WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, delivered opening remarks at the FY22 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markup.
Rep. Hartzler’s remarks as prepared below:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank Chairman Norcross for his leadership and collaboration in building this mark in a very open and bipartisan manner that continues the long-standing tradition of the Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee.
I’d also like to express my gratitude to the subcommittee staff, including Kelly Repair, Bill Sutey, Heath Bope, Carla Zeppieri, Liz Griffin, Caroline Kehrli, and Chrissi Lee of my personal staff, for their support and hard work.
To all of our colleagues on this Committee, I want to express my appreciation for their active participation and for their valuable contributions that directly informed this bipartisan Mark.
Building off the framework we have set the last several years, this Mark will advance the progress we have made to ensure force readiness and facilitate modernization programs necessary to prepare our military forces to compete with, deter, and win against peer challengers and adversaries.
I am particularly pleased with how this mark continues critical oversight of the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps’ strike-fighter force structure and inventory management.
This mark sets better conditions for ensuring the right mix of 4th and 5th generation fighters, managing operational risk, and specifically for mitigating shortfalls in the Navy Strike Fighter inventory.
I’m also pleased this mark facilitates stronger oversight to ensure current ISR and Counter-UAS capabilities and capacity are maintained and prioritized to mitigate near-term operational risk and prevent future capability gaps.
Lastly, this mark, through oversight, highlights the subcommittee’s continued priority of maintaining stability, improving safety, and facilitating critical infrastructure modernization projects within our defense industrial base and supply chains.
Following a year of unprecedented challenges, I continue to be impressed and encouraged by the resilience of our military and the critical industrial base that supports it. This mark is a good step towards fully restoring the dedicated industrial workforce to safe and efficient operations.
Mr. Chairman, I am proud of this bipartisan and comprehensive mark that provides appropriate levels of oversight on the major programs in our jurisdiction while also supporting the critical capabilities needed by our warfighters to maintain credible deterrence and to fight and win decisively in any situation in the future. I encourage everyone’s support and yield back.
