[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 109 (Thursday, July 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HOMELAND SECURITY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. PETER T. KING

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 20, 2010

  Mr. KING of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4842, 
the Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act, which 
will authorize needed funds for important activities and programs 
within the Department of Homeland Security to help make our country 
more secure.
  This bill is the product of extensive bipartisan work dating back to 
last summer, which includes input from numerous stakeholder meetings, 
the Department of Homeland Security, and the House Committee on Science 
and Technology.
  I want to recognize the work of Chairwoman Clarke--the author of the 
bill--and Ranking Member Lungren, whose Subcommittee on Emerging 
Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology marked up this bill 
on March 16 and reported the bill favorably by voice vote.
  The Full Committee then considered this bill and reported it 
unanimously by a vote of 26-0 on April 15, 2010.
  We appreciate the Majority working with us in a bipartisan way, and 
including a number of provisions of importance to Republican Members.
  These provisions include the establishment of research initiatives to 
bolster border and maritime security, development of tools to enhance 
resilience to terrorist attacks and other incidents, especially in 
rural communities, research and testing of technologies to help secure 
the border and ensure the safety of our underground mass transit 
systems, and an assessment of how useful rapid screening tools for 
influenza and other biological threats would be at our border ports of 
entry.
  I also want to highlight a very important provision in this bill that 
is critical both to the security of New York City and surrounding areas 
as well as to our Nation as a whole, which is the authorization and 
expansion of the Securing the Cities program.
  Securing the Cities is a vital homeland security program to help 
prevent terrorist attacks in major cities using nuclear or radiological 
weapons, like a dirty bomb. The program has enabled the establishment 
of a networked ring of radiological detectors on highways, toll plazas, 
bridges, tunnels, and waterways leading into and out of New York City, 
which as we have seen, is the top terror target for al-Qaeda and 
affiliated terrorist organizations.
  Securing the Cities is both a regional capability and a national 
asset. The program provides the operational capability to interdict a 
radiological or nuclear weapon in one city so that it cannot be 
delivered to and detonated in another.
  Recent attacks on New York City came from other regions: Najibullah 
Zazi traveled from Denver to New York City in a plot to possibly bomb 
the subway system and Faisal Shahzad traveled from Connecticut to New 
York and attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square.
  The detonation of a nuclear or dirty bomb in the New York tri-state 
area, or in any major metropolitan area, would inflict serious damages 
to our country's economy, much like the 9/11 attacks did.
  Securing the Cities is a successful program that can and should be 
replicated in other areas around the country. That is why language in 
this bill would expand the program to at least two additional high-risk 
cities where these capabilities are most needed, leveraging what we 
have already learned about building defenses against nuclear and 
radiological weapons in New York to erect similar security perimeters 
in and around other cities.
  Securing the Cities is an excellent example of the type of 
coordination between Federal, State, and local partners that Congress 
has demanded and the Department has worked to facilitate. We absolutely 
must enhance our nuclear detection architecture in a world where the 
threat of nuclear terrorism is on the rise.
  The House has voted in favor of the Securing the Cities program on 
four separate occasions. These include last year, when the full House 
supported similar language when it passed H.R. 2611 under Suspension of 
the Rules by voice vote on January 20, 2010. The House again voiced 
strong bipartisan support when it adopted an amendment Representative 
Clarke and I offered in June 2009 to H.R. 2892, the Fiscal Year 2010 
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, to restore funding 
for this vital program.
  House passage of this bill will reaffirm the continuing bipartisan 
support for this program in the House and send a strong signal to the 
United States Senate to pass legislation to authorize Securing the 
Cities prior to adjournment of the 111th Congress.
  I want to remind our colleagues that the threat of nuclear or 
radiological terrorism is real. The WMD Commission warned in 2008 that 
an attack using a weapon of mass destruction was likely to happen 
somewhere in the world by 2013. Commissioners Graham and Talent 
repeated this warning before the Committee on Homeland Security on 
April 21 of this year.
  The President's National Security Strategy that was released earlier 
this year concluded that ``the American People face no greater or more 
urgent danger than a terrorist attack with a nuclear weapon.''
  The potential of nuclear or radiological terrorism is a nightmare 
scenario that we must guard against with every available capability and 
resource. Authorizing and expanding Securing the Cities will help 
better protect our country from such danger.
  Let me close by saying while I am pleased we are considering this 
bill today, I believe the House should be considering a comprehensive 
authorization bill for the Department. The House has not done so since 
2007, with one of the reasons being too many committees and 
subcommittees have jurisdiction over homeland security issues.
  The 9/11 Commission recommended in 2004 that ``Congress should create 
a single, principal point of oversight and review for homeland 
security.'' The current jurisdictional web of congressional oversight 
of the Department of Homeland Security results in conflicting guidance 
to the Department and is a serious drain on its time and resources.
  The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the 9/11 Commission--Governor Kean 
and Congressman Hamilton--have testified this jurisdictional maze is 
unworkable and could make our country less safe.
  I hope that we can streamline congressional jurisdiction moving 
forward so that Congress can enact a comprehensive authorization bill 
for the Department, which has not happened since its creation in 2003. 
The failure to do so jeopardizes our ability to ensure that our 
nation's homeland security policies are as robust as they need to be to 
meet the evolving nature of terrorist threats.
  I again want to thank Chairman Thompson, Congresswoman Clarke, and my 
friend from California, Mr. Lungren, for crafting a very good bill that 
will help improve our homeland security capabilities.
  I urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R. 4842.

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