Defense Drumbeat

Yesterday, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, sat down with Maria Bartiromo to discuss Syria, terrorism, and border security. On Syria, Thornberry said, "If you let up the pressure on terrorist groups, whether they're in Syria, Afghanistan, or Yemen, they can spring back to life very quickly and threaten us here at home." Read more »

"Russia has violated the INF treaty for at least ten years. In that time, Presidents of both parties have urged them to return to compliance, Congress has admonished them, the United States has imposed sanctions against them, and the President has threatened to withdraw from the treaty. None of these actions has convinced Russia to return to compliance. Instead, they have spent a decade… Read more »

“…nine years of partisan politics, stopgap spending measures, and kicking the can down the road, have eroded our strength and encouraged our enemies. Members of the House now have the opportunity — indeed the obligation — to support our troops by approving the same bill next week. We have no duty that is more important than keeping faith with our troops." Read more »

“Russia also continues to modernize and invest across the full range of military capability, including new aircraft, submarines, armor, counter-space, and air defense systems, while also modernizing conventional and nuclear strike capabilities. These investments and activities are specifically designed to limit our power projection capability and undermine the credibility of U.S. alliances, especially NATO.” Read more »

On May 24, 2018, the FY19 NDAA passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 351-66. The Senate passed their version of the NDAA by a vote of 85-10. Here are the highlights of the FY19 NDAA Conference Report introduced today: Read more »

"The final version of the 2019 defense bill offers harsh words for Russia and China, keeping in place restrictions that prevent the US military from cooperating with Moscow." Read more »

As Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) said, “In the Indo-Pacific region, the United States faces a near-term, belligerent threat armed with nuclear weapons and also a longer-term strategic competitor. In fact, four of the five key security challenges -- China, Russia, North Korea, and terrorism -- reside in the PACOM area of responsibility. Critical to meeting all of the challenges in the region is our relationship with our allies and also with countries with whom we share interests.” Read more »

Through the NDAA, Congress will confront Iran by: Read more »

China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran all take advantage of America’s open society to launch malign influence campaigns against the United States and our allies. While these campaigns are the result of centralized government strategies, America’s response is often decentralized or poorly-coordinated. Read more »

Fatal military aviation accidents have reached a six-year high, in both the number of accidents and the number of pilots and crews killed, a Military Times investigation has found. Read more »