On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN This Morning,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that President Joe Biden requested supplemental funding from Congress because the U.S. running low on the weapons it needs for its own defense is “a concern.” But “the United States military can continue to defend our national security interests all around the world.”
Co-host Phil Mattingly asked, “In the President’s primetime address, he talked about the aid he’s seeking for Ukraine, and how much of that aid is to basically refill American stockpiles. My question is, the state of those stockpiles right now, the state of where U.S. weapons stockpiles stand, with two wars — sending now two different types of shipments on a regular basis towards two U.S. allies, how big is the concern that the U.S. is dangerously low on what it should have for its own defense right now?”
Kirby responded, “Well, of course it’s a concern. That’s why we asked for that extra supplemental funding from Congress. Without getting into classified information, I can assure you and the American people that the United States military can continue to defend our national security interests all around the world. But it’s something that we watch very, very closely, and with every single aid package that goes to Ukraine and now Israel, the Department of Defense has to do an assessment to make sure that we can continue to meet our own war plans and our own operational needs. And we’re doing that. We’ve also revitalized the defense industry to create, to manufacture, and produce much more of these munitions so that we can, A. keep them going to Ukraine and Israel, but also, B. replenish those stocks. But it is important, and that’s exactly why the President asked for that supplemental funding.”
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