I think it would be very deleterious to the long-term future of our country because so much of the innovations that we're talking about have depended on these, the long-term stable investments in research and development.

At the end of the day we have to be a great manufacturer or we're going to have tremendous vulnerabilities in national security.

today I wish to recognize the many years of productive community partnership fostered by the cooperation of four organizations--the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the American City Planning Directors' Council…

I just think we need some fundamental rethinking of what we are trying to do here and the threats we are trying to meet.

The reality is defense spending as a percentage of GDP is the lowest today that it has been in 70 years.

We had a hearing the other day on the Navy. We've got a bulge of acquisition coming.

Yet when we are going to need it, we are going to really need it, and if it is not there, we are going to suffer the consequences.

We are not fully meeting our fundamental responsibility in the preamble of the Constitution to provide for the common defense.

If we do not likewise see that type of increase to our shipbuilding budget, then we will not be able to execute the long-range plan.

Of course a multiyear is always going to be better for the taxpayer than one at a time.

I just heard on the way over that the Navy has made a decision to name the DDG-120 the Senator Carl Levin, which I compliment.

It seems to me that we and the Congress have to really be talking about this.

The idea is that the AAV will be used to get the marines ashore.

There is a bill, S. 119, that I am a co-sponsor of, the Wounded Veterans Recreation Act.

This is something we have to work on and try to get clarified.

I want to complement you and your Department on the work on the app for the passes.

The largest question before this committee is, are we recruiting and retaining the people that we need?

We have got to build in flexibility for the family when the duty station changes but the school is still not done.

The Guard rests to some extent on the good will and support of employers, and I am hearing resistance from employers.

The other thing I would like for the record-- I had a conversation this morning with the Admiral, that 84 percent of his incoming recruits are from military families.

we are doing these drawdowns based upon decisions about budgets made in 2011 before ISIS, before Syria, before North Korea nuclear, before the South China Sea, before the Ukraine.

The cessation of hostilities is certainly better than the all-out war we were seeing before.

in his 50 years of Government service, he has never seen a more complex, dangerous, and growing threat environment than what we are facing today.

I would just like your thoughts on how that looks now from the field.

The retention is so important because if we could move the average retention out a year, that would be a significant savings across the board because of the training costs.