Saxton’s subcommittee has jurisdiction over U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), and has been working with the commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Michael Hagee, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Peter Pace, SOCOM Commander Gen. Doug Brown and others to lay the ground work. Over the next several years, the number of the elite Marine group will reach 2,500 Marines.

The U.S. Special Forces has encompassed about 50,000 personnel from the Air Force, Navy and Army. The Marine contingent will be part of a plan to expand SOCOM by 14,000 over the next five years, Saxton said.

"This is a great day for the Marines and the Pentagon, and a bad day for al Qaeda," Saxton said. "The Marines are already a lethal force. This is an evolution that will add to the power of the Marines. Gen. Pace should be proud. He’s the first Marine chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and today he sees the birth of a new chapter in corps history. Congress and my subcommittee must act in tandem to meet training, manpower and equipment needs of this new breed of Marines."

Saxton and other congressional figures departed from Davidson Army Airfield, Va. today via the Marine’s new rotor-wing aircraft, the V-22 Osprey. Saxton has led previous congressional delegations to tour U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force Special Operations Commands in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and California and overseas. Saxton noted that prior to 9/11, the House of Representatives did not have a subcommittee to deal with terrorism issues. One was created in 2003 on the Armed Services Committee, and Saxton was tapped to head it because of his long-standing push for anti-terrorism policies in Congress.

"Our armed forces have evolved to meet the threat, and the Members of the House Armed Services Committee have evolved as well," he said. "Special operations personnel are expected to play key roles in future military actions."

Saxton has been a proponent of terrorism threat awareness to the United States and its military personnel since the late 1980s. Saxton’s terrorism subcommittee oversees over $30 billion in annual funding for the military, including the Navy Seals, Green Berets, a special order of Marines and other elite forces.