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OPENING STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN AT SASC CONFIRMATION HEARING OF DR. ASHTON CARTER FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
September 13, 2011
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today delivered the following opening remarks at the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) confirmation hearing of Dr. Ashton Carter for Deputy Secretary of Defense:
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
“Dr. Carter, thank you for your service as Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and for your desire to continue to serve, if confirmed, as the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Your willingness and ability to bear the burden of senior leadership is both noteworthy and highly commendable.
“The position of Deputy Secretary of Defense is as challenging today as it has ever been. On the one hand, the Department is being confronted by daunting challenges to its ability to ensure the Nation’s defense. On the other hand, there is the specter of dramatic cuts in defense spending. Against that backdrop, the Department must find ways to operate more efficiently and effectively than ever before. If confirmed as Deputy Secretary of Defense, you must be prepared to lead both these efforts and succeed in doing so.
“Providing for our national defense is the most important responsibility that our, or any, government has. It is our Nation’s insurance policy. And, in a world that is more complex and threatening as I have ever seen, we cannot allow arbitrary budget arithmetic to drive our defense strategy and spending. Some of the defense cuts being discussed would do grave harm to our military and our Nation’s security. Defense spending is not what is sinking this country into fiscal crisis, and if Congress and the President act on that flawed assumption, they will create a situation that is truly unaffordable: the decline of U.S. military power.
“Do not misunderstand me: real defense cuts are coming and, for that reason, it is now more essential than ever for the Department of Defense to efficiently manage the taxpayers’ money. But, I will be blunt: this will require not just good leadership; it will require a change in culture at the Defense Department. By that, I mean an end to the Department’s systemic tendency to spend the taxpayers’ money in a manner that is far too often disconnected from what the warfighter actually needs or what is in the taxpayers’ best interests. Particularly over the last ten years, senior defense management has been inclined to lose sight of affordability as a goal and has just reached for more money as the solution to most problems. Today, I see evidence of this cultural problem all too frequently and it must be changed.
“Every few weeks, I get reports about huge cost overruns on the Pentagon’s biggest weapons programs, like the recent projection of a $1.1 billion overrun in the cost of the first twenty-eight production-quality jets in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program – a program that is now in its tenth year of development and the recipient of about $56 billion of taxpayer investment to date. Or, the estimated $560 million cost overrun, or roughly 11 percent growth in cost, in the program to build the USS GERALD FORD (CVN-78).
“Then, there are the Defense Department’s recent ‘reprogramming requests.’ Four times over just the last two months, the Department has asked this Committee to let it shift a total of over $10 billion among its spending accounts. In doing so, it asked only the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the defense committees in the Senate and the House to let it reallocate billions of dollars to, among other things, pay hundreds of millions of dollars for the cost overrun in the Joint Strike Fighter program and provide authority to start dozens of new programs never before presented to Congress. Authorizing funding in this way, outside of ‘regular order,’ subverts transparent congressional oversight, undermines accountability in how defense programs are managed, and actually encourages underperformance.
“Also, just a few days ago, the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting reported that at least $30 billion has been wasted on ill-conceived and poorly-overseen contracts and grants in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, earlier this year, a study of Army procurement showed that between $3.3 and $3.8 billion dollars had been wasted by the Army every year since 2004 in developing new weapons programs that were cancelled without providing any new capability to the troops risking their lives fighting two wars.
“A culture that has allowed massive waste of taxpayers’ dollars has become business-as-usual at the Department of Defense. Particularly in today’s fiscal environment, this cannot be tolerated. If this is not corrected, the Department’s ability to continue defending the Nation and to provide for its national security will be compromised. Taxpayers simply will not tolerate the continuing waste of their resources in light of the debt we face and our competing budgetary needs.
“I also want to know if you share my concern that solving this problem may be hindered by the revolving door of retired flag and general officers, top Pentagon civilian officials, and mid-level bureaucrats who had overseen weapons procurement programs before leaving government to join the private sector defense industry. With the defense contracting pie expected to get smaller in the future, this problem may get worse than before. I hope you are as sensitive to this as I am.
“Notably, if confirmed as the Deputy Secretary you would also serve as the Department’s Chief Management Officer. So, you would be responsible for ensuring that, among other things, the Defense Department becomes fully auditable by 2017 as required under law. I strongly support the requirement for the Department to pass a clean audit, so I would like to hear from you on this issue.
“Finally, I have been told that the Defense Department's comprehensive strategic review of military roles, missions, and requirements that underpins how it intends to carry out the President’s direction for a $400 billion reduction in defense spending over the next twelve years may not come out before next year. If true, this review would not be available to inform the deliberations of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or Congress generally, on how the currently proposed defense spending cuts will affect national security. This is unacceptable.
“The efforts of the Department or Congress cannot be conducted in a vacuum. Any major budget review, whether conducted by the Administration or Congress, must be accompanied by an open, honest and comprehensive review of requirements and set priorities based on sound strategy.
“Dr. Carter: I have come to know you as a hard-working, honest, and committed public servant. But, if confirmed, you would face major challenges in confronting the cultural impediments to proper fiscal stewardship at the Defense Department, which I trust you have come to understand. This culture needs to change. The Defense Department needs to change. And, it must do so in order to be the best provider it can be of our Nation’s most essential service: our national defense. On all of these vital matters, failure truly is not an option. And, as the Department’s senior leadership applies itself to this urgent and critical task, you should know that you will have the support of your friends in Congress.
“The challenge ahead is daunting, yes. But I have confidence in our men and women in uniform that, given the task ahead, they will rise to the challenge and indeed do more with less. Your leadership and that of Secretary Penetta will be more crucial than ever.
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”
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