Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – At a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) confirmation hearing today, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of the SASC Seapower Subcommittee, pressed Carlos Del Toro, nominee to be Secretary of the Navy, about his support for North Dakota’s military priorities like the Arctic Mission, the nuclear triad, and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
“Good Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance work is becoming more important as [the Arctic] gets busier. I know one of the options that the Navy is looking at to fill its requirement is the MQ-4C Triton. The Triton is a similar variant to the Global Hawks that we fly out of the Grand Forks Air Force Base,” said Senator Cramer. “In fact, between our existing expertise, communications architecture, contractor presence, runway and base infrastructure, the ground-based detect and avoid radar, and our proximity to the Arctic … I think Grand Forks would be a really smart choice for operating something like the Triton on an Arctic ISR mission.”
Mr. Del Toro replied by reaffirming his support for a strong military presence in the Arctic and for the nation’s nuclear triad.
“Senator, first let me thank you for your commitment to the Arctic,” replied Mr. Del Toro. “The Arctic isn’t just an issue of national security; it’s an issue of economic security to our nation. It’s incredibly important the Navy and Marine Corps teams remain fully engaged in the Arctic. I am a supporter of our nuclear triad in every possible way, as you know. The Navy plays a very key and important role in maintaining the nuclear triad. If confirmed, I commit to you that I will remain committed to both the Arctic and our nuclear triad.”
The senator then questioned Mr. Del Toro about the path forward in dealing with China, referencing a recent comment made by the top intelligence officer at the INDOPACIFIC Command, Rear Admiral Mike Studeman, who said it is “too late” for the United States to properly address the rising threat China poses.
“Do you agree with Admiral Studeman’s assessment that we are ‘too late’ in confronting China?” asked Senator Cramer. “What would you do as the Secretary of the Navy to address this assessment?”
“China is our number one threat, our greatest threat, and not just to our national security, but to our economic security as well. I tend to be an optimist. I do not believe that we are too late. I think what we need to do now moving forward is make the right investments so that we can deter China in every possible way,” said Mr. Del Toro. “I think there are many opportunities that lie ahead, and if confirmed as Secretary of the Navy, I hope to dive in … quickly to resolve some of these issues we are facing.”
“I know the Comptroller job doesn’t directly include the responsibilities of acquisition reforms. However, with your future responsibilities over budget and fiscal matters, and with your past responsibilities over planning and execution of all of those things, I want to ask for some help in thinking about how to fix a problem that I see, and that is the problem of protests and lawsuits,” said Senator Cramer. “Some of the protests and lawsuits can delay or even cancel a program. The most recent victim was the JEDI program, which has now been canceled. In fact, I would submit to you that sometimes these lawsuits do a more effective job of holding up our progress than our enemies could do. … From a Comptroller’s perspective, how does a program that gets delayed indefinitely or canceled affect military readiness? Do you have any thoughts on how we might start to fix this?”
“You raise a really important point about, how do we continue to deliver cutting edge technology quickly to our fighting forces, and how do we do so economically,” said Ms. Miller. “We have to follow the rule of law in terms of contracts and contract disputes, and there may be room inside of there for relooking at that, given the kinds of delays we have experienced moving forward. I also believe there are a number of contracting capabilities … and looking at other contracting authorities that have already been granted by [Congress]which would be an important part of looking at how to streamline our contracting and acquisition processes going forward. If confirmed, I would be happy to dig into that more.”