Press Releases

Today, Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, made the following remarks on the hearing titled “U.S. Industry Perspectives on the Department of Defense’s Policies, Roles and Responsibilities for Foreign Military Sales.” For hearing testimony and to watch the hearing live click here.

This is the second of three events for the subcommittee’s oversight of the Department of Defense’s role in our nation’s foreign military sales program, or “FMS” program.

The goal of our FMS oversight series is to take an in-depth look at the Department of Defense’s role in the FMS process. We seek to determine whether DOD’s involvement is efficient, effective, and timely in aiding the State Department’s administration of the larger FMS program.

While FMS is only one way in which the Departments of Defense and State foster security cooperation, it is probably the most visible. It is vital to provide the opportunity for our allies to acquire military equipment and services to bolster their security needs. It’s also important to note the benefits the United States realizes from our allies’ collective safety, especially as threats to democracy and freedom expand.

But, some believe the Department of Defense’s FMS process is too cumbersome and bureaucratic. Others offer that the process is designed to be deliberately slow and methodical in order to achieve the correct outcome in determining whether or not the U.S. supplies military capabilities that appropriately further U.S. national security interests.

Recently the subcommittee was briefed about the intricacies of the FMS program and processes by representatives of the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the Congressional Research Service. It seems that FMS is likely one of our government’s more complex inter-agency programs, making our examination here even more significant.

Over recent years the defense budget has declined, our military capacity has been reduced, and a corresponding contraction of the defense industrial base has occurred. At the same time, the world has become more dangerous and complex, military technologies and capabilities more prolific and globalized, operational tempo has remained high, and our military’s readiness has reached critically low levels. In short, we are asking our troops to do much more with much less.

So while we strive to rebuild the capacity and capability of our own military, many of our foreign partners and allies look to do the same. To that effect, they seek to procure military equipment and services from the U.S. But if this takes too long, or if bureaucratic red tape proves too debilitating, our foreign partners and allies may seek help elsewhere. This potentially weakens our security, reduces military-to-military cooperation, and represents missed opportunities for our defense industrial base to keep workers with valuable and needed skills sufficiently employed.

Industry and its representatives are critical stakeholders in a robust and thriving FMS program. As such, we’re here today seeking valuable input from defense industrial base associations as to how they see Congress working with the Department of Defense to improve the execution of Foreign Military Sales.

I am pleased to recognize our witnesses today and I want to thank them for taking the time to be with us. We have:

Mr. Tom Davis, Senior Fellow at the National Defense Industrial Association.

Mr. Remy Nathan, Vice President for International Affairs from the Aerospace Industries Association; and,

Thank you all again for being with us today, and we’ll now begin with your opening statements.