House Armed Services Committee Chairman William “Mac” Thornberry (R-Tex.) took questions from an overflow crowd of journalists on Jan. 16, as a guest of the Defense Writers Group, a 39-year-old Washington institution now facilitated by the George Washington University's Project for Media and National Security at the School for Media and Public Affairs.
The breakfast session produced news articles from more than a dozen news outlets, including Time, The Hill, the Washington Examiner and the Daily Telegraph on issues ranging from the defense budget and military readiness, to the Air Force Space Command, Hawaii's false alarm and the threat of a nuclear attack by North Korea.
Thornberry was passionate on the issue of funding for defense as Congress faces a deadline to avert a government shutdown.
“Personally, I would do just about anything to fix this problem, including vote for things that I might not support otherwise,” he said. “But I am increasingly disturbed that support for our military is being tied to some other issue, some other agenda.”
The chairman also decried the tendency of Congress to pass continuing resolutions keeping the government open but failing to pass official budgets, a practice of many years now, which makes it difficult for military planners to plan for the future or to innovate.
In November, the Defense Writers Group heard from Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Army Chief of Staff General Mark A. Milley.
In September, in the wake of the hurricanes that damaged Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, the Defense Writers Group heard from Air Force General Joseph Lengyel, commander of the U.S. National Guard, on the rescue and recovery work.
GW's Project for Media and National Security works to deepen quality journalism on national security by bringing senior officials and reporters together face-to-face in a variety of settings. The project is funded in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York.