Opening Statement of Congressman John M. McHugh: MWR Hearing

Apr 16, 2008
Press Release

Contact: Josh Holly; 202.226.3988 

Opening Statement of Congressman John M. McHugh

Military Personnel Subcommittee Hearing on Military Resale and Morale, Welfare & Recreation 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee held a hearing to receive an overview on the Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year 2008 budget request for Military Resale and Moral, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs.  Congressman John M. McHugh (R-NY), Ranking Republican for the subcommittee, released the following opening statement: 

“’Quality of life,’ Madame Chairwoman, is easy to say, but hard to achieve. 

“This subcommittee has consistently and aggressively sought to improve the quality of life of the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families, through efforts to sustain and even expand the MWR, commissary and exchange benefits.  And we must continue that aggressive approach. 

“As we have come to learn, providing that quality of life and sustaining the benefit is a many-faceted task.  That’s clearly demonstrated not only by the number of our witnesses today, but also by their diverse responsibilities that span the complex worlds of MWR, installations, commissaries and exchanges. 

“I want to acknowledge at the outset the difficult challenges that each one of our witnesses faces and to thank them for their leadership, commitment, competence and service.  I would also note that five of them are appearing before us for the first time. 

“Given the wartime, high operations tempo of the Armed Forces today, the necessity for the organizations represented here to provide their product—quality of life—to their customers has never been greater.  Moreover, the demand of their customers—active, Guard, reserve, retirees and their families—for quality of life improvements and an expansion of the benefit has never been higher.   

“So, I am disturbed by data presented in the staff memo indicating an overall decrease in appropriated fund support, when measured in terms of inflation. I am also concerned at the continuing difficulty of the exchanges to generate dividends for the MWR system. 

“Moreover, there are some specific issues that may need subcommittee attention during the Fiscal Year 2009 defense authorization.  So I will welcome the input from our witnesses on such questions as: 

“Should commissary surcharge guidelines be changed to recognize the increased cost of providing the reserve components expanded access to commissary benefits? 

“As the Department of Defense implements policy to require appropriated funds to be used for BRAC and restationing-related non-appropriated fund construction, what measures should be taken to provide those appropriated funds in Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009 when the military services may not have budgeted for them?

“What initiatives are the Department of Defense considering to carry out the President’s State of the Union proposals for improved child care services, and to what extent is the Department prepared and funded to implement them, should Congress support them? 

“Given these and other issues of providing quality of life, today’s hearing is important in helping to shape subcommittee priorities.  I thank you, Madam Chairwoman, for holding it and look forward to the testimony of our witnesses.”          

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