I especially appreciate Admiral Locklear. I appreciate your opening comments and thank you for reminding the committee about the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and the strategic importance of the U.S. territory of Guam.

We all agree and understand that sequestration is catastrophic for the prospects of a full economic recovery in our country.

Naturally I am interested, since I represent the U.S. territory of Guam.

I remain steadfast that the leadership of both parties must put everything on the table to find ways to avoid sequestration.

I am, however, disappointed that we are not having a more robust discussion in Congress about how to solve sequestration.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My first question is for Secretary Johns. Can you comment on how the reductions in the operations and maintenance accounts will impact our rebalance of forces to the Pacific.

This bill would codify the National Guard State Partnership Program.

My colleague, Congressman Joe Wilson mentioned that he and I have co-authored a bill.

So your answer then would be affirmative to better oversight with the program by Congress?

And I certainly hope that now our focus will be to the Asia-Pacific area, which we are looking at currently.

I believe that these challenging times present us with an opportunity to review how we do businesses and find ways to improve our processes.

His reckless actions highlight the need for the United States to maintain a robust presence in this region of the world.

Kim Jung-un once again this week showcased partially why we are rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific region.

I am troubled that 800,000 of our civil service employees, who contribute greatly to the Department of Defense, may be furloughed up to 22 days.

It is clear through the many hearings that we have already had on this topic that sequestration would have lasting effects on the readiness of our Armed Forces.

Chairman McKeon, I thank you and, of course, Ranking Member Adam Smith. I rise today, Mr. Speaker, in support of the conference report for H.R. 4310. This defense bill conference report works to ensure that our men and women in uniform are…

The invasion by these snakes has led to changes in our environment, destroying native bird, bat, and lizard populations, and leading to changes throughout the ecosystem.

I would like to underscore the importance of addressing invasive species issues early, given the experience that we have had in the Territory of Guam with the brown tree snake.