Transcript of Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi's Opening Statement from Hearing on U.S. Leadership in Critical and Emerging Technologies
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Wednesday, the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held a hearing on ensuring U.S. leadership in the critical and emerging technologies of the 21st century, focusing on the U.S.-PRC technology competition and the need to lead in “must win” technologies that will shape America’s economic and national security future.
The following witnesses provided testimony:
- Mr. Josh Wolfe, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Lux Capital
- Mr. William Evanina, Former Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center & CEO of The Evanina Group
- Ms. Lindsay Gorman, Senior Fellow for Emerging Technologies, The German Marshall Fund
Below is a transcript of the opening statement from Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Select Committee. Footage of the Ranking Member’s opening statement can be found here, and his questions to the witnesses can be found here.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to the witnesses. Thank you to the audience.
Tonight, you’ll hear a lot about “must win” technologies. We know these are “must win” technologies because General Secretary Xi Jinping thinks they are too. He has said that the PRC must “win the battle” for “core technologies” in order to avoid being “trapped at the bottom of the global value chain.”
From AI to quantum computing to biotechnology, these are the technologies that will power our growth and largely determine who wins the global economic and security competition for the rest of the 21st century.
Witnesses will repeatedly mention a concept of “military-civil fusion”. This concept involves the CCP trying to win the future by basically prioritizing military needs first and avoiding a separation between the government and so-called private businesses. It is a system designed to keep control solely in the hands of the CCP and absorb failure, inefficiency, and waste because they are not focused on short-term profits but rather on long-term dominance.
This isn’t just a competition to see whether the CCP or the U.S. gains an economic or military advantage. This is a competition between two distinct systems to determine the values that will be embedded in the foundational technologies of day-to-day life.
In the American system, AI will primarily be used to enhance productivity. We aim to use it to ensure workers’ livelihoods are improved, not replaced.
In the CCP system, we have seen AI used to surveil those who criticize the government with the potential to usher in a new model of digital authoritarianism that the CCP is already exporting around the world.
This is the inflection point. If we stay ahead, then we can make sure technology serves humanity and not the other way around. But the reverse is also true; if we lose, we could see this technology impact our freedoms and limit our opportunities.
Those are the stakes. So the question is, how do we respond?
First, we cannot fund or participate in the CCP’s military-civil fusion endeavors. Earlier this month, we launched an investigation into U.S.-based venture capital firms who have made investments and provided support to PRC companies. We are still awaiting findings from that investigation, but it’s important to know whether American investors are potentially supporting the CCP’s human rights violations and military pursuits.
Second, we must marshal a sense of urgency about leading in the technologies of the future. AI’s computational power is doubling every six to 10 months, which means we cannot hesitate to take bold action now and we can’t fuel the potentially nefarious efforts of the CCP. AI is also entering a new phase of transformational generative power that Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said is, “going to have a bigger impact on the world than some of the most ubiquitous innovations in history.”
Third, we must double-down on our people. Whether that’s advanced skills-based training and STEM education or enhancing our legal immigration system which is our #1 killer competitive advantage over the PRC, our people are our greatest weapon in this competition. According to China’s own Tsinghua University, the PRC has only 12% of world’s top AI researchers, while the U.S. has 57% of the global total. It’s not a coincidence that AI researchers flock to Silicon Valley instead of Shenzhen. If we don’t onshore talent, we will offshore innovation. If we don’t onshore talent, we will offshore prosperity.
Now, the CCP will always be able to do some things we would never want to do in America. Here, we’re NOT going to lawlessly scoop up people’s data and shove it into a government database to train AI models. And we’re NOT going to perfect facial recognition by singling out a religious minority and targeting them for persecution.
But what we can do is double-down on the virtues that make America exceptional. We can be the best place in the world to study STEM, do basic research, attract high-skilled talent, and invest your capital. We can be the ones who protect privacy and responsibly regulate AI, instead of using it to censor and surveil. We can make America America again by unleashing freedom, innovation, imagination, and embarking on a radical Americanization of the technologies of the future. Because if we can do that, we can win this competition.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today and yield back the balance of my time.
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