Madeleine Bordallo

Mr. Secretary, I strongly support the national strategy's intent to keep our forces forward deployed.

Without question, I think my colleagues would agree that the U.S. Navy is the most powerful fleet in the world.

Actions speak louder than words, and we must ensure that the recommendations included in these reviews are promptly considered and acted upon.

I certainly support eliminating the CR.

It is clear that better coordination is required by the Navy and the Marine Corps to ensure this critical warfighting and skill is restored to a readiness level.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I do look forward to discussing the challenges that are impeding amphibious training and the mitigations and long-term solutions to build and sustain readiness in the Marine Corps and the Navy.

I thank the chairman very much and appreciate his great support and look forward to continuing to work with him on the implementation of this provision and to address future workforce needs on Guam in support of the military realignment.

Thank you for making the trip to Washington. We appreciate it.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

It is gonna take some time to dig out of the readiness hole that we are in.

I look forward to hearing about some of the problems that you face as an aviation community and hopefully an understanding on what the services are each doing and how Congress can support efforts to improve aviation readiness across the…

I strongly support efforts to secure additional Federal resources for both Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

My bill will provide additional congressional direction and dedicated funding for NOAA's coral reef program.

Many, including our Nation's marine laboratories, have concerns about continued access to taxpayer-funded science under this Administration.

Last, I am pleased that this Committee and our Chairman have committed to do all that we can within our jurisdiction to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as they rebuild from recent hurricanes.

I will take a moment to express my appreciation to you and the Department of Defense for providing the security to the people of Guam from North Korea.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. First, I would like to go on record to thank Secretary Mattis and General Dunford.

I understand the protocol, you know, that the commander should do this. But I just wonder, are they doing it or are they just avoiding some of these things?

Thank you very much.

Well, thank you, Admiral. I think what I really would like to know, have these captains or commanders ever come to you with risks?

The recent mishaps with the USS Fitzgerald and the USS John S. McCain resulted not only in significant damage to the vessels, but also the tragic, tragic loss of life of 17 American sailors.

However, the Navy's proposal to grow to 355 ships would take decades to be realized, which means we have to make do with the size of the fleet that we have in the near term.

I feel that, you know, if maintenance and training and all of this is lacking, the commanders, the captains of these ships, should be, you know, letting everyone know about it, and certainly maybe we wouldn't be in this fix.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Chairman Wittman, for agreeing to convene this timely hearing on the Navy readiness, particularly with regards to the 7th Fleet operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.