Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Northern Southern Command Operations 20180216

In ad jigs general tidd talked about combating the Opioid Crisis and improving elicit drug interdiction. The Senate Armed Services committee hosted this four and 45minute event. We will call the meeting to order. Were going to receive testimony from two of my favorite people, general lori robinson. I have to say i taught her everything she knows when she was the Wing Commander at teeinger air force base in oklahoma. And from kurt tidd, the commander for the u. S. Southern command. There is a lot of overlap. We, all three of us talked about this between the north and the south command and i think that is one reason that senator mc cain would want to have these meetings together. The new National Defense strategy, nds, identifies protecting homeland, sustaining american advantages in the western hemisphere as key priorities even as the dod focuses on the rising challenge of great power competitors. As we have seen from increasing economic and military efforts by china and russia to gain footholds in the americas, the boundaries between grout power and are getting blurred. One reason general dunford made the observation that we have, were losing our qualitative and quantitative edge on china and russia. General robinson, you are tasked with the addressing the missile and Nuclear Threats that we face. While i am encouraged by recent efforts to bolster the homeland Missile Defense system more need to be done to address the ballistic and Cruise Missile threats. I think particularly recently we observed others gaining talents we were not convinced they already had. Admiral tidd, in southcom you are on the front lines combating illicit networks, combating smuggling drugs and weapons and money, destablized countries along the way. External actors that present unique challenges in the theater that exist and lack sufficient resources. I think that we have a lot in common and for that reason were having these together and we look forward to your testimony and appreciate the time that each one of you spent in our office talking about the challenges that you guys have. Senator reed. Thank you, very much, mr. Chairman. Let me join you welcome being our witnesses general robinson, general tidd. Thank you for your Extraordinary Service to the nation. Please convey our thanks to men and women in your command we all know do the job every day for us. Thank you. General robinson your mission is to protect the homeland, deter and defeat attacks on the United States. We saw this in demonstrated in dods support to the states and territories affected by hurricanes, wildfires an floods in this past year. We thank you for that. You also dual hat at commander of the north of north American Defense command, norad, opportunities with canada to did heter and defend against threats to our nation. Youre also responsible for the operation of our homeland ballistic Missile Defense system. We look forward to hearing about your priorities for further improvements to the groundbased Missile Defense system this is particularly important in light of the growing threat from north korea. Lastly your relationship with the military leadership in mexico along with your collaboration with admiral tidd and other federal agencies is crucial to promoting security along our southern border. A number of problems at the border originate in the southcom area of operations and efforts to address those problems require a whole of government approach. Admiral tidd, you are on the front lines of the significant threat facing our nation, the Opioid Crisis n 2016 we saw 64,000 deaths from drug overdoses. Increase of 52,000 in 2015. What has made the crisis worse is that more and more americans addicted to opioids are turning to other dangerous drugs flowing into our borders from central and south america and asia. The flow of heroin and cocaine and other drugs like fentanyl into the country is exacerbating this crisis. Cocaine production in colombia is up as we spoke in our country as we spoke in the office and detable sizing the northern triangle as it works its way to our border and destroys lives here. I was encouraged that southcom held an opioid Conference Last Week which brought all the government stakeholders to Work Together on this program. It is important to recognize while our military has Important Role to play in the fight against narcotics in this country, we can only win with adequate resources for domestic agencies, food and drug administration, Drug Enforcement administration and department of health and Human Service i look forward to hearing about the outcome conference and southcoms efforts to stop the flow of narcotics in the United States. Increasingly russia and china are active in central and south america increasing millions of dollars to partner with latin American Militarys. General tidd, as you noted in the written statement, china pledged 500 billion in trade to latin American Country as 250 billion in Chinese Investment over next 10 years. Increased Economic Cooperation and con ebb continued provision of financing and loans have no Strings Attached provide ample opportunity for china to expand to promote fair business and labor practices. Im concerned about the cuts to the state department and usaid were not doing everything we can to position ourselves as partner of choice of neighbors in the region. General tidd i would like to hear how china an russia are investing in central and south america and how they pose a threat in the United States. Were observing the venezuelan crisis. And perspective how long the regime can survive and how the crisis can affect neighbor be countries. Im concerned about colombia with the disarmment and is ill equipped to deal with a long term es refugee problem in the region. General tidd and general robinson, thank you for your service. Thank you, senator reed. Well go ahead and hear Opening Statements by both of our witnesses and try to confine them to five minutes if you can. Your entire statement would be made a part of the record. Well start with you, general robinson. General robinson, i found out your husband was best friend and fellow f16 pilot with my best friend charles sublet in oklahoma. I was not aware of this i dont know how that went unnoticed. Sir, when you bring him to the witness table he has to tell the truth, nothing but the truth. Thats right. I will share that with charles. Yes, sir, please do, please dough. First of all i would really like to say to, we know that he is a figure here to senator mccain and his family. I know all of our thoughts and prayers are with him. Yes, of course. I wanted to extend that. I think that is incredibly important. You know, senator inhofe, senator reed, all the distinguished members of the committee, im honored to join you today. David and i are honored to join you today to testify alongside my friend, my shipmate, mo importantly my wing man kurt tidd. He and i do things arm in arm. 2017 was a challenging year. Northcom and norad addressed proactive actions by our adversaries while simultaneously providing defense support to civil authorities doing an historic series of natural disasters that required significant military capabilities and military manpower. However, i will say that those challenges were definitely handled by a team of absolute professionals, and i cant tell you, sir, how much im proud to represent all of them here today. In my 21 months of, as commander of nor regard and u. S. Northern command ive been so impressed by the dedication and vigilance shown bit soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen, civilians, americans and canadians who stand ready to defend our nations and our fellow citizens. Looking forward i see no reason to believe that the threats to our homeland will decrease. Our adversaries continue to extend their operational reach and are developing new capabilities to reach targets in north america and in canada. Our preparations for these threats relies on a dependable budget. We appreciate all that this committee has done to help reach the twoyear budget agreement. In 2018 National Defense strategy recognizes a return to Great Power Competition and lays out a longterm strategy for addressing provocative behavior by china and russia. In norad and u. S. Northern command we understand the urgency of keeping pace with these evolving threats. We also recognize that north korea represents the most immediate threat to our homeland and therefore remains northcoms highest priority. In the past year kim jongun demonstrated several successful icbm tests. We continue to watch their developments closely and are prepared to defend the United States. I want to assure this committee today, that i, am confident that i can defend the United States. While im confident that we can defeat this threat today, it is critical that we continue to improve the ballistic Missile Defense enterprise. With emphasize on the development of improved censor networks, combined with interceptor capability and capacity and reliability. We continue to work with the Missile Defense agency, the Intelligence Community and other combatant commands to insure our collaborative effort in outappraising the threat. Outpacing the threat. The russia continues to modern ize its longrange bombers and its submarines and has developed new Cruise Missiles with the capability to hold targets at risk of ranges that we havent seen before. To defend against advanced Cruise Missiles it is important that we continue to make prudent and savvy investments in advanced censors and defensive weapons systems. This strategic advancements in Russian Submarine fleets to demonstrate their capability to threaten our homelands for the years to come. The threats mentioned are the most serious, however, we remain vigilant against adapting threat of terrorism as well as unpredictable natural disasters. As we review the 2017 hurricane response and prepare for the 2018 season, were working with the Mission Partners to include active guard, reserve, forces to incorporate the Lessons Learned to insure that we provide our best support to lead federal agencies. With respect to canada, we are building inneroperability across domains with a tricommand framework thats comprised of northcom, norad and Canadian Joint operations command. This arrangement allows further planning, integration while preserving our ability to conduct unilateral missions. With respect to mexico, our military, to military relationship with the mexican secretary of National Defense sedena is unbelievable strong. We focus on illuminating pathways to transit illicit good with my partner here, admiral tidd. With our inneragency partners, southcom and socom. Theater Security Cooperation is essential part of strengthening continental defense and builds relationships essential for future cooperates. And by the way, this year we have the 60th anniversary of norad. Throughout its long history this binational command has seen several evolutions in the air domain and were proud of that the men and women of the United States Northern Command and norad stand united in a common purpose ready to face the threats of the United States and canada today and we are evolving to face the threats of tomorrow. I need all of you to know that we have the watch but i also need you to know, senators today you will ask about me and our capabilities and the things that we need i want you to know that we couldnt do it without our families. If it wasnt for our families and our steadfast things that keep us grounded, we wouldnt be able to be where we are today. So i want to say thank you to my husband, who is here today representing all the families of the United States norad and Northern Command because without them we wouldnt have the standard. So, senator, back to you. Thank you, general robinson. Admiral tidd. Senator inhofe, Ranking Member reed and members of this committee, thank you for this opportunity to address you today. I join my can league and partner, general robinson, extending the warmest wishes to senator mccain and his family. He is in our thoughts and prayers today. Also in our thoughts and prayers are the victims and family members of yesterdays tragedy in parkland, florida. As you probably know some of our Southern Command teammates have children who were present during the incident but were fortunately unharmed. We greatly appreciate the firstresponders, the faculty members and other students whose actions no doubt saved lives. Now, as i said, im here with my good friend and my teammate, general lori robinson. We are products of the intentions of the goldwaternichols legislation that led to an emphasis on jointness. This is not the first time that we have appeared together. This is not the first time we have worked together. In fact our Partnership Goes back over a decade. So i just like to say that it is absolutely very much appropriate, fitting that we have the opportunity to talk to you today about the western hemisphere security challenges. I look forward to discussing how our two command Work Together and to insure there is an absolutely seamless defense of our homeland. Over the past year, southcom focused on Regional Security networks on principled partnerships. Partnerships throughout the latin america an caribbean are working with each other and us on range of shared challenges. These challenges manifest themselves in our hemisphere in several concerning ways. Criminal and extremist networks threaten regional stability and our National Security. We know of specific cases of individuals who were involved in flats to attack our homeland or our partners. Fortunately they were stopped but this remain as significant, persistent concern. Competitors, like china and russia, seek to exploit the perception that we are disengaging from the americas, and as they succeed in their efforts, comes an increased ability for them to interfere with our security relationships and to hold our interests at risk. These challenges are less overt and sometimes more insidious than in other theaters. They are manageable with modest investment, sufficient attention, and early engagement. For southcom that involves tools that strengthen relationships and build capacity. Were not talking about brigade combat teams or aircraft carriers in our theater. Were talking about small teams of general purpose and special Operations Forces to maintain critical training engagements. Were talking about medium endure rans hits with helicopters and particularly those that are inneroperable with our partners. And with enough awareness to buy down risks against problems early and stop threats at their source, before they become more costly. We appreciate the attention of congress to this region and thank this committee for its support to the mission and men and women of southcom and to our families. I look forward to answering your questions. Okay, thank you, admiral, very much, i appreciate it. You said in your Opening Statement, general robinson, i can defend the United States today. I know thats true. You and i talked about this but at what level of risk . You know when general milley said, quote, before this committee, said the most important of many challenges we face is consistent, sustained, predictable funding over time. Now we corrected that a little bit with our, our 18 budget. It is predictable from now until year 2000. But it becomes unpredictable again. I want you to tell us very briefly, what level of risk are we able to do today that you can tie directly to the unpredictability of budget . So, sir, so sir, i will start and i will turn it over to the admiral. To me predictability is everything. As consumer of readiness. As one that has to use the things that the is chiefs have to organize, train and equip for, for me is important to understand what i have out there in capability as. Im telling you today i can defend the United States of america when it comes to ballistic Missile Defense, given what we did, what we have done from a funding perspective but as importantly, what we did with the atr and adding capability and capacity in alaska. What we continue to do with discriminating radars. All of those things im comfortable for but we have to allow the services to be able to plan because they are oneses that provide us that readiness. Okay. Admiral. Sir you and i discussed anything that challenges the Services Ability to provide forces that we request to effectively secure the southern approaches to the United States is a challenge. Budget unpredictability has probably been the single greatest impact on their ability to provide those forces. The challenge that we have, when it comes to awareness what is going on in the environment weve already discussed that. Isr, our isr requirement we received 8 what we asked for. I am very appreciative of fact, half of that is provided as a direct result of creative contracts, isr capabilities that the congress is so generously funded. But that still is an enormous challenge. Not just for but for all commands. We hear that all the time and that is one we really need to be direct. Senator reed brought up china. I read your statement, you didnt cover in the abbreviated message this morning. You made a statement there that caught my eye. You said that china particular is increasingly aggressive and courting imet students from the region to attend their military school. I never heard that before. I know in africa, imet program is singularly truly great programs we have. Once we get them in there, theyre there for life. We see evidence of that all the time. I was not aware china was trying to move into that. Could you kind of share that . Senator, i long felt the imet program is our single, greatest longterm investment value for the dollar we put into it and i just highlight it is an investment sometimes may take two decade or more to pay off, but when it pays off, it pays off with relationships with Strategic Partners that are absolutely critical. It creates the personal contacts many of the military leaders from across the region that i work with on a daytoday basis have participated in the imet program. Studied at our war colleges, gone to our service schools. China watches that very closely. They have recognized the value of that strategic investment and so they basically have taken a leaf out of our book and they are very lavishly funding it bring senior military officers from a variety of Key Countries around our region to china for lavishly, expensed, all expense paid trips for them, for their families, to be able to live very high lifestyle in the countries. It is, there is still a recognition from our partners that the greatest value comes from studying in the United States. We believe our country sells itself. When people come here, they get to know who we are, who our country really is, the values that we truly represent. We think that is very, very important. We always said once we get them over here we have them forever. That is my experience particularly in africa. Because theyre there. It is very disturbing to me for a year segment or observation that you made they are going after same individuals we already ha. That is disturbing that gives us something new to address. I appreciate that very much. Senator reed. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Let me concur, imet is absolutely critical. In a way i have a personal connections. Two of my classmates later went on from west point, later went on to become chief of service in the philippines and in thailand. They have been staunch defenders of the of their countries and president of coast reek can was one of the graduates. That program was funded by the state department, is that correct . Yes, sir, thats correct. That is north example of particularly both of your command, whole of government, without funding there is no imet. When we see proposed cuts to state it will play out in fewer opportunities for students to go to among war colleges, American Military academies, that accurate . Senator, i would agree complete i. Income again, both of you represent, in critical ways that a need for not Just Department of state, Homeland Security, coast guard cutters are part of your intercept plan for narcotics if theyre not there. In fact what percentage of destination cargo you knew were in route could you intercept . Senator, the challenge we face is about 25 of vessels we know that, that are transporting illicit materials, we can accept 25 . A quarter. If we could invest more in coast guard, presumably, we could intercept more than 25 of the ships that almost senator, i believe security in our theater is a team support. It requires the efforts of many departments an agencies. Again, i think this, both you and general robinson illustrate so dramatically how we have to get our Adequate Funding for every Significant National security component whether in the Defense Department or outside of the Defense Department. John robinson, when you say you can defend the nation against missile attack, you are saying a limited missile attack by north korea . Yes, sir. You are not making a limited statement. No, sir. I refer that to general height. You said in your testimony there is constant tension between capacity and cape capeability. Yes. We have investing increased capacity, that will take five to seven years to get new fields up but at the moment we have real issues of capability, whether we take down sensors, shot doctrine, through the kill vehicle, anything coming at us, particularly unfortunately the offense in this game seems to have the advantage if they can deploy decoys or do, you know, multiple stage rockets. So can you comment about this issue of where we should be focusing and how we should do it . So, sir i have to tell you im completely comfortable where we are. The fact that in the above threshold reprograming that we added capacity and then the redesigned kill vehicles, i think it is 2022 when we have those but at same time we are looking at discriminating radars. In 2019 well add longrange discriminating radars to alaska. Well add radars to hawaii. Well look at what we need referring to cobra coming down. Thank you to the committee for funding cobra dayne where we figure this out. Im comfortable where we are. As we look at discrimination of radars, we look at the capacity of the fields in alaska, i think were in a really good place because, when we sit back and look at what kim jongun has done, he is looking at capability. You and i talked about this. But he hasnt built up capacity yet. So right now our capacity is very good where we are, and as we continue to move forward. Are you satisfied with the schedule, frequency and rigor of the system, the actual testing . Im very comfortable. One of the things i say about kim jongun all the time he is not afraid to fail in public. You learn as much from failure as you do from success. So you know im very comfortable where we are with our testing and where were going in the future and i rely very much on general grieves and where mda is going and he and i talk all the time. Thank you very much. Again, thank you both for your service. Yes, sir. Senator wicker. Admiral tidd, thank you both for your testimony and your service. But admiral, our strategy now is great power, competition, first and foremost. Senator inhofe asked you to drill down on china, so let me to then turn to russia. Which you discussed extensively in your writen testimony. You mentioned cuba, nicaragua, venezuela. Is that principally where theyre playing, what are they trying to do there and where else do we need to be concerned . Senator, those are countries where previously soviet union had longstanding relationship and russia continued that relationship however they continue to engage in a direct competition for influence with some of our key partners around the region. Our challenge is to be able to disprove the false narrative that russia pedals in the region, that the United States is withdrawing. That were not a reliable partner. So many of the actions we engage in are directly intended to show our partners who are very much interested in working with us, that we are in fact share common interests. We certainly share common Democratic Values and principles which neither russia nor china share. Youre not a diplomat. Youre a military person but, if the president s new openness to the Transpacific Partnership advances would that be helpful to us in, making the point that we can be a reliable partner . Senator, i dont profess to be either a diplomat or an economist but i would just observe that the things that we do to show our partners directly and we have pacificfacing nations within the southcom region, anything we can do to show we are reliable partners is valuable. To what extent are we comfortable with the militaries of these countries subscribing to the position that we advocate and that were the great standard of the military being answerable to the civilian leadership and to what extent are the members of their legislative bodies Significant Players in that regard . Senator, i think, each of the countries differs slightly. My relationships are with the military leaders of the countries. My observations and my conversations genuinely reflect that they recognize and are grounded in the same democratic principles that are really characteristic, that were the founding characteristics of the americas community. I think as we have seen, as a number of elections that have occurred throughout the region that led to changes in government positions, the militaries in each instance played a reasoned, responsible role and they recognize the ability to freely and fairly express democratic preferences is enshrined in the, in the background of this theater have been respected. The one country i think that i would highlight though that has been singularly contrary to that has been venezuela where recent elections have been neither free nor fair. Very good. Let me ask you quickly to shift to the ships, the role of the coast guard there, and clearly for you it is going to continue to being almost totally coast guard. If you could take a moment how you plan to integrate Unmanned Systems into your platform . Senator, i have said before on a number of occasions, in the oust southcom region our Maritime Force has white halls and stripes and if it were not for the United States coast guard and a significant effort by the commandant we would not have a maritime presence. My service in the United States navy doesnt recognize the very significant importance to the region, it is just a matter of Strategic Priorities and availability of forces. We run out of mission, excuse me we run out of forces before we run out of mission. The coast guard cutters that have been participating are irreplaceable. The National Security cutters, terrific when we get them but the real workhorse, you know, the cop on the beat vessels are the medium endurance cutters, many of which are past 30 years in age. Some were built in the 1960s and so, the recapitalization of these medium endurance cutters with the offshore patrol cutters i view as extremely important to u. S. Southcoms ability to have a maritime presence in the region. Unmanned . Unmanned, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are there some challenges procedural to incorporate them in the missions that we are engaged in but we are actively exploring efforts to be able to do that. Thank you. Senator. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and to our witness, thank you for your service to our country. Thank you for being here today. General robinson, im certainly pleased to hear that you have great confidence in our Missile Defense capabilities but i would also like to expand, have you expand a little bit how we can continue to strengthen those capabilities. We currently have obviously the site in california as well as in alaska. There is talk about having an east coast site that would provide additional capabilities, particularly given the potential threat from iran at some point in the future. If you could talk a little bit what the advantages would be to add a groundbased interceptor capacity at another location in addition to the two we have . Sir, thanks for that. I tell everybody that i watch north korea with a eyeball and a half to north korea and half a eyeball to iran. As i continue to watch them work on their space launch vehicles, i know that they can maybe quickly transfer that to intercontinental ballistic Missile Defense capability. Right now theyre very regional. Theyre staying within the poa. As i work very closely with the Missile Defense agency understanding, you know, what we can do from alaska and california i insure that i have the battle space that i need to defend from the east coast. So i Pay Attention to that each and every day and, and, as the Missile Defense agency is working their way through, you know, what does it look like for east coast site, i insure that my words and the battle space that i need are there to defend the United States. Thank you, general. Yes, sir. General you mentioned in some of our earlier testimony the situation in venezuela and one that youre concerned about. Could you elaborate how concerned you are with what were seeing in venezuela . Senator, i think that the fact it is a matter of very significant concern to the nations that neighbor venezuela is probably the most important piece to point out. As we have seen the impact on venezuelans who are fleeing the absolutely abominable Economic Conditions in the country puts a severe burden on the school systems, medical systems, the social support infrastructures, particularly of colombia where over 500,000 venezuelans have now entered colombia. It is putting an increasingly growing strain on brazil where we have seen tens of thousands that have come across. It also places a significant burden on guyana and curacao and aruba and trinidad tobago. It is having a Significant Impact on those countries. Those countries recognize they have to deal with this humanitarian crisis. Certainly very destablizing to many of our allies and friends in that area. I would like you to comment, if you would, on the involvement of cuba in venezuela. Things that i have read, there are commentators who believe that, that there are hundreds to perhaps thousands of cuban troops in venezuela. Some have said this is a play you right out of the old castro playbook. What is your assessment of cuban influence in venezuela and how is that contributing to the instability that were seeing . Senator, i think weve read some of the same, the same documents, both open source and other. I think, and when i talk again with my counterparts in the region they have been quick to share that we see significant presence of cuban advisors to the Security Forces that continue to prop up the maduro regime. So i think it is a matter of concern. Thank you. Appreciate your testimony. Thank you, senator. Thank you, mr. Chairman. General robinson and admiral tidd, thank you very much for your service for your service to our country. Admiral tidd, i would like to go back a little bit to what senator wicker was discussing with you. Basically in recent years, china, russia, and iran have all increased their activities in the western hemisphere, from economic invests to military sales and engagement. Which of these competitors concerns you the most in your areas of responsibility and what are you doing to maintain and expand our position as a partner of choice to latin america and caribbean nations . I understand the desire and, as you said earlier, you recognize that you will do what is necessary. Wonder if you can give us specific areas you either intend to move forward with, or that you would need additional assistance with . Well, senator, without parsing i think the new National Security strategy, the new National Defense strategy clearly articulated russia and china are significant concerns. They are global concerns. So they are of concern because they are very present and aggressive in the u. S. Southcom theater. Iran also is present, particularly worrisome is their, their proxy hezbollah which is, an area weve been watching for many, many years and is an item of concern. When it comes specifically to russia and china, the very best thing we can do is to, to be the best possible partners that we can with countrys who are absolutely interested, committed, want to work with us. Sometimes theyre, there are things that make it difficult for us to be the best partner that we can. Sometimes it is adequate forces for us to be able to engage with them. To be able to conduct meaningful exercises with them but also sometimes our ability to, to be able to work with them and facilitate the kinds of informationsharing that is critical to having an effective, common defense for the challenges we face. Let me work my way through it because im curious about such things as Foreign Military sales or Foreign Military financing for those military sales. International military education training, the impact and so forth. What, can you talk a little bit the specific ones with regard to our ability to not only provide them with resources but also the training as well . And where are we at right now with those same partners . Is that working or is it not working . Do we have resources allocated there that we need . Senator, i dont know a theater commander that says he has as many resources he or she would like to have, but i would say particularly with regard to the programs that you mentioned, fms and the imet program its a small pie to begin with. The southcom allocation of that pie is smaller still based on global priorities. So our challenge is to make the small slice of the pie go as far as it possibly can. Now sometimes programs we offer, it is for our parters to come to live in the United States and bring their families with them and spend time here. So thats where we really try to maximize the number that are able to come and the quality and quantity if you will. Finding that balance point can be a real challenge. I think as far as particularly the imet program, if there is one program that i would say is a long term, strategic investment and like financial investments, sometimes they take a while to pay off but when they pay off, they are absolutely priceless. Thank you, general robinson, our airspace out of california in 2012. Of the we have four jets, cruise on 24 hour alert basis part of the critical defense team for our nation. Norad requested 72 up graded asar radars through a joint operational needs request and they have been funded to include aircraft for the 114th. The problem there are 300 f16s, modified 72 with the radar. The worry well put heavy wear and tear on the specific modified aircraft. That will only modify a handful of the aircraft. Thus wearing out that particular group. In addition to capability gained it is probably a pretty good buy. Can you talk a little bit your perspectives should we upgrade the remaining f16s in the Air National Guard alert squardrons, that were not focusing on 72 with that capability . Yes, sir. Im working very closely with the air force on this first of all im grateful to be able to modify those jets. That just happened recently. I think that is a really good deal. I continue to work with the airs force as we not just modify airplanes but transition to f35 look like. I will look closely insure that not we rely heavily on those, but what the long term transition plan looks like. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you both for your service and for your testimony today. General robinson, i especially appreciate your comments about the supports that everyone in the military receives and at norad from your families and i know that sentiment is shared by everyone on this committee. So thank you both. Admiral tidd, i want to go back to senator reeds question i think about the 25 . Did you characterize that as 25 of the missions that you could do youre able to do, and because of the lack of resources not able to do more than that . Senator, i think the way we describe it, and to clarify is, we have pretty good Situational Awareness on an awful lot of the traffic that is, trafficking that is occurring. That is based on very Close Partnership with a variety of countries in the region, most notably with colombia. Of the known tracks that we are aware of, we think we have pretty good handle, were only able to intercept about 25 , about one quarter. Im sure youre both aware of the challenges that we face with the opioid and heroin and drug epidemic in this country. It is hit New Hampshire particularly hard. And what, can you estimate if, you had the resources, that you could use to do all of the missions that you would like for all of the interdiction efforts that youre aware of what difference would that make in terms of the amount of drugs youre able to interdict . Senator. You raise an excellent question and the challenge that we have particularly with regard to opioids and this is, that is the reason we hosted the Conference Last Week was because we recognized what we knew and the procedures that we had in place did not seem to be having the kind of impact. That it is because the supply chain of that particular illicit substance does not travel in the same way that the supply chain for, if you roll the clock back, marijuana originally and cocaine we have well understood source zones, transit zones, a rifle zones, and were able to lay across those various pathways primarily Law Enforcement but Intelligence Community and military resources to have an impact on then. The opioid problem is fundamentally different problem. We have, we understand its different. I would say the value of last weeks conference was bringing together many, many, of the agencies that touch that problem at least on the interdiction side, and recognize weve got to do business differently. Im not prepared to tell you we have an answer to it yet but we recognize the scope of the problem, the seriousness of the problem and the work remains to be done and our work to commit together to put in more effective mechanism than what were doing today. Thank you. General robinson, are you seeing similar on the northern border with canada, are you seeing similar traces of drug runners coming across . No, maam. Not like admiral tidd would talk about but one thing i would also like to add and give admiral tidd a lot of credit for is last month we had a meeting with he and i and admiral duran from colombia and the admiral from mexico to talk about, how do we, as we watch things go from landbased transit to oceanbased transit, those two folks talking to each other how do we decide how were going to combat this together . So, you know, under his leadership, you know, we had colombia present a plan, we had mexico present a plan and the u. S. Present a plan and three of us will sit down to do this from open ocean perspective to get after that. This is not a single dimension conversation. This is a multidimension conversation. Its a multicom bat tant command conversation, which is to what is really important that he and i stand side by side doing this. Well, thank you. I think it is very important as you all know and i hope that we can provide Additional Resources to make sure youre successful. I want to pick up on another issue that senator reed raised with respect to funding for the state department. You both talked about the importance of working across dod and state in terms of what youre trying to accomplish and we have seen a proposed budget that would cut the department of state by 30 . Can you quantify what that would mean in terms of your operations and your efforts to work with state, if they saw that kind of a cut . So i dont know if i can give you a number that would mean anything but here is what i do know. Every single day we talk about anything secretary mattis says diplomacy leads. And so the fact of the matter that he says diplomacy leads, then i know my role and responsibility is to support diplomacy. So i cant say is that 10, 20, 25 . Put i can tell you that i know that i follow diplomacy. Thank you. I would just add again i cant put a number but some of the programs that are critical to building effective partners across the region actually, they come out of the state budget. We implement them but we could not do it if theyre underfunded. Thank you both. I think that is a very strong statement in terms of funding as we increase funding for military and department of defense. Were all on board for that but we should also be on board for funding for the state department and diplomatic efforts. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you both for being here today. General robinson your Opening Statement talks about the capabilities of russian Cruise Missiles to hold targets in the homeland at risk and specifically you state, quote, these systems present an increasing threat to north america, due to longrange, low radar crosssection and limited indications and warnings likely to be seen prior to a combat launch, end quote. Can you elaborate and characterize this threat in further detail and how much does it concern you . Here is what i would say. We tell everybody that we should look the at math from the north poll down. Senator sullivan does every single day. We should look at the fact that russia looks different if you look at it that way. Then every single day i would tell you i get an operations and intelligence briefing that talks to me about where bombers are, where submarines are, and you know, what theyring doing and what their activity is. And i Pay Attention to that every single day. And so when i sit back and i look at that, you know, i look at their capability, what theyre capable of. I look at their capacity as they continue to train both their bomber pilots and their submarine pilots. But i look at intent in the air domain as the commander of norad. I know from an intent perspective, you know, their intention, i dont see that that doesnt mean from a strategic, longterm perspective as we talked about in the National Defense strategy, you know what russia is out there doing. But i have to tell you, i have to tell you, so one of the things that were doing is a northern approach surveillance analysis of alternatives with canada to understand what is coming across the northern approaches. Both canada and alaska, i look at entire part as commander of norad and what ive said it everybody, i want to be able to detect, i. D. , track, and engage if necessary at ranges to dedenned our homeland. Those are things i think about when i think about russia. Your final comments there about being able to dehe can tech early and engage in necessary, do you think we have enough of that capability right now . I know if the fy2017 the air force began upgrading the radars on the 72 National Guard f is 6 fighters. F16 fighters. Is that going to be sufficient . Isnt that really our last line of defense at that point . Yes. So maam, what i would say that is part of our Homeland Defense design phase one. And phase two allows us to use fighters and tactics, techniques and procedures to move out further than we were able to before. So we appreciate the committees support on that. But this is now the longer range part, if i look at the northern approaches, specific to be able to do that. And i happen to believe that our Missile Defense system provide really an immense capability. And the expansion of that system is going to help us to continue to defend the homeland as this threat increases. Yet over the weekend, general, we saw the New York Times Editorial Board publish a column titled, the dangerous illusion of Missile Defense, and in it they described our homeland Defense System as riddled with flaws and repeated what i consider an old, tired, claim, that tests were not conducted under realistic conditions. So to be clear, do you have confidence in the ability of the gmd system to defend the United States from a north korean ballistic miss till attack today . Maam, im 100 confident in my ability to defend the United States of america. And do you believe the actions taken by congress and this administration to expand the systems capacity and improve discrimination will enhance northcoms ability to defend the homeland from paistic missile attack in the future . Maam, i would tell you the appreciate the above threshold reprograming for the capacity that we gave and i think thats helpful as we look at adding on to that, the redesign kill vehicle in addition to continued work which we need to do with the discriminating radars. Between all of those three things i think we continue to outpace everybody and, it gives me more and more confidence, continued confidence of our ability to defend the United States. Thank you, general, for presenting valuable information and very clear answers. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to thank both witnesses. Thank you for meeting this week as well. Over 1700 hoosiers died from opioid overdoses. Only six states had larger percentage increases that this s is a national epidemic. Its getting worse, not better. And your commands on the very front lines of this battle. How would you prioritize the Opioid Crisis . I take this Opioid Crisis as a personal issue. When you sit back and you talked about it and its about families and its about people, its incredibly important. I sit down every month and i talked to the secretary of dhs. I worked very closely with my subordinate commanders who work very closely with mexico on all of this. So this crisis is not something that i sit beside bigots of the i take very personally. And so whats important to me is that i understand the support will that i can give to dhs and the support role that i can, and information that i can give mexico which translates to the things i can give to admiral tidd, because the line on the map doesnt exist for us. So its a very personal thing. Senator, this is a crisis that has come to touch us all personally. So the challenge we face is that how to handle it, how do you deal with it . What became clear at our Conference Last Week was the United States department of defense cant solve this problem on its own. The department of Homeland Security cant solve this problem on its own. They just cannot solve it on its own record only be through all of us working together in a collaborative manner. Thats why our approach that u. S. Southcom is to apply a threat networkbased approach and we see thats her number one priority is threat network. I apologize because ive limited time but as we talk about these drugs are coming across from mexico. Not through unguarded as anything but through checkpoints, in the back of trucks. And so were in a position of seeing the very checkpoints we have in our country allowing trucks in, many of these trucks loaded with drugs. Two questions. Number one, detection systems. In regards to fentanyl, tracker dogs die egos of the effects of fentanyl on the mucus systems and other things. How do we or where are we in finding new detection systems so we could can determine whethere are in the trucks . Are we in a position we need to say look, your refrigerator is not coming in today. Its coming in in a month and half because were checking every box in every truck because its more important that a young person in indiana be able to stay alive as opposed to having your refrigerator come in on time. So first is detection systems and second should we just simply change the way we do business at the border and check every single box that comes in . I will tell you it is a portal that we do for dhs, we have the opportunity to provide them some biometric detection capability. Where the opportunity to provide Marine Center platoons at the border, capability. But as you know and as you and i talked about yesterday its very much in a support role and the things we could do from a technology capability. Last year in front of this committee as you and i chatted about yesterday, senator mccain asked her to talk about what are some of the technologies and will come talk to you about some of the things were doing to provide and to support dhs. Admiral . All i can say is there is the single Silver Bullet that will solve this problem. This is going to take the greatest efforts across the entire National Security team to be able to Work Together effectively. Is a discussion by changing the way we handle crossings of the border . Thats where its coming through. Not that you know of. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you both for being here. Ive got a question about mbs. Three quick question. Admiral tidd, to finish up on what senator schumer thought about it before i do that, i would be remiss not to apologize to both of you Combatant Commanders on behalf of United States senate. Today were officially sitting in a continuing resolution again, and you have my personal commitment and resolve before i leave this it will do everything we can to get away from the budget process that puts us in this detrimental high risk situation we doing more to harm the security of our country than any of these people were talking about today outside. Sorry. Admiral, real quick. General kelly talked about this but you talked about, there is an asset you could use in your aor to interdict morbid wood of what percentage we can take to come understand that but you can close a gap assessment a lot of money, true . I think theres some platforms after that would be enormously helpful to us. What would one of those look like . Littoral combat ship would fit perfectly into the Mission Space that we are rotary wing as well . If the package. Its the vessel capable of operating in the eastern pacific with rotary wing, with interceptor boats as a package coupled with maritime patrol. In latin america, russia did it is up like 40 of the armed sales. China is the second largest trading partner in latin america. Iran is ended to hezbollah. The nds is pivoting towards near peer competitors. Heretofore with permission the last 15 17 years was mainly about terrorism you are underfunded in southcom is where pushing resources out to the battle here today the battle looks like its getting closer and closer to home. Are you being resourced in order to support the nds and is the nds focusing of on greater power threat, pure power threats that are out to mr. . Not yet. The nds recognizes these challenging nations and i think we must move beyond applying resources to the home zip code of what the specific countries are and apply the resources to be able to deal with them wherever they are found across the globe. General, thank you for being here again and thank you for being on the wall. The arctic. China just last month issued a a statement. Russia has been actively building resources in the arctic. We see sorties or whatever in the arctic region increasing at an exponential rate. I dont know how many icebreakers we technically have. We dont have very many. I think china or russia has a multiple. Can you talk about the threat in the arctic, are the increasing . What is russian and chinese strategy . You told us last year about your strategic estimate. Can you give us an update on that strategic estimate in the arctic . Absolutely, sir. So i did a strategic estimate. Out of that strategic estimate i have directed my to start planner to provide eMission Analysis. Assets that the people we that are chosen to stand, its time to put our feet in the snow and time to understand more and more whats going on up there. So out of that Mission Analysis we are going to do a couple of exercises. We did a vigilant shield last fall. Were going to do and arctic edge and will be able to understand certain task out of that. Let at the same time when we need to look at the infrastructure, the communications, and the domain awareness to understand whats happening. Both of you quickly, i have limited time, our strength against the near peer competitors is our network of allies. I know secretary of state tillerson is talked about that. Secretary mattis has is talkedt that actively. In your aor is what we doing with our allies to help leverage our military expenses and capabilities . We are working together to help train think it were building their capabilities in the areas that their are most interested in and where showing why our actions that we trust them. And so i can tell you earlier this year secretary mattis held in north america defense ministerial with canada, the United States and mexico to talk about how did we three of us Work Together to show the with the longest borders in the world and that we are a shining beacon of trust and cooperation. Thank you both. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you to our witnesses for being here today. General, i know you said you are confident in her Homeland Defense and i was glad to see that the most recent test of a homeland missileDefense System in may of 2070 was successful. It brings our record the ninth out of 18 which is 50 . Im testing is important. Whether test succeed or fail weve got a great deal of information and it helps us. As the missile threat from north korea increases and we invest additional interceptors to meet the threat, it seems to me its more important than ever we actually access the reliability of the system. Physical tests are expensive and the cost hundreds of millions of dollars each. Predictive modeling is one Cost Effective way to increase our data, but in his 2017 annual report, general baylor, the director of Operational Test and evaluation, criticize, im going to quote, the lack of independent accreditation of modeling and simulation for performance assessment of our ballistic Missile Defense system. He recommended that missiledefense agency prioritize investment in modeling and simulation. General robinson, as northcom commander your the primary customer for our homeland missileDefense System. Do you agree with his recommendation . Would increase modeling and simulation improve your confidence in groundbased Missile Defense system . Its good to see it again. Good to see you. And so thank you for that. I would tell you two things. Modeling and simulation is as good as what you put in is what you get out, right . Its very important we do modeling and simulation but i also think that the importance that missiledefense agency does with its life testing helps answer into all that. When you take both the life part and you can input that into the modeling and simulation, that helps you with the overall understanding. But i want to say to you again i am confident today in our ability to defend the United States. Its important not just the life testing by the modeling and simulation, and put all that together to make us understand where we are going. Thank you, general. We spent over 40 40 billion e homeland missileDefense System, so i dont think its asking too much to expect it to work 100 of the time and if thats not possible to rethink our overall approach. We have been making the same recommendation that we invest in modeling since 2010. Thats eight years ago. Its time to take that recommendation seriously. Not a substitute but as a both and. If i can let me ask you one of the question. And that is, general robinson, your responsibilities include coordinating defense support civil authorities in the event of a natural disaster. In 2017 hurricanes harvey, irma and maria and nate and ophelia. Thats right. Strained our federal response nearly to the breaking point. I recently visited puerto rico along with the massachusetts congressional delegation and we were able to see the damage firsthand. One sector that was particularly hard it was healthcare. We previously talked about your decision to send the hospital ship comfort for about seven weeks. But i visited a hospital and a Community Health center that were still struggling without clean water, without reliable power months after the storm. And more than a month after the comfort had departed. And now even though they havent recovered from last years of storms they are all starting to prepare for the next round of Hurricane Season. So im about at a time but general robinson, can you very briefly list, say, your top three Lessons Learned from maria and whether theres more that dod can do to support the healthcare sector, specifically . I i would tell you we just finished very quickly, we just finished an internal northcom Lessons Learned conference. We are going go out to osd. The conversation that we had is, is there a difference between texas, florida, and puerto rico . So you cut got state, state, ad island. What can we learn and can think about that typically . That i would take would probably be the first thing that i would say back to you. Once we finish through inside the department id be happy to have me and my staff come talk to you about the things that we learned, and interagency, quite frankly. Because as you know better than i do can we are very much in a support role the fema and the governor, and so we be happy to come talk to you. Good. I appreciate that and i appreciate you responded to my letter. With a lot of detailed information about the comfort and its use in puerto rico. Mr. Chairman, with your permission i like to submit a letter from the general for the record. All right. Just to say, puerto rico has still not recovered, and healthcare has been a particularly hardhit area. The unity can move resources offered much faster than anyone else and i think we didnt think much harder about the role that dod plays in future hurricanes because we know theyre coming. Yes, man. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, general robinson, admiral tidd, for your parents and your service. The president announced at the state and Union Address that we would once again be moving detainees were appropriate to guantanamo bay, falls under your authority. Did you tell us all a bit more about that plan and what you have in store for the facilities there . As has been the case our responsibility is to ensure the safe, secure, legal detention of all of our detainees. Im highly confident that weve been doing that and will continue to do that. We have 41 detainees who are there right now. We are prepared to receive more should they be directed to us. As of today we have not been given a warning order that new detainees might be heading in our direction, but our responsibility to integrate them effectively into that mission. And what about the facilities and your personal rotation plans . Thanks to the generosity of congress and spearheaded by this committee, we appreciate the support for barracks that are capable of withstanding the environmental conditions of the caribbean region, especially during storm season. We look forward once the money is an antibiotic to Start Construction on those barracks, i can anticipate although i dont have a plan for you today, there are a variety of the buildings that were temporary in nature when they were put up that have deteriorated beyond their useful life. We will be taking a hard look and prioritizing those buildings that will need to be replaced with facilities capable of withstanding the environmental conditions in guantanamo bay. Lets turn our attention to the south. Youve already spoken with a couple of senators about the situation in venezuela, which is rapidly deteriorating under the brutal murder of dictatorship. Talk to me that the application did ask for Colombian Security and especially the impact it could have in the colombian elections coming up. Yes, senator, thanks. Egos of the significant number of venezuelans, over 500,000 and continue to rise, venezuelans would come across the border into columbia overwhelming their social support infrastructure, columbia as i think a great concern. They are also beginning to see and this is based on conversations with my colombian partners, they are very concerned that theres a large number of venezuelans who are being pushed across the border that are being encouraged to vote in elections. They have dual citizenship as colombia and venezuela, and theres concern that may skew the elections that will be very critical taking place this spring and summer in columbia. Its a matter of security concern to columbia but though security concerns i think are largely shared by brazil, numbers are not as great yet but is beginning to overwhelm the states that are directly across the border from venezuela and were seeing it affecting other countries across the region. The humanitarian disaster is in progress, and our partners are very concerned about it. Thank you, admiral tidd. General robinson, award ask you about a story that was in the news recently, they used by Service Members smart exercise devices. For instance, fitbits or smart watches, particularly overseas but obviously underneath the authorities have a lot of sensitive sites here in the United States. Can you tell us what steps if any northcom has started to take to address this Security Risk . Thanks for that. I witchery as i watched and i worked through the Service Chiefs and to see what they are doing, what i worry about force protection in all of the installations, i work it through the Service Chiefs so im paying attention to the steps they are taken to make sure i understand to ensure that i can have anything that you need me to do. And you feel comfortable at this point with what the services are pursuing . Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you both for your testimony and for your service. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Admiral tidd, since weve been talking to this morning, for in this country have died of overdoses, just in the last hour. As many people died in the last month as were killed on september 11, including one a day in my state of maine. I cant believe were having the same conversation today found member having with general kelly two or three years ago and getting this figure of 8 of isr resources and 25 of known drug shipments interdicted, 75 get through. I think you have identified the problem. If we give you a mission, you will deal with it. The problem is nobody has this nation. And i hope youll go back and talk to this Interagency Group and talk to the white house. It is inexcusable to be sitting here three or four years later and still only being able to interdict 25 of the drug shipments that we know about. And we would know about more if we have adequate isr. This is simply a question of allocation of resources, and this is the most Serious Public Health problem this country faces. Four people have died in the last hour. And were still talking about, and youve given me the same figures that general kelly gave three or four years ago. Can you commit to me that you will move this to the highest level of priority and kick some behind and take some names in this interagency cooperation . Please dont come back here again next year with the same testimony. Senator, i can commit to that not only will i but i have continued to commit to get the challenge that we face. I will answer of services, the biggest challenge they had havo be able to provide Additional Resources, which they recognize very clearly are required, are challenged by the inability to have budget predictability be able to produce more forces to make them available. This is a team sport. This is a team effort. Went to Work Together as constructively and as collaborative as possible. My commitment to you is i will do everything within my power to do my part. Hopefully we just passed a twoyear budget authorization. Hopefully again we will have the final numbers within the next two or three weeks and then well be able to move forward, but please make this the highest priority. Im not attacking you. Im attacking the failure of our structure to adequately get at a problem when we have it right in front of us. It would be one thing if we didnt know but when you have right in front of us. General robinson, lets move north. First question. We all know theres a russian buildup along the northern border, along the arctic ocean. Whats their purpose . What can you discern . What is their strategic reason for doing this . Isnt defensive, offensive, looking to get closer to be able to attack us or are they simply protecting their sure . I would say i think what you just said at the last is great. Protecting their sure. As you and i chatted about the other day the opportunity for them to move their infrastructure around to the different bases is incredibly important. Just like i do. I move capability from anchorage to eielson, from eielson to inuvik. And so we moved things around. But its to make sure that they can put things in the places they want to at the time and place of their choosing. I think you made an important point earlier that there are two elements of national strategy, what is capability and the other is intent. The problem is right now they may have a benign intent or a lack of malicious intent, i put it that way. But the building at the capability which requires that we have to be alert. Arthur asked that you need in the north that you dont have, for example, an icebreaker . Ill defer to my colleagues in the coast guard, but what i will tell you for the icebreakers, what i will tell you is i very much get isr capability in global hawk and other things that i share with you, and pacom to understand whats happening in the region. And so but i will tell you that im very good at advocating for needing other capabilities such as, as an example if you want icebreakers. I talk with my coast Guard Brothers often about this here because i think about it in the summer when crystal serenity goes through and we will see more of that. Yes, sir. Phyla, short question. If you had to choose, if you only had one priority in order to improve our Missile Defense system, what would it be . So i want to thank the congress for the capacity that which is god but weve got to keep our eye on discriminating radar. Thats what i thought you would answer any think thats got to be a very high priority. Thank you. Thank you both. Thank you, mr. Chair. Admiral tidd, general robinson, thank you very much. Major, nice to have you as well. Admiral general robinson, yestee had the opportunity talk about canada weapons of mass distraction activities in the homeland. Socom has responsible of county weapons of mass distraction but it is something once it approaches the homeland we need to figure how to respond to that. You have a great role in that as well as a number of other combatant command departments and agencies. One thing i want to point out is we can to focus a lot about north korea and the threat that their Nuclear Program might have on the United States but we have to remember there are other things involved with weapons of mass destruction. Chemical, biological and radiological agents as well. We know north korea does have the potential to develop some of those other threatening means to the United States. Can you talk a little bit about how northcom works with all of these other various federal agencies, how are we protecting the homeland . Not just from the Nuclear Threat to some of the other threats as well. Yes, maam. Thanks. First of all i think one of the things i really enjoyed is my opportunity and privilege to work with dhs, fema, and all the other intelligence agencies here in the homeland. I have joint Task Force Civil support in virginia, and amazing guard unit that works very focus on the chemical and biological reaction. But i have of the task force was in the guard that help respond. One of them is yours. So for me that whole relationship with the governors and with the tags to bring the forces to bear when we need them to be there, independent of the niche capability that gtf civil support provides to me from virginia, but in addition to forces that other guard units provide are amazing. Its understand whats going to happen here. You would be talked about earlier about our exercise ardent sentry and jordan talk about understanding what the Nuclear Capability to do. So its understanding now the forces that we would need to st and defend governors and state. We mentioned yesterday though civil support teams and others that work behind the scene. They truly are those quiet they are the quiet professionals. Thank you very much for that. Admiral tidd, thank you also for sitting down with me and going through a number of really concerning issues. And youve heard a lot of passion speeches from our senators today. And i think we are all very concerned about the Illicit Trade that goes on and terrorism throughout the region. We know that theres a trait of drugs, tobacco, weapons, illicit and sometimes in cases human trafficking, and sometimes they are generating revenue for terrorist organizations like hezbollah. Can you explain how you are trying to tighten down on that nexus, and can you specifically addressed our wonderful partners to about the region, some of the countries that have helped step up and combat some of these problems . Center, thanks for your question. I think the way that we have reoriented, the way we do business and are made ever been countering Threat Networks is specifically intended to maximize the tools that we within the department of defense bring to bear us into this in agency and International Partnership to be able to counter these Threat Networks. Regardless of what commodity that they are moving. Partners like colombia have been absolutely irreplaceable. Their willingness to work with us, to share information with us, to be partners not just within colombia but also working sidebyside with Central American neighbors to help them build their capacity to be able to deal with tracked down, apply pressure on and disrupt these Threat Networks. I would highlight the terrific work that has been going on that general robinson at all of her work with the armed forces of mexico. Mexico is now exerting i think a Significant Interest in helping to improve security in central america. We worked together in partnership, northcom and southcom together to facilitate that particular type of activity. Many of the partners throughout the region peer weve got capable porkers. Partners. I would highlight a few and just working around the continent, brazil, argentina has now come on strong and played a critical role. Shelley has for many years been one of the premier viktor to partners in the region chile. Peru is a significant part of it again i come to colombia is probably our single most significant Strategic Partner in the region. Thank thank you very much. Its important we realize we do have solid partners in the region. Its not all on our shoulders. We cant do it without them. So i appreciate your service. Thank you very much for being here today thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you both for serving and thank you for being here today. Im not going to plow ground that is already been gone over as relates to opioids but i just want to echo the threat of blackmarket fentanyl to the safety and security of americans, probably tops just but anything else were facing right now. I do think its an all hands on deck moment for every part of our National Security apparatus. I want to specifically ask about seabird, for people who might be watching this that are not yet used or maybe never want to get used to all the acronyms, obviously thats chemical, biological, radiological and Nuclear Schools we have in the military. As we look at north korea and what they are doing, clearly there is an issue about readiness as it relates to the training that we need to have in terms of dirty bombs and biological weapons, and obviously the potential that the could possibly be a Nuclear Threat to our country. What i wanted to ask, general robinson, dont you think it might be wise if we started using our military schools on a Space Available basis, our seabird training programs, to start to begin to put some civilian First Responders into that training that could really be a force multiplier . Because if we are in an Armed Conflict with north korea, we are really going to be stretched because there still could be trouble spots throughout the world and it just seems to be if we got Space Available and we got the infrastructure that would be a really good idea that we would begin opening those doors more widely to Police Departments and Fire Departments and of the First Responders in our country to get the truly important response training to the kind of attack from our enemy. When i first took over command at northcom and norad, was not the week i was in with this exercise. It was about i5 corridor, earthquake, you know, all those things happening. When i walked into the room they were 200 people, 300 people in this room. And i look at one of my predecessors, general jacobi, and i go, who are all these people . What i discovered in this exercise was the fact that it was local, state and tags and folks from Emergency Managers from all the states to be involved in that. Last year we had the same exercise and it had to do with a tenkiloton Nuclear Event in new york city. And so the same thing. We had local, state Emergency Responders and all of that. When secretary kelly took over, he said i want to talk about, lets think about how were going to do this should something happen with north korea. They just recently secretary nielsen. We are all doing this together saying what does it look like him how do we go forward with this to understand that. I would like to consider with the chair was wholly support consider something in the ndaa that would open up training slots in our military schools to First Responders just on Space Available basis. I be happy to work with the committee. That would be i think terrific. We have a great one at fort lindenwood but there are our times that the infrastructure that if there is not being fully utilized pages seems to me is is the a hand in glove fit for the threats that we face. Come talk to me. Ill have my staff talk to yours and i be happy to work with the committee. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Chairman and thanks to the witness. General robinson, sometimes additions i ask questions to get information to sometimes to make a point. And sometimes to educate the public about something that i think i would know what i think the public should know, my question is going to be in that category, trying to educate the public about something important. Within the last month, about a month or so ago we had to news reports on excessive days that cause real alarm among citizens in hawaii. It was an Emergency Alert sent out suggesting that with incoming missile attack. It took 38 minutes for that improper Emergency Alert to be i guess retrieved. Then a couple of days later there was at the Japanese News Agency nhk put out a warning about an incoming missile attack from north korea that i think was corrected within a few minutes. But in each event these things cause a whole lot of public concern. I was in the classified hearing where he had a chance ask any k this is not classified material and hope you can get a spirit. Id ask us able to ask the question of our military leadership, when these false warnings without, did our military immediately realize how quickly do the military realize that these were not a tax . I thats the kind of thing that gives comfort to people that it might be a false warnings but our military understands it pretty quickly which reduces the risk of an accidental provocation, accidental military action. From your perspective as northcom command with norad under your jurisdiction can you talk about those two incidents and how quickly we were able to confirm that these in fact, were not missile attacks . In this unclassified hearing i can tell you very comfortably and confidently we were quickly to confirm that nothing had happened. That is i think an important thing for the public to know. But i do want to just say at the first indications of a missile launch, norad and Northcom Command Center will initiate a conference call, to process the event and make an attack assessment. And fema op center and alternate opsin option is a part of that call. Id like to add that into the record. So theres a lot of folks who are reaching the same conclusion. Yes, sir. That is comforting i think for people to know. Let me ask you, admiral tidd, you talked in response to senator produce question about the training that we do with southcom partners. So it is the case that nations in your area of purchasing more from russia. This activity by russia, iran, china the talk more about the training site. Ive had a chance to see some of the training in action and a very, very impressed with the kind of training we do, the degree to which these nations want us to be their partner. The relationships you build. Somebody your training might be the Defense Ministry tenures for the president in 20 years. The talk about some the nations and the training exercises currently underway between the u. S. And nations in your comman command. Senator, just know that in my mind that the countries that we work with unanimously prefer working with United States. Because we Work Together as equal partners, because we Work Together defending the same interest, the same values, the same piece of the hemisphere together. And so we try to find ways to make it as easy as we possibly can. We could not do that without the enormous support of, for instance, our state Partner Program National Guard units that are active in virtually every country throughout our region. They provide that longterm contact, personal relationships many times with these countries that is valuable and that helps build their capability and capacity. I mentioned previously the enormous importance of our very, very small but capable special Operations Forces that come down and work with partner nations prepare highly respected both for the professional ability but also for the ability to Work Together and to understand how to meet the needs of particular countries. I have told general tony thomas, his oftentimes i most important force provider and special Operations Forces over and over again are my major maneuver force. Small, small numbers but critically important throughout this region. Also other reserve forces, the ritually allied forces that the army provides, could you do a lot of the training we do in central america. Last but absolutely not least, our Marine Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force at six months out of your doing Hurricane Season come down and work with partner nations, build their capacity, build of their resilience to deal with Disaster Response and then when the need arises if a disaster occurs and for the last two years theyve been directly employed in Disaster Response operations throughout our theater. I that the opportunity to witness some of these in honduras, deployment of remote Medical Clinics, mobile Medical Clinic struggle aries which had a humanitarian purpose but also help train our own folks to do deployment of Medical Clinics in combat if we need to. Ive watched training in colombia where ive watched not only training on military tactics but respect for the rule of law and proper respect for human rights during the time when the war was going on against the farc are correcting the value of these trainings and also notice sometimes its these training exercises that get really squeeze in budget pressures. Thats one of my hopes with the budget we recently announced that you have the opportunity to continue to build those relationships which i think put us in a much stronger position. Thank you, mr. Chair. Thanks, mr. Chair. General robinson, ive been to puerto rico twice, and ive been impressed by the complete in adequacy of the federal response to fellow americans there as we speak. I think a third of the islands population lacks electricity. The economy is struggling. In fact, its on the brink of bankruptcy, if not there. The army corps of engineers and fema have worked hard. People on the ground are devoting themselves valiantly, but my sense is that theres a lack of resources from the federal government. I recognize that northcom is in a support mission there. But but i wonder, and i know ser warren has asked about and you said youre conducting a review, whether you have any preliminary insights or observations for this committee about what could or should have been done differently . One of the things i talk about all the time is every hurricane has its own characteristics. And someone so one of the characteristics of this Hurricane Season was there were five hurricanes. People forget about nate and we forget that ophelia was out there. With the fact of the matter is puerto rico is an island. Thats different than texas and thats a different than florida. Thats different than other things that we have seen. So one of the things that were going to go back and look at and we did an internal review inside of my command, were going to do inside of the department is, so how do we think about that differently . Do we have force structure set up appropriate . Do we had the things we need . At the end of the day as you know we support the governor. We support fema and we provide niche unique capabilities that at that place as an example that the guard might not have, and insure that we have a position at the right place at the right time to be there when its necessary. Do you think that fema and other federal agencies made full use of the resources and that you could offer . I would say this with. Secretary mattis told i could have whatever i i did wheneveri needed it. So whenever it was asked for, i had it capable and my question is did he makes efficient use of the resources . We havent had the ability to have an interagency topdown conversation about that. I think thats a different conversation. I think whats important is the fact that secretary mattis said i could have what i need it when i needed it. And he said to this committee that he would make available whatever was necessary when it was needed. I have no doubt about the availability and a readiness and your willingness. Im asking about resources that were unused because they were not asked for. So since we havent had a Lessons Learned across the interagency, i would not want to answer that conversation. Admiral tidd, my understanding is that hezbollah is very active in a number of south american countries, particularly in money laundering, drug trading. Is that your observation as well . Yes, senator, it is. What actions are being taken against hezbollah . Senator, weve been watching hezbollah for a number of decades now. They have been in this hemisphere for a while engaged larger in criminal activity supporting a terrorist activities abroad. They are the 18 that has been mentioned from time to time. And so were watching what theyre doing, working with our partners within the Intelligence Community within our teams and increasing with partner nations to be unaware of what theyre doing and should not be surprised. Should there be more action as opposed to watching . Have we reached the point where United States needs to be more actively engaged in light of its interests in the middle east . Senator, these actions are taking place in cyber nations that have their loss of thereupon. We are making sure that the best Information Available to them to apply their laws. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. This may fall into the category of senator daines educating the public, but i would only say that without a lot of very expected with puerto rico. I can remember one that was not pleasant, and that was when i personally lost a battle. They had the only area where we had the joint training capability, and searching worldwide we were not able to replace that. We did not get the cooperation that we should have gotten that had some adverse effects. Following up a little bit on senator cottons comments about gitmo. Admiral, what i like to do, i was very critical of president obama when he was trying to close no, and one of his alternatives, what are you going to do with all these guys . Puts them into incarceration within the United States. When such place happened to be, that was suggested by the administration was still in oklahoma. Obviously, you cant put, these are not prisoners. These are not criminals. These are enemy combatants. You cant put the in, intermingle them with the risen population. Their job is to teach of the people to be terrorists. So im really concerned as we follow through with this. I was happy when the president pena state of the Union Message talked about expanding, keepig open that great resource that we have there. But im very anxious for that to happen. So what id like to have you do, admiral, is kind of monitor that, let us know what, why we are not using it more already. I mean, because i know theres been some placements that have taken place. If you could do that for me i would appreciate that very much, follow through with that. I will, senator. And had one last comment. Why dont you go ahead . No, sir. Okay. This is go to the gentleman sitting behind general robinson. We share a best friend whose name is sublet. Sublet actually had a lot of missions in vietnam. I think about 300 of them. When you got out, they changed the 570. Youre aware of this, from the f16 mission to a refueling mission, and when that happened he took retirement from the reserves, and i was a speaker at the retirement. And he wanted to keep flying and im still a flight instructor. So what i i had to do, i say to you, david, i took the awesome responsibility, anyone can fly faster i had to teach charles how to fly slow. So i had to Say Something you two were not aware of, and thats it. Any further comments . I cant top that. All right. Anything more . All right. Well, we are adjourned and i appreciate very much your willingness and your straightforward answers to the questions. You both did a great job. Thanks so much. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] join us tonight for discussion on the security and vulnerabilities of u. S. Election infrastructure. The top democrat on the Senate Administration committee, minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar and former Homeland Security secretary jeh johnson addressed the issues recently at the center for american progress. See their comments tonight starting at 8 p. M. Eastern here on cspan2. Former president ial candidate mitt romney announced today he is seeking the Utah Senate Seat of retiring senator orrin hatch. We may hear more about this tonight when the former Massachusetts Governor and twotime republican president ial candidate speaks at the lincoln day dinner, Utah County Republican Party fundraiser in utah. Watch live coverage at 9 p. M. Eastern on a companion network cspan. Saturday night on cspan its former Florida Governor and president ial candidate jeb bush. He talks about choice and education savings accounts. Speaking at the American Enterprise institute earlier this year mr. Bush discussed his efforts as for the governor which included implementing the first statewide School Voucher program. Watch those comments tomorrow at 8 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspans history series landmark cases returns this month with a look at 12 new Supreme Court cases. Each week and historians and experts join us to discuss the constitutional issues and personal stories nine the significant Supreme Court decisions. Beginning monday february 26 live at 9 p. M. Eastern and hope you follow all 12 cases we had a companion guide written by Supreme Court journalists tony