Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5515, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019. I appreciate Chairman Mac Thornberry achieving a bipartisan success in the committee with 60 ``yes'' votes and only 1 ``no'' vote. This bill contains significant policy and funding initiatives to provide the military resources necessary to restore lost readiness for peace through strength. The bill authorizes additional funding for equipment and weapons systems maintenance, spare parts, and training-- all sorely needed to begin to reverse years of minimal funding and military readiness accounts. In addition, the bill includes several provisions aimed at improving the readiness and operation of naval surface forces in response to the tragic collisions suffered last year with the loss of 17 sailors of the Fitzgerald and the McCain. We also addressed aviation readiness concerns by increasing flying hours, funding for spare parts, and depot level repair capacity. With military end strength at a premium for operational units, Federal civilians are an ever-increasingly important component of military readiness. This bill contains several measures meant to improve the civilian workforce management with a special emphasis on faster hiring. There is a provision that provides the Secretary of Defense hiring authority for many critical readiness skills until 2025, as well as the ability to hire new college graduates.…”