Dem Senator To Biden, Mayorkas: 'Step Up And Fix What's Going On At The Southern Border'

last year

At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) questioned Sec. Lloyd Austin about

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00:00 Thank you guys for your patience and going through the order here. We've had good participation today.

00:04 Look, I've repeatedly called upon Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden and Congress

00:11 to step up and fix what's going on the southern border. It's not sustainable at all and it's

00:16 unacceptable. DHS continues to rely on DOD support at the southern border to make sure that

00:25 they're doing what they can do. But once again, I don't see any funding in this budget for DOD

00:31 personnel for those operations. So Mr. Secretary, a couple things. Number one,

00:36 how many troops are serving currently on the southern border?

00:38 There's about 2,500. Yeah. And how does DOD cover these costs?

00:45 As we always have out of our operating budget. And so what does that mean operationally? Who

00:54 gets shorted? Of course, that means that there's something else that we're not doing

01:00 because of that support. But it's important that we do everything we can to support DHS

01:11 and its effort to, and its work on the southwest border. We've been doing that for 19 of the last

01:18 23 years. The price tag's been about $4 billion. But again, we are supporting agency and DHS is a

01:29 lead agency. And again, it's important to our country and we're going to do what's required.

01:34 Let me ask you this, Mr. Secretary. Do you agree with my perspective that the administration needs

01:41 to do more to secure the border and we shouldn't have to depend upon the military to do that?

01:47 We should or should not? Should not have to depend upon the military for that.

01:53 I agree. But if we're required to assist, then certainly we will continue to do so.

02:00 I want to go back to the Senate. And the president agrees with

02:03 the fact that there's more that should be done. And that's why when you came up with this

02:07 bipartisan approach, that was very much supported. Yeah. Well, no doubt about it. Congress dropped

02:13 the ball on that because that would have changed things dramatically. But some folks wanted to be

02:18 used as a political tool when in fact we ought to be working for the betterment of the country,

02:22 not for Democrats or Republicans. I want to talk to you a little bit about Sentinel.

02:27 Senator Hoeven brought this up. I'm frustrated. Secretary Kendall is recusing himself for

02:38 reasons, by the way, that I understand members of Congress have created that problem. Northrop

02:45 Grumman is doing what they can do. The Air Force is doing what they can do. Bechtel is doing what

02:50 they can do. You guys have educated me very, very well on what's going on in this world and why this

02:56 is a dangerous time. Yet I don't get the sense of urgency on Sentinel, particularly with the

03:02 ground-based missiles that we have. We've got timelines. And quite frankly, we had a general

03:12 in front of the VA MilCon committee, and General Green, I believe, correct me if I'm wrong,

03:18 General Green, and I asked him about timelines. Great guy, incredibly, incredibly talented,

03:24 could not even give me the year they anticipated starting this program. And I get it. There's

03:32 studies going on. There's cost issues. And it's going to cost a lot. General Brown, can you give

03:40 me any sort of -- this is in your old job, front and center, and it's still in your new job, too,

03:46 by the way, but can you give me any idea on if I should be concerned about the timeline continuing

03:53 to slip on the ground-based nuclear missile Sentinel project that I think is critically

03:58 important as a deterrent moving forward in this world in the 21st century?

04:01 Senator, I don't necessarily have the details, but I think for all of us, we all should be -- I get

04:07 concerned we don't get the capability to the hands of our war fighters or things that are very

04:11 important to our strategic deterrence. And so my focus as a chairman, and same as when I was the

04:17 Air Force Chief, is to ensure we're doing everything we can to make sure we bring that capability

04:22 forward. And so I am focused and want to make sure that we continue that. So I do have, like you,

04:28 have some concerns. I want to understand where we are and what the things we need to do to ensure

04:32 we bring that capability forward as quickly as possible. We're here to help. Yes, sir.

04:38 But I will tell you that unless we start getting timelines and goals and everything set up,

04:44 there's going to be a lot of pressure being put on people. Because, quite frankly,

04:51 I do not think it's acceptable to be continuing to say, don't worry about this, it's coming.

05:01 The truth is, is we've been at this for a while and I haven't seen it coming,

05:06 seen it progressing to the point it needs to. Senator Collins, I'll get to you. I want to get

05:12 to Senator Murkowski for her first round. Senator Murkowski.

05:15 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And apologize, we're all jumping in between multiple appropriations,

05:20 subcommittees this morning.

05:22 But gentlemen, thank you for--

Dem Senator To Biden, Mayorkas: 'Step Up And Fix What's Going On At The Southern Border'

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