***Click here to download video. Click here for audio.***

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) held a hearing today to consider the nomination of Dan Driscoll to be the 26th Secretary of the Army. Driscoll, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in December, is a businessman, Army veteran, and Yale Law School graduate.

In this position, Driscoll would have the primary responsibility of overseeing all aspects of the U.S. Army. Among other duties, he would be tasked with recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training, mobilizing and demobilizing personnel, maintaining military equipment, the construction of buildings and utilities, and the acquisition of real property necessary to carry out responsibilities. The Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) also reports to the Secretary of the Army. 

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who also serves as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, asked Driscoll about bipartisan language he authored in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022 requiring the USACE to establish a Western Water Cooperative Committee (WWCC). The WWCC provides North Dakota and other Western states with a platform to bring problems directly to the USACE and help ensure USACE policies align with state water rights and water laws.

While the legislation was signed into law December 2022, and fully funded a year later, the WWCC has not been established yet. After sending a letter to the Army Corps with U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) last October, Cramer said some clarity on the process DOD and the Army are working through has been given.

Yesterday, Cramer was told the WWCC’s charter currently sits before the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Advisory Committee Management Office and will be approved within 30 days, at which point it moves back to the Army for action.

“It’s a law! It's been approved by the only people that matter, the people in Congress and the President of the United States,” said Cramer. “So, 30 days to approve something that they're required to do by law seems a little outrageous to me, but I'm going to be generous today. After the ‘30 days,’ which we'll see, I’ll believe it when I see it, it goes back to the Army for action. […] That doesn’t give me a lot of solace. […] It’s a law, and has been a law for over two years.”

Cramer asked Driscoll if he would commit to getting the charter approved by DOD’s Advisory Committee Management Office at least within 30 days, if not earlier.

“Unequivocally, Senator,” said Driscoll. “I intend to work with this committee and follow the law, and so I would absolutely commit to looking into that.” 

As chair of the SASC Airland Subcommittee and co-chair of the Defense Modernization Caucus, Cramer emphasized the importance of acquisition reform. He said, “it's time to get disruptors in place, and Dan is one of those.”

Cramer stressed the importance of “going faster” when it comes to DOD weapons development and procurement. As Secretary of the Army, Driscoll would lead the Army as the service is pursuing sweeping modernization initiatives across the force. 

“We just have to go faster, and the Army does it quite well, by the way,” said Cramer. “If people go faster and innovate more and encourage innovation, particularly from smaller companies, I promise not to be the person that sits up here and says, ‘I gotcha’ when something bad happens. I promise you, I'll be your worst nightmare if you fail to go fast because you're worried about your backside and some DOD lawyer or leader that doesn't have the guts to do what needs to be done to keep up with the pace of China.”