'I Know, We Know This—I Don't Need History, I Want Answers': Ann Wagner Gets Frustrated With Blinken

4 months ago

At yesterday's House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken about withheld military aid to Israel.

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Transcript

00:00 I thank the chairman and I thank you, Secretary Blinken, for your service.

00:08 I know this is tough, tough time for all of us.

00:12 But sir, this administration is waffling.

00:15 First in Afghanistan, and today, shockingly to me, in Israel, it has created instability

00:21 on a massive scale.

00:24 Secretary Blinken, the world, as we've all discussed here, is on fire.

00:28 And conflicts have engulfed Europe and the Middle East, emboldening every single dictator

00:34 from Putin to Xi to Khomeini to attack U.S. allies and interests.

00:42 The administration's decision to withhold weapons sales and deliveries to Israel during

00:48 a time of war, sir, just weeks after Iran launched unprecedented missiles, upwards of

00:54 350 cruise ballistic missiles, drones, attacked on Israel directly from Iranian soil, is nothing

01:04 less than a betrayal of our ally.

01:06 It is foreign policy malpractice, and I guarantee you that Iran and Russia and China are watching

01:15 the United States turn its back on its most important Middle Eastern ally.

01:21 Secretary Blinken, on May 7th, I sent you a letter asking for a full accounting of the

01:27 weapons sales and deliveries to Israel.

01:30 The administration is delaying.

01:33 And I want to focus right now, very specifically, sir, in particular on the delay of the sale

01:39 of 6,500 JDAMs.

01:42 I'm sure you're familiar with them.

01:43 These are the high-precision, GPS-oriented, if you want the least amount of collateral

01:48 damage in an urban area, you want a JDAM, and we have sent out tons of them to Israel

01:55 and everywhere else.

01:56 They also just happened to be made in the St. Louis metropolitan area, in St. Charles,

02:02 in my district.

02:04 And since I have not yet received a response to this letter, let me ask you why this.

02:09 Why has the administration failed to move forward with the notification process for

02:14 the sale of 6,500 JDAMs to Israel?

02:17 And when will the administration resume the notification process?

02:21 First, and I'll respond to your question directly.

02:25 First, when Iran launched that unprecedented attack that you refer to on Israel, for the

02:30 first time ever, the United States actively participated in Israel's defense.

02:33 I know, I know, and so did Jordan and Saudi.

02:35 We know this.

02:36 Yes, that's right.

02:37 I don't need history.

02:38 I want answers.

02:39 Iran noticed, and Israel noticed.

02:40 Limited time, sir, please, by JDAMs.

02:42 There are a number of different sale proposals that are in different places, at different

02:49 points in the process.

02:50 This has been months and months and months, sir, and we've sent them to them in the past.

02:55 Congress right now is still reviewing a JDAM sale that we sent forward.

02:59 What specific issues remain outstanding for the review?

03:03 We follow the process, and we've gone out of our way to pre-notify Congress.

03:07 What bureaus object to the sale?

03:09 It's not a question of objecting.

03:11 We want to follow the process.

03:12 We want to make sure that we move forward.

03:13 Will you, sir, please, because it has truly been months and months and months.

03:16 Will you commit to bringing your personal engagement to ensure the process for this

03:21 specific case moves expeditiously?

03:23 We're going to make sure that all of the cases move appropriately and expeditiously.

03:25 Well, this one sure is not.

03:26 Including this one.

03:28 Have any divisions within state conducted any economic analysis to the measure and the

03:33 impact of potential even job losses and furloughs because of your decision to pause this pending

03:39 arms sale?

03:41 And if not, why not?

03:43 Because you know what, sir?

03:44 My constituents in St. Louis, greater metropolitan area, they were, this whole region, they rely

03:50 on these jobs to pay for their mortgages, their car payments, the daycare costs, and

03:55 they can't afford to lose their jobs to support this partisan stall tactic.

03:59 There's no pause.

04:00 They're sitting in a warehouse, 6,500 of them.

04:03 There is no pause.

04:04 And as I said, in many cases, including this one, we have previewed with Congress, which

04:09 we're not at all obligated to do, sales that we were contemplating and had not yet decided

04:14 on.

04:15 You have not come to us to tell us this.

04:16 We read about this in Axios, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN.

04:20 Armed sales to trusted partners like Israel, Taiwan, and NATO allies are a critical component

04:25 of our national security.

04:27 Are you concerned that delaying sales to Israel will diminish our credibility as the arsenal

04:32 of democracy?

04:33 Again, we're following the process.

04:36 And again, I invite you to look at the state of the state.

04:37 Well, the process has taken too darn long, and they've been sitting there for months,

04:41 and no one's explaining what's holding them up but you all.

04:45 They've been signed off on.

04:46 I mean, the United States, sir, has obligations to our friends and allies, including Israel.

04:50 And our unshakable commitment to Israel's securities is clearly laid out in the 2016

04:56 MOU that Congress has fully funded every year since it was signed.

05:00 And Joe Biden was the one who got that MOU.

05:02 And when we honor our obligations, the world is a safer place.

05:06 But when the United States fails to keep its promises, and the commitment to the U.S. is

05:10 now failing to keep its promise to Israel, we are telling our enemies that we are unreliable

05:15 and irresolute partners.

05:18 That is incredibly damaging to global security, and the administration needs to right the

05:23 ship and fully restore U.S. security assistance to Israel.

05:27 My time has expired, and I yield back.

05:29 I yield.

'I Know, We Know This—I Don't Need History, I Want Answers': Ann Wagner Gets Frustrated With Blinken

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