>> president trump spoke yesterday at the swearing in of the new chair of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. vice president mike pence, outgoing joint chiefs chair general joseph dunford and defense secretary mark esper were also on hand for the ceremony at joint base myer-henderson hall in virginia. >> state your name? >> having been sworn as a tomb of the joint chiefs of staff, having been upon the tomb of joint chiefs of staff. >> do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united

states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and will bear true faith and of agents to the same, that it take this obligation freely, without mentalis reservation or purposef evasion. now well and i faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which i'm about to enter. so help me god. >> so help me god. >> congratulations, chairman. [applause]

[background sounds] >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the posting of the colors. [background sounds]

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ [background sounds] >> deseeded. [background sounds]

[background sounds] >> ladies and gentlemen, general mark milley come 20 chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. [applause] >> mr. president, mr. vice president, secretary esper, distinguished guest, family and friends, good morning and thank you all for being here today and your unwavering support for menv and women in uniform. we are all deeply humbled by your presence here thank you, mr. president for the trust and confidence your place in the to become the next chairman of the joint chiefs and for your personal leadership and commitment for a uniformed men and women. you can rest assured that i will always provide you informed,

candid, impartial military advice to you, the secretary of defense, the nationals could counsel and to the congress. vice president pence, and secretary esper, thank you also for your leadership and continued support too our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen. men and women like those distant before he on the field today, their remarkable and represent almost 3 million men and women in the united states armed forces. america's uniform sons and daughters who stand watch 24/7 in the air, on the land, at sea in space and cyberspace come cs within the coronation ofna protecting the values the stowed upon us in our sacred constitution. we are deployed on freedoms frontier at over 160 countries around the world today, many in harm's way. so today we ask that all of you keeping and their families in your thoughts and prayers. and over the last four years

leading those great troops of the joint force has been general great dunford and his wife ellyn. they are an example or all of us to follow, and i know that i big shoes to fill. i have known joe dunford throughout my career, served with him in combat, and i consider him a close personal friend. a friendship forged with the unbreakable bonds of combat that only shared sacrifice can produce. it is truly an honor to follow general dunford to become the next in a long line of distinguished chairman, leaders like how, myers, pace and dempsey i intend to use their example professionalism and steadys leadership as a model n the years to come. and i look for deserving with my fellowjo joint chiefs, combatant commanders and other senior leaders across s the governments work together to address the nationals could issues of today. i see in the audience today also

many chiefs a defense from around the world. your presence here today demonstrates the important of our shared security interest and common values. as chairman of the foural to working with all of you to ensure our collective security. and most importantly i'm eternally grateful for my family here at my parents were part of thee greatest generation and probably served in world war ii. my mother in the navy in hospital on the west coast of my father was with the fourth marine division making the assault landings at saipan and iwo jima. although they havee passed on, i carried example of integrity and selfless service as an inspiration on a daily basis. and i think my brother and sister many relatives from the holy land of boston for being here today and i think also my classmates from high school and college and a great princeton hockey team who barely won a game. each of you are an inspiration to me and i thank you for your continued support which is very

humbling. i'm incredibly grateful most of all too my wife hollyane for love, support and inspiration during 35 years of marriage. she along with our children mary and peter likeit so many of our great military families have sacrificed so much for our nation. the multiple moves, schools, combat tours come our family sacrifice more than most people will ever know. and our children pay the biggest bill of all. each of you, hollyane, mary and peter are the rock upon which i draw strength during the nfl dark moments ahead of military service. the complex challenges of the international environment, united states armed forces stand ready. we stand ready to keep the peace or if necessary when the war. we are the best equipped, best trained, best led military in human history and our adversariess should know, never to underestimate our skill, our capability and our combat power

we we will remain the world's premier fighting force respecteh by her friends and feared by our adversaries. we will do this by emphasizing writing this in the modernization of the joint force all while providing unwavering support of kerry leadership to our troops and their families. at the end of this ceremony you will hearll army captain singh attribute to america. he was serious about it in action, and today represent all the wounded warriors killed in action for our military. both are friends and enemies alike e should know that we do r the uniform of the united states of america, the cloth of our nation, we are all him and we're willing to land -- lay laid one line every day the risk grievous injury or death to reserve this experiment of liberty that we call america and pass itri on to the next generation. thank you, and may god bless the many women in uniform, and may god bless the united states of

america. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable mark esper, 27 secretary of defense. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. presidentry trump, vice presidet pence, members of congress and distinguished guests, thank you for joining us here today. on behalf of the department of defense welcome on joint base myer-henderson hall. since its establishment in 1863, this historic base overlooking

our nation's capital has house s erican troops from the civil war to present day. to all the soldiers and sailors and airmen, marines and coast guardsmen on the parade field, you represent the fighting spirit of our united states military that has sustained our nations security and prosperity throughout our history. thanks for being here today and is always you look fantastic. i wantng to start diagnosing general joseph dunford -- [applause] i want to start by acknowledging general joe dunford incredible group of distinguished service to the nation, for over four decades he i' led troops in war and peace to some of the most challenging commissions confronted by mr. kirk excelled at every level of command and as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff he reoriented joint force to prepare for this new era of great power competition

that is now upon us. i had the opportunity to get to know him and his wife over the past two years and had the exceptional privilege of working very closely with him over the past two months. the department of defense has benefited greatly from his dedication toor our national security and his care for the well-being of our service members. he will leavel behind a legacyf steady leadership, solid judgment and sincere humility that will remain with us and inspire us long after he departs. as they transition to the next phase of the lives in massachusetts, they will surely be missed. general dunford, , behalf of the entire department of defense, thank you once again for all that you have done to protect and defend this great nation. [applause] >> we are very fortunate to have

another incredible leader, general mark milley assume duties as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. when i was sick of the army i had the great prelate -- pleasure to work alongside general milley for almost two years and i well incredible talent and energy and dedication he brings to this position. during his time as chief of staff he was instrumental in helping to rebuild the armies readiness which suffered from years of insufficient defense budgets. at the same time he advanced the armies of those to prepare for future warfare by standing at army to to commence the largest organizational change within the service within 45 years. the president could not of selected a more confident advisor or a more capable soldier to help prepare our military for the challenges of the future. general milley, congratulations to you and your wife as you take on this awesome responsibility. i have no doubt that you continue to lead our military to greatness. [applause]

>> today all through throughoue arrld the united states armed forces are postured to deter aggression and to protect our people and ourur interests. accomplishing all that our nation demands of us would not be possible without the support of the american people, the congress, and the backing of an administration that place at the defense of our country at the top of its priorities. the department of defense has made tremendous gains in recent years thanks to president trump and and/or strength will continue to grow under his leadership. preserving military might that makes us the greatest fighting force in the world requires strong steady investments in defense. the president has delivered the defense budgets needed to rebuild our readiness. maintaining stability around the required allies and partners to contribute more to security. under president trump's leadership they are now making significant increases in defense spending. and preparing for future conflict of course as to be

ready to fight in all war fighting domains. president trump is given as the authorities needed to effectively operate in cyberspace and his positioning us to defend our interests in outer space as well. i want to thank you, mr.es president, for your unwavering commitment to armed forcesmm him to her service the families and to a strong national defense. thank you. [applause] as we transition today from one exceptional chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to another, what remains constant is the willingness of our men and women in uniform to sacrifice for the good of our country. vice president pence, the son of a soldier and the father of the marine understands the sacrifices well. it is a steadfast supporter of our military and a strong advocate for the well-being of our servicemembers and their families. as we prepare for the many challenges that lie ahead it is this support from across the

great information that will sustain the readiness and fighting spirit of our troops. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming a tremendous leader and a great friend of the armed forces, the vice president of united states mike pence. [applause] >> mr. president, secretary esper, secretary pompeo, members of the cabinet, general dunford, members of cards, distinguished guests, especially the men and women of the armed forces of the united states. it is an honor to be here at america's post-, the whole of the oldest active duty infantry unit in the army, the old guard. joint base myer-henderson hall. as we install the 20th chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley.

[applause] >> today as we mark the beginning of hisis tenure as chairman of the joint chiefs, we do well to pay a debt of gratitude to a man who was served nation with distinction for now 42 years. he led troops in battle during operation iraqi freedom turkeys are dust, the marinem, corps and over the past five years i can personally attest, during our ten tenure i witnessed his strong leadership and sound counsel at the highest levels of our military and our government. today we pay a debt of gratitude to general joseph dunford. thank you for your service. thank you for being always faithful. [applause]

and to general milley, the new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, i know i speak a map of your commander-in-chief and a grateful nation when i say to you and toam your family, thank you for answering the call to serve once again. over your nearly 40 year career, you've served with courage and distinction as a green beret. he led troops in combat and iraq and afghanistan. you serve as the 39th chief of staff of the army. and as your tenure begins, general milley, let me assure you, you have the confidence of your commander-in-chief, and you are carried with the confidence and the prayersrs of the americn people. thank you for your leadership and service. [applause] and general milley, as your

tenure as chairman begins, , i know you'll be pleased to know, thanks to the leadership of president donald trump you are inheriting the best equipped, best supplied and best trained military in the history of the world. the united states military is the greatest force for good the world has ever known. and since the first day of this administration, president trump has taken decisive action to make themp strongest military in the history of this planet stronger steel. after years of budget cuts, president trump fought for insecurity the largest investment in our national defense in more than a generation, including the largest pay raise for our troops in more than a decade. [applause] and at the present direction we produced a national security strategy that put america first, initiate the modernization of our nuclear arsenal, our nato

allies are contributing more to our common defense than ever before and withh the strong support of leaders int congress we aread well on our way at the president direction tor establishing the six branch of our armed forces, the united states space force will soon be aea reality. [applause] and finally, chairman billy, as you know this summer thanks to the president strong leadership congress approved a budget deal that preserves the historic and essence we made in our national defense. provides for veterans and ends the defense sequester once andpl for all. the american people know president donald trump has no higher priority than safety and security of this nation. and today by providing renewed leadership to the joint chiefs, in general mark milley. president trump is proving once again that asking energyt he wl

provide for the common defense. with unyielding strength and as he said, we will defend our country. we will defend our people. it is my great honor to be with all of you, and most especially with all of those who wear the uniform of our armed forces gathered here today. and all who are gathered here who have worn the uniform of the united states. and on this momentous occasion of the transfer of responsibility to the 20th chairman of the jointrm chiefs f staff, it is my honor and distinct privilege to introduce your commander-in-chief and a great champion of all the men and women of the armed forces of the united states, past, present, and future, the 45th president president of the united states, president donald trump. [applause]

i wantbe to thank everyone for being who, vice president pence and thank all for the incredible service, members. we have the finest military anywhere in the world, the american military is the greatest fighting force without question in the history of the world, and today it's stronger than it's ever been, by a large factor. note in a north can match the awesome might of the american army, navy, air force, coast guard, and the united states marines. gathered today for a truly historic occasion. we are here to welcome our

outstanding new chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley. mark, i want to congratulate you. you're my friend. you're my advisor. and you deserve this position. i never had a doubt. congratulations. i also want to express our profound gratitude to marx wife, hollyanne, and his children, mary and peter for their selfless devotion to our country, the strength of our military is truly found in the love and support of our military families, so important. those families are so important. we are especially honored to be joined by some of america's gold star families. your treasured loved ones made the supreme sacrifice for our nation. they are looking down on you right now. you look upp in the sky and they are looking down on you. our debt to you is infinite and

eternal. d erica will hold you in its heart forever and we will nevers forget. we're also grateful to the many veterans here today. [applause] to our heroic wounded warriors and attendance, our nation will always remember what you did for the cause of freedom. joining us as well our secretary mark esper. thank you, mark. great job you're doing. secretary mike pompeo. mike, thank you very much. epa administrator andrew wheeler. thank you, andrew. many of our great secretaries and my cabinet and service chiefs. i know we have a couple of wonderful representatives i think you havejo many socket myself in trouble but i see john carter and icy brad winchester.

thank you very much for being here, fellows. thank you very much.as and i see a standard that is so supportive of our military and the, senator dan sullivan. thank thank you, dan, of alaska. done a great job. as we prepare to welcome the new chairman we must first take shape it to one of america's most admired and beloved military leaders, outgoing chairman joseph dunford. here today with his wonderful wife, ellyn. joe hails from just outside boston because father was a marine, and the top one who landed on inchon in korea and fought at the chosin reservoir. so joe knew which branch he was destined to join. he didn't have much of decisions to make sure i think. what you think about that? not a big decision? no. in 1977 he was commissioned into

the u.s. marine corps. in 2003 joe committed some of the first americaner troops in operation iraqi freedom, and very, very successfully commanded them. for his exceptional bravery he received the legion of merit with combat valor. as a general, joe was promoted so quickly that he was nominated for his third start before it formally received his second. how'd you do that? how do you do that, joe? in 2013 he was named international security assistance force commander inss afghanistan. and he was instrumental in strengthening afghan security forces to share more of the burden. and today they are indeed sharing much more of the burden. in 2014, joe became commandant of the marine corps, the next you're disdained chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. and in that role jo published

the first joint military net assessment in 20 years. we have a lot of the ideas that we have brought forward and we have spent $2.5 trillion since trillion dollars since i'm president, $2.5 trillion, far more than this country is ever even thoughtev about spending, t we had to have a modern, great military with the most magnificent and the finest machinery, planes, boats, ships, weapons of all kinds. we've never had anything like you have today. when i took over we were a very depleted military, and today we are at a level that we've never even come close to. jo solidified america's competitive advantage through global integration of the joint force. he also provided critical leadership during the complete rebuilding of our military. and he held me in another way, something that probably only joe

and ellyn really know. because in, i would say 2015, i sat joe at a dinner. believe it or not ie was getting a big award from the marines. and joe was presenting the awards and i had no even thought of running for president. and i said to my wife and family, look at that guy. he's a a great looking guy, ist he? he's like central casting. he's like right out of hollywood. but he made the great presentation that night and they got to talk to them because i sat with him and ellyn and his son, patrick. and i was asking joe lots ofs questions about the military. he said, he really enjoyed this, don't you? i said, well, i just love our country. it's very important to me. i love our country. and i said, i don't know. what do you think? should i i give it a shot?

this was before it was public. he was one of the first people i asked. i said what you y think? you think i'd have shot? if i get it were going to rebuild that military. it's going to be stronger than ever before. he helped me form an opinion turkey gave me a lot of information. and he has ever since. so for that i want to thank you and ellyn, and want to thank patrick. i hope i got his name right. it was a long time ago but buti think his name was patrick, right? did i doth good? but general dunford also provided vital strategic direction to the campaign against isis in iraq and sears. with his help and the great courage of our war fighters, i am proud to say that the isis territorial caliphate has been 100% completely obliterated. when we came to office it was a mess. it was all over. now we have thousands of

captured isis fighters, and we have 100% of the caliphate. as chairman, joe has also been a strong supporter andrt crucial advocate c for creating the six branch of the u.s. armed forces, something that i'm really proud about and something that come when i make these speeches in these massive arenas loaded up with people, thousands and thousands, it just about gets the number one line of applause because i say, we are creating the space force. and the place goess crazy. great popularity because that's what's going to bear at, more ad more. general, your life example fight those words that beat in the heart of every marine, semper fi. america salutes your incredible legacy of noble service. you've beenle exceptional. thank you. thank you very much. [applause]

i think they like you, joe. as one exceptional chairman departs, our nation gains another. today, mark milley takes general dunford place at the highest ranking member of the most skilled, determined, and powerful military ever assembled in human history. mark has been preparing for his duty, his entire life. like joe, he grew up in a family of patriots just outside of boston. his dad was a navy corbett and tough as can be they say.

was he that tough? no gains? he didn't play games? he says, no games. but his dad was a strong navy corpsmen, serving with the fourth marine division in world war ii, a veteran of the assault landings in the marshall islands campaign, the mariana campaign, and in two iwo jima hits. during the war marks mother also served at a navy hospital in seattle treaty wounded men from the pacific. inspired by their example, mark chose the path of duty and the life of service. he could have done whatever he wanted. he was exceptional in every way. in 1980 he was commissioned into the army and quickly joined the ranks of its finest soldiers. he graduated from the army ranger school and became a master parachutist and a green

beret. in a long army career mark deployed to panama, colombia, korea, somalia, egypt, haiti, bosnia, iraq and afghanistan, often seen very, very close up the combat. he has not just served but shown immense valor on nearly every continent. he is the recipient of the distinguished service medal, four bronze stars and the legion of merit along with two awards of the combat infantry badge. with degrees from princeton, columbia -- wow, i did know you're such a great academic. wow, let me give you a little more. i'm impressed with that. that's very good. and the naval war college, but i like you anyway, mark is living proof that the american war fighter isn't the toughest,

smarts and bravest, test and brightest by far anywhere in the world. following four diplomats to iraq and afghanistan he became t the 39th chief of staff of the army in 2015. over the last several years he has worked tirelessly to rebuild a depleted force into a a fully manned, fully trained, and fully equipped army prepared to achieve complete victory in the conflicts of tomorrow. and when we were determining where we're going to spend all of these billions of dollars, like you've never seen, we haven't seen it in decades, i went with mark. i sat with mark, and i hope we spend it wisely, and i know we spend it wisely. two and half trillion dollars. he built the army futures command, and he created security force assistance brigadesss to reduce the need for large

deployments. when mark took over, only two brigade combat teams were at the highest levels of readiness. today that number stands at 28, an extraordinary turnaround and achievement. and i congratulate everybody hereco today. [applause] america's armed forces are more powerful than ever and growing even stronger. we havewe the newest equipment d we also have equipment that we keep under wraps that nobody ever heard of. we have weapons we pray to god we never have to use. we hope to god we never have to use any of our weapons, any of our weapons.

in his new role as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general milley will serve as by top military advisor. i have absolute confidence that he will fulfill his duty with the same brilliance and fortitude he has shown throughout his long and very distinguished career. .. we will keep america safe. we will keep america strong and we will keep america

proud so that our children andtheir children will forever and always be free . thank you again general dunford for the incredible job you've done and to general market milley, good luck, godspeed , god bless you , god bless our military and god bless america. thankyou all for being here. thank you very much, it's a great honor . [applause]

>>. [inaudible] right shoulder, arms. forward, march.

[music]

>>.

[music]

>>. [music]

>>. [music]

>>. [music]

>>. [music]

>> ladies and gentlemen, may i have your attention forthe center of the field . us souls are severely wounded s by an ied explosion december 2011 in afghanistan uses music therapy as a critical component to the ceiling. of the lot will join the joint service quartet and singing god bless america .

>>. >>. [singing] stand beside her and guide her through the light with the light from above. from the mountains to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam. god bless america, my home sweet home.

>> god bless america, land that i love. stand beside her and guide her. through the light with the light from above. from the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans , white with foam. god bless america, my home sweet home. god bless america, my home sweet home. [applause] ladies and

gentlemen, pleaseremain standing for the playing of esthe song of the armed forces .

>>. [music] >> the united states airforce .

>> the united states navy. >> the united states marine corps .

ladies and gentlemen, thearmy song . [applause] ladies and

gentlemen, pleaseremain at your seat until the departure of the official party .

[applause]

>> weeknights this week we are featuring both the programs shows a casing what's available every weekend on cspan2. the theme isreligion . in the immoral majority, then hall examines whether evangelicals are choosing political power over christian values. hiram lewis has a history at byu talks about his there is agod , how to respond to it is in the last age. columbia journalism review contributor liz lens report on faith and religion in

middle america in gotland. watch tonight at 8 pm eastern on cspan2 and enjoy books tv this week and every week on cspan2. >> the supreme court justices return for the new term next week . the first monday in october with the court hearing cases on employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. the trump administrations winding down of doctor and state funding for religious education. listen to supreme court oral arguments on our website, c-span.org and watchon c-span . >> jamil jaffer served on the house intelligence committee as their senior counsel from 2011 to 2013 . he was at george mason university law school, founder of their security institutes, welcome to the program.

based on your experienceof the house intelligence committee and there's a lead committee on this impeachment inquiry, what national security concerns do you hear coming out of that one piece of evidence, that memorandum on the phone call ? >> guest: obviously the phone call is concerning . if the president is making commitments are asking for things from foreign leaders that don't go to the national interest , that go to his personal interest, that could be a concern to the committees in the house not just the intelligence committee but the judiciary committee which will vote on impeachment and send them to the floor. the house as you point out is doing all the investigation. when i served under chairman mike rogers, it was a bipartisan committee. they spent time figuring out a way to work together and create common cause to support the national security . as we seen in recent months and on the past two years, the committee has become partisan on both sides