Opening Statements

Today, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities, made the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, before the Subcommittee's joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Readiness titled, "Resiliency of Military Installations to Emerging Threats."

"Thank you, Jim.

"I would like to start by thanking Chairmen Langevin and Garamendi, as well as my fellow Ranking Member Mr. Lamborn, for holding this important hearing today to discuss resiliency of Department of Defense installations and facilities.

"And welcome to our witnesses. We have a lot of ground to cover so I will keep my opening remarks brief.

"As I think about resiliency of military installations and infrastructure, I am concerned about shortfalls in both the physical and the digital domains.

"First, we remain vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate change. We have seen these events adversely impact public safety, our economic security, and our national security. Our Intelligence Community continues to assess that global environmental degradation and climate change are likely to fuel competition for resources, economic distress, and social discontent across the globe through 2019 and beyond.

"And we continue to experience extreme weather events at home, including in my own district, the North Country of New York. We must therefore factor in these environmental challenges when discussing resiliency of military installations – and I look forward to hearing from our witnesses exactly how we are planning for extreme weather events and climate change.

"Second, I continue to have concerns about installation and infrastructure vulnerabilities in the digital domain.

"Congress, and indeed this committee, had the foresight to understand these challenges and three years ago directed the Department to conduct a comprehensive review to evaluate cybersecurity vulnerabilities of DOD infrastructure. Unfortunately, this review and the subsequent corrective actions remain far from complete, and we are still incredibly vulnerable to attack.

"I fear we have not yet even identified the scale and scope of our problems, let alone begun to mitigate our most concerning shortfalls.

"When we consider resiliency, we must remember that advances in Information Technology, cybersecurity, and information assurances are primary prerequisites for the future of warfare. These enabling technologies form the foundation where information and data are a strategic resource to be protected, preserved, and fully actioned.

"Only then will we be able to leverage evolutionary – and even revolutionary – technologies such as AI, 5G, high performance computing, and even Quantum computing.

"This future begins and ends with our facilities and installations, which will be our greatest resource or our weakest link.

"I look forward to discussing today how we can work together, to ensure that resiliency is prioritized so that we are prepared for these challenges in our increasingly complex digital age.

"Thank you, and with that I yield back."