Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2025 for the Food and Drug Administration.
2024-05-08
Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
U
Unknown (SPEAKER_10)
I want to call this hearing to order. Good morning. I want to welcome our witnesses, Secretary Austin and General Brown. We appreciate you being with us here today. General Brown, this is your first appearance before this subcommittee in your position today, and I want to thank you for your commitment and longstanding service to our nation. Secretary Austin, last year when you testified before this committee, we discussed the danger of a potential government default. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and we were able to come together with a bipartisan matter to avert a catastrophic government default and shutdown. But we have failed miserably in getting the budget done on time. Here we are more than halfway through the fiscal year, and you just got your budget, albeit six months late. These repeated delays have real impact, and I hope you'll illustrate for us the impact of these late budgets and constant continuing resolutions.
We are meeting today to discuss DOD's $833.5 billion budget request for the next fiscal year. This is a 1% increase above last year's budget, and it is consistent with the budget caps that were agreed to in the Bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act. On a side note, I will tell you this, Mr. Secretary. The Ranking Member Collins and myself I think we need a bigger number. And the reason for that, and you know this better than I, is because if we're going to invest in future technologies, this number has to be bigger. The military services and the command and commands are telling us they have unfunded requirements in excess of $20 billion. The price of fuel is much higher. Our military is engaged in operations around the world. The national security supplemental that Congress cleared just last month, some eight months after the administration presented it, addresses some of those concerns. It includes important funds to support Ukraine's continued fight against Russians, buys new weapons for our military services through probably those we have given to the Ukrainians, supports Israel's air defense capability, and provides much-needed infusion of cash to pay for operations in the Red Sea, and invests in capabilities critical to deter China. Finally, passing the national security supplemental was an important step forward, but that alone will not help you or us get the job done. Because of the bipartisan budget caps and our FY25 budget request is roughly $10 billion below what you had planned for last year at this time, we need to understand what risks this lower budget creates for our military personnel, our operations around the globe, and our modernization efforts. We've got to get a budget done so that the men and women in uniform, supported by the civilians of the Department of Defense, can go about their business of keeping America safe. I support the ongoing efforts of Senator Murray and Collins to chart a path forward that will work and will work with anyone to get this job done.
Once again, thank you gentlemen for being here. Thank you for your testimony. But before you begin your opening remarks, I want to recognize Susan Collins, Senator Collins, for her opening statement. Thank you very much, Chairman Tester, for holding this very important hearing. General Brown, as this is your first time testifying before the subcommittee in your capacity as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, let me join the chairman in extending a special welcome to you. I also want to thank both of our witnesses as well as the comptroller for your service and the service that the men and women you represent. I look forward to hearing from you how the President's fiscal year 2025 budget requests will affect the department's implementation of the 2022 National Defense Security Strategy, the goals of which I largely support. We must be clear-eyed that this budget request would represent a real cut in funding for the Department of Defense as it fails to keep pace with inflation. It proposes a defense funding increase of just 1%, $8.6 billion, relative to the current fiscal year. That amount is well short of the $22.5 billion year-over-year increase that the department would need simply to cover projected costs and escalations related to fuel, military and civilian pay, and medical care. This is a nearly $14 billion shortfall. It means that the President's request shifts funding away from modernization, readiness, and procurement to cover these must-pay costs.
If the world were becoming safer, then perhaps such a reduction could be absorbed with little risk to national security. But unfortunately, that is not the world in which we live. Russian President Putin continues his brutal bombardment in Ukraine. Hamas refuses to return the remaining 133 hostages. including five Americans who have been held for 214 days since Hamas' attack on Israel. Iran and its proxies continue to fan the flames of violence throughout the Middle East. And China's military budget and navy continue to grow, including a 7.2% increase in defense spending in the Chinese budget compared to last year.
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