Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) speaks about military spending at a BAE Systems military vehicle production plant in York County on Aug. 19. U.S. Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA-10) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA-11), State Senator Dawn Keefer (R-31), State Representative Seth Grove (R-196), and President Commissioner of York County Julie Wheeler also spoke.
Jordan Wilkie / WITF News
Jordan Wilkie / WITF News
Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) speaks about military spending at a BAE Systems military vehicle production plant in York County on Aug. 19. U.S. Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA-10) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA-11), State Senator Dawn Keefer (R-31), State Representative Seth Grove (R-196), and President Commissioner of York County Julie Wheeler also spoke.
Military, government and industry leaders are at the Army War College in Carlisle for U.S. Senator Dave McCormick’s summit on defense and innovation.
More than 190,000 Pennsylvanians work in the defense industry. Factories in Scranton produce large caliber munitions. The Bradley Fighting Vehicle is built in York. Pittsburgh is a leader in drone and robotics production and research. Philadelphia’s shipyards are expanding capacity to build naval vessels.
McCormick said Pennsylvania’s defense industry is supported by the state’s investments in energy and artificial intelligence, the focus of his summit last year in Pittsburgh.
“Leave out one piece, any one piece in that constellation, and we leave a hole in our defense,” McCormick said during his opening remarks Tuesday morning.
More than 34 billion dollars in defense contracts have flowed into Pennsylvania since Jan. 1, 2025, McCormick said. He announced many of those investments at the summit he led last year in Pittsburgh on artificial intelligence and energy.
McCormick said there’s more to come.
“This year’s summit will again make billions of dollars’ worth of announcements that will create thousands of jobs for Pennsylvanians and plant seeds that over time will grow into an even stronger, more diversified and more innovative defense industrial base,” he said.
Congress is spending more than ever before on defense. At President Trump’s request, Congress appropriated over $1 trillion in last year’s budget. Now, again at Trump’s request, Congress is debating a $1.5 trillion request for defense spending.
Speakers at the summit focused on military readiness. In his opening remarks, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry offered a warning against an ever-increasing cycle of spending.
“We want a one-time investment to increase production as necessary so we can safeguard the country,” Perry said. “Once you set the new baseline, the next year, you start at that baseline and keep going. Ladies and gentlemen, we can’t afford that.”
Perry, a Republican, represents Dauphin County and most of Cumberland and York counties. A brigadier general in the National Guard and a graduate of the Army War College, Perry has a long legislative history of supporting military spending, including advocating for defense industry jobs in his district.
He also has a long history of calling for less government spending. Perry said the country’s nearly $40 trillion debt is a top national security threat.
Immediately after Perry, McCormick took the stage and supported Trump’s plan for military buildup.
“For too long, we’ve lived on the fumes of President Reagan’s military buildup,” McCormick said. “President Trump has charted a new path, and our task here over the next two days is to bring new players together in new ways and win the peace that only comes through strength.”
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