As Competition with China Intensifies, Senator Murray Makes Clear: America Cannot Stay Ahead Unless Our Investments Keep Pace

Hearing

"Make no mistake: China is pressing forward with an aggressive modernization and expansion of their military capabilities. We need to ensure the military has the resources it needs to stay ahead of China's military modernization, strengthen logistical preparedness, expand cyber capabilities, and so much more. However, as the Secretary of Defense has said repeatedly--keeping our nation safe requires a whole-of-government approach.

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We have to make sure we have a regular appropriations process so every Department--including DOD--can plan for the year ahead. We cannot settle for CRs that freeze our progress, result in year-over-year funding cuts, and seriously impair every single one of our agencies' abilities to fulfill their missions and move our country forward. The Chinese Communist Party doesn't govern by CRs and cuts--and we can't either.

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Keeping our country safe and competitive is not just about defense spending. Keeping our country safe means investing in diplomacy and development to counter political and economic coercion, promote stability, stand up to autocrats, support our allies, and advance our global leadership instead of ceding ground to the governments of China and Russia.

And when it comes to keeping our competitive edge on the world stage, that means investing in American innovation with funding for research and development, advanced manufacturing--like we passed in the CHIPS and Science Act--clean energy jobs, cutting edge biomedical research, emerging technologies--like AI, and so much more. And, of course, we cannot be competitive with the Chinese government if we are not investing in the backbone of our economy: working families.

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We showed just a few months ago there is bipartisan support for an across-the-board effort to counter the growing influence of China's Communist Party. But if we want to stay competitive--if we want to stay ahead--we have to stay the course and build on those investments. Which is why I find the approach House Republicans have called for is so dangerous….After years of bipartisan consensus for maintaining America's global leadership, this tactic will throw in the towel to our competitors.

Let's be clear, China isn't debating whether to pay its debts, or wreck its economy. China isn't debating whether to invest in its future, or cut and cap the investments that keep it competitive, and China does not operate on CRs.

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We have to show there is a bipartisan vision to strengthen our nation's competitiveness and security by investing in American leadership across the board--and a bipartisan will to get it done. That's what I've been focused on in all our subcommittee hearings… and it's why I want us to continue our work and mark up bipartisan spending bills soon because bottom line: we find ourselves at a real turning point, and this year's government spending bills will determine whether or not we are prepared to compete with China, and whether or not we will stay ahead or fall behind."

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