ICYMI: Homeland Republicans Examine Ways to Combat Emerging Cyber Threats, Human Trafficking at Mass Gatherings

WASHINGTON, D.C. --This week, the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection and the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability convened a joint subcommittee hearing to examine threats stemming from the use of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and hyperscale cloud infrastructure, as well as how to use this technology to defend our networks from malicious actors.

Witnesses included Dr. Logan Graham, department head of the Frontier Red Team at Anthropic; Mr. Royal Hansen, vice president of privacy, safety, and security engineering at Google LLC; Mr. Eddy Zervigon, Chief executive officer of Quantum Xchange; and Mr. Michael Coates, founding partner of Seven Hill Ventures.

In his opening statement, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Chairman Andy Ogles (R-TN) discussed the increasingly dangerous threat environment driven by escalating cyber activity from foreign adversaries, including the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Russia:

"Artificial intelligence is changing the pace and character of cyber activity. It allows information to be processed at speeds far beyond human capacity, enables automation across complex networks, and supports decision making at scale."

"The People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation are investing heavily in advanced computing, automation, and data exploitation as tools of national power. They view artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, and emerging technologies as means to gain strategic advantage, conduct sustained cyber and intelligence operations, and operate below the threshold of open conflict."

"Congress also has an important responsibility. Oversight helps ensure that security keeps pace with adoption, that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, and that risks are addressed early rather than after serious harm has occurred. This is not about slowing innovation. It is about making sure innovation strengthens the nation rather than exposing it."

In his opening statement, Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability Chairman Josh Brecheen (R-OK) highlighted the benefits of AI while cautioning against its exploitation by malicious actors. He called for heightened vigilance and reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring federal agencies take proactive steps to safeguard the nation's critical infrastructure:

"The integration of AI into cyberattacks should concern all Americans. The recent cyberattack leveraging Anthropic's AI infrastructure showed that complex attack campaigns can now be conducted with little-to-no human intervention at speeds faster than any human could replicate."

"China, our most significant cyber threat actor, continues to search for new tactics to infiltrate critical U.S. systems, and is prioritizing the development of advanced computing technology and AI that supports its economic and strategic goals. Cyber espionage has been a key part of China's ongoing campaign of stealing intellectual property to fuel rapid technological advancement at the expense of American innovators."

"From an oversight perspective, we need to make sure that federal civilian agencies are taking the proactive steps needed to protect sensitive networks against intrusions. Technology doesn't advance on the government's timeline; we can't afford to have federal cybersecurity practices move at the speed of government. That path leaves us reacting to security failures instead of proactively confronting today's evolving threats."

Subcommittee Chairman Brecheen asked how the U.S. can leverage AI to better protect federal networks, to which Mr. Hansen testified:

"There are far more defenders in the world than there are attackers, but we need to arm them with that same type of automation that you saw in the attack described by Anthropic--because it's, in many ways, using commodity tools that we already have to both find and fix vulnerabilities… While the attackers are experimenting, we need the defenders to be experimenting and becoming great users of AI to find the same vulnerabilities we are describing but instead of to exploit them, to patch them."

Subcommittee Chairman Ogles asked about the future of cybersecurity, to which Dr. Graham testified:

"We are at a change point, and there are a couple change points here. The first that we see now is, to our understanding, this was the first time where these models will now be sought and used by sophisticated state actors… It's also possible this gets more serious and the stakes become much higher… It's really hard to win if we can't see the playing field… We should be sharing threat intelligence as it happens so that we can mitigate as fast as possible."

Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology Chairman Dale Strong (R-AL) asked about national security concerns with the cloud supporting critical government systems, to which Mr. Hansen testified:

"I think it is helping us clean up legacy technology issues. When you look at the vulnerabilities, we've had over the last you know, decade, it's generally people running on old versions of software that they're not maintaining. And so, we need competition in the space. And I think it is competitive in many dimensions. But overall, modernizing is going to make you more secure in the moment."

On Wednesday, the House Committee on Homeland Security's Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events in the United States held a hearing examining how to prevent human trafficking at mass gatherings, especially ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Witnesses included Ms. Eliza McCoy, vice president of programs and impact at American Hotel and Lodging Association Foundation; Ms. Yasmin Vafa, Executive Director of Rights4Girls; Mr. Jonathan Thompson, executive director and chief executive officer of the National Sheriff's Association; Ms. Courtney Litvak, director of survivor initiatives at No Trafficking Zone; and Ms. Megan Lundstrom, chief executive officer at Polaris.

In his opening statement, Task Force Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) reaffirmed his commitment to eradicating human trafficking and emphasized the importance of coordinated efforts across sectors to combat illicit activity at major global events:

"The United States stands as a beacon of freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. Yet every day, millions of people are subjected to forced labor and sexual exploitation. As we prepare to host the largest international sporting event in history, it is essential that law enforcement, advocacy groups, industry partners, and the federal government work together to disrupt trafficking operations and protect the most vulnerable among us."

"Today, an estimated 27.6 million people are being trafficked worldwide: 77 percent in forced labor and 23 percent in sex trafficking. Men and boys account for 57 percent of victims, women and girls for 43 percent. Trafficking occurs every day in the U.S., across the globe, and in our own communities."

"As much as we rely on law enforcement to enforce justice and put a stop to the transnational criminal organizations and trafficking rings responsible for this heinous crime, advocacy groups and industry partners also play a critical role through providing intelligence and raising public awareness. Training and coordination must extend beyond law enforcement to include hotel staff, venue security, event organizers, transportation personnel, and other frontline workers."

Task Force Chairman McCaul asked how to protect the unaccompanied alien children (UAC) who crossed our borders under the previous administration from exploitation and abuse, to which Mr. Thompson testified:

"We believe it is about 400,000. We don't know, let's be honest. The records that were developed and used from all indications and all reports and briefings I've received from the government, are deeply disturbing, and our inability to find and assure this Congress and the nation's public that these individuals are not dead or being trafficked in one way, shape, or form, including sex trafficking, labor trafficking and others… What I can tell you that we're looking at with the administration is, how do we get our arms around the data? Number one. That's a challenge for them. And number two, then what do you do with the data from a targeting package perspective, where does it go, and how is it followed up upon? And those two steps alone are incredibly labor and financially incentive, costly, it takes time."

Subcommittee Chairman Strong asked how the hotel industry is preparing to protect visitors during global events hosted in the U.S., to which Ms. McCoy testified:

"In the hotel industry, we have had a long-standing commitment to being at the ready from a training perspective and operational perspective, and certainly when we have large events such as the ones we've talked about today, we take the opportunity to amplify those efforts to reinforce them. But it certainly is something that has become an automatic component to every employee's experience in our industry, and something that we just continue to double down on when we have the attention and the awareness from these major events."

Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) asked what people can do to combat human trafficking in their own communities, to which Ms. Litvak testified:

"Anybody can be a victim, anybody can be a trafficker, and anybody can be a buyer as well, but also procurer of forced labor, and this can happen to any child… I never want somebody to have to walk through what myself and my family have walked through, and countless other victims, so many who will never get to have their voices heard, and they have a voice. But many people, sadly, do not make it out… Don't wait until this happens to you, where it should become personal before this happens to you, where everybody takes up arms and covers our communities, our churches, our schools, our institutions, our government. But we're in such a divisive time, and we really need more unity, but also education and awareness. Be prepared before it happens to you."

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