Opening Statements

"Improving aviation safety and protecting our national security are not mutually exclusive," Chairman Rogers said. "By taking our time and following regular order, we have produced a bill that does both. I thank the NTSB and the Pentagon for working with us throughout this process." Read more »

"We conduct command and control with the networks we have," Rep. Bacon said. "We pay our warfighters with the business applications we have. We plan and conduct operations on the desktops and laptops that we have. We fight at the speed of data, and the underlying IT has never been more important." Read more »

"As we have seen recently in Iran, space has become instrumental to every conflict with both space effects and support to the joint force," Rep. DesJarlais said. "Ukraine has also repeatedly shown us this same lesson, with jamming becoming routine and battle lines shifting as the availability of space-based communications changes. All our space capabilities play a vital role when it comes to winning the fight. Without Positioning, Navigating, and Timing (PNT), secure communications, or Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), our modern joint force would not be nearly as effective." Read more »

"Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, our Allies are beginning to step up," Chairman Rogers said. "And their commitment to spend 5% of GDP on defense by 2035 shows they are serious about assuming greater responsibility for their own defense." Read more »

"The United States Transportation Command and Maritime Administration – TRANSCOM and MARAD – provide vital logistics capabilities to support our force projection and help overcome the tyranny of distance," Rep. Kelly said. "It’s only getting harder to move and sustain our equipment and our people across these vast distances....We have to grow the Tanker Security Program fleet…recapitalize our organic sealift fleet…and address our aging strategic airlift, intra-theater airlift, and aerial refueling fleets." Read more »

"Special operations continue to be our greatest hedge against strategic distraction, used to impose cost on our adversaries, reestablish deterrence, and provide the nation with a position of advantage should deterrence fail," Rep. Jackson said. "We ask a lot of our Special Operations Forces, and the demands on and for them will only continue to grow." Read more »

"We are in the midst of a readiness crisis," Rep. Bergman said. "There is an urgent need to recapitalize our rapidly aging strategic sealift and tanker fleet, especially as China’s shipbuilding capacity dwarfs our own. This tyranny of distance is no longer just a geographical challenge; it is a tactical vulnerability that our adversaries intend to exploit through cyber-attacks, anti-access/area-denial systems, and kinetic disruption." Read more »

Washington, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), delivered the following opening remarks at a hearing on the U.S. military posture and security challenges in the Western Hemisphere.  Chairman Rogers' Statement As Prepared For Delivery: Today, we begin our fiscal year 2027 posture hearings with U.S. Northern and Southern Commands.   During… Read more »

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, submitted the following opening remarks for the record at a hearing on the U.S. Strategic Forces posture in Fiscal Year 2027.  Rep DesJarlais’ Statement Submitted for the Record: Good afternoon, and welcome to the Strategic Forces subcommittee’s first… Read more »

Washington, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), delivered the following opening remarks at ahearing on U.S. defense policy and posture. … Read more »