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1 (2010)

handle is hein.cbhear/fdsysaqyy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: AUT-ENTICATED US. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION GP DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 10:30 a.m., in room SD-192, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Daniel K. Inouye (chairman) pre- siding. Present: Senators Inouye, Leahy, Dorgan, Feinstein, Murray, Specter, Cochran, Bond, Hutchison, and Bennett. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT M. GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN DANIEL K. INOUYE Chairman INOUYE. This morning, the subcommittee welcomes Dr. Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense, and Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to testify on the administration's budget for fiscal year 2011. We welcome you and thank you for joining us. The administration has requested $540 billion for base budget for the DOD for fiscal year 2011, an increase of $18 billion over the amount enacted last year. Additionally, the administration has re- quested $159 billion in supplemental funding for overseas contin- gency operations in the next fiscal year, roughly equal to the sup- plemental funding requested for the current fiscal year. The base budget for DOD has nearly doubled in the last 10 years, and since 2001, we have spent close to $1 trillion on post 9/ 11 combat operations. Those are staggering numbers, to say the least, and warrant some judicial scrutiny on behalf of both the warfighter and the taxpayer. Mr. Secretary, last year, you set out to reform the Pentagon's budget, and particularly by seeking greater balance in our force structure between competing requirements for irregular and con- ventional warfare. This year's budget request continues this effort. One key theme you have emphasized in recent months is the need to provide an institutional home in the Department for the warfighter engaged in the current fight. We would agree with that, but as you well know, much of the critical force protection equipment that is used in the theater today (1)