[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 70 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ON THE ENDORSEMENT OF ``ONE SECOND AFTER'' BY WILLIAM R. FORSTCHEN

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                        HON. ROSCOE G. BARTLETT

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 7, 2009

  Mr. BARTLETT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring up the book One 
Second After, which was written by historian and novelist William R. 
Forstchen. It lays out a fact-based scenario of what life would be like 
after an EMP attack. I think that the American people should read this 
book. It tells the story of a ballistic missile EMP attack on our 
country. The weapon was launched from a ship off our shore, and then 
the ship was sunk so that there were no fingerprints. It was launched 
about 300 miles high over Nebraska, and it shut down our infrastructure 
country-wide. This book is a realistic assessment of what a really 
robust EMP lay-down could do to our country.
  As a scientist and engineer now serving my 17th year on the House 
Armed Services Committee, I have studied the threat of EMP with the 
world's experts and it is real. I find it very disturbing that EMP is 
well understood and its capability is actively pursued by America's 
potential foes, but it is virtually unknown to the American public. 
Imagine a world where the only person you could talk to is the person 
next to you, the only way you could go anywhere is to walk and the 
electronic grid is destroyed. This is only the beginning of the impact 
from an EMP attack.
  Glen Reynolds, who is a law professor at the University of Tennessee, 
a contributing editor at Popular Mechanics, and the author of various 
law review articles, writes as the editor of Instapundit.com how much 
he enjoyed the book and how he hopes that this book will draw attention 
to the threat of an EMP. I want to take this opportunity to share it 
with all of my colleagues.
  ``So I finished William Forstchen One Second After, and it's pretty 
good--sort of an Alas, Babylon for the 21st Century. Forstchen hopes to 
attract attention to the danger of an EMP attack, and I hope he does. 
I'm somewhat less positive about whether that will produce any actual, 
useful preparation.''

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