Conditioned on this question the incoming secretary needs to have the courage to speak truth to power to congress, yes but also to his commander in chief. Half. Mr. Durbin mr. President . Speaking in morning business, i rise to express my support for the president s nominee dr. Ashton carter to serve as our nations 25th secretary of defense. A few words of thanks first for chuck hagel our former colleague in the senate who served as secretary of defense. Hes a friend. Hes had a long career in public service. Hes a veteran from vietnam and the people of nebraska rewarded him by asking him to represent them in the United States senate. As our nations first person 6 enlisted rank he had a unique ground level view on matters of war and peace and a strong, strong commitment to our troops. I thank chuck hagel for his service. Dr. Ashton carter has an impressive distinguished record of service as well in government. An advisor scholar. He has what it takes to be a great secretary of defense. His credentials as one of our nations top Security Policy experts are well established. A bachelors degree in physics and medieval history from yale. A doctor in theoretical physics from oxford. He served as faculty chair at harvard and is the author of 11 books. As singularly impressive as this is dr. Carter is very much a doer. He served no fewer than 11 secretaries of defense from leon panetta to chuck hagel included. Hes four times been awarded the distinguished Service Medal as well as the intelligence medal. As assistant secretary under the Clinton Administration he was instrumental in removing Nuclear Stockpiles from the states of ukraine, kazakhstan and belarus. As under secretary for defense for acquisition and low gist tisks he was renowned to break logjams to get our troops what they needed. We talked about this at some length when we met in my office a few weeks ago. How can we continue, i asked him, to reform d. O. D. So it will be able to rise to the occasion of todays challenges. As part of the discussion i was pleased to hear his appreciation for the department of defenses organic industrial base, especially one near and dear to my heart the arsenal in illinois. He recalled his experience in afghanistan as ash carter tried to bring troops body armor they needed and recalled working with great employees the dedicated employees at the rock ield arsenal as they island arsenal as they delivered the equipment to our troops and rolled it off Assembly Lines in record times. Im confident he can provide the president with the best policy advice to deal with our nations challenges. He has my full support. While im pleased the senate is moving and moving quickly on ash carter im troubled that my colleagues across the aisle are delaying consideration of Loretta Lynch the president s nominee for attorney general of the United States. Its been 95 days since the president announced the nomination. This is longer than any other attorney general nominee has had to wait in recent memory. By way of comparison, the Democraticcontrolled Senate confirmed Michael Mukasey as attorney general in 50 days. Eric holder, 64 days. I sat through the hearings with Loretta Lynch and i hirched to the listened to the questions particularly from the republican side. I listened to the questions on the republican side and came to the inescapable conclusion that the republican senators were going to refuse any effort to renominate eric holder for attorney general. Thats all they had to say. Their grievance was with the City Attorney general who has announced hes leaving as soon as his successor is chosen. I listened carefully for any criticism of Loretta Lynch and i didnt hear it. Then they had public witnesses a panel that has majority republicanchosen witnesses and democratic witnesses and early on i believe senator leahy asked the question of all the witnesses there, how many of you who were at this public panel oppose the nomination of Loretta Lynch for attorney general . Not one. Not one republican, not one democrat. Theres no opposition to Loretta Lynch. Why are they holding up this important appointment by president obama . Why dont we consider that this afternoon . It can be done, and it should be done very quickly. Nobodys questioned her records as a federal prosecutor. Shes twice before been unanimously confirmed to serve as u. S. Attorney for the Eastern District for new york. She has been vetted and examined and questioned to a faretheewell. She testified before the Senate Judiciary committee for nearly eight hours answering every question and including 600 written questions that were sent to her. Its time to move forward and confirm this obviously wellqualified and historic nominee. The Senate Judiciary committee will have the opportunity to report ms. Lynch out this week. We have the opportunity to confirm her immediately. There is no reason for further delay. What are the Senate Republicans trying to prove by holding up an obviously qualified nominee for a critically Important Agency like our department of justice . I hope that the spirit of bipartisanship shown in that committee can be shown on [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] thursday, the Senate Armed ServicesCommittee Held a hearing about the situation in afghanistan. The Committee Heard testimony from afghanistan Operations Commander, general john campbell, who provided the white house with options for flexibility on the pace of troop withdrawals. This hear something two hours and 10 minutes. Good morning. The Committee Meets today to receive testimony on afghanistan and i want to thank general campbell the commander of the Resolute Support mission and u. S. Forces afghanistan, for appearing before us today, about security conditions on the ground, the development of the Afghan NationalSecurity Forces and the way forward. General, weve been blessed by a series of great military leaders of our forces and allied forces in afghanistan. And you are a worthy successor to those outstanding leaders, in my view. According to a recent media report, the troop drawdown in afghanistan is now, quote, under white house review. But as the white house deliberates, the current plan is set to reduce the number of u. S. Troops in afghanistan to about 5,500, beginning in the middle of this years fighting season. The plan was first announced by president obama in may of 2014, before it was known that the afghan president ial transition would require almost six months to conclude, before the appearance of isis on the afghan battlefield and before Pakistan Military operations sent 200,000 refugees from into afghanistan. These unforeseen circumstances illustrate the major liabilities of a calendarbased approach and highlight had the need for a conditionsbased approach. Like our National Military strategy written in 2012, president obamas calendarbased troop drawdown plan for afghanistan no longer accurately reflects the facts and conditions on the ground. Like the president s policy against isil, the president s afghanistan policy lacks of strategic disconnect, providing a list of goals or preferences, but precluding the means necessary to achieve them. Perhaps it is time for the president to exercise strategic patience, as our witnesses yesterday unanimously agreed. Former u. S. Ambassador to afghanistan, james cunningham, having just served in kabul and left in december, said, quote, i think that under the circumstances, the timeline is probably too short and the rate of withdrawal is too steep. Former ambassador to both iraq and afghanistan, ryan crocker, said, i hope we will take the right decisions on force levels Going Forward based on conditions, not on calendars. Former commander of special Operations Command and the first navy s. E. A. L. To achieve the rank of four stars said, actual war is too dynamic to accommodate fixed models. So i would urge strategic and Operational Flexibility as we move forward in afghanistan. At a force size of 4,500, our force in afghanistan will be reduced to kabul. Presently in only one location, one that retreats from the north, east and south of afghanistan, well relinquish the area to the drug runners, yield to iranian influence and abandon kandahar to the taliban. The lack of presence creates a vacuum and week of seen what fills that vacuum in syria and iraq. The ungoverned spaces will allow terrorists to foe meant the same disaster in afghanistan as we have seen in iraq, growing instability terrorist safe havegness and direct threats to the United States havens and direct threats to the United States. I think our former National Counterterrorism director put it into perspective, how we should look at afghanistan. I quote, should the American People think this is hopeless . The last 13 years have shown us that the counterterrorism fight and protecting the homeland in this region is not hopeless. Weve been very, successful at stopping attacks from the region. And i would flip it around. From a Homeland Security perspective, i think it is close to hopeless to think we can have that same success without some ongoing presence in the region. Reducing to a quote, norm allem about asy presence, at the end normal embassy presence at the end of 2016 and announcing it to the enemy, gives terrorists breathing room to plot against the west. As ambassador crocker put it, quote, by fixing a date to draw down to a certain number, and then to draw down to basically an office and an embassy simply tells our adversaries how long they have to hold out before they have the field to themselves. By the way i know of no man more respected than ambassador ryan crocker. If weve learned anything from iraq, it should be that wars do not end just because politicians say so. We cannot let the taliban al qaeda and isis conquer afghanistan. Failure in this manner would destabilize the region especially by undermining the security of a nucleararmed pakistan. I want to thank general campbell for testifying today. I thank him for his leadership. I look forward to hearing his assessment of conditions on the ground, development of Afghan Forces and the plan for the way forward. Senator reid. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. Let me join you in welcoming general campbell. Thank you, general, for your service to the nation. Beginning in the 504 and continuing today. Since you took command of the u. S. Forces in afghanistan last august, afghanistan has entered what ambassador cunningham yesterday called a pivotal period. The emergence of a National Unity government under the leaders has had an Immediate Impact on security in afghanistan, with the signing of the bilateral Security Agreement and the nato status of forces agreement. 2 3 of thing afghans polled want u. S. And Coalition Troops to stay to train the afghan Security Forces. Your challenge is to successfully lead the u. S. And Coalition Effort to train, advise and assist afghan Security Forces and conduct counterterrorism operations. Even as u. S. And Coalition Forces have gone down to postcombat levels in afghanistan. We would be interested in your assessment whether you currently have the forces you feel you need to carry out these two missions. Were also seeking your best military judgment this morning on what further reductions, if any, you would recommend for u. S. Forces in afghanistan and under what condition. At yesterdays hearing, referring again to ambassador crocker, he warned that the consequences of disengagement can be as great or greater than the consequences of engagement. Or intervention in the first place. I share the concern of many on this committee that any future reductions in u. S. Force levels in afghanistan should be based on the security conditions at the time of the proposed reductions, taking into account the capabilities of the afghan Security Forces and the status of the counterterrorism fight. We would also be interested in your views on the full range of challenges you face, including the progress that the afghan Security Forces in building key enablers such as logistics, special praise Operations Forces intelligence and airlift, the afghanpakistan security relationship, including border coordination and counterterrorism effort, and the reports of a growing isis presence in afghanistan. Again, thank you, sir, for your service to the nation. General campbell. Chairman mccain, Ranking Member reed and distinguished members of the committee, thank you very much for the opportunity to appear before you today. Im honored to lead and represent the service men and women of the United States forces afghanistan. Id like to begin by thanking the committee for your steadfast support of our soldiers, our sailors, our airmen, our marines, and our civilians. Due to your leadership and your commitment, theyre the best trained and best equipped force our nation has ever deployed. Their outstanding performance bears testimony to your backing and the backing of the American People. Id like to pay tribute to our military families, theyre the Unsung Heroes of the last 13plus years of conflict. In many ways, our frequent absences from home are harder on them than on us. Without their love, strength and support, we couldnt succeed. Id also like to recognize the over 2,200 service men and women who have been killed in action in afghanistan and the over 20,000plus who have been wounded. Each day we strive to bring meaning to their sacrifices. We honor their memories and their loved ones by continuing to build a secure and stable afghanistan. And by protecting our own homeland. Over 13 years have passed since the attacks and we havent forget since the 9 11 attacks and we havent forgotten why we came to afghanistan and why we remain. Since 2001 the extraordinary efforts and courage of our forces have ensured that another terrorist attack originating from afghanistan and directed against the u. S. Homeland has not occurred. Its been seven months since i appeared before this committee and much has changed since then. Afghanistan, the region, the enemy, and our coalition have undergone tremendous transitions. And most of these have been extraordinarily positive for us. Id like to emphasize a few of these today in order to place our Current Campaign in context. And to reaffirm that the conditions exist for us to achieve our strategic objectives. In september afghanistan completed the first peaceful democratic transition in history. Although prolonged this transition was still a monumental achievement. It represented the afghans commitment to a democratic, open society. The difference between a new National Unity government and its predecessor is night and day. The president and have embraced the International Community. Our coalition and the afghan Security Forces. Our partnership is strong. We now have a ratified bilateral Security Agreement and a nato status of forces agreement. Which grant us the necessary authorities to continue our mission. Dynamics within the region continue to evolve as well. The president has made regional engagement a top priority in order to address the shared security and economic interests for afghanistan. Nowhere is this more evident than in the pakistanafghan relationship. The pakistan talibans murderous attack on 16 december may prove to be their 9 11 and a game changer for our future. Senior pakistani officials recognize they can no longer make the distinction between good and bad terrorists. In the wake of this tragedy, the blame game between both countries has stopped. Ive witnessed firsthand substantive changes in the interactions between the afghan and Pakistan Military leadership in just the last couple of months. Theyre now talking. Positive exchanges between core commanders recently occurred in kandahar, in jalalabad. Last week six afghan army cadets are now attending the Pakistan Military academy and this wasnt happening before. Were doing everything we can to promote their closer cooperation. Particularly to address extremist sanctuaries on both sides of the border. We must temper our expectations, i remain optimistic that both countries are working towards a more productive relationship. The enemy remains in a state of f