general hyten, threats to the united states and our allies have increased significantly in recent years. we confront national security challenges not just in every region of the world, but threats in every domain including nuclear, cyber and space. this new strategic challenge has a major implications for stratcom. many leading scholars and strategists have warned for years that we have entered a, quote, second nuclear age. this is not something the united states has chosen and, indeed, there are still those that deride nuclear weapons as relics of the cold war only to be discussed in the context of reducing and eventually eliminating them. but the reality is that from the middle east and southeast asia to europe and east asia, there are nations that increasingly believe nuclear weapons are essential to their survival. n others are enhancing the role of nuclear weapons in their

military doctrine and actively considering their use on the battlefield. pakistan is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal and reportedly developing new tactical nuclear weapons. not to be outdone, india continues to modernize its nuclear triad. even under the best of circumstances, the iran nuclear deal gives iran a free hand to develop nuclear weapons in a decade. north korea's fifth nuclear test earlier this month is the latest reminder that it's corpulent boy dictator remains intent on developing the capability to strike our homeland with nuclear weapons. and then there's china which continues to modernize its nuclear forces while placing a new emphasis on mobile missiles and submarines. perhaps the most pressing challenge you would face, if confirmed, general hyten, is russia. russia's aggression in ukraine and destabilizing actions in

syria take place under a nuclear shadow. russia is threatening our nato allies with nuclear strikes, modernizing its strategic nuclear forces, developing a nuclear ground launch cruise missile capable of ranging most of europe and has fired air and sea launch cruise missiles against targets in syria, missiles that could be armed with nuclear warheads and flown against european and u.s. targets. we have to face the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. that's why no matter what president obama may have hoped for when he came to office, the united states cannot seek to reduce the role of nuclear weapons on our national security strategy. providing a modern, credible deterrent is more vital than ever, but strategic command faces significant near and long-term challenges to that goal. in the next two decades, u.s.

nuclear sub a marines, i -- submarines, icbms, air launch cruise missiles, heavy bombers and nuclear-capable tactical fighters will have to be withdrawn from operational service having been extended well beyond their original service lives. be modernization programs are in place to replace these systems, but there's no slack left in the in and a considerable -- schedule and a considerable bill to pay. according to official figures, the department of defense plans to devote about $234 billion over the next ten years to operate and modernize ourne nuclear forces. this amounts to just 3-4% of the entire budget each year, but any investment of this size must be subject to the most rigorous oversight from this committee. today's congress supports the modernization of the u.s. nuclear deterrent, but i'm concerned that future reductions in funding could delay or harm

the development of these replacement systems, increasingn strategic risk at a time when russia and other countries continue to modernize their nuclear capabilities. just as the nuclear threat continues to change, so too have threats in space. indeed, america's superiority in space is increasingly at risk. as the director of national intelligence told the committee earlier this year, quote: threats to our use of military, civil and commercial space systems will increase in the next few years as russia and china progress in developing counter-space weapon systems to deny, degrade or disrupt u.s. space systems. director clapper stated that russia and china seek to exploit our dependence on space to achieve an asymmetric effect. they're investing significant resources in developing a full range of capabilities includingy

anti-satellite missiles, co-orbital weapons jamming and cyber capabilities. fortunately, in recent years the defense department experienced a, quote, counter-space awakening. after years of prodding from this committee to enhance its focus, i'm pleased with the department's efforts to respond to russian and chinese threats in space. one of your top priorities, general hyten, would be to put strategic command on a war footing for space because if our adversaries choose to extend war into space, we must be capable be of defending ourselves there finally, beyond space and nuclear forces the thirdf component of strategic command at present is cyber. this committee has been extremely focused on the whole complicated issue of scheiber, and i think -- of cyber, and i think many of us agree with your assessment from your advance policy questions, general hyten,

that the growing importance of cyber warrants the elevation of u.s. cyber command to a unified combatant command. we would be interested in your views on timing and the a importance of continued coordination between a future unified cyber command and strategic command. i congratulate you once again oa your nomination. senator reed. a >> well, thank you very much, mr. chairman. i want to join you in welcoming general hyten. thank you very much, general, for your extraordinary servicece to the nation. shortly, you'll introduce your family. they're a big part, so i would like to welcome lori, and i knoi your brother scott wanted to be here, so pass on my regards to scott. they have sacrificed and supported you throughout your career, and we all appreciate that. general hyten, i you have an impressive record of service to our nation and are well qualified for this nomination.pp a commander of u.s. strategic command serves as a principal military officer who officer vises the president, secretary of defense and the chairman of

the joint chiefs of staff on our nuclear dealternative, space --p deterrent and missile requirements. on the as is often said, our nuclear deterrent must be safe, secure and effective. there is one additional faceten that you must be ready to insure, and that is it must be ready.e. you will be responsible for managing the readiness of our nuclear triad and command and control protocols. once confirmed, i'll want to hear your thoughts on this issue in much more detail. strategic command also deploys our space assets and mitigates threats to them, giving your background, general hyten, you are superbly qualified for this task. .. but there are other areas you have to lead including missile defense, electronic warfare, cyber warfare, isr and long

disstance strike. integrate the capability systems supporting these complicated missions so they mutually reinforce each other and define and fix gaps that exist between them. i look forward to hearing your views and working with you in the future. i must apologize, there's a banking committee hearing going on in a few moments. my departure will be simply to go there, nothing else. thank you. >> general hyten, we have to ask standard questions of all military nominees. if you would just respond, i will go through this rather quickly. in order to exercise the legislative and oversight responsibilities, it is important that this committee and other appropriate committees of congress are able to receive testimon we have laws and regulationsin governing conflicts.ations >> i have sir. does anyone ask of your personal

views or anyone in power. >> i do sir. >> you have any actions with would presume to impact thehi outcome of the process. >> no, sir back to you ensure the staff applies to deadlines including questions for the records and hearings. >> yes or. >> will you cooperate in providing witnesses and prefers congressional request? >> yes or. >> will those be protected for their briefings? >> yes, sir. >> you agree they confirm upon this committee. do you agree to provide documents including copies of electronic forms of to medication and a timely manner when requested by a duly constituted committee or to consult with the committee about good faith delay? thank you general, welcome.

>> thank you, sir. distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to come before you today. it really is an honor to be nominated by the president to lead strategic command. >> mr. chairman, thank you most for allowing me the opportunity to introduce my family. my family is truly special to me they are, as senator reid reede said, the reason i am hurt here. starting with the significant of them all, over behind me, my partner in life, my wife at 29 years. not only is she beautiful but she is the most was amazing person i know. and

the soldiers, sailors in the marines of strategic command will be very lucky as will the people of omaha and the surrounding communities becausee of laura. it's by the deployments in the separations in spite of the challenges of military life, we, mostly she, also managed to raise two incredible children who are with us here today. first our daughter katie who flew down from boston late last night. she is a graduate of pepperdine university magna cum laude and graduated from fletcher and works for a non- profit firm in cambridge in mediation. >> at least she didn't go to harvard. i tried, but she did not like the west coast and never wanted to go to boston. >> she's smarter than her father. >> yes, sir, there's no doubt about that.rt i've been in trouble a long time

>> they flew in early this morning. she studied physics and math and also an all-american and golf. he is currently living his dream as a golf professional in colorado. he does live a dream life, there's no doubt about it. each of them have grown into fine citizens and their mother and i are proud of them. one minor disappointment, my little brother scott from hometown of huntsville alabama, he had hoped to be here but he was delayed in route. he wanted to represent all of our family and friends, especially, especially the family and friends we have in alabama. specifically my parents, still living in huntsville, my sister catherine who now lives in scottsdale arizona, my parents and my sister could not travel today but i know there watching along with laura's mom andnd family in california. thank you mr. chairman, thank you to the committee for allowing me to introduce these very special people.

>> thank you. now onto the business of the day first of all, i need to thinksp the president and the secretary of defense for nominating me fo, this position. also want to thank the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff for expressing confidence in my serving as commander. if confirmed i look forward to working closely with this committee and the congress to address the strategy check challenges that face our nation. i truly believe the significant problems that we face can only be worked through open, honest and timely communications and you can expect that from me. first and foremost, in today's complex volatile security environment, we must never lose sight of the fundamentalrategic advantage that are strategic forces provide. our nation's nuclear deterrence force must always remain safe, secure, effective, ready and reliable. as our potential adversariesin update their own capabilities, we must update mris the nuclear

triad and also ensure our plans are fully integrated with the other combatant commands. we also face significant challenges in space and cyberspace. in space, threats continue to grow as senator mccain described as potential adversaries attempt to counter what has become a critical advantage for our nation and our allies. we must not only be ready to respond but we must move to build a more resilient national security space enterprise.on in cyberspace, intensive and extensive cooperation across the whole of government and with our allies, partners and friends as required us to prepare for, defend against and respond to cyber attacks. it's also essentially work to fully integrate cyber with the other commands as well. strategic command has many other significant global responsible these responsibility spread missile defense, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance, warfare to name a few and have confirmed my quest to focus my best efforts for a positive outcome working in sync with the entire force that can providesi.

the nation comprehensive strategic deterrence and control options from a multi- functional domain and interest. throughout a career that's well beyond anything i ever expecteda i have gained invaluable operational experience that aligns with the many diverse missions. i have knowledge in many of those missions, lesser knowledge in a few but i promise if confirmed to learn and understand and to lead every day to the best of my abilities. if confirmed i also hope to live up to the expectations of the men and women of the strategic command as well as leaders who came before me, in particular my current boss. he has been a truly remarkable m leader and commander. he has been a great boss and taught me a lot and it's very important to me that i publicly thank him for what he has done. it's quite humbling to be considered for a position with such an amazing legacy in history. mr. chairman, let me close my remarks with a quote from a

great american who reminds me frequently of what is really important. that would be our son christopher. a few years ago he said, and he said it loud enough for a lot of people to hear, dad, i've been been watching you ever since you made general and i've noticed, you don't do any real work anymore. you just have people. you know i have to be honest, it upset me quite a bit when he. said it because i feel like i have a pretty difficult job, i work pretty hard, i have to deal with some really difficult decisions in today's crazy world but the more i thought about it, the truer it is. the real work is done by our people. the sons and daughters of this great nation. the soldiers, sailors and marines that stand watch everyt. night.er the amazing warriors that the point i in harm's way every day. they are the true heroes. if confirmed i will simply be lucky enough to have the opportunity to lead, serve and work with them a little bit longer. mr. chairman, senator reid,

members of the committee, thank you again, i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much general. yesterday you and i had in a a classified setting, conversation that i've been thinking about ever since and i know there are a lot of things you can't say in an open hearing, but is it correct to assume that our adversaries, specifically the russians but also the chinese are attempting to or have achieved an ability to cripple our operations in space. >> i believe they are building those capabilities today. we have an amazing space in both the chinese and the russians ini particular have been watchingemy those capabilities be employed on the battlefield for the past 20 years and in response to that, they are building counterspace capabilities that the lanai is those capabilitiesg and conflict. >> so they are developing

capabilities specifically designed to cripple our capabilities in space. >> yes, sir, they are. >> that's the thing the united states of america is doing. >> we are not going down that path. >> so again, i understand this is an open hearing, but shouldn't we be really concerned about, especially in in the last few years the increasing capabilities that both russia and china have displayed, have demonstrated that if used in a certain way, could literally cripple a lot of activities in space. i am very aware there is certain sensitivity to some of your answers, but i'm not sure that the american people and even members of this committee are aware as they should be of this

emerging challenge. >> this emerging challenge, i believe as you said in your opening statement, in the last few years the united states and the department of defense has aggressively moved out to develop responses to the threats that we see coming from china and russia. i believe it's essential that we go faster in our responses. we have worked with the national reconnaissance office and all of our joint space forces and develop what we call a space enterprise vision that looks out at the future and said this is the kind of capability we need to operate in a world work where conflict extends into space. i think it's a good vision, the vision will always change, we will we will continue to share that information with your to committee and we will continue to work with the congress to make sure that we can build those capabilities that we need to respond.nd >> well, i'm not one who enjoys these classified briefings, but i'm seriously considering when

we come back, having a classified briefing in our committee because the information is deeply disturbing be , i have said that in some modesty, i keep up with what's going on in the world, but i was not aware of the significance in the depth of the challenge until our conversatiod yesterday. do you think we have a cohesive strategy to counter this challenge or do we need to do a lot more? >> senator, i think we have a cohesive strategy, what that end state looks like for the united states that will allow us tot continue as we came today in any domain as well as space, i do have some concerns of our ability to move fast enough to build those capabilities that wh

need to respond to the specific threats i shared with you yesterday. >> in other words, what they are developing in a relatively short. of time, months and a few years is now taking us immeasurably a longer time. >> we are moving much slower in certain areas than our adversaries. we need our industry and our acquisition process to move faster. >> the russians modernized each leg of theirs pacific triad by 2017, their nuclear forces will be replaced with new systems, russians violated the inf treaty by developing nuclear ground launch cruise missile and expanded their deployment that are not limited by the new start treaty in which they can target the u.s. with their invasion of crimea, they threaten our allies with nuclear attacks while

exercising their nuclear forces in the allied territory and are developing it underwater nuclear drone designed to cause maximum damage to the united states coastal targets, this suggests the role of nuclear weapon in their national security strategy and what should the u.s. do in response? >> senator, i think there arere two elements in response to that question. the first is, if you look at what russia has been doing over the last number of years, in think it's in direct response tv what we have been doing as aect nation over the past 20 years. they are modernizing the capabilities they see, they have watched the amazing conventional force that we have developed that can significantly dominate any battlefield on the world today and i believe that there concerned about their ability to respond in a conventional arenaa

therefore i think it's logical from their perspective to make sure they continue to modernize all of their forces including their nuclear forces in all areas. i think the second piece of theo question is they are also watching the power of our alliances.ce the power of our partnershipss and they are challenging the status quo across europe and arimea and a number of areas, pushing and creating tension within our partnerships and alliances which is another significant advantage to the united states.advantag >> i think you general. >> thank you. thank you very much mr. chairman. i would like to ask, just a very few questions, maybe one before i must leave, general, it seems the command is responsible for synchronizing our electronic war where fair efforts. years ago those were jamming

radar and now cyber is a big part of this domain. can you give us your thoughts on the interaction between electronic warfare, the traditional as i suggest and cyber and also the role of cyber command? >> just your thoughts. >> yes, sir, i looked at the, problem in the following construct. i see cyber as a domain. cyber is a place where we conduct missions. as a one of those missions we conduct in the cyber domain is electronic warfare. tronic warfare is basically trying to control the electro magnetic spectrum to your advantage. we have some significant capabilities in the electric magnetic spectrum but those capabilities have also had less focus than they probably should have over the past number of years. i look at it in my own service where the electronic where fair

missions in the u.s. air force have not had as significant of t priority as many of the other areas as we have gone over the past 15 years of conflict and i've confirmed the matter and i can pledge to you that i will continue to look across the entire department of defense all areas to make sure we understand electro magnetic warfare, the role in space and how we control that. >> thank you very much.. i look forward to working with you i apologize for my time. >> if i might take a minute of your time, north korea, are they developing capability to strike the united states of america?e >> from my perspective, i believe they are developing that capability and i think their leader has made it clear that the development. in the news this morning, there was new a test of a large rocket engine that he said would be

capable to going to the geosynchronous orbit in space.e. space.e. if it has that ability, it can reach the united states. the very concerned about that but i haven't seen the intelligence report. i'm just commenting on what i saw on the news. >> general, i think there's going to be a lot of redundancy in the questions that you will>> be asked. we have had people come and testify as to the fact that we are not keeping up where we should, we are not advancing far enough ahead and it talked about what we are looking at with admiral haney testifying before this committee.admi they talked about how were not meeting the critical investment timelines to ensure that our aging platforms and weapons can maintain their superiority. we heard from the admiral lastn

year before the house committee when he talked about any remaining margin we have has been whittled away. we hear this, all the time and then we have our nonpublic meetings, we hear a lot worse things.me the chairman referred to that. i just look at this and i know that we are concerned we talk about china and russia, but i personally get more concerned as north korea and iran. these people, they want to kill everybody in this room. in the case of north korea, it's run by a guy who's mentally deranged and this is really scary. you are getting into the toughest job in the united states of america right now. >> i'm very much concerned about it and we know that russia and china are actively modernizing s their nuclear weapons and

delivery system and north korea continues to develop its land and they connected their fifth test just weeks ago on the ninth of september. i think it would probably be a good thing for you to give us as much of a detailed assessment in this setting as you can on nortt korea and iran. >> the way i look at the threats across the world, i think russia is the most dangerous threat, china is a close second but the most likely threats in the most concerning our north korea and iran because north korea is very unpredictable. it is hard to tell exactly what

they're going to do. i do want to caveat the unpredictability in north korea little bit. if you look at what they're doing with their missile programs as well as the nuclear testing program and you compared to where we are today, it looks very beginning. but if you look at it when you think back to where we were when we start applying missiles and building capabilities, we had failure after failure. we ended up getting there. what concerns me most is that they will get their. they're going to get there. once they have those capabilities, what are they going to do with them? that is my biggest concern and that will be at the top of my list to figure out how we best respond to that threat. >> i'm glad that is your biggest concern because it is mine too. back when this administration first went in, i was critical and they cut the budget by. $1.4 billion then delayed, later

terminated the missile defense y site and i can remember being over there and talking to the president of the czech republic whom i have a lot of respect for and he made the statement to me, he said, if we do what were talking about doing in poland and the czech republic, it will enrage the russians so were taking a risk. are you sure you're not pulling the rug out from under us if we start and obviously we pulled the rug out from under them. i talked to a lot of people in private who have talked about that that wasn't a good idea and i'm not can bring that up now. i'm just saying i didn't like the way we were headed back there at the beginning of this administration and we went from 44 of the sites from last down to 30 and i think now, are wea

going back up now? we probably started.d. was that unnecessary drop? i think it was. i just would say that it's a tough job that you've got. i'm very much concerned about it and i'm hoping that we will have an opportunity, members members of this committee and other members who really care in the united states senate to hear from you so we know exactly where we are. the chairman mentioned that and i would like to re-emphasize the importance that that be shared with all of us be a senator, ian will just say that if the chairman asks, if any of the senators ask, you will have my top attention and you will have a rapid response in my honest opinion all the time. >> thank you.

>> yes or.lations >> general heighten, first off, congratulations on your nomination. it's an incredibly important post and i want to thank you for your continued service and your thoughtfulness your thoughtfulness in your answers to our questions. i'm going to start with the nuclear deterrent and obviouslys last year dod spent 15.4 billion on billion on nuclear weapons modernization, at the same tim t the nsa spent about eight and half billion to service and support our nuclear labs. in total that's roughly 24 billion or 4% of the defense budget. another way of looking at thatat is we invest about 4 cents out of every defense dollar in our nuclear deterrent which is effectively served us as an insurance policy and prevented another world war for over 70 years. i want to just get your perspective on how you attend to pursue the intended g modernization of that infrastructure and ask, in your

opinion, what, what will be your biggest challenge is to maintais that stockpile as safe, secure and reliable, as well as ready as senator reid mentioned.or >> i think it's essential that we always maintain a fully ready nuclear deterrent capability. there should be no doubt that the nation needs that as the backstop for everything we do is military. if i'm confirmed, one of of the duties that i would have as as commander as a member of the nuclear weapon council, chaired by the undersecretary of defense for technology and let logisticf the nsa is also on that committee as well as the vice-chairman, under secretary for policy. through that committee we will look at the nuclear weapon stockpile and make sure that it is always safe, secure and reliable. in the last year, i have gotten to visit three big national labs

and they go there for space reasons in my current position, but when i'm there, because i'm curious intellectually, i ask about the nuclear stockpile and explain how they are certifying the nuclear stockpile every year. if i'm confirmed, it will becomi much more important to me.er. sort of a related question, obviously a number of the members have brought up how much the nuclear landscape has changed in recent years. in the proliferation we have seen over the course of the last several decades, has that that nuclear landscape changes, how should that generally inform or potentially change our nuclear posture in the world? >> i think it's important that as we look at the international situation concerning nuclear weapons that we don't get too focused on just the strategic nuclear weapons. we need to take a hard look at

the tactical nuclear weapons, in think the chairman mentioned the tech to call nuclear weapons in his comments and we need to look at it as a total because i thint a nuclear weapon is significant. it doesn't matter how it's nucle employed, tactical, nonstrategic, strategic, that is a significant event in the history of the world and we should look at them together. >> thank you. >> in your written response to the committee, you state that the operational response space program has been a successful responder and encoding you we must infuse us across our entire enterprise and the broader space industry. i agree with that estimation, i would love to ask you to expand a little bit on how you would pursue that goal and four

capabilities for the small launch market, how would you intend to leverage those kind op services to enhance the dod access to space as well? >> in many ways it goes back to the chairman's comment, his opening statement in my response about the need to go fast. the need to go fast is so important in today's world and many of our traditional processes are very slow. in many ways, i don't like the name operationally responsive d because i think we arete responsive and everything we do, but the thing about operational spaces that it goes fast, it goes much faster than other processes. those of the the processes we need to transition into the broader space community.e need then if you look at the commercial sector, the commercial sector has been on the verge of something special for a long time. i think they are about there. both on the launch side as well as the satellite site.

i think in the not-too-distant future we will have ubiquitous communications, ubiquitous imagery, if that is the case and that's in the commercial side, we as a nation need to take advantage of that. most important thing that. most important thing for us in many cases is persistence. we may be able to achieve a lot of that persistence, even though we don't get as high as resolution from those capabilities. >> thank you. i couldn't agree more. i look forward to working with you on that because i think that really encapsulates much of what we have to do now terms of reacting quickly. the last issue i'll bring up quickly is trusted supply ofssue strategic microelectronics. obviously nsa requires a trusted supply of strategic radiation, microsystems for our nuclear stockpiles produced this last year. our military weapons systems and platforms however do not have a trusted supply of microelectronics for the future

and i know this is an issue that the secretary is aware of, what are your thoughts on maintaining a trusted microsystems capability in government to meet the specific requirements ofr both the military and the nation's nuclear stockpile and do you see opportunities there to partner with the private sector to achieve that goal? >> i think anytime you're talking about supplies, you you have to be partnered with the private sector. they are going to generate the supply one way or another. i am concerned about the depth of our industry in terms of how many suppliers we have, how are they certified, how are the parts controlled, we have very significant concerns in space. as a commander of strategic command, i will be a demandingng customer for things that support strategic command, if i'm confirmed to make sure that we continue to look at that problem across the board because i agree, that is a concern we need to monitor.boree, >> thank you.

>> it's nice to see you and your family here today. i appreciate the visit that we had in my office earlier last week and your candor and the information that you have provided. in 2011 the president committedd to modernize the triad of strategic nuclear delivery systems including the air launch cruise missile and to its credit in recent years, the department is generally proposed budgets supporting nuclear modernization and senior leaders, such as the secretary have referred to that deterrent as the bedrock of our national security. i believe that has directly stressed the importance that we follow through with these plans. do you agree? we must modernize all three legs of the triad including the air launch cruise missile or do you think these plans should need to be reconsidered? >> i agree we two modernize all three elements of the nuclear triad.er

i can't state my support any stronger. i will continue, if i'm confirmed to state that in all forms. >> thank you. >> some observers have argued that a penetrating armor armed with nuclear gravity bombs obviates the need for a standup weapon such as a cruise missile. do you think those weapon systems are duplicative mark. w >> if i'm confirmed i will look. into a lot more depth but for my 35 years in the military, i believe you need the flexibility that an air launch cruise missile can provide you. there's always a challenge to obama. it doesn't matter how stealthy that bomber is, it doesn't doesn't matter how capable that palmer is, i believe a long-range strike option, and advance cruise missile gives the president of the united states flexibility that is essential as

part of the triad. i would recommend strongly that we pursue that option. >> when we were in my office, i told you that when i was visiting with the general, a previous previous commander that he gave such a really great definition and explanation of why we need a triad and the importance of each leg of that triad. you have just touched on that. would you like to expand on it? >> after, after we talked, i contacted the general saying senator fisher said you had something really at about the triad. >> did he remember? >> he said, i'm sure it was brilliant but i don't remember what it was. >> he did send me a couple of speeches and basically the fundamental piece of his words,

i think that are very powerful is that each element provides such a significant different attribute that is so important to the security of our nation and the triad or the bombers of the most flexible. the submarines are the most survivable in the icbm are the most ready and responsive. each of those is essential to the security of our nation. that's by the triad is so important. >> thank you. >> admiral haney testifiedri earlier this year that the 2017 budget supported his mission requirements but he also said,is there is no margin to absorb risk. b you agree with that assessment? >> i agree with that assessment on the air force side, certainlt senator but let me just say that i'm not as fully versed on the navy programs as i am on the ais force programs. as a four-star general i sit in the corporate process i'm very

concerned about the modernization program on the air force side. i talked with the navy leadership and i've talked to many people in the business thed last week and they're all concerned on the navy side as well. >> thank you. >> your predecessor and other senior commanders have also stated that further reduction in our nuclear forces should come only as a result of bilateral negotiated and verifiable agreements. you agree with that position? >> yes, ma'am. >> can you discuss the relationship between modernization and nuclear reductions, it seems to me that the more modern and responsive our nuclear enterprise is, the less need there would be to retain those legacy systems but yet on the other hand, failure to modernize could give us no other option than that we retain significant stockpiles.

what is your view on that? >> i think there has been five terms that various senators including the chairman have talked about today and that is safe, secure, effective, ready and reliable. if you look at those five terms that describes what we have to do in order to modernize our capabilities to make sure those five terms are always there. what you can't have is one element drop off.il you can't have the weaponsready. readiness drop-off, the weapons have to be ready, the delivery platforms have to be ready, they had to be safe and secure all the way. i think the united states in any nation that has nuclear weapons is responsible for making sure they're all safe and secure and they are always under political control.lies to i think that applies to any nation and that's one of the reasons we need to modernize so we can make sure this is always the case. >> thank you. thank you for your service and your willingness to continue too serve in a very important position as commander of strack

come. >> thank you thank thank you, mr. chairman and thank you for being here and for your long and distinguished service along with your family. i am here as a father of two sons who also went to harvard and also become military officers. neither in the air force and one is out and one is still in the military. it's a rather unusual career an choice for harvard graduates, is know, no, and i congratulate yo on making your choice and serving our country with such dedication and ability, so thank you. i want to ask about one of the legs of the nuclear triad deal. you have mentioned very correctly the survivability of our submarine force and the means of delivering and defending our nation, delivering

a profoundly important term. let me ask you, are are you committed and will you commit to fully supporting the ojai replacement program. >> yes, sir, i will. >> will you commit to being anl advocate of it because i think it will take advocates in a timo of increasingly threatened physical resources and an expensive commitment that is necessary. >> i will advocate for all of the elements of the triad, all three. >> and maybe you can describe for americans why this replacement program is so important to our nuclear defense >> well again, for my background, i'm not as deeply versed in the navy's as the airr force, nonetheless i have looked at that recently to some levelke and i will share my thoughts with you.ly my concern is, we will reach a

point where the navy submarines cannot. [inaudible]ime the time we reach that point, it is essential we have a new summering to replace it.re >> thank you. >> i want to shift to the cyber security which is related to our capabilities in space, is it not? >> yes.berwar h i think it reflects a growing sense that one of the great challenges, if not the biggest in the immediate future are increasing confrontation withh

other powers and the russians in recent hacking over theirss favorability in cyber and their apparent willingness to use them against us. do you have any thoughts aboutes how we can work to improve our response to a cyber attack being coordinated with reactions from our entire government. how can it work with the department of defense to shore e up our security system both in space and herego i might add that the chairmanho and i recently, in the hearing recently confronted a number of our security leaders, admiral rogers among them with this kind of question and frankly, i was

somewhat worried about the ability of this country to respond. >> so that question is best discussed on the classified forum, but i will share my top-level thoughts with you. from a big picture perspective if you look at space in cyber, in my current job we have space in cyber in the same command of the united states air force.rma, a lot of the text we create are exactly the same, it's to provide information, pathways for information, demo night adversaries information and that's what we do in space and that's what we do in cyber. the differences the cost of entry into cyberspace is veryy low.

that's the attractiveness for potential adversaries because the cost of access is very low. to respond to it, you hit the most important thing, it has to be a whole government response all the way through. from a military perspective, i would like to get to the point in cyber space where we treated just as a domain where we conduct operations. we tend to contaminate that plreussion with a lot of legal implications which are extremely important that usually are worked through the fbi, the department of homeland security, a number of elements. that's why that's why it has to be a whole government response. from a military's perspective, i think it's essential that we look at cyberspace as a place ay where bad actors are and we need to identify them and if they are threatening the united states we need to eliminate that actor from cyberspace. it's the same as any other domain. it's going to be a very complicated process because it is important, as american citizens, my privacy is just asc important toe me as every other citizen. nonetheless, we have to figure out how to treat cyberspace as an operational domain. i think think you are right to be worried because in many cases we are not fully embracing the military aspects of it.ases

>> thank you very much and thank you for your service. i welcome that answer i would like to pursue it in another setting in my time has expired.. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you mr. chair, the general welcomes, in your>> opening comments you quoted your son who i think you saidated wit graduated with a degree in physics. my son graduated with a degree in physics and set almost the exact same thing about me.csac i just have people now. i welcome you and congratulate bein family on being here today. i've got maybe some ground-level questions to ask. one is on the current status of the ocx project. it's about five years, looks like it's 61 months or five61 years or so past due. can you talk a little bit about your position on the significance importance of that project. >> i was quoted in the press senator of calling that program

a disaster. i think any program that's five years late and a billion dollars over budget meets the definition of disaster. it's horrible. it's embarrassing to me that we find ourselves in that kind of position in today's day and age pretty we should not have to an a program, but we do. the concern i have is the legacy program we have right now has t significant information vulnerabilities. basically we are plugging those holes as fast as we can't and the best way to do that is with people. you are talking about people are our most valuable resource and we have to divert a lot ofof people to secure that critical capability for the united states and the world.i've t the ocx program would fix those problems and so, i have told the under secretary of defense for our position in technology and logistics that if he thinks the

program will succeed i will support it because we need the capability desperately. if he thinks it will fail, i will support the termination of that program. it is up to him. right now he believes the program will succeed and they are doing three-month deep dives into the program to make sure but we're gonna watch it closely all the way through. >> i think the people involved, to the extent that the people were involved in what is now a billion-dollar over run and five year delay, we need to make sure we have other sets of eyes looking at that to make sure the decision to move forward or cancel the project is one that has independent objective input. >> i have all wa question about then current arsenal. this discussion came up last year. we have some weapons that are reaching a point where they wouldn't be used and they need to be decommissioned. to there are others that if we decommission them, some think we would be unilaterally disarming. could you talk talk about that l and where you are on it? >> i'm not as deeply versed in that area.

i can guarantee if i'm confirmed i will get into that in a significant depth, but looking at a number of of the capabilities that we have, we have issues on the weapons delivery platforms, whether i that's the submarine we were just talking about, whether it's the bomber, whether it's the long-range strake capability with the new cruise missile, we have issues with our nuclear weapons that we have to continue to look at and figuring out how to modernize. if i'm confirmed i will workniso closely with the national labs and security administration to make sure we watch those capabilities closely. then we have some concerns in our nuclear command and control capabilities as well. i think we need to watch closely those capabilities and make sure we modernize those capabilitiesb along with the rest of the enterprise. >> thank you, i have a question about unity of command. i think you land more toward a unity of effort.

i would like to have you talk a little bit about why you do that in a context of maybe something along the lines of one of our satellites gets damaged by nava siri. who is in charge and reacting to that threat? that would be one part of the context i would like you to answer the question for the other one, i think you were part of a. [inaudible] i would be curious to see if there were any challenges exposed concerning that coordination in command in the context of unity of effort versus unity of command.d. >> so senator, i am probably one of the biggest believers of unity of command in the world. when we started down this project, i have to admit i was a very vocal opponent to the unity of effort construct. i honestly didn't think it would work. but, we all have a process, will

have bosses and we decided we would pursue the unity of effort construct in real experimentation with the intelligence community and see if it would work and to my surprise it actually did work. it worked effectively because the director made sure that if we had to make a decision quickly that decision process would work very effectively through an operational center and the strategic command. we ended up in a very good place, i have to admit i was little surprised as we wento through that. >> thank you. >> thank you mr. chairman, i would like to put a finer point on your son chris's observation. i worked here 40 years ago as a staff member and was once calle. upon to set up a hearing and called the opposite management s and budget for hearing and they

said they will send you the you deputy undersecretary and i said i don't really understand these titles and can you tell me who this guy is in his answer, if i ever write a book about eight t washington was the title of the book which is the highest level where they actually know anything. i think you and i are at that level.t's this has really been a hugely successful theoretical construct but the problem is, it seems to me, in the modern day, it rests upon a premise of rationality on both sides. does deterrence, the theory of deterrence work against a madman, or suicidal fanatic? fanatic? do we need to be thinking about deterrence two-point oh becaused

of that potential lack of rationality on the other side that one be concerned about the destruction of their country or perhaps they are possessing nuclear weapons and don't have t country to destroy. >> i think we need to look at it deterrence two-point oh, three-point oh, four-point oh. i think it's fundamentally is different than it was in the 20th century. i think deterrence in the 21st century involves all types of deterrence. it involves conventional forces and cyber and military in offense and defense on the strategic side of the house.c se and you have to look at the defensive capabilities if you're talking about responding and its becomes an essential element of our posture. >> we also have to think about who we are deterring and what works, what would be, againeter deterrence is an idea that mutually assured destruction but you have to tailor it to the other side. a

>> and you do.y or i think if you look at north korea, for example, the unpredictability is the hardest thing to deter. how do you deter somebody or something that is unpredictable. it's very difficult. that's why you have to have a defensive mechanism that will assure that if they wanted to attack the united states it will fail and then leave with all the response options with the rest of the capabilities we have. >> they have to know that. >> they have to know that so we have to make sure that is readily transparent to all the world and all our adversaries. >> and we have the means of the will to defend ourselves and respond if we need to. to defeno : be. >> a few months ago, a froup of us went on the national airborne operations center and the thing that struck me as we went through a nuclear attack scenario simulation was that in that situation, a, there's a very limited amount of time for decision-making, and, two, only one person makes the decision.

the president. there's no check and balance. no congress, no required consultation. that's sole responsibility, for making that decision in a matter of minutes. it was 28 minutes. if it was as missile coming froe off-shore it would be 5 or 10 minutes. q.like i said, i love the constitution, i swear to defend it, and article two, is one of the reasons i'm here, because the advice and consent clause, requires me to prepare for the senate to be confirmed. but it also establishes the president as the sole commander and chief.f. >> there's no advice and consent that could hold in the hands. president. there are two elements, in that clause, one establishes the president, and the other is

advice and consent of senate. >> doesn't apply. >> commander and chief. [inaudible] q.that's the rule. >> we are co equal branches of government. >> and the president proposesec and thes. >> disposes. so i understand your point about the commander-in-chief. this administration has done more to ignore the congress off. the united states than any administration that i have been associated with. >> going back, command and control. are you satisfied when we're

talking about modernization. this seems that's an area that needs modernization, and, strong consideration.t >> yes, sir it does, and the big challenge as we look at modernizing it, will be the cyber threat. which will be much birth ever cl different. >> my time is just about over. should cyber command be elevated to a separate combat and command. >> yes, i believe it is. >> thank you, i want to thank you general, and, thank your family for your service to our country i wanted to follow-up, and you were asked what are the most serious threats facing the united states today, and you mentioned, the provocative, we may i have i don't remember like iran.

why do you believe there is significant concern about ad very serrie of iran and wanted to hear your opinion about the i packet of their pursuit of their missile program which they have done quite aggressively. >> yes, i think, you answered, you provided part of the answer when you started talk about the missile program. there's three elements that concern me. number 1 they couldn't to be the fourth most state sponsored terror. second they're continuing pursuit of the missile programs and testing it, over the last couple of years. and then third, a statement after one of the tests early inn march by a member of the military that said we're

building this to threaten israel. so i put those three statements together, and you look at the technology, that's why i'm concerned about iran. >> their missile program, from way hear, you believe this is a real threat to israel. is that true? >> they stated that it is a threat to israel. >> what about even though our forward deployed troops and our allies, it represents a threat to us. >> it does. >> would you agree with what clapper has said when he testified, that tehran would choose missiles as their way toe deliver weapons. >> we need make our own homeland when it comes to their testing, would you agree with that. >> i think that has to be partin of our -- i believe that's the

missile defense and that needs to be in the atlantic as well. >> when we look at their each most, they have been pos agreement, testing missiles on multiple occasions, do you believe that they are inconsist tejts with the u.n. security resolution, which calls upon iran not under take any activity, designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, and using such technology. >> but from a military perspective, i find that extremely de stabilizing. >> how are we going to address their testing issue? what do you see your role, and your command and ways that we should be more aggressively pushing back, on iran. >> again, i think a lot of that question is for the political realm.

my job, if i'm confirmed, would be to provide military advice to the president, and, congress, and i think you're asking for my military advice. we always have to make sure that our capabilities to respond to a threat are visible. powerful, and ensure, that no adversary that want to take us on at least they will think twice and reconsider their actions. that's the job of the commander, that i have confirmed.ct >> thank you. and in the political realm i would hope. i have introduced legislation th impose real sanctions on iran for their missile program, and i've been very disappointed, that the administration is v ignoring their testing.. i wanted to follow-up with you, would love to have you come, if

confirmed to visit new hampshire cocause we have the 23rd spacece operation squadron, and they operate the largest control network tracking station andhe they provide very important satellite command and control. so i wanted to extend that invitation. >> thank.nd i have been to new boston many times. it's one of the most beautiful bases in our country, it's a n hidden treasure. but they do important mission for the nation. my wife has been up to new boston and there's pretty amazing airmen. >> well, we're glad you're familiar with it and they'll be important to you, in this new vr position. >> thank you, i want to thank your family, thank you. general, strat comprovided

requirements letter to the dod related to hyper sonic weapons. and prompt strike. >> i'm familiar with the broad m topic. if i'm confirmed. i think i'll need work with all the commanders to make sure wetr get the requirements right. i see significant role, in terms of our ability to hold any target, at risk, without havingo to move into the nuclear realm. and it's just not a strat comrequirement. i think they all will have to be involved with, before we start

going down that path. >> the sooner c.p.s. transitions from a risk project, to a navy s program of record, the sooner that system will reach its capability. what is your view on the ideal typing for c.p.s.? >> i think from that perspective, i think yesterday would be a good answer. i don't think there's -- if wewe add capability to provide strike, just think how it would change the equation, to go back to to senator king's question, now you can deter it. so from a commander perspective, i would like to see that answer being yesterday. >> the air force, i think has an historic opportunity to leverage research and development, commog

parts and lessons learned, from the nameries try dance program, and feel extremely capable. to minuteman three. there's been some difficult back-and-forth, on how best to leverage it, and, but when i ever i go back to my home state of indiana, our navy, and airr force personnel are working very closely, on this. a we're doing incredible work for the air force, in the area of radiation. so, i know collaboration, is happening on a on a daily basist the staff level. if confirmed will you work to maximize it, aclose the the w navy, to reduce cost and risk. >> i will advocate for that. the commander is not in the

direct acquisition realm. that would be the service chief. but i'm a huge believer, as weef build things to make sure we can leverage it. i'm not a big believer in trying to go back, and insert it, because almost always that costs us an enormous amount of money. every time we modernize we should look at commonality. >> do you have any idea where you see the greatest potential? >> i think it would be in the missile technology of thell future, especially the electronic side, that will go into the future, ground base that the air force is pursuing now to leverage capabilities from navy missile programs.em >> let me ask you this, i think we're coming, on a cost, in

around 2025 and i think we have an obligation for try to help at this point. last year, ad miracle said it represents 3% of the budget. and the figure could go to 6%. how do you see the defense budget flexing for accommodate the things we need to do and how to prepare the next administration for success? >> i think the nuclear try add is affordable. but it should not be looked at as a blank check. i don't like when i see the numbers that show up of a trillion or 500 billion. i don't like to see those numbers because they tend to be self fulfilling prophesies.to it ends up costing that much.

we need to define it, and figure out what we need to build andng then within the defense budget, because it is backbone, we have to modernize it, and the money will be there to do it. but we need to do it smart immediate. >> thank you. >> general thank for are the>> a effort you made in very thoroughly answering some advance questions which i've had a chance to review. on page 24, of your answers, with regard to electronic warfare, you say among other things, russia and china have each committed significantns resources to both and dedicated military operators. and then you talk about their layered advantage, that each of these countries has attained. would you explain what it is. a and enlighten the committee a

little bit with regard for china and russia, in this regard? >> if you look at what they have been looking at themselves for y the last 20 years, they have been looking at the united states develop a powerful been military that without a doubt can dominate any battlefield in the world. so, they have taken those lessons, and, started building capabilities to respond to that. one is in the spectrum, they see us dominating it and using g.p.s. and conduct information age warfare, in a not too distant past, and they are developing it. and cyber, and in space, and to try to gain an advantage. our job, is to make sure they

never get an advantage. but that's what they're trying to do. >> you further say with ouro dependence, assuring access, and freedom of maneuver can no longer be guaranteed. we must improve. so what suggestions will you have for us? >> i will continue to advocate, for improved capabilities in each of the domains. space, cyber and the electromagnetic spectrum. we have to build them, to fight through and respond to threats. it's no different than a threat to an airplane, a ground system or a ship, the navy has a lawyered approach in how they respond to a threat. we need a lawyered approach, and threats in cyber. >> that resilient needs redundancy.

>> it can be achieved that way or cape built its andspace. proliferation. and defensive systems, that can defend you against such as antit jam, for allow you to fightt three, which is an electro magnetic operation. >> i read a novel, it was i think published in 2009, one i second after. i wonder how fans aful that is. i don't know if you have read it, but the concept is, there's a pulse which shuts down our entire g.p.s. grid, and, electric grid. and renders this country defenseless. how big after lawyered approach would they have to have to accomplish that?

is this just a science fiction or something that we need to be prepared for. >> i haven't read that book. >> but i described. >> yes. the concern is a pulse that goes november space. that's the concern. it is the most dangerous threat that space officer, which i am right now, is concerned about. because it is the most about threatening. but if a nation in the world does that, they have now reached, a very significant threshold, and the response of the united states could be broad and more likely into the response in kind but another domain. >> it would be more damaging than a nuclear bomb. >> it is. >> that's what creates the pumps. >> who has the capablive doing such a thing now?

>> anybody with a nuclear weapons, and launch into space. >> how prepared are we tospace. prevent, not respond, but to >>fend against such a thing? >> it is very well positioned for respond and operate through that.nt we built that. the rest of our infrom a sphrk sure is not as well prepared to respond. now the good news about g.p.s., it is a flow gal thing and we can go into the details. but, there would be might have degradation if a single pulse went off, it would take out certain element of the g.p.s. but it heals itself. i don't want to get into too much detail.

it's resilient because of numbers, and our missile warning, and they are very resilient we built on them. together they will allow the united states to continue to fly and fight. but the concern is, what does it do to our infrom a structure. >> thank you. >> thank you, and congratulations, and i would just say that your upcoming new position, if you're as successful, with your wife and two children you'll do great. >> with na being said, the wholr procure meant system.ei b5 2, developed, and came in operation in, 1955. build 744. still in operation. we did total upgrades for 1.1 billion. maybe more.op and then we come along, and someone makes a decision we need an f 35.ng and we're on track to spend 1.5 trillion.

and how come, who makes that decision?li we're trying to get rid of the a-10. but now we spend 1.5 trillion, and it makes you think, be of aware. what we do. 40 do we intlairn that, and why is it, 15, 16, 18, and not able to be upgraded. >> it's really not at question for me. it's a question for the commander of air combat. but i do have some opinions. so i'll be glad to share those opinions with you. the f-15, 16, and 18 are fourth generation aircraft. going up against a modern threat, they cannot penetrate many of the threats, that we are

going for have to be able to penetrate. >> what generation is a b5 2,. >> a third generation. and oh. >> most cost effective. >> and it is because of the cruise missile. because in fact penetrate either. but we need to penetrate and we need a fist generation, and we need it. we have to have it for our airmen to win. if one of the reasons we need a b-2 1, is because of the b5 2 cannot penetrate. we'll need it, in fighters and we need to handle any threats. as for the cost, it should not have cost that much. i think any american who looksor at the cost, is not seeing the big picture. but that capability is critical, andable awesome on the battle

field. >> i have a question being asked by west, does the president of the united states super the absolute ability and the power to call for a nuclear strike without any input from congress? any input from generals to negate that? he or she can call for that strike? >> my job, is to follow orders of the commander and chief. >> so there's no check and balances. you don't check. but if you get it, then it's a go order. >> the president of the uniteded states will ask me and il give the advice, but is the commander in chief and their orders, will be followed. >> so that person, whoever the president may be, has the ability, sole ability to call

for a nuclear strike. h >> they're the commander-in-chief.ar >> i'm very supportive of the national guard. how do you see your natural garths performance, cyber operations? >> spectacular. but, in many ways we have just scratched the surface. if you think about many of the mission that's we do, they're if the stateside missions and some of the most impressive are guard. and they can work t. the guardni and research are stepping up in the space, in new ways. i just met with the head of the international guard, and head of the air force reserve and we're looking at new ways. as, if i'm confirmed, fast total

force problem. and we'll leverage the totalal de force.ot >> the only thing, do you think we're exercising every option to enhance that with the guard or more needs to be done. >> there's always more. i'm not sure what that isha because we meet with them, but i just look at the potential that's out there and i thinkxa that's even more that can be done. >> thank you. >> i think you should read the e constitution, nuclear strike, would require a declaration of war. only the congress can de claire a deck compla raising of war. >> yes, sir. >> that were, and, general, congratulations and thank you for being willing to take on this task, and thank you to your family for being here.k you

there was discussion earlier about north korea, and, the erratic behavior, and we saw, a just this morning, that they tested a new rocketgeon. it's the latest, of nuclear weapon tests, as they increase their stockpile. can you discuss what you see as the mission, and operations, to as we look at what we can do to deter what's happening in north korea, if anything? >> i think we have two roles, if i'm confirmed, that we have to w play. role number 1 is deterrence and assurance. and i lump those both together..

ashriver our allies that they are defended by the united states. i think that's extremely important. >> the second piece of that puzzle is to make sure we provide the right kind of ready force that's can allow the need, in concert with the offers, to respond to those capabilities across the board. >> talked about it as being one of the actions that, might have contributed to russia's aggressive behavior. do we see that the -- that missile system, in south korea has the potential to produce that kind of a response from north korea ria and china? >> i'm not sure. if i can properly assess how they would look at that, but, from my military perspective, it does not change the deterrence.

because it provides a point defense capability against a close threat.ro it doesn't impact the ability afterstra tee beginning force. >> do you think that's clear to china and northfore ria. >> i think we have done everything in our power to make it clear. how they perceive what we have said, i don't think i can com monies that. >> there was a very interesting speg meant of 60 minutes, i don't know if you saw it, but it was talking about the deterrent. and one of the people they interviewed was former secretary of defense, perry, and they were asking him if there was ever a close call in terms of someone b launching, a weapon from the united states, and he pointed,

in 1977 where someone put in a training tape, that was miffs interpreted.eo the reason i think that's so,. has so much resonance is because i think this campaign for president has had nor discussiog of new nuclear weapons, than any campaign i rent.ar so as you look at the current command and control structure, are there any experience that you have, about the potential for something unforeseen to happen for somebody to mat wrong call and a weapon to be launche >> i believe that it is the most resilient, robust command and control that can be created by man. i think there are multiple checks and balances, that you

have men and women in the loop, that can respond, and make sure if it is, that they can report that up. if you heard what i said, it was created by man. there's no way for create perfection.. but that's why we put so many checks and balances in the system, if we do have to give a recommendation, that recommendation is clear ando based on solid data. >> one of the experience that i heard from folks in the foreign policy arena, is that, unlike, during the cuban missile crisis, since much of the other periods, we don't have the same kind of communication channels, between us, our military leaders and the military leaders and russia. i don't know if they didn't suggest that china was in that

category but, said that that was true of the united states, and russia. do you share that concern? >> i don't have enough information to really comment on it, except to say, that i'm a big believer in military to military relationships. and i think if we have it, with allies, friends, and potential adversaries we're in a better posture to diffuse a situation. so if i'm confirmed, i'll find out the details of what rips are right now and then i'll advocate for improving those relationships in the future. >> thank you. >> thank he, and congratulations to your nomination. i think you're highly qualified. and i want to, as we talked about, and what you did there and what you stand for. alma mater and what you did there and stand for.

sometimes our universities in this country need to see and respect the military and rotc, and i think you are a great example of that. i want to just continue on. i know the discussion has been a lot about missile defense. and i want to continue on what senator shaheen was talking about and senator inhofe. do you believe it's part of our job and your job if you're confirmed as combatant commander and the senate's to our nation and be able to address them? >> i think it is the responsibility of any public servant to look at that always my primary job is-- if i'm confirmed is to be ready and make sure forces are ready to respond today. i have a secondary job to advocate to respond to future threats in the future and if confirmed i will take both of those jobs very seriously. >> it's my sense that we talk a

lot about north korea here and the threat and it is a growing threat, but i think the american people probably continue in general to see-- may be most members of congress as a regional threat to japan, to korea, to the region. two days-- there was a "wall street journal" piece today that north korea successfully tested a high pair-- high-powered engine for launching satellites and intercontinental ballistic missiles. do you believe into to three years that the leader of north korea will have that ability to arrange-- arrange the cotton and all united states weapons? do you think it's a matter of time? still you think the american people assume, maybe within your tenure if you are confirmed that they will wake up to the fact that this is not a regional threat. this is a direct threat that a crazy dictator from north korea has the capability to range our

country with intercontinental ballistic nuclear weapons. do you think that's going to happen within five years? >> i can't put a date on it. i have talked to the intelligence committee over the last few weeks. i don't have a confident date, but what i can say-- >> so you think it's going to happen.nt >> a matter of when not if. >> shouldn't we prepare for that now? so in the american people won't have to wake up and say no oneou has thought about this. >> i think we are thinking about that and we have to be prepared. >> i don't think we are doing enough in terms of missile defense to prepare for this inevitability. can you give me your sense right now of missile interceptors in alaska, a couple in california, a new lr dr radar system being deployed, do you think we are

doing enough in terms of missile defense to be able to anticipate a threat that we know is coming, literally a dictator who has no stability in his mind being able to range our country with nuclear weapons? are we doing enough?bl >> i'm a big believer in missile defense and i think we are doing a lot, but i think we need to do more. i think that the number of interceptors we have, we have to constantly look at that ability of that forced to respond to the size and threat that would be an north korea in the future. i think the size correctly today. i have concerns about the thought-- size of the force in the future if i am confirmed i will take a hard look at that along with pacific command to make sure we understand what that response option is. >> i would like to work with you on that issue because i think it's a critical issue for the defense of our nation and i think a lot of senators areth interested in it and i don't

think we are doing enough to be ready for a threat that we know is coming.doing and if we are not in a position to tell the american people we knew this was coming and we took decisive action to create a strong missile defense, i think that is not what we should be doing, any of us. can you describe in the terms of the technical aspect howow important lr dr, you know we often talk about ground base missile interceptors, but the radar system themselves we are trying to deploy. >> so, the assessor elements are extremely important. number one, you cannot target a weapon without the sensor, so you need the sensor to queue that. that starts with a overhead infrared capabilities we have an orbit today. the radars we have old. they need to be modernized. one of the most critical radars we are building now is the long-range this commission radar at clear in alaska to build to respond to that threat.

that's a critical element of any future architecture especially the part of and we also need to look especially at element. we need to be able to broadly use the global nature of space to be able to add a global tracking capability because that not only allows us to track, but allows to operate weapon systems more efficiently than just firing many at one time. >> thank you, mr. chairman. one general, i think you're highly qualified and i look forward to voting in favor of your nomination-- confirmation. vot >> thank you for your service. thank you to your family. i want to start with a bit about -- [inaudible] >> in august, of this year we deployed the b2 from whiteman to guam. at least the second time this year that we have deployed these aircraft to the us acidic command area of responsibility. in march 2013, 2 b2 bombers conducted a long range persuasion strike by flying more

than 6500 miles in the korean peninsula and returning to the continental us any single continuous mission. i know that you understand how important missions like this are to demonstrate our commitment and give ability as an important role that they have in deterrent, particularly as weie look at the actions of north korea. they continue our adversary norh continues to develop advanced systems which could eventually hold even our homeland at risk. i know there has been a lot of discussion regarding the affordable pilot maintainingri upgrading nuclear triad. there are improvements to the communication system of the b-2 spirit, which will extend the viability of this flexible dual use platform. what would be the consequences of a delay in completing the communication upgrade to the b2?

>> senator, i think we have to look at the upgrades of the b2e in concert with the entire bomber force. right now probably the most important element of our bomber capability and so back togh ability is extremely importantnt to maintain the viability nowow and in the future, but i think that the best answer that we 02 this committee and to the congress is one that looks across the entire bomber force. i think that is a question of the air force, but as the commander what i will advocate for his effective bomber force to handle all the threats wetc have in the future and that its air force's job to say then we have to upgrade the b2 or we can wait till the 21. right now i think the beach when he won is a bit too far off to respond to that, but i think the answer has to be across the entire bomber forced. >> i want to make sure we don't make the same mistake with the b21 that we made with the 35 and that was that we started pulling back on that date and 18 and the

hornets because of the anticipation of a system that clearly was whenever budget and way out of time and it-- as a result we have old abilities on our aircraft carriers that weay should not have and we continue to scramble to make sure that we don't have those, so i want to make sure that we make that point. in addition, i'm proud the 131st bomber wing at whiteman of the missouri national guard was the first national guard unit to be certified to conduct a nuclear mission. this took a tremendous amount of work at whiteman and nature medicine out of commitment on the part of the active air force at that base along with the missouri national guard.issouri can i get your commitment today to continue this integration and continue to love the guard to play this important role going forward? >> so, senator, i'm a huge fan of the total force.

the guard and reserve provide a huge capability to our forces worldwide, so i pledge to constantly advocate for full integration of the guard and to all of our military forces across the board. if i'm confirmed it will be inside strike,. >> i also want to talk about missile defense as it relates to north korea. the first ballistic missile defense test against icbm missile range target will be conducted this fall. first time it has happened since a 1984 took a second ground-based interceptor was scheduled, but due to budgetary constraints it will have to flip -- it was scheduled for 2017 and will have to flip to 2018. the report found that agency charge was developing this system and delayed to remove 40% of its planned test because of

the physical constraints with husband military. could you address briefly, if we don't stop playing games with what we need to invest in our military as it relates to oak zero and that spending money off budget, what will be the inpe terms of our capability, in terms of ballistic missile defense particularly in light of what north korea is up to. >> senator, i think we desperately need a missile defense capability that needs to be robust tested. it has to be concerned that it will work.conc therefore, just like every other element of our defense department i think we need stable funding, close working relationships with the entire congress especially this committee to make sure we understand exactly where we are

going. unconcerned if we go back and i know you had a hearing last week on readiness and i'm worried if we go back to a budget-- budget control act level that many ofo the decisions that will be made will be bad for the security of the united states.d >> thank you and congratulations. >> thank you, senator. >> general, you are an outstanding choice for striped,. you have been an outstanding and have done an outstanding job as the head of air force space command. that is a subject that i understand a little bit about and i just wanted to say that for the record. we thank you and i look forward to you being our combatant commander. would you characterize your thoughts on the need for modernization of our nuclear

arsenal as well as our nuclear command-and-control? >> senator, i think all three elements of the triad are essential to this cure to the nation. i think it is the foundation off what we build our and tire defense posture on. each of those moments of the triad are aging out at a similar time and in order for us to that affected tried in the future we will need to modernize each element. we need to modernize the capabilities were icbm, which will be the ground-based deterrence. we need a replacement program on the sea leg of the triad and we need the new bomber and i also believe we need a advanced cruise missile, long range of strike option. i think each of those has to be pursued and i think it will be pursued in an integrated manner and then we have to pursue the nuclear control piece on top of that.

the nuclear command-and-control i think is the most important piece of the puzzle and as we continue to focus on the delivery platform, which are essential, we just can't take our eyes off that nuclear command-and-control capability because without those we can't effectively operate. >> specifically, do you have any thoughts on the modernization-- i said the nuclear arsenal, meeting the nuclear weapons. >> i think as we look at the nuclear weapons we have to consider the environment we will operated and we have to consider how many nuclear weapons that we need. i think we need to take a wholee approach to looking at the existing nuclear stockpile as well as what we need in thest future, nuclear stockpile. ideally, if i'm confirmed as commander of stratcom are liketh flexibly across platforms with those nuclear weapons. it's really a conversation meant for different cop-- classic asian form, but at this

classification i will just say if i am confirmed i will work closely with the national labs as well as the other elements of the nuclear weapons environment to make sure that we have ath solid plan going into the future , especially given the test environment we are in thank you, senator. >> from your advance policy question of the growing importance of cyber command. is it also your per-- judgment that maintaining dualh relationship with the commander of cyber command is also the director of nsa is in our best national security interest could

make that is my beliefs are and i strongly believe that now. there may be a day in the futur' when that is not the case, but today is not the case.el >> i think you. that discussion continues and i was going to talk with senator reed and other members of the committee, but i think we may ask you to come back. perhaps, maybe not this week, but later on to brief us on the information that you have provided me with yesterday. is quite disturbing is not the work, but compelling i think is a better word. jack. >> no, sir, can come in general, thank you for your service and i diok forward to voting for your confirmation doing itff expeditiously so you can get out there and laid. thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman took thank you, members of the committee.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> join us tonight when first lady's michelle obama and her predecessor laura bush discussed their support for us service members, veterans and their families. that starts tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> this weekend on american history tv on c-span3, we are live saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. eastern from the smithsonian's national museum of african american history and culture with opening ceremony beginning at 10:00 a.m. with speakers president barack obama and museum director. >> what is most important is every exhibition of this museum is a goal to humanize the stories that in essence in most history museums we tell the grand story of slavery or migration work we want those

stories told and we want you to think about it on a human scale to relate, understand so you are moved by these people. >> after 7:00 p.m., artist peter weddell shares his paintings depicting washington dc during the 19th century. >> visit us from the east three present buchanan's presidency, harriet lane in the blue dress, the japanese ambassador, the giant wonderful lights outside the white house that was taken out during the roosevelts rehab in 1902. >> sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. the meyer house was owned by the first to jewish family in norfolk, virginia, in the 19th century. you're how the family maintained a large shipping operation and how the home has been passed down through the family. >> they dug underneath the layers of paint and struck gold. 22 and a half carat gold, which was largely intact.

it only had to be repaired in a few places, but today it is considered one of the most elaborately gilded fireplaces in america at this time. >> for our complete a mark in history tv schedule, go to c-span.org. >> but tv on c-span2, 48 hours of the nonfiction books and authors every weekend. on saturday at noon eastern, but tv will be live from the 16th annual library of congress national book festival held at the washington convention center in the nation's capital. includes author interviews and we are taking your calls live. notable authors include bob woodward and his book the last of the president's men. congressman john lewis and his book, march, book three. ken burns, author of grover cleveland again, a treasury of american presidents and interviews with featured authors

candace miller, author of hero the empire. jon meacham with destiny and power, the american odyssey of george herbert walker bush. black flags, the rise of isis. stacy shift with the witches, salem 1692. and join us live this weekend from the 16th annual library of congress national book festival on c-span2 book tv. get the complete weekend schedule at book tv.org. >> the pakistani american parents of a u.s. army captain killed in iraq were two of the speakers addressing the annual islamic society of north america convention in illinois labor day we compared they also appeared at the democratic national convention this summer. other speakers at that islamic society event included homeland security secretary jeh johnson, the first sitting cabinet

secretary to address the convention. this is about one hour. >> greetings up piece, brothers and sisters, friends, ladies and gentlemen. it's my distinct honor to introduce secretary jeh johnson. use the secretary of the department of homeland security and as such he leads the third largest department of the us government with a workforce of 229,000 employees and 22 contents including tsa, border protection, immigration and customs enforcement, us citizenship and immigration services, fema, the coast guard and the secret service. under johnson's leadership he is responsible for counterterrorism

, cyber security of aviation security, border security, port security, maritime security, administration and enforcement of our immigration laws come a protection of our national leaders, protection of critical and superstructure and protection against chemical, biological and nuclear threats to the homeland and respond to disasters. secretary johnson was appointed by president obama on december 23, 2013, following confirmation by the u.s. senate. secretary johnson is a native new yorker and in private life has been a corporate lawyer with the new york city-based law firm brothers and sisters, this is the first time a sitting cabinet secretary is here to address the

isna convention, so please join me in welcoming secretary jeh johnson with a loud round of applause. [applause]. [applause]. >> ladies and gentlemen, good evening. let's try that again, ladies and gentlemen, good evening. you just heard a message from the president of the united states, president barack obama. and want to thank you for inviting me to be here today. as barack obama's presidency and our ministration draw to a close, i am proud to have been part of it. i have been on an incredible journey with barack obama, not just since he became president

in 2009, but over the last 10 years as part of his campaign, his transition team, his administration and now his cabinet. history will record, not only the transformational changes president obama brought about, but also that in 2008, he was elected president with 69 million votes. the largest popular vote for any one person in the history of this country, based on a campaign of hope and inspiration. with that came a new generation of voters in an unprecedented period of inclusiveness and diversity in our political process. as part of that, it is a great privilege for me to be present in person here today, to speak to you the full convention of

isna. i am told that i'm the highest-ranking us government official in the first sitting cabinet officer to ever speak in person to this convention. [applause]. i welcome that. as you have welcomed me. i am proud to have broken back to glass ceiling, and to have created the expectation in the future that government officials of my rank will attend your annual convention. president obama has made it a priority for his administration to build bridges to american muslim communities. and 33 months as your secretary of homeland security, i have personally visited american muslim communities in boston,

new york, philadelphia, pennsylvania, maryland, virginia, detroit, dearborn, chicago, come while this, houston, minneapolis and los angeles. i have come to know many of you, and i hope you know me. you have heard president obama and me call out the discrimination and vilification you face in the current climate. you have heard us say that the self proclaimed islamic state is neither islam nor a state. [applause]. you have heard us say that it is a group of terrorists attempting to hijack your religion. you have heard us before multiple audiences of different political stripes, refused to bend to the political pressure

to call terrorism islamic extremism. we know that isil, though it claims the banner of islam, occupies no part of your religion. a religion founded on peace. after i am gone, i hope you will always regard your department of homeland security aligned in interest with you for peace, the safety of your family and the protection of your homeland. i hope he will always regard our new office of community partnerships as you partner. tonight, in this last and biggest opportunity i will have as your secretary of homeland security to address an audience this large, all at once, i went