Opening Remarks of Chairman Wittman

SUBCOMMITTEE ON READINESS

Today, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, made the following remarks on the hearing titled “The U.S. Transportation Command Fiscal Year 2017 Readiness Posture.” The testimony for today's hearing can be found here.

"Good morning. Thank you all for being here today for our Readiness hearing on the 'The U.S. Transportation Command Fiscal Year 2017 Readiness Posture.' This is the only hearings in front of this Committee by TRANSCOM, and it has been two years since we have had the opportunity for the Transportation Command to present its readiness posture. In the past three months, the Services testified on increased readiness risks due to reduced investments in installation infrastructure, training and equipment. Today, I look forward to hearing how the Transportation Command’s budget request enables a readiness recovery plan and where we continue to take risks.

I would like to welcome all of our members and our distinguished Air Force expert.

This morning we have with us:

• General Darren McDew, USAF
Commander
United States Transportation Command

Thank you for testifying today and we look forward to your thoughts and insights on these important issues.

The purpose of this hearing is to clarify Transportation Command’s posture, to address readiness priorities, mitigation strategies, and to gather more detail on the current and future impacts of these decisions on operations and training.

Once again, I want to thank our witness for participating in our hearing this morning and I look forward to discussing these important topics."