On the recordJuly 13, 2023
As someone who did serve and did use the vehicles for over 3 decades, I rose from the bottom to the general ranks, so I would say at some level, when you are a GO, you are in top leadership. Not one person in those over 3\1/2\ decades ever told me--not one--we are not going to be able to win this fight without an electric tactical vehicle. Not one. As for the first prisoner in Iraq who made a wrong turn driving a fuel truck, it wasn't because they ran out of fuel. It was because they made a wrong turn. I know where the wrong turn was made because I served in Diwaniyah. It has nothing to do with the issue at hand. The issue at hand is that we shouldn't be spending our R&D money from the military on things that can be bought off the shelf once they are proven. If the military does want to buy this stuff, let the contractors prove it to them so that the taxpayers don't have to pay for all the failures along the way, and even more importantly, so the servicemembers in contact don't have to pay with their lives for the failures along the way. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
