Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I am a strong supporter of innovation and bringing fresh ideas to the department. I support efforts that will deliver promising new technologies and provide our troops with a technological edge to prevail. However, I don't support efforts aimed at building empires under the guise of innovation. The amendment seeks to reverse a justified reduction made by the committee to the Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental, DIUx. For fiscal year 2019, DIUx proposed to double its budget compared to last year without sufficient justification. This proposed increase was aimed at doubling the size of the program office, along with significant increases for office space and a generous travel budget. I need to better understand how DIUx will fit into the department's new research and engineering organization and how it will maximize innovation for the warfighter before increasing funds for DIUx. I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), my ranking member.”