 Good morning, everyone. Thanks, Brian. And thank you to the entire secure world team for inviting me To attend this important summit and to speak. I'm delighted to be here So 14 months ago, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced that the United States would not conduct Destructive direct ascent anti-satellite missile testing. Thank you Yeah, and she invited other nations to join her in making similar national commitments That would establish an international norm against this irresponsible act Since then 12 other nations have joined the United States in making national commitments along these lines and the UN General Assembly Overwhelmingly endorsed this concept in a resolution passed with a hundred and fifty-five votes late last year And those of you who follow UN activities closely know that that kind of vote count indicates a very strong base of support Now the idea of banning destructive asat testing Has been around for quite some time. And so I often get asked like why now Why did the United States decide to champion this initiative last year? And so first let me start by saying that the United States is leading the way on this issue Because we believe it's in our interests and in the interests of the international community It kind of seems sort of trite for me to say that but I wanted to make it really clear that this wasn't just sort of a political stunt or you know a flash in the pan This was a whole of government effort Involving the State Department the Defense Department NASA Department of Commerce Transportation Homeland Security and the list goes on and on and that's because here in the United States We are acutely aware of how dependent we are on space for any number of things that support our economic prosperity As well as our national security. I don't think it's an overstatement to say that we are more dependent on space in any country in the world You know this audience already knows the many ways in which we use space across all sectors of our society Which provides us with tremendous benefits? But also means that our national interests will be put at risk if space becomes either littered with debris or an arena of conflict So it's in our interests our national security interests as well as our economic interests To keep space free from conflict and to preserve the long-term sustainability of the space environment so that we can continue benefiting from our access to and use of space But we are certainly not the only nation who loses if destructive DAASAP missile testing continues unchecked because we're far from the only country that uses space I mean this audience knows that space faring and non space faring nations alike Benefit from our collective use of space now in the early days of the space age a lot of those benefits were indirect Right the technologies developed for spaceflight found their way into our homes and into our businesses But the rise in the commercialization of space and I would say the democratization of access to and use of space means that each and every one of us now touches space every day and Candidly I think most people frankly myself included Thought that this now ubiquitous use of satellite services by people by businesses by countries Would portend an end to reckless and irresponsible destructive DAASAP testing And that the world would recognize frankly without a lot of prodding That more of these kinds of tests only you know a few of which have ever even occurred Would not be in anyone's interests But I regret to say very regretfully That we were wrong When we learned on november 15th 2021 that russia had deliberately carried out destructive DAASAP missile tests Conducted no less in an altitude that put the international space station at risk not to mention numerous other government and commercial satellites We were shocked. I'll be honest with you. I was shocked How could russia Frankly a leading spacefaring nation a nation with world-class Astro-dynamicist orbital debris experts How could they do something so brazen so reckless and so clearly contrary to the safety sustainability And security of an environment that so many of us depend upon And for better or for worse, I mean I think that moment really spurred us to action We realized that we couldn't take for granted that all nations Not even all spacefaring nations would intuitively reject actions that were so harmful to the international community at large And kind of damaging to their own national interests And so that's why just a few months later, which by the way is like light speed in terms of government bureaucracies United States announced it would take a leadership role on this issue Committing to refrain from this kind of testing and encouraging other nations to follow suit Now, of course, we're not under any illusions that every single country in the world will make this commitment Although we would certainly welcome it We do believe though that it's important if not imperative For as many nations as possible to stand up and say publicly that they too Will not conduct these kinds of tests And we recognize that many nations have no intentions of developing testing or deploying direct ascent anti-satellite missile capabilities But regardless of whether or not a particular country has this kind of capability or the intention to develop one It's nonetheless valuable for as many states as possible To publicly commit to this norm of responsible behavior because that Is how we establish international norms It's not enough for just one country or two countries or even 13 countries To make a commitment and then say, okay, we're done. We have an international norm And if you actually look closely at the un general assembly resolution from last year It doesn't commit states to the norm It encourages states to make national commitments To this norm and I think that's an important distinction Because I would argue that it's not enough for 155 countries, although that is a lot of countries To vote in support of the idea Of countries making these commitments Although of course we are grateful for every single country who joined us in voting for this general assembly resolution But to truly establish an internationally recognized norm banning destructive da asap missile testing We need a critical mass of nations to actually make the commitment And so from my perch here on this stage my 10 minutes I want to close by humbly suggesting That our work in curtailing these irresponsible acts is not finished Yes, we had a great start out of the gate, but I think there's more road ahead of us We have to continue the drumbeat of nations making commitments to this emerging international norm So my request to all of you here today Is that if you're here representing a country that hasn't yet made this commitment but believes in the importance of space sustainability Please take this back to your capital and consider the request to make a public commitment to the norm If you're here representing a country that's already made this commitment fabulous phone a friend And ask them to make the commitment too And if you're here from a commercial space company or an NGO or think tank You too can and I think should Voice your support for this norm Your company or your organization can go on the record saying that you believe the world should end Destructive da asap missile testing because creating indiscriminate and harmful space debris is in nobody's interest industry or government alike We are all here today because we believe in the importance of space sustainability. I mean come on This is the summit for space sustainability And yes, there are many challenges To space sustainability that require cooperative global solutions Whether that's figuring out new regulatory models for novel space activities or developing a truly global system for space traffic management and coordination And all of these challenges deserve our attention and forms like this I believe are critically important for bringing together experts to exchange ideas spark new ones To solve these big challenges But i'll be honest some of these solutions will take a long time to develop And as our speaker has already said earlier today time is not on our side And so if I could leave you with one final thought Before I get off the stage It's that pledging to end destructive direct ascent Anti-satellite missile testing is something that we all can do and should do Right now. Thank you very much for your attention