Joel Hefley: “Mr. Chairman, as we marked up this bill in the National Security Committee, I had concerns about spending additional…”

“Mr. Chairman, as we marked up this bill in the National Security Committee, I had concerns about spending additional money on a commission. I did not want an additional $1.5 million being taken away from our troops. The chairman of our committee, the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spence], and his staff have worked diligently to calm my fears. My amendment would simply state that the commission shall be paid for by funds appropriated for the Office of Secretary of Defense. This is appropriate since the Office of the Secretary of Defense is the one that generally has money to do studies of various kinds. It is also appropriate because these funds will not be coming out of training or readiness accounts, and I think that is the real key, Mr. Chairman, is that we do not want this money coming out of the hides of our fighting forces as we prepare them to meet whatever contingency is out there. So we are asking that this come out of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. It is my understanding that the chairman is willing to accept this amendment, and I would ask support for the Hefley amendment.”