[inaudible conversations] today we are meeting to consider nomination by Charles Richard were the greatest admirals to be commander of United StatesStrategic Command. I appreciate you being here. We enjoyed meeting your beautiful family i dont agree with a couple of things they are pursuing but thats all right. [laughter] we appreciate it very much and be sure to introduce them to the committee. And with those laws and regulations will you ensure your staff complies with deadlines with questions for the record. Will you cooperate to provide witnesses in response to congressional request quick. Yes mister chairman and those that are protected for reprisal from briefings quick. I will. We you affirm to appear if requested before the committee asked you agree to provide documents including communication by the duly constituted Committee Regarding the basis for any good faith denial quick. Have you undertaken any actions that would presume to be the outcome of your confirmation quick. I have not. This strategy that we have been using was put together by democrats and republicans and everybody was is in agreement with it with the defense of reauthorization process to prepare for the return to strategic competition and thats also in the review. If confirmed will be the most prominent advocate of those Nuclear Forces with the programs to modernize the Nuclear Triad. So we neglected to modernize for a long period of time and a lot of people even to this day look at the triad consider that to be redundant but i know you looking at your dedication as a member of the council we also expect to keep a watchful eye on the department of energy with full funding for the doe warhead and Infrastructure Program to survive the systems the Nuclear Posture review recommended a low yield force and the program was authorized in the department of energy completed for all units in less than one year. This was the excellent example that would be required to compete with the russians and the chinese. That was a great job that folks were able to get done in that period of time. And ayres track calm has been permission to modernize command and control. This is one of the most complex engineering the Department Faces and i look forward to hearing your thoughts on the best way to approach it. Also involved for missiledefense requirements and given recent setbacks in modernization of the Homeland Defense capability im interested in your thoughts if we can afford to wait another decade to modernize with the interceptors in alaska and im sure well get other comments and questions about that from senator sullivan. And the systems every day like those that support in space thank you for your willingness and to serve in this capacity. I would like to join you to thank vice admiral for your decades of service to our nation. Also to your family who are here your wife and your daughters perk i know they have served and sacrificed for many many years except for that one year you were in jamestown rhode island which was a vacation. Admiral richard you have an impressive record of service to our nation and i believe you are wellqualified with this nomination with your experience at us Strategic Command and the fleet of Ballistic Missile submarines. The commander Strategic Command is a principal officer advises the president and secretary defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staffs on the global missiledefense requirements. A Nuclear Deterrent must be safe, secure and reliable you will be responsible for articulating the requirement and managing the Nuclear Triad with command and control particle protocols that is existential to the nation with the ongoing modernization we are well into modernizing the scene of the ground base and at this time the programs appear to be on track to put all those on the industrial base. The chances of delay is high we need a clear plan of how we would respond im interested in your initial thinking on this issue watching the modernization process very closely. It is a number of organizational changes. With cyberoperations they have been shifted to other, and commands this is the gray area and those that arent to the Nuclear Command and control so not subject to any ambiguity. And that is too costly mistakes. And with those steps that you are taking over this increasingly complicated threat from you technology. Admiral richard thank you for your service i look forward to the hearing. Inc. And mister chairman. We will recognize you for an Opening Statement it will be made a part of the record you are recognized. Chairman in half and Ranking Member read and distinguish members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to come before you today it is an honor to be nominated by the president to lead Strategic Command thank you for the opportunity to introduce my family i would not be able to serve if not for the them. My wife of nearly 31 years was a Senate Staffer working on Senate VeteranAffairs Committee i imagine she is getting a kick from viewing the hearing from a new vantage point. Also here with me are our two daughters. Both graduated this summer one received her masters and physician assistant studies the other an undergraduate degree in biology perk our son jace moved to atlanta unfortunately is not with us today starting a new job so it is an exciting time. This will be our tenth move in the last 12 years and the 21st overall. Said a different way my son went to four high schools, daughters went to three each so i appreciate my familys patience and support that allows me to continue to serve. My mother and fatherinla fatherinlaw, sisterinlaw and her partner are also here and i appreciate that. Thank you to the president and secretary of defense for nominating me into the joint chiefs of staff for the confidence to service combatant commander. If confirmed i will work very closely with this committee in congress more generally to address the strategic challenges i firmly believe both and honest Timely Communications will be necessary to address these challenges. With a return to Great Power Competition as chairman and Ranking Member have noted, we must never lose sight of the fundamental nature and importance of the nation Strategic Forces. A powerful ready triad remains the most effective way to deter adversaries from attacks against the United States and allies we should be reminded that credibility backstops all us military operations around the globe regardless of how or where these tensions arise. Richardson it is foundational the Nuclear Deterrent forces should be safe and secure and reliable and effective. Adversaries began their capabilities it is now apparent if we modernize all elements of our triad to take Nuclear Command and control on the weapon infrastructure with the supplements called for in the 2018 Nuclear Posture review. We must also ensure plans are globally integrated with other combatant commands. Know your threats are not the only threats we face the cyberdomain we face a myriad of threats to have strategic implications. If confirmed i will work hard with usbased command to have make sure they can keep their significant responsibilities also cybercommand as well as all other Combatant Commanders looking at strategic threats globally and execute strategies in accordance with the National Defense strategy to do use all capabilities to deter adversaries and if necessary defend the nation. The Strategic Deterrence there are significant responsibilities Electronic Warfare global strikes just to name a few if confirmed i pledge my best efforts force track calm to implement the National Defense strategy in all areas of responsibility. I will live up to the expectation of the men and women of us Strategic Command perk i have served there twice but what is truly a special place. As one of the last officers on to interview for the Nuclear Propulsion program i think they would be proud of the legacy that carries on to this day in omaha. The commands motto is peace is our profession perk with confirmed i will live up to that motto. Also the standard set by the previous commanders i have server three of them in the current commander is truly a remarkable leader and commander in a large part in responsible for my development as an admiral. It is humbling to even be considered for a position that has such an amazing legacy. As he takes on his new responsibilities as vice chair chief of staff. Chairman and Ranking Member and others of the committee, thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you and i look forward to your questions. Thank you admiral i have a couple of things i want to be sure we get out of the way early. You hear about it now and then i havent recently or if anybody has any interest of a no first use policy. But its always bothered me because it seems like nobody talks about it but it always does appear so i would like to ask them questions about that. I would assume you would agree that limits our ability to deter a dangerous non Nuclear Attack whether chemical or biological or maybe cyber. Would you agree with that quick. Yes. My best military advice is to adopt a no first use policy. I appreciate that because i want to get that into the record. And wouldnt our allies be concerned if we have that capability and what we are doing for our allies if we had such a policy. Yes particular adoption of a no first use policy would have a significant negative effect on commitments to allies. See you have strong feelings about that. The other thing they talk about is alerting that whole idea of responding is to respond quickly and you dont have the luxury of time. But be alert i assume that you agree that something we should not be concerned about or should be. Again i would not recommend that. That would diminish one of the Key Attributes in a crisis situation it adds a potential race to be alert is destabilizing. I appreciate that. In my Opening Statement i mentioned we recently canceled the program for the interceptors in alaska im sure the senator from alaska will be bringing this up. According to the initial plans the next interceptor will likely not be fielded until 2030 for what will you do between now and 2030 in that field quick. So what abilities do we have . Those capabilities we have are quite effective against the threats we face today that a general dickinson commander recently discussed his confidence and i share that with the ability to build the system today to defend us. Any delay is concerned but i have great confidence a Missile Defense agency and the services will be able to work through those challenges represented. Im sure thats right. Leslie and mentioned in my Opening Statement this document i am impressed with. Do you support the recommendations of the Nuclear Posture review as well as this document including the submarine launched Ballistic Missile quick. I do. Very good. Admiral again thank you for your service and your dedication. Nuclear posture is also in the context of decades and decades of arms control agreements like the new start agreement that if nothing is done well expired january 2021. There is the option to renew it five years. It caps is there a significant value. I support any arms control agreement you are correct it has provided us with valuable insight with russian capabilities but doesnt address large categories that are not treaty constrained only with russia and those developing systems to provide by best military advice if confirmed with any future agreement including this one. There is a possibility we are hurry caring dirt disturbing comments coming out of erdogan he once capabilities that are nuclear. If the new start agreement is dispensed with you can find yourselves for the first time were nuclear arms are not in place at all then people like erdogan thinks they have a free ride. Senator any effort of proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is of concern so i would support any effort to maximize the nations longstanding goal. Thank you very much. One of those key issues a secretary matus Nuclear Posture was commandandcontrol Strategic Command is in the process can you give us the notion of the key issues of that you see in this process to hold up the center that you just described by bringing the sender responsible commander of complex enterprise with a focus on the acquisition the secretary of defense i think were on a good trajectory to understand the system that is verifiable and ready to go and the threats they will face in the future and then to conceive the system im very pleased with the direction were headed. I think the number one issue would be sufficient intellectual capital to achieve the same results of our predecessors and adequate resourcing adequate and predictable is the number one thing we can do. The point of intellectual resources we have discussed this in the office but in the good old days it was more government lead and think tank and approach and now cybertechny property is outside and that will have to come under the tent. I agree. I did indicate the potential for delay in the triad modernization this is the first time we tried to do everything at once. We already saw the submarine fields with problems with nuclear tubes this is the whole issue of the industrial base. I know you have to be very diligent watching the base of the submarines here and the icbms and hopefully you keep us informed with any trends you see developing. I absolutely agree. Thank you mister chairman welcome admiral. You touched on this but i would like a clear answer do you support the deployment of the supplemental systems for Nuclear Posture review do you believe these enhancements are truly necessary if we maintain deterrence quick. Absolutely senator. Nuclear posture review got it right with modest supplements added to the flexibility of the triad to deter the threats we face today. Thank you your predecessors have strongly recommended against any unilateral reductions in the Nuclear Force forces. You talked about that with senator reid so what impact do you believe any kind of unilateral reduction would have on our ability to deter threats quick. It would have a negative effect it would be harmful and im reminded this has led the world to unilateral reductions throughout our history and no one else has matched us with that. Theyve all gone in the other direction. In the past year those that argue the icbm force is not necessary for deterrence and many have sought to reduce funding for its replacement for the program so what are your views in terms of the icbm force and how important is it that with the recapitalization effort quick. The icbm is the essential component of the triad. It has special unique capabilities we have no other way. It is essential to achieve our deterrence objectives. We discussed a couple days ago the larger problem of our Nuclear Modernization schedule. And really there is no margin for delay. Can you talk more about that and how we simply cannot extend the life of the current systems. You and i focused on an area that you are truly an expert on of our submarines. Can you talk to us about what we are facing with the ohio class. Yes senator. We have delayed and life extended the current triad systems to the maximum extent possible. We are bumping into physics and engineering limits. I am a submariner so the ohio class was designed for 30 years it went 42 break a great credit to the people who put it together but there are only so many times you can take a highstrength piece of steel and subjected to the great pressures of submergence and cycle that by taking it off you just dont want to get in the tube anymore we just dont have confidence. Thats the type of thing we are bumping into with all the triad systems. Is just not feasible to life extend them anymore. Staying on schedule when is the first one quick. 2031. Still long ways away. You have my support and look forward to your confirmation. Thank you mister chairman represent the state thats home to the Columbia Class Program and we would be very happy to host you there i dont know the last time in the shipyard. That was the last time. We welcome you back. As you know then and now the major hurdles to that Shipbuilding Program is in fact Industrial Workforce Development of skills that are necessary to thousands of new employees and the supplychain that it is essential to build those submarines by the date that we need to do it. Would like your commitment you would continue to support the training of partnership and other programs that are necessary for that program. Senator absolutely. I applaud those for their effort to also contribute to