Conference Report on H.R. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. STEFANIK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan bill and the accompanying conference report for the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act.

As the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, I am proud of our oversight and legislative initiatives this year, which have included:

Strengthening our cyber warfare capabilities and policies.

Energizing our science and technology enterprise.

Enabling our special operations forces around the globe.

Providing resources and authorities to counterterrorism and unconventional warfare threats.

And advancing programs and activities that counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

The bill before the House incorporates three broad subcommittee themes:

First, this bill takes seriously the cyber threats from our adversaries towards this Nation, which is why the bill strengthens our whole-of-government cybersecurity posture by improving coordination and partnering between the DOD and DHS to prevent and respond to cyberattacks against our critical infrastructure.

It also affirms and clarifies cyberspace, cyber warfare, and cyber deterrence policy to combat malicious cyber activities from adversaries like China, Russia, and North Korea, who are targeting the United States. We also require the DOD to provide congressional notification of cybersecurity breaches and the loss of controlled information from cleared defense contractors.

Second, we build upon previous NDAAs by advancing prototyping and testing of directed-energy weapons and hypersonic vehicles and by accelerating these technologies by authorizing an additional $285 million.

Third, the bill places emphasis on policy and programs to advance AI, machine learning, quantum sciences, and other critical national security technologies. We also establish a National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence to conduct a thorough review of the wide- ranging military applications of this decisive technology.

Additionally, this bill authorizes the largest pay raise for our troops in 9 years. It helps improve employment opportunities for military spouses and increases transparency in the military healthcare system.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill and vote ``yes.''

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