Jim Inhofe

The Army is out of balance, and that balance needs to be restored to sustain this All-Volunteer Force for the long haul.

I am convinced that we are going to have a capabilities gap due to our inability to repair and modernize current fleets.

The military's strength is in its soldiers, the families, and the Army civilians who support them.

Traffic deaths are traffic deaths no matter how they occur.

We just need to focus more attention on fixing them.

Traffic deaths are traffic deaths regardless of how they occur.

I think from your testimony you agree pretty much with AASHTO's position, and I do, too, in terms of the States, giving the States the leeway to set the exact performance standards.

I know AASHTO has come out in strong support of each State settings its own goals and a larger percentage of the influence in the new program that we hope will be coming out be given to the States.

Although 23 percent of the U.S. population live in rural areas, in 2007 rural fatalities accounted for 57 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2007.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.

The reason the safety program is so successful is that it requires States to examine data on where people are dying and where accidents are occurring.

We are making very good progress in reducing both the rate and overall number of fatalities on our Nation's roads--but it is still not good enough.

I feel very strongly that the closer you get to the people, the more they are aware of what the problems are.

What I oppose is forcing a one size fits all Washington solution to all the States.

Do you anticipate budgeting for the next generation of body armor in the next budget?

What progress has the Army made toward replacing M9 with a more powerful and modern sidearm?

Why can the Army not keep a schedule for small arms requirements even when the Secretary and the Vice Chief make the commitments?

Given the intense terrain in Afghanistan that our troops are patrolling and the high weight carried in body armor and other equipment, are you examining new, lighter-weight body armor systems being offered by industry today?

When is the timeline for procuring a new handgun release for proposal, contract award, and procurement?

Last year's National Defense Authorization Act required the Services to include budget lines for body armor in procurement and for RDT&E.

Lieutenant General Lennox, are there any body armor programs in development that allow for scalability or modularity?

When can Congress expect this report?

The slow progress and continued missed dates, even those dates directed by the Army's leadership, concern me

The Army has briefed Congress on a dual-path strategy of upgrading and enhancing the M4 carbine while also completing a new requirement for the eventual replacement of the M4.

Thank you very much, and thank you, Senator Thune.