Lloyd Austin

The President was briefed, he was asked for military options. He was advised by top military officials, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to not shoot it down.

Our support for Ukraine's self-defense is an investment in our own security and prosperity.

We won't get ahead of the investigation. But, you know, our information supports what President Duda said earlier in his preliminary assessment. It was that this was most likely -- most likely a result of Ukrainian air defense missile, but…

It was his decision to move forward and make sure that we shared as much information as possible.

we will defend every inch of NATO.

What we did in terms of sharing intelligence with our allies and partners was very, very helpful to demonstrate that we wanted to be transparent.

Make no mistake, we will ensure that the Department of Defense has the resources it needs to protect our country.

the President has us laser-focused on, and the national security establishment is monitoring it very, very closely.

The sharing of intelligence was a key element in getting us to where we are right now.

I am grateful to the House for passing the Ukraine supplemental request on May 10, 2022.

the goal of the United States is to weaken Russia so that they can't do something like this again.

the goal now is to weaken Russia, so that it cannot do this kind of thing again.

I wanted to weaken the Russian result that is weaken their ability to replace military assets.

the President's $773 billion defense budget request would provide the Department of Defense with the resourcing we need to address the threats that America faces

The supplementals that you provided us to this point have been very helpful in going after the kinds of things that you mentioned.

It doesn't necessarily support the way that we operate today.

We're also deeply focused on the terrible problem of suicide in the U.S. military.

Again, China is listed as our pacing challenge. Russia is listed as an acute threat.

Our budget seeks more than $56 billion for air power platforms and systems and more than $40 billion to maintain our dominance at sea.

I emphasized the importance of accountability, as well.

American vision and leadership have been pillars of international peace and prosperity.

I am absolutely fully committed to modernizing the Triad.

We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.

We think they can win. Everyone here thinks they can win. What winning means to be determined.

Ukraine clearly believes that it can win. And so does everyone here.