Opening Statements

Intelligence and Special Operations (ISO) Subcommittee Chairman Ronny Jackson (R-TX) delivered the following remarks on the Intelligence and Special Operations Print at the Full Committee Markup of the Chairman's Mark of H.R. 8800, the FY27 NDAA.

Chairman Jackson's Statement as Prepared for Delivery:

I would like to begin by thanking Ranking Member Crow for his support and contribution, as well as the members of the Subcommittee for their efforts as we developed this bipartisan Subcommittee print. 

This ISO print continues to focus on providing our Special Operations Forces, the Defense Intelligence Enterprise, and the security cooperation enterprise with the tools and resources required to ensure their capabilities can support the Department’s National Defense Strategy and counter an ever-changing threat environment. 

The subcommittee print drives the Department forward in several key areas to enable our warfighters, intelligence professionals, and security cooperation community to execute their missions at speed and scale. 

First, we require the Secretary of War to designate the head of an organization within the Department of War to be responsible for Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance (UTS) functions and develop a strategy for research, development, and procurement of secure communications and obfuscation technologies. The UTS threat is well-known, and we need a streamlined, focused effort within the Department to get solutions to our warfighters.

Next, the subcommittee print invests in a wide range of intelligence capabilities and disciplines to better enable leaders to make threat-informed decisions in an increasingly complex world. We direct a new, periodic Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) strategy across all domains to evaluate whether current capabilities can meet intelligence collection requirements, and drive the Department to ensure collection postures going forward better meet future intelligence collection requirements. 

We deliver to the security cooperation enterprise additional authorities needed to broaden the capacity to work with partners and allies. This ISO print provides the Secretary of War the ability to establish a joint education and training program on military trauma research and care to enhance their capability.
 
Finally, the Subcommittee recommends an additional $1.3 billion for U.S. Special Operations Command to cover approximately half of the items on the SOCOM Unfunded Priority List, such as the Skyraider II. The USSOCOM budget has remained relatively flat over the last decade despite the growing global demand for our Special Operations Forces. Our ISO print recommends this additional funding so USSOCOM can address critical needs within its programs and deliver the capabilities required to keep our Special Operations Forces in the fight today and prepared for the future battlefield, no matter where or when a threat arises. 

It is our Article 1 responsibility to ensure we provide the men and women – servicemembers and civilians – who volunteer to serve in these roles with the capabilities and tools to protect our Special Operators, intelligence professionals, and security cooperation professionals and keep them in the fight.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank our tremendous professional staff of Craig Greene, Alex Igleheart, Mark Morehouse, Will Johnson, Katy Quinn, Austin Richards, and my personal office staff, Asher Thompson and Crystal Young; without this team, the mark would not be possible.

Finally, I want to recognize and extend my appreciation for our ISO Subcommittee Staff Director, Craig Greene. As many already know, Craig will be retiring at the end of this year, making this his final House Armed Services Committee NDAA markup. He has helped shepherd through 17 NDAAs over the course of his remarkable 18-year tenure on this Committee, and I wish him all the best in his upcoming retirement.