Statement for the Record
Dr. Christopher J. Scolese
Nominee for Director, National Reconnaissance Office
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
May 1, 2019

Introduction
Chairman Burr, Vice Chairman Warner, distinguished members of the committee – I am
honored to appear before you as the first Presidential appointee requiring Senate
confirmation for the position of Director of the National Reconnaissance Office.
Thank you for the opportunity to meet privately with several of you to hear your views
and goals for the National Reconnaissance Office and the Intelligence Community. I
would also like to note the efforts of the Committee staff, as I know there is a tremendous
amount of preparation that goes into any confirmation hearing.
I am honored to have been nominated by President Trump and grateful that the President,
Acting Secretary of Defense Shanahan, and Director of National Intelligence Coats have
the trust and confidence in my ability to continue serving our nation in this new capacity.
If confirmed, I look forward to working with you and with the extraordinary women and
men of the National Reconnaissance Office.
I am profoundly grateful to my family: my wife of 38 years—Dianne—and our four
children—Jenni, Daniel, Lauren, and Anna, who are here with me today. I would like to
acknowledge Jenni’s husband Marc, Dan’s wife Maura, and our granddaughter Maddie,
as well as Lauren’s fiancé Ian, and Anna’s friend Mike. Their unconditional support
means the world to me; I am truly thankful. Additionally, I want to remember my parents
who passed away many years ago. My father was a typewriter repair man, and my
mother was a secretary; they encouraged my sister and me to go to college so we could
have more opportunities. I think about them daily, recognizing the sacrifices they made
so that we could pursue our dreams.
I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and it was a wonderful place to grow up.
As a young child, I was inspired by the space program and space exploration. I was
fascinated by all aspects of space exploration. What intrigued me the most were the
machines and computers that made it possible to look at our Earth and visit other planets.
I spent a lot of time in school building rockets and electronic devices for fun. My science
teacher—Mr. Weiss—encouraged me to enter the western New York Science Fair, which
I went on to win with a project calculating the drag coefficient of rockets. That early
passion set the trajectory for my career—a path that has led me to be here before you
today as the nominee for the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office.

The Position
Mr. Chairman, I am proud to have had 40 years of service in the Navy and at NASA. I
have been fortunate to be involved with diverse systems, such as nuclear submarines and
spacecraft, that have been instrumental in protecting our national security and advancing
knowledge about our place in the universe.
During the last three decades at NASA, I have had the opportunity to work on the full
range of NASA’s missions, from sending humans into space to missions that are
providing data about the Earth and our Universe. I held various positions involved in the
design, development, acquisition, launch, and operation of space systems—large and
small—scaled to accomplish our goals.
Under my leadership, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center developed satellites and
space systems to meet the requirements for NASA and other organizations. To
accomplish these missions, I challenged the teams I led to develop new capabilities, seek
opportunities to inject new technologies, leverage commercial capabilities, and
collaborate with partners. I ensured that the valuable lessons we learned were
incorporated into plans that have resulted in improved performance on recent missions,
meeting technical, cost, and schedule requirements. These best practices have been
applied across a range of missions for NASA and other organizations such as the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and United States Geological Survey.
I also found that it is critical to communicate often with all parties involved to assure a
common understanding of progress and risk so adjustments can be made when necessary
and when they are still affordable. It was clear to me while leading Goddard that
interagency cooperation and collaboration is key to success at the national level. If
confirmed, I will make interagency collaboration a priority for the National
Reconnaissance Office.
The growth of a commercial space industry capable of launching satellites and providing
data provides an opportunity that should be leveraged to replace or enhance required
capabilities. At the same time, the continued advance of technology in all areas from
artificial intelligence to materials science provides an opportunity to maintain our
national space advantage in an increasingly competitive and contested environment. The
combination of commercial capabilities, technological advancements, and governmentdeveloped systems provides opportunities to expand the supplier base, improve
performance, reduce cost, and enhance resiliency.
An organization’s people are at the heart of its success. At NASA, I have had the
opportunity to lead and manage a large, diverse workforce. Nothing can be accomplished
without the talented women and men who are motivated to accomplish the mission. I am
proud to be part of NASA, which has been ranked as the Best Place to Work in
Government for the last seven years. I am also proud of creating an environment at
NASA Goddard that was also ranked as one of the best places to work in the federal
government. If confirmed, I am committed to fostering an environment at the NRO that
welcomes diverse views, invites new concepts, and energizes its workforce every day.
This includes recruiting, training, and retaining a world-class workforce, allowing the
National Reconnaissance Office to provide premier space reconnaissance capabilities.

If confirmed, knowing that our adversaries are becoming increasingly more adaptive, I
will endeavor to ensure that the nation’s policymakers, intelligence analysts, and
warfighters will continue to maintain our strategic advantage with timely, relevant space
reconnaissance data.
Conclusion
In closing, the National Reconnaissance Office is one of the legendary organizations of
the space age, and the capabilities that it has provided have been instrumental in
maintaining the United States strategic advantage. The National Reconnaissance Office
helps keep our country—and the world—safe from those who seek to harm U.S. citizens,
our interests, or our allies.
I am honored to be considered for this position. If confirmed, I look forward to working
closely with this committee—and the entire Congress—to leverage our opportunities and
address our challenges. If confirmed, I will seek your support for the women and men of
the National Reconnaissance Office and to ensure that the National Reconnaissance
Office has the support it needs to continue developing and operating the world’s premier
reconnaissance satellites, delivering critical intelligence to the policymaker, intelligence
analyst, and warfighter.
Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you and the Committee for the hard work that is put into
the oversight process. If confirmed as Director, I will uphold the National
Reconnaissance Office’s obligations to Congress and the American people.
Chairman Burr, Vice Chairman Warner, and distinguished members of the committee,
thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I look forward to answering
your questions.

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