Stefanik says U.S. slow to harden military installations for climate change, cyber war

North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik says military installations around the world are vulnerable to two new threats: climate change and cyber-attack....

Rep. Elise Stefanik spoke Wednesday at a subcommittee hearing of the House armed Services Committee. Image: Screen capture of proceedings

North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik says military installations around the world are vulnerable to two new threats: climate change and cyber-attack. At a hearing this week in Washington, the Republican criticized military leaders for not moving fast enough to prepare bases.

In her opening remarks, Stefanik – one of the few Republicans in Congress who talks often about climate change as a real threat – said the military needs to get ready.

"First, we remain vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate change," Stefanik said Wednesday. "We must therefore factor in these environmental changes when discussing resiliency of military installations."

Virtual warfare a threat, US bases "incredibly vulnerable"

But much of Stefanik’s time during the hearing Wednesday was spent focused on a different threat – cyber attack. She says in 2017 Congress directed the Defense Department to assess the digital threat to military bases and begin hardening defenses.

"We are still incredibly vulnerable to attack," she said. "I fear we have not yet identified the scale and scope of our problems, let alone begun to mitigate our most concerning shortfalls."

One of the witnesses at the hearing was Robert McMcahon, the assistant secretary of defense for sustainment. He acknowledged to Stefanik that the military hasn’t yet followed through.

"I would agree with you that we have not fully sized that," McMahon said. "There's been a tremendous amount of discussion of what we need to do." 

Another witness, Lucian Niemeyer, the acting assistant secretary for the navy in charge of installations and the environment, said his branch of the military has made more progress hardening digital defense.

But he added that the U.S. "needs a national policy and a national answer" for digital security at military installations.

Stefanik says the military has been slow to even understand how digital threats could impact bases in times of conflict.

In her work on the Armed Services Committee, Stefanik has often focused on next generation threats and technologies – things like AI and cyberwarfare.

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