During Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) questioned military nominees about nuclear deterrence policies.
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00:00Thank you, Senator Reid. Senator Fischer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Napoli, as you mentioned in your opening statement, one of your primary responsibilities, if confirmed, will be to coordinate with partners and allies to deter state and non-state actors from acquiring nuclear weapons.
00:18That's no easy task in this environment. Iran continues to enrich uranium far beyond the requirements for civilian use to near weapons grade, and the intelligence community has assessed that North Korea could conduct its first nuclear test in several years on very short notice.
00:37If confirmed, how would you work with allies and partners and international organizations, such as the IAEA, to help deter countries like Iran and North Korea from continuing their pursuit for nuclear weapons?
00:52Thank you, Senator Fischer. Your issues ring true to the core mission of the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, to prevent and deter our adversaries and non-state actors from acquiring nuclear weapons, nuclear technologies, and radiological weapons as well.
01:11My experience working with the interagency and with our international partners provides me firm footing to address these challenges going forward. I agree with you, they are very difficult challenges, but I'm confident in the team at the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and the tool sets that we bring to the broader government efforts to combat those issues.
01:30Our country has a lot of threats right now. Can you give me an example of a threat that you would see with respect to nuclear proliferation?
01:46Senator, I think you...
01:47Besides what I mentioned. Sorry.
01:49Thank you. You highlight very primary examples, ma'am. To date, my efforts have been focused on naval nuclear propulsion.
01:56I have not received government intelligence briefings on additional threats that you mentioned in excess of that, so I would defer to my time coming into the office and allow the team to get me up to speed on the threats facing our nation, but I will commit to working to that extent with the greatest, most urgency.
02:13Okay. Good. Given the importance of preventing nuclear conflict, do you concur that modernizing our nuclear deterrent is a national security priority?
02:26Senator, I think nuclear deterrent is the backbone of American strategic defense policy. The goal and mission of NNSA is to provide a safe, reliable, and credible nuclear weapon to the Department of Defense.
02:42If so fortunate to be confirmed, I will support the broader NNSA missions to provide that to the Department.
02:47The United States has the most effective processes in place for safeguarding our nuclear and radioactive materials, and one that is underappreciated, I think, by many.
03:04It is NNSA's leadership in development of technologies to detect potential smuggling or illicit movement of nuclear and radioactive materials.
03:16If confirmed, how would you work with allies and partners to share our expertise in that area in detecting and also safeguarding those dangerous materials?
03:29Thank you, Senator Fisher. Security is at the heart of the nuclear program within the United States.
03:35I've had the pleasure of participating in that mission from the Navy's perspective for the past 20 years, and I look forward to carrying that forward to the Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.
03:44Your point rings home very true.
03:48You know, our business in this area to prevent the spread and proliferation of nuclear material and associated technologies is incredibly important.
03:56You know, my experience working with our international partners, I will carry that forward and continue that movement to ensure that it's a broader approach to defense nonproliferation norms, both with our partners and with the IEA.
04:08Thank you, sir.
04:10Thank you, sir. I look forward to working with you.
04:12Mr. Tell, good to see you again.
04:14I appreciated you coming in and visiting with me about how important water is to my state of Nebraska.
04:21Our surface water, the many miles of river we have, and also the Okalala Aquifer, the High Plains Aquifer, which lies under our state.
04:30And what a wonderful resource that is.
04:33But what I wanted to ask you about is managing the Missouri River.
04:38Flood prevention and control along the Missouri is of the utmost importance to the state of Nebraska.
04:45Will you commit to ensuring that when it comes to managing the Missouri River, flood control and prevention will be a top priority?
04:53Senator Fisher, thank you for the question, and thank you for visiting with me in your office.
04:58The Missouri River, of course, by one mile, is the longest river in the United States, just edging out the Mississippi.
05:02But it is one mile.
05:04It is one mile, and it begins in Senator Sheehy's state and ends in Senator Schmidt's state, and it runs right through your state, Senator.
05:11And I would just say that flood control is one of the primary missions of the Corps of Engineers, along with navigation and aquatic ecosystem restoration.
05:19And all of these issues have to be managed and balanced.
05:23In your state in 2019, with the Missouri River flood, we saw it devastate agricultural interests in your state.
05:29We saw strategic military installations under the threat of flooding.
05:34And so this is something we have got to get right, and it requires stakeholder input up and down the system and balancing all the interests that exist from Montana to Missouri.
05:44I hope we can work on having flood control projects move faster.
05:49Look forward to working with you.
05:50Senator Fisher, I'll work with you on that.