The structure of the Military Resale System continues to respond to changing times. We support the Services' role in overseeing this vital part of our Service Members' Quality of Life. They are designed to deliver the full commissary and full exchange benefit, while continuing to generate MWR dividends and reduce Appropriated Fund expenditures, at locations where this primary Quality of Life benefit would otherwise be lost. The working group, with the support of the resale element leadership, has identified five sites to demonstrate this concept. This money was used to improve the shopping environment for our customers around the world with everything from new Shopping Centers to renovated Convenience stores.
Sales are strong, customer satisfaction is rising, and costs are being contained.
The major expansions of our distribution centers at Newport News, Virginia, Waco, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, as I reported to you in my testimony last year, were all completed on-schedule. We remain committed to the task of meeting the needs of the military family and responding positively to them. These numbers indicate that we fully expect that the Exchanges' role in the Military Resale System will continue to be an important one for military members and their families. On behalf of the soldiers and airmen serving their country around the world, I thank you and the Committee on National Security once again for the support you continue to demonstrate.