thornberry: we may. that overruns the second area of reform which is overhead, which is civilian and military. it is not just military. and so we may be taking some steps in that area. but today what i was trying to focus on is the way that we contract for goods and services . but your point is exactly right these things are interrelated and just as the military compensation stuff is related to this. and so if you want somebody that can be competitive with google and understands what they are offering and integrating the commercial technology then you have to be competitive for that top talent which gets us back to the personnel recommendations. is the government competitive for that top talent and do the recommendations make it more or less likely we will be able to compete with google for the software engineers in the past? so the point that the things i do intertwine is absolutely valid. mr. hunter: i think we have time for at least one more depending on the length. in the back. jay: j harrelson from

thornberry: -- sec. carter: i will give you one simple example why sequestration is wasteful as well as damaging and that is when we are forced by the suddenness of it to curtail the number of things and the overall size of our procurement in such a way that we drive up unit costs or we prolong the duration of a contract. you all know that a short come contract you pay more for and that is the kind of thing that we are driven to buy sequestration and it is obvious to anybody who is contracting with anybody to get their lawn mowed or something that that is economically inefficient, so it is more than dangerous. rep. bordallo: thank you, thank you very much. also i have another question for you. can you comment on how broadly speaking the fy16 budget supports the asia-pacific region, and how important was removal of the restrictions of the government of japan's and for the relocation of the marines in last year's defense bill, and also, are you looking to activate the guam oversight committee, which i thou

thornberry: we may. see that kind of runs into the second area of reform which is overhead which is civilian and military. it's not just civilian. so we may well be taking some steps in that area. but today what i was just trying to focus on is the way we contract for goods and services. but your point is exactly right. these things are interrelated. and just as the military compensation stuff is related to this. so if you want somebody who can be competitive with google, you want somebody to understand what google is offering and integrating that commercial technology then you're going to have to be competitive for that really top talent which gets us back to the personnel commission recommendations. is the government competitive for that top talent? and do their recommendations make it more or less likely that we'll be able to compete with google for the software engineers in the past. the point that all of these things do intertwine is absolutely valid. host: i think we have time for at least one more

thornberry: thank you. rep. tsongas: thank you very much for the opportunity today and i just want to say i always appreciate your candid and forthcoming testimony before this committee. just to address briefly the issue of sequestration, i too, share the view you have, secretary carter, that we have to deal with it across-the-board, as we know how we defend our country does not exist in isolation it i come from a state that is heavily invested in education, and it is an educated community that leads so often on developing all of the technologies that all the service chiefs have acknowledged are very important to how we move forward in defending our country and remaining agile. we have to invest in our minds as much as anything else. so it is all very much linked, and i do appreciate you acknowledging all of that. two weeks ago, this committee had the chance to discuss the the bill against isil, so i thank you both for your presence here today, and i asked general austin about the united states having to address

chairman thornberry: thanks. speaking to you about combat search and rescue, is like talking about nuclear issues sitting next to a nuclear physicist. i will do so nevertheless. we are not limited. the bomb does not limit our ability. you know generally where we are postured. my staff will articulate that tomorrow. if we think the mission is high risk, we can put the package airborne as part of the air tasking order. we are attentive to that. you will find our staff relieve your concerns tomorrow. representative: i wanted to follow-up on the a-10 issue. this was dealing with our allies, related to the aggression that we have seen come out of russian, and we have a-10's deployed to iraq and syria. the president's plan requires mothballing them. i asked secretary yesterday if that was a budget decision, and she said yes. i wanted to hear if that is a case, because we have heard different armaments over the last two years, all over the map, that if you have the resources, would you keep the a-10 flying through its l

signed by speaker pro tempore thornberry on thursday, march 12 2015. the clerk: make administrative and technical corrections to the congressional accountability act of 1995. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 2-b of house resolution 134, the house stands adjourned until noon on monday, march 16 2015,

chairman thornberry: mr. zinke. representative: mr. secretary can, i thank you for taking this chapter we have heard the testimony of general abbott's izaid and others, and both have said, it is not a snowball's chance in hell that our operations are going to degrade and defeat isis. given the recent success of our iran, they have embedded commanders in their force even though it is a sheer force which has great remic -- shia force which has great ramifications.

thornberry: thank you, sir. just on an administrative note all members' offices were notified that for the purposes of this hearing we are going to go in reverse order. part of my think something that we've had a number of members newer members, who have set through a long time on other hearings before you've gotten to answer questions. in addition, those of us who have been here a while have had the opportunity to ask a number of questions about afghanistan and so this is a good opportunity for newer members. after we hear from general campbell we'll start, go in reverse order, for everyone who was here at the time of the gavel, and then as we always do, recognize members in their order of appearance of coming in to the committee room. general campbell, again, thank you for making time to be with us. without objection, your full written statement will be made part of the record. and the floor is yours. mr. campbell: i thank you for the opportunity to be before you today. i'm honored to lead and represent the se

acquisition process with mac thornberry of texas. at 8:00 a group of young adults discuss some of the issues that motivate their generation. c-span created by america's cable companies, 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. >> and now on your screen the entrance hall to the las vegas convention center. home of c.e.s. international. the annual trade show for consumer technology. this is the largest trade show in the world and the communicators is on location. this week, we'll look at some of the new technologies coming out from c.e.s. international and talk to policymakers as well. this is the communicators on c-span from las vegas. one of the larger exhibitors here at c.e.s. international in vegas is intel. and joining us now is andrea raines who is a tech

thornberry: thank you, doctor. i appreciate those kind words and i appreciate the chance to be back at csis and also everything that you and this organization does to help inform and educate and guide many of us, as we try to think our way through the national security challenges that we face. you know how when you're on an airplane, they're about to close the boarding door and somebody says, if you're not going to dallas, this is it's time to get off? i'm kind of thinking that anybody who is here who is thinking this is a texan about to announce something about the presidency, you're in the wrong place. \[laughter] there's another speech that you may have a chance to get to if you run. it's ok to slip out the back. i was here in november, 2013, to launch a defense reform project that former chairman buck mckeon had asked me to work on. so i thought it made sense to come back here to unveil the first installment of where we are. when i was here before, i mentioned that nobody that i'd run into thought that everythi

thornberry: thank you, sir. just on an administrative note, all members' offices were notified that for the purposes of this hearing we are going to go in reverse order. part of my think something that we've had a number of members, newer members, who have set through a long time on other hearings before you've gotten to answer questions. in addition, those of us who have been here a while have had the opportunity to ask a number of questions about afghanistan and so this is a good opportunity for newer members. after we hear from general campbell we'll start, go in reverse order, for everyone who was here at the time of the gavel, and then as we always do, recognize members in their order of appearance of coming in to the committee room. general campbell, again, thank you for making time to be with us. without objection, your full written statement will be made part of the record. and the floor is yours. mr. campbell: i thank you for the opportunity to be before you today. i'm honored to lead and represent the

thornberry: i appreciate that. i'm thinking from a commonsense measure, if you're in fewer places around the country you have fewer opportunities to gather intelligence, including force protection and on counterterrorism mission as well which is of concern to me. just to clarify, and i think you answered this earlier all the high value terrorists who were in our custody have now been turned over to afghan custody correct? general campbell: not all afghan, they've been turned over to some other third countries as well but i do not have any detainee i don't have detention authorities after 1ian. -- 1 january. mr. thornberry: they have all gone somewhere but not necessarily to afghans? yen campbell: that's correct. mr. thornberry: we had general austin here yesterday and i'm struck by the number of members on this committee on both sides of the aisle who have served in iraq and afghanistan and feel very strongly that they do not want the sacrifice that his been made in afghanistan to -- i hate to sago to waste but the

mac thornberry argues $541 llion is need to meet dod's strategic obligations.ut the chairman of thee house appropriations subcommittee said spending caps heon the law and can't be broken. meanwhile, dod says it won't issue a list of what to cut leaving key decisions to aa congress that has tended towards blocking necessary movesike ending programs, csing bases or other reforms that her constituent interests without meaningfully increasing defense spending either. ash carter vows to make the pentagon more efficient, but $ billion is too big a shortfall to cover throuough efficiencies alone. without more money, dod must cut readiness, programs, and i'll back strategy as it fights terrorism anand isis. if congress will not boost defense spending the pentagon must play a more activpart in ensuring the right priorits survive. thanks for watching. i am vago muradian. how a melting arctic is driving military requirements china's yuba to requests, and an interview with general franco goren, the head of the u.s. air forces europe trade if you have any comments about thi

chairman thornberry: thank you. i want to come back on the audit issue, because we had two service secretaries yesterday that said the biggest impediment to meeting the deadline in 2017 for their service to pass a clean audit was the defense finance, accounting service over which they had no control. are you aware of the problem and are you going to fix it? mr. mccord: thank you, mr. chairman. we have a lot of hard work to do on audit, and we're making good progress. you probably heard both of those thoughts yesterday. an audit is a team effort and works with the military department to work with service providers. the second way is it requires the collaboration of people throughout the department, people who do audit as a primary function, is a primary responsibility, but requires decisions of the personnel community, people who do not think audit is not my primary job to work, and we cannot make it work the because it requires information from those systems. it is much like if the secretary were to turn to general

. >> thank you very much chairman thornberry. thank you, congresswoman davis. thank you also. and all the members of the committee, thank you for having me here today. it's a pleasure to be with you once again. i've had the opportunity to speak with many of you before but this is my first time testifying as the secretary of defense. and i know that all of you, all of you on the committee, including the 23 veterans, on this committee, share the same devotion that i do to what is the finest fighting force the world has ever known. and to the defense of our great country. and i thank you for that. and i hope that my tenure as secretary of defense will be marked by partnership with you on their behalf. i'm here to present the president's budget for the department of defense for this year, fiscal year 2016, and i strongly support the president in requesting a defense budget above the artificial caps of the budget control act. that is above so-called sequester levels. next year, and in the years thereafter. i also share the president's desire to find a way forward that upholds the f

. >> thornberry spoke this morning on acquisition reform. the post had an article on it this weekend. i'm curious what you think about thornberry's reforms and their possibilities? >> i was so busy preparing for this i have not seen the article. thornberry previewed what he was going to do in acquisition. he talked about the fact that it will be bite-size. i think is a good thing. usually when you add more people, dollars, bodies it means more reform problems. i don't know the specifics of the proposal, but i think his approach is unwinding. i am more interested in what you are going to take away. >> not in a position to comment -- comment on expensive the -- comment on the specifics. one thing you often hear from both sides whenever you talk about the need is how can you asked for a single dollar when so much is being wasted. intel you exterminate the waste, how can you asked for more? -- until you exterminate the waste, how can you asked -- ask for more. procurement has the greatest trouble. in some ways the jury is still out on the reform

chairman thornberry spoke at csi asked on acquisition reform. and they quoted gordon adams the skepticism and i'm curious about what you think about thornberry's reforms and the possibilities? mackenzie: i was so busy preparing for this panel. i honestly didn't read the article. i didn't see his speech. chairman thornberry gave his maiden speech and he previewed what he was going to be doing in acquisition and talked about the fact that it will be a bite-size look and not a sweeping leaven-mccain type bill like to congress is ago, which i think is finally a good thing. usually when you add more people, bodies, regulation, and dollars, it must be for more acquisition dollars in the future. i do not know the specifics of the totals, but i think as fresh approach is in some cases unwinding and i'm not interested in what you're going to add to this defense system, but what you're going to take away. if i'm going to get a record -- report card, he gets an a for me. david: i like to put the issue in a bit of a larger context. another thing that you of

thornberry: thank you, doctor.reciate those kind words and i appreciate the chance to be back at csis and also everything that you and this organization does to help inform and educate and guide many of us, as we try to think our way through the national security challenges that we face. you know how when you're on an airplane they're about to close the boarding door and somebody says, if you're not going to dallas, this is it's time to get off? i'm kind of thinking that anybody who is here who is thinking this is a texan about to announce something about the presidency, you're in the wrong place. [laughter] there's another speech that you may have a chance to get to if you run. it's ok to slip out the back. i was here in november, 2013 to launch a defense reform project that former chairman buck mckeon had asked me to work on. so i thought it made sense to come back here to unveil the first installment of where we are. when i was here before, i mentioned that nobody that i'd run into thought that everything at the

. >> thank you very much chairman thornberry. thank you, congresswoman davis. thank you also. and all the members of the committee, thank you for having me here today. it's a pleasure to be with you once again. i've had the opportunity to speak with many of you before but this is my first time testifying as the secretary of defense. and i know that all of you, all of you on the committee including the 23 veterans, on this committee share the same devotion that i do to what is the finest fighting force the world has ever known. and to the defense of our great country. and i thank you for that. and i hope that my tenure as secretary of defense will be marked by partnership with you on their behalf. i'm here to present the president's budget for the department of defense for this year fiscal year 2016, and i strongly support the president in requesting a defense budget above the artificial caps of the budget control act. that is above so-called sequester levels. next year, and in the years thereafter. i also share the president's desire to find a way forward that upholds the fund

>> as the house and senate prepared to debate their budget plans, home services midi chair mac thornberry will talk about defense spending and other military issues. he will speak at the center for strategic and international studies at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span two. later, a look at the supreme court's budget request with anthony kennedy and stephen breyer testifying in front of house appropriations subcommittee at 3:00 p.m. eastern live coverage on c-span3. chinese premier li keqiang held a news conference after the closing of the national people's conference. he answered questions on both domestic and foreign policy, including environmental protection u.s.-china relations and the ukraine conflict. this portion is courtesy of china central television. >> with huffington post, in under the dome, a documentary the filmmakers complain about big oil companies like petrol china have been a block to the introduction of policies on environmental protection and law enforcement in this field. for example, in the subject -- setting of quality standards of gasoline consumed as well as introducti

thornberry made a major speech. he previewed what he was going to do in acquisition. talked about the fact that it would be bite sized look. it would not be a sweeping mccain type of bill that we saw two congresses ago. which i think finally is a good thing. usually, when you add more people about the regulation and dollars, it's just a recipe for more reform problems in the future. >>> how can you ask for a single more dollar when so much is being wasted. how can you ask for more? so there have been occasional scandals where you learn about some fraud and abuse. but, waste, by far and away, is the biggest problem that people are targeting. i think the message that's important is we can't inform our way out of this budget pry even crisis. it's especially the acquisition or procurement that has the greatest trouble. let's deal with it that way. so obviously, in some ways the jury is still out on the mccain levin reform. they tend not to generate big-ticket savings in the near term. acquisition reform is an area where so much intellectual effort has been invested, peopl

chairman thornberry gave his maiden speech at aei recently. he previewed what he was going to do on acquisition. talked about the fact that it'll be bite-sized look, it will not be a sweeping levin-mccain type of bill like we saw two congresses ago which i think is finally a good thing. usually when you just administer people bodies, regulation and dollars, it must be for more acquisition reform problems in the future. i don't know the specifics of the proposal but i think his fresh approach and in some cases up winding -- i'm really more interested in not what you're going to add to this defense acquisition system but what you're going to take away. so i'm going to give him a report card of his ratio of adding to the taking away, and if it's more taking away then he gets an a from me. >> also not in a position to comment on the specifics of what chairman thorn brly's offering, but i'd like to put the issue in a bit of a larger context for the audience. at one point another thing you often hear from both sides whenever you talk about the need

thornberry, the gentleman from california, mr. nunez, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. frelinghuysen, the gentlelady from texas, ms. granger the gentleman from california -- the gentlewoman from california, ms. pelosi, the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer, the gentleman from california, mr. becerra, the gentleman from new york, mr. crowley, the gentlewoman from connecticut, ms. delauro, the jeement maryland ms. edwards the gentleman from new york, mr. engel the gentlewoman from california ms. eshoo the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, the gentlewoman from california, miss susan davis, the gentleman from california mr. schiff, the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. bolden. vice president biden: friends of the senate at the direction of that body appoints the following senators and members of the committees on the part of the senate to escort ashraf ghani into the chamber. mr. mcconnell, the senator from texas, mr. cornyn, the senator from utah, mr. hache, the senator from wyoming mr. barrasso, the senator from mississippi, mr. wicker, the senator from tennessee,

chairman thornberry spoke at csis on post acquisition form. and they quoted gordon adams skepticism and i'm concerned about what you think about thornberry's reforms and their possibilities? >> i was so busy preparing for this panel, i honestly didn't read the article i didn't see his speech. he gave his maiden speech on house committee chairman and he previewed what he will do on acquisition and talked about the fact it will be a bite-sized look and not a sweeping levin mccain bill like two congresses ago which i think is finally a good thing. usually when you add more people bodies, regulation and dollars it must be for more acquisition dollars in the future. i don't know the specifics of the proposal but i think his fresh approach and in some cases unwinding but i'm more interested in what you are going to add to the defense system but what you take away so i'll give the ratio of adding to taking away and if he gives more adding than taking away then you gets an a. >> i would like to put the issue in a bit of a larger context for the audien

chairman thornberry spoke at csis on acquisition reform. the post had an article, and they quoted gordon adams' skepticism and i'm curious about what you think about thornberry's reforms and their possibilities? >> i was so busy preparing for this panel, i honestly didn't read the article, i didn't see his speech. he gave his maiden speech, on house committee chairman and he previewed what he will do on acquisition and talked about the fact it will be a bite-sized look and not a sweeping levin mccain bill like two congresses ago which i think is finally a good thing. usually when you add more people, bodies, regulation and dollars it is a recipe for more acquisition dollars in the future. i don't know the specifics of the proposal but i think his fresh approach and in some cases unwinding but i'm more interested in not what you are going to add to the defense system but what you take away so i'll give the report card of the ratio of adding to taking away and if he gives more adding than taking away then you gets an a. >> i would like to put

chairman thornberry spoke at csis on acquisition reform. the post had an article, and they quoted gordon adams' skepticism and i'm curious about what you think about thornberry's reforms and their possibilities? >> i was so busy preparing for this panel, i honestly didn't read the article, i didn't see his speech. he gave his maiden speech, on house committee chairman and he previewed what he will do on acquisition and talked about the fact it will be a bite-sized look and not a sweeping levin mccain bill like two congresses ago which i think is finally a good thing. usually when you add more people, bodies, regulation and dollars it is a recipe for more acquisition dollars in the future. i don't know the specifics of the proposal but i think his fresh approach and in some cases unwinding but i'm more interested in not what you are going to add to the defense system but what you take away so i'll give the report card of the ratio of adding to taking away and if he gives more adding than taking away then you gets an a. >> i would like to put

thornberry. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. thornberry: thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank the chairman of the budget committee for not only yielding but for all of his work in putting this budget together. i spent some time on the budget committee. putting a budget together is never easy, and i believe that committee has done excellent work in putting together a budget that as the whip just described leps increase economic opportunities for -- helps increase economic opportunities for the whole country. and i particularly appreciate the gentleman as he's had to navigate through a variety of interests and a variety of concerns in putting that budget together. i know firsthand that chairman price and other members of the committee are very concerned about national security, and so i want to take a moment to explain why i believe the amendment we're considering now, price number 2 is better than price number 1 when it comes to national security. i think members deserve that explanation. the amount of funding that the president has asked for for our m

[applause] 's been >> congressman thornberry has been studying how to improve the acquisition process for more than a year and is set to announce legislation he says is a first step in a long journey of reform to read one of the goals to save money on a dozen programs over a ten year period that never became operational. the congressman's remarks will be later to become available later today on the website c-span.org. we are going to be taking you to the texas senator ted cruz expected to start 10:25 in about 20 minutes from now and he is expected to be announcing that he is running in 2016. we will bring you to his remarks live but before that let's look at the conversation we held this morning on the 2016 budget blueprint from the house and thehost: senate as well as president yo obama's budget request from earlier this year. >> the president of the committee for a responsible -- federal budget. before we get to the details and there are a lot of big numbers what is displayed in the process all about? >> guest: the house offered their budget resolutions and the senate offered their

all of that is in part necessary that there is overlap so chairman thornberry and i know chairman mccain in the other house and many of all of you are focused upon i think we could save a lot of time which an acquisition means money without giving up the kinds of assurances that all of us believe are really really important. >> i don't have a cool prop. that was pretty slick mr. secretary mchugh but i certainly agree with trying as best as you can to streamline some of the reporting processes. the tendency when things go wrong is to put more process and more oversight but actually again from a business perspective the less in this case the better, trust people and hold them accountable when things go wrong. in terms of the service chief involvement i'm not exactly sure how everybody else handles it across-the-board that my service cheap and i do pretty much everything together so we are already heavily doing program reviews and watching over our programs as best as we can. >> general dunford. >> i don't have anything to add. i would associate myself the general odierno's comments about t

thornberry: the committee will come to order.oday the house armed services committee meets to discuss the conflict in afghanistan. week of been engaged in military action in afghanistan for 14 years. the predictions that this would be a long conflict have proven accurate. while there have been setbacks in recent years, there's also cause for cautious optimism. the united states and its allies, especially the afghan forces, have made some meaningful gains. counterinsurgent is one of the toughest types of war a democracy can fight. while this conflict has been a difficult one, it's not impossible. both our future security and the future of the afghan people depend on our success. the people of afghanistan currently have, in my opinion, the best opportunity for a stable, relatively peaceful country that they have had in over four decades.

thornberry: and by way of explanation, i might say that one of our committee members has tentatively been appointed to another committee and his replacement has tentively been named mr. russell from oklahoma, but it has not been ratified by the republican conference yet. and so mr. russell is with us today, but, without objection, noncommittee members will be recognized at the appropriate time. let me welcome our distinguished witnesses to today's hearing. secretary carter, thank you for being with us. you have been in this room in a variety of capacities over the years. but this is the first hearing since you were confirmed as secretary of defense roughly a month ago and we are very glad to have you with us. general dempsey, thank you for being here. being here, and the fact that you would take time to come out here and meet with us and discuss some of the challenges that we face was asked really hope all and meant a lot and we are very grateful for that and for being here today and for your many years of service. as you all know, this committee has him things a little differently t

we will hear more about the budget with mac thornberry. he will discuss the pentagon budget and other issues at the strategic studies institute. that is monday on c-span2. >> coming him next on c-span, a discussion on newsgathering in the 21st century. and then a discussion on how investigative journalism is impacting consumers. buzz feed news executive editor was part of a recent discussion on media and the 21st century. she was joined by gawker's editor in chief. this discussion was moderated by tom rosenstiel, a former media critic. this is just over one hour. [applause] >> long gone are the days with two daily doses of in the ages of advanced technology, news is reported and consumed. americans are turning to online sources of information. this age of new news is given by website. publications that take up more than that of your facebook news feed. although these organizations are younger than most people in the audience, they have a dramatic impact on how our generation receives news. tonight, we have an all-star panel. an editorial i

on wednesday we will hear more with congressman mac thornberry will discuss the budget and defense issuesthat is life monday at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span two. next, a conversation with twitter's chief communications officer. he talks about twitter's culture and the impact on free speech. this is just under one hour. host: today it is an absolute delight for me to introduce and welcome gabriel stricker. he is a cal alum. some of you already know that. he is chief of communications on twitter. chief communications officer. he also has been helping berkeley think about and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the free speech movement, quite an important your -- year in berkeley this year. his bachelor of arts was a latin american studies as an undergraduate at work with. -- at berkeley. his current role as to communications officer, he leads the global teams for media relations and public policy and media partnerships more generally. he first came to twitter in 2012, stepping into the world's absolutely highest profile roles in the communications field. he has in fact been credited by many as

thornberry: thank you. i appreciate the da da that you brought to us -- data that you brought to us. some of this is surprising to me and some of the information about the attitudes of the afghan people i think are helpful to us. particularly helpful to us. i think mr. smith and irgoing to withhold our -- i are going to withhold our questions at the moment. i would request if we could put the posters down just to -- unless members have questions about it, just to not block folks' view. and i would yield five minutes to the distinguished gentleman from new jersey, mr. mcarthur -- mr. macarthur. mr. macarthur: thank you mr. chairman. and, general i also really appreciated your comments and want to echo what you said about our men and women in uniform and their families and the sacrifices they've made. i think it's important at every opportunity to remember them. i had a question about a comment that secretary carter made yesterday and want to get your take on it. secretary carter told the senate armed service

senate side, mccain, our side, mac thornberry. host: armed services? guest: yes.tainly, even before you get to that the four and the ranking democrat in each of the senate and house, armed services committee, even before you get to our level of those people who do this day in and day out, of course you would have the leadership, the speaker, minority leaders of the houses. host: jerry, knoxville, tennessee, an independent. you are on the air with congresswoman loretta sanchez. caller: i would like to comment on bowe bergdahl. i am a former marine and i spent several years in afghanistan as a contractor. holding operation there. i have some familiarity with this and i can't really discuss it, but i would like to say in the congresswoman may know there is at least two programs in afghanistan where we were exchanging caliban insiders and commanders -- taliban insiders and commanders, taken out the battlefield, and we were doing that to reach agreements with local militia commanders. and these programs were run by the u.s. military, and we were doing that for the last

. >> as the house and senate get ready to debate their budget plans, house committee chair mack thornberry will talk about defense spending speaking at the center for strategic and international studies. that will start live at 9:00 on c-span 2. a look at the budget request with justices anthony kennedy and steven breyer testifying before a house appropriations subcommittee that gets under way at 3:00 p.m. eastern. >> up next on c-span, q&a with retired army general daniel boljer. at 10:00 a.m. eastern we'll be live from the center for american progress for remarks from former secretary of state hillary clinton. ♪ >> this week, our guest is retired army general daniel bolger, author of "why we lost: a general's inside account of the iraq and afghanistan wars." he talks about his deployments to those two war zones. his thoughts on what went wrong, and his ideas on how to move forward as conflict continues in the two countries. brian: general daniel bolger retired, you opened your book with this paragraph. "i'm a united states army general and i lost the global war on terrorism. it is like a

to thank our leadership team, chairman price and chairman macthornberry for their work in -- mac thornberry for their work in negotiating the alternative, price 2 and it's my hope that tomorrow we come together and pass price 2. in conclusion, god bless our troops and may the president by his actions never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from maryland is recognized. mr. van hollen: i would just say to my republican colleagues if you want to vote for defense budget in a straightforward manner, the way the joint chiefs of staff have recommended, vote for the democratic alternative. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. price: i thank the chairman. may i inquire how much time remains on each side? the chair: the gentleman from georgia has 27 minutes and the gentleman from maryland has 10 1/2 minutes. mr. price: i thank the chairman. i'm pleased to yield four minutes to the gentleman from california, a member of the armed services co

. >> chairman mac thornberry thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. i am honored to represent the service men and women of the service forces of afghanistan. i think the committee for steadfast support of our airmen and marines and due to your leadership and commitment, the best trained and best equipped force our nation ever deployed and outstanding performance bears testimony to your backing and the backing of the american people so thank you very much. i pay tribute to our military families, the unsung heroes of the last 13 years, our frequent, and they could not succeed. i think the military families. over 2200 service men and women killed in action in afghanistan and the 20,000 plus who have been wounded each day. we struggle to bring meaning to their sacrifice. and we continue to build a secure and stable afghanistan and by protecting the homeland. .. >> in september afghanistan complete the first peaceful democratic transition in its history. this was after a prolonged, very prolonged campaign. this transition was a monumental achievement. it r

john mccain and mac thornberry right provided for national defense is the highest constitutional responsibility of the federal government which congressional republicans now showing equal measure with president obama but we believe the country cannot meet those responsible within the cap fund and sequestration. washington does not change course now republicans will share the blame for the national security failure that will inevitably result. you can read the rest of that and "the wall street journal" or go to its website. coming up next, a portion of the memorial service for former senator edward brooke of massachusetts. he passed away in january at the age of 95. he was the first african-american to be elected to the senate by popular vote. there are some tributes from the washington national cathedral from earlier today. >> senator markey, senator scott, senator warner, members of congress, governor patrick, and all the members from the brooke family. good morning to all it is a privilege for me to be able to share some thoughts about ed brooke. i want you to think back half a century. imagi

pursuant to clause 4 of rule 1, the following enrolled bill was signed by speaker pro tempore thornberryn thursday, march 12 2015. the clerk: make administrative and technical corrections to the congressional accountability act of 1995. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to section 2-b of house resolution 134, the house stands adjourned until noon on monday, march 16 2015, >> jeb bush visiting the home of a former republican chairman and will speak to voters about his aspirations should he decide to run for president. scott walker is in new hampshire. he is going to speak at the state republican party grassroots activist work shop and that's at 11:45 eastern. that's all part of our "road to the white house" coverage which included former governor rick perry who spoke yesterday. >> welcome back. it is so great to see you. governor perry: it is great to be here and to even remember it. >> when you came through the last time, my brother spoke to you -- governor perry: all, the last time. it is happening. what is he doing now? >> congratulations. he is doing his masters, and he is a graduate

coming together and the agreement that was reached last week between chairman pryce and chairman thornberry to represent the bond between our fiscal and defense hawks so we could bring a budget forward to the floor that actually satisfied the requests of both sides of our conferences to bring them together is going to be a very important moment for our conference that, again, budgets always a visionary document, but i think you're going to see a very unified house ore palin conference on the floor -- republican conference on the floor wednesday when we pass that budget and send it over to the senate. >> why would you wear socks that look like that? [laughter] i thought the circus was coming to town. >> they're actually here. [laughter] >> well, you better go catch up with the elephants. [laughter] do we have any more questions? that's nice. >> [inaudible] is it -- >> i was shocked by the fact that there were reports in this press article that information was being passed on from the israelis to members of congress. i'm not aware of that at all. >> [inaudible] >> i'm not sure what the inform

then a look at proposed changes to the defense department acquisition process with mac thornberry of texas. at 8:00 a group of young adults discuss some of the issues that motivate their generation. c-span created by america's cable companies, 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. >> and now on your screen the entrance hall to the las vegas convention center. home of c.e.s. international. the annual trade show for consumer technology. this

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