Donald Norcross

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

This amendment requires a report to outline the option for reducing the Department of Defense civilian workforce by 200,000 workers, a very arbitrary number.

It is truly stunning, a continuation of unprecedented attacks on our Federal civilian workforce that we have seen under this administration led by the very top, by President Trump and his Cabinet.

I will remind my colleagues that President Trump established DOGE last year, which resulted in cuts across the entire Federal workforce of over 280,000 employees. Since then, the Federal Government, and particularly the Department of Defense, has absolutely hemorrhaged critical talent, institutional knowledge, and subject-matter experts across our workforce, the men and women that we cannot afford to lose.

Over the last year, we have already seen reductions across the Department of Defense workforce by about 10 percent, over 78,000 workers. In fact, the GAO, the Government Accountability Office, already did a study on the Department of Defense's implementation of the 2025 reductions.

They put out their findings in a report on May 29 of this year. This is what they found: The Department of Defense did not consistently analyze the impacts on the civilian workforce reduction either in `25 or in prior years.

A study has been done, and they did absolutely nothing with it. Instead, we are taking up this amendment, which arbitrarily seeks recommendations to reach a target of 200,000 people in reduction before we even understand the impacts of the last set of cuts that have taken place.

Unfortunately, in our country and our national security, we already are paying the price for these reckless attacks on our hardworking men and women who keep our workforce and our Defense Department running. What we absolutely already know is these firings--

Mr. Chair, let's get to the bottom line here. Our responsibility as Members of Congress is to make sure that we have a Department of Defense that is ready. We can't do it with less people. We are losing this institutional knowledge that is so critical for defending our Nation.

Mr. Chair, I am against this. Please reject this amendment.

Mr. Chair, I thank Ranking Member Smith and Chairman Rogers for crafting this bill.

Mr. Chair, this bill continues the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee's proud bipartisan tradition and reaffirms our shared responsibility for managing strategic risk. In particular, I thank Chairman Wittman and our subcommittee staff for building this strong bipartisan bill.

I am, however, disappointed that some in the majority would kill the bipartisan hard work that we have done on this bill. Our servicemembers and their families deserve better.

Mr. Chair, this bill authorizes funding levels for key defense programs, including $4.3 billion for helicopter procurement, $3.3 billion for the F-35 program, over $3.9 billion for ground combat vehicles, and over $4.9 billion for key weapon systems procurement.

Mr. Chair, this bill also addresses the risks and the costs of military modernization without sacrificing oversight, such as authorizing multiyear procurement for the F-15EX and the F-35 aircraft, conditional on procuring sufficient spares for each aircraft; requiring the Air Force to budget for procurement a sufficient number of E-7A aircraft; and authorizing multiyear procurement for key munitions, coupled with strong funding for the munitions industrial base.

Mr. Chair, this bill also includes legislation that fortifies the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. I have great concern with this administration's plan for the DOT&E. We must ensure this office remains independent and relevant.

Finally, I thank our subcommittee professional staff, including Jay Vallario, Mike Kirlin, Heath Bope, Caroline Kehrli, Brooke Alred, and certainly my personal staff, Sam DeVito, Naajidah Khan, and our defense fellow Captain John Dacier for their work on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I am honored to welcome guest chaplain, Father Jon Thomas, priest and vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden.

He was born and raised in south Jersey and educated at Catholic University right here in D.C. Father Jon was ordained in 2010 and has since served the parishes across south Jersey.

As pastor in Atlantic City, he provided assistance and spiritual guidance to the workers in the hospitality industry in Atlantic City.

Since 2020, he has served as pastor of Christ the King in Haddonfield. The year I met him, he was hosting a virtual mass for frontline workers who were, during the pandemic, being challenged.

Since 2022, he has served as chaplain to the New Jersey AFL-CIO.

In 2025, he was appointed vicar general of the Diocese of Camden, serving roughly 475,000 Catholics across south Jersey.

I thank Father Thomas for the prayer, the call for unity, and to our community.