TrueValueMetrics ... Impact Accounting for the 21st Century

Date: 2025-01-08 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00027755

US LEADERSHIP DEFENSE SECRETARY LLOYD AUSTIN Defense Now: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Speaks Out at Reagan National Defense Forum 2024! PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: Peter Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Speaks Out at Reagan National Defense Forum 2024! Defense Now Premiered December 7th 2024 105K subscribers ... 2,381 views ... 171 likes Defense.gov \| Pentagon Press Secretary Drops Major Announcement \| US Senate Armed Services Committee Watch as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin takes the stage at the Reagan Forum 2024, sharing his insights and expertise on the most pressing national security issues of our time. From global threats to emerging technologies, Secretary Austin provides a candid and informative address that you won't want to miss. Stay tuned for his remarks on the future of defense and security, and get a glimpse into the strategy and vision of the US Department of Defense. Join this channel to get access to perks: / @defensenow Defense Now \| December - 2024. • DN Dec. 2024 Members-only videos • Members-only videos Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks at the 2024 Reagan National Defense Forum, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Film Credits: Defense.gov Explore the podcast 323 episodes Defense.gov \| Pentagon Press Secretary Drops Major Announcement \| US Senate Armed Services Committee Defense Now Podcasts Daily Press Briefing FROM THE Department of State December 5, 2024. by Defense Now Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Briefs Media (Dec. 5, 2024.) by Defense Now Celebrating BG David E. Mendelson's Retirement Honor! by Defense Now Karine Jean-Pierre SPEAKS OUT in Press Briefing! (Dec. 6, 2024.) by Defense Now HONORING The 83rd Anniversary of Pearl Harbor's Fateful Day! by Defense Now Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Speaks Out at Reagan National Defense Forum 2024! Defense Now Subscribe Facebook Instagram Twitter License: Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed) Transcript 0:00 [Applause] ladies and Gentlemen please welcome member of the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan presidential foundation and Institute Michael casine thank you you don't have to clap I'm just introducing the awarde um because we are a great nation our challenges challenges seem complex it will always be this way but as long as we remember our first principles and believe in ourselves the future will always be ours during his final days in office President Ronald Reagan delivered those words from the Resolute desk in in his farewell address his time in the White House was coming to an end but the values that he spent his life advancing transcended a 1:01 single presidency today we honor a leader who has spent his life advancing many of 1:07 those same values a leader who also believes that as long as we remember our 1:12 principles our first principles the future will always be ours we know that in part because 1:19 secretary Lloyd Austin has attended every Reagan National Defense Forum during his four years as he led the 1:26 Department of Defense now let me be clear here this is not an award for perfect attendance um 1:34 at the Reagan Defense Forum but though we though we are very honored to have you back Mr 1:39 secretary this is a recogn this is a recognition for a lifetime of 1:45 service secretary Austin has committed himself to to nothing short of Excellence beginning with his time in 1:51 Mobile Alabama and at West Point across five decades his army career has 1:57 included command at the core division Battalion and Brigade levels after earning a silver star 2:05 during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 he went on to assume the duties of Commanding General of United States 2:12 forces overseeing all combat uh operations in the country he concluded his uniform Service 2:20 as the commander of the US Central Command and to many that alone would have been an impressive Capstone on an 2:26 illustrious career but his commander and chief called and he stepped up to serve 2:32 his country again this time as a civilian and we are grateful Mr 2:39 secretary we are grateful for the clear assessment of China and Russia that you brought to the Pentagon we are grateful 2:46 for your firm recognition that freedom is something for which we must always take a stand and we are grateful that 2:53 you have demonstrated that our National Defense need not be partisan that big Ideas like like peace 3:00 through strength transcend politics they speak to our shared American identity they erase the lines 3:07 we've drawn to divide ourselves you said here at the Reagan Defense Forum in 3:13 2021 I hope that we can again summon Ronald Reagan's Sunny conviction that 3:18 this country can be stronger prouder and better his confidence in the power of 3:24 Liberty his enthusiasm in the face of Challenge and his openness to CE to 3:30 seize an opportunity for statesmanship we shared that hope then 3:36 Mr secretary and and we share that hope today as do so many Republicans 3:41 Democrats and independents alike and so to this combat veteran and Statesman 3:48 this patriot who has given his country a lifetime of service we present the peace through strength award in gratitude for 3:55 his achievements in recognition of his leadership and in honor of its history-making career please welcome our 4:01 honory and keynote speaker the 28th US Secretary of Defense Lloyd j Austin 4:44 well good afternoon everybody Michael thanks for those kind words this makes four years in a row for 4:51 me at the National Defense Forum Reagan National Defense Forum and it's great to receive this 4:58 award alongside leader McConnell who believes so deeply in 5:03 President Reagan's Legacy and who has done so much for a free 5:10 Ukraine the department has once again sent a superb delegation here this year 5:16 including members of The Joint Chiefs combatant commanders and other senior leaders so let's give these outstanding 5:24 public servants a round of applause 5:36 it's also great to be joined here by Ministers of of Defense ambassadors members of Congress and 5:44 other leaders now I spent a brief 41 years wearing a 5:49 US Army uniform I spent a long time in combat 5:54 including three lengthy tours in Iraq and one in 6:01 Afghanistan and I've now served for four years as Secretary of Defense so I can say without 6:09 reservation that America's military is the finest and most lethal fighting force on 6:22 Earth our mission is blunt the US military exists to fight 6:29 and win America's Wars wise leaders will always try to deter a conflict but if we are forced to 6:36 defend ourselves we will fight and we will 6:42 [Applause] win with help from Congress we have made 6:50 major investments in America's military over the past four 6:55 years today's US military is an extraordinary Gathering 7:00 of volunteers brave men and women of every race color and 7:06 Creed America's greatest strategic asset has always been the talents of the American 7:13 people and we are stronger when we welcome every qualified patriot who is 7:19 eager to serve that's not just a matter of national principle it's a matter of 7:25 National Security the US military is Relentless 7:30 about excellence and Merit our promotion process is 7:36 ruthless by necessity and by Design we do not lower our 7:44 standards and those who want to join us must raise their gain you see we take 7:49 good people and we make them even better it is our sacred duty to do right 7:55 by our troops and by the families who serve right alongside them 8:02 Now American democracy is not a Sprint but a relay 8:08 race and we are preparing to pass the Baton yet again and I am proud of the progress 8:16 made by American leadership the state of America's 8:22 defenses is strong you know four years ago America faced a moment of great challenge the 8:29 world was reeling from covid-19 the covid-19 8:35 pandemic and our allies and partners feared that America had lost its way and America's Rivals and foes had hoped that 8:41 it had yet President Biden followed in the 8:47 bipartisan tradition of us Global 8:53 Leadership in America and the Department of Defense are far stronger and better postured for the challenges of the 21st 8:59 Century we invested heavily in our military we helped secure the 9:05 capabilities that America will need over the long term and we provided principled 9:10 civilian leadership for an apolitical military with bipartisan support from 9:18 Congress we are set to increase our defense spending in fiscal year 2025 by more than a hundred billion 9:26 dollar compared to the 2021 projections 9:31 and the most recent National Defense authorization act supports an historic $841 billion in 9:39 funding for the department and that helps to ensure that 9:45 the US military will remain the strongest fighting force in 9:50 history and ladies and gentlemen we Face major national security 9:56 challenges that includes coercion and bullying from the People's Republic of 10:04 China Imperial aggression from Putin's Russia malice from Iran North Korea and 10:12 terrorist groups and autocrats worldwide who believe that democracy is 10:19 a thing of the past but we have stood up to 10:24 Putin stood up to North Korea stood up to Iran stood up to Hamas and 10:32 hisbah and stood up to autocrats and Thugs and Bullies 10:39 worldwide we have stood up for American values and American 10:45 leadership so I'd like to talk today about what the department has achieved in the past four 10:50 years and i' like to focus on a key a few key areas review renewing our alliances and 10:57 Partnerships meeting the pacing challenge of the PRC rallying the Free World to stand up 11:05 for what's right in Ukraine and supporting Israel's right to 11:11 self-defense and preventing fullscale war in the Middle East investing in our 11:19 capabilities taking care of our people and defending our 11:26 values first we know that our unmatched network of 11:32 alliances and Partnerships is one of America's great strategic advantages our allies and partners 11:39 magnify our strength they project our power and they deepen our 11:46 security and of course President Reagan understood that as he said in 11:55 1983 the starting point and Cornerstone of our foreign 12:00 policy is our alliance and partnership with our fellow 12:09 democracies so here is the Stark military fact our allies and partners are huge 12:16 Force multipliers in today's world any policy 12:22 of peace through strength depends by definition on alliances 12:30 American power projection depends by 12:37 definition on our friends abroad in American 12:44 Security depends by definition on those who join who freely 12:49 join us in common purpose our alliances and Partnerships 12:56 have always been rooted and shared interest and in shared 13:03 values ultimately America is weaker when it stands 13:09 alone and America is smaller when it stands 13:14 apart and there is no such thing as a safe Retreat from today's interwoven 13:21 world for our men and women in uniforms standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and partners is just how we 13:28 operate and during my decades in uniform everywhere I went on the battlefield our 13:35 allies and partners stood alongside us making us stronger and more 13:43 effective and the more alone we are the more danger our troops 13:50 face now serving as secretary has only strengthened my 13:57 belief in the power of partnership NATO now brings together 32 14:05 countries in the indopacific we have long-standing alliances with Australia 14:10 and Japan the Philippines the Republic of Korea and 14:16 Thailand we have 14 other major non-nato allies including Israel and 14:23 Brazil India and the UAE are outstanding major defense partners and they are joined by many 14:30 steadfast friends and partners worldwide we have access agreements with 14:36 more than 40 countries we have Logistics agreements with more than 14:43 120 and that helps us project power with our partners where we need to when we 14:50 need to and how we need to you know our Rivals and foes 15:00 look at that with Envy they see our alliances and they 15:05 want to wreck them yes autocrats May band together but 15:12 when Putin turns to North Korea for troops it is not a sign of strength it 15:18 is an admission of weakness and 15:25 autocrats resort to Partnerships of convenience but 15:32 America leads Partnerships of conviction and the Department's National 15:39 defense strategy rightly calls the US network of allies and partners our greatest Global strategic 15:48 advantage and that brings me to my second point the profound progress that we've 15:55 made with our friends in the indopacific we've heard Decades of warnings about 16:01 the rise of an increasingly aggressive and bullying 16:06 PRC it is still the only country on Earth with both the desire and 16:11 increasingly the capability to reshape the international 16:18 order and this Administration has done more than any other to posture the department to meet that pacing 16:25 Challenge and to make our indopacific to make the indopacific our priority theater of 16:33 operations you know I've made 12 trips to the Indo Pacific as Secretary of 16:38 Defense and I'm leaving right after this speech for 13th this time to 16:44 Japan I've LED four years of sustained defense diplomacy in the region and that has sped up what I call 16:53 the new convergence of our indopacific allies and partners around a shared vision of 16:58 security that means historic upgrades to us to us 17:05 posture across the Endo Pacific fortifying our position from Northeast 17:10 Asia down to Australia and the Pacific Islands it means 17:16 modernizing our Command and control framework with Japan it means forging a defense 17:23 cooperation with agreement with Papa New Guinea it means designing Landmark 17:30 defense Industrial Corporation deals with India it means major strides forward for 17:37 trilateral security Corporation among the United States Japan and the Republic of 17:44 Korea and it means drawing on every tool that we have consistent with our long-standing 17:51 policy to provide Taiwan with the self-defense capability it needs 18:00 just think about the changes in our bonds with the Philippines in just four years we've 18:07 expanded our enhanced defense cooperation agreement to allow us access 18:13 to four more sites in the Philippines for a total of nine I visited one of those sites on the 18:20 island of poan just 18 days ago and I was incredibly 18:27 impressed by the by the progress that we're making together I just got back from Darwin 18:33 Australia where we announced that Japan will begin to integrate into the rotation of US Marines in 18:40 Daran we're also deepening our historic trilateral Aus 18:47 partnership it will provide Australia with a conventionally armed nuclear 18:52 powered submarine capability and that's a generational 18:58 capability and meanwhile AAS will bring even more 19:03 cuttingedge Tech to our war fighters in the indopacific we produce 19:10 steady progress driven by a strategic Vision but that hasn't stopped us from 19:16 tackling other major challenges challenges in February 19:23 2022 the world was jolted by Putin's allout invasion of Ukraine 19:29 but we understood the danger to American Security and Global Order and so we rallied some 50 19:37 countries to help Ukraine defend itself and that's the most Global conse 19:43 the most consequential Global Coalition since the time of President 19:48 George HW Bush in Iraq's 1990 invasion of 19:53 Kuwait America and our friends have become the Arsenal 19:59 of Ukrainian democracy United States has delivered two Patriot 20:05 batteries 24 High Mars rocket systems thousands of armored 20:10 vehicles and millions of rounds of artillery 20:15 ammunition we've seen strong bipartisan support for Ukraine from leader 20:21 McConnell and other leaders in both parties and I'm proud to announce today 20:28 the commit of a new Ukraine security assistance initiative package worth nearly $1 20:43 billion now that package will provide Ukraine with more drones more rockets for its himar systems and more support 20:50 for crucial maintenance and sustainment and that brings the total of US security assistance committed to 20:56 Ukraine since February 2022 to more than $62 21:02 billion the engine of our efforts has been the Ukraine defense contact Group 21:08 which first met in April 2022 in at Ramstein base Ramstein Air Base in 21:15 Germany now the contact group has helped ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to 21:20 defend itself and to forge a future Force to deter more Russian 21:27 aggression and I convene the contact group 24 times 21:32 now its other members have committed more than $57 billion in Direct Security 21:37 support security assistance to Ukraine and as a percentage of 21:42 DDP more than a dozen contact group members now provide more security assistance to Ukraine than the United 21:48 States does and together we have helped Ukraine survive an allout assault by the largest 21:56 military in Europe and 22:02 meanwhile Russia has paid a staggering price for Putin's 22:09 Folly Russia has suffered at least 700,000 22:14 casualties since February 2022 it squandered more than $200 22:22 billion you know in recent months Russia has taken as many as a thousand casualties a day 22:29 and Russia's losses in just the first year of Putin's war of 22:37 choice seemed to have been more than moscow's losses in all of its conflicts since World War II 22:46 combined and under the Spectre of Putin's aggression we have led a stronger larger and more united 22:53 NATO we've avoided a nuclear confr confrontation with with Russia 22:59 we've reinforced NATO's Eastern flank we've deterred further Russian 23:04 aggression and we've underscored our solemn commitment to Article Five of the 23:10 North Atlantic Treaty we've welcomed Sweden and Finland 23:15 to the greatest defensive Alliance in history and we continue to be crystal 23:21 clear that Putin's war was not the result of NATO enlargement but the cause 23:27 of NATO enlargement in recent years have also brought an 23:34 historic increase in annual defense spending across NATO by almost $80 23:40 billion and all NATO allies agreed in 2006 to spend at least 2% of their GDP 23:47 on defense in 2014 only three allies hit that Target in 2021 only six allies did 23:56 so but this year a record 23 NATO allies are meeting that 24:04 [Applause] 24:10 goal that's because we understand that Putin's assault on Ukraine is a 24:17 warning as I said in O in in keev in October we are seeing a sneak preview of 24:24 a world built by tyrants and thugs a chaotic World violent World carved 24:32 into spheres of influence a world where bullies trample their smaller neighbors neighbors in a world where aggressors 24:39 Force free people to live in fear so we can continue to stand up to 24:46 the Kremlin or we can let Putin have his 24:52 way and condemn our children and grandchildren to live in a world of 24:58 chaos and conflict this Administration has made 25:03 its choice and so has a bipartisan Coalition in 25:09 Congress the next Administration must make its own choice but from this 25:16 library from this Podium I am confident that President 25:22 Reagan would have stood on the side of Ukraine americ American Security and 25:28 human 25:37 Freedom that brings me to my next key area the Middle 25:43 East on October 7th 2023 Hamas committed the worst terrorist attack in Israel's 25:49 history Hamas murdered 1,200 civilians including more 25:55 than 40 Americans it also k kidnapped 251 hostages including 12 26:02 Americans it was the bloodiest day in Jewish history since the end of the 26:08 Holocaust I flew to Israel just six days afterwards and I was the first Secretary 26:14 first visit it was the first visit by a secretary of defense to Israel during wartime in more than 40 26:21 years and I made it crystal clear that America's commitment to 26:27 Israel security is Ironclad and we have worked to support 26:33 Israel to ensure that Hamas can never again commit atrocities like October 26:45 7th and so since then we have expedited security assistance to Israel through 26:50 391 foreign military sales cases worth some $ 13.6 billion 26:58 at the same time we pushed hard to protect Palestinian civilians and to rush far more humanitarian Aid into 27:05 Gaza as I said here last year protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a 27:13 moral responsibility and a strategic 27:18 imperative and throughout this crisis we've moved urgently to prevent allout war in the 27:26 Middle East and right after October 7th we sent a 27:31 strong message of deterrence to Iran and its proxies at the height of the C crisis the US presence in the in the 27:38 region included not one but two carrier strike groups an amphibious ready group 27:44 a Marine Expeditionary Unit more air power and a guided missile 27:50 submarine and when required we have used direct action to defend our forces and 27:56 our friends we rallied Partners to defeat two unprecedented and 28:03 outrageous Iranian barges against Israel we helped Israel defend itself in 28:09 April 2024 against more than 300 Iranian missiles and 28:15 drones and in that attack US forces destroyed more than than 8 oneway attack 28:21 drones and at least six ballistic missiles launched from Iran 28:28 our forces operated side by side with Israeli and partner forces to defeat 99% 28:34 of Iran's projectiles and we were there again for 28:40 Israel in October 2024 when Iran launched over 200 28:45 ballistic missiles to further strengthen Israel's air defenses we have temporarily dep 28:53 deployed to Israel a Thad battery and his crew of us milit AR 28:59 Personnel in the Red Sea US forces have been defeating attacks on Commercial and 29:04 Naval vessels by the iran-backed ho hooti militia and Yemen and we have 29:10 destroyed hundreds of hooti weapons and a series of deliberate strikes and self-defense 29:16 strikes in Lebanon Israel has smashed hisbah now that has dramatically 29:23 weakened Iran's strongest proxy and it's created an opening for a 29:28 diplomatic solution that will let civilians on both sides of the Israel Lebanon 29:34 border return safely to their homes we we've secured the November 26 29:41 ceasefire for Israel in Lebanon and that paves the way for a ceasefire in Gaza in 29:48 a deal to finally free the hostages and we will remain focused on 29:56 that it brings us closer to a more hopeful vision for a Middle East that's 30:01 peaceful and prosperous and secure now we balanced our own 30:08 Readiness even as we surge security assistance to Israel Ukraine and 30:15 Taiwan leader McConnell is right that we've all got a lot more work to 30:21 do but the Department's Investments since 2021 in the defense industrial 30:26 base have positioned America to outpace any rival and ensure our enduring 30:33 military Advantage but he is right we have a lot more work to do 30:42 here and the industrial base is delivering a far more agile and lethal 30:48 Joint Force we're growing our own production 30:56 capacity we're implementing the first ever National Defense industrial strategy to modernize the defense 31:03 industrial base and that will make our supply chains more resilient and our 31:10 Acquisitions more flexible but again there is much more 31:16 work to be done here we've been buying to the limits of 31:22 our defense industrial base and we've been pushing hard with many in this room 31:27 to expand those limits this includes more than investing more than5 billion since 2022 to 31:35 drastically in increase the production of critical Munitions everything from Patriots to 1555 mimet artillery 31:44 rounds and we've made major investments in Cutting Edge capabilities such as cyber security Ai and autonomous 31:53 systems and we've produced the department the Department's largest space budgets 32:01 ever and over the past four years the department has pulled the future 32:07 forward and one especially lasting Legacy is our work on a combined joint 32:12 all domain command and control cjad C2 will connect US forces 32:20 across all operational domains it used to be a pipe dream 32:28 and so many had said this cannot be done no longer in less than two years we filled 32:35 it capability for cjat C2 that is in active use at 32:41 indopacom and we've established a minimum viable capability for cjat C2 across other combatant 32:49 commands another key Legacy is the B21 Raider which you recall I unveiled two 32:56 years ago on my way to the Reagan Forum the 33:01 Raider is America's First new strategic bomber in three decades and it delivers an 33:10 unmatched combination of range stealth and 33:15 durability to build on all of this progress I elevated the status of the defense Innovation 33:22 unit I visited diu yesterday in Northern California 33:29 and I saw again how it's helping us work much more closely with commercial 33:34 companies diu is Mo removing barriers to Innovation and letting the department take far greater advantage of private 33:41 sector talent and Tech diu also Advanced the replicator 33:47 initiative which helps the department swiftly deliver capabilities to the warf fighter at speed and scale and 33:54 replicator is already delivering ATT triable autonomous systems to our 34:02 forces two years ago at this forum I launched the office of strategic 34:09 capital and we partnered with Congress on authorities and 34:14 funding and this office is on track to issue its first loans for equipment financing early next 34:21 year and Meanwhile we're deepening our partnership with private firms and that includes new players that 34:30 would have once stayed away from the so-called Valley of Death since 34:37 2021 at least $375 billion in DOD funds have gone to non-traditional defense 34:43 companies from commercial firms to defense Tech 34:50 startups now in recent years the threat of unmanned systems has grown 34:55 exponentially these systems are cheap easy to use and 35:01 evolving at break next speed and less capable foes are using 35:06 them to threaten our troops our bases and our 35:13 interests and these systems have been front and center in both Ukraine and the Middle East this threat will only 35:21 grow and so yesterday at diu we unveiled the department wide 35:28 strategy to counter unmanned systems and this road map will help to 35:33 ensure that our joint force can fight and win in an environment increasingly dominated by unmanned 35:40 systems and I am proud that we mobilized the entire department to tackle this urgent 35:46 Challenge and to remain masters of the changing character of 35:52 warfare and that brings me to my sixth key area and that's do doing right by 35:58 our all volunteer force and our veterans and their families so we've taken concrete steps 36:06 to take the best possible care of our people and their 36:11 families base pay for our troops is up almost 10% since January 2021 with the 36:18 help of Congress and we proposed another 4.5% pay raise for 36:24 2025 I've also directed actions to make moves easy here to help military spouses 36:30 pursue their own careers to introduce Universal pre in our outstanding DOA schools and expand access to affordable 36:37 child care and highquality early childhood education we've also 36:44 tackled some tough problems that have no Simple Solutions and no place in our 36:52 ranks we've been driving hard to end sexual assault and sexual harassment in our military 36:58 were implementing the approved recommendations of the independent review commission that I stood up and in 37:05 fisal year 2023 the prevalence of sexual assault in the military decreased for the first 37:11 time in more than eight years we've also established the offices of special trial 37:19 Council they take cases of sexual assault domestic violence and some other serious crimes out of the military chain 37:25 of command and entrust them to independent and highly trained military 37:32 lawyers now that's the most important reform to our military Justice System 37:37 since the creation of the uniform code of military Justice in 37:43 1950 in 2022 I established the suicide prevention and response independent 37:49 review commission and we're moving out urgently on its approved recommendations 37:55 and let me be clear the the only acceptable number of suicides in the US military is 38:09 zero now I took office amid major headwinds and the recruiting environment 38:16 including a competitive job market and the aftermath of the pandemic but we focused on a renewed 38:23 call to service and on bending the curve and we turned around the recruiting 38:29 picture in 2024 and I'm very proud that the department has kept up the high levels 38:34 of retention throughout all the services 38:40 finally in everything that we do American values 38:48 matter each Soldier sailor Airman marine and guardian swears 38:55 to defend our country and our 39:01 constitution we protect not just the American people but also the American 39:07 idea that is what we do and that is who we are the Constitution charges us to 39:15 provide for the common defense and we will continue to do just 39:20 that that means holding true to what makes America exceptional it means keeping faith with 39:27 our friends it means standing up to our foes and it means knowing the difference between the 39:36 two I say all of this as a lifelong military man and I know a few things about the 39:43 American way of war and over my decades to service of 39:48 Service to America I have deepen some core beliefs they are battle 39:55 tested and they are tempered by decades in uniform and they are 40:01 forged by years at War so what do I believe I believe this peace is not self-executing order does not preserve itself and security does not flower on its own the world built by American leadership can only be maintained by American leadership as President Biden has said American leadership is what holds the world together and from Russia to China from Hamas to Iran our Rivals and foes want to divide and weaken the United States and to split us all from our allies and partners so at this hinge in history America must not waver American leadership rallies our allies and partners to uphold our shared security and it inspires ordinary people around the world to work together toward a brighter future but the Troubles of our times will will only grow worse without strong 41:04 and steady American leadership to defend the rules-based international order that keeps us all safe and if we forfeit our position of responsibility our Rivals and foes will be glad to fill the vacuum those beliefs were true when I said those exact words from this Podium last year they are true today and they will be true tomorrow of course there is far more work to be done but at this this year and this Administration draws to a close America is positioned to stand strong our alliances have been renewed and reinforced our recruiting Trends Point upward our investments in the future are vast and our military reflects the full strengths of the great democracy that it defends so the Baton will soon be passed and others will decide the course ahead and I

SITE COUNT