During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) questioned nominees about FEMA and natural disasters, as well as US cybersecurity.
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00:00Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Law, I'd like to start with you. We're seeing reports that the acting FEMA director was unaware that there was a hurricane season.
00:11I've also seen reports that the hurricane plan wasn't completed prior to the start of hurricane season.
00:16So I just wanted to ask you, does that seem acceptable to you?
00:21Thank you for the question, Senator. I'm not familiar with those reports, but what I can tell you is from my understanding as Senior Counselor to the Secretary,
00:28they are taking a very critical look at FEMA because it has failed to operate the way it should, and they're definitely focused on that.
00:36Well, I guess I would just like to restate this. Do you think that we should have a FEMA director that understands when hurricane season begins?
00:45I believe that the secretary has confidence in the current leadership of FEMA.
00:49Do you know when hurricane season starts and ends?
00:53We are currently in hurricane season.
00:55And when does it end?
00:56I believe it ends sometime in September or October.
00:59It ends at the end of November.
01:02And I just raise this because there was no mention of anything about natural disasters in your opening statement about the importance that Homeland Security plays with this.
01:12And you're talking about FEMA.
01:15Are you in support of abolishing FEMA?
01:17Do you support some of the statements that the president has made in that direction?
01:22Well, thank you for the question, Senator.
01:24I think the president and the secretary have been abundantly clear that FEMA in its current form is not working.
01:31And I am up for a policy position, not an operational role in FEMA.
01:36But to the extent that there are policies relevant to FEMA, I, if confirmed, would be happy to work with you on those.
01:42Well, I mean, you would be in charge of strategy, policy, and plans.
01:47And I think having a hurricane plan is very important.
01:49I think having a plan on how to address natural disasters are very important.
01:53And I guess I want to ask you, do you see a role for FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security to be a focal point when it comes to addressing natural disasters around the country?
02:03Or do you think that should be at the state level?
02:06Well, thank you for the question, Senator.
02:07I think there's always been a role for the state and locals to be the lead when it comes to natural disasters and that FEMA plays an important supporting role.
02:17But FEMA has failed to deliver.
02:19It's my understanding that there are still outstanding claims going all the way back to Hurricane Katrina.
02:23I don't discount the fact that there are reforms to be made and problems that exist.
02:27But I want to just redirect you to the primary mission stated in the founding document of Homeland Security,
02:33which says directly that DHS is acting as a focal point regarding natural and man-made crises and emergency planning.
02:41And I just say that because I do not see this administration taking that aspect of responding to natural disasters
02:48as centrally and important and critically as it should be.
02:54And I just want to hit that home with you because if you are confirmed,
02:58I hope that you can commit to working with me and working with this committee to making sure that we're addressing those issues.
03:04Can you do that?
03:05Thank you for the question, Senator.
03:06If confirmed, of course, I would be happy to work with you on the crisis management and emergency response efforts of the Department of Homeland Security.
03:13Mr. King-Cross, I wanted to just turn to you.
03:15How are we doing as a nation when it comes to cybersecurity?
03:18How would you kind of rate us in terms of our preparedness?
03:22Senator, what I think is these attacks are increasing, they're becoming more sophisticated, and they're scaling up.
03:31And so I believe that this office was intended by the statute to help coordinate and focus that policy.
03:41So you're saying that the threats are increasing and they're scaling up.
03:45Is that right?
03:46Correct.
03:46Then why is it that the Trump administration is trying to decrease the staffing and the budget when it comes to an incredibly important office like CISA?
03:57Well, Senator, what I think is this is a complicated vector, but at its core, this is a human nature issue.
04:06Our enemies do not see a cost in engaging in this behavior, and so they impose strategic dilemmas on us, and they have now for a long period of time.
04:17It's time that we impose those dilemmas on them.
04:21Yeah, I agree with that, but I feel like, you know, an important part of that is to have the staff necessary.
04:26I mean, it just, you're talking about a challenging vector here.
04:30I mean, I have a hard time understanding if threats of cybersecurity are increasing, as you said, and scaling up, why is our investment in it going down?
04:39Well, Senator, I think a first management principle for me is that form follows function.
04:44And so I know with regards to this office, if I am to be confirmed, I'm going to use that principle to make sure that the function we're serving,
04:56which is to defend the United States from these attacks, to keep our critical infrastructure safe, to keep our citizens safe,
05:05because, as we know, these criminals and enemies target the most vulnerable Americans,
05:11that the form that we take is the most efficient, effective way to service that mission.
05:19I'll you bet.
05:22Senator Slotkin.