Defense

At this critical time in our nation’s history, our men and women in uniform, their families, and retirees, must have the best training, health care, and support that our government can provide. I am focused on improving training and readiness for our military personnel and ensuring that military family members receive the care and resources they need. I have worked diligently to help our military units improve their infrastructure. This includes projects at Little Rock Air Force base to renovate C-130 maintenance facilities and construction of a child development center. These projects have benefited active U.S. Air Force units as well as the Arkansas Army and Air National Guard and their families.

Congessman Snyder is pictured with military personnel at the Welcome Home and Family Festival War Memorial Stadium for the 39th regiment returning from their first deployment. It is imperative that the Congress, and especially the Armed Services Committee, exercise its constitutional responsibilities to provide appropriate, bipartisan oversight. As the chairman of the House Armed Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, I have focused on developing alternative strategies for the way forward in Iraq, as well as improving how the Department of Defense integrates with the Department of State and other interagency partners. The subcommittee has recently concluded a thorough report on the use of Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report highlighted some problems with how the State and Defense Departments plan and conduct missions together, which I believe will help Congress make more informed decisions about the sum of government cooperation. This effort to improve a combined and complete government approach to address our national security and foreign policy priorities is an important issue for this Congress and for our nation.