Mitch McConnell Underscores Need For Stable, Predictable Funding For National Guard, Reserve Forces

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke about funding for the National Guard and Reserve Forces.

Transcript

00:00Thanking our witnesses, Stephen Nordhaus, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau,

00:09Lieutenant General Robert Harder, the Chief of Army Reserve. My understanding

00:16is that Vice Admiral Corr is unable to testify this morning due to an illness.

00:24We obviously hope she recovers quickly. Welcome Rear Admiral Luke Frost, Director

00:31of Reserve Warfare, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, in her absence.

00:41Lieutenant General Lonnie Anderson, Commander of the Marine Forces Reserve,

00:47and Lieutenant General John Healy, the Chief of Air Force Reserves.

00:55The subcommittee is grateful for your service to our nation, and we look forward to hearing

01:03your candid testimony. Our discussion today will be oriented toward the President's budget request

01:11for fiscal year 2026. The exact details of the request have not been received yet, but the

01:24top-line summary released by the Office of Management and Budget gives proponents of robust national

01:34defense plenty to be concerned about already. Annual top-line investment in the Department of Defense

01:43is a measure of our national will. It sends a message to allies and adversaries alike about the strength

01:54of our resolve, and it appears that the message of the coming year is one of weakness. Nobody in this

02:03room needs a reminder of how much the Department relies on stable and predictable funding to drive the

02:11crucial functions of development, acquisitions, and procurement. Nor is anyone here naive to the

02:20increasingly coordinated forces that threaten to undermine U.S. interests around the world.

02:26But when we talk about the consequences of shortchanging our armed forces, we have to recognize that these effects

02:36are often compounding for the Guard and Reserve. And the harder we have to scrape for funding to meet unfunded requirements

02:47of the Department of Defense, the harder it'll be to support the growing needs of the Guard and Reserve.

02:54Despite playing an increasingly significant operational role, Guard and Reserve units still struggle to access top-of-the-line

03:05kit. Despite so often taking the lead in engagement with allies and partner forces, they face persistent

03:14hurdles in maintaining adequate infrastructure, equipment, and personnel. The current strategic landscape

03:22and operational realities give us no reason to suspect that the demand for highly trained, well-equipped citizen

03:30service members is going to diminish anytime soon. Last year, it was the Guardsmen, including Kentuckians,

03:39defending Tower 22 from the Iran-backed attack and sustaining casualties in the process. Adding new missions without adequate

03:49resourcing can strain Guard units' training calendars. I'll be interested in the witnesses' candid observations

04:00on these headwinds impacting readiness. I look forward to discussing them in more detail during

04:08our question-and-answer period.

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