Remarks

Today’s hearing is on the Navy and Marine Corps fiscal year 2025 budget request for military construction and family housing.

It is a great pleasure to be here today with the Honorable Meredith Berger, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment; Vice Jeffrey Jablon, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Installations and Logistics, and Lieutenant General Edward Banta, Deputy Commandant, Installations and Logistics for the U. S. Marine Corps.

Military construction and family housing makes up only about 2 percent of the Defense budget. Yet, it has a tremendous impact on our Sailors, Marines, and their families, who feel the impact of infrastructure investments daily.

Military construction dollars not only account for quality of life and family housing projects, but they also directly impact the recruitment, training and readiness of our forces.

The Defense Subcommittee will come to order.

Today, the Subcommittee will receive testimony from the Honorable Carlos del Toro, Secretary of the Navy; Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations; And General Eric Smith, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.

Thank you all for joining us.

I want to start by welcoming Admiral Franchetti. You have the distinction of being the first woman Chief of Naval Operations, the first woman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and today is your first time testifying before the Committee. We are happy to have you here today.

General Smith, this is also your first time testifying before the Committee. We are glad to see you back leading our Marines. Thank you for being here.

Finally, Secretary Del Toro, welcome back. It is always good to have you.

The Subcommittee will come to order.

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 Christine Wormuth, and General Randy George, the Chief of Staff of the Army.

Thank you for joining us. We look forward to your testimony.

The U.S. Army provides our nation with the best fighting force in the world. We face a variety of threats from across the globe which require a well-trained and well-equipped Army. As new threats evolve, it is imperative that we prioritize investments that not only contribute to current readiness, but also provide us with a decisive advantage on any future battlefield.

Good morning, Mr. Secretary. I want to welcome you again to our Subcommittee, and I look forward to your testimony today.

When you came before this Subcommittee last year, I and many of my colleagues expressed disbelief with the Department’s proposed Title Nine rule that would force schools to allow biological teen males into girls’ locker rooms and promote unfair competition on the playing field.

The original intent of Title Nine was to protect women, so I hope your Department’s delay in finalizing this misguided rule signals that the Administration agrees with most of America - that this proposal would harm women and girls in sports and set them back decades. I will have more to say about Title Nine in my questioning today.

Turning now to your budget proposal, I am concerned about the new programs, increases, and cuts proposed in your Fiscal Year 2025 budget and what they say about the Department’s priorities.

Welcome Secretary Mayorkas. I sincerely thank you for joining us to discuss the Department’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget request.While it is very clear that we have profound differences of opinion on how the Department should be run, and what policies should be in place, especially as it relates to border security and immigration enforcement, I would ask Members on both sides to keep today’s discussion civil, and focused on the work we need to do as appropriators to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the negotiated appropriations package.

Today is zero hour, we're out of time. Today's vote may be the most consequential of your lifetime. Right now our troops around the world are facing multiple threats. Our supremacy on land, sea air, and space is being challenged, and our allies are under attack.

I could go through a long list of vital programs and funding included in this bill. The wins for our troops, the historic funding for innovation and counterdrug activities. The focus on countering China, the time is short, and the stakes have never been higher.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I rise today in support of the package of appropriations bills under consideration.

As the Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, I’d like to thank the Full Committee chair, Ms. Granger for her leadership in assembling funding packages that reflect strong Republican priorities.

The crisis at our southwest border has raged under the Biden Administration. More than two million migrants illegally crossed the border each of the last two years.

That is not sustainable, so this bill makes key investments to secure the border, expand detention, improve technology, and deter illegal immigration.

Under this bill, we provide 500 million dollars to reach an end strength of 22,000 Border Patrol Agents consistent with H.R. 2.

To counter fentanyl, the bill provides 305 million dollars for non-intrusive inspection equipment at our nation’s ports of entry.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2882.

I want to thank the Full Committee Chairwoman Granger and Speaker Johnson for their work in getting this second set to the floor for consideration today.

I am proud to speak on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs portion of the bill today.

The bill includes a 6 percent cut from the FY23 enacted level.

We are at a critical moment in history. One of our most important allies is in its time of greatest need, and this bill answers the call.

It is the strongest pro-Israel State and Foreign Operations bill we have ever seen.

It provides $3.3 billion Foreign Military Financing for Israel.

Almost as important as what it funds, is what it does NOT fund.

The bill prohibits funds to UNRWA, which has become the de facto subsidiary of Hamas.