{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-statements?ContentRecord_id=4a225573-581d-4f3c-b9e1-e8e6dd132dfb", "OPENING STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN AT HEARING TO CONSIDER CIVILIAN NOMINATIONS", "2015-12-15", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "John McCain", "M000303", "www.mccain.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, delivered the following opening statement today at a hearing to consider the nominations of Patrick Murphy to be Under Secretary of the Army; Dr. Janine Davidson to be Under Secretary of the Navy, and Lisa Disbrow to be Under Secretary of the Air Force:\r\nWe welcome all of our nominees here this morning, as well as members of your families. As is our tradition, at the beginning of your testimony, we welcome you to introduce any members of your family joining you today.\r\nMr. Murphy, you served as Congressman for the 8th District of Pennsylvania from 2008 to 2011. You served in the United States Army, as a judge advocate. While on active duty you served as a military instructor at West Point. You returned to West Point as a member of the Board of Visitors. If confirmed you would serve as Under Secretary of the Army.\r\nDr. Davidson, you also served in the military as an Air Force officer and pilot. You have previously served in assignments in the Department of Defense as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans, and as Director for Stability Operations Capabilities. If confirmed, you would serve as Under Secretary of the Navy.\r\nMrs. Disbrow, you currently serve as Acting Under Secretary of the Air Force, having served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller since July 2014. Ms. Disbrow, you also served our Nation in uniform as a colonel in the Air Force. If confirmed, you would serve as Under Secretary of the Air Force.\r\nThis committee honors your military service and your continued willingness to serve our Nation.\r\nEach of you, if confirmed, will begin your service as under secretaries of the military departments with less than a year remaining in this administration. Some might ask what positive impact you could possibly have in those positions during such an abbreviated term. If confirmed, I encourage you to defy those who believe they can simply wait you out. I challenge each of you to be impatient, yet prudent as you undertake your important responsibilities. The next year will be a sprint, not a marathon. There is much work to be done and not a minute to be wasted. Among the most critical of your duties, if confirmed, is to serve as the chief management officer of a military department. You will have the leading role within your respective service to develop a comprehensive business enterprise architecture and transition plan to guide the development of its business systems and processes during a time of severe fiscal restraint, in one of the most dangerous national security climates that this nation has ever seen. I look forward to hearing your views on how you would undertake this challenge and how your experience and leadership will enable our military departments to be ready to fight and win for our national security.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/floor-statements?ContentRecord_id=4a225573-581d-4f3c-b9e1-e8e6dd132dfb"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.52586679905653, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}