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1 (2015)

handle is hein.cbhear/fdsysabvy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUTHENTICATEO U.S. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION GP DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m. in room SD-192, Dirksen Sen- ate Office Building, Hon. Richard J. Durbin (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Durbin, Leahy, Feinstein, Murray, Reed, Pryor, Collins, Graham, Coats, and Blunt. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE STATEMENT OF HON. CHUCK HAGEL, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ACCOMPANIED BY HON. ROBERT HALE, UNDER SECRETARY OF DE- FENSE, COMPTROLLER OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR RICHARD J. DURBIN Senator DURBIN. Good morning. The subcommittee meets this morning to receive testimony on the fiscal year 2015 budget request for the Department of Defense (DOD). I am pleased to welcome the leadership of the Department, Sec- retary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey, to present their views on both the strategic and budgetary challenges facing our armed forces. Mr. Hale, thank you for your expertise, as well. Your continuing contributions make a big difference. Let me congratulate the Department on the capture of Ahmed Abu Khatallah, a key figure in the September 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, an attack which cost us four American lives. I want to commend the professionalism of our men and women in uniform who worked alongside law enforcement and intelligence counterparts to ensure that this man will be brought to justice. We're also following several other recent events which have un- derscored the many challenges to American security and interests around the world. The shocking events in Iraq this past week dem- onstrate the threats posed by continuing chaos in Syria which has given rise to dangerous new extremist groups. Deterioration of se- curity in Yemen shows that established terrorist organizations, such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, remain a serious threat. The aggressive moves by Russia in Ukraine recall the im-