Rogers: We Cannot Prevail Without a Ready, Strong, and Adaptable Industrial Base

Washington, February 26, 2025

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, delivered the following opening remarks at a hearing on strengthening America’s defense industrial base, workforce, and production lines to deter war.
 
Chairman Rogers’ remarks as prepared for delivery:
 
In our first hearing this Congress, we examined the complex and growing threats facing our nation.
 
Today, we will review the state of the defense industrial base and how we can best position it to fully support our military if conflict breaks out. 
 
For over 200 years, we have relied on the skills of the men and women working in shipyards and factories throughout America to build the tools our warfighters need to succeed in battle.
 
We cannot prevail in any conflict without a ready, strong, and adaptable industrial base.
 
But over the last 30 years, we’ve watched our industrial base atrophy.

  • Defense firms have consolidated; 
  • Supply chains have narrowed; 
  • Regulatory burdens have grown out of control;
  • And recruitment and retention of the skilled workforce have become much more difficult.

The consequences are readily apparent.

  • Critical acquisition programs are years behind schedule and way over budget;
  • Thousands of small businesses are choosing not to do business with the Pentagon;
  • And we are losing war game after war game because we can’t resupply critical munitions and weapon systems in a timely manner.
 
While recent NDAAs have made great strides in tackling this issue, more needs to be done.
 
We need to expand multi-year contracts and fully fund them to provide industry with more certainty.
 
We need to bulldoze the labyrinth of regulatory burdens that hamstring the acquisition process.
 
We need to end our dependency on China for critical minerals and materials.
 
And we need to reform the arms export process to help industry work with our allies and partners to unlock greater burden sharing.
 
Ultimately, however, we need to invest much more in workforce development, automation, and infrastructure improvements. 
 
While our adversaries increase investments and subsidies in their defense industrial bases, we’ve let ours languish.
 
A strong, resilient, and diverse industrial base is needed to restore peace through strength.
 
Our adversaries will only be deterred if they know that the United States, along with its allies, can produce and sustain our military forces in a protracted conflict.
 
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about what resources and authorities your member companies need to revitalize the defense industrial base and restore American deterrence.