Contact: Josh Holly; 202.226.3988
Washington D.C. -- Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ), ranking Republican on the Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, today released the following opening statement for the joint hearing of the Air and Land Forces Subcommittee and the Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee regarding the Mine-Resistant, Armor-Protected (MRAP) vehicle program:
“I too would like to thank our chairmen for having this important hearing today. Most of the highlights have already been hit so I’ll be brief.
“To our witnesses, thank you for being here. We are very fortunate to have each of you serving our country, and we are very fortunate to have you here today. And to you Mr. Young, I would like to congratulate you on your recent nomination. I believe it’s a promotion although you may not feel that way six months from now. Again, best of luck to you.
“As you know, the Secretary of Defense announced this week that he has asked Congress to approve a shift of $1.3 billion to the MRAP program in order to accelerate production between now and the end of the year. And, of course we will support anything that helps our soldiers and marines on the front lines. It is my understanding that the long-pole in the path to maximizing production is at the supplier base level; not at the prime contractor level. I look forward to hearing more details about how the Department and the services plan to accelerate production in the near term and into 2008.
“Again, I want to thank all of you for your service to our country. Thank you for being here.”
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