Uh Thank you , Judge Carter . Uh Thank
you , Mr Chairman and uh welcome to all
of you uh been great working with you
um General Milley . You're welcome in
Texas when you get ready to retire . Uh
If that be your choice , I just
finished the uh the travel
where there was the importance of uh
power projection for the region , which
seemed to be very , very important . We
need to modernize weapon systems . We
also need a place to forward operate
from what are we doing to get more
infrastructure for power projection in
the pay ? And are we doing enough ?
Thank you , sir . Um Yeah , answer to
the second question first . I , you ,
I'll probably never say we've done
enough . Uh We will continue to work at
this . Uh I think you , you may have
heard me say earlier that um we're
investing $9.1 billion in uh this year
in the Pacific deterrence initiative uh
that allows us to uh to invest in
infrastructure uh that gives us greater
uh access uh and , and uh and also
improve some of the , the uh defensive
uh our defensive postures in places
like uh Guam and also do things to
protect Hawaii as well . Um We , we
have uh we have done a lot of work to
uh engage uh the uh our partners and
our allies in the Philippines . Uh
We're working with Australia uh to uh
to increase our access there and we've
developed a great partnership . Uh
We're , our , our rotational units are ,
are going in and out of Australia at a
greater frequency . So , so we continue
to work this , but we , we to answer
your question , we , we're doing a lot .
Uh It will probably never be enough .
Uh Well , we continue to see an
increased budget for infrastructure and
acquisition and development in that
area , in your opinion , as we go down
the road because I just came from
uh and yes , we're building a
barracks there , but they've got some
buildings there that or really need
work . You , you will continue to see a
significant investment in those types
of things going forward . I think it's ,
it's important that that we have the
ability to uh to be able to forward
station our position , our troops so
that they can be relevant in any kind
of uh upcoming contest . Thank you .
Thank you , Mr Chairman . Thank you ,
Mr Carter Mr Case . Thank you , Mr
Chair uh Mr Secretary . I have to ask
you about Redhill bulk fuel storage
facility in my district in Honolulu .
Uh First of all , I just want to
commend the uh um the job that uh Vice
Admiral Wade and the Pearl Harbor , uh
joint task force are doing to address
this crisis in a transparent and
deliberate manner . So they're doing a
good job . Uh but they need a lot of
help obviously from uh back in the
Pentagon . And so I would commend that
to you , but I have to ask you just uh
for a clarification confirmation , I
hope , does the Department of Defense
remain fully committed uh to the
expeditious and safe Deuel and closure
of the Red Hill facility ? The
Department of Defense remains fully
committed . Uh And I personally remain
fully committed . As a matter of fact ,
I just met with the team uh out in uh
in Hawaii on this very topic here and
we routinely get updates . Um And I , I
would agree with you that uh the
admiral is doing a tremendous job . Uh
and most important , he's doing a lot
of , a lot of good things to keep the
community informed and , and , you know ,
the delegation informed of what we're
doing and , and what his , what his
needs are , what our , what our
requirements are . Thank you so much
for that . Um Are you aware of any
budgetary limitations on the defense
department ? Achieving the um safe and
expeditious uh refueling enclosure of
Red Hill ? I've looked high and low for
it . I don't believe so . I believe
that you have the adequate funding to
um achieve that um goal . Uh But I
don't want this uh budget to go , go
past us if there are any limitations um
whatsoever uh in the in , in that
mission , as well as the , the broader
mission , which is um you know ,
remediation , uh some health , some
health risks as well . Well , uh again ,
thanks for your continued support in
this uh uh in in this area as well . I
am currently not aware of any uh any
obstacles that would prevent us from uh
achieving our objective . This is uh
this is , this is gonna take some time
and things can change and if they do
change and we do need requirement , uh
do do have requirements , uh I'll
certainly uh come back and ask for ,
for more help , sir . Ok . Thank you so
much . Let me shift gears on you
because I was um also on the uh
congressional delegation that the chair
led uh to the Indo Pacific . Uh We were
not only in Taiwan but in Japan ,
Okinawa and the Republic of Korea . And
first of all , it was amazing uh to
spend time with our um service members
there , top to bottom high quality ,
committed to the job . So I just wanted
to pass that along to you . One of my
huge takeaways uh uh was um along the
lines of Mr Womack's questions which
have to do with um the sufficiency of
our munitions and other armaments that
are provided to our friends and allies
around the world and it just strikes me
that with the burn raid in Ukraine ,
which is not gonna go away any time
soon . And with the needs of our
friends and allies relying on us uh to
provide uh them uh because they don't
have that capability for the most part
themselves . And with our own
intentions uh to as part of our Indo
Pacific strategy to preposition uh
equipment and other facilities
including munitions out in the Indo
Pacific um that our defense industrial
base just really needs to be ramped up .
Now . It's , I don't think this is a
matter only of uh you know , multi
fiscal year uh programming and
procurement . It's , it's a matter of
the basic funding to do that because
you can , you can , you can set it up
for multi year procurement . But if the
money's not there to do it to start
with or if the defense industrial base
is not capable of that Production ,
then we've got a problem you referenced
in your opening remarks , 10 billion
invested in our industrial base . And
so what I'd like to explore with you is
how do we not get ourselves behind the
eight ball in terms of the basic needs
uh that we have uh in , in both Ukraine
and the Indo Pacific and conflicts that
we may not know about today . Well ,
well , thanks . Uh We , we're doing a
lot . Uh We uh and let me say up front
that our industrial base is uh really a
core element that's uh uh enable our
strategic advantage . And then we will
continue to work with uh with industry
to make sure that we're doing
everything possible to uh signal to
them , the , the , you know , the right
things in terms of our requirements and
to help wherever possible to expand
capacity and capability . Um So , you
know , we have 100 and $70 billion
request for for procurement . Uh We've
asked you for a multiyear uh
contracting contracting authority and I
think those send powerful signals . Um
but not only are we buying uh the , the
uh numbers of munitions that industry
can produce . Um We're also helping ,
we're also investing in additional
capacity so that uh so they can begin
to expand and uh and rapidly uh get us
up to uh to where we need to be and
help us replenish the stocks of uh of
some of our allies and partners who
have uh who have donated uh to uh to
the Ukraine effort . Um So , uh we ,
we've asked for additional authority in
terms of uh the Defense Production Act ,
uh a a authorities and the president
has supported us on that . And uh and
so , uh my , my team is working uh uh
day and night , working with the
industry to make sure that , you know ,
we are getting as much productivity out
of uh uh the key , key places in
industry as possible . And uh you know ,
I've engaged uh uh uh CEO S , my
deputies engage CEO S and uh but , but
to your point , uh we need to do more .
We are doing more and , and we will do
more in the future . Thank , thank you ,
gentlemen , Mr Garcia .
Thank you , Mr Chairman . Uh Thank you
gentlemen for the testimony uh and your
service uh Mr Secretary , I want to
thank you for mentioning the spousal uh
uh working uh conditions improving . Uh
I'm very proud that my , my spouse uh
licensing Relief Act was signed into
law by the president in January under
the VA bill . Uh As I visited multiple
commands from Coco down to , you know ,
platoon commander . I'm not sure that
the troops yet fully uh understand that
this uh spouse licensing reciprocity is
available to them and it is the current
law of the land . So I recommend we get
a dod wide uh way to message that
spouses can cross deck their
professional licenses , doctors ,
lawyers , real estate agents across
state lines when they're active duty
and on orders , I don't , I don't think
it's being fully uh absorbed and , and
utilized yet uh on the , on the pay
raise . Uh I , I personally do not
believe that 5.2% pay raise is enough ,
especially for our , our , our junior
enlisted troops uh to put things in
context , the average E one E two are
making roughly $22,000 a year . And in
fact , it's not until you're an E 4/5
years that you're making the equivalent
of what would be a $15 per hour uh
wage if it was normalized for a 40 hour
work week , which , which means that uh
effectively the bottom third of our
ranks are making less than fast food
workers are in many of our states . Uh
And some of our states are very high
cost of living given the recruitment
and retention challenges that we have .
I , I think we have a collective action
here between this committee uh Armed
Services Committee as well as in the
Senate and dod to look at how we can uh
maybe not take a one size fits all uh
pay adjustment of 5.2% And get our
junior enlisted specifically above that ,
that $32,000 a year number , which is
the equivalent of $15 per hour . I , I
think there's ways to do that without
impacting the , the top line budgets ,
whether it's , it's , it's harvesting
from the , the , the , the flag officer
ranks that uh that , you know , 1% goes
a lot further for a flag officer than ,
than our junior enlisted . Uh and so I ,
I look forward to those conversations ,
but I think that's a critical element
to the quality of life , especially
from a recruitment perspective . The
gap between dod and civilian
counterparts is at an historic high
when it comes to salaries right now ,
especially for the junior enlisted . Um
Mr secretary , are you aware of the uh
the strike fighter shortfall that we
have dod wide , but specifically within
the Navy . Um , the challenges that we
have from a number of aircraft per ,
per air wing and per aircraft carrier .
Uh What , what I , what I do know is
that uh uh C N O and uh and the
Chief of the Air Force continue to
invest in uh in uh fighter capability .
And again , it's gonna take uh uh a
couple of uh Y or several years before
we get up to what they believe is . Uh
Yeah , that's right , meets their full
capacity and I understand there's some
projections where we're , we're
literally two air wings short relative
to the number of aircraft carriers
within the , within the navy side . Uh
If and , and I'm sure you're aware this ,
this committee as well as our
counterparts in the Senate uh in F Y 22
added 12 Super Hornets uh to the budget
and then an F Y 23 added eight Super
Hornets to the budget . I wasn't sure
if you're aware but those , those ,
those jets have yet to be actually
awarded to the prime contractor and
they are actively shutting down not
just their production line but their
entire supply chain . Uh I'm a big
proponent of F-35 , a large portion of
that aircraft is made in my district .
Uh I believe we need capacity uh as
well as the capability . And I think
right , now we are losing as a nation ,
one of the critical tools to closing
that strike fighter gap in the form of
the Super Hornet uh production line .
Uh The lawyers are battling it out
right now . Um This is one of those
things that watching it from my
perspective , I'm calling balls and
strikes . I think the government is
overreaching . They're asking for
intellectual property from the
contractor that is different from tech
data packages designed for basic
sustainment and repair . I think we are
overreaching . Uh And this is one of
the things that I think is going to
impact the customer , the customer
being the war fighter and the taxpayer
Uh in the form of 20 jets not being put
on contract . And , and so I would , I
would encourage you to look into that
the , the Navy is actively working this
with the prime contractor right now .
But I think we need some supervision
here and just get the lawyers in the
room to put a , put a kibosh on this ,
get a negotiated settlement and figure
out some other means to get that uh
intellectual property . Um And so I'll ,
I'll end with the , the question , uh
General Milley , uh you worked in both
administrations , you were very
familiar with the conditional uh
withdrawal , elements of the
Afghanistan um uh con you know ,
situation under both administrations .
Um Do you agree with the assertion that
was made earlier in this room that um
that the that the debacle , the state
department led debacle out of
Afghanistan and the , the travesty of
Abby Gate , the devastation , uh , the
loss of 13 personnel , uh , was the
fault of the previous administration .
Uh , I , I'm not gonna , uh ,
characterize , uh , fault or point
fingers . Uh , I think as we all know
that the , uh , end state was a , uh ,
um , you know , a strategic withdrawal
and , and when the enemy occupies the
capital of the nation that you
supported , that's a strategic failure .
And there's a lot of lessons to be
learned . All of us are learning those
lessons . Uh Both Secretary Ausin and I
have served many years in Afghanistan .
I'm deeply personally invested in it ,
uh and psychologically invested in it
and , and I can think of no greater
tragedy than what happened at a gate .
Uh And uh and I have yet uh to , to
fully reconcile myself to that entire
affair . Uh So I don't wanna uh point
fingers or anything . Uh The , the what
happened in Afghanistan did not happen
in the last 19 days or even the last 19
months . That was a 20 year war . There
were decisions made all along the way ,
uh which culminated in what the outcome
was . And there's many , many lessons
to be learned . Uh And I think we're
just at the beginning of that lessons
learned process , not at the end . Well ,
said , thank you for your service . If
I could , I'd like to thank you though ,
personally , on behalf of my wife ,
really , she's pushed uh , that , uh ,
license her , license her uh , um
amendment uh uh significantly for years .
She and many others . Uh , and you and
the president and members of Congress
brought that home . So thank you very
much for that . Thank you , General . I
appreciate it . Thank you . Thank you .
Um Next , uh Mr Kilmer , thank you ,
Chairman and uh , thank you both for
being with us today . I'm hoping to get
to two topics . Uh first , um as you
both know , changes to the military
health system have resulted in
downsizing at several military
treatment facilities , including naval
hospital , Bremerton in my neck of the
woods , um which recently closed its
emergency and its labor and delivery
departments . Uh Prior to that
downsizing our area already had uh
challenges , accessing care had been
identified by the Department of Health
and Human Services as a high risk area
and a health shortage area . We raised
concerns about this prior to the
downsizing because of that . And
unfortunately , the um closures have
had a real impact on our region and on
service members . Um I really think
that the uh that the network analysis
that was done was really off . Uh the
hiring goals were really off and
this isn't sort of a theoretical
conversation . We did a round table
with submariners in our area who have
been unable to receive routine
screenings uh or medical care that
impacts fleet readiness I met with a
pregnant sailor who due to downsizing
at the naval hospital , was forced to
go to a local hospital . Um waited
eight hours uh in the emergency room ,
uh sorry in the waiting room and uh
ultimately miscarried in their waiting
room and these aren't isolated in
influence . I bring this to your
attention because after several letters
and questioning and hearings and
meetings with the head of DH A where
we've emphasized the inability of the
network to handle the burdens of the
clo closures at the Naval Hospital ,
the concerns of my community just
aren't being heard . And so I wanna
raise this again and ask you if dod can
direct DH A to review some of that
downsizing in underserved areas like
Kitsap County . I wanna ask you what
tools are in place to reassign military
and civilian providers to areas where
there has been a significant
degradation in care that is impacting
folks in uniform . And I wanna know if
there's any plan to reassign providers
to areas like Kitsap County where we
have seen a significant and frankly
dangerous decline in health care
quality for service members . Well ,
well , thank you , sir . I , I just
like to start by saying , um , uh the
health and welfare of the force is
extremely important to me and I really
appreciate all your support and the
support of Congress um over the years .
Um We continue to
follow uh congressional intent uh to ,
as you know , we uh we were mandated to
uh consolidate military health care
under DH A . And of course , there are
decisions that have to be made there .
And since that decision was , was made ,
uh you know , we faced a global
pandemic that put uh that put pressure
on uh on , on the workforce across
America , the medical workforce across
America . And so it made it uh a bit
more difficult to uh to do some things .
And so we're facing some of the same
challenges that uh that the medical
community community across the , the
country are facing . Um But what we're
doing about it is we're trying to
utilize a variety of tools and
including uh direct hiring authorities .
Uh We're uh exploring bonuses
and uh and incentives uh to hire to ,
to , to get the right talent in uh to ,
to fill the vacancies that , that you
mentioned . And I will , I will ask uh
uh our new DH a leader to come in and ,
and sit down with you and , and , and
brief you specifically on Bremerton and
uh and what the cha what our challenges
are and what we're doing about it . So ,
secretary , if I could make a quick
comment , let go ahead on that . Um In ,
in , in my travels around the military .
Uh The , the number one topic that I
get in terms of life is the health care
system . I was chief of staff of the
army , uh uh you know , 3.5 years ago .
Uh in my first year , this was an issue
and we were asked as Chiefs at that
time , um to write an assessment of
what we thought of the congressionally
mandated consolidation at the DH A
every one of the Chiefs at that time .
As I recall , we wrote that this is
gonna result in significant risk . What
we're seeing today , seven years later ,
eight years later , uh is the fraying ,
it's not broken , but we're seeing the
fraying of the defense health care
system , which is one of the biggest
health care systems in America . And ,
and that's really caused for the
concern and it's the number one issue
that's on a lot of solder sales ,
airmen , marines , mines and their
families . It's a big deal . I , I , I
think acknowledging that we are seeing
that we are seeing that in our area and
I , I just , I , I , I plea with you to
take a look at what's happening in our
region to look at the impact on
readiness um on sailors and on their
families . Uh because I , I , I don't ,
you know , sitting sitting across from
a sailor who miscarried after waiting
for eight hours to get care like this
is just not acceptable and we've got to
do better for these folks who are
stepping up for our country . So thank
you chairman , I go back . Right . I ,
and I agree with the gentleman we uh
need to do a deep , deep dive on that
and see what's uh what we can do to
improve this immediately . Uh Next uh
Mr Diaz Balart , thank you very much uh
Mr Chairman . I , before my question ,
Mr Secretary , you mentioned South um a
little while ago and uh one of the
things that is crucial to them uh is
the Security Cooperation Agreement ,
something that I've been very
supportive , there's $200 million there
and , and uh I just wanna make sure
that , that it's on your radar because
it's $200 million for South and Africa .
And I just wanna make sure that uh in a
region that is , you know , not , not
many good things are happening in this
region right now in this hemisphere
that south comm has uh has the
resources it needs . Uh And , and as
you well know , South comm not only
does , you know , kind of like the
regular mission , but they also
literally are saving American lives
through their in interdiction uh
program . So I just just wanted to flag
that uh for you and , and if you could
take a look at it to make sure that it
doesn't fall through the cracks and
that South comm is not kind of uh
ignored there , I would appreciate that .
Uh is , you know , there's been a lot
of conversation about this leg
potential legislation to auction off
the lower three uh gigahertz spectrum
band , which obviously the dod uses for
you know , important missions . And
Secretary Austin and the uh Commerce
Secretary sent a letter endorsing this
agreement while the director of , of
joint staff signed a formal non concur
memo . So Mr Chairman , what in your
view , uh what is
your view about potentially vacating
the spectrum and what risks potentially
could it pose to national security if
any ? So I
just uh just wanna make sure uh
that uh you know , where , where we are
with this is , is uh understood it .
I , I , I convey where we are uh in ,
in terms of what we've done . Uh First
of all , I support sharing the spectrum
of pieces of the spectrum where
appropriate . Uh I do not support , I
do not support putting our , our uh
national security at risk . And to your
point , uh there are , there are
platforms and capabilities that we use
and we need that employ uh uh uh
pieces of that spectrum . And , and so
what we're doing now is that we're
conducting a study to make sure that we
account for everything and once that
study is done , then we'll make a
recommendation to the president . But
uh but just to be clear , I , I have
not agreed to uh auction off that piece
of the spectrum that we need to uh uh
to , to be uh to effectively protect
the homeland or conduct our operations
all together . I , I don't know if uh
Mr Chairman , you wanna , you wanna the ,
the potential risk if there is any .
But yeah , there is risk . The um first
of all , I I , I'm waiting of the , the
uh memorandums that you , you mentioned
uh I concur that we need to wait
until there's a study complete , which
is due end in September . And therefore
you make a fully informed decision ,
making a decision , right ? This second
is probably not a good idea . Um And I
concur that it needs to be shared .
Sure , no problem sharing the issue is
how to do that . Uh And we need to do
that in a way that doesn't jeopardize
national security . And , and what we
can't do is vacate the spectrum sharing
it fair enough if we can figure out a
way to do that correctly without
placing national security at risk . Uh
If we were to vacate it , if we were to
give up that piece of the spectrum , it
would have a significant huge impact on
our ability to protect North America ,
our ability to protect the Pacific or ,
or Europe or anywhere else . Uh That's
the , that is the uh uh the , the uh
part of the spectrum that we use for
radars and communications and our ships
and navigation and so on and so forth .
So , um it , it , it wouldn't be good
if we didn't have access to that uh
part of the spectrum . So there's a
study ongoing . That study is due in
September . I would caution everybody
just wait until the study's done and
then move out . Second point is when
that study is complete . I or whomever
is the chairman at the time are , are
required to render or , or our
recommendation was to the secretary and
he , he agrees with it is that the
secretary and I rec uh make a
independent recommendation in writing
to the president so he can make an
informed decision . And I think that's
the proper way to head . Good . No , I
appreciate that and I don't have a lot
of time . So I don't know if I'm gonna
get an answer on this . But , but , you
know , obviously , I think it's
important to defeat Putin uh in the
Ukraine . Um but as the chairman said ,
you know , the days of blank checks are
over . And so I think one of the things
that would be helpful is if we knew
what the strategic end state is in
Ukraine and , and if you , you know ,
not a lot of time , but it would be
helpful . The , the president was very
clear actually , uh with the strategic
end state at the very beginning of this
thing , he said it to myself and
secretary also to many others . He's
also said it many , many times uh in
public forums in his speeches . Uh It's
very clear the strategic end state is
the global rules based international
order that was put in place in 1945 is
upheld . How do you do that ? How do
you know , you've achieved that end
state , you achieve that end state when
Ukraine remains a free sovereign
independent country with a territory
intact . Uh And , and , and then , you
know , the rules base was upheld if
that rules based order , which is in
its 80th year . If that goes out the
window and be very careful , we'll be
doubling our defense budgets at that
point . Uh because that will introduce
not an era of great power competition
that will begin an era of great power
conflict and that'll be extraordinarily
dangerous for the whole world . Ukraine
is , is a fight for Ukraine that's
existential for Ukraine . But for the
rest of us , it's a much bigger and
important national interest that's
fundamental to the United States , to
Europe and global security . Thank you ,
Chairman . Thank you , Mr Joyce . I
told her , Mr Mr Joyce .
It uh thank you uh uh
Mr Chairman . Appreciate it , gentlemen .
Thank you for your service to our
country and for being here today , the
United States has a vested natural
national security interests in taking
decisive action to reduce our
dependence upon China , particularly as
it relates to military readiness . I
have concerns that our military is
dangerously relying upon China when it
comes to procuring raw materials like
plastic and rubber that our defense
industrial base needs to produce
defense articles . We must have a whole
of government strategy in place to free
our military from relying upon goods
coming from communist China . As soon
as physically possible in F Y 23
defense appropriation bill . I work to
include language , directing the
Department of Defense to issue a report
outlining the department's increase of
domestic sourcing of plastic and
plastic alternatives . Secretary Austin ,
do you have an update on the status of
this report and expectation when this
report will be made available to
Congress ?
I'm sorry , sir . I missed uh missed an
increase from uh the production of
plastic , uh domestic sourcing of
plastic or plastic uh alternatives for
the defense industry . I'll take that
question for the record , sir and get
back to you . But I would like to tell
you some of the things that we are
doing uh along along the lines of uh
strengthening our supply chains and
making sure that we onshore capability
because I absolutely agree with you and
this needs to be a whole of government
effort . I want to thank you and , and
the rest of Congress for what you've
done for the chips uh in support of the
Chips Act . Uh I think that'll ,
that'll make a , a really big
difference . Uh in this budget , we're
asking you for $2.6 billion to invest
in micro , micro electronics . Uh We're
investing 100 and $25 million in
batteries and electronics . Uh We're
going after critical minerals and , and
uh you know , I've asked for $253
million to be focused on that as well .
Uh so , and things like casting and
forging uh $177 million dollars for ,
for that . So , I , I absolutely agree
with you , sir , that we have to do a
lot to make sure that we can , uh we
have independence , we , you know , we ,
we can trust our supply chains and uh
and so we're gonna continue to work
with the industry to do that . Thank
you very much , secretary . I was
pleased to read that the Biden
administration is working to expedite
the delivery of 31 Abrams tanks to our
allies in Ukraine , the rival which
will undoubtedly provide the Ukrainians
with a technological advantage over
their Russian counterparts . I was
disappointed however , to find the
president's budget including funding
for 34 Abraham tanks , uh just three
more than we're sending to the
Ukrainians . This reduction in funding
is a concerning departure from previous
years in which Congress has indicated
continued support , funding for a full
battalion of tanks . Uh This is for
either of you gentlemen . Uh You know ,
if considering a commitment we made to
Ukraine in regards to transfer of the
Abrams Tanks , can you offer insight uh
to explain the justification behind
this reduction in funding ? We , we're
actually funding a , a bat a Ukrainian
battalion of tanks , uh which is why ,
which is reflects the number that ,
that you've seen . Uh Sir , we've heard
at length about the need to bolster the
military industrial supply base . Could
a reduction in funding for the tanks
program , not make it more difficult to ,
to make sure we have the supply base uh
to effectively scale up production for
this and future needs . Uh So what
we'll do for these tanks that we're
providing to Ukraine , if that's the
question is that we're , we'll , we're
taking tanks , tanks out of our stock
and re rebuilding those tanks uh so
that they are exportable and uh and so
that actually will come out of drawdown
versus uh new purchase . But I , I
understand and appreciate that . But
are we not securing new tanks in the
process from the supply chain uh here
in America because it was a reduction
from the amount that were authorized ,
there are just not at the rates . Uh I ,
I'll have to go back and check with
General mcconnell and the army staff .
But uh the uh the , the tank plan at
Ohio is continuing its operations .
It's not being shut down and , and if
you have information is being shut down ,
that would be new news to me . The ,
the tank production line is gonna be
kept open . It is necessary to keep it
open . Uh It's a unique thing . It's
not , aren't produced in the commercial
world . So we've got to keep that line
open because tanks , although there's
gonna be a future operating environment ,
uh you're gonna have uh introduction of
robotics , you're gonna have all kinds
of other things in the future with
artificial intelligence and so on and
so forth . But tanks have value and
they have value today and you're seeing
it right , play out in the Ukraine and
they're gonna have value for many ,
many years to come . Uh , so I don't
know of any intent to shut down that
liar Ohio Tank production line . Well ,
uh , I didn't mean to bring it up as a
Buckeye thing but the , the , the fact
that , uh , we're actually slowing it
down as you know , uh the , the , the
problem with that is that you have the
pieces and parts and mom and pop people
who produce on that supply line . And
if there's slowing down or being shut
down because we're not doing that ,
that slows down our ability to ramp up .
God forbid the need be uh thank you for
your uh answers . I look forward to
getting a copy of that report soon .
Secretary and uh you'll back . Thank
you , gentlemen , Mr Aguilar . Thank
you , Mr Chairman General Milley . I
wanted to , to start where some of my
colleagues have in , in thanking you
for your service , but specifically ,
uh for your testimony and honesty .
When you sat with the January 6th
Committee , your commitment to the
truth , your , your honesty and
availability uh is only matched by your
commitment to protecting our democracy
and protecting this country . So I just
wanted to thank you for that . Um I
wanted to also echo the concerns that
ranking member Delo and Representative
Ruger said about some of the cuts in
defense spending and how they would
negatively impact our national security
general . How could a reduction in
military funding impact the joint force
and our ability to provide credible
deterrent specifically to pr C
activities in the Indo Pacific ? Um It ,
it would impact several different ways .
Uh If you think of the domains uh of
space , cyber , land , sea and air and
under sea . Uh Right now , we've got
roughly speaking about 100 120,000
troops uh west of the International
Date Line of all branches of service .
Uh And we , we have at sea at a moment
in time by 2030 surface combatant ships .
We've got subsurface ships , submarines
out there as well . You've got marines
conducting exercise in Okinawa and
beyond . Uh you got army forces with
the long range uh task forces . You've
got the marine regiments , all the
training is conducted . This , there
was 24,000 live fires conducted last
year by just the Army and the Marine
Corps , not just in the Pacific , but
worldwide . So uh that level of
training would be reduced , that level
of operational tempo would be reduced .
And that level of what , what Secretary
Austin has in the National defense
strategy of day to day campaigning if
you will , uh which acts as a great
deterrent . So I think if you reduce
all that , you're gonna uh force us to
reduce our up tempo force us to do less .
Taiwan straits transits , uh less
freedom of navigation , uh less
patrolling in the air , less I S R ,
everything will be less which will
increase risk , increase danger and
send the wrong message . And the
probable result will be uh an
acceleration of what could be some sort
of aggressive moves in the future by
China or other countries . Secretary
Austin . I wanted to thank both you and
the general for your work in addressing
domestic violent extremism . Uh in the
department in December 22 The inspector
general released a report that among
other things uh talked about the
effectiveness of policy and programs to
prevent and respond to supremacist and
extremist activity in the military .
The report found 200 allegations of
prohibited activity including 100 and
46 allegations of supremacists and
extremist activities on its face . This
is a concerning number , but the I G
report also stated that the department
had decentralized and non-standardized
systems to collect and track this data .
For example , one of the quotes in the
report was that the army's total
allegation data does not reflect its
total number of allegations , just the
total number of allegations with a
follow on status . What steps has the
department taken , Mr Secretary to
standardize the collection of
allegations of extremism by service
members since the release of that
report ? Oh , we , we continue
to uh to make sure that our , our
leadership uh is doing the right thing
to , uh , uh , to , first of all
our troops understand , uh , how to
recognize , uh , certain types of
behavior . What's , what's , uh ,
what's , uh ,
acceptable , what's not acceptable ,
what we , what , what the , the
military won't tolerate . And I think
that's a , that's a first , uh , the
first step in making sure that , uh ,
that we're doing the right things . Uh ,
but , uh , we , but we are emphasizing ,
uh , that we do have , uh the right
means in place , the right methods in
place to accurately reflect or collect
uh you know , reports that are , that
are being rendered . Um And I would
also say that , you know , you've heard
me say this before 99.9% of our troops
are doing the right thing . Each and
every day they're focused on
accomplishing their mission . They ,
our , our , our leaders are , are uh
are focused on uh their , their task at
hand , their missions . Uh And uh you
don't get to be a ready force , the
ready force that we are that the
chairman described uh unless your
leaders are focused on the right things
and , and while um you know , making
sure that we don't have an extremist
behavior in our , in our ranks is
important . Uh It is not , it , it , it
hasn't consumed the force . Uh a focus
on this , it just enables us to do the
things that we're supposed to do and it
makes us better . So it allows us to
look at tools to , to help make the
force better . Correct . Right .
General , any other thoughts ? Yeah .
The , in , in the year you're talking
about 183 , uh out of 2.1 million uh
were referred for extremist behavior .
And we have means and mechanisms that
can discipline the force that are not
necessarily available in civil society .
We're very disciplined force . We don't
tolerate extremism of any kind left
right in between . It doesn't matter ,
no extremists in the ranks . Period .
We're not a political military , we're
an alit military and we intend to stay
that way . So there's no extremism
tolerated . We find it , we discover it ,
we refer it and we take appropriate
disciplinary action . And as the
secretary said , out of that
2.1,099.9.9.9 are in there every single
day trying to do the right thing for
the right reasons to protect this
country and they wake up every morning ,
try to better themselves , better the
unit and better this country . I , I
completely agree with that , but the
report also mentioned 183 , which is
the accurate number , but there might
be more that just had not had the
follow on status there , there may be
but , but I would say it's uh
relatively small numbers . I've been
doing this for a long time . Um When I
was a lieutenant and captain , we had
extremists then too . Um Secretary
Austin when he was a young officer , uh ,
he had some experiences at Fort Bragg
with extremists . So this isn't
something new . We discipline the force .
We don't tolerate it , we find it , we
punish it , we get it out , but that
shouldn't smear the entire force . This
force is a disciplined dedicated
patriotic force that loves America and
will fight and die for it . I agree .
Thank you , Mr Chairman . Thank you ,
Mr Chairman and congratulations on your
accession to your position . Um
Welcome uh to our subcommittee , uh
Secretary Austin and uh General Milley ,
General Milley . Thank you for your
service to our country . Both of you uh
have distinguished yourselves in your
service . I'm very proud of both you
and I know my constituents are too . Um
I wanted to say my top priority is
Ukraine right now and Mr Chairman , I'm
sure you'll have a closed door session
on that um before we move into markup .
But I just wanted to request that uh if
possible . Uh General Milley uh as a
follow up to the Liberty Road
initiative , I would greatly appreciate
an individual we could work with on
your staff somewhere in the uh uh
rather large staffing at the Department
of Defense . Uh We've been unable to do
that effectively . Um uh Then I wanted
to follow up on something congressman
talked about the severe uh illicit
narcotics activity . That is this ,
that is really destabilizing in his
region and frankly having an impact
across our country . And I just wanted
to put on the record for those who are
listening . There's a great book called
Dreamland by Sam Canon and uh who
tracks the economics of what's going on
following the passage of NAFTA in 1993 .
Uh and the wipe out of the Mexican
white corn market and the springing up
in all the those places , Tama et
cetera of uh the uh planning of heroin
and moving into other um into other
drugs . It's quite sobering to read and
I just placed that on the record for
those who really care about this until
we solve that uh the abject poverty
that resulted from that we're not gonna
solve the problem . And I don't know if
the government of Mexico is capable of
solving it . Um Secretary Austin , I
wanted to ask if you might help us set
up a meeting with the folks who are
handling the ramp up of additional work
and defense industrial based activities
in your department . I come from
manufacturing America . We help save
the M one , the Abraham tank plant . We
were told , oh , we'll never have
another land war . What do I need ?
What do we need that for ? We had to
save the uh tank capability of this
country . We have to save the uh
strategic petroleum reserve of this
country because there were people who
were willing to wipe it out . Those of
us who come from manufacturing America
understand what it takes . I would be
very grateful so we could learn more
about , uh , the funding , the staffing
and the current authorities if they
need to be expanded . Uh , thank you
for listening to that . And finally ,
um , for , for either gentleman today ,
um , in terms of hybrid warfare , I'm
very interested in more detail on the
impact of the internet on
communications and how us forces are
working to overcome communication
problems with host nations and the
impact that the internet is having on
creating , um , disruptive activities ,
uh , false information and so forth
that , uh , I'd like to know more
detail about that as we move forward in
terms of meeting um , threats to our
security globally . Uh Well , thank you
and , and thanks for all your support
and certainly , uh , we'll make , I'll
make sure my staff reaches out to yours .
Uh , and we give , we , uh , provide
you access to the people who are
working on these , uh , issues with the
industrial base . For , uh , for us ,
we have a manufacturing , uh task force
here , sir . On the house side , we're
very interested . Thank you with
respect to , uh , you know , the , the
internet and information , how
information impacts uh , operations .
Uh , we've seen over the years that ,
that , uh , in terms of transnational
terrorist activity , uh , people that
have been , uh , um , have been
recruited , uh , and , uh , and , and
actually , uh , encouraged to take
action over the internet and
radicalized over the internet , uh that
kind of thing continues to uh we
continue to see that . But in on the ,
uh even in a , in a kind of a
conventional fight , uh there's still a
lot of activity that the adversaries
will put on uh on the , on the internet
to uh creates a number of different
types of effects . And we see this as ,
you know , uh with the uh with the
Ukraine Russia conflict .
And we have to be our , you know ,
we , we have to be active in that space
and we also have to enable uh our
partners uh to be active in that space .
So this is , it is really important to
us and it's , it will continue to
evolve and , and uh so there's
significant significant activity uh in
those spaces and they do directly
affect uh the fight and let me see if
Mark wants to add anything . Yeah . Uh
Congresswoman uh first on the Liberty
Pro road thing , I , I'll circle back
with you and make sure that uh we're
closing loops on , on that whole
project . Um And I was very proud to be
there with you . And as part of that
over in Poland um on , on this , on ,
on the uh communications piece uh
communications is fundamental obviously
to the conduct of military operations .
That is one of the key pieces of our
joint war fighting concept , which
would be doctrine here uh this summer .
Uh The T C two piece is part of that .
So our , for , from a defensive
standpoint , our communication systems
have got to become more resilient uh
And , and less susceptible to either
jamming or spoofing or any other kind
of interference or intercepting and ,
and , and collecting off of our signal
systems . Uh I think we're pretty good ,
but we need to get better Uh in terms
of uh broader implications , the social
media and in the advent of social media ,
if you think about it , the iPhone just
came out in 2008 . Uh so we are really
at the beginning of a proliferation of ,
of , of all kinds of information , all
kinds of platforms out there that can
spew all kinds of accurate data and
inaccurate data . Uh and that's
something that we all have to come to
grips with because there's a lot of
stuff out there in the Internet and
social media that is false . And we
have to be wary of that because of
misinformation , disinformation ,
propaganda . We know factually that uh
adversary states using bots uh on a
very frequent basis to try to influence
our elections , influence elections in
Europe , influence elections in other
countries . Uh undermine create
divisiveness where there's already
divisiveness in a society . Uh
Adversary states may try to pour on uh
with the social media and make it even
though it's just a single person in a
foreign city who's doing this through
some means and mechanisms . But they
can uh they can take a single uh issue
and blow it up and make it much more
divisive than it would have been
otherwise . So there's a lot of issues
with social media and how it's being
used for information transmission , uh
disinformation transmission . And I
think there's a lot of things that we
have to come to grips with from a
military standpoint though . Uh for us ,
it's really just a communication system
that we need to build , make it
resilient so that we can effectively
command control and coordinate uh
during combat operations . Thank you ,
John . It's time to describe Mr Rogers .
Thank you , Mr Chairman , gentlemen .
Uh Thank you for your service to the
country , a lifetime of service and we ,
we thank you very much . Let me uh
bring up a topic that's the elephant in
the room and there's a competition with
China . Uh How do you assess
the Chinese president's visit to
Moscow recently ? And how does that
play in the larger world stage on our
competition with , with China ?
The uh I'll be through it and , and uh
certainly offer the chairman with your
permission , uh chance to comment .
Certainly , this is , it's troubling to
see that Putin
attacked his neighbor in an
unprecedented way and uh and seeks to
uh uh to change the border and uh
and access his neighbor's property or ,
or sovereign territory . Um So
Xi's visit to Putin , uh it's and , and
remaining there for a couple of days ,
I think sends a very troubling message ,
a message of support . Uh We don't see
them providing any material support to ,
to Russia right now . Uh But we're
watching this very , very closely . Uh ,
if they were to go down that path , I
think it would be very troubling for ,
for the international community , but
certainly just showing support by his
presence there , I think is , uh , is
very troubling . Um I think that , uh ,
you know , this is uh this is , it's
been described as a marriage of
convenience . Uh you know , Putin
doesn't have any , any allies or
partners that he can turn to in the
international community . Uh And , and
so China has uh is , is ,
is willing to continue to develop that
relationship . That's , that's very ,
very interesting . Uh But it's
troubling that uh you know , what we've
seen , uh again , it will be even more
troubling if she decides to provide
material support to uh to , to Russia ,
it would prolong the conflict and uh
and , and certainly broaden the
conflict potentially uh not only in the
region but globally . So
m uh thanks for the question . I , you
know , look at China is a serious ,
probably the most serious geostrategic
adversary the United States is facing
today and we'll be facing through mid
century and perhaps the entire century .
And if you were a historian in the year ,
uh you know , a century from now , uh
the story of this century uh uh will
likely be the geostrategic story is
gonna likely be the , what was the
relationship between the United States
and China did end up in a war or not ?
Uh And I think that we need to be
really careful as we go forward to make
sure that our military and our
capabilities are way stronger than
anything China can field . That's
fundamental to deterrence . We don't
want a great power war with China . Uh
We want to prevent that and the way to
prevent it is a strong , powerful
military uh demonstrated will to use it
if necessary and that they clearly and
unambiguously understand it . What we
see in China , what we see in a , in
terms of a nation state over the last
40 plus years . Uh since Deng Xiaoping
introduced his reforms in 1979 is an
enormous growth in wealth . Uh The
greatest growth in wealth of any
country uh to include all the the
United States back in the 18 hundreds .
This is an enormous growth in wealth
and enormous shift in uh in power
globally . And in the wake of that
wealth is coming . This military ,
their military has advanced from a
peasant based infantry army in 1979 to
a world class military that is a near
peer of the United States . They are
not better than we are , they have a
long way to go for that . Uh But they
are closing the gap very , very quickly .
It is incumbent upon us . To make sure
that we remain number one at all times ,
that will help keep the peace if we
somehow fall behind , that will become
very dangerous in my opinion . So , so
the goal is to deter China from making
an ill advised decision going forward .
Uh And you've heard me say a number of
times that I don't think uh uh a
military action against Taiwan is
either imminent or uh or ,
you know , unavoidable . I think that
uh that the way that we keep things uh
in the right place is to make sure that
we're able to talk to each other . Uh
You've , you've seen me reach out a
number of times to my counterpart .
I'll continue to do that . I think
military leaders uh should be able to
uh to talk to each other to manage
escalation and , and to determine
intent and a number of other things .
But I think this communication is
really , really important . So , uh
again , um I do not think that uh that
military action is imminent . Uh But ,
you know , certainly as the chairman
pointed out , we have to make sure that
we remain a combat credible force and
we'll do everything within our power to
make sure we do that well , in um the
question of competition with China ,
undoubtedly we are at a crucial moment
here , we are beginning to lose our
critical competitive edge in multiple
domains . Um I'm interested to
know in your budget request .
Um what is
needed to reverse this trend that we're
on . Well , you see
us uh number one investing uh in our
posture . Uh And , and so , uh the
Pacific uh deterrence initiative , uh
we've allocated or requested for , for
that initiative , uh some $9.1 billion
this year , that's a 40% increase over
what we asked for last year that will
help us uh you know , improve
infrastructure that uh provides us uh
the ability to , to position our troops
forward in theater so that we can deter
much further forward . You've seen us
ask for $61 billion
to support and maintain our dominance
in the air domain . Uh $48 billion in ,
In combat effective naval forces and
some $13 plus billion dollars for
our effective ground forces . And we're
investing in the capabilities that
support our war fighting
concepts that , that support our
strategy . So there's a lot in this
budget that's focused on uh on this
particular challenge . And uh and again ,
we will continue to invest in the years
going forward to build upon the things
that we're we're asking for today and
doing today in theater . Thank you , Mr
Chairman . Thank you , Mr Stewart ,
gentlemen . Thank you for being here .
Uh I have three things I want to talk
about briefly but I'm gonna have to go
fairly quickly through them if I could
in the time allowed uh chairman Milley ,
I want to follow up with something you
said and just try to add some clarity
to it when we talk about and I want you
to know in fairness . I'm , I'm one of
the members who is becoming more and
more concerned about our efforts in
Ukraine . And what , where , where that
actually leads us ? And have we applied
any of the lessons of the last 20 years ?
And can we apply those to Ukraine ? And
so when you talk about our goals ,
there are international , I'm
paraphrasing international rule are
preserved . Ukraine , a free and
independent nation with its territory
preserved . Does that include Crimea ?
Yeah , the what the president has said
and the guidance he's given out uh is
publicly as well as , as well as
Secretary Blinken , Mr Sullivan .
Others uh is that that is for a
decision for Ukraine to decide our task
is to help Ukraine defend itself . Uh
The United States is not at war with
Russia even though Russia tries to
portray that we are helping a country
defend itself , defend its territorial
integrity and its people . Well , and I
think that's where this becomes a very
different situation for us . And I
would say a very much more dangerous
situation if we stay our say , our goal
is to reclaim all of the Eastern
Donetsk region and then including U uh
Crimea and including the land bridge .
Uh I I just the , the , the evidence
and the intelligence and experience is
really clear that that is a very , very
different thing than what we're talking
about if I said that publicly , that ,
that , that goal , uh which is really a
maximalist goal set by President
Zalinsky publicly , that is an
extraordinarily difficult goal to
achieve militarily . And , and I
appreciate that and we'll have more
time to talk about that . You know ,
the interesting thing about these
hearings is we often come with kind of
esoteric issues , things that are kind
of personal to our district maybe or to
our state . And this , this is a little
bit like that , but not , not really .
It's actually very broad and strategic .
And I think also in meeting with our ,
our conversations with your staff , it
appears that both of you are supportive
of this and that's the Office of
Strategic Capital , the $115 million
that was allocated . And I have talked
with dozens and dozens and I know you
have two , dozens of small companies ,
but , you know , some other larger ones
as well who want to work with the
department , but they just can't get
through the contracting process . Uh Mr
undersecretary , you have the worst job
in the world as a comp controller and
the , and the person who's got a , I
mean , I think God looks at the
acquisition process , he says it's too
hard , I can't do it . Uh , it's a very
difficult thing but this Office of
Strategic Capital , I believe would
bring billions of dollars of , of
market money , private money uh , to
the Department of Defense in a way that
just , we can't do now because they're
so , is so difficult and they get so
frustrated and , uh , either of you
would like to respond to that . I'd
appreciate it if you have views on that .
But if not , we'd like to continue to
work with the offices . We try to try
to make this actual reality . This is
really important to us . And , uh ,
thanks for your support . I want to
thank the chairman for his support as
well . Uh We've had a couple of
conversations on this initiative . I
wanna applaud Heidi's efforts uh in
this area . Uh She and I and a couple
of others sat down uh you know , many
months ago and really uh focused on the
problem of trying to get uh small
companies uh into this , uh you know ,
in , in , into the business here and ,
and how do we break down barriers and
how do we make it ? Uh how do we
incentivize uh investment ? And , and
so , uh that's what this is about . Uh
We really are interested in making sure
that it , it begins to move in the
right in the right direction . We
partnered with the small Business
Bureau and , and uh and so , uh again ,
we're optimistic about it and thanks
for your support . Well , and secretary ,
thank you because I think it could
really make a difference and some of
the technology they would make
available to our war fighters would
make a difference to them . Uh They've
got things that we need , we find ,
need to find a way to get it , to get
us access to it . And the last comment ,
if I could very quickly , uh , I come
from a family of military . I'm the
third , three generations now . All of
my brothers , my father , et cetera .
Um , and one of the reasons that I
joined the military is because my dad
did . And if he had ever indicated to
me , you know , I don't know if you'd
like it or I'm not sure it's a good
thing anymore . I would never have done
it . And there's a culture here that I
think we've , we've , I don't wanna say
broken , but we've strained it in
general . Or chairman milly . I think
you've seen it in the army in the sense
of our recruitment goals . I mean ,
15,000 soldiers short , 25% short of
our , uh short of our goal . And we can
talk about salaries and compensation
and that's part of it . But I'm , but
you both know that that's not the
primary reason someone joins the
military . They do because of that
culture and that uh wanting to serve .
And we've broken that somehow between
fathers and sons and , and I just
wondered , and my time is up and maybe
we can talk about it again . But what ,
what has changed culturally to make it ?
So we're not meeting our recruiting
goals . And how do we address that ?
Thanks for the question . The um , well ,
1st , 1st the services army and the
recruiting goes , with the exception of
the army , the army ran into some real
headwinds there and , uh , they're
trying to dig their way out of that .
Uh Secondly , we're , we are at a 50
year high actually , since the all
volunteer military began right after
Vietnam , 50 year high on retention .
Uh So that should tell us something .
What , what that tells us is that those
that are in uniform are very satisfied
with , with what they're doing on a day
to day basis . And , and , and they
have , they feel fulfilled that this
are gonna cause better themselves .
They're better in their own lives , et
cetera . Uh So those are on , on the
plus side uh for the recruiting piece
though we are in a difficult uh
recruiting period . There's no question
about it , I think , uh for sure , uh
COVID plays a role in that . Um We know
that uh only , uh in terms of the
demographics of our society , only
about 23% of America's youth between 17
and 25 even qualify to get into the
military and of them only 9% uh show
propensity to serve . Uh We know that
about 78% of those of us in uniform
have military family members in uniform
like yourself . Both my mother and
father served in World War Two . Uh and ,
and and , and grandparents before them ,
uncles , brothers , sisters and cousins ,
all of them served at one time or
another . And that's true with you .
That's true . Us , and it's true of
many of us uh , in this , in this room .
Uh , so 78% of those that have
familiarity with the military tend to
join the military . Uh so contact time ,
uh , familiarity with the military , uh
meeting troops , et cetera . We also
know that the army did a study and I ,
I think , I don't know if it's been
made available or not . Uh , but , uh ,
I was briefed on it and , and one of
the things in the study that comes out
is in terms of a barrier to join for
kids coming out of high school , et
cetera . Uh , is , is the fear of being
injured or the fear of getting hurt
PTSD . Uh , uh , there's , there's a
lot of stuff out there about , uh , uh ,
rape , sexual assault , sexual
harassment . Those sorts of things are
out there that have mischaracterized
actually the military in many , many
ways . And so it creates a little
barrier for those that , uh , are , uh ,
uh , considering joining in addition to
that . Uh , there's , there's , there's
probably about 20 or 30 factors . Uh ,
but I think one of the biggest ones
actually is the lack of , uh , kids
going to school in the last couple of
years , uh , has , uh , prevented our
recruiters from getting into high
schools and having contact time . Uh ,
and we know , uh , right off the bat
that , that drops recruiting rates . Uh ,
if you don't have contact time with
recruits , there's a lot of reasons ,
uh , uh , I , I wouldn't , uh , you
know , say that there's one particular
reason there's a lot of reasons why
it's challenging right now , but those
that are coming into service are doing
it for the same reasons that you did ,
which is to serve your country , serve
a cause greater than yourself . Try to
better yourself , develop certain
skills . Uh They're coming in for
certain pays and benefits to be sure .
But no one comes in the military just
for the money . And that's not why you
come in , you come in to serve your
country , protect the constitution and
hand it off to the next generation and
thanks for your service . Thanks and
gentlemen , um thank you , Member of
mccollum . Do you have any uh closing
statement ? Thank you , Mr Chair . I'm
gonna submit a few questions for the
record on climate change and resilience
and uh Arctic resources . Thank you
both for your testimony and I think it
was well said by uh uh Congressman
Stewart to talk about family and , and ,
and service . Uh My family goes back on
both sides of the revolutionary war ,
but now we've had a gap in this
generation . Um So there , there is
something that we need to do uh to make
sure people embrace them , being
welcome . So , thank you very much , Mr
Chair for your courtesy and for um the
way everybody got their questions in .
Yeah , also want to uh to thank both of
you for your service uh general . Uh
We've known each other for many years
and , and each other over the years ,
I'm sure we'll continue to know each
other . I respect your service and uh
uh I'm sure we'll be working closely
together until you run through the tape
in September . So thank you again for
your service . Uh Obviously I'm
concerned uh about the , this budget .
Um I made that clear , I think we're
gonna work together to plus this up
somewhat , um , to make sure we meet
the requirements . Uh We'll be working
with our colleagues both here on the
other side of the aisle and in the
Senate to see if we can come up with a ,
a number that uh will meet the needs of ,
uh , to protect this country and , and
uh lead it into the future that thank
you . And we are adjourned .