WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the highest-ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, led his colleagues in a confirmation hearing examining the nominees for top posts at U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

Lieutenant General Randall Reed, nominee for commander of TRANSCOM, and Lieutenant General Xavier T. Brunson, nominee for commander of USFK, testified before the committee.

In his opening remarks, Senator Wicker highlighted the challenges in delivering logistics within a contested environment for TRANSCOM, especially as it comes to the Western Pacific. Senator Wicker noted that TRANSCOM has not requested even a single unfunded requirement for three consecutive years, suggesting that the command may not be adequately resourced to deal with urgent challenges.

Senator Wicker also took stock of the growing set of threats coming from North Korea, to include nuclear weapons development, the buildup of cruise missiles, and the export of certain munitions from North Korea to Russia and Iran. These actions, Senator Wicker argued, should prompt USFK to explore new ways of deterring Kim Jong Un and reduce his involvement with the “Axis of Aggressors” – potentially through more cooperation with South Korea.

Read the remarks as delivered below or watch them here.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Today, the committee is considering nominees for two crucial commands. Lieutenant General Reed, you've been nominated to be Commander, United States Transportation Command.

If confirmed, you'll be responsible for executing TRANSCOM’s mission of providing logistical support to combatant commanders around the globe. In your current role as Deputy Commander of Air Mobility Command, you have seen firsthand how logistics are often the determining factor in a fight.

We once considered logistics to be a minor factor in operational planning, but now we know better. We understand that logistics are essential to our ability to deter and defeat our adversaries. There is one way to ensure that those logistics capabilities are ready when needed, and that is by properly resourcing the Department.

We need our senior military leaders to tell us the hard truths about what they need, even when doing so contradicts the President's budget. And you and I spoke about this when we met person-to-person.

That transparency is so important that we made the Unfunded Priority Lists a statutory obligation. This will be your statutory obligation. I'm very troubled, as I told you, that TRANSCOM has not requested a single unfunded requirement for the last three fiscal years.

Lieutenant General Reed, if confirmed, I would look to you to begin performing that task – [we’re] not asking you to make anything up. We're just asking you to tell us what we need on contested logistics, particularly in the western Pacific. We need you to tell us what you need to get up to speed.

Now, Lieutenant General Brunson, you've been nominated to be Commander of US Forces Korea. My uncle served in Korea. Two generations later, my son has served in Korea.

Our alliance with the Republic of Korea dates back to the early days of the Cold War and the Korean War, when the Communist threat from the Soviet bloc and China turned into a hot war on the Korean Peninsula. Our bond with the Republic of Korea remains, even as the threat environment changes. The danger from North Korea continues to increase with each passing day.

Kim Jong Un has been developing and building more nuclear weapons, cruise missiles, and other capabilities – all of which pose an increasing threat to the United States and our allies. Moreover, we've seen troubling evidence that North Korean-made weapons have been used against innocent Ukrainians and Israelis.

To ensure that we maintain stability on the Peninsula, we need to start thinking about what capabilities the United States and South Korea need. We should also explore ways to reduce Kim Jong Un's ability to arm the ‘Axis of Aggressors.’

General Brunson, I look forward to hearing your thoughts about these troubling trends and how we can mitigate them.

Particularly, I look forward to hearing you discuss an issue that the chair raised a few moments ago about what lessons both our friends and our adversaries in the region are learning from what's going on in Ukraine.

So, to our nominees and their distinguished families, thank you for being here today and for their service to our country. And thank you, Representative Strickland, for being here also.