1、 TESTIMONY TESTIMONY BEFORE THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE DEFENSE SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING ON FUTURE DEFENSE SPENDING February 24,2021 Thomas G.Mahnken,Ph.D.President and CEO,Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments Chairman McCollum,Ranking Member Calvert,and distinguished members of the Com
2、mittee:thank you for your invitation to appear before you today to discuss future defense spending.We face increasingly difficult strategic choices in the decade ahead.Abroad,China and Russia continue to modernize their militaries and challenge U.S.leadership.At home,rising deficits and growing nati
3、onal debt,combined with economic challenges imposed by COVID-19 and the response to it,will place pressure on government spending in general,and the defense budget in particular.In upcoming spending debates,policymakers must understand the consequences that defense budget adjustments pose for U.S.st
4、rategy,force structure,and modernization.My testimony today draws upon the results of a recent series of budgetary exercises that the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments(CSBA)and the Ronald Reagan Institute(RRI)organized with bipartisan groups of leading defense policy and budget experts
