U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, gave opening remarks this morning at a SASC nomination hearing for Dr. Mark Esper, to be Secretary of Defense. 

As Prepared for Delivery: 

Good morning. The Committee meets today to consider the nomination of Dr. Mark Esper to be Secretary of Defense. Thank you for being here today.

We need a confirmed leader to guide the Department of Defense through this time of challenge and opportunity. Senator Reed and I agree on this. A confirmed Secretary of Defense will be more effective in the Pentagon, in Washington, and around the world. 

Dr. Esper, you have been nominated to lead the Department of Defense and America’s military through a historic transition.

In the last decade, America’s main focus was counterterrorism. We believed our military had the best of everything. The last administration even thought we could cut our defense budget by hundreds of billions of dollars while fighting two wars, and everything would turn out fine.

While Obama cut our defense budget by 25 percent from 2010 to 2015. According to The Economist, China increased military spending by 83 percent from 2009 to 2018.

Today, we find ourselves in a new and different moment for America’s security. The American people can no longer take America’s military superiority for granted.  China and Russia have passed us in key areas, and are catching up in others. The National Defense Strategy makes clear that strategic competition with China and Russia—not terrorism—is the primary U.S. national security concern. The NDS commission report said:  “We might struggle to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia.” 

Years of budget cuts left our military in a crisis that will take years to fix. Fortunately, we’ve recognized these realities, and begun to change course.

President Trump has supported a new National Defense Strategy with his defense budgets, putting us on a path to repair readiness and restore our military advantage.

Hard work remains. Most importantly, we need a budget agreement. If we do not get a budget deal for Fiscal Year 2020 that includes growth in the topline, we will squander the progress we have made in Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019. A CR [continuing resolution] would be reckless and devastating.

The NDS Commission report said “…unpredictable and delayed funding place the National Defense Strategy in jeopardy.” 

But this isn’t just about more money. We can’t buy our way out of competition with China and Russia. We need urgent change at significant scale. And that requires hard choices about threat priorities, critical defense investments and new operational concepts.

These are choices that can only be made by a strong Secretary of Defense who enjoys the trust and confidence of the President. And who has the support of those entrusted with critical civilian leadership positions in the Department of Defense, more than a dozen of which still need to be filled.  

Therefore, it is with a sense of urgency that this committee approaches our duty today.