WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today gave the following opening remarks at a full committee nominations hearing. Witnesses included Mr. Warren Stephens to be ambassador to the UK, Mr. Thomas Barrack to be ambassador to Turkey, and Mr. Tilman Fertitta to be ambassador to Italy.
Chairman Risch gave the following remarks:
“This panel is an important panel; it’s one of the most important ones we’ll see collectively.
“Mr. Stephens, you will work with America’s closest ally. Despite a few wars between us, our culture and history are shared and deep. During the most pressing challenges of the 20th Century and since, the UK has been THE indispensable and steadfast partner. Going forward we have a number of issues where we need to deepen our relationship – better trade, as you’ve noted, and defense cooperation are chief among them.
“Of course, the alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom remains special, and I recognize that the UK takes on enormous political and military risk on behalf of our collective interests. But friends need to be candid with one another. While the UK has announced goals to spend 2.5% of GDP, European security requires a much higher level.
“While the UK can project meaningful combat power abroad – unlike most NATO allies – the British military is too small, the British defense industrial base is in disrepair, and its defense spending is too low. We need to improve both our spending and defense development. AUKUS Pillar 2 was designed to help address these concerns, but the Biden Administration’s failure to implement the laws on the books regarding AUKUS has undermined these efforts.
“I expect you will help improve the situation, I hope you will. I would also note that foreign basing is important to the U.S. and the ongoing negotiations over Diego Garcia and the UK’s surrender of sovereignty undermines deterrence which I and many others have stressed to them. I hope you’ll join us.
“Mr. Fertitta, like the UK, Italy remains a close ally and important partner in Europe, and it’s a special place for a lot of Americans. More U.S. college students study abroad in Italy than anywhere else. But while there are deep cultural ties, there are a number of areas where improvement is needed. On trade, U.S. producers have a hard time getting access to the Italian market, in part because of EU regulations, but also because domestic industries find creative barriers to keep U.S. products out – not good.
“In the security space, Italy remains below NATO’s 2% spending requirement. This is hard to understand based on both the challenges that Putin has created for European security, but also due to the substantial security threats Italy faces from the Mediterranean and North Africa. While NATO should prioritize this area a bit more in NATO planning, Italy should be spending more to help secure NATO’s southern flank.
“Mr. Barrack, of the posts before us today, Turkey will be the most challenging, which I’m sure you probably already know. Turkey is a critical U.S. and NATO ally but has been far from lockstep with America and supporting our mutual interests. Not the least of which of course which is when this entire committee was trying to get Sweden and Finland into NATO; Turkey was a real barrier and believe me went round and round with them but finally got the job done.
“While Turkey hosts NATO and American forces and has supported efforts toward peace in Ukraine, it has troubling ties with Russia and Hamas. Turkey also has a difficult track record on human rights and has repressed dissent both in and outside of its borders. The recent arrest of an opposition candidate and crackdown against protestors and journalists are particularly concerning.
“And Turkey’s role in Syria’s security remains a question. We all know, Turkey can help stabilize Syria, but we must ensure its actions do not undermine U.S. counter-terrorism efforts or endanger the lives of U.S. troops in the region.
“I am open to working with Turkey to address longstanding American concerns and find a path forward, but Turkey must remove some of these irritants. I would especially highlight its ownership of the Russian S-400 missiles that remain in Turkey’s arsenal. Mr. Barrack, I look forward to hearing your perspective on how to work with the Turkish government and encourage it to enhance cooperation with our NATO allies.
“The world faces enormous security challenges as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran work together to undermine the United States and our alliances. We need all our allies – including the United Kingdom, Italy, and Turkey – rowing in the same direction to counter the threats we face. Working alongside President Trump’s Administration, I hope our witnesses today will work to rebuild a credible deterrence and further strengthen our alliances.
“Thank you.”
These remarks have been lightly edited for clarity. Witness testimony is available on foreign.senate.gov.
###