Opening Statements

Today, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, before the Subcommittee's hearing titled, "Reviewing Department of Defense Strategy, Policy, and Programs for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction for Fiscal Year 2021."

"Thank you, Jim. And thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

"The intent of this first subcommittee posture hearing of the new year is to review the Department's strategy, policy, and programs for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction. As I've stated previously, while the Department of Defense faces urgent challenges daily, we can never afford to lose sight of the critically important mission of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction. This is especially true given recent events; as we respond and contain the global impacts of the Coronavirus outbreak. This evolving threat should serve as a reminder for how important our involvement is in this arena, through activities like the biological threat reduction program, nuclear, chemical, and biological preparedness plans, crisis response exercises, and the development of sound policy that guides our collective response to these types of events.

"And most importantly, it should serve as a reminder that events of this magnitude require a whole of government response - not limited to just the four DOD organizations represented here today - but inclusive of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control, Homeland Security, State Department, and State and local officials. The relationships you build with these agencies and the repetitions in times of peace will underpin the effectiveness of your partnerships in times of crisis.

"I appreciate the relentless efforts of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, U.S. Special Operations Command, OSD-Policy, Acquisition and Sustainment, and countless other organizations to prevent, prepare, and respond to CWMD events across the globe. While our collective conscience hopes that these weapons will never be used to wage war in the future, we need only look to the Syrian, North Korean, and Russian regimes for proof that this is not the reality of the world we live in. The pursuit, proliferation, and potential use of weapons of mass destruction remains a high-consequence threat that we must plan for.

"Finally, I am interested to hear from our witnesses today how recent efforts to streamline and provide additional leadership and accountability to this problem have matured. I'm also interested in any lessons learned from the Department's response and contributions to the Coronavirus efforts, and how these insights are evolving our CWMD posture and our view of the criticality of the domestic industrial base and the Strategic National Stockpile. And while I know we are not going into specific FY 21 budget numbers today, I ask each of the witnesses to highlight any specific interest items relevant to the discussion today that the committee should be focused on during our review of the President's budget request.

"Thank you again to our witnesses, and I yield back to the Chairman."