Press Releases

Today, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Chairwoman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the hearing titled "High Consequences and Uncertain Threats: Reviewing Department of Defense Strategy, Policy, and Programs for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction for Fiscal Year 2018." For hearing testimony and to watch the hearing live click here.

"I'd like to welcome everyone here today for this very timely hearing on the Department of Defense Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy and Programs for Fiscal Year 2018.

The pursuit and potential use of Weapons of Mass Destruction remains a high consequence threat to our national security. To date, the Department of Defense efforts to prevent, protect against, and respond to weapons of mass destruction threats have kept the use of these weapons low. Despite these efforts, recent media reports of chemical weapons use in Iraq and Syria, continued nuclear weapons development in North Korea, and the asymmetric use of VX nerve agent remind us the threat is real, global in nature, and potentially growing.

A key challenge in countering this threat is that many technologies that are used for peaceful, civilian purposes can also potentially be used for developing weapons of mass destruction. Emerging examples of these 'dual-use' technologies are in the fields of synthetic biology and gene editing. Rapidly developing biotechnologies that are easily obtained present new threats to the warfighter that we have yet to fully understand.

Today's hearing will allow our subcommittee to provide critical oversight on ensuring that the Department's countering weapons of mass destruction policies, plans, and programs sufficiently address these emerging threats.

We have before us a panel of three distinguished witnesses:

• Dr. Arthur Hopkins
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs

• Mr. Peter Verga
Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense & Global Security

• Ms. Shari Durand
Acting Director, Defense Threat Reduction Agency

While detailed budget numbers for Fiscal Year 2018 are not available at this time, we look forward to a robust discussion on the policies and programs in place in the Department for countering weapons of mass destruction in 2018.

Welcome to all of our witnesses. I'd like to remind you that your testimony will be included in the record, and we ask that you summarize key points from that testimony in 5 minutes or less.

Before we begin with Dr. Hopkins – I would like to take a moment to recognize Ms. Katherine Sutton who will be returning to Sandia National Laboratories having completed her 2-year fellowship with our Committee. Katie has been an integral part of our team, and helped us legislate and conduct oversight in many important and complex areas – indeed many of the things we plan to discuss today. Katie, thank you for your hard work over the past 2 years, and we wish you continued success as you head back to Sandia."