Today we are hosting our First Virtual congressional military family summit, and we are excited that all of you have joined us. We would prefer to gather in person. However, this way we have more people than ever that are joining us. So there is an advantage to doing this virtually, and we have a great lineup. We have a great agenda. We just appreciate anyone who has taken the time that is helped organize and going to offer perspectives. Our goal is to make sure that we are knowledgeable and ready to advocate on your behalf. So thank you everyone thats been involved in making this happen. I want to do a special thank you to everyone in georgia and Washington State, the military leaders that have joined us, and military men and women that are currently serving. So a big thank you, a big thank , you to your service. It was great to meet mac. You told me shes in the military because she believes in freedom, and i was just reflecting that when i think about military men and women. I think about, i think about you being on the front lines as a defender of freedom and you are the ones that go all over the world. You are the ones that are a beacon for hope and freedom for so many, so just thankful for what you do. And another big thank you to my cochair congressman Sanford Bishop who is a good friend but also someone who ive gotten to know through the years. We started the congressional military family caucus several years ago now to advocate come basically to put a microphone in front of military families, for those on capitol hill but also in our home districts. Congressman bishop has been to Fairchild Air force base several times, and ive been down to fort benning. This year, we are kind of doing a twofer, so we have people from fort benning and fairchild joining so thats really great. Military families hold a very special place in my heart. My husband brian served for 26 years in the navy, he flew for the navy. Even though i met him after he retired, his experience certainly has further opened my eyes to the sacrifice and the commitment of our military families. And early on i can tell you when i was grumbling about being away ,rom my family for a few days for five days, i didnt gimme i did not get any sympathy from brian. He would tell me, think about those military families, kathy. When someone joins the military, its not just a job. Its a Family Commitment to our country. And thats why congressman Sanford Bishop and i found the congressional military family caucus. Its through this caucus we address Critical Issues like Mental Health, Wounded Warrior support, healthcare, Military Spouse employment, effects of multiple deployments and education. I hear these concern for members of our military and its why we continue to host these summits, continue to put the microphone in front of our military families. Because i know weve made some progress but theyre still more work to be done. This year, it seems like all of challenges have been compounded because of the coronavirus pandemic. This is the greatest healthcare and economic crisis that weve seen in our lifetime. Its the challenge of this century, and through it all we are seeing stories of people coming together and stepping up in unimaginable ways. Of course its been our servicemembers and their families who stepped up on the front lines. Members of the national guard, including shane on my team who was activated to setup testing and isolation medical facilities to handle cases in Washington State. Airmen and women at fairchild help at local food banks, and airman stationed at fairchild who was also studying Public Health wrote a Childrens Book to explain the pandemic to kids. And in may we all came together to watch fairchild and a kc135 do a flyover to celebrate and say thanks to our healthcare workers. These are stories of hope and courage happening right here in this community. Now clearly this is a time a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear, a lot of unknowns. Im speaking everyday too hard working men and women in eastern washington, including our military families who understand the importance of keeping our families healthy, making sure our kids stay on track with their education and that people can get to work. Part of our focus today, a big part of the focus today is to actually focus on what were learning from the pandemic, what are the challenges you are facing, how are these challenges unique to our military families, and what resources are available to you. Today you will hear from the , secretary of defense mark esper. Congressman bishop and i had a chance to talk with him earlier at this summit and he jumped at the opportunity to participate and i just really appreciate him , joining us as secretary of defense and to highlight his commitment to military families. He says this is been a big priority for him but also the work he is leading to rebuild our military. You will also have the chance to hear from experts on healthcare, how we close the gap of military unemployment, expand Childcare Options and discuss fully transitioned to civilian life. I am also looking for to todays education session. I am a mom of three schoolage kids. My husband and i are striving everyday to make sure they get the best education possible. For our son cole who has down syndrome we face her own we face our own challenges to make sure we find the right school, the best school possible for him. I often think how much more difficult it would be if bryant if brian were still in the military, it if we were active duty or being deployed and we were moving frequently. Then you add in the impact of coronavirus and schools being shut down and children being moved to virtual learning. Coal is now in seventh grade and he is virtual, which has a a whole bunch of challenges its of its own. Whatever your service take you in america, the matter the challenges you face you should be able to trust that your childrens education is going to stay on track. Know that connecting military families and veterans with the services that you earned and that you need will continue to be a top priority for me and this caucus. We are working right now on solutions to expand benefits for survivors of members of the armed services. Provide a work opportunity tax credit for Military Spouses and get more flexibility for childcare. Standardize military needs in special education, x and mental expand Mental Health benefits to guard and reserve armed forces members. And provide grants to organizations that work on Suicide Prevention for veterans and their families. These are all solutions to problems and challenges that weve heard from military families, such as yourself and others. I want to thank you, thank you again everyone for taking the time today to join us come for making your voices heard, for sharing your stories. It makes a difference, and it is extremely valuable for us to be able to hear from the front lines and to be able to Work Together to take action on your behalf. I also hope you enjoyed todays i hope that you enjoy todays summit. We normally do this in person and so its going to be different today but the value of being virtual is that we both can participate at once and that we also have many more hundreds that have signed up to join us. I think that even as we move forward we, when we can meet in person we may want to add a virtual component to make it easier for military families to be able to join us in the future. I want to thank Sanford Bishop again for his leadership. We recognize that the strength of our military is drawn from the strength of our military families. Thank you for your commitment to our country. We are stronger. We are safer, and were more secure because of you. May god bless you and may god continue to bless the United States of america. And now its my pleasure to welcome and turnover the time to my colleague and the cochair of the congressional military family caucus, congressman Sanford Bishop. Thank you. Thank you very much, cathy. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening everyone whatever wherever you might be joining us from today. I am congressman Sanford Bishop and a represent the second , Congressional District of georgia. I am very that im able to join with you today and and i am very happy that all of you have chosen to spend the day with us. I know that many of you our servicemembers family of service , members, dod civilians, educated, Community Support members. Whether youre listening in all or participating on a panel, we are grateful that youre giving your time and energy today. As you know, this event is in a different format and its different as cathy indicated from what we normally do. And while we cant do it in person this year i believe that this has allowed folks to bring together a wide ranging group that covers the issues that are so important to us today. I want to take the opportunity to thank my friend and my cochair, congresswoman Cathy Mcmorris rodgers. Cathy, you always been a firm supporter of Service Members and their families, and i want you to know that i look forward to continuing and work with you as we pursue all of the unique challenges that are faced by our military families. I also would like to thank secretary of defense esper for contributing to this event. His personal understanding of the unique issues that face our military families has led to a Great Partnership between the department of defense and our members of congress and our caucus. Now the work that this caucus does is vitally important to military families. We routinely address issues at the forefront of the military families through legislation, through oversight, and are Host Partnership with the Senior Leaders of the services as well as our support groups. Some of the positive changes that weve made our improving base housing, allowing Military Spouse certification and accreditation across state lines, expansion of exceptional family rights and access, creating transition assistance for Service Members and their families. We have had Great Success in the past, but the work of Cathy Mcmorris rodgers and that i have done will continue to fight and work for military families in our districts and across the services. This brings us to the focus of our work right now in the topic of the summit today, as were very much aware covid19 and the enduring pandemic has touched every aspect of our lives. But for military families this has proven exceptionally challenging. The dod had a stop and remove had to stop a move that prevented pcs families from moving on the timeline that they had expected while the right and the smart choice suspended families plans. But thats not all the unique aspects of the incredible talent incredible challenges that are posed and faced during the covid19 pandemic. There have been an incredible challenges on top of what civilians experience. Families spent months in transition. Some families were stuck overseas unable to meet their unable to reach their loved ones. Sometimes having to say goodbye over the phone. Installation suspended, food and child programs putting parent in a very, very awkward position including child care and employment, and various sundry other challenges. These are some of the unique challenges that are faced by our military families, and the difficulties can be minimized. Difficulties cannot be minimized. Addressing these and working for what thisamilies is summit is all about. Again, i would like to thank all of you for being here, and look forward to you sharing your experiences, good and bad, or your knowledge, and any other bits of, and pieces of information you can give us to empower us so that we can do our part on capitol hill to make life for our military families much more bearable aim to your abilityance to support the Service Members and your family, so that we can continue to have the strongest of the most effective fighting force anywhere in the world. So thank you so much for your participation. God bless you, and god continue to bless america. All right. Thank you so much. That was great. I would now like to introduce colonel cassius bentley, commander of the 92nd airrefueling wing at Fairchild Air force base, the largest refueling fleet in the world. He has served for more than 20 years in the air force and a lot more than 4400 hours in the kc135, the c17, the t1 and the t 37. He is a dad of two and his wife is a Lieutenant Colonel in the air force reserves. Colonel bentley, thank you both for participating today. I want to say thanks for your service. Its great to have your Fairchild Air force base and i would love to hear opening remarks. We would all like to hear your opening remarks. Congresswoman mcmorris rodgers, congressman bishop thank you so much again to allow me to provide these remarks. Im especially thankful for establishing the military caucus in 2009. And the efforts of the past 11 years to draw attention to support the needs of a families across all Services Including activeduty, guard and reserves. I think this year will be the best. [inaudible] we appreciate the summit continue despite covid and going virtual and now open to a much wider audience. As you mentioned, this is my wife. United States Air Force reserves and there are several members behind getting station here Fairchild Air force base. They represent dual mr. Pascrell dual military families, spouses,f deployed spouses seeking unemployment insurance. Each has their perspective, some shared but all areas we can better support our families. We also have our room, off camera. At fairchild, associates of each panel are presented today to include our new housing residents. Well for thank you as being here virtually today. Im excited to listen and learn and capture some of your best practices by having better support for families. After this first session will we will hear remarks from the secretary of defense. I think it is key to know that our National Strategy originally had three lines of efforts. The first one, build a more recent [inaudible] and reform the department. Secretary esper, takes care of Service Members and our families. Our nations greatest military resource is our servicemembers military families and our civilians. We have to be committed to taking care of our people,. At the airfield and we are our priorities are simple. Captial airmen with a a. The word airmen represents our civilians come military members and their families. Across other dod installations you may hear words like soldier, sailors or marines but always at the core of those priorities our people. At fairchild we are aggressively pursuing several initiatives to put the quality of life for our to improve the quality of life for our airmen and are over 6700 Family Members here everything we do at the insulation is based on our culture families, teamwork and connections. This year, covid19 has challenged our traditional approach to carry our nation across each of these key tenets. Like the rest of the nation, for months, we have had to foster installations critical to National Defense while mitigating the effects of unprecedented Global Pandemic. Securities of the pandemic we are prioritize our admin and sounds once staying on critical mission. Through this approach we successfully supported by ensuring our actions in lockstep with policy action, county, state and national level. We are also making necessary adjustments and our daily processes to maximize the safety of our airmen and their however the critical nature of , our mission prevented us from shutting operations sway to take a balanced approach come physical presence and protect the health of our airmen while staying on mission. With the manpower requirement in the work schedule, we are working to ensure precautions remaining on nafta. Arever, areas where we seeing most impacted by covid19, there are consequences and protocols necessary to mitigate the spread of the virus that included huge chapter challenges. Central to our airmen and their families. We often have Family Members within close proximity. One of the top issues that we are working on his availability for adequate childcare. Before this pandemic, the [inaudible] due to a number of factors some which are unique. Unfortunately, impacts of the virus and virtual schooling have only increased this child. This challenge. Airmen havee, our had to make difficult decisions with errors spouses and schedules pursue other than less than ultimate solutions. This is a strain on our airmen and the families that were laser we are laser focus on changing. Some of the successes weve had in the past few months include covid medicated back to school bash went represents uso, m efficacy, school distress and others returning students and new students to each other. We partnership with a local School District, internet cafe where students complete their with oversight, which in turn reduces some of the stress. Now, we have transitioned into full daycare during covid19. We meet with our spouses often. [inaudible] even before covid our families face challenges every time they move. There are questions about where we live and where will