Mike Turner

The hearing will come to order. The subcommittee convenes to review the current posture of Army and Air Force rotorcraft modernization programs and receive testimony on the fiscal year 2017 budget request.

For my last question, General Williamson, I am assuming the Army's planning to start an APS [Active Protection Systems] test and evaluation program that would integrate technologically mature systems on Abrams, Bradleys, and Strykers.

There used to be 300,000 soldiers in Europe during the height of the Cold War. Today we have 30,000 with the same mission: to assure allies and to deter Russia.

I think many of us are concerned about these end strength numbers and we are concerned, as we rightfully should be, simultaneously on costs.

The hearing will come to order. We have votes that are coming up, so we are going to try to get through our opening statements.

As Representative Davis reminded us, this is almost quadrupling. But let's face it, it is from a relatively low baseline.

Our European allies are only spending about 1.4 percent of their GDP, well under the NATO goal of 2 percent.

This is the time for us all on this committee to make certain that our voices are heard to the other Members... so that hopefully we can get more resources.

It is the budget battle time.

My expectation would be that OPM has it, and my second expectation would be that you are going to turn it over to this committee.

We will have to get back to you exactly with respect to how it was--with respect to the device.

I think that you probably clearly understand that my question is not necessarily the status of the device but the status of information that was on the device that is supposed to be turned over to the committee.

We are looking forward to an affirmative response from you.

The expectation would be that the preservation order and your processes as a result of the cyber attack would have required that you preserve this information.

But with respect to this breach, the standard is higher, correct? I mean, you are preserving a wider breadth of records and putting a greater effort on their preservation?

I serve on the Intelligence Committee, as well as the Oversight Committee, and as a result of that, I have been following the role of CyTech in both discovering or confirming the OPM breach.

I think it is a troubling system, sir. There is no question about it.

You have made statements here in your written statement that their footprint is shrinking, has been shrunk.

You say that we are gathering momentum and their footprint has shrunk, well, General Dunford sitting next to you has admitted that ISIL is not contained.

I personally believe, I think as many do, that not only do we not really have a strategy, but you can't have a strategy unless it is based on an accurate picture of what is happening and the threat that we have.

There have been allegations that intelligence officials at CENTCOM have skewed findings on the ISIS war.

I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment because it does correct an injustice.

I don't see anybody in the region now who could actually step in and do that job.

At our hearing in mid-April, General Bogdan reported improvement in aircraft availability rates to around 55 percent, and improvement in the aircraft's mission capability rate to about 65-70 percent.

We are now operating under a continuing resolution. What are the impacts of this and what would the impacts be if we have a yearlong CR?