particularly according to the department of defense. the department of defense's data this month shows clearly it has not hindered the department from purchasing the fuel we need today worldwide to support the military missions. but it also sets an important baseline in developing the fuels that we need for our future. d.o.d., the department of defense, supports this section and recognizes that tomorrow's soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, are going to need a greater range of energy sources. in fact, the department says that repealing this section could, and i'm quoting the department, complicate the department's efforts to provide better energy solutions to our war fighters. and to take advantage of the promising developments in homegrown biofuels. we're also -- i would also emphasize the impact it would have on our economy and the creation of new jobs in our economy. i believe the amendment would damage the development of biofuels given the fact that the department of defense is such a huge procurer of energy at the worst possible

speaker, out of the department of defense. we need to be looking at commonsense ways for us to be able to save money. this amendment is about promoting efficiency in the department of defense and achieving savings wherever possible. the amount of funds provided in this bill for these ships is $1 billion above the navy's own budget request. so in the spirit of seeking to achieve cost savings, i believe it's appropriate for us to act in consistent to allow the competitive bidding process to play out which as a navy executive acquisition testified to allow the navy to purchase a 10th ship. if these bids come back and the 10th ship cannot be realized, i'm in support of providing additional resources next year but we should allow the navy to operate and at lower costs while achieving -- the chair: time the gentleman from illinois has expired. question is on the amendment offered by -- the gentleman from florida. mr. young: mr. chairman, i rise in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. m

for-profit business, stock market the whole thing, and running a government agency like the department of defense? >> in business, if you do poorly, the business goes out of business. it ends. and government doesn't end. government can do quite poorly over a long, long, long period of time. and it just goes on and on and on. another thing about business is, you know, human beings, unless you're einstein or mozart and you go off and all by yourself and do something brilliant, all of the rest of us who aren't einstein or mozarts, what we do is with other people. so in business you lay out a course of action, try it, get people to help you do it, if the people do well, you reward them. if the people don't do well, you get other people to help do it. and if it does well you encourage it and keep it going. if it doesn't do well, you stop it. in government it's quite different. in government, for example, when i was running the office of economic opportunity, we would try something and before we could even get it going, the congress wanted an oversight hearing. people wanted to have an inspector genera

delighted to have the today at the upset of the principal deputy assistant of defense for readiness and unforced management of the departmentdeal of responsibility on your shoulders and expertise. we thank you for that. all of us are concerned about sequestration. we are five months from that coming into place. as i look at the statute i say the same percentage of sequestration to apply to all programs within a budget accounts up with programs, projects, and activities in the appropriation act or report for the relevant assistant -- accounts not included an appropriation acts. basically, we're talking about across the board cuts, that is what we are looking at. noting that sequestration is the current law, noting that we are five months of from when that comes into play, what will be the impact of the civilian workforce when sequestration hits? >> i wish i could give you a definitive answer but i cannot. there are some decisions that could be made relative to the military work force. if sequestration were to be a fact, the civilian work force money is in the account. other agencies could make decisions about what agencies w

currently, sir, the department of defense is supposed to give employees a 60-day notice of layoffs spending. so you do that backward it puts us as november 1. >>guest: the election is november 6. so, it is not the defense department, but the defense contractors who have to do the business, required by federal law with mass layoffs they are required to tell their employees at least secretary days out. it is called the warren act, it is a federal law. a lot of the contractors have said, wait, we arefraid of the cuts, the automatic spending cuts. we will have to invoke the warren act and warm our employees and the timing is right before the election. the labor department yesterday actually issued official guidance which oversees the act saying, no, no, no, we don't think you need to issue the warnings, we are convinced the automatic cuts will be eliminated by then and so we don't think you need to do that. if the sequesters go into effect they fall under a part of the law that is unforeseen circumstance, so, you are protected from not having done that. the defense contractors are in the so sur

$50 billion of programmatic cuts before he or a new secretary of defense has even had a chance to conduct a review of the defense department's plans, programs, and strategy. and if president obama is reelected the arbitrary spending cuts directed by the budget control act of 2011 that he insisted on would eviscerate the president's own defense strategic guidance issued earlier this year. no wonder, no wonder secretary panetta has said these cuts would be like shooting ourselves in the head. the weapons systems and capabilities required to provide a dominant presence in the asian pacific theater, attack submarines, amphibious ships, marines afloat and ashore, the next generation bomber, completing acquisition of the f-35, and the ford class aircraft carriers will be required to deter and defeat aggression and to project power. investments in these capabilities must be made while we continue to combat and pursue al qaeda. deploy and equip special operation forces and, of course, seek to deter iran. and that's why the president should prepare for the possibility of a possible transition of power now and should do so with the sa

we have fraud and waste at the department of defense. we made sure we are auditing the department of defense. there is a statute that requires the books be audited every year. they have refused to do that for years. we are trying to hold their feet to the fire. we should let taxpayers know where the money is spent. it is important on national defense issues that we do the analysis to make sure that we're asking two questions -- how much we can afford to spend, but we have not been asking the second question, what is the rest of the united states if we do not supply some of these resources? that is the analysis we think we should have. host: if sequestration happens, here is the affect on the defense department. mobile, alabama, you're on with randy forbes of virginia. caller: thank you and good morning. i have spent many years in the military and i am more than just vaguely familiar with various grades of gasoline, diesel, clearing the sophisticated types. why is our navy paying $26 a gallon for biofuels? why is my federal tax dollar subs

it should because none of us want the defense department to hire bad contractors. good job, mr. kucinich. mr. kucinich: if i may will the gentleman yield? the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. is there any further discussion on this amendment? for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina rise? i'm sorry. the question now is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from ohio. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the gentleman from north carolina. the gentleman has an amendment at the desk. the clerk will report the it. -- will report it. the clerk: amendment number 17 prted in the congressional record offered by mr. jones of north carolina. the chair: the gentleman from florida. mr. young: i reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment. the chair: the gentleman reserves a point of order. the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for five minutes. mr. jones: mr. speaker, thank you very much. even though the chairman has a point of ord

the department of defense is only 19.7 percent of the overall budget of the united states of america. but we are trying to put 50 percent to 55 percent, a little more, of the budget cuts on the department of defense at a time when the world is more volatile than i remember in the 22 years i served active duty. >>eric: talk about what the $600 million of defense cuts would mean to the military after spending 20-plus year career in the military. what does it mean? >>guest: in the budget control act of 2011 we decided to take away $487 million over the next 10 years from the department of defense. we all agree with that. but now you are talking about taking our military to the small the ground force we have had since 1940, the army and the marine corps, the smallest middle east we have had, fleet of naval ships since 1915 and the small of the air force in the history of the modern air force they will lose fine fighter squadrons. when you hear people look at all of the hot spots across the world and people asking us to get involved in syria, with what, i ask? as far as looking at cutting

. >> attorney gordon erspalmer is suing the department of defense and veteran affairs on behalf of the edgewood veterans. >> what do you hope to get for them? >> they will get nothing other than perhaps medical care. they won't get any money. they wanted proper notice of the substances they received, doses and health effects. many were never notified of anything. they were mistreated and don't want to let this be swept under the rug and have everyone die and never see the light of day. that's why they're doing it. >> we wanted to talk about the lawsuit with the va and defense department. we declined to talk on camera citing pending litigation. they gave us a statement instead. the department of defense said it made it a priority to all service members exposed to chemical and biological substances. >> on the fighting front, it has been quiet today. >> the spokesperson said most veterans have never been contacted by the v.a. >> the v.a. doesn't want to know. >> the v.a. has denied almost all edgewo related health claims. >> our government has not fulfilled their duty. they have a duty to

of the process by don rumsfeld general counsel jim haynes. and the state department was cut out of the process and the lawyers at the state department and the lawyers and the department of defense and the military lawyers the career military lawyers know better than anyone that is in the united states' interest not to engage in this kind of activity so they were caught over the process and instead you've got a group of ideologues brought in to give the president the tools to do what he wanted to do irrespective of whether there was a reasonable argument it was all for naught which individual moment and the investigation would you say shocking most when i was speaking with the folks who were down at guantanamo i discovered and my book actually broke the story that one of the influence that was in the autumn of two thousand and two was a television program called twenty four which is a t.v. program about the use of torture which promotes the idea really that torture works it produces results it's a sensible way to proceed and one of the people that are interviewed on beaver confirmed to me actually unexpectedly because i hadn't really asked a question. she just said that twenty f

at the department of defense and department of veterans affairs family that supports one another and all those who have answered the call to defend our country. together we will do everything possible to ensure that the bond between our two departments and between our country and those who have defended it on micro stronger the future. let me also say this is a former congressman, now secretary of defense and someone who has spent over 40 years involved in government in some capacity or another, i am well aware that too often the very best intentions, the very best intentions for caring for a veteran can get trapped in bureaucratic infighting. it gets trapped by conflicting rules and regulations. it gets trapped by frustrating levels of responsibility. this cannot be an excuse for not dealing with these issues. it should be a challenge for both va and dod, for the congressman for the administration to try to meet that challenge together. our warriors are trained not to fail on the battlefield. we must be committed not to fail them on the home front. i realize that there have been a l

and so the bottom line is that the volunteer forces, the right thing for the department of defense if we can manage it in a way that doesn't drive out other things in the department. >> after 43 years of service, you and mrs. schwartz are getting a well deserved rest. what's next? >> hawaii for vacation and then we'll come back and >>> sir, thanks very much for spending as muscle time as you have -- much time as you have over the years. coming up, my notebook. >>> uk defense secretary philip hammond came to america this month to pick up britain's first f35 lightning 2 fighter and left behind advice. he called america's position global to security commerce and britain would remain america's closest ally but help europe boost its security role as america dials back its presence. he urged alliance wide cooperation to preserve core skills gained during a decade of war in afghan tan an -- afghanistan and arook, to ensure officers remain effective as rapid reaction forces in the future. he advocated for more collaborative programs like the joint strike fighter program where allies share a r

its dangerousness the only allusion to health consequences is contained in this phrase the department of defense and many other organizations have studied and continue to study the health chemical radiological and environmental effects on exposures of depleted uranium that's all they wrote to the u.s. army the use of depleted uranium is taboo i did manage to speak to one former high ranking official at the department of defense being west was with the marines of the battle of fallujah he later wrote a book recognized in the u.s. as the reference on american strategy in the rebel city you heard about that you created. all the wife plus for us. but you saved it. it's all nonsense of. a rainy i'm or something. a bomb is a bomb. it's not like somebody is leaving behind radioactive so that the marines walk through i mean radioactive fields that all of them arrange die if any scientists show a linkage between a lingering health problems relative to a military weapon. then that military weapon should not be you unless there's an extraordinary reason however if there is a lingering problem the first peo

the drop in the number of troops in the army and marines by 103,000 alone. the defense department's recruiter said the recruitment is high right now because of the economy. number three, this program has no accountability. in february, our office, as a member of the defense appropriations subcommittee, we asked the pentagon, what are your hard numbers? if you're spending $72 million sponsoring major sports programs, what are you getting out of it? and they couldn't come up with it. that disturbs me as a fiscal conservative. i want to believe if the pentagon is spending thatch money on something, they're able to defend it. the miller beer company put it this way. they said, on exposure, i don't care how much ebb poe sure you get, what it's supposed to be worth or what our awareness is versus the competition, i need to tell the c.e.o. and shareholders how many additional cases of beer they sold. in short, the army can't tell us how many recruits they get from this. we've got sequestration facing us. on top of the cut over the next 10 years and a troop reduction of 100,000, we may have

the department of defense has worked closely with the department of state to ensure a successful transition to a civilian-led presence in iraq. dod provided all possible support for success as u.s. forces withdrew from iraq. today the department of defense continues to work with the department of state to meet the needs for the assignment of personnel, the extension of currenequipment loans. the goal now is a stable presents, building on years of working with the iraqis to create a lasting security relationship, including a robust foreign military sales program. our current program is the fourth largest in the region and the ninth largest in the world of the total value of approximately $11.6 billion. of all the fms cases in iraq, the f-16 stands out as the cornerstone of the strategic relationship. iraq's request to the sale of 36 f-16's and associated training and the value of approximately $6 billion. iraq has deposited approximately $2.5 billion tore the sale. deliveries of the aircraft are scheduled in september 2014. thee now at a point where results of the efforts are within reach. w

if enacted, this would freeze department of defense programs at fiscal year 2008 levels unless the financial statements of the department of defense for fiscal year 2013 are validated as ready for audit within six months of an -- of enactment of this act. this would exempt military personnel, reserve, and national guard personnel accounts as well as the defense health program account from this potentially funding freeze. it also contains a waiver for any potential harm to national security or combat forces. now some of my colleagues may make the argument that the department of defense is making progress on this issue in response to congressional engagement. they might reference language in recent defense authorization bills requiring d.o.d. to develop separate and implement plans to achieve audit readiness by september 30, 2017. but 2017, let me just say, mr. chairman, this is wholly unacceptable that we are still just developing plans for the department of defense to have the fiscal house in order five years from now. this problem is not newly discovered and further delay is really an aband

before we see any further arbitrary cuts in the civilian work force, it is imperative that the department of defenserovide congress with the inventory of contractor services that are supporting the department. we need more information to make the difficult decisions that will be required with our current budget situations. total force management is only successful when good planning, information, and solid leadership are in place to manage human capital. again, i look forward to this discussion with our witnesses, i thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you for those remarks, madeleine. as we discussed prior to hearing, asked for unanimous consent be made in order to depart from regular order. i think this will provide a roundtable-type form and enhance the dialogue of these very important issues. without objection, that is so ordered. mr. vollrath, we would love to hear your opening comments. >> thank you. >> you might want to put that microphone a little closer, and they are a little finicky. >> thank you. as with the future, we must continue to strive to achieve the most effective, efficient, and app

so my question to you is given the state of the internal control of the defense department, 50 to $100billion, how out of the $709 budget and my republicans supporting you guys, but a part of me thinks that if there's that much waste, fraud and abuse in the defense department, what's wrong with cutting 50 to 100 billion? >> guest: david, we have two different components to your question. first of all, you're absolutely right in terms of the department of defense has not audited their books the way that they need to do that. there is a statute on the books that requires them to audit those books to give proper financial statements and the audit will accompany the budget request every year when they submit over. i have been on them. secretary gates i asked him over and over again about auditing his books. they had guidelines as to when they'll have it done. they just missed the guideline. i can tell you think secretary pineda has been in there he is but a huge priority on moving the department of defense closer and closer to where they're in a position to either books and give the true a

the department of defense issued a statement saying that james holmes is not a past or current member of any branch or component of the u.s. armed forces. tonight, navy and air force officials are on the scene working with families of the service members victimized in this tragedy to ensure they get the care and attention they need. in aurora, colorado, andrea mccarren, 9news now. >> and both president obama and republican candidate mitt romney cancelled all of their campaign event following the tragedy in denver and they pulled all of their ads in colorado as well. they told americans keep the victims in their thoughts and prayers. >> we will take every step possible to ensure the safety of all of our people. we're going to stand by our neighbors in colorado during this extraordinarily difficult time. >> our hearts break for the victim and their families. we pray that the wounded will recover and that those who are grieving will know the nearness of god. >> the president has also issued a proclamation honoring the victim and he's ordered all u.s. flags to be flown at half staff from

general kelly, you will be one of the key and planters and the department of defense of the president's strategy and the committee looks forward to hearing your views on this threat in southcom's ongoing role in the implementation of this strategy. over the last two decades kosoff,'s most significant operations have been supporting the colombian unified campaign against the revolutionary armed forces of colombia or farc and other transnational criminal organizations. southcom's trained and a good activities and columbia have seen success as the colombian government is backing control of the vast majority of its territory and general kelly, you will be responsible for maintaining this important military to military relationship. the success of southcom support operations in colombia however has an apartment that illegal narcotics trafficking and in the association of a destabilizing impact have shifted into central america and general kelly the support of southcom to those nations in central america and put in honduras, el salvador and guatemala will be the key focus sutphen southcom. so

department of defense has signed a contract with boeing for one very popular item an anti ship missile called the harpoon which the u.s. has sold to dozens of countries providing self pacific powers with the exception of china with the new missiles now at the same time making sure the united arab emirates and saudi arabia arabia countries which rely heavily on the strait of hormuz are well stocked with these american made empty ship missiles. well right now we're going to take a quick break but coming up more guarded than many u.s. airports american students are getting a lot more than an education when they attend public schools these days from metal detectors to cops in the classroom well tell you how this system is creating a school to prison pipeline next. to the line of american power continues. things that are. might actually be time revolution. and it turns out that a popular drink of starbucks says the surprise is. what drives the world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions to break through it's already been made who can you trust no one. with the global ma

military a shocking new report reveals that the department of defense is using psychedelic drugs to interrogate. is this shocking reality of the future of warfare. it's thursday july twelfth four pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wahl and you're watching our t.v. . a losing faith in the media americans confidence in television news has hit a new low that's according to a recent gallup poll these days only twenty one percent of americans have confidence in the news that's a forty six percent drop since one thousand nine hundred three and confidence in newspapers not much better and though the poll shows confidence has hit a new low that poll was taken before this happens. the individual mandate has been ruled unconstitutional justices have just got it both the centerpiece provisions of the obama health care law if in fact that's the final word on the individual mandate there could be a little bit more complicated like getting conflicting information we're getting inflicting information as you say there's been some confusion there are conflicting reports coming in from inside this supreme court

of defense, the honorable lee on e. panetta. [applause] >> thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, leaders of the departmentrs of the united states intelligence community. it is really an honor for me to be able to participate in this ceremony paying tribute to ron burgess and acknowledging that we have a new director here, mike flynn. today we pay tribute to ron as he retires after 38 years of service to our nation. i am a big believer in public service to this country. as the son of italian immigrants my parents made very clear to me the responsibility that their children have to give something back to this country which had given so much to them. in his quiet italian way my father said, you better give something back to this country or i will kick your ass [laughing] so i was inspired to public service. and throughout my, almost 40 years i have really believed that public service and those dedicated to giving something back to this country is what america's all about. it's what keeps our democracy strong. and that's what ron burgess is all about. he is a great public servant. beyond that he is a great so

in may they secured multi-million dollar attack helicopter improvement contracts with the department of defense and britain's ministry of defense and finmeccanica representatives. commented on the syrian deals and that's according to reports it's also not clear if the department of defense is going to bar de bar the company from future contracts for its work with the assad government but don't worry we will keep you updated on all this any other revelations that do come out from the syria files as they emerge. now all this week there have been secretive negotiations going on in san diego that's over the t.p. p. which is the trans-pacific partnership agreement it could be the biggest trade agreement in u.s. history and also leaves room for expansion now so far the countries included are the us australia brunei chile malaysia new zealand peru singapore vietnam mexico and canada but the problem is that we know very little about it as we've discussed before on the show the obama administration has resisted transparency in these negotiations even to the point where senator ron wyden the chair of the

security as a bipartisan issue in this chamber, and i would hope that we would not use our department of defense and put our men and women in uniform in this uncertain position. we need to let them know we have their back, and as members of congress we should be together right now sitting at the table, resolving this, coming up with alternative spending reductions, and i would also call on the president as commander in chief of this country to lead that effort, to stop sitting on the sidelines, mr. president,. this is too important to the security of the united states of america. and with that, i see my colleague from south dakota here today, john thune, who is a leader in our conference and someone i know has been very focused on this issue. and senator thune, i would ask you, yesterday the house was focusing on this issue. we know there were hearings before the house armed services committee. in fact, the house, we should point out, through reconciliation has already passed a bill to address sequestration to make sure that our national security is protected. and they've done that, it has not b

has allowed the department of defense to move forward. we are beginning to seat charges have once again been reinstated against him. they are now going through the numbers of motions. you're seeing his attorneys try every legal shenanigan in the book, trying to get -- to delay the trial. this is classic lawyer. ok? we'll use as many motions as we can to try to delay the trial. and in two years when we still haven't gone to a commission, they'll claim the united states government is delaying a fair trial. >> who is he? >> he was the principle explosives guy that was brought into the country to coordinate all of theether assets to conduct the attack after a failed attack in january of 2000 against another navy ship. uss sullivans had pulled in. they had already put together a boat with explosives and attempted to set it out to the ship. unfortunately they would swamp the boat. it would sink at the pier. the people scattered, came back, recovered all the equipment, the bow, the truck, the explosives, tested them in the desert. then they would

the department of homeland security is working with the department of defense of that are naturalization basic training will be in place at all of our service branches by the end of the year. we will continue to do everything we can to expedite the naturalization process for individuals like you to a party given so much to our nation. let me offer my congratulations to each of you. all of us are proud to call you our fellow citizens. it is my distinct honor and privilege to introduce to you the president of the united states, barack obama. mr. president. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. secretary napolitano . . welcome to the white house. happy fourth of july. what a perfect way to celebrate america's birthday. the oldest democracy with some of our newest citizens. i have to tell you this is one of my favorite things to do. it brings me great joy and inspiration because it reminds us that we are a country that is bound together by fidelity to a set of ideas. as members of our military, you raise your hand and to get out of service. it is an honor for me to serve as your commander a

department of homeland security. so now we have an interagency body that includes the department of defense, the department of justice, represented by the f.b.i., the department of commerce, the intelligence community, undoubtedly it would be the director of national intelligence's office. and appropriate sector-specific federal agencies such as ferc, if we're talking about how to -- how best to protect our electric grid. the council would work in partnership with the private sector, would conduct risk assessments to identify our nation's most critical cyber infrastructure. now, madam president, what do we mean about that? we hear that term. what exactly is critical cyber infrastructure? it is that which, if damaged, could result in mass casualties casualties, mass evacuations, catastrophic economic damage to our country, or severe harm to our national security. madam president, don't we want to safeguard critical national assets that if damaged would cause numerous deaths, people to flee their homes, their communities, a disaster for our economy, or severe blow to our national security? i can't believe there's even

what do we have diplomacy conducted by the department of defense. diplomacy via the waet is powerfulunited states and japan and germany fund two-thirds of the budget. enough with this nonsense and we'll cut back until you fix your silly wayings. >> you are right. there are problems with the un. it is better than the precursor which was the league of nation . this is not the first silly thing that happened in the un. we have other ways to trade and blockade and tariffs other than with drawing support for the un and run away. it looks like we are running from cover. support the un. free trade is the greatest way to foster peace in the world and costs us nothing and grow our economy. we'll not need the un. >>> and guys we have to leave it there. >> it is tremendous and i feel ready to take on the world. >> our informers will have you feeling tremendous and that's next, don't go away. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. becau

what are the plans to maintain an light of the fact that the department of defense is facing another lf trillion dollar reduction due to se sequestration. but the department of veterans affairs is exempt? i now recognize chairman jeff milling for the opening remarks to be followed by ranking member adam smith and ranking member bob for their opening remarks. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman and to the ranking members for helping to set up this really truly historic meeting today according to quick search, it appears that we have never had these two secretaries simultaneously appearing before our two committees, and i suggest we don't wait song before we do it again. and if we're going ask the va and d. o. d. to work together. i think our committees should be doing exactly the same secretary pa then that. it's a pleasure to have you both with us here today. in your presence i think underscores the goal we all share. that our separating service-members have a seamless transition from the military live to the civilian life. our committees the veterans affairs committee and the subcom

at the department of veterans affairs and the department of defense. will do everything possible to ensure that the bond between our two departments and between our country and those who have defended it only grows stronger in the future. let me also say this. as a former congressman, now as secretary of defense, and someone who spent over 40 years involving government in some capacity or another, i am well aware that too often the very best intentions for caring for our veterans can get trapped in bureaucratic infighting. it gets trapped by conflicting rules and regulations. it gets trapped by first reading levels of responsibility. -- by force trading levels of responsibility. this is no -- by frustrating levels of responsibily. this is no excuse. our warriors are trained not to fail on the battlefield. we must be committed not to fill them on the home front. i realize that there have been a lot of good words and a lot of goodwill and a lot of good intentions. but i can assure you that my interest is in results, not words. i am grateful for the suppo