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WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) questioned U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Mark Esper at the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing on his nomination today.
They first discussed the importance of nuclear modernization.
“I appreciate your commitment to the nuclear triad and the importance of deterrence, specifically the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD),” Senator Cramer said in a question to Mr. Esper about the importance of modernizing each part of the nuclear triad. “North Dakota is home to 150 of the Minutemen III’s scheduled by the Air Force to be replaced as part of the modernization effort.”
“We need to modernize the triad,” Mr. Esper said in response, adding that each part must be safe and reliable. “Two parts of deterrence are having a capability and the will to use it.”
Senator Cramer also brought up the need for the United States to create a Space Force and what that leadership and chain of command should look like.
“Space is no longer a place from which we support combat operations,” Mr. Esper responded. “It is now a warfighting domain, not because we made it that way, but because the Russians and Chinese are making it that way. So what you want to do as much as possible to make sure we are sufficiently robust in the space warfighting domain is to ensure we have unity of command and unity of effort.”
Click Here to Watch the Full Exchange
Senator Cramer met with Mr. Esper yesterday ahead of today’s hearing to discuss his nomination.
“We had a productive meeting about our shared priorities on nuclear modernization and the need for a modernized space force,” Senator Cramer said of the meeting. “We also discussed the Defense Department’s role in our USS Frank E. Evans Act legislation and the unique capabilities of North Dakota’s military community, particularly our value-added participation in the Department’s efforts in the Arctic.”
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