00:00really good job. Thank you, Senator. Thank you. Thanks, Senator Klobuchar. Senator Britt?
00:04Thank you so much to the chair and the vice chair for holding this hearing and to all of the
00:08witnesses for being here today. Mr. Torfey, it's great to see you again. I've certainly enjoyed
00:13my time at Redstone Arsenal with you and Director Patel. Appreciate the briefing and certainly
00:18hope that I encourage all of my colleagues to kind of go down and see firsthand the incredible
00:24work that you're doing. You and some of the experts at FBI Redstone also briefed us on
00:29technology developments and advancements which have made drones more lethal. And look, we know
00:35Redstone Arsenal is the epicenter of the FBI's technology, the capabilities and advanced training
00:41and that we're going to play a central role in the FBI's strategy to combat these evolving threats
00:47of drones by providing technological infrastructure and training facilities necessary to develop and
00:53implement effective counter-UAS strategies. What I want to know from you is how is the FBI
00:59keeping up with countering the technological advancements and increasing lethality of drones?
01:06Thank you for the question, Senator, and it was a real pleasure to host you along with
01:10Director Patel and Senator Taberville at the visit at Redstone just two months ago. It was great
01:17for you to meet our people that do this and see some of the equipment that we use. The Redstone's
01:22a big part of that for us in that we have developed really strong relationships with the Department of Defense
01:28entities and contractor community down there. For example, the Program Executive Office Missiles
01:33and Space from the U.S. Army is right there up the street and we have a budding
01:38memorandum of understanding with them for the validation of technologies that we can test in
01:45urban and suburban areas where we have that expertise, right? We deploy in places like New York City and Los
01:51Angeles and we can provide that feedback back to the military. So it is just absolutely the perfect
01:58place for us to be doing this work and with the investments that this Congress has made in those
02:03facilities in the Richard Shelby Center for Innovation and Advanced Technology, I've been able to see that
02:09facility grow in my three and a half years living there. So it's about having that proximity to the other
02:17important parties in this space and not just the Army but with the other armed forces as well.
02:23Yeah, the collaboration was really incredible. I'm interested, as you're looking at the increased
02:28number of threats, what additional authorities do you need to adequately address these concerns?
02:35As stated in our written remarks, I think that the most important one that would deliver
02:42the most bang for the buck would be opening up the detection capabilities to all state, local,
02:49tribal, territorial, law enforcement, correctional institutions as well. Because as Mr. Willoughby said,
02:55it's very difficult to fight the enemy that you can't see. So we need visibility into the airspace.
03:02And now the FBI is not a, we don't monitor the airspace. We only deploy our equipment
03:08in very specific situations when there's an official need and an investigation that's occurring
03:14or a protection mission. And of course, we would expect the same from our law enforcement partners.
03:19So that is the most important thing. And of course, in the written record, we've laid out
03:23all of the important pieces. And just quickly, when we're looking at cartels, we know Homeland Security
03:27has come out and done that threat assessment and looking at cartels using drones along the border.
03:33Is there anything in particular there that you think the Judiciary Committee needs to know? Or do any
03:38state and local law enforcement need additional authorities to help us, you know, help continue
03:43to be such good partners, but to help us combat that threat on the border?
03:46Yes, I'm glad you brought that up. We're doing things with the Mexican government, the Mexican armed
03:53forces and law enforcement, trusted vetted partners. We're sending people down there to train them on
03:57drone exploitation. And the principles, again, not the specifics, but the principles of effective
04:02counter UAS. And we are delivering best practices to them to keep them safer to fight the war.
04:10But then we're bringing back the things that they're learning in their country, because inevitably
04:14that will come into our country and we'll be better prepared. And through a training center
04:19and through the authorities delivered to the state and locals, we can then train them on what we are
04:26seeing in Mexico. So making that full link from what is happening from cartels in Mexico all the
04:33way to training state and local law enforcement and counter UAS. Got it. And last thing, and this is
04:38going to be for all of you. I'd like each of you to answer this. Mr. Rilleby, you brought this up.
04:43We've heard this, obviously, from both sides of the aisle. But as we look to what's ahead of us,
04:48whether that's the FIFA World Cup in 2026, whether that's the celebration of our nation,
04:55the 250th celebration there, whether it's the Olympics in 2028 in L.A., or whether it's just
05:03football in the fall here coming up in just a few months. Talk to me about where we are with regards
05:12to current laws governing counter UAS authorities. Are they sufficient? Number one, are the laws
05:19sufficient to actually do what you need to and protect individuals in these types of environment?
05:25And then the follow-up question is, do you have the resources and the technology available to you
05:31at your agency that you need, or do you need something greater in order to be able to protect
05:36American citizens coast to coast? And I'd like for all three of you to answer this question.
05:40Go ahead, Mr. Rilleby.
05:42Thank you for the question. I think from an authoritative perspective, those that have the
05:47authority right now have what they need in the current statute. And we'd like to see that extended
05:51for a much longer term so that they can continue to plan strategically and budget and train and
05:58resource appropriately for those events. As was mentioned, there are tens of thousands of events
06:04that go unprotected every year from these types of threats. And we can't be everywhere, right?
06:11The federal presidents, whether that's FBI or one of the DHS components, we can't be at every event.
06:15You know, we cover the Super Bowl, right? What about the other 200-plus NFL games that are happening
06:21every year?
06:22And we need our state and local partners who are there charged with the protection of those stadiums
06:27in concert with these, you know, these private groups at the stadiums to be able to understand
06:32what's in the airspace through detection measures and then have some sort of recourse or
06:35countermeasure capability to protect those stadiums. And again, we'll never have enough
06:40federal agents to go out and protect every NFL game, every MLB game, which means we need to rely
06:46on...
06:46Every SEC game.
06:47Yeah, we need to rely on these state and locals as these force multipliers out there.
06:51And so beyond just keeping what we have from an authoritative perspective, we also need to look at
06:55a responsible expansion to those state and locals, to other departments or agencies at the federal
07:01level who could assist with this and close some of those gaps.
07:05Senator Schmitt?
07:06Sorry.
07:07Senator Schmitt.
07:08Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to follow up on that, what is the nature...
07:14So, I guess, what is the extent of that mismatch of capabilities that exist?
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