Political Quotes

“I want to say at the onset that I've enjoyed very much working in a bipartisan manner with the chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee, Mr. Rob Wittman, also the chair of the full committee, Mr. McKeon, and the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Adam Smith. I want to thank also the committee and professional staff for the many long hours that they've put into getting this bill ready. I rise in strong support of H.R. 1960. This bill works to ensure that our men and women in uniform are well trained and equipped to defend our Nation and its allies. Although this bill represents the hard work and efforts of both the majority and the minority, I want to highlight the need to resolve sequestration. I hope that this Congress undertakes serious efforts to finally fix sequestration with a comprehensive solution. We can avoid this problem. I would like to highlight a few important readiness issues. The bill provides a 1-year extension of authority for certain pay and benefits to civilian personnel who are forward deployed, performing critical operations overseas and in combat zones. We are also requiring GAO to look into how the furloughs of civilian employees are being implemented by the Department of Defense to ensure they are implemented in a fair and equitable manner and to understand the impact on mission execution. The bill addresses sustainment issues for two important procurement programs: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the LCS.…”