The pandemic and national security go hand-in-hand for Nebraska’s Ben Sasse – KETV Omaha

What Ben Sasse sees out of China from his seat on the Senate Intelligence Committee scares him, and he's convinced Americans aren't taking the threat seriously."China is the biggest long-term threat," the Nebraska Republican said during a KETV NewsWatch 7 interview from Capitol Hill. "There isn't enough urgency or agreement about that problem."Over the past few years, the Chinese government has flexed its growing military and economic might with countries across the Pacific Ocean. It's made substantial investments in 5G technology, and one of its biggest tech manufacturers, Huawei, supplies those networks around the globe.Hauwei has drawn scrutiny from U.S. national security experts for its ties to the Chinese government.Sasse explained 5G technology allows more advanced uses for artificial intelligence, and ultimately quantum computing.Once deployed, effective quantum algorithms can enable machine learning. In the hands of an adversary, the development could allow computers to break codes with little effort, revealing U.S. intelligence assets."The Chinese communist party cannot beat us in the long-term tech race, and right now they are closing on us really fast," Sasse said.In the video above, watch Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., question President Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence on Chinese government initiatives during a Senate hearing May 5.The national security implications also play out in pandemics, Sasse said, citing years of drills at the Pentagon."Most of those exercises said a pandemic would be the biggest problem," he said.The pandemic finally arrived in the form of COVID-19, and the U.S. government was left scrambling to contain it.Sasse says it's time to get serious about investing in health preparedness. The self-described "small government guy" wants more serious federal investment in vaccine accelerator programs and a "Shark Tank" for therapeutics."We need to have more red team, blue team, green team exercises inside the public health space, the vaccine development space," Sasse said.While public health experts try to contain the virus, it has already wrecked havoc across the world's biggest economy.As coronavirus closures crippled the U.S., Congress spent more than $3 trillion to rescue American businesses and the American people. More than 33 million Americans lost their jobs since the pandemic began."The average small business has about 16 days of cash on hand, and this thing has been going on for a couple of months," Sasse said. "So there's a lot more that needs to be done."The American people would seem to agree.Three quarters of Americans in swing states want sustained, direct payments during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a poll published Wednesday by CNBC. But before he signs off on more relief, Sasse wants to see what's working and what's not."Congress and the executive branch have spent way too much of the next generation's money without knowing whether it's going to be effective," he said. "So we need to start evaluating what we've already started to do before people start advocating to spread more money out of helicopters."Sasse also wants to see COVID-19 legal shields for health care workers and small businesses.He told KETV NewsWatch 7 he's open to spending money on data-driven job re-training programs that can get Nebraskans back to work.While those efforts are short-term efforts to rescue the economy, Sasse said the U.S. can't afford to forget the long-term challenges.Investing in robust efforts to shore up global health preparedness are critical, he said. Especially when he considers the China threat."They want to dominate the globe from a national security standpoint," said Sasse. "And viruses are one of many tools they might consider using."

What Ben Sasse sees out of China from his seat on the Senate Intelligence Committee scares him, and he's convinced Americans aren't taking the threat seriously.

"China is the biggest long-term threat," the Nebraska Republican said during a KETV NewsWatch 7 interview from Capitol Hill. "There isn't enough urgency or agreement about that problem."

Over the past few years, the Chinese government has flexed its growing military and economic might with countries across the Pacific Ocean. It's made substantial investments in 5G technology, and one of its biggest tech manufacturers, Huawei, supplies those networks around the globe.

Hauwei has drawn scrutiny from U.S. national security experts for its ties to the Chinese government.

Sasse explained 5G technology allows more advanced uses for artificial intelligence, and ultimately quantum computing.

Once deployed, effective quantum algorithms can enable machine learning. In the hands of an adversary, the development could allow computers to break codes with little effort, revealing U.S. intelligence assets.

"The Chinese communist party cannot beat us in the long-term tech race, and right now they are closing on us really fast," Sasse said.

In the video above, watch Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., question President Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence on Chinese government initiatives during a Senate hearing May 5.

The national security implications also play out in pandemics, Sasse said, citing years of drills at the Pentagon.

"Most of those exercises said a pandemic would be the biggest problem," he said.

The pandemic finally arrived in the form of COVID-19, and the U.S. government was left scrambling to contain it.

Sasse says it's time to get serious about investing in health preparedness. The self-described "small government guy" wants more serious federal investment in vaccine accelerator programs and a "Shark Tank" for therapeutics.

"We need to have more red team, blue team, green team exercises inside the public health space, the vaccine development space," Sasse said.

While public health experts try to contain the virus, it has already wrecked havoc across the world's biggest economy.

As coronavirus closures crippled the U.S., Congress spent more than $3 trillion to rescue American businesses and the American people. More than 33 million Americans lost their jobs since the pandemic began.

"The average small business has about 16 days of cash on hand, and this thing has been going on for a couple of months," Sasse said. "So there's a lot more that needs to be done."

The American people would seem to agree.

Three quarters of Americans in swing states want sustained, direct payments during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a poll published Wednesday by CNBC.

But before he signs off on more relief, Sasse wants to see what's working and what's not.

"Congress and the executive branch have spent way too much of the next generation's money without knowing whether it's going to be effective," he said. "So we need to start evaluating what we've already started to do before people start advocating to spread more money out of helicopters."

Sasse also wants to see COVID-19 legal shields for health care workers and small businesses.

He told KETV NewsWatch 7 he's open to spending money on data-driven job re-training programs that can get Nebraskans back to work.

While those efforts are short-term efforts to rescue the economy, Sasse said the U.S. can't afford to forget the long-term challenges.

Investing in robust efforts to shore up global health preparedness are critical, he said. Especially when he considers the China threat.

"They want to dominate the globe from a national security standpoint," said Sasse. "And viruses are one of many tools they might consider using."

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The pandemic and national security go hand-in-hand for Nebraska's Ben Sasse - KETV Omaha