00:00I recognize Senator Young for five minutes.
00:03Thank you, Chair. As Chairman of the National Security Council on Emerging Biotechnology,
00:10I have dedicated a significant amount of effort on the topic of making sure that we have a vibrant
00:18small business sector that can commercialize the many innovations we make in this country.
00:23And one of the key recommendations we have in that report is the urgent need to mobilize
00:29the private sector by enhancing the reach and the effectiveness of the small business innovation
00:35research and small business technology transfer programs. These programs are essential for
00:41advancing early stage innovation and scaling U.S. technologies. They are proven. They have been
00:46bipartisan, but we think they certainly can be improved. Mr. Hanas, you've been closely involved
00:54with the NSCEB. Thank you for your assistance. You helped us shape recommendations. From your
01:01perspective, how critical is it that we emphasize and incentivize the commercialization of emerging
01:08technologies? Just touch again on that, but as importantly, how might your recommendation
01:15to make China's united front operatives register as foreign agents help advance that cause?
01:29So the first point, yeah, I mean, this is where China excels in commercializing technology.
01:38They never set the world on fire in coming up with abstract indigenous theoretical discoveries,
01:44but what they do exceptionally well is commercialize what anybody in the world finds.
01:50We seem to have exported or lost that ability to commercialize, and there was a time when we could
01:55get along okay with royalties from patents for inventions that we created, but those days are gone.
02:03Need to commercialize. And here we might draw a lesson for once from China, something they're doing.
02:10I was kind of shocked discovered a few years ago that they have what are called commercialization
02:17centers, which are anything from a storefront with two people in it to acres wide and stories tall
02:24complexes that exist solely for the purpose of commercializing technology, both foreign and
02:30indigenous. They don't discriminate. If it's technology, they'll commercialize it, getting it to market
02:35and or weaponizing it before anybody else does. I don't know that we have anything like that.
02:42And I think we might be able to learn a lesson from that. And your second question, Senator?
02:47If you could very briefly, because I have limited time, but just touch on your recommendation pertaining to
02:53making China's United Front operatives register as foreign agents.
02:59Well, clearly they are. No one's held their feet to the fire to this extent. And again,
03:05it goes back to data. We need to understand, you know, what groups of people are involved.
03:10We already do understand that at a certain level. But we need to get this information into a database
03:18where it's scrutinized and made available to other people who can make these analytic judgments
03:24and execute these decisions that we make in determining, you know, who are actually China's
03:31unpaid actors, China's influence operators. It's not done. It's done. It's hit and miss.
03:35You know, it seems to me a sports analogy is applicable here. A good defense is also a good
03:42offense, right? In this case, if we cut down on the theft of intellectual property,
03:48we leave it to our own market, our own investors and entrepreneurs, if we up our game with respect
03:54to commercialization to deploy, you know, whatever business model they think appropriate to take
04:04advantage of those breakthroughs creates jobs and prosperity and helps our national security.
04:08So I think the two are very much linked. Ms. De La Bruyere, I'm sorry if I butchered your name.
04:17How can we better ensure sustained U.S. leadership in the development and deployment of emerging tech
04:23through your proposal to prohibit certain businesses from eligibility for federal procurement
04:30development if they run afoul of any of the proscriptions that you suggest? Data research,
04:38procurement localization, investment in Chinese entities? How would that work?
04:42Ms. De La Bruyere, that starts with defense, right? Part of that is then we're trying to defend our
04:50technology from China's access. Yes.
04:52Ms. De La Bruyere, perhaps more important than that because fundamentally defense will only work so well
04:58against China is that moves like that send a message to the private sector and they tell the
05:04private sector that you have to make a choice between the U.S. market and between China and also
05:09that you can profit from investing in America and investment in the U.S. and countering of China can
05:15be a profitable thesis. The U.S.'s greatest strength is our private sector but that has to be what's
05:21activated for the contest against China. We can't just have the government impose restrictions and think
05:26that that will work. So moves that force a choice and make U.S. government support contingent on
05:34a competitive approach to China send a signal to the private sector.
05:39Thank you. I'm out of time, Dr. Shavakumar. Good to see you. I've enjoyed our work together.
05:44Sure.
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