Opening Statements

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, delivered the following opening remarks at a hearing on the posture of the Strategic Forces in Fiscal Year 2026. 
 
Rep. DesJarlais' remarks as prepared for delivery:
 
Good afternoon and welcome to the Strategic Forces subcommittee’s first hearing of the 119th Congress.
 
First, I want to recognize the new majority members of our subcommittee. Mr. Van Orden from Wisconsin, Mr. Messmer from Indiana, Mr. Crank from Colorado and Mr. Hamadeh from Arizona, welcome to the best and most important subcommittee! We look forward to working with you all, as we prepare the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.
 
Next, I’d like to thank our witnesses for appearing before us today. With us, we have: General Anthony Cotton, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command; General Stephen Whiting, Commander of U.S. Space Command; General Gregory Guillot, Commander of U.S. Northern Command; and Mr. John Hill, who is currently performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. 
 
While the President’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year continues to be finalized, we look forward to hearing from each of our witnesses on your areas of responsibility and changes you are seeing in the threat environment. 
 
I think it’s worth noting that the three officers in front of us today represent different combatant commands, with different missions, and different priorities, but they each face a common problem. All of you are responsible for mission areas where the United States once enjoyed superiority, but we are now increasingly confronted by adversaries.
 
Space and the homeland were once sanctuaries for the United States, beyond the reach of our adversaries and from which our nation could project decisive power. That is no longer the case. 
 
Nuclear competition – thought by many in this country to be a relic of the Cold War – is back, with adversaries expanding their nuclear arsenals and developing new and destabilizing nuclear systems designed to hold our nation at risk.
 
Our adversaries recognized the foundational role that each of these mission areas play in our defense strategy. They cannot compete with our conventional forces, so they have chosen to target our homeland, hold our space systems at risk, and expand their nuclear arsenals to challenge our deterrent. These threats have been building for some time, but the pace is accelerating. 
 
I look forward to hearing more from our witnesses about how we are responding to these developments. I’m concerned we have taken too long to come to terms with this new competitive environment. I am afraid that our response thus far has been inadequate. 
 
These growing threats and how we as a nation choose to respond to them is why I really do believe this is the most important subcommittee in Congress.
 
Before turning to Ranking Member Moulton for his remarks, I want to recognize General Cotton, as this will likely be his last appearance before the subcommittee. Thank you for your 39 years of service to our nation. We have particularly appreciated your leadership of STRATCOM and the candor you’ve had in your interactions with this subcommittee over the last three years. You’ve certainly earned some peace and quiet – but you’ve got one last hearing to get through first.