I want to join Senator McCain in welcoming Secretary Wilson and General Goldfein to the Committee this morning to testify on the plans and programs of the Department of the Air Force in our review of the fiscal year 2018 annual authorization request. 

We certainly are grateful to all the men and women of the Air Force for their truly professional service, and to their families, for their continued support. 

Over the past 15 years, Air Force personnel and equipment have played a key role in support of our national security goals in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the world.  During this lengthy period, we have relied heavily on Air Force strike aircraft to take on important ground targets, Air Force manned aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, and Air Force tankers and cargo aircraft to support coalition air operations. 

Our witnesses this morning face huge challenges as they strive to balance the need to support ongoing operations and sustain readiness with the need to modernize and keep the technological edge in the three critical domains of air, space, and cyberspace.  The Air Force has produced a budget that, even with proposed budget increases, reflects tough decisions. 

The budget increases the Air Force is proposing in fiscal year 2018 would seek to increase readiness, address shortfalls in munitions, address shortfalls in pilots and maintenance personnel, and modernize our strategic deterrent capability. 

In addition, the Air Force faces a continuing challenge in managing the costs and progress of its major acquisition programs, including the Joint Strike Fighter –the most expensive DOD acquisition program in history – and a new tanker and a new bomber. 

After considerable discussion within the Department and between the Department and Congress, the Air Force last year laid out a number of plans to improve the shortfalls within the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) operator community.    This was an area where Chairman McCain and I pressed the Department to live up to previous commitments to fully support RPA operations and avoid overstressing RPA crews and their families.  I request that the witnesses give us an update on the progress the Air Force is making on these plans.   

Due to ongoing operations, primarily in CENTCOM, the Defense Department has been striving to catch up with the demand for munitions, both for our forces and for coalition partners.   I am pleased to see that the Air Force budget starts on a path to make up lost ground on our munitions inventories.

I am also pleased that this budget request does not resurrect painful battles from previous years, such as retiring the A-10 aircraft, retiring either the U-2 or the Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft, or retiring other high-demand, low-density aircraft before replacements have been fielded. 

In this request, the Administration is asking for an increase in the Department of Defense topline of roughly $54 billion above the total budget for fiscal year 2018 prescribed in the Budget Control Act (BCA).  Of that total, the Air Force budget would constitute an increase of roughly $15 billion.  However, I must point out, as the Chairman has, that unless Congress can achieve a broad and bipartisan agreement to repeal or modify the BCA, any approval of the $15 billion increase for the Air Force will trigger sequestration of a similar amount. 

The President’s budget ignores this problem by making cuts of roughly $54 billion in non-defense discretionary as a way of balancing the increases for Defense.   From my perspective, this is an untenable position, particularly as the budget reduces programs that contribute to national security, such as State Department operations. 

Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with you and other members on resolving the difficult position the Defense Department, and all the federal agencies, are placed in due to the BCA and sequestration.  We simply cannot continue down this path. 

Secretary Wilson, General Goldfein, thank you again for appearing before our committee and I look forward to your testimony.