EXCLUSIVE — The first fire chief to respond to the scene of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York will be among the slate of witnesses to appear at a field hearing next week to examine evolving homeland security threats, according to a list of confirmed witnesses shared with the Washington Examiner.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), who chairs the House Subcommittee on Emergency Management and Technology, is set to lead the hearing on Tuesday, one day after the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. The New York Republican will be joined by five witnesses, including Fire Department of the City of New York First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfiefer, who was the first fire official to respond to the attacks over two decades ago.
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“Their perspective on the way that things have changed and what we're doing to make our city and our nation safer 22 years after 9/11 — I think if there's any perspective that we want to hear from, it's certainly them,” D’Esposito told the Washington Examiner. “They spend their days preparing and facilitating conversation and investing in new technology to make sure that never happens again.”
The hearing will feature four other witnesses, including New York City Police Department Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence Rebecca Weiner, FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh, Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick Ryder, and Greg Ehrie, the chief security officer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The field hearing is set to examine the evolving threat landscape the country continues to face since the 9/11 attacks, which has been recorded as the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement personnel in U.S. history. Members will convene at the site of the 9/11 Memorial Museum to commemorate the anniversary.
Lawmakers will specifically focus on how law enforcement agencies can improve coordination to prevent similar attacks from happening in the future, according to D’Esposito.
“Whether it's communication, whether it's the sharing of information, whether it's the technology that we're now using to make sure an attack like this never happens again,” said D’Esposito, who spent much of his career as a detective for the New York Police Department. “This is a real opportunity for us to sit down and have an extensive conversation with real stakeholders [and] people that are living this each and every day.”
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D’Esposito said he hopes the hearing paves the way for future action by the House to begin addressing any shortcomings and identify any weaknesses that can help the country prepare for future attacks.
“I think that this is a real opportunity to have a conversation about things that sometimes may be difficult to really unfold,” he said. “I think that there's a real good opportunity here for us to just work together and to really make sure that agencies throughout the country are working in a cohesive way to really live out the oath that we took.”