Smith Presses Biden Officials On The ‘Crowd Strike Incident’: It 'Exposed Alarming Vulnerabilities'

2 months ago

Earlier this month, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) questioned Biden officials on national security as it relates to fiscal security during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

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Transcript

00:00Brown, thanks to all of you for being here.

00:02I really appreciate it.

00:03I'd like to direct my first question

00:05to Assistant Secretary Taylor Cawley, if I may.

00:09The recent disastrous CrowdStrike incident, I think,

00:14exposed the alarming vulnerabilities

00:16that can result when too many critical systems

00:19and capabilities are dependent on a single source component.

00:22And that faulty software update crashed.

00:26It apparently crashed over 8 million Windows devices.

00:29I mean, airlines were crippled, banking systems, hospitals.

00:31It was a mess.

00:33A lot of people paid the price for that.

00:35My question is, the DOD's industrial-based strategy

00:40includes efforts to reduce the risks associated

00:43with overdependence on a single or potentially adversarial

00:47source for national critical capabilities.

00:51I'm wondering, how is the DOD thinking

00:53about the national security risks

00:54that can stem from instances like the crowdsource outage,

00:57where there's vulnerability from a single-sourced product

01:01that can crash critical systems?

01:04Ma'am, thank you for that question.

01:07Single sources in our supply chains,

01:11in particular our defense-critical supply chains,

01:15remains a huge, incredible risk for our industrial base

01:24and for the Department of Defense,

01:26in general for us being able to provide our warfighters

01:30with the capabilities that they need at speed and at scale.

01:34An issue like the one that you raised with CrowdStrike

01:37is one that, obviously, we all experience.

01:41I experienced it myself personally on Monday,

01:43trying to leave Michigan.

01:46But in general, we address our supply chain issues

01:52looking at broadly, looking across the board.

01:55We also, through our chief information officer,

02:00look at cyber threats in particular.

02:02And I want to emphasize the importance of cyber

02:07as part of the sources of risk to our industrial base,

02:12particularly to manufacturers as well.

02:16As part of the umbrella of the National Defense Industrial

02:19Strategy, CIO also issued the DOD

02:24Defense Industrial-Based Cyber Strategy as well.

02:27So we continue to look very closely at these

02:29and look at ways in which they affect, particularly,

02:32the defense industrial base and how we can intervene.

02:36I appreciate your response.

02:38I think it was just sort of impossible for most Americans

02:41to believe that everything could just

02:42be so screwed up because of one software update gone awry.

02:48And I think when you think about what

02:50that might mean for other highly important systems

02:55that we rely on for so many other things,

02:57it's really concerning.

03:00I want to ask you another question.

03:02This one has to do with drug onshoring.

03:06So the FDA tells us that nearly 70% of the ingredients

03:12in medications that Americans take

03:14are sourced overseas, mostly India and China.

03:17And the Finnish drug supply is also

03:19heavily reliant on overseas supply chains,

03:22again, mostly from India and China.

03:24So could you talk about what the risks are

03:27that are posed by this reliance on foreign manufactured drugs,

03:31especially medications like antibiotics?

03:34What impact that has on military readiness and civilian health?

03:37And what tools does the Department of Defense

03:39have to promote domestic manufacturing

03:41of these critical medical products?

03:44Ma'am, I want to underline the concerns that you raise,

03:49particularly with pharmaceuticals

03:51and the effect that they have on our supply chains

03:53and ultimately to our warfighters.

03:57I don't, in my purview, handle these issues

04:01within the Department of Defense,

04:02but I also want to note that Mr. Harris also does

04:05within the Commerce Department.

04:06He may have something.

04:07Oh, thank you.

04:08Mr. Harris.

04:09Thank you, Senator.

04:11We absolutely share your concern

04:13that we need to be focused on where there are dependencies,

04:16where there are single sources of supply,

04:19and we have an urgent need to be more proactive

04:22and strategic in our approach to supply chains.

04:24We all collectively learned lessons in the pandemic,

04:27but it's not just about where the market might not function

04:30or where the supply might be too brittle of a supply chain.

04:33There are also national and economic security risks

04:36in these supply chains.

04:37You noted a perfect example.

04:40Americans expect every day that they would have

04:42what they need in the medicine cabinet

04:43or on the kitchen table,

04:45and the supply chains are what gets those products to point.

04:49On my team in the Commerce Department

04:51and in the new supply chain center that we've created,

04:53we've been working with

04:55the Health and Human Services Agency and others

04:57to try to assess the data and identify

04:59what is of greatest concern

05:01and who do we need to work with

05:03to try to improve resiliency in that supply chain.

05:06Thank you very much.

05:07Mr. Chair, I just note that I have two bipartisan bills

05:10to address this issue, one with Senator Cassidy,

05:13which would provide fundings to antibiotics manufacturers

05:16to bring those factories back to the United States,

05:20and the second with Senator Cotton

05:22would provide incentives to drug manufacturers

05:24to produce finished drugs here in the United States

05:28by providing higher reimbursement for those products.

05:30I look forward to working on those proposals

05:33with any of my colleagues who are interested.

05:35Thanks, Sarah.

Smith Presses Biden Officials On The ‘Crowd Strike Incident’: It 'Exposed Alarming Vulnerabilities'

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