Hunter Opening Statement for Hearing on Global Security

Jul 10, 2007
Press Release

Contact: Josh Holly; 202.226.3988 

Washington D.C. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Republican Duncan Hunter (R-CA) today released the following opening statement from the committee’s hearing on global security:

“Thank you to my good friend, Ike Skelton, for holding today’s important hearing. As Members of the Armed Services Committee, it is imperative that we are equipped with the understanding of the most critical global security challenges facing the United States and the analytical tools for addressing those challenges. 

“Since September 11th, this Committee has seen first-hand the expansion and evolution of security challenges that confront the United States.  We have watched our brave military men and women take on these challenges by performing new and diverse missions around the globe—from confronting terrorism ‘spawned’ by radical Islamists to promoting stability and democracy.  The complex security challenges the world faces in the 21st Century require that the United States play a leading role in contending these challenges—calling on this Committee to understand the strategic risks facing the United States and ensuring our military forces have the necessary resources and capabilities to meet future strategic challenges.

“I would like to welcome our witnesses—Dr. Thomas Fingar, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Mr. Robert Cardillo, the Deputy Director for Analysis, Defense Intelligence Agency; and Mr. John A. Kringen, Director for Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency. 

“Gentlemen, we look forward to your testimony—particularly on the threats posed by the nexus of radical Islamists and terrorism; your assessments of the major security-related developments in each of the world’s regions which have the potential to threaten U.S. interests; and your thoughts regarding possible opportunities for the United States to influence the evolving security challenges we are likely to face in the intermediate to near-to-mid term. This is a timely hearing and we appreciate your appearance here this morning.

“During the 2006 Committee Defense Review—an effort intended to compliment the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review; this Committee defined a threat as ‘intent plus capability.’  During our review we realized that the international security environment that U.S. forces operate in today includes a broad and diverse spectrum of threats—changing the strategic security equation that we use to understand strategic risk and determine necessary capabilities.  

“Today’s strategic security equation continues to include those potential threats generated by hostile nation states. For example:

China: The Pentagon’s 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review Report (QDR) noted that China is at a strategic crossroads with the ‘greatest potential to compete militarily with the United States.’  China’s rapid economic growth, double-digit defense spending, investments in military modernization with a focus on power projection and its strategic forces contribute to increasing security competition in Asia.

Iran: Iran continues to take steps to counter U.S. influences in the region by supporting international terrorism and expanding its nuclear program and ballistic arsenal.  It is these actions that disrupt regional stability and require the United States to ensure it is postured to deter and defeat any aggression against U.S. interests.   

Venezuela: As a regional neighbor of the United States, Venezuela is increasingly threatening stability in the Western Hemisphere.  The country’s leadership is determined to move the country away from democracy and toward socialism; maintains close relations with Cuba and Iran and continues to decrease its cooperation in ant-drug and anti-terrorism efforts.

“However, today’s strategic security equation is not a simplistic one that is limited solely to meeting the threats posed by hostile nation states, but includes threats from non-state actors, such as violent extremist groups like al-Qaeda. The threat from al-Qaeda and related groups is one of the most daunting challenges to U.S. national security that we face as they exploit conditions created by regional instabilities in such places as Iraq, Africa, the Pacific, and the Horn of Africa to find safe haven and espouse a corrupted view of Islam to encourage violence against the United States and other nations.

“This problem of having to face both state and non-state actors becomes even more complex as we are seeing more and more linkages between these threats. A recent cyber attack on Estonia raises the specter of states enlisting non-state actors to act as a proxy. The attacks against Estonia were not military in nature, but attacked communications, economic systems, and other infrastructure which raises new concerns about the scope of potential hostile actions we might face. Hezbollah, an international terrorist group, has long been seen as being closely allied with Iran, and, as Iran solidifies its relationship with Venezuela, we have seen a corresponding rise in Hezbollah activities and influence in Latin America, potentially bringing a hostile terrorist group into our nation’s backyard.

“These security challenges are complex—they are diverse—they are evolving.  They require this committee’s understanding of a multifaceted strategic security equation and a continued effort to ensure that our brave military forces have the necessary resources and capabilities to perform their missions honorably and reduce the risk to the security of the American people.”

 

###

 https://Republicans.ArmedServices.House.Gov/