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Source: Congress.gov
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Unknown (SPEAKER_18)
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Unknown (SPEAKER_18)
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Unknown (SPEAKER_18)
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Unknown (SPEAKER_11)
That's cool. We'll wait for Mr. Garamendi. Today's hearing will come to order. Pursuant to Rule 4B3, members of the House Armed Services Committee who are not members of the subcommittee are allowed to participate in today's hearing and will be recognized after all subcommittee members have had an opportunity to ask questions. Good afternoon and welcome to the Strategic Forces Subcommittee's first hearing of the 119th Congress. And of course, we're probably going to be interrupted by votes, but we're going to power on as much as we can and pick up as soon as they conclude. First, I want to recognize the new majority members of our subcommittee, Mr. Van Orden from Wisconsin, who's not here yet, Mr. Messmer from Indiana, Mr. Crank from Colorado, and Mr. Hamada from Arizona. And also, we have Mr. Bell from Missouri and Mr. Whiteside from California. So welcome. to the best and most important subcommittee. We look forward to working with all of you as we prepare for fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. Next, I'd like to thank our witnesses for appearing before us today.
With us we have General Anthony Cotton, Commander of Strategic Command, General Stephen Whiting, Commander of U.S. Space Command, General Gregory Geo, Commander of U.S. North Command, and Mr. John Hill, who is currently performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. While the President's budget request for the upcoming fiscal year continues to be finalized, we look forward to hearing from each of our witnesses on your areas of responsibility and changes you are seeing to the threat environment. I think it's worth noting that The three officers in front of us today represent different combatant commands with different missions and different priorities, but they each face a common problem. All of you are responsible for mission areas where the United States once enjoyed superiority, but we are now increasingly confronted by adversaries. Space and homeland were once sanctuaries for the United States beyond the reach of our adversaries and from which our nation could project decisive power. That is no longer the case. Nuclear competition, thought by many in this country to be a relic of the Cold War, is back, with adversaries expanding their nuclear arsenals and developing new and destabilizing nuclear systems designed to hold our nation at risk. Our adversaries recognize the foundational role that each of these mission areas plays in our defense strategy. They cannot compete with our conventional forces, so they have chosen to target our homeland, hold our space systems at risk, and expand their nuclear arsenals to challenge our deterrent. These threats have been building for some time, but the pace is accelerating. I look forward to hearing more from our witnesses about how we are responding to these developments. I'm concerned we have taken too long to come to terms with the new competitive environment. I'm afraid that our response thus far has been inadequate. These growing threats and how we as a nation choose to respond to them is why I really do believe this is the most important subcommittee in Congress.
Before turning to Ranking Member Moulton for his remarks, I want to recognize General Cotton, as this will likely be his last appearance before the subcommittee. Thank you for your 39 years of service to our nation. We have particularly appreciated your leadership of STRATCOM and the candor you have had in your interactions with this subcommittee over the last three years. You've certainly earned some peace and quiet, but you've got one last hearing to get through first. With that, I'll turn it over to my good friend and ranking member, Seth Moulton, for any remarks he would like to make.
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Unknown (SPEAKER_00)
Thank you very much, Chairman Desjardins, and congratulations on your first Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing as chairman. I also want to thank you for beginning this session with a very bipartisan series of briefings to bring us all up to speed on some of the most consequential issues before our Congress today. I completely agree with your assessment of the role of this subcommittee in Congress. Let me also echo your welcome to Representatives Bell from Missouri, Crank from Colorado, Hamadev from Arizona, Mesmer from Indiana, Van Orden from Wisconsin, and Whitesides from California. Lastly, welcome to our witnesses, and thank you for your continued service to our country during this difficult time when many general officers are under attack.
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