Transcripts For CSPAN Defense 20240704

U. S. Defense general lloyd austin testified before the House Armed Services committee on his failure to immediately notify the white house about his december 2023 hospitalization. Secretary austin faced criticism for neglecting to inform the president about his cancer diagnosis and treatment. This is about two hours. Is the hearing will come to order. We wish you a full and speedy recovery. We understand that you are recovering and sitting for to long, and sitting is not good for your health. We agreed to your request to limit your appearance today to two hours. To get to as many questions as possible, unanimous consent to reduce comment to four minutes. So ordered. If we cannot get to you today, please submits your questions for the record and the secretary has sured us that hell get answers to that in a timely fashion. The secretary will be in about a month to testify again. So youll have another opportunity to at that time. Mr. Secretary, the reason that weve asked you here today is not to discuss your health. Year here to determine why the president was not immediately informed of your incapacitation. The timeline as we understood it is this, on the evening of january 1st, secretary austin was transported to the hospital via ambulance for complications from a surgical procedure he had on december 22nd. On the afternoon of january 2nd, the seconds authorities were transferred to deputy secretary hicks without her being informed as to why. On january 4th, three days of hospital, deputy hick and the president were informed that secretary austin was in the hospital. January 5th, congress is informed of the secretarys hospitalization. It is totally unacceptable that it took three days to inform the president of the United States that the secretary was not in the hospital and not in pentagon. Wars are raging in ukraine and israel, our ships were under fire in the red sea and our bases were abracing for attacks in syria and iraq. But the president did not know that the secretary of defense was out of action. The deputy secretary, the person to whom your power was transferred did not know that you were in the hospital. Our forces conducted a preauthorized strike on iran backed ma militia. If something wave bon would have happened, the president would have had to try to find the secretary of defense. The work does not know when the commander in chief does not know who to call. We want to know who made the decision top with hold the information from the president . Although you publicly stated you are solely responsible, you also informed this committee it wasnt you who decided to with hold the information from the president. We were led to believe that your 30internal review would shed light on that matter. But it includes no explanation of why the president and his staff were left in the dark. It makes no recommendations to improve communications with the white house. Unsurprisingly it holds nobody accountable. We appreciate your desire to protect your subordinates. But it is important in democracy that Public Officials are held accountable when mistakes are made. This administrations that gone to Great Lengths to avoid have accountability. This is a matter of National Security. And someone needs to it be held accounted. I find is concerning that the secretary could be hospitalized in three days without anyone in the administration noticing that suggested that secretary austins advice is not sought or heated in the white house while military operations were ongoing in the middle east. It implies that the white house palestinians, not season professionals are in the drivers cease on matter of National Security. That is disturbing. Findly beyond the immediate need, congress has a right to know of secretary absence or transfer of authority. None of this had not come to the attention if the white house would no interest come clean. Our goal is to understand how and why this happened so we can ensure it never happens again. With that i yield to any friend and colleague the Ranking Member. Secretary will be back and hell be here for the full Posture Hearing that will go on considerably longer than two hours. That i do appreciate from the department of defense. This is an opportunity to address an important issue. I agree with much of what the chairman said. I think that the lack of transparency what was going on and certainly with the white house, but with congress and others, should not be repeated. We need clearer and more transparent information what is going on at the pentagon. I want to disagree with one thing the chairman said during the time period that the commander and chief didnt know who to call. He did. The transfer of power was made. It was made to the deputy secretary. And if that had anything had come up, that the way the system works. When the secretary of defense is out of competition for any reason, the deputy secretary assumes the responsibilities and roles. That was made clear throughout the pentagon and the white house. The reason behind it was not. And that is why the lack of transparency is problematic. We need to understand the importance of the role of the secretary of defense and responding directly to the commander and chief. The commander and chief should have all the broad range of information about what is going on with the pentagon. Again, in the sense there was no question who was in charge at that time, the transfer was done. In accordance with the law and done appropriately. I think it is appropriate that we have this hearing and we have this discussion, that we hear directly from the secretary. I thank the secretary willing to be here and take the questions. I want to emphasize that through the this whole process a complex threat environment. That is one thing that the committee absolutely everybody agrees few to. There are few times in his their that we face the challenges that we face right now, the war in ukraine, the war in middle east, the challenges that china continues to present and north korea as well. Throughout the whole time, there is no allegation that the department of defense was not on top of the situations. There was no instance that they were not doing their job to the up most of their ability and the defense of this country. And the coalition of secretary austin has been responsible to put together to stop putin in ukraine has been effective. And that is a testimony to secretary austins leadership and the way the department of defense has been run on a day in and day out basis. I would be remiss if i did not point out that 2 would be helpful that the United States house of representatives would allow a vote on the much needed aid for ukraine and the middle east and to pass the appropriations bill that the department of defense could desperately use to better carry out that job. There is no doubt that the coalition that has been built is successful. Two years ago when the war started, everyone assumed that ukraine would be done in a month. Two years later, they are hire and sovereign because of the bravery of the ukrainian people and the coalition came to help protect them, that the secretary has left. In the middle east, we have stopped the war from spreading. They are proving to to be a much larger challenge. We have built a coalition to start that challenge. If we look at what happened while the secretary was in hospital, the lack of transparency needs to be improved, lets not lose track of what it is doing right now to meet the secretary challenges that we face. With that, i yield back. Mr. Secretary, you are recognized for any Opening Statements that you may have. Thank you in the. Im grateful for the in the for the continued support for the department of defense and our outstanding troops. The u. S. Military is the most powerful fighting force in human history. With your help, well keep it that way with the department is deeply focused on meeting the pacing challenge from the peoples republic of china on making the middle east more secure after the october 7th terrorist assault on israel and enshushing that ukraine can continue to defend itself. So were focused on the defense of our nation. But i know that congress has legitimate concerns about what issues around my illness. So let me start by thanking all those that offered my well wishes after my recent Cancer Treatment and hospital state. I very much appreciate your kind words and i received world class medical care at walter reed. I want to thank my doctors and the outstanding nursing staff. They expect me to be completely cured of my Prostate Cancer that was caught early. I continue to recover. And now i one to be very clear. There was never any lapse in authority or command and control. At all times i or the deputy secretary was in a position to conduct the duties of my office. We did have a breakdown in notifications concerning my january stay at walter reed. That is sharing my location and why i was there. In december, i should have promptly informed the president and the American People of my cancer diagnosis and treatment. We did not handle this right and i did not handle it right. I have apologized, even directly to the president. A take full responsibility. Ive taking changes to make sure it does not happen again. The system must be postured better it make the appropriate informations and my staff must be ready to carryall of this out. Let me be clear. I never intended to keep my hospitalization from the white house or from anybody else. That is why we immediately instituted changes to the way that the authorities can be temporarily to my deputy and to a way that the notifications get made. It is why we conducted a 30day review of the entire process. Because the review deals with the continuity of violations. They wrote it as classified p but we share the review with all of you. The third day review made eight recommendations to me and i directed that all eight be implemented. We put two in place already and were moving quick will be the other six. Let me summarize them. We made clear that we expect full information sharing with the deputy or another designated official assumes of functions and duties as acting secretary. We issued guidelines for clear information sharing between my staff and the deputy secretarys staff if the scenarios arrive. And well ensure that the Department Officials in the order of succession are supported for the relevant processes. Were moving quickly to develop a mandatory reporting protocol for me or the deputy secretary. Of course, we already have continuity of Operations Plans in place and well continue top review those plan as appropriate. Even before the 30day review, we had made some changes in. In the future of deputy secretary would assume the deputies of my office, she and several White House Offices will be closed, including its white house situation room and the white house chief of staff. Key officials across the department will also be notify it had, including the deputy secretary the joint chiefs and the general council. It will be included in writing. You saw the new procedures in action during any hospitalization during this month. The dod Inspector General is still working on his independent review that we fully support. Now, before i take your questions, i want to make one thing very clear. At no time during my treatment or recovery were there any gaps in authority and no ridge of to the command and control. I fully participated in the National Security decision makes on events in the middle east and military operations in selfdefense to protect our troops and our facilities over there. Again, were moving swiftly to put some helpful new procedures in place to prevent any lapses in notification. I am confident that well not experience the same issues in the future. So let me again thank you for. Opportunity to be here today and for everything that this committee does to support and stand by the mission and the people of department of defense, including their families. I know you understand this. But one of the best things that you can do to support them is to pass a full year appropriation. In doing so it will ensure that our troops get paid and our civilian employees can stay on the job and we can continue to procure the best capabilities of our country. We need the flexibility and stability that the appropriations provide. I appreciate your leadership on the score. And i stand ready to assist you in any way. With that, ill be glad to take your questions. Thank you, mr. Secretary. This is the gentleman of indiana mr. Banks. Mr. Secretary, at what point during your hospital stay did you or your staff decide that the president should know about your hospitalization . As i understand, my chief of staff contacted the National Security advisor and advised him i was hospitalized on the fourth of january. At what during your stay was the fourth of january . Im sorry. How long into your stay was that . As been pointed out earlier days after you were hospitalized . Right. Yes or no. Did you tell your staff not to the inform the president , anyone on your staff . I never told anyone not to inform the president , the white house or anyone else about my hospitalization. So the 30 day review summary lays a lot of blame at the feet of your staff. It seems that would appear, correct, for the break down in the process . You told us that you were responsible. But the 30day review seems to blame your staff. The 30day review pointed out that there were some missteps. One year ago you told me in this hearing room you had no regrets of what happened in afghanistan. Do you regret what happened here . I said the transfer of authority was who be held accountable for this, this embarrassment . I take full responsibility and we put measures in place to address the shortcomings. Are you surprised that the president did not call for your resignation . Im surprised. But are you surprised that did not call for your resignation . Is it typical that the president would go three days without talking to his second of defense . Is that typical or a regular posture . Do you usually goes days without talking to the commander and chief . It can happen. It depends if the president is on travel or im on travel. There are days that we go without direct communication. Either the president is that aloof or youre irrelevant . Which one is it . Either. The president would go three days that the secretary of defense is not the job . It is neither. The president is not aloof. I participate in all of the Decision Making. On january 2nd. , President Biden was vacationing in the caribbean. Your deputy was on a beach in puerto rico. What kind of message does that send to our adversariries . The key piece the deputy has the ability to she has access to secure communications. She has the abuyability the ability to communicate. The leading chinese propaganda what happened to you exposed, quote, internal chaos. A leading russian propaganda outlet said that your disappearance quote, affect pitchily compromised the United States. Youve embarrassed us. Your time is up. It is not remotely surprising to me that the chinese and the russians are not going to say anything positive about us. That does not surprise me. They seize on anything opportunity to do that. It is routine that the deputy will be in places where are places that you cannot be. That authority will be transferred. How often does it happen that you are in a place that you cannot do you cannot be as responsive as you need to be so you pass the authority on to your deputy secretary . As pointed out in the 30day review, there have been a number much times in the past where we transferred authorities because of my inability to have access to secure communications. And once i had the ability to have access again to secure communications, that was transferred back. So the number of times that thats happen is outlined in the review. Just to emphasize, was there anytime during this process in the first days of january, when you were in the hospital, anytime whatsoever, when the deputy secretary was not in a position to fully carry out the responsibilities of the secretary of defense, regardless if she was in puerto rico or mexico or maralago, wherever, she was in a position to carry out all of the authorities that she had as the accounting secretary of defense in that instance, correct . She is legally and logistically to assume the positions. And she was in a right to support the president as to make decisions. She always has secure communications with him like me. And she has the Situational Awareness that is needed to be to be able to make effective recommendations to the president. And she working with chairman of the joint chiefs and the commander would propose options for the president in any situation. Certainly. One thing i want to emphasize as the hearing goes forward, not to use this to the advantage adversaries. There was nothing embarrassing about what happened here. There was nothing that appeared weak. The United States as this was going on was carrying out strikes against our adversary in order to protect our force. We were doing everything that we needed to do to meet the nationality security needs of our country. And if members of this committee incorrectly imply otherwise, they are giving aid and comfort to the adversaries that they claim to care about confronting. I would emphasize if we care about confronting our adversaries, rather than nitpicking the secretary of defense about his precise process in the situation, we should go ahead and pass the National Second costumer security supplemental needs. Whatever russia and china is cranking out im sure it is fails that they think that america is if to abandon our alley, ukraine. The second of defense for three days is more important than walking away from the obligation that we have made and that the whole world is watching us on. With that i yield back. Chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina, mr. Wilson. Thank you. Secretary austin, i want to wish you a full and speedy recovery. Well hear today because of the failure to communicate of the department of defense that is critical information requirements through the chain of command to President Biden. As a grateful individual ran myself, along with you, we both understand the crucial role of the chain of command to provide time Sensitive Information to make the right decisions at the right time. When the communications fails there, is an increased risk to Mission Success and increased risk to the servicemen and women. This is personal as a 31year veteran and having four son serves in iraq and egypt. I take this personally, your service is so critically important. I appreciate having worked with you before. We need your proven capabilities as we are in a war that we did not choose and invading dem democracies world in war. Sadly, biden opened borders for terrorists for more 9 11 terrorists to come across the border. With the current Global Threats today, the attacks on the american and our allies by iran in the middle east, with the lack of problem communications to degrade our ability to respond. Again. I would emphasize that there was never a break in command and control. There was a transfer of authorities. What we did not do well was the notification to Senior Leaders. I deeply regret that the response was ineffective by delaying a response. It should have been an Immediate Response on sites and it should have been effective and no notice. What has done put American Families at greater risk. As i conclude, i would to extend our our condolence alexei navalny, a true hero. Thank you mr. Second for being here today and for your 40 plus years of service to the defense of our country. Just to sort of walk through one more time about the fact that be there was no gap in terms of authorities and who was in control of the department. You went into Critical Care on january 2nd. Your staff executed the law by notifying the deputy secretary of defense that she was in charge. As a result, it was seemless. There was never moment where there was any absence of Authority Want department, isnt that correct . Thats correct, sir. It actually was the Armed Services committee in 1962 that passed the law that made this process happen without any action, specific act of the secretary of defense. It is different than at the time 25th amendment of the constitution where if a president is going to go under anesthesia, that there has to be a voluntary surrender. Going back to president reagan. He executed documents. That is not the way the law works for the department of defense. It is if he is unable to duties, then the deputy secretary is in charge, is that correct . Thats correct. Before the 30day review or any recommendations, you moved to put into place a regulation that basically states this now will be communicated in all instances to the president of the United States so whatever surrounding the clack of communication is been quantified, isnt that correct . Thats correct. We had the opportunity to put those procedures in place when i went back to the hospital on february 11th. It was timely notification and a seemless fashion. Speaking of gaps, lets talk about the cement supplemental, overwhelmly endorse the a package that well provide 60 billion to ukraine what about is in a dire state today so 16 days later, were here in the room. Were thankfully going to move forward on a fy24 package soon. But the fact nothing has happened in the house to follow up with what the president did. He said that he will let the housework its will in terms of the next steps in the supplemental package. In the by him was brought to the floor. We would get an overwhelming vote. What is the risk what is the risk of the gap in terms of our National Security and helping our allies. Were seeing the risk play out on the battlefield each and every day as ukrainians fight few to defend their sovereign territory. I would remind everybody, with our support in providing Security Assistance, theyve taken back half of the territory that rush seized. Your time says expired. Well recognize the gentleman from ohio, mr. Turner. We recognize the gentleman from colorado. Thank you for having this hearing. Mr. Secretary, we do wish you a speedy and full recovery. I would say that most of the people are bewildered how these transpired and im concerned about the actions and the actions for the American People at a time when the Overall Trust in the government, the people must believe that the government can protect them from the growing threats in the world window and one of the most serious threats is a missile attack from russia, china or north korea. Im charged with the oversight of our entire nuclear arsenal, including the command and control of our nuclear forces. They operate the systems that employ the is he minute that it is a threat. Today many on this day will speak about disruptions and chain of manned. The most dangerous chain of command to break is that communicates orders to youre missile sigh lows and submarines and strategic bombers. Well only deter attacks if they know that were capable and willing to respond in kind massive this, if necessary. Not only is our homeland threatened by the ballistic missiles, but they will be threatened by hyper sonic missiles. The conference that they initiate and those in the chain of command. So, mr. Secretary, my question is when did the National Military command center become aware of your hospitalization . The chairman of the joint chiefs was notified, as i understand it, on the second of january. To the entire staff would have been notified at that time. Was the military command center informed that the deputy secretary of defense had authority transferred to her. When there is a transfer tase places, it goes out to all the key holders. When was that message sent out . The second of january. We talked about seemless. It sounds like there was a gap twentyfirst of january and the second of january. Or am i mistaken. 1st of january, i was in the hospital, i still had the ability to Access Communications and so i retained the responsibilities. On the second of january as i was admitted to Critical Care, it was determined that i would not have my communicators would the not to provide timely access to the communications for me. So the decision was made to put the process that is in place in play. Thank you. I yield back. We recognize the gentleman from california. Just a quick summary of the law. If the president decides to launch nuclear weapons, the secretary of defense is not in the loop. Which probably ought to come to your attention. We should make sure he is in the loop. But right now he is not. Mr. Second, we wish you well on your Cancer Treatment and your return to full health. You have an extraordinary, Extraordinary Service record. We note, if we care to understand, that it was your work the together with the president s that assembled the support for the ukrainians to receive the support necessary to repel the russian evasion. And you continue to do that. I thank you for that extraordinary work. I will note that while were spending our precious time, i think it is precious, on taking you and the administration to task, we are failing in our responsibility to fund the department of defense. Were now five months late in the appropriations process. It is the responsible of the congress to provide the appropriations and were not doing so. Were on our fourth or fifth continuing resolution. We are derelict, not you sir. It is the congress of the United States and leadership of this house is failing to meet the National Security needs of this nation in the appropriation process. And were spending our time here taking to you task. Thats wrong. Were failing. Let me put it this way. The leadership in this house is failing. We have a supplemental appropriation. It is necessary for the defense of ukraine. That has been languishing for months. The senate and the leadership of this house has not acted. Is it that were abandoning ukraine . Is that the republicans in this house want to take responsible for ukraines defeat . Apparently they do because they are refusing to provide the necessary funding. Humanitarian aid. Israel, the replenishment of our arsenals are all at risk because this house as refused to take action. Mr. Second it is not you that is the problem. Is not what happened in your Health Emergency that is the problem. You have laid that out clearly that standard procedures were followed and will more so in the future. Thank you for your testimony and thank you for putting that in place. When will the committee stand up for the defense of this nation . When will my colleagues on the republican side of this committee find the courage to get that job done . Five months have passed. Thethe duty is on us. Mr. Secretary, 17 seconds. If you would like to comment on the necessity of getting the job done, please do so. The time has expired. We recognize the gentleman from virginia. We wish you continued recovery from your surgery. I would like to go through a series of questions with your reflection and yes or no. Is it is Standard Operating Procedure for your security detail to notify the National Command center . To my knowledge, my security detail does not notify the National Military command center. So it is not Standard Operating Procedure for your security detail to notify the National Command center . Thats right. If it is not Standard Operating Procedure, and you said earlier that you have mechanisms built in to transfer power takes place from you to the deputy second, then how did your security detail close the loop in getting information to the right place . And how is the decision made that the deputy secretary was then in charge . Decision is really about if weve reached a point where i dont have the ability to continue to perform my duties because of lack of access to secure communications for a period of time. And that triggers the process that is established being followed. That happened pretty quickly. I think they made the right decision. If it is not Standard Operating Procedure for your security detail to notify the National Command center which is the nexus for how information gets to the right place, so when issues much National Security comes up, the white house is informed, because it is the National Command center that is in charge of notifying the white house. Nobody in your office or staff notified the white house, how is it that people in critical Decision Making positions know when operational deficits take place like you being in the intensive care unit that day and not being able to continue with your duties . By law, if i dont have the ability to execute my duties for any reason, in this case because of lack of access so secure communications. By law, the deputy assumes the roles and the responsible. I understand the law. The law is clear. But the law doesnt and sure that there is continuity in operations and people in Critical Situations so they know that things can take place in realtime. The deputy secretary was in puerto rico. She may have been notified of a transfer of responsibility. She stayed there. It is a matter of if some would happen, the white house did not know. People in positions that would need to make decisions in case of and were glad that something didnt happen, but in case of, if that information is not transferred, there is an issue of National Security. As i stated. There was never a lapse in authorities or command and control. Again, when the transfer is made, a message goes out to all the stakeholders that the transfer has been made. So the Communications Specialists are positioned to route any Incoming Communications to the deputy that would have come to me. Is it correct that the president should have known that the National Military command center should have known that the loop should have been closed to make sure that everybody knew the standard procedure should be that your security detail notifies the National Command center . The joint staff did know on the second of january. The gentlemans time has expired. We recognize the gentleman from new jersey. Thank you, chairman. We appreciate you holding this hearing. And the second, we wish you wellwishes in your recovery. You stated it should have been handled better. That is clear. The 30day review has been concluded. And there was a number of recommendations that you publicly agreed to implement and you went further to talk about the Inspector General is conducting that. There should be a robust discussion. What should not be is a political bickering. The idea of command and control of our military and the defense of this nation is of the highest priority to the men and women that serve here in congress, those that wear the uniform and to every american cares about that. I want to make sure that we fully understand. Apparently, there is some doubt that there might have been a break in. Command and control of our forces. Would you clearly state for if the record was there ever at any time a break in the command and control . There was never a lapse in authorities or command and control. Because we understand if there is a gap, if something were to happen to yourself or those below you, there is an immediate way of addressing that. And to go one beyond that, it comes to the command and control, here we are. If this were to happen in a situation of somebody that you have control that you didnt know. How would you have handled the situation . I would be concerned about the subordinates position and welfare and i would try to gain some understanding of what happened and make sure that we you measures in place to dont allow to happen. And that is exactly what we did here. What the president was foremost focused on is my welfare. And then ensuring that we had the right measures in place to streamline communications and to make sure that we were able to respond to anything in the future. So as youre revealing this as we should, are there any other items that were not recommended to or Lessons Learned that you could share with us . Were a learning organization. There may be things that well encounter in the future or we consider in the future that need to be adjusted or changed. As he encounter those things. Well adjust. Well do some things to ensure that notification occurred in a very timely fashion. But it we learn more things by going forward, well adjust as needed. I wish you a speedy recovery. I want to focus on the december 22nd date. That is the one that i have the most difficult time with. I understand the other one was an emergency procedure where you were taken by the ambulance, am i correct . The january procedure was an emergency . January event was an emergency. I took an ambulance to the hospital. Thats right. December 22nd date, when did you know that you were going to have surgery on december 22nd . I scheduled that surgery about a week prior to the surgery. I took leave in order to do that. I made sure that we transferred authorities to the deputy that day. I resumed my duties the following day. So you took leave, but you knew you were going to take leave a week before the 22nd, correct . Thats correct. When you scheduled the surgery for the 22nd. But she was not notified till the day of the procedure, is that correct . This was coordinated several days before. I dont know the exact date when she was notified. According to what we have it appears that she was not notified she was basically transferred the authority but was not given the reason for the authority. I guess the i think i have the hardest time with is not the emergency procedure, but it is knowing a week in advance that youre going to be under anesthesia out for 48 hours. And she have not notified at that time that she needed to be prepared to receive the authority at that stage, my understanding is she was in puerto rico and not until the u. S. At that time, is that correct . That is correct. The 22nd she was in the state. S. I think when we know that you as the when we know that youre not going to be capable of making the decisions, the sooner the person that person is going to be in in the position what and why, the better we are as a country are from making sure things have happened or happen the way they should . I respect you and wish you a speedy recovery. That is my primary concern. The emergency procedure, i think the lessons are learned the hard way. I want to say this with some of the comments about republicans and who we want to win in ukraine. Let me assure you that we want the ukrainians to win. We want putin to lose. But one of the key things that many of us have asked for that voted for the ukrainians repeatedly is being enforcement of the sanctions against russia. And simply sending them weapons and money is not going to win the war against russia and putin. The sanctions have to be enforced. That is something that i have personally asked for in the package that is coming to the floor and something that those of us that knows issues is more than just money and weapons for the ukrainians to win the war. We wish you best and we keep you in our prayers. Thank you, secretary austin for joining us today. I would like to thank you for injure stedfast leadership. I know personal nature of your situation. Im thankful for the committee so rendering this hearing. I was deeply concerned that President Biden was not known of your absence or hospitalization. While authorities for the deputy secretary of defense to carry on new functions and duty is vague. It is clear that the chain of command is not. I had to notify any superior if i could not report for duty. Just like that is an enlisted. I want make sure that were held at the highest standard even at the highest level. Congress should conduct robust oversight. As Ranking Member of the special operations subcommittee, i understand the significant challenges that we face around the world and the reality that anything can happen at a moments notice. We must always be prepared. It is clear to me there was a breakdown in the department. I appreciate the swifted action you did to conduct a 30day review to examine the situation. I think there are a number of important questions to ask and lessons to learn from the experience. Secretary austin, your Department Just conducted a 30 day review. What is the primary Lessons Learned from the experience and what steps are you taking to ensure that the break down in the chain of command never happens again . The key lessons first of all, as ive head, the trance if he were of authorities, i think we did was the transfers of authority and quickly. What was not done is the notification of key leaders. The Lesson Learned is that everyone in the environment, in the process needs to be needs to have a clear understanding what steps to follow for notification for what things and. And it ensures that that understanding is there. And what something happens, that notification takes place in a timely fashion. Just to follow that. In terms of the transferring of your positions authority. Do you believe there is room to grow in that area to make sure it is smoother and less opaque . I believe that there are things that we can do that the reason for the transfer of the authority is Crystal Clear for everyone and that everything that we have put in place and make sure there is written notification of why the transfer of the authority is taking place, sir. Thank you. The chair recognizes new york. On the monday of january 4th, mr. Secretary, you were in the Critical Care unit and the deputy secretary was on vacation in puerto rico. And President Biden was and vacation. Do you know how many soldiers with are deployed and still deployed today in iraq and syria for Operation Inherent resolve. I dont know. About 2500. The u. S. Carried out a significant stake against a senior lead near iraq, correct . Thats correct. Because President Biden did not know you were outside of the chain of command during this u. S. Strike, if iran or the proxies in iraq or syria had carried out a retaliatory strike against ten mountain soulders, the chain of command could have broken down potentially delaying president ial orders to protect lives of American Forces from, constituents that i represent. Do you understand why this is unacceptable to the American People and to the military families . Thanks. First of all, i would say that when were attacked, we have the right to defend ourselves and respond immediately, if it is a local attack. If a strike is warranted, the recommendations need to be provided to the president. The recommendations come from me. After i consulted with the chairman of the joint chiefs and the commander. The deputy secretary would have been the same thing. She has all of the capabilities and Situational Awareness to do that. September the president was not aware. The president of the United States was not aware that you are not in the chain of command. So god for bid there was a retaliatory strike. That could have cause potential delays. And it is unacceptable. What disciplinary, would a Junior Service maybe face if they failed to properly notify their campaign of command and failed to report for duty . If a Service Member was in the hospital, i think the chain of command would be concerned about why they were in the hospital and make sure that they are doing the right things to take care of them and their families. Dont you think it is responsible to notified their Commanding Officer . I think. The answer is yes. Yes. In my case, i would expect any organizations would do the right things to notify Senior Leaders, if im the patient in the hospital. It is unacceptable. You have admitted as such that there was a breakdown in the president of the United States. And i highlight 4 a. M. January 4th, when you considered ten soldiers and the potential for the retaliatory attack that break down was very important. You said there was never a break in command and control. But the president of the United States was not aware that you were outside the chain of command. Is the president not a part of the command and control . Do you believe the commander in chief is critical in command and control . He is clearly at the top of the chain. But what is important is that we provide him with credible options and that he can pursue to address any situation it would have happened in it case. Except he was unaware. What is important that the president was unaware and you were not there in terms of who he would hear from. Mr. Secretary, i came to know Prostate Cancer as a child through my grandfather. I hope for your speedy recovery. I know that is a sentiment shared by everyone here today. We are heartened to hear you are expected to be fully cured. You are and i are both trained as infantry officers. I spent my time not as a general but as a lieutenant. There are thousands of lieutenant serving are you in the military today. How would you advise a lieutenant to handle a situation like this with his or her command. A situation in which they had one of their subordinates hospitalized . A lieutenant himself or herself. I would advise the lieutenant to make sure they are doing everything to learn more about what happened at also to ensure that we are taking care of the particular soldier. In terms of the failure to notify in a timely fashion, i would make sure that the lieutenant works to put the right procedures and processes in place to ensure that his organization was able to inform him and inform his higher. I just returned from japan and taiwan. I cannot tell you how many leaders in taipei and tokyo asked us if we would fund ukraine. They said that failing to fund ukraine encourages present xi in china. Can you encourage why standing up side Vladimir Putin and funding ukraine in their fight for democracy affects america National Security well beyond the borders of ukraine itself. This really is about our security and the security of our allies and partners. This really is a bout a rules based international order. We do not want to live in a world where one country can redraw its neighbors boundaries and illegitimately take over its sovereign territory. We know that if putin is successful, he will not stop. He will continue to take more aggressive action in the region. And other leaders around the world, other autocrats will look at this and they will be encouraged by the facts that, you know, is happened and we failed to support a democracy i think it is a very dangerous path to go down if we do not support ukraine. Thanks, chairman, i yield back. The chairman that recognizes the gentleman from tennessee. Thank you, mr. Chairman very pleased to hear of your good prognosis and hope that your recovery is uneventful. Just a couple questions. At the time you were in the hospital, there were several strikes carried out against militias in iraq. What was your goal in carrying out these operations . Were you calling the shots or was others making those decisions . As we said earlier, that strike, i delegated the authority to conduct the strike when the conditions are right down to the combatant commander. On the 5th of january, my responsibilities and fully participate in all of the decisions that led up to subsequent actions. I believe the American Forces were attacked eight times during your stay in the hospital but what of these responses would have made the call on that response. It would have been well, the president always makes the call. It is based upon the input that he gets who wouldve been formed the president . It wouldve been the deputy secretary of defense as she conferred with the chairman of the joint chiefs. When did she know . To chino on january 2nd that she was in charge . She knew on january 2nd that we had transferred authority, yes. She got on january 2nd . Yes, that information was clearly provided to her staff. And im sure she understood that some of the blame has been cast on your staff. Did you especially correct anyone to keep your condition from the white house on your staff . As i said earlier, i never directed anyone to keep my hospitalization from the white house. Did direct your staff to keep the kids from the public or any other senior officials . No. It has been reported when you return on january 1st and told the dispatcher, can i ask the m is not show with lights and sirens . Retry jermaine settled . To direct that to be static . What i told my assistant to do was called an ambulance and that is all i told them to do. Has anyone been disciplined for suppressing information pertaining to your condition . As i pointed out, there was a lot of things that happened but there was no evidence of an intent willingly conceal something. At the end of the day, i take full responsibility for this. We did not get this right. We put the procedures in place to ensure that this does not happen again i respect you take full responsibility. I will finish with desperate if a member of the Armed Services fails to report for duty and misses for four days they would face reproductions repercussions, is that correct . Again, i would point out that i was in a military hospital. I am talk about one of your subordinates they did that, they would have repercussions and be dismissed, correct . Finally asked, why should you not face discipline under the circumstances you put yourself above the men . I do not. As you know, i served 41 years in the military in uniform. I understand the challenges and i understand, you know, leaders have to set the example. We did not get the notification right. I was the patient. I expect that my organization your time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from california. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Secretary austin, thank you for being here today. You have acknowledged that the situation was not handled perfectly. To my knowledge, no laws were broken. There was no lapse in your ability to carry out your duties. Secretary hicks was transferred authority in a timely manner. It does remind me of when democrats were in charge in october 2020. When then President Trump was telling the American People and downplaying covid. It telling the American People not to take the vaccination. It telling the American People not to take certain treatments but clorox or Something Like that. Lo and behold, he got really l. And was taken to walter reed. Democrats did not have a hearing to talk about how serious it really was that they got to take them to walter reed and what that meant as commander in chief of our country. I point that little example, how we did not have a hearing about that we felt, as important as it was, there were other systems in place. While the situation could have been handled better, hindsight is 20 20 you have taken accountability, apologized and work to make recommendations to ensure Something Like this does not happen again. As far as i am concerned, as a veteran myself, there is nothing else to be set on this matter. I am satisfied with how you have addressed mistakes made. Since i have a couple more minutes, i would also think i would like to ask a few questions on the issues that are actually pressing. Can you speak to how continuing resolutions affect our National Security and readiness . Sorry. They cause us to lose time and money. We work hard to make a budget request to the strategy. Without the full appropriation, we cannot fully execute our strategy. This will cost us, probably, if it is a fullyear continuing resolution, it will cost us the neighborhood of 25 billion cut overall. That does not allow us, in some cases, to fund critical programs and resource weapon systems and magicians munitions that are critical not only to ukraine and to replace the things that we are providing to the ukrainians and the israelis, but also allow us to build up our stocks for contingencies going forward. It is a serious thing that hampers our ability to execute our strategy. Thank you. I think every member on this committee is where well aware of the threats we are facing globally. From terrorist attacks against her ally, israel. As we start writing this years nda, what do you think should be the committees top two or three priorities . You will always hear me say, in terms of what we are focused on, china is a challenge. Russia is an acute bret. And we really have to pay attention. Your time has expired. The chair recognizes the gentleman from mississippi. I also want to wish you a full and speedy recovery. I would argue that the protocols in place on january the second were adequate. It was a failure of leadership in implementing the controls and protocols that were already in place. I have also served close to 40 years in the military service. I can tell you that if the cnl would have done this and disappeared for three days it would be action and consequent money not to him or her but to the person who did that. At the common man of the marine corps, there would be consequences. If a price it Management Private soldier, marine or airman, they would have had consequences. They may not have been discharged from service but there what happened consequences. The fallacy of this committee to sit here and say, we should be talking about other things. When senator tupper bell did the blockade of the Service Chiefs and their stars, i heard the administration, i heard the democrats say it is dire National Security risk if we do not get these people confirmed. However, there was a chain of command at all times that we knew who the acting commandant was we knew who the acting cnl was. I dont think there was a threat to National Security because of this. I dont think there ever was. The places and protocols and things. I do think it was an extreme lack of leadership at some level. I hope we identify that. With that, i yield the balance of my time to mr. Morgan lotrel. Thank you, mr. Kelly. Mr. Secretary, i am glad that you are feeling together better. This is the military. Good communication is our baseline. It is the foundation we built ourselves off of. I know through your 40 years in the military youve had to release someone of command for you had to remove people from leadership positions. Is that a fair statement . Yes, sir. You mentioned of few times they are sick and put into the hospital. I have had that happen in the commands i have served in. But the leadership did, they remove the individual from the leadership position for the wellbeing but also for the continuity of forest. In case communication has to go by with and through you. You say the notification with the individuals were notified. As i play this out in my head, if the president was to call you. Im assuming he called you directly. And you dont answer and then he calls some in the pentagon is saying, where is the secretary at . And they say he is in the hospital. Then the bubble blows up. You see how the spiderweb could fracture and go in 1000 different directions. My concern, in your position, you are at the highest level. Anywhere underneath you, you had to have written these guidelines and take care of this problem itself. We sit in this position where the problem lies on your shoulders. When we talk about responsibility and accountability, this right here is setting a standard, sir. Because of how this played out. As a lieutenant, if i was caught in this position and my Commanding Officer relieve me of duty. The first thing i will do is say, no, sir. The secretary of state went through the exact same position i am right now and i need to stay in my position. Now there is a leverage point is does not need to exist in the military at all. That is just the perspective i have. You can respond to this if you want. It is a razor thin line of communication that cannot be broken and that happens, sir. It did. You are setting the precedent for everything down inside our vast organization. Your time has expired. We now recognize the representative from california. How many palestinians have been killed two it is over 25,000. Mr. Secretary, last week the u. N. High commissioner warned that any transfer of weapon or ammunition to israel violates international law. About how many munitions has United States given israel since the beginning of the work you i dont have that number at my fingertips. It is about 21,000 perches and guided munitions to israel since the start of the war. Yet you spoke to dispense minister galan and you said clearly there needs to be a plan to ensure the safety and support of though sheltering and rafah before any military operations proceed. Sullivan has said he has not seen any plan yet. John kirby set it would be a disaster to invade rafah. If netanyahu defied the United States and invades rafah, you commit that you will halt any future military cells to israel . That is a president ial decision. We expect by the way, i spoke to minister galan last night. We will have them use them in a responsible way. When you make a commitment that they defy what we are saying and they violate law. It is a posted National Security mom and a random 18 and National Security memorandum 20. If they do not do what we are saying, we would halt the arm sales or transfers. The decision to halt the provision of Security Assistance would not be mine. What would you recommend . Again, i really do expect that they utilize the weapons that we provide in a responsible way. For time, it seems to me if there define what you are telling them, what kirby is telling him and solvent is time, that would be worth. The palestinian children are starving for israels finance minister stopped american flower. Are taxpayers paid for to get into gaza. If israel, again, ever stops american paid aid from getting into gaza, will you commit to not sending future arm sales . Again, that is not my decision. Number one, do what i have been doing and engage the leadership and encourage them to ensure that humanitarian assistance i have one more question that we need some consequences another country is defying you and defined the National Security adviser. Defying the president and defying National Security memorandum 20. There has to be some consequences. I was surprised john kirby said israel is taking more precaution than the u. S. Military would to protect civilian life. Mr. Austin, is that statement in accurate giving israel has used 22,000 pound bombs when there was no place for civilians to go . Would be u. S. Government ever target terrorist with 2000 pound bombs in a densely populated area . It depends on the situation. Have we done that . Use 45 of bombs that are unguided or 2000 pound bomb . Do you think the Israeli Government is taking more precaution than the United States military would . Just paste upon based upon the results with the significant loss of life your time has expired. We recognize mr. Gallagher. Mr. Secretary, to review you went in for the initial procedure on december 22nd. Your testimony says they assumed the functions and duties of your office and were serving as acting secretary of defense. Correct . That is right. Did you make the decision to transfer authority to the deputy secretary of defense . I did. Does require you to make the decision . Or is there any notification to the president required by statute . It does not. By law, if i am unable to perform the duties of the office and the responsibility and authoritys transition to the the deputy secretary. You can usher us that you, and you alone, not a military aid maybe decision to execute to the deputy very deputy secretary of defense. That is right. I instructed my sister to put the process in place. What prevented you at the initial hospitalization, a plan procedure from tying the president , privately, about your condition . As i said, diagnosis of cancer is a very personal and deeply troubling issue and is one, quite frankly, i described it as a gut punch. I did not want the burden of the president with my personal issues. I did not get this right. I should have informed him and talk to him about it. I have since talked to the present and apologized. He responded with warmth and empathy. I have limited time, i am sorry. Im going to be rude. You said you expect your organization to do the right thing and notify higher grade when you went in, it was not your intent or expectation to notify higher. You do not expect your organization to by the present, correct . As i said, i did not get that right. That was not done. I appreciate the candor. Just so i have clarity, your initial intent was to go in and have the procedure and no complications and the white house would be none the wiser. Correct . I did not instruct anyone to notify anyone. That is right. It is not the fault of your organization or an aide, at least in the initial case . That is right. You went back to the hospital on january 1st. Your condition worsened and you said earlier the decision was made to transfer authorities again to the dep sec. Did you make that decision to transfer authority . I did not. The decision was whether or not they had reached a point, a threshold where i could not communicate or have access to secure communications. That triggers your commission was seer severe such that you cannot personally action the transfer of authority . The issue was, number one, they could not get to me. Two, it was access to secure communications. Had nothing to do with my physical condition at the time. The decision was made, so who made the decision . As my assistance conferred, they agreed that we had reached that threshold and they ship with the process in place and they did. Your military assistance maybe decision to transfer authority to the deputy secretary of defense . Military aides made the decision to initiate the process. The law says that if i am unable to your time is expired. Mr. Secretary, thank you for coming here and sitting with us. I wish you good health and a speedy recovery. We had a conversation earlier this week where i express my disappointment in some of the decisions that were made by you and by your team. And my personal experience being a young lieutenant in the military and what i would have expected my own cell to do in the circumstances. That is not what we should be talking about today. What we should talk about is rather than your health are those decisions that were made around better putting us as a nation and world in peril, rather begin actions of congress, right now. Pacifically, this house and the speaker of the house, mr. Johnson, is putting us in this world in peril. Last evening when i left, it was dark and raining. I was intercepted by people with ukrainian flags and one held a sign that said, it is 1939 again. It really struck me it literally brought tears to my eyes. It generally is 1939 again. When i was in lithuania early this month with one of the secretaries ministry of defense. He was near tears with his concern about what would happen if ukraine fell and what would happen to places like lithuania, moldova and europe. When i was in the horn of africa the gentleman who had served in our military and was now a contractor with our defense services, he was worried about the fact he would not allow his now 15yearold to serve in the military for fear he would die in combat. I believe he was thinking that because it is indeed, 1939 again. What are we doing . We are sitting here for hour upon hour of time that the 50 of us and the 435 of us could be spending voting on things like ukraine and the ukraine supplement so we can prevent 9039 from happening again. My question to you, whether you could reflect on how our allies are perceiving this from a dod perspective and where you are concerned whether russia might continue on in the war and whether she is watching . Our allies are troubled by the message that we are sending in failure to support ukraine. Certainly, it has impacted the morale of the ukrainian troops. It is a if we continue down this path, it will be a gift to putin. We certainly do not want that to happen. As others look at this, they will question whether or not we are a dependable ally or dependable partner. That is very troubling as well. I only have a little more time and i do not think i need all of it. In hours, mere hours, this house will adjourn yet again having accomplished nothing. We will not have voted for the supplement output we will not have voted to support you and the dod your proper appropriations. History will and history should judge us, our inactions. I do not want to be right. I do not want this to be 1939 again. I just want to be able to vote on the supplemental and on sunday our government. With that, i yield back. I recognize the gentleman from florida, mr. Gaetz. You did not tell the president that you have cramps or or you are being treated or the treatment had gone wrong because you sought as personal and medical. I think a lot of have empathy in that regard. Now that you see how personal medical decisions are, will you call for the rerecruitment, restoration of full rank and backpay for the 8600 Service Members who are mandated out of military . No, i wont. On march 4th, 2021, you authored a memo, message to the force. You said that there would be clear and strict accountability for anyone who did not meet the highest standards of the department of defense. We all acknowledge that what you did here did not meet the highest standards, right . You made a mistake. I admitted to neshek we have that read what becomes the clear and strict accountability . You will not be discharged . That is right. You will not be suspended. You will not be demoted or have your pay cut. None of those things will happen. You come here seeking some grace and forgiveness i want you to know that one of the Service Members who you six mandated out of the military he sent me the parable of the unforgiving debtor. It is in the book of matthew. It is versus 21 to 35. The man fell down before his king and begged him, please be patient with me and i will pay all of the debt. His master filled with pity released him and forgave him of his debt. When the man left the king he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded payment and his fellow servant sat down and begged him for more time. Be patient with me and i will pay it, he pleaded. His creditor would not wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison and tell the debt could be paid in full. When the other servant saw that they were of upset and told the king what had happened. The king called the man who had been forgiven and said, you evil servant. I forgive you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Should you have mercy on your fellow servant just as i have mercy on you . Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. Mr. Secretary, you come to us seeking forgiveness but you offer none. It seems as though the pattern is repeated. You made a mistake, like on the vax mandate and here regarding notification. And then you get busted, President Biden had to sign something into law reversing yoursix mandate but you got busted not because you became bored because we learned through other means. After you make a mistake, you want that benefit but you dont want to extend it to others. This is swift and clear. You are not meeting your own standards that you set for yourself. You say that the dod is a learning organization. Have you not learned yet that the military is weaker, not stronger, with the 8600 people you vax mandated out of military . The reason i am here is because a chairman requested that i appear to talk about the circumstances surrounding my hospitalization. Do not see the hypocrisy in it . You screwed up. We picture screwup and now you want grace these people who sought religious exemptions got no such grace. I think it is ridiculous that we are in three wars. He went awol for three days and we get two hours. You cannot spend more than two hours answering these questions, i dont know how you operate all of these wars. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts is , who inadvertently skipped. We recognize mr. Keating. Secretary, thank you for second sharing your success. They have seen the tolls of cancer and take their lives as well as cancer survivors. It gives our opportunity to get screening and treatment themselves. Ranking member on the house for an Affair Committee on europe. Each week, i see multiple leaders and foreign ministers, ambassadors, colleagues and parliament. Not a week goes by where i do not see at least 20 of these people when we are here. I want to show you one thing. Not one of those leaders asked where you were for three days. What they are asking is where has america been for the last three months . I assure them the folks are there to help ukraine. All that is lacking is for the speaker of the house to put a simple vote up and down on the floor. Mr. Secretary, you have acknowledged your responsibility. You have held yourself accountable. You have made changes to rectify that. We, in this house right now have to be held accountable if we are to keep democracy alive abroad, we cannot have it die right here at home in this house by not taking a basic democratic vote. The greatest threat to transatlantic democracy since world war ii is occurring right now. In world war ii, we lost over 400,000 americans. Giving their lives, not mentioning those injured and had marriages broken up to preserve democracy in the transatlantic sense. And usher in the greatest period of peace and prosperity of modern times. Right now, we are just mere stewards compared to the sacrifice of their memory. A danger to Young American men and women who might be deployed given our article 5 responsibility in a future war not to act. And act immediately. In the time i have remaining, there is a lot of misunderstanding about the stunning package, 60 billion to ukraine. One of the areas i dont think most people understand, we are in a period of modernization. We are phasing out the old assets and bring in the new up todate assets that we have to do to compete to china and every other threat we have. Almost half of this money, the 6 billion that we are giving in the supplemental budget under ukraine is coming back to replenish our own assets and bring them up to date here at home. It is really serendipitous. We are phasing out things that are useful that we will not use. We will replenish our own bird with American Manufacturing and jobs for american security. Can you take a few minutes to comment on that . I do not think people realize where this money is actually going to end up. Ukraine matters because it is important for our National Security first. You are right, congressman, the investment as we provide resources to ukraine, we replace those resources with more upto date equipment in our own inventory. That all flows through factories in various states around the country. There is billions of dollars that go into expanding our production lines and increasing our capacity. This benefits us your time has expired. I recognize the man from florida. Secretary, we wish you continued improvement to your health. This hearing today is not about you. It is not about your privacy. It is not about what you desire or your health. This is a out the chain of command and civilian oversight of the most powerful military in the world that is charged with keeping the American People safe. I want to be sure that as the American People watch this, we have a couple things clear. Given the inability to provide Timely Communications while in Critical Care, the military assistance agreed that the transfer authorities to the deputy secretary was next necessary. Were you conscious of that time . I was conscious. You were able to make that decision yourself. You are of sound mind to make that decision yourself . They did not have access to me to be able to there was then a disconnect of your ability to command the military through your secure communications because they cannot access you. It was determined they were advised by the doctors that they could not gain access to me. That is the tripwire to transfer authorities. Let us talk about whether there was a break. You testified under oath or was no gap did the president of the United States no on the first of january you were going to the hospital and an ambulance . He did not. Did he know on the 2nd of january that you had been admitted to Critical Care and ico . He did not the commander and chief elected by the American People, civilian oversight, did not know on january 1st or january 2nd. January 3rd comes around, did the president know . He did not. How long does it take we could go through a number of scenarios how long does it take for a Hypersonic Missile to hit the United States . 15 or 30 minutes, max . Icbm from korea, 30 minutes. Make a decision. The notification was not adequate but transfer of authorities. The president of the United States, as the commander in chief, does not know for three days his secretary of defense is incapacitated and in Critical Care. Correct . In Critical Care. The president of the United States does not know his secretary of defense cannot access secure comms, correct . The deputy is fully empowered and has full access to everything she needs. Mr. Secretary, who made the decision your port says the assistant secretary for Public Affairs was informed of the transfer of authority. If you made the decision for that individual to not inform the American People . I cannot answer back. Did he made that decision . Did i make that decision . Did the assistant secretary for Public Affairs make that decision . I cant answer that. You dont know who made that decision to not tell the American People . I know he was aware on that 2nd. I do not know what Decision Making processes to inform the public, you dont know. You dont know who made his decision do not inform the public . Im sure there was not a decision to i know he had the information. The commandant of the marine corps had an incident and informed the American People and you. Here is what is missing. This is not about process. This is about judgment. And poor judgment. My teenage daughter knows to tell her supervisor if she is not going to work. The American People, truck drivers, bartenders know they have to tell their boss or they get fired. You have held yourself to a different standard and that is unacceptable. The chair recognize the gentleman from michigan. Thanks for putting up with the outrage and the drama. I would say, you made a mistake. You admitted it. You are taking steps to address it. You want to know what account he is. It is having to come and sit in front of people and their outrage and drama in public about your Health Issues and the mistakes you have admitted that you made. When the entire world is wondering what is going on with the United States of america. If we want to talk about what is going on National Security and the greatest threat to National Security, it is not that the secretary of defense screwed up and is cleaning up the mess. The greatest threat to National Security is the polarization of the country and the fact that we cannot explain to the world who we are and what kind of leadership role we want. In that context, the whole world is trying to figure out what we are going to do next. Are we going to find ukraine . To make sure that for the First Time Since world war ii, we dont have an autocratic nation takeover democracy, first time but are we going to send a signal to the chinese and the Chinese Government that we still want a leadership role in the world and we are willing to back that up with strengths, force and with action . We have got our soldiers being shot at in the middle east by the iranians. We have got a lot going on. I would hazard a guess that the people who are most dramatic about this issue are the very ones who have said publicly that they dont intend to support protecting ukraine against putin. They do not care about what is going on in taiwan. They do not want that role in the world. They want to distract us with this and Everything Else they are yelling about because they are ceding our leadership role in the world. U. S. Leadership is far from perfect. I would take u. S. Leadership over chinese or russian leadership any day. Watch the outrage. You can correlate that to how much they dont want to talk about sucking up to their whoever, political masters and denying the United States of america is leadership role that it has held since world war ii. We are also sitting here unable to get a budget done. A budget for the whole government, not just the pentagon. We are living on these oneweek extensions, two month extension is going on on. If we are worried about competing in the 21st century on National Security. If we are worried about drone attacks using 1000 drone to hit our forces in places like the middle east, we need to do things to adapt and fight. By not passing a budget for next year. The pentagon can do nothing new. They are unable to start anything new. They are holding on, week by week, month by month we screw up our National Security because we cannot get our own house in order. This committee has always been a real calm in the storm when it comes to bipartisanship. I would ask when we come back together in a month and have a hearing with the secretary, we focus it on the things that are important to National Security instead of denying this man the apology that he has made, the mea culpa that he has made and get onto the business of the American People. I yield back. I would make the point that the chairman decided to call this hearing. There is no stronger proponent of ukraine funding then the chairman. The chair now recognizes the young lady from michigan. Thank you for being here today. I just want to clear up a couple things that i think is really important. We talked a lot about changes to the process. You spoke early you will make eight changes to the process. I think that is part of the problem. As we spent all of this time putting together processes but unless we are willing to follow them, the processes are really irrelevant. My first question, you admitted that it was not the process that was the problem, it was you, correct . I did not admit that. I miss her, i apologize. What error did you make . If any. First of all, i said that i did not inform the president initially of my cancer diagnosis and that was a mistake. In terms of the hospitalization january 1st throughout, again, i was the patient. My expectation is that the organization informed the right agencies. Maybe i did not understand it. As long as you inform somebody other than your boss to let the boss know, that is acceptable . Certainly, informing the chief of staff, the white house, National Security adviser , i think they would immediately inform the president. It was not your fault, it was the staffs fault. The staff made an error not to inform the president. Im just trying to connect the dots. The president , my chief of staff informed the National Security advisor on the 4th of january. That notification follow through to the president. In your opinion, you did not make an error . It was the process that was the issue . We did not get this right. Im just trying to find where the blame lands. From the 2nd to the 4 it was not your fault, it was the staffs fault. I do not have access to communication during that time. He didnt have a phone or nothing . No. Maybe we should perform the processes of the hospital to allow phones in there. My question, it does not seem like were taking a lot of academy, which i thought i heard at the beginning. My apologies to the American People for that. When you were a commander, would you accept the same behavior from your subordinates as you did . Let me play it out to this. You have an unlisted soldier person. They went in for treatment and did not tell you, the commander. They told their friend. That is cool . We can follow that. You accept that and there would be no punishment and no ramifications from that person . Correct . I dont know which part you are referring i am making a scenario. Your boss is the president of the United States. No different than an enlisted person if you are the commander and you are in charge. You are the boss. If the enlisted soldier did the exact same thing as you did, you accept, it is not the enlisted persons fault, it is their staffs fault. It is not even there staffs fall, it is the process fault. I think there would be some level of ramification and consequences or punishment. I am seeming to not be able to connect those dots with you. Your time is expired. We now recognize the young lady from new jersey. Thank you mr. Secretary for appearing today. I wish you continued health and a speedy recovery. I have spent the last several weeks meeting with allies, partners and stakeholders related to the current conflicts and struggles around the world. I met with president zelenskyy and our European Partners to discuss working ukraine i met with leadership in egypt, jordan and israel to discuss the israel hamas war. Ive also met with the jewish palestinian and ukrainian committees in my own district to hear about their concerns. Finally, as a member of the select committee on the Chinese Communist party, i know all too well the challenges our nation faces and competition in the end of pacific region. Despite these and other challenges, the department of defense of faces across the road, this legislative body has still not passed the appropriations needed to plan and prepare and to act in our nations best interest. While the butt administration has a plan for the National Security supplemental that was prepared months ago i remain concerned that there is no plan from the speaker and from the gop majority to pass the desperately needed supplemental. I share the real frustration and anger you are hearing today from my democratic colleagues that as we face complex across the world and as we on the House Armed Services committee hold this hearing, my republican friends , i would expect to be the strongest allies in this fight to get the supplemental on the floor are not addressing these huge issues. I will ask you, mr. Secretary, as we near another potential government shutdown. We have kick the can down the road for a couple of weeks only, can figure this out. As we keep limping along with cr after cr after cr and as we approach the fiscal year 2025 appropriation cycle, even though we have not passed the 24. We are now getting into hearings for the National Defense authorization act for 25. Every member of this committee can tears continues to hear how damaging cr is for the National Defense. Can you speak in more detail about the Practical Impact that are broken appropriations process has on the implementation of our National Defense Security Strategy . Youve heard me say a number of times that you lose both time and money and if we do have a full year with scr, we will lose about 25 million in discretionary funds. This is a big deal because we go through a lot of effort to link our budget request to our strategy. I think weve done a good job of that. And without a budget, we cannot execute the strategy and its fullest. That is a concern. As you look at the challenges around the world, our ability to do the right things and make sure that we maintain the edge in the indopacific, to help ukraine counter russias aggression and do the things in the middle east that we are doing to support israel and to try to work to prevent the spread of a larger conflict. Again, we are supporting and doing a lot of things around the globe in support of our strategy and without the funding , and hampers us. Time is expired. Consistent with our agreedupon time of ending this hearing, we will have time for three more questioners. Mr. Fallon, ms. Escobar and ms. Mace. I would ask all the members to submit their questions for the record and the secretary to respond to those in a timely fashion. The chair recognize the general from texas. Thank you. Secretary, i would like you to go back to the spring of 2021. It was in april that year that you and other military Senior Leaders were discussing a draw down in one of afghanistan with President Biden he did not take your advice. Like a good political appointee, you publicly remain supported of his decision but would you describe the withdrawal is closer to a success or failure . I would say that i am proud of the work that our troops did in a very challenging situation. And proud of the support that we provided to afghan, who wanted to exit the country but we were not able to support all the folks that we wanted to support. That effort continues as we speak today. Let me ask you the question again. Would you describe it closer to a success or failure . Again, it is a challenging situation. We were successful in getting and retrograde our people and equipment under challenging situation. We were able to help a number of afghans as well. In the 18 months prior to this administration coming in office in january 2021, how many wives did we lose in afghanistan . I am sorry . Prior to joe biden becoming president , how Many Americans did we lose in afghanistan . Im a servicemembers . Very few. I would have to go back and check the record. I think it is exactly 0. We lost 13 lives under this administrations watch we left billions of dollars worth of equipment. The armies disintegrate within two weeks. General mckenzie, and i believe yourself had a discussion in 21 and cannot guarantee to me are the American People that any of the 5000 scumbags did escape are involved in the murder of the 13 servicemembers that occurred under your watch. Why did we have a withdrawal when it was not prime fighting season . These questions could have been avoided. Just a little walk through history. Vladimir putin, a lot of my colleagues have talked about ukraine. In 2008, Vladimir Putin stole from georgia. In 2014 he stole crania under Barack Obamas watch. And then the insurgency in ukraine kicked off as you well as well. And in 2017 to 20 21 was who was the president of the United States . It was President Trump. Were there any new, did put an end have any new foreign adventures in those four years . He didnt. Thank you. Every 2022, what happened . That is when he attacked ukraine. Fullscale invasion. Almost 200,000 russian troops. I think that if we were more concerned with our military projecting power and not worried about personal pronouns, it would be better for the American People and the free world. I yelled back. The chair recognizes Ranking Member for a few statements. I will be quick but there was the peace treaty negotiated by donald trump with the taliban that had a ceasefire in place. It is a shame mr. Fallon is leaving. On may 1st he sometimes you can learn from listening too. That peace treaty expired in may of 2021. The reason there were no casualties is because President Trump had promised the taliban we would leave and there was a ceasefire. Coming up 2021, if we were not gone, the ceasefire would have expired. The rewriting of the history of afghanistan in this committee is deeply troubling. What would have happened in may if we were still there . I do not think the taliban would offer the ceasefire. I dont think we wouldve had the zero casualty list for too much longer. Let us understand what happened in afghanistan instead of rewriting history. I thank the chairman for giving me that indulgence and i yield back. We recognize the lady from texas, ms. Escobar. Thanks to the Ranking Member for that very important recent history lesson. Mr. Secretary, good to see you. Thank you for being here today. Please note that we all wish you nothing but the best as you continue on your Journey Towards absolute maximum best health possible. I want to thank you for the acknowledgment you back in retrospect, what could have been done better and for about 30 day assessment. I would like to give you the opportunity to assure the American People who are watching , what lessons were learned in that 30 day review . Looking forward, what can and will be done better . The importance of a notification of key leaders and Senior Leader being hospitalized and the importance of everyone in the chain and environment understanding the policies and procedures and are able to put those into play right away. We put measures in place that inshore, first of all that people are aware of the policies and procedures we had an opportunity to put this in play. On february 11th when i went back to the hospital, prompt notification was made. A transfer of authority was made promptly. Again, i had reassumed my responsibility on february 13th. We already put things into place by february 11th before the 30 day review came out. When the 30 day review made recommendations, we, you know, will take the recommendations on but we have already executed two of them. The other six were promptly pursued. I think it is always important to exercise judicious oversight and make sure that we learn lessons and do better going forward. I really appreciate that the scene description of the Lessons Learned and the assurances to the American People. Like many of my colleagues, i have the incredible privilege of attending and participating in the gerty conference recently. And in the meeting with president zelenskyy as we discussed the situation in ukraine and the fact that this body has not done its job in ensuring that we vote on and pass the supplemental request by the president. I would like for you in this lastminute so that the American People understand, why this is so important for us to survive and support you rain. Three years or five years down the line, if ukraine falls to putin, what is in that future for all of us . Thank you and thank you for your support of the supplemental. If ukraine falls, again, putin will not stop there. He will just continue to move forward attack and take on the sovereign territory of his neighbors. If you are a baltic state, you are really worried about whether or not you are next. They know putin. They know what he is capable of. Quite frankly, if ukraine falls, i really believe that nato will be able to fight with russia. We recognized manowar from south carolina. Thank you. I have been disappointed today in some of the responses. When did you first receive your diagnosis . It was early in december. Who did you tell . Did you tell your staff when you receive the diagnosis . As i said earlier to tell your staff, yes or no . No. When did you learn that you needed surgery . As soon as that diagnosis was made when did you tell your staff he needed surgery . Did you then inform your staff . I did not tell my staff i needed surgery. When did you schedule the surgery . It was in december that was the december 22nd surgery . Yes. Did you tell your staff you had a surgery scheduled . I did not. When you go under surgery for Prostate Cancer, you need to be totally knocked out . You cannot be awake . You have to be totally unconscious . That is right. Thank you. The date of the first surgery was december 22nd but at what point did you tell your staff you would be unconscious and incapacitated . Again, i did you tell your staff you would be in the hospital and under the knife . I admitted i did not get this right. I should have notified the president of my cancer diagnosis. You did not inform your staff in december when you have the surgery that you be incapacitated at all . I knew i was going to be incapacitated. I transferred authorities to the deputy secretary. We have this emergency vent that was january 1. Correct. What time of day did that happen . Late afternoon. Did you tell your staff what was happening . I didnt. My concern was getting to the hospital. He did not tell your staff that you are on the way to the hospital . That is right. Wins your staff find that youre at the hospital . I do not know you dont know when you told your staff here at the hospital . Are you kidding me . As a patient in the hospital this is okay, let me back up. If any American Worker did what you did, they would be fired. They are not the number two in the chain of a can a man in the most lethal fighting force in the world that you are not informing anyone that this is happening let alone the president of the United States and the joint chiefs of staff and the delay to the deputy secretary. What happens i did not serve up most of my family has served. Can you tell me in just a few seconds went a soldier goes awol , when they wear the uniform and put their lives on the line for our nation, for you, what happens when they go awol . What is the punishment . I would not equate my going to the hospital and receiving treatment being incapacitated is going awol. You do not equate disappearing and being incapacitated to being awol . I did not disappear. You testified you did not tell your staff. You just testify. What happens when a soldier goes awol . You have to realize i have a fairly large are the honorably or dishonorably discharged . What happens. You are not answering the questions. I am not going to rest until someone until someone is held accountable. I am deeply disappointed. I yield back. The china recognizes Ranking Member for any closing comments he has. I would remind members that did not get to questions submitted for the record i asked the secretary to respond in a timely fashion. We are adjourned. Mcconnell intn as the republican leader in the senate in just a minute. More details on the announcement. Was it a surprise yesterday . The decision itself was not necessarily a surprise to a lot of