Identity well leave the last couple of this hearing as the a confirmation hearing is being held for Navy Vice AdmiralCharles Richard. Will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines established for requested communications including questions for the records and hearings. I will. Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers in response to congressional requests . Yes, mr. Chairman. Will those witnesses be protected from reprisal for their testimony or briefings. They will. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify upon request before this committee. I do. And do you agree to provide documents including copies of electronic forms and communication in a timely manner when requested by a constituted committee or to consult with the Committee Regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial. I will. And lastly, have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which would appear to presume the outcome of your confirmation or the confirmation process . I have not. All right. Well, then, the Defense Strategy which is this document that we proudly been using, it is a good document. This is one that was put together by democrats and republicans. It was everyone was in agreement with it and weve been using it all throughout our defense reauthorization process and its something that it destructs o districts our nations military to return to strategic competition and thats in the Nuclear Power review. Youll be our advocate for the requirements of our Nuclear Forces. We will expect you to monitor the navy and air force programs to modernize the Nuclear Triad. We deneglected to modernize for a long period of time when we should have been doing it. And a lot of people look at the triad and see that as redundant just because its three approaches. I know that youll you will confirm your dedication to that system. As the member of the council, we also expect to keep a watchful eye on the department of energys contribution to our Nuclear Modernization goals. Stratcom will be able to Deploy Nuclear systems in the years to come. The Nuclear Posture review program was authorized and funded the requirements that were set in the department of energy completed production of all units in less than a year. This was an excellent example of the agility and the collaboration that would be required to compete with the russians and the chinese. You know, that was a great job that they were able to you folks were able to get done in the period of time. I think thats a good example for some of the other efforts that we have around here. Stratcom has been given more responsibility for modernizing Nuclear Command control and communications. Thats the nc3. This is one of the most complex engineer problems that the Department Faces at this time and i look forward to hearing your thoughts on the best way to approach it. You will also be involved in driving requirements for Missile Defense of the homeland given recent set backs in modernization of our Homeland Defense capability, im interested in your thoughts on whether we can afford to wait another decade to modernize the ground base interscepters in alaska. Lastly, despite the creation of the new Space Command stratcom will still rely on Space Systems every day. Im interested in your plan to ensure stratcom priorities like Missile Warning are still supported in space. Thank you for your willingness to serve in this capacity and look forward to serving with you. Senator reed. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I would like to join you in welcoming our nominee. Thank you for your decades of service to your nation. And i want to thank your family who is here today. I know they have served and sacrificed along with you for many, many years, except for that one delightful year in jamestown, rhode island, which was a vacation. You have an impressive record of service to our nation and i believe youre well qualified for this position. The commander of u. S. Strategic command serves as the principle military officer who advises the president on our Nuclear Deterrent. Our Nuclear Deterrent must be safe, secure and reliable. Youll be responsible for articulating the requirement and managing the readiness of our Nuclear Triad to deter threats. The ongoing modernization of our triad, we will soon begin modernization of the ground based icbm leg. The programs appear to be on track but i am deeply concerned about the potential risk of this simultaneous modernization of all three legs on the workforce and industrial base. The chances of a delay in one or more programs is high and we need a clear plan of how we will respond. Im interested in your initial thinking on this issue and we will be watching this process for closely. Strategic command is undergoing a number of organizational changes. The command has responsibility for nuclear, space and Cyber Operations, but now space and Cyber Operations have been shifted to other combat and commands. One of the consequence of these shifts is the gray areas about which command will be responsible for specific areas. For example, a Missile Warning satellites which are integral to our architecture are very important and must not be subject to any ambiguity in sustaining them. While these reorganizations are necessary, they must be made slowly and carefully to avoid costly mistakes. In the area of Missile Defense, i will be interested to hear your reviews and the steps were taking to address this threat from new technologies, particularly hyper sonic missiles. Thank you for your service and look forward to the hearing. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator reed. We would like to recognize you for an Opening Statement. Your entire statement will be made a part of the record. Youre recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Membered of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to come before you today. It is an honor to be nominated by the president to lead u. S. Strategic demand. Mr. Chairman, in particular, thank you for the opportunity to introduce my family. I would not be able to serve if it were not for them. Lisa, to my left, my wife of nearly 31 years is a former Senate Staffer and i just have to imagine shes getting a bit of a kick from viewing a hearing from a new vantage point. Also with me today are our two daughters, allison and emily. Both of our girls graduated from this summer. Our son chase recently moved to atlanta and began a new job and is not with us today. Its been a very exciting time for our family. If confirmed, this will be our tenth move in the last 12 years. And the 21st overall and said a different way, my son went to four high schools, my daughter went to three each. I very much appreciate my familys patience and support to allow me to continue to serve. My mother and fatherinlaw, my sisterinlaw and her partner are also here. I would like to thank the president , secretary of defense for nominating me and thanks to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff for expressing his confidence that i could serve as a combatant commander. If confirmed, i will work closely with this committee to address the strategic challenges that face this nation. I firmly believe that open, honest and Timely Communications will be necessary to address these challenges. With the return to great power competition, as both the chairman and Ranking Member have noted, we must never lose sight of the fundamental nature and importance of our nations strategic forces. A powerful, ready triad remains the way to deter adversaries. It backstops all u. S. Military operations and diplomacy around the globe and ensures tensions do not escalate in a largescale war. It is foundational to our survival as a nation. Our nations Nuclear Deterrent forces must be safe, secure, reliable and effective. Our adversaries began upgrading their own capabilities many years ago, decade, and it is imperative that we modernize all the elements of our triad as well as add the supplementals. We must ensure that our plans are globally integrated with the other combatantent commands. Nuclear threats are not the only threat that is we face. In both the space and cyber, we face a myriad of threats. I will work hard with the general at Space Command to ensure he can execute the responsibilities hes been assigned. I will work with Cyber Command to make sure we look at strategic threats globally and execute strategies to use all of the nations capability to deter our adversaries and if necessary defend the nation. In addition to Strategic Deterrences, the command has many other significant responsibilities. Missile defense, joint Electronic Warfare, Global Strike. I pledge my best efforts to implement the strategy in all areas of responsibility. Ill live up to the expectations of the men and women of u. S. Strategic command. Ive served there twice. It is truly a special place. I like to think of it as one of the last officers on active duty who interviewed with admiral rick, i think he . General would be quite proud of the legacy that carries on this day in omaha. Ill also live up to the standard sets by the previous commanders. Ive served for three of them. And particularly the current commander, he is a remarkable leader and responsible for my development of an admiral. It is humbling to even be considered for a position that has such an amazing legacy. If confirmed, i look forward to working with the general. Chairman, Ranking Member, members of the committee, i thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and i look forward to your questions. Thank you very much, admiral. I have a couple of things that i be sure we get out of the way early. One is a problem that you hear about it, i havent heard recently and i dont know Anyone Around here who has any real interest in any kind of of a any kind of of a no first use policy. But something thats always bothered me because it seems like no one talks about it and it always does appear and there are people out there and i would like to ask you some questions about that. I would assume that you would agree that that would limit our ability to deter an extremely dangerous nonnuclear attack, so were talking about Something Like chemical or biological, maybe a cyber attack. Would you agree with that . Senator, yes, my best military advice would be to not adopt a no firstuse policy. And i appreciate that. But i want to mention a couple other things about that. Because i want to get that into the record. And that would be our allies. Wouldnt our allies be concerned as to whether or not wed have the capability and the desire to do the things that were doing for our allies if we had such a policy . Senator, yes, i think adoption of a no first use policy would have a significant negative effect on our commitments to our allies. And so i think you have pretty strong the other things they talk about is the dealerting. The idea of responding is to respond quickly and you dont have the luxury of time. To deliberately dealert, i would assume you would agree with thats something that we should not be concerned about or should be concerned about if someone starts bringing this up. Again, i would not recommendation that. Okay. I would diminish one of the Key Attributes that the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system lags and it would be destabilizing probably when we need it the least. I appreciate that. In my Opening Statement i mentioned that we recently canceled a program for modernization of ground base interce intercepters in alaska and im sure your senator from alaska is going to be bringing this up. According to the initial plans, the proposed replacement program, the next gen intercepter would not be fielded until 2030. What are we going to be doing between now and 2030 in that field . What capabilities do we have even though we have been a little disappointed in whats happening in alaska . The capabilities that we have fielded today are quite effective against the threats that we face today. General dickinson recently discussed his confidence and i share that confidence in the system today to defend us. Any delay is of concern. I have great confidence that the Missile Defense agency and the services will be able to work through the challenges represented and be able to pace the threat. Im sure thats right. And lastly, do you i mentioned in my Opening Statement this document, im very impressed with. And do you support the recommendations of the Nuclear Posture review as well as the recommendations in this document . Including the lowyield submarine launch missile. I do. I think theyre both well written documents. Thank you very much, chairman. Admiral, thank you for your service and your dedication. Our Nuclear Posture is in the context also of decades and decades of arms control agreements, the most significant one is the new start agreement which will expire in 2021. There is the option to renew it for five years. It caps the number of Strategic Missiles to 800, were not in a race to produce more and more missiles and warheads at 1,550. Do you think theres a significant value in maintaining this agreement in place . Senator, i support any arms control agreement that enhances the security of this nation and there are many historically examples that go to that. Youre quite correct. The new start treaty has provided us with valuable insight into russia, it gives us a feel for their size capacity capability, but it doesnt address large categories of weapons that are not treaty con trained. It is with russia. I would provide my best military advice if confirmed to the pros and cons of any future agreement including this one. There is a possibility, were hearing disappointing comments that president erdogan wants nuclear capabilities. Hes not i think alone in that. If the new start agreement is dispensed with, we will find ourselves for the First Time Since the 1970s, i believe, where we dont have an arms control regime in place at all which could give rise to people like erdogan thinking they have a free ride. Is that a concern you have . Senator, any effort at proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is of concern, and so i would support any efforts to maximum this nations longstanding goal of minimizing proliferation of weapons. Thank you very much. One of the key initiatives in 2018 was reorganization Nuclear Command control and communications. And Strategic Command is now in the process of standing up a new nc3 center. Could you give us a know of what the key issues you see in this process. Senator, one, i applaud this committees leadership and the departments actions to stand up the nc3 center and i think the general by bringing this under a single responsible commander providing visability with the focus on the acquisition and sustainment pieces of this, i think we are on a good trajectory to understand the system we have today which is very reliable and ready to go. Understand the threats that the system will face in the future and recapitalize and redesign the system and so im very pleased with the direction that were headed in that. I think the number one issue between or the two issues one sufficient intellectual capital to achieve the same results that predecessors do and adequate resourcesing. Its the number one thing under our control to ensure were able to do that. The point about the intellectual resources, we discussed this in the office, but in the good old days, it was more of a governmentled, government think tank, government approach and now a lot of particularly cyber and sophisticated Computer Technology and intellectual property is outside and thats something youre going to have to bring under the tent, if you will. I think you concur. I agree. Just a quick question here less of a question because my time is expiring. I did indicate concerns about the potential for delay in our triad modernization. This is the first time we try to do everything at once. We already seen the submarine fields, theyre the leadoff hitter, if you will. Problems with nuclear tube and is welding and this goes to the issue of the industrial base. I know youll do this, but you have to be very, very diligent and vigilant watching the nuclear base, both the submarines, air, and icbms and hopefully youll keep us informed of any trends, any unfortunate trends you see developing. Senator, i absolutely agree. Thank you very much. Senator fisher. Thank you, mr. Chairman. You touched on this with senator inhott, but i would like a clearer answer. Do you believe these enhancements are truly necessary if we are going to maintain deterrence . Senator, i absolutely do. I think the Nuclear Posture review got it right. These supplementals add to the flexibility and capability in the triad and thats whats necessary to deter the threats we face today. Thank you. Your predecessors have strongly recommended against any unilateral reductions in our Nuclear Forces. You talked about that somewhat with senator reed. What impact do you believe any kind of unilateral reduction would have on our ability to deter threats . Senator, i think it would have a negative effect. It would be harmful for our ability to deter and im reminded this nation has led the world in unilateral reductions in Nuclear Weapons through the our history and have no one else has matched us with that. Everyone else has gone in the other direction. As youre aware in the past year, a number of critics have argued that the icbm force is not necessary for deterrence and many have sought to reduce the funding for its replacement which is the gsdb program. What are your views on the icbm force. Senator, the gdsd is an essential component of the triad. It adds unique capabilities. Following on that point, you and i discussed a couple days ago the larger problem of our Nuclear Modernization schedule and that there really is no margin for delay in that schedule. Can you talk a little bit more about that and how we simply cannot extend the life of our current systems. You and i focused on an area that you are truly an expert on and that would be our submarines. Can you really talk to us a little bit about what were facing with the ohio class. Yes, senator. We have delayed and life extended the current triad systems to the maximum extent possible. What i mean by that, we are bumping into physics and engineering limits. As the senator alluded to, im a submariner, so, one, the ohio class was designed for 30 years, it went for 42. A great credit to the people who put it together. But there are only so many times that you can take a highstrength piece of steel tubing, subject it to the great pressures of submerging it, to the point you dont want to get in the tube anymore. Thats the type of thing were bumping into with all the triad systems. Its not feasible to life extend them anymore. And staying on our schedule, when would we see the First Columbia class. It would be in 2031. Its a long ways away, still. Yes maam. Thank you. I look forward to your confirmation. You have my support. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I represent the state that is home to the Columbia Class Program as you know and we would be very happy to host you there as we did secretary esper just very recently in august. I dont know when the last time is that you visited the shipyard there. Senator, that was the last time, up with secretary esper. Right. We welcome you back. As you know then and now, one of the major hurdles to that Shipbuilding Program is in fact the industrial workforce, development of the skills and training that are necessary for the thousands of new employees and the supply chain that is essential to build those submarines by the date that we need to do it. And i would like your commitment that you will continue to support those training and apprenticeship and other programs that are necessary for that program. Senator, absolutely. And, again, i applaud the states of connecticut and rhode island for their efforts to also contribute to the development of that workforce. We have no margin of error in the Columbia Class Program as you know. China is rapidly developing its submarine capability, russia has long been pacing our Nuclear Threat in the undersea environment. Last week from october 15th to the 17th, russia conducted a military exercise called thunder 2019. They actually launched one Ballistic Missile, another apparently failed. Could you give us your assessment of both that threat and the north korean threat, that country also recently launched a submarinelaunched Ballistic Missile. Thank you for reminding us of that. Both of those are graphic real world demonstrations of the capabilities that both those nations possess and i cant think of a better way to demonstrate what the threat is to this nation from those countries and what we have to do to defend and deter against it. Are you confident that we can track the russian and north korean and chinese submarines, the north korean submarine, according to my understanding, was a diesel electric powered submarine thats pretty noisy. I am the force commander now, i have great confidence in our ability to address any threat including the ones that you mentioned and were not static, so it is a competition and the u. S. Navy has made Great Strides in recent years and is poised to make Great Strides in the near future to address that threat. Do you believe as i do that these recent tests also emphasize the importance, highlight the critical significance of continuing the program. Senator, this nations military advantage in the undersea is one of the last remaining places that it is unquestioned that we have the advantage and continuing the Virginia Program is an essential piece of making sure that we maintain that advantage into the future. Are you familiar with the issues that have risen with respect to the coding on the stealth or the adhesive that is used to attach the stealth coding. Are you familiar with that. I am. And im confidence tht that the will work through that issue. Are you confident that we will develop new technology or new manufacturing expertise to address it. Senator, its actually both, but it is more in the adhesion process where we expect to make the best gains. I would like to ask you to my time is expired. If i could, ask you to or your staff to brief me and my office on these issues, i would appreciate it. Senator, i appreciate that opportunity. Thank you. Thanks, mr. Chairman. Thank you, admiral richard and your family for your service and theyre support. When you look at the threats of china, russia, north korean, iranian, whats your biggest concern that with the United States needs to be or that youre concerned we might not do in the future. I can give you a list of concerns in terms of threats to the United States, but i would start the list that both of those nations dont view the world the same way they do. They dont necessarily agree with us on rule of law, marketbased economic competition, free and open order and i look forward to diplomatic efforts to resolve that. Were going to need to defend ourselves, hyper sonics, ai that were going to have to think through and be ready to defend. Do you think that were allocating enough resources to be able to do that when you look at the budgets that were passing . Senator, specifically in my areas of responsibility, yes, for the larger Defense Budget, also, yes, but i would add that in addition to being adequate stable, timely, predictable, thats a fundamental assumption in the recapitalization of the triad, things like a continuing resolution dont help with that. So, what were going through now with the continued resolution, how much will that impact your ability to do your job . Senator, it results in multiple tens of billions, the departments loss of buying capability. It inhibits our ability to pivot typical funding in the areas we need to move faster on, it will lose in excess of 10 billion in terms of readiness accounts, so across the board, it keeps us from moving fast to be able to pace a rapidly changing threat. When you look at the amount of money that china is committing and the resources theyre committing, do you believe the path were going down will be enough to deter them . Senator, if we recapitalize the triad on schedule, we will be able to maintain sufficient capability to address chinas actions. But youre quit correct, she is modernizing and increasing every aspect of her strategic forces. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, chairman. Admiral richard, congratulations on your nomination. I know youve been out to sandy a in the past and i would like to welcome you back to those facilities. With that in mind, dod set an initial requirement to produce 30 plu tone yum pits. How important is that milestone . That is critical to our ability to maintain the Strategic Plan and the recapitalization on our weapons complex. The secondary goal is for 80 pits per year by 2030. How confident are you that the nsa will meet that requirement . Senator, one, i applaud the committees leadership in establishing the Nuclear Weapons council which gives the commander a direct opportunity to go address that. That requirement is sound and, yes, i recognize that there are issues in terms of d. O. E. s ability to meet that and i would pledge to look closely at that if i was confirmed. Stratcom took over the modernization of our nations command and control systems from the air force, Global Strike command, just over a year ago now and im encouraged to see that the sack system which is the system that is used to send Emergency Action messages recently retired these. Some of my colleagues may recognize these, some may be too young to recognize these. One of the things that concerns me is just the time line for the rest of that architecture much of which was developed in the 60s and 70s and currently still expected to remain in service for a few years. Talk to me about the timeline for that transition. Senator, one, i applaud your depth of interest inside this subject. I think this was retired in june. Senator, the first step, is making sure that we reconceive the concept of operations that were operating on and make sure that we put together a system not because its the way we used to do it, but the way we ought to do it in the future. There are several nearer term decisions that we have to make with some urgency to capitalize pieces of the Nuclear Command and control system. The bottom line on the timeline is we must move with urgency to redo this system. My understanding is that nc3 modernization is largely being handled by the individual military services in part because stratcom doesnt have acquisition authority. Is the best arrangement . Is that working well in your view . Are there changes we need to make in terms of authorities. What im encouraged by the departments decision, is the stack of authorities that is held by an under secretary of state and all of the Services Report back to the secretary, thats the mechanism, i think that will be effective in addressing the issues that you mentioned. You dont have concerns about that. Not today. I would pledge to look at it in the future to make sure maintains the effective we expect. Talk to me about the Ground Base Strategic Deterrent program and the development that we may only have one final bid. Do you have concerns about that . What issues do you foresee if that does become the situation as we move forward . Senator, i have great confidence in the air forces ability to execute this Acquisition Program in a timely fashion. I am responsible if confirmed for the requirement and would be willing to encourage with the air force to make sure that we are trading requirements for against our ability to achieve them for the nation. Getting back to pit production for just a moment. You mentioned that the Nuclear Weapons council of which youll be would be a member if confirmed, the chair of the council is required to certify each year that nsa is on track to meet the militarys requirements. If youre confirmed, will you commit to a review of nnsa status and plans and then provide that feedback to both the council and this committee . Senator, i will. Thank you. Thanks, chairman. Admiral richard, thank you for your service. Thank you for your familys long record of service. I want to speak about the open skies treaty, a treaty that allows overflight surveillance of the United States and russia in addition to many other partners, but those are the two main partners. In 2017, the United States government determined that russia had violated the open skies treaty. Specifically by limiting overflight of russias vital strategic strategic enclave. That was reiterated last year and by some of your predecessors and colleagues, heres what admiral haney said in 2015, the treaty has become a critical component of russias collection capability directed at the United States. Heres what general stewart said in 2016, the things that you can see, the amount of data you can do allows russia to get credible intelligence on basis ports all of our facilities. From my perspective it gives them a significant advantage. And two years ago, chairman of the joint chiefs said we believe it would be best if the treaty continue to be in place, but we dont believe the treaty should be in place if the russians arent compliant. That was more than two years ago, that effort has continued at pace to no avail. Russia remains in violation of this treaty. I would submit that perhaps, maybe it should be called the open skies over america and the closed skies over russia treaty. Admiral, do you see value in remaining in a treaty where only one side is following the rules . Senator, i will support any arms control or treaty that enhances the security of this nation. Your analysis is correct on the open skies treaty. We derive some benefit from it, particularly with our allies, we would need to make sure the appropriate resource and operational commitments to utilize the treaty. And i would offer my best advice if a decision were to be reached. Do we have the best satellite constellation in the world . Senator, we do. Superior to russias . Not directly in my area of expertise, but, yes, i think so. It would stand to reason then that russia gains more from this treaty, which theyre violating, by gaining the imagery from these flights since they have an inferior satellite constellation system. Youre getting into an area that i pledge to look closely at if confirmed, but youre hitting at the factors that have to be considered whether or not we stay in the treaty. And would it be to a signatory countrys advantage if they also had on the ground Intelligence Officers coordinating with their overflights of another partys territory to collect intelligence on military bases . Senator, it is important in any treaty or agreement for all parties to comply. Okay. The air force sent up a long unfunded priority list to reach the growing force of 386 squadens. We also propose to spent 250 million on open skies aircraft and operations. Perhaps, if russias not complying with the open skies treaty, that money might be better spent on some of these priorities for the air force. Youre getting at the elements of a decision. All right. Thank you. I appreciate that. I have to say, this is like the Nuclear Forces treaty, everyone agrees that russia is not complying with it, everyone agrees it would be best if we brought russia back into compliance, everyone agrees it would be great if everyone has a pony as well, but weve spent years trying to get russia into compliance with this treaty, and in the meantime, russia has continued to gain significant intelligence advantage over the United States a situation in which because we of our superior satellite constellation would be advantaged if russia was not taking these advantages of the open skies treaty. Congratulations, again, on your nomination. Admiral, its 2 00 a. M. On a monday morning in july, you received evidence that there are incoming missiles from russia. The gps is out, satellite system is out, the phone system is down. Can you communicate to the president and can the president communicate to our triad . Senator, yes. And youre confident of that . I think command and control is an essential part of the deterrent. I couldnt agree with you that its an essential element to the deterrent. That scenario, that mission set is practiced every day at u. S. Strategic command to allow people like me to be able to say that. Without satellites, without the telephone network. Senator, we have thought through all of that. Obviously, satellites are a critical component to our capability, but we have capabilities beyond that. Thats reassuring, but i want your commitment to keep on this issue. And it seems to me it has to be more or less public. We need our adversaries to know that we have a credible deterrent because we can continue to communicate, otherwise, the deterrent effect goes away. Senator, you are absolutely correct. You have that commitment and i have that responsibility in writing from the secretary of defense. Thank you. Lets talk about deterrence. Deterrence has worked as a strategy for 70 years but its based upon a principle of a mutual rationality that neither side wants to incinerate their country and countrymen. What worries me is the theory of deterrence doesnt work if nonstate actors get ahold of Nuclear Weapons. What happens if, a, its not a country, and, b, the people dont care about dying. I think we need deterrence 2. 0 to be thinking about that eventuality because i see that not as a probability but at least a possibility and a very frightening one. I agree with you. Can i deny your aim, can i impose a cost on you that is unacceptable to you, and do you believe me based on your value and how you judge things, terrorist scenario is a challenging one. The value systems are very different. Denying them the ability to have the weapon, deterring them, again, their value system, the efforts this nation has been after for many decades will be essential to ensure that what you describe doesnt happen. It seems to me that part of that scenario is intelligence, we have to know that such a threat is eminent or possible and how to deal with it in a different way than the traditional deterrence because obviously to somebody who is willing to give up their life, thats not in our control. Lets go back to the beginning of your testimony. This is a more general question. You talked about having redeployed ten times in 20 years, every two years, does that make sense in terms of both National Policy and wear and tear on your family and their furniture . It worries me that a person of your expertise and knowledge gets set in a job, gains some expertise and knowledge whether its commander of a submarine or of all the submarines or commander in afghanistan, i worry that the churn undermines the continuity of information and knowledge and experience that would be benefitle if the tours were longer. I want your personal reflections as a senator, i may not be the best example of the military at large. If you go earlier in my career, i tended to stay longer could you not get to the people i was appreciative of the opportunity to broaden my experience base that the Department Gave me. Theres a difference between particularly after making flag rank and what happens before, the military very much values exactly what youre talking about, its a policy, for example, of the submarine force, we dont turn over Commanding Officers except every three years. Is three years the right number. How about five years . I think three years, weve actually moved that around no, three years, it is a very commanding you have to go all in for those three years. Endurance, stamina, refresh with new leadership, three years is about the right time. I appreciate those comments but concerned about this general policy and whether two and three years is the right amount of time. Theres also an enormous cost to the taxpayers in terms of retraining and moving people. But i appreciate your comments. Thank you for your commitment. I understand the knowledge and experience you bring to this, and i think itll be a great benefit to the country. Thank you, senator. Admiral richard, thank you for being here today. Congratulations again on your nomination. I enjoyed visiting with you the other day. When you and i met in my office, you offered what i thought was a very compelling argument for how to think about the cost of Nuclear Modernization relative to the size of the Defense Budget as a whole. I wondered if you might just share that today for the record for the committee. I think its a great perspective. Senator, thank you. We were discussing the large numbers that are sometimes used to describe the cost of the recapitalization. For example, theres a recent cbo number. Thats a tenyear overall cost and by itself looks very large, but thats only 3. 5 of the Defense Budget on top of the 3. 5 that we spend to maintain the system that we have. That Defense Budget is itself a fraction of the discretionary budget of this nation, which is also a subset of the overall things that this nation chooses to spend its resources on. So if you do that math, the recapitalization is a fraction of a percent of all the things that this nation chooses to apply its resources to, and thats what buys our deterrence and defense against the only existential threat this nation faces. I think that is a good investment. In the words of former secretary of defense mattis, this nation can afford survival. Thank you for that. I think thats very compelling. Let me ask you about the Nuclear Posture review, which stresses the need to integrate conventional and Nuclear Forces. Could you define for us conventional Nuclear Integration and maybe give us a sense of why its so important and why it strengthens conventional deterrence. Senator, both of those are capabilities that this nation has, and our ability to think through use of both conventional, nonkinetic space cyber in an integrated way worldwide in a synchronized and integrated fashion across combatant commands is the best way to address the threats we face in the 21st century, which are global in nature. Let me ask you this. The director of the dia said earlier this year that like russia, china is working to field Nuclear Theater range precision strike systems. Is it possible in your judgment that beijing would use limited nuclear strikes or at least threaten them to compel the United States to surrender if we found ourselves losing a conventional war or if they found themselves, rather, losing a conventional war with us over a taiwan feta come plea scenario . China is very opaque in terms of what her doctrine and strategies are. She does that, i believe, intentionally. I think she believes she derives benefit from that. They are certainly possess cape nl n capabilities that would allow them to adopt that type of strategy if they so choose. The disarmament community has allowed that we could drop to a seabased nuclear platform. In your view, can you tell us, how do the different legs of the nub nuclear tried a reinforce one another, and why are they so important . The Nuclear Posture review wisely houses on a strategy that tailors our deterrent response to each individual adversary. This is not the cold war. We face multiple threats from multiple actors, and the complementary nature of the attributes of the tried a enable us to be able to tailor our deterrent strategies. We could go into a lot of detail, but the Ballistic Missile leg, the submarine leg is the survivable leg. The Intercontinental Ballistic Missile has a promptness thats not achieved by any other system. The bombers provide a signaling and man in the loop opportunity that the other systems dont have. Thats just a very high level wave at the tremendous wisdom of the initial designers of the triad. How would you respond to the argument that we could cut the icbm leg of the triad and offset that capacity by offloading additional weapons to our force . Icbms provide unique attributes that cannot be provided by the other legs of the triad. Thank you very much, admiral. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Chair. Admiral, i enjoyed our visit yesterday. The value of the Nuclear Triad and deterrence is very clear. A concern about the Nuclear Posture of this and other nations is the risk of miscalculations. So youre balancing off the deterrent value and trying to minimize risk of miscalculations. I am, along with many, increasingly worried about risks of miscalculations in the world for a variety of reasons. In january of 2018 in the same week, there were two kind of shocking instances of emergency alerts being sent out, one in hawaii and one in japan, about north korean incoming missiles. The hawaii instance was sent out by a state Emergency Response department that was countermanded about 40 minutes later after a call. Hawaii officials realized there was no incoming missile. The japanese missile alarm was sounded by a broadcaster and was retracted. Offer the committee and the country some reassurance that we have mechanisms in place to reduce the risks of miscalculation. Senator, i agree with you. That drives back to the need for as much transparency as we can provide between us and other nations to minimize that possibility of miscalculation. Transparency adds to strategic stability. The nation has a great capability to understand the threats that it faces. The department of defense does inform other elements of the federal government who have responsibility for the warning functions that you describe, and we take those responsibilities very seriously. In the aftermath of the hawaii incident, which was one we needed to grapple with here, the fcc did an investigation and imposed some additional requirements with respect to the early Alert Systems that are often managed by state departments of emergency management. This is something that i think were going to have to continue to focus on and give our public the confidence that there will not be an accidental use of these or other weapons. You and i talked yesterday in the office, and i was impressed with your thought about how the Space Command could pertain to our Strategic Deterrence strategy. You mentioned the importance of the work this committee and the administration has done to elevate Space Command as a combatant command. Talk about why you think that new structure is going to be important to our Strategic Deterrence and how you would foresee them interacting going forward. Senator, thank you. Youre referring to some advanced policy questions that i received prior to this hearing. So i have been asked in those, am i concerned about the effect on the elevation of Space Command. In fact, it is quite the opposite. I am encouraged by both this committees leadership and the departments direction to establish a separate Space Command. That is one of the most direct and immediate steps we can do to ensure Nuclear Command and control capability, adequate warning, and im particularly encouraged about general raymonds assignment as the sensor commander. This is the beginnings of us starting to think about individual Mission Areas and think more broadly. In this case, Missile Warning, Missile Defense, and Space Situational Awareness to optimize this nations ability to achieve all of those missions and also do so with an effective use of our resources. This is going to be a hard question to answer specifically, but i want to sort of get your general sense of it. Obviously, the triad we have is more effective because we have been able to forward deploy some of our assets around the world. That increases the effectiveness of the triad. Theres been recent concern in the press about the u. S. turkey relationship, for example. Should you be confirmed as strat com commander, how would you approach the question of where we should forward deploy assets to continue to maximize the deterrent value of our triad . Senator, as you know, i can neither confirm nor deny the presence of any nuclear u. S. Weapon anywhere in the world, but all u. S. Nuclear weapons, no matter where they are, are under responsible u. S. Commanders. I have great confidence they may train the safety and security of those weapons or take steps if necessary to achieve that objective. I would like to remind the committee, i would love to find the person that came up with our extended deterrence and assurance policies, including the Forward Deployed weapons. I can think of no other single thing thats been more effective at achieving this nations nonproliferation goals than our extended deterrence and assurance policies. Its an example of why the United States is the Security Partner of choice and there are advantages to allying with us. Thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you, sir. Thank you, admiral. It gives me great confidence in our future when american institutions like the department of defense and our navy can produce leaders like you and families like yours. I want to thank you for stepping up again. You have my full support for this nomination. I hope you get it soon and get out there and do what you know how to do. I want to talk about two things very quickly. When you and i visited in norfolk on my way out to visit the uss truman, you made probably the greatest quote of any individual since ive been in the United States senate. Im going to give you full opportunity to deny this quote today, but i remember this very well. You said, give me a boomer, an air command post, a president , and i guarantee you we will never say i surrender. Today secretary spencer has assured us that the columbia class is the top priority procurement item in the u. S. Navy. We have a president. And i want to talk about the air command post. First of all, you know, ive been aboard the e4b. They were gracious enough to take me up and demonstrate its capabilities and so forth. I understand theres a neat program that were looking to update several different aircraft, including the c32a. The navy has the airborne ops center. If youre confirmed, tell us how important this is and what are your thoughts regarding the updating of particularly the e4b. Senator, one, i thank you for your interest in this vital segment of Nuclear Command and control. The airborne piece. I have over 160 hours of mission crew time in the Airborne Command post, the navy element of that. Its absolutely critical. This is our ability to provide command and control no matter what threat faces the nation. So youre quite correct. Theres analysis of alternatives going on to determine how to recapitalize that. The capacity may have to be adjusted based on the threat. It is worth remembering we used to operate the Looking Glass aircraft, which was a much larger aircraft, of airborne 24 7 based on the threat environment. But senator, id also commit to you the goal is survivability. Airborne command post provide that survivability today. Its important for us to look to see is that still the best way to provide that survivability in the future. The nc3 center is on trajectory to answer that question. Thank you, sir. Id love to have a deeper conversation in a classified environment about that to be comforted about that. Thank you. I want to talk about the Missile Development that china has been under over the last 30 years, really, and the fact that many people in the navy say were clearly outsticked, thats their term, today. In early august, the United States formally withdrew from the intermediate range Nuclear Forces treaty. Weve talked about that enough today. I want to talk about what china has been doing in those 32 years to where now they developed the foremost conventional Missile Force in the world with ranges from 500 to 5500 kilometers, as i understand it. Admiral harris in 2017 testified whether he was then commander of pay com, and i quote, beijing controls the largest, most diverse Missile Force in the world with an inventory of more than 2,000 ballistic and cruise missiles. Many of them violated the inf treaty, which implies we dont have that capability since we comply with the inf. Now unshackled from the inf, what are your thoughts and what can and should the u. S. Do to level this Playing Field . Senator, one, you are quite correct on the analysis of the situation in the pacific. Now that we are not under the inf treaty, i think its important to accelerate our research and government into competing systems. Also, as your submarine force commander, i would offer that the submarines have an ability to counter that. Thats also an important capability that makes sure admiral davidson have those capabilities to address that threat. One last question. Im almost out of time. The navy was gracious enough to expose me to their capability in the South China Sea. I participated in one with a great crew out there. What are your thoughts on the importance of the efforts out there and the frequency in which were doing those, and are those a continuing necessary part of the deterrence strategy visavis our friends in china . Senator, they are. As you well know, the freedom and navigation operations have been going on for many, many decades, and it is a part of the way the United States asserts freedom of the seas in compliance with international norms, even more important today given the actions china has taken in the South China Sea. Thank you, sir, for being willing to do this. Thank you for your career and your service. Thank you, mr. Chairman. On behalf of the chairman, let me recognize senator shaheen. Thank you. Admiral richard, thank you very much to you and your family for your service and for all those moves. And congratulations on your nomination to be commander at strat com and for taking time to sit down with me yesterday to talk about some of the challenges. One of the things we discussed is the lawful versus unlawful orders in terms of a decision to make use Nuclear Weapons. In november of 2017 at the hal Fax International security forum, the commander said he would push back if the president asked him to carry out an illegal order. He further went on to say that we think a lot about these things, and when you have this responsibility, how do you not think about it . Now, if confirmed as commander, you would be responsible for providing strike options if a Nuclear Launch was ordered. Have you talked about what you would do in that situation and if you believe an order to be unlawful how you would respond to that, and can you walk me through the process and what is determined to be a lawful versus an unlawful order . Senator, one, the general gave a textbook definition of what a lawful order is in that interview that you referred to back in halifax. What i will say is, one, not addressing hypothetical situations, but i want to make it very clear, i will executed all lawful orders that i receive, and i will not execute any that are not. And again, can you describe for us the difference . I understand that the general referenced that, but can you describe the difference between lawful and unlawful . Maam, it has a very strict definition. Were all trained in it. We have staff judge advocates that advise us on that. But the bottom line here is for me to say anything other than i will follow a lawful order that im given starts to call into question civilian control of the military. This is an ideal that has been a longcherished american ideal. I support that. That would be the basis of my decision. Im sure everybody on this committee agrees with that, that its a very important aspect of our democracy. What im still trying to understand is whats the difference between lawful and unlawful order . That, i think, is not clear to the public. Yes, maam. So maybe you could direct me on where to get further insight into that or maybe we can have that discussion in a classified setting. Senator, id be happy to do that. Which . Which answer . I will be happy to come back in a classified whichever one suits you best, maam. Id come back in a classified setting. I can certainly give you the definition of a lawful order. Happy to do both. Okay. Ill appreciate that. Well follow up with a question for the record on that so that you can give us what the definition of the lawful ord per. Yes, maam. I want to follow up on what we do next now that were no longer part of an inf treaty. I know that or at least i understand were looking into options to deploy our own groundbased system. Can you comment on the political realities in europe and whether our allies in europe would work with us on deploying such a system . Senator, my current responsibilities dont afford me any particular insight on the current political dynamics in europe. I would pledge if confirmed to provide my best military advice and understand that situation very carefully. We have historical precedent there where we were able to deploy those systems, but there was a large amount of political effort that had to be thought through to enable that in a way that it was acceptable to those nations. And as we look at future disarmament and the effort to try and bring china under an umbrella that would include their limiting or getting rid of Nuclear Weapons, do you think theres a role for nato to play in that . Or how do you is there an International Initiative that might help get that done as were thinking about how we might make overtures to china to participate with us in any future negotiations . Maam, there very well could be. Again, i would welcome any effort by any mechanism that would provide Greater Transparency into chinas capabilities and intentions. And do you think nato has any potential role in that . Nato potentially could, yes, maam. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you so much. And thank you for the visit yesterday. I appreciated the conversation and talking with you a little about spectrum and spectrum utilization. I think its fair to say that the ems has been treated as a permissive environment. Id like for you, for the record, to talk a little bit about how we regrow the expertise that is necessary to operate in a contested ew environment and how we conduct our modeling and testing without revealing our expertise to our adversaries. You and i spoke a bit about this yesterday. As we look at moving forward with your confirmation, which we hope will be swift, id like for you to just expand on that for a few minutes. Senator, one, i thank you for the question today as well as the conversation yesterday. This is an area that deserved more attention and conversation. You are quite correct that our militarys ability to operate in electromagnetic spectrum is being tested in a way we have not seen in a long time. Its no longer a permissive environment. I could draw parallels to whats happening in the cyber domain and the space domain. So we have work to do. We have very specific responsibilities for joint Electronic Warfare. And a lot of that starts with building the expertise. Services are doing this. I can give you i didnt give you this example yesterday, but i have just reorganized the submarine force to bring Electronic Warfare into a principle warfare area on its own and regrow a series of specialists that will put that on par with Cyber Communications in terms of a certain number of sailors dedicating their careers to expertise in that area. Beyond that, we have to get more agile in spectrum. We have to be able to dynamically maneuver. You are quite correct that our ability to do modeling and simulation will enable us to train better without revealing what our capabilities are. Do you have the simulation capabilities that are necessary . We have some, but we dont have sufficient ones. We have work to do. And quantify that a little bit, if you can. The amount of work that is necessary to bring us to par. It is, one, an intellectual challenge. Theres a resource challenge to it. Models are not Accurate Enough yet for us to be high fidelity. Theres a joint nature to this that we need to bring it together. The services are doing individual things. We are just in the beginnings of putting the joint interoperability pieces on this to the level that we need to do. Do we have a concept of Operations Plan or not . Senator, we have multiple individual Service Concepts of operation. But nothing cohesive. We have not pulled those together in a more current, total joint look across all services. Okay. Would that aid us in being more intentional with our spectrum use issue . And i talked yesterday, i think that inventory and analysis on our spectrum utilization and especially looking at the midbands is something that we probably should do. So talk a little bit about that. Senator, you are again quite correct in that, one, spectrum is essential for military operations, our ability to access, and its not only in the midbands, but this gets into ultraviolet and infrared. So its a scarce resource, static allocation, while effective in a permissive environment will not work in a dynamic environment. There are kpeelting commercial demands that need to be addressed in peacetime. So theres work across the board. Our understanding to dynamically use and operate spectrum. With that, mr. Chairman, im going to yield back. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Admiral richard, thank you for your service and your commitment to our country as well as your familys commitment to our country. We appreciate all of you. Russia has been developing an unmanned nuclear autonomous underwater vehicle known as poseidon, which some have described as a doomsday weapon. Last april, newsweek published a story detailing poseidons capability and quoted russian president Vladimir Putin as saying, and this is a quote from mr. Putin, they are quiet, highly maneuverable, and have hardly any vulnerabilities for the enemy to exploit. Theres simply nothing in the world capable of withstanding them, end of quote. Putin himself during the march 2018 state of the Union Address confirmed russias development of, again i quote, unmanned submersible vehicle that can move at great depths, i would say extreme depths, intercontinentally at a speed multiple times higher than the speed of submarines. So my question to you, admiral, is how would a strategic competitor with an unmanned autonomous underwater vehicle that is capable of carrying Nuclear Weapons change or alter any of your thinking in regards to deterrents . Senator, one, so i would point to that as a vivid example of the threat this nation faces in a way that we havent seen in many decades. Youre correct. That would not be constrained by a new start, by the way. In the end, senator, it comes back to the basic deterrent equation, right. Can i deny you your aim or impose a cost on you that is intolerable to you such that you dont take the action . So this nation certainly possesses the capability to impose a cost greater than what they seek to gain by the use of that weapon. Admiral, in your advanced policy question response, when asked if the department of defense leadership has leaders with the training, academic degrees, and expertise in the scientific and Technical Skills discipline to lead strat com future joint force, you stated, and im going to quote your statement here, youre concerned about our ability to continue to attract and retain the highest quality talent necessary to achieve the Defense Strategy. To thaend, we must compete with the public and private sectors forral enlt and further establish the department as an employer of choice, was your quote. The bureau of labor statistics job outlook shows that Nuclear Engineer career field has 50 less growth over the next seven years compared to all other engineering fields and 3 less than other occupations. Certainly as the United States shifts its Energy Sources away from nuclear and turn to renewable energy, we need to maintain a pipeline of future talent to support the defense industry, particularly Nuclear Engineers. My question is how would we work with universitys to ensure that we are cultivating this talent in this sector . Senator, so one, i applaud your interest in this area. Its very important. There are a number of things the department can do, but one i would point to specifically is u. S. Strategic command has an Academic Alliance with over 70 universities and colleges designed to solicit, encourage, and develop the talent we need. Its not quite as focused on the Nuclear Propulsion side of the house. Its more in Strategic Deterrence theory. But its mechanisms like that, that the department can use to encourage us to develop the intellectual capital, both capability and capacity inside this nation to address our challenges. I appreciate that answer. Do you have some specific proposals on how the department can market itself to the limited number of Nuclear Engineers that are in that field as to why theltd choothey would choose to work with the department of defense as opposed to other options out there . Senator, in addition to i mean, i look at this, for example, as the submarine force commander. I was just in a meeting last week changing the nuclear bonus structure to attract and retain more talent to your direct point. We should not forget the other thing that happens if youre wearing the uniform that im wearing is that youre given a license to do organized violence on behalf of this nation. You get a chance to defend this nation in a way that no other occupation or no other person can do. We should remind people thats a unique attribute of being in the military, and i think that is something that is worth some people choosing to come join us. Thank you, admiral. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and admiral, congratulations to you and your family. Thank you for your decades of service, all of you, including your family. I know its not always easy. As the chairman mentioned, i certainly want to focus more on Missile Defense. Its a really important element of what your job is going to be, and its actually been a really, i think, a good news story coming out of this committee. Theres been Bipartisan Legislation in the last three ndaas on this. The president launched the Missile Defense review at pentagon earlier this year. In march, you may have seen mda successfully complete its first ever salvo test, which was really remarkable. Didnt get a lot of news. But very successful. Certainly our adversaries took notice. I have a particular interest, authoring a lot of this legislation, but as you probably know, alaska is the cornerstone of our nations Missile Defense with the radar sites, testing at kodiak. So thats the good news. But then i will tell you, and i think a number of this committee were surprised in august when the undersecretary over at the pentagon abruptly canceled the redesigned kill vehicle. First of all, very little notice. I wasnt given any notice. I focus on this issue as much as anyone in the congress. So can i first get your commitment, any kind of major policy decisions that, to be honest, this body has been driving, not the pentagon. The congress has been driving Missile Defense the last five years. If theres going to be major abrupt changes, we need your i need your commitment to make sure you reach out to the chairman, the committee, other members, to make sure we know whats happening, make sure we know what the reasoning is. Maybe even seek our advice on it. We sometimes have a little wisdom over here too. Can i get your commitment on that . Absolutely, senator. So in the explanations for this abrupt cancellation were all over the place. I was actually in alaska when this happened. First it was about hypersonics. As you know, the gbis arent even focused on hypersonics. Theyre focused on rogue missile, like north korea, iran. The estimates for the next intercepter are all over the map that we would develop five to ten years. I know the number is classified. To be honest, nobody really knows. Are you aware of this . And if were not going to be testing the new rkv, how do we show deterrence . Senator, one, my current responsibilities dont afford me any particular insight. I am generally aware of what youre referring to. If youre confirmed, which i think you should be, we will need to sit down and go into this in a loot of depth. Theres a number of members on both sides of the aisle who were quite surprised by this announcement. And i think it leaves us open. I think it leaves us vulnerable to be perfectly honest. Do you have a view on that . Senator, one, ill absolutely commit to that. Ill look very closely at this psh issue. But i have confidence today that the system we have fielded will defend us against the threats we face today. Youre quite correct. In the future, something we need to go look at. But theres a continuing threat, right, from north korea, from iran. These are the rogue states. Again, our gbi system is meant primarily for rogue states. Thats our policy, yes, sir. It does seem to me a little bit again, and i know you havent been fully briefed into it, but in search for the perfect, we are leaving ourselves a bit vulnerable, particularly given that the system that was being developed, as was demonstrated in this march salvo test, seemed like it was coming along quite well. Do you have a view on that . Sir, i agree with you that we need to be very careful about setting too high a bar in our effort to develop any system such that it delays us. We used to move faster in history, being willing to accept some failure and learning along the way. I would support our ability to get back to that pace. One of the things that we had in our legislation that passed was to and this was mdas request to us, to encourage more testing, even if we quote unquote fail because as you know, admiral, when you fail, youre not really failing. Youre still learning. Im sure youve seen that in your career. Again, do you think that id like to work with you on looking to make sure this cancellation of the rkv program doesnt undermine the ability for us to conduct we had pressed for in legislation at least yearly testing. Can i get your commitment on that . Absolutely, senator. Finally, do you have any views on and again, this is a different topic. Certainly an emerging threat. The chairman certainly talked about it a lot. But its not the threat thats being addressed by our gbi system. What we should be doing and how we should be looking at the hypersonic threat. Sir, the nation has some limited capability against hypersonics today. I agree with you we need to accelerate our ability to address that threat. And it starts with the ability to track. If i have the ability to track and warn against hypersonics, it opens up a number of responses, including direct defense. Great. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, admiral richard, for your service to our nation. I couldnt agree with you more. Being able to serve in uniform is truly a privilege that not everyone gets to enjoy. I also want to thank for family for their dedicated service as well. Today, id like to examine how if confirmed you would leverage your previous experience as Deputy Commander of strat com to effectively transition into this top position. Specifically, id like to sort of look at your background and experience. How would you make sure the department modernizes all three legs of triad . Unlike most procurements, delays in the schedule for these programs are guaranteed to result in a gap in the ca capabilities. Yet like in procurement, there will be failures and schedule slippages. How are you planning to mitigate the impact of such inevitable problems . Senator, as the chairman noted in the Opening Statement, one of the responsibilities of the commander of Strategic Command is to be the leading advocate for the recapitalization of the triad. It will be my responsibility to follow these closely, to be able to describe concisely what the impacts of potential delays are, and senator, the way we will go mitigate this is on the acquisition side of the house. We have pulled the operational piece about as far back as we can go. Thats whats allowed us to get to the delays we have. The systems are a ways off. Itll depend on the threat environment at the time. Well address that if necessary. Thank you. While i do support the modernization of the triad, i do want to note that president s of both parties have committed to lessening the use of weapons of mass destruction in our national Defense Strategy. As we return to great power and competition, what is your vision for out strat com can effectively balance the need to advance our Nuclear Nonproliferation goals while also preserves our capability to deter adversaries . Can employ Global Strike weapons and other nonNuclear Weapons to achieve the same deterrent effect as lowyield Nuclear Weapons . Senator, let me answer that in two pieces. So first, i dont see the nations nonproliferation goals with our Strategic Deterrent objectives. I see them as complementary. The less proliferation we have, the easier the burden it is to accomplish Strategic Deterrent. I go back to our extended deterrence and assurance guarantees as one of the most effective mechanisms we have available to us to lessen the threat we face and therefore make it easier to accomplish Strategic Deterrence. To your second point about space and cyber, i think the 2018 Nuclear Posture review was very wise in acknowledging the possibility that stra teej you can attacks could be other than nuclear and start to set a policy for us to address those. But to answer your question today, no, not today. There is no cyber or space attack that could have the same strategic effect as a nuclear weapon, including a lowyield nuclear weapon. Will that be true into the future . I dont know, probably not. But today there is no threat on par with what nuclear can do. Which again goes back to my first question. It really stresses the importance of not having schedule slippages and making sure that we stay on track with the modernization of the triad. Switching topic, id like to get your best military advice on treaties and the road they serve in our national defense. Recently there have been signals that the United States may refuse to renew the new start and open skies treaties. Without commenting on the merits of a hypothetical policy action, can you please expand on what you believe would be the projected realworld impacts for strat com if we were to exit both treaties. Again, maam, i will support any arms control or other treaty that enhances the security of this nation. You had mentioned new start specifically in there. New start has provided us valuable insight in terms of the character and composition of Russian Strategic forces in exchange for the russians having that visibility into ours. That provided a level of strategic stability, but there are a large number of capabilities, weapons that the russians have that are not covered under new start. There are a number of novel capabilities also not covered. If confirmed, i will provide my best military advice in terms of the pros and cons of a decision such as that. What are the cons of us leaving open skies . The primary negative to that, maam, i would put in the category of the assurance of our allies. Were not the only signatory to that treaty. It provides valuable insight and Partnership Opportunities with our allies, but it does require us to make the capital and resource investments to fully use the provisions inside that treaty, and it does come at a counterintelligence cost to the United States. Thank you, admiral. I yield back. Thank you, senator duckworth. We are at the conclusion of your remarks. Were going to not entertain any others in the hearing. I think we are aware that right now we have were in the senate chamber. We have the group thats going to be attending Elijah Cummings lying in state. Chairman, can i just all the time you need. Thank you, mr. Chairman. First of all, admiral richards, let me say thank you to your service, but more, thank you to your family. Theyve moved ten times in 12 years . Yes, sir. Woo, they got battle scars. God bless them all. Next of all, i wanted you to know i have the utmost appreciation and respect for the submarine class. Ill tell you why. Uss west virginia, got to spend as a governor, two or three days with them. They took me out. I have a deep appreciation of what the commitment they make and what youve done. Great ship. We have a blue and gold crew. Theyre great crews and we love them. Next of all, i know youre a proud roll tide, alabama, and nick saban is my dearest friend. We grew up together, coal mining towns four miles apart. Ill be going down to visit him. Ill give him your best. I know youre still rooting for him. I just got back from the middle east. I was on the uss abraham lincoln. Then i went to see the operations of our sailors and what theyre doing to keep us safe and keep those open lanes, if you will. How many carriers do we have in the fleet right now . Senator, i think the number is 11. How many are operational, sir . Sir, i dont have the number right off the top of my head. Its a fraction of that. Im just going by what i was told. We only have three operational out of 11. I dont know the status of the other eight, how soon theyll get back, how much of a retrofit is going on. Senator, we have more than three that are operationally available. Thats, i think, the number currently deployed. Well, heres what else i was told. Whats concerning to me is i was told harry s. Truman cant get out of port because of electrical problems. It was totally retrofitted. The reason im saying this is my question would be very quickly, what is the greatest threat to the United States of america, or who is the greatest threat we face . The greatest threat, senator, is that we cant move fast enough to face the threats that face us, whether they come from russia or china. We have lost a level of agility that we used to have that we need to get back. And my observation was this. When i was in the arabian sea, were not even in the gulf anymore. We moved down to protect our carriers because its not that safe in the gulf. Thats why we have our destroyers there. But in the South China Sea, if were that thin do we have any carry yeariers . Im not current on that. I will offer, though, that we have a substantial undersea presence thats able to execute missions in the pacific. The concern i have is the same concern. You mentioned china and russia. The middle east is where we seem to be bogged down no matter whats taking our sources and inventory, if you l as sparse as it is. And it seems to me, the South China Sea will have a greater threat than what we are right now. Probably in a classified hearing id have to get in deeper, and maybe you could help me on it, on how we give the support. Id be happy to do that. And on the aircraft carrier, im really concerned about that. I talked to some of our captains and commanders on those. Theres some concerns they were sharing with us. Im sure youll be on top of that. Id be happy to offer a followup. Thank you so much. I know every question has been asked that could possibly be asked. I was anxious to hear your answers. Its very informative. I look forward to meeting with you and sitting down in a classified setting and maybe getting more information. Certainly, senator. Thank you very much. Thank you, senator manchin. It was not my intention to rush you in this. I was only saying other members will not be recognized because of the event takes place. No, i know that, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your responses and willingness to meet with each one of us prior to this meeting. I would like to tell you that there was a reason i wanted to pursue your thoughts on the no first use. While were starting this meeting, theres a meeting there was a meeting taking place with a group thats very supportive of the no first use. I didnt know whether or not you were aware of that. That was taking place today. Senator, i was not. Okay. Well, i appreciate it very much. I would say to alison and lisa, is it, wouldnt you like to be able to do this every day . Thatd be great. So thanks for your patience. We appreciate that very much. And thank you. We look forward to serving with you in this new capacity. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And were adjourned. If you missed any of our live broadcast of this event, its available to view again online at cspan. Org. Just type Charles Richard in the video search box, which you can find at the top of our home page. Live campaign 2020 programming coming up later today with marianne williamson. Shell be speaking an creating a u. S. Department of peace. Coverage at 2 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Former congressman Elijah Cummings is lying in state today just outside the house of representatives in the u. S. Capitol. Tomorrow, Funeral Services will be held for the maryland democrat who died last week. The 13term congressmans life will be celebrated at New Psalmist Baptist Church in maryland tomorrow. Watch live starting at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan. Org, or listen with the free cspan radio app. And tomorrow, cspan will host a conversation with some of the republicans mounting primary challenges to president trump. Well open the phone lines so you can ask your questions. Thats friday night at 8 00 eastern, also on cspan. And saturday, its this years politicon featuring al franken in one of his first public appearances since stepping down from the senate. Other expected speakers include james comey and james carrville. Live coverage at 2 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. This saturday on American History tv, on lectures in history at 8 00 p. M. Eastern, the 1981 trial of jean harris, the woman accused of murdering scarsdale diet doctor. Jean harris was smart. She did well in high school. She went off to smith college. She graduated phi beta kappa. She says theres a struggle over the gun. There does, in fact, seem to be evidence that she is bruised. She testifies that he hits her in ways he had never hit her before. Theres no evidence either way that he had hit her prior to this or if he was struggling to pull a gun away. And at 10 00 on reel america, president Richard Nixons november 3rd, 1969, silent majority speech. To you, the great silent majority, my fellow americans, i ask for your support. I pledged in my campaign for the presidency to end the war in a way that we could win the peace. I have initiated a plan of action which will enable me to keep that pledge. Sunday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern, former u. S. Foreign Service Officer on his time as a hostage in iran. What says in your culture that permits you to detain a guest against his will . And at 8 00 on the presidency, Ronald ReagansWhite House Political Affairs director and historian Craig Shirley on reagans campaigns for the white house. Reagan just cleans up in new hampshire. He wins like 21. It was such momentum that its a good thing we won by such a big margin because wed already spent most of our money. Explore our nations past on American History tv every weekend on cspan3. Up next, a federal Appeals Court hears oral orgt in trump v. Nance, a case concerning whether an Accounting Firm must comply with the manhattan district attorneys subpoena for certain financial records, including president trumps tax returns. A threejudge panel with the u. S. Court of appeals for the Second Circuit is considering the matter. From earlier this week, this is about 50 minutes. Hear ye, hear ye, hear