WASHINGTON - Today, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the Subcommittee's hearing titled "The Current State of U.S. Army Readiness." For testimony and to watch the hearing click here.
"I am pleased to welcome everyone here today for an unclassified session on 'The Current State of U.S. Army Readiness.'
Over the past several weeks, both our full committee and this subcommittee have received briefings and hearings from leading national security experts on the current threat assessment and 'State of the World,' all of the service Vice Chiefs testified on the current 'State of the Military', we heard from the Department on the Quarterly Readiness Report to Congress, and most recently, we heard from the Government Accountability Office on their assessment of the military’s readiness recovery. After listening to these sobering assessments, there’s no question in my mind our services are indeed in a readiness crisis.
I fully believe that the first responsibility of the federal government is to provide for the security of its citizens and therefore, it is our responsibility to continue to better understand the readiness situation the United States Army finds itself in, and then for us to chart a path to assist in correcting these deficiencies and shortfalls.
We now ask the senior leaders of the U.S. Army here today to provide us with their candid and best military advice related to the current state of U.S. Army readiness and its efforts to rebuild where it is required.
This afternoon we are honored to have with us:
· Lieutenant General Joseph Anderson, USA
Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7
· Lieutenant General Aundre F. Piggee, USA
Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4
· Lieutenant General Gwendolyn Bingham, USA
Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management
We look forward to hearing from our witnesses."