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Thank you , Senator Senator Hirono , 

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please . Thank you , Mr Chairman . I 

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thank all three of you for being here 

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today and especially for General 

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o'malley . Thank you very much for your 

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43 years of continuous service . I 

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extend to you . My thanks and respect 

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for Secretary Austin , investments in 

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the military's infrastructure are 

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directly correlated to our readiness 

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and ability to execute deterrent . 

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However , as the people of Hawaii saw 

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from the disaster at Red Hill , 

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military infrastructure also impacts 

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our cities and towns , fuel chemicals 

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and sewage spills have lasting impacts 

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on our lands and erode the trust our , 

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our service members and their 

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communities . We must invest in the 

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systems . They rely on each day , basic 

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things like pipelines , power grids and 

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barracks . Yet this year in Hawaii 

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alone , there's over half a billion in 

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unfunded infrastructure improvements on 

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the services , unfunded priorities list , 

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Secretary Austin , how is the 

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department ensuring that infrastructure , 

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maintenance and modernization needs are 

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met before disasters like Red Hill 

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occur ? And basically , don't we need 

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to get more of these projects off 

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unfunded priorities lists , 

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these are uh to your point . Uh Senator 

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uh requirements that uh that are 

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critical and they they should be met as 

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soon as possible . Uh In , in my budget , 

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I've asked for $5.1 billion to increase 

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operational effectiveness and 

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survivability . Now , part of that has 

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to do with the effects that , that are 

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caused by climate . But nonetheless , 

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you know , those effects are real 

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effects . And so we will continue to 

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invest in this . But to your point 

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services should invest in this to make 

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sure that the infrastructure they need 

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to support them is in fact , you know , 

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first rate Secretary Austin , you know 

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that I I I have been very much focused 

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on those kinds of infrastructure needs , 

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what comes out of our pipes . So with 

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the electricity staying on , tho those 

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continue to uh uh capture my attention 

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and and be assured that I will continue 

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to focus on these issues and the needs 

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being met . Uh Mr Secretary in your 

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tenure , you have issued several 

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policies that increase service members 

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access to child care , which you have 

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mentioned uh institute parental leave , 

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which is very popular and ensure access 

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to reproductive health care for all 

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women no matter where they are 

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stationed , these are prudent changes 

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that put our people first and I 

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appreciate your leadership on these 

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issues . Senator says , how did you 

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identify the service member needs ? And 

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once those requirements were recorded , 

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what was the process to implement 

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updated policies ? Well , 

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I uh I I talk to our troops , I talk to 

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the family members . I uh , you know , 

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as I go around , around the country and 

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around the world , uh , you know , I'm 

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very much interested in , in what their 

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challenges are and how we can , uh , we 

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can do things to make life better for 

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them . Uh , and with your help , we've 

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been able to do some things . Uh , and 

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that includes the things that you've 

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mentioned , senator , but also the pay 

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raises , uh , the , the raise in , uh , 

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in B A H and B A s . Uh And we're 

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asking you for another pay raise this 

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year , probably the , the biggest pay 

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raise for , for our troops and 

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civilians in decades . But that's how I 

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get the input by engaging the troops 

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and the family members . You have been 

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heavily criticized for your decisions 

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to enable particularly women service 

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members to attain reproductive health . 

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And I for one commend you for that and 

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uh I want you to stay the course uh in 

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the same vein of wanting to support our 

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service members . I do want to mention 

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that uh there is the potential for 

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significant cuts to um the cost of 

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living of Hawaii service members . And 

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I've noted this before and I think that 

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these huge cuts for Hawaii service 

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members are unjust and unfair . And I , 

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I hope that there will be a 

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reconsideration of , of that decision . 

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I also want to note uh I have been 

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asking about missile defense of Hawaii 

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for quite some time . I had a 

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productive meeting yesterday with 

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leaders from your staff about their 

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roles in the plans for the current and 

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future missile defense of Hawaii . Well , 

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there is certainly more work to be done 

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to establish and execute a long term 

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plan for the missile defense of Hawaii . 

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I am encouraged to see the department 

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treating this issue with the 

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seriousness it demands I remain focused 

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on it uh on the issue as I request 

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updates from your staff . 

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Thank you very much , Mr Chairman . 

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Thank you , Senator Senator Ernst , 

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please . Thank you Mr Chair . And I 

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just want to state for the record that 

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I am adamantly opposed to the dod S new 

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policy on allowing travel expenses for 

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those that are going to other states to 

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seek abortions . I think it's 

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incredibly important that we remain 

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adherent to the Hyde amendment which 

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prohibits taxpayer dollars from going 

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towards abortions . I know this is an 

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extension of travel services for family 

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members and those service members . But 

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again , those are taxpayer dollars 

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being spent uh to fund the 

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extension of an abortion . I am 

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adamantly opposed . I know that there 

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are others that are on this committee 

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that agree as well . We're not saying 

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that women can't seek abortions , they 

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can do that , but that is to be 

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privately funded . Um So thank you both 

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gentlemen for being here this morning 

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and uh secretary , I do worry that 

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there's a mismatch between strategy and 

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resources at the heart of the 

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President's budget . The national 

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defense strategy calls this a quote 

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decisive decade and commits to 

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act urgently to strengthen deterrence 

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against the pacing threat . China . So 

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General Milley would investments in 

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posture presence and lethal 

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capabilities like long range fires 

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reduce our risk in the Western Pacific . 

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Absolutely . Long range fires would 

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reduce our risk . Uh not only west of 

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Brazil but anywhere but for sure . Yeah , 

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thank you uh General Milley . So I know 

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that you addressed this with uh Senator 

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rounds . But , but Secretary Austin , 

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as we discuss those unfunded uh 

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requirements , we see that we are $3.5 

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billion short in the Indo paycom , um 

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which includes critical strike 

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capabilities and posture enhancements . 

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So I do hope that this is something we 

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can work with those commanders on those 

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requirements . I think it's incredibly 

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important and I know my colleague from 

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Alaska may address requirements in 

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defending Taiwan . But it it is 

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incredibly important if , if we are 

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saying in the national defense strategy 

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that this is a decisive decade , we 

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need to act accordingly . And as 

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Congress , we must fund accordingly , 

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Chairman Milley , as you know , our 

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special operations forces are a 

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strategic capability and how can soft 

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help deter and defeat great power 

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competitors . Well , for 

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special forces , regardless of theater 

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uh relative to a great power competitor , 

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this ongoing intense competition in the 

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so called gray space . They play a key 

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role in that area . In addition to that , 

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they can provide tremendous capability 

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and train , advise , assist and 

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indigenous partners and allies and 

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region that's important . Also , I 

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would argue that irregular warfare is 

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often an overlooked component . And , 

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and , and as you start looking at 

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larger conventional war , irregular 

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warfare plays a very key role in all 

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forms of war . And that will play a key 

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role in any great power war as well . 

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So those are some of the key things , 

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the strategic reconnaissance , there's 

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the development of the battle space 

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advanced force operations , the whole 

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litmus test or a litany of capabilities 

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that special operations forces bring 

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that have a direct role prior to the 

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onset of hostilities and can contribute 

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to the deterrence of war with any great 

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power . Very good . And I appreciate 

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that because you answered my next next 

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question about surrogate forces and 

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partnering with those forces and 

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indigenous actors and they do help soft 

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compete against great power . So I do 

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appreciate that . Secretary Austin will 

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the department's guidance to the soft 

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enterprise place , our great power 

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competition above counter terrorism and 

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crisis response missions . I'm sorry , 

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I missed the question . Yes , soft as 

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it applies to great power competition . 

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Will you be placing their mission with 

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great power competition over the other 

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mission of deterring terrorism ? We 

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have to strike a balance and we see our , 

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our soft forces doing that . I know 

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you've talked to our Special Operations 

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Force combatant commander . He is , 

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he is looking at this in a very 

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methodical way and making sure that he 

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maintains a balance of capability that 

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can serve both , both challenges there . 

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And they're doing a great job . And 

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I've seen , I've seen some of our tier 

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one forces very rapidly transition and 

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start thinking about how they're going 

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to be relevant , not just thinking 

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about it , but developing capability to 

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be relevant . Great power competition . 

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By the same time , at the same time , 

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keeping a , a good handle on uh 

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transnational terrorist organization . 

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Thank you . Um I appreciate it . I 

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think it's incredibly important that we 

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continue to fund our soft as necessary 

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because they do strike uh a balance 

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between great power competition , uh 

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working in that gray zone and also 

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deterring terrorism around the globe . 

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So uh I would just encourage members of 

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this committee to continue to focus on 

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uh the strength within our , our soft 

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forces . Um Chairman Milly , uh thank 

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you very much for your service to our 

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great United States army as well as as 

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the joint force . And also uh my best 

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wishes to Holly Anne , we know that uh 

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behind every great leader is uh someone 

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who supports them thoroughly and she 

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has been a tremendous force in working 

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uh with our gold star families , with 

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all of the members of their service and 

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their families . So my best wishes to 

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you and your entire family . Thank you , 

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Mr Chair . Thank you , Senator Senator 

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Kaine , please . Thank you Mr Chair and 

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thank you to the witnesses , uh General 

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Melley . I also want to compliment you 

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on your stellar career . And I also 

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offer the congratulations of your uh 

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college classmate , my wife Anne , who , 

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who I I mentioned I would see you today 

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and she wanted me to extend her 

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00:11:18,123 --> 00:11:20,235
congratulations as well . Um , on the 

275
00:11:20,235 --> 00:11:22,346
15th of the month during our personal 

276
00:11:22,346 --> 00:11:24,512
subcommittee hearing Senator Kelly and 

277
00:11:24,512 --> 00:11:27,059
I , uh , asked Secretary Cisneros and 

278
00:11:27,070 --> 00:11:29,237
Martinez Lopez about implementation of 

279
00:11:29,237 --> 00:11:31,590
the Brandon Act . I appreciate both of 

280
00:11:31,599 --> 00:11:33,821
you in your opening statements . Talked 

281
00:11:33,821 --> 00:11:35,599
about the need to get a hold of 

282
00:11:35,599 --> 00:11:37,710
military suicide issues and resources 

283
00:11:37,710 --> 00:11:39,877
that are being devoted to this . Um We 

284
00:11:39,877 --> 00:11:42,099
asked the secretaries about Brandon Act 

285
00:11:42,099 --> 00:11:44,109
implementation uh and also about a 

286
00:11:44,119 --> 00:11:46,320
report on Brandon Act implementation 

287
00:11:46,330 --> 00:11:48,441
that we were supposed to receive that 

288
00:11:48,441 --> 00:11:50,663
is overdue . I don't really want to get 

289
00:11:50,663 --> 00:11:52,663
into that with you here today , but 

290
00:11:52,663 --> 00:11:54,886
just to put it on the radar screen that 

291
00:11:54,886 --> 00:11:57,108
during the course of the development of 

292
00:11:57,108 --> 00:11:59,108
the N D A A , we really want to get 

293
00:11:59,108 --> 00:12:01,274
into the implementation of the Brandon 

294
00:12:01,274 --> 00:12:01,169
Act that we've passed , make sure that 

295
00:12:01,179 --> 00:12:03,429
it's being implemented . Uh find out if 

296
00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:05,662
there are things we can do to make that 

297
00:12:05,662 --> 00:12:07,718
implementation easier . And I really 

298
00:12:07,718 --> 00:12:09,773
want to work on that between now and 

299
00:12:09,773 --> 00:12:11,940
the time that we take up the N D A and 

300
00:12:11,940 --> 00:12:11,880
committee , it's possible that we don't 

301
00:12:11,890 --> 00:12:14,419
need to do anything more on that space . 

302
00:12:14,429 --> 00:12:16,596
If we're convinced that implementation 

303
00:12:16,596 --> 00:12:18,762
is moving out . If we're not convinced 

304
00:12:18,762 --> 00:12:20,985
of that . We'll need to do more . And I 

305
00:12:20,985 --> 00:12:23,151
just wanted to kind of put that on the 

306
00:12:23,151 --> 00:12:25,373
record to begin . Um Secretary , I also 

307
00:12:25,373 --> 00:12:27,540
want to ask you about your recent trip 

308
00:12:27,540 --> 00:12:29,707
to Iraq . I think it was either two or 

309
00:12:29,707 --> 00:12:31,818
three weeks ago that you were there . 

310
00:12:31,818 --> 00:12:33,985
And reports suggest you had productive 

311
00:12:33,985 --> 00:12:35,985
meetings both with , with political 

312
00:12:35,985 --> 00:12:35,809
leadership , Prime Minister Al Sudani , 

313
00:12:36,140 --> 00:12:38,140
but also with military leadership . 

314
00:12:38,140 --> 00:12:40,251
Could you describe that visit for the 

315
00:12:40,251 --> 00:12:44,070
committee ? Well , first of all , let 

316
00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,309
me tell you that our troops are doing 

317
00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:50,049
well there and they are enabling and 

318
00:12:50,059 --> 00:12:52,840
helping their hosts the Iraqi security 

319
00:12:52,849 --> 00:12:56,020
forces and they're very much valued by 

320
00:12:56,030 --> 00:12:57,863
the Iraqi leadership . The Prime 

321
00:12:57,863 --> 00:13:00,989
Minister was very complimentary of 

322
00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,880
their performance and the value that 

323
00:13:03,890 --> 00:13:06,669
they had good meeting with the Prime 

324
00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:10,659
Minister and his leadership . I think , 

325
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:15,020
you know , it's not only me but other 

326
00:13:15,030 --> 00:13:17,210
leaders in the region are also saying 

327
00:13:17,219 --> 00:13:20,770
that the Prime Minister shows a lot of 

328
00:13:20,780 --> 00:13:23,169
promise in terms of a person that's 

329
00:13:23,179 --> 00:13:25,179
willing to work with others to move 

330
00:13:25,179 --> 00:13:27,330
things forward , describe the current 

331
00:13:27,340 --> 00:13:29,729
state of the mill to mill relationship . 

332
00:13:29,770 --> 00:13:31,770
So talking about the Prime Minister 

333
00:13:31,770 --> 00:13:34,015
discussions , but we've got about 2500 

334
00:13:34,025 --> 00:13:36,247
us troops in Iraq . As you point out we 

335
00:13:36,255 --> 00:13:38,422
are being hosted , we are there at the 

336
00:13:38,422 --> 00:13:40,366
invitation of the Iraqi government 

337
00:13:40,366 --> 00:13:42,588
because they value the United States as 

338
00:13:42,588 --> 00:13:44,811
a partner . Describe a little bit about 

339
00:13:44,811 --> 00:13:46,977
the current mil to mill relationship , 

340
00:13:46,977 --> 00:13:46,914
I think the mil to mill relationship , 

341
00:13:46,924 --> 00:13:49,091
Senator is good , really good . And uh 

342
00:13:49,395 --> 00:13:52,830
and again , I think our partners 

343
00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,039
understand the value that we add to 

344
00:13:56,049 --> 00:13:57,938
their overall effort . And if you 

345
00:13:57,938 --> 00:14:00,049
unplug that , then what happens with 

346
00:14:00,059 --> 00:14:03,289
their efforts to maintain pressure on 

347
00:14:03,299 --> 00:14:05,466
ISIS , what happens with their efforts 

348
00:14:05,466 --> 00:14:07,260
to continue to develop their 

349
00:14:07,270 --> 00:14:10,059
professional force ? And so I think , I 

350
00:14:10,070 --> 00:14:12,181
think we're very much appreciated and 

351
00:14:12,181 --> 00:14:14,348
what I saw was goodness , you know , I 

352
00:14:14,348 --> 00:14:18,080
think the commander 

353
00:14:18,090 --> 00:14:20,312
there is doing all the right things and 

354
00:14:20,312 --> 00:14:22,760
working in conjunction with the 

355
00:14:22,770 --> 00:14:25,179
ambassador to continue to move things 

356
00:14:25,190 --> 00:14:27,079
forward . So I was , I was really 

357
00:14:27,079 --> 00:14:29,301
encouraged by what I saw . You've had a 

358
00:14:29,301 --> 00:14:31,523
number of chapters in Iraq in three and 

359
00:14:31,523 --> 00:14:33,950
then in 2010 and then Ascom Commander 

360
00:14:34,659 --> 00:14:36,826
and some of these chapters are with an 

361
00:14:36,826 --> 00:14:38,715
Iraq that was an adversary of the 

362
00:14:38,715 --> 00:14:40,580
United States . How would you 

363
00:14:40,590 --> 00:14:42,646
characterize this relationship where 

364
00:14:42,646 --> 00:14:44,757
they're at their invitation ? And now 

365
00:14:44,757 --> 00:14:46,979
we seem to be working in partnership to 

366
00:14:46,979 --> 00:14:48,979
help them advance security in their 

367
00:14:48,979 --> 00:14:50,979
country and in the region . It , it 

368
00:14:50,979 --> 00:14:53,146
truly is remarkable and you cheated me 

369
00:14:53,146 --> 00:14:53,109
on one of the rotations there . I had 

370
00:14:53,119 --> 00:14:55,175
three rotations to Iraq , but I left 

371
00:14:55,175 --> 00:14:58,729
one out . I just uh but uh um 

372
00:14:59,809 --> 00:15:01,920
you know , this is something that has 

373
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,087
developed over time and it's developed 

374
00:15:04,087 --> 00:15:04,049
in a very meaningful way . It hasn't 

375
00:15:04,059 --> 00:15:06,281
always been easy . It's been lumpy from 

376
00:15:06,281 --> 00:15:08,392
time to time , but I think we're in a 

377
00:15:08,392 --> 00:15:10,392
pretty good place now . And this is 

378
00:15:10,392 --> 00:15:12,503
something that we're going to have to 

379
00:15:12,503 --> 00:15:14,670
work on each and every day and we know 

380
00:15:14,670 --> 00:15:16,892
Senator , that not every , every person 

381
00:15:16,892 --> 00:15:19,250
in Iraq believes that , you know , that 

382
00:15:19,260 --> 00:15:21,482
Americans ought to be there . But , but 

383
00:15:21,482 --> 00:15:23,038
the government is very much 

384
00:15:23,038 --> 00:15:25,260
appreciative of , of what we bring in , 

385
00:15:25,260 --> 00:15:27,609
uh , in , in what we're doing to train 

386
00:15:27,619 --> 00:15:30,849
and enable our forces . So , uh , you 

387
00:15:30,859 --> 00:15:33,081
know , I , I think , I think we're in a 

388
00:15:33,081 --> 00:15:35,137
pretty good place . Well , I , I , I 

389
00:15:35,137 --> 00:15:37,248
appreciate that . Uh Mr Secretary , I 

390
00:15:37,248 --> 00:15:39,415
think that's important . Uh The one of 

391
00:15:39,415 --> 00:15:41,192
the capacities the US has shown 

392
00:15:41,192 --> 00:15:43,137
throughout our history is to use a 

393
00:15:43,137 --> 00:15:45,303
biblical phrase to beat a sword into a 

394
00:15:45,303 --> 00:15:47,526
plow share to take a nation that was an 

395
00:15:47,526 --> 00:15:49,692
enemy . And over time and as you point 

396
00:15:49,692 --> 00:15:51,859
out bumpy , not always smooth but over 

397
00:15:51,859 --> 00:15:53,970
time , turn the relationship into one 

398
00:15:53,970 --> 00:15:56,026
of partnership , not one of being an 

399
00:15:56,026 --> 00:15:57,915
adversary and that's an important 

400
00:15:57,915 --> 00:15:59,970
aspect of the US Iraq relationship . 

401
00:15:59,970 --> 00:16:02,081
And it also sends a message to others 

402
00:16:02,081 --> 00:16:04,192
that that's something that the United 

403
00:16:04,192 --> 00:16:03,775
States can do and we can be proud of . 

404
00:16:03,784 --> 00:16:05,895
I appreciate your testimony . I yield 

405
00:16:05,895 --> 00:16:08,117
back . Thank you very much . Uh Senator 

406
00:16:08,117 --> 00:16:10,173
Kaine , uh Senator Kramer , please . 

407
00:16:10,173 --> 00:16:12,173
Thank you , Mr Chairman . Thank you 

408
00:16:12,173 --> 00:16:14,340
both . Uh all three for your service . 

409
00:16:14,340 --> 00:16:16,284
Um A special , thank you , General 

410
00:16:16,284 --> 00:16:18,506
Milley for your decades of service . Um 

411
00:16:18,506 --> 00:16:21,405
I want to jump down to um talking back 

412
00:16:21,414 --> 00:16:23,636
back about Ukraine a little bit . There 

413
00:16:23,636 --> 00:16:25,525
been a lot of reasons , rationale 

414
00:16:25,525 --> 00:16:27,530
excuses , perhaps for not providing 

415
00:16:27,539 --> 00:16:29,650
certain advanced weapons systems some 

416
00:16:29,650 --> 00:16:31,983
legitimate . I'm sure maybe all of them . 

417
00:16:31,983 --> 00:16:34,206
I don't know , but of course , often it 

418
00:16:34,206 --> 00:16:36,261
leads to eventually providing them . 

419
00:16:36,261 --> 00:16:38,450
But one system we've never offered and 

420
00:16:38,460 --> 00:16:40,627
I haven't heard a lot of talk about it 

421
00:16:40,627 --> 00:16:42,793
are the M Q nine s but see how we just 

422
00:16:42,793 --> 00:16:44,738
lost one recently in the Black Sea 

423
00:16:44,738 --> 00:16:46,849
where it's probably more likely to be 

424
00:16:46,849 --> 00:16:48,849
recovered by Russia than the United 

425
00:16:48,849 --> 00:16:50,793
States . And the fact that the Air 

426
00:16:50,793 --> 00:16:53,969
Force wants to retire 48 older M Q nine 

427
00:16:54,049 --> 00:16:56,289
s , is there any chance that the M Q 

428
00:16:56,299 --> 00:16:58,355
nine would be a reasonable system to 

429
00:16:58,355 --> 00:17:00,979
offer Ukraine , either one or maybe 

430
00:17:00,989 --> 00:17:04,680
start with Secretary Austin . Yeah , as 

431
00:17:04,689 --> 00:17:06,819
we , as we look at this uh senator uh 

432
00:17:06,829 --> 00:17:10,829
as you know , uh that um Air Domain is 

433
00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,410
a , is a very hostile uh airspace 

434
00:17:13,420 --> 00:17:15,680
because of the , you know , the 

435
00:17:15,689 --> 00:17:17,800
capability that the Russians have for 

436
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,588
air defense and uh that it , it 

437
00:17:21,598 --> 00:17:24,139
is not a survivable platform if , if 

438
00:17:24,149 --> 00:17:26,093
they try to use that in uh in that 

439
00:17:26,093 --> 00:17:29,469
environment . Yeah , that's uh 

440
00:17:30,079 --> 00:17:32,301
number one , it's not survival . It's , 

441
00:17:32,301 --> 00:17:34,412
it's big and slow , it's going to get 

442
00:17:34,412 --> 00:17:36,301
nailed by the Russian air defense 

443
00:17:36,301 --> 00:17:38,135
systems . Um and in terms of its 

444
00:17:38,135 --> 00:17:40,301
capabilities , um I'm not sure what it 

445
00:17:40,301 --> 00:17:42,357
will get you beyond the uh smaller , 

446
00:17:42,357 --> 00:17:44,579
faster , more nimble U A V systems that 

447
00:17:44,579 --> 00:17:46,746
we are providing as well as some other 

448
00:17:46,746 --> 00:17:48,801
countries are providing . So I think 

449
00:17:48,801 --> 00:17:50,801
that it's a good system for certain 

450
00:17:50,801 --> 00:17:52,912
uses in certain environments . But in 

451
00:17:52,912 --> 00:17:55,023
the current situation in Ukraine , it 

452
00:17:55,023 --> 00:17:57,301
may not be the best system . Thank you , 

453
00:17:57,301 --> 00:17:59,523
Secretary Austin . I wanna um now go to 

454
00:17:59,523 --> 00:18:01,640
um back to China a little bit and 

455
00:18:01,650 --> 00:18:03,819
you're probably familiar with the what 

456
00:18:03,829 --> 00:18:06,790
I consider the nearly a year and a half 

457
00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:08,967
of , of torment that the city of Grand 

458
00:18:08,967 --> 00:18:11,160
Forks went through while considering 

459
00:18:11,170 --> 00:18:13,059
that an investment by the Chinese 

460
00:18:13,059 --> 00:18:15,170
Communist Party , uh investors for of 

461
00:18:15,630 --> 00:18:18,359
which would have provided a wet corn 

462
00:18:18,369 --> 00:18:20,425
milling facility , 12 miles from the 

463
00:18:20,425 --> 00:18:22,536
Grand Forks Air Force Base , 12 miles 

464
00:18:22,536 --> 00:18:24,702
from the 319th Reconnaissance wing and 

465
00:18:24,702 --> 00:18:26,920
now an S D A ground station , uh you 

466
00:18:26,930 --> 00:18:28,597
know , for low earth orbiting 

467
00:18:28,597 --> 00:18:31,400
satellites . Um and uh 

468
00:18:31,410 --> 00:18:34,680
after sort of cutting a deal and then 

469
00:18:34,689 --> 00:18:38,079
going to where Phus spent 60 days 

470
00:18:38,089 --> 00:18:39,700
determining they didn't have 

471
00:18:39,700 --> 00:18:42,969
jurisdiction . Um And finally , after 

472
00:18:42,979 --> 00:18:45,780
uh I don't know , 14 months or so , um 

473
00:18:45,810 --> 00:18:48,270
of all of this , the , the Air Force 

474
00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:50,224
finally came out and said it would 

475
00:18:50,224 --> 00:18:52,930
present a significant risk and that I 

476
00:18:52,939 --> 00:18:54,939
think has helped kill the project . 

477
00:18:54,949 --> 00:18:57,116
Although I understand there's now a 90 

478
00:18:57,116 --> 00:19:00,400
day pause . My , my hope for all of 

479
00:19:00,410 --> 00:19:02,577
that is , is not only that Grant Forks 

480
00:19:02,577 --> 00:19:05,119
avoided uh an unfortunate situation but 

481
00:19:05,130 --> 00:19:07,352
that many other communities might avoid 

482
00:19:07,352 --> 00:19:09,519
it as well . Could you talk to us just 

483
00:19:09,519 --> 00:19:11,574
a little bit about either the in the 

484
00:19:11,574 --> 00:19:13,463
context of and Grant Forks or the 

485
00:19:13,463 --> 00:19:15,408
broader context of , are we giving 

486
00:19:15,408 --> 00:19:18,839
adequate cover um and , and information 

487
00:19:19,310 --> 00:19:21,020
and coaching perhaps to other 

488
00:19:21,030 --> 00:19:22,863
communities around the country ? 

489
00:19:22,863 --> 00:19:25,086
Because it's my understanding that this 

490
00:19:25,086 --> 00:19:27,252
is not necessarily unique circumstance 

491
00:19:27,252 --> 00:19:29,419
to grant forks . First of all , let me 

492
00:19:29,419 --> 00:19:31,586
thank you for your personal leadership 

493
00:19:31,586 --> 00:19:34,770
on this , on this issue . 

494
00:19:35,989 --> 00:19:38,156
To the point that you're making , this 

495
00:19:38,156 --> 00:19:42,050
applies to installations all around the 

496
00:19:42,060 --> 00:19:44,589
United States of America . And we will 

497
00:19:44,599 --> 00:19:47,439
continue to emphasize to the service 

498
00:19:47,449 --> 00:19:49,900
chiefs commanders secretaries and that 

499
00:19:49,910 --> 00:19:51,910
we have to be vigilant about what's 

500
00:19:51,910 --> 00:19:54,132
going on outside of our fences . We got 

501
00:19:54,132 --> 00:19:56,354
to work with the , with the communities 

502
00:19:56,354 --> 00:19:58,521
to make sure that we do have some kind 

503
00:19:58,521 --> 00:20:00,743
of situational awareness and we have to 

504
00:20:00,743 --> 00:20:02,799
advocate for the protection of our , 

505
00:20:02,799 --> 00:20:05,077
you know , our bases and installations . 

506
00:20:05,077 --> 00:20:07,739
Um And again , uh every one of these 

507
00:20:07,750 --> 00:20:09,917
cases will be complex but they , there 

508
00:20:09,917 --> 00:20:12,139
are cases that we must take on . But uh 

509
00:20:12,180 --> 00:20:14,236
thanks for your , your leadership in 

510
00:20:14,236 --> 00:20:16,180
Missouri . Well , I appreciate you 

511
00:20:16,180 --> 00:20:18,402
saying it that way actually , because I 

512
00:20:18,402 --> 00:20:20,624
think you're right , I think we need to 

513
00:20:20,624 --> 00:20:22,680
quote , take them on . Um and rather 

514
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,624
than sort of punt them to a to the 

515
00:20:24,624 --> 00:20:26,958
process or some other political process , 

516
00:20:26,958 --> 00:20:29,013
particularly when it comes to um the 

517
00:20:29,013 --> 00:20:31,236
Chinese Communist Party and , and their 

518
00:20:31,236 --> 00:20:33,402
involvement um and their ability , not 

519
00:20:33,402 --> 00:20:36,969
just ability but obvious willingness to 

520
00:20:36,979 --> 00:20:39,709
um do recon in all sorts of manners and 

521
00:20:39,719 --> 00:20:42,020
ways . And uh so I , I appreciate that 

522
00:20:42,030 --> 00:20:44,141
and I , my hope like I said , is that 

523
00:20:44,141 --> 00:20:46,197
the experience that grant force went 

524
00:20:46,197 --> 00:20:48,419
through is not just in vain to the rest 

525
00:20:48,419 --> 00:20:50,419
of the country , but rather that uh 

526
00:20:50,419 --> 00:20:53,359
perhaps uh sheds a light on this issue 

527
00:20:53,369 --> 00:20:55,480
throughout the country . So thank you 

528
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,480
for that . And again , thank you uh 

529
00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,647
General Milley for your , your decades 

530
00:20:59,647 --> 00:20:59,390
of service . And you'll thank you , Mr 

531
00:20:59,410 --> 00:21:01,466
Chair . Thank you , Senator Kramer . 

532
00:21:01,466 --> 00:21:03,632
Senator Warren . Please . Uh Thank you 

533
00:21:03,632 --> 00:21:05,799
Mr Chairman and thank you all for your 

534
00:21:05,799 --> 00:21:07,799
service to our nation . This year's 

535
00:21:07,799 --> 00:21:10,150
Department of Defense requests a an 

536
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,880
$842 billion budget , one of the 

537
00:21:13,890 --> 00:21:16,660
largest budgets in history . Now , 

538
00:21:16,670 --> 00:21:19,390
despite the massive size of this budget 

539
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,344
request , the committee is already 

540
00:21:21,344 --> 00:21:23,900
receiving letters from various parts of 

541
00:21:24,099 --> 00:21:27,119
dod saying that they need billions of 

542
00:21:27,130 --> 00:21:30,844
dollars , more dod calls these funded 

543
00:21:30,854 --> 00:21:33,214
priority lists . I call them wish lists 

544
00:21:33,224 --> 00:21:35,515
and I'm concerned about how they 

545
00:21:35,525 --> 00:21:38,464
distort our budget process . So , 

546
00:21:38,474 --> 00:21:40,814
Secretary Austin , if I could let me 

547
00:21:40,824 --> 00:21:44,125
ask this directly , are you comfortable 

548
00:21:44,135 --> 00:21:46,145
with the figure in the president's 

549
00:21:46,155 --> 00:21:49,060
proposed budget that it is sufficient 

550
00:21:49,069 --> 00:21:51,359
to meet our defense and national 

551
00:21:51,369 --> 00:21:54,770
security objectives ? I am Senator , as 

552
00:21:54,780 --> 00:21:58,469
you know , we made this budget 

553
00:21:58,479 --> 00:22:01,339
request based upon our strategy . Our 

554
00:22:01,349 --> 00:22:03,510
request is directly linked to the 

555
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,890
capabilities that we need to , to 

556
00:22:06,900 --> 00:22:09,420
execute our strategy . And we , we 

557
00:22:09,430 --> 00:22:11,374
spent a lot of time on that . I've 

558
00:22:11,374 --> 00:22:13,541
asked the commanders and , and service 

559
00:22:13,541 --> 00:22:16,050
chiefs to make sure that that they go 

560
00:22:16,060 --> 00:22:18,219
after war fighting capability and 

561
00:22:18,229 --> 00:22:20,396
readiness in their basic in their base 

562
00:22:20,396 --> 00:22:22,650
budget . And uh and for the most part , 

563
00:22:22,660 --> 00:22:24,827
I , you know , we've done that . But , 

564
00:22:24,930 --> 00:22:27,263
but again , we are required by , by law . 

565
00:22:27,263 --> 00:22:29,541
I understand . So we're gonna go there , 

566
00:22:29,541 --> 00:22:31,874
we're gonna go there , Mr Secretary now , 

567
00:22:31,874 --> 00:22:34,097
Secretary Gates understood that leaders 

568
00:22:34,099 --> 00:22:37,449
at dod can always find a gap or 

569
00:22:37,459 --> 00:22:40,160
requirement to justify asking for what 

570
00:22:40,170 --> 00:22:43,430
he called however many billions dollars 

571
00:22:43,439 --> 00:22:46,770
more you want , he reduced wish list by 

572
00:22:46,780 --> 00:22:49,729
about 90% . And he was able to do this 

573
00:22:49,890 --> 00:22:52,359
during the surge in Afghanistan . 

574
00:22:52,540 --> 00:22:55,000
Secretary Austin , you have a unique 

575
00:22:55,010 --> 00:22:57,890
perspective here because before you 

576
00:22:57,900 --> 00:22:59,956
were Secretary of Defense , you were 

577
00:22:59,956 --> 00:23:01,900
the commander of a major combatant 

578
00:23:01,900 --> 00:23:04,939
command , a job that is now held by the 

579
00:23:04,949 --> 00:23:07,560
people who are asking for unfunded 

580
00:23:07,569 --> 00:23:10,780
priorities . When Secretary Gates cut 

581
00:23:10,790 --> 00:23:13,930
these unfunded lists down , you were 

582
00:23:13,939 --> 00:23:17,089
commanding general of us forces in Iraq . 

583
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,229
Secretary Austin did our national 

584
00:23:19,239 --> 00:23:22,270
security suffer when Secretary Gates 

585
00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,280
cut down the service wish lists . I 

586
00:23:26,290 --> 00:23:29,079
can say that while we were in Iraq and 

587
00:23:29,089 --> 00:23:32,310
Afghanistan , we based upon the support 

588
00:23:32,319 --> 00:23:36,109
of Congress , we had what we needed to 

589
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:38,800
be able to prosecute our operations . 

590
00:23:39,069 --> 00:23:42,349
And so we didn't go , we didn't want 

591
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,729
for much of anything . Ok . So let's 

592
00:23:44,739 --> 00:23:46,810
talk then about the budget process . 

593
00:23:47,050 --> 00:23:49,680
Each combatant commander thinks about 

594
00:23:49,689 --> 00:23:52,160
how they could spend more money than 

595
00:23:52,170 --> 00:23:54,319
you have allocated to them in this 

596
00:23:54,329 --> 00:23:57,079
process that you describe , I assume 

597
00:23:57,089 --> 00:23:59,069
these combatant commanders act in 

598
00:23:59,079 --> 00:24:02,160
absolute good faith . But they have a 

599
00:24:02,170 --> 00:24:05,280
narrow perspective . Secretary Austin , 

600
00:24:05,290 --> 00:24:07,790
in putting together the overall budget , 

601
00:24:08,140 --> 00:24:10,839
you have to weigh our global national 

602
00:24:10,849 --> 00:24:14,239
security priorities . Do the commanders 

603
00:24:14,250 --> 00:24:16,770
submitting these wish lists have to do 

604
00:24:16,780 --> 00:24:20,199
the same . Uh They are 

605
00:24:20,209 --> 00:24:23,260
primarily focused on their region and 

606
00:24:23,270 --> 00:24:25,492
uh and what they would like to have for 

607
00:24:25,492 --> 00:24:27,270
the region in order to uh to be 

608
00:24:27,270 --> 00:24:29,800
successful . So , but again , I take 

609
00:24:29,810 --> 00:24:32,780
that as a note , right . Yeah . All 

610
00:24:32,790 --> 00:24:34,957
right . Uh You know , as my colleagues 

611
00:24:34,957 --> 00:24:37,179
on this committee are well aware , I've 

612
00:24:37,179 --> 00:24:38,957
been using these budget posture 

613
00:24:38,957 --> 00:24:41,123
hearings to ask combatant commanders , 

614
00:24:41,123 --> 00:24:43,123
folks who occupy the roles like the 

615
00:24:43,123 --> 00:24:45,346
ones you used to when you used to serve 

616
00:24:45,346 --> 00:24:47,346
about these lists and almost all of 

617
00:24:47,346 --> 00:24:49,346
them have defended their requests . 

618
00:24:49,346 --> 00:24:51,469
Although the justifications vary , 

619
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,464
three of them said they needed the 

620
00:24:53,464 --> 00:24:55,131
items on this list to address 

621
00:24:55,131 --> 00:24:57,131
unexpected threats that couldn't be 

622
00:24:57,131 --> 00:25:00,015
considered in the budget process . But 

623
00:25:00,025 --> 00:25:02,275
the same commanders often repeat the 

624
00:25:02,285 --> 00:25:04,915
same requests year after year after 

625
00:25:04,925 --> 00:25:06,981
year suggesting that if there were a 

626
00:25:06,981 --> 00:25:09,092
real need , they would have worked it 

627
00:25:09,092 --> 00:25:11,824
into the underlying budget . Secretary 

628
00:25:11,834 --> 00:25:14,885
Austin does do d have sufficient tools 

629
00:25:14,895 --> 00:25:18,074
to address emergent threats without 

630
00:25:18,084 --> 00:25:20,984
relying on the unfunded priorities list ? 

631
00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:25,170
We do and again , we account for that 

632
00:25:25,180 --> 00:25:27,500
as we built the budget . Ok . And one 

633
00:25:27,510 --> 00:25:30,280
last question , do you support removing 

634
00:25:30,290 --> 00:25:32,550
the statutory requirement to send 

635
00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,239
Congress these lists every year ? And 

636
00:25:35,250 --> 00:25:37,949
if so , are you confident that we could 

637
00:25:37,959 --> 00:25:40,430
do so without jeopardizing national 

638
00:25:40,439 --> 00:25:43,630
security ? I would support that . 

639
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,760
Senator . Thank you very much , Mr 

640
00:25:45,770 --> 00:25:47,992
Secretary . I would also like to submit 

641
00:25:47,992 --> 00:25:49,689
a letter for the record from 

642
00:25:49,699 --> 00:25:52,199
undersecretary mccord supporting my 

643
00:25:52,209 --> 00:25:54,859
bill with Senator King , Senator Lee 

644
00:25:54,869 --> 00:25:57,739
and Senator Braun to end the statutory 

645
00:25:57,750 --> 00:26:00,160
requirement for these lists , as he 

646
00:26:00,170 --> 00:26:02,430
notes in the letter , these lists are 

647
00:26:02,439 --> 00:26:04,760
quote not an effective way to 

648
00:26:04,770 --> 00:26:07,439
illuminate our joint priorities . We 

649
00:26:07,449 --> 00:26:09,589
don't let any other part of federal 

650
00:26:09,599 --> 00:26:11,829
government behave this way and it is 

651
00:26:11,839 --> 00:26:14,420
for a good reason . The budget process 

652
00:26:14,430 --> 00:26:17,089
requires making tough choices . I 

653
00:26:17,099 --> 00:26:19,266
appreciate that the secretary leads in 

654
00:26:19,266 --> 00:26:21,599
that and I would like to submit this 

655
00:26:21,609 --> 00:26:23,942
for the record . Mr , without objection . 

656
00:26:23,942 --> 00:26:26,220
Thank you . Thank you , Senator Warren , 

657
00:26:26,220 --> 00:26:28,553
Senator Tuberville . Please . Thank you , 

658
00:26:28,553 --> 00:26:30,665
Mr Chairman . Thanks for being here . 

659
00:26:30,665 --> 00:26:32,831
Thank you for your service . Secretary 

660
00:26:32,831 --> 00:26:34,887
Austin , thanks for your service and 

661
00:26:34,887 --> 00:26:37,109
your call last week . Secretary mccoy , 

662
00:26:37,109 --> 00:26:38,998
thanks for being here today , not 

663
00:26:38,998 --> 00:26:41,165
getting a lot of questions , but uh uh 

664
00:26:41,165 --> 00:26:41,130
thanks for being here . You know , I 

665
00:26:41,140 --> 00:26:42,918
ran for Senate to serve on this 

666
00:26:42,918 --> 00:26:45,589
committee . Uh I run because my dad , 

667
00:26:45,599 --> 00:26:47,599
he was a World war two veteran . He 

668
00:26:47,599 --> 00:26:49,710
earned five bronze stars and a purple 

669
00:26:49,710 --> 00:26:51,979
heart and he died on active duty and I 

670
00:26:51,989 --> 00:26:54,670
ran to support the war fighter . You 

671
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:57,150
know , we owe our freedom to our troops 

672
00:26:57,780 --> 00:27:00,310
for 50 years . Our all volunteer forces 

673
00:27:00,319 --> 00:27:02,430
answered the call . I think you would 

674
00:27:02,430 --> 00:27:04,486
have to agree to that . Since 1973 , 

675
00:27:04,486 --> 00:27:06,430
we've asked a lot of our Americans 

676
00:27:06,430 --> 00:27:09,050
young volunteers to fight in Vietnam , 

677
00:27:09,060 --> 00:27:11,839
Grenada , Bosnia , Somalia , Iraq , 

678
00:27:11,849 --> 00:27:15,170
Libya , Syria and Afghanistan . They've 

679
00:27:15,180 --> 00:27:17,390
never wavered and boom times and bust 

680
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:20,010
young Americans have raised their right 

681
00:27:20,020 --> 00:27:22,449
hands to defend the constitution with 

682
00:27:22,459 --> 00:27:25,290
their lives . If necessary , war is 

683
00:27:25,300 --> 00:27:27,219
hell , you know that better than 

684
00:27:27,229 --> 00:27:29,540
anybody . Every recruit should know 

685
00:27:29,550 --> 00:27:31,869
that . But in the last two years , we 

686
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:33,936
put them through a different kind of 

687
00:27:33,936 --> 00:27:36,069
hell . In one of your first acts , Mr 

688
00:27:36,079 --> 00:27:38,150
Secretary , you put our military , 

689
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,569
every single member , active duty and 

690
00:27:40,579 --> 00:27:43,329
reserve to a mandatory training to root 

691
00:27:43,339 --> 00:27:46,989
out extremist that sent a message , Mr 

692
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,111
Secretary that our military is filled 

693
00:27:49,111 --> 00:27:51,239
with extremists . Our military is one 

694
00:27:51,250 --> 00:27:54,010
of the most diverse organizations in 

695
00:27:54,020 --> 00:27:57,479
the world . It is full of patriots . 

696
00:27:58,369 --> 00:28:00,369
Eight months later , we watched the 

697
00:28:00,369 --> 00:28:02,425
collapse of Afghanistan . It was the 

698
00:28:02,425 --> 00:28:04,647
worst defeat of the United States in my 

699
00:28:04,647 --> 00:28:06,869
lifetime in agony for most Americans to 

700
00:28:06,869 --> 00:28:08,702
watch on the 20th anniversary of 

701
00:28:08,702 --> 00:28:11,290
September 11 . That defeat gutted our 

702
00:28:11,300 --> 00:28:14,930
troops who served there . The president 

703
00:28:14,939 --> 00:28:17,670
called it a extraordinary success . 

704
00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:19,458
That's not what our veterans of 

705
00:28:19,459 --> 00:28:23,219
Afghanistan call it our withdrawal . A 

706
00:28:23,229 --> 00:28:25,451
big let down to our allies , a military 

707
00:28:25,451 --> 00:28:27,890
disaster and national disgrace . I've 

708
00:28:27,900 --> 00:28:30,067
talked to leaders all over the world . 

709
00:28:30,067 --> 00:28:32,122
They've told me the same thing , not 

710
00:28:32,122 --> 00:28:34,289
one general or political appointee has 

711
00:28:34,289 --> 00:28:36,400
been held accountable . And I want to 

712
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,622
give you an example of accountability . 

713
00:28:38,622 --> 00:28:40,789
General Milley May 2021 , I sent you a 

714
00:28:40,789 --> 00:28:42,789
letter asking for why do we give up 

715
00:28:42,789 --> 00:28:44,956
Bagram now you did answer but it was a 

716
00:28:44,956 --> 00:28:47,489
few months later . Now you have 4500 

717
00:28:47,500 --> 00:28:49,722
people , you know , for the next person 

718
00:28:49,722 --> 00:28:51,944
in line on the joint staff and a budget 

719
00:28:51,944 --> 00:28:54,500
of 250 million . We've got to find ways 

720
00:28:54,510 --> 00:28:56,560
to get information back to Congress 

721
00:28:57,469 --> 00:28:59,247
Secretary Austin . I sent you a 

722
00:28:59,247 --> 00:29:01,302
question in September 2021 . It took 

723
00:29:01,302 --> 00:29:03,469
almost four months . Congress deserves 

724
00:29:03,469 --> 00:29:05,580
better . America deserves better . We 

725
00:29:05,580 --> 00:29:07,802
all deserve better . Now , we're on the 

726
00:29:07,802 --> 00:29:09,747
brink of a world war with Russia . 

727
00:29:09,747 --> 00:29:12,025
China is openly violating our airspace . 

728
00:29:12,025 --> 00:29:14,025
But it took Congress to step in and 

729
00:29:14,025 --> 00:29:16,136
tell our military leaders you to stop 

730
00:29:16,136 --> 00:29:18,358
throwing our troops out who objected to 

731
00:29:18,359 --> 00:29:21,329
a vaccine . Most of them on a religious 

732
00:29:21,630 --> 00:29:25,160
uh factor given what we put our troops 

733
00:29:25,170 --> 00:29:27,392
through in the past two years . It's no 

734
00:29:27,392 --> 00:29:29,614
wonder that the army missed its goal of 

735
00:29:29,614 --> 00:29:31,726
15,000 soldiers . Now , general , you 

736
00:29:31,726 --> 00:29:33,614
know , that's , that is an entire 

737
00:29:33,614 --> 00:29:35,614
division . We can't afford that and 

738
00:29:35,614 --> 00:29:37,726
it's getting worse . The Navy and Air 

739
00:29:37,726 --> 00:29:39,892
Force will probably miss their numbers 

740
00:29:39,892 --> 00:29:42,003
this year . Yet some of my colleagues 

741
00:29:42,003 --> 00:29:44,114
claim that the real crisis is my hold 

742
00:29:44,114 --> 00:29:46,170
on the promotion of 158 general flag 

743
00:29:46,180 --> 00:29:50,050
officers . Mind you , these are 

744
00:29:50,060 --> 00:29:52,282
promotions that the majority leader can 

745
00:29:52,282 --> 00:29:55,180
bring to the floor at any time . Those 

746
00:29:55,189 --> 00:29:57,030
same same people claim expanding 

747
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:58,959
abortion will make our military 

748
00:29:58,969 --> 00:30:01,020
stronger . You know , I want to be 

749
00:30:01,030 --> 00:30:04,589
clear on this . My hold has nothing to 

750
00:30:04,599 --> 00:30:07,550
do with the Supreme Court's decision 

751
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,040
to the access of abortion . This is 

752
00:30:11,050 --> 00:30:13,959
about not forcing the taxpayers of this 

753
00:30:13,969 --> 00:30:16,819
country to fund abortion . That's been 

754
00:30:16,829 --> 00:30:19,051
a bipartisan consensus for more than 40 

755
00:30:19,051 --> 00:30:21,459
years , the military has performed 

756
00:30:21,469 --> 00:30:24,819
abortions for years . All were cases of 

757
00:30:24,829 --> 00:30:27,550
rape , incest and the harm to the mom 

758
00:30:28,229 --> 00:30:30,540
over the past 40 years . I don't recall 

759
00:30:30,550 --> 00:30:32,880
one military person ever complaining 

760
00:30:32,959 --> 00:30:34,848
that we weren't performing enough 

761
00:30:34,848 --> 00:30:37,420
abortions nor did the military raise 

762
00:30:37,430 --> 00:30:39,430
alarm that our servicemen and women 

763
00:30:39,530 --> 00:30:41,530
were being placed in areas that had 

764
00:30:41,530 --> 00:30:43,474
restrictive policies on abortion . 

765
00:30:43,474 --> 00:30:46,489
Poland's restrictive policies . Japan 

766
00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,550
Djibouti , all these theaters have , 

767
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:51,560
have , have abortion policy yet our 

768
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,439
military changed the policy 

769
00:30:56,670 --> 00:30:58,559
to do this job in these different 

770
00:30:58,559 --> 00:31:01,729
theaters . As of 12 days ago , y'all 

771
00:31:01,739 --> 00:31:03,906
got the , the American taxpayer on the 

772
00:31:03,906 --> 00:31:07,329
hook to pay for travel and time off for 

773
00:31:07,339 --> 00:31:10,640
elective abortions and you did not make 

774
00:31:10,650 --> 00:31:14,479
this with anybody in this room . Are 

775
00:31:14,489 --> 00:31:17,160
Congress taking a vote ? In fact , this 

776
00:31:17,170 --> 00:31:19,337
contradicts what Congress has actually 

777
00:31:19,337 --> 00:31:21,680
voted for most of us . Some of us in 

778
00:31:21,689 --> 00:31:24,069
the room if not all senators that have 

779
00:31:24,079 --> 00:31:27,250
been complaining about this have voted 

780
00:31:27,260 --> 00:31:29,204
for the Hyde amendment many , many 

781
00:31:29,204 --> 00:31:31,260
times . But now my colleagues on the 

782
00:31:31,260 --> 00:31:33,427
left think this abortion issue is good 

783
00:31:33,427 --> 00:31:35,427
for a campaign and that's what this 

784
00:31:35,427 --> 00:31:37,538
shouldn't be about . I'm not going to 

785
00:31:37,538 --> 00:31:39,538
let our military be politicized . I 

786
00:31:39,538 --> 00:31:41,649
want our military to be the strongest 

787
00:31:41,649 --> 00:31:43,704
and the deadliest it has ever been . 

788
00:31:43,704 --> 00:31:45,816
But I also want the administration to 

789
00:31:45,816 --> 00:31:47,871
follow the law . As long as I have a 

790
00:31:47,871 --> 00:31:49,816
voice in this body , Congress will 

791
00:31:49,816 --> 00:31:51,927
write the laws , not the Secretary of 

792
00:31:51,927 --> 00:31:54,699
Defense , not the Joint Chiefs General . 

793
00:31:54,709 --> 00:31:56,949
You said nothing is more expensive than 

794
00:31:56,959 --> 00:31:59,859
preparing for war or fighting a war . I 

795
00:31:59,869 --> 00:32:02,520
truly agree . That's the reason if we 

796
00:32:02,530 --> 00:32:04,474
want something to spend money on , 

797
00:32:04,474 --> 00:32:06,697
let's pass it and let's put it in the N 

798
00:32:06,697 --> 00:32:08,974
D A A , you know , I represent Alabama , 

799
00:32:08,989 --> 00:32:11,045
but also represent everybody in this 

800
00:32:11,045 --> 00:32:13,719
country , everybody , all 320 million , 

801
00:32:14,540 --> 00:32:16,550
all of us do y'all represent the 

802
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:19,050
military ? But you also are responsible 

803
00:32:19,060 --> 00:32:21,060
and represent every citizen in this 

804
00:32:21,060 --> 00:32:23,171
country . That's the reason that this 

805
00:32:23,171 --> 00:32:25,393
country is so strong and we all need to 

806
00:32:25,393 --> 00:32:27,671
understand that . Get on the same page . 

807
00:32:27,671 --> 00:32:29,838
I'm willing to work with you . I'm not 

808
00:32:29,838 --> 00:32:29,349
here to fight . Hey , I'm here . We're 

809
00:32:29,359 --> 00:32:31,470
all on the same team and I wanna work 

810
00:32:31,470 --> 00:32:33,526
with you to make this happen . Thank 

811
00:32:33,526 --> 00:32:35,800
you , Mr Chairman . I think it's 

812
00:32:35,810 --> 00:32:38,032
appropriate that the secretary and , or 

813
00:32:38,032 --> 00:32:40,088
the general have to respond . Well , 

814
00:32:40,088 --> 00:32:42,032
well , thank you , sir . And , and 

815
00:32:42,032 --> 00:32:44,143
first of all , let me just say thanks 

816
00:32:44,143 --> 00:32:46,366
for the support you've given us to this 

817
00:32:46,366 --> 00:32:48,532
point . And I really uh implore you to 

818
00:32:48,532 --> 00:32:52,430
reconsider uh in , in uh allow 

819
00:32:52,439 --> 00:32:54,839
our uh nominations to move forward . It 

820
00:32:54,849 --> 00:32:57,016
will make a significant difference for 

821
00:32:57,016 --> 00:32:59,939
our force . Uh Just to address a couple 

822
00:32:59,949 --> 00:33:02,280
of things that uh that you mentioned . 

823
00:33:02,670 --> 00:33:06,530
Uh first of all , uh you said that , uh 

824
00:33:07,189 --> 00:33:09,560
you know , I had our troops focus on 

825
00:33:09,569 --> 00:33:11,791
rooting out extremism and nothing could 

826
00:33:11,791 --> 00:33:14,260
be further from the truth . You know , 

827
00:33:14,270 --> 00:33:17,569
each of our units , troops spent a 

828
00:33:17,579 --> 00:33:20,760
couple of hours talking about a number 

829
00:33:20,770 --> 00:33:23,500
of things . We've always had 

830
00:33:23,510 --> 00:33:26,250
regulations against extremist behavior . 

831
00:33:26,689 --> 00:33:30,630
And you've heard me say that 99.9% 

832
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:33,359
of our troops are focused on the right 

833
00:33:33,369 --> 00:33:35,930
things each and every day . But in this 

834
00:33:35,939 --> 00:33:39,579
case , a small set of actions 

835
00:33:39,589 --> 00:33:43,500
can have outsized impact on the vaccine 

836
00:33:43,510 --> 00:33:45,979
mandate , the vaccine mandate in my 

837
00:33:45,989 --> 00:33:48,680
view , saved lives . Uh and it saved a 

838
00:33:48,689 --> 00:33:52,140
lot of lives . And , and uh and so , um 

839
00:33:52,199 --> 00:33:55,550
you know , I I uh we , we don't see a 

840
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,770
strong correlation between uh vaccine 

841
00:33:58,780 --> 00:34:01,800
mandate and recruiting and we don't see 

842
00:34:01,810 --> 00:34:03,810
that because we've done the surveys 

843
00:34:03,810 --> 00:34:06,260
that indicate that that's just not uh 

844
00:34:06,270 --> 00:34:08,214
not true that there's not a strong 

845
00:34:08,214 --> 00:34:11,139
correlation . Now , on the issue of uh 

846
00:34:11,149 --> 00:34:14,719
of providing noncovered 

847
00:34:14,729 --> 00:34:17,399
reproductive health care for our women , 

848
00:34:17,820 --> 00:34:20,260
I would just say Senator , one in 

849
00:34:20,270 --> 00:34:22,449
almost one in five of our troops are 

850
00:34:22,459 --> 00:34:25,229
women and , and they don't get a chance 

851
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,639
to choose where they're stationed . So 

852
00:34:27,649 --> 00:34:30,709
almost 80,000 of our women are 

853
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,729
stationed in places where they don't 

854
00:34:33,739 --> 00:34:36,399
have access to non covered reproductive 

855
00:34:36,409 --> 00:34:39,229
health care . And I , I heard from our 

856
00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:41,320
troops , I heard from our senior 

857
00:34:41,330 --> 00:34:45,090
leaders , I heard from uh from our , 

858
00:34:45,100 --> 00:34:47,550
our , our chiefs and also our 

859
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:51,080
secretaries . And , and this policy is 

860
00:34:51,090 --> 00:34:54,688
based on a strong legal 

861
00:34:54,698 --> 00:34:58,138
ground and it is not a law , it is a 

862
00:34:58,148 --> 00:35:00,708
policy . And so , you know , we 

863
00:35:00,718 --> 00:35:02,551
obviously don't pass laws in the 

864
00:35:02,551 --> 00:35:05,198
Department of Defense . But again , I 

865
00:35:05,208 --> 00:35:08,079
assure you that we have great respect 

866
00:35:08,089 --> 00:35:10,311
for this body , Congress and we will do 

867
00:35:10,311 --> 00:35:12,311
everything within our power to make 

868
00:35:12,311 --> 00:35:14,256
sure that we continue to work with 

869
00:35:14,256 --> 00:35:16,422
Congress . Again , you supported us in 

870
00:35:16,422 --> 00:35:18,311
a number of ways , Senator , I am 

871
00:35:18,311 --> 00:35:20,367
personally grateful for that support 

872
00:35:20,367 --> 00:35:22,533
and I know my colleagues are as well . 

873
00:35:22,533 --> 00:35:26,209
But thank you . Uh Let me recognize uh 

874
00:35:26,219 --> 00:35:28,439
Senator Manchin . Thank you , Mr 

875
00:35:28,449 --> 00:35:30,560
Chairman . I want to thank all of you 

876
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,560
for your service and for being here 

877
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:34,616
today to testify . I first wanted to 

878
00:35:34,616 --> 00:35:36,782
say to General Milley , I wanna take a 

879
00:35:36,782 --> 00:35:38,893
moment to thank you for your 43 years 

880
00:35:38,893 --> 00:35:38,719
of service , the commitment to our 

881
00:35:38,729 --> 00:35:40,451
country and the dedication and 

882
00:35:40,451 --> 00:35:42,673
sacrifice your family has made for that 

883
00:35:42,673 --> 00:35:44,959
with you able to serve . And I look 

884
00:35:44,969 --> 00:35:46,913
forward to you having enjoyment in 

885
00:35:46,913 --> 00:35:49,500
retirement and your second career . I 

886
00:35:49,510 --> 00:35:51,399
know whatever it'll be , it'll be 

887
00:35:51,399 --> 00:35:53,510
something special and we look forward 

888
00:35:53,510 --> 00:35:55,510
to continuing to work with you . Um 

889
00:35:57,090 --> 00:35:59,620
Secretary Austin , uh multiple sources 

890
00:35:59,629 --> 00:36:02,110
including retired general officers and 

891
00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:05,010
National Defense Industrial Association , 

892
00:36:05,020 --> 00:36:07,020
American Enterprise Institute . And 

893
00:36:07,020 --> 00:36:09,076
your colleague , Mr mccord , uh have 

894
00:36:09,076 --> 00:36:11,131
all recognized the damage failing to 

895
00:36:11,131 --> 00:36:13,187
pass a budget on time as both in our 

896
00:36:13,187 --> 00:36:15,298
national security and the taxpayers . 

897
00:36:15,298 --> 00:36:17,298
Uh What I'm trying to get to and Mr 

898
00:36:17,298 --> 00:36:19,520
mccord , no one knows better than you . 

899
00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:21,860
How damaging delays in C R S ? Have 

900
00:36:21,870 --> 00:36:23,981
they been previously ? You noted that 

901
00:36:23,981 --> 00:36:25,949
from fiscal year 91 to 2010 , the 

902
00:36:25,959 --> 00:36:28,290
average delay for defense appropriation 

903
00:36:28,300 --> 00:36:31,000
was 29 days . That was between 

904
00:36:31,010 --> 00:36:34,149
1991 and 2010 . And that has since 

905
00:36:34,159 --> 00:36:38,110
ballooned out to 118 days . Also , 

906
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:39,953
we're talking about the American 

907
00:36:39,953 --> 00:36:42,176
Enterprise Institute . They threw out a 

908
00:36:42,176 --> 00:36:44,453
rough estimate of $200 million per day , 

909
00:36:44,689 --> 00:36:46,909
200 million per day under the latest 

910
00:36:46,919 --> 00:36:49,086
continuing resolution that covered the 

911
00:36:49,086 --> 00:36:52,429
start of fiscal year 2023 , that has a 

912
00:36:52,439 --> 00:36:55,040
total of $18 billion . 

913
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,310
So I guess what I'm asking is , uh both 

914
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,110
of yours uh and , and Mr mccord's uh 

915
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:04,560
commitment to , to get Congress all of 

916
00:37:04,570 --> 00:37:06,626
you to do accurate . I mean , I know 

917
00:37:06,626 --> 00:37:08,626
you come in here and you preach the 

918
00:37:08,626 --> 00:37:10,848
high heavens and we seem to not take it 

919
00:37:10,848 --> 00:37:12,959
seriously at all . We're talking real 

920
00:37:12,959 --> 00:37:14,959
dollars now , real dollars and they 

921
00:37:14,959 --> 00:37:17,070
think that basically the budget keeps 

922
00:37:17,070 --> 00:37:19,181
ballooning out of , uh , out of sight 

923
00:37:19,181 --> 00:37:21,292
and we have no oversight whatsoever . 

924
00:37:21,292 --> 00:37:23,540
If we , as Congress just did our job on 

925
00:37:23,550 --> 00:37:25,649
time , we're told overall you could 

926
00:37:25,659 --> 00:37:28,250
save anywhere between 5 to 10% of the 

927
00:37:28,260 --> 00:37:31,169
request you have . That's 40 to $80 

928
00:37:31,179 --> 00:37:33,929
billion a year . Is that an accurate 

929
00:37:33,939 --> 00:37:36,639
statement ? I , I , I think so . I , I 

930
00:37:36,649 --> 00:37:39,500
defer to uh Secretary mccord for exact 

931
00:37:39,770 --> 00:37:43,070
figures , but let him but , but uh uh 

932
00:37:43,090 --> 00:37:44,969
you you're absolutely right . Uh 

933
00:37:44,979 --> 00:37:47,840
Senator and you heard me say uh in my 

934
00:37:47,850 --> 00:37:50,072
opening statement that the , you know , 

935
00:37:50,072 --> 00:37:52,989
the , the best way that uh Congress can 

936
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,111
help us in this year going forward is 

937
00:37:55,111 --> 00:37:56,833
to try to get an on time uh uh 

938
00:37:56,833 --> 00:38:00,110
appropriation uh done . Uh you know , 

939
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:02,342
without that , we can't do new starts , 

940
00:38:02,342 --> 00:38:04,398
we can't do a number of things and , 

941
00:38:04,398 --> 00:38:06,564
and you can't get that time back , you 

942
00:38:06,564 --> 00:38:08,787
know , it's , it's gone and , and , and 

943
00:38:08,787 --> 00:38:11,009
so that puts us further behind in terms 

944
00:38:11,009 --> 00:38:12,731
of our competition with , with 

945
00:38:12,731 --> 00:38:16,570
adversaries like China Mr Secretary M I 

946
00:38:16,580 --> 00:38:18,929
would concur your figures are accurate . 

947
00:38:18,939 --> 00:38:21,106
Uh Senator and as the secretary said , 

948
00:38:21,106 --> 00:38:23,217
we can't buy back time with money and 

949
00:38:23,217 --> 00:38:25,383
that goes on the readiness side with a 

950
00:38:25,383 --> 00:38:27,669
miss training rotation uh due to 

951
00:38:27,679 --> 00:38:29,901
shortage of funds , but it's especially 

952
00:38:29,901 --> 00:38:32,012
harmful on the contracting side . And 

953
00:38:32,012 --> 00:38:34,068
we've got areas like the triad where 

954
00:38:34,068 --> 00:38:36,123
we're trying to move the bomber into 

955
00:38:36,123 --> 00:38:38,290
low rate production uh that we can't , 

956
00:38:38,290 --> 00:38:40,457
we can't take those next steps under C 

957
00:38:40,457 --> 00:38:42,623
R as , as you know , and that's that , 

958
00:38:42,623 --> 00:38:44,790
that's uh the biggest lost opportunity 

959
00:38:44,790 --> 00:38:46,846
that comes in moving forward where , 

960
00:38:46,846 --> 00:38:46,379
where we're constrained legally . So 

961
00:38:46,389 --> 00:38:48,389
basically , we have nonproductive , 

962
00:38:48,389 --> 00:38:50,290
nonproductive money that we are 

963
00:38:50,300 --> 00:38:52,520
appropriating . That's used basically 

964
00:38:52,530 --> 00:38:54,586
to make up for the inefficiencies of 

965
00:38:54,586 --> 00:38:56,752
Congress because of our budget process 

966
00:38:57,350 --> 00:38:59,461
without you having to say anything or 

967
00:38:59,461 --> 00:39:01,461
confirm that that's what I'm taking 

968
00:39:01,461 --> 00:39:03,683
away from this little conversation that 

969
00:39:03,683 --> 00:39:05,850
we've had . And I'm doing everything I 

970
00:39:05,850 --> 00:39:08,128
can to make sure we do our job on time . 

971
00:39:08,128 --> 00:39:10,294
You know , by April 1st , by Law House 

972
00:39:10,294 --> 00:39:12,461
in a sense , supposed to have a budget 

973
00:39:12,461 --> 00:39:14,572
by April 15th by law , we're supposed 

974
00:39:14,572 --> 00:39:16,572
to have one reconciled by September 

975
00:39:16,572 --> 00:39:18,628
30th by law we're supposed to pass , 

976
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:21,096
that would change the course of what 

977
00:39:21,096 --> 00:39:23,040
we're doing and how we're spending 

978
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:24,984
right now tremendously rather than 

979
00:39:24,984 --> 00:39:27,207
cutting anything just being efficient . 

980
00:39:27,207 --> 00:39:26,659
So I would hope that we would all take 

981
00:39:26,669 --> 00:39:28,840
that seriously . General Milley , as 

982
00:39:28,850 --> 00:39:30,961
you know , since the beginning of the 

983
00:39:30,961 --> 00:39:33,017
Putin's illegal war in Ukraine , the 

984
00:39:33,017 --> 00:39:34,794
United States has provided over 

985
00:39:34,794 --> 00:39:36,850
$76 billion and justified funding to 

986
00:39:36,850 --> 00:39:38,961
support Ukraine and both the military 

987
00:39:38,961 --> 00:39:41,072
defense of their people and freedom , 

988
00:39:41,072 --> 00:39:41,050
but also humanitarian and 

989
00:39:41,060 --> 00:39:43,227
infrastructure support . Can you speak 

990
00:39:43,227 --> 00:39:46,060
to your confidence in the US NATO , 

991
00:39:46,070 --> 00:39:48,649
Ukrainian weapons accountability and 

992
00:39:48,659 --> 00:39:51,889
possibly elaborate on the joint 

993
00:39:51,899 --> 00:39:54,159
strategic oversight plan was announced 

994
00:39:54,169 --> 00:39:56,336
that was announced by this year by the 

995
00:39:56,336 --> 00:39:59,060
inspector generals of the Dod State 

996
00:39:59,070 --> 00:40:01,939
Department and USA ID . They all as you 

997
00:40:01,949 --> 00:40:04,889
know , Senator , we do not have any 

998
00:40:04,899 --> 00:40:07,500
uniformed troops or civilians for that 

999
00:40:07,510 --> 00:40:09,677
matter , accompanying Ukrainian forces 

1000
00:40:09,677 --> 00:40:11,770
in the front line . We do have folks 

1001
00:40:11,780 --> 00:40:13,891
working out of the embassy so they're 

1002
00:40:13,891 --> 00:40:15,836
working at the Ministry of Defense 

1003
00:40:15,836 --> 00:40:18,439
level and that's as far as our hands on 

1004
00:40:18,449 --> 00:40:20,560
accountability goes , we do have some 

1005
00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:24,159
other means through reporting that 

1006
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,542
the Ukrainians report to us and I'll be 

1007
00:40:26,542 --> 00:40:28,209
happy to talk about that in a 

1008
00:40:28,209 --> 00:40:30,431
classified session . But there are some 

1009
00:40:30,431 --> 00:40:32,209
means and mechanisms doing some 

1010
00:40:32,209 --> 00:40:34,376
accountability . It is not as rigorous 

1011
00:40:34,376 --> 00:40:36,598
as you might think . Uh But I think the 

1012
00:40:36,598 --> 00:40:38,487
the biggest uh way to measure the 

1013
00:40:38,487 --> 00:40:38,280
accountability of effectiveness on the 

1014
00:40:38,290 --> 00:40:40,429
Russian forces , uh these antitank 

1015
00:40:40,439 --> 00:40:42,606
munitions . This artillery is having a 

1016
00:40:42,606 --> 00:40:44,828
devastating effect on the Russians . As 

1017
00:40:44,828 --> 00:40:47,050
you know , publicly , the Russians have 

1018
00:40:47,050 --> 00:40:49,106
well over 200,000 casualties . Their 

1019
00:40:49,106 --> 00:40:50,883
offensive aspirations have come 

1020
00:40:50,883 --> 00:40:52,550
essentially to a halt . Their 

1021
00:40:52,550 --> 00:40:54,661
capabilities have been . Their ground 

1022
00:40:54,661 --> 00:40:56,828
forces have been absolutely impaled on 

1023
00:40:56,828 --> 00:40:58,883
this Ukrainian Bat so to speak . And 

1024
00:40:58,883 --> 00:41:00,939
that is largely due to the resources 

1025
00:41:00,939 --> 00:41:02,772
that the United States and other 

1026
00:41:02,772 --> 00:41:04,995
countries have provided . So , although 

1027
00:41:04,995 --> 00:41:06,939
we don't have by name , do sort of 

1028
00:41:06,939 --> 00:41:08,550
accountability , show number 

1029
00:41:08,550 --> 00:41:08,520
accountability . You can see the 

1030
00:41:08,530 --> 00:41:10,530
accountability on the battlefield . 

1031
00:41:10,530 --> 00:41:12,530
Yeah , my time is running out . I'd 

1032
00:41:12,530 --> 00:41:14,586
love to ask you about the EU F . I'm 

1033
00:41:14,586 --> 00:41:14,350
sure you probably talked about the E M 

1034
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:16,527
F before I got here . But thank you so 

1035
00:41:16,527 --> 00:41:18,582
much . I appreciate it . Thank you , 

1036
00:41:18,582 --> 00:41:20,582
Senator Manchin . Senator Schmidt , 

1037
00:41:20,582 --> 00:41:23,899
please . Uh Thank you , Mr Chairman , 

1038
00:41:24,290 --> 00:41:27,310
um Secretary Austin and by the way , 

1039
00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:29,376
both for both of you . Thank you for 

1040
00:41:29,376 --> 00:41:31,598
your service to the country . We really 

1041
00:41:31,598 --> 00:41:33,709
do appreciate it . I do , I know I do 

1042
00:41:33,709 --> 00:41:35,820
the folks back home do . Uh Secretary 

1043
00:41:35,820 --> 00:41:37,709
Austin . I wanted to um ask you a 

1044
00:41:37,709 --> 00:41:40,610
couple of questions , um sort of along 

1045
00:41:40,620 --> 00:41:42,530
the lines of , of what uh Senator 

1046
00:41:42,540 --> 00:41:45,949
Tuberville asked you mentioned earlier 

1047
00:41:45,959 --> 00:41:48,126
that you didn't want to spend a lot of 

1048
00:41:48,126 --> 00:41:50,348
time and you thought that it was a drag 

1049
00:41:50,348 --> 00:41:52,292
on our , on our force and spending 

1050
00:41:52,292 --> 00:41:51,860
money on things that don't make us a 

1051
00:41:51,870 --> 00:41:54,110
fighting force . You just mentioned 

1052
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:55,953
that you don't get the time back 

1053
00:41:57,729 --> 00:42:00,699
with the , uh the stand down day to 

1054
00:42:00,709 --> 00:42:03,590
address extremism that cost the 

1055
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:05,969
military and taxpayers nearly 5.4 

1056
00:42:05,979 --> 00:42:09,550
million man hours . And as we talk 

1057
00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:12,179
about recruitment , I think it is 

1058
00:42:12,189 --> 00:42:14,310
completely naive to , to when we talk 

1059
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:16,699
about the numbers to separate the 

1060
00:42:16,709 --> 00:42:20,139
challenges that we have now from the , 

1061
00:42:20,149 --> 00:42:22,209
the , the politics , the divisive 

1062
00:42:22,219 --> 00:42:24,275
politics that have been injected now 

1063
00:42:24,275 --> 00:42:26,497
into the military . The military stands 

1064
00:42:26,497 --> 00:42:28,663
as this great meritocracy where people 

1065
00:42:28,663 --> 00:42:30,552
can achieve great things . But by 

1066
00:42:30,552 --> 00:42:32,699
infusing divisive D E I trainings by 

1067
00:42:32,709 --> 00:42:35,169
infusing abortion politics , by 

1068
00:42:35,179 --> 00:42:38,300
infusing COVID vaccine mandates . It 

1069
00:42:38,310 --> 00:42:40,421
has created division in the ranks and 

1070
00:42:40,421 --> 00:42:42,310
we have heard from those military 

1071
00:42:42,310 --> 00:42:44,540
members and I sent you a letter last 

1072
00:42:44,550 --> 00:42:48,189
week and I wanna ask you , we 

1073
00:42:48,199 --> 00:42:50,310
talked about in the letter referenced 

1074
00:42:50,310 --> 00:42:53,639
the $86.5 million for dedicated 

1075
00:42:53,649 --> 00:42:57,040
diversity and inclusion activities . I 

1076
00:42:57,050 --> 00:42:59,272
want to ask you here today , how many D 

1077
00:42:59,272 --> 00:43:01,217
E I related positions exist in the 

1078
00:43:01,217 --> 00:43:05,070
Department of Defense ? I I can't 

1079
00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:07,136
speak to that specific number . I'll 

1080
00:43:07,136 --> 00:43:09,302
take that question for the record with 

1081
00:43:09,302 --> 00:43:12,870
your permission . Uh Senator um and , 

1082
00:43:12,879 --> 00:43:15,030
and in terms of that number , um 

1083
00:43:16,750 --> 00:43:20,260
it's a small percentage of uh an $842 

1084
00:43:20,270 --> 00:43:22,750
billion budget . Um And , and I would 

1085
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:24,927
just further point out with respect to 

1086
00:43:24,927 --> 00:43:27,629
D E I I , I think , you know , Senator , 

1087
00:43:27,639 --> 00:43:31,250
that Congress requires that we have AD 

1088
00:43:31,260 --> 00:43:34,969
E I program uh in the 2020 N D A , 

1089
00:43:35,429 --> 00:43:39,399
uh it states the 

1090
00:43:39,409 --> 00:43:41,520
Secretary of Defense shall design and 

1091
00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:43,576
implement a five year strategic plan 

1092
00:43:43,576 --> 00:43:45,520
for diversity and inclusion in the 

1093
00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:47,798
Department of Defense . Yeah , I don't , 

1094
00:43:47,798 --> 00:43:49,965
but I don't know what these activities 

1095
00:43:49,965 --> 00:43:49,649
are , which is the purpose of the 

1096
00:43:49,659 --> 00:43:52,830
letter . I don't know what materials 

1097
00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:54,896
are being submitted . We looked . So 

1098
00:43:54,896 --> 00:43:56,784
hopefully the the response to the 

1099
00:43:56,784 --> 00:43:59,007
letter will be in fact be responsive to 

1100
00:43:59,007 --> 00:44:01,118
what actually is being pushed uh with 

1101
00:44:01,118 --> 00:44:03,284
these so called trainings . And then I 

1102
00:44:03,284 --> 00:44:05,229
do want to ask you . So there were 

1103
00:44:05,229 --> 00:44:08,629
nearly 17,000 , well , there are over 

1104
00:44:08,639 --> 00:44:11,739
8000 military men and women who lost 

1105
00:44:11,750 --> 00:44:13,972
their jobs because of the COVID vaccine 

1106
00:44:13,972 --> 00:44:16,194
mandate . Is that correct ? Uh That's , 

1107
00:44:16,194 --> 00:44:18,306
that's , that's about right . OK . So 

1108
00:44:18,306 --> 00:44:20,472
we talk about recruitment challenges . 

1109
00:44:20,472 --> 00:44:22,639
Are you actively going after to try to 

1110
00:44:22,639 --> 00:44:24,639
get those 8000 people back ? They , 

1111
00:44:24,639 --> 00:44:26,861
they have a uh they have the ability to 

1112
00:44:26,861 --> 00:44:28,972
uh Well , right now , I'm asking what 

1113
00:44:28,972 --> 00:44:30,806
are your efforts ? They have the 

1114
00:44:30,806 --> 00:44:32,583
ability to reapply for , for uh 

1115
00:44:32,583 --> 00:44:34,750
readmission . Are you recruiting these 

1116
00:44:34,750 --> 00:44:36,861
folks ? Are you not recruiting them ? 

1117
00:44:36,861 --> 00:44:38,972
But they have the ability ? 8000 well 

1118
00:44:38,972 --> 00:44:41,139
trained folks , we , we are recruiting 

1119
00:44:41,139 --> 00:44:43,361
new recruits ? OK . And so what happens 

1120
00:44:43,361 --> 00:44:45,770
now to the remaining several 1000 who 

1121
00:44:45,780 --> 00:44:48,669
uh , didn't get the vaccine . Are you 

1122
00:44:48,679 --> 00:44:50,512
intending to fire them as well ? 

1123
00:44:52,540 --> 00:44:54,596
There are several folks that weren't 

1124
00:44:54,596 --> 00:44:56,651
immediately dismissed who refuse the 

1125
00:44:56,651 --> 00:44:58,984
vaccine ? They're still in the military . 

1126
00:44:58,984 --> 00:45:01,207
Are you planning to fire those folks as 

1127
00:45:01,207 --> 00:45:03,262
well ? Vaccine mandate ? Senator has 

1128
00:45:03,262 --> 00:45:05,596
been rescind ? So you don't , you ? Now , 

1129
00:45:05,596 --> 00:45:05,429
even though they were refusing when you 

1130
00:45:05,439 --> 00:45:07,790
did have the policy ? That's right . So 

1131
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:09,800
your commitment here today is those 

1132
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:12,078
folks are not going to lose their jobs , 

1133
00:45:12,209 --> 00:45:14,320
not for a vaccine mandate . Senator . 

1134
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:16,431
Ok . Well , I would submit that . I'd 

1135
00:45:16,431 --> 00:45:18,431
like to go back to the five million 

1136
00:45:18,431 --> 00:45:20,653
hours that you mentioned . And I'd like 

1137
00:45:20,653 --> 00:45:22,820
to ask the chairman who submitted that 

1138
00:45:22,820 --> 00:45:24,876
number where that number came from . 

1139
00:45:24,876 --> 00:45:27,098
We'd be happy to back it up if you take 

1140
00:45:27,098 --> 00:45:26,629
uh the stand down day by the number of 

1141
00:45:26,639 --> 00:45:28,729
folks that didn't work that day , 

1142
00:45:29,209 --> 00:45:31,209
that's where we get the number . So 

1143
00:45:31,209 --> 00:45:33,542
we'd be happy to follow up specifically . 

1144
00:45:33,542 --> 00:45:35,598
I do have a question that's , that's 

1145
00:45:35,598 --> 00:45:37,653
not accurate . Senator . Ok . Well , 

1146
00:45:37,653 --> 00:45:39,765
how maybe you can answer how many man 

1147
00:45:39,765 --> 00:45:39,679
hours were sacrificed that day ? You 

1148
00:45:39,689 --> 00:45:41,745
just testified . You can't get those 

1149
00:45:41,745 --> 00:45:43,578
hours back . How many hours were 

1150
00:45:43,578 --> 00:45:45,745
sacrificed on the stand down day ? Let 

1151
00:45:45,745 --> 00:45:45,320
me ask him to tell you where the 

1152
00:45:45,330 --> 00:45:47,441
numbers came from . Ok . Well , maybe 

1153
00:45:47,441 --> 00:45:49,663
you can get us those numbers when you , 

1154
00:45:49,663 --> 00:45:51,886
when you respond to the letters also as 

1155
00:45:51,886 --> 00:45:54,219
simple as this , you know , they , when , 

1156
00:45:54,219 --> 00:45:56,441
when asked to provide that number , his 

1157
00:45:56,441 --> 00:45:58,489
uh his approach was , there are 2.1 

1158
00:45:58,500 --> 00:46:01,080
million troops , each one , each troop 

1159
00:46:01,090 --> 00:46:03,280
spent uh , two hours and that's where 

1160
00:46:03,290 --> 00:46:05,512
the number comes from . Ok . Well , you 

1161
00:46:05,512 --> 00:46:07,401
can't get the time back , right . 

1162
00:46:07,401 --> 00:46:06,979
Whatever that number was , you can't 

1163
00:46:06,989 --> 00:46:08,822
get that time back . Two hours . 

1164
00:46:08,822 --> 00:46:10,767
Generally , I do want to ask you a 

1165
00:46:10,767 --> 00:46:12,878
question because I'm , I'm limited on 

1166
00:46:12,878 --> 00:46:14,989
time . I do want to ask you about the 

1167
00:46:14,989 --> 00:46:17,211
Philippines . Um , which , uh , I think 

1168
00:46:17,211 --> 00:46:17,020
you had mentioned in your previous 

1169
00:46:17,350 --> 00:46:19,939
remarks about uh that strength , that 

1170
00:46:19,949 --> 00:46:22,116
relationship continues to grow , which 

1171
00:46:22,116 --> 00:46:24,227
I personally think is critical in the 

1172
00:46:24,227 --> 00:46:26,489
Indo Pacific . Can you talk about what 

1173
00:46:26,500 --> 00:46:28,611
some of those efforts where you think 

1174
00:46:28,611 --> 00:46:30,611
that's headed ? I think as we , you 

1175
00:46:30,611 --> 00:46:32,778
know , obviously the , the allies that 

1176
00:46:32,778 --> 00:46:32,770
talked about the most Japan Australia 

1177
00:46:32,780 --> 00:46:35,002
and India . But I think the Philippines 

1178
00:46:35,002 --> 00:46:37,224
are critical . Could you talk about the 

1179
00:46:37,224 --> 00:46:39,336
strategic value of strengthening that 

1180
00:46:39,336 --> 00:46:41,447
relationship ? I can senator . Uh But 

1181
00:46:41,447 --> 00:46:43,558
just point of clarification , uh it's 

1182
00:46:43,558 --> 00:46:45,613
2.1 million , two hours affected two 

1183
00:46:45,620 --> 00:46:47,929
hours per person . That's for the 5.4 

1184
00:46:47,939 --> 00:46:50,889
million , that's out of 2.8 billion man 

1185
00:46:50,899 --> 00:46:53,010
hours available affected on a 10 hour 

1186
00:46:53,010 --> 00:46:55,177
work day , five days a week for the US 

1187
00:46:55,177 --> 00:46:57,232
military ? Ok . Well , we're talking 

1188
00:46:57,232 --> 00:46:59,455
about dollars or hours . Millions still 

1189
00:46:59,455 --> 00:47:01,677
matter . No , no folks that I represent 

1190
00:47:01,677 --> 00:47:03,955
think a million is a big number . Yeah , 

1191
00:47:03,955 --> 00:47:06,010
I'm just saying what the , where the 

1192
00:47:06,010 --> 00:47:08,177
math came from . Um And , and on the , 

1193
00:47:08,177 --> 00:47:10,232
on the Philippines but in broad more 

1194
00:47:10,232 --> 00:47:12,121
broadly than the Philippines , uh 

1195
00:47:12,121 --> 00:47:14,232
generally the Western Pacific . Uh It 

1196
00:47:14,232 --> 00:47:16,343
is my view that uh China is you heard 

1197
00:47:16,343 --> 00:47:18,399
it in the opening statement uh is uh 

1198
00:47:18,399 --> 00:47:20,510
trying to become the regional hegemon 

1199
00:47:20,510 --> 00:47:22,788
uh within perhaps 10 or 15 years or so . 

1200
00:47:22,788 --> 00:47:24,677
And part of that , of course , is 

1201
00:47:24,677 --> 00:47:26,899
putting the Philippines and other 

1202
00:47:26,909 --> 00:47:29,040
countries in the region at a 

1203
00:47:29,050 --> 00:47:31,272
disadvantage . Those countries want the 

1204
00:47:31,272 --> 00:47:33,272
United States presence there . They 

1205
00:47:33,272 --> 00:47:35,272
clearly do . Uh There's a really an 

1206
00:47:35,272 --> 00:47:37,328
under reported arms race going on in 

1207
00:47:37,328 --> 00:47:39,439
the Western Pacific right now , these 

1208
00:47:39,439 --> 00:47:41,606
countries are arming themselves up and 

1209
00:47:41,606 --> 00:47:43,939
they very much with very few exceptions , 

1210
00:47:43,939 --> 00:47:43,709
want the United States there . That's 

1211
00:47:43,719 --> 00:47:45,608
why the secretary traveled to the 

1212
00:47:45,608 --> 00:47:47,775
Philippines . That's why we're looking 

1213
00:47:47,775 --> 00:47:49,775
at uh access basing and oversight . 

1214
00:47:49,775 --> 00:47:51,941
That's why we're looking at a reposing 

1215
00:47:51,941 --> 00:47:51,840
in the Western Pacific . Uh It is a , 

1216
00:47:51,850 --> 00:47:54,449
it is a design there uh to be forward 

1217
00:47:54,459 --> 00:47:56,969
deployed in order to deter armed 

1218
00:47:56,979 --> 00:47:58,979
conflict with a great power , great 

1219
00:47:58,979 --> 00:48:00,923
power being China in this case and 

1220
00:48:00,923 --> 00:48:03,090
deter Chinese aggression , not only in 

1221
00:48:03,090 --> 00:48:04,868
the Western Pacific but perhaps 

1222
00:48:04,868 --> 00:48:06,868
elsewhere . So these are all linked 

1223
00:48:06,868 --> 00:48:09,090
together , tied together . There's many 

1224
00:48:09,090 --> 00:48:10,923
other initiatives ongoing by the 

1225
00:48:10,923 --> 00:48:13,146
services and also by other countries as 

1226
00:48:13,146 --> 00:48:15,146
well . But it's really critical and 

1227
00:48:15,146 --> 00:48:14,784
it's really critical that we get it 

1228
00:48:14,794 --> 00:48:16,905
done , right . Uh And we need to move 

1229
00:48:16,905 --> 00:48:19,127
out with a sense of urgency because the 

1230
00:48:19,127 --> 00:48:21,183
next five years I think are gonna be 

1231
00:48:21,183 --> 00:48:23,127
determinative uh of uh really what 

1232
00:48:23,127 --> 00:48:24,738
comes in the future with our 

1233
00:48:24,738 --> 00:48:26,850
relationship with China . Thank you , 

1234
00:48:26,850 --> 00:48:29,540
General Senator Peters , please . Thank 

1235
00:48:29,550 --> 00:48:31,661
you , Mr Chairman and uh uh the three 

1236
00:48:31,661 --> 00:48:33,383
of you . Thank you uh for your 

1237
00:48:33,383 --> 00:48:35,494
testimony here today and uh thank you 

1238
00:48:35,494 --> 00:48:37,717
for the , the work you do . I also want 

1239
00:48:37,717 --> 00:48:39,939
to begin by commending the department's 

1240
00:48:39,939 --> 00:48:42,161
efforts to invest in and uh incentivize 

1241
00:48:42,161 --> 00:48:43,899
funding to build semiconductor 

1242
00:48:43,949 --> 00:48:46,419
manufacturing facilities and advanced 

1243
00:48:46,429 --> 00:48:48,596
research and development activities at 

1244
00:48:48,596 --> 00:48:51,000
both the national and the regional uh 

1245
00:48:51,010 --> 00:48:53,600
levels . Under Secretary mccord , uh 

1246
00:48:53,610 --> 00:48:56,100
could you uh speak to how the fiscal 

1247
00:48:56,110 --> 00:48:58,810
year 24 dod budget request takes 

1248
00:48:58,820 --> 00:49:00,598
advantage of the chips Act that 

1249
00:49:00,598 --> 00:49:03,300
Congress passed recently , that funding 

1250
00:49:03,310 --> 00:49:05,477
and makes the necessary investments to 

1251
00:49:05,477 --> 00:49:07,532
ensure that we have both a resilient 

1252
00:49:07,532 --> 00:49:10,679
and a robust domestic micro electronics 

1253
00:49:10,689 --> 00:49:13,379
manufacturing ecosystem for both state 

1254
00:49:13,389 --> 00:49:16,479
of the art , as well as legacy chips . 

1255
00:49:18,060 --> 00:49:20,282
Thank you , Senator First . I just want 

1256
00:49:20,282 --> 00:49:22,171
to say that the uh the department 

1257
00:49:22,171 --> 00:49:24,004
really appreciates congressional 

1258
00:49:24,004 --> 00:49:23,929
leadership on the chips act that it 

1259
00:49:23,939 --> 00:49:26,570
really speaks to the recognition of the 

1260
00:49:26,580 --> 00:49:28,802
the whole of government approach needed 

1261
00:49:28,802 --> 00:49:31,620
with China uh chips is is separate from 

1262
00:49:31,629 --> 00:49:33,851
our budget in the sense that it's now a 

1263
00:49:33,851 --> 00:49:36,310
standalone authorization we had prior 

1264
00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:39,040
to that in the 22 23 budgets started a 

1265
00:49:39,050 --> 00:49:41,639
pretty robust microelectronics uh 

1266
00:49:41,679 --> 00:49:43,846
effort under Secretary Austin that was 

1267
00:49:43,846 --> 00:49:45,846
really tied to the defense specific 

1268
00:49:45,846 --> 00:49:47,957
capabilities like radiation hardening 

1269
00:49:47,957 --> 00:49:50,068
what we're doing with chips on top of 

1270
00:49:50,068 --> 00:49:52,068
that then is is really that broader 

1271
00:49:52,068 --> 00:49:54,235
industrial base . The fabrication labs 

1272
00:49:54,235 --> 00:49:56,401
to fabs . Uh I understand that that is 

1273
00:49:56,401 --> 00:49:58,739
now uh we're now in our request for 

1274
00:49:58,750 --> 00:50:01,360
solutions source selection for the 

1275
00:50:01,370 --> 00:50:03,481
proposals that went out in that first 

1276
00:50:03,481 --> 00:50:05,481
year of chips that Congress created 

1277
00:50:05,481 --> 00:50:07,703
last year . So we're , we're moving out 

1278
00:50:07,703 --> 00:50:09,481
now on source selection to , to 

1279
00:50:09,481 --> 00:50:11,537
actually build out that capability . 

1280
00:50:11,537 --> 00:50:13,703
And then that again , that sits on top 

1281
00:50:13,703 --> 00:50:15,426
of the uh more defense pacific 

1282
00:50:15,426 --> 00:50:17,426
microelectronics , which is over $2 

1283
00:50:17,426 --> 00:50:19,979
billion in our budget . Thank you , 

1284
00:50:19,989 --> 00:50:22,500
Secretary Austin . The development of 

1285
00:50:22,510 --> 00:50:25,550
Taiwan's reserve military capacity is 

1286
00:50:25,560 --> 00:50:27,671
without question . A key component of 

1287
00:50:27,671 --> 00:50:29,727
ensuring that their military is well 

1288
00:50:29,727 --> 00:50:31,949
prepared to deter and if needed to 

1289
00:50:31,959 --> 00:50:35,100
defeat a potential PRC invasion of the 

1290
00:50:35,110 --> 00:50:37,850
island . However , I remain concerned 

1291
00:50:37,860 --> 00:50:40,082
that the department is not sufficiently 

1292
00:50:40,082 --> 00:50:42,820
addressing the hardships that exist at 

1293
00:50:42,830 --> 00:50:45,219
the authority and funding level with 

1294
00:50:45,229 --> 00:50:47,219
increased mill to mill and mill 

1295
00:50:47,229 --> 00:50:49,396
interactions between the United States 

1296
00:50:49,396 --> 00:50:52,969
and 21 . Current policy restricts the 

1297
00:50:52,979 --> 00:50:54,979
level of interaction that us forces 

1298
00:50:54,979 --> 00:50:57,610
particularly the National Guard have 

1299
00:50:57,620 --> 00:51:01,139
with Taiwan , both Kois and Otis . And 

1300
00:51:01,149 --> 00:51:03,316
additionally , current restrictions do 

1301
00:51:03,316 --> 00:51:05,316
not allow the Guard to consistently 

1302
00:51:05,316 --> 00:51:07,205
engage with Taiwan under the same 

1303
00:51:07,205 --> 00:51:09,260
authority that the state partnership 

1304
00:51:09,260 --> 00:51:11,580
program utilizes . Rather other 

1305
00:51:11,590 --> 00:51:14,459
authorities must be utilized to justify 

1306
00:51:14,469 --> 00:51:16,580
and fund National Guard's involvement 

1307
00:51:16,770 --> 00:51:19,100
in this strategic relationship . 

1308
00:51:19,110 --> 00:51:20,888
Essentially what's happening is 

1309
00:51:20,888 --> 00:51:22,820
creating this maze of funding and 

1310
00:51:22,830 --> 00:51:25,419
authorities that restricts consistent 

1311
00:51:25,429 --> 00:51:28,100
engagement that's so important and it 

1312
00:51:28,110 --> 00:51:30,669
creates undue processes and procedures 

1313
00:51:30,679 --> 00:51:33,100
to coordinate and fund cooperation . So 

1314
00:51:33,110 --> 00:51:35,332
my question for you sir is , how is the 

1315
00:51:35,332 --> 00:51:37,332
department reassessing the relevant 

1316
00:51:37,332 --> 00:51:39,332
authorities and lines of funding to 

1317
00:51:39,332 --> 00:51:41,388
help streamline the National Guard's 

1318
00:51:41,388 --> 00:51:43,610
ability to support security cooperation 

1319
00:51:43,610 --> 00:51:47,459
efforts with Taiwan . We're taking a 

1320
00:51:47,469 --> 00:51:49,636
hard thanks , Senator . We're taking a 

1321
00:51:49,636 --> 00:51:51,840
hard look at , you know , all the 

1322
00:51:51,850 --> 00:51:55,790
things that we can do to increase 

1323
00:51:55,800 --> 00:51:58,590
the capability and their reserve forces . 

1324
00:51:58,600 --> 00:52:00,656
You're right , Senator . This is a , 

1325
00:52:00,656 --> 00:52:02,989
this is critical for them going forward . 

1326
00:52:02,989 --> 00:52:05,949
Our Guard has done amazing work with 

1327
00:52:05,959 --> 00:52:08,070
other countries across the across the 

1328
00:52:08,070 --> 00:52:10,126
globe . Most recent example , as you 

1329
00:52:10,126 --> 00:52:12,060
know is the work that they did in 

1330
00:52:12,070 --> 00:52:15,750
Ukraine prior to this invasion . And 

1331
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:18,570
so that kind of engagement we think is 

1332
00:52:18,580 --> 00:52:20,691
critical . So we're going to continue 

1333
00:52:20,691 --> 00:52:24,090
to find ways to make sure that we're 

1334
00:52:24,100 --> 00:52:26,750
helping as much as we can in accordance 

1335
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:29,419
with the Taiwan Relations Act . And so 

1336
00:52:29,699 --> 00:52:32,979
we'll re look all of our policies and 

1337
00:52:32,989 --> 00:52:35,540
authorities to make sure that we can 

1338
00:52:35,550 --> 00:52:37,969
streamline this as best possible . In 

1339
00:52:37,979 --> 00:52:40,146
the meantime , we're gonna continue to 

1340
00:52:40,146 --> 00:52:42,146
do what we're doing to increase our 

1341
00:52:42,146 --> 00:52:46,070
capability on Saturday . Russia accused 

1342
00:52:46,080 --> 00:52:48,459
Azerbaijan of violating the ceasefire 

1343
00:52:48,469 --> 00:52:51,570
which ended the 2020 war with Armenia . 

1344
00:52:51,719 --> 00:52:54,139
This comes as Azerbaijan has blockaded 

1345
00:52:54,149 --> 00:52:56,260
the Lean Corridor and more than three 

1346
00:52:56,260 --> 00:52:58,149
months for more than three months 

1347
00:52:58,149 --> 00:53:00,038
leading to what is a humanitarian 

1348
00:53:00,038 --> 00:53:03,090
crisis in ? I recently wrote to you and 

1349
00:53:03,100 --> 00:53:05,267
Secretary Blinken regarding the use of 

1350
00:53:05,267 --> 00:53:08,110
Section 97 waiver authority and the 

1351
00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:10,840
potential effects of us support in that 

1352
00:53:10,850 --> 00:53:12,961
conflict . My question for you is the 

1353
00:53:12,961 --> 00:53:15,280
military , is us military aid , 

1354
00:53:15,290 --> 00:53:18,120
supporting the Azerbaijan military and 

1355
00:53:18,129 --> 00:53:20,300
enabling their aggression against 

1356
00:53:20,310 --> 00:53:24,040
Armenia . We are clearly not enabling 

1357
00:53:24,050 --> 00:53:26,459
aggression , Senator . And as you know , 

1358
00:53:26,469 --> 00:53:29,540
we have had a relationship with 

1359
00:53:29,669 --> 00:53:33,010
them and we have provided 

1360
00:53:33,020 --> 00:53:35,610
assistance in some cases , but in all 

1361
00:53:35,620 --> 00:53:38,639
cases in use , monitoring is really 

1362
00:53:38,649 --> 00:53:40,649
important and we've been focused on 

1363
00:53:40,649 --> 00:53:42,649
that . So we've taken a responsible 

1364
00:53:42,649 --> 00:53:44,816
approach to this and again , we do not 

1365
00:53:44,816 --> 00:53:48,459
support , will not support aggressive 

1366
00:53:48,469 --> 00:53:51,439
activity . Thank you . Thank you , Mr 

1367
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:53,353
Chairman . Thank you very much , 

1368
00:53:53,353 --> 00:53:55,687
Senator Peter , Senator Mullen , please . 

1369
00:53:56,040 --> 00:53:59,889
Thank you . Sorry , my mic almost 

1370
00:53:59,899 --> 00:54:02,169
came out there . Uh Thank you , 

1371
00:54:02,179 --> 00:54:04,399
Chairman and thank you all for , for 

1372
00:54:04,409 --> 00:54:06,729
being here . Uh Jeremy , I want to 

1373
00:54:06,739 --> 00:54:08,906
thank you again for the phone call and 

1374
00:54:08,906 --> 00:54:11,209
the , and the uh conversation uh we had 

1375
00:54:11,219 --> 00:54:13,419
yesterday . Um I , uh I greatly 

1376
00:54:13,429 --> 00:54:16,129
appreciate your time on that . Uh , and , 

1377
00:54:16,139 --> 00:54:17,695
and uh as we stayed in that 

1378
00:54:17,695 --> 00:54:19,583
conversation and I wanted to have 

1379
00:54:19,583 --> 00:54:21,695
something for the record and , and so 

1380
00:54:21,695 --> 00:54:23,806
before I uh begin with the rest of my 

1381
00:54:23,806 --> 00:54:25,917
questions , uh I'd like to touch base 

1382
00:54:25,917 --> 00:54:27,972
on the disasters withdrawal from the 

1383
00:54:27,972 --> 00:54:30,028
American uh uh from Afghanistan with 

1384
00:54:30,028 --> 00:54:32,340
American troops . Um Will you commit to 

1385
00:54:32,350 --> 00:54:34,461
providing a , a complete after action 

1386
00:54:34,461 --> 00:54:37,149
report on the withdrawal um to Congress 

1387
00:54:37,159 --> 00:54:38,992
that provides accountability and 

1388
00:54:38,992 --> 00:54:41,215
transparency for the American people uh 

1389
00:54:41,215 --> 00:54:43,437
for the closure of lives that were lost 

1390
00:54:43,437 --> 00:54:46,459
and the people left behind . Absolutely . 

1391
00:54:46,469 --> 00:54:48,302
And the Secretary of Defense has 

1392
00:54:48,302 --> 00:54:50,469
directed that we do that . Uh And that 

1393
00:54:50,469 --> 00:54:52,358
is done by the joint staff and in 

1394
00:54:52,358 --> 00:54:54,080
Centcom as well , but also the 

1395
00:54:54,080 --> 00:54:56,191
Department of Defense is doing that . 

1396
00:54:56,191 --> 00:54:55,969
So I absolutely commit to that . Thank 

1397
00:54:55,979 --> 00:54:59,340
you . Um Generally , as you know , 

1398
00:54:59,469 --> 00:55:03,120
um the um the industrial base 

1399
00:55:03,129 --> 00:55:05,351
is , is , is going through some changes 

1400
00:55:05,351 --> 00:55:08,459
right now and um prior to the Russian 

1401
00:55:08,469 --> 00:55:12,199
invasion of the Ukraine sites , uh or 

1402
00:55:12,209 --> 00:55:14,100
in invasion of Ukraine sites like 

1403
00:55:14,110 --> 00:55:16,679
mcallister's Army ammunition plant were 

1404
00:55:16,689 --> 00:55:20,530
planning on uh seeing a , a decrease in 

1405
00:55:20,540 --> 00:55:24,060
productivity . And since this invasion , 

1406
00:55:24,070 --> 00:55:25,848
uh there's obviously been a new 

1407
00:55:25,848 --> 00:55:28,669
emphasis on uh on where we're moving . 

1408
00:55:28,679 --> 00:55:31,729
And can you speak to what we're seeing 

1409
00:55:31,820 --> 00:55:34,739
with plants like like mcallister and 

1410
00:55:34,750 --> 00:55:37,699
the arm and the ammunition depots , 

1411
00:55:37,709 --> 00:55:39,876
what the plant is and the future looks 

1412
00:55:39,876 --> 00:55:43,389
like for the industrial era . Yeah , 

1413
00:55:43,399 --> 00:55:46,239
the uh thanks the defense industrial 

1414
00:55:46,250 --> 00:55:47,972
base secretary has had several 

1415
00:55:47,972 --> 00:55:50,028
different sessions uh to include the 

1416
00:55:50,199 --> 00:55:52,199
and others within the department to 

1417
00:55:52,199 --> 00:55:54,310
really go over the defense industrial 

1418
00:55:54,310 --> 00:55:56,366
base in some detail . One of the big 

1419
00:55:56,366 --> 00:55:58,421
lessons coming out of Ukraine is the 

1420
00:55:58,421 --> 00:56:00,588
incredible consumption of conventional 

1421
00:56:00,588 --> 00:56:02,755
munitions in the conduct of of what is 

1422
00:56:02,755 --> 00:56:05,675
a limited regional war . So a great 

1423
00:56:05,685 --> 00:56:08,018
power war , if that were to ever happen , 

1424
00:56:08,018 --> 00:56:10,185
God forbid , it does , the consumption 

1425
00:56:10,185 --> 00:56:12,129
rates would be incredible . So the 

1426
00:56:12,129 --> 00:56:14,074
secretary tasked us to go back and 

1427
00:56:14,074 --> 00:56:16,185
review all of the various operational 

1428
00:56:16,185 --> 00:56:18,407
plans and the Cocos to determine if our 

1429
00:56:18,407 --> 00:56:20,574
estimates are correct because if those 

1430
00:56:20,574 --> 00:56:22,685
estimates , then then feed into these 

1431
00:56:22,685 --> 00:56:24,741
budgets to buy the ammunition . That 

1432
00:56:24,741 --> 00:56:26,852
study is ongoing . Uh We can tell you 

1433
00:56:26,852 --> 00:56:29,018
that , uh for example , 155 ammunition 

1434
00:56:29,018 --> 00:56:31,185
which is in high demand in the Ukraine 

1435
00:56:31,185 --> 00:56:33,296
flight . But , uh we report out daily 

1436
00:56:33,296 --> 00:56:35,352
uh in a , in a written report to the 

1437
00:56:35,352 --> 00:56:37,399
Secretary of Defense uh on all the 

1438
00:56:37,409 --> 00:56:39,439
various ammunition statuses that we 

1439
00:56:39,449 --> 00:56:41,616
have . I won't go over that in an open 

1440
00:56:41,616 --> 00:56:43,893
session , but in , in a closed session , 

1441
00:56:43,893 --> 00:56:45,838
we can do that if you'd like . The 

1442
00:56:45,838 --> 00:56:47,949
bottom line is the defense industrial 

1443
00:56:47,949 --> 00:56:49,949
base is critical uh to the , to the 

1444
00:56:49,949 --> 00:56:49,639
defense of the United States and our 

1445
00:56:49,649 --> 00:56:52,300
ability to produce uh and manufacture 

1446
00:56:52,310 --> 00:56:54,643
and produce the logistical capabilities , 

1447
00:56:54,643 --> 00:56:56,866
especially ammunitions is fundamental . 

1448
00:56:56,866 --> 00:56:59,088
You , you mentioned mcallister to visit 

1449
00:56:59,088 --> 00:57:00,977
mcallister . That's an incredible 

1450
00:57:00,977 --> 00:57:02,810
facility with incredibly skilled 

1451
00:57:02,810 --> 00:57:05,195
workers that are highly motivated and , 

1452
00:57:05,205 --> 00:57:06,983
and it is really a one off type 

1453
00:57:06,983 --> 00:57:09,205
facility . It's , it's an amazing place 

1454
00:57:09,205 --> 00:57:12,074
uh places like that exist elsewhere in 

1455
00:57:12,084 --> 00:57:14,306
the United States as well . And we need 

1456
00:57:14,306 --> 00:57:16,195
to pay great attention to that in 

1457
00:57:16,195 --> 00:57:18,306
defense industrial base . Uh If we're 

1458
00:57:18,306 --> 00:57:20,473
ever going to successfully compete and 

1459
00:57:20,473 --> 00:57:22,640
hopefully not actually have a war with 

1460
00:57:22,640 --> 00:57:24,751
a great power . What's interesting is 

1461
00:57:24,751 --> 00:57:27,370
the um relationship between the public 

1462
00:57:27,379 --> 00:57:29,800
and private service there at uh are , 

1463
00:57:29,810 --> 00:57:32,090
are a lot of our industrial areas 

1464
00:57:32,100 --> 00:57:34,044
around the country , especially in 

1465
00:57:34,044 --> 00:57:36,044
mcallister where we have the public 

1466
00:57:36,044 --> 00:57:38,211
sector working with the private sector 

1467
00:57:38,211 --> 00:57:40,433
and , and delivering missions on time . 

1468
00:57:40,560 --> 00:57:42,770
Uh And so I think there's a , a great 

1469
00:57:42,780 --> 00:57:44,947
amount of pride there that I think the 

1470
00:57:44,947 --> 00:57:47,669
communities that have the ability . Um 

1471
00:57:47,679 --> 00:57:50,350
and , and the uh uh and actually the 

1472
00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:53,030
desire to help are standing ready and 

1473
00:57:53,449 --> 00:57:55,616
is no different . That's great . The , 

1474
00:57:55,616 --> 00:57:57,782
the workers there are off the charts , 

1475
00:57:57,782 --> 00:57:59,782
incredible skilled workers , highly 

1476
00:57:59,782 --> 00:58:01,949
motivated uh focus on , on Fort just a 

1477
00:58:01,949 --> 00:58:05,290
second . Um uh General uh ray 

1478
00:58:06,060 --> 00:58:10,050
uh had stated recently that the Army 

1479
00:58:10,060 --> 00:58:13,760
Futures Command . Um We'll be reviewing 

1480
00:58:13,770 --> 00:58:16,070
their uh their use of cross functional 

1481
00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:18,290
teams . Fort Sill and Watt in Oklahoma 

1482
00:58:18,300 --> 00:58:20,244
is currently home to the two cross 

1483
00:58:20,244 --> 00:58:22,800
functional teams as or as as the 

1484
00:58:22,810 --> 00:58:25,032
original architect of this system while 

1485
00:58:25,032 --> 00:58:27,088
serving as army chief of staff . Can 

1486
00:58:27,088 --> 00:58:29,032
you speak of the usefulness of the 

1487
00:58:29,032 --> 00:58:31,254
future of these programs , sir ? Yeah , 

1488
00:58:31,254 --> 00:58:33,421
the , the Army Futures Command and the 

1489
00:58:33,421 --> 00:58:35,477
priorities that the army laid out uh 

1490
00:58:35,477 --> 00:58:37,588
for uh modernization 67 years ago are 

1491
00:58:37,588 --> 00:58:39,532
still what they're working on . Uh 

1492
00:58:39,532 --> 00:58:41,310
They've had the most successful 

1493
00:58:41,310 --> 00:58:43,421
modernization programs they've had in 

1494
00:58:43,421 --> 00:58:43,050
decades as a result of that futures 

1495
00:58:43,060 --> 00:58:45,290
commit key to that was the cross 

1496
00:58:45,300 --> 00:58:47,078
functional teams led by general 

1497
00:58:47,078 --> 00:58:49,189
officers . In each case , those cross 

1498
00:58:49,189 --> 00:58:50,911
functional teams were designed 

1499
00:58:50,911 --> 00:58:52,911
intentionally to be temporary until 

1500
00:58:52,911 --> 00:58:55,078
those programs are brought on online , 

1501
00:58:55,078 --> 00:58:54,250
brought online . For example , long 

1502
00:58:54,270 --> 00:58:56,492
range precision fires , future vertical 

1503
00:58:56,492 --> 00:58:58,381
lift , the next generation combat 

1504
00:58:58,381 --> 00:59:00,548
vehicle . Those are programs that once 

1505
00:59:00,548 --> 00:59:02,770
they get brought online and , and , and 

1506
00:59:02,770 --> 00:59:04,826
brought into the force , those cross 

1507
00:59:04,826 --> 00:59:04,570
functional teams will go away , but 

1508
00:59:04,580 --> 00:59:06,469
it's been a highly successful and 

1509
00:59:06,469 --> 00:59:08,469
innovative organizational concept . 

1510
00:59:08,469 --> 00:59:10,580
What General ray is talking about now 

1511
00:59:10,580 --> 00:59:09,955
is the next step , getting it to the 

1512
00:59:09,965 --> 00:59:12,076
next level because those programs are 

1513
00:59:12,076 --> 00:59:14,076
well underway . So he's not talking 

1514
00:59:14,076 --> 00:59:16,132
about getting rid of those C F T S . 

1515
00:59:16,132 --> 00:59:18,298
He's talking about looking at the next 

1516
00:59:18,298 --> 00:59:20,354
set of C F T s . For example , uh uh 

1517
00:59:20,354 --> 00:59:22,521
all domain sensing would be , would be 

1518
00:59:22,521 --> 00:59:22,155
one . Uh There's several of these 

1519
00:59:22,165 --> 00:59:23,998
others that they're looking at . 

1520
00:59:23,998 --> 00:59:26,221
They're not made any decisions yet . Uh 

1521
00:59:26,221 --> 00:59:28,387
uh The army hasn't , but the Secretary 

1522
00:59:28,387 --> 00:59:30,332
of the Army will , will make those 

1523
00:59:30,332 --> 00:59:32,498
decisions in due time . Uh But it's an 

1524
00:59:32,498 --> 00:59:31,885
excellent program . It's an excellent 

1525
00:59:31,895 --> 00:59:34,006
command and they're really moving out 

1526
00:59:34,006 --> 00:59:36,117
very , very well in the modernization 

1527
00:59:36,117 --> 00:59:38,339
of the US army . Thank you for clearing 

1528
00:59:38,339 --> 00:59:40,506
for that . Thank you , Senator Mo . Uh 

1529
00:59:40,506 --> 00:59:42,673
Senator King uh is recognized and will 

1530
00:59:42,673 --> 00:59:44,839
take over as I go vote and the vote is 

1531
00:59:44,839 --> 00:59:46,969
on for those who have not yet voted . 

1532
00:59:47,510 --> 00:59:49,399
Thank you , Mr Chairman Secretary 

1533
00:59:49,399 --> 00:59:51,288
Austin . I just want to clarify a 

1534
00:59:51,288 --> 00:59:53,510
couple of things about , about vaccines 

1535
00:59:53,510 --> 00:59:55,677
and vaccine mandates . I'm told that a 

1536
00:59:55,677 --> 00:59:57,510
routine uh uh mustering into the 

1537
00:59:57,510 --> 00:59:59,454
service requires something like 13 

1538
00:59:59,454 --> 01:00:01,288
vaccinations . Is that , is that 

1539
01:00:01,288 --> 01:00:03,469
accurate ? I , I think it's nine 

1540
01:00:03,479 --> 01:00:05,840
senator depending on where you're going . 

1541
01:00:05,850 --> 01:00:08,080
Uh uh at any one point in time , that 

1542
01:00:08,090 --> 01:00:10,340
number can increase up to about 13 . So 

1543
01:00:10,479 --> 01:00:12,423
depends on the , on the , on the , 

1544
01:00:12,423 --> 01:00:14,590
where the , the , the soldier sailor , 

1545
01:00:14,590 --> 01:00:16,701
marine or guardian will be assigned . 

1546
01:00:16,701 --> 01:00:18,701
Uh And that , that's just routine . 

1547
01:00:18,701 --> 01:00:20,812
That's part of , part of the military 

1548
01:00:20,812 --> 01:00:23,459
for as long as we can remember . Is it 

1549
01:00:23,469 --> 01:00:26,750
true General that uh sorry , Mr 

1550
01:00:26,760 --> 01:00:29,750
Secretary , that General Washington 

1551
01:00:29,760 --> 01:00:32,580
mandated vaccination against smallpox 

1552
01:00:32,590 --> 01:00:34,757
in the continental army at the time of 

1553
01:00:34,757 --> 01:00:36,979
the Revolutionary War . That is true . 

1554
01:00:37,780 --> 01:00:40,129
And the purpose of this vaccination 

1555
01:00:40,139 --> 01:00:42,472
mandate had nothing to do with politics . 

1556
01:00:42,472 --> 01:00:44,417
It had to do with saving lives and 

1557
01:00:44,417 --> 01:00:46,472
maintaining readiness . Did it not ? 

1558
01:00:46,472 --> 01:00:48,583
That's exactly right . And I remember 

1559
01:00:48,583 --> 01:00:50,750
being on a , on a call when we were in 

1560
01:00:50,750 --> 01:00:52,972
sort of lockdown here uh with regard to 

1561
01:00:52,972 --> 01:00:56,129
the US S Teddy Roosevelt where uh the , 

1562
01:00:56,139 --> 01:00:58,449
the , the in early March , April and 

1563
01:00:58,459 --> 01:01:01,949
May of 2020 the , the virus 

1564
01:01:02,044 --> 01:01:04,334
rip through the ship . I think it's 

1565
01:01:04,344 --> 01:01:07,185
over 1000 people tested positive 

1566
01:01:07,405 --> 01:01:09,675
because of the nature of their close 

1567
01:01:09,685 --> 01:01:12,094
military proximity . Doesn't that make 

1568
01:01:12,104 --> 01:01:14,784
vaccinating against an infectious 

1569
01:01:14,794 --> 01:01:17,016
disease ? All the more important in the 

1570
01:01:17,016 --> 01:01:20,405
military ? To me and to all of my 

1571
01:01:20,415 --> 01:01:22,304
colleagues , it absolutely does . 

1572
01:01:22,304 --> 01:01:24,645
Senator . You know , I told the 

1573
01:01:24,655 --> 01:01:26,945
chairman a number of times that in my 

1574
01:01:26,955 --> 01:01:28,955
lifetime , the only thing that I've 

1575
01:01:28,955 --> 01:01:31,280
seen that has been able to disable a 

1576
01:01:31,290 --> 01:01:33,830
carrier is this vaccine . It's 

1577
01:01:33,840 --> 01:01:36,007
interesting because General Washington 

1578
01:01:36,007 --> 01:01:37,840
said that when his there to John 

1579
01:01:37,840 --> 01:01:40,007
Hancock about the vaccine , he said uh 

1580
01:01:40,007 --> 01:01:42,229
this is the most dangerous thing to our 

1581
01:01:42,229 --> 01:01:44,451
troops more dangerous than the sword of 

1582
01:01:44,451 --> 01:01:46,729
the enemy . Exactly what you just said , 

1583
01:01:46,729 --> 01:01:49,399
General Milley . I wanna thank you for 

1584
01:01:49,409 --> 01:01:51,576
the integrity that you've demonstrated 

1585
01:01:51,576 --> 01:01:53,687
in your position . I remember and I'm 

1586
01:01:53,687 --> 01:01:55,909
sure you do too questioning you at your 

1587
01:01:55,909 --> 01:01:58,076
confirmation hearing . And my question 

1588
01:01:58,076 --> 01:02:00,131
was , will you tell the truth ? Will 

1589
01:02:00,131 --> 01:02:02,353
you give your best military advice even 

1590
01:02:02,353 --> 01:02:04,610
if it doesn't suit the leadership that 

1591
01:02:04,620 --> 01:02:06,860
you were working with at the time you 

1592
01:02:06,870 --> 01:02:09,129
have done that . And I want to thank 

1593
01:02:09,139 --> 01:02:11,419
you for that and for the extraordinary 

1594
01:02:11,429 --> 01:02:13,485
service that you've provided to this 

1595
01:02:13,485 --> 01:02:15,540
country throughout your career . But 

1596
01:02:15,540 --> 01:02:17,318
over the last four years , uh I 

1597
01:02:17,318 --> 01:02:19,485
appreciate you keeping your word to me 

1598
01:02:19,485 --> 01:02:21,485
and this committee from the date of 

1599
01:02:21,485 --> 01:02:23,729
your confirmation . Um 

1600
01:02:25,139 --> 01:02:27,189
General Austin uh 

1601
01:02:28,580 --> 01:02:30,580
allowing the intelligence about the 

1602
01:02:30,580 --> 01:02:32,802
imminence of the Russian invasion was I 

1603
01:02:32,802 --> 01:02:34,469
think a brilliant move by the 

1604
01:02:34,469 --> 01:02:36,358
administration at the beginning . 

1605
01:02:36,358 --> 01:02:38,524
However , why are we telling everybody 

1606
01:02:38,524 --> 01:02:40,636
in the world what we're sending ? And 

1607
01:02:40,636 --> 01:02:42,802
when we're sending it this morning , I 

1608
01:02:42,802 --> 01:02:44,969
learned on National Public Radio and I 

1609
01:02:44,969 --> 01:02:47,024
suspect Putin did , although I don't 

1610
01:02:47,024 --> 01:02:49,136
know if he listens to National Public 

1611
01:02:49,136 --> 01:02:51,302
Radio , how many tanks have arrived in 

1612
01:02:51,302 --> 01:02:53,413
Ukraine and when they are going to be 

1613
01:02:53,413 --> 01:02:55,760
deployed , why do we , why do we 

1614
01:02:55,770 --> 01:02:58,629
broadcast that information ? Well , we 

1615
01:02:58,639 --> 01:03:01,870
certainly try not to uh senator um 

1616
01:03:02,229 --> 01:03:04,659
as you know , as various countries 

1617
01:03:04,669 --> 01:03:07,129
provide contributions , uh they are 

1618
01:03:07,139 --> 01:03:08,972
proud of those contributions and 

1619
01:03:08,972 --> 01:03:11,949
sometimes uh we , we find our 

1620
01:03:11,959 --> 01:03:15,879
colleagues uh uh uh providing a bit 

1621
01:03:15,889 --> 01:03:18,939
too much uh information . But uh but 

1622
01:03:18,949 --> 01:03:21,350
yeah , I , I uh it , you understand my 

1623
01:03:21,360 --> 01:03:24,330
question . I , I do , I do so . Uh and , 

1624
01:03:24,340 --> 01:03:26,340
and when I meet with our colleagues 

1625
01:03:26,340 --> 01:03:28,396
here , uh and I meet with them every 

1626
01:03:28,396 --> 01:03:30,284
month . This is a point that I'll 

1627
01:03:30,284 --> 01:03:32,340
continue to drive home that , um you 

1628
01:03:32,340 --> 01:03:34,449
know , the Russians are absolutely 

1629
01:03:34,459 --> 01:03:36,626
focused on where this equipment is and 

1630
01:03:36,626 --> 01:03:38,570
what it's doing . So we gotta , we 

1631
01:03:38,570 --> 01:03:40,737
gotta help ourselves . I , I , I , I , 

1632
01:03:40,737 --> 01:03:42,792
I , I fully agree . Um , a couple of 

1633
01:03:42,792 --> 01:03:44,903
questions I'm going to submit for the 

1634
01:03:44,903 --> 01:03:47,540
record about uh I S R capability both 

1635
01:03:47,550 --> 01:03:49,820
in North com and South com , which was 

1636
01:03:49,830 --> 01:03:53,300
in their unfunded priority list . But 

1637
01:03:53,310 --> 01:03:55,477
you can make a strong case that should 

1638
01:03:55,477 --> 01:03:57,699
have been in the , in the base budget I 

1639
01:03:57,699 --> 01:03:59,699
R is so important , particularly in 

1640
01:03:59,699 --> 01:04:01,699
counter drug where people are being 

1641
01:04:01,699 --> 01:04:03,810
killed every day . I think my call is 

1642
01:04:03,810 --> 01:04:05,699
about 20 people have died in this 

1643
01:04:05,699 --> 01:04:07,921
country of overdoses since this hearing 

1644
01:04:07,921 --> 01:04:10,350
started this morning and to not have 

1645
01:04:10,360 --> 01:04:12,669
sufficient I S R and resources to 

1646
01:04:12,679 --> 01:04:15,949
interdict what we can can find . Uh I 

1647
01:04:15,959 --> 01:04:18,629
think is a , is a , a misallocation of 

1648
01:04:18,639 --> 01:04:20,750
resources . I'm gonna submit that for 

1649
01:04:20,750 --> 01:04:22,649
the record . Finally . Uh General 

1650
01:04:22,659 --> 01:04:24,879
Milley , probably the word that's been 

1651
01:04:24,889 --> 01:04:28,620
used the most today is readiness . And 

1652
01:04:28,709 --> 01:04:30,820
the question I have is , are we 

1653
01:04:30,830 --> 01:04:34,340
preparing for the right war in terms of 

1654
01:04:34,350 --> 01:04:36,406
the change nature of war that you've 

1655
01:04:36,406 --> 01:04:38,517
seen over the course of your career ? 

1656
01:04:38,517 --> 01:04:40,517
If a conflict comes , it's going to 

1657
01:04:40,517 --> 01:04:42,760
start with cyber electronic directed 

1658
01:04:42,770 --> 01:04:46,510
energy space . Are we adequately taking 

1659
01:04:46,520 --> 01:04:48,699
account of the change nature of 

1660
01:04:48,709 --> 01:04:50,765
conflict so that we're not preparing 

1661
01:04:50,765 --> 01:04:53,219
for the last war . But for hopefully 

1662
01:04:53,229 --> 01:04:55,229
there won't be another one . But if 

1663
01:04:55,229 --> 01:04:57,173
there is another conflict , that's 

1664
01:04:57,173 --> 01:04:59,173
where our efforts should be going . 

1665
01:04:59,173 --> 01:05:01,340
Yeah , just really briefly , Senator . 

1666
01:05:01,340 --> 01:05:03,562
Uh I think we're in a pivot , a pivotal 

1667
01:05:03,562 --> 01:05:05,618
period here , a transition period uh 

1668
01:05:05,618 --> 01:05:08,199
where we have a method of war that is 

1669
01:05:08,209 --> 01:05:10,376
based out of an industrial age sort of 

1670
01:05:10,376 --> 01:05:12,689
thing . And we're moving to a different 

1671
01:05:12,699 --> 01:05:14,921
operational environment sometime in the 

1672
01:05:14,921 --> 01:05:16,921
future . So think about things like 

1673
01:05:16,921 --> 01:05:18,977
robotics , artificial intelligence , 

1674
01:05:18,977 --> 01:05:21,143
hypersonic , cyber , cyber , there's a 

1675
01:05:21,143 --> 01:05:24,060
wide variety of , of technologies that 

1676
01:05:24,070 --> 01:05:26,237
are coming at us very , very quickly . 

1677
01:05:26,237 --> 01:05:28,989
And the country that maximizes an those 

1678
01:05:29,000 --> 01:05:31,000
technologies for the conduct of war 

1679
01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:33,056
fighting is going to have a decisive 

1680
01:05:33,056 --> 01:05:35,278
advantage at least at the outset of the 

1681
01:05:35,278 --> 01:05:37,500
next war . Now , at the same time , you 

1682
01:05:37,500 --> 01:05:37,199
can't throw the baby out of the bath 

1683
01:05:37,209 --> 01:05:39,153
water here . We're in a transition 

1684
01:05:39,153 --> 01:05:41,265
period . So we're still going to need 

1685
01:05:41,265 --> 01:05:43,542
ships and planes and tanks , et cetera . 

1686
01:05:43,542 --> 01:05:45,709
But we are in that transition period . 

1687
01:05:45,709 --> 01:05:47,931
And I think this budget in the last one 

1688
01:05:47,931 --> 01:05:50,153
and future budgets are going to have to 

1689
01:05:50,153 --> 01:05:52,376
move us in the direction of modernizing 

1690
01:05:52,376 --> 01:05:54,376
the force , transforming this force 

1691
01:05:54,376 --> 01:05:56,376
into a future operating environment 

1692
01:05:56,376 --> 01:05:58,431
that is probably not very far away , 

1693
01:05:58,431 --> 01:06:00,598
probably about 10 years or so . And we 

1694
01:06:00,598 --> 01:06:02,431
need to move out with a sense of 

1695
01:06:02,431 --> 01:06:04,653
urgency . Thank you . I I agree and the 

1696
01:06:04,653 --> 01:06:06,820
R and D emphasis in the last budget in 

1697
01:06:06,820 --> 01:06:06,719
this budget I think is one of the most 

1698
01:06:06,729 --> 01:06:09,780
important policy directions that this 

1699
01:06:09,790 --> 01:06:13,040
budget represents on behalf of the 

1700
01:06:13,050 --> 01:06:16,969
chairman , uh Senator Sullivan . 

1701
01:06:17,729 --> 01:06:19,729
Thank you Mr Chairman and I want to 

1702
01:06:19,729 --> 01:06:22,062
thank our witnesses , uh General Milley , 

1703
01:06:22,062 --> 01:06:24,530
in particular for your service in 

1704
01:06:24,540 --> 01:06:28,120
general Austin um as well , General uh 

1705
01:06:28,129 --> 01:06:30,780
uh I'm sorry , Mr Secretary . Uh um I 

1706
01:06:30,790 --> 01:06:33,129
appreciate you highlighting the suicide 

1707
01:06:33,399 --> 01:06:35,566
issue in your opening statement as you 

1708
01:06:35,566 --> 01:06:38,030
know , that's hitting the forces in 

1709
01:06:38,040 --> 01:06:40,669
Alaska particularly hard , still having 

1710
01:06:40,679 --> 01:06:42,679
a hard time getting our arms around 

1711
01:06:42,679 --> 01:06:44,899
that still go . It's still happening . 

1712
01:06:44,909 --> 01:06:47,919
So , working together on that one is a 

1713
01:06:47,929 --> 01:06:50,096
high priority of mine and I appreciate 

1714
01:06:50,096 --> 01:06:52,373
you putting a lot of attention to that . 

1715
01:06:52,373 --> 01:06:54,207
I first want to begin by quickly 

1716
01:06:54,207 --> 01:06:56,151
covering an oversight issue deeply 

1717
01:06:56,151 --> 01:06:58,485
concerning to members of this committee , 

1718
01:06:58,485 --> 01:07:01,040
which was an abuse of the president's 

1719
01:07:01,050 --> 01:07:03,179
commander in chief authority when he 

1720
01:07:03,189 --> 01:07:06,729
gave a campaign speech last fall 

1721
01:07:07,489 --> 01:07:09,879
with active duty marines as political 

1722
01:07:09,889 --> 01:07:12,510
props . This wasn't a speech about 

1723
01:07:12,520 --> 01:07:14,750
Veterans Day or Memorial Day or speech 

1724
01:07:14,760 --> 01:07:17,290
about the heroic actions of the Marines 

1725
01:07:17,300 --> 01:07:19,411
at Iwo Jima or the chosen reservoir . 

1726
01:07:19,570 --> 01:07:21,600
It was the most partisan political 

1727
01:07:21,610 --> 01:07:24,850
speech of the President's two years in 

1728
01:07:24,860 --> 01:07:28,169
office where he disparaged tens of 

1729
01:07:28,179 --> 01:07:30,459
millions of Americans that he claimed , 

1730
01:07:30,469 --> 01:07:32,580
threaten the Republic did not respect 

1731
01:07:32,590 --> 01:07:35,479
the Constitution on and on and on 

1732
01:07:35,659 --> 01:07:38,939
really harsh partisan campaign speech 

1733
01:07:38,949 --> 01:07:41,540
and they're flanking the President of 

1734
01:07:41,550 --> 01:07:44,649
the United States were two active duty 

1735
01:07:44,659 --> 01:07:47,889
marines , shameful , outrageous 

1736
01:07:47,899 --> 01:07:50,590
infuriating . I've raised this issue 

1737
01:07:50,600 --> 01:07:52,600
with both of you and other military 

1738
01:07:52,600 --> 01:07:55,760
leaders on how inappropriate this image 

1739
01:07:55,770 --> 01:07:58,379
was to our republic . General Miller . 

1740
01:07:58,389 --> 01:08:00,445
You've talked about how the military 

1741
01:08:00,445 --> 01:08:02,500
needs to stay out of politics . I am 

1742
01:08:02,500 --> 01:08:04,820
assuming good faith on both your parts 

1743
01:08:04,830 --> 01:08:06,997
that you didn't know this . But what I 

1744
01:08:06,997 --> 01:08:09,108
want is a commitment from both of you 

1745
01:08:09,108 --> 01:08:11,274
the next time some White House staffer 

1746
01:08:11,274 --> 01:08:13,386
thinks it's a good idea to politicize 

1747
01:08:13,386 --> 01:08:15,441
the military with a political speech 

1748
01:08:15,441 --> 01:08:17,608
like this with two active duty marines 

1749
01:08:17,608 --> 01:08:19,330
or anyone else standing by the 

1750
01:08:19,330 --> 01:08:21,330
president that both of you will put 

1751
01:08:21,330 --> 01:08:23,529
your foot down and not only say no , 

1752
01:08:23,540 --> 01:08:25,799
but say hell no . Can I get your 

1753
01:08:25,810 --> 01:08:28,970
commitment on doing that to this 

1754
01:08:28,979 --> 01:08:31,700
committee ? Senator ? I think , you 

1755
01:08:31,709 --> 01:08:33,770
know that I'm opposed to any type of 

1756
01:08:33,779 --> 01:08:35,890
politi politicization of the , of the 

1757
01:08:35,890 --> 01:08:38,669
military and I will not comment on , uh , 

1758
01:08:38,680 --> 01:08:41,379
on my president's actions . Do you 

1759
01:08:41,390 --> 01:08:43,168
think that was appropriate , Mr 

1760
01:08:43,168 --> 01:08:47,009
Secretary a again , Senator . Do you 

1761
01:08:47,020 --> 01:08:49,353
think that was in your personal opinion ? 

1762
01:08:49,353 --> 01:08:51,464
General Milley ? You've been speaking 

1763
01:08:51,464 --> 01:08:53,631
about this ? Look , I , I thought both 

1764
01:08:53,631 --> 01:08:53,029
of you were just , you guys are gonna 

1765
01:08:53,040 --> 01:08:55,040
go . No and no , I got a bunch more 

1766
01:08:55,040 --> 01:08:57,318
questions . But if we're debating this , 

1767
01:08:57,318 --> 01:08:59,484
let's have the debate . You think that 

1768
01:08:59,484 --> 01:09:01,651
was appropriate . General Milley , you 

1769
01:09:01,651 --> 01:09:01,379
spoke , you've spoken about not 

1770
01:09:01,390 --> 01:09:03,612
politicizing the military , that's just 

1771
01:09:03,612 --> 01:09:05,834
outrageous . And by the way , Democrats 

1772
01:09:05,834 --> 01:09:08,057
and Republicans agree with me . So this 

1773
01:09:08,057 --> 01:09:10,279
isn't even that controversial president 

1774
01:09:10,279 --> 01:09:12,390
made a mistake , politicize . Go read 

1775
01:09:12,390 --> 01:09:14,668
the speech . What do you think ? 

1776
01:09:14,679 --> 01:09:16,790
General Milley , I'm firmly committed 

1777
01:09:16,790 --> 01:09:18,846
to a , uh , nonpartisan nonpolitical 

1778
01:09:18,846 --> 01:09:20,957
military . Ok . So if the White House 

1779
01:09:20,957 --> 01:09:23,068
has an idea to do something like that 

1780
01:09:23,068 --> 01:09:25,290
again , will both of you commit to this 

1781
01:09:25,290 --> 01:09:27,401
committee to tell whoever the staffer 

1782
01:09:27,401 --> 01:09:29,401
is ? Hey , don't do that bad idea . 

1783
01:09:29,401 --> 01:09:31,623
Marines shouldn't be myself . I've been 

1784
01:09:31,623 --> 01:09:33,568
asked in the past in two different 

1785
01:09:33,568 --> 01:09:35,568
administrations on things just like 

1786
01:09:35,568 --> 01:09:37,568
that . And I've always said , uh uh 

1787
01:09:37,568 --> 01:09:40,429
keep the military out of politics . I'm 

1788
01:09:40,438 --> 01:09:42,771
surprised we're having a debate on this . 

1789
01:09:42,771 --> 01:09:44,827
Unfortunately , I'm burning a lot of 

1790
01:09:44,827 --> 01:09:47,049
time . It's an important issue though . 

1791
01:09:47,049 --> 01:09:49,049
I think we all would agree . Um I'm 

1792
01:09:49,049 --> 01:09:51,049
gonna next turn to Senator Wicker's 

1793
01:09:51,049 --> 01:09:53,959
Point on the budget . Budgets are a 

1794
01:09:53,970 --> 01:09:56,750
reflection of an administration's 

1795
01:09:56,759 --> 01:09:59,750
priorities . This administration is now 

1796
01:09:59,759 --> 01:10:01,592
three different times in a row , 

1797
01:10:01,592 --> 01:10:04,819
submitted inflation adjusted cuts 

1798
01:10:05,370 --> 01:10:08,180
to the Department of Defense while many 

1799
01:10:08,189 --> 01:10:10,356
other federal agencies have got gotten 

1800
01:10:10,356 --> 01:10:12,467
double digit increases . This was the 

1801
01:10:12,467 --> 01:10:15,990
2022 budget . You see the dod was last 

1802
01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:19,069
second , last with a 3% cut . The 

1803
01:10:19,080 --> 01:10:22,990
2023 budget . Um , same kind 

1804
01:10:23,000 --> 01:10:26,109
of issue were down there last , that 

1805
01:10:26,120 --> 01:10:29,580
was actually a 4% cut in this budget . 

1806
01:10:30,109 --> 01:10:33,950
Um Once again , one of the down 

1807
01:10:33,959 --> 01:10:37,750
here with uh 3% cut while other 

1808
01:10:37,759 --> 01:10:41,310
agencies epa almost 20% . Both of you 

1809
01:10:41,319 --> 01:10:43,375
have said this is the most dangerous 

1810
01:10:43,375 --> 01:10:45,600
time since world war two . This current 

1811
01:10:45,609 --> 01:10:48,450
budget shrinks . The army shrinks , the 

1812
01:10:48,459 --> 01:10:51,259
Navy shrinks . The Marine Corps 

1813
01:10:52,290 --> 01:10:54,401
doesn't that embolden our allies like 

1814
01:10:54,401 --> 01:10:56,512
Xi Jinping and Putin not deter them . 

1815
01:10:56,850 --> 01:10:59,270
And General m in your personal opinion , 

1816
01:11:00,370 --> 01:11:02,481
do you support a budget that actually 

1817
01:11:02,481 --> 01:11:04,537
shrinks three of the four services , 

1818
01:11:04,537 --> 01:11:06,609
particularly the navy ? The Congress 

1819
01:11:06,620 --> 01:11:09,439
here has been very clear that we want 

1820
01:11:09,450 --> 01:11:11,439
to grow the navy . The Chinese are 

1821
01:11:11,450 --> 01:11:14,029
looking at our navy , naval fleet and 

1822
01:11:14,040 --> 01:11:16,770
we're shrinking it . That's the budget 

1823
01:11:17,220 --> 01:11:19,209
the president probably assumes 

1824
01:11:19,220 --> 01:11:21,660
correctly that this committee will bump 

1825
01:11:21,669 --> 01:11:25,370
it up significantly . But do 

1826
01:11:25,379 --> 01:11:28,279
both of you support a budget that 

1827
01:11:28,290 --> 01:11:30,410
shrinks three of the four services . 

1828
01:11:30,470 --> 01:11:33,279
And what would you say to the issue 

1829
01:11:35,270 --> 01:11:37,492
of emboldening our allies when they see 

1830
01:11:37,492 --> 01:11:39,919
budgets like this that we three years 

1831
01:11:39,930 --> 01:11:43,149
in a row have to rectify by adding 

1832
01:11:43,160 --> 01:11:46,040
significant funding to them . Ask both 

1833
01:11:46,049 --> 01:11:48,149
of you gentlemen . Well , Senator , 

1834
01:11:48,160 --> 01:11:50,160
first of all , let me thank you for 

1835
01:11:50,160 --> 01:11:52,438
your continued support for the for dod . 

1836
01:11:52,438 --> 01:11:54,493
Uh We really appreciate what you and 

1837
01:11:54,493 --> 01:11:56,438
your colleagues have done over the 

1838
01:11:56,438 --> 01:11:58,271
years . I think you heard me say 

1839
01:11:58,271 --> 01:12:00,216
earlier that we went through great 

1840
01:12:00,216 --> 01:12:02,438
pains to link our budget request to our 

1841
01:12:02,438 --> 01:12:04,271
strategy . We're going after the 

1842
01:12:04,271 --> 01:12:06,382
capabilities that we think we need to 

1843
01:12:06,382 --> 01:12:08,799
be successful in any endeavor . And so 

1844
01:12:08,810 --> 01:12:10,921
I am satisfied that this budget gives 

1845
01:12:10,921 --> 01:12:13,930
us what we need . It's an $842 billion 

1846
01:12:13,939 --> 01:12:17,609
budget . And again , I think it allows 

1847
01:12:17,620 --> 01:12:19,731
us to go after the right capabilities 

1848
01:12:20,250 --> 01:12:22,361
General and Senator , as I said in my 

1849
01:12:22,361 --> 01:12:24,319
opening statement , I think the 

1850
01:12:24,330 --> 01:12:26,274
uniformed military can defend this 

1851
01:12:26,274 --> 01:12:28,839
country with an $842 billion budget . 

1852
01:12:28,850 --> 01:12:31,072
That is a lot of money . And I think if 

1853
01:12:31,072 --> 01:12:33,128
we put it in the right place against 

1854
01:12:33,128 --> 01:12:33,009
the right priorities , we'll be able to 

1855
01:12:33,020 --> 01:12:35,187
adequately defend this country in your 

1856
01:12:35,187 --> 01:12:37,242
personal opinion . Do you agree with 

1857
01:12:37,242 --> 01:12:39,298
shrinking the Army , Navy and Marine 

1858
01:12:39,298 --> 01:12:41,419
Corps , the size of the forces ? I'll 

1859
01:12:41,430 --> 01:12:43,541
go one by one here . When I was Chief 

1860
01:12:43,541 --> 01:12:45,708
of Staff of the army , I had advocated 

1861
01:12:45,708 --> 01:12:48,120
for about a 5 25 to 50 size ground . 

1862
01:12:48,129 --> 01:12:50,649
This budget takes it to 4 50 right ? 

1863
01:12:50,660 --> 01:12:52,830
And , and so I advocated for that 

1864
01:12:52,839 --> 01:12:55,850
because my analysis of uh of , of uh 

1865
01:12:55,859 --> 01:12:58,339
future combat indicated that this 

1866
01:12:58,350 --> 01:13:00,294
strategy though this is a strategy 

1867
01:13:00,294 --> 01:13:02,294
informed budget , this strategy and 

1868
01:13:02,294 --> 01:13:04,183
starting under General Mattis and 

1869
01:13:04,183 --> 01:13:06,406
Secretary Mattis and Secretary Austin , 

1870
01:13:06,406 --> 01:13:08,628
this strategy takes us to a essentially 

1871
01:13:08,628 --> 01:13:10,850
a one war strategy , a one war strategy 

1872
01:13:10,850 --> 01:13:12,961
with the , with the main effort being 

1873
01:13:12,961 --> 01:13:14,906
in China . So the question is what 

1874
01:13:14,906 --> 01:13:16,683
forces are gonna be required to 

1875
01:13:16,683 --> 01:13:18,794
confront or potentially fight China ? 

1876
01:13:18,794 --> 01:13:20,572
Um I think the Army and Marines 

1877
01:13:20,572 --> 01:13:22,794
definitely have a role to play . So the 

1878
01:13:22,794 --> 01:13:24,850
weight of the effort is gonna be the 

1879
01:13:24,850 --> 01:13:26,906
Navy and we're shrinking air force , 

1880
01:13:26,906 --> 01:13:26,160
the Navy and the air force budget 

1881
01:13:26,169 --> 01:13:28,609
shrinks the navy . It does , it does by 

1882
01:13:28,620 --> 01:13:30,509
a couple of ships for a temporary 

1883
01:13:30,509 --> 01:13:32,731
period of time . I talked to C N O last 

1884
01:13:32,731 --> 01:13:34,953
night at length about this to make sure 

1885
01:13:34,953 --> 01:13:37,176
that I was clear on , on the navy piece 

1886
01:13:37,176 --> 01:13:39,231
of this . Uh , the , the , the ships 

1887
01:13:39,231 --> 01:13:38,729
that are being decommissioned and 

1888
01:13:38,740 --> 01:13:40,684
divested of are having significant 

1889
01:13:40,684 --> 01:13:43,018
maintenance problems . In fact that the , 

1890
01:13:43,018 --> 01:13:44,851
uh , the , the , the , for the , 

1891
01:13:44,851 --> 01:13:47,184
they've been in the yard for years , uh , 

1892
01:13:47,184 --> 01:13:49,351
they're costing way more money just to 

1893
01:13:49,351 --> 01:13:51,462
repair than a worthwhile . So they're 

1894
01:13:51,462 --> 01:13:53,629
trying to shift to the next generation 

1895
01:13:53,629 --> 01:13:55,684
of , of a , you'll see the curve , I 

1896
01:13:55,684 --> 01:13:57,296
think when they submit their 

1897
01:13:57,296 --> 01:13:56,768
shipbuilding plan , you'll see the 

1898
01:13:56,777 --> 01:13:58,610
curve going up uh in the not too 

1899
01:13:58,610 --> 01:14:00,658
distant future . So there is AAA 

1900
01:14:00,667 --> 01:14:03,667
temporary uh down downward spiral of a 

1901
01:14:03,678 --> 01:14:05,567
couple of ships uh in the overall 

1902
01:14:05,567 --> 01:14:07,734
shipbuilding program . But this budget 

1903
01:14:07,734 --> 01:14:09,789
buys nine , uh you're down two . The 

1904
01:14:09,789 --> 01:14:12,011
net effect is you're down two ships out 

1905
01:14:12,011 --> 01:14:14,011
of a 296 ship navy and then it goes 

1906
01:14:14,011 --> 01:14:15,900
down to 2 93 . and then it goes , 

1907
01:14:15,900 --> 01:14:18,011
starts coming back up now . Is that , 

1908
01:14:18,011 --> 01:14:20,122
is that huge ? I think the capability 

1909
01:14:20,122 --> 01:14:22,345
of those ships matters . As we all know 

1910
01:14:22,345 --> 01:14:24,306
the capability of our ships are 

1911
01:14:24,315 --> 01:14:26,371
different than the capability of the 

1912
01:14:26,371 --> 01:14:28,593
Chinese ships . I know that the Chinese 

1913
01:14:28,593 --> 01:14:30,759
have a lot of ships . However , we not 

1914
01:14:30,759 --> 01:14:30,565
only have the United States Navy , we 

1915
01:14:30,576 --> 01:14:32,576
have the United States Navy working 

1916
01:14:32,576 --> 01:14:34,687
with the Japanese Navy , working with 

1917
01:14:34,687 --> 01:14:36,854
the Australian Navy , working with the 

1918
01:14:36,854 --> 01:14:39,020
British Navy , working with the French 

1919
01:14:39,020 --> 01:14:38,375
Navy . If you start adding up these 

1920
01:14:38,386 --> 01:14:41,494
navies , China is not outnumbered , but 

1921
01:14:41,503 --> 01:14:43,503
they're outgunned . And in terms of 

1922
01:14:43,503 --> 01:14:45,725
capabilities , if you look at just what 

1923
01:14:45,725 --> 01:14:47,974
I think is the most lethal capability 

1924
01:14:47,983 --> 01:14:50,150
in the United States Navy today is the 

1925
01:14:50,150 --> 01:14:52,543
submarine and our subs , the Chinese 

1926
01:14:52,554 --> 01:14:54,665
Navy or the Russian Navy are not even 

1927
01:14:54,665 --> 01:14:56,776
in the same ballpark as our submarine 

1928
01:14:56,776 --> 01:14:58,887
force . Our submarine force can bring 

1929
01:14:58,887 --> 01:15:00,554
people to their knees just by 

1930
01:15:00,554 --> 01:15:03,374
themselves . So our navy in this budget , 

1931
01:15:03,383 --> 01:15:05,494
we never have enough things that we , 

1932
01:15:05,494 --> 01:15:07,661
we always want something else . Uh but 

1933
01:15:07,661 --> 01:15:09,661
this budget adequately protects the 

1934
01:15:09,661 --> 01:15:11,661
American people . I'm not gonna , I 

1935
01:15:11,661 --> 01:15:13,716
can't compare it against the rest of 

1936
01:15:13,716 --> 01:15:13,582
the president's priorities . But this 

1937
01:15:13,591 --> 01:15:16,341
$842 billion budget buys a lot of kit , 

1938
01:15:16,352 --> 01:15:18,241
a lot of training . Uh and we are 

1939
01:15:18,241 --> 01:15:20,352
focused on two things , lethality and 

1940
01:15:20,352 --> 01:15:22,463
readiness , lethality and readiness . 

1941
01:15:22,463 --> 01:15:24,463
That's all we do every day . 24,000 

1942
01:15:24,463 --> 01:15:26,742
live fires last year , 24,000 of those 

1943
01:15:26,751 --> 01:15:28,695
you talked about a continued , I'm 

1944
01:15:28,695 --> 01:15:31,080
sorry . Um Sorry , sorry , Senator . Oh , 

1945
01:15:31,089 --> 01:15:32,978
no , no , I thought it was a good 

1946
01:15:32,978 --> 01:15:35,089
answer . Thank you , Mr Chairman . Uh 

1947
01:15:35,089 --> 01:15:37,089
Mr Secretary General . I appreciate 

1948
01:15:37,089 --> 01:15:39,256
your service again . Thank you . Thank 

1949
01:15:39,256 --> 01:15:37,890
you , Senator .