00:00Speaking of warfighting, the topic of Iran I'm sure will come up today, which I very much welcome discussing.
00:07I look forward to sharing the incredible successes of our military, achieved in a matter of weeks.
00:14President Trump, unlike other presidents, has had the courage to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, and he's ironclad
00:22in that.
00:23We have the best negotiator in the world driving that deal.
00:26The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional
00:37Democrats and some Republicans.
00:39Two months in, I remind you, two months in to a conflict.
00:44Lest I remind you, and my generation understands how long we were in Iraq, how long we were in Afghanistan,
00:51how long we were in Vietnam.
00:52Two months in, on an existential fight for the safety of the American people, Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb.
01:00We are proud of this undertaking.
01:02I am proud that President Trump has had the courage to do it, and I look forward to sharing more
01:06about what our troops have accomplished.
01:10I also want to welcome the secretary's wife, Jennifer.
01:13Welcome to our hearing. Glad to have you here with us today.
01:16These investments equal great things for America, American families, and American...
01:20We have not yet received from the Pentagon the costs of the war.
01:25So, just for the record, we'd like to get that as soon as possible.
01:29Certainly, the munitions expended, but also underreported is we've had a fair amount of equipment destroyed, including two C-130s
01:37with the rescue of our downed airmen.
01:38So, do you have either, A, a cost estimate coming to us anytime soon, or, B, a specific supplemental request?
01:48Thank you for that question.
01:50So, approximately, at this day, we're spending about $25 billion on Operation Epic Fury.
01:56Most of that is munitions.
01:57There's part of that is obviously O&M and equipment replacement.
02:00We will formulate a supplemental through the White House that will come to Congress once we have a full assessment
02:05of the cost of the conflict.
02:06So, you're saying the full cost at this point is $25 billion?
02:10Yeah, that's our estimate for the cost.
02:12Okay. Interesting, because we...
02:14I'm glad you answered that question, because we've been asking for a hell of a long time, and no one's
02:17given us the number.
02:18So, if you could get those details over to us, that would be great.
02:22Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the nuclear aspect of Iran and the war.
02:26And it is worth noting that every president prior to this one, including President Trump in his first term,
02:31also prevented Iran from getting a nuclear weapon without actually having to go to war in Iran.
02:36So, we need to keep that in mind.
02:38But also, since the war started, Iran's nuclear arsenal has not been weakened in any way.
02:45And at the moment, in negotiations, what Iran is saying, basically, pay us to open up the strait.
02:51That's their position, which is completely untenable.
02:53I agree.
02:54It's worth noting, of course, that the strait was open before the war started.
02:57Now, we're negotiating to get back to status quo.
03:00And Iran's most recent offer is to say, we'll talk about nukes later.
03:04So, what is the plan to actually turn all of this lethal kinetic action into an improvement in the nuclear
03:12situation?
03:12Because we haven't gotten there yet.
03:15Play it out for us.
03:16How does that happen?
03:17How does it actually lead to that result?
03:20Well, I would take issue with the premise of the question that nothing was done.
03:22Operation Midnight Hammer was a very effective...
03:26Oh, I didn't say nothing was done.
03:27I said, in this war, since this war started.
03:29Ultimately, well, this is...
03:30Under this administration, unlike other administrations, which cut bad deals and pallets of cash with no ability to oversee whether
03:36Iran is actually pursuing a nuclear program.
03:38Which is where we're at.
03:39If we want to litigate JCPOA or the Iran deal, our view, the president's views, that was a very bad
03:44deal.
03:45Okay.
03:45That gave them a bunch of money up front.
03:47What's the future?
03:47You talked about negotiated deals.
03:49That allowed them to fund their proxies and spread Hamas and Hezbollah all around the region, build up nuclear capabilities.
03:55That's great.
03:56What are we going to do now?
03:56President Trump has been clear-eyed from the killing of Qasem Soleimani to the pulling out of the Iran deal
04:01to Midnight Hammer and now to this effort to recognize that you have to stare down this kind of enemy
04:08who's hell-bent on getting a nuclear weapon and get them to a point where they're at the table giving
04:12it up in a way that...
04:13So they haven't broken yet?
04:17Well, their nuclear facilities have been obliterated underground.
04:20They're buried and we're watching them 24-7.
04:23So we know where any nuclear material might be.
04:25Reclaiming my time for just a quick second here.
04:28We had to start this war, you just said, 60 days ago because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat.
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