Open Hearing: Nomination of Dr. Christopher Scolese to be the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

[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.] Supplemental Material [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] [all]

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