During Thursday’s House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY) questioned Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about economic warfare with the CCP.
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00:00Thanks, Secretary, for those words.
00:04We have a full complement of members of the subcommittee with us this morning,
00:09and for that reason we will do our questioning under the five-minute rule.
00:16So, Mr. Secretary, thank you for being here.
00:18I yield myself five minutes.
00:20You touched on this somewhat already, but I wanted to ask you about the Chinese Communist Party
00:33and their effect in this country and our bipartisan concern.
00:41From economic warfare to technological threats,
00:46China is seeking to obtain advantage of our nation, our people, and our companies
00:55at all possible opportunities.
01:00Again, summarize what we're doing to strengthen our ability to counter
01:06China's unfair trade practices.
01:11Protect American intellectual property and secure critical supply chains
01:16and emerging technologies.
01:24The Chinese Communist Party seeks to become the dominant culture of the world,
01:33and it uses our knowledge, our innovation, and our entrepreneurial spirit against us.
01:43It sends hundreds of thousands of students to train and learn here
01:48in order to build up their capacity to grow.
01:52For example, if you see their airplanes, gosh, they look just like the F-22 because they've copied
02:05our models and our systems.
02:07They are trying to copy our technology.
02:10And in the race for AI supremacy, they are behind us, but they are working with the central government
02:17out to get us, right?
02:20To beat us so that they will have intellectual superiority over us.
02:24There is an AI race, and BIS, our bureau, is at the heart of protecting America.
02:32And that's why we've sought an increase in the budget, even though we're decreasing our overall budget.
02:38We need to arm the Bureau of Industry and Security to protect us and to help us keep key industries
02:47away from the Chinese so that they can't just copy us all the time.
02:55The budget request for BIS does not specify any specific initiatives related to increasing oversight
03:07of entities posing a threat to U.S. national security.
03:14Why is that so?
03:17I'd be happy to detail it either here or in writing.
03:22But the idea is to add enforcement agents, agents who carry weapons, agents who go and
03:31examine warehouses, examine those people who are exporting, examine the imports, find the
03:39particular items, and make sure we have export controls are rigorously enforced.
03:45So that is the specific use of the funds, is more people to protect and defend our export controls.
03:55The policies the government make need to be rigorously enforced, and we're trying to increase the enforcement capacity
04:03ability because we just don't have enough enforcement agents to do a great job.
04:09Let me switch gears and ask you about the National Weather Service.
04:20Kentucky has been the target of floods and tornadoes and everything else.
04:28In fact, we lost 20 people two weeks ago in my hometown and adjoining area.
04:37I'm concerned about the implications of local weather forecast offices operating at reduced staffing levels.
04:50Take, for example, the Jackson, Kentucky office, which is currently operating with multiple vacancies and no permanent meteorologist.
05:01What can we do about that?
05:06What steps are being taken to ensure NOAA's local weather forecast offices have the resources,
05:15the technology, and staffing to issue timely, accurate warnings and protect lives in high-risk communities?
05:25All weather collection technology is in full force and effect.
05:34Our satellites, our balloons, all sources are in full force and effect.
05:41The National Weather Service employs 2,100 meteorologists.
05:47Less than 130 took early retirement.
05:51It is fake news and inappropriate to suggest a single meteorologist or hydrologist was fired.
06:00That is preposterous and silly.
06:04Less than 5% chose to retire.
06:08And we, using these responsible Commerce Department,
06:13sought and were granted the ability to hire those people the same number.
06:20So we will have no, no reduction in force.
06:25Our National Hurricane Center has full staff.
06:28And I want you to understand just the last portion, what you said.
06:32We have numerous regional offices, which are generally small.
06:39And, you know, they usually have three or four meteorologists.
06:43And these exist because the data is locally hardwired into old computers with hard drives and green screens.
06:55If I showed it to you, you would be embarrassed.
06:59The idea is to automate that, to put it on the cloud,
07:03so that the 2,100 meteorologists we have and the hundreds of hydrologists that we have can forecast the weather from central locations
07:14and back up each other and be more appropriate.
07:17So I think the technological advancements we will make over the next year or two years will totally change these things.
07:25But I want to be crystal clear.
07:27Every single person, the National Weather Service, we are at full staff.
07:33We have full capacity.
07:35And we will have the best forecasting capacity that we possibly can to protect Americans.
07:43And I will not sleep if that were not true.
07:45That is required of you, of me, and of America, that we deliver that for American people.
07:52And I promise you, we are.
07:56Mr. Meng.