00:00Mr. Amo is now recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to our witness. President
00:11Trump's actions are sabotaging America's global standing. Illegally shuttering USAID, freezing
00:17foreign assistance programs, and haphazardly firing thousands of State Department employees
00:23has weakened our leadership on the world stage and damaged our relationship with our allies.
00:27Abandoning our partners and putting international agreements under review at the whim of the
00:34administration undermines our credibility and makes our allies less likely to work with
00:40us in the future. In June, President Trump announced a review of the Australia-United Kingdom-United
00:46States Security Partnership known as AUKUS. This review erodes trust with two of our closest
00:53allies. It is contrary to the strong bipartisan support for AUKUS here in this Congress. Yesterday,
00:59our committee, this very committee, passed Representatives Kim and Dean's Bipartisan
01:05Armor Act, a bill that I am proud to co-sponsor that would streamline the work of AUKUS. But despite
01:11robust bipartisan support, President Trump is continuing to question our need for AUKUS. It
01:18makes me wonder why. So, Secretary Hooker, for this next few questions, please provide a yes or no answer.
01:26Do you agree that strengthening security and technological cooperation with the United Kingdom
01:32and Australia is good for our national security and supports a free and open Indo-Pacific?
01:38I think there are several components to that. It's difficult to say yes or no to each one of them.
01:46I've got a few questions. Pardon? I said there are different components to that.
01:49It's difficult to say yes or no. We are cooperating, so yes. Great. As part of AUKUS Pillar 1,
01:58the Australian government committed to making a $3 billion investment in the U.S. defense industrial base,
02:03of which the first installment of $500 million arrived in February 2025. Is that true?
02:09I'm not going to get into the specifics of AUKUS, but both the President and Secretary Rubio have
02:14expressed support for AUKUS, so I'm interested in... Well, I'm going to continue to ask you some
02:18questions about President Trump, because the State Department has a role, so you can choose to not
02:24answer. I would ask if it is an important thing to continue to see Australia directly investing
02:33in the United States, contributing to our defense industrial base, and supporting good paying
02:38jobs across our country. This should be easy. Great. Thank you. It seems very clear that the
02:45AUKUS partnership is essential for our national security and domestic defense industrial base.
02:50So, Madam Secretary, are you willing to commit to us right now that the administration will not
02:57pull out of AUKUS? Can you affirm that we will not reduce our commitments under AUKUS?
03:01So that is not within my authority to be able to do today for you, but what I can say in response to
03:10your question so far is that both the President and Secretary Rubio have expressed support for AUKUS,
03:15so I'd be interested in the quotes that you're referring to, saying the President isn't supporting
03:22this. And actually, it's the Department of Defense having an internal review on AUKUS. Again,
03:28that's not my purview to speak about. I welcome... Well, the State Department, excuse me, the State
03:33Department does have a role, so don't advocate the responsibility of the State Department here,
03:37because according to public reports, it appears that the Department of Defense is driving the
03:41review of AUKUS without the input from the Secretary of State. Shouldn't the State Department have input
03:48on one of our closest alliances? The Secretary of State has said that if there is any review,
03:53that the State Department would take place in that. So that is not... I think we have a different view of
04:01the quotes that have been said by our leadership. Well, look, I will tell you this. There is a disconnect
04:08here, and this is a challenge in the Trump administration, because a question for you I have
04:14now is did the Department of Defense give the State Department advanced notice when the DOD initiated
04:20a review of AUKUS in June? Is the State Department participating? Sir, thank you for your question.
04:29I will reiterate, the President and the Secretary of State have expressed support for AUKUS. That's the
04:36leadership that I follow. Okay, so you agree to the Department of Defense on any review they might be
04:43doing. Well, my point here is the State Department has a role. You have communicated that you agree with
04:51me that this is an important agreement and alliance for our national security. So I am hoping that your
04:59words are connected to the actions of the President, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense in
05:05ensuring that we preserve this essential partnership for our national security and our our priorities
05:11to our defense industrial base here and so much more that is positive from international agreements
05:17which have been challenged by this administration. The gentleman's time has expired.
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