David Loebsack: “I strongly oppose amendment number 54 offered by Congressman Coffman. By reducing oversight and limiting the Department…”

“I strongly oppose amendment number 54 offered by Congressman Coffman. By reducing oversight and limiting the Department of Defense's ability to address contracts that are over cost; high risk; or poorly performed, it reduces DOD's ability to meet management, readiness, and critical risk mitigation needs. What's more, it undermines a bipartisan initiative enacted just last year that ensures the Department of Defense is able to utilize the entire defense workforce to protect taxpayers; our readiness to respond to a national security emergency; and our nation's ability to rapidly equip our troops with the equipment they need, when they need it. When our Humvees needed to be uparmored to protect our troops, Rock Island Arsenal produced and delivered the initial Add-on-Armor kits within a month of receiving the order. This lifesaving armor had to get into the field as quickly as possible to save our troops lives, and only an arsenal had the capability to do it. They did it again to protect our troops by armoring Stryker vehicles. The men and women at Rock Island Arsenal worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to produce the Common Ballistic Shield kits that our troops needed. Yet this amendment would actually make it more difficult to maintain critical capabilities and ensure the civilian workforce at Rock Island Arsenal and across the country are able to respond when our troops and our country need them. I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.…”