Fallon: We Must Keep Our Promise to the Americans Who Choose to Serve

Washington, D.C., April 16, 2026
"Every policy we examine in this room, how we recruit, how we retain, how we take care of families, either strengthens or weakens the force those men and women serve in," Rep. Fallon said. "We owe them our best work. Today's hearing is about the people who build and sustain our force, not just the numbers, but the policies that determine whether a 22-year-old from Texas decides to enlist, whether a mid-career NCO decides to stay, and whether a military family can actually build a life around service."
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Pat Fallon (R-TX), Chairman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, delivered the following opening remarks at a posture hearing on the Military Departments’ personnel chiefs’ perspective on the health and welfare of the force. 

Rep. Fallon's Statement as Prepared for Delivery:

I want to welcome everyone to this hearing of the Military Personnel subcommittee.  

First and foremost, I want to honor our service members who were killed and wounded in action in the Middle East these past weeks.

Their honorable service will not be forgotten.

Their sacrifice is a reminder that this subcommittee's work is not abstract.

Every policy we examine in this room, how we recruit, how we retain, how we take care of families, either strengthens or weakens the force those men and women serve in.

We owe them our best work.
 
Today's hearing is about the people who build and sustain our force, not just the numbers, but the policies that determine whether a 22-year-old from Texas decides to enlist, whether a mid-career NCO decides to stay, and whether a military family can actually build a life around service.

The five witnesses before us today are the architects of those decisions across every branch of the military.

Their portfolios touch everything from accessions to assignments to benefits to career development, and the choices made in those lanes will determine the readiness of the force we send into the next fight.
 
I want to reiterate my appreciation for the hard work and focus that the Services, the recruiters on the ground, this Committee, and the administration have placed into recruiting.

We continue to see record numbers of men and women who want to serve.

But recruiting is only half the equation.

We've made a promise to the young Americans joining our formations, and now we must keep up our end of the bargain.
 
That means this subcommittee will be pressing hard on quality of life today.

Not as a soft topic, but as a readiness and retention variable.

A service member who can't get a doctor's appointment, whose spouse can't find work after a PCS move, whose child is on a year-long CDC waitlist, is a service member who is doing the math on whether to re-enlist.

These witnesses control the policies that affect that math.

Specifically, I want answers today on dining facilities and barracks.

Are the investments we've made actually showing up in the lived experience of junior enlisted?

On military healthcare, MHS staffing has declined, and I want to understand where that leaves gaps.

On childcare, CDC waitlists remain one of the most consistent complaints I hear from military families, and I want to know what's being done about it.

And on spouse employment, PCS moves cost military spouses' careers, and that cost shows up directly in retention decisions.

The policies and programs these officers oversee profoundly affect whether a service member and their family decide to stay.

That is the subject of this hearing.
 
But before we get there, I want to thank all of our Service-members: the Active Duty, Reservists, and Guard Members who are serving this nation around the world as we speak, many in harm’s way.

You and your families are really the subject of this hearing, as the policies and regulations controlled by these senior officers profoundly affect your lives and your very decision to stay in service.