[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 83 (Friday, June 23, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1253-E1254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. ADAM SMITH

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 20, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5631) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal 
     year, ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes:

  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to take a moment to 
discuss the important work being done at the National Defense 
University to help ensure that our military continues to harness 
innovation in Information Technologies (IT) to improve our national 
defense capabilities. During the past decade, the Department of Defense 
(DoD) has taken enormous strides in harnessing IT to support major 
combat operations. We've seen this in the development and fielding of 
key systems to support precise position location and timing, such as 
Global Position Systems, as well as precise weapons delivery and 
communications systems. The effect of these systems on our major combat 
operations has been profound, increasing the speed, efficiency, and 
precision of our operations, while minimizing loss of life and 
resources, as we have seen in coalition operations in Afghanistan and 
the invasion of Iraq. These IT-enabled military capabilities are 
extraordinary, and the U.S. needs to maintain them, explore ways to 
expand them, and ensure our future ability to benefit from such 
innovations.
  It is important to appreciate that the information technology that 
underlies these extraordinary capabilities is largely commercially 
driven. Thus, although the U.S. has so far been able to exploit this 
capability effectively, it is an advantage that may be easily lost and 
regained only with great difficulty. If The U.S. is to continue to 
exploit commercial IT effectively, it must implement processes to 
identify promising technologies early in their lifecycle to ensure that 
they include the features required by the DoD. In addition, mechanisms 
must be instituted that facilitate the introduction of these key 
technologies into DoD systems.
  Over the last several years, Congress has supplied a critical 
activity at the National Defense University (NDU) to ensure that the 
DoD retains and enhances the ability to identify and exploit innovative 
commercial IT. A small group at the Center for Technology and National 
Security Policy (CTNSP) has performed in excess of forty analyses, 
workshops, and conferences that have characterized the nature of the 
problem, identified key shortfalls, and proposed innovative 
recommendations. At the request of Congress, CTNSP has recently 
prepared and submitted a report that documents the key findings and 
recommendations of their work.
  It is particularly notable that the efforts of this program have had 
significant visibility and impact in the DoD. As an example, the IT 
program at NDU has provided various studies and recommendations to the 
highest levels of the military, including the Chairman and Vice 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and combatant commanders at the 
U.S. European Command and Joint Forces Command. These NDU products have 
had a very positive impact on efforts to enhance the early injection of 
commercial IT into key DoD policies and procedures.
  Currently this NDU program is extending this work into additional 
critical areas. For example, they are exploring options to enhance the 
injection of IT into stabilization and reconstruction operations. One 
member of the NDU IT program has just returned from Afghanistan where 
he was conducting a detailed study of the impact that communications 
technology can have on our Nation's success there. The program has also 
been pursuing ways to adapt technologies currently used by the Chicago 
Police Department to make them relevant to our counterinsurgency 
efforts in Iraq. In yet another critical area, the group is in the 
process of developing a framework to assess the impact of enhancements 
in cyberspace on America's cyberpower. And finally, the group is 
reviewing defense spending in the area of computer science to see if it 
is adequate. These constitute some of the most critical issues that DoD 
must confront as it proceeds further into the information age.
  During the past few years, the Congress and the House Appropriations 
Committee has

[[Page E1254]]

been extremely supportive of this initiative. Although the investment 
in the effort has been modest, I believe it has had extraordinary 
payoff for DoD and the Nation at large. If we can retain our strong 
technological lead, we can save billions in defense dollars later that 
would otherwise need to be spent on catch-up activities. Therefore, I 
hope, as we look toward conference on this bill, that the Congress is 
able to continue to fund the NDU Technology Pilot Program's important 
work by setting aside $1,000,000 for the program in account PE 65104D8Z 
for fiscal year 2007.

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