Sen. Daniel K. Inouye Holds a Hearing On the Fy2008 Army Budget

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Sen. Daniel K. Inouye Holds a Hearing On the Fy2008 Army Budget

U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEFENSE HOLDS A HEARING ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2008 ARMY BUDGET

MARCH 14, 2007

SPEAKERS: SEN. DANIEL K. INOUYE, D-HAWAII CHAIRMAN SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD, D-W.VA. SEN. PATRICK J. LEAHY, D-VT. SEN. TOM HARKIN, D-IOWA SEN. BYRON L. DORGAN, D-N.D. SEN. RICHARD J. DURBIN, D-ILL. SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, D-CALIF. SEN. BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, D-MD. SEN. HERB KOHL, D-WIS. SEN. PATTY MURRAY, D-WASH.

SEN. TED STEVENS, R-ALASKA RANKING MEMBER SEN. THAD COCHRAN, R-MISS. SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, R-PA. SEN. PETE V. DOMENICI, R-N.M. SEN. CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, R-MO. SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY. SEN. RICHARD C. SHELBY, R-ALA. SEN. JUDD GREGG, R-N.H. SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, R-TEXAS

WITNESSES: PETE GEREN, ACTING SECRETARY OF THE ARMY

GENERAL PETER SCHOOMAKER (USA), ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF

[*] INOUYE: Today we welcome the Honorable Pete Geren, acting secretary of the Army, along with the Army chief of staff, General Peter Schoomaker.

Gentlemen, thank you for being here today to review the Army's budget for fiscal year 2008.

General Schoomaker, I presume that this is your last appearance before this committee. And you once again head off to retirement.

In behalf of the committee, I thank you for your service to our nation over the past four decades. And in particular for answering the call four years ago when your nation needed you once more.

We wish you well in your second retirement.

The Army's FY 2000 (sic) base budget request is $130 billion, an increase of $20 billion over the last year's budget. And to put this into perspective, when you consider the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, at that time the Army's budget was approximately $92 billion in today's dollars.

As we review this budget request, we are mindful that the Army remains a force at war, executing operations at a pace which places high stress on the soldiers and equipment, while simultaneously continuing on its path to modernization.

This creates an inherent tension between meeting demands for resources in support of current forces and funding future requirements.

Finding the right balance is extremely difficult and it is our hope that today's hearing will amplify how the Army is addressing today's needs while positioning itself for the future.

For instance, the Army is investing heavily in the Future Combat System, a very complex integrated transformation initiative to equip the future force.

However, once fielded, this capability will only equip a fraction of the Army's combat brigades. And so this raises the questions as to how the Army will transform its remaining combat brigades on which you rely so heavily.

Many of these units are still utilizing systems that were first fielded over 20 years ago, such as the Abrams tank and the Bradley fighting vehicle.

And compounding this challenge is the Army's plan to grow its force by almost 80,000 troops over the next five years. These troops will have to be recruited, trained and equipped, and this will add to the Army's challenge, but also presents opportunities.

And so we look forward to hearing how the Army plans to absorb and utilize these additional forces.

One concern that comes to mind is the Army's ability to recruit and retain additional soldiers required to maintain and expand its all-volunteer force. Enhanced bonuses have facilitated this effort over the past few years, but there are questions as to whether the Army will be able to continue to attract the quality men and women it needs without the emergency supplemental funds which cover these significant bonus pays.

The Army's facing further challenges, such as the global repositioning of its forces, maintaining readiness, equipping the Guard and Reserve. Addressing each of these, fighting the global war on terror and simultaneously transforming the Army requires us all to be mindful of how you are allocating your resources.

And, gentlemen, we look forward to working with you to ensure that our Army is appropriately resourced to meet each of these tasks.

And I'm certain the committee agrees with me, because I sincerely appreciate your serv...

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