Joe Manchin

It's so hard to go home and explain our involvement unless we're going to have a no-fly and protect those who want to be there to rebuild their country.

What is our end game? The end game would be--we've been there, bogged down for quite some time.

You can only look back at our past performance and find out, you know, and learn from that.

Is it obvious that--basically, that Russia and Iran will have more influence on who the next leader or the leadership of Syria's going to be than we will?

You do agree that Russia's primary is to protect Assad.

If I can just ask: Is the rebels or the coalition forces, which we are supporting in Syria--are they more intent on fighting Assad or fighting ISIL?

What happens at the end of 8 and a half to 10 years? What happens at 15?

Have we been able to assist more of the leaders, more of the well-educated, more of the peace-loving?

Wheeled medical vehicles are unsuitable for Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs) due to the inability to maneuver.

I cannot get an accurate answer on contractors. The cost of contracting is unbelievable.

Politically you understand you did not get the flexibility because everybody wanted to make sure that the sequester would hurt so bad that we would get rid of it.

The arbitrary drop in defense funding over the last 3 years has already hurt Army readiness and modernization.

We owe them much, but most importantly, the Army deserves the resources necessary for what they are doing today and for what they will be asked to do again tomorrow.

How does the Air Force intend to fix this problem once and for all?

We have to go home and explain to our constituents how we spend their tax dollars.

Why would the Air Force plan to retire aircraft in high demand without planning to replace them?

I do not think we were notified at that time.

Those two countries we are most concerned about. Cybersecurity, cyber warfare, basically platform capabilities and what they are investing into.

We keep all of those who are serving right now in our thoughts and prayers.

These challenges have been made particularly difficult by the spending caps imposed in the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011.

Regrettably, if caps under the Budget Control Act (BCA) or sequestration are allowed to stand, we may struggle to meet these obligations.

Over the last 14 years, the Army has done everything we have asked of them and more.

Where can we as Congress help you in a more efficient, streamlined, lack of redundancies, if you will?

I want to congratulate you on being named chairman of the subcommittee.

My time is up. There may be a time for another round and we will go through that. Thank you very much.