National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4350, the FY22 NDAA.

Our current and future warfighting capabilities are contingent on modernizing the Department of Defense and recruiting and equipping the military with the most effective, secure, and cutting-edge technologies.

Our adversaries are focused on our defeat on and off the battlefield. They are pouring money into research and development of emerging technologies, recruiting top scientists, and stealing intellectual property to gain a tactical edge.

This NDAA pushes the Department to accelerate innovation and strengthen its cyber posture, a critical capability if we want to maintain superiority in the era of great power competition.

I want to thank Ranking Member Rogers, who, because of his leadership, fought for and gained nearly $25 billion in this bill to boost emerging technologies and cybersecurity programs during the markup.

These funds enhance areas like hypersonics, AI, and quantum computing and make a historical investment to renovate the Department's labs and testing facilities.

As ranking member, I am also proud of the work that we have done on our subcommittee, the Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems Subcommittee led by Chairman Langevin, in this inaugural NDAA for this subcommittee.

We included provisions to transition innovative technologies quickly into the hands of the warfighter, to help companies bridge the valley of death, and to implement many of the recommendations of the National Security Commission on AI.

In the past year, we have seen landmark cyberattacks, a trend which is likely to continue, and we must be prepared. We bolster and strengthen the Department's information security systems and improve sharing and analysis of cyber threat information across the Department.

Madam Speaker, I strongly support this bill and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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