You mentioned this earlier, but i think another issue for this generation is the barrier to entry for running for office or participating in the elected political life. And you know, from my experience this generation looks at life differently than others, so running for office or the hill may not be the best way to participate in service. I would be interested to hear what you have to say. What are the Biggest Barriers to participate in politics and why are young people not doing it more . People in Political Office often times today we look at them bickering over things that they dont think matter that the issues are affecting us or doing something without Climate Change making sure they have healthcare for all. This is an issue that young people are are interested in but then we dont see that happening in congress. We dont hear about corporate interest or the revolving door happening between the big finance Financial Firms and the u. S. Government. And we think why would i want to be that person. There wont be the potential for government. So it hasnt run the project where we serve a thousands of people across the country about what their views were for government and what it could be and i think when you ask people to the question what could government be you get a very different answer than when you ask what the government is. We think the government can provide something good and it can be wellmanaged and it can serve innovation. Frankly no one can scale innovation like the government can. And i think what matters is that we invest in organizations and we invest in local and state governments and the aware of opportunities for participation in a wide scale. And i think that groundswell can be changed in the government. One or the other. I think that probably more than most will run for office. You know, i dont know. My inkling is that it is a no. But i think that its continuing to do to do what im doing and that is my job and my office is sometimes on a very small level of being on Public Relations to the community. And i think whatever i do is going to have to be something connected to service because it is important. But i do want to touch on how we can be more politically active. First i dont understand why it isnt a national holiday. If we want to talk about santa claus things that give people the chance to vote. Its a huge thing that would actually change whats going on in congress because when we vote, we are influencing that door on capitol hill. They are still not enough of us. If you look at who actually voted in the campaign for new york city, it was less than 10 of people that voted in the primary. So less than 10 of new york city chose who the mayor is going to be. If we start voting more we will see people that reflect who we are in the electorate driven congress and we will see changes and be inspired to be in office and have an easier answer when someone comes to me. [laughter] on the reservations i have no interest in running for office. I love policy and i dont left politics and i think thats okay. I love working with people every day that are trying to figure out how they can learn skills on the grounds that they are informed working on policies and positions of greater influence. This is probably going to be my last one and it will take maybe two minutes. I want to do a few quick hits were a oneword answer. So i think the first thing what would you say to the one thing people over 50 dont understand about young people . And i guess i would say interconnectivity. And what do you mean by that . He said one word, so i said inter connectivity. I think the way that we are connected whether it be what was on our phones, you know, like mentioned globally even is something that someone over 50 mmike not quite understand. Some people do. My mom is on facebook and twitter and does the same thing but because we are constantly sharing and seeing things on twitter and instead ran that is a sign we are not paying attention but that is actually how that activity can be used for broadscale change. When it comes to things Like Technology and taking advantage of this technology is building stronger communities and allows for the fair sharing of resources and theres a lot of potential. So the interconnectivity for that reason. A different one to change it up. What should our leaders know about young people . Guest what should the leaders know . That we are watching you. We are watching you and what you do. [laughter] if the leaders understood how many of us have a couple of politicians and have done something really good on twitter or facebook or have done something dumb in the institutes we are watching you. We have this tool. I am going to tell the world and let them know what youre doing. Your opinion of life to left shark at the super bowl. [laughter] let me ask a real question. What do i want to ask you . I guess what is the one issue that you think will be most important in 2016 . While this gets back to the millennial. We all have issues that are important to us and where we live and not saying that there is one issue that is important because they are so on every issue is connected and figuring out how to have a bigger lens and my last thing is i never understand no one else. How they want to communicate and how they would want to partner with you instead of categorizing one group so we have the power to make relationships with people. Im going to close by doing a quick survey of the audience. On the question of what issue in 2016, we recently did a survey and somebody can shout it out what do you think is the most Foreign Policy for 18 to 35yearolds by 44 of . Any guesses . Its not left shark. [laughter] [inaudible] ding ding ding you got it. You are a reporter writes . Like period cynically told the audience into this. Climate change was the most important issue. On National Issues what do people think . Economy, so related it is actually income inequality and income and asperity. Did you say that . You should have a prize. Income inequality was the most important. I dont know whether those will be the most important issues that i thought it was interesting. Okay. Lets open up for questions. I want to remind everybody if you are going to ask a question use the microphone. It is going to be on cspan. I know there are a lot of millennials watching cspan. [laughter] you are going to be on cspan, so if you want to message label have my phone also. Raise your hand and then i think we have a mike coming around. You mentioned to religious institutions and everybody talks about engagement. What about loyalty can i make them a Lifelong Party or contributor is that a older model . Is absolutely true that you are then walked in for good and there are plenty of examples of the demographic. That is actually why you have seen more coming out on twitter during events like the super bowl and making their social issues and policies now. You have seen many more taking a stand on Climate Change because they are recognized because you are then walked in for good and eating at whole foods because even though it is expensive and you agree with the philosophy of the company i think the authenticity is really important theres a few others but cory booker is actually tweeting every day, i think there is only one person that has access to his twitter account other than him and he is responding to people and it may just be about everyday things that real mess and humanness with regards to the policy has left people excited about him as a candidate talking about our generation and the tool that we have in the social media if you do mess up and lie to us much like people are dropping American Apparel or Urban Outfitters they have the brand loyalty that when the funding came out they were either antigay or having a sexual abuse problem immediately if it drops into so that is kind of the power that we have in the generation. I am trying to figure it all out to pick up on the last plaintiff in teaching the history of the baby boom generation to talk about the economy and Growth Opportunities thats really shaping that generation to talk about politics. So, you have a generation with any quality to the movement of one class to another with jobs that are less stable. What is all of that in shaping the outlook of the policy and the culture of the millennial generation . The 140 characters. We are deeply skeptical of generations. We feel like we have been lied to one too many times by corporations and media we are very optimistic which is interesting what it be better. But if you ask young people the same question on the entrepreneurial generation i think you spoke to that earlier. I sat in the start up Media Company there are so many examples of young people who brought the phrase make lemonade out of lemons and go out everyday and Certain Companies go out and try to make the best of it. So that is a very unique thing for this generation but there is an optimism to make the world a better place and change the world for the better. That is how we dealt with a lot of politics. It was a very unsure job markets to say the least and i think the benefit of that was people reconsidered what they are couriers could look like and thought about okay if im watching things fall apart and thinking okay what do i want my future to look like i think what is the world but i care about and what can i do to change it and i think that had a huge impact on our generation. We started at the same time and theres obviously a huge start up space. There is tons of social enterprises focused and there is creativity that has kind of cut out of having an unsure job market. Theres also something to the fact that we grew up during a really serious economic crisis longstanding foreign war partisan bickering on the 24 hour news cycle etc. And i think that coupled with our optimism makes our generation reflect a lot more especially to the point earlier about when companies mess up when it comes to not respecting the native american depletion or the community. And that is something that we would stand for. The comingofage leadership failed especially in the establishment institutions. I think our generation felt things our parents integrate grid and had become a waste of civil rights struggles, women getting 77 cents for every dollar coffee and race to be a quality that our great grandparents were fighting for. As a latino, they were now emerging populations in the u. S. And we are still treated as secondclass citizens often times. So i think that you may be teaching about a different generation but its totally more introspective in the generation. Its to continue to struggle because it is going to be a struggle for the next one. And we do want a legacy that may be as brighter but we are still fighting the same fight the previous generations to. To talk about the company is taking on the causes in the Global Warming and so two examples i thought of Goldman Sachs came out in late 2012 or 2013 and thats great but they are not for the financial reform. They also came out on Immigration Reform but not on workers rights. Can they buy and pollute a certain cause. It as a baseline in my opinion. It should be a standard. To me at least and a lot of folks what matters is where folks stand on the policy issues if we receive a lot of this social Media Campaign with a lot of young people starting nonprofits and people getting involved in the policy process to elucidate some of those that are not often seen. They will look into what American Apparel is doing. So think of it as an opportunity for the baseline to change i guess its kind of where i matter. I would echo that. I think there is an authenticity that cannot be overlooked. These are things to throw around where you support because the Great Company if theres other things that young people know and have been talking about and can point to that still have not changed. But i think that so the super bowl was an amazing moment this year i think. In the Previous Year it was focused on some of the rights raised on the social justice issues and every year the super bowl becomes this moment where all kinds of ads and advertisements or ways that they take advantage of sexualized depictions of women we dont see that at all and in fact not in the same way that you saw in the years past. So i think that our coverage was mostly look its mostly positive relative in the years past and i think that is by and large a good thing. There is always more to be done. And so on the specific advertisements, you know, there may have been for about 110 more but by and large as things change it is a good thing. Theres a lot to poke at the fact that they came on and talked about the Domestic Social justice issues that were a big part that we havent seen but didnt change the fact that chris brown was in the audience and they moved down where they are asked if that makes sense. The nfl has a long going stands where they dont comment on whether players are doing and suddenly we saw them push against a rock and a hard place. And while the entire company or organization has a lot to make i cant help but think that they are starting the money in the Domestic Violence and the Domestic Violence campaign. Does that mean i think the nfl is the absolute soapbox to go to . Though, they are a major problem so whether it be a contract or how the players are treated for taking paternity leave, but im happy that they are taking a stance. And our generations or as shallow as Companies May think we are. Because we have a tool in the social media they have Migrant Workers in the campaigns and they made them look like the imMigrant Workers at a were not even paying the people that came out really quickly. They get behind the issues that matter to our generation because i think they are suspecting them to actually become better companies. I am a journalist and i just want to say i came here today and spend time talking about kayla and i found her impressive and i think that she is a real tribute to the best you have to offer. I do find a lot of the generational insularity. We are involved in a pretty steep crisis of legitimacy on the part of the leadership. You would have the lgb t. Writes and economic disparity in income inequality we have some trendlines going that are not good and part of that is the dysfunctional leadership. How are we going to do it differently . I think that the class ratification and the lack of mobility we are not going to become a social democracy like we have to figure this out. So that is the challenge. What do you see your generation doing that other generations after the baby boomers are not. I dont know if that is the number one challenge and i had friends that is going to be the issue. I think online activism gets a really bad rap particularly for a lazy type of activism i dont think that is true and its overblown. Its shown that this generation is not engaged and does activism very differently but its still doing activism so thats one thing. Secondly just to the point earlier it was insane and for the people our age entering politics out of the money that we need to raise in order to run and its difficult that is the truth of the matter which i think has resulted in other forms of activism and working to change the system. So there is a lot of great work being done by the panel and its going to look a lot differently. The people that do that is going to look a lot more diverse than it does in this organizing sense. It could be different i think. We talked a lot about Online Engagement and social media. But i think what is yet to be seen is how online actually translates into the Online Community building. The ability for the localities to be connected and also still moved into place the students are still looking at at other universities relates to the local Economic Development under the banner of income inequality and folks working in dc and new york and california and humboldt county in california. They are still working on the ground in the communities facetoface so that is something that could be different both online and offline activities. I will say things like this matters. The test to do with the terms of income inequality in access to Affordable Housing and in terms of access of Higher Education. And i think that those issues while they are not coming out under social media level about it are the issues you brought up that are important. Income inequality is a huge problem in this country and i dont think that anyone in this room would argue with that. But the way that this generation is choosing to use behind it is in a different vehicles and perhaps the generations before. Yes, in the front. [inaudible] i am in trade at the facts you gave around at the millennials issue and then nationally if these are the issues that are given demographically in the generation what are the panel views on the impact of the policies related to those two issues . I think that money and politics really shaped my view of the Political Landscape because the confluence of the super pack the highest area that they have to pass in terms of the Fundraising Fund raising dust or medically assessed the landscape especially with regards to the Political Office. The same faults fault time after time if they are a part of an existing. So that is something i care deeply about and they are not always excited about the political candidates because they are like these are the people that ive been seeing since i was in high school. And i think that if we can get to the root of that money and politics issue, we can see a landscape that i think that our generation will be happier with. I think also the work that they are doing at the Roosevelt Network is feeding the fields. We cannot ensure that there are other folks being risen up to where they have the same powerful networks and understanding the policy advocacy change and that is something they are doing with other people every single day by huge numbers and that is encouraging. Thinking about it in ten years how many people have been sort of that we will see in ten years in the and the positions of greater influence. There is a Huge Movement right now. That isnt me as a liberal in new york talking. There are a lot of people to talk about the indictment of the political system so much that Hillary Clinton and for the progressives it isnt as interesting as the last very short period. She talks about income inequality every day. And younger young people are buying it and listening. So thats been interesting and the other piece of it, Climate Change at dont think weve cracked yet as a country. Its been talked about a day in and day out but we have not seen the mobilization yet and that will change in the same way that we solve a change on the rights but the income inequality already there are politicians talking about it and gaining big attraction. So i think what you will see is more people like that and it doesnt have to be somebody on the left. There is 20 of people who are libertarians and i want to talk about that issue also talking about this generation and what we can do maybe we are not going to run into office but we can change how. But when it hits home is gerrymandering. They continue to remain in office. I think the Campaign Finance is important. Thats the way we get people in office. They are creating voter id laws that keep people from going into the pool. We cant raise as much money as everyone else but we can sure as hell raise issues that will affect who is in office so i do think those are three issues we need to be pushing a little harder because it is of his Major Pressure regardless how much money they have. One other thing we mention atop the generation is the most diverse. This is a survey not a generation as a whole but these are important issues with lots of other ones that really matter there are millennials on the coast. Should we move to this area over here. Thank you so much for being on the panel. I wanted to transcend the United States so given how interconnected we are and given this energy whether it is in turkey or mexico or india how do we harness that energy to create the alliances or shared understanding for these issues that matter for the entire world or given that all of us will be leaders at some point and we will be able to have better countries how do we harness that energy right now . We work in six countries and the lows fellows from 22 Different Countries right now but we received more applications this year from uganda then anywhere else. And 60 of People Living in uganda are 35 and under. And the Unemployment Rate within that group of people is 60 . It is a Large Population in the country that doesnt have a job market. So they are working every single day on these issues. We worked a lot with them because it is using the framework to figure out how they can use their voice to affect change and delete in a positive way. They are 85yearsold. While past. He doesnt get elected anywhere. And so they make a huge disconnection between themselves and the issues people in power care about and yet they have not had a lot of opportunities to explore how to use their voice and advocacy. Where i see the huge area for the potential impact is they are connected to 450 other fellows and they are building advocacy campaigns where now they have a lot of voices behind them. So thats one thing and in addition it is so global that we could look up and see what is going on right now on the internet if we wanted to so it is much easier to understand issues and other parts of the world. And so for us we are excited and we did it in new haven. Two years ago one of our fellows stood up and was like you know it is going to be so convenient when im the minister of health in nigeria. We all know each other and share the vision for equity. Now that she is getting her phd at harvard paper by the ministry of health once the stipulation that she returns to join them and so there is a huge luxury to all of us being connected and that being said, i think that there is a difference between using your voice and using it responsibly and knowing how to speak the power and how to be effective rather than just speaking. I also wanted wanted a time check. How are we doing . One or two more. Okay. You have been waiting. I wrote for the previous millennium. [laughter] i very much appreciate the involvement in the local team but i do feel also the United States is responsible for over 20 of gdp in the world, and then i feel that its important that we use the infrastructure that we have for the ability that we can possibly use it and the question that my daughter had is what should we be doing about the student to death and the cost of Higher Education in the country because it looks as though it is very prohibitive for many people. Does anyone want to take that on . I think that the things happening on the state level have almost been trying to make college more affordable. The president announced that they were going to be free. There are some big things and i think that your daughter has a point. For me we were talking about this the other day that we cant even imagine how parents could have gone through college and the fact that there are people that walker and every day having to put themselves through college and work and this is a hurdle that affects lowincome minorities and its raising our voices about that legislation in people. I think something that was interesting one of our students which was a Community College in california very articulately says how are we going to be able to solve the education crisis solving more young people at the table, so to students in dc in the organization went to the department of education and i think that is a part of the first test because a lot of times we are just analyzing things and looking at reports and people in dc are having panels etc. Etc. But what matters is that you have to people that are looking at jobs trying to go to Community College or even past families trying to put themselves through college all to shape this idea of opportunity that we have on this country. Those are the types of people that we need to involve in the policy process if we are going to be able to make policies that are actually good for a large portion of the population. We have time for one more in the back. Sorry. There is a socially liberal fiscally conservative kind of candidate might be able to mobilize young voters that is very possible. People ask me argue guys bias and i like to say towards young people and what i mean by that is there are certain social issues for the generation these are issues if you ask people they universally agreed that there are others in the fiscal policy thats one of them so i think what will be interesting to see i dont know who that candidate is going to be but it will be interesting to see if you ask people are you liberal or conservative they would say neither we are independent which means that there is an opportunity as a party to appeal if they can strike the right balance if that makes sense. One interesting person to watch what the rand paul. Its clear on certain issues there are things people will agree with and on others maybe not so much and how people weigh those factors will be Something Interesting to watch i think. Any comments about the debate but one thing about your question i think the term is insanely looted because i think when we look at candidates like Hillary Clinton people want to label her as being fiscally conservative and i dont really think that thats fair and i dont really think that Elizabeth Warren is on that point, so i have a problem with labeling people as that but when you look at it in the bigger term and the bigger nation, in order to win people in the midwest it has to be relatable to things that matter to them so things like student debt are going to matter and and job stability, so its what we make them talk about during the campaign that actually matters that will show them that we have to admit everyone caters to what is asked of them and whoever is paying attention and thats why i want us to Pay Attention more because we will be able to ask the questions and put them on the spot. I want everybody in the audience to join me. Ive certainly learned a lot from all of you. [inaudible conversations] a recent conversation with doctor anthony kouji the head of the institute of allergy and infectious diseases. Watch that at 7 p. M. Eastern on cspan2 more from the Consumer Electronics show as we look at new technology projects. If theres something you want to capture it will be very simple and it will be easy to. There is no remote required. Its smart enough to know the direction. If you throw at it will go further away and it will close the photo and take back. Earlier this month the Senate Armed Services Committee Heard from the leaders of u. S. Central command, u. S. Africa command and special Operations Forces. Its as well as the threats posed by the terrorist groups such as the potential risks to the command operations. At the twohour meeting was held by the chairman senator john mccain. General David Rodriguez and joseph the Committee Meets today to receive testimony on the foster of the command u. S. Africa command and u. S. Special Operations Command. I extend our appreciation to all of you for your Long Distinguished Service to the troops and families who defend the nation every day. To somalia and from yemen to iraq and syria the old order across africa and the middle east is under siege. Both of the regional balance among the states and the social order within the states is collapsing and no new vision has emerged to take its place. Unfortunately, the lack of u. S. Strategy and development of strong u. S. Leadership has confused our friends and encouraged our enemies and created space for the maligned influence to worship. Despite the fact that doctor kissinger testified that the United States is not faced a more diverse and complex array of crisis since the end of the second cold war, the looming threat to compound of the threat and help create a leadership that fuels the chaos of the current predicament. The retired general told the committee know field can have such havoc on the security that mindless sequestration is achieving today. And i couldnt agree more. Our witnesses are uniquely positioned to describe the increased risk in the sequestration. In this time successfully we must have unambiguous National Security priorities, clarity and our Strategic Thinking and an unwavering commitment to the resources required to support the necessary courses of action. For your sake lets hope our Job Performance isnt measured by the number of crises to juggle. My fear is that you are expected to juggle with one hand tied behind your back. Whether it is sequestration or direction from above not to upset iran during the negotiations were tested the one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. Im deeply troubled by the comments from the Senior Administration officials on iran. The secretary recently said and i am not making this up that to the the effect of the military action and iraq is positive. Similarly the chairman of the joint chiefs said as long as the government remains committed to the inclusivity of the various groups inside of the country than then i think the influence will be positive. Again again it is in that is in the category of i am not making this up. General austin i know from our conversations you do not suffer the delusion that somehow iran can be a force for good in the region. You cant afford that fantasy. Today i want to discuss the strategy to address the situation on the ground as it is rather than we wish it to be. General David Petraeus gave a picture in a recent interview which is worth quoting and i quote the current regime is not our ally in the middle east. Its ultimately part of the problem and not the solution. The more they are seen to be dominating the region the more it will inflame the radicalism and fuel the rise of groups like the Islamic State. I would be interested to see if the witnesses agree with that assessment. Iran is not our ally. We learned yesterday that the u. S. Is providing air support that is reported as being caused by 20 to 30000 militia fighters and only three had only three to 4,000 Iraqi Security forces. I have many concerns and questions about how and why we are doing this which i hope you can answer for me today. In the country that president obama recently praised bottled for the u. S. Counterterror prism a Success Story and im not making that one up either the prospect of the groups like iranian militants in charge of an air force and possessing Ballistic Missiles was more than our partners could withstand. The strikes by these concerned nations stand in part of their disengagement in the region and a total absence of the u. S. Leadership. In the scenario that again you couldnt make up why all our partners conduct airstrikes to halt the proxies in yemen the United States is conducting strikes to support the offensive of the iranian proxies. This is bizarre and misguided. Another tragic case of leading from behind. The complex intertwining of the problem challenge is an area of the the administration has poorly handled to date the ability to prioritize and deal with multiple crises simultaneously. We are also seeing the links between isis and the groups throughout africa including a presence in libya and a newfound relationship with nigeria adding to the rising threat across the continent of africa remains plagued by longstanding conflicts that have resulted in large displacement of people analyzing and stability. General rodriguez it is obvious from our discussion this week in my office that none of this is news to you yet despite the growing array of threats the Africa Command suffers from Significant Resource shortfalls. One of the key components to combat the global terrorism is of men and women and special Operations Command. And for the prepared remarks it said our special operators have deployed in more than 80 countries. The demand continues to exceed the supply placing enormous strain on the readiness of the force compounding the strain there are a looming threats that will just degrade the capabilities of the force but also the service provided. General, i look to you to update the committee on the impact of sequestration on the men and women that youve lead to the increased risk of the troops would be he would be forced to accept as a result. We need a strategy that spans the same geography as the threat from isis to ohio to iran. Our witnesses worked tirelessly to combat the threats together and we owe them and their forces believed better than the piecemeal approach that actually fails to address the full spectrum of the threats that we face. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses. Senator reid. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. Good morning. And let me join the senator is not only welcoming the witnesses but also in thinking the van and the men and women of the command for the service to the nation. You are presented Combatant Commanders that are most engaged in the fight against al qaeda and isis and threats that no no geographic boundaries and require the regional and sometimes trans regional approach to effectively deal with the rise threat into the National Boundaries between iraq and syria in areas providing a Training Ground to spread violence upon returning to their homes in europe, asia or the United States. In iraq there is a recognition for the kurdish to overcome the divisions in the isis threat. The Prime Minister has taken steps to begin to address the grievances and they support that one could argue that ultimately the issues in iraq have to have a political solution that military efforts will buy time but not ultimate and decisive success. Addressing the course that leads would require promoting the conditions for the political arrangement as well as success on the battlefield. If the influence dominate in iraq many orders from the cubs force threatens to alienate the communities and reports that human rights abuses to conclude that they are better off with isis under the control of the militia and that would be an extraordinary setback for all of us. General its interesting to hear your assessment on the advising and assisting of the Security Forces to build up the capability of the kurdish fish murder as they begin to take territory from isis. We are interested in your views on the influence in iraq and the threat it poses in the longterm. And overnight as senator mccain indicated in yemen, you were given an Additional Task of supporting the dcc operations and their offensive operations in yemen. And i hope general you can give an update on those disposabilitys and operations. An additional concern is the negotiations between the p5plus1 in the success failure or something in between. It will have profound impacts. In afghanistan the military forces are focused on Training Afghan Security Forces, conducting Counterterrorism Operations and solidify the gains we had the privilege of listening to the president yesterday. I think that there is a new hope for opportunity and we have to move forward in understanding that its still a very fragile situation. General rodriguez you are an increasingly facing challenges that were located in adjacent rises in all of these things, somalia. There are operations and challenges in attempting to build the capacity up of the nations in that region. And also to work with our european allies very effectively against these terrorists, again your efforts are critical and let me commend you and your forces to resolve on the outbreak and what you were able to accomplish. Senator mccain made this point very eloquently under the sequestration all of these efforts both civilian, military interagency will be inherited is allowed to prevail. So i hope that you can provide an assessment of just in africa on but on the effects of sequestration on the ability to operate. General commands a special operations force, you are working in kos kosovo and once again it would help if you could indicate where the effects of sequestration would actually undermine the current end of the projected operations. Again, one of the points that you made is that you are a global force and you rely extensively on that base operations of the United States army and United States air force and every other Service Agency and that would be helpful to point out. Let me commend you for all of those. There is no individual men and women and their families that get so much give so much and goes aloft into the battle. Thank you for your efforts. Please commend that. General could we begin with you. Good morning chairman. The special Operations Command as we have reverted it and especially pleased to be here with my two Mission Partners they were created to ensure that we always have ready and capable forces to meet the nations challenges and our ability to address the challenges is due in large part to the strong support that we get from congress and especially from the distinguished committee. Thank you very much. I would like to start by commenting on the amazing actions a dalia by the operations for the men and women and operators and analysts and many others and active and reserve military and civilian with a total soft force. They are relentlessly pursuing missions and success and today. They are deployed to over 80 Countries Worldwide supporting the geographic Combatant Commander requirements and named operations. We are forces that are heavily deployed over the last 14 years in the military members, civilians and their families have paid a significant price physically and emotionally serving the country. We are very appreciative of this or that we received in congress to address the visible and invisible challenges and we never forget the people are the most important asset. Income junction with its partners they separate the geographic commanders and the missions they are assigned by the secretary defended the president. If they are successful, we are successful. If they fail we fail. Today the United States are faced with many challenges. The spread of technology and the diffusion of power are not only being used by responsible leaders to better the societies but unfortunately by actors to orchestrate terror and violence of regionally and globally, nonstate actors like al qaeda and isis and other violent extremist organizations benefiting the state actors to stabilize the actors like iran to the growingly coercive actors like russia or just a few examples of the entities affecting the strategic environment which soft forces operate. We are equally affected by the use of Cyber Capabilities and social media which make it easy for our adversaries to communicate, coordinate and inspire their actions. It is of concern as well. While they have been well supported in the recent years, i remain profoundly concerned by the impact of another round of sequestration, and more importantly how it will affect the Services Upon whom we are absolutely dependent on the missions. To address the challenging security environment, we provide a portfolio of options for the National Leaders in the geographic Combatant Commanders through small footprint operations and by relying on a network of purposeful partnerships, we provide a comparative advantage to the persistent engagement, partner enablement, Network Focus and Rapid Response to the crisis situations. Why do we separate the military operations across the spectrum comes off capabilities are uniquely suited to operate and succeed in the gray zone between the normal competition in open conflict. Focused on optimizing our activities. Nearly everywhere, you will find soft forces working alongside and often in support of their conventional workers to accomplish our security object is. Third, we must so purposeful relationships to include global understanding and awareness to create options for leaders. We dont own the network but we are an important part of it and working with our partners who will always produce the best options for a nation. Fourth, you have to prepare for the future security environment to ensure soft is ready to win an increasingly complex world, ultimately our goal is to match exquisite people with cuttingedge capability and the very best ideas and cant a Developer Nation succeed against the looming challenges we will face in the future. Finally, we must preserve our families to ensure their longterm wellbeing. It is in this area we are specifically focused on an holistic approach to address the invisible challenges us dress and suicide effect in servicemembers and civilians and family members. I remain on it and humbled by the opportunity to command the best special Operations Forces in the world. Im incredibly proud of each and every team member and families are it other quirkier questions and dialogue today. Thank you. General rodriguez. He met chairman mccain, Ranking Member reid thank you for the opportunity to update you on the efforts of the command and not glad to be here today. I am glad to be here today. Our Nation Security in an increasingly complex world of accelerating change. Today our nation faces heightened strategic uncertainty, risk to National Interests are significant and growing. Part of our strategic uncertainty of their fiscal uncertainty. Sequestration returns in 2016, i am concerned about our ability to execute the current strategy at a manageable credible race. Threats and opportunities to advance National Interests are growing in africa. In the past year we have achieved progress in several areas through close cooperation with allies and partners. We have built significant partner capacity over the years. This capacity played a major role to contain violent extremism including all shabbat other al qaeda affiliates and now the Islamic State of iraq and labonte as well as boko haram. With support of disrupted extremist networks and a small number of unilateral pressure. We also achieve success with other partners against other challenges to it as an example in liberia, we supported usaid in the way. Patient in responding to the largest ebola epidemic in history. Another illustrative example is our strengthening capacity and coordination of regional partners in the gulf of guinea. Furthermore in Central Africa combined military and civilian efforts significantly reduce the resistance armys ability to threaten civilian populations. Working closely with the state department of regional partners that has allowed us to improve our postern capability to protect u. S. Or snellen facilities. When security in libya deteriorated we assisted in the state departure of u. S. Allied personnel. Conversely in the Central African republic we provide security that enables the redemption of operations. Weve had a lot of success that many challenges remain and theres much work to be done. Trans regional terrorist and criminal networks continue to adapt the next and aggressively. While alshabaab has weakened it remains a persistent threat to u. S. And regional interests. Alshabaab has broadened its operations to conduct or attempt to conduct asymmetric attacks against uganda, Ethiopia Djibouti and especially kenya. Libyabased threats are growing rapidly including an expanding isil presents. Left unchecked bid the highest potential to increase risk to u. S. Strategic interests in the near future. Boko haram threatens the ability of the Nigerian Government to abide security and basic services and large portions of the northeast. Boko haram has extended reach beyond the borders to cameron and chad. In somalia, libya and nigeria the international communitys challenge to implement a comprehensive approach is to Government Security and development. Declining resources will make this more difficult. To mitigate increasing risk african commander sharpening priorities to improving alignment of resources to strategy. We are remaining with international and interagency partners to harmonize the first and we are seeking to increase operation and programmatic flexibility. We continue to provide s. Military race for policymakpolicymak ers to make informed decisions about managing risk. For your continued support our mission is dedicated people advancing our defense interests in africa. Thank you. General austen, welcome. He might thank you on the server. Good morning. Chairman mccain, chairman reed thank you for the opportunity to appear here today to talk about the broad efforts in the current posture of the United States central command. Upfront and most importantly i would like to thank all of you for your continued and strong support of our men and women in uniform and their families. I look forward to talking about them in the exceptional contributions they continue to make on behalf of our command and our nation. I am pleased to appear here this morning alongside my teammates General Rodriguez and general votel and i will join them in making a few opening comments and then we are prepared to answer questions. Ladies and gentlemen, much has happened in the centcom area of responsibility since i last appeared before this committee year ago. Indeed the Central Region is today more volatile and chaotic than ive seen in any other point. The stakes have never been higher. The forces of evil that threaten our homeland in interest and not strategically important part of the world thrive in unstable environments marked by poor governance, Economic Uncertainty and ungoverned or undercover spaces and therefore it is essential we be present and engaged in cultivate strong partnerships and continue to do our part to address emerging threats and to move the region in a direction of greater stability and security. We must be properly resourced to do what is required to effectively protect and promote our interests. At centcom in addition to doing all we can to prevent problems from occurring while shaping future outcomes, we spent a great deal of our time and Energy Managing realworld crises. Over the past year was out with conflicts in iraq and syria. The transition from combat operations to a train, advise and assist in ct mission focus in afghanistan. At the same time, we dealt with a number of difficult challenges in yemen egypt and lebanon and a host of other locations throughout our area of response biloxi. We actively violent extremist groups and took measures to counter the radical ideologies espoused by these group. We also dealt with the rand which acts as a destabilizing force in the region primarily through its code forces and support to proxy actors such as lebanese hezbollah. And while we are hopeful and acceptable agreement will be reached with the rain with respect to its Nuclear Program either way whether we reach an agreement or dont reach an agreement, it ran will present a challenge going forward. We are faced with a number of difficult issues in our region. However, i firmly believe challengechallenge s present opportunities and we make our primarily by the Business Opportunities and we do pursue them. I am confident our broad efforts are having a measurable impact. Of course the most immediate threat facing us now is threat posed by isil or dash. This barbaric Organization Must be defeated and it will be defeated. We are currently in a process of executing our Regional Military Campaign Plan and im pleased to report we are making good progress. At the outset, we said we would have to halt isils advances weve done that in iraq. We said well have to regenerate and restructure iraqs Security Forces and help them reestablish their border. We are in the process of doing that right now. We said we would have to help our partners bolster defense is and we continue to hope our friends in jordan and lebanon and turkey. We said we would have to build credible ground force to counter isil in the area and we will soon begin doing so is a part of ice. Training and equip grosgrain. Ladies and gentlemen, were making progress. In fact we are about where we said we would be in the execution of our military Campaign Plan which supports the broader whole of Government Strategy designed to counter isil. We are having significant effects on the enemy. We continue forces in iraq is area in the commandandcontrol capabilities and we destroyed training sites and Storage Facilities along with hundreds of vehicles and heavy with systems. In doing so we have degraded the capability. The commandandcontrol forces and also his primary sources of revenue, mainly refineries and crude collection points. The fact is isil can no longer do what he did at the outset which is to seize and hold the territory. He has assumed a defensive crouch in iraq although he has greater freedom of movement area, is largely in defense there as well. Hes having a tough time governing. This is crucial to its claims. Indeed he has begun to expand into other areas mainly north africa in part because he knows he is losing in iraq and syria and needs to find other ways to maintain legitimacy. Going forward we should expect to see this enemy continue to conduct limited attacks and to orchestrate horrific scenes in order to create opportunities and to distract and intimidate. Make no mistake isil is losing this fight and im certain he will be defeated. However, there is still work to be done to get to that point and we intend to continue to execute the campaign is designed. I say that because how we go about this is very important. If we dont first get things under control in iraq where there is a government we can work with and some amount of reliable Security Force is if we dont think it right first before expanding our efforts in syria we risk making matters worse in both countries. Done the right way in light of the limitations that it is i believe we can and will be successful enough for two defeat isil. At the same time, we can be assured process in our goal to have strategically important region of increased ability and security. Going forward, we will all be required to make such choices. We will need to find ways to do more or at least as much with less than the current fiscal environment. That said i remain concerned by the fact that capability reductions can and will impact our ability to respond to crisis. Especially in the highly volatile Central Region. The resulting loss in flexibility makes u. S. And our interests increasingly vulnerable to external pressures. So i would ask congress to do its part to make sure we avoid sequestration and other resources limitations that serve to degrade the readiness of American Military forces. Chairman mccain, another reed, members of the committee, thank you for your strong support to you continue to show towards service members, and our families. Theyre the best in the world to what they do and continue to demonstrate absolute self with smh enormous sacrifices on behalf of the mission of portable on another. Thank you, sir. Thank you, general. I asked the witnesses, do they agree with general petraeus his comments a few days ago that ran with it great or a greater threat in the middle east they had trained for. You agree with that general austin, that statement . In terms of the longterm threat, iran is the greatest threat to stability. The most pressing threat is isil and one we have to deal with in defeat in the near term. General rodriguez. Yes, i agree sir with general austin and general petraeus short and longterm. Mr. Votel. Being a german, i agree. General austin when retold by the saudis that they were going to take military action in yemen . Error, i had a conversation right before they take action. Only short leave before. That is very interesting. Now you were talking about how we are defeating isil. Right now the battle for is stalled and we are then launching airstrikes that is obviously correct. It is my understanding please correct me if im wrong there were about 2000 Iraqi Military fighting there and about 20000 shia militia doing the majority of the fighting. Is that roughly correct . Server, it is about 4000 Iraqi Security forces combined in that area. Currently, there are no shia militia and as reported by the iraqis today no pms forces in that area as well. So theres 4000 iraqi. Who are the others . The shia militias that were there outpoll brak from that area. Said the fighting is all being done by the iraqi forces. Server ive only got a few minutes. Maybe you can shorten the answer. Straightforward questions. Declarant to create on the west side of the river is he done by the Iraqi Special Operations Forces and the federal police. Why do we see pictures everywhere bleeding and orchestrating the sufferer . Those pictures were from before and as you know, that effort this omani and the iranians were sponsoring stalled. They are no longer in the fight. Hes no longer on the ground. They are no longer in the fight . A shia militia is still in the fight. Know, they are not part of the clearing operations to so, the airstrikes are only in support of Iraqi Military activities . That is correct sir. Precondition for us to provide support of the Iraqi Government had to be in charge of this operation. They had to know we had to know exactly who was on the ground. We had to be able to deconflict are priors. They had to have a credible scheme to maneuver, which was the replanned that we cause them to rehearse it. They had to be able to talk to the folks on the ground as well. Are airstrikes by the way i totally disagree with you about ignoring syria. There is no strategy for area and we all know that. And isis doesnt respect those boundaries, but somehow you seem to and the president does. They know no boundaries. To say we have a strategy for rack first tenant. Of course its sophistry. Right now in airstrikes in iraq and the area of the 12000, 3000 of them actually drop weapons. Is that true . That is about right sir. Dont we put our pilots in great danger if they are not going to drop weapons . Isnt it the argument that we need a Terminal Attack Controllers on the ground if we are going to be effective or are you going to have three out of four fighter sorties fly around in circles and then returned . The hours flown to ordnance employed ratio is really based upon a couple of factors. One is the type of enemy we are opposing. In the second is that the distances we are dealing with on a daily basis. If you take a look at the operation might as armor you have fielded forces and infrastructure that you could attack with preplanned sorties that ratio certainly you have a greater ratio of hours long to maintenance employee. What we are facing currently started out as an extremist element that wanted to behave like an army. Because of that were able to attack mass formations early on. But he very quickly resorted to behaving like an irregular force where he began to blend in with the population. As he did that it became more difficult. Showed a surprise no one. The mac it didnt surprise us. The nature of the fight is that we need to be able to support so we are satisfied with the situation where we launched actually one out of four dropped the weapon. That is not viable or frankly produced is how do you do it is equal because it is the same type of fighting principally. The ratios are comparable. In fact the ratios in the ratios that oir are even better than what we saw in afghanistan. Well, i would argue that its comparing apples and oranges but my time is at wired. Senator reed. Thank you, mr. Chairman. We are operating at the request of the Prime Minister of iraq who is the democratic elected leader and will be required before food being gauged. Is that correct . That is correct. Your comments to senator mccain said just the Mobilization Forces and the shia militias have withdrawn initially were engaged in the fight that they pull back and now the operation is being conducted by iraqi regular forces. Special Operations Forces and the federal police. Yes, sir. It appeared a couple days ago in fact that this fight would go succeed, simply with the Mobilization Forces, shia militias which have added a significant art of rhetorical claim to the militias and the iranians. Now it appears they cannot effectively clear the city without supporting United States nrr power. That is correct sir. If i could make a point to highlight why it failed. It is the way these forces went about trying to do that. Discourse is obviously were not controlled by the government of the rat they didnt have a coherent came to maneuver commandandcontrol. They did power to support this effort and so trying to go about the difficult task without that cause them to stall and what we have done number one if he pointed out highlighted a number of conditions that must be present before we would provide isr and employ fires. Once the conditions were met which included shia militia included shia militia is not being involved, then we were able to proceed. Just to highlight, three tours in her back commanding troops who were brutalized by some of the shia militias, i will not and i hope we never . Made or cooperate with shia militias. Heart of the operation part of the operation and we are doing all we can will be a prelude to operations of mosul, which have always been contemplated to be conducted by Iraqi Security forces if you make the conditions with our support. Is that accurate . Yes sir. General votel, we have the secretary of defense and he has the responsibility for special Operations Forces. Do you have any views it as he has operations paulus e. Do you work with the council . What is your relationship . Senator, we absolutely do the secretary of lumpkin on a regular basis. It is referred to the special operations and Oversight Council to meet on the pentagon provides a good form to pull together Senior Leaders within osd and the joint staff and so calm socom for soft forces and trying to cordon it within the. We are getting offers a four activities. Let me ask additional questions. Do you ever talk in your prepared remarks to campaign for Global Operations which were necessity has to interact with africa on centcom north com et cetera, et cetera. Can you talk about how you manage this plan and quickly because my timex wired make a comment, too. Absolutely. The campaign for special operations is designed to support my Geographic Partners out here and it is designed to synchronize our soft activities to prioritize resources and where we are putting them in the port of the gcc. It is designed to address the partnerships we need that have been placed. It is designed to look at the things we will do to shape the environment for the geographic commanders. And then it ensures we have provided online to those specific areas to develop the capacities and skills and capabilities they need to best support the geographic Combatant Commanders. General rodriguez coming your comments. Be that way make strategic plans, our theater of special Operations Plan is involved in all of those things about allocating forces and capabilities across the world ill support my plan exactly how i wanted to be. General austin, a quick comment. My time is expiring. Are you comfortable with the interaction . I am very comfortable with it her. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. General rodriguez, concentrate my questions on usafricom. It is true to the current time you dont really have resources you depend on eucom for almost everything. Is that correct . Weve got a little more resources in the last year and a half to include a special forces commanders for and weve also got a couple of neighbor forces. We also do compound a lot of yukon capacity. I think you do. Other things that like the al ra specifically. You inherit resources to help put up the powers. However, with the the restructuring, the european infrastructure consolidation, are you concerned about how that might effect what resources may be available when called upon . Right now from the european infrastructure consolidation most of the news from the south and east to help the awesomeness of eucom forces it poured centcom and africom. The ones that got a knack that i agree with, air. I dont know where you were when we put together before that in three different commands and eucom nhs centcom. That was a wise thing to do. We were all promoting the year that it should actually be the cotton and is so huge. We and what happened politically at that time that this colonization amount that people wouldnt buy it. I talked to all of the president s in the area and that would have been a good idea. When we put it together, africom, there is discussion that after a period of time they might consider making that move. Have you heard anything at all about that . Many African Leaders have talked about that. The Current Assessment by the secretary of defense is to continue to leave it where it is for the foreseeable future. Well, the first evil future is john ms. Now for when they first put this together. That would still be a problem. My First Experience with joseph tony and the al ra was back in 2001. That is 14 years ago. Joseph tony was old and sick then. How is he now . He is older and occur sir. And do you think we are getting in a position right now. It appears to me from the reports we get and i think you would probably agree that most of the stuff now he is doing is trying to move around and he is no longer make him if he did back at that time. And our involvement which we have been involved in his work he. Yes sir. It is a Great Team Effort with other countries as well as many civilian organization that has built for durability and civilian population to better assist the problems. Right now he is down to about 200 real fighters and the impact on the civilian population is very minimal. He is using Illicit Trafficking to continue to sustain his efforts, but it is to because of the continual pressure. As he is and chased around like c. A r. Eastern congo even briefly rwanda, uganda, south sudan, it seems like it was a trail of blood following had and its not that way anymore. I just think we havent talked about that in a long time. We need to get on the record that something seemed to be working there. A longterm master was fairly modest resources. A longterm effort is done exactly what you said. It significantly decreases impact on the civilian population. General rodriguez, lester testified 12 of your requests are being met. Im writing this from the transcript last year. Has there been any change in this intelligence gap . Just a little bit more so far. I am a 13 now but that is a great question as far as sequestration and from the committee. We will lose mark katz and sequestration then i theater right now. You will see the impact on our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sufferers. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I think all three of you for your service to our country and things you do everyday. Without, general austin i said last year i believe sending u. S. Trainers and weapons area would make americans if i would have supported it. I did not then and what i am hearing now further supports that belief in last week reports emerged in the department of defense has been unable to account for more than 500 million of assistance to yemen including weaponry aircraft and equipment and im sure youve often the same same pictures on youtube that we are getting of our equipment being used for people against us and against our efforts. All of which could potentially fall into the hands of iranian backed rebels and i. Received weapons from transferring rebels including 60 to 90 and tank missiles two days ago that it was posed did showing them using a captured missile in a fight and these are not just immediate defendant in the 1980s and asking if and to form element is last year in iraq. We watch military equipment that Iraqi Security forces abandoned which are millions and millions and millions of dollars used against us now. Even the better part of the decade. In general austin who was not vote for the weapons and equipment or are these reports accurate and would any of this action be taken . Clearly not having the ability to be in yemen currently to monitor the disposition of the weapons then certainly we dont have the ability to oversee the safeguarding or the employment of those weapons to send. The 500 million ive believe was the amount of funds that were required to both providing Weapons Systems and training. As you know training is pretty expensive. This was yemen. I know about the 500 million requested for area. Is there no buddy in our government in our defense pentagon banisters on civil like when we get this equipment to yemen, do we not have any way to retrieve back . Certainly in a case like yemen, we dont have the ability to go back and retrieve it. As its falling apart we cant take any actions at all to keep it from falling . Once we provide weapons sir we will continue to monitor the usage of those weapons and make sure if they are not used properly we dont continue to provide capability to them. Do you all confirm . To you all agree with the reports of how much weapons and lethal volatility of these weapons being used against us. There are weapons being used against us. I dont doubt are these accurate . They are widely reported. Be provided by things and it is reasonable to expect some of that material will fall in the hands of the people. Lets go with both soul first and the iraqi forces. That was substantial and sure. U. S. , sir. We know that is used as. Then we know about yemen now and concerns about will this be repeated. Are we taking any step from what we have seen happen . How can you assure me that whoever we support inferior wont fall in the wrong hands . There is no way we can absolutely assure you that wont happen. What we do is to try to train the folks that we are working with and providing capability to be responsible as they use and safeguard these by things. In the event that they are not, we certainly quit providing the capability. One quick question. Once you had the privilege of observing National Guard special forces and both the 19th and 20th Army Special Forces group in iraq and afghanistan complementing activeduty special groups, honey see the future of the Community Moving Forward . As you pointed out they are integrated in everything we do. Not just on the army side of special forces, that the airtight site. Some of our unique isr capabilities will reside in some of our air guard and a reserve organizations. They are absolutely and totally integrated into everything we are doing now and will do in the future. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. General austin, when it comes to fighting trained dates i appreciate your determination your military drive. That is coming through. I do question the sort of optimistic note that you have in your testimony because it just seems are not going as positively as you are suggesting. You begin on page 11 of your testimony, the president s announcement this past september with key elements to what the administration wants to do involving Coalition Partners jordan turkey lebanon train and equip ,com,com ma having reliable partners to assist on the ground. Once we do all these things, we will have defeated isil or a combination of pressure systematic as magallanes capabilities and effectively regional partners capacity. It is just hard the hard to be very encouraged about that happening at this point. I want to ask about our partners. Not everything we hear is in the speed hearings. We met with the king of gordon nodded a classified setting, but the king of jordan tells us we cant want this board when the area of neighborhood once did. I do want to ask you about that. Trying to get the partners to gather and make this work on the ground. I think everybody has been saying boots on the ground are going to be needed to defeat isil. Are those boots on the ground going to have to be the iraqi army boots on the ground because i dont see i dont see jordanians have in that capacity. We met with the ambassadors friend uae and saudi arabia just the other day. They want this coalition to take effect and they want egypt to be part of it. I wonder who would not homeless of neighboring countries has the capacity to go when and retake this territory. He mentioned on page 12 that we are doing precision airstrikes. I think we all know that is not going to get it done. And many talk about the intent of the Regional Campaign is not simply to destroy isil although that is our primary objective. So how is this going to be wrapped up by troops going in and taking the territory back and the United States not employing boots on the ground . Thank you sir. A couple of things that we sat up front is number one this would take time. We are working with indigenous force is. We are using the Iraqi Security force is to conduct the ground operations. As you pointed out sir we have also said that you cant do this with just airpower alone. It has to be a compliment of five years and maneuver forces on the ground. Our approach is to generate those forces by training and equipping Iraqi Security force is. As we have halted isils advance into iraq, we have the business of training and equipping Iraqi Security force is so that they will have the ability to train to take back their borders and secure their sovereign spaces. Is there any prospect of saudi forces be there in numbers that would be significant . Uae, jordanian forces. They all have some capability sir. None of them have volunteered to come forward and put this on the ground in iraq right now. Certainly iraq wants to be a legit take it on and take those forces in. To this point as you look at what saudi deals with this borders on yemen it is focused on that right now. To answer your question sir, there is capability with countries in the region, but no countries have come forward and volunteered to put boots on the ground in iraq. Thank you, sir. Good luck to you. I appreciate your determination and resolve. I hope you are as successful as you believe you will be. We will be successful, as her. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you call for all of your efforts. General votel i would like to talk about a different issue for one minute. I want to thank you for topdown leadership on Mental Health with the special operations. Since assuming command you send incredibly frank and that alone sends an Important Message to the troops. Can you talk about the psychological component of your preservation of the Family Program and how that is owing today . I can. Thank you for the question. We appreciate this very significant challenge to us. We are looking at a variety of things. Peertopeer programs that we used within organizations to help provide access to members and family members and others to reach out and talk to their friends and peers about that. I think this is an important component. Likewise we are ensuring her prince to ventura leadership, chaplains and others are welltrained to identify behaviors are related to stress and potentially can lead to suicide. Third i think one of the most important things we are doing is trying to send a clear message across the entire forest and it is absolutely norma normal to ask for help when you need it. You can do that without concern of stigma or any concerns about standing within the command. We are really working double time to put effort on a particular theme and message throughout this. The real sensitive of our program here is to empower people by communicating early and often by trying to enable them, giving them easy access to programs resource is to get help in encouraging them. And will you work with us to help us take the lessons you have learned at socalled socom quick we will. Thank you very much. General austin, it appears the efforts integrated are stalled at the moment. My concern, one of the areas i am looking at is how do we empower the moderates who needs . Are they the key to making this work . If you are a moderate sunni and i asked the other day the concern would be why do you want to team up with a shia militia when transport is also sunni, they may be like the back of the net shows up at the event but theres no your cousin. How do we empower the moderate sunnis and do you see them as the key to moving this along and having success in iraq . Server, i do believe that getting the sunni population involved is really, really important in terms of being successful going forward. And you are right. The previous operation did stall and is stalled because i think the wrong approach was taken. Many of the forces being employed were not controlled or supervise by the ministry of defense or iraq. That has recently changed. As of the last several days yesterday when was dirty supporting this effort, we think that this effort will begin to move forward with the employment of the special Operations Forces and the help of our enablers. But i think it is absolutely key that number one the government has to be accommodating to both this and the and the kurd population and we have to increasingly get the sunnis involved. Can you make that help out then because they can earn is a lot of the folks that surround alabadi are from the previous administration. The other part of this is you had extraordinary experience in the alanbar area and all the service youve done throughout iraq can you help identify the key sunni moderate leaders to make them part of this . And you know you look and say we think we are going to get it right this time. How do you think this turns out server, to answer both of your questions, we are encouraged we encourage the leadership in iraq to be more accommodating to the sunni population and do some things that are demonstrable that increases their calm and in the leadership and the government. And you may know that we are helping the Iraqi Security forces in the government of iraq reach out to the tribal elements and bart and bring a nest elements to train and equip them and get them involved in the fight as well. As we have trained and equipped have performed remarkably well. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. General votel, when we met last week, you talked about how the resources allowed you to meet dress with moderate risk. Over the past year we had been the fact increase, smaller problems become worse areas. They become crisis. Do you believe this is part of the resolve of the strategy that accepts moderate risk . Are we less able to nip those problems in the bud so that they grow into the serious threat . Senator, thanks for the question. First of all i think all commanders operate in an area where they are constantly balance in risk of their forces and the missions been done on a break other basis. That is what i am principally paid to do. As we move forward and continue to deal with the changing complex situations, for me it gets down to prioritization and for a what we will attempt to do is offset the risk that is associated with increased operations by ensuring we prioritize our most operations for which we command the biggest impact and we can help support the broadest national objectives. Is libya a place where we will accept a moderate . Again perhaps that may be a policy question. Certainly from my purse that did working with my partner in the africom, we look at the things we can do in libya today. Thank you. General rodriguez you say that libyabased threats to u. S. Interests are growing. If left unchecked, they have the highest attentional among security challenges on the continent to increased risk to u. S. And european interest in the next two years and beyond. You also describe libya as emerging as a safe haven for terrorists, in putting out qaeda and the Islamic State of iraq and the levant affiliated groups can rebuild with impunity. Back to me doesnt sound like we are on the bright trajectory. Do you think our approach to libya is not adequate . Are we expecting too much risk . Thank you senator. First of all to make sure everybody is clear in what we are doing a significant effort is going around libya to prevent that from the landover. When you look at what is happening in tunisia, chad nhs we are working with partners as much as they can and mismatches we have the authority to do that just aint incapacities to limit the spillover of that effort. We are also working with European Partners to increase their effort and we are supporting at this point in time the u. N. Effort to come to a diplomatic solution and anything past that will require a policy decision. How would you rate the success of the receipt just described . The spillover, work with European Partners in the u. N. . To work with our partners has for the most part gone very well with the exception of one or 2cent patient of you read about in tunisia, but they continue to grow when they can handle the threat every day as does and chad and the work of the european efforts in the u. N. Has not had as much progress as anybody wants to date. Thank you. General votel, if i can just return to that idea of moderate risk for my closing questions here. Over the longterm do you think that if we see risk continue to increase and those smaller problems continue to accumulate how do we prioritize . If they are viewed as smaller problems at the time but yet they continue to escalate and become greater and greater risk to this country not just the region they are ran how are you going to prioritize . How do you address it and what are the resources you need . Thank you. I had to what i think we will do for the future as i mentioned in my opening comments here, i think sos plays a particular role before operations before we get to open conflict. So i think the important piece that i bring to the geographic commander is our ability to come develop partnerships, help build capacity and support relationships in all of those areas so we can strengthen partners before big problems before small problems grow into big goblins. And i really think that is a direction in which we should be focusing into the future. General rodriguez on the did you have a risk on its . Thank you, senator. A source to prioritization, that is relative to our National Security interests. The info we put in addition to the risk is where partners can handle and what they are doing themselves and we prioritize nissan a whole of Government Agency effort and who can help most in different places. That is what is done everyday at the defense department. Thank you gentlemen. Thank you for your service. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you. I am now determined the budget gimmicks has no attachment to party, that both parties are capable of using budget gimmicks as we approach the challenges and sequestration in defense spending. It is now being used in the current budget we are debating and the budget that passed the house yesterday. Rather than confront sequestration and be honest about the challenges we have in our base budget, do we have all given a lot of time in terms of frederick we are now going further down the road of using a slush fund is not good for fiscal accountability. It is not good restoring faith of the American People that we can face the tough decision and not retreat to rhetoric and gimmickry that is not really true