Transcripts For CSPAN2 Nuclear Weapons Authority 20171118 :

[inaudible conversations] the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order. We will do a little bit of the front end and hopefully will take care of the business quickly and i know people have other meanings and it will move to the hearing itself. We think our witnesses for allowing us to do this and were glad youre here. We have a number of items on the agenda today ander we will movea number of nominations and Foreign Service officer led and will also take up as 1928, multilateral act of 2017. I want to think senator coons for his leadership and hard work on this bill. L. I want to also recognize isaacson, rubio, young, cain and merkley for their contributions to thisct bipartisan important legislation for the committee. This bill will establish a process for conducting injected reviews on how well multilateral institutions carry out their missions with our funding, the authorities after review. Eleven years. Through this process we will be able to evaluate their performance in an objectiveve wy and we will look at performance, management, accountability and transparency alignment with us Foreign Policy goals and efficiency. The us has been around 11 billion to support thesehe entities and we owe the us taxpayers good value for their money. These reviews will help us make better informed decisions about how to prioritize scarce resources and it will also provide solid grounds for advocating for changes in reforms. Others such as the eye kingdom and australia have done similar reviews of their multilateral contributions with good results, by the way, multilateral aid confusions with good results in a i urge you to support this effort will greater accountability for our spending on multilateral entities. Senator cardin, any comments . Yes, i do, mr. Chairman. Before i comment on the bill and nominations that are on our agenda i want to comment regarding information statistics regarding the Foreign Service that has been made publicly last week. Ambassador Barbara Stevenson stated last week and i quote there is no denying that our leisure brings are being depleted at a dizzying speed due in part to the decision to promotion numbers by more than half Foreign Service officers at court state has lost 60 of its ambassadors since january ranks of the career administrators are threestar equivalent are down from 33 to 19 have fallen from 431 after labor day to 369 today and are still falling. The master stevenson was the president of the governing board of the fsa is employing us to ask why. I have been asking why the administration and the state department and the personal budget and reorganization matters i am notot getting a lot of answers. Just as one small example although the Trump Administration lifted the federal hiring freeze in april 2017 the state department and the usaid is elected to keep its own hiring freeze in place. Why . My impression is that the morale is at an alltime low in the state department and thehe usaid causing a massive exodus of diplomatic andng development expertise. Why is this happening . What is the performance leadership doing about it . Our president s recently said we do not need to worry about the fact that many of the seniorlevel positions in the state Department Remain unfilled because when it comes to Foreign Policy his opinion is the only one that matters. Why on earth say that mark for the thousands of fs owes around the world working to advance the ideals of the t United States ts was a verbal message. This is a highlevel decapitation of leadership we are going on the Defense Department with three and four star officers resigning and off for suffering low morale leaving as well or not even signing up i can guarantee you that congress would be up in arms yet here there is silence. Why . The state permitul and usaid i would offer is everybody critical and vital to National Security as the department of defense. The intelligence committee, a lawot enforcement and myriad of others in thelu federal governmt worked tirelessly everyday protector security, extender prosperity, about our values. Folks, the situation is alarming. But our country in danger and we do not have adequate voice and resources to all of our countrys National Security tools. Secretary Madeleine Albright once saidd the turbulent and careless world of men and women Foreign Service of the front lines every day on every continent for us. This committee needs to continue to suppress this issueil and its arsenal ability to make sure that you have the diplomatic assets in place in order to represent our National Security. Moving to the legislative volume i what to think senator corker includes further work on this bill. The critical part of our foreign assistance efforts to coordinate activities, leverageon funds and to look at our National Interest does. If successful, multilateral aid review act provide us with clear metrics, reliable data, solid analysis of our multilateral investment. Mr. Chairman, i hope you will read the bill because i think it does pull out what our expectations are in regards to carrying out the mission and the right use of resources. We review this over a periodic basis to make sure our multilateral efforts are our National Security interests. Think this is important bill and i applaud you for your work. One last point, if i might. When this point. We are y getting near the end of this work. And we e only have one work. Remaining before we adjourn for the year. There is an extremely important bill that senator rubio has been working on which will require additional state farm and reporting on european government efforts to return or provide restitution for property wrong during the holocaust. I said this before but time is running out on this issue. People are getting older and fewer are surviving becoming much more difficult to deal with prostitution. I applaud the work that was done on this bill and i know there are many members of this committee that are cosponsors including johnson, menendez and i would urge the delicate staff to get together with sponsors to see what we can move this bill directly this year. I paid the chairman that thank you. Id like to ask him if possible, because i know we have conflicts taking place at 10 15 and move to the business and if people want to make comments after words im glad to hear it and obviously we will have a long hearing. Let me say that had a very unsatisfactory meeting last week with state department i think the concerns for state department are bipartisan in nature and i dont think they are anywhere close to having a plan to prevent relative performance they make their. I do think that we need to be much focused on holding them because i think many of the things, if not all, are true. With that, i understand that mr. Or under dairy to the estate has been held over and he will be considered in the next meeting. I would entertain a motion to approve the remaining nomination and blocked by voice including ms. Lisa johnson, mr. Sean lawler and mr. Ev Steve Goldstein and ms. Rebecca gonzales into Foreign Service officer list. Unless there is so moved and second all those in favor say i, opposed. Any recorded nose that anyone would like on these obligations . Say none. The eyes have it in the nomination for motions are greedy. Next we will move to a s1928. First i would entertain a motion to approve the substitute amendment in the portland amendment and blocked by voice vote. So moved. Is there a second perspective so moved and second. All those inr. Favor say i smart opposed, without the eyes have it in the amendments are agreed to. Are there any of further amendments . Determined. And cutting a lot of diplomatic relations and have not done that yet as much asme possible. Suppose International Organizations to make sure we stress the importance of diplomatic isolations and with the significant contrast someone that is a partner that abides by and respects the rule of law that cannot participate in the International Organizations that north korea and then they should be a full part of the diplomaticni community so that country that is violating the sanctions possible so i will withdraw these two amendments but it is important we continue this conversationon. So to pass the meaningful piece of legislation in the Banking Committee so you are working very closely with us with your leadership of that committee to work constructively so is there a motion . Is there a second . All in favor . All those opposed . The legislation as amended is agreed to that completes the committees business. So with that we are adjourned exactly at 1015 as we said. Briefly i want to say thanks so for everybody who hass been a cosponsor spending 10 billion per year that makes that much of it methodology more transparent and the opportunity to work together. O and people understand it gives us the ability with the data too strongly support the vacancy that should be supported. We now move to the end. The hearing itself will come to order. And to see through the business meeting as members of bothra sides of the aisle have raised questions of the authority with the use of Nuclear Weapons from terminating the agreements and as i have mentioned this is one in a series of hearings but today it is my hope we will remain focused on the authority and the of the process of Nuclear Weapons. Day progressed general Research Service tells us that Foreign Relations Committee Meeting since 1976 makingbi the decision to go to war was the most consequential of all the Atomic Energy act so with the use of Nuclear Weapons must me subject to political control. So toolhouse horror that authority on the the political leader has this authority. The Nuclear Arms Race to put it during with the risk of conflict so to deliver the of the United States we planned for the unthinkable of how to get our missiles in the air in those few minutes before the warheads could hit us and destroy our ability to respond and in that scenario having such forces and we are grateful. And the president has thehe sole authority. Cut but didnt responding to a attack. I would not support changes and end of the realities of the system to thank the distinguished witnesses and to hope that they could have a productive and a leading discussions so now i turn to the ranking member. Aisle is the key for holding these hearings but it is a critical discussion in the United States senate with the American People. I am always amazed most of them deal with the local economic domestic issues you dont normally get Foreign Policy questions by getting more and more questions can the president really have a Nuclear Attack . That question is asked more and more by the American People. And of course, fueled by comments made by President Trump quoting the of president does not make any more threats to the United States that the world has never seen. And the president s comments have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. Many interpret that to mean it is actively considering the use of nuclearl weapons to deal with the threat of eritrea. Northth korea. There are no checks on the president s authority. The system has set up to day with the sole and Old Authority toth use Nuclear Weapons. That was b developed because of the realities of the security of our country. The first was the particular threat of the cold war and for decades the United States faced a Nuclear Armed adversary in the soviet union to enlarge capable nuclear force. We have a strategy of destructionde to place distinctive commands and data related factor of the law ofsi physics the icbm launch from russia to the United States would have a 30 minute flight time time to convene a special session in congress with consultations to infringe upon our ability to have a deterrence. Said to have to identify and the nuclear force. No time for cabinet meetings for consultations with such a scenario based upon the needs with little or no time is the driving force behind the current command and control architecture. Sy so Nuclear Weapons ever since their development is not like any other military record so under tremendous point was made Crystal Clear that the white house was in charge of the atomic bomb. It was not a military weapon and controlled by the armed forces with a strategic control of elected officials. So the commander in chief with a weapon the president has that seoul and unchecked power you have got to and the steel and this is used to wipe p out women and children and not for military uses a half to treat this differently. Nuclear weapons remain unique that is different than in the question of the cold war and given todays challenges we need to revisit this a face single individual should have the sole and Unchecked Authority to launch a Nuclear Attack including as the first break. Because thech vote attack is not a surprise but a conflict springing from escalating conflict from Smaller Nuclear forces such as north korea. With this circumstance and the United States does not face to use them or lose them with the profound decision so to tell my constituents who have a system in place with the impulsive and irrational decision i unfortunately today of a cord to hearing from our distinguished witnesses as a former counsel senator biden is nice to have him back. The first witness today with the United States Strategic Command thanks for being back here today and for your service to our country the second witness of Political Science from Duke University and also mr. Mckeon acting undersecretary with the Obama Administration and thanks for coming back if you are familiar the year, five minutes we would appreciate that and any written materials without objection will be entered into the record if you could proceed. With the distinguished members of the committee. And with mikes colleagues to write commandandcontrol i applaud you for taking the time to understand that better. Belongs represent the department of Strategic Command and the respective of four decades of militarynd service much of that was Nuclear Related with the most closely guarded secrets with some aspects of this matter with the interest of time as this committee knows as we face more complex Security Problems Nuclear Weapons it doesnt look like there will be done anytime soon. And to modernize those forcese. To extend their positions and then makes it specific Nuclear Threats to include their threat of Nuclear First use and china will deploy. In those regional allies with the capability north korea also has threatened and longrange conventional weapons and those have the merged and they arrived at the doorstep quickly in Nuclear Weapons are important and the ince force was a forswore far smaller. In that remains crucial to the strategic stability there is is that old saying i have used many times with the adversary believes they cannot achieve theirl objectives the u. S. Nuclear weapons with the primary purpose to strain the discrepancy of those actions before they act with the need foro additional alice to acquire their own. The weather weapon can have that deterrence value of Nuclear Weapons with the abilitys to command and control of Nuclear Forces under all conditions with the credibility of the deterrent. U. S. Nucleart forces operate under strict civilian control only the president of United States can order the deployment of Nuclear Weapons and to exercise that authority is insured by a people and capabilities to comprise that system is controlled by humanan beings. That system is designed to do very important things, first to enable the authorized use of Nuclear Weapons with the unauthorizedse use or the accidental or inadvertent use of them. And also to do so with a face of of a wide variety of including a Nuclear Attack. And the short notice massive attack w