Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Rogers, and
distinguished members of this committee -- thank you for the opportunity
to testify today about the President’s budget request for fiscal year
2022.
I’m pleased to appear alongside General Milley, whose counsel has
been crucial to us as we developed our budget and as we continue to
defend this nation. I am also grateful to have our Comptroller, Mike
McCord, with us today.
Let me say at the outset that I believe our budget request will help
us match resources to strategy, strategy to policy, and policy to the
will of the American people.
This budget is informed by the President’s Interim National Security
guidance and my own Message to the Force. We believe that it funds the
right mix of capabilities that we need most to defend this nation… now
and in the future.
It invests in hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence,
micro-electronics, 5G technology, space-based systems, shipbuilding, and
nuclear modernization… to name a few.
In fact, this budget asks you to approve nearly 28 billion dollars to
modernize our nuclear triad and 112 billion dollars for research,
development, testing, and evaluation -- the largest R&D request ever
put forth by this Department.
Our request also gives us the flexibility to divest ourselves of
systems and platforms that no longer meet our needs… including older
ships, aircraft, and I-S-R platforms that demand more maintenance,
upkeep, and risk than we can afford.
The Department must be ready to keep pace with our competitors… and,
if necessary, to fight and win the next war… not the last one.
That’s why we have commissioned a Global Posture Review and a new
National Defense Strategy, which will further inform and guide our
resource decisions.
This budget reflects our focus on the pacing challenge that we
clearly see from the People’s Republic of China, to include more than
five billion dollars for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative.
Earlier this month, after our China Task Force completed its work, I
issued an internal directive kicking off Department-wide efforts that
will, among other things, help bolster our deterrence against the PRC,
revitalize our network of regional allies and partners, and accelerate
the development of cutting-edge capabilities and new operational
concepts.
However, China is not our only challenge.
Our budget also invests 617 million dollars to counter the damaging
effects of climate change, and additional funds to prepare for future
challenges like another pandemic.
It helps us counter belligerence from Russia, particularly in the
cyber realm. You’ll see more than 10 billion dollars devoted to cyber
security, cyberspace operations, and cyber research and development.
With its emphasis on space, missile defense, and more sophisticated
sensors, our budget will also help us counter the increasing
ballistic-missile capabilities of nations like North Korea and Iran.
It funds a troop presence and counter-terrorism capabilities in the
Middle East and South Asia to meet the threats posed not only by Iran
but also by terrorist networks like ISIS and al Qaeda… and, in Africa,
like those posed by al Shabaab.
And it helps us maintain the integrated deterrent capability and
global posture necessary to back up the hard work of our diplomats,
allies and partners.
Now, I know that Afghanistan remains at the top of all of our minds,
and I can report that our withdrawal remains on pace. Last week in
Brussels, we updated our NATO Allies, and I was encouraged by their
continued support for the new direction we are taking.
We have accomplished the mission for which our troops were sent to
Afghanistan 20 years ago. And I’m very proud of the brave men and women
who made it possible, and of those who gave their lives for that
mission.
I am also deeply grateful to the families of our service members who
have endured so much as they sent their sons, daughters, husbands, and
wives into battle.
We will now transition to a new bilateral relationship with our
Afghan partners… one that helps them meet their responsibilities to
their citizens, but one that will not require a U.S. footprint larger
than what’s necessary to protect our diplomats.
And that’s one reason why we are asking to move overseas contingency
operations funding inside the budget. This will add greater
transparency, accountability, and predictability to the budgeting
process. And, frankly, it’s overdue.
Now, this budget also takes care of our people.
It increases funding to support in-home care and support, which has become increasingly important during the pandemic.
We also seek to improve military base pay, retention bonuses, and
other incentives that help us attract and retain the best talent.
And we will be working hard to combat challenges that make service in
the ranks more difficult for all the men and women of the Department…
from getting a better handle on the extent to which we experience
extremist behavior, to combating sexual assault and harassment.
As you know, my first directive as Secretary of Defense, issued on my
first full day in the office, was to Service leadership about sexual
assault.
Yesterday, I received the final recommendations and complete report of the Independent Review Commission.
I want to thank Lynn Rosenthal for her exceptional leadership of this
commission, as well as the talented experts who worked so diligently to
support her.
The result is a comprehensive assessment across four lines of effort
-- accountability, prevention, climate and culture, and victim care and
support -- that recommends creative and evidence-based options.
In coming days, I will present to President Biden my specific
recommendations about the commission’s findings, but I know enough at
this point to say that I fully support removing the prosecution of
sexual assaults and related crimes from the military chain of command.
We are prepared to work with Congress to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice in this regard.
The IRC also recommended the inclusion of other special victims’
crimes inside this independent prosecution system, to include domestic
violence. And I support this as well, given the strong correlation
between these sorts of crimes and the prevalence of sexual assault.
As we move forward, I believe it is important to make changes that
are both scoped to the problem we are trying to solve and properly
resourced.
The Department will likely need new authorities to implement many of
the IRC’s recommendations. We will most assuredly require additional
resources, both in personnel and in funding. And we look forward to
having those discussions with this committee.
We must treat this as the leadership issue it is.
Chairman Smith, members of the committee, we field the greatest
military in human history… made up of the finest men and women who have
ever donned the cloth of their nation.
We also enjoy a civilian workforce deeply committed to every mission that we take on.
No adversary can match the quality of our people.
I am immensely proud and humbled to serve again with them. And I can
assure you that the President’s budget request for fiscal year 2022
fulfills our obligations to them and their families.
I thank you for your steadfast support of the Department of Defense,
and for all you do to ensure that we remain ready to defend this nation.
I look forward to answering your questions.
Thank you.