Obama lauds Carter's qualifications for Pentagon
WASHINGTON — President Obama praised Defense secretary-in-waiting Ashton Carter on Friday, lauding his vast experience at the Pentagon — and his love of Motown.
Citing Carter's favorite song — "Reach Out, I'll Be There," by the Four Tops — Obama said: "So, Ash, I'm reaching out to you ... You have been there for us, our troops, our families, our nation."
Carter pledged to "keep faith" with the nation's armed forces and told the president, "If confirmed in this job, I pledge to you my most candid strategic advice. And I pledge also that you will receive equally candid military advice."
The president requested quick Senate confirmation of Carter, pointing out that his nominee has been confirmed for three previous Pentagon jobs and "he's respected and trusted on both sides of the aisle."
Given his experience, Carter brings "a unique blend of strategic perspective and technical know-how" to Pentagon, Obama said.
The nominee is "an innovator" who once developed a program to dismantle weapons of mass destruction, and a reformer who has delivered protective body armor and vehicles to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama said.
"When he cut outdated, unneeded systems, he did it because he was trying to free up money for our troops to make sure they had the weapons and the gear that they needed and the quality of life for themselves and their families that they deserve," Obama said.
"When our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were struggling to defend against roadside bombs, he moved heaven and earth to rush them new body armor and vehicles," he said of Carter.
Republicans, who will begin control of the Senate in January, generally praised the nominee, as did Democrats.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Carter "highly competent," but questioned how much influence he would have over "the tight circle around the president who apparently control the entire strategic decision-making process."
Upcoming hearings "will provide a valuable opportunity to fully ventilate all of issues around this administration's feckless foreign policy, and its grave consequences for the safety and security of our nation," McCain said.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold hearings on Carter's nomination, said "his command of national security policy and his commitment to our men and women in uniform will serve him well as our next Secretary of Defense."
If confirmed, Carter will replace Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who announced his resignation last month.
Hagel, who initially planned to attend the White House ceremony but did not, issued a written statement endorsing Carter's nomination and calling him "a patriot and a leader."
Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, a Republican member of the Armed Services Committee, praised Carter's "extensive experience" but said she is concerned that the Obama administration "continues to lack a coherent strategy to counter an array of global crises."
They include Russian aggression in Ukraine and the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
The new defense secretary must also deal with the end of U.S.-led combat operations in Afghanistan, an anti-Ebola mission in West Africa, cybersecurity, and the prospects of budget and program cuts.
Carter served as deputy secretary of Defense from October 2011 until his retirement in December 2013, with specialties that include science, technology and developing the Defense budget in tight economic times.
From 2009 to 2011, Carter — a Yale graduate with a degree in physics — worked as undersecretary for acquisition, where he supervised the procurement of equipment to meet emerging threats.
Before he left the Pentagon, Carter was the military's top weapons buyer and pushed hard for gear that troops needed to stay alive on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan: Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to protect them from roadside bombs, surveillance equipment to spy on insurgents and bomb-sniffing dogs to find the buried mines that killed and maimed troops on foot patrols.
Carter would be Obama's fourth secretary of Sefense, following Hagel, Leon Panetta, and Robert Gates.
Regarded as smart, capable and wonkish, Carter also led the Pentagon review of its budget with a look toward cuts.
In fiscal year 2001, adopted before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Pentagon's budget was $297 billion. Ten years later, it had ballooned to $687 billion, including funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At the Pentagon on Thursday, Hagel described his resignation as "a mutual decision" based on private talks he had with Obama. The outgoing secretary said the Pentagon faces new challenges and that he considers the president a friend.
"Friends can talk plainly to each other," Hagel said. "I think you have to know when to leave, too.'"
At the White House, spokesman Josh Earnest said the next Defense secretary's challenges will range from the battle against the Islamic State to the fight against Ebola to efforts to reduce sexual assaults among military personnel.
Asked about reports that some Pentagon officials feel micro-managed by the White House, Earnest said the military has bigger problems with Congress because it refuses to pass needed budget reforms.
Tensions between the White House and Pentagon are common to all presidencies, Earnest said, but the bottom line is civilian control of the military.
The next Defense secretary "will be very clear about what the chain of command is," Earnest said, and understand that "the president of the United States is the commander in chief and sits at the top of the chain of command. That means the president bears significant responsibility for what happens at the Pentagon and the Department of Defense."
Since his initial retirement from the Pentagon in 2013, Carter has been a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, a lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and a senior executive at the Markle Foundation.
"I think it's fair to say that, Ash, in your one-year attempt at retirement from public service, you've failed miserably," Obama joked. "But I am deeply grateful that you're willing to go back at it."
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook