Opening Statements

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Don Bacon (R-NE), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, delivered the following opening statement at a subcommittee hearing on the posture of information technology and artificial intelligence of the Department of Defense. 

Rep. Bacon's remarks as prepared for delivery:

Good morning everyone, and welcome to today’s hearing on the Pentagon’s information technology and artificial intelligence posture.

I think I speak for all members when I say that this is a subject which is more technical than other issues the Defense Department is wrestling with, however, it is as important as any  other, if not more. 

I want to be clear at the outset, our military cannot succeed on the battlefield if we fail in the AI and technology fight…full stop.

If Ukraine is any indication, modern conflict depends on data and technology moving as fast as possible.

These issues are not tangential to military planning and force design, they in fact underpin every aspect of our military power. 

From a Congressional perspective, we need to ensure the various entities across the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the military services are operating along clear lines of responsibility.

It’s my observation that the Defense Department doesn’t  lack in the number of principals, but rather, it often struggles with too little clarity in who is responsible for what. 

For our witnesses here today, I expect clarity about how your teams engage with each other, without stepping on the other’s toes.

There’s more than enough work in each of your wheelhouses, so our expectation is for each to focus on your core responsibilities before seeking to expand your remits. 

On the issue of the Pentagon’s AI efforts, the Office of the Chief Digital & AI Officer has existed for just over three years but is already on its third leader.

We are all in agreement about the importance of the role, but this instability is not helpful in driving the progress that the Department requires.

I hope to hear more about how the office will dial-in on its core mission, put wins on the board, and push hard on operationalizing AI across the joint force and the defense enterprise. 

Before I introduce our witnesses, I want to speak to the current debate on spectrum.

As we all know spectrum access is vital to the Department in order to successfully execute its mission.

The efforts to require the department to vacate the lower 3 or 7 GHz bands would be detrimental to national security.

I appreciate the work that Ms. Arrington and the CIO office have done to help this committee and Congress understand the vital nature of these bands to DoD’s mission. 

With that, let me introduce our witnesses.

We are joined by Ms. Katie Arrington, who is Performing the Duties of the DoD Chief Information Officer, and Dr. Doug Matty, the DoD Chief Digital & AI Officer. Ms. Arrington rejoined the Department recently from industry.

In last role at the Pentagon, she conceived and developed the Cybersecurity Maturation Model Certification effort, commonly known as CMMC. Dr. Matty most recently served as the Director of Research for AI and Autonomy at University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Prior to his time at ‘Bama, Dr. Matty was a member of the Senior Executive Service within the Army as its Director for Artificial Intelligence Capabilities. 

The Department is fortunate to have two incredibly talented individuals in these roles, and with that, I’ll turn it our Ranking Member before hearing from our witnesses.