Extended period to get. I call this joint hearing of the power Projection Forces of the House Armed Services committee to order. We are here in honor and memory of the 7 uss fitzgerald sailors, shiancoe douglas, xavia martin, hsubien and the ten uss john s. Mccain sailors. Jacob drake, Timothy Echols, john, cory ingram, abraham lopez, Kenneth Smith and logan palmer. And we are very grateful that today we have miss rachel. Miss echols, we send our deepest sympathies and profound sorrow for your loss and appreciation for your sons service to our nation. I want to welcome members to todays hearing. I want to especially recognize that we have with us the committee chairman, thornberry, part of ongoing efforts to eliminate our military Readiness Challenges and thank him for leadership and being here today to hear about the challenges illuminated by the tragic collisions in the pacific. I also want to have a warm welcome to elizabeth from connecticut and congressman rodney davis from illinoi
I call this joint hearing of the subcommittee of the house of Armed Services committee to order. We are here in honor of memory of the seven uss fitzgerald. Enate sailors and the 10 uss John S Mccain sailors. We are very grateful we have a mother here with us today. We send to you our give his sympathies and profound sorrow for your loss and appreciation for your sons service to our nation. I want to welcome our members to todays hearing. Recognizeespecially that we have with us the committee chairman, donald mac thornberry. He has been the leader of our ongoing efforts to mitigate our military Readiness Challenges and i want to thank him for his leadership and for being here today to hear about the challenges in limited by the tragic collisions in the pacific. To send a warm welcome to congresswoman Elizabeth Este from connecticut and congressman rodney davis from illinois. That ananimous consent member not a member of the committee be a lot to participate in todays hearing after all
We are very grateful we have a mother here with us today. We send to you our give his sympathies and profound sorr for your loss and appreciation for your sons service to our nation. I want welcome our members to todays hearing. I want tespecially recognize that we have with us the committee chairman, donald mac thornberry. He has been the leader of our ongoing effortto mitigate our military Readiness Challenges and i want to thank him for his leadership and for being here today to heaabout the challenges in limited by the tragic collisions in the pacific. I also want to send a warm welcome to congresswoman Elizabeth Este from connecticut and congressman rodney davis from illinois. I ask unanimous consent th a member not a member of the committee be a lot to participate in todays hearing after all subCommittee Members and then full Committee Members have had an opportunity ask questions. Is there an objection . Without objection, such members will be recognized the appropriate time for
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