DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BUDGET PRIORITIES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004 HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, FEBRUARY 27, 2003 Serial No. 108–6 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Budget ( Available on the Internet: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house/house04.html U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 85–421 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Feb 1 2002 10:51 Jun 12, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 X:\HEARINGS\108TH\108-6\HBU058.000 RYAN PsN: RYAN COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET JIM NUSSLE, Iowa, Chairman CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut, JOHN M. SPRATT, JR., South Carolina, Vice Chairman Ranking Minority Member GIL GUTKNECHT, Minnesota JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia MAC THORNBERRY, Texas DARLENE HOOLEY, Oregon JIM RYUN, Kansas TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin PAT TOOMEY, Pennsylvania DENNIS MOORE, Kansas DOC HASTINGS, Washington JOHN LEWIS, Georgia ROB PORTMAN, Ohio RICHARD E. NEAL, Massachusetts EDWARD SCHROCK, Virginia ROSA DELAURO, Connecticut HENRY E. BROWN, JR., South Carolina CHET EDWARDS, Texas ANDER CRENSHAW, Florida ROBERT C. SCOTT, Virginia ADAM PUTNAM, Florida HAROLD FORD, Tennessee ROGER WICKER, Mississippi LOIS CAPPS, California KENNY HULSHOF, Missouri MIKE THOMPSON, California THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado BRIAN BAIRD, Washington DAVID VITTER, Louisiana JIM COOPER, Tennessee JO BONNER, Alabama RAHM EMANUEL, Illinois TRENT FRANKS, Arizona ARTUR DAVIS, Alabama SCOTT GARRETT, New Jersey DENISE L. MAJETTE, Georgia GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina RON KIND, Wisconsin THADDEUS MCCOTTER, Michigan MARIO DIAZ–BALART, Florida JEB HENSARLING, Texas GINNY BROWN–WAITE, Florida PROFESSIONAL STAFF RICH MEADE, Chief of Staff THOMAS S. KAHN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel (II) VerDate Feb 1 2002 10:51 Jun 12, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 X:\HEARINGS\108TH\108-6\HBU058.000 RYAN PsN: RYAN C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held in Washington, DC, February 27, 2003 .......................................... 1 Statement of: Hon. Paul D. Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Defense ... 6 Steven Kosiak, Director of Budget Studies, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments ................................................................................ 46 Prepared statements and additional submissions of: Hon. John M. Spratt, Jr., a Representative in Congress from the State of South Carolina: Prepared statement for Mr. Wolfowitz .................................................... 4 Prepared statement for Mr. Kosiak ......................................................... 46 Hon. Adam H. Putnam, a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida ....................................................................................................... 5 Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz ............................................................................ 12 Mr. Kosiak: Prepared statement ................................................................................... 51 Potential cost of a war with Iraq and its post-war occupation .............. 56 (III) VerDate Feb 1 2002 10:51 Jun 12, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 X:\HEARINGS\108TH\108-6\HBU058.000 RYAN PsN: RYAN VerDate Feb 1 2002 10:51 Jun 12, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 X:\HEARINGS\108TH\108-6\HBU058.000 RYAN PsN: RYAN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BUDGET PRIORITIES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2003 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 2:05 p.m. in room 210, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Shays (vice chair- man of the committee) presiding. Members present: Representatives Shays, Gutknecht, Thorn- berry, Ryun, Hastings, Schrock, Crenshaw, Putnam, Wicker, Tancredo, Bonner, Garrett, Barrett, McCotter, Diaz-Balart, Hensarling, Brown-Waite, Spratt, Moran, Hooley, Moore, Edwards, Scott, Ford, Capps, Thompson, Baird, Cooper, Emanuel, Davis, Majette, and Kind. Mr. SHAYS [presiding]. The committee will come to order. Today’s hearing will examine the Department of Defense budget request for fiscal year 2004. Our witness will be the Honorable Paul D. Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense. Appearing with Secretary Wolfowitz will be Dov Zakheim, the Under Secretary of Defense, and Chief Financial Officer. Also appearing will be Steven Kosiak, Director of Budget Studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. In the face of unprecedented threats to our domestic and inter- national security, the defense budget must advance three over- arching goals: to win the global war on terrorism, to invest in the procurements and people needed to sustain that effort, and to transform the cold war military structure to meet the 21st century demands. The President said his aim was, ‘‘to move beyond marginal im- provements, to replace existing programs with new technologies and strategies.’’ He said, ‘‘Securing our common defense will re- quire spending more and spending more wisely.’’ The fiscal year 2004 defense budget requests more. This com- mittee and others will have to decide if the Department is capable of moving beyond marginal, often glacial reforms to the wiser spending the President demands. We are at war. Terrorism is being uprooted in Afghanistan. It appears more likely, with each passing day, Saddam Hussein will persist in refusing to comply with the United Nations and that the United States will be re- quired to lead a coalition of willing nations to disarm him. This budget reflects this committee’s commitment and the com- mitment of every American that the brave men and women of our military will have every resource they need in the difficult months (1) VerDate Feb 1 2002 10:51 Jun 12, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 X:\HEARINGS\108TH\108-6\HBU058.000 RYAN PsN: RYAN 2 and years to come. One specific area raises concerns in that regard: individual protective equipment against chemical and biological weapons. The Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, which I chair, was told last year of significant procurement short- falls in key CB defense items. The Department’s own 2002 report on the CB defense program pointed to high risks now and the out- years due to a lag in procurements of modern protective gar- ments—boots, gloves, and collective protection shelters. I am concerned this budget does little, too little, to close the gap between what it will take to protect U.S. forces on the contami- nated battlefield of the future and the equipment we will be able to give them. Nor does this budget appear to take any bold, new steps toward solving the long-festering dilemma of how to pay for all of the tactical aircraft procurements now under way. More money for fewer planes is not a wise fiscal policy, nor will it address the problem of an aging air fleet. This committee has consistently provided the resources our Armed Forces have needed to do their job, including the $10 billion war reserve that was not appropriated until this month. Despite the controversy surrounding the appropriation of an un- defined request, this committee was willing to step up to the plate and provide the Department of Defense with the flexibility it asked for, and to do it in a timely fashion. It is noteworthy and perhaps paradoxical that DOD officials have described the fiscal year 2004 budget request as a peacetime budg- et. The reason, of course, is that the administration’s budget does not include the cost of potential conflict with Iraq. We all know there are great uncertainties about the cost of disarming Saddam Hussein, uncertainties that make it difficult to put a precise num- ber on the cost of possible military operations. But this committee still needs to learn all it can about those costs. Just yesterday, the White House released Pentagon estimates that the war and its immediate aftermath will cost between $60 [billion] and $95 billion. Today, the Washington Post reports that some internal administration estimates show the cost growing above $100 billion. It is worth noting that the 1991 Persian Gulf war cost $82.5 bil- lion in current dollars, which brings me to another critical subject, burden sharing. In the gulf war, the United States received finan- cial contributions of over $48 billion from our allies. This time we are being presented with a bill in advance from countries, I would argue, that will greatly and directly benefit from a regime change in Iraq. We have already agreed to a $15-billion aid package to Turkey in exchange for rights to base American troops there; and we may also be increasing our aid to Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and others. The bottom line is, we need a better and fuller understanding of the financial commitments we are undertaking, and how much of these costs our allies are willing to bear. Finally, there is the big picture. Is the Pentagon’s budget plan the right one for a long-term operation? Will it achieve the bold transformation progress that the President envisions, or will serv- VerDate Feb 1 2002 10:51 Jun 12, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 X:\HEARINGS\108TH\108-6\HBU058.000 RYAN PsN: RYAN 3 ice rivalries and entrenched inefficiencies soak up any additional spending to feed a sluggish but voracious status quo? That said, I want to repeat our assurance that this committee will do everything in its power to assure that the men and women of our Armed Forces will receive the tools and the training they need to defeat terrorism and assure the safety of this Nation. We look forward to your testimony, Mr. Secretary. At this time, I would like to recognize Mr. Spratt, and announce to our members that the Under Secretary needs to leave here at 4 o’clock. I will be very strong on the 5-minute rule, which doesn’t mean you ask a question for 5 minutes and then give him 5 min- utes to answer, alright? Mr.