At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) questioned Sec. Lloyd Austin about support for Ukraine.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 I thank the gentleman, Chair, and I recognize the gentlelady from Michigan, Ms. McClain.
00:04 Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you all for being here today at this important hearing.
00:09 Secretary Austin, you know recently we passed a Ukraine aid supplemental.
00:16 It was a little dicey, a little contentious, but at the end of the day it passed.
00:20 Now I think comes some of the difficult conversations, and that is accountability.
00:27 Because something tells me that we'll probably ask for more in the future.
00:31 So just as to try and be proactive, I would say, Section 504 states that you as the Secretary
00:39 of Defense and Secretary of State Blinken are required to report to Congress on a concrete
00:47 strategy for U.S. support to Ukraine in their war with Russia.
00:53 My question is simple, and you have 45 days to do it.
00:57 I believe that report is due on June 8th.
01:01 Do you believe that you will have that report by June 8th?
01:08 We will do everything within our power to meet the suspense, and we have discussed this
01:13 issue a number of times in our briefings.
01:19 So we should look forward to it on the 8th?
01:21 Sure.
01:22 Okay.
01:23 Confident on that?
01:24 Again, we're going to do everything possible to make the suspense.
01:30 I'm not sure what that means.
01:31 Are we hedging our bets, or does the deadline matter and we'll have it to us on June 8th?
01:38 That means yes.
01:39 We're going to, you know, we have a suspense to meet, we're going to try to meet it.
01:46 What do you anticipate might be some of the delays in your trying to meet it?
01:53 Right now I don't see any delays.
01:55 So we, you know, again, this is important.
01:58 We'll make sure that you have the information that you've asked for.
02:02 Thank you.
02:03 Have you begun the required consultations with Secretary Blinken on the strategy?
02:10 Have I conducted consultations with Secretary Blinken on a strategy?
02:14 We've discussed the Ukrainian, the strategy for Ukraine in the, with the National Security
02:22 Council a number of times.
02:24 So yes, as a part of a, part of the larger group, yes.
02:28 Wonderful.
02:29 Can you give this committee kind of a preview on what some of those concrete achievable
02:33 objectives are?
02:35 Yeah, and we've been consistent on this throughout.
02:38 Our goal for Ukraine is to be a, to make sure Ukraine is a democratic, independent, sovereign
02:49 country with the ability to defend itself and deter aggression in the future.
02:55 And you're confident we're on track?
02:57 Those are achievable goals, yes.
02:58 Okay.
02:59 Thank you.
03:00 Mr. Chairman, my constituents, you know, have concerns about this.
03:05 And I hope that you'll work with this committee and our committee to really ensure that one,
03:12 this report comes in time and it lays out an actual legitimate, measurable strategy
03:18 for the, for the aid that we've given and any continued aid going forward.
03:23 I think the American people need to know that.
03:26 You know, at the end of the day, it is their, their tax dollars.
03:30 And I also think it would be much more palatable if we had these concrete objectives met in
03:36 a measurable time.
03:37 So I look forward to June 8th.
03:39 Thank you very much.
03:40 I yield back.