Rogers and Smith lead a bipartisan codel to visit Silicon Valley

September 19, 2024 – WASHINGTON – U.S Representatives Mike Rogers (R-Alabama) and Adam Smith (D-Washington), the Chairman and the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, recently led a bipartisan congressional delegation visit to Silicon Valley. Joining them on the visit were U.S. Representatives John Garamendi (D-California), Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), Ro Khanna (D-California), Carlos Gimenez (R-Florida), Sara Jacobs (D-California), Nancy Mace (R-Sourth Carolina), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia), Rich McCormick (R-Georgia), and Anna Eshoo (D-California).

"The United States' ability to ensure a strong national defense depends in large part on our ability to innovate and modernize our military," the House Armed Services leaders wrote. "During our recent visit to Silicon Valley, we heard testimony from companies about the barriers they face in working with the Department of Defense (DoD) and received their recommendations on how we can better expedite the fielding of innovative technologies."

"Congress has provided DoD with many authorities over the years to expedite the fielding of innovative technology," Reps. Rogers and Smith continued. "Yet, problems persist and it's clear that DoD needs to be able to pivot and adapt even more quickly. Part of meeting that challenge requires a change of DOD culture."

"Many in Congress talk a lot about how DoD needs to be tolerant of failure to encourage innovation, but they are not tolerant of failure," Rogers and Smith wrote. "We too must commit to a change in culture in this regard. As we've seen in Ukraine and the Middle East, the battlefield is changing. We need to learn from those conflicts and more nimbly adapt to ensure the United States remains the strongest fighting force in the world."

"It was encouraging to see some of the most innovative companies in Silicon Valley show their support for working with the United States military to help deter conflict and keep our country safe," Rogers and Smith concluded. "Doing so also provides significant economic benefits and helps the United States keep pace with cutting edge technological advances. We can all agree that we need to make it easier for American entrepreneurs and industry to work with DoD to reap these collective rewards and ensure a strong national defense."

After dominating the world in military technology since the end of the Cold War, the United States has entered a period where changing military technology plays an increasingly important role on the modern battlefield. Modern militaries are incorporating drones, hypersonics, cyber warfare, anti-satellite weaponry, railguns, energy weapons, artificial intelligence, unmanned combat vehicles, and other new technologies at an increasingly rapid pace. The nation that dominates the future will be the one that is able to gain mastery of this new technology and incorporate the most advanced tech seamlessly into their frontline combat forces.

Mike Rogers is in his twelfth term representing Alabama's Third Congressional District. Prior to being elected to Congress Rogers represented the people of Calhoun County in the Alabama House of Representatives and on the Calhoun County Commission.

To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com