WASHINGTON - Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities made the following opening statement for today's hearing entitled "Special Operations Forces in an Uncertain Threat Environment: A Review of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request for U.S. Special Operations Command".
Chairman Wilson's Opening Statement Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities "Special Operations Forces in an Uncertain Threat Environment: A Review of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request for U.S. Special Operations Command"
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities made the following opening statement for today's hearing entitled "Special Operations Forces in an Uncertain Threat Environment: A Review of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request for U.S. Special Operations Command".
"I am pleased to welcome everyone here today for this very important hearing on our Special Operations Forces and the United States Special Operations Command as we review the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request. With evolving and persistent threats being posed by state and non-state actors, our Special Operations Forces have never been more central, strategic, and sought after. Illegal asymmetric enemy combatants not in uniform must be challenged. From the unconventional and hybrid threats of an aggressive Russia, to the troubling, expansive and clandestine networks of Iran, and of course, an evolving al Qaida, their affiliates, and now the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), known in the region as Daesh, we do indeed face an uncertain threat environment. Our Special Operations Forces have been engaged in heavy combat and direct action for nearly 14 continuous years. It is imperative that we properly resource, train and equip to now deal equally as well with the hybrid and asymmetric threats of tomorrow, and do so with the looming shadow of Defense Sequestration. Simply put: Our national defense depends on it.
The House Armed Services Committee has consistently supported our Special Operations Forces, providing additional authorities when warranted, authorizing additional funds for unmet critical requirements, and most recently, resourcing important family support and suicide prevention programs to ensure our service men and women, our warriors and their families, are taken care of, and know firsthand that humans are indeed more important than hardware.
Although our support has been consistent, it has also been accompanied by prudent oversight and robust dialogue to ensure that we are all doing what is right for the overall defense of our great nation. The commitment and sacrifice of our Special Operations Forces is evident to all of us. We examine this budget request to ensure that we in Congress are doing everything that we think is right and necessary for those units and their families.
So we look forward to discussing today the priorities for U.S. Special Operations Command and our Special Operations Forces for fiscal year 2016 – and perhaps more importantly – discussing candidly the challenges that stand before this force today.
We have before us a very distinguished panel of witnesses:
• The Honorable Michael Lumpkin, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict
• General Joseph Votel, the Commanding General of United States Special Operations Command"
