[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 133 (Friday, October 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ON INTRODUCTION OF FIRST RESPONDERS HOMELAND DEFENSE LAW

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                          HON. J. RANDY FORBES

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 4, 2001

  Mr. FORBES. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to introduce legislation that 
will help our local law enforcement agencies and public safety 
personnel prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks.
  As the horrific attacks upon our Nation on September 11th have 
proven, our local police, fire, and rescue personnel are our first line 
of response to acts of terrorism. While our federal law enforcement 
officers have a very important role to play in our homeland defense, 
the role of their state and local counterparts is still more critical. 
They are the first on the scene, the first to assess the damages and 
circumstances, the first to attend to victims.
  But, they are not now well equipped or prepared for dealing with 
these situations. They must deal on a day-to-day basis with the more 
mundane tasks of keeping the peace on the streets and bringing common 
criminals to justice. They need access to the knowledge and equipment 
that our federal law enforcement and military personnel freely have, 
but now lie outside their routine training.
  As our Nation sought to prosecute the long, hard war on drugs, we 
came to similarly realize the value of fully integrating beat cops, 
state troopers, and other law enforcement officials into the fight. But 
those officers needed access to the equipment and the knowledge of our 
military personnel in order to fully realize their capabilities. As a 
result, there are two programs through which state and local agencies 
fighting drugs can acquire defense personnel property to conduct 
counter-drug operations.
  One of those two programs, found at 10 U.S.C. 2576a, was already 
amended by Congress to allow these same resources to be used for 
counter-terrorism. Through that program, local law enforcement can get 
free access personnel property no longer needed by the Department of 
Defense. It is time to bring the second program into the Twenty-First 
Century as well, and that is what my bill does.
  This second program, found at 10 U.S.C. 381, simply provides state 
and local enforcement officers access to the catalog of equipment and 
knowledge currently available to the Department of Justice, the 
Department of Defense, and the General Services Administration.
  No new funds are needed to expand this program. The local agencies 
pay for the items they purchase with their own dollars. But, by 
purchasing these items through this program, the communities may be 
able to leverage the buying power of the federal government and pay 
lower prices.
  There is no cost to making this change in law, but there is a great 
cost to not providing our local public safety workers with the tools 
they need to respond to future potential terrorist attacks. As we begin 
to prepare our Nation to fight what could be a long, hard war against 
terrorism, we must arm our front-line soldiers--the police, fire, and 
rescue personnel of our local communities. The First Responders 
Homeland Defense Act is one right step in that direction.

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