Ashley Moody Questions Key DHS Nominee On Use Of Technology To Secure The U.S.

5 months ago

At today's Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) questioned nominees about the use of technology in homeland security.

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00:00Please for being here today. I know this is not an easy process and we appreciate you standing

00:05ready to answer our questions. And to your families who are here with you and supporting

00:10you not only today but after you are confirmed in these incredibly important roles, public

00:16service is not easy and we understand that and are grateful to you for the service to

00:20our country. I'd like to recognize we did not do introductions for efficiency's sake.

00:26If we were doing them I would have proudly introduced one of our nominees today, Pedro Allende.

00:33Pedro has served the great state of Florida in his capacity as the Secretary of the Florida

00:36Department of Management Services which comprises three areas of service, business, technology,

00:42and workforce. He oversaw a one billion budget and workforce of nearly 1,000 employees. He

00:48previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure, Risk, and Resilience Policy

00:53with the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

00:59And in this role he led policy development to protect U.S. critical infrastructure against

01:04cyber, physical, and natural threats while overseeing policy efforts to increase federal

01:08and state local preparedness response and recovery capabilities. He's also served as a member of

01:14our Florida Cyber Security Council. I have no doubt if confirmed he will once again serve the United

01:21States of America with great honor and we appreciate you stepping up. Mr. Allende if you can quickly,

01:28for the position for which you are nominated to serve now, it will be responsible for integrating

01:34cutting-edge technology and reliable scientific research to support the department's mission of

01:40keeping America safe. Can you give this committee an example of how in your role currently as Florida's

01:46Department of the Secretary of Florida's Department of Management Services you will you've utilized new

01:51technology to better serve and protect the people of Florida?

01:54Mr. Thank you Senator Moody for your kind words. I'm honored for the nomination by President Trump and for this

02:04committee's due diligence in the advice and consent role and to my family, my wife behind me especially.

02:12In Florida we have had the great opportunity to do interesting things is how I describe it.

02:18We have had the opportunity to work not just within government but also expand outward.

02:23The department currently has research agreements with the University of Florida, University of South Florida,

02:30FIU, and Idaho National Laboratory to fill in the gaps where state governments are not well equipped to provide solutions.

02:39Some of our innovative work has involved working on

02:45things such as assessments of locks and levy infrastructure and cyber security.

02:50Also, we have a project coming up that has been projected for next year with Idaho National Lab and Florida

02:56International University to assess battery technology and its security which will include the issue that's

03:02been recently in the news about inverters on solar panels. So there's just a few of the examples.

03:10One example of just leveraging existing technology has been during Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida.

03:18The governor and our team as directed ended up in addition to the traditional effort of bringing mobile devices

03:28called Colts and Cows from the three telecom carriers to re-establish communications.

03:33We felt that there was a need to expand that and we had the largest deployment of Starlink satellites

03:3956 hours after landfall to restore connectivity to Floridians to begin the recovery process.

03:47Grocery stores, pharmacies to establish communications to manage your inventories and to bring that service to Floridians in need.

03:54Well, thank you so much and we look forward to continuing your great service to the United States of America.

04:00A lot of leaders coming out of the great free state of Florida and we're proud of you, sir.

04:06I'd like to also turn my attention now to Ed O'Connell. Welcome.

04:11You are nominated to serve on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

04:15As a former judge myself for over a decade, I know what goes into serving in a trial court when

04:22you're dealing with criminal matters, civil matters, family law matters, probate matters.

04:26Very important to this country and to the jurisdiction you will be serving specifically is efficiency in court.

04:33The delay sometimes denies justice to the litigants that come before it.

04:37What is your approach to maintaining efficiency within a court as a judge?

04:42Thank you, Senator.

04:44The Superior Court of the District of Columbia is extraordinarily overburdened.

04:50There aren't enough judges on that court to move the caseload as it needs to be moved.

04:59I view my role as a new judge on that court as one of the most important things I would have to do is

05:09manage a caseload expeditiously without sacrificing thoroughness with regard to any one individual case.

05:20I think the unique training that I've had enables me to succeed at that role and that training was

05:28being an assistant United States Attorney in the Superior Court system for almost 20 years.

05:35part of my job as an AUSA was to efficiently manage an extraordinarily high caseload without

05:46sacrificing the individualized attention due to any particular case.

05:52Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

05:55Senator Peters.

Ashley Moody Questions Key DHS Nominee On Use Of Technology To Secure The U.S.

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