WEBVTT

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this hearing will come to order . Good

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morning and welcome to the Budget

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Committee's hearing on the Department

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of Defense's Fiscal Year 2023 budget .

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At the outset , I ask unanimous consent

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that the chair be authorized to declare

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a recess at any time without objection

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so ordered , I'll start by going over a

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few housekeeping matters . The

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committee is holding a hybrid hearing .

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Members may participate remotely or in

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person for individuals participating

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remotely . The chair or staff

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designated by the chair may mute a

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participants microphone when the

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participant is not under recognition

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for the purpose of eliminating

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inadvertent background noise . If you

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are participating remotely and are

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experiencing connectivity issues ,

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please contact staff immediately . So

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those issues can be resolved . Members

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participating in the hearing room or on

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the remote platform are responsible for

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a muting themselves when they seek

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recognition . We are not permitted to a

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mute members unless they explicitly

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request assistance if you are

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participating remotely and I noticed

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that you have not been muted yourself .

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I will ask if you would like staff to a

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mute you . If you indicate approval by

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nodding staff will unmute your

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microphone , They will not a mute your

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microphone under any other conditions

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like to remind members participating

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remotely in this proceeding to keep

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your camera on at all times . Even if

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you are not under recognition by the

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chair . Members may not participate in

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more than one committee proceeding

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simultaneously . If you are on the

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remote platform and choose to

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participate in a different proceeding ,

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please turn your camera off . Finally ,

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we have established an email inbox for

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submitting documents before and during

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committee proceedings and we have

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distributed that email address to

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everyone's staff . Now I will introduce

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our witness this morning . We we will

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be hearing from the honorable Michael J .

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McCord . Undersecretary of Defense

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Controller and chief financial officer

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at the U . S . Department of Defense .

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Welcome under secretary . I now yield

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myself five minutes for an opening

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statement . Good morning everyone . I

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wanna welcome back Undersecretary

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Michael McCord to our committee . Thank

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you for joining us today for this

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hearing on the Department of Defense

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Fiscal Year 2023 budget as the person

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as the first person to be controller at

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D . O . D . Twice and with your decades

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long career of service including time

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on the staff of the House Budget

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Committee . Your insights are

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particularly helpful to the work of the

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committee . I would like to begin this

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hearing by acknowledging our deep and

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enduring gratitude to those who serve

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our nation in uniform . We understand

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that Congress has a constitutional and

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moral responsibility to ensure that our

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service members are supported on and

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off the battlefield and that their

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families are cared for every step of

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the way . That is why the biden budget

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provides members of our military with

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the largest pay increase in a

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generation . It funds a newly

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authorized basic needs allowance . It

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invests $12.2 billion dollars to build

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more housing and medical facilities

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from military families and it

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prioritizes programs that directly

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support military spouses , Children and

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other dependents . And it dedicates

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nearly $500 million dollars to fully

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fund and implement vital programs to

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prevent and respond to sexual assault

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in the military biden budget also

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ensures that the Department of Defense

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has the resources necessary to uphold

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our national security and protect our

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people at home and abroad . It does not

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aimlessly increase spending for its own

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sake without accountability or

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strategic rationale . It provides the

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smart investments that will make our

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country safer and meet the requests of

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the experts in charge . This budget is

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also forward looking . It provides more

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than $130 billion dollars for research

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and development to harness next

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generation defense capabilities . The

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largest request on record . It invests

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in new technologies and includes 3.1

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billion in funding to combat the

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destabilizing effects of the climate

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crisis and ensure our military

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installations are resilient against

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climate disasters . This is critical to

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our national defense . In a 2019 report ,

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the Pentagon found that 46 of our

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nation's 79 high priority military

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installations are vulnerable to climate

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change related flooding , drought ,

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desertification and wildfires .

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President biden also recognizes that

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ensuring America's national security

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extends far beyond our efforts to build

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weapons and military might is also

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about leveraging our power through

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diplomacy and deterrence . While these

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investments are not directly part of

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diodes budget , they are a crucial part

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of the President's overall national

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Defense strategy and rightly so as

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general James Mattis said in response

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to former President trump's budget that

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slashed funding for the State

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Department . Well , if you don't fund

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the State Department fully then I need

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to buy more ammunition . Ultimately he

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was president trump's Secretary of

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Defense when he said that and I would

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add that we don't just save money by

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investing in diplomacy . We save lives

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by keeping members of our armed forces

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out of harm's way . This is a whole of

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government approach to national

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security . It's a budget that increases

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funding for the State Department . It

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includes vital investments to

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strengthen NATO and support our

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european allies in the face of Russian

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aggression to advance cybersecurity and

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to maintain strong and credible

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deterrence on all counts . President

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biden's budget reflects the much needed

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return of U . S . Global leadership , A

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commitment not only to our democratic

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allies but the democratic values our

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nation was founded upon and the

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assurance that no dictator will have a

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foothold in this White house . Finally ,

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let me stress again that this budget

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meets the needs articulated by the

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experts in charge of our national

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defense . If your argument is that we

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should fund the military at a level

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higher than pentagon leaders say they

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need , then you have the burden of

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making the case that the world's most

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renowned defense experts are inept or

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intentionally undercutting our military .

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I don't think anyone here today can

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come close to making that point to

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close our quote Secretary Defense

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Secretary Austin , he said and I quote

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we need resources match to strategy .

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Strategy match to policy and policy

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match to the will of the american

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people . This budget gives us the

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resources we need to deliver on that

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promise . Under Secretary McCord . I

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look forward to hearing how the budget

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accomplishes this . I thank you again

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for your testimony and for appearing

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before our committee today . Now I

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recognize the ranking member Mr Smith

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for five minutes for his opening

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statement . Thank you . Mr Chairman

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Welcome under Secretary McCord . Thank

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you for being here today . The last

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time you were here , America was facing

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a number of crises at the at the border

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at the checkout line at the gas pump

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and republicans warn that the agenda

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President President biden was pursuing

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would only make these crises worst

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sadly it turns out that we were right

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Prices have spiked to the highest level

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in 40 years . 10.4% of an

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increase since Joe Biden took the oath

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of office . The cost of gas is through

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the roof Increase of

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88.9% since Joe

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Biden took the oath of office , We have

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seen 2.9 million encounters at the

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southern border since Biden took office .

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These crises did not happen overnight

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or when Putin invaded Ukraine as the

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White House is fond of arguing they are

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the direct result of the policies being

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pursued by this administration this

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year's budget from President biden

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promotes the same failed policies and

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the defense budget is not immune from

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the administration's misplaced

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priorities At a time when inflation is

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8.5% ,

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Since joe biden took the oath of office ,

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robbing the wallets of american

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families and eroding the purchasing

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power of federal agencies . It's

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critical that tax dollars go to their

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best possible use , but the President's

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defense budget does not do that . For

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example , the defense budget dedicates

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3.1 billion to

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climate projects . Europe is

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experiencing the largest land invasion

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since world war two . President biden

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executed a horrific withdrawal from

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Afghanistan that cost americans lives

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including a Missourian and embolden

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our enemies china has an aggressive I

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focused on Taiwan Iran continues its

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march toward a nuclear weapon but the

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president wants to spin finite taxpayer

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resources for butterflies and snakes .

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The request for iron dome funding Is

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the bare minimum and 92% lower than

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what Congress just agreed to spend to

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support our ally Israel . The only

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mention of iron dome in the budget is

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buried in an appendix . Meanwhile , the

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president wants to spend 34 million to

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address extremism in the military .

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If we're going to talk about extremism ,

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let's talk about the 42 individuals on

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the terror watch list that have been

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apprehended at our southern border

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since President biden took office With

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the president set to entitle 42 border

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policy and likely It will double to

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18,000 . The number of illegal

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immigrants trying to cross the border

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every day . I hope our military leaders

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are talking to the president about how

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this is not just an immigration problem .

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It's a national security crisis . We

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know DHS will need to continue calling

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calling D . O . D . For help that's

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going to impact the military's bottom

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line while at the same time , the

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president in his budget is telling our

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military to be sure it funds

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implementation of A D . O . D . Report

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on equity . These are funds that will

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not be used to arm and protect our men

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and women in uniform . Given these

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circumstances , we must have as much

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transparency on the part of D . O . D .

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And the administration about where

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funds are going and how they are being

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spent . We need accounting of resources

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like those left behind in Afghanistan

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that are now arming the taliban . We

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need the biden administration to

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maintain the commitment we saw under

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President trump to have the Defense

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Department conduct an audit so that

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Congress and the american people know

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how and we're tax dollars are being

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spent so we can ensure resources are

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getting to the places they are needed ,

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the most The national security threats

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at our border and around the world .

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The highest spike in prices in 40 years ,

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skyrocketing energy costs . President

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biden may see these as an inconvenient

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political problem . But american

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families , they see them as a crisis .

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I fear our enemies will see them as

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weakness . We need a budget that takes

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these problems seriously . A year old

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bat . I thank the ranking member of his

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opening remarks in the interest of time .

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I asked that any other members who wish

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to make a statement , submit their

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written statements for the record to

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email inbox . We established for

11:48.880 --> 11:50.991
receiving documents before and during

11:50.991 --> 11:53.102
committee proceedings . Once again we

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have distributed that email address to

11:55.269 --> 11:57.269
the staffs . I will hold the record

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open until the end of the day to

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accommodate those members who may not

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yet have prepared written statements .

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Once again , I want to thank under

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Secretary McCord for being here this

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morning . The committee has received

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your written statement and it will be

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made part of the formal hearing record .

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You will have five minutes to give your

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oral remarks and you may begin when

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you're ready . Thank you . Chairman

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Yarmuth , ranking member smith and

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distinguished members of the committee .

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Thank you for this opportunity to

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testify on the on the president's fy 23

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budget request for the Department of

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Defense one . Mr . Chairman . I want to

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thank you for your service to the

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people of Kentucky and the house and in

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your country and wish you all the best

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as you prepare to retire at the end of

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this Congress . It's a pleasure to be

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here . Nearly 20 years since I served

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on the staff of this committee and a

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very luxurious cubicle in the basement

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of this building alongside your staff

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director and three other colleagues

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remain on the committee staff today

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from the from that time , I appreciate

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the key role this committee plays in

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addressing our nation's priorities .

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Last month , President Biden released

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his fy 23 budget request , as you know ,

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which includes 773 billion in

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discretionary funding for the

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Department of Defense , which is a 4%

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increase over the fy 22 enacted amount

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and an 8% increase over what we

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requested last year . This represents

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the largest budget request ever in

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nominal terms in the history of the

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department . Our request for the entire

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national defense function for 23 totals

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813.4 billion in discretionary funding

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and 827 billion for the function when

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mandatory spending is included . Given

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the size and scope of our department

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with three million employees , $3

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trillion dollars in assets and

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worldwide missions . It's hard to

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summarize our goals and programs and

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operations briefly , but I want to

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highlight a few key items from our

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budget . Our budget was submitted to

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congress alongside our new national

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defense strategy , which was designed

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to feel Secretary Austin's direction to

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match resource strategy and strategy to

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policy in both the strategy and the

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budget . We prioritize china as our

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long term pacing challenge but we

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recognize Russia as an acute and

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dangerous threat to our interests as

13:54.828 --> 13:56.950
well . The budget advances , our goal

13:56.950 --> 13:59.006
through three primary channels which

13:59.006 --> 14:00.839
you may have heard the secretary

14:00.839 --> 14:02.728
described . Integrator deterrence

14:02.728 --> 14:02.550
campaigning and actions to build

14:02.550 --> 14:04.450
enduring advantages . These three

14:04.450 --> 14:06.228
approaches that are hard at the

14:06.228 --> 14:08.339
strategy and the organizing framework

14:08.339 --> 14:10.339
for our budget . First , integrated

14:10.339 --> 14:12.228
deterrence entails developing and

14:12.228 --> 14:14.283
combining the strengths that we have

14:14.283 --> 14:16.339
for maximum effect by working across

14:16.339 --> 14:18.117
different warfighting domains ,

14:18.117 --> 14:18.050
different geographic regions ,

14:18.050 --> 14:20.130
different spectrums of conflict with

14:20.130 --> 14:21.963
our other other agencies , other

14:21.963 --> 14:24.074
instruments of national power and our

14:24.074 --> 14:25.908
network of allies and partners .

14:25.908 --> 14:27.963
Campaigning is something that's more

14:27.963 --> 14:30.186
done by combatant commanders . It means

14:30.186 --> 14:31.852
well planned , well sequenced

14:31.852 --> 14:33.963
activities and initiatives around the

14:33.963 --> 14:33.680
world that are meant to advance our

14:33.680 --> 14:35.847
priorities and gain its advantage over

14:35.847 --> 14:38.870
our competitors . Uh for example , most

14:38.870 --> 14:40.648
notably that there's a specific

14:40.648 --> 14:42.537
deterrence initiative and and the

14:42.537 --> 14:44.648
european deterrence initiative that I

14:44.648 --> 14:46.870
think are well known to members . Those

14:46.870 --> 14:46.690
are probably the two best examples of

14:46.690 --> 14:49.180
that . The third access of our strategy

14:49.190 --> 14:51.190
is to build enduring advantages and

14:51.190 --> 14:53.246
this is investments in policies that

14:53.246 --> 14:55.190
make our institutions stronger and

14:55.190 --> 14:57.357
capable for the long haul . So this is

14:57.357 --> 14:59.579
both our own people , primarily our own

14:59.579 --> 15:01.746
people , but also our industrial based

15:01.746 --> 15:03.801
partners to make them more agile and

15:03.801 --> 15:03.500
resilient . The chairman , you

15:03.500 --> 15:05.500
mentioned some of the things that's

15:05.500 --> 15:07.611
focused on our own people , the basic

15:07.611 --> 15:09.833
needs allowance which we're rolling out

15:09.833 --> 15:11.889
on based on the N . D . A . and also

15:11.889 --> 15:13.889
the 4.6% pay raise for military and

15:13.889 --> 15:16.111
civilians and implementation of the $15

15:16.111 --> 15:18.278
minimum wage for our federal employees

15:18.278 --> 15:20.333
and federal contractors contained in

15:20.333 --> 15:22.389
the president's executive order . In

15:22.389 --> 15:24.556
the budget in our programs . Our focus

15:24.556 --> 15:26.611
was on enhancing our capabilities in

15:26.611 --> 15:26.480
ways that would make the most

15:26.480 --> 15:28.591
difference first and foremost against

15:28.591 --> 15:30.813
china , but also against Russia . While

15:30.813 --> 15:32.980
china is our largest challenger across

15:32.980 --> 15:35.147
the military , diplomatic and economic

15:35.147 --> 15:37.202
dimensions , I want to be clear that

15:37.202 --> 15:36.760
many of the high priority investments

15:36.760 --> 15:38.927
in this budget do not fall neatly into

15:38.927 --> 15:41.149
a china only box or a Russia only box .

15:41.149 --> 15:43.149
Virtually all of our most important

15:43.149 --> 15:45.204
investments help us on both fronts .

15:45.204 --> 15:47.371
Starting with the modernization of our

15:47.371 --> 15:49.538
nuclear triad and also our investments

15:49.538 --> 15:51.482
and more distributed and resilient

15:51.482 --> 15:53.704
space architecture that recognizes that

15:53.704 --> 15:53.480
space is no longer a sanctuary to

15:53.480 --> 15:55.880
operate in . Likewise , our investments

15:55.880 --> 15:58.047
in cyber capability and the quality of

15:58.047 --> 16:00.158
our service members and submarines in

16:00.158 --> 16:02.380
our industrial base are all examples of

16:02.380 --> 16:04.491
capabilities we need to build to keep

16:04.491 --> 16:06.713
strong for all the challenges we face .

16:06.713 --> 16:08.713
And that's the logic of the idea of

16:08.713 --> 16:10.713
building and maintaining and during

16:10.713 --> 16:12.936
advantages . Let me give one particular

16:12.936 --> 16:12.310
example of that . We have $3 billion

16:12.310 --> 16:13.810
dollars in this budget for

16:13.810 --> 16:15.754
microelectronic , both in terms of

16:15.754 --> 16:17.866
lifetime by procurement of chips that

16:17.866 --> 16:19.980
exist today and in research this

16:19.980 --> 16:22.202
funding is meant to be complementary to

16:22.202 --> 16:24.258
the chips act , which we hope to see

16:24.258 --> 16:26.369
Congress passed soon . I also want to

16:26.369 --> 16:28.313
highlight in this budget , some of

16:28.313 --> 16:28.150
which you touched on . Chairman to

16:28.150 --> 16:30.261
implement both the recommendations of

16:30.261 --> 16:32.372
our own independent review Commission

16:32.372 --> 16:34.428
on countering sexual assault and the

16:34.428 --> 16:36.650
landmark changes in military justice in

16:36.650 --> 16:38.483
this area enacted in last year's

16:38.483 --> 16:40.594
defense authorization bill Due to the

16:40.594 --> 16:42.706
lengthy cr . We were not able to move

16:42.706 --> 16:42.520
out as quickly as we wanted to last

16:42.520 --> 16:44.298
year because it was a new start

16:44.298 --> 16:46.076
activity . But we are moving to

16:46.076 --> 16:48.250
accelerate and catch up in Fy 23 in

16:48.250 --> 16:50.472
this budget on this issue . Finally , I

16:50.472 --> 16:52.306
just want to highlight there's a

16:52.306 --> 16:54.194
billion dollars in this budget to

16:54.194 --> 16:56.417
respond to the fuel spill at a Red Hill

16:56.417 --> 16:58.306
facility in Hawaii . And that's a

16:58.306 --> 16:58.040
strong sign of this administration's

16:58.040 --> 17:00.262
commitment to do the right thing , both

17:00.262 --> 17:02.484
by our own people in Hawaii and and our

17:02.484 --> 17:04.540
neighbors in Honolulu . As secretary

17:04.540 --> 17:06.707
Austin announced last month we plan to

17:06.707 --> 17:08.762
shut this facility down and disperse

17:08.762 --> 17:10.984
our fuel operations in the region going

17:10.984 --> 17:13.151
forward . Let me also say a word about

17:13.151 --> 17:15.096
about inflation when we saw prices

17:15.096 --> 17:17.151
changing last year . We took all the

17:17.151 --> 17:19.318
information that we could gather up to

17:19.318 --> 17:21.540
the time we finished the budget late in

17:21.540 --> 17:21.490
the calendar year and build that into

17:21.490 --> 17:23.990
our FY 23 pricing . We worked with a

17:23.990 --> 17:27.670
and B to add about $20 billion 23

17:27.670 --> 17:30.450
through 27 to reflect higher inflation

17:30.450 --> 17:32.394
for goods and services and and the

17:32.394 --> 17:34.506
compensation , increased compensation

17:34.506 --> 17:36.561
costs for our own service members in

17:36.561 --> 17:38.672
terms of a general inflation rate . I

17:38.672 --> 17:40.561
know a lot of people focus on the

17:40.561 --> 17:42.728
consumer price index . That's not what

17:42.728 --> 17:44.894
we use at D . O . D . We use the chain

17:44.894 --> 17:46.728
weighted price index for the GDP

17:46.728 --> 17:48.950
deflator which is required by law first

17:48.950 --> 17:51.006
of all , but also more reflective of

17:51.006 --> 17:53.117
what we buy . We also use a number of

17:53.117 --> 17:55.117
specific price indices for fuel for

17:55.117 --> 17:57.339
housing costs , for our healthcare . As

17:57.339 --> 17:59.339
you know , prices have continued to

17:59.339 --> 17:59.160
evolve since we finalized our budget .

17:59.540 --> 18:01.429
We recognize the impact of global

18:01.429 --> 18:03.540
economic conditions on our ability to

18:03.540 --> 18:05.873
deliver the capabilities in this budget .

18:05.873 --> 18:05.140
And we're prepared to work with

18:05.140 --> 18:07.307
Congress to find the best solutions to

18:07.307 --> 18:09.473
address these challenges as as we move

18:09.473 --> 18:11.390
forward toward toward uh the the

18:11.390 --> 18:13.668
congressional oversight of this budget .

18:13.940 --> 18:16.107
To conclude . Mr Chairman . The people

18:16.107 --> 18:18.051
of our department are working hard

18:18.051 --> 18:17.820
every day to protect and advance our

18:17.820 --> 18:19.876
security and advance the security of

18:19.876 --> 18:21.987
our allies and partners . We're doing

18:21.987 --> 18:24.153
everything we can to assist the people

18:24.153 --> 18:23.670
of Ukraine and their struggle against

18:23.670 --> 18:25.892
Russian aggression , which we could not

18:25.892 --> 18:27.781
do without your strong support in

18:27.781 --> 18:29.837
Congress . I'm ready to discuss that

18:29.837 --> 18:32.003
issue further during our session today

18:32.003 --> 18:33.781
along the lines of the whole of

18:33.781 --> 18:36.059
government approach that you mentioned ,

18:36.059 --> 18:35.700
our department is serving as is ready

18:35.700 --> 18:37.867
to serve as an important instrument of

18:37.867 --> 18:39.978
national power whenever called on and

18:39.978 --> 18:39.740
sometimes in ways that are not

18:39.740 --> 18:41.796
particularly visible to the american

18:41.796 --> 18:43.684
people For example , we played an

18:43.684 --> 18:45.907
important support role in the effort to

18:45.907 --> 18:48.129
control the COVID-19 pandemic using our

18:48.129 --> 18:50.296
contracting and logistics capabilities

18:50.296 --> 18:52.351
to award over $30 billion dollars of

18:52.351 --> 18:54.518
contracts for vaccines and deliver 297

18:54.518 --> 18:56.629
million syringes to put shots in arms

18:56.629 --> 18:58.518
on behalf of H . H . S . Likewise

18:58.518 --> 19:00.573
working with HHS and A I . D . We've

19:00.573 --> 19:02.684
awarded seven billion in contracts to

19:02.684 --> 19:04.851
procure a billion doses of vaccine for

19:04.851 --> 19:06.907
global distribution . So this is not

19:06.907 --> 19:09.073
something we're doing with our defense

19:09.073 --> 19:11.240
budget but doing with our capabilities

19:11.240 --> 19:11.150
you to help out our interagency

19:11.150 --> 19:13.330
partners . Our budget is grounded in

19:13.330 --> 19:15.441
our strategy and our primary focus is

19:15.441 --> 19:17.608
on making increasing our capability to

19:17.608 --> 19:19.774
make our force better not to make it a

19:19.774 --> 19:21.663
larger force . Given the security

19:21.663 --> 19:23.441
challenges we face . I urge the

19:23.441 --> 19:23.420
committee to fully support the

19:23.420 --> 19:25.642
president's budget request for national

19:25.642 --> 19:27.476
Defense . Thank you . And I look

19:27.476 --> 19:29.531
forward to your questions about this

19:29.531 --> 19:31.642
budget . Thank you very much for your

19:31.642 --> 19:33.809
statement . I figured I'd give you the

19:33.809 --> 19:35.976
liberty of a few a couple more minutes

19:35.976 --> 19:38.142
since we're talking about an awful lot

19:38.142 --> 19:40.198
of money will now begin our question

19:40.198 --> 19:42.150
and answer session as reminder ,

19:42.150 --> 19:44.372
members can submit written questions to

19:44.372 --> 19:46.317
be answered later in writing those

19:46.317 --> 19:48.372
questions and responses will be made

19:48.372 --> 19:50.483
part of the formal hearing . Record .

19:50.483 --> 19:52.206
Any members who wish to submit

19:52.206 --> 19:54.317
questions for the record may do so by

19:54.317 --> 19:56.261
sending them electronically to the

19:56.261 --> 19:58.317
email inbox we've established within

19:58.317 --> 20:00.261
seven days of the hearing as is my

20:00.261 --> 20:02.372
habit . I will defer my question into

20:02.372 --> 20:04.206
the end . So I now recognize the

20:04.206 --> 20:06.261
gentleman from new york . Mr Higgins

20:06.261 --> 20:08.150
for five minutes . Thank you . Mr

20:08.150 --> 20:10.372
Chairman and thank you Secretary McCord

20:10.372 --> 20:12.483
for being here today . I just want to

20:12.483 --> 20:14.594
focus on the issue of America and the

20:14.594 --> 20:16.890
rest of the world's addiction to

20:16.950 --> 20:20.800
Russian oil and refined

20:20.800 --> 20:23.740
petroleum products . The world gives

20:23.740 --> 20:26.140
Vladimir Putin a billion dollars every

20:26.140 --> 20:29.730
single day for the

20:29.730 --> 20:33.060
gas and oil that Russia provides to

20:33.440 --> 20:35.960
european union countries to the United

20:35.960 --> 20:39.760
States into , to Germany . Our

20:39.760 --> 20:42.990
addiction to oil has , has is

20:42.990 --> 20:46.900
weaponized Uh the war in

20:46.900 --> 20:49.600
Ukraine . And to take advantage of the

20:49.600 --> 20:51.544
fact that the United States is not

20:51.544 --> 20:53.267
energy independent . In fact ,

20:53.267 --> 20:55.267
according to the Energy Information

20:55.267 --> 20:57.322
Agency last year , the United States

20:57.322 --> 21:01.170
imported 672,000 barrels

21:01.240 --> 21:04.610
Every single day , or 22 million

21:04.610 --> 21:07.270
barrels a month of Russian crude oil

21:07.640 --> 21:10.230
and refined petroleum products .

21:10.840 --> 21:13.980
Um you know , we just spent $6 trillion

21:13.980 --> 21:16.170
dollars in three Middle East wars ,

21:16.210 --> 21:19.290
primarily because of our addiction to

21:19.290 --> 21:22.100
their oil . Despite what we say , we

21:22.100 --> 21:25.770
are not energy independent Today in the

21:25.770 --> 21:28.720
world , there are 211 lithium ion

21:28.720 --> 21:31.250
battery factories , Batteries make up

21:31.250 --> 21:34.770
30-40% of the entire cost of an

21:34.770 --> 21:38.030
electric vehicle . 211 lithium ion

21:38.030 --> 21:41.810
batteries worldwide . 156 are in

21:41.810 --> 21:45.010
China , 22 are in Europe In

21:45.010 --> 21:47.700
12 are in the United States

21:47.720 --> 21:50.100
Americans 75% , so they want an

21:50.100 --> 21:53.260
electric vehicle , 50% are reluctant to

21:53.260 --> 21:55.690
pursue purchase of an electric vehicle

21:55.730 --> 21:58.100
because of lack of confidence about

21:58.100 --> 22:01.500
charging infrastructure . So how does

22:01.500 --> 22:03.556
the Department of Defense assess the

22:03.556 --> 22:05.444
importance of developing electric

22:05.444 --> 22:07.556
vehicles to become energy independent

22:07.556 --> 22:09.930
and to come to combat climate change

22:09.940 --> 22:13.170
and to our national Defense strategy ?

22:16.540 --> 22:17.873
Excuse me . Thank you .

22:21.340 --> 22:23.562
Probably the primary area where we feel

22:23.562 --> 22:25.507
like we can make a difference more

22:25.507 --> 22:27.780
quickly is on is on vehicles , on on on

22:27.790 --> 22:29.790
vehicles and aircraft , aircraft or

22:29.790 --> 22:32.012
what consumed most of our energy in the

22:32.012 --> 22:34.012
Defense Department . And we do have

22:34.012 --> 22:36.068
some programs that are going to take

22:36.068 --> 22:35.480
longer to deliver something called the

22:35.480 --> 22:37.591
blended wing body , which is which is

22:37.591 --> 22:39.647
something that will commit benefit .

22:39.647 --> 22:41.869
Both are longer range aircraft , like a

22:41.869 --> 22:43.924
tanker , but also of interest on the

22:43.924 --> 22:45.980
commercial side . So hopefully a win

22:45.980 --> 22:48.147
win for the department and the private

22:48.147 --> 22:50.313
sector on the climate side , in in the

22:50.313 --> 22:52.313
department . One of the key factors

22:52.313 --> 22:52.290
that we thought about here , this in

22:52.290 --> 22:54.512
this past year building this budget was

22:54.512 --> 22:57.060
trying to uh , as you say , look , look

22:57.060 --> 22:59.171
at where the market is moving so that

22:59.171 --> 23:00.949
we are not wetting ourselves to

23:00.949 --> 23:03.004
technology that that industry is not

23:03.004 --> 23:05.227
going to be producing in a few years so

23:05.227 --> 23:07.227
that we are , we are not not in the

23:07.227 --> 23:06.960
situation , we are into but something

23:06.960 --> 23:08.960
like a submarine where we're buying

23:08.960 --> 23:11.182
something , we're the only one who buys

23:11.182 --> 23:13.349
something . So we are , we are looking

23:13.349 --> 23:17.280
for winds that will keep us in sync

23:17.280 --> 23:19.336
with the market that will reduce our

23:19.336 --> 23:21.558
logistic tail . It's something you look

23:21.558 --> 23:23.669
at today in Russia Ukraine . Uh , the

23:23.669 --> 23:25.891
Russians are suffering greatly by their

23:25.891 --> 23:28.058
poor logistics . This is something not

23:28.058 --> 23:27.050
to say that , that their , their

23:27.050 --> 23:29.161
capabilities are anywhere near ours ,

23:29.161 --> 23:31.383
but , but this is a situation you don't

23:31.383 --> 23:33.494
want to be and where you're tied down

23:33.494 --> 23:32.760
by your logistics train . So we're

23:32.760 --> 23:34.982
looking to make ourselves more agile as

23:34.982 --> 23:36.927
well as market friendly with these

23:36.927 --> 23:39.860
investments . Without Russian oil and

23:41.140 --> 23:44.750
gas exports , the Putin

23:44.760 --> 23:47.780
regime would collapse . Uh , it is

23:47.780 --> 23:51.320
estimated that 300,000 young people

23:51.330 --> 23:53.970
under the age of 40 that are tech savvy

23:53.980 --> 23:56.740
Russia produces more software engineers

23:56.740 --> 23:58.851
in any country in the world and twice

23:58.851 --> 24:01.120
that of the United States . The problem

24:01.120 --> 24:03.450
for Russia is , it's an economy that's

24:03.450 --> 24:05.783
shrinking , its population is shrinking .

24:06.040 --> 24:08.207
And all the people who are leaving are

24:08.207 --> 24:10.429
the young people that are looking for a

24:10.429 --> 24:12.680
better way of life somewhere else . So

24:12.690 --> 24:14.357
when you look at , you know ,

24:14.357 --> 24:18.350
35-40% of the entire economy

24:18.360 --> 24:21.820
is gas and oil and we , and in Western

24:21.820 --> 24:25.250
europe are addicted to that gas and oil

24:25.260 --> 24:27.440
that empowers Putin , then he steals

24:27.440 --> 24:30.290
the money from the Russian people gives

24:30.290 --> 24:33.170
it to oligarchs that puts that money

24:33.640 --> 24:35.860
and rule of law nations . So it's

24:35.860 --> 24:38.710
harder to sanction those monies because

24:38.710 --> 24:40.820
in the rule of law nations , people

24:40.820 --> 24:43.580
that have money have rights . So it

24:43.580 --> 24:45.636
just seems to me that this all comes

24:45.636 --> 24:49.340
down to the very same conclusion . We

24:49.340 --> 24:52.620
are stuck in a bad situation . Not

24:52.620 --> 24:56.080
entirely , but primarily because we and

24:56.080 --> 24:58.880
the rest of the world are addicted to

24:58.890 --> 25:01.550
oil and gas that Vladimir Putin drills

25:01.550 --> 25:03.772
into the ground , doesn't diversify its

25:03.772 --> 25:05.828
economy . People don't have rights ,

25:06.040 --> 25:09.930
the Russian economy is tanking and you

25:09.930 --> 25:12.430
know that economy in that country is

25:12.430 --> 25:15.830
getting older and poor because all the

25:15.830 --> 25:17.886
young people are leaving now , maybe

25:17.886 --> 25:19.886
the silver lining here is that they

25:19.886 --> 25:22.052
will come to the United States and use

25:22.052 --> 25:24.690
their skills that they can't , you know ,

25:24.700 --> 25:26.590
realize their full potential in a

25:26.590 --> 25:28.757
country like Russia . So thank you for

25:28.757 --> 25:30.646
being here . Gentleman's time has

25:30.646 --> 25:32.868
expired and now yield 10 minutes to the

25:32.868 --> 25:35.090
ranking member . Mr Smith . Thank you .

25:35.090 --> 25:37.030
Mr Chairman Mr McCord . President

25:37.030 --> 25:39.840
biden's defense budget spends 3.1

25:39.940 --> 25:43.040
billion on climate programs . It's five

25:43.040 --> 25:45.150
times more than the administration

25:45.150 --> 25:47.450
requested last year . How does the

25:47.450 --> 25:50.280
administration justify funneling

25:50.280 --> 25:52.790
billions of dollars to the Green New

25:52.790 --> 25:55.430
Dill agenda rather than protecting our

25:55.430 --> 25:58.660
men and women in uniform . Mr smith .

25:58.660 --> 26:00.604
We feel that these investments are

26:00.604 --> 26:02.827
things primarily that we need to happen

26:02.827 --> 26:04.938
anyway . We're always going to invest

26:04.938 --> 26:04.730
in our facilities were always going to

26:04.730 --> 26:06.841
invest in some kind of vehicle , some

26:06.841 --> 26:08.952
kind of aircraft . So we're trying to

26:08.952 --> 26:10.952
have them be ones that are going to

26:10.952 --> 26:13.119
move us in the right direction uh , to

26:13.119 --> 26:14.952
to produce our our dependence on

26:14.952 --> 26:17.008
logistic trains when we're moving on

26:17.008 --> 26:19.119
the tactical side on the non tactical

26:19.119 --> 26:21.174
side , normal , normal vehicles that

26:21.174 --> 26:20.690
are moved around for other things .

26:20.690 --> 26:22.746
Again , we want , we're trying to be

26:22.746 --> 26:24.634
where the market is so that we're

26:24.634 --> 26:26.634
investing in vehicles and batteries

26:26.634 --> 26:26.550
that industry is going to be producing .

26:26.660 --> 26:28.604
So we , we don't feel that it's an

26:28.604 --> 26:30.549
either or that is taking away from

26:30.549 --> 26:32.438
things that we would be otherwise

26:32.438 --> 26:34.549
needed . We're always going to invest

26:34.549 --> 26:34.210
in vehicles and always gonna invest in

26:34.210 --> 26:36.280
our facilities . You have a funding

26:36.280 --> 26:38.490
stream in here to implement a D O . D

26:38.940 --> 26:42.450
equity report . You also include

26:42.450 --> 26:45.860
34 million for D . O . D . To address

26:45.870 --> 26:49.200
extremism within the ranks . D O . D

26:49.200 --> 26:52.990
has identified fewer than 100 instances

26:53.000 --> 26:56.530
of confirmed extremist activity in

26:56.530 --> 26:59.620
2000 and 21 . And investigators have

26:59.620 --> 27:03.160
turned up no more Than a handful of so

27:03.160 --> 27:06.910
called extremists . Extremists within a

27:06.910 --> 27:10.170
military of 2.1 million people .

27:10.740 --> 27:12.962
Why does the administration believe our

27:12.962 --> 27:16.180
military is full of extremists ? Or is

27:16.190 --> 27:18.600
this just furthering a narrative of

27:18.600 --> 27:21.850
political convenience ? Mr smith ? I

27:21.850 --> 27:24.017
think the secretary does not believe ,

27:24.017 --> 27:26.072
and I'm sure he's convinced that the

27:26.072 --> 27:27.906
that our military is not full of

27:27.906 --> 27:30.183
extremists . He is concerned that that ,

27:30.183 --> 27:31.906
you know , one is too many and

27:31.906 --> 27:33.739
therefore , that , that he feels

27:33.739 --> 27:35.740
strongly about the need for both to

27:35.740 --> 27:37.962
address extremism and makes and prevent

27:37.962 --> 27:40.073
it from being an issue in our force ,

27:40.073 --> 27:41.907
but also on the broader issue of

27:41.907 --> 27:44.073
diversity , uh , as he well knows that

27:44.073 --> 27:46.129
our our military as you know is very

27:46.129 --> 27:48.351
diverse . But when you get to the top ,

27:48.351 --> 27:50.573
the leadership looks looks less diverse

27:50.573 --> 27:50.390
and looks less like the force that it

27:50.390 --> 27:52.446
leads . And so he is he is concerned

27:52.446 --> 27:54.501
about both of these things as making

27:54.501 --> 27:56.612
the team as strong as possible . That

27:56.612 --> 27:58.834
would be a diverse team from the bottom

27:58.834 --> 28:00.946
to the top and the and that extremism

28:00.946 --> 28:04.340
while rare Is very divisive and and

28:04.350 --> 28:06.450
you know corrosive of good order and

28:06.450 --> 28:09.250
discipline . For $34 million . The

28:09.250 --> 28:11.530
military could purchase over 100

28:11.750 --> 28:14.370
tactical vehicles , it could purchase a

28:14.370 --> 28:16.810
couple of additional Abrams tanks ,

28:17.240 --> 28:19.480
Items far more beneficial to our troops

28:19.490 --> 28:22.290
in the field and to the success of

28:22.290 --> 28:24.510
their missions . What exactly are you

28:24.510 --> 28:27.000
planning to spend this $34 million

28:27.000 --> 28:30.230
dollars on Mr smith ? I would have to

28:30.230 --> 28:32.341
get you the details for the record of

28:32.341 --> 28:34.563
down and down below line of that line .

28:34.563 --> 28:36.674
I definitely would love the details .

28:36.674 --> 28:38.786
And so would the american people . Um

28:38.786 --> 28:40.619
Well it seems this idea that the

28:40.619 --> 28:43.200
military has somehow been infiltrated

28:43.210 --> 28:45.630
by extremists , white nationalists and

28:45.630 --> 28:48.250
neo nazi sympathizers won't go away

28:48.260 --> 28:50.760
because just this week , the democrats ,

28:50.880 --> 28:53.102
they had planned to move a bill calling

28:53.102 --> 28:55.670
for investigations into the military

28:55.670 --> 28:57.780
and law enforcement for terrorist

28:57.790 --> 29:01.360
activity . Something I find deeply

29:01.370 --> 29:05.360
offensive . When you testified last

29:05.360 --> 29:07.420
year , I asked you about the cost of

29:07.420 --> 29:09.690
the president's decision to cancel the

29:09.690 --> 29:12.040
border wall . We have estimates that

29:12.040 --> 29:14.380
the government is spending $6 million

29:14.380 --> 29:17.410
per day to D . O . D . Contractors to

29:17.410 --> 29:20.920
essentially babysit $350 million

29:20.920 --> 29:24.150
dollars in unused border wall material .

29:24.280 --> 29:27.230
We sent you a letter as well to which

29:27.230 --> 29:29.640
we've yet to hear back . Mr . Chairman .

29:29.640 --> 29:31.751
I ask unanimous consent to submit the

29:31.751 --> 29:34.600
letter for the record . Thank you . Mr .

29:34.600 --> 29:36.910
Chairman . How much funding has D . O .

29:36.910 --> 29:39.670
D . Spent on litigation and settling

29:39.670 --> 29:41.880
disputes related to contracts for the

29:41.880 --> 29:45.270
Border Wall . Mr smith . We can get you

29:45.270 --> 29:47.381
that for the record . I don't believe

29:47.381 --> 29:49.492
that the that the total was very high

29:49.492 --> 29:51.548
because of course on litigation . If

29:51.548 --> 29:53.659
you can get me that we've been asking

29:53.659 --> 29:53.620
for a year . I would appreciate that .

29:53.620 --> 29:56.390
And I love that you said that um here

29:56.400 --> 30:00.180
in committee . Um How many Border

30:00.180 --> 30:02.410
Wall contracts has D . O . D . Canceled

30:02.410 --> 30:04.021
since the start of the biden

30:04.021 --> 30:06.730
administration ? I don't have that

30:06.730 --> 30:08.619
number at my fingertips . I don't

30:08.619 --> 30:10.619
believe the number of contracts was

30:10.619 --> 30:12.841
large . The dollar amount may have been

30:12.841 --> 30:12.100
larger but I don't think there were

30:12.100 --> 30:14.211
that many different . Can you give us

30:14.211 --> 30:16.044
that information ? The number of

30:16.044 --> 30:18.267
contracts hopefully in a timely fashion

30:18.267 --> 30:20.544
to . Um And how much more of D . O . D .

30:20.544 --> 30:22.767
Funds does the administration intend to

30:22.767 --> 30:24.767
spend on settling these contracts ?

30:27.840 --> 30:29.840
I'm not aware that we've that we've

30:29.840 --> 30:33.250
spent anything to settle yet . But how

30:33.250 --> 30:35.417
much are you intending to set aside to

30:35.417 --> 30:38.740
settle ? We don't we don't we don't

30:38.740 --> 30:40.850
have funds set aside for for border

30:40.850 --> 30:43.072
wall litigation in so you won't be able

30:43.072 --> 30:45.239
to settle any contracts if you have no

30:45.239 --> 30:48.050
money set aside ? Well , we we we the

30:48.050 --> 30:50.050
Department of Defense would work in

30:50.050 --> 30:52.217
concert with the Department of Justice

30:52.217 --> 30:52.200
who is always the lead for litigation

30:52.200 --> 30:53.978
for the as soon as you have any

30:53.978 --> 30:56.200
settlements . I would love to have that

30:56.200 --> 30:58.144
information and I think the Budget

30:58.144 --> 30:57.700
committee members would love that as

30:57.700 --> 31:01.270
well . Um we know D . H . S . Has had

31:01.270 --> 31:03.437
to request assistance from D . O . D .

31:03.437 --> 31:05.326
To aid in dealing with the border

31:05.326 --> 31:07.437
crisis . Does D . O . D . Support the

31:07.437 --> 31:10.190
president's plan to lift the title 42

31:10.190 --> 31:12.357
border policy and double the number of

31:12.357 --> 31:14.590
illegal immigrants , roughly 18,000

31:14.590 --> 31:17.520
folks attempting to enter the US US

31:17.520 --> 31:20.720
each day . I don't know that the

31:20.720 --> 31:22.887
Department of Defense was asked or has

31:22.887 --> 31:24.776
provided a view on on that policy

31:24.776 --> 31:26.887
matter . I will say on support to the

31:26.887 --> 31:28.887
border . That is something that has

31:28.887 --> 31:30.831
occurred every year that I've been

31:30.831 --> 31:33.053
associated with the department . So for

31:33.053 --> 31:35.220
at least a dozen years in a row . Uh ,

31:35.220 --> 31:35.040
the Department , the Department of

31:35.040 --> 31:37.151
Homeland Security asked us to provide

31:37.151 --> 31:39.151
security . I think many members are

31:39.151 --> 31:41.262
familiar with . We're not directly in

31:41.262 --> 31:43.429
contact with with illegal immigrants ,

31:43.429 --> 31:45.484
but where we are on the intelligence

31:45.484 --> 31:47.484
side and support side that would be

31:47.484 --> 31:49.540
continuing this year . The secretary

31:49.540 --> 31:51.651
has already responded to Secretary of

31:51.651 --> 31:53.873
new york is request that we be prepared

31:53.873 --> 31:56.207
to provide support again this year is D .

31:56.207 --> 31:58.380
O . D . Planning for the content for

31:58.380 --> 32:00.547
the contingency . That it will have to

32:00.547 --> 32:03.140
fund some sort of effort to assist DHS

32:03.140 --> 32:05.251
with the border crisis . And how much

32:05.251 --> 32:07.418
of its budget does D . O . D . Believe

32:07.418 --> 32:10.170
will need to be allocated to assist DHS

32:11.640 --> 32:14.200
in recent years . The average has been

32:14.210 --> 32:16.610
about 1/10 of a percent . About five or

32:16.610 --> 32:18.832
$600 million a year is the bill that we

32:18.832 --> 32:21.220
have tended to to run up each year in

32:21.220 --> 32:23.387
providing support to the border wall .

32:23.410 --> 32:25.632
I'm sorry , support on the border , not

32:25.632 --> 32:27.854
the border wall . Excuse me . Last year

32:27.854 --> 32:29.854
I asked you about what areas of the

32:29.854 --> 32:32.077
defense budget are impacted the most by

32:32.077 --> 32:33.966
increases in inflation . You said

32:33.966 --> 32:36.132
probably the thing that we noticed the

32:36.132 --> 32:38.299
most rapidly in the Defense Department

32:38.299 --> 32:40.299
is when fuel prices changed because

32:40.299 --> 32:42.410
we're such a large consumer of fuel .

32:42.410 --> 32:44.632
Um we have seen a dramatic rise in fuel

32:44.632 --> 32:46.521
prices since president biden took

32:46.521 --> 32:50.080
office , in fact 88.9% increase . How

32:50.090 --> 32:52.368
have these higher fuel prices affected ?

32:52.368 --> 32:56.180
D . O . D . Uh what we

32:56.180 --> 32:58.291
discussed last year is still the case

32:58.291 --> 33:00.347
today that fuel is our most volatile

33:00.347 --> 33:02.280
and easily recognizable uh price

33:02.280 --> 33:04.336
increase . When , when prices change

33:04.336 --> 33:08.300
this year in fy 22 we

33:08.300 --> 33:10.522
have already seen a fuel price increase

33:10.522 --> 33:12.633
in the first couple of months of $1.5

33:12.633 --> 33:14.880
billion . Uh That that that cost

33:14.880 --> 33:16.602
increase was made known to the

33:16.602 --> 33:18.769
appropriations committees who provided

33:18.769 --> 33:20.547
funding for that in the omnibus

33:20.547 --> 33:22.769
appropriations bill that was signed six

33:22.769 --> 33:25.690
weeks ago since that time . Uh largely

33:25.690 --> 33:27.970
due to the price spike after the

33:27.970 --> 33:30.350
Russian invasion of Ukraine . We we

33:30.350 --> 33:32.870
estimate a bill of 1.8 billion for the

33:32.870 --> 33:35.060
rest of this fiscal year . So over $3

33:35.060 --> 33:37.550
billion across the course of this

33:37.550 --> 33:40.540
fiscal year in increased fuel prices .

33:40.550 --> 33:42.880
If the situation remains as we as we

33:42.880 --> 33:45.047
see it today . Well three billion is a

33:45.047 --> 33:47.102
lot . And you know , in fact , in an

33:47.102 --> 33:49.480
exchange between Chairman , your meth ,

33:49.490 --> 33:51.712
the O . M . B . Director Shalonda Young

33:51.712 --> 33:53.879
last month , they suggested that since

33:53.879 --> 33:55.768
D . O . D . Can lock in prices in

33:55.768 --> 33:58.150
advance with contracts , D . O . D . S

33:58.160 --> 34:01.400
budget is not particularly impacted by

34:01.460 --> 34:04.020
inflationary increases or fuel cost .

34:04.030 --> 34:05.919
Um Do you agree with Chairman and

34:05.919 --> 34:08.250
Director Young or do you disagree and

34:08.250 --> 34:10.472
see that as a real concern ? $3 billion

34:10.472 --> 34:12.780
seems like a real concern . Mr Smith .

34:12.780 --> 34:15.030
We do have contracts but we we are ,

34:15.040 --> 34:17.151
although we are a very large consumer

34:17.151 --> 34:19.480
of fuel , we are still at the 1% level

34:19.480 --> 34:21.610
in terms of the fuel markets , we

34:21.610 --> 34:23.721
cannot move the markets ourselves and

34:23.721 --> 34:25.721
our we don't have an ability to buy

34:25.721 --> 34:27.721
long-term contracts that completely

34:27.721 --> 34:30.054
insulate us from . We do by by contract ,

34:30.054 --> 34:32.388
but they only , they only go so far out .

34:32.388 --> 34:34.554
So the President's budget proposes the

34:34.554 --> 34:36.721
bare minimum funding for the iron dome

34:36.721 --> 34:38.777
defense system for our Ally Israel .

34:38.777 --> 34:42.170
The funding level is 92% less

34:42.640 --> 34:44.751
then what was recently adopted in the

34:44.751 --> 34:47.830
bipartisan fashion by Congress . The

34:47.830 --> 34:50.300
administration also berries any mention

34:50.310 --> 34:53.020
of iron dome in an appendix to the

34:53.020 --> 34:55.310
budget . Does d . O . D believe the

34:55.310 --> 34:57.520
bare minimum of funding is enough to

34:57.520 --> 35:00.000
support Israel ? And what support of

35:00.000 --> 35:02.200
signal does that send to our ally

35:02.210 --> 35:05.850
Israel and to Israel's enemies about us ?

35:06.240 --> 35:09.070
U . S . S commitment when it's obvious

35:09.080 --> 35:12.580
Iran is charging full speed ahead to a

35:12.580 --> 35:15.120
nuclear weapon . I would say the

35:15.120 --> 35:17.342
department has a pretty long history of

35:17.342 --> 35:19.440
of cooperative programs with Israel

35:19.440 --> 35:21.551
including including Arrow and David's

35:21.551 --> 35:23.773
sling . The iron dome funding last year

35:23.773 --> 35:25.829
of course was was a spike because of

35:25.829 --> 35:27.718
the of the rocket attacks and the

35:27.718 --> 35:29.940
request of the government of Israel for

35:29.940 --> 35:31.996
a billion dollars was over and above

35:31.996 --> 35:31.900
the normal support . So we are

35:31.900 --> 35:33.956
continuing the normal support but we

35:33.956 --> 35:36.067
don't have anything . Well , you know

35:36.067 --> 35:38.067
that was a one time billion dollars

35:38.067 --> 35:40.420
last year request from Israel based on

35:40.420 --> 35:42.642
this specific incident . Thank you . Mr

35:42.642 --> 35:44.753
Chairman Gentleman's time has expired

35:44.753 --> 35:46.809
and now recognize the gentleman from

35:46.809 --> 35:48.809
Texas Mr Doggett for five minutes .

35:48.809 --> 35:50.809
Thank you so much and thank you for

35:50.809 --> 35:52.864
your service and your testimony . Uh

35:52.864 --> 35:55.031
this budget request unifies the army's

35:55.031 --> 35:57.142
modernization strategy under the army

35:57.142 --> 35:59.031
futures command which is based in

35:59.031 --> 36:01.470
austin texas with almost an additional

36:01.480 --> 36:03.750
billion dollars over the current budget

36:04.130 --> 36:07.070
and after a year that army futures has

36:07.070 --> 36:09.260
described as a standout year . So I'm

36:09.260 --> 36:11.427
pleased to see that provision , though

36:11.427 --> 36:13.830
I remain concerned that a commanding

36:13.830 --> 36:15.997
general , permanent commanding general

36:15.997 --> 36:17.886
has not yet been submitted to the

36:17.886 --> 36:20.052
Senate , particularly important in the

36:20.052 --> 36:22.274
cooperation with Army futures Command ,

36:22.274 --> 36:24.250
which is is so unique , is the

36:24.260 --> 36:26.260
involvement and engagement with the

36:26.260 --> 36:29.000
private sector with the University of

36:29.000 --> 36:31.510
texas on trauma care , which promises

36:31.510 --> 36:34.000
great benefits to the civilian sector

36:34.000 --> 36:36.420
as well , and the work with Austin

36:36.420 --> 36:38.642
Community College and opening the doors

36:38.642 --> 36:40.910
on an army software factory . So I'm

36:40.990 --> 36:42.823
very pleased to see that that is

36:42.823 --> 36:46.390
happening I uh a little

36:46.390 --> 36:50.040
amazed , but perhaps those who view the

36:50.050 --> 36:51.772
events that occurred here that

36:51.772 --> 36:54.200
culminated with The attempt to

36:54.200 --> 36:56.422
overthrow the government on January the

36:56.422 --> 36:59.070
6th dismiss the need to focus on

36:59.070 --> 37:01.470
domestic extremism . I think all those

37:01.470 --> 37:03.760
who who don't believe in the fantasy

37:03.760 --> 37:05.816
that this was a legitimate political

37:05.816 --> 37:07.816
discourse would have to applaud the

37:07.816 --> 37:09.649
proportion of this budget that's

37:09.649 --> 37:11.704
allocated to concerns about domestic

37:11.704 --> 37:15.660
extremism . Uh likewise , I find

37:15.660 --> 37:18.010
the ranking members criticism of the

37:18.010 --> 37:20.010
portion of this budget allocated to

37:20.010 --> 37:22.470
addressing the existential challenge of

37:22.470 --> 37:24.692
the climate crisis . I think they would

37:24.692 --> 37:26.803
be shocking were they not repeated so

37:26.803 --> 37:29.110
frequently , the climate crisis is one

37:29.110 --> 37:31.221
of our most serious national security

37:31.221 --> 37:33.450
challenges as not only this budget ,

37:33.470 --> 37:37.020
but one former national security leader

37:37.020 --> 37:39.100
after another , People like Admiral

37:39.100 --> 37:41.810
Dennis Blair , have recognized that we

37:41.810 --> 37:43.921
need to be dealing with this and that

37:43.921 --> 37:46.020
we are already facing the dangers to

37:46.020 --> 37:48.170
our families of not addressing the

37:48.170 --> 37:50.670
climate crisis . So I think the real

37:50.670 --> 37:54.160
danger to our family's security wise is

37:54.160 --> 37:56.271
not from this budget , but from those

37:56.271 --> 37:58.327
who continue to be climate deniers .

37:58.730 --> 38:01.660
Finally , Mr McLarty . As far as

38:01.660 --> 38:03.480
Ukraine is concerned , our most

38:03.480 --> 38:06.380
immediate uh issue right now . It's

38:06.380 --> 38:08.890
very encouraging to see what happened

38:08.890 --> 38:10.890
with the secretary is going to keep

38:10.890 --> 38:12.870
this week and with the development

38:12.870 --> 38:14.592
yesterday . The fact that this

38:14.592 --> 38:16.592
administration doesn't take a go it

38:16.592 --> 38:19.720
alone approach but is uniting both NATO

38:19.720 --> 38:22.490
and countries outside of NATO to help .

38:22.500 --> 38:25.050
Can you outline for us basically what

38:25.050 --> 38:27.720
this budget is doing concerning our

38:27.730 --> 38:29.880
ongoing commitment to give the

38:29.880 --> 38:32.160
Ukrainians everything that they need to

38:32.160 --> 38:33.993
defend their freedom and prevent

38:33.993 --> 38:37.290
advances beyond Ukraine by Russian

38:37.290 --> 38:39.540
atrocities in Moldova are elsewhere .

38:41.020 --> 38:44.180
Thank you Mr Dog . Our budget per se

38:44.180 --> 38:46.970
for 23 was was built before it was

38:46.970 --> 38:49.248
finalized before the invasion occurred .

38:49.248 --> 38:51.750
So it's there's not a direct straight

38:51.750 --> 38:54.250
line from invasion . Therefore the

38:54.250 --> 38:57.610
budget does X . Y . Z . What I will say

38:57.610 --> 39:00.640
that is that for 22 we we have a we had

39:00.640 --> 39:02.807
a supplemental attached to the Omnibus

39:02.807 --> 39:04.973
appropriation bill with strong support

39:04.973 --> 39:07.196
for both the state and the dut sides of

39:07.196 --> 39:09.362
support to Ukraine . We have as of the

39:09.362 --> 39:11.529
end of this week , we will have pretty

39:11.529 --> 39:13.640
much used all of that , all of that .

39:13.640 --> 39:15.529
The drawdown and Ukraine security

39:15.529 --> 39:17.473
initiative funding , we anticipate

39:17.473 --> 39:19.584
sending an additional supplemental to

39:19.584 --> 39:21.473
Congress this week to continue to

39:21.473 --> 39:23.696
message that we are in , we are in this

39:23.696 --> 39:25.529
with the Ukrainians , we and our

39:25.529 --> 39:27.770
partners to to make sure that that they

39:27.770 --> 39:29.881
have what they need to continue their

39:29.881 --> 39:32.159
their fight against Russian aggression .

39:32.159 --> 39:35.090
So for 23 we're going to be reviewing

39:35.090 --> 39:37.480
this summer what to what extent are

39:37.480 --> 39:39.591
posture in europe should change . And

39:39.591 --> 39:41.813
then there's a lot of variables there ,

39:41.813 --> 39:43.813
it may seem obvious that the answer

39:43.813 --> 39:45.813
would be , we're going to have more

39:45.813 --> 39:47.980
troops stationed in europe . But given

39:47.980 --> 39:50.258
that Russia , Russia may emerge weaker .

39:50.258 --> 39:52.424
There needs to be some analysis before

39:52.424 --> 39:52.020
we jump to that conclusion , we will be

39:52.020 --> 39:54.150
doing that analysis this summer . I

39:54.150 --> 39:56.372
think that we will be able to after the

39:56.372 --> 39:59.010
NATO summit in this summer and after

39:59.010 --> 40:01.232
that analysis will be able to come back

40:01.232 --> 40:03.399
to Congress and say , what do we think

40:03.399 --> 40:05.566
needs to happen in europe over for our

40:05.566 --> 40:07.970
own posture ? Is the us anchor of NATO

40:07.970 --> 40:10.081
in addition , then two is what is the

40:10.081 --> 40:12.248
nature of the conflict ? Is is it over

40:12.248 --> 40:14.359
as it turned into a frozen conflict ?

40:14.359 --> 40:16.526
Is it still an active conflict ? But I

40:16.526 --> 40:18.748
anticipate that we will be , we will be

40:18.748 --> 40:20.970
continuing to stand with the Ukrainians

40:20.970 --> 40:23.026
and if we need to ask for additional

40:23.026 --> 40:25.081
funding in 23 specifically to assist

40:25.081 --> 40:27.081
the Ukrainians , I would anticipate

40:27.081 --> 40:29.081
that we will secretary will be back

40:29.081 --> 40:31.137
before Congress to talk about that .

40:31.137 --> 40:33.137
But the budget itself continues the

40:33.137 --> 40:34.970
underlying framework of european

40:34.970 --> 40:36.970
deterrence initiative . And we look

40:36.970 --> 40:36.710
forward to seeing how we can strengthen

40:36.710 --> 40:40.280
that uh in concert with with our with

40:40.280 --> 40:42.224
our allies at the NATO summit this

40:42.224 --> 40:44.502
summer . Thank you so much . Thank you .

40:44.502 --> 40:46.669
Mr Chairman . Are you back ? Gentleman

40:46.669 --> 40:48.836
yields back . I now yield five minutes

40:48.836 --> 40:51.002
to the gentleman from Mississippi . Mr

40:51.002 --> 40:53.002
kelly . Thank you . Mr Chairman and

40:53.002 --> 40:54.947
thank you Mr McCord for being here

40:54.947 --> 40:56.836
today . The biden budget includes

40:56.836 --> 40:59.058
several misplaced priorities . While it

40:59.058 --> 41:01.002
fails to fund programs critical to

41:01.002 --> 41:03.224
national security , The budget does not

41:03.224 --> 41:05.447
fund American our power . The air force

41:05.447 --> 41:07.850
would be forced to cut 150 aircraft

41:07.860 --> 41:11.760
including 21 18 33 F 22

41:11.760 --> 41:15.650
Raptor , 50 T one Jayhawks and 13

41:15.650 --> 41:19.620
KC 1 35 refuelers . The

41:19.620 --> 41:23.560
air force would also cut 15 F 35

41:23.570 --> 41:25.590
jets compared to last year's budget

41:25.590 --> 41:27.880
requests . The army troop levels have

41:27.880 --> 41:30.710
enacted uh , this this budget would

41:30.710 --> 41:33.060
result in the smallest army we've had

41:33.060 --> 41:37.040
since World War Two Navy ships . The

41:37.040 --> 41:39.310
Navy ships , we would reduce our total

41:39.310 --> 41:42.520
feet by 24-280

41:43.910 --> 41:46.630
China meanwhile , is continuing and to

41:46.630 --> 41:49.740
have more ships and we say we need 350

41:49.740 --> 41:53.320
ships . Not to mention we have sent

41:53.330 --> 41:55.460
numerous supplies to Ukraine whether

41:55.460 --> 41:57.780
that be javelin missiles or launchers ,

41:57.790 --> 42:01.580
whether that be uh Stingers or Stinger

42:01.580 --> 42:05.150
Stinger armaments , S 300 artillery ,

42:05.150 --> 42:07.700
small arms or is anything in this

42:07.700 --> 42:09.990
budget replacing or replenishing our

42:09.990 --> 42:12.110
ammunition that we will need to fight

42:12.120 --> 42:14.490
tomorrow . Should the need arise . We

42:14.490 --> 42:17.970
cannot fight with weapons systems or

42:17.980 --> 42:19.924
ammunition that is produced in the

42:19.924 --> 42:22.091
future . We have to fight with what we

42:22.091 --> 42:25.210
have in stock on day . So all that

42:25.210 --> 42:28.220
being said , my first question is there

42:28.220 --> 42:29.942
a lot of different numbers and

42:29.942 --> 42:31.720
percentages being thrown around

42:31.720 --> 42:33.664
regarding the defense budget ? The

42:33.664 --> 42:35.887
administration is claiming this request

42:35.887 --> 42:38.330
is an increase a 9.8% increase for D .

42:38.330 --> 42:41.680
O . D . to be exact . But just to be

42:41.680 --> 42:45.630
clear , this is compared to Fy 21 . Not

42:45.640 --> 42:48.680
Fy 22 is that correct ? Which is only a

42:48.680 --> 42:52.340
2.2% increase ? You're correct ? That

42:52.340 --> 42:54.900
that the the two year increase was was

42:54.900 --> 42:57.067
10% . And the reason that we mentioned

42:57.067 --> 42:59.289
that was that up until the time we were

42:59.289 --> 43:01.344
finishing , it wasn't clear what was

43:01.344 --> 43:03.456
gonna happen with Fy 22 . So it was a

43:03.456 --> 43:05.567
good way to sort of anchor from 21 to

43:05.567 --> 43:07.789
23 Before we knew where 22 was going to

43:07.789 --> 43:10.011
come out . Now refresh my memory . This

43:10.011 --> 43:12.067
is also based on a 2% inflation rate

43:12.067 --> 43:14.178
which we know is greater than 8% . Is

43:14.178 --> 43:16.450
that correct ? This budget ? Our our

43:16.450 --> 43:19.600
budget is a is a real increase with the

43:19.600 --> 43:21.822
inflation rate . That's in our budget .

43:21.822 --> 43:23.822
Uh obviously inflation continues to

43:23.822 --> 43:25.822
evolve and and the the numbers will

43:25.822 --> 43:27.822
will be known for good a year and a

43:27.822 --> 43:29.989
half from now when FY23 inflation is a

43:29.989 --> 43:31.940
fact as opposed to but it's an 8%

43:31.940 --> 43:33.996
inflation right now over last year .

43:33.996 --> 43:37.850
Not a 2% inflation right ? Not for not ,

43:37.860 --> 43:40.082
not in terms of the deflator is that we

43:40.082 --> 43:42.193
use in terms of the let me let me get

43:42.193 --> 43:44.082
to the next point . But even at a

43:44.082 --> 43:47.690
2.2.2% increase over last year's budget ,

43:47.700 --> 43:49.910
even the 2% number you gave last year

43:49.910 --> 43:51.910
means defense spending is flat this

43:51.910 --> 43:55.250
year . Under the biden budget . Again ,

43:55.250 --> 43:57.417
our our budget is a real increase over

43:57.417 --> 43:59.417
both the enacted and the request of

43:59.417 --> 44:01.306
last year . But but the the exact

44:01.306 --> 44:04.220
numbers will will be fluctuating as as

44:04.230 --> 44:06.174
if inflation continues to be to be

44:06.174 --> 44:08.063
dynamic as it is right now and it

44:08.063 --> 44:10.170
continues to have 3.1 billion on

44:10.170 --> 44:12.810
climate programs . Is that correct ?

44:13.290 --> 44:15.457
That is the figure that we are that we

44:15.457 --> 44:17.346
have in the budget . That's and I

44:17.346 --> 44:19.290
haven't seen any electric tanks or

44:19.290 --> 44:21.234
electric vehicles operating in the

44:21.234 --> 44:23.346
Ukraine theater , have you ? No . And

44:23.346 --> 44:25.457
and tanks our tanks are not a primary

44:25.457 --> 44:27.623
level of , you know , level that we're

44:27.623 --> 44:30.180
trying to electrify are the cuts to the

44:30.180 --> 44:32.291
Air Force fighter procurement , total

44:32.291 --> 44:34.402
Navy ships , army troop levels due to

44:34.402 --> 44:36.624
the administration's insistence that we

44:36.624 --> 44:38.902
can spend more money on green policies .

44:38.902 --> 44:40.847
If not , can you tell me why we're

44:40.847 --> 44:42.902
cutting ships airplanes and troops ?

44:42.902 --> 44:45.013
Yes , thank you for that question . I

44:45.013 --> 44:47.180
realized this is this is an issue that

44:47.180 --> 44:46.720
the community are going to grapple with

44:46.720 --> 44:48.776
as they go through their mark ups on

44:48.776 --> 44:50.942
the Armed Services Committee where you

44:50.942 --> 44:52.776
sit and and and elsewhere in the

44:52.776 --> 44:54.831
appropriations process . The primary

44:54.831 --> 44:56.998
rationale for some of these reductions

44:56.998 --> 44:59.164
is that is that we're trying to divest

44:59.164 --> 44:58.640
ourselves of older , less capable

44:58.640 --> 45:00.751
systems that we don't think are going

45:00.751 --> 45:02.807
to cut it , you know , in a high end

45:02.807 --> 45:04.973
fight with china if it comes to that .

45:04.973 --> 45:07.084
So that the ships in particular , the

45:07.084 --> 45:09.196
older LCS are just not that capable .

45:09.196 --> 45:11.529
Uh , a tens are are good airport . Okay ,

45:11.529 --> 45:13.640
let me let me real quick cause I only

45:13.640 --> 45:15.751
have time for one more question . I'm

45:15.751 --> 45:18.029
sorry . I want the rest of your answer ,

45:18.029 --> 45:17.450
but I need to ask this one more

45:17.450 --> 45:20.470
question Of the unfunded requirements

45:20.470 --> 45:22.800
list that the you first that every year

45:22.800 --> 45:24.911
we want to fill those are things that

45:24.911 --> 45:26.967
we need that we don't have funds for

45:26.967 --> 45:29.078
how much , how many of those could be

45:29.078 --> 45:31.970
funded with the 3.1 billion a trillion

45:31.970 --> 45:35.010
billion uh , in in green climate stuff .

45:35.890 --> 45:38.001
I believe that I believe the total of

45:38.001 --> 45:40.001
all the Combatant commander . Chief

45:40.001 --> 45:42.223
unfunded lists are are much higher than

45:42.223 --> 45:44.557
three billion . So yes , you could fund ,

45:44.557 --> 45:44.070
you could use the three billion in

45:44.070 --> 45:46.292
another way of the committees with that

45:46.292 --> 45:48.514
on your back . Gentlemen , Years back .

45:48.514 --> 45:50.570
And now you have five minutes to the

45:50.570 --> 45:52.792
gentlewoman from Illinois Miscikowski ,

45:54.690 --> 45:57.490
thank you so much . Mr Chairman Mr

45:57.490 --> 45:59.920
McCartney as the Chief Financial

45:59.920 --> 46:03.880
Officer . I'm sure that you're aware of

46:03.890 --> 46:07.730
the recent report . Um and uh that

46:07.740 --> 46:09.000
was

46:10.410 --> 46:14.340
including um including findings

46:14.340 --> 46:16.062
from the Department of Defense

46:16.062 --> 46:19.500
Inspector General that highlighted what

46:19.500 --> 46:22.030
I would say is the broken and wasteful

46:22.040 --> 46:25.510
sole source contracting and spare parts

46:25.520 --> 46:29.060
equipment system Acquisition system ,

46:29.070 --> 46:32.330
the the Pentagon and the American

46:32.330 --> 46:34.386
taxpayers I think are really getting

46:34.386 --> 46:37.030
ripped off by many of these contracts .

46:37.030 --> 46:39.760
Some of those contractors have raised

46:39.760 --> 46:43.280
prices on essential items to the tune

46:43.290 --> 46:46.950
of more than 3,000% .

46:46.960 --> 46:50.430
Um in 2021 . Um

46:50.440 --> 46:54.150
uh officials said that the

46:54.150 --> 46:57.730
US Air Force paid a

46:57.740 --> 47:01.200
price of $10,000

47:01.580 --> 47:05.230
um to um replace toilet

47:05.230 --> 47:07.286
seat covers . Now I go way back to a

47:07.286 --> 47:10.460
time when we talked about $1000 toilet

47:10.460 --> 47:14.440
seats um and uh for a

47:14.440 --> 47:18.290
military cargo plane . Um and I

47:18.290 --> 47:22.190
ask unanimous consent to put into

47:22.190 --> 47:26.010
the record Um this article , the Air

47:26.010 --> 47:29.420
Force's $10,000 toilet

47:29.420 --> 47:33.190
cover without objection . Um And it

47:33.190 --> 47:35.980
seems to me that many of these uh small

47:35.980 --> 47:39.130
but vital parts and components are

47:39.130 --> 47:42.110
necessary but be because they can often

47:42.110 --> 47:45.940
be labeled commercial items um

47:45.950 --> 47:49.520
that con that contractors can

47:49.520 --> 47:53.190
refuse to provide the information um

47:53.200 --> 47:55.820
that and the and the the the cost

47:55.820 --> 47:58.390
information and prevents us from

47:58.400 --> 48:01.370
actually getting the best price . So I

48:01.370 --> 48:03.537
know that the department itself at one

48:03.537 --> 48:06.420
point in 2012 said that there ought to

48:06.420 --> 48:09.350
be legislation that would

48:09.360 --> 48:13.220
reform the contracting process

48:13.220 --> 48:16.100
and lower the prices . So I wanted to

48:16.100 --> 48:18.860
know what you would say about these

48:18.870 --> 48:21.200
excessive prices that the contractors

48:21.200 --> 48:24.060
are charging . Thank you for that

48:24.060 --> 48:25.893
question . I would say , I'm not

48:25.893 --> 48:28.060
familiar with the Air Force particular

48:28.060 --> 48:30.060
contract that you're citing , but I

48:30.060 --> 48:32.227
would say in general , you are correct

48:32.227 --> 48:34.338
that we have a different standard for

48:34.338 --> 48:36.560
commercial items than we do for for non

48:36.560 --> 48:38.338
commercial items . And that's a

48:38.338 --> 48:40.393
judgment that the department and the

48:40.393 --> 48:40.160
committee , does that mean that we have

48:40.160 --> 48:43.650
a harder time um doing negotiations for

48:43.650 --> 48:46.850
a lower price ? Well , for a commercial

48:46.850 --> 48:49.130
item ? Yes , you're not supposed to be

48:49.140 --> 48:51.140
spending the same amount of of time

48:51.140 --> 48:53.307
negotiating or doing contract auditing

48:53.307 --> 48:55.529
on the back end . And that's a tradeoff

48:55.529 --> 48:57.529
that everybody has to has to make a

48:57.529 --> 48:59.640
judgment on as to whether if if every

48:59.640 --> 49:01.751
commercial item went through the same

49:01.751 --> 49:03.696
scrutiny as a submarine , then you

49:03.696 --> 49:03.510
would have , you know , you just you

49:03.510 --> 49:05.732
need a lot more contract orders , you'd

49:05.732 --> 49:07.899
have additional costs and time spent .

49:07.899 --> 49:09.954
So , so that's again a tradeoff that

49:09.954 --> 49:11.510
people that people we we've

49:11.510 --> 49:13.677
collectively have made that commercial

49:13.677 --> 49:15.399
items should live by different

49:15.399 --> 49:17.510
standards so that we because we often

49:17.510 --> 49:19.677
hear it's too hard to do business with

49:19.677 --> 49:19.580
the department for smaller firms . Well ,

49:19.580 --> 49:21.358
let me just say though that the

49:21.358 --> 49:23.524
Department of Defense apparently found

49:23.524 --> 49:25.820
that if you just use um that there is a

49:25.820 --> 49:28.650
way to produce the same thing . Buy for

49:28.650 --> 49:32.520
$300 instead of $10,000 . It

49:32.520 --> 49:34.576
seems it might be worth checking out

49:34.576 --> 49:36.742
whether these some of these commercial

49:36.742 --> 49:37.853
things are worth it

49:40.270 --> 49:44.220
agree . Well so tell

49:44.220 --> 49:46.109
me how how how are we going to do

49:46.109 --> 49:48.560
something about addressing this problem

49:48.560 --> 49:50.650
of contractors who may be gouging

49:50.660 --> 49:54.200
taxpayers and the Department of Defense ?

49:54.970 --> 49:57.192
Well in terms in terms of entering into

49:57.192 --> 49:59.248
the contract itself course that'd be

49:59.248 --> 50:01.414
responsible of contracting officers on

50:01.414 --> 50:00.970
the acquisition side of the department .

50:00.970 --> 50:03.380
I'm not an acquisition official myself .

50:03.390 --> 50:05.557
But but there is there is another line

50:05.557 --> 50:07.279
of defense if you will and the

50:07.279 --> 50:09.057
contracting officers themselves

50:09.057 --> 50:11.168
deciding what to purchase and and and

50:11.168 --> 50:13.279
how they go about entering into those

50:13.279 --> 50:13.250
contracts . But for the contract audit

50:13.260 --> 50:15.510
piece that does report to me again we

50:15.510 --> 50:17.343
do have a different standard for

50:17.343 --> 50:20.500
commercial items aside from the issue

50:20.500 --> 50:24.050
of commercial items . The report That

50:24.050 --> 50:28.040
was made um said that we are paying up

50:28.040 --> 50:31.580
to 3000 times more . four

50:31.590 --> 50:34.900
items from contractors . Um As the

50:34.900 --> 50:37.130
Chief financial officer don't you think

50:37.130 --> 50:39.019
this is something that we have to

50:39.019 --> 50:41.590
really look into ? I would agree that

50:41.590 --> 50:43.701
their pricing should should be looked

50:43.701 --> 50:45.646
at and as you know of course there

50:45.646 --> 50:47.757
there have been pricing increases due

50:47.757 --> 50:47.260
to the supply chain problems in the

50:47.260 --> 50:49.482
last year or two . And I don't know the

50:49.482 --> 50:51.649
date of time period that you that your

50:51.649 --> 50:53.704
report is focusing on if it's during

50:53.704 --> 50:55.927
that supply chain issue or before . But

50:55.927 --> 50:57.982
yes I agree that contract pricing is

50:57.982 --> 51:00.180
important . Okay this is this was done

51:00.180 --> 51:02.400
by the D . O . D . Inspector General .

51:02.410 --> 51:04.577
So this is not my report . This is the

51:04.577 --> 51:08.080
D . O . D . Inspector General and uh I

51:08.090 --> 51:11.030
uh I hope you look into it because we

51:11.030 --> 51:13.086
shouldn't be paying these exorbitant

51:13.086 --> 51:15.330
prices and I yelled back , Gentleman's

51:15.330 --> 51:17.274
time has expired Now you have five

51:17.274 --> 51:18.941
minutes to the gentleman from

51:18.941 --> 51:21.219
California mr McLintock . First of all ,

51:21.219 --> 51:22.886
I couldn't agree more with MS

51:22.886 --> 51:25.180
Jankowski's line of questioning . I'm

51:25.460 --> 51:27.404
not as interested in whether we're

51:27.404 --> 51:29.720
spending more or less on the military

51:29.720 --> 51:32.790
this year as I am concerned about

51:32.790 --> 51:35.630
whether we're getting more or less for

51:35.630 --> 51:37.852
what we're spending . I happen to agree

51:37.852 --> 51:40.019
with Ronald Reagan that defense is not

51:40.019 --> 51:42.019
a budget issue . You spend what you

51:42.019 --> 51:44.130
need to spend in order to protect the

51:44.130 --> 51:46.019
country . But you know , this was

51:46.019 --> 51:48.186
pointed out in a recent article in The

51:48.186 --> 51:50.186
Hill by Ben Freeman and and William

51:50.186 --> 51:52.241
Hartung . Uh they noted that the the

51:52.241 --> 51:54.241
budget would give the pentagon more

51:54.241 --> 51:56.297
money by far than at any time during

51:56.297 --> 51:58.519
the heights of the korean war . Vietnam

51:58.519 --> 52:00.686
war or Cold War . Even when accounting

52:00.686 --> 52:02.460
for inflation . Despite this

52:02.460 --> 52:04.460
historically high level of pentagon

52:04.460 --> 52:06.293
spending , the military has been

52:06.293 --> 52:08.404
shrinking . They point out that since

52:08.404 --> 52:11.330
1985 our Navy fleet shrunk from 571 to

52:11.330 --> 52:14.310
298 ships . Our air forces declined

52:14.310 --> 52:16.740
from 10,458 planes to

52:16.740 --> 52:20.610
5,217 . And our military forces

52:20.610 --> 52:22.660
shrunk from 2.1 million active duty

52:22.660 --> 52:25.060
personnel to just under 1.4 million .

52:25.060 --> 52:27.282
They go under right . Well , some might

52:27.282 --> 52:29.504
argue that while quantities of military

52:29.504 --> 52:31.616
equipment are down , quality has gone

52:31.616 --> 52:33.449
up , but it's precisely the most

52:33.449 --> 52:35.449
advanced weapons programs that have

52:35.449 --> 52:37.227
proven to be the biggest budget

52:37.227 --> 52:39.060
blunders . Uh , China's spending

52:39.060 --> 52:41.282
according to independent analyses about

52:41.282 --> 52:42.282
$250 billion

52:42.282 --> 52:47.830
China

52:47.830 --> 52:50.052
seems to be massively outbuilding us in

52:50.052 --> 52:52.820
terms of ships , weapons systems , uh ,

52:52.830 --> 52:55.770
their armed forces is twice the size of

52:55.770 --> 52:58.600
ours . What are you doing about this ?

52:59.320 --> 53:01.870
Is that millennials would say WTF

53:04.850 --> 53:08.630
um , Mr mr McLintock and this , this is

53:08.640 --> 53:11.270
the same subject . I think Mr kelly was

53:11.270 --> 53:14.370
touching on quality versus quantity .

53:14.750 --> 53:17.470
We do judge that the , for example ,

53:17.470 --> 53:20.430
the army , the army decided that the

53:20.430 --> 53:22.430
numbers were telling them that they

53:22.430 --> 53:24.486
could not recruit to a bigger number

53:24.486 --> 53:26.652
right now , given the historically low

53:26.652 --> 53:26.450
unemployment and other factors out

53:26.450 --> 53:28.783
there . So rather than chase , you know ,

53:28.783 --> 53:30.783
a bigger army that was , well , I'm

53:30.783 --> 53:32.839
asking , why are we spending so much

53:32.839 --> 53:35.061
more and getting so much less ? I don't

53:35.061 --> 53:37.283
believe we are getting less . We have ,

53:37.283 --> 53:39.506
we have very careful with these systems

53:39.506 --> 53:41.561
were spending more and yet we've got

53:41.561 --> 53:43.672
half the ships and half the planes we

53:43.672 --> 53:46.630
had in 1985 . This is this is

53:46.630 --> 53:49.010
unacceptable . But but again , the

53:49.010 --> 53:51.270
number that just counting people are

53:51.270 --> 53:53.492
counting ships , what would you say are

53:53.492 --> 53:55.603
the biggest sources ? Let me just ask

53:55.603 --> 53:55.430
you this . What would you say are the

53:55.430 --> 53:57.652
biggest sources of waste in the defense

53:57.652 --> 53:58.652
budget ?

54:01.740 --> 54:03.740
I think probably one of the biggest

54:03.740 --> 54:05.573
sources of , of high cost in the

54:05.573 --> 54:07.684
defense budget are the things that we

54:07.684 --> 54:09.629
buy that that are so so you know ,

54:09.629 --> 54:11.462
unique to the military that that

54:11.462 --> 54:13.684
there's no commercial market for . What

54:13.684 --> 54:15.851
are we ? Where are the biggest sources

54:15.851 --> 54:18.018
of waste from the Defense Department ?

54:18.018 --> 54:17.830
Or have you even turned your attention

54:17.830 --> 54:21.560
to that ? Let me let me go . On Earth

54:21.560 --> 54:24.600
day this year . President biden said ,

54:24.610 --> 54:26.832
I love this quote . One of the things I

54:26.832 --> 54:29.110
found out as president , United States ,

54:29.110 --> 54:31.166
I get to spend a lot of that money .

54:31.166 --> 54:33.332
We're going to start the process where

54:33.332 --> 54:33.160
every vehicle in the United States

54:33.160 --> 54:35.382
military , every vehicle is going to be

54:35.382 --> 54:37.438
climate friendly , every vehicle . I

54:37.438 --> 54:39.382
mean it we're spending billions of

54:39.382 --> 54:42.300
dollars to do it . A few years ago that

54:42.300 --> 54:44.300
the G . A . O . Reported that green

54:44.300 --> 54:46.530
energy mandates under Obama Cost the

54:46.530 --> 54:49.830
Navy as much as $150 per gallon for jet

54:49.830 --> 54:51.670
fuel . That's high . Even for

54:51.670 --> 54:55.100
California standards In 2012 , the Navy

54:55.100 --> 54:57.700
was forced to purchase 450,000 gallons

54:57.700 --> 54:59.644
of biofuel for its so called Green

54:59.644 --> 55:02.940
Fleet at the cost of $26 , per gallon .

55:02.950 --> 55:05.117
When conventional petroleum costs just

55:05.117 --> 55:08.010
$2.50 per gallon . These mandates

55:08.010 --> 55:10.560
forced the air force to pay $59 per

55:10.560 --> 55:13.260
gallon for 11,000 gallons of biofuel in

55:13.260 --> 55:15.850
2012 , 10 times more than regular jet

55:15.850 --> 55:18.030
fuel costs . Is this a wise use of our

55:18.030 --> 55:20.670
defense dollars ? Well , I would say as

55:20.670 --> 55:23.003
I said to to Mr smith a few minutes ago ,

55:23.003 --> 55:25.059
we were we have a big price increase

55:25.059 --> 55:27.226
for conventional fuel right now . So I

55:27.226 --> 55:29.503
think there's there's wisdom in us too ,

55:29.503 --> 55:31.726
paying more for non conventional wisdom

55:32.410 --> 55:35.870
with all due respect , Mr McCord and

55:35.880 --> 55:37.991
and and that's sapping our ability to

55:37.991 --> 55:40.047
adequately field defense force . One

55:40.047 --> 55:41.940
more thing in 2010 , Admiral Mike

55:41.940 --> 55:44.280
mullen , Chairman of Joint Chiefs said

55:44.290 --> 55:46.623
that his professional military judgment ,

55:46.623 --> 55:48.734
our greatest national security threat

55:48.734 --> 55:52.160
was the national debt . Um that year

55:52.160 --> 55:53.980
that debt was $13 trillion

55:53.980 --> 55:57.800
$30 trillion . Does the

55:57.800 --> 55:59.911
administration agree that's still our

55:59.911 --> 56:02.770
biggest national security threat ? If

56:02.770 --> 56:04.826
you say the administration , I can't

56:04.826 --> 56:06.992
speak to what the military established

56:06.992 --> 56:09.048
president would rank these threats .

56:09.048 --> 56:11.159
But the debt is a threat . Climate is

56:11.159 --> 56:13.270
threat , china is we we have a number

56:13.270 --> 56:15.492
of issues we don't get to focus on . So

56:15.492 --> 56:14.900
you would you would place the climate

56:14.900 --> 56:16.956
in the same category as china or the

56:16.956 --> 56:19.011
national debt . You know , countries

56:19.011 --> 56:21.178
that bankrupt themselves aren't around

56:21.178 --> 56:23.011
very long because before you can

56:23.011 --> 56:22.620
provide for the common defense , you

56:22.620 --> 56:24.842
have to be able to pay for it And don't

56:24.842 --> 56:26.731
tell me , oh well they've cut the

56:26.731 --> 56:28.676
deficit in half this year . That's

56:28.676 --> 56:30.898
compared to the blowout spending of the

56:30.898 --> 56:32.898
last two years . You go back to the

56:32.898 --> 56:34.953
last pre pandemic year , the deficit

56:34.953 --> 56:37.120
this year , under this budget balloons

56:37.120 --> 56:39.287
50% . And it wasn't the Republican tax

56:39.287 --> 56:41.390
cuts , revenues went up after those

56:41.390 --> 56:43.501
cuts , not down . The only reason the

56:43.501 --> 56:45.501
deficit continued it was because we

56:45.501 --> 56:47.168
couldn't say no to spending .

56:47.460 --> 56:49.404
Gentleman's time has expired . I'm

56:49.404 --> 56:51.627
going to give the the undersecretary of

56:51.627 --> 56:53.738
the opportunity to finish the quest ,

56:53.738 --> 56:55.849
finish answering the question that Mr

56:55.849 --> 56:57.627
McLintock asking if you want to

56:58.630 --> 57:00.686
chairman , let me just come back one

57:00.686 --> 57:02.741
more time on the subject of quantity

57:02.741 --> 57:04.852
versus quality , which I think is the

57:04.852 --> 57:07.074
part that you're referring to . We do ,

57:07.074 --> 57:09.241
we do have , we do have a reduction in

57:09.241 --> 57:11.352
the navy proposed and , and we at OsD

57:11.352 --> 57:13.352
agreed with some older less capable

57:13.352 --> 57:16.140
ships . The littoral combat ships and

57:16.150 --> 57:18.317
in particular the same on the aircraft

57:18.317 --> 57:20.870
side . KC 1 35 . So Mr kelly referred

57:20.870 --> 57:23.092
to are being replaced by the new KC one

57:23.092 --> 57:26.590
KC 46 is the number that just counting

57:26.590 --> 57:28.757
the numbers that the things that we're

57:28.757 --> 57:30.812
divesting are not equal in any sense

57:30.812 --> 57:32.979
capable to the ones that were buying ,

57:32.979 --> 57:34.979
but they cost you money to maintain

57:34.979 --> 57:37.090
them . Speaking of , Speaking of what

57:37.090 --> 57:39.257
is perceived to be wasteful . So ships

57:39.257 --> 57:41.479
that are not going to be effective in a

57:41.479 --> 57:43.701
high end contest with china but cost us

57:43.701 --> 57:45.923
money to maintain divert money from the

57:45.923 --> 57:48.201
things that we think we do need to buy .

57:48.201 --> 57:47.420
And this is something that any any

57:47.420 --> 57:49.253
executive would look at right is

57:49.253 --> 57:51.253
divesting from older , less capable

57:51.253 --> 57:53.309
things to move to newer technology .

57:53.309 --> 57:55.309
But these are difficult tradeoffs ,

57:55.309 --> 57:57.309
people . Uh and and it does lead to

57:57.309 --> 57:59.476
quantity reductions having fewer ships

57:59.476 --> 58:01.420
or fewer aircraft . But again , we

58:01.420 --> 58:03.087
think we think these are wise

58:03.087 --> 58:02.940
investments , but these are things that

58:02.940 --> 58:05.810
we need to persuade Congress of or or

58:05.810 --> 58:07.810
or not . I mean that's that's a big

58:07.810 --> 58:09.421
part of every annual defense

58:09.421 --> 58:11.588
authorization debate is whether or not

58:11.588 --> 58:13.532
we will be allowed to retire older

58:13.532 --> 58:15.588
systems that we proposed to retire .

58:15.588 --> 58:17.588
Thank you for that answer . Now you

58:17.588 --> 58:19.810
have five minutes to the gentleman from

58:19.810 --> 58:21.921
New Jersey . Mr serious . Thank you .

58:21.921 --> 58:24.199
Mr Chairman . I'm the Secretary McCord .

58:24.199 --> 58:26.254
Thank you very much for your service

58:26.254 --> 58:29.840
for this country . Mr McCoy . I am the

58:29.840 --> 58:31.784
chairman of the Western Hemisphere

58:31.784 --> 58:33.729
subcommittee and I am committed to

58:33.729 --> 58:35.507
ensuring our relationships with

58:35.507 --> 58:37.618
countries in central South and in the

58:37.618 --> 58:41.200
Caribbean , always progressing . How

58:41.200 --> 58:43.256
does the Pentagon's requested budget

58:43.256 --> 58:47.150
impact US national security in the

58:47.150 --> 58:48.317
Western hemisphere .

58:52.320 --> 58:55.110
Thank you . As you know , uh in the

58:55.110 --> 58:57.166
Western hemisphere , particularly in

58:57.166 --> 58:59.110
the south in the central and south

58:59.110 --> 59:01.277
America are so called Southern command

59:01.277 --> 59:03.388
area of responsibility . It continues

59:03.388 --> 59:05.388
to be an area where we have minimal

59:05.388 --> 59:07.332
military forces , minimal military

59:07.332 --> 59:09.690
presence and and the the whole of

59:09.690 --> 59:11.746
government center of gravity is more

59:11.746 --> 59:14.050
diplomatic economic , which is why we

59:14.050 --> 59:16.328
have our our Southern Command in Miami ,

59:16.328 --> 59:18.272
which is sort of the financial and

59:18.272 --> 59:20.950
diplomatic capital of the region . Um

59:20.960 --> 59:24.790
we can we do continue to have a

59:24.800 --> 59:26.744
minimal economic force level there

59:26.744 --> 59:28.689
because the military threats don't

59:28.689 --> 59:30.800
justify more . The primary thing that

59:30.800 --> 59:33.010
we are continuing to look at here is

59:33.010 --> 59:35.232
the inroads that china is attempting to

59:35.232 --> 59:37.066
make using all of their levers ,

59:37.066 --> 59:40.060
economic , loan , uh information . Uh

59:40.070 --> 59:42.014
so that is probably the number one

59:42.014 --> 59:44.348
thing that we're looking at in addition ,

59:44.348 --> 59:46.514
and then secondarily , the the counter

59:46.514 --> 59:48.760
narcotics issues are are a big line of

59:48.760 --> 59:50.890
effort in that , in that region , in

59:50.890 --> 59:53.001
the Western hemisphere , but at large

59:53.001 --> 59:55.279
in the Northern hemisphere , of course ,

59:55.279 --> 59:57.446
we have we have we have a the Northern

59:57.446 --> 59:59.446
Command and we're looking at a wide

59:59.446 --> 59:59.260
range of issues from , you know ,

59:59.260 --> 01:00:01.427
assisting homeland security with cyber

01:00:01.427 --> 01:00:03.593
protection of the of the United States

01:00:03.593 --> 01:00:06.120
and our critical infrastructure . So in

01:00:06.120 --> 01:00:08.342
that meeting of Western hemisphere , we

01:00:08.342 --> 01:00:11.550
have a lot going on what resources are

01:00:11.550 --> 01:00:13.510
being made available to ensure our

01:00:13.510 --> 01:00:16.250
regional partners and allies have

01:00:16.250 --> 01:00:18.610
support in countering malign influences

01:00:18.620 --> 01:00:21.790
in the Western hemisphere . I know that

01:00:21.790 --> 01:00:23.846
we have different packs with , let's

01:00:23.846 --> 01:00:26.068
say , with the Dominican republic or we

01:00:26.068 --> 01:00:29.180
have Costa rica , are we increasing our

01:00:29.180 --> 01:00:33.150
efforts and our money to work

01:00:33.150 --> 01:00:35.930
with these countries to improve the

01:00:35.930 --> 01:00:37.374
security of our country .

01:00:41.010 --> 01:00:43.177
I would have to get you for the record

01:00:43.177 --> 01:00:45.288
whether the what what specific budget

01:00:45.288 --> 01:00:47.066
levels that there are . We have

01:00:47.066 --> 01:00:49.177
exercised budgets that are not always

01:00:49.177 --> 01:00:51.343
line item because we don't want to let

01:00:51.343 --> 01:00:53.510
them unfold and we don't we don't lock

01:00:53.510 --> 01:00:55.732
them in in advance in our budget but we

01:00:55.732 --> 01:00:55.220
are continuing the efforts that we've

01:00:55.220 --> 01:00:57.380
had in Southern command area of

01:00:57.380 --> 01:00:59.750
responsibility with with exercises with

01:00:59.750 --> 01:01:03.640
all of our partners . Yeah .

01:01:04.510 --> 01:01:07.320
You know 1 1 rumor that's floating

01:01:07.320 --> 01:01:11.050
around in my community is that Cuba is

01:01:11.050 --> 01:01:13.670
working with Russia in terms of having

01:01:13.670 --> 01:01:17.520
another boat lift . You know ,

01:01:17.530 --> 01:01:21.110
happened . I'm just wondering if we are

01:01:21.120 --> 01:01:24.740
defensively prepared for for such a

01:01:25.210 --> 01:01:28.520
exodus . Again from CUBA have you heard

01:01:28.520 --> 01:01:30.076
anything like that in you ?

01:01:32.210 --> 01:01:34.480
I have not . I would I would have to

01:01:34.490 --> 01:01:36.712
consult with General Richardson and our

01:01:36.712 --> 01:01:38.934
commander . It's at at Southern Command

01:01:38.934 --> 01:01:41.046
as to what operations and contingency

01:01:41.046 --> 01:01:43.440
plans are most prominent in south calms

01:01:43.450 --> 01:01:46.530
uh efforts and planning right now .

01:01:48.810 --> 01:01:52.190
Thank you . And my

01:01:52.190 --> 01:01:56.110
last the question is has

01:01:56.110 --> 01:01:58.110
to do with the country's facing the

01:01:58.110 --> 01:02:01.130
pacific . I'm talking about Argentina .

01:02:01.140 --> 01:02:03.560
I'm talking about chili . I'm talking

01:02:03.560 --> 01:02:07.010
about the room , How are we working

01:02:07.160 --> 01:02:09.320
with these people to offset the china

01:02:09.320 --> 01:02:13.180
of influence ? Again ,

01:02:13.190 --> 01:02:15.400
this gets back to uh you know , the

01:02:15.400 --> 01:02:17.178
chairman mentioned the whole of

01:02:17.178 --> 01:02:19.400
government approach and and as I did as

01:02:19.400 --> 01:02:21.511
well this is something that we cannot

01:02:21.511 --> 01:02:23.400
do by ourselves as the Department

01:02:23.400 --> 01:02:23.120
defense . We are certainly keeping an

01:02:23.120 --> 01:02:25.940
eye on chinese and Russian attempts to

01:02:25.940 --> 01:02:29.450
buy influenced by friends to to access

01:02:29.450 --> 01:02:32.930
resources in in in in the region . Uh

01:02:33.100 --> 01:02:35.350
But Southern Command by themselves does

01:02:35.350 --> 01:02:37.072
not have the does not have the

01:02:37.072 --> 01:02:38.628
authority does not have the

01:02:38.628 --> 01:02:41.400
responsibility really of being the only

01:02:41.410 --> 01:02:43.632
way that we counter Russian and chinese

01:02:43.632 --> 01:02:45.799
inroads in Central and South America .

01:02:45.799 --> 01:02:47.966
We do we do play our role . And that's

01:02:47.966 --> 01:02:49.910
why Against Southern Command is co

01:02:49.910 --> 01:02:51.743
located with so many other other

01:02:51.743 --> 01:02:53.632
agencies in Miami because we have

01:02:53.632 --> 01:02:55.521
connections to State and the Drug

01:02:55.521 --> 01:02:57.577
Enforcement Administration , all the

01:02:57.577 --> 01:02:57.470
other levels of government , the Coast

01:02:57.470 --> 01:03:01.000
Guard . Um Again , I would I would have

01:03:01.000 --> 01:03:03.111
to consult with General Richardson to

01:03:03.111 --> 01:03:05.333
get you a better answer on exactly what

01:03:05.333 --> 01:03:07.444
all of her plans are for her region .

01:03:07.900 --> 01:03:09.520
Yeah . Thank you . Chairman .