Click here or the image above to watch Senator Capito’s questioning.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, participated in a full committee hearing, featuring Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as witnesses, to review the Biden administration’s national security supplemental request.

During her questions, Senator Capito highlighted the need to continue supporting Israel and Ukraine, the national security threat posed by the crisis at our southern border, and the need to maintain adequate stockpiles of weapons and ammunition to defend America’s homeland.

HIGHLIGHTS:

ON THE NEED TO SUPPORT ISRAEL AND UKRAINE: “I remain an adamant supporter of our allies in Israel and believe that we should continue to back Ukraine against Russian aggression, you both [Secretaries Blinken and Austin] made that point very clear. But I do believe that you've also made clear it- made clear the point and emphasized how intertwined Ukraine and Israel are important to our own national security.”

ON THE NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS AT OUR SOUTHERN BORDER:

SEN. CAPITO: “But in your own statement, Secretary Blinken, in your statement, you mentioned one little throwaway line here when you say ‘that includes addressing the hemispheric challenge of irregular migration.’ I am assuming you're talking about our southern border here? As has been reiterated, 269,000 last month, over 200 on the terror watch list. Americans are right to be extremely concerned about what's happening here and how it's intertwined with everything that's happening globally, and we can't lose sight of what we see. I am sure you, particularly Secretary Blinken, when you see the news of the antisemitic rallies that are occurring in our own country, and across the globe, it's something I didn't think we would ever see in our lifetime. And it's earth shattering.”

SEC. BLINKEN: “… With regard to migration, as I mentioned earlier, we have a genuinely historic challenge. We have a historic challenge in our own hemisphere, with nearly 25 million people on the move. What we're working to do, from the perspective of the State Department, is to work closely with other countries to get them to assume their share of responsibility in dealing with this migration and that means-”

SEN. CAPITO: “With all due respect, it’s not working. It’s is not working… Here's what I'm concerned about. I think a lot, when you see the 200 from the terrorist [watch]list, I know we're all concerned about this, that seeds of foment of terrorism could grow and all- as you see this sort of seeds of unrest in our own country. As we're watching Ukraine and we're watching Israel, we don't want to take the eye off the ball of what's actually happening here and I'm sure that nobody here wants to see that.”

ON HOW THIS SUPPLEMENTAL BUILDS UP THE U.S. DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE: “We do manufacture a lot of the munitions at Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in West Virginia, where we have over 1,600 people working there. And this supplemental does help build up that industrial base and industrial production at that facility and other facilities across the country.”

ON HOW THE UKRAINE WAR HAS AFFECTED U.S. MUNITIONS REQUIREMENTS:

SEN. CAPITO: “I guess when we see where we are now, would you [Sec. Austin] say that we've learned a lot about our munition requirements because of what's happened in Ukraine? Or would you say that these were issues that had been, I guess, focused on at the Department of Defense, but we hadn't really realized where we were until we had to replenish everything that we've given away- or sold- and to be able to get our own capacity up to where we want it to be?”

SEC. AUSTIN: “Thanks senator, I want to be clear about the fact that we will- we have maintained and will continue to maintain adequate capability to protect our interests and defend this country. And so, as we have drawn down some of our stocks to provide capability to others, it's important to replenish that so that we continue to have- continue to maintain agility and depth so that we can respond to crisis like we've seen, but our ability to protect ourselves and protect our interests? We will never mortgage them… And in Ukraine's case, there are some 50 countries, as you know, that are that are working with us to provide security assistance. Israel, their requirements, their fight, is a different fight, and their requirements are a bit different. And so, you know, they're- they're using different types of things. So, we're able to meet both requirements.”

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