Chairman Visclosky Statement at Hearing on Space Force Organizational Plan

Congressman Pete Visclosky (IN-01), Chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks at the Subcommittee's hearing on the U.S. Space Force organizational plan:

The Subcommittee on Defense will come to order.

This afternoon the Subcommittee will receive testimony on the Department of the Air Force’s plans for standing up the Space Force. We welcome our two witnesses today:

General Thompson and General Crosier, welcome to your first appearance before the Committee.  We appreciate you being here to share your expertise.   

Just a mere seventy-five days ago, Congress established the U.S. Space Force as a new branch of the Armed Force.  The creation of the Space Force is the one of the most significant reorganizations within the Department of Defense since 1947.  Capabilities provided from space are an integral and essential part of our national security.  Growing threats posed by adversaries who seek to deny us the use of space warrant a serious examination of how the Space Force organizes, trains, and equips the forces that operate in the space domain.

Further, such a significant reorganization cannot be approached lightly or haphazardly, as it is critical that the foundation crafted is well constructed and provides a path to success for the Service, and the Department as a whole.  It is essential that those forming the policies and procedures for the Space Force actively engage the Congress, particularly the Appropriations Committee, to build and sustain support for the Space Force and its mission.  This will require that the Department provide unprecedented transparency to ensure that there is a common understanding and expectation of what this new Service will do, how it will do it, and what resources are needed.

My overarching concern is that it is still not clear to me what specific missions and capabilities the Space Force will carry out that the Air Force was not already performing.  For example, the Space Force budget projections over the next five years reflect current missions and no new capability.  So, will the Space Force simply execute existing space missions, but under a new organization?  Or is the Space Force organizing to do substantially new missions?  Either way, the FY 2021 budget request and the Space Force reports provided by DoD to date leave those questions unanswered.

Further, I understand that the Space Force aspires to minimize cost and bureaucracy and to implement a management approach that is lean and agile.  The plan is to accomplish this by leveraging existing support and services from the Air Force.  That is a common-sense approach; however, some aspects of the proposal raise questions.  Specifically, I am concerned that the Space Force will not have adequate decision-making authority over its acquisitions process, financial management, and recruiting.  And if the Space Force is not properly represented in negotiations where the Air Force is making resourcing decisions, then I fear that Space Force interests will be subordinate to those of its much larger sister service.  To be clear, I am not advocating for a ballooning Space Force bureaucracy, but we also should not be Pollyannaish during this critical period for the nascent service to begin integrating and synchronizing space efforts. 

I would like our witnesses to give us an update on the status of the plan for the Space Force and help us understand what issues having been decided and what issues remain.

With that, I thank you again for appearing before the Committee today to discuss these issues.  

We look forward to hearing your testimony.  But first, I would like to recognize our ranking member, Mr. Calvert, for his opening comments.