my letter to you, the issues you referenced in the categories we spoke about. we are actually in the process of drafting the report. so, we will hopefully be able to get out in a reasonable amount of time. i will just add, because so much of these issues to cover highly classified information, as you know from our prior reviews, we have to go through the department and various intelligence community processes to get to a point where we can issue it. i always put that caveat in the reports we have about that information. we are working to get it done. we've made good progress. the second question you raised, was one that we are also assessing. we are going to leave this taped grandeur as defense secretary lloyd alston, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, general charles cq, and

defense comptroller mike mccord get ready to testify on the president's 2025 budget request before the house appropriations subcommittee on defense. you are watching live coverage on c-span3 .

defense subcommittee will come to order. today, the with the testimony from lloyd austin, secretary of defense, general cq brown, joint chiefs of staff, mike

mccoy, comptroller. the department of defense is requesting $833 billion within the subcommittee jurisdiction for subcommittee 2025. this is 1% higher than fiscal year 2024. an active level and would keep defense spending proposed by the fiscal responsibility act, which is an interesting number, the spending-- considering the nondiscretionary request of spending about $25 billion over the cap. president biden with previous quotes from his father, don't tell you what you value, show me your budget and i will tell you what you value. it seems, this administration will continue to value its budget over national security. i agree with jim mattis who advocated for annual 3 to 5% real growth and defense topline will fight tonight and adequately invest capability to deter and win tomorrow's wars. that said, the defense will closely scrutinize the request

to ensure we provide a strong theory as we develop fiscal year 2025 defense appropriation bill. our job is made more difficult when our enemies are in bold and to act with impunity. secretary alston --austin, with deteriorating global security environment as a scorecard, i suspect your emphasis on deterrence is failing. china has positioned itself to the last the vision of building a force capable of taking taiwan by 2027. reducing capability at scale, bullying our allies and partners across the indo pacific. russia is in the third year of an unjust war of aggression against ukraine with no signs of stopping its ongoing invasion attempt. protein is not deterred. china is waging asymmetric warfare against the american people by providing base internal components to mexican drug cartels. the fentanyl products lowing across southern border killed

112,000 americans last year, and devastating communities across the nation. the chinese suppliers, and the mexican drug cartels are not deterred. over the weekend, ryan, for the first time, launched direct attack over israel. the barrage included over 100 ballistic missiles, 30 cruise missiles, 150 attack drones launched lebanon, yemen, and for the first time, iran itself. 99% of their missiles and drones were intercepted. make no mistake, iran is not deterred. unfortunately, department is plagued by neuropathy and actions necessary to restore determinants. this is most notable over the cost and significantly delayed weapons acquisition. pick a service, i can point you to systems that fit this mold. the navy's columbia and virginia submarines are delayed, despite being the services' number one priority.

the army spent over $2 billion developing, only to cancel the program. the space forced ups ground system is more than $3 billion over budget, more than seven years late, and still not delivered. and of course, there is an entire hypersonic program, which has cost over $10 5 billion so far, and produced not a single fielded system. our war fighters need modern technology now. a part of the solution must be a true commitment by the department to embrace, adopt, an agile and innovative approach to acquisition. in fiscal year 2024, defense appropriations act invested in the solution by ensuring that defense innovation unit received $1 billion, flexible authority necessary to rapidly identify and deliver innovative

technology to the warfare. included is 220 million for combating commanders to rapidly field capability urgently. he had spent portfolio is critical to addressing emerging, dynamic, and materializing threat i discussed earlier. this is separate and distinct from the replicator effort. fiscal year 2024 appropriations reinforced this fact, providing $1 billion for the iu, and more than 200 million for replicator. additionally, to achieve the effective and efficient military, the department must also reoptimize its workforce. i am pleased to see the fiscal year 2025 request includes a net reduction for full-time equivalents. i am impressed the department is incorporating artificial intelligence and process automation to eliminate manual business processes. must be done here. finally, our people,

asymmetrical advantage that our adversaries could never replicate. they deserve the best from there to business systems and from livable wages to robust family support. we as a committee have long championed significant boost in pay for our junior enlisted service members and i am happy to note, this seems to be a popular initiative in congress this year. together with their families and our servicemembers are the foundation upon which our nation's strength is derived. supporting and investing in them is a priority. and i know we can all agree on that. before we hear from our witnesses, i would like to recognize the distinguished ranking member, ms. maccallum, for any opening comments. >> thank you, mr. chair. mr. secretary, general brown, and undersecretary mccord, thank you for testifying before us today. gentlemen, your first appearance as chairman of the

cheeks, for fiscal year 2025, the president has proposed $823 billion within our subcommittee's jurisdiction. it conforms within the active level of the fiscal responsibility act, which passed the house by a boat 314- 117. this allowed for $7 billion increase about 50 fiscal year 2024 in active levels, even though it is below the rate of inflation. i voted for the fiscal responsibility act, not because i agreed with the spending levels of the deal, but because this country could not afford to default on its debt. mr. secretary, as you know, the department has received criticisms from its authorizer from the top line budget requested. i think that criticism is unfair and unjust, especially from authorizer's who did not have the responsibility for allocating the funding. mr. secretary, you personally

did not impose a fiscal responsibility act of the department responsible act on the department of defense, congress did. i think those of us who voted for that law, we need to remember that when talking with you. i hope congress has learned a hard lesson, we should not hold our national debt limit hostage over arbitrary bending caps-- spending caps. the department and administration are conforming to what the law of the land is. asking the department to ignore the law is not advisable. i know each of you in the service chief made difficult services to follow the law. as i said last year, congress must be better about making hard choices when it comes to the defense budget. we need to continue to train, equip our servicemen and women, and to support them and their families here at home. we must prioritize modernization of our

force and support investments, which will support future modern combat. most of all, we need to meet the requirements included in the national defense strategy. every dollar allocated in your budget request represents an increased effort to defend our nation and to deter threats. as you know, we finally enacted fiscal year 2024 built on march 23rd, six months after it was supposed to be completed. this delay triggered multiple continuing resolutions, and impeded your ability to start new programs. none of this should have happened. turning to the security supplemental. the senate passed it over two months ago. it is deeply unfortunate that it has not been brought directly to the floor for a house vote . funding that bill would provide much-needed funding for ukraine, taiwan, israel, and it will make sure that we have the critical munitions we need here at home to protect the united states.

the supplemental will support our military, and provide them with ammunition necessary to defend us here at home and support our allies abroad, and also includes much-needed humanitarian assistance, which is long overdue to the people who need it. as the chair mentioned, evidenced by iran's actions this week, and israel will require more interceptors to defend itself from iranian missile attacks. lastly, our subcommittee was briefed by u.s. command on the prognosis for ukraine without american support. as you know, it was chilling. without the united states assistance, ukraine would literally run out of ammunition and more civilians will be martyred by russia. for these reasons, the supplemental must be reenacted as soon as possible. while the hearing today will cover a range of topics, i want to highlight a that are very important to me. first, i am concerned about our

nation's ability to address emerging threats. many of the systems we rely on from each of the services are delayed, requiring additional funds from their original stated contracts. this needs to stop. our industrial partners seem to be losing workers right and left after they have been trained, particularly in the ship building industrial based. this is unacceptable and extremely concerning to me. the department, congress, and industry must work together to ensure there is consistency, because of those jobs and the people in them are important to the national security of our nation. second, the subcommittee served from the army and navy about how they are addressing recruitment and retention issues. i would like to know what you think the progress of the services have made in recruitment goals the past year, and do you believe this will get us back on track in the near-term future? finally, given the focus on pacific, which is important, and the recent visit to washington by the japanese

prime minister, i would like to hear your thoughts on our relationship with japan. how can the department work with japan to better utilize maintenance and repair facilities for japanese territory that our forces could execute their missions more effectively and efficiently? and what are some of the ways the department has worked to strengthen our relationship with allies, such as the philippines, australia, and south korea? again, thank you to the service for our witnesses for appearing before us today and all those who serve and work under you. we appreciate your testimony and answers to our questions. mr. chairman, thank you for the courtesy and i yelled back. >> i would like to turn it over to the chairman of the full committee, my good friend chairman tom cole, the floor is yours. >> take you very much. good morning to our witnesses, certainly mr. secretary, brown, undersecretary mccord, it is great to have you here this morning. around's attacks on israel and

the progressive actions of china and russia, reminders that we need a strong military to deter war, protect u.s. interests, and when necessary win conflict. we are witnessing an evolution in fighting through the proliferation of technology. small, cheap, and autonomous systems provide regional actors with the ability to threaten our neighbors and endanger global waters. with that backdrop, department's fiscal year 2025 request makes tough choices to stay on the fiscal responsibility act caps. it creates long-term modernization capabilities to address long- term readiness force. frankly, like my friend, i would like to see an increase in defense spending to more completely address these threats. certainly, as my great friend ranking member maccallum said, to support the sacramental for long-term assistance in developing, sustaining our own

industrial base. however, additional funding would not absolve the departments of its responsibility to deliver capabilities on time and on budget. in that regard, i socially associate myself with my good friend tolbert. from shipbuilding to ashcraft like e- seven, i continue to be concerned about the department's inability to deliver weapons in a war fire in a reasonable timeframe. acquisition requires clear standards, adequate funding, competent management, and a trustee partnership between the department and industry. it also requires constant communication, transparency with the congress. these are some of the areas-- usually, there are some areas, such as ammunitions, where the department is working with this committee to provide funding and demand signal necessary to wrap up phase production. i am interested in your thoughts,

mr. secretary, on how to go a step further and develop surge capacity across the industrial base. this would increase our readiness for whatever the global security environment throws at us. i wanted to note that the department is enduring the most challenging recruiting crisis since the creation of the all volunteer force. the junior enlisted force is the life blood of the military and this committee is committed to recruiting and retaining the best america has to offer. there is no shortage of challenges for this department. i look forward to hearing how our fiscal year 2024 budget request addresses those issues. thank you, mr. chairman, i yelled back. >> gentlemen, your full, written testimony will be placed on the record. please give a brief summary of your statements. secretary austin, the floor is yours. >> ranking member maccallum, distinguished members of the committee, thanks for the opportunity to testify in support of president biden's proposed fiscal year 2025

budget for the department of defense. chairman called, i look forward to continuing to work closely together as you take the gavel of the full committee. i am pleased to be joined by our outstanding chairman of the joint chiefs of, gentlemen c.q. brown, and secretary mike mccord, the department's comptroller . let me start by thanking this committee for all you do to support the u.s. military, our troops, and our military families. we are seeing the exceptional skill and professionalism of our forces after around's unprecedented and reckless assault on israel. alongside israel, and our allies, we had enormous success in defeating iran's attacks. we will continue to stand ready to protect our troops in the region, and to support the defense of israel from attacks by iran, or its proxies. in our commitment to israel's security is ironclad. let me be clear, while we have

not seen renewed attacks on u.s. forces or facilities, as president biden has said, we will not hesitate to take all necessary actions to protect our people. now, let me turn to this year's budget request. >> the meeting will be suspended. the committee will be in order. teacher notes and disturbance of the committee proceedings. the chair for my i guess the disruption of the audience is a violation of house rules. any additional disruptions the hearing will require law enforcement to remove testers from the room and restore order . and i will do that. mr. secretary, please continue. >>, chairman. as secretary, i have always been guided by three

priorities, defending our nation, taking care of our people and succeeding through teamwork. our budget request for fiscal year 2025 with advanced all three of these priorities. >> the committee will stand in recess until the capitol police can restore order. please remove the illustrators from the room. the committee is in recess. please remove-- please remove all protesters from the room. please remove all protesters from the room. any additional protests, all protesters will be removed from the room. we will come back to order, mr. secretary, please proceed. >> as i said, chairman, our

budget request for fiscal year 2025 will advance all three of the priorities that i mentioned. first, the president's request will engage in capabilities across all domains. this includes 48.1 billion oracle naval ship capabilities, 62 billion to reinforce u.s. air dominance, and $13 billion to bolster army and marine corps capabilities. our request will also provide $33.7 billion to strengthen our space architect and 13.4 billion to develop and field u.s. cyber security tools. it will direct 49.2 billion to modernize and recapitalize all three legs of our nuclear targets. and it will sharpen our tech gauge eight 167.5 alien investment in procurement and a $143.2 billion investment in our indy. second, this will support outstanding troops and our-- their families.

that includes raising the day, and housing allowances, investing in better housing, making childcare more affordable, and funding vital work to prevent sexual assault and suicide in the military. third, this request will help the department further deepen our teamwork worldwide. our network of allies and partners remain a strategic advantage that no competitor can match. and you can see it's power and our strengthening ties across indo pacific in today's expanded and united nato, and in the 50 country ukraine defense contact group that i convene. our budget remains rooted in our 2022 national defense. our request positions united states to tackle the pacing challenge with people's republic of china, with confidence and urgency. it will help meet the acute threat of putin's increasingly aggressive

russia. it will help us tackle persistent dangers we have just seen from iran and its proxies in their attack on israel. it will help us take on the threats from north korea, mobile terrorist organizations, and other maligned actors, and it will help us continue to deter aggression against the united states and our allies and partners and prevail in conflict if necessary. today, i want to underscore three key measures. first, even as our budget request of ives by the mandatory caps by the physical ability act, it is aligned to our strategy. we made tough, but responsible decisions that prioritize near term readiness, modernization of the joint was, and support for our troops and their families. our approach dials back near- term modernization for programs not fit to online until the 2030s. second, we can only fully reach

the goals of our strategy with your help. i am grateful that congress passed the fiscal year 2024 appropriations in march, the single greatest way congress can support the department is to pass predictable, sustained, and timely appropriations. my third and final message is that the price of u.s. leadership is real. but, it is far lower than u.s. abdication. as the president has said, we are in a global struggle between democracy and autocracy. our security relies on america's strength of purpose. that is why our budget request seeks to invest in american security, and america's defense industrial base. it is also why the administration has requested nearly $60 billion in the national security supplemental for the department . that supplemental would support our partners in israel, ukraine, and taiwan, and make investments to increase

submarine. in fact, $50 billion would flow through our industrial base, creating good, american jobs in more than 30 states. now, we are more than two years into the kremlin's war of aggression against ukraine and putin is betting that the united states will falter, abandon our friends, and leave ukraine in mortal danger. if the kremlin prevails in ukraine, it would embolden would be aggressors around the world we know that china, iran, and others are watching but putin does and how we respond. we look to our partners in congress to help us make investments needed to strengthen american security through both supplemental and president's budget request. the united states military is the most lethal fighting force on earth. with your help, we will keep it that way. i am truly grateful for your support for our mission and for our troops.

i look forward to your questions. thank you. >> thank you, mr. secretary. general brown, you are recognized. >> distinguished members of the committee, i am honored to join secretary austin and the honorable mike mccord to appear before you today. on the behalf of the joint force, the bombing of defense and our families, i want to thank congress for your set support and the opportunity to testify on the 25 budget request , which reflects our shared commitment to national security. the two national think strategy identifies five key challenges. the people's republic of china are facing a challenge, continues its risky behavior around the globe. near the aggressive russia against ukraine, we just thought this past weekend, continues to escalate regional conflict with unprecedented

attacks in support of proxy forces. north korea, which threatened north-- security, and stability to advance their cause. these challenges are connected, which demands a strategic approach to addressing immediate threats while also preparing for future contingencies. these after becoming chairman, laid out three expectations in my message to joint force. what fighting skills as promised in all we do, modernizing an aggressive leading with new concepts and approaches, and trust as a foundation of our profession. i am-- our military exist to fight in our nation's wars here we tried every day to ensure we are so good at what we do, we deter any adversary from engaging the u.s. in conflict. this budget request, $147 billion to sustain readiness and ensure the department can counter near-term threats. we are also focused on better in grading our allies with in our planning and operations by

investing in critical programs and capability, expanding security cooperation, exercises, training, and interoperability. our in to ensure the joint respond when called. what we are focused on today is critical to modernize and lead to prepare for tomorrow. the department continues to invest in capability capacity to outpace our competitors while transforming legacy platforms that are no longer relevant to the threat. this budget strategically invests 167.5 alien in procuring , underscoring capabilities across every domain. this also invests $142.3 billion in research, test, and evaluation of future capabilities that will retain our strategic age. find this budget significantly into

modernization, innovation, multiyear procurement of vertical ammunitions, and trenton defense industrial base. the faculty involving threats in technology, installing-- accelerating our modernization is herschel. joint force must build upon and uphold trust in each other trust in our families, trust in our elected leaders, and trust in our nation, enhancing the quality of service and quality of life for personnel is not just a moral obligation, it is a strategic impairment. this includes budget and quality service efforts such as advanced training, educational benefits, development, also investing in quality-of-life projects like housing, medical clinics, and childcare facilities, as well as funding spousal employment initiatives, enhanced mental health resources in our programs to combat sexual assault. we must create an environment where all can

reach their full potential. trust that our joint force stands ready. ready to defend our national interest, ready to deter aggression, and ready if necessary in fighting in one of our nation's wars. i thank you for your support, collaboration, and are shared amendment to face challenges of today and prepare for tomorrow. we are living inconsequential times and there is no time to waste. thank you, and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, general. i want to make sure each member has a chance ask questions. each member will have five to ask questions. when the timer things, you will have one minute remaining. first, i will recognize myself. innovation and rapid fielding to the war fire has been a number one priority of mine since coming to congress. there are many efforts underway. however, as stated before, i support the replicator initiative, and in no way should replicator cannibalized from the hedge fund established

in fy 24. general brown, the transition of requirements to capabilities to a program of record is low, not well understood, and opaque to for fighters. an industry ally, how will you address this issue during your tenure? >> chairman, i appreciate the question. i would also offer, i have the same focus being able to accelerate capability to our war fighters. a part of this dialogue is the collaboration i tried to do. i know with the service, but how we engage from our requirements, through acquisition, into industry, into that accelerating each of these capabilities to from a prototype, to production. this also is very important about the defensive industrial base, so we can actually make sure we are able to deliver what we have identified the innovation, be able to move much more quickly into the hands of our war fighters. it will acquire leadership,

which i am happy to do, but it will also acquire from us one- time resourcing, constant demand signal, and to build the trust across the spectrum have capability. i look over to working with you on that to make sure we deliver the funds on time. secretary austin, last week thomas secretary hsu inaugurated the transaction acting group, which will deploy analytics to check how the department capability to deliver in the field. do you think this collaborative -- effort will be collaborative in congress and do you support the success? >> absolutely, chairman. and i commend the honorable shoe on the things she has done since we have been together. i think she has been a number of things to include things like rater, osc, as you know, to help us bridge the value of death, and the programs or

initiatives that you mentioned are really mutually supportive. and we will continue to do everything we can to move capability as quickly as we can across the valley of death, and get it to the head of our war fighters. >> thank you, mr. chair. mr. secretary, general brown undersecretary mccord. the senate bill passed is fundamental. mr. secretary, i'm going to ask a couple of questions together. could you please let this committee know how our allies and minors are reacting to our delight and enhancement of the supplemental? general brown, please share with us your military assessment of the situation in ukraine today, and what it looks like tomorrow. mr. mccord, we know that the

services are utilizing base funds to cover the cost of personnel operating in yukon and some calm. if not supplemental, how will the services fy 24 base activities? in general, why do we need to pass the supplemental right away , and is the united states losing statute in the world community? we will recess and have the disruption removed. mr. secretary who are recognized, chairman. you know, delaying the supplemental in a terrible signal to our allies and

partners and they will question whether or not we are committed to this cause, and whether or not we are a reliable partner. as you know, we have led every inch of the way in terms of making sure that security assistance is provided to ukraine. we have united nato, been instrumental in uniting nato in ways we have not seen. actually, nato has expanded. i think that american leadership in this endeavor has been really, really important. i think it is also in the supplemental is also important to us for our security as well. this supplemental invests in our industrial base. as you know, we don't provide funds to

ukraine, the department of defense does. we provide materials in terms of weapons, vehicles, munitions , and all of those things are replaced by us and the replacements are designed and built and are in the tree. that means, good jobs, good jobs for people in america. if that supplemental was passed, when it gets passed, some $50 billion or so would flow through some 30 states here in america. i think that is really important. and again, supplemental not only provides support for ukraine, it also provides much-needed support for israel, and also taiwan. >> you are funding a genocide. >> committee will stand in recess until capitol police can restore order. please instruct the capitol police to remove the disruption.

>> you disregard a u.s. federal court. you say that genocide is good for american jobs, shame on you shame! >> stop lying to the american people like ! so, to sum it up, this

supplemental is really important for a number of reasons. and again, it is important to us for our security as well. and it is really important that we have the ability to replenish the docs in our inventory that will be critical for us going forward. >> mccullough, you asked about my military assessment on ukraine. i will tell you, ukraine right now is facing dire better field positions. that is because there capability from a resourcing standpoint, whether it is munitions, vehicles, forms, they are not being outmatched by the russians. when ukrainians have had to put some positive gain in the force of two plus years they have been in this conflict of regaining more than 20% of their territory that the russians ceased at the beginning of their conflict.

those hard games could be lost without our support. it is important we continue to provide the capability that they require. so, when i think about this, i think about the supplemental does three things. one, it supports ukraine's ability to defend itself, it puts money into our defense industrial base, for ukraine, but for many of our allies and partners, because it is valued around the world, and last, it shows u.s. leadership. i have been in this job this month and i have had 150 engagements with my counterparts around the world, and they all talk about u.s. leadership. i can tell you, it is watched, it is desired. the actions we do are sending a message of what our commitments are, and also sent a message to our adversaries. i take it is important that we continue to show leadership like we have done throughout my entire career wearing this uniform.

and i want to make sure we do that. >> ranking member, thank you. security assistance of course is the most urgent, time sensitive part of the supplement . you highlighted the lesser- known part, the secretary and president of questions deploy forces quite legally where they choose to and research forces in europe the entire fiscal year to date. we have incurred over $2 billion and counting up operational costs that if we can't get the supplemental, we will have to be of in the budget and work with this committee and other committees to try and reprogram, hopefully not in direct readiness, affect readiness enabling things like facilities maintenance and equipment maintenance. there is an impact on our armed forces and facility as well. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. mr. secretary, gentlemen brown,

i would like to ask you if you would, first of all, i want to compliment you, thank you for the performance of our forces and your leadership in the recent attack by israel. our personnel was outstanding and that reflects well certainly on both of you and our military. one additional thing in your professional opinion do we need to do to provide israel with what it needs to defend itself in the short term? >> thanks, chairman. the most important thing we can do right now is to pass a supplemental. that will provide us the opportunity to continue to provide assistance to israel in the form of air defense interceptors, munitions, and things that are critically needed to be able to defend itself. that supplemental, i would say, chairman, is truly the most important thing i would highlight for you. >> chairman, i would echo those

comments. as i have a chance to talk to my israeli counterpart, and my other counterparts region , it is important to provide that capability through this supplemental. i also think about what he does for us, for our forces. i could not be prouder of the work done by our forces over the past weekend. it shows the professionalism of our force and that is why we have the most capable and most respected force in the world because of events like that. >> i also ask you both, obviously, when we deploy our forces in this way, they expose themselves to being attacked. we have certainly had plenty of incidences from iran. where are we at in terms of was protection for our men and women on the ground that are engaged in these activities? >> force protection is the utmost importance to me and to the department, and to the president. and we have done a

lot in the past several months to reinforce our force protective posture in the region . as you know, we deployed a number of additional assets over the last several months to ensure that we accounted for just about any contingency that could arise. and we, as i said earlier, while we know we have not seen any additional attacks from shia militia groups over the last several weeks, we note that could change in a moments notice. if it does, you can expect that we will do what is necessary to protect our troops, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing. >> again, i echo exactly what the secretary said. we lost three servicemembers in january. the tremendous work by our forces for force protection

to be able to respond like we did that at the beginning of february since a pretty clear message that we will defend ourselves, as secretary and i will continue to do so. >> obviously, this supplement has a lot of different components to it. we talked about israel, ukraine, the importance. i certainly hope we can get this done this week. there is another component ocean, directed in the western pacific, both to our own forces and to taiwan. widely known that taiwan has ordered billions of dollars worth of weapons from our country that have not been delivered. can you give us some insight as to the difficulties why we have not been able to help a country that is literally under enormous pressure from china, received the that is actually paid for? >> this has been an area of focus for us, mr. chairman. from the very beginning, i

asked my team to pour into what was causing delays, or is causing delays. and there are a number of things that come together to create those delays. we are working hard to ensure that every way possible, we do everything we can to feed the process of. i agree, this is critical capability that is very much needed by taiwan. we will continue to work on this. it is a complex picture, but nonetheless, we will make sure we are doing everything we can to move as quickly as possible. we continue to communicate to our allies and partners where we are in terms of getting them the needed capability. and again , i could not agree with you more. this is really important. >> one last question. i will direct this, general brown. you are very familiar with tinker

air force base. we have talked a lot about it over the years. as you know, the a waxwing is primarily based out of tinker. we know beginning to try and address that problem-- but something i have raised in this committee for many years. tell me where we are at in terms of the seven. i am a little disturbed. i think in the department budget, we are zeroing out that line. i know you are under a lot usher or money for that right now. let me know where we are at. i do worry with the russians, this is early morning combat control capability. we have lost a lot of that as we retired e 3. we have not been able to replace them anywhere near as rapidly as we should. give us an on how we are doing. chairman, i am a little removed from my time in the air force. i will defer to the air force and get you specifics.

but one of the things we were really trying to do, first of all, you know you have got to buy the green aircraft, and convert over. we were looking at the items to make sure we were able to do that, but at the same time working with our allies, particularly the australians, who have the platform today. we have an in australia who are training. not only getting the capability, like you described with the prototype, also mirroring of our servicemembers so they can see what becomes, and we continue to work very hard to make sure we bring that capability forward as well. >> i only to working with additional highlights of real concern. i think this relates to the large account of worrying about delivering weapons system on time and on budget. i think we have a problem across the board. we have used a lot of-- eating up a lot of our immediate capability on the assumption certain things would be ready at a certain time and it has

not happened. we have a gap where the capability is an we have not gotten the replacement online. worries me a lot. yield back. >> mr. secretary, welcome. sorry we are kind of hearing hopping this morning. we want to welcome you to the committee. mr. secretary, it is well known the navy's experiencing significant issues related to ship building at in particular, summaries. we know we need more ships, more subs, but we like the infrastructure to stay on track. i want to be clear that the private sector could do more to help. there are delays in several programs, in both the columbia and virginia class submarine in a future aircraft carrier. we also have a significant backlog of ship summary, all of which have a friend in my state. these delays will impact the navy's readiness and the navy

completed a 45 day shipbuilding review to address some of these issues. i noted in a recent argument-- article, it says, the secretary of the navy says, 45 ship they review will be followed by another review. can you share with us your impressions of the findings of the first review, particularly the delays in the class submarine, and how this might impact the shipyard industrial base, and what this committee can do to assist you. >> regarding the delays, i share your concern. as you know, we were requesting to invest in one of virginia class this year, versus two. the reason we are doing that is because there is a backlog. rather than increase that backlog, the right thing to do in my view, is to invest in industrial base, in terms of

giving the industrial base the means to expand capacity by recruiting and retaining the right people, making sure that they can strengthen their supply chains, and so, in 23 and 24, we asked you for $1.9 million to invest in submarine. this year, in this budget, we are asking for some up to $4 billion for the industrial base for the 2025 hundred. -- budget. in addition to the 23 billion included in the supplemental. as you can see, pretty significant investment in the industrial base. i think we have to do everything we can to cope with those resources to use. the ceos of general

dynamics and huntington ingalls here recently. we talked about what their challenges were in terms of work was challenges and supply chain challenges. and we talked about how we could best use those resources that you are allowing us to invest in. certainly, they are doing things on their own to invest, increasing capacity. i think the right things are going to happen, it is just going to take more time. as you know, because of august, australia is also invest in our submarine base. the amount of money, the amount of resources we are putting again expand the capacity is material, it is real capability. we have to make sure we are putting it to good use. the industry is serious about it . it is going to take a bit

more time. >> i understand. if we could, and we can speak off-line, the findings of the 45 day review, i and that the committee has tried to provide resources. but then, i just read that we are looking at additional review to deal with ordering another review to take a deep dive into the opportunities for improvement. i don't know how many died we need. those submarines, how many dives are we going to accommodate here? i would like to know, i hope the committee would like to know the results of that review , where you think it takes us and what is going on with an additional review of this? and i appreciate your working with general dynamics and others

to get your, and the australians . if i can ask you a question about a continuing resolution? i appreciate your comments and your testimony regarding-- about the importance of passing government funding bills one time to ensure our nation's safe, keep the industrial base strong, outcompete our adversaries. many of my speak at length about wanting to achieve these goals. yet, as you know, we passed the defense spending bill this year over five months late. i repeat, five months late. i do not continue to play games with our federal vending process this year. can you elaborate on the negative effects of continuing resolutions for the department of defense, a major american manufacturers, the industrial base, and for our readiness in general?

what would be the consequences of another cr this year, mr. secretary? i hope general brown and mr. mccord can chime in as well. >> the effect of the crs are significant, especially if you have a cr set up that last that long. you obviously can't initiate new starts. you lose a lot of time on initiatives. the one thing you can't buy back is time. over the course of years, these things compound . they add some of the friction we have been discussing. again, i think the best way we can help ourselves is to make sure we received an on-time budget. as you know, our budget request is directly linked to our strategy. we are-- without a budget, we can execute the strategy to its force. i have been pretty deliberate in asking my staff to maintain course on making sure that

everything we ask for is directly linked to the strategy. and i know we have done a good job of that over the last three years. if you don't get a budget and on time, you are not executing to your full capability. it has a significant impact on our ability to do a number of things, but you can't buy time. >> thanks for the question. i will tell you, i have been a general officer about seniors, and we spent a third of that in continuing resolutions. the challenge we have, and i will use this as an example, one of the things we could not do, when they were new starts, change our levels of procurement. because i have there is what it does is drive uncertainty, erodes trust. typically, we work with our industrial base and we increase time. we talked earlier about the delivery capability on time.

the best way to do that is half resourcing on time. the same thing for us as a department as we have demands, which is why multiyear procurement is another piece that helps that demand signal and allows the industrial base to do their supply chain, have a work force consistency, and employment. all of that comes together for national security. it is really important. >> as secretary noted and general brown noted, we have immersed into a pattern of spending about a third in fiscal year on cr, much more of a problem on the acquisition side, to go back to mr. cole's comments, trying to deliver anything on time. this year, the particular issues where the difference between our request and the cr was about $25 billion. think about losing $2 billion a month, falling behind, hoping you will catch that up. also,

given the way that the school was ability act was written, there is a chance, however remote a full year sequester. we've spent significant time planning for things that did not happen, also a time that could have been used on other more productive. >> vinyl comments, thank you, mr. chairman. i think the ranking member mentioned a moment ago, this life of being a terrible waste of tax dollars. people who care deeply about that talking to colleagues on the

other side of the building, this was done relatively time. >> mr. chairman, with all due respect, we have to talk to people on our side, who continued that the resolution would be great. even the shutdown with the government would be great. i'm looking at what others know. that isn't the truth. i'm not talking about this place. i'm sure they feel threatened. it is out of there. >> thank you, mr. chairman congratulations on your elevation. first time you are with us as chairman of the joint chief.

congratulations. let's talk in about what we do in ukraine. obviously, the most severe -- is not on the scene. the ramifications of what we don't do is heavy. mr. secretary, will you tell us what you think is the bigger picture? what is the importance on ukraine as it relates to us? >> what we have said from the beginning, is that we want to see at the end of the day, a ukraine that is a democratic, independent, and sovereign state, that has the means to

defend its territory, and deter aggression. ukraine is not asking for us to fight for them. they are asking for us to provide some of the means to protect themselves. they will defend the territory. we have done that over the last two years. that is why they are in the place that they are in now. they have defended against a much superior force. not only held their ground, but taken back 50% of what the ground that russia occupies initially. i think for a much smaller force, i think that is commendable. unless they have the air defense, air interceptors, artillery munitions, and other things that they need, it will be very difficult for them to sustain the reference. if they are not successful, to

your question, it has ramifications not only for europe, but for the united dates of america. vladimir putin, will not stop in ukraine. this will continue. the allies from the front are very concerned about that. rightfully so. it will also signal to others around the probe, that the united states is not a reliable partner. all of the alliances and partnerships that we work hard to develop over the years, will be in question in terms of their odds. we have significant ramifications. again, i think ukraine has done an incredible job of inflicting significant damage on a russian military. this is with a much smaller force. they have done that with our help, and the help of some 50 nations that we have corralled in their sport.

>> mr. vladimir putin saying hopefully and repeatedly, that he wants to restore the soviet union, and all of the nationstates, eastern europe especially, as you have said, i'm looking to say if we fail them, i think it feels further. we are just trying to succeed in restoring. >> i absolutely agree. i think vladimir putin, believes that he can wait us out. leaves it is all about the western countries that will soon fade. this is within the coalition that will fracture. vladimir putin, is wrong. we're going to find ways to

support ukraine. >> let me ask you about the land lines in ukraine. this was cbs last week. this was a story about the land lines that have been sown all through ukraine. what can you tell us about the problem? >> the russians have made extensive use. the ukrainians go up against that. they launch their offensive. the russians have done that in every place that they have fought. in this case, the territory and terrain is littered with landmines. this is going to be cleaned up. we have stood up with a

capability coalition. the countries will volunteer and pull together. they have different capabilities to assist ukraine. acquiring the right capabilities to address this problem going forward. it is probably something that is going to a lot of countries to be working on. >> thank you, i recognize the gentleman. >> the three component bills, this is something that will happen. one for israel, one for ukraine, one for the western pacific. i think those will be the component part of the supplementals that will be considered --. i just want to be aware of that. that is good news all around. >> thank you all for being here

today. this is a very important time. thank you for all of your expertise. we are going through the budget. i share your concerns about the current global security environment. including the multiphase challenges that we face. we have iranian attacks for the first time. this is a snapshot of what happens every day in ukraine. right now, ukraine is running dangerously low on ammunition. that additional aid, i don't see how much longer they can hold up. amidst all of these conflicts, there is china. this is a pacing threat. global security environments are changing. we continue to be here for the great power competition with

china. can you please describe how china is helping russia reconstitute its military, with the nation of ukraine? how are we strategically exporting content, with their great issue with us? >> thank you for the question. i hope the prc is helping russia. it is very low level. by and large, i am not condemning the x of them on the country. they are watching what russia is doing. they're watching what we are doing. they are doing things to better themselves, should they have any type of contact -- conflict in the pacific. from an economic standpoint, and the military capabilities, we are watching their current military events in russia. >> thank you for that. it is apparent that it is not

helping ukraine. we are helping china. the national security supplemental, provides foreign aid to ukraine, israel, and taiwan. it sounds like we are set to consider some versions of that in the house, hopefully. secretary officer, why is it critical to our own national security, when we get additional aid to ukraine as soon as possible? we care about the threat of china. why does it follow that we should also care about ukraine, whether it wins or loses? >> thank you, sir. in terms of our own national security, we believe, i believe, that vladimir putin, will not stop in ukraine. he will continue to seek to pull back in. --, some of those countries that were in the foreign union.

i think we can look for significant turbulence in a region going forward if he is successful. we have provided a number of elements to ukraine, and we hope to continue to do that in terms of security assistance. we have to replenish what we have provided. having the means to do that, is really important for our readiness, and our security. you mentioned china. china, taiwan, and others, are watching what is happening in ukraine. the united states proves to be an unreliable partner. not only will it erode the confidence of the european allies, and nato, but it also encourages players like the prc, and iran.

to do these kinds of things that they want. i think this creates more discord in the future. ukraine matters not to europe, but to the whole world. this is the natural order. making sure that the leader of our country cannot wake up one day, and decide that he is going to get away with it. there has to be some kind of international order. >> i'm very concerned that certain members of this house, are acting as if russia is our ally. i hope that we can get the facts out. this is a very serious issue. i wish more people would feel like that in his house. you realize how dangerous that is. >> i thank the gentleman for his question. >> my thanks to the john for

the long-standing service to this country. i want to follow-up on the conversation that we were having with the members of the full committee. we were looking at the continuing resolutions. secretary austin, have you ever known russia to operate on a continuing resolution? >> i have never known china to operate. >> the next question was to general brown. have you ever known china to operate under a continuing resolution? >> i have not. >> they have needs to take care. secretary mike mccord. kim jong-un, does he operate ever under a continuing resolution? >> he does not.

>> i won't bore you with the others. violent, extremist organizations. the fact is, adversaries to our way of life, in the way of life to free nations all around the globe, they don't operate under continuing resolutions. they don't threaten to shut the government down. to me, it places a heavy risk on our men and women, who serve in the greatest military on the planet. that we would ever consider delaying the budget. this was from the fiscal year. i think that does endanger our way of life. secretary austin, this is kept

to the 1% increase. it is clear that they are prioritizing increased funding for more than others. for example, the army saw a 2% increase when the air force forced out 1%. can you outline the risks that we buy in this budget proposal? this was to the army. this was if we adopt those topline constraints. >> these are difficult, but i think prudent choices. as we have work with surfaces, -- and services, i think with your turn, with modernization, and taking care of people, this

will pay significant dividends for us. this will be in the long term as well. this will be continuing with modernization. this is something that we don't take lightly. this is in terms of how we resource the entire force read choices have to be made. the services participate in our deliberations. i think the risks are acceptable at this point. >> general brown, are you aware that of the multi-large-scale strain from the armed forces readiness? can you describe how these

economic inflations help us? how do they skill across domains, and continue to set the joint up for success in the face of conflict? >> every time we get to train, this is individually within our services. we train as a joint team. it just makes us stronger. what that is, it allows us to work on the areas in our availability. also, some areas that we can improve upon. we have an exercise, we have to step away from the exercise, and learn something about ourselves as a force. it will be applicable to the threat. every time we do this, we try to go with the lessons learned. it is how we implement those, to ensure that our joint force with allies and partners, can do with the nation ask for, but also the master security of our allies. >> we were forced to make some

decisions, because of budget constraints that we have, where would those joint exercises fall in the list? this is with candidates for scaling back, or doing one out. >> in this budget, we focus on that. as a secretary, we defer some of the modernization. working with the joint chiefs, we balance that risk between the readiness and the modernization. we take a look at all the hard exercises. i would also highly the fact that because of technology, we can do a fair amount, if we look at simulations. >> i thank you gentlemen. >> to all of our witnesses, so

her general, thank you so much for what you guys do. i want to get your thoughts on what the department looks at. i'm talking about this when it deals with the southern border, and what is happening in southern new mexico -- mexico. i'm talking about the money they make. not only passing drugs, but if you look at 1 million encounters over the last three years. multiplied by the average of 8000, that they are charging. they are making billions of dollars to our southern border. we have northcom, but has mexico.

self calm, has everything central america and south. i want to see how we can get northcom and south, to work better at sharing information and resources as part of the work that you all do, the national security and defense of our country, is also in that particular area. we have already talked to both commanders. we have asked that they can align themselves. they see mexico very differently. i just want to get your thoughts on what we can do to get those two commended areas to work better. >> thank you sir, for your interest in this topic. i do believe that we have a credible job of working together currently.

both commanders are great commanders. having said that, there are always things that we can do to improve our collaboration. i think this gets to your point. from my perspective, what i see the commanders doing, is just that. finding ways to support each other, finding ways to make sure that there are no gaps that can be exploited. there will always be a new challenge that presents itself. it would require us to acquire additional capabilities. they have other capabilities. they can control and protect their sovereign space. i do believe that there are always things that we can do better. we can continue to focus on

that. >> if i could add, it is not only that we have commanders -- tremendous commands, but this is from the south, and the northcom. this is how things are detailed. we are flattening that connection. we are looking at some of the tools that we have. also, relationships with and partnerships, getting their respect as well. we need to have those two commands work together. >> we need to see everything south of the border together, and both commanders are fantastic. we want to see if we can push a little bit more on that. i would ask you also, the unity of government that is so

important. china -- you know what they are doing in latin america, and almost every country. lastly, someone sent me a video. the president at that time, wanted to work with us. we want to keep china away. whatever happened, our relationship was with el salvador. the video that they were showing, was this brand-new library. they were showing off his new library. right next to them, was the chinese ambassador. we went to go see him on a coattail. he felt that the u.s. was not providing the support. guess who's right there with him? i can name country after country. you know what they are doing down there. just showing up, you guys are working the guard also. we have our relationships. i just want to make sure.

because we have so many problems across the world. we cannot wake up one of these days and ride across the southern border. cannot see the work that china and russia to some extent, mainly china, is doing down there. appreciate the focus that you can provide with that. >> to the point that you are making, it does require. -- the whole government approach. few dollars is spent in the right places, investing in the right places, can certainly buy us credibility, goodwill, and access. it is very important to us. also, just placing some of the elements that we want to look at. >> thank you so much. i yield back, is determined. >> i would point out too, chair of the same concern, mexico

being in northcom, i think would be the correct decision. i was in the coordination between jordan, uae, and other countries within the nation, prove very valuable during this last encounter with iran. i think the same thing could happen if we can work out some better agreements to mexico. with that, i recognize mr. carter. >> thank you, mr. chairman. very proud of the service each of you give for our country. general officer, i understand you had a meeting with the prime minister of national defense for the prc. this is our conversation, at least. yesterday, can you talk about the call? are there plans to get

dialogues through militaries? what efforts will be taken to address the unsafe behaviors from the drc military, to prevent conflict in the region? >> thank you sir. this is very important to us. across our government, we have seen a number of engagements over the past couple of months. including the secretary of state, secretary of treasury, and my call is the national security adviser. we are engaging in a number of things. this is the first time i have had the opportunity to engage the new minister of defense. of course, it's predecessor. we never had an opportunity to talk. that was very disappointing, even though we reached out a number of times.

i think it is critical that great powers continue to make sure to maintain open lines of communication. if we are operating in the same areas, there are a number of things that can happen that can quickly spiral out of control. the inability to talk to senior leadership, make sure that we have the ability to dial things down. i think it is really important. the initial engagement, i think was really good read i hope to continue that at some point in the future. again, the things we are interested in, are making sure that number one, we dial back the unsafe activity that we see in a region. the unsafe intercepts of our

aircraft. also, the aggressive behavior that we see in the region read we have a good example of what we saw with the philippines. we have talked about a number of things during that conversation. it has been pretty widely reported the most important thing to me, sir, is that that dialogue is there. those communication lines are now opening up again. we are going to try to do everything we can to maintain those open lines of communication. >> thank you for that. your budget is based on strategy. fy 25 to, includes 9 billion for the pdi. there are concerns that we are not investing enough in the

region. could we be moving faster with investments in that region? do you feel we are doing enough? the investments are -- that we are making, are they going to do enough for china? >> you are right, sir. we are asking you for $9.1 billion in this 25 budget. over the last couple of years, we have asked you for $20 billion plus, in terms of the pdi. these are things that are achievable. things that we can actually accomplish in a time period that we want to accomplish. in the near-term. improving infrastructure, enabling our forces in a

forward position. we are making sure that we have the ability to continue to conduct exercises, and invest in the right things. i think there are always things, additional things, that we can go after. we are making the right choices, investing in things that we can actually achieve. >> thank you. i visited the region once. i have real concerns. thank you very much. >> i thank the gentleman. i want to recognize our newest member of the subcommittee. chuck has joined us. he was in the energy and water subcommittee. the look with them. he couldn't be here this morning. welcome to the defense subcommittee. please let the chairman appoint

you. please let us go from dedication and knowledge. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, chairman. >> mr. secretary, israel, taiwan, our allies and security assistance, they need to come back with threats that you discuss. these are the factors that threaten global peace and security. we have been asking this for a couple of months in light of what the chairman of the full committee said read i would just like to offer to the chairman of the full committee, it is our hope. our site generally hopes that you have an opportunity to vote on this. other extremist pieces of this, aren't part of it. from a speed perspective, we can evade this as quickly as

possible. it would be unfortunate if that was held up with other additional votes that were a threat to our national security, and helping our allies. you told authorizer's earlier this week in succession, that the side can't shoot back. if ukraine cannot shoot back, they won't be able to hold the line. vladimir putin, would be able to take more land. the u.s. is obviously the main supplier of defense and artillery shells. mr. secretary, is it fair to say that if we don't pass national security funding, that we can't provide those artillery shells to help combat russia? from a timelessness perspective, can you put a point on what the next three weeks means a for the ally in >> what we have done, is try to

invest in our capacity to increase artillery's, and other things. what we have asked for is supplemental. some of that is focused on increasing capacity in the investor ways. if we fail to do that, then it is very difficult for us to keep pace with the requirements. in terms of what happens going forward, and how long ukraine will be able to sustain its efforts, i think we are already seeing things on the battlefield begin to shift a bit, in terms of russia's favor. we are seeing them make incremental games. we are seeing the ukrainians be the challenge, in terms of holding the line. they are doing a credible job. in order to do that, they are going to need the right

materials and munitions. they need the weapons to do that. passing the supplemental is absolutely critical. our requests are that we pass as quickly as possible. time matters. vladimir putin, is trying to exploit this time period. this is part of the u.s. result. >> thank you, mr. secretary. this was carter's question about the pdi. aside from the importance of the national security request that we have talked about. they continue to see the specific deterrence initiative. this was contained within this. -- proposal. can you elaborate on this? the department and you, how do you plan to execute the funding

for pdi? >> is the secretary described it, this is going to allow us to have that capability within the region. some of that is in military construction. this is also some things that we can do to work with allies. i will just tell you, i was the director of operations. i got there one week after russia went into crimea. i watch the european defense initiative carry out the better positive results based on evidence. i would do the same thing. making sure that we are doing all the same things to prepare ourselves for the potential conflict and people. we will be able to deter future conflict. this is good that we are able to do that. >> we will all have a chance to vote on saturday night.

>> thank you, gentlemen, for your service. history is full of dismal failures that i never had from peace in our time. after vladimir putin invades georgia, that resets from obama, trenton, clinton administration. we are trying to use our adversaries in iranian boxes. don't. unfortunately, that has been met by using another phrase. just do it. they have been doing it. it is pretty evident that they show any consequences. this may require a skiff to talk about. are they going to be serious consequences to those that did

not listen to all the don't words from the administration? have they died? question number two is this. this indicates that the air force reserve plans were part of the f-16 program. this was through 2028. i don't have to tell you how china feels involvement. they are making a stride in this hemisphere. they don't have a base yet. this was a potential future hostile action. can you confirm -- i can't even say that. the recapitalization efforts that are going to continue the

enhancement of capabilities at these facilities? are these part of f-35s as we continue to the older f-16 post block upgrades? again, we always think of it as a place that is essential with hurricanes, et cetera? i will argue what is happening this hemisphere. this is continuing from russia, and china, and this hemisphere. two questions tonight. i appreciate hearing from you. >> thank you, sir. homestead is an important base. this gives us reach. that is pretty important. the plan for it, is to be in the inventory for some time. if you are asking us as to whether or not we are closing

down homestead, the answer is no. i will therefore speak to some specifics. this is in terms of what is planned for the future. i'm not going to look at it recently. this was from iran. this was with an unprecedented number. what it should learn from that, they have the ability to defend itself against significant challenges. it is allies. the u.s. has significant capabilities as well. what you saw coming together in terms of the visual, was quite

remarkable. that can happen at the 11th hour. they were working again, trying to enable us to do that. the skill of our pilots, and the ability to pass information between countries, they share insights on battle space. it all came together. they have an issue for quite some time. this is before we saw some of the outcomes on saturday night. what iran should learn, number one, their assumptions are wrong. number two, they are going to do what is necessary to help them. >> mr. secretary, i'm running out of time. the key is that the administration, and the present, said don't to a

number. what they did was this. what i would like to hear from you, and this may not be the place, what are the specific consequences for those that basically thumb their nose at the president of united dates, like you and others in the administration? i hope you were able to see some serious consequences. just like peace in our time, that is going to be one of those words that will be kept for histories sake, as frankly a very sad joke. i'm out of time. i yield back. >> thank you, chairman. thank you, mr. secretary, for being with us. they closed the labor unit at the end of 2022. as a result of the military health system. they have several military

treatment capabilities. in my neck of the woods, the local healthcare network has simply been able to manage the patient load. it is unrealistic to have the servicemembers travel all the way to somewhere 43 miles away. not to mention the toll bridge. this is for consistent general and maternal care. without pressure to assign additional personnel to hospitals and reopening the delivery unit, healthcare for our sailors will continue to deteriorate. the storages are acceptable. they need to expand missions in the region. they will be recently announcing the stabilization of the military health system, by bringing patients and families from the off providers back to understaffed mts. with this in mind, how do you discuss the personal shortages on a sales readiness with dha?

>> we have discussed it with the services. to the point that you are making, we do need to make sure that we invest in our healthcare system. we are making sure that we have the right personnel on board. these are able to provide some service members. these families expected. >> with that in mind, do you plan on being too able to assign personnel to be able to respond to the care and county? >> we are looking at balancing the quick print. >> we are taking a look at this we complied with guidance, in terms of guidance and consolidation. as we look at this, we make

sure that our troops and families are getting the right kind of healthcare. it requires that we look at some of the assumptions. we have some of the manpower allocations that we have made in the past. we are doing it. >> i'm making it a personal plea that you look at this specific related labor of delivery. i can tell you stories from their families that are heartbreaking. it is the consequence of these decisions that have been made. i understand tough decisions have to be made. we can make this right. we are working on a bill called the midwives act. this would direct the dod to establish a five-year pilot to evaluate the use of professional midwives under the tricare program to help alleviate some of these challenges. i hope that we can work with you and your team to secure that bill through the nda. this year, i want you to be aware of it. with the time i had left, i

want to talk to you about the local shipyards. a creek -- ♪ of readiness. puget sound naval shipyard, is in my district. we discussed the importance of the shipyard infrastructure program. this is a multibillion-dollar effort to upgrade. we have four shipyards. puget sound is facing a seismic risk. they had to go to work quickly to repair three of the highest priority docs in the past year. how can congress provide resources to ensure that this remains on track? they are also ongoing -- addressing ongoing medications. this is a different deviation point from the multi-structured drydock mtv 2. how is this going to impact programming that is necessary for this work? >> in terms of what congress can do to help us stay on

track, we have talked a great deal about that. we are getting the correct appropriations. we have invested, and we have decided to invest billions of dollars. it doesn't matter unless you get those appropriations on time. this is going to be in a different fashion. i think this would be much appreciated. in terms of this process, i will let the navy speak to where they are specifically, and how close they are to a decision. the secretary and his team, will get with you and brief them on where they are. >> chairman, i yield back. >> mr. chana, i thank you for being here today. i would like to follow up with what my colleague brought up

before. just wondering, what are the current capacity units for reducing key weapons, including precision guided munitions? how are we looking at the capacity for look at that weapon system to increase click >> clearly, there are lines in each weapons munition system. it is different. we have some of the most critical items, things like javelin, artillery munitions, and artillery pieces. this is to expand capacity, and to increase production rates as rapid as possible. because of the number of challenges, this is not instantaneous.

if we want to be able to expand rapidly in the future, we need to think about how we are doing things. whether or not there are certain processes in overall system that we can compress. there are things that we can buy ahead, to be able to have on hand. we can rapidly expand production. this will vary by munition, and by weapon system. what you have done in terms of providing us additional procurement authority, multiyear procurement authority, it has been very helpful. again, i think we are going to need support. this is going to be supplemental. this is going to be the

industrial capacity. this is critical. we have sustained things that we have focused on. we are also working with allies and partners. our acquisition understatement, needs routinely with european counterparts, to talk over issues of how we can consolidate efforts, and expand lines of production. that is having some effect. it is not instantaneous. >> thank you. as we look at resources to help our allies, that readiness is available for you at all times. we continue to see them to make illegitimate sovereign claims in the maritime areas. in the south and east china

seas, they are trying to expand their exclusive economic zones. they have militarize those islands with new reports, bunkers, and jamming stations. they were employing advanced antiaircraft missiles. are you working with our allies and counterparts to acquire increasing presence in areas where they handle legitimate claims? >> this is the operation that we do throughout the south china sea. this is a good example. they have a resupply the second time. this is what we do throughout the region. this is a commander from the forces. the growing strength of our partnership, is about how they

are adjusting their visions and strategies. they are trying to counter with the prc is doing in the region. all of that has been waiting for us to push back it is not just from a military standpoint. the other governments from an economic standpoint, is about how that plays into the counterpoint with what the prc is doing in that part of the world. >> thank you. i yield back, mr. chair. >> gentlemen, mr. case. >> thank you, mr. secretary. i appreciate the dialogue that you had. i have been asking about the questions in our hearings. i have to admit, i'm a little bit more confused on what has started. if it is meant as an itemization or confirmation of focus trying to be in a

pacific, it is not that. it is not supposed to be a summary of how we are doing in terms of budget against china's threat. this is not the initial response. it is meant to be a short-term, isolated thing that we need to read this is going to be to a specific part of the budget. we are going to look at the pdi list that we have for this year. clearly, some things fit into that category. we are looking at acquisition. it seems to have a base budget, as opposed to other things. i'm not sure what it means nowadays. we have had some answers to the effect of giving a lot of things to a lot of people. this is a different style component to it. we are looking at the indo

pacific region. i think it is a work in progress. this is one of the things we are trying to achieve. question with this comment, wherever in the world it is, we shouldn't do this alone. we are not going to do this alone. we need to have partners and allies before contributors. we have seen a real increase in these facilities as well. i think we would appreciate the campaign. these are the connections that we develop with other militaries throughout the region, and throughout the world. this is the interoperability from that range. this is going to be part of the comment with how that is going with specific regard to the

indo pacific grade we barely have needs with key ally situations in japan and the philippines. this includes australia and new zealand, and beyond. i was going to be looking at the overall area for the connections within our military. this is our bonds, being given the resources and training. the incentives to take a greater share of the overall defense. i was looking at the example. i was funding priorities that came in. this was about half 1 billion for campaigns. i'm going to value their input. what did they empty the base budget? this is how it is going. how do you think we find it properly? >> the chairman indicated earlier, these operations and

exercises, you can see us investing in $147 into this. this is in light of the fact that we have another cap on the top line. we chose to the readiness. this is also is taking care of our people. this is going to be as living in the region. this is what we have seen in a very long time. we have them investing in their own defense. we see them investing in a long- range strike. they work with us to coproduce certain items. we have a great relationship with the republic of korea. we are working with japan in a

trial fashion, to make sure that we have some early warning data. that is going really well. we saw recently, two liters of those countries, conducting the summit with the president right here in the united dates. three years ago in the philippines, they were about to be ready to decide to not allow the troops to remain in the philippines. if you fast-forward to today, we have one of the best relationships with the philippines that we have seen in a long time. we just had president marcos here. we opened up four new sites. this was the site that we

already had. this is the generation that i think we need to provide tremendous capabilities to our allies. this provides australia with in nuclear power, part of the submarine candle. it will take years to put all of the things in place. that is progressing very, very well. we are also working with australia with a number of things, to potentially coproduce a long-range strike. we have a great relationship with india. we recently have enabled india

to produce jet weapons in india. that is kind of revolutionary. that will provide the great capabilities to them. we are also coproducing an armored vehicle. all of these things when you add them up, are probably more than what we have seen in half of that region in a very long time. they all promote interoperability. they all promoted to help increase our ability to respond to a number of different things. again, these are meaningful things that most of us are not aware of. we have made tremendous progress, and we continue to do so. >> thank you, gentlemen, for your service to our country.

general brown, congratulations. i see the biggest near-term technical threat over the southern border. obviously, the biggest strategic threat, as i treat as an existential threat to our country. being china. as well as our debt. that is not your fault. i don't think we have a capability gap read i see us losing the lead for having lost the lead in several domains, in terms of capacity. i'm encouraged by hearing the problems been set in the challenges. we obviously have readiness and strength issues. especially executing the pivot for what we have been talking about for 20 years now. we need to actually complete the, and enter this before china gets aggressive against

taiwan. i think the bottom line, the numbers with an 850 billion, we have to make it behave like trillion dollars, relative to what we are trying to accomplish. i think the investments, you are spot on with the move that we can do in that regard. i think beyond, if we are going to make industrial bases, we had to make sure that we are

>> i was encouraged, the president signed my military license seeing, spouse licensing relief act into law. this committee did god's work last year, we passed a bill that took the starting salary for e1 from $22,000 to 31,000 which is equivalent of $15 per hour. unfortunately, the senate strip that out of their version and the nda came back to us without that race. recognizing the challenges we have, the troops are our oce -- most precious weapon system, i want to push on this issue of base pay. even with the rays we got the last fiscal year, the e1 is now starting at $12.80 an hour.

in california, we started a $20 an hour minimum wage. for the dod to be competitive, foreign states like california and virginia it is difficult to keep up. they're not keeping pace with market values, so i would like to submit a review of the basic pay tables, the 14th urc without -- >> we will stick to our five minutes. >> what i'm asking for mr. secretary is a commitment to get our troops above the poverty line above the $15 minimum wage. the president try to veto the bill because of this pay raise we put in our bill, he was citing the q rmc is the reason. the q rmc has come out and validated the findings and set our bill is the right path forward. can we get a commitment from you that you will help get our junior e1 starting salary above

$15 per hour in the next year or so? >> as you would guess, this is a very important issue to me. taking care of our people is something always focused on, i want to thank you and your colleagues for supporting 5.2% pay raise for our troops. the year before that, a 4.6% pay raise. we are asking for a 4.5% pay raise. my intent is to reduce the cost our troops and families are facing and increase the resource . whether that's childcare, crisis in the commissary, a number of things we have done. you are right, bh is a thing we are focused on to make sure we are coming close to keeping pace. the market in certain areas is dynamic, it's no easy task.

>> thank you. i know you have committed to getting us a review to us as soon as possible, we would love to have it as soon as possible so we can review that for the fy 25 proposal. five minutes. >> sorry to be late, we had our own hearing. secretary austin, great to see you. welcome, your written testimony states the world of chaos and conquest that putin thinks would leave the u.s. far less secure, you understand what is at stake at this moment in ukraine central europe, and indeed the free world. generations of immigrants from central europe sought security on our shores,, distended -- descendent blessed to escape bolshevik russia. many russians appear -- not to

know the history and what is at stake today, what are you in the department of defense doing to better communicate to the american people the gravity of the current free world represented by our armed russia. secondly, do you have any concerns the defense medicine in your department could be compromised by the complete growing dependence of our country on imports of pharmaceutical ingredients from foreign countries, some of which adversaries. thank you. >> in terms of what we are doing to communicate on this issue, we seize every opportunity to point out how important this is to us in terms of national security, how important this is to us for defense industrial base, in the fact that ukraine does not just

matter to europe but to the entire world, this is about international order and i have set a couple times this morning, the rest of the world is watching. they are watching to see whether or not the united states of america is going to be a dependable partner or not and if it's not, it will change their behavior if it's one of our adversaries, they will feel emboldened, if it's one of our allies or partners, they will then question whether or not they can depend on us when times are tough, this is really important to us. i think that ukraine has done a commendable job in terms of protecting gets sovereign territory and taking back some of the territory the russians have taken and holding their own, they have done that because of the security

assistance that we and other countries have provided. they have not asked them to fight for them, they ask for help in terms of security assistance, i think the right thing to do was to continue to do that. >> on defense, medicine, and the pharmaceuticals being used in theater by our own soldiers on the purchase by the department of defense of pharmaceuticals, what are you doing to ensure their purity? >> the health of our troops again is important to us if there is a threat here of us not having the pharmaceuticals, that is something that we will delve into. i will get back to you on that issue. >> thank you for your service. >> mr. elzie? thank you for being here.

she left i want to point out that steve moore and i do not like each other much on army- navy day, we are good friends other than that. my super hornet will kick your tail and a fighting falcon, whether you'd like to call the viper. for most the days, it is as today we should all be united, you and i do not agree on a single thing of social issues. today is april 17th, 1940 in my mind and i'm on your side because the winds of war are blowing overseas in a way they haven't in 80 years, we have four dictatorships all involved in genocide, iran genocide of jewish people, north korea wants to redefine the relationship with the south through on combat -- armed combat, i wish it was 1946, but we can't, we are already at war

on southern border against the cartels because they are killing more americans, 200 today from fentanyl poisonings, a weapon of mass destruction in addition, we are losing that many number of people that you're trying to recruit that need to go to the police force, to the reserves, to teaching, to having families, you are in a struggle against the group being killed with wartime numbers not since world war ii, we should be on wartime footing right now, the border is an issue. those foreign regimes i talked about make it look like it is april 17th, 1940 and we are fortunate enough to see a constellation of stars on shoulders and what they have told us from the yukon commander , he needs ew and aew, they are not building those anymore, we need more, the israelis need tankard's, i talked about that in june, we talked about that with the prime minister.

the marines need contested logistics capabilities with c- 130s. in ukraine, most of the money you will spend goes to weapons for us. we won world war ii with liberty ships, the marine core needs 35 up -- would have cost 100 million apiece, the requirements got in the way and here we are four years, two years later and we still do not have them, they got bloomed up to $350 million because of the requirements office and we will not get them until 2027 assuming we pass the spending bills. now we are in 2028 will we identify that xi jinping -- when the supply equip round, our acquisition process is broken, we need to be on wartime footing and bypass some requirements we have otherwise we would have had the

presidential -- by now, it would not have been so costly and our newest version of the aircraft carriers will not be three years behind and billions of dollars over budget. i'm a little worried about what we have, we are not ready for the war that looks to be looming and i'm interested in different -- preventing that. i would like to hear about how you feel about them because they are not making more growlers, the line will close on the super hornet if we lose an aircraft carrier, all that goes away. we are losing our e3 capabilities, how you feel about the aew? >> let's start out with what you laid out as far as what's required an understanding ew is an area we watched very increasingly and have not had to do with it for the past couple decades, we need to up our game in this area. it does not have to be a

growler but i do think we need to approach this with seriousness and a focus on ew tankards, munitions, the range of capability and capacity we need in order to address all the challenges you highlight. >> thank you for that answer, we need a high priority because that is specifically needed for the marine corps, you need to drop opposition because we do not have money to do with that, we need to move forward and the time i have remaining. article five happens and we lose ukraine, they step 1 foot in poland, they are out the door. the return on investment we are getting for ukrainians to fight on our behalf is a small amount of money. they are doing it for us. the last thing i want is for americans to die on a hill in poland and the ukrainians are willing to do it for themselves

with our help. i yelled back. >> i think the president, mr. vice chair? >> i want to thank you again and welcome you to the subcommittee. i want to thank secretary austin, general brown, and mr. mccord for their testimony today, as the chairman alluded to, i chair the energy and water subcommittee appropriations, catherine is my ranking member, we had an army corps before us, we fund the department of energy and is a part of that funding, the and and essay the national nuclear security administration. we are responsible for funding our nation's nuclear arsenal for the ultimate customer, the department of defense. i represent people in the third district of tennessee, gentlemen that encompasses the

great city of oak ridge, birthplace of the manhattan project, why 12, national security while also building the uranium process with the facility. i'm working very heavily in the nuclear sector. in that regard, i'm going to address my one question today dealing with our nation's nuclear deterrent. right now, the defense program intertwines with the defense department programs replacing all legs of the triad. we are thankful for that, it will come as no surprise i have concerns given we see russia has essentially fully recapitalized its nuclear forces, china rapidly expanding its numbers and fielding a triad of its own, a looming prospect sadly of a nuclear iran. we face the

termination in less than two years. we are entering uncharted territory dealing with potentially two nuclear adversaries as we are in the middle of recapitalizing our entire deterrent. my question, gentlemen is given this troubling strategic threat, i'm interested in hearing your outlook of the current pace of recapitalization for nuclear deterrent, are there any ways we in congress can better support the department's efforts to meet this increasingly tight deadline, with that i will wait for your response. >> let me begin by thanking you for today as you know, over the course of this administration, we requested to request on $149 billion in modernization of our nuclear program, it is the bedrock of artifacts and nuclear triad, i personally believe that all three ranks are important and i think that we should continue to invest in the modernization.

because of the fact that we are now faced with two major nuclear countries or potential adversaries, conditions have changed and whether or not we will need to do more in the future is something we will have to consider, i think following through with our current modernization program is the right thing to do and again, i support you for what you are doing, i thank you for what you are doing to support us and again, i think we should maintain course and speed. >> thank you, i will say that we work bipartisan with the nuclear security working group, we want to link up and work closely with the department of defense so we can have that and make sure our ultimate review --

they are pleased with what is going on and we continue to fund that is a bipartisan -- i will close by saying this again, thank you to each and every one of you all for your tremendous service to our country, i did mention i am from oak ridge, my home city which i'm not native to his chattanooga, tennessee, i will let everyone here know we were have our 75th uninterested -- uninterrupted armed forces parade, i would ask you to maybe contact the off-line in that regard uninterrupted, we maintain that chattanooga is the most patriotic city in america. our veterans are near and dear to us as our great men and women serving armed forces today and with that, i yield back. >> i think the gentleman and the lady from minnesota for your interest in this, doing

the great job she does. i want to thank all three of you for your service and before we conclude, i want to thank you for your testimony and also if you have any members who have questions for the record as witnesses respond in a reasonable period of time, with that, thank you, the subcommittee is adjourned.

>> don lemon would say that's a man -- >> white house correspondents dinner live saturday, april 27th was saturday night live we cannot state -- weekend update

host colin jost. our coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern as journalist and celebrities walked the red carpet into the event and then at 8:00 p.m. eastern, sights and sounds from inside of you for the festivities before. watch the white house correspondents dinner live april 27th on the c-span networks.