Wednesday on syndicated radio’s “Hugh Hewitt Show,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) warned that the United States of America is “falling behind China.”

According to Ryan, China is “locking down long-term deals in Africa for raw materials,” trying to take over manufacturing in the world and investing billions in artificial intelligence.

“[W]e aren’t even acting like we’re in a competition with [China],” Ryan lamented. “And the Defense budget with the technologies that are in there, and look, we’ve got to audit the Defense Department. We’ve got to make sure we’re not wasting money. But we are falling behind in major technologies in weapons systems that we can’t afford to fall back on.”

“We have got to make sure every member of the Democratic caucus and the country understand this competition. And if you’re in this competition, and China is overtaking us in so many ways, Russia doesn’t have quite as strong of an economic hand as China does, but they are playing their hand pretty well, militarily. And we’ve got to compete with them as well. If you don’t understand that competition, you’re not going to understand the need,” he added.

Ryan’s comments echo Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s from his appearance on the “Hugh Hewitt Show” in December where he said, “China presents the greatest challenge that the United States will face in the medium to long-term.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent