Committee meets today to consider general Charles Brown to be chief of staff of the air force, the undersecretary of defense. Thank you for being here. All of you have brilliant careers. Some of these things are necessary. I have to ask you the required question. I want to have inaudible yes or no. You have conflicts of interest, will you ensure your staff establishes requested communications including questions for the record in hearings . Yes, sir. Yes. Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefs in response to congressional requests . Yes, sir. Will those witnesses have to do with testimony and debriefings . Do you agree in the affirmative you testify for this committee . Yes, sir. Do you provide documents for forms of communication in a timely manner when requested by duly constituted committee with the committee in the basis of the delay or denial in providing the occupants . Yes, sir. Have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which appear to be presumed outcome for confirmation of the process . Know, sir. You are taking these positions in i believe the most threatening times of our lives and so far the committee has done our best to ensure that dod has the authorities and the resources it needs to implement a National Defense strategy and the committee has been working for more than a year on Privatized Housing crisis that directly impacted it is interesting on that issue. In oklahoma, i was assuming in one air force base and later, all of oklahoma it is something that we have done a good job in pursuing that and all three of you would be somewhat related to the problems out there to try to keep the progress that you made successful. Senior leaders of the department of defense in positions for which we have been nominated and you continue to play hero in winning Great Power Competition and taking care of our people. One thing i would like to say, we are real believers in the National Defense strategy. It has been good and before i turn it over, this is unusual in one way. You have families and we would like to be here. I understand they will be watching so you can introduce them. I would like to welcome members and thank them for their service and they are asking us to serve the nation and i also want to thank your family so i know that they also serve and you would agree you would not be here without your family. You were and ambassador to the kingdom of norway since february of 2018, use or 27 years in the navy and naval reserve, you also had a successful business in the communications industry. You are currently commander of Pacific Air Forces as a Component Commander of Us Indo Pacific command and as executive director of specific combat operations, you were command pilot with 29,000 flying hours including 130 combat hours and use survived in senior positions including assistant secretary of defense for strategy plans and capabilities, you begin your career is marine corps Intelligence Officer and realized many accomplishments in education in the government and private sector. The military nominee was two civilian nominees, we would not do this, i appreciate everyone accommodating this unique hearing. And contractors in this, we are saddened by the loss of life of covid19 infections, the uss Theodore Roosevelt is a reminder of what servicemembers endured daily weather deployed in combat zones for the navys actions with respect to covid19. Of confirmed as secretary of the navy you will face a number of critical issues, you must address the effects of the ongoing pandemic on the department of the navy. I want to hear about what lessons were learned from your predecessors mishandling of the uss roosevelt situation. The us is roosevelt and uss kidd demonstrate how quickly deployments can be stressed. Im interested in what this tells us about how the navy and marine corps get the strains of deployment and high temple operations. The next secretarys efforts will be crucial. We must also confront other challenges inside of the navy fleet. Congress is waiting on the latest assessment from the chief of Naval Operations which was supposed to be shared with the Committee Last year. I look forward to your thoughts on these issues. You are nominated to be deputy under secretary of defense for policy having previously been confirmed as assistant secretary of defense for strategy plans and capabilities. During your tender you performed more duties that leadership positions that became vacant. You have valuable experience, the policy office is and will continue to be hamstrung by the numerous seniorlevel vacancies in the office. The deputy under secretary of defense plays a key role in the National Defense strategy for the operational planning and capabilities with that strategy. The department contends russia and chinas global ambition, strategic on multiple challenges, contending with rogue powers like iran and north korea. In syria, developing policies for expanded areas of competition including space, cyber and regular warfare. And the department to engage in longterm planning for crisis response. I welcome your thoughts on these issues. General brown, you are nominated to be chief of staff of the air force having served as commander of pacific air force, youre familiar with challenges facing beer for us today and how the air force should be implementing National Defense strategy. He will also face challenges to improve readiness while modernizing and expanding force structure. To achieve the stated goal of 386 squadrons, increasing modernization efforts over a number of years and simultaneously recapitalize most of the landbased missile fleet. These are daunting challenges. In the nearterm you will be test with recruiting and retaining a quality force. That is no small task of the air force and other services condemned with a Novel Coronavirus pandemic operational readiness. You need to ensure the air force has necessary structure of crises, and in the committees Second Committee hearing, thank you again for your leadership. The gentleman will begin with Opening Statements we keep your statements brief under 5 minutes and you will have plenty of time to respond. Very short questions for each of you in five minutes, ambassador kenneth braithwaite, we talk about the size of the navy. What do we need when we look at the navys fiscal year 2021 budget, it would support a fleet of 300 ships, real briefly. I will start with Opening Statements, your Opening Statement. Thank you mister chairman and Ranking Member read and establish members of the committee. A very big day for me, the most important of my professional life, there hasnt three other big days in my life that i would like to share with you this morning to help you learn and inform you of who i am. July 8th, 1980, a typical hot, humid day in the Us Naval Academy in kannapolis, i stood with over 1000 of my classmates, take the sacred oath of office that began like many of you, for over 40 years, first in the uniform of the United States navy, which took me around the world and into combat and later as a councilman and smalltown, as a senate staffer, the late Arlen Specter and recently the us ambassador, i dedicated myself to the modern motto of the navy, honor, courage, commitment. Those are not merely words to me or a slogan. Those are the guide stars of which i have lived my life. June 61994, 14 years later, Fiftieth Anniversary of the landing at dday, i stood on the windswept beach at normandy with my aging father. He had been a young 18yearold private in the first wave. In 1944, my father like most of his generation didnt talk much about that day but as we stood there he recounted how he had come in a sure watching his friends drop left and right. All the chaos and death, how he is able to go on. He replied it was my duty. Weeks later, he would be severely wounded, shot in the head in the service to the nation. His self abdication only serve to reinforce in my heart, my head and my soul honor, courage and commitment. Last summer, on the anniversary of the same landing at dday i stood on the sacred beach at normandy. Without my father passed away in 2006. Instead, this time serving as the link my 12 iraq son harrison who had never met his grandfather, only a few of those who were there with my dad were left. Harrison and i endeavored to shake each of their hands recalling their sacrifices so we could live in freedom, the same like my dad went before me, guided by honor, courage, and commitment, three simple but powerfully important words that always guided my actions. I am humbled to appear before you today to be considered as the 70 seventh secretary of the United States navy, to uphold the sacred honor of those who have gone before me, whether petty officer dori miller at pearl harbor or Corporal Jason doneham in iraq, i think him for his trust and confidence in me. I was taught to be frank, diplomatic of course as required of an admiral and ambassador. It saddens me to say the department of the navy is in rough water, due to many factors but primarily the failure of leadership. Whether glenn marine defense, the collisions in 2017, judicial missteps so the crisis recently they are indicative of a breakdown in the trust of those leading the service. Sadly i have witnessed this type of crisis. I was aboard the Aircraft Carrier uss america sailing alongside the battleship iowa when an explosion killed 46 sailors followed by the scandal, some very dark days in the navy, they taught me two things, one, the department is resilient and 2, it all starts with culture. I have learned this repeatedly in my career, successful organizations have a strong culture which always starts with leadership. As i witnessed following the aforementioned events of the early 1990s, a proud heritage of sarahs and pride which the department emphasized for inspiration and affirmation and if confirmed, will again. While i recognize the challenges for all they are i am ready. I learned across myriad roles, military service as an executive in the private sector, congressional staffer and a diplomat, i have been preparing my entire life for this moment always guided by honor, courage and commitment. I have many people to thank much like admiral tom lynch and Steve Chadwick but i wouldnt be here if not for my mother sylvia who is 87 and watching me this morning he taught me that to work hard you can accomplish anything in america. Finally and most especially continued love and support of my dear wife melissa and my children grace and harrison who sacrificed so much for me to serve and also sacrificed for our nation, god blessed me by bringing them into our lives. Thank you, members of the committee, i look forward to answering your questions. A beautiful statement, general brown, you are recognized. Distinguished members of this committee. Im grateful and humbled by the opportunity to be with you and my fellow nominees this morning, i express my appreciation for the relentless support and advocacy for the airmen and families. I would like to acknowledge my family who could not be with us today but are watching online. My wife of 31 years who has not only been committed to our family but families of airmen specifically focused on quality education. Our son ross in washington dc, both outstanding in their own life. Ross has been instrument to my success and there is no way i would be here without their sacrifice, love, and support. My mother, kay and the most influential officer in my commission, my father, charles, a veteran who retired from the United States army, and my sister, stephanie and the influence of my younger brother kevin. I would like to thank donald trump for confidence and supported nominating me to be the air force chief of staff, they conclude 37 years of service to the nation, it has been an honor, we wish them the best as they start their next chapter. The dependent of the fence has clear actionable and attainable goals to repeat, deter and win. Over 7 different leadership positions focused on the challenges, china, russia, north korea, iran and violent extremists outlined in National Defense strategy. The implementation of the National Defense strategy and integrated and more lethal joint force. At the top of the list is to work with secretary bird to take appropriate steps to ensure the success of the United States space force. Concurrently, if confirmed by look forward to working with the chairman, vice chairman in joint chiefs to advance our interoperability. To support joint command and control enabling the joint force, allies and partners to connect, communicate and integrate our collective efforts across small domains. To compete, deter, and when we need to generate, and power. If confirmed i am an advocate for collaboration between operators, acquisition professionals and Industry Partners to unleash innovation, access the most capable and stateoftheart assets sooner rather than later, they will be decisions about legacy programs. If confirmed by will continue to consider risk assessments, balancing air force support the current requirements while the best requirements for future competition, conflict and challenges. I am and will remain committed to the wellbeing of airmen and families. It is imperative to provide airmen and families the quality of service, quality of life in the environment where we can reach our full potential. It is an honor to nominate the air force chief of staff. If confirmed i look forward to working with this committee and congress organize, train, and equip for the security of national interests. Thank you, general brown, you are recognized. It is an honor to be here today. Im confident for the confidence donald trump placed in me as nominee for the secretary of defense for public policy. I would not be here today without the support of family, friends and mentors who helped me throughout my career. My parents, Michael Anderson instilled in me the value of hard work, and respect for others. My sister winnifred and her wonderful family continue to provide much loved support. My children, james and olivia inspire me every day, the best part of being a parent and i wish to thank my wife Emily Anderson who is watching these proceedings from a quiet little hamlet in northern virginia. She knows what pentagon positions demand, her love and support make everything worthwhile. My professional experiences prepare me for this opportunity for plans and capabilities in august of 2018 and work to implement the national strategy. Having served in the office of secretary of defense in 20012009, mostly middle east issues in International Security affairs. My professional experience taught me to ask hard questions and the. Of seeking practical solutions. I have taught National Security topics in several educational institutions including George Marshall center for security studies. Overseas working at this jewel of an institution, and i served in active duty in the late 1980s, an experience that them printed on me the importance of teamwork and history, the opportunity to work alongside dedicated professionals. The current covid19 crisis s brought on many new challenges for the department. The quality team at the pentagon working with its partners across the interagency has risen to the occasion and continues to provide the secretary of defense with quality advice and support. Im privileged to be part of this team. It apartment up defense issued its National Defense strategy in january 2018 and it and it remains our north star. The document clearly outlines priorities to ensure our nations competitive advantage. If confirmed i will do my level best to implement the strategy for costeffective in a timely manner. The men and women in uniform as well as their counterparts who serve in the department deserve no less from their Senior Leaders. I look forward to your question. Thank you very much. Now well start off where we ended momentarily. Senator reed and i feel that since were going to be confining questions to five minutes, will have a second round of questioning if thats all right with the witnesses. So start up again with you, ambassador braithwaite. Its been very controversial, and just very briefly when you think about the fact that the budget thats been submitted to support at 300 ship navy, and most people agree it needs to be bigger than that, about 355, very briefly what site you think a navy we ought to have . And it needs to be minimally5 ships. Oakley would build the on that. Thats a good brief answer, i appreciate that. General brown, i would ask why, because i agree with you. General brown, you brought this up i really appreciate the fact you were talking about the nds. This is the plan that weve been following now since it came out three years ago. General goldfein was committed to that. Id like to ask you make a firm further, even though you made one about this in your commitment to following this as your pattern. Im actually very committed to the National Defense strategy in my current position. Ive spent a lot of focus because four of the five challenges in the National Defense strategy are in our region. Appreciate it very much. Dr. Anderson, i talked to you about this before, this is something ive been concerned about. In fact, we went through all those years without having an afrikaans, the forgotten continent, and that we see those things were guessing would be happening there are happening or have alreadyen happened. I would like come were looking right now what china and russia is doing in that continent. In fact, china, the first time theyve actually started a major insulation someplace other than the own cityy limits. We know whats happening there. Id like to have you say in this remaining time that i have your thoughts about the role of africon and what your intentions are and adjectives are concerno that continent and its problems. Thank you,dr senator. Africon was established a few years ago, just over i believe over a decade ago. It plays an Important Role in our National Defense strategy. It isy. Complicated, of course,y the intrusion of the prc and also to an extent the Russian Federation on the continent. Those moves by the chinese take a variety of different forms, to include establishing a military base, its First Overseas Military base in djibouti. Where watching that very carefully as well as a lot of their efforts elsewhere on the continent, to include all the predatory economic things they are doing, trying to insert workers there and exploit local economies and make economies dependent upon them, economically and financially. We are vigilant and watching very closely what our competitors areco doing on the continent. Of course rush is very involved in the libyan conflict and its very unfortunate situation there. In terms of the department of defense is looking very closely at all its combatant commands, including africon to ensure the right mix of forces come the right posture throughout the continent. And undersecretary under secres leadership were doing exactly that and this is an effort at rightsizing our forces there. There have been some press reports that were cutting and running, that we are abandoning africa. Those are flatly false. We are looking hard at rightsizing and making those decisions when decision that secretary esper has made is to allocate the Security Assistance brigade to africon which we think is as good example of getting the right forces into theater. Well, yeah, youre right that they came in there and has to be an examination, a constant examination on the placement of troops around the world. It happened that senator rounds and i were in africa when it was rumored that the decision has been made by the administration to reduce there, and obviously that was not accurate. And, in fact, our secretary actually came forth and said thats a place where we cannot do that. So i think that, question to you is, do you agree with the secretary on the continent of africa . Yes, yes, i agree with secrey esper. Hes taking a hard look at this. He has not made any final decisions, but but i would expt those will be forthcoming. And another part of this effort is wepa are working closely with allies and partners, and we certainly encourage our european allies, for example, to assume a greater role in the african continent as they have interests there as well. Thats good. Senator reed. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Ambassador, you made it very clear in your Opening Statement that the navy chain of command is in disarray. Nothing illustrates that more than the roosevelt situation, when acting secretary of the navy is calling directly i carrier commander and trying to work out problems with income something is wrong. When that commanders they meet it said. As several state rooms them all and theres is wrong. It goes to trust, as you alluded to. It goes to the culture of the navy. It goes to reliance upon the chain of command by civilian authorities of getting advice and supporting them, et cetera. Its also i think in your position keeping your eyes and the nates eyesey focused on the threat and the flight, the fleets at sea and all the force and not being distracted by some of the things that happen here in washington. What specific steps are you going to take to correct the situation . N . Because without a functioning chain of command, without a culture of trust and confidence, the platforms are irrelevant. Senator, i would agree with you and i thank you for the question. As i learned over the course of my career, i can about the public and private sector, culture trump everything as mr. Drucker famous entrepreneur said, culture eats strategy for breakfast. So culture ists the one thing tt creates for an organization a sense of belonging, a sense of good order and discipline. It is my number one priority, if im confirmed, to restore the appropriate culture in the United Statesop navy. Culture exists, i wont say its broken. I think it has been tarnished. I think the events over the last several years have helped see that occur. And if im confirmed i will make sure that it gets at that, again, predicate an good order and discipline, empowering people understand their responsibilities along that chaines of command. As you and i both talked about yesterday, as well as setting the tone here from the very highest level. Its contingent upon leadership first to establish that and then hold those were responsible throughoutut the chain for the same. Thank you, mr. Haha ambassado. I think this dialogue will continue many, many months forward. General brown, one of the big issues that will face you Going Forward is the each of sustainment cost. Weve either expensive platforms, but those expenses sometimes pale in comparison to sustaining the equipment. Do you have any sense of what you going to do to tackle this problem . First of all to you recognize this as a serious issue . Thanks, senator. I do recognize this as a serious issue. If confirmed, the key part for me to be working closely with our Industry Partners on how we bring to sustainment costs. At the same time we were controlling inside the air force to address some of our processes to ensure thats we are very abe to manage the cost. We cant just modernize and assisting. We have to n do both to implemet the National Defense strategy. Thanknk you. Dr. Anderson, we signed an agreement on november 29 with afghanistan. The situation has changed dramatically. First, could you comment on how this changes might havet affecd the goals, the eventual departure of u. S. Forces and some type of reconciliation . And also comment on the fact that implicit agreement is ouric continued support of Afghan Security forces to the tune of billions of dollars a year. Is that likely if we no longer troops on the ground . So your comments, briefly. Im sorry. So since the 29th of february we have seen mixed results in terms of taliban compliance to the agreement. They have refrained from attacking u. S. And coalition troops. They have refrainedoo from attacking major urban centers, but they have been attacking robustly and at an unfortunate and unprecedented level of afghan partners. This is greatly concerning to us. We will continue to proceed to our level of 8600 within 135 days, which is approximately mid july. But the department has made very clear that beyond that, reductions will be conditions based. D. So we will look very closely as the situation unfolds. In this context, assuming conditions allow further, drawdown, we remain committed to our afghan partners. They had paid a heavy price. The african National Defense security forces, they have, in fact, been doing mostor of the fighting m since 2015, and weve been supporting them in our training advise and assist role. It is my view that Going Forward in afghanistan, we absolutely need to continue to maintain a level of commitment in terms of our assistance to them so they can continue to help defend their country. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator. Senator fischer. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Fore legs of our Nuclear Triad and it is carrying out a number of programs that are vital to modernization of the deterrent sup test, such as the b 21, ptsd, longrange weapons, as well as our Nuclear Command and control and communications architecture. Do you believe these programs and the overall modernization of our Nuclear Deterrent is necessary . Gen. Brown most definitely. Sen. Fischer we often hear calls of disarmament to and, this committee has also heard several of our last strut, commanders testify that there is no margin left in our schedule for recapitalization. Is it your understanding that further is it your understanding, general, that for the delay is not an option and that these programs must proceed on schedule if were going to continue to be able to field an effective deterrent . Senator, im in complete agreement. I i understand the air forces considering awarding that gb sd contract early. I note the lack of g margin in that program is particularly concerning, and congress has pushed the department to find ways to accelerate it inra order to ease the burden on the schedule. If the air force determines that it is a viable option, i sort of want to express my support for that. Yesterday, we had a good conversation about the future of the air force in the need to adapt in the face of the growing challenges that opposed by our adversaries. Given those threats, do you believe the air force is currently large enough to accomplish the missions required by the National Defense strategy . To an extent. In the immediate term i think we are but we still have to be able to go to the 386 386 here thate goal. Anything less encourages risk. Our ability to be able to move faster so we can compete against our adversaries are important aspects to help us with the National Defense strategy. You and i talked about that, being able to balance the capability along with the capacity that is needed as well, and when you look at the new platforms and the new technologies that will be coming, that are here now and that wouldil be coming, and a critical the use of those platforms are for us in meeting that challenge, can you elaborate more on that and maybe get into how we established a balance between manned and unmanned . Sure. Some of the things i think about even as youou look at trying to get the 386 are working towards 386, if we dont achieve 386 we may be smaller but we will be more capable. So effectively youre getting closer to 386. With that its not just the manned platforms. Its also how we move manned unmanned teaming. Increase our awareness, increase our strike capability and so those are the kind of things were working together, workig on inside of the air force. You also work with our allies in this regard as well . I mean, its very important to work within your branch, to work within our government. How do you feel about working with our allies . Actually its one of my choice as i spent a lot of time, most of myw time as a general officer spent overseas and i have a pretty good band of relationships with our partners. So constant dialogue is important with those that we Share Interests and values with. And how do you see yourself working, if you are confirmed, within the system to be able to make sure that any new platforms are incorporated, incorporated in a wise manner also in the manner that it doesnt take forever . Senator, thats one of the things im really focused on, having been a war fighter for the past number of years here in these key positions is how do we actually speed up the process. Thats why i believe we have to hands ofhing into the our war fighters versus nothing in the hands of her war fighters 18 years down the road. Thank you, general. Thank you to the other gentleman as well. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator shaheen. Congratulations, gentlemen. Thank you for your willingness to consider serving at this challenging time and our history. General brown, i want to begin with you. I had the opportunity to speak with general goldfein earlier this week as youre probably aware that 157 air refueling wing at the National Guard base in newew hampshire is the first National Guard to receive the new kc46 kc46 tanker. I had the opportunity to be there when the first tank arrived, so i have followed this issue very closely. General goldfein seemed optimistic that the agreement that had been reached with boeing would provide a path forward to fix the remote vision system and some of the other problems with the tanker, but clearly we are still several years away from having tankers that are going to do the refueling that we want them to do. Can you tell us how, if confirmed, he would keep the programm on track and ensure it is ridiculous it is possible to do its air refueling mission . Senator, i think one of the cables i have is to come one come work with her acquisition professionals to move it forward but also with her partner boeing. Theres a new ceorw at a have talked to general goldfein, that seo is pretty serious about delivering that p capability. For me personally building the relationship with the ceo of boeing so we can frank dialogue to keep it on track and to finance as quick as possible. Thank you. I was pleased to hear that the new ceo at boeing teams were committed to fixing this than previously. Ambassador braithwaite, our nations four Public Shipyards handle our Aircraft Carriers, our submarines, family the backbone of our naval power in we need to modernize the shipyards and increase drydock capacity. He i am a supporter of the navys Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan which was released in february of 2008. I wonder if you could tell me if you had the opportunity to review the plan, and if so, can you share your thoughts on the importance of investing in the navys of the Shipyard Infrastructure . Yes, senator. Thank you very much. I have spent some time at the shipyard and i always been impressed by the patriotism and the commitment to our National Security that the employees exhibit every day. Maintenance is one of those things that has never been the thing that the navy has been very focused on. It is always more interested in building new ships and new airplanes, much like any other situation where deferred maintenance become something that you get to later. Having served at the Philadelphia Shipyard before the close that, that taught me that lesson very up close and personal. It becomes a doubleedge sword because not only do you deferred the amounts of resources required to upgrade the ships but you also defer the requirements of great actual shipyard. I agree over the 20 years, i will look to make that a priority as we look forward because as a shared with senator king, whenever you have any vessel, ship, aircraft that is tied to appear not doing its job out at the tip of the spirit thats a waste of the taxpayers and is a good start a think we have an obligation to make sure the ships and aircraft and submarines are at doing their jobs. Thank you, and a please do your that visit the shipyard. We hope youlld come back and then sure you know that in New Hampshire we take part ownership of t that shipyard just as maine does. Senator king isnt the only one who is following this issue very closely. Sorry, angus. Let me also, because you mentioned the importance of the employees at the shipyard, and clearly they are their effectiveness is the reason that shipyard is considered the most productive in the country. I had an opportunity to talk to several of the workers there about their concerns with the covid19ce pandemic. As youre probably aware our number of people there who have tested positive. We lost a shipyard worker, and they are very concerned about havingng the right personal protective equipment, the masks that they really did when theyre working in close quarters in the yard. And if that cant be provided, that has to pay be considered for those people who are working in those dangerous circumstances. Can you commit to me that you look into this and see if we can ensure that the people who are working on our subs have the protective equipment that they need to do their jobs . Senator, absolutely. I can tell you one of the most impressive things ive learned in the last few weeks is working with the assistant secretary who is sixpoint to be that patriotism that these workers have displayed each and every day, they have gone into harms way and continued to ensure that our ships are ready and deployable, and that speaks a lot about their character. It incumbent upon me if im confirmed to ensure as a Senior Leader inpo the department that they get the equipment and the safety gear that they would need in order to be able to do that job. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Senator rounds. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Gentlemen, thank you all for your service to our country. General brown, i enjoyed our phone call yesterday and i thank you for your acceptance of my invitation that either confirm to visit Ellsworth Air force base. Following up on our discussion i appreciate your sharing with the committee the perspectives you shared with me regarding two programs. Thet, could you explain importance of not allowing a capabilitypa gap for the barber force as a legacy fleet continues to age while we wait for the b21 to come online . Secondly, could you give us your perspective on what we need to do to ensure that the full biome of f35s is i made of f35s is made to be able to avoid the situation that we hadd years ao when we dramatically reduced the f22 fighters . Thank you, senator. First on the b21 and our bombers. The key part is getting to b21 delivered on time. At the same time maintaining the capability we have with our current bomber force. I do not want you to the point were we fort bend road what we have to make a tough call so we can keep all all the contractse dont have any gaps, thats an important aspect too me. For the f35, the key part, it was mentioned earlier, sustainment costs and the cost for flying. I note general goldfein has met with the various contractors and has commitments in working with the joint Program Office to bring those costst down. But bringing those costs down axis more affordable to be able to buy the f35 that we can have an we can provide the capability we require for the air force. Hanky. Generalth brown, also i was kind of surprised, i was not aware that the air force, unlike the army and thece navy, the air foe budget contains a significant has to element where funding is passed through the air force on its way to other dod agencies that then execute it. I also understand that the air force exercises no control over and receive no benefit from this something. In fact, in fy 20 budget that we are executing right now, the department of the navy budget topline is about 206 billion. Department of the armys topline 177 billion. The department of the air force topline is 205 billion. Once you discount the past two in the air force budget, the air force to toplinene budget is a 106 billion. The lowest of the three military department. Basically about 3. 2 of the arm is passed through and about 1 of the navys budget is passed through. Id like your perspective on thisis particular practice and anything you like to comment on. Senator, unaware of the passthrough and its content in the air force budget. Im very transparent and i like transparency, and so i think its nice to i be able to be reflective of the budget the air force is responsible for. So if confirmed, have happy to look into as the cover budget and then work with the various entities to address it. Thank you. Ambassador braithwaite, in looking back over yesterday with a very good phone conversation and i appreciated that. As you know im similar to what you would probably her from senator king and what you deserve them senator shaheen. I do have a concern even though i dont have any of those depots in my home state of south dakota, i think its important we talk about the ability to handle a 355 ship navy with the appropriate depot capabilities. My concern is that while weve seen some improvements in some areas of maintenance in the navy and the fact i congratulate the navy on bringe up on their f a8 they brought this up to an 80 capability right, right now. When we talk about the Nuclear Attack submarines that weve got, we now have four of them that are in waiting for dry dock. G you have three more behind waiting as well. I like your perspective on what we do with regard to depot maintenance and with regard to accelerating and getting that piece of property that the taxpayers pay for into operational condition any more timely fashion. Thank you, f senator. I did enjoy our conversation yesterday. K i did look into the uss boise which is not only a fortune but is unacceptable. Understand that the department has took a turn and is looking into how they might work with some of the private yards to assist, but i believe as we discussed yesterday, when you look at all the priorities and you assess those come just like we do about our kitchen table, with our families, of the requirements that we have, they have to balance. Shipbuilding, maintenance, education, training, everything across the board. I look forward to the opportunity to have that opportunity, if confirmed, to look into this. Maintenance has always been something that is been deferred that ive experienced in my navy career. As a pilot there were oftentimes, many times that aircraft were not available and we ended up being on the flight schedule and then removed from the flight schedule. I did get some good news though that the rate are moving upwards as you indicate, especially for our service platforms. We were at 20 Completion Rate twoo years ago. Up to 40 , on its way to 70 this year before covid19. So i salute again assistant secretary gertz on his efforts. I believe what he is put in place and the team gets lit is moving in the right direction and i will ensure that i remain vigilant so that t we get to whe we dont have the ships in the queue and we get them back out to the tip of the spear, senator. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Senator blumenthal. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you to each of our nominees for your service, to our country. Admiral braithwaite, i think youre absolutely correct about the need for focus on culture in these very choppy waters, as you correctly described them. And i welcome yourrs commitmento changing the culture and eliminating any possible perception on the part of our sailors that there is a culture of retaliation against reporting instances of question that judgment or, for example, infection on any of our ships with covid19. I believe you stated that very forthrightly yesterday in our conversation. I also welcome your offer to come back to groton where you spent time in the past, and your still yesterday and him and of like you to read from it now, that you believe that we ought to be constructing two submarines a year so as to reach the required level that we maintain and enhance our predominance in the underwater. Omain yes, sir, senator. As we discussed yesterday as a naval aviator who spent a lot of time hunting submarines, soviet submarines, i worked very closely with our subsurface force the professionalism is beyond reproach, and they are extremely important to our National Security. I believe we should work towards 66 votes, as you you and i discussed, and i will be a big advocate for that. And for the construction hopefully of the second submarine in fy 20201, because its right now on the unfunded priority. I welcome your commitment to making sure it is built. And also the sensitivity that you demonstrate and commitment to our workforce there, because they are as vital as are men and women in uniform they enable us to havend the ability to make se that our men and women in uniform to not have a fair fight, but they have that predominance undersea warfare. In that connection, making sure that maintenance of the u. S. As hartford, uss john warner is potentially availablele for work so to maintain the stability of the workforce at groton. Yes, sir. Applicant database is a fragile part of the equation towards National Security. We need to ensure therety is stability. Again i saw this living for three years at the Navy Shipyard in philadelphia. Without that, the workforce to not be as capable. Also understanding the demands to ensure that we can get the ships out and back to the tip of the spear. The situation in groton as in many manufacturing sites and spaces in the United States right now can be very perilous. Many of the workers there, who sometimes threatened because of inadequate personal protective of pment but also because the need for better staging, and siting of workers, which is very difficult to do in building of arine because the level precision and skill is so demanding. Like your commitment that you will encourage electric oat and require them, in fact, to meet the best standards of safety and, in fact, encourage osha and, in fact, encourage osha and other agencies responsible for safety to set emergency standards where necessary to protect workers in theer situation. Senator, this comes back to something i believe is at the new relationship, whether between you and me or anybody. Trust is so important. So i look forward to the opportunity, if confirmed, to reestablish trust inside the navy up and down the chain of command, but also the trust we have with the private yards and the leadership and the workers in the public art as well. So again if confirmed, i will work with the leadership at electric vote and all the private contractors to ensure that we establish that trust. Finally on the issue of trust which is critical, i welcome your commitment yesterday to follow the recommendations, the ongoingec investigation regardig the captains removal and to return him to command if thats the appropriate recommendation from the investigation that isw underway. I have recommended Inspector General investigation which may follow if necessary but thank you for your commitment in that regard as well. I look forward to the investigation and i believe that chairman milley was correct. I believe inn as we discussed yesterday that whenever you are confronted with a challenge like this, its best to pause, consider all the facts and then make the right decision. Ive done that in Flight School as a young naval aviator, that whenever any with would often your cockpit the most important thing to do is sit on your hands for two seconds. My instructor may try did that. Because then you can assess the problem correctly before shutting down the wrong system. Thank you very much. I look forward to supporting your nomination. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator ernst. Thank you, gentlemen very much for being with us today. We appreciate your time and your commitment andnd i want to givea specialme shout out to your families as well. Wish they could be here with you. I know there with you in spirit. Ambassador braithwaite, thank you. We had a great conversation yesterday, given maybe another day we could have solved many of the worlds problems. But but i do appreciate your tie and attention to a number of very important issues and regions. And part of the discussion that i found very fascinating what your perspective that it as asa naval officer but as an ambassador now. And serving in norway and the close proximity to russia, youve been able to see up close russias intentions in that region. And you went on to describe the posturing of russia ase well as we talked about indopacom with china and converting what russian is doing compared with china and what they would like to see themselves position globally. If you could share thated discussion using your perspective as a naval officer and an ambassador, and where you think we need to be positioning as a navy in regards to russia, and then in regards to china. Thank you for the question, senator. Ti and especially for your time yesterday. Conversation as well. I spent a lot of time in the arctic, both as the u. S. Ambassador as well as a naval officer, and ive come to appreciate that part of the world for the importance and especially as it emerges it is becoming more important everybody. Most people in america dont realize because we dont see that here within the continental United States, although senator sullivan sees it a little bit of in alaska, but the chinese and the russians are everywhere. Especially the chinese. You would bees alarmed at the amount of chinese activity off the coast of norway in the high north. We need to be vigilant to that. We need to understand why. My old boss general mattis way of the Great Fortune to work for at joint forces command when i was a young navy captain, he and i spoke just a couple of years ago about thiss here that russias hope isou to be relevat again on the world stage. Where we all believe or all come to understand that chinat wants to be dominant on that same world stage. They had really pressed hard upon norway to be part of that calculus. If you look at the northern sea is, thetween churkin most Northern City in norway, coming across the top of russia, could reduce the amount of commerce moved out of china the european markets by half. China has launched a Charm Campaign to try to win norway over. Afterry in 2010 horsing them or trying to force them to withdraw the Nobel Peace Prize to a chinese dissident, the norwegians, proud people, it up people, he stood up against the chinese and they suffered forin that economically. But china now recognize the importance, securing a western terminus for northern sea route and theyre up there trying to, again, went over the people of northern norway. The United States navy as you and i discussed, senator, is at the vanguard of that. It provides some of the only capabilities to be able to be a power projection in that part of the world. We are there we currently have three destroyers along with the United Kingdom navy as well as the Royal Norwegian Navy to ensure that power projection exists in deterrence is part of the calculus for those of us in nato. I think we need to continue to do that. We need to continue toe be vigilant, the present in the request inadequate size navy to bend there. Very good. Appreciate that. General brown, very briefly i still have about a minute remaining, the air force does provide very valuable support to our Ground Forces. Those of us that were ground powders really do appreciate your cover. But our Ground Force Commanders are fully integrated with our aircrews to provide precision fires especially are soft, which is community that i have close ties to. As the air force focuses on developing their fifthgeneration platforms and fighting in in a near. Contested environment rather than the uncontested vibrant that they are very used to right now, what will that training look like for the next generation of pilots and crews, and how are you going to work with our Ground Forces to incorporate their needs as you were doing that . Part of the work with to do with the rest of the joint team is understand their skiing sche maneuver, how we work our joint or fighting and have worked together. One of the key aspects that were able to do as an air force is to provide some of the control aspects to support and how we able to connect the very sensors. Sensors. The key part from you so understand for ourt Sister Services what is the highest priority so we can Work Together on that versus us going our own way. That can result important thing i can do is understand what you need to do, what goals have and how im able to sport and vice versa. Very good. So, commander general is very appreciative of the work is been able to do with general goldfein and the transition of some of those platforms. We hope that great relationship continues. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Senator king. Thank you, mr. Chairman. First, to allay any confusion than theyve been sold by the comments of my distinguished code from New Hampshire, the shipyard is in maine. I just want to clear that up. Ambassador braithwaite, you and i talked about the workhorse of the navy, an important ship of mature design. Were in thee, middle of a multitier right now, 20182022. I hope youll give serious consideration to a second multiyear starting s in 2023 fr two reasons. One, its significant taxpayer savings when we buy in bulk, as you were, and also it helps to ensure the stability of the industrial base. Will you commit to giving serious consideration to that possibility . Absolutely, senator. As you and iy, discussed, the greyhound of the fleet truly is the backbone and something we have relied upon as department for the power projection that that platform provides. And as a former Group Purchasing executive i couldnt agree with you more in a group approach. Thats great for the people of america and being good stewards to the taxpayer, senator. I appreciate that. As were in the midst of this crisis, the navy has been both its public and private shipyards essential in terms of continuing their work. On the other hand, two points. One is, necessarily that have been delays, contractor delays because of the interruption in the work caused by the illness. I hope you will work with secretary gertz and secretary lord on flexibility in the contracts and indeed perhaps additional funding in order to compensate yards for working around this difficult situation. Senator, i believe weve all learned a lothi through this crisis and weve a a lot more to learn. If confirmed, i will work very closely with secretary gertz to ensure that we have the resources placed appropriately, god forbid if were ever to encounter anything like this again. And flexible in terms of deadlines. Yes sir. The impact us up in as great as what i was richly concern. Were at about 80 , and we will build back from that. Thank you. The other piece of that is, because of the navy has deemed these systems essential, its meant that their workers, mostly civilians, have gone to work and had to come and hope that you will work with both the public yard officials but also the Companies Involved with the private yards to be sure that they have the capability to keep their workers safe under the circumstances, and the flexibility in terms of production schedules and such in order to facilitate safe workplaces for these patriotic americans that are going to work every day to keep our country safe. I think if weve learned anything in this, we learn the fact that there are patriots in every sector of this country, as a healthcare executive, seeing what healthcare people of done and how theyve stepped up and put their lives at risk to serve others. Its the same with the Shipyard Workers who have done the same. Many of us are able to quarantine ourselves. They have not been and it continued to be out there on the front lines and a demonstrated like our men and women in uniform do everyday of their patriotism and a commitment to our National Security. That is something that i called very sacred responsibility, if im confirmed, is to ensure for their safety as well. So whether its a public yard as in portsmouth or the private yard in bath as you and i discussed, i will look to support those efforts. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Thats very important to the men and women that work at those yards. General brown, quickly. I think one thing i hope you will not lose focus on is the execution of the b21 contract. As you know we have had a rocky road in recent decades with major procurement contracts. This one seems to be on track, and i think its been, were very hard andnd very well by the air force and by the contractor. I hope that you will commit to payingha close attention to the of that so that we dont have to come back and talk about massive overruns andta delays, or any overruns and delays. Thats exactly my goal if confirmed is to ensure that it stays on track. File a quick question for you and i talked about this. Attention its be paid to the potential tanker capacity. If we could all be airplanes in the world but they cant be refueled to geto commission, weve got a failure of ability to project power. General lines as you know has projected a gap if you will in terms of tanker capacity over the next five to ten years. I hope that also be a focus of your intention i consider that an urgent matter. Yes, senator, it will be. Thank you. Thank you, mr. R. Chairman. Senator cramer. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and thank you, gentlemen for yourir service and for being here today, my best to your family as well. We look forward to seeing and beating them all at one point but we are proud of you and i know they are. General brown, i wanted to visit with you. First ofsa all thank you for the conversation yesterday. I appreciate the consistency of your answers today. I especially appreciate your commitment totm senator fischer relating to the nuclear fleet, keeping modernization on track come on time, particularly the gbsd. Also to send the rounds relating to the bombers. As you know with both of those at mina air force base. General goldfein will be there next week and so we know its not only among our highest part of thehe highest priorities as r the National Defense strategy. One of the things, one of the things also is pleased that was your answer to store rounds relating to the passthrough. I would like you and the rest of the committee to know that i am working with the Committee Staff on separating that 39 billion or so from the air force budget. I think its so important as for your commitment to transparency that we as a government of transparent metal to policymakers but to the public as a kite again the trust, and to the degree we need to protect to many of the details of the budget, thats certainly can be put somewhere in t dod other thn in the air force. I hope we can get that done this year and appreciate your commitment to transparency. With that, one of the things he talked about the you and i talked about yesterday that impressed me coming from you was, and it was you who initiated the point about the relationship with academia, community as well as air force and, of course, in grand forks rather wonderful relation with university of north Dakota School of sciences there, Flight School as well as uas program, as well as face. And would love to get you up there as soon as possible to show you all of that when the time is right and we can do it in a safe manner. Would love to get your commitment to that as soon as practical. Yes, senator. With that, i would like also visit and get your input on something someone else but a earlier related to the Northern Tier and to the arctic. When we think of the arctic we think proximity with all due respect to the navy, oximetry to those important adversaries. We also think of the Northern Tier bases. Would lovern your input on how u Arctic Mission that involves Northern Tier air force bases. The Northern Tier air force bases come the ability to turn and i watched it today because the forces ive stationed in alaska in support of northcom norad and activities they do against the russians, the same time to i look at rg also look t the aunt arctic which is also in the indopacom area of responsibility and you start to see competition there. The key aspect for me is how do we use and have good understanding whats goinggo onn the arctic and how we use our Northern Tier bases to compete and deter, and ideally when if required. Very good. I have nothing further. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Senator kaine. Thank thank you, mr. Chair, o the nominees. This is as strong a panel of nominees for positions as we have before us, and i support of you. Ambassador braithwaite, unappreciated our conversation the other day at a want to ask you a question. It just strikes me as unusual. You talk an opening about the choppy waters that the navy is in from a leadership standpoint. It strikes me as unusual. The secretary nagy, secretary spencer, so i had high regard for, was essentially relieved in the middle of a personal battle. Military discipline was being carried out against the navy seal based upon other sailors forward with allegations about that individual which is extreme it difficult to do. The the president decided to intervene ine that military justice process. The secretary of the navy then trying to maintain some harmony in the ranks started to work with the white house to try to work that out. He was eventually relieved of the position, but he was involved in a Personnel Matter deep within the organization, one that was very, very important. The acting secretary of the navy wasel recently released for involving itself in an individual personal matter. Captain crozier was doing what he thought he needed to do to keep folks on the roosevelt safe. Safe. There was an Ongoing Investigation into the situation on the roosevelt, but acting secretary moakley sort of predetermine the investigation and make the decision on his own apparently without the agreement of cno to terminate captain crozier from his leadership of the roosevelt. These two incidents to back with the last secretary and acting made me sort rethink the whole question of what is the civilian secretaries responsibility . What should it be with respect to personal matters . That a civilian secretary with a policy responsibility probably personnel within the navy is obvious. We would want a civilian secretary to take that role seriously. You have the background to do it. But it struck me that these two instances with civilian secretary been involved in individual personal decisions in ways i found unusual. Ive only been on the committee for seven years and perhaps its been more common but should you be confirmed, what do you think your responsibilities are with respect to Personnel Matters. Because if i were in the ranks as a sailor, the notion of a politicall appointee indirectly engage in individual personnel actions for people sort of far down thehe chain of command, i would be concerned about that. How would you approach this issue, should you be confirmed . Senator, as you and and i discussed yesterday, i fed the great good fortune to have served under some great secretaries of the navy, john lehman comes to mind. Hes a mentor to me. I spoke just the other night with senator warner who, also from your state, had to my conversations within in fact, the last couple of days. Good order and discipline starts with the chain of command. Thats just been sacrosanct the military forces since the beginning of time. And if i am confirmed i wasnt sure that that is understood from the secretarys office all the way to the smallest vessel in the United States navy and the United States marine corps. I believe that our commanders, the ceos, the ships and commands, invested with responsibility to be accountable as well as to lead those who served under their leadership. And and i believe they shouldd e empowered to do such. Again, i have lived my entire life believing in the chain of command, believing and ensuring the chain of command is informed both up and down, and making sure that people have trust and confidence in that chain of command. Can ask you, ambassador braithwaite, in the chain of command, do you see yourself as secretary sort of intervening in personnel decisions thatin are fairly distant down the chain . No senator. No, i dont. I believe that men and women in uniform at all ranks should have the opportunity and should have established the ability to ensure that their making the decisions tog lead their men ad women appropriately. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chair. On behalf of chairman inhofe let me recognize senator hawley. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Congratulations on your nomination. Dr. Anderson, enjoy to speaking with you the other day, yesterday, i cant remember, the dates all run together recently. Let me ask you t this. National Defense Strategy has said that the indopacific is our priority theater. The current secretary has said that the indopacific, secretary of defense that is, is our priority theater. You agree with those assessments . Yes, senator, do. Could you give us a sense of why . So in the context of redoing our strategy which came out in 2018, we look at changing circumstances over the last decade plus while we were very committed and focus on fighting violent extremism, and during that time our competitors, the prc and the Russian Federation took full advantage of our focus elsewhere and theyve done a variety of things in both the respective theaters to strengthenct their position and put our position at greater risk. So looking at that, those trends, based upon that assessment, thats how we came to prioritizing the National Defense strategy. Lets talk about some of the difficult strategic choices that we made in order to prioritize the indopacific, particularly as a relates to centcom. Do you think we have an effective deterrent strategy against iran . And how can we improve that strategy without sending more forces to the region . So i think we have established deterrence, least any conventional sense, against iran. Im very concerned of however about the continued backing of the shia militia groups who have acted and may well ask again in the future with some degree of difficulties, in terms of attributing. But we do hold tehran responsible, and we are hopeful that they, in fact, get the message Going Forward that were committed to our allies and partners in the middle east, were going to protect our forces, and were going to do all the things that we said we have done. Can we do that without sending more forces to the region . I believe we can. Let me ask you about another flashpoint there. That taliban are undermining the peace deal in afghanistan. The deal collapses when you think we should withdraw our remaining troops in the region . So kind of literary, talkig hypotheticals. I think, as an agent earlier we assess all the conditions Going Forward. The deal wouldat not collapse. They have shown a commitment to lose part of it so far, and hopefully they will honor the remaining portions. If they dont then we will reassess and we will do what we need to do. Direct relationship with china, as the whole world is seeing the malign intent of the Chinese Communist party and danger of china that its more important than ever that we find a way to focus on indo pa pacom, we cannot do it all. We cant spend a trillion dollar on defense. Thats part of your job and count on you on doing it. Ive advocated and weve talked about it for pacific deterrent the indopacom report the european success and id like to see something similar in indopacom, why wouldnt we embrace a similar deterrent initiative as we have in ucom. The independent assessment by indopacom has been delivered to congress and we owe awe briefing, us and the joint staff and were prepared to do that. I agree with you that the European Defense initiative has been successful and there is there is case to be made for considering a similar arrangement in the indopacific theater and if confirmed, i certainly pledge, commit to taking a look at that. Thank you very much. General, ambassador, i dont want you to feel left out. Ill have some questions for the record for you. Thank you for being here, thank you for your service and thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Senator. General brown, i want to start with by saying i was encouraged to see the air force select hallman air force base in new mexico has the preferred location for basing and f16 Training Squadron that has been temporarily stationed at that ins installation since 2017 and should you be concerned, i would expect you to address the pilot shortfall and continue to look to new mexico to resolve the pressing training and technological challenges. Obviously, thats not a question, thats a statement, but i think you understand and with regard to my first question for you, general, youve provided answers in advance to policy questions for the committee ahead of todays hearing and one of those questions asked specifically which capabilities the air force needs to develop to meet future challenges, to create a third offset as many people have said and you listed artificial intelligence, machine learning, hyper sonics and directed energy among your top priorities. I could not agree more with those particular priorities. Should you be confirmed, how exactly would you press the air force to more rapidly develop tests and most importantly, field these critical capabilities . Senator, one of the ways id like to do this is how we engage outside of the air force in some cases because when i think about the things i do on a daytoday basis, when i search the internet and watch how i look at something and then the next page, it shows up, theres that capability thats out there and its not always resident inside the department of defense, so its how we work with academia and industry and thats some things that air force is already doing and i think we need to do more of it and to take advantage of all the capability we have within our nation. I want to ask you a little bit as well about the Space Rapid Capabilities office, which as you know is charged with developing low cost Rapid Reaction payloads to maintain the United States critical advantage in space. Last march before this committee general goldstein agreed space rco was something thats working and continue to act as an independent agency, just as it was designed to do when congress established that office in 2018. Do you agree that space rco should remain an independent agency . In some aspects, id kind to of defer to general raymond. The good part about the rapid office, its to move a bit fasterments quite a bit faster and thats why that is largely in part dependent on that independence. In your most recent command of the Pacific Air Forces, youve been responsible for delivering air, space and cyberspace capabilities to counter threats in the indopacific. What are your general takeaways of the chinese capability and development with respect to hypersonics and directed energy . Not as much on direct energy, but advancements in hyp hypersonics and looking at intel and open source information. Are you confident that we are developing and testing and fielding our capabilities fast enough to meet that threat . No, senator, i think we can go faster. He think there are areas we can go faster and weve got to put our foot forward on some of these and were going to fail on some of these, but were going to learn when we fail. Thats right. As we go forward. I look forward to working with you on that. Thank you, senator. Thank you. Senator. Thank you very much. Well, let me start with general bro brown. Youre an air force graduate, r you not. Yes. Congratulations. Thank you. Some air force rotc graduates had less stellar careers than others, but im glad to see a fellow rotc reach the chief of staff of the air force. Where did you do your Pilot Training . I didnt see that in the bio. Williams air force base in arizona. Great, great. We train pilots in mississippi, also. Ive been to the base there in mississippi. I dont think we we dont need to have any fewer training bases, do you think . No, senator. All right, good, good. Well, glad to have you and i want to be a real friend. Let me move on to ambassador brathwaite. Thank you for what you said about 355 ships and i think, i think you said thats the minimum. Yes, sir. What we want to do is take this requirement that comes from the generals and the admirals, and rely on the folks out there that tell us what the requirement is. Theres word that theres another requirement, maybe on some tables in the pentagon that havent been published, havent been supplied to us, and that the number would be substantially more than 355. What do you know about that, ambassador . Senator, i understand that osd is looking into a comprehensive plan. If confirmed, ive not had any insight into that, but if confirmed, i look to a role as being the chief advocate to build a fleet of greater than 355 ships. Well, we need to build a fleet that the top military brass, admirals and generals, that are tasked with keeping our country safe, tell us is needed, the minimum requirement thats needed and i think thats what weve done and weve got great leadership on the committee as a chair and Ranking Member who feel the same. And you know, weve got a little bit of a dip and i say this about ship building and also, general about aircraft manufacturing. Weve got a little bit of a dip coming from omb and a lot of it at the function of the budget that we had to agree to to get a twoyear deal. The way id calculate it and also talking to the secretary of defense, an extra 20 billion would restore the curve and get us about where we need to be combining ship building and aircraft manufacturing. I would just say to my colleagues and anyone listening, our economy has been in the tank and weve done some things in this congress that were necessary to get us over the hump and weve found a way to appropriate the money and borrow the money and say we need to do it. In terms of the three trillion weve spent on our economy, it strikes me, its a relative bargain to try to come up with 20 billion, only 20 billion dollars to get us back where we need to be, to where the top military leaders in our country tell us will keep us safe. So, i would just say that i think the collective leadership in this town and in this building ought to help us come up with that. Now, theres also, ambassador brathwaite, theres getting more out of your money and i asked secretary gertz about block buys and a strategy to acquire more amphibious ships in the most Cost Effective manner. Do you agree with secretary gertz when he says that block buys are a great strategy and we continue to support amphibious ship procurement as second, secretary brathwaite. Yes, im a Group Purchase executive, block buy is a great deal. Thank you very much, this is a mighty impressive panel, mr. Chairman. I certainly agree. Senator hirono. [inaudible] your mic. Special aloha to general brown who currently serves as Commander Pacific Air force. I ask the following two questions of every nominee who comes before any of the committees on which i sit so i will ask them and like the responses starting from the ambassador. Since you became a legal adult have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature. No, senator, i have not. Doctor anderson. No, senator. No senator. Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement relate today this kind of conduct. No, senator, no, senator. No, senator. The bulk field in hawaii is consisting of 20 underground storage tanks each holding 12. 5 million gallons of fuel. This installation is in the order of the hoover dam. This facility is positioned above a large aquifer that supplies Drinking Water to many families on oahu. A fuel tank leak in 2014 threatened the local water supply and resulted in an administrative order of consent between the navy, the Environmental Protection agency and the Hawaii Department of health. Although the navy has performed tank upgrades and increased ground water monitoring, concerns in the community remain. Can i get your commitment that if you are confirmed, you will, would work with me to make sure the safety is a priority so that the local communitys Drinking Water is protected and the military may continue to use this resource . Senator, i lived in Barbers Point and been past the red hill for many times and i understand the importance to hawaii and to you and i pledge to work with you to mitigate this and correct it. Thank you very much. Youve been asked a number of questions from a number of my colleagues and specifically senator shaheen and king about the importance of the ship yard modernization and of course, one of the four Public Shipyards is in hawaii. And also, thank you for your commitment to make sure that the health and safety of the workers there, many of whom are civilians, are protected during this pandemic. Now currently, out at the pearl harbor ship yard is inefficient and must be updated and pearl harbor is slated for a new dry dock and a new dry dock Production Facility in the next several years. Funding is Critical Program will require a significant portion of the navys budget. Does the fiscal year 2021 budget contain or continue ship modernization plans so it will be implemented on time . Senator, from what i understand. The syop does include that. Im not sure the i i understand the importance of the pearl harbor ship yard and its importance geographically so i look to work with the department of the navy if confirmed as we can prioritize those requirements. I would certainly like to work close i had with you because there have already been setting aside of funding that was supposed to go for a dry dock Production Facility to make the ship yard much more efficient and thats already been set aside in anticipation of a new dry dock and a Production Facility thats close to the dry dock, so that it makes more sense. So, i would want to continue to, would with you. Yes, senator. I would like to work with you, because i havent started yet. [laughter] for dr. Anderson, for over three Years Congress has directed the department to urgently deploy the defense radar in hawaii. This administrations own Missile Defense review released in 2019 as well as the budget request for fiscal year 20172020, the Missile Defense agency stated this radar is critical for the defense of hawaii against north koreas advancing long range capabilities. Dr. Anderson, if confirmed will you continue to support the Missile Defense agencys to build the defense radar hawaii consistent with 2019 Missile Defense review and as recommendations . Yes, senator, i commit to that. Mr. Chairman, i have a few other questions that i will submit for the record and i thank all of you for being here once again. Thank you very much. As we had stated in the beginning, were going to have a second round and recognize senator sullivan now for his first round, now. Senator sullivan is presiding. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And gentlemen, i want to thank you for our meetings in the last couple days and also your very exceptional service, decades of service to our nation for all three of you, so, i appreciate that and i want to thank your families, even though they couldnt be here. I want to begin with my opening question, i ask all nominees, which is will you commit to coming to the great state of alaska with me, to see what Billy Mitchell, the father of the u. S. Air force called the most strategic place in the world. Can i get a commitment from each of you to do that even though i know youve all been there before. This is a new commitment, as part of your new job. Ambassador. Senator, as we discussed yesterday, i look forward. Thank you. General . Yes, sir. This went back to the Strategy Commission report which was cochaired by undersecretary aidleman and admiral gary roughead. One of the findings and recommendations of that report was that it was important to reverse what they called, quote, an unhealthy trend whereby civilians both in the pentagon and importantly here in the congress were, quote, less and less involved in Critical Military decisions like basing decisions and the allocating of forces across theaters. For that reason this committee has weighed in on a number of important basing decisions, such as the oconus decision on the kc46. General brown i want to talk with you about that as we did in my office the other day. In the ndaa in 2017 and 2018 this committee and the congress put forward the kind of characteristics they believed were important when looking at the oconu schoconus kc46. And id like to see if your views line line up with theirs. One of the things that man kated by the congress, important to look at having the kc46 located not by just one, but several cocomes if possible. They thought that was possible do you agree with that, im sorry . You do . And other characteristics mandated by Congress Near outstanding training facilities, especially for fifth gen fighters in training with joint and international partners, secretary wilson and general goldstein said absolutely. Do you agree with that . I agree. The third area was being near facilities that have large air space for training, large runways, hangars, air crews, maintenance and very large fuel storage and distribution capabilities, again, the former chief of staff or current chief of staff and secretary of the air force said that was important. Do you agree with that . I do. And in a hearing twice now i asked the secretary of defense, particularly given the National Defense strategy, with regard to our russia, china, north korea, challenges. If you colocated kc46s that were colocated with 105th generation fighters, f22s and f35s in alaska which is what were going to have in the next year, what kind of message would that send to our adversaries in the nds, china, russia, north korea, iran, the secretary of defense has twice now stated the message that would be sent was that that would give the message to our potential adversaries that the United States has extreme strategic reach. Do you agree with that, general . I do, senator. Senator king mentioned an issue that just came up in a hearing just a couple of months ago, general lyons mentioned in his Posture Statement that the air refueling fleet is trans coms most stretched capability and number one readiness concern and continues to underpin the joint forces ability to deploy an immediate force across all nds Mission Areas and thats critical. Based on general or senator kings mention of this being an urgent matter, what general lyons said recently to this committee, do you agree that it makes sense as general goldstein said to bed down kr46, and oconus are the most resource in a location responsible for multiple threats and multiple combatant command . I believe that we should base the kc46 in the space that gives us the most nextability. How about multiple combatant commands with the flexibility . Senator, thats one of the areas we look at to give the reach as you described in our conversation earlier this week. Okay, im going to continue this line of questioning, but i see my time it up. Well, let me just let me just ask one final one. Youre in charge. Im in charge, i guess i can do this. Does it make sense kind of on the flip side to have ocon oconus kr46s in a location focused only on one combatant command and will be vulnerable soon to long range precision weapons from our adversaries in the indopacom region . Senator, it probably does not because it increases the risk to the fleet. Thank you. Senator jones, i believe youre next. See if i can get this on. There we go. Thank you, mr. Chairman and thank you all for our Witnesses Today for your service and your willingness to serve. I very much appreciate this. Im probably going to make a couple of statements, a couple of quick questions. Ill make issue some questions for the record. For instance, secretary anderson, i know that you have had an interesting Missile Defense. Obviously thats very important to the state of alabama at Redstone Arsenal so im likely to follow up with you on a number of topics that way. One of the things ive done on this committee is also paid particular attention to the men and women in uniform and not just our increase in the Nuclear Triad or modernizing our military capabilities. General brown, i will say it is an honor to be part of your confirmation hearing as the first africanamerican chief of any branch. Being able to provide an example for other minorities for women, i think, is incredibly important. Ive had a special interest in support of the air force junior rotc program to encourage minorities in women and were got some language in the ndaa last year to spread that across other branches. And so, i looked forward to hearing more from you at an appropriate time concerning a concern that ive got about underrepresentation of minorities in women and more senior ranks in the air force. I think thats something that i am sh your sure without you having to verballize it working on that. Ambassador brathwaite, we had a great talk a couple of days ago, thank you for that. I very much appreciated that. First thing id like to mention and im really kind of compelled to state on behalf of my state. I was really disappointed with the navys decision to, on the next generation frigate contract which i believe the navy overlooked some obvious choices and thats also usa down in mobile, alabama. They have consistently proven a record of top quality, highly capable ships that came in on budget and on time for the navy. And we looked forward to getting more information. I must say that having spent a couple of years in this city, one can become quite cynical as we approach elections and its a concern for mine, based on what happened with huntsville last year when the Space Command decision was reopened after huntsville became was one of the finalists on that, that we now have, that frigate contract going to a state thats clearly a Battle Ground state for the upcoming election and im not making allegations, but as a lawyer, it just raises my sensitivity somewhat when i see that happen and overlooking a company like ostel who had as done so well with their contracts. The one thing i want to mention and ambassador, you and i talked about this and it will be really for both you and general anderson, over the last 10 years weve seen a number of shootings at military bases. Fort hood, 14 dead in 2009. In 2013 at the naval ship yard at again at fort hood and chattanooga, 2015. Last year 2019 there was a shooting that killed three people in pensacola. And including one of my constituents, kayla watson, killed in a terrorist attack at the Naval Air Station there. Caleb was the officer on deck that morning. He was one of the first people that the shooter encountered and although he was shot five times, he managed to make his way out to flag down First Responders and give an accurate description of the shooter. Tragically caleb died of his wounds in the hospital and i know that senator scott and purdue also lost young men from their home state in that awful incident. I know that the number of killings on military bases does not seem like a lot considering the number of shootings that weve had across the country in the last decade or 20 years or so, and especially with the number of deaths in this pandemic, but for our men and women who volunteer to serve and put their lives on the line in service of their country, they should not have to die needlessly. Ive met with calebs father and brother and made a commitment to work with them to get to bottom of what happened. I think there are a number of instances that could have saved calebs life and perhaps others. The gao issued a report in 2015 concerning recommendations on military bases. And im not quite sure that any of that has been followed at this point. Weve not seen any followup. So my simple question, i would like to get to a little more to the bottom of this, but i have just a simple question for both you, ambassador brathwaite and general anderson. Are you committed to looking at those reports, looking at those recommendations, to try to see if there are things we can feasibly do to prevent killing of men and women in the service, but also potential civilians on the bases as well. Look at the gao report and try to implement those things and work with our office to try to see what we can better do to protect our men and women, ambassador brathwaite. As mentioned i was stationed in pensacola and that incident came close tower me because one of my ship mates in the navy, his son was training there, as we discussed within that building and literally left just minutes before the shooting. Anybody who goes aboard any military installation has to show an i. D. Card and it always gives you a sense of security when you do that, whether you come into this building or the pentagon or any of our military facilities around the world so i pledge to you, senator, that i will look into this. I understand that some parts of the report are classified and in a followup to our discussion the other day, once, if i am confirmed, i look forward to looking at those reports and ensuring that we have the processes in place both men and women in these. I have a commitment from you. And finally my time is up and recommend to the committee and chairman and Ranking Member that we possibly conduct a hearing on this at some point to look into the safety of our military men and women and civilians on these bases so that these tragedies dont happen again, so, thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you, on behalf of the chairman, senator duckworth. Thank you. Ambassador brathwaite, our nations first commanderinchief wisely determined that discipline is the soul of an army. As a former commander i learned that good discipline is the north star to ensure that we always fight with honor. Its how our United States military became the greatest fighting force the world has seen adhering to the and not wanton conduct, good order is the soul of the u. S. Military and that soul is threatened by a commanderinchief who glorifies torture, betrays American Allies and celebrates war criminals and despots. Generals, admirals, successful Business Executive do not withstand the demands of a petulant commander, such as this disgraceful quote from President Trump and i quote we train our boys to be killing machines and then prosecute them when they kill. By their inactions top leaders have enabled this commanderinchief who threatens to transform the u. S. Armed forces into an undisciplined brutal fighting force to one man unaccountable to the chain of command to war and constitutional principles. This is a danger to the professionalism of our great military. It is one thing to take the fight to the enemy and to rain down destruction upon them, but its dangerous and beneath the professional standards of our military to conduct itself as if its the personal force of a wannabe despot. There have been glimmers of leadership from within the administration, former secretary of the navy, Richard Spencer used one of his last official acts to inform President Trump that, and i quote, i cannot in good conscience obey an order that i believe violates the sacred oath i took in the presence of my family, my flag, and my faith to support and defend the constitution of the United States. Secretary spencer demonstrated leadership in not only sacrificing his position of power, but speaking to inform the americans people the dangers posed by the current commanderinchief. Mr. Ambassador, do you believe that our men and women are quote, killing machines, do you believe that more is required of them and there are reasons for that requirement . Senator, i had an opportunity to talk about good order and discipline a little while ago and that like you shared, that experience in uniform and understand the importance of it. I believe the men and women who served in uniform of our nation are patriots first and foremost. They demonstrate that every day, they go into harms way as you and i both did and we have a sacred commitment to ensure that they have the resources they need and we ensure we protect their interests. Do you believe that the law of war is fundamental to good order and discipline . Excuse me . Do you believe that the law of war is fundamental to good order and discipline going back to our days as cadets when we learned about law of war and professionalism in the military . Do you think that that is fundamental to good order and discipline in our military . Yes. Thank you. Do you affirm the importance of the respectful treatment of the enemy dead one of the rule of war. Yes. Do you think that taking a picture of an isis corpse and how do you look at dishonorable behavior like that. Anyone would be held accountable if im confirmed. How . Ensuring that the chain of command is followed and that we uphold the sacred truths that youve explained to you. And ucmj . Absolutely. Thank you. Do you believe that payment statements made on social media on Public Service members could negatively impact order and discipline . I have strong feelings about social media. It can social media can influence anything at anytime and people need to be mindful of that, no matter what they comment when they comment. If youll look, senator, i dont participate in a lot on social media for that very reason and when i served as vice chief of United States navy id say to do the same. Theres misuse of that. And could have impact on good order and discipline do you think those Service Members who violate standards of conduct on social media should be held accountable for their action. Yes, i do. How would you react under your watch an active Duty Service Member publicly called the leadership of a bunch of mor moron, as Eddie Gallagher did on cable news last year. If they were still in the uniform and responsible under the ucmj they would be held accountable i would hope first and foremost by their commanding offices under the chain of command that you and i both served under. Thank you. How can Americans Trust that theyll uphold if the leaders failed to act when those values came under attacks. And this is about reinstalling culture and those values within the navy. Yes. And youre ready to do that . Well, so, again i talked about that earlier. It starts with trust up and down the chain of command. You and i know that you cant just tell a young sailor, soldier, marine or airman to go into harms way unless you have their trust. You gain their trust by demonstration of being forthright in the way that you communicate to them and ensure that you, again, uphold good order and discipline through the chain of command. If im confirmed, will ensure that we build back trust, both up and down the chain, that we look to reestablish a strong culture, based upon that trust. And that comes with strong leadership and understanding the responsibility and the accountability of what being a leader means. And are you willing that should it come to it, be willing to resign your position if in your good conscience an order from the president violates a sacred oath you took in the presence of your family, your flag and faith as you have from 1980 on wards . Again, ive been asked this question and ive repeatedly stated that like you, i raised my hand, i took the oath of office. And committed to uphold the constitution of the United States and i will continue to do that and i will continue to follow the lawful orders of those appointed over me as both you and i did as we were in uniform at all ranks. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, im over time, but i have a question for dr. Anderson id like to submit for the record and has to do with indopacom and importance to the future. Without objection. Thank you. Were going to go to round two unless senator mcsally is ready . Or you want, are you ready to go . Okay. Senator mcsally. Thank you. I appreciate it. I have been watching from my office, social distancing, virtually. Its good to see you all. Congratulations on your nominations. I want to talk with im sure no surprise to you. You may be aware we had requirements in several ndaa. I love the f35 and we need our airmen to have air superiority and we made it look easy, but you need the ferrari and a pickup truck. Even in high end warfare we need the ability to protect the men and women on the ground with capabilities that are unmatched like the warthog. And the fourth generation and keeping them into the future including a10. We put requirements of previous concerns of getting rid of altogether. There need to be a flyoff competition between the 35 and the a10. The full operation and test before anything could happen before retiring an a10, are you aware of the requirements before this. In my preparation ive been made aware in more detail. Great. I was concerned that the proposal for this next years budget included phasing out some number of the a10s without any regard to those requirements we had in there where we clearly said you cant plan to require one more a10 until these things have not happened. Were in ongoing discussions with your leadership, and should be you be confirmed, this is something were engaging with you on. So, can you just talk to me about your views on this issue, where the a10 stands in the future of our air force, how long with its upgrades and the new capabilities that it has, how long it will be in the inventory. How important a niche capability like that is to protect men and women on the ground, who are often in very complex and moving fire fights where we already have air superiority, but we still need to have the best capabilities overhead to keep them alive . I believe the a10 will be around for a number of years. The challenge i think were running into, not only with the a10, but you saw with the b10, in order to maintain that fleet and make it affordable at some point well have to take some that are probably not doing as well and move them want to maintain the fleet, but also invest in the future. Weve got to be able to do. Maintain the into the next 15, 20 years, at the same time modernize with the f15 capability as well. So is it your perspective the a10 with its modernization would be around in the 2040s still operating at some number which well continue to talk about . I cant say specifically whether its 2040, but i know probably for the next 10, 15 years at least. Particularly you start investing in the replacement. Wings. Youre not going to make a big investment unless you i think thats where its headed. If previous efforts had their way all of them would be in the bone yard and we were able to stop that from happening, so i think theres a broad agreement we need the capability, now that theres a discussion about the capacity. And right now theres 281 in the fleet, theres 9 operation operational squadrons, and reserve well have follow on conversation abouts this, whats the right capacity and mix, active guard and reserve in order to keep this niche capability not just for close air support, but combat search and rescue, often an overlooked mission that the sandy fleet runs when we have americans that need to be rescued that are in enemy territory. So i look forward to continuing this conversation with you, just know i was concerned about seeing efforts to draw it down before the requirements we put in law were met and this is going to be an ongoing conversation well have should you be confirmed. If confirmed ill look forward to the conversation. Thanks. Ambassador, id like to ask you, do you see china taking advantage of covid19 in their aggression in the South China Sea and other places and you know, specifically with a lack of the presence of our carrier and what is your observation about what china is doing in that region . And are they i mean, appears to me theyre taking advantage and trying to continue with increased aggressions because of coronavirus, but what is your perspective on that . So, thank you, senator. And i would agree with you. I think theyve tried to flex their muscle pan see what they can achieve there. I do know currently the United States navy has over 90 ships that are deployed at sea that are covidfree. I also know that there contingency in place for Carrier Strike Group Carrier Combatant Commander needs. Including the roosevelt on the other side of the covid curve. If anybody underestimates the intent of the United States and its concerns over National Security, including the peoples republic of china, i think they will grossly underestimate our capabilities. Great. Thank you. Im over my time. I appreciate it. Yes, senator, thank you. On behalf of the chairman, senator reed. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. And let me direct the same question to both ambassador brathwaite and dr. Anderson. If your response to the chairmans standard questions, including providing all pertinent information upon all information upon a request for the committee you said unequivocally, you said yes, you do. In your written prehearing questions, there were qualifications. I want to be clear that the yes is unequivocal and youll respond to every committee request dutifully and diligently, is that accurate, mr. Ambassador. Yes, sir, it is. Dr. Anderson. Yes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. On behalf of the chairman, senator king. Thank you, mr. Chairman. First, on before of both senator sullivan and myself, i want to emphasize the importance of the arctic as a strategic region. The opening up of the arctic ocean is a world historical event. Its the equivalent of the the discovery of the mediterranean sea. Its an entire water body unavailable for human use except for the Indigenous People for all of human history. Weve had testimony about the northern route and trade to europe. There just are any number of Strategic Imperatives and it has not been a serious focus of the United States government for obvious reasons. The chinese now have declared them a near arctic nation. Thats like maine saying theyre a near caribbean state. Yes. And i think it indicates their intention. Not really a question, but i commend to all of you attention must be paid to this strategic, very important strategic region. Ambassador. You know from your work in norway how important it is and how russia and china are, of course, russia has the huge border, russia and china are both expressing great interest. You and i senator have had many discussions about this over the years and you share my concerns for the arctic. As you articulate how it emerges and what an important theater is. The great news is the United States navy has been up there for many, many years. You may not see them, but theyre up there. As it begins ive been up there with them, and i know. Yes, sir, as it becomes more navigatable on the surface we to make sure that our presence is noted. We have not done that across all u. S. Policies. And i know that in my current role as u. S. Ambassador to norway working under the leadership of secretary pompeo, who has put an emphasis on this, as well as reading the u. S. Navy and cnos guidance for arctic presence into the future, it will be a priority of mine, sir. A comment for ambassador brathwaite and general brown. Weve talked both, to both of you about readiness and how many of our airplanes and ships are ready at any given moment. I would appreciate it, if for the record you could supply and this may take some time to consult with your new staff, a goal, a target, a hard target, 68 or 73 or hopefully 87 , whatever it is. Im a great believer in the addage, if you dont have a destination, youll never get there. And i would look to both of you to give us a specific destination in terms of overall readiness and readiness of a specific platform. So, if you could do that, id appreciate it. Mr. Anderson, i dont want to leave you out. One of my concerns is that all of our Strategic Thinking and if this is a common place, that we tend to fight the last war and yet the next war may well be cyber. And i would like to have your thoughts on the importance of preparation, cyber, cyber deterrents, resilience, that the general question, because this is, this is where a country like iran or north korea that doesnt have the military capability could still strike at the heart of our count country. Thank you, senator. So, the Department Takes a cyber domain very seriously for all the reasons you mentioned and it is a domain of increasing importance, that has become where we have been devoting, bipartisan support, Additional Resources or Cyber Mission teams. For example, we have general who is leading seib Cyber Command and with the sort of leadership, weve issued Cyber Strategies and we are defending forward, thats an important new approach. Were no longer on our heels when it comes to malign cyber activity by our competitors and our adversaries. So i would say that with defending forward and persistent engagement with the authorities we now have and the resources, we are on a good trajectory, but were also not at all complacent. I would also say that your leadership with the project solarium, has been very helpful on several levels helping to make a somewhat isoteric topic more and David Norquist and ken made valuable contributions. Thank you, i know a number of recommendations, look forward if confirmed looking at those recommendations and seeing what more needs to be done. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Well, gentlemen, im going to finish up with a few more questions and then well finish up this hearing. General brown, with regard to the oconus basing of the kc46 ive outlined what a lot of others said, secretary of defense, general goldstein, secretary wilson, this committee, the congress. As you probably know, you may know, there are other senior military members who made comments both in private meetings and publicly about this one saying, its a nobrainer, where this oconus decision should be. As you know, this is an important matter for me. One final question for you. If general Billy Mitchell were still alive and making the oconus decision on where to base the kc46 where do you think he would base the aircraft. One word answer. Before or after his Court Martial . No, he was reinstated after the Court Martial. Thats a senator mccain question. I think he would say alaska. He would and he is the father of the air force, a very strategic thinker, correct . Thats correct. Thank you. I do want to switch topics here with regard to the artic and i appreciate my good friend senator king and you already heard others and i think ive mentioned to all of you, theres certainly been an awakening of the strategic importance of the artic, our adversaries are not waiting as ambassador brathwaite has mentioned. Russia, obviously, but china, others, the Great Power Competition that we now know is upon us is really taking place in that part of the world. We have Strategic Interests there. We are an arctic nation because of my great state. Unfortunately, as ive mentioned to all of you, the pentagon has really been probably the last agency in town to realize this and this committee has stepped up in a bipartisan way over the last several years whether mandating a dod Arctic Strategy, authorizing the building of six polar class ice breakers. We have two right now, one is broken and the russians have, last count i had, 54, including nuclear and significant capabilities with regard to weaponized ice breakers. So, but its starting to change, even at the pentagon, i would say general brown certainly ambassador secretary barrett, general goldstein are understanding these issues. Secretary spencer was a real advocate and understood this. So can i get the commitment of each of you to work with this committee on these important strategic artic issues which again, the pentagon has been slow to, but we think are important . Can i get a yes from each of you. Yes senator. Yes senator. Yes senator. Let me ask a more specific issue. Ambassador, we talked significantly about the importance of a strategic artic port. The nearest dod strategic seaport where the shipping is happening is are the port of anchorage. Alaska is a big state. Thats 1500 miles away from the arctic circle. We have nothing else that can handle a destroyer, an ice breaker. Secretary spencer was a vocal advocate for the need of a strategic arctic part. If confirmed, can i get your commitment to also be a strong advocate for a need for a strategic arctic port that can handle a destroyer or an ice breaker . Yes, sir. Dr. Anderson, how about you . This is an important issue, as you know, its been a bit of an issue again with the pentagon seems to be the last one to recognize the importance of this. Can i get your commitment, if confirmed, to be a strong advocate within the building . Because the problem at the top level, the general, the secretary gets it, we get it and yet, somehow in the middle of that big building, it stops these initiatives, which are important to protect our nations strategic interest. Can i get your commitment on that issue . Yes, senator. As you know, i testified before the committee in march, a subcommittee and we talked at length about the requirements and general oshaughnessy and he noted theres a fuel requirement up there and im going to take a hard look at the study coming out that we owe you and i commit to working with you on the issue. You owe us in my view not a maybe, not a blowoff like the last time the pentagon looked at this, you owe us a commitment and im expecting that. You have my commitment. By the way, general shaughnessy is another strong advocate. Let me make another the department of defense has numerous, what are called Regional Centers. Youre probably aware of these. Centers for strategic studies, we have one in germany na studies nato and our National Security interests there. We have one in hawaii, the daniel inaway Regional Center for the dod in hawaii that studies the asia pacific. We have the William Perry center, thats hemispheric, latin american and south american and here in d. C. The near east center, and these are dod Regional Centers. Theres not one for the artic. I think to show the pentagons commitment there should be one. Im going to have language with senator murkowski and a bill that we have introduced along with senator king to have one. Can i get your commitment to work with this committee, which again has been leading on the arctic to finally have a dod Regional Center as it relates to the arctic, which we will be advocating for in this years ndaa . Senator, im a big fan of Regional Centers, having worked at the Marshall Center in germany for three years so i know the value added that they provide. So if confirmed, you have my commitment to working with you on this issue. Do you believe we need a Regional Center on the arctic, given theres a Regional Center on literally every other part of the world with the exception. Art particular . Senator, i need to kind of review the options in terms of what the i know at the Marshall Center, for example, they do have some arctic coverage. I would have to assess whether thats enough or not enough. I think theres a good case to be made considering an Arctic Center in alaska. Dr. Anderson, i want to emphasize for you, to me ins going to be a demonstration whether the pentagon finally gets it. Ive been in this job five and a half years and it started with the obama Arctic Strategy which i held up in a hearing and i called it what it was, a joke. It was a joke. It was 13 pages, six of which were pictures, russia was mentioned once in a footnote. It was a joke. And since that time, we, this committee, have been leading. We need the pentagon to lead and help us. I will be viewing this whether the pentagon supports this Regional Center or not is whether youre finally getting serious about this. So, can i get your commitment to take a very hard look at this and be on the front foot not the back foot, the way in which the pentagon has been on these arctic issues since ive been here . Yes, senator, you have my commitment. One final question, ambassador, as you and i talked about, theres great training up in alaska, the jay park has air space larger than florida. Ground maneuver space larger than delaware and sea operating space larger than virginia, just one Training Range in my state. The former commandant general was interested in much more aggressive training with the marine corps, and ive talked to the cno about much more air to air training and red flag at jay park. Can i get your commitment to take a hard look and ive talked about this with general burger, of course, for much more significant presence of the u. S. Navy, u. S. Marines in terms of training, possible udp deployments up to alaska to get in outstanding training and then can deploy on ships to different parts of the arctic and asia pacific. As we discussed, yes, i will. Thank you, gentlemen, this has been a very informative would you consider putting that Arctic Center in maine . Im worried that all the suggestions today, alaska may sink into the ocean. [laughter] maybe it should be two offices, one in alaska and one in maine. Well look hard at both. I do want to echo what so many other senators, democrats and republicans, stated today which was you are all very wellqualified. This is a very serious panel of distinguished public servants. We appreciate that and we look forward to your continued service for our nation and we want to thank you again for your decades of service that youve already provided to the United States of america. This hearing is adjourned. Cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] on [inaudible conversations] watch testimony from doctor rick wright, the former highranking federal scientist whose focus was Vaccine Development and was recently renewed disposed at the National Institute of health. House energy and Commerce Committee will hear from him on scientific integrity during the covid19 response. Watch the hearing live thursday at 10 a. M. Eastern on cspan, online the cspan. Org or slip on the free cspan radio app. Sign up today for cspans newsletter word for word, providing two updates daily to the coronavirus Pandemic Response from state governors, the White House Task force briefings and important updates from congress. Sign up today. Its easy. Go to statement out of connect and it are your email the word for word signup box. Cspan. Org connect. On the floor senators continue to talk about the coronavirus pandemic and the possibility of passing additional relief legislation. Mr. President , the city is back for its second week in session and way more important work to do for the american people. While our nation fights the coronavirus pandemic, many of our fellow americans have been taking new safety t precautionsy continuing to show up to perform essential work. Because delivery drivers and grocery clerks, families can keep food on their shelves. Because of utility
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