Opening Statement by Senator John McCain at the SASC Posture Hearing for U.S. European Command and U.S. Strategic Command

Statement

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And let me thank our distinguished witnesses for joining us this morning -- and for their many years of service to our nation. On behalf of our entire Committee, I would like to extend our thanks to all of the brave men and women in uniform you lead, who serve and sacrifice so faithfully for us.

"I would like to echo the Chairman in saying it is a pleasure to have General Kehler before this Committee for the first time in his capacity as Commander of U.S. Strategic Command. And of course, it is always a pleasure to have Admiral Stavridis back before this Committee to discuss the many complex challenges in the European Command, especially with U.S. forces engaged in military operations in Libya, and with the upcoming transition of that mission to NATO command.

"As the Chairman said, the Committee will hold a hearing this Thursday on the current operations in Libya, so let me just say briefly: The decision to intervene militarily in Libya was right and necessary. The President's action surely averted a mass atrocity in Benghazi. Had we not intervened, Libyan refugees would now be destabilizing Egypt and Tunisia. America's moral standing in the broader Middle East would have been devastated, as we turned a deaf ear on Arabs and Muslims who were pleading for our rescue. The result of all this would have been a fertile breeding ground in Libya for radicalization, hatred, and the ideology of Al-Qaeda.

"Now that we have prevented the worst outcome, we have an opportunity to achieve the broader U.S. goal in Libya, as the President has rightly stated: forcing Qaddafi to leave power. With our support, opposition forces are making significant progress toward that end on the ground. We need to keep the pressure on Qaddafi, and add to it where possible. A long and costly stalemate is not in our interest.

"Though our focus is now on Libya, we must remember how many vital and diverse national security issues are being addressed in both of the commands that our witnesses lead. In U.S. European Command, all of the many diverse missions of our armed forces intersect. From combating transnational threats like terrorism or cyber-attacks to building partnership capacity, from supporting NATO's counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan to maintaining the strategic balance of forces with other Eurasian powers, U.S. European Command is doing it all.

"In addition to Libya, I will be eager to hear what steps, if any, are being taken to support the defensive rearmament of Georgia. It is in not in our interest to leave a stalwart partner and NATO aspirant country without the means to properly defend itself. I also believe the entire Committee would be interested in an update on the initial phase of our deployment of the European Phased Adaptive Approach to Missile Defense -- as well as the progress made and projections for meeting the timelines set forth by the President for phases two through four. This is especially important in light of recent statements by Russian leaders rejecting stated U.S. policy of deploying all four phases of this critical missile defense program. I know that both of our witnesses have been involved to varying degrees in the search for common ground on missile defense with Russia. We would be eager to hear both of our witnesses' assessments on the prospects of such cooperation ever occurring.

"Similarly, General Kehler, you take command of U.S. Strategic Command at a pivotal time, as we embark on a robust modernization of the nuclear triad and weapons complex, define strategic conventional capabilities for the 21st century, and cement the role of cybersecurity and cyberwarfare as core competencies.

"The President's Fiscal Year 2012 budget represents the initial investment in what will be a costly yet vital reinvestment in nuclear weapons modernization. The importance of Congress fully funding the long-term modernization of the nuclear weapons complex should have been driven home last year during the debate over the New START Treaty. And yet, in the full-year, Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations bills that Congress is now considering for DOD, the House has cut the President's request by $312 million, and the Senate cut the request by $185 million. These actions are very troubling to me, and I would like to know whether you share this assessment, General Kehler -- as well as how such cuts would affect your command's mission of fielding safe, reliable, and effective strategic forces.

"Finally, on the issue of our cybersecurity, I was struck by a statement that General Keith Alexander made in recent testimony to the House Armed Services Committee. He said, "We are finding that we do not have the capacity to do everything we need to accomplish. To put it bluntly, we are very thin, and a crisis would quickly stress our cyber forces.' General Alexander was also very clear that the threat is not a, quote, "hypothetical danger.' I remain concerned that the Department of Defense lacks both the necessary legal authorities and the sufficient trained personnel to fully perform its critical role in the realm of cybersecurity.

"I look forward to discussing all of these issues, and more, today."

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