Transcripts For CSPAN3 Hearing On Defense Department Confirmations 20240712

Defense department. This is live coverage on cspan 3. Mr. Louis bremer to the assistant secretary of defense special operations. We thank everyone for being here today. Briefly say who these people are and i think we have a great bunch that is certainly qualified for the admissions that theyre nominated for. Mr. Abend, youre presently the southeastern adviser to the u. S. Customs and Border Protection and you have extensive experience leading the investigations part of the Inspector General offices for the federal Housing Finance agency and the u. S. Department of housing and urban development. Youve been former secret Service Agent with in the winter of the 2015 council of Inspector General award for excellence. Mr. Hansell, you are currently an associate director of the Boston Consulting Group in its north American Public sector, having previously served as the special assistant to the president for National Security affairs and a senior director for national threats, transnational threats, on the nsc staff, as a special forces officer you commanded the force team on the ground in afghanistan. Mr. Polakowski, prior to your recent service as managing member of the everest technology, llc, you served as a southeastern intelligence support officer with the cia. You also have a 36year career of distinguished service in the u. S. Army, culminating as a Deputy Director for u. S. Strategic command for combatting weapons of mass destruction and retiring as the Major General in the army reserve. Mr. Bremer, you have a 20year civilian career in finance and capital management. In 2007 you were appointed by president george w. Bush to be a white house fellow and later served on the Homeland Security council where you were an author of the 2007 National Strategy for Homeland Security. Prior to that you served four years as a navy s. E. A. L. We have a great bunch here and gentlemen, its standard, we have some required questions, there are nine required questions, so im going to ask these questions and ask each one of you to respond vocally. Okay. Have you adhered to ap pla kabul laws coveraging the conflict of interest . Yes. Was that four . Okay. Will you ensure that your staff complies with the deadlines established for requested communication 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 before this committee . Yes. And do you agree to provide documents, including copies of electronic forms and communications in a timely manner, when requested by a duly constituted committee or to consult with the Committee Regarding the basis for any good faith delay or denial in providing such documents . Yes. Have you assumed any duties or undertaken any actions which would appear to presume the outcome of this hearing . No. Well, i dont have to tell you guys have this is the serious time, the threatened time that were in this wearing hearing i think is very significant at this time. Senator reed. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman, i want to thank you for having this hearing. Also welcome our nominees and also their families who are watching and supporting them. I would be remiss, however, if i once again did not take this opportunity to remind my colleagues that the administration recently disregarded our constitutional role with advice and consent with respect to of mr. Tatum to the department of defense. When it was clear he would not receive confirmation from this body. This is an abuse of power that continues to disturb me and should cause us all consternation about the appropriate role, constitutional role, of both the president and the United States senate. I would hope that the administration would be taking actions to rectify and prevent any further erosion or disruption of the appropriate role between the United States senate and the administration. I had the opportunity, gentlemen, to talk with most of you i think previously. Mr. Abend, he want to thank you for our conversation. You have extensive experience as an investigator, but you have never really had the experience as an Inspector General, which is i think a specific and a very, very sophisticated operation. Youve been a special agent. You served in many areas, but youve never served in the military and youre being asked now to be the Inspector General for the department of defense a and, again, we acknowledge your skill as an investigator but you will be leading 1600 professionals in jobs that transcend investigations, very complex operations when it comes to the department of defense and to the inspector gentles operations. Also, in 2008, we passed the Inspector General reform act and one of the functions was the creation of a council of Inspector General on integrity or efficiency, the cigie. One of their roles is to make recommendations for departments to ig positions and your nomination is the only recent ig nomination that was not submitted for a recommendation. And so we have no input from the council. Again, i think that is unfortunate detriment to you and we are lacking the advice and the insight of the council. Mr. Hansell, youve been nominated to serve as deputy undersecretary of defense for Intelligence Security. I believe your service in the army and special operations on the National Security council and as a Management Consultant in the industry provide you with valuable and relevant experience at the position. In your answers to the committees advanced policy questions you consistently emphasized the importance of collaboration and coordination to the affect the performance of the duties and office and i appreciate this perspective very much. The office for Intelligence Security must be supportive for all components of the department of defense. Mr. Polakowski, you have been nominated for the position of assistant secretary of Defense Nuclear chemical and biological defense programs. As a former chemical officer you have an experience in defending against chemical and biological weapons, and that knowledge will be important as you oversee the Defense Departments expertise in these areas in the departments role in the whole of government effort to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus. Mr. Polakowski is confirmed in other major part of your portfolio will deal with Nuclear Matters, department of Energy Nuclear National Nuclear Security Administration on the reduction schedules for the nuclear warheads. You will also be involved in managing the Nuclear Weapons council which is the joint d. O. D. d. O. E. Body to coordinate these efforts. I have concerns about your expertise in Nuclear Matters since you have great experience in chemical and biological weapons and i would hope and i know that you will focus a great deal of your attention in getting up to speed with nuclear maeps. Mr. Bremer you are nominated to be the next assistant secretary of defense in special operations and low intensity conflict of the asd. Critically important position tasked with the oversight of advocacy for special Operations Forces. In addition to other possibility responsibilities related to counterterrorism, irregular warfare and building partner capacity. If confirmed you will be charged with completing long overdue actions to enable the office of the asd to fulfill its service life responsibilities related to special Operations Forces. The department has fallen short of the clear mandate provided by the commerce nearly four years ago in an effort to hire qualified Department Guidance to integrate into the Decision Making bodies all of this must be accelerated. Unfortunately, several highprofile misconduct instances in recent years have led to questions about the professionalism and ethics of our special operators. I oppose, as i indicated to you on the phone, the president s inappropriate intervention in several war crimes cases last november and remain concerned about the message that action sent to our troops. The American People, our allies and our adversaries. Im interested in the comments you made regarding chiefs gallagher and ill address those during our questioning. I believe the asd needs to be a person who is not only willing to advocate, but also hold each member to the highest conduct and to the applaud those who abandon those standards. I look forward to the testimony of all the nominees. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator reed. As a reminder, were going to be joined some of our members will be coming in via computer and im hoping its going to work better than it did last tuesday and im going to take the opportunity here to make up for a problem that existed cotton was on, but was not able to talk and well give him twice as much time without objection. Well hear from the members in the order of starting with mr. Abend and then hansell and polakowski and bremer. We would like to suggest you make your remarks brief because you will be getting a lot of questions during the process of this. So well start with you, try to keep our brief and mr. Abend, youre recognized for your opening statement. Good morning, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member reed and distinguished members of the committee and their staff. I am grateful and deeply humbled to be before you today for consideration of my nomination to be Inspector General of the department of defense. I would like to thank the president for his nomination and for my incredible family, i has std by me ever since. She inspires me every day. My amazing children and its core. My longtime friends and mentors ken and john who over decades have selflessly given themselves to me. If confirmed i will have the high honor and privilege of serving alongside 73 other federals inspectors general and 1600 extraordinarily skilled professionals of the department of Defense Office of Inspector General. It is a huge responsibility i would not take lightly, but one if confirmed i will gladly accept. Inspects general are center stage at todays most important matters and none more so than the dodoig. In addition to overseeing the department of defenses activities around the globe ther facing the pandemic including broad oversight with the Pandemic Response accountability, committee and the Government Accountability office to oversee the federal investment in and response to the covid19 pandemic. Congress has appropriated 10. 6 billion to the department of defense for prevention, preparation, and response to covid19 as well as a separate 20 million appropriation to the ig for oversight of the same. If confirmed im confident that my over two decades of diverse management in oversight experience will serve me well in leading the d. O. D. oig. Served as a special agent with two other offices of Inspector General with the u. S. Secret service i have led complex investigations into civil, criminal and employee misconduct. Through these experiences i witnessed firsthand how fraud, waste and abuse negatively impacted government programs, services and ultimately our taxpayers and how sustained oversight and preventative corrective actions are critical to the effective operations of our government. In closing, in many of my meetings with both you and your staff we discussed the importance of independence and transparency. I stated then and publicly reaffirm now my commit comment to champion both without reservation. I will exercise my responsibilities as i have throughout my entire career by gathering and following the facts wherever they lay, analyzing the data objectively, and applying the law without favor or preconception. I want to thank you, mr. Chairman, Ranking Member reed and members of the committee and i look forward to answering your questions. Thank you, mr. Abend. Mr. Hansell . Chairman inhofe, Ranking Member reed, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and for your consideration of my nomination to be deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. I appreciate the can trust and confidence the secretary placed in me and i am grateful for the opportunity to serve again if confirmed. My journal to this hearing room today began with Lessons Learned in my family at an early age, the value of service and love of our country. My grandfather was a sailor in the pacific during world war ii. My father and uncle were naval officers. My brother brian is an active duty marine officer and f35 pilot who married a marine naval flight officer. My other brother michael and his wife are d. O. D. Civilians serving be the navy as my motherinlaw did. For three generations my family has sworn to protect and defend the constitution as i myself have had the honor to do multiple times. Each chapter of my career has helped to uniquely prepare me for this role. As a special forces officers i was a consumer and collector of intelligence. Down range, i saw firsthand how timely and accurate intelligence affects the fidelity of military strategy, operations, and risk to force. As a senior director on the National Security council staff, i had an opportunity to work closely with the interagency to coordinate government wide efforts, enhancing our collective security. In this role i was reminded daily how essential integrated intelligence is to supporting National Policy making and its implementation and now as a leader on the Boston Consulting Group north American Public sector team i work to bring commercial best practices to government problems. I approach my nomination with a clear focus on the criticality of Defense Intelligence and security efforts in support of the National Defense strategy. These efforts are essential to ensure that the United States retains its strategic advantage in the competitive and contested environments with we face today. The foundational military intelligence necessary to inform power competition and the Technology Environment in which it will occur is paramount. With Program Costs to meet these threats incredibly high and the cost of misallocation even higher the premium on intelligence informing prudent investment acquisition is at an alltime level. Furthermore as malign activity from adversaries short of Armed Conflict continues to rise the timely and accurate intelligence required to inform leaders and war fighters alike in response is critical. Lastly, ensuring we are fully leveraging protecting our National Security Innovation Base will remain a significant imperative. The Defense Intelligence and security enterprise must continue aggressively seeking commercial partnerships to retain our innovation advantage while at the same time protecting this advantage against a growing range of adversarial attempts to infiltrate and undermine our sources of strength. If confirmed i look forward to supporting these efforts and the men and women of the Defense Security intelligence enterprise. Im committed to working closely with this committee and other committees of jurisdiction to provide the information needed to carry out oversight responsibilities. Thank you for your time today and consideration of my nomination. I look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Hansell and mr. Polakowski. Thank you, chairman inhofe, Ranking Member reed, and members of the committee. As you consider my nomination to be assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, i am honored to be considered for this important position and it is a great privilege to appear before you today. I wish to thank President Trump and secretary esper for this opportunity and their confidence in me and support for my nomination. I am very appreciative of my family who have supported me during my long career of past government service, especially my children and my sister who unfortunately could not be here today. I am here today desiring to continue to serve our nation and National Defense in the nuclear, chemical and biological defense areas. After my commissioning at the citadel, i served the majority of my 36year army career defending our nation against the scourge of weapons of mass destruction. I believe my career to date has both prepared me and given me great insight into the asdncb portfolio and a sound appreciation for the needs of the war fighter and the joint force in both acquiring and sustaining nuclear, chemical and biological defense capabilities. During these times, i regard modernizing our Nuclear Deterrent and its associated National Nuclear Security Administration infrastructure as critical to our nations security and preserving our american way of life. My previous Senior Leader toursed a both u. S. Strategic command and at the joint staff developed in me a deep understanding of u. S. Strategic commands Nuclear Deterrence mission at the joint forces roles in preventing, countering and if needed defending our nation against weapons of mass destruction. If confirmed i pledge to focus on modernizing our nuclear triad, building on the partnership the department of defense has with the nnsa, improving counter wmd programs, and completing destruction of the remainder of our legacy chemical weapons stockpile on time and within budget. If confirmed, i pledge to work with the congress in these efforts and to enhance our communication and cooperation. Thank you again. I look forward to your questions. Thank you, mr. Polakowski. Mr. Bremer. Chairman inhoff, Ranking Member reed and distinguished members of this committee, it is an honor to appear before you today as the president s nominee for assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict. I want to thank the president and the secretary of defense for this opportunity. If confirmed, it will be my highest professional honor to again serve alongside the most capable and honorable fighting force in the world. I would like to begin by recognizing my amazing wife brooke and son will who are watching from a location nearby. Their unconditional love and support makes this all possible. To my son, if i am confirmed, the long hours and time apart will be the hardest on you. For that, i thank you. I couldnt be any more proud. I would like to thank my brother steve, my sister tammy, my extended family and countless friends and neighbors and mentors whose counsel and support throughout my career have been invaluable. Most of all, i would like to thank my parents, lou and carol bremer. They are watching from my hometown in the great state of louisiana. Because of their sacrifice, i have lived the american dream. My mom was a West Virginia coal miners daughter. She grew up in a holler with no running water. My dad enlisted in the air force at 17 and served 20 years in uniform. They taught me the importance of faith, hard work, and love of country. Mom and dad, thank you. And i love you. The National Security challenges we face are complex and rapidly evolving. The rise of great power and competition with china and russia has dramatically increased the stakes of the game and the myriad threats we face from rogue regimes and nonstate actors persist. The consequences of failing to deter great powers is the potential for total war. This is the challenge of our lifetimes. The National Defense strategy articulates a sober assessment of these threats and a path forward to address them. I am encouraged by the alignment of the congress and the department behind the nds. I support it without reservation. Since 9 11 u. S. Special Operations Command has led our global fight against terrorism. In so doing they have perfected their craft. They are unmatched nobly, lethal and agile. The return on investment for the u. S. Taxpayers has been immeasurable. Our battlefield has caused our adversaries to distributed. They Leverage Technology to recruit and radicalize sympathizers to launch attacks from outside and inside our borders. China and russia seek to by investing heavily in asymmetric capabilities in the realms of disinformation, space, hypersonics and undersea. They challenge us in the gray zone between competition and conflict, often using proxies to do their bidding while also building their conventional capabilities. While we will always lead in counterterrorism, it is it has a Critical Role to play under the nds. This requires a concerted, longterm investment in how we organize, train and equip the force, building on the decades long focus on counterterrorism will also address emergent threats posed by great powers in the principle challenge is the principle challenge facing u. S. Special Operations Commanded. It is not a transition from one to the other but an adaptation to confront both. Under the leadership of general clark and his predecessors, this process is well underway. If confirmed it will be my top priority. Must dominate in the gray space through the instruments of irregular warfare to erode our adversarys power and influence. We must invest in smart technology, 5g and others and we must be a Global Leader in the information domain. All of this must be grounded in ethics. If confirmed i will address head on the moral and legal failings that have the recent ranks in recent years. They erode the sacred trust of the American People and tarnish the legacy of the vast majority who have served honorable from oss in world war ii to today. I give you my commitment to enact all necessary reforms in partnership with the the commander of u. S. Special Operations Command. Through all this its critical we safeguard the well being of the force and the families. The last two decades have put them under tremendous strain, taking care of our people is nonnegotiable. Thank you again for your time and consideration, i look forward to your questions. Okay. Thank you very much, mr. Bremer. Were going to start our fiveminute rounds, each member i would like to ask you to try to hold it to five minutes because we have a lot of interest and, of course, we have four of the witnesses before us. Five minutes except for senator cotton, ive explained that. Im going to start mine with mr. Polakowski. I cant think of anyone who is in a better position to assess what we need for our nnsa with you in the background that you have and you bring to this committee which i appreciate very much. As assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological programs, you would be designated staff secretary for the Nuclear Weapons council. That means that you would be responsible for ensuring coordination between d. O. D. And the National Nuclear Security Administration on all Nuclear Modernization programs funding requirements and policy. Let me ask you a question. Do you believe that d. O. D. Acti acting through the Nuclear Weapons council should provide guidance and assistance to the nnsa as it develops its budget each year . I do, senator. Can you think of any reason why you wouldnt . I cant. I see the nnsa supporting the department of defense in its mission. If confirmed, what would you think if you were prevented from even seeing the nnsa budget until after it was finalized for submission to congress . I think that would be a mistake and would severely impair not only our existing triad but our modernization efforts Going Forward in the future, in fact could potentially jeopardize our National Defense. That would be a disaster, wouldnt it . Yes, senator. I believe thats exactly what some people would like, specifically some in the department of energy. The Nuclear Weapons council is currently composed of six undersecretaries or equivalent general officers, five from d. O. D. And one from nnsa. Recently some have proposed to elevate the council to the secretary level and designating the secretary of defense and the secretary of energy as cochairs. Now let me repeat that. I kind of stumbled through that. The Nuclear Weapons council is currently composed of six undersecretaries or equivalent general officers, five from d. O. D. And one from nnsa, recently some have proposed elevating the council to the secretary level and designated the secretary of defense and the secretary of energy as cochairs. What would be your opinion of this proposal . I think thats a mistake and i would not support it, senator. Wouldnt that put the secretary of energy where he could have a veto power . Yes, senator. Thank you. Senator reed . Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Let me also associate myself with your comments which you directed to the doctor with respect to the role of the department of defense in crafting the budget between doe and d. O. D. Thank you, mr. Chairman, for your leadership. Mr. Bremer, we had an opportunity to chat on the phone. I raised the issue of you pointed out you had made comments but they were in the trial phase before the conclusion of the trial and they were generally about due process, everyone getting fair process. I want to agree with that. The actions came after the due process phase and raises one question, do you believe that first an individual military member particularly a special operator should be accountable for misconduct . Senator, without question, misconduct should never be tolerated within the soft enterprise or d. O. D. Writ large. Do you believe that chief gallagher, after the due process given to him by the military justice system, was he held accountable appropriately for his conduct . Senator, i know he was convicted of posing with an isis war fighter. I dont condone that activity. It has no place in the soft enterprise. I know the president weighed in on the matter. Its his prerogative as the commander in chief. I think that authority thats invested in him has been exercised by many president s over time. But the question still remains, do you believe that chief gallagher was held accountable appropriately under due process by the military for his conduct . Senator, i know the military did its part through due process and the ucmj and found him guilty of posing with the isis the fire. The ultimate adjudication of that went to the president s desk. Im not privy to the counsel he was provided. Im not privy to the details of the case. So ive got no further comment. Well, what message does the president s actions send if, in fact, your comments were about due process and ill accept those as fair comments, but the due process arguments have resolved, there is a possibility that the message that was sent not only in this context but the context of at least two other incidents were an infantry lieutenant was pardnd who ordered his troops to kill civilians or special forces officer was in the process of adjudication when he was pardoned. Does that send a message to our troops and to the world at large that this behavior is acceptable . Rather than as you initially indicated unacceptable . Yeah, i understand the concern, senator, and without question, we hold our war fighters to a very high standard. If im confirmed in this position, i will ensure those standards are appropriately enforced. Its always going to be the president s prerogative as the commander in chief to weigh in on those issues and again im not privy to the counsel hes provided in that process. Just a final point, general clark has undertaken a significant study of the culture of the special operations because incidents like this and some not as serious, but incidents like this have cropped up. Are you concerned about as you go into this job, your role of implementing those changes so that the culture is improved . Yes, senator. Ive read that report. I was actually encouraged by it, even more encouraged by the fact that i know general clark and his staff are proceeding to implement those key findings. There were 16 key findings under a number of different categories. I will wholeheartedly support that effort and do my role in assisting him with that. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Hansell, one of your responsibilities, defense counterintelligence and security agency, which has got more and more responsibility each day since it has to protect our the contractors and all of the enterprise from intrusion by foreign powers, cyber intrusions, multiple intrusions, i just would like you to give us a sense that you will focus your attention on making sure this agency is up to speed. Can you do that . Yes, senator. Certainly recognize the Important Role it plays in securing our supply chain and continual efforts by our adversaries to exploit vulnerablibilities and look for weaknesses in our protocols. Thank you. Mr. Polakowski, you have extraordinary experiences as a chemical weapons officer, which is going to come in as i indicated extremely fortunately given the chemical issues and the biological issues were facing. One area where i think you will agree that you will spend a little more time, extra study is nuclear policy. Do you have sort of a sense of how youre going to get up to speed as fast as possible . I do, senator. I plan to, if confirmed, get with my staff and go over to update myself on what has occurred in the recent past and most importantly, what are those pressing issues coming up immediately as well as the long term and then branch out and work very closely with my nnsa colleagues and the deputy administrator for defense programs, dr. Verdon, as well as the administrator lisa hagerty. Thank you. And mr. Abend, youve had a career dedicated to Public Service and done it with admirable skill and dedication and patriotic commitment. We appreciate that very much. In your new role, youre going to be in a very difficult position, that is, youre going to have to be sort of keeping tabs on your bosses more or less. Secretary of defense, senior military officers, et cetera, who technically my out rank you. I assume youre not only prepared to do that but you see that as one of the most significant responsibilities of an ig, which is to speak truth to power every day even if that person happens to be the secretary of defense or the secretary of state, secretary of anything else . Is that a Fair Assessment . Yes, senator, it is. I think one of the great aspects of my background is that i dont come from the department of defense. It makes me an independent arbiter of fact and not coming with any legacy bias, i dont belong to a service or a component. Its critical to talk truth to power. Thats one of the key roles of an Inspector General. If confirmed you have my commitment that will be the way that i organize the office, run the office and report out of the office, sir. And reporting to the congress when appropriate and to others, individuals when appropriate, correct . Yes, senator. Thank you very much. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Yeah, by web ex, senator wicker, you are recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman, thanks to the witnesses for their willingness to serve the government. Mr. Abend, let me follow up on the Interesting Exchange between you and senator reed just now. I think you mentioned an important perspective there, but also you bring 20 years of experience in offices of Inspector General, the federal Housing Finance agency, oig, as well as the department of urban development oig. And, of course, you mentioned in your testimony you intend to be a leader in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. Its harder to find as weve seen over time than you might think. Theres certainly no line item that weekend cut for waste, fraud and abuse. It has to be identified, you have to convince others that this particular spending is, indeed, wasteful and abusive. What experience do you think in these other agencies youll be able to bring to the department of defense to save us some money there . Were going to actually need to spend more money defending america and to the extent we can save money where it is being spent ineffectively, we can do a better job of securing our freedom and our security. So thank you, senator, for that question. One of the primary aspects of the Inspector Generals office is to do economy and efficiency reviews of programs and operations and one of those critical elements is to review constantly how expenditures such as contract oversight are being conducted. One of the critical elements i think we can agree on is, for example, military privatized military housing was not executed well. Its not only a wellness issue for our military Service Members and family, but its a critical failure in a government program. Aspects of my background that could address savings would include looking at programs as theyre being stood up, identifying early and often how we can accommodate to save money and fraud, waste and abuse with proper mitigation techniques. Theres room for improvement throughout the enterprise and im committed to helping with that effort. And could you give us your assessment so far of the audit of the department of defense, as massive undertaking, but if you would tell us in a few minutes remaining how you see that as going and how you can contribute . Sure. So the department of defenses consolidated audit is a gigantic undertaking. The department spends about a billion dollars a year on the effort. The department of defense oig is in charge of ensuring that the 23 consolidated Financial Statements can come together. I think over the last two years, its been conducted, there has been incredible growth in the ability to identify the universe of transactions and also identify performance areas that could be improved, including the Financial Services and audit component improvements, the i. T. Systems and the Data Compliance measures. I think that there is absolutely room for improvement on how that audit can be conducted, but the d. O. D. oig has been doing an incredible job managing the public accountants, their staff as well and working with the other components and Service Members to get that job done. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Bremer, i appreciated the exchange you had with senator reed about the importance of responding to the socom comprehensive review which found and im quoting here, a culture overly focused on force employment and Mission Accomplished that creates the context or situations allowing for misconduct and unethical behavior to develop within the enterprise, end quote. You have a number of have had a number of interesting social media posts where you featured disparaging comments about democratic candidates, where you have pictures, had pictures with a number of personalities, some of whom have been discredited including a man named mi milo inopolis who lost his job or resigned at breitbart after he defended pedophilia. As you think about the role you will play in responding to that socom comprehensive review, how do you explain some of your past social media posts and activities which i assume you would agree with me are not the kind of model we want to hold up to our special Operations Forces . Yes, senator. Listen, those were posts that i regret. They were flippant. They were in my capacity as a private sector. I am now down to linkedin on social media and, you know, people that know me and have worked with me over the last 30 years both in uniform and in the private sector know im a serious person. Im a businessman, National Security professional. I plan to take that body of work and experience to the enterprise. Ethics is a big thing. Ive lived it in uniform, ive lived it outside of uniform. Ive relieved people as a commander and as a chairman of a company for unethical behavior. I take these issues very seriously and my oversight role as it relates to ethics will be a top priority. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Can you tell me if youre still a managing director at cerebrus capital. I am. If you are confirmed do you plan to devest . Yes, senator. I ive gone through a extensive ethics review. Theres some findings in my ethics agreement after detailed review by the office of government ethics where they felt the investments i held did not pose a conflict for this particular post. If im ever involved in a matter, a particular matter, that involves any equities across my portfolio, i will either recuse myself or divest as appropriate. Thank you. And i would ask you the same thing about tier 1, which has been reported to be a company that trained some of the individuals who are responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, are you still involved in tier 1 and if confirmed, will you agree to divest from any involvement there . Yes, senator. Im on the board. I do not have any interest in tier 1 group and if confirmed i would be stepping off and resigning from that board and all other boards. Thank you. Mr. Polakowski, thank you. Its confirmed youre going to be responsible for developing policy and recommendations on Nuclear Weapons as youve testified. Asioknow the new start treaty expires in 2021 and the administration is still considering whether to call for the fiveyear extension that the treaty allows. Can you share your thoughts whether you think we should extend the new start treaty and what benefits it provides to our National Security . If confirmed i will of course defer to the department of state and to the undersecretary for policy. But with regards to myself as a private citizen and as a professional we live in a very what i consider dangerous time. We have two near peer competitors, russia and china, who have been modernizing very rigorously over these past years. We have not. And were in a precarious state now. In fact there are thousands of systems that are not covered by the existing new start treaty that are quite concerning i believe to the American Public as well as to the administration nevertheless there are benefits with the treaty itself. Both nations have followed the treaty provisions. And from what ive heard in previous testimony, from previous strategic commanders as well as other Senior Leaders in the joint force is that they do get value from the existing verification provisions. So id be happy to expound any further on that. But just like is going on right now i believe there is room for improvement in the treaty itself to encompass more systems that potentially threaten our nation and increase the strength of the verification enforcement regime associated with perhaps a renegotiated treaty. My time is up so i will submit a followup question for the record. I think we would all agree that further improvements would be helpful. I think the question is what is lost if we cant get those improvements and we lose the ability to extend new start. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator . Thank you, mr. Chairman. First of all i want to thank all of you for your service. I enjoyed our conversation a few weeks ago especially your views on maintaining special Operation Force standards while recognizing these lawyers for the truly all inspiring contributions they have made to our nations security. I want to followup up, though, on the discussions weve had on the close combat. Secretary mattis established this task force and believed that the personnel policies, training and equipment that we provide to our close combat forces have not kept pace with major advances in technology, human factor science and talent management. I agree with his thinking on this issue. These are the forces who have accounted historically for nearly 90 of the casualties yet constitute 4 of the force. Many of them are special Operations Forces. Can you provide the committee with your perspective on this task force and the important work that it is doing . Senator, thank you for the question. I also enjoyed our discussion. I couldnt agree more with the importance of this task force. The stat i was going to share was the exact stat you just shared that front line combat units are responsible for 90 of the fatalities of dod. And so if we dont get it right at the edge of the battle space then were not doing our job as overseers of the enterprise. It comes down to technology. You know, increase the lethality of the force. I think the task force is working on a 600 meter from the edge of the battle space, sort of a directive. Comes down tonight vision, smart munitions, the right sort of weaponry. I think we need to constantly revision that, we need to reiterate it, the best out there from both the commercial and industrial military complex to do their jobs. Thank you, sir. Our chairman has made it pretty clear the concern this committee has regarding longterm planning leadership and the responsibilities between the department of energy and the department of defense. If we are going to upgrade and continue the modernization of our Nuclear Command and control it is absolutely essential that this issue be cleared up and be cleared up as soon as possible. Would you agree with that, sir . I do. There has been a lot of progress on the leadership side with u. S. Strategic command as well as the undersecretary having significant responsibilities. Thank you, sir. I commend you in your interest as serving as the dod ig. I think one of the concerns we have in washington and representing the people back home is discussed on a regular basis, what happens in washington does not reflect the beliefs and values of a lot of the rest of america. And in that regard they believe that while they elect us to make decisions that the vast majority of the decisions made are made by unelected bureaucrats and sometimes they go without control. The one thing they ask of us on a regular basis time and time again is that we do everything we can to regain control and to understand clearly what does happen within very, very large departments, ones in which we expect executive branch employees to be responsible but at the same time that we have a responsibility to exercise Due Diligence when it comes to their oversight. You become a tool, a very important tool in that battle. I appreciate the fact that you made it clear that you are from the outside, that you are not from the inside of the pentagon. And i think that is an opportunity for you, and i guess the only thing i would askof ow, sir, is the commitment that when you look at reports and when you look at concerns that may come up that you look at them from the eyes of a citizen sitting someplace outside of washington, d. C. And ask the question whether they believe the contracts that are being reviewed, that the actions of individual departments within the department of defense or within the offices, whether or not they would meet the standards of what a tax paying citizen would consider to be a fair use and an appropriate use of those resources. And i think thats the commitment youre trying to make, but i want to make clear i really think you are on the front line and you can provide our citizens with a confidence that somebodys on a daily basis is looking out for their interests as well. Your thoughts, sir . Senator, i couldnt agree more. That is primary responsibility as an Inspector General to ensure not only citizens have transparency in our government through our reporting to them and that reporting is objective, thorough and timely but also its written in plain english so they can interpret the facts of it. Dod ig has a great history of doing so including the consolidated Financial Analysis that they put out. Its very easy to understand and im committed to ensuring that continues forward, and that when accountability is due, that accountability is handed down as well. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator. Senator, blumenthal. Thank you, mr. Chairman. You and i talked on the phone about the vulnerability of insmekters general and the krilt role they play that in effect makes them vulnerable. This administration has unfortunately seen a high turnover. Just yesterday the departure of another Inspector General, department of state. What will you do to make sure that your independence is safeguarded against any kind of interference . Senator, any request that comes towards me whether it be from the white house, congress or the public will be treated the same way, independently, objectively and through the analytic lens of an Inspector General. Nobody has preference in my book. The kind of turnover wave seen largely the result of the president firing inspectors general without cause has severely undermined effective oversight and in fact the role of the congress as well as those inspectors general. And when you and i spoke i mentioned that i have introduced with senator warren a measure called the core act that would forbid the firing of an inspectors general without cause. It would provide to those inspectors general and others against those illegal firings. Will you review that legislation or will you support it . Senator, i have reviewed the legislation. At this time i would like to, you know i would like to pause on whether or not i can support your exact legislation until i have a chance to discuss that with the other at the department of Inspector General. I think all inspectors general should be committed to investigate to full completion without interference bar none. The specifics of that legislation and the impact it would have on the longterm i think on the longterm responsibilities for all Inspector Generals. I just dont want to see a situation where the i. G. Community becomes a sense of sovereignty. I want to ensure theres also oversight of that as well. Will you commit that you will review it and come back to me with a position hopefully supporting it . Senator, as we discussed on the phone i think we had a very trance parent and honest conversation. I will absolutely have those discussions with you and come back to you with a decision. Mr. Handsel, over the last few days members of this committee and others have received classified briefings about foreign threats to the security of our election. These briefings and the documents weve been shown have been absolutely chilling. I find them shocking and appalling. Would you agree with me that the American People need and deserve to know more about these Security Threats . Senator, i certain agree the foreign activity that undermine our democratic process will continue and i personally believe the best disinfectant for misinformation is sunlight and would work to inform the threat. Will you authorize steps to be taken to declassify some of his information as much as possible . Senator, at this time i dont have access to the classified information to make an informed opinion on that, however i do think a principle in order to counter misinformation again, id like you to come back and ill put questions in the record on this issue as to a means to declassify misinformation. I think the need to know for americans is urgent. They deserve it. Let me just say finally as i did at the last hearing i continue to be really deeply dismayed and outraged by the installation of general tata as acting director under the defense policy. Its an invasion of scrutiny. It makes these proceedings a sham and a mockery. As the Ranking Member has indicated others on this committee share that view i believe im not sure what i will do or we will do. I certainly am now disinclined to oppose every nominee especially at this late stage of this administration for any position in the department of defense. What other measures may be possible im not committing to do at this point. Others have mentioned putting a hold on nominees. Im not prepared to take that step right now, but this appointment was done in such bad faith with such disrespect i think that some response by this committee is necessary. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Senator cotton is recognized for his time plus additional time to make up for our blunder two days ago. I just want to say for the record it wasnt the chairmans blunder. Hes the cutting edge technological early adopter on this committee. I wont take ten minutes, though. Mr. Brimmer, i want to go back to something you said in your exchange with senator shaheen. You talked about taking responsibility as a leader both in your military service and private sector. Could you give an example from your time in the navy of an instance where you had to make those kind of hard decisions . Yes, senator, i dont want to go into great detail on a personal matter, but effectively in a real world situation as a combat leader i was in a position where i had to make a decision on the combat effectiveness of my platoon verses what i saw was a good lapse of good order and discipline among the ranks. I made a tough choice and sent somebody back to headquarters. And, you know, i think its a good lesson here because that individual learned a lesson, and he went onto have a very stellar career in special warfare. But to me this is the sort of leadership we need at the lower levels of the ranks. It has a distributed Operational Force so culture and ethics cant just come from the top. It has to start on day one when a sop operator comes to the frrt prize because it may be operating in a two man four man unit someplace in africa. Then it could lead to bad behavior. Thats a message you want all of our troopers to hear down to the lowest level that thats the standards you will expect should you be confirmed to this job, not just the high levels but down to Junior Officers and ncos as well. Absolutely, senator. Youll be working with some of the countrys finest troopers. We hold all our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines to the highest standards. But in our special Operations Forces i think we have an even higher standard, and many of these units, creeds or mottos suggest that those standards apply not just to being mentally alert and physically strong but morally straight. And is that the message you want our special Operation Forces to hear today from you . Yes, it is, senator. If confirmed that will be the standard. Thank you. I want to return to a conversation we were having earlier about the new start treaty, and i just want to punctuate a couple of points on that. I believe that treaty has many flaws, but i think two of them are fundamental. It only covers about half of russias Nuclear Arsenal and china is not bound by it. So on the first point do you believe its in the interest of the United States and our allies to include all of russias Nuclear Weapons in any kind of extension of the new start treaty, whether you call those weapons tactical or battlefield or low yield or what have you . That would be an objective of any treaty negotiations. Okay. And then the second flaw i mentioned was it only covers russia. It has a very outdated cold war approach to nuclear arms control. Yes, russia still has by far the larger arsenal than does china, but china is rapidly modernizing and expanding its Nuclear Arsenal, and if we continue with this model of simply bilateral treaties between the United States and russia i fear that in a relatively short order the United States could face nuclear overmatch with russia and chinas arsenals combined against ours. Do you believe its in the best interest of the United States to abandon that bilateral approach and move to a trilateral approach where we are making treaties with our two main adversaries that have Nuclear Weapons . Senator, i would prefer to refrain from encompassing both together . I do think that we need to address both nations as you mentioned and as i brought up earlier, the modernization by both nations really concerns me, and china has their own obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation treaty to negotiate in faith, to reduce and hopefully eventually eliminate Nuclear Weapons. So they do have a legal obligation to come to the table either bilaterally or multilaterally, and so it would be prudent for us to include them in any negotiations. Thank you. And for the record, do you commit your full support to the modernization of air triad, land and sea . I do. And do you commit the full support of production of aiding plutonium pits per year . I do . Its already been discussed youll be deeply involved if confirmed in operations of the council. Do you believe close coordination through the do you agree the essential component of that coordination is the ability of the department of defense to advise and guide in preparation of the nnsa budget . Yes, and the Nuclear Council really has legal spblts responsibilities to coordinate and approve. What do you think would be the consequence snz. Uncontrolled spending and most importantly our nations deterrent would suffer. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, i yield back my time. Okay, via webex we have senator corona. Well do this very quickly going down the line starting alphabetically, counsel and first question ever since you became a legal adult have you ever made an unwanted request for sexual favors or committed any physical harassment or assault of a physical nature . No. No. No. Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of contact . No. No. No. And this is a question for the president has repeatedly taken action to undermine and even fire inspectors general when their investigations uncover sexual wrongdoing of this administration. In fact, in a sixweek period four i. G. S have been fired and your immediate predecessor at the dod that should have been confirmed resigned after being demoted. And you did testify that the course of the independence of the Inspector General youll be overseeing 1,600 people, so are you willing to stand up to the truth even if it means being targeted by the president for doing so . Yes, senator, i definitely am. Thats been a concept of operation in every position that ive had. Ive always been accepted service, and so i dont fear that. Im going to follow the facts where they lead and apply the law exactly how its written. Yes, you certainly will be held to that because as i said your immediate predecessor was demoted and resigned after that. You testified earlier that if confirmed you will ensure due process for those who are accused of misconduct. When most Service Members are returned to their services such as the gallagher case how exactly do you do that when youre not in the Service Chain of command . Senator, what i would advocate for is due process. If im not in the chain of command to effectuate that, then i would have limitations around that, but from my perspective all u. S. Citizens should be afforded due process, and those that go forward are war fighters putting their lives on the line to protect the same rights and liberties we have in this country should also be afforded due process. So that didnt quite happen. They went through the process and then the president intervened which is highly unusual, so i hope thats not the kind of practice you would consider to be usual. Another question for you. You get asked these sorts of questions several incidents involving special Operational Forces have made headlines in the past year. That led to a soldiers death to a seal team and while the special Operations Commands recent comprehensive ethics review didnt reveal any systemic issues i remain concerned about the special operators acting with impunity. Additionally, the president s words and actions since granting clemency have made promoting a culture of integrity in the u. S. Warfare more difficult. I would like to know describe some of the first steps you will take to improve the culture and reinstate trust in our special Operation Forces. Yeah, thank you, senator. Its a problem and its got my attention. You know, our american taxpayers expect special operations troop to uphold the highest level of ethics and conduct on the battlefield. Well, im running out of time so can you name one . Yes, i would, senator. The first thing i would do is work with the commanderer of u. S. Special Operations Command to see through the imp liltation, the key findings and comprehensive review. I think its important. Its multifaceted. There were 16 recommendations that came out of that. Thank you. You did mention that russia is engaging in misinformation. And i think you would acknowledge theyre doing that with regard to our upcoming elections, so do you think the president has taken the necessary steps to thwart russias disinformation in this upcoming election . Senator, is that question for me . Yes. Yes, senator, thats outside of my purview for the position im nominated for. Overseeing potential operations i just dont have sufficient information to give you a thoughtful answer on that. Well, you hope that the president is doing the things he needs to be doing, right . Thank you. I suspect that he is. Well, hes not. Thank you. Thank you, senator. Thank you, mr. Chair, and gentlemen, thank you very much for your willingness to serve our great nation. And mr. Bremer, thank you very much. We had a very healthy conversation last week. I truly appreciate it, the expression you had of your leadership vision, and you have answered many times over some of the questions i was going to direct to you about the culture and how we can really professionalize the force and ensure that our community is adhering to the highest standards that we truly expect of them. So thank you very much for that. I wont ask you to answer that today. Youve answered it many times over. But what i would like to ask about is Something Else that we had a conversation about that, and that is one of the key programs located at socom, and thats the preservation of the force and family. And that task force i firmly believe in this, and this task force has a Critical Mission to ensure the wellbeing of our special Operations Forces warriors, their support personnel, and of course their families. And you know the sof deployments are unique in scope and requirements. And weve learned the hard way we must rebuild the resilience of our special Operations Forces and their families, a very important part of the organization not only physically but also psychologically, spiritually and socially. Do i have my commitment from you today, your commitment that you will continue to support the potiff program . Absolutely, senator. If confirmed i am an avid supporter of that program. Its very important for the force and our families. And can you describe some of the the steps you seed could be very helpful to sof and common general. It focuses on not just physical wellbeing but also mental wellbeing, spiritual wellbeing and wellbeing of the family. It includes Care Coalition and the support that provides the families when operators are deployed over seas. Helping them to return and reintegrate in the family. So theres a number of different aspects in that program i think have really taken the pressure of sustained deployments in the community. We know they have a very, very tough cycle of deployments. We want to make sure were keeping not only our operators and support personnel at their finest but also their families and keeping them in the fold, so thank you, mr. Bremer. I truly appreciate it. Last year i sat down with representatives from the dod i. G. , the army i. G. , and the National Guard i. G. Regarding two iowaicacies regarding Sexual Assault and reprisal. Each case for each respective i. G. For a total of 178 days and one sat for 255 days before being transfer today the army i. G. I dont believe this is acceptable. This is not the time line we expect from our i. G. S and certainly for those that have suffered from Sexual Assault and that reprisal. If confirmed will you look at the standards to determine whether or not a complaint warrants a full investigation and if they are being fairly applied . Senator, any individual that comes forward with an allegation should be treated much better than that. Absolutely im committed to reviewing the timeliness, thoroughness and objectativity with the reporting and ensuring it gets out to the proper Decision Making authorities correctly. Nobody that suffers through that kind of action should have to wait that amount of days. Im not familiar with the individual case but if confirmed i promise you ill look into it. Thank you. And if the dog is not adequately equipped to carry out their missions will you notify us immediately . Senator, im committed to do that. Thank you, and if you have any potential resource shortfalls and other issues also will you commit to letting us know immediately . Yes, senator, ill do that. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. These are issues that are very significant especially to those survivors of assault and other actions. So we want to make sure that those cases are being completed as quickly as possible. And with that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. Senator kaine. Thank you, mr. Chair. And to the witnesses thank you for your service to the country and your willingness to continue serving. I want to follow up on questions senator shaheen asked you. When did you join Cerberus Capital management . I joined cerberus, senator, in january 2015. January of 2015. When did you become a board member of the chair board one group . Im not exactly sure the date. I would say it was probably around 2017, but id have to come back to you with an actual date. If Tier One Group operates the board operates with committees have you ever been a chair of any the committees of the chair one group board . I have not, senator. Have you ever been an officer . I have not, senator. How large is the group . Very small. I believe we have five directors on the board. The name of the board used to be aggressive training solutions, is that correct . Senator, its the first time ive heard that name. If theres history im unaware of thank you for that. Reports also indicate that cerberus either owns the Tier One Group or affiliates of cerberus own the Tier One Group. Is that accurate . Yes, it is. Mr. Bremer in march of 2019 a few months after the assassination of jamal cushoegsy who worked as a journalist with the Washington Post, the Washington Post ran a piece by reporter david ignaceous. Its titled how the mysteries of khashoggis murder have rocked u. S. Saudi partnership. The date of the article is march 2019. Mr. Chair, id like to introduce it for the record. Without objection. Thank you, mr. Chairman. In the article, mr. Bremer, im going to just read a section that i want to ask you about. The khashoggi story is a lesson in hoy u. S. Supported intelligence and special operations capabilities can be misused by other countries. Thats the starkest conclusion that emerged from this reporting among these previously undisclosed findings. Some members received training in the United States according to the u. S. And saudi sources. The cia has some of these special operation training might have been conducted by Tier One Group, an arkansas based company under a state department license. The training occurred before the khashoggi incident as part of ongoing liaison with the saudis and it hasnt been resumed. Are you aware of that public reporting, mr. Bremer . Senator, its the first time ive heard of this article. Separate from the article are you aware of claims that had been made that members of the Saudi Rapid Intervention group that were sent to istanbul to assassinate Jamal Khashoggi might have been trained by Tier One Group . I was not aware of that. Are you aware theyve conducted any internal investigation to determine whether saudis that have been trained by the Tier One Group participated in this . Not to my knowledge or recollection, senator. I do know we train saudi nationals as part of our engagements with the kingdom. As an allied nation we train other nations as well, but i have no knowledge of that. So until today you had not been aware that an allegation had been made that a company on which you sit as a director with the small board of directors had potentially been involved in training saudis who were participants in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi . Senator, i dont have any recollection of that. There is a possibility that we did have a discussion about it a number of years ago. I could go back and check my records and come back to you on a more specific answer, but to my recollection i do not recall internal discussions on that. Im asking this partly because Jamal Khashoggi was a virginia resident, but im asking this sort of probe in a leadership position and being a director of a corporation especially a small one with a small board, if there are public allegations of this kind, and the Washington Post piece is not the only one, its reported in the chicago tribune, been reported in the arkansas papers, its been reported internationally that Tier One Group chained saudis were involved in the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. It would seem like that would be the kind of public news that might make an organization say we should at least check and see if this is true. As of today you do not know whether the Tier One Group has conducted any investigation to determine whether theres any truth to these multiple public reports. Senator, i will give you my commitment to check the record on this. Its my recollection that we have not, but i may be mistaken, so we have a culture of compliance in cerberus. That culture is pushed down to our portfolio companies, so as i sit here and think about it in realtime i think its probably we likely did do some sort of investigation. I just dont recall the specifics of that, but i will definitely come back to you with a more fulsome answer. I will ask questions whether there was an investigation and whether it was disclosed. And mr. Chair, i yield back. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank all of you for being here. I wanted to followup on some of the discussions we had previously. More than familiar with the importance of good isr, and this year the department of defense has tried to eliminate some of the platforms to make room for other isr capabilities related specifically to the near pier adversaries, and were in this shifting time frame. Were all very familiar with that. But as a former seal do you have concerns about this tranition and the gap fly and utilize are you concerned at all as i am we dont have a plan for the middle, and is it less important we do . Senator, it certainly is an important issue. I dont have particular knowledge on what the plan is for that transition. I will say that isr is very important to the battle space and specifically to sof who intends to be out on the edge of that battle space. I think ensuring we have eyes and ears on the areas we operate is important. I do have confidence the department will get this right. We will adopt in near pier competition, so we need assets in other geographies in traditional ct mission sets, so beyond that i have no other, you know, knowledge about the issue. And i appreciate that. And i think north dakota and north dakotens and all of us we want to be part of the solution. Certainly not part of the problem because we know where we need to get. Wed love to be able to get there faster, but were concerned about the transition and with everybody would love to come to north dakota and see some of our capabilities both at the guard and the air force, and even the private sector as it relates to our platforms of uas would welcome that if youd come and visit us. And similarly, youre former special ops. You understand the importance ofey sr. Are you comfortable with the decreases in capacity with some of the legacy systems that are being contemplated . Senator, as we discussed on the phone certainly aware of the progress made in the Department Allowing isr resources, and from my own time in combat certainly recognized the rightful insatiable demand as it increases Mission Success and weekally importantly reduces risk to force. If confirmed i would certainly work to balance this alignment with the ongoing priorities to be Combatant Commander command. I dont know if you and i discussed this on the phone or not, but i always have to do this for the benefit im the senator from alaska and we border two canadian provinces and are close to the north pole. With regards specifically to that domain, the arctic domain, do you have any thoughts about isr in that domain and the role as we pivot support to priorities of note its chinese and russian increased activities chinese Economic Activity and chinese and russian exploration in northern sea waves, so as i think about isr related to the arctic is coverage for chinese and russian competition its something that would be weighed. As long as i have a couple of minutes north dakota as two of the three legs of the nuclear triad. Submarines dont have a lot of value in the middle of the north american continent, and i know you get this probably a lot, but maybe its more of a statement than a question. We share the concern about the time line for modernization. Were all committed to it. He reminds us when hes reminding you hes really reminding us of the priority and we appreciate that. So just any thoughts you might have on sticking with the time line for modernization particularly of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent as well as the b52 modernization. Just know were with you and just open the floor to your thoughts. I think the planning and deliberations that have been made so far with regards to the delivery platforms as well as the work by nnsa on both the ordinance side as well as infrastructure are all well planned. Theyre very challenging. We not only have the modernize, but we also have to sustain whats we have in place today. As admiral richard recently mentioned on a web talk he basically was very emphatic whatever we can do to accelerate things he would welcome. So one of the areas that im going to be focused on considering all the normal balancing that one has to do in terms of programs is where can we wherever possible accelerate, and of course that is also going to take the cooperation of the congress because without funding both for the department and nnsa we wont get there, so i think we have a good plan. And nnsa has a good road map in their area, and hopefully with all the challenges ahead we can very closely lead and manage the enterprise so we get to where we need to be, a strong, safe and effective deterrent that will continue to last for the decades to come. As with everything weve talked about the transition is the challenge. And you dont have much argument in this committee. Thank you all and look forward to supporting you all. Thank you, senator. Now via webex, senator king. Id like to follow up on senator kaines line of questioning and having served on a number of corporate boards myself its hard to believe that a mention of your company by name and a column by david ignaceous one of the leading Foreign Affairs commentators in the country would not come to your attention or to the attention of the board. And the implication your company was somehow involved in the training of those who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and youre telling us here today you at first you said noud no recollection of it, and you said there was maybe something. Would you like to clarify this matter . I find it incredibly hard to believe that a five person board of this company would not have had a fire drill when this allegation arose. Yeah, senator, listen, you know, to be absolutely clear on the issue i just dont recall the specifics about it. Im not trying to hide any investigation that we may have done or not done. Understanding how we approach these sort of things has me sort of thinking that its very likely that we did do some form of investigation, likely even had a discussion at the board level. I can go back and look at the details on that andbroid that to both you and senator kaine in full disclosure. Its just, you know, im involved in a lot of different corporate matters, a lot of different boards. In that particular instance i cannot recall the specifics about it. Thank you, and i know senator kaines going to followup. Youre in a unique and i think very important position right now as you yourself i think the term you used moral and legal failings in recent years in socom, and as a former ceo with credibility in that community it seems to me you have a very terrific opportunity to try to deal with this, what appears to be potential problems of culture. I hope youll take advantage of that, and i think youve testified here that is your intention, is that right . Yes, senator, it is. Thank you for those comments. If confirmed i will absolutely take lead on this. Thank you. Mr. Ahbed, youre taking a very difficult job. I consider Inspector General is important in the u. S. Government because of the size and the Defense Department often secrecy the public really doesnt have much visibility as to whats going on. Unfortunately in recent years the Life Expectancy the job Life Expectancy of an Inspector General is about the same as a squirrel trying to cross pennsylvania avenue down the street here. I really hope youll think hard about the obligation youll have to the country and the fact that your oath when youre likely confirmed and sworn in is to the constitution of the United States and to the laws under which youll be operating not to any particular president or member of congress or secretary of defense. Is that the way you see it . Senator, thats exactly the way i see my obligation. Ive sworn my oath several times in my career and i abide by it each and every time. I have advocated on behalf of my victims my entire Law Enforcement career. I will advocate on behalf of the departments best interest throughout this one as well. Theres no deterrence from that. Thats the mission. Thank you. I appreciate that, and i take you at your word. I think you may be tested and i hope youll remember your testimony here today when that happens. Mr. Handsel, talking about intelligence normally a customer of the intelligence agencies is the president , the secretary of defense or the cia, the policymaker, sometimes a member of congress. I would argue that every four years your customer is the American People because when they vote on november 3rd they are the decision makers. They are the policy makers, and they need and deserve your intelligence about information involving foreign actors that may influence or try to influence our election. Will you push for the declassification when possible and i understand about sources and methods, but i think you need to think about who is your customer, and every four years in november your customer is the American People. Do you view it that way, mr. Handsel . Senator, as you alluded to part of my responsibility if confirmed would be secure our classified information and our sources of method. However, as i stated ural i do believe the best disinfectant for misinformation is the sunlight. And certainly if confirmed would work with the broader Intelligence Community and the office to determine what is appropriate for declassification. I think youre absolutely right in that view, and i hope you will hold to it and look forward to supporting your confirmation. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator king. A skirl squirrel crossing pennsylvania i like that. Im here, mr. Chairman. Can you hear me . You are recognized. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. The Defense Department Inspector General is one of the most important i. G. Positions in all of government, and if confirmed you will lead an office of nearly 1,500 investigators, auditors, other staff are going to be responsible for investigating ways across the department whose budget accounts for half of all federal discretionary spending. Now, this job requires someone with experience in leading Large Organizations and overseeing high profile investigations as well as someone who can exercise strong independence, so in the past three Defense Department i. G. S all came into this role having been i. G. S at other smaller agencies. Have you ever been an Inspector General for any federal or state agency . No i have not, senator. Well, President Trump has already fired or removed five inspectors general this year alone including the i. G. Who youve been nominated to replace. It appears to me the president doesnt believe inspectors general should be investigating his administration. Now, despite your obvious lack of experience i know youre going to say you are committed to being independent and resisting political pressure. And frankly, its easy to say that at a confirmation hearing when you want the big promotion. So instead of asking that i just want to get more specific. The president has already shone an interest in using military forces to quell peaceful protests. He did it right here in washington, Lafayette Square just two months ago. Its an abuse of power and a disturbing misuse of our military. If the department of defense leadership allowed military forces to deploy to American Cities in response to people who were exercising their First Amendment right is that something you would consider investigating . Senator, anytime theres an expenditure that involves the department of defense that falls under the purview of the Inspector Generals office in that hypothetical situation theres an expenditure being appropriated towards the movement of troops or whatnot, and that would follow under consideration for review by the Inspector Generals office. Good, i appreciate that. I hope we never see another Lafayette Square or similar incident again, but i am glad to hear you say that such an episode may lead to the rise of an investigation. You know, i appreciate your past Public Service, and i know that you would tell us youre going to be independent, but im concerned that the president has picked you for this job precisely because he believes you will not stand up to him. So let me just be really clear about this. Over the past several months the president has repeatedly worked to delegitimize the upcoming elections. Hes deployed federal troops to exercise force against peaceful protesters, and last week he proposed delaying the election. Failing to take these actions seriously is a mistake for both democrats and republicans. We need watchdogs at the dod who will safeguard our democracy even if it means preventing the president from turning the military into his own personal militia. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator warren. Senator holly. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you all for being here. Let me start with you. Missouri as you know is the proud home of the kansas city National Security campus which does extraordinary work producing the nonnuclear components of the nnsas programs and i think senator cotton touched on this earlier how do you think the Nuclear Weapons counsel should support the budget so we can ensure that others like it get the resources they need to meet dod requirements . Well, the counsel needs to be able to do exactly what the law has charged them to do, coordinate and approve nnsas Budget Proposal and also track that through the process through the congress so that in the end result nnsa gets the budget that it needs to deliver and support the department of defense for its mission. Do you support modernizing the nnsas production complex in order to support the programs and priorities laid out in the 2018 posture review . Absolutely. Very good. Mr. Hansell let me ask you about the Intelligence Agency which is building a new campus in st. Louis on the other side of my state. Can you give me a sense how you see this campus contributing to the department of defenses shift away from Counter Terrorism and toward Great Power Competition . Senator, if confirmed i would help manage that trade space between our enduring intelligence requirements and new prioritization nds efforts. I would say its critical these intelligence investments are critical in order to inform that Great Power Competition to identify additional gaps that might be required. Very good. Let me ask you, mr. Hansell, about a related security issue. I introduced legislation back in march that would prohibit all federal employees including dod employees, dod personnel from downloading or using the app tiktok on their devices, on federal devices. Can you give me a sense of your understanding of what security dangers this app tiktok poses to dod employees and why its important that dod personnel not use tiktok or government devices . Yes, senator. Im certainly aware of the Security Threat from tiktok application and currently believe its not on the list of approved applications for Department Personnel and network. Furthermore, though, relative to the threat from bite dance and tiktok i would say is the departments role in the broader cfius review and if confirmed would participate in that. Based on the risk youre aware of with the tiktok app and as you point out dods own actions now in prohibiting it and i believe the department went sfroez to zurj from allowing minor children from downloading it on personal devices. In light of what you know about this do you agree tiktok ought to be prohibited on all government devices . Senator, my purview would be both informing and in conjunction for a dod policy, but certainly would work with interagency colleagues for broader government policy. Just to broaden just a little bit tiktok isnt the only application that comes with some sort of tie to beijing that could potentially pose Security Risk for personnel civilians for that matter. How do you make sure other applications that have chinese influence or ownership have kept off of dod devices . Senator, i think actions similar to what we outlined for tiktok would be applicable. To ensure that a principle we follow when constructing our efforts so that they are aligned across the entire range of the value chain from very Early Research and development through the entire Defense Industrial base that supports traditional players that develop and deliver war fighter capable. Very good. Thank you. Let me in my few remaining moments here ask you about your responsibilities if confirmed. You would be responsible for overseeing investigations of waste fraud and abuse in Afghanistan Reconstruction. Can you give me some examples now of waste fraud and abuse in the reconstruction effort that you know of and find particularly worthy of attention . Senator, as youre aware the department of defense Inspector General is the lead i. G. For all oversight. The reconstruction efforts are headed up through the Afghanistan Reconstruction office. Wed be deconflicting and collaborating with them on those efforts. Specific examples that i read through the reporting, you know, includes some Construction Contracts and some bribery incidences. But it would be incumbent upon us to make sure theres a clear focus for the taxpayer that every dollar allocated is being spent for its intended purpose and not wasted. Ive got some additional questions about that. My time has expired here so ill give those to you in the record and then some questions for you, mr. Bremer, that i didnt get to but ill have for you as well. Thank you. Senator gillibrand. She is via chairman, im going pass to the next person. Im just getting my computer together. Well come to you next. After that, before that would be senator jones, via webx. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you to all our Witnesses Today for your past service and your willingness to serve in the capacities in which you have been nominated. Mr. Polakowski, i would like to ask you a little bit about your background. Your biography states while serving in the army you helped stand up the Standing Joint force headquarters for elimination. And while you have got a very impressive background, there has been some concern about your lack of nuclear experience for this particular position. So i would like for you to talk to the committee a little bit about how would your career and particularly on the Standing Joint force headquarters for elimination, how you experience prepared with regard to the Nuclear Aspect has prepared you for this upcoming position. Senator, im a strong leader with significant technical aptitude. And i have worked the issues of nuclear, chemical, and biological defense over my 36year career. During my last three years in the army, ending in my retirement in 2016, i worked at u. S. Strategic command. I worked directly for the commander admiral haney, and i also was dual hatted, working at countering wmd. At stratcom i was involved as the main point of contact for not only the Stratcom Center but also the Standing Joint force centers. On stratcoms strategb and operational planning, i participated in all of their exercises and provided input with regards to their strategic targeting planning process. I was a frequent flier, i interfaced heavily with the staff. With regards to the Standing Joint force headquarters, most of the focus of those headquarters when i was there was getting the u. S. Military ready for a potential conflict on the korean peninsula. And part of that charge was to do planning in case u. S. Forces and our Coalition Partners ever had to go and seize chemical, biological, and Nuclear Sites in north korea. To either prevent attacks from occurring or to prevent the proliferation of those materials elsewhere. I think thats good. I thank you very much. I dont mean to cut you off, and i may ask you to do more questions for the record, but my time is running out a little bit, so i want to get to a similar question to you, mr. Hansell. Again, impressive career. And i appreciate it very much. But theres ive got a little bit of concern about your lack of intelligencespecific experience. So if you would, could you just describe for the committee specifically what experience or training you have received to prepare and qualify you to assume the role of deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence. Yes, senator. As i stated in my opening statement, as a special forces officer, i was a collector and consumer of intelligence and familiar with intelligence at the tactical edge. As a senior director on the National Security council, i was privy to interagency efforts in the intelligence space. A portion of my responsibilities on the nsc within the confines of my portfolio was coordination among intelligence agencies to better integrate efforts towards supporting strategic priorities. Thank you. Mr. Bremer, there are reports that you had presented a plan to replace troops in afghanistan with military contractors. Could you talk about that a little bit and describe for the committee what you believe is the appropriate role for private security contractors in afghanistan or in other areas of active service . Senator, we own a Portfolio Company called dimecorp, and they provide very important support to our war fighters down range in a number of different geographies. Mainly around logistics and maintenance. I think thats the sort of role that private military contractors have in overseas combat operations, supporting u. S. Troops abroad. All right. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Appreciate it. Thank you. Senator gillibrand. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Mr. Bremer, the last two decades have seen an enormous transformation of our military. It is most evident when we look at the expanded role of our special Operations Community that assumed new duties all over the world. Your service as a navy s. E. A. L. Occurred before this transformative period. Do you feel youre qualified and possess the necessary experience to lead future efforts given that you have worked mostly in the Financial Sector during this new era of special operations . Yes, senator, i do. The 20 years i have been out of the community, i have certainly kept afoot of National Security, but the body of work and development and experience that i had is very applicable. Especially as it relates to the organized, train, and equip functions of the office that is very clearly intended for the assistant secretary of defense for special operations to oversee. I appreciate that congressional intent. Its clear that this position is now intended to reside between the u. S. Special Operations Commander and the secretary of defense. And so im used to that sort of oversight role at the board level. Looking into how money is spent, the efficacy of programs, and a number of different skill sets in the private sector that are very applicable to the oversight role in this position. The special Operations Community in particular the navy s. E. A. L. S, have seen a number of scandals recently. Given this current image, do you believe that youre the right person to reform the special Operations Community and rehabilitate its culture . I do, senator. I share your concern. Its gotten a lot of air time here today. Its a significant issue. And it needs to be addressed head on. I understand the enterprise, the soft enterprise having come out of service as a s. E. A. L. And its a good starting point because i understand how these organizations are tasked to organize. I understand how they have independent cultures, and i understand how the training pipelines, if you get them right, can involve training and ethics from a very early part of an individuals service. My perspective on this is when somebody shows up to the quarter deck or shows up for day one of the course, ethics should be a big part of their training. They should start on day one. It should be inculcated into the dna of every soft operator, and its going to take a concerted effort over multiple years to turn this around because it tarnished the vast majority of special operators out there doing their work honorably. And we just cant allow that to happen. Thank you. Mr. Abend, i want to talk a little bit about whistleblowers. As you know, the i. G. Acts and the law protects federal contracting employees and the whistleblowers states the i. G. Cant reveal a whistleblower unless its necessary or essential to carry out an investigation. Do you believe its ever essential to identify a whistleblower, and if yes, when is that acceptable . Senator, i think that critical importance to keep confidentiality of whistleblowers is paramount for the Whistleblower Programs success. Without the ability of employees, contractors, military Service Members, Intelligence Community members, to come forward with information and not fear reprisal, the Whistleblower Program would just crumble upon itself. Im committed to protecting the identities pursuant to the imptd g. Act, all the way through, pursuant to the law, and insuring people can come forward and report fraud, waste, and abuse. As the Senior Policy Adviser for u. S. Customs and Border Protection, have you ever been involved in any way in ppp deployment of personnel to the protesters in washington, d. C. , portland, oregon, or any other city . Senator, when i was received the nomination, i stepped back from my daytoday duties and was not involved in any of those actions. Okay. If as Inspector General you were to investigate and find reasonable grounds to believe these statutes had been violated by pentagon officials in the context of ongoing protests, do you commit to reporting those findings to congress and to the public . Senator, i commit to reporting the results of those investigations if they were undertaken pursuant to the law and to the committee as well. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator gillibrand. I believe there are no more members seeking recognition at this time. I would ask senator reed, do you have any further comments . No, mr. Chairman. All right. Let me just mention, mr mr. Polakowski, this year, the nnsa assessed it would need just roughly 19. 9 billion to accomplish its mission, and during the budget process, doe, department of energy, thats secretary brulet, and omb, cut that request down by 2. 5 billion to 17. 5 billion, without consultation with dod. Now, luckily, President Trump in fact, we were all there and appealed to him, members of this committee, as to the need as has been impressed upon us, to adequately have the Nuclear Capability that we need at this time. And so the president believed us, and he took it back up to where it was. Another 2. 5 billion. Now, since that time, i think i know secretary brulet is a very effective lobbyist, and all of a sudden, the request that the president has had to go back up to 19. 9 billion was reduced back down to the original amount, reduced by about 2. 5 billion. I would say that you are probably one of the most knowledgeable persons in this field, so i would like to ask you the question, have you had a chance to assess the budget that were talking about now . And having gone up from 17. 5 billion to roughly 20 billion and then back down again, what would be your assessment as to where we should be in that budget process for this year . Senator, the budget needs to be restored to what the original nnsa Budget Proposal was. That was a very deliberative process by the enthusiastic lnu council with input from combat and command. A lot of thought was put into that. If that budget is not actually provided to nnsa, they will not be able to deliver on their warhead acquisition programs and they will not be able to do their infrastructure plans, and in accordance with our modernization schedule. Its got a significant and severe impact if it remains the way it is. I couldnt think of a better answer for that, and i appreciate very much your background, your knowledge, and your willingness to come forth in full honestly. Its what our needs are. Theres nothing more important that were dealing with than the Nuclear Capability and we all understand that. Let me thank all four of you for your time this morning. Im looking forward to serving with you. Thank you so much. We are adjourned. Live now here on scspan3, e join in progress a News Conference on the Economic Relief package. Families with millions of children are food insecure. Thats why we make such an issue of how can they possibly what did we have . Over 60 billion for food in one way or another, whether it was women, infants, children, whether its one form of food nutritio