National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016

Floor Speech

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I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, diversifying our military's fuel supply is a national security imperative given the serious new threats we face as a country. More than 3,000 men and women in uniform have been killed or wounded since September 11, 2001, in attacks on our military's fuel convoys.

Delivering technologies to our troops that improve efficiency so that they depend less on traditional sources of fuel is a lifesaving strategy. We need a strong, smart, forward-looking military force that provides our warfighters with the tools necessary to quickly and decisively confront the dynamic new threats our country is facing. As our military adapts in order to fight these new threats, we will need to increase our technological superiority, and part of that will depend on creating, developing, and delivering new kinds of energy to troops in the field.

My amendment, which is included in this en bloc package--and I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their work on that--asks the Department of Defense to report on its plan to merge two offices at the Pentagon that handle parts of the military's energy strategy and sustainability efforts.

Congress and the American people need assurance that these Pentagon offices have enough staff and resources to complete the missions asked of them and that we are seeing the desired increase in efficiency.

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