Sen. Budd: AI Enables Americans to Make the Best and Most of Themselves on Daily Basis

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In his opening statement at today's Senate Subcommittee on Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness hearing, Chairman Ted Budd (R-N.C.) discussed the need to accelerate AI innovation and infrastructure development without subjecting this technology to needless overregulation. To bolster U.S. leadership in technological innovation and counter adversarial nations like China, Senator Budd emphasized the importance of leaning into the free market and private sector approach to exporting American technology abroad. Additionally, Senator Budd underscored the strong leadership displayed by President Trump and Director Kratsios in repealing the Biden-era executive order that sought to stifle the potential of American advancement in AI technology.

Here are Sen. Budd's remarks as prepared for delivery:

"This morning is the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Science, Manufacturing, and Competitiveness this Congress. I want to thank Ranking Member Baldwin for her help with getting this hearing on the calendar. Our subcommittee has a wide jurisdiction over issues central to creating good paying jobs, expanding economic opportunity, and maintaining America's competitive edge. I am looking forward to working with her the rest of this Congress to hold hearings on other important topics.

"Director Kratsios, thank you for being here today. I am very excited about America's AI Action Plan and to hear your perspective on how we can work collaboratively between the Trump administration and Congress to accelerate AI innovation, build American AI infrastructure, and lead internationally in cooperation with allies and partners.

"Personally, I am also excited about what the future holds with the acceleration of AI adoption.

"If developed, deployed, and employed properly, AI stands to enable Americans to make the most and the best of themselves on a daily basis. We must ensure that our AI policy is anchored in maximizing economic opportunity for Americans.

"I am not talking about billionaires in Silicon Valley.

"I am talking about everyday Americans waking up and going to work in family-sustaining careers enhanced by AI, not replaced by it.

"U.S. leadership in technological innovation has been the accelerator that has boosted our economy and growth rates ahead of the rest of the world. General-purpose technologies-like the internet-ushered in sustained years of economic growth, wage gains, new jobs, and increased productivity.

"Critically, U.S. leadership allowed for the open internet and the ecosystem built around it to reflect our national character of entrepreneurship and free expression.

"AI offers similar opportunities as a transformative general-purpose technology. AI, for instance, offers a real chance to help achieve the economic success and enhanced productivity we need to grow our way out of the unsustainable debt path we are on.

"As your AI Action Plan rightly points out, the competition is fierce.

"The Trump Administration has made American AI leadership a day-one priority, as President Trump rescinded President Biden's AI Executive Order, which many feared was an over-regulatory, European Union-styled approach that would suffocate innovation and startups while ceding important ground to adversarial nations like China.

"The PRC has put forward plans to leverage state resources and capital to make China the global leader in AI by 2030. Through their top-down statist economic model, the PRC wants to direct capital and resources to favored firms to embed AI across industries, including in manufacturing, agriculture, robotics, and services. AI is a fast-changing, dynamic field, and industrial policies that might have worked for electric vehicles and solar panels are not guaranteed to win this race.

"I firmly believe that our country's free-market, private sector-led way of doing things will be key to remaining ahead of Chinese state-backed AI developers.

"To accelerate AI Innovation, I look forward to hearing from you on how Congress can partner with the administration and industry to remove roadblocks and provide regulatory certainty to let innovators innovate.

"Chairman Cruz's AI regulatory sandbox bill will be very helpful here. The federal government can also continue to be a proactive partner, leading the way on adopting AI tools and solutions to streamline and improve government while also sending an important market signal and presenting a valuable use case.

"To build out American AI Infrastructure, Congress needs to work on comprehensive permitting reform to ensure we do not lose this race because of a lack of energy production. Enhancing domestic manufacturing capabilities in key inputs like semiconductors and fiber optic cable, which my state of North Carolina knows a good deal about, is critical as well.

"To lead in AI internationally, the U.S. must lean into exporting our AI tech stack across the world to allies, partners, and important third countries. AI must be globally diffused within a U.S.-led technology ecosystem. I look forward to hearing an update from you on how the implementation of the President's Promoting the Export of the American AI Technology Stack Executive Order is progressing.

"The U.S. has all the necessary ingredients to keep our lead and definitively win the AI race. I look forward to working with the Trump administration and my colleagues to put the AI Action Plan to work."

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