Opening Statements

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following statement on the Committee's hearing titled "National Security Challenges and US Militiary Activites in Europe."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman and I join you in welcoming our witnesses. General Scaparrotti I understand this may, unfortunately, be one of the last times that you testify before us. If so, I want to go ahead and thank you for your service.

"You have been assigned two of the most difficult jobs that I think anybody in the military can be assigned as our Commander in Korea and now as our Commander in Europe. Both of those jobs required working with allies, both of those jobs have required facing formidable adversaries. I think the fact that you have held both of them are a signal of the trust and respect that your colleagues and many of us have put on you.

"And so, I like the Chairman I am interested in your views on the state of the alliance. I would slightly correct the Chairman that it's not just George W. Bush who believes freedom works, it has been Republicans and Democrats for the last 70 years have invested in a world system of systems and we have put our money and our blood and treasure into the idea that--that freedom works.

"As you and I have talked before, members of Congress including members of this committee, try to play a constructive role in the NATO alliance. You've got folks on the Interparliamentary Union, you've got regular visits back and forth not only with parliamentarians but with defense officials. A number of us were able to see you at Munich several weeks ago. So, I do think it's important to know your view of the state of the alliance today especially versus when you came there three years ago.

"Secondly, related to the alliance NATO has made a significant decision to modernize our nuclear deterrent and I think we need to hear and focus on from you the importance of that decision and especially how it relates to Russia and we'll have I'm sure a number of questions related to that.

"Finally, I noticed you made a little news when you testified in front of the Senate maybe last week that we were not yet as prepared as we needed to be to deal with the range of threats coming from Russia in Europe. I would be interested in and I'm sure you will in your testimony, talk a little more about that.

"I am particularly interested in your perception of the state of our forces that are rotated through EUCOM because it's been a major effort of this committee to improve the readiness of our forces over the last couple of years and so--I would--it would be interesting I think for us to it's not your responsibility to make them ready but you're a consumer of that readiness in a way whether you-you were able to tell a difference.

"As the Chairman said there are lots of issues to discuss. We look forward to both of your opinions as we do so. I yield back."