Richard Blumenthal

I am concerned that Iran is entrenching itself in Syria--establishing its proxy militias along the Israel-Syria border and creating a land bridge from Tehran to Beirut through Syria and Iraq.

I remain deeply concerned about the possibility of further instances that risk sparking more serious confrontations between Israel and Iran.

The United States Government suspended security assistance to Pakistan due to Pakistan's lack of effective actions.

According to a Reuters article this week, DOD estimates that 56 percent of Afghanistan is under government control.

The main objective of the strategy announced by the President in August is to prevent attacks against the United States Homeland.

Secretary Mattis, do you believe DOD requires additional authorities or authorizations to engage Russian disinformation operations?

Would you agree that Russia will continue to seek to meddle in our elections?

Would you agree that Russia has not been deterred by our actions thus far?

In February, Senators Nelson, Shaheen, and I sent a letter to you urging you to order CYBERCOM to prepare to engage Russian cyber operators.

I have the impression over the years that I have been on the Armed Services Committee that their cyber activities have mounted over the years.

I am concerned that these agreements have existed not just with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but with many other countries and with very little oversight from Congress during the administration of both parties.

The Navy will also employ modernization efforts, mid-life upgrades, and service life extension programs as needed to meet unforeseen variations in inventory demand.

Does the current rotary wing aircraft inventory meet the needs of a 355-ship Navy--regardless of the mix?

The challenge of gathering credible, deep, and penetrating intelligence cannot be overstated.

Do you agree that worker training grants provided by the Federal Government play an important role in supporting the defense industrial base?

Every worker that's at a shipyard that is working on the Columbia is part of our national security infrastructure.

The shipyards are a critical national asset to America. It's one of our strengths, and that workforce is essential to us being able to build Columbia, to be able to build Virginia.

The war on cost----as it's been called, is a common objective, here.

Senator, the F-35 is an amazing piece of gear in many fronts.

Well, I agree that actions speak louder than words, and I'm glad those actions are taking place.

So, you would commit to shifting a number of near-term backlog maintenance availabilities to the private yards to help smooth out the workload.

The Navy intends to execute all the workload programmed at the naval shipyards with no availabilities moving from public to the private sector.

We need to do more, and do better, to support them.

In my view, those attacks are an act of war. Would you agree?

Russia's actions threaten the foundations of democracy.