Migration, and the humanitarian situation in venezuela. He also addressed china and russias influence in Central America. This is just over one hour. Welcome everybody. Navy Admiral Craig Faller will testify on the National Defense strategy, testifying before that the Armed Services subcommittee welcome to the admiral. Thank you very much for being here, sir. Todays hearing is a continuation of the committees efforts. This is an important component to our efforts to ensure our military is appropriately resorgsre resourced, equipped and postured to defend the nation against a growing away of threats. In europe and across the indo pacific region. The subcommittee has been focused on how those nations are increasingly challenging u. S. National security interests not just within their geographic boundaries but elsewhere around the world. Last year, the subcommittee held a hearing with leading experts to discuss chinas expanding interest in africa, it was made cheered clear during the hearing that china is taking a long term approach oftentimes with the goal of undermining the United States. The situation in the western hemisphere is no different. Admiral faller you highlighted in testimony earlier this year that china has accelerated expansion of its belt and Road Initiative in the western hemisphere at a pace that may one day overshadow its expansion in Southeast Asia and africa. Chinas efforts to back chinas Strategic Engagement in the south, region, bolsters china at the expense of regional stability. Chinas efforts to back oppressive governments and to such as the maduro regime and to , pump loans into local economies at unpayable Interest Rates reveal chinas interest in spreading influence and consolidating power. As a result, latin america has become a fixture for chinese ambitions. Utilizing economic coercion to grow support for chinese follett policy objectives [indiscernible] and the exclusion of the u. S. And canada from regional discourse. Trade and economic ties between the United States and latin america are changing with china surpassing the United States as the main destination for exports from several latin american countries. China is also deepening military and technological ties in the region. For example, we have seen space related cooperation in brazil, venezuela and argentina. China has increased arms sales in a manner that violations that violates u. S. And e. U. Restrictions and hinders our , ability to integrate with our strategic partners. Russia is also working to expand meanwhile its influence in the , region. The the putin regime seeks to erode u. S. Influence, and has doubled down on its efforts to prop up corrupt authoritarian regimes. In venezuela, cuba, and nicaragua, through economic and military assistance. For many years, putin has viewed latin american let america as a link in the chain. The deployment of a longrange bomber to the region highlight russias effort to strengthen its global reach. Just a couple weeks ago one of russias most advanced warships was docked in havana harbor. Finally, drivers of migration including violence, corruption, and poverty place significant , strain on regional governments and can engender regional instability impacting not only the southern border of the United States but providing additional flash points for china and russia to exploit at the expense of american soft power. All of this demonstrates clearly that the western hemisphere should be viewed as an important front in our efforts to compete with china and russia and implement the nds. I look forward to your input and your candid assessment of the involving Security Dynamics in this region. Describe how the nda information is important and how youll allocate south coms resources. As well as identifying challenges that may impair your ability to accomplish your mission. Thank you, admiral, for joining us today. I now turn it over for senator peters for your Opening Statement. Thank you madam chair for holding his hearing at a critical time. Events in latin america are often overshadowed by crisis in the middle east and south asia and asia. Stability in south comm is critical to our National Security. I want to thank admiral faller for his service and for appearing here to today to testify on the implementation of the National Defense strategy in the Southern Command area of responsibility. Its clear that russia and china have significantly increased their presence and their their influence in the south comm ar. ,hinese investment has grown including the belt and Road Initiative. China often engages in predatory lending practices that create debt traps for small countries and allowed beijing to yield outsize influence. Are oftents economically unsustainable, and many countries around the world have found themselves billions of dollars in debt, with no way to repay beijing. Russias economic influence in latin america is smaller than chinas. At its intentions are much more pernicious. Russias Propaganda Machine has been active in latin america, with efforts to raise doubts about the democratic process, and to sow discord in the region. Russias statecontrolled language Spanish Television station breads misinformation throughout the year region. And seeks to undermine u. S. Influence in the region. Russia is used cyber tax to attack democratic institutions. Csis reported that there have been 50,000 Cyber Attacks against columbias National Voter registry during that 2018 legislate elections. We have also seen russia covertly deploy crime and paramilitary groups to latin , using these forces to advance their Strategic Interests abroad, without having to admit that they have deployed any military personnel to assist the country. Russias intervention in venezuela has propped up the disastrous maduro regime and helped deny transition to the interim president guaido. This fits a pattern of increasingly aggressive russian seeking to use all of the tools in its play book to undermine the appeal of the democratic process and keep russian aligned regimes in power. While russia and chinese influence in latin america is destabilizing to the region, i think its also important to spend a few minutes on the most pressing threat to democracy in the western hemisphere. And that is corruption. Corruption is the root cause of mass migration, instability and impunity in Central America and , the trafficking of narcotics to our country. Unless our strategy focuses on solving the root causes of corruption, then no amount of Security Assistance dollars to latin america will be helpful. Concernedy i am quite that they Trump Administration has recently decided to cut off all nondefense usaid and state assistance to guatemala, hundreds, and el salvador, while allowing defense assistance to these countries to continue. President trumps stated rationale to punish these countries for the migrant crisis is ill considered and totally counter productive to reducing forced migration numbers. Ultimately it undermines our National Security in the region. Unless we support Civil Societies in these countries and help improve economic conditions, we will never get a handle on the illicit drugs that flow through these countries and into the United States. One final note and i think its critical for us to discuss is that corruption in central and south america not only destabilizes the region but it also provides china and russia with a foothold into these countries as well. Corrupt governments are more likely to take loans from china that allow them to skim millions off of the top and leave their treasuries empty. Russia is able to sell arms to corrupt governance that oppress their civilians and human rights. The more we focus on combatting corruption, the more successful we will be in implementing the National Defense strategy in the region. I think the chair again for this hearing, and look forward to the discussion. Sen. Ernst thank you Ranking Member peters. Admiral faller well start with your Opening Statement and then we will move into questioning. Thank you. Adm faller thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today and for the steadfast support you provide the men and women of the south Southern Command day in and day out. Id like to introduce my command senior enlisted Sergeant Major brian zik foos. Ive been in command of Southern Command for several months. These opportunities and challenges directly impact the security of this hemisphere, our neighborhood. Criminal organizations, narco trafficking, illegal immigration, violent extremists, corruption, are all enabled by weak governance. Most disturbing insight the aha for me however has been the degree to which the external actors china, russia and iran , have expanded their access and influence right here in our neighborhood. Or has the general put it, inside our interior lines. The National Defense strategy makes clear Great Power Competition has reemerged as the number one security challenge facing our nation. China, russia and others want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian models. Theyre blurring the lines of what constitutes a military threat through economic coercion, the systemic stealing of technology, influence campaigns and malicious cyber activity. They are contesting our military advantage in all of the traditional domains we fight around the globe, land, air, sea, space, cyber, and information. ,lus one more important domain values, like democracy, sovereignty, the rule of law, and human rights. Competition is happening globally and right here in our neighborhood, the western hemisphere. We see this most acutely in venezuela, where the security crisis created by maduro has compounded every single security crisis we face in this hemisphere. Where russia in their own words is predicting their loyal friend protecting their loyal friends, to quote by propping up , the regime with loans and technical and military support. Where china, as venezuelas largest single state creditor, saddled the venezuelan people with more than 60 billion in debt and is exporting Surveillance Technology used to oppress the venezuelan people. Iran has restarted direct flights from tehran to caracas. And reinvigorated diplomatic ties. Along with cuba these actors engage in activities that are profoundly unhelpful to democracy and regional stability, and counter to u. S. Interests. How do we counter the threats and seize the opportunities in this hemisphere . How do we counter the threats posed by external state actors in venezuela and across the region. The best way to outcompete is by focusing our strengths, the strong and enduring ties we have with our neighbors. And from a defense perspective, these are grounded in shared professionalism. We work with each other from a foundation of mutual respect. , human rights, and shared interests as well as interoperability. We reinforce and build on this through training, education, intelligence and information sharing and exercises. Security cooperation is our best tool to continue building these strong partnerships and turn the challenges of our hemisphere into opportunities. Working together training and exercising shoulder to shoulder with American Military professionals is our Competitive Edge and no one can match our system. We also need the right focused and consistent military presence day in and day out to go along with this training and education. We cannot achieve positive results and influence outcomes without being on the playing field. Ill point to two examples of the positive impact of our presence. Our Strategic Bomber force and f16 Fighter Aircraft from the South CarolinaNational Guard trained with a very capable Colombian Air force in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of colombias air and builds interoperability while also demonstrating our shared resolve in the face of , regional and global challenges. Nearby the United States naval ship comfort is comfort is in lima peru. Comfort shows the very best of the United States of america. In the strong partnerships we have in the world. Inis part of our efforts this hemisphere, to be a steadfast and reliable partner. This outcome team, our military and civilian members and families, appreciate the support of congress. We will continue to honor the trust you place in us and our fellow citizens place in us. I look forward to your questions. Thank you. Thank you, admiral. Ill start with just a couple questions and well go back and forth in order of arrival. With that well go ahead and get started. Feel free to take as much time as necessary, admiral, to discuss the challenges and opportunities you have in southcom. To start the National Defense , strategy clearly identifies Great Power Competition between the United States and of course china and russia as the most pressing threat to National Security. Given their expanding presence in your a. O. , the nds has particular relevance to your area of responsibility. So if you could explain what is the role of the u. S. Military as were competing with china and russia in the western hemisphere what more can we be doing . Is toller our focus build strong partnerships. 21 of 37 nations are democracies. So we focus on partnerships. That is the best way to outcompete china. Our partners want too work with us. It want the advantage of United States education training, exercises, and equipment. It is the best in the world. So its up to us to deliver that in a way that is relevant, and also in a way that provides a return on investment for american taxpayers. Colombia and brazil are two very good examples where we spent a lot of time, weve traveled to columbia on multiple locations, weve been to brazil, their chiefs of defense have been to see us. It begins with intelligence sharing and education at a milon to person level, at a level. We enhance each others situational awareness, strengthen our understanding of the opportunities and challenges, and work on education both in our schools and ours. Ive had the opportunity to go down there and speak at their institutions. Thats the foundation that counters russia and china best because frankly they cant compete with our system. Theyre trying. Theyre in the area. Everywhere i go the chiefs of defense say the chinese have come, theyve offered us free education, unlimited travel, opportunity to go to their schools. Theyve replicated our model. Theyve started Spanish Language training in beijing. The message i get from our capable partners is we dont want to train with them, we want to continue. So the best way is to be consistent. To offer the level of service and demand that the partners can meet. So we operate at their speed. And also ensure that there something that we get back. When you meet new chief of defense, for example the new chief of defense in el salvador and the new minister of defense, both have been to u. S. And graduated from u. S. Schools. The chief of defense, i think has been to five defense goals. And the minister of defense graduated from the Naval War College in newport. And theyre committed to working with us, not with others. Thats the way we move forward in a real meaningful way, senator. Sen. Ernst thank you very just to go a little bit further with that, i do firmly believe in those mill to mill opportunities whether through training exercises or through educational opportunities. Now, we have spoken, maybe you can expand a little bit on the lack of opportunity maybe that we have been able to extend to other military members attending our military schools. If you could talk a little bit about what some of those challenges are whether its funding or otherwise, it would be good to hear that. Adm faller the opportunities to expand our education in our schools and training in our schools, and there is a difference, is the single best investment we can make longterm to our partnerships. Graduates of our School Systems go back with an understanding of u. S. Doctrine, tactics and techniques and really become lifelong friends. The chief of defense in argentina, for example, is an honor grad of the Army War College and very proud of it and was just admitted to the Army War College hall of fame. And that fact is known by the Political Leadership and valued. Also one of my best strategic partners. Our levels of funding that have been provides and principal source of funding comes from the International Education training. I met, that is state department funded. Thats basically been flat lined f