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U.S. Representative Dale Strong, R-Alabama, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, questioned FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday about the Bureau’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request, highlighting the growing role of Huntsville, Alabama, in national security efforts.
During the subcommittee hearing, Strong praised the FBI’s long-standing presence at Redstone Arsenal, noting the facility now houses more than 2,000 personnel across 20 of the FBI’s 30 divisions. He emphasized North Alabama’s track record of supporting the Bureau’s mission and its potential for continued expansion.
“Time and again North Alabama has answered the call to support the FBI with a second-to-none, state-of-the-art facility and plenty of room for cost-effective and responsible growth,” Strong said. “We must continue to get our dedicated FBI agents into the field and out of the Beltway to protect America.”
Director Patel, who recently toured Redstone Arsenal, responded by calling the Huntsville site the FBI’s “premier” training and operations center.
“What I saw there was the best example of what happens when appropriators work with the Bureau to defend the nation,” Patel said. “Everyone should go down to Huntsville, Alabama. It is our premier law enforcement capability center that the interagency only wishes they had.”
Patel credited the location’s success to congressional foresight in establishing a footprint outside Washington, D.C., saving taxpayers significant costs while providing critical infrastructure. He announced that 500 FBI employees are being moved to Huntsville this year, with plans to relocate an additional 1,300–1,400 over the next three years—pending appropriations.
To fully realize that growth, Patel said, the Bureau will require an additional $160 million for construction and $60 million for operations and maintenance to complete and sustain expansion at Redstone’s South Campus.
Strong also highlighted Huntsville’s role in national efforts to counter bomb threats, citing the FBI’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center, the ATF’s National Center for Explosives Training and Research and the DHS’s partnerships housed in the region.
Patel stressed the importance of Redstone’s interagency collaboration in training bomb technicians and staying ahead of evolving threats.
“Everyone that’s qualified as a bomb technician in the FBI and the rest of the country gets that training in Huntsville, Alabama,” he said. “We need these schools to exist to stay ahead of the fight.”
The exchange underscored Huntsville’s increasing national security relevance and the importance of sustained federal investment in the region.
Strong serves as vice chair of the appropriations subcommittee that directly oversees FBI funding and operations. A full video of the exchange is available on YouTube.
