Dod Defense Roundtable

Floor Speech

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Mr. SELF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my direct concern over the United States Department of Defense's lack of agility when it comes to warfare.

Recently, my office hosted our annual defense roundtable with defense companies both in and out of my district. The theme of this year's defense roundtable was how to increase the readiness, engagement, agility, and delivery of lethality to the Department of Defense.

It was quite telling that these companies reaffirmed the troubling RAND Defense report, which explained that the U.S. defense industrial base is not prepared to engage in all-out warfare. The modern-day axis of evil, China, Russia, and Iran, continue to work around the clock to advance their military capabilities and cause further chaos in the world, while the U.S. is woefully lagging behind.

China continues to take steps that threaten the democracy of Taiwan, Russia continues its offensive in Ukraine, and Iran has sent hundreds of missiles toward Israel through its use of proxies throughout the region.

Make no mistake: if America does not take monumental steps to reform, modernize, and expand our defense capabilities and in a rapid manner, then we will be in a difficult position of choosing which allies we can help around the world.

During our defense roundtable discussions, it was made clear that, as the U.S. military stands today, we are not ready. We must immediately take significant steps to become ready. World circumstances demand that we do.

A major point of discussion that was emphasized multiple times by the industry was the red tape and bureaucracy surrounding every government- funded project. Congress must get rid of unnecessary regulations and allow our American engineers, scientists, and great thinkers to innovate and streamline our defense programs. A key issue in the discussion was the fact that the foreign military sales process must obtain 18 different approvals, whereas in other countries, such as Japan, it takes only one.

While extra oversight can, at times, be beneficial, given the state of the world, America must be willing to take on more levels of risk to keep pace with our adversaries.

It is well past time for Congress to take steps to eliminate these unnecessary provisions, encourage defense contractors to take on more risk, understanding that there may be failures along the way, and ultimately put ourselves in a strong position to combat the axis of evil that we face now and those we will face in the future.

In the words of former President Dwight Eisenhower: ``A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. . . . American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. . . . ''

I would add: not only of vast proportions, but also agile and innovative.

Eisenhower's words still ring true today. It is imperative that Congress steps up to the plate to reduce these unnecessary regulations at the Federal level so our defense industry can be lethal, agile, and ready once more to accept the challenges of this increasingly dangerous world.

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