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Good morning to our witnesses. Thank you for being here with us today.
Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Israel, and the persistent and aggressive actions of China and Russia, are reminders that we need a strong military to deter war, protect U.S. interests, and when necessary, win in conflict.
We are witnessing an evolution in warfighting through the proliferation of technology. Small, cheap, and autonomous systems provide regional actors with the ability to threaten their neighbors and endanger the global order.
With that backdrop, the Department’s fiscal year 2025 request makes tough choices to stay under the Fiscal Responsibility Act caps. It trades long-term modernization of capabilities to preserve near-term readiness of the force.
The Defense Subcommittee will come to order.
Today, the Subcommittee will receive testimony from: Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense; General C.Q. Brown, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Mike McCord, the Undersecretary of Defense for Comptroller.
The Department of Defense is requesting $833 billion within this Subcommittee’s jurisdiction for fiscal year 2025. This is one percent higher than the fiscal year 2024 enacted level, and would keep Defense spending within the cap imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Which is interesting considering the non-defense discretionary request is about $23 billion over the same cap.
President Biden frequently repeats a quote from his father, “don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.”
It seems this Administration will continue to value its domestic agenda over national security.
Washington, D.C. – House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK), joined by Defense Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert (R-CA) and State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) as original cosponsors, today released a series of critical security supplemental bills that provide much-needed defense assistance to our allies and partners around the world.
The hearing will come to order.
It is my pleasure to welcome Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Michael Connor, and Commanding General and Chief of Engineers, Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon, to discuss the fiscal year 2025 budget request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Commissioner Camille Touton to discuss the request for the Bureau of Reclamation. I am also pleased that we are joined by an alumnus of this subcommittee, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Mr. Michael Brain, from the Interior Department to discuss the request for western water. Mike, welcome back to the committee.
