us and and assist in that manner. It So I just wanted to So it it is a priority uh to get the equipment to Taiwan that they need. Yes, it is. Okay. All right, then this should be If we can follow up, this should be a a solvable uh issue. Mr. Deputy, did you have a comment on this? Okay. Uh and then I just I just want to uh use my remaining time just kind of frame this thing out.
▶ 2:37:04You know, I'm new to Congress, and and frankly, I'm shocked at how uh important an issue it is uh to uh be able to buy the modern equipment that we need to rebuild our industrial base, and how bureaucratic and cumbersome it's become. Uh I give a a lot of credit to uh to Congressman Zinke and this administration to trying to fix this uh situation, and I've had a piece of legislation on it.
▶ 2:37:28But are you confident in terms of uh what the administration has done through the executive order and what this Congress is doing? Is that uh sufficient in what we need to be doing? Is that going to solve the problem, or do we need to be doing more? Are you speaking with respect with specifically with respect to foreign military sales or Yes. Acquisition. Yeah, military sales. I mean, I'll I'll give you I do think they're Yeah, they're very linked together, right?
▶ 2:37:51So my focus has been on the acquisition transformation, but I believe it's an enabler of foreign military sales because I think what's been an obstruction on our ability to fulfill foreign military sales pipeline is ensuring that we have the industrial capacity to support that. So we've been very focused. I mentioned in my earlier comments about how do we get the uh industry to pay itself to expand the production capacity and and and really triple or quadruple the rate of production of some of
▶ 2:38:19that a bigger hold up than the the 19 people having to sign off on it? Well, I think they're both uh require attention for improvement, and I think we're getting after both of them. So I'll defer to Mr. Miller on the FMS process standpoint, but we've been very focused on So just a quick example, just my every time. You know, I was out in Nigeria right before before Christmas uh talking to their government about the issue of Christians being targeted by jihadists, and they said, "We agree it's a problem.
▶ 2:38:46Uh we've bought We've paid for Cobra attack helicopters to try to get after the jihadists. You guys won't sell them to us. Please sell them to us. We don't want to buy Russian equipment, um but you're leaving us with no uh example." So, what is the hold-up in this case with the Nigerians? Congressman, I Mr. Brown may have a thought.
▶ 2:39:05I I recall previous sale of major uh air combat platforms to Nigeria, and it took quite a long time to uh to get through the the congressional process due to concerns uh that were bilateral in nature between the United States and Nigeria that may still be in effect, but I defer to Mr. It's also part of the process of receiving the payments for the capability. I think there were some delays there that we were able to help. Okay. Well, thank you guys very much.
▶ 2:39:30I mean, anything that Mike and office office can do to support you guys in your work, and I would love at the end of this meeting if if you could talk to my staffer here in the back room to see if we can can get this thing fixed on this stuff with Taiwan. Thank you. I now turn to the great member from Indiana, Mr. Baird. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Appreciate the opportunity to be here.
▶ 2:39:53You know, the the thing that I see in our foreign military sales process, there's several There are several bottlenecks, and you probably have covered many of them already. I hope not, um but uh But, have you had any any suggestion by some of our ally or partner countries that would consider taking Russian or Chinese uh munitions or equipment? Is that a concern?
▶ 2:40:23In in my experience, uh we are the uh provider of choice, uh but I do think that um we did we need to make sure that we're providing we're fulfilling the the the pipeline of orders in a timely fashion. I think uh well We we we provide a full suite of capability, not just the weapon system, but the training, the infrastructure.
▶ 2:40:49I think that makes it uh not only do we have the best weapon systems in the world, we have the best sales package, but I think where we have a challenge and where this reform gives us an opportunity is how do we accelerate that process so that we're meeting the needs of those foreign military sales customers as quickly as So then, would that mean that that And here's the point I'm getting to here is how important it is for us to stay ahead and stay the lead in AI and some of these other things that contribute to the superiority of
▶ 2:41:19our weapons. Uh what do you How do you feel about It's critical for us to maintain technological advantage of our weapons. Um but it's also critical that we have the modern manufacturing and defense industrial base that allows us to scale that technology so that it meets the needs of the United States, and it meets the needs of our allies and partners that seek to buy our weapons from us.
▶ 2:41:48So, continuing that on, uh are we are we far enough ahead of China and Russia in these fields to maintain our superiority? I believe we largely have a technological advantage and continue to maintain that technological advantage.
▶ 2:42:03I think we need to put a lot of effort into ensuring that we have that production capacity, that manufacturing capability, and we're very focused at the Department of War on multiple initiatives to ensure we're bringing that manufacturing capability back so we can be reliant on our own industrial base to supply for the future needs of our joint force. Do either of you other two have any comments in that regard?
▶ 2:42:32I would just echo uh the Under Secretary's statement. I sit across from ministers of defense and defense ministers, and they all want to partner with the US. They want US capability. They want US kit. Uh and it's all about whether we can produce it in the time frame that they need it. Same comment, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. I will now [snorts] turn to the gentleman from the territory of Guam, Mr. Moylan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 2:43:03Mr. Brown, Honorable Duffy, and Mr. Miller, thank you so much. Uh this is an important matter for me uh especially for our nation, but this matters a lot to my district in Guam uh cuz this unnecessary red tape, of course, weakens the deterrence in places like Taiwan and the Philippines.
▶ 2:43:24So, Guam being the second island chain, Share with us how important our first island chain needs to have what they need to have in order to protect the most western soil as well as their own. Uh these are our allies to protect themselves, but what this means for the territory of Guam if we don't provide these systems that they need to uh have or the ammunition that they need to have. Guam's also also like way out there.
▶ 2:43:54Would you agree uh that we are just part of the islands out there, too, whether we're the second or the first, but we have no other uh at this time no other resources really and as we build our uh gold golden dome for the island, but it's not there yet. I'm taking opportunity to show why uh reforming this defense and uh sales defense and getting the ammunitions our allies need uh for the first island chain especially is so important to the territory of Guam, USA.
▶ 2:44:25Start with you, Mr. Brown. We spent a lot of time uh focused on the Pacific Island uh and Guam and and and the work that we're doing in the Indo-Pacific with allies like as you said, in the Philippines and others. Um we are working very hard to get the capabilities that these countries need uh and working through the requests that they have and the capabilities for them to acquire those requests.
▶ 2:44:54Uh we have provided uh a a significant amount of foreign military funding uh to a number of these partners. Part of it is absorptive capacity for them to be able to spend it in their systems and to get the capabilities they need. We are working very closely with them to be able to get them to uh through the process to execute the sales that they or the or the acquire the capabilities that they need. Thank you. Honorable Duffy.
▶ 2:45:19I think I'd point to um you know, the recent Taiwan arms sales, the $11 billion package that was uh announced in December as, you know, a a demonstration of our commitment. I think the National Defense Strategy also highlights, you know, the commitment that we've made to deterring China in the Indo-Pacific through strength, not Uh and then I would say that the work that I'm leading in the department to ensure that we have a defense industrial base that's robust enough to support the needs of the US joint force
▶ 2:45:49and to be able to supply the foreign military sales pipeline will be key to ensuring that we can uh fulfill those orders to our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region who can make their contribution to the collective defense. Thank you. Mr. Miller. Not to repeat, but just to add the comments [clears throat] of my colleagues.
▶ 2:46:10Um certainly we have great appreciation also for Congress's role here in providing authorities for security assistance and security cooperation, both both Title 10 and Title 22, including the new TISKI uh fund available for Taiwan at a at a billion dollars, I think, in the most recent authorization. Uh just the vital nature of that foreign military financing, foreign military finance uh backed loans and loan guarantees, uh all of those security assistance authorities that we can bring to bear to support our partners in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere are vital to us.
▶ 2:46:40Thank you. Uh so, our situation with South Korea and their munitions supply and where we had to focus, uh would that be a similar situation for Guam, or have any Does anyone know if they heard anything about removing or transferring weapons from Guam for our eastern east uh situation? I've heard no discussion on that, no. No, sir. Uh thank you.
▶ 2:47:08This is uh very helpful because, of course, we have a lot of I don't know where these experts come from, but I you folks are my experts, and there's a lot of saying that's going around uh that the island is going to be next to be removed their ammunition in order to support what's happening uh in the other conflicts that we're dealing with.
▶ 2:47:26So, thank thank you for that Uh and plus in the NDAA and the FY26 NDAA, we do have a requirement by Congress at least 10 days if anything was to be transferred from the island because of that purpose. Uh so, I thank you for that. I thank you for the assurance of protecting our most western soil by helping our allies in the first island chain, especially in the second island chain, what that you does for the United States and for our territories. Thank you all.
▶ 2:47:56Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I now will turn to the newest member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, um the great member from the great state of Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's an honor to be here. Once again, uh thank you to the witnesses for taking the time out of your busy schedules to be here today. I'm honored to be joining this committee at such a pivotal moment for American diplomacy and foreign policy.
▶ 2:48:20Defense sales are one of the most impactful ways that the United States can conduct diplomacy, strengthen our alliances and partnerships, and improve the lethality of our own armed forces. It also supports the jobs of millions of Americans that manufacture these impressive machines every day, including hundreds of thousands of jobs in my home state of Ohio.
▶ 2:48:40Most of these companies I talked to tell me that although they build their best stuff for our military, it's the FMS revenue that they bring in that allows them to maintain the production footprint necessary to adequately supply our armed forces. That's why this hearing is so important.
▶ 2:48:57Foreign military sales are crucial to the success of our own combat forces and in this committee's job to make sure that the FMS system these companies are operating within is functioning to both support US national interests and allow for our nation's defense industry to be globally competitive. To Mr. Brown,
▶ 2:49:18US defense companies producing and providing defense articles and services controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ITAR continue to express concerns that ITAR is outdated, capturing both obsolete and emerging technologies unnecessarily. The President has issued two executive orders aimed at improving United States arms transfers processes. How has the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls implemented these directives?
▶ 2:49:48I thank you for your for your question, Representative. The ITAR enables us to make sure that we have our that we protect the highest technology and it actually facilitates sales in many ways. But we are looking at the ITAR from a standpoint of the rules rulemaking that we can reduce the things that ITAR addresses.
▶ 2:50:09Some of the most recent things we have a plan on this, but some of the most recent things are space enabled technologies and suppressors are rules that are out there that we're looking to make trade more licensing and trade more easy. We are doing that across a number of things in the ITAR.
▶ 2:50:25We are also are looking at rules and ways that we can reduce and have license free trade as much as we can and facilitate other exemptions the exemption for AUKUS, for example, which creates an environment for trade more so than it is specifically on any trade item. Thank you very much for that detailed answer and I very much appreciate it. Mr. Duffy, Under Secretary Duffy, it's good to see you. We worked together previously. I'm really glad you're in this position. It's great to see you serving this administration.
▶ 2:50:56Thank you. This administration has clearly signaled that companies that prioritize building and exportability from day one should be prioritized. What steps are you taking to implement this and are there specific authorities you need from Congress to incentivize industry to prioritize Congressman, great to see you again. Thank you for uh your question and your attention on this issue.
▶ 2:51:19I think um exportability is critical to ensuring that we have the future flexibility to export systems without needing to invest significant sums of money to redesign them in such a way that we can uh um ensure that um that that they would fit our criteria for export.
▶ 2:51:37And so uh first of all, thanks to Congress for uh seeding money in the exportability fund that would allow us to invest money within the department to help inform designs of emerging systems to ensure that we're thinking about and planning for exportability in that system.
▶ 2:51:54To the extent that we can incentivize industry to create um to also be thinking ahead and investing money or at least investing their intellectual capital to design the system for export, I think we owe it to the those those companies to recognize that investment and to add prioritization to where it fits and where it's in uh in a system that overall adds value to the joint force, that's just added
▶ 2:52:25uh I think credit to the company for for making that investment and thinking ahead uh uh and and of course is uh is is helpful to the company because they created a broader customer base by making it available for um our foreign military sales customers. Thank you for that for that answer, Under Secretary. And from the questions that I've given and the answers that I've received, I feel very confident in what you all are doing in this administration. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
▶ 2:52:55Thank you. And first of all, I want to thank the witnesses for your testimony today. I I know you're busy schedule, but I I appreciate it. And um I think it boils down to on reorganization, someone has to be in charge and someone has to be held And we look forward to working with you as you go through the myriad of executive orders and sort through them and figure out what works and what changes uh the goal.
▶ 2:53:20Uh today I've talked to the President and I said, you know, I think that from the beginning initiation from the State Department to contract it ought to be about 6 months. And then we ought to be able to deliver in about 18 months. And of course, he thought that timeline was too long. But considering where we are, I I think that would be a giant step forward. But again, I I appreciate everything. There will be other questions, no doubt, from other members that did not hear, they'll put it in writing and we'll get it to you.
▶ 2:53:45Uh but again, we look forward to working with you and from our side to codify as you go through the executive orders, what makes sense? Uh to codify and going forward so we're not it so it's you know, it has enduring effect and lasting effect through administrations. So with that, thank you and I appreciate it. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you.