Deb Fischer Asks Supreme Allied Commander Nom Alexus Grynkewich About NATO Defense Spending Pledge

6 months ago

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last month, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) asked President Trump's nominees for CENTCOM Commander and United States European Command and Supreme Allied Commander about Hezbollah, NATO defense spending and the importance of nuclear forces in Europe.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Senator Reid. Senator Fischer.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:03And thank you both, Admiral Cooper, General Grinkiewicz,

00:07for your service and for the service of your family to this country for many, many years.

00:14General, you're nominated not only to serve as commander of the U.S. European Command,

00:20but also as the supreme allied commander, Europe,

00:24who is responsible for all NATO military operations and forces.

00:29And that includes the American nuclear forces that are assigned to NATO.

00:34NATO is a nuclear alliance.

00:37The role that you would assume in NATO has always been filled by an American,

00:42beginning with General Eisenhower in 1950.

00:46How do you view the role of nuclear deterrence with respect to the NATO alliance?

00:53Senator, in my view, the U.S. strategic nuclear forces under the command of General Cotton

01:02at U.S. Strategic Command are really foundational to the security of all of Europe

01:08and foundational to the security of the alliance as really, you know,

01:12and also underpin global security in many, many ways.

01:15And they're absolutely essential.

01:18I also would note the forward positioning of certain nuclear capabilities on the continent,

01:25and those provide a very important backstop against any potential threat coming from the east.

01:32You earlier were asked about the increased, the higher role of spending from our NATO partners to 5% of GDP.

01:44I'm curious how you would work to coordinate among the NATO members

01:50to ensure that their investments would be complementary to each other and to the alliance as a whole.

02:00Senator, if confirmed, I think that would be one of my major responsibilities,

02:04is to ensure that any increased spending was done in a way that benefited the alliance

02:09and ensured the achievement of capability targets that the alliance has agreed to.

02:13I'd also note the work that has been done on the NATO plans and that there are specific requirements

02:20and capabilities that are essential to the effective execution of those plans.

02:24And so, you know, certain countries have strengths in particular areas.

02:28You know, some countries are very strong in the land domain.

02:31Others have a stronger position in the maritime domain.

02:35And within all of the domains, there's, of course, a variety of capabilities.

02:39My goal would be to work very hard with our allies and partners in the region

02:45to bring all of that together in a coherent fashion to increase the strength of the alliance.

02:50Do you know if discussions are going on right now with that?

02:54Ma'am, I'm certain that those have started. Absolutely.

02:59Admiral Cooper, yesterday we had the opportunity to visit a little bit in a classified session together.

03:06And we talked about Iran's influence in both Syria and Lebanon

03:12and how that's been changed with recent events.

03:16And it sounds like there are real opportunities in the future for more stability,

03:21for peace within those nations.

03:24What do you assess a post-Assad Syria and a post-Hezbollah Lebanon

03:30would mean for the region in its entirety?

03:33Senator, first, I enjoyed our conversation yesterday.

03:38When I think first of Syria, I think that stability in Syria can translate into security in the United States.

03:45And here's how those dots connect.

03:47ISIS thrives in chaos.

03:49If the government of Syria now, seven months into their existence,

03:53can help suppress that ISIS threat along with the U.S. forces in the region,

03:58that stability helps create our own security.

04:00I'm optimistic for the future, although they're at the beginnings of this new government.

04:05I think we've now seen several steps, including Ambassador Tom Barrack,

04:09who's the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, being appointed as a Syria envoy.

04:14He's made several trips.

04:15Everything we do in Syria will be diplomatically led.

04:18And I think we're heading in a good direction in that regard.

04:21If you are confirmed, how would you ensure that CENTCOM integrates its actions,

04:27both with state and treasury, to support more stability, growing stability within Syria?

04:36Senator, I would anticipate we will be nested very closely, diplomatically led, drafting in behind.

04:42As the policies start to sharpen on this,

04:45we will be prepared to provide our best military advice on how to support those policies.

04:49Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Deb Fischer Asks Supreme Allied Commander Nom Alexus Grynkewich About NATO Defense Spending Pledge

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