Yesterday we witnessed one of the most important American political traditions: the orderly, peaceful transfer of power from one presidential administration to another. Millions of Americans, from the National Mall to homes across the country, watched as Donald J. Trump took the oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." And as only forty-four… Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1) released the following statement today on his selection as Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces:
“I am honored and ready to serve the American people as the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman in the 115th Congress. Since 2008, I have served as a member of the Subcommittee… Read more »
“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So… Read more »
What does it mean for a civilization to contend with the true costs of war? Here in the United States, most of us remain significantly untouched by war. Our conflicts are confined to remote places and our battles are fought by other people’s sons and daughters. Most of us are living the same lives we lived before Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. We go to the same stores, we wear the same… Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1) today supported House passage of H.R. 5620, the VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016. This legislation would target misconduct and bolster accountability at all levels by expanding authorities granted to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Secretary would be authorized to reduce the pension of any SES employee… Read more »
Most of us are familiar with the idiom “never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” It’s the mantra of the industrious. Want to see progress? Want to find success? Want to reach the next rung on that ladder? Finish the task at hand and move on to the next one. That’s how we get from where we are to where we want to be.
Mark Twain had a slightly different play on the phrase.… Read more »
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” ~John 15:13
Etched on simple white markers in Arlington National Cemetery are the names of the men and women who fought and died, who gave what Lincoln called “the last full measure of devotion,” to secure our American way of life. Each of those names represents a choice—a decision to live and die in… Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1) supported House passage yesterday evening of H.R. 4909, the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The annual defense legislation includes language that Congressman Wittman ushered through as Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and sets aside $5 billion in additional funds for ship and aircraft… Read more »
“An overwhelming desire to serve.”
That’s the answer a Marine Corps Major gave me earlier this week when I asked him why he chose to join the military. “I wanted to be a part of and serve something greater than I ever could on my own,” he told me, “and I wanted to protect, on a small scale, my family and friends, and on a larger scale, a way of life. If you were to ask most people who… Read more »
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Remember being asked that question? Remember all the possibility at the other end of it? Anything you could dream about, you could be. But as adults, we know that question is about more than choosing a career. It’s about aspiring to be better than we are. It’s about seeking greatness.
As we shape our next generation of leaders, that’s what we… Read more »
