U.S. Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Readiness, delivered the following opening statement at a hearing on the requirements, plans, and resources needed to modernize and optimize the infrastructure, facilities, processes, and equipment at the military depots.
Rep. Lamborn's remarks as prepared for delivery:
Thank you, Chairman Garamendi. I want to thank all our witnesses for being here today and for their testimony and service. Our organic industrial base is a vital and important part of our force readiness and ultimately our national security. Over the past several years, this committee has emphasized the importance of modernizing our depots. Today marks the third hearing we have held this year that will touch on the lack of sufficient investments being made to the infrastructure, equipment, and processes of the organic industrial base. In 2019, the GAO assessed that most facilities at the military depots are in poor condition and that the average age of equipment exceeded its useful life at more than seventy percent of the depots.
There is a clear need, and yet the Department and the Services have failed to prioritize investments. So here we are again, asking how you all intend to modernize and what resources it will require. In 2019, Congress directed the Service Secretaries develop optimization and investment plans for the depots. Then in, section 359 of the FY2020 NDAA Congress directed the Secretary of Defense to issue a comprehensive strategy for improving depot infrastructure. This strategy was due in October 2020 but has been delayed until October 2021 and as of today we don't have it.
Mr. Morani, in response to GAOs 2019 recommendation that your office develop an approach for managing service depot investments you all stated it could not develop such an approach until the plans were finalized. I am interested to hear what you think your offices' role is in this process if its not to help shape these plans.
The status of our organic infrastructure also impacts our ability to attract and retain the quality workforce that we need. If folks know they will be working in facilities that haven't been updated in 50 years that makes it hard to compete against private industry.
Additionally, those of us in Congress don't have clean hands here either. Every time we pass a continuing resolution it makes it easier for you all to ask us to reprogram money away from these accounts.
Unfortunately, there aren't many easy answers here, but I know the Chairman and I are both committed to working with you all to ensure the organic industrial base has what it needs to continue to support the mission, and our men and women in uniform.
