we'll now go to mr. critz. >> thank you, mr. chairman. general, you mentioned earlier something that i'd heard last year and the year before, the concern for attrition and the lack of ncos. and if you could, now secretary mentioned that the attrition has gone from 4.4 -- in a range we'll say around 4.5 a year ago i believe to 3.4 a month ago. ranging down to half a percent. and just for comparison purposes, what -- in the u.s. military, what's our attrition rate? >> congressman, i don't know the answer to that question. i can tell you this about the afghan attrition, for the last -- we've got a goal of 1.4% per month. and they have -- the afghan army is about at that goal now. it's been declining, their attrition has been declining for the last several months. the police are actually at that goal and, in fact, i think they're slightly below the goal. they're meeting the goal, exceeding the goal now, the army's not quite there yet, but it's been on steady improvement, slope of improvement for the last several months. >> good. the police fo

mr. critz's remark and mr. doyle's remark and conclude my portion by thanking both gentlemen for raising this vital issue. we engage in investing and infrastructure in afghanistan, we create infrastructure investment in iraq and elsewhere. it is time that we repair and invest in the infrastructure, the waterway infrastructure in the united states of america. to create jobs in the short-term and to create jobs in the future. again, i really, from the bottom of my heart, thank you gentlemen for raising this issue and i look forward to working with them. i appreciate the chairman yielding to me. the chair: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. >> i yield back. the chair: who seeks recognition? the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. flake: i have an amendment at the desk. it's designated as number one. the chair: the clerk will report the amendment. the clerk: amendment offered by mr. flake of arizona, at the end of the bill before the short title insert the following, section, each amount made availa

cooper and turned to him if he hasny openg atts inorn horeti sii li, ee defer to my colleague, mr. critz. >> mr. crtz. >> thankou othem. k mhan. o'onnty e's an issue that was tajik and if you look at the entire forest, it's really demographically matches the country. as the leaderhip egapic? leshraalmo ihe way they set up then mybe we are looking at something further down the road that tajik southern command in areas than coder tribal areas have haoucnsm thy colleagues in no aspects better than i do to correct me if they see any place where i'm wrong. generally speaking i believed by many leaders of cour come from the northern a eastern pa of afghastan dloye throuth conrynd epeon thsncissues and challenges. the other is it's hard to recruit southern pastor and from the provinces like kandahar and we haven't been able to do well with that evn when they try t caayth w o ta erod o time. there were challenges they don't want to trivialize that. sometimes when i commanders are recruits rther proud this to fill more of a given part of the south than we wouldlke. thhohentndve wthhohent bi. ou w

mr. critz: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you for yielding. mr. speaker, the medical device industry is a unique american success story, both for patients and for our economy. within the last two decades, we have seen a rapid growth in medical technology companies in my home state of pennsylvania. providing tens of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in revenue and contributing to better health outcomes for millions of americans and patients globally. these are good-paying jobs that help sustain the middle class in our country and we must create an environment that encourages innovative industries like medical device manufacturing. as our economy continues to struggle, an additional 2 ppt 3% excise tax would be a burdensome charge on an industry that's growing and creating jobs. one medical device company that employees hundreds in my district told me, we're at full capacity and need to expand. this excise tax will prevent any plans for growth in the near future. we cannot allow the potential for -- potential for job growth and innovation and a

speaker, i yield the next two minutes of the time that's remaining to mr. critz of pennsylvania. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for two minutes. mr. critz: mr. speaker, thank you and thank you to the gentleman from west virginia for yielding. i rise today in support of the mckinley motion to instruct conferees, asking that the bipartisan-supported coal combustion re-residuals program language from h.r. 4348 be retained in the final transportation re-authorization bill. coal ash is a critical -- is of critical importance as it is contained in the composition of the concrete used in our roads, bridges and other infrastructure. the use of coal ash in transportation has allowed our country to maintain lower costs for infrastructure building. studies have shown that coal ash costs 20% to 50% less than other products on the market today. during a time when our roads are deficient and we need solutions that are cost efficient, coal ash serves as a reliable resource. we need to invest in materials that will allow us the highest return on investment

we now go to mr. critz. >> general, you mentioned something that i heard last year and the year before. the concerned for attrition and the lack of ncos. if you could, the secretary mentioned that the attrition had gone from 4.4 -- in a row range of 4.5 a year ago, i believe, ranging down to have a percent. just for comparison purposes, what is the u.s. military -- what is our attrition rate? >> congressman, i don't know the answer to that question. i can tell you this about the afghan attrition. for the last -- we have a goal of 1.4%. per month. they have the afghan army -- they are about at that goal now. it has been declining. the attrition has been declining for the last several months. the police are actually at that the police are actually at that goal the police are actually affect all come the police are actually at that goal, and in fact, i think below the goal -- to meeting the goal and exceeding the goal now. the army is not quite -- but it has been on steady improvement for the last several mont

will now go to mr. critz. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you mentioned something i heard last year and the year before, the concern for attrition and the lack of and ceo -- nco's. the secretary mentioned that attrition has gone from around 4.5% a year ago to 3.4% a month ago. ranging down to 0.5%. for comparison purposes, the u.s. military, what is our attrition rate? >> congressman, i do not know the answer to that question. i can tell you this about the afghan attrition. we had a goal of 1.4% per month. the afghan army is about at that goal now. it has been declining. attrition has been declining for several months. police are at that goal. in fact, they are slightly below the goal. they are meeting the goal and exceeding it now. the army is not quite there yet, but it has been onyx -- steady improvement for several months. >> good. the police force was what i was going to ask about next. can you explain, when you say that there is an issue with mean? what you >> there is a shortage. we're about 17,000 short in the army and 11,000 short a

. >> thank you, mr. critz. we begin with the witnesses, mr. boot. >> thank you, mr. chairman. for convening this hearing is in casting such an important spotlight on these vital issues, which i appear to short trips or political culture. since the focus of the hearings of ansf, let me say briefly that i think nsf capabilities are exaggerating any considerable support from american forces in terms of intelligence coming medevac comment air fire support, class packages, all sorts of other things about which they would not be as effective as they are and they still have tremendous challenges in securing the country or deny people with the force that's only going to buy 350,000. in the course of this year. the council on foreign relations issued this week a policy innovation memo in which i suggested seven concrete steps we need to take to secure the gains made by troops to whom you rightly paid tribute that the gains secured by troops, allies have captured some of the course of the last couple of years during the afghan surge. i fear that if we don't do enough follow-up, the gain