▶ 0:15:18Chair Wicker: The committee will speak with four nominees. I want to mark this day, the second anniversary of the attacks on october 7, 2023. We know the wars of that day when hamas terrorists attacked israel in acts of unspeakable brutality. The terrorists killed 1190 five people, including 40 american citizens.
▶ 0:15:46Chair Wicker: They took hostage 251 innocent people come on them 12 americans. It is my hope that the president's efforts will lead to a lasting peace. For my part, we stand fast with our ally israel. I welcome our witnesses and their families today. I thank them for being with us.
▶ 0:16:15Chair Wicker: I'm grateful these individuals have stepped up to serve. We need people like them because we face an increasingly dangerous threat environment, the most dangerous we have faced since world war ii. Mr. john noh, nominated to serve as assistant secretary of defense for indo pacific security affairs. We must ensure continued deterrence against the people's republic of china because we are not where we need to be in that respect.
▶ 0:16:44Chair Wicker: President trump has focused on achieving peace in europe and the middle east. The U.S. and allies must also maintain a favorable balance of power in the indo-pacific. The trump administration must have the tools to do that job. It will be Mr. noh's responsibility to work alongside congress to ensure the administration does have those tools.
▶ 0:17:09Chair Wicker: The chinese communist party, along with the nuclear armed russia and north korea pose a significant threat to the united states. The scale and scope of the threat put a premium on our alliances. I'm disappointed with some of the decisions the department has made with respect to our allies in japan, south korea, australia and taiwan. A few of these choices have left me scratching my head.
▶ 0:17:41Chair Wicker: Perhaps we will talk through some of those today. I hope to hear how Mr. noh will inject more diplomatic skill and mutually beneficial approaches into our conversations with our allies. Mr. charles young is nominated to be the general counsel of the department of the army. He is serving as the dod's deputy general counsel having been appointed by president trump. He served as the dod acting general counsel. Mr.
▶ 0:18:10Chair Wicker: Young's long history of service, he served as general counsel of the national guard bureau and has the bureau's litigation and employment law chief. Mr. young served in the army national guard as an apache attack helicopter pilot and later as a judge advocate. He retired from service in 2009. I commend Mr. young for his lifelong commitment to public service.
▶ 0:18:39Chair Wicker: I have no doubt it confirmed he will be of great benefit to the united states. Mr. william lane is nominated to be the general counsel of the department of the air force. He's is a graduate of harvard law school and a partner at the wiley law firm where he practices administrative and constitutional law. He has represented clients before the united states supreme court.
▶ 0:19:06Chair Wicker: In addition to his work in the private sector, he served in the department of justice and a special counsel on the senate judiciary committee. Mr. lane is an army veteran. Giphy is confirmed, all these experiences will aid him in his position as the air force general counsel. I look forward to hearing from both Mr. young and Mr. lane. I would like to hear their views on what their perspective offices are doing right and what those offices might do differently.
▶ 0:19:36Chair Wicker: And then Mr. david beck, debbie did ministry differ defense program for the national nuclear security administration. He will be responsible for the essential task of rebuilding and modernizing our long neglected nuclear weapons stockpile. Over the past several years we have watched as russia, china and north korea have rapidly expanded their nuclear arsenals and developed new types of weapons, weapons for which we are solely unprepared.
▶ 0:20:08Chair Wicker: These advances in our low progress in updating our own forces threaten the foundation of our strategic deterrent. They expose the american people to existential dangers. We have not seen dangers like that since the soviet union could threaten us with annihilation every day during the cold war. The congressional strategic posture commission made clear modernizing our country's nuclear deterrent is an absolute national imperative.
▶ 0:20:41Chair Wicker: This requires leadership and skill and a clear, unmistakable commitment to pursue results relentlessly and deliver the stockpile we need to defend our nation and allies. With that, I turned my friend and colleague, ranking member reed.
▶ 0:21:01Sen. Reed: I want to recognize the two years since october 7, 2023. Just a few days after that I was in jerusalem and had a chance to personally witness the heartache, the drama, the damage that was done on that day. I hope that the president's actions will lead to a lasting peace. Thank you. Good morning.
▶ 0:21:32Sen. Reed: To our witnesses and congratulations on your nominations. I would like to welcome family members who that are here in the competition for best behaved child under 10. Thank you very much. Mr. noh, you are nominated to be assistant secretary of defense for indo-pacific security affairs. Few service assistant secretary for east asia and previously served on the house select committee on the chinese communist party and as an army infantry officer.
▶ 0:22:03Sen. Reed: I trust is give you an understanding of the strategic challenges that we face in the indo-pacific. China has aggressively expanded its military, economic and political influence while testing american resolve across the region. The united states does not seek conflict with china but we have vital interests that must be protected through deterrence and strong alliances.
▶ 0:22:27Sen. Reed: Our partnerships with taiwan, japan, south korea, australia and the philippines among others him in the cornerstone of regional stability. I'm concerned that the trump administration has undermined years of progress with these allies, threatening troop withdrawals, scaling back between exercises and imposing erratic tariffs and averting our strategic forces to unrelated regions. Even domestic military deployments. These actions weaken our deterrence and damage us with our allies.
▶ 0:22:57Sen. Reed: I would like to know how you would work to repair this and strengthen our position in the indo-pacific. Mr. young, after having served as the acting general counsel of the department of defense during the first six months of the trump administration, you advised on several controversial and potentially unlawful decisions that his committee must consider.
▶ 0:23:29Sen. Reed: In june, the initiation deployed forces to los angeles against the governor's wishes. A decision that a federal district court has determined to be a violation of federal law and the constitution. As acting general counsel you did not produce a -- you give approval for a march 30 U.S.
▶ 0:23:53Sen. Reed: Military flight that transported migrants from guantanamo bay to el salvador without any civilian law enforcement officers or dhs officials present, a violation of immigration law and judicial orders. I have asked the defense department inspector general to investigate this incident. I'm duly concerned about any role you played in advising on the legality of recent military strikes off venezuela's coast. I've made my skepticism of the operation clear.
▶ 0:24:22Sen. Reed: I do not believe it comports with international law. Mr. young, you will confront serious questions about the role -- the rule of law, civilian control the military and the limits of executive power. I know you will provide full testimony on these matters today. Mr. lane, nominated to be general counsel for the department of the air force.
▶ 0:24:46Sen. Reed: This has a scope of response ability's including serving as a legal advisor to the secretary of the air force and other officers within the department, as well as the chiefs of the air force and space force and their staffs. You will be tasked with providing legal service throughout the entire department in a variety of disciplines, including physical law, ethics, environmental law, labor law and litigation. In addition, the general counsel exercise oversight of intelligence and other sensitive activities and investigations.
▶ 0:25:20Sen. Reed: These are wide ranging and complex challenges that will required is due legal guidance. I ask that you share how you plan to approach these issues and what objections you have for this -- objectives you have for this position. Mr. beck, if confirmed, you will help modernize the warheads.
▶ 0:25:45Sen. Reed: This modernization is one of the most complex and consequential undertakings in our national defense. It updates aging were had programs and rebuilds infrastructure that in some cases dates back to the manhattan project. Central to the mission is the nsa's skilled workforce of nuclear scientists and engineers.
▶ 0:26:10Sen. Reed: Morale has suffered in recent months as hundreds of employees have been fired, threatened with termination or rehired in a disorganized manner. These disruptions have undermined confidence and stability at a time when continuity is essential. If confirmed, you will be responsible not only for the tentacles of these programs but people who make them possible. I would like to know how you would work to restore trust, maintain experts -- retain experts and do not compromise the integrity of the critical mission.
▶ 0:26:42Sen. Reed: Thank you to the nominees and I look forward to testimonies full stuff thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:26:45Chair Wicker: We have a distinguished guest with us today. Senator blackburn, I understand that you will be introducing Mr. lane. I turn to you for your comments.
▶ 0:27:01Sen. Blackburn: , thank you, Mr. chairman. I thank you in the ranking member for your member and says of october 7. We appreciate that. It is indeed an honor for me to be here this morning to introduce Mr. william lane. We call him bill in our office because he is married to her chief of staff, katie lane. He is the nominee to serve as general counsel for the department of the air force.
▶ 0:27:31Sen. Blackburn: Before entering the legal profession, he served on active duty as a cavalry officer in the U.S. army. He deployed to iraq from 2010 to 2011 as a platoon leader and later a troop executive officer with the second brigade, 25th infantry division overseeing combat patrols, coordination with the iraqi military and civilian officials, and the readiness of over $53 million in equipment.
▶ 0:28:03Sen. Blackburn: After his military service, he attended harvard law school where he graduated magna 10 lottie. Is -- magna cum laude. He served in the department of justice during the first trump administration as a presidential appointee where he advised federal agencies and represented the U.S. in courts across the country. He completed clerkships about the U.S.
▶ 0:28:33Sen. Blackburn: Court of appeals for the ninth circuit and the was court of appeals for the D.C. circuit, and served as special counsel to the senate judiciary committee during the confirmation of justice neil gorsuch to the supreme court. Currently he's a partner at wiley rein, llp, ndc where he practices appellate and general commercial litigation. He has a dedicated husband and father.
▶ 0:29:03Sen. Blackburn: They live in alexandria, virginia. Katie is his wife and they have three precious, well-behaved children that are right behind me. Catherine, elizabeth and william. I think they are going to deserve a treat when this day is over. I will say that for the record.
▶ 0:29:24Sen. Blackburn: With bill's distinguished military service, his deep legal expertise, his proven dedication to advancing constitutional principles, I am confident he will serve with integrity, discipline and an unwavering commitment to the american people. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:29:46Chair Wicker: Thank you very much, senator blackburn. As you know, you are welcome to stay throughout the entire hearing. Or, you may leave at your own -- es. I am -- es. I understand -- yes. I understand that. You are generous in your opening statement. And entitles him to go first and making it opening statement. Mr.
▶ 0:30:12Chair Wicker: Lane, you are now recognized.
▶ 0:30:16Mr. Lane: Thank you, sir. Chairman wicker, thank you for the chance to appear today as the president's nominee to be general counsel at the department of the air force. I am profoundly grateful to president trump for the trustee placed in me when he chose to put my name forward to be considered by the senate.
▶ 0:30:40Mr. Lane: I think secretary hegseth and secretary blinken for the opportunity to serve, as well as senator blackburn for supporting my nomination and for her kind remarks today. I think my family, some of whom are here today. My mother is watching from home. Above all, my greta take -- gratitude to our lord jesus christ for his blessings he has bestowed upon me throw my life. Chief among them is my wife katie.
▶ 0:31:08Mr. Lane: She and I met in 2017 when we were working as special counsel for chairman grassley and the judiciary committee. Although she has an especially impressive career as an attorney, both in government and a private practice, she always places our family first. I would not be here today without her steadfast support and love. Of all her accomplishments, however, I think she would agree her greatest is our three children, kathryn, elizabeth and william who are here with us today.
▶ 0:31:40Mr. Lane: For centuries my ancestors took up arms to defend our great republic. Both my grandfathers served at sea and the navy during the second world war. My father volunteered for vietnam as a green beret with a for special forces group, during which time he fought in the tet offensive. My uncle followed him to vietnam soon after has united states marine. -- as a united states marine. One of my greatest honors was to continue that tradition.
▶ 0:32:08Mr. Lane: In iraq, I got to see firsthand why the iraqi military is the pride of our nation and the envy of the world. As I learned during my time in service, perhaps the greatest bulwark standing between our nation's prosperity and those I would do us harm as the U.S. air force. While deployed we had to be ever vigilant of the threat al qaeda in iraq posed to our servicem embrs on the ground.
▶ 0:32:37Mr. Lane: There was nothing more terrifying to an insurgent and reassuring to our soldiers and the sounded of american fighter jet. As we have seen this year, america's ability to project lethal force to any spot on the globe is unparalleled. We owe a great debt of gratitude to the airmen who make that possible. As our union years it's 250th birthday, owning the skies is not enough. Space is the next battlefield.
▶ 0:33:06Mr. Lane: Yielding hegemony to adversaries within the primacy of the american military, squandering with thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines have fought to secure is a birthright for the american people. President trump's prescient decision to create the space force in 2019 may prove to be the greater strategic military decision in generations. In the 21st century, american security depends on owning not only the skies with the heavens. It must be prepared to dominate space.
▶ 0:33:33Mr. Lane: If confirmed as general counsel to the department of the air force, I would service chief legal officer to the united states air force and space force. In that capacity it is my duty in that capacity it is my duty to ensure they receive the highest caliber counsel. That means ensuring the directives of the president executed and statutes from congress are obeyed. My test would be to support and defend the constitution, an oath I have taken on many occasions throughout my career.
▶ 0:34:03Mr. Lane: As president trump made clear, our country's greatness depends on the strength of our military. A strong military depends on recruiting and retaining the very best. Those who are most capable of destroying the enemy with overwhelming force. As general counsel I will commit to ensuring that airmen and guardians are evaluated solely on their ability to execute this fundamental task. That is what the law and the constitution require.
▶ 0:34:31Mr. Lane: Finally, to accomplish its mission our military deserves the greatest weapons and equipment in the world. If confirmed, I pledge to provide air force and space force leaders with illegal tools they need to acquire the very best for our war fighters. It was a privilege representing the united states as an attorney in the department of justice during president trump's first term. It would be an honor to serve the president and my country again as general counsel of the department of the air force.
▶ 0:34:57Mr. Lane: I think the committee for its time this morning and I look forward to your questions -- thank the committee.
▶ 0:35:02Chair Wicker: Mr. noh, your opening statement, sir.
▶ 0:35:05Mr. Noh: Mr. chairman, ranking member reed, and distinguish members of committee, it's a great honor to appear before you today and be considered for the position of assistant secretary of war for the indo-pacific security affairs. I'm grateful to president trump for nominating me for this role.
▶ 0:35:28Mr. Noh: I would like to express my sincere gratitude to secretary of war hegseth, deputy secretary of war feinberg, an under secretary of war for policy colby for the leadership and support. I am fully committed to implementing the president's policy of putting americans' interest first and achieving peace through strength. I thank you members of this committee your consideration.
▶ 0:35:54Mr. Noh: I am grateful for the opportunity I have to meet -- had to meet with you and your staffs. I'm very fortunate to have my wife and our children sitting behind me today. The love, understanding and support I've received from them have made everything possible. I cannot thank them enough. I also want to thank my parents who are not here but have supported me throughout my life.
▶ 0:36:25Mr. Noh: I joined the army right after college. Our country was at war and I wanted to do my part and serve. I was fortunate enough to deploy to afghanistan and lead soldiers in combat. To this day my military service fundamentally shapes how I think, including about the role for which I have been nominated.
▶ 0:36:50Mr. Noh: The defense policy is deeply personal to me because ultimately it has to do with the well-being of our men and women in uniform who might one day be put in harm's way. For me there is no more important mission and doing everything I can to prevent war, to deter conflict. But if called upon to fight, ensuring our servicemembers can execute the mission and come back home safely.
▶ 0:37:17Mr. Noh: My nomination for the position of assistant secretary of war for indo-pacific security affairs comes at a perilous moment for the indo-pacific. As a staffer working for the house select committee on china that helped me understand and appreciate many challenges we face in the region today. I do not believe conflict is inevitable, but I also do not believe that peace can be assumed.
▶ 0:37:44Mr. Noh: If confirmed, I will do everything in my power to ensure we achieve peace and prevent war in the region with the utmost urgency and focus. Since january of this year, I've had the privilege of serving in various roles within the indo-pacific team of os w policy. Over those months I was able to conduct numerous engagements with counterparts from various countries.
▶ 0:38:13Mr. Noh: I know that america first does not mean america alone. I value greatly the alliances and partnerships we have throughout the region. Members of the committee, it is an honorable lifetime to be given an opportunity to earn your trust and continue serving our great country. If confirmed, I pledge to work closely with you and your teams through the numerous issues and challenges united states faces in the indo-pacific.
▶ 0:38:44Mr. Noh: Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
▶ 0:38:45Chair Wicker: Thank you very much, Mr. noh. Mr. young, your opening statement, sir.
▶ 0:38:52Mr. Young: Chairman wicker, ranking member reed, members of the committee, good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I'm deeply honored by president trump's nomination and grateful for the president and secretary hegseth's trust and confidence. I am thankful for the many blessings god has bestowed upon our nation, our military and my family.
▶ 0:39:17Mr. Young: I am thankful for my parents, trolls and florence young who instilled in our family the values of god, family, country, duty and honor. They will be long remembered and cherished. For lori, beautiful wife of 33 years, our daughter madison and her fiancé richard, our daughter and her husband, and our one-year-old grandson kenneth, and our son captain charles young iv and his wife holly.
▶ 0:39:48Mr. Young: Their love and support to see me. I'm thankful for the many friends and colleagues who are supporting me here today. I appreciate and value your friendship. I come from a small coal mining town of berwyn, west virginia, and the heart of appalachia where patriotism and public service run deep. The young family has four generations of army servers.
▶ 0:40:10Mr. Young: My grandfather served in the artillery in world war I, my father served in the infantry in world war ii, I had the privilege to serve in the army has an apache attack helicopter pilot and judge advocate iraq, in that spirit of service continues with our son charles who is currently at ariel gunnery at joint base lewis in court today and cannot be here. I am grateful for the opportunities the army has provided to our family.
▶ 0:40:39Mr. Young: I earned an undergraduate degree , master's degree in a law degree. It provided similar opportunities for our son. To us and our family, the army really is a place for you can be all that you can be. My 15 years of army service ultimately laid the foundation for another 15 years of active duty air national guard service as a judge advocate and civilian attorney. Followed by another five years as the general counsel of the national guard bureau.
▶ 0:41:10Mr. Young: I have advised military and civilian leaders from the company level to the cabinet level on the full spectrum of complex and multifaceted legal issues facing the department of war. In recent months I had the privilege to serve as the acting general counsel and principal deputy general counsel of the department of war.
▶ 0:41:29Mr. Young: An experience that has deepened my respect for our exceptionally confident -- competent and dedicated service members, and the complexity the operations and administration of the vast department of work. -- war. I am proud of the legal teammates across the office of general counsel the various military legal departments.
▶ 0:41:50Mr. Young: It has been a privilege of a lifetime to serve alongside so many dedicated professionals over the past 36 years of federal, military and civilian service. I believe under secretary driscoll's leadership the army is moving boldly to deter rising threats, from restoring the warrior eat those, modernizing the force and accelerating innovation, to strengthening readiness and improving the quality of life of our soldiers and families.
▶ 0:42:19Mr. Young: To that end I am committed emphatically to deliver clear, constructive legal advice anchored in the law and aligned with the secretary's priorities. If confirmed, I will work closely and collaboratively with the army judge advocate general and will commit to undertaking a conference of review of the provision of legal services within the department of the army to ensure we have the most efficient and effective delineation of legal functions, responsibilities and allocations of legal resources to best
▶ 0:42:49Mr. Young: Support our leaders at every echelon. This is an area in need of significant reform. Above all, I remain committed to our army war fighters and their families. Everything we do as advisors must enable soldiers to excel in training, combat, whenever the nation calls, wherever they may serve or fight. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I look forward to answering your questions.
▶ 0:43:17Chair Wicker: Mr. beck, your opening statement.
▶ 0:43:23Mr. Beck: Chairman wicker, ranking member reed, distinguished members of the committee, it's an honor to appear today. I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve our nation and humbled by president trump's trust and nominating me for the role of deputy administrator for defense programs within the department of energy's national nuclear security administration.
▶ 0:43:45Mr. Beck: If confirmed, I look forward to working with secretary wright and administered williams and the entire department in advancing the critical national security missions. My wife jane and our three children are with me today. Jane posey unwavering support has been a cornerstone of my personal and professional journey and I thank you for making this a meaningful learning experience for our children.
▶ 0:44:15Mr. Beck: The nnsa mission is critical to the national defense, ensuring the safety, security and reliability of our nuclear stockpiles is a strategic imperative. This requires steadfast commitment to our personnel and modernization and laboratory infrastructure and the ongoing advancement of science, engineering and technology to address evolving threats.
▶ 0:44:41Mr. Beck: The nnsa enterprises filled with talented and dedicated professionals, scientists, engineers, production experts, support personnel and security professionals. Having had the privilege of working alongside many of them throughout my career, I know firsthand the caliber of the workforce. It is central to achieving our shared objectives.
▶ 0:45:10Mr. Beck: If confirmed, I will work tirelessly to enhance our strategic deterrence capability and strengthen the capability and alignment of the nnsa's efforts with the department of war and other national stakeholders. I committed to delivering timely mission focused outcomes while ensuring the enterprise transparency, accountability and collaboration. We face of rapidly evolving threat landscape. Our adversaries are acting with increasing speed and boldness.
▶ 0:45:41Mr. Beck: Seeking to challenge our security and undermine our defense posture. In response we must act with urgency and precision. Our mission cannot fail. Therefore, we must lead with discipline, innovation and unwavering focus on results. With over 40 years of experience in the nuclear weapons complex, I offer a broad perspective from laboratories to production sites and from program execution to executive leadership.
▶ 0:46:10Mr. Beck: During my previous tenure as an nsa --nnsa administration -- administrator I helped guide the organization through pivotal moments, including its formation, the post-9/11 national security transition, and the launch of life extension programs for the legacy stockpile. I spent seven years at los alamos national laboratories serving as associate director for weapons and engineering and as principal deputy for weapons programs.
▶ 0:46:41Mr. Beck: I am proud of the progress made by our enterprise and optimistic about our ability to take our performance to the next level to surpass our adversary through strength of our people, the integration of laboratories and production sites, and here commitment to operational excellence. If confirmed, I will bring to this role the same dedication and sense of purpose that have guided me through my career.
▶ 0:47:05Mr. Beck: I will lead with clarity, urgency and accountability, ensuring nnsa delivers with excellence and integrity. Thank you once more for the opportunity to appear before the committee. I welcome your questions and I look forward to working closely with you.
▶ 0:47:23Chair Wicker: Thank you very much for your opening statement. Thank you all. Now we will ask a series of standard questions this committee poses to all civilian nominees. The best way to proceed is for all of you to simply answer at the same time, either yes or no. That you adhered to applicable laws and regulations governing conflict of interest? >> yes.
▶ 0:47:51Chair Wicker: A simple yes or no. Have you assumed any duties or taken action that would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process? >> no.
▶ 0:48:04Chair Wicker: Exercising responsibilities makes it important that this committee and subcommittees and other appropriate committees of congress receive testimony, briefings, reports, records and other information from the executive branch on a timely basis. Do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify before his committee when requested? >> yes.
▶ 0:48:26Chair Wicker: Do you agree to provide records, documents and electronic communications in a timely manner when requested by the committee, its subcommittees, or other appropriate committees of congress, and to consult with the requester regarding the basis for any good-faith delay or denial in providing such records? >> yes.
▶ 0:48:52Chair Wicker: Will you ensure your staff complies with deadlines established by this committee for the production of reports, records and other information, including timely responding to hearing questions for the record? >> yes.
▶ 0:49:11Chair Wicker: Will you cooperate and provide witnesses and breeders in response to congressional requests? >> yes.
▶ 0:49:14Chair Wicker: Will they be protected from reprisal? >> yes.
▶ 0:49:32Chair Wicker: Now let me begin a round of five-minute questions by the members of the committee. Much of the funding for the defense reconciliation bill, the one big, beautiful bill is unspecific and will technically be at the discretion of the department but we will write recommendations for them. We will go separately.
▶ 0:50:03Chair Wicker: I have heard rumors regarding some bureaucrats at the pentagon intending to reject congressional intent reconciliation funding. Do you commit to follow the congress' spending recommendations and legislation unequivocally?
▶ 0:50:18Mr. Lane: Yes.
▶ 0:50:19Mr. Noh: I do.
▶ 0:50:21Mr. Young: I do.
▶ 0:50:23Mr. Beck: Yes.
▶ 0:50:25Chair Wicker: Let me go to Mr. noh. Type a will spend about 3.3% of its gross domestic product -- taipie. President li, who senator fischer and I met with a few weeks ago has agreed to get the 5% of gdp.
▶ 0:50:54Chair Wicker: Given these advances in the taiwanese position in concert with the defense reforms, how important is it to continue using U.S. security assistance to outfit the taiwanese forces' key capabilities? Let me give you context, Mr. noh .
▶ 0:51:16Chair Wicker: A number of us are concerned that the ud may be using ukraine posey playbook with taiwan -- ukraine's playbook by taking defense items procured with presidential drawdown authority and returning it to the defense stockpile.
▶ 0:51:34Chair Wicker: This would be contrary to congressional intent and would require taiwan to purchase these items that have already been authorized as pda. Would you comment on that?
▶ 0:51:50Mr. Noh: Thank you for the opportunity to talk about the taiwan. I'm personally grateful for your personal leadership on this issue. The actions you just discussed in the progress type a is making -- taipei is making, the actions that taiwan takes to strengthen itself has a three to one leverage against aggression.
▶ 0:52:23Mr. Noh: That is the doctor on assault ratios. Everything taiwan does, every extra dollar that is spent, every capability it acquires, these are extremely important for the defense of taiwan and I applaud the leadership for taking those actions.
▶ 0:52:42Mr. Noh: In terms of security assistance, if confirmed, I will provide my best advice and recommendations on different tools we have at our disposal, whether that is fms, pda, or time on security cooperation initiative. To expedite and extend deliveries of weapons sales to taiwan.
▶ 0:53:09Chair Wicker: Ok. I'm glad you mentioned admirable paparo -- admiral paparo. He is a sensible and steady voice in the pacific.
▶ 0:53:27Chair Wicker: With regard to the pda and tsci, do you agree it would not be good policy to return them to defend stock and then require our ally to pay for them having already been authorized in pda?
▶ 0:53:50Mr. Noh: Mr. chairman, I strongly believe that taiwan needs to do its part and to pay an increased defense spending. President trump said that taiwan, an island that faces an existential threat from the people's liberation army from the chinese military, that taiwan should spend upwards of 10% of its gdp on defense. I strongly support that.
▶ 0:54:17Mr. Noh: The actions you outlined of taiwan leadership making progress on defense spending and actions the president --the actions that president lai has taken. Acquire the kind of asymmetric capabilities that will be most relevant for an invasion scenario.
▶ 0:54:44Chair Wicker: You are declining to answer my question with regard to pda.
▶ 0:54:46Mr. Noh: Mr. chairman, if confirmed I will provide my best advice had recommendations on how we can continue to deliver weapons to taiwan consistent with the president's intent, including using pda.
▶ 0:55:05Chair Wicker: Consistent with statutory language.
▶ 0:55:11Mr. Noh: Yes, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:55:15Chair Wicker: Senator reed.
▶ 0:55:18Sen. Reed: Mr. young, as acting general counsel for the first six month of the administration at the department of defense you are the chief legal officer of the department. In that period there was controversial use of military aircraft and personnel to transport people in dhs custody from guantanamo bay to el salvador, among other places. You are a lawyer.
▶ 0:55:46Sen. Reed: You understand the fifth amendment applies to people in the united states, not to citizens. You are also aware of the number of cases pursued on behalf of people identified. As a chief legal officer did you ensure each operation supported by dod military personnel that the removal of the individuals complied with the fifth amendment and applicable court orders?
▶ 0:56:15Mr. Young: Senator, as we evaluated each one of those flights we were quickly dashed closely -- worked closely for the nature of the flight of what was questioned. We coordinated with homeland security to assure the people manifested on that flight were not subject to any federal court order or restraining order for their movement.
▶ 0:56:41Mr. Young: We also worked to make sure we had a manifest had that documentation, sir.
▶ 0:56:48Sen. Reed: Did personnel ever take custody of the individuals transferred?
▶ 0:56:54Mr. Young: We conducted one flight as I understand and sometime in march. In that flight the department of defense provided support to the department of command security under chapter 15, our typical method for providing support to the department of command security on the lights. -- flights.
▶ 0:57:22Sen. Reed: Interesting. This situation is more complicated. Secretary rubio posted publicly on march 31 that on march -- that the march 30 flight from guantanamo bay to el salvador had transferred 17 people who had been in the united states.
▶ 0:57:47Sen. Reed: It appears that the transfer was in violation of at least three court orders, yet you say that every flight has been verified to ensure there was no violation of court orders.
▶ 0:58:00Mr. Young: Within the department of war we tried to do our best due diligence to determine whether or not the personnel requested for a transport had been cleared by the department of homeland security and they were not subject to any court order or restraining order on the transportation. Each has numerous cases across the united states. There are thousands of people who are in the process of post removal order actions. Each has their own.
▶ 0:58:29Mr. Young: The department of homeland security would develop a manifest based off of people who were served post removal order and provided a request for transportation under chapter 15.
▶ 0:58:43Sen. Reed: Before you approved that flight and it was a dod flight requiring approval under the department, the secretary , did you confirm that all due process had been exhausted for the individuals and that no court orders were implicated?
▶ 0:59:05Mr. Young: Senator, I did. As you mentioned, this matter is under investigation by the inspector general at your request. Probably would not be appropriate for me to comment further on the matter.
▶ 0:59:20Sen. Reed: I think your, to be important, because -- your comments would be important, because you are suggesting every thing was by dhs when in fact in court, tracy hewlett's, the chief ice enforcement and removal operations testified those individuals were moved by dod on a flight with no dhs personnel on board. Phs did not direct dod to remove them -- dhs.
▶ 0:59:53Sen. Reed: You are you one your counterparts is saying they received no clearance from us or information about legal status. That is completely illegal. The department of personnel cannot act with law enforcement officers and violate the fifth amendment of the united states. Thank you.
▶ 1:00:15Chair Wicker: Senator fischer.
▶ 1:00:18Sen. Fischer: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Mr. beck, welcome today. I appreciated our conversations about best to instill a sense of urgency within the nnsa so they can achieve the goals of their enterprise blueprint. Especially to ensure the recapture -- recapitalization efforts they coordinated, also with the weapons production programs.
▶ 1:00:48Sen. Fischer: Briefly, are there any practices you would suggest from commercial industry, particularly with respect to building new facilities safely on a more reasonable schedule so that nnsa could consider possibly adopting some of those?
▶ 1:01:09Mr. Beck: Thank you for the question. The system we devised has for acquisition strategy has created an unaffordable scheduling cost environment. We need to move towards a commercial approach.
▶ 1:01:30Mr. Beck: Much like there are good examples that have occurred in space force to use transactional authority to speed up the building of some.of the things 70% of what nsa does is commercial, including standard industrial work like high explosives and depleted uranium. I believe we can improve urgency on that.
▶ 1:01:52Sen. Fischer: If you are confirmed to this position, will you enter with a sense of urgency?
▶ 1:02:00Mr. Beck: Absolutely.
▶ 1:02:01Sen. Fischer: Mr. noh, welcome. China is developing and integrating technology such as ai and hypersonics, space capabilities at a rapid pace. I would say they are doing so looking at breathtaking growth as well. -- as well with their nuclear arsenal.
▶ 1:02:32Sen. Fischer: This is a huge threat to the united states and also to the world. As you look at what is developing between china and the cooperation they are exhibiting with russia and north korea right now, what do you think would be some of the most significant consequences of that deepening relationship that they have with those countries?
▶ 1:02:59Mr. Noh: Senator, thank you for the opportunity to talk about the very alarming issue, the development and growth of the chinese military. China is undergoing historic and unprecedented military buildup. It is the most rapid military buildup in history and the largest since world war ii.
▶ 1:03:29Mr. Noh: It spans both conventional and nuclear, as well as cyber and space capabilities.
▶ 1:03:37Sen. Fischer: Are you concerned about that and the ability they will have to deny any kind of access or capabilities to the united states military from operating within that first and second?
▶ 1:03:55Mr. Noh: This is an enormous concern of mine. If confirmed, senator, I will do everything in my power to make sure we have combat critical forces postured forward in the western pacific and the first island chain. Second island chain with the right capabilities at the right places.
▶ 1:04:16Sen. Fischer: Do we have a strong commitment and should honor that commitment in the indo-pacific?
▶ 1:04:23Mr. Noh: My understanding having worked at the department since january of this year, the department absolutely takes its commitments seriously. If confirmed, I will do everything I can to advance the important alliances and partnerships we have throughout the region.
▶ 1:04:40Sen. Fischer: With other countries would you suggest that the united states look for in that area to also form partnerships, allegiances in order to face that breathtaking growth of the nuclear arsenal that china has?
▶ 1:05:04Mr. Noh: We have a number of extremely important alliances in the region. Japan, the republic of korea, australia, the philippines are countries with whom we have alliances. If confirmed, I will do everything I can to continue to advance those relationships.
▶ 1:05:24Sen. Fischer: Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:05:27Chair Wicker: Senator king.
▶ 1:05:31Sen. King: I will pick up where you are with senator fischer. I was pleased to hear in your statement you say that you know that america first does not mean america alone. That's a very important recognition. What is your assessment of the U.S. commitment to the initiative?
▶ 1:05:58Mr. Noh: Senator kaine, thank you for your personal leadership on aukus. It is a brass tax, and at the realities, including the state of our submarine and industrial base.
▶ 1:06:29Mr. Noh: Our submarine industrial base produces 1.2 virginia class submarines a year. That never needs to go up to 2.33 -- that needs to go up to 2.33 for us to meet both U.S. requirements and fulfill our obligations under aukus pillar one. Admiral caudle testified several weeks ago, chief of naval operations to said the summer and industrial base we need to go through transformational improvement in production capacity.
▶ 1:07:00Mr. Noh: Not a 10%, that a 20% but hundred percent improvement in production capacity. These are the issues we are looking into as part of the aukus review, as well as whether it is properly funded. There are significant investments that are made from both the west side and in addition to the contributions australia has made as part of pillar one. The department continues to conduct review of aukus.
▶ 1:07:31Sen. Kaine: I'm aware the department is doing it but what do you think about the aukus security agreement? I suspect you have been involved in those discussions. What value do you see in the initiative?
▶ 1:07:47Mr. Noh: Senator, I don't get ahead of both undersecretary colby and secretary hegseth, because the review is ongoing. My personal view is that there are things I believe common sense things we can do to strengthen aukus, strengthen pillar one and ensure it is more sustainable.
▶ 1:08:12Mr. Noh: As the findings of the review come out I believe undersecretary colby and secretary hegseth will have an opportunity to discuss recommendations as to how to strengthen pillar one and make it more sustainable. My personal view is that there are things that we as in the united states and australia with the united kingdom can do to strengthen pillar one and make it more sustainable.
▶ 1:08:36Sen. Kaine: You volunteered all his failure -- australia as a nation we need to partnership in response to senator fischer's question. The committee is watching closely in a bipartisan way and expressed strong support for this framework not only in words but investments in the astros -- and the australian government has done the same thing. We look forward to the completion and report out of the pentagon on this. I have a question for Mr.
▶ 1:09:05Sen. Kaine: Young and Mr. lane. Secretary hegseth included a reform of the equal opportunity in employment opportunity process. One of the things in that reform is a shift from anonymous to confidential reporting, as well as expedited cases.
▶ 1:09:27Sen. Kaine: How will you ensure the shift in reporting does not deter service members, particularly women, from coming forward with legitimate complaints, especially in environments where retaliation remains a concern to both -- concern? >> thank you for the question. I'm not privy to that legal analysis. I can give you my commitment that anyone making complaints should be treated seriously and with dignity and respect.
▶ 1:09:58Sen. Kaine: My primary concern if I'm honored to be confirmed is to make sure the rule of law r eigns. I would make sure that the appropriate protections are in place.
▶ 1:10:12Sen. Kaine: Can I have Mr. young take my last 15 seconds to answer?
▶ 1:10:17Mr. Young: I would say the review will ensure whatever policy comes out on the back and will be in can -- back end will be in -- members can come forward and make complaints under the military equal opportunity process when needed.
▶ 1:10:38Sen. Kaine: You would agree that folks should be able to make complaints without fear of retaliation? >> yes, senator.
▶ 1:10:46Chair Wicker: Senator scott.
▶ 1:10:49Sen. Scott: Congratulations to each of you. It's a great opportunity for each of you to degrade -- to do something great for our country. I think aukus is really important to the security of our country and I look forward to hearing what comes out of your review.
▶ 1:11:10Sen. Scott: I personally can't imagine that we would not want to continue to build a relationship with australia and continue to have -- to use aukus to build our security. I just got back from the philippines and japan. I have been talking to our military leaders. Everyone is focused on china. China, china, china.
▶ 1:11:34Sen. Scott: We had probably one of the best briefings I've had in the philippines. Mr. noh, do you think china, if they made the decision to be her enemy?
▶ 1:11:48Mr. Noh: Senator, I will look at the facts, the realities of what they're are doing with the military. As I mentioned, looking at their historic, unprecedented military growth, the actions they are taking also ended the taiwan strait, the south china sea, those actions really speak for themselves.
▶ 1:12:12Sen. Scott: It's important to stop doing business with them, especially with their military. We should not be buying food for them, buying drugs from them for the military, if buying computers and printers from them. -- by computers, and buying drones from them. It reduces our ability to defend ourselves.
▶ 1:12:39Sen. Scott: What are your thoughts about doing any business with companies controlled by the communist party of china?
▶ 1:12:45Mr. Noh: Senator, as the nominee for assistant secretary of war for indo-pacific security affairs, I will offer my best advice and recommendations on what we can do to strengthen deterrents to make sure there is no conflict with china in the future.
▶ 1:13:06Sen. Scott: What you think about stopping her military from being dependent upon them for printers, computers, drones, drugs? Should we depending on someone who should be our hoot -- you could be our adversary? This is not something I've had opportunities to work on at the pentagon.
▶ 1:13:28Sen. Scott: My personal view is that to an extent we can reduce critical dependencies on china, especially as it relates to our military equipment and weapons, I believe those are common sense. What about drugs? Over half the drugs we buy for the military members come out of communist china.
▶ 1:13:47Mr. Noh: Senator, from my time working as a staffer on the house select committee on china I know the united states continues to have critical dependencies in pharmaceuticals and critical minerals and rare earths. These are alarming issues and have confirmed I will make sure to work closely with my colleagues both within the department and throughout the agency to tackle these issues.
▶ 1:14:16Sen. Scott: I have not seen the department do one thing to reduce its reliance other than things we passed through the national defense authorization act. Drones will be computers and printers. If it is not directed by the ndaa, the department has done nothing. Have you seen any actions to reduce our reliance on communist china?
▶ 1:14:48Mr. Noh: Senator, supply chain issues, it is not something I have had an opportunity to work with. I would love to follow up with you with a more full some response.
▶ 1:15:01Sen. Scott: Thank you.
▶ 1:15:08Chair Wicker: Senator king.
▶ 1:15:12Sen. King: Mr. young, you referred to a department that does not exist. What is the name of the department?
▶ 1:15:22Mr. Young: It is the department of defense.
▶ 1:15:26Sen. King: I appreciate that. I think you must of slipped when you used that name that have no legal basis. Sending troops to los angeles, what was the utilization of using the national guard?
▶ 1:15:46Mr. Young: The present's article to authority as well as the president's statutory authority.
▶ 1:16:03Sen. King: Should there be a factual predicate for such use of force of the who decides that the factual predicate has been met?
▶ 1:16:15Mr. Young: The statute is what the statute is. It has been utilized going back to the first president of the united states george washington who sent 19,000 national guard personnel to march to pennsylvania during the whiskey rebellion where 500 people were tar and feathering tax collectors.
▶ 1:16:41Mr. Young: As the president looked at those circumstances, he felt that the assault of the imposition on federal law and the execution of federal law was sufficient to muster thousands of national guard personnel from all over the united states.
▶ 1:16:55Sen. King: Is there any review of the president's decision in a case such as this to deploy troops? You cite the statutory basis. Is there any appropriate review of that decision or is it a completely unilateral decision of the president?
▶ 1:17:12Mr. Young: I would say that matters in litigation before the ninth circuit. Court of appeals the ninth circuit has issued a standard by which it will look at the presidents factual determinations and get significant efforts based off of prior supreme court difference to the president in being able to ensure the execution of federal functions, protection of federal property and the protection of federal personnel as they execute their duties.
▶ 1:17:42Sen. King: Yesterday Mr. miller, counsel to the president, stated that the judge who ruled the deployment to portland illegal and unconstitutional was a "insurrectionist." do you believe a federal judge interpreting federal law as applied to a set of facts should be or could be declared an insurrectionist? That is the term he used.
▶ 1:18:05Mr. Young: I would say that a federal judge interpreting federal law as it relates to the execution of an article two authority is what our constitution was founded on and that is what we respect.
▶ 1:18:19Sen. King: I agree with that. I hope you will convey that opinion to Mr. miller. Turning to the recent strikes in the caribbean, I realize you are an nominee to the army. What is the legal justification for a kinetic strike against civilians in international waters?
▶ 1:18:40Mr. Young: The president acting under his article to authority consistent with the powers the constitution is given him has looked at the circumstances regarding these drug cartels. The president considers these drug cartels to be nonstate armed groups which is what the president has designated them. He has designated them as terrorist organizations.
▶ 1:19:05Mr. Young: He has looked at the circumstances surrounding the manner in which a provision of illicit narcotics have killed more people in the united states over the last four years than all of our conflicts.
▶ 1:19:18Sen. King: Doesn't the constitution delegate the power to declare war as opposed to being to commander-in-chief, to the congress? We have not been good about declaring wars. Not least the authorization of use of military force. Has there been any authorization by congress in this particular situation?
▶ 1:19:41Mr. Young: Senator, there has not been an authorization to my knowledge. I would say that the nation, scope and duration of these activities do not rise to the level in a constitutional sense and the manner in which the president has authorized these strikes is consistent with international --
▶ 1:20:00Sen. King: Does it raise any concern that the president has the power to unilaterally to decide that they could be killed without reference to any authority of congress or any other restraint? If the president can designate somebody as an enemy combatant and take that action, where does that stop?
▶ 1:20:23Mr. Young: That is a good question. Those questions have been around since the beginning of drone warfare. I know during the obama administration there were over 570 strikes that killed 3700 people, many of whom were U.S. citizens abroad.
▶ 1:20:38Sen. King: I am out of time. I believe that was subject to authorization by congress. Thank you Mr. chairman for the time.
▶ 1:20:45Chair Wicker: Senator sheehy.
▶ 1:20:50Sen. Sheehy: Thank you, chairman. I want to ask one of each of you given that each of you have focus areas critical to the national defense policy. The weapons platforms that are decades of schedule and millions of dollars over budget. We cannot even get air force one build in a decade.
▶ 1:21:16Sen. Sheehy: How will we reform our acquisition pipeline to enjoy the we are creating quantity, quality weapons but when they show up 30 years from now, they only made five of them and we need 1000, that is not going to cut it. Quantity matters, speed matters and integration is key. How will we reform the legal basis for acquisition systems so we don't have to be stuck in 30 year contractual relationship with platforms that are obsolete by the time they had the battlefield? How will we fix that and fix it fast?
▶ 1:21:49Mr. Lane: Senator, we have the most impressive industrial base. We need to take advantage of it. We need to be getting equipment quickly. Trailers full of equipment, some of which we did not use and did not need and other equipment needed, that did not arrive in time. That will be a priority. It is looking at the books and see how we can take advantage of statutory provisions and regulation to get things quickly. We have been working hard on improving our acquisition system.
▶ 1:22:17Mr. Lane: I look forward to those provisions being passed and working with the committee to think of more ideas.
▶ 1:22:23Sen. Sheehy: It has to be revolutionary. The old system has to be scrapped. It has to happen fast. Let's get after it. Endo pay, will be the front line of our next potential conflict. We hope it never comes but we have to be prepared for it.
▶ 1:22:41Sen. Sheehy: How will you ensure that our structure in the pacific, we heard from our allies, all the way up to south korea and japan which are undergoing clinical changes right now. They have internal political earthquakes happening as far as what their foreign policy identity is going to be. How will you ensure that we are still interacting with their armed forces in a way that our lines will strong when conflict comes?
▶ 1:23:08Mr. Noh: Thank you for the question. Since joining the department in january of this year, I have had multiple opportunities to do engagements with counterparts from australia, japan, korea, philippines. I have a company to secretary hegseth and his trip to the region as he conducted engagements.
▶ 1:23:30Mr. Noh: I understand and appreciate how important those relationships are, how vital those alliances are to what we are trying to do in the indo-pacific to strengthen our posture and bolster our collective defense. If confirmed, I will do everything I can to continue to advance those relationships and make sure that they serve american interests.
▶ 1:23:48Sen. Sheehy: Important to keep in mind, the only scenario in which we have parity with china is when all of our allies are included. We need to close the gap. We cannot build alliances after we need them. We need to have them beforehand. Thanks for your comments. My distinguished partner, senator king, I appreciate his questions.
▶ 1:24:14Sen. Sheehy: When we have a boat heading to our nation ready to kill hundreds of thousands of americans, I see that is no different as planes flying into skyscrapers. How will you improve our ability to strike these foreign terrorist organizations that have killed more americans, every war in our history combined?
▶ 1:24:35Mr. Young: The key to that is excellent drone technology, being able to field it immediately in manners that have never been historically utilized. To that end, we are working. The secretary of the army has been designated by the d.o.d. As the executive agent for drone warfare and counter you warfare and counter yuas. We are working quickly to integrate the acquisition cycle.
▶ 1:25:03Mr. Young: As you can tell from looking at the ukraine conflict, drone warfare and drone technology has not only an impact on the individual soldier but also on the strategic aspect of the projection of power. That to us is the key ability to continue to project force across the world.
▶ 1:25:21Sen. Sheehy: You are going to have a huge ball of have a huge ball o to untangle. We need to untangle the acquisition systems quickly. I am out of time. We have a lot of work to do to monetize the nuclear portfolio. Good luck.
▶ 1:25:44Chair Wicker: Well said. Senator warren.
▶ 1:25:51Sen. Warren: Thank you. In the first amendment to the constitution, is the free press. When the communication chair was unhappy with jimmy kimmel's remarks, he said media companies can find ways to take action or there will be additional work for the fcc.
▶ 1:26:13Sen. Warren: The next day secretary hegseth announced that journalists at the pentagon needed to sign the pledge not to report information dod has not approved for release including unclassified information. D.o.d. Those rules were rolled back. It was not the first crackdown on journalists. I worry it will not be the last. It is the job of the free press to uncover problems that d.o.d.
▶ 1:26:46Sen. Warren: Does not want people to worry about like military families living in mold infested homes or secretary hegseth texting classified war plans. Mr. young, you are acting counsel for d.o.d. Of most of 2025 and now you are nominated to be the top lawyer. Do I consider your oath to the constitution to include the first amendment?
▶ 1:27:15Mr. Young: Yes, I do.
▶ 1:27:18Sen. Warren: Thank you. We need independent journalists now more than ever. President trump has lured more locally elected leaders to chicago and D.C. and wants to use american cities as training ground and handled the enemy from within.
▶ 1:27:42Sen. Warren: This is extremely dangerous and we need independent journalists who report the truth, not just whatever spin pete hegseth wants to put on it. Mr. young, would be consistent with the first amendment to suppress those who published a story that is critical of the trump administration?
▶ 1:28:10Mr. Young: We are very conscientious of the first amendment and the freedom of the press to report as needed. It was my understanding that the policy was designed to inform the members of the press the ability to access the pentagon is a bit different than a normal public forum.
▶ 1:28:28Sen. Warren: I have to stop you right there. Mr. young, I asked you a straightforward question. I think you can answer with a yes or no. That is is it consistent with the first amendment for d.o.d. To revoke press credentials of a reporter just because the reporter published a story that was critical of president trump? That should be an easy one for a lawyer who has served as you have for many years.
▶ 1:28:57Mr. Young: Yes, senator. It would be consistent with the first amendment is the basis -- if the basis was that the person published information that was not otherwise approved for release by the department of defense. It would still be critical.
▶ 1:29:17Sen. Warren: Are you telling me that the new regime is that secretary hegseth will decide what has been released and reporters can only talk about what the secretary releases?
▶ 1:29:34Mr. Young: Senator, I am not saying that.
▶ 1:29:37Sen. Warren: Well let me ask my question one more time. If a reporter publishes a story critical of the trump administration, is that grounds for revoking that report is press credentials?
▶ 1:29:50Mr. Young: No, senator.
▶ 1:29:51Sen. Warren: Great. Hard to get there but I'm glad we did. Let me ask you one more question. That is if the courts rule any of the d.o.d. Press restrictions on constitutional, will you stand by your oath to the constitution and tell the military leadership to comply with court orders or is your plan going to be with donald trump and hegseth.
▶ 1:30:27Sen. Warren: Freedom of the press is a core pillar of our democracy. The public needs to know is it sending troops to war under false pretenses or exposing our troops to toxic water? This is a scary moment why donad his lackeys at the pentagon want to shut down reporters and shut down access to the truth. Thank you Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:30:51Chair Wicker: Mr. young, I would think that your answers would be reassuring. Senator budd.
▶ 1:31:01Sen. Budd: Thank you for your willingness to serve. Mr. noh, I was in taiwan and I was impressed by taiwan's willingness to take ownership of their own security.
▶ 1:31:20Sen. Budd: What steps will you take to improve cooperation, security cooperation with taiwan particularly when it comes to speed of delivery for defense arms?
▶ 1:31:33Mr. Noh: There are a number of things that the department can do to speed up delivery of security assistance to taiwan. There are multiple tools at the department's disposal. Everything from fms to pda, tsci.
▶ 1:31:58Mr. Noh: Tsci was modeled after usci as a way of coming up with creative ways of speeding up deliveries of weapons to taiwan. If confirmed, I would provide my best recommendations to all those different tools that my leadership can use to speed up deliveries to taiwan.
▶ 1:32:22Mr. Noh: In addition, I also mentioned that taiwan used to make a significant number of reforms in training mobilization, civil military integration, strengthening its cybersecurity practices. In addition to the weapons portion, there are a lot of things that taiwan must do urgently to prepare for a potential invasion scenario.
▶ 1:32:50Mr. Noh: If confirmed, I will work closely with my team as well as with you and your team to ensure that we are providing the best advice to our partners in taipei. >> thank you. The annual deterrent for the pacific initiative has grown. It accounts for over $42 billion in total. How will you assess the initiatives effectiveness and what recommendations will you make for future correction?
▶ 1:33:22Mr. Noh: I believe --
▶ 1:33:26Mr. Noh: I believe pdi is an important mechanism to measure our assessments, strengthen our posture and make ourselves more resilient.
▶ 1:33:40Mr. Noh: If confirmed, I will work closely with you and members of his committee to make sure that we are prioritizing all efforts including under pei to strengthen our posture and make sure our forces are in the best possible place to deter conflict.
▶ 1:33:58Sen. Budd: Switching to japan, what are your goals for our defense relationship with the japanese and what steps will you take to shore up that relationship?
▶ 1:34:07Mr. Noh: Since joining the department in january I have had multiple opportunities to travel to tokyo to engage with my counterparts at the ministry of defense. I accompanied secretary hegseth and his first trip to japan this is. An extremely important and critical alliance that we have with japan.
▶ 1:34:31Mr. Noh: There are a number of paths positive efforts we are working on with our japanese counterparts. The upgrade of usfj comes to mind in terms of strengthening our c2 structure. We are doing more in terms of having more realistic exercises in training with japanese self-defense forces.
▶ 1:34:56Mr. Noh: They are strengthening our posture along japan's southwest islands and doing more in terms of defense industrial cooperation. If confirmed, I look forward to further strengthening the ties I have already built with my japanese counterparts and making sure that we are advancing is important alliance.
▶ 1:35:14Sen. Budd: Thank you. Mr. young, one of your duties will be to promote materials and safeguard the legal compliance of the officer selection process. How do you rate the ability of the process to promote the most qualified individuals based on merit?
▶ 1:35:32Mr. Young: Thank you senator. It is my understanding. I am not completely familiar with the promotion process directly because I am only nominated for this position at this point. It is my understanding that those who come to the general counsel for input and advice not only on the recommendations to the board but the guidance that goes to the board gets a legal review to ensure that the appropriate statutory criteria are identified.
▶ 1:36:01Sen. Budd: Thank you all.
▶ 1:36:02Chair Wicker: Thank you very much. Senator kelly.
▶ 1:36:06Sen. Kelly: Thank you Mr. chairman. Mr. young and Mr. lane, we are living in unprecedented times. We can all agree and will have an opinion on the merits of a decision to execute kinetic strikes on drug smugglers. We would also debate the legality of the federalization of the national guard as a police force.
▶ 1:36:33Sen. Kelly: We might agree or disagree on those things but we can all agree that these are very polarizing topics and put stress on military leaders. It also put stress on service members trying to figure out whether or not they are in compliance with the law, with the constitution. We would all agree that these issues do divide us as a country. Mr. young and Mr. lane, I want to hear from both of you.
▶ 1:37:04Sen. Kelly: Do you both commit to following the constitution and giving your best legal advice, even if it is something that the service secretaries may not want to hear? Start with Mr. lane.
▶ 1:37:17Mr. Lane: The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that has always been my practice as an attorney. I have had an ethical obligation to provide a candid and clear advice. That is the case in private practice. It was the case at the department of justice and it will be the same thing at the department of war.
▶ 1:37:36Sen. Kelly: Are you prepared to debate some of these issues? Have you thought through some of these things I've already mentioned?
▶ 1:37:42Mr. Lane: Yes, senator.
▶ 1:37:43Sen. Kelly: Mr. young?
▶ 1:37:46Mr. Young: The answer is yes. In my office I keep a copy of the united states constitution above my desk to remind me what I'm sworn to protect. Also next to my desk is a picture of socrates to remind me to speak truth to power all to speak truth to power a and to say what I think is right even when people disagree.
▶ 1:38:08Sen. Kelly: I appreciate both of your answers. Thank you. Mr. noh, congratulations on your nomination. I want to talk about the prc for a second and how we are postured in the pacific. They are increasingly using gray zone tactics to borrow the line between competition and conflict and advance their goal of becoming the preeminent global power.
▶ 1:38:38Sen. Kelly: I think that is pretty clear. They are accomplishing this through trying to get around the law, encouragement in taiwan, the belt and road initiative, some security initiatives and activities that give them strategic acts as strategic act access in africa and south america. These threaten the security of our allies.
▶ 1:39:07Sen. Kelly: What steps will you recommend to push back against the prc's escalating gray zone activities?
▶ 1:39:17Mr. Noh: Senator, a few things come to mind. First and foremost we need to ensure that we have combat credible forces postured forward in the western pacific with the right capabilities and at the right places in conjunction, we need to make sure that our allies and partners in the region are doing more, spending more and doing their part because of the challenges that you just explained. These are enormous difficulties.
▶ 1:39:50Mr. Noh: These are not threats that the united states can or should address on its own. We need our allies and partners in the region to do their part, including japan, including australia, republic of korea, taiwan.
▶ 1:40:09Sen. Kelly: Forces forward, I was doing more in the indo-pacific. However, the national defense strategy may be to ship authority away from the prc and the indo-pacific and instead focus on the western hemisphere. We will see what happens when that comes out. I find if that is true, then this shift is alarming.
▶ 1:40:38Sen. Kelly: Most of what this committee is focused on is how to deter china. Suddenly shifting away from what I view it our biggest near peer adversary, it might strategically leave us in a very vulnerable place with regard to the indo-pacific.
▶ 1:40:58Sen. Kelly: If confirmed, how do you plan on reinforcing our commitment to our partners and allies in the region, if we see an nds that looks like a shift to the western hemisphere?
▶ 1:41:12Mr. Noh: If confirmed, I will be the biggest advocate to my leadership in the department to making sure we have all of the resources that we need to strengthen deterrence in the indo-pacific. That is what I have been doing since joining the department in january. If confirmed, I will continue to do so.
▶ 1:41:33Sen. Kelly: Thank you.
▶ 1:41:35Chair Wicker: Senator slotkin.
▶ 1:41:38Sen. Slotkin: Thank you. Mr. young, you are the acting general counsel for d.o.d. So you have been personally reviewing the decisions that have gone on in the last nine months. My questions are on the cartel strikes. On september 4 a letter was sent to congress from the president. I'm guessing you had a hand in helping to write that. That we are now in armed international conflict and the department is authorized against designated terrorist organizations.
▶ 1:42:07Sen. Slotkin: How many new terrorist organizations are in conflict with and can you name them?
▶ 1:42:15Mr. Young: It may be more appropriate for me to discuss that with you in closed session.
▶ 1:42:21Sen. Slotkin: We could not get it in a closed session when we met with the man who is now confirmed as general counsel. I would offer as you mentioned before, I was a cia officer and helped with targeting. I have no problem going after these cartels. I have no problem designating terrorist organizations in general but we have never had an instance where there is a secret list of what I understand to be dozens of now terrorist organizations that the american public and certainly the oversight committees do not get to know.
▶ 1:42:50Sen. Slotkin: I would just offer, overseeing a secret list of terrorist organizations is concerning in this context but much more concerning when we look at what's going on inside our country. The same time that that letter was being sent to this congress, the president put out a new domestic terrorism executive order and asked the department of justice to designate a list of terrorist organizations who do things like have
▶ 1:43:21Sen. Slotkin: Anti-christian values, contradict traditional views of family. Can you tell me what organizations have been designated as domestic terrorist organizations?
▶ 1:43:31Mr. Young: Senator, I am not aware of any designations. The department of war has not been involved in that to my knowledge.
▶ 1:43:43Sen. Slotkin: But if there was a list of domestic terrorist organizations settled upon, would that authorized the department of defense to take military action inside the united states?
▶ 1:43:53Mr. Young: Not to my knowledge.
▶ 1:43:55Sen. Slotkin: The decision to send troops into our cities has been deeply controversial. We have the national guard and the president turned down twice or three times by a federal judge just this past weekend in setting national guard troops from one state into another state. There is another leaked conversation from secretary hegseth about him considering sitting in the 82nd air. -- sending in the 82nd airborn.
▶ 1:44:32Sen. Slotkin: Is there any city currently in active insurrection against the government of the united states?
▶ 1:44:36Mr. Young: The president in his determinations and the memorandums have made determinations.
▶ 1:44:44Sen. Slotkin: Right. The word insurrection is important and you know why. If we declare that there is a community or a city that is in active interaction -- insurrection, it allows the department of defense to now perform law enforcement functions, arrest, detention, raids inside the united states, the very thing our country was founded upon when the british
▶ 1:45:14Sen. Slotkin: Were doing those things to us. By your legal determination, is any city in america in active insurrection? Yes or no?
▶ 1:45:22Mr. Young: The president has not declared that there is any insurrection.
▶ 1:45:28Sen. Slotkin: The president in the last administration asked them to send the same unit into washington, D.C. to try to quell peaceful protests in the city. He said if necessary, cant you just shoot at their legs? Support active duty military troops being sent into american cities today?
▶ 1:45:50Mr. Young: Senator, it is my understanding that the department of justice has looked at this issue going back to the 1970's when the pentagon was under duress as well as washington, D.C.. It was the opinion then that the president would have the authority to use federal troops to protect federal functions and property.
▶ 1:46:11Sen. Slotkin: Federal property, we get. I am not disputing that. Would you approve as a lawyer for the army, when you approve an army unit shooting at the legs of unarmed protesters or would you push back against that order?
▶ 1:46:30Mr. Young: The current rules for the use of force that U.S. north com allows for --
▶ 1:46:39Sen. Slotkin: You said that you would speak truth to power. If the president asked you to shoot at the legs of unarmed protesters, yes or no would you speak truth to power or pushback to the president?
▶ 1:46:54Mr. Young: I would make sure that the president's directives comply with the constitution and the law. I back.
▶ 1:47:01Chair Wicker: Senator shaheen and senator duckworth.
▶ 1:47:06Sen. Shaheen: Thank you Mr. chairman. Mr. young, there is a great deal of concern about how this administration is complying with the rule of law in this country and that goes with respect to how the military, how the military is expected to operate. As you heard, we had a classified briefing on the strikes in south america.
▶ 1:47:39Sen. Shaheen: We requested two pieces of information that we are still waiting to see. One is the list of groups that the president claims we are in armed conflict with. The other is a decision by the department of defense that basically authorizes the administration's basis to take those actions in south america. Have you seen that doj opinion?
▶ 1:48:11Mr. Young: Yes senator, I have.
▶ 1:48:16Sen. Shaheen: Is that consistent with the opinion that has been provided to the department of defense?
▶ 1:48:22Mr. Young: Senator, the department of justice office of legal counsel opinion was derived through an interagency lawyers working group with the cia, state department, white house counsel, department of justice, department of defense general counsel, chairman's legal, uniform advocates were part of that decision and the office of legal counsel has issued an opinion on that.
▶ 1:48:49Sen. Shaheen: Given that everybody seems to be comfortable with that, don't you think it would be a good idea to share that with congress?
▶ 1:48:56Mr. Young: Senator, that is not within my discretion to share. I know that as that question has been asked before in other conflicts, if you go back to the obama administration, for nine years they did not share their legal basis.
▶ 1:49:15Sen. Shaheen: I did not support that either, to be frank.
▶ 1:49:18Mr. Young: Yes, senator.
▶ 1:49:20Sen. Shaheen: I do not think the inappropriate behavior of other administrations should guide inappropriate behavior in this administration.
▶ 1:49:28Mr. Young: No, I do not disagree. It is a matter of the discretion of the president undramatic -- under his article two authority. At that point it was not under my current control.
▶ 1:49:43Sen. Shaheen: Mr. chairman and ranking member read, I would again ask that the committee officially request the list of terrorist organizations that we are according to the president's executive order, at war with.
▶ 1:50:01Chair Wicker: Your request is noted.
▶ 1:50:05Sen. Shaheen: Thank you. Mr. noh, I share the view that you just expressed that I think has been pretty consistent on a bipartisan basis among both democrats and republicans in congress, that the biggest threat to the united states both militarily and economically is the people's republic of china.
▶ 1:50:38Sen. Shaheen: I am troubled by the fact that there is an -- there appears to be an inconsistent strategy that is coming out of this administration with how to address that. For example, you talked about the importance of our allies and partners which I think we would all agree with.
▶ 1:50:58Sen. Shaheen: And yet, what kind of message does it send to our ally australia that after they have committed significant contributions to aukus, that we are still fooling around, especially given the time constraints that you talked about with respect to submarine production. That we are still fiddling around with the review that should have been done months ago.
▶ 1:51:25Sen. Shaheen: Is it consistent to think that our allies can count on us when that's how we behave? I point to india which has been one of the strongest bulwarks against china in many ways.
▶ 1:51:49Sen. Shaheen: The relationship with india has been undermined by the tariff regime of this administration in ways that question whether we can count on the partnership of india to stand up on china when they are taking action in the indo-pacific region.
▶ 1:52:14Sen. Shaheen: How do you justify the inconsistencies in the policy of this administration and how that is making us safer and more secure.
▶ 1:52:25Mr. Noh: Senator, on the aukus review, I would just note that both australia and the united kingdom also conducted aukus reviews of their own after prime minister starmer came into office. He offered a review.
▶ 1:52:43Sen. Shaheen: Is it still ongoing? The review that the united kingdom is doing?
▶ 1:52:49Mr. Noh: No, they concluded.
▶ 1:52:51Sen. Shaheen: Is australia's review ongoing?
▶ 1:52:55Mr. Noh: No, it is not.
▶ 1:52:57Sen. Shaheen: Why is it taking us along and what kind of message does that send?
▶ 1:53:01Mr. Noh: Senator, the review started in july of this year and the department plans to conclude it by this fall.
▶ 1:53:08Sen. Shaheen: I know I have gone over. I appreciate you giving me the extra time. Appropo the concerns on both sides about china, does it not make sense that we should have urgency with how we are dealing with these issues and that urgency seems to be missing from the department. I hope that will change if you are approved. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:53:38Chair Wicker: I think it's fair to say that the review came as a surprise to this committee. To the congress and to the general public. And as a distressing surprise to our steadfast ally, australia. Senator duckworth and then senator rosen.
▶ 1:54:07Sen. Duckworth: President trump has once again violated the constitution by federal rising illinois national guard and deploying texas national guard troops to illinois against the wishes of democratic elected officials. Trump insists on misusing the military against political opponents and people who did not vote for him not only in illinois but in portland, los angeles and memphis and it must be stopped. Every democratic member of this committee has called for a hearing on military deployment to american cities.
▶ 1:54:39Sen. Duckworth: This must justify to the public why it insists on using the military to confront americans at home. This the administration must answer why if dhs officials in l.a. Or portland were so overwhelmed by protesters as trump claims that they needed military protection, why these same agents were able to shoot at protesters, wounding civilians, incapacitate peaceful protesters as well as through tear at over two dozen police officers and propel agents from
▶ 1:55:10Sen. Duckworth: Helicopters to terrorize them apartment building in the middle of the night? We know deploying the military is not about protecting dhs officials or federal property because of these same officials are escalating their tactics every day to provoke and manufacture crisis to justify sending in the military to our peaceful city streets. We know this is not about crime fighting because trump has literally defunded the police by taking 800 million dollars in public safety programs. What is this about?
▶ 1:55:38Sen. Duckworth: The president has been clear, he wants to use the military in american cities to erode the constitutional rights instead of protecting and defending them like his oath of office requires. I am concerned that the nominees testifying here today have been complicit in this administration's militarized assault on the administration's and will continue to empower these irresponsible actions. Mr.
▶ 1:56:00Sen. Duckworth: Young, you were active general counsel until this year during which time you advised on decisions to convert military bases to support dhs and house detainees and appoint military judge advocates to service immigration judges, despite them not having the relevant immigration law experience.
▶ 1:56:24Sen. Duckworth: Now you are being considered to be general counsel for the army where you will once again advise -- advise on decisions on how the deployed army national guard or active-duty troops. Mr. young, have you prepared any legal opinion about authorizing any states national guard units across state lines without the consent of the governor or other leaders? If so, will you provide it to us?
▶ 1:56:53Mr. Young: Thank you, senator.
▶ 1:56:58Sen. Duckworth: Yes oh no -- yes or no, have you provided that type of opinion and will you provide a copy of that advice to us?
▶ 1:57:07Mr. Young: What I have advised to my client in the executive branch is privileged and unless my client allows me to share that, I would consider it privileged.
▶ 1:57:20Sen. Duckworth: We will work on that. There has been rhetoric from the president's senior officials painting democrats as enemies. This is a slippery slope. When you label fellow americans as enemies, you can justify using force against them. Mr. young if the president asked you to authorize the military to conflict, -- contact civilians based solely on political affiliations, would you support it, yes or no?
▶ 1:57:48Mr. Young: .
▶ 1:57:53Sen. Duckworth: Knowsen.
▶ 1:57:53Duckworth: The president wants to send troops into american cities to intimidate people who dare to disagree with him. That is not the fence. That is repression. If we turn the world's finest fighting force against its own people, who will win? Not the american people. Not our service members who signed up. Only donald trump and our global enemies who will exploit our distraction win in this scenario.
▶ 1:58:22Duckworth: The united states defends americans. It does not police them. It protects americans. Mr. chair, I ask you to schedule an open hearing to receive testimony on this abuse of the military from the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and general counsel of the department.
▶ 1:58:42Chair Wicker: That is not a proper unanimous consent request.
▶ 1:58:46Sen. Duckworth: This administration has refused to provide answers to congress and the american public, refusing to put legal opinions in writing, hiding the faces of dhs officials will be running away when officials exercise their constitutional duties to conduct oversight visits. I have said before, I will say it again. Hiding is not something you do when you are proud of your actions. Dodging around direct questions from this oversight body like you have done today Mr.
▶ 1:59:14Sen. Duckworth: Young, it is also not something you do when you are proud of your actions. It is what you do when you know you are wrong. Americans deserve answers. I urge my colleagues to hold a meeting immediately.
▶ 1:59:28Chair Wicker: Senator cotton, are you prepared?
▶ 1:59:36Sen. Cotton: Almost prepared. Mr. lane, I want to talk to you about the military's role in defending our homeland. Am I correct in assuming the U.S. military has a central role to play in ensuring our homeland is secure?
▶ 1:59:56Mr. Lane: Yes.
▶ 1:59:59Sen. Cotton: Am I correct in assuming you believe terrorist organizations can pose a threat?
▶ 2:00:05Mr. Lane: I am, senator.
▶ 2:00:08Sen. Cotton: So it follows that you believe the military has a role to play in defending the homeland from foreign terrorist organizations?
▶ 2:00:15Mr. Lane: Yes, I would say it is among the top duties of the military.
▶ 2:00:19Sen. Cotton: I'm glad we agree on such foundational principles. Unfortunately, we have seen in recent weeks in outcry from the left because president trump ordered military strikes against the tren de aragua terrorist organization bolts who were responsible for trafficking drugs to our shores and destabilizing the region. Drug cartels are responsible for hundreds of thousands of american deaths in recent years.
▶ 2:00:48Sen. Cotton: The constitution is clear, the president has article two authority to take action to address threats to our homeland. When that action is limited and does not rise to the nature, scope and duration that the commander-in-chief is empowered to act, stopping deadly narcotics from flowing into our country is a vital national security issue.
▶ 2:01:12Sen. Cotton: I believe the president acted decisively and lawfully against foreign terrorist groups trafficking poison onto our shores. I would simply ask all those viewing and listening, if al qaeda or isis had set up shop in latin america and was responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 americans, what would you expect your government to do to protect you?
▶ 2:01:40Sen. Cotton: That's exactly what we should be doing to tren de aragua, and for that matter, every other cartel and terrorist group. Mr. beck, I want to speak to you about the nnsa. Specifically in arkansas, the home to the training command for the nnsa office of secure transportation which transports nuclear weapons around the country.
▶ 2:02:08Sen. Cotton: As it progresses its efforts, I expect the demand for agents to transport weapons to the new storage sites is likely to grow. What are your thoughts on the plan to improve recruiting and retention of these essential agents?
▶ 2:02:22Mr. Beck: Thank you for the question. I am particularly concerned about our marshals associated with the office of secure transportation because we have to continue to recruit and retain the folks that we have. We have not done a particularly good job of that. I'm looking forward to addressing that and looking into the details, which I don't currently have the privilege of all of the details of that.
▶ 2:02:54Mr. Beck: I look forward to coming back to you with a plan on how to address that specific issue.
▶ 2:03:01Sen. Cotton: I appreciate the commitment. Obviously it is vital for the mission.
▶ 2:03:07Mr. Beck: Yes.
▶ 2:03:09Sen. Cotton: Apparently when you walk in late, you are given the power of chairting the committe. Senator rosen, you are recognized.
▶ 2:03:23Sen. Rosen: Thank you senator cotton. I will direct all of my questions about the nnsa because it is so important many of us. I want to thank the nominees for their willingness to serve. When we talk about nevada and the nuclear stockpile, we talk about the stewardship. Nevada has played a critical role in nuclear weapons development but often at a very high cost.
▶ 2:03:51Sen. Rosen: From 1951 to 1990 2, 900 28 nuclear weapons were detonated in nevada, causing people and land to be exposed to toxic levels of radiation. This does not even count on the above ground testing that started in 1957. All of that while that was going forward.
▶ 2:04:14Sen. Rosen: Today, such explosive testing is no longer necessary thanks in large part to the nevada national security site and the stockpile stewardship program, predominantly at the principal underground laboratory for subcritical experimentation, formerly known as the ua1 complex. As I'm sure you know, these underground laboratories conduct experiments to verify the safety and effectiveness of our nuclear stockpile.
▶ 2:04:40Sen. Rosen: Pulse is currently undergoing major construction projects for enhancing critical experiments which will soon host the most capable radiographic systems in the world providing greater certainty about warhead performance. Mr. beck, yes or no because I have a few other questions about this extremely important issue.
▶ 2:05:03Sen. Rosen: If confirmed, can I have your commitment that you will complete the project and prioritize ongoing scientific advancements in stockpile stewardship?
▶ 2:05:13Mr. Beck: Thank you for the question. If confirmed, I don't have access to the details of that particular process. I have been down u1a several times.
▶ 2:05:29Sen. Rosen: I am glad to take you down there. We can talk more about that. Do you have any idea about the subcritical role that it plays especially in light of production delays at the savannah river plutonium processing facility? .
▶ 2:05:45Mr. Beck: Yes, I do. It is one of the most important scientific tools we need to continue to pursue. With a greater sense of urgency than we've done so far.
▶ 2:05:54Sen. Rosen: I will invite you to nevada to have these conversations.
▶ 2:05:58Mr. Beck: I look forward to going there with you.
▶ 2:06:00Sen. Rosen: For decades our national laboratory directors have said that returning to explosive nuclear testing is unnecessary. I think it is a pretty light word. It should be stronger than a necessary but we will say unnecessary given that over 1000 subcritical experiments and robust computer modeling have provided data to support these positions. Conducting an explosive nuclear test is estimated to cost over $100 million.
▶ 2:06:30Sen. Rosen: But that really isn't even the cost. Not to mention every other risk associated with an above ground nuclear test. I could be here all day with experts telling you what those risks are. So this is just one of the many reasons why the united states has made significant investments in our national laboratories to annually certify the readiness of our nation's nuclear stockpile.
▶ 2:06:55Sen. Rosen: Do you agree with these data informed assessments that it's absolutely unnecessary for the united states to resume expose of nuclear testing?
▶ 2:07:02Mr. Beck: There is a process to do in annual assessment to determine whether there is a technical reason to do an aboveground test.
▶ 2:07:13Sen. Rosen: I'm talking about explosive nuclear testing.
▶ 2:07:18Mr. Beck: To the best of my knowledge, publicly available information, there is no reason to do it for technical reasons an aboveground test.
▶ 2:07:27Sen. Rosen: Thank you. Will you commit to not diminishing or diverting resources in the staff at our national laboratories who work on this, moving them toward explosive nuclear testing, away from crucial advanced science and innovative programs that have taken us to this point where we can use things like the u1a tunnel.
▶ 2:07:52Mr. Beck: One of the things I am concerned about is we need to be your efficient in how we use our resources -- more efficient in how we use our resources. We have made some progress in that direction but we need to make more. We have to focus on our technical expertise and be more efficient in how we produce things. I don't know the details of that project but I look forward to getting those will be getting back to you.
▶ 2:08:17Sen. Rosen: It is not a project. It is that we don't want you to diminish or divert resources in favor of explosive testing versus critical advancement of science and innovation programs that build things like the u1a tunnel and the radiographic experiments.
▶ 2:08:38Sen. Rosen: We don't want you to divert resources to explore bombs again versus doing the advancement in science we have made in all of these years to ensure the safety and stability of our nuclear arsenal.
▶ 2:08:50Mr. Beck: I understand your concern. We have to focus our resources on. The overall program to do what is best for the country.
▶ 2:09:00Sen. Rosen: So you are not going to commit to saying you will not try explosive testing again. It is that what you are trying to say to us?
▶ 2:09:06Mr. Young: Senator, I am not --Mr. beck: I don't have the privilege of having that information. I cannot answer your question without more information.
▶ 2:09:17Sen. Rosen: You cannot answer that you will not resources to explosive testing versus scientific innovation? I guess the answer is you won't say that you won't choose scientific --
▶ 2:09:33Mr. Beck: I don't have access to how the program is allocating resources at this time.
▶ 2:09:38Sen. Rosen: If I just asked someone if we should explode a nuclear bomb or ask science to do it in other ways that are safe and secure and that can validate the lethality of our nuclear arsenal and the readiness of our nuclear arsenal, I bet that I can find anyone at the grocery store to say please, do not explode another nuclear bomb on american soil.
▶ 2:10:03Mr. Beck: To my knowledge, there is no plan to do an aboveground explosion.
▶ 2:10:08Sen. Rosen: We have had many and the ground would shake. Up until 1992, every month on the first saturday of the month, the ground would shake as we had those underground explosive testing. The craters are still out there today. We don't want to go back to that. There is no reason. I look forward to working with you to explain to you and your team why what we are doing is so much more effective. Thank you.
▶ 2:10:36Sen. Rosen: >> with the approval of the chairman, I have two additional questions. We all recognize that probably the most fatal and lethal drug that is affecting this country is fentanyl. It is extraordinarily lethal. It is something that is reflected in this approach to reduce these lethal drugs coming in.
▶ 2:11:07Sen. Rosen: Mr. noh, where is the greatest source of precursors for fentanyl in the world?
▶ 2:11:14Mr. Noh: My understanding is china is.
▶ 2:11:20Chair Reed: That is my understanding also. Do you understand where most of these precursors are sent for processing? What country that might be?
▶ 2:11:31Mr. Noh: I do not know exactly what country.
▶ 2:11:36Chair Reed: The data from many different government sources, mexico. In fact, the cato institute, 93% of the seizures were at legal crossings at the southern border.
▶ 2:11:58Chair Reed: Implication is very clear that mexico is really the source of the most legal drugs coming into -- lethal drugs coming into the united states. Why are we attacking ships off of venezuela shipping cocaine and marijuana?
▶ 2:12:19Mr. Young: We are conducting those attacks because the president directed that we conduct those attacks. He made the determination that they are an eminent armed threat to the united states.
▶ 2:12:34Chair Reed: If the most lethal chemicals coming across which is the whole predicate of his approach, these are not armed forces that are attempting to attack the united states violently and seize territory and inflict direct casualties on americans. It is the cumulative effect of the drugs coming across.
▶ 2:12:59Chair Reed: It seems to be interesting that the president would choose a relatively minor source of drugs coming in versus the huge introduction of fentanyl in this country through mexico. In fact, we are doing nothing in the indo-pacific and we are certainly restraining sensibly from attacks against mexican shipping and mexican communities.
▶ 2:13:31Chair Reed: Again, I think we have to understand this is more a kind of messaging than sensible policy at the united states and the message is, which is very good for tv, we are killing people. Mr.
▶ 2:13:50Chair Reed: Young, did you approve an order or console to an order by the secretary of defense to kill these traffickers and destroy their vessels so that no survivors or evidence of drugs would be available?
▶ 2:14:09Mr. Young: Sir, I am the principal deputy general counsel . The general counsel has been directly involved with that. To my understanding, the best vessels were targeted. Under the operations order that was issued by a confident U.S. military authority that the vessels would be sunk so that they would not present a hazard to shipping.
▶ 2:14:39Mr. Young: >> that is somewhat ridiculous. If american personnel can destroy a ship, they can certainly get close enough to ensure it does not become a hazard to navigation. In fact, one of the attacks, the missile strikes were followed up by a helicopter using 50 caliber machine guns to shred. What was left.
▶ 2:15:10Mr. Young: Final question. The administration announced that some of my colleagues that the first lethal strike in the caribbean killed members of tren de aragua. However, they did not identify the affiliation of the under individuals killed in the following three strikes. What designated terrorist organization did into motion in the last three strikes belong to?
▶ 2:15:34Mr. Young: Senator, I am not personally familiar with the designation of the strikes for each of those strikes and the cartels they may have been associated with. We would have to get back to you on that.
▶ 2:15:51Chair Reed: I wish you will immediately. We will request in writing. Thank you, gentlemen. This concludes today's hearing. I would like to thank our witnesses for testimony. Questions for the record will be due to the committee within two business days at the conclusion of the hearing. With that, we are adjourned. Thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]