U.S. Representative Trent Kelly (R-MS), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations, delivered the following opening statement at the full committee markup for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. The Subcommittee's mark is available here.
Rep. Kelly's remarks as prepared for delivery:
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opening remarks and your leadership in organizing this year's subcommittee markup package. I would like to commend our Members for their efforts and support in putting together this package in a bipartisan fashion.
There are many things to be proud of in this subcommittee markup package. In particular, the codification of US Special Operation Command's (SOCOM) 1202 authority is significant. This authority authorizes SOCOM to conduct irregular warfare operations. The expansion of this authority is paramount in our ability to compete and win as we shift towards great power competition.
I would also like to acknowledge additional provisions within this package that support the transition of special forces soldiers from active duty to the National Guard, encourage increased partnership between SOCOM and Polish special forces, and support the continued use of commercial data while calling upon the Department of Defense to increase the availability of this data for units at all levels.
I urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan top line amendment that includes more than $50M for intelligence unfunded priorities and $500M for SOCOM unfunded priorities. These additions directly aid our intelligence and special operations communities in keeping our adversaries at bay.
I remain concerned about our force posture and counter-terrorism capabilities in Afghanistan. Last year's chaotic and failed withdraw from the country has handicapped our ability to maintain situational awareness of a degrading security and humanitarian environment. The Department has failed to provide the congressionally mandated report from Section 1069 of last year's NDAA. We continue to ask for greater detail on the so called "over the horizon" capability the Administration has touted. It remains clear this strategy was completely inept from the beginning.
In closing, I would like to thank the efforts of our great support staff. Today's markup would not be possible without the help from our professional staff members – Patrick Nevins, Shannon Green, Craig Greene; our subcommittee clerk, Will Braden; and my personal office staff – Rodney Hall and Lauren Emmi.
Thank you to our Members and staff for their diligent work thus far and I look forward to continuing to work together to ensure ISO equities are represented throughout the NDAA process.
