Our meeting will come to order consistent with our policy of starting on time and say good morning to the Committee Meets today to consider the nomination of general mark milley to be chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. We thank you for being here today and are grateful for your decades of distinguished service to our nation, we also welcome why you are family and friends and invite you at the appropriate time to introduce those that you feel are appropriate. Its standard for the committee to ask certain questions. These are the required questions, we will ask them fast and if you would audibly respond to them i would appreciate it very much. First if you adhere to the applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest . Yes. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify upon request before this committee . Yes, chairman. Do you agree to provide documents including copies of the forms of communication in a timely matter when requested by a duly constituted committee or to consult with the Committee Regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial in providing such documents . Yes. Do you agree when asked to give your personal views even if those are different from the administration . Yes. Will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines established for requested communications including questions for the record in hearings . Yes. Will you cooperate and providing witnesses and briefers in response to the congressional requests . Yes. And will you will those witnesses be protected from reprisal or testimony or briefings . Yes. Have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process . No. Very good. Well, this is for you say and weve all said ng individually in different forums that we are in a threatened world, i think its the most threatened we have ever been in before. Our main focus is countertichl but today americas security challenges have grown to become more dangerous. The National Defense strategy, which is this document that we have adopted for our glooin to the used, we have adhered to it, is an excellent one, were trying to maintain the integrity of that and to follow it closely. The National Defense strategy makes it clear that strategic competition with china and russia not terrorism is now our primary National Security concern, china and russia have passed us in key areas and are catching up with others. I will outline some of these areas, thats something that most americans are not aware of and its one that we have to be aware of and have to communicate that to the public. In years of budget cuts have left our military that will take us years to fix. You have been nominated to be principal military adviser to the president and National Security council, secretary of defense and so congress. The chairman is a unique and influential role, the National Security policy and so the chairman has an outsized impact on the state of Civil Military relations. Appropriate Civil Military relations are essential for a healthy democracy. We look forward to your views on this critical subject. The committee believes that the 2018 National Defense strategy and the recommendations made by the National DefenseStrategy Commission provide a Solid Foundation for how to prioritize our modernization efforts and how to position our global force effectively. We need a chairman who can advise civilian leaders on an integrated strategic approach to a wide array of Global Threats and the tradeoffs between our strategic priorities. For example, more u. S. Troops in the middle east might help stabilize the region, but at what cost to the u. S. Interests in europe and the endo pacific region, how do we sustain focus on the most important theaters, not just the ones that are the most recently in the headlines. Our civilian leaders are going to have to decide the answers to these difficult questions and the chairmans best military advice is critical input of those decisions. Thats you. The committee looks forward to your views on balancing our Global Force Posture and modernization efforts as the department continues to focus on competition with china and russia. President trump has supported the new National Defense strategy with Defense Budgets that give our troops the resources they need and the National Defense authorization act which has been just passed by this committee, with an overwhelming bipartisan support of 868 at the end of june, continues the positive trajectory we are now prepared for readiness and restore our military advantage. But hard work remains, most importantly we need a budget agreement. The nds and the 750 billion budget request will be useless without a budget agreement. I think with he all understand that. Its not your problem, but its your problem to advise us as to the significance of that. Senator reed. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Let me join you in welcoming general mark milley this morning. Thank him for his Outstanding Service to the nation. Let me acknowledge your wife holy ann for their service. As a long distinguished year as an army officer where you prioritize rebuilding readiness and transforming the armys modernization process. General milleys professionalism served him well. General milley, if confirmed you will serve as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff during a time of transition within the department of defense. Currently the department is in the midst of implementing the National Defense strategy or nds which will enable the u. S. To posture for competition with a near peer competitor like china and russia. This strategy requires new investments for high end capabilities and new training for our troops. At the same time the threat posed by violent extremist organizations and is not diminishing and iran and north korea remain extremely dangerous. In addition to these broad strategic challenges the department continues efforts to restore readiness while recruiting and retaining high caliber individuals to serve in our armed services. As the department has grappled with these challenges it has been hamstrung by the fact there has not been a Permanent Senate confirmed secretary of defense for nearly seven months and during this time two different political appointees have helmed the department. In addition across the most senior level, particularly in the civilian positions. Steady leadership at the highest echelons of our military is a necessity now more than ever. Im concerned that the constant turnover of senior civil kran leadership within the department has created you be certainty and disarray and as a result it may have unintentionally created a situation that could weaken civilian control of the military within the department. Concerns about civilian military relations in the context of secretary mattis confirmation, most recently the National DefenseStrategy Commission also raised significant concerns about the current state of Civil Military relations and encouraged the department to take action to ensure decisionmaking remains in the hands of civilian leaders. General milley, this morning i hope that you will provide us with your views on the current state of civilian military relations within the department and, if confirmed as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, what actions do you inn it end to take to ensure that relationship remains robust and strong. The role of the chairman is to serve as the principal military adviser to the president and the secretary of defense. If confirmed, you will search as the chairman at a time in which our country is is if aing multiple threats from abroad. It had been my hope if the president became more accustomed to the gravity of the office he would over time become more conscientious and thoughtful with his comments. Unfortunately that has not been the case. Instead our Foreign Policy continues to discount the value of hongtime alliances and careens from one crisis to the next, oftentimes driven by the president s personality and an apparent affinity for leaders who do not share our core values. If confirmed im confident your deep understanding of the National Security threats facing our nation will be an asset to the president and hopefully the military advice you will provide him will alleviate the risk of miscalculation. Furthermo furthermore, if you are confirmed i expect that you will continue to make it a priority to keep this committee fully informed on policy decisions impacting our armed forces and changes to our military strategy to counter the risk posed by our adversaries. Thank you again for your rilgness to serve our nation. Thank you. Senator reed. General milley, we would like to hear from you in your Opening Statement and any introduces you would like to perform. Thanks, chairman inhofe, appreciate that, and Ranking Member reed and distinguished members of the committee, good morning and thank you all for the opportunity to appear before you today. Its a distinct honor and privilege to be nominated as the 20th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and i appreciate the time and support this committee provides to the men and women and the families of the total joint force. Id like to thank the president of the United States for the trust and confidence he has placed in me and if confirmed i pledge to you and to the American People and to the president that i will always provide my best military advice to him, the secretary of defense, the National Security council and the congress to ensure americas global National Security interests are assured. Id like to take a moment to acknowledge the Extraordinary Service of the current chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general Jared Dunford and my wife ellen. Chairman dunford has inspired the men and women of our armed forces and conducted himself with utmost professionalism and honor. If confirmed i intend to use general dunfords example and steadfast approach as a personal example for me to follow. On a personal note, id also like to thank my wife who is here to my left, pauly ann for her love and support. During our 35 years of marriage, multiple moves and so much time as a single mom. Without her i would not be here today. She along with our daughter, Mary Margaret and our son peter have given so much to this nation and i am forever thankful for their love and support throughout my career. They like so many military families have demonstrated incredible resilience, service and sacrifice, enabling the men and women in uniform to continue to serve and protect this great nation. Im also eternally grateful for the example set by my mother and father who are no longer with us, but the strength that they instilled in my will last a lifetime. During world war ii my mother served in a Military Hospital in the navy in seattle, washington. Tending to the medical needs of troops from the pacific. My father served with the Fourth Marine Division in the central pacific, making the assault landings in iwo jima. The foundation of service and commitment they provide to me throughout my life will continue to be an inn operation for me in the years ahead. Chairman and senators, as you are all aware and have observed, we are living in a period of great competition within a very complex and Dynamic Security environment. My parents greatest generation, they fought to establish an International Order that has prevented great power war for over seven decades and its currently under the most stress since the end of the cold war. From east asia to the middle east to eastern europe, authoritarians actors are testing the limits of the International System and seeking regional dominance while Challenging International norms and undermining u. S. Interests. Our goal should be to sustain great power peace that has existed since world war ii and deal firmly with all those who might challenge us. In addition, the fundamental character of war is changing rapidly. We have witnessed a shift from an Industrial Age approach to warfare to a new era characterized by high speed information and disinformation, proliferation of precision weapons and military operations and highly dense urban areas requiring increasingly disbursed and decentralized operations all of which are going to demand unprecedented levels of initiative and agility from our forces. We must adapt faster and if confirmed i look forward to working with this committee to continue to accelerate the u. S. Militarys modernization. By having a lethal, ready and modern force, the United States military will continue to be a vital element of National Power to secure peace through strength. If confirmed, i will support our diplomatic efforts to counter destabilizing activities by rogue regimes and nonstate actors and i will ensure our joint force is prepared to respond. Understanding that alliances and partnerships are critical to nancing our National Security interests and i will work tirelessly with my counterparts from likeminded nations to ensure our collective responsibilities are met. In order to protect their freedoms the American People entrust us with the nations most valued resource, their sons and daughters. These young men and women are the best military in the world and our adversaries should not test that proposition. If confirmed, my priorities are to provide best military advice, to maintain steady continuity of military leadership, implement the National Defense strategy with emphasis on increasing the readiness an modernization of the joint force, maintain and grow our network of allies and partners, sustain great power peace in an era of Great Power Competition and provide unwavering support, care and leadership to our troops and their families. Finally, i have a deep sense of personal humility and fully recognize the complexity of the United States military and the World Security situation, and i know that i do not know all the answers. Therefore, i will be anticipate to a wide variety of Expert Opinions in order to form my best military advice. In closing, if confirmed, it would be my honor to survey long side these remarkable men and women as the 20th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. I thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you and look forward to your questions. Thank you, general milley. I think what well do, senator reed and i feel we can start with five minute questions and we are going to try to adhere to that time frame because we have a lot of interest here as you can see by the presence of these people. Ive got three things i want to make sure that we get out at the very beginning of this of the meeting. First of all, i wish the entire country could read this article from the economist. I know youve seen t weve talked about it in the office, but in that article it reports that chinas military spending rose by 83 in real terms between 2009 and 2018. At the same time frame between 2010 and 2015 our defense was actually cut just under 25 . Now, you stop and think about that, we had a similar experience a few years ago but not to this extreme. We see the impact, you have said before, before this Committee Last march as recently, our military advantages has eroded. In some areas china has passed us up. You know, when you talk to the American People there is always this assumption that america has the very best of everything. And this is pretty much true since world war ii, but its not true anymore. Were pulling out of i call it a slump, but we have areas like hypersonics, hypersonics, the modern thing that we are in competition with and theres some doubt as to whether or not we have come as far as both china and russia. We look at the advanced cruise missiles, we look at some areas of our Artificial Intelligence and our readiness has devastated as well. When you became chief of staff only 5 of the Army Brigades were at the highest level of readiness, now weve improved a lot, we are up to 50 , you might correct me if you think thats not accurate, but i think that is significant. It shows that if we dont get a budget, a budget that will support the growth, the growth that we have experienced in fiscal years 18 and 19, it would be pretty devastating. So id like to start off with your sharing with us what would happen in your mind if were not able to get a budget deal, if we had to go into a cr . Thank you, chairman. I think the impact would be significant. I think a cr in the words of the nds commission, they said the word reckless. I think a cr is a very significant negative impact on the training, equipping, readiness and modernization of the u. S. Military. You know, we have, and weve stressed this, were using our subcommittees where they are all cha