WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, participated in his first podcast appearances since releasing his defense spending blueprint in May, the “21st Century Peace Through Strength: A Generational Investment in the U.S. Military” report.

Senator Wicker joined former spokeswoman for the Secretary of State, Morgan Ortagus, on her SiriusXM show, where he spoke about ongoing tensions in the Middle East, the Biden-Harris administration’s failed foreign policy, and his “Peace Through Strength” report. Senator Wicker also had an in-depth discussion with Hudson Institute senior fellow Aaron Maclean on the “School of War” podcast.

Below are key excerpts from Senator Wicker’s appearance on the “Morgan Ortagus Show.” A clip of the interview is available for listening here.

On Houthi terrorism in the Red Sea and the Middle East Crisis: “One thing we need to do is realize – and go ahead and admit – that when the Houthis, or Hamas, or Hezbollah attacks us or our allies, this is Iran using proxies to attack us.”

“So, there’s no question about it. It is the Iranian regime...that is attacking the United States...The Ayatollah needs to understand that we know this...it’s not just a rabble of some terrorist group. They are absolutely sponsored and directed by Iran.”

Below are key excerpts from Senator Wicker’s appearance on “School of War,” which is available for listening here.

On the importance of a multi-theater military: “There’s no question that we’re in a dangerous time...We are not prepared for the threat that comes from what I call in my report, the “Axis of Aggressors.” And of course, chief among them [is] Communist China with Xi Jinping, having told his congress that they need to be ready to retake Taiwan by 2027. Well, that’s right around the corner...then you add to that Russia with their illegal war crimes of invading their neighbor, something that threatens the 70-year old rules-based Europe, and Iran, and all of their three proxies – at least their three proxies, which are raining havoc, and doing so even as we speak...and add to that a person who is probably not very well balanced, and that’s the dictator of North Korea. And so, it’s a four-pronged axis of aggressors that we simply are not prepared to fight...it’s wrong to take these conflicts – or potential areas of conflict – separately.”

On defense acquisition reform: “More money in itself is certainly not the solution. The solution is more weapons and more advanced weaponry and more ammunition...one thing that we are insisting on now – and it’s something that has worked in the past but should work better if we do it on scale – is multi-year contracts. We know that we’re going to need more than one...amphibious troop-transporting ship, we know we’re going to need more and more of those. And so, why not do a multi-year contract, a block buy...and it can save us a lot of money...but also, we’ve let our manufacturing plants shrink to a level that they’re not capable of giving us what we need. We need more shipyards. We just don’t have the capacity that China has.”

On shipbuilding: “You don’t ever get anything done if you don’t get started. And one of the arguments that I’ve had over the past year is that ‘there’s no reason to authorize more ships if we don’t have more shipyards.’ Well, let’s get some more shipyards and get going on it...And to their credit, after I really pressed the administration over this past year to add to our shipbuilding industrial base, they agreed to add to the supplemental bill $3.4 billion.”

On nuclear modernization, missile defense, and the Strategic Posture Commission: “Really, honestly, people from every end of the ideological spectrum came out and said our nuclear weapons are old. They’re over half a century old, and eventually, things wear out. And they need to be replenished. But also, I’m glad to report to you that in addition to what they recommended on refurbishing our nuclear weapons, they talk about sort of a nuclear shield. And I’ve heard President Trump talking about this in his campaign...the President is interested in some sort of nuclear shield. And frankly, this commission says that’s a good idea...there are recommendations that they can make, particularly because of our capabilities in space now...that can give us an added layer of defense and protection...we ought to pay attention to what they recommend.”