Rick Scott Asks General Point Blank If Americans Should ‘Stop Buying Chinese Products’

4 days ago

During Thursday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) asked military generals whether the United States could impact China's military funding if Americans ceased buying Chinese products and using Chinese services.

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Transcript

00:00But you are recognized. Thank you chairman. Thank both of you for what you do. Thank you for the

00:05men and women you serve with. So Admiral Paparo, how much of your time do you spend

00:12trying to anticipate or counter actions by Communist China? Senator Scott,

00:19that consumes my duties, which is a constant stare, the constant analysis of intelligence

00:30sources, of open source sources, and then the physical movement on the ground to be able to

00:35see and understand, to anticipate, and to be able to pace their actions that look to coerce

00:42Taiwan and to demonstrate the prospect of settling the matter by force.

00:49And number two, their encroachment on treaty allies in the Philippines, as well encroachment

00:55on partners in the South China Sea with their excessive and illogical claims in their nine dashed line claim.

01:02And their continuing ability to, you know, build ships, airplanes, weapons, all these things,

01:11does that cause you to spend more time and money? Yes, yes sir, absolutely. They built combatants

01:17at the rate of 6 to 1.8 to the United States. And I could go through every force element

01:24that we're talking about. You know, before they joined the World Trade Organization and before we

01:32allowed them to basically sell whatever they wanted to this country, did they have a military

01:36that you had to spend a lot of time worrying about? Just by dint of the weight of the civilization,

01:42we worried about it. You know, we've had, we've had to worry about this now for, since, you know, 1949.

01:50But, uh, it's step level change. In the last, uh, 20 years, they've increased their military

01:5710 to 15 fold. Alright. So if they didn't have the economy they have, which is completely created

02:03by selling, uh, goods and services to the, um, American citizens, they would not have the resources

02:09that you would have to spend your time and money to try to counteract?

02:13The society has grown greatly. That was a matter of design for the international community,

02:18but unanticipated was the aggression and the buildup that followed.

02:22So your life would be better if, uh, if American, no American bought any Chinese product to use any

02:28service and no American dollar went to communist China? Uh, I'll say that, uh, China's inability to

02:34pump resources into its national defense enterprise, which is bolstered by its trade position,

02:39uh, is a direct corollary to the success of their business model.

02:45So would you recommend the American citizens stop buying Chinese products and stop, uh, using Chinese

02:51services? I'd recommend that, uh, we build greater resilience and that we beat them on market principles.

02:58And, um, and so, uh, I don't want to go beyond my remit as an, as a military officer.

03:04Alright. Let's talk about naval readiness and specifically the C-130s.

03:07The Marine Corps and Air Force are 100% recapitalized on the C-130s. The Navy needs over 30 C-130s

03:14and yet to program for this critical tactical airlift platform. The, the Navy now, I think,

03:19only has one under contract. Does that concern you? Uh, should we be doing something about it?

03:24As discussed with, uh, Senator Ernst, uh, uh, is, sustainment is in fact what won the Second World War.

03:30That's what our would-be adversaries believe and have studied. And everything that confers to our

03:35ability to execute lift and C-130 is one of a kind. With its short field operations, with its capacity,

03:41uh, it remains absolutely relevant and indispensable today. And, uh, we, we, we can't neglect it. It's

03:48a key priority for Indopacom. Do you think there is a role for dual-use, uncrewed, uh, air, airlift

03:54capabilities in a contested logistics environment? Uh, I think, uh, you know, I'm, the precepts of

04:01unmanned is never send a human being to do something that a machine can do. And, uh, and so, uh, so,

04:07you know, inherently we're moving in that direction. And I'd welcome the ability to, uh, execute that

04:14lift. And it would also give me the ability to diversify the places that we do bringing smaller

04:20payloads into, uh, simultaneously smaller maneuvering units and would enhance our ability to sustain by the

04:28speed it would confer. General Mahoney testified before the readiness subcommittee that 13, only 13

04:34of 32 amphibious ships are ready. How does this state of the amphibious fleet impact your ability to do

04:40your job? Uh, the amphibious fleet is, is, uh, is indispensable. Uh, that, you know, the whole principle of

04:50sustaining and moving a force. Ships exist to move people, mass, and energy from one place to the other

04:56place efficiently. And, uh, our amphibious force is under-resourced and not ready enough. All right, thank you.

Rick Scott Asks General Point Blank If Americans Should ‘Stop Buying Chinese Products’

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