Foreign Arms Sales Task Force Hears from Defense Industry Leaders on Much-Needed Reforms
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Foreign Arms Sales Task Force held the second in a series of roundtables featuring defense industry perspectives on reforming and improving America’s foreign arms sales process.
As part of the bipartisan engagement, members heard from industry representatives from the Aerospace Industries Association and National Defense Industrial Association on the regulatory and bureaucratic challenges U.S. companies face in arming our allies and partners with American-made equipment and technology at the pace of war.
During his opening remarks, Task Force Chairman Ryan Zinke (R-MT) underscored the urgency with which Congress must act to ensure that the foreign arms sales process to meet the demands of the future and highlighted the bipartisan approach the task force is taking to ensure much-needed legislative reforms get across the finish line.
The roundtable provided a forum for candid, detailed discussions between industry insiders and Task Force members on the red-tape American companies face day-in and day-out because of outdated regulations and cumbersome approval processes across the interagency.
The panelists also underscored the crucial role foreign arms sales play in ensuring the United States continues to maintain the world’s leading defense industrial base amid increasing global competition.
The Task Force, which is being led by Chairman Zinke and Ranking Member Madeleine Dean (D-PA), will propose overdue reforms aimed at eliminating bureaucratic hurdles that encumber the current foreign arms sales process.
The legislation put forward by the Task Force will build upon executive actions announced by President Trump earlier this month to reform and improve the foreign defense sales process.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast and Task Force Chairman Zinke pledged to work closely with the Trump administration to codify these much-needed reforms into law and improve the U.S. defense industrial base, eliminate red-tape in the arms sales process, and improve interoperability and efficiency with our foreign partners.
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