▶ 0:15:36Committee will come to order. Uh today we begin our fiscal year 2026 posture hearings with US Northern and Southern Commands. Uh I want to thank our witnesses for their service and for joining us today and for the time it took to prepare for this hearing. It's very helpful. I appreciate y'all. We know that border security is national security. Over the past four years, we've learned that the hard way. President Biden's open border policies triggered historic levels of illegal immigration.
▶ 0:16:06They also emboldened cartels that flooded our streets with fentanyl and other drugs made mostly with Chinese precir precursor uh chemicals. The human cost has been staggering. In the 12 months ending October 2024, over 52,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses. Republicans have been unequivocal. The real fix had to come from the top and President Trump delivered.
▶ 0:16:34Through decisive executive action, including authorizing the deployment of 7,500 additional active duty troops to the border, illegal crossings have plummeted. In February, apprehensions were down 94% compared to the year before and dangerous criminals and gang members are being removed from our communities. But the job isn't done.
▶ 0:17:00I look forward to working with the president and my colleagues on reconciliation package that provides the DoD the resources it needs to support civilian authorities in sealing the borders. Meanwhile, America's adversaries are developing and fielding more advanced air and missile capabilities. It is clear the homeland is no longer a sanctuary.
▶ 0:17:24Chinese and Russian aircraft have ramped up activity around Alaska, including their first ever joint bomber patrol. North Korea keeps testing its long range missiles, and there are signs Russia may be helping them. And China and Russia's strategic missile capabilities, including hypersonic weapons, continue to evolve rapidly.
▶ 0:17:46Amid these threats, it is alarming there is an effort of foot to auction off parts of the spectrum of DoD and DoD needs to track incoming missiles. This spectrum supports most of our military radar systems, including our early warning and homeland missile defense. Losing it would put President Trump's Golden Dome initiative at serious risk and undermine our security.
▶ 0:18:11Turning to Southcom, China's growing presence in our backyard is a direct threat to the United States. Through its belt and road initiative, China is expanding its control over ports, space facilities, and 5G telecommunications in that region. It's also snapping up copper, lithium, and other critical minerals essential to its military modernization. These are not business deals. They're beach heads.
▶ 0:18:38in in a conflict, these assets would be weaponized against us. That's why I support efforts to roll back Chinese influence in our hemisphere, especially in the Panama Canal. Thanks to this administration, US investors are potentially set to take control of the Chinese-run ports on either side of this vital waterway. Panama has also quit the Belt and Road Initiative. Russia remains active in the region, too, providing training and arms to Venezuela.
▶ 0:19:08Nicaragua and Cub Cuba as well as spreading anti-US propaganda and the Kremlin is flexing its military muscle. Last summer, Russian warships conducted missile drills in the Atlantic before making a port call in Havana. It is critical the United States wins the strategic competition with China and Russia in the Western Hemisphere. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and gathering their best military judgment on how we meet these growing challenges head on.
▶ 0:19:36And with that, I yield to my friend, the ranking member, for any opening comments he may have. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the witnesses for for being here for our inaugural posture hearing for the uh for the new Congress. Um, we have a lot of work to do in terms of looking at the budget, looking at our national security threats, and I think the chairman did a pretty good job of laying out what the concerns are in the North and Southcom region. Obviously, homeland defenses at the top of the list. Uh, and then organized crime that is involved in human trafficking and drug trafficking.
▶ 0:20:04and then the malign influence of China, Russia and to some degree Iran in the region. On the border security piece, yes, um there is greater security on the border. That is a good thing. I want to hear from Northcom about what DoD's role is going to be in that going forward. We have moved considerable assets down to that border. Uh and as the chairman noted, um illegal crossings are way down. Is that level of commitment necessary? and what is it doing to readiness elsewhere?
▶ 0:20:34Uh during the first Trump administration, we used some of our military bases to house migrants that undermined the readiness at those those bases, the training that they were supposed to during. So, how are we balancing that mission with this one, particularly in light of the reduced number of border crossings? Is this the best place to be spending our money? Um and then the real concern in all this is partners and allies.
▶ 0:20:56As I said, I think the chairman laid out a really good set of priorities for what we need to do to protect the homeland and meet our needs in North and Southcom, but I'm really curious to see how people feel about partners and allies. The chairman mentioned Panama, for instance, as you know, moving out of the Belt and Road Initiative, and that's great. But if Panama thinks that the US is going to use military force to retake the Panama Canal, I suspect Panama might recalculate who they need in terms of friends and partners.
▶ 0:21:25the tariffs that we are lobbing at Canada and Mexico. As all of you know, Canada plays a huge role in precisely that air defense that the chairman outlined. Um they are an integral partner without them, we could not have the situational awareness over our airspace that we have. If we continue to treat them as a hostile nation, if we continue to talk about annexing them, basically violating their sovereignty, what is Canada going to do?
▶ 0:21:54uh are they going to maintain that partnership? In addition to that, the Department of Defense, a lot of the equipment that we need to build um is done in partnership with Canada. We get a lot of parts for a lot of critical munitions and equipment that we make. Um we're actually going to drive the prices of that up. Now, nobody um apparently except for President Trump knows exactly what he's going to announce tomorrow.
▶ 0:22:17But the tariffs that he has already announced and crucially the tariffs that he has already threatened are basically turning our partners against us. They are going to recalculate and figure out who their true friends and allies are. So, I'd really like to hear from our witnesses, how are we going to navigate that? Okay. Can America really go it alone in the world? Can we really tell the rest of the world basically to go to hell? We only care about ourselves. We don't care about you at all.
▶ 0:22:44What are the consequences going to be for our national security if we take that incredibly selfish approach? And if we basically tell the rest of the world that we've decided that we are no longer the leader of the free world, we are no longer here to help protect ideas. We are in it for ourselves. Period. Full stop. And that is all we are going to do. I think the consequences that of that are going to be devastating to the national security of this country. So I look forward to this conversation to figure out how we can better navigate all of those challenges.
▶ 0:23:14Um and I thank the chairman uh for the time. I yield back. Thank the ranking member. It's now time to introduce our witnesses. Um we have Mr. Raphael Leonardo who is performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs. Mi Mr. Leonardo is accomplished is accompanied by the honorable Robert Clesus.
▶ 0:23:35Uh he is currently deputy director of Washington Headquarter Services, but also has been advising the secretary on border security issues. General Greg Guo is the commander of United States Northern Command and Northern Aerospace Defense Command. And Admiral Alvin Hally is the commander of United States Southern Command. Welcome. And Mr. Leardo will welcome we recognize you first for five minutes. Great. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 0:24:03Chairman, Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Smith, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify before you today on the national security challenges faced by the United States and US military activity in North America and South America. I'm honored to be here in the company of Admiral Holsey and General Guio with whom I've worked with very closely over the past two months to implement the president's agenda in the Northcom and Southcom areas of responsibility.
▶ 0:24:33I'm also grateful to have with me today senior adviser to the deputy secretary of defense Mr. Robert Salis'. Um, he also recently performed the duties of Secretary of Defense and Deputy Secretary of Defense and was at the leading edge of advancing early administration priorities, especially our efforts to secure the US southern border. Additionally, he brings decades of experience in homeland defense within the department and he looks forward to joining me in answering your questions today on behalf of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
▶ 0:25:02Today, I'd like to emphasize four key points. First, President Trump and Secretary Hegth share your assessment, Mr. Chairman, that the homeland is no longer a sanctuary. And so, our top priority is to defend the homeland. Second, we are surging DoD support and developing new capabilities to meet these challenges. Third, we continue to support our federal, state, and local partners, including through disaster response and our activities on the southern border.
▶ 0:25:31And fourth, closely tied to the defense of the homeland is ensuring our interests are advanced throughout the Western Hemisphere. And to your point, Ranking Member Smith, that we do this alongside our allies and partners in the region. Both President Trump and Secretary Hegsth have been clear that protecting our homeland is priority number one.
▶ 0:25:51The United States faces a range of challenges that threaten our strategic stability, including vulnerability posed by our unsecured borders, China's unprecedented military buildup, and a range of other threats, including adversaries who seek to undermine our military advantage through asymmetric Adversaries should know that the DoD is redoubling its efforts on mission resilience, the ability to withstand, fight through, and recover quickly from disruption to achieve
▶ 0:26:21national strategic and operational objectives. In the interim national defense security guidance Secretary Hegit approved last month, defending the US homeland was identified as the top priority of the department as we seek to seal our borders, repel forms of invasion, including illegal immigration and narcotics trafficking, and advance US interests in the Western Hemisphere. The threat from drug cartels, criminal gangs, and illegal immigration are a national security threat.
▶ 0:26:49Transnational criminal organizations, including recently designated foreign terrorist organizations, cartels, traffic humans and drugs, including fentinel, resulting in tens of thousands of American deaths annually. On January 20th, the president declared a national emergency, proclaiming that America's sovereignty is under attack, our southern borders overrun, uh, and we must defend our nation and its citizens.
▶ 0:27:14Since that time, the Department of Defense has been working to address these challenges and implement executive orders to seal our border. And we are proud to report a 97% decrease in illegal border crossings. As a result of these efforts to defend the American people, we are developing new capabilities. President Trump has ordered the creation of a next generation missile shield called the Golden Dome for America.
▶ 0:27:38At the same time, we work to continue to detect and track and mitigate challenges posed by small unmanned aerial systems. To help meet this threat, the department will continue to conduct counter small UAS operations, improve incident response mechanisms, and deliver new technological solutions to rapidly evolving threat. And we know that the Congress is also very interested in this subject, and we look forward to partnering with you to address this challenge.
▶ 0:28:03We're also working to bolster capability in the Arctic where China, despite being 900 miles from the Arctic Circle, has made increasing attempts to bolster its influence in the region. While limited in its ability to project military power in the Arctic, China seeks to bolster its operational bolster its operational expertise and is invested in scientific research with likely civil military applications.
▶ 0:28:27In conclusion, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, in all domains, homeland defense and the Western Hemisphere are intertwined. The department stands ready that our to ensure that our homeland is fully defended. DoD is committed to achieving peace through strength. Our actions both at home and abroad demonstrate our resolve to defend the American homeland, protect our interests, and deter aggression. We appreciate the committee's continued support for these critical missions.
▶ 0:28:56Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Smith, and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for your support and leadership and for the opportunity to testify before you today. I would also like to express my appreciation for your continued commitment and support to the men and women of the Department of Defense. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Leonardo. Mr. Salis, you're recognized. Chairman, I'm going to uh pass to General Guio and Admiral Hollyy in the interest of time.
▶ 0:29:28Thank you, Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Smith, and distinguished members of the committee. It's my honor to command the men and women of North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command. I'm also pleased to appear alongside my Southcom shipmate, Admiral Bull Holly, as well as Mr. Bob Salysus and Mr. Raph Leonardo from OSD. I'd like to highlight three trends of particular concern for NORAD and Northcom with direct implications on homeland defense.
▶ 0:29:55First is the growing cooperation between China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran to challenge the United States. While their cooperation does not approach the level of complete integration demonstrated by the United States and Canada, the transfer of weapons, military technology, and basing access is cause for significant concern. The associated risks to North America have also grown.
▶ 0:30:18The number of Russian bomber incursions into the US and Canadian air defense identification zones has returned to levels not seen before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the Russian Navy surface and subsurface vessels conducted out of area deployments off both US coasts, including in the vicinity of Alaska. Second, evolving technologies demand that NORAD and Northcom rapidly adjust our defensive posture.
▶ 0:30:43Small uncrrewed aircraft systems or UAS pose a growing threat to safety and security. Likewise, as competitors continue to target US networks and critical infrastructure in cyerspace, a whole of government effort is increasingly necessary to mitigate potential harm. Finally, non-state actors continue to target our homeland. Transnational criminal cartels based in Mexico threatened US territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens.
▶ 0:31:11And radical Islamic terrorist groups have rejuvenated attack planning and anti-American propaganda intended to inspire lonewolf attacks like the deadly New Year's Day attacks in New Orleans. With that strategic backdrop, homeland defense remains our command's essential task. And in mindset and action, nobody waits on NORAD and Northcom.
▶ 0:31:31That mantra proved true over the last year as the command's planning and preparation generated swift and effective responses to competitor actions, major disasters, and emerging requirements. Over the past 12 months, NORAD and Northcom intercepted joint Russian and Chinese bomber patrols off the Alaska coast, tracked Russian surface vessels off both coasts, detected and assessed numerous North Korean ballistic missile launches, tracked multiple Chinese dual use military and research vessels
▶ 0:32:02in the Bearing Sea and Arctic Ocean, and supported Americans in need following Hurricane Helen and wildfires in California. While posturing to support Hurricane Milton response, we also deployed close to 10,000 troops and delivered unique military capabilities such as airborne ISR and destroyers in response to the emergency on the US southern border and improved defensive capabilities against all threats ranging from ICBMs to small drones.
▶ 0:32:30Looking forward, NORD and Northcom modernization is crucial to outpacing our competitors. Establishing a layered domain awareness network to detect and track threats approaching North America from seabed to space is critical to immediate and future mission requirements because we can't defeat what we can't see.
▶ 0:32:50To that end, I appreciate the department and congressional support for fielding all domain capabilities such as airborne moving target indicator satellites over the horizon radars, the E7 wedge tail, and integrated undersea surveillance system. These capabilities support long-standing NORAD and Northcom requirements and will serve as the foundation for the Golden Globe construct, excuse me, Golden Dome construct.
▶ 0:33:15Defending our borders and establishing a national missile shield, protecting critical infrastructure and force projection capability, and safeguarding our citizens will require the best our nations have to offer. And I'm grateful to the committee for your ongoing support of NORAD and Northcom's vital missions. Thank you again for the opportunity to appear today and I look forward to your questions. We have the watch. Thank you, General. Admiral Hoy, you're recognized.
▶ 0:33:47Chairman Rogers, Rank Member Smith, distinguished members of the committee, I'm humbled to appear before you today as a 33rd commander of United States Southern Command. We are a warfighting organization and I've moved forward to lead this command's service members, civilians, contractors and their families as we embrace our vision of a secure, free and prosperous western hemisphere. I'm honored to testify alongside General Guo, Mr. Salis and Mr.
▶ 0:34:12Leonardo as the relationship between United States Northcom and United States Southern Command and our alignment with OSD is critical to the safety and security of our homeland. The United States and our partners in Latin America America and the Caribbean are linked together not simply by history or geography, but cultural traditions, security, and economic cooperation and a steadfast devotion to democratic values. The enduring commitment to these values is a cornerstone of our collective partnerships. Today, this vision is imperiled by a host of threats.
▶ 0:34:43These threats include strategic competition from China and Russia, the impact of transnational criminal organizations and a complex transboundary challenges to include irregular migration, natural disasters, eroding democracies, food and water in security. China, our pacing threat, continues to its methodical incursion into our shared neighborhood, exerting diplomatic,formational, military, economic influence to export its authoritarian model to the region.
▶ 0:35:10Most focus to the east and west when they think about great power competition. A look to our south reveals that China has already established a presence. Its predatory and opaque investment practices, resource extraction, potential dual use projects from ports to space threaten the security and sovereignty of our partners while jeopardizing the United States national security. Simultaneously, Russia supports its traditional partners in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
▶ 0:35:36Using malign propaganda, military engagements, arm sales, and force projection, Moscow is attempting to undermine the United States leadership, interests, and influence in the region. Meanwhile, transnational criminal organizations continue to fuel instability throughout the region. They exploit the permissive environment to engage in brutal violence, illicit trafficking, and other criminal activities that undermine the rule of law, disrupt legitimate government functions, and are having devastating effects that have spilled over into our homeland, destroying lives.
▶ 0:36:06Border security is a concern for us all. Southcom recently stood up joint task force Southern Guard at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in support of the Department of Homeland Security to safely and humanely hold aliens until they return to a country of origin. Our time is now. Deliberate and meaningful action to address these threats is required. While this region, our neighborhood will continue to change. Partnerships are our most effective approach to countering shared economic and security concerns.
▶ 0:36:36They enable our enduring trust in the region. However, we cannot assume that that will always be the case. To be a trusted partner, we must be credible, present, and engaged. During my tenure at Southcom, I've witnessed how our enduring presence builds trust. As a result, our partners prefer to work with us over China, Russia, and other nations to overcome their most pressing challenges. Southcoms continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners. We have and will continue to respond rapidly to crisis in any form.
▶ 0:37:05Together with our partners, we are building their capability and capacity to mitigate, respond, and recover from our collective threats. sustain investment in security cooperation, combined and joint exercises, disaster assistance, among other initiatives, enable us to deliver and innovate at the point of need. As a department sharpens this war fighting edge, I'm grateful for the continued support of Congress. This support is vital to defending our democratic principles and interests that underpin the stability and prosperity of our region and ultimately the security of our nation.
▶ 0:37:35Thank you again, Chairman Rogers, Rank Member Smith, and members of the committee for this opportunity. I look forward to your questions. Thank you, Admiral, and all of our witnesses. And I recognize myself for the first set of questions. Uh, General Guo, um, have the cartels, how have the cartels in Mexico responded to our shutting down our borders? Chairman, there's two two primary ways that we've seen them uh, respond.
▶ 0:38:00First is um they're they're trying to find new ways to get their products whether that's uh drugs or people uh across the border because of the seal efforts that have gone on over the last uh two months.
▶ 0:38:14And that's also uh forced them to have more cartel and cartel violence as the uh limited ability to get across the uh the border has forced cartels to uh incur onto other u uh cartels territory to try to get across and so we're seeing an increase in that violence as well. Admiral Holy, how would you say that the cartels in Central and South America have responded to our closure of our borders? What behaviors have changed, if any?
▶ 0:38:43I think the first thing I'm noticing, chairman, is the throughput or lack of throughput through Darian region right now. We can take a look at the cartels and the uh uh smuggling, human trafficking. We know that is down. We know uh that Panama has worked very closely with us on that. With regard to the cocaine piece itself, we continue to see a record uh pace of cocaine. The price of cocaine has dropped. So, the cartels are trying to find ways to get after that.
▶ 0:39:09But we have been very deliberate with JAT of South which is a uh gold standard for inter interdiction and they have uh been able to stop record pace at this point over 190 metric tonses. We're on a record pace to to exceed what we did last year. So I think we're responding to it but uh more resources will definitely help. Great. And I would ask this question of both General Guo and Admiral Holsey in a yes or no answer. Is the current DoD acquisition system getting you what you need when you need it?
▶ 0:39:38General Guio, no. Chairman, Admiral Holsey, uh, no, Chairman. And, uh, General Guo, uh, you heard me make reference to the auction, the potential auction of DoD Spectrum. Um, I'm concerned this would jeopardize President Trump's um, Golden Dome initiative's ability to track incoming missiles. Do you have that concern as well, Chairman? I have that strong concern.
▶ 0:40:06uh almost all the systems that we use for homeland defense uh rely on that part of the spectrum that's being considered to be either sold or shared. Great. Thank you. Uh Mr. Leonardo, how long will it take to provide steadystate southern border security and what is your estimate of how long and how much it would cost to execute that? Yes, uh Mr. Chairman, thank you for that question. Um we've been at this mission for about two months.
▶ 0:40:33Um, so we're still continually assessing um how long it might take from a steadyst state perspective, but that is definitely the goal is to um get it to steady state in return. Um, as you know, the Department of Homeland Security is the lead federal agency and we're in support. Uh, so we'll continue working with them to assess what the ongoing need is. I will say as far as costs go, uh, we did speak with our OSD comproller counterparts this morning and so far the cost is $376 million. Um so we expect that that uh continued state of uh spending um to take place.
▶ 0:41:04You know I took a codel down to to get Gitmo recently and uh I I right after that the limited number of people that were there were removed apparently back to their original country and I understand that it's very low volumes now.
▶ 0:41:20Do you anticipate there being a steady flow of removals from the continental United States to get MO or is that going to be continue to be So, all of the folks who are sent to Guantanamo Bay um are selected by the Department of Homeland Security and are on final orders um supposedly to to head to their ultimate destination. Um so, we're continuing to work with the Department of Homeland Security to determine who should be sent there and we're again we're u in support of their determinations.
▶ 0:41:49Sir, so you don't really know if it's going to be a steady stream or if it's going to continue to be We're just continuing to attest that. Uh, chairman, I don't know if you have anything to add, Mr. Salis, on that. Um, chairman, if I could, um, obviously ICE has an incredibly important job here in the United States.
▶ 0:42:09As you know, ICE is a very small organization with big Currently they have housing for about uh high threat uh illegal aliens. That capacity gets exceeded quite a bit and so they need additional housing. That's where the department has stepped in obvious obviously to use Gitmo.
▶ 0:42:32So I do do think we'll be continuing to use Gitmo for some time until ICE has more capacity to house high threat illegal aliens. Thank you, Mr. Alvis. I yield to the ranking member for any questions he may have. Thank you. Actually, I was curious about the acquisition reform question for both General Guo and Admiral Holy. You said no, it's not adequate. How would you change the acquisition system to make it more adequate for your needs?
▶ 0:42:57Bo both of you, Congressman, I think it's uh receptive to our requirements. Uh my concern is the time it takes from the requirement process to go in until the uh capability is is fielded. Uh I don't have uh the expertise to tell you what needs to change uh in there other than we need the uh required equipment faster. I'm sorry, but I find that that statement a little hard to believe. You're you're you're a fourst star. You've been doing this for a long time.
▶ 0:43:26You've got at least a little bit of expertise as to how how the acquisition process is is harming you. I I I would think. Um and we're very interested in this committee and how to change it. I mean, you're you're an enduser here. Um so you've got to be looking at this a little bit. Can you give us a little something more about what you think should be changed about the process there?
▶ 0:43:46Well, well, Congressman, I I would say the I think the requirement process is is solid, but the time that it takes for it to go through and and I got that I know it takes a lot of time. In fact, and I would I just really important, I think, for everyone here. I think those two statements are in direct contradiction. the requirements process I isn't solid if it's requiring us to take so much time to get us what we need. No.
▶ 0:44:10Um I mean that's kind of where the problem lies and I I would I would hope we would want to change that process so that it didn't take so much time. The time to establish what the requirement is I think is is is solid. Sir, what takes long after that is to go through the development and procurement and delivery process is is the concern that I have. General, sorry, Admiral Hollyy. Yes, Congressman. Two points I would make.
▶ 0:44:39One, in the uh as I look in this region, I must be credible, present, and engaged. The thing I'm look right now is uh counter US technology. I need more of that. I need it quicker and we need to find a process to get after that. From an acquisition standpoint, there are a lot of innovative solutions out there. I'll continue to work towards that. Uh from a ship maintenance standpoint or ship delivery standpoint, I need ships. I need to be again credible. President Gage's gift to TCO's gift to counter drug threat. That's just two points I would make. I'm sure I can find some more uh points with aircraft as well.
▶ 0:45:09For what it's worth, um I think the requirements process is killing us. Uh it is too cumbersome, too long, too much detail. We need to more quickly buy commercial off-the-shelf solutions, not rely so much on programs, records, requirements. And again, as the end users, the degree to which in the building you can help make that argument, uh, that's going to help us get you the stuff you need faster. Um, General Guo, um, talk to us about how Canada and the US partner on our air defenses.
▶ 0:45:38Congressman, uh, Canada and the US are, uh, part of the only bational command in the world in NORAD and have been for almost 70 years. So the air defense, aerospace control and maritime warning mission are shared between Canada and the United States in uh with through NORAD. And so uh we're integrated at all levels uh in that mission.
▶ 0:46:05And if Canada were to drop out of that, how would that change our mission in terms of being able to protect our airspace? Well sir the the primary way it would be is the uh northern approaches uh would be severely uh underresourced and uh we would lose a significant amount of domain awareness and response in the northern approaches which is the fastest and the easiest approach for adversaries to take to North America. And Mr.
▶ 0:46:33Leonardo on the on the border cost you said it's 375 million to date as like the last two months. How many DoD personnel are committed to the border at this point? Um I believe the figure is approximately 6,600 active duty uh soldiers, but I I would yield to um General Guo who may have the more accurate details.
▶ 0:46:53Sir, it's approximately 6,700 on the Title 10 forces are on the border and then up to 10,000 have been ordered and uh the remainder are in process of moving down to the border. Right. And do you have a how how do they have a specific time period at this point? How long we're going to have 10,000 people at the Sir, I'm I'm glad to answer that.
▶ 0:47:19As you as you know, ranking member Smith, the department has supported the border for several days. Oh, I I understand that. Right. So, as far as how long we're going to be there now, I I suspect for an extended period. Sure. based on the results that we've achieved in just 60 days to shut down the border the way we have and to support our partners at DHS and CBP and ICE. It's an incredible uh effort by the Department of Defense working with DHS and CBP and ICE.
▶ 0:47:50And but when these these 10,000 were sent down there, they weren't sent down there for a three-month deployment or a six-month deployment. They're just sent down there and then we'll just see how long it how long they stay. There's no particular time frame. Well, the executive order tells us to seal the border and that's what the department will do. Um, but I want I want to clarify the the number too that also includes uh the numbers at Gitmo uh the number of military forces supporting Southcom too. Sir, I'm over time so I have to yield back yield back to chairman.
▶ 0:48:20Thank you. Gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson's recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank each of you for coming here today. I'm very concerned about the renewed actions of the axis of evil that have taken uh to challenge the United States in Europe and Asia, but also in our backyard here in the Western Hemisphere, threatening the security and independence of our allies throughout uh the hemisphere.
▶ 0:48:44With that in mind, we know that sadly that we're in a war we did not choose of dictators with rule of gun invading democracies with rule of law. It began February 24, 2022 when war criminal Putin invaded Ukraine. And then on October 7, 2023, the puppets of Iran invaded Israel. With that in mind, the Chinese Communist Party continues to challenge the United States economically and diplomatically within the Western Hemisphere.
▶ 0:49:12And War Criminal Putin continues to push aggressive disinformation and propaganda while continuing mass murder in Ukraine. And war colonel Putin is clearly and obsessed uh trying to resurrect the failed Soviet Union, oppressing the people of Russia itself, uh Transnistria, of Malddova, Bellarus while invading Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia and threatening Estonia and the partitioning again of Poland.
▶ 0:49:39With all of that in mind, Admiral Hosi, right now uh 22 of 31 countries of the Southern Command are still have a part of the Chinese Communist Party Belt and Road Initiative. It's uh really reassuring and so positive that Panama has announced they're leaving the Belt and Road Initiative and we so appreciate uh our allies and the people of Panama just uh great people that uh understand the threat.
▶ 0:50:08With that in mind, Admiral, what are the elements and what is the conduct of the belt and road initiative and what further resources do you need to ensure that we can continue the trend of pushing the Chinese Communist Party out of the hemisphere? Congressman, the belro initiative continues to portray economic uh opportunity. Uh we see it a bit differently. We think our partners uh by the time they realize what's going on, they they've been duped, right?
▶ 0:50:37they fund themselves of high interest rate loans uh more data and security resource extraction it goes on and on and on I think we have to deliver by making sure we can have an alternative right so whether that's one thing our partners continue to ask for is our presence right they want a security cooperation but also we can look at raising the profile of uh our our businesses in the region we need to find a way to have economic investment I look at uh the office of strategic capital uh DFC uh XM bank
▶ 0:51:07finding ways that we can deliver for our partners Thank you very much. Indeed, that's so important. And I do want to reiterate again how important Panama is and what a great model that can be for other countries of the hemisphere uh to have their economic independence to work uh uh freely uh in the world. Joe, over the past few years, we've seen Russia, China, and Iran continuously extend their reach into the Western Hemisphere.
▶ 0:51:34We've seen the Iranian Navy send warships into the southern hemisphere along with the Chinese Communist Party and war criminal Putin continuing to increase military cooperation in the Western Hemisphere with Russian ships docking in Havana maintaining the communist Cuban dictatorship. And we again can see that his resurrection of the failed Soviet Union includes uh sustaining the very few murderous allies they have in the world.
▶ 0:52:02uh sadly beginning uh here in our hemisphere with Cuba. It's is the increasing reach and cooperation between our adversaries a growing concern for the northern command and our aerospace space defense command.
▶ 0:52:19Congressman, it is one of our primary concerns the uh in u and that is the increased uh cooperation between China, Russia, uh Iran and North Korea uh not only in exchanging weapons and technology but also in access uh to to uh from which to operate.
▶ 0:52:37Uh as I mentioned, the uh number of incursions into our air defense identification zones over the past year has reached uh a level that uh exceeds what it was before the invasion. And if you take the year since the invasion combined, uh those number of incursion that number of incursions is less than what we had last year. And I expect that trend to continue. And it's a big concern to NORAD and Northcom.
▶ 0:53:02And I'm really grateful that President Trump is uh addressing the issue of the Iran capability of developing a nuclear weapon uh indeed uh with their ICBM capability. What we're talking about is existential threat to our our ally Israel but also to the United States and so North uh the regime and Tehran should not be allowed to have a nuclear capability. I yield back. I thank the gentleman here and I recognize gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Courtney. Thank you, uh, Mr.
▶ 0:53:31Rogers, and, uh, thank you to all the witnesses. Um, um, this morning, General Guio, um, at Northcom posture hearings in recent years, you and your predecessors have described the increasing frequency of Russian submarine patrols that have transited the Atlantic in the vicinity of the homeland. You alluded to the undersea a number of times in your testimony. It's in your written testimony as well.
▶ 0:53:54Uh, can you tell us as best you can in an unclassified setting if that trend is Congressman, the the trend of uh approaching our coasts from both Russia and Chinese uh submarines is increasing and we need a uh expanded undersea detection capability to ensure that we are aware of these and can properly posture to defend against submarine launched cruise missiles or ballistic missiles. And when you say that undersea detection, you're talking about sensors, right?
▶ 0:54:23And and I mean there's obviously other levels of Yes, sir. I'm talking about sensors, right? Um anti-ubmarine warfare uh to follow up Mr. Smith's question um is a team sport with our allies. It starts in Europe um in terms of Russian patrols where again um you know UK, France uh um participate with the US and then as it proceeds further west Canada is also part of that team sport. Isn't that correct Congressman?
▶ 0:54:54That's correct. Um and if you use the uh last out of sea deployment in in July as an example, uh the nations that you mentioned uh had first detection. We picked up on those and using both Canadian ships and uh maritime patrol aircraft tracked those uh the submarine and the surface vessels all the way until we handed it to Admiral Holsey's command and they went into Havana. Thank you.
▶ 0:55:19And um and again we're talking uh about a a fleet that despite the war in Ukraine, Putin continues to invest. In fact, yesterday uh he was at a shipyard announcing again another generation of of submarine uh capability for the hydro sonic hydrop uh yeah hydroic missile um payload which u again I don't know if you've been following that but I mean again this this threat has not sort of stalled out because of Ukraine. That's right sir.
▶ 0:55:50So the uh maritime threat and u most parts of the air threat have actually grown over the last several years uh despite the activities in Ukraine. So um again the the focus in terms of just what are the most effective ways to counter that uh clearly requires um a multinational effort and I mean the good news is is that we've had good participation in in recent years and uh I just want to uh associate myself with my with Mr.
▶ 0:56:20Smith's remarks that this trade war that has started is just a complete um needless um impediment in terms of you know having maximum levels of per um participation. I mean seeing yesterday the pictures of South Korea, Japan and China announcing jointly an anti-US tariff initiative with the three leadership of the three governments shaking hands uh honestly was sickening.
▶ 0:56:46Um and uh and again we we've really got to do um more as a Congress, as a co-equal branch of government to try and rein in uh what I think is just a really um negative um you know, dynamic that's being put into place.
▶ 0:57:03and and you know, we we're all going to find out tomorrow the the extent of the next level of these tariffs, but um it it's impossible for I think anyone to argue reasonably that it's not impacting the ability of us to interact with our um allies when their governments are being put under such strain uh and pressure um with with these policies that are that are um again seem to be cascading out every single day.
▶ 0:57:29Um so and and again just uh Admiral uh the general referred to the fact that the Russian naval presence uh does make it way into your area of command. Maybe you can just sort of allude to that in my final minute. Yes, Congressman. Since 2008, we've had over 40 Russian every deplorers into the region. So again, working with uh Northcom, we make sure we do some type of relay to make sure we can keep pace on those. Uh I would say that we have to continue to have uh presence uh and again presence is power.
▶ 0:57:59We have to meet presence with presence. If we don't do that then we're going to see the space right. So we have to make sure we stay in their face and have assets ready to uh engage. No and and Southcom usually has been the poor cousin in terms of navy sort of allocation of of ships. And so I mean I think your point I think is really an important one for us to uh to hear. And with that I yield back. Yeah. and we we need to change that.
▶ 0:58:26There's a lot more resource needs to be going to South America, our presence there, than we've had been doing in the past. Same thing with Africa. With that, I'll recognize gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Scott, for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll also want to reiterate the importance of the Western Hemisphere working together to uh combat the axis of evil as we've called it in the past. Uh Admiral Holly, I want to start with you. You're from Peach County, Georgia.
▶ 0:58:53uh just outside of my district, but I go through it a couple of times a week. Uh home of uh Fort State, Bluebird Bus Company. So, welcome to Washington. You're from a great part of the world. Uh I want to talk with you a little bit about drug interdiction and um what percentage of drug trafficking activity do you estimate that Southcom is able to observe and collect intelligence on with the uh ISR and other assets that you have?
▶ 0:59:22Congressman, we typically can uh action about 10% of what we see. So again, I think we have to be consistent president engaged with this piece and so more ISR assets definitely required uh to get after this. Okay.
▶ 0:59:35So, so I want to reiterate just for everybody who's listening that of the um drug trafficking that we see that we have actionable intelligence on, we only have the assets to stop about 10% of it even when we have actionable intel. And that's correct, sir.
▶ 0:59:58What additional assets and authorities do you need to move that from 10% to 25%. And thank you for that, Congressman. I think we need consistent uh persistent presence to interdict and engage. We have to continue to do that. I think as I look at more maritime assets, aviation assets, ISR assets and then the security cooperation continue to build up our partners capability capacity.
▶ 1:00:23over 80% of our interdiction last year our partners actually help us at and that's based off our security cooperation but definitely at this point uh more aviation assets and more maritime assets to stop the flow and we also have something called a ship special mission uh which actually takes our partners out with interceptors to get after the fight right now we're on a record pace but I know I can do uh a lot more with a lot more assets okay so so we talked about the assets do you have all the authorities that you
▶ 1:00:53need to sink the pangas. Yes, sir. I do have the authorities. Uh we do uh do uh warning shots and disabling fire from time to time, but uh no authorities to for Duro kinetic. That's not what we're doing at this point. But we are um again, we do warning shots and disabling I think for some of us, we see we see sinking of the panga as actually saving lives because of the tons of drugs that come into the United States and the damage that it does uh inside
▶ 1:01:24um America. Uh with that, I want to shift over to um you, General Guyo. Um, you've got, uh, General Tom Carden working with you, one of the finest people I've ever met, uh, National Guard, Georgia National Guard, and uh, he speaks highly of you. That's kind of all I I need to know about you.
▶ 1:01:49Um when we when we talk about threats homeland, no one understands the whole picture of our supply chain vulnerabilities against the PRC with respect to um IT, software and hardware with our uh critical infrastructure, but we do know that we're vulnerable. Uh what advice do you have for us or recommendations you have for us to ensure the defense and security of our nation's infrastructure against the PRC's non-kinetic threat?
▶ 1:02:19Congressman, first thanks for pointing out the outstanding service of Lieutenant General Tom Carden. He is a phenomenal uh deputy commander and leader as you as you mentioned and we're very fortunate to have him in our command. Uh regarding defense uh critical infrastructure, um I feel that uh I look at it in two different ways. One is the cyber uh threat and then the other is the physical threat. for the cyber threat.
▶ 1:02:43I'm very encouraged by the relationship that that Northern Command has with Cyber Command and CISA to address not only the DoD networks, but the uh critical infrastructure and the defense industrial base uh to ensure that they're protected from uh hundreds and thousands of uh attempted cyber attacks that happen each day. Uh people ask often if the homeland is under attack or what would it take for the homeland to be under attack? We are under attack every day in the cyber domain as you pointed out the physical threat.
▶ 1:03:14I'm down to about 20 seconds, but I just want to reiterate what you've said. We're under attack every day uh predominantly from China and and China's proxies in our infrastructure systems both in our defense systems and in our civilian systems that we depend on in the cyber domain. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Absolutely. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. My time's expired. Uh chair, I recognize a gentleman from California, Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:03:41We can clearly see that the belt and road initiative in South America has been a goal for China that continues to come to fruition. I would say they have been successful as some of these countries have withdrawn the recognition of Taiwan. Both China and Russia negotiate with the governments of South America to build up military and commercial interest in those countries.
▶ 1:04:04Let's compare that to our own foreign aid which has been decimated over the last few months significantly weakening our soft power and allowing China and Russia in turn to further solidify their influence. Admiral Holsey, what is COCOM doing to combat the growing Chinese and Russian influence in South America? And does our diminishing soft power make it more challenging to accomplish this?
▶ 1:04:33Congressman, thanks for that question. At Southcom, we continue to use the security cooperation support that we have. Basically, I look at the joint exercise program. That's a great way to bring uh our partners together, build interoperability, trust capability. We continue to do that. We have several projects ongoing now with our security cooperation again building cyber operation center. So, we'll continue to go that route. With regards specifically to uh the lack of uh some of the soft power, I have to use the tools that I have.
▶ 1:04:59So I think about uh the Lamont exercise which is ongoing right now where we've already done over 4,000 encounters with uh across the Caribbean doing medical procedures and surgeries over 300 surgeries. I look at the continuing promise what's going to happen this summer another soft power initiative where we're going to have the USNS comfort to go out to over eight nations and treat thousands of people. I try to continue to build the resilience that we have. And last thing I was mentioning that we have the trade winds exercise.
▶ 1:05:26We're going to start next month uh in uh Trinet Tobago to do humanitarian assistance disaster relief type response. So we're building capability and resiliency of our partners uh to help them be ready and we'll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with So Admiral, if you could just answer the question yes or no. Does diminishing soft power make it more challenging to accomplish your mission? Yeah, definitely. We all we always do soft power, right? So that's part of my job as well to perform that. So yes, thank you.
▶ 1:05:54Admiral Holsey, can you discuss how the special forces tactical surveillance, reconnaissance, and tracking program has assisted you in carrying out missions in your AR? And do you think this is a program we should continue to make investments in? Yes, in the past, it's provides uh information uh from an intel standpoint to help us out. So yes, it is a a program that I'm in support of. Thank you, General Guio.
▶ 1:06:21There are over 6,500 6,500 troops deployed to the southern border helping helping with activities. 6,500 troops seem like a lot and an excessive number to me. I can't imagine there is enough work to go around since they can can't assist directly with law enforcement activities. Can you speak to what exactly your military members are doing in the southern border? Congressman, yes. First, I'd like to point out they are not doing any detention activities.
▶ 1:06:51Uh so the 6,500 are all uh performing roles in support of uh customs and border protection or providing unique military capabilities such as airborne ISR and the uh surveillance of the destroyers off of each coast.
▶ 1:07:07uh about 90% of what the uh active forces are doing down there is in what we call detection and monitoring where they're using uh advanced systems to uh monitor the border and detect anybody that's trying to illegally cross. And as you pointed out once they see that they vector in the border patrol or a a proper law enforcement agency to actually make the Thank you.
▶ 1:07:33I know all these service members are following their orders and will continue to do so. But when do you think these troops will be able to return to their families and in the case of the guard their primary jobs? Congressman, as Mr. Salis uh said previously, I think it'll be uh probably in and measured in years, not in months. Uh the initial results of sealing the border have been fantastic.
▶ 1:08:03if you look at the stats uh but but uh we need to make sure that uh one that that's lasting and it goes through all the cycles of of illegal migration that we see seasonal uh um seasonal impact is is significant on on this and then we need to make sure that it's it's sealed uh and it remains sealed uh and I think that will take uh probably a couple of years. What has been the decline in the migration since the buildup sir?
▶ 1:08:31all the stats that we see is that uh the numbers of detections, incursions, uh apprehensions are all uh 90 to 95 to 97% less than they were uh before the um executive orders were issued. Thank you very much. Chair now recognize gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Whitman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I like to thank our witnesses for joining us today. Uh General Guo, I want to begin with you.
▶ 1:08:56We had had some conversations about uh what happened December 2023 at Joint Base Langley Eustace where we had incursion of UAS's, small UAS's for almost a two-month period. Uh we got briefs about uh what happened there. They came in well lit. They weren't trying to hide anything. I felt bad for the base commander because he wanted to do something and wasn't getting backing from folks up the chain of command. We had a bunch of resources there where we could do things. Uh none of those were used.
▶ 1:09:24Uh if it wasn't for NASA Langley next door, we wouldn't have even had the sensors to be able to sense uh those unmanned aerial systems that are there on site. Let me ask this. Uh we have from a hearing then asked for a priority list under 13i. What bases are priority? What's being done to protect those bases? Uh how do we make sure those things don't occur again? I believe that our adversaries are probing trying to figure out what we can do, what we can't do.
▶ 1:09:54Uh, and that's very telling to them what they saw that day or what they saw over that month. It was very telling to them that there was wasn't the type of reaction that was necessary. My question is this. What has been done in the meantime for us to be assured that Northcom and NORAD is doing everything possible on these bases to protect them from these UAS threats? What's our counter UAS? Where are we with priorit prior prioritizing these bases?
▶ 1:10:20Where are we with training our security forces on base to protect those bases? Where are we with supplying kit to at least the priority bases or have some network of equipment that necessary to make sure we're protecting these bases?
▶ 1:10:35Congressman, since the uh Langley incursions of uh December of 2023, NORAD uh excuse me, Northcom has requested and then last November was given the responsibility to synchronize the DoD and if necessary inter agency response to counter UA uh to UAS incursions.
▶ 1:10:54Uh during that time uh we've we've conducted uh three assisted responses where we can uh use our new responsibilities to bring uh capabilities to a base uh similar to what you saw at at Langley but this time with the authority to operate those systems based on our headquarters close ties with the inter agency and LNO's to get the FAA and other uh authorities that are that are uh necessary uh to operate once they land.
▶ 1:11:23The responsibility for defending bases uh resides with the services and with the installation. But what Northcom has done is proposed a process where we would bring in flyaway kits to supplement or uh in the case where there are no capabilities provide the initial capability at that base uh to to defeat that. Now we we don't have those kits yet uh but we're in the process of of acquiring those. Okay.
▶ 1:11:52I would say there's certainly a sense of urgency there and making sure that we get that done especially here at the homeland. Sir, I share that sense of urgency. Thank you, Admiral Holly. I want to um point to um a uh study being done or or project I should say at College of William Mary called aid data and aid data is looking at uh how China has dramatically expanded its footprint and critical mineral extraction around the world but specifically in South America, specifically Peru.
▶ 1:12:21There are two large copper mines there that are mining at record pace. Uh China's putting a significant amount of money into those regions much the same way they did in Africa in places like the Democrat Republic of Congo where they own 16 of the 18 mines.
▶ 1:12:37You know, we in the United States can talk about resurging manufacturing and building all these semiconductor plants, but if we don't have access to critical minerals and rare earth elements, those things to the left in the value chain, then we can build all the plants we want, but none of that's come to come to fruition. Give us your perspective on how you see the Chinese footprint expanding in South America, specifically as it relates to critical minerals and rare earth elements. And Congressman, thank you for that question.
▶ 1:13:07uh it's no doubt that China continues to or would like to control the abundance of resources and rare minerals in in the region. We know that. So I think what we have to do is have a solution. Uh recently uh just last year we XM Bank was able to finance a a uh a copper mine or mine in Peru. But we have to continue to up that right. So officer Capital uh Development Finance Corporation, we have to continue to raise a profile of companies willing to go down there.
▶ 1:13:33when we go to these regions, they know they have uh someone who's going to respect their laws, respect the environmental concerns, right? So, we have to continue to get after that, sir. Very good. Thank you. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Chairman, I recognize gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Crow. Thank you, chairman. Um, thank you to all of you for your testimony today. Uh, General, I wanted to start with you. Uh, the the Air National Guard plays a very critical role in America's national security.
▶ 1:14:02Uh, however, of the current 25 Air National Guard fighter squadrons, 15 do not have a recapapitalization plan, including the 140th Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard, headquartered at Buckley Space Force Base in my district.
▶ 1:14:16Uh, that's why my my good friend Don Bacon and I introduced a bipartisan legislation to stop the decline of fighter readiness and stabilize the Air Force fighter force structure across the active duty, guard, and reserve Uh your written testimony stated that the Air National Guard is critical to generating greater readiness against high-end threats through enhanced campaigning and training while remaining available to NORAD when indications and warning triggers are met.
▶ 1:14:44I of course couldn't agree more with you as Mr. Bacon and many of us on this DAS uh have advanced just that cause. So, uh, being in Colorado and being in close proximity to the 140th Wing, your predecessor testified not too long ago, uh, that, um, it was key to have a fighter wing at Buckley Space Force Base to protect all of the stuff within the Western United States, including the the mini facilities
▶ 1:15:14in Colorado. Is it your opinion that that is still the case? that having an alert squadron in close proximity to to NORAD and Northcom and the facilities in Colorado and surrounding communities is still still essential. Congressman, absolutely. Uh the the Buckley unit is outstanding unit. Uh does a fantastic job in air defense and they're uh critical to protecting not only Colorado but the region's uh critical infrastructure.
▶ 1:15:41And what's the if there weren't a unit at Buckley, what would be the next closest It would u most probably be uh Tucson or Tulsa. Okay. A considerable distance. Yes sir.
▶ 1:15:58And we we map that sir all the time with uh you know the the range of the aircraft how far they can fly unrefueled refueled and keeping uh Buckley and the capability they have there is essential to for our air defense as well as for critical infrastructure. Thank you.
▶ 1:16:15And um you know the projections were I've seen a couple of different scenarios that if the 140th wing isn't recapitalized and phases out, they would still have to then have a rotational unit because of the things you just described, there would still have to be fighter aircraft there that would have to be rotated in and that has cost to it, right? In fact, in some ways rotating in units is more expensive than just maintaining a permanent unit. Yes, sir.
▶ 1:16:42the location is is critical and as you said if if the Buckley guard unit weren't there we would have to rotate a unit in and you lose a lot of uh efficiencies and effectiveness when you rotate versus having permanently based. So it sounds like your your professional military opinion is that it's essential to have a unit at Buckley to protect the homeland and the western region. Yes sir, that is correct. Okay, thank you General.
▶ 1:17:07Um, Admiral, uh, to you, uh, can you, um, explain to me the the current security situation in Colombia? I've been watching, uh, pro administration with a lot of, uh, interest over the last couple of years. It appears to be degrading pretty rapidly. I would just love your thoughts on the situation in Thank you, Congressman. I think it's a very challenging problem set. I will share with you that I think from a male-to-male relationship, we're very tied and very tight.
▶ 1:17:36Uh I can tell you right now they're in a fight today when it comes to uh the counter TCO's ELN FARC. We continue to support them with our current authorities, but I think that uh it becomes more tenuous every day. Uh but they are in the fight. They're committed to working with us, one of our strongest partners in the region. And what more should we be doing to engage and to assist our Colombian partners with that deteriorating situation? I think across the uh the spectrum it comes back to security cooperation, our partnerships, right?
▶ 1:18:03So, uh, whether it's joint exercise training, we do joint exercises, uh, whether it's the different different type of hardware and equipment, we can give them, intelligence sharing, and we'll continue to do that. But we have to continue to stay at the forefront and understand their needs and work with them. And you've also mentioned in your testimony that diplomacy and um, you know, non-military means of engagement are essential for you as a combatant commander. Does that remain true?
▶ 1:18:29And are is that an essential tool for you that we continue to invest in humanitarian and diplomatic efforts in the southern hemisphere? So I think it's a whole of government approach, right? So I think we have to work across the whole of government. I think from a department of state having our diplomats in place and then working with us, right? So again I have a very small uh footprint as far as uh forces. So every engagement, every handshake, every look and eye matters. So we have to be very committed and continue to do that. Time's expired chair and I recognize a gentleman from Mississippi, Mr. Kelly. Yes, sir.
▶ 1:18:59And General, uh, do you feel like our southern border is more or less secure today now that we don't have just unknown threats pouring through every single moment of every single day? Who may or intended? Do you think we're more or less safe today on the southern border? Congressman, we are more secure today on the southern border. And talking a little bit, uh, Admiral, just um, in Southcom, I think that is one of the areas we can have the greatest impact.
▶ 1:19:28So, um, what are we doing state partnership programwise? What are we doing? Uh, back when I was a young lieutenant, they used to send engineer units to build, uh, roads, basically combat trails for us, but roads. They would build soccer fields, do infrastructure, help with schools. What are we doing in South America now with our garden reserve units where they get a cool overseas training ribbon and we get to actually impact a country's view of the United States? What what what are your intent to use some of those things?
▶ 1:19:55So, Congressman, that's one of my biggest levers I have in the region is a uh right after the security cooperation always talk about state partnership programs. We currently have 24 states partnering with 30 countries in the region. So, it's a very powerful lever. They do everything from uh uh subject matter ex exchanges, cyber, aviation ops. They're all in on us and I can't do without them. Yeah.
▶ 1:20:14And going back to those projects though, we used to send engineer units and other type of units routinely to South America which again gave them engagements and gave them familiar but also gave support uh soft support to are are you looking at reiterating that thing that we did in the 90s and 2000s. So that's ongoing sir that as well as the US Army Corps of Engineers. We're totally engaged in the region with the assets that we have. Yes, sir. And then back to you, General. Um, I'm really concerned.
▶ 1:20:43You know, we had a a a Chinese air balloon fly over the United States and uh and basically surveile the whole United States and we shot it down after it got everything that it wanted. Um, we uh we continue to have folks who surveil or send drones over our bases or put infrastructure things that have the potential to surveil.
▶ 1:21:04How serious are we in Northcom in the protection in protecting and hardening our bases against surveillance and also attacks. Congressman uh between both NORAD and Northcom uh we're we're very engaged in what you described nor NORAD to ensure that the uh the air sovereignty of the United States and Canada are maintained.
▶ 1:21:28uh Northcom for the uh UAS challenge that that you mentioned and uh we're we're working uh with the services and with the department to increase not only the capability but also uh to expand the authorities we have to uh knock out not only uh aircraft or UAS's that are uh a direct threat but also that are surveilling uh over the installation and I'd like to even see it expanded beyond the installation to ensure they can't see anything sensitive on our basis. Thank you, General. On the balance of my time, I yield to Mr. Magcguire.
▶ 1:22:07The new guy. All right. Admah, US sanctioned Iranian warships have been spotted near AO over the last few years. Last May, an Iranian warship reportedly equipped with long range missiles crossed into the southern hemisph he hemisphere. How troubled are you by this increased Iranian Navy presence in or near your AO? I'm always concerned. Right. So again, we must be credible, present, and engaged. I can't be more clear about that.
▶ 1:22:33So when it comes to resources and assets to meet presence with presence, we must do that. Again, this will be for uh Admiral Holsey and Mr. Leonardo. Under the belt and road initiative, China has established itself as a dominant player in telecommunication infrastructure throughout Latin America. How could China use their command of Latin American telecommunications and infrastructure to threaten America's Thank you for that question, Congressman.
▶ 1:23:00As you know, the president is the first and and of many to finally place a high emphasis on the Western Hemisphere given how closely connected it is to the defense of the homeland. and with his increased focus uh just specifically on Panama for example um working with those partners over there uh they've successfully um withdrawn from the belt and road initiative knowing that um that influence in that region particularly with the Panama Canal would be extremely detrimental to American interests.
▶ 1:23:24So um I think the administration is very proud of that increased um emphasis on that and making sure that we encourage our partners in the region to withdraw. Admiral, so we're laser focused on the possible Chinese encouragement from the standpoint of cyber right.
▶ 1:23:37So when you think put Chinese technology on your critical infrastructure whether it's 5G or safe city smart city technology our job is try to illuminate and make sure our partners understand what they're dealing with and then try to find an option right so again some of our partners work very closely with us we do cyber exchanges all the time every exercise we do has some cyber component to it to try to make sure we can help our partners gentleman's times expired chair I recognize gentle lady from California miss Jacobs thank you Mr. Chairman. Um, General Guio, I I'd like to follow up on some of the questions um that my colleague asked.
▶ 1:24:08Um, you specifically said that DoD will not be doing any detention of migrants at the southern border, but we've uh seen recent reporting indicate that the administration intends to use active duty military personnel to hold migrants at the border. So, could you talk about what exact activities constitute holding migrants if troops are explicitly not detaining them? Congresswoman, uh I said that we are not currently doing any detention and uh I have no orders to conduct any detention.
▶ 1:24:40Okay. And are military personnel currently or will they at any point be responsible for physically transporting migrants from one location to another or facilitating their transfer into DHS the the uh Northern Command Title 10 forces uh at this point are not allowed to uh transport any uh any migrants uh illegal aliens or or other Okay, great.
▶ 1:25:08And will military personnel be operating checkpoints, conducting crowd or traffic control, or perform performing any surveillance of migrants or border area Well, to the first two, the answer is no. Can you repeat the last part please ma'am? On surveillance. Sure. Um so they will not be conducting checkpoints conducting crowd or traffic control. Will they perform any surveillance of migrants or border area residents?
▶ 1:25:34Well the we do do detection and monitoring uh which includes surveillance of of the uh of the border and the region near the border to ensure that uh no illegal crossings uh are either underway or about to happen. uh if we detect those we we notify the border patrol and they take any action necessary but the action is not taken by the title 10 forces. Okay. Thank you.
▶ 1:25:58And so then do troops have access to DHS surveillance tools, databases or intelligence systems that collect or store information about US citizens or lawful border residents? No. We are very careful to ensure that we follow all intel oversight requirements and we regularly inspect to ensure that all of the title 10 forces that are in support of the border patrol uh follow those rules. Excellent.
▶ 1:26:23And then when your military personnel are come in contact with a migrant, they are not eligible to detain them. But what happens if uh border patrol personnel are not immediately available? What are the Congressman, what they do is they continue to surveil them uh using the the sensors and the systems that they have so they can give updated locations to the border patrol agents.
▶ 1:26:47Uh but as you mentioned, they will not stop uh or uh impede the uh illegal migrants. That's only a law enforcement action. Okay. Excellent. And as you know, General Guio, um the law is quite clear on this, right?
▶ 1:27:03Um the posi commatatitus act explicitly states that it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the army of the United States as a posiccomatitis or otherwise for the purpose of executing the laws except in such cases and under such circumstances as such employment of said force may be expressly authorized by the constitution or by an act of congress and no money appropriated by this act shall be used to pay any of the expenses incurred in the employment of any troops in violation of this section.
▶ 1:27:27General, can you explicitly assure this committee today that Northcom's activities at the border fully comply with this law and that under your command, our military personnel will not be put into positions that compromise the foundational principle separating civilian law enforcement from military authority? Congresswoman, Congresswoman, I can assure you that we are very familiar with that law and we uh follow it to every detail. Excellent. And what specific training and guidance have service members received regarding these legal constraints?
▶ 1:27:58When the uh units are identified to come down to support the Northcom mission, they go through an extensive uh period of of training both at their home station and then once they arrive on the border during what we call the RS and II process uh which can take several days to a couple weeks to ensure that they have all the required training to include uh the uh standards on the use of force and the posi commatatus. Great.
▶ 1:28:24Since January 20th, have there been any revisions or contemplated changes to the rules of engagement or rules for use of force for military personnel deployed at the southern border? The only one that I've proposed is a change to the rule of force which would allow us to uh uh uh shoot down or bring down drones that are surveilling over our deployed and mobile troops. That's the only change to the use of force that I've proposed. Excellent.
▶ 1:28:52And um are service members deployed at the border armed? Yes. Uh I've directed that all service members that are operating in close proximity to the border will be armed with the weapon that they are trained to use, whether that's a long rifle or a sidearm. Gentle lady's time expired. Chair and I recognize gentleman from Nebraska, Mr. Bacon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm on the right side over here or your left. Thank you for being here. And I got to brag. I did serve with a Colonel Guo back in the day.
▶ 1:29:21Uh we both got to command the greatest wing in the United States Air Force, the 55th wing. My first question is to General uh Guio. Tracking hypersonics is a big concern for many of us. I know for you as well. Can you talk about the challenges of tracking hypersonics and and also add what is the time from if it's a hypersonics launch in China, how long could it reach the continental United Congressman and I share the shout out for the fight in 55th. Uh and thank you for that.
▶ 1:29:50Uh hypersonics are very destabilizing. They're tremendous challenge to us because they start off in a ballistic often in a ballistic manner which is very easy to predict where they're going to eventually impact but because of their speed and their maneuverability uh all that goes away once they enter the hypersonic and the glide portion of their profile.
▶ 1:30:11Uh so uh I think it also because of the speed cuts down uh the amount of time uh sometimes to as little as five minutes to detect track and predict where it's going to go but because of the endgame maneuverability that they have really uh we don't know until the very end where where these could go because of the What kind of capabilities do you need to better track this? What can we what should we be funding uh in Congress?
▶ 1:30:38the uh the HBTSS, the hypersonic ballistic tracking uh and sensing system is an extremely promising uh satellitebased capability to detect and track uh the hypersonics through the regimes that I just described. Um and then I think that we're going to have to uh increase our uh commitment to um defeat mechanisms uh which are challenged for the same reasons that I just mentioned, the maneuverability and the speed.
▶ 1:31:05Uh we have some great defeat mechanisms, but they aren't geared towards the speed and maneuverability that hypersonics bring. Sounds like a good priority for us to to work on. We would appreciate it. Yes, sir. CJ C2 and AI and know growing importance for your air defense command control. Can you talk a little bit about the importance of the Maven smart system?
▶ 1:31:25Uh, Congressman, Maven Smart System has become the staple for our uh, joint all-domain command and control system uh, because it not only presents a a uh, picture of the battle space in multiple domains. U, uh, most systems show one domain or another, but but you can get all domains in Maven smart systems and the increasing number of layers, live layers of live data that can be brought in, everything from undersea through space sensors uh, displayed at the same time.
▶ 1:31:53So, it's a staple uh to both NORAD and Northcom and I see it growing in the future. Thank you, Admiral Holsey. What would what's the biggest gap that you have for for the counterdrug mission and and what can Congress be doing to help Congressman, I think the biggest gap remains uh assets. Uh we have to be consistent president engaged and have a consistent presence uh on the waters in the air to deter and interdict.
▶ 1:32:18So I think from a uh air standpoint, maritime standpoint and ISR all is very critical to the mission. Thank you. Want to follow up on a question that General Guio got earlier about cyber. I appreciate you talking about it's not just ballistic missile threat or hypersonic, it's also cyber and you got to work with cyber command and sissa which is there's a seam there. We're trying to close those seams. Are there any additional authorities that you need to work with cyber command and sissa?
▶ 1:32:47Sir, I think we have the authorities that we need and I should point out the FBI is very active as well in our in our cyber defense. Having those uh organizations resident in our headquarters is helpful. Frequent talks with General Hawk uh sometimes weekly on on uh the threat and every time I ask him if he can take action, he has had the authorities necessary to do that on our behalf. Uh so I don't have any uh authority requests at this time for the cyber domain. One last question with my final minute.
▶ 1:33:16You know, I've worked in NATO. I've worked with the Canadians. I've worked with uh the Danes and I'm concerned about some of the comments that these are our allies and so so as a traditional Republican, I hate to see the friction with our allies. Are you seeing any of those frictions at all at NORAD or NAT or Northcom? Congressman, uh, as you know, in NORAD, we have several hundred Canadians that work side by side with us, as well as at the installations.
▶ 1:33:44At the militaryto military, uh, relationship level, uh, we have zero problems or concerns. Everybody's focused on on defending our continent and, uh, and I'm real proud of the effort that they're putting into it. Thank you. Uh, good to hear. Uh, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Jim yields back. Chair, I recognize gentle lady from Hawaii, Mr. Cuda. Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, when we visited Guantanamo Bay, we were told that there were service members there from every branch minus space force.
▶ 1:34:12Um, the question I have is where are they being reassigned from? And are we compromising our readiness and and posture in other areas where they're now being uh detailed and reassigned to Gitmo and what kind of military commitment both people and cost would be required if in fact we reached the president's threshold of housing 30,000 migrants there. Um clearly there's a lot of additional costs but even just the living facilities for 30,000 troops right now you have service members in tents um at Guantanamo Bay.
▶ 1:34:42What would be the cost and personal impact and will this impact our readiness posture um elsewhere from where they're being reassigned? Congresswoman, from the standpoint of the where the troops are coming from, uh the as a force uh user, if you will, we put our RF in request for forces and the forces come to us. We ask for specific uh uh requirements and and problem sets. So they actually send the forces to us from all over the nation.
▶ 1:35:11So again uh really over to the services to show the impact of their readiness of their command from my command itself the folks who are work for me that down there uh from their register reporting tool they are not uh showing any degradation in training or readiness at this time. Okay. So you're telling me that we really don't know if it's impacting any kind of readiness or posture in any other theater. We don't know where they're coming from. We have to ask every branch specifically. Yes. comes from my How about the cost?
▶ 1:35:40If we have over a thousand service members there to basically oversee at the at the height maybe 200 177 individuals there if we have 30,000 migrants at Guantanamo what kind of military presence would you expect to have to have there at Guantanamo Bay? So uh uh Congresswoman the U Southcom always postures and plans for a migrant operation. Uh we've done that in the past.
▶ 1:36:07uh for our planning shows that if we were to go up to 30,000 if we were to do that and we we have not been told to do that it's approximately 9,000 plus uh service members to do that mission but right now we're in a tail approach and we have not uh gone beyond uh any anything over a thousand at this point. Okay. So the president has said 30,000 will be at Guantanamo Bay. Everyone's talking about meeting the president's mission. You're saying it's 9,000 service members. What's the estimated cost?
▶ 1:36:33And is that inclusive of their housing, their meals, transport, all of these different things? Congresswoman, I don't I don't have the cost uh for if someone could get me that. If you have the projection scenario of 9,000 service members, there must be at least a back of an envelope estimate on cost.
▶ 1:36:55Now, I don't know if this question came up already, but when we went there, over 30% of the migrants, they were low threat, which means that they did not have a criminal record other than having illegally crossed the border. So, that being said, does it make financial sense and also military security sense in terms of where we're taking these individuals to house upwards of 30% of migrants at Guantanamo Bay that are actually low threat, low So, uh, Congressman, um, obviously we work
▶ 1:37:25very closely with ICE and DHS and CBP on this. They make the determination of who goes to the housing areas. Um, and obviously there's a capacity issue for housing that they have. So, they will make a determination um, who to send to Gitmo, whether it's high threat illegal aliens or or lower threat illegal aliens. And what we do is we provide uh the capability to house them temporarily. Okay. So let's talk about housing capability then.
▶ 1:37:53Let's say 30,000 individuals do come to Guantanamo that are in fact high risk. We were told by ICE that they cannot be um housed in softsided tents like the tents that are currently sitting vacant right now. Do we have the hard structure capacity to house upwards 30,000 potentially high-risisk migrants at Guantanamo Bay in hard-sided facilities? Currently, we do not have that capability.
▶ 1:38:16So, basically, you're telling me the president's plan to have the hardened, most aggressive criminals, 30,000 of them housed at Guantano is unfeasible. Well, at this time, we don't have the housing, but if we were directed to house high threat illegal aliens at large numbers at Gitmo, we would absolutely execute that mission. Okay. I know I have 26 seconds of my time, so we'll definitely have that.
▶ 1:38:42Chair, I have more questions, but specifically, we've now been told that military bases will be co-used to house migrants. As the great granddaughter of a Japanese attorney, Fort Bliss was one of those particular camps that actually housed them years generations ago. What impact to readiness and budget constraints would this have on our on&m and milcom dollars if you now have to do a dual uh use in terms of both be a military base and a migrant chair now recognized. Thank you. I'll ask that question in writing. Thank you.
▶ 1:39:12chair recogniz gentle lady from Virginia, Miss Kiggins. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you so much to our panelists for being here today and uh and for the update. Thank you for the work you're doing at the southern border, especially. I think we're we're all sleeping a little more soundly just knowing that our border is secure. Uh but for the work you do, give Northcom's responsibility for defending against nation state cyber threats. Uh let's see, what's your assessment of the military's readiness to defend critical infrastructure, including power, ports, and logistic nodes?
▶ 1:39:42Congresswoman, the uh I think it's the the the ability to defend in cyber for the DoD network is strong and then uh for the ports uh we rely heavily on CISA and Cyber Command to identify uh weaknesses and there are some uh there there are teams that go out and check this.
▶ 1:40:03Uh I think it's improving and I think there's a lot of awareness on it, but there are still some vulnerabilities out there, especially when you get into the uh defense industrial base and in critical infrastructure that need to be addressed. Do you see it improving or is it continuing to get worse by the day? Ma'am, I think it is uh at least from the the results that I'm seeing from the inspections, it is improving. That's good to hear.
▶ 1:40:28And then uh for both Northcom and Southcom, both of your commands rely heavily on military seal of command for logistics, transport, and resupply. Whether it's supporting contingency operations, humanitarian missions, or routine sustainment. Right now, MSSE is facing serious challenges with manning and the availab availability of ships. How are these readiness issues impacting your ability to plan and execute missions that depend on seal lift support?
▶ 1:40:56I speak briefly from the standpoint of our mission we're doing in uh in Haiti right now. Uh since u uh November airport was closed, we've been able to fly 62 flights in there providing supplies to the MSS. So no impact there. I think as you look at some of the resources we flow down to the island as well as as the commercial uh shipping and so we've been safe there as well. So I think it's still uh we have to continue to look at it and just make sure we notice our impacts that we're seeing but right now minimal on my part from Southcom. That's good. Thank you.
▶ 1:41:26And Congresswoman, based on where our locations are on the continent, we primarily use air and rail and have very little uh requirements that go by seal lift. That's good to hear. And then recently we were in uh New Zealand with a Kodell and listening to uh to some of the influence from China uh with some similar to kind of the Bel belt road initiative that they're doing uh in in Central and South America.
▶ 1:41:50But uh the New Zealanders were talking about kind of the shoddy workmanship from the Chinese and that they didn't use local employees, local workers. Uh they would come in and build bridges, infrastructure, then it would then fall apart. So So it was almost like they the Chinese had attempted to to make some inroads uh places like New Zealand and some of the island chains out in the South Pacific, but then the people were really kind of catching on to to what was going on and and almost seeing through uh what was happening.
▶ 1:42:17So, do you feel like that that same thing is happening Central and South America or is or are they making continued progress and really um just helping with community development and people are buying that? Congresswoman, they're not buying it. They're they're seeing it. I think by the time they realize they've been duped with this these relationships again uh more interest uh poor construction uh resource extraction uh again it goes on and on and on, right? So, I think uh our our goal is to try to have an alternative to them, right?
▶ 1:42:46So these stateowned enterprises, they know what they're doing. They're exploiting the instability, the corruption, the weak economies, and the lack of foreign lending shortfall to embed and get in. So I think we have to continue to look for ways to bring more economic stability to the region. Uh we have a economic strategic working group. We stood up at Southcom a year and a half or so ago. So we're trying to find ways to get XM bank uh the the development finance corporation, others office capital to come in and you know fill that void and we have to continue to do that. Yeah.
▶ 1:43:16No, I agree and I appreciated your comments when you talked about, you know, every handshake, every time you look in someone's eye, that stuff matters, just that people-to-people exchange. So, along those same lines, you know, we enjoy close relations with several Latin American countries, but how how can we work with Latin American allies even more closely to achieve these close security cooperation on immigration, drug smuggling, and counter Chinese influence.
▶ 1:43:37I think our uh security cooperation one of my biggest lovers uh provides that subject matter expert changes joint exercise program those things put me on the ground right so now I can train side by side we it builds confidence trust and really just that knowing that we're there for him so we have to continue to do that cooperation I agree and just to echo uh Trent Kelly's words as well and and my dad just growing up he was in the army reserves and and used to always go down there and work on those projects that that he mentioned I remember that and I think those those
▶ 1:44:07one-on-one things that we can do to help their communities are so meaningful. So, thank you so much. I yield back. Chair, I recognize gentleman from New Mexico, Mr. Pasquez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the witnesses uh that are here today. Thank you for your service to our country and for your time today. Um I represent New Mexico's second district that includes 180 mi of the US Mexico border. I know nearly every mile very intimately as well as our three ports of entry uh with our southern neighbor in Mexico.
▶ 1:44:34Now, for decades, the Department of Defense has operated Joint Task Force North to support law enforcement's efforts to identify and interdict drugs before they enter the United States. That's why I was proud to have secured bipartisan language in the FY25 NDAA, which requires the Department of Defense to make countering drugs entering the United States the department's top counterdrug priority. Uh my first question is for General Guo and Admiral Hoy. Uh the DoD has historically engaged in several counterdrug campaigns.
▶ 1:45:05The dynamics of illicit drug smuggling have shifted over the years and it's no secret that there's been an influx of fentinel and other precursor chemicals coming into the United States from places like China. Could you give me an example of how the department has shifted its focus to prior to prioritize countering the flow of fentinel into the United States? I'll start here. At least from a southcom standpoint, uh we continue to work across the inter agency to try to identify those crucial hotspots.
▶ 1:45:34Right now, we know that the precursors are going into Mexico first. So, we're not seeing a lot in the uh in the southcom. We'd have some potential hotspots being Honduras, Guatemala, and Dominican Republic. So, inter agency work support doing that. We continue to see the cocaine uh the prices drop. So, the cocaine cocaine continues to come in and we're getting after that at record pace this year. and I can do a lot more with uh more assets, but right now I think from a fentanel we're still studying that very hardly very hard with our partners inter agency to get after it.
▶ 1:46:04Thank you Abra and Congressman. First I've uh visited Santa Ana Monument 3 and a number of the uh locations along your district and I'm always very proud of the great work that's being done there. Regarding the fentanel, uh we've seen the numbers drop significantly over the last two months as we've sealed off uh portions of the border and also established maritime blocks uh for this. Uh we're waiting to see what's the next way that they're going to try to get that across.
▶ 1:46:33Uh we established a a joint intelligence task force that is bringing in the inter agency and uh the uh intel community along with border patrol and DoD intel experts. uh that's really illuminating that flow in as you mentioned with the precursors where it's being uh assembled and then how they try to get it uh across the border. Uh I think this is going to take more time.
▶ 1:46:58Uh but uh I think that we're on the the right track to to um find and put the pressure on the cartels uh in ways that they haven't had uh pressure put on them before uh to make them find other ways to earn money than fentanyl. Thank you, General.
▶ 1:47:16And I think uh our best resources are used in the ability to both uh counterdict the smuggling activities that happen, but more importantly the the actual precursors that are coming in from China and the manufacturing and the laboratory facilities that the cartels are using to then move that uh product across the country. I believe that's one of the best resources for DoD to continue its focus on. So thank you for that. Um and I remain committed to working with the department to stop the spread of fentinel in our country.
▶ 1:47:45Now, uh, I do have some serious concerns about a recent shift in DoD posture when it comes to immigration enforcement. Uh, and it is DHS's job to enforce our domestic immigration laws. And I believe DoD has to remain focused on preparing to fight and win America's wars. And I'm very concerned the department is wasting some of these precious resources, which I've seen firsthand from talking to DoD personnel at places like Santana Monument 3 and the Santa Teresa port of entry and the Santa Teresa Sunland Park uh, station.
▶ 1:48:14Now, it's been reported that there's plans for department to detain and process immigrants at installations like Fort Bliss and Kirtland Air Force Base. Uh, Mr. Leonardo, are there any plans to house individuals or families at Kirtland or other installations in the region? Thank you for your question, Mr. Vasquez. And, uh, the administration shares your concern about the flow of fentinel, which is why we're eager to support the Department of Homeland Security in any way that we can.
▶ 1:48:38Uh I'll note um as mentioned earlier by General Kio uh the Department of Defense and its military service members do not do direct attention. This is always in support of ICE and CBP uh and the Department of Homeland Security at large. Thank you Mr. Le Leonardo. I have 20 seconds and that was not the question that I asked. My question was about immigrants being housed at Kirtland or Fort uh Fort Bliss.
▶ 1:49:00So just in terms of the actual expenditures that we are spending to potentially use Department of Defense facilities for migrant detention, I believe takes away from that critical mission of counterdicting fentinel traffic. And so I'd love to see those millions of dollars actually used to protect Americans and I believe that's best used uh by making sure that we can stop the flow of fentinel. Gentleman's times expired. Chair, I recognize a gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. General Guillot, you're familiar with the the Joint Reserve Base at Bell Chase in Louisiana?
▶ 1:49:31Yes, sir, I am. They house the 159th Fighter Wing. Um they do a hell of a job defending our our border at at the coast. They they work together, of course, with their with their partners and and they they fly F-15C's. You're familiar, sir? I'm very familiar. Yes, sir. I would imagine you are.
▶ 1:49:53Um, I've been advised that the that the Air Force plans to uh to send F-15 EXs to the Cadinia Air Base in Okinawa. And my sources state that that uh Okinawa would have difficulty supporting some of these new aircraft and and in defense of our homeland, which is the subject of today's hearing primarily.
▶ 1:50:20It would seem to a reasonable American that perhaps we should deploy uh these F-15 EXs to the 159th Fighter Wing to defend our coast to replace his older craft as opposed to sending them to Japan. And would you potentially meet with this committee to discuss that or what are your thoughts on that? What you can discuss in this setting?
▶ 1:50:47Sir, I would be glad to meet with the committee and discuss the uh air defense needs. Uh the F-15C, although old, is still unmatched in air-to-air combat and uh it does a great job, but as you mentioned, being old, uh maintenance problems, reliability problems, uh and fatigue on the aircraft is setting in. I would love to see all of our F-15 units replaced with EX. So, so respectfully, General, if if the old aircraft are are are all cool, why do we need new ones?
▶ 1:51:18Well, as I mentioned, the new ones are newer and better, right? The new ones are better. I would like to see them replaced with the to defend our coast, regular Americans might expect that we might use the best. I'm just putting this out there. we might use the best and most modern aircraft to to defend the Gulf of America and to patrol the Gulf of America as opposed to sending them overseas. So, all I'm asking respectfully, sir, is that we have that conversation and we can engage in that conversation in another setting.
▶ 1:51:47Will you will you commit to that to me and my office and to this committee? Yes, sir. Absolutely. And I and I want to make sure I was clear. I would love to have the F-15 EX. Well, that's a real good answer. We going to stop there at the on the F-15s because I I want them in Louisiana. I think it's a real good idea. Um you mentioned earlier, General regarding the northern trajectory.
▶ 1:52:12My colleagues across the aisle are are quite upset about corrective actions to that uh that the executive branch is taking regarding our relations with with our allies and adversaries alike across the world. You mentioned a northern trajectory was brought in brought up as a concern. So when you when you described a northern trajectory, you're talking about tracking ICBMs. Is that correct? Yes, sir. And cruise missiles. Okay.
▶ 1:52:42So ICBMs and cruise missiles. So the American technologies for on sea based and and landbased and space-based technologies that track these launches. a launch of a cruise missile or an intercontinental ballistic missile from a northern trajectory from a a that an adversary would most likely use to make a fast and effective approach to the United States.
▶ 1:53:11Can we can we track that with Canada or not? Without Canada or not? We can we can do the detection and the midcourse tracking. Uh depending on the route, there's some routes where we could track it without Canada. Others if it goes straight, you know, in the 12:00 position, we would need CA Canadian assets.
▶ 1:53:31So the Canadian assets that you're that you're describing, would you would you clarify the way those joint operations work when it comes to tracking ICBM? Does this not transcend uh trade negotiations? And you're talking about an in incoming nuclear missile. For for ICBMs, the capabilities are all United States. Uh Canada has a policy that they don't conduct ballistic missile defense.
▶ 1:53:59For the cruise missiles, we would rely on some of the radars and the fighters uh that Canada has depending on the the route of the cruise missile. So you've worked with our Canadian allies for a long time, correct, General? Yes, I have, sir. Can you can you envision any scenario under any conditions where there would be an incoming cruise missile ICBM detected by our Canadian allies that that or or by American tech that we would not share that with Canada and vice versa.
▶ 1:54:28Gentleman's times expired have to answer that for the record. Chair and I recognizes a gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Davis. Thank you, Mr. Uh thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and to the witnesses for being with us today. My question is and I would love to hear um General Gia and from the Admiral um Holy.
▶ 1:54:53How is Southcom and Northcom together with Latin America and others particular continue to hear a theme identifying new ways that the cartels are now looking at making a path for illegal drugs into our country.
▶ 1:55:19Congressman, two uh new ways that I think um illustrate how Southcom and Northcom are working together. One is we reach rec recently established the joint intelligence task force southern border uh which is headquartered in uh Tucson Arizona along with at a CBP uh facility and what we do is we bring in inter agency DoD and intel community uh feeds and fuse it and redistribute that information from there.
▶ 1:55:49that has led to uh unparalleled sharing of intelligence data on this mission set um that used to you know be available but not uh all processed from one location and Admiral Holse's team is a is a strong participant in that. The other is as we've deployed uh ships into the Gulf of America and also uh off the Pacific coast uh to counter illegal drug and and migrant flow.
▶ 1:56:17uh we built into the plan that uh we could seamlessly move these ships uh further to the south if required to benefit uh Admiral Holse's uh giat of south mission uh or his resources could move more to the north uh to seamlessly uh address the illegal flow of drugs and illegal migrants uh around uh you know the the Gulf or in the Pacific Ocean, you know, around San Diego up to the coast.
▶ 1:56:43We've never had that level of um of of cooperation between our two commands before. I would just add that as I look at the uh jet of south, they remained the gold standard for the detection and monitoring mission and so we a great collaboration with General Guio but also I I have to say our partner nations right so security operation 80% of our uh interdictions last year was conducted along by with and through our partners.
▶ 1:57:10We have something called a ship special mission where we can position ourselves and then use the interceptors to get after it. Another thing we're working really hard with uh uh J of South is this AI machine learning. So now based off that technology, based off time of year, size air ship aircraft, we can predict where it's going and make sure we can have assets there. But again, consistent presence is required and I have to continue to do that.
▶ 1:57:33I want to say I really emphasize this work um because too many people too many American lives have died and we have to stay in front of it and that's what I'm really emphasizing here staying in front of it. Um I want to shift gears if I may for a second. U was honored to be able to travel with um our chair and other committee members um to Guantanamo Bay.
▶ 1:57:59My question is as we've seen now Guantanamo Bay exists as an alternative while Homeland Security is actually increasing capacity. Um what do you see as Homeland Security increases that capacity the long term role than what Guantanamo Bay Mr. Salis? Congressman thank you. Um again the department is is in support of DHS and ICE and CBP.
▶ 1:58:26So as they gain more capability to to house it, it could lead to us not needing our certain capabilities. But until that threshold has been determined, which it is not at this point, we will continue to provide that support at GMO. And a followup there, do you anticipate or see any level of a timeline in terms of dealing with the capacity? I know that uh ICE is working very hard at trying to identify uh additional housing.
▶ 1:58:56Um but I think they will continue to rely on the defense department to support that for the near future. Okay. Thank you again for being with us today. Uh and I yield to remain balance of my time, Mr. Chair. Gentleman yields back. I now recognize myself for five minutes of uh questioning. Admiral Hoy, by the way, great name. Uh you had to be a Navy man, right? You had to be right. Okay. Um, Admiral Hollyy, uh, do Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua pose a security threat, uh, to the United States?
▶ 1:59:28Yes, Congressman, how big is security threat? I think it's very challenging, I think, as I look at the region and watch the engagement, I can see out of deplorers come in uh from Russia and uh pull into uh Cuba, when I watch Iranian ships come over and deliver u goods and services to Venezuela, becomes very challenging. And so we have to continue to keep eye on that piece and make sure. But I again I can't be more clear.
▶ 1:59:53I got to be consistent president engaged and when I have air aircraft, assets, ships in a region, I can block those maneuvers. And and would a regime change in those three countries make your life easier and also make America much more secure? That's more of a policy question. I think anything that's going to make us uh more secure as support, but that's more of a policy question. Well, if they if Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua became friends instead of the way they are right now, enemies, would that make your life easier? Yes, if they were friends, that'd be totally uh democrat.
▶ 2:00:23Right now, we have 28 democracies in the region. So, if we had 31, that'd be great. Do you think Cuba is the head of the snake in uh in stirring up trouble in uh in the region and also uh helping Russia, Iran, and especially China in the region? So, I would just say this, let's be clear. I don't they do it because they know they have the backing of some of the nefarious actors where it's China and and Russia.
▶ 2:00:44So they because a little bit of both and I I um I share your concern about the the intrusion or the incursion of Russia, Iran, North Korea and uh especially China in our hemisphere. And I think for far too long we have been maybe not blind to it but certainly not paying the attention to what's going on in South America that with these nefarious actors uh right in our own backyard and I think we need to start paying much more attention to do you agree with that? I totally agree with that sir. Okay.
▶ 2:01:14Um, General Guio, um, how many cartel members are there in the in the southern border when you estimate how many how many actually are are members of the Number of people. Yeah. Number of people. Number of cartel members. Yeah.
▶ 2:01:35Sir, my estimate would be uh certainly in the thousands as there's 20 or 25 to 30 different cartels uh that we're tracking and watching. Can you give me an estimate of how many thousands? Uh no sir, I can't. But I we'll follow up with that. Okay. So, but those thousands are killing 50,000 Americans every year through the fentanel. Yes, sir. Okay. And while we've had great success in stopping the flow of migrants, I mean, we've down 90%.
▶ 2:02:04Which, by the way, runs counter to everything we were hearing during the previous administration said they needed a lot more money, money, money, and really all they needed was policy and will to do it. Um, what what are your records or what do you indicate is happening in the southern border with regards to fentanyl, which is killing 50,000 Americans every single year?
▶ 2:02:25Sir, what we're seeing is the uh the amount moving across that they're detecting is is at about uh 40% of of what it was before. So significant drop but not to the same rate as as the uh migrant flow. And then uh what we're also seeing is that the um a lot of frustration with the cartels at their inability to get fentanyl across the border. And so they're pursuing other uh locations to send it other than the United States.
▶ 2:02:56Okay. And so they've been they've been labeled as terrorist organizations, right? They have, sir. What are we doing about that? What are we doing about that? Yeah. What are we doing about it? They've been killing 50 Well, they've killed probably half a million Americans and they're killing still 50,000 Americans every year. They're a terrorist organization. They're right across the border. What are we doing about it?
▶ 2:03:14Well, for the last uh two months that Northcom has had the mission, we've uh uh significantly increased uh several hundredfold the amount of intelligence that we're gathering uh on the cartel members. And you think intelligence alone is going to stop them from shipping fentanyl across the United States and killing 50,000 Americans? Well, I think it it not alone, no, sir. But I think it contributes to the other actions that we're taking that is stopping it at the borders and that's stopping it uh from going uh through the maritime.
▶ 2:03:45Do you think it's uh the duty the number one duty of government to protect its citizens? Yes, sir. I do. And do you think we've been doing a really good job at protecting American citizens from the poison that's been flowing through the southern border? Sir, I think we've been doing an increasingly better job uh since since we picked up this mission. Fair enough. Uh I guess uh my time is up and now I recognize uh the gentleman from California, Mr. Cisneros for five minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 2:04:12And if I could just say the Department of Defense is not a law enforcement agency, nor should it ever become a law enforcement agency. Um that's not its purpose. That's not its mission. But with that, General, I'm going to kind of change locations on you here a little bit. Um I'm concerned about the accelerated rate of climate change and its impact on the Arctic. Um the melting of the polar ice caps is creating an opening of sea lanes up there.
▶ 2:04:37It's kind of making it quicker, easier path for, you know, China shipping, China military, the Russians as well to kind of transit that way and with quicker access not only to Alaska down into the uh west coast of the United States. So with that, um, how is Northcon adapting adapting to the operational strategies to address the increased security challenges among the PRC and Russia?
▶ 2:05:01And really, how is that impacting NORAD in their mission um, as far as monitoring air patrols overseeing that area? And as far as the Navy goes, is this something that we need to increase, start increasing other than submarines, naval patrols out there in that area as well in order to show the flag and show there and and not let them take over this these shipping lanes. Congressman, the Arctic is extremely important to both NORAD and Northcom as it makes up over half of our area of operations.
▶ 2:05:32Uh excuse me. What we've seen over the the past year is unprecedented presence by the Chinese in the Arctic region. Uh for the first time we had bombers that flew uh Chinese bombers that flew in into the Arctic region in in uh July uh that we intercepted and escorted out of the area. But at the same time there was also the highest number of ships all dual use uh under the guise of being scientific but also certainly um military purpose there to map out.
▶ 2:06:01uh we presume uh China's ability to operate uh both subsurface and on the surface in that region. So it's a big concern. What we're doing about that is uh we're operating with the Canadian military, the Coast Guard and uh United States Pacific Command uh to make sure that we have presence both on the surface and uh in the air uh to monitor this uh this traffic and also we've also uh expanded our intelligence gathering with the uh other Arctic nations.
▶ 2:06:32All of with the exception of Russia, all our NATO members uh to ensure that we're sharing information with the other seven uh Arctic nations uh on that. As far as naval forces go, is that something that we need to start seeing more naval ships in the region? Do we need you know I'm a former Navy guy, Westpacks, Met Cruises? Do we need to start having a a North Pole polar cruise now? I I would like to see more uh maritime presence, naval presence up there.
▶ 2:07:00Uh I I would point out that Admiral Paparo is is is very uh helpful in in sharing ships uh up there but we could use more in that region as you know because of the strategic nature of that region. Okay. And Admiral um you know with consideration for Southcom um an increased US presence in South and Central America. It's no secret the region is expanding its ties with the PRC uh through the uh belt and road initiative.
▶ 2:07:28So again, not a lot of assets in in Southcom. Um, you know, again, we do Westpacks, we do Mediterranean cruises. We don't typically go down there. Every once in a while, we'll send a ship down there to kind of show the flag, but um, how do we partner with these countries to promote stability? And do we need to see an increased naval presence in South America when maybe we now need to start considering um routine deployments down in the area?
▶ 2:07:59Uh 100% sir, we need more assets in the region. Again, I've said before, I said in my statement, we need to be credible, present, and engaged. Presence means power. It sends a strong signal to our partners and allies. And also, it sends an even stronger signal to would be adversaries, PRC, Russia, Iran. They have to see us. And we must meet presence with presence. So I'll take those ships from the Arctic and you bring them down to Antarctica. I'll take them. Well, hey, look, we need to do more to increase the size of our navy. Um, but we need to have those ships kind of in those areas.
▶ 2:08:29And I I I know the uh the big struggle with Northcom and Southcom has always been assets. Um, but we need to figure out a way so that we can get the assets to you as well. Uh, because those regions definitely are becoming more important. and um you know I'm willing to work with the administration to see if we can do that. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back my time. Chair, I recognize gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Van Orton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh thank you all for coming.
▶ 2:08:59I'd like to give a shout out to my two e dogs in the back there, Chief Master Sergeant Storms and Sergeant Major Rodriguez. Um we know who's really running the show, gentlemen. Um, I want to assuage some of the fears of my Democrat colleagues that are concerned about the Panama Canal and remind them that in uh 1956 when Gamil Abdul Nasser seized the Suez Canal, the British and the French got together with the Israelis and they took that back and then the only way that was resolved is that there was a
▶ 2:09:29UN peacekeeping mission that took over security for the Sewish Canal in 1989 when Manuel Noriega was acting up. We did use military force to seize the Panama Canal in Operation Just Cause. So there is precedent for this because those are the only two strategic canals on the entire planet. And if we need to act in the best interests of the United States, as we have done in the past, or our allies, we shall. And that should not be controversial at all.
▶ 2:10:00Um, General Gdau, GDO, correct? Guo, sir. Guo, my bad. Sorry. Hey, so the blimp thing in your testimony, you mentioned you mentioned the word um you you didn't mention balloon or derigible. You mentioned UAS 17 times, Chinese three times, China seven times, but you never connected the dots between a Chinese balloon or a Chinese UAS.
▶ 2:10:30And so I'm going to ask you, Mr. Leonardo, has the Department of Defense given the general the authorities to shoot down anything that is up and around our sensitive military bases or the aerospace of the United States, these USS, does he have to call you or can he do it himself? Uh, Congressman, thank you for that question. Um, as you know, it's it's difficult in the homeland. Yes or no? I I don't I had to take that qu that specific question for the record, sir. All right.
▶ 2:11:00So, we need to have the authorities pushed down to the general and the general needs to push it down to the person on the base. And when you mentioned that you don't have the capabilities, but you know, you want to because of the procurement system. That's a real issue. It's been two years. So, we have to learn, sir. I want you to not have to call him. And Pete Hexith, who I trust explicitly, implicitly. I mean, he's a great dude, but he shouldn't have to make that call. He shouldn't have to make that call. Nor should you. I just want to make sure that that is very clear. Sir, I do have the authority to You do.
▶ 2:11:28Right now you you can over an installation over an installation or a threat to the United States coming in uh you know from the outside. I have the authority to shoot. What's a threat? It was a Chinese balloon and the Biden administration lied to every single person saying that they couldn't penetrate that stuff that we were blocking them. That's not true. You need proximity and unless a plane was flying ECM jammers, that's not true. The Biden administration lied to everybody. I want to make sure you can shoot down something over Canada. You can shoot down something over the United States. So I have two minutes left. Admiral Hollyy.
▶ 2:11:58Holy bean bags. I would not want to have been Ensonhaly in 1988 for Pete's sakes. You weren't even a tin can sailor, were you? Did you get Actually, I started on frigots in the stores. Okay, that's It doesn't say destroyers. It says frigots in your uh in your um bio here, sir. Hey, um you said in your estimate we can only interdict 10% of the things that we see. Correct.
▶ 2:12:25So 90% of the stuff that we're seeing that are people bringing this poison into the country, 90% is just going to go because we don't have the ability to stop that. Correct. That's correct. Okay. And you said that the precursor chemicals go into Mexico. Correct. Correct. Where do they come from? China. Aha. Okay. So let me ask you this question, sir. In your professional military opinion, put aside everything policy.
▶ 2:12:48As an admiral, if we just started killing these people that are killing Americans, 250,000, 300,000 Americans, about the amount of people that died in World War II, why aren't we just killing these people? Now, are you talking about the ships coming across or are you talking about the talking about the ships? I'm talking about these narot terrorists. Why aren't we just killing the people that are killing American citizens? It makes absolutely no sense to me.
▶ 2:13:19comes down to authorities. Policy and authorities, right? Okay. So, in your professional military opinion, if we started killing naroterrorists and sinking Chinese ships that are bringing poison into the Western Hemisphere, would that reduce the amount of stuff coming into the Western Hemisphere and reduce the amount of American citizens that are being poisoned to death? Well, just to be clear, professional military opinion, sir. Well, the ships that are coming across are the the way they bring across is legal, right? So, it's coming in illegal. The precursors can't do that. So, is that a yes? I have 10 seconds.
▶ 2:13:47General, if we started killing the people that are killing American citizens, do you think less American citizens would be killed by this poison? No policy. Military. Well, I I think if we aggressively stop them, it will it will bring it down. Gentleman's time's expired. Chair and I recognize gentle lady from Maryland, Miss Elfred. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
▶ 2:14:06and my friend from California broke the ice for me a little bit uh talking about climate change and the impacts in the Arctic particularly as we're seeing increased and frankly very brazen presence from China and Russia into shipping lanes. Um I I want to drill down on that just a little bit. This as you know this committee is very focused on acquisition reform but we're also going to be focused on ship building this year.
▶ 2:14:27I want to speak to or ask about a very specific type of ship ice breakers and in general you mentioned uh last year in front of Sask that the lack of ice breakers it's my understanding we have two functional ice breakers one of which might also be going down to Australia on occasion uh that it those lack of ice breakers limit our freedom of maneuver in that region. Since your statement last year, what actions have you taken to mitigate this this gap in Arctic operations?
▶ 2:14:57And have our allies help fill that gap since we are clearly uh underperforming? Congresswoman, we are still uh severely underperforming in in uh ice breakers.
▶ 2:15:11uh we worked very closely with the Coast Guard to try to prioritize the Arctic region and then uh I've made proposals to see if we could contract uh the capability from uh Nordic states that produce those while we wait for the ship building uh to to catch up with the demand. Okay. Can you give this committee any type of timeline on those I I personally can't. I I'm uh I'm a recipient of this and so I hope it's very I hope it's very soon. Okay.
▶ 2:15:41But we agree that it's important for our national defense. It's extremely important. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. And and again, while we wait for ship building to pick up as we wait for our partners to fill the gap, um you've also spoken about the importance of missile defense in the Arctic and and our and our allies both in detection and and defense.
▶ 2:15:59Um, I'm new to the committee, but would it be fair to say that the importance of strong diplomacy and strategic allyship would not include threats of seizing a territory of an ally by military force? I I I'm not trying to be co here. I really don't understand the question. Okay.
▶ 2:16:21So we are in now in a position as a nation in which we are our leadership is threatening the territory of certain allies with the use of potential military force to seize that territory. My contention is that that is in direct contradiction of our ability to form allyships to the end of of national security. Would you agree with that statement?
▶ 2:16:50I agree in the importance of of partnerships and building allies uh for a common defense given that uh the task that we face with the u multiple threats you know four five different uh nation states that can threaten our our country uh we need to handle it with partners. We can't do it alone.
▶ 2:17:11And again, just putting a finer point on it when it comes to detection, missile defense, but also these critical ice breakers as we're seeing ICE then as we're seeing particularly post invasion of Ukraine, a a great Russian incursion into the Arctic, those strategic partnerships and allyships are have never been so important in that region. I would agree with everything that you just said, ma'am. Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I yield my time. Chair, I recognize gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Maguire. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 2:17:41Chairman, and thank you for our witnesses for coming here today to uh speak to the committee. Um I believe that a number one priority, as President Trump has said, is to uh protect the homeland. And um I I have some a bunch of questions, but let's see if we got enough time to get them. And I ask each of you one at a time. Would you agree that China has more ability to attack the homeland today than they did four years ago? We'll start with the admiral. Uh yes. Yes, they do, sir.
▶ 2:18:12Absolutely. Yes, Congressman. You know, I uh I recently um and we, by the way, we need to have reliable allies uh not reliant allies. And so, you know, under President Reagan, we were spending 6% of our GDP on national defense, and it's dwindled down close to 2%. And so, I'm a big support at keeping the American people safe. And I think the decisions that President Trump has made has caused our allies to step up and actually be reliable partners, not reliant partners.
▶ 2:18:42And I think for us to deal with North Korea, Iran, uh, China, Russia, we've got to strengthen those relationships. And we can't do it alone. And so I think we're moving in the right direction. I recently participated in a Kodell in Southcom. And by the way, I served in the Navy Seals. Most of my experience was Southcom and I learned that the cartels will lie, cheat, steal, and they will kill you to get their way. And there is no way they're giving up a billion dollar business.
▶ 2:19:11Now, um when we were down at the border, we talked with the mayor, the sheriff, business owners. We met with ICE agents, uh border patrol, and the 10th Mountain Division, and we asked them, you know, what are your concerns? What's going on? And they said that on one particular Saturday, border crossings were zero compared to 2,000 crossings a year before. And so I think as I heard one of the members say is we didn't need new policies. We needed a new president who was serious about protecting the homeland.
▶ 2:19:40But that being the case, what I heard from every one of those groups was they can see drones coming from uh Mexico. They can see where they're coming from and they're hovering around our border patrol vehicles. They're hovering around our military bases. And General, I heard you say that you had permission to shoot them down, but I spoke with five different agencies and they all as of a couple of weeks ago said they were not sure. So, it is not clear. So, I'd like to hear what the answer is.
▶ 2:20:09Can they or can they not shoot these drones down? They When I said we could shoot them down, that's over an installation that is covered under 13i. the forces on the border at this time are not because they're they're mobile. And so I've put in a request for 13i to be expanded to include uh US forces within 5 miles of the border. I understand where there are many ways to possibly solve this problem. We're looking at legislation that takes a different approach, but we'll talk about that later.
▶ 2:20:39But we should have had this settled two years ago. Basically, there are many times in our history where our soldiers have been caught with their pants down and they're reactive, not proactive. And we should be able to detect and engage far before they get anywhere near our soldiers or installations. Let's talk about fentanyl. I call it Chinese chemical warfare. It's being produced in China coming across our southern border and poisoning the American people. China believes that everything can be used as a weapon and should be used as a weapon.
▶ 2:21:08And if it were 10 uh people a year dying from fentanyl overdose, it would be egregious. And I heard a member say was 50,000 people, but I've heard a number over 100,000 people a year dying from fentanyl poisoning. And if we don't make a strong stance, such as shoot the people that are bringing it over, if if the penalty is not high enough, they're going to continue to poison us. Now, you think about we've had skirmishes with adversaries in the history of our country where less than 100,000 people died in the skirmish.
▶ 2:21:36and we are I think we're at war and we don't want to admit it and so we've got to do something about it. What how has I saw a video where the cartels under cover said that they were actually using the northern coming through Canada trying to get the fentanyl in. Is that true or false? And what can we do?
▶ 2:21:55Sir, it is true that they use uh avenues other than the south, come through the north, comes through the mail, comes through all sorts of different uh mechanisms to get into the U. United States. What can we do as a Congress to help you logistically better protect our homeland and make sure that if we're going to put our soldiers and assets on the border that they are safe and they are proactive so they got a better chance of coming home.
▶ 2:22:24Sir, the first uh request I would have would be to uh expand the 13i so we can shoot down drones not just that are in self-defense but anything that's surveilling planning uh planning the next attack uh on us uh within 5 milesi of the border. Thank you. I yield back. Gentleman yields back. Chair and I recognize a gentleman from California, Mr. Whitides. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um and thank you all for being here today.
▶ 2:22:52Uh this is a time with novel challenges in these AOS and your testimony is very timely. I know there has been a lot of discussion on moving sensing missions to space, namely to be put into proliferated LEO constellations. Most of my career has been focused on securing US leadership in space both from an economic and a national security perspective. With that in mind, I would not be the first to say that space-based sensing is a vital part of our sensing capabilities, but not the only part.
▶ 2:23:19I'm concerned uh the recent reports of novel uh weapon systems being placed into orbit could result in a strategic surprise if we don't have redundancy across domains when it comes to sensing air and missile threats. General Guio, can you share your view of the appropriate role and relationship between space-based sensing capabilities and the need for sensing redundancies domains?
▶ 2:23:43Congressman, uh I do uh I'm very encouraged by the increased capability that space brings us and sensors from there, but I've always advocated for a layered approach that goes from the undersea, the uh land, air, and space to ensure that we aren't overrelyant on one uh domain and we can layer the approach for detecting uh threats to the continental United States. Thank you so much.
▶ 2:24:06Now, as we all know, Northcom's AO has seen increased threats not only from foreign adversaries, but from natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, and floods. It's no secret that the increased cadence and severity of these disasters pose a serious threat to our KONIS military installations readiness and to our homeland itself.
▶ 2:24:23Uh, General Guio and Admiral, uh, can you speak to the utility of to the extent uh, you can, can you speak to the utility of the National Guard's fire guard program, which uses satellite sensing capabilities for near-term uh, near realtime wildfire intelligence, not only as a means of protecting our constituents, but of safeguarding our ability to effectively protect our Sir, I can tell you that that system is uh of great benefit to us as we hit the uh wildfire
▶ 2:24:54season. Uh used to be more uh closely defined. Now it's almost year round as we saw, you know, with the tragic fires in uh in Southern California earlier this year. So, we use that and we know uh based on what we're seeing through those sensors where we might need to provide DoD assistance to NIS and uh others. uh if it exceeds their capacity. Um uh you get huge points for knowing NIFsy and all that.
▶ 2:25:23So thank you so much for for your comments on that. I think it's a very important thing and would love to work with you um as we think about those things in the future. Um, I just close with a a tough one and maybe it's more of a statement than a than a comment and I know it's been addressed here uh extensively already, but I think the recent quotes of the prime minister of Canada uh who said it's clear that the US is no longer a reliable partner. It's possible with comprehensive negotiations, we could reestablish an element of confidence, but there will be no going backwards.
▶ 2:25:51The old relationship we had the United with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over. He said that's the prime minister of Canada said that. H how does this posture impact your ability to defend the United States from threats conveyed through the Arctic and through other uh northern territories?
▶ 2:26:12Congressman, we've been fortunate that the uh the relationship militarytoilitary relationship with Canada uh primarily in NORAD, which is a bational command, u has has been as strong as ever uh over the recent months.
▶ 2:26:28uh and we're all dedicated to detecting air and maritime threats and and and ensuring that we can defeat those threats uh to protect the US and and Canada and and so I have not seen any um negative ramifications uh at the militaryto military level. Thank you sir. I yield back my time Mr. Chairman. Gentlemen yields back. Chair now recogniz gentleman from Indiana Mr. Msmer. Thank you chairman.
▶ 2:26:52Uh, General Guio, I'd like to follow up on a question my colleague asked earlier about your testimony that in 2024, the Russian Navy parttook in a training exercise with their submarines, nuclear subs in in the Atlantic Ocean. If these will become more of an occurrence, would you continue to task the Navy with the same tempo of material time and manpower uh for all future Russian vessel visits in your area of responsibility? Sir, depending on the type of vessels. Uh, yes. Okay. Thank you.
▶ 2:27:22Um, also in your testimony, you mentioned that air missile air missile threats to the United States from our adversaries continue to mount as North Korea test ICBMs, Russia and China expand their stockpiles of long-range missiles. One program that falls under Northcom's purview of current activities is the next generation interceptor. Your testimony states that is a high priority for Northcom to have the on-time fielding of this interceptor. Uh, what would be the implications if fielding this system were to be delayed?
▶ 2:27:50Congressman, if the fielding of the NGI or the next generation interceptor were delayed, we would run the risk of falling behind our ability to defeat any rogue nation uh ICBM that were that threatens the United States. Okay. Thank you. Uh, additionally, groundbased interceptors are dedicated to defending against threats that come from places such as Iran and North Korea due to increasing threats from other adversaries such as China and Russia. Should policies be changed to allow for defense defense against those countries as well?
▶ 2:28:20Congressman, I think that we should always look at our policies and and u while they've served us well to this point, I think we should look at them against the current and expected threat and make sure that the policies are aligned. Okay. Thank you. Um those interceptors uh only are only effective against ballistic threats. given your testimony about increasing hypersonic threat. Do you think the president needs a space-based interceptor to to effectly effectively counter our adversaries?
▶ 2:28:49Sir, I think uh similar to the answer I just gave on detecting, I think having a layered approach uh with both uh space and uh ground base would be effective and then also as you mentioned hypersonics, the fact that they can maneuver endgame means that we need to invest in capabilities to defeat that threat which is very different from a ballistic threat. Thank you.
▶ 2:29:11Uh, Admiral Hally, over the past several years, China has uh made worrying advances in building influence with militaries within our hemisphere. Beijing has bolstered its equipment sales and donations and offer attractive training and exchange opportunities uh to regional militaries. As this has happened, the US has placed increasing restrictions on its military cooperation and reduce its overall offering to Latin American militaries. Uh what is Southcom doing differently differently this year?
▶ 2:29:41and going forward to respond to this worrying dynamic. Senator, that's a very great question. As I look at the region in general, I try to reach out to our partners and meet them where they are and ask them what is it that they need time and time again, security cooperation at the very top, uh maritime domain awareness, uh cyber support, space support. So, right now, we're trying to meet them, right?
▶ 2:30:03And in fact, I look at just from a cyber standpoint, we've been able to work with our partners, specifically Paraguay and Costa Rica and others in the region to help build their cyber capabilities. So that's one of the key things they're asking uh in Canada in Colombia right now. Our partners ask for counter US technology. Uh they're learning lessons that FARC, EPLN, learning lessons from Ukraine using basic rudimentary uh UAVs to attack our partners. So again, trying to meet them where they're at and deliver at the point of point of need. Okay.
▶ 2:30:31Um, our current resource a lot come sufficient to to accomplish this? Uh, no. Okay. Thank you. Um, also today the US military has nearly 40 bases with 100,000 troops across Europe. By contrast, the US has only two military bases in Latin America and none in South America.
▶ 2:30:49At the same time, Beijing has ramped up its increasingly militarized presence in Latin America, including through dual use infrastructure uh that can be used easily to target the US or disrupt critical supply chains such as the Panama Canal. The US also faces deadly threats from within our hemisphere from drug cartels and weaponized mass migration that increasingly require central a central role for the US military.
▶ 2:31:15Given all this, is it appropriate and sufficient for the US to have such a limited operational presence presence so close to home? No, Congressman, we need to we need to increase our ability to engage and respond. Again, credible president engage more assets. Again, that tells a strong send a strong signal to our partners that we're there with them and we're not doing that now. Thank you. I yield back my time. Gentlemen yields back. Chair and recognize a gentle lady from New Hampshire, Miss Goodlander. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 2:31:45Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today. My home state, New Hampshire, shares a 58 mile border with Canada. Um, it's a border that's been peaceful. It's a relationship, as you have all testified, that is really important to American national security. Um, Winston Churchill said that it's it's a border that has been peaceful because it's guarded by our neighborly respect and honorable obligations to one another.
▶ 2:32:11General, starting with you, could you tell us why does the relationship between the United States and Canada Congresswoman, from my perspective, it's because we are part of a bational command in NORAD. Um, and we we share the strong and important burden of defending uh Canada and the United States against air and maritime threats. And it's that's built on capability and trust.
▶ 2:32:38So, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, you you mentioned it's the world's only bounty in NORAD. Well, we'd have to fundamentally change how we approached air defense and maritime warning uh because of the shared and distributed nature of the of the command and its uh and its capabilities today. And how would you go about doing that? What would that require? Well, to be honest, I haven't put uh thought to it, but obviously resources.
▶ 2:33:07We would need additional radar coverage. We would need additional aircraft and maritime assets to cover uh what Canada provides today. You mentioned air and maritime cooperation. What about land cooperation?
▶ 2:33:21What where has in your assessment, where have our Canadian partners fallen short with respect to the security of our homeland and our border security along our northern Well, the uh as we look at securing the borders and having territorial integrity, I have talked to with the chief of the defense staff uh General Kanyong about uh the potential that we would look at uh looking to seal the north border.
▶ 2:33:51Uh they have a system similar to ours where they have government but non-military capability that's augmented by military. Uh while we haven't started any planning, we recognize that any planning to seal the northern border would be done jointly. Is there a a national security crisis? Is there a national emergency at our northern border?
▶ 2:34:10Right now, there has not been one established uh although it's something that we watch closely to to watch, you know, both borders to see uh what's coming across in terms of illegal migration or uh illegal drugs or other uh illegal activities. So to be clear, as as you see it, there is no national emergency at our northern border. Well, I think there's uh I I don't want to get into semantics. A national emergency has not been declared on the northern border like it was on the southern border.
▶ 2:34:39Uh but I do think that we need to look at all of our borders and the security of them with a high level of urgency. So is a trade war with Canada justified right now based on your assessment of our security at our northern border? Ma'am, that's not my place to answer. I can I can tell you on the the mill-to-mill relationship which which I've stated is very strong with Canada and their strong partners in Suppose a trade war will have an impact on our mil-to-mill relationship with Canada. Would it be justified?
▶ 2:35:10Ma'am, that's a hypothetical that I don't I don't think I should address. I do think that the u again that this relationship in NORAD with the Canadians is very strong and uh my goal is to keep it strong. General Admiral, I want to ask you, you've both served our country well and faithfully for many years. What is the role of military lawyers in in our national security and and in having a military that operates under the rule of law, Admiral?
▶ 2:35:40Have military lawyers been important throughout your long career of service to our country? Congressman, throughout my career, I've had military lawyers advise me at the appropriate time dealing dealing with different uh justice cases. So, they've been helpful. So, was the firing of senior judge advocate generals justified? That is a polic policy decision and I would defer to the policy.
▶ 2:36:06But your testimony today is that military lawyers have played an important role in your career and in the functioning of our military under a system of rule of law. Yes, they've been helping in uh providing advice for me. Yes. And General, can you speak to the importance of military lawyers in our system? They're extremely important. I rely on them heavily. In fact, there's one in this room right now. I won't tell you who it is, but uh on our staff. Uh so, we use them all the time. Well, thank you.
▶ 2:36:35I appreciate your testimony on that front because I think there's a real threat to the rule of law in our country today. And from what I've seen in in times expired chair not recognize gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Huh? Oh, you just snuck in on me. The gentleman I'm sorry, m Mr. Crank, Mr. Fallon stole your thunder. Gentleman from Texas is recognized. My deepest apologies. Thank you all for coming.
▶ 2:37:03General, uh, what's Northcom's primary sir? It's homeland defense. Defend the homeland, right? That's right. Okay. Do transnational gangs and Mexican drug cartels present a threat to our homeland? Yes, they do. Fair to say they could be described as evil, heartless, sociopathic criminal? I would agree with that.
▶ 2:37:22So, it standing their illegal activities and reducing their revenue and upsetting their organization and planning would weaken transnational gangs and the Yes, sir. And that would be a very good thing for the United States. Yes, sir. General, over the past 80 days, have the Mexican drug cartels indeed been disrupted? Uh, yes sir, I think they have. And uh, has their revenue been I'm sorry. Oh, no. Go ahead, sir. Not fully disrupted, but sure. But disrupted?
▶ 2:37:52Yes sir. Uh, has their revenue been reduced? It has. And has their organization and planning been upset? It has been. So they've been weakened. They have been weakened. Uh, and by the way, good job on that. So illegal immigration presents certain dangers to the homeland, too, does it not? As far as vetting, we don't really know a lot who a lot of these folks are. Uh there's a stress on schools and and medical services if people are allowed to stay in the country.
▶ 2:38:17And it also and more more importantly, it enriches the They profit greatly from they charge a tax or a fear on our call and uh they make a lot of money into the billions of dollars and in fact annually maybe estimates are as much as into the tens of billions of dollars now. Yes sir. Okay. when you reduce given that then when you reduce illegal migration you're denying revenue to the Mexican drug cartels. Yes, that's correct.
▶ 2:38:43So in that sense and in uh in and many others reducing illegal immigration is in the best interests of the United States. Yes, sir. So in 80 days is that's what's happened. Has uh illegal migration gone down? Uh by most estimates about 97%. So dramatically like a collapse. Not even a reduction but a collapse. That's right sir. and uh what what's changed?
▶ 2:39:05I mean, when you look at the last four years and some of the record profits that the cartels were making, uh in fact, in December of 2023, I believe the number was about 304,000 illegal encounters in one month. What were the encounters in February of this year? Uh they they dropped down from about 6,000 a day to somewhere around 100 to 150 a day on average. I think if I'm not mistaken was about 8,300 or give or take uh in February total. Yeah. Yes, sir. Okay.
▶ 2:39:35So that's so December 2023 would be 3,800% higher than February 25. Yes. It's been dramatic increase. Put it your way. 97% reduction. Yes, sir. And and what orders were you were you given new orders on in January this year?
▶ 2:39:53I was sir on on the uh 21st of of January we uh Northcom significantly increased our presence uh in support of CBP and also uh really for the first time that that I'm aware of began using unique military capabilities to uh uh seal and repel at the border. So the new orders you were given by your new commander-in-chief Donald J. Trump have helped secure the homeland.
▶ 2:40:23We that along with policy I I don't want to say that the military has done it all, but uh well the military and certainly the Customs and Border Patrol. I I actually really truly and being a Texan feel safer today than I have in a very long time. Yes, sir. It's and it is a team effort as you said, but uh the numbers are significantly down since we became uh increasingly involved in the mission. I kudos to you and Admiral Mahaly and the great men and women we have on the border uh and the federal agencies as well.
▶ 2:40:51And General, my final question is uh Northcom is Northcom collaborating with Department of Homeland Security to integrate new and innovative technologies and strategies into the border security operations. Yes, sir. um in directly with the CBP.
▶ 2:41:07Uh we've I've established a uh technology working group that's looking to see how in the near and and long term we can transition some of the uh um manpower into into technological means to keep the border sealed and the threat repelled. Just all options open. All yes, we're looking at everything. Yes, sir. I got to tell you a little story. In Texas, when I was in the legislature, they were using deer blinds. I mean just something that simple and put hundreds of them on the border and that was just helping as well. So uh thank you very much for chairman.
▶ 2:41:38I yield back. Thank you chair. Now I recognize a gentleman from California Mr. Tran. Thank you Mr. Chair. Thank you for uh testifying today. Like all of you I am deeply concerned with the CCP's encroachment in Northcom and Southcom's AO. The CCP is using a multi-prong strategy that blends economic, diplomatic, cyber, and military tools to attempt to displace US influence in and around the Western Hemisphere. We'll start with you, Admiral.
▶ 2:42:06How are how is Northcom and Southcom uh synchronizing their efforts to address the growing influence of the PRC across both AOS? So, first of all, uh thank you for question Congressman.
▶ 2:42:20So Northcom and Southcom we always work together uh very deliberate faction uh whether it's a drug trade and or but specifically as I look at the uh China it's the joint exercise program we continue to do that every exercise every every uh um conference we do we always invite Northcom partners there we invite the ambassador to Mexico to our partner to our training as well again it's that overarching effort to identify threats and get after it uh but again we have to continue to build partner capacity together as
▶ 2:42:50Thank you, General. Anything to add? No, sir. Uh, everything he said is exactly the same from our perspective. Appreciate it. U going on. How are both Northcom and Southcom working to build military relationships in the region that counterbalance China's growing defense cooperation with countries like Venezuela and Brazil? Uh, General, you want to take this one? Sure.
▶ 2:43:13We uh we strive sir to have a strong mil-to-mill relationship so that the uh our partner nation looks to us first. Uh we do that. So we have three uh countries that are partners in Northcom. Uh with Mexico we have strong miltomill relationship based on uh built on a foundation of exercises and subject matter exchanges. Uh we also do with the Bahamas is the third country in our region. I would say that the miltomill relationship is strong there.
▶ 2:43:42However, uh I am increasingly concerned about the vulnerability uh to Chinese actions outside of the military and we're trying to see if we can take uh outsized efforts in the Bahamas to try to curb Thank you, Admiral. Yes, thank you. So, as I look at the the region, I go to what our partners are asking for the ask for our presence again, maritime presence ships and everything else. Maritime domain awareness, cyber support.
▶ 2:44:09So again we're trying to build that cape building capacity with cyber they have more and more they're asking for space support as you may be aware they have uh more space and labor infrastructure and south come are second only to mainland China right so again so cyber space uh so all our joint exercise that we do have some component of cyber and our space uh again uh well it's UNTAS different exercise we do try to build that cap building capacity thank you and as you sit here today can you identify any additional authorities or resources is u that
▶ 2:44:39your department may need to effectively counter China's influence in the western hemisphere. Certainly. So right now the first thing I would point to is security cooperation. That's my largest lever. So when I get uh more support there I can do more right. I can do more uh right now we're building a cyber support center in two other countries in the region. Those things help me out. So again any way I can get more support for security cooperation that builds my uh portfolio. General. Sir, I do not lack any authorities required to counter Chinese presence. How about resources?
▶ 2:45:11I'll always take more, but uh actually I I don't have any unfilled requests at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield I've never heard that before, General. That's just the first time I have ever heard a combatant commander say. Yeah. All right, chair. I recognize a gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Crank. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, thank you all for being here and testifying today. Uh, General Guio, it took you a long time to get to your hometown congressman, but here I go.
▶ 2:45:41Thank you. I'm very proud to have Northern Command in Colorado Springs and and the wonderful work that you do. I'm especially proud, and it's been noted here by you and by others about the great work that you've been doing since January 21st to execute the new authorities given to you by President Trump at the southern border. And I think it's a very clear message that most people here on Capitol Hill have gotten that the American people want that problem solved.
▶ 2:46:10And not everybody here's gotten the memo yet, but I think most people have. And I know that all Americans are very appreciative of the efforts that that you're doing. I also want to discuss the great work that Northern Command and Fort Carson's Fourth Infantry Division are doing there at the southern border. Um, and just incredible that in two months you've got illegal border crossings down 97%. Just incredible work. But I also want to talk about another priority.
▶ 2:46:39President Trump made securing the homeland from missiles a major priority for his administration and I'm excited for the Golden Dome initiative and what it means for Northcom and for our national security. And as you know, there's ongoing conversations on the Hill about how much spectrum DoD needs to fulfill its mission.
▶ 2:47:00Um, and General Guio, can you share how a sizable reduction in spectrum allocations for the department could affect Northcom's ability to fulfill its duties? And as a followup to uh Chairman Rogers question about Golden Dome, understanding that details aren't finalized, but if DoD was required to vacate the lower three spectrum bands, would that simply delay the ability of the department to get Golden Dome to full operational capabilities
▶ 2:47:30or would it render it impossible to deploy? And can you help me understand the magnitude of the value of the spectrum in deploying Golden Dough? Congressman, first it's a pleasure to be in uh headquartered in Colorado Springs, a very supportive community.
▶ 2:47:48Uh the spectrum is having full use of the spectrum is essential uh for the homeland defense mission uh based on the variety of uh sensors and capabilities uh that must work together uh to build that network of detection and defeat uh in particular the uh part of the spectrum that is most uh often um challenged would be from basically three to 3.5 gigahertz and because of uh physics
▶ 2:48:19that gives us the best ability to combine range and fidelity and which together help us track inbound threats. Uh so you couldn't move to another part of the spectrum and get the same capability. So, uh, I'm I'm very concerned about losing access, uh, to that part of the spectrum, uh, because of the, um, importance it plays in our homeland defense systems.
▶ 2:48:44So, given that this is priority of President Trump, h how concerned should we be as members of Congress as we're sitting and looking at this possibility of selling off Congressman, I would I would suggest that you be very concerned, especially in the key key ranges that uh you know, your military experts will help describe uh to ensure that we don't have to to lose or share that spectrum uh because of the importance to
▶ 2:49:15our mission. Thank you. Any any other thoughts on on that from any of the other witnesses? Nope. Okay. Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll yield back the balance of my time. Gentleman yields back. Chair and I recognize gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Thank you, Chair John Go. Um, the United States and Canada have shared a and prospered from a strong bilateral partnership for several decades.
▶ 2:49:42NORAD is a critical component of our homeland defense and provides aerospace warning and control for North America, which includes detection, validation, and warning of attacks as well as monitoring of aircraft suspected illegal drug trafficking. a layered all domain defense. However, the administration has threatened this relationship with comments about making Canada a 51st state and dramatic changes to our trade relationship.
▶ 2:50:06Because of this, can Canadian officials are starting to reassess whether a bilateral partnership again, a relationship with us safer is beneficial. At the same time, our competitors have the capability and capacity to threaten all of North America with a wide range of threats.
▶ 2:50:24If Canada and the United States were to halt our long-standing military cooperation, would it be harder to fulfill the current NORAD mission and uh increase the threat on the United Congressman, the bational relationship uh excuse me, the bational command that we enjoy in NORAD between the Canadians and the United States, as you mentioned, has been established for almost 70 Everything that we do in the aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime
▶ 2:50:54warning is interwoven uh between the US and Canadian capabilities. If you I is the answer, it would be it would be um more difficult to fulfill the mission. If we were to lose that, there are certain avenues of approach that we could not cover alone from the United States. Okay. Thank you.
▶ 2:51:14And so with the president's proposal for a golden dome, um would that make the implementation of the golden dome and I understand this still needs to be fleshed out exactly what it is. Would it make it more difficult to implement that system? Sir, not at this time because uh Canada has a policy, a national policy against conducting ballistic missile defense. So all of our ballistic missile defense uh capabilities are solely US.
▶ 2:51:40If we're looking at early warning and the other aspects of that relationship, would it would it affect those aspects? Early warning for ballistic missiles is all the United States. Early warning for cruise missiles is a shared responsibility between Canada and the United States. Thank you. Um, and can you tell me in the July 24 intercept, did Canada participate in that intercept? The, uh, July 24, uh, I assume you're talking about the combined bomber patrol with Russian and Chinese aircraft.
▶ 2:52:07Uh yes, we intercepted with three sets of fighters. One of those uh sets of fighters was a Canadian uh flight of CF-18s. Thank you. Uh Mr. Cissus, uh you were acting secretary of defense uh for a short period of time in the Trump administration. Is that correct? That is correct. And that's an immense responsibility and honor, isn't it? It is incredible honor. And and you took that responsibility seriously. Absolutely.
▶ 2:52:33Were you uh involved in any uh signal chats uh either a small group PC or anything that sounds like an NYSE type meeting PC PCC DC uh during your time as acting secretary? I no I was not I don't even have signal chat. Okay. And um part of your responsibility as a secretary was to um enforce good order and discipline. Is that correct? That is correct.
▶ 2:53:02And if a service member had violated operational security, um would you expect that there would be charges um on that service member? We have policies that govern what we do and security violations. Yeah. And so um have you have you read uh the signal chats that uh the the reports on the signal chats? No, I have not. And based on it being under review, I think it's inappropriate for me to comment on that. Okay.
▶ 2:53:32But you have not read the the chats that article. You're not familiar with that? I'm familiar that it's out there. I haven't read it. But would Okay. Um would you you said you don't have signal. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. Well, it's it's my opinion uh and the opinion of many that the uh especially for my time as a um member of National Security Council staff that those chats were completely inappropriate.
▶ 2:53:57I was frankly floored seeing that there was a small group PC that was on signal and a non-secure government non-government system and as a service member uh as a commander I certainly would have been preferring charges on somebody that committed that violation as a JAG officer I've been preparing to prosecute those and when you have a spill you have to investigate the spill you have to remediate it because you have to understand the full scope of the damage and you have to hold people accountable
▶ 2:54:28and I haven't seen that yet and that's a major problem. Thank you. I yield back. Gentleman yields back. Chair now recognizes a gentleman from Guam, Mr. Morland. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Assistant Secretary, thank you for meeting with me uh just last week during your visit to Guam with Secretary Headsf. The Secretary demonstrated a historic commitment to support Guam and build out the right missile defense system for the island.
▶ 2:54:53Uh, another administration priority has been the development of the Golden Dome to protect the entire United States. So, how will Guan's missile defense be part of this Golden Dome approach? And how would the Golden Dome make the people of safer? Thank you, Congressman, and it was a pleasure to meet you as well. Um, as as you noted, Secretary Heget actually was the first Secretary since Donald Rumsfeld to visit Guam.
▶ 2:55:19So he was very proud to be able to do that and note that Guam is part of the homeland and so um as as you know it's a high priority to appropriately defend Guam. Uh and that will definitely be part of considerations as we consider the the larger Golden Dome um initiative. Excellent. Um let's see. A program that I also supported is the National Guard State partnership program which Southcom often relies upon um to work with regional partners.
▶ 2:55:46I'm particularly proud of Guam National Guard's work in their state partnership with the Republic of Palao and the Philippines. So, Admiral, uh, given that there was 18 US states that have established National Guard partnerships with Latin America countries and 30 participating partner nations within your area of responsibility, have you gained any insight which can help Congress further support the state partnership program? Thank you, Congressman.
▶ 2:56:16Uh the state partnership actually have 24 states supporting 30 countries in the region. Uh they do typically over 325 uh activities in the in the uh hemisphere. So it's a great lever. It's probably one of my largest levers next to security cooperation. Again, I can't get enough of it. So we're looking for more opportunity and and definitely from the standpoint of joint exercise program. They're going down. They're doing aviation ops. They're doing cyber ops. So these things are all very important to uh build our partner capability Thank you.
▶ 2:56:45Uh then for Northcom and Southcom are are actively monitoring and countering the influence of external state actors including China and Russia. These concerns also have a significant impact on Guam. In particular, Guam and the CNMI have seen a notable noticeable rise in illegal Chinese immigration with individuals using our shores as a point of entry into the US. Additionally, Guam has been grappling with influx of drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine.
▶ 2:57:15In your testimony, you have thoroughly outlined the efforts of your commands have undertaken to secure our southern border and to carry out counternarcotic missions. This question is for both the Adro and the general. Uh, what have been your most effective strategies for addressing illegal immigration and narcotic trafficking across the southern border?
▶ 2:57:41Congressman, the uh most effective technique we've used is a partnership with Border Patrol. U we we serve uh in nine different mission areas that are border patrol mission areas where they just lack the capacity, not the capability, but the capacity. Uh and so our ability to um fill in with military capability there has been helpful.
▶ 2:58:03Uh but over the last two months being able to also provide unique military capabilities that aren't resident in uh DHS to help complement those uh um mission areas that are has led to uh or contributed to the dramatic reductions that we've talked about here with regard to the uh counter drug piece and and migration both I think the uh first of all consistent presence is required for the inter to interdict
▶ 2:58:33and uh that mission there for the drug so we continue to do that we work that very closely with our partners right so our allies and partners contributed to over 80% of our interdictions last year along with us so again that uh we look at that piece there building capability and capacity our partners I look at the panameanian uh example uh specifically going through the daring gap they've been able to close that gap down again so work our partners is and security cooperation helps them to to achieve Okay.
▶ 2:59:01The Guam missile defense system is being built to protect the people of Guam and is a critical military logistical hub in the Indoacific from ballistic missiles and this question is for General. Uh in your testimony you spoke about the need to improve our ability to detect and track incoming threats such as missiles from our adversaries. Are current systems being developed and implemented going into providing tracking across the Pacific to also support Guam missile defense system? And if not, uh what else are we doing to ensure that it does?
▶ 2:59:33Congressman, my responsibility is to defend uh the continental United States, Alaska, and uh Hawaii. But the systems that and Indopaccom is responsible for defending Guam. However, the systems gentleman's times expired. Chair recognizes Mr. Bill of Missouri. Thank you, Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Smith. Hello, General Guio, Admiral Holy, Mr. Leonardo, and Mr. Celelesis.
▶ 3:00:00Uh, last year, we saw a notable increase in drone and UAV activity near sensitive infrastructure, including military installations. In my home state of Missouri, we're proud to host several crucial and vital military and installations, including NGA West in my district in St. Louis.
▶ 3:00:23I'm deeply concerned regarding the threats unauthorized drones pose to our intelligence operations and military General Guio, are there additional authorizations NORAD and Northcom need that could help enhance their ability to detect and counter unauthorized drones and UA UAS's?
▶ 3:00:48Congressman, the uh the biggest benefit that we would get would be from expanding uh 13i authorities to include uh information sharing with on on those tracks with uh federal, state, and local law enforcement would be to uh classify all DoD installations as uh covered under 13I instead of just select ones.
▶ 3:01:16And then also to expand the area that we can engage a UAS instead of being limited to the perimeter of the installation to go slightly outside so we can get uh UAVs that might be looking across into our installations or somebody that we detected and is trying to get away that we can get them and capture whatever it is that they uh surveiled over our installations.
▶ 3:01:39Given the critical role that geospatial intelligence plays in air defense with the development of hypersonic weapons and advanced drone technologies by our adversaries, how does Northcom collaborate with NGA West to enhance and optimize the operational effectiveness and mission planning of our air force air force's assets. Sir, they're they're an extremely important partner with us.
▶ 3:02:03In fact, we have a presence in our headquarters of NGA personnel um because of the day-to-day reliance we have in all of our mission areas. Uh to to be clear that uh every advanced mission we do uh includes NGA Uh, Admiral Hosi, um, given the Trump administration's waiver for funding the multinational security support mission in Haiti and the recent delivery of $6 million in armed vehicles
▶ 3:02:34and heavy equipment to Haitian National Police to combat gang violence with Southcom playing a key role in delivering the support. Can you outline whether Southcom plans to provide additional equipment or resources to the MSS or Haitian National Police? Congressman, there's no there's been no decrement in funding at this point. Uh I have funding to the end of the year to support the Haiti um Haitian National Police and the MSS mission.
▶ 3:03:02So right now my role is to provide logistics services and support. I've done that since the airport was closed and I continue to do that to this day. And how does the ongoing insecurity in Haiti impact Southcom's operational readiness particularly in addressing broader regional security challenges? I think I've watched this the Haiti prime very closely. That's one of the key items I've been watching for the last couple years. I would say that as we uh continue to go down this path, if the unrest continues, it will require more support.
▶ 3:03:32We look for a continue to push and hope the international community would come in as well to do a uh UN peacekeeping mission. That's probably the way forward. Thank you and I yield back. Gentlemen, yields back. Chair and I recognize gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Heracin. General and Admiral, thanks for your testimony today. Genuinely appreciate it and I'm certainly very thankful for a 97% reduction in illegal immigration coming from our southern border.
▶ 3:04:00I think that's a phenomenal testament to your work uh the work of the men and women who serve underneath your commands and uh my only encouragement is to go stop the other three. So from the American people thank you and uh chairman I yield back gentle from Massachusetts Mr. Hey Mr.
▶ 3:04:26Chairman, at the beginning at the opening statements, uh I noticed our witnesses talked about uh the importance uh in the western hemisphere, the north and the south from countering uh the importation of the authoritarian model of government.
▶ 3:04:43I noticed also that to counter this that our witnesses said we could do this by our bonding and relationship with arm sales with rule of law and disaster assistance. all things that you said were important in the relationship.
▶ 3:05:02And I also in questioning uh heard people say when they saying did recent events affect our relationship with these partners that are so important in the hemisphere saying that well it's a whole of government approach and it's military to military it's fine but it's whole of government. So I just want to look at a couple of issues here. arm sales.
▶ 3:05:24One of the things that bonds us, you know, eight countries participated together uh on the F-35 partnership and the successor F-47. President Trump said the version sold to our allies would be deliberately downgraded because someday they won't be allies. Does that sound, Mr. Leonardo like the kind of whole of government approach that we should be taking.
▶ 3:05:55Sir, as you noted, um, working alongside our allies and partners is key to securing the region and all of the work that we do in the Department of Defense across the world. Uh, we definitely rely on our allies and partners to do that. Well, glad you said that, but it's not conforming with reality and the facts that are being done. You see the results.
▶ 3:06:13Canada just made a $4.2 2 billion dollar agreement with Australia uh just this past month uh in dealing with cutting edge radar and they're now engaged in talks publicly with the EU in their discrete defense uh building separate from the United States.
▶ 3:06:36These are the results that we're getting in our hemisphere uh from this kind of the whole of government approach that President Trump is issuing in Brazil. They're just continuing to trade with China and they're doing it in Chinese currency, putting our dollar on the sidelines and disaster relief that's supposed to bond us all together. President Trump just cut US aid money drastically.
▶ 3:07:05the same disaster relief that we're talking about that will bond us together uh in the Hemisphere and and I can't imagine uh do you think Mr. Leonardo that saying to Canada that they should be the 54th state is a whole of government approach. Bring our allies together. Sir, I just recently met with my counterpart in Canada. Uh and the as as noted earlier, the miltomill relationship is strong. So you so you're saying they like this in Canada, sir.
▶ 3:07:35They're happy with that statement in Canada. As noted earlier, we want to make sure we have reliable partners and not reliant partners. And at times with our friends, we have to be firm. So, so having statehood is is good. You don't think that's demeaning to the country of Canada? Sir, uh, as noted earlier, what about what about taking over Greenland if necessary by force? Is that making uh us bond with our people here? What about threatening to invade Mexico?
▶ 3:08:03Is that making us bond with them or or Panama for that matter? I mean these are things you think the whole of government approach bringing us together and and what about the rule of law? What about the rule of law that one of the things that was referenced in the beginning holding us together? Do you think that having a vice president that says that well if the courts here say one thing what are they going to do? They can't make us implement that.
▶ 3:08:33Is that a good statement in a whole of government to for these bonding things we talked about right at the outset of this hearing? I am just Mr. Leonardo maybe you found the one person in Canada that didn't wasn't offended by saying it wasn't they don't you know the president didn't want to make him the 51st state but what about the rest of Canada?
▶ 3:08:54You can't close your eyes to these things and I understand the military is going to work in their, you know, their universe, but you're here representing the administration. You can you sit there and tell me these are things that bond us together the same way that the initial testimony indicated after many administrations attempts to have our allies and partners increase their investment into defense, President Trump was the first to get the Europeans to pay more.
▶ 3:09:22I think sometimes we need to have tough love with our allies and partners so that we can be reliable. Well, I'll say this if I could. Gentleman's time's expired. Chair and I recognize a gentleman from Georgia, Mr. McCormack. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And with your permission, I'd like to yield 30 seconds to Representative Van Warden. Mr. Leonardo, if someone in a previous administration on the National Security Council conspired to disc to unlawfully disclose classified information to start something like the Russia collusion hoax, should they be able to hold a security clearance? Yes or no? No. Thank you.
▶ 3:09:51I yield back. Thank you. Uh first of all, great to see you. I I just uh General, I just talked to General KS. He's a big fan of yours. He's working well with you from understanding you guys are doing great things. Appreciate you. Also, you know, it's funny as a Marine. I remember Sar Majors. You know, I always like to see that scout on the second role. It makes me feel much more at home. I appreciate that. I got a box of crayons for you when we get done. It would be awesome. We'll we'll eat together. Um I appreciate everything we're doing right now.
▶ 3:10:19One of the big questions I had for uh actually I want to start with Admiral Holsey if you don't mind. Uh the Chinese fishing fleet is really worrisome to me. Obviously it's a paramilitary unit that's used to kind of confound our issues especially in the Western Hemisphere. I'm very concerned about that. Uh our maritime sovereignty in the Western Hemisphere and the Monroe Doctrine is very important to me. I think we've really led up on that. We've seen incursions by China and Russia. The influence they have in Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, Panama. I mean just to name a few.
▶ 3:10:48It's very concerning to me. What do you think our best tools are to combat that? Not only militarily but also from a scops. I think the best tool goes for me is goes with presence, right? Presence means power. It sends a strong message, but also security cooperation allows us to give a chance to build our partner capability capacity. One of the key things our partners are asking for is maritime domain awareness to get out the fishing fleet. They don't have the assets to get out there. They don't actually see what's out there, right? So right, we have to make sure we're continuing to build their capability, capacity, and have assets to support them.
▶ 3:11:19Thank you. And what what assets are we lacking? I know that when you talk about a paramilitary force, it is hard to confront directly. Obviously, we know what they're doing for intel. We know what they're doing to confound us. What can we do better as far as supplying you with the necessary assets to combat this? So to be to be clear, as I look at the uh my Navy assets, I have one Navy ship today, right? So I got to do more. I mean, I need more assets throughout the region. And also uh when I look at the our partners and what they don't have, I think security cooperation gives those the tools they need.
▶ 3:11:47We've got some great support with XM bank to try to buy and and get in front of the foreign military sales process. But again, having them the assets so they can do their own and we can support them. I mean, our defense of this homeland is tied to their resiliency, security, and stability. So, we got to make sure we continue to support them as well. Okay. And what can we do from a partner aspect of encouraging these nations, especially those ones that are tipping right now, the ones that are are are right on the verge of basically handing it over to the bad guys?
▶ 3:12:12What do we do better as a nation as in diplomacy to keep them tight to to bring them back over to where we want them to be? I think a starting point is have make sure our ambassadors are in place, right, so they continue to work with them. And then we start looking for ways to increase the economic engagement. Uh we have a economic strategic working group we started a couple years ago with working with department of commerce to look for find that direct investment from the United States. We have to do that. Excellent general. Appreciate you being here. I don't have many questions for you. Please give General KS my absolute regards.
▶ 3:12:42He is a stud. Thank you sir. I agree. With that I yield sir. Gentleman yields back. This will be the last questioner in the open session. A gentleman from New York. Uh Mr. Ryan. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you all being here and as we approach three hours, appreciate your resilience and endurance uh through all of our our questions. Um I'll try to be uh relatively relatively uh respectful and and gentle here.
▶ 3:13:12Um two topics I wanted to hit on. Uh first, some of my colleagues have talked about this several on counter UAS. Um but I want to just re-emphasize the importance of this point and and share in my district. Uh we have a really interesting setup where we have uh Steuart Air National Guard base which is both uh Air National Guard but also an actual international civilian airport which presents a lot of complexities and and late last year we actually had um a series of controlled airspace drone incursions
▶ 3:13:42in December 2024 including several very very sizable uh drones that were within 25 ft of our C17 fleet at at Steuart uh the airport actually had to close down under um on the FAA side which is in and of itself unprecedented and in conversations with uh leadership there at Steuart they are still doing their best certainly and working very very hard but feel that they still don't have full clarity on authorities and I appreciate some
▶ 3:14:13of your answers on that General Guio today um and also certainly don't have the tech and and some of the uh other support pieces that that they need. So on that note, General Guios, um you talked about 130i. Have you actually recommended to the secretary that all installations have that? I know you said that in your previous answer. Has that recommendation been made? Yes, Congressman, I have made that recommendation. Is is your sense that that's moving quickly or that there's anything we can do to accelerate that given the the urgency?
▶ 3:14:43Sir, it's been uh wellreceived and I think it's moving quickly. that and the other three elements that I brought up that uh I think we need to to better address this threat, this growing threat. Thank you. Um and I know I think it was my colleague Mr. Whitman spoke about sort of deploying some sort of relatively deployable set of tools. Is that something that uh the committee can support or that that we can support to push on? Congressman, I'll take any help I can get there.
▶ 3:15:11Uh we have the authority now to use flyaway kits. I think we have the great relationship with FAA that would allow us to operate them quickly. Uh we just need to procure and you know field those kits so we can respond to Pikatini and and and Stuart in a in a fast you know my goal would be inside of 24 hours being able to respond.
▶ 3:15:32And just to to build on that very quickly, to their credit on the ground and and partnering with the TAG in New York State, there there are some very uh sophisticated tech capabilities there at Stuart at that they're exercising and practicing now. And so figuring out to the chairman's point and the ranking members point how to speed up the procurement of those exact kind of capabilities, I think is something we're we're all keen to push on. Uh very quickly, um I wanted to shift to a different topic and and bring both General and the Admiral into this. Um and and possibly you, Mr.
▶ 3:16:02Leonardo as well if we have time. There was very concerning reporting uh about a potential consolidation of Northcom and Southcom into a new entity. Um not a lot of public details available. Um, but I I want to commend and and acknowledge my colleagues, including Chairman Rogers and and SAS Chairman Wicker, speaking out, saying, "At a minimum, we're very concerned about reports that this is being considered, and quote, we will not accept significant changes to our warf fighting structure that are made without a rigorous
▶ 3:16:32inter agency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the joint staff, and collaboration with Congress." Um, actually, I'll start actually with you, Mr. Leonardo. Is that happening right now? Is this is this real? Is this just another thing that's sort of been put out there or is there an actual inter agency process playing along and do you plan to update the Congress and this committee on that?
▶ 3:16:52Um I I don't want to get ahead of internal deliberations but I will note we want to maintain a strong collaboration uh with Congress to make sure that uh you have up-to-date information and I'll also note as I started today the homeland and uh and western hemisphere are high priorities for this administration. So any such decisions would have to weigh against what resources are necessary in order to fulfill the missions that we need to do in those areas. Do you acknowledge and does the administration acknowledge that this would require an actual act of Congress to do?
▶ 3:17:21I wouldn't like to speak on the hypothetical uh question specifically. Well, it's not hypothetical. I'm asking you would removing a combatant command which has been proposed require or emerging too to be specific require congressional uh approval and and ultimately authorization. I'd have to uh review with the lawyers sir um whether or not that would require um congressional authorization. I know we well I'm I'm out of time. I appreciate it and I know we're at the end. Thank you Mr. Chair for giving me the time. I yield back.
▶ 3:17:51Uh gentleman yields back. We will now uh recess this open session and move to 2212 for the closed session of the hearing which will start at 10 minutes after 1:00. The committee stands committee committee stands adjourned.