[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 141 (Friday, August 7, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2021

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                               speech of

                          HON. DANIEL LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 30, 2020

  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this amendment to 
raise the funding for the Department of Defense National Innovation 
Security Network to $40 million, and to ensure continuation of their 
critical Hacking for Defense program.
  Hacking for Defense began as a college course created by Steve Blank 
at Stanford University in 2016 and has since expanded to more than 30 
universities across the nation, with more added every year. This course 
teaches student teams to rapidly solve challenging national security 
problems by harnessing the lean start-up methodology developed in 
Silicon Valley.
  Through this program, the Department of Defense and other national 
security partners have the opportunity to present their most pressing 
challenges to energetic talent within universities classrooms across 
the nation. U.S. military combat veterans and entrepreneurial mentors 
then guide students in applying cutting-edge research and problem-
solving techniques to address these real-world problems. The program 
has led to innovations in areas such as video surveillance of working 
military dogs, 3-D printing spare parts for Marine field vehicles, and 
countering drones. To date, nine start-ups have spun-off to further 
develop and address solutions to these challenges.
  The House Armed Services Committee report accompanying the FY21 
National Defense Authorization Act noted that Hacking for Defense, 
``Supports solution development directly for the warfighter, improves 
U.S. military readiness and stimulates growth within the National 
Security Innovation Base, consistent with the 2018 National Defense 
Strategy.'' Furthermore, the Committee noted that Hacking for Defense 
fosters emerging national security leaders and mission-driven 
entrepreneurs.
  In recognition of the importance of this work, the NDAA authorized 
the National Security Innovation Network at $40 million. Unfortunately, 
the defense division of this bill in its current form only appropriates 
half of this funding. I helped offer this bipartisan amendment to 
reprogram an additional $20 million in order to match the authorization 
level. This will allow Hacking for Defense to continue developing 
solutions to national security problems, and more importantly, to 
continue exposing students to the national security challenges and 
growing the national security workforce.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and the critical 
Hacking for Defense program.

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