DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2002 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES, Washington, DC. SERVICE SECRETARIES The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:38 a.m. in room SH216, Hart Senate Office Building, Senator Carl Levin (chairman) presiding. Committee members present: Senators Levin, Lieberman, Landrieu, E. Benjamin Nelson, Carnahan, Dayton, Warner, McCain, Inhofe, Santorum, Allard, Sessions, Collins, and Bunning. Committee staff member present: David S. Lyles, staff director. Majority staff members present: Daniel J. Cox, Jr., professional staff member; Kenneth M. Crosswait, professional staff member; Richard D. DeBobes, counsel; Creighton Greene, professional_staff member; Jeremy Hekhuis, professional staff member; Maren Leed, professional staff member; Gerald J. Leeling, counsel; and Peter K. Levine, general counsel. Minority staff members present: Judith A. Ansley, Republican staff director; Charles W. Alsup, professional staff member; L. David Cherington, minority counsel; Ambrose R. Hock, professional staff member; George W. Lauffer, professional staff member; Patricia L. Lewis, professional staff member; Thomas L. MacKenzie, professional staff member; Ann M. Mittermeyer, minority counsel; Joseph T. Sixeas, professional staff member; Scott W. Stucky, minority counsel; and Richard F. Walsh, minority counsel. Staff assistants present: Daniel K. Goldsmith, Thomas C. Moore, and Nicholas W. West. Committee members' assistants present: Frederick M. Downey, assistant to Senator Lieberman; Andrew Vanlandingham, assistant to Senator Cleland; Jeffrey S. Wiener, assistant to Senator Landrieu; William K. Sutey, assistant to Senator Bill Nelson; Eric Pierce, assistant to Senator Ben Nelson; Neal Orringer, assistant to Senator Carnahan; Brady King, assistant to Senator Dayton; Benjamin L. Cassidy, assistant to Senator Warner; Christopher J. Paul and Mark Salter, assistants to Senator McCain; John A. Bonsell, assistant to Senator Inhofe; George M. Bernier III, assistant to Senator Santorum; Robert Alan McCurry, assistant to Senator Roberts; Douglas Flanders, assistant to Senator Allard; James P. Dohoney, Jr., assistant to Senator Hutchinson; Arch Galloway II, assistant to Senator Sessions; Kristine Fauser, assistant to Senator Collins; and Derek Maurer, assistant to Senator Bunning. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CARL LEVIN, CHAIRMAN Chairman LEVIN. Good morning, everybody. The committee meets this morning to receive testimony from the Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, and Secretary of the Air Force on the fiscal year 2003 budget request and on management and organizational issues facing the military departments. Secretary White, Secretary England, Secretary Roche, we welcome you back to the committee and look forward to your testimony. Secretary WHITE. Thank you. Secretary ENGLAND. Thank you. Chairman LEVIN. As we meet today, the new administration has been in office for just over a year and our three service secretaries have been in office for slightly less time than that. Much of their tenure in office has necessarily been taken up by the pressing issues of the war in Afghanistan and the effort to respond to terrorism here at home. The performance of our men and women in uniform has been exemplary and is a tribute to the entire leadership of the Department of Defense, including our three witnesses here today. The three service secretaries have played a central role in the formulation of the administration's budget request for fiscal year 2003, which includes the largest proposed increase in military spending in 2 decades. This increase comes without a comprehensive strategy or a detailed plan to guide that spending. A year into office, the administration has not yet issued a national security strategy, a national military strategy, or detailed plans for the size and structure, shape, or transformation of our military. As Secretary Rumsfeld testified last week, few of the investments that this administration will ask Congress for will benefit our national defense during this presidential term. These are long-term investments. The investments that we make today are needed to ensure that our military is as prepared for future wars as it has proven to be for Operation Enduring Freedom. So we are going to be particularly interested in the tradeoffs that our witnesses have made between investments in our legacy forces and investments in the military transformation and the basis upon which they have made these tradeoffs. Last summer Secretary Rumsfeld designated the three service secretaries to serve on two new committees, a Senior Executive Council and a Business Initiative Council, with broad responsibility for planning and implementing improved management practices across the entire Department of Defense. The Secretary has set a goal of achieving savings of 5 percent or more by bringing improved management practices from the private sector to the Department of Defense. Longstanding problems in areas such as financial management, acquisition management, management of information technology, and personnel management have not disappeared just because we are fighting a war. If anything, heightened concerns about national security and increased levels of defense spending give us an even greater_obligation to ensure that the taxpayers' money is well spent. For this reason, the committee will be interested in hearing what steps our three service secretaries have taken to improve the management of the Pentagon and how much progress we have made toward achieving the 5 percent savings goal. America's Armed Forces are performing superbly in their fight against terrorism. This committee will do all in its power to ensure that our forces have the resources, tools, and technologies to prevail in this fight. We are determined to preserve a high quality of life for our forces, for their families, to sustain their readiness, and to transform the Armed Forces to meet the threats and challenges of tomorrow, and we will continue to work with our service secretaries in seeking to achieve those goals. Senator Warner. STATEMENT OF SENATOR JOHN WARNER Senator WARNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I welcome our witnesses this morning. I always look forward to this particular hearing with the service secretaries. I think you have the best jobs anybody can possibly have, in this administration or any other. As the Chairman said, the President's budget request for fiscal year 2003 represents the largest increase, $48 billion, for the Department of Defense in two decades. In light of the attacks our Nation suffered on September 11, this increase is urgently needed. These attacks were a defining moment for our Nation. They engendered a new sense of unity and purpose in the country. Speaking for myself, I have had an opportunity to observe this Nation, and over the years I cannot recall a period in our history since World War II when the Nation was more united behind the President and the men and women of the Armed Forces. The President has brilliantly rallied this Nation, and indeed the world, to fight this global war against terrorists and those who harbor them. It is a war unlike any we have ever fought before. As Senator Levin and I visited our service men and women in the Afghan region in November, I was indeed struck by a recurring thought: They and we are writing a new chapter in military history with this operation, and we have to learn from it and plan for the future. The war has truly been a joint operation-all services operating together as one and many coalition nations operating with our U.S. forces. Soldiers on horseback and afoot are directing twenty first century weapons with extraordinary precision. Maritime forces are operating hundreds of miles inland in a landlocked country. Old bombers are delivering new weapons with devastating accuracy. Decisions made in Washington or down at the headquarters in Tampa are received and executed instantly, 7,000 miles away. Agility, precision, lethality, and interoperability are the measures of success for our systems and organizations. Last Tuesday Secretary Rumsfeld and General Myers appeared before this committee to outline the budget request in broad terms. The overriding themes of winning the war against terrorism, defending our homeland, improving quality of life for our service personnel, and transforming our forces to better counter new threats are right on target. We now look to you to fill in the details about how you will prepare your respective departments, not only to defend America and win this war against terrorism, but also to be ready for what lies ahead. I am supportive of this budget request, but I do have some concerns. Although the operation in Afghanistan highlighted the critical role of Navy platforms and aircraft, the budget request before us cuts both shipbuilding and naval aircraft. This is a matter you and I have discussed extensively in private in the last 30 days, Mr. Secretary, and we will discuss it in open session here today in some detail. At the current rate of shipbuilding, we will be well below a 300-ship Navy if we do not begin to take steps to reverse this decline. I wrote you to that effect about 3 weeks ago. Mr. Secretary of the Army, Army plans to transform to a lighter, more deployable, more lethal force are complicated by the need to maintain costly and aging legacy forces. That poses quite a challenge to you. In the Air Force, investment in new tactical aircraft is, I regret to say, somewhat overdue, but recent experiences demand increased investment in long-range, unmanned and space capabilities. As we discuss and debate this budget request in the days and the weeks ahead, as is the duty of this committee and Congress, on one thing we can all agree: the commitment, the dedication, and the performance of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and their families, in service to this Nation has been remarkable. We are mindful of how well they have served in the spirit of generations that have rallied to their Nation's call before them. We are forever grateful for their willingness and readiness to serve and to accept the risks and sacrifices. They exemplify the spirit of service our President has called for, as he reminded us recently, "The cost of freedom and security is high, but never too high." The Nation is united in purpose and determination as seldom before in our history-united behind our President and united behind these selfless men and women and their families who proudly serve our Nation. We in Congress will do everything we can to provide the resources and capabilities they need to succeed. Thank you. Chairman LEVIN. Thank you, Senator Warner, very much. Senator Inhofe has requested that he be recognized for an opening statement. Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very much. I do have a special introduction to make this morning. Yesterday I had the honor of seeing someone I have gotten to know over the past 3 years quite well. She is a State Senator, a Puerto Rican State Senator, Miriam Ramirez. We have worked together for quite some time. She has always been a supporter of the Navy. She brought two perspectives that I think certainly, Secretary England, I would hope that you would have a chance to visit with her and get directly from her. One is that since September 11 the tide has changed in terms of the attitude toward our Navy on the island of Puerto Rico; second, an awareness that if something should happen to the presence of the Navy on Puerto Rico it would not happen in a vacuum, that things would happen that are written into the law. Roosevelt Roads would close, Fort Buchanan would close, other benefits enjoyed historically by Puerto Rico would cease to be. The other is a recognition that those people who are still antiNavy on the island of Puerto Rico, many of them are terrorists. Here we are in a war on terrorism. One of the leaders who is respected in the anti-Navy movement-they are a minority movement-is Lolita LeBrone, who is a terrorist who led a group of terrorists into the House of Representatives here on Capitol Hill and opened fire, wounding five of our Congressmen. So that is the type of thing that is taking place there. I would like to ask that Senator Ramirez, who is with us here today, would stand and be recognized. Thank you, Senator. Chairman LEVIN. We welcome you, Senator. (Applause.) STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS E. WHITE, SECRETARY OF THE Secretary WHITE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Warner, members of the committee. There are moments in history when events suddenly allow us to see the challenges ahead with a degree of clarity previously unimaginable. The events of 11 September created one of those rare moments. Now we see clearly the challenges facing our Nation and we are confronting them. To succeed, the Army must accomplish three critical tasks at the same time: First, we must help win the global war on terrorism; second, we must transform to meet the challenges of future conflicts; and third, we must secure the resources needed to pursue both the war on terror and Army transformation. Our first task is to help win the war on terrorism. We have seen remarkable progress in Afghanistan, where Army Special Forces have led the way, followed by elements of the 10th Mountain Division, the 101st Airborne Division, and other Army units. Today more than 14,000 soldiers are deployed in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, from Egypt to Pakistan, from Kenya to Kazakhstan. Together with our joint and coalition partners, we have defeated the Taliban, significantly disrupted the al Qaeda terrorist network, liberated the people of Afghanistan, and installed an interim government in Kabul, all within a few short months, in lousy terrain, in the depth of winter, over 7,000 miles away, in the graveyard of empires. I know that Secretary Roche and Secretary England join me when I say our service men and women are nothing short of inspirational. They are accomplishing a complex and dangerous mission with extraordinary courage, skill, and determination. Some have been injured, others have given their lives. Our Nation is forever indebted to them and their families for their sacrifice. As the war evolves, requirements for Army forces are growing, from assuring regional stability in Central Asia to stability and support operations in Afghanistan, to securing detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to training counterterrorism forces in the Phil |