Joe Courtney

I am committed to making sure we get to the bottom line.

Again, we still have work to do to make improvements, but there is no question that certainly when people actually step up and figure out how to make it work, as in Connecticut, both in terms of cost and access, I think we can point to…

The actual premium price went down by 5 percent. I am going to say that again, went down by 5 percent.

In 2010, our uninsured rate was about 9 percent. Last fall, the latest statistics that came out, it is now 3.8 percent.

So we are headed down that road. We are doing it.

But yet, we can't do more with less. We have to do less with less.

And that is what we need and lack today, I think--a bipartisan acceptance of what our national strategy really is.

The current requirement of 48 was set nearly a decade ago before undersea resurgence that we see now by China and Russia.

Even when we meet the 308-ship goal, key shortfalls will remain.

I welcome this reassessment of our force structure requirements, which is the subject of today's hearing.

Failure to do that is just going to create a cliff that really will ripple through our entire Armed Forces if we don't get it right.

I want to applaud Administrator Jaenichen for his efforts to alert Congress to this issue.

But we must not let further decline in either our Navy fleet or our maritime commerce undermine our position.

I give Chairman Kline all the credit in the world for moving a bill, a law that had not been changed since the Clinton Administration.

I appreciate your shout out to Katherine Hackett from East Haddam, Connecticut, who is really kind of an iconic story of the Great Recession.

Shipbuilding is the long game, and that we did as a nation take a holiday.

An unfunded authorization is kind of like a get well card to somebody who is sick, it does not really fix the problem.

I just wondered if you could just sort of talk about your perspective on that, you know, the administration's willingness to work with us, who really want to get folks who are on standby ready to help with a solution.

28,000 people lost their lives to accidental overdoses, as you pointed out, in 2014.

Your portfolio is about as complex and broad as any in government, and I think you are doing an outstanding job.

Congress, obviously, has shown a pretty clear and continued interest in C-130H engine and propeller upgrades that have provided increased efficiency.

That is good news. And, with regards to Increment 2, again, it looks like the budget that was submitted this year, you moved up the compliance to 2028, which, last year, I think we were out in the 2030s or 2040s or something, so.

Thank you for working with the committee last year as we have an, obviously, high degree of member interest.

The need to modernize and recapitalize these aircraft and their capabilities is increasingly critical.

The tankers, bombers, and airlift programs that fall under the projection forces side of our panel's oversight serve as the backbone of our Nation's ability to conduct operations and preserve our Nation's interests around the world.