[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 16, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5827-S5828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                Nomination of Barbara McConnell Barrett

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, a few weeks ago, I had an opportunity 
to come to the floor and talk about the outstanding public service of 
some senior U.S. marines: Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Secretary of 
Homeland Security General Kelly, and the outgoing Chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs, Gen. Joseph Dunford. The service these gentlemen have given to 
their Nation includes almost 140 years of combined Active-Duty military 
service in the Marine Corps but also at the highest levels of 
government at a critical time in our Nation's history.
  Men and women who are committed to the service of our Nation are 
continuing to follow in the footsteps of these three very impressive 
U.S. Marine generals who brought the Marine Corps ethos of honor, 
courage, and commitment to our Nation's military and to their work in 
government. We should all be thankful for that.
  At the end of September, I had the privilege of attending the 
swearing-in of a member of the new team that President Trump is putting 
together in terms of national security, GEN Mark Milley, as the next 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, now in the position succeeding 
General Dunford. At the Department of Defense, we have Secretary Esper, 
Secretary McCarthy, the Secretary of the Army, and General Milley who 
have all served their country with honor and will continue to do so.
  Now we are considering the nomination of Ambassador Barbara Barrett 
to be the next Secretary of the Air Force. In fact, we are going to be 
voting on her nomination in a few moments.
  I want to talk about her experience and her qualifications, which are 
diverse and very impressive. I think she is extremely well qualified to 
be the next Secretary of the U.S. Air Force.
  Let me provide just a bit about her background and exceptional 
experience. She is a private pilot, astronaut, Deputy Federal Aviation 
Administrator, past CEO of the Aerospace Corporation, past member of 
the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services and Defense 
Business Board. Importantly, she is a former U.S. Ambassador to 
Finland. That is a very impressive resume, a very impressive 
background.
  I first met Ambassador Barrett in 2015 when I had the opportunity to 
share dinner with her and the late Senator John McCain. Prior to that 
dinner, I was talking to Senator John McCain, and he told me how highly 
he thought of Ambassador Barrett. I can state--and I think many of my 
Senate colleagues will agree--that there can be no better an 
endorsement than that from Senator McCain.
  Ambassador Barrett will be taking over from Dr. Heather Wilson, who 
did an outstanding job as Secretary of the Air Force. Secretary 
Wilson's leadership was critical in rebuilding the U.S. Air Force, 
which had shrunk to its smallest level ever just a few years ago since 
the Air Force was created in the late 1940s. We had to start bringing 
it back. She did a great job on that, and I know Ambassador Barrett is 
committed to continuing that rebuilding of this critically important 
branch of our military.
  Another important element of Ambassador Barrett's experience is that 
as a former U.S. Ambassador to Finland, she understands the strategic 
importance of the Arctic and what is happening in terms of great power 
competition in the Arctic.
  I want to spend a few minutes talking about that critically important 
part of the world and the role of my State, the great State of Alaska. 
Dating back to Gen. Billy Mitchell, who is the father of the U.S. Air 
Force, Alaska has been recognized as what General Mitchell said in an 
Armed Services Committee hearing; that it is ``the most strategic place 
in the world.'' Former Secretary Wilson and our current Chief of the 
Staff of the Air Force, General Goldfein, have been leaders at the 
Department of Defense, raising awareness of the critical importance of 
the Arctic in defending America's national security interests. 
Additionally, Congress has been playing a role in highlighting this in 
our national security priorities in the National Defense Authorization 
Act over the last 3 years and so, too, has the Trump administration.
  Secretary Pompeo, our Secretary of State, was recently in Finland for 
the Arctic Council, all the nations of the Arctic, and he had this to 
say:

       We are entering a new age of strategic engagement in the 
     Arctic, complete with new threats to the Arctic and its real 
     estate. . . . This is America's moment to stand up as an 
     Arctic nation and for the Arctic's future.

  That was our Secretary of State a few months ago in Finland.
  America is an Arctic nation because of Alaska. I like to say that my 
State constitutes three pillars of America's military might. We are the 
cornerstone of missile defense for the entire Nation--the missile 
fields and the radar sites that protect Washington, DC, New York, 
Miami, Rhode Island, L.A. They are all based in the great State of 
Alaska. We are the hub of air combat power for the Arctic in the Asia-
Pacific.
  In the next 2 years, we are going to have over 100 fifth-generation 
fighters, F-35s and F-22s, stationed in Alaska.

[[Page S5828]]

No place on Earth will have that kind of combat power with those 
critical fifth-generation supersonic stealth fighters. We have a 
platform for expeditionary forces--some of our best trained military 
units--to be able to deploy on a moment's notice because we are so 
strategically located to other countries.
  Because of Alaska's strategic role in defending America's interests 
in the Arctic and the Indo-Pacific, the Congress and this 
administration, together in a bipartisan way, have been building up 
each of these three critical pillars of our Nation's military might and 
defenses.
  Let me give just one example. The Senate has been pushing lately to 
ensure that the air combat capability we have in Alaska is matched by 
air refueling capacity. The last three National Defense Authorization 
Acts passed by this body and signed by the President have established 
criteria that the Air Force needs to use when deciding where to base 
the next modern aerial refueling tanker platform, the KC-46.
  Ambassador Barrett and I have discussed this issue and what the Air 
Force is going to do with regard to stationing of the KC-46 outside of 
the continental United States, and I look forward to working with her 
on the advice already provided to the administration from the Congress 
on where those military assets need to be based.
  As the current Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, said in his 
confirmation hearing, having KC-46s colocated with 100 fifth-generation 
fighters would give America ``extreme strategic reach'' anywhere in the 
world. I believe Ambassador Barrett also understands this, and she 
clearly understands the importance of the Arctic as a former ambassador 
to Finland.
  So, as I mentioned at the outset, we need good people and highly 
qualified people to serve at the highest levels of our military, 
civilian and uniformed, and I believe Ambassador Barrett is certainly 
one of those individuals.
  I was heartened to see that my colleagues in the Senate gave a very 
strong bipartisan cloture vote, 84 to 7, which shows very strong 
support for her nomination. I know we are going to vote in a couple of 
minutes. I encourage my colleagues to vote yes for her nomination to be 
the next U.S. Secretary of the Air Force.
  I yield the floor.