Chairman, HASC’s Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee (TAL)

U.S. Representative Rob Wittman, R-1st District,
Virginia

 Responsibilities

• Wittman chairs the Tactical Air & Land Forces (TAL) Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over ammunition programs, Army and Air Force acquisition programs related to aircraft, ground equipment, missiles, ammunition, and other procurement. TAL also has oversight of Navy and Marine Corps programs including: ground and amphibious equipment, fighter aircraft, helicopters, air-launched weapons and ammunition and equipment programs for the Army and Air Force National Guard, making TAL an integral part of the modernization issues being deliberated in Congress.
• TAL’s budget proposal under the National Defense Authorization Act (FY24), focused on: A-10 Force Structure; F-15C/D Force Structure; F-15C/D total aircraft inventory; Next Generation Air Dominance; F-35 Lightning II; Energetics; and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program, which is aimed at modernizing air assault missions and eventual replacement of the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. 

Legislative Priorities

• Both Wittman and Donald Norcross, TAL’s Ranking Member, are looking to bring significant upgrades to the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), an amalgam of organizations and facilities that supply and equip U.S. military forces. The DIB is managed largely through the use of contracts.
• Increase the lethality of U.S. munitions. Wittman supports and has helped oversee the joint, international F-35 program.
• Build a “robust Naval fleet and a healthy domestic shipbuilding industry.”
• Expand the Port of Virginia in Norfolk, an important economic driver of the Virginia Commonwealth.
• Restore the environmental integrity of the Chesapeake Bay. Wittman Is co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus. 
• Following the Jan. 6 2021 protest march on the Capitol, Wittman became one of 147 Congressional members to object to certifying the 2020 presidential election results, calling into question the electoral validity of former President Joe Biden.

Quote

“We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history, and I am committed to using my leadership roles to enable our troops to combat ongoing threats from China, Russia, Iran and its proxies, and North Korea.”

Committees/Political Caucuses

• Tactical Air & Land Force, Chairman.
• Reappointed Vice Chairman of both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee for the 119th Congress. 
• Serves on both the Energy and Minerals Subcommittee along with the Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries subcommittees.
• Co-chair of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus. 

• Co-chair of the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus. 
• Serves on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. 
• Serves on the U.S. Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors.

Political/Business Career

• A member of HASC since arriving in Congress in 2007, Wittman represents Virginia’s 1st District, which stretches from the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck into the Midlothian area and down to Poquoson. He is up for reelection in 2026.
• Elected in 2005 to the Virginia House of Delegates, (99th Legislative District, which includes Virginia Beach). Served until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007. 

• Served on the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors in 1995. Elected chairman in 2003. 
• Served on the Montross Town Council in 1986 for 10 years, four as mayor. 
• Environmental specialist. Field director for the Virginia Health Department’s Division of Shellfish Sanitation. Also worked as an environmental health specialist for local health departments in Virginia’s Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula regions.

Education

Wittman holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Tech.

Personal

Robert Joseph Wittman was born in Washington, D.C., on February 3, 1959, and grew up in Westmoreland County, VA. He and his wife, Kathryn, have been married for nearly 40 years and live in Montross. They have two children and six grandchildren.