Bill Nelson

General, you have had five successes in 4 years.

If you are going to have 16 more tests, and this thing is operational in 2004, you are really going to have a challenge of how do you pull it off of operational to get all those tests done.

The Missile Defense Agency is an R&D agency that has no operational control over the system it develops.

It is not clear how the national missile defense system to be deployed by 2004 will be manned 24 hours a day.

But the technical capability has to follow a policy decision. That is why I raised the issue for you to start thinking about.

If you get to the time period of 2008 to 2012 that you talked about and start to deploy space-based assets, if we were to ever have a policy decision that you wanted to have them removed from space so that space would not be weaponized, is…

General, with regard to the boost phase systems, the boost phase interceptor has to be very fast or it has to get very close in order to be effective.

With some of the rockets that we are going to go to Mars with, we can do it with that.

What do you think about the potential side benefit of this kind of system?

Although presumably the warhead would not be armed. Unless they do not have the arming techniques.

If you can shoot down a rocket in its boost phase with a laser from a big airplane, you can shoot down anything.

Do you not have a lot of promise on your boost phase right now with the Aegis system?

Let me ask a policy question to the secretary over there. That would be the first time that we would be weaponizing space.

How far along are we in the testing of the airborne laser?

If we are going to completely throw off the schedule of these folks, I do not want to do that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

That is why you need my vote.

When would you estimate that you would do a test of the space-based?

Why, then, is there no current capability against a real threat?

Yet you have had some interceptor successes?

So, since your statement in February, there has been such sufficient confidence in the system and the testing that you feel like that it is not going to affect the effectiveness in order to deploy this in 2004?

Mr. Christie, in your February assessment of the ground-based national missile defense program, you stated that 'only a very limited range of engagement parameters have been explored so far,' that 'overall only limited potential…

Secretary Roche, who is responsible for allowing the allegations of rape to go unanswered and for failing to provide the women cadets the care and attention they needed after such a traumatic event?

Secretary Roche, will you also provide the victims who left school before graduation an opportunity to again serve in the military?

If, after a thorough investigation of the facts and you determine that crimes were committed, will you now pursue criminal charges against the perpetrators?