our congressmen, please welcome congressman tom. [applause] >> what a joy to be with you comparing it america has come to d.c.. it was about four years ago a lot of us were here and hundreds of thousands of our greatest friends joined us. i remember a was a quote from ronald reagan. he said it's more harmful than its desire to help us blindness us from all its power is harming us. the veil has been lifted, wouldn't you say it has been exposed and as we have exposed, we are declared the political

opponents. can you believe that? so as targets of the irs it's time for america to reverse it and target of the irs themselves and they are going to do it by dismantling the irs piece by piece. we are going to throw it overboard by a box of british tea. we are going to flatter the tax code for america but in power as you and not the government. god bless you and the cause we call america. [applause] our next congressman is actually a congresswoman and she has the titanium spine. please welcome congresswoman michele bachman. [applause]

>> don't you love the look of liberty. [applause] well it's been a 100 years now that we have had the current united states tax code. don't you think that a century of oppression is enough? the tea party caucus in the house of representative. [applause] and i also want you to know in my former life i actually was an insurgent. because i absolutely wanted to defeat the tax code and bring more liberty about in the united states so after i went to law school i got a post doctorate

degree in tax law and after that with the irs as a tax lawyer. that is the best way to defeat them i am so proud of all of you for being here today. you were here during the obamacare rally. did you hear from them? god bless you and thank you for coming. one thing we have heard from the politicians inside the dome is they often are probably more frightened with real people than anything else. so i think there are shivers right now going up the spines of a lot of politicians in that building.

[applause] you have seen the challenge and you have met it and now it's time for the politicians to listen to what you. you're here and your clear with your message and that it's time to abolish the irs, take up something where every single american has to pay something to support this magnificent country. [applause] and together that is exactly what we will do. god bless you and the united states of america. thank you for coming. [applause] thank you, congressman. as rick ran on the cnbc about the stimulus bill and helped launch the modern day tea party movement, our next guest was

doing more than granting. he was looking for ways, looking for solutions to make america a better place. he wrote a list of nine principals and 12 values. [applause] many people started creating 912 groups. in the last seven weeks the irs has confirmed that they were targeting groups with tea party patriots and their names and groups with 912 in their names. the first principle of the 912 project was and is america is good. the ninth principle is the government works for me.

i do not answer to them. the answer to me. [applause] the government fears us when we understand we hold the power in this country. glenn beck helped teach so many americans that we do hold the power. please join me in welcoming a man who was taught about the constitution, standing with citizens across the land showing us how we can exercise our civic authority and who's fighting for freedom standing with us today, glenn beck. [applause] [cheering]

i want to bring some people that are warriors because our tactics have got to change. if we want our country to change, we have to change fundamentally with people. today inside a dedicated a brand new statute to another american giant. this one was frederick douglass. [applause] he was a man there was born in slavery but instinctively that he was not a slave. to keep a man a slave you have to do the same as the circus masters used to do around the turn of the last century but

elephants. you planned heavy chains around their legs and then stick it to the ground. then you take the elephant and he would beat it and terrorize it and after awhile, you could unstick the chain. the elephant would just give up. he would no longer move. just the rattle of the chain was enough to scare the elephant and so they would give up and they would do what ever it was the circus master required. frederick douglass was lucky enough to grow up in the house where he was taught to read and write and he knew that god did not make the men to be masters with other men. he knew god didn't mean to impose unrighteous dominion over any man or beast and rise up

against the intimidation before the handful of peanuts from our new political circus pastors are considered a kindness instead of the symbol of evil cruelty which they are. in the building does get this behind me and in front of you they are excusing all data and phone calls and all financial transactions they are doing it in the safety while allowing anyone across the borders either on foot or in underground tunnels without any worry or consequence in the building the

haven't suspended or fired that have promoted those that the irs who rattled the chains of control to any group that disagreed with its policies and now they are pushing misery and death through the so-called arab spurring country after country and now they are applauding a new war with syria. [applause] this again will bring death and destruction the world over and the price that we will pay will be to hines hi. we are told we have to pick sides to are those that those people that we are choosing to arm or so far down on the scale of decency that even vladimir putin asked if americans knew the people we were arming were actually eating their enemies on the battlefield.

the fact they even had to ask that question and the fact that most americans didn't even know or had seen the video of that commander that we are arming now engaging in those things is an indictment, not only of our congress, our president, but our media and quite honestly ourselves. [applause] i've called some friends to stand with me today some modern-day spiritual giants. they are from different faiths and backgrounds. they have different views i'm sure. but we all have one thing in common. we don't recognize our country anymore. and because we know that god is just a week trumbull for the future of our children. but we wonder and we want to ask all americans is this country

even worth defending any more? [cheering] it's easy to shout usa. it's harder to defend the principles we don't even know. what is it we stand for, who are we and for our citizens stephen care and notice says the champ is clamped are on her leg again. what is it would be written about this generation, what is it that would be said about us? the greatest generation has almost completely passed is us that we will watch to see what

we will do. it said of us, this generation that no one called for justice no one pleaded for true but we trusted in vanity and spoken lies that we conceive mischief and brought forth in equity. what we see with our fellow citizens, our forebears came to the shores not for free stuff but for freedom. they came here because they knew that god made them a free and they were free to pursue their own happiness and take responsibility for their own lives and actions.

they come from different religions, they know they have the right to worship the god of their understanding the way that they chose to worship. [applause] there are some things better still worth believing in. but how many americans do any more. how many of us still believe the little guy can make it that every single life has value and is worth living that honor and integrity do matter and that justice will prevail? it's not in this lifetime, surely in the next. america must recognize god does access to and what each of us choose to do with every second of our day matters.

america must again recognize that it is the meek that shall inherit the earth. have we forgotten as we declare ourselves masters of the plan that air against spread our troops all over the planet, teach the world how to do banking the way that we do it in america even though we cannot master our own homes, protect our own neighborhoods or seemingly balance a simple check dhaka ourselves, how grotesque we must appear to those who are looking in. i for one still believe in the simple silly notion of truth, justice, and the american way. [applause]

>> but we have to admit to ourselves that since our very founding a good percentage of our fellow citizens closed their eyes to the civil rights violations of other americans. there was only about ten to 20% of those that fought in the american revolution only about ten or 20% of the entire population of america was involved. the rest stood out and watched to see what happened. people all in history have said things like well, i am okay. i just don't want to think about that. or i'm busy. or it doesn't personally affect me. or it can't be as bad as they say. or even if it is, i am just one person. and what difference can i make? nothing has changed except for the chairs of the table. someone is always on the losing

end of the stick of power. blacks are the most obvious. the chinese, the native american. but let's not forget the irish with the catholics or the mormons were the jews. now it seems those on the short end of the stick are those of faith that will not conform. [applause] for those that think men foolishly make progress collectively, let me warn you, history teaches that you couldn't be more wrong. we are redeemed one man at a time. there is no family ticket or path to life. it is one ticket, one ride, one person at that time. man doesn't bank which hatred or

bigotry. hatred and bigotry continues to move from the wax to the irish to the atheists to the christians. but if you recognize this, you will notice also that there are always a few leaders that stand up. ben franklin, john quincy adams, harriet beecher stowe, abraham lincoln, frederick douglass, booker t. washington, ghandi, martin luther king. they knew that the march toward freedom never ends and man must be vigilant and pray less with his lips and more with his legs. [applause] those few people inspired just handfuls of people. they never forgot the truth, justice and freedom are the

wellsprings of the water of man's civil rights and so they must be upheld for all men. for those of you that don't know, those that you don't like, most importantly those than you do know and really don't like. because if their rights are violated, all rights are violated. [applause] in the past these historic stands an america which we now call civil rights movement were all done by a small but dedicated portion of citizens which led to great and profound changes in the nation. but they always started in the same place. the church and with people of god, and usually not the popular churches and usually not the creatures that everybody loved

to hear. they were the preachers that put it all on the line. they were the preachers like these men who knew they were born free, but the freedom comes at a profound price, profound responsibility. people that stood against injustice, hatred and bigotry. our pulpits in this country have gone silent out of fear come out of arrogance or out of apathy. their faith is now found in the wisdom of man and not the power of god. for some, some preachers losing their checks or maybe it is the goal of full lacks has become more important than losing man's freedom. whatever the reason, they are no longer willing to call it by its name and there is no vision and when there is no vision, the people shall perish.

may i humbly suggest a vision. martin luther king knew the answer and he lost more of a lot more confidence on his march. students today all across the country are taught that his vision and probably came from ghandi or maybe that idea came from some progress of philosopher in the early 20th century. martin luther king's decision although we are all free men when we choose to make ourselves servant to all, we gain them more it didn't come from a progressive philosopher, believe me. when m.l. que and ghandi and lincoln, what they all did isn't progressive or new. was agent. hollywood, woodstock and the hippie culture. it wasn't the source of the

power of the 1960's civil rights movement. it was god and god alone. [applause] it was dhaka that let those men and women risking their lives over that bridge in selma alabama, not janis joplin, not university and it sure wasn't a labor union. [applause] it was and john lennon that taught people about peace and peaceful resistance. that job fell on the shoulders of a jewish carpenter a long time ago. [applause] their rights that so many americans ignorantly preach about, line about aren't even there's.

they don't belong to us. those rights belong to god. we are caretakers of those rights. they belong to him and are given to us for stewardship and they are pretty important and they are pretty obvious. in fact, they were so obvious we used to say that they were self-evident for those people that are currently under indoctrination in the universities. let me explain self-evident. [applause] that means that they are so simple humans don't even have to have them explained to them. you know. you don't need to be taught. you instinctively know that you have a right not to be executed without trial, not to be held without charge and to be searched without a warrant or spied upon without a cause. [applause] the government is no longer the protector of those rights. they are the chief flight leader of the rights.

so we must stand and protect them. when we are told that the irs, the fbi or any others, when we are told it's okay for them to hassle, threaten and intimidate others because of their skin color, the religion, their political belief, we stop being the country that all of us want to build and start being the country all of the world should fear the long train of abuses regarding these rights are exactly the right abuses that martin luther king marched against and the very same rights that the dusty founders preached against. men make progress but man never

changes. man who loves power and loves money no matter the skin color. the systems are stood up there last week. i look at how the streets point directly to the speaker of the house. it's intoxicating. the symbol of the nation make them drunk with power and then they justify their lost by claiming their public servants. i realized last night when i came and landed in the city and what i actually like vegas better than this city. i realized the only difference between las vegas and washington, d.c. is that at least last vegas has the decency to admit that it's full of crooks and hookers.

yet [applause] to many of the democrats have played us and of stolen and the getaway car is driven by the mainstream media. the media that can no longer with a straight face, the media no longer with a straight face can claim of the role of journalists. let me tell the media something. journalism and lies you print or run stories they do not like to get what you are doing is nothing more than perfect

relations -- public relations. [applause] we are not violent, we are not racist, we are not anti-immigrant, we are not anti-government we will not be silent another day more. [applause] they wish to use unrighteous dominion over mankind are not enemies of hours, the enemies of his and i have a sneaking suspicion he isn't going to be much silent much longer either. we can see people no longer accept the line is, the corruption, the information and

data gathering. it is evil, it is an american, it is wrong. we come here today to send a very clear message to surround all of those who wish to stand and break that cycle of corruption. we will use ourselves as shields if need be to protect those who are in the system, the elected officials or the whistle-blowers with the courage to stand and tell the truth. [applause] i come here today as the father and as a citizen to respectfully but with the power of the spirit demand to be treated as an equal member of society.

i am a man and i will be treated as a man. [applause] i answer only to one king and his kingdom will come. his will be done. we have chosen sides. we choose god, and america as a nation must do so as well. we come here again to declare our independence to reaffirm our founding principles. we as a nation in our documents and again today acknowledge there is a creator. we acknowledge that he gives us a certain inalienable rights and we declare the government exists primarily to protect those natural god-given rights. we declare that god has published right and wrong.

we declare that he is just and therefore a man must pay for his mistakes here on earth or through his justice later. only god can balance things out. we are not god, we are decent men and we will fight for and do our very best to establish equal justice for all mankind. there is no such thing as a collective salvation however we are going to be judged on how we treat each other and how we live our lives, how we treat our fellow brothers and sisters, especially those that mistreat us. thus we must serve them and help

them with charity towards all. malice toward none is what lincoln said, but dodd said is slightly different, vengeance is mine. anyone who speaks of punishing political enemies, anyone who tells you about vengeance is not only on the wrong side it is evil, evil and we have the responsibility to declare it as such. [applause] america, your job has just begun. it's time to rise up and declare those same self-evident truths that change the world so many years ago and demand that those truths remain the basis of our law. my civil rights will not be trampled and i say this not for me, not for my children, but all

men that year and to be free, those that make our apple products at a place called fox where they are so enslaved they threw themselves off the top of the building. i say this for those that languish in prisons in cuba and north korea and venezuela. i say it for those homosexuals who are currently being stoned to death in the streets of egypt and iran while our so-called civil rights leaders world coffee with feared graders at the white house. [applause] i will not stand for my job, for my house, or from my income. but i will stand for those immigrants who came here the right way to not have their dreams destroyed by a group of eletes in this town, increasing

the competition at the lowest rung of the latter while keeping the best and brightest minds out of the visa pool allowing for a little competition of the very top. it's wrong. [applause] we will not pervert a woman's right and twist it into a gross silent defense of abortion doctors and filthy and houston while turning our eyes from the forgotten women who have never had a right to walk alone on the street without a man or drive a car in pakistan or saudi arabia, or even those that currently cover in fewer with their faces covered in our own country to get in florida, virginia, new york and minnesota. we will not waste another second of our precious life

shadowboxing the demons of the past when the fight to and actual slavery is still happening today. [applause] call licht when you want but those that meet your ipad in china and your cute little purses, the are the people that you claim to care so much about and they are the ones that were yearning to breathe free. and even worse yet, the oldest form of human degradation that has been seen, the sex slave trade. it currently holds in its coils over 2 million children to get the biggest source of this evil is on our border in arizona. i've spoken to lawmakers and mexico and they have begged america to please sealed the border so that we do not sell

more children into a sex slave industry. [applause] the press will lock and say that they will and they will also say how dare men claim themselves to be the next martin luther king were civil rights leader? how blind people are to believe that the civil rights movement ever ended. the civil rights movement never ends and it never will. it has been marching on since the beginning of time where martin luther king started this fire ghandi left off, and where he picked up abraham lincoln left off and before that was what field all the way back to moses. it is never too late. [applause] we are not at the mercy of these

events. we can change the course of history and we must be we can stand against the dangerous arc of the country's slowly today. but we need more people like you willing to sacrifice their lives, their fortunes and their honor. people that are willing to stand up and tell the truth. the last century was a century of genocide where collectivist, national socialists, communists evil rose at a time and time again and swallowed up the lives of millions. it happens every time a man says the collective is more important than the individual. that one phrase the collective is more important than the individual, that one phrase every time is a license to kill anyone that is deemed standing in a way of progress. but last century evil met its

match and goodness eventually prevailed. martin luther king -- they gave their lives or much of their lives in the pursuit of human rights. they took the side of justice over injustice. they held the torch of freedom to push out the darkness of heat. these men and women lived difficult lives and they often lived short lives. they were born to relative privilege. they chose to take on suffering. they didn't want to murder themselves. they would have been happy to live the rest of their alliance. but to the righteous there is no comfort when evil has taken root the cause of human rights has been taken over in this country by a group of clownish organizations that share very little with the individuals that

led the movement in the 60's. human rights was once a cry for justice and now it is used as a threat. these organizations have become belize of the principles that they pretend to represent. they criticize free nations and scared the on the street. they are, call in blue double standards. they are no more the enforcers of civil rights. they are the attack dogs that wish to keep men confined spaces that the design. whatever moral authority they once had it is spent. their time is up and week dismissed them. [applause] i beg of those with the rise and years to heed the call and began to train yourself now under the exact same system used by martin luther king.

search his words and you will find if you are young your that your history professors and civil rights activists have lied to you. they have left out the real author of those words. read them, ponder them. i dare you to risk to live them. even though if you do it will make you a target of the nsa. but having your name as a list of theirs may be the safest thing you ever do. [applause] pastors, priests, rabbis, i challenge you what have you done with your knowledge and priesthood how about those without the privilege have not done? if you cannot answer that with power every single day, what good are you? average citizens and students i challenge you martin luther king didn't get a class and take a certificate and get permits, he

saw injustice and he studied the eternal truth and exercised discipline and love and he got off his butt and marched. if you do not find a leader it is perhaps you were destined to be the leader. christians i believe in the free market system if you're preacher is too afraid to preach it from the pulpit then maybe you said start preaching from the street corner. many are called. will you answer? our spiritual body is out of shape and we need intensive training right now. turn back to god. some things are worth believing in. they do win in the end. evil doesn't stand unless a good man do not stand up. the time is now and we are the people. we must never stop being the shore that others can come to for shelter and hope. but we must realize ourselves

what truth. this is the vision we must preach good tidings, that the brokenhearted and proclaim liberty for those that are held captive. declare that vengeance begins to god alone. give comfort to those that more and and water the trees of righteousness we shall not perish, we shall not perish kid i know a lot of us do not like to hear the truth. let is too late for that. george washington told us religion and morality are the only stable and lasting basis of individual life and public policy. if we are to survive they must be a part of the policy rather than to be driven from it. it's no longer good enough to be a good person. we must strive to be the next abraham lincoln and martin luther king.

it is noble to striate to be that giant they unveil today. frederick douglass time was in the 1800's. martin luther king's time is past. this is our time and the long march towards civil rights is here. stand without fear. lock arms and stare-down the bullies with a full armor of god. [applause] honor, courage and love is what is required. they are contagious. spread the word, proclaim liberty throughout the land. let us today as george washington said raise the standard that the allies and the honest can repair. the rest of it is in the hands of god. god bless. thank you. [applause]

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen just so you know, we are joined today by some friends of mine whose son ann was killed in a single team six and i just want to thank you for being here today. [applause] and i met another parent whose son was also killed on that mission. you should have received a text message. if you have been to our web site, which is audittheirs.net

and asks you to call and let your congressmen know that this scandal was not resolved and we want some accountability and there is a link so if you didn't go to the site, go to it at audittheirs.net and you may have gotten a text message from it. our next speaker has a new book that came out this week called "y john roberts was wrong about health care." please join me in welcoming senator mike lee from utah. [applause] >> fellow patriots, all i hear you today and i like what i hear, because what i hear is the unmistakable sound of freedom. [applause]

how about the glenn beck? i love that man. [applause] one of the things i love is that he reminds us of something we need to be talking about which is that governments, especially big government inevitably go bad. they become tyrants. when they get too big and when they get too powerful. now, this is important to remember it remains true whether the government in question is headed by a republican or democrat and remains true whether the government in question is headed by a king, elected president on as it turns out a president who thinks that he is a king? [applause] yet shockingly the headquartered just behind us decided three years ago that was a good idea to take charge of the most personal decisions in your life regarding where to go to the doctor and how to pay for it and what kind of insurance you have. and get this the decided to give

the power to enforce that to the irs. >> i know, creepy isn't it? the were a lot of problems, first of all no one had read it and it was most of the power to actually govern you to other people in other parts of the government. there even after they wrote in a way that was unconstitutional and five lawyers were in black robes across the street we wrote about not just once but twice to save it and that is a problem. so we are now stuck with a health care law that the congress didn't read. the congress didn't write and the american people are not going to tolerate. [applause] it's with this understanding in mind the founding fathers gave us a great gift that said we

know the governments are like this and this is what governments do. they become this big animal that tramples on your rights and property so we will limit the national government a few areas. we've gotten away from them and as patriots and americans who love this country and love this government would want to no longer fear it, we are going to unite together to restore the constitutionally limited government. [applause] i invite everyone in the sound of my voice to join me in this cause to talk to your friends and neighbors and co-workers tell them what is at stake and when we work together we can form a movement that in 2014 will make 2010 look like a sunday picnic for the democrats. [applause]

this in short is no ordinary nation. this is a land by the almighty god to be inhabited. by the sons and daughters who would live free. together let us restore the constitutional the limited government. we can and must and together, we will. [applause] for next congressman someone you will learn about leader who is referred to as question 26. but right now let's welcome from ohio, congressman brad. [applause] thank you. you look fantastic. thank you for coming up here today. so proud of you. it is your house. it is your house.

i do want to remind you that this trip is not a tax deductible expense. [laughter] be sure that you remember that. also, my office is an longworth and when i walk in the entrance to the left in all it says in god we trust as i look at this 5-dollar bill it says in god we trust. it shouldn't have to in the there. it should continue with those that continue to serve you and has not done that. it has let us down tremendously. being from cincinnati i would rather be bragging about the cincinnati reds and talking about the onerous agency. someone asked me recently what does it mean and i said it's sickening that is what it means to me. [applause] it's really sickening. you know, i grew up in a different time. i watched superman and i believe in truth, justice and the

american way and that is how i was brought up. that's how i was brought up and i grew up with a belief that we the people come to this government. as ronald reagan pointed out, other governments, their constitution says of the government gives the right to do and we grant certain rights and that has slipped away from us my friends. [applause] we are going to get it back and we are going to fight on all fronts. you know, i think that the end of saving private ryan when congress miller dies he says earned this and the elderly private ryan returns to his wife years later and says tell me i have been a good man and i have led a good life. i wonder how many people that play political games with the american people and their job as professional as the federal government can look at their family and say that they have led a good life. they've got to think about that. and we are not going to stand

for it. the irs is not there to pick on us. they are there to serve us and they better know that and we need to get rid of those that do not understand at. >> abolish it. [applause] >> this is the challenge of our generation. when i was first sworn in, i went to the library of congress and i saw the things that america has done throughout its history that have been great things that have been an influence and an example for the world and i turned to my wife and i said what are we leading? well what is going to leave the actions and the results of you being here today and what comes out of our fight to make sure that we are a government of the people and not the other way around. [applause]

i am first and american. i am a veteran and a physician. thank you. i'm a husband and the father of a child that will be born in november. [applause] i am determined as you are especially those of world war ii their efforts will not be in vain. we will leave this country better than we founded. god bless you. appreciate you being here today. [applause] in march the next speaker of the ninth longest filibuster in the united states history. [cheering]

in march across this country we stood with rand paul as he stood on the floor of the united states senate. today rand paul stands with us. please welcome senator rand paul. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. >> so, she says what a great thing, 13 hours. then she gives me two minutes. [laughter] anybody want to fire some of irs agents? [cheering] why don't we start with the 16,000 agents were going to implement obamacare? [applause] i woke up this morning and i couldn't find my cell phone so i asked kerry reid if i could borrow his. you think the nsa is going to be

surprised when they see harry reid f-18 party? [applause] i think we can have freedom and security in the bill of rights and the constitution all at the same time. [applause] most americans are horrified that my government has gotten out of control and is prosecuting people for their religious and their political beliefs, and it needs to end, and it needs to end now. [applause] it turns out that the government employee at the irs who will not testify and will not help with the hearings it turns out she has been doing this for decades. she was at the sec telling republican candidates that you need to quit and we will leave you alone that you need to never

run for office again. she has been using this nature of government and we are sick and tired of government bullies and we need to send them home. [applause] we have been fighting for a decade against people who attacked us. we didn't attack them, they attacked us. we've been fighting for a decade to protect our country and we have been fighting for freedom. the freedom that we are fighting for coming and i hear it every day from the soldiers, it is encoded in the bill of rights to the did is the constitution. i will continue to defend it and i appreciate your support. thank you. [applause] >> our next speaker delivered to million petitions to repeal

obamacare. please welcome restore america's ken hoglan. [applause] >> thank you. in case you missed it on the other side of the capitol, we delivered to million petitions from citizens across the country to repeal obamacare. [applause] with a little help from mike huckabee. can we have a round of applause for jeneane beck martin for the hard work of the tea party patriots. [applause] now i want you to remember the name bob bowler to be the last time they said it was a rogue agents, remember that name come bob bowler. members of the media, please remember that name, bauer.

he was a top lawyer for the democratic national committee. he was senator barack obama's mentor and the white house counsel, and then the general counsel for the obama biden campaign and he sent memo after memo to the justice department, the iran mess, and all interested parties urging them to go after law-abiding citizens that wanted to end of voter fraud, exercise their rights to stop an out-of-control government. this abuse of americans was directed by washington at the very highest levels of the obama administration and campaign. bob bauer. [applause] no natural disaster or for an enemy has hurt us as much as our own government. the economic collapse that still has 12 million americans

unemployed was caused by our government in assisting first of that every american must have a home, and then disastrously that no one should restrain the new marketplace of the toxic mortgages. we didn't do that, our government did in sold on top of injuries then forced the taxpayers to bail out the guilty parties. did this decision have the most important element of our experiment in liberty? the thing that made us different from any other nation in the world or the history of the world? it's called consent of the government. no, it did not. we did not consent to be spied on and it's our own of leaders that are destroying the amendment, the founding fathers wrote remembering a king that swept up citizens and held a secret hearings to condemn them.

the true traders are those cells important to brutes in this building who dismantled that fourth amendment in secret without consent of the government. nor did the entitlement program called obamacare have our approval. they did it any way without consent of the government and the ram it down our throats. that force feeding is just beginning. with the same woman who oversaw the tea party of u.s. now in charge of obamacare at the irs. it will get worse unless we rise up and do it again what we did in the 2010 elections. be the wild card that froze politics on its head and holds politicians on the left and on the right accountable.

[applause] we must repeal obamacare but that will not be enough. we will never stop the abuse of our citizens and our constitution until we repeal the income tax and close the doors of the irs forever. [applause] never. here today are people who are trying to tell you it can be done. a true grassroots patriots who've labored in the shadows to try to get the country to listen to them about the fair tax. ..

[cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> our next speaker is mayor steve lonergan. [cheers] [applause] >> my fellow americans, i am honored and humbled to be in front of so many great patriots who have come from all across this country from such great places as maryland and virginia and ohio and my home state of new jersey. americans who share in the belief that we come here today to protest the over abuse of power of the internal revenue service. and abuse that some will tell you are a mere hiccup in the administration. we know that it is far more than that. we know that this is emblematic of the administration us as overreached its power and undermine our individual liberties everyday.

an administration that reaches in to our health care about our children and their parents and ourselves. an administration that wants to take control of the education of our children through their ridiculous core curriculum standards. [cheers] [applause] an administration that would sacrifice america's sovereignty to u.n. initiatives and one that threatens our second amendment rights. our very constitution. what happens to the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, that serve the people. when we replaced by a government that watches the people and controls the people. ladies and gentlemen, this is a time to send a loud and powerful message to president barack obama that he can hear all the

way to the east side of the brandenburg gate today. the four words that most embody our commitment to liberty and our desire to fight those that have left the movement. president obama, and do not tread on my freedom. president obama, do not try to my liberty. president obama, do not tread on me. do not tread on me. [cheers] [applause] >> do not tread on me. do not tread on me. don't tread on me. president obama, don't tread on me. god bless you. god bless america. thank you. [applause] >> our next speaker has stood with us and defended us to the establishment. i have seen it personally.

please welcome brent bozell. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen. a big round of applause for the tea party patriots. [cheers] [applause] let me ask you a simple question. do you believe what is going on with the irs is wrong? do you believe it is an abuse of your personal freedom do you want a federal investigation? tell the men in charge here to investigate the men over there. [cheers] [applause] i am sick and tired of not getting answers from my government when my government is abusing my freedoms. it is time to tell attorney

general eric holder that it is time to go. fire older. fire older. [cheers] [cheers] >> i have one more message about the national news media that has been aiding and abetting this by not reporting to the american people. they are here, they are all around you. i want you to give them all a big hug. give them all a big kiss. and then say do your jobs. report the story. thank you. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> do your job. do your job.

[cheers] [cheers] >> the group our next speaker founded was targeted by the irs. this man service so our country did not alleviate him from the targeting and discrimination and abuse of power and authority. he graduated from west point. he was a pilot in the army calvary. he is a surgeon in the va. the service was not good enough. still, the irs was willing to target him and his group. please welcome the albuquerque

tea party founder and a true patriot and my friend, rick morlan. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> thank you. i am doing a little bit of double duty. i want to speak to you. and i want to speak beyond you. i want to appeal to all americans from all corners of the country and all backgrounds and upbringings. to throw off their political party loyalties and just deal with the principles that our founders have held. [cheers] [applause] >> their representatives were not in our political parties. 200 and 10200 set at 1037 years ago and they wrote the declaration of independence that we will celebrate here on the fourth of july. after they expressed that all men are created equal. that they are endowed by the

creator of inalienable rights and they have declared the government should exist, limited by the people to protect those rights. and that infrequently, people must alter that form of government one becomes destructive to those rights. [cheers] [applause] they listed them for the world grievances that have propelled them to make such a dangerous and momentous decision. i will read a few of those grievances. listen to them in today's light. for erecting a multitude of new offices and sending forms of offices to harass our people and eat out or substance. for imposing taxes on us without our consent. for combining with others to

subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws. given his assent to their acts of pretended legislation. folks, we are not here to set up a new government. we are here to show people that we need to alter the government of this great nation to bring it back under the control of the people. [cheers] [applause] are call to alter the irs is to show folks that we believe that there are taxes necessary to support a constitution and the government. but those taxes should be paid by all citizens and residents of the nation. we are here to say that the government institutions cannot be allowed to choose groups of citizens to harass in order to suppress those groups and keep them busy answering unnecessary and improper questions. to suppress their proven ability

to organize the voters. who could be next? not less. who else could it be that the government can turn their power against. my fellow americans, this is voter suppression. this is a civil rights issue for all americans. we need to gather all americans to stand up against it. god bless america. god bless you all. [cheers] [applause] >> how many are here for the march on washington dc? [cheers] [applause] bryan who was with freedom works is our next guest and one of the national coordinators and we organized the march together. please join me in welcoming

darla dewald. >> hello, patriot's. [cheers] [applause] it is so good to see you here again. we have a lot of work to do. how many of you are here are big fans of the irs? raise your hand. okay, you know, the irs goes to amazing lengths to ensure that you comply with your taxes. did you ever notice that? if you can just believe what they do when they want you to comply with their political agenda. in the midst of economic hardship that we have, they are out lavishly spending lots of money on their meetings. on their videos for training. on top of that, they are scrutinizing tea party patriots,

pro-israel groups. even asking for the content of their careers. really? really? is anyone entitled to know the content of our prayers? only god. it is time that we do more than talk and groan and complain. i know a lot of you have been working to take back this country. we work every day to try to give you a platform to be heard, even when you can't show up here. these petitions right here represent petitions, about 140,000 that we have collected recently on this stack of 73,000 pages of tax codes. we have said that we need to investigate the irs. but we also need to abolish the irs. [cheers] [applause] we need to abolish the irs.

it is time for them to go. we cannot trust them with obamacare. we cannot trust them to tax properly. my goodness, if i needed surgery? what is going to happen? oh, you're with the patriot group. sorry. this is what we are looking at. lots of people have given you basically the same story and we are very upset with what is happening with our country. i wanted to give you one bigger tidbit to take home with you. get out and take back the country using the precinct by piecing that you can take back. the precinct chairman, the precinct delegates, whatever it takes. that is where the power is. if you want to vote these yahoos out, you want to put the right people on the ballot. precinct is a way to do it.

all politics are local. we are glad you are here. keep fighting. do not give up. we are going to keep fighting with you. we are going to get this country out of control again. [cheers] [applause] >> god bless you. god bless america. god bless all of you patriots are working everyday. [cheers] [applause] >> our next speaker has a solution to some of these mounds of paper that are on the stage to today. he's introduced a bill called keep the irs off your health care. [cheers] [applause] >> thank you.

good afternoon, fellow patriots. welcome back to your capital right here. i want to thank you for your patriotism and your incredible work. i believe in american exceptionalism. don't you? i believe that our liberty comes from god almighty. don't you? i believe that trust is vital in our society. and i believe that that trust has been violated. nowhere is that trust more important and more violated and within the irs. we have learned outrageous things about the irs. they have targeted your groups. they have leaked information about your donors and targeted those donors. this is different than anything else. the government is going after plain folks and that is just

wrong. we all remember that the irs is the enforcement arm for obamacare. do you trust the irs with your health care? do you want the irs to know about your health care? needed to lie. that why we have introduced the bill as jenny said, hr 2009. it is only two pages. that is all it takes. it says that the irs may not enforce or implement any portion of obamacare. of all of these pages up here right now, we can take about 9000 of them and shut them away with those two pages. so the irs needs to stay out of our health care. i can't thank you enough for coming back to washington. constant vigilance is never more

important right now. the most important message that i want to leave you with is never give up. never give up. never give up. [cheers] [applause] >> make you, congressman. i have an announcement to make. one of my support team individuals says that someone is collecting donations in the audience. that is not us. if someone is doing that, though that we are not collecting donations here today. [cheers] [applause] all right. we just want you to be aware. earlier, many of you on the other side of the capitol. the capitol police were upset because you were here and you have the audacity to go to the other side of the capitol.

be sure to check that out when you get home. [laughter] >> our next speaker is the congressman from pennsylvania, mike kelly. >> thank you. thank you. i would like to shout out that i have some friends from western pennsylvania. thank you for being here. you got up in the middle of the night to come here because you have the right to be here. more importantly than that, you have the obligation to be here. [cheers] [applause] we have heard far too long from far too many who have so little regard for the constitution that you are not the right people to be defending it. are you kidding me? the only thing that i want you to remember when you leave here today is that this is just the beginning. and as you go home, it is so important for you to carry the

message not just to your family but your friends and communities. we have to unite, we have to join hands. we have to fight this to the end. this is not an option but an obligation for this generation. [cheers] [applause] my father came from the greatest generation. he was one of nine kids, fought his way through a depression and a world war. when i was traveling with him when he was 89 years old, i said that, it was so hard, how did you get to through it. he looked at me and said, what did you just asked me? and i said, how did you get through it. his answer was that it was not optional. [cheers] [applause] the fight that we wage today continues. it continues and continues.

because we are unique. we are americans. do not ever forget that we are the usa and we work for you. we need to reform this for you right now and get rid of an onerous overburdened some arrogant group of people who continue to meddle in their lives. thank you so much, god bless you. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> the next speaker is a congressman from louisiana who has been very patient with me today. congressman john fleming. [cheers] [applause] >> hello, citizens. what part of government do you fear the most? the irs. what part of government can destroy your life and take away your business? well, i have a bill before congress today. the name of it is stop the irs.

halt the irs. let me hear from you. halt the irs. it does something very simple. it says that the irs can do no further investigations or audits of taxpayers until all of this mess has come out and we know every single detail that is going on here. [cheers] [applause] now, we have a problem here, folks. the problem is why is it that we don't get this information? come to the flaming house.gov. [cheers] [cheers]

>> do your job. do your job. [cheers] [applause] >> thank you very much. god bless you. >> thank you, congressman fleming. the next congressman is from ohio. please welcome congressman bill johnson. [cheers] [applause] >> hello, my fellow patriots. i am glad you are here. welcome to your capital. that building belongs to you. look at all of the buildings. they belong to you. after all, this is your government. the government of the people. isn't that what the constitution says? you see, we in congress, we work

for you and not the other way around. the irs agents down the street, they work for you. the guy that lives in the white house at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, guess who he works for? he works for you. here is the problem. barack obama and his irs have forgotten who they work for. they think that you work for them. mr. obama must think that he is the king with the right of a royal crown to power in taxes subjects. but the constitution says otherwise. you and i both know that that is not the case. your presence here today is a hopeful sign that americans are not going to stand by and watch

the irs target american citizens. we are not going to stand by and watch the irs medal and give information about our health records whenever whomever they want. we will not stand by and tolerate being lied to by the white house. [cheers] [applause] bc, you run this country. with your vote and your voice. while you are here this week, let your voice be heard. i am bill johnson from ohio. i am glad you are here. god bless you. thank you so much. [cheers] [applause] >> thank you ,-com,-com ma congressman johnson. by the way, the halt the irs bill number is hr 2045. our next congressman is from idaho. please welcome raul labrador. >> good afternoon, patriots.

thank you so much for being here today. are you mad at the irs today? [applause] i am mad as well. i am not mad because they came after you. i am mad because they came after americans. i am mad because we have allowed the government to grow so big that we have leadership that tells us that they don't know what the underlings are doing. i am mad because we have leadership here in washington dc that will come to congress and tell us that they don't have an idea what the people under them are doing. why is that? well, it's happening because both republicans and democrats have allowed the government to grow too big. [cheers]

[applause] the when you hear the congressman stand here and when you hear them in your district tell you that they stand for the constitution, you need to ask them what have you done to reduce the cost and size of government. what have you done to cut the funding of these agencies? unless they can tell you what they have done, they don't really believe in the constitution. as i stand here, the only thing that i will remind you is that i was the first member of congress that asked for eric holder's resignation. [cheers] [applause] and i grilled him in the judiciary committee with all the lies that he had told congress. at the end of the grilling, he asked me is that how you do things in idaho. or wherever you are from.

and i said yes, sir. that is how we do things in idaho. god bless you. [cheers] [applause] >> last year as many groups around the country started getting these letters from the irs and tea party patriots was one of the groups that did get these letters, a legal foundation stepped up and helped some of the groups around the country directly. they now file suit for 25 of those groups against the irs. the american center for law and justice. please welcome jordan seki one. do not thank you, everyone. [cheers] [applause] >> it is not everyday that you get to see to the irs, but it

feels pretty good. i'm standing here today not for law and justice, but on behalf of our 25 clients and additional clients that will be added next week. a significant amount with a larger complaint who were brave enough to fight the battle for years. that is why we are here today. because of all of them. in 2009 they got letters saying that we need this. we need your donor list and your login and password to your website. yet, they stuck it out. we know that this scandal keeps getting worse. we get new revelations. you know, it is unconstitutional but this constant blame on this office in cincinnati. and this one guy who happened to tell the investigators that he was a registered republican. he referred to one tea party

case to washington dc. case solved? was the case ought? listen, it was a nationwide dragnet matched by irs officials that a registered group of democrats right here at the irs headquarters two blocks away, this is not american. it is not our heritage target people because of their ideological or tea party roots and tea party in their name. it is not what our founding fathers fought for our veterans. now we know. and we know when lois lerner answered a question which he planned with the white house deputy chief of staff. for irs offices. two in california that no one

has really talked about. of course, this is part of that. this is part of what we have seen. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> lois lerner still had access to that information until the 13th. think about that, tea party leaders and groups and organizations. now, those who personally signed this approval of the 501 -- the 501

c3. do you want to tell me that is not partisan two love this statistic about 40 irs attorneys, 40 donate to obama. we are going to fight the fight because of our clients. i thank you, everybody. i thank you very much. thank you for being here today. god bless you. [cheers] [applause] >> all right, two weeks ago, we had patriots who testified in front of the ways and means committee. did any of you see that? [cheers] [applause] >> there is 180 who wound up having a hash tag named after her. let me get it right. tea party becki speaks for me.

here to tell you that she speaks for me, and i'm so glad she spoke for all of us in front of congress. please welcome becky garretson. [cheers] [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much. i went over my time when i spoke before congress, some going to make it very short. life is simple. in every facet of life, trust must be established for the old relationship to continue. if you want a second day, you better behave on the first one. if you want to be a manager, you better prove that you are a good employee. only in government the people screw up repeatedly then deny all responsibility and then have the gall to ask for more money and more responsibility and it is insane.

the irs is in charge of health care. just weeks ago, the government was caught abusing american citizens, trampling on the rights, intimidating them and illegally seizing confidential donor information and making it public for all to see. do you think that they are worthy of our trust? [cheers] [applause] this is outrageous behavior. the only responsible thing to do is define the irs. lock the doors, turn off the lights. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> are tea party was targeted by the irs. i testified before congress two weeks ago. immediately after my testimony and everyday sense, people from all over the country have been offering their tears of gratitude for saying what needed to be fed. as i began reading through those thousands of e-mails in my inbox, i was surprised and

deeply moved how many democrats and self-described liberals wrote to me. they told me that even though we do not agree politically, they were every bit disturbed by what the irs did as i was. [cheers] [applause] the battle is not right versus left. it is everyday americans versus washington dc. liberty is rooted in the american soul in the fight to defend it is in our mero. to be born free is a rare thing in this world. ours is a battle worth winning. so stand tall and fight. thank you. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> thank you tea party. next, john mccain likes to saved this individual is a wacko bird. i think that john mccain is part

of the problem in the senate. [cheers] [applause] i say none of the people in this tea party movement are wacko birds. we are american eagles. our next speaker is an american eagle. please welcome senator ted cruz. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you. god bless the tea party. now, i am a little bit confused. "the new york times" told me that the tea party was dead.

the irs will me that the tea party was dead. there is nothing more encouraging than millions of americans all across this country standing up for liberty and standing up for the free market and the constitution. [cheers] [applause] >> what has happened with the irs is beyond recovery. it is an abuse of power. it fits into the pattern of the obama administration of abusing government power. and then misleading the american people about it. president obama needs to tell the truth. [cheers] [applause] when richard nixon tried to use the irs to target his political

enemies, it was wrong. when the obama administration does it, it is still wrong. [cheers] [applause] the irs has no business asking any americans what books to read. the irs has no business asking any american what is the content of their prayers. i hope the answer to that question was forgive them, father, for they know not what they do. [cheers] [applause] you know, the irs designated special codewords to watch out for. they were codewords like constitution, bill of rights.

liberty, patriot. you know what? [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] >> this is great. [laughter] god bless you. we looked for constitution bill of rights liberty and patriot. they were right to be afraid. so what is the best solution? the very best solution is that we need to abolish the irs. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] i have a second idea.

we need to take every one of the irs agents and put them on our southern border. [cheers] [applause] now, that is mostly a joke. but i have to admit you come over and see an army of irs agents, you would go home. you turn around and go home. [cheers] [applause] every american should be able to fill out taxes on a postcard. [cheers] [applause] this is about power. why did the head of the irs meet at the obama white house 157 times?

what on earth are you doing 157 times? he had an answer. the easter egg roll. i know that it seems that the obama administration has gone on for a long time. but i'm pretty sure we haven't had 157 easterners. [cheers] [applause] let me ask you a serious question. everyone here and watching online. the tip of the iceberg of the irs targeting tea party groups and conservative groups and pro-life groups and pro-israel groups. we still don't know about individuaindividua ls who have been targeted. we still don't know about those who dared to speak up to contribute and participate in the extent to which the irs used its power to target political enemies. we set up an e-mail address. i would like to invite anyone who believes that you were targeted by the irs in political

activity to send an e-mail to the irs target at senate.gov. let me repeat that. irs target at crews.senate.gov. we are going to get to the bottom of this administration's abuse of power against the american citizens. [cheers] [applause] [cheers] [applause] i have one final question to ask you. the final question that i want to ask you today is that we had seen the obama administration willing to abuse the irs to target citizens. we had seen him go into cover-up

about benghazi. do we trust the irs with obamacare in our health care? [cheers] [applause] >> we need to abolish the irs. together, we can get it done. thank you. god bless you. [cheers] [applause] >> coming up next on c-span2, pentagon officials testified about technical problems with the f-35 fighter jet. then prime minister david cameron talks to members of the british parliament about this week's g-8 summit. >> on the next "washington journal", members of congress. new york democratic candidate hakim jeffries on the economy. then pennsylvania republican tim murphy on health care laws and its implementation is behind

schedule. "washington journal" is live at 7:00 a.m. eastern everyday. >> in a lot of ways, this is a challenging time for people who are conservatives. we have a liberal democratic president who is not only elected and reelected after putting into place some ideas and programs and projects that i think are very wrongheaded, the public had a chance to think about that and they did reelect him. it is a challenging time. it is also an exciting time if what you are tryingt to do and that is to modernize conservatism and bring it in line with what the challenge is for the country at this time. therefore, also the country is thinking about the challenges of the 21st century. neither party is doing a good job of that. there's a lot of opportunities for thinking about what america in the 21st century needs to

change about the way it governs itself. in order to get back to economic growth and prosperity and a kind of cultural revival that we need. it is challenging but exciting. >> more on c-span2's "q&a." to pentagon officials testified that the joint strike fighter program is on the right track, but that's eagles must still be met. it is the most expensive program and can reach $169 million per plane. senator richard durbin briefed the subcommittee hearing on the matter. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you for being here. the subcommittee meets to receive testimony on the fiscal year 2014 budget.

in the request for the joint strike fighter program to renew its cost and schedule and performance, given that it is the largest acquisition program in the history of our nation. since its inception, the department is investing $44 billion to develop these aircraft. for fiscal year 2014 alone, the president's budget request includes a $.7 billion to continue development of tests for 29 aircraft to operate and sustain the fleet and begin a formal modification program. the first panel i will welcome under the secretary of defense acquisition, the honorable frank kendall. chief naval operations jonathan greene at and i thank you for being here. the chief of staff general mark welsh and general john paxson of the marine corps. program executive officer

lieutenant general christopher ogden. i thank you. on the second panel, we are going to hear from the director of operational evaluation, the honorable michael gilmore, director of government accountability office acquisition and sourcing team, michael sullivan and senior fellow michael o'hanlon. gentlemen, thank you for being here. a for providing your testimony. i have been concerned about the defense acquisition programs that obviously cost taxpayers billions of dollars more than what the department and congress originally signed up for. joint strike fighter program has had more of its share of problems. frankly, it's history reads like a textbook on how not to run a major acquisition effort. for instance, the government turned over complete oversight responsibility to the prime contractor on a cost reimbursement contract, resulting in questionable design

decisions and is scheduled to ways. an extreme overlap between development and production guaranteed the unit cost of the aircraft would be considerably higher than the $69 million we originally planned. after many challenging years of development, i am told that the program is starting to turn the corner in terms of cost and schedule. the most recent selected acquisition report shows the aircraft decreasing slightly by 4.2%. moreover, the projected cost to modify production aircraft have decreased by 47%. and testing is showing it is reacting within normal limits. i look forward to hearing the testimony in addressing these achievements later today, as well is a better understanding of how we reached this point in the acquisition process. i want to hear what steps are being taken to make sure that we

learn from this experience and not repeat the mistakes. given the difficult budget challenges facing the nation, the hearing must address the remaining development risks and the entire cost of the program and the relevance to the future and whether any options are being considered for a less costly future mix of tactical aircraft. each of you will have an opportunity to provide an opening statement, as well as responding to questions. i asked the keep your opening statements for you so we can have more questions. person will be part of the record and i turn it over to senator cochran for remarks. yet mr. chairman, i am pleased to join you in welcoming distinguished witnesses to review the f-35 joint strike fighter program. and the funds needed to provide for tactical aircraft. this hearing should help us understand the threats to our

safety and security and the defense is that we need to defend against those. we look forward to hearing the testimony and we appreciate the assistance. >> thank you, senator cochran. first the honorable frank kendall. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i asked that the written testimony be admitted to the record. members of the subcommittee, i'm delighted to have the opportunity to discuss the fighter program with you today. obviously this is a critical program for the department. the ability to project power are central to the armed forces. other nations are developing capabilities as well and we cannot afford to be complacent. i would let my colleagues say more about the operational forces and i will focus on the

acquisition of the program. my experience dates back about three years. the department's focus has been to control the cost of the program and to achieve a stable design so we can increase more economical quantities. either these efforts are succeeding where we have more work to do. therefore be% through the program. since the program has been executed, looking ahead there are still risks and schedule. particularly with the final block of software. there is also the potential for supplies in the test program, including flight testing. our intention to complete the effort with the plan cost and schedule. however, we may need to make some adjustments. on the whole, the design today

is much more stable than it was two or three years ago. in 2011, i concluded that given the design issues at that time and the uncertainty about when they would be resolved allowed us to not increase production in the program. there's a high degree of the production phase of the program. mr. chairman, i understand that this is of high interest to you and i'm happy to address this in more detail in response to the questions. in the 2013 budget request, we kept the slack for the next two years. i seriously considered stopping production for the time, but concluded that the cost would resolve to be conservative and the better course was to delay the planned increase until the test program that progressed to where he had more design. this fall i will be reviewing the program to determine the production rate and how it

should be looked at in 2015. at this point, i am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to do so. with regard to cost, where most of the way through this and intend to execute the balance. since 2012, production costs have been stable and are coming down. roughly consistent with our efforts. we have been fighting the contracts in 2010, which was her first. we tightened the terms further despite the fact that we did not increase production rates. for the first time, we share the cost associated with the design changes changes. lockheed will bear all the risks going forward. at this point we have an understanding of the production costs to stay under control. we represent our greatest

opportunity to reduce the cost of the f-35 going forward and we are focused on finding ways to introduce competition and take new steps to lower the costs as well. the bottom line is that since 2010 we have been making progress to stabilize the design and control costs. we have a lot of work remaining and we should not be surprised at what occurs. we have along way to go in the test program. as i said, i am optimistic that we can increase production beginning in 2015 as planned. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you, chairman. thank you for the invitation to discuss the future of aviation this morning. today's topic is the f-35 which is really a key part of our future. it provides a unique set of capabilities for our airwaves and our carrier strike group and the fleet. and it will to radically enhance the near-term capability.

we are focused on three things. first venture that it delivers the requirements and as we integrated been integrated into our airway, it is effective and it conforms to the carrier. it has to fit into this. and third, to understand the concept of required reportable operations. with regard to capability, we need to stealth and the advanced electronic sensors. the weapons and perhaps more importantly, the command and control capabilities that this aircraft brings. it enables us to be closer to the threat. you can if you detect targets, bring them together, determine what is wow, what is the threat, and build a common operational picture that you can engage first. perhaps just as important, it is

designed to share this operational picture with other aircraft, including the other aircraft with other ships and platforms. so it really is a force multiplier in addition to being a capable aircraft. with regard to integrating this and into the airwaves, the challenge is to reconcile that we need to get this software program with three of capability certified. it brings us weapons of the system that i just mentioned an aircraft that needs the aircraft certification. we need one that is durable and reliable and precise. we need the display system, which is being worked right now. we need not certified. as i mentioned before to integrate, we needed to be carrier compatible, if you will. and that means evaluation will

start next year. based on the office productions, we are on track with some risk in the software certification. with regard to understanding and addressing our operations and sustainment, we have a lot of work to do. i think that we have adequate time to prepare to integrate the f-35. we are conducting a business case analysis on the repair effort, the logistics, the maintenance schemes that we will use. and that means that any with my service counterparts quarterly and we meet with the joint program office quarterly to go over these sorts of things. we will need a concept of operations to be established with what this will be. in other words, what are my flying habits for this type of aircraft. simulation, which is very advanced, versus training and proficiency. i need to determine what is the best estimate of the cost to fly the aircraft and we will work through that. we have a mandate that we have been given.

right now we look to project to meet this. this is something we have to focus on. we want to be able to maintain these aircraft and maritime environment. salt water into carrier humid environment. it is hot and dusty. and how we maintain us in the hangar bay. we need to be able to repair the aircraft. that requires the purchase of parts and we need servers to do that. and if we are going to repair, and it, then we need the logistics and we have to have an affordable logistics training, one that is responsive. so the f-35 is designed to provide a capability that we need. i look forward to working with congress and the program officer to bring an end to affordable rate. thank you. >> chief of staff of the air force, please give us your opinion. >> we appreciate the opportunity to be here.

we thank you for addressing this with us. since april of 1953, the united states has deployed roughly 7 million service members to combat operations around the world and thousands of them have died there. not a single one has been killed by an aircraft. what we have enjoyed is not an accident. maintaining it is not easy. it requires training proficient and credible and capable and superiority is critical, as mr. kendall mentioned. not bunches of airpower, but prerequisite to the american way of modern joint warfare and without it the ground forces would have to radically change how they go to war. i believe the f-35 is essential to ensure that we can provide that in the future. potential adversaries are better

than our legacy force and they are developing sophisticated early warning radar systems and deploying better missile systems. this is at a time when our fleet numbers averaged a little over 20 years of age. the smallest and the oldest in the history. we need the f-35 to stay a step ahead and make sure that the future fight is an away game and to minimize the risk to the ground forces. it is with services and partner nations and the survivability can hold any target at risk. making it the only viable option that i see. ..

the capabilities offered are unequaled by anything in the world today. within the version of the single platform we obtain the most lethal fighter characteristic supersonic speed extreme agility and the unmatched ability to

collect diffuse and disseminate information. this holds a number of airfields world wide the aircraft can use to utilize and combine with the f35 very and it gives the nation double the number of capital ships capable of operating a fifth generation multi role fighter. in today's growing environment of any access terri hail denial technology kump the ability of many more state and on state actors on the world stage to reach out and potentially touched surface targets out to sea necessitates america's has assets like these of able to combat these threats. our ability to tactically base fixed-wing aircraft in the hip pocket of the ground forces has long been instrumental to the success on the battlefield from the birth of the marine aviation through today. the f35b is the tactical aircraft we need to support the task force from now into the middle of the century.

the f35c is the aircraft we need to enhance the participation in the carrier meetings and the degree of power projection. the f35 will replace three models of aircraft the marine corps currently operates and will replace all of our multi fighters who, our aviation aircraft and our ea6b electronic aircraft. the half 35 as more than the new fighter. by replacing the capabilities in the arsenal it represents an entirely new way of doing business including has noted a minute ago tactical command and control. i think each of you for your time, interest and support of the nation and military and request my testimony be accepted for the record and look forward to your questions. we are committed to providing force for today's crisis today and the jay esf is the key ability to do that. >> your statement will be a part of the record without objection.

lieutenant general. >> mr. chairman, ranking member of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the program with you today. i will be brief so we can get on to the q&a. with the period it's not the same program was a member of years ago. we significantly restructure the program the past few years and created a realistic baseline to the program. we've resources program to meet our commitment in manpower, technical expertise, time and money. relative to the program schedule we are executing with minor delays today but on track to the schedule we put in place in 2010. i'm confident we will meet the commitments for block to be and three ai to allow the marine corps to declare 2015 that will allow the air force to declare in safety because 623 to delivering the airplanes to them. about the final capability

delivered at the end of 2017 as we work in the q&a. affordability is my number one concern and my number one priority in the program. relative to development we've taken a mind set that we have no more time and no more money in the development phase of the program meaning within the resources that we have given, we are committed to finishing the program on time and with budget. a relative to the costs are the cost of the airplane and of the engine are coming down after a lot. i'm currently negotiating six and seven with lockheed martin and i am expect the trend to continue many years into the future it the price will continue to come down. relative to the operations and cost the program office has taken aggressive action on many fronts to lower the lifecycle cost of the airplane and i would be more than happy to deal close during the q&a. what we need to do is ensure our

partners and services have an affordable weapon system in the future and the program office takes this very seriously. technically i believe the design of the aircraft is sound and we have solutions to all the technical problems we see in front of us today that does not mean that in the future we want of their trenches and discoveries but i believe we have the capability and the capacity to overcome those and finally i've been at the helm of the program for six months and my promise to you and the enterprise is i will continue to lead with transparency, accountability and discipline. thank you. i look forward to your questions. we have a great interest within the committee. but let's concede a few points made by everyone. first america wants to have a air superiority over any enemy. second we await to the men and women fighting to defend the country to give them the best they can rely on to protect their own life and perform a

mission capably and successfully carried their we have a responsibility to the taxpayers achieving the goal to make sure we do not waste their money in the process of developing an aircraft that meets those criteria. over ten years ago we had a competition for the aircraft. i believe the notion behind the joint strike fighter was to try to harmonize the needs of the military within the services with a similar or like minded platform that we were designing. the question we have to ask ourselves today is what have we learned over the last ten years plus in terms of the development of this aircraft. you were pretty blunt at one point and stated your disagreement with the decision to allow them to begin production before the first test flight even occurred. you called it acquisition malpractice. the decision made by your predecessors resulted in the severe currency that the program continues to experience today

almost 12 years later. as the undersecretary defense for acquisition you are responsible for establishing the departments acquisition rules and regulations. what have we learned? what would you do to let come currency in the purview today but future programs we might consider? >> thank you. i was going to bring that quote devotee didn't. when i first saw the schedule i was surprised. i hadn't seen the program with the degree of come currency in my past experience. i talked to some of the people involved. >> to step back a second and define come currency in terms lehman and understand for the record. >> it's not unusual in any development program as you come towards the latter phases of the development project to start the production process to read the

balance of the test period more software development you may be doing the would substantially change the design and change the manufacturing process machines that link, to go back and modify some of the products you already made. there are deficiencies associated making the transition earlier. sometimes it is threat driven and there is urgency getting the capability out because the threat to it's a judgment call and the development of the program and the testing phase and the actual start up production. historical the for something like a new aircraft, and sophisticated cutting edge design we would be a year or two in the test flight before we start the production. we do it much more aggressive on the of 35 and my understanding is people felt at the time that the modeling simulation and the

design tools are much more sophisticated and we wouldn't see a lot of problems and find them through the test program. that was wishful thinking and i know it flies in the face of our prior experience. i'm going to read to you from the guidance i brought with me the draft policy that is in the staffing right now and specifically addresses come currency. in most programs where hardware intensive products there will be some degree of concurrences between initial production and completion of development and testing and perhaps some design and development work will be scheduled to occur after the production decision is made. continent to between the development can reduce the lead time to the system but also increase the risk of the design changes and costly retrofits after production started. program planners and decision authorities to determine the acceptable where desirable degree of concurrency based on a range of factors. in general there should be reasonable expectation based on the development of testing of

the full-scale prototype the design is stable and will not be subject to changes following the decision to enter production. the milestone which is the development decision interior for initiating the production or milestone see on the production plant will be determined and included in the decision memorandum that publishes at that time so we want an evin based decision to enter the production based on actual demonstration through the development and testing the product is mature enough that we can go into the production. that's the criteria and again i think in the case of the f35 there is a combination of factors part of it frankly the money was in the budget for the production and the people have a sense of inertia or momentum of luck getting the production start because the money was sitting there. i resisted making the decision in my position we shouldn't be driven by the fact there happens to be somebody sitting at the budget. >> so let me ask you one is a

ferry and an approach to acquisition and the other is the incentive that we created and you just identified there was money sitting there to produce and there was the year ending urge to acquire that taxpayer's dollar may be too quickly which doesn't sound to me like a sound decision and i think what you've identified as you're own personal decision not to fall into the trap. i would like to ask you when it comes to something that is characterized as yucka a contractor performing under a yuca isn't controlling cost because the actual cost incurred is rolled into the final negotiating cost uncovered by the government to get that sounds like a similar situation where we are creating an incentive to produce, not to produce in a timely fashion or in the best fashion but a

fashion that spends the money that we've appropriated. >> i've given other testimony i talk about the pressures in the system to be optimistic to take rest and it runs throughout the whole system and anyone who has held a position like mine has had to resist those pressures. if you look at the desire of the community to have the best possible capabilities that there is a tendency to have their requirements and what we can accomplish the industries interested tend to be optimistic about what can be produced and what kind of capability can be produced and when they put together the budgets they tend to be optimistic about how much you can get from the money because they want to get as much as possible into the budget. when people bid on the projects they tend to be optimistic because they want to win the business and did more aggressively and hope that you can execute. it ripples all the way through

the system. we have to push back against that and you mentioned yuca that are contract transactions where we haven't completely defined the job to be done and we haven't reached a complete agreement with the contractor about what exactly the job will be and what it will cost. as we start the contract activities with the idea that once we start it we will go back and we will complete the definition of the contract. we will definitize the contract if he will. the data is pretty clear on this. in the development in particular that leads to problems. it leads to difficulties further downstream. if you look at the history of the programs and cost overruns and i'm going to be publishing data on this, the development consistently results in the cost and schedule overruns leader and it's because frankly the job isn't well enough to find them

and there is still open nist for optimism that hasn't been refined it. the other problem with the yuca is the you give up a lot of your negotiation once you sign a contract. and i resist them pitted there are rare occasions we can do them. interestingly, the data on the production contract that started isn't nearly as . the problem is primarily on the development site of the house. so as a general matter we resist doing them. there are rare occasions we need to get the work started. if we are doing something as an urgent operational requirement for it simply makes more sense to get the work started to the people are going to be dying if you don't get that product out and you take some risk and spend more money as a result of that, then you get the product out quicker. >> based on her testimony it sounds like the enemy optimism and i don't know that we want to be pessimistic when we get into

this. >> we want to be realistic. >> thank you. senator cochran. >> mr. alterman, we appreciate very much having the cooperation of the distinguished panel of witnesses, and i have a few questions. general, the major challenge before us in this year is trying to avoid a budget decisions that comprise our capabilities that are needed by the u.s. allies to look down the road ten, 15 years to assess the threats that will exist and then making decisions for now that help meet those needs and capabilities. how do you apply that to the actual practice? are we making progress and

medium the challenge? i believe it's on. >> pull it closer. >> thank you mr. chairman. it's amazing the instruction you have to continue to do. vice chairman, the biggest problem we have, you mentioned optimism and i think that he's right by the way. when you look at the military threat of the future we also tend to be pessimistic so we assume it is 10 feet tall, all capable, all knowing and almost impossible to defeat so we need the best things money can buy and the quantity to fight the war so we have to fight that tendency when we look at the future threat. we looked very closely at the future threat to access whether it is for protecting the air superiority mission or a

supporting ground activity for the close air support or indirect strike. as we look at that read, no matter how you examined and, when fifth generation aircraft become available to our adversaries, wendi advanced systems become available to have ever seen these, when they are able to integrate and train the systems, the difference between the fourth generation and fifth generation fighters became clear and the reality is without talking about how many justin the pure capability perspective of the fourth generation fighter meets the fifth generation fighter, the fourth generation fighter may be more efficient but i would be dead. they're really is that simple. and so, we need to determine when do we need this high and keep devotee, how much of it do we need and then how we mix it with a fourth generation capability we will have for years. we will have a mix of aircraft for a long time and so the missions will be better suited to the legacy fleet and will have a little bit lower

operating cost and some will be better suited the high end that would have to fly in the full spectrum. you have to have the fifth generation capability to succeed and that is after a pretty comprehensive analysis of the threat that we intend to phase. >> given the expectation of the increased after the five cost and inevitable production delays, is it still true or time to start looking at investment and alternatives as well as continued commitment to the f35 program? >> i will give you a brief answer and then see if they would like to comment on the actual production cost. my feeling is the program office said the company, the contractors understand what it takes to build this airplane to it i believe we have the cost pretty well captured. the big cost we are focused on is the operation and sustainment

cost over time. what does it cost to operate this and repair it and supply the fleet? the bergen office is leading a number of initiatives supported by those here who are working very hard to try to drive the cost down. and i believe the general can give you examples of early success in that effort but this has to be an ongoing continuous effort. one of the benefits we have any kind of strange side benefit of the conference program the chairman described is that we have actable numbers now media earlier in the program than we would otherwise so we are starting to replace the cost factor costs to be that as we continue to fly more we will have a better feel for this and that will drive us to consider next fleets from a long time into the future. all of us will continue to have them for awhile and the investment strategies in the future hutchison mr. chairman.

>> let me thank you for your intervention and the program and your candor on warning us that we have some serious challenges ahead. we are not there yet. let me ask about the rework cost you've noted that it seems to be coming down. does that include or exclude? >> the cost of production is coming down roughly with the curve that we expect it to come down. the competency of changes is coming in about 25% less than the productions that the indicated so we are making progress on that as well. i mentioned we started sharing those currency costs and we did that for two reasons. one is to focus attention on this and in part to get the

conference the changes in the design as quickly as possible and we have made progress on that as well. at this point in time as we go through the test program we are discovering more things that have to be fixed and reducing the list of things that have to be changed so as time goes on we hope that will come down and we have a projection in the next few years that will be well under control. did you want to add to that. >> when i took up the price of the airplane coming down and the unit flyaway cost, it doesn't include the calculations and the dollar's for the continent to. retrofitting airplanes that can off the production line that were not corrected as well as putting the fix is back in the production line said the terms and cost models include an estimate for that come currency. >> so you are estimating going

forward that the rework trend is down and given potential issues you don't anticipate at this point that the curve will bend back up and you will have another problem? >> the good news is both our estimates have come down about 25% looking to the future on how many fixes we have to make to the airplanes and the actual cost of making the fixes and getting them back into the production line also down about 25% if you take those together our initial estimates of competency cost three or four years ago or on the order of 50% lower now and put the estimating and actual cost and i can provide the committee that information to show you that. >> secretary, one final question to you. one way that we manage the

weapon system requirements is that being discussed in managing there is a follow-on development plan already and we asked for some funds to start some of the early design work to respond to the threats just emerging. this isn't the standstill. the costs are going forward and we go through the test period on their requiring work and the areas we would be most concerned are in a major structural failure we have one lifetime of fatigue testing so we have to more of those to go. as we go through that the likelihood that it would cause

the redesign goes down but it isn't zero yet. the same is true of the aerodynamic performance. there would be major problems as we explore the flight envelope that may cause a significant problem on the redesign work and so far we don't see a high likelihood of those that there are still possibilities. >> let me ask a question and this goes to an issue that you are looking ahead at emerging threats. are you confident you have a system in place to prevent this labour aspect of the aircraft being compromised and confident at this point that they are not? >> i'm reasonably confident and chris should answer this as well that are classified information as well protected confinement at all confident that it's protected. it's not a sensitive or important but i'm concerned in general with the loss of design

information on the unclassified level and i'm going to have policies in place to try to make stronger sanctions if you will were stronger consequences for those who don't protect the information will be enough. part of it is being sold right now. >> does that increase the vulnerability of the aircraft right now that we can anticipate? >> it reduces the cost and lead time to giving their own designs it's not as much a specific, the ability of the amount of time and effort they have to put it in their next design. as you are well aware, the two nations are well into developing fifth generation aircraft right now so that is a concern. >> thanks, senator reid. senator shelby. >> thank you all of you for your service. general, as i sit up here in this committee, subcommittee, part of the appropriations

committee, we have to meet sound money decisions. we believe the superiority is important. we've had a long time since the second world war. my thought about the whole plane, one is the aircraft is a concept found. will it work. have you worked out the technical glitches most planes and weapons systems will have technical glitches some more than others and ultimately come this committee has got to balance the need to how much we can afford. i believe myself we should be on the cutting edge of technology. we should be smart in what we do and how. i believe this from what i know and we are not in a closed hearing but this has a lot of stuff you potentially cannot talk about here today to the of

what and how do we bring the cost down? economies of scale, we know that. the more you produce of something we have to do this. that's kind to be one of the ultimate money decisions we have to make. tooby need this? like we do. second, can we afford this? and how do we afford it? you want to talk about that annette? >> -- a minute. >> thank you, senator. can we afford the year plan is the question facing it. >> the american people. >> there is no other option right now. what we are being asked to do is play our national and strategic guidance and based on that requirement that handed to our services in the domain, this airplane is something to we need

to meet the mission assigned. it changed dramatically and there was no intent to be worried about threats from other technology development in the future if there wasn't a requirement for the night the streets of america to be able to protect its national interest we would need the year plan but that was not the case and sell everything we are focused on right now is making shredded as operationally feasible. the work that every single day and focus on the cost of the development and production and sustainment overtime and how we drive the cost down. they help them in that effort for the service perspective we are helping with the development and operational test and training the air crews and in the air force we have 22 airplanes and some of them on the air force base flying right now. of those we have trained 23 new pilots on the of 23 come f22, excuse me. we've fallen about 2200 were 2300 about 3500 flying hours now. it works.

the pilots have a great budget that the avionics have gone light years ahead of the legacy fighters in the military. so they believe that this program is moving forward. they are still frustrated by some of the things that keep them from utilizing the aircraft. but a lot of that is the function of the currency the was described. they can't fly within 20 miles of lightning were in the weather yet. that's going to require this software development. by that time we reach our initial capability at the end of 2016 for the air force, those problems will be in the past. >> this plaine as far as you see having to appear in the world? >> the f-22 will reappear with the will be the only one. >> you have to make decisions on acquisition and that gets into affordable living. even to speak to the affordability economy of scale i

understand that and the cost you have brought down. >> one of the initiatives was to put affordability caps on the programs as they come through the process. and the idea is to ensure the the reach doesn't exceed the grasp and we call them to do an analysis of likely future budgets of would be expected to look at the port fully with the products they would be in for a reasonable amount of money for the price cap on the unit production costs and versus a net cost. the ft 35 was many years into development before we started this policy but we are doing that now routinely carried as far as the f lardy five is concerned it is an affordable program. it's affordable because of its priority it's a hour number-one priority warfare program and we can find a way to afford it. ten, 20, 40 years down the road there may be questioned how many

we actually end up and how big a force structure is we can afford a within our budget and we need to get production up to the rate of the economic as soon as we can. islamic are you concerned about the technical glitches dealing with the services in the navy and the marines? >> the general mentioned there are a number of technical issues to be resolved and he mentioned the would be in testing shortly in the next few months. it is still being worked on at this point in time i would say it was kind of on the edge of acceptable and it needs to be better. the software the was mentioned, we need to get that. it's a matter of time and money but some of the capabilities are very important to the performance of this aircraft and we need to get them even though we cannot receive a hot them. so there are a number of things to be done. lightning strike was mentioned. these are all things we are

working our way through the development prepare resolving overtime. we have made progress and i don't see anything at this point in time that screen to keep us from getting the airplane where we need to be. >> senator collins. >> secretary, from its inception, the f their d five was designed to be an international program, and indeed we have formal binding agreements with several of our allies such as great britain, australia and i believe the israelis have agreed to purchase the f45. can you comment on one value it brings to have international partners involved in the program from the beginning and also what

cost to the americans are produced by these international agreements clacks a mix the three, senator collins. there are several aspects that are beneficial. first is there a direct contribution to the cost. our partners have made a contribution to the there are economies of scale associated with higher production rates and right now we expect several hundred aircraft to be bought by the partners and this makes a difference of ten to 15% in the unit cost. interestingly we had a were annual meeting with all of our partners and reviewed the program with them. they are encouraged by the progress and they are all still in the program which i think says something. canada is still considering its decision and the netherlands hasn't made a final decision but

even the because the budget constraints and other things some of them have reduced the numbers they all see the value and at this point in time are still in the program. in addition we are starting some sales. so if you look there is something of a consensus that this is the future of the tactical aviation. >> this morning you described the effort 35 as a fifth generation aircraft. and we hear that all the time from you and other military officials and experts. i know one of the characteristics that you are referring to is the aircraft lost dolph capabilities. and you share a responsibility to build a force that can operate effectively in an antiaccess environment. we know that russia and china

are developing advanced stealth fighters. we know that some of our potential adversaries have advanced integrated ear defense systems as well. it to the extent that you can in open session could you describe more fully for the committee what exactly it means that the f35 is the fifth generation fighter, and how that technology helps us counter emerging threats. >> that is a fantastic question actually. it means it's more integrated and has longer range and connect squeaker to things like sensors and things that can shoot you down if you are flying in an airplane and prevents you from getting access to the target.

what generation capability does with a combination of the signature that makes it a bit more difficult for the radar and different types to turkey and electronic protection. with the ability to move quickly through a threat in benet and the ability to maneuver the enemy threats launch that you it is significantly braking the cowal chain's it that makes sense. so from the time they first see you and pass the data onto your airplane to assist whether it is an air system more ground system, that is required to be completely intact for someone to keep you from preventing your mission. fifth generation technology allows you to break them multiple places and operate in an environment you could not operate in the fourth generation aircraft because it wouldn't be disrupted that way. that's what it does whether you are competing it's a single airplane or a system on the

ground it allows us to complete the mission that we have been assigned. >> thank you. >> senator murkowski. >> good morning and thank you for being here and for your service. the general come as you might expect my comments or questions today with deal largely with us and the role that future basing of the half 35 might play in the future for the benefit of my colleagues here on the subcommittee back in february of 2012 the generals professor announced they planned to transfer a squadron and by two-thirds of the active duty personnel and done by 2015 the air force has informed us that they intend to make a decision

this fall. this would have a devastating impact on the economy of the fairbanks and the internal direct job losses estimated at about 03,000 individuals. unemployment would rise from where we are at 6.2% to an unacceptable level of 8.9%, lay off teachers come close schools. a tough situation. i've described this as a back door brac and it probably comes as no surprise that i along with the of the members of the alaska delegation had requested that the air force be prohibited from implementing its proposal in 2014. the air force announced to the fairbanks community in right of

an environmental scoping process and then in 2009 we can to know the process never occurred but we will progress at that time they were either at or near the top of the last possible they sing so we were told there was went be an announcement the would be made shortly on the basis that never came. can you tell me what thoughts if any the air force has on the desire devotee of and after the five facing location what kind of time frame you are looking at for the of 35 facing and whether the downsizing would be affected by the possible f35 basing at some point in the future. >> yes, senator. the secretary and i reviewed earlier this week the proposed criteria for the overseas base

selection process for the fifth 35. they are coordinated with the specific command and european command and i would suspect by the end of the month of the criteria would be established in both europe and the pacific in the pacific is one of the bases as you know alaska will be part of the pacific basin for overseas basing for the pacific it is one of the basis on the list to be examined and so we will take a look at every base relative to the criteria and my guess is late october we will produce a preferred reasonable alternative listing the well be brief to the congress. i will tell you this, and looking forward to my visit and about a month and month and a half to meet with a community and hear their concerns directly, and as you mentioned we are completing the eis on the

timeline to make a recommendation to the secretary this fall. >> let me ask about the eis the particular criticism you should be prepared for when you go up north. i understand the air force is simultaneously proceeding to complete the will have an opportunity apparently to comment on the eis but not on the strategic analysis and not quite sure why it set up the way it doesn't seem to make sense and it's designed to enforce the decision makers on the range of alternatives to propose actions so it seems logical to me that you would have the strategic analysis proceed the "news brief" team, and then and form from their.

so, i guess the question to you would be whether or not you could leave this draft eis comment period open until the strategic and analysis is done, and also to invite comments on the strategic analysis as well whether or not he would consider that. >> senator, the path ahead the secretary lead out was for us to take a look at the eis, the strategic analysis is the one we conducted by the specific error commander carlisle and his team. when he's completed that analysis it's a look of costing and all the other things you and i both hope for in the discussion and then he will come forward with a recommendation. keeping that available for public comment as he completes his recommendation would be helpful to his process. i think the public comment has been clear on the "news brief"

team and that's going to be factored into everything he says. you'll see the analysis of everything he does. >> i just might add the concerns i am hearing from those who gave that public comment is that they don't feel they have been heard so it will be something that you hear when you go up north so it may be something that you and your folks might want to give a little extra look at and i would appreciate that and look forward to your visit. >> thanks, senator. let me ask you this. i've listened to your earlier testimony and i'm trying to draw some analogies that may or may not be accurate in my mind and in the financial industry we have this phrase too big to fail. i'm wondering if this project is so large in scope it was too big to cancel and had to continue the peace because of

international partners, fifth generation demands. have we reached a point when it comes to acquisitions in the future we have to take this into consideration? >> as a matter of the f35 we are not at a place we would consider stopping the program. i think the general mentioned that. the costs are under control for the production. we try to bring the cost of the sustainment down. there is no question it is driving us towards the next generation aircraft they will not be survived on the future battlefields to go back ten or 20 years to invest 20 or $30 billion in the development of another aircraft it doesn't make any sense. >> what we go to the one particular that you mentioned, sustainment. the cost of flying the air force

variant is 28% greater than sustaining the f-16 and a report that came out in 2012, the acquisition report estimates the cost to sustain the fleet over a 30 year life is $1.1 trillion which equates to $36 billion a year which is a substantial sum of money by our calculations, by anyone's calculations. it's my understanding one of the best ways to reduce the cost is to address them early in the program and it appears that doesn't happen as it should have in this program. what actions are we taking now to deal with these anticipated sustainment costs? >> i would point out that is an inflated number over 50 years so it covers a lot of time and a lot of cost. it's still the big number. we do everything we can to drive it down. there's a long list of things we go through some of those.

but the keys include looking very creatively at the things in system and to see if there are more efficient ways to do them and also bringing in competition. we aren't going to leave the this in the hands of one provider. we are going to use that to drive the cost down and we also have an initiative in the department to use on the logistics that is a business approach where people essentially provide a level to give incentives to do that and provide the cost so there are a number of things that can be done. i'm going to look the general answer. he has a long list of things we are doing. he was the predecessor and has attacked this problem so we aren't just starting on this. you can't argue we started this too late we should do it earlier but we are giving it our full attention now. >> of their spring nearly three areas i am taking action and right now to reduce the cost. the first area was there are

different portions of the sustainment life cycle of the airplane that over the next few years we will compete. for example, support equipment on the program is well known. we know where it needs to come from and it's designed like. there is no reason in the world i need to buy this equipment from the airplane from a single supplier who actually just goes out and contract with many suppliers to buy that. so we will compete that type of thing. another example is on the global supply chain we will have airplanes all over the world in the next ten or 15 years. there is no reason to believe a prime contractor whose niche is building manufacturing airplanes can be or should be a world-class expert. there are companies the will do that and we will explore those kind of options. such competition is one piece.

there is a second piece that we are working on very aggressively that is what we call our reliability and maintain devotee program. until a few years ago this was an air plan on paper. we didn't have airplanes flying. today we have over 7,000 hours under our belt. the information that i am gaining from flying those today is invaluable. i can show you the list of the 50 parts on the airplane that are breaking more readily than the thought they would. i can show you the 50 parts on the plan better taking longer to repair than we should. by systematically looking at the reliability maintain a devotee program where we attack those by either redesigning the parts or finding a second supplier for a way to better repair those parts organically say by standing up the depo you can begin to attack the reliability maintain a devotee of the program.

we couldn't do that and number of years ago because we didn't have any real data. the third piece is that $1.1 trillion estimate that you talked about has an awful lot of assumptions that those gentlemen that the other end of the table have a lot to do with in terms of how many hours does each pilot need to fly from that to getting training in a simulator? how many maintainers to wire really need on the flight plan to launch this airplane? those kind of assumptions, which we put in place many years ago that came up with this $1.1 trillion number are now being real looked at because we know more about the year plan. and they -- with their advice and their assumptions, we will go back and and now look at the concept of operations for maintaining and sustaining the airplane and adjust those numbers. i personally think you will see

over the next few years those numbers coming down. >> senate turkoman follow-up? >> i have one follow-up question. the general, the, on of the marine corps has indicated the marines expect to save up to $1 billion per year in operation and maintenance costs by having one type of tactical aircraft in inventory and the billions of dollars that have already been saved over the last decade by not recapitalizing the marine corps with the fourth generation aircraft and waiting to recapitalize with the half 35 in the production is this still true or is it time to start looking at alternatives as well as continued commitment to the if 35 per gram.

the previous statement in the them and you connected to the comments that they just made it is true it's coming down, and as we actually had more flight hours and more reliability of the data we have a better ability to predict the actual flyaway cost as well as the cost per hour of the aircraft the gentleman at the other end of the table either technicians radiators ayman infantry guy so when i look at the viability and value of the program. there is so there's an inherent cost savings in the tight model series. as we get more reliability with actual facts from those hours we have the capability of

collapsing a little bit the maintenance that is done at the level, the intermediate and the organizational level they are out there turning wrenches on things we didn't expect to have this early in the program because we have been able to identify some of those between the failure and what they can actually do. so i believe as the program gets more mature the comment the general made earlier about the value of stability in the program it's not an issue with tooby to feel it is an issue of stability and using stability to create an advantage and turn the risk into opportunities. because i'm confident we can bring the cost down on this and then the bathtub that we are and when we have aging fourth generation legacy aircraft we will be out of there and then we'll be into a fifth generation aircraft that we can optimize as we use around the world and many more places to do things. thank you, senator. >> thank you very much.

>> i want to go back if i could to the technical challenges because. what are the top three technical challenges? it will help you expand your own and so forth, is it metal fatigue or problems. what is it i feel technically they will. is that important? >> it is. the top three on my list would be software. the block three capability is critical so we need to get that

done. we will have to make decisions as we get further along. we are about to the critical design review for the software and we will be looking at it very closely this fall. the second thing on my list is the cockpit of the airport is designed around the concept of the helmet and the ability of the piatt to look through the structure of the year plan and have all the things he needs in front of the helmet to operate effectively. there are a number of issues we have been working. as i mentioned earlier we are at the edge of acceptable but not where we would need to be said of the second. the third thing is what canada a moment ago, real liability. we are not where we need to be and i think we could do better on that. we are lagging our own goals by a significant margin right now in terms of the reliability of the year plan we need to improve that so that would be my top three. >> i would tell you software, software. but realistically, he got it

right. software is number one on the list. >> the software if i could come in and correct me if i'm wrong, software, that would help you expand the envelope of the capability. >> absolutely. >> go ahead. >> the software on the program, first of all to give you some perspective, the airplane itself to us 10 million lines of software code. that is about 5,000 they have 10 million lines of code this is a flying computer. if you don't get the software on the part in all of the things

the general and the marine corps talked about are not going to work right. the of the sensors on the airplane and they have to talk to each other to provide the pilot with a situational awareness he needs to go into those very high threat environments. if you don't get the software talking right to those centers you will have a problem. the good news is over the last two years we have made significant progress in the way that we develop test and field software on the program and cautiously optimistic that in the future what we have learned in the last two years could be applied in the future but that doesn't mean that we are out of the woods yet. from another f35 flying next to you and all the other sensors

that we have in our arsenal and put all together to give that pilot a picture. i believe that and i'm cautiously optimistic is because a lot of the foundation of what we need to do in 2016 and 2017 our flight testing today and it's working, it's not working perfectly looking in the software i do not think we can overcome to be quite honest with you. i'm not sure we could said on the program partly because we hadn't flight tested much of it but we had 40% of the flight testing done now and we're starting to learn a lot more. one of the things he didn't mention that is always on my mind is the maintenance system on the airplane is a huge information technology system. what it does is combines both of the maintenance of the airplane,

the supply chain for parts on the airplane and the training for the maintainers and the pilots and puts it all together. the system has great promise but that system like any of their complicated information system software has got serious problems. instead of keeping the logistics maintenance system in that part of the development program organizationally we pulled it back underneath our engineering team. so we are dedicating the same kind of software work we use on the airplane to the maintenance system. ..