January 30, 2024

Duckworth Meets With Nominee to Be Next Commander of INDOPACOM

 

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees—met Admiral Samuel Paparo, the nominee to serve as the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), to discuss his nomination and their shared priorities to strengthen military readiness, defense strategy and interoperability with our partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Photos of the meeting can be found on the Senator’s website.

“I was pleased to meet with Admiral Samuel Paparo ahead of this week’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to serve as the Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command and hear his vision for the role if confirmed,” said Duckworth. “I’m glad he shares my priorities of furthering interoperability between TRANSCOM and INDOPACOM to improve military operations in a contested environment, expand medical care capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region as well as strengthen our relationships with our allies and partners.  If confirmed, I look forward to working together to meet these goals.”

Duckworth is a proven leader on strengthening our relations with Indo-Pacific nations and security in the region while successfully securing significant international investments in Illinois. Last year, Duckworth led a trip to Japan and Indonesia as part of her continuing efforts to strengthen ties and reinforce support between allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and the United States. During the summer, Duckworth went back to the Indo-Pacific region again, visiting Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines to meet with government and business leaders and discuss opportunities that would increase cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as economic investments, regional stability and national security.

Duckworth also successfully included a modified version of her Strengthen Taiwan’s Security Act in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to help Taiwan strengthen its military defenses. In 2018, Duckworth visited South Korea and Japan. In 2019, Duckworth led a bipartisan delegation to Japan and Singapore.

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