I want to call this hearing to order. Good morning. I want to begin which welcoming our witnesses, s i want to call the hearing to order. Good morning. I want to begin by welcoming our witnesses. We appreciate your willingness to be in front of this committee. General milley, this be your last appearance before the subcommittee. I want to go off script here instead of it. You are the ultimate professional. You are somebody who has been very good for me and i think that i can say for the whole committee. You are a straight shooter and youve done a good job. I appreciate that. I just hope the senate will be able to find, since to confirm your successor so that the department is not forced to rely on an interim placeholder for your position. It is simply too important. This is an unprecedented and definite hold that has frozen over 60 nominations. Its going to affect more than 650 by the end of the year. The people on this committee know what the threats are in this world. We need to be able to assist the military in being successful. This is not assisting, it is playing dangerous. We are meeting to discuss an 842 billion budget request for the next fiscal year. A few months ago we passed the overdue budget for this school year of 816 billion, which provided a 74 billion increase over fy 22. I bring it up because there are some who advocate for keeping all Government Spending at fiscal year 22 levels. In light of chinas continued aggression it sounds irresponsible to me. A majority in the other chambers oppose that. It is my hope that you can detail was such a drastic funding reduction would meet our National Defense. Of course all bets are off if we do not reach a bipartisan agreement soon. We have to deal with this in a responsible and commonsense way. Im hopeful partisan talk and get going in earnest and cooler heads prevail before we come to a default. The challenges that we face are numerous. We need to solve the debt and agree upon a top line for Government Spending, defense, we need to get qualified people into their jobs. The risk of a government default is real, the risk of a Government Shutdown is real, the risk of a longterm cr israel. No good. While we are busy fighting amongst ourselves the chinese continue their aggressive behavior. The russians continue their unjust war against ukraine. Iran is continuing its influence in the middle east and a violet terrace pot to do us harm. We have got to get the budget done so the men and women in uniform supported by the tireless civilians at the department of defense can go about their business of keeping us safe. I support the ongoing efforts of senator murray, and collins, who will work with anybody to get the job done. Well get to the specifics of your request here shortly, my main question is are our troops getting what they need when they need it . Are we keeping up with our military modernization . If industry spending taxpayer dollars wisely and delivering as promised . The truth is we cannot afford to waste time. We cannot afford to waste money. Once again, i want to thank the witnesses for their testimony. Before you make your opening remarks i turn it over to senator collins. Thank you very much chairman tester for holding this hearing on the fiscal year 2020 budget request. General milley, let me echo the chairmans thanks and praise of you as you approach your retirement. Thank you for your more than 40 years of service to our country. I am not as confident as the chairman that this is your last appearance before our subcommittee. Do not take any hope in that statement. The administrations 2022 National Defense strategy rightly captures the importance of deterring china. I strongly support that objective and know that you both , the secretary and general milley, have worked hard to develop a strategy driven request within the top line that you were provided. I also agree with chairman millies written testimony that completing appropriation bills on time is a necessary condition to credibly deter china. I would however suggest that it is not a sufficient condition and that the president s budget is inadequate to achieve this goal. No matter how talented, innovative and hardworking our armed forces are, no matter how good their leadership, the military must also have a sufficient budget top line. I have serious doubts that the administrations budget request provides all of the resources necessary to deter an aggressive china and to deal with other global threats. For example, the budget request would result in a smaller navy, a fleet of 291 ships. This is five ships fewer than todays fleet of 296 and further from the requirement, which is informed. Moreover, china has the largest navy in the world and is growing to 400 ships in the next two years. The story is very similar for the air force. In the absence of a higher defense budget, this committee will have to fill in the gaps to deter china and to maintain readiness. Let me highlight a few examples of what, from my perspective, is missing from the budget request. 3. 5 billion in the unfunded priorities. 266 million to fund north com to detect airborne targets such as chinese bible loans. Funding to replenish 1 billion in president ial Drawdown Authority for taiwan that congress authorized last year. The cost of fully implement with the administrations own zero trust architecture policy to protect against insider cyber threats. The cost for the deployment of 1500 activeduty troops sent to the southwest border just this week. Security assistance for ukraine beyond september and 1. 6 billion in under budget fuel costs according to the Government Accountability office analysis. That figure is 20 more than the budget request. A recognized fuel cost assumptions are driven by the white house, but last Years Experience is instructive. If congress had funded the department at the level that was requested last year by the administration, our troops housing, food, healthcare, fuel and readiness would be facing an a billiondollar inflation hold. That hold does not exist today because congress insisted upon a higher and more realistic funding. One final point on ukraine about which i share the chairmans commitment, it is critical that the administration provide ukraine with what it needs in time to defend and take back its sovereign territory. We expect the administration not to wait until the 11th hour if the ukrainians need more before the end of the fiscal year. There are many issues for us to discuss. Again, i thank all three of our witnesses for their Extraordinary Service in order to discussing these issues with them. Thank you for your statement. Secretary austin, you have the floor. Thank you, sir. I am glad to be here with you to testify in support of the president s budget request for fiscal year 2024. I am joined by general milley and remain grateful for his leadership. I am also glad to be joined by the Department Comptroller and cfo. This is a strategy driven budget driven by the seriousness of our strategic position with the peoples republic of china. At 842 billion it is a 3. 2 increase over fiscal year 23 and it is 13. 4 higher than fiscal year 22. This budget will help us continue to implement our National Defense strategy and the president S National Security strategy. I have three key priorities at the pentagon. To defend our nation, to take care of our outstanding people and succeed through teamwork. The prc is our pacing challenge and we are driving hard to meet it. Our budget builds on our previous investments to deter aggression. We are investing in a more resilient posture in the indo pacific and increasing the scale and the scope of our exercises with our partners. This budget includes a 40 increase over last years request for the initiative and it is an all time high of 9. 1 billion. That will fund a stronger force posture, better defenses for hawaii and guam and deeper cooperation with allies and partners. I look forward to being back next week before the full committee to go into more depth on how we are working with our interagency partners to continue to outpace the prc. This budget also makes the departments largest ever investments in both r d and procurement. We are requesting more than 61 billion to sustain air dominance. That includes funding for fighters and extraordinary be 21 strategic bombers that i helped unveil last december. We are also seeking more than 48 billion for sea power including new construction of my battle force ships. We are boosting capacity at American Shipyards to build the ships that our strategy demands. We are investing a total of 1. 2 billion in the summary Industrial Base. We are buying two virginia class attack submarines and one columbia class Ballistic Missile submarine. On land we are investing in air and Missile Defense and defenses to counter unmanned aerial vehicles. We are also requesting 11 million to deliver the right mix of longrange firearms including Major Investments in hypersonics. We will also continue to modernize all three legs of our Nuclear Triad and bolster strategic deterrence. We put forth the largest space budget in pentagon history. We have requested 33. 3 billion to improve our capabilities and resilience in space. Let me think commerce for providing the department with multiyear permit document procurement. In this budget we are requesting more multiyear procurement and asking for more than 30 billion to further invest in the Industrial Base and to purchase the maximum number of munitions american industry can produce. The budget also moves us away from aging capabilities on relative to future conflicts to focus on the advances that are war fighters will me. Our National Defense strategy calls out pollutants highly aggressive russia as an acute threat. Under president bidens leadership the United States has rally the world to help ukraine fight russias indefensible invasion. We have reinforced the nato defense and deterrence on the eastern flank and our allies and partners have provided crucial Security Assistance coordinator through the Contact Group that i leave. Will support you crave the fence for as long as it takes. Meanwhile, the Department Remains vigilant against other threats. We will take all necessary measures to defend our troops and our interests overseas at the from our airstrikes and march against facilities link to irans evolutionary guards. Now, i know that you have been following the reports of unauthorized disclosures of sensitive and classified us material. I take this issue very seriously. I have ordered a comprehensive review of the departments security programs, policies and procedures for safeguarding classified information. I have also discussed this issue with allies and partners around the world. Their solidarity and their commitment to reject efforts to divide us. We will not let anything fracture our unity. Our joint force stands ready to me any challenge. You can see this from, you can see the forces readiness after russias unprovoked invasion of ukraine where we swiftly deployed elements of the Third Infantry Division to poland to show up natos eastern flank. We monitor at the unit level and maintain Response Forces at our highest dates of readiness while the rest of the forest, by design, is preparing for future contingencies. So, this budget will help us maintain with 146 billion dollars in funding for operations, training, and maintenance. This budget also invests in improving our resilience in the face of Climate Change and other 24 century threats. We are going to remain the Strongest Military in the world. As we mark the 50th anniversary of our volunteer force, im enormously proud of the brave men and women who choose to wear the cloth of our nation. We owe it to them and to their families to take the best possible care of our people. Over the past two years, weve made moves easier, weve cut we made childcare more affordable. This budget funds other key steps to increase the quality of life of our teammates, including the Largest Military and civilian pay raises in decades. Also pushing hard to eliminate suicide in our ranks, including immediate steps to hire more Mental Health professionals and improve access to Mental Health care. Meanwhile, were working towards a military that through Sexual Assault. We worked with congress to improve the response to Sexual Assault and related crimes of the uniform code of military justice. Those reforms will be fully implemented by the end of this year. As the department, also investing in a specialized workforce to combat Sexual Assault, harassment, suicide, and more. Now, the departments third priority is succeeding through teamwork. Our unrivaled network of allies and partners magnifies our power and expands our security. In recent months, our friends in the indopacific have taken major steps forward. The philippines has agreed to nearly double the sites we can cooperate together. Japan is committed to double its defense spending and for the historic partnership, will work with our australian british allies to build Game Changing defense advantages that will deter aggression and boost our defense a district capacity. In some, this is the budget that will meet this moment. I respectfully ask for your support. The single most effective way that this committee can support the department under outstanding troopss with an on time full year appropriation. So, i look forward to working with all of you so that we can continue to defend our democracy and support the forces of freedom in this hour of challenge. Thank, you mister chairman. Thank, you secretary austin. General milley, you have the floor. Chairman tester and vice chair collins, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. Ive been privileged to defend this country for 43 years and uniform, next month, ill start my 44th year. Hopefully, senator collins, this is my last posture hearing. I think congress for your support to our military for the last four decades, not just for this budget, but for four consecutive decades, youve given great support to our military. I think you offer that. We could not be the military we are today without the support of the American People in the American Peoples representatives. So, what i ask for you today is that, once again, you approve a non time budget. Im honored to represent the joint force and their families alongside the leadership of secretary austin and secretary mccord, both have, ive been working with him both for many years, their leadership has been superlative. Our joint force today is the most lethal and Capable Military in the world because of your support. The militarys purpose is simple, its to defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. There is no other purpose for military. Fundamental to this is deterrence, more specifically to deter great power war. To do this, our number one priority is writing this now and readiness in the future. There is no other number one priority. The joint force will accomplish this at the fy 24 budget request of 142 billion dollars. Right now, the International System is under increasing stress. Both china and russia have the means to threaten our interests and our way of life. But war with china or russia is neither imminent nor inevitable. The prc remains our number one long term geostrategic security challenge and its been pointed out and our National Defense strategy as the facing challenge. The prc has publicly stated that it intends to be the regional hegemon in asia within the next ten years and to exceed the United States overall military capability by mid century. Chinese actions are moving on a path to a potential confrontation with its neighbors or the United States. Again, war with china is neither inevitable or imminent. Additionally, russia is an acute threat and remains very dangerous, especially under current conditions. Over a year ago, russia undertook a war against ukraine, threatening peace on the european continent and global stability for the First Time Since the end of world war ii. We are supporting ukraine to protect its sovereignty and supporting nato with the force presence and every single nation on natos eastern flank. Iran threatens to push the middle east and again, the instability by supporting terrorists and proxy forces. They continue to improve their capability to produce a Nuclear Weapon. From the time of iranian decision by the supreme leader, iran could produce enough material for a Nuclear Weapon in less than two weeks from the time of decision. It only takes several more months to produce an actual Nuclear Weapon. United states policy remains the same, the United States remains committed that iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon. North koreas continued Ballistic Missile testing Nuclear Weapons development poses threats to our homeland and our allies and partners. We stand with the republic of kore