The Military Posture and Security Challenges in the Indo–Asia–Pacific Region Committee on Armed Services House of Representa
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
i [H.A.S.C. No. 115–70] THE MILITARY POSTURE AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE INDO–ASIA–PACIFIC REGION COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION HEARING HELD FEBRUARY 14, 2018 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 28–993 WASHINGTON : 2018 COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS WILLIAM M. ‘‘MAC’’ THORNBERRY, Texas, Chairman WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina ADAM SMITH, Washington JOE WILSON, South Carolina ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania FRANK A. LOBIONDO, New Jersey SUSAN A. DAVIS, California ROB BISHOP, Utah JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio RICK LARSEN, Washington MIKE ROGERS, Alabama JIM COOPER, Tennessee BILL SHUSTER, Pennsylvania MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, Guam K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado NIKI TSONGAS, Massachusetts ROBERT J. WITTMAN, Virginia JOHN GARAMENDI, California DUNCAN HUNTER, California JACKIE SPEIER, California MIKE COFFMAN, Colorado MARC A. VEASEY, Texas VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia BETO O’ROURKE, Texas MO BROOKS, Alabama DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey PAUL COOK, California RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts BRAD R. WENSTRUP, Ohio COLLEEN HANABUSA, Hawaii BRADLEY BYRNE, Alabama CAROL SHEA–PORTER, New Hampshire SAM GRAVES, Missouri JACKY ROSEN, Nevada ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York A. DONALD MCEACHIN, Virginia MARTHA MCSALLY, Arizona SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California STEPHEN KNIGHT, California ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma STEPHANIE N. MURPHY, Florida SCOTT DESJARLAIS, Tennessee RO KHANNA, California RALPH LEE ABRAHAM, Louisiana TOM O’HALLERAN, Arizona TRENT KELLY, Mississippi THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin JIMMY PANETTA, California MATT GAETZ, Florida DON BACON, Nebraska JIM BANKS, Indiana LIZ CHENEY, Wyoming JODY B. HICE, Georgia JEN STEWART, Staff Director KIM LEHN, Professional Staff Member WILLIAM S. JOHNSON, Counsel BRITTON BURKETT, Clerk (II) C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS Smith, Hon. Adam, a Representative from Washington, Ranking Member, Committee on Armed Services ............................................................................ 2 Thornberry, Hon. William M. ‘‘Mac,’’ a Representative from Texas, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services ............................................................................ 1 WITNESSES Harris, ADM Harry B., Jr., USN, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command ............. 3 APPENDIX PREPARED STATEMENTS: Harris, ADM Harry B., Jr. .............................................................................. 53 Smith, Hon. Adam ............................................................................................ 51 Thornberry, Hon. William M. ‘‘Mac’’ ............................................................... 49 DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD: Prepared statement of GEN Vincent K. Brooks, Commander, United Na- tions Comand; Republic of Korea and United States Combined Forces Command; and United States Forces Korea ............................................... 113 Letter requesting correction for the record to GEN Brooks’ prepared statement ....................................................................................................... 129 WITNESS RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE HEARING: [There were no Questions submitted during the hearing.] QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS POST HEARING: Mr. Coffman ...................................................................................................... 133 Mr. Thornberry ................................................................................................. 133 (III) THE MILITARY POSTURE AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN THE INDO–ASIA–PACIFIC REGION HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, Washington, DC, Wednesday, February 14, 2018. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:01 a.m., in room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. William M. ‘‘Mac’’ Thornberry (chairman of the committee) presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM M. ‘‘MAC’’ THORN- BERRY, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS, CHAIRMAN, COM- MITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. With us today is Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of United States Pacific Command [PACOM]. As Admiral Harris nears the end of his military service, I want to first thank him for that service and for the insights and perspec- tive he has shared with us both here in Washington and as Mem- bers have traveled throughout the PACOM region. Remarkably, 40 years of service to our Nation is not enough for Admiral Harris. Last week, the President announced his intention to nominate him as our Ambassador to Australia. This hearing comes at an opportune time. Last week, we heard Secretary Mattis and General Selva testify on the new National Defense Strategy and on the Nuclear Posture Review. Also last week, Congress passed and the President signed into law legisla- tion that raised the spending caps so that repair of our readiness shortfalls can begin in earnest. Admiral Harris has had to grapple with that full range of issues. In the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, the United States faces a near-term belligerent threat armed with nuclear weapons and also a longer term strategic competitor. In fact, four of the five key security chal- lenges—China, Russia, North Korea, and terrorism—reside in the PACOM area of responsibility. Unfortunately, the region has also seen a tragic loss of life of American service members in naval and aircraft accidents and has felt some of the consequences of our in- adequate defense budgets. Despite North Korea’s recent charm offensive at the Olympic games, the threat posed to U.S. service members, our allies, and the American homeland has not diminished. We have an urgent need to ensure that we are ready for whatever course that situa- tion may take. The challenge posed by China has also not lessened. China is rapidly transforming its military, continuing to militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea, and expanding its presence (1) 2 through political influence campaigns and economic coercion. Ac- cording to the National Defense Strategy, quote, ‘‘China is leverag- ing military modernization, influence operations, and predatory ec- onomics to coerce neighboring countries to reorder the Indo-Pacific region to their advantage,’’ end quote. Critical to meeting all of the challenges to the region is our rela- tionship with our allies and also with countries with whom we share interests. The fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authoriza- tion Act includes more for training and exercises with partners, as well as establishing the Indo-Asia-Pacific Stability Initiative, which in part is designed to show our allies that we stand by them with more than just words. We all look forward to Admiral Harris’s candid assessment of these and other issues, but first let me yield to the ranking mem- ber. [The prepared statement of Mr. Thornberry can be found in the Appendix on page 49.] STATEMENT OF HON. ADAM SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM WASHINGTON, RANKING MEMBER, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to join you in thanking Admiral Harris for his service to our country in the military. He has served honorably and for a long time, is doing a great job in his current job. And, also, congratulations on your appointment as the Ambas- sador to Australia. At least as we discussed prior, you have experi- ence with the confirmation process—a different committee, I under- stand, but it is at least good to understand what you are getting into. And I wish you the best of luck in that. And thank you for your great work in the Pacific. Other than that, I think the chairman did a great summary of the challenges that we face out there. I would only emphasize one point, and that is the last one that he made, and that is the impor- tance of partnerships and our allies. There are a lot of countries in the Pacific region in play, a lot of countries that could be crucial allies to us as we try to stop China from being overly aggressive towards their neighbors and pushing other folks out. And building those alliances is critical. And I know one of the things that really helps that is the pres- ence of our military and, in particular, the presence of our Navy, the ability to do joint exercises, to do port calls, to build relation- ships with those countries. Obviously, it is about more than that, but the more friends we have in Asia, I think the better able we are going to be able to nudge China in a more positive direction. There is no question China is going to be a major player in Asia, but is it going to be for good or is it going to be for ill? And I think that has a lot to do with how strong their neighbors are in pushing back against some of the things that China is doing that are prob- lematic. So I appreciate your hard work in building those relationships and look forward to hearing more about them and more about our challenges in the Pacific. And, again, I thank you very much for your service. 3 I yield back, Mr. Chairman. [The prepared statement of Mr. Smith can be found in the Ap- pendix on page 51.] The CHAIRMAN. I thank the ranking member. Let me just remind members that immediately upon conclusion of this open hearing we will regroup in classified session upstairs with Admiral Harris. Admiral, thank you again for being here. Without objection, your full written statement will be made part