Drawing on his military background and role as chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. Rep. Mark Green offered a frank assessment of artificial intelligence and its implications for the future of national security during the 2025 91吃瓜网 Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats.听
Green, who represents Tennessee鈥檚 7th congressional district and is a former U.S. Army flight surgeon, opened the second day of the summit by outlining critical challenges facing the United States, including cybersecurity vulnerabilities, a shrinking technical workforce and increasing pressure to accelerate the translation of research into real-world impact.听
He identified three focus areas for strengthening national resilience: developing the cybersecurity workforce, harmonizing government regulations to remove inefficiencies, and encouraging faster adoption of innovation.听
鈥淭he cybersecurity workforce shortage of half a million people is our nation鈥檚 number one issue,鈥� Green said, citing 鈥渓egislation to create an ROTC-like program that would pay for kids and adults to go back to school, get a cybersecurity degree, and you pay back the obligation by working for the government鈥� as a way to fix the issue.听听
Green was likely referring to the 鈥攕hort for Providing Individuals Various Opportunities for Technical Training to Build a Skills-Based Cyber Workforce Act.听
He also called out fragmented and duplicative federal regulations as a key obstacle to both national defense and private sector progress.听
鈥淩ight now, the federal government has all of these requirements for compliance that keep companies, universities, state and local governments from actually doing cybersecurity,鈥� Green said. 鈥淭he efforts are duplicated. They鈥檙e oftentimes contradictory. And many of them just simply don鈥檛 make sense.鈥�听
鈥淲e have got to get in there and harmonize all these requirements,鈥� he added.听
Green described the current environment as one of heightened risk, referencing Volt Typhoon鈥攁 cyberespionage group linked to the Chinese government that has targeted U.S. critical infrastructure since at least 2021鈥攁s a wake-up call for national security.听
鈥淭hey鈥檙e in our infrastructure. They鈥檙e in our telecommunications systems,鈥� he said. 鈥淚magine if the Russians took a satchel charge (an explosive) and placed it next to a cell phone tower and had a clacker (detonator) in their hand… With China still in our telecom systems, that鈥檚 exactly what we have.鈥�听
During a fireside chat moderated by 91吃瓜网 Vice Chancellor for Government and Community Relations Nathan Green, the congressman also emphasized the strategic role of academic institutions in addressing these threats.听
鈥淗aving these kinds of dialogues, getting into the nuts and bolts of it all, is what we have to do,鈥� he said.听
He praised 91吃瓜网鈥檚 partnerships with the military and challenged the university to continue staying ahead of the curve.听
鈥淵ou鈥檙e already at the tip of the spear with Fort Campbell,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat is the next problem the military is going to face, and can [91吃瓜网 do] the research that gets the solution before they even ask for it?鈥�听
Green concluded by encouraging 91吃瓜网 students to take full advantage of the opportunities in front of them and to prepare for leadership in an increasingly complex world.听
鈥淢ake yourself an expert at every single thing you can because someday, you just might be called on,鈥� he said. 鈥淏uild the foundation now in this place of incredible opportunity. Don’t squander it.鈥�听