>> mr. speaker, the president

of ukraine.

the speaker: members of congress, i have the high privilege and distippingt honor of presenting to you his excellency, petro poroshenko, resident of ukraine.

president poroshenko: mr. speaker, majority leader, members of the house, members of the senate, ladies and gentlemen , it's impossible to imagine what i'm feeling right now. of ymbolic is the unity united states congress and solidarity with ukraine. this is exactly which ukraine now needs the most, unity and

solidarity. not only with the united states congress, to the only with the united states, but with the whole world. t me thank you for your warm -- warmth and hospitality. addressing both houses of congress is one of the highest political privileges. standing here i'm grateful and fully aware that this honor goes not to me but to the people of ukraine, those brave men and women who are today on the forefront of the global fight for democracy.

of ukrainian people now watching this speech and this session of the congress and seeing absolutely sure about our solidarity and our joint and common strength. and please, allow me, to speak on their behalf. i are focus on the one thing that this -- at the core of ukraine existence today -- freedom. there are moments in history when the freedom is more than just a political concept. as those moments, freedom becomes ultimate choice which defines who you are. as a person or as a nation. ukraine says leave this moment over the last 10 months and

became a story over the last decade. a synonym for sacrifice, dedication, and unbreakable will to be free. the people of ukraine stood up to the corrupt regime. they stood their ground during this winter. more of you were together with us during the last winter. and i thank you for this very important gesture of solidarity. the defendants of freedom were willing to sacrifice their life for the sake of better future. at is even more amazing they and we want -- won, armed with only sticks and shells, they were attacked by the special police and chased them away.

the victory gained on independence square in kiev known now to the whole world as the very international word the victory against police brutality, harassment by the state-controlled media, violence, intimidation. there is nothing more impressive than seeing hundreds of thousands of peaceful people forcing out a violent dictator and changing the course of history. he second time in our history. day after day, week after week, month after month thousands upon thousands streamed into the streets of kiev simply because their dignity didn't allow them to remain passive and silent while their liberty were at stake. the standoff lasted long three months.

it culminated on february 20 and 21 when over 100 protestors in ne day were shot by snipers. we call them heavenly hundred. they are true national hero and e applaud their heroism. dear ladies and gentlemen, in february when the world saw that no one could take away ukraine's freedom, an external aggressive decided to take away part of ukraine territory. the annexation of crimea became e of the most cynical act of treachery in modern history. i just want to direct your attention, ukraine, which gave

up the third largest nuclear potential in exchange for the security assurance was stabbed in the back by one of the countries who gave her those ssurances. allow me to remind you, 20 years ago, exactly 20 years, the buddha pest memorandum, russia, along with the united states, united kingdom, france, and china vowed to provide for the viability of ukraine state border and territorial sovereignty. in reality, what we got from russia was annexation and a war that brought ukraine to the brink of its survival. the soviet union has collapsed too quickly, creating the illusion that this chapter in history was closed and that these stories have come to the end. but unfortunately in my mind of

the people it has not end. the imperialialistic mind set is still there. nostalgia for the soviet union and the settlement that ended cold war have been cultivated in revisionist interests. in the year 2008, russian troops occupied two cities. they now have invaded ukraine. the right to protect ethnic russians and even russian speakers can and already has become a reason to fan the flames of war. besides ukraine, russian peakers reside now if moldova, georgia, kazakhstan, baltic states, poe lapd, even germany. this is a very big majority. bulgaria, moldavia, georgia, ukraine, who is next?

many things, including the effectiveness of the global nonproliferation system, will be put on the severe test depending on the response of america. of the whole world. to this very simple question. even nato lies at risk and as if to underline this point, two days after president obama's estonian tonia, the intelligence officer was abducted and accused of espionage. the security assurance that were extended to ukraine and then have failed to work, providing to agreement three days, containment can secure world order. so what can bring the peace and hat can maintain it? cooperation, interdependence, leadership, and responsibility. this is the things we can depend

the global security. so i urge you not to let ukraine thankalone in the face -- you. and this is very important that the whole world will see this gesture of solidarity. ukraine are not alone. we are together. we are united. and we win because our fighting is fighting for freedom, is fighting for democracy. and i'm absolutely no doubt that

our victory will be very close. i'm absolutely sure that united states made a commitment that it would stand behind ukraine's territorial integrity, and we hope that it will lead us to that promise. democracy -- because it is very simple, democracies must support each other. they must show solidarity in the face of aggression and adversity. otherwise they will be eliminated one by one. the aggression against ukraine has become one of the worst setbacks for the cause of democracy in the world in the years. with just one move, the world has been thrown back in time to

the reality of the territorial claims, criminal aggression, and annexation. can you imagine that in two weeks crimea was invaded. why? because ukraine were not prepared to this aggression. we were not prepared to face it. that was at the time of the revolution of dignity and use of this opportunity, without any doubt. international system of checks and balances was effectively ruined. the world was plunged into the worst security crisis since u.s. standoff 1962. today we are witnessing another attempt dividing the world -- ukraine stands in the center of this attempt. the outcome of today's war

whether we will be forced to accept the reality of the dark turn and be to europe as part of the new world order. this ukrainian army, imagine hese young boys, underequipped and often under appreciated by the world are the only thing that now stands between reality of the peaceful coexistence and the nightmare of the full lapse into the previous century, into the new cold war. ukrainian soldiers, ukrainian people, ukrainian boys even girls now on the front for freedom and democracy. hey need your support. thank you.

the war this young men are fighting today is not only ukrainian war. everybody should understand that. it is europe's and it is american's war, too. it is a war for the free world. or the free world. today, aggression against ukraine is a threat to the global security everywhere. proxy war, terrorism, national radical movement, the erosion of the national and international agreement, the blurring and raising of the national identities. all these threats now challenge. if they are not stopped now, they will cross european border, a threat absolutely throughout the world. to prevent this, thousands of ukrainian soldiers are in the line of fire exactly right now when we have a so-called cease-fire. .

from the day it started the cease-fire, ukraine lost 17 lives of the ukrainian soldiers. 67 are wounded. this is a cease-fire, this is the price ukraine paid for the peace. in the united states congress from this high beacon of freedom, i want to thank them for their sacrifice. thank you for the united states congress, and i urge the world to recognize and endorse their fight. they need more political support throughout the world. they need more military equipment, both lethal and nonlethal.

urgently need. lease understand me correctly. blankets, night vision goggles are also important, but one annot win the war with blankets. even more, we cannot keep the peace with a blanket and this most important of our values, of our aid, not to win the war but keeping the peace. for keeping the peace, we should be strong enough and there is no any doubt that we will be strong because of you, because of our solidarity and because of the very strong spirit of ukrainian soldiers. i thank all of those in america

who realize and appreciate the historic importance of this fight. just like israel, ukraine has the right to defend her territory, and it will do so all her heart and dedication and soul. i urge america to help us and to rise and to be equal. urge america to lead the way. ukraine has a special bond with the united states. today, ukraine has taken shape as united states as a partnership in the region. this is not circumstancal. it is not because we find

ourselves in the same boat. it came about because in the moment of the crisis, ukraine's choice was the same as america. very simple. freedom, democracy and the rule f law. in a time of skepticism and russia's unprovoked hostility, ukrainian citizens have been raided to give their lives to see ukraine democratic and free. circumstancal boats can change. nature of the people cannot. it is the nature of the ukrainian people to tolerate no dictators and to strive for their freedom no matter what. given today's situation, ukraine's democracy will have to rely on their own strong army. in the upcoming years, building a strong military will be another test for ukrainian

democracy. to give n my ability ukraine a strong modern army that we can be proud of. with this in mind, i strongly encourage the united states to give ukraine a special security and defense status which reflects the highest level of others.ion with and i ask that the united states be forceful and stand by

its principles with respect to further sanctions against the aggressor. economic sanctions are important for many reasons. they help to distinguish between good and bad. they help us to defend and stem the moral high ground and not to sink into the indifference, disgust and pragmatism. i understand that the wars of the last decade have been taken a heavy toll on the economy of the west. and i understand. believe me. american citizens, american taxes want peace, not war. -- taxpayers want peace, not war. so do ukrainian citizens and taxpayers. however, there are moments in history those importance cannot be measured solely on the percentage of the g.d.p. growth. ukraine war is not only the war of the last decade, but it is purely about the values.

ukraine war is the war, again, for the freedom, democracy, european values and the best evidence of that is the number of members of ukrainian parliament which ratified our association agreement with the european union. our nation decided to be free and democratic. another nation decides to punish ukraine for this. the world simply cannot allow this kind of behavior. values come first. this is the truth the world and the west would remind ukraine over the last year. now it is ukraine's turn to remind the west this truth. allow me to also say this. there is no way, no price and

under no condition that we will er put with the cry -- crimian occupation. and annexation is not only an integral condition to a full normalization between the relation of ukraine and russia, it is also the integral condition for the crimeas only prosperity. until this condition is fulfilled, i urge america and the world to stand united in sending the signal to the aagreesors of today and to the future that the practice of annexation will never be tolerated. and clearly i am not talking

about the military solution of the crimean problem. this will be a dilemma for many years, a choice between two ways of life, two political, economic and social system. but i have no doubt that in the long run the system that offers the greater freedom will prevail. t always does. dear, ladies and gentlemen, the last half year has been a time of ultimate challenge for millions of ukrainians. it was a time for heroism and sacrifice. too many has been their ultimate sacrifice. let me share you three human stories that illustrates my point. on march 3 when the occupation of crimea just started, there cree myan city did the unthinkable. where millions stood paralyzed

and stunned what was unfolding before their eyes. a 39-year-old father of three decided not to be silent. his brave son of the crimean tartar people went on a one-man protest in front of the occupied city. he did nothing more than hold a to t of paper that said, no occupation. a group of unknown people arrested him, transported him away in the plain sight of the dozens of witnesses in front of the tv cameras. two weeks later he was found tortured and executed. just the thought of this man's final minutes sent chills down my spine. i ask myself, what made this hero do what he did? and i can't find no other

answer than he did it for the freedom. so his children would not face stalin like the dictatorship. and i am convinced in a year from now where the crimean occupation will be the past, the people will think about what he did and salute his braveness, just as i do now. and i assure you that ukraine will always stand together with the crimean tartar people. those languages, rights, culture are being trampleled right now as they -- trampled right now as they were many years ago under soviet rule. i urge america and the world not to be silent. is ukrainians and crimean

tartars that is being occupied d it is time people of goodwill to remember john kennedy's words over 50 years ago. i am crimean tartar and there is nothing that would make me ive up my freedom. and let me also commemorate another crimean hero. 42 years old and part of the parliament of east ukraine. on april 15, he confronted with the separatists and officers over the separatist flag that they were trying to hoist atop the local administration building. exactly just like the other, he was abducted and tortured. his last hours must have been unthinkable. his body was badly mutilated.

and the stand here courage and sacrifice of this man and the courage and sacrifice of millions of ukrainians, from the bottom of my heart, i believe there will be a time and i'm sure very -- when he will be named and when schoolchildren will bring flowers to his monument. dear, ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake, europe and the world's choice right now is not the choice between unipolar or multipolar order. or a different kind of civilization. the choice is very simple, between the civilization and barbarism. and while standing at this juncture before the great

cannot e democratic hesitate. we can't see all the democratic accomplishments in the last decade to be erased and have been for nothing. the free world must stand its ground with america's help, it will. yes, we live in a world that is mutually reliant and interconnected. in this world the aggression on one democratic nation is aggression against all of us. we fully understand that. if anyone has a doubt about this, if anyone was hoping to sit it out while ukraine and russia continue to kill each other, this ended on july 18

when russia missile launched and shot down civilian boeing 777 of the malaysian flight on may 17. 298 innocent, peace people, many of whom were flying on their vacation in the south, met their ultimate demise on the steps of ukraine. their cold-blooded killing, just like the barbarian treatment on their remains terwards show that whoever did this put millions of lives at risk for years, for decades. therefore a additional brutal act of terror, unfortunately it was this tradge at this that gave a wake-up call to many in the world about the situation in ukraine. long after war's end, the fear

and hate linger on. how many more deaths will be caused by the hand downs handed out with absolutely no control or accountability in those regions? how many innocent children will step on land mines so much utilized by the separatists? how many lives will be ruined and poisoned by the propaganda machine? the act of bombing the region of uncontrolled arms, represent the authority of the state sponsored terror and it needs to stop now. the downing of the palashian boeing illuminated one more important thing we are now at the forefront of the fight against the terrorists. and we need to join our efforts to effectively respond to this challenge. with this people throughout the

world are asking the same question, are we on the eve of the new cold war? is the possibility of the new terrible, unimaginable european war there? is what until recently seemed unthinkable now becoming a reality? today, the answer to all of these questions, is yes. however, we cannot and must not accept this as inevitablity. as recently as in 2008, the president of russia campaigned under the slogan, freedom is better than nonfreedom. and it was in russia. in the year 2008. and i'm sure that despite the crimea annexation and ongoing aggression, millions of russians still remember the slogan and take it seriously. let's remind them, let's show

them that the freedom is not the looks of it as some try to convince them but necessity. and the precondition for the true success of the nation. i am convinced that the people of ukraine and people of russia have good will to give at least one last chance and prevail against the spirit of hate between our countries. that's why my presidency began with a peace plan and one-sided cease-fire which will last long 10 days. paying the very high price of killing ukrainian soldiers, hitting ukrainian planes, and hundreds wounded. we keep this cease-fire long 10 days. unfortunately this was not accepted by russian authorities. that's why we are holding our fire now.

that's why two armies stand before each other without massively shedding each other blood. and if we think work outright, they will not have to. i'm daily contact with the leaders of the world, including the leader of russia. the dialect is not easy, believe me. over these last few months too much good will was destroyed. too much hate was generated. naturally and artificially. too many people have died. based on this, there is growing recognition that enough is enough and the blood shed must stop. the pandemic of hate must be localized and contained. as a president looking in the eyes of the mothers and wives of the dead soldiers and civilians, believe me, it is my hardest duty. no one can take it slightly,

today it's my burden and the burden of the president putin. as he lit a cannel in moscow church to remember those who perished war this past week. i did so in kiev. and i deeply profoundly wish that the church candles would be the owning thing to burn in ukraine from now. over the last month, ukranians have shown that they have a crutch to stand up to the most powerful enemy. we will never bend to the aggressor. we are ready to fight. but we are people of peace and we extend the hand of peace to russia and to the russian inspired except pra 'tises. i am red -- separatists. i am ready to do my utmost to avoy void further casualties. even at this point where the war has started feeding on itself. sooner or later i'm absolutely

sure peace will return to the ukrainian homes. and despite the insanity of this war, i'm convinced that the peace can be achieved sooner rather than later. and i'm ready to offer the separatist more rights than any part of ukraine had ever had in the history of nation. and i'm ready to discuss anything except one thing, krainian independence, ukrainian territorial sovereignty. and i'm confident if this war is about the rights and not about the geopolitical ambition, the solution must and i'm sure will be found. ladies and gentlemen, in 1991, ndependence came to ukraine.

yet the moral of this independence become, the higher its costs. today the cost is as high as it gets. while fighting this war, we learn the value of independence and to recognize true freppeds. at no point we ever forget why we need independence. we need it to have a country worthy of the dreams of our ancients. we need a state to give its citizen a light of dignity, fairness, and equal opportunity. to reach this goal we will have to root out what drains ukraine's potential for such a long time and make a true case for independence and times for lost opportunities. we are painfully aware of the sins largely inherited from the soviet union. corruption, and the self-preserving cynicism of political elites.

there is a saying that each people deserve the government it gets. ukraine within the single decade showed that ukraine is a people is better, much better, than ukraine as a government. they showed that ukraine needs and serve deep and profound organization in absolutely all sphere. of the kind that brought economic success to poland. given the current situation in and around ukraine, the implementation of the comprehensive reform is not a matter he of ukraine succeeding but ukraine surviving. deeply aware of this, i give my most to pledge i will speak of t. with the ukraine organization agreement signed and ratified simultaneously in the ukrainian and european parliament, we have a clear path of reform before

us. never in the history of the european union was there a document that was obtained so dearly, as such incredible human cost and sacrifice. and this sacrifice, the memory of the hundreds dead and wounded, will be one more reason and incentive to hold this unique chance to make ukraine live up to its potential. ukraine needs more than governance and noncorrupt public administration, ukraine needs to delegate more power to the local communities. ukraine needs to rely more on its strong vibrant and dynamic civil society. ukraine is building managing its estates and economic affairs where hard work are rewarded. ukraine need know how and technology and use that to become better intergrated to the global economy. ,nd for all of that we need you merica's help.

in particular, i ask the congress to pay the special fund to support investment of american companies in ukraine and help us with our economy and ustice system. and i assure you that all aid received from the west will be utilized by noncorrupt institutions and that the new generation of officials will make sure that the funds are distributed effectively. ladies and gentlemen, with our revolution, a revolution of dignity, human dignity was the driving force that put people to the -- lured people to the street. this revolution must result in

the education of dignity, economy of dignity, society of dignity. human dignity, which makes ukraine heartbeat and ukraine mind look toward new and better version of itself. human dignity is one thing we have to oppose to the barberism. it is one thing that we can't set against the sea of life in which highly sophisticated and well funded marine propaganda is trying to throw the truth about ukraine and democracy. in the coming years, too many things will depend on ukrainian success. too many things. this success will be set by ukraine's new leadership, new political generation, and new mobilized society of ukraine. ukraine truly makes a difference. by supporting ukraine, you support new future of europe and

the entire free world. by supporting ukraine, you support a nation that has chosen freedom in the most cynical of the times. in ukraine, you don't build a democracy. it's already there. ou just depend it. -- defend it. exactly this what makes ukraine unique, it struggled deeply and profoundly different from any other conflict on the world. this is what makes ukraine the ultimate test for adherence to their ideals of freedom. live free or die. was one of the mottoes of the american revolutionary war. live free or die was the spirit

of the revolutionary on the miton during the dramatic winter onths of 2014. le with a significant presence of the member of the united states congress. we thank you for that. live free or die are words of ukrainian soldiers standing on line of freedom. live free must be the answer with which ukraine comes out of this war. live free must be the message ukraine and america send to the world while standing together in this time of enormous challenge. thank you.

good morning. we intend to conduct this hearing in an orderly an efficient member to ensure all members have an opportunity to ask questions and our witnesses have an opportunity to be heard.

to that he said please be advised i will not tolerate disturbances of these proceedings including verbal disruptions, photography, standi standing or holding sign. thank you all for your cooperation. if there are disturbances, we'll stop and have those who are disturbing leave the room. the committee meets to receive testimony on the administration's strategy for the islam i ic state of iraq an isil. i'd like to welcome secretary hagel and lieutenant general mayville. general dempsey is meeting with

his defense counter parts in europe. given the many crises in the world right now and the immense demands placed on our military, general dempsey is exactly where he should be. i received a call from secretary hagel i think it was about a week ago, he said i'm in i think -- whatever, georgia. and i said is that near atlanta. and he said, no, a different georgia. and he was there and then he was going to turkey and then he was coming back here and then he just -- it's really great to have you here, mr. secretary. and i understand how busy you you are and how much you're traveling. really appreciate your time. what you, general dempsey, what all the men and women in uniform are doing to keep us safe and from harm. just yesterday, the house on a bipartisan basis and in large numbers passed by amendment to the continuing resolution at the president's request which

authorizes the secretary of defense to train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the syrian opposition. we strengthened the proposal through congressional oversight including detailed reporting and reprogramming requirements. although not everyone supported the authority, there was widespread agreement that isil is a threat to our allies and to the united states. apparently agreement that isil must be defeated, agreement that the landscape is incredibly complex and any option will carry risk and agreement that the syria train and equip authority is but one part of what should be a broader regional strategy to defeat isil. i listened to the president's speech last week and i've talked with military experts, including those who know iraq best. i traveled to the region earlier this month and got blunt answers from our allies and partners on

what needs to be done. i do not believe the minimalist counter insurgency strategy that the president has proposed is sufficient to achieve his objective to degrade and destroy isil. i gave a speech at the american enterprise institute calling for swift action. for every week we wait, isil glows. we need to conduct military operations this both iraq and syria to deny isil any safe haven. while the kurds and iraqi security forces are willing to fight and have some capability, they still need our trainers, our advisers, our command control, our intelligence, are our air support, special forces. the capabilities that only the united states can provide. none of us should minimize the risks. we cannot succeed from the safety of some headquarters

building, engages those divergent groups and advising indigenous forces will put our military in harm's way. this is a dangerous business. the most irresponsible thing that the president can do is give the military a mission but not give it the tools it needs to do the job. by taking options off the table, i fear the president is setting the mission and our military up for failure rather than success. i know when eisenhower was planning the invasion of normandy, one of his subordinates questioned some of the planning and he said we're planning for success. failure is not an option. we're. same situation today. today's hearing is important for us to understand the administration's strategy for isil. the president has identified his objective to degrade and ultimately destroy. we need to hear from our defense and uniform leaders on what you

you believe will be required of the military to achieve that objective. we need to understand the campaign, the role our partners will play, the rifrgrisks, the capabilities our military will need and consequences of inaction. again thank you fu fyou for bei. i look forward to gaining answers to our questions. i would like to point out that we have a staff member who is leaving us. is debra in here? >> not at this time, sir. >> we can thank her any way. >> she already left? she is a professional staff member for the subcommittee on

military personnel for the house armed service committee, a position she's held since 1999. she served as lead staff member for the subcommittee from 2007 to 2010. and briefly served as deputy staff director for the committee in 2011. in 1999, she served as legislative affairs specialist for the national park service. she served as legislative assistant for u.s. senator acting as the senator's principal aide on national defense, maritime issues, educational social security and welfare from 1987 to 1999. she received a b.a. from drake university, sounds like an obituary. it's not. she is leaving to become the assistant secretary of the army for manpower and reserve affairs department of defense. so we just got her ready to move

down to another very important job. she's still in the fight. so we want to point that out and thank her for what she's doing and wish her well down there for you, mr. secretary. some pl mr. smith. >> not an obituary, but she's been sentenced to the pentagon. so we wish her well. i thank you very much for being here, secretary, general mayville. and this is a very difficult moment for our country.z84vphs i think the best way to sum it up, our country simply wants this problem gone. ever since 9/11, ever since we learned about this terrorist threat that is out there, the two wars that we fought, all the decisions that have been made, and it wouldn't be hard for anyone to go back over those decisions and criticize them step by step from just about any point on the political spectrum and say why did we to this, if only we hadn't done that, everything would be fine. but the bottom line is this problemo this, if only we hadn't done that, everything would be fine. but the bottom line is this problemdo this, if

only we hadn't done that, everything would be fine. but the bottom line is this problem is not going away. i can't imagine any set of decisions that would make go away now. i can certainly imagine ones that would have been better and we can look back and learn. but the threat that we face, and isil is just but one peace of it, is the ideological threat that we first came to understand with osama bin laden and al qaeda. it is a violence ideology. and their ideology is very straight forward. they want to destroy us. the only thing that stops themt. and their ideology is very straight forward. they want to destroy us. the only thing that stops theme. and their ideology is very straight forward. they want to destroy us. the only thing that stops them . and their ideology is very straight forward. they want to destroy us. the only thing that stops them is our efforts and the lack of capability. this threat exists and we have to confront it. and every time a decision comes up, i really think that a lot of the opposition is we just don't want to have to deal with it. but it's there. the threat is real. it is not made up. and isil is the latest manifestation of that threat.

we have seen how just absolutely brutal and vulgar they are. they have committed small scale genocides every place they have gone. nip who doesn't believe what they believe, they kill and usually in the most brutal fashion imaginable. and they threaten us. certainly they threaten the region first. there has been considerable debate about whether or not isil is a direct threat to us right now and in a truly technical accepts, they aren't. in the accepts that they vice president been able to yet set up a system for plotting and planning attacks overseas. but i vividly remember and this was a mistake i made along the way when we were focused on al qaeda and in pakistan, for the longest time i said pakistan, aefg, th afghanistan, that's where it's at. and that was true until abdullah showed up on the airplane in detroit. that was planned out of yemen. and we've responded to that.

we were responding to it at the time by working with the yemeni government. if isil were on settle down and get secure territory in syria or iraq, i have no doubt that they would try to train fighters and send them back to attack targets in the west. anyone who wants to say that that wouldn't happen, i wish you were right. but you are not. their ideology is clearly a threat. so who do we confront that threat. the one thing we can do, we can learn from our past mistakes. and i think one of those mistakes and one of the areas that we need to change and move forward is the assumption that u.s. military might will fix this problem. and i understand that trap, as well. you see a problem, you say we're going to go get them but that's the american way. to a hammer, every problem is a nail. but the problem here is this

ideology ing awestern aggressio. the strongest argument they have to present to the people who want to join them is that they are protecting islam against westerning western aggression. that is how they present themselves. it's not true, but that is their message. so when we show up with 100,000 troops, it is effective you have to a point, but it also reinforces that message. and that's why the vote we took yesterday is so critical. to win this fight, we have to find partners, muslim partners in the case of isil preferably assume sunni partners. they need to fight the evil for their open sake. we were incredibly successful in

the awakening because that's what we did. we worked with the sunni tribes to convince them al qaeda was evil and then they took the fight. that made a huge difference and that's what we have to do here. that's why i think the train and equip mission makes so much sense and it was a bit frustrating yesterday to listen to people who were concerned about it, didn't want to do the train and equip because they were concerned about u.s. military getting too engaged. they were in favor of the bomb, but didn't want the train and equip. and i understand how those issues can become conflated, but train and equip is how we get us out of the fight. it is how we develop a capable force and we've seen this succeed against isil in iraq, we've seen the kurds who were a broken force until we showed up, provided some arms and trained them and they have now turned the tide and are starting to take back territory from isil because we helped them. slashly t lly similarly the ira

government. people say gosh here we go again. how did that work out? the primary reason that didn't work out is because the sunnis in the iraqi military chose not to fight for maliki. i don't know whether they were a capable force or not because they didn't fight. so we insisted on a change in the government and now they are at least trying initially power sharing arrangement that can bring some sunnis in. so we have sunni partners who will lead that fight. so when we go after isil, the one big point, has to be locally driven. we have to find local sunnis who are willing to that. we have to be smart about how we build local support. but make no mistake, they are a threat. one of those i wish we didn't have to think about it. it involves money, it involves

putting lives at risk, it involves difficult military decisions. i wish that there wasn't a threat from isil. but we've learned that there clearly is. we have to come up with a plan for confronting it and i look forward to hearing about how we will keep working on that plan, implement it and move forward. thank you. >> mr. secretary. >> chairman mckeon, members of the committee, i very much appreciate the opportunity this morning to discuss the president's strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy isil. mr. chairman, on a personal note, i want to thank you for your leadership on yesterday's vote. i believe and the president believes the vote was very important and defining vote and we are not unmindful of the work

that you you au u and you and o this committee invested. yesterday i joined president obama at macdill air force base in tampa where he received a briefing on operational plans to inch plement isil strategy. as met with representatives as did the president for more than 40 partner nations. i'm joined here today as you have noted, mr. chairman, by the joint staffs director for operations, y you lieutenant general bill mayville. general mayville helps oversee among many of his responsibilities our military operationsbill mayville. general mayville helps oversee among many of his responsibilities our military operations in iraq, middle east

and in centcom and works closely with general austin in centcom to develop all of our military plans. so i appreciate very much general mayville being here. and as you noted, chairman dempsey is with our partners internationally over the next few days and as you noted, he should be. much of that discussion will be about specifically iraq and syr syria. he consults with our allies in this fight against isil and tomorrow will attend a special nato chiefs of defense conference in lithuania where they will be focused on the isil challenge. the defense department civilian and military leaders, mr. chairman, are in complete agreement with every component

of the president's strategy. and we strongly believe it offs the best opportunity to degrade and destroy isil. the president, chairman dempsey, general austin and i are in full alignment on all our tactics and strategy. that military strategy necessary to achieve the president's objective. however as president obama has made clear, american military power alone cannot rerad ceradie threats by isil. we believe iraq's new prime minister is committed to bringing all rairaqis together

against isil, against terrorists. special coalition that we are assembling will need to use all of its power in coordination with the countries in the region. to succeed this strategy will also require a strong partnership between the executive branch and congress. the president has made it a priority to consult with congressional leadership on the isil challenge as have vice president biden, secretary kerry and many senior members of the administration. i appreciate the opportunities i've had to discuss our strategy with members of this committee including you, mr. chairman, and other members of the senate and house over the last couple of weeks. and we'll continue with these consultations. isil poses a real threat to all countries in the middle east, european allies and to america as you have noted, mr. chairman,

as has congressman smith. in the last few months, the world has seen zeisil's barbari up close. as its fighters slaughtered thousands of innocent civilians, including sunni and shia muslims and kurdish iraqis and all religious minorities who stood in their way. isil's murder of twojou journalisted outraged the american people, exposed those tactics and that brutal i'd yol go to the world. over the weekend, we saw isil's murder of a british citizen. isil now controls a vast swoath. isil has gained strength by exploiting the civil war in syria and sectarian strife in

iraq as it has seized territory and acquired significant resources and advanced weapons. isil has employed terrorists and conventional military tactics. isil has also been adept at employing social media. its goal is to become the new van guard of the global extremist movement and establish an extremist islamic caliphate across the middle east. it considers itself the inheriter of osama bin laden's legacy. we also know that thousands of foreign fighters including europeans and more than 100 americans have traveled to syria. with passports that give him

relative freedom of movement, they plan, coordinate and carry out attacks against the united states and europe. although the intelligence community has not kryet detecte specific plotting, isil clearly has global aspirations. and they have so stated. and as president obama has made clear, isil's leaders have threatened america and our allies. if left unchecked, isil will directly threaten our homeland and our allies. in his address to the nation last week, president obama announced that the united states will lead a broad multinational coalition to roll back isil's threat and defeat isil. more than 40 nations have already expressed their willingness to participate in this effort and more than 30 nations have indicated their readiness to offer military support. president obama and vice president biden, secretary kerry

and i and others are working to you unite and expand this coalition. at the nato summit in wales, there was a meeting of key partners. and i then went to georgia and turkey as you yu you noted. gorg georgians made clear they would help. turkey, indispensable member of play toe from tnato, wep)>s chash notthe chair notes th is a disturbance of the committee hearings. well be in order.

the committee will stand in recess until capitol police can restore order. >> general, proceed. >> thank you. as i was noting, isil is currently holding nearly 50 turkish diplomats hostage. and this obviously is a high and first priority of the turkish government to get those hostages back. in my conversations with leaders in turkey, we talked

specifically about that. but also the important role turkey will play in our overall efforts in this coalition. secretary kerry convened a meeting last week with foreign ministers from the six gulf country states also egypt, iraq, jordan and lebanon. all 22 nations of the arab league adopted a resolution calling for comprehensive measures. president hollande hosted a conference attended by the u.n. security council permanent members european an arab leaders and representatives of the eu arab league and united nations. they all pledged to help iraq in the fight against isil including through military assistance. other key allies such as australia, france and united

kingdom are already contributing military support and other partners have begun to make specific offers. at next week's u.n. general assembly, we expect additional nations will be making commitments across the spectrum of capabilities building on the strong chapter 7 u.n. security council resolution adopted last month calling on all member states to take measures to co t counter isil. also next week president obama will chair a meeting of the u.n. security council to further mobilize the international community. as you know, acting centcom commander general john allen has been designated to serve as special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter isil. general allen will work in a civilian cdiplomatic capacity

drawing on his expensive experience in the middle east. he will work closely with general austin to ensure that coalition efforts are aligned across all elements of our strategy. in his address to the nation, the president outlined the four elements of this strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy isil. let me now describe how we are implementing this government approach. first, in close coordination with the new iraqi government, we are broadening our air campaign against isil targets to protect americans threatened by isil and advances that isil is making and also to prevent humanitarian capacity. the u.s. military has already conducted more than 170 successful air strikes. these strikes have disrupted isil tactically and helped buy time for the iraqi government to form an inclusive and broad based governing coalition led by the new prime minister.

that was one of president obama's essential pre-conditions for taking further action against isil. because the iraqi people, iraqi people, must be united in their opposition to isil in order to defeat them, this is ultimately their fight. the new broader air campaign against isil are tar gets will enable iraq security forces including kurdish forces to continue to stay on the offensive and recapture territory and hold it. the president of the united states has the constitutional and statutory authority to use military force against isil in syria as well as iraq. because isil operates freely across the iraqi/syrian border and maintains a safe haven in syria, our actions will not be restrained by a border that exists in name only. centcom's plan includes targeted

actions in syria, including logistics capabilities and infrastructure. general dempsey and i both approved and spent time reviewing and adapting the septemb centcom plan which was briefed to therd yesterd president yest. second element is to increase forces fighting isil on the ground. not american forces, but forces, iraqi forces, fighting on the ground. to support iraqi and kurdish forces, the president announced we will deploy an additional 470 american troops to iraq. part of that number includes approximately 150 advisers and support personnel to supplement forces already in iraq conducting assessments of the iraqi security forces. this assessment mission is now transitioning to an advise and

assist mission with more than 15 teams embedding with iraqi security forces at the headquarters level to provide operational advice and assistance. by the time all these forces arrive, there will be approximately 1600 u.s. personnel in iraq responding to the isil threat. but as the president reaffirmed yesterday in tampa, american forces will not have a combat mission on the ground. instead, these advisers will continue to support iraqi and kurdish forces, including t government's plans to stand up iraqi national guard units. these units are to help sunni communities defeat isil in their area. the best counterweights to isil are local forces and local is the zcitizens, the people. the president asked for the necessary authority to train and equip moderate syria opposition forces.

and we appreciate yesterday's house vote authorizing will this train and equip program. saudi arabia will host the training program to this mission. and saudis have offered funding and additional assistance with recruiting and vetting. the $500 million request the president made in june for this train and equip program reflects centcom's estimate of the cost to train, equip and resupply more than 5,000 opposition forces over one year. this this is the beginning of a multi-year scaleable effort designed to eventually produce an even larger opposition force. the package of assistance that we initially provide would consist of small arms, vehicles and basic equipment like communications as well as tactical and more advanced training.

as these forces prove their effectiveness on the battlefield, we would be prepared to provide increasingly sophisticated types of assistance to the most trusted commanders and capable forces. the goal is not to achieve numerical parity with isil, but make sure they are superior fighters trained by units. our goal is to undercut isil's recruitment and to enable the syrian opposition to add to the pressure isil is already facing from the iraqi security forces and the security forces of kurdistan. we want to force isil into a three-front battle against more capable, local forces. a rigorous vetting process will be critical to the success of the program. dod will work closely with the state department, the intelligence community, and all of our international partners, and in the region to screen and

vet the forces we train and equip. we will monitor them closely to ensure that weapons do not fall into the hands of radical elements of the opposition, isil. the syrian regime or other extremist groups. there will always be risks, mr. chairman. there are risks in everything. there are risks in action, and there are risks in inaction. but we believe the risk is justified given the real threat and to our region and allies. as we pursue this program, the united states will continue to press for political resolution to the syrian conflict. assad has lost all legitimacy to govern. he has created the conditions that allowed isil and other terrorist groups to gain ground and terrorize and slaughter the syrian population. the united states will not

coordinate or cooperate with the assad regime. an all-inclusive approach to preventing attacks from isil to the united states and homeland. the united states will draw on intelligence, law enforcement, diplomatic and economic tools to cut off isil's funding. improve our intelligence, strengthen homeland defense and stem the flow of foreign fighters. the united states and our allies have been stepping up efforts to identify and encounter threats emanating from syria against our homelands. this includes increased intelligence sharing. working with dod's partners at the national counterterrorism center. the department of homeland security, the fbi, and across the intelligence community. our terrorist screening and analytical data bases now have special threat cases linking together known actors and potential foreign fighters,

making it easier and faster to update them regularly with new information. department of homeland security secretary jay johnson has directed enhanced screening at 25 overseas airports with direct flights to the united states. a step that the united kingdom and other countries have already taken. the departments of justice and homeland security have laumplged an initiative to partner with local communities to counter extremist recruiting. and the department of treasury's office of terrorism and financial intelligence is working closely with coalition partners to disrupt isil's financing and expose their financing activities. the final element of the president's strategy is to continue providing humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians displaced or threatened by isil. alongside the government of iraq, the united kingdom, canada, australia, france, u.s. troops have already delivered

life-saving and thousands of threatened iraqi civilians on mt. sinjar in iraqi town. our total humanitarian assistance to displaced iraqis is now more than $186 million for fiscal year 2014. the united states is also the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance for the millions of syrians affected by the civil war. since the start of the syrian conflict, the united states has committed almost $3 billion to those affected by this war. all four elements of this strategy require a significant commitment of resources on the part of the united states and our coalition partners. this effort will not be easy, this effort will not be brief. this effort will not be simple. we are at war with isil just as we are at war with al qaeda. but destroying isil will require

more than military efforts alone. it will require political progress in the region and the effective partners on the ground in iraq and in syria. and as president obama said yesterday in tampa, we cannot do for the iraqis what they must do for themselves. we can't do for them. but this is an effort that calls on america's unique, our unique capabilities and abilities and responsibilities to lead. as the congress and the administration work together, we know this effort will take time. the president has outlined a clear, a comprehensive and a workable strategy to achieve our goals and protect our interests. mr. chairman, members of this committee, thank you, thank you for your continued support, your partnership and what you do for our men and women in uniform who protect this country. thank you.

>> thank you. will the general have an opening statement? >> no, sir. >> thank you. thank you, mr. secretary. you outlined a lot of things. i think the president's stated objective to degrade and ultimately destroy isil is a very worthy goal. and i think you've outlined a lot of things that he plans to yet, the only thing he's asked congress for, i presume he will be coming for other things. so far, all he's asked is for the train and equip. we acted on that yesterday. the senate, i understand, will act on that today. so i think that's a -- that's a good message that we are trying to work together. we are all americans, and we have one common enemy.

and that should unite us and unite us strongly. i was glad to hear you say that you're all united, your team, all the military leaders. it was reported that general austin's military advice was to send a modest contingent of american troops to advise and assist in iraq more than the president, i think, has decided to do. is that an accurate report? >> what i would tell you, mr. chairman, is as you know and i think the president has been very clear and certainly general dempsey made this clear two days ago in our hearing before the senate armed services committee. first, the president expects from his military leaders in honest, direct evaluation of what they think and what's required to implement strategies that will protect this country.

there were a number of recommendations on a number of things based on the questions the president asked of our military leaders. i would tell you this, general austin as i have said is in full agreement with the president's decisions on the resources the president has decided to use to implement that strategy. and general austin made that very clear, again, yesterday with the president when the president was in tampa to get -- spent the day there with general austin and his commanders to get a thorough briefing of the plan. thank you. >> there's one thing that i'm going to give you, give the president some advice through you. i -- i think it's very important that he does follow the advice

and counsel he receives, the professional advice of the military. they are the ones best suited to do that. i realize he's commander in chief, he has the final say and the final obligation and responsibility. i would also request that he not take options off the table. it seems to me, every speech he gives, the first thing he says is no boots on the ground. and then makes an announcement of sending more boots. i think that that's confusing to the american people, and i think it builds distrust rather than understanding of what he's really saying. i think no boots on the ground, i think people are thinking divisions and full bore thing we did in iraq, shock and