America must spur a quantum leap in our quantum computing capabilities. President Trump’s recent announcement that the Department of Commerce will invest more than $2 billion into America’s quantum computing sector while taking direct equity stakes to accelerate U.S. leadership marks a turning point in the global race for technological supremacy. The message is unmistakable and long overdue: quantum technology is no longer a theoretical research project confined to university laboratories. It is now a strategic national priority directly tied to America’s economic strength, military dominance, and national security.
Over a decade ago, in my second term of Congress, I served as Chair of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. This is considered a prestigious policy leading position because it focuses not on legacy defense systems and companies of the past century, but instead looks to the future, with an eye towards investment in cutting edge defense capabilities with nascent and fast developing technologies to win not only wars of today, but wars of the future. My office was one of the earliest in Congress to discuss the importance of quantum and we continue to lead by advancing strategic prioritization and funding for this advanced technology. And now after a decade, this investment is bearing real fruit with a geographic quantum center of excellence and innovation in my home district in Upstate New York.
Quantum computing matters because it has the potential to solve extraordinarily complex problems exponentially faster than today’s traditional computers by harnessing the principles of quantum mechanics. Instead of processing information solely as binary 0s and 1s, quantum systems use qubits capable of representing multiple states simultaneously unlocking unprecedented computing power for logistics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, materials science, advanced manufacturing, and national defense. The nations that lead in quantum technology will shape the strategic balance of the 21st century.
America’s next military advantage will not be determined solely by tanks, aircraft, or naval fleets. It will be determined by which nation leads in quantum computing, quantum networking, quantum sensing, and secure communications technologies. Quantum systems have the potential to transform encrypted communications, optimize military logistics, improve battlefield awareness in GPS-denied environments, strengthen cyber defense, accelerate artificial intelligence, and fundamentally reshape modern warfare.
The Department of War has made clear that we are in an era of renewed strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party and other adversaries. Beijing is investing aggressively in quantum technologies because it understands exactly what is at stake. If America fails to lead in this domain the consequences will extend far beyond economics, they will directly impact deterrence, intelligence superiority, and battlefield readiness.
Recognizing the urgency of this challenge, Congress took an important step forward through passage of the bipartisan National Quantum Initiative Act, which established the first coordinated federal framework for advancing quantum research across the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The legislation acknowledged that maintaining American leadership in quantum science beyond just laboratory experimentation was essential to protecting both our economic competitiveness and our national security.
That is why I worked in Congress to build a full-scale national quantum ecosystem supporting not only quantum computing itself, but also quantum networking infrastructure, photonic semiconductor manufacturing, workforce development, quantum sensing, and secure communications systems capable of supporting military operations in contested environments.
I was proud to help lead these efforts through the Defense Quantum Acceleration Act, legislation designed to establish a Principal Quantum Advisor within the Department of War and create a Defense Quantum Technology Testbed to accelerate the transition of quantum technologies from research to operational capability. The legislation recognizes a simple reality: the Pentagon needs a deliberate, coordinated strategy to identify, prototype, scale, and deploy quantum systems across the military services before our adversaries do.
Congress has also supported DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, a first-of-its-kind effort aimed at rigorously evaluating competing approaches to utility-scale quantum computing and identifying which technologies can solve real-world national security problems. In recent defense appropriations bills, I worked to secure significant federal investments supporting quantum research, networking infrastructure, and advanced computing initiatives at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York which has emerged as one of the nation’s premier hubs for quantum innovation.
Through sustained investment that I delivered in Congress over the past decade, Rome Labs has become a national center for collaboration among government researchers, universities, private industry, and defense partners working to deploy next-generation quantum capabilities. Investments in the Extreme Computing Facility and the Innovare Advancement Center have helped establish a cutting-edge ecosystem dedicated to secure communications, quantum networking, photonic chips, and advanced computing architectures.
Those investments are now producing tangible operational results.
Last year, IonQ, a leader in quantum computing and networking commissioned a groundbreaking trapped-ion quantum networking system at AFRL Rome, delivering enterprise-grade quantum capabilities directly supporting Department of War research and development missions. The deployment marked a major milestone in America’s effort to operationalize quantum networking technologies critical to secure communications, advanced sensing, and future battlefield coordination.
I also worked to fund advanced quantum networking infrastructure linking laboratories and testing facilities while advancing entanglement-distribution networks capable of enabling highly secure communications across both fixed and mobile platforms. These efforts represent some of the most advanced Department of War quantum networking initiatives currently underway anywhere in the country.
At the same time, partnerships between AFRL Rome and companies like PsiQuantum are accelerating development of photonic quantum computing systems and advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities here in the United States. These collaborations are helping ensure that the technologies defining the future are designed, manufactured, and deployed by America not outsourced to foreign competitors.
Scaling the supply chain to support the quantum industry as it matures is also important. Partnerships between Rome Labs and Interlune, the leading commercial company dedicated to securing the U.S. supply chain for critical materials, like helium-3, for quantum computing, are crucial. These critical materials will be necessary to ensure our quantum future as we scale from 100s of qubits to millions of qubits. A reliable, secure, and domestic supply chain is the key to ensuring our future success.
The broader lesson is clear: maintaining technological superiority requires more than isolated research grants. It requires a coordinated national strategy that aligns Congress, the Department of War, private industry, academia, and regional innovation ecosystems around a shared objective of achieving operational quantum advantage.
That strategy is exactly what I have worked in Congress to deliver and what President Trump’s new $2 billion quantum initiative reinforces. By making direct investments into American quantum companies and strengthening domestic quantum manufacturing capacity, the administration is recognizing what many of us in Congress have argued for years: quantum technology is foundational to America’s future economic and national security leadership.
From the laboratories of Rome, New York, to the warfighters stationed at Fort Drum, Upstate New York is helping build the next generation of secure communications, resilient networks, advanced sensing platforms, and utility-scale quantum systems that will define future military capability.
The strategic competition unfolding today will determine whether the United States or the Chinese Communist Party leads the next era of technological innovation. America cannot afford complacency. We must continue investing aggressively, scaling rapidly, and deploying operational quantum systems capable of preserving our military, technological, and economic superiority for generations to come.
The future of national defense will belong to the nations that master quantum technology first. America must continue to invest in this historic and strategic quantum leap.
Rep. Elise Stefanik is the Chairwoman of House Republican Leadership and a senior member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence Committees. She represents New York’s 21st Congressional District, home of Fort Drum and the Air Force Research Lab in Rome, NY.
Read on RealClear Defense: https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2026/06/15/a_quantum_public-private_leap_for_america_1188587.html
