"After my visit to Kabul, I am more convinced than ever that we have the right team in place to capitalize on the momentum we are starting to see as result of the President’s South Asia Strategy. I have high confidence and respect for both Ambassador Bass and General Miller. Their leadership, along with the tireless efforts of our diplomatic and military personnel, are producing results. The positive recent political developments, including the appointment of Ambassador Khalilzad, depend on keeping up our effective military campaign. I continue to believe that reconciliation can lead to a representative political solution and a sustainable U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Our priority must be to continue to provide the necessary support to achieve these ends- it is the only way we can reliably defend America from the dangerous terrorist organizations that continue to operate in Afghanistan.”
- Chairman Mac Thornberry joined Speaker Paul Ryan on a recent delegation to Afghanistan.
“When I became Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, too many of our senior commanders and DOD officials had become resigned to the notion that inadequate budgets and inefficient continuing resolutions were going to be facts of life far into the future. These same officials had begun to view degraded readiness and lost agility as risk factors they would have to accept when facing increasingly sophisticated adversaries. Today, President Trump’s signature begins to turn tha...t situation around. It is a monumental achievement. By funding our military in full and on time, we can begin to restore its strength, agility, and effectiveness. The President was right to make rebuilding our military a high priority. I am grateful to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers- especially Chairmen Frelinghuysen and Granger- for the years of effort dedicated to getting to this point. As I have said before, the task before us now is to make full, on time funding of our military the rule in Washington, and not the exception.”
- Chairman Mac Thornberry
Chairman @Mac Thornberry talks with the press following the Committee's hearing on the Impact of National Defense on the Exonomy, Diplomacy, and International Order. Watch below:
SUPPORT FULL YEAR FUNDING FOR THE MILITARY
“…nine years of partisan politics, stopgap spending measures, and kicking the can down the road, have eroded our strength and encouraged our enemies. Members of the House now have the opportunity — indeed the obligation — to support our troops by approving the same bill next week. We have no duty that is more important than keeping faith with our troops."
- Chairman Mac Thornberry
...Continue ReadingHouse Armed Services Committee Republicans added a post from September 18 to their timeline.
"Today an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Senators voted to give our men and women in uniform the resources they need to defend the country and to deliver those resources on time for the first time in a decade. Those nine years of partisan politics, stopgap spending measures, and kicking the can down the road, have eroded our strength and encouraged our enemies. Members of the House now have the opportunity — indeed the obligation — to support our troops by approving the same bill next week. We have no duty that is more important than keeping faith with our troops."
- Chairman Mac Thornberry on the Senate's passage of Defense Appropriations
On this anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, let us remember and honor the victims, the first responders, and all of those who have fought and sacr...ificed to keep us safe. As long as evil exists in the world, we can never take our security for granted as we depend on brave men and women who are willing to protect us and all we hold dear. Thank them.
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