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 joint hearing titled “The Current State of the U.S. Marine Corps.” For testimony and to watch the hearing click here.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome you all here today, and call this unclassified hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Readiness Subcommittee, on 'The Current State of the United States Marine Corps' to order.
The consistent theme for the 115th congressional session of the House Armed Services Committee has been to continue the drumbeat of our current state of overall military Readiness, and in many cases where we are not providing necessary resources to enable power projection and exercise the principle I believe strongly in 'peace through strength'. The Marine Corps currently has over 20 percent of its active duty force deployed in 37 countries so you clearly play an integral part in deterring adversaries and reassuring our allies. Over the past several weeks both our full committee and this subcommittee have listened keenly to briefings and hearings from leading national security experts and senior military leaders describing the current threats we face and the current 'State of the Military', after listening to these sobering assessments, there’s no question in my mind we are indeed in a readiness crisis. In addition, earlier this morning we received testimony from each of the Service Chiefs on the consequences of another continuing resolution. Another continuing resolution would only worsen the damage to our military and its readiness.
The Marine Corps provides our nation with a versatile set of capabilities ranging from crisis response, amphibious operations, and theater security cooperation – we must assist your efforts to restore readiness where it is lacking for today’s threats and integrate necessary skills to address tomorrow’s challenges. I am personally concerned about the lasting impacts incurred as a result of the Marine Corps prioritizing 'near-term readiness' at the expense of other areas, such as capacity, capability, modernization, and facility sustainment.
I believe the first responsibility of the federal government is to secure its citizens and therefore, it is our duty to better understand the readiness situation the Marine Corps finds itself in, and then aid in that recovery. This is especially appropriate since originally required by the 82nd Congress and subsequently reaffirmed by the 114th Congress, the Marine Corps is the 'nation’s expeditionary force in readiness.'
This afternoon we are honored to have with us:
• Lieutenant General Ron Bailey, US Marine Corps
Deputy Commandant Plans, Policies, and Operations
• Lieutenant General Mike Dana, US Marine Corps
Deputy Commandant Installations and Logistics
• Senior Executive Servant William E. Taylor
Assistant Deputy Commandant for Aviation
I want to thank each of you for your admirable and outstanding service to your Corps and this nation. I believe it is worth noting that our panel of witnesses provides us with over 110 years of combined experience and that will be extremely helpful as this subcommittee seeks to address readiness challenges moving forward.
We now ask the senior leaders of the Marine Corps here today to offer us their candid and best military advice related to their current state of readiness – which includes home station facilities, deployed force capabilities, and those units training to be the next to go forward into harm’s way.
We look forward to hearing from our witnesses and thank you for testifying today as you highlight the current state of Marine Corps Readiness."