I firmly believe that if we preemptively attack North Korea, we will forfeit any ability to prevail in our long-term competition with China.

Is that your estimate?

The men and women of TRANSCOM perform duties that sustain the whole Department of Defense effort in protecting our nation's security.

countering these threats requires not only the Defense Department to integrate all the components of information warfare.

One of the great threats facing our democracy is influence operations, a type of information warfare which are mostly conducted through cyberspace.

The risk of interstate conflict, including among the world's great powers, is higher than at any time since the end of the cold war.

There are ongoing Russian direct or inspired cyberoperations against our electoral system, as we speak?

There is a possibility that the Kurds would gradually leave our efforts in order to protect their fellow Kurdish forces in Afrin.

I continue to be concerned with the availability of aircraft and the preparedness of our airmen.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

the President has not corrected any action on countering these threats.

It's legal, and it can be done.

Russia engaged in a sophisticated influence campaign during the 2016 election cycle.

We cannot afford to stand still in this area when our adversaries have been investing in their nuclear forces for the last 2 decades.

Russia is aggressively confronting the United States and its allies, seeking to destabilize the international order.

I do not think we will sit back and wait 'til they threaten to use a nuclear device.

I just do not think we have one, to be blunt.

would it make sense to review those provisions and give you more flexibility and ways in which you could conduct military-to-military dialogue with Russia in certain situations?

Despite recent reforms, lasting change will require your leadership and vision to sustain a whole-of-the-government approach.

That's something that would--is something we should do immediately, because--the nature of the threat.

We cannot dig ourselves out of the current readiness crisis in just 2 years.

Do you believe that it is in our national security interests to stay within the confines of the JCPOA?

Congress sent a clear bipartisan message that protecting servicemembers and their families from predatory and high cost lending was of paramount importance to their financial security and military readiness.

Do I have your personal assurance to do the same?

last September, President Trump took it upon himself to create an economic, humanitarian, and political crisis by rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, or DACA, without proposing a serious solution for the nearly…