AGS brings national security briefings to Pennsylvania lawmakers

By AI, Created 5:16 AM UTC, June 02, 2026, /AGP/ – The Alliance for Global Security convened closed-door briefings in Harrisburg for Pennsylvania lawmakers, administration officials and business leaders with the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s counterintelligence center. The session focused on foreign influence, cyber threats and critical infrastructure risks facing state and local governments.

Why it matters: - State and local officials are increasingly being treated as frontline actors in national security. - The briefings were designed to show Pennsylvania leaders how foreign adversaries can target elections, infrastructure and public trust without a traditional military conflict. - Business leaders were included because economic sectors like manufacturing, energy, technology and biotech are part of the same threat environment.

What happened: - The Alliance for Global Security convened closed-door national security briefings in Harrisburg for Pennsylvania state lawmakers, Shapiro Administration officials and members of the Commonwealth’s business community. - The Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterintelligence and Security Center and the FBI delivered the sessions at the state capitol. - The invitation-only briefing was coordinated with a bipartisan group of Pennsylvania legislative committee chairs. - The legislative session was hosted with Pennsylvania lawmakers Hon. Tracy Pennycuick, Jason Ortitay, Devlin Robinson, Pat Stefano, Joe Ciresi, Ryan Bizzarro and Danilo Burgos. - The AGS delegation was welcomed into the Governor’s Reception Room by Shapiro Administration staff. - A separate business leader briefing was hosted by David N. Taylor, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association. - Representation from the offices of U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick and Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday attended the business session.

The details: - The briefings examined how foreign adversaries, including China and Russia, seek to influence elected officials, infiltrate critical infrastructure and destabilize local communities. - The sessions focused on tactics that operate below the threshold of conventional conflict. - Chatham House Rule applied, so the specific substance of the briefing was not attributed to individual participants. - Amber Benzon, an AGS board member, said threats such as cyber intrusion, economic coercion, foreign influence and attacks on critical infrastructure now place state and local officials in a critical role protecting democratic institutions and public trust. - Joshua Burgin, founder and president of AGS, said influencing subnational systems can produce strategic effects without crossing a traditional military threshold. - Burgin also said bringing ODNI and the FBI to the state capitol reflects the reality that geopolitical competition now reaches every state legislature, county commission and city council in the U.S.

Between the lines: - The event reflects a broader effort to frame national security as a statehouse issue, not only a federal one. - AGS is positioning state and local governments as key targets and key defenders in hybrid conflict. - The inclusion of lawmakers, administration officials and industry leaders suggests AGS is trying to build cross-sector preparedness around the same threat picture. - The language around China, Russia and “below the threshold” tactics points to influence operations, cyber risk and infrastructure vulnerability as the main concerns.

What’s next: - AGS said the Pennsylvania briefing is part of a broader effort to translate national security awareness into practical preparedness at the state level. - The session follows AGS’s Frontiers Forum in Tampa, which brought together American and international leaders, cybersecurity experts, military officials and national security practitioners. - AGS plans to continue using strategic briefings, international exchanges, field study visits and convenings to strengthen democratic resilience at the subnational level. - The organization is likely to keep targeting state and local leaders as national security stakeholders in future sessions.

The bottom line: - Pennsylvania’s briefing shows how national security concerns are moving deeper into state government and local policymaking. AGS is betting that preparedness now starts far beyond Washington.