Screeria nigeria. Tweet. Join the cspan conversation. Like us on facebook. Follow us on twitter. Defense secretary Ashton Carter said today that president obama would veto a proposed house Defense Budget if it uses emergency war funds to avoid defense spending limits. That House Arms Services hearing is next. And then a senate panel investigates inaccurate federal records including Social Security death records. Later remarks from rand paul. On the next washington journal a look at u. S. Military efforts in iraq and syria and the president s request for the use of military force against isis. We will sit down with House Armed ServicesCommittee Member rick larsson of washington. Utah congressman Chris Stewart of the Intelligence Committee will discuss Nuclear Negotiations with iran as this months deal deadline approaches. Those conversations plus your calls, tweets and emails starting live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. Defense secretary Ashton Carter and Martin Dempsey took questions about the pentagons budget, use of force against isis and u. S. Relations with russia and iran and testified before the House Armed Services committee. Before we ask unanimous consent that nonCommittee Members if any be allowed to participate in todays hearing, after all Committee Members have had an opportunity to ask questions. And by way of explanation, i might say that one of our Committee Members has tentatively been appointed to another committee. And his replacement has tentatively been named, mr. Russell from oklahoma. But it has not been ratified by the republican conference yet. So mr. Russell is with us today but without objection nonCommittee Members will be recognized at the appropriate time. Let me welcome our distinguished witnesses to todays hearing. Secretary carter, thank you for being with us. You have been in this room in a variety of capacities over the years. But this is the first hearing since you were confirmed as secretary of defense roughly a month ago. And we are very glad to have you with us. General dempsey, thank you for being here. And i want to say again, all the Committee Members appreciated your participation in our retreat about a month ago at annapolis. The fact that you would take time to come out there, meet with us, and discuss some of the challenges we face was extremely helpful, and meant a lot, and we are very grateful for that. For being here today, and for your many years of service. As yall know, this committee has done things a little differently this year. Rather than start out talking about the president s budget we have spent the last two months looking at the National Security challenges that we face around the world. And i think that has put us in a better place to be able to look at the administrations budget request, and a number of the other issues that are before us. I would say for me, one of the Key Takeaways from the last two months has been the growing threat to our technological superiority. We have had classified and unclassified sessions on that. And to me, it is one of the key challenges we face. And as i mentioned, mr. Secretary, as i was perusing my bookshelf i came upon a very brilliant addition called keeping the edge, managing defense for the future. Edited by one ashton b. Carter, and john p. White. And there is a particular chapter talking about the technological edge that i had made some notes in, where essentially it said two of the things we have to do to maintain the technological edge, is to align our defense procurement practices with market forces, and secondly, to remain the worlds fastest integrator of commercial technology in to defense systems. I kind of wonder how were doing these days. I think thats very relevant for today. I just had a meeting with one of the leading defense thinkers last week that talked about the challenge of integrating commercial technology into defense articles, and how we are not doing as well as we should. As you know, reform is a major priority of this committee on both sides of the aisle. Mr. Smith certainly shares my concern, as do, i think all the members here. And so thats one of the topics that we want to talk with you about. There are many others, including the president s request for the authorization to use military force against isis. Weve had several sessions on that with a lot of concerns with the wording that has come to us from the administration. I know members will want to ask questions about that and other topics. Before we get to those, let me yield to the distinguished Ranking Member sitin for today, the distinguished gentle lady from california, ms. Davis, for any comments shed like to make. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Secretary carter, chairman dempsey, thank you both for being here today. I want to first send our best wishes to the Ranking Member adam smith. We all know that hes been through a difficult time. And we wish him a quick and a speedy recovery. I want to ask unanimous consent that we put his remarks and his Opening Statement into the record. Without objection. Chairman dempsey, this will likely be your last time before this committee. Youre probably going to find some excuse to get you back, im sure. While im sure you arent too broken up about not coming back, we will surely miss your thoughtful discourse and your care of our Young Service members. Thank you very much. Sir, for your service. And secretary carter, i bet youd rather have waited until after the ndaa was complete before coming up and speaking with us. But i think that it presents a great opportunity to help shape the budget during a very difficult time, and your expertise, your insights, are going to be very well received. Thank you, sir. Sequestration is obviously at the forefront of everyones minds. But we must also remember that we are still engaged in two conflicts facing unconditional threats halfway around the world, while still battling suicide, sexual assault, and retention and recruitment issues here at home. But these are only a few of the discussion points that we face when looking at the budget. We have to look beyond just defense to the entire budget and we realize that cuts to other portions of the federal budget will affect the department of defense more often than we realize. It was just yesterday that the secretaries and the Service Chiefs spoke about of those who consider going in to the service, roughly 75 do not meet the requirements today. And we have to be mindful of that, and maybe thats what we call a whole government approach to that particular issue. We must also ensure that this budget is in line with our National Security strategy. We cannot address conflicts around the globe if our strategy is not in line with current threats and our budgetary situation. We should not be finding piecemeal ways of fixing these problems in our budget, but we really do, and i know the chairman believes in this, rolling all of our sleeves up, and working to the in addressing sequestration as a whole. I look forward to both of your statements here today, as well as the opportunity for an honest and open dialogue. Thank you, again. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank the gentle lady. Mr. Secretary, again, thank you for being here. Without objection your full written statement will be made part of the record. Please proceed. Thank you very much chairman thornberry. Thank you, congresswoman davis. Thank you also. And all the members of the committee, thank you for having me here today. Its a pleasure to be with you once again. Ive had the opportunity to speak with many of you before but this is my first time testifying as the secretary of defense. And i know that all of you, all of you on the committee, including the 23 veterans, on this committee, share the same devotion that i do to what is the finest fighting force the world has ever known. And to the defense of our great country. And i thank you for that. And i hope that my tenure as secretary of defense will be marked by partnership with you on their behalf. Im here to present the president s budget for the department of defense for this year, fiscal year 2016, and i strongly support the president in requesting a Defense Budget above the artificial caps of the budget control act. That is above socalled sequester levels. Next year, and in the years thereafter. I also share the president s desire to find a way forward that upholds the fundamental principles behind the bipartisan budget act of 2013. And i support his commitment to vetoing any bill that locks in sequestration, because to do otherwise would be both unsafe, and wasteful. The administrations therefore proposing to increase the Defense Budget in line with the projections submitted to Congress Last year. Halting the decline in defense spending imposed by the budget control act while giving us the resources we need to execute our Nations Defense strategy. As the chairman noted, strategy comes first. And thats the appropriate way to think about the budget. But, and i want to be very clear about this, under sequestration, which is set to return in 197 days, our nation will be less secure. And mr. Chairman, as you and your colleagues have said, sequestration threatens our militarys readiness. It threatens the size of our war fighting forces, the capabilities of our air and naval fleets, and ultimately, the lives of our men and women in uniform. And the joint chiefs have said the same. And the great tragedy is that this corrosive damage to our National Security is not a result of objective factors, logic, reason, instead sequester is purely the fallout of political gridlock. Its purpose was to compel prudent compromise on our longterm fiscal challenges. A compromise that never came. And this has been compounded in recent years, because the Defense Department has suffered a double whammy. The worst of both worlds. That has coupled mindless sequestration with constraints on our ability to reform. We need your help with both. And i know that chairman thornberry, Ranking Member smith, and others on this committee, are as dedicated to reform as i am. And i appreciate the your dedication to it, and the opportunity to work with you. Because we at the pentagon can and we must do better at getting value for the defense dollar. There are significant savings to be found across dod, and were committed to pursuing them. But at the same time, i have to note that in the past several years, painful, but necessary reforms proposed by dod, reforms involving elimination of overhead, and unneeded infrastructure, retirement of older systems, and reasonable adjustments in compensation have been denied by congress at the same time that sequestration has loomed. If confronted with sequestration level budgets and continued obstacles to reform i do not believe that we can simply keep making incremental cuts. We would have to change the shape and not just the size, of our military. Significantly impacting parts of our defense strategy. We cannot meet sequester with further half measures. As secretary of defense i will not send troops in to a fight with outdated equipment, inadequate readiness, or ineffective doctrine. But Everything Else is on the table. Including parts of our budget that have long been considered inviolate. This may lead to decisions that no americans, including members of congress, want us to make. Now im not afraid to ask the difficult questions. But if were stuck with sequestrations budget cuts over the longterm, our entire nation will have to live with the answers. So instead of sequestration, i urge you to embrace the alternative. The alternative. Building the force of the future. Powerful enough to underwrite our strategy. Equipped with boldly new technology as the chairman stressed. Leading in domains like cyber and space. Being lean and efficient throughout the enterprise. Showing resolve to friends and potential foes alike and attracting and retaining the best americans to our mission. Americans like elite Cyber Warriors i met last week when i visited our cyber command. Thats the alternative that we can have without sequestration. So mr. Chairman, the world in 2014 was more complicated than anyone could have predicted. Given todays security environment, the president s proposed increase in defense spending over last years budget is responsible, prudent, and essential for providing our troops what they need and what they fully deserve. Thank you, and i look forward to your questions. Thank you, sir. General dempsey im not quite ready to let you go so im not going to talk about this being one of your last hearings. But thank you for being here, and please make any oral comments youd like to make. Thank you, chairman, congresswoman davis, distinguished members of the committee, i appreciate the opportunity to provide you an update on our armed forces, and to discuss the Defense Budget for 2016. And i will add it has been a rare privilege to have represented the armed forces of the United States, the men and women who serve around the world, before this committee to live up to our article 1, section 8 responsibility together. And so if this is my last hearing, i thank you for the opportunity and if its not, until we meet again. Id ask you, chairman, to submit my written statement for the record and ill defer the many ill defer mention in my Opening Statement of the many security challenges we face because im quite confident they will be addressed in questions. But i will say the Global Security environment is as uncertain as ive seen in my 40 years of service. And, were at a point where our National Aspirations are at risk of exceeding our available resources. We have heard the congress loud and clear as it has challenged us to become more efficient and to determine the minimum essential requirements we need to do what the nation asks us to do. And pb 16 is actually that answer. In my judgment this budget represents a responsible combination of capability, capacity, and readiness. Its what we need to remain at the bottom edge of manageable risk against our National Security strategy. There is no slack. Ive been here for four years now, and weve watched our Budget Authority decline. Im reporting to you today there is no slack, no margin left for error, nor for response to strategic surprise. Funding lower than pb16 and a lack of flexibility to make the internal reforms that we need to make will put us in a situation where well have to adjust our National Security strategy. That doesnt mean it disappears in its entirety but we will have to make some adjustments to the way we do business. You may decide thats a good thing. I will certainly be willing to have that conversation with you. For the past 25 years the United States military has secured the global commons, weve deterred adversaries, weve reassured our allies and weve responded to crises and to conflict principally by maintaining our presence abroad. Its been our strategy to shape the International Environment by our forward presence and by building relationships with regional partners. In general terms, one third of our force is forward deployed. Onethird has just returned. And the other third is preparing to go. Of necessity, even at that, there have been certain capabilities who actually operate half the time deployed and half the time back at home. And this, as you know, puts a significant strain on the men and women and their families who serve in those particular specialties. Sequestration will fundamentally and significantly change the way we deploy the force, and the way we shape the security environment. We will be at the end of the day, if sequestration is imposed, 20 smaller, and our forward presence will be reduced by more than a third. Well have less influence, and we will be less responsive. Conflict will take longer to resolve, and will create more casualties, and cost more. In an age when we are less certain about what will happen next. But i think we would agree quite certainly that it will happen more quickly, we will be further away, and less ready than we need to be. Simply stated, sequestration will result in a dramatic change in how we protect our nation, and how we promote our National Security interests. Mr. Chairman, members of this committee, our men and women in uniform are performing around the globe with extraordinary courage, character, and professionalism. We owe them and their families clarity, and importantly, predictability on everything from policy to compensation, health care, equipment training, and readiness. Settling down uncertainty in our Decision Making processes, and getting us out of the cycle that weve been in, which has been one year at a time, will help us keep the right people, which after all is our decisive edge as a nation in our allvolunteer force. And we will be able to maintain the military that the American People deserve and frankly expect. Im grateful for the continued support to our men and women in uniform from this committee and from the congress of the United States and i look forward to your