That. I dont think donations are disqualifying at all but if you represented the Clinton Foundation or clinton herself, it would be a bit disturbing to me but i will take care of that. As to russia, do you have any doubt that the 17 Intelligence Agency report that was submitted last year or early this year, that russia interfered in our election is acted . Senator, this is an issue discussed in my confirmation rate and trouble of you attended that. At the point i access only to the public right. Public admission which classified information but what can you tell us down . I know access to classified information and i think that assessment made by the Intelligence Community is justified based upon investigation, the evidence they had. Jeff sessions will testify on capitol hill today. Hes expected to get questions from lawmakers about his contacts with russian officials during the 2016th election campaign. This will be the first time hes testified before Congress Since his confirmation hearing in february. Live coverage begins at 2 30 p. M. Eastern on cspan3, and if you miss any of the hearing live you can watch it tonight at eight eastern here on cspan2. Cspan where history unfolds a daily. In 1979, cspan was created a aa Public Service by americas cabletelevision companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. Sunday night on after words, utah republican senator michael he talks about forgotten historical figures who fought against Big Government in his book written out of history. He is interviewed by former acting solicitor general neal cowgill. When youre on the lookout for them they come to gradually. Ask friends come of the people i knew who they thought should get more credit than they get picked in the case of this is an indian chief who is from i tried many understood federalist because he led to for centuries before we were our own country. I was intrigued by the from the outset because it is not in a most americans know anything about. And yet he had a profound impact on our system of government. Hes the guy who enable Benjamin Franklin to learn about federalism and Benjamin Frankel was a conduit through which this information flowed to the rest of the founders. Made its way first into the articles of confederation and think anymore percolate into the constitution. Watch a sunday night at night eastern on cspan2s booktv. James mattis says the u. S. Is not winning in afghanistan. He was on capitol hill today to talk about the 2018th Defense Budget. He told the Senate Armed Service committee is working on a new war strategy and hopes to have the plan ready for congress by midjuly. Heres some of the hearing while the senate is on break. Well, good morning to the Senate Armed Services Committee Meets this morning to receive testimony on the department of defense fiscal year 2018 budget request. We welcome secretary mattis, chairman dunford, secretary norquist, and thank you for your many years of distinguished service and your leadership of our men and women in uniform. Before we begin, with all want to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of Sergeant Eric howe, sergent William Bates and corporate dylan baldridge. These three soldiers from the armies 100 First Airborne Division were killed this week in in afghanistan. The thoughts and prayers of this committee are with their loved ones. The sacrifice of these heroes is a painful reminder that america is still a nation at war. That is true in afghanistan where after 15 years of war we face a stalemate and urgently need a change in strategy and an increase in resources if we are to turn the situation around. We also remain engaged in a a Global Campaign to defeat isis and related terrorist groups from libya and yemen to iraq and syria, where just drips are helping to destroy isis and reclaim mosul and rocker. Meanwhile, threats around the world continue to grow more complex and severe. North korea is causing in on the development of Nuclear Capable internet continental Ballistic Missile that can target our homeland. And iran continues to destabilize the middle east, and seek to drive the United States out of the region. At the same time we entered a new era of great power of competition. Russia and china, despite the many differences, are both modernizing their militaries, developing advanced capabilities to undermine our ability to project power globally, threaten our neighbors and challenging the rulesbased world order. Russia in particular continue to occupy crimea, destabilize ukraine, threaten our nato allies, bolster the murders i thought regime in syria, and pursue a campaign of active measures to undermine the very integrity of western democraci democracies. With thousands of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines deployed in harms way around the globe, those of us who are charged with the awesome responsibility of providing for the common defense must ask ourselves if we are doing Everything Possible to support our brave men and women in uniform to meet the challenges of increasingly dangerous world and succeed in their mission. Im sad to say that we are not. In response to rising threats weve asked our military to do more and give more, but have given less and less to them. Our witnesses Opening Statements are harsh indictment of the failure, but they are right. I import my colleagues to listen carefully to their testimony and heed their admonition to us. Since 2011 spending caps mandated by the budget control act have led to a 23 cut to the Defense Budget. These reductions compounded by growing fiscal uncertainty and continuing resolutions have left our military with shrinking forces, depleted by dennis and aging of equipment. This has put the lights are men and women in uniform at greater risk as this committee hazarding testimony for years from our civilian defense leaders and senior military officers. The Administration Fiscal year 2018 budget request, if enacted, could help to arrest the decline in our militaries readiness but ultimately and unfortunately it falls short of the president s commitment to rebuild our military. The proposed Defense Budget of 603 billion is both arbitrary and inadequate. Arbitrary because a top flight is simply what was written into the budget control act six years ago prior to the sequester cuts and are not equipped because it represents just a 3 increase over president obamas defense plan. It is hardly surprising then that this committee has received unfunded requirements from the military services totaling over 31 billion, all of which secretary mattis testified last night in the house Armed Services committee that he supports. Our military Service Leaders have testified to this committee that this budget would staunch the bleeding but we all are men and women in uniform more than that. Its been said that this budget request focuses on readiness, and it is true that the request of funding increases will make the common current force more ready for the next year. But ultimately writing this is more than training hours and time on the ranges. Real readiness requires sufficient capacity to enable our troops simultaneously to conduct operations, prepare for deployment, rest and refit common focus on the challenges of tomorrow. This budget delivers no growth in capacity, which means that the joint force will continue to consume readiness as quickly as it is produced. These increases in capacity are reflected in these services unfunded requirements. True readiness is also modernization. Because if we mortgage future capability pay for present commitments, we have achieved a little, spatial at a time when adversaries are moving at an alarming rate to erode americas military technologicall technole and call into question our ability to project power. Here, too, unfortunately, this budget request poses the old false choice between readiness and modernization. The fact is that 603 billion simply is not enough to pay for both priorities, which is why the services unfunded requirements are heavy on the procurement of new and additional capabilities that are desperately needed. All of this presents this committee and this congress with a significant choice. The administrations budget request is just that, i request. Ultimately, it is our independent responsibility to authorize an appropriate funding for our military at levels and in ways that we believe sufficient to provide for the common defense. I believe that this budget request is a start, but we can and must do better. This will not be possible, however, as long as the budget control act remains the law of the land. This Defense Budget request and the additional funding that our military needs is literally illegal under the budget control act. This law has done Severe Damage to our military. It is harm the departments ability to plan and execute a budgets effectively and efficiently, it is appropriations process to a halt. And worst of all, there are four more years of caps to go. We cannot go on like this. Our men and women in uniform deserve better. It is time for the congress to reinvest in our military, restorm readiness and capabilities, rebalance our joint force, and renew americas military advantage. To do so we must revise or repeal the budget control act. We must give our troops with the need to succeed today and in the future. With the politics of this be difficult . Yes. But the question all of this you must answer is, how much longer will we send our sons and daughters into harms way unprepared before we get over our politics and do our jobs . Senator reed . Thanks very much, mr. Chairman crowley dishing dishing to consider funding levels for department of defense to make arm patient filtered. I also want to welcome our distinguished witnesses this morning. Thank them for the service to the nation to i want to with the chairman in paying tribute to the soldiers of the 100 first who gave their lives and their families. They National Security challenges in which we need to be focused. Secretary mattis and general dunford youve been professionals and steady hands in a tumultuous time. We face many difficult decisions both strategic and budgetary that demand the kind of leadership and engagement that old background and focus president can provide. I look forward to working with you and my colleagues as we dress these important issues. Im proud of this committee has on his work in a bipartisan fashion during this process and is afford to working with the chairman and all the Committee Members to come to reasonable agree but again this year. Thank you very much, mr. Chairm. Secretary mattis, welcome back. Thank you, chairman, mccain, Ranking Member reed and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify and supportive present budget request for fiscal year 2018. Mr. Chairman, i request the committee accept my written statement for the record. Im joined by chairman dunford, the Department Control under secretary of defense david norquist. Thank you mr. Chairman and mips of the committee for your swift consideration and the Senate Confirmation of Defense Department nominees. This budget request whole to be accountable to the net and women of the department of defense. Every day more than 2 million servicemembers in nearly 1 million civilians do their duty. Pondering previous veterans and Civil Servants have sacrificed for our country and its my privilege to serve alongside them. We in the department of defense are keenly aware of the sacrifices made by the American People to fund our military. Many times in the past we have look reality in the eye, met challenges with help of congressional leadership, and built the most capable, or fighting force in the world. There is no room for complacency and we have no godgiven right to victory on the battlefield. Each generation of americans from the halls of congress to the battlefields earns a victory through commitment and sacrifice. And yet for four years the department of defense has been subjected to or threatened by automatic acrosstheboard cuts as a result of sequester, a mechanism meant to be so injurious to the military it would never go into effect. But it did go into effect, and is forecast by then secretary of defense panetta, the damage had been severe, hollowing out our force. In addition during night of the past ten Years Congress has enacted 37 continuing resolutions to fund the department of defense, thus inhibiting our readiness and our adaptation to meet challenges. We need bipartisan support for this budget request. In the past by putting to pass a budget on time or to eliminate the threat of sequestration, congress sidelined itself from its constitutional oversight role. Continuing resolutions coupled with sequestration locked a new programs, prevented service growth, stalled Industry Initiative and placed troops at greater risk. Despite the tremendous efforts of this committee, congress as a whole is met the president s challenge. I retired for military Service Three months after sequestration took effect. Four years later i returned to the department and i been shocked by what ive seen about our readiness to fight. While nothing can compare to the heartache caused by the loss of our troops during these wars, no inning in the field has done more to harm the combat readiness of our military than sequestration. We have only sustain our ability to meet americas commitments abroad for our security because our troops have stoically shouldered a much greater burden. But our troops stewart commitment cannot reduce the growing risk. It took us years to get into this situation. It will require years of stable budgets and increase funding to get out of it. I urge members of this committee and congress to achieve three goals. First, fully fund our request which required an increase to the Defense Budget caps. Second, passive fiscal year 2018 budget in a timely manner to avoid yet another harmful continuing resolution. And third, eliminate the threat of future sequestration cuts to provide a stable budgetary planning horizon. Stable budgets and increase funding are necessary because of for external factors acting and the department at the same time. The first force acting on us that we must recognize is 16 years of war. When Congress Approved the all volunteer force in 1973, our country never envisioned cindy our military to war for more than a decade without pause or conscription. Americas long war has placed a heavy burden on many women in uniform and their families. A second concurrent force acting on the department is the worsening Global Security situation the chairman spoke about the we must look reality in the eye. Russia and china are seeking veto power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions on their periphery. North koreas reckless rhetoric and provocative actions continue, despite United Nations censure and sanctions. While iran remains the largest longterm challenge to meetings stability. All the while terrorist groups murder the innocent and threaten peace in many regions while targeting us. A third force is everson actively contesting americas capabilities. For decades the United States enjoyed uncontested our dominant superiority in every operating domain or realm. We conjure to put our forces when we wanted, assemble them where we wanted and operate how we wanted. Today, every operating domain out of space, sea, undersea, land in cyberspace is contested. A fourth concurrent force is rapid technological change. Among the other forces noted thus far, technological change is one that necessitates new investment, innovative approaches, and new Program Starts at a been denied us by law when we been forced to operate under continuing resolutions. Each of these four forces, 16 years of war, the worsening security environment, contested operations in multiple domains, and the rapid pace of technological change requires stable budgets and increased funding to provide for the protection of our citizens and for the survival of our freedoms. I reiterate the security and solvency are my watchword as secretary of defense. The fundamental responsibility of our government is to defend the American People, providing for our security. And we cannot defend america and help others if our nation is not both strong and solvent. So we in the department of defense only to the American Public to ensure we spend each dollar wisely. President trump is nominee for Senate Approval specific individuals will bring proven skills to discipline our departments physical processes to ensure we do so. However we all recognize it will take a number of years of firefighting delivered on time to restore readiness. To strengthen the military, President Trump requested a 639 billion top line for the fy 2018 defense year budget. This years budget reflects five priorities, the First Priority is continuing to improve war fighter readiness begun in 2017 , filling in the holes from tradeoffs made during 16 years of war, nine years of continuing re