{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=F4655151-3E19-41CE-9067-6C87B256BD5C", "McConnell Remarks at SAC-D FY27 Air Force Budget Hearing", "2026-06-09", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, delivered the following opening statement at today\u2019s hearing, \u201cA Review of the President\u2019s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request for the Air Force\u201d:\n\nSecretary Meink, General Wilsbach, General Saltzman \u2013 welcome.\n\nI need to begin by pointing out that this will be our last hearing with General Saltzman, who will be retiring later this summer. I\u2019m pleased to hear you\u2019ll be returning to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Salty, I want to thank you for your decades of service to our nation. I know we\u2019ll both have more time for UK \u2013 and UofL \u2013 basketball this coming season.\n\nGentlemen, I also need to acknowledge at the outset the devotion and sacrifice of American servicemembers.\n\nU.S. airmen have been at the absolute razor\u2019s edge of recent operations in the Gulf, degrading Iran\u2019s offensive capabilities, evading the enemy on the ground, bringing downed comrades home, sustaining the joint force, and, in the case of a KC-135 crew over Iraq, making the ultimate sacrifice. I know I speak for the entire subcommittee in recognizing these fallen airmen, their comrades, and their families.\n\nWe\u2019re here today to review the Administration\u2019s FY27 budget request for the Department of the Air Force.\n\nAs I\u2019ve observed in discussions with the other services, major increases to topline defense spending represent a tremendous opportunity to improve readiness and lethality across the force, and industrial capacity across the nation.\n\nAt the same time, the structure of the request for the Department of Defense would put consistent funding for key priorities at unnecessary risk.\n\nCore pieces of the President\u2019s defense agenda, like multi-year procurement contracts for critical munitions, half of the F-35 program, Golden Dome, and drone dominance initiatives, are requested as one-off reconciliation spending, not full-year base appropriations.\n\nThis is especially mystifying for multiyear procurement contracts. I mean, the need to budget for them annually is right there in the name.\n\nBut it\u2019s more than just a contradiction in terms. It\u2019s also a recipe for major disruptions in the very possible event that party-line reconciliation fails. The Administration\u2019s choice to structure an ambitious $1.5 trillion dollar request in this way is yet another missed opportunity to put key aspects of our common defense on a stronger and more enduring fiscal footing.\n\nSpecific to the Air Force and the Space Force, a few observations:\n\nFirst, I\u2019m encouraged to see the Department acknowledge the need for the E-7 wedgetail airborne battle management aircraft. This platform meets a current-day need with a current-day capability. And the Department\u2019s alignment with this priority is a welcome investment in resiliency as we continue to build out space-based capabilities that will serve our joint force in the future.\n\nI\u2019m also glad to see the FY27 request begin to address the issue of operational readiness rates by investing more in F-35 spares. But the Department will continue to step on its own tail if it insists in housing procurement of new airframes primarily in one-off reconciliation spending.\n\nIf fielding the F-35 remains an operational necessity both for the United States and for key allies, there\u2019s really no excuse for not placing it squarely in full-year appropriations.\n\nGeneral Saltzman, I\u2019m glad that this request represents a massive opportunity for Space Force procurement of key systems. But I worry whether industrial capacity will be able to meet a sudden surge in spending, pending a clearer picture of how the Department plans to sustain steadily increasing investment over the out-years. So I\u2019ll want to hear from you on how the Space Force is thinking about longer-term scaling.\n\nFinally, at a fundamental level, I\u2019m curious to hear from each of you about how the Department of the Air Force is applying the lessons of the modern battlefield. I\u2019m concerned that the Pentagon as a whole is not learning quickly enough from the battlefields in Ukraine and the Gulf. And failure to learn and adapt, particularly when it comes to force protection and counter-drone technology, has real and measurable costs.\n\nSpeaking of which, there\u2019s clearly a need for supplemental funds to cover critical operational costs incurred in the Gulf, to recapture readiness, and to make serious down payments against the munitions shortfalls that long predate operations against Iran.\n\nI would encourage the Administration to create such an opportunity, and would hope each of our colleagues would seize it.", 1, "2026-06-10T06:36:00Z", "2026-06-10T06:37:32Z"]], "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.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=F4655151-3E19-41CE-9067-6C87B256BD5C"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1941550076007843, "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"}