Below follows March 25, 2020 letter signed by leading former officials in the U.S. National Security sector, who are members of the prestigious American College of National Security Leaders (ACNSL - https://acnsl.net/) -- all calling for the operationalization of the Defense Production Act Now. In my capacity as a former U.S. Ambassador and a former Director for Africa at the National Security Council, I have signed this letter along with many well-known former U.S. military leaders, senior diplomats, and national security professionals. The letter appears below and also can be found on the well-respect sites: Allafrica.com https://lnkd.in/eR3j3cj ; and Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/
Below follows the full text of the letter with the 100 signatures from former U.S. National Security Professionals:
STATEMENT FROM NATIONAL SECURITY PROFESSIONALS
ON THE URGENT NEED TO UTILIZE THE DEFENSE
ON THE URGENT NEED TO UTILIZE THE DEFENSE
PRODUCTION ACT FULLY
What the United States faces at this perilous moment is principally a public health crisis. As
national security professionals and experts, however, we recognize that there are tools from our
realm that would be useful and, in some cases, indispensable to alleviating the impact of COVID-19
and, above all, saving lives.
Chief among those indispensable tools is the Defense Production Act (DPA), which we urgently call on President Trump to utilize immediately to the full extent. The delay in doing so is a grave mistake.
The administration this week utilized the DPA on a narrow and limited basis, but America’s public
health professionals — as well as doctors and industry workers — continue to sound the alarm,
citing the increasingly urgent and dire need for ventilators, masks, testing supplies, and other
resources. Some private companies have been willing and able to scale up production — and admirably so.
But as governors and local leaders around the country are making clear, private efforts without
more extensive government support are proving far from sufficient to meet the current and
anticipated needs. Beyond questions of supply, the private sector lacks the ability to process
incoming requests, prioritize the most urgent needs, and coordinate with other companies absent
more concerted government involvement. That is precisely what the DPA is designed to do.
The DPA was written into law for a reason, and the equipment and supply shortages we face are just
the sort of supply chain shortfalls the law was designed to address. Congress must ensure the full
potential of the DPA is being leveraged in the midst of this crisis, and we applaud legislative
efforts that require the administration to actually use the tools at its disposal in a serious way.
President Trump has said he would utilize the DPA in a “worst-case scenario.” But the scenario we
face today is already well beyond any reasonable standard for utilizing the Act. All the President
will accomplish with additional delay is to place us farther down that “worst-case” trajectory.
If the ultimate objective is to save American lives, there is no alternative to utilizing the DPA
immediately and to the fullest extent.
LIST OF SIGNATORIES
Sandy Adams Retired Admiral (ret.) Navy
Clara L. Adams-Ender Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Wendy R. Anderson Former Chief of Staff Department of Defense
Ricardo Aponte Brigadier General (ret.) Air Force
Wallace C. Arnold Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Don Arthur Vice Admiral (ret.) Navy
Tom Atkin Former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Global Security Department of Defense
James E. Baker Former Legal Adviser National Security Council
Donna Barbisch Major General (ret.) Army
Jeremy Bash Former CIA and Department of Defense Chief of Staff
Ronald Blanck Lieutenant General (ret.) Army
David P. Burford Major General (ret.) Army
William J. Burns Former Deputy Secretary of State State Department
Tarun Chhabra Former Director for Strategic Planning National Security Council
Rebecca Bill Chavez Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Western Hemisphere Affairs
Department of Defense Stephen A. Cheney Brigadier General (ret.) Marine Corps
Derek Chollet Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
Department of Defense
Lieutenant General (ret.) James Clapper Former Director of National Intelligence
Wesley Clark General (ret.) Army
Herman J. Cohen Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Brent Colburn Former Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Department of Homeland Security
Peter Cooke Major General (ret.) Army
Dirk Debbink Vice Admiral (ret.) Navy
Rudy deLeon Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Department of Defense
Abraham M. Denmark Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia
Department of Defense
James Doty Brigadier General (ret.) Army
John Douglass Brigadier General (ret.) Air Force
Paul Eaton Major General (ret.) Army
Mari K. Eder Major General (ret.) Army
Dwayne Edwards Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Robert J. Felderman Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Jon Finer Former Chief of Staff State Department
Michele A. Flournoy Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Department of Defense
Michael Franken Vice Admiral (ret.) Navy
Joshua A. Geltzer Former Senior Director for Counterterrorism & Deputy Legal Advisor
National Security Council
Larry Gillespie Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Philip H. Gordon Former Special Assistant to the President National Security Council
Gordon Gray Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Kevin P. Green Vice Admiral (ret.) Navy
Chuck Hagel Former Secretary of Defense Department of Defense
Irv Halter Major General (ret.) Air Force
Janice Hamby Rear Admiral (ret.) Navy
Bob Harding Major General (ret.) Army
Jerry Harrison Major General (ret.) Army
Don Harvel Brigadier General (ret.) Air Force
Oona Hathaway Former Special Counsel to the General Counsel Department of Defense
General (ret.) Michael V. Hayden Former Director of NSA and Director of CIA NSA and CIA
Kathleen Hicks Former Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Policy Department of Defense
Richard Holwill Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Vicki Huddleston Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Andrew Hunter Former Director of the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell Department of Defense
John Hutson Rear Admiral (ret.) Navy
David R. Irvine Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Debra Lee James Former Secretary of the Air Force Department of Defense
Arlen D. Jameson Lieutenant General (ret.) Air Force
Dennis C. Jett Ambassador (ret.) State Department
John Johns Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Frank Kendall Former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Department of Defense
Patrick Kennedy Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Jimmy Kolker Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Jeremy Konyndyk Former Director of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance USAID
Lawrence Korb Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Installations and Logistics Department of Defense
Jonathan Lachman Former Associate Director for National Security Programs
White House Office of Management and Budget
Bruce S. Lemkin Former Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force Air Force
Phil Leventis Brigadier General (ret) USAF/SC Air National Guard
Kelly Magsamen Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs
Department of Defense Randy Manner Major General (ret.) Army
Edward Marks Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Frederick H. Martin Major General (ret.) Air Force
Carlos E. Martinez Brigadier General (ret.) Air Force
J. R. McBrien Former Senior Executive Service Department of Treasury
Mike McCord Former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer Department of Defense
David McGinnis Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Joseph V. Medina Brigadier General (ret.) Marine Corps
James N. Miller Former Under Secretary for Policy Department of Defense
Katrina Mulligan Former Director for Preparedness and Response Department of Justice
Ronald E. Neumann Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Matt Olsen Former Director National Counterterrorism Center
Richard Olson Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Charley Otstott Lieutenant General (ret.) Army
W. Robert Pearson Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Gale S. Pollock Former Acting Surgeon General Army
Samantha Power Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Jeffrey Prescott Former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
National Security Council
Charles Schuster Ray Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Ben Rhodes Former Deputy National Security Adviser National Security Council
Susan E. Rice Former National Security Adviser National Security Council
Eric Rosenbach Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Global Security Department of Defense
Mara Rudman Former Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
National Security Council
Rexon Ryu Former Chief of Staff Department of Defense
Robin Renee Sanders Ambassador (ret.) State Department
John Schuster Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Amy Searight Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia
Department of Defense
Joe Sestak Rear Admiral (ret.) Navy
David B. Shear Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Department of Defense
Wendy R. Sherman Former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs
State Department
Michael E. Smith Rear Admiral (ret.) Navy
Julianne Smith Former Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President
Office of the Vice President
Jake Sullivan Former National Security Adviser to the Vice President
Loree Sutton Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Francis X. Taylor Brigadier General (ret.) Air Force
Jim Townsend Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy
Department of Defense
F. Andrew Turley Major General (ret.) Air Force
Edward Walker Ambassador (ret.) State Department
George H. Walls Brigadier General (ret.) Marine Corps
John Watkins Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Earl Anthony Wayne Ambassador (ret.) State Department
Andy Weber Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs Department of Defense
Willie Williams Lieutenant General (ret.) Marine Corps
Margaret Wilmoth Major General (ret.) Army
Johnnie Wilson Former Commanding General, Army Materiel Command Army
Doug Wilson Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Department of Defense
James Winnefeld Former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Department of Defense
Robert O. Work Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Department of Defense
Stephen N. Xenakis Brigadier General (ret.) Army
Dave Zabecki Major General (ret.)Army
