Gallagher Outlines Vision to Deter CCP Invasion of Taiwan

Gallagher Outlines Vision to Deter CCP Invasion of Taiwan

Mike Gallagher

Office of Mike Gallagher | 2022

Mike Gallagher (R-WI), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee,  delivered remarks at the Heritage Foundation following the release of its 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength, a report that annually gauges the U.S. Military’s ability to perform its mission in the modern threat landscape. The 2023 Index finds that the United States military is “rated as weak relative to the force needed to defend national interests on a global stage,” the first such rating in the Index’s nine-year history.

In response to these findings, Rep. Gallagher delivered a speech that warned the U.S. military is entering into a “window of maximum danger” with respect to Taiwan and that to protect U.S. interests, Pentagon leadership needs to focus on creatively using the resources it has today to build a force deter a CCP invasion of Taiwan.

In his remarks, Rep. Gallagher acknowledged that while “long-term investments to rebuild American military superiority in general—and maritime superiority in particular—are critical, the reality is that we will not be able to build the Navy the nation needs within the next five years. What we can do, however, is build an anti-navy.”