Roy Cooper: “I thank the chairman, Ike Skelton of Missouri, who has done a tremendous job of leading this important bill through this…”

“I thank the chairman, Ike Skelton of Missouri, who has done a tremendous job of leading this important bill through this Congress and including this very, very important amendment that I urge my colleagues to support. No Member of this body has done more to promote roles and missions reform than Ike Skelton. He was present at the creation of Goldwater-Nichols back in the 1980s, and he is pushing the Pentagon hard today to keep America number 1, to make sure that we're getting our roles and missions right. I am personally grateful that he sponsored the panel in which seven Members, on a bipartisan basis, reached unanimous agreement that we need to tackle this important subject. I want to thank, in particular, my ranking member, Phil Gingrey, but all of the panel members, whether it's Mr. Larsen, Ms. Gillibrand, Admiral Sestak, Mr. Conaway and Mr. Davis. It was a very important effort to work on. I look forward to the passage of this amendment, when we can have a standing committee within the Pentagon itself to focus on this important issue. So I congratulate all of my colleagues in the House. This is the Duncan Hunter Defense Authorization bill. This is a landmark bill for the strength and safety of our country. This amendment will make that bill even stronger for future generations.”