Rep. Dale W. Strong (R-AL), chairman of the Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, has announced a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, to evaluate how the federal government is addressing threats of agroterrorism against the U.S. food and agriculture sectors.
“From deadly pathogens to cyberattacks, agroterrorism has the potential to undermine our food supply and disrupt its supply chain,” Chairman Strong said. “Our agricultural sector is foundational to our way of life and our national security, and adversaries like China are looking to take advantage of any perceived vulnerability. Building on our previous hearing that provided vital insight from subject matter experts, we will now examine how the federal government, particularly DHS and USDA, can enhance agricultural supply chain resilience and better identify dangerous biological agents or other threats before they put the health and safety of Americans at risk.”
The hearing, titled “Surveying the Threat of Agroterrorism, Part II: Assessing Federal Government Efforts,” will take place at 2:00 PM ET in room 310 Cannon House Office Building.
Witnesses scheduled to testify include Ms. Suzette Kelly from U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Department of Homeland Security; Mr. Matt Allen from the Office of Homeland Security at the Department of Agriculture; Mr. Jeff Cooper from Science and Technology Directorate at DHS; and Dr. Ashley Grant from DHS’s Office of Health Security.
A previous subcommittee hearing in September 2025 addressed similar concerns after an incident involving Chinese nationals attempting to smuggle a harmful fungus into the United States earlier that year. That session included testimony from academic leaders in veterinary medicine and biosecurity as well as representatives from Alabama A&M University, Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University’s Biosecurity Research Institute, and the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.
