Cornhusker State News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned U.S. Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., President Biden’s nominee to serve as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, today about America’s munitions supply and the need to expand domestic munitions production by modifying or removing unnecessary red tape.

Senator Fischer has repeatedly discussed the importance of boosting munitions production. Senator Fischer secured a provision in the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to expand domestic munitions production capacity.

During the hearing, Senator Fischer highlighted a recent Wall Street Journal Editorial calling on President Biden to expand U.S. weapons production and stocks. During a recent interview, the President acknowledged the topic of low munitions stockpiles for the first time.

Click the image above to watch video of Sen. Fischer’s questioning

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Following is a transcript of Senator Fischer’s questioning:

Senator Fischer: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, General, to you and your wife and your family for your service to this country. I took note of a comment you made in your opening statement. You said, "having led warfighters abroad has shaped my thinking." As you know, I remain deeply concerned about our munitions production capacity. And, in the Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago, they wrote an editorial about "America Is Running Out of Ammo – Biden Admits the Problem, But Then Why Not Do Something About It?" I remember hearing the President make a passing comment on that a couple of days ago, and I was struck by it because it's the first time I had heard from the administration concern about munitions for our security and our defense here in this country. So, frankly, after years of under-investing in munitions production, we now find ourselves, I think, in a very precarious position. While this committee has generally been supportive of providing aid and transferring excess munitions from our stockpiles, we also have a clear expectation that the department will work with us to ensure that we produce more munitions -- as many as we can and as fast as we can -- to backfill our stockpiles, increase our margins, and support our allies and partners. Do you agree that we need to increase our munitions production capacity?

General Brown: I do. And one of the areas I would highlight is for all the services in this year's budget submission, we asked for multi-year procurement. And that multi-year procurement was designed to help increase our stocks, but it also—what it does for us is help provide predictability to the Defense Industrial Base, to their supply chains, and to their workforce.

Senator Fischer: Yes, this committee has led Congress in giving more tools to the department to address these shortages. And that includes providing multi-year procurement authority, modifying older and unnecessary contracting requirements so that we can get contracting officers to move faster. We need them to move faster. I understand the department is reviewing its total munitions requirements amid the worsening geopolitical environment. As new stockpile levels are determined, particularly for precision guided munitions, will you work with this committee to identify any emerging gaps in our stockpiles?

General Brown: Yes, I will.

Senator Fischer: Thank you. Do you believe the tools that we have given the department, those contracts multi-year, is that going to continue to help you meet those requirements as well? 

General Brown: Senator, I think it will. And one of the areas, as we work through the contracting aspect, is how we incentivize our contractors, contracting officers, and how we build those contracts to make sure they're moving in the right direction to change the culture of how we've done things in the past.

Senator Fischer: Right. To be clear, I think there's much more that can be done in Fiscal Year 2024 to address the munitions production challenges than what was in the President's budget request. For example, for $67 million, the Army could expand the capacity of the GMLRS from 120 per year to 1,000 per year by 2025. This is a key, long-range fires line that could be relevant in multiple theaters. And I'm frequently asked what can we do to help Taiwan help themselves more. Well, for around 70 million more dollars, we could expand the Harpoon production capacity such that we accelerate the final deliveries to Taiwan from 2029 to 2027. And that 2027 is an important date that we hear from Xi himself as a goal that he hopes to reach to be able to invade Taiwan. But it's not in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget request. We could have 150 million more dollars that buys us another Patriot launcher battery this year alone. These are some of the examples of what we could be doing, and I would say what we should be doing. But we aren't doing it because of budget constraints. They've all been confirmed by industry and by the department that it can happen, and I hope that you will be an advocate to be able to help us push for what we need to address threats that we face as a country and as a world, in any emergency spending package or supplemental that comes up. Would you be willing to put yourself forward? We talk about this all the time, you and I. I always say if the American people hear about the threats that we have, we will see tremendous support for our military and for the needs that we have to be met, for the resources that we must have to defend this country.

General Brown: Senator, I will definitely work with you, be very candid about the threat, and then also be willing to make the tough calls if confirmed as the chairman. 

Senator Fischer: Thank you, sir.

Original source can be found here