Ronny Jackson: “I appreciate the gentlewoman from Ohio's comments, and I understand that the government does spend too much money. I am…”

“I appreciate the gentlewoman from Ohio's comments, and I understand that the government does spend too much money. I am also interested in looking for ways we can stop useless or wasteful spending. However, I will say that you are right that the money is in the bill for this particular project. I also agree with you that I don't want to take the autonomy away from all of these departments. I think they should have some autonomy to do what they need to with their budget and with their money. However, I feel strongly about this because, as I mentioned, this is a single point of failure in our nuclear supply chain. I have spent lots of time at Pantex talking to them about the consequences of this, some of the problems with the single-source vendor that we currently have. I feel like this is important enough that we need an insurance policy in the form of this amendment to make sure that this money that is currently in the bill does not get taken out and used for any other process. I would be interested in looking at other areas to save money, but I don't think this is the particular area that is in our best interest, from a national security standpoint, to save that money. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the comments of the gentlewoman, and I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Jackson). The amendment was agreed to. The Acting CHAIR. The Chair understands that amendment No.…”