Sen. Kent Conrad Holds a Hearing On Defense Budget and War Costs

Political Transcript Wire › February 26, 2010

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Sen. Kent Conrad Holds a Hearing On Defense Budget and War Costs

SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET HOLDS A HEARING ON DEFENSE BUDGET AND WAR COSTS

FEBRUARY 23, 2010

SPEAKERS: SEN. KENT CONRAD, D-N.D. CHAIRMAN SEN. PATTY MURRAY, D-WASH. SEN. RON WYDEN, D-ORE. SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD, D-WIS. SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD, D-W.VA. SEN. BILL NELSON, D-FLA. SEN. DEBBIE STABENOW, D-MICH. SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ, D-N.J. SEN. FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, D-N.J. SEN. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, D-MD. SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, D-R.I. SEN. MARK WARNER, D-VA. SEN. JEFF MERKLEY, D-ORE.

SEN. BERNARD SANDERS, I-VT.

SEN. JUDD GREGG, R-N.H. RANKING MEMBER SEN. CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, R-IOWA SEN. MICHAEL B. ENZI, R-WYO. SEN. JEFF SESSIONS, R-ALA. SEN. JIM BUNNING, R-KY. SEN. MICHAEL D. CRAPO, R-IDAHO SEN. JOHN ENSIGN, R-NEV. SEN. JOHN CORNYN, R-TEXAS SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C. SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER, R-TENN.

WITNESSES: CINDY WILLIAMS, PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST, MIT SECURITY STUDIES PROGRAM

GORDON ADAMS, PROFESSOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

PAUL VAN RIPER, RETIRED MARINE CORPS LIEUTENANT GENERAL

[*] CONRAD: Hearing will come to order. I want to welcome everyone here this morning. I especially want to welcome our witnesses.

Our hearing today will focus on the defense budget and war costs. We are joined by a very distinguished panel of outside defense experts.

Dr. Cindy Williams is a principal research scientist at MIT's Security Studies Program. She is a former assistant director for national security at the Congressional Budget Office.

Dr. Gordon Adams is professor of U.S. foreign policy at American University. He's a former principal assistant director for national security at the Office of Management and Budget.

And Dr. Paul Van Riper is a retired Lieutenant General of the U.S. Marine Corps. He is currently serving on the Independent Review Panel of the Defense Department's Quadrennial Defense Review.

Welcome to all of you. We couldn't have a more distinguished group of witnesses this morning. We're delighted you're here. I thought I'd begin with just a brief overview of the defense budget and the war costs that we face. First, I think all of us acknowledge on this committee that national security must always be our top priority. We need to do whatever it takes to protect this nation and to give our men and women in uniform the resources that they need.

The Obama administration has made that point and made it repeatedly. This is what Senator -- Vice President Biden said in a speech at the National Defense University just last week. "Even in these tight fiscal times, we will commit the resources our security required." And the president's budget backs up those words. It provides $549 billion for the Department of Defense in 2011, representing about a three percent increase over 2010.

But given the nation's deficits and debt, it is more important than ever that we get the most out of each defense dollar. A dollar wasted on an unnecessary or inefficient defense program is still a dollar wasted. And we need to ensure the funds we set aside for defense are actually going to efforts that will make us safer.

The administration has taken a number of steps last year and again this year to refocus defense dollars in a way to make them more effectively spent. Here's some of the changes made last year, the administration made with the support of Congress.

F-22 production was ended. The army's Future Combat Systems was reconfigured. They halted the Army Brigade Combat Team expansion at 45. They ended the Navy DDG-1000 Destroyer production, ended production of a new presidential helicopter and shifted to regional missile defense.

And this year the administration proposes ending C-17 military transport production, ending the Navy CG(X) Cruiser Program, terminate a flawed human resources control system and terminated a flawed command and control system.

Even with these efforts the defense budget is taking up a tremendous and growing part of our national budget. The president's latest request that the defense budget will have increased for 14 years in a row. The regular defense budget will have almost doubled over that time period, rising from $254 ...

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