State Dept Nominee Has ‘Clear Mandate’ to Reform ITAR
Chris Pratt, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, said May 15 that the Trump administration has directed him to address the delays and other complaints that are frequently made about the U.S. defense export process, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
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“I assure you I have a very clear mandate to deal with ITAR,” Pratt told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in response to questioning by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the panel’s ranking member. “It’s very important to keep our most exquisite technology out of the hands of our enemies, but there is a lot of work to be done to make it more efficient and more effective, and I took forward to working with this committee to make that happen."
Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, credited Pratt with underlining "how important this issue is" and the need to "get stuff in the hands of people faster."
Pratt testified he would address concerns raised by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who said he heard on a recent trip to Europe that the U.S. government is slow to make decisions on foreign military sales and that U.S. defense companies don't produce equipment on time. "I'm familiar with those complaints and very much committed to addressing them," Pratt said. "Part of that is working with industry to figure out what the problem areas are. Part of that's working with the Department of Defense to figure out how they can be more engaged."
In response to Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., who spoke of “multi-year delays” in delivering weapons to Taiwan, Pratt said he would conduct a “comprehensive review of how we can help Taiwan and increase our support thereof.” Pratt also would be willing to examine Ricketts’ newly introduced bill aimed at speeding up arms shipments to Taiwan (see 2505140001).
Also during the hearing, Joel Rayburn, Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, endorsed Trump’s recent move to lift sanctions on Syria (see 2505130061), saying it offers a “golden opportunity” to rebuild the war-torn country. “If I’m confirmed, that’s the policy that I’ll be implementing,” Rayburn testified. Rayburn also said he supports current efforts to ramp up sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
Michael DeSombre, Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, testified he would work with Rayburn to reduce China's purchase of Iranian oil. DeSombre also said the Trump administration is “committed” to continuing the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) security partnership, which the Biden administration launched in 2021 to promote defense trade among the three countries.