Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2007

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to take a moment to discuss the important work being done at the National Defense University to help ensure that our military continues to harness innovation in Information Technologies (IT) to improve our national defense capabilities. During the past decade, the Department of Defense (DoD) has taken enormous strides in harnessing IT to support major combat operations. We've seen this in the development and fielding of key systems to support precise position location and timing, such as Global Position Systems, as well as precise weapons delivery and communications systems. The effect of these systems on our major combat operations has been profound, increasing the speed, efficiency, and precision of our operations, while minimizing loss of life and resources, as we have seen in coalition operations in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. These IT-enabled military capabilities are extraordinary, and the U.S. needs to maintain them, explore ways to expand them, and ensure our future ability to benefit from such innovations.

It is important to appreciate that the information technology that underlies these extraordinary capabilities is largely commercially driven. Thus, although the U.S. has so far been able to exploit this capability effectively, it is an advantage that may be easily lost and regained only with great difficulty. If The U.S. is to continue to exploit commercial IT effectively, it must implement processes to identify promising technologies early in their lifecycle to ensure that they include the features required by the DoD. In addition, mechanisms must be instituted that facilitate the introduction of these key technologies into DoD systems.

Over the last several years, Congress has supplied a critical activity at the National Defense University (NDU) to ensure that the DoD retains and enhances the ability to identify and exploit innovative commercial IT. A small group at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP) has performed in excess of forty analyses, workshops, and conferences that have characterized the nature of the problem, identified key shortfalls, and proposed innovative recommendations. At the request of Congress, CTNSP has recently prepared and submitted a report that documents the key findings and recommendations of their work.

It is particularly notable that the efforts of this program have had significant visibility and impact in the DoD. As an example, the IT program at NDU has provided various studies and recommendations to the highest levels of the military, including the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and combatant commanders at the U.S. European Command and Joint Forces Command. These NDU products have had a very positive impact on efforts to enhance the early injection of commercial IT into key DoD policies and procedures.

Currently this NDU program is extending this work into additional critical areas. For example, they are exploring options to enhance the injection of IT into stabilization and reconstruction operations. One member of the NDU IT program has just returned from Afghanistan where he was conducting a detailed study of the impact that communications technology can have on our Nation's success there. The program has also been pursuing ways to adapt technologies currently used by the Chicago Police Department to make them relevant to our counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq. In yet another critical area, the group is in the process of developing a framework to assess the impact of enhancements in cyberspace on America's cyberpower. And finally, the group is reviewing defense spending in the area of computer science to see if it is adequate. These constitute some of the most critical issues that DoD must confront as it proceeds further into the information age.

During the past few years, the Congress and the House Appropriations Committee has been extremely supportive of this initiative. Although the investment in the effort has been modest, I believe it has had extraordinary payoff for DoD and the Nation at large. If we can retain our strong technological lead, we can save billions in defense dollars later that would otherwise need to be spent on catch-up activities. Therefore, I hope, as we look toward conference on this bill, that the Congress is able to continue to fund the NDU Technology Pilot Program's important work by setting aside $1,000,000 for the program in account PE 65104D8Z for fiscal year 2007.

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