WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Austin Scott (GA-08), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), released the below statement upon receiving his HASC Subcommittee assignments for the 117^th Congress. This will be Rep. Scott’s sixth term to serve on HASC, and he will be the only Georgian to serve on a Congressional defense committee this Congress.

“Georgia and Georgia’s Eighth District play a critical role in our nation’s security and defense, and it is an honor to fight for our installations and the thousands of Active Duty, Guard, Reservists, and Department of Defense civilians and contractors who call our state and District home,” said Rep. Scott. “This Congress, I will serve on two HASC subcommittees important to Georgia: The Readiness Subcommittee and the new Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee. I expect the Armed Services Committee of the 117th Congress to look very different than that of the 116th, but I am hopeful we can continue to work towards bipartisan agreements to tackle the threats our nation faces from Communist China while providing for our warfighters and military families. We have made great progress over the last few years to rebuild and restore our military, and we must not let that work come unraveled at the expense of political gamesmanship.”

For the 117^th Congress, Rep. Scott will again sit on the Subcommittee on Readiness, which oversees military readiness, training, logistics and maintenance issues and programs, military construction, and installations, among other things. Rep. Scott will also sit on the newly formed Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations, which has jurisdiction over Department of Defense (DOD) policy, programs, and accounts related to military intelligence, national intelligence, countering weapons of mass destruction, counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, other sensitive military operations, and special operations forces.

Each year, HASC crafts the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets DOD policies and authorizes funding levels for defense programs. In addition to his subcommittee issue areas and fighting for the critical missions at Robins and Moody Air Force Bases in Georgia’s Eighth District, Rep. Scott’s work on the Committee also includes working towards combating transnational criminal organizations and the international flow of drugs.

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