Ricketts Presses Mexico Ambassador Nom: What Steps Will You Take 'To Secure Our Southern Border’?

3/14/2025

During Thursday's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) questioned Trump's nominee for Ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, about securing the southern boarder.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:05For more than 80 years, the U.S.-Japan alliance has acted as a cornerstone of peace, security,

00:12and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

00:15With Communist China, Russia, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan Strait, all within 200 miles of the

00:22Japanese soil, our forward-deployed presence in Japan is fundamental to deter aggression

00:28in the region.

00:29This is especially pertinent given Beijing's dramatic military buildup and increasingly

00:34provocative actions – gray zone activity, tactics, saber-rattling – all to force our

00:40allies and partners to bend to their will.

00:42Additionally, the alliance forms the foundation of vital multilateral cooperation, from the

00:48Quad to trilaterals to South Korea, Australia, the Philippines.

00:51I was pleased to see President Trump and Prime Minister Shiba commit to pursue a new golden

00:56age of U.S.-Japan relations when they met in February.

01:00Not only did the President reaffirm our unwavering commitment to defense of Japan, but importantly,

01:07Japan committed to fundamentally reinforce its own capabilities, as Mr. Glass just mentioned.

01:11Mr. Glass, in order to strengthen mutual deterrence and response capabilities, it's critical

01:16that we work to turn the U.S.-Japan alliance into a truly interoperable military alliance.

01:22However, this will require Japan to go beyond the previous defense spending commitments,

01:26which you already mentioned they are.

01:28If confirmed, could you build upon some of the things you just talked about on how we

01:32can enhance that defense and security cooperation and what you, as our ambassador, can do to

01:38facilitate that?

01:41Thank you very much for the question, Senator.

01:45If confirmed, clearly in the last question, this becomes a tremendous priority.

01:53Japan lives in a very tough neighborhood, and as mentioned, as you mentioned, whether

01:57it's China, Russia, North Korea, it's all in their backyard.

02:02Working together with them is of critical importance.

02:06I think if we look from a business standpoint, on the economic side, our job is to support

02:12them in every way that we can to grow both of our economies together.

02:18On the technical side, we clearly need to work on our cybersecurity with Japan.

02:26We are the best in the world at that.

02:28We can certainly help in that methodology.

02:30We can also help in the world of co-production.

02:36One of the issues that I've seen, and as you know, as we come in from the outside, we don't

02:42have the ability to be able to dig very deep into these issues.

02:48Japan currently has an over $50 billion backlog for military equipment from the United States.

02:55In that procurement process, none of this is moving along very quickly.

03:01Between F-35s, transport planes, all of this to thwart the pressure that China is placing

03:10on Japan, and we're also placing the pressure that we need Japan to be the tip of the spear

03:15in how we push back.

03:17We need to figure out a way to get that procurement quickly, work on the supply chains.

03:23One of the things that I have been doing a little bit of reading on is the co-productions

03:28of some of these materials, co-production of AMRAAM missiles, that kind of item.

03:34It's always difficult to change ways, especially if you're a government, but that just seems

03:40to be a much more efficient way to do business and to be able to give them the ability to

03:46help us push back against China.

03:48Yeah, and that would help with the interoperability, absolutely.

03:51So thank you for that.

03:52And you mentioned, you know, security is the foundation of the U.S.-Japan alliance.

03:57Economics is his life, Bob.

03:58You mentioned economy.

03:59They're, you know, getting both of our economies to be prosperous.

04:04It certainly is the case for my home state of Nebraska, thanks in part to President Trump's

04:09trade deals with Japan during his first term.

04:11Japan is one of our largest export markets and certainly the largest for pork and eggs,

04:15our second largest for beef, our third largest for corn and overall ag exports.

04:21Japan is also a promising market for grain-based fuels.

04:24I was encouraged by Japan's recent announcement, it intends to blend 10% ethanol in gasoline

04:29by 2030 and 20% by 2040.

04:32And of course, Japan is positioned to become one of the largest export markets for sustainable

04:35aviation fuel that rely on grain-based ethanol and feedstock.

04:40So it's great opportunities there to be able to build the economics there.

04:45I want to just also just move on real quickly.

04:49I know I'm running out of time here.

04:52Ambassador Johnson, if you're confirmed, what actions will you take to strengthen collaboration

04:54with Mexico to secure our southern border?

04:56And I may have already hit upon this stuff already, but if you could just briefly recap

05:00for us, that'd be great.

05:03Sir, basically, I think it's to establish a dialogue with them to ensure that they realize

05:08that the problem is not just our problem, it's their problem as well.

05:12We talked about providing a way that they can secure the politicians and the government

05:17officials that want to do the right thing in Mexico, but now they are coerced and their

05:23families are threatened by these terrorist cartels.

05:28And I think if we can do those two things and we can increase information sharing and

05:33protect officials that want to do the right thing, it'll make a big difference.

05:38Great.

05:39Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

05:41Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ricketts Presses Mexico Ambassador Nom: What Steps Will You Take 'To Secure Our Southern Border’?

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