So I think it is an area we are working through. It is a challenge now.

Don't you think there should be a lead agency, maybe the State Department, which has $120 million to do the exact thing we're talking about?

this is not a top priority for the President.

I don't think we have a very cohesive strategy for countering the ongoing Russian efforts to interfere with our elections and our democracy.

These threats require us to consider how we can ensure that the Navy and Marine Corps have the resources they need.

I think if you are a Marine from Vietnam or World War II and you went into watching what the Marines were doing, you would have just been lost at what was going on with the amount of unmanned ground systems, vehicles that were in the air…

You have certainly kept a laser-beam focus on getting to a 355-ship Navy.

So, by the listing that you gave, are you doing enough to address the lethality gap?

Over the course of the past several months, our committee has heard testimony and received briefings detailing the increasing lethality gaps between the U.S. military and our near-peer competitors.

In my opening statement, I referred to the Navy's new plan for modernizing the public shipyards, of course, after years of neglect.

So, are you saying that the Marines are developing a capability to counter information warfare from near-peer competitors such as Russia and China?

I completely agree. As we look at modernizing our four public shipyards, and I have met with many of our workers in our shipyards, they want to have the modern tools.

Earlier this year, Secretary of Defense Mattis announced a new defense strategy that would shift the focus for planning defense capabilities from one focusing on smaller regional contingencies to one focusing on being able to deal with…

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank Ranking Member Waters for her leadership in opposing this bill and standing for the protection of everyday Americans. We can't forget that it was only 10 years ago that millions of hardworking families watched their life savings…

The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed that 21 State electoral systems were targeted in the 2016 election, revealing vulnerabilities and jeopardizing the integrity of our elections and our democracy as people lose confidence…

Over 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated on American soil during World War II. On the annual Day of Remembrance, we are reminded of the brave men, women, and children who lost everything. They lost their homes, their belongings…

The threat is evolving and the ability to sustain our advantage demands a strong commitment to sustained future investments.