Transcripts For CSPAN3 Army Air Force Confirmation Hearing 20240714

Yes, we are one minute late. The Committee Meets to consider the nomination of mrs. Barbara barrett to be secretary of the air force. And miss Ryan Mccarthy to be secretary of the army. Thank you for being here today. We have the standard questions that whether you like it or not, you have to answer, answer audibly so it can be heard. I would appreciate it very much. If you adhere to the applicable laws and regulations governing the conflicts of interest. Yes,. Yes, sir. Will you ensure that ur yo staff complies with deadlines established for requesting communications, including questions for the record in hearings. Yes. Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and briefers in response to congressional requests. Yes. Will those witnesses be protected from reprisal for the testimony and briefings. Yes. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify upon request before this committee . Yes senator. And do you agree to provide documents including copies of electronic forms of communication in a time hi manner when requested by a, due hi Constitutional Committee or to consult with the Committee Regarding the basis for any good faith they or providing all such documents. Yes, senator. Have you assumed any duties or under taken any actions which would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation proses . No, senator. As is often said, i really believe were in the most dangerous situation weve been in in this world in my lifetime, and even if i ever thought id look back wistfully at the days of the cold war i would have thought things will have to be real bad. We do have Serious Problems that are unprecedented. We have a National Defense strategy. We dont is our nds book. But this is unique. Its something where the democrats and republicans got together. And it was total agreement on the strategy that we would use. And so we are locked in pretty much to that. China and russia have passed this in key areas, and theyre catching up in others, theres a time when we had our launch superiority that we dont have any more. And we dont know how thats changing. Its a moving target. When President Trump assumed office, americas main focus was counter terrorismment but today, the United States is properly focused on the security challenges that we face. Years of budget cuts under the Obama Administration left our military in a readiness crisis, the last administration that thought we could cut our Defense Budget by hundreds of billions of dollars while fighting two wars and everything would turn out. However, that isnt the case. This is kind of a surprising thing. I see that senator wicker is not here yet. But he came up with a document that after i checked it out, i believe it to be true. That during the time that we were cutting our budget, between fiscal years 2010 and 2015, by some 25 , china was increasing during that time period, theirs by 83 . People not aware of this. They dont know thats going on. But these cuts left our military in a predicament that will take years to fix fortunate hi. We got a good start in fiscal year 18. Fiscal year 19 we made great advances, we want to continue those advances. Were looking forward to the todays hearing and the two of you will be, if confirmed, will be maying a major role in fixing something thats broken right now. Senator reid. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman, i join you in welcoming secretary mccarthy and ambassador barrett to the hearing and id like to welcome secretary mccarthys family, his wife, sister, and brother inlaw chase, and ambassadors family. Were all pleased you could be here this morning. Secretary mccarthy as we consider your nomination, i know you have a wealth of experience and have served admirably as the under secretary of the army, if confirmed as the next secretary of the army you will be responsible in assuring that the army modernizes and innovates in order to support the National Defense strategy. You work closely with sykes per and secretary esper. The single command for all modernization efforts. Secretary mccarthy, what i ask that you share this morning what you have learned today from these efforts, delivering cutting age capabilities to the war fire is critical for our country to compete with a near peer threat. Modernized military platforms and upgraded equipment for soldiers will be pointless without the training necessary to prevail on the battle field. As such readiness remains the armys highest priority. Secretary mccarthy, i hope youll share what you will do to ensure the army is focused on readiness if youre confirmed by the senate. Hand in hand with readiness. The armys success is dependent upon the men and women who serve in uniform and the civilians working in the department of the army, recently theyve had challenges meeting recruitment goals, they should remain focused on quality rather than quantity. If youre confirmed i suppose youll monitor this situation. Barrett, youll face issues concerning the department of the air force. As the air force implements guidance establishing a space force. Doing this correctly will have great influence on our ability to challenge near peer competitors. The a air force has been heavily involved over seas since 9 11 and laboring under day today performance. Given the concerns about the readiness of demoed and nondeployed forces the next secretarys efforts in managing improvements in the force and supporting structure will be critical. The secretary of the air force should focus on improving readiness of existing forces in addition, the next secretary must focus on modernization. Over a number of years, senior leaders, expressed concerns about the size and modernization of the air force. As complicated as it is to increase the number of aircraft were buying, buying more is not enough. The air force must also buy the right tops of aircraft the air force is on the threshold of modernizing several capabilities. The Ballistic Missile force and the advanced Battle Management system that will place Ground Surveillance planes with a new census. The Service Secretary is not under the but ther is are Service Sector plays a Critical Role in budget and requirements decisions that drive Acquisition Program this is committee will look to you for contributions in balancing air force resources against air force needs and ensuring that you have the acquisition work force the Department Needs to get the job done. Again, let me thank you mr. Chair for holding this hearing and i hook forward to hearing from the nominees. Thank you, senator a reid. Jerry mccarthy, the introduction of you is not really necessary. Youve worked for what, two years as the under secretary in the same position, you certainly know it well. However, we do have senator mcsally has requested to introduce mrs. Barrett. And i know you dont object to that, senator mcsally. Well, thank you, Ranking Member reid, its with great pride that i sit before you this morning to introduce fell low arizonan and my personal friend, ambassador Barbara Barrett as the nominee to be the next secretary of our air force. Many of us know barbara for outstanding accomplishments in leadership from the Business World to academia to international diplomacy. Including the deputy federal aviation administrator. Serving as the u. S. Am bass tore to fin hand here time with the u. S. Mission at the united nations. These positions make her a phenomenal choice to heed a military service branch. But her unique experiences are what make her the best choice to heed our air force at this important time in history. First and foremost, shes a pie hot herself. So she thinks in three dimensions. She always hooks up. And shares a passion for flying. With the airmen she would lead. Next, ambassador barrett has vast Management Experience including heeding teams think change. As the interim president of the thunder bird school of Global Management she was responsible for producing the next generation of global thinkers and leaders this global out hook will be vital for our air force as we adapt to face a are resurgence of Great Power Competition in the threats they pose to the world. Barbara has been a key member of the community for years giving her a firsthand understanding of navigating commercial partnership to give airmen the best practices they need when they need it and where they need it. Shes worked at several organizations, the air force looks to for analysis. Like serving as a ceo of the air Space Corporation a Nonprofit Corporation based in california that operates a federal hi funded research and Development Center for the space enterprise, she served on the board of rand. One of the most influential think tanks for military studies. When asked to serve on the defense board, barbara tackled the tough task of improving Business Practices as a whole. This macro Level Analysis experience will enable her to ensure air force can meet and defeat any threat any where any time. Ambassador barrett has been involved in many institutions focused on advocacy and education for air and space. Serving on the boards of the national air and space museum, sally ride science and the space foundation. Nearest and dearest to my heart is ambassador barrett played a role in one of the biggest paradigm shifts the military experiences in the last three decades, expanding air combat rolls for women. As the only female pilot serving on the Defense Advisory Committee on women in services, she was instrumental in eck mending that women be allowed to compete for and fly in combat. In fact, the leadership of this very committee opposed the recommendations at the time. Dont worry, the full senate over ruled the opposition. I dont take that personally. But paving the way for thousands of women like me. To serve our country with distinction in air combat. We now know the wisdom of these decisions in part because of these changes, our military is more effective and more lethal than ever before. Picking the best man for the cockpit even if shes a woman. Its because of individuals like ambassador barrett that i was able to attend the air force academy and be the first to fly in combat and later command the fighter squadron. And this led to other airmen being able to meet their full potential. None of these first women possible had it not been for the experience, advocacy and the grit owe of women like barbara baser, proposing new solutions to an outdated way of thinking. Im grateful for barbara for her work to allow women like me step up and serve their country. And im honored to continue the proud tradition of arizona women in aerospace. As we sit in this body that makes important decisions, these types of decisions, i continue to be inspired by barbaras example, who isnt afraid to question the status quo, look for improvements, think strategically and acknowledge that doing things the way theyve always been done in the past may not be good enough any more. Its a personal understanding of what airmen need. Intimate knowledge of the industry that support them, competence and passion for air and space domains. That make ambassador barrett the best candidate to lead our air force today and tomorrow. Ive been blessed to get to know barbara as a friend. And i believe shes the perfect fit for this job. And i advocated to President Trump for that nomination and im grateful that he has nominated her. From our years of friendship, i can tell you that shes a woman of character, vision, smarts and a true leader who cares deeply about our country, military, and air force. With all shes accomplished, she did not have to answer this call. She is not seeking thissing dah. Yet she was willing to give these years of her life to share her immense experience and heed our air force into the future. Barbara truly embodies the air force core values of integrity first. Service before self. And excellence in all we do. And will inspire airmen as they train and fight to keep us safe. I whole heartedly support her nomination, i hope each member of the committee will join me, thank you mr. Chair and Ranking Member reid for the opportunity to make the introduction. With that, its my mesh to introduce my friend, ambassador Barbara Barrett. Thats great. Thank you senator mcsally. Beautiful introduction. We will now have Opening Statements from our nominees. And keep in mind that your entire statement will be made part of the record. So you dont need to go over the whole thing. Just abbreviate it as best you can. And i invite you to introduce any of your friends or family who have come to support you this morning. Secretary, mccarthy. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member reid and members of the committee. Its an honor to come before you as the president s nominee for secretary of the army. I have testified previously in front of this committee and i hold it in the highest regard. I want to thank secretary esper for his confidence and the president for nominating me. Yesterday as we do err year, we paused in remembrance of the 9 11 attacks to honor souls lost on that day and the subsequent 18 years of war. Just as the pentagon building bears the physical scars of the attack, well never forget. 18 years ago today i was beginning my preparation to demo for the afghanistan invasion. That day fundamental hi changed my life and has brought me to this moment. Troops bedeployed in combat operations will remain my primary focus. Id like to recognize my wife jennifer who joins me here today, she along with our daughter alexandra and the rest of my family serve as the bedrock to who i am as a person providing me with strength and motivation to be the best husband, father, and man that i can be. To my parents, david and kathleen. I want to publicly thank them for their love, support, and enduring guidance my entire life. And my sister, shannon, and my brotherinlaw, chase, thank you for being confidants and friends who were always there for me. Finally, i want to thank the committee for confidence and bipartisan support theyve shown the army and the department of defense with the committees top line mark which will provide the foundation for a budget deal that provides fiscal certainty in the fy 2020 and fy 2021. We will work to maximize the utility of every dollar. With ruthless prioritization and safeguard our most treasured national resource. The men and women serving in the army, da civilians and their families. I am an avid supporter of the National Defense strategy and will continue the prior torization. Our blueprint to minimize potential turbulence as a result of the transition of leaders, this strategy allows for a laser like focus against Great Power Competition while institutionalizing the hard Lessons Learned in counterinsurgency and the Violent Extremist Organization fight. If confirmed as secretary of the army, i will continue to champion the armys strategy and vision. With an emphasis on readiness, modernization, and reform. It is only through the care of our people that these priorities will be achieved. I am encouraged by their attention numbers as a measure of performance. In fy 19 the army met 100 of retention goals without waivers and were on track to retrieve our goal without dilution in quality. If confirmed i intend to assure soldiers and families have the researchers to thrive. Quality and safe housing, Reliable Health care, and access to child care. Taking care of the force leads to a better quality of life. Retention of world class soldiers, and ultimately, improve readiness. Im equally committed to the prevention of Sexual Assault and harassment in our formations. Which tears at the very fabric of our institution. Heeder ship at every level must build a team of teams, protecting our brothers and sisters to our left and right. Reinforcing theres no place for suicide and Sexual Assault and harassment in our army. If confirmed, the Army Leadership will continue to build upon the reform agenda weve established over the last 24 months. Significant work remains to solidify the Modernization Enterprise and finish what we collective hi started. Congressional support has immeasurably helped the army and i hook forward to working with this committee in congress to fulfilling the responsibility of providing the best manned, equipped, and trained force our nation needs to meet its objectives. Im grateful for your consideration of my nomination and i look forward to your questions. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Secretary. And mrs. Barrett. Chairman, Ranking Member reid, distinguished members of this important committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you with acting secretary of the army, Ryan Mccarthy. I appreciate your fast attention to our nominations, i hope to build a relationship with each of you should i be confirmed. I would like to thank the president for his nomination and the secretary of defense for the possible privilege to again serve our great nation. I would like to recognize my family who are here with me today, my husband craig, the love of my life. And the kind of guy you would want your son to grow up to be. Also, my sisters jill and patty and sisterinlaw lorrie who all traveled from western pennsylvania. Senator mcsally, thank you for your kind introduction as the first woman to fly an aircraft engaged in combat and also the first woman to lead a squadron in combat, you know firsthand what is required of our airmen. I am grateful for your confidence and your friendship. This committee profound hi understands the threats Great Power Competition presents so our national interests, as properly prioritized in the National Defense strategy, china and russia continually challenge free and open international order. Impose their authoritarian model beyond their borders and attempt to undermine long standing alliances. A recent independent bipartisan Strategy Commission appointed by congress concluded that the air force will be at the forefront of any future conflict. We cannot afford to lose our competitive edge. If confirmed, i would work with congress and the administration to build upon our manpower resources to meet our National Defense needs. The air force must not only retain its technical edge over potential adversaries but we must expand it. If confirmed, i will continue investments in modernization and advanced capabilities to better equip our airmen to prevail in the high end fight. While attending to readiness, modernization, and reform, i will also work closely with our allies and deepen global partnerships. If confirmed, standing up a space force would be a key imperative. I believe we need a space force. In fact, in my opinion, a domain specific service to organize, train, and equip space forces is over due. Most americans use space before their first cup of coffee in the morning. Space controls our electricity, our water, our Financial Transactions and of course navigation, information, and communication. While space is ubiquitous, its also invisible and often under appreciated. Americans, American National power depends upon space and our potential adversaries know it. We must be prepared to defend critical space assets, increase the resilience of our space enterprise. And be prepared to fight and win should deterrents fail. Finally, as we focus on organizing training and equipping for combat, we cannot ignore the Readiness Challenges close to home. We must support our airmen by addressing suicides, Sexual Assault, housing, and the quality of life. Much work has been done to address these serious issues, and if confirmed, i would support and fortify those efforts. Most americans tuck their kids in bed at night without a thought about foreign threat. Because brave men and women in uniform stand ready. Its because of their sacrifices that we all sheep well. As an aviator, i have a deep love and respect for the air force and the men and women, uniformed and civilian, who serve and their families, our dad, Robert Harvey mcconnell was a cowboy when he enlisted in the army core of engineers during world war ii. Long ago, he own stilled the importance of Public Service in us. As a result, i have always felt a duty to serve when called. I would consider it a supreme privilege and approximate a pivotal responsibility to lead our airmen and serve as the 25th secretary of the air force, i hook forward to your questions. Thank you miss barrett. During my opening comments, i talked a little bit about our haunch capabilities. And i regret that we were light years ahead, through the previous administration, we lost that edge. And we now have china, im very much concerned about what theyre doing. I mean they just keep rolling on and keep rolling on. Theyre developing technology that takes us a lot honger to we have a different system, you know, they give them a gun, go kill somebody. But thats not our system. So i would first of all ask you if you agree with the most recent National Security space launch acquisition efforts within the air force and the senate focus on staying the course on the launch Services Procurement as it is aligned today . Thank you, mr. Chairman. We dont get to space without effective space launch. Fortunately, in the recent past, weve developed not just a military and government capability but commercial capability as well. We still need to have government capability and im fully supportive of continuation of that capability through the military. And also, the fact that we stay on course in terms of our timing. Because any delay is going to put them that much further ahead. Do you agree with that . Absolutely. Thats one of your top priorities. Absolutely, senator. Thats good. I want to mention one other thing too. Theres a misunderstanding. We know that the air force has talked about needing 72 fighter aircraft, when they came out with the 60 f 35s and the f 15s the main problem we had at that time was the manufacturer. The contractor didnt have the capacity to get up any higher than that. Thats kind of a moving target right now. Were not sure where that is. But we have another situation and that is on the f 15s f 35s that are out there, any that we would get right now would be block three. And yet block four becoming next year. Whats your feeling on this situation today . As of where we are and where some of these problems affect our acquisition . Im on the outside and dont have inside knowledge about it. From the briefings ive received, the f 35 is our future and we need it. We need it and we need it sustainably. So getting more of the f 35s has been something that the air force has been working hard to do. And if confirmed, i would hook to continue that push to enhance the f 35. I remember because i was here at the time when we had the f 22 debate and the numbers that we were supposed to have and they dod down and i see i dont want that to happen again. We should have learned that by that time. Secretary mccarthy, you know the job. Youve been the under secretary for how long . 25 months. So you know problems out there. Were not able to meet our recruitment goals this last time. What looking at what were trying to do right now, one of the problems we is, right now we have the best economy, arguably, in my lifetime. Thats your competition out there. How do you overcome that . And are you going to be able to meet your goals . And if not, whats the fall back position . To your point, chairman, we policed on the active goal by 6500. In fy 18. So secretary esper and general milly we sat could be as a family and said we had to make a change. So we changed the strategy to focus on 22 cities across the continental United States. We needed a larger sample size. We needed to get greater penetration into demographics where we started to trail, with 3. 6 unemployment, theres never been a benchmark like that for us to face since 1969 and that was an all draftee military. So unique setting. Were competing with the air force, navy, and marine corps too. Theyre competitors, friends if you will, but were all competing in essentially the same pool. Weve gotten out on the road. Army leadership is meeting with mayors and superintendents of schools, and parks and recreation directors getting Civic Leaders to help us. We changed our marketing strategy. And were putting more funding and effort into digital marketing. So weve made a dramatic change and also looking at our voice. With over 150 different operational specialties, theres vast opportunity for americans to get an opportunity to get technical skills, money for education, and truly get out of an environment where they can reach the middle class. Which we often say in the army, its the escalator to the middle class. So changing the message was the key in communicating with the country. We didnt anticipate the economy we have today. We make the targets a year in advance. We had to make the adjustment. Its hard. You still need to grow with 60 of commanders requirements are the army worldwide. We have to dont to grow while demand remains so high. Thank you. Senator cane,. Thank you mr. Chair, congratulations to the nominees, i enjoyed our visits yesterday. Ambassador barrett and and i talked about the lack of rules in the space era. And the challenges of a ruleless environment are going to get more and more significant. The more investments we and other countries make. Theres an example in the thats year where an American Company was denied an fcc license to launch satellites in the United States. But then they circumvented the fccs ruling by going to india and launching satellites and there was a monetary penalty assessed against the company for doing that. We talked about issues of debris in space, created by either accidents or efforts to use missiles, to knock down, de funk satellite that create debris. As you contemplate should you become the role of secretary what are your thoughts about what the United States should do to try to work with other nations to create a set of International Rules that can be enforced to try to protect the investments that we would make. Thank you, senator, thats one of the important things that lie in the future. The air force would want to be part of that. If confirmed, i would participate many the leadership. You indicated you strongly support the space force. We did a good bit of work on that in the ndaa and i think that will likely survive relatively in tact from the conference from everything im hering you have many priorities as you would take the position, talk about how you would approach the implementation of the provisions that will be included in the mda on this. We look forward to seeing the outcome os testify negotiations in congress. And building upon what congress directs. I would look forward to participating if confirmed in developing an agency thats focused on capability in space. Not on building structural bureaucracy. But instead building the capability to for the war fighter and for the american public. And just back to my first question, you would agree with me, wouldnt you, that it would be very difficult for us to protect our investments in space without some kind of a rule based order that ore nations are also agreeing with. Its hard to either have bilateral or unilateral rules in space because activities of other nations could jeopardize our investments just as our activities cowell jeopardize theirs unless theres an international set of rules. Yes, i agree completely. Were vulnerable to the actions of others in that open territory. Thank you for that. Secretary mccarthy, i have been impressed with the well, first, depressed with the challenges surrounding military housing, but i have been impressed with the armys candor about acknowledging them. Secretary esper i worked with him in that and one of the reasons i was happy to introduce him to the committee for his hearing for the nomination was because of the work thats been done. It strikes me as i think about the work over the last few months, incluing visits that ive made to bases, including army bases, ive looked at a lot of military Family Housing but i havent looked at barracks for the e 4s and below if were serious about the housing issues we have tombing sure that single individual we have to make sure that single individuals, in the lower ranks, lower paid and most vulnerable, they acceptable housing. We talked about the family issues, as the army is grappling with those, what are you doing to look at Housing Conditions for all of the troops, including the e 4s and below who live as single members in barracks. We had to conducts a very thorough baseline to truly make sure we understood the problem. This has been bubbling since back in the fall of 18. Secretary esper initiated an investigation back in february of this year. We recently released the results to congress. There were a series of recommendations, 90 of which were going to implement. We had to get a better understanding of how we were managing the problem. And thats really whats going on over the last couple months. Weve now begun to move resources and get better data and understanding of the health of all of the assets and the entire portfolio. And that would include the barracks for single members. Yes, sir. Yeah, okay. You and i talked briefly, just a final question, arenites study by the cdc indicates they spent nearly a billion five a year in obesity related health care costs. This is a national not just a military issue, the health of the dod force study puts the obesity rate within the army at 17 . You have done the army is now implementing new Fitness Standards across the force. But talk about how you would help implement those should you be confirmed. Sir, really it starts on the front end, weve extended the lengths of sessions that one station unit training, basic training to get more repetitions more time for soldiers to get fit before they arrive to a force com unit. Thats the 16 to 22. And then from there, we were working with the contractors that run the dining facilities to change the menus. So were working across that resiliency continuum from fitness to how they eat and quite frankly, they got to get more sleep at night. So going across the entire health continuum, were looking at how we can improve all of those variables. But its a challenge for the country. With over half the countrys youth at an obesity range. We have to get healthier. And the military can set a good example as in other areas, any way, thank you very much, mr. Chair. When we spoke in my office. I thought we had a good conversation about the 55th wing. Stationed at the air force base. And the air forces is ,mission that that wing helps to perform. That being said, the isr mission performed by the air force is evolving, and its evolving with the changing pace of technology and also with the threats that we face as a country. Given the importance of the information gained from the isr systems, how do you see the air force growing . And evolving this mission over time . And would you agree that future technology such as Network Systems and the unmanned vehicles could work to enhance the proven platforms that we all ready have. Like the rc 135. And other very high powered isr assets. Thank you, senator, from your position in nebraska, we see that its a keystone to the is ,mission of the United States air force. And that is a mission that is only going to grow. And modernize and incorporate more technology. So that is something that seems to lie very much in the future of the United States air force and if confirmed, i would hope to work with you in conning that modernization. As we discussed at our private meeting that we had that every Combatant Commander needs that information thats provider. Every Combatant Commander thats testified before the committee, they mention the need for more isr. So would you commits to working with me and my colleagues to expand that is ,infrastructure that we have so that we can put more of those assets into the field. Absolutely. As are needed by the air force. Thank you. I think you and i both agree also on the importance of modernizing the air forces nuclear forces. And the Nuclear Command and control infrastructure on which they rely. I ask you if you would give me a commitment that you will make that Nuclear Modernization a top priority if you are confirmed. Senator, i can make that commitment to you. Thank you. In your response to the committees advance policy questions, you note that most of the systems in the Nuclear Triad have quote exceeded their original design lives. And they must all be modernized, this includes the ground based, strategic deterrent. And i know that the gbsd is an area that if confirmed, youre going to be thoroughly reviewing. Were seeing calls for changes to the acquisition strategy. But i would encourage you to please keep in mind the lack of margin in the current schedule as you acquaint yourself with the program. Do you agree that the highest priority needs to be moving forward to ensure that this program delivers on time . And that we also meet the war fighter requirements . Senator, time hiness and moving forward on modernization of our Nuclear Capabilities is among the highest priorities. I would say it is the highest. Our Nuclear Triad, the bedrock of the security of this country. We understand that. And that importance, thank you, senator. Thank you, one of the fundamental issues that the air force needs to address is the question of whats the force structure and the force size thats going to be necessary in order to meet those goals from our National Defense strategy . And put simply, we cannot afford to maintain an outdated air force. One thats shaped by a low end conflict when we are looking at Great Power Competition now and into the foreseeable future. Ive been a vocal proponent of the air force. That the air force we need, that plan that is there, to grow the size of the air force and rethink the mix of the aircraft that we have, but im concerned that without resourcing and also without implementation, plans like this end up on the shelf. They go by the wayside. And i do not believe we can afford to see that happen. What is your vision for the future, force size and for the future mix thats in the air force . Senator, great deal of effort was put into an analysis of what is the air force we need. By my predecessor. I would think that is not something thats destined for the shelf but destined for implementation. Whether its exactly 386 squadrons, i dont know. But it would be something that if confirmed, i would be paying a great deal of attention to so that we can have the force structure that we need to pursue and achieve the mission. Thank you ambassador and thank you mr. Secretary for your willingness to continue to serve this can i. Thank you. Thank you. Serve this country thank you. Thank you, chairman, ambassador barrett, i appreciate you meeting with me yesterday. I think i want to cover some of the same ground and focus specifically in this case on some new mexico projects but im sure youre going to hear about projects all over the country from my colleagues my state was one of the hardest hit by the president s recent end run around the congressional defense appropriations process. Specifically the administrations man would cut about 85 Million Dollars from an mq 9 formal Training Unit facility at holman air force base. A new building thats desperately needed to effective hi train all of our mq 9 operators. Were you aware that we train 100 100 of the active reserve and international mq 9 operators at the holman facility. I was not aware of that, no. Are you aware of the fact that current trainees are resorting to using duck tape to patch holes in the walls and ceilings of their training facility,. No, senator. I think we can do better than that. Did you know that because of these conditions, these operators are actually the only combat air crews in the entire air force that are forced to train in an unclassified, unsecure environment. No, senator. If this projects doesnt receive that funding, what would be your approach to make sure it receives the funding it needs . Senator, i understand that the funding has been differed and i would hope that appropriate funding is achieved. And if confirmed, i would be working differed is not a word we really use around here. Its either appropriated or not appropriate. When its reprogrammed its no longer appropriated for the use that congress wrote into the appropriations bill. So im just trying to get a sense from you how were going to get these kinds of projects back on track . The priority remains very high for that project. As i understand it. And you know, ive been on the outside, so its not something that i was a participant in. But i do believe that the priorities havent changed and that that would be something that would be looked to for funding and appropriate action and i would be attentive to appropriate action. I would be attentive to that as secretary, if confirmed. Acting secretary mccarthy, obviously it wasnt just our air force base is affected by the transfers of funds. These cuts. The administration also cut and Information Systems facility at White Sands Missile range. If this cut is enacted, if the funding is received, what would be the impact on White Sands Missile range and our Global Information operations . Senator, as we discussed in the office call, we are making investments in white sands to support efforts in our modernization priorities with hypersonic sand directed energy. The project was to be awarded in the fy 20 timeframe. What we are going to do is look at options, can we put it in the 21 fiscal year, to make the adjustments and what we can to recover schedule and work with the contractors of possible. For both of you, needless to say, i was more than disappointed by these actions. It makes it very hard. Well, it makes it obvious that mexico is not paying for this. Mexico is not paying for the wall. Instead we have real cuts that have a very real price to be paid in military readiness, even if it only costs us a single year. And real impact on the backs of our men and women in uniform and their families. So i would love to know from both of you, if you understand just how caustic ignoring congressional intent can be to the kind of relationship that should exist between the administration and congress . Senator, i would look to build a relationship with congress that would be such that we could work carefully and closely, despite adversarial issues and things, conditions, scarcity of resources and Important National strategic assets, if confirmed. Senator, i worked hard to earn a bipartisan relationship with this committee and the entire body of congress and i will continue to do so. Thank you, chairman. Senator cotton. Congratulations secretary mccarthy for your nomination and thank you for your Current Service and you are past service. I look forward to looking at the years ahead. Mrs. Barrett, earlier this week, just a few days ago, a number of f15s and f35s bombed and isis stronghold. The task force was used to disrupt the isis capability to hide in thick generation. I have concerns about using a fifth generation aircraft to strike a bunch of terrorists hiding in the bushes. It feels to me like we should be using aircraft that are suitable in an environment where we have total air dominance and our f35s and their pilots should be training for highend conflict against adversaries like china, especially when there is a study that says, quote, the f 35 supply chain does not have enough spare parts available to keep their craft flying enough of the time to meet war fighter requirements, and quote. This congress has reportedly appropriated money for a lighter aircraft that could conduct such missions against low intensity threats in the middle east at a fraction of the cost, while freeing up the f35 and all those people who support it, to train for those highend types of conflicts. Do you share my concerns about using this kind of highend aircraft for a very lowend flight, especially given the strain the f35 has on it right now . Senator, i cant identify what went into the decision i dont mean that particular operation. Just as a common sense, conceptual matter, when we could be using lowend aircraft to conduct these missions in iraq or afghanistan and get our f35 pilots ready for a fight against a pure competitor. Does it seem to you like we should be exploring that option more aggressively than we have in the past . I think so. And the congress has said that we want to see initial operating capability for this type of flight attack aircraft by 2023 and i hope that upon confirmation you can make that a priority. Perhaps the air force has moved somewhat slowly on it to date. I look forward to taking leadership and move that along more quickly and make operations fit the equipment, if confirmed. Thank you. Secretary mccarthy, when you were in the army and a lot of people were in the army back in the 2000s, they saw a lot of artilleryman conducting operations as infantryman. It was part of the strain on the force in part, but it had lasting repercussions as artillery units now have kernels with captains driving around in humvees conducting infantry operations. Can you talk to us a little bit about the armys plan for getting servicemembers ready to conduct a highend fight against a major land power. Also, the new systems coming into place for them to operate, in light of russias decision to kill the intermediate range forces treaty and the successful tomahawk missile test that occurred just a few weeks ago . Yes sir, we attribute a lot of this to the general leadership in the last few years in particular. We trained the scenarios at home stations as well as Training Centers worldwide for near threats we would see against competitors. We changed our investment strategy, obviously making long range precision fire is the number one priority with almost 9 million to include north of 1 million in hypersonic, glide body missiles. That investment from our time and energy and training, as well as investment in material, to bring tactical, strategic fire back into the formation. We are also looking very hard at changing strength to fill out more fires units. So a tremendous effort to move forward on the longrange strategic fire portfolio. The same with regard to missile defense. It has atrophied a great deal within 18 years of the counterinsurgency fight. We are looking at some batteries coming online in fy 22, so there is improvement and it is on the way, but we are still short, if we had to go to war tonight. Yeah, we are, so im glad to hear that and im glad that the treaty is now a dead letter and we can start providing our soldiers with the longrange fighters they need to counteract the threat from russia and europe, and also china, as well. But they were never party to that treaty and imf. Thank you. Senator reid. Thank you very much, mister chairman, i apologize there was a simultaneous Committee Hearing i had to attend. Secretary mccarthy, let me raise an issue that is not exclusive unfortunately. That is Sexual Assault and misconduct. Several years ago, the general, the chief of staff, took a step forward in terms of requiring on the efficiency report, and actual, affirmative evaluation of the individual soldier adherence to policies and also training. I think what is happened in the interim is and becomes, literally, check the box. And the training, particularly computer training, from what ive heard it is someone sitting at their desk and ahead, checking boxes well probably playing free cell on another device. This has to be squad leader to squad, Company Commander to company, facetoface. Its very important. It is not a question of political correctness. This goes to the ethic and ethos of the military. Soldiers dont exploit soldiers, they protect them. Can you comment on what you can do and hopefully inspire other services to do . Im addressing you. Yes sir. This is, as discussed in our office call, this is a lot of where we really want to look at changing the way we are training. Because clearly the trend is going the wrong way, in the wrong direction. I am very encouraged by the feedback received from general darrell williams. An event up at west point a few weeks ago, and he brought in outside experts. They changed it and did scenariobased training in front of a room full of people. So we are getting away from the compliance on an ipad or powerpoint, and making it much more interactive. Because clearly the methods weve been using are not working. Thank you. Again, i think this is an issue you will have to attend to in the air force, but i want to focus on another issue and that is one we spoke about at our meeting. Sustainment. It is becoming a more critical aspect. There were number suggesting 60 to 80 of the lifecycle force of a platform is the sustainment course, not production, but sustainment. This has put huge pressure on the f35. Your comments were very insightful about how we use these aircraft. Im told, 35,000 in our to keep in f35 in the air. If we are going after some folks in the bush, with 35,000 per hour, thats a cost. It comes down to an issue of numbers. The air force would like to see 1763 f35 aircraft, but at a cost of 35,000 an hour, how can we afford that Going Forward . Do you have ideas about the lifecycle cost of the f35 . Senator, as we talked in the office, that would be getting those flight our cost down. That would be one thing i would give a high priority two. The f35 is an important element of the arsenal and we need the capability, but the cost in flight hours seems extremely high. I would use the background i have to negotiate and build capabilities so the aircraft can be flown with less expense. One of the factors is Logistical Support for the f 35. The automatic logistics information system. Of course there is an acronym. A. L. I. C. E. Are you familiar with the a. L. I. C. E. Program . Only so can you talk about sustainment with the program from the outside, details of that sort, i am not privy to them, but that is the type of thing we should be paying attention to if i am confirmed. Thank you. Thank you. Senator. Thank you mister chair and thank you for being here today, mister secretary. I appreciate your Prior Service and willingness to continue in yet a different role for our United States army. Thank you very much for that. Ambassador, thank you for being willing to step forward and fill in at an exciting time for our air force as we advance on the space force, so thank you for that. And your wonderful family, thank you for accompanying today, as well. I want to continue down the road Ranking Member reed was on, discussing Sexual Assault within the military. This is a scourge we must push against and bring to an end. The shift we have seen in the military culture is difficult to stomach and i think those in positions of leadership and responsibility really need to see this through. They need to make sure we are addressing the situation with the seriousness that it requires. And mister secretary, you spoke of west point and the event that general williams held their and i was able to participate in that event. On this last monday. They had an honorable living standdown day and it was an entire day dedicated at west point, to addressing this issue of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault. And it addressed the attitudes and behaviors that are inconsistent with our army values, that are degrading. We see it across the force, not just at west point. But you are right, they had role players and ways of challenging the cadets in their thinking. I think this example was very, very effective, to see the looks on the faces of some of the cadets says they had to respond to different scenarios. It was engaging their brain, which we have not seen in the past with clicking through a bunch of powerpoint slides. So i am excited to see the results as we move through this experience and see if it works and shows a change in attitude. For both of you, if you are confirmed, what else would you like to see that would change the culture we see existing in our military today . What else can we be doing to affect that change . Senator, when teams have more time to train together, when they are with each other, in the chow hall or training together, they get to know each other better. Much of the challenges ive seen in the last 24 months as a management officer is too much reporting, too much compliance, and we take them away from doing the core elements of the job. The things that i remember as a junior officer. The unit was, we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with my teammates. I was with them all the time. They knew my family and they knew my friends. We did that at the pentagon. We ate breakfast, lunch, go to the gym. They know when i am tired and need a cup of coffee. That is really what it comes down to. We started this about a year ago, taking requirements to allow more cohesive teams to be built and that is where the trust, the foundation of great units, is where it is really codified. We need to do more of that and the type of interactive training we described, that is what we do for anything. Thank you, know your soldiers. Ambassador. Thanks. This scourge, as you describe it, of Sexual Assault, cannot be tolerated in an environment where we entrust our military soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines with extraordinary power. I have taken action. I investigated Sexual Assault claims in a previous role and i fired a top leader for that action. It is a zerotolerance matter, in my view, and it is something that, if confirmed, i would take very seriously. I believe there is a value to having women in leadership roles, where they then feel comfortable to step forward if there are problems. I do appreciate it and i think both of you have hit on key components. We need to know our teams, we need to know our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines and spending that time and exhibiting leadership to make sure we are identifying those issues and bringing solutions to the table for those issues. Thank you very much. I look forward to your confirmation. Thank you, senator ernst. Thank you to both of our nominees for being here. Thank you for your service and being willing to serve. I think senator kaine alluded to this and i want to go back to it a little bit. We have had multiple hearings this year to uncover and address persistent and unacceptable problems our Service Members and families have experienced in Privatized Housing on military bases. Weve seen it in alabama, weve seen it across the country. The root causes for these problems seem to continue to be uncovered. You hope to provide reports and briefings to members of congress and staff. My take away from these reports says we are applying needed focus to get this right, but we have a long, long way to go. We are trying to address this in our nda and hopefully that language will stay in there, but i want to ask each of you, can we get a commitment from each of you, that if confirmed, you will continue the service, each of your services, focus on addressing these issues, ensuring military members and families are provided the housing that they deserve. The transparency and responsiveness that we believe, and i think all members of this committee believe are important to our family members and the wellbeing in the military, in addition to our modernization. Yes, senator. I tried to exhibit that very type of behavior about a week ago when we released the ig investigation to the entire congress. We had a series of recommendations from the ig that are in the same spirit as the legislation you just referred to. We are taking appropriate actions now, starting to fall into place. As i mentioned earlier, we baselined ourselves against the problem. Quite frankly, not just the army, the entire department. We werent managing the contractor the way we should. Years ago we took out the chain of command from the process. And you cant empower leaders if you take away their authority and take away their ability to measure the problems. So, we have to do better. This is a qualityoflife issue in our retention of our soldiers. It will be top of mind every day for the rest of my tenure, if confirmed. Thank you, ambassador barrett. Much like the army, i understand the United States air force has been doing significant effort to correct the deplorable conditions our families have been subjected to. If confirmed, i would continue that and possibly accelerate the relief if possible. Thank you, both. I guess secretary mccarthy, i will ask you first, but its probably appropriate for ambassador barrett, as well. Going back to the question that senator heinrich asked about specific programs being deferred out of new mexico, weve only had one it seems like in anniston. The Anniston Army depot when there was deference to defer money and push money to the southern border. It was a critical maintenance project in anniston. I know there are a lot of these projects and its a lot of money. And instead of focusing i would like to ask secretary mccarthy, i am sure you are familiar with it, how that might affect anniston . But in a broader view, i would like each of you to discuss a little bit of your view on how the deferral of all of these projects, as a whole, and the possibility of future deferrals, might affect the military. Lets take it away from the congressional appropriations process, but how will the deferral of money appropriated, billions of dollars, going to a project, more of a political project and away from our military, how would that affect anniston, as well as as a whole . Senator, the deferral with respect to anniston, we were going to award that project in fy 20. It could potentially threaten the schedule. Depending on if we can find another funding mechanism and recover the schedule over time. As presented some turbulence. We are trying to manage our way through this and we look at the various funding vehicles that we have and we propose those projects accordingly. They are all very important and we continue to work to find a solution. Exactly the same with the air force, senator. We would be looking to find funding to make those Priority Issues go forward. Thank you, both and again, thank you for your service and willingness to serve. Thank you, mister chair. Thank you. Mr. Gillis. Thank you, mister chairman. Ms. Barrett. I talked a little bit about this when you were in my office. Thank you for your time. First off, i dont know you as well as senator mcsally, but i am fully confident you will do a great job. One of the areas we talked about in the committee was something that started in the air force, almost 11 years ago now. It was this document. A 680 page document, to define the next generation handgun for the department of defense. It then went through. The army said they finally had to take it over to get the job done, by the way. It then went through a process of procurement and acquisition that took about 10 years. It was finally selected and now it will take about 10 years to get it fully deployed, when we will need the next generation handgun. Now, when i first started taking this document, 680 pages, and bringing it before the committee, i had some folks and acquisition at dod say it is only 40 pages and specifications. So my question is, are all the other pages intentionally left blank . Do they have requirements that the suppliers can just dismiss and only focus on those 40 pages . And you all know the answer to that. I want to make sure we figure out a way to acquire, appropriate to the risk, for the specification, whatever it is we are acquiring. I fully expect we have an rfp that is 300 pages long for the next generation paperclip. Im not going to look for that, but i can see that. Tell me what we are doing to address this and assess this and give me your assurance that these sorts of things and these wastes that could be put to more capabilities and better preparing men and women in uniform, tell me about it and then, secretary mccarthy, i will touch on housing with you. Thank you, senator. I think most would agree that the acquisition system has been broken. I credit my predecessor at the secretary of the air force really having tackled that problem. What you evidenced there from 10 years ago, lets hope it is better now and it would be something we would look to get better if i am confirmed during my tenure. Secretary wilson, i understand, took the acquisition approval process with the leadership from 14 approval levels, 24. That cuts out, who knows how much paper, but a lot of hands moving through it and adds to the responsibility that each of those four have, for getting it right. Once you are confirmed, i would like to come over and visit with you as i mentioned in my office, so we can sit down and look at the specific things around the business of the dod that we not only have to fix and not once and done, but the Continuous Improvement initiative that can convince me that we dont get it right at a point in time and then 10 years from now we are back to this unacceptable process. Secretary, we had a good discussion in the office. Its been great working with you over the past couple years and i will support your nomination. Tell me about your experience at fort bragg and the progress we are making. Senator, i was disappointed. With the housing project, in particular. Where there were some of the families that experienced Carbon Monoxide leaks. One home in particular, the solutions were not adequate. So, the progress is not moving fast enough. We are going to, i told you, i just did a townhall with a couple hundred people at camp lejeune a month ago. We had this remarkable phenomenon. Every time i go down there, the three or four weeks before i get there, we see a lot of Service Requests for the men and women in housing go down. But weve got to continue to work on systematic changes. Congress, through sequestration, the department, by taking their eye off the ball, everybody. Theres no one person to blame, but we have to continue to measure the progress. I spoke with senator kaine earlier about the bill of rights that i look forward to us getting into place and just continuing to pound on this. Just let the families know that fort bragg here, i plan on doing a townhall down there again in about a month and i hope they are working on those Service Requests now. I look forward to working with both of you on addressing what i consider to be unacceptable Family Housing and i have full confidence you all will get it right. Thank you. Thank you, senator tillis. Thank you, mister chairman. First i want to acknowledge the service of both of you to our country and welcome you to this committee. I am delighted with your qualifications and look forward to supporting both of you. With that said, i have a question. Secretary mccarthy, you may be better, because you are in the pentagon now. Has a legal opinion being prepared by the general counsel of any military services or the Defense Department on the legality of the use of these military Construction Funds for the border wall construction . And could you make that available to the committee . Yes sir. Thank you. I believe you have been given an illegal order. I think what is being done here is a gross violation of the constitution and the fundamental principles of the constitution, which is the separation of powers and the bestowing of the appropriation and spending power on the congress. Article 1 section 9 could not be more clear. No money should be drawn from the treasury. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law. That couldnt be more clear. The fig lift the administration is using talks about troops being deployed in a national emergency. But even that doesnt fit, because it says the troops, any expenditures and the taking out of military Construction Funds, may be used for projects undertaken to support the troops. And this project has nothing to do with supporting the troops. When they are talking about roads or barracks or defensive positions to actually support the troops, i want to see that legal opinion. Because i just cant believe it holds any water and what shocks me is the failure of this congress to stand up for its prerogatives. If this goes through, it establishes a precedent that essentially transfers a significant portion of the power of the purse to the administration. Not just this administration, but any administration. We are establishing a precedent here that i believe will haunt this institution for many years. I appreciate you have a role in this, you are doing what the chain of command reports, but i believe it is an illegal order, therefore i would like to see the legal opinion that justifies what is going on here. One comment to senator heinrichs question, maybe the president misstated. He met new mexico is going to pay for the wall, not mexico. Because that is what is happening and its not right and not in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. Secretary mccarthy, the army has been going through a substantial period of modernization for the last two years. A lot has been accomplished, standing up the army futures command. What has gone right and what has gone wrong . What you feel are the things that worked the best and where do we have gaps . Senator, we believe we have the organizational construct right. The pillars of the command. Features and concepts. Cross functional design brings stakeholders together, so you can get unity of effort, unity of command. And thats actually working . So, we stood up teams in the fall of 2017 and we had prototypes delivered in 18 months that we are testing. I fired the weapon at fort bragg last july. We tested flight analogs. We tested an extended range canon. The prototypes are delivering and we are starting to yield results, so reducing the spam time is everything. From 5 to 7 years, to 18 months. Are there elements we could be doing better . Of course, senator. Much of what we will see, the true litmus test is if the prototypes are the ones we want and we want to scale them. How the decisions will be made from the futures command, at the seniormost level, when we slap the table on a next gen claimant vehicle, lift platform. Making those trades up top. We are not out of the woods yet. Great progress in the way they have gone about the requirements process. And im sure you are going to stay on. Ms. Barrett, a couple of comments. You and i talked yesterday about the importance of maintenance. I think we should be doing a much better job of readiness, in terms of our fleet of airplanes. Getting them, maintaining them, having maintainers. We not only have a Pilot Shortage, we have a maintainer shortage. Also, i hope when you do the acquisition process, and this goes for both services, that in this day and age, we should buy along with the platform, the institutional Property Rights to all the parts of that platform, so we can 3d print our own parts, rather than have to go back to the manufacturer or back to a supplychain that could be slow, expensive and inefficient. So i hope that will be part of your acquisition strategy. Senator, we are investing in manufacturing. The center of excellence at rock island, illinois. The arsenal. The challenge we will have is intellectual Property Rights as we work through that with major defense contractors, for example. It may require some support from the committee you will certainly have it from the senator. Ms. Barrett, you will feel the same . Yes, intellectual property is an important part of what our acquisitions need to have in order to have interoperability. Thank you, i appreciate you both and look forward to working with you. Thank you, mister chairman. Ambassador barrett, thank you for answering the call. Arizona is home to Many Air Force bases. As you know, the air force has been a proactive partner to identify bases of active and Air National Guard, for higher than normal pfas levels of contamination. Some of the higher than normal sites are in arizona, most notably north of Tucson International airport. Can i get your commitment, to confirm the you will continue to partner with local communities to address this pfas issue . Absolutely, senator, it is important. The relationship between military facilities and the communities is vitally important and this contamination is a problem that is not unique to arizona, the but is something that would be, if confirmed, carefully dealt with. Thank you. As you know i am a strong advocate of the f35 and the a 10. We need both for air dominance and superiority and to protect troops on the ground. Can i also get your commitment . How do you feel about that and you agree we need both of these important capabilities for our war fighters . We require both of those pieces of equipment and those Weapon Systems, until there is a replacement to do the job that the a10 does and the f 35. Those would be core to the air force. If confirmed, i would commit to it. Thank you. Luke air force base, as well, so you can get an update firsthand. One thing they are doing at luke is innovative. As you look at bringing down cost of maintenance and sustainment, they are doing what is called lightning integrated teams. Training people to be cross trained in different functions to own the aircraft. It has cut down on the number of people, the cost, the time. I brought this up to secretary wilson and also secretary esper and they are very interested in it. I want to ask if i can continue to have your commitment to assess that and see if it can be used at other bases, because it is an amazing initiative. Absolutely, senator. Okay, we will show you that firsthand when you come out to luke. Senator mccarthy, good to see you again. When we visited in my office we talked about different issues, but one being the importance of some unique capabilities for the center of excellence for intelligence training, ua asked raving, for the electronic proving ground. Asymmetric capabilities that will be so important for war fighters in the future. We talked about this for those important missions, so i want to ask you, you continue to be committed to the importance of those unique missions and will you come visit and see them firsthand . I will definitely come visit, senator. The unique characteristics of the assimilation of data is a core data element of what folks do for targeting and moving information on the battlefield, so it is a crown jewel for us in the army. Exactly, but as you know, there are unique elements in the airspace we have in the weather for the ua affirmation and the electronic proving ground is critical. So i look forward to hosting you down there so you can see that firsthand and again i want to highlight, we had a long conversation about those missions. Not just intel, right . Also other missions. Thanks. One thing i talked about also is the range modernization. The importance of longrange strikes. Modernizing the ranges and for the modern strike missions, that we have a proving ground. In the little time i have left i want to give you an opportunity to speak to those issues and the importance of modernizing our testing and training ranges. As i mentioned in my comments before, testing the extended range. Part of the number one portfolio for long range precision fires. These capabilities will have greater ranges and lethality than weve had historically, so investment in ranges will be important to us. The Barry Goldwater ranges where he trained and trained my squadron. Beverly kept up with the capabilities we have. We need to modernize them and can i get your thoughts on the modernization of testing and training ranges . The goldwater ranges a national jewel. Ive been there to watch the performance and it is something rarely replicable. Number two at the faa, looking at the use of airspace. It is a really important matter. That block of air setaside is really a benefit to training for the United States air force. Thanks. I want to thank you both for your willingness to serve your country at this important time. I look forward to supporting your nomination and confirmation and i look forward to continuing to partner with you. Thanks. Thank you, senator mcsally. Senator duckworth. Thank you, mister chairman. I would like to thank both of you for being here. Ms. Barrett, continuing on the subject of logistics from our conversation a couple days ago, i want to get into the details with you. We talked about what we would need to position our forces across those distances. This highlights serious logistical challenges i brought up to you. Our needs are significant, but they would grow even more dire. As i said, i recently traveled to the pacific and had a chance to talk to several commanders. We discussed air assets in the region to counter attacks which had massive airlift capabilities. Which specific capabilities would you prioritize to support operational commanders adaptive needs in the short term in situations like this and can you please give me specific examples . Thank you, senator. The vast reaches of the pacific present a significant logistic challenge. It cant be met with ease. We have spaces that have been helpful, but i have taken a special interest in that region. Many of us know the european theater from world war ii. Two american president s almost died in the Pacific Theater. Ive made a point of going to those points in the pacific. The guadalcanal day im sorry, i only have three minutes. Can you give specific examples of logistic initiatives you would take to address these issues in the pacific . Air force has been building the kc 46 to do midair refueling so we expand our reach. We need greater reach for fighters and bombers to have access in that area. In addition, a lot of what we will have to do in the pacific, especially in the vast expanses, is to work with our allies and build greater partnerships in that region so we also have reach. Specifically how . Building partnerships. In what . Refueling, basing, what are you talking about specifically . Both of those, and recently the chief of staff of the air force visited the philippines, japan, vietnam and other areas in the pacific to build greater friendships. I think that is part of my background, in diplomatic work, and that would be the way we would work to have greater cooperation. Flying, when appropriate, having our allies and partners flying american compatible equipment is a way we expand our reach and capability in a region of that sort. So are you saying increasing sales of fuel ors to our allies . When we talked, you said we wont need to worry too much about logistics in the area to support f35s, if we take over the role the f35 would play senator, im afraid you misunderstood. It really is important for us to have access in the region, as well as space. Space offers great new opportunities, but it doesnt replace our air breathing and surface capabilities. Thats good to know, but i would like to get the specifics from you. What platforms are you talking about, what capabilities are you talking about, beyond, you know, increasing diplomatic efforts . As i indicated, the kc 46 will have midair refueling capability. Do you think we have enough in the pipeline now for future needs . In the pipeline we have a lot more. In the moment i think we have a great dearth of kc 46, as i understand it. I am not in the building at this point, i am coming in from outside, but from what ive seen and how ive been briefed, it seems the intent is to get a great deal more of the kc 46. The more modern refueling capability, in the air. Can you speak to the juliet models and that program and also the relation to the Air National Guard . The c130 j, juliet model, is so important for the more modern capability and as a replacement for the h model. Again, it is an asset that we are looking to acquire more of and feel them. Actually, i think you are ending the program in the air force, especially at a time when the guard is on h models. The guard was assigned the h model and juliet, it is something i will spend more time and Pay Attention to if i am confirmed. Please do, because the guard needs those juliet models. Thank you so much for meeting with me prior to the break and i hope you continue to support the future vertical lift program. My priority is full funding. Thank you. Mister mccarthy, the fy 20 budget calls for the elimination of 18,000 medical a significant cut in the medical workforce, likely to have a pretty Significant Impact on the quality of medical care provided. The hospital at fort leonard word, as you know, is under significant strain from the lack of assigned medical personnel. Can you assure me that if you are confirmed, you would work with me to address this problem . Senator, i would like to go visit the leonard wood facility with you. As we work our way through the merger, as we like to refer to it in the department, there are locations around the country where there is great healthcare outside the gate and other more remote places where we are challenged with the distance from the installation to the healthcare facility and then the size and scale of those facilities. As we make this transition, some of our more remote installations will have challenges and thats a place we are putting a tremendous amount of attention to ensure they get the appropriate healthcare they need, but absolutely. Thank you, i look forward to that. Switching topics, how do you envision the army helping delay, degrade and deny china in taiwan, and im thinking specifically of longrange precision fires. Senator, our number one investment priority of long range precision fires for the precision strike missiles, which is a replacement, which outside of the imf treaty, those munitions can have range upwards of 600 kilometers. Hypersonic glide body missiles. We have an array, within the suite, an array of capabilities that will change the geometry within southeast asia. If we can get the appropriate partnerships, expeditionary basing right, with partners in the region, we can change the geometry and basically have the affects to reverse any capabilities invested by near peer competitors. Thank you for that. To make sure you understand, i hear you saying conventional imf range missiles would significantly enhance the armys ability to perform that mission of blunting potential chinese fate a calm play, is that right . Let me ask you this, how do you see the army working with other services, specifically the marine corps, to ensure these longrange precision fires and capabilities are integrated with the rest of the joint force . We signed a joint memorandum of agreement, a joint interest program, not a joint program. Where we are all sharing data, synchronizing the byes of matiriel, and sharing data within the test regime. So how many shots we will take over the course of the next 24 to 36 months. So a Great Partnership working together, but not looking at changing the fundamental requirements of how this Weapon System would be employed in combat operations. So, dont want to slow it down, where there are synergies, we want to lock arms and go after it. That in particular, we view the hypersonic effort similar to the persian capability in the 1980s. This could fundamentally change the posture for us and various combatant commands and it is the number one investment priority for us. Secretary mattis. We just had our foot on the gas here, sir. Let me ask you about air force priorities. The air forces own Analysis Shows investment is critical to ensuring that youre able to contribute fully to deterring or defeating china. And, secondarily, russia. Can you give me a sense of how the air force is working with other services to ensure resilience in contested environments and specifically the indo Pacific Theater . I think the indo pacific is such a vast area, in many instances it is hard to get perfect access to those areas. So, bases offer opportunities. And it is especially dependent on space, and that is where the importance of defending and protecting our space assets really rises to the fore. Let me say to you finally, if you are confirmed, how do you plan to balance the tension between the need to invest enough in munitions, other critical enablers, while simultaneously increasing the number of squadrons 286 . Balances really the key, senator. It is a resource constrained time and we have to establish priorities and make sure we are not minimizing the vulnerabilities and any other areas. Thank you chairman. Thank you mister chairman. Thank you both for your service and thank you for visiting the with me earlier in the week. Senator mccarthy, you and i talked about military housing and i have no doubt about you are very good intentions. Ambassador barrett, as well, to make sure the quality of housing is improved. Isnt the best way to terminate the contractors . Shouldnt they be held accountable and shouldnt the army be taking some action, and the air force, against them, including potential criminal referral . As i have raised previously with general miller. Do you know if there are attempts to hold those private contractors accountable for their clear violations of contractual obligations and possible fraud . Senator, from the range of what you discussed just recently, i delegated the authority for the Incentive Fee withholds to the commander, with maximum latitude to do what was needed to improve performance. With respect to criminal activity or potential fraud allegations, clearly it is something we would investigate and pursue with vigor. The Inspector General of the army recently completed a report, showing that the residents, 1180 of them who participated, as you well know, two thirds of them in that survey said they were dissatisfied. 48 of the 49 Army Locations with Privatized Housing had residents who expressed concern for safety and environmental issues. And the inspectors found that life, health and safety items arent part of the current army housing inspection requirement. They found a 2000 martin dacey 2013 army policy that prohibited health and where pharaoh welfare inspections. Have you reversed that policy . I would like to report back if possible, as soon as possible, on what is being done to hold those private contractors accountable, both civilly and criminally. Yes sir, 30 days, 45 days, as soon as you want it, sir. 45 days if necessary. 30 days, preferable. I know you are focused on this issue, and you will be, ambassador barrett, as far as the air force is concerned. Ambassador barrett, you and i discussed, when you visited with me, the issue of stays by air force personnel at trump Branded Properties. This issue is far from new or novel. In fact, i raised it with secretary esper. When i found, that in the First Six Months of this administration, 140,000 had been spent, almost 140,000, at trump Branded Properties. As you are aware. The air force recently ordered a Global Review as to how the Service Selects overnights accommodations for servicemembers. And i appreciate your commitment made to me. To provide the committee with the air force investigation. Once it is complete. Secretary esper committed to me to providing Additional Information about expenditures made by civilian and uniformed dod employees at Trump Properties. He has not provided that information. I will renew my request to him. Will you, on behalf of the air force, provide a complete accounting to me and this committee about expenditures at trump Branded Properties . Absolutely, senator. Do you agree that no pack spare funds should be going to the president or his business as a result of stays by department of defense personnel at trump branded property . It seems like we should have generic rules and regulations that look to the best value and the best acquisitions and those rules should be enforced and enforced equally. Will you commit to issuing that service wide policy to prohibit all air force personnel from using Trump Properties for military travel, whenever operationally feasible . You and i discussed the appearance, wholly apart from the reality from the president profiting from department of defense expenditures at properties he owns. It is absolutely unacceptable. What we need to do is have rules and regulations that are applied evenly and that are thoughtful and do include fairness in those rules and regulations. But again, they should not be specific to any particular owner. Wouldnt take clear policy, as you suggested, against violations of both the domestic and foreign emoluments clause prevent the commander in chief from profiting with the department of defense expenditures . Senator i understand the question and the concern. But should that be excluded from military housing or military involvement . Im asking you about the president of the United States, who owns properties where the department of defense has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to the prophet of the president of the United States, in violation of the United States constitution . Will you issue a clear, service wide policy for editing that practice . I will take a look at the rules and regulations on that and evaluate what policy will be issued. Before your confirmation, i hope you will provide a clear answer to this committee. Thank you senator. Thank you mister chairman and i want to thank the nominees and families for their service to our country. Previous service, continuing service. I enjoyed meeting with both of you and i look forward to confirming you. We need Senate Confirmed leadership in the pentagon. I think it is very important. Let me start with a question in a region of the world that you will not be surprised given our previous discussion. That is the arctic. America is an arctic nation because of alaska. I have handouts i can provide, my colleagues, as well, but i think they were provided to you. Hopefully they were. There is a significant russian buildup in the arctic. Were you provided this . Take a look at these. Almost daily, if you look at the other handouts. There are articles literally almost daily about what is happening in the arctic in terms of the russia and china buildup. Great power rivalry. Just in the last couple days, in addition to what you have there is a handout. An article in the Washington Post said forget greenland, a far more dangerous game is being played in the arctic. All within the last week. What does china want with the arctic, given new strategy . Then, on the hill, the hill newspaper just said, an article that started by saying, the next cold war with russia may be a literal metaphorical one. Before we dismiss President Trumps interest in greenland, we should consider that our great power rivals china and russia aggressively seek arctic influence. This is daily. Ambassador barrett, you have extensive experience in the arctic, given your tenure as ambassador to finland. Given that the National Defense strategy focuses on Great Power Competition secretary pompeo gave what i thought was a well thought out speech on the arctic. I would like to get your views on what you think we should be doing there to protect our national interests. And secretary mccarthy, i would like yours, as well. Senator, the locator didnt do us any favors by flattening the globe. People lose track of how small the Northern Hemisphere is and how close those properties are. How close alaska is to going over the top into the siberian area. That is now available in shipping, as well as persistent space access to those areas and that is an area let me say quick, i mentioned the secretary of state. This committee is starting to raise awareness on this. I do think the Biggest Agency in washington that hasnt gotten the message on our strategic competition in the arctic is the pentagon. Some are getting it. The big blob of bureaucracy there isnt, yet. Can i get both of your commitments to come to alaska with me, see the arctic first hand in america and get your commitment to work with me and this committee, which is very interested by the way, in a bipartisan way on these issues, to make sure we are protecting americas Strategic Interests in this next power rivalry arena . Ambassador can i get your commitment . Yes sir. Senator duckworth raised a very good question with regards to logistics in the asia pacific. Ambassador barrett, the air force has looked at making decisions here on the basing of the kc 46. Alaska will have over 105th generation fighters. F35, f22, within the next couple years. No place on planet earth will have that many combat coded fighters. When secretary esper went through his confirmation hearing, he mentioned pairing 100 nexgen fighters with kc 46 that can reach several areas within hours would give the United States extreme strategic reach. Will you commit to working with me on that oh conus decision, which again, this committee has laid out guidelines absolutely, senator. Let me ask a final question that relates to readiness. Mister secretary, the chairman, to his credit, has raised this question quite a lot. I chaired the readiness subcommittee. The budget was cut by 25 . My first three months in the senate in 2015, the Obama Administration was still cutting 50,000 additional active duty army troops, which in retrospect looks like a strategically idiotic decision, but they did it anyway. Have you read this book . Which the army and marine corps gives to all infantry officers . Yes sir, twice. Good. I appreciate that. Can you talk a little bit about readiness and Task Force Smith and what happened in america, when in 1945 we had the most feared military in the history of the world and five years later we couldnt stop a third world peasant army from invading the south . Readiness is a constant state im sorry, sir. Try to expedite your answers as quickly as you can. Readiness is a constant state of vigil. He can take your foot off the gas. Every day we need as many repetitions as we can. It is something that is one of the great deterrence we have in the military, having as many formations at the highest level of readiness, capable to meet national objectives. Thank you. Thank you. Senator peters. Thank you, chairman. Senator mccarthy, as we discussed in my office earlier, i have a very significant pfas contamination problem in my state and there seems to be some miscommunication going on between the department of the army, the National Guard bureau and the michigan National Guard, as well as the local community, which is very problematic, to have that level of miscommunication. I guess as background, michigan National Guard submitted a request to the National Guard bureau in regard to pfas contamination. There are homes in raley township that of tested positive for very high levels of pfas from contamination from the army airfield. It is my understanding that a request was made from the michigan National Guard, through the National Guard bureau and the department of army, requesting funds to provide a new water system to the residents that were affected. They held a town meeting with residents in late july and they made an announcement to the town that they would receive a new water system, which was obviously received very positively. However, following the meeting, my office was contacted by the department of army and was told that the army office of Legal Counsel determined funding could not be legally provided to build this new water system. This is obviously very problematic and i would hope that you would work with me on this and if confirmed, more specifically, how you work with the local community to ensure this issue is resolved. Senator, as we discussed, we sent a team of experts to make the assessment. It is clear the mass was made by us, so we have to clean this up. We worked out an initial solution that didnt work out mechanically. I vow to you and all your constituents, we will Work Together to get this fixed. I appreciate that commitment and we need to do it expeditiously. I appreciate that. There is also a provision in the house passed ndaa that grants the National Guard access to programming to support cleanup that is currently controlled by the department of army. If confirmed, would you support giving the National Guard access to some of these accounts . Yes sir. Thank you. Ambassador barrett, i appreciated assistant secretary visits in april to meet with residents also facing a pfas contamination problem in and around the former wordsmith air force base. Im sure both of you have faced similar concerns in these communities and are well aware of what is going on. I have sought to ensure the air force adequately budgets for projected pfas contamination related needs and i was disappointed, to say the least, that the air force recently diverted 4. 5 million intended for cleanup, to cover needs at another site elsewhere in the nation. My question is, will you commit to work with congress to secure the resources we need to fully secure this contamination problem that exists not just in michigan but all across the country, and how will you do that . Absolutely, senator. If confirmed, it is so important for the air force to work well with the communities and this is a contaminant that was used in good faith, not knowing the injury it could cause and now there isnt a Health Standard established, but it is clear this contamination is the result of air force activity and i would be, if confirmed, happy to work with congress to resolve it. Ambassador, im glad you brought up the Health Standard, because it is an important issue. Michigan and other states are taking steps to establish an forcible Drinking Water and cleanup standards in the absence of federal standards. We need federal standards. I would like to understand the circumstances in which the air force will establish and meet standards established by the state where you are operating. The air force has thus far committed to consider aiding whether state laws will be a requirement in the cleanup process. Respectfully, for communities that feel they have been waiting too long, and they have been doing that around the air force base. This is frustrating, to say the least. To improve transparency, will you commit, if confirmed, to work with me to understand when and why, in the past, the air force willingly met estate standard through the process and how the air force will approach that moving forward . I will be happy to work with you senator, if confirmed. On behalf of the chairman, let me recognize senator thank you, and i appreciate each of you being here and the time you spent visiting with us about what is in front of you. So, thank you. Ms. Barrett, i want to come to you and continue the discussion we had about Nexgen Networks and technology and 5g and its placement with the air force and the difference this will make for our war fighters and also for some of the r d being done. We are delighted to know that arnold air in tennessee is going to be one of the first to be completed. What i would like you to do is give us an overview of the rollout for capabilities and technologies throughout the air force, systemwide. Senator, the air force is based on technology and engages technology. Provides were fighting capability through technology. It is the technology of the future. An important part of what the air force is building into, the new generations of capabilities. And then how are you going to approach the integration with existing technologies and looking at Artificial Intelligence and data flows . These are all very important to the capabilities and how, as we are modernizing our platform and resources, next gen platforms are engaging the 5g and Artificial Intelligence and augmented intelligence. We are seeing a lot of capabilities through the hypersonic and additional technologies that make our reach greater. Mister mccarthy, ive been concerned and weve talked previously about some of the gaps. Really critical gaps in army cyber defense. This is all going to be vitally important as we look at 21st century warfare. As we look at interoperability and integration and working toward that platform. The readiness, the multifaceted utilization in a. I. , with av. The way you are going to have disparate platforms that you are going to be working from in multilocations. So, why dont you talk a little bit about how you envision the army pursuing signet and ew and cyber and how you see the army network fitting into or shaping this strategy . Senator, first, it is people. We have to recruit more cyber experts. A very difficult skill set to recruit and harder to retain. We support Solutions Across the guard and reserve and have had a lot of success there, trying to retain men and women in the army as they make the move to the private sector. They are clearly very marketable. We have established unique relationships with academia, like carnegie mellon, where we established the task force. This is as much a cultural indoctrination to the force, as well as fighting the best and brightest, the hub, to find the best and brightest, to help us with how we apply these algorithms into our Weapon Systems. That is foundational a cloud architecture. If we cant get the army to the cloud, the standards and formats of data will not move seamlessly from system to system, so this will become a big effort from us and the leadership team, to make sure we have appropriate resources, focus and attention, to move forward. The network is in our top six investment portfolios. That is as much about the types of Telecommunications Systems we have. The army is investing in low orbit satellites. So across, from people to matiriel, it has been a monumental effort for the army over the last three years. Will we see it as having to be a monumental effort for dod, in total . As well as for the air force and the army, and we see building these systems as being a priority and the interoperability and Network Capacity in those systems is vital to 21stcentury warfare. I will make one comment, recruiting and retention, and yes, we are quite concerned about the Human Capital or lack thereof, when it comes to technologies. And whether it is hypersonics or Artificial Intelligence or the work with supercomputing, quantum computing. We do share the concerns that are there. Also we share the concerns on pilots and i know that each of you have a Pilot Shortage and we will continue to raise that issue with you. I yield back. Thank you. Senator, lets see. Thank you, mister chairman. I ask all nominees on any of the committees on which i sit, the following two questions. I will start with you, mister secretary. Since you became a legal adult have you made any requests for sexual favors or committed any incident or assault of a sexual nature . No, senator. Madame ambassador . No, senator. Have you ever entered into this kind of conduct . No, senator. In response to questions from senator kaine, in regard to legalities of using military funds for the border wall, you referred to a legal opinion. Who issued that legal opinion . The dod general counsel. And is that the highest level for the legal opinion on whether or not this is okay or does the attorney general weigh in on legality . Senator, i use the department of defense Legal Counsel and the advice in making the decision. And i take the legal opinion is that it is okay for the president to have done. For the 11 projects, yes. If this is okay, i can expect more of what some of us would call the rating of military funds for purposes the president has in mind. If confirmed, what would you do to prevent the president from continuing to do this . Continuing to raid the military funds . Senator, when the request came down to support this effort, chairman dunford conducted a military assessment, to the value of the projects and that is where we ultimately determined the 11 had security value, so that is where we work i know your effort was to comply with what the president wanted to do. Thats how you see your role. This was a lawful order and we intend to follow it. So if the president wants to do this further, you will continue to support making reductions in duly funded projects by this congress . You will comply . Thats what youre telling me . On lawful orders, senator, we will comply with the president s intent. We will provide appropriate military advice about these projects and the offsets associated with the choices being made. What about you, ambassador barrett . What would you do to prevent the president from continuing to raid the military funds for whatever projects he sees fit . If confirmed i the senate, i would work cooperatively with the cynic, but i would also look to conduct every action and compliance with the law and the constitution. My commitment would be to the constitution and that would be my guiding direction. I think that a lot of us would want our military leaders to speak up against this kind of action i the president , legal or not. We can argue at some point about whether these kinds of reallocation, if you want to call it that, what kind of impact it has on readiness and National Security. We can talk about that. One hopes that all the funds for the project are very necessary and relate to readiness and National Security. You have been asked a number of questions about military housing and we share the concerns about the lack of oversight that was done by the military with regard to private housing. So, secretary mccarthy, you refer to the ig report and there were some 20 recommendations in this ig report. How many have been addressed at this time . I think we are going to execute just about all of, 90 of them. I cant remember exactly the couple we are working back and forth on, but the preponderance of the recommendations will be executed. Can you provide to this committee a list of the 20 recommendations, what the timeline is and what you have been doing with regard to all of those . Yes senator. Thank you. And i did hear a commitment from you, ambassador, to fast track some of the things you need to do from the air force side. I want to turn very quickly to the matter of Suicide Prevention in the military. The quarterly suicide report the department of defense released last month said 189 activeduty soldiers, 60 airmen, 68 marines, died by suicide last year. This is 40 more servicemembers than the previous year. So, for the navy, marine corps and army this represents an increase over the previous year. I would just like to ask, i am running out of time, but what you all are doing, very specifically, to prevent these suicides from happening . So, without getting into it right now, this is a matter we will follow up with you, both of you, on. Thank you. Senator gillibrand. Mister mccarthy, yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the 9 11 attacks. One that new yorkers will never forget. We went into afghanistan and accomplished our mission, decimating the command structure. But the war has gone on for 20 years and continues to claim the lives of servicemembers, with no clear end in sight. This is no longer the right strategy for our country and hasnt been for many years. During recent peace talks with the taliban, there has been a surge in violence and an increase in combat operations in which our soldiers have lost their lives. This week the white house brought these talks to an abrupt end, without stating any changes in policies or goals. Has the Administration Policy of conducting diplomacy through twitter caused significant challenges for the army in afghanistan . Senator, with respect to the talks being ceased, i think it was clear that National Command felt they did not have the conditions appropriate to enter the next phase of negotiations, so i think it was the right decision to step back from the table and look at how you get to a framework to bring an end to the conflict. Once the army draws down our forces in afghanistan, i believe there are tactics we can employ to ensure afghanistan does not become a host to terrorists. With the intent of harming the u. S. To what extent can due and open session provide insight on your thinking . Senator, i worked this problem set in all three of the last administrations. It is clear that we have to have an advising capability, as well as counterterrorism strike capability, to be there to help the Afghan Government continue to grow and mature. You have roughly 2 or three of the most sophisticated terrorist organizations on the earth along the hindu kush mountains, so we cant take our eye off the ball there. Until a time when there is a much greater maturity and strength within the Afghan Government. I would like to change issues to west point. The United States military academy at west point has played a significant role with providing the army with its next generation of officers. They play in a wide variety of roles in the army so the quality of training can have farreaching implications for the army moving forward. Are you confident that west point is providing the kind of advanced training to meet the future threats that these officers will face . It is remarkable, how the west point education for our officers, and the experiences that they get, ive been there for years on the hudson. I think one of the things that secretary esper and the general worked really hard on was the summer experience. Working hard on the fundamentals of troop bleeding at the platoon level. So we made some changes there. We are also looking at how we are integrating them with rotc, so we sent 40 kiss cadets last summer. We will scale that over the next two years where we can get five or 600 cadets to go down over the course of a summer and integrate the officer corps. The education is very strong at the academy, but in particular, cyber is much sought after. Mos. So we are making adjustments to increase sophistication in the classroom, but also really drill down into the fundamentals of troop bleeding, so they become very good troop leaders. Recently the secretary of defense devoted 3. 6 million for funding for installations including the new engineering center, to pay for the administrations wall. Doesnt this delay disrupt our ability to prepare our leaders for the future . The Engineering Department and the parking garage behind it, specifically, it would be improving the existing infrastructure. It is something i personally got involved with, working with the budget when i went down there in the fall of 17. The deferral would potentially reschedule to improving the facilities over time. We remain under siege from cyber threats, most notably from china. By estimates, that is cost over 1 trillion in losses. In response, has the navy conducted a comprehensive review and related an urgent need to modify its processes. What is your level of confidence that the air force is doing its best to prevent foreign exfiltration and if you dont have time to answer, she can submit it, unless you would like her to answer, mister chairman. Thank you. So could you either answer in writing or i am happy, with the chairmans indulgence, i would just say that the air force would be happy to take a look at doing a similar cyber review as what the navy did and a status report on that. Please submit a letter to my office, thank you. Thank you, mister chairman and think you acting secretary mccarthy and ambassador eric, for your nominations to these important roles and your past service and her willingness to serve this country. I want to start with a question about pfas. I know that this has come up in the hearing. As im sure you are aware, on his first day as defense secretary, secretary esper announced the creation of a pfas task force. I want west both of you if youre willing to commit to working to ensure we address pfas contamination on all of our facilities . Secretary mccarthy . Either myself or we are taking a Senior Leadership role on this. Thank you, ambassador barrett. The air force has been working to clean up those contaminations. Thats right and as we discussed yesterday, i appreciated the time both of you gave me yesterday. The air force has been very responsive to the issues weve had at the former air force base in the city of portsmouth, New Hampshire. We hope you will continue that cooperation and support the health study currently underway by the agency for toxic substances and disease registry. We are a model site for that. I look forward to it. Thank you. Also i hope you will both commit to urging the department of defense to come up with an alternative to the scoring to the Firefighting Foam that has had these pfas chemicals that is done so much to contaminate military sites. I would do that. Yes, senator, we are trying to find a solution to replace the capability. We are having a hard time meeting the spec. I understand that. The defense bill we hope will pass this year includes some directives to get that done in the next year ambassador barrett, i also want to call your attention to a request from the New Hampshire National Guard to the air force medical support agency to conduct a Public Health study for individuals who have lived and worked, to determine if there is higher than expected rates of morbidity and mortality, cancer deaths and other health impacts, because of work that was done. I know the study is currently in development. I could collect your attention. I dont expect you to have an answer to where we are today, since you are not on the job yet, but hopefully you make that a priority as you go forward, assuming you get confirmed. If confirmed, i would be happy to do that. Thank you. Finally, as we discussed yesterday, we are excited to be the first guard days to have the kc 46, the new refueling tanker. We have our first two and we look forward to the remaining 10 that we will get with the first group. Certainly we will do everything we can to urge boeing to make that a priority to get those out on time and without the challenges that theyve had. One of the issues is that many of the people who we expect to staff those tankers have been transferred to other bases to continue to deal with legacy tankers and i hope you will commit to ensuring they get transferred back, so we make sure we have the full force we need in order to continue to maintain the excellent record that the 157th refueling wing has had. We appreciate the great performance of that refueling wing. Of course, we apply personnel where best needed, but the performance there is some indication that it is a high priority. Thank you. I also understand, ambassador barrett, that you have worked with the u. S. Afghan womens council. I know you have supported making sure that afghan women can go back to their home country and be successful in business and other areas. I wonder if you can talk about, given that work, how important it is for afghan women to be at the table in any peace negotiations that are ongoing . Thank you, senator. If you eliminate 50 of the talent from any environment, you wont have as good of product. The women in afghanistan have been really underappreciated and completely abused in the past. With the u. S. Afghans women counsel we have worked with health, education, civic what my generation called civics, and Economic Empowerment of those women so they can play a full role in their society. That is really important and i hope to continue that. Thank you very much. I am sure both of you are aware that we have passed a law called the women, peace and security act, that guarantees women are supposed to be at the table in any negotiations that we participate in, so i would hope that you both would do everything you can to ensure that happens in afghanistan and other places around the world. Secretary mccarthy. I will. For the record, secretary mccarthy, i agree with you. I think we need a Counterterrorism Group to continue in afghanistan, regardless of what happens with the troops, because of the threat from isis and continued terrorist groups there. Thank you both very much. Thank you, mister chairman. It is the chairmans prerogative. A lot of comments were made by members concerning the wall. Concerning the activity and the characterization of degrading our training. I have been down there and observed that more than any other member of congress. I worked down there for 20 years, as a developer on the border. I know what is going on down there. I have also been, as recently as two weeks ago, the only member to be with the mexicans themselves, the three generals in charge of the 2000 foot border, so i know what is going on and i know what they are doing down there. If all we have to do is talk to our guard and reserve and others were down there with the military, to find out that the training they are getting their is training that is onthejob training. It is better training than they get at their home base. That is what all of them said at that time. So i think to characterize that as raiding our training is totally inaccurate and i wanted that to be included in the record. We have a request from senator king for a further question. Thank you, mister chairman. It is a very quick question. Proposed secretary barrett, the f35 starting construction before the level of competition with china has reached the level that it has now and before our knowledge of their cyber intrusions. I dont know if this has already happened, but i would urge you to order a survey of every single part of the f35, to determine what, if any, of those parts are made in china. Particularly with reference to software and electronics. I think that is a National Security imperative, that we not have our most advanced airplane in a position where it could be compromised by some intrusion into the supply chain , coming from china. Will you take a look at that. Yes, i would be happy to take a look. Thank you, thank you mister chairman. Yes, further question to piggyback on that a little bit, i have had several conversations with folks working on the f35, concerned about the next steps with respect to turkey being removed from that program. And some of those parts we have been relying on turkey for, where they will be made and how that will happen. I am not asking you for a response today, but i would urge you to try to provide some direction for other players in the f35 program, so they understand what is supposed to happen next with respect to turkey and throwing them out of that coalition. Thank you. Thank you. Senator reed, do you have further comments . No, sir. Let me say to our two witnesses, our two nominees, you did a great job. I look forward to working with you and we are now adjourned. Thank you. Thank you very much. Watch our exclusive interview with House Speaker nancy pelosi, now online at c span. Org. She discusses her relationships with President Trump and Senate Majority leader mitch mcconnell. It is not about senator mcconnell. He has not doing anything the president doesnt want. So that is where we are. I dont know why a leader in the senate would abdicate his responsibilities. The institution which he leads, because the president doesnt want it. An interview with House Speaker nancy pelosi. Watch it now online at c span. Org. Or 8 00 p. M. Eastern friday on cspan. Here is a look at our live coverage friday. On cspan at 10 00 am eastern, a discussion on countering irans Illicit Financial Networks with secretary for terrorist financing, marshall billingsly. In the morning on cspan2, House Republicans told a News Conference in baltimore where they meet for the second day of their annual policy retreat. Later the u. S. Institute of peace hosts a discussion on the u. S. Talib and Peace Process and the potential for sustainable talks in the future. And on cspan3, the Pew Charitable trust talks about coordination during a recession and the Overall Economic outlook. That is at 8 40 5 am eastern. Saturday at 6 00 p. M. Eastern on the civil war, the 1863 campaign in tennessee. The night of the 26th, bragg orders everyone to concentrate. This is a campaign, quite honest with you, after they leave the highland rim, it is somewhat anticlimactic. With manchester and tomah, he is ready to fight it out in the trenches. And at 8 00 on lectures in history, the 1996 lawsuit against holocaust denier david irving. It is a basic argument of deniers. No plan. No 6 million, no leadership from hitler, no gas chambers and the last point is that this is all made up and sunday at 5 00 p. M. Eastern, a discussion about shakespeares influence on u. S. Politics. And that 6 00 and american artifacts, the Norman Rockwell Museum Traveling Exhibit on fdr. Explore our nations past on American History tv, every weekend on cspan3. Next, a hearing on protecting Consumers Digital identities. Representatives from the banking, financial and Consumer Protection industries testified before the House Financial Services Committee Task force on Artificial Intelligence. This is an hour and a half