00:01At the Shangri-La Dialogue in your speech of May 31st, you stated, and I quote,
00:08here in the Indo-Pacific, our futures are bound together.
00:10The prosperity and security of the Indo-Pacific are linked to those of your people.
00:15You went on to talk about the benefits from the, quote,
00:17peace and stability that comes with a lasting and strong American presence here in the Indo-Pacific, end quote.
00:23Do you believe that the only way to achieve our contributions to peace and security and stability in the Indo-Pacific is through military strength alone?
00:36Sir, certainly not through military strength alone, although military strength is the business that we're in.
00:42So we're building partnerships across mill-to-mill, whether it's the Philippines, Japan, Australia,
00:48more actively than any other part of the world, because the application of American strength is not America alone.
00:54It's by, with, and through partners who share mutual objectives.
00:57And so we are very invested in military-to-military relationships.
01:00So you, as the Secretary of Defense, believe that we need to take a broader approach
01:06in the projection of national power, national influence, than simply our military.
01:11Is that correct?
01:12Well, sir, that's not my job.
01:14My job is the military application.
01:15So others will determine the broader spectrum of that, but it's always useful to have other applications of power as well.
01:22But how others actually do that does impact your job in running our military, right?
01:27I mean, your military operations, your military presence, your mill-to-mill relationships that I agree are important
01:33are all going to be impacted by our non-military projection of power influence and assistance throughout the Indo-Pacific.
01:43Is that correct?
01:44I would just say that from my two recent visits to that region meeting with many of those ministers of defense multiple times,
01:52their focus is what capabilities can we share together, interoperability and capabilities that establish deterrence,
02:00because the most important message America can still send, and they can still send, is hard power capabilities.
02:06What can we project?
02:08Where can we project it?
02:09As the chairman said, what dilemmas can we create?
02:13That's the business that we're in.
02:14And so we work with those partners that share common goals.
02:20And our militaries are working better together than they ever have.
02:22And I think that helps support security.
02:23And I appreciate your focus on the military side.
02:25That's obviously directly your job.
02:26But I'm asking you to think and comment more broadly on our big-picture approach to the world.
02:32This administration, for example, has proposed to reduce the State Department by $8.3 billion,
02:38the Economic Support Fund, the Development Assistance and Democracy Fund, and the Assistance for Eurasia.
02:44This administration has illegally sought to destroy U.S. Agency for International Development and, in its budget request,
02:53reduce it significantly down to close to zero.
02:56This administration has proposed to reduce the international narcotics control and law enforcement effort by $1.2 billion.
03:05This administration has proposed to eliminate the Millennium Challenge Corporation,
03:11or not eliminate it, but reduce it by $1 billion, a significant reduction.
03:15One of our principal agencies that assists us with meeting the needs of the Indo-Pacific and the infrastructure area,
03:23and what I think you would agree are key strategic countries, such as Indonesia, such as Kiribati,
03:30such as the Philippines, such as the Solomon Islands.
03:32This administration has proposed to reduce international organization contributions by 83%.
03:40This administration is not following through on commitments that we've made to the freely associated states,
03:47all of which are strategically critical to this country, to expand veteran services in those three countries,
03:54Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.
03:58This administration appears to be slow-walking the resurgence and expansion of the Peace Corps throughout the Indo-Pacific.
04:07Do you think that that will affect your job in the military space with your relationships with those countries?
04:13No, sir, I would add to that list the elimination of most USAID programs, which I don't hear anything about,
04:22because a lot of them were wasteful and duplicitous, and I'm glad we got rid of them.
04:25Well, I've had those conversations with those countries.
04:26And as far as you mentioned international organizations, the 83% reduction, again, I hear nothing about that,
04:32because most of those international organizations are not serving U.S. interests.
04:36And so we shouldn't be funding them if they're not serving U.S. interests.
04:39So I don't hear from our allies' problems about that.
04:41Well, I don't think you're talking to the right people.
04:43Because those were not part of their calculus of American power.
04:45Yeah, if you talk to any one of those countries, they'll tell you that they're deeply concerned with the reduction of non-defense dollars,
04:50and it will, in fact, influence our presence and our contribution to your stated goal of peace and stability and security in the Indo-Pacific.
04:58I think they respect that we're reducing waste on programs that aren't actually affecting change on the ground.
05:03Mr. Diaz-Ballard.
05:05Thank you, and to three of you, thank you.
05:07Thanks for being here, and thanks for your service.
