Identity well leave the last couple of this hearing as the a confirmation hearing is being held for Navy Vice AdmiralCharles Richard. Will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines established for requested communications including questions for the records and hearings. I will. Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers in response to congressional requests . Yes, mr. Chairman. Will those witnesses be protected from reprisal for their testimony or briefings. They will. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify upon request before this committee. I do. And do you agree to provide documents including copies of electronic forms and communication in a timely manner when requested by a constituted committee or to consult with the Committee Regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial. I will. And lastly, have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which would appear to presume the outcome of your confirmation or the confirmation process . I have not. All right. Well, then, the Defense Strategy which is this document that we proudly been using, it is a good document. This is one that was put together by democrats and republicans. It was everyone was in agreement with it and weve been using it all throughout our defense reauthorization process and its something that it destructs o districts our nations military to return to strategic competition and thats in the Nuclear Power review. Youll be our advocate for the requirements of our Nuclear Forces. We will expect you to monitor the navy and air force programs to modernize the Nuclear Triad. We deneglected to modernize for a long period of time when we should have been doing it. And a lot of people look at the triad and see that as redundant just because its three approaches. I know that youll you will confirm your dedication to that system. As the member of the council, we also expect to keep a watchful eye on the department of energys contribution to our Nuclear Modernization goals. Stratcom will be able to Deploy Nuclear systems in the years to come. The Nuclear Posture review program was authorized and funded the requirements that were set in the department of energy completed production of all units in less than a year. This was an excellent example of the agility and the collaboration that would be required to compete with the russians and the chinese. You know, that was a great job that they were able to you folks were able to get done in the period of time. I think thats a good example for some of the other efforts that we have around here. Stratcom has been given more responsibility for modernizing Nuclear Command control and communications. Thats the nc3. This is one of the most complex engineer problems that the Department Faces at this time and i look forward to hearing your thoughts on the best way to approach it. You will also be involved in driving requirements for Missile Defense of the homeland given recent set backs in modernization of our Homeland Defense capability, im interested in your thoughts on whether we can afford to wait another decade to modernize the ground base interscepters in alaska. Lastly, despite the creation of the new Space Command stratcom will still rely on Space Systems every day. Im interested in your plan to ensure stratcom priorities like Missile Warning are still supported in space. Thank you for your willingness to serve in this capacity and look forward to serving with you. Senator reed. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I would like to join you in welcoming our nominee. Thank you for your decades of service to your nation. And i want to thank your family who is here today. I know they have served and sacrificed along with you for many, many years, except for that one delightful year in jamestown, rhode island, which was a vacation. You have an impressive record of service to our nation and i believe youre well qualified for this position. The commander of u. S. Strategic command serves as the principle military officer who advises the president on our Nuclear Deterrent. Our Nuclear Deterrent must be safe, secure and reliable. Youll be responsible for articulating the requirement and managing the readiness of our Nuclear Triad to deter threats. The ongoing modernization of our triad, we will soon begin modernization of the ground based icbm leg. The programs appear to be on track but i am deeply concerned about the potential risk of this simultaneous modernization of all three legs on the workforce and industrial base. The chances of a delay in one or more programs is high and we need a clear plan of how we will respond. Im interested in your initial thinking on this issue and we will be watching this process for closely. Strategic command is undergoing a number of organizational changes. The command has responsibility for nuclear, space and Cyber Operations, but now space and Cyber Operations have been shifted to other combat and commands. One of the consequence of these shifts is the gray areas about which command will be responsible for specific areas. For example, a Missile Warning satellites which are integral to our architecture are very important and must not be subject to any ambiguity in sustaining them. While these reorganizations are necessary, they must be made slowly and carefully to avoid costly mistakes. In the area of Missile Defense, i will be interested to hear your reviews and the steps were taking to address this threat from new technologies, particularly hyper sonic missiles. Thank you for your service and look forward to the hearing. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator reed. We would like to recognize you for an Opening Statement. Your entire statement will be made a part of the record. Youre recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Membered of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to come before you today. It is an honor to be nominated by the president to lead u. S. Strategic demand. Mr. Chairman, in particular, thank you for the opportunity to introduce my family. I would not be able to serve if it were not for them. Lisa, to my left, my wife of nearly 31 years is a former Senate Staffer and i just have to imagine shes getting a bit of a kick from viewing a hearing from a new vantage point. Also with me today are our two daughters, allison and emily. Both of our girls graduated from this summer. Our son chase recently moved to atlanta and began a new job and is not with us today. Its been a very exciting time for our family. If confirmed, this will be our tenth move in the last 12 years. And the 21st overall and said a different way, my son went to four high schools, my daughter went to three each. I very much appreciate my familys patience and support to allow me to continue to serve. My mother and fatherinlaw, my sisterinlaw and her partner are also here. I would like to thank the president , secretary of defense for nominating me and thanks to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff for expressing his confidence that i could serve as a combatant commander. If confirmed, i will work closely with this committee to address the strategic challenges that face this nation. I firmly believe that open, honest and Timely Communications will be necessary to address these challenges. With the return to great power competition, as both the chairman and Ranking Member have noted, we must never lose sight of the fundamental nature and importance of our nations strategic forces. A powerful, ready triad remains the way to deter adversaries. It backstops all u. S. Military operations and diplomacy around the globe and ensures tensions do not escalate in a largescale war. It is foundational to our survival as a nation. Our nations Nuclear Deterrent forces must be safe, secure, reliable and effective. Our adversaries began upgrading their own capabilities many years ago, decade, and it is imperative that we modernize all the elements of our triad as well as add the supplementals. We must ensure that our plans are globally integrated with the other combatantent commands. Nuclear threats are not the only threat that is we face. In both the space and cyber, we face a myriad of threats. I will work hard with the general at Space Command to ensure he can execute the responsibilities hes been assigned. I will work with Cyber Command to make sure we look at strategic threats globally and execute strategies to use all of the nations capability to deter our adversaries and if necessary defend the nation. In addition to Strategic Deterrences, the command has many other significant responsibilities. Missile defense, joint Electronic Warfare, Global Strike. I pledge my best efforts to implement the strategy in all areas of responsibility. Ill live up to the expectations of the men and women of u. S. Strategic command. Ive served there twice. It is truly a special place. I like to think of it as one of the last officers on active duty who interviewed with admiral rick, i think he . General would be quite proud of the legacy that carries on this day in omaha. Ill also live up to the standard sets by the previous commanders. Ive served for three of them. And particularly the current commander, he is a remarkable leader and responsible for my development of an admiral. It is humbling to even be considered for a position that has such an amazing legacy. If confirmed, i look forward to working with the general. Chairman, Ranking Member, members of the committee, i thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and i look forward to your questions. Thank you very much, admiral. I have a couple of things that i be sure we get out of the way early. One is a problem that you hear about it, i havent heard recently and i dont know Anyone Around here who has any real interest in any kind of of a any kind of of a no first use policy. But something thats always bothered me because it seems like no one talks about it and it always does appear and there are people out there and i would like to ask you some questions about that. I would assume that you would agree that that would limit our ability to deter an extremely dangerous nonnuclear attack, so were talking about Something Like chemical or biological, maybe a cyber attack. Would you agree with that . Senator, yes, my best military advice would be to not adopt a no firstuse policy. And i appreciate that. But i want to mention a couple other things about that. Because i want to get that into the record. And that would be our allies. Wouldnt our allies be concerned as to whether or not wed have the capability and the desire to do the things that were doing for our allies if we had such a policy . Senator, yes, i think adoption of a no first use policy would have a significant negative effect on our commitments to our allies. And so i think you have pretty strong the other things they talk about is the dealerting. The idea of responding is to respond quickly and you dont have the luxury of time. To deliberately dealert, i would assume you would agree with thats something that we should not be concerned about or should be concerned about if someone starts bringing this up. Again, i would not recommendation that. Okay. I would diminish one of the Key Attributes that the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system lags and it would be destabilizing probably when we need it the least. I appreciate that. In my Opening Statement i mentioned that we recently canceled a program for modernization of ground base interce intercepters in alaska and im sure your senator from alaska is going to be bringing this up. According to the initial plans, the proposed replacement program, the next gen intercepter would not be fielded until 2030. What are we going to be doing between now and 2030 in that field . What capabilities do we have even though we have been a little disappointed in whats happening in alaska . The capabilities that we have fielded today are quite effective against the threats that we face today. General dickinson recently discussed his confidence and i share that confidence in the system today to defend us. Any delay is of concern. I have great confidence that the Missile Defense agency and the services will be able to work through the challenges represented and be able to pace the threat. Im sure thats right. And lastly, do you i mentioned in my Opening Statement this document, im very impressed with. And do you support the recommendations of the Nuclear Posture review as well as the recommendations in this document . Including the lowyield submarine launch missile. I do. I think theyre both well written documents. Thank you very much, chairman. Admiral, thank you for your service and your dedication. Our Nuclear Posture is in the context also of decades and decades of arms control agreements, the most significant one is the new start agreement which will expire in 2021. There is the option to renew it for five years. It caps the number of Strategic Missiles to 800, were not in a race to produce more and more missiles and warheads at 1,550. Do you think theres a significant value in maintaining this agreement in place . Senator, i support any arms control agreement that enhances the security of this nation and there are many historically examples that go to that. Youre quite correct. The new start treaty has provided us with valuable insight into russia, it gives us a feel for their size capacity capability, but it doesnt address large categories of weapons that are not treaty con trained. It is with russia. I would provide my best military advice if confirmed to the pros and cons of any future agreement including this one. There is a possibility, were hearing disappointing comments that president erdogan wants nuclear capabilities. Hes not i think alone in that. If the new start agreement is dispensed with, we will find ourselves for the First Time Since the 1970s, i believe, where we dont have an arms control regime in place at all which could give rise to people like erdogan thinking they have a free ride. Is that a concern you have . Senator, any effort at proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is of concern, and so i would support any efforts to maximum this nations longstanding goal of minimizing proliferation of weapons. Thank you very much. One of the key initiatives in 2018 was reorganization Nuclear Command control and communications. And Strategic Command is now in the process of standing up a new nc3 center. Could you give us a know of what the key issues you see in this process. Senator, one, i applaud this committees leadership and the departments actions to stand up the nc3 center and i think the general by bringing this under a single responsible commander providing visability with the focus on the acquisition and sustainment pieces of this, i think we are on a good trajectory to understand the system we have today which is very reliable and ready to go. Understand the threats that the system will face in the future and recapitalize and redesign the system and so im very pleased with the direction that were headed in that. I think the number one issue between or the two issues one sufficient intellectual capital to achieve the same results that predecessors do and adequate resourcesing. Its the number one thing under our control to ensure were able to do that. The point about the intellectual resources, we discussed this in the office, but in the good old days, it was more of a governmentled, government think tank, government approach and now a lot of particularly cyber and sophisticated Computer Technology and intellectual property is outside and thats something youre going to have to bring under the tent, if you will. I think you concur. I agree. Just a quick question here less of a question because my time is expiring. I did indicate concerns about the potential for delay in our triad modernization. This is the first time we try to do everything at once. We already seen the submarine fields, theyre the leadoff hitter, if you will. Problems with nuclear tube and is welding and this goes to the issue of the industrial base. I know youll do this, but you have to be very, very diligent and vigilant watching the nuclear base, both the submarines, air, and icbms and hopefully youll keep us informed of any trends, any unfortunate trends you see developing. Senator, i absolutely agree. Thank you very much. Senator fisher. Thank you, mr. Chairman. You touched on this with senator inhott, but i would like a clearer answer. Do you believe these enhancements are truly necessary if we are going to maintain deterrence . Senator, i absolutely do. I think the Nuclear Posture review got it right. These supplementals add to the flexibility and capability in the triad and thats whats necessary to deter the threats we face today. Thank you. Your predecessors have strongly recommended against any unilateral reductions in our Nuclear Forces. You talked about that somewhat with senator r