Congressional Record, Volume 152 Issue 88 (Monday, July 10, 2006)

[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 88 (Monday, July 10, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7264-S7278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the hour of 3 p.m.
having arrived, the Senate will proceed to the immediate consideration
of H.R. 5441, which the clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

A bill (H.R. 5441) making appropriations for the Department
of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September
30th, 2007, for other purposes.

The Senate proceeded to consider the bill which had been reported
from the Committee on Appropriations with an amendment to strike all
after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:

That the following sums are appropriated, out of any money in
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the Department
of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30,
2007, and for other purposes, namely:

TITLE I

DEPARTMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

Office of the Secretary and Executive Management

For necessary expenses of the Office of the Secretary of
Homeland Security, as authorized by section 102 of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 112), and executive
management of the Department of Homeland Security, as
authorized by law, $90,122,000: Provided, That not to exceed
$40,000 shall be for official reception and representation
expenses.

Office of the Under Secretary for Management

For necessary expenses of the Office of the Under Secretary
for Management, as authorized by sections 701 through 705 of
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 through 345),
$166,456,000: Provided, That not to exceed $3,000 shall be
for official reception and representation expenses: Provided
further, That of the total amount provided, $8,206,000 shall
remain available until expended solely for the alteration and
improvement of facilities, tenant improvements, and
relocation costs to consolidate Department headquarters
operations.

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

For necessary expenses of the Office of the Chief Financial
Officer, as authorized by section 103 of the Homeland
Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 113), $26,018,000.

Office of the Chief Information Officer

For necessary expenses of the Office of the Chief
Information Officer, as authorized by section 103 of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 113), and Department-
wide technology investments, $306,765,000; of which
$79,521,000 shall be available for salaries and expenses; and
of which $227,244,000 shall be available for development and
acquisition of information technology equipment, software,
services, and related activities for the Department of
Homeland Security, and for the costs of conversion to
narrowband communications, including the cost for operation
of the land mobile radio legacy systems, to remain available
until expended: Provided, That none of the funds appropriated
shall be used to support or supplement the appropriations
provided for the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status
Indicator Technology

[[Page S7265]]

project or the Automated Commercial Environment: Provided
further, That the Chief Information Officer shall submit to
the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House
of Representatives, not more than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, an expenditure plan for all
information technology projects that: (1) are funded under
this heading; or (2) are funded by multiple components of the
Department of Homeland Security through reimbursable
agreements: Provided further, That such expenditure plan
shall include each specific project funded, key milestones,
all funding sources for each project, details of annual and
lifecycle costs, and projected cost savings or cost avoidance
to be achieved by the project.

Analysis and Operations

For necessary expenses for information analysis and
operations coordination activities, as authorized by title II
of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.),
$298,663,000, to remain available until September 30, 2008,
of which not to exceed $5,000 shall be for official reception
and representation expenses.

Office of Inspector General

For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General
in carrying out the provisions of the Inspector General Act
of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), $87,185,000, of which not to exceed
$100,000 may be used for certain confidential operational
expenses, including the payment of informants, to be expended
at the direction of the Inspector General.

TITLE II

SECURITY, ENFORCEMENT, AND INVESTIGATIONS

United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology

For necessary expenses for the development of the United
States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology
project, as authorized by section 110 of the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996
(8 U.S.C. 1221 note), $399,494,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That of the total amount made available
under this heading, $200,000,000 may not be obligated for the
United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator
Technology project until the Committees on Appropriations of
the Senate and the House of Representatives receive and
approve a plan for expenditure prepared by the Secretary of
Homeland Security that--
(1) meets the capital planning and investment control
review requirements established by the Office of Management
and Budget, including Circular A-11, part 7;
(2) complies with the Department of Homeland Security
information systems enterprise architecture;
(3) complies with the acquisition rules, requirements,
guidelines, and systems acquisition management practices of
the Federal Government;
(4) includes a certification by the Chief Information
Officer of the Department of Homeland Security that an
independent verification and validation agent is currently
under contract for the project;
(5) is reviewed and approved by the Department of Homeland
Security Investment Review Board, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, and the Office of Management and Budget; and
(6) is reviewed by the Government Accountability Office.

Customs and Border Protection

salaries and expenses

For necessary expenses for enforcement of laws relating to
border security, immigration, customs, and agricultural
inspections and regulatory activities related to plant and
animal imports; purchase and lease of up to 4,500 (3,500 for
replacement only) police-type vehicles; and contracting with
individuals for personal services abroad; $5,285,874,000; of
which $3,026,000 shall be derived from the Harbor Maintenance
Trust Fund for administrative expenses related to the
collection of the Harbor Maintenance Fee under section
9505(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
9505(c)(3)) and notwithstanding section 1511(e)(1) of the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 551(e)(1)); of which
not to exceed $45,000 shall be for official reception and
representation expenses; of which not less than $172,676,000
shall be for Air and Marine Operations; of which such sums as
become available in the Customs User Fee Account, except sums
subject to section 13031(f)(3) of the Consolidated Omnibus
Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(f)(3)),
shall be derived from that account; of which not to exceed
$150,000 shall be available for payment for rental space in
connection with preclearance operations; of which not to
exceed $1,000,000 shall be for awards of compensation to
informants, to be accounted for solely under the certificate
of the Secretary of Homeland Security: Provided, That for
fiscal year 2007, the overtime limitation prescribed in
section 5(c)(1) of the Act of February 13, 1911 (19 U.S.C.
267(c)(1)) shall be $35,000; and notwithstanding any other
provision of law, none of the funds appropriated by this Act
may be available to compensate any employee of United States
Customs and Border Protection for overtime, from whatever
source, in an amount that exceeds such limitation, except in
individual cases determined by the Secretary of Homeland
Security, or the designee of the Secretary, to be necessary
for national security purposes, to prevent excessive costs,
or in cases of immigration emergencies.

automation modernization

For expenses for customs and border protection automated
systems, $461,207,000, to remain available until expended, of
which not less than $318,490,000 shall be for the development
of the Automated Commercial Environment: Provided, That none
of the funds made available under this heading may be
obligated for the Automated Commercial Environment until the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives receive and approve a plan for expenditure
prepared by the Secretary of Homeland Security that--
(1) meets the capital planning and investment control
review requirements established by the Office of Management
and Budget, including Circular A-11, part 7;
(2) complies with the Department of Homeland Security
information systems enterprise architecture;
(3) complies with the acquisition rules, requirements,
guidelines, and systems acquisition management practices of
the Federal Government;
(4) includes a certification by the Chief Information
Officer of the Department of Homeland Security that an
independent verification and validation agent is currently
under contract for the project;
(5) is reviewed and approved by the Department of Homeland
Security Investment Review Board, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, and the Office of Management and Budget; and
(6) is reviewed by the Government Accountability Office.

TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION

For expenses for customs and border protection technology
systems, $131,559,000, to remain available until expended:
Provided, That of the funds made available under this
heading, $100,000,000 may not be obligated until the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives receive and approve a plan for expenditure
prepared by the Secretary of Homeland Security that--
(1) meets the capital planning and investment control
review requirements established by the Office of Management
and Budget, including Circular A-11, part 7;
(2) complies with the Department of Homeland Security
information systems enterprise architecture;
(3) complies with the acquisition rules, requirements,
guidelines, and systems acquisition management practices of
the Federal Government;
(4) includes a certification by the Chief Information
Officer of the Department of Homeland Security that an
independent verification and validation agent is currently
under contract for the project;
(5) is reviewed and approved by the Department of Homeland
Security Investment Review Board, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, and the Office of Management and Budget; and
(6) is reviewed by the Government Accountability Office.

air and marine interdiction, operations, maintenance, and procurement

(including rescission of funds)

For necessary expenses for the operations, maintenance, and
procurement of marine vessels, aircraft, unmanned aerial
vehicles, and other related equipment of the air and marine
program, including operational training and mission-related
travel, and rental payments for facilities occupied by the
air or marine interdiction and demand reduction programs, the
operations of which include the following: the interdiction
of narcotics and other goods; the provision of support to
Federal, State, and local agencies in the enforcement or
administration of laws enforced by the Department of Homeland
Security; and at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland
Security, the provision of assistance to Federal, State, and
local agencies in other law enforcement and emergency
humanitarian efforts, $472,499,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That no aircraft or other related
equipment, with the exception of aircraft that are one of a
kind and have been identified as excess to United States
Customs and Border Protection requirements and aircraft that
have been damaged beyond repair, shall be transferred to any
other Federal agency, department, or office outside of the
Department of Homeland Security during fiscal year 2007
without the prior approval of the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
In addition, of the funds appropriated under this heading
in title II of the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-90; 119 Stat. 2068)
for a covert manned surveillance aircraft, $14,000,000 are
rescinded.

construction

For necessary expenses to plan, construct, renovate, equip,
and maintain buildings and facilities necessary for the
administration and enforcement of the laws relating to
customs and immigration, $288,084,000, to remain available
until expended.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

salaries and expenses

For necessary expenses for enforcement of immigration and
customs laws, detention and removals, and investigations; and
purchase and lease of up to 2,740 (2,000 for replacement
only) police-type vehicles; $3,740,357,000, of which not to
exceed $7,500,000 shall be available until expended for
conducting special operations under section 3131 of the
Customs Enforcement Act of 1986 (19 U.S.C. 2081); of which
not to exceed $15,000 shall be for official reception and
representation expenses; of which not to exceed $1,000,000
shall be for awards of compensation to informants, to be
accounted for solely under the certificate of the Secretary
of Homeland Security; of which not less than $102,000 shall
be for promotion of public awareness of the child pornography
tipline; of which not less than $203,000 shall be for Project
Alert; of which not less than $5,400,000 may be used to
facilitate agreements consistent with section 287(g) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)); and of
which not to exceed $11,216,000 shall be available to fund or
reimburse other

[[Page S7266]]

Federal agencies for the costs associated with the care,
maintenance, and repatriation of smuggled illegal aliens:
Provided, That none of the funds made available under this
heading shall be available to compensate any employee for
overtime in an annual amount in excess of $35,000, except
that the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the designee of
the Secretary, may waive that amount as necessary for
national security purposes and in cases of immigration
emergencies: Provided further, That none of the funds in this
Act or any other appropriations Act may be used to fund any
activity other than those activities funded in fiscal year
2005 to facilitate agreements consistent with section 287(g)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1357(g)):
Provided further, That of the total amount provided,
$15,770,000 shall be for activities to enforce laws against
forced child labor in fiscal year 2007, of which not to
exceed $6,000,000 shall remain available until expended.

federal protective service

The revenues and collections of security fees credited to
this account, not to exceed $516,011,000, shall be available
until expended for necessary expenses related to the
protection of federally-owned and leased buildings and for
the operations of the Federal Protective Service.

automation modernization

For expenses of immigration and customs enforcement
automated systems, $20,000,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That of the funds made available under
this heading, $16,000,000 may not be obligated until the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives receive and approve a plan for expenditure
prepared by the Secretary of Homeland Security that--
(1) meets the capital planning and investment control
review requirements established by the Office of Management
and Budget, including Circular A-11, part 7;
(2) complies with the Department of Homeland Security
information systems enterprise architecture;
(3) complies with the acquisition rules, requirements,
guidelines, and systems acquisition management practices of
the Federal Government;
(4) includes a certification by the Chief Information
Officer of the Department of Homeland Security that an
independent verification and validation agent is currently
under contract for the project;
(5) is reviewed and approved by the Department of Homeland
Security Investment Review Board, the Secretary of Homeland
Security, and the Office of Management and Budget; and
(6) is reviewed by the Government Accountability Office.

construction

Transportation Security Administration

aviation security

For necessary expenses of the Transportation Security
Administration related to providing civil aviation security
services under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act
(49 U.S.C. 40101 note; Public Law 107-71; 115 Stat. 597),
$4,751,580,000, to remain available until September 30, 2008,
of which not to exceed $10,000 shall be for official
reception and representation expenses: Provided, That of the
total amount made available under this heading, not to exceed
$3,790,132,000 shall be for screening operations, of which
$141,400,000 shall be available only for procurement of
checked baggage explosive detection systems and $171,500,000
shall be available only for installation of checked baggage
explosive detection systems; and not to exceed $961,448,000
shall be for aviation security direction and enforcement
presence: Provided further, That of the funds appropriated
under this heading, $25,000,000 shall not be obligated until
after the Secretary of Homeland Security submits to the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives a detailed report in response to findings in
the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector
General report (OIG-04-44) concerning contractor fees:
Provided further, That security service fees authorized under
section 44940 of title 49, United States Code, shall be
credited to this appropriation as offsetting collections and
shall be available only for aviation security: Provided
further, That the sum herein appropriated from the General
Fund shall be reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis as such
offsetting collections are received during fiscal year 2007,
so as to result in a final fiscal year appropriation from the
General Fund estimated at not more than $2,331,580,000
Provided further, That any security service fees collected in
excess of the amount made available under this heading shall
become available during fiscal year 2008: Provided further,
That notwithstanding section 44923 of title 49, United States
Code, the share of the cost of the Federal Government for a
project under any letter of intent shall be 75 percent for
any medium or large hub airport and not more than 90 percent
for any other airport, and all funding provided by section
44923(h) of title 49 United States Code, or from
appropriations authorized under section 44923(i)(1) of title
49, United States Code, may be distributed in any manner
determined necessary to ensure aviation security and to
fulfill the Government's planned cost share under existing
letters of intent: Provided further, That Members of the
United States House of Representatives and United States
Senate, including the leadership; and the heads of Federal
agencies and commissions, including the Secretary, Under
Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries of the Department of
Homeland Security; the United States Attorney General and
Assistant Attorneys General and the United States attorneys;
and senior members of the Executive Office of the President,
including the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget; shall not be exempt from Federal passenger and
baggage screening: Provided further, That beginning in fiscal
year 2007 and thereafter, reimbursement for security services
and related equipment and supplies provided in support of
general aviation access to the Ronald Reagan Washington
National Airport shall be credited to this appropriation and
shall be available until expended solely for these purposes.

surface transportation security

For necessary expenses of the Transportation Security
Administration related to providing surface transportation
security activities, $37,200,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2008.

transportation threat assessment and credentialing

For necessary expenses for the development and
implementation of screening programs of the Office of
Transportation Threat Assessment and Credentialing,
$29,700,000, to remain available until September 30, 2008.

transportation security support

For necessary expenses of the Transportation Security
Administration related to providing transportation security
support and intelligence under the Aviation and
Transportation Security Act (Public Law 107-71; 115 Stat.
597; 49 U.S.C. 40101 note), $618,865,000, to remain available
until September 30, 2008.

federal air marshals

For necessary expenses of the Federal Air Marshals,
$699,294,000.

United States Coast Guard

operating expenses

For necessary expenses for the operation and maintenance of
the United States Coast Guard not otherwise provided for;
purchase or lease of not to exceed 25 passenger motor
vehicles, which shall be for replacement only; payments under
section 156 of Public Law 97-377 (42 U.S.C. 402 note; 96
Stat. 1920); and recreation and welfare; $5,534,349,000, of
which $340,000,000 shall be for defense-related activities;
of which $24,255,000 shall be derived from the Oil Spill
Liability Trust Fund to carry out the purposes of section
1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 U.S.C.
2712(a)(5)); and of which not to exceed $10,000 shall be for
official reception and representation expenses: Provided,
That none of the funds made available by this or any other
Act shall be available for administrative expenses in
connection with shipping commissioners in the United States:
Provided further, That none of the funds made available by
this Act shall be for expenses incurred for yacht
documentation under section 12109 of title 46, United States
Code, except to the extent fees are collected from yacht
owners and credited to this appropriation.

environmental compliance and restoration

For necessary expenses to carry out the environmental
compliance and restoration functions of the United States
Coast Guard under chapter 19 of title 14, United States Code,
$10,880,000, to remain available until expended.

reserve training

For necessary expenses of the Coast Guard Reserve, as
authorized by law; operations and maintenance of the reserve
program; personnel and training costs; and equipment and
services; $123,948,000.

acquisition, construction, and improvements

(including rescissions of funds)

For necessary expenses of acquisition, construction,
renovation, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore
facilities, vessels, and aircraft, including equipment
related thereto; and maintenance, rehabilitation, lease and
operation of facilities and equipment, as authorized by law;
$1,145,329,000, of which $19,800,000 shall be derived from
the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to carry out the purposes
of section 1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33
U.S.C. 2712(a)(5)); of which $24,750,000 shall be available
until September 30, 2011, to acquire, repair, renovate, or
improve vessels, small boats, and related equipment; of which
$14,000,000 shall be available until September 30, 2011, to
increase aviation capability; of which $92,268,000 shall be
available until September 30, 2009, for other equipment; of
which $20,680,000 shall be available until September 30,
2009, for shore facilities and aids to navigation facilities;
and of which $993,631,000 shall be available until September
30, 2011, for the Integrated Deepwater Systems program:
Provided, That the Commandant of the Coast Guard is
authorized to dispose of surplus real property, by sale or
lease, and the proceeds shall be credited to this
appropriation as offsetting collections and shall be
available until September 30, 2009: Provided further, That
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, in conjunction with the President's fiscal
year 2008 budget, a review of the Revised Deepwater
Implementation Plan that identifies any changes to the plan
for the fiscal year; an annual performance comparison of
Deepwater assets to pre-Deepwater legacy assets; a status
report of legacy assets; a detailed explanation of how the
costs of legacy assets are being accounted for within the
Deepwater program; an explanation of why many assets that are
elements of the Integrated Deepwater System are not accounted
for within the Deepwater appropriation under this heading; a
description of the competitive process conducted in all
contracts and subcontracts exceeding $5,000,000 within the
Deepwater program; a description of how the Coast Guard is
planning for the human resource needs of Deepwater assets;
and the earned value management system gold card data for
each

[[Page S7267]]

Deepwater asset: Provided further, That the Secretary shall
submit to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and
the House of Representatives a comprehensive review of the
Revised Deepwater Implementation Plan every 5 years,
beginning in fiscal year 2011, that includes a complete
projection of the acquisition costs and schedule for the
duration of the plan through fiscal year 2027: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall annually submit to the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, at the time that the President's budget is
submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States
Code, a future-years capital investment plan for the Coast
Guard that identifies for each capital budget line item--
(1) the proposed appropriation included in that budget;
(2) the total estimated cost of completion;
(3) projected funding levels for each fiscal year for the
next five fiscal years or until project completion, whichever
is earlier;
(4) an estimated completion date at the projected funding
levels; and
(5) changes, if any, in the total estimated cost of
completion or estimated completion date from previous future-
years capital investment plans submitted to the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives:
Provided further, That the Secretary shall ensure that
amounts specified in the future-years capital investment plan
are consistent to the maximum extent practicable with
proposed appropriations necessary to support the programs,
projects, and activities of the Coast Guard in the
President's budget as submitted under section 1105(a) of
title 31, United States Code, for that fiscal year: Provided
further, That any inconsistencies between the capital
investment plan and proposed appropriations shall be
identified and justified.
In addition, of the funds appropriated under this heading
in title II of the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-90; 119 Stat. 2087),
$79,200,000 are rescinded from the unexpended balances
specifically identified in the Joint Explanatory Statement
(House Report 109-241) accompanying that Act for the Fast
Response Cutter, the service life extension program of the
current 110-foot Island Class patrol boat fleet, and
accelerated design and production of the Fast Response
Cutter.
In addition, of the funds appropriated under this heading
in title II of the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-90; 119 Stat. 2087),
$1,933,000 are rescinded from the unexpended balances
specifically identified in the Joint Explanatory Statement
(House Report 109-241) accompanying that Act for the covert
surveillance aircraft.
In addition, of the funds appropriated under this heading
in title II of the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-90; 119 Stat. 2087),
$1,835,000 are rescinded from the unexpended balances
specifically identified in the Joint Explanatory Statement
(House Report 109-241) accompanying that Act for the
automatic identification system.

alteration of bridges

For necessary expenses for alteration or removal of
obstructive bridges, as authorized by section 6 of the
Truman-Hobbs Act (33 U.S.C. 516), $15,000,000, to remain
available until expended.

Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation

For necessary expenses for applied scientific research,
development, test, and evaluation; and for maintenance,
rehabilitation, lease, and operation of facilities and
equipment; as authorized by law; $17,573,000, to remain
available until expended, of which $495,000 shall be derived
from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to carry out the
purposes of section 1012(a)(5) of the Oil Pollution Act of
1990 (33 U.S.C. 2712(a)(5)): Provided, That there may be
credited to and used for the purposes of this appropriation
funds received from State and local governments, other public
authorities, private sources, and foreign countries for
expenses incurred for research, development, testing, and
evaluation.

retired pay

For retired pay, including the payment of obligations
otherwise chargeable to lapsed appropriations for this
purpose, payments under the Retired Serviceman's Family
Protection and Survivor Benefits Plans, payment for career
status bonuses, concurrent receipts and combat-related
special compensation under the National Defense Authorization
Act, and payments for medical care of retired personnel and
their dependents under chapter 55 of title 10, United States
Code, $1,063,323,000.

United States Secret Service

protection, administration, and training

For necessary expenses of the United States Secret Service,
including purchase of not to exceed 755 vehicles for police-
type use, of which 624 shall be for replacement only, and
hire of passenger motor vehicles; purchase of motorcycles
made in the United States; hire of aircraft; services of
expert witnesses at such rates as may be determined by the
Director of the Secret Service; rental of buildings in the
District of Columbia, and fencing, lighting, guard booths,
and other facilities on private or other property not in
Government ownership or control, as may be necessary to
perform protective functions; payment of per diem or
subsistence allowances to employees where a protective
assignment during the actual day or days of the visit of a
protectee requires an employee to work 16 hours per day or to
remain overnight at a post of duty; conduct of and
participation in firearms matches; presentation of awards;
travel of Secret Service employees on protective missions
without regard to the limitations on such expenditures in
this or any other Act if approval is obtained in advance from
the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House
of Representatives; research and development; grants to
conduct behavioral research in support of protective research
and operations; and payment in advance for commercial
accommodations as may be necessary to perform protective
functions; $918,028,000, of which not to exceed $25,000 shall
be for official reception and representation expenses:
Provided, That up to $18,000,000 provided for protective
travel shall remain available until September 30, 2008:
Provided further, That the United States Secret Service is
authorized to obligate funds in anticipation of
reimbursements from Federal agencies and entities, as defined
in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, receiving
training sponsored by the James J. Rowley Training Center,
except that total obligations at the end of the fiscal year
shall not exceed total budgetary resources available under
this heading at the end of the fiscal year.

INVESTIGATIONS AND FIELD OPERATIONS

For necessary expenses for investigations and field
operations of the United States Secret Service, not otherwise
provided for, including costs related to office space and
services of expert witnesses at such rate as may be
determined by the Director of the Secret Service,
$304,205,000; of which not to exceed $100,000 shall be to
provide technical assistance and equipment to foreign law
enforcement organizations in counterfeit investigations; of
which $2,366,000 shall be for forensic and related support of
investigations of missing and exploited children; and of
which $6,000,000 shall be a grant for activities related to
the investigations of missing and exploited children and
shall remain available until expended.

acquisition, construction, improvements, and related expenses

For necessary expenses for acquisition, construction,
repair, alteration, and improvement of facilities,
$3,725,000, to remain available until expended.

TITLE III

PREPAREDNESS AND RECOVERY

PREPAREDNESS

Management and Administration

For salaries and expenses of the Office of the Under
Secretary for Preparedness, the Office of the Chief Medical
Officer, and the Office of National Capital Region
Coordination, $30,572,000, of which $8,000,000 shall be for
the National Preparedness Integration Program: Provided, That
none of the funds made available under this heading may be
obligated for the National Preparedness Integration Program
until the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the
House of Representatives receive and approve a plan for
expenditure prepared by the Secretary of Homeland Security:
Provided further, That not to exceed $7,000 shall be for
official reception and representation expenses.

Office for Domestic Preparedness

state and local programs

For grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other
activities, including grants to State and local governments
for terrorism prevention activities, notwithstanding any
other provision of law, $2,393,500,000, which shall be
allocated as follows:
(1) $500,000,000 for formula-based grants and $350,000,000
for law enforcement terrorism prevention grants under section
1014 of the USA PATRIOT ACT (42 U.S.C. 3714): Provided, That
the application for grants shall be made available to States
within 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act; that
States shall submit applications within 90 days after the
grant announcement; and that the Office for Domestic
Preparedness shall act within 90 days after the grant
announcement: Provided further, That not less than 80 percent
of any grant under this paragraph to a State (other than
Puerto Rico) shall be made available by the State to local
governments within 60 days after the receipt of the funds.
(2) $1,172,000,000 for discretionary grants, as determined
by the Secretary of Homeland Security, of which--
(A) $745,000,000 shall be for use in high-threat, high-
density urban areas;
(B) $210,000,000 shall be for port security grants for the
purposes of section 70107(a) through (h) of title 46, United
States Code, which shall be awarded based on risk
notwithstanding subsection (a), for eligible costs as defined
in subsections (b)(2), (3), and (4);
(C) $5,000,000 shall be for trucking industry security
grants;
(D) $12,000,000 shall be for intercity bus security grants;
(E) $150,000,000 shall be for intercity passenger rail
transportation (as defined in section 24102 of title 49,
United States Code), freight rail, and transit security
grants; and
(F) $50,000,000 shall be for buffer zone protection grants:
Provided, That for grants under subparagraph (A), the
application for grants shall be made available to States
within 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act; that
States shall submit applications within 90 days after the
grant announcement; and that the Office for Domestic
Preparedness shall act within 90 days after receipt of an
application: Provided further, That not less than 80 percent
of any grant under this paragraph to a State shall be made
available by the State to local governments within 60 days
after the receipt of the funds.
(3) $40,000,000 shall be available for the Commercial
Equipment Direct Assistance Program.
(4) $331,500,000 for training, exercises, technical
assistance, and other programs:
Provided, That none of the grants provided under this heading
shall be used for the construction or renovation of
facilities, except for a minor perimeter security project,
not to exceed

[[Page S7268]]

$1,000,000, as determined necessary by the Secretary of
Homeland Security: Provided further, That the proceeding
proviso shall not apply to grants under subparagraphs (B),
(E), and (F) of paragraph (2) of this heading: Provided
further, That grantees shall provide additional reports on
their use of funds, as determined necessary by the Secretary
of Homeland Security: Provided further, That funds
appropriated for law enforcement terrorism prevention grants
under paragraph (1) and discretionary grants under paragraph
(2)(A) of this heading shall be available for operational
costs, to include personnel overtime and overtime associated
with Office for Domestic Preparedness certified training, as
needed: Provided further, That the Government Accountability
Office shall report on the validity, relevance, reliability,
timeliness, and availability of the risk factors (including
threat, vulnerability, and consequence) used by the Secretary
for the purpose of allocating discretionary grants funded
under this heading, and the application of those factors in
the allocation of funds to the Committees on Appropriations
of the Senate and the House of Representatives on its
findings not later than 45 days after the date of enactment
of this Act: Provided further, That within 7 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide
the Government Accountability Office with the threat and risk
methodology and factors that will be used to allocate
discretionary grants funded under this heading.

firefighter assistance grants

For necessary expenses for programs authorized by the
Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C.
2201 et seq.), $655,000,000, of which $540,000,000 shall be
available to carry out section 33 of that Act (15 U.S.C.
2229) and $115,000,000 shall be available to carry out
section 34 (15 U.S.C. 2229a) of that Act, to remain available
until September 30, 2008: Provided, That not to exceed 5
percent of this amount shall be available for program
administration.

emergency management performance grants

For necessary expenses for emergency management performance
grants, as authorized by the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121
et seq.), the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42
U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), and Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978
(5 U.S.C. App.), $205,000,000: Provided, That total
administrative costs shall not exceed 3 percent of the total
appropriation.

radiological emergency preparedness program

The aggregate charges assessed during fiscal year 2007, as
authorized in title III of the Departments of Veterans
Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (42 U.S.C. 5196e), shall
not be less than 100 percent of the amounts anticipated by
the Department of Homeland Security necessary for its
radiological emergency preparedness program for the next
fiscal year: Provided, That the methodology for assessment
and collection of fees shall be fair and equitable and shall
reflect costs of providing such services, including
administrative costs of collecting such fees: Provided
further, That fees received under this heading shall be
deposited in this account as offsetting collections and will
become available for authorized purposes on October 1, 2007,
and remain available until expended.

United States Fire Administration and Training

For necessary expenses of the United States Fire
Administration and for other purposes, as authorized by the
Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C.
2201 et seq.) and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
101 et seq.), $45,887,000.

Infrastructure Protection and Information Security

For necessary expenses for infrastructure protection and
information security programs and activities, as authorized
by title II of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
121 et seq.), $525,056,000, of which $442,547,000 shall
remain available until September 30, 2008: Provided, That of
the amount made available under this heading, $20,000,000 may
not be obligated until the Secretary submits to the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House of
Representatives the report required in House Report 109-241
accompanying the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-90) on resources
necessary to implement mandatory security requirements for
the Nation's chemical sector and to create a system for
auditing and ensuring compliance with the security standards.

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Administrative and Regional Operations

For necessary expenses for administrative and regional
operations, $249,499,000, including activities authorized by
the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et
seq.), the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the Earthquake
Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), the
Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2061 et seq.),
sections 107 and 303 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50
U.S.C. 404, 405), Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 (5 U.S.C.
App.), and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et
seq.): Provided, That not to exceed $3,000 shall be for
official reception and representation expenses.

Readiness, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery

For necessary expenses for readiness, mitigation, response,
and recovery activities, $240,000,000, including activities
authorized by the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42
U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the
Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701 et
seq.), the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App.
2061 et seq.), sections 107 and 303 of the National Security
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 404, 405), Reorganization Plan No. 3
of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), and the Homeland Security Act of
2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.): Provided, That of the total
amount made available under this heading, $30,000,000 shall
be for Urban Search and Rescue Teams, of which not to exceed
$1,600,000 may be made available for administrative costs.

Public Health Programs

(including transfer of funds)

For necessary expenses for countering potential biological,
disease, and chemical threats to civilian populations,
$33,885,000: Provided, That the total amount appropriated
and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the National
Disaster Medical System established under section 2811(b) of
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300hh-11(b)),
including any functions of the Secretary of Homeland Security
relating to such System, shall be permanently transferred to
the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
effective January 1, 2007.

Disaster Relief

(including transfer of funds)

For necessary expenses in carrying out the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), $1,640,000,000, to remain available
until expended: Provided, That of the total amount provided,
not to exceed $15,000,000 shall be transferred to the
Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General
for audits and investigations related to natural disasters
subject to section 503 of this Act.

Disaster Assistance Direct Loan Program Account

For administrative expenses to carry out the direct loan
program, as authorized by section 319 of the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5162), $569,000: Provided, That gross obligations for
the principal amount of direct loans shall not exceed
$25,000,000: Provided further, That the cost of modifying
such loans shall be as defined in section 502 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 661a).

Flood Map Modernization Fund

For necessary expenses under section 1360 of the National
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101), $198,980,000,
and such additional sums as may be provided by State and
local governments or other political subdivisions for cost-
shared mapping activities under section 1360(f)(2) of such
Act, to remain available until expended: Provided, That total
administrative costs shall not exceed 3 percent of the total
appropriation.

National Flood Insurance Fund

(including transfer of funds)

For activities under the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), and the Flood Disaster
Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.),
$128,588,000, which is available as follows: (1) not to
exceed $38,230,000 for salaries and expenses associated with
flood mitigation and flood insurance operations; and (2) not
to exceed $90,358,000 for flood hazard mitigation which shall
be derived from offsetting collections assessed and collected
under section 1307 of the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), to remain available until
September 30, 2008, including up to $31,000,000 for flood
mitigation expenses under section 1366 of that Act, which
amount shall be available for transfer to the National Flood
Mitigation Fund until September 30, 2008: Provided, That in
fiscal year 2007, no funds in excess of: (1) $70,000,000 for
operating expenses; (2) $692,999,000 for commissions and
taxes of agents; (3) such sums as necessary for interest on
Treasury borrowings shall be available from the National
Flood Insurance Fund; and (4) not to exceed $50,000,000 for
flood mitigation actions with respect to severe repetitive
loss properties under section 1361A of that Act and
repetitive insurance claims properties under section 1323 of
that Act, which shall remain available until expended:
Provided further, That total administrative costs shall not
exceed 3 percent of the total appropriation.

National Flood Mitigation Fund

(including transfer of funds)

Notwithstanding subparagraphs (B) and (C) of subsection
(b)(3), and subsection (f), of section 1366 of the National
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c), $31,000,000,
to remain available until September 30, 2008, for activities
designed to reduce the risk of flood damage to structures
pursuant to such Act, of which $31,000,000 shall be derived
from the National Flood Insurance Fund.

National Pre-Disaster Mitigation Fund

For a pre-disaster mitigation grant program under title II
of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5131 et seq.), $149,978,000, to
remain available until expended: Provided, That grants made
for pre-disaster mitigation shall be awarded on a competitive
basis subject to the criteria in section 203(g) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 5133(g)), and notwithstanding section 203(f) of
such Act, shall be made without reference to State
allocations, quotas, or other formula-based allocation of
funds: Provided further, That total administrative costs
shall not exceed 3 percent of the total appropriation.

Emergency Food and Shelter

To carry out an emergency food and shelter program under
title III of the Stewart B.

[[Page S7269]]

McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11331 et seq.),
$151,470,000, to remain available until expended: Provided,
That total administrative costs shall not exceed 3.5 percent
of the total appropriation.

TITLE IV

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TRAINING, AND SERVICES

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

For necessary expenses for citizenship and immigration
services, $134,990,000.

Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

salaries and expenses

For necessary expenses of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center, including materials and support costs of
Federal law enforcement basic training; purchase of not to
exceed 117 vehicles for police-type use and hire of passenger
motor vehicles; expenses for student athletic and related
activities; the conduct of and participation in firearms
matches and presentation of awards; public awareness and
enhancement of community support of law enforcement training;
room and board for student interns; a flat monthly
reimbursement to employees authorized to use personal mobile
phones for official duties; and services as authorized by
section 3109 of title 5, United States Code; $207,634,000, of
which up to $43,910,000 for materials and support costs of
Federal law enforcement basic training shall remain available
until September 30, 2008; of which $300,000 shall remain
available until expended for Federal law enforcement agencies
participating in training accreditation, to be distributed as
determined by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for
the needs of participating agencies; and of which not to
exceed $12,000 shall be for official reception and
representation expenses: Provided, That the Center is
authorized to obligate funds in anticipation of
reimbursements from agencies receiving training sponsored by
the Center, except that total obligations at the end of the
fiscal year shall not exceed total budgetary resources
available at the end of the fiscal year.

acquisition, construction, improvements, and related expenses

For acquisition of necessary additional real property and
facilities, construction, and ongoing maintenance, facility
improvements, and related expenses of the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center, $63,246,000, to remain available
until expended: Provided, That the Center is authorized to
accept reimbursement to this appropriation from government
agencies requesting the construction of special use
facilities.

Science and Technology

management and administration

For salaries and expenses of the Office of the Under
Secretary for Science and Technology and for management and
administration of programs and activities, as authorized by
title III of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181
et seq.), $106,414,000: Provided, That of the amount provided
under this heading, $60,000,000 shall not be obligated until
the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House
of Representatives receive and approve an expenditure plan by
program, project, and activity; with a detailed breakdown and
justification of the management and administrative costs for
each; prepared by the Secretary of Homeland Security that has
been reviewed by the Government Accountability Office:
Provided further, That the expenditure plan shall include the
method utilized to derive administration costs in fiscal year
2006 and fiscal year 2007: Provided further, That not to
exceed $3,000 shall be for official reception and
representation expenses.

research, development, acquisition, and operations

For necessary expenses for science and technology research,
including advanced research projects; development; test and
evaluation; acquisition; and operations; as authorized by
title III of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181
et seq.); $712,041,000, to remain available until expended:
Provided, That no university participating in the University-
based Centers of Excellence Program shall receive a grant for
a period in excess of 3 years: Provided further, That none of
the funds provided under this heading shall be made available
for management and administrative costs.

Domestic Nuclear Detection Office

MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

For salaries and expenses of the Domestic Nuclear Detection
Office and for management and administration of programs and
activities, $30,468,000: Provided, That no funds will be made
available for the reimbursement of individuals from other
Federal agencies or organizations in fiscal year 2008:
Provided further, That not to exceed $3,000 shall be for
official reception and representation expenses.

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND OPERATIONS

For necessary expenses for radiological and nuclear
research, development, testing, evaluation and operations,
$234,024,000, to remain available until expended; and of
which not to exceed $65,000,000 shall be made available for
transformation research and development; and of which no less
than $40,000,000 shall be made available for radiation portal
monitor research and development: Provided, That of the
amount provided, $80,000,000 shall not be obligated until the
Secretary of Homeland Security provides notification to the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives that the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office
has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with each
Federal entity and organization: Provided further, That each
Memorandum of Understanding shall include a description of
the role, responsibilities, and resource commitment of each
Federal entity or organization for the domestic nuclear
global architecture.

SYSTEMS ACQUISITION

For expenses for the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office
acquisition and deployment of radiological detection systems
in accordance with the global nuclear detection architecture,
$178,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2009;
and of which no less than $143,000,000 shall be for radiation
portal monitors; and of which not to exceed $5,000,000 shall
be for the Surge program: Provided, That none of the funds
provided for the Sodium Iodine Manufacturing program shall be
made available until a cost-benefit analysis on the Advance
Spectroscopic Portal monitors is submitted to the Committees
on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives by the Secretary of Homeland Security and
reviewed by the Government Accountability Office.

TITLE V

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 501. No part of any appropriation contained in this
Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current
fiscal year unless expressly so provided herein.
Sec. 502. Subject to the requirements of section 503 of
this Act, the unexpended balances of prior appropriations
provided for activities in this Act may be transferred to
appropriation accounts for such activities established under
this Act: Provided, That balances so transferred may be
merged with funds in the applicable established accounts and
thereafter may be accounted for as one fund for the same time
period as originally enacted.
Sec. 503. (a) None of the funds provided by this Act,
provided by previous appropriations Acts to the agencies in
or transferred to the Department of Homeland Security that
remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year
2007, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the
United States derived by the collection of fees available to
the agencies funded by this Act, shall be available for
obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming of funds
that: (1) creates a new program; (2) eliminates a program,
project, or activity; (3) increases funds for any program,
project, or activity for which funds have been denied or
restricted by the Congress; (4) proposes to use funds
directed for a specific activity by either of the Committees
on Appropriations of the Senate or House of Representatives
for a different purpose; or (5) contracts out any function or
activity for which funds have been appropriated for Federal
full-time equivalent positions; unless the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives
are notified 15 days in advance of such reprogramming of
funds.
(b) None of the funds provided by this Act, provided by
previous appropriations Acts to the agencies in or
transferred to the Department of Homeland Security that
remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year
2007, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury of the
United States derived by the collection of fees available to
the agencies funded by this Act, shall be available for
obligation or expenditure for programs, projects, or
activities through a reprogramming of funds in excess of
$5,000,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less, that: (1)
augments existing programs, projects, or activities; (2)
reduces by 10 percent funding for any existing program,
project, or activity, or numbers of personnel by 10 percent
as approved by the Congress; or (3) results from any general
savings from a reduction in personnel that would result in a
change in existing programs, projects, or activities as
approved by the Congress; unless the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives
are notified 15 days in advance of such reprogramming of
funds.
(c) Not to exceed 5 percent of any appropriation made
available for the current fiscal year for the Department of
Homeland Security by this Act or provided by previous
appropriations Acts may be transferred between such
appropriations, but no such appropriations, except as
otherwise specifically provided, shall be increased by more
than 10 percent by such transfers: Provided, That any
transfer under this section shall be treated as a
reprogramming of funds under subsection (b) of this section
and shall not be available for obligation unless the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives are notified 15 days in advance of such
transfer.
(d) Notwithstanding subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this
section, no funds shall be reprogrammed within or transferred
between appropriations after June 30, except in extraordinary
circumstances which imminently threaten the safety of human
life or the protection of property.
Sec. 504. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available to the Department of Homeland Security may be used
to make payments to the ``Department of Homeland Security
Working Capital Fund'', except for the activities and amounts
allowed in the President's fiscal year 2007 budget, excluding
sedan service, shuttle service, transit subsidy, mail
operations, parking, and competitive sourcing: Provided, That
any additional activities and amounts shall be approved by
the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House
of Representatives 30 days in advance of obligation.
Sec. 505. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law,
not to exceed 50 percent of unobligated balances remaining
available at the end of fiscal year 2007 from appropriations
for salaries and expenses for fiscal year 2007 in this Act
shall remain available through September 30, 2008, in the
account and for the purposes for which the appropriations
were provided: Provided, That prior to the obligation of such
funds, a request shall be submitted to the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the

[[Page S7270]]

House of Representatives for approval in accordance with
section 503 of this Act.
Sec. 506. Funds made available by this Act for intelligence
activities are deemed to be specifically authorized by the
Congress for purposes of section 504 of the National Security
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 414) during fiscal year 2007 until the
enactment of an Act authorizing intelligence activities for
fiscal year 2007.
Sec. 507. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center shall
lead the Federal law enforcement training accreditation
process, to include representatives from the Federal law
enforcement community and non-Federal accreditation experts
involved in law enforcement training, to continue the
implementation of measuring and assessing the quality and
effectiveness of Federal law enforcement training programs,
facilities, and instructors.
Sec. 508. None of the funds in this Act may be used to make
a grant allocation, discretionary grant award, discretionary
contract award, or to issue a letter of intent totaling in
excess of $1,000,000, or to announce publicly the intention
to make such an award, unless the Secretary of Homeland
Security notifies the Committees on Appropriations of the
Senate and the House of Representatives at least 3 full
business days in advance: Provided, That no notification
shall involve funds that are not available for obligation.
Sec. 509. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
agency shall purchase, construct, or lease any additional
facilities, except within or contiguous to existing
locations, to be used for the purpose of conducting Federal
law enforcement training without the advance approval of the
Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, except that the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center is authorized to obtain the temporary use of
additional facilities by lease, contract, or other agreement
for training which cannot be accommodated in existing Center
facilities.
Sec. 510. The Director of the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center shall schedule basic or advanced law
enforcement training (including both types of training) at
all four training facilities under the control of the Federal
Law Enforcement Training Center to ensure that these training
centers are operated at the highest capacity throughout the
fiscal year.
Sec. 511. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made
available by this Act may be used for expenses of any
construction, repair, alteration, or acquisition project for
which a prospectus, if required by the Public Buildings Act
of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 3301), has not been approved, except that
necessary funds may be expended for each project for required
expenses for the development of a proposed prospectus.
Sec. 512. None of the funds in this Act may be used in
contravention of the applicable provisions of the Buy
American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a et seq.).
Sec. 513. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
authority of the Office of Personnel Management to conduct
personnel security and suitability background investigations,
update investigations, and periodic reinvestigations of
applicants for, or appointees in, positions in the Office of
the Secretary and Executive Management, the Office of the
Under Secretary for Management, Analysis and Operations,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Directorate for
Preparedness, and the Directorate of Science and Technology
of the Department of Homeland Security is transferred to the
Department of Homeland Security: Provided, That on request of
the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Personnel
Management shall cooperate with and assist the Department in
any investigation or reinvestigation under this section:
Provided further, That this section shall cease to be
effective at such time as the President has selected a single
agency to conduct security clearance investigations under
section 3001(c) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458; 50 U.S.C. 435b)
and the entity selected under section 3001(b) of such Act has
reported to Congress that the agency selected under such
section 3001(c) is capable of conducting all necessary
investigations in a timely manner or has authorized the
entities within the Department of Homeland Security covered
by this section to conduct their own investigations under
section 3001 of such Act.
Sec. 514. (a) None of the funds provided by this or
previous appropriations Acts may be obligated for deployment
or implementation, on other than a test basis, of the Secure
Flight program or any other follow on or successor passenger
prescreening programs, until the Secretary of Homeland
Security certifies, and the Government Accountability Office
reports, to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate
and the House of Representatives, that all 10 of the
conditions contained in paragraphs (1) through (10) of
section 522(a) of the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 108-334; 118 Stat. 1319)
have been successfully met.
(b) The report required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted within 90 days after the certification required by
such subsection is provided, and periodically thereafter, if
necessary, until the Government Accountability Office
confirms that all 10 conditions have been successfully met.
(c) During the testing phase permitted by subsection (a),
no information gathered from passengers, foreign or domestic
air carriers, or reservation systems may be used to screen
aviation passengers, or delay or deny boarding to such
passengers, except in instances where passenger names are
matched to a Government watch list.
(d) None of the funds provided in this or previous
appropriations Acts may be utilized to develop or test
algorithms assigning risk to passengers whose names are not
on Government watch lists.
(e) None of the funds provided in this or previous
appropriations Acts may be utilized for data or a database
that is obtained from or remains under the control of a non-
Federal entity: Provided, That this restriction shall not
apply to Passenger Name Record data obtained from air
carriers.
Sec. 515. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to amend the oath of allegiance required by section
337 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1448).
Sec. 516. None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be
used to process or approve a competition under Office of
Management and Budget Circular A-76 for services provided as
of June 1, 2004, by employees (including employees serving on
a temporary or term basis) of United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security
who are known as of that date as Immigration Information
Officers, Contact Representatives, or Investigative
Assistants.
Sec. 517. (a) None of the funds appropriated to the United
States Secret Service by this Act or by previous
appropriations Acts may be made available for the protection
of a person, other than persons granted protection under
3056(a) of title 18, United States Code, and the Secretary of
the Department of Homeland Security.
(b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, the Director of
the United States Secret Service may enter into a fully
reimbursable agreement to perform such service for protectees
not designated under 3056(a) of title 18, United States Code.
Sec. 518. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in
consultation with industry stakeholders, shall develop
standards and protocols for increasing the use of explosive
detection equipment to screen air cargo when appropriate.
Sec. 519. (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security is
directed to research, develop, and procure new technologies
to inspect and screen air cargo carried on passenger aircraft
at the earliest date possible.
(b) Existing checked baggage explosive detection equipment
and screeners shall be utilized to screen air cargo carried
on passenger aircraft to the greatest extent practicable at
each airport until technologies developed under subsection
(a) are available.
(c) The Transportation Security Administration shall report
air cargo inspection statistics within 15 days of the close
of each quarter of the fiscal year to the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, by airport and air carrier, including any
reasons for non-compliance with the second proviso of section
513 of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations
Act, 2005 (Public Law 108-334; 118 Stat. 1317), within 45
days after the end of the quarter.
Sec. 520. (a) None of the funds available for obligation
for the transportation worker identification credential
program shall be used to develop a personalization system
that is executed without fair and open competition for both
the implementation and production of the program and
identification cards.
(b) The Transportation Security Administration shall
certify to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and
the House of Representatives not later than December 1, 2006,
that the competition required under subsection (a) has been
achieved.
Sec. 521. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used by any person other than the privacy officer
appointed under section 222 of the Homeland Security Act of
2002 (6 U.S.C. 142) to alter, direct that changes be made to,
delay, or prohibit the transmission to Congress of any report
prepared under paragraph (5) of such section.
Sec. 522. No funding provided by this or previous
appropriation Acts shall be available to pay the salary of
any employee serving as a contracting officer's technical
representative (COTR) or anyone acting in a similar or like
capacity who has not received COTR training.
Sec. 523. Except as provided in section 44945 of title 49,
United States Code, funds appropriated or transferred to
Transportation Security Administration ``Aviation Security'',
``Administration'' and ``Transportation Security Support'' in
fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006 that are recovered or
deobligated shall be available only for procurement and
installation of explosive detection systems for air cargo,
baggage, and checkpoint screening systems, subject to section
503 of this Act.
Sec. 524. Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security
shall report to the Committees on Appropriations of the
Senate and the House of Representatives on the progress that
the Department has made in implementing the requirements of
section 537 of the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-90; 119 Stat. 2088),
including information on the current procedures regarding
access to sensitive security information (SSI) by civil
litigants and the security risks and benefits of any proposed
changes to these procedures: Provided, That the Secretary
shall revise DHS MD 11056 to provide that when a lawful
request is made to publicly release a document containing
information designated as SSI, the document shall be reviewed
in a timely manner to determine whether any information
contained in the document meets the criteria for continued
SSI protection under applicable law and regulation and shall
further provide that all portions that no longer require SSI
designation be released, subject to applicable law, including
sections 552 and 552a of title 5, United States Code.
Sec. 525. Rescission. From the unobligated balances from
prior year appropriations made available for Transportation
Security Administration ``Aviation Security'' and
``Headquarters Administration'', $4,776,000 are rescinded.
Sec. 526. The Department of Homeland Security Working
Capital Fund, established under section 403 of the Government
Management Reform Act of 1994 (31 U.S.C. 501 note; Public Law

[[Page S7271]]

103-356), shall continue operations during fiscal year 2007.
Sec. 527. Rescission. Of the unobligated balances from
prior year appropriations made available for the
``Counterterrorism Fund'', $16,000,000 are rescinded.
Sec. 528. Rescission. From the unobligated balances from
prior year appropriations made available for Transportation
Security Administration ``Aviation Security'', $61,936,000
are rescinded.
Sec. 529. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to enforce section 4025(1) of Public Law 108-458 if
the Assistant Secretary (Transportation Security
Administration) determines that butane lighters are not a
significant threat to civil aviation security: Provided, That
the Assistant Secretary (Transportation Security
Administration) shall notify the Committees on Appropriations
of the Senate and the House of Representatives 15 days in
advance of such determination including a report on whether
the effectiveness of screening operations is enhanced by
suspending enforcement of the prohibition.
Sec. 530. Rescissions. Of the unobligated balances from
prior year appropriations made available for Science and
Technology, $55,000,000 for ``Management and Administration''
and $145,000,000 from ``Research, Development, Acquisition,
and Operations'' are rescinded: Provided, That of the total
amount rescinded from ``Management and Administration'',
$30,000,000 shall be from the contingency fund and
$25,000,000 shall be from the Homeland Security Institute.
Sec. 531. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider the Hancock
County Port and Harbor Commission in Mississippi eligible
under the Federal Emergency Management Agency Public
Assistance Program for all costs incurred for dredging from
navigation channel in Little Lake, Louisiana, sediment
deposited as a result of Hurricane George in 1998: Provided,
That the appropriate Federal share shall apply to approval of
this project.
Sec. 532. The Department of Homeland Security shall, in
approving standards for State and local emergency
preparedness operational plans under section 613(b)(3) of the
Robert T. Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 5196b(b)(3)), account for the needs of individuals
with household pets and service animals before, during, and
following a major disaster or emergency: Provided, That
Federal agencies may provide assistance as described in
section 403(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b(a)) to carry out
the plans described in the previous proviso.
Sec. 533. Rescission. From the unexpended balances of the
United States Coast Guard ``Acquisition, Construction, and
Improvements'' account specifically identified in the Joint
Explanatory Statement (House Report 109-241) accompanying the
Department of Homeland Security Act, 2006 (Public Law 109-90)
for the development of the Offshore Patrol Cutter,
$20,000,000 are rescinded.
Sec. 534. Transfer. All obligated and unobligated balances
of funds, totaling not less than $98,552,000, for the
Transportation Security Laboratory shall be transferred from
the Science and Technology ``Research, Development,
Acquisition, and Operations'' account to the Transportation
Security Administration ``Transportation Security Support''
account effective October 1, 2006.
Sec. 535. (a)(1) Within 45 days after the close of each
month, the Chief Financial Officer of the Department of
Homeland Security shall submit to the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives
a monthly budget execution report that sets forth the total
obligational authority appropriated (new budget authority
plus unobligated carryover), undistributed obligational
authority, amount allotted, current year obligations,
unobligated authority (the difference between total
obligational authority and current year obligations),
beginning unexpended obligations, year-to-date costs, and
year-end unexpended obligations, of the Department of
Homeland Security.
(2) The information required under paragraph (1) shall be
provided for each Departmental component and the Working
Capital Fund at the level of detail shown in the table of
detailed funding recommendations displayed at the end of the
Statement of Managers accompanying the conference report on
this Act.
(3) Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include
for each Department of Homeland Security component the total
full-time equivalent for the prior fiscal year, the on-board
total full-time equivalent on September 30 of the prior
fiscal year, the estimated total full-time equivalent for the
current fiscal year, and the on-board total full-time
equivalent on the last day of the month for the applicable
report.
(b) Obligation authority and transfer authority provided
under section 503 and 504 of this Act shall not be available
unless on the date of a notification under section 503 and
504, the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House
of Representatives have received the most recent report
required by subsection (a) of this section.
Sec. 536. None of the funds provided by this or previous
appropriations Acts or transferred to the Department of
Homeland Security that remain available for obligation or
expenditure in fiscal year 2007, or provided from any
accounts in the Treasury of the United States derived by the
collection of fees available to the agencies funded by this
Act, shall be available for obligation or expenditure for the
Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding
effective October 1, 2006, unless the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives
receive a reprogramming notification for fiscal year 2006
pursuant to section 503 of Public Law 109-90 and a budget
request and expenditure plan for fiscal year 2007 for this
office.
Sec. 537. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
instructor staff shall be classified as inherently
governmental for the purpose of the Federal Activities
Inventory Reform Act of 1998 (31 U.S.C. 501 note).
Sec. 538. Section 7209(b)(1) of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-458; 8
U.S.C. 1185 note) is amended by striking from ``(1)
Development of plan.--The Secretary'' through ``7208(k)).''
and inserting the following:
``(1) Development of plan and implementation.--
``(A) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, shall develop and implement a
plan as expeditiously as possible to require a passport or
other document, or combination of documents, deemed by the
Secretary of Homeland Security to be sufficient to denote
identity and citizenship, for all travel into the United
States by United States citizens and by categories of
individuals for whom documentation requirements have
previously been waived under section 212(d)(4)(B) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(4)(B)).
This plan shall be implemented not later than 3 months after
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security
make the certifications required in subsection (B), or June
1, 2009, whichever is earlier. The plan shall seek to
expedite the travel of frequent travelers, including those
who reside in border communities, and in doing so, shall make
readily available a registered traveler program (as described
in section 7208(k)).
``(B) The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary
of State shall jointly certify to the Committees on
Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives
that the following criteria have been met prior to
implementation of Section 7209(b)(1)(A)--
``(i) the National Institutes of Standards and Technology
has certified that the card architecture meets the
International Organization for Standardization ISO 14443
security standards, or justifies a deviation from such
standard;
``(ii) the technology to be used by the United States for
the passport card, and any subsequent change to that
technology, has been shared with the governments of Canada
and Mexico;
``(iii) an agreement has been reached with the United
States Postal Service on the fee to be charged individuals
for the passport card, and a detailed justification has been
submitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate
and the House of Representatives;
``(iv) an alternative procedure has been developed for
groups of children traveling across an international border
under adult supervision with parental consent;
``(v) the necessary technological infrastructure to process
the passport cards has been installed, and all employees at
ports of entry have been properly trained in the use of the
new technology;
``(vi) the passport card has been made available for the
purpose of international travel by United States citizens
through land and sea ports of entry between the United States
and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda; and
``(vii) a single implementation date for sea and land
borders has been established.''.
Sec. 539. Notwithstanding any time limitation established
for a grant awarded under title I, chapter 6, Public Law 106-
31, in the item relating to Federal Emergency Management
Agency--Disaster Assistance for Unmet Needs, the City of
Cuero, Texas, may use funds received under such grant program
until September 30, 2007.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Act, 2007''.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, today we begin consideration of the
Homeland Security appropriations bill. I begin by thanking the members
of the Committee on Appropriations for helping bring the bill out of
committee. It was brought out unanimously.
I especially thank the ranking member of the committee and the senior
Senator from the State of West Virginia, but also the senior Senator in
the Senate, Senator Byrd, for his support and efforts as ranking member
not only of this subcommittee but of the full committee, of course, and
his role in authoring and designing this bill. It has been very
constructive. Obviously, he does not agree with everything in it. That
is inevitable, especially with the allocation we were equipped with,
but his help has been significant in moving the bill forward.
I also thank Senator Cochran who, once again, has been extremely
tolerant of this subcommittee--not only tolerant but supportive. He was
put in a very difficult position by the administration in the manner in
which they sent up their budget in this area, in that they put in a
plug number of about $1.4 billion, a number that everyone knew was not
going anywhere. They knew it wasn't going anywhere when they sent it up
here. It didn't go anywhere last year when they sent the same number up
here, a number they claimed they could support by increasing the fees
on airline travel, and then

[[Page S7272]]

taking those moneys and putting them to the border. It was a concept
which has been rejected by the Congress before. They knew it would be
rejected this time.
They used it basically as a stalking horse to claim expenditures
which were not then supported by funding. The reason it is not
supported is that it makes no sense to raise the fee on airline
passengers for security purposes on airlines and then take that money
and put it into the border activity. We have significant fees on
airline passengers today. That money is used primarily for TSA and FAA
in order to assist in making sure our air traffic is secure. It is an
appropriate fee. An increase at this time, which is not related to
airline traffic, makes little sense.
Senator Cochran was confronted with a situation with this bill where
he basically had to find about $1.4 billion in order to reach the
President's level of funding, that the President asked for Homeland
Security without any real way to do that except to take it from other
accounts. He was very generous with this committee. He was not able to
do the full amount, but he did a significant amount, and we very much
appreciate his support. He used to be chairman of the subcommittee when
it first started and he understands the needs.
The issue of the Homeland Security Department is almost a Dickins
story because it takes a lot of twists and turns. Some of it is not
very pretty. Some of it is good. Some of it is not. The problem we have
is that the Department was put together in haste. A lot of different
agencies that had a lot of different cultures, some of which were doing
their tasks very well--such as the Coast Guard and the Secret Service--
were put into the Department, and others which had always had a
problem, a structural problem such as immigration, were put into the
Department. Then new responsibility was put on the Department with a
new focus.
Every agency theoretically within the Department is primarily focused
on the issue of national security and protecting us from an attack such
as September 11, but within the agency, in order to have continuity of
activity, there were departments put into it which did not have as
their primary purpose Homeland Security.
The most significant example of that, of course, is FEMA, which
basically deals with disasters. Most of the disasters it deals with
involve natural disasters, which obviously are not a function of
terrorist activity, although it is, obviously, also a lead agency
should we have a terrorist event such as occurred on September 11. FEMA
played a major role there and did a very good job, by the way. FEMA's
management of post-September 11 issues was handled with excellence.
The Department has a lot of different functions within it. It has now
been going for about 3\1/2\ years. I have had the good fortune to chair
this committee for about 2 years. It is pretty obvious the Department
has not yet shaken out all the problems it has. In fact, the problems
keep coming at us relative to management.
I asked my staff to take a look at the Department and all the reviews
that have been done by outside groups which we basically sanction, such
as the Inspector General and the GAO and other accounting agencies
which go in and take a look at functions of the Federal Government and
conclude whether those functions are being done well.

Homeland Security probably leads the Government in the number of
reviews that have been done because it is a new agency and because
there are problems obviously. I asked my staff to put together a list
of all the different reviews and tie those lists to the management
chart of the Department so that we could see just how much the
Department has and has not accomplished in the area of reviews. It
became an overwhelming task. They put together the chart, but there
were so many reviews that had occurred that essentially they had to
just summarize by numbers the different reviews.
This is the management chart of the Department of Homeland Security.
For example, there have been seven reviews of the chief financial
officer. All of them have concluded system failures. The Under
Secretary for Management has had eight reviews that have concluded a
lack of plan; six reviews, systems management failures; and one review
that said there was a mismanagement of funds.
Regarding the Chief Information Officer, the conclusion is that IT
management has been lacking in 18 different reviews.
On and on it goes. Of course, the grand prize winner, regrettably, is
FEMA, which has had 180 major reviews by GAO or the inspector general
or other sources of significant credibility--180 reviews have concluded
the process has failed, and 7 reviews have concluded that management
controls have failed. In fact, there is such a current problem of
mismanagement and ineptness that this chart cannot be kept up to date,
regrettably.
Just today we have gotten our most recent review, again, by the
Government Accounting Office. They conclude with the US VISIT Program:
Contract management and oversight for the Visitor and Immigration
Status Program needs to be strengthened. This is US VISIT, an
absolutely critical program we have. We have had six reviews of US
VISIT of this depth, and all of them have concluded there are
significant concerns.
To take an example of the depth of the problem with this Department,
agency by agency, there was a review of Federal Protective Services
which basically said they lacked strategic planning, that they had no
structure for strategic planning in July of 2004, that they needed to
enter into an immediate understanding with GSA as to what they should
be doing relative to planning and how they should be resolving billing
issues within that Department. On and on the report went, with very
specific ideas as to how to improve the Department.
As of today, virtually nothing has happened in the Federal Protective
Services Agency to try to correct the problems enumerated in the 2004
GAO report.
What is the result of that? The result is that the Federal Protective
Services Agency has a $42 million structural deficit, which they do not
have any idea how they will correct.
That is just one slice of this overall pie which, regrettably, is the
Department of Homeland Security. This is not to say that the Department
does not have very conscientious, hard-working, dedicated public
servants. It does. It has a panoply of them--those folks who are on the
front lines on the border, whether they are immigration officers or
border agents, the people in TSA who are working very hard to try to
straighten out the lines in the airport and still provide security, the
Secret Service, the Coast Guard, FEMA people trying to answer the
problems of a small flood or issues with what happened in New Orleans.
These people are all working very hard, but there is a systematic
failure within this Department which is massive. It is, unfortunately,
permeating the entire Department. It has to be of significant concern
to us as a Congress.
Just a recent report estimated that maybe as much as $18 billion--
that is a staggering number--$18 billion of the money we spent on
Katrina has been misallocated, they believe fraudulently handled, but,
clearly, it did not get the results they were supposed to get. Whether
it was a trailer sitting in a field somewhere that never got used or
whether it was debit cards used to buy bedding, the fact is that is
potentially $18 billion.
I cannot believe the number is that big. I think that has to be an
overestimate. There is no way that size number could have been
mismanaged. But say it is half; say it is $9 billion. Do you know what
we could do with $9 billion in this country today? We could do a lot of
good things. Just in this Department alone, if we had $9 billion
focused on the Coast Guard and on Border Patrol and immigration, an
infusion of that type of money--I had to pull teeth to get an extra
$1.9 billion in the last supplemental. If we got $9 billion, we could
make sure our borders were secure and no one could come into the
country illegally. The number of people coming into the country
illegally would dry up if we had those resources for the borders. It is
a real issue with real implications.
All the reports are not just paper documents. They all mean
taxpayers' dollars are not being used effectively.

[[Page S7273]]

Even though the people on the front lines are trying their hardest,
there are issues that have to be addressed. The main thing we are
saying to this agency, this Department--and I know they are trying
hard, I know the Secretary is trying hard, everyone down there is
trying hard--somehow we have to get ahold of this. We have to get some
management structure so we do not get this constant flow of failure, of
review.
The way this committee has tried to do it is essentially to try to
prioritize. We essentially said: There are some things we have to do
right. Even in the context of all these problems we have, we have to do
some things right. The first thing we have to do right is to address
the threat. The threat, obviously, is weapons of mass destruction. The
potential of a weapon of mass destruction being used in America is the
single biggest threat we have as a nation today. It is real.
It is regrettable that there are a number of people in the country,
especially the press, who do not take it seriously, but it is a serious
problem which we have as a nation because there are, unfortunately,
people out there who are fundamentally evil who genuinely believe their
way to a fuller life and a great existence is to essentially kill
hundreds, potentially thousands, of Americans and try to destroy
Western culture. That is their purpose. These people are sophisticated.
They have the capacity, if given the wherewithal, to use a weapon that
could do massive damage to our Nation. We cannot underestimate this
threat simply because we have gotten through 4 years.
Let me congratulate those who work on the front line. As I said,
there are some hard-working, committed people. Four years of hard work
have kept us free from an attack, and that, I guess, is the bottom
line. So maybe my statement before was a bit harsh because you have to
congratulate the success in the fact that we have not been attacked in
the last 4 years. But the documentation is also real that we have real
issues with this Department. But if we are to continue to be successful
in thwarting a weapon of mass destruction attack, we must put resources
in those areas. But they must be used effectively.
We have the Science and Technology Directorate of this group. They
have no plan, as far as we can tell. They want more money, and I would
be happy to give them more money. I would be enthusiastic about putting
more money into their operations if I felt there was some sort of
coherent plan as to what they were going to do with those funds. In
fact, it is just the opposite. You get just the opposite feeling from
the Science and Technology Directorate.
You have the NMDS, the nuclear detection group, which is working
hard. They are up and running in Nevada. They are trying to develop
systems. Well, they started from nothing. Basically, they wanted a lot
of money to get started. We asked that they give us some directions as
to how they were going to do that, and they have started to do that. So
they are moving on the right path. But what we basically said is: We
will give you the money as you produce the plan that produces the
results.
We have to be ready for a domestic nuclear event, and we have to try
to stop it before it happens. But it also has to be done in a coherent
and comprehensive way rather than an illogical way or in a way that
appears to be haphazard. There is progress being made there. That is
where we want to focus our dollars, quite honestly. We want to focus
our dollars in this effort. I have been joined by Senator Byrd in
trying to address the weapons of mass destruction threat. That is the
No. 1 thing.
The second thing we want to focus on and we have tried to focus on is
the issue of border security because you really have to know who is
coming into the country if you are going to be able to claim you have
addressed the issue of threat. Because, sure, there are homegrown
terrorists in America, unfortunately. There is no question about it.
But we also know there are an awful lot of people out there--and we saw
it again just this week--primarily coming out of the Mideast but also
out of Southeast Asia, who want to do us harm and whose purpose is to
do us harm--and they are open about it--- who have put out epistles to
their followers that their cause should be to attack America and
Americans within and outside of our country.
So we really need to know who is coming across our borders. And then,
of course, we have the secondary issue, which is we have a large number
of people coming into our country illegally who wish us no harm. In
fact, it is just the opposite. They wish to take advantage of the
American dream, to get a job and support their families. They come here
to get work--and especially across the southern border--but they are
coming here illegally, and that is not appropriate. So we need to get
control over our borders.
So about 2 years ago, when I took over this job, of being in charge
of this committee, we started to ramp up significantly our commitment
to border security. With this bill, should this bill be successful and
be passed, we will have increased the number of border agents by 40
percent; we will have increased the number of detention beds by about
30 percent; we will have dramatically increased our commitment to the
Coast Guard; we will have dramatically increased our commitment to ICE;
and we will have put in place and started up the US-VISIT Program,
which I still have reservations about as to how effective it is going
to be, but it seems to be moving in the right direction and people are
working hard on it. Our purpose has been to retool the borders so we
can be sure within a few years we can control the borders.
Now, I happen to be of the belief that we should put this on the fast
track. It should not be 5 years from now, it should be next year. But
that has not happened, primarily because of resources. However, we have
made dramatic strides in this area.
Now, there has been a disagreement here between ourselves and the
administration on this point. In fact, when we brought our first budget
forward, which significantly increased the number of border agents by
about 1,000--actually 1,500 when you coupled the supplemental with the
bill--we were strongly resisted by the administration because we took
money out of other accounts--primarily State and local first responder
funds--and moved it over to Border Patrol. We did the same thing to add
the detention beds. That was done with the support of the Senate and,
in the end, with the support of the House. That was a success. It was
such a success, in fact, that now the administration claims it was
their idea, even though at the time they opposed it.
Now, we have tried to move forward. This year, we put $1.9 billion
into the supplemental to try to address the capital needs of the border
issue, such as the aircraft, the fact that our aircraft we are flying
down there are 40 years over their useful life, the helicopters are 20
years over their useful life; the fact that the Coast Guard is on a
program of building coastal security capability, but it is on a program
that won't build out until 2023, and we think that should be
accelerated to 2015; the fact that we only had one unmanned vehicle on
the southern border--or anywhere on the borders, for that matter--and
that one unmanned vehicle crashed, and we need to replace it and add
more. And we have a lot of technology needs and also just plain old-
fashioned cars and desks and training capability, things we felt we
needed on the capital side.

Well, as to that idea, although the Congress thought it made sense,
the administration did not. They took the number and converted it. We
are happy to have the money. Initially, the Department was not even
happy to have the money, but they took the money, and they converted it
to operational needs, adding another 1,000 agents, adding another 4,000
beds, adding operational costs, and also some capital needs. I think
the helicopters were covered. The planes were not upgraded. There were
unmanned vehicles that would be purchased. So that was a point of
disagreement, but at least we were on the right track.
But the practical effect of that bill was we created what is known as
a fiscal tail, which meant that as you added operational costs in the
supplemental, you had to add additional money in the main bill in order
to pay for the operational needs which would be ongoing, which meant
that the basic bill was stressed, first because it did not have full
funding because of the $1.4 billion hold that was put in it by the
setting

[[Page S7274]]

up of a fee system, which everybody knew was not going to work, and
secondly because of the tail that came out of this supplemental, which
meant we had to pick up about $600 million of cost we had not planned
to pick up in this bill in order to maintain the costs which had been
put in the supplemental, which we felt should have, instead, been
capital costs rather than operational costs.
So the practical effect of that gets us to this bill we have today,
which is a bill which continues the movement toward securing the
borders but does not do it in as robust a way as I would like. I am not
going to be disingenuous about it. I am not going to come to the floor
and say this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is not. It is
a step in the right direction. And because of Senator Cochran's and
Senator Byrd's support in getting a bigger allocation in this bill than
it might have appropriately gotten in light of what was sent up by the
administration, it is a fairly significant step. It adds an additional
1,000 agents. It adds an additional 1,000 detention beds. But that
means we are still short of where we need to be. Even though we have
increased agents by 40 percent and detention beds by 30 percent, we are
still way short of where we need to be to be able to say, with
confidence, we are going to be able to stop the people who are coming
across our borders, especially our southern border, in the near term,
detain them, and make sure the bad ones are sent back and the other
folks are put through some system that works.
That brings us to another issue involving border security, which is
this whole question of immigration reform. There is no question in my
mind that you cannot get substantive long-term border control unless
you have immigration reform, which means some sort of guest worker
program for people who want to come here and work. People who are
getting paid $5 a day in Mexico and can make $50 a day in the United
States, who have a family to feed, are going to come to the United
States. That is just human nature. That is what they are going to do.
That is what they have to do in order to survive and take care of their
families. We have to come up with a way where those people can come
across our borders and we will know who they are, why they are here,
where they are going, and where they are working.
Now, the Senate has passed an immigration bill, which I voted for,
and the House has passed an immigration bill. But the conference
process does not seem to be going forward very well. Well, the bill
here, ironically, sets out some parameters which might help move this
whole thing along, if we want to do a comprehensive immigration bill.
I think there is general consensus developing around here to a
concept which was put forward by Senator Isakson of Georgia during the
immigration debate that we should have a trigger mechanism, basically,
which would essentially say: When you accomplish these goals in the
area of border security, then you can move to the next step in the area
of bringing along a guest worker program.
What this bill does is basically give us some pretty specific ideas
as to what those goals should be. What should be the ascertainable
standards which we should set that need to be accomplished and, if and
when accomplished, should kick in a guest worker program? And there are
a couple of ideas of how you approach the guest worker program, but the
ascertainable standards are really pretty obvious. They first should be
definite. They cannot be vague. They cannot be standards which are
gameable. But if you look at what we need on the border, you do not
need vagueness. You can be pretty precise. In fact, you can get right
down to the numbers.
If we had 20,000 border agents, we know we would have the necessary
border agents. If we had about 40,000 detention beds--that doesn't mean
firm beds. There are lots of ways to do detention beds. You could use
old military bases. You could use present military bases. But if you
had the capacity to hold up to 40,000 people who come across our
borders illegally, that would give you the necessary numbers to do the
process. If you had about five to nine UAVs, depending on whether you
were going to use UAVs on the northern border, that would be a number
that was ascertainable. If you had a Coast Guard build-out which said
it would be completed by the year 2015, that would be a number that
would be ascertainable. Those are numbers you could put in. If you had
a US-VISIT Program that met certain standards, so that when a person
comes across the border they get fingerprinted in a way that would
allow the FBI database to be actually activated in real time, that
would be an ascertainable standard. And if you had a readable
employment card that had biometrics as its base, that would be an
ascertainable standard.
If you just did those items as your ascertainable standards, you
would have in place what is necessary to put forward an effective
border security commitment. And you could follow that, when those had
been reached--and they could be reached in a very short time if you
wanted to put the resources in it; this is not years, this could be
reached very quickly--you could put forward a guest worker program
which could follow on rather quickly. I have ideas as to how the guest
worker program should work, and other people do, but there certainly is
a way to do it that makes sense and is fair to people who want to come
into this country and work for a living, even those who are already
here illegally, without creating amnesty. So this bill sets out,
basically, parameters for accomplishing that. It gives a path that
could be followed to accomplish that goal, and I hope it will be
supported for that reason.
As I have said, the bill is not everything we need, and the
Department is not clearly where we need to have it. But in the context
of the resources which were available to us, this bill is very much a
step in the right direction. It will add significantly to the number of
border agents.
It will add significantly to the number of detention beds. When you
combine it with the supplemental, there will be 2,000 new border agents
and 5,000 new beds. It puts in place some of the mechanisms to try to
make sure the technology is appropriately addressed.
The place where it is most lacking, to be fair in disclosure, is with
the Coast Guard because the Coast Guard buildout remains a 2023
exercise under this bill versus what should have been a 2015 buildout
exercise. That is unfortunate. Had we gotten what we needed in the
supplemental, we could have changed that. We didn't. So we will come
back to that issue. I wouldn't be surprised if there are other
supplementals floating through here and the Coast Guard has a fair and
legitimate claim on funds for national defense in those supplementals;
if not, in the next appropriations rounds.
So that is where we stand today. It is a bill on the right track. It
doesn't solve all the problems. It deals with an agency which is trying
hard, with good people, committed to the purpose of protecting us but
an agency which has very significant issues of management and systems
controls.
I appreciate the courtesy of the Senate in listening to me for this
length of time. I especially appreciate the courtesy of the Senator
from West Virginia for his constructive efforts and his help in
bringing the legislation this far.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the Senate has before it the fiscal year
2007 Homeland Security appropriations bill. I commend our chairman. I
am debating whether I should say ``who has no peer.'' I think I will
stick with that. He has no peer when it comes to knowledge of the
subject matter and as one who cares deeply about his country, his
committee, its work, and about the needs that exist for appropriating
adequate funds. I commend him. I commend his staff. They have done
excellent work on this legislation.
This chairman makes it his business to know what are the facts
concerning the needs out there; who makes it his business, once he
knows the facts, to go after the weaknesses, the soft spots, and, with
a great determination, to do the task ahead.
I commend the thousands of men and women who are on the front lines
defending America's homeland. They do serve the Nation every hour of
every day. Senator Gregg has tried to allocate limited--and I say
limited, I stress

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the word ``limited''--resources to respond to those threats that
present the greatest risk. He does not have the funds to deal with all
the threats, but he has sought to respond to those threats that present
the greatest risk. In doing so, Senator Gregg has included a number of
improvements to the President's budget, particularly with regard to
border security, baggage explosives detention, fire grants, and
emergency management. However, there is a limitation to the ability of
this chairman, or any chairman--a limitation to the ability of the
Appropriations Committee--to address the problems in the President's
budget.
The bill is $515 million below the President's request, and only 4
percent higher than last year. There are funding shortfalls for port
security, border security, rail security, and first responder grants.
These shortcomings are largely a result of the administration's ill-
considered proposal for the Appropriations Committees to enact an
increase in the aviation passenger tax. While the President claims
credit for a robust budget for securing our borders, his actual budget
is hollow, hollow, hollow. The White House knew when it sent the budget
to the Congress that the funding relied on a tax hike on air
travelers--a tax hike that the Congress had already rejected. How about
that.
The Appropriations Committees lack jurisdiction to increase the
aviation passenger tax and, of course, we could not do so in this bill.
As a result of the President's proposal, the funding for homeland
security in this bill is not only lean, it is also very lean. So I
again commend Chairman Gregg for his masterful work in putting together
this bill, but serious security problems remain.
The Department of Homeland Security is now in its fourth year of
existence, as Senator Gregg has explained. While many of its legacy
agencies, such as the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and
the Secret Service, continue to operate effectively, the Department
itself certainly has become the gang that can't shoot straight. Nearly
5 years after 9/11, key issues, such as fixing FEMA, such as
establishing chemical security standards, such as inspecting cargo on
commercial aircraft and inspecting air passengers for explosives, such
as securing our ports and making sure that State and local governments
have effective mass evacuation plans, are all languishing at the
Department. The list of issues that are festering at the Department
goes on and on, and these problems are not merely bureaucratic hassles.
These are issues that imperil the safety of Americans--Americans--as
they go about their daily lives. That is you and you and you and you
out there in the plains, the prairies, the Rockies, the Alleghenies,
you citizens, the safety of you citizens as you go about your daily
lives.
Only 5 percent of the 11 million cargo containers coming into this
country are opened for inspection. We know that terrorists desire to
bring a dirty bomb into this country. Over 6 billion pounds of cargo is
placed on commercial airlines each year, and virtually none of that
cargo is inspected. How about that. Do you feel any safer? How do you
feel about that, now that I have said that?
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that 123 chemical plants
located throughout the Nation--and in particular in the Kanawha Valley
in southern West Virginia--could each potentially expose more than a
million people if a chemical release occurred. How does that make you
feel? Yet according to the Government Accountability Office, only 1,100
of the 15,000 chemical facilities in this country are known to comply
with voluntary security standards. Yet the administration has done
virtually nothing to either require compliance or create incentives for
the chemical industry to secure its facilities. Only 37 of the 448
airports in this country have acquired new technology to inspect
airline passengers for explosives as they board airplanes. Does that
make you nervous when you go up to the ticket counter to buy a plane
ticket?
There are in this country, in prisons, more than 550,000 criminal
aliens in prisons in this country who have not been identified by the
Department for removal from the country. Does that make you feel any
safer? How about that. When they get out of prison, they may be walking
the streets in your neighborhood. Where? In your neighborhood. They
need to be removed from this country as soon as they finish their
prison terms.
The so-called millennium bomber crossed the U.S.-Canadian border in
Washington State intending to blow up the control tower at Los Angeles
International Airport. Just last month, 17 homegrown--get that, 17
homegrown--alleged terrorists were arrested in Toronto. Yet there are
only 1,000 Border Patrol agents stationed along the northern border.
That means that one lonely Border Patrol agent is responsible for
patrolling 5.5 miles of the border.
Nearly 5 years after 9/11, most of our first responders still do not
have interoperable communications equipment.
Can you believe that? Nearly 5 years after 9/11, most of our first
responders still do not have interoperable communications equipment.
Can you believe that? I have pressed for that most basic need for our
first responders for nearly 5 years. This subcommittee is on top of its
work, but it needs more resources.
We all learned after Hurricane Katrina that FEMA is no longer up to
the task of responding to a catastrophic disaster, whether the disaster
is a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. According to the
administration's own statistics, only 27 percent of State and 10
percent of urban area plans were rated as adequate to cope with a
catastrophic event.
In addition to failing to address known vulnerabilities, the
Department of Homeland Security is turning into a case study for failed
management. The GAO and the DHS inspector general have documented
numerous financial management and procurement failures at the
Department. The Department of Homeland Security information systems are
not secure. The GAO alone has completed 494 evaluations of DHS
programs. The DHS Office of the Inspector General is spread so thinly
that it was unable to follow through on 616 different allegations of
wrongdoing last year.
The Department continues to allow valuable homeland security dollars
to gather dust in the Treasury rather than getting the money out to
State and local governments where the money can actually be used to
secure our ports and mass-transit systems or to purchase interoperable
communications equipment.
In the fiscal year 2006 Homeland Security appropriations report, we
directed the Department to send Congress a report by February 10
providing an expedited schedule for awarding homeland security grants.
Last week, 5 months late, we got the report. The report detailed the
Department's plan to award 20 different grant programs in the last
month of the fiscal year. Congress approved funds last October, yet the
funds will sit here in Washington for almost a year. Last week was the
1-year anniversary of the London train bombing. Yet under the
Department's plan rail and transit security funding that was
appropriated by Congress last October will not be awarded until this
September. The same malaise applies to grants to secure our ports, our
buses, for securing buffer zones around nuclear and electrical plants,
and grants to hire more firefighters. What is the administration
waiting for? Does there have to be another horrendous attack with
thousands of deaths before this Department will shake out of its nearly
comatose state?
The Department's record should cause every citizen--that is you and
you and you and you--alarm. The Department's record should cause every
citizen alarm. It is a record that was entirely predictable. While I
supported the creation of a Department of Homeland Security, I voted
against the legislation that created this unwieldy behemoth. In
consolidating 22 agencies into 1 department, the Congress created an
organization that was destined from the beginning to have failures.
This was a department that was created out of political expediency in
the basement of the White House, not through careful analysis.
In the months following 9/11, the President feared that the Congress
was taking the initiative on securing the homeland. So the President
directed a small White House team, cloaked in secrecy in the bowels of
the White House, to draft a reorganization of homeland security
agencies. No security experts

[[Page S7276]]

were present. The political wizards conjured up this witch's brew. The
result was a massive governmental reorganization rushed through the
Congress in a matter of months. Do you remember that? I remember it. I
expressed my concerns about it.
As I said in the fall of 2002--did you get that--in the fall of 2002,
4 years ago:

If we take this giant step, our homeland defense system
will likely be in a state of chaos for the next few years.
People may begin to read in the newspapers about startup
problems in this vast new Department. These kinds of high-
profile debacles could carry over to the Transportation
Security Administration, the Customs Service, FEMA, the Coast
Guard, or any of the agencies.

That is what I said.
For this administration, the illusion of security--like seeing a
waterfall in the desert, an illusion--created by this Department and
spawned in the White House cellar was more important than a careful
plan for actually making Americans safer. Perhaps I should say that
again. For this administration, the illusion of security created by
this Department and spawned in the White House cellar was more
important than a careful plan for actually making Americans safer. For
this administration, it is OK to do homeland security on the cheap. For
years, I have come to this floor, and others have come to this floor,
and documented examples of the ways in which the administration
relegates homeland security to a low priority--border security, rail
and transit security, port security, chemical security, funds for
firefighters, and the list goes on and on.

This year, the administration proposed to cut the firefighter grant
program by 45 percent. It was proposed to eliminate the SAFER Program,
a congressional initiative that helps local governments hire more
firefighters. The Department failed to transmit to the Congress the
statutorily mandated needs assessment of our firefighters. I wonder
whether the report is locked in someone's desk because it concluded
that our fire departments still lack the resources necessary to
purchase equipment capable of responding to a terrorist attack.
Nearly 5 years after 9/11 and nearly 1 year after Hurricane Katrina
proved that our first responders are not ready to deal with a
catastrophic disaster, the President proposes to cut first responder
grants by 13 percent below fiscal year 2006 and 33 percent below fiscal
year 2005.
There is another example of the rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul approach the
administration takes to securing our homeland. Last week, the
administration notified the Congress of a serious shortfall within the
Federal Protective Service, the agency that secures over 1 million
Federal employees and visitors to our Federal buildings. Rather than
request additional funding for the shortfall or increase the fees
charged to Federal agencies to cover the shortfall, the administration
is proposing that we cut funding for explosives countermeasures and for
detaining and removing illegal aliens to pay for the shortfall. Can you
imagine that? The President tells the Nation that border security is a
critical priority for our national security--and he is right, that is
what it is. The President pushes the Congress to get tough on illegal
immigration, and then his administration proposes to cut funding for
detaining and removing illegal aliens. And in a world where we see
explosions of improvised explosive devices killing American soldiers
every day and with the Madrid and London train bombings, the
administration wants to cut funds for developing explosives
countermeasures here in the United States. What kind of confusion
reigns at the other end of the avenue, at the White House? Does
Presidential rhetoric now excuse rolling the dice with the safety of
millions of Americans?
Today, the Senate has before it the fourth Homeland Security
appropriations bill that the Senate has considered since the Department
was created. Under the leadership of the first chairman of the
subcommittee, Thad Cochran, and under the leadership of the current
chairman, Senator Judd Gregg, the Senate has striven to provide the
Department with the resources it needs to do its job and to give clear
direction for improving its efforts to secure the homeland. And it has
been an uphill fight.
I am pleased that, in this bill, Chairman Judd Gregg included a
number of provisions that will improve the operations of the Department
of Homeland Security. I hope that the administration downtown will
listen to his lead and that the administration will follow his lead.
Hardly a week goes by that the administration does not remind
Americans of the continuing threat of terrorist attacks. As we debate
the bill this week, I will offer two amendments to fill some of the
gaps in border security and port security that were created as a result
of the administration's unworkable proposal to finance $1.2 billion of
the Department's budget through increased aviation passenger taxes. I
will also support amendments that will be offered to increase funding
for first responders and for rail and transit security. I encourage
Congress to demand more of the Department of Homeland Security and more
than rhetoric from the President.
Again, I applaud Chairman Gregg for the expertise he brings to the
bill, for the labor he expends, for his determination, his concern, and
for the foresightedness he brings to the bill.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire is recognized.
Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I appreciate the kind comments of the
Senator from West Virginia. I especially appreciate his very insightful
review of the issues here, most of which I agree with, some of which I
may have some disagreement with, but mostly I am in total agreement. He
used the analogy of a hill. I sometimes feel that he and I are like
Sisyphus on this hill. I am not sure we are going to make it to the
top, because they keep pushing the stone back down on us.

In any event, the effort is being made. We are trying to secure our
borders and make sure that we are safer from weapons of mass
destruction. And the Department, as he said--and I think it is
important to stress this--is filled with people conscientious and
committed to protecting America, and the issues which are raised are
ones of resources and systems and support. Those can be resolved when
you have good people working, and I think we can resolve them.
I look forward to hearing more from the Senator as he brings forward
his amendments.
I ask unanimous consent that the committee substitute to H.R. 5441 be
considered and agreed to; provided that no points of order are waived
thereon and that the measure, as amended, be considered original text
for purpose of further amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
Mr. GREGG. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I listened to my colleague from West
Virginia in his description of amendments he intends to offer. It is a
description of the legislation. This Appropriations subcommittee is a
very important subcommittee and raises a good many issues dealing with
the security of our country. I want to talk about them briefly, and
then I want to talk about something that occurred last week.
First, with respect to homeland security, a book was written a while
back about October 11, 2001. We talk about September 11, 2001. On 9/11/
2001, a tragedy was visited on this country when airplanes loaded with
fuel crashed into the Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and a field in
Pennsylvania, and thousands died. It was a devastating terrorist attack
against our country. That was on 9/11/2001.
According to information in a book printed some while ago, on October
11 of that same year, a CIA agent with a code name Dragonfire reported,
and apparently through the Presidential daily briefings, the head of
the CIA, Mr. Tenet, reported to the President, that they had picked up
a rumor or intelligence had gathered information that a 10-kiloton
nuclear weapon had been stolen from the Soviet arsenal, or the Russian
arsenal, and had been taken to New York City and was to be detonated in
a major American city by a terrorist organization.
Graham Allison, who wrote the book ``Nuclear Terrorism,'' described
the

[[Page S7277]]

plot that was told to the CIA by an agent called Dragonfire. As a
result of that description 1 month after 9/11 that there might be a 10-
kiloton Russian nuclear weapon in this country already set to be
detonated in an American major city, there was great concern,
obviously. Many people were apoplectic about what was happening. This
did not become the product of news stories, for obvious reasons. But
the administration and others responded to it with some concern.
About a month later, it was apparently discerned that this was not a
credible threat, or at least the circumstances that brought that threat
were not credible. But as they post-mortemed that period, they
discovered it was probably perfectly credible: We know the Russians had
10-kiloton nuclear weapons; they had built them. They don't have the
best command and control of their nuclear weapons. It is perfectly
plausible that someone might have stolen or purchased a 10-kiloton
nuclear weapon and it was not outside the scope of probability that
someone might have brought a nuclear weapon into this country and a
terrorist organization could well have detonated a nuclear weapon, all
of which caused great concern.
We have roughly 30,000 strategic and tactical nuclear weapons in this
world. The disappearance of one to a terrorist organization, in the
hands of a terrorist organization will cause a terrorist act in a major
city unlike any we have ever seen.
It is interesting that when the Defense authorization bill comes to
the floor of the Senate, we spend billions and billions of dollars
defending against a rogue nation or a terrorist acquiring a nuclear
weapon, putting it on the tip of an intercontinental ballistic missile
and shooting it at our country at 18,000 miles an hour. So we are
spending billions on an antiballistic missile system to try to hit a
bullet with a bullet. It is my judgment--and I think the judgment of
most people who evaluate what is the most likely threat against our
country--that the most likely threat is a container ship pulling up to
a dock at a seaport in this country at about 3 miles with a container
on board, with a weapon of mass destruction inside that container that
has not been inspected. That is a far more likely threat to this
country than a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile
acquired by a rogue nation or a terrorist organization. Yet we are
spending thousands of times more money on the antiballistic missile
program than we are on port security.
It is why port security is of such great importance to this country.
We have a large border, and we had some discussion with respect to the
immigration bill about border security--border security with respect to
immigration, yes, but also with respect to keeping terrorists out. But
our borders not only include the landmass between Mexico and the U.S.
and Canada and the U.S, our borders include port facilities and a
substantial number--I believe the number is close to 6 million
containers on ships each year come into this country, with a very small
percentage of them actually investigated or inspected. That is why port
security is so very important.
It is also the case, as my colleague from West Virginia has
described, that first responders in this country will almost inevitably
be first to respond to not only a terrorist act should one occur in the
future, but first responders will likely be first in contact with the
terrorists. It is a fact that one of the terrorists who flew an
airplane into a building in this country on 9/11/2001 was apprehended
for speeding in the State of Maryland but apparently was not on a
watchlist and so was given a speeding ticket and then drove off.

It is likely that the first acquaintance with a terrorist or a
terrorist act will be someone in local government--local police, county
sheriff, a local emergency crew, an ambulance. That is the first
responder.
We have just had testimony from sheriffs and local police officers
about the issue of critical interoperability of communications. Is the
local police organization able to communicate with the highway patrol?
Can the highway patrol communicate with the fire department? Can the
police communicate with the fire department? All of that is very
important. Yet at the same time we ask these questions, the President
is recommending very substantial cuts in these programs--Byrne grants,
law enforcement block grants, COPS Program, and others. It is exactly
the wrong time, in my judgment, to retreat. At the same time violent
crime is increasing, by the way, the President is recommending those
same cuts.
With respect to this issue of the Department of Homeland Security, it
is very important we get it right. My colleague, Senator Judd Gregg, I
know works hard on these issues, as does my colleague from West
Virginia, Senator Byrd. I hope this week, as we work our way through
this legislation, we can thoughtfully consider amendments and evaluate
those that will strengthen this bill and perhaps discard those that
will not we will come out of it with legislation that will give us the
feeling that we have improved substantially homeland security in our
country.
Homeland security is also about hometown security because that is
where homeland security starts--with first responders.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning
business. I would like to speak for a few minutes about a drought tour
I took last week.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Agriculture Disaster Relief

Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, we have a portion of North Dakota, and it
extends down into South Dakota, parts of Missouri, Illinois, all the
way down to Texas, where a very severe drought is occurring. I want to
talk about meetings in Flasher, ND, Moffit, ND, and Zeeland, ND.
Zeeland is a town of 118 people. I drove up to Zeeland the other day
and 170 farmers and ranchers were there, in a town of 118 people. As we
drove into that town and looked off to the left, we saw what looks like
the gravel infield or sand infield of a baseball diamond, a field that
is supposed to have grass where cows can graze. There is no grass. It
looks like a bowling ball. That is because there is a devastating
drought occurring in that region.
We have a lot of folks who have cattle, and you either feed cattle or
you have to sell them. It is just that simple. People are very
concerned.
No. 1, we need hay and grazing opened on CRP land so farmers can get
at forage to feed these cows. I had people stand up at meetings and
say: I have 200 to 300 cows, and I have nothing to feed them. The
pasture is bare.
Those cows are either going to be fed or put on a truck and sent to
market immediately.
There was a man, Wes Mastel, a 24-year-old rancher who just started 2
years ago. He had to sell his herd of 114 cows. He had nothing to feed
them. The stories are pretty devastating.
The thermometer on the MacIntosh County Bank the other day read 100,
101 degrees with wind just drying out the soil, sucking out the
moisture--what little moisture that does exist in the soil.
We have this developing, abiding drought that is devastating to
ranchers. I raise the question because I have offered three times now
disaster relief for 2006 when we had torrential rains and 2 million
acres couldn't be planted or were planted and washed away completely.
We had a disaster in the gulf region. That was called Katrina. The
torrential rains in North Dakota didn't have a name, but they were
torrential rains. They destroyed crops. The drought doesn't have a
name. It destroys crops.
The question is: What can we do about it? We have always, prior to
this, reached out to family farmers and said: We want to help you; in
times of trouble, we want to help.
Last December, the Senate passed a disaster relief bill. The House
would not accept it. The President, in fact, very frontally said: If it
comes to me, I will veto it. Usually it is a Presidential adviser who
recommends a veto. That wasn't the case. The President said: I will
veto it, so it didn't go anywhere.
A couple of months ago on the emergency supplemental, I attached,
once again, a disaster relief bill. It got to conference with the
House, and it was again jettisoned. The President again said he opposed
it.
So I attached a disaster relief bill to the Agriculture
appropriations bill that was marked up in the full committee just
recently. We are going to

[[Page S7278]]

see again. Times change, things change. My hope is the President will
understand this is a very serious problem and will relent and decide he
wants to help.
I am informing the chairman and ranking member of the full
Appropriations Committee today that it is my intention to modify the
amendment I added to the Agriculture appropriations bill to include the
2006 drought because we must, it seems to me, respond to this
disaster. The failure to respond to it means that fewer and fewer
people will be living out on the land in this country, and that takes
something significant away from the character of this country. This is
not new. We have always reached out in times of trouble.

I would ask anybody who thinks there is not trouble out there to just
take a drive--take a drive in the drought area and then ask yourself,
if you had 300 cows that were your responsibility on your ranch, what
on Earth would you feed them? And if there is nothing to feed them, you
are going to market and you are out of business. It is that simple.
So, first and foremost, my colleague, Senator Conrad, and I, and
others, have asked the Secretary of Agriculture to release haying and
grazing opportunities on CRP lands. That is very important. It is
important that it be done now, not later. The Department of Agriculture
always drags its feet and always opens CRP land for haying and grazing
too late, after the major 4-H opportunities are gone or after the 4-H
capability is dramatically diminished. So my hope is that the Secretary
of Agriculture will heed the call this time and open that land for
haying and grazing immediately to give some relief to those ranchers.
As I said, this is not just about North Dakota. My colleague, Senator
Bond from Missouri, and our colleagues from Illinois and others--
Illinois, last year, had the third driest year since 1895. There are
other areas of this country that are suffering the ravages of drought.
Again, my hope is that this Congress will understand the urgency.
I was at this meeting in Zealand, ND, of 170 ranchers. They talked
about the drought. Even without the drought, what is happening to them,
the average farmer and rancher in North Dakota is spending $18,000 a
year in additional energy costs. The big, major integrated oil
companies are walking to the bank with bundles of money sucked right
out of the pocketbooks of working Americans, ranchers, and farmers,
especially because they are heavy users of energy. It is unbelievable
the toll it is imposing all across this country. But when you add a
drought, which has destroyed pastures and destroyed the ability to feed
your cattle, and then continue to impose this additional burden of
energy costs, in my judgment, it is a recipe for destruction all across
rural America.
Some people may think it doesn't matter. I have spoken before to my
colleagues about a fellow named Rodney Nelson in North Dakota who is a
cowboy poet and who wrote a long question for this country: Does part
of this country's character depend on having folks on the farm and on
the ranch as well? Farmers and ranchers, small towns and big towns,
isn't all of that together part of the character of this country? He
asked the question: What is it worth? What is it worth for a kid to
know how to weld a seam? What is it worth for a kid to know how to
overhaul a tractor, how to plow a straight furrow, how to teach a calf
to suck from a pail? What is it worth for a kid to know all of these
things? What is it worth for a kid to know how to grease a combine, how
to hang a door, how to build a lean-to? What is it worth?
There is only one university in this country where that is taught and
that is on the family farm. Those kids who come off our farms and go to
small towns and big cities, who bring with them that nourishment of
family values from America's farms and ranches to small towns and big
cities is what renews our country. If this Congress ever decides that
farms don't matter, those Americans who live out under a yard light
trying to raise a family and raise a crop and raise some livestock, if
this Congress ever decides they don't matter, we will have lost
something very substantial for this country.
So for now, we need the Secretary of Agriculture immediately to
release CRP land for haying and grazing so we can get some feed to
those cattle in drought areas, No. 1. No. 2, we need this President to
back away from his threat to veto disaster aid, and we need to amend
the provision that I put in the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee
to extend it to 2006, which I intend to do.
Mr. President, we have a lot of choices to make in this country. Our
country has a responsibility in this world to respond to all kinds of
things. We are a world leader. I think that it is important for us to
respond around the world. But first and foremost, it is important for
us to respond here at home and take care of things here at home.
I am just telling you when the sign at the bank and the sign downtown
in your town shows 105 degrees or 102 degrees and the wind is blowing
30 miles an hour and the pasture looks like a bowling ball and there is
nothing for the cattle to eat and you are suffering through a drought,
this Congress has a responsibility to act--and sooner rather than
later.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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