[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 129 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       H.R. 5331 NEXT GENERATION RADIATION SCREENING ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. PETER T. KING

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2008

  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5531, 
the Next Generation Screening Act of 2008, and I urge my colleagues to 
support passage of this critical homeland security bill.
  I introduced H.R. 5531 on March 5, 2008, to enhance the effectiveness 
of the Department of Homeland Security's radiation detection 
capabilities. Over the past several years, the Department of Homeland 
Security has made significant progress in deploying radiation detectors 
at our Nation's ports of entry. While this capability provides a 
critical layer in our defense against radiological and nuclear 
terrorism, Customs officials are overburdened by alarms due to 
radioactive material that is not a threat, such as medical 
therapeutics, cat litter, and fertilizer.
  To reduce this burden on Customs officials, the Domestic Nuclear 
Detection Office within the Department of Homeland Security, initiated 
an aggressive research program to develop, test, evaluate, and deploy 
the next generation of radiation detection technology. This technology, 
known as the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal, or ASP, is capable of 
identifying, as well as detecting, radioactive material.
  Preliminary results from actual field tests of the ASP systems show a 
reduction in nuisance alarms by a factor of 20. This means that ports 
such as the Port of Long Beach in California could reduce the number of 
radiological alarms that require secondary inspection from 500 per day 
to 20 per day--resulting in an enormous savings in time and resources 
for Customs officials.
  Although technical progress has been made, the ASP system has not yet 
been deployed. There have been a series of delays with the ASP program 
due to miscommunication or misunderstanding between the government 
agencies involved, the stakeholders, and additional certification 
requirements established by the Congress.
  Therefore, this bill addresses system capability, which appears to be 
the largest source of miscommunication between the agency preparing the 
ASP--the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office--and the agency responsible 
for using the ASP in the field--Customs and Border Protection.
  Specifically this legislation directs the Director of the Domestic 
Nuclear Detection Office and the Commissioner of Customs and Border 
Protection to enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding the 
minimum standards of operational functionality in order to deploy ASP 
systems. This is not in any way an attempt to rush development of a 
system, but merely a requirement to spell out in plain English what 
type of system is required by those who will be operating that system 
in the field.
  This legislation also clarifies a provision in title IV of division E 
of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 110-161, which 
requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit a report to 
Congress certifying that ``a significant increase in operational 
effectiveness will be achieved'' with the ASP system before ``funds 
appropriated under this heading shall be obligated for full-scale 
procurement of Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Monitors'' and requires 
that ``the Secretary shall submit separate and distinct certifications 
prior to the procurement of Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Monitors for 
primary and secondary deployment that address the unique requirements 
for operational effectiveness of each type of deployment.''
  H.R. 5531 requires the Secretary to develop a quantitative definition 
of ``significant increase in operational effectiveness'' and develop 
appropriate metrics for measuring this effectiveness.
  In addition to authorizing the ASP program, this bill also authorizes 
the Securing the Cities Initiative, which is a successful program that 
enhances security in the New York City metropolitan region. Funding for 
the Securing the Cities Initiative is used to deploy next generation 
radiation detection technology to detect the illicit transportation of 
nuclear and radiological material in urban areas. The Securing the 
Cities Initiative has fostered unprecedented collaboration and 
coordination among its Federal, state, and local partners and has 
enhanced the security of the New York Metropolitan region. H.R. 5531 
authorizes $40 million for this vital program, which is the same amount 
appropriated in Fiscal Year 2008, to ensure its continuation in Fiscal 
Year 2009.
  The full Committee on Homeland Security approved H.R. 5531 by 
unanimous voice vote on June 26, 2008. I urge all Members to join me in 
supporting passage of this bill.

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