Reinforcing America’s Defense: Appropriators Focus on Industrial Capacity, Workforce, and Critical Resources
Washington, D.C. – Providing for the common defense is such an essential responsibility that our Founders enshrined it in Article I of our Constitution. More than two centuries have transformed how America secures itself – and what it takes to do so – but the imperative to protect our great nation has not changed. Today, fulfilling that obligation requires far more than mere strength on the battlefield. It demands the understanding that our kinetic edge is only as strong as the industrial base behind it.
Recognizing the importance of those foundations, Defense Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) – joined by Appropriators David Valadao (R-CA) and Ed Case (D-HI) and Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi, HII Executive Vice President Eric Chewning, and Pennsylvania College of Technology President Dr. Michael Reed – held a bipartisan field hearing entitled "Industrial Base and Workforce Development for Skilled Trades" at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California, focusing on the connection between workforce development, skilled trades, secure supply chains, and our military might.
The central messages throughout the proceeding were straightforward:
- Materials without a workforce are potential, not production.
- A military without capability is presence, not protection.
- Supply chains without capacity are connections, not security.
Members and witnesses repeatedly emphasized shortages of welders, machinists, electricians, pipefitters, fabricators, mechanics, and other skilled workers. The need to recruit, train, and retain those workers over the long term, as well as secure critical minerals and fortify fragile supply chains, reinforced that U.S. defenses rest on layers of capability that must work in concert.
Read on for key moments and direct remarks from the hearing:
Defense Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) said, "As you are keenly aware, the foundational aspects of our industrial base are often taken for granted. We assume that critical manufacturing inputs such as minerals, sub-tier suppliers, and skilled labor will always be available. This assumption is false. We must deeply understand what investments are needed to protect and strengthen the industrial base, and this requires input from a cross-section of stakeholders, which is why we are here today... Workforce development of skilled trades is no small matter. Proficiency in skilled trades requires hands-on laboratory work with industrial machinery. These machines cost millions of dollars, and their industrial power draw requires significant energy load capacity. Additionally, mastery talent is required to teach the next generation and retrain professionals into these skilled trades. Recruiting mastery talent requires resourcing. The all-in cost to develop a skilled trades workforce is significant and this assumes academic institutions have access to power infrastructure, not to mention an ability to expand to meet current demand."
Full remarks as prepared for delivery are available here.
Defense Subcommittee Appropriator Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) said, "I want to thank Chairman Calvert, Mr. Case, and the Subcommittee for a hearing on this critical national security issue. As a lifelong farmer, I personally understand the hard work and the consequences of not being fully understood, or supported culturally, through policy, or resourcing. Our national and defense industrial bases and skilled trades professionals deserve attention and support, and I am proud to participate in this discussion… One of the challenges we hear about across the skilled trades is the workforce is aging. Many of the professionals with the highest level of expertise have spent decades developing those skills – and those are exactly the type of experienced individuals we want helping train the next generation. Is it possible to recruit the talent needed to serve as faculty? And what are some of the challenges you face in getting someone who has spent a career in the field to make a transition into teaching?"
Defense Subcommittee Appropriator Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) said, "We all know that our defense industrial base has eroded significantly over the past generation – adversely affecting our advanced manufacturing and repair maintenance capacity across several integral areas, including supply chains, access to critical minerals – and especially – our trade workforce. What we are focused on here is not on how we got here, but where we must go over the next decades to overcome the challenge. Our specific focus in this hearing is on our industrial workforce and how to develop and implement thoughtful, sustainable solutions to recruit, train, and retain skilled workers not just now, but over the next generation. In doing so, we must realistically assess our challenges, including a shortage of welders, electricians, pipe fitters, and other skilled traders; 76 million baby boomers retiring; as the chair noted, a too prevalent bias against careers in the trades; and difficulty in recruiting international talent from our allies and partners."
Mr. Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs and CEO of the Mike Rowe Works Foundation, said, "Don't let anyone tell you the skills gap isn't real. There are millions of jobs open right now, 400,000 of which exist in the defense industrial base. These are the people who build our submarines and our warships and our planes and so many other essential items. I don't believe I'm overstating it when I tell you that the people you're going to hear from today are here to ring the metaphorical alarm bell. If I had an actual alarm bell, I would ring it right now. Not a week goes by that I don't hear from the CEO of some Fortune 500 company or the leader of some consequential industry or a governor or any number of elected officials who are starting to understand just how serious the issue is. We have a $10-12 trillion infrastructure that needs to be built out in the next decade. We don't have the workers to do it in the private sector. That's making people's heads explode, but in the Pentagon, it's a matter of national security. We simply must reinvigorate the skilled trades, and we need to do it yesterday."
The Honorable Michael Cadenazzi, Assistant Secretary of War, Industrial Base Policy, said, "It is an honor to appear before you today to discuss the health of America’s defense industrial base (DIB) – and more specifically – the men and women of that industrial base. I want to thank [the House Appropriations Committee] for treating the skilled trades with the seriousness they deserve. Let me be clear about what we face. For the first time in a long time, the primary threat comes from a competitor who can outbuild us in many of the most important weapons of modern war. We must meet that challenge by rebuilding the DIB. We need to restore America’s critical minerals independence, scale production of key munitions, gain full visibility of defense supply chains, and ensure the industrial base is ready to mobilize in the event of conflict. This undertaking requires patience, bipartisan commitment, and a willingness to invest in something greater than any one of us here today: the future generation of Americans. There are no overnight solutions. Prior generations met the challenge, but at no small cost. And the cost grows each day we delay our response. That is my job now: to make sure we have the industrial base to meet that challenge again."
Full remarks as prepared for the record are available here.
Eric Chewning, Executive Vice President, Maritime Systems and Corporate Strategy, Huntington Ingalls Industries, said, "The importance of workforce development and the continued recovery of the maritime industrial base remain paramount in the execution of our mission. HII has been building and modernizing warships since Teddy Roosevelt's great white fleet first established the United States as a global maritime power. In our 140-year history, we have seen the ebbs and flows of US shipbuilding. The post-COVID-19 era had been particularly hard for us – heavy-industry shipbuilders included – and while challenges still remain, we are confident in the American shipbuilding renaissance currently underway. Today, with a sense of urgency, we're using our hard-earned experience to accelerate throughput in our shipyards and revitalize American shipbuilding. In 2025, throughput in our shipyards increased by 14% year over year, and with approximately 40 ships at Ingalls and at Newport News in active construction or modernization, our focus in 2026 is clear: we must build on this momentum and continue delivering ships at a greater pace to the U.S Navy."
Full remarks as prepared for the record are available here.
Dr. Michael Reed, President of the Pennsylvania College of Technology, said, "Today, I urge the subcommittee to recognize workforce education, particularly investments in skilled trades, as a strategic imperative for our national defense. 20 million American workers work in skilled trades, yet we’re not producing enough talent to meet demand. Today, there are roughly three jobs open for every skilled trade graduate, creating a workforce gap of more than one million workers. As nearly one quarter of the skilled trade workers approach retirement, this challenge will only grow. America possesses the most advanced military systems in the world, but those systems ultimately depend on skilled workers who build, maintain, troubleshoot, and deploy them. At a time when our Department of War is calling for greater manufacturing capacity and defense readiness, we simply are not producing the technical talent at a rate required to meet demand. Aircraft, submarines, and naval ships, armored vehicles, and weapon systems cannot exist without welders, machinists, electricians, automation specialists, mechanics, and countless other highly trained technicians."
Full remarks as prepared for the record are available here.
Before the hearing, Appropriators, witnesses, and university leaders toured facilities throughout the College of the Canyons, gaining a firsthand look at the programs and technologies preparing the next generation of America’s skilled workforce. From welding labs and virtual reality training to cutting-edge cybersecurity programs, members saw how the college is translating education into real-world skills – building the technical expertise and talent pipeline critical to strengthening America’s defense industrial base and meeting the national security demands of tomorrow.
The message from the field hearing was clear: America cannot deter what it is not prepared to confront, and it cannot build what it lacks the capacity to produce. The Fiscal Year 2027 Defense Appropriations bill confronts that challenge by investing in military readiness, modernization, production capacity, and the defense industrial base.
House Republican Appropriators are working to strengthen readiness, reinforce critical supply chains, and invest in the workforce behind our military. This priority should transcend partisan agendas. While some on the far left would like to make it a political purity test, it should be neither a Republican nor Democrat issue – it is an enduring national security responsibility. Meeting it will require sustained bipartisan commitment and a shared recognition that there is urgency now. At a time when the margin for complacency is no longer narrowing – the moment is here – sustained, reliable investments are needed to address every layer of end strength.
From critical minerals to skilled hands, from secure supply chains to factory floors, from weapons systems to munitions production, from troop readiness to battlefield capability – every aspect of American defense strength must be ready.
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