Testimony on the department of defenses 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. We all want to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of Sergeant Eric houg, corporal dylan baldridge, these three soldiers from the armys 101st Airborne Division were killed this weekend 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 of resources if we are to turn the situation around. We also remain engaged in a Global Campaign to defeat isis and related terrorist groups from libya and yemen to iraq and syria where u. S. Troops are helping to destroy isis and reclaim mosul in raqqah. Meanwhile, threats around the world continue to grow more complex and severe. North korea is closing in on the development of a 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 weve entered a new era of great power competition. Russia and china, despite their many differences, are both modernizing their militaries, developing advanced capabilities to undermine our ability to project power globally, threaten their neighbors in challenging new rules based world order. Russia in particular continues to occupy crimea, destabilize ukraine, threaten our nato allies, bolster the murderous assad regime in syria and pursue a campaign of active measures to undermine the very integrity of western democracies. The 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 an 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 a harsh indictment to this failure, but they are right. I implore 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 fiscal uncertainty and continued resolutions have left our military with depleted forces, and aging equipment. This has put the lives of our men and women in uniform at greater risk as this committee has heard in testimony for years from our civilian defense leaders and senior military officers. The administrations fiscal year 2018 budget request if enacted could help to arrest the decline in our militarys 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 the top line is simply what was written into the budget control act six years ago prior to the sequester cuts and inadequate because it represents just a 3 increase over president obamas defense plan. It is hardly surprising then that this committee has received lists of unfunded requirements from the military services totalling 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 owe our men and women in uniform more than that. Its been said that this budget request focuses on readiness, and it is true that the requested funding increases would make the current force more ready for the next year. But ultimately readiness 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 and 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 each services unfunded requirements. True readiness is also modernization. Because if we mortgage future capability pay for present commitments, we have achieved little, especially at a time when our adversaries are moving at an alarming rate to erode americas military technological advantage 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, a request. Ultimately it is our independent responsibility to authorize and 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 has harmed the departments ability to plan and execute budgets effectively and efficiently. It is ground business to a halt. And worst of all there are for more years of bca caps to go. We cannot go on like this. Our men and women in uniform deserve better. It is time for congress to reinvest in military, restore capabilities in readiness, rebalance our joint force and renew americas military advantage. To do so we must revise or repeal the budget control act. And we must give our troops what they need to succeed today and in the future. Will the politics of this be difficult . Yes. But the question all of us here 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 reid. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing to maintain our nations military. I also want to welcome our distinguished witnesses this morning, thank them for their service to the nation. I want to join with the chairman in paying tribute to the soldiers of the 101st who gave their lives and their families, they are examples of thousands and thousands of americans who serve and their families here at home that serve with them. Today we consider the fiscal year 2018 Trump Administration budget that seeks 574 billion in base funding and 65 billion forover seas contingency operations. As we all know the budget control act, the bca of 2011, and the sequester are still law of the land. And this budget request of d. O. D. Exceeds the bca spending cap by 52 billion. Rather than negotiate with congress or propose an outright appeal on the sequester, President Trump proposed to offset an increase in defense spending with a 52 billion cut in nondefense spending. But unless the bca has changed, the offset will seriously harm nondefense spending and fail to prevent across the board cuts reclaiming the 52 billion leaving d. O. D. In a worse position. Weve already held many hearings this year where leaders have repeatedly urged us to remove the caps and end sequestration. Like chairman mccain, i believe its time to repeal the bca. Setting arbitrary limits has not made our country safer or fixed these problems. Nor do these accurately reflect what our military needs in order to confront todays threats or the kind of domestic investment we need to keep america competitive and strong. Let me be clear, i am not opposed to increased military spending. Democrats have and will continue to support robust defense spending, but it is a duty of this committee to carefully review the budget proposals presented by the president to ensure that the funds are allocated properly so that our fighting men and women have what they need to complete their mission and return home safely. Every member regardless of party takes this duty seriously. I also believe that our budget must reflect our nations core values and take care of americans who remain at home. Our military personnel have a vision of the america they are fighting for, and it is our duty to protect that. I therefore have grave concerns about the president s budget request because it robs from peter to pay paul. The proposal increases defense spending but also eliminates 17. 3 billion from the state departments efforts to prevent wars which is the very kind of spending that secretary mattis has said is so crucial to our military efforts. It also slashes funding for Health Investments like the nih and cdc and training for Health Care Professionals to fight against Global PublicHealth Epidemics such as ebola, before they reach the u. S. This budget request also eliminates programs that helps vulnerable americans here at home. Certainly our military needs Additional Resources to climb out of the hole it is in and at the same time deter conflict with competitors but i do not believe we should do so at the expense of diplomacy and vulnerable americans. I will also know that for over the last 15 years we have found it important enough to send our brave men and women to war, but we have not had the courage to raise revenues to pay for these wars, as this nation has historically done. As we examine what funding requirements are necessary for the safety and security of our country, we need to look at our federal budget in a much broader context. The bca dealing with the issue between defense and nondefense spending has had the unfortunate effect that pitting each category of funding against the other. Instead we would be better served if we can sit at the needs of our nation wholistically. I also believe wed be best if we examine the president s budget request in the context of an Overall National security strategy. Such a strategy, however, has not clearly emerged as we enter the sixth month of this administration. We seem to careen from one Foreign Policy crisis to another, many of which are the administerings own making. This takes valuable energy and attention at a time when there are several significant National Security challenges on which we need to be focused. Secretary mattis and general dunford, you have been consummate professionals and steady hands in a tumultuous time. But we face many difficult decisions both strategic and budgetary that demand the kind of leadership and engagement that only a grounded and focused president can provide. I look forward to working with you and my colleagues as we address these important issues. Im proud that this committee has always worked in a bipartisan fashion during this process. I look forward to working with the chairman and all the Committee Members to come to a reasonable agreement again this year. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Secretary mattis, welcome back. Well, thank you, chairman mccain, Ranking Member reed and members of the committee. I appreciate the opportunity to testify in support of the president s budget request for fiscal year 2018. Mr. Chairman, i request the committee accept my written statement for the record. Im joined by chairman dunford and the departments new comptroller under secretary of defense david norquist. Thank you, mr. Chairman, member of the committee for your swift consideration and senates confirmation of Defense Department nominees. This budget request holds me accountable to the men and women of the department of defense. Every day more than 2 million Service Members and nearly 1 million civilians do their duty honoring previous generation to veterans and Civil Servants who 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 looked reality in the eye, met challenges with the help of congressional leadership and built the most capable war fighting force in the world. There is no room for complacency and we have no god given right to victory on the battlefield. Each generation of americans from the halls of congress to the battlefields earns victory through commitment and sacrifice. And yet for four years the department of defense had been subjected to or threatened by automatic across the board 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 as forecast by thensecretary of defense panetta, the damage has been severe. Hollowing out our force. In addition, during nine of the past ten Years Congress has enacted 30 separate continuing resolutions to fund the department of defense, thus inhibiting our readiness and our adaptation to new challenges. We need bipartisan support for this budget request. In the past by failing to pass a budget on time or to eliminate the threat of sequestration, congress sidelined itself from its act of constitutional oversight role. Continuing resolutions coupled with sequestration blocked 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 has met the present challenge with lassitude, not leadership. I retired from military Service Three months after sequestration took effect. Four years later i returned to the department and i have been shocked by what ive seen about our readiness to fight. While nothing can compare to the heart ache caused by the loss of our troops during these wars, no enemy in the field has done more to harm the combat readiness of our military than sequestration. We have only sustained our ability to meet americas commitments abroad for our security because our troops have stoically shouldered a much greater burden. But our troops stoic commitment cannot reduce the growing risk. It took us years to get into this situation. It will require years of stable budgets and increased 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, pass a 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 increased funding are necessary because of four external factors acting on 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 sending our military to war for more than a decade without pause or conscription. Americas long war has placed a heavy burden on men and women in uniform and their families. A second concurrent force acting on the department is the worsening Global Security situation that the chairman spoke about. 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 sanctions. While iran remains the largest longterm challenge to mideast stability, all the while terrorist groups murder the innocent and threaten peace in many regions while targeting us. A third force is adversaries actively contesting americas capabilities. For decades the United States enjoyed uncontested or dominant superiority in every operating domain or realm. We could generally deploy our forces when we wanted, assemble them where we wanted and operate how we wanted. Today, every operating domain, outer space, air, sea, under sea, land and 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 that have been denied us by law when we have 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 security andin solvency are my watch words as secretary of defense. The 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 owe it to the American Public to ensure we spend each dollar wisely. President trump has nominated for