mrs. dempsey, general and mrs. odierno, lieutenant governor duhearst, visitors, civilians, and most of all, the family and friends of our wounded warriors, thank you all for being here today. and we sincerely and from our heart of hearts appreciate your presence and your support and your compassion as we struggled through a very difficult time. today we mourn. we mourn for those we lost one week ago on april 2nd. and today we honor the lives they led. the three fallen soldiers came from hometowns as far apart as

mrs. dempsey, general and mrs.ro, lieutenant governor due hurst, visitors from our nation's capital and the state of texas, soldiers and civilians and most of all, the families and the friends of our fallen, and wounded warriors, thank you all so very deeply for being here today and we sincerely and from our heart of hearts, appreciate your presence and your support an your compassion as we struggle through a very difficult time. today we mourn, we mourn for those we lost, one week ago, on april 2nd and today we honor the lives they led. the three fallen soldiers came from hometowns as far apart as puerto rico and central illinois they had different hobbies and passions and all had different lives. but they were nighted by a single desire -- united by a single desire a desire to serve their country and their willingness to answer their nation's call in time of war. to the families of the fallen, although all of our words you hear today are inadequate in the face of the magnitude of your loss, we want you all to kno

mrs. dempsey, chief and mrs.enant governor dirhurs, and most of all to the men and women of fort hood, soldiers, family members, civilians, our army family. we are here again far too soon to mourn more loss all too great. as an army, we accept this is is a dangerous profession. and all who wear this wonderful uniform and pledge to defend our nation and its way of life understand they may one day be called to make that ultimate sacrifice. but inside these gates, behind these walls, we expect a much different order of things. a special sense of safety and security, of brotherhood. simply a sense of home. and yet, for a second time, horrible violence and unspeakable tragedy have breached these walls and torn through our very souls and once more, yet again, we come together to grieve and to remember to console one another and to give what strength we possibly can to the victims and to their families. sergeant first class daniel ferguson, staff sergeant c sergeant carlos rodriguez and sergeant timothy owens all knew a

mrs. dempsey, chief and mrs. odinari o, distinguished members of congress, lieutenant duhurst and lieutenant and mrs. milli, and most of all, to the men and women of fort hood, soldiers, family members, civilians, our army family, we are here again far too soon to mourn more loss all too great. as an army, we accept this is a dangerous profession. all who wear this wonderful uniform and pledge to defend our nation and its way of life understand they may one day be called to make that ultimate sacrifice. but inside these gate, behind these walls, we expect a much different order of things. a special of safety and security, of brotherhood, simply a sense of home. and yet, for a second time, horrible violence and unspeakable tragedy have breached these walls and torn through our very souls. and once more, yet again, we come something to grieve and to remember, to console one another, and to give what strength we possibly can to the victims and to their families. sergeant first class daniel ferguson, staff sergeant c

mrs. dempsey, chief, and mrs. odierno, distinguished members of congress, lieutenant governor duhurst, lieutenant general and mrs. milly and most of all to the men and women of ft. hood, soldiers, family members, civilians, our army family, we are here again, far too soon, to mourn more loss all too great as an army, we accept this is a dangerous profession. and all who wear this wonderful uniform and pledge to defend our nation and its way of life understand they may one day be called to make that ultimate sacrifice. but inside these gates, behind these walls, we expect a much different order of things. a special sense of safety and security, of brotherhood, simply a sense of home. and yet, for a second time, horrible violence and unspeakable tragedy have breached these walls and torn through our very souls. and once more, yet again, we come together to grieve and to remember, to console one another, and to give what strength we possibly can to the victims and to their families. sergeant first class daniel fergus

mrs. dempsey, general and mrs.ly and friends of our wounded warriors, thank you all for being here today. and we sincerely and from our heart of hearts appreciate your presence and your support and your compassion as we struggled through a very difficult time. today we mourn. we mourn for those we lost one week ago on april 2nd. and today we honor the lives they led. the three fallen soldiers came from hometowns as far apart as puerto rico, central illinois. they had different hobbies and passions and they all had different lives. but they were united by a single desire. a desire to serve their country and their willingness to answer their nation's call in time of war. to the families of the fallen, although all of our words you hear today are inadequate in the face of the magnitude of your loss, we want you all to know that we here at fort hood, we here in central texas, we here in the united states army and the entire nation want you to know that we stand with you, that we grieve with you and that we will be here

coming today.ere deputy secretary of defense fox, secretary of the army mchugh, leader of our army dempsey and mrsher distinguished leaders, thank you for your support, your contributions to fort hood. i want to antly, thank the soldiers, the families civilians of fort hood and surrounding community. lieutenant ank general miller and scott schroder. fortunate to have such experienced dedicated leaders to difficulthrough these days. is to prepareders soldiers for the chaos of war. any soldier in any circumstance is a tragedy for a for a family. yet somehow the loss of comrades in the heat of battle is a risk we understand. we can accept. lost onse soldiers were american soil and at the hands our own makes this tragedy heartbreak and inexplicable. to especially hits home linda and i because fort hood and the great community has been from home for more than seven years. here as a ed commander of a bridget the division in 3 kaufrps. i personally experienced the resiliency of the oldiers and families and community. the fort hood family has been central to the army's success 13 years of war. haring in o

coming today.ere deputy secretary of defense fox, secretary of the army mchugh, leader of our army dempsey and mrsdistinguished leaders, thank you for your support, your contributions to fort hood. i want to antly, thank the soldiers, the families civilians of fort hood and surrounding community. lieutenant ank general miller and scott schroder. fortunate to have such experienced dedicated leaders to difficulthrough these days. is to prepareders soldiers for the chaos of war. any soldier in any circumstance is a tragedy for a for a family. yet somehow the loss of comrades in the heat of battle is a risk we understand. we can accept. lost onse soldiers were american soil and at the hands our own makes this tragedy heartbreak and inexplicable. to especially hits home linda and i because fort hood and the great community has been from home for more than seven years. here as a ed commander of a bridget the division in 3 kaufrps. i personally experienced the resiliency of the oldiers and families and community. the fort hood family has been central to the army's success 13 years of war. haring in our v

mr. chairman. you don't have to take my word for it, listen to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general dempsey, who recently testified, quote, our current security challenges are more formidable and complex than those we faced in downturns following war in korea, vietnam and the cold war. there is no foreseeable piece dividend on our horizon. the security environment is increasingly competitive and dangerous, unquote. mr. chairman, i would suggest that decreasing the ability of our men and women standing in harm's way and defending our liberty and freedom at this time is an absolutely reckless and irresponsible move. so i know that our colleagues in the house of representatives recognize that it's important to have all sorts of alternatives being proposed. i commend the progressive caucus for proposing this alternative but any review of this budget recognizes that it spends more than it should, it taxes more than it should, it expands the role of government more than it should. and it doesn't address the real challenges of the day in a way that brings about positive, real solutions. i reserve