Opening Statements

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, delivered the following remarks at a full committee hearing on reforming defense acquisition to deliver capability at the speed of relevance. 

Chairman Rogers' opening remarks as prepared for delivery:

The United States faces the most dangerous security environment since World War II.
 
China is rapidly expanding its military power.

It can field advanced systems in a matter of months.
 
By contrast, it takes the United States more than a decade to deliver needed new capability to our warfighters.
 
By that time, the threat has changed, the costs have ballooned, and the solution is outdated.
 
The reality is that our defense acquisition system is failing the American warfighter.
 
That’s not just my view.

Nearly every combatant commander who’s testified before this committee this year has said the same.
 
Moreover, defense companies of all sizes tell us they face a maze of red tape, bureaucratic delays, and a risk-averse culture at the Department that deters innovation.

This helps explain why the number of prime contractors has dropped from 51 at the end of the Cold War to just six today.
 
Meanwhile, excessive regulations and fears of losing privately funded IP are driving away commercial firms and startups, and making VCs think twice about investing in defense tech.
 
And for those that do press ahead, too often their game-changing technologies languish in the notorious Valley of Death, never reaching full-scale production.
 
The cumulative effect is a hollowed-out, uncompetitive defense industrial base.
 
This is a national security emergency.
 
If we’re serious about achieving President Trump’s Peace Through Strength agenda, it’s not enough just to spend more.

We also must make every dollar count.
 
The reconciliation package President Trump recently signed into law was a critical first step in restoring the level of investment our defense requires.

But even if we raise defense spending to 5% of GDP—as I’ve urged—it won’t make a difference unless we fix the broken acquisition system.
 
That’s why I, along with my good friend Ranking Member Smith, introduced the bipartisan SPEED Act, which is now the cornerstone of the FY26 NDAA passed by this committee last week.
 
The SPEED Act will cut through layers of red tape and deliver for the warfighter at speed and scale.
 
It accelerates the requirements process from nearly three years to as few as 90 days.

It empowers Program Executive Officers and gives them greater budget flexibility.
 
It prioritizes commercial solutions and fosters an environment where innovation can flourish by removing barriers to entry and bridging the Valley of Death.
 
It modernizes outdated and overly burdensome regulations that slow delivery and inflate costs.
 
It promotes a ‘data-as-a-service’ model that gives the Department access to the technical data it needs to sustain its systems, while preserving the intellectual capital of American industry.

It creates the Defense Industrial Resilience Consortium, bringing industry to the table to address challenges from supply chain fragility to restoring surge capacity.
 
And, most importantly, it drives much-needed cultural change.
 
No more rewarding paper-pushing over problem-solving.
 
The SPEED Act fosters a culture of agility and responsible risk-taking—where failing fast and learning quickly is seen as progress, not a career killer.
 
Let’s be honest: past reform efforts have failed.

However, I believe this time is different. The White House, the Pentagon, Congress, and industry are all demanding change.
 
I commend President Trump for calling on the Department to urgently modernize defense acquisition and streamline overly-burdensome regulations.
 
Mr. Duffey, we want to hear from you on how the Department is acting on this directive to deliver for the warfighter.
 
And I look forward to discussing how we can align our efforts to fix the defense acquisition system and ensure the U.S. Armed Forces are the world’s most lethal fighting force.