[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.A.S.C. No. 117-1]
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING FOR THE 117TH CONGRESS
__________
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MEETING HELD
FEBRUARY 3, 2021
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______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
43-614 WASHINGTON : 2021
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
One Hundred Seventeenth Congress
ADAM SMITH, Washington, Chairman
JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island MIKE ROGERS, Alabama
RICK LARSEN, Washington JOE WILSON, South Carolina
JIM COOPER, Tennessee MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado
JOHN GARAMENDI, California ROBERT J. WITTMAN, Virginia
JACKIE SPEIER, California VICKY HARTZLER, Missouri
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey AUSTIN SCOTT, Georgia
RUBEN GALLEGO, Arizona MO BROOKS, Alabama
SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts SAM GRAVES, Missouri
SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland, SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
RO KHANNA, California TRENT KELLY, Mississippi
WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin
FILEMON VELA, Texas MATT GAETZ, Florida
ANDY KIM, New Jersey DON BACON, Nebraska
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania JIM BANKS, Indiana
JASON CROW, Colorado LIZ CHENEY, Wyoming
ELISSA SLOTKIN, Michigan JACK BERGMAN, Michigan
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey MICHAEL WALTZ, Florida
VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana
JARED F. GOLDEN, Maine MARK E. GREEN, Tennessee
ELAINE G. LURIA, Virginia, Vice STEPHANIE I. BICE, Oklahoma
Chair C. SCOTT FRANKLIN, Florida
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
SARA JACOBS, California RONNY JACKSON, Texas
KAIALI'I KAHELE, Hawaii JERRY L. CARL, Alabama
MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington BLAKE D. MOORE, Utah
MARC A. VEASEY, Texas PAT FALLON, Texas
JIMMY PANETTA, California
STEPHANIE N. MURPHY, Florida
Vacancy
Paul Arcangeli, Staff Director
Zach Steacy, Director, Legislative Operations
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING FOR THE 117TH CONGRESS
----------
House of Representatives,
Committee on Armed Services,
Washington, DC, Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:00 a.m., in room
2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Adam Smith (chairman
of the committee) presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ADAM SMITH, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM
WASHINGTON, CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
The Chairman. Call the meeting to order.
Members in the committee room anyway will take their seats,
and we will go ahead and get started.
Well, thank you all for joining us for the organizational
meeting of the--I forgot the number--the next Congress in any
rate.
We do have some members who are joining us remotely, as you
can see. I now have to read the instructions for how to
remotely participate. One of the key points, as we have already
learned this morning, is make sure you are muted, unless you
are officially speaking, something we are all learning.
So members who are joining remotely must be visible on
screen for the purposes of establishing and maintaining a
quorum, seeking recognition, participating in the proceeding,
and voting. Those members must continue to use the software
platform's video function while in attendance, unless they
experience connectivity issues or other technical problems that
render them unable to participate on camera.
If a member experiences technical difficulties, they should
contact the committee staff for assistance.
Video of members' participation will be broadcast in the
room and via the television internet feed. Members
participating remotely must unmute their microphones and seek
recognition verbally, and they are asked to mute their
microphones when they are not speaking.
Members who are participating remotely are reminded to keep
the software platform's video function on the entire time they
attend the proceeding. Members may leave and rejoin the
proceeding. If members depart for a short while for reasons
other than joining a different proceeding, they should leave
the video function on. If members will be absent for a
significant period of time, or depart to join a different
proceeding, they may remain logged on to the software platform
but must turn off the audio and visual functions if and until
they return.
Members may use the software platform's chat feature to
communicate with staff regarding technical or logistical
support issues only.
Finally, I have designated a committee staff member to, if
necessary, mute unrecognized members' microphones to cancel any
inadvertent background noise that may disrupt the proceedings.
All right. So that is the intro on remote participation.
And now we are here to launch the House Armed Services
Committee for this session of Congress, and I am very pleased
to do that. I look forward to coming back and working together
with both returning members and the new members that we have to
the committee.
Before I get into the new members, I just really want to
thank the staff and the members who have participated over the
course of the last 2 years. You know, it is hard to say
exactly, but in the 24 years I have been here, I would wager
that they were 2 of the more difficult years for this committee
in terms of getting our work done in difficult circumstances.
And at the end of the day, in ever more creative fashion,
we got it done, and I think we can all be very, very proud of
that. The two pieces of legislation that we have passed the
last 2 years have some incredibly important, substantive
legislation attached to them.
No, Mike, I am not just talking about the Space Force. But
certainly that was one. And there were a lot of other things
that we were able to do in that legislation that I think is
incredibly important.
But outside of the substance, the mere fact that in a
bipartisan way a committee in the United States Congress was
able to go through regular order and pass two defense bills
through committee, through markup, through votes in this
committee, on the floor, in the Senate, go into conference and
get that done almost qualifies as a miracle in this particular
setting. And I think it is incredibly important that we did
that and I think it is equally important that we continue to do
it.
I believe passionately in representative democracy. I think
it works. I think it is the best system of government going,
has been for a long time, and will continue to be. And to the
extent that we show people that it can work, that reinforces
that message and makes sure that we deliver for the American
people, deliver them the democracy that they have every right
to expect.
So I am pleased we were able to do that. Again, I want to
thank the members and the staff. And, hell, I will even thank
the Senate. I think they did a very good job as well. So
enjoyed working with them and glad we were able to get that
done and look forward to moving forward into the new year.
With that, we have new members of the committee, which I
will introduce, and I will attempt to get the details here to
the extent that my glasses do not fog up while I am doing it.
On our side, if I am counting correctly, I think we have--
we have seven new members. As you will see near the end here,
we have some who are new, but they have been here before. So
they are returning.
But for now, let me start with Joe Morelle, who is a new
member to the committee, not a new Member of Congress. He
represents New York's 25th District, which includes the
University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. He
is the son of a Korean War veteran. And he joins the committee
having previously served as the majority leader of the New York
State Assembly.
Welcome, Joe.
I should point out, obviously, given the remote setting,
some of these members we are introducing are not physically
here. They are on the screen. So we can just wave at the screen
and welcome them up there and thank them for joining us.
Next we have Sara Jacobs, who I believe is here.
Welcome.
She is representing California's 53rd District, replacing
Susan Davis, who we all know well, who served on this committee
for 22 years, quite ably. Her district includes much of San
Diego County, which, as we know, has numerous Navy
installations, from Coronado to Naval Base San Diego, as well
as Marine Corps Air Station Miramar just outside of the
district. And prior to Congress, Ms. Jacobs served in the
Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations at the U.S.
Department of State. Very qualified.
And welcome to Congress and welcome to the committee.
Our third new member is Kai Kahele, who represents Hawaii's
Second Congressional District, which covers all the Hawaiian
Islands, a lot of ground to cover. On Oahu, the Second
Congressional District covers the regions outside of urban
Honolulu and its immediate suburbs.
Congressman Kahele is a combat veteran pilot and
commissioned officer in the Hawaii Air National Guard. Always
good to have that experience.
Welcome to the committee.
He, too, is participating remotely. So glad to have
Congressman Kahele joining us.
Next we have Marilyn Strickland, who is from my home State
of Washington. Once upon a time I lived in the city of Tacoma
when she was the mayor of the city of Tacoma. So Marilyn and I
have worked together for a long time. I welcome her to
Congress.
She represents the 10th District, which includes Joint Base
Lewis-McChord. Also, again, I used to represent them. So after
redistricting 10 years ago, that moved into this district that
Marilyn is now representing. And that is the largest single-
point employer in our State, with a yearly impact of $8
billion.
Marilyn is the daughter of a World War II and Korean War
veteran. We welcome her to the committee as well.
Now we have some returning members.
Marc Veasey, who represents Texas' 33rd District, known
very, very well to us, served on the committee for a couple of
years before leaving to serve on other committees and is now
back. So we are very happy to have that experience and to
represent that part of Texas, which obviously has a huge
defense industry in it.
Welcome back to Marc Veasey.
Jimmy Panetta is also coming back to us, having served on
the committee previously. He represents California's 20th
District, which includes a lot of national security assets,
four parent installations--Fort Hunter Liggett, Naval
Postgraduate School, Presidio of Monterey--and five Army
National Guard bases.
And if you haven't had a chance to get out to see the Navy
Postgraduate School, it is, number one, an incredibly beautiful
part of the country to go visit, but, number two, they are
doing really cool stuff out there.
And in 2007 he volunteered for Active Duty and was deployed
to Afghanistan and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious
service in combat.
Welcome back, Jimmy. Happy to have you on the committee.
And lastly on our side we have Stephanie Murphy. She also
has previously served on the committee, is coming back. She
represents Florida's Seventh District, which includes Naval
Support Activity Orlando. She has worked in the Office of the
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and was a member of this
committee from 2017 to 2018.
A terrific and experienced bunch that we have both coming
back and joining us anew. So welcome to all the new Democratic
Members of Congress. Happy to have you on board and look
forward to working with you.
And with that, I will yield to the ranking member, Mr.
Rogers, for his opening statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE ROGERS, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM ALABAMA,
RANKING MEMBER, COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And really it is an honor to be able to lead the
Republicans on this committee, and I know that we are going to
continue to work in a bipartisan fashion, like we have in the
past, delivering an authorization each of the last 60 years.
And in that vein I want to thank Chairman Smith and his
staff for working with us on committee assignments,
subcommittee assignments, and adjusting the ratio so our
members could get where they wanted to be, and I appreciate
that accommodation.
This Congress must continue to address threats posed by a
rising China and a belligerent Russia. Like many of our
members, I see China's concerted push for global domination as
a threat to all free nations. America must engage with our
allies and partners to defend ourselves from this growing
threat.
But that engagement must be backed by a credible and a
modern military. This means addressing gaps in our readiness
and fielding next-generation capabilities faster than ever
before.
Thankfully, we have some new talent on the way to help us
with this endeavor, and, fortunately, again this cycle the
Armed Services Committee was one of the most sought after
committees on the Republican Conference side, and we have nine
new members with a range of interests and experience.
First we have Mike Johnson, who represents the Fourth
District of Louisiana. His district is home to Barksdale Air
Force Base and Polk Joint Readiness Training Center.
Next we have Mark Green of Tennessee. He represents their
Seventh District. He served 24 years in the Army, between the
Academy and as a physician on Active Duty in the Army and Army
Reserve.
Stephanie Bice represents the Fifth District of Oklahoma,
which is home to thousands of Oklahomans who serve with Tinker
Air Force Base.
Scott Franklin represents the 15th District of Florida. He
has served 26 years as a naval aviator, 14 on Active Duty and
12 in the Naval Reserve.
Lisa McClain represents Michigan's 10th District, home to
Selfridge Air National Guard Base. She joins us after a very
successful business career.
Ronny Jackson represents the 13th District of Texas. He had
a 25-year career in the Navy and led the White House Medical
Unit as physician to President Obama and President Trump.
Jerry Carl, a former county commissioner who represents
Alabama's First District, home of our Nation's critical
shipyard infrastructure.
And Blake Moore, who represents Utah's First District, had
a distinguished career in the Foreign Service before coming to
Congress. And he cares very much about Hill Air Force Base.
Pat Fallon represents the Fourth District of Texas. Again,
we have two members from Texas because they do have an
incredible defense presence there, 15 Active Duty
installations. He served as an officer in the Air Force before
becoming a successful businessman.
And I welcome each of these new members and look forward to
working with them.
And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
And actually I was remiss in my opening remarks on
congratulating our new ranking member. Obviously not new to the
committee. We have worked together for many, many years.
And it is great to have you in that seat. Look forward to
continuing our bipartisan tradition.
So now we have some business to conduct to get the
committee set up, and I call up Committee Resolution No. 1,
regarding the committee rules for the 117th Congress. And the
clerk shall read the resolution.
Ms. Quinn. Committee resolution No. 1. Resolved, That the
Committee on Armed Services, U.S. House of Representatives,
adopt the committee rules for the 117th Congress, which are
stated in the copy distributed to each Member.
The Chairman. The proposed committee rules have been
developed jointly with Ranking Member Rogers and made available
to members' offices on Friday, January 29th. Following
consultation with Mr. Rogers, I ask unanimous consent that the
resolution be considered as read and that the resolution be
open to amendment at any point.
Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
And at this time is there any discussion or are there any
questions concerning the committee rules?
If there is no discussion, are there any amendments to the
committee rules?
Hearing none, the chair now recognizes the gentleman from
Washington, Mr. Larsen, for the purpose of offering a motion
regarding Committee Resolution No. 1, the committee rules.
Mr. Larsen. Mr. Chair, I move to adopt Committee Resolution
No. 1, concerning the committee rules.
The Chairman. The question now occurs on the motion of the
gentleman from Washington, Mr. Larsen.
So many as are in favor will say aye.
Opposed?
A quorum being present, the ayes have it and the motion is
adopted. And, without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid
upon the table.
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The next order of business is Committee Resolution No.
2, regarding the committee's security procedures for the 117th
Congress. I call up Committee Resolution No. 2. The clerk shall
read the resolution.
Ms. Quinn. Committee Resolution No. 2. Resolved, That the
Committee on Armed Services, U.S. House of Representatives,
adopt the committee security procedures for the 117th Congress,
a copy of which has been distributed to each member.
The Chairman. The security procedures were coordinated with
Mr. Rogers and were made available to members' offices on
Friday, January 29th. Following consultation with Mr. Rogers, I
ask unanimous consent that the resolution be considered as read
and that the resolution be open to amendment at any point.
Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
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.epsAnd at this time there is any discussion? Are there any
questions concerning the security procedures?
There is no discussion.
Are there any amendments to the security procedures?
Hearing no amendments, the chair now recognizes the
gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. Langevin, for the purposes of
offering a motion regarding Committee Resolution No. 2, the
security procedures of the 117th Congress.
Mr. Langevin.
Mr. Langevin. Mr. Chairman, I move to adopt Committee
Resolution No. 2, the security procedures for the 117th
Congress.
The Chairman. The question now occurs on the motion of the
gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. Langevin.
So many as are in favor will say aye.
As opposed, say no.
A quorum being presented, the ayes have it and the
resolution is adopted. Without objection, a motion to
reconsider is laid upon the table, which brings us to the final
order of business.
I call up Committee Resolution No. 3, appointing committee
staff for the 117th Congress. The clerk shall read the
resolution.
Ms. Quinn. Committee Resolution No. 3. Resolved, That the
persons listed on the sheet distributed to the Members and such
other personnel as may be required by the committee within the
limits and terms authorized under the rules of the House of
Representatives are hereby appointed to the staff of the
Committee on Armed Services, U.S. House of Representatives, for
the 117th Congress, it being understood that according to the
provisions of law, the Chairman will fix the basic salary per
annum.
The Chairman. Thank you.
As many of you know, our committee is unique in that the
committee staff is a combined staff. What that means basically
is most--every other committee you divide up Democrats,
Republicans, go your separate ways. Here our staff works for
everybody, and I hope members will recognize that and take
advantage of that. Every single member of the staff that we
have is open to every member of this committee, and they have
incredibly valuable experience that will help us do our job.
So please take advantage of that. Build those relationships
with the staff. They have a lot of knowledge to share. They are
a very talented group of professionals.
A copy of the committee staff in the 117th Congress was
prepared in consultation with the minority and made available
to members' offices on Friday, January 29th.
Following conversations--or consultation--with Mr. Rogers,
I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be considered as
read.
Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
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.epsAnd at this time is there any discussion or are there
any questions regarding the committee staff?
Hearing none, the chair now recognizes the gentleman from
Rhode Island, Mr. Langevin, for the purposes of offering a
motion regarding Committee Resolution No. 3, appointing the
committee staff for the 117th Congress.
Mr. Langevin.
Mr. Langevin. Mr. Chairman, I move to adopt Committee
Resolution No. 3, regarding committee staffing for the 117th
Congress.
The Chairman. The question now occurs on the motion of the
gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. Langevin.
So many as in favor will say aye.
Those opposed, no.
A quorum being present, the ayes have it and the motion is
adopted. Without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid upon
the table.
Without objection, committee staff is authorized to make
technical and conforming changes to reflect the action of the
committee in adopting Committee Resolutions 1 through 3.
Before we adjourn, let me raise an administrative matter.
As chairman I plan--oh, yes. Okay. Yeah, this is the issue
surrounding our committee hearings. There is a 5-minute rule,
as you are all aware. We try to get to absolutely every member.
We this year have 59 members of this committee. We have a lot
of hearings, and there is a 5-minute rule for every member.
You can do the math on that one and figure out how long it
would take to do a committee hearing if all 59 members took all
5 minutes. We don't always get to everybody. But we try to make
sure that the members of this committee, regardless if they are
senior or junior, have an opportunity.
So in doing that, when have you 5 minutes, you have 5
minutes. There used to be the old trick of, you know, making
your question last 4 minutes and 50 seconds and then letting
the guy take 5 or 10 minutes to answer it. We don't do that.
When the 5 minutes is up, the 5 minutes is up. And the reason
we do that is not to be mean to the member asking the question.
It is to try to respect all members of the committee.
It is my honest and heartfelt opinion that every single
member of this committee is equally important, whether you just
got here or whether you have been here for 24 years. So we want
to try to be as inclusive as possible and get everybody's
perspectives and views as best as we can. So that is what we
will try to do.
That is all I have. Let me recognize Mr. Rogers for any
closing comments he wishes to add to the discussion.
Mr. Rogers. I have nothing other than to say it is just an
honor to be here. And this committee does have a bipartisan
history that we value and we want to see continue and we will
be working in that vein and look forward to it.
The Chairman. Absolutely. I think it is a great note to end
on.
So no further business, the committee stands adjourned
subject to the call of the chair. Thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 11:21 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]