Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Bob Menendez
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening remarks at this morning’s full Committee hearing entitled “Examining U.S. Security Cooperation and Assistance.” Testifying before the Committee were the Honorable Jessica Lewis, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, and the Honorable Mara Elizabeth Karlin, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capability.
“It is clear that our security assistance and cooperation programs are not achieving their intended outcomes, despite the billions spent and dedicated efforts of the Departments of State and Defense. We – Congress included – are not properly conceptualizing the problem,” Chairman Menendez said. “To this end, I will be proposing legislation in the next few months to reform the U.S. security assistance process.”
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Though expressing his concerns over the continued trend toward ceding State’s authority as the purveyor of security assistance to the Department of Defense, Chairman Menendez commended the Departments’ joint efforts in inspiring international support and assistance for Ukraine in the face of Putin’s illegal aggression.
“Over the last two weeks, we have seen Vladimir Putin’s savage aggression against a free and democratic Ukraine. The destruction he has wrought is of a scale and criminality not seen in Europe since the Second World War. But the Ukrainian people have heroically resisted, clearly frustrating and surprising the autocrat in the Kremlin,” Chairman Menendez added. “Much of this resistance has been made possible by the tremendous efforts of the United States, its allies, and partners in providing anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, rifles, ammunition, training, and institutional organization improvements to the defenders of Ukrainian freedom. I hope and expect that our witnesses today will be able to inform the Committee of this vital ongoing effort to help defend Ukraine. The dexterity with which the State and Defense Departments have been able to rally support for Ukraine comes from longstanding political and security partnerships and programs. That’s something we certainly can applaud.”
Find a copy of Chairman Menendez’s remarks as delivered below.
“This hearing will come to order. Too often, when we hear the term security assistance, we immediately think of military relationships and hard power projections of U.S. foreign policy. However, U.S. security assistance and cooperation are critical tools of broader foreign policy. Training, arms sales, planning and civilian-military reform are critical elements of bolstering partners, allies, and recipient countries around the world, critical to U.S. foreign and security interests, and indeed, to the interests of world stability and peace.
Indeed, the State Department and this Committee are charged with jurisdiction over security assistance.
Many if not most of the current security assistance authorities and programs were created in the aftermath of September 11th, placing an emphasis on short-term assistance to immediately confront and defeat Al-Qaeda and its off-shoot groups. But times have changed, and our efforts must change as well.
We see terrorist and extremist groups becoming more localized in many countries, portraying themselves as champions of aggrieved populations ignored or beset by weak and predatory governments.
We see a return of Great Power Competition, where China and Russia compete with the United States for influence and position, offering their own versions of ‘security assistance’ to countries around the world with what seems fewer conditions or requirements.
We witnessed 20 years of efforts – or perhaps, as it has been said, 20 one-year efforts – to build effective military and security forces in Afghanistan, these largely led by the Department of Defense, only to watch them quickly crumble to the Taliban last August.
We watched Iraqi Security Forces, to which we had devoted billions in equipment and training, flee before ISIS thugs in pickups in 2014. Although now, we have a new opportunity to reset our security relationship with Iraq.
And today, we see countries in Africa, particularly in the Sahel, struggling to counter insurgents and terrorists, amidst multiple coups, pervasive unrest, and conflict.
It is clear that our security assistance and cooperation programs are not achieving their intended outcomes, despite the billions spent and dedicated efforts of the Departments of State and Defense. We – Congress included – are not properly conceptualizing the problem. We need to understand that our security assistance should be rooted in concrete, measurable, and achievable outcomes rooted in sustainable security development, not just ‘assistance’.
We must develop comprehensive multi-year plans that integrate U.S. assistance programs across the board, that reflect the understanding that democracy, good governance, and economic reform programs are as important as guns and grenade launchers; that judicial accountability and robust civilian control of the military are as important as the integration of aircraft and ground force operations; that a population that has faith in the basic integrity and fairness of its government is one inoculated against the lies and appeals of terrorists and extremists.
Which is why the Department of State must lead this comprehensive integration. Since soon after 9/11, there has been a continued trend toward ceding State’s authority as the purveyor of security assistance to the Department of Defense, which now provides nearly fifty percent of U.S. security-related assistance. Most of the DoD’s efforts are geared to short-term projects and activities; perhaps necessary ones, but not those that deal with the underlying problems of good governance, and many of them without the concurrence of the Secretary of State – the sole official charged in statute with overseeing and coordinating all such assistance. It is time for a reckoning.
To this end, I will be proposing legislation in the next few months to reform the U.S. security assistance process. I hope to work closely with the Ranking Member on this project.
Finally, let me turn to the news of the day. Over the last two weeks, we have seen Vladimir Putin’s savage aggression against a free and democratic Ukraine. The destruction he has wrought is of a scale and criminality not seen in Europe since the Second World War. But the Ukrainian people have heroically resisted, clearly frustrating and surprising the autocrat in the Kremlin.
Much of this resistance has been made possible by the tremendous efforts of the United States, its allies, and partners in providing anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, rifles, ammunition, training, and institutional organization improvements to the defenders of Ukrainian freedom. I hope and expect that our witnesses today will be able to inform the Committee of this vital ongoing effort to help defend Ukraine. The dexterity with which the State and Defense Departments have been able to rally support for Ukraine comes from longstanding political and security partnerships and programs.
That’s something we certainly can applaud.
I turn to the Ranking Member now for his opening remarks.”