>> after months of closed-door investigations the house january 6th committee is set to go public, tune in as can be members question key witnesses about what transpired and why during the assault on the us capitol. watch live coverage beginning thursday at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video apps or any time online, c-span.org. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> next hearing on the nomination of general christopher cavoli to be the next nato supreme allied commander. he testified on cybersecurity, deterring russian aggression, and countering china's growing challenge to the us. this hearing before the senate armed services committee runs an hour and 45 minutes.

[inaudible conversations] >> good morning. the committee meets today to consider the nomination of christopher cavoli to be next commander of us european command and supreme allied commander in europe. your nomination is well-deserved and thank you for your willingness to lead in this important position. we welcome your wife christina, your parents, ivo and rita and thank your father for your distinguished career. your brother stephen, thank you for his distinct service in the

united states army. they are with us today. we thank you and them for continued support of your service and again, the service of the nation. the current role as commanding general of the us army in europe and africa no doubt provided you with critical experience and insights which will serve you well in this new rule. your career spans 35 years with distant was service across multiple theaters and in close collaboration with allies across the globe. you have studied the challenges from europe on numerous vantage points including your current leadership in assisting our ukrainian partners and reassuring our nato allies. also served as russia director on the joint staff and studied issues in academia including a degree in russian and east european studies and serving as a fellow at the george marshall

center for security studies. if confirmed you will take command of the greatest test of the nato alliance since world war ii. the alliance has showed remarkable unity and resolve in the face of russia's unprovoked and illegal attack on ukraine. a formidable array of our allies have joined together in response to russia's invasion of ukraine, the us and our nato allies of mobilized with aggressive speed to bolster ukrainian resolve, reinforce cripple combat power on the eastern flank. putin's actions have altered the landscape. unity has been solidified. countries like sweden and finland have applied to join the alliance and others like germany are taking steps to invest greater proportions of their national budgets and interinstitutional energies to improve their capabilities. insuring the alliance generates and maintains the posture

operations and investment that deter russian aggression will be a primary responsibility to the next commander. what nato announced, a new strategic concept at a summit in madrid in june i would like to know your views on current plans for posture in the yukon area. i hope you will share your thoughts how the united states and our allies should reassess the security environment by russia's invasion of ukraine. unlike the threat from russia with disagreement among european partners, the size and scope of the issue our allies have a range of views on challenges posed by china. beijing's growing economic influence, the planet presence in europe coupled with growing military relationship with russia has serious implications with the transatlantic economy and security. in 2019 nato allies agreed to

mention china for the first time in a nato declaration stating china's growing influence in international policies, opportunities and challenges we need to address to gather as an alliance. the next commander will have to work with inter-agencies across the alliance to address malign influence. i hope you will share what expectation you have regarding nato's ability in china policy and what steps can be taken to mitigate this broad threat. finally as we reflect on the realities of the 21st century warfare on display in ukraine the committee would benefit from hearing what lessons you bring to prepare our forces to potential conflict in the future and we benefit from insights from your current posting u.s. army europe particularly in military mobility, multilateral exercises and engaged partners and allies. i hope you will share how you

intend to use this as the next commander. thank you for your willingness to serve. i look forward to your testimony and let me recognize the ranking member. >> thank you. i thank you and general christopher cavoli for your willingness to continue in service to the country, enjoyed meeting your wife, parents and other family members who were there this morning who are with us today, i know how proud they are of you. i will note that you were born in europe during your father's tour there. it is clear you were destined to fill this role we are discussing here today. your nomination to be the united states and nato forces in europe at a pivotal point in our history.

russia's unjustified invasion of ukraine is a wake-up call to the free world that we need to determine vladimir putin, not accommodate him, not appease him, but to deter him. this was not a surprise to many of us here today who also understand protecting america's interests means supporting ukraine's defense and working to deter further aggression against nato. i am encouraged that europe is stepping up to their investment in their own defense with finland and sweden seeking nato membership in response to put naps reckless acts. we've got to keep up this momentum to strengthen our shared security.

we've seen what happens in ukraine, deterrence fails, i have long advocated we invest more in our own defense to ensure deterrence doesn't failing worse ways which i don't want anyone to forget china is supporting what russia is doing ukraine and china has long been involved in malign activity in europe. you are the right man for the job, during these exceptional times i look forward to working with you on bolstering united states security interests with european allies and partners. >> or marks please. >> thank you, chairman. good morning, ranking member and distant was to members of

the senate armed services committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and for the support you provide to our service men and women and their families. i'm humbled to be nominated to serve as commander of european command and supreme allied commander in europe. i'm grateful to president biden, secretary austin and general milley for the trust and confidence they place in me especially at this momentous time in europe. i must of course start thinking the person who has made the most difference to me throughout my career, my wife and my best friend, christina. being a military spouse is not easy. there are routine separations, constant moves and tragedies of war. christina has handled all of this with dignity and grace. she has selflessly supported our soldiers and their families even while raising our own two sons, alex and nick. i'm so proud we can share this moment together today.

i would like to thank my sons, alex graduated princeton and works at a clean energy startup company in california and his younger brother nick is studying physics at the university of california in santa barbara. these two have followed me all over the world, they attended three high schools each and i could not be more proud of the young americans they have turned out to be. as i talk about my family i reflect on my own life. the ranking member pointed out my dad is an italian immigrant who came to america and became u.s. army officer. i was born in a military hospital in germany during the cold war. over the years we lived in europe, again and again were blessed with multiple assignments there. for the past four years i have been fortunate to command our u.s. army forces in europe and for the past year in africa too. add a priceless opportunity to work closely with the interagency come our allies and partners to advance our common national security objectives. for the last two years i've

done so under the leadership of general todd walters and i would like to thank him for his mentorship and leadership during that time. i would like to thank you, the united states congress and especially this committee since my first tour is a general officer in europe in 2014, the congress has worked tirelessly to support our service men and women and our mission, the european deterrence initiative which he repeatedly authorized has been vital to building military readiness necessary to deter russia and to respond in times of crisis. in response to this crisis, the illegal and unprovoked russian invasion of ukraine mother us military has deployed significant combat power on short notice, the fifth corps headquarters, armored brigade combat team, the eighteenth airborne corps headquarters with the brigade from the 82nd airborne division, the carrier

strike group, fifth generation fighters, additional destroyers. all of this has been enabled by the european deterrence initiative and the hard work of training and exercising that the edi has enabled over the years. if confirmed i look forward to continuing to build on this vital work ensuring you calm means ready to respond with our allies and partners to any threat to our national security. in europe, security challenge in russia, russia's unprovoked invasion of ukraine archers in a new era in european security. nato is more energized and unified than i have seen in years. our allies and partners have rushed to assist ukraine to remain independent and free and on the far side it will be up to us all to reestablish an enduring stability. but russia is not our only challenge, china's growing

influence is of huge concern as our terrorism, migration, cybersecurity and climate change so we cannot be a one problem alliance. we must maintain vigilance across 360 °, ready to respond to any and all threats. we are in a time when unity in the alliances of the greatest importance. our allies will be our strength as we go forward. if confirmed i will work closely with this committee and will provide my best military advice with the goal of promoting our security interests and preventing the principles we've all fought so hard for over these years. it has been an honor to serve this country for the past 35 years. if confirmed i will be thankful for the opportunity to continue to serve alongside the brave servicewomen of you, and our nato allies. i think the committee for your time and the opportunity to speak with you and look forward to your questions. >> thank you.

there are a series of questions nominees must respond to. these respond appropriately. as you adhere to applicable laws and regulations governing concepts of interests have you assumed any duties of taking any actions that would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process? >> no, sir. >> us in slating red leather slate of opportunity makes it important this committee and subcommittees and other appropriate committees of the congress receive testimony, briefings, reports, records and other information from the executive branch on a timely basis. do you agree if confirmed to appear and testify before this can be when requested? >> i do, chairman. >> do you agree when us before this committee to give your personal views even from the ministry xinping to >> yes. >> do you provide records, documents and electronic medications and timely manner requested by this committee and subcommittees for other appropriate committee of congress and to consult with requests regarding the basis

for any good-faith delay or denial and providing such records? >> yes. >> will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines established by this committee in the production of reports and other information including timely responding to questions for the record? >> i will. >> we you cooperate in providing witnesses with response to congressional requests? >> yes. >> will those be were protected for the testimony? >> yes. >> thank you, general. it is both significant and ironic that we met in ukraine in 2014 when you were leading efforts to start organize training efforts in support of ukrainian forces. your work then has shown itself to be extraordinarily useful today. part of what you pointed out in

your testimony is energy among nato and a commitment to invest seriously in defense and that raises two questions, quick thoughts about how you will coordinate the investment of nato country so everyone -- we don't have any why and what should the united states do as a catalyst to a leading member? >> senator, if i could start with the second question first i think the us's special rolling side nato is to point the way toward the future and demonstrate with our actions how to go in that direction so by deploying force, we have led the way for nato in this crisis as an example, as we arm our own military, we create a model other nations in the alliance can emulate.

in my current role i spend a lot of time talking with chiefs of other european armies about how we arm ourselves, how we organize ourselves and many of them use those lessons or those examples as models for themselves. inside nato our special role is to be a model and exemplary. how will we coordinate the investments as we go forward? this is always a devilish thing to do widget can be difficult. there's an initiative inside nato right now to think plans to require structure to national commitments, general walters has advanced that. it will fall to me if i'm confirmed to complete that work and that work will guide the capabilities and capacities we need from various nations in

support of nato's planning efforts. >> thank you, general. to date nato, communities around the world have been able to move without any interruption and indeed this is a question of how long that might be allowed. in a potential flight the idea of uncontested logistics is probably the first thing you throw out. are you preparing for situation in this context for fighting or to get your logistics working the troops? >> we are, senator. in u.s. army europe, this is a source of significant concern as we look at our plans, especially

our plans to reinforce our forces in europe in the event of a large crisis. when we look at it we divide it from the us from port to port and then from port to port across the atlantic and port to the point of need in europe, each of those segments carries its own challenges and has different people responsible for solving those problems. we work in partnership with the u.s. army to get army forces from fort to port, work with us trends, as well as the second fleet and j fc northrup, newly stood up command to control the sea lanes of the atlantic to go from port to port and i am largely responsible with our nato allies and related organizations like the joint support enabling command stood up by nato to get folks from port to the point of need. each one brings different

challenges, those challenges could be the threat of kinetic strike or the threat of cyberactivity and so forth. we work hard on that side. >> you've mentioned the issue of cyber, many people are waiting for the shoe to drop, the russians in this present situation. any comments you would like to make? >> we are correct to be waiting for the other shoe to drop as there's capability and capacity that could be used and we are being very vigilant about that at dod, to go far beyond that we would have to go into a classified setting, mister chairman. >> thank you very much. i think your service not only justifies this confirmation but demands it, thank you very much. >> thank you and i echo your

comments about the background of our witness today and we've had an opportunity to discuss a number of things over the years, the ukraine drain shortage and spillover affect, there are three questions that should be a part of the record that will go today on this issue which is first of all how concerned are you buy the food crisis that has resulted from russia blocking ukrainian grain exports to africa? it i have had an interest interest in this for quite some time. secondly, what will be the longer-term security effects of this and what more should we do with our european and african allies and partners to address these problems now?

>> indeed, in my role as commanding general of u.s. army forces in africa this has weighed heavily on our mind, the grain shortages we are experiencing from russia and ukrainian production being unable to come out of the countries in large volume or being sanctions and not being sold are being felt on the african continent. i was recently in kenya, and there was significanty there already. we know in other countries such as tunisia the prices have skyrocketed for basic foodstuffs. there's food insecurity in africa that is being provoked by the shortage of grain. it is of great concern leading many cases these are countries

that don't need an additional challenge and those additional challenges, we will have to help them with at some point. this will largely be a european concern because of the close connection between african security issues and european security issues. with regard to what to do about it, there are many proposals, many different ways, some of them are very positive. we think there are 20 million tons of grain in ukraine backed up waiting to be pulled out. some of the ports we are attempting to use, the romanians made the port costanza available, 90, 90,000 tons a day but the german georgia bond has stepped up, the german national railroad agency, they are doing what they call a berlin train left, an analogy to the berlin airlift, to dedicate trains to

pool wheat right out of ukraine into western europe. poland has established a new border crossing regime with germany in order to facilitate that so i think some efforts are taking place. more remains to be done. >> very good. general walters testified before this committee, it sounds almost impossible but he said our troops ability to deploy from the united states and be up and running in less than a week to deter further russian aggression was made possible by funding through the european deterrence initiative, a committee spearheaded after this initiative after russia first invaded in 2,014. do you agree with general walters's assessment, in what ways have you seen the edi

enable our robust response? it is almost very difficult to understand. >> with edi over the past few years the u.s. army in conjunction with european command has placed large amounts of very modern equipment in storage in europe. we also used the funding to practice flying over and drying that equipment at short notice and in the beginning of this crisis we got the order to activate and deploy the first brigade of the third infantry division. we were able to do so quickly, we moved all the troops and four days by aircraft and those troops, the first of them were putting rounds downrange in less than a weekend by the end of 3 weeks every screwdriver in the brigade had been issued and we were ready to roll. >> that wouldn't be possible.

a lot of people thought it wasn't possible. if it hadn't been for the preparation you mentioned that you had the foresight to ready yourselves. >> one hundred%. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. >> congratulations on your nomination. thank you for being here this morning and for your service and welcome to your family as well. you were kind enough to meet recently to talk about nato issues but we talked as i recall about recent visit to the balkans where we were in bosnia-herzegovina and talked with military leadership about some of the challenges facing bosnia and concern about whether force would be reauthorized when it comes up

again before the un. i wonder if you could, as we think about the potential for russian meddling in the balkans and they have a history of doing that and the challenges bosnia-herzegovina faces, can you talk about what the impact would be if the mission is not renewed? >> first of all russian influence in the balkans is realigned it is not a positive force in my experience so it is something we must think about constantly. the presence of multinational forces such as k 4 in xhosa but when you 4 in bosnia-herzegovina is an important part of our ability to monitor and help control of situations there. i do believe you 4 has an important mandate. of if the mandate is not renewed i believe there must be

some effort that takes its place. if confirmed i will look into that immediately and participate in the developing of options and i look forward to discussing it with you in the future. >> thank you. i'm pleased to hear that. i think it is important we work with our european partners and ensure that we don't see that mission expire and not be replaced so thank you very much for that. one of the -- you spoke earlier with senator inho e getting grain out of ukraine that is needed in so many parts of the world and one of the biggest challenges has been the russian predominance in the black sea, and the inability to dislodge them. i wonder if you could talk a little bit about what we might

do to bolster nato defenses in the black sea, what options we might have as we look at the challenges we face because of russia's dominant in the black sea. >> yes, ma'am. for some time before the onset of this crisis, that is for a couple of years before the current crisis, we had been working on strengthening the presence and the role of the us and nato and the black sea area. this has been something we are working on for some time. in the naval forces europe for example has been working with the bulgarians on maritime domain awareness system. my command, the u.s. army in europe, has been working on long-range fires with the romanian army and establishment of command and control nodes that are able to handle very high end new equipment that romania has been

buying from us, patriot missiles and high mark rocket launchers so we have been looking at things like that in the past and we will continue to do those in the future if i am confirmed. >> do you think we have an adequate strategy within nato and the us for the black sea region? >> i think inside the us we have strategy, all strategies have to be assessed, reviewed and updated all the time. clearly the current events in the black sea region, make sure that we adjust everything for the result of this conflict and i think i could say the same thing for the nato approach but i will have to wait and if confirmed look into exactly what nato is planning in that regard and come back to you on that. >> thank you. i look forward to that.

finally the administration recently appointed retired general wolf as the ukraine security assistant coordinator which i think was a very positive move. can you talk about the relationship with general wolf as coordinator, as you think about your role in coordinating security with the ukrainians? >> only briefly because that is still working its way out right now. we encourage efforts to coordinate. that's one of the things in this overall collective effort. i solitary will for couple weeks ago and we have a couple of words about it. if confirmed i look forward to working with him to make sure all the systems work together closely. >> i look forward to hearing more. >> senator cotton please. >> congratulations on your nomination. thank you for your distinguished service, thanks

to your wife christina for support you and no doubt supporting families but troops you have laid over the years and thanks to your family for the service in defense of this nation which is often a family affair. i want to discuss the request by finland and sweden to join nato. that is a political decision made by the president and the senate as well as 29 other nato members but nato is foremost a military alliance so i would like to get your professional military judgment on the implications of adding sweden and finland to nato. what do you think it would do to bolster our common defense to have sweden and finland as members of nato. >> i look forward to the accession of finland and sweden to the alliance for the military perspective, each of those militaries brings quite a bit of capability and capacity to the alliance from day one.

for example finland has a large army, well-equipped, very well-trained, very quickly extensible, exercised very frequently and absolutely expert in defending of the border line it has had with russia for these past decades. expertise they demonstrated in 1939 and built on ever since. finland in addition to its big army has f-15 fighter jets and just decided to buy 64, f 35s so they will arrive bringing capacity and capability to the alliance, sweden the same thing, a smaller army but very capable army and army that is growing. my colleague has a 200% increase in his acquisition budget over a 5-year period. they recently bought patriot and contemplating buying other comments, we work with them closely.

quickly they bring a navy in the baltic sea which will be of enormous military significance and if we looked geographically with the exception of those two countries the entire black sea would -- with the exception of a couple kalama others, will be coastline of nato nations which will create a very different geometry in the area. >> the entire baltic sea. >> of course. >> can you speak about what it means, for russia's baltic fleet to now have the northern shores of the gulf of finland the part of nato since the southern shore of estonia already is and what it means to have scotland, a large swedish island in the beloved baltic fleet? what does that mean to russia's baltic fleet and their defense planning? >> in the most generic sense it provides a bunch of different dilemmas, almost geometric dilemmas that russia does not have right now as they sail forth from st.

petersburg so it will be advantageous. >> you mentioned another feature of geography, the 800 mile border that finland has with russia. some might say this exposes nato to more risk because you have this large border, sounds like your perspective is rather than exposing nato to risk it poses russia greater risk and complicates russia's defense plans. could you elaborate? >> i do think that for a couple reasons. first of all russia has not historically put many ground forces on that border. it has been an economy of force theater for them because they thought they had a relationship with finland that allowed them to do that. this allowed russia to concentrate ground forces in other places. that possibility will now go away for russia. in addition to that, the fins as i mentioned a moment ago are absolutely expert in defending that border. i've gone on a snowmobile with the chief of the border guards and chief of the finish army down how full-length of the

border and i was impressed with her ability to defend it. >> reporter: you think the russian general staff is well-versed in the history of the winter more? 1939-nineteen forty? >> i know they are. that winter war is studied not just by western armies as the model of how to beat a larger force but is studied by the russians as well as an important lesson to learn from their past. >> even 80 years on, the russian general staff might not want to put their hand on that hot stove again after they did it in the winter war. >> i would hate to put myself in their head but i wouldn't want to do it if i were them. >> a final question. there was a report in the wall street journal that the administration is considering spending special operation forces to guard the embassy in kyiv. can you comment on that report? >> not publicly but we currently do not have any marine security detachment with

the embassy in kyiv and with regard to special forces i think would have to talk about it in a separate -- >> image answered my next question which is do we have marines at the embassy, which we have in every other embassy around the world. i checked this morning, we do have marines in moscow yet we don't have marines guarding our embassy in kyiv as is their job all around the world and i think that is because the president came out last year and publicly stated he would never put troops in the ukraine and now the administration is running around like a cat chasing its tail trying to figure out how to let these marines do their job at the embassy like they are doing in moscow, at 5 diplomatic facilities in china. i think we should let the marines do their job at the embassy. this is another instance the president is self deterring in a public fashion which is sending the wrong signal to

vladimir putin. you don't have to respond but you can take it under advisement, i think the marines should stand guard at the kyiv embassy. >> thank you, senator cotten, senator jell-o brand. >> thank you and congratulations, grateful for your service. and visiting our nato allies we talked about article 5 and when that gets triggered after cyberattack, do you have views about what level of cyberattack on a nato ally would trigger an article 5 requirement? >> this of course is a very active debate inside the alliance, and active debate for most countries. that debate has been joined but it has not come to a conclusion inside nato yet. i believe there are various levels of cyber attack.

as you point out. at some point they become more akin to a connecticut tack than others. one complicating thing i think we have seen in the recent past is the activity of nonstate cyber actors in the same timeframe as states are contemplating cyber defense so i believe attribution is going to be one of the most important parts of any cyber policy. >> with regard to russia's cyber threat specifically to our forces in europe and allies in nato what steps are you taking and will take if confirmed to ensure our it network communication channels and weapon systems and platforms are secure and able to perform as intended in the event of a broader conflict? >> in my current role as commander of u.s. army europe and africa i am responsible to provide the basic secure backbone for

you,'s communications so i work with the army cyber and network command to do so. we have a regional cyber center. it maintains overview of the networks and i work closely with our network command to maintain defense of the others. this is something i get briefed on every week. i am satisfied with the level we have, we have to work on it constantly and we do work on it constantly in a broader sense if confirmed into the next job. collective policy and strategy in network defense. looking into and getting back to fat.

>> finland's parliament voted to join nato following applications by finland and sweden to join the alliance. given the extensive order finland shares with russia, and advanced military capabilities, how to effectively integrate these countries into the nato umbrella. >> first of all we already practice that in the ground domain all that time and i can speak for bob burke at u.s. air force europe and naval forces europe as well. we do this all the time in maritime debates. it couple stryker companies, we exercise frequently, with sweden, with air and missile defense. it is easy to integrate quickly.

we've had a lot of exercises and operations for some years. >> turkey expressed certification of admitting finland and sweden. how we approach engaging defense officials in turkey, the addition of finland and sweden will strengthen the nato alliance. >> the core of the matter is a diplomatic and policy decision on all nations's part so i want to stay away from that but at a military level we maintain robust military to military relations with our turkish allies and have done so for the past year that i've been associated with working with europe. we conduct consultations with them and the like. >> not with regard to what turkey articulated. >> specifically with regard to that, that has not been a

subject in the military dialogue at least my military to military dialogue with the chief of the army. >> my time is expired. alignment and work with space,. >> i look forward to it. >> senator rawlins please. >> thank you. good morning, general christopher cavoli. thank you for your service to our nation and to your family for their support. i would like to thank you for taking time to meet with me earlier this week. are incredibly qualified for this assignment and i do intend to support your nomination. general, the fy 23 budget request increases funding for the european deterrence initiative by $400 million. this is initiative, to respond as quickly as we did in ukraine.

from your experience, can you speak to the importance of this initiative? if confirmed, what changes would you make? >> thank you, senator. the european deterrence initiative has not just been important. it has been like oxygen to us for several years now. it is a thing that allows us to do all of the exercising to build all the infrastructure, to pre-position all of the women's we have been using that you've seen as use in response to this crisis. since my first tour as a general officer when the original eri was authorized and appropriated we have been benefiting from it. we slowly but surely used it to put infrastructure in place where we are pre-positioning equipment and we exercise that equipment that a large-scale with the funding this committee

authorizes. it is vital to what we have been doing and we see the benefits in our ability to react in the past couple months. >> you mentioned the joint force, rapid technological advancements such as advanced chemical biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. quantum computing, artificial intelligence, directed energy, what develops are you seeing regarding those threats. >> the ability rapidly to process vast amounts of

information available now really drives our. billy to discern intentions as well as find ways to strike it. there are a few efforts the us side has been working on with regard to artificial intelligence, we are using a couple of those in europe during this crisis, they are proving very useful. they help us keep track of where everybody is, and i would be delighted to go into more detail but we are aware our adversaries are working on the same thing so it is imperative to continue to develop this beneficial technology. >> they are pacing threat to those new capabilities. >> pacing those capabilities.

>> what lessons in cbr responsible learned, what should be applied in the joint force. >> the cbr imposture across the joint force is looking at the department level and service levels in conjunction with combatant commands. i have reviewed army parts of it. we are updating it with regard to what we understand the emergence of the threat to be with regard to our own posture and technologies to deal with the threat. for many years in afghanistan and iraq that was not a primary concern as we contemplate large-scale operations. and we revisit that. >> there's worldwide responsibilities for planning and operation for nato

operations. how would you view, with respect to china? >> china is present in europe and china is going to present increasing security challenges inside europe. my job would be to make sure our policymakers have real military operations so far as they need them. >> my time has expired. >> it is good to see you and your nomination. your deep expertise in european affairs, to serve in this role adequate time. it is clear that vladimir putin never anticipated that his

illegal invasion of ukraine would unite so many countries around the world. this committee focuses on our military power but this crisis has made clear how important it is to invest in all of our tools to advance us interests are prioritizing diplomacy and coordination with our allies has taken huge dividends. ..ic success however does not happen overnight. this is the result of long time -- long, time-consuming investments. let me start by asking, general, you think it is important for the united states to provide robust funding for the state department and usaid? would you like >> i do. >> would you like to see annex a word about that? >> absolutely. the united states, like many nations, , attempts to lead with diplomacy. as you noted for diplomacy to be effective it can't happen at the

moment it's needed. it has to be developed over years of relationship building, and that requires resources and funding. i benefit as an officer went our diplomacy is robust. i benefit as an officer, and i think we benefit as a nation, with our diplomats are armed the way they need to be to conduct the business of the nation. >> i appreciate that. climate change is another major security challenge. we need to work harder on. the most recent annual threat assessment found, i do want to quote it, climate change will increasingly exacerbate risks to u.s. nationall security interests, unquote. the world's dependence on fossil fuels and authoritarian petroleum and petro states significantly undermines our interest in safety. and your joe response to te committee's advancece policy questions you said that climate

a criticale will be consideration in all we do. can you just elaborate a little bit on that, general? >> sure. senator, first,ur of course our national defense strategy lays that out, so it is something that we havewe to consider in everything we do. but right now i am responsible for army activities in africa. africa suffer some decertification. that the certification leads to intense competition for resources. maynor location. you can find it. the grain shortage we were discussing earlier is exacerbated by an ongoing drought in india. all of this is having an impact inside my aor in africa which was built out possibly into other areas. so yes, it's something i take thoughtfully and seriously.

if we look at my european aor in my current job, of course the opening of the sea waves in the arcticif which has been increasg and accelerating in recent years is changing the military geography of the high north which is something that nato and u.s. eucom are both dealing with right now. >> i appreciate your thoughtful response here. this is a crisis that often gets overlooked when we're talking about national security. and as you rightly point out c t is deeply threatening to all of us. there's one last area i i woud like to talk about. over the past few months congress have provided tens of billions of dollars in emergency spending to support the department's response to russia's invasion. i support that spending but i am very concerned about the risks of waste without proper oversight. dod owes this committee a backlog of several years of reports on the future years

defense plans of the european initiative. i spoke to your predecessor about the importance of providing these reports. a letter i received from the controller last week claims yet another component of dod will provide the report. now, i am getting sick of the runaround here. dod has not complied with the law. not having these reports hurt oversight in planning for your command. so general cavoli, i i undersd this is not your primary responsibility, but you will be the senior military leader overseeing this spending. so will youou make sure that ths committee receives the reports that are required by law and that we will receive them this year? >> i will continue to submit all the data that i am required to you. we have done that and i commit to doing. >> i appreciate that and i will hold you to that. it's very likely that you and

the president will come to us again with additional supplemental requests. if you want congress to continue to approve tens of billions of dollars, you need to show us how you're making sure that that money is spent responsibly. >> senator, if i could just make a comment. it is, not lost on me how much money we're talking about here. and i and we owe it to the american taxpayer to have a thoughtful application of those funds and a full accounting of them. >> i i appreciate it, look forwd to the boarding. thank you, mr.r. chairman. >> thank you, senator one. senator tillis, please. >> thank you, mr. chairman. general, thank you for the time you spent with senator shaheen and i the week or so ago, and congratulations on your nomination and and i look fo supporting it and thanks to your family. i want to get a little bit back, you cover the landscape on finland i think very well and he also discussed sweden, but you

mentioned the increase investment sweden and thence in the military, and we know we want them tota get up to the 2% threshold. can you give me somehe insight into the specific actions taken that would give you confidence they would be there by 2020? >> they have expressed the intention to do so, in my conversations with my colleague, major general, the chief of the swedish army. he is confident. he believes that they're going to get there. >> if you know, what would that look like? i have metll with sweetest officials almost any week for the past month, and one of the comments they made is a fully intend to do it but they also have to be able to absorb the investment with respect to the added investment what is likely to look like in terms of brown,

naval, air force the? >> carl adopted a model of three to one. the key part of which is to come up to three brigades which is adding an additional brigade. that is a big chunk of it right there i believe. the second part ofth it is to ad high incapability pics of purchased the patriot which my command is helping them to integrate into the units right now, about the first battalion. it's been delivered in the past year here, and those purchased very quickly that help us left defense spending pics i think the combination of expanding the size of the army and raising the technology of a couple of the things like the air and missile defense will in the ground domain help. i can't speak quite as in detail about how they will use or absorb additional funding and maritime domains. >> you can talk about the

advantage sweden brings in terms of naval presence in the black sea. >> sure. sweden has ports on the baltic sea and naval forces that fail on the baltic sea. they have something referred to as the unsinkable aircraft carrier. they will bring an enormous amount of surface capability to us in the baltic sea. they also have underwater capabilities that will help us as well. >> excuse me. the funding we approved and that i voted for, the supplemental funding for ukraine, do think it was wise to send that to ukraine? >> i think we will put that to

good use. we will put out to good use. >> can you speak about how the food assistance and broader scope of the bill focusing on the threat to food sources in north africa and what would happen if we don't pay attention to that in terms of stability and area isis, boko haram will look to see destabilized? >> absolutely. those groups feed on the and food insecurity, corruption and poverty. just like groups elsewhere in the world. they've been doing fairly well, they have made gains in the southwest that we need to keep an eye on and that our allies in europe nead to h -- need to help

with. a food shortage would exacerbate the situation down there. >> thank you. the last thing the senator and i talked about in serbia, kosovo, i got the sense of speaking with those leaders that they felt they have been on the back burner in terms of our focus. what more do you think we need to do, if any, to increase our presence which demonstrate we are concerned with that part of the world? >> i think the first thing we can do is exercise and increasing basis. the u.s. army, europe defender exercise series focused on the baltics last year. it has an effect immediately, i could see that. we were warmly welcomed every place we were. i think at the beginning, as a first step we need to continue.

>> i look forward to supporting your nomination. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator king, please. >> welcome to the committee and congratulations on your point that. i believe one of the most support and folks written in the 20th century was the guns of august, the thesis was that we stumbled into world war i muskogee elation, mistake, misunderstanding and a complicated web of treaties in europe that led to a world war no one wanted. how do we communicate to the russians the defensive nature of nato? my concern is what we view as deterrence and reassurance they could view as provocation, particularly in light of dealing with a country that is paranoid.

putin clearly think there is a danger of an invasion by nato. talk about how we diminish this substantial risk of a miscalculation . putin made huge miss cap galatians in ukraine. what if you make similar ones about poland, finland and sweden -- miscalculations in ukraine. what if he thinks we will make a similar one in poland, finland, sweden? >> the danger of a mistake or muskogee elation looms very high in our consciousness every day u.s. you, -- ucom. we have a process by which we review every investment we are conducting in order to gauge how it will be viewed by our adversaries and russia in

particular. whether we should proceed, given our various goals at that point. it is a delicate balance. and it is delicate because one must not shy away from activity we need to do to stay strong and to make sure we outline our priorities of what we will defend, but it is also necessary not to overdo that and create a problem where a problem was not. we worked very hard on that and clearly we have not hit that point yet. >> i want to be clear, i support the opinion reassurance initiative, i support what we have done in ukraine and what we are doing in poland and eastern europe, bringing new countries into nato. i think the important thing here, and we talked about diplomacy earlier, is to communicate this is defensive. i think that is an important

point and my follow-up question is do you have, as supreme commander of nato, you have a communication link with your counterpart in russia in order to de-escalate not a conflict but a potential conflict? >> to continue with the last point, if i may, transparency, that communication is vital. in my position now, when we conduct our large-scale exercise, we go to the osce. they outline the objectives, major movements. i should transparency -- add transparency to my previous answer. >> to the russians? >> to everybody.

>> do you have a red phone? >> the supreme allied commander has not. -- that. >> that is reassuring. we are supportive of the arms and support we have been giving to the ukrainians, humanitarian and military. looking beyond the current conflict, there will be a huge amount of arms in this relatively small country. we spent 30 or 40 years chasing things we gave to the group in afghanistan. is there accountability over where these weapons are in where they might be? it worries me, not the ukranians but they could fall into malfactors in the region. >> accountability for that

equipment is is vital. it is challenging because we are not in the country, but as the conflict winds down or concludes, that will be one thing i have to get out, especially if confirmed. i share your concern. >> thank you. >> thank you. sullivan, please. >> thank you mr. chairman and general, thank you and your family. i appreciated our discussion yesterday. i believe you are exceptionally qualified for this position. i would like you to brag if you don't mind, can you let the committee and the american people know some of your background and experiences and education as it relates to russia? >> asking me to brag is the hardest question you could ask. [laughter] >> we want you to brag.

i want you to. very impressive, russia focus, education. >> i graduated in princeton 19 and seven where do not look in russia, i graduated with a degree in biology. i entered the army and stationed in italy with the battalion. in that role we study russia because that was our main opponent during the end of the cold war. as i cannot accompany command, beginning -- i became a russian foreign dutch officer. -->> officer. >> you speak russian. >> i do. i have posters for the georgia virtual center in germany.

i was on the russia two for the joint staff. >> so that is every day, getting up and focusing on russia, challenges. >> absolute. >> i would say you are vladimir putin's worst nightmare and could not be more qualified than any other member of the military. again, i want to thank you for your service. could you define our strategic goals in ukraine? >> we want ukraine to be free, we want nato as strong as ever and we want to do these things without engaging in a war with russia. >> thank you. there is discussion about nato being energized, unified. i'm a supporter of nato, i was at nato headquarters after the

invasion in february and it was a big supporter of edi. finland, sweden sessions, support a robust military, is appointed the president put forward a budget that cuts defense spending in real dollars. supported u.s. economic and military aid since february, 50 $4 billion. but i want to say, and hopefully -- there is grumbling. my constituents in alaska are probably the most promilitary constituents, americans in the country. but grumbling late to this question. why is the u.s. is spending more to defend europe then europe is spending? and by that i mean, dating back to president george w. bush, president obama, president trump, president biden, all have put forward this

goal of 2% of defense spending as a percentage of gdp which was agreed upon in the whale summit in 2014 by all members. right now, eight members out of 30, down from last year, have met that goal. very wealthy countries, sweden, canada, germany, france. many of them are not even close to meeting that goal. what can we do? isn't it now or never that the nato countries should meet this goal? i don' believe this is sustainable. we are doing all we can, but the american people are saying where's everyone else, how can

these countries can't meet this goal? i'm working on legislation but say of nato countries do not meet these goals in five years that congress will not put out dollars for training and deployment of those countries. what do you think of something like that, and if confirmed will you be focused on assuring these countries understand we are a democracy, too? at a certain point market people are going to say enough. europe has to defend europe. as mrs. america does. >> i'm a -- believer that says nations should spend at least 20% on modernization.

-- it is a great moment, if confirmed part of rado will be to help diplomats and the agency of the united states to convert those good intentions into facts. >> what about legislation i'm working on? >> i would rather not comment on legislation if you don't mind. >> thank you. >> thank you, senators sylvan. --- sullivan. >> thank you. i ask the following questions. since you became an illegal -- a legal dult have you had any sexual requests or -- ?

>> no. >> -- what countries are taking in the millions of refugees from ukraine? >> that is an amazing story and heartwarming. as you know, early on, my command was directed to prepare for assistance for americans coming out. but we anticipated needing to help with the refugees. we correctly anticipated about 6 million refugees in europe. it was unnecessary. the people of poland, romania, hungary and slovakia have opened their doors and hearts to ukrainian refugees. i have local national employees in poland, three have ukrainian

families in their homes. has been remarkable. >> it is amazing and heartwarming. even as we talk about the monetary commitment to nato come up there are many ways our european allies are stepping up regarding ukraine. i"m glad senator sullivan asked you to talk by your background. it is impressive and i think your highly qualified for this position. if you like asking you to answer some questions in russian, but that is ok. it is a difficult language to learn and i commend you for that focus. a delegation is set to travel for talks with allies, quoting from the state

department, regarding the atrocities in ukraine and in an effort to bring them to joseph. how will you assess the international criminal court for the alleged war crimes in ukraine, holding russia credible? >> i will talk about that anytime. this has been an issue considered in our policy making circles for some time and i would have to follow u.s. policy. >> it is important for russia to be held accountable for the atrocities they are committing and of course this unprovoked war on an independent country. last saturday, president biden signed a package of assistance

to ukraine. this includes systems ukrainians need to protect themselves. how will you ensure a continuing coordination of the rapid transfer of u.s. resources and weapons of ukraine and consider the country's future to consider the defense needs against russia? >> -- currently at a policy level coronation consults with other nations on what it might contribute. we handle the command and the logistics and although u.s. deletions come to the hands of my forces in southeastern poland and they move it into the right

location. we will continue to do it that way. i think the accounting of all of this will be of great importance. understanding where everything is and being able to account for the money that has been provided with an important part if i'm confirmed. >> yes, as a senator, warren also mentioned there will be so much money that will be needed to help ukraine and the aftermath. yes, we need to make sure this money is going where it is supposed to go for the purposes for which we are appropriating funds. thank you. i have other questions i will submit for the record. >> thank you. senator? >> thank you. good to see you, i enjoyed our conversation the other day and congratulations on your nomination. we start with nato, which is the top of the conversation.

we may be considered to vote on nato expansion, you talked about this with me when we met. you are familiar with the whales pledge. -- wales pledge. julie sent me a letter saying it was her opinion nato allies should spend more than 2% of gdp on defense, going beyond the pledge. vice chairman said the same, assistant secretary of defense also said the same that allies should go beyond the pledge. let me ask in your personal opinion now, is it time for nato allies to move beyond the pledge and increased defense spending about 2%? -- above 2%? >> i liked the ambassadors formulation. she has been saying 2% is a floor, not a ceiling and i agree with that. i know all of the land forces

chiefs in nato. each of them has a list of requirements. it would all take more than 2% of gdp. so i am an advocate of spending more than 2%, at least 2%. >> good. thank you. when we talked last week, you said you did not expect the admission to nato to require forces. i've seen that sweden is requesting a greater u.s. naval presence in the baltic sea and reports to keep 100,000 plus troops in europe for the future. i want to revisit the topic you have discussed in light of those reports. how confident are you that finland and sweden's assessment to nato would not result in u.s. forces doing more in europe than we are currently obligated to under our current nato

commitments? >> 100,000 forces in europe that are being extended are part of the search we have performed over the last few weeks and was not related to the question of finland and sweden joining nato. i remain of the opinion, as i told you in our office call, that at least in the ground domain, this is not going to be a requirement for large additional forces. i think exercises and occasional presence like with any ally will increase. >> different requirements, do you think? will this necessitate a shift in posture by our forces or nato forces? >> i don't know right now and i would point out that the word basing carries with it an

enormous number of implications i would have to consider deeply before i came back to you with the response. >> since you mentioned coming back, if confirmed would you commit to providing the committee with the full account of the implications for u.s. forces in europe should they join nato so we can consider that as part of any debate we might have in this chamber over nato expansion? >> i would be happy to do that if confirmed. >> thank you. burden sharing, you and i have talked about this with our nato allies and these are the what we need to do in the pacific with china, will have to do more sharing with our allies is my view in europe if we are going to focus as we need to on pay,. do you think our military allies

should rely on this in europe, with us providing nuclear assurance, but europe focusing on everything else as we shift resources to china? >> i think it is imperative as we look at the emergence of the threat of china for us to find ways to be able to handle the acute threat of russia in a collective fashion with the alliance that allows us to do that. there are a number of different ways that could play out. almost all of those ways include increased burden sharing on the part of the alliance and other members of the alliance i should say. but they also depend on what the security situation in europe is like at the end of this conflict. really, this conflict and the way it comes out is going to

drive and lots of my answer to your question. it is premature for me to talk about it. >> my time is expired so i will ask my last question and let you answer and yield. what are some capabilities we provide in europe that you think european allies could feasibly contribute going forward? >> some things we provide our heavy equipment and armor, our allies could provide some of that. in many cases it should be modernized first or in larger quantities. we provide long-range fires and logistics. we would encourage -- probably increased air and missile defense would be welcome in terms of capability. >> thank you. >> thank you. i want to follow-up on the

senator's line of questioning. great to see you again and thank you for your willingness to continue to serve our nation. this presents unique and difficult challenges and it is clear the conflict in ukraine will have a lasting impact on the future of european security. i think it is important to continue to look ahead and i appreciate the discussion we had in my office last week. we talked about the ukrainian military needs looking forward, from equipment to training to structural reforms, it is clear these things are going to take some time. i feel if we want to deter further aggression the onto this conflict from putin or somebody like him in the future, we need to start thinking about this right now. as we think about the future of the ukrainian air force, i think centerpiece is not going to be

the mick 29. it needs to be something like the f-16, that might be a good option. over the last two years we have sold some of these to our partners in the middle east, and in the state of arizona, the 162nd air national guard ring that swing has been training foreign pilots -- wing has been training foreign pilots. they do that, the transition in slovakia from obsolete and ineffective aircraft to the f-16. can you provide thoughts on how the u.s. and our allies can help modernize ukraine's military to deter future aggression, specifically with looking for the air force?

>> yes. as with a previous question, i think ukraine's military requirements at the end of this conflict are going to depend on what the shape of the security landscape is at the conclusion of the conflicts. and what threat they face and how much threat they face. the first thing i would say -- the second thing i would say is the aide we are giving is important to what they are doing but it will require rationalization on the far side. there will probably need to be a modernization of fleets. -- homogenousization of the fleet. -- homogenization of the fleet. with regard to the air domain, i think ukraine is going to have

to sit down with us, examined the security situation and sketch out a strategy for a way ahead. i can't say what it would look like now but i do look, if i'm confirmed, to coming back and talking about in the future. >> i appreciate that. they're going to be a lot of tough decisions, certainly the agreement, whatever the final -- depending on how this concludes, it is going to play a big role in with the security cooperation looks like. and what the reforming of the military looks like in future years. another issue we discussed was the possibility of permanently basing more euros -- u.s. troops in eastern europe, an issue many of us have advocated for and there are multiple factors to consider in making this

decision. what are your thoughts on the possibility of permanently stationed u.s. forces in eastern europe, and where would you right now -- where are you starting to think about where they could go, and the reason is to deter future russian aggression. >> as we flowed additional forces in over the last few months and nato has reupholstered nato forces, multinational forces over the past couple of months, what has been happening is the center of gravity of the nato force has been shifting eastward. depending on the outcome of the conflict, we may need to continue that for some time. with regard to how those guys are source, how are those soldiers sourced, permanently,

-- a lot of questions and policy matters are there. i will have a voice if i'm confirmed but there will probably be about going into that. >> in poland and germany, especially with the polls it will be an important conversation to have. they are very interested in a stronger alliance and a possibility of a commitment to u.s. forces in poland. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. >> general, welcome, thank you for your service. i have had a number of questions related to ukraine but they have been asked and i don't want you to keep repeating -- there was

announced in a special operations quarter in albania. in conjunction with those efforts, how do you see nato and you come -- and others cooperating in this challenging part of europe? clicks last year we conducted a large portion of the defender large-scale exercise in albania. it was u.s. army europe ask, it was critically augmented by the u.s. navy and naval forces europe and air force europe as well. it had a huge effect, a huge positive effect. on the back of that we have increased activities with our albanian allies significantly. the addition of it based on there is an example. if confirmed, i will pay

attention to that. with our allies in the balkans, that is important. >> rates. to stay with the theme of partnerships, i am proud to represent the michigan national guard state ships in latvia as well as liberia, two programs i expect you know well given her position as commander of the u.s. army in europe and africa. every commander i have talked to gooding general walters has praised partnership program and my question for you is, if confirmed as the commander of the most powerful alliance of the world, how will you leverage the national guard bureau's programs to achieve the objective? >> in my current role, we use these partnership programs every day and if i am confirmed he will be able to add me to the list of commanders who love the

state partnership program. i have a two star deputy from the national guard who liaise as -- as a liaison with those who have partnerships in our area and it is invaluable, the depth of the relationships they have, the continuity has been very important to us. in crises as well as peacetime. it is a valuable program if i am as the commander. i look forward to adding the air guard portion to my portfolio. >> great to hear. on sunday, the leaders of armenia and archer by sean announced a border commission -- osher by sean announced a border commission -- armenia and another nation announced a border commission. they cannot be trusted as a result of the horrific actions we are seeing in ukraine right

now -- but russia did play a role in the discussions in the region. my question for you is if confirmed, how do you see nato influencing conditions to enable peace in the region given russia's involvement in the area? >> that is a prickly question. in the caucuses in general, i have spent quite a bit of time down there and studied it, and still with our partners down there. almost every issue has several different angles on it. the russian angle is always one that needs to be considered. in any given proposal or situation, if i am confirmed i would sit down and examine it closely from all angles i could for coming up from my best recommendation.

i recognize how delicate that area is and how many external interests are at play. >> absolutely. while nato enlargement increases the capacity of our defensive alliance, and also increases complexities behind maintaining a unified front as i'm sure you are aware. a significant example can be seen by turkey's concerns that regarding finland and sweden secession into the alliance. i question is if confirmed, you will serve as the supreme allied commander. how do you see you fostering an environment that continues to promote unity and cohesion among unique and sometimes different member nations? >> i think in terms of fostering the right climate, the first step is to remember the military arm of nato is only one part. it is under a collective

control. second is to remember that each of those service chiefs represents a sovereign nation's army or military and to treat them with thefinally, consult ty and build consensus as i can. >> senator scott? >> thank you. we went to europe and visited with troops in germany, lithuania. with the conversations i had, i was impressed with the allies. they clearly see the threat.

there is no military like ours. we have to stop these tyrants from trying to control the world. doesn't appear that the biden administration did everything they could because vladimir putin, he clearly invaded. obama did the same thing in 2013. it has put us in a tough position. china continues threats against taiwan. none of us want to send men and women to fight, but we're going to end up that way if we don't

stop them. given your years of service, can you believe the u.s. can deter russia, china, iran? >> i believe that all instruments of national power are necessary parts of deterrence. that includes the military, diplomatic, economic. i believe that political will is a necessary thing to demonstrate in order to achieve deterrence. >> what does the european command need more to try to deter vladimir putin to make sure he does not win in ukraine and sure he does not invade a nato ally? >> the most important thing that the european command needs to continue to deter is continued unity of the alliance.

continued political will of the alliance which we are seeing in abundance right now. we need to keep that going. the second step is we need to continued support of -- to provide us with the capabilities we need. those the two things. >> does it make sense to reposition some of our troops further to the east rather than have so much concentrated in germany? >> in response to this crisis, we have done exactly that. the alliance has repositioned four battle groups into southeastern europe and many nations have bilaterally reinforced their forces. for example, we have reinforced latvia. the u.k. is reinforced their battle groups in estonia. the u.s. has added additional

forces into eastern europe as well. i think that is exactly what we have done in response to this crisis. >> even with sweden and finland not being part of nato, do we have a good working relationship with their military? >> yes. we worked very closely with the swedish military on specific technical things but also in general and exercises with the finnish army, a parachute battalion is on its way to finland later this summer, they will be easy to integrate. >> what do you see that they should be doing in europe that they are not doing? >> we should keep doing what we're doing today. as we talk more with our ukrainian colleagues, we

understand better and better what they need and how they plan to use it. i think we are moving in the right direction. the question of what happens on the far end to ukraine after the conflict concludes is going to be a very important question for europe as well as our country. >> thank you for your service. >> thank you, senator scott. senator rosen will have the floor. >> good morning it was nice to have a conversation with you last week. let's get right into it. i worry about cyber.

russian cyber threats. we were talking about that last week, the importance of maintaining our collective vigilance in the face of russian cyber threats. cyber come commander said a team traveled to ukraine in december to help them build resilience. unfortunately, russia has launched destructive cyber attacks against ukraine. if confirmed, how will you work with cyber come to help enhance the cybersecurity of ukraine including through how to forward operations? >> i will continue to work with the general and air force under tim hawk runs cyber operations. general nakasone command has set

up some great models throughout europe in terms of defending forward, hunting forward. and doing it in collaboration with our partners and allies. i look forward to pursuing all of those. it is going to be of critical importance. >> you led me to my next question. what do you assess nato's capabilities and our alliances, our readiness together to respond to attacks? >> the alliance has collectively begun. we have established a cyber center in estonia and we are working toward cyber strategies. clearly, just like for all of our countries individually, there is much work to be done for the entire alliance collectively on this. if i'm confirmed, it will be one of the things i will turn my attention to first. >> i'm going to move down to the

black sea because russia is maintaining a blockade of the ukrainian coast. it has now controlled a number of strategic ports in the black sea and ukraine exports 70% of its cargo through their printed last month, russia said it is in the second phase of the invasion that will include targeting the ukrainian southern regions potentially neighboring moldova. if confirmed, what actions would you take to mitigate this threats on the black sea and what more can nato be doing? what can you be doing together? >> first, i would point out that there are three nato nations that border the black sea. each has a navy. i would also agree that the problem of exporting or not exporting grain from ukraine right now is an important

problem not just for ukraine, but for the world. because of that, for us as well. what i would do if confirmed is provide the military options required by our civilian leaders. the way we approach that would have to be whole of government approach which may or may not include a military important -- component. >> can you speak on anything more specifically about how we should be preparing in the black sea for this potential incursion? >> the first thing that we have been doing is probably the most important and it is not in the black sea, it is establishing alternative ways to get the grain out. german national train company has been conducting massive lifts of grain out of ukraine right now coming out for poland

and up to the northern germany ports for export. romania has opened a port for outflow which goes through the black sea, but not through a blockaded portion. i pick it's going to be a combination of modes of transportation we will have to use and i look forward to contributing. >> i only have 20 seconds left, but i want to ask a little bit about if sweden and finland join nato, what kind of security guarantees do you think we should provide for nato -- for sweden and finland if they join nato and article five protections kick in? >> the security guarantees and the nature of them that we or anybody would provide would be a policy matter. i can state that as a military matter, we are in a position to

back up any guarantees across the european landmass. >> thank you. >> thank you for your testimony in-service. i think have demonstrated clearly why you should be confirmed and continued the leadership that the general has shown in facing this crisis in with that, i will adjourn the hearing. thank you. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

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[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> here's a look at what's coming up on the c-span networks. live at 10 a.m. eastern on c-span, treasury secretary janet yellen testifies to the senate finance committee on president biden's 2023 budget. live at two p.m. eastern the house debate new u.s. water infrastructure projects. on c-span2 lighted tinian eastern canadian eastern the senate works on the nomination of alex wagner to be assistant secretary of the air force. they are expected to take up legislation on expanding va healthcare and disability

benefits for veterans exposed to harmful toxins. on c-span3 live at ten a hearing on investigating domestic hate crimes and violent extremist threats. you can also watch all of our programs online at c-span.org or with our free video app, and now. >> -- c-span now. >> c-span now is a free mobile apps featuring your unfiltered view of what's happening in washington live and on-demand. keep up with today's biggest events with life streams of floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress, white house events, the courts, campaigns and more from the world of politics all at your fingertips. ..

>> next, remarks from former vice-president mike pence on the recent shootings in uvalde, texas and buffalo, new york at a luncheon in new hampshire. [applause]. >> good morning, new hampshire. it's good to be back in the granite state. less than six months away from when we win back the house, win back the senate, reelect governor chris sununu across the country and start the great republican comeback in 2022. [applause] >> and i want to thank -- i want to thank the new hampshire federation of republican wos