Political Quotes

“I want to, first of all, thank my HASC colleague across the aisle, ETC Chairman Wilson from the great State of South Carolina, for working with me on this bipartisan amendment to expand talent exchange authorities within the DOD. This amendment addresses a key challenge facing the Department, which is competition with the private sector to recruit and retain highly skilled talent. As we understand right now, it is exceptionally competitive in, for example, the IT and cybersecurity fields. We need to be able to retain, attract, and recruit the best and the brightest in this field, particularly because salaries are very high and it is very difficult in many ways for the DOD to compete in this space. While we are very grateful, of course, for those who devote their lives to a military career, not everyone will give 20 or 30 years of their lives to the U.S. military. But there is certainly no shortage of patriotism across the private sector, and dedicating several months or years of their lives to our national security is certainly a worthy endeavor. This also gives DOD employees exposure to cutting-edge operational techniques and best practices across a wide array of disciplines, while giving private sector employees insight into how the Department operates. Mr. Chairman, we must ensure that we are recruiting the best and the brightest in order to uphold our national defenses. This amendment has been sought after by the DOD.…”