But if you look at the costs associated with the lifecycle of those programs, 70 percent is in sustainment.

Is there something that Congress can do, not to complicate that by another law, but to simplify that?

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 9, after line 17, add the following: SEC. __. ADDITION OF LEASE SALES AFTER FINALIZATION OF 5-YEAR…

Under current law, the Secretary of the Interior is not able to add any additional lease sales to a finalized 5-year plan, even if that area has been included in a draft plan and then withdrawn, so even if the work has been done to look at…

In closing, this is about American jobs; it is about developing our energy; it is about educational opportunities; it is about promoting STEM within our colleges and universities; it is about providing opportunities in Historically Black…

Today, in order to maintain our Nation's competitive edge, to generate millions in much-needed revenue and to create millions of new jobs, we simply must move forward with offshore energy development. It just makes sense. There are new…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 51, after line 21, insert the following: SEC. __. ENHANCING GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL INFORMATION FOR…

As the chairman expressed, he is exactly correct. Virginia is interested in being able to develop Lease Sale 220, and it is a bipartisan interest. It is both of our Senators from Virginia, it is our Governor from Virginia, it is our…

What can Congress do to simplify the defense acquisitions process while empowering program managers with more responsibility and authority?

How should the LPTA acquisition strategy evolve to ensure that the DOD is achieving the best value over a program's complete lifecycle?

May I inquire as to how much time I have remaining? The Acting CHAIR. The gentleman from Virginia has 30 seconds remaining.

I thank the chairman for his leadership. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: At the end of the bill (before the short title), add the following new section: Sec. 10002. None of the funds made available…

This amendment is pretty simple. It says that we are not going to use any funds at this particular time to propose, plan, or execute any additional Base Realignment and Closure rounds, better known as BRAC, the reason being that this…

In closing, we are at a decisive point. As you know, right now, we are bringing equipment back from Afghanistan. We are resetting our force, and we are training them for the next missions that they are about to face. Those efforts take…

And Ranking Member Smith, thank you so much for your leadership in leading this bill to the floor. I rise in support of the Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon National Defense Authorization Act, which provides funding for ongoing operations in…

What readiness challenges does the Navy face if sequestration persists beyond FY2015?

At the end of the day, it is about the brave men and women that volunteer to put themselves into harm's way, and that that increased risk does mean for them potentially, if we don't get this right, higher casualties, issues with…

Has the Secretary of Defense assessed whether excess infrastructure exists in the Department? What empirical support can the Department provide to support a request for additional BRAC rounds?

As you know, in 2013 with sequestration, because of the issues with OCO, we had to figure out how we could pay the war-fight.

If Congress fails to grant the Air Force authority to cut A-10s, do you anticipate implications for force readiness?

What would be the impacts to the Navy's readiness if we maintained our current force structure with the current funding levels?

Please describe the readiness challenges the Air Force faces if we revert to sequestration level funding after FY15.

The threat of sequestration is not over. If sequestration persists, if we continue to hack away indiscriminately at our DOD budget, our readiness will erode to levels that will take decades to fix.

What level of unit readiness does the President's Budget Request assume?