Shelby Holds Hearing to Review Pentagon Budget for FY2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and its subcommittee on defense, today conducted a subcommittee hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2020 funding request and budget justification for the U.S. Department of Defense. Patrick M. Shanahan, Acting Secretary of the Department of Defense; and General Joseph Dunford, Jr., USMC, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the subcommittee.
Chairman Shelby’s opening remarks, as prepared, are as follows:
“The Subcommittee will come to order. I am pleased to welcome to the Committee, Acting Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, to review the budget request for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2020.
"This Committee has already hosted hearings with the individual military services, and we have heard much about the implementation of the National Defense Strategy.
"It has been repeatedly emphasized that the Department is implementing a deliberate plan to address the changing, and in some ways new, threats and challenges that are posed to our national security, including from near peer adversaries.
"However, I remain convinced that we must maintain a rate of progress that will protect the comparative military advantages that have underpinned our global military strategy for years.
"The world continues to be a complex and dangerous place, as we are reminded when we read the news; whether it is the ongoing humanitarian crisis at our Southwest border, short range missile launches from North Korea, or the movement of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group towards the U.S. Central Command region in response to recent Iranian actions.
"I know that you both understand the magnitude of the challenges and I look forward to your testimony this morning as we as we consider the appropriate funding level for the Department in fiscal year 2020.
"I now turn to the Vice Chairman, Senator Durbin, for his opening remarks. Senator Durbin.”
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