Ashley Hinson Asks Admiral About Cooperation With Other Agencies To Interdict Flow Of Illegal Goods

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During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) spoke about the Coast Guard's cooperation with other federal agencies to stop the flow of illegal goods.

Transcript

00:00Five minutes for questions.

00:01Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:02Good afternoon, Admiral.

00:03Again, thank you for coming to testify before our subcommittee.

00:06The Coast Guard plays such an important role, as you've already touched on a number of topics,

00:10from interdiction and defense, just such a necessary line of helping to keep our country safe.

00:15And under President Trump's leadership, obviously, we are seeing a renewed investment

00:20and renewed commitment to that promise to keep America safe.

00:24I hear you talk about investment in a modernized fleet, expanded maritime enforcement capabilities,

00:31all those things, I think, make Iowans feel good.

00:33Even though we're between two rivers, we like to know that our coasts are safe.

00:37But also, obviously, Iowa has a very significant Coast Guard presence with a fleet that needs upgrading.

00:43So that's going to be my line of questioning today because we are –

00:46Iowa in Dubuque is home to the home port for the Cutter Wyaconda, which is 60 years old.

00:51So a nice old ship celebrating its 60th anniversary at the end of this month.

00:57Absolutely vital in keeping the upper Mississippi navigable for us.

01:00But it comes down to supporting our farmers, our producers,

01:04being able to get things to market up and down the Mississippi River safely and efficiently.

01:10So these legacy cutters have served our country well, but they're showing their age.

01:14And so we must, I believe, move quickly to replace them with more modern vessels

01:18that can keep up with today's demand.

01:20So we know that Coast Guard has initial approval for this program.

01:23So do you agree that it is time to prioritize building these new cutters

01:27to make sure we can deploy them and get them into service without delay?

01:32Representative Hinson, it certainly is important.

01:34Most people think of the Coast Guard certainly along the coast or at sea.

01:37But we're just as present in America's heartland, in our Great Lakes,

01:40and in the inland rivers and waterways, including in your district.

01:43So we have a recapitalization program for those construction tenders and those river tenders

01:49that are so vital to keeping life-saving commerce going throughout the United States

01:53and to markets overseas.

01:55So the waterways commerce cutter was just approved by the Department of Homeland Security

01:58to enter initial production for the first eight.

02:01That's being built by Burdon as the shipbuilder down in Biola Batry, Alabama.

02:04And so those cutters, state-of-the-art, will replace the aging but still very viable cutters

02:12like Wyaconda that operates in a home ported out of Dubuque

02:14and provide the critical services necessary to keep commerce moving,

02:19which is vital to our economic prosperity.

02:21Absolutely.

02:21Well, I'm glad we share that priority.

02:23Do you have any insight into potential home ports for those cutters once they come off of the line

02:29and they're done being built in Louisiana?

02:31Congressman, I don't have a home port decision on all of the waterways commerce cutters that will be built.

02:37Some of them, or they will be larger than many of the existing ones,

02:41and so we'll have to assess what the infrastructure needs are as we go forward.

02:44But we look forward to working with members of the committee as we make those decisions,

02:48along with the administration.

02:50Thank you for that.

02:51My last question today, you know, I heard you talk about how important interdiction is.

02:55You mentioned Florida and the Caribbean being the other element of the southern border.

02:59We think about the Rio Grande and the states,

03:01but really it's about what's happening at sea in preventing those bad actors,

03:05particularly many of those who are backed by international criminal gangs

03:09or adversarial governments like the CCP from being able to exploit our U.S. ports and waterways.

03:16And we know PRC is one of the leading sources of counterfeit goods coming into our country,

03:21illegal transshipments, trying to get around our trade laws,

03:24deceptive shipping practices, right?

03:25They use that transnational shipment constantly to get around sanctions enforcement.

03:30So can you speak a little to the Coast Guard's role in enforcing and identifying

03:34and then interdicting those types of shipments in coordination maybe with other agencies under homeland security?

03:42Mr. Hinson, we work very closely with other parts of homeland security

03:45and the intelligence community to enforce the U.S. requirements and restrictions on illegal or unauthorized shipments,

03:53particularly by those states that sponsor those shipments that we prevent from coming into the country.

03:59And we are concerned about the activities of the CCP,

04:03whether it's a legal movement of goods that are prohibited for entry

04:06or whether it's presenting threats in cyberspace to our maritime critical infrastructure.

04:12And we've been busy, not only our operational commanders in the Atlantic and Pacific area,

04:16but Coast Guard Cyber Command working with the Department of Homeland Security and others

04:20to make sure that we can improve the cybersecurity of our port critical infrastructure

04:25so that others that may seek to hold it at risk will be unable to do so.

04:29And we can, the American people can be sure that infrastructure is resilient

04:34and can withstand the threat of any attack or disruption.

04:37Are you utilizing AI at all in that technology?

04:40You mentioned the cyberspace specifically,

04:42but are you using any of those technologies to help track or even anticipate potential attacks

04:47or need for interdiction?

04:50We are using AI technology with others in the cyber operations space,

04:54with U.S. Cyber Command and CISA within the Department of Homeland Security.

04:58And I can follow up with more specifics about how we use that.

05:02That'd be great.

05:02And if we need to go on to skip to talk about that, happy to do that.

05:04Thank you very much, sir.

05:05I yield back.

05:07The ranking member of the full committee, Ms. Delauro,

05:09you are recognized for five minutes for your questions.

05:15These to you, Mr. Chairman and the ranking member and to Admiral.

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