Hearings to examine a review of the President's supplemental funding request of June 24, 2026.

thank you this hearing of the senate appropriations committee will come to order before we begin our hearing today i want to take a moment to recognize the american service members who recently made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our nation. We extend our deepest condolences to their families, loved ones and fellow service members. And we honor their courage, dedication and sacrifice. We also grieved today in the first meeting of the appropriations since his passing, the absence of our friend, our dear friend and colleague, Senator Lindsey Graham. Turning now to the first panel, I want to express my appreciation for Senators Rounds, Budd and Padilla for appearing before the committee today to talk about the urgent needs facing their states. I also welcome Secretary Hexeth, Secretary Rollins, and General Kane, and thank them for joining us to discuss the President's supplemental funding request. Our country has many urgent funding needs. For many agricultural producers, twenty twenty five was a year in which the cost of growing their crop at times exceeded what they could earn from selling it. Severe weather compounded these losses. This was certainly the case for many growers in the state of Maine. Our wild blueberry growers and apple producers had to contend with the challenge of a combination of challenging market conditions and excessively rainy spring that prevented pollinization and drought conditions in the summer and fall. I expect that we will hear a great deal today about how declining commodity prices, rising input costs, labor shortages, trade disruptions, pests and disease, and increasingly volatile weather are squeezing our farmers already thin margins. Nationwide, we have lost two hundred thousand farms in the last decade. In Maine alone, more than five hundred closed between twenty seventeen and twenty twenty two, according to the most recent census of agriculture. Our farmers are part of the fabric of America's rural communities, and they need help to survive. USTA has said that additional short-term assistance is needed to help producers weather these extraordinary conditions while long-term improvements take hold. I look forward to today's discussion and making sure that any assistance is structured to meet the needs both of Roe and specially specialty crop producers, such as we have in Maine. We will also hear today about the ongoing recovery needs of communities in North Carolina, as well as communities in California, and I suspect other states too, that are still working to rebuild after being head by devastating hurricanes and wildfires. I would note that the administration's statement that it is open to discussing additional relief for other urgent matters is encouraging because there is strong interest from members on both sides of the aisle in discussing additional targeted relief. Turning now to the defense request. I look forward to hearing from our Department of Defense witnesses and their discussion on why the supplemental funding is critical to supporting our service members and protecting America's national security. There are certainly divergent views on this committee about the decision to use military force against Iran. The Senate as a body has already taken numerous votes on these issues and will likely continue to do so. But irrespective of our differing views about the military operations, the fact remains that there are must-pay bills and urgent requirements facing the department that affect the ability of our troops to be well-trained. and more broadly of the US military to deter and defend against potential aggressors worldwide. I would note that some of the requirements, such as the shortfalls in munitions, have been well known to this committee for some time, and prior to the conflict with Iran, there has been bipartisan support to address these shortfalls. While these munition shortfalls have been years in the making, they are growing increasingly urgent. We should not undermine the readiness of our service members for any engagement, or refuse to rebuild critical capabilities. Our men, women in uniform, do not decide where they are sent or the missions to which they are assigned. Congress has the responsibility to ensure that they have the tools, the training, and the support that they need to accomplish their missions. On the topic of our service members, I would be remiss if I did not note that since january of last year the department has removed a number of senior generals and admirals from their positions blocked or altered promotion lists across multiple services and intervened in several senior assignments a recent new york times story reported that about forty senior officers were removed from promotion lists, and more than two dozen generals and admirals were fired or sidelined, including Admiral Lisa Frank Frank Ketty, the first woman to lead the Navy. The Times further reports that more than half of those fired or removed have been female or black. and that for the first time in more than a decade, no active duty female naval officers are likely to be promoted to admiral. I find this deeply troubling. These are men and women who volunteered to serve our country and swore an oath to support and defend our constitution. Over the course of their careers, they have earned the support and the trust of their commanders and subordinates, led our men and women in uniform, and were selected through rigorous command and promotion boards. They have served under presidents and defense secretaries from both parties. Reports that women and people of color are disproportionately fired or sidelined, create the impression that their service is not valued. This is likely to discourage well-qualified women and individuals of color from joining our armed forces, thus depriving us of their talent, dedication and patriotism. The United States military is one of the greatest meritocracies in the free world. We need to make sure that it stays that way. I now recognize Vice President Murray for her opening statement.

Uh, thank you very much, Chair Collins, and thank you to all of our witnesses who are here today. I first, too, do wanna acknowledge the loss of one of our colleagues on this dais. Like so many, I was very shocked and saddened to learn of Senator Graham's passing. We disagreed on many issues, but there was no denying the energy that Lindsay brought to this job. And whenever we could, we found common ground and managed to get something done. So I just wanted to express that my heart goes out to his family, friends and loved ones today. Now I wanna start with a few facts. A hundred and forty-three days ago, President Trump started a war of his own choosing with Iran. He did not consult Congress. He did not get authorization from Congress. He did not build a coalition of allies. He did not make a case to the American people. Nor did he ever win their support. Two thirds of Americans opposed the war. And the president's decision had catastrophic costs. Seventeen American service members have now died. And that includes three who tragically lost their lives over the last few days, and another is still missing. Sender- several hundred more have been injured, including nearly a hundred who've been hurt just in the last few weeks. We owe all of them and their families a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. Thousands of civilians have also been killed, and this administration will not tell the public or Congress the true financial costs of this war. But we know it is very well into the tens of billions of dollars. Tax dollars we could have spent helping people afford health care, or building new housing, have now been lit on fire by a president who blundered us into a disastrous war. And the cost to families' bank accounts are staggering. Economic growth has slowed to a crawl. Inflation has shot up about fifty percent since this war began. On average, gas costs just under three dollars on February twenty eighth. Today it is over four dollars and ticking back up with the straight closed again. Americans have now paid more than seventy billion dollars more on gas since this war began that is over five hundred and fifty dollars more per household. Fertilizer costs skyrocketed in the middle of spring planting. crushing farmers operating on extremely thin margins, and costing families more on just about everything they buy at the grocery store. The costs of this war have been astronomical. And what it is, what has it been for? What has actually been achieved? We hear a different rationale for this war every few days. It was about preempting imminent threats, which we now know did not exist. It was about regime change. then liberating the Iranian people. It was about destroying Iran's nuclear program and its navy. And at one point it was about taking out its ballistic missiles, until that is, until the president decided that actually, and I quote, "it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some." Trump has even suggested the wars about taking Iran's oil to quote "make a fortune". And now, the United States' primary strategic objective seems to be to actually just reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which of course was fully open toll-free before this war began. President Trump has by any objective measure failed to achieve his goals. Our country is no safer or better off than before the war. In fact, we are considerably less safe. Our stockpiles have been depleted, and it will take years of production to fully replenish them, no matter how much money is thrown at this problem. Our global forced posture is much weaker, and as assets have been moved now to the Middle East. And we are now much further away from a long-term solution to halt Iran's nuclear program than we were before Trump ripped up the deal that President Obama negotiated which secured actual, measurable commitments and progress without ever starting a costly war. In fact, there are new reports that Iran may have moved nuclear assets into a mountain bunker. which raises concerns about whether Iran might restart its program. It used to be a pretty somber and serious thing, a president taking America to war and costing lives and taxpayer dollars. But this president has been downright flippant. The people I represent worry Trump thinks this is all a game and has sent men and women into harm's way without any sort of plan. And now that he's driven that car into the ditch, taxpayers to bail him out. As the daughter of a World War Two veteran and a Purple Heart recipient, the way this White House has blissfully operated with no plan for success is disrespectful to our men and women in uniform. These are patriots. They are highly trained and have sacrificed tremendously to keep us safe. They shouldn't be forced to put a show on for the president's birthday parade or do the job of Border Patrol agents. or risk their lives in a disastrous war that the president clearly failed to think through. And as a US senator, this administration's refusal to explain what it is doing or how this war is protecting Americans, its refusal to seek authorization from Congress, and its expectation that Americans will now just pay for it all, without any explanation or transparency, is disrespectful. And it's insulting to the people back home that all of us represent. So here we are, five months later. The Strait is closed. The ceasefire hasn't just disintegrated. This, this war is now spiraling out of control again. The president is threatening escalation and war crimes, and suggesting this could be another forever war. He has told us over forty times now that a deal is near and the war will be over soon. But now, he is asking for seventy billion dollars more. And for us to just trust him, it'll work out fine. Look, I've been very clear, my Democratic colleagues and I will do absolutely everything to ensure that we do take care of our service members and keep this country safe. Chairman Kaine, I hope you know that every Democrat on this committee deeply respects the sacrifices that you and our service members and their families are making. Everyone who signed up to serve our country deserves to be more than an afterthought in a war that the president decided to launch despite all the blinking red warnings. But my colleagues and I cannot and will not support rubber-stamping a request to bankroll this war and whatever other misadventures Trump wants to get us into next. The American people want to see a quick and strategic end to this war, not seventy billion dollars of their tax dollars sent to keep it going. And I wanna make a few important points. First, the President's request is not even a primarily a primarily a request to cover the costs of the Iran war. This request is chock full of asks to fund unrelated DOD priorities which should be considered through our annual appropriations process, not in an emergency supplemental. And that includes almost a billion dollars for nearly a billion dollars to keep deploying the National Guard here in DC, and more than a billion dollars for the southern southern border. Secondly, President Trump is making this request as the Pentagon has a record breaking one trillion dollar total budget for FY twenty-six, including over seventy five billion it has it has in unspent money from Republicans, big ugly Bill. Understand you may have mis- managed your budget, Secretary Haegstaff, but you have to do your d- due diligence to fix the cash flow problems you've caused before asking taxpayers for more. Third, the the President is now asking for all of us to approve tens of billions of dollars in new funding for the war while his administration still has yet to share actual cost estimates, essential information to justify this request, and a plan for where on earth this conflict goes next. This administration is either hiding the truth from Congress and the American people, or if you take at face value what they've said and in the few briefings that we've had, they have no idea what is going on and no plan to right the ship, neither of which is acceptable. Now, Trump is also asking Congress for over ten billion dollars to help struggling American farmers who have been crushed first by the tariffs and then by this war, which has shot fertilizer and diesel costs through the roof. I'm digging into that request, but let me be clearer. As we're looking at what farmers might need to weather Trump's storm, we must also help families put food on the table. And to do that, we should delay and ultimately reverse Republicans' deep cuts to SNAP, which have already kicked at least one million kids off of food assi- assistance. Finally, Trump has also requested an I had to read this one twice to believe, one point three billion dollars in new funding for the State Department for Global Health and Humanitarian Needs. At the very same time, his administration is withholding more than twice that amount in funding that has already been signed into law and is available for the same purpose. He's also asking for authorities to make US taxpayer dollars subsidize the Venezuelan oil industry and to finance the establishment of private investment funds like the one he just handed over to one of his ballroom donors. Unfortunately, Secretary Rubio is not here with us today to explain those requests, to talk about how this war forced one of the largest evacuations of our diplomatic posts ever, or to explain whether as a national security advisor he still thinks this war is, quote, the right decision, and whether he still, still quote believes in it strongly. So, this is really a request to make tax pay for the President's reckless decisions from the Iran War, to his trade wars, to his global health cuts. All while doing nothing to help our families back home who are suffering because of those decisions. And that, that is what we should be focused on, helping people. Because as Senator Padilla and others on both sides of the aisle will tell us shortly, there are urgent domestic needs that we should be addressing, instead of sending more money for Trump to drop bombs overseas. Priorities like disaster relief for our communities that have rav- been ravaged by the unthinkable, or taking action to lower families' costs. You know what's the crisis right now? The fact that there are families I hear from back home who are working full time and still being forced to decide whether to skip meals so they finally can buy their kids a pair of shoes. You know what's the crisis? The fact that hospitals are shutting down and kids are going hungry because of Republicans' cuts. Instead of bankrolling the president's war or sending ICE seventy billion dollars, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle could work with us to quadruple our investments to cure cancer or help families afford child care or help them afford to cool their homes. Those are policy choices. And Republican leadership has chosen to focus on funding war and ICE endlessly without a single cent for our American families. So let me close with this. This president says we can afford, can't afford health care. We can't afford child care. We can't afford housing. But somehow we can always afford another war. No price tag on that. Families in Washington State are skipping doctor's visits so they can afford groceries. Trump wants to Congress to cut him a blank check for a war that no one supports. The American people interest us to spend their taxpayer dollars strategically and thoughtfully. This is a huge responsibility, so let me be clear. I'm ready to work with my colleagues in a bipartisan way as always to address the needs of our nation and the American people. But I hope we can have real conversations about why there seems to always be money for Trump's wars but never money for the families back home who are desperate for a little relief. So I look forward to today's discussion. Thank you.

I will now introduce our first panel of witnesses. Today we're going to be hearing first from our colleagues, Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina, and Senator Alex Padilla of California. I welcome all of you, and Senator Rounds will begin with you first.

Chair Collins, Vice Chair Murray, and members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to highlight why food security and national security go hand in hand. I'd also like to thank the Trump administration for recognizing that input pressures have made it more difficult for American farmers to support their own operations. In South Dakota, farming and ranching is more than a job, it's a way of life built on hard work, stewardship, and the hope of leaving the land better for the next generation. Feeding and fueling the world has never been easy. Producers continue showing up year after year, despite drought, floods, disease, pests, volatile markets, and other challenges beyond their control. This supplemental funding request comes at a critical time. Farmers and ranchers are facing production costs that exceed market returns. Higher fertilizer, diesel fuel, seed, equipment, and crop protection costs. coupled with retaliatory trade practices and continued market uncertainty have put enormous have put enormous financial pressure on producers. Specifically, the projected loss per acre across the country in twenty twenty six for corn is a hundred and thirty one dollars, for cotton, three hundred and forty two dollars, for wheat, a hundred and fourteen dollars, and for soybeans, eighty dollars. While we work to strengthen America's ability to produce more of what we need here at home, and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains, Congress should provide stability so producers can remain in business and continue producing the best food and fuel in the world. Today's threats extend well beyond weather and markets. Foreign adversaries, cyber threats, industry consolidation, arbitrary standards and unfair trade practices impact farmers' ability to produce food, fiber, and fuel. Food security, energy security, and national security are connected. We also have an opportunity to strengthen both agriculture and energy security by permanently authorizing voluntary access to nationwide year-round sales of E fifteen. giving consumers the option to choose a higher ethanol blend would increase domestic fuel production, expand markets for corn growers, reduce reliance on foreign energy sources, and provide families with lower cost options at the pump. Given the significant defense investments included in this supplemental, I also want to emphasize the importance of fully funding our national defense. We are living in one of the most complex and lethal threat environments. since the second world war. And the brave men and women who volunteer to defend this country deserve the leadership, training and equipment along with resources necessary to maintain America's military advantage. Protecting America's food supply, energy supply and national defense are not separate priorities, they reinforce one another. This supplemental provides needed assistance to help

Thank you, Senator Browns. Senator Budd. Senator Budd.

Chair Collins, Vice Chair Murray, members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify this afternoon to provide a voice for the people in Western North Carolina. More than twenty-one months ago, Hurricane Helene unleashed an unprecedented amount of rainfall on the Blue Ridge Mountains, causing severe flooding and devastating landslides. The storm left behind tens of billions in damage. In December twenty twenty four, Congress responded by approving a disaster supplemental that provided billions of dollars to Western North Carolina recovery. Additionally, North Carolina's state government stepped up by committing roughly two point four billion dollars in state appropriations and redirecting more than two billion dollars from state agencies for reconstruction. But the Blue Ridge Mountains' challenging terrain has made it uniquely difficult for federal programs to operate, resulting in delays and inefficiencies. And there's still work to be done. Too many projects in Western North Carolina have stalled due to insufficient funding or because of financial shortfalls from expensive debris removal and rebuilding efforts. Uh, I greatly appreciate that President Trump and Secretary Mullen have empowered FEMA to more rapidly reimburse the state and local governments for public assistance projects. However, FEMA is only one part of the equation. The Environmental Protection Agency Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal agencies play a key role in disaster recovery. And much of the existing disaster funding for those agencies has already largely been allocated. When I visit Western North Carolina, I see the impacts the delays in the recovery have recal- have caused. Debris still clogs the waterways. Facilities that provide drinking water and manage wastewater have yet to be rebuilt. Most concerning, some homeowners paying mortgages on properties that are still unlivable or yet to be rebuilt. Towns have been forced to embrace expensive short-term stop-gap solutions just to carry out their most basic functions for the residents. In the small town of Beach Mountain, there is no long-term water supply. The dam and water treatment plant were heavily damaged, forcing the town out of compliance with state state safety standards. And as a result, the the state could be finding Beach Mountain, twenty five thousand dollars per day. Most repairs are needed so that the water treatment plant can function long-term. If funded, this process will take at least a year and require significant diversion of utilities and or daily water trucks just so hundreds of residents will have to have clean drinking water during construction. Three years is too long to wait after a disaster, and we can't delay any longer. Tourism the lifeblood of much of Western North Carolina has begun to rebound. But there's still far too many areas that are unable to accommodate the travelers they once welcomed. But I want to highlight a few examples of success stories to show how ample funding for the last disaster supplemental, paired with exceptional planning and project execution, made an immediate impact on our mountain communities. Last July, portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway reopened after fifty-seven landslides struck two hundred miles of the parkway. This Memorial Day weekend, Lake Lure reopened the public uh to the public after an incredible debris removal and refilling project. And I want to be clear that I fully support President Trump's request to replenish our munition stockpile and strengthen our military. And I'm also appreciative of his efforts to provide economic assistance to farmers, impacted by disasters and unfair trade practices. However, to address the long-term recovery needs of Western North Carolina, more federal funds are needed. Every time I'm in Western North Carolina, people ask me to make sure that they're not forgotten. This is Congress's chance to remind them that we're serious about helping them get back on their feet. I'm deeply grateful to the members of the committee for holding this hearing, and I look forward to continuing to work with you throughout this whole process. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Budd, Senator Padilla.

Thank you, Madam Chair, uh, Vice Chair Murray, members of the committee. Appreciate the opportunity to testify on behalf of the people of California. And especially the survivors of last year's devastating fires in Los Angeles County. And I wanna acknowledge that some of them are here in the audience today, uh, advocating, uh, for relief and I'm proud to work alongside them. as many of you recall eighteen months ago sixty thousand acres across southern california burned that's roughly three and a half times the size of manhattan over sixteen thousand homes businesses schools and other structures were destroyed and most devastatingly thirty one californians lost their lives to respond more than seventy five hundred firefighters worked literally around the clock for three more than three weeks to extinguish the fires and those firefighters were just from california many came from our neighboring states of oregon washington arizona some as far away as utah texas and montana colleagues because as americans that's what we do we help each other we don't condition our response based on who a community voted for in the last election when americans need help we help now walking around the palisades and the altadena communities during the fires and after the fires you couldn't help but be moved by the scale of the devastation the images of nothing standing but a chimney amongst a a pile of ash cars literally melted into the streets where the drivers where they had been parked in the wake of disasters like this congress has historically come together on a bipartisan basis to provide aid and long-term recovery funding to help communities recover and rebuild regardless of whether the disaster was in a state represented by republicans or democrats but instead of following that historical practice this administration has left california waiting for more than a year and a half while asking congress to fund hundreds of billion dollars for other purposes I wanna be crystal clear. No disaster impacted community, regardless of where it is located, should ever be held hostage or treated as a bargaining chip for other political priorities. Californians in Altadena and the Palisades have now waited more than eighteen months. Yet long-term recovery funding is still absent from even the administration's request. Instead, it asks taxpayers to spend hundreds of billions of dollars more on a war that Congress has never authorized a war that's raising gas prices worsening supply chains, making our country less safe and for which seventeen service members have already paid the ultimate sacrifice with many more seriously injured now we know this committee can address disaster relief without tying it to a a laundry list of unrelated priorities Because it's done so many times before, including as recently as December twenty twenty four, when the committee on a bipartisan basis passed more than a hundred billion dollars of relief. There's no reason we can't do it again. Congress, we must, uh, excuse me, colleagues, we must reject the premise that it is OK to keep survivors waiting for help because the president, any president, decides they need something else from Congress to get it. To that end, I do wanna thank my colleagues, Senators Tillis, Schiff and Curtis, for joining me in sending a bipartisan letter to the committee just yesterday, supporting long-term disaster recovery funding. Madam Chair, I'd like to enter this letter into the record at this time.

Thank you, Senator Padilla.

I'm I'm not there,

Whoops, I'm sorry.

just wanna enter the letter to the record.

No. Without objection, it will.

Thank you. and uh i'll be uh wrapping up soon here i uh also wanna reiterate what i said earlier we know the next disaster is coming anyone who stepped outside of washington this last weekend or across at least a dozen states saw and breathed the very impact of wildfires and it may be canada now but it's gonna be one of our states next as of last week the federal government has already spent over three point three billion dollars in wildfire suppression this fiscal year even though the peak of fire season is august and september that's still ahead of us that should concern the committee we cannot allow wildfire suppression funding to run out before the end of the fiscal year so in addition to the long-term disaster recovery funding i urge the committee to examine the need for emergency suppression funds as well and i would note that the fire fix which has provided a steady resource for fighting wildfires will expire in fiscal year twenty twenty seven congress needs to extend and increase that funding to ensure firefighters have all the resources they need to respond to the ever-growing threat of wildfires i'll close by reiterating what i said at the outset disasters do not distinguish between red states and blue states and when it comes to disaster aid neither should congress so thank you again for holding this hearing and allowing me to be a voice for my constituents and for disaster survivors across the country. I look forward to working with this committee to ensure that everyone has the resources and the part that they need to recover and rebuild regardless of which state they call home. Thank you very much.

I appreciate the testimony of the entire panel, as we consider the supplemental, submitted by the administration your testimony is very helpful to us thank you i will now ask that our second panel of witnesses come forward

i shatter already

well leave it to our military witness to be on time

mmm

mmm sense when i'm right here

while we are waiting for our second panel to be seated Uh, let me introduce them. We are joined today by the secretary of war, Piet Hegset, the secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Dan Kane. These administration officials represent the largest components of the administration's requests and we welcome them to the committee today. Secretary Hexeth, we will begin with your testimony. Please proceed.

Well, Chair Collins, Vice Chair Murray, members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, thank you for the opportunity to testify on President Trump's supplemental funding request for the Department of War. As you know, we live in a dangerous world that requires bold and swift action. Hence, this supplemental request for fiscal year twenty twenty six. this request is an urgent necessary injection of resources to address the immediate needs of our department the supplemental funding request is not a substitute

our our case is more of a case the other case is legal law this is against dronium people nineteen and twenty your hand or what uh fendantin america and uh and four hundred thousand

the witness will suspend until order is

oh my god

restored in the committee room. I know that individuals feel very passionately, but we must have order in the hearing room so that we can proceed. We're now gonna move forward to with our hearing, and Secretary Higgseth, please proceed.

Thank you. The supplemental funding request is not a substitute for the President's full one point five trillion dollar base budget request.

We're talking about our own lives.

One point five trillion.

Stop bombing our children in Iran and Palestine. This is illegal. We're talking about our own lives. Mister Secretary, please We're talking about our own lives. suspend until the order is restored in the hearing room. We're talking about our own lives. We're talking about our own lives. We will begin the timing clock, since you've been interrupted twice. We're talking about our own lives.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

One point five trillion is what the president seeks and what we need to defend the country. The members of this committee understand better than most that long-term, strategic dominance cannot be funded

The veterans offer

through one-off supplements.

Veterans offer engines more right now.

We will have order

Mm.

in the hearing room.

mister secretary please proceed

collectively the budget proposal submitted under president trump follow a simple logic

what is the purpose of what is the purpose of what is there is there lot of people literally died last day that didn't come in how come people not how come i would ask that the capitol police no but you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you whose professionalism i admire remove those who are seeking to disrupt please proceed

president trump's following a simple logic the military requires a generational investment to deliver on peace through strength we know the best way to create peace is to prepare for war to deter it and that's exactly what the department of war is doing building a force so capable that it wouldn't be absurd for anyone to challenge it as the direct result of neglected priorities in and gross negligence that ignored threats left over from the previous administration, President Trump inherited a set of global and domestic crises, deferred maintenance almost across the board. Instead of steering the ship through gathering storms, former leaders led our military language through social experiments and globalist appeasement, sheer weakness. Under President Trump, we have built a different type of department. The Pentagon is no longer run by bureaucrats, instead it's led by combat tested veterans and world class business leaders, who are running the department like a business, and tech titans who are bringing lethal innovation to the battlefield. We're also at a different moment, and we cannot afford inaction. If we don't make critical investments right now in tech, in compute, in AI, in autonomy, in space, our adversaries who are already making these types of investments could outpace us. Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls that threaten our ability to also simply pay our service members rapidly replenish equipment and munitions and sustain vital operations without disruption. This supplemental request serves two purposes. Sustain our military readiness to meet this year's new demands. and accelerate critical capabilities to replace and augment those we have used in contingencies. But make no mistake, this is not a one-for-one replacement. We are upgrading and we are modernizing across the force. On the readiness front, we requested twenty-one billion dollars. This will fund military pay, replace much of the equipment utilized during recent operations, sustain forward deployed forces, and grow personnel and strength while stabilizing mission critical shortfalls and supporting the National Guard. On the capabilities side, we requested forty six billion dollars. These funds will expand production lines and accelerate delivery of high demand munitions. We're talking about solid rocket motors, J DEMs, hypersonics, and counter drone capabilities. Additionally, we will use this investment to secure digital and space dominance, including resilient satellite networks. Department leadership recognizes that appropriating those funds is just the first step. Once funds are appropriated, or portioned, excuse me, to the department, we need to promptly execute on them. And that's why we're requesting targeted legislative authorities, like Transfer Authority, to prioritize our greatest needs and opportunities, Multi-Year Procurement for weapon systems, revolutionizing the speed and scale of munitions procurement, and New Start authorities. Rest assured that every dollar appropriated to the Department of War will be focused on building the lethality of our joint force and reinforcing peace through strength. As I have said before, not fully funding this department, the Department of War, and we know what that means, that that means one point five trillion, given the world that we live in and the disaster of what the Biden administration budgets gave us. Not funding this department at one point five trillion, I believe, is the greatest threat that our nation faces. Either we invest in our warriors at this moment of step change on the battlefield and growing threats, or this is all just talk. I look forward to working with this committee to secure those funds so that our war fighters can continue to do their work every day to keep our great republic safe. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mister Secretary, General Kane.

Chair Collins, uh Vice Chair Murray, distinguished members of this committee, I'm honored today to appear before you with Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Rollins to testify on the Department of War's fiscal twenty twenty-six supplemental funding request and I'll note I fondly remember my time at USDA earlier in my career, where I had the chance to serve there. I'm also joined today by my senior enlisted advisor, SEAC Dave Isom. As always, i'm deeply grateful for this committee's continued partnership and support for our common defense. i'd like to begin by expressing my deep condolences and that of the joint chiefs of staff and the siac for the fallen from this past weekend and their families. today we remember first lieutenant tyler fihann sergeant michael swinton and private isabel gonzalez and note that the names of our last fallen will be released when I'm humbled daily by the profound commitment of the incredible two point eight million Americans just like these names that I've just mentioned who make up our joint force and serve our nation every day. Also, on behalf of the joint force and the joint chiefs, I want to express my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family of Senator Graham, for their loss, and all of you for the loss of your colleague. The joint force remains grateful for his forty-four years of service, both in and out of uniform. There is no doubt he made a difference to the safety and security of our nation. On July twenty-second, nineteen forty, General George C. Marshall said, and I quote, "For almost twenty years, we had all of the time and almost none of the money. Today we have all of the money and no time." His words resonate powerful powerfully with me today as we find ourselves in a somewhat similar situation. I've come to you today to request the necessary funds while in the window of opportunity, while time is still on our side. The United States of America faces a global list of military challenges. In the Middle East, in Europe, in the Pacific, both nuclear and non-nuclear challenges. and the continued threat of terrorism. We find ourselves living and leading in complex and dynamic times. Our adversaries are aligning in their interests, creating simultaneous challenges across multiple domains. They are sharing intelligence, combat capabilities and technology, technology that is accelerating the speed of war. Isn't it, it is an imperative that americas understand that the character of war is changing. Advances in technology are fundamentally and irreversibly changing the way we fight with which necessitates capital to properly arm america's military. Rapid advancements in ai autonomous systems deliver critical technological advantages to our national defense and simultaneously introduce unprecedented strategic vulnerabilities and uncertainty across the world, to include right here at home. The low barrier to entry created by affordable, ubiquitous, unmanned systems means our adversaries, rogue actors, state and non-state actors, and violent extremists have access to disruptive and potentially lethal technologies at scale. We've seen this in Ukraine and we must adopt elements of this fight for our future fights. Conflict is never confined neatly to the land, sea, or air domains. The modern battlefield stretches from the seabed up to cislunar space and beyond, cyberspace, and in the information domain, all at the same time. Our nation must be prepared to fight and win across all of them, all the time, all at once. In addition, the light speed at which information travels now has compressed our leaders' decision space, taking what was once days or weeks in World War Two down to milliseconds. Your joint force must be ready because the United States military is America's greatest insurance policy. And I acknowledge all of us find it difficult at times to pay for insurance before we need it. But we must have insurance before the storm comes. The armed forces of the United States of America serves as our nation's ultimate safeguard and our insurance policy to preserve, protect and defend our national interests, security and prosperity. To uphold this responsibility, we require predictable and consistent funding. This will allow us to partner effectively with our defense and national industrial bases, building on acquisition reforms that guarantee our war fighters' received capabilities, at scale before they are required in conflict or combat. I'm struck by this season of American history we find ourselves in, and I continue to ask myself, if not now, then when, and if not us in this room and the rest of the Congress and the nation, then who? I acknowledge the environment we all serve in, but always remember that we are all Americans with deep and abiding love of our nation, and our military service members and their families. I've come today to ask for your help and your support. America's armed forces need one point five trillion dollars to meet the military challenges of the future. This supplemental is a part of that, and to be allowed to use this capital to pay for military personnel, operations and maintenance expenses, and accelerate investments on critical technologies, as the secretary just mentioned. It is critical that we stay ahead of our adversaries, and we must have the funds before we're out of time. In closing, I ask all of us to remember our deployed service members around the world right now, especially our Army teammates who remained deployed after losing their friends and teammates this past weekend. And I again ask all of us here in the Senate and across the American people to never forget our fallen and their families, who continue to show us what courage, tenacity, grit and commitment to the nation looks like. Thank you very much and I look forward to your questions.

Thank you, General. Secretary Rollins.

Thank you so much, uh, Chairwoman Collins, Ranking Member Murray, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. Let me begin with the bottom line up front. The United States Department of Agriculture is joining today the United States Department of War in a fight for America. and for American flourishing. After all, defending America's ability to feed and fuel and clothe herself is defending America full stop. This can be easily forgotten. For centuries we built farms and ranches and transportation that fed not only America, but the world too. For a long time, that prosperity made America strong and made America safe. But across the past one hundred years, and especially across the last administration, we took that source of strength in war and peace, our farms and our ranches, and the communities that surrounded them, and we hollowed them out. We made them weak, and we put them on the precipice of decline and extinction. We sent our food production overseas. In fact, twenty twenty-three was for the first time a significant net importer of our food for America. And in so doing, we replaced American production with massive amounts of imports. We allowed and even encouraged the consolidation of agriculture, seed production, processing, fertilizer, and beyond into massive industries at scale. Today, nearly eighty-five percent of our meat packing capacity is controlled by just four companies. including two that are foreign owned. Additionally, our largest pork company in America is owned by a China company, or China. Four fertilizers in America now represent, four fertilizer companies now represent seventy-eight percent of the production versus just a couple of decades ago that was in the dozens. And two seed companies now produce more than fifty percent of the seed for America. These are national security implications. When President Trump returned to office, America's farm economy faced one of the most difficult economic environments in decades between twenty twenty and twenty twenty five the cost of seed rose nineteen percent crop protection rose thirty percent fertilizer rose over fifty percent fuel and oils rose nearly thirty three percent electricity thirty six percent and repair and maintenance twenty seven percent. As these costs climbed, commodity prices plummeted farm income fell by more than ninety billion dollars from twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four representing one of the largest single year declines in history at the same time producers saw not one new trade deal across the world resulting in an unprecedented fifty billion dollar agricultural trade deficit american farmers deserve better and our national security now demands it As long as we are beholden to foreign and even hostile countries for our fu food and our fuel, our freedom is in jeopardy. Since my first day at USDA, we have been committed to addressing this crisis head-on, in addition to implementing the historic working families tax cuts, thanks to uh so many in this room who worked so hard, moving forty billion in disaster and economic assistance to producers across the country, securing nineteen new trade deals, and decreasing that fifty billion dollar agricultural trade deficit in one year by forty-two percent. This year our corn exports are expected to be at a record-breaking thirty-five percent, ethanol up eleven percent, dairy up fifteen percent, and tree nuts up eleven percent. We are making progress, but we have a ways to go. Administrator Zeldin has secured the strongest renewable fuel standard volumes in history. and the President continues to support year-round E-fifteen for our domestic markets. We have led robust responses to animal health threats, including HPAI and the New World Screwworm, and have reduced unnecessary regulatory burdens and partnered with producers to strengthen the domestic demand for American agriculture. These are lasting reforms and will change the trajectory of American agriculture for the future. The trade agreements will take time to fully execute and generate even more exports. The biofuel investments take time to increase the demand for American crops, although we're already seeing a ten percent increase since just an announcement a month ago. And of course, on-shoring facilities like fertilizer will continue to take some time to build out. But we are confident that the direction of American agriculture is changing for the better. But many producers continue to face economic pressure as we build that economic infrastructure out. Specialty crop growers across the Northeast, the Mid-Atlanta, the Pacific Northwest and Florida suffered devastating freeze losses this past winter. Producers across the plains continue recovering from catastrophic wildfire and events occurring while many operations are still working to catch up financially. That is why our proposed uh proposal includes ten billion in temporary economic assistance for twenty twenty six row crop and specialty crop producers, and also includes one point one billion to help producers recover from catastrophic freeze losses suffered this past winter. Congress has taken similar action over many decades, and we're so grateful for that, but including most recently twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four with economic aid and disaster relief aid for the hurricane seasons. I want to be one hundred percent clear as I close, for the sake of American national security, American existence, and the American future. We must in the long run end this system that has grown up like a weed and strangled the American farmland in food production. Farmers want to farm for their products, not for a government check. They want to be free from dependency and free to innovate. We know what happens when they are able to do that. They build and feed the greatest republic in the history of man. But when they aren't, well, we know the danger that we are in today. But that's why this supplemental is so important. It provides a bridge and extends a hand to Americans who need it. It buys the nation the security that we need, and it buys us time to deconstruct and then reconstruct a new system, putting our farmers and ranchers first, and to restore the system that originally made America great. For our farmers, the defense of American freedom continues. They only ask to be free to fight. Thank you so much.