Washington D.C. – On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04) testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to emphasize the importance of funding missions at Barksdale Air Force Base, home to the Air Force Global Strike Command, and Fort Polk Army Base, home to the Army Joint Readiness Training Center.
Johnson also spoke before the House Armed Services Committee last month on this issue in his continued efforts to support the two premier military installations.
Following his testimony, Rep. Johnson released the following statement: “Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Polk Army Base are two of America’s most important military installations, offering critical training for and assistance to U.S. military operations across the nation and around the world. Their continued success is critical, and both bases are capable of handling even more.
“Since coming to Washington, I have taken every opportunity available to convey the funding needs of our bases to my colleagues and the relevant committees of Congress. I thank the committee for working with me to ensure these needs are met in the upcoming FY19 Defense Budget.”
Since coming to Congress, Johnson has visited both Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Polk Army Base on multiple occasions to assess their needs. He has attended several Department of Defense briefings at the Pentagon and continuously advocates for Louisiana’s Fourth District military installations to top military leaders.
Johnson also testified before the House Armed Services Committee on behalf of Barksdale and Fort Polk in April 2018, and at the House Appropriations Committee last year. These efforts contributed to securing necessary funding to modernize the B-52 fleet at Barksdale and helped preserve the important role Fort Polk plays in our nation’s military training.
A video of the full testimony can be found here.
The text of his testimony can be found here.
