Accused him of Sexual Assault. This is 2. 5 hours. What were going do do is have our Opening Statements of senator reid and myself and then well recognize dr. Wilson for a very important introduction. All right . The Committee Meets today for the nomination of general john e. Hyten to be Vice President of the joint chiefs of staff. We thank him for being here today. We welcome your family who is here and your friends, dr. Hyten. They can be introduced at the time you are recognized for your Opening Statement. And we have our boring seven or eight questions you have to respond to first. Have you adhered to applicable laws, recognitions or any conflicts of interest . Show yes, sir. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify before request before this committee . Yes, sir. Do you agree to provide documents including copies of electronic forms of communications in a timely manner when requested by a duly constituted committee or to consult with the Committee Regarding the basis of any good faith denial or delay in such documents yes sir. Do you agree when asked to give your personal views even if those differ from the administration in power . I do, sir. Will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines establish for requesting communications including questions for the record in hearings . We will, sir. Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers and in response to congressional requests . Yes, sir. Will you will those witnesses be protected from reprisal for their testimony or briefings . Yes, sir. Have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which would appear to be resume the outcome of this confirmation process . I have not, sir. The world is more dangerous than its been in my lifetime. I honestly believe that. I talk to you about that. And after years of sustained Armed Conflict under funding and budgets uncertainty, our military has fallen behind. Competitors and readiness in key capabilities. Without adequate sustained and predictable funding, all the work we do on this committee to implement the National Defense strategy would be for nothing. Thats why i think President Trump and congressional leaders for reaching a bipartisan budget agreement, it is critical to support our military and veterans and their families. While i would have liked to see more funding for defense tend of the day this budgets agreement provides minimal growth to give our military what it needs and will allow the department of defense to plan strategically in the future. Allegations have been band ond about in the press with little regard to the truth. This committee has held five executive sessions studied over 1,000 pages of investigative records, and reviewed statements of more than 50 witnesses. The members of the committee have devoted countless hours reviewing general hytens service and nomination through a fair, thorough and methodical process. We have done this with respect for the privacy of all involved. Each senator was able to ask questions, receive answers, review documents and other material, listened to testimony, conducted analysis, and expressed their opinions. Todays hearing is the next logical step in the deliberation, disciplined in detailed process this committee uses to determine the suitable suitability of the nominating candidates. Addressing these allegations is critical, not just for you, general hyten but for every nominee Going Forward. We take allegations of Sexual Assault seriously. It is unacceptable this committee will not act on unproven allegations, allegation thats do not withstand the close scrutiny of the committees process. General hyten, you have been leading strike com with discipline and integrity for the last 2 1 2 years. And you served honorably in the top leadership positions in the air force Space Command in the four years before. That i kmenld thecommend the willingness of you and your family to continue your service to our military and country. As we form a new United States space force, we need your Strategic Insights and guidance to move the Key Initiative forward including how to improve space acquisition. British Army Field MarshalBernard Montgomery said, if we lose the war in the air, we lose the war and we lose it quickly and we can say the same thing about space now. When i say the world is the most dangerous position it has been in my lifetime, one of the areas im talking about is the proliferation of Ballistic Missiles and cruise missiles capability. Russia, china, iran, north korea, use missiles as strategic leverage and we need strategic teeth imagination to count they are growth. As the former secretary of defense said, we need urgent change and significant scale to implement the National Defense strategy and i couldnt agree more. Senator reid . Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Let me join you and welcome general hyten his wife and his children to the hearings. The purpose of the hearings is to focus on the duties of vice chairman of the joint chief of staff and to extrudescrutinize whether he is qualified to serve as vice chairman. Over the past few weeks a number of Media Outlets including the New York Times and Washington Post reported allegations that you sexually assaulted a suborder nant under your command as the commander of u. S. Strategic command. These are serious allegations and, therefore, consistent with the committees long standing practices we have held five executive sessions related to your nomination, totalling over 15 hours of testimony and deliberation. During those sections, members received sworn testimony on extremely sensitive matters and able to ask questions and review documents and background material. Members have been afforded to the opportunity to request Additional Information from the department which we have done. These executive sessions with the appropriate form to consider this information which enabled them to use long standing procedures that served it and the senate well for decades. The sessions allowed each member to hear the viewpoint of our colleagues even if that per inspect sieve different from our own. That dialogue helped inform our committee and i appreciate the thoughtful consideration of every member during this process. Finally, i want to thank the chairman for ensuring the committee had sufficient time to conduct our review of these matters. Youve been extremely cooperative in this regard and i appreciate it. Nevertheless, we must recognize the public nalt ofture of the allegations will likely raise questions today that are appropriate to an open session of this committee. The imentnternational order is under threat. The new National Strategy or nds is help the United States compete with china or russia. As department per sues this new strategic direction, there are countries dangerous and the threat posed by organizations is not diminishing. Furthermore, the Department Must continue to recruit and retain high caliber individuals by restoring readiness and pursuing new high end capabilities for the force. General hyten, youll be working closely with general milich to address the issues and i hope you will share your views with this committee. Youll see a key role in the interagency process that requires working closely with senior policymakers within the department and National Security council on critical National Security issues. The committee looks forward to hearing from you on the effectiveness of the interagency process. The vice chairman assigned a number of responsibilities within the department. First, they oversee the council which is a critical process. Senior member of the Nuclear Weapons council, the vice chairman plays a role in ensuring the safety of our Nuclear Arsenal and finally, giving your recent services, if confirmed, i would expect that you play an intergral role in space. Show less text 00 09 36 we look forward to hearing your testimony and how you prioritize these duties if you are confirmed as the vice chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. James m. Inhofe thank you, senator reid. And thank you, dr. Wilson, for being here. Your service to our country has been exemplary. We hope you enjoy your next chapter. Youre recognized now for an introduction. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Im here to introduce general john hyten, nominee to be the next vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. I graduated from the air force academy in the third class to include women. And served for seven years as a junior officer. In the 1909s, i was a former member of the house afk services committee. I know well that Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault happen in the military. It must be con fronted, investigated, and punished. While i have now left the defense department, i was the secretary of the air force and directed the investigation of allegations made against general hyten by a former subordinate. That investigation was overseen by the air force Inspector General and was peer reviewed. The task was to conduct an exhaustive investigation and to find the truth. Ive come before with you Great Success stories. Ive been here with the air force missed the mark. Ive taken responsibility and been straight with you when we got it wrong. This investigation was thorough and the allegations were taken seriously and it was handled appropriately. The team investigated 63 people in three countries and 14 states. They reviewed over 196,000 emails and 4,000 pages of documents. They reviewed 152 travel records and portions of phone records dating back to 2015. They interviewed members of the general staff at Strategic Command as well as members of his staff when he was at Space Command. General hyten is one of the most closely guarded officers in the military because he commands the Nuclear Deterrent. Inspector general also interviewed his personal security team. The result is a final report of over 1400 pages. The military does not automatically suspend the peoples clearances or remove them from command when there is an allegation of impropriety. If the initial facts gathered justify it, we can and i have done so in other cases. This Committee Also has handled this matter with respect for the accuser and for general hyten with discretion and sensitivity. After all of this, i believe the senate will come to the same conclusion i did. General hyten was falsely accused and this matter should be set aside as you consider his nomination. I accept that it is entirely possible that his accuser is a wounded soldier who believes what she is saying is true. Even if its not. That possibility makes this whole situation very sad. We all know that Sexual Assault is a highly charged issue, more so today than at any time in our history. Difficult in any environment, it is even more so when your decisions as senators are public but not all of the information will be public. None of us want to appear as leaders to be breaking faith with victims of Sexual Assault. All of us want to encourage victims to come forward. But with very to do the right thing in this case with these facts, maintaining the credibility of this committee and this body. Aligned with the American Peoples deeply rooted sense of justice. I hope you will agree with me that general john hyten is worth all of the time that you have taken to consider his nomination. Hes the right leader to be the next vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. There is no other active duty officer today who combines the intellect and breadth of experience of john hyten when it comes to three areas of vital importance to our National Security. Space, cyber, and the nuclear deterent. John has the credibility and experience of a Combatant Commander yet he began his career in acquisition. He has experience setting requirements for complex Weapons Systems which is a process he will lead as the vice chairman. General hyten stewarded the requirements for command and control and has been a driving force behind the need to modernize the nuclear deterent. He is an exceptionally good compliment to general millys skills as the chairman. More than his expertise, john hyten has a well earned reputation for speaking truth to power. He gives frank military advice without much sugarcoating. I know that from personal experience. Like it or not, he will tell you what he thinks. And what you need to know. Not what you want to hear. He is passionate about the security of this country and i encourage you to support his confirmation. Thank you, mr. Chairman. James m. Inhofe thank you, dr. Wilson, very much for that excellent introduction. With that, general hyten, well recognize you for an Opening Statement. Chairman, members, distinguished Committee Members, it is a privilege to appear before you as the vezs nominee to become the 11th vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. I want to recognize secretary wilson for her long and devoted service to this nation. It means everything to laura and me she came all this way to speak on our behalf. I thank her for that introduction. To begin, id like to introduce my wife laura to the committee so thank you for that opportunity. Laura and i met when i was stationed in los angeles and weve been married now for almost 32 years. We met by long term aspirations did not include a lifetime of service to the United States air force. But over and over again, opportunities continued to come along to do what i love and laura always encouraged me. During this time, her own passion for the men and women of our nations military has grown. Today she is an advocate in our communities and works to empower and care for military families. She is an amazing woman. The best person i know. She is ready to fight for this country alongside me one more time. And together we also have the joy of raising two incredible children. Katie and chris. Both successful in their own right. Each with weddings this year. Katie is here with us to day from boston but chris couldnt make it from colorado on such short notice. But sitting next to them is my brother scott representing my mom, dad, and my sister in alabama and ive been lucky to have them by my side every step of the way. This last christmas i was asked to talk over with my family whether or not i would consider serving in another position if i was if it were offered. I wasnt sure what i would say but this was clearly family decision. Thats when katie made it quite simple asking me if you love this country and you love the people you work with and you still feel you can make a difference then why stop . Period. Simple. So thats why im here. I still love what i do. If confirmed, i look forward to continuing my advocacy for the civilians of the department of defense when the nation provides them the right tools they have proven time and time again theyre the greatest advantage over any adversary. But as i sit here today, as has been discussed, im intensely aware of the allegations made against me concerning one of the most Serious Problems we have in the military, Sexual Assault. It has been a painful time for me and my family. But i want to state to you and to the American People and the strongest possible terms that these allegations are false. There were there was a very extensive thorough investigation that dr. Wilson described which revealed the truth, nothing happened, ever. And im also thankful for all the time you took to study and understand the facts. I really think the integrity of both the investigation and the nomination process are critical, not only for everybody involved but for our nations citizens as well. So i stand by the truth. And i thank the committee for its unwaivering commitment and support to our National Defense as well as to the men and women who serve. If confirmed, i look forward to working across the department of defense with our friends and allies, interagency, members of congress to address an ever widening spectrum of challenges con fronting our nation. We have not seeded our advantage, were faces direct challenges across all the lands particularly in areas of space and cyberspace. Were in a position where we must address resurge enlt peers who have long term strategies to sur plant the global influence of the United States and our allies. The we cannot lose focus on this challenge in the challenge thats they represent. In order to address these challenges, the Department Must continue to field the best in the world force number son or daughter of ours should ever go into kboot with second best equipment. We so chairman, ranking remember reid, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to day. I thank the president and the secretary of defense for their confidence in me. I also wish chairman and mrs. Dunnford godspeed on the pending retirements. Theyll be missed. If confirmed, ill work hard every day to carry on their legacy. Maintain the highest standards of the joint staff of the department of defense an