OPENING STATEMENT OF U.S. SENATOR JACK REED

RANKING MEMBER, SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

 

Room SD-G50

Dirksen Senate Office Building

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

 

To receive testimony on an independent perspective of U.S. defense policy in the Asia-Pacific region.

(As Prepared for Delivery)

I would like to thank Senator McCain for calling this hearing and our witnesses for appearing today.  The report recently issued by CSIS addresses many of the challenges that we face in the Asia Pacific region. 

In the last few years security in the region has grown more complicated and challenging for the United States.  China has become more assertive in the South China Sea, alarming its neighbors and militarizing land features in a body of water that is critical for trade and regional peace. 

Kim Jong-un has destabilized the Korean Peninsula even further with nuclear and ballistic missile developments.  Regimes as authoritarian and insulated as North Korea's are brittle and prone to collapse -- How we would deal with such a collapse, and the security and humanitarian problems that would ensue, is an ongoing debate and challenge for U.S Forces Korea and the PACOM commander.

As the Asia Pacific region grows more complicated, the Department faces an increasing number of international challenges, including ISIL as a growing international threat and a resurgent Russia which is exerting its military influence to undermine European security and further destabilize the Middle East.  Additionally, we face an increasingly austere fiscal environment, and must learn to do more with less.

While the Administration has sought to rebalance to the Asia Pacific, where most of our long term strategic interests lie, that effort has faced challenges from the exigencies of the day. 

I appreciate the time and effort that went into producing this thoughtful report and I'd like to hear from the witnesses about how we should position ourselves to better implement the rebalance within the context of the global challenges facing the Department and the government as a whole.