Today, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the Subcommittee's hearing titled "Air Force Readiness Posture." "Good afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, I call the hearing to order. Thank you all for being here today. This hearing is the first in a series of Readiness hearings on the services' b... Read More »
Today, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at the Full Committee's hearing entitled, "The Military and Security Challenges and Posture in the Indo-Pacific Region." "With us today is Admiral Harry Harris, the Commander of United States Pacific Command. As Admiral Harris nears the end of his mili... Read More »
BY REP. AUSTIN SCOTT - The Telegraph - February 10, 2018 Read the entire op-ed here. In January, the country watched as a minority of lawmakers in the Senate sent our government into a shutdown, cutting off funding to our military and scores of federal employees supporting the Department of Defense, and jeopardizing a six-year re-authorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program. In the mi... Read More »
by Rep. Jim Banks - National Review - February 9, 2018 America's military must be ready to fight and win on every battlefield, in every domain, on every day. That daunting task is more challenging than ever. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stated in the Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy that "free men and women in America's military will fight with skill and valor to protect us." As a na... Read More »
Today, Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) made the following comments after the House approved the bipartisan budget agreement: "Congress' first job is to defend the country, and that means supporting our men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line every day. Members of Congress have an obligation to make sure that our decisions are worthy of the sacrifice our troops make for our freedom... Read More »
America's Military Today: Our Air Force is smaller than it has ever been, with the average age of Air Force aircraft over 27 years old. The Air Force is 2,000 pilots short. The pilots we do have are flying fewer hours than their predecessors in the 1970s when the service was considered "hollow." Less than half of the Navy's aircraft can fly due to maintenance and spare parts issues. Approximately... Read More »
America's Military Today: Serious readiness shortfalls, including insufficient time or resources to train Sailors or maintain ships, contributed to the fatal accidents aboard the USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain last summer. In some cases, Sailors have been working over 100 hours a week to keep up with training requirements and current operations. Navy ships and submarines remain in port unable to s... Read More »
America's Military Today: Over the past 8 years we have reduced the size of the Army, Guard, and Reserve by as much as 120,000 Soldiers and eliminated 15 brigade combat teams. Only 5 of 58 Brigade Combat Teams are "ready to fight tonight." Funding to upgrade outdated Army equipment has been cut in half during the last 8 years. What the Bipartisan Budget Agreement Can Do: Invest $21.9 billion to g... Read More »
America's Military Today: To fund other priorities with constrained budgets, the services have been diverting funds from facilities maintenance, a risky gamble that has accelerated the failure rate of our infrastructure. Estimates of the number of facilities that now meet the Pentagon's definition of "failing" have doubled in recent years. Our Armed Forces are struggling with crumbling and mold-r... Read More »
"If you are a soldier on a mountaintop in Afghanistan right now or standing near the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea, you are not concerned about the 'to-ing' and 'fro-ing' of all this politics, you're concerned about whether your equipment works, whether you are going to get paid, whether the government is going to shut down. We need to take care of essential business first." The Bipartisan Bud... Read More »
This morning, Chairman Thornberry (R-TX), of the House Armed Services Committee, joined Fox and Friends to discuss the negative impact of budget dysfunction. Some of his comments are below and to watch the whole interview click here. "The military is... a political football and meanwhile we are unfortunately losing more and more service members in training accidents..." "The most important part of... Read More »
Today at 4:15pm, Republican members of the House Committee on Armed Services will hold a press conference on the Budget Agreement to fund our troops. PARTICIPANTS: House Armed Services Committee Chair Mac Thornberry (R-TX), joined by HASC Republicans LOCATION: Studio A, the Capitol DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 TIME: 4:15pm Read More »
Today, Representative Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairmen of the Armed Services Committees, made the following remarks regarding the budget agreement: "This budget agreement is indispensable for our national security. Without it, our military would not be able to defend our nation, as Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and our military leaders have repeatedly warned. Today... Read More »
Today, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the Subcommittee's joint hearing titled "Senior Leader Misconduct: Prevention and Accountability." "I want to welcome everyone to this morning's Military Personnel Subcommittee hearing. The purpose of today's hearing is to receive testi... Read More »
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) released the following schedule featuring three (3) events the week of February 5-9: Tuesday, February 6, 2018 "The National Defense Strategy and the Nuclear Posture Review" Full Committee (9:30 AM – 2118 Rayburn – OPEN) Witnesses: The Honorable James N. Mattis Secretary of Defense General Paul J. Selva, USAF Vice Chairman of the Joint... Read More »
