Opening Statement

Feb. 12, 2001 Senate Budget Committee Defense Hearing

Chairman Pete V. Domenici

Last September, this Committee heard the Director of CBO respond to my request to study the real costs of supporting the Defense Department

Director Crippen told us it would cost, on average, $50 billion more per year for the next ten years to properly support the national security strategy and defense structure the Clinton Administration had selected

That was not the only study to say that the defense budget was "underfunded.

The Aerospace Industries Association believes DoD needs $60 billion more, each year

One major think tank concluded DoD needs at least $100 billion more each year;

The Joint Chiefs of Staff testified to Congress they need $38 to $58 billion more, each year –

The Commandant of the Marine Corps has told us he wants to increase the share of GDP for defense from the current 2.9% to 4% – an increase of about $140 billion in the first year.

Since these kinds of increases were being discussed, I wrote to the Defense Department’s Inspector General. He responded listing ten subject areas that he described as "management challenges." These included readiness, financial management, healthcare cost growth, acquisition reform, and agency-wide personnel problems

During the election campaign and since his inauguration, President Bush has called for a top-level review of national strategy and the complex challenges of the twenty-first century. That review is just now starting.

From all of this, some conclude that the problems we face today are so severe we need to spend more money for defense and we need to start doing that right now. The question left is how much more

Others conclude that we need to pause and review what our national security strategy should be, and what our defenses should look like for the very diverse threats we face in the new century. We may have to devote more resources but we need to know what for. That is precisely what we are going to hear about this afternoon.

We are honored to have three very expert witnesses.

Admiral William Owens was "at the creation" when President Bush and then President Clinton adjusted national strategy as the Cold War ended. He was in the Pentagon when General Powell proposed the "Base Force" to start the adjustment. Later, he helped the Clinton Administration perform the "Bottom Up Review" and the "Quadrennial Defense Review." During this time, he was the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – the second highest military position in the land.

Dr. Andrew Krepinevich (Crepe-in-ev-itch) is Executive Director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Dr. Krepinevich is the author the classic book "The Army and Vietnam", and he has been a voice in the wilderness for many years on the need to fundamentally rethink how we defend America’s interests in this new century.

We are also honored to have Mr. Robert Lieberman, Deputy Inspector General of the Department of Defense. He has been a senior executive at the IG for 20 years, and he is widely known for the incisive work he has done on the most difficult "challenges" the Department faces. His knowledge about some of these issues, such as financial management, the Y2K crisis, and DoD management problems is without equal.

Gentlemen, it is a pleasure to have you here today. Please keep your opening oral statements to 10 minutes. Admiral Owens, we will start with you.