▶ 0:15:18>> good morning. I call this hearing to order. I just left my colleague, senator britt, in the judiciary meeting and she is asking questions and coming here.
▶ 0:15:33Our democratic colleagues are expected momentarily, but to get us started, I wanted to express my colleague -- to my colleagues gratitude for agreeing to have this hearing and bring two appropriations subcommittees together on , on a set of issi think are important.
▶ 0:15:52Thanks to chairman bennet, ranking member van hollen, and senator murphy for agreeing, supporting, and their presence today or soon their presence today, an opportunity to help us discuss how we better prepare for the 2026 fifa world cup. I also thank our witnesses today.
▶ 0:16:13We have deputy assistant secretary robert o'leary and chris tomney and special agent in charge douglas olson on their efforts for the world cup for the united states of america. World cup will be one of the largest global events in the U.S. with an estimated 5 million to 6 million fans across 11 host cities with significant spill over surrounding communities and states as visitors travel throughout our country.
▶ 0:16:41The games are a significant opportunity to showcase american leadership, hospitality, and coordination, but it also presents a complex set of security and the adjustable challenges that demand oversight. Because of the successful execution of the world cup will depend on" a nation across the federal government, including the department of homeland security, the department of commerce, and the department of justice.
▶ 0:17:06Dhs which since its establishment lester has overseen many operational and interagency coordination efforts ahead of these games. At the same time, doj through the fbi will play a central role in intelligence, counterterrorism, and crisis response, ensuring that these efforts are aligned, resourced, and clearly communicated across government.
▶ 0:17:35The department of commerce is outward lead federal agency on matters related to travel and tourism. For kansas, this effort is especially meaningful. Kansas city will host dasha should say for kansas and missouri, this effort will be especially meaningful.
▶ 0:17:56Kansas city will host matches for four teams, england, argentina, algeria, and the netherlands are expected to base camp or stay in kansas or the kansas city region bringing an estimated 650,000 visitors. This will play significant demand on local law enforcement, emergency management, infrastructure, federal planning must reflect not only the needs of the largest host city but communities like kansas city.
▶ 0:18:20At the same time, this presents significant opportunities for kansas city and kansas, for businesses, for broader tourism economy, hotels, restaurants, small businesses, local attractions will all play a role in welcoming visitors from around the globe. I am particularly interested in how the department of commerce and international trade administration are working to host h support host cities and make the U.S. a destination and ensuring places like kansas city are prepared to meet the demands.
▶ 0:18:52Congress has already taken steps to support these efforts including providing $625 million in dedicated funding to support host cities. As planning continues, it is our responsibility to ensure these resources are given accordingly, it is seamless, and host city communities, not just the host cities but surrounding towns are left with a lasting benefit from the games. This is an important moment in our country's history.
▶ 0:19:24It is an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of communication across every part of our government. The way the fbi worked alongside the police chief of kansas city is exactly the kind of collaboration that will define our success. It is also a moment not just for the nation as a whole buffer host cities and surrounding communities and small towns to welcome the world. It is an opportunity to take pride in the safety and security we provide and to showcase the very best of the united states on a global stage.
▶ 0:19:53I now recognize that chairwoman and thank her for her cooperation in this joint hearing this morning. Chairwoman britt.
▶ 0:20:02Chair Britt: Thank you. Appreciate putting this hearing on today. Want to tell you all thank you for your service. We appreciate what you do. We know the importance of it, and I hope today we get to learn about how we can better support the mission that is in front of each of you.
▶ 0:20:21Chair Britt: When you are looking at the fact that we have over 5 million fans that are expected to attend the upcoming world cup, I know you have been given the responsibility to secure what is probably one of the most visible, widely attended, and globally impactful sporting events in the world today. I know that responsibility is not an easy one but we are grateful for your willingness to take it on your shoulders.
▶ 0:20:48Chair Britt: That being said, it is important to note this hearing is obviously being held against the backdrop of a shutdown of dhs. I want to make sure we are doing everything possible to get dhs fully funded, to make sure the resources are there for each one of you, and the collaboration is at full maximum potential there. Look, international sporting events are a great unifier.
▶ 0:21:13Chair Britt: From the miracle on ice in 1980 two the dream team in 1992 to even just watching us beat canada, both men and women in the hockey arena, nothing compares to our country. And nothing is more unifying -- compares to cheering on our country, and is more unifying. I am excited for it again.
▶ 0:21:41Chair Britt: In doing that, we want to make sure those spaces are safe as someone who attends football events regularly, whether that is football championships, which I would like to attend more of, has been lacks the last few years, or the super bowl, we want to make sure we are giving you the tools you need and we are having proper communication and collaboration to keep americans safe.
▶ 0:22:06Chair Britt: What is in front of us for the world cup, we know we have people traveling from across the globe to participate in these events. So it is imperative today that we talk about where resources are, what your mission is, how you are making sure you are working together, and are there things we need to be doing to give you those tools? Are there impediments in the law that prohibit you from working with local actors the way you need to with local enforcement, the way you need to to keep people safe?
▶ 0:22:39Chair Britt: As the world's eyes are upon us, and they will be, we want to make sure we not only elevate great games, but we do it in a safe and secure environment. So thank you all for heating to that mission. Thank you for your tireless service and work in completing that, and please use today as an opportunity to make sure that we hear from you what you need to achieve that ultimate goal. Thank you, Mr. chair.
▶ 0:23:02Chair Moran: Senator van hollen.
▶ 0:23:04Sen. Van Hollen: Thank you. Let me thank both of our chairs today. Like millions of americans and people across the world, I am a soccer fan. I coached my kids's soccer teams when they were growing up, and I am the cochair of the congressional soccer caucus. Welcome colleagues to join that. I am excited. I am excited the united states will host the 2026 people world cup tournament. It is a huge undertaking.
▶ 0:23:35Sen. Van Hollen: As senator moran pointed out, we already appropriated, american taxpayers have appropriated millions of dollars to ensure our lot freshmen officers and partners can keep stadiums and fans safe and secure. What I worry about most is factors unrelated to security will dampen enthusiasm for the tournament and reduce the economic benefits that should flow to communities that are hosting the games. Congratulations to kansas and senator moran that kansas city will be one of those destinations.
▶ 0:24:07Sen. Van Hollen: And the world cup is supposed to be a moment when people from all over the world from different backgrounds join together to celebrate support and marvel at the skills of the players. I second what senator britt said. This should be a unifying event. Unfortunately, the president of the united states has represented just the opposite, including comments in the lead up to the games and actions.
▶ 0:24:29Sen. Van Hollen: He has made his political career by sewing division, by pitting people against one another based on race or ethnicity or religion, and he has been scaring off fans from around the world who want to come here to cheer on their teams. This is not speculation. We saw warning signs last summer when the U.S. hosted fifa's club world cup, which was effectively a dress rehearsal for this summer's tournament.
▶ 0:24:57Sen. Van Hollen: It failed to meet expectations with stadiums only 57% full on average. This came as fans circulated a social media post by customs and border protection declaring that federal immigration agents would be "suited and booted" at the matches. Even top officials with fifa are concerned about the harmful impact ice operations would have on the world cup fan experience.
▶ 0:25:27Sen. Van Hollen: I know the trump administration touts the resources dedicated expediting visa processing for those who purchase tickets through fifa. Yet it also instituted and expanded a travel ban this year, restricting entry to the united states by nationals of 39 countries. That man applies -- that ban applies to haiti, a nation full of diehard soccer fans who would love nothing more than to come here and cheer on their team's playing for the first time in the world cup in 50 years.
▶ 0:25:59Sen. Van Hollen: Unbelievably, there is still a question whether or not all the people world cup players will be able to participate in U.S. matches. Just last week, homeland security secretary mullin threatened customs offices could stop processing international travelers at U.S. airports in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions. Mind you there is no agreed-upon definition of sanctuary jurisdiction. The term is not defined in law.
▶ 0:26:27Sen. Van Hollen: It is another excuse by the trump administration to strike at states that refuse to blindly support trump's mass deportation agenda. I would say such a move by the administration would prevent countless overseas fans from visiting the world cup matches at destination cities. Fans are also rightly concerned about their data privacy and the right to free expression being targeted.
▶ 0:26:50Sen. Van Hollen: This administers and has announced plans to require tourists, including those from visa free countries, to hand over five years of social media activity and other personal information before being allowed access to the united states. I hope that our witnesses today can dispel that concern and reassure visitors who are buried by rumors of ice and cbp crackdowns on intrusive personal information inquiries are just not, rumors -- that, rumors.
▶ 0:27:18Sen. Van Hollen: Finally, I have concerns with decisions made by fifa itself when it comes to skyhigh world cup ticket prices, the most expensive ever by far. And the new reports that fifa misled early ticket purchasers on where their seat locations would be. Even when many paid premium prices expecting prime seats. Tickets for early matches are going for more than $500 apiece at the moment.
▶ 0:27:42Sen. Van Hollen: When the united states and canada and mexico won the hosting rights in 2018, the average ticket price for the final was estimated at just over $1000. Now tickets for july 19 final are projected to start at more than $4000. Soccer fans from across the united states in the world are rightly frustrated they will find themselves priced out. If soccer is supposed to be accessible to all fans, then this corporate world cup would fall far short.
▶ 0:28:10Sen. Van Hollen: I will also say fifa has been rife with corruption over the years and completely discredited itself by inventing the fifa peace prize and presenting it to the president who just threatened to end a civilization. So, Mr. chairman, all that being said, I do look forward to a testimony from the witnesses on the security issues, but also on the concerns I raised.
▶ 0:28:33Sen. Van Hollen: Because if they were advanced, some of those decisions or policies, it will have a big chilling impact on the fans coming here and on our local economic benefits. Thank you.
▶ 0:28:44Chair Moran: Senator van hollen, thank you. Let's now hear from our witnesses. We will start with Mr. o'leary, admiral tomney, and then Mr. olson. You are recognized.
▶ 0:28:59Mr. O'Leary: Good morning, members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to update you on the commerce department's preparations for the 2026 fifa world cup as they relate to travel and tourism. A vital industry that continues to receive support from the subcommittee. Thank you for your leadership in this important area. My name is robert o'leary.
▶ 0:29:26Mr. O'Leary: I serve as deputy assistant secretary for travel and tourism at the international trade administration within the department of commerce and am truly honored to join you today at such an important moment. The success of the 2026 world cup is extremely important to the trump administration. To underscore this importance come on march 7, 2025, president trump signed an executive order establishing the white house task force to coordinate U.S. government efforts in support of the 2026 world cup.
▶ 0:29:54Mr. O'Leary: As the executive order states, this event provides the united states the opportunity to showcase the nation's pride and hospitality while promoting economic growth and tourism through sport. As america's largest service export, international travel and tourism is a vital driver to the U.S. economy. The world cup is expected to draw millions of visitors from across the globe.
▶ 0:30:16Mr. O'Leary: According to estimates from fifa and the wto, the tournament will contribute over $17 billion to our nation's gross to mustard illustrating substantial impact, economic impact. Fifa predicts 3.5 million tickets will be purchased by international fans who are protected to spend $6.4 billion during their travel within the united states.
▶ 0:30:41Mr. O'Leary: When president trump established the white house task force, he set out a very clear mission to ensure the united states delivers a safe, welcoming, and memorable world cup, and that is exactly what the task force is working to deliver. To help support this goal, the national travel and tourism office is focused on several key priorities. As the official source for the U.S. government data on international visitation and spending in the united states, we are t leading task force efforts to measure the economic impact of visitors during the road cap.
▶ 0:31:11Mr. O'Leary: Beginning january 2026, the commerce department introduced a modified survey of international air travelers that asked respondents whether they attended a world cup match or fan event during their visit to the united states. This data will help provide insight into travel demand and spending related to the world cup. In addition, as the U.S. government's primary point of contact for the travel industry, we are working with agencies to highlight streamlined travel processes for both the tourism industry and prospective visitors.
▶ 0:31:43Mr. O'Leary: Our third area of focus is on collaboration. Ntto is actively working with host cities travel associations, and destination organizations to promote tourism throughout the united states.
▶ 0:31:57Mr. O'Leary: Thanks to president trump's leadership, the world cup will be the beginning of a decade of mega tourism events to be hosted in the united states, including america 250, the route 66 centennial, the 2028 summer olympic and paralympic games in los angeles, the women's world cup in 2031, the men's and women's rugby world cups, the 2034 winter olympics and paralympics, and a potential bid for the 2035 expo.
▶ 0:32:27Mr. O'Leary: Together, these events present an unprecedented opportunity for the united states to promote the extraordinary places that make america the world's premier destination. In closing, the department of commerce sincerely appreciates the opportunity to update the committee during this pivotal moment for the travel and tourism industry. Thank you for inviting me here today. I look forward to answering your questions.
▶ 0:32:51Chair Moran: Thank you, sir. Admiral.
▶ 0:32:56Dir. Tomney: Thank you, Mr. chairman moran, chairwoman britt , ranking member van hollen, ranking member murphy, and distant wish members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you about the world cup 2026. I am the director for the office of homeland security situational awareness at the department of homeland security.
▶ 0:33:23Dir. Tomney: In addition to this role which includes managing the nation's national operations center, I currently serve as the senior coordinating official for dhs in support of the white house task force on fifa world cup 2026. Last may I was appointed to this role by former secretary noem to serve as the department's lead for dhs efforts supporting the white house task force on world cup.
▶ 0:33:46Dir. Tomney: In this forum established through presidential executive order 14234, I work with my 10 counterparts from across the interagency and the task force office to coordinate federal actions necessary to ensure a safe, secure, and endurable tournament. As you know, the summer's world cup tournament will be the most complex and widespread sporting event in the history of the world.
▶ 0:34:13Dir. Tomney: Not only will we have 78 matches across 11 host cities in the span of 39 days, but we will also have 39 team base camps and dozens of fan fests and watch parties across america. The event will be a whole of government event coming at the same time as america's 250th birthday celebrations. Within dhs, I have a small team to assist with the central coordination of our department's activities.
▶ 0:34:43Dir. Tomney: However, the primary mechanism by which we integrate dhs's activities is through what we call the dhs world cup coordination council. This council is comprised of senior executives from all dhs components and offices who are charged with coordinating activities inside their organization. This model provides visibility and cooperation throughout the department both vertically as well as horizontally.
▶ 0:35:08Dir. Tomney: Through the council and the white house task force structures, we work to ensure consequence management planning, counter unmanned aerial system operations, threats and intelligence efforts, anti-human trafficking, and visa and visitor processes are are robust. We are finalizing enhanced information sharing processes and common operational pictures to prevent Ms. communications and to improve situational awareness during the tournament.
▶ 0:35:37Dir. Tomney: In the match cities, dhs's federal coordinators are the lead federal agents for the safety and security planning in support of our state and local partners. Dhs appoint a federal coordinator to work directly with state and local authorities whenever an event arises to a particular level of security concern, what we call a special event assessment rating level.
▶ 0:36:03Dir. Tomney: To illustrate the scale of the tournament, the number of sear related matches will multiply our annual workload of these events several times over injustice. Of a few short weeks. These federal coordinators began working with their state, local, and host committee planners over a year ago to help build a robust security plan for tournament activities.
▶ 0:36:28Dir. Tomney: Through security committees, preparedness exercises, and detailed planning, the federal coordinators have been integral part of tournament preparations. The federal coordinators supported by the special events program at dhs headquarters which provide the guidance, support, and assistance if federal resources are needed to fill a gap in host city capabilities.
▶ 0:36:51Dir. Tomney: Because we are normally only with one sear event at a time like a super bowl, dhs is usually able to fulfill these security requests internally. Given the scope and scale of the world cup, host cities have significant requirements. To fill these requests, dhs is working with the host cities to leverage all available resources.
▶ 0:37:13Dir. Tomney: This includes coordinating with state and local partners through mutual aid compacts and utilizing the $625 million appropriated by congress as part of the fema grant funding spread across the 11 cities to help cover security costs. By taking a whole of community approach, we are working to ensure a robust security posture at every venue.
▶ 0:37:39Dir. Tomney: While the federal government has significant resources, we must balance that support against our critical enduring missions, such as attracting our aviation assets, preventing terrorism, and securing the border. We continue to work with our partners to ensure all security requirements are met while maintaining our global commitments. In conclusion, there is no part of dhs not engaged in support of this mission.
▶ 0:38:07Dir. Tomney: The dedicated men and women of dhs never wavered in their support of this tournament. Similarly, our interagency partners are critical for the support of every kind. Dhs is grateful for all of our federal, state, local, tribal, territorial and international, as well as our private sector partners. Without their support, we would not be able to secure the world cup tournament. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today and look forward to answering your questions. Thank you.
▶ 0:38:38Chair Moran: Thank you very much.
▶ 0:38:39Chair Moran: Mr. olson. Agent olson.
▶ 0:38:42Mr. Olson: Chair moran, chairwoman britt, ranking member van hollen, renting member murphy, and numbers of the subcommittee met thank you for having me here today to speak about the fbi's role in the U.S. government effort to ensure the safety and security of the 2026 fifa world cup tournament. I am to special agent in charge of the fbi's portland field office.
▶ 0:39:05Mr. Olson: I am also the fbi senior knitting official on the white house task force -- senior coordinating official, or sco, on the white house task force. It requires a unified government effort, and the task force has been a key enabler of interagency coordination. As the fbi sco, I regularly engage with our partners and looking to have a strong relationship with my dhs counterpart, christopher tomney.
▶ 0:39:35Mr. Olson: We are also looking to be joined by Mr. robert o'leary from the department of commerce whose work with the task force and interagency will ensure the world cup is successful from a trade and tourism perspective. Just as this is a whole of government effort, it is also an all of fbi effort. All 56 fbi field offices and 63 law enforcement offices around the world stand ready to support the usg as the tournament approaches and throughout the 39 day event. Headquarters personnel work every day to support our field offices, and this effort is no different.
▶ 0:40:06Mr. Olson: Our critical incident response group worse riggins take a significant role in matters ranging from planning to counter unmanned aircraft intelligence. The fbi criminal justice service management division play key roles in insuring those seeking access to secure venue spaces are thoroughly vetted.
▶ 0:40:31Mr. Olson: Our counterterrorism, criminal counterintelligence, and espionage, and cyber divisions are closely monitoring all available information to maintain awareness of threats from potential terrorists, cyber actors, and anyone else seeking to engage in nefarious activity related to the world cup. The fbi's international operations division and office of engagement ensure information is shared with foreign partners, federal, state, local law enforcement, private sector partners, and the public.
▶ 0:40:58Mr. Olson: Of course, the fbi continues its daily global operations and are constantly assessing the appropriate assignment of personnel and resources to support day-to-day missions. The world cup and a variety of significant events, including those associated with america's 250th anniversary. This will be a very busy summer, and the fbi is ready. I will offer insight into a few of the most significant efforts I have been able to oversee as the sco. I will start with general special event support.
▶ 0:41:28Mr. Olson: Our field office teams have excellent relationships with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement. Fbi special events teams maintain close relationships and strong communication with our dhs partners throughout the preparation and execution stages of events ranging from the super bowl and the world series to the kentucky derby and the boston marathon to name just a few. One of the most significant to the concerns surrounding the world cup is the threat posed by unmanned aircraft systems, or uas.
▶ 0:41:56Mr. Olson: The fbi counter uas capabilities include -- in 2025 the fbi established the treating established the tre training center in huntsville, alabama. It is the only federally authorized counter uas training and certification center for state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement in the country.
▶ 0:42:22Mr. Olson: Timely intelligence sharing is critical to the preservation of life and property to ensure the collection, analysis, and sharing of intelligence at all classification levels is continuous and effective. The fbi established the intelligence coordinator intelligence coord coordination center. It will share world cup related threat reporting, law enforcement, and other relevant information throughout the tournament.
▶ 0:42:48Mr. Olson: The fbi will also manage the international police coordination center, centralized multi agency hub established to facilitate international police collaboration during the tournament. Finally, in order to increase event security, the fbi is coordinating through records checks of all individuals requiring accredited access to world cup venues. I want to stress the entire fbi stands ready to respond to any significant event regardless of proximity to world cup events.
▶ 0:43:16Mr. Olson: In closing I am continually impressed by the efforts of my fbi colleagues and our partners as we endeavor to host a safe, secure, and ultimately successful fifa world cup tournament. The fbi cannot do this alone, and the greater relationship that we have with so many partners is and will continue to be critical to our success. I want to thank director tomney, Mr. o'leary, and their teams for consistent excellent work.
▶ 0:43:45Mr. Olson: The fbi remains committed to its core mission to protect the american people and uphold the constitution of the united states and to the safety, security, and overall success of the fifa world cup. I appreciate the committee's interest in the same.
▶ 0:43:57Chair Moran: Thank you very much. I will turn to senator britt to begin the questioning. I appreciate this being a joint hearing. Not a usual occurrence in our full committee, but senator britt, thank you for the two of us working together to make this important hearing happened.
▶ 0:44:15Chair Britt: Thank you for your leadership on this and your thoughtfulness about including this. It is important that we are talking and sharing information, best practices, and figure out where we fit in to keep people safe. You mentioned something before we get into this, Mr. o'leary, about travel in the united states. Question for you.
▶ 0:44:37Chair Britt: While I know tsa is in the department of homeland security, from a commerce perspective, can you talk any at all about the effects of the shutdown with regards to travel right now?
▶ 0:44:51Mr. O'Leary: Limited about the shutdown.
▶ 0:44:54Chair Britt: But there have been effects as far as commerce goes and traveling.
▶ 0:44:59Mr. O'Leary: There will likely be effects. One of the piece of good news I will share with this committee is as far as international travel, we are reporting this week that it was up 3.5% in march. But generally speaking when everyone is working and airport lines are lessened and people know they can get to their flights on time, it does make a difference.
▶ 0:45:18Chair Britt: So admiral tomney, I would like to go to you. How has the current 60 day shutdown hampered your ability to coordinate and organize for an event of this magnitude?
▶ 0:45:30Dir. Tomney: Yeah, thank you you chairwoman for that question. It has significantly impacted our operations. If I can import members of congress on both sides, it is long since time to reopen the department of homeland security. We have been shut down more days than we have been open this fiscal year.
▶ 0:45:55Dir. Tomney: And at a time with what is going on globally and a time where we will have this historic tournament, it is time to open our department of homeland security. It has impacted. I know the acting administrator has been on the hill and talked about the hundreds of tso's lost during the shutdown. We just cannot replace that expertise overnight. It has hindered our coordination with state and locals.
▶ 0:46:26Dir. Tomney: It has reduced our planning efforts. With all that being said, let me assure this committee and the members of the public, we will have a safe, secure, it will be an endurable tournament, but it has had a negative impact on the planning.
▶ 0:46:44Chair Britt: Yeah, and when looking at the funds you could have leveraged, the additional resources that were passed and the bipartisan bill passed on march 5 from the house, I would assume that not having those funds available does negatively impact even though you are obviously committed to the mission and very specifically the pastor beget postings to you, the better and easier it is to do your job. I would assume that as a yes.
▶ 0:47:07Dir. Tomney: Yes, ma'am.
▶ 0:47:09Chair Britt: Absolutely. I think it is past time we do our job, put politics aside, and figure out a path forward. We repeatedly secured major sporting events. You mentioned specifically in your opening, but typically we do that one at a time. My question it is quite of a broad stroke. Mr. olson, I go to you on this. When looking at a super bowl or national championship game, we have all the resources at one place.
▶ 0:47:38Chair Britt: At an event like this where we see events across the country, talk about how difficult it is for you to secure such a large-scale event in different multiple locations, and is there any additional resources that you need or support you need from congress in order to be able to do that job to your maximum ability?
▶ 0:47:55Mr. Olson: Thanks for the question, senator. It is more complex. As you mentioned, typically we have one event going on, but I think we have to remember that our state and local partners are very experienced at this. Any given weekend in america, we have football games that are huge going on all across america or other sporting events so local partners are well experienced in securing these events.
▶ 0:48:23Mr. Olson: I think the key to supporting an event as big as the world cup is having a common operating picture across not only the united states, but also having a common operating picture with our partners to the north in canada and our partners to the south in mexico and making sure we are sharing that common operator down to the lowest level at every single local jurisdiction.
▶ 0:48:44Chair Britt: Do you feel like you have that now?
▶ 0:48:46Mr. Olson: I feel like we have the apparatus in place to do that. I feel like they're planning on this through the task force and interagency coordination has been unprecedented.
▶ 0:48:55Chair Britt: In a good way.
▶ 0:48:57Mr. Olson: In a good way.
▶ 0:48:58Chair Britt: That is great to hear. I am almost out of time. Admiral tomney, let me ask you one more thing without getting into specifics, what are some of the greatest challenges you still face in order to have a successful world cup?
▶ 0:49:10Dir. Tomney: I think again our greatest challenges greatest challenge is the multitude or threats. We can talk more when we get to close sessions. I would say probably counter drum capability.
▶ 0:49:31Dir. Tomney: I know congress very wisely appropriated funding for the states, $250 million in grant funding for common drone technology. I think getting all that in place would be one of the significant --
▶ 0:49:47Chair Britt: Thank you. Mr. chairman, I would like to see the fbi have more funding for drones.
▶ 0:49:53Chair Moran: Hard to argue with that. Your answer, admiral tomney, to one of senator britt's questions as an opportunity to indicate to committee members we have created the opportunity to have a closed session, classified session upon the conclusion of this hearing. Some of you may have questions that are more appropriate for that setting.
▶ 0:50:24Chair Moran: I want to start with you, Mr. o'leary. We want to convey to the world that the united states is oak open, we are welcoming, we are excited to host the soccer fans. Much of that messaging will be local chambers of commerce and local fans, but tell me about the agencies and the federal government department of commerce that have responsibilities here.
▶ 0:50:55Chair Moran: Yours would probably be at the forefront. What is the U.S. government doing to convey that message just probably? Any specifics of things we have done differently to promote the world cup?
▶ 0:51:09Adm. Tomney: Thank you, senator. First of all, let me say how glad I am that kansas will be hosting an event. Having worked for hospitality company previously based in kansas, I had the opportunity to get a first-hand experience of the warmth and hospitality of the people of kansas and they will be ambassadors to make sure that all visitors to kansas will have a great experience.
▶ 0:51:30Chair Moran: Thank you for your kindness. The first political job I had was in the job on tourism. I am glad to see that we made good standing in that regard.
▶ 0:51:41Adm. Tomney: It is truly an amazing state with amazing people. As director tomney and special agent olson have said, we have taken a whole of government approach. And prior to joining public service, I understood what it meant but I see the coronation and cooperation among agencies to ensure we deliver on the president's agenda which is safe, secure, memorable games, so there are multiple things we are doing.
▶ 0:52:10Adm. Tomney: First of all, initially, hosting a welcome specifically, that is a huge win for the united states , because that will bring millions of visitors in as you represent in your opening statement, and that will generate billions of viewers who will see the games in the united states. Our goal is to turn those billions of viewers into millions of future visitors.
▶ 0:52:30Adm. Tomney: We are working to make sure people who come to the united states have a very positive experience so that when they go back, they do two things, they determine to return to the united states as repeat visitors but also importantly ask but also importantly aact as ambassadors for us to travel to the united states. I am confident that when people come to the united states, there is not a word welcoming country, not a more welcoming people. So the more people we can bring to the united states, the better off we will be for future visits.
▶ 0:52:58Chair Moran: We don't have anyone here from the department of state, but they play a significant role in providing visas to those who are entitled to come here. Could you give any update from your perspective about the capability of fans and their access to visas?
▶ 0:53:15Mr. O'Leary: I do, senator. Thank you. The department has done a wonderful job. My understanding is they have surged 450 personnel overseas specifically dedicated to ensuring reduction in visa wait times. One that we are proud of is we can now say that over 72 countries where waits were over one year, it is now 60 days.
▶ 0:53:44Mr. O'Leary: That is thanks to what president trump announced which is for people who have tickets for the world cup. So there are many efforts being in place to ensure ease of travel and that people who want to come to the world cup can come here, get the visa, and as you know, many countries are part of the visa waiver process and can visit simply filling it out and getting approved.
▶ 0:54:09Chair Moran: Let me follow up on that arena of conversation. No question about our border controls at ports of entry, maritime need to remain rigorous in their certainty that we are 100% safe and secure. I believe you should also ensure the soccer fans to visit the united states, that their capability to do so is efficient and effective, seamless as possible.
▶ 0:54:39Chair Moran: How do you make certain we are safe and secure and at the same time make the experience of getting into the united states pleasant and welcoming?
▶ 0:54:50Dir. Tomney: Thank you for that question, Mr. chairman. To kinda piggyback on Mr. o'leary's response, under the white house task force structure, there is a number of interagency working groups that have been in place for well over a year now. One of those working groups was on vsat and visitors working group cochaired by both cbp and the department of state.
▶ 0:55:18Dir. Tomney: Those two entities, cbp and the department of state, have been working on again making it a seamless experience for those international fans who want to come visit the U.S. for example, cbp created a public facing website. Cbp welcomes to fifa world cup.
▶ 0:55:42Dir. Tomney: It is a website where visitors can go to that is both audio as well as video information to make it answer all the questions for those international visitors. I think when they come here and get to experience our great country, when they get to experience the great joy of going to one of these soccer matches, rest assured that security will be both visible as well as invisible. We take a multidimensional approach.
▶ 0:56:12Dir. Tomney: So, again, there will be a lot of security in place. A lot of it will be behind the scenes, not visible to the average fan participating.
▶ 0:56:21Chair Moran: Thank you both. Senator capito.
▶ 0:56:24Sen. Capito: Thank you for having this hearing and for being here. This is for you, agent. The fbi's communal justice division is located in west virginia.
▶ 0:56:41Sen. Capito: For those of you unfamiliar with it, it is the central repository for national crime, data, biometrics, and identification services, so we house several important issues, so I am proud of the work west virginia is doing. They have a simple mission, which is to equip law enforcement and intelligence partners with essential criminal justice information.
▶ 0:57:06Sen. Capito: Special agent, will you tell me, have you or do you plan to utilize it for threat intelligence personnel screening?
▶ 0:57:12Mr. Olson: Thanks for the question, senator. We are very proud of the work being done by our teams in west virginia. We are actually leveraging the resources right now as we speak. The fbi is conducting name checks at the first request for individuals seeking accredited access to fifa world cup venues. Dhs is a huge partner in this because they handle the intake of those name checks.
▶ 0:57:41Mr. Olson: But those checks are being processed through the systems to ensure that everyone working behind the scenes at these venues is checked out and safe to be there for close encounters with the public.
▶ 0:57:55Sen. Capito: Thank you. We are proud of our efforts there, and I know it is getting more sophisticated, more technological, and quicker to be helpful. Sitting here thinking about the interoperability, all of you have mentioned how important our local partners are, local police, city police my county deputies and sheriffs, onto the state police as you go up the chain, and I was thinking about
▶ 0:58:26Sen. Capito: Butler, pennsylvania, and one of the outcomes of that was it appeared that there was not as good interoperability between the locals and the secret service in that particular venue. I am wondering, director tomney, how do you overcome that hurdle? I am sure you have thought about it a lot and probably looked into that to see where the failures might have been. How do you respond to that on the communications? Because it has to be so instantaneous and interoperable.
▶ 0:58:54Dir. Tomney: Yeah. Thank you for that question, senator. We do rely quite heavily on our state and local partners.
▶ 0:59:02Sen. Capito: Right.
▶ 0:59:03Dir. Tomney: And again, the state and locals are in charge of the security. We the feds support them. One of the ways to build that enduring partnership is you have to be down in the trenches with them. That is why these federal coordinators have been in place for well over a year. They are senior leaders who come from that local community, so they do have those long-term relationships.
▶ 0:59:30Dir. Tomney: Again, special agent olson talked about the great work relationship between the fbi and dhs. He and I speak multiple times every week. All three of us along with our additional interagency colleagues, we meet weekly with the white house task force. But from a safety and security standpoint, dhs and fbi are the co-leads for the interagency. My staff and his staff are talking multiple times every single day.
▶ 0:59:56Sen. Capito: I ask specifically on the communication interoperability. Like should we text? Do we have special radios? Is that something, without giving away the operational details, I am sure that has to be one of the crux of providing a safe venue.
▶ 1:00:17Dir. Tomney: Yeah, communications is historically a challenge. At times, there are ways to get around that through technology. There are other ways. As I used to say when I was in uniform, the exchange of hostages of a meaning we place one of our employees in someone else's command and they do vice versa to make sure you don't have that miss have that m miscommunication.
▶ 1:00:42Sen. Capito: One of the issues I am at this meeting is we have so many international folks here speaking probably hundreds of different languages. It has been done in other places, places around the world where there are language barriers. Is that something you all think about or is the assumption that english being the most universal language that all general communications are in english?
▶ 1:01:13Sen. Capito: Are you going to be tasked with trying to translate a lot of this so the visitors, the teams, the coaches, the supporters all have an understanding what is going on?
▶ 1:01:23Dir. Tomney: Yeah, senator, thanks for the question. Yes, that is a challenge. One of the ways or several of the ways we are dealing with that is first of all we are putting out multilingual information on websites for international travelers who are coming over here.
▶ 1:01:43Dir. Tomney: And then as the special agent alluded to, the inter-agency under the fbi's leadership is setting up this international police cooperation center where we will have the international law enforcement but also reps from the local law enforcement from the host cities. Some again, from a language barrier, we can get, for example, an international cop talking to a local lapd cop at the center if there is any sort of language issue.
▶ 1:02:13Sen. Capito: So we will be having international law enforcement agencies also coordinating? Yes, because obviously it will take a lot of power to get it done.
▶ 1:02:23Mr. Olson: Yes, senator, and I would add we are fueling some translator requests for field offices. We know who has what games so there is some predict ability to that as well.
▶ 1:02:33Sen. Capito: That's good. That's good. Along the same lines as we talked about the international travel, so you are mostly assuming obviously that is aviation. A lot of these cities are large enough to have handled large event to be able to bus people in and corner of streets but is that your response ability to do the local transportation issues, or is that pretty much delegated to the locals?
▶ 1:03:04Dir. Tomney: Again, thank you, senator, for the question. One of the other interagency working groups under the white house task force is a travel and transportation workgroup co-led by both the department of commerce as well as the department of transportation, so they are taking a whole of government look at transportation.
▶ 1:03:24Sen. Capito: So the ground transportation as well.
▶ 1:03:27Dir. Tomney: Yes.
▶ 1:03:28Sen. Capito: Thank you all very much. Thank you for what you are doing.
▶ 1:03:31Chair Moran: Senator van hollen.
▶ 1:03:33Sen. Van Hollen: Thank you, Mr. chairman. Apologize, had to run out to another hearing, but I want to get back to some of the concerns I raised it during my opening statements. I have confidence that people are making the necessary preparations on the security and safety front.
▶ 1:03:50Sen. Van Hollen: I am very concerned that because of statements made by the president and actions taken by the trump administration that we are going to be discouraging soccer fans from coming to games here and that our communities will lose the economic benefits of that gain or that they will be diminished. So, Mr.
▶ 1:04:09Sen. Van Hollen: O'leary, isn't it true that you are required by law under the visit america act to produce annual forecasting reports on international travel and tourism industry rates, including current and anticipated? Isn't that one of your responsibilities?
▶ 1:04:28Mr. O'Leary: Yes, senator, that is one of our responsibilities.
▶ 1:04:31Sen. Van Hollen: And you prepared one that was released in march of last year, march 2025, correct?
▶ 1:04:38Mr. O'Leary: That was before my time, but I believe the answer is yes, senator.
▶ 1:04:42Sen. Van Hollen: But we are now beyond a year and the lot requires that they be provided and updated annually. Can you assure the subcommittees that you will provide that in short order?
▶ 1:04:56Mr. O'Leary: Yes, senator. We provide monthly updates on international travel, inbound travel, and we are working on the final numbers for 2025. That should be available I believe by either july or august this year, we will have the final numbers. Forecasting is a very large possibility for ntto -- responsibility for ntto.
▶ 1:05:20Sen. Van Hollen: I know you are talking about two different things but I want to talk about forecasts.
▶ 1:05:25Mr. O'Leary: Ok.
▶ 1:05:26Sen. Van Hollen: You are supposed to by law provided is a forecast of what you expect foreign travelers traveling to the united states for tourism purposes or visiting the united states. Are you aware of that responsibility?
▶ 1:05:39Mr. O'Leary: We both forecast and measure the economic impact of traveling tourism, and one of our responsibilities as we also work on a national tourism traveling strategy every five or 10 years. The last one was completed in 2022, and that is a strategy we will be working on to complete this year. In that strategy, we will be setting targets and goals for international travel and visitation.
▶ 1:06:04Sen. Van Hollen: No, I am aware of the strategy document. I would point out that unfortunately in what the republicans call the big beautiful bill, they slash funding as we are entering tourism season, but I want to come back to my question. You are required by law to submit these reports annually that projects expected tourism, so will you produce that for this committee? We are beyond the year point.
▶ 1:06:33Mr. O'Leary: Senator, I will work with our research staff to come up with a forecast. If you let me get back to the deferment of covers, I will get that to you if you allow me to do that.
▶ 1:06:43Sen. Van Hollen: Because a lot of us are questioning why the administration is not -- has not provided that and I understand why you might not want to based on your previous projections. Because the report that was released in march of 2025 projected international tourism to the united states would increase 6.5% in 2025 and another 10% in 2026. That did not happen in 2025. Did it?
▶ 1:07:12Mr. O'Leary: That did not happen. One of the reasons we are so excited about the mega events in the united states --
▶ 1:07:20Sen. Van Hollen: I am just asking, Mr. o'leary -- please just answer the question. You, I don't mean personally, but the department projected a 6.5% increase in tourism in 2025. That did not happen.
▶ 1:07:35Mr. O'Leary: Correct.
▶ 1:07:36Sen. Van Hollen: In fact, I have a chart here that we asked the congressional research service to put together based on the department of commerce numbers. In other words, we took your numbers, and this is the chart. If you look at june 2024 through december 2024, you can see -- these are actual, not projected. You all projected 6% increase. This is actual. You can see what they were.
▶ 1:08:07Sen. Van Hollen: And then you can see starting right in this period they start going down. In other words, right after the president was sworn in. I don't know that one little blue thing but you can see a steady decline. Not even close to 6%. Negative. So can you understand why many of us are concerned that statements and actions by the administration are going to depress what we hope will be a good amount of tourists coming here for the world cup?
▶ 1:08:39Sen. Van Hollen: Can you understand that concern given these numbers with the projections?
▶ 1:08:44Mr. O'Leary: I think you will be happy to know we had a 3.5% increase in march and I expect we will continue to see growth over the next decade. This is a really amazing opportunity for the travel and tourism industry with these major events coming in with the world cup, with olympics, with the paralympics. I don't think there has ever been a time -- generally speaking, this administration has made travel a very strong priority.
▶ 1:09:09Mr. O'Leary: One of the president's first activities actually as president back in 2016, he expended political capital to go out and win the los angeles olympics in 2028. Two usually are, he asked his son about jared kushner to go over and he won the fifa world cup for the united states with mexico and canada. This is a president who through his actions made clear he prioritizes travel and tourism.
▶ 1:09:36Mr. O'Leary: Generally speaking if you look at his private sector career, there has never been a president who created more private sector jobs in trouble or tourism. Two of his signature initiatives I am proud to talk about our no tax on tips and no tax on overtime. Those are two policies that directly impact and benefit the travel and tourism industry.
▶ 1:09:54Sen. Van Hollen: Let me just -- I am going to wrap this up. Sorry you straight into no tax on tips, which is something I support. You probably know that no tax on tips is a cut that expires in two years. While the tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires remain permanent. I actually have a proposal that would make all the people who benefit from no tax on tips better off and permanently. I hope the president will support that. And look --
▶ 1:10:24Mr. O'Leary: I know there was no policy of no tax on tips before the president came up with the idea.
▶ 1:10:29Sen. Van Hollen: There have been a number of proposals the president put forward. If you want to talk about the lions share -- this is not a finance committee hearing, but you raised it. If you look at the tax cuts under the so-called big beautiful bill, 50% of the benefits went to the top 5% income earners and 75% of the benefits went to the top 20%.
▶ 1:11:00Sen. Van Hollen: I put forward a proposal where 100% of the tax benefits go to people who are taxpayers below the top 20%. That would be hopefully something we can all agree on. They do pay for it with a surtax on people who make over $1 million a year. You raised it.
▶ 1:11:20Sen. Van Hollen: I just want to say the facts themselves the facts from your own department should cause any reasonable person concern. Obviously, tourism will go up when you have the world cup. The issue is whether it will go up according to expectations like in kansas city. We are investing hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in protecting this.
▶ 1:11:48Sen. Van Hollen: I just want to make sure that in the end in the the end in t addition to the excitement, as I said I am a huge soccer fan, this is a good deal for the american people and that means we make sure we maximize the economic benefits in places like kansas city. Thank you.
▶ 1:12:02Mr. O'Leary: We are complete the on the same page. Our goal is to maximize that as well and that is what we are working to do through the task force and these events. One of the things I am most excited about is I believe these events will generate tourism and lead directly to increase jobs in travel and hospitality, which is an industry with characteristics that is upwardly mobile so is a great source of jobs. It is a driver for the economy and we are putting these events together to ensure this is an amazing decade to maximize the opportunity for the travel and tourism sector.
▶ 1:12:32Mr. O'Leary: Thank ■you.
▶ 1:12:32Chair Moran: Senator shaheen.
▶ 1:12:34Sen. Shaheen: Thank you for holding this hearing, and thank you to our witnesses for being here. Mr. o'leary, I want to follow up on some of the questions that senator van hollen was asking because I agree, this should be an amazing opportunity for travel and tourism. The world cup is going to be held not just in the united states, but also in canada and mexico.
▶ 1:12:59Sen. Shaheen: And I have some concern that the tariffs that the president has put on and the rhetoric against canada, the rhetoric about deploying military forces inside mexico will have some impact on those countries and their interest in participating with us. Also, the tourism industry in new hampshire, the state that I represent, is our second largest industry.
▶ 1:13:28Sen. Shaheen: It supports 70,000 jobs, an ever larger share of foreign tourism is from canada. Last year, new hampshire saw 30% drop in tourists from canada. In some areas, that was more than 60%. It is largely due to the loss of trust and goodwill because of the president's rhetoric around canada.
▶ 1:13:50Sen. Shaheen: So, can you talk about what steps the administration is taking to restore tourism from canada and mexico and how this should be an opportunity and what you are doing to try to capitalize specifically on this opportunity?
▶ 1:14:01Mr. O'Leary: Yes. Thank you, senator. So first of all, let me say we love our canadian visitors. We welcome canadian travel and we know when canadians come to the united states, they will have an amazing experience.
▶ 1:14:13Sen. Shaheen: Perhaps you should share that with president trump.
▶ 1:14:16Mr. O'Leary: I know resident trump welcomes visitors from all over the world and loves canadian visitors. We are hosting the world cup with canada and mexico. It is giving us an opportunity to work directly with those countries. I know across agencies we are working with them to make travel easier to make it more seamless so that we all succeed.
▶ 1:14:33Sen. Shaheen: Can you talk a little more on specifics about that when you say we are working with different government agencies to make visas more -- to expedite visas for people to come through. Can you talk about who you are working with and the increase in how you are addressing that? That has been an issue in terms of getting people to the U.S.
▶ 1:14:59Mr. O'Leary: Certainly. As I mentioned earlier, one thing we are very proud of is our efforts. The state department has surged resources. One of the accomplishments, it has reduced visa wait times the were over one year in over 70 countries to under 60 days. That is making the traveling process much easier.
▶ 1:15:27Mr. O'Leary: We are working closely with allies in canada and mexico to make travel easier. Multiple events with our counterparts, specifically to make travel easier. We have had conversations -- for example, seattle, vancouver are hosting games. We are making sure travel between those two destinations are easy, as well.
▶ 1:15:56Mr. O'Leary: Many countries are visa waiver process countries. We have had one million applications for the world cup. Generally speaking I think there is strong -- a couple barometers are number 1, the ability to raise prices. Secondly, an important factor when we think about the world cup and demand, it is important to recognize the fundamental change in supply. I believe it is because fifa understood how much the united states could attract people.
▶ 1:16:28Mr. O'Leary: They basically increased the tournament from 32 to 48 teams. A 62% increase in games. A 90% increase in actual tickets. We have gone from smaller stadiums in qatar to nfl stadiums in america.
▶ 1:16:42Sen. Shaheen: I'm sorry to interrupt but I'm almost out of time. I want to get in another question before it is over. I would point out that this is an opportunity and hopefully we will let our neighbors know that we want them here and we will not see the continued declining numbers as senator van hollen showed on his chart. My next question is for you, Mr. tomney -- mi I pronouncing it incorrectly?
▶ 1:17:13Sen. Shaheen: The federal emergency management agency issued a notice of funding opportunity for $625 million for the world cup security at $250 million for aerial systems. The counter uas funding was awarded in january but the world cup funding was not issued until mid-march although post cities across the country were pressing the administration to release the funds.
▶ 1:17:40Sen. Shaheen: There were several news reports that showed the reason for the hold up was because of administrative delay. Can you tell us what that delay was and if we will see more delays?
▶ 1:17:55Dir. Tomney: Thank you, senator for the question. About aware of any administrative delays other than the last of appropriations to dhs and that has slowed many things down.
▶ 1:18:07Sen. Shaheen: Is the money coming from dhs?
▶ 1:18:10Dir. Tomney: I did not hear the question.
▶ 1:18:12Sen. Shaheen: My understanding was the money was not coming from dhs.
▶ 1:18:16Dir. Tomney: Fima is part of vhs.
▶ 1:18:21Sen. Shaheen: It is for the world cup. It should not be.
▶ 1:18:26Dir. Tomney: Again, a lot of the planning efforts underway for the world cup have been slowed down, have been delayed due to the lapse of appropriations. Individuals being furloughed, etc.
▶ 1:18:43Sen. Shaheen: Have you shared that with house members that passed, 100-0?
▶ 1:18:51Dir. Tomney: It has been released. The funding is out there.
▶ 1:18:55Sen. Shaheen: Thank you.
▶ 1:18:57Chair Moran: Thank you, senator. Agent olson, let's spend a little more time. I want to give you the chance to tell us publicly about the unmanned aerial systems. You indicated in your testimony it is one of the places to have concern.
▶ 1:19:29Chair Moran: The fbi -- pursuant to the safer skies act and executive order 14305, law enforcement will be assisted with counter uas capabilities. We talked about the fbi's national counter uas training center.
▶ 1:19:55Chair Moran: It is certified at 45 state and local law enforcement officers with the expectation to have 65 certified by the time of the games. Is that sufficient? It does not seem sufficient to me but to you, is that sufficient? We have heard from agencies that access to fbi training is severely limited and demand exceeds capacity.
▶ 1:20:23Mr. Olson: Thank you for the question, senator. You are spot on in terms of the threat. The threat is growing. These devices are easily obtained and they are evolving. It makes detection and identification difficult. We have seen from recent conflicts that the capability and the intent of bad actors can be acted out with these devices. It is something we are concerned about.
▶ 1:20:51Mr. Olson: First of all, we are proud what we have done in order to roll out a new school house with a very good curriculum in short order, I think it is unprecedented. The prioritization there was to get state and local officers through in our fifa host cities. I'm happy to say we have at least some personnel trained in every single host city.
▶ 1:21:23Mr. Olson: I would say before we conclude to a closed session, the interagency, us and our partners have a solid plan when it comes to counter uas. It leverages federal resources, are state and local partners. It is an integrated plan to cover all the host city locations. I feel like we are in a good place. I'm happy to share more details with you in a closed session.
▶ 1:21:50Chair Moran: Do we need to talk about training issues? The capacity to train local law-enforcement?
▶ 1:21:56Mr. Olson: It would be better to get into specific capacities there.
▶ 1:22:01Chair Moran: How are things different -- kansas city, st. Louis, kansas city has the world cup coming, what is going on different in those offices that in the past?
▶ 1:22:17Mr. Olson: That is a great question, senator. One of the strengths of the fbi is our field offices and the local relationships we have between special agents in charge and the major police chiefs in those locations. I know the kansas city p.d. Police chief has a really good relationship with them. Our deputy director bailey went out there and spoke with the governor.
▶ 1:22:45Mr. Olson: Like you said, year-round, what is difference? Those folks are always on the same sheet of music with taskforces. We do not do anything well unless we are doing it in collaboration. We are always in coordination. This is a much bigger thing to plan for. It calls for increased engagement, which is absolutely going on in those locations. It calls for us to engage in a headquarter level with those sacs and both host city locations.
▶ 1:23:17Mr. Olson: The base camp locations, as well. Some base camp locations are host cities, some are not. We can feel their concerns, resource requests. Those guys and gals are in lockstep with state and local partners, along with all the other ways we engaged to our counterparts to let us know what the pulse is on the ground.
▶ 1:23:40Chair Moran: Thank you.
▶ 1:23:43Sen. Peters: Thank you for being here and for your updates. In addition to serving on this committee on the ranking member on homeland security government affairs. For months my staff has been requesting a bipartisan briefing from the white house fifa task force. A whole of government approach. Homeland security would like to have that. Unfortunately we have not been getting response.
▶ 1:24:12Sen. Peters: Today I would like to get a commitment if I could from each of you that you would provide a briefing to the full homeland security and government affairs committee at your earliest convenience.
▶ 1:24:29Dir. Tomney: I cannot speak on behalf of the task force but dhs would be more than happy to talk about what we are doing with an homeland security. You will
▶ 1:24:40You Sen. Peters: You will help us get the task force there?
▶ 1:24:43Dir. Tomney: Yes, sir. We can deal with your concerns.
▶ 1:24:49Sen. Peters: You are lynn to set up a meeting to do that?
▶ 1:24:56Mr. Olson: I would echo that.
▶ 1:24:59Mr. O'Leary: Yes, I can echo that.
▶ 1:25:02Sen. Peters: Wonderful. Thank you. Director tomney, the department has temporarily assigned U.S. customs and border protection officers, the folks responsible for screening travelers and facilitating trade and travel into a great job doing that, a lot of them have been assigned to support other agencies. The tsa and I.c.e. Operations and a good measure of immigration enforcement.
▶ 1:25:33Sen. Peters: Despite the fact you are already operating with a shortage of officers. What are dhs's plans to ensure our 328 ports of entry are adequately staffed so they can vet visitors and do their main mission to facilitate trade during the games?
▶ 1:25:55Dir. Tomney: As I mentioned in my opening statement, we have to balance both security for the world cup tournament and our missions. We have to do the everyday missions -- securing the border, aviation transportation and the like. I can assure the senator that first of all, we take a whole of dhs approach.
▶ 1:26:23Dir. Tomney: We look at sourcing security requirements across all the dhs operational components -- cbp has stepped up to the plate. The have been able to meet our needs for world cup sources of personnel, as well as continuing their everyday mission. It is a challenge. That is why this needs to be a whole of government approach. We cannot do it on the back of one agency or department.
▶ 1:26:50Sen. Peters: Is it safe to say some of these temporary assignments during the games and the need to make these positions are fully staffed, bringing people back to do their main mission?
▶ 1:27:02Dir. Tomney: We need to make sure we are back. One of the things I have been talking about for many months is about intel and threats and something we can talk about in the closed session. If we make everything a priority, nothing will be a priority. We need to balance our multiple commitments.
▶ 1:27:23Sen. Peters: I understand. I want to talk specifically about soccer threats facing the 11 host cities. During the 2022 qatar world cup, hackers tried literally billions of times to break into fifa networks and surrounding infrastructure. With varying degrees of success.
▶ 1:27:46Sen. Peters: The major cyber attacks on the 2026 winter olympics in italy were actually intercepted just days before attackers were poised to strike, potentially disrupting the games but we were able to get out in front of that.
▶ 1:28:02Sen. Peters: My question for you is given that we have significant -- a significant cuts to our main cybersecurity agency, what is the government's plan to protect the game from cyber attacks, given this agency is now severely understaffed?
▶ 1:28:18Dir. Tomney: Again, senator, thanks for the question. We will be able to address that better in the closed session. We have an expert with us to talk. We are concerned about cyber attacks during the tournament. We are aware we could have potentially billions of attacks during this. It is one of the main concerns for us.
▶ 1:28:49Dir. Tomney: Obviously we know there are many ways to attack, whether from the sky, etc.. We are putting in place security enhancements to deal with that. Again, we could talk more in the closed session.
▶ 1:29:02Sen. Peters: I would appreciate that. Just to follow up, to Mr. olson, how is the white house task force delineating responsibly between sessa, fbi -- cisa, fbi. I'm hearing concerns about the level of communications going on. To have a whole of government approach on cyber, we will need to close every gap we have and make sure we are not duplicating efforts.
▶ 1:29:33Sen. Peters: We need resources used as efficiently as possible. What kind of assurances do we have that that is happening?
▶ 1:29:40Mr. Olson: We delineate along the regular lines of how we separate that effort. We investigate, we attribute -- that has been a role at the fbi. We work with dhs to ensure the network is secure for the next time. We are not in charge of hardening that network or protecting. We are there to get the bad guy who committed the offense in the first place.
▶ 1:30:09Mr. Olson: We have been repeating that same message.
▶ 1:30:13Sen. Peters: Some of those local partners are saying they are not getting that information and they are concerned about that. Liddy we could have a discussion about that, particular what I'm hearing from local governments. Are you hearing that? Are you concerned? They are often the tip of the spear when it comes to security, the folks on the ground locally.
▶ 1:30:35Mr. Olson: 100%. We have a number of private sector engagements. We do that in my area of responsibility. They are sponsored by cyber division nationwide. We engage with our sacs across all 56 field offices. It has not been raised.
▶ 1:30:59Mr. Olson: It is one of those things where you can never put enough resources into the cyber realm. These persistent threats are out there all the time. I think we can always benefit from additional resources and tools. We do not want to be lacking on the engagement side. Any insight you can provide, we would be willing to take that back.
▶ 1:31:22Sen. Peters: We look forward to working with you.
▶ 1:31:25Chair Moran: I just have one more question and then we will close this part of our hearing. I want to talk about emergency management assistance compact. I think this would be to you, admiral. Kansas city has a somewhat unique circumstance of being in two states. Agreements between states to share personal equipment, emergency resources across state lines is important.
▶ 1:31:51Chair Moran: Is dhs actively coordinating that capability? Should I feel comfortable the necessary agreements will be in place, or are in place?
▶ 1:32:03Dir. Tomney: Thank you for the question. I will caveat my sink I am not an emac expert. Here is my understanding of how this will work. State governors can enter into these emergency management compacts with neighboring states. That is something the federal government, that is something dhs does not get involved with.
▶ 1:32:29Dir. Tomney: What would occur is a state governor would issue a state declaration or a state emergency that would activate that emergency management compact with a neighboring state, which would then be able to supply the resources.
▶ 1:32:46Dir. Tomney: If the president were to declare a national declaration, then that state that had implemented the compact could then apply to fema via dhs for potential reimbursement. As far as the activation, it starts with a state declaration of an emergency. That starts the compact. It is between the states. The federal government does not get involved.
▶ 1:33:16Chair Moran: Those dhs advised the president, if the governor makes the request to the president for that designation and the reimbursement, that is handled by the white house, not by dhs?
▶ 1:33:32Dir. Tomney: I would be hesitant to answer, Mr. chairman.
▶ 1:33:37Chair Moran: I am just telling you what I thought was the case. No reason for both of us to continue to guess.
▶ 1:33:45Dir. Tomney: Yes, sir.
▶ 1:33:47Chair Moran: I understand. There are no other members to ask questions. Senators may submit additional questions for the record. We request the secretary -- we request your response within 30 days of those additional questions. The subcommittee will stand in recess, subject to the call of the chair.
▶ 1:34:12Chair Moran: At this point all members are invited to join officials for the fbi and department of homeland security classified briefing. This committee is in recess. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap.org]