Transcripts For CSPAN3 Politics Public Policy Today 2015042

CSPAN3 Politics Public Policy Today April 24, 2015

Try it for two months and see what the difference is. Thousands a dying and sick because of the exposure to the deadly toxins at the work site. They issued a report called the 9 11 Commission Report that sold more copies than harry potter. Most read document in the history of our country. I nominated them for the national book. They didnt win. They should have. If we cant protect our president , our workers our people, then we cant do anything. Your department is the most Important Department in the entire government. You took 22 different agencies that werent talking to each other on intelligence and other areas and are forcing them to talk, share information and protect this country. Youre doing a great job. We havent been attacked again but people are trying. In the great state of new york they have tried 14 times. Because of your agency and the locals, we prevented it. Were preventing the attacks on our great country. Id like you to take your workers down to 9 11 and hear the stories of the families of the people that were killed and hear the stories of the seals and governor cane and hamilton that worked to put these pieces back together and to make kourn tri Even Stronger they should have the best morale of the whole government. The way we treat people nominated for positions and people that are working in government i think is tremendously disgraceful. He was recommended for a job in treasury. I never met him. I dont know him. He was vilified. He was vilified that somehow he caused the 2008 economic meltdown on wall street. He was basically in verj and analysis and advice. He wasnt trading. He wasnt part of any mistaken that were made. They said because he was from a firm, this firm wasnt involved in wall street or the trades or that but he was in a firm, in this case doing research and advice, he wasnt fit to serve. We have a strong public sector. If we vilify people who understand how they can volunteer and help the public sector, were making a big mistake in this country. His children are saying why are they saying youre a horrible person that caused the financial crisis and you cant serve your government. It might be good to have somebody who understands finance to serve finance. I used that as one example. We could also talk about Loretta Lynch, a distinguished, accomplished leader in the Justice Department her entire life. Her appointment being held up. No one says anything bad about her but her appointment is held up. Often people are vilified if they want to serve in government. If we continue that, no one is going to want to serve. Its absolutely wrong. I think its very unfair how we vilify federal employees. Its the employees faults instead of trying to Work Together. I think that is what were doing. We need to improve. You have a great job to do. I think you want to go back to your agencies, turn this around and help us move forward in a positive way. We have the greatest country and we dont have the greatest country without the greatest work force. Your u youre part of it. I think we in congress and the public and other people vilify Public Servants. They dont deserve it. Today is the start of trying to get in the brute of that problem. Thats why i felt like it was important that we held this hearing. I will say to each one of you im a tenacious and unforgetting individual. I make notes and i remember things. Well, i make notes and dont remember. I will say this i do want you to report back. I do want to see progress. I do want us not make this a hearing that goes away each and every year well have this. The committee will be asking you for Additional Information to provide. I thank each you have for your testimony. This goes off like clock work not because of my preparation but theirs. I want to thank them. For those that are streaming and watching today, thank you for your service. Thank you truly for being willing to be Public Servants and if there is no further business without objection the subcommittee stands adjourned. Yesterday the Senate Confirmed Loretta Lynch to be the new attorney general. Live coverage of the farewell starts at 2 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Jeh johnson holds a meeting with reporters. Cspan2 will have his comments. Both the house and senate are not in session today but lawmakers will return next week. Senators plan to continue work oen a measure that requires Obama Administration to submit any Nuclear Agreement with iran. House members will meet with senators for a joint meeting of congress to hear comments from shinzo abe. U. S. Pacific and u. S. Forces testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee Last week and again warned of north Koreas Nuclear capabilities saying north korea has the capacity to place it on a missile that can reach the u. S. Senator john mccain chairs the hearing. Thank you. Id like to thank both of our witnesses for appears before us today. These leaders have all told us were experiencing a more diverse and complex array of crisis since the end of world war ii. Put simply, if the 21st century is to be another american citizen is United States must remain an asia pacific power. We seek to defend ourselves and our allies by maintaining the capability to prevent, deter and if necessary prevail in conflict. Achieving these objectives will require sustained american leadership. We must use all elements of our National Power and particularly im hopeful that congress will Pass Trade Promotion Authority with the transpacific partnership. This will open new opportunities for trade and level the Playing Field for american businesses and workers while sending a powerful strategic signal about americas commitment to the asia pacific. We must remember that our soft power is the shadow cast by our hard power. From projecting power over long distances and exploiting undersea to investing in innovative ways to rebuild the resiliency of our forces. We have a great deal of work to do if we aim to sustain our traditional military vangsadvantages in the asia pacific region. None of these will be possible if we live with mindless sequestration and a broken acquisition system. As we build and posture forces to secure americas interest in the asiapacific, we must remain cleareyed about the implications of chinas rise and its evolving foreign and defense policy. As director of National Intelligence James Clapper told this committee back in february, china is engaged in a Rapid Military modernization deliberately designed to counteract or thwart American Military strengths. I believe china can and should play a construct up role in the asiapacific region. Unfortunately, in recent years, china has behaved less like a responsible stakeholder and more like a bully. In the South China Sea, we have seen the latest example of a trend toward more assertive behavior. Chinas land reclaimation and construction activities on multiple islands across the spradly chain and the potential command and control surveillance and military capabilities it could bring to bear from these new land features are a challenge to the interests of the United States and the nations of the asiapacific region. Such unilateral efforts to change the status quo through force, intimidation or coercion threaten the peace and stability that have extended stability across asiapacific for seven decades. As a wrote in a letter together with my colleagues reid, corker, and menendez, the United States must Work Together with likeminded partners and allies to develop and employ a comprehensive strategy that aims to shape chinas coercive peacetime behavior. This will not be easy, and will likely have impacts on other areas of our bilateral relationship. But if china continues to pursue a coercive and exclusive tory exclusion, the cost to Regional Security and prosperity as well as to american interests will only grow. Im also concerned by the recent assessment from admiral bill gortney that north korea has a missile that could carry weapons to the United States. General, i look forward to hear your assessment of this potential breakthrough and the implications to our National Security if the erratic and unpredictable regime of kim jong un achieves the ability to carry out a Nuclear Strike against our homeland. I thank the witnesses and look forward to their testimony. Senator reid . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Let me join you in welcoming the generals. Thank you, gentlemen, for your service and sacrifice and that of your family. And particularly convey to the men and women under your command our deepest appreciation for what they do every day. On tuesday, we had an extremely insightful hearing on some of the challenges we face in the asiapacific region. The consensus from the panel is that we face some very serious challenges, especially in light of chinas increasing military budget and destabilizing activities in the region. And one of the Biggest Challenges will be to continue to provide as we have for 70 years security, stability, and free transit in the pacific. Particularly as senator mccain has said with pending sequestration in the face of declining resources that we have. And i echo his call for the end of sequestration. Admiral locklear, wed be very interested in your views about the land reclaimation activities of china in the spradlys and elsewhere. That is something that we both, along with senator and menendez and corker objected to or at least criticized. What more must we do to build a capacity of our partners in the region to help them with their maritime awareness and encourage all of the regional actives to seek legal redress to problems, not to invoke lethal threats with respect to sovereignty and stability in the region . As the chairman indicated, admiral gortneys comments this week, as he said, north korea, quote, has the ability to put a Nuclear Missile and shoot it at the homeland, quite disturbing. And general, would you in your comments or questions please let us know about the dimensions of this threat as it exists today and as it might evolve in the future . Again, we thank you because the North Koreans appear to be not only unfortunately well armed but very difficult to predict their behaviors. And your views and insights will be extremely important. Also, if you could comment on the possible deployment of thad Missile Defense system and its contribution to the defense of our allies in the republic of south korea. We are concerting all of these challenges once again under the constraint of serious budget limitations. And admiral locklear and general scalparotti, please indicate the impact of sequestration on your operations. It would be very helpful, i think. Thank you for joining us. I thank the witnesses. Admiral locklear. Thank you, mr. Chairman, senator reed, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for this opportunity to appear with you today. Before we begin, i would like my written statement to be submitted to the record. For three years, i have had the honor and privilege to lead the men and women of the United States pacific command. These volunteers are skilled professionals, dedicated to the defense of our nation. They are serving as superb ambassadors to represent the values, the strengths that make our nation great. I want to go on record to formally thank them for their service and their families for their sacrifices. In u. S. Pay com, we continue to strengthen alliances, our partnerships, maintain an asured presence in the region, and demonstrate an intent and resolve to safeguard u. S. National interests. When i spoke to you last year, i highlighted my concern for several issues that could channel the security environment across the indo pacific. Those challenges included responding to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, dealing with an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable north korea, a challenge that general scalparotti and i remain aligned in addressing, a continued escalation of complex territorial disputes, increasing regional transnational threats, and the complexity associated with chinas continued rise. In the past year, these challenges have not eased. They will not go away soon. But the asia rebalance strategy has taken hold and is achieving intended goals. However, the greatest challenge remains the continual physical uncertainty resulting from sequestration. The greatest challenge in the indoasiapacific will be dealing with the National Interests as we respond to a rapidly changing world. I echo the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and the Service Chiefs testimony before congress. Our nation is being forced into a resource driven National Security strategy instead of one properly resourced and driven by our enduring interests. In the indoasia pacific, we are accepting more risk, not less. Sequestration will force harmful reduction in force size, structure, and readiness that will reduce my ability to manage crisis space, provide options to the president , and diminishing the United States prestige and credibility in the region and around the globe. In the last year, at great expense to the readiness of the forces in the continental United States, pay comhas been able to maintain forces to protect the homeland, deterring aggressors such as north korea, strengthening alliances and partnerships, and developing the concepts and capabilities required remain dominant in a world that is growing in complexity with threats that continue to increase against a seemingly unending stream of constraints. Without adequate resources, we will be forced to make difficult choices today that will have strategic consequences to our goals. I am honored to testify today as the commander of United Nations command and the combined United States forces korea. On behalf of civilians, contractors and their families who serve our great nation in the republic of korea, one of our most important allies, thank you for your support. I prepared brief opening remarks, but i would like to ask that my written Posture Statement be entered into the record. Last year i testified that the combined and joint forces of the United States and the republic of korea were capable and ready to deter and if necessary respond to north korean threats and actions. Due on our accomplishments in 2014, i report to you that our Strong Alliance is more capable of addressing the rapidly evolving and increasingly asymmetric north korean threat. In recent years, they have utilized abilities such as cyber warfare, Nuclear Weapons, and Ballistic Missiles to advance its interests. To put this in perspective or time, in 2012, my predecessor noted north koreas advancements in cyber and Nuclear Capabilities during his Opening Statement to this committee. A year later, north korea conducted Cyber Attacks on south koreas banks and broadcasting stations. And in 2014, they boldly projected their Cyber Capabilities against Sony Pictures in the United States in an effort to inflict economic damage and suppress free speech. This example represents a trend that is persistent across several north korean capabilities. My top concern is that we have little to no warning of a north korean provocation, which could start a cycle of action and counteraction leading to unintended escalation. This underscores the need for an alliance to maintain a high level of readiness and vigilance. Last year, the alliance took significant steps in improving its capabilities and capacities to deter aggression and reduce its operational risk. But our work is not done. In 2015, we will maintain this momentum by focusing on my top priority, sustaining and strength being the alliance, with an emphasis on readiness. This includes improving isr capabilities and critical munitions. The return of sequestration would negatively impact these priorities, reduce readiness, and delay deployment of the forces required to defend the republic of korea and u. S. Interests. In crisis on the peninsula, this will result in more military and civilian casualties for the republic of korea and the United States and potentially place the mission at risk. The men and women serving on freedoms frontier, defending the republic of korea, remain thankful for this committees unwavering support and prioritizing resources that enable us to defend our National Interests in asia while advancing universal valley values and international order. I am extremely proud of our members serving in the republic of korea who never lose sight of the fact that we are at freedoms frontier, defending one of our most important allies and vital american interests. Thank you, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you very

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