FY 2027 Budget for Senate Sergeant at Arms and U.S. Capitol Police

The subcommittee will come to order. Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome everyone to the fiscal year twenty twenty seven budget hearing for the Senate Sergeant at Arms and the United States Capitol Police. Today we have with us Miss Hemingway, the Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate, and Chief Sullivan, the Chief of Police for the United States Capitol Police. Thank you both for joining us today. Both of your agencies work tirelessly to protect members of Congress, our staff, and the millions of visitors to the Capitol campus each year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the men and women of SAA and the US Capitol Police for all the work that they do to keep us safe. Their commitment enables us to fulfill our constitutional duties, which is particularly important as the threat environment facing the Congress. continues to grow and evolve. My colleagues and I are truly grateful for the work of both agencies to enhance and expand member protection programs over the past year. As I acknowledged in the subcommittee's previous budget hearing, we are entering an uncertain budget cycle. While the subcommittee is committed to doing all we can to support your agencies and their mission requirements it is important that every legislative branch agency is respons- is a responsible steward of its resources and makes wife- wise choices with its funding priorities. Miss Hemingway, for fiscal year twenty twenty seven, the SAA is requesting four hundred point six million dollars and an increase of twenty one point nine uh million above the enacted level. This request includes funding to further implement initiatives to enhance the Senate members' protection program, state office operations, and physical and cyber security. It also includes additional FTEs to support operations across the agency. In your testimony, I hoped to hear how the SAA is executing the significant resources provided in FY twenty-six, and how the FY twenty-seven request will meet the security needs of the Senate. Chief Sullivan, the department's budget request is just over one billion dollars, an increase of one hundred forty point three million dollars, or a sixteen percent increase over the funding level provided in FY twenty-six. This funding level would support sustained hiring of sworn personnel and the continued expansion of professional workforce. It would also provide funding for necessary equipment, cybersecurity and IT support, protective detail travel, contractor support services, and more robust in-service and professional training programs. Additionally, the request includes fifteen point seven million dollars to fund multi-year investments in modernizing the department's IT and its physical security programs in light of the increasingly complex threat environment faced by your agencies, we will carefully consider the needs of our security related agencies. I look forward to a product productive discussion and learning more about your priorities for this year. And with that, I would ask my friend, the Ranking Member, Senator Heinrich, for his opening remarks.

Thank you, Chair Fischer. Uh, I am very pleased to be here at our second hearing for fiscal year twenty twenty seven. Uh, as I said last week, the legislative branch must have the resources necessary to do its job well and to carry out our constitutional responsibilities on behalf of the American people. I look forward to, uh, working with you to craft a bill that meets the needs of Congress and the legislative branch support agencies. Uh, I would like to thank the witnesses for being here today and providing your testimony. And I also want to thank the women and men of your agencies who work every day to keep us safe and to facilitate the work of the Senate. Uh, Ms. Hemingway, as our Sergeant-at-Arms you play a critical role. As the Senate's Chief Law Enforcement Officer, you oversee day-to-day operations that help us serve our constituents and protect the Senate's information technology systems. The Sergeant-at-Arms has requested about four hundred million dollars to support your operations in the Senate and increase of twenty-one point nine million, or five point eight percent, over last year's enacted level. And first, I want to thank you for your work in standing up the Senator's personal protection program, uh safeguarding state office operations and enhancing cyber security capabilities. We also appreciate the SAA's work on reviewing and implementing AI tools for the Senate, which help us to serve our constituents more effectively. Technology is a critical tool for the Senate and I welcome your updates on those efforts. As the Sergeant of Arms, you also play an important role on the Capitol Police Board, which provides oversight of the US Capitol Police. As we discuss funding for the Capitol Police, I hope you'll offer insight into the security needs of the Capitol complex, state offices, and the Senate. Uh, good afternoon, Chief Sullivan. I appreciate the opportunity to hear about your first year as Chief of US Capitol Police. During this time you've had a chance to evaluate the operational and administrative functions of the department. and that has informed your budget requests this year. Every day your department has to adapt as security threats continue to evolve. I recognize that rising threats to members, staff and the complex require your team to stay prepared and ready to respond. Like you, protecting our buildings, staff and personnel remains a high priority for me. The current environment underscores the need for increased resources and places a heavy burden on the sworn officers, who protect us every day. Like all first responders, this work places real demands on our officers' personal lives, and we should always find ways to better recognize and support their commitment. I've heard from your FOP labor committee about the challenges the officers face in trying to maintain a healthy work-life balance while also serving in a leading federal law enforcement agency. I understand the department is seeing an increase in sworn attrition and you are reviewing various options. for recruiting and retaining your sworn workforce. One of the areas raised with me, uh, was about how overtime pay is not counted for retirement purposes, unlike other federal law enforcement agencies in the area. Um, I plan on meeting, uh, a meeting with them in the next few weeks to hear more about their concerns and ideas, and I also wanna hear from you about the department's efforts in this area. Uh, I welcome the opportunity to work with both of you and the labor committee to ensure that your department has all of the tools it needs to retain officers and carry out its critical mission. In fiscal year twenty twenty seven, the US Capitol Police is requesting just over a billion dollars to carry out the department's critical mission, which is an increase of a hundred and forty million or fifteen point nine percent over last year's enacted level. So I look forward to hearing more about your budget request and the important work the Capitol Police carries out on our behalf. Again, thank you to both of our witnesses for being here today, and I welcome the discussion. Thank you very much, Chair Fischer.

Thank you, Senator Heinrich. Now I'd like to ask our witnesses to give a brief opening statement of approximately five minutes to allow adequate time for questions. The written testimony of each of you will be printed in full in the hearing record. Miss Hemingway, welcome. Please begin.

Thank you. Chair Fischer, Ranking Member Heinrich, and members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to testify in support of the Office of Sergeant-at-Arms fiscal year twenty twenty-seven appropriations request. As you've both noted, the Sergeant-at-Arms and Doorkeeper serves as the Senate's Chief Law Enforcement and Protocol Officer, and is responsible for the Senate's physical security, cyber security, emergency preparedness, and a wide range of support functions. In our hearing last year, Then Chairman Mullin asked for my top three priorities for fiscal year twenty twenty-six funding. My first priority was to effectively address sen- threats against senators. My second priority was ensuring that offices have the funds necessary to purchase increasingly costly technology. My third priority was ensuring we can provide critical support for state offices when circumstances warrant. These three areas remain priorities in our four hundred point six million dollar budget request. which is a five point eight percent increase over our current enacted level. We request five million dollars for the member protection program, which is the same amount appropriated in fiscal year twenty twenty six. Member security continues to be a critical issue. In fiscal year twenty twenty five, the Capitol Police investigated close to fifteen thousand concerning statements, behaviors and communications directed against members of Congress, their families, staff, and the Capitol complex. That's a fifty percent increase from the threat assessment cases Capitol Police investigated in fiscal year twenty twenty four. Over the past year there have also been assassinations of state legislators and a political activist. Capitol Police recently arrested an individual running toward the Capitol with a loaded shotgun, and we continue to face threats from abroad. Our request also continues security initiatives such as the Residential Security System program. We seek two point eight million dollars to provide AI licenses for Senate users. About ten percent of Senate users have already used the free unsupported version of this technology. Moving those users and other Senate users into Senate supported versions of these platforms is necessary to protect Senate data. Similarly, we are requesting a one million dollar increase to assume the cost of virtual servers for Senate offices and committees. Assuming this cost will free up an average of twenty four thousand per office per term for other technology needs. We seek five point five million dollars for the State Office Contingency Fund. This is the same amount the committee appropriated in fiscal year twenty twenty six, and will allow us to pay State Office leases during elapsed appropriations, as well as meet critical security projects for our State Offices when the General Services Administration does not have the funding or bandwidth to complete these projects. The remainder of our request will fund a Western data center to augment our IT resiliency strategy and update our enterprise database systems. We will also use fiscal year twenty twenty-seven appropriations to buy software to build a variety of applications for Senate, as well as provide secondary internet circuits for state offices who need an additional bandwidth. In addition, we will continue our efforts to make improvements to Senate hearing rooms, replenish the Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Fund, and support the Stars of Valor fellowship program. The request will also fund our salaries and forty-four new full-time equivalent positions which would bring our total number of authorized positions to one thousand ninety-four seventeen of these forty-four requests will fund authorized patronage positions such as mailkeepers and mail carriers and doorkeepers. Thank you for your support for the work that we do on behalf of the Senate. I look forward to answering your questions as we move through the process.

Thank you, Miss Hemingway. Chief Sullivan, you are recognized.

Chair Fischer and Ranking Member Heinrich, uh, good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to discuss the fiscal year twenty twenty-seven budget requests for the United States Capitol Police. I want to begin with gratitude. Uh, thank you to this subcommittee for your steady support. Thank you to the Capitol Police Board and our oversight committees for your guidance. And most importantly, thank you to the women and men of our department. The progress that we have made belongs to them. They show up every day around the clock, committed to protecting this institution and the people that we serve. My top priority is simple. Your safety. The safety of your families, your staff, and everyone who works or visits the Capitol. While our officers on post are the most visible part of our mission, our work goes far beyond campus. We rely on officers, agents, technicians, professional staff, strong intelligence, modern technology, and careful planning to protect the members here and across the country. The threat environment continues to grow. In twenty twenty-five we investigated nearly twenty-five or fifteen thousand concerning statements and threats directed at the congressional community. a fifty-eight percent increase from last year. And we're on pace to exceed that again this year. These aren't just numbers, they're threats against real people. And that's why we are improving how we investigate threats and how we keep your offices informed along the way. Our protective intelligence operations center is fully operational and serves as a central hub for member protection. We now have mutual aid agreements in all fifty states. allowing us to quickly surge resources wherever they are needed. And at the same time, we must continue to strengthen our workforce. We have made real progress in our hiring, but the mission has expanded. More protective details, more congressional events, more security requirements, and more threat investigations. And that has placed a strain on our staffing model and increased our overtime. Overtime is certainly part of policing, but we are mindful of the toll that it Our multi-year staffing plan is designed to grow responsibly, reduce res- reliance on overtime, and create career paths and support officer wellness. For fiscal year twenty twenty-seven, the department is requesting seven hundred and thirty-four million for salaries and expenses and two hundred and eighty-nine million for general expenses. The FY twenty-seven request supports these priorities, funding for personnel, operations, training and needed security upgrades. It allows us to add agents, hire professional staff, modernize technology, and improve communication with members' offices. It also supports upgrades to security systems, communications tools, and cyber security protection so our infrastructure keeps pace with those evolving threats. In recent years we have worked to strengthen accountability and transparency, and we are implementing a modern case management system, promoting new supervisors to reinforce leadership, and building structured program to manage our nationwide partnerships responsibly. This progress is meaningful, but it must last. Our goal is to build systems and a culture that will endure well beyond any one person's tenure. I remain committed to ensuring the United States Capitol of Police provides the highest level of safety and professionalism. Thank you for your trust, thank you for your partnership, and for the support of the women and men of the United States Capitol Police. I look forward to answering your questions.

Thank you, Chief Sullivan. Um, Miss Hemingway, if I could begin with you, please. The Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of twenty twenty six provided resources and direction to the SAA to support member offices by coordinating the utilization of security programs and services for senators. You have utilized that funding to establish the SAA member protection program. Can you provide us with an update on the implementation of the program and how the, uh, FY twenty twenty-seven request continues to implement and expand the member protection program?

Yes, thank you for the question. I'm very pleased to share that the sergeant at arms has supported thirty-eight senators through our member protection program since we received the funding and direction from this committee with our fiscal year twenty twenty six enacted appropriation. To date, we have offered consultation, coordination, and helped facilitate contracts on behalf of senators that is based on the unique security needs of each senator. As we continue with our request in fiscal year twenty twenty seven, We will use those resources to expand the program. We will also use those resources to make sure that we are maintaining senator choice. When I look back to the start of the residential security system program that this committee initiated in twenty twenty three I'm pleased to share that we've grown that program from zero to sixty seven and I hope that we'll see similar participation in progress by senators as we continue.

Is there anything this committee can do to uh help you um to make sure that each senator has each senator has the assistance they need. I know there's um recommended services, but it also depends on what each senator desires uh for that service. Um can can you address that?

Yes, I think what would be most helpful in addition to continuing the resources that we have requested is to make sure that the sergeant at arms has the authority to facilitate um the agreements the senators need in order to meet their unique security needs. We have a very strong partnership with Capitol Police and we would like the authority to continue to facilitate those agreements.

Great, thank you. Uh we've seen re- recent uh breaches in legislative branch agencies, the Senate and the support agencies. It's obviously a very uh sophisticated target for uh these cyber attacks. Expanded resources and initiatives related to strengthening our cyber security posture, they are among the most requested, I think, uh submissions before the subcommittee this fiscal year. How does the budget uh request reflect the importance of robust cyber security capabilities for the Senate community.

Thank you for the question. So, we intend to use our fiscal year twenty twenty-seven resources to continue to defend the Senate network. We used to share that we were experiencing two point four billion attempts against our network. Our number last year is four point nine billion. So you can see the Senate remains a target and those resources are critical to make sure that we can maintain our defensive posture. Also, so we continue our partnership with our alleged branch organization agencies, when some other agencies have experienced a cyber attack, our team has worked very quickly to make sure that we can run checks against our network, and provide appropriate caution to Senate users. Um, for the most recent um attack where the committee provided resources for CBO, I'm very proud to share that our team had already applied the necessary patching um in advance and that helped defend the Senate network, but we're also very mindful to not rest on our morals, um, because the hackers and nation state actors will continue to look at the Senate as a target.

Right. Thank you for that quick work. Um, you're also responsible for coordinating campus access with the Rules Committee and the US Capitol Police. That's a delicate, uh, balance to make sure you address safety concerns that are out there, but also being able to allow appropriate access. across the capital campus. From a security perspective, what are some of the operational improvements that we could make with respect to capital access?

We have piloted several initiatives in attempt to make sure that official business visitors and constituents are able to arrive on time for their appointments. In the Senate office buildings, I think more work remains to be done there. Um, On an average day, if you take yesterday, we had more than seventeen thousand people visit the Senate office buildings. We have only so many entrances and there are so many magnetometers and X rays in order to speed um individuals safely through our buildings. I think I would appreciate this committee's support in having a conversation about what access to the Senate office buildings should look like, going forward. Um, it's my job to maintain safety and egress and make sure that you all are able to move to your votes and to your hearings, but also strike that right balance and make sure that individuals who are coming to petition our government are able to do so freely. So I look forward to that conversation.

I do too. I think it's important that we um uh we have that conversation and look at different options that are out there. So thank you.

Thank you.

Senator Heinrich.

Chief Sullivan, the um Capitol Police continues to face retention challenges even as recruitment classes are filled, the department is often replacing officers who leave rather than growing the force, uh, to meet emerging requirements. And as you mentioned, officers are working substantial overtime and unlike some other federal law enforcement pay structures that overtime does not count toward uh annuity calculation for retirement so to start with, what's the current pace of sworn attrition?

I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

What what's the current pace of attrition?

Eh, we we've seen an increase over the last year. Uh, the the w- w- it's been fairly flat in most areas, but the two areas that we've seen increases is people leaving our organization uh for other federal law enforcement agencies. Uh, so we've seen an increase uh in that, we've also seen an increase in what we call the unknown category, when people leave, a slight increase there. Uh, we are still maintaining above attrition. Uh, but that has shrunk significantly. We're only about one percent over attrition this year.

Right.

But those are are the challenges we're facing and and many of it is because of the bonuses and some of the opportunities that are being uh given in some of these other agencies.

Uh, that was gonna be my next question is how much of an impact are some of those bonuses we're seeing having so um do you think that US Capitol Police needs additional retention tools uh including to, but not limited to, you know, looking at how overtime is treated for retirement purposes.

Ranking member, thank you for that question. Uh, that's a conversation that I I've brought up with uh the committee and and been able to have that internal uh discussion as well. I think there's opportunities for us to do this smartly and do it targeted. Uh, so we are supporting the men and women that go out and do this work. and then supporting the the staffing levels throughout the department. Uh, so we're looking at it, uh, in that way and and we're looking at it much smarter. We started a staffing office to to really understand where we are using our people and make sure that we are putting people where they need to be when they need to be there. Uh, that has been, uh, a significant office and they continue to work, uh, and give us good data, uh, to be able to bring to to to this committee.

Are are there other incentives that maybe I'm not thinking of that we should be at least looking at.

Yeah, I think you you've identified one that that we've had uh really at the top of mind, you know, how we can leverage uh some of the overtime dollars uh to support the annuity at the end of someone's career, uh to encourage officers to stay beyond their years. The the the other risk that we have that has that has appeared uh those nine eleven classes are reaching their twenty-five year mark uh as of this month.

Right.

Uh, so - so the classes that graduated after nine eleven, uh, which were large classes for about three years, uh, you know, so we had a pool of about three hundred folks that - that could leave.

Yeah.

Uh, that pool is expanding every six weeks as - as those classes came out, uh, which leaves us a s- significant risk.

Gotcha. Uh, Miss Hemingway, I wanna ask you about AI, um, what - what AI tools are you currently reviewing for possible use? And then, um, can you talk about why Senate employees are limited to one AI license per employee?

Yes, certainly. So our cyber security team is currently conducting risk assessments on approximately forty AI tools. The most popular on that list is Claude that we've begun to receive questions about. We began that assessment on March third. Um, when that assessment is complete, we will bring a recommendation to the AI governance board. that we have established. There is bipartisan representation on that board, and we will make a recommendation and hopefully be in a position, um, if the AI products meet our defined, um, criteria to roll that out and make it available to the community. With respect to your question about the one license per user, when we were rolling out the three products earlier this spring, we were asked if we could fund one license per user in part to incentivize behavior of Senate users who are using the free version to come into the Senate supported platform, which better protects our data. Um, we have asked for two point eight million dollars for fiscal year twenty twenty seven, and that should enable us to continue to provide the licenses. If there is demand to have more than one license per user, we'd be happy to have conversations with this committee about how we can see to make that work.

Yeah, that's that's where I was going next. Because um, you know, for example, I have one staff person whose main issue focus is artificial intelligence, and that's an example of someone that you want to have access to multiple platforms, whereas that might not, I mean there may be some employees that don't necessarily even need access to a a large language model. So uh what would what would need to happen to make that possible? Is that strictly a resource issue?

It is a resource issue. Um, I appreciate you raising that use case. You know, my goal as Sergeant-at-Arms is always to meet the needs of the Senate community, and I feel confident that we could meet that need very quickly. We'll follow up with your office and with other offices as well because there may be similarly situated staffers that would benefit. Um, I think particularly now is we're all learning what AI use looks like for the Senate. We wanna make sure that um we're making the best use of the tools that

Right.

we have available once they've completed the risk assessment.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Heinrich. Um, we have a number of subcommittee hearings today, but I would like to alert our other uh subcommittee members and their staff that after our next questions I plan to close this hearing. So if they are watching and want to be here, they They need to hustle to get here, so. Uh, Chief Sullivan. Um, we are approaching the ten month mark since you were sworn in as the department's new chief of police last June. And as you reflect upon your time with the department, can you share with us any particularly insightful operations or observations that you may have? And what can we in our role as appropriators do to help you and the department uh to be successful.

Chair Fischer, thank you for that question. Uh, probably first and foremost that I think uh I've observed since I've been here, is the incredibly dedicated staff, professional staff and sworn staff that goes out and does the work to protect uh the members of the Congress every single day. Uh, they're dedicated to this job, uh their attitudes are unbelievable. Uh, and and I think we're very, very lucky to have a staff that that goes out and is as dedicated as they are. Uh, yeah, I think there's opportunities for us to improve and and I've identified some of those areas and we've made some of those improvements with the new case management system that we're now implementing uh and then the expansion of our MOU program. That's our memorandum of understanding program that was started years ago to support uh events here on campus that were over what what we could handle, where we could bring people into the NCR to protect this place. Uh, but we found out very quickly that this was an opportunity for us to engage local law enforcement where members live, uh where you work, where you hold events. Uh, it has been invaluable, when I got here we had about a hundred MOUs where we could uh uh turn those on. Through a very concentrated effort, we've been able to to have w- as of today, five hundred and twelve MOUs in all fifty states, a significant increase, and those are targeted, you know, where uh members actually work and live and live their lives when they're not here in Washington DC. Uh that that is because of the relationships that we have around the country. And uh I think that's incredibly important for us uh every single day. And I thank this committee for the support that you provided us to be able to do that, because without this subcommittee's uh support, we would not be able to do that.

We appreciate that work and appreciate um your concern for our safety, no matter where we are, and also for protecting our staff. You're aware of the common complaint from members about the lack of timely and consistent communication with our offices when the department is investigating any kind of matter Uh what steps has the department taken to address these concerns? Are there resources that are included in this budget request so that you can improve your ability to communicate uh case information uh to a member's office, when threats or certain actions are taken against us?

Chair Fischer, thank you for that question. Uh yes, uh you know, our protective uh intelligence operations center is a central point of contact for us to be able to manage those fifteen thousand concerning uh comments and and threats that come into the congressional community. Uh we that has been run by contractors, we we continue to transition that to full-time employees, which I think is a significant improvement a as we go forward.

Are those included in your um budget request, those in the additional employees with your increase in the FTEs, is that part of that?

They were part of our previous year's budget request but we will continue to enhance uh what we have there. There in this budget request to enhance that communication is additional agents. Uh right now I have fifty-five threat agents uh that are working those fifteen thousand cases that we talked about. Uh the the need to increase the number of agents because of the caseload is significant. That's probably the biggest barrier uh that we have in place. Uh the other piece that we've put in is really coordinators working with those threat agents uh that will be able to support those threat agents and be the communication directly to those offices as well. Uh so those are some of the improvements we've made. I've been monitoring our initial uh contact. We are getting back very, very quickly, usually within the hour after uh something is reported to us. Uh it it's that second and third check-in uh giving updated information. I believe that our new records management system uh will give us some technology that will allow us uh to be able to update members on a timely manner and then when there's changes in those cases.

OK. The request also includes eleven point five million to support um in-service and professional training programs. Um, based on the findings and recommendations that we saw in the twenty twenty-five learning needs assessment can you provide more details on why expanded training opportunities would be so beneficial to your department.

Chair Fischer, certainly. The uh when I got here, one of the things that I did observe is the consistency of in-service training uh was not there. Uh we certainly would qualify with our weapons on our annual basis twice a year, uh but that consistent ongoing training uh is something that I've experienced in the other departments that I've worked in, usually their state mandates of where we need to train and a- how many hours that we need to train. That was not present uh here at the US Capitol Police. So, so making that a priority because uh we can't expect officers to go out and perform at a very, very, very high level unless we give them the training to be able to do that. Uh, i- it's critically important that we invest in our officers if we want them performing that level uh to that example Uh, we talked about, uh, the sergeant at arms talked about the gentleman who came on campus with a shotgun earlier this year. We did a training exercise on the west front of the capital with that almost exact scenario and officers I believe performed in the incredible manner, brave manner that they did that day because of the training, uh, that, that we had performed, uh, out there earlier in the year.

Mm-hmm. Thank you, sir. Senator Heinrich.

Chief, uh, you talked about the MOUs and I think that uh I've been very impressed at the increase in effective security that those have have uh made possible. Uh, are there are there roadblocks there? Or you feel like that uh those developments are really going well?

So one of the things that uh that I saw that concerned me when I I got here was managing uh and making sure that that uh we were good stewards of of the the funds that have been given to us. Uh so we've been able to stand up a team that that one one member of the team works on the fiscal uh side of the house the then we have outreach people that are reaching out to departments across the country to facilitate those MOUs uh we were doing this at an ad-hoc basis before uh I didn't feel confident uh talking to the subcommittees about uh where we were making sure that good accountability uh for these for these funds and in making sure that they are being applied where they need to be applied uh i feel much more confident now that we have this team in place to be able to manage those and continue to expand where we need to be expanded.

can you talk a little bit about um obviously there's a request for an increase in funding if if you were to receive chief flat funding, what needs would suffer, what needs would not be met potentially?

I talked about our priorities, you know our priorities first and foremost are the personnel. Uh as we talk about our needs here on campus uh just to staff where we are today uh we're about a hundred and eighty officers short uh to to be able to do that. We staff two uh shifts over the weekends uh with overtime. Uh, it, you know, because the vast majority of the work happens Monday through Friday during business hours over ninety-two percent of that work only eight percent happens on those two days that's a hundred and twenty-two positions not actual uh, staff positions bodies but t- a hundred and twenty-two bodies that I need to fill those posts for those two days. Uh, so, so that's a significant uh lapse and that's why we have the oversight challenges that we have in that area. Uh, we on our protective side uh, we have challenges there as well that we need to continue to grow uh that that side of our operation as well. So both sides of the operation have presented challenges. Uh so number one would be staffing. We just talked about training and the importance of training. Uh I think if you're gonna have a good organization, you have to continue to train your people. And then modernizing uh our s- security posture. So we're not fixing systems, that we're actually trying to get ahead. My concern is with the advancement of AI, they can be used in very good ways, it can be used in very bad ways to attack systems and our cyber security, and and those actors are getting much more sophisticated. And without a strategic vision, rather than just fixing problems as they go along, uh, it would it would be, uh, problematic for us.

Think that's it for me.

Thank you very much, Senator Heinrich. I'd like to thank both of you for coming before committee the subcommittee today uh if need be i'm sure that uh we will be in touch with you for clarification on any parts of the budget that we didn't touch on today but again thank you and thank the people that work for you for the good work you do every single day thank you very much the subcommittee is adjourned

thank you