>> coming up on espnews, plaxico burress received explosive news from the grand jury on monday. the latest on the wide receiver's weapons charges. rain put a damper on that ises car sunday. we'll show what you happened on monday at the pocono raceway with an emotional winner. over the last few years we've seen a major coaching change -- we've seen major coaching changes but there won't be any at the swamp.

>> we have the latest news, scores and highlights. this is espnews, available in high-definition, along with our coach, jonathan coachman. >> coach, the rain did not play major factor on monday at the pocono raceway? >> no, it did not. this is a track that's not known for its exciting physical races but as the race approached, how that would change. >> a gorgeous day for racing. 24 hours after a deluge caused a postponement, points leader tony stewart, he crashed during practice, so he went to the back of the pack. he finished 10th. problems for jimmie johnson. complains of losing power. he eventually pits. they would look under the hood. johnson was lapped. he fell three laps behind. lap 142 -- makes contact with the outside wall that would

prove to be a theme. johnson took advantage of the caution. changed the carburetor. >> we're learning a lot about cars today. johnson eventually got the problem fixed. lap 149, things get nasty. robbie gordon, not happy. >> two times wrecked. >> robbie gordon not pleased and you're not allowed to do that lap 157, gordon backed up his words. he would wreck -- moments later, he wrecks gordon and gordon really wrecked. no, sir car enforce add five lap penalty for both drivers. >> that's definitely -- >> that's not good for anybody. >> all right. 20 laps to go, another big wreck. bobby labonte spins out.

he gets bumped during the caution. very confident. >> hamlin, an emotional day. more on him in a moment. after a lengthy cleanup, 13 laps to go on the restart. danny hamlin goes from sixth to first, and hamlin takes the checkered flag, first win in defect 9, emotionally, celebrating just days after losing his 91-year-old grandmother, who was his biggest fan. hamlin snapped a 50-race winless streak and wins for the thinker time at pocono. his last win, march 2008. hamlin has made this track his own personal playground. in addition to three wins he also has four other top 10s at pocono. montoya finishes second. this day belonged to an emotional danny hamlin. >> we have come close in a lot of race this is year and came up

short. definitely had some angels with us today. patrick's mom passed away a couple of weeks ago and my grandmother a few days ago. it's been a long time coming. >> it's been 50 races, and i know your folks are watching at home. what do you want to tell them? >> i just think of my mom right now. >> what a tough day for him. rewarding, nonetheless. a quick look at the points standings. not much change. tony stewart increased his lead by a few points over jenni johnson. this actually the official race results. hamlin, montoya, bowyer, kasey kahne finished with five. >> coming up a little bit later, he may not have finished in the top 10 but jimmie johnson's performance on monday was nothing short of remarkable. more on that in a little bit. >> former giants wide receiver

plaxico burris was indicted monday on a grand jury weapons charge after he shot himself in the leg in a new york city nightclub back in november. the do it charged burress with two counseled of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. if he's convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years. the gun was not licensed in new york or new jersey where burress lived. he did have a license to carry a concealed weapon in florida but that had expired before the shooting. manhattan d.a. robert insisted he serve time even with the plea agreement. >> in this case we conducted a thorough investigation and presented the evidence to the grand jury, which evaluated the facts under the applicable law. the case required a more practical investigation than does a typical weapons possession case given the number of witnesses and the need to investigate both before and after the shooting. the case was treated like any

similar case against any other defendant. ultimately the grand jury did what it thought was fair. >> the nfl did release a statement on monday on the case saying -- >> our legal analyst tells us what's next. >> by not agreeing to a plea bargain plaxico burress has decided to take his chances with the judge. he couldn't come to an agreement with the d.a. because the d.a. wanted two years and he was only willing to plead to one year. in taking his chance with the judge he figures it probably can't get any worse for him than it is right now. the judge in the end is the final arbiter of what the sentence could be and burress is probably trying to convince him, look what happened in that nightclub that night was just a bad night for him. an act of stupidity rather than an act of criminality.

he's going to throw himself on the mercy of the court and ask the judge to give haim lenient sentence. >> burress' lawyer, had the wide receiver testify before the grand jury in a move that surprise add lot of legal experts. he might have regretted it saying -- >> antonio pierce, who was with burress the night of the shooting, was not indicted by the grand jury on any charges. the nfl is not expected to discipline pierce either. he's scheduled to speak on tuesday. roger spoke on monday. >> it's not surprising to me that pierce was not indicted. after all, he was not the focus of the investigation but a witness who probably, except for plaxico burress, knew more than anyone else what was going on and what happened that night. it's clear that the district

attorney needed his information and we know that by the fact that antonio pierce testified before the grand jury and i bet he did with it the grant of immunity so at the end of the day it was antonio pierce giving information to the d.a. rather than being set up as a defendant. >> president and ceo john murrah had this to say. >> justin verlander trying to right the ship for the tigers. 4-1 with 42 strikeouts in 36 innings over his last five starts. first batter, brian roberts showing off his ninth home run of the year. verlander would allow five runs in the first inning. threw seven scoreless after that. tigers coming back. down 5-4.

cabrera, his 21st home run of the year. got a tie ball game. untied, seventh home run of the year. the tigers come back with a victory. third time this season, walk-off win. orioles have won lost of their 14 games. he's never lost to baltimore in six career starts, his e.r.a. went -- he had a chance to tie josh beckett for the major league win in wins on monday. he gave up six hits in the first including that lead-off home run to brian roberts. struck out eight over the next seven innings. >> big series. cain looking for win number 13. his 3,000th base hit, one of the most memorable minutes in minute

maid park. matsui off of cain, astros go up 3-2. hits the foul pole. grounds out to third, jose picks up the save. astros win 4-3. they are now 4 1/2 games behind the cubs, and cardinals' mike hampton picks up the win. he goes six. allowed one earned. 16-4 lifetime against san francisco. matt cain allowed two runs. only one over his six previous starts. >> lynch, the team's work horse for the last two seasons. find out why his pre-season game will be his biggest highlight for a while. we'll tell you why miles is a huge fan of his gator huge fan of his gator counterpart's announcer: welcome to the now network. currently, thousands of people

are enjoying the new palm pre from sprint. its revolutionary web os allows multiple applications to run at the same time. - ( thunder and rain ) - millions are using the simply everything plan. - each is saving $1200 over an at&t iphone plan. - ( cash register dings ) together that's billions of dollars. enough to open a dunkin' donuts in space. from america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. get the palm pre. only from sprint. only on the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

>> florida's football team, they have won two national championships in the last three years, much of the credit goes to urban meyer and the school awarded him with a six-year contract worth $4 million per year. he led the team to a 4-4 and 9-9 record. >> dodgers up 1-0 top of the fourth. they are returning home after a 3-4 road trip. rbi single in the third. kershaw on the mound for the

l.a.'s. he's been nearly unhittable. we'll continue to update that game. >> cubs game against the reds, just a half game back of the cardinals going up against aaron. 0-8 in his last 12 starts. top of the second, no score. center job. three-run shot for him. his ninth of the year matching his total from last year. cubbies on top 3-0. top of the eighth inning, still a 3-0 game, 4-2 count here. that's all she wrote. cubbies have now won nine out of their last 12. randy wells improves to 8-1 in his last nine starts. cubs 15-3 when scoring at least three runs. the best mark in the big. reds have lost a season high seven straight. >> in oakland, the rangers trying to stay within shouting distance of the angels.

beginning a 10-game road trip without kinsler. facing bret anderson who has a 1.85 e.r.a. over the last six starts. the rangers have just scored. bases loaded, nobody out. two outs in the top of the fifth. rangers up 1-0 on the a's. >> nfl now, bills running back marshon lynch will have to serve his three-game suspension for violating the nfl's personal conduct policy. lynch's appeal was denied but he'll be allowed to participate in pre-season practices and games before september 5. >> bad news for the eagles. according to espn radio in philadelphia, stewart likely to miss the season with a torn acl. randy wouldn't talk about it saying they violated a pact, which means they talk to him about the injuries, not players. >> colts wide receiver rolled up to camp in a dump truck and was dressed as a construction

worke worker. >> -- successful. >> pretty creative. >> we watched it on the news right before he watched "entourage," i guess i can say that, a new show, pretty creative, i think. that's what you expect. i can't say we were surprised. we would have been surprised if he had just shown up in shorts and a t-shirt, so it was -- got a pretty good response from the audience. >> a year ago at this time, peyton manning was just like you and i. forced to watch as nfl training camps opened across the training. wanted to be on the field with his teammates. but unlike us, manning a future hall of famer and was waiting out a knee injury that kept him

out the entire pre-season. this year he's ready to go except his number one wide receiver and head coach are gone. if anyone can adjust, it's peyton. here's bob holtzer. >> jim caldwell has replaced tony dungy and anthony gonzalez will likely take over for marvin harrison but perhaps the biggest change when the colts open camp on monday is peyton manning was here, healthy and happy. none of which he was at this time last year when back-up jim sorgi was taking the snaps. >> this was certainly the way i prefer it. last year was not much fun at all. >> laid back with sar just last year. this year, it's full throttle. i'm just happy to see him fired up. he seems enthused, a positive. >> last august after an infection and two knee surgeries manning missed the entire pre-season. the colts wouldn't say where he was for most of the month or how he was doing so his teammates were asked about it daily.

>> it's very nice not to have to answer any questions about where he is or where he is in the country. we're glad to have him here and start off like we need to. >> it's not a good feeling. a lonely feeling. you feel, even though there was a lot of pain and couldn't walk, you feel guilty, you feel guilty that 79 other guys are here, sweating it out in the heat and you can't be a part of it. >> reggie wane says manning called him over the weekend and he could tell how fired he was to be here. he practiced on monday without a brace on his left knee and has declared himself 100% healthy. bob holzman, espnews. >> thank you, bob. the colts offseason was marked by tony dungy's retirement. ron meeks moved to carolina and the release of harrison. caldwell takes over head coaching duties and in a huge development for peyton manning and the offense, the coordinator

and line coach mudd each retired, then unretired and are back on the staff as assistants. >> still to come, denny hamlin, an emotional win at pocono.

>> first win since the end of

june -- bottom of the second, bases loaded, carl crawford, a hanging breaking ball that didn't break. crawford came in batting -- 5-1, tampa bay rays, bottom of the fifth, goes into right field. rays up 6-1, the most hits and earned runs he's given up all season. bottom of the seventh inning, at it again, hits a home run from both sides of the plate for the second time in his career. rays go up 7-3 after that and they go on to win easy. the royals have lost five out of their last six. >> "today it was mainly just bad pitching to start off the game. it wasn't them, it was more getting myself in trouble." >> royals have lost their last six starts. striking out batters at a higher

rate but watched 13 guys in the stretch after only 18 in his first 16 starts combined this year. >> nfl michael vick is throwing the football at a local high school in virginia beach. he was reinstated by roger goodell after completing a 23 month federal sentence from running a dog fighting ring. mangini is considering him for the starting job. the coach said "in my mind, brady and d.a. will both be here." >> a day to remember for denny hamlin just a few days after the death of his grandmother, he won the pennsylvania 500 at pocono, but it was the performance of jimmie johnson that has everybody talking including marty it. >> mark martin so admires jimmie johnson's resilience that he

labeled him superman but halfway through the pocono 500 it seemed johnson had run into a big o oold -- >> what did you expect? >> i told the guys we were going to come back and be in the top 15. >> you did? >> yeah. >> martin says, it's that palpable confidence and the ability to recover from adversity that separates the 48 team from everyone else. another hendricks motorsports star agrees. >> these guys, you can't count them out. that makes them a championship caliber team. it unfortunate they had a car that was probably capable of winning. >> i feel in moments like this we'll grow a lot more from this going into the chase. i would love to have those easy days -- all the larngs up front, no issues, but i'm not sure that really tests what you're made of and we worked awfully hard for this.

there was nothing handed to us today. we had to work hard out there, find the problem, get i changed, and took advantage of the lucky dogs which everybody does every week. >> the number 48 team had salvaged a respectable 13th place finish, thanks to a series of pit stops to change the carburetor and park plugs but johnson was still dissatisfied. he said we're all bummed because we think we should have finished in the top 10 but when we leave we'll still feel there is something to be proud of. >> jimmie johnson will get his next chance on sunday at watkins glen to improve on his performance at pocono. the following race will be at mish followed by a saturday night race at bristol. the series then has an offweek before a labor day weekend race at atlanta. you can catch all the races at espn.com. >> still to come, plaxico burress was indicted on weapons charges. what's next for the wide receiver?

>> matthew berry here from espn.com. washington makes his debut for the tigers, talking about a good time to acquire him, there may not be a hotter pitcher in

baseball. washburn, he's still available in a lot of leagues and i like him at home against baltimore. it's rare that santana faces a pitcher with a better e.r.a. than he has. pineiro, come to city field to take on the banged up mets. i like pineiro. finally, stauffer, no exception, in four starts, a 2.57 e.r.a., i like him here as well. more fantasy news and analysis to help you win including spot starters in our daily notes. they are available for free every single day. just go to the fantasy sports section at espn.com. >> thank you, matthew. we stay current here on espnews. arizona diamondbacks webb is done for the season after having shoulder surgery on monday. the three time boxing champion

vernon forrest, remembered, he was shot and killed after an attempted carjacking. keeping you current on espnews. >> coming up on espnews, wide receiver plaxico burress received explosive news from a grand jury on monday. the latest on the wide receiver's weapons charges. >> rain put a damper on nascar sunday. we'll show you what drought ended on monday, for an emotional winner. over the last few years we've seen a major coaching care snell college football there. won't be any change in the swamp.

>> keeping you current with the latest news, scores and highlights, this is espnews available in high-definition. along with an always fired up jonathan coachman. rain didn't play a major factor on monday at pocono raceway? >> this is a track that's not known for exciting physical races. but as the chase quickly approaches, oh, how that would change! >> a gorgeous day for racing. just 24 hours after a deluge caused a postponement. points leader tony stewart started at the back after his crash during practice. he would have a rough day but wound up finishing 10th. problems for jimmie johnson, claims of losing power, drops

back, pits, johnson's team took a look under the hood. he would fall as many as three laps behind but a lot of cautions. david hits the wall. jimmie johnson takes advantage. changes the carburetor. johnson got the problem fixed. rallied to finish 13th. some nastiness on the track. gordon and david both spin out. gordon was not happy. >> that's two times he's wrecked. >> gordon vowed to take revenge. lap 157. gordon puts his nose into the back of the 12th car. nascar does not like or approve of this. moments later, there he goes, spinning out. gordon turned around for the second time. nascar enforced a five lap penalty for both drivers. 20 laps to go.

another big wreck. the 96th car, bobby labonte, spins out along with a number of other cars, take one more look. denny hamlin -- >> i'm winning this race? >> i know. >> after a cleanup, 13 laps to go on the restart, denny hamlin goes from sixth all the way to first in one lap. >> hamlin clearly the car to beat. he would take the checkered flag, first win in 2009. an emotional hamlin, in victory lane, just days after losing his 91-year-old grandmother, who said -- wore his number 11 socks an t-shirt and had to watch the tv from mere inches away. she was nearly blind. hamlin snapped a 50 race winless streaks and wins for the third time at pocono. his last win march 2008. ham lip made this track his own personal playground. in addition to three wins he has four other top 10 at pocono.

pablo montoya finished second. this day belonged to an emotional denny hamlin. >> we have come close in a lot of races this year and come up short, but definitely had some angels with us today, and patrick's mom passed away, our tire guy, a couple of weeks ago and my grandmother a few days ago. so it's been a long time coming. >> it's been 50 races, and i know you folks are watching at home. what do you want to tell them? >> well, it's just, i think of my mom right now. >> his grandmother actually died in the arms of his mother. incredible. a quick look at the points standings. not much change. tony stewart increased his heed by three points over jimmie johnson. montoya and kasey kahne both improved their positions while mark martin did as well. hamlin lock up his spot in the chase with his win on monday.

>> coming up a little bit later, he may not have finished in the top 10, but jimmie johnson's performance on monday was nothing short of remarkable. >> former giants wide receiver plaxico burress was indicted on monday by a grand jury on weapons charges after he shot himself in the leg in a new york city nightclub back in november. the indictment charged burress with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and a one count of reckless endangerment. if the 31-year-old is convicted he faces a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years. the gun was not licensed in new york or new jersey where he lived. he did have a license to carry a concealed weapon in florida but that had expired before the shooting. the manhattan d.a. robert morgenthau was insistent that he serve jail time even with the plea agreement. >> we conducted a thorough investigation, and then presented the evidence to a grand jury, which evaluated the facts under the applicable law.

the case required a more protracted investigation than does a typical weapons possession case given the number of witnesses and the need to investigate both before and after the shooting. the case was treated like any similar case against any other defendant. ultimately, the grand jury did what it thought was fair. >> the nfl released a statement on monday on the case saying -- >> roger kossack tells us what's next. >> palace co-burris has effect actively decided to take his chance with the judge. he couldn't come to an agreement with the d.a. because the d.a. wanted two years and plaxico burress was only willing to plead to one year. taking his chance with the judge he figures it probably can't get any worse for him than it is right now. the judge in the end is the

final arbiter of what the sentence could be and burress is probably trying to convince him, look what happened in that nightclub that night was just a bad night for him, an act of stupidity rather than an act of criminalality. in the end he'll throw himself on the mercy of the court and ask the judge to give him a lenient sentence. >> burress's lawyer had the wide receiver testify before the grand jury in a move that surprise at lot of legal experts. he might have regretted it saying -- >> giants linebacker antonio pierce was with burress the night of the shooting, but will not be indicted by the grand jury on any charges. the nfl is not expected to discipline pierce either. pierce is scheduled to speak on tuesday. now, president and ceo of the

giants had this to say. >> justin verlander tries to right the ship for the tigers as they take on the orioles. verlander, a 2 point e.r.a. over his last five starts. brian roberts, going to right field. his ninth home run of the year. verlander, would allow phi runs in the first, but would throw seven scoreless innings after that. tigers come back, bottom of the fifth, down 5-4, not any longer. miguel cabrera, his 21st of the year, tied 5-5. bottom of the ninth, still tied. thomas unties it. his seventh of the year, his first walk-off hit and it's a biggy. the tigers win in walk-off fashion for the third time this season. the orioles have lost 11 of their last 14, verlander has never lost to baltimore in six

career starts but his e.r.a. went from 1.85 to 2.57 against the os. verlander struggled in the first inning and it cost him a chance to tie josh beckett for the major league in wins. he struck out eight to shut out baltimore over the next seven innings. >> matt cain also looking for win number 13 in houston. biggio honored him before the game for 3,000 hits. voted most memorable moment in minute maid park. matsui homers off of cain. hits the foul pole. astros 3-2. top of the ninth, molina, tying run at second, val verde picks up the save. they are now 4 1/2 games back of the cubs and the cardinals. mike hampton, 16-4 now career,

in his career, against the giants. he picks up the win. matt cain, went eight, allowed four earned. his two home runs doubled what he allowed over his previous six starts. >> coming up, bills running back marshon lynch has been the team's work horse for the last two seasons. find out why his pre-season games will be his piggest highlight for a while. >> florida's urban meyer, a new contract, and we'll tell why you he's actually a huge fan of his gator counterparts new deal. >> manny and the dodgers return >> manny and the dodgers return ho welcome to the now network. right now five co-workers are working from the road using a mifi, a mobile hotspot that provides up to five shared wifi connections. two are downloading the final final revised final presentation. - one just got an e-mail. - what?! - huh? - it's being revised again. the co-pilot is on mapquest. - ( rock music playing ) - and tom is streaming meeting psych-up music from meltedmetal.com. that's happening now with the new mifi from sprint, the mobile hotspot that fits in your pocket. sprint. the now network.

deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

>> the florida football team has won two national championships in the last three years. much of the credit goes to urban meyer and the school rewarded him with a six-year contract worth $4 million per year. the last four seasons meyer has led the team to a 44-9 record. meyers' new contract makes him the highest paid coach in 2009 and the deal could make it even higher. he's not among the top five highest paid coaches in all of college football. has a clause in his contract that he could make more than $1,000 more than any other in the conference, that only kicks in if he wins a national championship. >> no pressure there. let's update things in l.a. milwaukee scored three runs, top five, they did it because clayton couldn't find the plate. he's already been yanked. four plus, three earned, six

walks. there was a score on a bases-loaded walk. two of those. both in the fourth. three straight singles in the fifth. kir shaw is gone. they will head to the bottom of the fifth. trailing 3-1. >> half game back of the cardinals in the nl central. 0-8 in his last 12 starts. top of the second, deep to right center, it's a three-run 1406789 his ninth home run of the year that matches his total from last season. bottom of the ninth now, cubs up 4-2. runners on second and third. willie taveras, grounds out to end it. harangue gets his 13th loss despite triking out 10. randy wells improves to 8-1 in his last nine starts. cubs 53-15 when scoring at least three runs. the best mark in the big.

cincinnati has now lost a season high seven straight. >> texas beginning a 10-game road trip without kinsler in the lineup. a pitching dual so far. top of the seventh inning, toe to toe, rbi groundout in the fifth. the rangers, four games behind the a's. >> bills running back marshawn lynch will have to serve his three-game suspension for violating the nfl's personal conduct policy. his appeal was denied but he'll be allowed to participate in pre-season practices and games before september 5. >> bad news for the eagles. according to espn radio in philadelphia, middle linebacker stewart bradley is likely to miss the season with a torn acl. randy reed wouldn't talk about it, saying they violated a pact saying they talk to him about injuries, not the players. not only will they not have

bradley but the team saw a few members of their secondary leave the squad including dawkins and sheppard. he'll also have to go into his first season since '98 without defensive coordinator johnson who passed away. >> reggie wayne knows how to make it interesting. the colts wide receiver rolled up to camp in a dump truck and was dressed as a construction worker. >> as you can see, we're under construction for super bowl here. and we have the blue prints to make this thing successful. >> that was pretty creative. we watched it on the news last night. right before we watched "entourage" and "hung." that's kind of our new show too. i guess i can say that, right? but that's pretty creative, i think. that's what you expect out of hedge just. i can't say we were surprised. we would have been surprised if he had just shown up in shorts and a t-shirt, so we got a pretty good response from the

audience. >> a year ago at this time, peyton manning was just like you and i, forced to watch as nfl training camps opened across the country and longing to be on the field with his teammates as he had done so many years before but unlike us, manning a future hall of famer and he was just waiting out a knee injury that kept him out the entire pre-season. this year manning is ready to go except his number one wide receiver is gone. head coach, gone. if anyone can adjust, it's peyton. >> jim caldwell has replaced tony dungy and anthony gonzalez will likely take over for harrison but perhaps the biggest change on monday was that peyton mappi manning was here, happy and healthy. >> this is the way i prefer it. last year was not much fun. >> laid back last year. this year, it's full throttle.

i'm just happy to see him fired up. his arm looks good. he seems enthused. >> last august, after an infection and two knee surgeries, manning missed the entire pre-season. the colts wouldn't say where he was for most of the month or how he was doing, so his teammates were asked about it daily. >> very nice not to have to answer any questions about 18 is, where he is in the country or his health. glad to have him here and start the camp off the way we need to. >> it's not a good feeling. kind of a lonely feeling. you feel, even though you have a lot of pain and you can't walk you feel guilty. you feel guilty that 79 other guys are here, out here sweating it out in the heat and you can't be a part of it. >> reggie wane called him on monday and he's declared him

100% healthy. in terre haute, indiana, bob holzman, espnews. >> thank you. the colts offseason was marked by dungy's retirement. the defensive coordinator moved to carolina and release of harrison. in a huge development for peyton manning, the offensive coordinator retired and unretired and are back on the staff as assistants. still to come, denny hamlin, an emotional win at pocono. lost in the

>> looking for his first win since the end of june as the royals take on the rays. bottom of the second, bases loaded, bases loaded for crawford, that's the hanging breaking ball that didn't break. crawford came in batting 63. 1-16 against greinke. ayebar, 10 hits, six earned in five innings. bottom of the seventh inning, at it again, left field job for him. he hits home runs to both sides.

the royals have now lost five of six. "today it was just bad pitching to start off the game. it wasn't the first couple of innings. it was more getting myself in trouble." >> nfl, michael vick is pulling a brett favre. the former pro bowl quarterback is trying to stay sharp as he looks for a team so he's throwing a baseball at a high school. >> mangini said once one guy wins he's sticking with him and not platooning quarterbacks. the coach said, in my mind brady and d.a. will both be here. >> getting some good news, they agreed to a contract with jeremy maclin. espn is reporting it's worth $15.5 million with $9.5 million

guaranteed. he's expected in the eagles camp sometime on tuesday. >> it was a day to remember for denny hamlin. just a few days after the death of his grandmother, he won the indy 500 at pocono. it was jimmie johnson that had everybody talking including marty smith. >> mark martin so admires jimmie johnson's resilience that he labeled him superman but halfway through the pocono 500, johnson ran into some kryptomite. it seemed a throw-away day to most. >> what did you tell the guys? >> i told them we would come back and be in the top 15. >> martin says it's that palpable confidence and the ability to recover from adversity that separates the 48 team from everyone else. another hendrick motorsports star agrees. >> you can't count them out.

that makes them a championship caliber team and jimmie johnson is a great driver. it's unfortunate that they had a car that was probably capable of winning. >> in moments like this feel grow a lot more going into the chase. i would love to have those easy days all be up front, no issues, but i'm not sure that really tests what you're made of and we worked awfully hard for this. there was nothing handed to us today. we had to work hard to find the problem and get changed, took advantage of the lucky dogs which anybody and everybody does every week. >> the number 48 team had salvaged a respectable 13th place finish, thanks to a horrible day, thanks to pit stops to replace the carburetor and spark plugs. we're all a little bummed he said because we felt like we should have finished in the top 10 but when we leave we'll real rise this there is plenty to be proud of. marty smith, espn. >> thank you, marty. johnson will get his next chance on sunday at watkins glen to

improve on his performance at pocono. the series has an offweek and go to atlanta on labor day weekend. you can catch all of these races onnen on espn. >> what's next for plaxico burress. we worked on sam adams light... for over two years. the whole brewery staff was dedicated. sam adams light doesn't look, smell or taste... like other light beers. to win in germany is a pretty good accomplishment. i'm proud that i was involved in it.

>> matthew berry here from espn.com. fantasy news for tuesday, august 4. if you're looking for a spot starter, washburn makes his debut for the tigers. talk about a good time. there may not be a hotter pitcher in baseball. washburn, a .74 e.r.a. over his last five starts. he's still available in a lot of leagues and i like him at home against baltimore. it's rare that santana faces a pitcher with a better ear than him. that happens later today with pineiro, come to city field take on the banged up mets. finally, always favoring pitchers, stauffer no exception, in four starts this year, stauffer, a 2.57 e.r.a., i like him here as well. more fantasy news and analysis, including spot starters in our daily notes available for free every single day. just go to the fantasy sports

section at espn.com. >> stay current here, brandon webb is done for the season after having shoulder surgery on monday. vernon forrest laid to rest on monday as well. >> coming up on espnews, wide receiver plaxico burress received explosive news from a grand jury on monday. we have the latest on the wide receiver's weapons charges. a damper on nascar sunday. we'll show what you drought ended on monday at the pocono raceway for an emotional winner. over the last few years we've seen a major coaching carousel in college football. why there won't be any change in the swamp.

>> keeping you current with the latest knew, scores and highlights. espnews available in high-definition, along with our coach, jonathan coachman. rain did not play a factor on monday at the pocono raceway. >> no, it didn't and it's not a track known for its physical exciting races but, oh, how that would change. a gorgeous day for racing, just 24 hours after a deluge caused a postponement. tony stewart, the points leader, started back. he crashed in practice, had a rough day but finished on top. falls back by as many as three laps but he would not get quieting. 142, into the wall for david that would help jimmie johnson,

thuds lucky dog three times. rallying to finish 13th. lap 149, things get nasty on the track. robbie gordon spins out, dumped by david. gordon, oh, he was not happy. listen up. >> no, sir car can talk to me or whatever, but he's wrecked two times. he medical me in one and three. >> i think gordon is upset there. >> a little fired up. >> lap 157, puts his nose into it, let's him know that he's there. hello, a little kiss. >> moments later, he kisses back, only this time gordon spins out. mass car furious. they enforce add five lap penalty for both drivers. then with 20 laps to go, another big wreck. this time the 96 car, bobby labonte gets bumped by david reagan. during the caution, denny hamlin was confident and let his crew

chief know. >> i'm going to win this race? >> i know. >> he said, i'm going to win this race. >> that's exactly what he would do. >> 13 laps to go on the restart. >> hamlin goes from six to first and would not look back. takes the checkered flag, first win in 2009. emotional. just days after losing his 91-year-old grandmother who he said wore number 11 socks, watched the tv just an inch away, because she was nearly blind. hamlin, a 50-race winless streak, wins for the third time at pocono. he also has four top 10s, in addition to those three wins. his last win march 2008. montoya finishes second. but this day belonged to an emotional denny hamlin. >> we come close in a lot of races this year. and come up short. but definitely had some angels with us today. and patrick's mom passed away,

our tire guy, a couple of weeks ago, and my grandmother, a few days ago. it's been a long time coming. >> it's been 50 races, and i know you folks are watching at home. what do you want to tell them? >> you know, it's just, i think of my mom right now. >> his grandmother actually died in the arms of his mother, so really an emotional day. a quick look at the points standings. not much change. tony stewart increased his lead by a few points over jimmie johnson. montoya and kasey kahne improved their positions as did marc martin. hamlin all but locked up his spot in the chase with his win on monday. >> coming up a little bit later, he may not have finished in the top 10, but jimmie johnson's performance on monday was nothing short of remarkable. >> former giants wide receiver plaxico burress was indicted on monday on a grand jury weapons charge after he shot himself in the leg in the new york city

nightclub back in november. the indictment charged burress with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. the 31-year-old, if he's convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years. the gun was not licensed in new york or new jersey where he lived. he did have a license to carry a concealed weapon in florida but that had expired before the shooting. morgenthau publicly insisted burress serve jail time even with the plea agreement. >> in this case we conducted a thorough investigation and then presented the evidence to the grand jury which evaluated the facts under the applicable law. the case required a longer investigation than does a typical weapons case given the number of witnesses and the need to investigate both before and after the shooting. the case was treated like any similar case against any other defendant. ultimately, the grand jury did what it thought was fair. >> the nfl released a statement

on monday on the case saying -- >> roger kossick tells us what's next. >> the d.a. wanted two years and plaxico was only willing to plead to one year in. taking his chances with the judge he figures it probably can't get any worse for him than it is right now. the judge in the end is the final arbiter of what the sentence could be, and burress is probably trying to convince him that, look, what happened in that nightclub that night was just a bad night for him, an act of stupidity rather than an act of criminality. in the end he'll throw himself on the mercy of the court and ask that the judge give him a lenient sentence. >> his lawyer had the wide

receiver testify before the grand jury, in a move that surprise add lot of legal experts. he said -- >> the giants linebackerent that pierce was with burress the night of the shooting. legal not be indicted by the grand jury on any charges. the nfl is not expected to discipline pierce either. pierce is scheduled to speak on tuesday. now, president and ceo, mara said this last week. >> justin verlander tries to right the ship for the tigers as they take on the os. 4-1 with a 2 e.r.a. over his last five starts. first batter he faces is brian

roberts. just showing off. solo shot, his ninth home run of the year. ver llander would allow five ru in the first. then scoreless for seven. cabrera, evens this thing, with his 21st long ball of the season. bottom of the ninth now, thomas playing hero. his seventh home run of the year. his first career walkoff. the tigers win in walk-off passion for the third time this season. the orioles have lost 11 out of their last 14. verlander has never lost in baltimore in six career starts but his e.r.a. went from 1.85 to 2.57 against the os. verlander struggled again in the first inning and it cost him to try josh beckett for the major league lead in wins. he gave up six hits in the first including the lead-off home run brian roberts and struck out eight to shut out baltimore over the next seven innings. >> the giants also looking for

win number 13. biggio honored before the game. 3,000th hit. voted most memorable moment in minute maid park history. matsui, bottom of the sixth inning, off the foul pole. astros up 3-2. tying run on second for molina. not exactly -- astros win 4-3. jose valverde picks up the save. the giants lose for the second time in their last eight games. mike hampton picks up the win for houston. 16-4 now in his career against the giants. >> still to come, bills running back marshon lynch has been the team's work horse for the last two seasons. find out why his pre-season games will be the biggest highlight for a while. florida's urban meyer has a new contract and he's getting paid. undefeated professional boxerd. floyd "money" mayweather has the fastest hands boxing has ever seen.

so i've come to this ring to see who's faster... on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can browse the web faster, email business plans faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than floyd mayweather. (announcer) switch to the nation's fastest 3g network and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free.

>> florida's football team has won two national championships in the last three years. much of the credit goes to urban meyer and he got a six-year contract. in the last four years meyer led them to a 44-9 record. meyer's new contract makes him the highest paid coach in 2009 and meyer's deal has incentives that could push it even higher. the interesting thing is, he has a clause in his contract that says he could make $1,000 more any other coach in the conference that only kicks in, though, if he wins a national championship. >> let's update things in louisiana, they have gone to the bottom of the sixth, brewers up 6-1 now. he could not find the plate.

six walks, three earned, six strikeouts in four plus innings and in the sixth, a three-run home run. his 22nd. the dodgers have won three of their last four. the brewers have lost seven out of 11. ramirez, just moments ago, struck out to begin the bottom half of the sixth inning. >> cubs game against the reds, just a half game back of the cards in the nl central. trying to get it done against harang. top of the second, three-run shot. ninth of the year. that matches his total from last season. cubs on top 3-0. bottom of the ninth now, cubs leading 4-2. runners at second and third. taveras, can't extend the game. cubs win, harang gets his 13th loss despite striking out 10. chicago has won nine out of their last 12 and randy wells i am i am -- improves to 8-1 in

his last nine starts. >> the a's begin a road trip without kinsler. they are up 2-0, bottom of the eighth. >> nipper went five innings allowing only one hit. anderson has been outstanding for oakland. he's gone 7 2/3, allowed two earned, eight strikeouts, the rangers started the night four games behind the angels in the a.l. west. >> bills running back marshawn lynch will have to serve his three-game suspension for violating the nfl's personal conduct policy. his appeal was denied but he'll much they admire him and how much he cares for them is no better testament for why he deserves to be supported in this

position para el john was born in watertown, new york, one of the high school's most famous graduate and went on to graduate from utica college in 1970 received a bachelor's degree and an mss and then nelson rockefeller public-school and at the state, he began his public service as a young man will serving as assistant to watertown city manager and then served as an aide to one of the great state senators from new york berkeley from 1977 to 1984, when he was elected as successor served as a member of the state senate until his election to the house of representatives in '92, he would go on to be reelected eight times with no substantive opposition even running unopposed in 2002. prior two his nomination as of this committee will snows he serves as the ranking member on the house armed services committee and senior member of the and oversight and government reform committee, was also a member of the house select

committee on intelligence from 2005 to 2,007 where he worked to ensure our nation sit on the cutting edge of a global intelligence and counter intelligence gathering. while in congress has the committee will those john became known as a champion of our men and women in uniform. he has demonstrated then pass commitment to keeping americans aren't the best training, the best the plant, and the best of the world has ever seen and i can personally attest that as well having worked with just a fine and decent human being he is part of the is a fine person. whether we are working to develop the old of blacks. aerospace, establishing a new border station and champlain, he was just diligent to put in every minute of time that was necessary, u.s. intelligence, he got the things done and he did it all with grace and a decline

the use that was always impressive. and there is one of accomplishment that i think really sums up his commitment to both the military in the community that he serves and that was the creation of a ford from regional health care planning organization. for drama is one of the two military installations without his own hospital carriage on recognizing that more needed to be done to protect our soldiers held while staying at the base helps create a pilot program that created health care arrangements between the base in the local health centers period of the program so successful it was expanded across the country and have the opportunity to set up and take the vantage of a similar programs so i like my entire salmon to be read into the record is mr. chairman, but i am so proud that the president chose congressman mchugh and brown he's willing to serve and the simpler and post and proud to be. support of his nomination today.

>> we thank you, we know each of you are free to leave if you want a figure on introductions parent. >> i don't think i have never heard insanitary humor it speaks so well as a republican before and my life, it really was an amazing [laughter] >> we all grow in the wall. [laughter] >> mr. chairman, it is a great privilege to appear before you today to introduce dr. westphal. the president's nominee to be the undersecretary of the army. of the people of maine and brown and his strong ties to our state and who i am grateful for his remarkable career in service to our nation. the challenging responsibilities of this position requires a

person with the expertise and manpower personnel management reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment and communications and financial management. requires the ability of cooperation with other branches of service and with congress. above all this position requires an individual and a syndicated to our soldiers as they are to serving our country. dr. westphal is that person. he is a true renaissance man. an addition to a scholar and teacher an academic career he is a public servant with a distinguished career with such

deferments and the department of interior and in the epa. he has been more than 10 years working in congress on issues related to the environment and my training and the economy. we came to 15 during his tenure from 2002 until two dozen six as the chancellor of the university of maine system. he played a critical role in introducing and the department of defense to scientific researchers in maine and her out in the face of. this partnership has resulted in many enhancements including the development of a ballistic protection system used by our troops in iraq in afghanistan. it is typical of the dr. westphal and that he saw this need for our troops and said and to develop the means of

providing them with greater force protection. dr. westphal academic career includes a professorship of political science at the university of maine as well as 12 years on the faculty of oklahoma state university and senator inhofe noted. most recently he established the environmental studies program at the new school in new york city until he again in answer to the call to government service as a member of president obama's national security transition team. dr. westphal previous government service is perhaps most relevant to this nomination ended has been exemplary. he has served as assistant secretary of the army for several works as the chairman indicated from 1998 to 2001 and is acting secretary of the army

for june and july of 2001. prior two that u.s. senior policy advisor for water resources at the epa and special assistant to the secretary of interior part of his congressional experience includes serving on the senior staff of the house budget committee this special assistant to senator thad cochran, and as executive director of the congressional sunbelt caucus. dr. westphal has received numerous awards during his academic and public career. these included the declaration for a distinguished civilian service. the highest civilian award is given by the department of the army. the skills and experience dr. westphal brings to this position and are matched only by his energy and commitment. mr. chairman, colleagues on the committee, it is, indeed, an honor to endorse the nomination

of dr. westphal to be undersecretary of their army. thank you mr. chairman kim i thank you very much, senator collins. the only a portion note that jim is was he also was a detroit red wings fans and that means his nomination will be expedited i can assure you. [laughter] senator hutcheson. >> thank you mr. chairman. i am here to nominate someone and that i know a thing so highly of it. juan garcia to be the assistant secretary of the navy for manpower and reserve affairs. before i talk about speech, i did want to end my with congratulations and also urge of the support for my friend john mchugh. i serve on the west point board of visitors with congressman mchugh and he has been and to reflect on that portion of the end of the few men great

secretary of ama. one -- one garcia the third, you have given most of his bio but i met him when he is in the state legislature into their wonderful job there and i wanted two also add for the record that he is a graduate of ucla and harvard law school. and kennedy school of government. he will introduce his family but his wife is also a fellow harvard law school classmate. i think that he has such a great qualification for this job because of his clear love for the navy being a second-generation to serve and the navy and his family eighth and his brother who is. the xanthine to the marines. i just want to say that he has served as you pointed that for 12 years. he was an patrol squadron 47 at of naval air station in barber's point how y, completed

deployments in the persian gulf and western pacific, u.s. naval forces in london, england and was part of operation allied force during hostilities in khosa so he really has the wide range of experience and he also served as a white house fellow from 1999 to 2000, just a great honor and experience for him here now with the left active duty in 2004 but continues to be in the naval reserve and is currently the commanding officer of reserve training squadron 28 and naval air station in corpus christi so i know him, i know he's going to do a great job for our country in the i congratulate him on it president obama's election. i urge his confirmation by this committee and the senate's. of team and thank you very much, senator cornyn. >> thank you mr. chairman, i just as senator hutcheson in it

in juicing mr. garcia to mines and colleagues. as has been pointed out pulitzer vanity position at the pentagon, assistant secretary of navy for manpower and reserve affairs as an advocate for our sailors and marines deployed all over the globe. our citizens sanders and the navy reserves and of their family members. these brave men and women have met every challenge that has been given that them and supporting to wars and afghanistan in that iraq are in crises all around the world. there for the linda mission for which the united states navy and the u.s. marine corps been found in. to protect all of us every day and every web year ago these heroes and their family's housekeeper country free and they deserve our full support. as assistant secretary mr. garcia will be responsible for ensuring that they receive the

support. i would note that mr. garcia hails from corpus christi, texas where he still although in a resurgence sears as a fine strainer and corpus christi naval air station. the was delighted to me of his family but particularly his father who is from texas or my mother was from and when my dad returned from lunch to having served as saying b-17 pilot and sean donna, of sending p.o.w. camp he. >> to corpus christi for flight training, my mother and a marion and i guess is they say the rest is history scientists and that's where mr. garcia is from, his outstanding record in, he understands the life of this is there any citizen sailor. he flew more than 30 noncommissioned and that person involved, operation allied force in kosovo and as i know today he is a member of rivers and he is a lawyer but i trust the

committee will not hold that against members of the senate armed -- ciq doing good until the point of god to tell you. >> is my pleasure to introduce you to speak, and i heartily endorse his nomination i hope you expeditiously approve his nomination on the floor i can't i think he's so much, i know how grateful the nominee is in his family freer words. that is a great story of venture that, thanks for sharing that. i want to honor nominees to come. you're it simmons will be made part of the record in their entirety. now who rep. mchugh, i think we will start with you with you're opening statement.

>> this seven system is far more complex than the house system, i wasn't sure i was pushing the right button. mr. chairman, senator mccain, distinguished members of the arms services committee, first of all, mohsen corley i want to know how excited, how homo and frankly how honored i am to be here before you this this committee has a way the constitution of responsibility and consideration of these nominations. having been in this congress for some years now, i believe recognize that really does is of great americans who have said before you in the year since of the creation of the position of secretary of the military departments and frankly i am in on that and may even deserve a

moment of your time and consideration but i would note as well for all that has passed before me i respectfully know there are a few that have been in this moment in time who have held a greater in high degree of respect and admiration and affection with this great committee and senator schumer noted for all of my 16 and a half years in the house of representatives i have been privileged to serve on the bodies of services committee and i know from personal experience that tremendous concern and efforts each of you put forth to each and every day in support of the brave men and women of our military. ..

the public good and i've been honored to know and work with him for some two decades and i deeply appreciate his introduction and presence and gracious and kind words about my abilities. i would also like to acknowledge of course the other presidential nominees on this panel with me this morning dr. joe westphal

and i congratulate them both and wish them well. i would be remiss if i didn't get special thanks to my family who like good families everywhere wind me love, support, understanding and in my case not infrequently some forgiveness in my 60 plus years of this world. the memory of my dad who departed over 19 years but still inspires us and makes us smile, my brother, my best friend, pat, his lovely bride, their son and daughter, pjd and mckay look, my niece, nephew and niece and most of all my mom who bidinotto on previous occasions after all these years still finds ways each and every day to carry me forward. they are with me always and i know we are with me today as well. but for all the excitement in this moment, i want to assure the committee i appear here before you today with few illusions as have been difficulties that lie ahead.

i believe i have a clear understanding of the serious and numerous challenges that face america's army. as you all know a force fatigue by some eight years of uninterrupted combat now on to a very dangerous fronts. they are strained by the frequency of constant deployments and stressed by the pressures levied against their families. too often, far too often they return home only to be disappointed by a network of support systems that despite the high intentions and constant effort fell short of of support they deserve and deeply desire. there are no easy answers to these challenges, but answer we must and i promise you if confirmed my first priority will be along with this gray committee the congress, the president of the united states and of course the secretary of defense to engage in a constant

search for the discovery and effective implementation of better ways and if i may if you other challenges, balancing, the recognition resources ample and recent years to wartime supplementals are likely to turn downward. the requirement to make the hard necessary to resist to strike equilibrium prevailing current conflict preparing for future challenges secretary keats put it very well he said we cannot afford to do everything and buy everything but at the same time we cannot afford defeat. that's a tough challenge, tough realities but both can be met and overcome but it will take constant formulation of new thinking and direction. success is also going to require reinvention and invigoration of all of our government resources. expertise and civilian agencies must be brought effectively tabare both to avoid hasten the

end of conflict. soft power in the town right now is a fashionable freeze but its passion shouldn't diminish the urgency of its application and the requirement the army and indeed my opinion all the services do their part to facilitate the effective implementation of these non-connect tools. in the end, and i know everyone on this committee agrees it all comes back to people. the men and women who step forward on the uniform of our nation, the spells is, the children of the brave warriors who sacrificed so much as well like all of you i visited our wounded warriors at home and abroad and a each visit i have been sell stock held these heroes facing pain and loss and uncertainty ask one question, what else can i do to serve? we can ask no less of ourselves.

how could we succeed even repay a partial measure they render to all of loss each and every day. if in your wisdom by a confirmed that will be the key motivation on a weight to each and every day. thank you, mr. chairman, senator mccain, i look forward to questions. >> thank you, dr. mchugh. dr. westphal. >> thank you mr. chairman, senator mccain, members of the armed services committee. it is an honor to be here and nominated by president obama, to be an undersecretary of the army. i am also grateful for the confidence and support of secretary gates. s senator collins and the chairman noted in my resume ii spent a good deal of my time in academia and in that part of my life i spent almost all of it studying the congress and it's because of that i am humbled to come once again before this committee seeking your

confirmation, and by thank the chairman and senator mccain for their very kind introductions. it's not only an honor and privilege to have a professional relationship with my senators from name but also to call them my friends. i am very grateful for the support they've given me and the kind and wonderful introduction to senator collins today. her tireless efforts on behalf of the citizens of mean and all americans have made myself and my family and all of us who are part of the greek state very, very proud. i want to thank senter collins for her most gracious introduction, but more importantly for her steadfast support of the men and women in uniform. she's been a great advocate for insuring the needs of our troops are considered and met. and knowing her personally i got to meet her family particularly her dad and her mom.

her mom was a former chairman of the board of trustees of the university of maine. not while i was there but the prior year to my coming on board and she certainly knew the university very welcome and her dad was a world war ii veteran who fought in the battle of the bulge and to my knowledge he was decorated with the purple heart and bronze star and i got to meet her dad and spent quite a bit of time with him and i very honored to have known him and i am sure he is extremely proud of his daughter today. with me today is my wife, linda, linda westphal. we've been married 41 years. she and i have raised a family, raised four children, james, heather, amy and lindsay and unfortunately they couldn't be here today because of a family commitment and work responsibilities but three of our four kids are married and

have blessed us with six grandchildren. they know, my family knows how demanding these jobs can be on the individual and the family and thus their support and patience and love have only helped strengthen our family bond and to give me the opportunity to serve my country for a public service. i also wish to cite the contribution to the nation and my wife's dad, wilbert mcmaster, now deceased, he was a soldier who served in the pacific during world war ii, and for me he always truly represented at a group of men and women that came, have come to be known as the greatest generation, senator colin stat would be one of those individuals. i hope my mother-in-law, mary, is watching this hearing and her love and support are very important to me as well. i am honored to be here also alongside a great public servant congressman john mchugh deeply committed to the task ahead should you choose to confirm

him. congressman mchugh is a good friend and if we are confirmed i look forward to working with him and supporting his efforts and leading the army towards a more sustainable future. if confirmed, i pledge to work closely with you, your staff to truly part in with other services with the office of the secretary of defense and what i believe ought to be a fervent and urgent effort to sustain the best army in the world and ensure national security needs are met. i believe one of the most important responsibilities i will have if confirmed will be to support the secretary of the army in meeting the needs of soldiers and their families. congressman mchugh colquitt we expressed that important priority. i pledge to the president, the secretary of defense come to this committee, to the congress i will work hard and to the best

of my ability to meet the commitment and i thank all of you for your consideration of my nomination. thank you

thank you. on behalf of myself and my family, i want to thank the president for this moment. an impossible to imagine opportunity to be considered by the united states senate for a post helping to shape and manage the finest service the united states navy and marine corps team. it's a moment traced back to my first conscious memory as a small boy 36 years ago at ending the homecoming ceremony for the p.a. des beau -- p.o.w.. unforgettable moments for and oldest son growing up in housing with mom squeezing my hand as the official media said and slowly pulled into the cul-de-sac bringing under her breath it didn't stop at of snubbing it brought bad news. the route here, and through a tiger cruise aboard the carrier uss constellation a few years ago when i joined my naval aviator father and new than i wanted to be like him and his

shipmates. why couldn't know them as i would return the favor 25 years later posting him aboard the same carrier. it traced me through the tutelage of my marine corps drill instructor who will never know the full impact he had on me. and this moment couldn't have happened without a dozen chief petty officers along the way you did their job and taught a junior officer what it means to take care of the troops. mr. chairman, today's navy and marine corps face a threat spectrum that spans from downing and settle at 60 miles above service to the centuries-old scourge of piracy. american families trust their sons and daughters to this organization be leading the nation will provide the finest training, the best equipment, fair compensation, care for their wounds visible and non-visible and quality-of-life for dependents and exchange for sacrifice. i can think of no more humbling honor than to assist meeting that commitment. thank you for your consideration

and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much, mr. garcia and thank you for sharing a bit of your family history with us. it helps to humanize and personalize these hearings and it's important for those listening that you do that. the standard questions we ask of all nominees and i am going to ask you the same questions. excuse me. have you read here to applicable laws and regulations governing conflict of interest? >> yes. >> have assumed duties or undertaken actions to appear to the outcome of the process? >> nope. >> will you ensure your staff complies with deadlines for requested communications including for the record and hearings? >> yes. >> will do cooperate and provide witnesses and briefers in response to congressional requests? >> yes. >> with those witnesses be protected from reprisals for their testimony or briefings?

>> yes. >> do you agree if confirmed to testify on this committee? >> yes. >> do you agree to provide documents including copies of electronic forms of communication in a timely manner when requested by a duly constituted committee or to consult with the committee regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial in providing such a document? said in and around -- we have several members here today so let's start with a seven men around. congressman mchugh, let me start with you on the question of army modernization. we have recently passed an important bill in terms of trying to reform the way we acquired items for the military. the bill was a major reform initiated here but supported by

the house signed by the president implantation of that is however critically important. we could write laws as you well know with good intent and strong words but when it comes to implementation it is critical. give your thoughts about implementation, the acquisition reform bill. >> first of all, senator, senator mccain, senator levin,, mike skelton and i attended that. i think the two of you in this committee, this body, for taking the leadership in that effort. you called the house of farms and i think it made a huge difference that you're absolutely right that the bill is an important step, that the implementation is absolutely essentials. and if we don't follow through with the fullest extent of the

force of all of loss have wasted our time. i think the biggest challenge with respect to that particular piece of legislation is the designation of some 20,000 new contract officers. we probably, not probably, we went far to the extreme cutting down the number of professionals within the military who could oversee those activities. this bill recognizes that but as well it puts a rationalization and to force as those that have a stake in the system before word from those who have an absolute responsibility to make a decision as to whether it should pass so the next milestone, the next step. i can pledge to you having had a little bit to do with the development of the house side that this is the highest priority for me. i think the challenge that also lies ahead as you know, senator, this represents only about 20%

of the acquisition programs before the united states military, the major weapons acquisitions are certainly a huge part of the problem. a lot of money but we have got 80% still lying out there and my discussions with converse man skelton, chairman ike skelton and others involved in this is that the congress fully intend to take up that other 80% whether i am confirmed or not i would certainly as an american citizen encourage you to do that and if i am concerned i promise you as army secretary that i stand ready to work with you and make sure we try to close that gap as well. too much money out there, too many wasted dollars, too many dollars potentially to be saved that could be spent far better on the men and women who have so many needs that still exist. >> congressman, the secretary recently announced that there is

going to be a temporary growth and army strength up to 22,000 soldiers. do you have an understanding of the pace and plan to implement that increase of strength? >> i really don't, senator. >> if you don't that is fair enough. >> we don't expect you to know a lot of the answers to these questions as you haven't had the opportunity to be there. one opportunity we face is problem with mental health for the troops particularly for our soldiers in the theater and i am wondering based on the findings of the army's mental health advisory team studies and the iraqi theater whether or not you are able to share with us any plans to increase mental health resources available to the troops not just on their return

but also in theater. >> as you know, senator there has been a major effort to try to make a more robust eckert on the troops deployed. i think the army is in the right direction on that, but clearly if you look at the feedback studies we have a long way to go, and if i made this wasn't exactly to your question, but if you look at the suicide rates within the army and in recent months the latest figure about 87 for this year we have an enormous challenge whether it is amongst the deployed or those back home. so that's something any army secretary would have a solemn responsibility to try to fine-tune, and if we have gaps in the training capabilities, lack of understanding amongst the officer corps who are interested with that forward

deployed sensitivity than we have to do a better job. it is unacceptable to have brave men and women who commit so much on the battlefield come home and at the end of the day take their own lives. >> the growth in the number of suicide has been a significant concern to this committee and all of its members and it is important that you get into that issue as soon as you are confirmed. roi to to the role of women in the military if confirmed as the secretary of army will you support assignment policies that will permit women to continue to serve in all positions and specialties and which they currently serve, number one, but also will you review positions currently closed to female soldiers to determine whether female soldiers should be permitted to serve an additional positions? >> thank you for that question, senator. tawes there has been a lot of

confusion and misinformation on that particular issue. as i think the legislative record shows, i strongly support the existing position in policy. and that policy has been in place since 1994, put in place by secretary aspin. i think i've learned from my visits to iraq, the four to afghanistan and other combat theaters that the basic fact is women in uniform today are not just in valuable, they are irreplaceable, and i have absolutely no evidence nor have i ever had any evidence before me that would suggest that the policy is in effect since 1994 is not working. if someone shows me something to the contrary i would certainly share that with the secretary of defense, the president and course oversight committees in the house and senate but from everything i know at this moment

is his policy particularly on the regular warfare or battlefield that is working. >> in terms of additional possibilities, do you take a look at that as well? >> the current policy as i understand as issued under secretary aspin is to continuously search for mls that can be opened and i support that and would certainly continue. >> senator mccain. >> thank you mr. chairman and congratulations to the nominees. i'm hopeful the chairman will do everything to perhaps get these nominations confirmed before the august recess. is that correct? >> that is the goal. >> thank you all for serving. >> , chris and mchugh i want to follow up a second of the suicide issue. it's my understanding 30% of the suicides have occurred with the service members who've never been deployed. so then it's hard to place the

responsibility simply on a long deployments were frequent deployments. what kind of analysis are we conducting to try to figure out what these -- i'm sure there are multiple causes but also does it go back to recruiting? >> that is an important question, senator, and when you and i had a chance to talk about this i quoted the 30%. actually i was a little conservative. for the army is 32.8%, nearly one-third of the suicides have never deployed. now that should help us understand the normal stress orders we focus upon including post tempo are important but as i mentioned, sir, i don't want to lose fact that for a third of these brave men and women something else occurred on the

programs that we are putting in place. do they in fact respond to that reality and i have no reason to think they do or they don't put it is a source that has to be undertaken and the other question as you noted, senator, what else is happening? is it a diminishing of the standards that somehow we are recruiting people or perhaps possessing a proclivity for that? i just don't know. i think the army took a positive step. they've engaged in a longitudinal study with the institute of mental health to try to understand that. that is a five-year study. we can't wait five years and i don't pretend to have the answers right now. there's plenty some programs the army has put in place to combat this issue. i fink we have to take a cold hard look and monitor the progress carefully and be as adept and flexible as we expect

them to be on the battlefield. >> thank you for the commitment and obviously all members of the kennedy and all americans are deeply concerned about what seems to be a continued increase in these tragedies. as we discussed in my office, congressman, i understand p.m. a political action committee employees and clients country to over $160,000 which pleased you at number 16 on the list of all beneficiaries in congress. did you ever seek an earmarks for the pma client corporation in exchange for any political contribution or anything else of value given to you directly or indirectly? >> absolutely not. >> as of today have you returned any political contributions he received from pma, its employees or clients? >> i did not i asked my employee

to go through the questions about fannin donors and want to make sure we were not in receipt of any of those funds and i gave to standing order obviously i will never use my campaign funds for personal gain again that should there ever be a question as to the veracity of the contributions if not the be returned i would rather give them frankly to a charity. >> thank you for that, congressman. according to a report citizens against government waste since 2008 he sought earmarks for 52 projects totaling $97.3 million you and i went through some of them before. here is my question. how do you insert a congressman or staffer that calls you and says i want you to spend money on this year markhor to support this earmarks? how do you reconcile that? because i am absolutely

convinced that earmarks and the pma group is a classic example and continues stories in the media about the corruption that has been bred by a vis your marking process which i think he's absolutely unacceptable and i fought for many years and i will never give up the fight until the day i leave the united states senate. so how do you answer when one of these appropriators calls you and says i want and earmarks for x. >> the honest answer is i don't know because quite frankly my 16 years i've never had a congressman call and ask me to support and earmarks and i am not an appropriate her. i am authorizing and of course that is an important part of the process as this committee knows. center, as i mentioned to you previously in our conversation,

i deeply admire the cause is that you've taken up. i mention as well i was one of 44 republicans in the house of representatives out of more than 218 to support mccain feingold. it didn't make my leadership happy but it made me feel good. because i felt it was the right thing to do. i tried to lift up and all of my requests to the formal standards placed by the house. i argued for higher standards, but i've tried to do the best job i could to provide projects that benefit my district and equally benefit the military, but senator, i understand your passion and even admire it, and no matter what the judge of this committee i can tell you why will never receive another year marked. >> thank you, mr. congressman mchugh, and let me just say again, one of the reasons why i raise this issue at this time isn't in any way to diminish my

respect and appreciation for your service. i raise it in the context of an attempt i think is going on now led by the president and strongly led also by the secretary of defense that we stop some of this. i noted that the house appropriations committee just passed legislation filled with projects that one, have no justification strongly opposed by president and secretary defense and clearly on needed and unnecessary ha, including the presidential helicopter and the list goes on and on. so i guess my point is that i think that we are either going to change and give the american people the defense capabilities and care for the men and women in the military, which is our obligation, or we are going to

continue the secretary gates calls it an on sustainable path of the year marking and unnecessary and wasteful spending. so, i only bring this to your attention in the context i think there's going to be a big fight and i am proud of the president who has threatened vetoes on several issues. so i know the you will join the fight to give the tax payers the best bank for the buck. i appreciate your dedication and service in the united states. ..

in ensuring that we have the proper programs and never is in place to take care of those opinions when you are gone and the housing is at. >> that when they move the children can transfer between schools and planets could transfer and and all low things you don't have time giving about on a tent where carrier and summer rain and i think what fallen to the purview of assistant of manpower affairs and if confirmed of a foreign to in schram with at the optimum in place.

>> thank you, senator davey. >> thank you very much mr. chairman, i want to welcome the nominees and say i think the president has chosen very wisely. i've had the privilege to work with congressman mchugh on many issues and the dr. westphal as a former official in an apartment of the army and comes back with a great experience and mr. garcia thank you rear service of a frontier service and a permit of the navy pier and. a congressman mchugh, one of the traditions the services respect for individuals demonstration of their case which is very important, but part of that is ensuring that there is not an attitude or rancho to one

nomination vs another pair of rancho to one side of the leased to another consistent with the constitution and i wonder if you have any comments on that. >> thank you, center for your kind comments. bollea understanding is that every chaplain who goes into the service has a prime directive enacting is innocences is where in his firm likely that there are multi denominational at 10 days the chaplain must be sensitive to the nature of of that someone's and therefore do everything necessary to keep away from proselytizing by giving general blessing whether a deployment ceremony are some other brands. and does allow them, of course, in the regular dues on a sunday it is a catholic chaplain providing mass or the services and tumbled reduce or in the

mosques were of muslims, but when you have a general assemblage they must be sensitive and not make comments that would be offensive to others and that assemblage. i can to imagine our ever changing that certainly in my opinion and a chaplain who does not adhere to that these to be an honest and as frightened as to their primary responsibility. >> i agree with you and i also that the champions play a role in formally counseling soldiers not intend our emotional way but as a soaring says information for the commander says a source of support for troops and is a very amaral. we have all talked about this and as mr. garcia pointed out particularly acute for the army and the operational tempo has been exhausting over the last several years in kenya, and upon

the fact this is hata on retention of men great connoisseurs and captains and majors and in ceos which from my perspective are probably the real heart and soul of this, of course,? >> i have two answers. the answer i will give to first is the answer a and as a 16 year of the house armed services committee and 12 years on the personnel subcommittee. it just seems to me that a minimum intuitive leave them particularly in an economy that values the kinds of intellect and experience that those men great connoisseurs have that the tempo has a tremendous affect on encouraging them to leave this service pearson and linda numbers to suggest there is something afoot, we are about three dozen shirts and thus will contra is in it is such an acute

problem that the army does not estimate it will be able to begin to catch up until about 2014 or 2015. the second answer is what i understand in what i was told was the subcommittee, the army believes that of the retention is not the issue in those gaps from one of the problem is a growth of the army, and has left that gap. there's probably rested gm of size and i have not been in a position to be brave to but the bottom line remains the same. they have a huge challenge in that country of officers that we have to make sure make up. as you know these are the people who in still the values and the training and all those things that we view as so important in the formulation of the military and have to look work hard to close that shortfall. >> thank you, congressman, dr. westphal, what do you presume is

going to be one of you're key focal points as the undersecretary of the army? >> thank you, obviously they undersecretary works to implement or works of the director of secretary of family and within the responsibilities as the chief management committee rendered a bank in 2008 there is an additional broad responsibility to manage the operations of an apartment. within that framework and take what is very important and senate to 11 at the chairman's comments earlier about the acquisition issue a key area of of this would have to be business transformation and there is the defense transformation. bamela a pass, the army has a business transformation office virgenes to vigorously stand up and integrate that business

transformation process into all the elements you have discussed today that congressman mchugh has been talking about in a way that that we can adjust the issues of women's physical standpoint as well as a plan and execution path. >> thank you dr. westphal end at mr. garcia thank you for your service. >> and for years, senator tim i thank you, you are going to be in a situation where you have to recruit and have to retain all so and the up-tempo of the navy is also quite compelling. can you comment about some of your thoughts about recruitment for the navy's? >> sure, senator although i think is a very different story among the army is facing. we have downsized over the last seven years. in some ways we have the opposite problem. you have arguably one of the

most selective difficult to access we have had right now and the marines who even at the height of this long war there were filled to meet its recruiting goal have now men and perhaps the scene in there and strength. i think it is important though that as of the of the economy continues as upton that we not let our guard down on the recruiting front and that it takes time to build up their credit ever to build those relationships. is just monetary times i think is improving not cut back too far this by the fact that our goals in the moment seem to have been met kim i thank you very much. >> thank you, senator chambliss. >> thank you mr. chairman before and it my comments and ask questions out like to recognize the service and sacrifice of a lieutenant reavis, who severed a

traumatic brain injury and iraq and to testify in the with the subcommittee on personnel tell the press center in nelson on which i serve and recently about the care and support of whom the warriors. i mention this because that passes and rise main that he died last week as a result of apparent suicide in san antonio texas. the committee recommended and less to make senate adopted legislation to prevent improve care and five as of support for our women warriors and their families and mr. chairman a certainly and thoughts of our prayers are with the family of the tenant may recess. can i thank you for mentioning that. >> mr. chairman, i congratulate all three of our nominees who are here today and particularly my long time to fund, congressman john mchugh with whom i have the privilege of serving in the house. the islands of the vice chairman of snw are for four years while

he was chairman in and of riss handan john and doug your devotion in your care for our men and women in uniform and i cannot be prouder and more pleased with the nomination coming from the president's then to have been nominated secretary of the army. as you and i have discussed over the past 24 hours, for the past and to for years this is of alabama of florida and georgia have been involved in discussions, negotiations and significant litigation related to the abolition of chattahoochee flint and alabama could to send an telethon marissa river basins which of of that jurisdictions of the i corps of engineers. and for a water control manuals for the ccf and the act river basins have been some figures that are in excess of 50 years old. the recent court decision that came out a couple of weeks ago the late chastise of the poor

for their failure to update those mannose or the years with a increase emergence of use of those ever basins. in 2007 secretary geren made a correct and courageous decision politically to update the waterman else now simply like to ask you even though and i don't have a lot of background on this but i want to make sure that too continue to pursue the updating of the economy and also that final disposition of this disagreement can be made. >> chris of of thank you for your kind comments. the house lost with the senate's gone 20 minute trip across the rotunda you are right, i don't have a lot of information. i had the opportunity as a no to sit down with you and senator isaacs and 20 years is a long time to be going back and forth.

if i may am going to take a pass for the moment because fattah san there is a court decision is a shared with me and i had a chance to look at a am aware that secretary geren felt that the court's decision is not compelled certainly encouraged greatly three development of of what emmanuel's and of that is going for it. i need to take a look at that without having. its use to be a reasonable thing to do but there is just such a complex of in there that i am concerned. what i do know as a member of the human race you have three vital interests there in three states in what i would unquestionably say to you is that i would make every effort to engage the court to try to provide whatever assistance and

encouragement is necessary to bring about a resolution in a way that serves everyone's interest agreeably. i suspect that is probably not going to be possible to read everybody's nirvana, but anytime you've got a lawsuit for 20 years and hasn't been resolved although i jumped out of law school after a tenure is that it raises my antenna we have a tough issue but i want to work with you, i started out and state and local government and of the importance of water. >> karen f.. you and i along with center isaacson discussed the issue of war steward and specifically the great financial risk the local community assumed it to a large degree that they are researching and expectations of additional brigade coming into force two words so we advise you the committee put of $450 million in preparation for this brigade coming and i am sure you can understand the enormous impact

in announcement is not coming has had on the small community in southeast georgia. i know you can appreciate because of your comments and representing committees around fort from one of a similar action was taken in previous years. i simply want to get your assurance again on the record and that you address this issue as soon as you are confirmed and take whatever measures possible to fill the gap left by the 46pct not coming in and to help alleviate the financial stress. i just found out yesterday that secretary geren will be enforced or is on next monday so that is the type of high-profile issue is now and i simply want to mention that is going to continue. >> i am hopeful. [laughter] assuming he made, of ventura. as you noted, center, i have

seen now of the army and suspect other services were expensive expansion will take place will assembly tries to encourage a the duty to make amends. in my case those troops arrived and that shipments and investments remain were u.s. and i think it was a win-win situation but i do believe from what i know at this point the secretary gates from the women the right decision because of of the vagaries of the of leveling and the desire to have 45 robust totally filled upper days vs. wade that meet all kinds of help but the downside of that of the three committees that a left holding the bag of hundreds of millions of dollars. senator, i can't promise you that i can affect a positive

outcome for you but i can promise you i will look into this and press at her as i possibly can and this comes from my personal experience. i absolutely understand the dilemma that that as i have recognized to be a very small and not particularly well the community is an. >> well, if secretary geren does not solve it on monday i will call you on tuesday mr. chairman, was simply say to our other two nominees congratulations on your nomination and with a foreign to his beating confirmation end dr. westphal when i see you in september please encourage your oklahoma state cowboys to be kind to general host of my blogs. thank you. >> thank you, senator chambliss. senator akaka. >> thank you mr. chairman in the aloha to the esteem nominees in europe family and friends who

have joined us today. in gentleman to my personal into thinking to view the rear service to our country. and them wanted to know that to an answering a call to start another chapter in your lives then begin to public-service. i enjoyed our visit in your entire career has been dedicated to public service, and have an outstanding track record of supporting our troops and their memories during your service in the house and to be confirmed and have no doubt that the army would will be under a standing leadership. and dr. westphal in mr. garcia, your diverse experiences and us in the educational backgrounds are very impressive and it

confirmed what we faced the medical issues in your positions however, the then standing experiences and qualifications and confident that you will be able to handle the challenges before a. congressman mchugh, you have had the opportunity to view and shave the army front of the house armed services committee. for those many years and i trust you have also received briefings and held discussions with the current army leadership. on as you prepare for this position and would be interested to know what would you believe would be the toughest challenges and secretary of the army? >> it is always the one you don't know about that rises up and catch is due, but as i look

ahead at i think her purse responsibility and that for most of foreign challenge to is two what we all the men and women in uniform and their families. and number of your colleagues have spoken about the operations in person and then 12 times better one-to-one applying for a year coming back to the adel for a. the reality is much of that year is spent three change in the next appointment so in this kind of evolutionary figure to begin let the. of the army has adopted a program that and a plan to get their. secretary gates temporary wartime supplemental and 22,000 will help. and senator lieberman adding to the right step. another is a ways to go with respect to the conference committee and probably not my place to editorialize but i wish

this committee the best on the particular provision and a conference committee with my house colleagues and this should help as well. but it is a fragile equation. in iraq for the moment is going positively and then the secretary gave in general talked about a modest acceleration of planned john alton belle and help tremendously, that extension of 12 tons to a one to two hopefully a red hammer into the 123 with the active and that ultimately went to find well for the reserve is critical to that but that's only part of the equation. we have set up in good number very robust and support programs of but the men and women in uniform. the federation of families and not overwhelm, then an sustanon and trust them and will access them.

i'm not sure that's true, and osher is true in this aside programs and usher in his tomb and the variety of other personal challenges we face. the other problem number two is of the talent of resetting the equipment, making sure as we redeploy out of iraq with john that equipment with eric gone the ride to platforms and support to our troops in afghanistan as we begin to build up their and at the same time ensuring that we are modernize and the army has always been challenged and affordable modernization program and we've had to do a better job there as well so those are probably the cream and addresses to the top but there is a whole lot of imports layers below that. this is the military in particular and norman that his challenge to many fronts kim i thank you for your leadership. dr. westphal, during your time with the administration team and

the national security working defense matters and believe in that you had a chance to setting army of closely parallel i am interested in hearing your thoughts on the things you found in the army to be doing well among these improvements can i thank you, senator. to begin with i think the army was beginning to recognize many of the issues raised by members of this committee as hearing. not only recognize them and to begin to address those issues. they're not resolved, there are complicating matters that require a fully integrated army team work -- issues entering its transition you don't have that full army team. we have people leaving and coming in in slow movements. you have essentially almost in them that kind of our position

transitioning through their. so i think, of course, the congress and this committee was working and living signals to the burning the things they did it to be corrected whether on the opposition side of the manpower side of the things that needed to be addressed and you did that in legislation soon after the president took off us so i think the army is common sense of the issues then you have raised. i think that what is needed is a consistent and covered him ever to address appearing between the secretary that a strong and enabling the above civilian workforce in the army staff i think we have an excellent army staff, it experienced army staff. i think we need to do the chains of the secretary at and bring about a team that can take this business decisions that have to remain in and to grant them to.

>> with the operational side and. the other thing that we look in the transition, of course and trying to collect the president-elect was of the path that you have a changing environment out there, that you have a very unstable political environment around the world and the department is beginning to do with the process of the timing. there are a number of other uncertainties out there and what kind of planning and fiscal constraints other going to be as you face the challenges in the future and i think we're facing them now and i think the army is moving ahead to try to address them. that are, of course, waiting now for a team to come in and help push it along further which is what many and new have insinuated in your questions is what you're looking for a pair,

so i think the army is addressing these issues and coniston but there is a lot of work to be done all these fronts can i thank you very much, mr. chairman, i know my time is expired but i have a the next question i will cement to mr. garcia and then has to the first leadership in the navy. and i will cement that as a question then and mentioned that there's a vacation because i know you in your family to spend some time in hawaii in one to hear about share feelings about that. >> and look for a to a senator. >> thank you, senator, as. >> thank you mr. chairman. john mchugh, let me say how delighted i am with your plans. we have had the opposite andy to work together along with senator hutchinson on the board of visitors for west point and then know how deeply you care of

about the well-being of our soldiers. i believe that when we were meeting yesterday you told me that that the tenth mountain division at was the most poignant and i want to assist it myself with the concerns that all of us have expressed about the stress of repeated the plants. i have not for the tragic news that senator chambliss had shared with us today, but it indicates that we have so far to go in meeting the mental health needs of our troops and other analysts were often under stress also. down and that now from our conversation that you recommended to them and i was pleased to hear you endorse an increase in the size of the army which is the ultimate answer. i am concerned about press reports that indicated that the

pentagon has been given an assumption of a zero real growth in the budget for next fiscal year. in addition i am told the secretary gates has tasked the services with coming up with this is a billion dollars worth of cats pick up its seems to me that the defense budget should reflect our military needs and requirements and be in front by the blood trail of defense review which is under way now. what are your views on how the budget should be put together and what should drive the levels? >> senator, and began speaking as a member of the armed services committee and i agree with. one of the interesting aspects of being nominated is that once

a the president in the case his intention to nominate to i resigned from the armed services committee so i do less. there is very important dictate of not an assumption of confirmations of people talk to us so i am not as smart as a city and thus probably not reassuring two too many people including myself so i don't have a lot of information. my initial reaction to and reading the press reports about the assumptions and the programming budget instruction was that that is probably not an unwise thing to do. complicit and other rubric and this is the hope not based on knowledge and placed under the rubric of hope for the bus and plan for the worst and i suspect without having any conversation with the secretary of defense

that he felt it was important to try to test, the services to find as much waste, as much implication that as many savings as is possible so whatever the eventual budget line may take the have an arsenal of possible savings they can revert to. the mail are may not be accurate and that was my hope for reading of it to. i think it is fair to say that any secretary wants more money rather than less, but at the end of the day having read title 10 the president of the secretary of defense in concert with the congressional budget -- excuse me, the budget office cbo are going to tell you what your budget targets are then you have to fit within their. so i think it's probably a factor of wise planning, but i may well if i'm confirmed to be instructed to rally when i get

there. >> well, i do hope that you will share with this committee assuming your confirmation would you believe the true names are for our army. i don't think any of us wants to see the army for any errors services short change in order to meet budget goals that you too may have an obligation and to tell us what you need and led to the military requirements are and that is our job to try to find the money. it is certainly appropriate for there to be in review of all programs to determine the necessity to eliminate wasteful are nonperforming programs, but that should be an ongoing process that is different from having to me to an unofficial

budget number. >> senator, i agree and as i know you are aware the law does not of just allow, and requires that the military officials and others to come and give their on his personal opinion. and i were to be confirmed alan absolutely insist upon that is in the military and army officer corps. we all have to have it within the office of management and budget's directives, but that does not in any way of being the prerogatives of this congress, this committee and their role in the have sat in front to many committee hearings and hurricanes that were perhaps not as accurate as i would have liked to have been, that will not be a policy would endorse him and thank you, i want to talk to you about the national guard. , as you know the national guard has also suffering from repeated deployments really put a lot of

strain on our guard and reserve, there have families and their employers an issue that the guard members have brought to me in addition to the repeated deployments is the state of their readiness and make, home of. monday it earned two-point that are provided with all the equipment that they needed, but frequently that equipment is left in iraq for afghanistan and and i can understand the rationale for that, but what happens then is the paris members come back home and they no longer have the equipment that they need. this is a problem that i'm hearing increasingly about from the maine national burn. are you aware of this problem with the decrease readiness america are units?

>> i am and it's not just the verne frankly, it is a service line on the wind and the reserve components units individually are facing the same problem. the army is attempting to try to raise orris as best they can be as i'm certain you agree the primary objective is to make sure that once troops arrive in a combat theater be in iraq or. >> that there are provided with everything they need it in five in most instances they have the equipment choices and manion that is more than the winning in any particular mission with but they can shape and taylor. of the problem is upon redeployment that the reserve and much to the active components do not have those at home base units particularly pertaining that they would like.

the army is working hard to try to balance that. baggara news for the reserve is it is bad news. when all of these hostilities started prior 22001 the average unit and the reserve components have about 3235% of their deemed to require equipment other has been a substantial investment in the ensuing years that is no system to 65%. that is a doubling in as good progress, but it also mathematically shows do you have a ways to go so it is hard to began to resources in challenge and has been an insistence since post-world war two when you are an active combat during the fourth generation model, the reset model called our with appliances and in the abdomen and intended to provide this sometime to do retrofitting our

resending of equipment in a more reasonable calendar remark and also, of course, give those troops little bit more time to help the that is a work in progress and simply something we have to take a close look at. >> thank you. i realize my time has expired. let me just mention to you as i did yesterday with the main military authority been in northern maine does cost-effective work and refurbishing from these and other vehicles. id consistently performance this work and a lower-cost and the army's own depots and i hope to a look of that as an area where you can achieve savings where there during a having more were directed to the unit which provides high quality low-cost work with the army of.

>> i appreciated our conversation, and another member of, represents a largely urban areas and i promise i'll take a look at. >> at thank you mr. chairman command senator ben nelson. >> thank you gentleman for your service and your families we appreciate the psychic eye is involved in public service both past and present as well as future. mr. mchugh, we've had quite a bit of discussion this morning about the importance of mental health care for our troops, the rising rate of suicides, this challenge of the middle stress with the deployment, redeployments and in the case of non the plants as well. are some committee has had a number of hearings and the tragic loss of lieutenant-colonel reavis is just one of the continuing

challenges we have an saddens us all that we are experiencing a loss we are experiencing is so many cases to our military and to those who have to burn and as well as to their families. they have any thoughts about what he might do, you mentioned about looking to 20 programs that are in place. is there something in particular that would rise in your former position as chairman of the subcommittee and serving on that is there any one thing in particular that would stick out to that we might consider doing? >> with a really don't have an answer that and it is to live into is something we have been looking at. i wish this were an overnight phenomenon but as you recognize

it's something we have been dealing with a precise time and i think that it were an obvious answer we would have struck upon a. one of the more important aspects of this and it is true whether trenton, sexual-harassment were other problems and that is two have it will show change. i allow my impression is there is a two-pronged problem. the problem of the soldier, and the rain to believes if he or she sees out help it is there a feeling depressed and had thought so harman themselves the somehow that makes them way, somehow that makes them unfit for duty and on the other sign and just not sure that those men and women in uniform who serve those people have the knowledge or they awareness to recognize a problem and to help. i think the army started off

well and this is something that senator akaka and i had a chance to talk about with a program here and in this call and ask, karen s. goren and every soldier is given a wallace has limited car in to talk about this and two recognize the signs of a new body may be having bad thoughts the challenge is not just to recognize to care enough to ask about that. perhaps in extreme circumstances to take a when i am and they may be threatening to hurt themselves with and then to ask for nontank family to some care provider. now we have to mention this isn't just something on a piece of paper, is this something we hand out on my card and i praise the current. and is a good thing but it has to be instilled in the culture want to assess the unacceptability of sexual harassment and assault. the best answer is the five-year

longitudinal study but was frustrating is right now in 89 suicides this year in the u.s. climate we really don't have five years, we have to mention that the things we are doing our as attentive as possible and people feel comfortable that one of their troubled it is okay to say i need help. >> increase in the number of potential mental health providers within the military is going to help as well, the challenge is to create that contrail of mental health providers and another military the staff report on that and i hope that you proceed further with those efforts. if i may come as center come opie geren who is frankly a hero of mine sat before this committee to years ago and made a pledge to hire 200 new mental health counselors underwriters with in it and work like the dickens to try to make that. is not unlike the challenge

bringing in medical specialists in the military. you have to rely not on the money aspect and in the other reason but to need to identify the people who want to make a difference and volunteer work of that as a work in progress, a lot of progress being made but we have to continue absolutely, true. >> i appreciate your pledge to continue that the pri because it's so critical. the troop increase in afghanistan has obviously no. and the direct result of our commitment to making sherrif that we improve the military presence but get the results emissions we are after in afghanistan for a long time with respect. >> i push for some measurements and metrics are event marks to establish personal but the

missions are in a way of measuring progress the words of those and afghanistan it we have on the authorization legislation we have put in place of the request for establishment of measures of progress which would help us as objectively as we possibly can measure how we are doing the work of those projects. i have written letters to secretary clinton ingates maintain them to develop a series of those progress measures. i've been improved form of their moving toward that and i hope you find that to be something that could be helpful to you in your position as well. i think the american people want to know as much as i can about what our overall mission is and the missions maybe we and instead of doing what we were doing we are going sideways.

marion a better position to say we're 70 percent plunge that call. aref represent here is one else need to do to achieve it. you have any thoughts about that? >> my thought isn't about to get myself in trouble. >> i don't want to get to in trouble. >> as a member of congress and a member of the house of representatives i wrote the first bill and the house to read a series of measures benchmarks for iraq. with we should have a seven this is by which you can judge what has happened. i happen to believe as well as the other side of that going is it is pretty important to let those in this case the afghans previously the iraqis know we expect. what challenges me about the

process is not in becomes a means by which we utilize the measurements to do the wrong thing and to make bad decisions, but certainly if i were to be confirmed and confronted with a set of benchmarks of italian and a history of understanding those and working with them and it is the victim of the president and signed into law that kind of measurement indices o do everything i can to provide the most accurate information possible. >> i appreciate that in none of lighting on i was relieved that she didn't get asked are trying to repeat the names of the water plants of problems down in the southeastern part of our country. >> hoochy some thinking of something like that. thank you mr. chairman. >> an amazing statement, wasn't it? anyway, thank you senator

nelson. senator www. >> thank you mr. chairman, first alan offer a comment about the preparation that the dr. westphal has made it for this position. he went to college in new york, oklahoma which meant senator inhofe kerry have become missouri which is going to be buried in is two senator mccaskill. and he spent a career in may in which thomas the place senator collins. before the beginning he came up and told me he had gone to high school and virginia but not only had he gone to high school in virginia but went with senator udall's cousin senator tom udall which just took out three states. [laughter] if you can come up with having spent a summer in nebraska his pretty well on the table island say can and don't forget the

redwings. >> cuban much ran the table this morning. mr. garcia, outlined his i went to paris by saying how much i appreciated the navidad to mention growing up in the military. i did as well as a know, there was one time in my life where the father was deployed in a station in places where the family could not join him for three and a half years here not have often remarked to someone who grew up in that in bremen and also had to watch his son and a seven want to point is probably harder being a town member either with a father or spouse deploy in or having an sean deployed in there till it is harder in doing that than is being deployed in terms of a lot of emotions that brings to people so it is a great interest and intent to bring to your

position. i was like to ask you in about this recent debate over the status of the naval academy as a result of diversity goals. now we all feel very strongly that as much as possible and military should represent america but all of us i think phil strongly that should occur with demonstrable standards of fairness and this is been quite a debate over the last month or so. will are you familiar with us? >> not familiar with the ps. >> hy-vee seen any of the actual data floating around? >> i can say i can speak definitively on the data, i'm familiar the debate ends of a regional peace and i will send this senator, that like yourself

my brother-in-law behind me is an academy granted in that institution as of the past century provided in the late in issuing unit education month and an inflow into our officer ranks and everything that would diminish the status we have to guard against. i also concur that we are at our best and strongest women drawn from all over the country. >> i think in general particularly in places like the service academies but every slot that is given to one person in design to be taken away from someone else. there are only so many people looking go to the naval academy and given to different schools so i would just ask that you help us sort out this debate.

we want to be able to stand in front of the american people and say we have been fair on these issues. >> i will respond, and a timon when having met those recruiting goals downsized and navy at and now being able to be more selective i commit to you that i'll do everything i can to solve the puzzle of. >> i appreciate that segment. >> regret that cumin thank you for that common. congressman mchugh, when you were in the chair of the house personnel subcommittee you introduce an amendment that within the language that we have been given in my office a ban on women from supporting companies and a time in nearly 20 them as an eye of the more angelina employ and in those that got

strong push back from the military men dod non concurred at the time. you offered a substitute amendment similarly. until want to go back in rehash that bass had 211 mentioned there were some questions on this. i appreciate your commitments with with respect to wanting to take a look at where it works and doesn't work. we have a lot of confusion out in the military today here and there was an 07 ramstad a juan taking a look to this issue that found at mad to their risk situations where people would believe that they were complying with dod policy but it could be a contradiction with on a policy and some of these standards and i would like to offer urban if i

may is suggested a formula that i used and the secretary of the navy because i have raised similar issues. my strongest objections early on of an interference of the political process with into the day-to-day decisions that should have been left to the military on issues like this and i have questions raised about my views on women in combat gear, when i became secretary of the navy i decided that the best way to do this list to go to the active duty military and have them report to the political process by the than the political process, military what to do. i convened a panel of of 28 senior officers and nancy of, were to remain out of 14 rich female. i sent them to installations around the world and instead of having the report by timmy and have them report to the chiefs

and in this case the chief of naval operations and then i have it essentially you for military report to the plan process about how they thought this should look and we open up more billets with two women than any previous secretary of the navy had opened the we did it with the military speaking to the political process and i'll inventor who was that now after these many years of the plans that it could be the time and the army to do something similar. >> i appreciate that, that is an interesting take. as you alluded, i tried to explain to sun as 11 that eminent i had to offer because i was the subcommittee chairman but it was not my amendment, it

was the full committee chairman. the walk back eminence or mine. i really don't have information before me now that would suggest the current policy in place should be changed with but clearly this should be in a bottom-up exercise to succumb to that. i am not aware of the secretary of defense case is encased in a reevaluation of there, understanding and it is not based on the direct hours a share with them is that he feels and for the moment i would concur the current policy is working, but clearly that would be a very effective way because my interest would be in making sure the most men and annalisa are open to women. and that is based as i mentioned to the chairman that are doing an irreplaceable john so it is

to come to that i appreciate the suggestion keyman to have that jurisdiction without having made a directive and which is essentially what the secretary announced encourage you to think about this because of the process now from all indications that we have had an hour off us there is some confusion in terms of whether the policies and to living met with the realities of where women are and this is probably best addressed systemically dissent and goalie. >> thank you senator udall. >> alan to think of a palace for taking the time to be with us today and i have some very serious questions i want to direct to congressman mchugh and

i can't help mr. garcia i have memories of my own family is time in washington, i have five brothers and sisters and my cousin had five brothers and sisters and i see your children and their presence in the and brings his mouth and my face. one of all families. congressman, you and i served in the house together in the am services committee and i learned a great deal from your leadership and your focus on the welfare of our soldiers and their cellars and we had a lot of conversation this morning about what has been happening with our soldiers and then deploy home. on and i represent the best and the nation and one of the best committees in the nation colorado springs. there has been the result of concern raised recently ninth time to a series of articles that the colorado springs gazette has written and i like

to ask if you'd care into reading the articles about our servicemen and ex they have been committing. >> i became aware of those articles last night in a promise i will review them carefully he meant they are suffering and concerning and horrifying and they point to the mission we have been discussing today which is how do we take care and other soldiers and the return from theater. and like to ask you about ways that the permit think that sent a box with in addressing this fleming said of telesis beyond mental health providers, are there other ways the army might move weren't? for example, how about a new category my positions assistance i turn to you for your thoughts.

>> generically of and have had that opportunity to be briefed on what is happening internally in the army and would not unless i were confirmed. i think have to explore all possible opportunities in all possible pass of ramadi. i do understand with respect to the situation in that she mentioned in colorado there is a pilot project that i'm pretty confident you are aware of that is being established. there right now the program and abuse program that is intended to encourage people 02 some identify receives assistance but one of the challenges about that is it does require commander notification of that self referral. the project as i understand