Higgins: 'The Most Ravenous Leviathan Of Our Government That Devours The People's Wealth' Is DOD

Mr Higgins thank you Mr chairman gentlemen what an uncomfortable hearing is it not but let me say it's uncomfortable for the entire American citizenry to gaze upon this bizarre realm of DC and and wonder how it operates when we're facing now 32 trillion dollars in debt we've added a trillion in one month by the way and the most uh ravenous Leviathan of our government that devours the people's wealth is the Department of Defense pentagon what a culture we have allowed to become manifest in those Halls of ultimate power military might an expenditure of the people's treasure yet we were warned on the year of my birth 1961. in his farewell speech President Eisenhower said the following this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is the new American Experience yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications in the councils of government we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence whether sought or unsought by the military-industrial complex the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist I have a copy of the ndaa of that year in 1962 ndaa has drafted in 1961 have a copy of it on my desk it's one page long seven and a half billion dollars covers the entire expenditure my my how we have descended into the belly of this beast in the private sector a corporate entity or business goes to a bank for financial establishment and is therefore subject to audit on a regular basis the bank audits that business if the business passes the audit then the business can return to the bank for more money the business fails the audit what do you think happens Mr Mansfield can that business go to the bank and get more money can I cannot or maybe it's a Minor error maybe it's a Minor error they make adjustments they have another audit they fail that audit does the bank change course say well you tried we're going to give you money can they get money Mr Mansfield they cannot thank you for your candor here's the problem with this Bank we don't even have the money giving you a trillion dollars a year almost now just added the trillion dollars to our national debt in one month it's it's an arrogantly abusive culture that we have allowed to become manifest over there that devours the people's wealth so let's shift to a positive note Mr Mansfield for the record how long have you been in your position good sir my current position about a year and a half year and a half you stepped into the fire man I would imagine you're a patriot very good at what you do you I'm sure you envisioned fixing this thing did you not I envisioned the department fixing and our job is talk about your validate them you through your leadership and guidance and supervision through your skills you would Endeavor to produce a clean or relatively clean audit out of the dod it's clean or not meaning it really depends on the department uh getting its Financial Health in order we just report the facts as they are you're in the middle of that though aren't you yes sir loan to gentleman sitting next to you my my closing seconds can any of you gentlemen promise in the near future a clean audit Mr tenaglia so I would uh ask the Comptroller to help me provide you with a timeline that the Comptroller is indicating is the pathway to a clean audit we're looking for a glimmer of hope here gentlemen Mr Mansfield I can only commit to continuing to assess the department and being as uh transparent as we can with how we see it and as of right now I don't think their timelines as their Valiant effort good sir Mr Khan now Gio cannot project a time when DOD is going to be auditable through our recommendations we are forcing them to get auditable but it's really up to them to implement those recommendations and reach that goal thank you gentlemen for your testimony of the day Mr chairman are you

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Length: 5min 54sec (354 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 14 2023