Florida Rep. Mike Waltz (R) has made headlines as a possible successor to Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) if the junior senator from Florida decides to run for the White House. Partnering with Texas Rep. Michael McCaul (R), Rep. Waltz has announced a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Technical, Industrial, and Governmental Engagement for Readiness (TIGER) Task Force. The TIGER Task Force has the goal of modernizing U.S. foreign military sales processes in certain key areas.
Waltz will be leading the task force, but the task force’s co-leads is comprised of a bipartisan group of lawmakers, which includes Colorado Rep. Jason Crow (D), California Rep. Mike Garcia (R), Arkansas Rep. French Hill (R), and Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton (D).
Waltz highlighted that “for years U.S. foreign military sales have been plagued with delays that have put many of our allies and partners across the globe at risk.” In creating the TIGER task force, Waltz charged that it will “examine why many of these shipments have been delayed or have seen increased costs, putting the security of some of our most critical allies at risk, and implement legislative solutions to streamline these sales.”
Rep. McCaul expressed that “it is vital that when we make a deal with our partners and allies to send military systems, that we provide them as quickly as possible.”
He called the bill important and praised Waltz’s leadership, noting that “Waltz will get the answers we need.”
“I look forward to moving forward any legislation that comes from the task force within my committee’s jurisdiction,” McCaul said.
In a press release distributed by Waltz’s office, further information is shared regarding the operation of the task force.
It “will bring together State and Defense Department experts, as well as industry experts and regional subcommittee leadership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in its oversight of the U.S. government’s foreign military sales process.”
Regular briefings will be held, and recommendations will be issued to committee leadership for legislative considerations.
