Rep. Gallagher: I fear we're sleepwalking into a conflict that would be horrific

Today, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, participated in the full committee hearing titled, "U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific Region," to assess the threats to U.S. national security in the region and evaluate the effectiveness of the Department of Defense's use of the resources provided by Congress.

During the hearing, Admiral Aquilino affirmed the need for legislation to address significant issue in the defense appropriations and contracting processes that has resulted in $125 billion in previously appropriated funds leaving the Department of Defense over the last decade instead of supplying our military. Last year, Rep. Gallagher introduced the Funding Pacific Readiness and Enhancing Stockpiles (FIRES) Act, which would solve this problem by rerouting canceling funds into a new account, the FIRES Fund, preventing their cancelation and extending their period of availability by 10 years.

Read highlights of the exchange between Rep. Gallagher and Admiral Aquilino below or watch Rep. Gallagher's full exchange with the witnesses HERE.

Rep. Gallagher: Is it correct that the President's budget includes barely half, or 58%, of the capabilities and priorities that you list as critical in your Seize the Initiative report?

Adm. Aquilino: Congressman Gallagher, we've identified a requirement of 26.5, of which there's an $11 billion shortfall.

Rep. Gallagher: So the total costs of where we're short is about $11 billion?

Adm. Aquilino: Yes, sir.

Rep. Gallagher: And can you explain to this committee and the American people the consequence of failing to find that funding, which includes money for things like defending Guam and the joint fires network?

Adm. Aquilino: Yeah, I think I would define it in the form of time, Congressman. The intent is to promote urgency and to move faster. Any delays in those fundings or reduced fundings push everything out, and then those capabilities we've asked for are delivered not in a relevant time or in a time where they don't deliver the deterrent effect soon enough.

Rep. Gallagher: So the $11 billion is important to find. Do you know how much expired funding was canceled from the Defense Department last year and returned to the Treasury where it sits in abeyance for five years and then evaporates?

Adm. Aquilino: You know, I don't have that number sir.

Rep. Gallagher: The answer is $11 billion, which is the amount of money you need for your critical priorities list. Not only did we fail to take advantage of money that was appropriated, that we could have rerouted for our priority theater, the Indo-Pacific, to give you the resources you need to prevent World War III, the department was actively working against a legislative effort to give DoD the flexibility to reroute that money. I would hope going forward, we would find a way to take advantage of that money for our most critical priorities, particularly stockpiling critical munitions and surging it west of the International Dateline before it's too late. By some estimates, we've lost $125 billion over the last decade, which is unacceptable and I fear we're sleepwalking into a conflict that would be horrific.

Watch the hearing in its entirety HERE.