Years. The u. S. Has been without a defense secretary all year since the departure of former defense chief jim mattis in december. This is live coverage on cspan 3. Our meeting will come to order consistent with our policy to start on time. We will be doing that. Good morning. Today were considering the nomination of dr. Mark espy to be secretary of defense. We thank you all for being here today. We anticipate during your opening remarks, dr. Espy, that you will introduce any members of your family who are here and other support groups. It is standard we do have the eight required questions you will have to respond to audibly so we can get that in the record. Have you adhered to ethical regarding conflicts of interest. Yes, sir. Have you taken any actions which would prepare to presume the outcome of the confirmation process . No, sir. Exercising legislative and oversight responsibility makes it important that this committee, its subcommittees and other appropriate committees of congress receive testimony, briefings, reports, recordings, records and other information from the executive branch on a timely basis. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify before this committee when asked . Yes, sir. And do you agree to provide records, documents, Electronic Communications in a timely manner when requested by this committee, its subcommittees or other appropriate committees of congress and to consult with the requester regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial in providing such records . Yes, sir. Will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines established by this committee for the production of reports, records and other information including timely responding to hearing questions for the record . Yes, sir. Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers in response to congressional requests . Yes, sir. And finally will you will those witnesses, briefers were protected from reprisal from their testimony and briefings . Yes, sir. We need a confirmed leader to guide the department of defense through the time probably most we always say the same thing, the most challenging time. Senator reed and i agree with this, a confirmed secretary of defense will be more effective in the pentagon, in washington and around the world. Dr. Esper, you have been nominated to lead the department of defense and americas military through the historic transition. In the last decade americas main focus was counterterrorism. We believe our military had the best of everything. The last Administration Even thought we could cut our Defense Budget by hundreds of billions of dollars while fighting two wars and everything would turn out fine. We found out that that was not the case. While the cut in our Defense Budget was taking place, it was actually between the two years of 2010 and 2015 that cuts actually were 25 and according to the economist this is a document that senator wicker first called our attention to and we checked out afterwards, found it to be everything that was in this article to be accurate. That while we were cutting ours 25 , the chinese were increasing their military spending in that same time frame by 83 . Today we find ourselves in a new and different moment for americas security, the American People can no longer take americas military superiority for granted. China and russia have passed us in key area and are catching up in other areas. The National Defense strategy, which is the document that we have used which weve talked about and had a hearing on and everyone agrees that this was a bipartisan document and that was one that can should be used and has been used for that purpose. So President Trump has supported a new National Defense strategy with his Defense Budgets, putting us to a path to repair redness and restore military advantage. Hard work remains, most importantly we need a budget graeks. If we do not get a budget agreement to deal with the fiscal year 2020 that includes the growth in top line we will squander the process the progress that weve made in fiscal fearsyears 18 and 19. As we all know our fiscal year our top line in the first of this new administration was 700 billion and then after that for the next fiscal rear, fiscal year 19 was 716 million and then, of course, this bill we are at 750 billion. We want to avoid the crs, i think we all agree with that. The nds Commission Report said, quote, unpredictable and delayed funding placed to the National Defense security in jeopardy. This isnt only about money, we cant buy our way out of the competition with china and russia, we need urgent change and a significant scale and that requires hard choices about threat and priorities, critical defense investments and new operational concepts. These are choices that can only be made by a strong secretary of defense who enjoys the trust and confidence of the president and who has the support of those entrusted with critical civilian leadership positions in the department of defense. I recognize senator reed for his Opening Statement and recognize senator kaine for an introduction. Senator reed. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. And i join in welcoming secretary esper to this mornings hearing. I would also like to welcome secretary espers family, including his wife and their children, luke, john and kate. This effort is obviously not just the individual member, but the family, too, and we appreciate their service to the nation over many years. We are all pleased you could be here. Secretary esper, as we review your qualifications i note that you have a wealth of experience in defense policy, including recent service as the secretary of the army. Prior to that you also served in Senior Leadership positions in both the public and private sector. If confirmed as the next secretary of defense your background, experience, should serve you well. It has been nearly seven months since the department has had a senateconfirmed secretary of defense and no other time has the office of the secretary remained vacant for so long. Complicating the situation that under the vacancies act secretary esper cannot search as the acting secretary of defense now that hes been nominated for the position. Given these extraordinary set of circumstances the chairman and i agree that it is important to consider the nomination of secretary esper as expeditiously as possible. Let me be clear, this should not be a routine matter. While secretary esper has been performing the duties of the secretary for the past several weeks the duties of secretary are unique. As such i believe it is incumbent upon this committee to vigorously vet his nomination and review his kwaul fictions. Secretary esper, as we consider your nomination we must bear in mind the National Security challenges facing our country. Currently the department is focused on competition with add varies like china and russia as the department pursues the new Strategic Direction established by the National Defense strategy. Also iran and north korea remain dangerous and the threat posed by the violent extremist organizations is not diminishing. Furthermore, the Department Must continue to recruit and retain high caliber individuals while restoring readiness and pursuing high end capabilities for the force. I specifically want to raise two issues related to committees duty to conduct congressional oversight. Any effort to withhold or curtail information necessary to fulfill the committees oversight mandate is unacceptable. A memo governing the committees access to certain documents regarding executive orders. The memo stated that the Trump Administration would determine which materials should be provided to Congress Based on whether the request contained sufficient information to demonstrate a relationship to a legislative function. I think we make that determination, not the department of defense. Tensions often exist between the executive and legislative branches, however, as duly elected officials this committee understands what information is necessary. We are judicious in the number of requests we make to the department and rigidly control and protect the sensitivity of the information provided to us. Second, the Department MustKeep Congress fully and currently informed of Major Military developments, for example, on may 5th the president s National Security adviser announced that the u. S. Was deploying a Carrier Strike group and a Bomber Task Force to centcom. In response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications involving iran. The threats were apparently significant enough to not only to surge additional military capabilities in the region but for secretary pompeo to cancel a meeting with german chancellor merkel and fly to iraq. It took the department of defense five days to share any information to congress. Secretary esper, you indicate in your advance policy questions if confirmed you will reassess the departments policy. I appreciate your assurance and i hope that you will make a concerted effort to keep this committee fully and currently informed on critical National Security developments, particularly if it involves surging additional military capabilities to a specific region. Based on our working relationship during your tenure as secretary of the army i am confident we can Work Together to ensure congress has the information it needs to do the job. Secretary esper, as was discussed during general milleys confirmation hearing there is a Staggering Number of senior vacancies in the department. It has been troubling. Every member of this committee wants to ensure that high caliber candidates serve in the department and we will continue to fully evaluate and expeditiously consider nominees for these positions. If confirmed your ability to effectively manage the difficult challenges facing the department as well as extensive pentagon bureaucracy will require strong civilian leadership. I am concerned that the defendant defense is adrift in a way i have not seen in my whole time on capitol hill. Your success may even be contingent upon ensuring these civilian vacancies are filled quickly and with capable and talented individuals. It is my hope that you will work with the white house to impress on them the importance of filing these vakees. If you are confirmed you will help oversee National Security policy for a president whose temperament and management skills are challenging and likely very different from your own. While i do not agree with the president on many policy issues i do want him to be surrounded by leaders who can provide thoughtful advice and counsel. If confirmed you must be willing and able to provide the president with your best policy advice even if the president disagrees with your counsel and it returns contrary to his policy goals. But most importantly while the secretary of defense serves at the pleasure of the president , we should never forget that they also oversee the finest fighting force in the world. Men and women who have volunteered to serve a cause greater than themselves. Our Service Members and their families should always be at the forefront when considering defense policy or military action. If confirmed i am confident that you will do so. Again, i thank you, mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing. I look forward to the hearing. And hearing from our nominee. Thank you, senator reed. Senator kaine, you are recognized to introduce our guest today. Mr. Chair, Ranking Member reed and my colleagues on the committee, i actually will not introduce dr. Esper because you all know him, but i will present him to you and recommend his nomination. You know him because of his work as secretary of the army and interaction with each of you. Barbara tuckman wrote in her 1962 Pulitzer Prize winning book about the First World War the guns of august that, quote, character begets power, especially in hours of price is. That is a quote that is about both individuals and also about nations. Over the past two years my interactions with dr. Esper have convinced me have led me to the conclusion that he is a person of sound character and moral courage, which i believe are the most important traits of a secretary of defense charged with the lives of the women and men who serve the department of defense. He was born in uniontown, pennsylvania, the same town that produced general george c. Marshall who also as an adult found his way to becoming a virginian, like dr. Esper. He spent the majority of his adult life in service to the country starting with his entry into the United States military academy at west point and continuing through his career in the army, active, guard, reserve, service to the white house, service to this body. In fact, dr. Esper has really sort of seen it all as an active guard and reserve member, work in the private sector, work in think tanks on National Security policy, service to house and senate committees, service to individual senators and service to two republican administrations. You are familiar with his biography but i just wanted to share two instances of working together with dr. Esper, which has led me to the conclusion that he is the person of character who should lead the department. One of the first phone calls i received after i introduced legislation to address challenges with the unacceptably high Unemployment Rate of Military Spouses was from then secretary esper. Who thanked me for the legislation, who talked about his own concern about this as secretary of the army and wanted to Work Together to tackle this very, very serious challenge. And we have worked together cooperatively on that and ive been pleased with the armys ongoing efforts in that way. The same commitment to address the quality of life of our military families was something that i noticed when this committee began the investigation into the very painful circumstances surrounding substandard military housing. The initial responses by some in the department and at the bases themselves and i think we all experienced this, were skepticism, disbelief, denial, avoidance. That was not the response of secretary esper. It was the department of the army that first developed the tenant bill of rights which became the basis of one of the key provisions that we included in the ndaa this year. Secretary esper extended an invitation for senator werner and i could accompany him to see the conditions of housing at ft. Belvoir. When a secretary asks you to do something you kind of wonder if youre going to see the version of it that weve sort of solved this and were proud of our solution. No, we didnt see that. Secretary esper took us to the unvarnished version of problematic housing and people who had been treated badly and couldnt get help from their chain of command or the private housing companies. We heard in a very blunt way about problems these families had experienced that were heartbreaking in some ways. We had a round table discussion with other families around the table and when the families presented their experiences, encouraged by secretary esper to do so, and then often base personnel would begin to respond if he detected any, you know, delay or we cant deal with that right away, secretary esper in a firm and professional way but a very tough way would not let people get by with substandard responses. He insisted that the families be dealt with fairly and promptly. That willingness to display personal accountability was very impressive both to senator werner and me. He has been proactive and he has been transparent. I acknowledge the comments made by the Ranking Member about the need for transparency and working with the committee and i think those are trademarks of exceptional leadership. Most of us were very discouraged by the resignation of secretary mattis and what weve hoped for is a successor who can show the same level of candor and principle and a willingness to remain independent even in the most challenging circumstances. I believe that dr. Esper has those traits and would encourage all of my colleagues to support his nomination. Thank you, mr. Chair, Ranking Member. Thank you, senator kaine. Whether you call it that or not, i call it an excellent introduction. Dr. Esper, you are recognized for comments you might want to make and your entire statement will be made a part of the record. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I just which senator kaine could stay here for the next couple hours next to me. Chairman inhofe, Ranking Member reed and distinguished members of the committee, it is an honor and a privilege to appear before you as the president s nominee for secretary of defense. Id like to especially thank senator kaine for that very kind, gracious, humbling introduction. Sir, i will not let you down. You have been a leader here in the senate, youve been a leader because you are a father of a marine, you have always taken care of our servicemen and women and as you mentioned, ive really enjoyed working closely with you these past couple years and our experience at ft. Belvoir, again, assured me that there is bipartisanship in this in this building, on capitol hill, and there are leaders out there who will do the right thing and i know you will continue to demonstrate that leadership for our servicemen and women, for your con stit events, for our nation so thank you very much. I deeply appreciate your rye marks. I want to thank the president for this opportunity and for his confidence in me. Im grateful for the time that main of you have spent with me in recent weeks and thankful for the committees