Biden’s Indo-Pacific Supplemental ‘A Joke,’ Won’t Stop China: Rep. Gallagher

Subcommittee chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) speaks during a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation hearing about artificial intelligence on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 18, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Biden administration’s recent security supplemental for Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific fails to prioritize the threat posed by communist China, according to one lawmaker.

President Joe Biden’s $105 billion supplemental request would spend less than four percent of that amount on strengthening military deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. Such a proposal, said Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), simply does not take the threat from communist China seriously.

“The Indo-Pacific portion was woefully insufficient,” Mr. Gallagher told The Epoch Times.

“I think it’s important to recognize that in a supplemental where there seemed to be money for almost everything under the sun, when it came to the most important thing, which is deterrence and American presence in the Indo-Pacific region, our priority theater, it was a joke.”

Mr. Gallagher, who serves as chair for the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said that he hopes Congress can work to set things right.

Only about $7 billion of the Biden administration’s mammoth spending package is earmarked for the Indo-Pacific.

Of that number, more than $3 billion will go to submarine infrastructure, and $2 billion more will go to establishing lending programs to draw funds away from predatory Chinese programs.

That leaves only $2 billion for Foreign Military Financing in the Indo-Pacific. But, Mr. Gallagher says the United States would need to spend roughly five times that to really counter CCP influence in the region.

“The actual number for the Indo-Pacific, the right number, is probably closer to $10 billion if we’re being serious,” Mr. Gallagher said.

The congressman added that he was disappointed with the Biden administration’s attempt to combine funding for the Indo-Pacific with funding for Israel, Ukraine, and even the United States’ own southern border.

To that end, Mr. Gallagher anticipates a move in Congress to create separate, alternative supplemental requests that will allow the legislature to consider aid to each region discretely.

“My hope is that we in Congress can do our own supplemental, starting with Israel and the Indo-Pacific, fix that, and then have a parallel but separate track of negotiations when it comes to Ukraine and [the] border,” Mr. Gallagher said.

He is not alone in that wish. Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said he will push for a standalone aid package for Israel this week.

China Infiltrating Pacific Islands

A key contention for Mr. Gallagher is the CCP’s continued infiltration into the Pacific islands, and the regime’s efforts to expand its diplomatic, economic, and military footprint throughout the Indo-Pacific region more broadly.

For that reason, Mr. Gallagher met with Solomon Islands MP Peter Kenilorea Jr. privately last week, where the two discussed the importance of the United States’ robust engagement with the region.

Mr. Kenilorea said the CCP is infiltrating the Solomon Islands, and that greater U.S. engagement with the nation may help assuage the growing pro-communist sentiment.

Mr. Gallagher agreed with that assessment, noting that CCP attempts to infiltrate and steal data and intellectual property were appearing with increasing frequency all over the world.

“What we’re seeing happen [in the Solomon Islands] is a microcosm of the broader spread of [China’s] malign influence throughout the region, but it’s not confined to the Indo-Pacific,” Mr. Gallagher said. “It’s now global. It affects various multilateral institutions.”

“Even here in the United States, we’re seeing it play out in the form of United Front work, intellectual property theft, and so all the more reason why we need to stay forward engaged.”