Subcommittee Chairman Adam Smith

Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee

Hearing re: DoD’s Counterproliferation, Counterterrorism and Science and Technology (S&T) Priorities

“Today’s hearing will examine the President’s budget requests for Defense Department divisions directly involved in the development and fielding of new technology for our Armed Forces.  We are especially interested in innovative solutions for counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation.  I want to welcome and thank our distinguished panel members for their testimony today on these key issues.

“The convergence of terrorist networks with weapons of mass destruction represents a dire potential threat to the United States.  We know from recent experience the difficulty of positively identifying and tracking WMD caches in the hands of hostile agents. 

“This subcommittee is committed to giving our troops what they need to break up terrorist networks, disrupt hostile uses of WMD, and return safe to their families.    The U.S. must make the right investments in high-tech strategies to counter the threat of terrorism and WMD, both individually and taken together.

“Our interest in the Defense Department’s Science and Technology programs runs on two primary tracks:  first, the war on terrorism demands we get new advanced technology to our special operations forces faster; second, we must ensure we are devoting the right resources to the right programs so U.S. forces maintain technological dominance on the battlefields of the future.

“We look forward to hearing from our two panels today on these issues as the committee considers the President’s 2008 budget request.”