Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, submitted the following opening remarks for the record at a
hearing on the U.S. Strategic Forces posture in Fiscal Year 2027.
Rep DesJarlais’ Statement Submitted for the Record:
Good afternoon, and welcome to the Strategic Forces subcommittee’s first hearing of the 2027 fiscal year posture season.
First, I want to welcome all the members back to the best subcommittee here on the House Armed Services Committee.
I look forward to working with you all again as we build the National Defense Authorization Act.
As we sit here today, the joint force is conducting operations in the Middle East against an Iranian threat.
We do not take for granted the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform, and that is why it is more important than ever that we make sure that they have what they need, when they need it.
I’d like to thank our witnesses for appearing before us today.
With us, we have:
- Mr. Marc Berkowitz, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, and
- Dr. Robert Kadlec, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Deterrence, Chemical, and Biological Defense
- General Stephen Whiting, Commander of U.S. Space Command
- General Gregory Guillot, Commander of U.S. Northern Command
- Admiral Richard Correll, Commander of U.S. Strategic Command.
General Whiting and General Guillot, it’s good to see you again, and a special welcome to Admiral Correll, Mr. Berkowitz, and Dr. Kadlec in their first appearance before the subcommittee.
As we await the President’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year, we look forward to hearing from each of you about the complex threats you are seeing in your areas of responsibility and the capabilities you need to address them.
Space plays a vital role in everything the joint force does, and it’s more apparent now than ever.
GPS jamming has become a common occurrence in every recent conflict from Ukraine to now, as we've seen in Iran.
How we fight and posture our space assets is central to the success of the mission both abroad and in defense of the homeland.
General Whiting, I look forward to hearing from you on how this increasingly threatened space domain is factored into your plans to both support the joint force and break red kill chains.
I was happy to see the administration’s National Defense Strategy recognize that nuclear threats are growing – particularly with China’s rapid nuclear buildup – and emphasize the need for a robust and modern nuclear deterrent.
However, while our strategy may recognize that threats have changed, we continue to field a deterrent designed for a bipolar nuclear world and to pursue a modernization plan developed nearly a decade before China’s nuclear breakout began.
Dr. Kadlec and Admiral Correll, I look forward to hearing from you about what changes are needed to adapt to the current threat environment and what additional capabilities are necessary to prevent deterrence gaps.
General Guillot, as the warfighter responsible for homeland defense, you stand at the intersection of all the subcommittee’s mission areas: nuclear deterrence, space operations, and missile defense.
While many of us continue to have questions about how the Golden Dome architecture will address your needs for domain awareness and defensive capabilities, I know General Guetlein is working hard to finalize the plan, and there’s only so much we can discuss at this time.
