we understand that, general dempsey, he is echoing your strong commitment. we appreciate the efforts of both of you. it makes a big difference for our men and women who are serving. general, you just said that the world is becoming increasingly unstable, and mr. secretary, you have recently said, you know, every day we're within an inch of war. i think as we look to the issue of syria, we know that russia and china have blocked two united nations security council resolutions with respect to syria. and certainly i think that takes us to an issue when we look to the world and instability of a question with regard to russia and china. with regard to russia, we've seen public reports that they continue to arm the syrian military, have sent russian advisers to syria and have deployed naval forces off the syrian coast. so my first question is, mr. secretary, how would you say that russia is supporting syria's military today? and then secondly, i want to switch to china, which unavoidably takes us to the issue of north korea. north korea's recent ballistic missile

general dempsey? >> i can assure you, congressman, that as the service chiefs have briefed me on their plans, they've also briefed the secretary. and it's always part of the conversation. >> thank you. strategic guidance also states, quote, the challenges facing the united states today and the future will require that we continue to deploy national guard and reserve forces, unquote. questions related to that. both secretary panetta and chairman dempsey. can you explain what role dod total force policy will be implementing policy across each of the services? and can you explain further how the total force policy will be implemented in light of the total reduction as among the services and within that how well the experience and readiness of the operational reserve will be maintained? that's a big question, i understand, kind of a series of questions. >> yes, sir, it is a very big question, and one that is a work in progress. what we're taking a look at is -- it's fundamentally how do we balance active

general dempsey, secretary panetta. i'm going to ask you to provide detailed analysis, what they're being held for. how many of them ied makers, how many of them engaged in attacks against american troops and do you believe that the afghan legal system has the capacity to administer justice in these cases by march 7th? >> no, sir, i do not believe they do. as you know, general allen has a plan to build their capacity over time. >> do you agree with me that if we release the prisoners to the afghan legal system as it is today, a lot of them would go back on to the streets and kill americans? >> that's trouble. >> do you agree with me that of all the military strategies we've employed in afghanistan, a night raids have produce a lot of results? >> that's correct. >> but from a military point of view, they need to continue? >> correct. >> okay, do you support a strategy partnership agreement with the afghanistan government? >> i do. >> they need to step it up if they want one, do you agree with that? >> that's true. >> whe

general dempsey. thank you for your service. i appreciate it as a veteran and also as a very grateful parent of a son serving in the military. in the context of the instability that you're reviewing, i'm very concerned about the sequestration of the defense budget which would be a reduction of 8% to 12% beginning next january. you both have correctly warned of hollowing out of military, but people are still confused because they've heard and seen $100 billion cut of $487 billion cut and now a pending $600 billion cut. it's just total confusion. what message do you have to the american people -- what do you want them to know about the effect of sequestration, mr. secretary and general. >> congressman, i've tried to make clear time and time and time again that sequestration and the cuts involved in sequestration would be a disaster for the defense department. and would truly hollow out our force and weaken our national defense. we're already cutting close to a half a trillion dollars pursuant to the budget control act. we made tho

the second quote comes for general dempsey. we have an increasingly competitive security environment. in light of those two quotes, what keeps you guys awake at night? >> i worry all the time about the fact that we are going to wake up and we'll be subject to a crisis or a cyber attack that we have no idea where it came from and it's crippled our country. and i worry a great deal about that. there's a hell of a lot to worry about in the world that we're in. i worry about what can happen with iran. i worry about north korea. i worry a great deal about what can happen in the middle east. syria, yemen, bahrain, other places. egypt. those are concerns. first and foremost the unexpected attack that yooer not prepared to deal with. >> keep it short for me. >> i do. >> i like your style. that's my style. >> well, i worry about the kids. if we don't ensure that they're the best, and the other thing is the world needs america to be a stabilizing global power. the world needs america. and if we reduce our defense capabiliti capabilities

>> that's correct. >> general dempsey? >> yes, sir. >> and our ability to affect that is, in fact, enhanced by joining the treaty, is it not? >> as i said, sir, the seating to the convention would allow us to have another instrument with which to engage any nation that would potentially threaten our interests. >> now, mr. secretary, mr. secretary panetta, we've heard arguments also that we don't need the treaty because of customary international law gives us the rights we need. you addressed this to some degree. the whole issue -- i guess codifying a preference for not embracing this treaty, could you speak, general dempsey, and mr. secretary, since you are the direct line commanders for sending people into conflict, how you'll react to the notion that we should just leave aside a legal regimen and rely on the fact that we have the strongest navy and our military force? >> well, first and foremost, there's no question that we have the strongest navy in the world, but if we're going to engage in diplomacy everywhere we go t

chairman dempsey. >> chairman dempsey. i have great respect for you and your service to the country and the important role that you play. but i have to ask you about the interview you gave with cnn, because i need to understand it. when you were asked by farid about what we were counseling with our israeli partners with respect to to iran and you said you were counseling not to attack iran, and then you also said that you believed that the administration believes, i assume, that the iranian regime is a national actor. can you help any understand why you would have said that particular in a public interview about one of our closest allies? i'm really concerned that in doing that that we're sending the wrong signal to iran. can you mep me with that. >> thanks for asking senator. you beat senator graham to the punch. honestly, i want to clear up some things. first of all, i didn't counsel israel not to attack. we had a conversation with them about time. the issue of time. that will require a much longer c

the question i would have would be for secretary panetta, and for general dempsey. if we're talking about $70 billion, would it be better to have the $70 billion go to kingston, jamaica, to bail out some of the developing nations, or the following list. the ohio class ballistic missile submarines which they've been wanting. that's $3 billion. to maintain the navy's ship and aircraft and ground modernization program, $12 billion. eliminate the navy's gap by providing 240 f-35 fighters, that's $3 billion. eliminate the gap in the ford class carrier. $11 billion, and -- and, i say all five of these, meet the navy's request for six more e h aegis ships. general dempsey, do you think it serves our national defense better to give that $70 billion to the isa in the kingston, jamaica or to benefit these programs? >> senator, i'm not to comment on the hypothetical use of are money we don't have. the budget supports the strategy we've developed. >> no. what i'm saying is, this is money i've documented pretty well, general dempsey, that would be there and would be lost to, thr

he said, no, this is patrick dempsey. mcdreamy?> i feel i can change their story. >> reporter: mcdreamy, mchero. whatever you want to call patrick dempsey. he lived up to his onscreen persona. and this lucky high schooler should fully recover soon. >> i had faith in him that he was going to save me. >> i'm just super grateful. you know? i can't wait to thank him personally. >> it's a beautiful day to save lives. >> nice. >> reporter: and get this, the injured boy's mom says patrick dempsey even called her up on the phone later that night just to check out and see how her son was doing. mcdreamy, indeed, guys. >> wow. i just had like a 300-pound man respond to my car accident in a tow truck. where was mcdreamy then? i was driving off the wrong cliff. >> you love him more now. i love that. >>> coming up here on "good morning america," the break in the baffling case of the missing 6-year-old girl isabel celis. one of the men on this surveillance tape has now come forward. what does he know? >>> plus, comedian in chief. president obama

general dempsey, my final question would be to you. we talked about the national guard. in west virginia, we've been very breast blessed having a high rated national guard. a lot of people get training and we're proud of them. we saved the d od2 $7 million alien in small town facilities. we're fully tasked. dod would save, if we can do that we think we can save 250 million a year. we're talking about things basically, refurbishing generators, the humvees, tents, tire assemblies. these are things we have been able to do at tremendous cost savings. i'm sure other guards are doing them also. is there a way to network more of that to use our guard? we've proven savings in a couple of our little facilities was quite substantial. i don't know how we can expand on that. >> i don't either sitting here today with you, senator but certainly we all, to include the service chiefs who really are the leaders of their particular guard. you will have general, i'm not throwing him under the bus here, you will have general odierno later in the week. i think we would be eager to understand

secretary and general dempsey for being here. and i applaud you for the effort that you've put in, of course, over the last year. this did start quite some time ago with a major strategic review of our military and national security needs, a very holistic transparent process where you brought in all military leaders and sat down and thought about what our national security needs are going to be for the next ten years, the strategy without question is where this who process started and i applaud you for that and you've laid out a very clear and coherent strategy. when it comes to budget numbers it's important to take i step back and have a little perspective. the defense budget has doubled over the course of the last ten years. the budget that's put before us, as the chairman points out, will be increasing the defense budget. every year from this year forward. we hear about these cuts, these cuts are from what was projected to be needed to be spent, a year or two ago. they are not actual cuts. the sole exception of the year. after

general dempsey? >> well, without talking about the structure itself, i will tell you that the service combatant commanders and i have begun a series of strategic seminars to look at ways to better integrate, to learn lessons and ensure we can deliver our strategy with the force this budget will provide. we know we can. we are looking at how to mitigate change. one of the emerges ideas is any regional conflict in the future -- we're looking at this budget to 2017. so, in 2017, any regional conflict will impact in the continental united states in the homeland, without doubt. that's to say the homeland is no longer sanctuary in 2017, and commands like cybercom and stratcom are more important. >> i have concern about our presence in iraq. we have had questions raised about the number of contract employees there, contractors, and i understand the state department is trying to decide what the mission is in iraq. we have the largest embassy in the world and it's growing, physically growing, but we don't hav

>> what we do and what general dempsey does with the service chiefs is to -- is to develop all of the plans necessary for any contingency and whatever the president ultimately decides will be prepared to implement. >> and just to kind of give you the view of the region at large. we're a nato partner with turkey. we have a very strong relationship with jeernd obviously israel. we are still 200 to 300 military strong in iraq. iraq has a piece of this as well on their western border. and webb meeting with leaders throughout the region. the secretary met with the president from the kurdish region and they have a huge interest on -- there's a -- there's kurd populations in northeastern syria in eastern turkey and western iran and in northern iraq. these issues are all intertwined. so right now we're in the business of sharing intelligence, sharing information. building partner capacity where we can and, you know, having the threat, the credible threat of military capability to undergird our diplomatic and economic efforts. >> sure. what i would just add to that is based on comments that ha

i may now call upon general dempsey. >> thank you chairman, senator cochran, distinguished members of the committee. thank you for this opportunity to discuss the president's defense budget proposal for fiscal year 2013. this budget represents a responsible investment in our nation's security. it maintains our military's decisive edge and it sustains america's global leadership. moreover it keeps faith with the nation and the true source of our military strength which is, of course, america's sons and daughters who serve in uniform. i'd like to open with a few words about them and their accomplishments. and just this past year, our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, further crippled al qaeda. they brought to a close more than 20 years of military operations in and over iraq. they continued the steady transition of security responsibility in afghanistan. they helped protect the libyan people from a regime's brutality and they help japan recover from a tragic natural disaster. they also worked professionally and quietly behind the scenes defending against cyberthreats, sustaining our n

welcome, general dempsey. welcome undersecretary hale. thank all of you for your dedicated service to the united states of america. and please extend our thanks and appreciation to the men and women who serve in our military. our country is secure and free because of the sacrifices they and their families make every day. the president, the department of defense, our armed services, armed forces, along with the state department, intelligence community and law enforcement deserve a great deal of credit for the important work they have done over these last many years. we have successfully redeployed our troops from iraq. captured or killed countless terrorists actively planning attacks and greatly diminished al qaeda's capabilities. we forged a coalition that successfully helped the people of libya end dictator moammar gadhafi's brutal 40-year reign that included the lockerbie bombings that killed innocent americans. and of course we concluded the master mine mind that helped support 9/11. we must continue to support the strong military that

secretary panetta and general dempsey, thank you for your service. there are several of us in this congress that have your back when it comes to the sequester. we have your back when it comes to supporting our uniform military men and women. and we also have your back when it comes to not balancing the budget on the backs of our uniformed military because what you do is the number one responsibility for the united states government in this document. one of the quotes that you said, mr. secretary was that this budget and this strategy had no margin for error. so i'd like to ask you this question. what keeps you awake at night with respect to this budget and this strategy given the -- let me give you the second quote comes from general dempsey. we have an increasingly competitive security environment. so in light of those two quotes, what keeps you guys awake at night? >> i worry all the time about the fact that we are going to wake up and we'll be subject to a crisis or an attack, a cyberattack, for example, that we have no idea where it came from and

general dempsey? >> thank you, mr. chairman, senator mccain, distinguished members of the committee. i appreciate the opportunity to meet with you today and discuss the evolving situation in syria. it's tragic for the people of syria and the region. real democratic reform should have been the assad regime's response to last year's peaceful protest. instead, the regime responded with brutality. syria's internal convulsions are having consequences for a region already in turmoil. refugees are fleeing, spill over is an increasing concern. we need to be alert to the movement of extremists and others who till actors seeking to exploit the area. biological weapons must stay where they are. with our nations the united states is a mying diplomatic and economic pressure on the regime to compel assad to stop killing their own. our military's role has been limited to this point to sharing information with our regional partners. but, should we be called on to help security u.s. interests in other ways we will be ready. we maintain

general dempsey? >> thank you. >> is thanks. you're very kind but we're here to honor you this weekend as we try to do every day of the year. i want to thank the vice president and dr. biden for being here. we get to share the is taken with them at on many occasions many events like this for families of the aggrieved, of wounded warriors and i can tell you that their heart is exactly where you'd want it to be on these issues. so it's an honor to share the is taken with the two of you again. i like to always tell folks a little bit about this day in history because it helps us connect to our past. so on this day in history, in 1986, you might recall the phrase "hands across america." because 6.5 million people linked hands from battery park in new york city to long beach, california, and they were doing it in the name of homelessness and hunger. but i think about that in terms of what t.a.p.s. does because what is t.a.p.s. is doing for us is linking hearts across america. and i would like -- i know you have a special place in you

general dempsey? >> well, without talking about the structure itself, i will tell you that the service combatant commanders and i have begun a series of strategic seminars to look at ways to better integrate, to learn lessons and ensure we can deliver our strategy with the force this budget will provide. we know we can. we are looking at how to mitigate change. one of the emerges ideas is any regional conflict in the future -- we're looking at this budget to 2017. so, in 2017, any regional conflict will impact in the continental united states in the homeland, without doubt. that's to say the homeland is no longer sanctuary in 2017, and commands like cybercom and stratcom are more important. >> i have concern about our presence in iraq. we have had questions raised about the number of contract employees there, contractors, and i understand the state department is trying to decide what the mission is in iraq. we have the largest embassy in the world and it's growing, physically growing, but we don't hav

general dempsey,to be your perspective, we see what is happening in syria. we also see the arab spring. efforts by assad in syria? maybe moving to other areas in the middle east --what is your perspective on what potentially this holds this effort continues? >> i do not see this body. -- i don't seethe assad model spreading, quite the opposite. i think the model is that it was privily suppress populations was them. -- seeing what is happening around them are beginning to rebel against the traditional strong man who, in many cases, have been from the minority side of the demographic occasion. i agree that change in syria is inevitable. long it willhow take to occur but it will occur. i have concerns about that becausei think we are all eager to see these populations that have long not been a reaping the benefits and have been suppressed. in some cases, they have been suppressed in terms of their religious freedoms and women's rights. i think that long term this will become a stabilizing influence. i think getting from here to there will be a wild ride. i thin

patrick dempsey did not hesitate when a teenager crashed his car in front of dempsey's home. >> i was scared for my life. >> reporter: lucky to be alive, 17-year-old westin describes his rush with death. he flipped his mustang. barely conscious and trapped inside the wreck, he had one piece of good luck. it happened in front of the home of a very famous tv doctor. >> you paged? >> reporter: yep, dr. mcdreamy himself, patrick dempsey of abc's "grey's anatomy" saw the car flip three times. he sprang into action. he used a crowbar to pry the doors open, pull the teenager to safety and called paramedics. >> he shouldn't be walking. he should be paralyzed. dead. >> reporter: he suffered only a concussion and an eye injury. his first words with dempsey, a classic exchange. >> are you famous? and he's saying, yeah, i'm a doctor. >> reporter: not a doctor, but he plays one on tv. life imitating art. dempsey called the boy's mom, calm and cool, just like his character. >> he had a certain authority to his voice. i asked if he was a paramedic. he said, no, this is patrick dempsey. mcdreamy? >>

general dempsey? >> thank you, mr. chairman, senator mccain, distinguished members of the committee. i appreciate the opportunity to meet with you today and discuss the evolving situation in syria. it's tragic for the people of syria and the region. real democratic reform should have been the assad regime's response to last year's peaceful protest. instead, the regime responded with brutality. syria's internal convulsions are having consequences for a region already in turmoil. refugees are fleeing, spill over is an increasing concern. we need to be alert to the movement of extremists and others who till actors seeking to exploit the area. biological weapons must stay where they are. with our nations the united states is a mying diplomatic and economic pressure on the regime to compel assad to stop killing their own. our military's role has been limited to this point to sharing information with our regional partners. but, should we be called on to help security u.s. interests in other ways we will be ready. we maintain

i have a question, general dempsey. if you ask our combatant commanders what they would like more of, it's always isr. so it's appropriate that the new defense strategy crites intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance of the one of the capabilities, and i quote, critical to our future success. yet the d.o.d. budget request is approximately $1 billion, or 25% less than fiscal year '12 for isr programs. each of the services is terminating at major isr program in the fiscal '13 budget request. the army reconnaissance and surveillance system. and the air force's block 30 global hawk unmanned aerial system. 18 aircraft will be placed in storage. nine of these are in support of combat operations. would you appears to be a real conflict between the new strategy and fiscal year 2013 budget investment decisions? >> i will, sir. thanks for asking. first of all, you're right that combatant commanders, and i was one, have an insatiable -- i mean literally, that word by that definition, insatiable appetite for isr. what we've le

general dempsey. >> thank you, mr. chairman, congressman smith, other distinguished members of this committee. i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you and discuss the evolving situation in syria. the situation is tragic for the people of syria and for the region. real democratic reform should have been the assad regime's response to last year's peaceful protests, instead the regime responded with brutality. syria's internal convulsions are having consequences for a region already in turmoil. refugees are fleeing, spillover into neighboring countries is an increasing concern. and of course we also need to be alert to opportunistic extremists who may seek to exploit the situation. as well as the need to be especially alert to the fate of syria's chemical and biological weapons, they need to stay exactly where they are. with other nations the united states is applying diplomatic and economic pressure on the regime to compel assad and his accomplices to stop the killing on their own. our military's role to this p

we also want to welcome martin dempsey. in the 38 years since graduating from west point, he led troops in combat, served as a combatant commander and most recently as the chief of staff of the army. thank you for your service, general. welcome to the committee. we also welcome the department of defense's comptroller, robert hail who is no stranger as well to this committee from his years of service. welcome back, secretary hail. relative to last year's request, the president's budget calls for a $487 billion reduction in base defense spending over the next decade. this comes on top of already planned spending reduction for the global war on terrorism. our troops remain engaged in a fierce enemy overseas. it's difficult to square this reamount. the timing of the cuts raises serious concerns that the decisions are being driven by budget airy concerns as opposed to strategic priorities. mr. secretary, i think you have a unique perspective on the tension between meeting our national security requirements and getting spending d

he's earned broad respect from democrats and republicans, and general martin dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has done a tremendous job in his stewardship of the military in a time of extraordinary challenge and transition. >> i join you in welcoming secretary clinton, secretary panetta, and general dempsey. we're very pleased and honored you have joined us today. nine years ago, the foreign relations committee began consideration of the law of the sea convention, as designated by george w. bush as one of the five urgent treaties needing ratification. the foreign relations committee took up all five of the treaties in the 108th congress, and all but the law of sea gained the advice and consent of the senate. our committee held two public hearings and four commations of the law. six cabinets and departments participated in the interagency group that helped write the advice and consent that accompanied the treaty at that time. in the private sector, every major ocean industry, including shipping, fishing, oil, and natural gas, drilling contractors, ship builders, tell

[applause] >> lieutenant general burgess will join general dempsey center stage. general dempsey presents the distinguished service medal to lieutenant-general burgess. lieutenant-general ronald burgess, united states army distinguished himself by superior service while serving as the seventeenth director of defense intelligence agency from march of 2009 to july of 2012. drawing on his exceptional leadership skills amid change and uncertainty, lieutenant-general burgess focus the agency on the greatest challenges confronting the united states including afghanistan and pakistan, iraq illegally iran, transnational terrorism and strategic vice, surprise elsewhere around the globe. in doing so lieutenant-general burgess redefined d.i.a. affability and demonstrated the ability to serve in support of contingency operations and crises in all his endeavors. he consistently guided outcome that strengthened national and military capabilities amid selfless devotion to duty and unparalleled personal drama have been instrumental in transforming defense intelligence into a coop

leon panetta, the defense secretary and martin dempsey testifying on capitol hill. on the first of three days in congressional hearings. it essentially shifts the focus from the long wars to future challenges. in asia, the middle east and also concerns about cyberspace. >>> news from capitol hill about another senator, rand paul, republican from kentucky he's delaying a senate debate to make a statement on egypt. after unsuccessfully trying to block a judicial nominee, he refused to offer consent to move ahead on the transportation bill which the president offered his support for last week. the move is expected to delay consideration on the plan until later this week. according to politico, the reason, an amendment to cut off aid to egypt if workers are detained in the country. unless the senator decides to offer consent to move forward for the transportation bill the senate would stuck in a 36-hour holding pattern. as senator paul trying to make a point about egypt. here's more from his comments earlier on the floor. >> mr. president, some senators are concerned th

general dempsey answers, no, i can't do that because i have to know what the outcome is. you tell me what the outcome is and i can tell you about a plan to achieve that outcome. he says, tell me that you want regime change in iraq. i can build you a plan. how many divisions, air wings. i know what it takes. tell me following the regime change in syria you want me to restore order, do nation building stability ops. i know what that looks like. so anything at this point vees a see syria would be hypothetical in the extreme. i can't build a plan unless i understand the outcome. didn't president obama say august 18 that assad had to go? this is june 7. two weeks ago. general dempsey is saying he can't plan because he doesn't know or doesn't understand the outcome. this is remarkable. it seems that general dempsey is lacking any civilian guidance regarding the end state of what we want to reach in syria. right? assad's gone. what is it going to look like? what should we do? the fact that it took more than a year or we are more than a year into the slaughter is indicative of am

he said, no this is patrick dempsey. >> i thought mcdreamy? >> dempsey's representative as refused to comment on this story. >>> two men out for a ride ended up in serious danger when they were hit by a car. how something they used for training ended up helping finding the person responsible. >> and how young is too young for girls to start wearing makeup. how one mother's blog about that topic is ticking some people off. [ female announcer ] with xfinity, you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework [ female announcer ] and best of all, it keeps getting better. no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪ >>> a car hits two bikers and fleece the scene and the driver might have gotten away if it wasn't for that tiny camera on the front of the bike. the biker turned it into police. police enhanced the license plate

to general dempsey.are here today. active duty, veterans, family and friends of the fallen. thank you for allowing me to privilege of joining you in this sacred place to commemorate memorial day. these 600 acres are home to americans from every part of the country who gave their lives in every corner of the globe. when a revolution needed to be waged and a union needed to be saved they left their homes and took up arms for the sake of an idea. from the jungles of vietnam to the mountains of afghanistan, they stepped forward and answered the call. they fought for a home they might never return to. they fought for buddies they would never forget. while their stories may be separated by hundreds of years and thousands of miles, they rest here, together, side by side. row by row. because each of them loved this country. and everything it stands for, more than life itself. today, we come together as americans to pray, to reflect and to remember these heroes. but tomorrow, this hallowed place will once again b

secretary clinton, secretary panetta, and general dempsey, welcome. we're particularly privileged to have you here today, and we thank you for joining us. it's really a rare occasion i think in any committee but it's a rare occasion in this committee when we have simultaneously a panel of witnesses that brings together america's top diplomat, our country's top defense official, and our nation's top military officer. your presence here all together powerfully underscores the importance that you put on this issue. our committee shares this sense of importance, which is why i hope without respect to party or ideology, we will begin an open, honest, and comprehensive discussion about whether the united states of america should join the law of the sea convention. i want to underscore the word comprehensive. i've heard from countless military and business leaders for some period of time who believe it is urgent that we ratify this treaty. and i've also spoken with senators and some groups who oppose the treaty. i intend to make certain that the committee do

so i wanted to ask you and general dempsey in advance of the formal report, what are the two or three top risks that you are concerned about that this budget places on our military and on our national security? >> senator, first of all, i'm abiding by the law. the law that was passed by congress that required the reductions that we've proposed. and i think, you know, just to your comment, we have tried to step up to the plate and do our duty here. i think in weighing how you address this issue, you've also got to take into consideration the national security threat that comes from the huge deficits and the huge debt that we're running. we're running a debt now that's comparable to our gdp. at some point the congress and the president have to address that larger issue. what i'm doing here is basically doing my part as dictated by the congress. with regards to the threats, as i said, you can't take a half trillion dollars out of the defense budget and not incur some risks. the main concerns that i see are that we are going to have a smaller force. and when you have a smaller force, the

dempsey being hit with shrapnel from two rockets. luckily he was in his quarters and is not hurt this morning. kelly wright has more. >> the information we are getting from jennifer griffin who is on the ground with the general says the strike occurred shortly after midnight in afghanistan forcing the air base into lock down mode for more than an hour. basis personnel will ordered to their bunkers. shrapnel from two rockets struck the chairman of the joint chief's see 17 plane forcing the chairman to await a plane to leave afghanistan. dempsey was in his quarters at the time of the attack and was not injured or in any danger according to zane. some were treated for light shrapnel and possible brain injury from the strike. the two rockets were fired remote timer. general tedempsey has been concerned about insider attacks against u.s. and troops. in an earlier interview while visiting was the taliban was trying to interrupt the development of security forces. they were going to try to retake lost territory that they lost notably in the

or general dempsey? >> i cannot elaborate on that specific issue except to say the collaboration between the air force and the army on their lift requirements, that has been accomplished. and you will have both of them here at some point in the near future. this is about accounting rules. so if you have x number of airborne brigades, how much x number of ground brigade, how much lift do you need? and those accounting rules have been adjusted over time based on lessons learned. do you want to add anything? >> i do want to add the c-130 very important us to. but all studies show we have too many, frankly. so what you're seeing is adjusting in tough budget times to go down to what we believe are the minimum requirements that meet our war-time needs. >> and part of my concern is that we're actually adding i guess duties to the air force's c-130 because they're going to be doing the c-127j lift as well. i look at the c-127j. it was going to be sort of a pickup truck and the c-130 might be more like a tractor-

thank you, chairman, thank you secretary dempsey. i would like to ask the role of on china and russia here. let me say up front, and i'm sure you'll agree, that it's outrageous that china and russia blocked the u.n. resolutions and both of them most recently in february. as i understand it, according to the center for strategic ay natl studies that was issued, the arms imports to russia and syria, that they have been a leading arms supplier to the assad regimregime, has that bee case, do they continue to provide arms to the assad regime now? >> theyes they do. >> so russia is providing arms to the assad regime as they murder their own people? >> they have a long standing foreign military sales relationship with then and it continues on unstopped. >> and us does not seem to matter to russia at all that they are using these arms to murder their own people. it's outrageous, and china has provided arm as well to a lesser extent to assad? >> let me get back to you, there are other issues of assistance but i'm not sure about arms. >> i wou

general dempsey, thank you both very much for being here. i want to follow up on the issues that have been raised about arms shipments from russia and china. reports are that % of syrian arms come from china and north korea. and you talked a little bit about the russian perspective, but i'm not clear whether we think there's any way to engage the chinese on this issue. and is the -- is this something the international community has developed a strategy on for how to prevent or reduce future arm shipments from russia and china. >> the international community is concerned about what you just discussed. and i think the international community led by the united states is trying to engage both russia and china to try to see if we can change their approach to syria. >> senator, if i could, we said here this morning that it's very clear and documented that russia has an arm sale agreement with syria. we've also said we need to get back to on whether china is. i don't know the answer to that question. >> that comes from published reports. i apprecia

ladies and gentlemen, general dempsey. [applause] >> mr.tta, members of congress, distinguished guests, and the families of our missing in fallen warriors, welcome. today, as we lay wreaths and plant flags, it is worth noting memorial day was originally known as decoration day. we decorate with vibrant colors to express the depth of our collective attitude and pride in those risking everything for our country. despite the celebratory use, the american family also pauses to warn members of the military family who will not come home. this complex range of emotions is evident in the peace by one of america's greatest writers. a military parent himself, one of his poems, entitled decoration day, speaks to the experience of any family who has sent a son or daughter off to war. his own son charlie returned safely from the civil war, he was moved by the fact that many more did not. it is closing lines, he frames and eternal relationship between fallen service members and the nation they protect. he says, your silent hints of green, we deck with fr

general dempsey, let me start with you. do you and each of the joint chiefs of staff, first of all, fully support the new strategic guidance? >> yes, senator, we do. >> do you and each of the joint chiefs of staff fully support the president's fiscal year 2013 budget request? >> yes, senator, we do. >> can you tell us why? >> because we addressed it in the order you just presented it. faced with the reality of a new fiscal environment, we looked at our strategy and made it what we thought were important adjustments to it, not just based on the new fiscal reality, but the lessons of 10 years of war, and where we thought the security and are meant to take us in the out years. as you know, i am an advocate of looking beyond this particular budget commission out to 2020. we did that with not only the service chiefs but also with the combatant commanders. and that having decided on what adjustments to make to our strategy, we build a budget to support it. for that reason we support it. >> general, you made reference to the risks

the issue is what general dempsey said in the rest of his statement. he said, the failure to ratify put ourselves at risk of confrontation with other who is are interpreting customary international law to their benefit and the risk of confrontation goes up. what all of the commanders said today, and i think this is a very important sub text to their testimony was that the world is changing very rapidly. other countries are pressing for resources in ways that have not before. given that pressure for resources and that we're going to become a planet of going from seven billion to nine billion in the next 30, 40 years, that's only going to increase. what they're saying, all of them is that this provides an orderly prosays for how to manage your way through that increased pressure intention. that's part of what increases the urgency. the second thing they sited. i think it's important for every member to realize this, our intel community will make it very clear that there are actors right now who are behaving in ways that challenge us where the law of the

general martin dempsey.s and now joins us on the phone from baghdad where she's just landed. good afternoon to you. >> hi, steve. we have been traveling for the last few days with general martin dempsey and we were awake last night, about to do our report for special report and it was late after midnight, afghan time. we heard two loud explosions and the whole base at bagram went into lock down mode. it was a few hours later that we learned that it was likely a 107-millimeter rocket that there was two of them fired. some of the shrapnel from the rocket hit around the door to the plane, the c-17 plane that we had been traveling on with general dempsey. general dempsey was asleep at the time. i'm told that actually he told us that he woke up. his aides told us he woke up with the first rocket. then went back to sleep and slept through the second air raid siren and second incoming. but he was never in any danger. it was far from where general dempsey was sleeping at the time. but again, two loud rockets sort of