Our purpose is to marginalize and defeat violent extremists once and for all. That isnt easy. We know that as president obama and i consistently said it wont happen overnight. But today i say to all of our fellows citizens and the international community, we must recognize what daesh is doing to its victims and hold the perpetrators accountable and find the resources to help those harmed by the atrocities to be able to survive on their ancestral land. Naming these crimes is important but what is essential is to stop them. That will require unity in this country and the countries directly involved and the determination to act against genocide and ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity must be pronounced among people all across the globe. Thank you. [inaudible] why didnt you do more . Naacp president on cspan, feature programs that tell the american story. Some of the highlights include a saturday evening at 8 p. M. Eastern on the lectures in history, College ProfessorDavid Oconnell discusses the legacies and factors that contribute to the successful president ial term then in 19632 months prior to his death, president kennedy traveled to promote conservation of Natural Resources for future generations. Sunday at ten euros to the white house rewind a democratic debate includes former Vice PresidentWalter Mondale and by senators in colorado and john glenn of ohio, former president ial candidate george mcgovern. For the complete schedule, go to cspan. Org. Cornell brooks will talk about the 2016 president ial campaign criminal Justice Reform and upcoming demonstrations in flint michigan that will be live at 10 a. M. On cspan. The defense secretary of the joint chiefs of staff general testified today before the Senate Armed Services committee about the president 2017 budget request. The funding with the Committee Chair john mccain who the the story says wednesday on a litany of reasons the proposed pentagon budget is billions of dollars short. [inaudible conversations] good morning. The Senate Armed Services committee to receive testimony on the departments fiscal year 2017 budget request associated in the future Years Defense Program in u. S. Armed forces. We welcome the witnesses and bank each of you to the soldiers, sailors and airmen serving around the world. Before i proceed with my statement, let me just say that yesterday the disturbing statements made by the executive of the United Launch Alliance are reported in the media. They raise troubling questions about the major of the relationship between the department of defense. If there are any implications that the department showed favoritism to a major defense contractor that efforts had been made to silence members of congress. I expect that you will make a full investigation into the statements and take action wherever appropriate. Last month of the director of National Intelligence provided the committee a candid and unsettling picture of the worldwide threats, just consider what has occurred over the past five years while al qaeda remains a threat to the vanguard of terrorism is increasingly led protest metastasized across south asia and which has already launched attacks against the heart of europe and inspired and attack in the United States. Russia you invaded ukraine and has has menaced our nato allies had intervened to literally in this area to the account syria and many of the leaders say it is the nations greatest threat. China has continued its modernization and steadily militarizing the South China Sea using coercion to bully the asian allies and partners. North korea launched a Cyber Attacks against the United States and continued to advance and test its Nuclear Weapons program and conduct provocative missile tests including a potential capability. Rather than moderating its activities in the middle east and its advocates of the agreement predicted that iran should increase the support for terrorism proxies and conduct advanced missile tests in violation of the Security Council resolutions and fired rocket near aircraft carrier. More recently, they recently, they seized the u. S. Navy u. S. Navy vessels containing the sailors and propagandize the entire incident in violation of International Law and centuries of maritime tradition. These are the growing threats we face in the world and get the Department Remains committed by the strategy that predates all of these developments. It is based on assumptions about the world that no longer apply. Whats worse the same is true true of other Nations Defense spending while the requirements of ground the budget control act can tap the spending back in 2011 despite periodic relief, each of the military Services Remain undersized, unready and underfunded to meet the current and future threats. This translates into things that our military as remarkable and determined as it is can do for the nation. Aircraft carriers no longer provide constant presence in the middle east or the pacific. Dollars above the tax just to meet the current requirements. The reality that those requirements are inadequate and Additional Resources will be needed and the longer we try to delay the build bigger and worse it gets and the more we run the risk of return to sequestration. This is a crisis of our own making and i am speaking of the congress as well. It is why many of us are so concerned about the budget request of the fiscal year 2017. That means that we are asking the military to do more, the president s budget is actually less than it is this year. As a result, the pilot was forced to cut 17 billion. They said that they needed last year we purely for budget reasons. To be sure the temporary effects of lower fuel prices have softened the blow. Nonetheless, the department tracked over 10 million in real military capability to mitigate the shortfall. Nothing prevented the president from requesting more than he did. He did not have to fund the growing requirements by cutting modernization and procurement. He chose to do so. These are just some of the consequences. The army had to cut 24 and the navy plans to lay out an additional five ticonderoga class cruisers and marine corps cut tactical vehicles and 1. 3 billion in military construction and Family Housing has been cut as well. Certain Critical Nuclear modernization efforts including the replacement and the nuclear bomb chip have been further delayed. The unfunded requirements of the military services now total nearly 18 million. Which represents the additional ships, airplanes, fighting vehicles, training and other programs that military leaders say that they need simply to carry out our increasingly antiquated Defense Strategy and an acceptable level of risk. Last year the former chairman of the joint chiefs described in future years defense plan. The lower are ragged edge of manageable risk and our ability to execute a Defense Strategy. Here we are one year later, 17 million last and what our military needed and planned for. I do not know what lies beneath the lower ragged edge of manageable risk. Our nation will deploy Young Americans into battle without sufficient training or whitman to fight a war that will take longer and be larger and cost more and ultimately claim more american lives than it otherwise would have this budget agreement ends in defense spending and it is capped by a law at 100 billion less than what the witnesses are going to testify as military needs. That kind of stability is not the answer. It is the problem. If we cut into the military muscle again this year, looming budget problems get worse. Finally another priority of the committee will remain the defense reform effort that we began last year, including a review of the Goldwater Nichols legislation that is now marking its 30th anniversary. Over the past year senator reid and the staff and i have held hearings and conducted interviews with dozens of the former former and currently serving military civilian defense leaders including discussions with our distinguished witness today. The result is that i believe that we have a clear definition of the challenge that we must address. The focus is the militarys ability to fight as a joint force. The challenge today is the strategic integration and by that i mean improving the ability for department of defense and strategies globally to confront a series of threat. And all of them span multiple regions of the world and numerous military functions. We would welcome any thoughts and recommendations that we are prepared to share today. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Let me join you in welcoming the witnesses. The president s fiscal year 2017 budget includes nearly 583 billion in discretionary spending. And this amount, 523. 9 billion is included in the base budget and 58. 8 billion for the overseas Contingency Operations account. As the Committee Considers the funding request we must be mindful of the risk facing National Security challenges. We must monitor, contain and when necessary counter. China continues to invest aggressively in its military and capabilities that allow them to deny access to others. North korea recently conducted a Rocket Launcher in violation of multiple United Nations resolutions and continues to be an immediate and present danger to global security. Finally iran is the significant to the committee particularly with ongoing support. The nations counterterrorism continues to be a top priority. Including we must continue to evaluate by the government of afghanistan to protect and govern the people. They have now lost significant territory but difficult tasks including evicting them from population centers. The dangers posed by this dam must be addressed. And in syria were controlling many areas with the recent announcement and what it means for negotiations. If they lose ground in some areas they gain foothold in other areas like libya. In light of these security challenges we face around the world, we must go closely scrutinize sufficient funding, resources and allocate money to those areas that need additional funding. With regard to our military forces after a decade and a half of military operations we must take a hard look across all the services and this committee has repeatedly heard testimony from leaders that rebuilding readiness levels as their highest priority. The 2017 budget request includes a council held military services but it will take time to rebuild readiness. That is why its vitally important that the accounts be protected from cut. I would welcome any comments on the importance of rebuilding readiness. If they believe the services are on track to meet their full Spectrum Readiness goals. The readiness of the troops is paramount and we cannot neglect investment in modernization. It requires that forces have equipment sustained and upgraded. But in order to meet the funding levels the departments budget request need some procurement and modernization efforts. We must ensure this is not jeopardized target investments in research and development and new technology. I would like to know if our witnesses feel confident that this will not adversely impact by adding to the Overall Program by delaying the fielding. The wellbeing and quality of life of our men and women in need of warm remain a priority concern. We are mindful that we must support and maintain a high quality light of the high quality of service. The request includes a 1. 6 pay raise for both the military and civilian employees and the suns are critical to ensuring that it remains competitive in order to attract and retain the very best military government service. We are committed to the reform that will slow the growth. Finally we need to address the longterm budget situation that we find ourselves in. Last year the senate had a healthy debate and at the time we were leading security challenges as well as other agencies contributing to the prosperity of the homeland. And i recognize that the department had to make hard choices to comply with the budget agreement. I believe the senate should repeal this in spending in an equitable manner that meets all of our needs as a nation. I look forward to the testimony. Welcome, mr. Secretary. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for the opportunity. Senator reid and all the members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here. Military and others alike that serve and defend. Im very pleased to be here. And we will be discussing 2017 Defense Budget and it marks a major Inflection Point for the department of defense. We are taking the long view. We have to. Even as we fight todays fights we must also be prepared for what could come 10 and 20 and 30 years down the road. Last fall the bipartisan activist muchneeded stability after years of gridlock and turbulence and i would like to thank you and your colleagues for coming together to help to pass it. That budget set the size of our budget and with that certainty we focused on the shape, changing the shape, with carefully considered ways to adjust to a new strategic era and to seize opportunities for the future. Describing the strategic assessment it is evident that america is still today the worlds foremost leader and partner an underwriter of stability and security in every region of the world come as we have been since the end of world war ii. Thanks in large part to the unequivocal strength of the United States military. As we continue to fulfill this enduring role, it is also evident that we are entering a strategic era as has been noted. Todays security environment is dramatically different from the last 25 years. Requiring new ways of investing and operating. Five evolving strategic challenges. Namely russia, china, north korea, iran and terrorism. They are now driving the dod planning and budgeting as reflected in this budget. I want to focus first on our fight against terrorism, especially isis, which we must and we will deal a lasting defeat. In iraq and syria and also where it is metastasizing and also in afghanistan. Where we continue to stand with the Afghan Government and people. All the while are continuing to help to protect our homeland. As we are accelerating the Overall Campaign we are backing it up with increased funding this year and requesting 50 more than last year. We have gained momentum since the chairman and i last appeared before you. Notably the iraqis retook commodity and are now reclaiming further ground and in syria, capable and motivated local forces supported by the United States and the Global Coalition have retaken the east syrian town, severing the last major northern artery and therefore between isis in syria and iraq. Meanwhile 90 of our military Coalition Partners have committed to increase their contributions to help defeat isil. We have increased strikes and oil revenues, conducted targeted strikes against them in libya and we have also recently killed their minister of war. [inaudible] so before i continue i want to say a few words about russia. Russia said the it was coming into syria to fight isil, but that is not what it did. Instead it has only prolonged civil war and as of right now we havent seen whether russia retained the leverage to find a diplomatic way forward which is what the Syrian People need. One thing is clear is that russias entry did not impact our campaign against isil. Along with our partners we are intensifying our campaign in both iraq and syria and we will continue to do so until they are dealt a lasting defeat. Two of the other four challenges reflect a return in some ways to the great power competition. It is in europe where we are taking a strong and balanced approach to deter russian aggression. We havent had to devote much to this story order century. But now we do. China is rising and behaving aggressively which is not and we are continuing to balance the we have underwritten for the past seven years. Allowing so many nations rise and prosper in the single most consequential region for americas future. Meanwhile two other longstanding challenges posed threats in specific regions. North korea is one of them. That is what it says on the Korean Peninsula remain ready, as they say, to fight tonight. The other is iran. While it is a good deal from preventing them from getting a nuclear weapon, in other respects the concerns persist. While i am on the subject and given his committees particular interest i would like to say a few words about the treatment of the sailors on the island back in january. I made clear that their actions were outrageous, unprofessional and inconsistent with International Law. Nothing we have learned about the circumstances of this incident since then changes that fact. And it is because of their recklessness and destabilizing behavior that the dod remains full speed ahead to ensure that we deter their aggression, countered the malign influence and uphold commitment to friends and allies whom we maintain an unbreakable commitment. So addressing all of these five challenges requires new investment on our part. Imposter and also new and enhanced capabilities. We know that we must de