[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 168 (Thursday, November 1, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13692-S13694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. Lieberman):
  S. 2292. A bill to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002, to 
establish the Office for Bombing Prevention, to address terrorist 
explosive threats, and

[[Page S13693]]

for other purposes; to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President. I rise to introduce the National Bombing 
Prevention Act of 2007, an important measure to strengthen our domestic 
defenses against terrorist attacks using explosives.
  Terror bombings have a long and bloody history around the world and 
here in the United States. In 1920, for example, an anarchist bombing 
in front of the New York Stock Exchange killed 38 people and wounded 
hundreds more. More recently, the 1990s bombings of the World Trade 
Center and the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, and attacks in 
Indonesia, Spain, and Great Britain remind us of the vicious and 
indiscriminate threat posed by bombs. As Secretary of Homeland Security 
Michael Chertoff has noted, they are the weapon of choice for 
terrorists.
  The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security tell us that threat 
from these devices is not only real, but growing. Furthermore, the 
National Intelligence Estimate has identified improvised explosive 
devices or IEDs as a significant homeland-security threat.
  As recent years' bombings demonstrate, the costs of inadequate 
precautions can be horrendous. And as the threat of bomb attacks by 
home-grown terrorist rises--witness the plot to bomb the JFK airport in 
New York--we must be increasingly on guard. Much effort and much 
funding has been directed to train and equip law-enforcement and other 
personnel to detect and disrupt bomb plots, yet we still lack a formal, 
full-fledged national strategy to coordinate and improve the 
effectiveness of those efforts.
  The legislation I introduce today will improve our defenses against 
these weapons. I am proud to be working again with the bill's chief co-
sponsor, Senator Joe Lieberman, on this new effort to protect our 
nation.
  The bill has also won the support of people directly involved in the 
fight against the threat of terrorist bombings. They include the U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security; the National Bomb Squad Commanders 
Advisory Board; the National Tactical Officers Association; the 
International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators; the 
Maine Emergency Management Agency; and the police departments of Bangor 
and Portland, Maine.
  The National Bombing Prevention Act of 2007 has three main elements: 
First, the bill will clarify the responsibilities of the DHS Office of 
Bombing Prevention and authorize $25 million funding in both FY 2009 
and 2010, up from the current Senate-passed funding level of $10 
million in the Homeland Security Appropriations bill now pending at 
conference.
  Our national fight against terrorist bombings is a large and multi-
faceted undertaking. It includes screening airline passengers, checking 
cargo, securing dangerous chemicals, protecting critical 
infrastructure, promoting research and development of anti-IED 
technology, and sharing information among Government and private-sector 
partners. The DHS Office of Bombing Prevention is a leader in this 
fight.
  The Collins-Lieberman bill builds on the Office's past efforts. Among 
other things, the bill designates the Office of Bombing Protection as 
the lead agency in DHS for combating terrorist explosive attacks; tasks 
OBP with coordinating national and intergovernmental bombing-prevention 
activities; and assigns it responsibility for assisting state and local 
governments and cooperating with the private sector.
  A key element of Federal assistance is training. Last week, for 
example, members of several Maine and Connecticut police departments 
received DHS training and briefings here in Washington, as well as an 
FBI update, and fresh information on improvised explosive devices. My 
bill will bring more of that training to the States and make it more 
accessible to local law-enforcement officers.
  Second, the bill directs the President to accelerate the release of 
the National Strategy for Bombing Prevention and to update it every 
four years. As terrorists' tactics change, we must review and adjust 
our counter-measures to defeat them.
  Third, the bill will promote more research and development of 
counter-explosive technologies and facilitate the transfer of military 
technologies for domestic anti-terror use.
  My legislation is badly needed. We need to make sure that bomb squads 
have the latest and most accurate information on bombing threats. We 
need to raise awareness of the signs of possible threats, including 
purchases of pre-cursor materials and other suspicious activities. We 
need to improve information sharing and coordination of activities 
among all levels of government as well as the private sector.
  Under my legislation, the Department of Homeland Security will have 
the legal authority, the responsibility, and the resources to ensure 
that state and local law-enforcement personnel receive the training and 
information they need to protect us.
  The National Bombing Prevention Act of 2007 will give our country 
important new protections. The need for that protection has been amply 
demonstrated by repeated acts of savagery, and the threat of terrorist 
bombs continues to grow. I urge my colleagues to support this measure.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to join my Ranking Member 
on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator 
Collins, in introducing bipartisan legislation to strengthen our 
Nation's ability to deter, detect, prevent, and respond to attacks 
using improvised explosive devices, IED, in the U.S.
  As we have seen in Iraq, London, and Germany, IEDs are a weapon of 
choice for terrorists. The reality is that an IED is relatively easy 
and inexpensive to make and can cause mass casualties, even to armored 
military personnel. IEDs are a global threat, and the American public, 
here at home, is not immune.
  Federal efforts to address this threat, however, have not been 
adequate. The Department of Homeland Security, Office of Bombing 
Prevention, which is the Department's lead agent for IED countermeasure 
coordination, is currently operating with a substantially reduced 
budget of $5 million, down from the $14 million it received in fiscal 
years 2005 and 2006. Only $6 million has been requested for 2008. By 
contrast, the DHS Office of Health Affairs, which has a similar 
coordination responsibility for biosecurity and medical preparedness, 
has a proposed budget for personnel and coordination activities of $28 
million for 2008. Given the likelihood of an IED attack, we need to 
make a comparable commitment in this area. As Secretary Chertoff said 
in an October 19 speech, ``although we can conceive of a terrorist 
attack that would be focused on a biological infection or some kind of 
a chemical spray, the reality is the vast majority of terrorist attacks 
are conducted with bombs. And of those, the vast majority are 
improvised explosive devices.''
  The National Bombing Prevention Act of 2007, NBPA, would formally 
authorize the Office of Bombing Prevention, OBP, and increase its 
budget to $25 million. In addition to leading bombing prevention 
activities within DHS, OBP would be directed to coordinate with other 
Federal, State, and local agencies and fill the existing gaps that are 
not covered by another Federal agency's current bombing prevention 
efforts. For example, OBP would work with state and local officials to 
conduct a national analysis of bomb squad capabilities. This type of 
comprehensive assessment does not currently exist at any level of 
government, yet it is integral to understanding what resources are 
available in the event of an explosion and where we should invest in 
order to better prepare the Nation as a whole. OBP would also improve 
information sharing with state and local bomb squads by providing 
regular updates on terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures.
  The NBPA would require the President to deliver a long awaited 
National Strategy for Improvised Explosive Devices. This Strategy was 
supposed to be delivered to Congress by DHS in January 2007 but was 
then reassigned to the Department of Justice by presidential directive. 
Turf battles have caused further delay. This is simply unacceptable. 
Regardless of who takes the lead, the Nation must have a coherent 
strategy guiding its counter IED efforts that will clarify the roles 
and responsibilities of all Federal agencies.
  Finally, our legislation would require DHS to establish a program 
expediting

[[Page S13694]]

the transfer of counter IED technology to first responders. Under this 
program, the Department would work with other Federal agencies, 
including the Department of Defense, the private sector, and state and 
local bomb experts to identify existing technologies that could help 
deter, detect, prevent, or respond to an explosive attack. Often, there 
is a significant lag time between the research and development of such 
technologies and deployment by the end user. This bill would hold DHS 
accountable for seeing products through to the deployment phase. 
Specifically, DHS would be required to develop an electronic 
countermeasures capability to disable radio controlled bombs. Radio 
``jammers'' have been developed by DoD for Iraq and Afghanistan, but 
that technology needs to be significantly modified for the civilian 
environment.
  Improvised explosive devices are one of the most popular weapons 
terrorists are using today. They can be easily assembled from 
instructions available on the Internet with readily available chemicals 
such as peroxide or ammonium nitrate. And, most importantly, terrorists 
all over the world have demonstrated their intent and ability to use 
these weapons to kill and maim large numbers of people. If DHS is to 
plan effectively for future attacks here at home, it must have a 
cohesive and robust defense against the most likely threats. I ask my 
colleagues to join us in ensuring DHS and its partners have the 
necessary tools to protect the U.S. from an improvised explosive 
device.
                                 ______