Remarks

Today, the Subcommittee will receive testimony on the posture of the United States Army. First, I would like to welcome our two witnesses, Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, and General Randy George, the Chief of Staff of the Army. Mr. Secretary, congratulations on your appointment.  I look forward to working with you. General George, thank you for joining us once again. 

Thank you, Chairman Calvert and Ranking Member McCollum. I want to thank the witnesses for being here with us today to discuss the current lay of the land for the Department of the Air Force.

Acting Secretary Ashworth, welcome to the Defense Subcommittee. Generals, nice to see you this afternoon. You are sitting before us as the Air Force and Space Force face a critical path ahead. The world continues to be a volatile place, with malign actors challenging American interests near and far. Time is not on our side as our adversaries have been outpacing and outproducing us. 

Good afternoon. The Defense Subcommittee will come to order.

Thank you, Chairman Amodei and Ranking Member Underwood, and thank you, Madam Secretary, for being with us today.

I would like to thank Secretary Bessent for being here today and for his leadership and steady hand over the last several months. 

Before we wrap up, I want to offer this in closing: our authorizing colleagues are working on reconciliation bills that will provide significant investments in the President’s immigration and border security agenda, including funding to the Coast Guard to secure our maritime border. 

I commend them for their efforts to enable the Department to finish the wall, hire more agents and officers, and bring additional detention beds online. 

I know the Department hopes to be made whole with reconciliation, but in the meantime, you need to live within your means. 

I would like to thank General Hull for being here today. The United States Postal Service is a mainstay for most - if not all - our constituents and communities.  Its operations are vast with 640 thousand employees working to deliver millions of pieces of mail and packages daily. Yet, the Postal Service has faced significant financial challenges over the last several decades. Except for fiscal year 2022, the Postal Service has incurred losses in each fiscal year since 2007. 

The subcommittee will come to order. Good morning. I want to thank all of you for coming to today’s hearing to receive testimony from our colleagues.