Mike Garcia: “I really appreciate the opportunity here. A very important discussion, obviously.”

The mission statement of the Department of Justice is: 'to uphold the rule of law, to keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.'

You all know my number one priority is our troops, especially our junior enlisted, E-1 through E-6. They are the most precious, they are the most potent, and they are the most powerful weapon system that we have.

We passed, out of HAC-D, a bill that took the starting salary for an E-1 from $22,000 to $31,000, which is the equivalent of $15 per hour.

Last year, we missed our recruitment numbers, retention numbers by a net 41,000 personnel, recruits across all the services.