WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today participated in a full committee hearing examining the nomination of Gen. Charles ‘CQ’ Brown to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In his remarks, Wicker observed that the United States faces the most dangerous security environment since World War II and therefore requires “exceptionally qualified” officers.

“Multiple senior national defense leaders have told this committee that we are in the most dangerous global security environment since World War II, and I agree,” Wicker said. “During that pivotal time 70 years ago, our country faced two great military powers across different oceans with the capability and intent to threaten American domestic security directly...This dangerous moment demands an exceptionally competent set of uniformed leaders.”

Wicker also emphasized the need for Gen. Brown to repair public trust in senior officers in the armed forces as many continue to engage in divisive political activity. The Mississippi senator expressed hope that Brown’s record will help him restore a “culture of meritocracy” in the military.

“Regrettably, many American have lost confidence in our senior military leadership, which for the past 20 years had been very high,” Wicker said. “While we all may debate the reasons, I believe that the lack of accountability for failures along with military leadership being thrust into the spotlight of politically divisive issues like critical race theory instruction and abortion have significantly contributed to this decline in trust…. I hope General Brown will continue to focus on restoring a culture built on meritocracy in the U.S. military that continuously fosters new approaches to readiness and warfighting.”

Read Senator Wicker’s full opening statement below or watch it here. Read Senator Wicker’s previous statement on General Brown’s confirmation here.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman for that fine statement.

And General Brown, welcome to this committee – I welcome your nomination to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is great to see you accompanied by your devoted wife, Sharene. The Chair has also acknowledged your sons, Sean and Ross, are supporting their daddy throughout this confirmation process.

As you testify before us and prepare to assume the senior-most position in the U.S. military, you are continuing with a profound concept that dates back to the founding of our Republic – before the Constitution to the days of George Washington – where we established and we maintained the proposition that the military of our country was answerable to the elected civilian leadership in our country. You have been nominated by the commander-in-chief to the senior-most position in our military. And I believe you are exceptionally qualified for this position. And we will certainly need, Mr. Chairman, an exceptionally qualified officer during this perilous national moment.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, multiple senior national defense leaders have told this committee that we are in the most dangerous global security environment since World War II, and I agree. During that pivotal time 70 years ago, our country faced two great military powers across different oceans with the capability and intent to threaten American domestic security directly. We see a similar dual threat today, which the Chair has already alluded to.

The Chinese Communist Party is conducting the largest and most rapid military buildup in modern history, surpassing our own military in many places. It is a military built for a single purpose: to undermine Indo-Pacific and American security and prosperity by expanding the CCP’s totalitarian influence to the entire globe.

In Europe, the Kremlin’s brutal war in Ukraine is the most dangerous crisis we have faced in half a century, and their self-defeating war of aggression has brought China, North Korea, and Iran all closer together.

This dangerous moment demands an exceptionally competent set of uniformed leaders. Regrettably, many American have lost confidence in our senior military leadership, which for the past 20 years had been very high. While we all may debate the reasons, I believe that the lack of accountability for failures along with military leadership being thrust into the spotlight of politically divisive issues like critical race theory instruction and abortion have significantly contributed to this decline in trust.

General Brown speaks often of accelerating innovation in the Air Force. He recognizes the difficulties of doing so amid an entrenched bureaucracy, and he is open about how he has learned in his job and improved his approach. That candor and self-accountability should serve him well in this new role, including as an example to other officers.

I am hopeful that General Brown’s detailed focus on innovation and culture change will bring new thinking and action to the massive problems our joint force faces. I hope General Brown will continue to focus on restoring a culture built on meritocracy in the U.S. military that continuously fosters new approaches to readiness and warfighting.

Make no mistake, the next few years will be critical for our national security. As General Brown has said, “we cannot wait for a crisis…to drive change for our joint force.” Years of lackluster budgeting for our national defense has put us far behind where we need to be. We have a bureaucracy and industrial base that is clunky. And military promotion system geared toward risk aversion.

It will take honest and realistic threat and capability assessments from our senior uniformed leaders to empower lower-level personnel to fix the many problems we face. I expect General Brown would offer his most frank, unreserved military judgment to both the President and to Congress, if confirmed.

During a similarly decisive moment for our national defense in 1980, then-candidate Reagan spoke of the need for a renaissance in American military superiority to avoid war with the Soviets. Reagan said, “our best hope of persuading them to live in peace is to convince them they cannot win at war.” We avoided war then, but only because we had leaders who were bold enough to pursue the wisdom of ‘peace through strength’ with alacrity. That timeless advice still applies today, and I am hopeful our nominee agrees.

Thank you, General Brown, for being here, and thank you Mr. Chairman.