House Armed Services Committee
Chairman Skelton's opening statement--February 07, 2007
"Welcome to the House Armed Services Full Committee Hearing on the FY 2008 Defense Budget Request. Thank you, Secretary Gates and General Peter Pace for appearing before us to present the defense portion of the President's budget. This is an enormous budget with $480 billion in regular spending, an additional supplemental request for over $93 billion to cover the costs of the war in this fiscal year, and on top of all that, a $141.7 billion request to pay for the war in the coming fiscal year.
"Now it is time for Congress to play our Constitutional role. As authorizers, it is our solemn duty to insure that this budget is sufficient. At the same time, it must ensure our forces are properly postured to meet the complex security demands of the 21st century, while protecting the taxpayers' resources.
"Each year I caution that while this process is familiar, we must not approach it as routine. This is a time of war, and wars test nerve, will, and wisdom. Our troops and the civilians who serve with them continue to do everything we ask of them, and more. It is our job to make sure that they have the training and equipment they need to be successful for any mission.
"Let me make a few brief comments before moving to our witnesses. First, I congratulate the Department on delivering a full year FY 08 budget request to pay for the ongoing war in Iraq. For too long we've funded the war piecemeal through supplementals, which I feel obscured the total cost. To rectify that, last year we passed a provision to require that a funding request be delivered with the base budget for this and following years. I would still prefer for war funding to be in the base budget, but this request is for the full amount, and I'd say it complies with the law.
"Today, our forces are engaged in two primary conflicts. I came back from a recent trip to Afghanistan optimistic, feeling our fight there is winnable. Long-term security and economic development depends on a government free of the Taliban and its violence. We can end the scourge of the Taliban, with their al Qaeda support, if our commanders there have the right troops in the right numbers. We are doing our part, but I don't believe our NATO partners yet are. They must meet their troop commitments and lift the restrictions they have placed on the troops currently in Afghanistan. I welcome any comments you have on this critical issue.
"I wish I was as optimistic about Iraq and the President's proposed troop increase. I still have some very serious questions about what we're doing there and how effective the plan will be. I continue to believe that this surge is just a change in tactics and that greater strategic questions remain unanswered. Each day we continue that fight is another day we increase the strategic risk to the United States, that we may not have the right resources when our military is next called upon to deter or to respond to a conflict.
"Strategic risk will not be eliminated at once, but resetting our equipment is a necessary start. Therefore, it is with some relief that I note that, with $37 billion in 2008 allocated to reconstitute equipment lost or damaged in the war, the war budget should go a long way to pay for resetting the Army and Marine Corps - a critical task in ensuring that our forces are ready if called.
"We cannot neglect the future-I am pleased to see some recognition of this in the base budget including the funding, for instance, of eight new ships - ships that are needed to retain our power projection capabilities and allow us to respond to a crisis anywhere on the globe. This budget also helps ensure that our forces dominate the domains of air and space, as well.
"But most of all, I am gratified to see that the President finally agrees with my 10 year quest to bolster the size of our ground forces. This budget request includes the first funding to increase the Army by 65,000 and the Marines by another 27,000 over the next several years. This increase will ease the burden of constant deployments which are currently in danger of breaking the force.
"While this end strength increase is good news, we much watch carefully how we achieve it over time. I am concerned that Army recruit quality continues to decline and I worry that we have not committed enough resources to recruit and retain our forces. Our military strength is based on the quality of our people and any impact on that will cause exponential ripples throughout the entire force. We must be sure that we continue to pay them what they are worth, and care for the well-being of their families. That's why the proposed $1.9 billion in savings in the Defense Health Program for instance, is troubling.
"In general, there is much to commend the budget and I look forward to working on it with the Department and my fellow Members over the next few months. I also want to commend you, Gentlemen, not only for getting the budget out with more detail than in the past, but for getting your statements for this hearing in early, which is probably unprecedented.
"Now I have a few housekeeping notes to take care of. First, gentlemen, please be so kind as to summarize your testimony. Without objection your full testimony will be entered into the record but I understand we have a four hour time limit and I want to save time for member questions. The last time you were before us, some of our more junior Members did not get a chance to ask their questions. Therefore, today, we will go slightly out of regular order to recognize them first, while still alternating member recognition between majority and minority.
"With that, I yield to the Ranking Member."
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