Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of this amendment to restore $24 million for Navy AIM-120 Delta AMRAAM procurement to match House-passed NDAA levels. When he rolled out the National Defense Strategy, Secretary Mattis was clear: ``Great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary focus of U.S. national security.'' Nowhere is this competition more intense than in the Indo-Pacific, where the ``fight tonight'' mission has never been more urgent, given threats from both great powers and rogue regimes. Pentagon leaders have been clear: addressing critical munitions shortfalls such as the AMRAAM is a top priority. During his confirmation, the new Indo-PACOM commander, Phil Davidson, listed critical munitions stockpiles as one of his top two capability and capacity challenges to addressing threats in the Indo-Pacific. Admiral Davidson went on to list advancements in air-to-air munitions-- and the AIM-120D in particular--as his top solution to challenges presented by anti-access area-denial capabilities. Unfortunately, our AMRAAM inventory is currently at only 50 percent of the requirement--50 percent. We cannot afford to cut any further. It is no surprise, then, that the Statement of Administration Policy on this bill singles out munitions reductions as an area of special concern.…”