Reps. Richard Hudson, Pat Fallon & Jimmy Panetta Demand Answers from DoD on U.S. Military Base Infiltrations
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (NC-09) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin demanding answers on how the Department of Defense is responding to the recent uptick in incidents of foreign nationals attempting to infiltrate U.S. military installations or spy on military personnel across the country.
This letter follows a study from Duke University that revealedthepersonal information of U.S. military members, including addresses and health status, is available for purchase, raising significant national security issues surrounding Fort Liberty. Since then, Rep. Hudson has probed the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on this and cosponsored H.R. 6573 - a bill to protect servicemembers’ information. Most recently, two Chechen nationals were involved in potentially suspicious surveillance activity of an Army Special Forces soldier's property near Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg.
Rep. Hudson was joined on the letter by Reps. Pat Fallon (TX-04) and Jimmy Panetta (CA-19).
Read the full letter here or below.
June 13, 2024
Dear Secretary Austin,
We write to express our concern regarding recent incidents of foreign nationals attempting to infiltrate United States military bases. Several of our installations are strategic power projection platforms or places where important or sensitive activity occurs. These locations are therefore surveillance targets for foreign nationals who want to collect data on installation operations and uniformed and non-uniformed personnel. This places our servicemembers, their families, and Department of Defense personnel at risk of exploitation and harm.
We fear that we are amid increases in intelligence-gathering and surveillance activity from foreign adversaries and are ill-prepared to respond. To ensure that we as Members of Congress are providing for the security of our bases and the protection of our personnel, we request a briefing from your team on the Department of Defense's assessments of recent trends and efforts to address infiltration and information-gathering attempts on the following questions:
- What is the DOD's assessment on trends of foreign national intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance on United States military personnel and domestic bases?
- Which bases, assets, or groups are targeted the most by foreign nationals?
- How many situations are misunderstandings handled by DOD and the FBI versus real counterintelligence operations?
- How is DOD working with other departments and agencies to include FBI and DHS in fighting these counterintelligence threats?
- How are we training our military members to detect, identify, and respond to attempts by foreign personnel to infiltrate bases or collect sensitive information?
- What resources or additional authorities does the Department need to combat these threats?
Thank you for your attention to this important issue, and we look forward to learning more about the current strategy in place and ways Congress can provide further support.
Sincerely,
-###-