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1 (2015)

handle is hein.cbhear/fdsysabvz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUTHENTICATEO U.S. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION GP DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015 WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 10:03 a.m., in room SD-192, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Richard J. Durbin (chairman) pre- siding. Present: Senators Durbin, Cochran, Shelby, and Murkowski. ENERGY SECURITY AND RESEARCH STATEMENT OF HON. DENNIS MC GINN, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, ENERGY, INSTALLATIONS AND ENVIRONMENT OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR RICHARD J. DURBIN Senator DURBIN. Good morning. Today, the Subcommittee on De- fense Appropriations meets to receive testimony regarding the operational energy programs of the Department of Defense (DOD), and how the Department is incorporating climate change into stra- tegic planning. I would like to welcome our witnesses, Dennis McGinn, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment; Edward Morehouse, Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs; Dr. Daniel Chiu, the Dep- uty Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy; and Brigadier Gen- eral Kenneth Lewis, Deputy Director of Trans-Regional Policy and Partnership Strategy on the Joint Staff. Thank you. Energy is not often the first thing that comes to mind when we picture our military, but it is an increasingly important consider- ation. The Department of Defense is the largest energy consumer in America, spending roughly $20 billion a year to move people and equipment, sustain missions, keep installations running. Liquid fuel use is the main driver of these costs, totaling an esti- mated 111 million barrels of oil, including 9 million barrels in Af- ghanistan alone. In addition to financial cost, energy limitations also constrain our military's ability to project power. A Marine Corps forward oper- ating base lasts only as long as its energy supply. Lieutenant General James Mattis, during Operation Iraqi Free- dom, put it another way: Unleash us from the tether of fuel.