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If members depart for short reasons, they should leave the video function on. If members will be absent for a significant period, they should exit the Software Platform entirely and rejoin when they return. Members are advised that i have decimated a staff member to unnecessarily mute to cancel any inadvertent background noise. Members may use the chat feature to communicate with staff regarding Logistical Support issues only. Finally, members should see a five minute countdown clock on the display. If necessary, i will remind members when their time is up. The only additional note i will make is if your microphone in here is left on when youre not speaking, it can generate feedback. If you are not speaking, turn the microphone off so we can avoid that feedback. Im going to make an Opening Statement. Mr. Thornberry make a statement. We have a hard stop at 3 00. I am not going to ask any questions. I will go right to the first member. I will let my Opening Statement stand. The purpose of this hearing is to look at the events surrounding the department of defenses response to the protest that arose out of the murder of george floyd in minneapolis. We would like to better understand what happened. How was the dod involved . What were the steps between the dod and the white house and decisions made at the various points about dod involvement specifically in dealing with domestic unrest. To begin with, there is the basic question of guard units. This is straightforward. We have used them for Different Reasons to deal with emergencies across the country. The department of defense works with the governor of every state to determine that. Getting clarity as to how that process works in this case will be helpful. Then there is the more complicated question of how this applies to washington, dc. As we know, they dont have a governor. The department of defense has rater authority over the guard in the District Of Columbia and they do in states. How did that play out . How was the coronation handled , theen the mayor of dc police force, and adding to the confusion, the department of justice has a security personnel that they employ within washington dc. There is concern about how all of that played out. What was the level of coordination . Why were there military helicopters over the top of protesters in the middle of that protest . Who made that decision . What was the level of coordination . And then connecting all of this is the insurrection act. Is the ability of the president to activate activeduty military personnel over the objections of governors and use them to deal with civil unrest. How is that considered in this context . There seem to be conflicting statements out of the white house and department of defense about how that was used. We would like to know what came to pass in that regard and in particular, the one group of activeduty troops that were called up, they were never deployed, but they were put on standby across the river in virginia for potential use in washington dc. What played out in that decision as well. More broadly than what happened in this instant, this is something that is going to involve our country in the future, without a doubt. We will have different president s and secretaries of defense and different chairman who will be happy to make decisions like this. So what is the departments view on the role they should play in dealing with civil unrest . What role should the guard play . Andshould they coordinate when do they think the insurrection act is appropriate . How does that play out . More specifically is the question of how, regardless of whether it is the dod or whoever, how do you deal with civil unrest . I was struck by the fact that there seem to be a lack of coordination and a lack of thought in that response. I am not talking about dod. I am talking across the country as people saw the protests rise up and in some cases turn violent. What was the plan for dealing with that . There is actually a lot of well documented history about how to deal with domestic unrest. It ranges everywhere from civil war to protest movements. We have studied this extensively. I have read quite a bit about it. What is our plan . You have a lot of the president s rhetoric that sounded like basically, we will crush you so you better stop doing this to a more nuanced approach. How do you deescalate . How do you protect the right of people to protest while at the same time stopping crime, stopping protest movements from becoming violent . I think it requires thought and all leaders in a place to make those decisions need to be educated on how that comes to pass. And the last two things i would like to touch on is the disturbing lack of coordination between what the white house was saying and what dod was saying and in some cases, doing. The president started a lot of this with his announcement and forgive me, i forgot the exact words but it was, we will bring order to this country and if the governors do not do it, i will use the military to do it for them. That statement did not seem to be followed up by any actual actions to do it, but why would he say that if that was the case . What sort of conversations went on between the apartment of defense and the president and others about the best way to respond . That get to an interesting part of this and that is the difficult position that any secretary of defense and any chairman is in. You work for the president. He is commanderinchief, that is the way the flowchart goes and his decisions are final. You have to follow those. Now it is absolutely impossible that any person in either of your positions would agree 100 of the time with everything the president said. How do you handle disagreements . Admittedly, you cannot come out in public and say, yeah, my boss is an idiot and i disagree with his decision. It is something that happens in this committee all the time. I have been on this committee for four president s. The party of here tries to get everybody at the department of decision, theyme dont agree with it. Under president obama, it happened all the time. A decision was made, and usually dont think it is the right thing to do. I understand in my time, i have never seen a single solitary witness confess. I thought that was stupid. That is not the way it works. Im not looking for that. Im looking for an understanding as to how the white house and dod can better coordinate. We have had a disturbing pattern not just on domestic unrest issues, but on another on a number of issues of the white house out of the blue aching bold policy statements that affect dod decisions that do not appear to have been well coordinated or certainly not well delivered, the decision to pull out of syria, the decision to remove troops from germany, the decision to prevent transgender people from serving in the military, that was particularly galling because it came within days after every service chief had testified that there was no problem. And then a tweet goes out and dod has to respond. That sends a mixed message to the country about what our defense policy is. In particular happened in syria when that announcement was made and we had to figure out how to make it work. We are curious within those limitations, how does that coordination happened. Lastly, there was concern about the politicization of the military. This is not unique to anyone president. The president has a duty to guide the military and at the same time, has political interest. How do we make sure those are separate and stay separate . The biggest concern is that atiously was the incident st. Johns church when the president and secretary of defense and others took a picture in front of the church and then it was quickly turned around into a political act. That incredibly important we respect the institutions of our government irrespective of who is in charge. We are a nation of laws, institutions, not a nation of any one individual long after this president is out of office and all of us are gone from our current positions, there will be new people in those positions. Those institutions need to survive on their own, not to serve any one particular persons political interest. I am very concerned about the department of defense becoming unduly politicized. I will say that i think both of these gentlemen have done an excellent job of not doing that even in what is a very difficult environment. We have seen politicization happen in the department of justice and intel community. Personally, i have not seen that and i respect that. I just want to make sure that it does not happen because you make bad decisions in that environment. The decision is based on loyalty to one individual instead of loyalty to the country, oil due to the law, loyalty to what is in one of to what is our best interests. I look forward to the witness positive answers to what happened and i think it is important that the public sees this in one straightforward situation where people in the middle of this can tell us. Can have greater confidence in those institutions that we greatly need to make sure that we remain in a stable and peaceful nation. With that, i yield to mr. Gore. Mr. Thornberry for his Opening Statement. Thornberry let me join in welcoming them to be with us and we appreciate your sex in these unusual circumstances and locations and all that is required in the current situation. Of theseon to many specific questions that the chairman laid out, i think one of the most important things that you all can help us do which the chairman mentioned a couple of times is help us look at these issues in context. Context and al context of everything that the military is being asked to do. I am struck by the fact that even when you look at dod support to civilian Law Enforcement, we think of the protests and what happened here in washington. Militarynts of the have been doing a lot of Law Enforcement missions related to covid four months. It is primarily the National Guard that has been doing that, but it seems to me since the beginning of the year the military has been asked to take on a number of additional unexpectedly that required different kinds of training and preparation. At the same time, you still have to Pay Attention to the russians, chinese, north koreans and terrorists trying to kill us every day. Context that larger that i am interested in your assessment on how our people are doing and also how our budgets are doing because even when it is the guard in many of these situations that are being asked to do civilian Law Enforcement, dod is footing the bill. My point is in addition to a number of particular questions, the larger context, how the military is doing with these added responsibilities is important. ,he last thing i want to say the 10 patient here the temptation is to focus on a particular incident, president , and particular political differences. I think what is most helpful for said, the chairman everybody in our jobs, and go. We are talking about the act that was passed in 1807 and has not been changed very much since then. So the Historical Context is also seems important with the institutions. I keep in the forefront of my mind the gallup polls that are done every year. What institutions do you respect the most and the military is at the top of the list. That is a key National Strength of this country. And whatever we do, we want to make sure that the men and women who serve the military continue to have that exalted position of respect throughout the country as president s come and go and as issues and incidents come and go. To me that is a key responsibility of this congress. I am not going to ask specific questions. Again, thank you both for being here. Thank you. Ith mr. Secretary . Chairman smith, thank you for the opportunity to be before you today. Throughout our history, the u. S. Military has demonstrated commitment to uphold our old to the constitution our oath and to support authorities. Over the fat several months within 60,000 Service Members answered the nations call for working on the front lines in the fight against the pandemic, saving lives and stemming the spread of the virus. At the same time, we are hard at work as part of operation warp speed to accelerate the development of therapeutics and vaccines by the end of the year. We will likely be called upon by the state to support hurricane and wildfire relief efforts. No matter the challenges, our Service Members are ready to serve. I am proud of their dedication and commitment to our americans. In may, our support to the civil authoritys mission expanded in the wake of the horrible killing of george floyd and an officer being charged with his murder. A tragedy we have seen repeated too often. Following his death, thousands of our fellow citizens sought to exercise their rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. While most of these protests were lawabiding, it is clear that some exploited the sew chaos and commit acts of violence and destruction. That is why more than 43,000 National Guard personnel were called upon by governors across the country to uphold the rule of law, safeguard life and property and protect the rights americans to all protest safely and peacefully. As a formal soldier and member of the National Guard i am a Firm Believer that in these durations the guard is best suited to provide Domestic Support to civil authorities in support of Law Enforcement. Using active duty forces in a direct Law Enforcement role should remain a last result and only in the most dire situations. I want to make very clear that no active duty military units engaged protesters or otherwise took part in civilian Law Enforcement or federal Protection Missions in the District Of Columbia or anywhere else in the country. With regard to the role of the National Guard in Lafayette Park on june 1, i want to make clear the following that the guard did not advance on the crowd, the guard did not shoot rubber bullets, the guard did not employ chemical agents of any type, rather, the guard remained in a static role as backup for Law Enforcement if needed. A detailed account of dods involvement beginning may 29, 2020 is included in my written testimony admitted for the record. Submitted for the record. Following the events that transpired, i directed the secretary of the army to complete a full review by the end of july. I also directed investigations in two separate incidents that occurred. With your permission, i would like to enter into the record my directive to the secretary of the army with regard to the conduct. Without objection. Peoplehe american continue to express their outrage and long for change, we face the painful truth that racism is real in america. We also know that the department of defense is not immune to the forces of bias and prejudice whether seen or unseen, dilbert or deliberate or intentional. They degrade the morale and readiness of our force. Addressesmilitary these issues, the events of recent weeks are a reminder that much more work remains to be done. On june 17, i announced three new initiatives aimed at advancing equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion across our force. Hydrated are civilian leadership i directed civilian leadership to bring the concrete ideas that we can implement weekly such as removing photos from selection boards. Thend, i established and internal department of defense forward on diversity and inclusion which will provide recommendations by the end of the year on how we can increase diversity and ensure equal opportunity for all Service Members. Finally i began the process of establishing a Defense Advisory Committee on diversity and inclusion in the Armed Services that will be a permanent structure composed of an independent group of americans committed to voting upon the work of the defense board. These are just the first steps toward shifting our culture and creating change across our enterprise. In doing so we will build a better force, one that is diverse, inclusive and representative of the American People we serve and protect. While we may come from different backgrounds, we all make the same commitment to support and defend the constitution of the united states. We strive to uphold that and serve in an apolitical manner at all times. By doing so we earned the trust and confidence of the American People. While much has been focused on our support to our fellow americans at home, thousands of military personnel remain engaged abroad in harms way to ensure we can enjoy the blessings of this country. We take very seriously any threats to our forces in afghanistan or anywhere else. I want our adversary to know we always do our utmost to ensure their safety and security. I want to assure the American People that the department of defense take seriously our oath to defend the constitution. With many having paid the sacrifice to protect the sacred rights and freedoms this document here and hes all of us. We will guarantees all of us. We will defend our way of life as we work to build a better force, one that resents the diversity of our nation. Thank you. Chairman millie. Gen. Milley distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today with secretary asberry. It is an secretary esper. Operatingw, we are globally and here at home. The last few months have been challenging times for americans. The covid19 pandemic has stressed our health system, our economy and the social fabric of our communities. In addition, George Floyds death amplified the pain, manyration, fear that so of our fellow americans live with day in and day out. I have many policeman in my family and i am personally outraged by George Floyds brutal and senseless killing. The protests that have ensued not only speak to this injustice, but also to centuries of injustice toward black americans. We as a nation and as a military are still struggling with racism and we have much work to do. We wear the cloth of our nation and understand that cohesion is a multiplier. Divisiveness leads to defeat. As one of our famous president s said, a house divided does not stand. Are part of cohesive teams consisting of different races, genders, religion and sexual orientations working to accomplish their mission in pe ace and war over the globe. The Quality Matters in military readiness not just political correctness. There is no place in armed forces for manifestations or symbols of racism, bias, or discrimination. We have a long history of inclusiveness, teamwork and merit that is the keystone to the military success. Ins month, 71 years ago 1948, harry truman integrated the armed forces of the u. S. 17 years before the 19 65 civil rights act. We are not perfect. We must thoughtfully examine our institution and ensure it is a place for all americans to see themselves represented and have equal opportunity to succeed in leadership positions. Every member of our joint force including myself has sworn an oath to support and defend the constitution. Duties asunderpins my the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and i am deeply committed to fulfilling the letter and the spirit of my oath. We hold dear the constitution and the principle of an a political military that is so deeply rooted in the essence of our republic. My role as chairman is to be the principal military advisor to the president , the secretary of defense, the National Security council and Homeland Security counsel. Throughout the recent period of civil unrest in our nation, i exercised this role exclusively. At no time was i ever in command of any forces. All of my actions were consistent with my authorities and advisor is not in the chain of command. That the also be proud vast majority of the protests we saw around the country were peaceful and peaceful protest means American Freedom is working. Some protests turn violent. In minneapolis, violence and on the evening of may 26 where looting overwhelmed minneapolis firefighters and officers. The governor declared a state of emergency and activated the minnesota guard under his authority. Secretary of defense i spoke by telephone with governor to understand situation in minneapolis. This conversation helped inform my military advice. Protestingiolent increased nationally. 13 major cities escalating to 30 42 days later. On the morning of june 1, 29 states and the District Of Columbia activated the National Guard deploy more than 17,000 National Guardsmen and women. In the nations o, three nights of splitting violence the nations capitol. Monuments and government buildings were defaced, businesses were looted and some were set ablaze. With more than 420 arrest and officers injured, it was important to me that it was the worst days of violence in over 30 years. Policeere troops and from 22 different organizations, not including those from the activeduty in the vicinity of washington. There were three major departments all involved. There were National Guard troops from 11 states. The chain of command for those troops ran from the president to the secretary of defense to the secretary of the army to Major General walker. Since the protests began, i sought information to help me assess the ability of the authority to handle situations under their responsibility. I spoke with National Guard leadership, army and dod leadership and others along with governors and ec officials. Dc officials. It was not necessary to deploy active troops to respond to the unrest in our nation. It was my view then and remains so now that local, state and federal police backed up by the National Guard under governor control could and continually can effectively handle the security situation in every case across the country. However, i recommended to the secretary of defense and he ordered 1700 troops to an increase of alert posture in the vicinity of washington dc but none of them were ever used and i repeatedly advised the secretary of defense and he ordered the escalation measures to be taken including removing inpons and helmets accordance with the escalation measures. By june 4, units began redeploying in the vicinity of washington, d. C. A more detailed account is in the written record. I am proud of the professionalism exhibited by the soldiers that make up our National Guard. They have operated in support of local and state governments tooughout history responded hurricanes, fires, health crises, the pandemic, in many forms of civil rest throughout the years. Thatnt at least 19 times National Guard and militia troops were used to support the insurrection act and it is important important to note that it was not invoked in the last several weeks. The u. S. Military comes from the people of our nation. We remain dedicated to the constitution. We will never turn our back on that document. We swore an oath of allegiance at the cost of our lives to the idea embedded within the document. We will always protect it. Thank you very much, and i look forward to your questions. Members will now be recognized in the order that they were here when the gavel dropped. There is a fiveminute limit. We will not have enough time to get to every member. It climbed one to be ruthless on the fiveminute clock. Many times witnesses are in the middle of an answer when the clock goes off. I will try to give you the opportunity to play or thought. As questions are asked and answered, when the five minutes is up, we will do our best to move on to the next member. Is representative davis who is participating for five remotely. Andhank you, mr. Chairman to secretary esper and general milley, we appreciate you joining us. I wanted to start with you mr. Secretary. You mentioned the review on july 30. Happening at the end of the month and will we receive a briefing on that . Sec. Esper i heard parts of your question. I think you asked is the review on track and will you be briefed on it . If that is her question, i spoke to secretary mccarthy yesterday. He played a prominent role in all of this. He briefed the committee if you weeks ago along with general walker, but he is handling that piece of the review created his assessment is that it is on track. I am more concerned about getting it right than a getting it done quick. My aim would be to make that available to you. Something i put forth in my directive to him was to be prepared to take his findings and recommendations and to have a similar conversation or review enforcement law that was on the ground in washington, d. C. , because i think that is an important step to have that discussion so we can have Lessons Learned between us and Law Enforcement if this happens again. Thank you, mr. Secretary. We are all concerned about being prepared. Onanted to especially focus the first of june. That was a time that there was concern that there was a great deal of violence that day. The understanding of most people on the ground including the reporting of the Washington Post and others is that on that particular day, it was peaceful. It may have been a few incidents, i wasnt there. But i understand that was the case. That the park police as you mentioned was there. General milley talked about the guard eating there is back up. The guard being there as backup. Barr said it was violent and they needed to move forward because they were worried about things coming out of control. It from where you sit today, do you think that assessment that it was violent on that day and there was a need to have the guard as backup, is that true . In further reflection, do you think that is what people thought . When you look back at the days leading up to june 1, you see a tremendous amount of violence that had been building up over days. Over three days, eventually regrettably over 50 Park Police Officers were injured. Over 60 secret Service Agents were injured. We had six National Guardsmen hurt to include one that was hit in the head with a brick and suffered a concussion. You had parts of washington, d. C. Including the church set on fire and other acts of vandalism. There was a great deal of consternation by Law Enforcement with regard to what might happen that evening of june 1. That is why there was the push to get additional Law Enforcement and as soon as possible. , soed up by National Guard you had enough presence to calm the situation down, regain some degree of control, and allow for americans to peacefully protest their government, to express their outrage over the brutal murder of george floyd and to allow those things to happen free of violence from those individuals from the folks out there who were trying to cause mischief. That is my assessment. The chairman may have something to add on that. Say, is just going to we need to take a clear look at it and to be certain within the department. Questionsked those with army leadership, they were not clear about what was going on. They had a situational awareness, but they didnt know who ordered the clearing of protesters and who authorized the helicopters. Expired. Ime is mr. Turner is recognized for five minutes. I want to thank secretary expert esper and general milley. You give great confidence to everyone on both sides of the aisle. Your whole focus is protecting peoples First Amendment rights is incredibly important and should be ambition really important to this discussion. I appreciate the recognition of the outrage everyone felt. I appreciate your condemnation of racism and the fact that we are dealing with this as a nation across all areas and you are being called at a difficult time. Mr. Secretary, i appreciate your statements on diversity and inclusion. This committee took several actions that i think will be helpful and we look forward to your comments. You made a statement, i have three questions. Number one, you said the guard is best to support these efforts. Is it because there will nature their nature as private citizens and members of the military . Thank you for your comments. First of all, but our citizen soldiers and that matters. They often come from the communities in which they are serving. They understand what is happening in the neighborhoods and communities. Number two, they are trained in many cases to do this. Is their Mission Tasks to do this. Having been a citizen soldier myself, i think that ive a question believe has the narrowness that will be helpful for all of us. I appreciate if you let me finish the entire question so we can get to the narrowness part. I understand the rules with respect to classified material and i understand the things that have not happened are not classified. During your time is secretary, have you ever received an intelligence briefing where it stated that russia had offered bounties for the killing of american soldiers and if you had , would you think it was important enough to bring to the attention of the president . I am focusing on the narrowness of the word bounties. Know thee in this room answer. We are not able to give the answer because of the roles but you are. The narrowness of this question would greatly appreciate your answer. Have you received an intel briefing that included the word bounty with respect to russians and the killing of men and women in uniform . Sec. Esper to the best of my recollection, i have not received a briefing that included the word bounty. I appreciate you saying that. If you had, wouldnt that have risen to the level of importance enough for you to bring it to the president s attention . Sec. Esper that would be a test that would be an action item . Sec. Esper if it was a credible words,that used those certainly it would have been brought to my attention by the chain of command, by the chairman of the joint chiefs and others for action. We would have taken upon that action in an interagency effort to make sure we addressed it. Force times, we take protection seriously and we take all of his actions regardless of the credibility of a report, we take all that seriously. Turning back to this issue, the mayor of washington, d. C. Has a police chief. Governors have access to other resources. Could you compare and contrast those . It is important when people talk about the mayor being consulted versus a governor incan consulted. Commender i want to the police chief. He worked very well and was very helpful to the secretary of the army during the difficult days. I want to commend him. As i understand it, he is the police force for washington, d. C. Washington does not have a state police force like many other states that they can call upon. D. C. Guard does not report to the mayor. The commander is the commander in chief, the president who can delegate the authority to me and i can delegated down. The capability of washington, d. C. To handle civil unrest is limited to just the metro police department. Thank you. Mr. Larson is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Opportunity toe ask a few questions. First for secretary esper, this has to do with the Supreme Court and the coordination question. Did you see National Guard leadership in response to the protests, the leadership is the only agency that runs through the chain of command of the you . Is that correct . Yes, the washington, d. C. National guard chain of command runs a from the commanding general Major General walker to be secretary of the army to me than to the president of the united states. Thatat was the old agency ran through the chain of command of this department . Only agency that ran up through the dod chain of command in response to the washington, d. C. Protest. Sec. Esper yes that would be outside of any active duty that is correct with regard to title 32. Otherwise, all other National Guard forces either in their home states or the eventually diploid to washington, d. C. Remained under the command of the state governors or it. Fine. Ts there is video of nonuniformed federal Government People who were deployed to washington, d. C. Presumably from the bureau of prisons and at the request of the attorney general. You mentioned that you do and after action report and that report will apply only at this point to the department of defense and the washington, d. C. National guard. Is that where it stands right now . Sec. Esper yes, the note i sent to the secretary of the army was to look at the National Guard at large. I directed them to focus on the event in washington, d. C. And related issues that arose like the use of helicopters. At training,ook equipping, organization, all of those issues that might include forning Lessons Learned future employment of the National Guard. Thank you. Do you know at this time whether or not the head of the washington, d. C. National guard of aware of the deployment the nonuniformed presumably federal Law Enforcement folks that created a perimeter around on june 3 . Ouse have yourdinated concluded that was coordinated with the washington, d. C. National guard . Sec. Esper i am not sure i understand the question. The chairman and i spoke to Major General walker yesterday. He had an understanding of who was on the ground in Lafayette Park. He was there. He knew that the d. C. National guard were in a supporting role to the park police. Im going to stop you there created you are talking about Lafayette Park, that is fine, but there were others deployed who were not local, nond. C. Federal Law Enforcement deployed to take action within d. C. Within the boundaries of the District Of Columbia. I am asking if you know yet whether or not those actions were coordinated with the d. C. National guard were not . Sec. Esper my understanding is because i was with the secretary of the army, we were at the fbi joint Operations Center on monday evening with representatives from a number of agencies, i cannot list them all. I know it was fairly well coordinated. Secretary mccarthy did an outstanding job with regard to working that out on the spot. Major general walker was by his side most of the time. I will ask chairman billy. General milley. I cant confirm or deny that all of those federal Law Enforcement agencies worked tied into the d. C. National guard. Agencies cameeral underneath the department of justice except for the park police who were under the department of interior and the metro police remain under the command of the tc mayor. District of columbia mayor. Thank you. Mr. Rogers . Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you both for being here and for your service to our country. Mr. Secretary, in early june, you requested members of the National Guard under section 502 f. You made some reference to this, but can you give us a more full picture of the committee can stroll structure under the authority and give us an organizational structure . Sec. Esper are you speaking within washington, d. C. . You are right, on the afternoon havene 1, we knew we would available throughout that evening up to 1200 d. C. National guard. They work for Major General walker who reports to the secretary of the army who reports to me. We estimated that we need 3000 additional National Guard to support the efforts. We reached out to a number of states to seek the permission of the governor to deploy elements of their guard to d. C. To support the Law Enforcement effort. 11 states provided that. It got us to over 5000 on the ground. It took days to do that. That gave us the numbers that we needed at all times. The guard units coming in from outside of d. C. Were under 502 f authority funded by the federal government. There will was to protect federal functions, property, and personnel and at all times they remained under the control of their governors. I want to shift a little bit. Referencean, you make to the fact that 60,000 Service Members have been employed dealing with a variety of issues mostly covid but other Law Enforcement. Followup toof a previous questions. How are they holding up with this variety of missions, 47,000 of those are National Guardsmen. What is the state of the National Guard right now given the way they are being spread out . As a followup, the Economic Impact to your budgets and what were going to need to back fill . Gen. Milley for the National Guard globally, 120,000 are on duty on active duty. About 45,000 if i remember this right are dedicated to covid. Aroundpeak there were 40,00043,000 on the civil unrest under governor control. About 30,000 doing title x missions around the world or in the united states. About 120 total. That is a big chunk of the u. S. National guard both army and air. The reports to me are that morale is good. They feel good about their contribution and they joined the guard to make sure they make a contribution to the nation. I am not aware of any particular issues, but they are going asked at a high tempo. They are going fast. What about the Economic Impact to your budgets of having these individuals deployed and these missions that are unplanned . Gen. Milley there is an Economic Impact. I dont think its going to back, but there is an impact. To be askingexpect the congress for additional money to replace that or backfill that money in a supplemental later this year . Gen. Milley i will leave that up to the secretary. Sec. Esper we have been keeping careful control of the dollars. Finally, mr. Secretary, do you believe that the insurrection act needs legislative modification of the congress . Gen. Milley the insurrection act is an extruder piece of legislation. It has endured over the past couple hundred years. It is under the exclusive authority of the president. It would not be appropriate for me to opine in terms of material changes to the act. I would reserve that to the president. My view is, nothing that has happened strikes me as compelling to change it at this point in time. Thank you both. I yelled back. Mr. Courtney is recognized for five minutes. Thank you to the witnesses for being here today. I want to recognize both of you made very strong comments upholding your oath in terms of supporting the First Amendment and peoples right to protest peacefully. Another part of the First Amendment is freedom of the press. Freedom of the press did not have a very good day on june 1. A couple of days ago at the National Resources committee, a reporter from australia who is a tv News Reporter was at Lafayette Park with her cameraman with the u. S. Park police, two of the officers completely assaulted them on Live Television. She was broadcasting into the morning show and it is kind of the equivalent of the today show. I dont know if it is still coming through, but at any case, her testimony described again the riot shield of the park police being rammed into the chest and stomach of the cameraman and you can see her getting hit and she was shot with a rubber bullet and they were both hospitalized. I wanted to give you both an opportunity to go on the record to say that as part of recognizing the First Amendment, hasecognize that the media a role to play that is protected by the constitution. Issueder that the mayor exempt the media from the curfew that was in place on june 1. I would ask both of you to comment on that. This was on Live Television in tralia, one of our most closest allies. Youre right, australia is one of our most important allies. I spent the other night speaking with my counterpart in australia. We have said it numerous times, i have sworn an oath to uphold and defend the constitution and i do that not just because i swore an oath but i believe deeply in the document and all that it guarantees our rights and democracy. You talk about the First Amendment. That includes the big five and one of which is the freedom of the press. A free and open press is critical to the efficient functioning of our democracy. That is something that we cherish. That is one of the reasons why the National Guard, when it gets used in support of civil authorities is to give americans the right to peacefully assemble, to express their views and for the press to cover it. Hopefully, as accurately as possible so that the American People can have an understanding of what is happening in the country. Congressman, i am not familiar with the particular incident youre referring to. I am deeply committed to a free press. I will die for the constitution as an idea and part of that is a free media. Free media is fundamentally essential to free people. It is fundamental to our democracy. Absolutely, im committed to that. Thank you both again. This was frontpage news in australia. It was the park police, not National Guardsmen involved in that violence that took place. The fact is as the secretary indicates, the d. C. National in support ofng that. Action report goes out, the fact that media are present in situations where we have a legal duty to be there which was recognized by the District Of Columbia, there has to be some training to make sure the people recognize that it is meet them in any way that is inappropriate. I would encourage you to watch the testimony. It is quite shocking and given the fact that it happened to an ally, it will make you part second to watch it. It will make you sick to watch it. I yelled back. Team my time for the next republican on the list created. Yield my time for the next republican on the list. Chairman. Ou mr. Thank you gentlemen for your service. Ofanted to focus on an issue importance to constituents in my district. Have hosted both of you given the recent press reports given regarding afghanistan, as you know, i represent military families and soldiers deployed in afghanistan. I wanted to get your comments, general milley, on your commitment and the departments commitment to force protection at all costs. That is one of my top priorities. Rebuildingis military readiness, investing in training, equipment, having the most exquisite exceptional intelligence that is verified out there. It is important for families to know the lengths to which the department goes to ensure that we are protecting the safety and wellbeing of our servicemembers deployed. You have 1000 commitment. I have multiple doors. I have buried many people in arlington nationals cemetery. We will ensure that they have all the right equipment, training, alerts, warnings, intelligence, etc. I know what you are referring to specifically with the russians and i will to you we are at the highest levels of force protection. People are and were informed and we will remain informed. I can ensure the families that the protection of our force, that is the number one priority for everyone of us. Agree. Per i 1000 as a former soldier with one combat tour under my belt, this is something i talk about with the commanders all the time. On multiple occasions, we make adjustments all the time. Force protection is number one. To take care of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, they are our most trusted asset and we will do everything it takes to protect them. My next question. I sit on the House Intelligence Committee so i have received a classified briefing. We are leaving this briefly to maintain our live coverage of the house
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