Peter Visclosky: “I have a number of colleagues who want to speak, so I will be brief. But I would point out that this amendment, if…”

“I have a number of colleagues who want to speak, so I will be brief. But I would point out that this amendment, if adopted, will undo last year's compromise legislation that supported the Army's critically important Aviation Restructuring Initiative. Part of that compromise was to establish a commission to study the force structure of the United States Army. I believe we should await that report. The Army has indicated that if they are restricted under the gentleman's amendment, they would have to inactivate--and I would repeat this--they would have to inactivate one or more of the battalions in States such as New York, Kansas, and Hawaii, as well as drastically reduce the work going on into the remanufacture plant in 2016. Each battalion inactivation will result in the unplanned transfer of approximately 500 soldiers and 1,000 family members, driven by the absence of the aircraft needed to train the unit. I reserve the balance of my time.”