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MR. CHAIRMAN:

Reviewing the defense budget presents a special challenge to the Budget Committee. An adequate defense is vital to the security and even the survival of the nation, and no responsible person proposes risking these by skimping on defense. But wasteful or excessive spending for defense uses resources that could meet other needs, and it may even increase the risk of international conflict. Whether the defense budget is viewed as too large, too small, or about right depends on complex judgments about the nature of threats to U.S. security and the adequacy of our forces to meet those threats--judgments necessarily made in the face of very great uncertainty.

Moreover, it is impossible to deal intelligently with defense budget issues one year at a time. The size and location of most forces cannot be changed quickly, and major weapons systems take many years to develop and deploy. Small changes made in one year's defense budget may lead to major costs or cost savings many years in the future. Thus, the arguments for multiyear targeting that I have made in previous sessions with this Committee are especially strong with respect to defense.

Today I would like to review a few of the more basic issues whose resolution will determine the size of the defense budget over the next few years, indicate how these issues appear to be resolved in the Administrations proposed fiscal year 1979 defense budget, and suggest how some alternative resolutions might affect defense costs in the years ahead. It is my hope that this discussion will help the Committee identify some issues and questions to be raised with subsequent witnesses as you listen to different points of view on the defense budget over the next few days.

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