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. “Never put off [until] tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well,” he said. For too long, that’s b...
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“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 service of others, a decision to sacrifice. How can we understand and honor that sacrifice? What does it mean? “Wh...
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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 depot maintenance, aviation training and readiness, and long-neglected facilities sustainment, restoration, and ...
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“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 join why they signed up, they would tell you it’s the intangibles. It isn’t about what you can get out of it; it...
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“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 have to keep in mind: we’re not just molding minds, we’re building character. I often reflect on that when I’m s...
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WASHINGTON – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1) released the following statement today after President Obama appeared before a joint session of Congress to deliver his final State of the Union address: “Before the President’s State of the Union address tonight, I said that I hoped he would deliver a cogent, comprehensive strategy for defeating ISIS. I was disappointed to hear him double down on this administration’s failed national security policies. Even as the President spoke tonight, 10 American ...
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WASHINGTON – Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness, introduced the Accountability, Collaboration, and Transfer (ACT) Now for Veterans legislation, which includes measures to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits claim process and expedite Veteran access to quality care. “In recent years, Congress has passed major legislation that has gone a long way toward addressing the failure of the VA to adequately serv...
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WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) supported passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016. The annual legislation, which the House of Representatives approved by a bipartisan vote of 370-58, provides policy guidance and authorization for the Department of Defense. The vote comes on the heels of the President’s veto of an earlier version of the NDAA over domestic policy differences and the subsequent passage into law of The Bipartisan Budget Agree...
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During these past couple of weeks, I have been thinking a lot about leadership and what it means to be a leader. According to Douglas MacArthur, leadership is about integrity. “A true leader,” he said, “has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” As individuals, we aspire to live up to that standard e...
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WASHINGTON – Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-1) released the following statement today following the President’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2016: “For the first time in this nation’s history, the President has chosen to veto the National Defense Authorization Act over domestic policy differences and deny our military critical funding. This bipartisan legislation grants the President the full $612 billion he requested for our nation’s defense programs, and yet he h...
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