Washington, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), delivered the following opening remarks at a hearing on the efforts to revitalize the Defense Industrial Base.
Chairman Rogers' Statement As Prepared For Delivery:
I want to start by recognizing the tremendous dedication, professionalism, and sacrifice of our servicemembers engaged in Operation Epic Fury and those stationed around the world.
I support the President’s decision to carry out this Operation.
I believe it had to be done to protect Americans and our allies in the region.
I recognize that some of my colleagues do not share that view.
And we will engage in a healthy debate on that issue in the days and weeks to come.
In the interim, we all should work together to ensure our servicemembers have the resources and capabilities they need to successfully carry out their mission.
Toward that end, today we are meeting to examine the state of our industrial base and how we can best position it to fully support our warfighters.
Peace through strength starts in our factories, our depots, and our shipyards.
But we lost sight of that after the Cold War.
Over the last 30 years, our defense industrial base consolidated and atrophied.
Skilled talent left the workforce, leaving hundreds of thousands of defense manufacturing jobs unfilled.
Excessive regulation pushed small businesses, startups, and private capital out of the defense business.
And inconsistent demand signals discouraged prime contractors from investing in production capacity.
As a result, our stockpiles of critical defense articles have fallen to dangerously low levels.
And the very allies this administration is demanding step up, must wait years for the American weapons they need to shoulder greater responsibility.
While America allowed critical manufacturing capability to erode, China did not.
China’s shipbuilding capacity dwarfs ours.
They are outproducing us on ships, drones and munitions.
And they have embedded themselves deep into our defense supply chains.
The consequences are clear.
There are growing doubts about our ability to sustain a protracted fight against China.
That’s unacceptable.
Last year, working closely with Mr. Duffey and the Department, this committee made real progress reforming a slow, risk-averse acquisition system that contributed to the hollowing-out of our defense industrial base.
But acquisition reform alone is not enough.
That is why this committee is making revitalizing the defense industrial base its top priority this year.
- We must invest in domestic reindustrialization and a skilled, patriotic defense workforce, from welders to machinists to engineers.
- We must provide certainty to the industrial base through expanded use of fully-funded multi-year authorities.
- We must end our dependency on China for critical minerals and materials.
- We must incentivize increased production from new entrants, non-traditionals and traditionals alike.
- And we must implement the President’s executive orders on arms exports to leverage allied purchases to support the expansion of U.S. production capacity.
Fortunately, both Congress and this Administration understand the urgency of the moment.
Deputy Secretary Feinberg’s push to expand munitions capacity and rebuild America’s arsenal of freedom is a critical step.
Our committee has expanded multi-year authorities for critical munitions in the FY26 NDAA to give industry the predictability it needs to scale production.
And the President’s call for a $1.5 trillion defense budget, one I strongly support, makes clear we are working to back this effort with real resources.
But this is a team sport.
Industry must do its part by making significant investments in production capacity.
Success also depends on rebuilding fragile supply chains, from critical minerals to solid rocket motors.
Congress made a multibillion-dollar investment through the One Big Beautiful Bill to address these chokepoints, and we expect close coordination on how those funds are used.
In that context, I welcome the Department’s willingness to explore new financing tools to strengthen supply chain resilience.
It’s clear the status quo was not working.
However, Congress needs clearer answers on when equity investments are the right approach.
This committee has long warned about consolidation in the solid rocket motor industrial base and the bottlenecks it created for critical munitions.
That’s why we funded efforts to reintroduce competition into the sector.
I hope to hear today specific plans for how the resources provided by Congress will be used to develop second-source providers for SRMs.
Modern military power rests on industrial strength.
It is the difference between deterring a major war and losing one.
I look forward to Mr. Duffey’s perspective on how Congress and the Department can work together to revitalize the defense industrial base.
