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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 “Oversight of the European Reassurance Initiative.” For hearing testimony and to watch the hearing live click here.

"This afternoon, the subcommittee plans to discuss the European Reassurance Initiative, or ERI, with representatives of U.S. European Command, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Army. All have important roles in the initiative’s development, implementation, and execution.

The goal of this hearing is to assess how the Department has implemented the initiative since it was announced, authorized, and appropriated by Congress beginning in Fiscal Year 2015. We also seek to understand how the Department plans to execute the initiative through Fiscal Year 2017.

We’d also like our witnesses to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing implementation within the current European security environment, and how the initiative competes for resources among other critical priorities within the Department, including readiness. A military that is not ready to deploy cannot credibly serve as a deterrent against aggressive behavior. The Department of Defense does not have enough ships to maintain a constant presence in key waters, they don’t have a large enough end strength to support a permanent presence in Europe, and the Department’s nuclear enterprise and missile defense systems are in dire need of modernization.

The recent NATO Warsaw Summit underscored many security challenges that Europe faces today. Foremost of these challenges is a resurgent Russia.

The Warsaw Summit provided the opportunity to help form a cohesive and comprehensive NATO plan to counter Russian actions, using both conventional and unconventional methods. But there is much more to be done.

Vigilant oversight and consistent evaluation will help ensure that the European Reassurance Initiative invests in the right areas and utilizes resources efficiently and effectively. From recent Congressionally-mandated reports submitted by the Department, it seems the Department of Defense’s strategy, operations, and posture are evolving to adapt to the new security model in Europe.

We must also address the important issue of funding the ERI. Currently, money for the Initiative is requested annually through the Overseas Contingency Operations budget. While drawing from these funds provides near-term flexibility and responsiveness, relying on such year-to-year appropriations does not allow the Department of Defense to confidently plan or implement an evolving strategy in the region. The House-passed FY17 National Defense Authorization Act addressed part of this issue by reallocating $2.2 billion of the request into the base budget. In doing so, the House has demonstrated its enduring commitment to the success of the European Reassurance Initiative.

I look forward to discussing the Department’s strategy and the issues I’ve outlined.

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

Major General David Allvin, the Director for Strategy and Policy at U.S. European Command;

Ms. Rachel Ellehuus, Principal Director, Europe and NATO Policy
Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy; and

Mr. Tom Tyra, Chief of Global Force Planning in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of the Army.

Thank you all again for being here today."