and abraham lincoln and in 1933 between herbert hoover and franklin roosevelt with historians susan sheldon and eric crossway. >> several southern state did not recognize the election of abraham lincoln as legitimate they considered him as a sectional president to the fact by and large his support came from non-slave slates. no sooner than he has been elected then south carolina makes good on his promise to make good for the union. >> he conceded the election on election day and had no choice giving the resounding nature of the vote and reported in the press and it was clear he lost the election but he never conceded to the substance of the argument, he continued to believe that the new deal that roosevelt frame during the campaign and began to work towards after the election represented a fundamental threat for the american way of life so

he devoted himself to presenting roosevelt from being able to enact >> the presidential tradition, sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span q&a. >> testimony from navy and marine corps leaders on the readiness levels of their military branches. we heard about current military operations, u.s. presidents in the arctic region and coronavirus rponse efforts held by a senate armed services committee, this is two hours. >> in morning, the heari of the subcommtee on readiness an management will come to order. the subcommittee meets today to receive testimony on the current readiness of the united states navy in the united states marine corps, i want to welcome my

threee distinguished witnesses, the honorable kenneth, the secretary of the navy, general david h berger the commandant of marine, the chief of naval operations of the united states navy. i would also like to thank diana mauer director of defense capability in management and her team at the government accountability office for submitting the requested statement for the record for this hearing, gao is an invaluable resource to our work on the committee. some of the issues that i would like to address in cover today are covid-19 and its impact on the readiness of u.s. navy and marine corps, the navy and marine corps pivotal role in countering power competition is highlighted in the national defense strategy, the commandant of the marine corps bold new force design and planning guidance, recent provocation of

russian military exercises, massive russian military exercises in the arctic and related to that the role of the navy and the marine corps as they play an increasingly important role in protecting our strategic interest in the arct arctic, let me touch on these briefly, first the impact of covid-19 on navy and marine corps readiness, over the last three months this committee has received frequent and productive briefings on covid-19 and on its impact on military readiness. as you are aware covid-19 reduced operation at navy and marine corps depots and postpone the vital exercises such as runs pack 2020 and change the way in which we train our sailors and marines, i'm looking forward to an update on these critical issues as it relates to the readiness of ourr marine corps and navy team. second i would like to address

the national defense strategy in the navy and marine corps role in responding to the great powes competitionat, released in 2018 the national defense strategy i believe is a bipartisan document and strategy which prioritizes the return of great power competition particular with russia and china as the pacing threat. this far in responding to the nds directives, the u.s. navy and this committee that advocated for building a 355di shipped navy and heavily and rightfully in my view focused these investments on improving and expanding our nation submarine fleet, the key area of american strategic advantage. third as part of the navy teams response to great power competition, the marine corps under the new planning guidance

and is force design 2030 construct has keenly focused on how to address the nds pacing threat, china specifically general berger has the 0 did on transforming our marine corps into a slightly leaner but more agile force, not planning guidance calls for revolutionary change to theli mine corps at least in the departmentf defense terms and i commend him for his efforts on being one of the services leading in terms of trying to implement t nds but the commandant's sategy is not without iritics and i would like the secretary and general berger the opportunity to respond to somis of those in ths hehearing. i would le to address the recent incident i was with the secretary a alaska where we saw a pe exercise, of great power competition, the rect

very large military exercises which ok place insideet the u.s. exclusive economic zone offhe coast of the great state of alka, as some of you already know in late august the russians conducted a mor wargame and alaska over 50 russianarships about 40 russian aircraft took part in these exercises in the bering sea and involved multiple practice missile launchers, submarines and the new york times reported last month an article i would like to submit for the recd, a headline, are weakening iaded u.s. bases ruian aggression near alaskan russian has seller rated provocative encounters in the north pacific harassing american fishing vessels in u.s. waters sending bombers towards alaska's shores. i would like to enter this into the record without objection bun i would like mr. secretary,

admiral and update on that particular the coordination tt we need to improve wh the coast guard, navy and the alaskan fishing fleets that were impactedy this. finally i like to have a broader discussion on the arctic is become an emerging area of great power competition and to better understand the navy and the marine corps' role inrotecting the arctic homeland, safeguding the arctic regions, global commons and is the navy and the marine corps due across every part of the world in this regard and hopeful to hear some positive news about a new navy arctic strategy which this committe has been encouraging all the services to produ arctic strategies and i am hopeful thate can also have a discussion on not only the support for building six polar clas icebreakers that our nation needs but the discussion thathe president started a couple months a with his memo

to senior national defense officials on where and how we should be basing security cutters and america's arctic and mr. secretary you and i have had a lot of discussion on that. finally and most importantn th committee i would like a prediction of who is going to win the army-navy football game that takes place in a couple of weeks. that's when be very important gentlemen. thank you very much i'm looking forward to this hearing and i would like to now here for my friend and colleague senator king. >> thank you, senator sullivan we find yourselves in challenging times and it's good that this committee work has continued and will i want to welcome the distinguished witnesses, thank you for your service were looking forward to the testimony and opportunities to exchange questions and i echo the comments that chairman

sullivan has offered and thanks to diana mauer for her work at the gao. i also want to do another set of thank you, sir, this is probably the last opportunity that we will meet as a subcommittee orus full committee prior to some changes and were losing two colleagues, senator mcsally and senator jones who served on the committeand a wonderful way and on the subcommittee as well they were great public servants bere they got here in great public servants whilehey were here and i'm sure they have great public service ahead of them but i wanted t acknowledge each of them,co the chairman has done a really gd job of putting the issues on the board that we need to discuss today and impactn readiness from the ongoing pandemic and lesso learned along the way that will helps going forward, what role will the tom dod play in vaccine distribution what plans are being made within the navy family,avy and marine corps over vaccines and how they'll be deoyed, shipyard modernization an and the looming threats that are basis based from the

effects of climate cnge, i won't dive further into those d also those topics for my questions, we wanto help the dertment address what we need to do to be ready to operate in this challenging environme and respond and execute the full range of dod responsibilities and missions. i look forward to your testimony in thank you. >> i would like to begin testimony, each of you will have five minutes to give anon oral testimonyo your longer statemens can be submitted for the record if you so choose, mr. secretary i would like to begin with you. >> thank you, mr. chairman and egbefore i begin i would like to offer the department in the navy's condolences to you, the loss of your father a great veteran of the united states navy and our thoughts and our prayers are with use or. >> thank you.

>> in may of 1943 american ioops, aircraft and ships were sent to the island to dislodge the imperial japanese troops occupying our american soil, these young americans were dedicated and brave but unprepared and underequipped, the only thing that prevented the operation from indian in total catastrophe was the fact that that landing was unopposed and in short, we, the united states military got lucky but that should never be accepted as good enough for our fleet, our force or for our nation. as secretary of the navy undetermined to ensure our sailors and marines are never again sent into a situation without the right training, the right equipment in the right leadership, chairman sullivan, ranking member king, distinguished members of the committee we appreciate your efforts to ensure funding stability over the past several

years, this ability as enabled a greater focus on readiness across services from the navy's investments in shipyards in aviation agents to the rink were modern and it enter modernization with the force design 2030, these efforts are increasing our employment capabilities and fleet readiness even in the face of this covid-19 and other globalus challenges. more importantly we are investing in the training, education and resilience oflo or personnel, they in their families will always be our greatest resources. as a discussed treatment confirmation hearing i was concerned about the morale of the force and the underlying effects on culture across the wentire department, thankfullyi found many efforts underway to address these concerns and inconsistent engagement with our sailors and marines around the globe i have discovered our morale is better than i thought it might be but it can get better as we direct the it better, weake

must prepare today for tomorrow and we must continually adjust to the threat, our existing fleet structure operates on the premise that we still live in a post-9/11 state where nato's planks are secure the russian fleet is tied to the. and terrorism is our biggest problem, that is not the world of today, if the world changes we must be bold, involved in change with it instead of perpetuating a structure designed to support yesterday's jointe forces command we are lining to today's threat to meet the unique maritime challenges atlantic theater we will rename fleet forces command as the u.s. atlantic fleet and refocus our naval forces in the supporting region under this mission controlling the maritime approaches to you that night it states into those of our allies in the atlantic fleet will confront the russian navy which

is been deploying closer and closer to her east coast with a tailored maritime presence, capability and lithology also in order to improve our posture in the indo pacific we will reconstitute the first fleet assigning the primary responsibility for the indo and south asian reason in the fleet and unpredictability of an agile mobile at sea command, this will reassure allies and partners of our commitment to this region while ensuring any potential adversary knows we are committed to global presence to ensure rule of law and freedom of the seas. we are determined to make the bold changes required to ensure that our forces are prepared to dominate any potential battle space and return home safely tomorrow as a great naval list, the 26 president of the united states teddy roosevelt once said a strong navy is not a provocation but the surest answer of peace. stwe look to you our congress fr

the strong oversight partnership that is enabled our maritime strength ever since congress authorized the construction of our first six ships, of 1794, i would like to take this moment to announce the next constellation class will be named for one of the original six a name selected by our first president george washington the ship will be uss congress to94 honor and recognize the work that you and your staff do every day to support our sailors, our marines and the people of the united states of america on behalf of the department of the navy are marines, sailors and workforce and their families who serve at their side, thank you for what you do to enhance our readiness, i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much

mr. secretary admiral, would you care to make an opening statement? s chairmanr i would, solomon my condolences on your family loss, your dad was only a sailor but a great friend of the navy. >> dothank you. >> ranking member kaine, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning with the secretary of navy and the, not berger, my wife linda behind me joined me this morning. to be effective the united states navy has to be able to carry out two critical functions, the first is to seek control and the second power projection and in both of those missions are timeless, the navy does not need to reinvent itself, the mayor by which we carry out those functions and the equipment that we used to do it do change over time but as

admiral said in front of a joint session of congress in october 1945 at the dawn of the nuclear age he called those missions timeless. president john f. kennedy and a wake of the cuban missile crisis said the same thing. so for me, seek control the capability to control the seas and to dominate the oceans is jusmyprimary focus. with respect to readiness, that covers two areas, readiness today which i believe is the focus of this hearing as well as a readiness tomorrow in the budget decision that the navy presents to the secretary of defense, really balanced across three big areas that are aimed at those two functions that ewould be readiness and readines in the future, that would be lethal capability to control the seas and project power. the last is capacity, the size of the united states navy under

navy. today in the midst of the global pandemic, we have a hundred ships deployed and we have about 40 se4,047,000 sailors that seet from the black sea in the baltics to the arabian sea, the atlantic in the indo pacific. our cyber warriors are stealing vigilant watch as we speak, they are joined by a silent service under the sea that continued their constant patrols. i'd be remiss if i didn't talk about the civilian sailors that support us every single day so we can control the seas, those of the shipyard workers, those are folks that work in reduction lines that keep our spare parts rolling to the waterfront to aviation squadron are submarines and ships. for people that provide the naval academy or academic institutions like the naval war

college in the school that continues to turn out the best and the brightest that this nation has and are boot camp which is operating -- it'sbe capacity. that said, the investment to keep that machine going every single day are also balanced against investments of the future inc. about hydroponic and laser energy we just shot down at sea last month we shot down it vm from a destroyer two weeks ago. we are focused on the future and what we need to do to get there. members of the committee, we are grateful for the support that you provide the united states navy, our sailors and our families. again i thank you for this opportunity this morning and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you admiral, general berger.

>> take you for the opportunity for us to appear this morning from one marine to another, we talked last night, no one marine hurts, we all her we all think about you and your family. for the ranking member kaine and the rest of the members, this is a good opportunity in time for us to be here this morning to talk about readiness, i'm in the same spot as the cnl for the service secretary. butt is also a balance as he highlighted of today's readiness, what we have to provide now this afternoon, balanced against the force that we have to prepare for thee future. in the cold hard truth, if your service chief, every dollar you spend on a legacy piece of equipment were trying to prepare something for this afternoon the dollar you have to consider for the future, this is the detention every service chief has always been challenged with.

that said i think you should be confident this committee should be very confident that all your navy and marine units deployed around the world are deployed this afternoon the ready for any crisis. we are working very hard to make sure we will stay in front, there is no adversary that is going to overtake us, the readiness i would offer and break president and our view of readiness, how i view and i do not view readiness as availability only. it is more than just having a platform, ship, aircraft, piece of equipment available, i think you expect us to be ready in terms of are you man, are you trained, are you equipped, are you ready for the threat, when we think of readiness were talking about readiness in terms of ready for what, ready when. i am also grateful for all the support this committee has given

us, five or six years ago we were in a tough spot readiness wise, we rode the force hard and we needed the resources to build a readiness back and were back where wewe needed to be thanks o the support of the members onre the subcommittee and the congress at large. com very grateful forha that. lastly i would touch on the same thing that i think admiral does that i readiness andto unconventional way and cyber readiness, that is offense and defense, i would just highlight that because those threats clearly are not going down and in fact are increasing but you would be proud of the cyber mission force that every day is tackling the challenges that you wanted to tackle in on the p defensive side we have all the memes, resources and the training and the people in the equipment to prepare all of our networks for the challenges that

another adversary is going to pose, on both cases we are very focused and that will be an enduring task for all of us in chairman i wou yield the rest of my time to the topics y want to focus on. >> thank you general and a just began i appreciate the commts about my dad. i come from a family of long tradition enable service, my dad accomplished a lot in his life but his proudest a compliment no doubt wasis service in the u.s. navy. his cousin bruce wilhelmas an academy grad who one thelying cross during the cuban missile cris, if you read abouthat he is highlighted in the movie and later killed in a training accident and fally my dad's uncle tom sullivan was a lieutenant and h did three runs during world war ii some of the most dangerouservice in the u.s. navy durin the war and i mentioned the run the seventh

anniversary and americans don't know a lot abo that battle but i mentioned that because those are all very importantnt cold-weather operations that are navy and marine corps did quite well in history. mr. secretary, perhaps you can begin by talking about the navy's upcoming arctictrategy to get back to the roots whether operations werehosen reservoir type operations where we have a navy and marine corps that can operate well and protect america's strateg interest in some of the coldest places in the world that are increasingly becoming t places where great power competition are going t be taking place in the future. >> mr. chairman i would be happy to. as you kw i'm a student of the arctic, and advocate for the arctic and i first went to your great state as a u.s. navy pilot

station at the naval air station up thrghout the arctic circle. most recently i was in the ambassador in norway and spent most of my time above the arctic circle and i've seen with my own eyes how the arctic has changed in those 35 years. today it is inapplicable 365 and there are other nations in the world that are recognized its importance to us. they should be an alarmo all of americans as an arctic nation that we should have a more formidable presence t ensure rule of law and freedom of the seas and that part of the world. most recently john mccain was doing just that o the exercise near the bay of peter the great and was engaged by a more assertive russian navy, the united states navy, the unite

states marine corps has had every commitment tohe arctic, we want to operate in the arctic today more historically although as you know the navy has operated consistently into the arctic since the incepon of ourubmarine force is just you cannot see our vessels today we need the visible presence ashe chief of naval operations talked about a few moments ago power. projection in the ability to ensure our partners and allies and were own people that we the united states navy have the first and forost inur minds. we are about to release an arctic strategy that you and i a talked about during a recent trip to alaska in the importance and how the blueprint will recommit ourselves in ata visibe way to activities in the arctic. but we must recognize if we don't step forward quickly, those who have challenged us on the stage of great power

competition are there, i've seen it russia has re-militarized arctic and china has rommitted itself to build icebreakers, to be able to move its product from its homelando western markets and half the amoun of time that is historically had to to being present in therctic in a much more visible way then historically then. i know there has been an after action in the should not be ordered out of that by russians and they were harassed what are we doing to make sure that doesn't happen again our fishing fleet, my state this superpower

of seafood, almost 60% comes from alaska's waters what do we make sure to do that will happen again, do you have any the memorandum on icebreakers and home porting those in different parts of the arctic. >> the uss john mccain was in the arctic to ensure freedom of navigation and i would invite the chief enable operations to go into more detail, some is classified as you and i discussed and we would be happy to talk with you privately atti any time that would be convenient to you mr. chairman, you may know that i recently went to finland to see the icebreakers in question that the president has directed us to purchase, we are looking within the department navy of how we

can facilitate that, part of commissioning those ships means that they become u.s. naval vessels and requirements that we have to have u.s. naval personnel in command of the vessels so i've askeded the cnlo look into the process by which we can facilitate that, you and i agree we need to build icebreakers, we cannot bill them as quickly as we need them today the coast guard 19th two icebreakers and that's all that we have and when is broken. so we do need icebreakers in the navy recognizes not a mission that is central to the united states navy but is one that we rely on the coast guard to rely in this instance per the executive order we are looking in ways. you have any thoughts you'd like to offer? >> thank you mr. secretary in terms of the navy's presence in the marine corps, i say over the past year we've done 20 exercises in the high north and that ranges fromps unilateral 2joint exercises that the u.s.

conducts alone some in the training range and alaska the bilateral exercises and our closest allies and partners to multilateral exercises, our operation in the high north are not extraordinary but they become part of our day-to-day business and i think that is directly tied to the national defense strategy the chairman's role in the posture of the gloe against the primary competitors mainly in this case china and russia that would include the arctic's with respect to the incident that happened in late august, i share i your concern d meet with the north, commander later on this week and i know they're looking at what potentially happened with communication breakdown, potentially try fishermen, perhaps miscommunication between agencies in the u.s. government and the u.s. fishermen should not feel threatened by another nation in our own easy in our presence of their and we will

have some effect to that but perhaps more needs to be done including to the arctic council to have discussions about it. >> thank you, mr. chair, i want to talk to you about the announcement that you made today about the first fleet in the atlantic fleet, all spend one minute on the first and four on the first. it will take the sizable real estate that is now covered by the seventh fleet out of japan and divided into two fleets because of increased activity at the scene between the pacific and the indian ocean, do i understand that correctly? >> that is right. >> he worked out with pay, and the seventh fleet and you're still making decisions about manpower but it will likely plea and expeditionary fleet at least at the start a land-based hq. >> that is correct senator. >> that is to emphasize the growing importance of this

region a the strategic alliances that the united states has with india and others in that part of the world. >> backs exactly right as you know you've traveled in that regi and for the seventh fleet which is home ported in japan it's also see based in a house for biddable challges to move through the western pacific down through the approaches of the indian ocean all the way to the northern arabian gulf. >> let me move to the question that affects virginia significantly. the atlantic fleet was the fleet headquartered and i believe secretary during the war on terror reconstituted the atlantic fleet as the forces command it was not just the name change, there was different areas of focus, right before i came to the senate in 2011 the second fleet which was based and it was decommissioned because the united states perceive that russia would no longer be a

naval threat, not so fast in 2018 during my service on the committee the navy recommissioned the second fleet because of the increased russian threat in the atlantic, your proposal today to reconstitute the fleet forces command which was focused on the war on terror to the atlantic fleet as i understand it is to recognize the reality of this increased russian presence in the great power competition is the dominant concern of the national defense strategy is that correct? >> that is correct, let me ask this my folks in hpton roads will wonder whether reconstitutings it will cause them to lose jobs or psonnel or investment levels in that region should they be worried about them? >> there is no loss of jobs or revenue to the tidewater region. >> i understand you will go to the region to have discussions

with folks in the area about the proposal that you announced today. >> i will thatt is correct. >> that is very helpful. >> if i understand now with the structure you're putting on the tablehe pacific fleet would ve the first, third a seventh fleets. >> that is correct. >>ou are contemplating this in the atlantic fleet would have them reported through is that correct? >> that is correct. >> the six fleet would be reporting for u.s. forces euro europe. >> that is correct. >> that fleet does so much in tandem with nato allies in that theater. >> that is correct. >> let me ask, let me move to one other topic, vaccine deployment, we are grappling with a lot of vaccine deployment

plsues but it's very critical that vaccine thank goodness is being developed rapidly that the vaccine be deployed rapidly in a way that will keep our military forces active and healthy, talk a little bit about the dod discussions about vaccine deployment issues and how you're approaching it and did you learn things with how you did testing and why testing for the dod mily that gave you lessons about how to do vacne deployment and phase the deployment o vaccines through sothe navy marines. >> m senator i am extremely proud of the department of the navy the marin corps and her navy have done a phenomenal job in the aftermath o the lessons that we learned from teddy roosevelt and we are applying some ofte those lessons in the vaccine -- in the testing that you menoned to what our rollout strategy will be aroun the vaccine, some o those

discussions are still going on with the team as we determine howuickly we will get those vaccines how quickly weill rollth those out, i know the cnl is in discussions with the surgeon general to how we wll do that for the navy as well as the commandant for the marine corps i would invite the cnl if he has any thoughts on this specifically to comment. >> thank you mr. secretary, there are two related but separate plans in development right now very closely with the cdc and the first one deals with the distribution of vaccines in there to the dod is looking at one is under no and one is pfizer, you probably know pfizer requires will be shipped in gps coolers and once it's thawed it's good for about five days. so the pfizer medicine will be

distributed here in the ten different locations across the dod, every medical treatment facility in the military will receive that vaccine and will also have threeth or four overss locations that will receive them under no and you have more flexibility. the second piece of this is the vaccination plan itself and is fromto lessons learned testing we developed a prioritization for testing and building as we refine it as we were trying to get testing capability. we have a better sense of what the prioritization structure auto look like and at the top the healthcare workers and then emergency and safety personnel and the installations those people are likely to come in contact with people infected and then our strategic forces so maybe your cyberer w mission fo,

the cruise on strategic missile submarines and then the forces that will deploy within the next three months. we have a good count of what those numbers are and if there's anything were really good at its mass immunization in the u.s. military, we feel pretty confident that once we get the vaccine distributed that the vaccination piece now that we have the prioritization will happen prettydi quickly. >> ank you mr. church. >> senator shaheen. >> thank you, mr. chairman and thank you to eh of you for being here this morning and for yourr service. secretary i went to follow-up on the conversation that you and senator sullivan were having about the importance of being able to operate in cold climates and the importance of the arctic going forward because in new hampshire we have the u.s. army cold regions research and

engineering lab and they do amazing research and i wondered to what extent you share that research across branches, do you get information from the army about the research that is being done that would be helpful to the navy. >> we do under a new joint approach the service secretary and i talk, the service chief talk all the time in our respective research arms have an exchange and interplay as well. >> admiral i appreciate your comments on th importance of her civilian workers especially at our shipyard we had the opportunity to visit them and everyone appreciated a that. i am very interested in ensuring that the shipyard optimization plan goes forward as envisioned, are you comfortable that the

resources are going to be there to keep that plan on time and what's been the impact of any of covid-19? >> with respect to the plan it's been a priority of the department certainly the secretary since he's been in the sea. rti will tell you and putting or money where our mouth is right across the four public yards we have nine projects underway, sort of those are in a couple in hawaii and so forth. but those are progressing on track and funded, we have outweighed three and a half billion dollars which is not a trivial amount given the fact that this is for sai op given the fact that her typical budget is about a billion, three and a half over. that is progressing well over the work in the planning

associated with it, it's a big project in hawaii that we may notification on a week ago. i am confident were heading in the right direction and the right degree of prioritization and resources against the plan. with respect to the workforce itself, the workforce as you know is an older workforce and we were very conservative particulate in the spring and we wanted to make sure the safety was our number one priority so we did see with respect to production, we saw a dip in our production capability at the public yards with respect to the work being done and we went down to the 70s 70% of the workforce on the job every day, that is now back at 90% and when we look at loss mandate with respect to the time. it is about 2% of the mandy's across the 4 yards that we would expect to complete a year, we have mitigation efforts and play, that f includes overtime

which buys us to her 3%, contracting, going to local contractors outside of the public yards that can do some of the work for us and also we mobilized 1300 that have unique skill sets that we can bring into the yard. the mitigation plan, safety first and were watching it closely but i think we are right now i would describe our repair efforts in the public yardsbu as stable. were very comfortable with where we are. >> do you expect to be delayed in terms of where we'd hope to be with the optimization plan as a result of covid. >> i ha not seen any delays as a result of covid i'm sur there slight delays but nothing that is popular red flag at my level to raise significant concern. >> thank you

also this is for you and for the secretary, one of the challenges that we have as a shrinking industrial base as we look at the needs going forward and i assume covid is going to have an impact on that, i know we havan small sinesses in new hampshire that are a partf our industrial base in the state that are facing real challenges as a result of the pandemic, are you concerned about the impact of the pandemic on more of those businesses that we will rely on for our industrial base and you have any thoughts on how wean do mor tonsure that we have the support that we need through the industrial base. >> as i mentioned to you i am a product of philadelphia and the shipyard closure and what negative impact it has had not

just on the greater philadelphia region but our industrial base large across our country, we need to protect every shipyard that we have, the chinese have 25 shipyards to our one and i'm a student of history when you go back and you see the element that kept the united states capable during world war ii was our ability to build back the ships that we were losing, we need to maintain this sacred industrial base that we have today, i would give kudos to her secretary of defense, jim gertz who has done an incredible job of crafting a plan to the second third tier suppliers to ensure there is consistency in getting the yard as the cnl has indicated, are shipyard workers in our public yards in private yards have done an amazing job of continuing to be there and engaged through the fact that they are dealing with systems in dealing with older

ships that require more work and especially in the midst of a global pandemic, they've done a phenomenal job, we really haven't missed a beat, we will have some slowdowns and go into more detail on that but overall i believe the department has a great record of doing the work to ensure we have consistency through those yards. >> thank you, sir, just a couple of comment as a secretary said, i think the apprenticeship programs that we have associated with each of our shipyards and local community colleges whether it's washington or new hampshire or virgini have been phenomenal, the four-year ograms that produced the best and brightest and hopefully we n keep around f 30 years because it is a family business in many cases in inside watering to mt those young people, they are not just young people they ar from all walks of life and

some middle-aged tt i've decided they wt to give more back to the country but that program collectely produces about 1000 workers a year end over the past three years we have increased the number of shipyard workers from 33 to almost 370, we are on the increase in chang in the demographic, as you know there e either young people in the shipyard or oldereople but we missed the generation so were trying to rebuild, i'm very optimistic of where were headed with the workforce and when you visit the shipyards i know it's an uplifting experience when you meet those people. with resct to the sply chain, that remains a concern for us. i would say senator kaine mentioned this durg his opening remarks with respect oprtunity that we seen during covid the relatiohip that we've had that is dissolved with vendors during covid has been

something that i am not seen in my career, again as the secretary said and can speak to this inas more detail, we have r eye on more than a quarter of a million parts and only takes one to take ownership or an aircraft or a submarine but we have our eye on those vendors that are struggling and other vendors that have stepped up to fill the gap and so we have seen a bit of both, we've seen failures that have been troubling and great innovationbl. >> thank you, certainly ensuring that those businses get paid as expeditiously as possible is really important right now and i know that's been a focus of dod. thank you, mr. chairman. >> gentlemen i have to step out for a brief minute and senator kaine will take over but i'm sure will have a number of additional questions and senators on thehe line as well o

i will: senator hirano. >> before you leave iould like to extend my condolences to your you about your dad. >> you were talking about the arctic and this will be a yes o no question, is it time for the united state to ratify or the senate to ratify? >> i think we need to do more wo to make sure it's the right time to be very honesthi with y. >> then it's been hanging around over decades and i would say it's the right time especially ou country at a disadvantage especially as the arctic is seen a lot more activity, shall we say and i think one of the reasons is because of global

warming and for general burger i would like to offer my condolences for the eight marines and one sailor who trically perished in the accident a the end of july and i realize the investigation is incurring,an you tell me when the investigation will be completed? >> the initial portion of the investigation is de and i think probably within 30 days the endsement chain will be dacomplete. >> since the initial pha has been done can you tell us what led to the accident very brief briey. >> i cannot because i am not seen the investigation as long as it remains in the endorsement chain in respect of the due process i do not look into that.

as you're well aware we took initial measures within the first 30 days but as far as the final recommendations in the final opinions and recommendations i have not seen them yet. >> i know the vehicle that was involved, we probably will need to get an update, back to mr. secretary, i don't want to get into a longki discussion but it became news to me i thought i heard you say you're taking ships from the seventh fleet based in japan to be located in thendian ocean, is that what you said, this is proposal or already being implemented. >> no senator, that is not what i said, we're going to re-commission the first fleet which like the seventh fleet

would operate in the greater pacific regio under the command d control of the united states pacific fleet headquartered in hawaii, it would notecessarily take ships from the seventh fleet or the trd fleet it would be a sharing and that's how our ships operaten the demand and threat that emanates and that is part ofi the ocean n which those respective fleets operateirst to be expedionary, we are determining where that fleet would operate from but the major focus would be on the western pacific in the eastern indian ocean. >> mr. secretary is this a proposal or has the decision already been made to doan this? >> the decision has been made. >> did i hear you say thisas in csultation --

>> its in consultation with them there's a chairman office and the office of secretary of defense. >> thank you. >> you are asked some questions about the importance of the continuation of the monitor is asian program at the shipyard, i just want reiterate my support that you had with those plans even though i know with covid we've had delays because of manpower issues related to cov covid, let me turn to you once again. you were the first deputy to visit in october and emphasize the importance of the u.s. militaryvi presence in the indo pacific as of course china continues destabilizing activities in the area. pre. . . also an important part of the

military force in this region. can you provide insight into how the u.s. and palau can build on that -- on our partnership with palau through joint use facilities in the pacific? because i believe that the new president of palau has written to us saying he would welcome that kind of effort. >> yes, senator, thank you for the question. i'd never been to palau before. >> oh, i'm sorry. >> no, it's a beautiful country. i'd never been there before. >> oh, you have been. >> i was a navy pilot and i flew extensively throughout the western pacific but i'd never been to the beautiful islands of palau and what a gorgeous country it is. the thing that struck me, i >> the cutting edge of chinese

aggression and i went in with members of my team to look at the infrastructure to see how we can support us naval vessels periodically from there. i also visited quam for the same reasons to see how we code ensure a presence to enhance our presence. that process is ongoing because you said to be receptive and receiving more us naval vessels. i was t there we had some operating in the region and i code talk to them in the support they received again was indicative of the island

nations again was indicative of the island nations come as i think the uniqueness of allow - - palau they are free. we have forces operating at sea

a truth that other senior leaders

have failed to ck a knowledge for so long. the confederate flag was carried by those who took up arms against the united states to keep black americans in chains. it's imperative that all of our service members feel welcomed and valued. banning displays shows respect for black service members who face well d >> your actions represent with the our services have all t servicemembers. i applied your leadership putting the confederate flag above those installations. so now i want to focus on the region that is important to me like southeast asia in particularar focusing significant attention on countering the rise of china

the large geographically diverse region that is key to executing what is laid out general i was pleased to see the acknowledgment in your recent statement that it is insufficient to meet the challenges especially in the end of civic i'm concerned about our ability to sustain our troops while execute the were fighting but the logistics receive far less attention your admission the marine corps when it comes to logistics gives greater confidence if you are thinking realistically. i think readiness in the indo pacific a and maintains applying legacy equipment is important to operate war formations across a large the geopoliticale region is clear

military services have to have sustained war fighters so from your perspective with the biggest challenges involving the current operational logistics? to meet the needs of the pacific? >> i think i understand the question, senator. we have a big challenge because we have two actors. what is the distance which you highlighted in second we have enjoyed a protected backside over 70 years and we have not been challenged and we are now. we have to assume any adversary will contest our logistics supply chains. so in terms of what we have to doso about it, first of all we have to distributete laterally the tactical and operational

level toal sustain supplies that they have not been challenged do in the past and also to be contested i mean the region where they can see us to have everything from the aircraft into the future i would suspect unmanned with better distribution mechanisms then we have right now from operational to strategic we have enjoyed a secure line all the wayom back four years and has not been challenge that is the challenge that is part of the strategic to the operational we have to push forward and then laterally the only different needs to supply equipment laterally within the chain or within centcom.

>> thank you. their policies and programs that my colleagues and i should be considering at our level to adapt to this environment this is very different from afghanistan and iraq so what can we do here at thent senate to help you bring your readiness level especially talking about is to leave the contested environment are there programs that you ehasize? >> there are. thcombination of oversight and resources for unmanne surface t and aerial systems is probably the bgest area. that one comes to mind here. we have to move very quily

to develop and for t unmanned surface vessels to move thoseupplies because we never get there by only on t unmanned systems with a lot of learningo do in a lot of experimentation.. one area i would ask for support, that would be it. >> you can weigh in and then i'll move to the senator. >> i officiate the opportunity and to amplify what thera general spoke to, we have a legislative proposal right now with nda a consideration in conference that would allow the navy to buy used vessels to increase the number of used lessons we can buy.

as you know that's a growing capability gap as you highlighted we need to close quickly we need to do so and so for $30 million with the minor upgrades upgrade to versus to bring those effects to bear. and that would be completed recently one of the big takeaways i think are the logistics the numbers increase significantly. it is noteworthy to put a higher only on with respect to procurement. thank you.

>> thank you mr. chairman and i want to echo senator duckworth comments about removal of the confederate battle flag and the symbols to my career especially coming from alabama where words matter and symbols matter and those can have deadly consequences.r, so i want to talk just a moment about readiness in a different way that only from adversaries spread from her own installations here in the united states. one year ago this coming sunday there is a terrorist attack at the naval air station ins pensacola. i met a few months ago to talk

about the terrorist attack. and san watson was the officer a deck that morning and one of the first people the shooter encountered. that he was captain of the team at the naval academy did not have a weapon that day. he and two other younged. men in georgia, they died that day. plan and his wife wanted to be here today. because of the restrictions but they are watching in alabama. the believe that things could have been different that day december 2019. things you should up in different. we talked about this butdece the law enforcement officer who drove caleb to the hospital with his injuries, got lost on the base collection happen

have been asking the navy about the investigation report and i finally got that lastff week. a redacted version and one of the things it is clear even before the a report came out this has happened to many times. too many american troops of authorthep lives to shooters ona us military base on us soil someone like senator kane and others who send to the academies is someone who encourages our young men and women to join the armed forces to serve the country that is disturbingou but with them in harm's way at a place where they should be the most secure investigation and reports about the shootings and recommendations for we see from the pensacola report but many are not being followed with regard to planning and training and assessments of response plans like this.

they made their mission and to do with him he can to prevent losing more sons and daughters i've tried to help my time here in the armed services committee asked for the committee to include the senate version of the nda a language requiring the secretary of defense to implement the 90 days of all emergency response recommendations to protect military and solution one - - installations and then to ensure each installation conducted has live emergency response training for first responders i hope those requirements make it into the final bill we will see shortly. can you tell me if it is currentlycave a priority to make absolutely certain on every

installation all security recommendations and regulations will be implemented and followed in the fed is apparently would commit to making one? >>irst and foremost, caleb is ae will. i was in pensacola two weeks ago with leadership and in the very place where caleb was shot. i cannot imagine the anguish that his family must feel. and 31 years in uniform of our country is a naval officer every time i went aboard a base of it safer i presented my id card, there is no easyw answe answer, we e committed to ensuring we get to the root problem and in some instances some pele to have gone - - of guns so we

are working diligently to find out the right approach so what he will like caleb watson never loses his life. >> one of the recommendations is for uniform policy with regard to weapons is that something you try to develop policy for weapons on base quick. >> we meant of navy and it should be uniform but it words out justst the opposite because they were on duty there isn't an easy answer we are assuring those who are armed and the cross integration on base and off base so that it doesn't

happen again on any other base. >> i would just like to get a quick answer about the commitment to the security of those installations. >> first of all senator i completely agree the incident is inexcusable. taking a deer look at this whate're looking at with all those installations to the degree we ould been doing regardless of whether any legislation comes out i commit to you this is a parody for the navy >> i can confirm the same it is a priory right now.

>> has been an honor serving on this committee with you and these other members. i will miss it but i know the work is in good hands. and to you specifically i offer my condolences. i lost my dad 11 months ago i feel the pain of the loss and i can never be reaced. thank you for your service on thisisr committee. witnesses know there are certain senators who dig into these issues and care and we appreciate your service and a lot the given to your country and your state thank you for your service on this committee.

>> i would like to continue the second round of questioning and diving and more with the design 2030 plans. and that i highlighted in my opening remarks to be respectful and give you an opportunity as you know any time somebody tries to break glass with a broad-based strategy i have to agree wholeheartedly with the national security strategy of this administration. and how bipartisan the supportersit with that strategy but the service has to

implement that and that is always a difficult challenge. the marine corps under your leadership has taken that to heart. and how to appreciatee it. women with a detailed piece in the national interest and as a combat veteran from vietnam and says a couple of things in hism. piece and then to establish the military service this new strategy to reduce the present role of those operational requirements of the u.s. nav navy, that is one criticism and another

talks about the plan to dramatically with the structure of the court to focus on china there is no greater danger of military strategy then to shape the nation for structure do you want to comment? and are there are others who have been critical want to offer this as an opportunity to make the case of what you are trying to do with the 2034. so all of you former secretary web to you to respond.

>> an incredible patriot to ho an extremely high regard with the incredible accomplish marrying graduate and the gentle man who i consider a friend was a general partner is a visionary. what i believe in my heart and head is right and as a visionary department of navy needs today.

to go up against all of t challenges to see something come to frtion that is long overdue. the world has changed in the last 20, 40, 60g years. thatoncept of the combined team the marine corps and the navy in the commandants mission are equal that gives another tool i the toolbox to fight the fight takes it from ing land centric tha is predicated t fleet marin created the success of the amphibious capabilities coupled with thenited states navy to win world war ii. i want to be on record to say a secretary of the navy i am

proud to be with our commandant whose vision is the one we need for the challenges we see emerging and competition. >>. >> i will go a little longer for the general and the admiral to respond and add to what the secretary said. and how you view this design for the marine corps. >> the feedback is helpful this is elevating the discussion with an ongoing debate that could continue for years is actually helpful and

i met with the secretary web as with others i met with him in arlington and we talked for probably two hours. i do not know him that well but it was a great discussion. we talked in three broad areas first of all does the marine corps need to change? second come if it does does need to change now? so the direction we're headed for those changes? i didn't see anything on do we need to change to the point you made earlier. we have to change. and those that were a bit clearer this is a judgment call but my assessment is that

adversaries are moving quickly never we wait for your to 490 percent picture it will my catch up. there will be differences of opinion. the front and not the backend we have a lot of experimentation and a lot of learning to do. we had a great healthy discussion. not in a negative sense but a positive sense to elevate the discussion. and we have to learn in the future for the coming years to make sure we get it right.

>> to say it is time is president kennedy said is timeless looking at the mission today they require those functions from the navy and marine corps team.e so we have to look at the fight and every domain and the marine corps brings a terrestrial capability and if the nation believes the united states navy and the marine corps forward and that is the investment to double down on. and to a particular function that the enemy will be difficult to find and plan on. and take

it gives us many more options to come back and commander to confuse the enemy with multiple tools and the total care. that is not to say with the department of the navy where we put the next dollar with respect to capabilities. and if that is what do you have more flexibility to another investment. and then to see control. >> and point that is a good one where former senator webb and formerommandant does

elate the discussion that needs to be here. and i think it will continue so this is the beginning with this important discussion at thhighest levels because it is a really important undertaking the navy and marine corpspsf as part of the national defense strategy. with the seriousness with which you have undertaken at this moment. >> i'm glad you took extra time on this question because i think it is very important echoing comments the duckworth anden jones and because you have

such family ties to virginia this is not a decision taken by an outsider with the dimensions of this issue and your ties to virginia are such to maximize the acceptability within the ranks your willingness to take a stand when you need to bears upon the last question as well. changes needed the answers to the first two questions i think you've answered correctly that is a profitable area but your willingness to take those steps forward is one of the reasons you are in the position you are in and we

have confidence in your leadership. the navy developed at shipyard to deal with the lack of capacity and that is an underestimaten so are you still on track with time and funding or why are we not seeing then a budgetary request to congress? >> i would argue that we are. talk about the investments of those projects underway right now three.5 billion with the shipyards we are spending $1 billion per year right now. speaking there

with a high priority. and those dry docks are 100 years old that we neglected them for toooo long. and to make this a priority and put the money where we need to we are challenged to sustain. >> mr. secretary fy 20 and daa requires the department to submit resilience plans to help the base prepare for extreme weather eventssta with those observed in the last several years and then we can

expect to see them. >>hank you for the question. we spoke abo this in detail during my confirmation hearing and between now ando then. looking into this the devastating destruction of hurricane florence you all has been wonderful to offset our sses we can rebuild the structures as you know many bases old and antiquated impulse before there wer codes in place to ensure the buildings uld withstand hurricanes of a certain verity or ant earthquake. we are in the process of developing the plants and installations are working on those that if there any specific threats it is important as w go forward

because we can be ready force to bsure we are operating from bases that are resilien and the homes on those bases that the defendants live have a personal impact have the ability to sustain damage as well. >> do you know when these plans are likely to be done? >> i'm unsatisfied right now. and dealing with the rising water table as an example and then naval academy so we are reactive and not proactive. i owe you a better answer for the navy in a of the secretary of better answer as well. >> we advertise those that we

had to do first like camp lejeune ere we had to rebuild every contract in the last 18 months they have resourced i to the new regulation for resiliency. we will provide you the detailed breakdown. >> this is a serious matter because the resilience plans and it was not just to exercisehe oversight if you're trying to be resilient but help us to prioritize investments. and that is substandard and doesn't meet the condition in ten or 20 years. clement of a forward-looking plan to involving a more efficient use of the dollars that are so competitively sought i would like follow up on that from both the navy and the marines.

i'm okay with the indulgence, like each of you to address it like lessons learned of covid question and the pandemic has been horrible with the death toll in the economic effect, nevertheless you remember lessons. and that had some significant benefits for people who have a hard time accessing healthcare institutions because they live so far away. we could do some committee virtually. there have been some lessons learned that we wouldn't want to just snap back to the statuss quo within the public health emergency is over. i love each of you to talk about lessons learned since the beginning of march says dealing with covid that you t thinkin could lead to continuous

improvement or changes you had to make that you won't want to undo when we were over the public health emergency and that's the last question i have. >> thank u you. will answer first because i believe the department of navy and marine corpsy and then he feared and an incredible job. this caught the department off guard as it did the entire world. in the early weeks of this is a close proximity our sailors live aboard ship made this a real threat to upgrade at c. and that will is even moree important with the submarine. admiral has done a great job to lead the effort not only identify ways to mitigate the risk to keep the ships operating. we have 100 ships at seaef

deployed. they are cases of covid on those but he and the leadership of the navy have done an incredible job it is an amazing story of resiliency and with contact tracing and all the calls that cdc and nih have puth out. and the cnl talk to more of the details and better force and to be chemical warfare in the future because of the lessons we learned from the pandemic. talking about a carbon footprint than we finally busted through the guy who got in front of the flagpole every morning to get credit to be on

the job now we are beyond that and we are more realistic that we can do work, and be productive. it is an incredible leader who has do an incredible job. i'm very proud >> a couple of things. what is the change obehavior almost the cultural change on boardin ships because the secrety said you are operating in such close quartersrs and success of it comes down to individual responsibility so they unrstand ase a leade leader, they have a responsibility that is taible and also to hd them accountable the video for the loca and the standards that they should. wi respect to the culture of excellence in the kind of leadership we want people to

exhibitav, there is a lot of secondary effects to telecommuting. where we can we can $100 million per year in spaces we just don't need. and another byproduct has been th realization waters cor and non-core what we need to be focused onnd working on. anher is acceleration it capabilities. i don't want to say the specific company that those that would have taken us to be accelerated by the secretary of defense for weeks tm is to place at a much better place. and training at sea because we operate in the covid bubbles quietly in a single production

line t get them qualified why can i do that with six ships at once and get more out of the trainers andecome a lot more efficient and to use out there at sea. but overall and had efficient like thinking of using their time. >> this is a virus. not the first to have operated in and the pandemic is once every 100 ars but is the operating environment that is new youxpect us it when this happenedo lessons learned there is not an exerciser training

eventne nine ways to sunday and to mention one or two to recruitor training. we cannot be contained and th put those outside the hall and to take specific measures to typicly and normally every recruit aining class get some time of the first two wee and we haven't had that problem because we are quarantinedo respect for the first day of training why would we not consider continuing tt later on so when training starts everybody can train instead of half the squad being wot sick?

and those measures to keep in place afterwards. and i would ho the same as the admiral. and that those large outbreaks of the discipline force and then trust the leaders and they are not let us down. >> one of a the first visits with those initial months of covid when we were home during april. and that is dealing with these issues. and with that massive facility and then you have to rethink.

every last thing tens of thousands of square feet. and closed borders and paperwork and such close close proximity that is magnified. and with the lessons learned it would be foolish if we went back one of the things we did as a federal government to reimburse telehealth visits at a lower reimbursement rate than an office visit. we made an emergency change to do equalization and that has dramatic helped it would be foolish to go back to the status quo when this is done because then we woul sacrifice all the learning and slide ba to the second-best.

there is a need to look at t changes that have been forced upon ushe to going forward norm. some things we are glad to ago but as you pointnt out why would you have a 14 day quarantine. now forever to take it down from the recruiting class and have offered some great examples that can insre that work i appreciate it. thank you. >> those are great questions and grea answers and general burger i did see "the new york times" article talking about the changes to marine corps recruit training how is still working know some of the best recruit training anywhere in the world so kudos to the

marine corps and government of navy for doing such great work. and with a couple additional questions i appreciate the patience of the gentleman. just one additional questio question, you speak in your testimony todi modernize the recon units and as a recon officer myself i am currently interested what you stated in the infantry battalions and that reconnaissance units were more distributable formation and traditionally associated with special forces and commando units can you an impact that more marine

infantry and recon units can anticipatete? >> yours is little more distinguished but we have common ground. >> i believe if we are going to compete that much of who had the advantages decided a and the ronnaissance effort that both sidesn any competition will do. we would do more and more in the ford expeditio recourses to put theicture what is happened in front of them. th foundational element of the strategy, to do at effectively you have toave good conversations forward to undetand what is happening in front of you to give those

decision-makers situational awareness. we wl reshape cousin's efforts infantry training will be longer. and to be at a higher level than we are producing right w. and then to go to infantry training to joinhe first unit the rest of the way is on the backs of the platoon rgeant. and th to get to a higher level because they will be more distributed and higher-lel decions. as theommanders made a decade ago and to get them to

a higher training level. and more extensive longer reconnaissance forces and a deep reaching the ability to commit or communicate to distribute what they are sensing back to the rest of the force you'll see a lot of investment in ground aerial and service reconnaissance to give the command commanders a better picture of what's in front of u u >> mr. secretary talking on the arctic and the icebreakers those that congress for the authorizationo build icebreakers but in the coast guard and the navy.

and the president forward mml a couple of months ago how we operationalize that in what ways we look at thatnd importantly from my , where you want to home for these icebreakers that should have more than icebreaking capabilities and weapons capabilities the way the russians with their massive i think the test is 561 is broken as we have a long way to catch up. so to me it's a no-braine you at least homeport some of these icebreakers we are building in the arctic of america. you and i had a great visit when you came to alaska we

enjoyed meeting you d you have a view on this with the national securityeam and the commandant of the coast guard i am a little bit biased but it makes a strategic sense of yohave icebreakers you need a place where the action is not in florida do you have a view? >> i always have an opinion. >> the united states coast guard does not fall under the command and control.

>> but in your personal opinion. >> of course you could change that and i would be happy to incorporate the coast guard as the departmentha of navy for maritime service i think it would be wonderful. , the coast guard incredible partners. we like to see them get all the resources they need to see the efforts - - shipbuilding. to homeport those the ships '-right-single-quote homeport them closer to where they would be required to their mission. but i am not in a position to make a determination for the coast guard to those icebreakers that i think as the executive order has indicated they could come back

to figure out the best placement and the support going into kodiak with the station commander and a phenomenal base with the infrastructure to support to be home there. there are a lot of options and a lot of work to be done and unfortunately it is not from an a-z candle one - - kind of cancer. >> where would you homeport those icebreakers? >> we been served for the natio natio >> and then to fall under command-and-control of the united states and the lawful order those pointed over me.

so i have personal opinions and professional opinions and requirements h and in th case the coast guard has the authoritto operate the vessels and they would have to determine whatlf they wanted. >> mr. secretary the uss palmer and then navy made the decision a few days ago that th wouldw be understanding that is an issue that i have a lot of interest and why you made that decision and recently on e decommissioned and what that does to that capability with the navy and marine corps persptive. >> absolutely senator.

and the mcas has done a remarkable job is not as straightforward with such extensive damagen the ship with the chief of naval operions and i went out to visit shortly after the cident and the amazing performance of the crew to save that ship the what they did it is remarkable. d the testament for damage control and firefighting. i am a busessman and at the end of the day there is a return on investment with that would've taken to work very closely all the right reasons to send a message we don't give up the ships very easily we have the naval academy but

using logic and what it would require to put the shipackas together that would have been a foolish investment for american and taxpayer dollars over 20 yrs old instead of looking at theptions of building another ship for the future with more relative capabilities embraci those technologies that are emerging, i would invite the we determined it will not do poorly until 2022 talking to the commandant to have the right assets to come in wh a deployment plan to offsethe loss of the ship. do you have any thoughts? >> jt a couple.

60 percent was so heavily damaged it has to beis replaced. and then to return to the original state it would take between five and seven years with a just want shipyard in the gulf coast could do that kind of work. and it will cost almost as much as a brand-new ship. looking at other options like repressing what could be a vessel it will cost more money to buy one new then to repurpose to another function. for those reasons, the 30 million the decommissioned was the best decision and the secretary has all the consequential decisions come to his i desk but with the near-term impact, we mitigated

those. longer-term out three or five years we are looking at those options could be to accelerate the production of a vessel. what does that mean for the future? what are the priorities we want to take a looklo at? what is the demand for the secretary of defense and combatant command? that is ongoing right now but in the near-term it is any operational impact we have mitigated that with other deployment schedules. >> thank you for that answer and we look forward to that report when it's classified or unclassified with what happened in some of the actions i know those sailors to caloric actions to save the ship.

we have important goals we are trying to finish up with the covid relief will and the final appropriations bill and that will have the military appropriations but not for sure we can get there. if we don't have to settle for a continuing resolution which is not ideal better than a government shutdown go

are authorizing bills extremely important especially to an organization like the department of the navy, this does impact us and were looking at ways that we do hav a cr how will you minimize the iact but it will affect readiness, we asked for anomaly and it appears we receive that to continueo build a columbia class, ss began to replace without the anomaly we would not be able to replace the ohio 35 - 40 years old on

behalf of the departmente would like to think congress for at relief, the way that we operate our fleet, steaming hours, flying hoursill be impacted to our sailors, our marines, it will be significant impact in the hazardous and special play basis, i would invite the confidant with a seo to talk to the more specifics of what they see operational leads for the respective services. >> yes, sir as the secretary mentioned, you begin to see the effects humility over time, a 72 day cr is about a billion dollars a primarily affects our operations, think steaming hours, flying hours, you want to keep these people on the cutting edge on the best that they can be and you cannot when you're dealing with fy 122 levels of

suspending uc that manifests itself at the six month point where we have decisions to make in moving money around for the next steps in aircraft carrier that we needed fy 2 22 fast as e can or with overhauls on the ongoing overhaul on george washington or a new start overhaul on the carrier waiting to go in to maintenance, as you begin to see the effects more acutely in those accounts as well were you cannot hire the people you want to hire in numbers to get where you want to be at the end of the fiscal ye year. a 12 month cr the impact of that is in the order of 18 billion for the united states across the number of accounts, over time you begin to see significant impact with respect to near-term readiness and in vestment that

were trying to make in the future. >> general do you have anything to add to that. >> that's a staggering number 18 billion. >> have you asked any leader who has anything to do with executing a budget, if they could have one thing a stable predictable funding in this stable predictable funding. >> readiness and modernization. >> we have gone by on the cr with readiness without any negative impact, it will begin to impact going in the next few months in the accurately highlighted those areas that are similar to ours, my bigger concern for my major concern is modernization, were turning our

ship to make a marine corps that we will need ten years from now that involves a new start. if we don't have the procreation bill on time you will delay the modernization of the marine corps and to the detriment ofo our readiness it will be a double whammy. not a good picture. >> thank you and i appreciate it i have one final question and i appreciate the comments about my father, one of the favorite things they got to do with him every year was go to the army-navy game and is a member of the board of visitors i was honored to be appointed by the former chairman senator mccain, it looks like the game will continue which is great and i would appreciate a prediction if you cannot make it in your professional capacity mr. secretary, maybe your

oupersonal view on who is goingo win that game, it's a very important question for the nation and the other two uniformed leaders the admiral in general also have a view, i would welcome that. >> mr. chairman as a proud member for the united states novel academy class of 1984, my personal and professional opinion on this one converge. we will beat army at west point, we have a record of playing there three times, the first game in 1890 and navy one and we played at west point, we went back to army in world war ii and the same pressures as we are today with covid and when secretary ryan mccarthy and i talked about where we should play the game, we weres committd to ensuring that every cadet would get to attend the game and being with philadelphia and

outside of the city if there is going to go back to philadelphia but they would not allow us to go beyond 7500 which does not cover all the core cadets for the shipment. in working with the cnl in the army chief of staff and the respect of the superintendent with the united states military academy and naval academy determine we will play the game even if we have to play in the parking lot outside the netherlands, this is ang uninterrupted tradition that's gone on since 1890 in the midst of the spanish influenza, world war i, world war ii and were not stopping now. navy will beat army on december 12 for the fourth time that we play at west point, army's home team. go navy, be army. >> are there any opinions from the admiral in general on that view. >> i didid not think so. listen gentleman i appreciate your time and professionalism in termination.

this is been a very informative hearing and i know there will be additional questions for the record and we will keep the record of this hearing open for two more weeks for additional questions and the committee asked respectfully if you get qr fars if you can get them back to the committee in short order and again, we appreciate it and thank you for your service, this hearing is now adjourned. [silence]

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>> saturday president trump speaks in a rally in georgia in support of georgia republican senator david perdue and kelly loeffler who are facing a runoff election in january for watch live at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> book tv on c-span2 has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend coming up this weekend saturday at 8:15 p.m. eastern of the 75th annual national book award sunday live in eastern on in-depth a conversation with author and chair of african-american studies at princeton university, the author of several books including begin again, james baldwin america and the urgent lessons, democracy and black and the uncommon faith. >> here we are in this moment after electing the first black

president in 2008 the country responded by voter suppression laws, voter id laws, the tea party and then we elected donald trump, were at a crossroads, who are we going to be, at the heart of it all the joys been a moral question who would be take the choice to be. >> with your calls, tweets, text and febook messas. national review correspondent kevin williamson in his book big white ghetto on the politics in everyday lives of white working-class americans, he is interviewed by washington examiner colonist, watch book tv on c-span2 this weekend. >> the senate homelands a committee held a hearing on the crossfire hurricane investigation into possible ties between the 2016 trump campaign r