Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. Space Command National Reconnais

1985 but had been dormant 2002, before its reestablishment in the 2019 National Defense authorization act. This hearing is an hour and 30 minutes. [indistinct conversations] limiting welcome to order. Senator van hollen, if you would like to make your remarks, now is a good time. Thank you. I would like to introduce the nominee for the National Reconnaissance office known as nro. Mr. Chairman, while i cannot say that i am happy to see mr. Scalise leave his current duties in the state of maryland for nasa, i can say with great confidence that the nro would be very fortunate to have him as their director. Since march 2012, he has served nasa goddardf Space Flight Center in agreement greenbelt maryland. We are part of the work he has been doing. Mr. Scalise has worked in a variety of positions at goddard and before that at n. A. S. A. Headquarters. Prior to joining n. A. S. A. In 1987, he served as an officer in the navy working and classified programs and worked as civilian in the Defense Department and general research corporation. He is a recipient of many honors. I will not go through the whole list. But i can tell you that they include the very prestigious 2018 American Institute of aeronautics and aeronautics von carmen award. He started early, he received the award many years ago from the American Institute of and young engineer scientist of the year award. He has received many other accolades and much more commission. He has had experience managing organizations and developing space systems, including over 100 should in earth orbit and beyond directly correlating too many of the nros missions. Heimately, i can say that sets a high bar for everybody serving in government. This committee can always rely on him to pursue the best and his of his agency country. Scalise recommend mr. Or the director of the nro and while we will miss him in maryland, i have no doubt the byntry will be well served him in this position. Thank you very much, senator van hollen. It doesnt get any better than that. Thank you, chairman in half and thank you to the full committed for the opportunity to dissipate in this Committee Hearing today enter introduce general raymond. It is an honor to introduce general raymond to lead the air force Space Command. I also welcome molly and their great family here to the hearing today. No doubt, these are critical roles supporting the defense of our nation, and i am proud of the extensive military Space Operations being conducted in my home state of colorado. General raymond is no stranger committee. For those who may not know, you cannot discuss space or Space Operations without relying on the tremendous career of service and work by general raymond. As commander of air force Space Command at Peterson Air Force raymond isal responsible for the organizing committee training, equipping and maintaining of over 26,000 forces to meet operational needs of u. S. Strategic command, north American Aerospace Defense Command as well as combined commands worldwide. This is in addition to his role as the joint force space Combatant Commander. He has answered our nations call many times. I have the greatest confidence in him as he does so once again to lead the u. S. Space command. I cannot think of anyone more knowledgeable, better prepared, or more respected than general efforts. O lead those i thank you, mr. Chairman and Ranking Member fisk for the opportunity to be here today. Thank you very much. Both of you are welcome to stay here for Opening Statements if that is your desire. If your schedule does not permit, we will excuse you. Thank you for a introduction. Meet, tore today to consider the nomination of the two who have just been introduced. We thank both of you for being today. We have your families here, and would like to have you introduced your families. And any other friends that you have brought with you. We have a room reserved for a classified discussion if it becomes necessary, which i hope it doesnt, but we can adjourn down in visitor 217. Er t we have certain required questions to ask, and i would not to ask each of you to respond honorably so we have you all on record. As you have heard, i am speaking now, had heyou to laws governing conflict of interest . Yes. I heard one yes . Yes. Good. Do you agree is confirmed to appear and testify upon request to this committee . Yes. Yes. Do you agree to provide copies and forms of communication on a timely manner when requested by a committee or to consult with the Committee Regarding the basis of any goodfaith delay or denial in providing such documents . Yes. Yes. Will you ensure your staff can comply with the deadlines established including questions for the record on the hearings . Yes. Yes. Would you cooperate with provided witnesses in accordance with any congressional request . Yes . Yes. Will those witnesses be protected from reprisal india testimony . Yes. You undertaken any actions which would presume the outcome of the confirmation process . No. No. The National Defense direct our National Military to prepare for the return of great power competition, this means you must be prepared to deter and if necessary decisively defeat any potential adversaries. Obviously, were talking about russia and china. In order for the department of defense to achieve that goal, the u. S. Space command must have forces that are trained and appropriately. The commander of the u. S. Space command will need to plan and execute global Space Operations as directed. Established,ly unified combatant command, with xpansive area of operations, your interaction with the National Reconnaissance office will be vital in building in establishing space war fighting readiness. I urge you both to embrace collaboration. That means working with each other. We are at a serious risk of falling behind in our great power competitions and both of you can prevent that. We know that is not confined to, we know that did not used to be there exist there was a time when there was the presumption that what we had in america was always better than what they, whoever they happen to be at the time. That is not sure anymore. Intelligence authorization act year 2014 requires the director of the National Reconnaissance office be appointed by the president and with the advising of the senate,. The Senate Select committee on intelligence held a hearing for doctors four mr. Scolese. That is all written in law. They actually came to our ndaa of 2014. So this is the first time the application has taken place. Thescolese, your duties at be farreaching. I was initially concerned with your Public Statement regarding the establishment of the united Space Command and the possibility of integration and synchronization of the nro. A little bit after of creeping in, which normally does. So i would like to hear the reason for making such bold statements without hearing the details of such an organization or if you were speaking about the integration of any intellectual committee within the Space Command. You prepareond, as to establish the u. S. Space command, if confirmed, i would like to know if you believe you have the resources and personnel necessary to complete the job. Responsibility that will be assigned to you. Senator reid. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman. Let me thank the nominees and their families, who served with them quite literally. General raymond, you have been nominated to serve as commander of the reestablished commander of the Space Command. The last. Eberhardtwas general in 1999. It has become clear in the past few years that space is becoming not only increasingly important, but also a contested domain or the United States may be challenged by our adversaries. As a result, congress authorized a subunit fight command last year, and the committee believes full command is now appropriate. Nominee forfirst this position to appear before this committee under recent changes to senate rules. So welcome. You will add much to todays discussion. You are limited to the commander of a joint command conducting joint operations. If the overall majority of personnel who work in member of the air force. I would be interested in with a alll lead activities occurring in one service. That nro is a master of two masters is in service of two masters, the director of intelligence and policymaking is one of them. That in a row is staffed by the dod and the c. I. A. It builds reconnaissance satellites but requirements are set right Mission Partners and users. Butnro operates satellites decisions are made by n. S. A. And the national geospatialintelligence agency. We would like to hear how you plan to equitably meet parties. Ds of both an issue that will be paramount is Space Commands relationship with the nro. The administration has proposed a space force and unified Space Command because of the growing importance and the contested nature of the base domain. The unified structure is an integrated capability development, but the anaerobic means independent of the Space Command and space force, leaving a seam in our space. I would be interested in your views on how you than to Work Together to overcome this, particularly as we look to the future where there may actually become flex in race. Another issue between Space Command where they may actually become issues in space. Nro recently opposed plans to propose dod Space Development agency. I understand the anaerobic wants to continue a mission to build reconnaissance satellites for the military however, the dod sees an opportunity to resolve challenges by embracing new commercial approaches to building large consul constellation satellites. You, once again, i would be interested in your view wehow you plan to assure minimize duplication unnecessarily we minimize unnecessary duplication. Thank you for the statement. We will now have an Opening Statement starting with you, dr. Scolese. Your entire statement will be made part of the record. You are recognized. Dr. Scolese chairman inhof fisk, im member honored to appear before you. Additionally, i am very pleased to be here today with general raymond as it is critical that the u. S. Space command and nro work closely together to ensure the security of our country and our allies. I was poorly i was privileged to meet with the members of the committee. I also would like to thank the Committee Staff because i know there is tremendous preparation that goes into any hearing. I am honored to have been nominated by the president. I am also grateful that acting secretary of defense shanahan and director of national s in me toce coat serve this capacity. I look forward to working with you. Profoundly grateful to have my wife of 38 years, diane, with major today, i will for children and her spouses, and children who were not able to be with us today due to prior commitments. Their unconditional support means the world to me. I want to remember my parents, who passed away many years ago. My father was a typewriter repairman, my mother was a secretary. They encouraged my sister and i to go to college so we would have many opportunities. I think about them daily. I was born and raised in buffalo, new york. As a teenager, i was in hard that the machines that made recent flourish and possible. I spent a lot of time that made Space Exploration possible. I spent a lot of time building rockets. A path that led me to be here today as nominee for the director of the nro. I am proud to have had 40 years of service in the nuclear navy nasa. I am fortunate to have been involved with diverse systems such as nuclear submarines, and this craft which have been instrumental in protecting our security. During my last three decades at nassar, i have held various positions involved in design, development, acquisition at lunch and operation of these systems space systems, large and small. I have developed satellites and systems to meet the requirements of nasa and other organizations. The Lessons Learned were incorporated into plans of the resulted in improved performance no and other organizations. Nasa, noaa and other organizations. An organizations people are at the heart of its success. At nasa, i had the opportunity to manage large and diverse workforces. Nothing can be accomplished without the talented men and women who are motivated to accomplish the missions. Confirmed, i am committed to fostering an environment at the nro that welcomes diversity, invites new concepts, and energizes a workforce every day. This includes training and retaining a worldclass workforce allowing the nro to provide space capability. The capabilities that it has provided have been instrumental to maintaining the united lead. strategic if confirmed, look forward to working closely with the committee and the entire congress to leverage our opportunities and address our challenges and to seek your support to ensure that the nro continues developing and delivering critical intelligence to policymakers am a war and analysts. Ce if confirmed, i will uphold the National Reconnaissance offices obligation to congress and to the american people. Thank you to the distinction members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. And look forward to answering your questions. Thank you, dr. Scolese. General raymond . Thank you. Distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. It is truly an honor to be nominated to lead the United States Space Command and air force Space Command. I am also appreciative of the opportunity to testify with dr. Scolese. Our being here together shows how critical the relationship between the department of defense and the nro is today and will be in the future. If it is ok, i would like a minute to introduce my family as they are here with me today. I am an extremely lucky man. I am blessed with a great and supporting family. My beautiful wife molly and in a couple of weeks, we will celebrate our 32nd anniversary. She has dedicated her life for taking care of two families, our family, and our air force and joint family, she works tirelessly looking after christina, amy, and gary. Christina and amy graduate from iowa state and are both employed, which is a great thing. Stings Marketing Manager in minneapolisst. Paul in minneapolis and amy is a third grade teacher in des moines, iowa. Sitting next to them is the little brother very. Gary, the youngest. Finished his freshman year at Yale University where he is majoring in economics and is a tight end for the gale football team, number 84. Go bulldogs. Let me think the president for nominating me for this position. I want to thank general dunford for expressing his confidence in my ability to lead. If confirmed, i look forward to working closely with this committee and congress to address the complex challenges that we face as a nation. Ill keep my comments brief because i am looking forward to the questions, but let me say there is great alignment in our nation today in air, and cyber. Our National Security flex this and access and freedom to maneuver is a vital Natural National interest. With this alignment and the support of congress, we have accelerated our efforts to meet the nearterm imperatives of this war fighting domain. Thescope and complexity of threat to our Space Capabilities are real and are concerning. We no longer have the luxury of operating in a peaceful benign domain and we no longer have the luxury of treating space superiority as a given. Although spaces were fighting domain, our goal is to deter conflict from space. The best way i know is to prepare to fight and win if deterrence failed. World and best in the if confirmed, my job would be to make sure the advantage continues well into the future. The source of our great strength are our airmen, sailors, soldiers, and marines. I am privileged to lead americas sons and daughters who volunteer to serve the country in times of need and i take this responsibility seriously and will assure you that if confirmed, i pledged to continue to uphold sacred trust to the utmost of my ability. I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much. Wasy Opening Statement, i concerned with your Public Statements regarding the establishment of the united and thepace force responsibility of with the nros which has done such a good ib for a long time and respect that but i would like to know the reason for making a bold statement at that time because at that time, i dont think he knew the details of the proposed organization and what youre feeling is at this time. Is criticallyt important that the nro collaborate with all elements, particularly the reformed Space Command as part of the confirmation, general raymond and i spoke together about what that would look like. General raymond informed me that they