Securing the Homeland During Special Events: Visiting Audi Field with Members of the Task Force

As Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s “Task Force on Securing the Homeland Amidst Special Events,” I attended my first site visit this week to Washington D.C.’s Audi Field, a location for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place this summer. During our visit, we met with FIFA staff and White House officials and held a robust discussion on ways to enhance public safety at this summer’s events — from facilitating swift information sharing and detecting unauthorized drone use to preventing lone wolf attacks. 

As our nation prepares to host millions of international visitors for major events, we must create safe experiences that showcase the United States’ leadership and commitment to excellence. With terrorist incidents on the rise across our nation, I’m proud this task force — which includes colleagues who served in our military and as first responders — is laying the groundwork to secure our mass-spectator events by ensuring all levels of government, law enforcement, and private-sector partners are well-equipped to detect and mitigate threats.

I look forward to using my counter terrorism experience as the chairman emeritus of the Homeland Security Committee and the former chief of counter terrorism and national security in the U.S. attorney's office to help ensure these events are executed seamlessly and safely.