Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., who chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, held an event to address concerns in the Defense Department‘s clearance process.

The subcommittee’s fourth official event discussed on ongoing efforts to streamline DoD’s process for granting security clearances to employees and contractors, the House Armed Services Committee said Friday.

The current clearance process has prolonged waiting periods and caused a backlog of over 700,000 cases in 2017.

As a result, Congress ordered the department to apply other programs and technologies to streamline and boost the accuracy of the clearance process.

Hartzler convened four recent subcommittee meetings she had with officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, Defense Security Service, the National Background Investigations Bureau and the Government Accountability Office.

These meetings revolved around various reports and plans aiming to address issues on the process.

The Defense Department has formed a new center that will oversee artificial intelligence efforts across services and DoD amid efforts of China and Russia to dominate AI, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan wrote in a memo released Thursday the joint artificial intelligence center will report to Dana Deasy, DoD chief information officer, and develop a set of common AI standards, reusable technology, shared data and processes for the Pentagon.

Deasy should consult with other DoD entities, Joint Staff, services and combatant commands and come up with a report within a month on the preliminary list of “National Mission Objectives” in order for JAIC to begin work by Sept. 27, according to the memo.

The services and other agencies within the Pentagon will coordinate with the CIO each AI project that is worth more than $15 million annually and selected AI projects will immediately get fiscal 2018 funds to speed up their implementation under JAIC, which Shanahan said will ensure AI safety and military ethics.

The document states that the $15 million threshold will be assessed on an annual basis as “investments in AI mature” and that JAIC will also work with other agencies, industry, academic institutions and allies to advance the technology.

The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee has proposed $616 million to help the Defense Department conduct research, development, test and evaluation of microelectronics technology in fiscal year 2019, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.

The amount represents a $447 million increase over President Trump’s FY 2019 microelectronic RDT&E spending request.

DoD leaders have said the department should implement small electronic components that have security features, according to the report.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will host its inaugural Electronics Resurgence Initiative Summit from July 23 to 25 as part of a $1.5 billion program that aims to boost electronics innovation.

The House voted 359-49 Thursday to pass a $675 billion defense policy bill that would authorize the purchase of 93 F-35 fighter aircraft, three littoral combat ships and two aircraft carriers for fiscal 2019, Defense News reported Thursday.

The defense appropriations bill would fund the Advanced Battle Management System that seeks to replace the U.S. Air Force’s Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System recapitalization program and provide service personnel with a 2.6 percent pay increase by January.

The measure, which would also add 15,600 personnel to the service branches’ end strength, does not include a proposal to purchase two additional submarines and an amendment that would have allocated $1.7 billion in additional funds for long-lead materials needed to construct three Virginia-class submarines each year.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved its version of the bill, which is now awaiting a full Senate vote.