We are constrained by geography and our bases of operation are more limited than our response to hurricane harvey. Yet we are working to get as many aircraft in the air as possible. I urge everyone impacted by the storm to continue to Pay Attention to your state and local officials. They will let you know when its safe to return home. Be patient. The federal government effort is working closely with our state and local partners and our response and recovery efforts. I would like to thank President Trump and Vice President pence further attention to this storm and the concern for communities that are affected. The white house and the entire cabinet have been very supportive of the First Responders and the survivors of hurricane irma. A storm of this magnitude needs a team effort, and weve seen tremendous response from our federal partners. Nearly 22,000 federal personnel are already on the front lines, and more continue to deploy. We face a long and challenging road ahead, but the depar
Suvayan. And the uss john mccain sailors. Were very grateful that today, we have ms. Rachel echols with us, we send you our deepest simp sympathie sympathies. And i want to especially recognize, we have with us the committee chairman, chairman thornberry. The leader of efforts to mitigate the military Readiness Challenges. And i thank him for being here today. I also want to send a warm welcome to congresswoman elizabeth estes. And full Committee Members have had an opportunity to ask questions. Is there an objection . As we begin todays unkplaclassd hearing, i have no doubt that our navy remains the most powerful in the world. But these recent tragic events only reinforce our committees concern about the challenges the navy faces. Im especially concerned about the shortfalls in the structure and whether the tempo of a reduced 277ship navy may have contributed to these events. I also believe that the first responsibility of the National Government is to provide for the National Securit
Infrastructure funding. And in land waterways have the impact of the panama canal expansion on us ports. It is an hour and 45 minutes. [inaudible conversations] the meeting will come to order. And i happen to be one of those. And i recognize that this time, senator cardin. And introduce pleasure to have secretary ron here before the committee. Secretary ron, secretary of transportation in maryland. As i was telling as a chairman, this is the third state, secretary of transportation. Department of transportation and new mexico state highway and transportation, cant hold onto a job. Very proud of the work in maryland. And the organization in maryland with the secretary of transportation is responsible for coordinating modes of transportation. Mister ron has done an outstanding job in directing that department, very large budget. He also served as american state transportation officials, 20072008 and national leadership, proud to have him before the committee. Very good. Recognize senator
Cars thate electric dont use any gas and the use the roads and technically dont pay anything to use the roads. Like many things in this world, as i like to talk about the globalization of technology, the and of Technology Innovation has outpaced congressional response to the changing world area we have the Highway Trust Fund supported with the tax that brings and two thirds of that. That is the essence of the problems we have with the Highway Trust Fund. We probably cant raise it enough. The second thing is to come up with a way of charging vehicles for my miles driven has not tied to gas consumption. If you are an electric car you will have to pay something to use the roads but it wont be typed using gasoline. You have to integrate technology into cars the third solution is to find a new source of revenues to enhance the Highway Trust Funds on top of the cap tax on top of the gas tax. I think we need to do all three. F those things look at fixing framework for funding it. We have to d
Known. Also tonight, what is not known, there is still an ongoing search for a man police want to talk to. He is described as a black man, said to be in his 40s, wearing a military style uniform. We do not know what connection, if any, he has. Said one witness earlier today, he, meaning the gunman, did not say a word when he opened fire. Back to washington, d. C. We go in a moment here for complete fox coverage with Jennifer Griffin. Greta van susteren, mike emanuel, our full team is out tonight. We will get to all of them over the next 60 minutes. With me now mark fallon member of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service the ncis for 27 years. Sir, good evening to you. Good evening. How you know this naval yard, correct . I have been assigned there and spent a number of years there. Its been told to us throughout the day this is a place of intense security. Was that your experience when you worked there . Yes. There is varying degrees of security. However, there is very little in the