Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and let me join you in welcoming the nominees and thank them for their willingness to serve in these important positions at the Department of Defense.  I would also like to recognize and thank the families of the nominees for their support of your willingness to serve on behalf of our service men and women.

Mr. McMahan, you are nominated to serve in the role of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness.  If confirmed, you will be the principal sustainment advisor to the Secretary of Defense and will be responsible for ensuring that our warfighters are properly supplied and have their equipment reliably maintained.  It is my hope, that if you confirmed, you will focus in particular on reducing the significant maintenance backlogs across our organic maintenance facilities and improve the performance of spare parts delivery between the Defense Logistics Agency and the military services.

Mr. James, if confirmed, you will be charged with overseeing the Army’s civil works program, and will be responsible for flood damage reduction at a time when our nation has been hit with an unusual number of hurricanes and other natural and manmade disasters.  You will need to work in close coordination with the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers to oversee matters of national importance such as the conservation and development of our country’s water resources, our water supply, protection of our shores, environmental restoration efforts, and many other issues ranging from harbor navigation to hydroelectric power.

Mr. James, I have two areas of concern regarding your nomination that I hope you will address today.  First, how will the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan, account for, and adapt to flood risks in their project designs given the recent decision by this Administration to rescind an executive order related to federal flood risk management standards. 

Secondly, Mr. James, I am interested in knowing if you will recuse yourself from any potential conflicts of interest regarding Army Corps projects in the St. John’s Bayou-New Madrid floodplain and Birds Points – New Madrid floodway given your family interests in those areas.

Dr. Jette, if confirmed, you will be taking on an important role to try to improve Army acquisition programs.  Since the passage of the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, program outcomes have improved - due to more emphasis on testing, early engineering and design work, and better estimating of program costs.  But we all know more needs to be done - especially as the Army tries to position itself to deal with a growing spectrum of threats, including potentially dealing with peer adversaries, and also tries to keep up with the accelerating pace of global technological change.  I look forward to hearing how you plan to start taking on these challenges.

Mr. Manasco, if confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, you will face many challenges in ensuring, first and foremost, that the Air Force has adequate numbers of ready and trained airmen, of sufficiently high character and talent, to meet national defense objectives.  The Air Force is facing a pilot shortage in some ratings, and must change the culture of offering the maximum bonus to every pilot regardless of platform if it expects to be able to influence recruiting and retention behavior going forward, as well as consider increased use of warrant officers and enlisted personnel to fill pilot positions.  In addition, I am concerned about the Air Force’s recent announcement of a 100 percent promotion rate to major, regardless of performance, which will come at both a quantitative and qualitative cost.  Mr. Manasco, I am interested in any views you may have on these issues and any others. 

Again, I would like to thank all of you for your willingness to serve our nation and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.