Rep. John P. Murtha Holds a Hearing On the National Guard and Reserve

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEFENSE HOLDS A HEARING ON THE NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVE

APRIL 20, 2007

SPEAKERS: REP. JOHN P. MURTHA, D-PA. CHAIRMAN REP. NORM DICKS, D-WASH. REP. PETER J. VISCLOSKY, D-IND. REP. JAMES P. MORAN, D-VA. REP. MARCY KAPTUR, D-OHIO REP. ROBERT E. "BUD" CRAMER, D-ALA. REP. ALLEN BOYD, D-FLA. REP. STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, D-N.J. REP. SANFORD D. BISHOP JR., D-GA. REP. DAVID R. OBEY, D-WIS. EX OFFICIO

REP. C.W. BILL YOUNG, R-FLA. RANKING MEMBER REP. DAVID L. HOBSON, R-OHIO REP. RODNEY FRELINGHUYSEN, R-N.J. REP. TODD TIAHRT, R-KAN. REP. ROGER WICKER, R-MISS. REP. JACK KINGSTON, R-GA. REP. JERRY LEWIS, R-CALIF. EX OFFICIO

WITNESSES: LIEUTENANT GENERAL H. STEVEN BLUM (USA), BUREAU CHIEF, U.S. NATIONAL GUARD

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JACK C. STULTZ (USA), CHIEF, U.S. ARMY RESERVE

VICE ADMIRAL JOHN G. COTTON (USN), CHIEF, U.S. NAVY RESERVE

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JOHN W. BERGMAN (USMC), COMMANDER, U.S. MARINE FORCES RESERVE

LIEUTENANT GENERAL JOHN A. BRADLEY (USAF), CHIEF, U.S. AIR FORCE RESERVE

LIEUTENANT GENERAL CLYDE A. VAUGHN (USA), DIRECTOR, U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

LIEUTENANT GENERAL CRAIG R. MCKINLEY (USAF), DIRECTOR, U.S. AIR NATIONAL GUARD

[*] (NOTE: OFF-MIKES AND INAUDIBLES THROUGHOUT DUE TO COMMITTEE'S HEARING ROOM AUDIO) (JOINED IN PROGRESS) MURTHA: ... to the committee, and I just visited Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, and Fort Stewart. And it was interesting to see the comments that General Casey made today, basically what I've concluded. This is a real strain on the troops.

I get one story sometimes from the troops and another story sometimes from the wives. And I met with the wives inadvertently. They were having a meeting. The general's wife was there, and the president of the club was there.

And I said, "Tell me some of the things." And I told them some of the things that the hospital administrators told me about access to the hospitals and so forth. And it was a little bit different than what they had to say. Now, since that time, we've tried to straighten it out.

I know you folks have a different problem than we've ever had in the past. The problem is numbers of people and equipment at the same time. Always in the past, we've had that after the initial stages of the war. We've had the problems straightened out.

I found out not long ago we had 125,000 contractors in Iraq. General Stultz remembers when I visited him one time, and KBR, I think, was operating, and you guys saved half the money when you took it over.

Some of those contractors are making more money than the secretary of defense. Now, I don't know how many contractors are in the Reserve and Guard, and some of them are absolutely necessary, and we're trying to get them accountable.

And of course -- what I've said to the regulars -- I think the president, if he's going to continue this war, ought to call for a draft, so we have enough people. Now, we only had 21 percent drafted in Vietnam, 40 percent in World War II. Most people are going to volunteer, because they're patriotic and they want to be there.

Of course, we had some people avoid the draft, and didn't show up or found ways to get around it. But the point is, most of the people serve as volunteers, or they go when they're called.

But we appreciate what you folks say, and all we ask is for you to be candid with us. All we ask for is honest answers. When we go to the field, each of these members ask questions, and when we get problems, we try to solve the problems.

I found a shortage of body armor. I reported back to Bill Young, and we put the body armor in. We put the 40,000 body armor, Humvees and so forth. We found out Landstuhl didn't have air conditioning. We put air conditioning in Landstuhl.

Unfortunately, when I went up to Walter Reed, nobody told us the problem. Can't fix a problem if you don't know what it is.

So what we ask you folks to do is tell us what the problems are. If it weren't for this subcommittee making our recommendations, you guys would have a tough time, because you know what we have done to fix the shortfall that has been every year for the Reserve, and then of course we'll hear from the National Guard after you folks are finished.

So we appreciate your coming, and look forward to your testimony, and I ask Bill Young to make any comments he has.

YOUNG: Well, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and I just want to welcome the generals and admirals here today. You know, the country has realized how important the folks th...

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