{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/new-technologies-win-wars-emphasizes-king-in-armed-services-hearing", "\u201cNew Technologies Win Wars\u201d Emphasizes King in Armed Services Hearing", "2024-07-30", "2024", "2024-07", "Independent", "Senate", "ME", "Angus S. King, Jr.", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", "angusking", "https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/table", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 In a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), U.S. Senator Angus King called on the Department of Defense (DoD) to fast-track its adoption of new technologies in order to allow America\u2019s armed services to compete on the global stage more effectively. In an exchange with Jane Harman, Chair of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy, King questioned why the DoD\u2019s budget for directed energy has significantly fallen in recent years as the low-cost technology has increasingly been utilized by foes, after highlighting the historical correlation between countries that adapt early to new technologies and their ability to succeed in global conflicts.\n\nDuring his line of questioning, Senator King received strong agreement from Chair Harman about the DoD\u2019s need to move faster than the \u201cspeed of bureaucracy.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe first country to adapt new technologies generally wins wars; Genghis Khan and the stirrup, the long bow at the battle of Agincourt, the tank in World War I, radar in World War II. We are systematically missing technologies \u2014 it is one of the great failures of the last 10 or 15 years in our defense structure. Directed energy, hypersonics, AI, cyber, information warfare, we're woefully behind in every one of those,\u201d said Senator King. \u201cWe are shooting down $20,000 Houthi missiles with $4.3 million missiles of our own \u2014 that\u2019s ridiculous The budget for directed energy in the defense department has fallen by half in the last three years. Representative Harman, is it systematic legacy thinking? What is the problem? Why did we miss these obvious technologies\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, you have heard us say that the Pentagon is moving at the speed of bureaucracy,\u201d replied Chair Harman. \u201cI think it is legacy systems, old think, and I think congress is somewhat \u2014 \u201d\n\n\u201cI think it\u2019s legacy thinking,\u201d responded Senator King.\n\n\u201cLegacy thinking, fine, but I think congress is somewhat complicit in the way the budget process doesn't work and this insistence on requirements and oversight rather than what is the problem set we are solving for which is how the tech sector thinks,\u201d said Chair Harman. \u201cI've been making a comment about DIU \u2014 the Defense Innovation Unit that was set up by the late Secretary Ash Carter, that maybe we should outsource the Pentagon to DIU, which is ably headed by someone named Doug Beck, who had 11-years experience in the private sector, because they know how to think about this. I couldn't agree with you more. The budget of DIU is $1 billion out of $850 billion.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd it's technologies that win wars \u2014 new technologies,\u201d replied Senator King.\n\n\u201cRight. I'm in violent agreement with you. He says he can leverage that into $50 billion of commercial investment, but that is still a pittance compared to the kind of change we need to undergo, not just at the Pentagon, but the Pentagon lashed up with other government agencies, with the tech sector, and with partners and allies. That is our point about all elements of national power that will win the next war,\u201d agreed Chair Harman.\n\nA member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), Senator King is recognized as an authoritative voice on national security and foreign policy issues who has also been named a \u201cfiscal hero\u201d by government watchdogs for responsible spending. As the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Strategic Forces \u2014 which oversees the United States\u2019 strategic forces and missile defense \u2014 Senator King has been a steady voice on the need to address the growing nuclear capacity of our adversaries. Senator King recently expressed concern about the emerging threats of Russia and China\u2019s development of \u201cnightmare weapon\u201d hypersonic missiles, which he has described as \u201cstrategic game-changers.\u201d Earlier this year, Senator King urged the DoD to take advantage of private sector technologies or risk losing access to innovative defense technologies. In a recent SASC hearing, he again encouraged the DoD to adopt smart spending practices when it comes to developing defense technologies and other products.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:24:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/new-technologies-win-wars-emphasizes-king-in-armed-services-hearing"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.258122269064188, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}