[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 153 (Thursday, September 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4957-S4958]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  NDAA

  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, over the years, many historians have 
studied how exactly the United States was able to rapidly mobilize 
during World War II. It was truly a remarkable thing.
  One book, ``Freedom's Forge'' by Arthur Herman, summarizes the feat 
well. American manufacturers produced ``two-thirds of all Allied 
military equipment used in World War II. That included 86,000 tanks, 
2.5 million trucks and a half a million jeeps, 286,000 warplanes, 8,800 
naval vessels, 5,600 naval merchant ships, 434 million tons of steel, 
2.6 million machine guns, and 41 billion rounds of ammunition--not to 
mention the greatest super bomber of the war, the B-29, and the atomic 
bomb.''
  In the blink of an eye, entire manufacturing industries retooled 
their factories, and they began pumping out everything from fighter 
planes to ships to critical munitions. There is no doubt that our 
immense production capacity was a critical factor behind why the Allies 
won the war.
  The threat environment that we face today is much different. There 
are a wide range of scenarios that our Nation has to be prepared for. 
And, of course, the way our economy is structured is also much 
different.
  This raises an important question: Are we prepared to respond to the 
changing threat environment of the 21st century?
  Repeating that incredible moment in American history would not be 
easy. What we can and what we should do is identify which investments 
we can make to effectively meet these threats and deter any adversary.
  For years, we have underinvested in our munitions production 
capacity. We can start to reverse that by expanding already hot 
production lines, which would have an immediate positive effect on 
readiness.
  If we don't make these investments now, it will be harder for us to 
surge munitions production in a time of emergency or global 
instability, and that is a concern we must take seriously.
  During a crisis, surge capacity is one lever the Department of 
Defense must be able to pull to ensure that decisionmakers have a range 
of options at their disposal. In fact, the ability to surge production 
of munitions is going to be vital to respond to most types of modern 
conflicts.
  How do we know this? Let's just look at Ukraine and Russia and how 
quickly they are running through munitions.

[[Page S4958]]

  According to the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, Ukraine 
needs approximately 500 Javelin missiles every single day. Well, 
Lockheed Martin only produces around 2,100 missiles a year. When the 
report was published in June, RUSI also estimated that Russia had used 
between 1,100 and 2,100 missiles during their invasion of Ukraine. That 
means ``in three months of combat, Russia has burned through four times 
the US annual missile production'' for those cruise missiles. These 
examples are important benchmarks.
  You can do the math, and you can pretty quickly come up with future 
scenarios where demand starts to strain supply.
  Another important factor is the People's Republic of China, which 
both the Biden administration and the Trump administration identified 
as America's pacing threat. China has spent the last two decades 
dramatically building up its military. According to the DOD's 2019 
Missile Defense Review, ``a key component of China's military 
modernization is its conventional ballistic missile arsenal designed to 
prevent [the] U.S. military access to support regional allies and 
partners.''
  Since then, China's arsenal has only continued to rapidly grow--
again, another important reference point that our Nation will have to 
navigate.
  This should not be interpreted as fearmongering. I want to be clear 
that I have every confidence in our military's ability to defend this 
Nation and to defend our allies.
  Army Assistant Secretary for Acquisitions, Logistics, and Technology 
Doug Bush recently told reporters, for example, that he was ``not 
uncomfortable'' with our stockpile levels. However, as Assistant 
Secretary Bush noted, the Army is ``doggedly working with industry . . 
. to boost the production of certain weapon systems to keep Kyiv armed 
and the US well stocked.''
  In August, the Wall Street Journal reported that ``in the [United 
States], it takes 13 to 18 months from the time orders are placed for 
munitions to be manufactured, [and that is] according to an industry 
official. Replenishing stockpiles of more sophisticated weaponry such 
as missiles and drones can take much longer.''
  The United States, our allies, and our partners need those munitions. 
The challenge is that years of underinvestment has reduced our 
production capacities and speed at which we can respond to that 
increased demand.
  Clearly, there are significant benefits to expanding that capacity. 
Again, we have to be able to meet the changing threat environment and 
the rise of our near-peer competitors, like China. Congress, I believe, 
needs to take a few actions to address this challenge.
  First, invest more in our munitions production capacity. Second, pass 
a clean national defense authorization act without delay.
  I secured an amendment in this year's Senate NDAA to require the 
Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to 
produce an annual report on our industrial base and the potential 
constraints for our munitions production. This type of reporting should 
help to further identify gaps in our production capacity so that we can 
further refine future investments. Overall, these actions would be an 
important step in the right direction.
  We know that our adversaries will continue--continue--to threaten our 
global security. We know, as shown by Russia's horrific invasion of 
Ukraine--that our allies and partners will continue--they will 
continue--to need munitions. And we know the United States needs to be 
prepared for any scenario that threatens our national security.

  The best response to those stark and immediate realities is to expand 
our ability to produce the things that we need to defend ourselves. If 
we do that, the greater our capacity is to project strength, react to 
any scenario, and better support allies and partners.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Cortez Masto). The Senator from Alabama.

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