HIRONO CONTINUES TO PUSH FOR STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF HAWAII WITH DEFENSE SECRETARY-NOMINEE ASHTON CARTER

Washington, D.C. – Senator Mazie K. Hirono, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Seapower and member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement following her meeting this afternoon with Ashton Carter, President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense:

“This afternoon I had a productive meeting with Ashton Carter, the President’s nominee to be the next Secretary of Defense. His wealth of experience and institutional knowledge make him an excellent choice to lead the Department of Defense and advise the President.

“In our wide ranging discussion, Defense Secretary nominee Ash Carter and I agreed on the importance of a strong military presence in the Pacific Theater in order to maintain stability and the capability to meet potential national security threats. As the nation rebalances to the Asia-Pacific, I will continue to remind our leaders that Hawaii holds strategic importance for our force structure in the Pacific. We also discussed how sequestration cuts have negatively impacted our military’s readiness and therefore impacted the overall effectiveness of our military. I reiterated that as far as I  am concerned, we should eliminate the sequester.  I’m confident Ash Carter will be a very effective Secretary of Defense and look forward to working with him going forward and into the future.” 

Senator Hirono and Ashton Carter meet in the Capitol Wednesday Afternoon