January. Mr. Esper, currently Army Secretary, was asked about u. S. Policy toward iran, cybersecurity, and Nuclear Deterrence, among other topics. This is just over 2. 5 hours. Requirede the 8 questions you will have to respond to audibly so we can get that in the record. If you would hear to the regulations of interest . Yes sir. Have you taken any actions that would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process . No, sir. Exercising your responsibility makes it important that this committee, subcommittees, and other appropriate committees if congress received testimony briefings, reports, recordings, records, and other information from the executive branch on a timely basis. Do you agree, it is confirmed, to testify before this committee . Yes, sir. Do you agree to provide records, documents, Electronic Communications in a timely matter when requested by this committee, subcommittees, or other appropriate committees of congress, and to results with the request or basis of any good faith delay or denial in providing such records . Yes, sir. Staffl you ensure your can go with deadlines of the production of the reports, records, and other information, including timely responding to hearing questions for the record . Yes, sir. Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefs in response to congressional requests . Yes, sir. Finally, will both witnessed be protected from the testimony in briefings . Yes, sir. Confirmed leader to guide the department of defense. We always say the same thing, and ist challenging time i agree with this. A confirmed secretary of defense will be more effective in the pentagon, washington, and around the world. You have been nominated to lead the department of defense and americas military to the historic transition. In the last decade, americas main focus was counterterrorism. We believed our military has the best of everything. The last administration that we can even cut our Defense Budget by hundreds of billions of dollars while fighting 2 wars and everything would turn out fine. We found out that was not the case. While the cut in our Defense Budget was taking place between 2015,o years of 2010 and the cuts were 25 . According to the economists, this is a document that senator wicker first caught our attention to, we found it to be accurate. Hours 25 ,re cutting the chinese were increasing their military spending in that same timeframe, 83 . Today, we find ourselves in a new and different moment for security. The American People can no longer take americas military superiority for granted. China and russia have caught up in key areas and are catching up in other areas. Strategy,al defense the document we have used and had a hearing on, and everyone agrees it is a bipartisan document, one that should be used and has been used for that purpose. President trump has supported a new National Defense strategy with his Defense Budget putting us to a path to repair readiness and restore our military advantage. Remains. Most important, we need a budget agreement. If we do not get a budget agreement to deal with fiscal year 2020 that includes the growth on the top line, we will we have the progress made in fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Line in theour top first of this new administration was some 100 billion. After that, fiscal year 2019, 716 billion. At 750l, we are billion. We want to avoid the commission report. It said unpredictable and delayed funding increase to the National Defense security in place. This isnt only about money, we out of thisur way abou competition with china and russia. We need scale. That requires hard choices about threats and priorities, critical defense investments, and new concepts. These are choices made by a strong secretary of defense who enjoys the trust and confidence of the president , and has the support of those interested in critical civilian leadership positions in the department of defense. We will recognize senator reid for his Opening Statement. And recognize senator hoeven for an introduction. I join you in welcoming secretary esper to this mornings hearing. I would like to welcome his family, including his wife and their children. The effort is not just individual member, but the family. We appreciate their services for many years. Qualificationour for secretary of defense, you have a wealth of experience in defense policy, including recent services as secretary of the army. You also served in Senior Leadership positions in the public and private sector. If confirmed, your Background Experience should serve you well. It has been nearly seven months since the department had a secretary come Senate Confirmed secretary defense. No other time has the office remained vacant for so long. Obligating the situation, secretary esper cannot serve as secretary of defense now that he has been nominated for the position. Given these extraordinary set of circumstances, the chairman and i agree it is important to consider the nomination as expeditiously as possible. Let me be clear, this confirmation should not be a matter. While secretary esper has been performing the duties of secretary for the past several weeks, and has served as secretary of the army, the duties of secretary are unique. I believe it is incumbent upon this committee to that his nomination and review his altercations. Nomination,er your notice the challenges facing our country. The departments focus is on competition with adversaries as we pursue a new strategic. Irection made by th the threat posed by violent extremist organizations is not diminishing. The Department Must continue to recruit and retain highcaliber individuals while restoring readiness and having new highend capabilities for the force. I want to raise two issues for the duty to conduct oversight of the department. Anything necessary for the oversight mandate is not acceptable. Acting secretary of defense shanahan prompted a memo governing the committees access to certain documents, including executive orders. The memo stated the Trump Administration would determine which material should be provided to Congress Based on whether the quest contains significant information to a legislative function. I think we make that determination, not the department of defense. Exist between the executive and legislative branches, regardless of political party. This committee understands what information is necessary to conduct congressional oversight. Requests we make to the department, we rigidly control and protect the sensitivity of information provided to us for oversight instances. The Department MustKeep Congress informed of major developments. For example, on may 5, the National Security advisor announced the u. S. Was to carry a strike root and bomber task force. In response to a number of troubling and escalate tory escalate tory things involving iran. The secretary pompeo canceled a meeting with the german Prime Minister in order to fly to iraq. It took the department of defense more than five days to share any information with congress. I find that unacceptable. You indicate in your advance policy questions that if confirmed, you will reassess the x or quality. Policy. Particularly if it involves surging additional military capabilities to a specific region. Based on our working relationship as secretary of the army, im confident you will give us the needs to do the job. As was discussed during the confirmation last week, there is a Staggering Number of seniorlevel vacancies through the department. Coupled with the duration of these vacancies, it has been troubling. Every member of this committee wants to ensure highcaliber candidates serve in the department. We will fully evaluate and expeditiously consider nominees for these positions. Confirmed, your ability to effectively manage the challenges facing the department, as well as extensive pentagon bureaucracy, will require strong civilian leadership. Im concerned the Defense Department is adrift in a way of not seeing the whole time on capitol hill. It is on ensuring these vacancies are filled quickly and with capable individuals. It is my hope youll work for the white house to impress upon the importance of filling these positions. Let me close with the following. If confirmed, you will help oversee National Security policy for a president whose temperament and management skills are challenging and likely very different from your own. While i do not agree with the president on many policy issues, i want him to be surrounded by leaders who can provide thoughtful advice and counsel. Diversity is important when crafting policy and making decisions that impact the wellbeing of our men and women in uniform. Must bermed, you able to give him the best policy advice, even if the president disagrees with your counsel and it runs contrary to his policy goals. Most important, while the secretary of defense serves the president , they should never forget they also oversee the finest fighting force in the world. Men and women volunteering to serve a cause greater than themselves. Theirrvice members and families should always be at the forefront when considering defense policy and military action. Secretary as for, if confirmed, i am confident you will do so. Thank you, mr. Chairman for holding the hearing. Thank you. Thank you. Senator kaine, you are recognized to introduce our guest. Mr. Chair, Ranking Member read, and my colleagues on the committee, i will not introduce dr. Esper, because you all know him, but i will present him to you and recommend his nomination. You know him because of his work as secretary of the army and interaction with each of you. Barbara tuchman wrote in her 1962 pulitzer prizewinning book of august. E guns character begets power, especially in times of crisis. It is about individuals and nations. Over the past two years, my interactions with dr. Esper have me, have led me to the conclusion that he is a person of sound character and moral courage, which i believe are the most important traits of a secretary of defense charged with the lives of the men and women who serve the department of defense. He was born in uniontown, pennsylvania, the same town that produced general george c marshall, who became a virginian, like dr. Esper. Majority of mus his life in the armed service, the u. S. Military academy at west point. Continuing through his carrier in the army. Active guard reserve, service to the white house, service to this body. Dr. Esper has seen it all as an. Ctive guard and reserve member work in the private sector, think tanks on National Security policy, service to house and senate committees, service to individual senators, and service to republican administrations. You are familiar with his biography, but i wanted to share two instances of working with has led me toch the conclusion he is the person of character who should lead the department. One of the first phone calls i received after introduced legislation to address challenges with the and acceptably high Unemployment Rate of Military Spouses was from then secretary esper. He thanked me for the legislation, and talked about his own concern about this as secretary of the army and wants to Work Together to tackle this challenge. We have worked together cooperatively on that. I have been pleased with the armys ongoing efforts in that way. The same commitment to address the quality of life of our military families was something i noticed when this committee began the investigation into the very painful circumstances surrounding substandard military housing. The initial responses by some in the department and at the bases themselves, i think we all experienced this, where skepticism, disbelief, denial, avoidance, that was not the response of secretary esper. Theas the department of army that first developed the tenant bill of rights, which became the basis of one of the key provisions that we included in the ndaa this year. Extended anper invitation for senator warner and i to a company to see the conditions of housing, just 20 miles south of here averaging army base. When a secretary asks you to do something, you wonder if you will see the village version of it, where we solved this and are proud of our solution. We did not see that. He took us to the unvarnished version of problematic housing and people who had been treated badly and could not get help from their Training Command or their housing companies. We heard in a very blunt way about the problems these families had experienced. We had a roundtable discussion with other families around the table. When the families presented their experiences, encouraged by secretary esper to do so, and often base personnel would respond. If he detected any if he detected any delay or cannot deal with it right away, in a firm and tough way, he would not let people get by with substandard responses. He insisted the families be dealt with fairly and promptly. That willingness to display personal accountability was very impressive, both to senator warner and me. He has been proactive and transparent. I acknowledge the comments made by the Ranking Member about the need for transparency and working for the committee. I think those are trademarks of exceptional leadership. Most of us were very discouraged by the resignation of secretary mattis. What we have hoped for is a successor who can share the same level of candor and principal, and a willingness to remain independent, even in the most challenging circumstances. Has thosedr. Esper traits. I would encourage all of my colleagues to support his nomination. Thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you, senator kaine. Whether you call it that or not, i call it an excellent introduction. Dr. Esper, you are recognized for any comments you want to make. Your entire statement will be made part of the record. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I wish senator kaine can stay here for a couple of hours. Chairman and half, Ranking Member read, and distinguished member of the committee, it is an honor and privilege to appear before u. S. The president s nominee for secretary of defense. I would like to especially thank the senator kaine for that very kind, gracias, humbling introduction. I will not let you down. You have been a leader in the because you are the father of a marine. You have taken care of our servicemen and women. Enjoyed working closely with you these past couple of years. Our experience at the ford assured me there is bipartisanship in this building on capitol hill, and there are leaders who will do the right thing. I know you will continue to demonstrate that leadership for our service an men and women, and our nation. I deeply appreciate your remarks. I want to think the president for this opportunity and his confidence in me. Im grateful for the time many of you spent with me in recent weeks. And thankful for the committees swift attention to my nomination. Although i have served 22 days as the acting secretary of defense, today, i appear before you as secretary of the army, in accordance with the vacancy act. I would like to begin by recognizing my wife and our children, who join me today. Like all military families, they have made many sacrifices in support of my service to the nation. Over the past 20 months, leah has traveled with me many times to go to Army Families and spouses in the u. S. And abroad. As a former Military Spouse herself, she has been an invaluable asset as we focus on a range of family issues. I want to publicly thank her for her support. Im confident that if confirmed, she will assist me in taking care of our great families across the entire department of defense. As many of you know, i am blessed to have served our country in a variety of capacities. On active duty and the regular army for over 10 years. Both the u. S. And abroad during both war and peace. Guard,rve duty, National Army reserve for another 11 years. On capitol hill as a personal committee and leadership staffer in the house and senate. And the pentagon, first as a war planner in the army, second, a Deputy Assistant secretary of defense, and third, reserve augmenting working for the department of defense for special operations. Worked in the private sectori with major corporations, and focused on china and other think tanks. Most recently, as secretary of the army. This broad and diverse experience has prepared me well for the position of secretary of defense. Bringfirmed, i intend to the same focus, energy, professionalism, thoughtfulness, and commitment to the department of defense that i brought every single day to my position as Army Secretary. Of theavid supporter National Defense strategy and its clear assessment of the strategic environment we find ourselves in today. The growing threats posed by great power competitors, such as china and russia, warrant a refocused to high conflict across all military services. This requires us to modernize our forces and capitalize on rapid technological advancements, in the field such as Artificial Intelligence, robotics, directive energy, and hypersonics. Abrupt also build more Cyber Capabilities. And with your help, establish the u. S. Space force. Time, we must be prepared to respond to regional and northuch as iran korea, while maintaining pressure on terrorist groups, such as isis and al qaeda. This meets the current readiness with modernization, the departments central challenge. It will require strong leadership, open and continuous dialogue with congress, and the courage to make tough decisions. Toconfirmed, i intend continue advancing the strategic goals set forth by my predecessors