Langevin Opening Statement at IETC Markup

Congressman Jim Langevin, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, made the following statement at the subcommittee’s markup of its portion of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act:

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank you for once again building this subcommittee’s mark in a very open and bipartisan manner. The mark is thorough and includes important priorities for our national security. It properly funds our Special Operations Forces, provides for investment in and oversight of important areas of research and development such as directed energy, and continues to provide the oversight necessary to ensure U.S Cyber Command has the resources it needs to conduct the full range of cyber operations in support of our national security requirements.

“I would especially like to highlight the work we’ve done to require the Department of Defense (DoD) to report on the threat of economic warfare conducted against the United States, including what the DoD role is in combating economic warfare, what authorities are available and what new ones might be required. Furthermore, I’d like to commend the requirement to have the Comptroller General report on the organization, missions, and authorities of U.S. Cyber Command and its operational relationship with the geographic combatant commands. And lastly, I applaud the requirement to have the Defense Science Board conduct an assessment of the organization, missions, authorities and health of the defense research and development enterprise, as it will be instrumental in ensuring that the vital DoD R&D effort is properly focused and resourced to produce the most gain for each dollar spent.

“Those are only a few of the provisions that bear mentioning, but in an effort expedite this mark, I’ll stop there. It was a pleasure working with you and your staff again this year.”