I want to call this hearing to order. Good morning. I want to begin which welcoming our witnesses, s i want to call the hearing to order. Good morning. I want to begin by welcoming our witnesses. We appreciate your willingness to be in front of this committee. General milley, this be your last appearance before the subcommittee. I want to go off script here instead of it. You are the ultimate professional. You are somebody who has been very good for me and i think that i can say for the whole committee. You are a straight shooter and youve done a good job. I appreciate that. I just hope the senate will be able to find, since to confirm your successor so that the department is not forced to rely on an interim placeholder for your position. It is simply too important. This is an unprecedented and definite hold that has frozen over 60 nominations. Its going to affect more than 650 by the end of the year. The people on this committee know what the threats are in this world. We need to be able to assist the military in being successful. This is not assisting, it is playing dangerous. We are meeting to discuss an 842 billion budget request for the next fiscal year. A few months ago we passed the overdue budget for this school year of 816 billion, which provided a 74 billion increase over fy 22. I bring it up because there are some who advocate for keeping all Government Spending at fiscal year 22 levels. In light of chinas continued aggression it sounds irresponsible to me. A majority in the other chambers oppose that. It is my hope that you can detail was such a drastic funding reduction would meet our National Defense. Of course all bets are off if we do not reach a bipartisan agreement soon. We have to deal with this in a responsible and commonsense way. Im hopeful partisan talk and get going in earnest and cooler heads prevail before we come to a default. The challenges that we face are numerous. We need to solve the debt and agree upon a top line for Government Spending, defense, we need to get qualified people into their jobs. The risk of a government default is real, the risk of a Government Shutdown is real, the risk of a longterm cr israel. No good. While we are busy fighting amongst ourselves the chinese continue their aggressive behavior. The russians continue their unjust war against ukraine. Iran is continuing its influence in the middle east and a violet terrace pot to do us harm. We have got to get the budget done so the men and women in uniform supported by the tireless civilians at the department of defense can go about their business of keeping us safe. I support the ongoing efforts of senator murray, and collins, who will work with anybody to get the job done. Well get to the specifics of your request here shortly, my main question is are our troops getting what they need when they need it . Are we keeping up with our military modernization . If industry spending taxpayer dollars wisely and delivering as promised . The truth is we cannot afford to waste time. We cannot afford to waste money. Once again, i want to thank the witnesses for their testimony. Before you make your opening remarks i turn it over to senator collins. Thank you very much chairman tester for holding this hearing on the fiscal year 2020 budget request. General milley, let me echo the chairmans thanks and praise of you as you approach your retirement. Thank you for your more than 40 years of service to our country. I am not as confident as the chairman that this is your last appearance before our subcommittee. Do not take any hope in that statement. The administrations 2022 National Defense strategy rightly captures the importance of deterring china. I strongly support that objective and know that you both , the secretary and general milley, have worked hard to develop a strategy driven request within the top line that you were provided. I also agree with chairman millies written testimony that completing appropriation bills on time is a necessary condition to credibly deter china. I would however suggest that it is not a sufficient condition and that the president s budget is inadequate to achieve this goal. No matter how talented, innovative and hardworking our armed forces are, no matter how good their leadership, the military must also have a sufficient budget top line. I have serious doubts that the administrations budget request provides all of the resources necessary to deter an aggressive china and to deal with other global threats. For example, the budget request would result in a smaller navy, a fleet of 291 ships. This is five ships fewer than todays fleet of 296 and further from the requirement, which is informed. Moreover, china has the largest navy in the world and is growing to 400 ships in the next two years. The story is very similar for the air force. In the absence of a higher defense budget, this committee will have to fill in the gaps to deter china and to maintain readiness. Let me highlight a few examples of what, from my perspective, is missing from the budget request. 3. 5 billion in the unfunded priorities. 266 million to fund north com to detect airborne targets such as chinese bible loans. Funding to replenish 1 billion in president ial Drawdown Authority for taiwan that congress authorized last year. The cost of fully implement with the administrations own zero trust architecture policy to protect against insider cyber threats. The cost for the deployment of 1500 activeduty troops sent to the southwest border just this week. Security assistance for ukraine beyond september and 1. 6 billion in under budget fuel costs according to the Government Accountability office analysis. That figure is 20 more than the budget request. A recognized fuel cost assumptions are driven by the white house, but last Years Experience is instructive. If congress had funded the department at the level that was requested last year by the administration, our troops housing, food, healthcare, fuel and readiness would be facing an a billiondollar inflation hold. That hold does not exist today because congress insisted upon a higher and more realistic funding. One final point on ukraine about which i share the chairmans commitment, it is critical that the administration provide ukraine with what it needs in time to defend and take back its sovereign territory. We expect the administration not to wait until the 11th hour if the ukrainians need more before the end of the fiscal year. There are many issues for us to discuss. Again, i thank all three of our witnesses for their Extraordinary Service in order to discussing these issues with them. Thank you for your statement. Secretary austin, you have the floor. Thank you, sir. I am glad to be here with you to testify in support of the president s budget request for fiscal year 2024. I am joined by general milley and remain grateful for his leadership. I am also glad to be joined by the Department Comptroller and cfo. This is a strategy driven budget driven by the seriousness of our strategic position with the peoples republic of china. At 842 billion it is a 3. 2 increase over fiscal year 23 and it is 13. 4 higher than fiscal year 22. This budget will help us continue to implement our National Defense strategy and the president S National Security strategy. I have three key priorities at the pentagon. To defend our nation, to take care of our outstanding people and succeed through teamwork. The prc is our pacing challenge and we are driving hard to meet it. Our budget builds on our previous investments to deter aggression. We are investing in a more resilient posture in the indo pacific and increasing the scale and the scope of our exercises with our partners. This budget includes a 40 increase over last years request for the initiative and it is an all time high of 9. 1 billion. That will fund a stronger force posture, better defenses for hawaii and guam and deeper cooperation with allies and partners. I look forward to being back next week before the full committee to go into more depth on how we are working with our interagency partners to continue to outpace the prc. This budget also makes the departments largest ever investments in both r d and procurement. We are requesting more than 61 billion to sustain air dominance. That includes funding for fighters and extraordinary be 21 strategic bombers that i helped unveil last december. We are also seeking more than 48 billion for sea power including new construction of my battle force ships. We are boosting capacity at American Shipyards to build the ships that our strategy demands. We are investing a total of 1. 2 billion in the summary Industrial Base. We are buying two virginia class attack submarines and one columbia class Ballistic Missile submarine. On land we are investing in air and Missile Defense and defenses to counter unmanned aerial vehicles. We are also requesting 11 million to deliver the right mix of longrange firearms including Major Investments in hypersonics. We will also continue to modernize all three legs of our Nuclear Triad and bolster strategic deterrence. We put forth the largest space budget in pentagon history. We have requested 33. 3 billion to improve our capabilities and resilience in space. Let me think commerce for providing the department with multiyear permit document procurement. In this budget we are requesting more multiyear procurement and asking for more than 30 billion to further invest in the Industrial Base and to purchase the maximum number of munitions american industry can produce. The budget also moves us away from aging capabilities on relative to future conflicts to focus on the advances that are war fighters will me. Our National Defense strategy calls out pollutants highly aggressive russia as an acute threat. Under president bidens leadership the United States has rally the world to help ukraine fight russias indefensible invasion. We have reinforced the nato defense and deterrence on the eastern flank and our allies and partners have provided crucial Security Assistance coordinator through the Contact Group that i leave. Will support you crave the fence for as long as it takes. Meanwhile, the Department Remains vigilant against other threats. We will take all necessary measures to defend our troops and our interests overseas at the from our airstrikes and march against facilities link to irans evolutionary guards. Now, i know that you have been following the reports of unauthorized disclosures of sensitive and classified us material. I take this issue very seriously. I have ordered a comprehensive review of the departments security programs, policies and procedures for safeguarding classified information. I have also discussed this issue with allies and partners around the world. Their solidarity and their commitment to reject efforts to divide us. We will not let anything fracture our unity. Our joint force stands ready to me any challenge. You can see this from, you can see the forces readiness after russias unprovoked invasion of ukraine where we swiftly deployed elements of the Third Infantry Division to poland to show up natos eastern flank. We monitor at the unit level and maintain Response Forces at our highest dates of readiness while the rest of the forest, by design, is preparing for future contingencies. So, this budget will help us maintain with 146 billion dollars in funding for operations, training, and maintenance. This budget also invests in improving our resilience in the face of Climate Change and other 24 century threats. We are going to remain the Strongest Military in the world. As we mark the 50th anniversary of our volunteer force, im enormously proud of the brave men and women who choose to wear the cloth of our nation. We owe it to them and to their families to take the best possible care of our people. Over the past two years, weve made moves easier, weve cut we made childcare more affordable. This budget funds other key steps to increase the quality of life of our teammates, including the Largest Military and civilian pay raises in decades. Also pushing hard to eliminate suicide in our ranks, including immediate steps to hire more Mental Health professionals and improve access to Mental Health care. Meanwhile, were working towards a military that through Sexual Assault. We worked with congress to improve the response to Sexual Assault and related crimes of the uniform code of military justice. Those reforms will be fully implemented by the end of this year. As the department, also investing in a specialized workforce to combat Sexual Assault, harassment, suicide, and more. Now, the departments third priority is succeeding through teamwork. Our unrivaled network of allies and partners magnifies our power and expands our security. In recent months, our friends in the indopacific have taken major steps forward. The philippines has agreed to nearly double the sites we can cooperate together. Japan is committed to double its defense spending and for the historic partnership, will work with our australian british allies to build Game Changing defense advantages that will deter aggression and boost our defense a district capacity. In some, this is the budget that will meet this moment. I respectfully ask for your support. The single most effective way that this committee can support the department under outstanding troopss with an on time full year appropriation. So, i look forward to working with all of you so that we can continue to defend our democracy and support the forces of freedom in this hour of challenge. Thank, you mister chairman. Thank, you secretary austin. General milley, you have the floor. Chairman tester and vice chair collins, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. Ive been privileged to defend this country for 43 years and uniform, next month, ill start my 44th year. Hopefully, senator collins, this is my last posture hearing. I think congress for your support to our military for the last four decades, not just for this budget, but for four consecutive decades, youve given great support to our military. I think you offer that. We could not be the military we are today without the support of the American People in the American Peoples representatives. So, what i ask for you today is that, once again, you approve a non time budget. Im honored to represent the joint force and their families alongside the leadership of secretary austin and secretary mccord, both have, ive been working with him both for many years, their leadership has been superlative. Our joint force today is the most lethal and Capable Military in the world because of your support. The militarys purpose is simple, its to defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. There is no other purpose for military. Fundamental to this is deterrence, more specifically to deter great power war. To do this, our number one priority is writing this now and readiness in the future. There is no other number one priority. The joint force will accomplish this at the fy 24 budget request of 142 billion dollars. Right now, the International System is under increasing stress. Both china and russia have the means to threaten our interests and our way of life. But war with china or russia is neither imminent nor inevitable. The prc remains our number one long term geostrategic security challenge and its been pointed out and our National Defense strategy as the facing challenge. The prc has publicly stated that it intends to be the regional hegemon in asia within the next ten years and to exceed the United States overall military capability by mid century. Chinese actions are moving on a path to a potential confrontation with its neighbors or the United States. Again, war with china is neither inevitable or imminent. Additionally, russia is an acute threat and remains very dangerous, especially under current conditions. Over a year ago, russia undertook a war against ukraine, threatening peace on the european continent and global stability for the First Time Since the end of world war ii. We are supporting ukraine to protect its sovereignty and supporting nato with the force presence and every single nation on natos eastern flank. Iran threatens to push the middle east and again, the instability by supporting terrorists and proxy forces. They continue to improve their capability to produce a Nuclear Weapon. From the time of iranian decision by the supreme leader, iran could produce enough material for a Nuclear Weapon in less than two weeks from the time of decision. It only takes several more months to produce an actual Nuclear Weapon. United states policy remains the same, the United States remains committed that iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon. North koreas continued Ballistic Missile testing Nuclear Weapons development poses threats to our homeland and our allies and partners. We stand with the republic of korea, shoulder to shoulder, to deter north korean aggression as we have for 70 years. Terrorists continue to operate around the globe, threatening fear, destruction, and destabilization. In short, the United States military stands ready to protect our nations and travis and the American People. We are currently standing watch on the frontier with nearly a quarter of 1 million, 250,000 deployed troops around the world today. 5000 authorities of the United States air force and naval marine aircraft and Army Aircraft per day, 100 ships at sea on a given day. We never fight alone, a key source of our strength is our Large Networks of alliance and partnership. Last, year our operation and readiness rates, theyre higher than theyve been in many years. Currently, 60 of our active force is at the highest states of readiness and could deploy combat in less than 30 days. Well exceeding the one third standard we established many years ago. 10 of our forest, 10 of the United States military could deploy to combat in less than 96 hours. Examples of that, the president of United States here ago, or the United States military, react to the unprovoked russian aggression. We three combat teams of the army, we doubled the amount of fighters, and we doubled him on a ships and submarines in the european theater of operations, we did that 35 days. That doesnt happen back seven. Another example, just a few weeks ago, the president under the United States military to evacuate more than 70 personal from khartoum in a joint operation. So far, the United States, one with our allies and partners have facilitated the departure of more than 1300 american citizens at a sudden. That operation put special Operation Forces on the ground, delivered by Army Special Operations aircraft, with u. S. Air support above, fix wing fighter bombers, army rangers and a Quick Reaction force, the mid states marine corps in vertical lift in reserve, and five u. S. Naval vessels off the coast along with the National Guard in djibouti ready to go. That was a joint operation in support of 18th urban corps and the headquarters as part of a whole government effort to support the department of state alongside many of our allies. All of that was planned, coordinated, synchronized, and executed from a cold start. Our force can rapidly project flexible responsive power anywhere around the globe, and no adversary should ever doubt. That your military, the night states military, theyre ready. However, the joint forces are at an inflection point, we must balance operations we must not allow ourselves to create the false trap that we can either modernize or focus only on today, we must do both, we must integrate advanced technologies, including precision long range fires, hypersonic weapons, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, and all the main sensors. Time is now. We have very little margin to waive. The Common Thread critical to all of this is our people. We must continue investing in their training, education, and their management. I urge congress to support this pay raise, health care, housing, and childcare initiatives. The only thing more expensive than preparing for a war is actually fighting a war. Its much cheaper to prevent war. This budget will significantly improve our militarys future rightness to prevent war. We must act with a sense of urgency to deter war. Thank you, i look forward to your questions. Thank, you general milley. To the members of the committee, almost everybody in this committee is gonna participate today. So, there will be a fiveminute rounds, alaska keep it as close to five minutes as you can. I would ask the distinguished panelist to be as throw instinct with your answers as possible. Im gonna Start Talking about continuing resolutions, and theyre ineffectiveness, no corporation in the world can restrict their cash flow for the development and production programs at the start of a fiscal year. Yet, in the business of National Security, some would say are most important business, we do just that. So, secretary austin, if another crs acted for this fiscal year, 2024, what programs are you most concerned about . Well, im certainly concerned about all of the news starts that we wont be able to effect because of a c r. We lose time, chairman, undersea ours, and no amount of money can buy back time. Again, you cant start new programs. I would point out that the prc is not waiting. They will execute on their own timeline. I pointed out earlier, chairman, our budget is directly linked to our strategy. Of course, if we dont have a budget, we cannot effectively execute that strategy. If we look at the investments were looking to make in fighter aircrafts, you know, i mentioned earlier, 61 billion dollars, you know, investing in our air force, or asking for 48 billion dollars in our naval forces. Those kinds of things, we wont be able to get after because of continuing resolutions. I think the best way that congress can support us and our efforts to execute our strategy is a long time appropriation. Inflation is real, and its a concern. This is an 842 billion dollar budget. Have you guys been able to put any sort of numbers to determine how much a c r would cost us . Certainly, it would depend on how long that see are is in effect, chairman. I defer to mike mccord for any concrete numbers. This is something that will continue to evaluate on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, if we have to go to a c r. It will cost us money. Okay. Mike, would you like to comment that . Chairman, we built a significant funding into this budget to account for the inflation we project, including the pay raises the secretary described. That approach is 40 billion. A sea are, by definition, doesnt give us any of that. It keeps our top line where it was last, year about 25 billion dollar reduction, inflation is a significant hit there, as are things like that colombia and all three legs of the triad. Secretary austin, i want to talk about how a potential government default would impact your ongoing efforts . Certainly it would impact our reputation worldwide. You know, were known for being very dependable, paying our bills on time, and a source of stability globally. What it would mean, realistically, for us, in some cases, we wont be able to pair troops with any degree of predictability. That predictability is really really important for us. But this would have a real impact on the pockets of our troops and our civilians. General milley, some would say that the department has gotten used to dealing the crs so theyre no big deal. How do you respond that . Thanks, chairman. Several key things. First, operations and readiness, i think you would see, weve done this many times, the struggle. Its significant for the readiness of the force. The force i rattled off, you thats ready today. You see that depreciate overtime. So, your numbers of rotations at the ctc for example here in d. C. , the number of red flags, a number of top gun, all those events would start being youd start seeing the number of flying hours, the 5000 i mention upfront per day. That will be cut down by a certain percentage, it depends on how long the cer win. Its a flying hours for both rolling and fix wing helicopters going up. You see the 70s right now, youd have to cut that back because the fuel cuts. There would be significant current operations. For future readiness, future modernization, secretary meant in the new, start also probably see delays in some of the nuclear we capitalization, columbia could be a risk a little, bit i think. You could see the b 21 those just rolled out in california not too long ago. Things like that would be stretched out long term. So, its a terrible way to do business, im not a businessman, but as a terribly to run a business when youre doing basically budgets for nine months at a time. You do ocr for three months. So, we would have, i think, significant negative impact on the readiness. Of course, there is in future readiness. Of course, theres the imponderable, the measurable one. Which is morale, it sends a terrible signature our soldiers, our marines around the world that when we do the crs. So, it obviously is people in the sense of uncertainty and then it sends a terrible message to our allies and partners and our adversaries around the world. I think its significant. Thank you. Senator collins . Thank, you mister chairman. Lets assume that we dual achieve our goal of enacting the d. O. D. Appropriation. If we use the administrations estimate for fuel costs, which the general, the Government Accountability office says underestimates costs by 20 , general milley. Absent some relief from congress, how would military readiness be affected in terms of the departments flying hours, training exercises, and other activities needed to stay within the 20 shortfall . I think there is a direct correlation, if its 20 shortfall in fuel, you can have 20 less firearms. All these aircraft ships as well and ground vehicles, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, they all rely on fuel. Fuel consumed in the red states. We would end up reducing the amount of operational temple of our vehicle fleets, ground or air. The specific number of hours, weve done the, mafia back to for the record on the specific number of hours, it would depend on how long and how deep the c r was. But would have Significant Impact on flying hours, driving of miles per vehicle, and the sailing of the ships. Thank you. Secretary austin, general milley correctly noted in his statement when he was discussing iran that iran would only take several more months to produce an actual Nuclear Weapon. And he goes on to say that the United States remains committed as a matter of policy that iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon. What are some of the policies that the administration is pursuing to prevent iran from developing very quickly a Nuclear Weapon . Well, from a military perspective, you know, my of responsibility is to make sure that that is our policy, that iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon. My responsibility is to make sure the president has options available to him to enforce that policy. So, we remain focused on making sure that those options remain available. And they are, so. All right. Ill move on toâ– a different issue. In january, the department announced that 31 abrams tanks would be delivered to ukraine. The latest information i have is that that will not occur until this fall. Is that accurate . Could you update us on what the current delivery schedule is and whether there is any way to accelerate the delivery of these tanks to ukraine . Thanks, vice chair, were doing Everything Possible to accelerate the delivery of these tanks, and early fall is a projection. In the meantime, we have moved a number of tanks over into theater so the ukrainians can begin training on this capability. When they complete, that by the time they complete the training, the tanks will be available for them to use. Or putting in the infrastructure to be able to sustain and support this capability as well. As you know, this is a different capability, and a number of precip iskut systems. But were moving as fast as possible to get the capability in the hands of the ukrainians. Well certainly have that available by early fall. Another threat to the United Statess terrorist attacks, i think with our focus on china and russia, and iran, north korea, we cannot lose sight of the fact that afghanistan has once again become a safe haven for many terrorist groups. General correlate testified before the Armed Services committee that isisk will likely be capable of conducting operations outside of afghanistan within six months and that that would come with little or no warning. I know that the United States military made an effort to take most of its weapons and ammunitions out of afghanistan when our troops left. But the fact is, approximately seven billion dollars worth of valuable useful military equipment provided to the Afghan Security forces by the United States remains in that country. Are you concerned about the fact that the weapons that the americans gave to the Security Forces could now be turned against us and our western allies in a terrorist attack . Vice chair, you accurately described what were looking at in terms of that equipment. The equipment that the United States troops were using was retro graded by general miller and his staff. When the decision was made to retrograde our troops out of afghanistan. So, we close 11 bases, brought out thousands of tons of equipment that we were using, that was equipment for our forces. And that retrograde was done very successfully. As you know, over 20 years, we did a lot to provide capability to the afghanistan, the afghan military. That, overtime, it turned out to be quite a bit of equipment. When that government collapsed, when the Security Forces laid down their arms, and that material became available to the taliban. Yes, that equipment still exist in afghanistan, but again, its equipment weve provided to their forces, their Security Forces, and not the equipment that we left behind because we couldnt retrograde it. Thank you, senator collins. Senator murray . Thank you very much, chair and vice chair columns. Im glad were continuing to hold these really important hearings and moving closer to getting back to regular order. I appreciate it. We made good progress, we have to stay the course, if were gonna pass our nations funding bills in a timely manner. We know our competitors, like the chinese government, are doing everything they can to gain ground. So, we cannot afford to let her efforts get sidetracked and our investments fall behind. Our military needs the certainty of a and smooth appropriations process that they can depend on. So, im really glad to have this opportunity to hear from secretary austin about the resources needed to support our Service Members and keep our nation safe, including support for military families like good housing in schools, Mental Health care, childcare, and a lot more. Because as i have said, our most important military asset is not weapons or equipment, its the brave and taunted women and men who are willing to put their lives on the line to keep our country safe. So, we owe it to them to work together, across the aisle, get her job done, get our government funded without drama, and get them the support they need. Mister secretary, thank you for being here today. Let me start with a really important topic, our nations suicide crisis is devastating and we see serious risk among our Service Members. The latest report on suicide in the military shows a steady increase over the past decade. We saw small decrease in 2021, but theres still a lot of work to be done. Secretary austin, you have previously noted how the stress caused by the unpredicted, the unpredictability of life in the military, the demand for troops to confront so many threats abroad, real challenges, accessing counseling, all contribute to this problem. I understand the department is facing challenges hiring enough specialist to provide Service Members with access to Mental Health care and counseling. Can you tell us what steps youre taking to increase hiring, so, Service Members have access to Mental Health care . Thank you for that. This is something thats very very important to me. [inaudible]. Sorry, this is something that remains very important to me, youve heard me talk about this number of times. Mental health is health period. I think we have to continue to maintain that outlook towards taking care of our troops. All our Senior Leaders, both uniform and civilian and for Senior Leader sessions, this was one topic that was prominent in that session. Im asking you for 200 million in this budget plus to devote to suicide prevention, this includes increasing access to Mental Health care more. I am really emphasizing to leadership that we need to do Everything Possible to make sure that were working with, you know, the civilian capabilities, our communities, to make sure we have access to those, to increase the capacity thats available to us. We will remain cited on this, youre right, we did see an improvement in 21. Were gonna work hard to see if we can continue to improve. This remains a challenge, access to Mental Health care was fundamental. Thank, you we need to follow up on that, i appreciate it. Let me change the topic. As you know, the navy is sending a nuclear arms submarine to south korea for the First Time Since the 19 80s. The uss George Washington will replace the uss Ronald Reagan in japan. So, it can head to washington for maintenance. These naval assets will only become more important as the u. S. Works to strengthen our partnerships and support allies throughout the indopacific. Maintaining this really is really paramount to our success and the Naval Shipyard is really vital, as you know, to the maintenance work. Psnis is the only shipyard on the west coast with and its responsible for the maintenance of the majority of the west coast based attacks submarines. Those dry docks are currently vulnerable to seismic activity. Secretary austin, im disappointed that despite knowing about the need to address those seismic issues, it was a left out of the budget requests this year. How is the department ensuring this multi year project is and will continue to be a top priority for the navy . Well, thanks, thanks for your continued support on this issue. First of all, let me emphasize that the safety of our personnel on the protection of our assets is very important to the department. When we experienced that challenge with, because of the seismic activity recently, as you know, we rapidly deployed assessment teams to assess damage and also to outline steps that are necessary to get our capability back up and running. And we have a High Standard for safety and we have done that work, and were bringing those assets back online. In this budget, chair, i am asking you for 2. 7 billion dollars to continue to invest in our infrastructure. Well continue to invest in this in future budget requests as well. Thank, you thank you, mister chairman. Senator moran . Chairman, thank you. Chairman and secretary, thank you for your presence and your service. Mister secretary, what is your explanation, how do we solve the problem with recruitment . What is the cause for the failure for young men and women to sign up . It strikes me as something that needs to be defined. I know it fort riley we have the greatest level of retention of any military installation, recruitment is down. So, retention is there, but not recruitment. What is your story . There is a number of challenges that have come together, senator, to create headwinds. Foremost among them is two years of covid. As you all, no sir, recruiters spend a lot of time interacting with respective recruits at schools, so, their access to schools is pretty important. If they dont have access for two years, it certainly creates a challenge for us. You add that to the fact that youve seen the lowest Unemployment Rate in decades and, so, theres a number of things that have combined to create the challenge. Its not the first time that we see in challenges and recruiting, as you know. And when i was in the military, i was recruited for a period of time. And i know that the things you have to do to improve, number one, you have to increase contact with your prospects. You have to invest in advertising and marketing. You have to have the right quality of recruiters out engaging in the public. You have to engage centers of influence, like yourself and other key leaders in the community. All of those things are, you know, their services are working to upgrade their active in all those areas. Im optimistic that, you know, this trough that we entered, because of the effects of covid and other things will climb out of. Were seeing some positive trends. Well continue to do the right things and invest in the right things to make sure that it gets turned around. As you know, our capabilities are defending our country rests solely with the men and women who served in uniform. I wish you well in those efforts and anyway i and my colleagues can be of help to get folks to sign up, please, include me, please ask. I would ask, i would make one strong request, that is that we all emphasize the value of service. , whether or not you served in the military, or whether not you serve in the community, you served as a member of the federal government, service is really important. But certainly, hearing that from key leadership in the country, i think it would help this overall. Thank you, sir, let me ask you about the National Guard. Weve seen how important the National Guard is, what role they play in defending our nation. The National Guard makes up 20 of the joint force. But the National Guard vice chief is the only vice chief to three star. Thoughts about if thats appropriate or if there is a plan to remedy that circumstance . I agree with, you senator, the National Guard is critical to our overall department, the department of defense. I cannot overemphasize, you know, the capability that they bring to the force. This is something in our structure, in the number of bullets that we have, its something we continue to evaluate. I have all the authorities that i need, i dont need any additional authorities at all. Thats something well continue to look at as we go from year to year into the future. Right, now i dont see a need to affect any change. Thank you for your consideration. Finally, secretary austin, my time is about to expire, congress, last year, so, ill just make this point, Congress Passed the pact act dealing with toxic exposure by our service that and women. We have significant challenges that families and Service Members who are impacted by contaminated Drinking Water at red hill, and if the department has not established an exposure registry, i encourage you to do so, i hope this budget has the resources necessary take care for those Service Members and their families. We have established a registry, so, thank, you senator. Youre welcome. General milley, thank you for your service, appreciate you very much. Senator durbin . Thank you, mister chairman, general milley, you served our nation well, and when history is written of your service, it will clearly recognize that america safer under your watch, and the troops you led had an effective in carrying leader under your command. But this history may not tell the whole story unless she read it of your fidelity to our constitution when they were serious questions of the peaceful transition of power, which is essential to the preservation of our democracy. Because of you, our constitution and our union survived and were stronger today. Thank you. Secretary austin, yesterday, i had a meeting in my office with several senators, with a man named kareem khan. He is the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal court. He recently charged Vladimir Putin with war crimes. We know what hes a basing it on, the unspeakable atrocities caused by the Russian Forces and ukraine. Stealing, kidnapping hundreds, if not thousands of children. Rape, beheadings, torture, mass executions, and targeting individual private citizens for his bombardment. Ukraines prosecutor general has documented more than 77,000 war crimes and crimes against humanity. Sadly, the number continues to grow. When i met with him i asked if there is more the night states could do to help him gather the evidence and documents necessary to prosecute Vladimir Putin for these awful war crimes. He said there was cooperation from the department of state, the department of justice, he did not include the secretary of defense and your department. His efforts regarding war crimes are so important that congress, last year, passed Additional Authority to share critical work rams evidence and intelligence with the International Court of criminal justice. We have one president , we have one commanderinchief, im not certain that we have one policy when it comes to the war criminal Vladimir Putin. I would like to ask you directly, why are you reluctant to share the evidence that weve gathered in the United States through the department of defense for those who are holding Vladimir Putin accountable for his war crimes . Thank you, senator, i absolutely agree with what you said in terms of the atrocities that weve witnessed throughout. It has been absolutely despicable and we continue to see evidence of putin deliberately targeting civilians, hospitals, and you name it, they firmly support the goal of Holding Russia accountable for violations in ukraine. There are multiple ways to put. This includes the domestic ukrainian efforts you mentioned, i believe in a principled approach to promoting so, we will continue to look for ways to support the effort of Holding Russia accountable. Are you aware of the additional authorities we created by law that allow your department and the others of this government to cooperate the i am aware of the legislations. Do you feel there is a deficiency in that legislation was holding back from helping to prosecute Vladimir Putin . Or see no deficiencies in your legislation, no. What is the explanation . There has to be a bottom line here. Why is it when these prosecutors come and meet with us they list the cooperating agencies of our government and specifically dont list the department of defense, why . Again, senator, it will do everything within our power to make sure that we support efforts to hold russia accountable. Again, i remain concerned about the protection of u. S. Military personnel. I have to ask for more, general. I respect you, i voted for you, i would do it again, i have to ask for more. Your personal feelings about whether you would do it or not should be second to the, law should not . It is, they are, senator. Well, if the law says cooperate and you refuse, what conclusion my supposed to draw . Senator, we have not refused to abide by any law, so, there could be some confusion here. Again, we support the goal of Holding Russia accountable. I have to ask you to prove it by doing so. I have to ask you what the people who observe the conduct and policy of the agency think your falling short and youre holding back. Why we would hold back evidence against this war criminal, Vladimir Putin, and the terrible things hes doing, i dont understand that all. You say dont think the laws deficient, but you have a feeling. Mister secretary, give me more than that. Tell me why . You must have a compelling reason for not cooperating, what is a . Again, i will always prioritize protection of our military personnel, that is my concern. You dont think the law weve passed does that . I didnt make a comment on the law, senator. K2â– again, the law is sufficient, obviously. It has been established by congress and were compelled to respect the law. I would never jeopardize our truths, i know senator graham feels the same, we worked on crafting this law to necessarily protect our troops. You have a personal opposite conclusion, i think it is frankly hurting the efforts to hold putin accountable. Thank you, mister chairman. I yield. Senator graham . Rather than beating this horse, i would recommend that we probably have a meeting, secretary austin, if thats okay with you. Listen, i have been a judge advocate most of my adult life, weve written this law in a way to make sure it applies to foreign nationals, russians, involved in war crimes and ukraine to help hold putin accountable. Mr. Khan says we have a lot of valuable information that could accelerate his prosecution not only of putin but of others. Are you familiar with the wagner group, mister secretary . I am. Do you think theyre terrorist organization . I think they are a horrible terrorist organization. I would like to prosecute them to. What i would like to do is meet with you and your team to make sure that not only you follow the law, but you understand the benefit of this legislation to help this war effort. So, general milley, what are all those stripes on your arm . What are they mean on your right arm there . Those white stripes . Each one represents. Okay, sounds 9 11, how many years have youve been away from your family . Seven, eight, nine, probably about half of the time. It is that more typical than not for people in the military . No, its actually very typical. I think my peers and those who have been in this thing since 911 have probably spent year on year off or, you know, half the time, basically, deployed in iraq or afghanistan in combat. I hope you get to spend time with your family, thank them for their service to our country. Lets go to afghanistan quick. Based on the withdraw of afghanistan, withdrawn afghanistan, Jennifer Cola said that, senator collins indicated in six months we could be attacked without warning. Is that fairly accurate from your point of view . 18 months ago actually testified and said 12, 18, 20, 4 36, i put it like that. So, what he had said in his testimony, thats within the ranges that i had mentioned as well. So, absolutely. I mean, our ability to monitor and track terrorist enough ghana stan is less than it was with boots on the ground. True. We have the ability to monitor. I know, i know, but let me just ask this really quick. Are we less safe than we were before . I would just say that the United States military is committed to continuing to monitor, track, and if necessary take action to any terrorist group. I would say were less safe. So, putin, if he wins, perceived winning, what does that mean for the world if he is perceived as having lost, what does that mean for the world . And is there a correlation in your view between successive putin or failure putin and chinas likelihood to invade taiwan . I think that the chinese watching the war between russia and ukraine very carefully, and i think for ukraine, obviously, its an existential threat for their very existence. But for europe, for the United States, i think the issue is rules based international order, and i think what putin has done is an illegal and direct assault, and if hes allowed to succeed in that, china will learn certain lessons and it may not be the single decisive point, but i think itll calculate into the decisionmaking process as to whether not the attack taiwan. So, i think the outcome of ukraines critical to much broader issues than just ukraine. Keeping america safer. I think it does because i think what laws being defined as ukraine remains a free, independent, sovereign country with its territory intact. If that is the end result of this war, then i think putin will have failed in his attempts to take ukraine and undermine that rules based order, and i really think that that order, which has been in existence for eight decades now since the end of world war ii, that is critical to global stability and world peace. Okay. Mr. Mccord cassis in 2033 under this budget, how much will we be spending on defense in terms of gdp . Senator, we have been in the three range for quite awhile and we will probably be right around three at the end of the process. My information says 2. 5. So check that one out, see who is right, okay . The navy, real quickly, thinks they need 370 ships, three 73, and to get there they have to spend 5 above inflation. Do you agree this budget will not allow the navy to get to 373 ships . Within the fifth, we will not be that number. Because we are spending under inflation. Real quickly, there were a bunch of scenarios, none of them are really good, the house budget 2022 plus one is about a 14 cut, is that right, mr. Mccord . Im sorry, the house proposal. 2022 plus 1 . What would that mean to the military, how many dollars would be lost . In this year, it would be about 100 billion below our request over five years, to be about 36 billion. That is a loss to the military, right secretary alison . Thats right. Okay, this budget puts you below inflation, so the committees task is to reject all of this stuff and come up with a number that keeps us safe. Thank you very much. Secretary austin, gentlemen, thank you for being here. I want to start in hawaii, the people of a roy who have suffered tremendously, but the biggest pollution event in the state of hawaii at red hill bulk fuel Storage Facility and the defiling and closure of red hill must continue to stay on schedule i. Want to submit to the record a unified state from hawaii leaders about the importance of pure water and the u remediation of the lands impacted by the fuel spill without objection. Secretary austin, can you reassure the people of hawaii that red hill will never be used for a fuel storage or fuel operations once it is emptied . Yes, that when i made that decision, that was my intent, senator, and also thank you for everything that you and the delegation have done to help us move forward. Are you on track to send your certification to congress that our end of pacific fuel needs will not be adversely impacted by the closure . Yes, we are on track and this is something that we work routinely, i just met with my leadership on a red hill here last week to check to see where we are, and yes we are. Thank you. As general miller said war with china is not inevitable, to avoid conflict, the Department Must use all tools available to it. New capabilities, alliances, partnerships, and facilities in the aor. Secretary austin, the budget includes 9. 1 billion dollars for the pd i. How are you going to ensure that these funds improve readiness and bolster deterrents without falling into the trap of fancy, expensive, gold plated weapon systems . This is something, as you know, senator, that we track very closely as the indopacific command commander develops his request. We work through each request with him. We are investing in things that will provide us the ability to further forward station, our troops and capability, and so infrastructure is really, really important to us. And you will see that reflected in the pd. I think it is really important that we see how cheap partnerships are compared to these weapon systems. Obviously, we need a balance of both, but i think it is important for the Defense Appropriations Committee to make it clear to you that these partnerships are highly leveraged. I think about pacific pathways with the army, this is a really small money and enormous impact whenever i am talking to indopacom or in the indopacific region. They dont talk about the weapon system, they talk about pacific pathways, i think edca is another example of a pretty highly leveraged partnership. It is not zero dollars, but it is not nearly as expensive as the other stuff. Commanders are preoccupied with failing sewer systems, fragile electrical grids, and deteriorating barracks dealing with these issues have real opportunity to cause to take away from our readiness. General milley, the active army navy and air force had requested over 14 billion fsrm. That is 470 Million Dollar increase over last year. How are services ensuring that they will make meaningful progress on creating the most critical agent infrastructure. Thanks, senator, for that. Each of the services i have very, very deliberate inspection programs, whatever it is. Calculations for all of their infrastructure. They go through a very, very rich process to make sure that their infrastructure remains modernized uptodate, both from an operational standpoint but also for training. But also from taking care of the families and their troops. So theyve got very rigorous processes to do that, each one is slightly different, but i can come back to you with the exact for each of the services if you would like. But ive looked at those processes, and i was here with the army, they are all very rigorous in each of those services. Please, thank you. Last question for secretary austin last year, i stress the importance of Inter Agency Coordination and the cofund negotiations and d. O. T. s role as a silent very important partner in the process negotiations are ongoing, but i think they are going reasonably well. In the strategic importance of these relationships with the freely associated straits understates it continue to grow can you talk about how important it is that the United States successfully renews the coppa agreements on time . I credit i think it is critical, senator. These are partners that we have a long history with. They are incredibly helpful, incredibly patriotic, as you know. A large percentage of the population served in our military, and as you said, a state has the lead for this. But d. O. D. Is certainly a player, and we will continue to contribute, and hopefully help move things forward in a meaningful way. As does va, i just want to quickly point out this. We are talking about relatively small money, for instance, to make sure that the veterans who are residing in those states get the va services that they deserve but when the statutory plane for that, there is some resistance if there is big budget pressure, i know there is not, but as you deal with Pacific Island leaders, i like to say thank god for small favors. These are the kind of things that define our relationship with these specific island leaders. Whether we respect them, whether we respect their citizens, whether we weather secretaries blinkens slogan of friends, allies, partners, is real to them. He is that it is a taken care of the people as though they are True Partners that i think makes the difference. Senator murkowski . Gentlemen, thank you. Chairman milley, i note in your written testimony you acknowledge that this is your last set of posture hearings, so i dont know whether you are celebrating after this mornings hearing, but thank you. Thank you for your years of service and all you have provided us. Today is kind of a significant day. We are all looking at these southern border with regard to title 42 and all of the implication there. The 11th of may is also a significant day. Far from the south in the arctic. Today is the day that russia is transferring the chair ship of the Arctic Council to norway, hopefully all is going to be quiet in smooth and without a bump there. And the governing body in the arctic, the Arctic Council, will be moving forward, but it is something that i am Pay Attention to, because both of you will know that we are paying attention to the arctic. We appreciate the fact that all five services have updated their arctic strategies. Weve come a long, long, way as an arctic nation in being able to focus as clearly and with intent. And so, i was curious as i read through about both of your statements this morning and i am concerned because in neither of your statements is there a acknowledgment or recognition of the arctic. Secretary austin, you do use the word arctic once in connection with the issue of climate, but i think we know that it is broader than just climate, certainly from a security perspective. Youve indicated the budget isnt a strategy, and absolutely, positively, has to be, and so the question to you this morning, is whether or not you think the budget that we have in front of us is sufficient to implement these arctic strategies, given the significance of the arctic geopolitically, given what we are given out of russia, given what we have just seen in the last couple weeks with a very clear intention from russia to be cooperating on a bilateral, perspective with china. With regards to the arctic dish should send signals to us that the partnering up there is changing. That peaceful Multi Lateral cooperation that we have seen historically is changing in a dynamic way as a consequence of what we have seen with putins aggressive and awful war in ukraine. But the question, i guess i will start with you, chairman milley, is whether or not you think of this budget is sufficient in regards to our priorities in the arctic . Thanks, senator. I appreciate that i do think that because our forces are general purpose forces. They can be applauding the arctic, they can be applied anywhere. And i personally think the artists are critical geographic mean of geopolitical meaning, and it is increasing your time. Going to the next conference case in a couple weeks, which are two or six month or so, that has all the chiefs of defense, military uniform, not including russia, by the way. And it we get to gather to discuss the Security Issues with norway, canada, and the other scandinavian countries, except for so we recognize the importance of the arctic. As you mentioned, all of those services and all the commands have updated their programs and their strategies. In addition that we want to have a whole series of exercises, and we have increased our capabilities. 11 one air division up in alaska. So the arctic is clearly recognized with the department of defense between the joint force that is having a critical gesture teacher importance, and we have forces forces that are able to operate in the caribbean as well. Training to the arctic is perhaps a little more unique. And this is why that he led with that, so important that focus. Secretary austin. In so years and years, 603 authorized several policies that will improve the quality of life. We have been concerned about the issue of suicide, particularly up north, but we have included provisions related to special cold weather pay as well as an opportunity for the secretary to reembers eligible Service Members for the cost of airfare travel home to their state, their home, of record while they are assigned onduty location all of these designed to help offset some of the challenges that come in a remote and an expensive area. I had asked earlier for some updates on when the soldiers might be able to expect receiving the cold weather. Julie as well as getting money for lgbt travel, and have not gotten responses that have clarified that. So if you could help us with that . I certainly will, i will get your response right away in terms of where we are in the process there and comply with the directive there. Thank you, mister chairman. Senator reed, because first, let me thank and commend you general milley, for your Extraordinary Service. To meet the general when he was just commander in a 101st, along with general mcconville and since that time, and before, that youve been a remarkable soldier, thank you, sir. Mix secretary for, you indicated to the chairman that a default on a debt would have profound repercussions for the proper defense. And that also tracked the testimony of a vote handsy, the director of, national intelligence, before the committee. But there is another aspect of this as well, and that was, i think, and shine an opportunity to exploit this dramatically. Do you have any concept of strategic competition with china or if we default. There is substantial risk to our reputation, senator. Again, we are viewed as being a source of instability globally, and we always pay our debts. And there is just a number of things that we are working with allies and partners on that would come into question as to whether or not well be able to execute programs, most important, this will affect the livelihood of our troops and our civilians and we will not be able to pay people like we should and i think that is something that china and everybody else can exploit let me make one comment, china describes us in their opening speeches as a declining power, defaulting on a debt will only reinforce that thought in bold and china and increase risk to the United States. That was respected to the officers, this is about 650 that are under various list throughout the services there. They are up for nomination confirmation and they are all going to go replace someone and they are going to be replaced through 6 50 times 30 looking at 1800 maybe almost 2000 officers. Probably all, im anna fisher, but most of them would be married, they probably have some kids, so you are probably looking at 3 to 4000 lives that are directly impacted in my view. So that will have significant personal impact. From a readiness standpoint, these are flag officers. They are intra very large, complex organization. This is unsettling for the institution, and it will have, over time, i think, a significant degradation in readiness and capability, morale, i think the impact was pretty severe to get on that. And i understand, im gonna stay out of the whole issue, but i think holding up commissioned officers confirmations on anything other than their own personal talent and skilled, ever the plus as the military have the intention of this as the military at the end as the opposite effect. I think youre right, as we will do our best to do this, and i think the cumulative effect is very very dangerous file point im running on time. We talk a lot about the number of prop form is youre going to have, my view recollection that are rejected by the historians, the french on me had many more chances of your mom in 1940. What they didnt have is the combined arms teen exoneration community et cetera. But what we are trying to do is to get, that multiplier power so x number of platforms can be affective even if our opponents have a lot more platforms it and is that an accurate fair. It is, senator. Its a vertical port of command control since the puzzle together in a combined arms where the devolve software, hardware, procedures, except are. It is a key piece of the way the United States military can start operating in a future operating byron, and without, it you will be able to execute combined arms operations. It is critical. Multiple lies, multiple times on a platform making fuse some. Senator shame. Thank, you mr. Shane. Secretary austin, secretary milley, deputy secretary mccord, thank you all for being here, and general milley, let me echo all of the things from other members of the subcommittee for your long service to this country. I would like to follow up on senator reids comments, and im disappointed that more of the members of the subcommittee are not here. Because i am not sure that everyone understands what the impact of holding these general officer nominations are on the military. And i think simba read and i are the only ones on this subcommittee on Armed Services who have had a chance to see this play out and while you may not want to get into the reason why these officers are being held up, im going to ask you, secretary austin, to explain the policy that you put in place that is the reason why our colleague from alabama says he is holding his own nominees. You are speaking our policy on Reproductive Health care . Absolutely. Thank, you senator. As you will know, about 18 of our force is female. Thats right, and can you speak to how important is to have recruit those women into the military, especially given that recruitment is down right now. I think its critical whoa i think people be assured that they join the false, they will continue to have access to Reproductive Health care and, currently, we have about 8000 of our within that our station in those areas, they dont have radio access to Reproductive Health care systems, and they dont get a chance to pick where they live and where theyre staying. So, you know, what this policy does is ensure that everything that exists, they have the means to access Reproductive Health care, special aid, those things are non covered reproductive care, and again, this policy is firmly rooted in law. We talked about the fact that the doj has provided an opinion, but opinion is posted on their website. And so this is important for a force. Then again, we have a young forest, and about one in five of our troops or one, i think its quickly be assured that they will have actions. I want the books on the mission, and not worried about whether or not theyre going to have access to Reproductive Health care. I would just add that we know who women serving in the military have a higher rate of unintended pregnancies in the general population in this case. So that is another issue why this is so important. But can you also address whether we would be making our recruitment numbers that we need to make for the military if you were not able to recruit when . Certainly, that problem would be compounded by an order of magnitude. Again, our women do incredible work for hours and we are all very proud of them, and it continues to amaze us each and every day. Well, we will not be the force we are without the contribution that they bring to the table. And again, it is throughout d. O. D. , i will make that comment thank, you very much. I appreciate, as i do, so many people. The policy that you have put in place, and i think it is absolutely critical and i hope that we are going to see this spat and seeing those holes that are being placed on our general officers. I talked to one of them yesterday who is waiting to be sent out to another posting and he does not have his new title. He is basically in a Holding Pattern while he waits for that. It would be tragic if that kind of talent began to vote with their feet and because of the unpredictability, we could leave our service go to something else. These people have earned the right to be promoted and their families deserve what comes with that as well, so we certainly dont want to begin losing people because we cant promote them. Absolutely. Mister secretary, you are asked, i think, by senator moran back for the people at red hill. And you said that is in fact in place, which i appreciate, but d. O. D. Has not sought to set up a registry for military members of who have been exposed to pfas. Can you speak to why that is . Youre right, we have not done that, and certainly, a piece of west is a National Anti addicted to everything that we need to help address this issue. We recognize the importance of it. And so we will take a look at whether or not we can and should do that. We have increased our testing across the board. And so i will have our staff provide some recommendations to me, and we will come back to you, and discuss this with you. I appreciate, that i have introduced a amendment in the last three ndas to try and set up a registry we have health study, that the agent for the toxic substances is about to complete, they are gone a different ages, with the Health Impacts of p phase that will help give us that Real Health Data on which to base the impact of p fast. But it is clearly, we know, it is a pretty sure it is a carcinogen and so i hope that you will, in fact, take this seriously and i stand ready to be helpful in any way that i can, thank you. Senator murphy. Thank you very much, mister chairman, thank you all for being here and for your service. As a new member of the subcommittee, general milley, i have not had the pleasure to work with you through the appropriations process. But i am deeply grateful for your service and your willingness to continue to work with this committee. I wanted to speak with you for a moment about information warfare. Our National Defense strategy today has a robust information component, today, the amount of money that russia and china are spending on propaganda unfortunately dwarfs the amount that we are allocating to fight misinformation. Obviously, this has to be a component of your strategy but, your partnered often with the state department, there are certain things you can do that the state department cannot for instance the Global Engagement center the, state Department Funds not just for profit, in fact, fact checkers. On china and russias peripheral vision trying to set the record straight. I wanted the to ask you about why that partnership is important, i think we have a whole of government approach to misinformation, i think you are making sure that your commanders have the ability to be nimble and fighting back against narratives that are endangering our Nation Security and endangering their security and making sure the state department has the resources to the same. Thank, senator for the opportunity comment. Information has always been critical to the context of war. There is three, it is probably never more porn than it is today, youre an information age, weve a wide righty of information age, we have the explosion of social media, now we have all kinds of tools we can look like, iphones for example, and these are very, very powerful tools, and now we are in the age of artificial untainted gyms, algorithms, the ability to do a deepfake story out there with people, so this is an area in which we need to get better, and we need to get more coordinated. Information oftentimes can be a decisive factor and the context of war. Weve got a little bit of programs inside the military, and we know that we walk well with intelligence agencies. And this effort needs to be more coordinated and i think it expands to agree letter given the capabilities of meddling with russia and china. They have very significant information capabilities in the cyber, a very significant Electronic Warfare capabilities, and very stressful and they are active every single day. This is an area of real importance that we need to prove ourselves. Thank you for challenging us, the committee, to step up on that effort. General, talk is a curiosity that i say that there are reports that the pentagon has sought a highlevel meeting with your counterparts in china, so obviously we have been missing high level dialogue with the chinese since the flying of the chinese balloon over u. S. Airspace there was no excuse for the provocative actions of the chinese government. But. At the same time it is not good when we are not talking to each other at a highlevel, so my question is this. My belief is that there is no choice to be made between that happening in an effective china policy to try to make sure that that the power doesnt hurt the United States, and continuing a dialogue about them, where we can work together, and the ways in which we dress are nice, keys talk about the state of the meal to mueller would try to endure views on whether it is important to keep those channels open . I think it is critical, senator. Thank you for bringing this topic up i have reached out to my counterpart on a number of occasions, they have conducted face to face meetings with the Foreign Ministry of defense, there is a new ministry of defense, now, ive reached out to him, ive, sent him a letter, and i offered to talk as well. I will come to you to do that. I think that is critical. When you have two countries with this kind of capability. And we are operating globally, i think we have to have the ability to manage potential crises and really, there are things that we will have to address it from time to time. And we really need to people to pick up the phone and talk directly to senior people. So i will continue to work this, i think it is really important. We will probably have another opportunity as we go out to singapore for a conference in singapore. And if the opportunity presents itself, i will look to engage my counterpart. I think that we need to open a door and continue to engage each other. I appreciate your public statements to that effect, and the arch that you are doing, i agree that these are not mutually exclusive goals to keep that dialogue open to avoid conflict, but also to make sure that we are placing up resources, both at d. O. D. And state to make sure that we are ready. Thank you, mister chairman. Senator boozman . Thank, you madam chairman. Im sorry, mister chairman. Thank you. I was just with senator murray at another meeting, so ive got my chance mixed up. I just want to say that i agree with the point that senator murphy was trying to make, but the communication really is, really important. I know weve seen that in other areas when weve had a situation like china, and i know that you are working really hard to do that. Congratulations to all of you for your great careers, we are going to misuse, general milley, who wouldve thought that the young hockey player would have all the stars and have such a tremendous career. So good game, congratulations. Secretary austin, you mentioned in your testimony and their cooperation with allies and partners is central to developing coal capabilities, recently, the record of decisions was signed by secretary kendall that will make the airfield the future home for f35 u. S. Allied palette training. I continue to work with the air force to make everything a premiere palette Training Center and ensure it is ready on time to train our ally partner pilots. Secretary austin, can you briefly speak town port and this mission in arkansas is to our National Security . It is critical. And our allies and partners invest in the kinds of capability that we have of 35, they are a great example. We need to make sure that we are working together to increase in our ability and we do that by not only making sure that we have the policies and procedures in the right place, but there is frequent contact that is working together with each other. You cant replace it. It also build trust, we know that when unitrust, you can search it, and has to be there, it is semenya to work on each and every day. And so the capability that you are speaking of in arkansas i think is critical. And i know that we have some allies, partners, that are really looking forward to using that capability. So thank you for what you are doing to broaden our capacity here. Thank you. In regard to the Foreign Military sales, there is all kinds of benefits. We have seen that in stimulating the economy and our country and again just in providing the protection that we desperately need. Unfortunately, the system is overburdened with regulation in bureaucratic log jams, according to mr. Eric fannings recent testimony in the Armed Services committee, it is resulted in an average delay of over 18 months. That is to get it on contract. This leaves our allies vulnerable in turning to other countries to buy military capabilities. Secretary austin, how does fms contribute to the department of strategy and deterrence and what specific processes contribute to the unacceptable delay for getting capabilities on contract. Certainly, fms helps us to magnify our capability, because if our allies and partners are working with the same kinds of equipment, and they are very skilled and using that equipment, then its really helpful in terms of expanding our footprint, our capability. In terms of the kinds of things that contribute to lags, or number of things that come together. One industry owns a piece of that, and we would hope that, as the contracts that are inactive, that they are able to meet the timelines. He so coming out of a period of two years of covid, that is had an impact on a number of things. But they are also, to your point, bureaucratic issues that often get annoying. Now, what i did early on two years ago is i put together a group of our senior people to really focus on the fms process, into identify those bureaucratic issues and roadblocks that we could knock down, so that body continues its work and it is hard work, but we are going to do Everything Possible on our end to make sure that the bureaucratic issues in the pentagon are not solely Holding Things up. But again, there are a number of things that come together to make this process more complicated than it should be. And i know sometimes we make that more difficult, so and if i can speak for anything for the committee, if theres anything we can do legislatively or, just be sure to let us know. This is so, so, very important. Thank, you mister chairman. Thank, you senator boozman. And im going to dovetail on to what you just said. I can tell you what congress can do to make things easier. Not default on our debt like the house representatives wants us to do. Get a budget done on time so we dont have to deal with the uncertainty of a c are up. Take the holds off the military promotions because, quite frankly, it is flat, stupid, and politicizing our military. That is what we can do. And i know senator boozman, you are a good man, and i dont think you disagree with me. So thank you. But the truth is is this. Congress has to step up and do their job. If we want to hold you guys accountable, if we want to hold the contractors and supplies with our military equipment accountable, we need to do our job. And part of that job is making sure that we have a budget to keep this country safe, any other part of it is just not do stupid things like crs and defaults and holy military promotions. I just want to say thank you the. Thank you for what you do every single day. To keep this country safe, to lead some of the finest people on earth in our military. We appreciate your testimony here today, senators, may i ask additional questions, i would ask that you get back to them as quickly as you possibly can with the response. But thank you for what you do, general milley, your record speaks for itself. Thank you very much. This Defense Committee will reconvene on tuesday, may 16th, a ten a. M. , in a classified session. To hear from the director of military Defense Agency and the commander of u. S. Northern command, on the budget request for a hypersonic trans Missile Defense and the protection of the u. S. Homeland, with, that we stand in recess. Cassis anytime at cspan. Org history. U. S. Poster