Wednesday 8 May 2024 Good afternoon, Chairman Luetkemeyer, Ranking Member Beatty, and Members of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today in support of reauthorizing the Defense Production Act (DPA). Today is a most appropriate day for this hearing. Seventy-nine years ago, today the nation was celebrating what we now call “VE-Day” – the victory in Europe that ended World War II in the European theater. That victory was made possible because the United States had become what President Franklin Roosevelt had said in late 1940 it had to be: the “Arsenal of Democracy.” And the nation rose to that challenge. Today we face circumstances both different and yet similar in significant ways. We now face geoeconomic and technological competition with peer and near peer adversaries that impact our economy and military posture. Around the world our friends and allies are asking us to once again be the Arsenal of Democracy. Doing so will require the help the Congress and this Committee. So, I seek your support in taking a most important step: the reauthorization of the DPA. As the first Senate-Confirmed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, my top priority is overseeing the effective management and execution of DPA authorities and appropriations. The DPA is a critical tool for national defense and the successful implementation of the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the recently-released National Defense Industrial Strategy. Since Congress enacted the DPA in 1950, the executive branch has invoked DPA authorities to manage the nation's defense-related production capacity, defense critical supply chains, and to protect and strengthen the U.S. industrial base in war, peace, and during national emergencies. I would also like to thank the Congress for adding the United Kingdom and Australia to the definition of domestic sources for Title III awards in the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Allowing the DoD to enter agreements with companies the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Australia reinforces important alliances and short- and long-term development of secure defense critical supply chains. Going forward, the Defense Production Act will remain a critical national defense tool to mitigate supply chain risk vulnerabilities in our key weapons and defense systems, and for building capabilities with our important global allies and partners. Defense production, undergirded by a strong industrial and innovation ecosystem, is a deterrent. The DoD uses the Defense Production Act every day in our mission to safeguard vital U.S. national interests. Fully executing DPA authorities is a priority for defense industrial policy. Our adversaries attempt to use supply chain vulnerabilities to weaken the U.S. economy and military. Through DoD's role on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and elsewhere, we see how steps must be taken to ensure that adversarial capital investments in the U.S. technological base do not serve to weaken the United States by robbing the industrial base of technological leadership in areas affecting United States national security. The DoD remains concerned that adversaries use unfair trade and predatory acquisition and investment strategies to