Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - From the Senate: Final Congressional Approval Given to Clinton Amendment Calling for Comprehensive Assessment of Military Readiness

Legislation Will Be Sent to the President

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that her effort to require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the readiness of the ground forces within the Army and Marine Corps has received final Congressional approval as part of the revised Fiscal Year 2008 Department of Defense Authorization Act. The measure requires the GAO to assess the impact on the ground forces of the troop surge initiated by President Bush in January, 2007.

Having been approved by both chambers of Congress, the bill will now go to the President, who vetoed an earlier version of the legislation last month.

"The President's escalation of the war in Iraq has produced little in the way of political progress there, but it has stretched our military, especially our ground forces, to an alarming degree," said Senator Clinton, who as part of the Senate Armed Services Committee serves on the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support. "Our ability to respond effectively to unexpected global challenges in the future depends on the readiness of our military, so it is imperative that we have an accurate accounting of the impact of the so-called 'surge' on our capabilities."

Senator Clinton's measure will provide greater transparency on the true readiness of the military to better identify where Congress can help focus its efforts. Her amendment builds on last year's GAO requirements and will:

• Assess the ability of ground forces to provide trained and ready forces to meet the requirements of increased force levels of Operations Iraqi freedom and Enduring Freedom above current force levels in effect on January 1, 2007;
• Assess trained and ready forces to meet ongoing operations simultaneously with such increased force levels;
• Assess the strategic depth of the Army and Marine Corps and their ability to provide trained and ready forces to meet requirements of the high-priority contingency war plans of regional combatant commands;
• Identify and evaluate strategic and operational risks associated with current and projected forces of current and projected readiness;
• Identify and evaluate the time required to make forces available and prepare them for deployment; and
• Identify and evaluate likely strategic tradeoffs necessary to meet the requirements of high-priority contingency war plans.

This builds on a GAO review Senator Clinton secured in the FY07 National Defense Authorization Act which requires the GAO to:

• Assess trained and ready forces for ongoing operations as well as future requirements;
• Assess the availability and readiness of equipment for training and ongoing operations;
• Review current personnel tempo with a particular focus deployment and retention rates for both unusually high and low demand skills;
• Evaluate service efforts to mitigate high personnel operational tempos; and
• Describe current reserve component mobilization policy with an analysis of projected future availability.

Senator Clinton's measure approved today requires the GAO to complete all requirements of its report to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees no later than June 1, 2008.

Senator Clinton's amendment is part her ongoing efforts improve evaluation of the current state of our ground forces and better highlight where Congress should focus its efforts to ensure the continued preparedness of our Army and Marine Corps.