00:00You've told this committee that you've barely spent half of the $150 billion in reconciliation funding,
00:05and if you still have $75 billion available,
00:09why are you asking the American people to absorb the cost of a war they don't support
00:13instead of asking for transfer authority for unspent reconciliation funding?
00:19One of the things I noted was, or at least I think that this supplemental doesn't include funding to repair
00:24damage
00:24to our bases or to our military infrastructure in the region,
00:28and I have not heard that we've gotten the full extent of any of those damage estimates.
00:35Chair Secretary Hegseth, since you last testified before this committee,
00:40we finally received the spend plan for the $400 million FY26 appropriation for Ukraine security assistance.
00:48This funding was passed back in January, and now there are only three months left in this fiscal year.
00:54And while I appreciate that we now see what most of the funding is intended for,
01:01I just heard from the CEO of one of the manufacturers of the defense articles that are contained in the
01:08spend plan
01:09that they not only haven't received funding, but they haven't even seen a contract.
01:14So when are we going to see a contract for those defense articles that are contained in the spend plan
01:20for Iraq?
01:22I'm sorry, for Ukraine.
01:23For Ukraine.
01:25Senator, I'll have to get back to you on the specifics of the timeline of that.
01:28I'll talk to our policy shop as well as the UCOM commander to determine where that's at.
01:32Well, you've told this committee that you've barely spent half of the $150 billion in reconciliation funding,
01:38and if you still have $75 billion available, why are you asking the American people to absorb the cost of
01:45a war they don't support,
01:47instead of asking for transfer authority for unspent reconciliation funding,
01:52especially if you can't even get $400 million in Ukraine funding out the door?
01:58As I mentioned earlier, Senator, that money from the one big, beautiful bill is otherwise allocated to the rebuilding of
02:04our military
02:04with priorities of the president like Golden Dome for America and hypersonics and other munitions investments
02:09that we made up front as we tried to adjust the Biden budget into an America First budget.
02:14And so reallocating that away from those priorities is Robin Peter to pay Paul.
02:18Those are allocated to rebuild.
02:19But my point is, if you can't spend it on a timeline that makes sense, why do you need to
02:28come back and ask for more money?
02:29Wouldn't it be better to spend money that you already have?
02:32And one of the things I noted was, or at least I think that this supplemental doesn't include funding to
02:38repair damage
02:39to our bases or to our military infrastructure in the region.
02:42And I have not heard that we've gotten the full extent of any of those damage estimates.
02:50So should we expect another request to address that military construction costs?
02:56And at what point do you stop asking Americans to foot the bill for a war they don't support on
03:02top of an inflated budget request
03:06and billions in reconciliation funds that you still haven't spent?
03:10Well, Senator, I obviously don't agree with your characterization of that.
03:13I appreciate that, but you didn't ask me.
03:15But I want you to answer my question.
03:17I know you don't agree with my characterization.
03:19I don't agree with yours either.
03:23Well, one of the reasons I take issue with that characterization is something that Senator Durbin said
03:28when he talked about Ukraine and he talked about winning.
03:31And I appreciate as much as anybody winning a war.
03:33But I sit in front of a committee that wants to talk about winning a war that's been going on
03:36for four years
03:37and talks about strategic defeat of a conflict that's been going on for four months
03:41to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.
03:43I would hope for some perspective in this town of the historic nature of what President Trump is undertaking.
03:49Do you want radical Islamists to have a nuclear bomb that can stare down the world?
03:51I don't want to hear your speech because I have limited time.
03:54I don't understand.
03:54If you can't answer my question, then I will move on to my next question.
04:00Secretary Rollins, the timber industry has also been hard hit, as you know, by trade wars, by drought,
04:07by wildfires, by other natural disasters that are increasingly common.
04:12In New Hampshire, which is the second most heavily forested state in the nation,
04:18one of the things that we really need, as you know, because we've had this conversation,
04:23is a research program and Forest Service staffing on the ground in a variety of ways,
04:29but particularly at Bartlett Experimental Forest.
04:33These small investments in research and staffing and sound management
04:37help make the forest economies healthier and more competitive.
04:41I very much appreciate your having staff visit Bartlett last week with my staff
04:47and with staff from the governor's office,
04:49but can you commit to restoring staffing at Bartlett
04:54and to keeping the facilities there open
04:56now that you've seen the critical nature of that research?
05:03Why don't I follow up with you?
05:05I have not gotten a report from their visit, so I would like to do that first,
05:08but obviously you and I have been in a continuing conversation about that.
05:12The good news, there's no doubt our timber industry is in distress
05:14and has been for a long time.
05:16The fact that we import 90% or something from other countries
05:20of our lumber needs is crazy.
05:22We're changing that, but the good news,
05:24we had more board feet sold last year than any time in 30 years.
05:28This year we're going to exceed that target again,
05:30so we're making the right moves on this,
05:33but there's no doubt that research is important to that, as we've discussed,
05:36and I'll follow up with our team and then we'll reconnect.
05:40Thank you. I appreciate that.
05:42As you pointed out, research is critical to ensuring
05:44that the timber economy continues to be successful.
05:47Thank you, Madam Chair.
05:48Senator Kennedy.
05:55Thank you, Madam Chair.
05:56Thank you all for being here today.
05:59General, in the war between Russia and Ukraine,
06:06who do we want to win?
06:09Sir, I want Ukraine to win.
06:13Is Russia America's friend?
06:16I'm sorry, sir.
06:17I couldn't quite hear your question.
06:19Is Russia America's friend?
06:22I think that depends on your definition of friend.
06:25I think it's a complicated relationship.
06:30But no, I don't think they're our friends.
06:39If we could cut off Russia's cash flow,
06:46which depends substantially on its sale of oil,
06:51would that help Ukraine win?
06:53Sir, I think militarily,
06:54any time you can restrict resources
06:58and cash flows against an adversary,
07:01that's a good thing.
07:02I have so much respect for you.
07:04Yes, sir.
07:04But I have so little time.
07:06Yes, sir.
07:07I'll try to be briefer.
07:08Just give me succinct answers.
07:10Yes, sir.
07:10It would assist a...
07:13It would help, wouldn't it?
07:13Yes, sir.
07:14Yes, sir.
07:14Okay.
07:19If we could stop people, entities,
07:22and countries from buying Russia's oil,
07:26that would help cut off its cash flow, wouldn't it?
07:30Yes, sir.
07:32We have a bill to do that,
07:34as I'm sure you're aware.
07:38We have the votes today to pass it, overwhelmingly.
07:46I have also have enormous respect and admiration
07:52for our majority leader, Senator Thune.
07:56But I hope everybody on this panel
08:00will today contact Senator Thune
08:05and ask him to bring that bill to the floor.
08:10We should vote on it at a minimum of next week.
08:19Some of my colleagues, General,
08:23want America to just stop in Iran.
08:27In the blockade,
08:30bring all of our warriors home.
08:34What would be the consequences of that,
08:38in your estimation?
08:41Sir, I think termination criteria
08:44is always a political decision.
08:46However, I assess that Iran will continue
08:50to be a challenge moving forward.
08:52So we have to be thoughtful about that.
08:55Will they put tolls on the straight?
08:57I don't know, sir.
08:58That's a decision that's a hypothetical
09:00and will depend on what happens in the future.
09:02We've got a blockade to stop them.
09:05We do, sir.
09:06That's putting economic pressure on it.
09:07I'm not asking you for,
09:09I'm not trying to get you in trouble.
09:11I know your advice to the president
09:16is private.
09:17But this is serious as four heart attacks
09:20and a stroke.
09:23Now, what happens
09:26if we come home
09:27and end the blockade
09:29to the world?
09:31Sir, Iran has the potential
09:34to continue to be a threat
09:37and we will need
09:38to prepare military options
09:40to do that.
09:40Will they toll the straight?
09:41Sir, that's a hypothetical question
09:43and I don't know the answer to that.
09:45Oh, it's not hypothetical.
09:47We come home,
09:48it's not going to be hypothetical.
09:50You know that, General.
09:52And I do too.
09:53And I appreciate your discretion.
09:57But we're down to it.
09:59We need some hard answers
10:00and some straight talk.
10:03What will happen, Pete?
10:07Senator, I would agree with the chairman,
10:09but the likely outcome
10:10is they would try to impose their will
10:11on the waterways
10:12in ways that the world would not like.
10:15Call it a toll,
10:16call it a fee,
10:17call it an exchange,
10:18call it control.
10:19They would do something
10:20that they would try to hold it at issue.
10:22Yes, sir.
10:22Would they try to
10:27commence development again
10:28the pain of a nuclear warhead?
10:31Part of the reason
10:32President Trump had to have the courage
10:33to do what he did
10:34after Midnight Hammer
10:35is that they didn't give up their ambitions
10:36even though their nuclear sites
10:38had been obliterated.
10:39So this is a regime
10:40hell-bent on nuclear ambitions
10:41and President Trump's will be the last.
10:44Guys, we need straight answers.
10:44We need straight answers.
10:49Do we have the ability
10:50to destroy
10:52whatever is underneath
10:54Pickaxe Mountain?
10:59Senator, a lot of our capabilities
11:00are classified,
11:01but if anybody in the world
11:02can reach anything
11:03on God's green earth,
11:05it's the United States military,
11:06the most powerful military in the world.
11:08It's all about options and trade-offs.
11:10I'm going to take a little extra time
11:11because others got it, Madam Chair.
11:13I won't abuse it.
11:14Secretary,
11:17are shrimpers farmers?
11:20Absolutely, yes.
11:21They're farmers of the sea.
11:22Are oyster harvesters farmers?
11:24Yes.
11:24In this USDA, yes.
11:26Are they having to compete
11:27with other countries
11:28who grow oysters
11:29and shrimp in a ditch
11:31and shoot them
11:32full of antibiotics?
11:35100% yes.
11:37And if you eat too much
11:38of that foreign shrimp
11:40and oysters,
11:41you'll grow an extra ear,
11:43won't you?
11:44I'm not sure about that,
11:46but I know it is not good.
11:47And I also know
11:47we import 90% of our shrimp.
11:49the shrimp and the oysters
11:51from abroad?
11:52Well, it goes much larger than that.
11:54Why are we importing
11:55so much from abroad,
11:56which goes to the President's trade agenda?
11:58I'm in big trouble.
11:59Yes, you are.
12:01Guys, look,
12:03we need straight answers now.
12:04We're down to it.
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