Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, delivered the following opening remarks at a
hearing on the national security space programs and activities of the Department of Defense (DoD).
Rep DesJarlais’ Statement As Prepared For Delivery:
The Strategic Forces subcommittee meets today to receive testimony on the policies and programs related to national security space activities.
Good afternoon to our witnesses, and thank you for joining us today.
Before us we have:
- Mr. Marc Berkowitz, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy,
- Mr. Thomas Ainsworth, Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration,
- Mr. Brett Markham, Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,
- Mr. William Adkins, Principal Deputy Director of the National Reconnaissance Office and,
- Lieutenant General Douglas Schiess, the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, U.S. Space Force.
I believe this is the first time testifying for most of you, with the exception of Mr. Berkowitz – welcome back.
We appreciate all your time and your service.
Unfortunately, once again, we meet to review the department’s budget for space activities, but we do not have the President’s budget request for this fiscal year.
This lack of information makes our job that much harder.
Despite that, there are several topics we can discuss today that are central to how our national security space systems are currently performing, and how you all are working to make sure that both our space operators and the joint force have what they need to fight and win in space.
As we have seen recently in Iran, space has become instrumental to every conflict with both space effects and support to the joint force.
As CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper described it, the Space Force’s capabilities are “degrading Iranian capability, and....helping to protect American forces.”
Ukraine has also repeatedly shown us this same lesson, with jamming becoming routine and battle lines shifting as the availability of space-based communications changes.
All our space capabilities play a vital role when it comes to winning the fight.
Without Positioning, Navigating, and Timing (PNT), secure communications, or Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), our modern joint force would not be nearly as effective.
Furthermore, space-based effects and space weapons are needed to break red kill chains and defend our own space superiority.
When it comes to protecting the homeland, Golden Dome missile defense architecture has space at its center and is being developed by the Space Force’s own General Guetlein.
All these systems are going to require acquisition at speed, by committed and skilled professionals, who can then work with highly trained operators to deploy these new capabilities on a relevant timeline.
Mr. Ainsworth, I would like to hear from you how the department is balancing the natural tension between the desire to deploy capabilities as quickly as possible and the need to develop a robust, competitive, and innovative space industrial base.
Mr. Adkins, the NRO’s rapid deployment of a proliferated constellation has clearly proven that the government can move quickly when it chooses to.
I would like to hear what lessons we have learned and what you would do differently.
Lieutenant General Schiess, as the Space Force expands into these new mission areas that just five years ago would have been unheard of, how are you working to make sure we aren’t thinking about space operations the same way we always have?
How are we incorporating technology that allows each guardian to execute high-level strategy and not just follow a checklist?
Mr. Markham, how is NGA working with commercial companies to make sure that the combatant commands have not just exquisite intelligence, but also timely and actionable information?
Finally, Mr. Berkowitz, everything I’ve talked about is underpinned by our policies in space.
How the administration plans to normalize our approach to testing, training, and operations will be vital to an effective warfighting doctrine in and from space and, ultimately, our success in this domain.
