Rodney Frelinghuysen: “Let me thank Chairman Shuster for his strong advocacy on behalf of our military, our Army, our depot, and our arsenals.…”

“Let me thank Chairman Shuster for his strong advocacy on behalf of our military, our Army, our depot, and our arsenals. Let me explain why I am opposed to his amendment. This amendment is in response to the committee's decision to make targeted reductions to the Army Working Capital Fund due to the historically large carryover balances above the allowable ceiling. Our bill does not cut funds for Army depots. Please understand that our bill strongly supports the depots and the organic industrial base. In fact, our bill provides an additional $750 million in the fiscal year 2017 budget for additional depot maintenance work across all of our services. I know the gentleman is aware that given the fiscal constraints under the current budgetary caps, targeted reductions aimed at money unspent helps alleviate the need for actual programmatic reductions in the Army and the department's O&M activities. I can't support an amendment that would cut operations and maintenance accounts, which this does. These accounts provide critical funding for training, operations, maintenance, and readiness programs, things our committee bill has emphasized. After a decade of war, restoring readiness is the top priority for both the Army and our committee. Therefore, while I appreciate my colleague's concern and pledge to work with him closely on this issue, I urge rejection of his amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.”