Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank Chairman Thornberry and commend Ranking Member Smith for their hard work in bringing this bill to the floor. It has been an honor to be a member of this bipartisan committee. I also want to recognize my chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, for his invaluable assistance. The conference agreement authorizes $247.2 billion in operations and maintenance funding between the base and overseas contingency accounts. This includes increases in readiness-enabling accounts to support depot-level maintenance, parts and spares, training, and facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization. The agreement also addresses readiness challenges of the surface Navy following the four incidents that occurred in the Pacific last year. With respect to military aviation, the agreement establishes a National Commission on Military Aviation Safety that will assess the causes of recent aviation mishaps and make changes for training, maintenance personnel, and policies related to safety. The FY19 NDAA also begins to address challenges with DOD's facilities and infrastructure by authorizing appropriations of $11.3 billion for military construction and family housing. This includes authorization for 38 additional military construction projects from the services' unfunded priorities list. I am also grateful to the conference for including provisions important to Guam.…”