Madeleine Bordallo: “It is gonna take some time to dig out of the readiness hole that we are in.”

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I hope you don't extract this from my 5 minutes, but there is a native of Guam in the audience today, and I am very proud of her.

I am concerned that in a year where readiness has been cited as the Department's top priority, the Department's budget request falls well short of meeting the total depot maintenance requirement for the Army and the Marine Corps.

I am concerned that the Army is standing up a four-star organization with up to three lieutenant generals as deputies without a clearly defined command relationship.

I have long stated that just as important as it is to provide our service members with new, modernized equipment, we must fully maintain the assets that we already have.