members of the committee that you would come here today on behalf of this nominee, thank you for being here. could i play special recognition to senator mccain? no. i was going to add from the great state of maine. and someone we used to call governor and now proudly call senator. nice to see you. he represents the geriatric part of this committee. led by i thank both senator nunn and senator cohen for being here. obviously, the committee meets today to consider the nomination of general james mattis to be the secretary of defense of the united states. two years ago general mattis, the last time you came before this committee, the idea we would be meeting again under the present circumstance was have been hard to imagine most of all by you but i, for one koshgs not be happier.
recent congress. your continuous efforts to make our military more efficient and more effective are essential to our nation s security and we owe you our thanks. i know from experience reform is not easy. everything you do is tough in that arena and it doesn t get the notice it deserves except for the people who oppose the reform. those are the ones who notice it. so congratulations on that legislation. and i know there is a lot more to do. you made some progress. also want to commend my good friend and congratulate my good friend senator david purdue for becoming a member of this committee and continuing a strong georgia tradition of service on what i believe is the best committee in the senate. mr. chairman, senator reid and members of the committee and in september of 1950, my great uncle called chairman of the house arms services committee presented to the house of representatives a strong case for congress to pass a waiver to allow general george marshal to assume the position of
in this country but the world over. so it is a real honor for me to be here with you. and senator nunn, i served 18 years here. in the senate. he served 24. i must say that the experience of working with senator nunn is a true highlight of my political career. so pleasure to join with senator nunn. i want to associate myself with the remarks of the former sna senator from gegia. and simply submit my own written statement which is quite brief to the committee and i ll try to summarize. jim mattis i first met when i went to the wennipentagon. he was a young colonel. he had a reputation even then this is somebody to watch. he s young, he s smart. he doesn t really belong behind a desk although he may belong
the organization of the pentagon and he knows what the building had as to do to give the troops the tools they need to do their job and protect our nation s security. jim also knows powers and responsibilities of our military force and the challenges of our complex and very dangerous world. he understands that our military cannot be our primary tool to meet every challenge. he strongly supports the important role of diplomacy and has been outspoke innocent important need of giving the state department the resources they need to be fully effective. bottom line, mr. chairman and senator reid and members of the committee, i believe general mattis is exceptionally qualified to lead the department of defense. i urge this committee and the senate to pass a statutory waiver to allow him to serve our nation in this new role and to confirm him as secretary of defense. thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, senator nunn.
senator cohen? good morning. i m here this morning to testify on behalf of the general mattis. senator nunn, senator reed, members of the committee, the three who are still here in the arms services committee when 20 years ago became before the committee when we first met, you were a young captain in the navy. senator nunn mentioned you took us to china where we met and also did some great work on the way back in korea. so i thank you for all of the years you devoted to this country. you remain a hero of mine. and millions of people not only