Dan Sullivan Asks JCS Nom Point Blank: ‘Do You Believe Our Military Is Systemically Racist?’

4/7/2025

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) questioned former Lieutenant General John D. Caine, the nominee to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about claims of racism in the United States military.

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Transcript

00:00Senator Sullivan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to begin by agreeing with our ranking member and

00:08others, you, Lieutenant General Kane, on commending General C.Q. Brown for his exceptional four

00:14decades of service. I fully agree with the accolades he's receiving in this committee and

00:19wish him and his family the best. You know, I've worked, served under, met with hundreds of flag

00:26officers in my positions as a U.S. Senator, as a U.S. Marine, and I will say, General, I think

00:34you are one of the most impressive flag officers I've met with, and I don't say that lightly.

00:42Like I said, I've met with hundreds. I think it's the combination of all the experiences to

00:46Senator Duckworth's point, Guard, Reserve, Private Sector. I mean, you're bringing a lot in here,

00:51and I think that's going to be very, very important. I do want to touch on this topic that we're

00:56playing up a lot here on keeping politics out of our military. I couldn't agree more with that. I

01:02think it's really important, a big part of my career here. I've tried to make sure that happens,

01:07but I will say we're not talking about what just happened the last four years.

01:11I think the military was politicized in a huge way, particularly from the civilian leaders

01:16who were pushing left-wing theories on the military, pushing climate change over shipbuilding.

01:23The Undersecretary for Policy came before this committee and told us that our military is,

01:28quote, systemically racist. It's ridiculous, right? Do you believe our military is systemically

01:35racist? Is that what you saw in your 30-plus years of service? No, Senator. So do you agree,

01:42just to make 100% sure, with the Secretary of Defense's testimony when he came here that our

01:49military professionals, uniformed professionals, need to remain apolitical and committed to our

01:54Constitution, identified not as Republicans or Democrats, but warriors and leaders? Is that

02:00your commitment? It is. And will you commit to this committee to doing that? I will, Senator.

02:04Thank you. I'm not going to let this hearing go by without a famous quote from the father of the U.S.

02:10Air Force, Billy Mitchell, who was talking about a certain place in the world. He said,

02:16whoever controls this place controls the world. It is the most strategic place in the world.

02:21What place was Billy Mitchell talking about, General? Alaska. Do you agree with Billy Mitchell's

02:26incredibly insightful analysis? Mitchell was a brilliant air power. That's a yes,

02:33I assume you're saying? Yes, sir. Okay. Well, look, our adversaries agree. You and I talked

02:38about this in my office. Again, I appreciate the hearing. We've had huge incursions, huge number of

02:44incursions in the last two years, Russian-Chinese, joint Russian-Chinese strategic bomber task

02:54forces into our ADIZ, joint Russian-Chinese naval task forces into our EEZ up in Alaska. We are on

03:01the front lines of great power competition with regard to our adversaries. You and I talked about

03:11infrastructure in Alaska for our military. The president, after his election,

03:15said we will ensure Alaska gets even more defense investments as we rebuild our military,

03:21especially as Russia and China are making menacing moves in the North Pacific. That's

03:26from the commander-in-chief. The Indo-Pacom commander, Northcom commander recently said that

03:33this very vital naval base, former naval base, and ADAC, the former sub base, air base,

03:44huge fuel depot, one of the biggest fuel depots for our Navy in the world. We have a Navy team

03:49there right now this week looking at reopening that. Can I get your commitment to work with this

03:53committee and me on infrastructure that can protect our northern flank? Because as the

03:59Northcom commander recently testified, these incursions are only going to increase.

04:04Yes, sir. Let me talk about another issue that doesn't come up a lot. You talked about

04:09urgent action, reform to go faster with greater efficiency. I think one of our unsung success

04:15stories in this regard is 8A contractors working with the Department of Defense.

04:21DoD can use these 8A contractors if they want. They don't have to, but they bring efficiency,

04:27speed, low-cost contracts, and quality services. I saw a recent example of a

04:40integrated request from DoD to have a wheeled vehicle that can put a harpoon

04:47anti-ship system on it. This 8A contractor got it designed in 12 months. They're already in Taiwan.

05:01They're going to produce 20 more in 18 months. The OEMs, big primes, if they tried to do that,

05:06would have taken them 10 years. Can you commit to me to continue to work with these small businesses

05:11that I think deliver readiness, efficiency, and modernization? I will, sir. Thank you.

Dan Sullivan Asks JCS Nom Point Blank: ‘Do You Believe Our Military Is Systemically Racist?’

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