'I'll Take Some Exception To This...': Chris Coons Confronts Hegseth Over Comments About U.S. Allies

Forbes Breaking News

At today's Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) questioned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, just a quick question to clarify

00:04something. Is a full-year continuing resolution bad for the Department of

00:09Defense, just yes or no? Sir, a full-year continuing resolution is is never

00:15preferable for any department, especially the Department of Defense, not

00:19preferable. And I know, General Kane, I don't need to ask you because your

00:24written testimony specifically says routinely operating under continuing

00:27resolutions lowers buying power results and less deployable capital makes it

00:32harder for industry to make long-term investments. And is it your commitment,

00:36Mr. Secretary, that you'll work with us to achieve a full-year appropriation? You'll

00:41submit the budget documents necessary, work with us closely, that we'll be able

00:45to do our work so you can do yours. Senator, we are committed to working with

00:50you to make sure the Defense Department gets as robust a budget as possible

00:55where we can meet the threats of today and tomorrow. Thank you. I'll just say at

00:58the outset, for all my colleagues, I am increasingly concerned that there is a

01:03threat that some believe they can best govern by continuing resolution,

01:08reconciliation, and rescission, and not ever actually have us appropriate. So I look

01:14forward to working with you to avoid that outcome, which I think would both

01:18disregard the role of Congress and put all of us at greater risk. It seems to me clear,

01:25with regards to Ukraine, that Vladimir Putin has no serious intent of negotiating. He continues to

01:32attack civilian targets night after night with hundreds and hundreds of drones. The Ukrainians

01:36have just carried out a spectacular attack against military targets. And it seems to me concerning that

01:44the 2026 request eliminates aid to Ukraine entirely. At the same time, the Senate has a

01:50strongly bipartisan bill led by Senator Graham and Senator Blumenthal to impose more sanctions on Russia.

01:57And many senators of both parties want to provide more aid to Ukraine. Would you agree, Mr. Secretary,

02:02that the United States should use every tool it has at its disposal, including additional sanctions,

02:08to pressure Russia to come to the table to negotiate a just and lasting peace for the war in Ukraine?

02:17Senator, every tool at our disposal? No. We have a lot of tools in a lot of places.

02:23Let me be more narrow. Let me be more narrow then. You said, and I'll take some exception to this,

02:28that our European allies cannot freeload off the United States in perpetuity.

02:34My impression is that Article 5 of the NATO treaty was only invoked once. It was after 9-11.

02:40And a significant number of our European allies and partners deployed to Afghanistan alongside us

02:45and suffered significant combat casualties. In the first two years of the war in Ukraine,

02:51a war of Russian aggression, 50 other countries stepped forward, deployed military support, delivered

02:58material, provided financial and operating support. And at regular meetings of the defense contact group,

03:05your predecessor led that process of deploying military assistance. What message do you think it sends

03:14that as Ukraine continues to suffer day after day of punishing attacks on civilian centers, we're not

03:20using the $3.8 billion in presidential drawdown authority that remains to send additional air defense and

03:27interceptors. And you yourself chose to not attend the Ukraine defense contact group. Mr. Secretary,

03:33why not use the already appropriated presidential drawdown authority to deliver defense material badly

03:39needed by Ukraine? Well, Senator, as you know, the presidential drawdown authorities,

03:4371 through 74 still apply, and they are still flowing. There's some in reserve. To your question about my

03:52statement, and I served with a lot of NATO allies in Afghanistan as well, incredibly capable Canadians,

03:58Brits and Australians and others, and grateful for them. And I've gotten to know a lot of them in this process. Yes, going to Brussels.

04:03Amazing people, amazing countries. Thus, I was struck, Mr. Secretary. But we also, we also wore a patch on our shoulder. Yes.

04:09That said ISAF, International Security Assistance Force. And you know what the joke was? That it stood for,

04:14I saw Americans fighting. Because what ultimately was a lot of flags, a lot of flags, was not a lot of on-the-ground

04:21capability. You're not a real coalition, you're not a real alliance, unless you have real defense

04:26capability and real armies that can bring those to bear. And that's a reality that Europe is waking up

04:32too quickly, and we're glad because they're our friends, and we want them to be safe and free and secure.

04:38And sometimes that takes true talk and tough love, and they've responded very well to that. They have.

04:43Because we want them to succeed. Mr. Secretary, let's just make clear for the record that our

04:47military partners in Afghanistan included many who served and died. Our Danish partners and allies,

04:54on a per capita basis, suffered more. Don't try to make it look like I don't care about the

04:57investments of our partners. Of course I do. I recognize that there were lives lost from other

05:01countries. Of course there were. But the bulk of the effort was Americans. And an alliance needs to

05:06include other countries and be more balanced. Mr. Secretary, as I pointed out in my opening comments,

05:11our partners and allies have stepped up, have invested, have engaged in the defense of Ukraine,

05:16and so should we. We should not be pursuing a ceasefire and a negotiated resolution to the war

05:23in Ukraine at any cost. Peace through strength means actually using our strength, continuing to support

05:30Ukraine, and securing a lasting peace. Putin will only stop when we stop him. And the best way to stop him

05:37is indeed through a stronger NATO. I look forward to the NATO summit. I agree with you that a significant

05:43investment by NATO in our collective security is a great investment. But we cannot abandon Ukraine.

05:50That would put us significantly at a strategic disadvantage. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Category

Transcript

Recommended