Media Contact 202-226-8467

Munich, Germany – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) joined Pamela Brown on CNN’s “State of the Union” to discuss their time at the Munich Security Conference, the Putin regime’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, and the growing threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

 

Watch the full interview here. 

 

On the CCP’s Spy Balloon:

“I would send a very stark, stern warning to [Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CCP Wang Yi] that we will not tolerate a spy balloon… committing espionage over the United States again – this was a bit of a shot across the bow at this conference… the tensions are very high right now. The spy balloon was so embarrassing going over three major military installations with nuclear warheads – the idea it could capture imagery and send it back to Beijing, to the mother ship, causes a lot of damage to our national security, but also political damage in the sense that Americans saw this with the naked eye and it was flying so low to the ground.”

On Presenting a United Message to Countering the CCP: 

“I think we have a unique opportunity to be bipartisan on this issue of, you know, national security against one of the greatest threats to this country, and the world, for that matter. And I think, you know, [especially pointing to] the fact that a Select Committee was voted on by a large majority of Democrats. So when we talk about particularly export controls, this balloon, by the way, had a lot of American parts in it. We know the hypersonic missile that went around the world with precision was built on the backbone of American technology, so there’s a lot of discussion here at this summit about how can we, you know, with China stealing a lot of this from us, [not] sell them the very technology they can put in their advanced weapons systems to then turn against either Taiwan and the pacific, or eventually possibly the United States of America.” 

On the Biden Administration’s Fear of Being Too Provocative and Slow Walking Critical Weapons into Ukraine: 

“…For the past year, [the Biden administration has] been very slow in getting these weapons in, in the name of being too provocative, whether it be stingers, javelins, these short-range artillery, now longer-range artillery, ATACMS, they can take out the Iranian drones in Crimea and also aviation like F-16. If we put this stuff in from the very beginning of this conflict, a year from now may have been different. As we look at the anniversary on February 24th, the longer they drag this out, they play into Putin’s hands – he wants this to be a long, protracted war because he knows that potentially we could lose the will of the American people and therefore, the Congress. And we’re seeing the same dynamic in the European Parliament – strong support now, but they’re worried that if this doesn’t end with a resolution, you know, sooner rather than later, this will be an issue for us. “

On the Importance of Giving Ukraine Everything They Need to Defeat Russia: 

“The ATACMS, though, have been on the table for months and they haven’t sent those in… But the fact is, the longer they wait, the longer this conflict will prevail. Honestly, every top military expert I talked to at this conference agreed with what I was saying. And I think, you know, Mike Turner, that we need to throw everything we can into this fight so that they can win… and Zelenskyy had a speech here at the conference saying the same thing. I think the momentum is building for this to happen.” 

###