[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 30, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1604]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 5170, H.R. 5983, H.R. 5531, H.R. 2490, 
             H.R. 6193, H.R. 4806, H.R. 3815, and H.R. 6098

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2008

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of these 
Homeland Security bipartisan measures. I would like to commend Chairman 
Thompson and Ranking Member King for their efforts to bring these bills 
to the floor today. I would also like to congratulate the authors of 
these bills Congresswoman Harman and Congressmen Carney, Langevin, 
King, Bilirakis, Reichert, and Perlmutter.
  Individually, the bills presented today improve operations within the 
Department of Homeland Security, including issues related to privacy, 
information sharing and enhanced security. Collectively, they improve 
on the provisions of H.R. 1, the Implementing 9/11 Commission 
Recommendations Act.
  Protecting the privacy of our citizens is an important but very 
difficult issue to balance in our Nation's war against terrorism. Under 
H.R. 1570, the presence of a full-time Component Privacy Officer would 
ensure that privacy considerations remain at the forefront and are 
integrated into the decisionmaking process at all of the DHS 
Components.
  Through our oversight work, it is clear that DHS's information 
systems have been penetrated and remain vulnerable to cyber attacks. 
H.R. 5983, the Homeland Security Network Defense and Accountability Act 
of 2008, represents a critical step toward improving the cybersecurity 
network at DHS by ensuring a robust defense of its information systems, 
and holding individuals at all levels accountable for mitigating 
vulnerabilities.
  While protecting DHS information systems is critical to our Nation's 
security, we also need to be mindful of the importance and need for 
information sharing. H.R. 6193, H.R. 4806 and H.R. 3815 address the 
need for information sharing in a secure manner. H.R. 6193--Improving 
Public Access to Documents Act of 2008--dovetails with H.R. 4086's 
effort to remove obstacles to more and better information sharing in 
the unclassified category.
  Our offshore territories are the first point of entry to the U.S. for 
many foreigners and our shores are extremely vulnerable to illegal and 
possibly terrorist activities. I am pleased that H.R. 5531 will put in 
motion a plan to deploy next-generation radiological detection 
technology at our ports of entry to more effectively and more 
efficiently scan persons and cargo as they enter the United States. I 
fully support the ``Biometric Identification At Sea Pilot Project'' 
which has allowed the Coast Guard to collect biometrics from 
individuals interdicted in the Caribbean to run them against terrorist 
and criminal databases. H.R. 5531 and H.R. 2490 address the 
vulnerabilities of our Caribbean shores.
  Madam Speaker, the implementation of these bills would not be 
possible without our State, local and tribal entities. Fusion Centers 
provide much needed support to these entities in the implementation of 
Homeland Security programs. H.R. 6098 requires DHS to allow State and 
local governments to use Homeland Security grant funding to hire and 
keep analysts in fusion centers--for however long State and local 
officials see fit.
  I urge my colleagues to support these bills and their passage.

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