U.S. Senator John W. Warner (R-Va) Holds a Hearing On the Nomination of Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Conway for Appointment to the Grade of General and to Be Commandant of the Marine Corps

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U.S. Senator John W. Warner (R-Va) Holds a Hearing On the Nomination of Marine Corps Lieutenant General James Conway for Appointment to the Grade of General and to Be Commandant of the Marine Corps

U.S. SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE HOLDS A HEARING ON THE NOMINATION OF MARINE CORPS LIEUTENANT GENERAL JAMES CONWAY FOR APPOINTMENT TO THE GRADE OF GENERAL AND TO BE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

JULY 27, 2006

SPEAKERS: U.S. SENATOR JOHN W. WARNER (R-VA) CHAIRMAN U.S. SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ) U.S. SENATOR JAMES M. INHOFE (R-OK) U.S. SENATOR PAT ROBERTS (R-KS) U.S. SENATOR JEFF SESSIONS (R-AL) U.S. SENATOR SUSAN M. COLLINS (R-ME) U.S. SENATOR JOHN ENSIGN (R-NV) U.S. SENATOR JIM TALENT (R-MO) U.S. SENATOR SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA) U.S. SENATOR LINDSEY O. GRAHAM (R-SC) U.S. SENATOR ELIZABETH DOLE (R-NC) U.S. SENATOR JOHN CORNYN (R-TX) U.S. SENATOR JOHN THUNE (R-SD)

U.S. SENATOR CARL LEVIN (D-MI) RANKING MEMBER U.S. SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY (D-MA) U.S. SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD (D-WV) U.S. SENATOR JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN (D-CT) U.S. SENATOR JACK REED (D-RI) U.S. SENATOR DANIEL K. AKAKA (D-HI) U.S. SENATOR BILL NELSON (D-FL) U.S. SENATOR BEN NELSON (D-NE) U.S. SENATOR MARK DAYTON (D-MN) U.S. SENATOR EVAN BAYH (D-IN) U.S. SENATOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY)

WITNESSES: LIEUTENANT GENERAL JAMES CONWAY, NOMINATED TO BE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

[*] WARNER: I'm advised that Senator Levin will soon be with us, so we'll start this very important hearing.

And everyone of us who have been privileged -- now, I underline the word "privileged" to wear Marine green -- are very pleased to have before us today the president's nominee to be commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, succeeding General Hagee, who had a very distinguished career.

And having gotten to know you quite well through the years, I am confident that you will find your place in the history of commandants and stand as tall as any of them in terms of your accomplishments and leadership for the wonderful men and women of the U.S. Marine Corps.

And I see Mr. Levin has arrived.

I will forgo the balance of my statement and moment and invite our distinguished colleague from Missouri, the chairman of the Seapower Committee.

Landlocked state, though it may be, you handle your responsibilities very well.

TALENT: Well, we're hopeful someday getting the Navy to steam up the Mississippi, Mr. Chairman, maybe turn St. Louis into a blue water port. WARNER: Didn't Grant do that at one time?

(LAUGHTER)

TALENT: I think he maybe steamed down and up at the same time.

WARNER: My recollection...

TALENT: Well, Mr. Chairman, it's with great pleasure that I introduce a fellow Missourian to the committee. He certainly needs no introduction to this committee, but I reintroduce him -- might be the better way of putting it.

I also want to welcome him and his wife, Annette, and their son, Scott and his wife, Tara, to the committee today.

Lieutenant General Conway grew up in St. Louis, Mr. Chairman. He played football, baseball and basketball at Roosevelt High School. And as the general and I were discussing yesterday, if you're from St. Louis, where you went to high school is a big deal, and so you have to mention that in any introduction.

However, he went on to graduate from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, a great institution, where he met his wife, Annette. The general comes from a tradition of service and he is now the leader of a true Marine Corps family.

His father was a World War II veteran who was wounded three times. His sons, Brandon and Scott, are Marine Corps officers and his daughter is married to a Marine. The general served two combat tours in Iraq as the 1st MEF commander. He led his Marines to Baghdad and he returned a little over a year later to support the new democracy there.

He brings, Mr. Chairman, a wealth of knowledge and experience to this new post, which he has gleaned from his 36-plus years in the Marine Corps.

His service includes a 13-month deployment off the coast of Beirut in the early 1980s; an eight-month deployment as a battalion commander in Desert Storm; command of the Marine Officers' Training in Quantico, president of the Marine Corps Univers...

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