>> this hearing is called to order. i want to welcome everyone to the military personnel committee's hearing on the current and future state of military personnel and price. as we continue to build the

fiscal year in 19 and daa our panel service personalities is here to address each of the services personnel requirements including personal policies for retention and to address other budget request for fiscal year 2019 today's focus is on the request for manpower increases from the armed services and the requirement that went into building the specific increases as well as how the personal policy is currently in place to support and sustain these increases. with a difficult recruiting and retention environment driven by a less overall city to serve produced qualified candidates and robust economy the competition for recruits will be difficult and you will be competing for the same pool. as you reference in your rent is

20, general, today only one in 417-24 -year-olds in the united states is eligible to serve in the army and only one in eight has a propensity to enlist in the military making army a challenging and resource sensitive, resource intensive, activity. the subcommittee also remains concerned about the ability of all the services to maintain the high quality standards and still meet the recording goals. also on especially interest in your plans for retention of the right servicemembers that are central to your mission and specifically what additional steps the air force sticking to fully address their pilot crisis. before introduce our panel and we offer congresswoman spirit and opportunity to make an opening remarks. >> mr. german, thank you.

my comments mirror yours. the national defense strategy led congress to assume it will be gross for the services and the fiscal year 2019 does seek increases not just for next year but also requests in and state fiscal year 2023 of more than 10000 from the current authorization levels the army, navy and air force print. for the past two years congress has written a blank check for the army providing strength increases not requested as part of the budget. we cannot continue this behavior. whether we agree or the services needed increase or not is important for congress to understand what the long-term plans are and we can have an informed way to make educated decisions about our military. i like to understand how the services sustain this growth pattern over the past under next

five years where we are finding quality applicants is becoming more and more difficult. congress also must understand how increased and the strength will apply to the force. in muscle gaps in increasing its capabilities. are you back. >> who will give each what is the opportunity to present his or her testimony in each member an opportunity to question the witnesses for five minutes. we would also respectfully remind witnesses to summarize the greatest extent possible the high points of your testimony in five minutes or less. your written comments and statements will be made part of the hearing record and let me welcome our panel. lieutenant general thomas simmons, vice deputy chief of staff, vice admiral robert, chief of naval personnel, lieutenant, deputy chief of staff of the united states air force, lieutenant general and deputy commandant from reserve marine corps, you are now

recognized for five minutes. >> chairman, ranking member, members of the committee, i thank you for the opportunity to appear before you on behalf of men and women of united army. transmitted a statement for the record and would like to highlight a few of the points. many of our army is looking to poignant of our ability to fight and win our nation's force. thank you for the fiscal year 2018 initial defense authorization act which authorize the army to grow by 8500 and we appreciate the two-year budget deal which will improve readiness in ensure our formations are filled in the years to come. to build a future army we must recruit a diverse many women of high quality and character and a competitive market as a chairman talked about for only 2417 -year-old in the army and one in eight has a city to enlist in

the military. all the army projects challenges in proponents maintain the quality will continue to be a priority in the army will not set price quality for quantity. we discussed country are doing incredible work to achieve this mission. the army must also continue to retain the most talented soldiers and noncommissioned officers experience and skills necessary to meet future needs. the project historic retention rates this year for our and seals. the army leadership and racist talent management is the cornerstone for how we maintain our best officers and ncos.

it will be a responsive system connecting all three components and build a marketplace for talent. we are standards-based team in the army in the army remains committed to giving all soldiers to meet the standards of the military occupational specialty the opportunity to serve in that specialty and last year the army implemented gender neutral physical standards for initial entry training for specific jobs. the initial resorts are positive. we successfully transferred more than 700 women to previously closed occupation of infantry, armor and artillery. the opportunities are so popular we plan on expanding the program this year and is part of the total force we are vital and prized by about 22% of our personnel and we need a civilian workforce with critical skills to support our soldiers and our families. as we build our forced focus on areas that provide the foundation for our future and we remain focused on personal zillion seat and suicide prevention with world-class programs for slaves and families and aggressively working to decrease the stigma associated with seeking behavioral health. sexual harassment and sexual assault and retaliation are not compatible with army values and they diminish our readiness therefore combating all forms of

sexual misconduct remain a top priority for the army. although we are optimistic about the progress we've made in reducing sexual violence in the ranks we understand there is more work to do as we drive toward zero. you've authorized us to grow and we are thankful for that. we must ensure we are ready for the army as approved personal readiness by increasing the number of employable services. soldiers. as you are aware that offenses issued new retention policy and the work with ost and the addition of these challenges and the army will make continued reduction on our deployable population priority. because care for our soldiers as they prepare for life after the service the army soldier for life program support for commanders has resulted in increased educational employment opportunities for soldiers, our veterans in our family members.

additionally i look forward to beginning the discussion of review of dogma to review what is essential and what needs to be updated. our army is strong because of the courage and commitment of our soldiers billions, veterans and family members who serve our nation. i think all of you for our continued support to the army. >> vice admiral burke you are now recognized for five minutes. >> good morning. thank you. thank you for this opportunity to represent the men and women of the united states navy. your stalwart support for them and their families continue to have a profound impact on the health of our force today. global demand on the navy continue to grow and continue to recruit, develop and maintain a highly skilled workforce needed to meet the growing demand for naval forces. our forced structure will grow as we build the navy the nation needs. this will require increasing in strength. as we grow our need for highly

talented people increases and at the same time the propensity to serve is declining in each of the services as well as the civilian sector are vying for the same limited talent pool. we are clearly in a war for talent. the current forecast based on leading economic indicators suggest difficult times ahead and labor market factors meet wholesalers with critical skills into the growing civilian job market and took note of these indicators in initiative preemptive action to retain these sailors using all available policy levers to posture ourselves to meet this anticipated growth. despite this we just made our fy 17 and strength target. this year's trajectory is good but we will require steady and reliable funding going forward to stay on track. the new two-year budget deal is great news for us and is an excellent step in that direction. while recruiters had challenges last year and increasing fy 18 recruiting mission will be even more to go for them.

certain fields are in short supply and our projected growth profile requires a balanced approach of the session increase as well as retention improvement. while our overall aggregate retention means high nuclear field special warfare advanced electronics, aviation, and cyber areas demand close attention. targeted bonuses continue to be the most cost-effective monetary tool in addressing those retention challenges but we are aggressively applying accommodation of monetary and nonmonetary incentives with good effects. toward that end we continue to implement and expand our sailor 2025 portfolio which is i generic set of over 45 initiatives that would provide our sailors and their families with choices, flexibility and transparency of processes that they expect and deserve. we find that start manpower personal training and education

enterprise transformation efforts. to those at first we will provide these programs for sailors for new focus on customer service to streamline efficient business processes and modern systems. we have also better meet the needs of earthly cleaners through agility responsiveness in the use of active analytics so that we can be the pillar of stability in an uncertain world. we're moving out now with purpose in a committed sense of urgency on all of these initiatives. we also remain actively engaged in this department review policies and are grateful for the interest to examine the future needs of each of the services. i look forward to your questions in thinking on and thinking.

>> thank you for the opportunity to appear before you deliver the air force personnel posture for fiscal year 2019. the air force is number one priority to accelerate readiness is increasing and strength. we appreciate the fiscal year 18 national defense authorization act support for continued and strength growth. growth allows the first to compete, deter and when in a more competitive and dangerous international security environment. the air force is fy 19 budget continues the growth to 680,400 airmen and 4700 increase from fy 18. this growth is a part of our deliberate strategy to improve manning the air force and increases in pilot production, remotely piloted aircraft operations and maintenance continues are manpower investments for cyber in intelligence. additionally the growth provides the inventory that we need to squadron readiness and gives us competitive advantage for air, space and cyber security superiority. our most stressful and as a our

pilot shortage was 2000 with the largest shortage of 1300 -- the fy 19 president budget continues to address the pilot shortage by funding pilot production capacity. in addition this budget funds a myriad of programs and policies designed to address quality-of-life issues targeted to improve pilot retention. the fy 19 president budget also increases support to airmen and families through a variety of capabilities that drive mission readiness. the budget increases funding by $4 million to total of 140 million and the stunning expanse of childcare for those airmen needing care a set of normal duty hours and provides these to support 4000 children who only have access to office childcare and funds.

the exceptional family member assist more than 32000 airmen with special needs families. started at 15 escalation families to support coordinators across air force and also fund increasing respite care for the primary caregiver of 12-40 hours a child each month. taking care of airmen in humans children and caregivers removes worries and instructions to allow airmen to fully focus on the mission. interpersonal. [laughter] violence are detriments for airmen, our culture and core values. these negatively impact unit readiness. we are deeply committed to the provision of interpersonal and self directed violence on all fronts by implanting evidence-based programs to include bystander intervention and life skills training to prevent programs and time-based self-directed violence prevention programs. so we fall short on her goals to eliminate violence we should attend we are committed to providing families and units the care they need. today's threat environment requires million personal investment systems to ensure the air force continues to retain the highly skilled talent needed to defend our nation.

the enlisted force we are conducting a trial interview of the system following a transition to a new system in 2014. in her officer corps we are reviewing multiple initiatives to include modifying promotion competitive categories. civilian workforce is essential to the air force mission in joint warfare biting readiness. in fy 18 we implemented a college intern program and it enabled the first recruit top talent from college campuses via a summer intern program using direct hiring authorities to streamline the practice. our target for 19 is [inaudible] and we have 116 substances. this ensures that we leverage the new hiring authorities and stay forceful. ...

>> increasingly complex security environment we are committed to prior -- to prioritize the air force. we look forward to partner with you to protect our nation. thank you for your continued support and i look forward to your questions in mac thank you lt. general grosso lieutenant general welcome. >> ranking members and distinguished members of the subcommittee thank you for the

opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the marine corps the foundation is the most critical resource educated toward the nations battles to be disciplined all the readings are ready recruiting and retaining is my number one priority we will exceed all quality goals while recruiting department requires 97% we are at 99% we require the highest aptitude we are at 72% we are the best and we must retain the best we are capable to fulfill our operational requirements is a continuous challenge especially in the current economy increasingly competitive civilian job

market this is true for cyberand high-tech occupations critical for the future of warfare. bonuses remain vital to retention effort we appreciate your continued support there are new ways to retain high quality marines then we can increase officer promotions it is simple but effective to recognize excellent working with both services in the department to enhance personal quality and revenues we remain adaptable to retain the high-tech force that we need for the future to build on the foundation of the quality marines we have today i look forward to answering your questions. >> let me just begin i am very concerned and i would like each of you to address this

with the lowering of standards that i can remember i was in the army and marine corps at the end of the draft where you had to talk your way out but there were a lot of disciplinary and more our problems but that was across the board not limited to the united states army at the time. so now when i look at the military today they are extraordinary we truly have talent it is an elite force we have a smaller force then historically we have had but it is elite. with the high quality and those numbers and big numbers in low quality. i know there is that great temptation to meet numbers and

lower standards so i want each of you to address that starting with united states army. >> chairman thank you for the question this is very clear with the recruiting command if we cannot make the quantity you have allowed us to assess that is my job to come back and tell you we cannot do that but we will not sacrifice quality so with your description of our soldiers is extraordinary that is a good word to describe them they impress me each and every day and going again thanks to your work looking at the last time we grew 2008 we did make some mistakes then but were not doing that now did quantity over quality that isn't happening now but on a personal level i love our army and don't want to go back to those days i think i speak for

the leadership they don't want to be there so if we can't sacrifice one it is the quantity. >> i would echo with the general said we will not provide quality but what we have done is take a good hard look at self-imposed policies with a spectrum of candidates that we look at for example we engage with our medical experts to make sure that our medical standards the navy side is up to date to make sure we are not negatively impacting readiness with someone who may have used medication for bronchitis does that equate? at one point they could've

been medically disqualified so use that for latitude of that authority you have given us for age limits hoping that up for officer programs where there is no physical limitations like pilots but everywhere else we have open them up with the listed programs as well. and we are looking at other policies as well with the older single parent demonstrated that responsible care to translate that into military service and then the last part is recruiting techniques as we enter the transformation with the recruiting techniques have moved to a more virtual basis we still rely on our

recruiters but we are getting into new markets and places we haven't been able to get her message through before so we are getting that message through. >> yes sir we have not found any real challenges in recruiting. we recruit the same quality we have been able to quote just recruit and meet our goals probably have done is we laid to be in strength so we don't overtax the recruiting and the training like the airmen so we do have a little bit of increase of sourcing and we stabilize the marketing budget because of the past then you see this marketing budget and everybody will tell you there has to be the end markets will stabilize that and we are

modernizing the way we find the airmen how to refine them that we don't find using technology and better leveragin leveraging? >> as a stated 99% are tier one taxes 99.86% of the recruits we recruit approximately 31000 marine out of that only about 70% will serve past their first be to talk about first-term enlistments for them to go on to a second tour 92.9% of marine that want to stay in the core that is where we are at to retain them it isn't first in first out if they

want to stay in and then they retain the highest quality including second term marines 99-point sent my best 99% so we think we are in a good place to go out to the market to expand beyond that to make sure we hit those folks we have missed in the past. >> thinking members. >> i will do for her to my colleague. >> i think the ranking member to differ it also for holding this committee as you have noted in your testimony the volatile nature of the environment and the complexity we face do require the military services to recruit from a talent pool that is

broad and talented and diverse as possible so to underscore this point the defense advisory committee found only 29% of young people ages 18 through 23 are eligible to serve after adjustments are made for individuals disqualified standards for medical physical health drug usage and conduct and aptitude and dependency you reference you have been looking at these filters but more than half of these are women so these filters have a much taller group just over half are women. less than 20% of active duty force is comprised of women. so this makes clear to be eligible of the recruiting population as a decline it is more important now than ever

we recruit from the entire population and not overlook the opportunity that half of the talent pool would provide to service in order to be the best services in the world so with that in mind i would like each of you to comment on what your service will recruit to retain women in the services? >> i appreciate the question. for recruiting command as well as commissions for rotc at west point we reach out to females and encouraging them in west point as well more are being accepted as they come into the army that part of that is part of the integration to open the specialties the army has enjoyed such success we just had our last two graduates graduate last week from a very

difficult course. as we see those models come out with the formations i think increased female spots and we are very excited -- excited about what they were doing in the army and there's no limit for the future we are very excited. >> can you include how you address your messaging so young women if they are watching what they see on tv and how you are addressing a culture that encourages retention? i know we served on the subcommittee we have seen their issues that are unique to women but will often find barriers to lengthen the term of service. admiral? >> just in terms of where we are right now and with those

graduates are women are listed with 26 and 27% it is the operational narrative to increase the numbers so frankly we are targeting them in our recruitment efforts because that is where the talent is. the 2% of technical graduates are women. that is where the talent is so we are aggressively going after them. with the new ad campaign commonly features women as a females submarine earning her dolphin. we are trying to highlight his situation people see themselves.

the attention for the navy is the biggest user. but the other element one of the pillars in his career readiness. the mission is to make and we want them to achieve the balance to occasionally put family matters into perspective that applies to men and women and maybe has a problem specs people to have a longer career so they should bring fewer sailors. >> i am out of time but if you

can also submit a written answer i would appreciate it. >> go ahead and take another minute. >> i would say is starts with the messaging but if you ask me about population who was there first protector or defender or mother? there is a place for him to see that they can be successful if you like it is male personal responsibility to see that you can progress. our recruiting efforts get rid of the stovepipe there are so many opportunities full-time or part-time or guard or reserve i went to an event a woman said they don't like sweating, be a civilian.

but but what was very clear from women is but then also ask for opportunities to cross train that could be more suitable to having a as you know we have opened up and then to have been presented it. second and to open programs

but the in the past we do not have access to. >> i appreciate your work. but we want to have the best services possible to recruit fully. >> you are recognize. >> thanks to the witnesses for being here. we all understand specifically the air force with a ten year commitment that the civilian side sometimes three or four

times more than what they are getting paid from the air force and then now to retain that a peter best to live through delta or southwest now to retain aviators this is typical. if you look at the data it is

incumbent upon us to do all we can and some of that is how we give the body of work it is very clear if they take away their ability to fly we have to give them that distance so the ability is there and we need to give them more flexibility in our system we are working hard from the assignment perspective to get more input from the airmen and aviators many times they leave destruction but we are also looking at ways to devise long. >> that we cannot retain our way out of this challenge so you have to produce more and take a look at the requirement.

>> you mentioned your intern as a pipeline for those coming in. my question is that the way that we are competing for talent. >> and businesses.

that is why those authorities are critical and to be able to execute those. >> and all the services cyber it is an issue and space for the next amino fighting. specifically for the navy cyber, what are you doing to look after the people? >> somewhat of a different culture in my world that takes a little outside the box thinking so to come together with a different personality. any comment? >> yes sir. the big challenges are on the seniormost technical leaders so they will grow to that you

536 level then coached off by commercial entities that they sure to the point you have those warrant officer programs. one of the things we just employed was a commissioned officer that he 85 was eligible with the service authorities to use that option that me junior and those available for help for many more years so so to the sailors we have to be a little more careful to look harder for the potential but we know how to do that pretty well and

then we get them into the leadership position and it can blossom from there. we just implemented that it is getting off the ground but when we get three or four years out of them at will by sometime. the other area is a little bit of a challenge on the officer side the operators on the offenses and defensive side doing okay but it is the engineers of the full developing the payload packages. we grow those right now you gave us some legislative authority with three years of experience laterally. that is a tenant junior greater first lieutenant

silicon valley would be making over $100,000 so the service appeals to these full but there is the equivalent accepted cybercivilian program that allows the government to pay closer to the $100,000 range so to go to the government service rather than military's that is an area we have a challenge so we are still building from the ground up rather than bringing them and that retention is where it is right now. >> thank you all for being here and your service. i thank you heard loud and clear we are not interested to

have lower equality even though it is a great challenge ahead of you who want to make you can meet the challenge. as in listening and realizing to what extent our efforts in terms of recruiting with personnel issues are relative to father or grandfather military service? so what i would like to provide to the community -- the committee would've those disqualifiers for all those who do apply or are recruited? he would provide that to us it would be appreciated. second in talking to the purveyors recently who had a

presentation showing us how they were beefing up the calcium in some of their products, i was told there was 10% of those that are recruited during basic training that washout. is that the case? it's because of hairline fractures. can you address this particular issue? i thank you for the question. within the army 10% washout from basic training for a variety of reasons including medical issues we are looking at that within the active force about 80% of non- deployable czar medical related musculoskeletal population. >> if you could put specifics of that 8% and then how many fall into that?

>> yes ma'am we have about 12% attrition the overwhelming majority is that 95% it isn't disclosed pre-existing medical conditions due to the recruiting process. >> we are trying to change the policy but when we come across those we change it right then and there but those insurmountable medical things that we can't get through. and the medical records of that dependent children and public military records completely dependent upon the individuals what they write

and tell you about with their ability to go look at these systems to see these ahead of time and we are making progress on that. >> representative i am not seeing that data but i will get you the extent. we didn't typically separate if they had a stress fracture retry to rehabilitate because depending on the severity you could be two or four weeks out so we did not send them home but i will get you that information. >> as the admirable mentioned a lot of medical to self reporting but i could give you specifics on the breakdown as we go beyond boot camp that attrition goes down to about 3%. >> one of the things recommended is the calcium is

beefed up before they come to be required about dissension and then for a friday recent. >> we are averaging around 60 feedback so retention is 60% that we about one third if you look at who started basic

training? >> and as a marine corps we like to lose about 70% of those recruits in that year. we need about one third to stay in the marine corps for that second list meant so most of that 70% do the first-term enlistment and then leave some are voluntary some we don't have the space but i mentioned we are retaining the impact that 92% with four range movers. >> thank you very much but

then she talked stress fractures we can do a lot more and to engage with you more on that. we may need a whole other hearing on that and i will be glad to do that. it is more than just calcium but i will address if somebody wants to join they go to the process. the recruiter starts thinking they are in the state young people that what do you want to do with the military? i was so impressed that 90% of the enlisted.

>> what do you want to do in the army or after? whether it is 20 years plus or 40 years, are we investing, what does success look like? yes that is successful when they reenlist and that is what we should talk about but are we talking about your long-term success x talk about marketing and recruiting if the military is perceived as the place to go i will start with you on that notion pick

one what do you want to do after? that is part of the discussion the recruiters have what do you aspire for? in some cases talk like that. they also start that discussion arrays -- arriving at basic training that continues through uniform now we have a conscious decision but the four stars to engage going back five years so what is happening to push assistance because once they come in we want to make sure they don't take a. >> where the sailors come in

we have the aptitude core also attest that is called join and we found a high correlation and match between the two gives us a higher retention if you are good then you will stay. i was just challenge and something for a lot longer. of time but all the educational opportunities that we offer to improve oneself and help later insider outsider on the line we have 100 credentialing opportunities at least one for the job skills every single

sailor could get the opportunity and that shows that they have been i made teen georgia tatian one -- as wells to make our. >> and less they don't qualify but then military tuition assistance really helps set them up for the future and what you will find they study something they want to do when they leave it those that studied early childhood education because that is something they choose to do that we do have the accredited program in the air force and

community college but very few if any enlisted members would help him get his advanced degre degree. >> knowing full well returning 70s% after the first enlistment we will spend a lot of time we want to return good since but we encourage and but to go ahead but to be a pathway to a successful civilian life.

that is really what i would like to see promoted more that the perception somehow because we all know the great majority of people serve and that's in a better place. i yield back. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you for being here today one of the things we are exploring in this year's authorization have the ability to train an officer maybe people at the fall year scholarship program and for whatever reason through no

fault of their own but then they are released to the american public but all the investment is gone. so it's flooring as options and also to translate affair. did from taking a commission to go into the department of defense workforce to fulfill service obligations in that direction. and i would be curious of your thoughts on that? been to comment first we are already doing that we had several academy cadets with that very example weeks before graduation and we brought them in. >> but that was voluntary? >> absolutely. >> if they were healthy they would have a service obligation required is a great

investment theory. then to look at the government service like for medical scholarships we actively try to get them to come in as a civilian doctor and there is always quite a high interest rate. we support making that

mandator mandatory. >> also talking about the service academies and through no fault of their own they cannot serve exposing them to the department of defense and this will continue to work. >> we will have a and round. >> chairman thank you. lt. general grosso actually talked about high special operation in nuclear medicine

specialties. i would like to know if you have categorize the areas where you have problems in terms of retention but so that the loss of about $80000. tell me the areas that need our services if you have an issue with retention. >> that is a good question in the army i think the issue is one of them like for the bonuses to which courage people they look for

so looking in the aggregate we have a strong retention you have plenty of authority and

incentives to target down where we need them. >> so cyberis a challenge and then to spend high command and without aviation maintenance. we have included those bonuses for the listed side for those with those specialties and we have given extra bonuses and stabilize the population. >> lieutenant journal to make the case when men are key moving forward in the military

take me back 40 years when i was a staff at west point would ask the audacious question why women could not be accepted in the academy we have moved forward a little bit but at the time it was because they could not serve in combat that was the rationale for isn't any in terms of incorporating women. but the general sense otherwise so how can you address much like the other services? >> that is an important question. recently combat training west is where we said but

everything else we have opened up all occupations so it is voluntary to go into some of these more ground centric but we understand we are making progress. >> how many attorney generals are women i'm sorry.

three of them. >> out of how many? >> 82 active. >> thank you. >> i have been through two committee hearings and the speech the potential for being here i want to ask from funded retirement? any negative. >> we monitor that pretty closely with about 3% of of guard and reserve have opted into funded retirement it could be an indicator that we have to change how we are retaining talent if i have somebody with ten years of high probability i can keep them at 20 that dynamic could

change but we will see that we think about it now to make my hunches people get at the 17 year.essentially it reduces the cost to get out so we have to be creative how we address that work to repay our talent. >> so we haven't seen any impact yet and we appreciate this and it takes years to move that around so we would like to complement that. >> we don't have enough data yet we know in the aggregate i am curious to see that but it does fundamentally change and it is a big change in how we

manage that will be critical. >> i will pile on as right now we have 25% to have chosen and 70% which joe acosta's tree is a pilot bonus. i think we need to have the data that 35% of pilots stay on then so it helps us to know

what but i completely read that is the precise tool and we do have other options that we are finally socializing. >> but it would be nice to know if we are getting 5% added i think it would be helpful i don't think we now and i know the air force has been living about it but give us an update. >> it's going very well. it is clear the airmen are just as talented and they are welcomed through the course

and onward to operation units so we are starting the cultural piece that clear they are successful spirit any other services there should be

the same standard and no disparity. i give stories when i was in the military but also when family calls me to say this for just just reported and talking to the dvd for of course as we try to process set out. we need to get this straight with one standard into the consistent and the subcommittee stands adjourned. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations]

>> with the start of the book that 2013 how is that the starting point? >> when the russians story comes together you have donald trump in moscow >> "washington journal"

continues. host: congressman buddy carter is back at our desk, a republican representing georgia's first district. congressman, i want to start with speaker ryan's retirement announcement this week. what message should republicans take from a sitting speaker deciding not to run again in a district he was favored to win reelection in? guest: first of all, i don't think it had anything to do about his chances with reelection. listen, paul ryan is a fine man, and he is a family man. i had the opportunity to spend some quality time with him, just