WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Chairman Carlos A. Gimenez (R-FL) of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security alongside Chairman Any Ogles (R-TN) of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection held a joint hearing to examine how our foreign adversaries are threating subsea cables.

“Subsea cables are crucial to the global economy, our national security, and communications across the world. Yet our adversaries like Communist China and Russia are working to exploit our vulnerabilities and undermine this critical infrastructure,” Chairman Carlos A. Gimenez said. “It’s essential that Congress examines the protections that are needed across both the public and private sectors to safeguard subsea cable operations from nefarious actors who wish to do us harm.”

Read Chairman Gimenez's opening statement as prepared for delivery below:

"Good morning and thank you all for being here today. After the longest government shutdown in American history, it’s great to be back in Congress.

"First off, I want to begin by congratulating Chairman Ogles on his recent appointment to Chairman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection. I also want to thank the Cybersecurity Subcommittee for partnering with us to hold this important hearing on a matter critical to U.S. national security.

"Resting quietly on the ocean floor, submarine telecommunications cables, commonly known as subsea cables, are among the most strategically significant and increasingly vulnerable components of the world’s digital infrastructure.

"Right now, roughly 750,000 miles of undersea cables traverse the world’s oceans, forming a complex and interconnected network that enables the rapid flow of large data sets across continents. These fiber-optic cables are the arteries of our global telecommunications network, connecting nearly every corner of the world to the internet. Without subsea cables, we would not have the digital network we so desperately rely on today.

"Although largely invisible and unknown to most Americans, subsea cables carry more than 99 percent of intercontinental communications. They not only support global commerce and technological innovation but serve as the operational systems for U.S. intelligence and defense. Protecting their integrity is essential to safeguarding both our economy and our national security.

Yet, despite their vital role, subsea cables remain vulnerable to malicious attacks from our greatest foreign adversaries, and none other than Russia and China. These adversaries will stop at nothing to track, control, and exploit vulnerabilities in our subsea cable networks to advance their economic, technological, and strategic goals.

"In particular, the Chinese Communist Party mobilizes its state-backed companies to pursue coercive economic tactics and aggressive cyber-espionage on subsea cables. As we know, China will stop at nothing to tap, disrupt, or dominate subsea cable systems across the Indo-Pacific and beyond. This is not speculation – it is strategic intent, openly stated through China’s civil-military policies and reflected in its global push to build and operate key segments of the world’s data network.

"As such, the subsea environment is an increasingly critical front of the U.S. competition with China. These targeted attacks inflict costly damage not only to our maritime transportation system, but upon the foundation of our global communications network.

"Subsea cable management has faltered not just through the Indo Pacific, but across key areas around the globe. If Congress fails to act, we risk allowing an authoritarian adversary gaining unprecedented access to the data flows underpinning our markets, our alliances, and our national defense. That is a risk we cannot accept.

"Today’s discussion will focus on how the United States must lead—not follow—in securing this critical infrastructure. We will hear from expert witnesses on these evolving subsea cable threats and discuss the gaps in U.S. regulatory and national security posture. In this hearing, we should evaluate how the Department of Homeland Security, apart from other federal agencies, could best serve as the lead agency to protect and secure subsea cable infrastructure.

"I want to thank our witnesses for being here today, and I look forward to hearing your insights as to what Congress should consider to best protect this increasingly critical yet vulnerable network infrastructure."

 

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