I just want to say, for the shipyard workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, I know they want to go and help the other shipyards.

We believe F-15s, F-16s, and B-1s cannot replicate the CAS capabilities of the A-10. We know from combat experience that the elimination of the A-10 before a viable replacement achieves full operational capability will cost American lives.

One of the issues that we put in the 2016 NDAA was a concern that the new long-term TDY [temporary duty] policy may be discouraging excellent, excellent workers from going to other shipyards because of the cost of it and also, you know…

I want to thank all my colleagues, including the ranking member and, of course, Senator Shaheen and Senator Hirono, for their support on this issue.

Thank you for your leadership and all that you have done for the country, for the Navy, and we are so grateful for the sacrifices and service of you and your family.

In May 2015, GAO found that incidents of degraded or out-of-service equipment have doubled on surface and amphibious ships over the past 5 years.

I would say that this is one where I really am concerned that we're not keeping faith with them, if they have deployed multiple times and we're going to give them an involuntary separation.

DOD has said that the Pentagon is starting to run low on smart bombs and guided missiles.

I want to thank all of you for being here. I want to thank you for your leadership and important positions of defending our country and serving our country with such distinction.

However, I am concerned that you are saying the temperature problem in the rooms will not be addressed until 2018.

I wanted to follow up--I--on the maintenance issue that was raised earlier.

What type of Army and Marine Corps units have the least time at home between deployments?

I appreciate your looking at this policy.

This is a real issue for us, and I really appreciate your coming forward and testifying.

I would urge the Secretary to come forward, because obviously time is of the essence.

I want to make sure that, if this is the claim on the maintenance personnel, that it is--that we're maximizing and properly using the maintenance personnel.

I think sometimes that gets lost in the debate around energy that it is really not just about saving money and being more efficient. It is also about the national security imperative.

I think it is very appropriate that you have waived those requirements, and hopefully we can get that fixed for the long term.