Click here to view Senator Cotton’s questioning.
In case you missed it – Today, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) questioned Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator Cotton questioned Secretary Austin on his response to accusations the U.S. is helping Israel commit genocide in Gaza, why the Biden administration is sending aid to Gaza, the Pentagon’s recruiting struggles, and more.
Senator Cotton’s questions included:
On accusations of genocide in Gaza: “I want to address what the protesters raised earlier: is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?”
On aid to Gaza: “You talk a lot with Senator Reed about Israel's responsibility to provide aid in Gaza. Why does Israel have a responsibility to provide aid to Gaza? Israel was the victim of an unprovoked, vicious attack on October 7th.”
A video of the exchange may be found here. The full exchange is below.
Senator Cotton: Secretary Austin, thank you for acknowledging in response to Senator Wicker that Hamas committed war crimes on October 7th, and has been committing them every day since by using human shields. I want to address what the protesters raised earlier: is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?
Secretary Austin: Senator Cotton, we don't have any evidence of genocide being created.
Senator Cotton: So that's a no, Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza.
Secretary Austin: We don't have evidence of that.
Senator Cotton: Thank you. Better than Director Burns and Director Haines did last month at the Intelligence Committee when they dodged that question. You stand accused by those protesters of greenlighting genocide. Would you like to respond to that accusation?
Secretary Austin: What I would say, Senator Cotton, from the very beginning is that we are committed to help assist Israel in defending its territory and its people by providing security assistance. And I would might remind everybody that, you know, what happened on October 7th was absolutely horrible. And, you know, numbers of Israeli citizens killed, and then a couple 100 Israeli citizens taken hostage-
Senator Cotton: American citizens as well.
Secretary Austin: American citizens as well.
Senator Cotton: So, you deny the accusation that you greenlit genocide?
Secretary Austin: I absolutely deny it.
Senator Cotton: Okay, for the record, I don't think Israel is committing genocide. I don't believe you greenlit genocide, either. You talk a lot with Senator Reed about Israel's responsibility to provide aid in Gaza. Why does Israel have a responsibility to provide aid to Gaza? Israel was the victim of an unprovoked, vicious attack on October 7th. Why should they provide aid to the aggressor nation, or aggressor—Gaza is not a nation—to the aggressors on October 7th? We didn't provide aid to Germany and Japan during World War Two.
Secretary Austin: We did provide aid and assistance to many of the countries that we've operated in recently.
Senator Cotton: But not in World War Two. If you had been in George Marshalls or Dwight Eisenhower's position in World War Two, would you have wanted to provide aid to Germany?
Secretary Austin: I really do believe, Senator, that if they want to create a lasting effect, and in terms of stability, then I think that something needs to be done to account to help the Palestinian people.
Senator Cotton: I get that, but they're in the middle of the war. Like we believed that too, after World War Two, that's why we had the Marshall Plan. That's why we rebuilt Japan. But that was after the war was won, not in the middle of it. And in the meantime, it's not Israel's responsibility to provide aid. It's certainly not our responsibility, but we're spending our tax dollars to build this giant peer to send aid into Gaza. Who's going to accept that aid? Who's gonna be at the end of the pier on the shore, taking aid from American forces?
Secretary Austin: That's still being worked out. But there will be NGOs that will help to distribute that aid.
Senator Cotton: Hamas is in charge of Gaza. When aid goes to Gaza, Hamas doesn't divert it or commandeer it or steal it, it accepts it. And anybody operating in Gaza is under the thumb of Hamas. I just think it's very ill-considered and I don't think it's going to end very well. Let me move on to Ukraine. The Biden administration has discouraged Ukraine from launching refinery strikes against Russia. Why is the Biden administration discouraging Ukraine from undertaking some of the most effective attacks on Russia's war making capabilities?
Secretary Austin: Certainly, those attacks could have a knock on effect for in terms of the global energy situation, but quite frankly, I think Ukraine is better served in going after tactical and operational targets that that can directly influence the current fight.
Senator Cotton: So, it sounds to me like the Biden administration doesn't want gas prices go up in an election year based on all the other actions they've taken to drive up gas prices further.
But anyway, I want to turn up to one final point about the recruiting crisis our services face. The Army is the most acute; it's challenging all services though. I've spoken to numerous recruiters, frontline recruiters, heads of recruiting battalions. Two of the most common things I hear is Genesis and a lack of medical providers to process new recruits. Do you have a memo on your desk from the services to place a pause on Genesis?
Secretary Austin: No.
Senator Cotton: Have you received that, because my sources tell me you've received a request from the services to pause Genesis.
Secretary Austin: I talked to the service secretaries about Genesis and also have talked to the service chiefs about Genesis as well, and I don't have knowledge of that memo. But what I will tell you is that we're doing everything we can to improve the number of healthcare providers that are available and to streamline the operations with Genesis. Genesis is a, you know, it's an issue that our recruiting force had to work through. But it is not the sole cause of--
Senator Cotton: I know it's not the sole cause, there's a lot of other causes, it comes up constantly. And just for those listening at home, Genesis is not just the first book of the Bible, it's this giant medical records system that now catches everything that's ever happened to you. So, you know, every drill sergeant accuses recruits of lying to their recruiter so they can get into the surface. But now Genesis catches all that. So, if you broke your arm when you were 12 playing peewee football, Genesis knows it. If you were prescribed an SSRI because you were depressed when you're 13, because your parents are getting a bad divorce, Genesis knows it. And you've got to go through a whole lot of rigmarole to get a waiver. Now, look, we can't have psychotics join the military. But if a kid was on an SSRI, when he was 13, does that really matter? Does it really matter f he broke his arm when he was 13? He can't have a degenerate bone condition, but he broke his arm. And I know you'll say, because I've heard it before, that there's waiver approvals here. Takes a long time. And like if you're like a super gung ho, Captain America kid who wants to serve above everything else, you're wait that time. But if it's going to take 120 or 150 days to join, when you get a job at Amazon for $20 or $25 an hour, you're gonna lose those people. I think you really need to look at the way Genesis works. And the approval authority, even if you have approval authority, you know, whether it's a an E-8 out on the front lines at a mall or a Lieutenant Colonel at the headquarters, you're counting on them to take what they might see is some serious personal risk that doesn't have a lot of reward. That's why I think this has to be written into policy. My time is over. But I do think this is a serious question for all the services and that I'd encourage you to look at it and take action sooner rather than later.
Secretary Austin: I don't disagree with you, Senator. I've been a recruiter and I know how important this is to recruiters. And, and so what we need to continue to do is upgrade what requires a waiver and make sure that we're doing everything we can to provide enough medical professionals to be able to shorten the time that it takes to get that waiver. And so I think there are a number of things that we can do and should do and we are doing some of those things. And we'll continue to press on this to to shorten the time that that it takes for recruiters to get these packets through.
Senator Cotton: Thank you.