This shipyard is considered the gold standard. It's the most productive of our four public shipyards.

I have heard from veterans, veteran services organizations, and VA officials that the Choice Program's continuum of care process is broken and dysfunctional.

I just cannot overstate how satisfied the veterans are with this program.

ARCH ought to be the model for the Choice program.

I particularly am pleased to see that funding of $27 million has been requested to replace the medical and dental clinic.

I do not understand the resistance of the VA to preserving the program.

At $3.4 billion, the overall Department of Defense fiscal year 2017 budget request for the European Reassurance Initiative is four times the amount requested last year.

I believe that your record of bolstering our Naval Fleet will be one of your greatest legacies.

There is no substitute for presence in our ability to project power.

I've been very concerned about the build-up of the Chinese Navy. This is a real issue that concerns me as China has been more and more aggressive.

Now, my request, Mr. Thornberry, if I may, is simply that the Secretary of Defense conduct a study such that we know what the cost is to our guardsmen and our reservists for this travel beyond 50 miles.

please include Chairwoman Tsongas' language into the appropriate parts of the law that requires the Department of Defense to obey the Berry Amendment law and issue athletic shoes, Berry Amendment athletic shoes for our recruits.

All I am asking you folks to do, please, is make sure you support the full funding of that additional DDG-151.

All I am asking, sir, is that the Department of Defense obey the law and make a standard issuance piece of equipment, athletic shoes, that are fully Berry compliant.

Congresswoman Tsongas has language that she has submitted to be included in the NDAA. And we please ask you to support that language which would solve this problem and require the Department of Defense to issue Berry compliant, Berry…

It is a small amount of money, and it has done a lot of good.

I am very disappointed and, indeed, in some ways shocked, that the administration did not include any funding at all for this program.

I think it is important to note that the heroin epidemic affects tiny towns, rural areas, as well as our larger cities.