Transcripts For CSPAN3 Defense Department Confirmations 2017

CSPAN3 Defense Department Confirmations November 17, 2017

Defense under text for personal re readiness and nuclear and defense programs. This is almost two hours. Good morning. Services Committee Meets today to consider the nominations of mark t esper to be secretary of the army, well key for under secretary of defense for readiness, kernan to be intelligence, and guy rod insurance for Nuclear Chemical and biological defense weapons. I would like to say that i have been pleased with the reaction of the secretary of defense and the administration being cooperative in responding to our questions and to our ability to carry out our responsibilities on the Defense Authorization bill. I think that the most members were happy with the briefing that we received concerning the actions on the uss mccain and others. And so we are glad to begin this hearing. We thank all of you for joining us this morning. We welcome your family and friends with us today. As is our tradition at the beginning of your testimony, we invite you to introduce those who are joining you. Its the standard for this committee to ask certain questions in order to exercise legislative and oversight responsibilities. Its important that this committee and other appropriate committees of the congress be able to receive testimony briefings and other communications of information. Id ask that you each provide responses to the following questions. For the years i have been a member of this committee, it has not been an important issue. Its now an important issue. Because we are not receiving the information and communication that is the constitutional responsibility of this committee. So i urge you to consider your answers very carefully when i ask these questions. Have you adhered to applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest . Yes, sir. Will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines established for requesting communications, including questions for the record in here ings . Yes. Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers in response to congressional requests . Yes, sir. Will those witnesses be protected from reprisal for their testimony or briefings . Yes. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify upon request before this committee . Yes. Do you agree to provide documents including copies of electronic forms of communication in a timely manner when requested by a duly constituted committee or to consult with the Committee Regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial in providing such documents . Yes. Have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process . Knows. Yes. Thank you. Mr. Will key, over half of the and youll Defense Budget is spent on personnel costs to include training, health care and compensation. Our forces facing a readiness crisis. Our personnel are experiencing ts strain of 16 years of continuous conflict. I wish you could have heard our navy testimony yesterday concerning the accidents that have taken place. And we all know that this congress bears significant responsibility for the lack of funding and the lack of readiness and capability of our military which then makes for 100 hour work weeks, which then leads to accidents. Im sure you are aware of the testimony of the chief of naval operation. Our forces are facing, as i said a readiness crisis, personnel is continuous conflict. The next under secretary of defense have been a priority for this committee in the last three years. The sweeping personnel Reforms Congress has passed in recent Defense Authorization bills reflect the importance we place on these issues. If confirmed, we expect that you will work to faithfully impla meentd these reforms and be a forward thinking partner to this committee as we look to ensure that serving in defense of our nation remains a compelling calling for our best and brightest americans. Admiral kernan, if confirmed, as understand secretary of defense for intelligence, you will serve as the principal intelligence adviser of the secretary of defense and will be dual hatted as director of Defense Intelligence and office of national intelligence. Its been nearly 15 years since this position was created. And the security environment has changed dramatically during that time. The scope and complexity of Global Threats is unlike anything the nation has faced during the last seven decades. Thats why its more important than ever that this committee and the department make certain that the Defense Intelligence enterprise is appropriately structured to integrate and prioritize intelligence resources and capabilities throughout the department. I look to our nominee to explain how he intends to reassess this structure and ensure that the military has timely and accurate intelligence to defend the nation against a rapidly evolving series of security challenges. Mr. Roberts, if confirmed, you will be the principal adviser to the secretary of defense on Nuclear Weapons. And chemical and biological defense as well as executive director of the Nuclear Weapons council. As such, you will have a key role in shep harding the Modernization Program so that the nuclear triad, including the bomber, submarine, icbm, long range standing weapon and control. If confirmed we will expect you to advocate for the timely execution of these programs. Which remain a cornerstone of our Nations National defense, especially in the current environment. We also expect you will work with the National Nuclear Security Administration and department of energy to support the recapalization of the Critical Infrastructure that supports the Nuclear Weapon stock piles. Many of these facilities are in a disgrace full state of disrepair and strong leadership from both the dod and doe will be required to keep all of these programs on time and at cost. Dr. Esper, there is no clearer illustration than our army remains at war in the combat of our loss of four nigerian officers last year. In 16 years of war, the army perhaps more than any other service has been tested repeatedly our soldiers have met the test and proved their commitment, courage skill, and determination. Today, however, our army is facing a crisis. The burden imposed by our soldiers only grows as threats to our nation increase and see questions tags remains the law of the land sequestration. Given current operational demands, restoring readiness must be the army First Priority. Me made progress in improving the brigades ready for deployment. But too many of our soldiers remain in brigade tsz that are currently nondeployable. And the army still does not plan to return to full Spectrum Readiness until 20021 at the earliest. Meanwhile, the army is woefully behind on modernization. And our soldiers are increasingly unprepared to confront the harsh realities of 21st certainty warfare. With glowing gaps in this, these problems will only get worse as our adversaries continue to modernize their forces. Our army lacks the capacity and key capabilities to windy size i havely. If confirmed we will expect you to implement the modernization that the army announced last month. Work to turn these bram goals into real weapons and equipment. And put them into the hands of soldiers as soon as possible. Our soldiers cant afford the false choice between readiness and modernization. Building a ready modern army will have to have vision narry leadership and clear strategy. If confirmed we will expect you to lead the army to those ends. Youll have to learn the lessons of the past, make tough decisions, take and manage real risks, and hold yourself in those working for you accountable for results. When you do so, you will always have an ally in this chairman in this committee. Finally, doctor esper, i would be remiss if i did not reiterate my concerns about the number of nominees from Defense Industry filling out the leadership ranks at the department of defense. I want to be clear that my reservations grew out of early c consul stations i had with potential nom ease including yours and others. It was then that i decided i i couldnt support further nominees with those background beyond those we had already discussed. I appreciate your commitment. Not only to recuse yourself from matters related to the raytheon company, but further not to seek or accept waivers to your recusal obligation. And i would like to submit your letter stating that commitment into the record without objection. Again, let me thank your witnesses for willing to serve our nation at this challenging time. The length of my Opening Statement was directed directly related to the importance of the task that you will be asked to undertake. Senator read. Well, thank you very much. Mr. Chairman. Let me join you in welcoming our nominees and to thank them and their families for willingness to serve in the positions with great responsibility in the department of defense. I also would like to, as you introduce your families, acknowledge the Critical Role they play in supporting your efforts and supporting the men and women in uniform. And dr. Esper, you have been nominated to lead one of our greatest insurance stooges United States army. If confirmed you will serve during a time which the organization is facing many challenges including how to readiness soldiers around the world. To grapple how to make best programs and canceling those programs that are under performing. And you have a wealth of experience including your service in the army and expensive experience in both public and private. As confirmed as next of the army, your unique challenge will allow you to meet these head on. And i look forward to hearing your views on this issues. Mr. Will key, you will face many challenges in ensuring first and foremost that our military has adequate numbers of ready and Trained Service members of sufficiently high character and talent to meet national objectives. This includes many challenges, military costs have continued to rhys to the over all Defense Budget. Even as the over all number of active duty soldiers air men and ma rinse has dropped from over 2 million in 1980 to 1. 3 million today. Despite increase to the Defense Budget over that time frame. Mr. Will key, your vast experience within the department and congress should serve you well if you are confirmed i look forward to working with you and you will be tackling different issues and i know you will do well. Admiral kernan, you have been nominated to intelligence at a very critical time. Intelligence are more integrated than ever before. But at the same time the dew manned for accurate and timely intelligence continues to out strip supply. This challenge is exacerbated by inefficient allegation process of available surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities among the commands. As technical and tell begins gathering capabilities continue to advance at an exceptional pace, we are also experienced a shortfall in analytical tools necessary to make effective use of the overwhelming of intelligence being generated. Given your more than 3 decades of service in the navy, you bring important experience to the position of the u. S. Di. Which you should serve with great distinction as you have in the past. Mr. Roberts, if confirmed, you will serve in position that dates back to the 1946 act. Since this creation this office has assumed other important subjects. However, its core mission has not changed, which is to serve as interface between the Department Defense and the department of energy National Nuclear administration or nnsa. In no Uncertain Terms i expect you as your predecessors to hold them accountable in Meeting Department stockpile needs and in particular restoring our ability to produce blue ton um pits as we capitalize our triad over the next 20 years. Since 2011, following the ratification of the new star treaty, this committee has extended considerable time and effort holding the nnsa accountable to this mission and we expect you to continue it. Again, thank you for your willingness, gentlemaen, to sere the nation. Thank you. I note the presence of our respected friends, senator tillis who would like to, i believe, introduce one of the witnesses. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Ranking members and distinguished colleagues on senate armed service, i have the privilege of making a few comments about robert will key. He has extensive resume that im sure is in the record but i think is it it bears reporting one of the important things that make him uniquely qualified for the role. Many of you met robert when he was working with the nomination of secretary mattis, we got limp over to the office of personnel tran sticks to help with the transition. Hes got several years of private sector experience including working on projects that refer to reform and organization ministry of defense logistics system. He also served as in the Bush Administration for both gates and rumsfeld as assistant secretary of defense. And before that he served under condoleezza rice. I could go true the full resume but i wont. I can tell you being a junior senator coming in and serving with him was real honor. He started under jesse helms and in the leaders office. He has a grasp of history that is unparallel. We play a game in my office call stump robert. We havent figured out how to do it yet. He has a broad base of educational experience, above the lines of service. But mr. Chairman, in your comments about taking readiness seriously, there is not a day that goes by we are not talking about. And one of the reasons when we were looking at subcommittees that i may serve on that he was the one to say it would be great to get the person ale subcommittee because thats an area where we can do a lot of work and we focused on it and made progress with the great staff. And im pretty sure most of the Senate Armed Services staff have a high opinion of robert. Ill tell you we also call him forest gump because there is not a single story he cannot put in context of some experience during his working career or dating back to the roman times. Hes going to be a great addition to the department of defense. And im personally, bitter sweet to lose him, but in my capacity as personnel on Senate Armed Services i get an opportunity to continue to work with him and do great work. So i wholeheartedly support his nomination hand appreciate the opportunity to introduce him. Well, thank you, senator tillis, and thank you for your very good words and your opinion is shared on this diaz as well. So i thank you very much. So maybe well just begin with you, mr. Will key, if youd like to proceed. Yes, sir. Thank you mr. Chairman. Senator reed, this is the second time i have appeared in this chair. I hope its better than the last time. Yes. As in 2006, i was blessed to have my wife julie with me. We grew up together outside of fort bragg and she is the foundation of our family in both our civilian and military lives. 2006 my daughter megan is now old enough to sit here. She is escaping from her classes from washington and lee and also representing her brother adam who is first semester engineering student at clemson university. Im also proud to have my sisterinlaw here, we too went to school in fayetteville. Welcome them to the committee. Thank you. I was honored to be introduced by a former member of this committee in a truly great Senate Leader trent lot. Im equally humbly placed in me. Senator helms said for any senator to truly represent North Carolina they must understand North Carolina highway 24. That is the road that connects 45 of the entire United States marine core in the eastern part of our state to the place senator reed calls the hub of the universe fort bragg. Senator tillis has met his charge and exemplifies all of us who have been part of the military life strive to be, and that is a servant leader. Mr. Chairman, if confirmed, ill be charged with making life easier for the men, women, and families, military and civilian, who carry our future on their shoulders. I have been privileged to see this military life from many angles, as a dependent, as the son of a gravely wounded combat soldier, as an officer with a family in the military Health Care System, and as a Senior Leader in the white house and the pentagon. My earlier memories of the mass jumps of the 82 airborne normandie at fort bragg. Ive witnessed firsthand the transition from the con script military to the all volunteer total force of guard, active and reserve, and envisioned by the late craig. Since desert storm, readiness has been the ability to mobilize and fight wars. That notion of readiness is a great place for pnr to start when assessing the quality of the total force. In my opinion, as the chairman mentioned, the department has too often been caught up in chasing the new carrier or fighter. There have been few champions for readiness to work with this committee. Simply put, we need to get people back on the range and in the motor pools and prepare for the full spectrum of conflict, which now includes cyberand space. The threshold question is whether each decision made by the department enhances americas ability to deter and if need be defeat any enemy while keeping our soldiers alive and getting them back home quickly. When they return we owe them and their families the same level of care and attention. This is not the military that senator mccain or my father joined at the dawn of the kennedy administration. Yet we are ham strung by policies and procedures in place then to run that force of multiple millions, refreshed each year by thousands of draftees, and ro

© 2025 Vimarsana