Press Releases

WASHINGTON - House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry is firing back at critics who say that the NDAA is "irresponsible” and will “force the new President to request a supplemental within weeks of taking office:” Read more »

WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, made the following remarks on the hearing titled “U.S. Industry Perspectives on the Department of Defense’s Policies, Roles and Responsibilities for Foreign Military Sales.” For hearing testimony and to watch the hearing live click here. Read more »

WASHINGTON - House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) released the following schedule featuring one (1) hearing the week of May 9-13, 2016. Read more »

During his long tenure at the Pentagon, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates made many good decisions that helped soldiers and enhanced U.S. security. But his choice to truncate the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor program at 187 jets was an exception. With threats to American air superiority growing, it is time for Congress to consider resurrecting the jet or finding a suitable replacement. Read more »

WASHINGTON-- As the House Armed Services Committee met to consider the FY17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Marine Corps Times published a compelling report detailing the tremendous stress on Marine Corps Aviation. As the story below illustrates, extended repairs and repeated deployments leave too few aircraft available to train Marine Aviators, resulting in a force that is less prepared to fight. The House Armed Services Committee takes this readiness crisis seriously. In the FY17 NDAA, the HASC reinstates funding requested by the Marines - cut by the President - to begin to restore the readiness of the force. Those include: Read more »

WASHINGTON- Traveling in Europe, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter today criticized House Armed Services Committee efforts to restore military readiness by using contingency funding to restore training, maintenance, and weapons replacement accounts cut by the President. According to Breaking Defense Secretary Carter said of the HASC plan, “In addition, the proposal is take the money out of the wartime funding account during wartime… That is objectionable on the face of it.” Carter made the comments despite the fact that the President’s own Budget Request allocated $5 billion from wartime accounts to fulfill non-wartime requirements. Responding to Carter’s comments, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said: Read more »

WASHINGTON -On the heels of congressional testimony from top military leaders voicing concerns about the readiness of the Armed Forces, The Hill highlights some of the progress countries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are making to close the defense capabilities gap with the United States. These capabilities are what American senior commanders refer to as the “high-end fight” against near-peer competitors. Read more »

WASHINGTON, DC -Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following comments after Committee passage of the 2017 NDAA with a bipartisan vote of 60 to 2: Read more »

WASHINGTON -Today, Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), of the House Armed Services Committee, made the follow opening remarks on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Markup for Fiscal Year 2017. For the mark text, bill summary and to watch the markup live click here. Read more »

WASHINGTON - Today, Chairman Thornberry released his proposal for H.R. 4909, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. To view the bill text click here. For the bill summary click here. The Chairman made the following remarks on the Marks release: Read more »