U.S. Representative Jim Banks (R-IN), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems, delivered the following opening statement at a hearing on military operations in cyberspace and building cyber capabilities across the Department of Defense.
Rep. Banks remarks as prepared for delivery:
Thank you, Chairman Langevin.
General Nakasone and Dr. Plumb, thank you for being here today. I look forward to our conversation because the cyber domain is vital to the United States' security today and in the future.
Cyber is a linchpin.
It cannot and should not be an afterthought; cyber is not a magic dust to be sprinkled on a conflict when our tanks, ships and planes have failed.
The Department of Defense must make significant cyber investments with an appreciation of the difficulties and costs it will take to find solutions.
Not only do we need sustained investments in our cyber workforce, capabilities, tools, and defenses, we need everyone from the Secretary of Defense to the combatant commands, to the military departments, to every warfighter and civilian to appreciate the importance and impact of cyber.
We must understand that cyber is not confined to computers and phones, but that it can have devasting effects on our weapons, vehicles, command and control, and intelligence or on our water supply, electricity, and logistics.
Cyber needs to be cultivated both as a capability for our forces on the battlefield and as a tool to protect our networks, beginning in research and development, to acquisition and sustainment, and in operations.
It would be naïve to think our adversaries are not seeking every advantage in this domain to keep us out of their spheres of influence. Why engage in a fight they will lose, if through cyber they can prevent us from ever being able to fire a shot?
I realize that no one in the Department knows these facts better than you, General Nakasone. I am concerned that cyber can get lost in a scrum of all the competing priorities in the department, and I am committed to ensuring that you have the authorities, capabilities, and resources you need to succeed not just in the cyber domain, but in any of the department's missions that CYBERCOM is asked to support.
The cyber workforce is foundational to our strength. We need to be attracting, training, and retaining the men and women who make up our cyber teams, especially as you field more teams. Force readiness is key in succeeding in our mission. I think our cyber teams will be in higher demand in the years ahead and they must be ready to defeat the threats our adversaries pose.
Cyberspace, as a war-fighting domain, does not fit neatly into our definitions of peacetime or kinetic warfare. We need to be thinking about how our adversaries are using cyber to gain advantages over the United States and make sure that CYBERCOM is postured to meet the threats.
I believe this requires a fundamental shift in how we man, train and equip the military. It requires the department to think strategically and acknowledge that the cyber domain does not look like the air, land, or sea domains that have been dominant in our past.
It is not going to be an easy task, but I look forward to working with you both to ensure our warfighters never enter a fair fight.
