Hearings
Hearing Type:
Open
Date & Time:
Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 9:00am
Location:
Hart 216
Witnesses
Director
Dr. Christopher
Scolese
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Full Transcript
[Senate Hearing 116-174]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 116-174
OPEN HEARING: NOMINATION
OF DR. CHRISTOPHER SCOLESE
TO BE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL
RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
OF THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2019
__________
Printed for the use of the Select Committee on Intelligence
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
37-446 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE
[Established by S. Res. 400, 94th Cong., 2d Sess.]
RICHARD BURR, North Carolina, Chairman
MARK R. WARNER, Virginia, Vice Chairman
JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
MARCO RUBIO, Florida RON WYDEN, Oregon
SUSAN COLLINS, Maine MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico
ROY BLUNT, Missouri ANGUS KING, Maine
TOM COTTON, Arkansas KAMALA HARRIS, California
JOHN CORNYN, Texas MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado
BEN SASSE, Nebraska
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky, Ex Officio
CHUCK SCHUMER, New York, Ex Officio
JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma, Ex Officio
JACK REED, Rhode Island, Ex Officio
----------
Chris Joyner, Staff Director
Michael Casey, Minority Staff Director
Kelsey Stroud Bailey, Chief Clerk
CONTENTS
----------
MAY 1, 2019
OPENING STATEMENTS
Burr, Hon. Richard, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. 1
Warner, Hon. Mark R., Vice Chairman, a U.S. Senator from Virginia 2
Cardin, Hon. Ben, a U.S. Senator from Maryland................... 3
WITNESS
Scolese, Ph.D., Christopher, Nominee to be Director, National
Reconnaissance Office.......................................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 8
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Questionnaire for Completion by Presidential Nominees........ 24
Additional Prehearing Questions.............................. 46
Posthearing Questions for the Record......................... 77
OPEN HEARING: NOMINATION
OF DR. CHRISTOPHER SCOLESE
TO BE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL
RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE
----------
WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2019
U.S. Senate,
Select Committee on Intelligence,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:05 a.m. in Room
SH-216, Hart Senate Office Building, Hon. Richard Burr
(Chairman of the Committee) presiding.
Present: Senators Burr, Warner, Blunt, Cornyn, Sasse, King,
Harris, and Bennet.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BURR, CHAIRMAN, A U.S.
SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA
Chairman Burr. I call this hearing to order. I'd like to
welcome our witness today, Dr. Christopher Scolese, President
Trump's nominee to be the next Director of the National
Reconnaissance Office. Dr. Scolese, congratulations on your
nomination.
I'd like to start by recognizing your wife, Dianne, and
your four children Jenny, Dan, Lauren and Anna. Welcome. Are we
missing one of them? Oh, back there, okay. Alright. I know from
personal experience just how important a supportive family is
and to each of you my thanks and the Committee's thanks and the
Congress' thanks for your willingness to let your father and
husband do this. I know from personal experience just how
important that supportive family is.
Our goal in conducting this hearing is to consider the
nominee's qualifications and to allow for thoughtful
deliberation by our members. Dr. Scolese has provided
substantive written responses to over 50 questions presented by
the Committee, which we appreciate.
Today we're glad to hear from Dr. Scolese in open session
and we welcome our colleague, Senator Cardin.
Dr. Scolese graduated from State University of New York at
Buffalo with a degree in electrical computer engineering. He
earned a master's degree also in electrical and computer
engineering and a Ph.D. in systems engineering, both from
George Washington University. Earlier in his career he served
honorably in the United States Navy. Prior to his position as
director of NASA's Goddard Space Center, he served as NASA
Associate Administrator and the NASA Engineer Chief.
As I mentioned to others during their nomination hearings,
I can assure you that this Committee will faithfully follow its
charter and conduct vigorous and real time oversight of the
Intelligence Community, its operations, and its activities.
We'll ask difficult and probing questions of you and your staff
and we'll expect honest, complete, and timely responses. I look
forward to supporting your nomination and assuring its
consideration without delay. I want to thank you again for
being here with us. I look forward to your testimony.
I'll now recognize the Vice Chairman for any comments he
might have.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARK R. WARNER, VICE CHAIRMAN, A U.S.
SENATOR FROM VIRGINIA
Vice Chairman Warner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And Dr.
Scolese, I'd like to welcome you and your family and
congratulate you on your nomination. If you are confirmed, you
will be the first Senate-confirmed Director of the NRO. This
Committee added the confirmation requirement to ensure robust
and effective oversight of our Nation's overhead intelligence
satellite programs. But it also reflects the importance of NRO
as a key member of the Intelligence Community. As we discussed
in our meeting a few weeks ago, technology is changing rapidly,
and the commercial sector is leading the way, I believe, in
space. Given advances in technology and the growing threat to
our space system from China and Russia, NRO has begun to
embrace a new way of doing business.
Today there is consensus that, where possible, we should be
leveraging commercial capabilities to make use of new
technology, often at a better bang for the taxpayer's buck. I'm
encouraged by and support NRO's new direction. But I think it
can move faster still. Dr. Scolese, our discussion a few weeks
ago led me to believe your experience and approach is the right
fit for the job. But I want to make sure that you and I agree
on the stakes at hand. Like the NRO, the Defense Department is
looking at ways to respond with more agility to threats in
space, to speed up acquisitions, and to partner with the
commercial sector. The Administration has decided the best way
to do this is to reorganize and establish a new Space Force.
The President's directive on the Space Force explicitly ruled
out including NRO as part of the new military element, and yet
Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan testified a few weeks ago
that ``there is a need to integrate the NRO into the Space
Force'' when an ``issue of timing precluded its inclusion in
the initial proposal.'' Dr. Scolese, I need you to address this
issue head on in your testimony today. The directive didn't
talk about an issue of timing. It stated that NRO would be
excluded from the Space Force and there are good reasons for
this. NRO is an acquisitions organization. It doesn't fit under
the Air Force or any other service element. In fact, it already
incorporates military service members within it, including Air
Force personnel who are already counted as part of the proposed
Space Force.
So, if DOD is looking for even more personnel for Space
Force, NRO isn't the place to look. Over 40 percent of its
personnel are CIA officers which means that if NRO were to be
moved to the Space Force, almost half of the NRO wouldn't go
with it. This would break the organization. The NRO is a key
member of the Intelligence Community that is 91 percent funded
by the National Intelligence Program.
While the NRO informs a number of partners across the
military, Federal Government and international community, it is
ultimately responsible for intelligence satellites that deliver
highly sensitive information to the Intelligence Community. We
should focus on deepening the NRO's existing partnerships and
capabilities that are serving the IC well, rather than trying
to fix something that isn't broken. That's the last thing I'll
say in the opening comments. I know we've talked about this.
This Committee will continue to do its oversight over the
NRO, and we expect its new Director, as the Chairman has
indicated, to abide by the legal obligation to keep the
intelligence oversight committees fully and currently informed
of all significant intelligence activities. The NRO's budget is
significant and it's classified, which means that the American
people need to have confidence that you will be responsible
with their tax dollars and forthcoming with this Committee.
Dr. Scolese, thank you for your willingness to serve. I
look forward to your testimony and I promise I won't hold it
against you that you got Senator Cardin introducing you.
Chairman Burr. At this time, I'd like to recognize Senator
Cardin for an introduction.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BEN CARDIN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM
MARYLAND
Senator Cardin. Well, thank you very much, Chairman Burr,
Vice Chairman Warner, and Senator Blunt, it's a pleasure for me
to introduce Dr. Christopher Scolese to the Committee. I was
very pleased that President Trump decided to nominate Chris to
serve as the next Director of the National Reconnaissance
Office, NRO, and the first to be confirmed by the United States
Senate. I wholeheartedly endorse President Trump's decision and
support his confirmation. I support the nomination.
It's bittersweet, quite frankly, Senator Warner, because we
are going to lose him at the Goddard Space Flight Center where
he's held that position as the longest director of Goddard.
He's done an incredible job in that leadership. To put the
matter simply, he knows how to put stuff into space and make it
work.
I will give you just one example.
The Terra Mission. Chris was the project manager. Terra was
supposed to be a five-year earth science mission that has now
lasted 20 years. Terra explores the connection between earth's
atmosphere, land, snow and ice oceans, and energy balance to
further our understanding of the earth.
I know that NRO is headquartered in the State of Virginia
but, as Senator Warner knows, Maryland and Virginia have a
regional commitment to work together in regards to our space
program. Senator Warner, I was just recently at the Wallops
Flight Facility on April the 17th for the latest successful
commercial resupply service launch to the International Space
Station. Yes, I recognize that is located in Virginia, but
proud Marylanders helped make that one of the most successful
facilities that we have. And I visited Goddard, which is
located of course in Maryland, on March the 4th to discuss the
impact of the 35-day Government shutdown and the budget picture
going forward with Chris and Goddard workforce--an incredible
workforce that is very much motivated by their leader.
Dr. Scolese certainly has the academic credentials for the
job. He holds a bachelor of science degree in electrical and
computer engineering from the State University of New York at
Buffalo. He earned a master's degree in electrical and computer
engineering and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from George
Washington University. After Chris earned his bachelor's
degree, Admiral Rickover personally selected him to serve as
the Naval Sea Systems Command where he worked on development of
instrument and multiprocessor systems for the U.S. Navy and the
Department of Energy.
Dr. Scolese's stint in the nuclear Navy from 1978 to 1986
was just the beginning of a long, distinguished career in
public service. In 1987 he joined Goddard's Earth Science Team
and became earth science program manager and deputy director of
flight projects. Later he moved to NASA's headquarters as
deputy associate administrator for space science for three
years before returning to Goddard where he rose to become
deputy director. Dr. Scolese then returned to NASA headquarters
first as chief engineer and then as associate administrator,
the top civil servant of the agency. He served as acting
administrator from January to July 2009. He went back to
Goddard to become director in 2012. I went through all that to
show that he has a long career in public service, where he's
used his talent to the best interest of our country.
Moving over to the helm at NRO is a natural fit for Dr.
Scolese. Since Goddard manages many of NASA's space telescope
programs, including Hubble Space Telescope and the wide field
infrared survey telescope, they have technology heritage from
NRO satellites. I've really gotten to know Dr. Scolese as the
leader at Goddard. I can tell you he has an excellent
reputation and working relationship with our Congressional
delegation. I've met with the workforce many times. He inspires
all of the workers at Goddard from the most highly skilled to
those that are essential for the team to work as a team.
What impresses me a great deal about Dr. Scolese is the way
that he's engaged younger people into the process. He has had
over 500 interns at Goddard, and he has been very much
instrumental in developing the relationships for the next
generation of leaders to come into public service. Above all,
Chris is a dedicated public servant with the accolades and
awards to prove it and I can name many, many awards that he has
received, and I'll put that into the formal record. I'm glad,
Mr. Chairman, you mentioned his family. He has a very
supportive family and I do want to thank Dianne and the
children for sharing their husband and father with us in public
service. I have no doubt that he will be a superb NRO Director
and I'm very proud to be with him today.
Chairman Burr. Senator Cardin, thank you for that
introduction. With a history as long and involved as Dr.
Scolese, you would think that head of black hair might have
changed. I will assure you the NRO will challenge the color of
that hair over the next few years.
Dr. Scolese, would you please stand and raise your right
hand?
Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Dr. Scolese. I do.
Chairman Burr. Please be seated.
Dr. Scolese, before you move to your statement, I'd like to
ask you to answer the five standard questions the Committee
poses to each nominee who appears before us. They just require
a simple yes or no answer for the record.
Do you agree to appear before the Committee here and in
other venues when invited?
Dr. Scolese. I do.
Chairman Burr. If confirmed, do you agree to send officials
from your office to appear before the Committee and designated
staff when invited?
Dr. Scolese. I do.
Chairman Burr. Do you agree to provide documents or any
other materials requested by the Committee in order to carry
out its oversight and legislative responsibilities?
Dr. Scolese. I do.
Chairman Burr. Will you ensure that your office and your
staff provide such materials to the Committee when requested?
Dr. Scolese. I do.
Chairman Burr. And finally, do you agree to inform and
fully brief to the fullest extent possible all members of this
Committee on all intelligence activities rather than only the
Chair and the Vice Chairman?
Dr. Scolese. I do.
Chairman Burr. Thank you very much for that.
We'll proceed now to your opening statement, after which
I'll recognize members by seniority for up to five minutes.
Dr. Scolese, the floor is yours.
STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER SCOLESE, Ph.D., NOMINEE FOR DIRECTOR,
NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE
Dr. Scolese. Thank you, Chairman Burr, Vice Chairman
Warner, distinguished Members of the Committee. I am honored to
appear before you as the first Presidential appointee requiring
Senate confirmation for the position of Director of the
National Reconnaissance Office.
I was privileged to meet with members of the Committee to
hear your views and goals for the NRO and the Intelligence
Community. I would also like to thank the Committee staff, as I
know it's a tremendous amount of work that goes into any
confirmation hearing. I am honored to have been nominated by
the President. I am also grateful that Acting Secretary of
Defense Shanahan and Director of National Intelligence Coats
have the trust and confidence of my ability to serve in this
new capacity. If confirmed, I look forward to working with you
and with the extraordinary women and men of the NRO.
I am profoundly grateful to have my family here with me
today. My wife of 38 years, Dianne, and our children Jenny,
Daniel, Lauren and Anna. I'd also like to acknowledge Jenny's
husband Mark, Dan's wife Moore is not here unfortunately, as
well as Lauren's fiance Ian and Anna's friend Mike. Their
unconditional support means the world to me.
Additionally, I want to remember my parents. They passed
away many, many years ago. My father was a typewriter repairman
and my mother was a secretary. They encouraged my sister and I
to go to college so that we could have a better life and more
opportunities. I think about them daily and the many sacrifices
they made for me and my sister so that I could be here today.
I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. It was a
wonderful place to grow up. As a young child I was inspired by
the space program and space exploration. What intrigued me the
most were the machines and the computers that made it possible
to look back at our Earth and to visit other planets. I spent a
lot of time in school building rockets and electronic devices
for fun. My science teacher, Mr. Weiss, encouraged me to take
that fun and enter the Western New York Science Fair, which I
went on to win with a project calculating the drag coefficient
of rockets. That early passion set the trajectory for my
career, a path that has led me to be here today as the nominee
for the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Mr. Chairman, I am proud to have had 40 years of service in
the Navy and NASA. I've been fortunate to be involved with
diverse systems such as nuclear submarines and spacecraft that
have been instrumental in protecting our national security and
advancing our knowledge of the Earth and the universe.
During the last three decades at NASA I have had the
opportunity to work on the full range of NASA's missions, from
sending humans into space to missions that are providing data
about the earth and the universe. I held various positions
involved in the design, development, acquisition, launch, and
operation of space systems, large and small, scaled to
accomplish our goals.
Under my leadership, Goddard Space Flight Center developed
satellites and space systems to meet requirements for NASA and
other organizations. To accomplish these missions, I challenged
the teams I led to develop new capabilities, seek opportunities
to inject new technologies, leverage commercial capabilities,
and collaborate with partners. I ensured that the valuable
lessons we learned were incorporated into plans that have
resulted in improved performance on recent missions, meeting
technical costs, and schedule requirements. These best
practices have been applied across a range of missions for NASA
and other organizations, such as NOAA and the USGS.
I also found that it is critical to communicate often with
all parties involved to ensure that common understanding of
progress and risk so adjustments can be made when necessary and
when they are still affordable. It was also clear to me while
leading Goddard that interagency cooperation and collaboration
is key to success at the national level. If confirmed, I will
make interagency collaboration a priority at the NRO.
Additionally, the growth of a commercial space industry
capable of launching satellites and providing data is an
opportunity that should be leveraged to replace or enhance
required capabilities. At the same time, the continued advance
of technology in all areas from artificial intelligence to
material science provides an opportunity to maintain our
national space advantage in an increasingly competitive and
contested environment. The combination of commercial
capabilities, technological advancements, and Government-
developed systems provides opportunities to expand the supplier
base, improve performance, reduce cost, and enhance resiliency.
In organizations, people are at the heart of its success.
At NASA I have had an opportunity to lead a large, diverse
workforce. Nothing can be accomplished without the talented men
and women who are motivated to accomplish the mission. I am
proud to be part of NASA, which has been ranked as the best
place to work in Government for the past seven years. I am also
proud of creating an environment at Goddard that was also
ranked as one of the best places to work in Federal Government.
If confirmed, I am committed to fostering an environment at the
NRO that welcomes diverse views, invites new concepts, and
energizes its workforce every day. This includes recruiting,
training, and retaining a world-class workforce, allowing the
NRO to provide premier space reconnaissance capabilities.
In closing, the NRO is one of the fabled organizations of
the Space Age and the capabilities that it has provided have
been instrumental in maintaining the United States' strategic
advantage. The NRO helps keep our country and the world safe
from those who seek to do us harm. I am honored to be
considered for this position. If confirmed, I look forward to
working closely with this Committee and the entire Congress to
leverage our opportunities and address our challenges. If
confirmed, I will seek your support for the women and men of
the National Reconnaissance Office and to ensure that the NRO
has the support it needs to continue developing and operating
the world's premiere reconnaissance satellites delivering
critical intelligence to policy makers, intelligence analysts,
and war fighters.
Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you and the Committee for the
hard work that it put into the oversight process. If confirmed
as Director, I will uphold the National Reconnaissance Office's
obligations to Congress and the American people.
Chairman Burr, Vice Chairman Warner, and distinguished
members of the Committee, thank you the opportunity to appear
before you today. I look forward to answering your questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Scolese follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman Burr. Dr. Scolese, thank you very much for that
testimony and once again thank you to your family for their
willingness to go along with this.
Before we begin, I'd like to advise members that pursuant
to Senate Resolution 400, Dr. Scolese's nomination will be
referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee after our
Committee reports his nomination to the full Senate. It's my
intention to move to a Committee vote on this nomination as
soon as possible.
Therefore, for planning purposes, if any members wish to
submit questions for the record after today's hearing, please
do so by close of business today. With that, the Chair would
recognize himself for up to five minutes and then members by
order of seniority.
Dr. Scolese, in your response to the Committee's additional
prehearing questions, you recognized that the NRO, and I quote,
``maintains close partnerships across the IC and with defense-
and space-facing organizations such as the National Security
Agency, the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, National
Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Air Force Space Command, U.S.
Strategic Command, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.'' You further stated that if confirmed you
would work with IC partners such as NSA and the NGA to ensure
NRO-developed mission-models are leveraged across the IC to
maximize their value.
Do you support the NRO remaining as an element of the
Intelligence Community?
Dr. Scolese. I do.
Chairman Burr. How would you respond to those who propose
to move the NRO from the Intelligence Community, for instance,
to be part of Space Force?
Dr. Scolese. Senator, I recognize that SPD-4 was very clear
in identifying that NRO was separate from the Space Force. I
think that's the correct way to go as the NRO supports the
Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, the
combatant commanders, as well as the civil community. And as
such it has broad responsibilities that I believe can best be
satisfied with the current arrangement with the NRO separate
from the Space Force.
At the same time, I recognize if the Space Force is
created, the NRO must collaborate with it as it does with the
other services and the Air Force today.
Chairman Burr. You moved from an institution where you sort
of have full control over what you're doing and the impact that
you're trying to make. And now you'll lead an agency that
really does supply customers with very specific information.
How would you guarantee that NRO meets those requirements for
the Intelligence Community?
Dr. Scolese. Actually, I have experience with that at NASA.
Many of our missions, particularly at the Goddard Space Flight
Center, support other organizations such as NOAA and the U.S.
Geological Survey, as well as supporting the science community.
Those organizations typically develop their requirements and
their desires and it's our responsibility to work with them to
understand how we can best accomplish the set of requirements
that they've developed, and that includes a discussion about
the resources that we have available to us, the technological
capabilities that are available, perhaps commercial and other
organizations that may be providing similar data or maybe
exactly what they're looking for. I would intend to bring that
experience to the National Reconnaissance Office, if confirmed,
to go off and do that. So, supporting a diverse customer base
and developing a mission based on requirements would be
something that I have some considerable experience with.
Chairman Burr. Let's talk about your workforce.
What are your plans for recruiting and retaining those with
a science, technology, engineering, arts, and math expertise if
confirmed?
Dr. Scolese. I believe one of the most important things in
retaining a workforce and attracting a workforce is having an
exciting mission. I've been fortunate in NASA to have that and
I believe that the NRO has a very exciting mission. Space is
exciting. Supporting our national defense and our national
security is critical and provides people with an opportunity to
serve their Nation and in ways that they best can do it.
I also believe that it's important to create an environment
where people can understand that their views will be respected,
that their personal views will be respected, that they have an
opportunity for advancement, and that they can use their
creativity to develop new capabilities and to support the war
fighter and the intelligence analysts. So, it would be my
intent to go off and work that. At the same time, I recognize
it's important to create a pipeline. It's been something that
is relatively easy at NASA because we don't have to worry about
security clearances as much. But I believe it's something that
needs to be looked at at the NRO, particularly now that there
is a cadre of NRO professionals to go and partner with
organizations so that we can in fact establish contacts with
people in college, for sure, and maybe even in high school to
encourage them to pursue careers in STEM--and hopefully view
the NRO as an object where they would want to work at.
Chairman Burr. If the Vice Chairman has his way, the
security clearance problem will go away and be fixed, and we'll
praise him for his work. With that, I recognize the Vice
Chairman.
Vice Chairman Warner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I appreciate the Chairman's first couple of questions.
I want to come back to them as well. The Chairman and I wrote a
letter to SASC [Senate Armed Services Committee] and the
Appropriations Committee on April 22 noting our concern with
Acting Secretary Shanahan's recent testimony about the need to
integrate NRO into the Space Force. In an answer to the
prehearing question, and I appreciate your answer to the
Chairman, you wrote, quote, ``one of the guiding principles in
the standup of the Space Force is to minimize risk to
mission.''
Do you think, in your opinion, would moving NRO to Space
Force or reorganizing it in some ways hit that goal of
minimizing risk to mission?
Dr. Scolese. Any change in an organization typically needs
to be done very carefully, otherwise you could increase risk.
So, any changes need to be evaluated very carefully and
understood before they're implemented to make sure that you
don't impact the mission. And as I mentioned, I believe that
the NRO should stay separate as indicated in SPD-4 and that
would allow the NRO to continue to pursue its mission as well
as it does today.
Vice Chairman Warner. With an organization that's funded 91
percent by the National Intelligence Program, and clearly this
Committee feels very strongly on this. I appreciate your
testimony today and earlier conversations that you will resist
these bureaucratic moves to potentially roll NRO into Space
Force. I hope as you move forward, and I hope you will move
forward in your nomination, that you will constantly turn to
this Committee if you need assistance on that challenge going
forward.
I want to move to another area that the Chairman and I have
been working on. I think we've made some progress in certain
areas like radar, but we're very concerned that the pace of
development and acquisition at NRO historically has been pretty
slow and--with almost Moore's Law hitting satellites now--if
you've got a two-year requirements document and then a two-year
RFP, you know you may have technology that may have leapt over
your whole process.
How can you take some of the lessons you've learned at
NASA, bring them over to NRO, to speed up this development
acquisition process?
Dr. Scolese. One of the things that we did at NASA is
recognize that commercially developed satellites, as an
example, are extremely capable and can greatly increase the
pace at which we can field missions. We called it the Rapid
Space Craft Development Office and we've had great success with
it. It allows us to buy a satellite that we know will work,
that the commercial sector has developed, and then we focus on
the things that the Government needs to do--the scientific
instruments or the detection technologies that are required--
that reduces our cost-risk because we're buying a satellite
that we know is going to operate. We know what it's going to
cost. It allows us to focus on the technologies that we need to
advance in order to accomplish a mission. It gets the mission
done quicker because you know the interface that you're going
to have to work with, because a spacecraft is built, and it's
proven to be extremely valuable. Our weather satellites today,
as an example, we demonstrated this to NOAA with a satellite
called the ``Suomi NPP,'' where we used a commercial satellite
and put weather satellites on it--developed it very quickly to
fill a gap--and now our polar weather satellites are built that
way. It gives us a greater variety. It gives us more resilience
because now we can go to other vendors that have satellites
that will operate in that orbit. And in fact, have demonstrated
that we can do that. The U.S. Geological Survey is now relying
on those types of satellites and that mission development for
the Landsat satellites which we have built relatively quickly.
We'd like to go faster still, but instrument development has
been a challenge. In addition, we have worked with other
organizations, commercial organizations, and in fact just a
little bit ago, about six months ago, we launched a sensor on a
commercial communications satellite demonstrating the ability
to do science that way as well.
Vice Chairman Warner. I'm going to get one last question
in, and I appreciate those examples. I also appreciate your
references to the ability to partner with commercial. I want to
personally thank you for coming with the NASA administrator
last week to Wallops, and as you know, a lot of investment is
going in at Wallops, including a new classified payload
processing facility that we both toured. NRO has already
scheduled a couple of launches out of Wallops this year.
My last question is: if confirmed at NRO how would you view
the mission of NRO in terms of launch and the ability to
further partner with this new state-of-the-art facility at
Wallops?
Dr. Scolese. Wallops Flight Facility is part of my current
responsibilities as director of Goddard Space Flight Center.
It's a wonderful capability that we should certainly take
advantage of and having a diversity of launch. It's certainly
beneficial to the Nation, and Wallops should play an absolutely
critical part. As we discussed last week, we now have an
ability to process classified payloads and we have a range of
launch vehicles that we can support there. So, it very much can
support the NRO mission as well as commercial and NASA
missions.
Vice Chairman Warner. I look forward to continuing the
conversations we started last week. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Burr. Senator Cornyn.
Senator Cornyn. Dr. Scolese, congratulations on your
nomination. I wonder if you would describe the state of our
Government's work in space, including NRO's, relative to our
international competitors: Chinese, Russians, others, Indians.
Could you give us sort of an overview of where do you think we
stand and where we're stronger, where we have some
vulnerabilities compared to our peers?
Dr. Scolese. Yes, Senator. Overall, I believe the United
States is still the leader in space exploration and in overhead
reconnaissance. But I recognize that we're existing in a much
more competitive environment where our competitors in Russia,
in China, and in others are developing capabilities that are
approaching the capabilities of ours. And it's something that
we need to focus on to constantly stay in front of, by
investing in the technologies and working with partners in the
commercial industry and our colleagues in other nations to
enhance our capabilities.
I'd also recognize that we're under an increasing threat
both from physical attack--the most recent demonstration was
the ASAT that India demonstrated a few weeks ago--that
increases the challenges that we have to our overhead
reconnaissance and our satellites. And also, cyber-attacks. Our
ground systems need to be secured and protected against those
types of attacks so that we can maintain control of our
satellites. So, we're existing in a much more congested and
contested environment and it's our responsibility to
continually find ways to improve our resiliency through
technological advance, partnerships with others, reliance on
other systems so that we have a diversity of systems and if
confirmed as Director of NRO, I would certainly pursue those
goals.
Senator Cornyn. Well, it seems to me one natural advantage
America has over our competitors around the world is our
vibrant, innovative private sector. You've talked a little bit
about how to leverage the private sector, but it seems to me
there are also some challenges when there's not a lot of
competition available for some of these missions and some of
these products. Of course, the Army has just created the Army
Futures Command to try to leverage some of the private sector
innovation and lower cost and stay ahead of our competitors.
But what other steps do you think we need to take in order to
increase competitive opportunities so that we can continue to
maintain our technological edge compared to our competitors?
Dr. Scolese. I think we're at a good time in our country
with increasing number of commercial organizations that can
provide launch across a range of capabilities from small to
large as well as a burgeoning satellite manufacturing
capability ranging from CubeSats to larger satellites. And I
recognize that the NRO and other organizations, NASA included,
are adjusting their architectures to deal with that--to allow
for more opportunity for different vendors to compete and have
an opportunity to enhance our capabilities by providing us new
technologies or by providing us manufacturing capabilities that
typically the Government sector doesn't have and will allow us
to produce more systems more quickly to allow us to keep that
technological advantage over our adversaries.
So, I think the combination of a strong commercial sector
now and a burgeoning commercial sector that gives us a full
range of capabilities will really enhance our ability to stay
at the forefront of national defense and protecting our
country.
Senator Cornyn. Will you pledge to do everything you can
within your authorities to try to maintain that sort of
competition so that we don't get stuck with sole source either
products that basically hold the taxpayer hostage and denies
this great competitive opportunity we have in terms of keeping
our technology at the forefront?
Dr. Scolese. If confirmed, and as part of my career, I have
always supported competition. I will continue to support
competition.
Senator Cornyn. Thank you.
Chairman Burr. The Chair is going to recognize himself for
a few more questions.
Dr. Scolese, leaks of classified information put sensitive
sources and methods at risk, causing irreparable damage to our
national security. In your responses to the Committee's
additional prehearing questions you stated that safeguarding
our classified information and capabilities is a fundamental
requirement for success. If confirmed, how do you plan to
address the security of sensitive and classified information?
Dr. Scolese. My understanding of how the NRO does that is
something that we would have to continue to do by making sure
that we hire the right people. That they have the right
background checks that are on the personnel side. Also, we have
to recognize that cyber-attacks are also critical and while I'm
not fully briefed on the capabilities of the NRO, I do know
that it's a national interest. It's something that NASA faces
each and every day and we work to make sure that our systems
are secure.
I recognize that it's an ever-changing environment and
we're going to have to adapt and constantly improve our
cybersecurity techniques as well as working our physical
security for our systems. And intellectual property, working
with our vendors and the university environment to assure that
we protect that intellectual property that's absolutely
critical for our national defense, while at the same time
allowing those technologies to be used to benefit our
commercial sector and advance our competitive advantage
throughout the world. So, it's a complicated balancing of
capabilities, but something that I'm fully committed to and
something that I've had a lot of experience with at NASA.
Chairman Burr. One last question. Will you commit to
reporting to this Committee any security breaches that you find
have happened and the process NRO makes towards preventing and
deterring unauthorized disclosures of classified information?
Dr. Scolese. Yes, I will.
Chairman Burr. Vice Chairman.
Vice Chairman Warner. Let me also just say to your family
the fact that we're little light on attendance this morning is
actually a good sign.
You know one of the things that you're going to bring, and
Senator Cardin went through your background--extraordinarily
impressive--but you are going to be moving from the kind of
rocket-scientist world to the Intelligence Community world. I'd
like you to talk to that.
And one of the things I think clearly NASA has done better
than NRO--we've got to make sure that the workforce looks like
the rest of America in terms of diversity, in terms of women.
Can you speak to efforts that may have taken place at NASA and
how you might bring that same notion to NRO to make sure NRO's
more reflective of what America looks like and specifically how
do you think the transition will go from the NASA rocket
science nonclassified world, in most part, to taking on
leadership of one of the most critical components of the whole
Intelligence Community?
It's a two-part question.
Dr. Scolese. It's two part. I understand, Sir. My
experience at NASA and looking at my understanding what the NRO
does are actually very similar. At Goddard in particular, we
develop satellites, either in house or more commonly with the
industrial sector and a broad spectrum of the industrial
sector. So, we design and build satellites that operate in
earth's orbits similar to what the NRO does, different purpose,
but looking down at the earth, operating in often the same
regime. We share, many times, vendors, the suppliers of
satellites and rockets. We use typically the same. We also work
together very closely in assuring that our supply chain is
meeting the needs of the community. So, we have a lot of
interaction there. And we work in technological areas. So, a
lot of the experience that I have at NASA, particularly at
Goddard, is very relevant to the NRO function and performance.
The specific details may be different in terms of how we task
our satellites to do things and who has the authority to task
the satellites.
But we still do tasking; for instance, the Hubble Space
Telescope has to be tasked, and the Landsat satellites have to
be tasked in order to acquire whatever data that they may need
to look at. So, very similar functions and I can bring that
knowledge there. There are certainly things that I will be
learning if confirmed at NRO. So, I think we have, you know,
very complementary and similar objectives and work with a
similar supplier base, if you will, and can bring slightly
different experiences to the NRO that may benefit the mission.
From a diversity and inclusion standpoint, as you
mentioned, at NASA we have a very diverse workforce,
particularly at Goddard, and it's been a focus of mine as the
director of the Goddard Space Flight Center.
One of the reasons I believe that Goddard has performed so
well as one of the best places to work within NASA and within
the Government is because of our diverse workforce. Some of the
things that we have done there is create advisory committees
where the various groups within the organization, we have a
woman's advisory group. We have an African American advisory
group, Hispanic. We also have a veteran's advisory group. So,
we try and work with the communities to understand what are the
issues that the organization is supporting or not supporting.
They tend to be very positive and constructive discussions
about what we can do from an organizational standpoint, what's
in our control and how we can improve the environment at the
center.
I would bring that same type of experience to the NRO, if
confirmed, and bring the same commitment to diversity and
inclusion which includes establishing a pipeline. It's not just
putting the right people in the right job, but it's making sure
that people have an opportunity to advance and that there is a
pipeline all the way from the university, for sure, all the way
up to the most senior positions in the organization.
Vice Chairman Warner. It sounds like Goddard knows where
you got a very robust internship program.
Dr. Scolese. Yes, we do.
Vice Chairman Warner. Little harder on the intel side but
something that I hope you'll try to explore.
Dr. Scolese. I will definitely try and explore that and
that's one of the reasons for having the pipeline. The reason I
mentioned the advisory committees is because we ask them to go
off and talk with people from their universities and say, hey,
Goddard is a great place to come and work at and you can see
I'm there and what I can accomplish. So, yes, we want to
establish that pipeline and I would, if confirmed, work at NRO
to try and establish an internship program that would allow us
to start that pipeline up.
Vice Chairman Warner. And I have no further questions.
Senator King I'm sure will have a question or two, but the one
thing that is a little unique at NRO also is their special
relationship with NGA. And I think things have been pretty good
on that front the last few years and I know from our earlier
conversation you'll commit to make sure that strong partnership
as one of your premiere customers will continue.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Scolese. Absolutely.
Chairman Burr. Senator King.
Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Scolese, I'm sure you're aware of the GAO report that
recently came out. It's not very encouraging. It indicates a
deterioration in cost performance and on-time launch
performance. Are you aware of this report? Have you seen this?
Dr. Scolese. Yes.
Senator King. What do we do about it?
Dr. Scolese. One of the things that's very important is to
learn from all of our experiences at NASA and at Goddard in
particular, we had the opportunity to work with many different
organizations and accomplish many different missions. One of
the things that I did as chief engineer, and continued on while
I was in other positions, was to go off and look and understand
why our missions didn't perform quite as well as we would like
in terms of cost and schedule. Technically, they have met their
objectives and done that very well. We developed some
guidelines for missions to follow and since we adapted those
guidelines, most of the science missions at the Goddard Space
Flight Center have in fact performed at or better than
expected. So, it's lessons learned that are absolutely critical
to take forward.
Senator King. Are you open to cooperating with GAO?
Including their people in your analysis and reports on what
you're doing? I think GAO is an important asset.
Dr. Scolese. Absolutely. And in fact, when I mentioned the
study we did, we relied heavily on GAO's reports from the past
and at that time current reports and we continue to look at
those and take those extremely seriously.
Senator King. You have tremendous experience. There's no
doubt about that and your background is exceptional for this
position. On the other hand, one of the differences is that
NASA is a wholly civilian, sort of on its own timeline. I'm
about to use a phrase I haven't heard in a long time. ``Space
race.'' We're now in a space race. And it's a race not only in
terms of getting hardware up there, but what the hardware is
and what it can do and what the capabilities are. This is not
an academic research exercise. This is a very serious national
security question.
Are you prepared to make the switch from NASA to NRO in
terms of the orientation toward the urgency of this enterprise?
Dr. Scolese. Absolutely. At Goddard we also have
participated in national security. We support the NOAA and the
USGS in providing the weather satellites and the environmental
satellites that our Nation relies on to not only predict the
weather but to predict severe storms. And I recognize that the
NRO is a different mission, but it's similar to what we have
done at NASA and if confirmed, I believe I can shift over to
the requirements and responsibilities of the NRO.
Senator King. At Goddard and NASA were you involved in the
sort of discussion as between larger satellites, smaller
satellites? Do you feel that smaller satellites is an important
direction that we have to go in terms of both speed of
deployment, resiliency, and all those things? Give me your
thoughts on small versus large in space.
Dr. Scolese. Absolutely. I believe that there's room for
all types of satellites, and small satellites certainly play an
important role. They are satellites that we can develop quicker
to develop, to identify, to mature technologies, and
demonstrate capabilities at a higher pace than you can with
larger satellites. At the same time, we have to recognize that
there are physics that may determine the size of a satellite.
But certainly, smaller satellites are something that are
critical. They can improve, as I said, our ability to address
technologies, to demonstrate capabilities, to enhance our
resilience, to get capabilities up there sooner. And we have
utilized those at NASA, and if confirmed I would bring that
same intention to the National Reconnaissance Office.
Senator King. Two points and my time is about to run out.
One is the importance of close, close, close communication and
collaboration with NGA to be sure that we're doing what they
need in terms of their being the customer and their ultimate
customers in the Intelligence Community. I think that's
incredibly important. And I think the word for the future is
going to be resiliency and I think that's got to be a top of
mind consideration in all of our future space endeavors based
upon what we know is happening out in the competitive world and
I hope you'll bear that in mind.
Dr. Scolese. Absolutely.
Senator King. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Burr. Senator Harris.
Senator Harris. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Scolese, thank you for your years of service at NASA.
You have an extraordinary background and in many ways, I
believe you're a great fit for this position. But I notice that
you have not worked in the Intelligence Community before. So,
it's obviously going to be a unique experience and you'll be
leading a large organization. I know in my short time in the
Senate I've had to learn all the acronyms and of course there's
lots of secrecy involved in the work of the IC.
So, what do you anticipate as being the greatest challenge
for you in making the transition into the IC?
Dr. Scolese. I have experience working with the NRO and
other organizations, the Air Force, the Navy. Early in my
career for sure in the Navy. So, I have experience working in a
classified environment and supporting that. Certainly, you're
right. Learning all the new acronyms will certainly be a
challenge. However, I think my background in space systems
development and acquisition and my understanding of the NRO's
you know responsibilities overlap very well. There will be
differences clearly in how NASA did it and NRO did it and how
it needs to be done in the Intelligence Community but I'm
certain that I can learn those quickly and become a
contributing member.
Senator Harris. Great. And at NASA you've been--and I thank
you for this--a proponent of adoption of cutting-edge
commercial technology and integrating those into programs. So,
if confirmed how would you accelerate the rate of technology
adoption at the NRO?
Dr. Scolese. I think the similar way to what you would do
it in any organization, which is to establish a technology
pipeline, so that you have technologies that you're working on,
that address questions that you think may be out there, or
capabilities that may be needed five years from now or ten
years from now. Understanding what others are doing as well
because you don't have the answers in all cases so
understanding what's going on in universities, understanding
what's going on in industry, and sharing that with the user
community--with the NGA, the NSA, and the broader community
that's out there in the Department of Defense and the
Intelligence Community--so they can understand what you're
working on, what you think has benefit, and harmonize that with
the requirements that they see currently so that you can
improve performance today either by acquiring better data or
reducing cost or improving resiliency or addressing a question
that we think is going to come out in the future. And
collaborations and recognizing the capabilities of the
commercial sector as well as our partners internationally and
in other agencies to enhance the mission.
Senator Harris. And I appreciate your point about the need
for interagency communication and sometimes we do that well in
Government and sometimes we don't.
How do you propose to be effective with that goal?
Dr. Scolese. Something we have experience with at the
Goddard Space Flight Center is we acquire the weather
satellites for NOAA, and we acquire the land remote sensing
satellites for the U.S. Geological Survey. I would bring that
experience to the NRO. The main thing is to have frequent and
regular communications so we understand both what is desired by
the user community, and understand whatever issues they may
have with the performance of our organization, and at the same
time explain the other way what our challenges are, what our
accomplishments are, so that we can come to a common
understanding of where we are, what our risks are and be able
to address those quickly and effectively and not just have a
phone call when there's a problem.
Senator Harris. And then, I've just about a minute left,
but on the subject of AI technology, what areas of the NRO's
mission do you think would benefit from an incorporation and
adoption of AI?
Dr. Scolese. My experiences in AI can support all aspects
of the mission. Certainly, in terms of determining which data
from a huge dataset is of interest to the intelligence analysts
or the combatant commander along with understanding the
complexities of managing a constellation of satellites as we
move into constellations. We've even found that AI can help us
in identifying causes for anomalies on spacecraft or ground
systems. So, AI I think can help us across the spectrum of
capabilities that the NRO provides.
Senator Harris. Thank you.
Chairman Burr. Thank you, Senator Harris and Senator King.
All good things come to an end. This has now come to an
end, based upon the folks that are here.
Chris, I want to thank you again for your 40 years of
service, more importantly for what I think is the biggest
commitment of your career and you're well prepared to do it.
Your comments about partnering with a commercial satellite
platform to fill a gap for NOAA reminded me that no agency is
going to be impacted by the acceleration of technology more
than the NRO. And as you know, in this town the architecture
isn't designed for things to happen quickly. But intelligence
is a function of getting what you need as quickly as you can so
that policy makers and warfighters can make the right
decisions. This has been a tough road to try to culturally
manipulate at NRO, and I say that not as a criticism. I really
say it because it's a commitment to do things differently.
It's a challenge for us to unleash the talents and the
expertise at NRO to exceed what your customers expect. And
those expectations are on content, on frequency. I think the
day that as NRO Director you fill those gaps that exist around
the world that are persistent right now, you will have exceeded
customers' expectations. I think the Vice Chairman and I are
reminded every day that we look at what NRO does and one of the
things we've asked for years was: my God why does it cost so
much to launch these things? And how can we get launch costs
down?
Well, you know, that's just a reality of dealing with big
things. And along came Elon Musk and there were a number of
things, competition. Had SpaceX not done what they did, then we
might still not have boosters that return to where they
launched from, and if they didn't return to where they launched
from we wouldn't have learned that geez if you reuse a used
booster, the insurance cost of that relaunch is actually
cheaper than the first launch because they know it works. And
so, what brought down significantly launch costs, brought down
further as we experienced it on things that we weren't even
looking for. The way this Committee looks at it, that's savings
that we're able to pump back into big or small platforms, to
push research and development of technologies.
My parting comment to you is this: Be a leader.
I think you will be. Challenge the great talent that's at
NRO to perform better, to have more partnerships, not just to
rely on a contractor to put the array of new technologies out
and say: here's the buffet, pick what you want. Listen to your
customers and search through every means possible to see what
technologies are out there, if just reconfigured in a different
way might better fit the needs versus just what you're being
offered.
I think Senator King hit on a very important thing. We have
no choice. We have to be faster. We have to concentrate more on
providing the technologies that provide the customers the
products that they need. I will tell you that as a Committee we
realize that with a faster pace brings a higher level of risk.
The challenging thing for us is that we're transitioning
but we still look at life expectancies that far exceed the
technology that's hanging on the platform. And it's time that
we get the platform design life in sync with what is a
scheduled technological change in what we've got the
capabilities to do. That's a transition that can only take
somebody that's been in a role like you've been in. So, I
personally look forward to the leadership and the challenges
that you will challenge the workforce to, because I think they
are incredibly talented and will meet whatever expectations you
set for them.
So, let me say you have the full support of this Committee.
We'll expedite your nomination as quickly as we possibly can.
My hope is that we can take it up on the floor as quickly as we
report it, and I'll count on the members of this Committee to
push that. We'd like to have you there tomorrow if we could.
It's not going to work quite that fast.
I will apologize once again to your family: if you thought
he kept long hours before, they're going to be longer now--and
take a snapshot because his hair will be gray in a couple of
years. And they will be well earned.
Thank you for your willingness to do this.
This hearing is adjourned.
Dr. Scolese. Thank you, Sir.
[Whereupon at 10:07 a.m. the hearing was adjourned.]
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