Olympia Snowe: “this article describes the current state of the U.S. Armed Forces and how they are overstretched. This means that the…”

“this article describes the current state of the U.S. Armed Forces and how they are overstretched. This means that the military is attempting to respond to too many demands with too few forces. And I quote ``Nowhere is the problem worse than for the Navy.'' In the Seapower subcommittee's work this year in review of the fiscal year 2001 budget request we continued the Congress' review of the adequacy of Navy and Marine Corps force structure to carry out the National Security Strategy, which we all know has been signed by the President of the United States. This included hearings, visits to fleet units, and discussions with the most junior personnel in the fleet to the highest flag officers and civilian leaders in the Navy and Marine Corps. The subcommittee constructed a firm foundation for review of the fiscal year 2001 budget request by requesting operational commanders to testify on their ability to carry out the National Security Strategy. The operational commanders confirmed what my colleagues and I had been hearing directly from fleet units which included discussions with individual sailors and marines representing a cross section of all ranks. The operational commanders provided convincing evidence that their commands do not have a sufficient number of ships and airplanes to carry out the National Security Strategy to shape the international environment and respond to crisis within the required time frame.”