Opening Statement (As Prepared)

Click here to stream the hearing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this hearing, and thank you to our witnesses for appearing before the committee this morning. We appreciate you taking the time to help provide this committee with your insights on the state of the Department’s innovation ecosystem.
 
This committee has a long history of pushing and providing new authorities in order to support a more agile and innovative Department, as well as supporting the Department’s existing efforts through additional authorities and resources. The Department’s expansive R&D ecosystem continues to perform admirably year after year to deliver the new technologies necessary to make sure that our military remains the strongest in the world.
 
Our committee needs to help ensure our Department has the ability to keep up with the rapidly advancing pace of innovation in the private sector. Many legacy structures are not equipped to handle these challenges, and the committee hopes to hear from each member about areas where Congress may need to reconsider past actions to ensure that the Department's R&D work stays up-to-date.
 
This committee, including the Chairman and myself, is deeply concerned about the state and resources of our test ranges and facilities, especially as we intensify our focus on areas like hypersonics, directed energy, automation, and AI. Given your companies' involvement with and understanding of these capabilities, your insights are invaluable. Additionally, we must address the organizational and personnel challenges tied to quickly adopting these innovative technologies. From your testimonies, what organizational and interpersonal elements drove success? Can we establish conditions for such successes to be consistently replicated and scaled?

I hope we can have a robust discussion this morning, and again, I appreciate each of our witnesses taking the time to be here. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.

###