Opening Statements

Today, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, ahead of the Subcommittee's markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021:

"Thank you, Chairman Garamendi. Ladies and Gentlemen, this morning we begin the process to markup H.R. 6395, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021. The world is becoming increasingly dangerous and the challenges to U.S. national security and economic interests continue to grow.

"The return of great power competition with China and Russia has revealed the need for the U.S. military to invest in new technologies as our primacy in domains such as cyber, space, and precision weapons is no longer guaranteed. At the same time, our ability to meet today's threats, whether it is defeating terrorist organizations, deterring adversaries, or responding to aggression all hinge on today's readiness. We must get this balance right—we owe it to the men and women who serve in uniform and to the civilians and contractors who provide them support.

"As we consider this mark, I would like to commend Chairman Garamendi for his leadership and for upholding the bipartisan tradition of the Readiness Subcommittee. Our Members on both sides of the aisle contributed to this mark and it reflects their hard work and dedication to our military. Thank you.

"I also want to thank the staff for their diligence in supporting the initiatives of our Subcommittee Members and for your hours of preparation to get us to this point.

"This mark focuses on several areas at the core of military readiness, especially as it pertains to logistics, sustainment, infrastructure, and mission preparedness. I am particularly proud of the following provisions:

• Requires the Department of Defense to develop a sustainment and logistics strategy and to identify critical capability gaps;
  
• Begins the process of recapitalizing our surge sealift fleet;
  
• Codifies the existing DOD Office of Economic Adjustment which works with communities to manage the Defense Community Infrastructure Program and Defense Access Roads Program;
  
• Addresses shortfalls in aerial refueling capacity due to issues with KC-46A fielding and planned tanker retirements;
  
• Improves installation and energy resilience for critical infrastructure;
  
• Improves accountability and transparency of DOD PFAS releases and ensure all National Guard forces can access the Defense Environmental Restoration Account;
  
• Requires DOD to clarify responsibilities for collecting and analyzing ground and aviation mishap data, standardize data collection, and report on how that data is used to identify trends; and
  
• Continues to reform military family housing by requiring a report on environmental hazards in government owned housing and requiring the Department of Defense to review the feasibility of standardizing performance metrics for privatized military housing.

"Mr. Chairman, this mark reflects solid bipartisan work by this subcommittee, and I urge our colleagues to vote for its adoption. I yield back."

###