 Mr. Fisher, question, please. No question. Senator Murkowski? Given the overlay that we have heard, the interconnectedness between what is happening in Ukraine with Putin's war, what we are seeing truly explode now in Israel by Hamas, with the support of Iran. Given what we have all been discussing here with regards to the tension in China and Taiwan, we're not talking about North Korea today, but we should always be thinking about North Korea's intentions. This is a simple question that I was going to ask both of you. Given the situation globally and what is at play and how it all intersects, are we at a time and a place where, from a national security perspective, we are as vulnerable as we have been as a nation in your professional estimation? Mr. Secretary, your responses, please. Thank you, and I very much appreciate the accommodation. I want to try to quickly answer at least address initially the questions that were raised before I leave. Senator Rubio, thank you very much for the question about Venezuela. As you know, following the agreement that the unitary platform, the opposition, reached with the regime on a way forward toward elections, we wanted to support that. And part of supporting that was to encourage that to move forward, including by lifting some sanctions with the ability, of course, to snap them back or to put some licenses in place that can be revoked very quickly. If the regime has, in fact, violated the agreement that it reached, then, of course, we'll take the necessary action. We've been very clear about that. They're not getting a free pass for actions that they take that are in contradiction to the commitments that they've made to move toward free and fair elections, which is a shared objective that we have with the opposition with the unitary platform. So we're tracking that very carefully and happy to come back to you further as this moves along. Senator Van Hollen, with regard to the West Bank, we very much share the concern that you've expressed. Palestinian Authority is doing everything that it can to keep security, to keep stability in the West Bank. It's vastly under-resourced. This is another aspect of the problem. And we've urged the Israelis, for example, to provide the authority with the resources that it needs that are being held back, tax revenues, and other fees that it collects and then normally gives to the Authority so that it can do its business to release those. And at the same time, the President himself has been very clear, very direct and very explicit about our concerns about extreme settler violence and the impact that that's having on the West Bank, including adding fuel to the fire. We've seen that people have been, in effect, forcibly displaced from their communities as well as killed. So this is something that we are in direct communication and conversation with the Israeli government at the very highest levels and something we're tracking very carefully. Tony, if I could add, just to, you know, I mentioned earlier I talk to my counterpart nearly every day. And this is something that I bring up every time I talk to him. As you mentioned, Senator, I'm watching these reports and some of the things that we're seeing are fairly disturbing and it will work against them going forward if they don't make a decision to control this better. Thank you. Really needs to stand. And then Senator Murkowski, I think I would say this. We see the challenges that we've been discussing today. You also mentioned North Korea, another challenge that we take with dead seriousness. That's on one side of the equation. The other side of the equation is this. There's never been a time in my own experience where we've had greater unity of purpose, greater unity of action, greater convergence with our partners in Europe, our partners in Asia, and indeed in other parts of the world than we have now in facing exactly those problems. We built a coalition of more than 50 countries to help deal with the aggression that Putin is committing in Ukraine, an extraordinary coalition that is supporting Ukraine in so many different ways, as well as dealing with broader problems that Russia poses. At the same time, we built much greater conversions than I've ever seen on how to deal with and approach the challenges posed by China. And we see that in Asia itself. We see that in our relationships with everyone from Korea to Japan to the Philippines to Vietnam to India, countries wide and far, as well as in Europe. So I'm very comforted by the fact that because we've revitalized, re-energized, re-engaged our core alliances and partnerships, our greatest strength, and built new ones, and brought them together in new ways, we have tremendously effective groupings of countries that are prepared to deal with these challenges. Thank you, and thank you. I understand you have a meeting with the speaker and appreciate your answering those questions. I will go back to the senators who have not had a chance now. Secretary Austin, thank you for your willingness to stay and answer the final questions. Senator Rubio. Thank you, Secretary Austin. I wanted to ask you, and really I'll just be, I guess, very quick respect for all the people's time here. These attacks from these, we continue to call them proxies. They're basically agents of the IRGC and the Iranians. They would not be occurring without the Iranians not just permitting them, but frankly, facilitating them. And the Iranians would not facilitate or permit them because in fact, there was a pause in those attacks for some period of time. They would not facilitate or permit them unless they calculated that these attacks do not cross some threshold in their mind that if they cross that threshold, they would trigger a price, a response, a price they don't want to pay, a response they don't want to see. At this moment, I do not believe that we can argue that we have a deterrence in place with these attacks. And this is more of a comment than it is a question, although you're obviously free to comment and I think we're very interested to hear what your response will be. But it is my deep belief that I hope is shared by the department that if we do not, I don't want to brawn a war with Iran. None of us have talked about it. I'm not one of those people that have been talking about airstrikes and starting a war with Iran is a tender box to begin with. But if we do not have a credible, not just a deterrence, a credible deterrence with Iranians, these attacks are going to escalate. They're going to come faster. They're going to spread beyond Syria and Iraq and they will involve weaponry of increasing sophistication and lethality. And that is my biggest fear is that we will find ourselves if we do not soon establish a credible deterrent, they will begin to cross lines that will require, not just a defensive posture on our front, but imposing a cost on them. One of the biggest, obviously I share all the comments that have been made here about the horrifying incident involving Hamas and everything they've done in the past and moving forward, the need to stand with our allies. But I think this is the one that really, this is the one that has the threat to quickly spiral out of control, is that these groups escalating these attacks to include more places at a faster clip with more lethality and sophistication if we do not establish a credible deterrent quickly. That's right. I agree with you that if they're not convinced that we will do what's necessary to protect our troops, then they will continue on as they are. But I've been clear, the president has been clear that that's something that we won't tolerate and we will do what's necessary to protect our troops. You saw me move another carrier battle group. Actually, it's in the Med now, it's headed to the Gulf region. That gives us more capability, more strike capability. We have additional aircraft in the region now. We have the punch that's necessary to protect our interests and we're gonna do what's necessary to do that. Well, I have no question that we have the assets positioned in the region to impose a cost on Iran that they do not wanna pay. I hope we never have to do it. I guess the fundamental question really becomes, do they believe we would actually do it? I'm not, again, I understand the complexity of the situation where something could trigger and suddenly this thing begins to move in a direction that spirals out of control. What I have real concerns about is their perception of what we are willing to do. This may not match up with what we're actually willing to do. Hence, at this moment, we do not have a credible deterrent. And I just, I sense from your answer that you share that concern. Sometimes, even when we say things, they may not believe us even if we have the capability to do it. So it's one of those situations where we don't want there to be a shooting war, certainly, and seeing this thing escalate, but I think one of the things that guarantees escalation is the lack of a credible deterrent. It's a complex and serious matter and one that I hope sounds like you share my concern about it quickly spiraling here, primarily because of Iranian perceptions of our willingness, not our capability, but our willingness to take turn action. Senator Van Halen. I thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Secretary Austin, thank you for your service. And I agree that we have to provide the people of Ukraine with military assistance that they need to defend themselves against Putin's aggression. And President Biden is right to stand with Israel in its hour of need. All of us have been repulsed by the horror and brutality of the Hamas terror attacks that left over 1,400 innocent Israelis murdered, including women and children, including those massacred at Kibbutz, Qafar, Gaza, which I visited in June. When scaled to the size of the U.S. population, that is comparable to over 40,000 Americans killed, a horror that will never be erased. All of us agree that Israel not only has the right, but the duty to defend itself and eliminate the threat from Hamas. Hamas must immediately release all the hostages and as Israel conducts its operations, many of us believe it should prioritize returning the hostages safely home. Also, as President Biden has said, it must conduct its operations in accordance with the laws of war, not only because taking all possible measures to avoid civilian casualties and human suffering is morally and legally required, but that it is also in the best strategic interests of the United States and Israel to do so, something both you and Secretary Blinken have affirmed today. The President has been very clear about the need to distinguish between Hamas and the overwhelming number of Gaza's over 2 million Palestinian civilians who have nothing to do with Hamas. But some members of Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition have indicated that all Palestinians in Gaza are responsible for the horror visited upon Israel. And Israel has imposed, as you know, a full siege on the people of Gaza, cutting off most water, food, medicine, electricity and fuel shipments. Secretary Blinken described the desperate humanitarian situation in his testimony today, but today we have only seen a trickle, a trickle of the needed humanitarian aid crossing the Rafa border. I saw the readout from your conversation today with Minister Galant where you indicated, and I quote, that humanitarian law requires that there be unfettered humanitarian assistance. So, Mr. Secretary, simple question, we've got a trickle going, you would agree that in the interests of humanitarian law and helping innocent people in Gaza, we have to do a lot better. Simple question. I agree, Senator, and as I said earlier, it's a moral and operational and strategic imperative. If you fail to do that, then I think we're gonna create a problem that, they will create a problem, a bigger problem for themselves. Now, the siege is being accompanied by a ferocious bombing campaign. In just the first six days of the war, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs in the densely populated Gaza Strip. Israel has stopped reporting the number of bombs being dropped, but the intense pace has continued. Last night, my wife and I learned that someone we know well lost two family members and four of their children killed in bombing in Gaza. So they are not yet included in the most recent death toll reported by the United Nations yesterday, which says the number of dead is risen to over 8,300 people, 70% of them women and children, including 3,457 children. These are UN figures. According to UN figures, that is about six times more children killed in three weeks in Gaza than the number of children killed in Ukraine during the entire war there. And if you scale the death of those Palestinian children to the United States population, it's comparable to over 230,000 American children killed. The executive director of UNICEF, Catherine Russell, said at the current rate, more than 420 children are being killed or injured in the Gaza each day. A number she said, which should shake us to our core. I agree. Now, Secretary, Mr. Secretary, I know that people on opposing sides of this conflict provide different reasons for why the death toll is so high. And you are right about Hamas's despicable practices of operating among civilians. But regardless of the explanation, we must not look away from these terrible facts. You and the president have repeatedly said that Israel must comply with the rules of war. But as we consider additional American military assistance to Israel's fight in Gaza, don't we have an obligation not only to state that expectation, but to ensure that our support is used in a manner that complies with the laws of war and U.S. law? That's my question, Mr. Secretary. Yeah, we will continue to emphasize to our allies here the necessity to account for the civilians that are in the battle space. They are a part of the battle space. They must account for them. They must do the right thing in terms of taking that into consideration as they do their targeting. They must create. Mr. Secretary, with respect, my question is a little different. My question is now that we're talking about... Senator Van Hollen, I apologize. Secretary Austin has just a few minutes left. We still have four senators to... All right, additional assistance. Don't we now have an obligation, not just a stated expectation for that to be the case? Thank you. Senator Fischer. Thank you, Madam Chairman. While I appreciate Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken testifying today, I will echo my colleagues' sentiment and say that I'm disappointed Secretary Mayorkas is not here. However, I am very, very pleased to hear that he will be before this committee next week because there is a national security crisis at our southern border. And this administration must make serious policy changes to address the crisis. I look forward to hearing from Secretary Mayorkas on how the administration intends to address that crisis. 24 days ago, Israel suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. Israel has the right and the responsibility to respond to these barbaric attacks. We can best help them by giving them the time and resources they need to eliminate Hamas. The atrocities committed by Hamas demand nothing less. The administration's request included over $14 billion for Israel, including $5.2 billion to replenish their iron dome and David's sling systems and accelerate development of their iron beam system and $3.5 billion in foreign military financing. I strongly support the full inclusion of this request in the supplemental funding bill that this committee will draft. The administration has also requested significant funding for Ukraine. I would note that while many of our allies and partners are capable of providing generous humanitarian and economic assistance packages, only the United States can provide Ukraine with lethal aid at the scale that it needs. That is where we should focus our efforts as a country. But we can only continue to provide lethal aid if we aggressively expand our munitions production capacity. And we do that here at home. And that's a point that's being lost by many. A significant portion of the funding request is to replenish and build out US capacity. The United States faces threats from around the world, from Russia, China, Iran. Earlier this month, the bipartisan bicameral congressional commission on the strategic posture of the United States released its final report on America's strategic posture. The report unanimously endorsed by the commissioners found that we will soon face a security situation that, quote, the United States did not anticipate and for which it is not prepared, end quote. I'm working with my colleagues to turn many of the commission's recommendations into law. But fundamentally, we simply do not have the workforce, supply chain, or infrastructure necessary to meet the coming threats. Building out this capacity, it's going to take time and resources. But we can start now by making targeted investments in our munitions production base. The administration's supplemental request includes over $18 billion to replenish our own weapons stockpiles and over $4.6 billion to expand production capacity for those critical munitions. This is a step in the right direction, and I will support its inclusion in the supplemental funding bill. Secretary Austin, what would be the impact of not including replenishment funding in the appropriations package for this supplemental? Thanks, Senator. We would lose the ability to do the kinds of things that we've done with Ukraine and Israel in support of our allies in a time of need. And what does it do to our own national security? Well, it certainly, as I said earlier, we will maintain the ability to defend this country and protect our interests. But this additional capability gives us the ability to address emerging crises. And so I think, without that, we would be challenged to do the kinds of things that we've done here in the past. You know, I know it's important that we continue to do that for our allies and partners. But it helps our own stockpile requirements. And that includes expanding the production lines for long-range precision-guided munitions as well. Is that correct? That's absolutely correct, Senator. And you know. Which we need for the Pacific, right? That's right. And you know that some of these munitions are a long lead time in terms of what it takes to produce them. And so we're looking at ways to shorten some of those time lines, to increase capacity, to automate production lines, to address some of the issues that you raised earlier. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Madam Chair. Senator Peters. Thank you, Madam Chair. And as chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, I know how important it is for us to secure our northern and southern border and provide law enforcement with the resources that they are going to need to complete that mission. And that's why I'm very pleased to see substantial funding in the supplemental to support border operations as well as security for our country. But I also believe we can't stop there. We also must work with international partners to understand some of the root causes of the increased migration that we're seeing show up at our border and commit adequate resources to addressing those challenges. I know Secretary Blinken had another engagement that he had to leave. But I have a number of questions for him that I will be submitting to the record as to how that we work internationally to deal with border security here and in our country. But Secretary Austin, thank you for staying for additional time. You've been very generous with your time. The question is with the recent escalation of violence and attacks that are aimed at US personnel in the Middle East now. I remain concerned about the Air Force's decision to divest the A-10 aircraft. Notably, the DOD recently deployed A-10s to further deter Iran and their proxies that may seek to attack US forces and in the process destabilize the region even more than it already is. As you know, my home state of Michigan is the home of the 107th Fighter Squadron, a unit certainly capable of providing air support to our troops and allies should they be called upon. My question for you, Secretary, is clearly the Department of Defense has recognized the need for this aircraft's very unique capabilities and are deploying those fighters right now in support of operations related to this contingency. So my question for you is this current conflict causing the Department to reconsider A-10 divestment or at a minimum perhaps delaying some of those divestitures given the fact that there is a mission today and will very likely continue, at least in the foreseeable future. Well, thanks, Senator. I have personally benefited from the capability of the A-10, so I have great respect for the platform. And the A-10 will be with us for the near term. But I've asked you for $61.1 billion in my FY24 budget to invest in air power so that we can remain the dominant force. And so we're going to have to transition over time to address the new challenges that we'll face with peer competition. And we're making an effort to do that. And we'll have to make some choices down the road. But we're going to have to continue to make that transition. But they will be with us for the near term. Good. Well, as you talk about the future, certainly we have to be focused on warfare is changing dramatically. But I believe that the very close working relationship in security cooperation that we have with Israel is incredibly important to that task. The US and Israel have some of the world's most innovative technologies, as you're well aware of. And now more than ever, we need to continue to develop those. This Congress I introduced along with bipartisan support from Senator Fisher, the US-Israel Future of Warfare Act, which authorized $50 million to create the US-Israel Future Warfare Research and Development Fund to increase collaboration in areas of artificial intelligence, drone and cybersecurity, directed energy and automation. That is a $50 million authorization given the current conflict, given the rapidly changing nature of warfare. How important is that we make those investments? And should we be prepared to make even more investments and may have an even closer cooperative agreement with Israel and the IDF? Well, thanks, Senator. Thanks for your work. Certainly won't comment on pending legislation. What I will say, though, is that we are great partners. We have done a number of things together. And Israel, as you pointed out, is a source of innovation. Excuse me. And our work together, I think, will continue to create advantages for us in the future battle space. So we look forward to that. Great. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Senator Mikowski. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I think this is probably the most important and most significant hearing that we have had here in the Congress this year. This is not only about the United States and our national security. It is about food security, as we heard earlier. We haven't really talked about energy security, but there is a dynamic there as well. This is significant that this committee is weighing in to evaluate this supplemental request. My hope is that we are able to take the contours of this, which is absolutely the imperative and the support for Ukraine. Absolutely the imperative and support for Israel. Also recognizing that we need, we must do more when it comes to our own border here in this country, but also a piece that we haven't really talked much about here today. And that's the Indo-Pacific piece. There is a small increment here or a smaller insignificant in relative terms to the other areas. But recognizing that we will be doing some adjustment within those contours, those four pillars and how they intersect and how they allow this proposal to move forward, I think, is so very, very important. I was reading something this morning. Madam Chairman, as I'm coming in, it was a statement that said something to the effect that in the United States we lead through the power of our example, but we also need the example of our power. And that example of our power is manifested through our defense appropriations. And so as we're talking about the need for replenishment of our own stocks and then what that can do to help Ukraine, what we must do then to help Israel. Mr. Secretary, can you speak to the Indo-Pacific piece? There's $2 billion included for state, for foreign military financing. In your view, why is it imperative that we also include in this package an increment for the Indo-Pacific? Well, thanks, Senator. As you know from our strategy, our national defense strategy, China is our pacing challenge. And as we look at China's behavior in the Indo-Pacific, we are increasingly concerned. So we must have the ability to continue to be able to deter China and to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. And so we're going to continue that work. In this request, we've asked you for $3.3 billion to invest in our submarine industrial base. And that will help us with our efforts up with AUKUS. And as you know, AUKUS is a generational capability that I think will do great things in enabling us to promote security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. We've also asked for $3 billion or so to build more capacity in our industrial base so we can produce greater quantities of munitions and weapons. And so I think that investment is going to apply to the Indo-Pacific as well. I appreciate that, Madam Chairman. A question has not yet been asked in this hearing about the impact, the implication of a long-term CR. I know we're talking about an emergency supplemental now, but our reality is in 18 short days we will once again be beyond where our budget is now. Mr. Secretary, if we were to go to a long-term CR, given the state of the world right now and the role that we play in it, what would that mean? It would make things much more difficult for us, Senator. You can't buy back time. And this takes away the time we have to conduct, to affect new starts, the time that we have to go after specific projects, to invest in capabilities. And you just can't buy that back. Our budget is directly linked to our strategy. And so if we don't have the full budget, we're not able to execute the strategy to the degree that we planned it. And so I think this is critical. And I think it's really, really important that we get an on-time appropriation if possible. Thank you very much. Senator Sinema. What better time than now to show our committee's unity and Congress's commitment to advancing our shared values? America's adversaries are watching how we act and how we react while actors across the globe that stand against everything we as Americans believe in actively try to destabilize and destroy democracies. We must pass legislation to support Israel, Ukraine against Putin, and Arizona's border. Each of these three are urgent concerns and should advance together as they are all critical for both my state and for our country's national security. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are strengthening partnerships to undermine America's interests and create chaos while Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and Ukraine, a critical supporter of Americans values, continue to be attacked. At the same time, at home in Arizona, we know there's a clear crisis on our border and cartels are using the porous border to smuggle migrants and dangerous drugs into our state, weakening our national security. So the supplemental request includes resources for Ukraine to fight against Putin, to support Israel in her time of need and border security all in one package. And I encourage my colleagues to join me in doing the bipartisan work that's necessary to address all of these priorities. Secretary Austin, the request includes additional appropriations for Iron Dome and David's sling replenishment. I agree we need to quickly surge production to support significant replenishment in Israel as soon as possible. Now we've been talking about capacity shortfalls and revitalizing the defense industrial base for years. This request, however, only includes $200 million to mitigate industrial base constraints to allow for faster production of weapons and equipment. Can you speak to the impact of this funding in the context of supporting multiple conflicts? Thanks, Senator. That $200 million that you're speaking of is focused on our PDA efforts. And the larger amount that we're asking for to invest in the industrial base is $3 billion. And so that's a component of the bigger number. And again, I think all the things that we're doing to replenish our stocks, to enable Ukraine to purchase new equipment from the United States, all those things also contribute. But we specifically asked for $3 billion in this request to focus on the industrial base. And again, that $200 million is a component of that, not the total amount. So the request includes provisions for the, quote, expansion of facilities for the purpose of increasing production of critical munitions. How quickly will these investments lead to increased capacity? It'll vary. In some cases, you know, industry can move fairly quickly. In other cases, for more sophisticated items like javelins and stingers and those kinds of things, it will take a bit longer. But we're working with industry each and every day to do everything we can to send the right signals so that they can invest in the right things and be able to expand where required. So we've been supplying our Ukrainian allies with munitions to push back on Russian aggression for almost two years now. There are numerous reports that suggest that the manufacturing of those munitions and supplies is not yet keeping pace with demand and that we're depleting our own stockpiles at a fairly significant rate. Of course, now we're gonna send some of that inventory to Israel as well, which I am supportive of. But as we look to support Israel and Taiwan, in addition to Ukraine, against the aggression that all three of them face, are you worried that this could put too much stress on inventory and if so, can targeting software that improves the accuracy of our munitions help and is that software investment reflected in the supplemental package? Well, we have the most accurate and lethal weapons in the world and in terms of our targeting, we're always looking for ways to do things better and more efficiently. But the specifics of those things, I'll leave to my great airman who again are the best in the world. In terms of the depletion of our stocks, again, as I said a number of times here today, we will make sure that we maintain what's necessary to defend this country and protect our interests and I won't change that direction of travel. Thank you. Thank you. I wanna thank all of our colleagues for a really thoughtful discussion. Secretary Austin, thank you for sharing your time and knowledge with us. You know, if there's one takeaway from this conversation today, it should be that these global challenges that we face, the war in Ukraine, terrorism in Israel, humanitarian needs for those who are caught in the conflict and the posturing of the Chinese government in the Indo-Pacific region, these challenges may be distinct, but they are all connected and they all are urgent. We have to respond to all of them in a comprehensive way that sends an unmistakable message to the world that American leadership is still strong and our resolve has not wavered. So I'm gonna make sure we take what we have learned today into account as we continue working together to craft a comprehensive security package that meets this pivotal moment and lives up to our promises to stand by our allies, stand for democracy and stand up for civilians. I hope all of our colleagues will continue to work with me and Vice Chair Collins to make sure we avoid insufficient half measures and get all of our allies the robust support that they need. And of course, I do believe we need to continue to work to address our domestic priorities like the childcare crisis, situation at the border and more. That will end our hearing today. For any senators who wish to ask additional questions, questions for the record will be due in seven days on Tuesday, November 7th at 5 p.m. The hearing record will also remain open until then for members who do wish to submit additional materials for the record. With that, committee stands adjourned.