{"id":573079,"date":"2021-06-24T15:36:32","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T19:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=573079"},"modified":"2021-06-24T15:36:33","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T19:36:33","slug":"biden-shortchanges-defense-program-aimed-at-stopping-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-shortchanges-defense-program-aimed-at-stopping-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Shortchanges Defense Program Aimed at Stopping China"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-shortchanges-defense-program-aimed-at-stopping-china%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=573079&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div readability=\"28.235294117647\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><a class href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/\">National Security<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">Lawmakers hammer White House for meager spending in Pacific Deterrence Initiative<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"736\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/rsz_gettyimages-76096970-736x514-1.jpg\" class=\"w-full lazyload blur-up wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2071.jpeg 736w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rsz_gettyimages-76096970-300x210.jpg 300w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/rsz_gettyimages-76096970-703x491.jpg 703w\" data-sizes=\"auto\"  style=\"display:none\"><figcaption class=\"absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75\">\n\t\t\t\tA U.S. Navy exercise \/ Getty Images\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/jack-beyrer\/\" title=\"Posts by Jack Beyrer\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Jack Beyrer<\/a> \u2022 June 24, 2021 3:30 pm<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div readability=\"111.4491004327\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\" readability=\"13.611111111111\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Biden administration in its 2022 defense budget underfunded a vital program dedicated to stopping China from advancing in parts of the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2021\/06\/02\/congress-should-rewrite-the-pentagons-pacific-deterrence-budget-request\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fell<\/a> about $1 billion short of the $4.7 billion the Pentagon\u2019s Indo-Pacific Command <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2021\/03\/02\/u-s-indo-pacific-command-wants-4-68b-for-new-pacific-deterrence-initiative\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requested<\/a>.\u00a0Lawmakers and experts told the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> the Biden budget&#8217;s neglect of the program will enable China and discourage allies, putting armed forces in the Pacific in a dangerous position.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" readability=\"19\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Biden budget shows a major &#8220;disconnect&#8221; between what the Department of Defense needs and what the White House is willing to give it. Blackburn pointed to the Guam Defense System\u2014a massively underfunded program tasked with protecting the more than 160,000 U.S. citizens living on the island\u2014as a major disappointment. The Indo-Pacific Command chief requested $360 million for the Guam system and only received $118.3 million for the program.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;It is our constitutional command to provide for the common defense,&#8221; Blackburn said. &#8220;The Indo-Pacific command chief got less than half of what he asked for. It shows you how far off base they are with this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Guam\u2019s defense is critical as one of the United States&#8217;s farthest west holdings in the Pacific, giving the U.S. armed forces significant access to the area where China is closest. China <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/china-tests-guam-killer-missiles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has<\/a> a complex system of rockets, bombers, and submarines that could leave Guam vulnerable to attack. The difficult terrain of the island and range of Chinese capabilities make Guam a difficult place to defend and standing U.S. defenses may not be sufficient, Missile Defense Agency chief John Hill <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usni.org\/2021\/06\/23\/mda-chief-u-s-needs-hybrid-system-to-defend-guam-from-missile-threats?utm_source=USNI+News&#038;utm_campaign=a867b2c21d-USNI_NEWS_DAILY&#038;utm_medium=email&#038;utm_term=0_0dd4a1450b-a867b2c21d-234972062&#038;ct=t(USNI_NEWS_DAILY)&#038;mc_cid=a867b2c21d&#038;mc_eid=7900ac876b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> in June. In March, Adm. Phil Davidson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2021\/03\/09\/guam-is-a-target-today-pacific-chief-pitches-aegis-ashore-to-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a> Guam a &#8220;target today&#8221; for China.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Montgomery, a former Navy rear admiral and senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the Biden White House should have been taking a hard look at the Guam issue from &#8220;day one&#8221; when it put together a China task force.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is a key point where they should have been studying from day one because this budget issue was going to rear its head in three to four months\u2014and it did,&#8221; Montgomery said. &#8220;They kind of took a pass by funding it at one-third. They\u2019re not really picking any decision.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The budget for the broader initiative has several problems. A meager sum of only $500,000 is dedicated to alliance building, and less than 1 percent of the program\u2019s funds will go to preparing soldiers for a potential attack.<\/p>\n<p>Dustin Walker, the former\u00a0lead adviser on the Indo-Pacific for the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the defense program is a &#8220;swing and a miss&#8221; for the Biden administration&#8217;s Pentagon.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was the Pentagon\u2019s first opportunity to implement PDI [Pacific Deterrence Initiative], and it was just a complete swing and a miss,&#8221; Walker said. &#8220;In fact, they missed the mark so badly on PDI, you almost have to ask if it was deliberate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Montgomery said Congress must make adjustments to the budget&#8217;s shortfalls or American security will face dire consequences.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If Congress doesn\u2019t fix this, two things are going to happen,&#8221; Montgomery said. &#8220;One, China will lean into it. There\u2019s a strong signal to China that we\u2019re not that interested in deterring [them]. Our actions do not follow our words on this. It has an impact on your allies and partners as well. The second thing is that we will be less ready to fight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Blackburn contrasted Biden&#8217;s approach to China\u2019s massive buildup of naval capabilities, which could threaten Guam and Taiwan in the next decade.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Chinese have spent the last 25 years trying to modernize their Navy\u2026. When you look at our battleships versus theirs, they\u2019re surpassing us.&#8221; Blackburn said. &#8220;This [program] is vital when you look at great power competition and you look at the blue-water navy that China is very aggressively building.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Republican lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/biden-defense-budget-gives-china-upper-hand-republican-hawks-say\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">criticized<\/a> the Biden defense budget in interviews with the <em>Free Beacon<\/em> for its rollback of plans drafted in the Trump administration to expand the Navy. The Chinese navy officially overtook the United States for having the most ships in the world, and it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/analysis\/chinas-third-aircraft-carrier-takes-shape\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is currently building<\/a> a third aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Security Lawmakers hammer White House for meager spending in Pacific Deterrence Initiative  A U.S. Navy exercise \/ Getty Images  Jack Beyrer \u2022 June &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2281252,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/rsz_gettyimages-76096970-736x514-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Shortchanges Defense Program Aimed at Stopping China","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/rsz_gettyimages-76096970-736x514-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Shortchanges Defense Program Aimed at Stopping China","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2281252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}