WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Mac Thornberry, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, made the following opening statement, as prepared for delivery, at the hearing on "The State of the World: National Security Threats and Challenges." For testimony and other information and to watch the hearing click here.
"I want to welcome our witnesses, Members, and guests to the first hearing of the House Armed Services Committee for the 115th Congress.
It seems to me that a good place for us to start this year is to ask the question: What is the state of the world in which the U.S. military must operate and in which American national security must be protected?
Two years ago at a similar hearing, I quoted Dr. Henry Kissinger who said, 'The United States has not faced a more diverse and complex array of crises since the end of the Second World War.' I’m not sure that anything has been simplified or made easier in the last two years. In fact, it seems that the world has only grown more dangerous.
What is indisputable is that our own military has grown smaller and has been damaged by budget cuts and other factors in recent years. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the new Administration to turn that around.
But at the same time, we cannot just pour more money into a system that may have served us well during the Cold War but does not have agility necessary to meet the wide array of complex challenges we face today and in the future. This committee will continue to push defense reform related to organization, acquisition, authorities, and personnel, including the intellectual development of outstanding men and women who serve the country in the Department of Defense.
A challenge we all face, however, is sorting through which issues are more and less important.
To quote Dr. Kissinger again, 'Because information is so accessible and communication instantaneous, there is a diminution of focus on its significance, or even on the definition of what is significant.' (World Order, p. 351). 24 hour news and the Internet can certainly make perspective hard to come by.
That’s the reason I am so grateful to have our witnesses today, each with outstanding careers in serving our country. They can help us to sort through the torrent of news and information and to identify the most important threats and the most important trends affecting the national security of the United States."