HAPPENING TOMORROW: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the State Department Budget. “There’s been no dismantling at all of the State Department,” Tillerson told CBS’ “60 Minutes” a week ago. Tillerson will be pressed to explain how budget cuts are not undermining diplomatic efforts, and why there are 41 embassies without confirmed ambassadors, including in hotspots such as South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.  And expect someone to bring up the famous 2013 quote from then-U.S. Central Commander Jim Mattis, “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately.”

ARMING THE ARMED FORCES? Speaking of “gun-free zones,” many people are surprised to learn that members of the U.S. armed forces are not allowed to routinely carry sidearms as they go about their workday. The military has strict firearms safety protocols and it’s generally considered too risky to have guns in the workplace. But on Friday, Trump said he might want to change that long-standing policy.

“You know the five great soldiers from four years ago, three of them were world-class marksmen. They were on a military base in a gun-free zone. They were asked to check their guns quite far away, and a maniac walked in, guns blazing, killed all five of them. He wouldn’t have had a chance if these world-class marksmen had, on a military base, access to their guns. And I’m going to look at that whole policy on military bases,” Trump said to loud applause at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday.

Trump was referring to an attack in 2015 by a lone gunman on two facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn., including a storefront recruiting office. Four Marines and a sailor died. “All five were killed, all five. The guy wouldn’t have had a chance. And we’re going to look at that whole military base gun-free zone. If we can’t have our military holding guns, it’s pretty bad.”

TRUMP ON HIS PARADE: Despite the low-level grumbling from some current and retired military officers about the prospect of tanks rumbling down Pennsylvania Avenue, Trump on Saturday said the military “loves” his idea for big a military parade and insisted generals “would love to do it.”

Last month the president ordered the Pentagon to draw up plans for a showy military parade to rival the Bastille Day spectacle he witnessed in Paris last year. The White House says the display of U.S. military might would pay tribute to service members.

“I think it’s great for spirit. The military loves it. They love the idea,” Trump told Fox News in an interview Saturday. “We would have West Point and Annapolis and the Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy. It would be a great representative parade. We’d have a lot of plane flyovers.” No mention of tanks, and Trump said if it really turns out to be too expensive, he’ll scrap the idea. “We’ll see if we can do it at a reasonable cost. And if we can’t, we won’t do it. But the generals would love to do it, I can tell you, and so would I,” Trump said. “We have a great country and we should be celebrating our country.

Politico reports that a memo written by national security adviser H.R. McMaster says Trump wants the parade to take place Nov. 11, Veterans Day, which is also the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Politico says the memo from McMaster to Mattis asks for a plan for a parade that would begin at the White House and end at the Capitol.

SYRIA CEASEFIRE VOTE: Despite the passage of a resolution by the United Nations Security Council calling for a 30-day ceasefire, the killing continues in Syria. The resolution relies on Russia to rein in the anti-rebel offensive in eastern Ghouta, a district on the outskirts of Damascus.

But medical humanitarian organizations operating in the area report no letup in the aerial assault by the government of Bashar Assad, and say yesterday two medical facilities were bombed, while at least 20 civilians were killed in other attacks, with more than 70 others wounded.

“The two medical facilities in Eastern Ghouta were hit by airstrikes, heavily damaged and put out of service this morning. There were no casualties. At least 20 civilians were killed in other areas of Ghouta as an aerial bombardment continued to pound civilian areas. At least 541 civilians were killed and thousands were wounded in one week from February 18-25,” said the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations in a statement.

Even as the U.N. acted, the U.S. was not optimistic it would make much difference. “We are deeply skeptical that the [Syrian] regime will comply,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said Saturday. “But we supported this resolution because we must demand nothing less. We owe this to the innocent people of Syria begging for help.”

Haley noted that “19 health facilities” have been bombed in the past six days. “Getting to a vote became a moral responsibility for everyone, but not for Russia, not for Syria, not for Iran. I have to ask, why?” she said.

THE RUNDOWN

New York Times: Despite U.N. Cease-Fire, Syrian Forces Begin New Attacks in Rebel-Held Enclave

USA Today: Hundreds killed and injured in Syrian airstrikes

Army Times: UN report: Afghan JTACs needed to curb civilian deaths

Reuters: White House: Talks with North Korea must lead to ending nuclear program

AP: White House receives Mattis memo on transgender troops

Task and Purpose: ‘We’re Already Here’: A Renewed Transgender Ban Would Kill This Seasoned Army Grunt’s Long Career

Washington Post: How Jeff Bezos was selected for, but never joined, the Defense Innovation Board

Business Insider: Rare video appears to show destruction of Russian-backed separatists infantry fighting vehicle on Ukraine frontline

Washington Post: Robert Mueller’s military career, detailed in documents, was brief but remarkable

AP: Govs fear for election security amid Russian cyberattacks

CNN: What an all-powerful Xi Jinping means for the world

Air Force Times: Air Force: KC-46 testing showed tanker could withstand electromagnetic pulses

Defense News: Flying blind and freezing: Navy investigating terrifying EA-18G Growler flight

Navy Times: Special Operations Command asks for more troops, biggest budget yet

Axios: Exclusive: Trump privately pushing personal pilot to run FAA

AP: Authorities investigate report of drug use at Naval Academy