Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Accompanying the release of the ground-breaking, bipartisan report produced by members of the House Armed Services Committee’s bipartisan Future of Defense Task Force, Co-Chair Rep. Jim Banks (IN-03), released the following statement:

“The significance of this report is in its name. This report details a vision of the future of defense--specifically a smart, whole-of-nation strategy addressing the rise of China--and I will be dedicating the rest of my career on the House Armed Services Committee to making sure it comes to fruition,” said Banks. “The Department of Defense needs to innovate to ensure the United States maintains its global military supremacy, and this report is the roadmap to do it.”

Rep. Banks was chosen by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith and Ranking Member Mac Thornberry to lead the Future of Defense Task Force alongside his co-chair Rep. Seth Moulton. Both Banks and Moulton are veterans and served in the military after the attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.

Due to China’s rapid military buildup in air, sea, land and cyber capabilities, national security experts have become concerned that the United States could lose in an armed conflict with China. War game simulations have shown that if Russia and China team up, the United States is defeated easily.

The Future of Defense Task Force recognizes that, because we have entered the age of artificial intelligence, the battlefield of the future will look more like an operating system than a chess board. Accordingly, the members of the task force produced the following policy reforms:

Key reforms from the report:

1. Implement artificial intelligence revolution
2. Protect our critical technologies
3. Work with Silicon Valley
4. Invest in our workforce

“Indiana leads in defense innovation, and I’m proud to work with leaders throughout the state to develop key capabilities, like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and hypersonics, for our future warfighters,” added Banks.

###