Ed Case

The national security, not only of the United States, but of the globe, depends on our ability to address issues in the South Pacific.

I would make the submission that these are significant amounts, but in the context of an entire defense budget as an example, they are not large amounts.

It would be a mistake, however, to take these special relationships for granted.

We have identified China as our top geopolitical challenge.

The top three jurisdictions with large compact populations: Hawaii, Guam, and the CNMI, had $1.8 billion in compact impact consequence.

I cannot accept the consequences to Hawaii or, for that matter, to Guam, to the CNMI, to Arkansas, to Washington, to Oregon, to California.

I support the compacts, I support their re-negotiation, I think they are critical to our national security.

If you want to find out what China is actually doing in the countries of the Pacific, and around the globe, for that matter, please read President Panuelo's letter, I recommend it to any of you.

I hope we can all stipulate at this point that the PRC is actively, consciously, and very deliberately expanding its influence across not just the compact countries, but the entire Pacific, all of the jurisdictions of the Pacific, and that…

The NDS, of course, identifies the People's Republic of China as our most consequential strategic [competitor], our pacing challenge, and an opponent to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Aloha, and thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today on your fiscal year 2024 NDAA.

To help prevent any further degradation to our air transportation system, I urge the Committee to continue to support investments in new technologies and infrastructure projects to meet this critical challenge.

As an island state located fully 2,500 miles off the coast of California, Hawai`i is uniquely challenged by its geographic isolation which makes our state heavily reliant on air transportation.

I appreciate the Committee's oversight on the implementation of this funding and, specifically, the billions of dollars in funding for port infrastructure upgrades, the Army Corps' massive backlog of authorized projects, and waterways that…

Current FAA infrastructure is insufficient to handle our nation's aviation needs, and this compounds for a fully reliant location such as Hawai`i.

I think that there are eminent solutions that combine the best of all worlds. So I think we should try to focus on how can we come up with a bill that actually solves this problem as opposed to worsens it.

I believe the situation at the border is a very critical issue, and I think anybody that walks away from that basic statement is not facing the realities.

I think we all know that we are not talking about Fortress America.

The criticality of funding FEMA has never been more important than it is now.

I want to support them, but I just--I can't do it again on a blind basis where the impacts are not taken care of this time around.

It is a very critical hearing on a very critical region, and I appreciate your various comments on our Pacific Islands Caucus.

It seems obvious that in that kind of a situation we also are drawn into debates over short-term extracted uses of water versus long-term sustainable uses of water.

We clearly do and should make multiple uses of the water available.

It seems to me to be pretty obvious that water is a finite resource. It is not infinite.

Please be totally honest with everybody about what this is all going to cost.