Transcripts For CSPAN2 Hearing 20240704

Giving you a front row seat to democracy. Commanders u. S. Northern command u. S. Southern command testify on security challenges affecting the western hemisphere from the Senate Armed Services committee this is just under two hours. [laughter] [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] the Committee Meets today to receive testimony from general gregory geo commander of Northern Command and aerospace defensee command and Laura Richardson of u. S. Southern commands. Hearing as commander and we welcome you sir. I would also note this is general richardsons alaska. Before the committee and her current role. General, i would like to express my appreciation for your decades service to the nation including outstanding leadership for the forces, thank you very much maam. I like to take aoing crisis in haiti. The situation is very concerning and i understand the u. S. Military forces have beenrfdeployed to augment security at her embassy in portauprince and evacuate nonessential personnel. This crisis involves both of your command to varying degrees and i would like to know what resources or support you need to respond . U. S. Northern command is key to our national as a principal command for protecting the american homeland. And indeed the first priorities outlined in our Defense Strategy is quote defending the homeland, the growing main threat posed by the peoples republic of china. As we consider threats from china and other competitors the very concept of Homeland Defense must evolve. Understand published the Homeland Defense policy guidance to meet this challenge. When asked for updated status it will transform the Homeland Defense plan of the department. The urgency of this mission has been made clear over the past year with incursions of a chinese surveillance balloon went other unidentified aerial phenomenon in our airspace. These events raise concerns no red may have an awareness gap that needs to be resolved. America secure to protect ourur citizensns and must pursue technology that provide for detection. General i would be interested in your assessment of these potential awareness gaps and what additional tools or recesses are needed to overcome. Originally north come provide support u. S. Armed forces initiative by helping to counter cartels engage in drug smuggling, Human Trafficking and across the southwest border the committee would appreciate your views on success of Security Cooperation efforts with the mexican army, navy what role north calm commonplace in supporting the department of Homeland Security and Border Securityons. Turning to Southern Command you work command faces growing challenges in china and russia. Present a situation our adversaries exploit to increase their own including investments in strategic infrastructure such as balboa and balboa. 5g communications and expanding network of space tracking instal interested in the challenge competitors in latin america and how we might work strategically with our partners in the region to build resilience. Self calm, like north com calm continues to work closelyith agencies counter narcotic organizations or tco. Rowing threats and synthetic opioid trafficking including fentanyl Overdose Deaths each year in the United States. General richardson out ask for an update and other u. S. Agencies counter narcotics and efforts giving limited force posture and resource. Finally we know insecurity insecurities throughout the self calm area is contributing to the flow of migrants for the u. S. Border. And corruption continued to be a major source of insecurity much of the region. Especially in the northern triangle countries of honduras, guatemala and e salvador. What more can be done to help improve the situation and strengthen Border Security throughout the region. I think thank you again to our witnesses and look forward to your testimony. Colleagues will be a close session this hearing. Let me now turn to my colleagues. Think it mr. Chairman i want to thank our witnesses for being with us here. Our adversaries particularly china and are actively working to exploit americasor vulnerabilities. They are doing so here at home and seeking to expand their influence in this western ishemisphere. The 2022 national Defense Strategy establishes Homeland Defense as his top priority. That was the year end a half ago. But the bite administration is not much that go with action. Year after year the Biden Administration has declined to fund north calms request for the radar and sensors it for proper air defense numerous bases on soil are unable to protect themselves against small drones. This presents a clear and significant vulnerability. On top of it all wargames continue to ignore crucial domestic resilience problems that would arise in a potential conflict. The Biden Administration also refuses to learn from its Homeland Defense mistakes. Last year chinese y surveillance balloon lapse the lapse of last years defenses with regard to the chinese surveillance balloon is a case in point. Senior Biden Administration officials responded invasively to congressionals an leaked classified informationie selectively to deflect blame. The president declined to conduct an internal review of the failure. They finally did so when this committee mandated it in the ncaa has presided over by the distinguished chair the spy balloon was a significant failure but the most pressing Homeland Defense crisis is the one at our southwest border. Approximately 70000 americans are dying annually from fentanyl overdoses. Most of the supply is supersized in mexico using chinese and precursor chemicals. The traffic to criminal cartels can only worsen is more deadly drugs a flood the market. The cartels are executingg operation across her or open border. It is a lucrative they are charging thousands of dollars for each person they trafficked for the human tragedy severe so is the risk of terroristinfiltration. As cnn reported this past summer Human Smuggling Network with ties to isis helped more than a dozen individuals enter our country illegally. In october two are iranians the Security Threat list were caught as they tried to cross the border to mexico. Recognize that the southwest border. Dod is one of them. I hope you will understand dod contributions could be improved. We haveive challenges further south. Therowing chinese threats in Central America and south america. Continues uses wellknown playbook and the self calm theater. It aggressively uses predatory economic practices to influence government. Simultaneously it sets conditions to enhance military presence. Break Great Power Competition is happening right here in the americas we cannot ignore underscore the urgency beijing is making latin america dependent for communicationsomething they tried to do in our country the example of chinas economic influence campaign. The ccp military influence in cuba where we discovered a large chinese intelligence collection center. General richardson, i look forward to hearing how these practices directly impact the stability of our region but wish understand the threat they pose to our National Security. How real is it . How important is it . There are other other malign influence in this theater recently asserted a provocative extraterritorial claim of sovereignty over a large oilrich portion of the neighboring nation of guyana. This instability is so close to our homeland it is troubling. Even more troubling is the consistent mix match between the requirement has. And the resources it receives. Costeffective ways to exert influence in this theater. For example lets explore the office of strategic capitol in forward to general richardsons candid assessment of self calms most pressing resource and capability and i am eager to learn what congress can do to c help. General, i note your name rhymes with hero is that right . Yes senator, it does. We expect both of you to live up to these expectations. Thank you. Thank you, senator and i will general guillot. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. It is a profound honor to command represent the men and women of north American Aerospace defensese command and c the United States Northern Command. As we speak this morning american and Canadian Military and civilian personnel for both necommands are actively defending our homelands against significant persistent threats all domains. Ive only been in command a few weeks its readily clear to me the United States, canada and f are expensive network of partners are facing an extraordinarily complex or teaching environment. Competitors seeking to diminish our military and economic advantage of fielded advanced kinetic systems designed to strike civilian and militaryry infrastructure in north america both above and nuclear threshold. Meanwhile, competitors have rapidly advanced routinely used non kineticth capabilities targeting our critical tial networks. Threats to the helmet are present in all domains and along all avenues of approach to include the arcticn. As stated in the national Defense Strategy the peoples republic of China Remains our pacing r challenge as the Peoples Liberation army modernizes and grows at a rapid pace. Prc expanding Nuclear Capability and capacity alongside its development of modern submarines missiles, Hypersonic Weapons, all present significant challenges for Homeland Defense. While prc capabilities are growing quickly, russia remains a threat to the homeland todayn and is an immediate nation state concern. Russia retains the Worlds Largest stockpile of strategic and non Strategic Nuclear weapons along with significant capacity to strike inside north america with air launch precision conventional weapons. Despite heavy losses to its Ground Forces in Ukraine Russia has invested heavily in systems that can threaten states such as advanced guided missile submarines, hypersonic live vehicles, icbms as well significant cyber and undersea capabilities as well as Developmental Systems such as Nuclear Torpedo and Nuclear Powered cruise missile. North korea continues its rhetoric while test launching increasingly advanced longrange missiles and expanding its ties with china and russia. While iran currently lacks the capability to strike north america with longrange missiles it is investing in i run also supports a violent militant groups in the middle east and maintains a Worldwide Network of operational surrogates. The mostwing threats include cyber and small Unmanned Aerial Systems that are being employed inside the u. S. And canada against civilian and military infrastructure in ways that we are were not possible even just a few years ago. With those risks firmly in mind no right in north come strive to Homeland Defense will be on north america. To do so both commands are working with the services in congress to improve domain o detect, track, defeat threats ranging from longrange Ballistic Missiles too small Unmanned Aerial Systems. The defense of north america is an active endeavor that requires no right in north come to campaign against threats in all domains along allpproaches. That efft Seamless Exchange of information with combatant commands conventionalpe special operations forces. Ty the spectrum of interagency and international partners. The importance of collecting and disseminating information quickly cannot be overstated. I strongly support departments work to advance the combined joint all domain a commandandcontrol concept as we seek to detect and track eats and share information as quickly as possible with analysts, operators, and decisionmakers around the world. Finally, upon taking command a began a 90 day assessment to inform the department, the joint force in congress on neurite north come ability to execute as recommendations over the commands could or should do more. Once complete and look forward to sharing my findings and updated vision on how ignore it in north best execute the Noble Mission of Homeland Defense. The challenges facing our homelands are real but there ulshould be no doubt about norad in north come result to deter dick aggression and defeat threats to our nation and our citizens. Again i thank you for the opportunity to appear this morning. I look forward to working with the committee and im happy to answer your questions. Thank you general gui general richardson plays very. Chairman Ranking Member and established members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to appear beforeth general guillot credit honor to represent the dedicated men and women of United States Southern Command to discuss the challenges we share with their neighbors caribbean. Trour National Security strategy recognizes the direct link between this region security and our own security. We are harnessing the power of partnership from team usa in support of team democracy. Leveraging all instruments of National Power. Diplomacy, information military and economics. Too expeditiously assist partner natures and addressing the challenges that impact our collective security. This rion, which is our shared neighborhood remains on the salt from a host of crosscutting transboundary challenges that directly challenge our homeland. Ive seen challenges intensify since i met with the last year. This remains a call to action. In almost two and a half years priority to meet partners where they are. To listen and understand the challenges that affect us all. The world is at an Inflection Point and our in our partners in the western hemisphere with whom we are bonded by trade shared values democratic traditions and familyde ties are increasingly impacted by the interference and coercion. I have learned our presence actually matters. The peoples republic ofub china an has exploited the trust of democracies in this hemisphere using that trust to steal National Intellectual property and Research Related to academia, agriculture and health care. The scope and scale of this espionage is unprecedented. To the belt and wrote initiative the prc aims to amass power and influence at the worlds democracy. Here on the western hemisphere at latin america and the caribbean have the potential to feed and fuel the world. Understanding this the prc has already and is already busy extracting and exploiting. Predatory investment practices construction of mega ports and dual use space facilities and criminal activities are a few of thealign activitdize the sovereignty and safety of the region. Russia remains an acute threat seeks to increase its foothold by bolstering authoritarian regimes in cuba, nicaragua venezuela. In the last year china russia, iran have a greaser presents diplomatically economically and militarily in the region for these activities undermine democracies on shelves or credibility. Both china and russia exploit the Transnational Criminal Organizations, and amplify their destabilizing impact on government. Tco traffic weapons drugs people, gold lithium Rare Earth Minerals commodities in counterfeit goods while contributing to the surge of fentanyl related deaths here at home. The good news is, working with a very willing partner leads to the best defense we must use all available levers to strengthen ourab partnerships with a 28 the 28 likeminded democracies in this hemisphere who understand the power of workingng together to counter these shared threats. Unit the preferred most trusted Security Partner in the region. We build trust through ity cooperation programs that train and equip our partners. Our partner military Security Forces a robust joint exercise program to build Interoperability Development of emerging technology. Moreover we maximize the resources allocated by the Departments International military education and Training Program for military financing to build the interoperability and counterbalance prc military engagement and investment. National Defense Strategies face the u. S. Drives immense benefit from a stable, peaceful democratic western hemisphere. That also reduces security to the homeland. U. S. South come continue to innovate and adapt putting integrated deterrence into action every day. We remain committed to working across all domains with allies and partners combatant command the joint force u. S. Interagency nonfederal in the u. S. Congress to guarantee Safety Security and prosperity throughout the western hemisphere per this is the work and promise of u. S. South column. As part of team usa and in support of team democracy. Thank you forour assistance and resourcing this team i would also like to recognize behind me in the audience the interim Defense College class that is here today to see how the power of our United States congress the department of defense in us as Combatant Commanders talk about our regions. I look forward to your questions, thank you. Quick thank you very much. At the suggestion of my colleague put all of the students please stand to be recognized . [applause] [applause] and on behalf of my colleagues let me say grassy us. Please be seated. General guillot we have had widely supported penetrations by unmanned vehicles. Has dod developed a Standard Operating Procedure for individual base commanders and dealing with these vehicles . They could show up and being detected minutes before they would be penetrating system to deal with them . Chairman, shortly after taking comma and beginning my 90 day assessment i realized the challenge of the large increase in the number of incursions was something that was going to drive in probably change the direction my firstn that acute number. Services that do have authorities. But work remains to be ensure their resources are equipped and we have standardized operating procedures to address those threats. And also work remains to be done to be able to use especially the non kinetic capabilities that can bring down the system safely without interfering with our airspace structure. At the present time norad and north calm do not have a designated role in that bit of my recommendations a the End Assessment i will point out ways i think norad and north calm could and should play a role in bringing thatul standardization. This process would involve other agencies such as the fbi Homeland Security . Are we working at the joint agency level . Es a chairman for they have some authorities now and then as you alluded to it we would to we would need to bring them all together so we are bringing each capability together against the same incursion threat. Ank you. General richardson the situation in haiti is deteriorating rapidly. On march 10 we sent in augmentation forces to the embassy. Theres already been some extractions of personnel. March 11 the secretary of defense and crest dod contribution of 200 million to provide logisticsio support for a Security Force to come in to haiti. Could you give u sense of the implication to the situation in haiti for the United States in the region . Thank you senator. And it chairman. Question. And certainly u. S. South calm has af wide range of contingency plans. We are ready whatever would be required for department of efdefense response. Weve already conduct missions that have been widely publicized of increasing security and routine actions i would take place for any of our embassies across thehe globe. The situation in haiti has been deteriorating over the last couple of weeks. So with the announcement that has come and the political negotiations that have been happening and occurring the violence has been tamped down somewhat over the past couple of days but soap certainly the political solution seems to be working. And hopefully that continues on a positive path. But if not we have as i said contingency plan is ready to respond from u. S. South calm. Thank you. You pointed out the penetration by china and russia. It seems one of the leading edges of chinas activities is economics. Buying ports getting the belt and rotor project underway. There is one other area their willingness or eagerness to acquire more interest in the American Development bank and i understand Congress Must pass legislation to authorize the united state buy the shares before the chinese do. Is that accurate and if the chinese beat us out with a be a problem . Emexcel behairman. I think through that u. S. Governments initiative with the american prosperity the American Partnership for Economic Prosperity where the administration hosted 11 latin america heads of state and washington d. C. In november this would be part of that our ability to invest in critical Development Bank and the development of finance corporation dfc. The shares coming up 75 million shares from the u. S. To purchase those shares in our American Development bank. This bank has been established in 1959 to do exactly these things. To invest in Critical Infrastructure within the region. If we dont do the chinese well . Whats exactly right chairman. Thank you. Lets take in south calm. Venezuelan president took on precedent steps to establish control over the contested region of neighboring guyana. This violate International Court of justice ruling region accounts for two thirds of gions territory and extensive offshore oil riches. How has this impacted the security of the region and the particularly the fact of venezuela has deployed tanks border . Senator it absently has. And in terms of our relationship withng partner and democracy in the region a very important partner we see regime in venice and venezuela are doing and the activities taking against this democracy with an unjustified claim. Our support for guyana we have shown that from the u. S. Governments. Im through all the instruments of National Power the diplomacy the military,. You have directions from the white house from your superiors in the departmentri as to what we should do . As we work my engagements and what we do with the cooperation we have a very robust plan and we have continued on that plant that has been coordinated with art u. S. Government. Could you briefly describe the plan . It consists of visits fight folks within my command. And the engagements that we do the exercises the subject matter exchanges we have continued with all of those. Not trying to exacerbate theio situation but continue on path with our regular engagements that have been sched not halted any of that. Has International Community assisting us in that regard . International community is very much assisting. I would say our allies as part of the western hemisphere framework we signed at u. S. South calm weather allies that work in the region. They uk, canada, the netherlands and also france. As we Work Together to they also have activities and engagements they do in the region and are doing in guyana those are also coordinated. Thank you very much. Let me switch to general guillot. Mericans do not understand how often we do this. But it has worsened considerably. Its not the lead agency but it has deployed troops there and 18 of the previous 21 years. They are called temporary deployments. But it is beginning to look like permanent. There is a difference in the weight we deploy it and notify these units is there not . In the sense that if it is a temporary deployment they get 180 days notice in advance. If it is regular deployment it is a year end a half. Could you discuss that with this . And is my understanding correct there . Senator your understanding isn correct. The primary difference we see in Northern Command is we are in support as you mention braid mentioned braid therefore we wait for the request from that lead agency in this case customs a Border Protection and request for assistance that is reviewed and has ultimately been approved by the department of defense and at that point we can start d to match through the joint staff and National Guard view thehe protect correct unit to support that based on the nee are in that request for assistance. Would it be helpful if we treated it as a permanent deployment . Senator, i think it more than treating it as a permanent deployment would be earlier notification of the requirements. Since those to change that allows us to tailor the change in requirements of the custom and borderen protection or as if we had a permanent force we might have it permanently the wrong type of units to support. However, to your point what we have established and we must maintain his having permanent ntrol structure over there so we havey continuity and predictability in how we present the forces and work with customs and Border Protection. Do we need to give you different authority in that regard or is it a matter of the department . Ask him sorry. Senator, we have the authorities we need. The thing we would most benefit from as you alluded to his time. Time to pick, train and prepare the National Guard units are going to go down there and t support. To both of you tell us what you w need and we will try to get it for you. Sir. Thank you very much. Thank you mr. Chairman. In my note since you have been talking ever written the word gap of about five times im going to talk about gaps. General guillot, d gap . We learned more from failures that we do from success us what did we learn from the balloon incurs sensors which is a simple essentially the basis of norad . We learned a great deal what we have is we had gaps in the layered approach we wanted to be able to detect with awareness from satellites down to Traditional Air too. One of the problems is low altitude . All the way down to the surface and even then we were able to address many of those on initiative started by my raters that we do have it. Thats better awareness that will beat manifesting with over the horizon radar by the hb tss hypersonic and ballistic tracking space system. Those capabilities are essential to fill gaps that are growing because of the increased capability of the adversary pig. Thatpay. That would is an urgent need given the experience we have had but also given the incredible militarization of the arctic Coast Technology beat all the sinks added together create significantge risk. I hope you can come to us with what you this is something we need to do in a hurry. Bill seven ice breaker gap. Its becoming as i mentioned more militarized by the a russians and much more important body ofdenly discovered that minutes rating c. Talk to about icebreakers. We all had one half icebreakers. Severely outnumbered we appreciate the coast guard as a 48 one the chinese a near arctic nation. A chinese declare themselves eight near arctic nation my position as is its a caribbean state. [laughter] a share it sir. We do appreciate the coast guard is procuring more icebreakers. Even with those who will is severely outnumbered that does limit our region. Is basically not having a road to get where we need to get. Lets talk about another gapit drugs. Since we have been sitting here about 10 americans have died of drug overdose. Just as we began this meeting 45 minutes ago. One a day like one person the day is dying in my home state of maine. Do you have the capacity to addictive drug shipments coming in by see that we know of . Ive asked this question every year for the past 10 years and a the answer. And u. S. South calm we have the detection and monitoring again the intelligence. I shouldnt have said do to you do we this the country and let me havewehave the capacity to interdict. We pass that intelligence over to Law Enforcement and the partner nation depends upon who is close enoughns to do in terms of the capacity we anticipate we are able to of what we know is out there interdict about 10 of the known problem. With the resourcing and capabilities we are currently given. I would emphasize that figure to my colleagues. We could interdict 10 of what we know of. That is inexcusable. Mean to say inexcusable for you. One of thele problems it strikes me is when everyone is in charge no one is in charge. Yourself, d. A. , dhs Intelligence Community and the problem as americans are dying. About every 10 days for september 11 3000 people die in thisdiedin this country every 10 days. You use the word testimony, assault braid that is what it is, it is an assault. We are trading as a domestic Law Enforcement problem when it is a dassault. Work with your colleagues we dont have capacity we dont have enough coast guard cutters we cant solve a problem we know the general shape of the problem but you are in a position whats missing and what you can do in order to help protect this country offer we cannot interdict our way out of this problem. We have got to be able to go after the networks. We have to be able to go after the drug lab spirit with got to be able to follow the money and the Money Laundering which is fueling this very rich environment the transnationalan criminal organization for. Ed we have to talk about the demandside here in treatment and prevention. I this is a discrete problem we have capacity to deal with. This is not abo gap but what is your overall assessment of the chinese incursion into latin america . A . Specifically theyve been doing this for some time. Doing infrastructure projects. Other partsuc of the world there is some development of buyers remorse the chinese have not performed as the debt in colonialism is becoming a problem for is that occurring at latin american your view . Absolutely senator. My concern as a combat and commander for the region 22 of 31 countries in the region have signed onto the belton road initiative. It is all investment and Critical Infrastructure were the big muddy projects are. Ep water ports 5g, Smart Cities Technology to spy on the with the state owned enterprises from the prc and use those military application is required it is in all of the Critical Infrastructure. Thankre you. Thank you both for being here today. General i have appreciated our discussions on the challenges of detectg, characterizing and tracking potential threats to our homeland. Most americans are fully aware of the incident with the chinese north calm has other responsibilities as well especially with protecting the homeland from the more advanced threats that are out which includes ballistic and cruise missiles. Why as is having that improve domain awareness detect and track and provide a clear threat picture of what is out there and to be able to discriminate what you are seeing. Why is that so important to defending our its important it gives us time. Time to inform leaders. Make and act defeat mechanisms to the threats coming in. You mentioned discrimination capabilities as the threat becomes more advanced they can put outtd decoys. We could needlessly shoot interceptors atnot a threat. But having discrimination radar we can shoot and kill the warhead that would be a thr say senator, is the capabilities are growing so much by the adversary the main awareness needs to push out detect earlier characterize to deploy the. Are we moving quickly enough . Senator, we are right on the edge. I think we are moving quickly and i from this body and the services. It really is at an alarming rate. I am concerned a about what we are seeing and the president s budget request. For fy 2025. The administration decreases it is stating is delivered in in 1666 thats the missiledefense of the capability of that program by december 31, 2029. How do you respond to my concerns . Senator my response is a view hypersonics is perhaps the most destabilizing threat that we have out because of the fastest speede and more than that the maneuverability and unpredictability on where it will impact as opposed to afairly predictable. I am pleased with some of the s efforts they are doing. Im pleased what theyre doing with the just yesterday we heard from a Senior Analyst congress that quote china now has the worlds leading hypersonic arsenal. So given the pace we a seeing with the russia and with china as they advance their Hypersonic Weapons program should the department accelerate the hypersonic defense when its feasible to do so and moving moving capability of strategic threats mention general richardson thank you for all thekve done. And the your service to thisou country. When we talk about your answer et cetera king on that. When you are looking at the ng lo china has in the find they continue to do in your area of responsibility how serious of a threat is it . I look at threat because of the ability of the state owned and controlled by the government countries. I t look at the panama canal on the five state enterprises that are on either side thats a very important strategic line ofcommunication. There is a lot of large implicationsns there of all the Critical Infrastructure the 5g space Smart City Technology very concerning. Thank you and tha youral. He made comments or two days ago but the house Armed Services committee about seeing the possibility of seeing in the very near future chinese aircraft and closeness to our homeland. I thinkri you for bringing that to our attention. Thank you. Think it mr. Chairman think you both for being here. And the dod does not have a plan to address the current Missile Defense needs of hawaii. It is an issue i haveust about everyone who comes to testify from the dod. The directs a plan for Missile Defense of hawaii and opaque, is leading. General, your predecessor told me last year north calm is responsible for protecting i against threats from north korea. We need to concern ourselves with the cre. Have you beenn coordinating with and opaque, regarding the development of the missiledefense plan . Senator, i have it. We work very closely withlo and opaque home on all defense of our entire homeland. I also agree with the characterization on our specific role in that. I have some concerns there are so involved in the missiledefense of hawaii. Missile defense in general. We have you we have north calm, endo Missile Defense agency, do you have some concerns about how all of you are coordinating and coming up with the plan that we need for Missile Defense . Senator i think we communicate very well with eachher. I think we all understand the priorities i have not seen any place where having multiple agencies responsib presenting a challenge. I am very acutely o aware and i watch for veryer closely. As i mentioned that is going to be pre month which is the timeframe for that plan i assume it will reflect the input from all of you. General richardson china is building that is expected to open this november and will be the first south american port controlled by china. This is just one example of chinas growing influence in ties. Controlling Critical Minerals and establishing port and space facilities. Thisnd global order. General, what changes are you seeing in the regionge as a result of the growing influence and what steps taking to counter chinas influence in latin america . Thank you senator. Weed with increase in funding last year from the United States congress us and others receive defense that went to secure cooperation programs and also with flexible authorities. So that was extremely helpful. And it allows us to be very responsive to being able to help our partner. To counter the influence of china. And so i went to thank you that. Our ability to respond and be responsive these heads of state are generally in the seatea for one term of 14 years they are work on aworking to stop watch another calendar aing to show progress in months not years and really appreciate that listening. You mentioned we have provided additional resources. Do you think we are doing enough enough . Because china is from my perspend of pacifict area we note the influence is in the Pacific Islander nations for example now they are in latin america or good enough to address all of the longterm focus that china has both parts of the world . O, through all of the instruments of a power of team usa and bringing those together the chairman brought up the partnership a invest to invest in the western hemisphere is hugehemisphereis huge it is just a start. I would recommend that that is something very similar to the t economic recovery act of butpic this economic recovery for the region due to the impacts of covid what it did to the economies of the region. And now the transnational ation is taken advantage of this. This is the first start with 11 heads of state from latin america we are here in washingt for this program that was rolling out billions of dollars for ic Critical Infrastructure investments by the u. S. Ood path but a third of our latin american leaders with this economic investments. I would say inationaurity rests on their economicur security. We can do more and through this program if we can build this out we would be on a good path with partners in our shared neighborhood so close to our homeland. That aspect of work with latin American Allies is really with questions from senator king . It requires us to really Pay Attention to some other aspects such as going after the criminal forces. Is there an intergovernmental s task force of some sort you are all working together to include dod, d guard . We are working together. There needs to be more focused. More particular grouping. To get after the problem sets i would say from a Money Laundering to the drug and not just the semi submersible that has exploded with counter narcotics. But getting to where its produced. And so the work we have done in columbia has been very effective. The amounts are only increasing. We have got to figure out weve got to follow this money and get after pcos as a holistic more filled out robust program. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chairman. Senator budmore filled out robust program. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator bud please. Thank you chairman its my understanding that spent a lot of drone incursions on the southern border. Had and what are they doing . The number of and incursions that are number alarming to me as i took command last month. I do not the actual number. I dont think any it is in the thousands. Ive talked to customs and Border Protection who are responsible you a s incursions in the border along with d. O. J. But the numberhat number off time is it in the thousands . Over one month. We could probably have over 1000 a month. Do they in your view represent Homeland Defense threat . They alarmed from being the po person responsible for Homeland Defense. I have not seen any of them manifest into a t of National Defense but i see the potential only growing. General, continuing on with a different topic do you consider eagle to be ocapable aircraft . Are there particular characteristics for theac f15 that makee defense . Senator the strike eagle is a phenomenal aircraft. What makes it applicable in our theater is the same thing thatke makes it applicable around the world. It is its versatility. In many wayss on match air to ground and in many ways air to air it has a phenomenal radar electrically scanned which slow and low radar crosssection such as drones or other threats like cruise missiles the strike eagle is a fantastic aircraft. Thank you fiscal year 25 budget air force plans to divest 26 f15 Strike Eagles at the same time it is buying a expected f35 f15 and other fighters it has me very concerned. Not just for homelan and the descriptions you shared a moment ago. But including potential conflict with china. And also for responses to crises and other geographic combatant command. So if you would agree to keep your on that and share it with us concerns as they arise. I will senator pick changing topics general you mentioned tcos a minute ago. Like the mexican drugartels theythat often move not just drugs and a lethal fentanyl but they move people. Many proceed without your areas of responsibility. Section 1068 of the fiscal year 2024 nda eight requirese to submit a plan for coordinating defense partners in north and south america and supporting inter Human Trafficking including Human Trafficking by tcos. Haveve either of you been consulted general richardson will start with you. We work migration every day in the United States having command and for this past year the trilateral agreement United States government has with panama a aware of the migration. Beyond general awareness secretary of defense is required to submi coordinating with defense partners are you working on that plan . Im not specifically working on that plan for the department of defense. That. Senator, the same answers we are not working directly we are in support of the department. Not to you but to the department of defense and secretary, that is disappointing. I would like to followup with both you and the department on this to make sure that begins to get implemented so we can begin stopping the illegal flow of dead drugs ing of humans. You know, thats big business for the cartels instability in countries across our hemisphere. So what efforts beyond that plan since that is not yet been developed, what efforts are already underway with you or your parties to address Human Trafficking, general richardson . Thank you senator and im not aware that the is not, the report could very well be the well along its way. We are just not actively working on it from our times the joint staff and the osd will work those things to allow us to continue to execute our daily missions. But we are working very closely because i have the very end in my aor which is a huge Human Trafficking area. And youre exactly rig and youreht exactly right in terms of the Transnational Criminal Organization thats got more powerful with 300 billion annual revenue business. They traffic humans, drugs lithium, all kinds of counterfeit goods and only getting more powerful. The colombian military, the operations to go after the criminal networks that are doing these criminal activities as well as o going after criminal networks in panama. In the interest of time i would like to continue discussions perhaps offline forou your efforts and trafficking in north common. Thank you. Thank you mr. Chairman. General richardson, great to see both of you. Yesterday we were talking a little bitbout haiti and the situation on the ground being chaotic and running rampant in the capital and they paused of the agreement to y send the Police Officers until the government would be put into place. A number of Americans Still remain in haiti and some may be looking to leave. T some are concerned the u. S. Has notac initiated and an evacuation out of haiti. A general, have you been tasked to operate and evacuation . As a part of the wide range of contingency plans we are ready for the activation ifave other plans ready to go as we always do and keep the plans refreshedand over. So we are ready at any time for any type of crisis. You say youre ready now but are there any additional preparations in the event that this becomes necessity . Increasing the security and a little bit of thes expanding that and we need to expand from there. E put in all of the necessary measures that are necessary for any of the things to be activated. Be Mission Planning currently underway. We absolutely. General i just monday morning got back from a trip where i was able to see firsthand some of the efforts to recruit pursue our objectives and the concern and a great example making the arctic more accessible to everyone including russia and china. Theres other natural ensure that a free and peaceful arctic benefits the United States and partners and allies. To use the arctic as a staging ground in addition to the critical defense and deterrent for the homeland but they seek to control the region. Weve made Real Progress in combating russian influence in the arctic over the last year with finland, sweden joining nato. Now as every country with a border as part of nato with the exception of russia. In the illegally in a brutal invasion of ukraine id like to detail what you t thinkhe nato strategy should look like ineg the arctic. Thanks for visg forces. As you eat eluded to it is an extremely important operation that demonstrates th capability of all the other aircraft and forces. As far as do or should do with nato in the arctic you described exercises that we are doing on what i w call the alaska side where the 10 00 approach. Weve also had some success on the 2 00, the northeast a just last week for the first time in over two years the russians send them down along that avenue through the gap greenland and iceland and the United Kingdom approaching end of thehe United States identification t zones. Havent seen this activity in over two years. We were able to track them the entire time thanks to the networon sharing between countries. Norway is one that i will point out and Northern Command so we activity. Whatt range were you able to intercept them . Nt have to because we had aircraft flying to the point we would intercept them before they crossed the identification zone and the turnaround prior to reaching the zone and so we so we had aircraft both canadian and u. S. Clustered along the line which i to the russians to fly all that way to find out that we are waiting for them. Would you say that is due to the nato cooperation . And the arctic have you seen advancements by the chinese . What ive seen is a willingness and desire to act. Weve seen them in the maritime and weve seen them under the cloud of technical orse Scientific Research but we think its certainly multimission to include military and i think to see the air activity in the alaska part of the arctic as soon a this year potentially its a very big concern of mine. Thank you to you and your teams for your service to the country. Id like what senator kelly began to talk about with regards to haiti. It seems me there may not have been any advance notice requesting additional followup with regards to the operation in haiti. Wouldnt that seem to be kind of appropriate if you receive something wooden that may be give you the opportunity to notify the individuals responsible for providing the resources necessary to do your duty to be ready to go . It doesnt seem to me they could be high alert all the time. Could you expand on that we are not ready were nobodys asked uss to be ready or anything like that weve been discussing that and talking about that and ive been talking with our joint staff chairman and secretary of defser the past two weeks about all of the range of plans that we might have to do and dimensions of the missions of extracting from nonessential personnel. Ready to go and have all of our plans ready to go. Also i noted with regards to Transnational Criminal Organizations cells of the border both have some responsibilities with re of the command or weve already authorized the use of our cyber teams to be able to find out in advance and know who these people are and how the so forth so now we will fund thatt part of the operation so countries that want our expertise in finding outut more about these organizations that that is available to them. With Fighter Aircraft by the air about how the air a National Guard who shoulder a significant portion of the burden of Homeland Defense how they will be ableyou in that capacity. I bringe resourcing receives, the resourcing that the air national e incongruent with their Mission Assignments which include both the Aerospace Control alert Defense Strategy using the same resources and then also the joint force and that national Defense Strategy. Im just curious are you involved in any planning or discussions with the secretary as they discussed the plan for longerm structure, and if not i would encourage your involvement. Can you share more about your co out the outstanding contributions. We cannot conduct the mission without them. They are not only the cornerstone, they provide 20 different sites that you mentioned, 24 7 capability to respond because of the importance. About the commitment to the air force to that to happen with of the future as we draw down capabilities into bringing on new capabilities for the collaborative combat aircraftn the next generation dominance. The general was very clear that he supports the mission and understand is no failed mission and then he invited me to be a part of the future discussion somehow they incorporate the capabilities. We have to be ablorate into have to have the resources to do that. General richardson, we discussed of the growing footprintrd and it is in the region. One of the main tools you would have at your disposal as we discussedn my office i section 333 of title ten that helped build the unfortunately section 333 requires you to navigate and both of the department of defense and the department of make use of this authority. It is not agile and is not very quick. Ironically the party is not bogged down by the same bureaucratic inertia. How important is the authority to your mission and how can a be improved . It is my main level in the racooperation, senator. The 333 as we call it and the ability to be able to, i have a 333 package and right now thats navigating all that itha needs to fer prc effort e on port scanners for example. The dealing of data to be able to put a u. S. Company to be able to do the scanning in and out of cargoxtremely important and so the 333 authorities of being responsive is extremely important and i appreciate the help and emphasis on those authorities. Thankou you mr. Chairman. You mentioned the importance of the challenges we face in a previous question and how we need to seek ways to address that and make additional investments in the arctic resilient platforms as well as atcoldweather training which is essential for the troops. A key portion of the coldweather training is completed every winter during the Northern Strike at the National Work fighting center in michigan that we are blessed with cold weather during the winters and provides a great training opportunity. So my question for you general is while the summer training portion is extensive and i believe the winter has great expansion opportunities to provide costeffective coldweatheri[ training. So how can we grow the arctic training through exercises like Northern Strike to support the priorities of the National Security strategy . Senator i would be a strong proponent of doing exactly as you stated. I have as i visited alaska in about a week into my command to assess many of the areas that you discussed wasme the forces are extremely well trained and equipped with the right equit operate but they are probably very well trained and not equipped and havent trained in that environment so anything that we could do for the supplementing forces or those that would go into the t arctic training them either in the arcticonment or something as you describe that could replicate that. Quipment to doo we need to develop an issue so we s can seamlessly operate in that strategic environment. The state National Guard units with Global Partners and 9 the program certainly has been invaluable in strengthening the relationship with part of the nations including self calms 29 active participants. As a part of the state Partnership Program the embassies ideally have a Bilateral Affairs Office Working as a conduit between as well as the partner country. Despite what i believe is i a Critical Role, they often cited vacant forcing the commanders to use the bills to pay for these. My question for you general is first off, what role do the Bilateral Affairs officers play in successfully implementing t we address the gaps that exist to ensure that they are filled and we can get the maximum utility out of these partnerships . . Thank you senator. I way to say that the program has the Largest Program among geographic commands, and we are very grateful for that program. Its a huge h enabler. Synchronize the activity of the National Guard program with the operations activities and investments i have so it is a Critical Role and weve got to keep them and with of the Theater Maintenance Partnership Initiative which is a program that we are rolling out with to putrs my name is centers of excellence in the region and this ishe partner nation militaries into the military academies with program of instruction to teach and train maintenance and the culture of maintenance but at a tactical level all the way up to be an operational level. I appreciate that and a question i have as well the training of five times more than caribbean military officers what are the risks associated with continuing to allow the chinese education exchanges to outpace what we are providing and how can congress support the command and countering the challenge . The prc is using the playbook againsts us into the paid training exchanges for a year to two years to china and each is that we are able provide the program for professional military education. When you dont speak the language or speak in the language and i would say that there areis defense andev about 15 chiefs of defense that have been to the United States schools. So youve already b i dont have to build the trust over a year. If theyve been to the schools i would say we need to continue to sustain that and increase the program. Before the remarks and questions are answered i want to Say Something about with the majority leader said on the senate floory. Now. Calling for a new israeli government, this is coercion of a dangerous and undemocratic. If Chuck Schumer doesnt like netanyahu, it doesnt matter. We should respect it should be respected by the government. America should stand strongly with of the leadership and not threaten it. I personally hope is destroys and kills every hamas terrorist 30s. First off, thanks to both of you for your service. I want to sayay a few things beforeme i the National Security interest means it must be made laserol focused on the hard facts and not only with the oiadversaries are doing but wt they are capable of doing. The violence and unrest is heartbreaking. A symptom of unrest that only continues to grow under the administrations. Not only is the administration taking an active role in destabilizing by venezuela and nicaragua but it appears it is totally unprepared to deal with the consequences of the unrest the regimes create and support. The policies in the United States cannot be that we let everyone unleaded every time theres turtle around the world. That is whatro President Biden has done with 8 Million People withdrawal from afghanistan with 90,000 people coming in. Not only does this administration open up the floodgates for people who dont know d anything about what we believe in to come to the country, President Biden and democrats on every level of government give these individuals cash lawyers Everything Else paid for by the u. S. Taxpayer. The entire Biden Administration can be summed up as this. Illegal immigration here and then forced the American People to pay for the unrest, he humanitarian crisis and mask border crossings as a resi and cant be our answeror to the chaos in haiti and its worth knowing all of this works like china, russia and iran. Working every day to expand the foothold and increase the availability. For self u calmly see iran infiltrating the region at communist chinese initiatives like the belt and eroded other and influence in latin america with massive debt. For north common we see the al warfare going after the supply chains and taking advantage of the open border. We are even seeing the adversaries undermining into spending the region places like the arctic bringing the militaries closer to the u. S. A couple of questions. General richardson lets start with haiti. A breaking point. We have a lot ofin haitian families and compassion. They worry about how the instability in the region to not nclude south come theater could possibly. I spoke with the coast guard last night and would like to hear from you wha y address the possibility that may not only impact florida but other bases within the caribbean, what are the options to us with the assets and capabilities . In terms of the mass migration, we did a we have our contingency plan and we did a blog last summer on naval stations, Guantanamo Bay and thatn with all the interagency to walk through all the processes and ensure that all the steps that are necessary to take place are actually place and everything is refreshed, the equipment everything is ready to go. So as we work throu contingency plans i assure you the department of defense is ready to go. Second question for general richardson, i worked on the dual use amendment in fiscal year 23 and allows where enemies in china, russia, iran. I ask air force leadership about the future homestead and having a Permanent Mission at the base. He assured me he was committed to having a platform out of the homestead. Can you talk about the value base and why we needed . Its a great staging platform. When i was in north common my previous job we staged out of the homesteads for the response into the bahamas for the damage that was done by hurricane dorian. We launched the mission by special Operations Command and we staged the two missions we conducted this past the ability for the department of defense to have homestead as a staging base and to be able to jump and respond to humanitarian assistance and Disaster Response type activities is helpful. I think both of you. Thank you senator scott. Thank you mr. Chair and thank you to the witne service. I want to begin with you. My colleagues and i on the committee have recently discussed with respect to drone threats and recognizing we are in an unclassified setting. What can you tell me about how they are addressing this issue and with what partners are you working thisen as a part of my 90 day assessment the counter mission has dominated that so far in the first month. Of course i knew it was an issue coming from another combat and command where we faced that threat inn a very different way because theon environment but i wasnt prepared for the number of incursions that i see. Into the events at the joint base and im using t centerpiece to see where they d can and should do more as this capability outstrips the operational framework that we have to address it. Can you talk aboutt other partners that youre working is sort of a Law Enforcement component of this s so who else is working with you on this . The department of Homeland Security end of the department of justice along the border have the primary responsibility. Thats who im working with, and of the tts the services that have the responsibility for defending their bases. So working with each individual service and then also begin the department of Homeland Security and energy per specific Critical Infrastructure locations. Those are the primary ones. Thank you for that. Now a question for both of you. The importance was mentioned by the general last week. You mentioned it in richardson, you and i talked about it last week when we were together. The programs not only increase interoperability and strengthen partnerships but can help reduce the partners reliance upon strategic competitors as well. What are counterparts about fms and i want to recognize in the short tenure thats been other issues but could you talk about this . It is a critical enabler and with being able to equipment have uptodate equipment and then having u. S. Equipment and beingng interoperable and that sort of thing imperative, so with secretary alston and the chairman instituting to speed up the processes over the past two years i would say weve got to streamline that because its not just the department of defense that has a stake in that so weve got to streamline that process a little bit better and speeded up. We talked last week in my office about the potential synergy between the state Partnership Programpe discussing. Can you talk about that and whether it could support or a complement of the priorities that we have . Absolutely that is the whole reason for it where we have u. S. Equipment in these countries and so it part of our u. S. Military andnd its hard for the partners silver turnover we always have people coming out and leaving the military so theres a constant turnover you have to have a Teaching Program at the tactical level and so the initiative that you mentioned the nexus theres tons of maintainers and then National Guard so it is a very simple and easy way to teach and train to try to align with of the Capacity Building as well. Last question i would like to ask, one of the best advantages we have in region is the peace and security agenda. You have made this a priority in your travel. Can you speak on the impacts that the initiatives are having within the country . Thank you for theioun resolution 1325 for the womens peace and security, so in every visit i do in the countries we have a womens the great thing is we get a what i call a twofer for the profession as well wefe have many women and enlisted leaders that are in the military formations. They are both rock star programs must say and the partner nations in the diversity to increase in their have realized they continue on a really t good path. Thank you. I yield back. Mr. Chairman. One guards their front door and one guards the back and how important that is in this day time. We see the change in the government. Itmaybe the direction they are going. On the first day of my command i met with of the minister the minister of National Defense minister blair and the chief of the Defense Staff in Colorado Springs and we talked about canadas commitment to norad and they told me at that time that they were committed with funding aligned for over the horizon radar f35 p8 and p935p8and p9 and all of those will have benefits to us in the Homeland Defense mission that we share. Since the first day ive seen nothing but a strong commitment from the partners for modernizing and working together to defend th homelands. Are you getting any pushback from the northern Northern Borders is important and we hear a lot of people. Have you had any conversations with any of your counterparts . Although a the customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security haveot requested support its something i watch very closely number one as potential threats to and i have a frequent discussion with w cbp and at the Intel Community to see if there are any threats that are coming through and of course it is a Strong Partner like canada, so so youre getting corporations. And keeping a strong sense of situational awareness. General richardson, one of the most important resources for us in Central America, give us e kind of conflict all over the world would we be able to use panama canal . We have a Strong Partnership that only continues to improve butt my concern as a prc enterprise that is on either side the canal so that Strategic Communication and would be concerned about that and am, and as a result we watch it very closely senator. Nk the security there is adequate, above and beyond where we would be able to use it . For the military applicationsns required and so the proximity that has to the panama canal is a concern to doubt on the ability to secure that and our ability to defend that as required. I know the last time i was down there they were doing a lot of work they dont know whether you keep up wit that or not. They arere building a fourth bridge across the so we absolutely track everything that is done with of the panama canal and work with our authorities and partners as we watch all of this activity that takes place and continues totoak place. Have you or any of your staff visited where we have all the immigrants coming from south america to north america . I visited several times both on the colombian side and panama all side and ive been to the base at columbia and panama all shared together and conduct joint operations. Where is the funding coming from that . In terms of the operations that columbia conducts and comes from the resourcing they have further military from the forces and from the Security Cooperation funds in south calm. I saw your budget and theres no doubt both of you are so important to the prote the country. We just voted to give 60 million to ukraine. I wish it would have gone to you all. Ive seen your budgets and things that you use to in the north north to south and what you do is amazing that we need to help you we really do. Thank you chairman read. Of course Ranking Member for holding this hearing and i would like to thank general richardson for testifying today and of course for your service to the nation. Reallyci appreciate it. Im going to hit on the forces because as russia continues its war in ukraine and china acts with increasing the indo pacific both countries are taking steps for na the National Security right here at home and can north calm adapt its posture to proactively detour and respond to the increasinpresence and capabilities off the coast and within northrica. The best way for us to counter them is to have presence of our own so the execution of all domains is extremely important primarily focusing right now in the region of alaska because the number of incursions by russian aircraft and then the number of maritime the strong presence both the chinese and russians have and at the same thing applies on what we call the 2 00 approach making sure that we have presence. That is the best way to counter and part of that being exercised as strong, multinational. A lot of partners showing we have the results to defend thatarea. Thank you. Im going to move on again talking about a Cyber Security because this is a big part our Homeland Security system as well. Can you talkor about how north calm is currently addressing the cybersecurity threa and cands of posturing and in your opinion could the creation of a new unified command specifically responsible for defveer operations could ensure a comprehensive and actually cohesive defense posture against the cyber adversaries . In my previous response i should have mentioned a cyber because that is the most prevalent threat that we see on a daily basis. We see the maritime occasionally and they are important but every day we have state actors and china that are attempting to get on the department of defense networks. The strength that we have three Cyber Command and detecting and defeating those threats is whats keeping us operational. Northern commands role is first and foremost for the systems that we use inside to operate and we have four Different Networks protect. Beyond that is anything with a department of defense nexus we work with Cyber Command to make sure all of those are addressed and at the third thing we do we workll of the fbi and Strong Partnership of both of them and ive already met with both of we help other members of the Infrastructure Community and if they need dod support its synchronized and presented to protect them. For the question about a separate command i would need to l into it but my initial response which have served the relationship and support phenomenal. I would hesitate to do anything that bifurte from all offensive or defensive cyber ame leadership because its worked well for us in the previous job of Central Command and also in the Northern Command. So always looking to improve but its something ive looked closely because c Cyber Command in my opinion has been a tremendous partner. Ar thank y thats really valuable and i appreciate it. Im going to move on to you and talk a little bit about with the departmentdepa increasingly making investments focused on countering peoples republic of china. Do you have concerns regarding th in the south area of responsibility or itbi is the gap addressed by the diversity of the force thae recruit . The spanish predominantly and the portuguese and brazil. A lot of the linguists speak spanish as well as languages as well. Its a matter of making sure we register the personality mandated requirements all the time in the region, and weve got to keep these positions filled. Speak about the panamae prc investments so it is important to have possibly more than spanish and portuguese even in that area b know our adversaries are also there as well. Thank you. I appreciate the time. Anticipate that senator schmidt will arrive shortly, and i will take this opportunity to ask questions. General, as you know, congress has been taking exclusive military use a to share it to the department. Can you tell what impact that would have on your operations . Senator, sharing or yielding the spectru Significant Impact on the homelandac defense systems. We can use it mutually. Is that something that you can do . Senator, excuse me, chairman in the initial review, the 24 7 on alert responsibility for defending the homeland i would need full access t various systems. Weve made it very clear we would need 24 7 access to those frequency ranges. General richardson, the chinese influence and russian influence in your area of command is focused on so many things, but one of the things is the strategic miner have you seen a noticeable concentration and focus to try to identy and control these Strategic Minerals . Yes, chairman and especially with our the u. S. Ambassadors and argentina and also chile lithium triangle is comprised of argentina bolivia and chile. 60 of the that region and the aggressive nature of which the prc works to extract that as well as gold and copper for the region. As we spokeof the Development Bank could help Nonchinese Companies acquire these and process is that accurate . This would all be part of that initiative similar to what i mentioned before on the economic recovery act of 1948 which was the marshall plan, and at that initiative, the American Partnership for Economic Prosperity through the iddm invest program and the American Development bank and the Developmental Finance Corporation and infusion of billions of dollars into technology, clean energy and digital technology. Thank you very much. I will recognize senator schmidt and if senator king has additional questions i will recognize him after. Thank you mr. Chairman. General, i wanted to ask about the increase and by some accounts a tenfold increase in a number of chinese nationals that have come across the southern border. Its a whatever account theres a lot of chinese nationals coming across in the last year. Flying in and out of china is not like that come to st. Louis. Its a much different ideal. What is some content thats being pushed through the social Media Channels and vulnerabilities of the border, imhe certainly concerned about espionage operations. What information do we have about who these people are what activities are taken taking place when they cross the southern border. If you could speak to that. The short time ive been in command ive gone down to the southern border to talk to the agents and leadership and also ive spoken with the acting commissioner on the specifically it is centralized and number two while Many Political refugees and other explanations for counterintelligence to hide in plain sight and those numbers. So we have the interagency Intelligence Community and receive frequent briefings in the headquarters on has been apprehended and at the potential of that threat that youve described. What coordination is taking place here . Just in the last four months and in california alone and the numbers ive be a concentration and coordinated again getting in and out of thehe peoples republic of china. What hou heard about the coordinated activities and are we awares of any specifics on their part or parts of the interior of the United States for sensitive military . With the use of flying from china into tijuana and then across. And i think what you are eluding to come and we talked to talk to the partners about this, how the surges seem to be coordinated using social media primarily by the cartels to drive the migrants to be similar to squeezing the balloon. Where we squee down with command and control usually primarily with social media im told know to go to the other areas. So role is we are in support of the customs and Border Protection for the detection and monitoring alongside about 2500 military members from the army and the marine corps. Theyve worked very closely to pick up where the surges are and the gaps for the monitoring equipment to alert their Law Enforcement sidede of border to make the apprehensions. I look forward to working with you on that and continuing that dialogue for what is happening. I think it is dangerous situation he had with my limited time, one last question as far as the drone activity that we see at the t southern borde presumably being coordinated by the cartels. What other information can you share . Are they tracking Border Patrol agents, but is the sort of drone acre they seeking to discover i asked the same questions to the commissioner. The overall majority of the activity that they see thehe incursions our spotters trying to find gaps, finding out where they are. Thats the minority. There is a smaller number that are probably moving narcoticsross the border. And then the drones themselves. Thats right. The last thing theres a lot of activity thats doing the same thing to try to find aware that activity is and make sure that we are prepared to stop it. Thank you mr. Chairman. Senator you have another question . A followup on that tion about coordination. I understand theres interdiction in the kennedy that is led by the coast guard. Could we follow to include all the a other agencies that talk about how to better coordinate the responses at the border . Is that something you are willing to work on . The Interdiction Committee is is coming up and that includes all of the interagency. I will adjourn the open session and we will reconvene its sustained this nation and set an example that we admire with that i will adjourn the open session [inaudible conversations] the greatest town on earth is the place you call home and a spark light is our home to and we are facing our greatest challenge thats why we work around the clock to keep you connected spark light supporting cspan as a Public Service along with these other television s givi