Ted Budd Presses Army Corps Nominee About Their Presence In Local Community Natural Disaster Recovery

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During Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) questioned military nominees about natural disaster recovery programs.

Transcript

00:00Senator Budd. Thank you, Chairman. And again, congratulations to all of you for your nomination.

00:06I appreciate your willingness to serve. Mr. Tell, if confirmed, you'd oversee the Army Corps of

00:11Engineers. It's an organization predominantly focused on critical infrastructure and complex

00:16civil works. However, I hear from a lot of military leaders, particularly in North Carolina,

00:21that sometimes they're required to go through the Corps for certain things that just don't make

00:25sense, like minor building repairs, road repairs. It causes long waits and it leads to substandard

00:33conditions for our troops, unfortunately. So if confirmed, would you be willing to look at such

00:39policies? And I've heard these policies referred to by my colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

00:44A few moments ago, I've heard them called black holes, red tape, bureaucratic nightmares. But would

00:51you take a look at these policies and potentially grant more authorities to local personnel to work

00:57on their own infrastructure? Senator Budd, thank you for the question.

01:02You've addressed a problem that is one that is of critical importance for our nation, for our

01:06competitiveness, which has to do with permitting and making sure that we're

01:13making sure that we're streamlining the permitting process to ensure that interested parties, both in

01:18the economy and national security and defense-related interests, are able to do the work that they

01:23need to do to complete their missions. We have a patchwork of permitting requirements at the federal

01:31level that is confusing. We need to be taking processes that are currently being performed in series.

01:40A process doesn't move to the next desk until the first desk that completes the work on it. We need to be

01:45doing those things in parallel instead of in series to deliver results to the public. We need to be

01:50transparent about what the holdups are. We need to be communicating with stakeholders across the board

01:56in a very clear way, even if it's not the answer that they want to hear, so that they can do what's

02:01necessary to move progress forward, both with regard to our economy and national security.

02:08I want to continue on. The Army Corps has played a huge role in the cleanup from Hurricane Helene.

02:15In western North Carolina, you're very familiar with that, so I appreciate your addressing it, but

02:22will you commit to furthering the Army Corps' role in helping communities recover from natural disasters,

02:27and specifically for North Carolina, Hurricane Helene? Senator Budd, absolutely, and as you

02:33acknowledged, this is a project that has of critical importance to western North Carolina, but also

02:38East Tennessee and other surrounding areas, South Carolina, West Virginia, Southwest Virginia. This storm

02:45affected a large swath of the country. It devastated communities with floods that they

02:50couldn't even believe were occurring, and of course, the Corps of Engineers' primary

02:55responsibility under the national response framework is debris removal, which wound up being a huge issue as

03:00as plant matter, vegetation, and personal property were washed into the waterways, further exacerbating

03:11the problem, and I'm pleased to say that the Corps of Engineers was one of the first federal agencies on

03:16the scene. I'm disappointed to say that other federal agencies were not as responsive as the people of

03:20North Carolina deserve, and I look forward to working with you in every way possible to make

03:24sure that they recover from this disaster. I look forward to working together to get

03:28western North Carolina back on its feet. Thank you. Senator, you've done an incredible job

03:32being there on the ground. We've noticed it. Senator Haggerty's been there with you as well.

03:36Thank you for your attention to this. And we'll continue. Thank you. Mr. Anderson,

03:40thanks again for being here. Congrats on your nomination. You know, as artificial intelligence becomes more

03:45common and unmanned collaborative combat aircraft makes its way into the force structure,

03:51do you see the Air Force manpower requirements changing in the coming years?

03:56Thank you for the question, Senator. As we develop new capabilities and new platforms,

04:03obviously we will require a new generation of airmen and guardians in order to operate,

04:10maintain those systems. And so, yes, I do see an increasing manpower requirement. If confirmed,

04:16my intention is to get on the inside of this very vigorously and try to lead turn and to work with

04:22this committee. Thank you very much. Dr. Napoli, since 9-11, the United States has made great strides

04:30in preventing terrorists from gaining nuclear material that could be used in an attack against the

04:34United States. However, the threat still exists, and I'm concerned that as we focus on great

04:39power competition that we let the pressure off of these terrorist organizations from gaining access

04:45to nuclear material. So, if confirmed, how are you going to address this challenge?

04:51Thank you, Senator. Non-state actors seeking nuclear and radiological weapons and the associated

04:56technologies for those weapons is of the utmost importance. There is an incredible team at the

05:03Office of Defense Nuclear Non-Proliferation, both here in Washington and spread throughout the

05:07laboratories and field offices that are addressing this specific issue. I've not been read into all

05:12the details that are, you know, the tools and tool sets that we have at our disposal to address that

05:17issue. But if so, fortunate to be confirmed, I look forward to addressing that issue with the utmost urgency.

05:22Thank you very much. Chairman. Thank you, Senator Budd. Mr. Till, I hope once you take office,

05:32you'll give advice to the Congress about what legislation you need to remove these bureaucratic

05:40roadblocks. Senator Wicker, I look forward to doing that. It's critically important to our nation.

05:44Thank you, Senator.

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