Just a number. It does not a price tag that we have on this country. It is that outofcontrol control spending that is threatening the next generation. The next generation of american leaders and the jobs that they will have once they graduate. They need skills to make sure mirko will be competitive moving forward. Spending is a problem. We continue to urge the democrats to make the responsible spending cuts. We are committed to a smarter approach to spending reductions and reform and getting america back on track so that the next generation will have a bright future. Back in 2008, that then senator barack obama said it was unpatriotic that our National Debt had increased 4 trillion. Here we are halfway through an eightyear term for president obama and the National Debt has increased on his watch. We have a spending problem. The president continues to want to raise taxes. We have trillions of dollars on taxes and a healthcare bill and 700 billion at the beginning of the year. Now he is talking about closing loopholes. That im pleased to hear because republicans have been talking about closing loopholes as part of a comprehensive tax reform. If they uses the tax loophole, closing the tax loopholes to pay for more spending, that kills fundamental apprehensive tax reform. The ways and Means Committee have been working so hard. Taxes is not the problem in washington. We collect more tax revenue this year than we have ever collected in the history of this nation. Cbo recently predicted that tax revenue under current law will double in the next 10 years. From two point 4 trillion to 5 trillion in 10 short years. 2. 4 trillion to 5 trillion in 10 short years. It is time for washington to good morning. I have freshman member from the state of montana. I have a different resume than most in congress. Im not a lawyer. Spent 28 years in the private sector. I have an engineering degree. I have been creating jobs and i understand how to balance a budget. I understand businesses and the family budget. You have to find ways to do more with less. I left the private sector because i saw a financial crisis that was coming. I wife and i have four children. I have two College Graduates ready to go into the workforce. I represent 1,000,001 canada residence. Montana they will have a balanced budget. I think we can take some of those ideas back to washington. We take ideas from hardworking moms back in montana. They know if they cannot spend more than they take in. We have a responsibility. We are responsible to the American People, our kids, we need to manage our spending and reform our government. We need to put it back on a path for the next 5, 10, 20 years. We need lasting growth. Something better than what we got from our presence pa rents. I normally do not do this, t today is the president s birthday. Will you sing a song . I will pass. [inaudible] the Budget Committee members are working with all members to try to lay the groundwork for successful passage of our budget. We have done a budget for each of the past four years. Hopefully the senate will keep their word and a budget for the first time in four years. Im sure we can come to some agreement. [inaudible] i think we will let them work it out. Can you talk about the potential speed bumps . I talked to some people on this side of the building who were concerned. The house our goal is to cut spending and not to shut down the government. We will move the c. R. Next week and we hope the senate will take this bill up. The president on friday agreed that there is no reason to have a debate on shutting down the government. It is not the smart and to do. [inaudible] i will not predict what the senate will or wont do. I hope they will take it up and pass it. For all intents and purposes, it looks like president obama you need a haircut by the way. [laughter] it looks like your he is putting up the white flag on what do you feel about that . Listen, because of the president s bailout is to cut spending, reluctance to cut spending, we have been caught in this battle of having deadlines. This is no way to run a government. Until the president gets serious about his serious structural spending problem, we the best thing we can do is find some way to get the senate to do their work and have a large agreement that begins to adjust the spending problem. We need budget for the next 10 years. Get out of this close of business. It is not the for the get out of this cliff of the business. It is not good for the country. There are many issues that people want us to address. We will address skills. We will take job training and retraining programs and simplify them and combine them so we can put more effort to train people for the jobs that american businesses have available today. A lot of things we need to do. [inaudible] we have a long list of things we would like to deal with. Im sure hes list is different than ours. I have been clear on immigration. We need to work in a bipartisan fashion like we have been to deal with this very complex issue. The violence against women act passed with a majority this year. Do you think that will keep happening . What is your philosophy on that . Listen, we tried everything we could to find keep the differences resolved. It was time to deal with the issue and we did. It does not a practice i expect to continue longterm. [inaudible] i think it is the biggest threat to the future of our country. That is why there is focus on it. I hope that the president and the Senate Democrats will get serious on a bill that will solve our longterm spending problem. Though we can do with other issues. Thank you. Questions t came up during te white house briefing. The house yesterday talked about a proposal to extend the c. R. The rest of the fiscal year. It includes some provisions that might soft and the sequester somewhat. The programs they selected may not be i get the same programs that democrats would select in either the house or the senate. What is the president s reaction to that . I do not have an official position to provide to you today. I would point you to a couple of things. We believe that a c. R. Should be practical and consistent with levels of the budget control act. It is our understanding on the last point that the c. R. Is consistent with the levels of the budget control act. I would await for further response from us as experts examine and make assessments about it. Our interest is not, you know, as long as these goals are met, we do not go headlong into another manufactured rices. We are focused on trying to find manufactured crisis. We are focused on trying to find a solution. Common sense. Middleoftheroad solutions that represent balance and have met the republicans halfway. He will continue to pursue that as we try to adjust the sequester and the bottoroader challenge of going on to a more sustainable path. A number of republican senators have said in the last several hours that the president is this a Charm Offensive . The president is engaging with lawmakers of both parties. He will continue to do so. I believe on friday he talked about the need for bipartisan work around Common Ground when it comes to reducing our deficit. We should achieve that. He put forward a proposal that addresses the need for entitlement reform in a very serious away as part of a comprehensive wreckage that includes tax reform that would close tax loopholes and reductions in a way that House Speaker boehner said was his position two months ago. Both sides are for entitlement reform and tax reform. One of the issues of debate is what to do with the revenue gained them improving the tax code and closing unnecessary loopholes . Do you take that and converted into tax cuts . Or do you apply to the deficit reduction . That is the president s position. He is talking to members about a variety of issues and not just fiscal challenges. The fiscal issues are among the issues he is talking about with lawmakers. Has he been reaching out to or is the white house not being comfortable what the house is talking about this year . This might evolve into one of those manufactured crises . The c. R. , if it meets in the test that i talk about, it would not we need to put ourselves on a fiscally sustainable path. That work remains to be done. The president is interested in finding members of the caucus of common sense and working with them to bring about a resolution to this challenge. We should be able to do it. He has put forward and finally, i think there is some recognition. They insist that he does not have a plan and perhaps they do not have the internet in their offices, but a plan is available to all of you. It has lived through various incarnations. It remains on the table and available to be taken up. We hope it is. In a few moments, the senate of Armed ServicesCommittee Hears from the heads of special operations and centcom. In about three hours, a discussion of automatic spending cuts will affect the Defense Department. Looking out her live coverage tomorrow on our companion network cspan numeral three, in the morning the Senate Judiciary committee will hear from attorney general eric holder. It will be at Justice Department oversight hearing at 9 30 a. M. Eastern. At 2 p. M. Eastern, a hearing on preventing military suicides. Sherman did not want those thousands of free slaves, refugees behind the army. I forget the name of the river in georgia. He wanted to be rid of them. He had as many as 20,000 refugees. He wanted no black troops in the army. They reached liberty county. That is savannah. You can meet people who will tell you, this is where he was. When he got into savannah he let his generals put out the word. Theres his field order were sherman set aside 200 miles along the coast for the exclusive settlement of free people with promissory notes of a piece of land. That was the dream all of them had. It would not last. Andrew johnson would remand order. Civil war scholars on the contributions and sacrifices of africans. Many who work and served and the army. Part of American History tv this weekend on cspan 3. That head of military operations in the middle east and central asia to members of congress that the u. S. Should leave 14,000 troops in afghanistan after 2014. General mattis testified, along with admiral mcraven. This is three hours. [gavel] good morning, everybody. This mornings hearing is the first in our annual series of Posture Hearings that the combatant commanders, to receive testimony on the military strategy and Operational Requirements in their areas of responsibility. Our witnesses are two extraordinary military leaders. General james mattis, commander u. S. Central command, and admiral bill mcraven, commander u. S. Special Operations Command. On behalf of our members, please pass along to the men and women serving in both areas our sincere gratitude for their dedication and sacrifices and we also thank their families. Whose support is so essential to the wellbeing of their loved ones, to the wellbeing of our nation. General mattis, this is your third and your last Posture Hearing before this committee. And this committee is favorably reported out your successor, general lloyd austin, to the full senate. General, we want to thank you for your more than 40 years of military service and your distinguished leadership of our armed forces. This years Posture Hearings, with the combatant commanders, are being held under the specter of budget sequestration. Which threatens to impose arbitrary cuts on our military forces unrelated to our National Security requirements. Already sequestration is having an Operational Impact in the centcom with the Defense Departments postponement of the deployment of the u. S. S. Hairy truman Aircraft Carrier to the persian gulf. Harry truman Aircraft Carrier to the persian gulf. I hope general mattis and admiral mcraven will talk about the risks and associated with sequestration and the expiration of the continuing resolution. Our transition strategy in afghanistan is entering a critical phase in the coming months. Excuse me. Afghan forces will move into the lead for security throughout afghanistan beginning this spring. This transition has been under way for some time. And Afghan Forces are already in charge of security for more than 85 of the afghan people. This shift to an Afghan Security lead is exemplified by the statistic that in 2012 Afghan Forces for the first time suffered more casualties than Coalition Forces, as Afghan Security forces are stepping up, Coalition Forces are shifting to a support role. Deploying Security Force assistance teams to advise and assist afghan units throughout the end of 2014, when the mission ends. Casualties are down. And during a onemonth stretch from mid january to mid february of this year, forces suffered no fatalities. But it seems the bad news out of afghanistan is splashed across the headlines while good news barely makes a ripple. The press gave wide coverage in december to the Defense Department report that found only one of 23 afghan brigades was rated as independent. Yet when senator reid and i visited afghanistan in january and talked to our regional commanders, we learned that Afghan Forces in the volatile and critical east region have been successfully conducting over 85 of the operations unilaterally, without Coalition Forces even being present. Afghans want their own forces, providing for their security. And they have confidence in those forces. General mattis, the committee would be interested in your assessment of whether our mission in afghanistan is succeeding, whether our transition plan is on track and whether the Afghan Forces will be ready this spring to assume the lead for protecting the afghan people, excuse me, throughout the country. Last month president obama announced plans for withdrawing by february of next year. 34,000 of the 66,000 u. S. Troops in afghanistan. As important as the size of the cuts in u. S. Troop levels over the coming year is, the pace of those reductions is also important. The president has previously stated that cuts in u. S. Forces would continue at a steady pace after the recovery of the u. S. Surge force at the end of last summer. Its now being reported that the bulk of their withdrawal of the 34,000 troops is likely to occur next winter, after the 2013 fighting season. And we need to understand what the pace of u. S. Troop withdrawal will look like and how it fits with the overall transition strategy. Looking ahead, significant challenges in afghanistan remain. Fundamental to the countrys stability will be a demonstrated commitment by the United States and the International Community to an enduring relationship with afghanistan. I am encouraged by reports that nato defense ministers recently reconsidered plans to cut Afghan Security forces by 1 3 after 2014 and are now considering maintaining those forces at 352,000, at least through 2018. That sends an important signal of commitment to the afghan people, to the taliban and to afghanistans neighbors. And pakistan needs to recognize that an unstable afghanistan is not in its interests and pakistans continuing failure to address the safe havens for insurgents conducting cross border attacks into afghanistan will make it impossible for the United States to have a normal relationship with pakistan. In addition, the government of afghanistan needs to address its failure to deliver services and also the rampant corruption that undermines the afghanistan peoples faith in their governments institutions. The cencom o. A. R. Also presents other vexing challenges. Irans continuing pursuit of its Nuclear Program is one of the most significant National Security issues of this day. I believe most of the members of this committee share president obamas view that all options, including military options, need to remain on the table and that preventing iran from acquiring a Nuclear Weapon is not only our policy but that we are determined to achieve that policy goal. Iran is also actively expanding their Threat Network that has promoted violence across the region in yemen, gaza, sudan, syria, iraq and elsewhere. Iran continues to provide financial and Material Support through the revolutionary guard in to groups seeking to overthrow or undermine governments or terrorize innocent civilians. General mattis and admiral mcraven, you are the two commanders most involved in confronting these current challenges and planning for contingencies involving iran. We look forward to hearing your views on these matters. In syria, the death toll continues to rise daily. The mass atrocities committed by the assad regime over the past two years have solidified the commitment of all but a few in the International Community that the required outcome in syria is that assad must go. The United States is the largest contributor of nonlethal and humanitarian aid to the International Response efforts, but these contributions have not been enough. General mattis, the committee looks forward to hearing your views on the situation in syria and to learn of