WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement in response to press reports regarding President Biden’s decision to reprogram some $55 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) from Egypt to Taiwan:

“The Biden administration’s decision to provide $55 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan is a pittance compared to Taiwan’s enormous needs for self-defense and the United States’ clear national interest in supporting Taipei,” Wicker said. “It is doubly disappointing that rather than requesting standalone FMF funding for Taiwan, as I have repeatedly challenged the administration to do, the president chose to source these funds from a different security partner. This is especially counterproductive since Egypt has proven receptive to this administration's human rights concerns.

“Senior flag and general officers continue to suggest that Taiwan is entering a ‘window of maximum danger’ because of the Chinese military threat in the next two to four years. It is imperative that we assist Taiwan in arming itself in a fashion reflective of that sobering fact. Failing to do so invites strategic catastrophe.”