[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 91 (Tuesday, June 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3946-S3947]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1915. Mr. BENNET submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1085. SENSE OF SENATE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERAGENCY 
                   COOPERATION FOR THE UNITED STATES NORTHERN 
                   COMMAND.

       (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:
       (1) The Commander of United States Northern Command 
     (USNORTHCOM) testified before the Committee on Armed Services 
     of the Senate that since September 11, 2001, ``resurgent 
     state actors have invested in new capabilities that make 
     North America vulnerable in ways not seen in a generation'' 
     and particularly that the ``unpredictable cascading impacts 
     of a cyberspace attack have the potential to easily outpace 
     those of a natural disaster''.
       (2) The Joint Cyber Center was established in the United 
     States Northern Command to integrate cybersecurity efforts 
     into headquarters missions by improving situational awareness 
     in the cyber domain, improving the defense of the networks of 
     the Command, and providing cyber consequence response and 
     recovery support to civil authorities.
       (3) The responsibilities of United States Northern Command 
     for homeland defense (including countering illegal drugs and 
     combating transnational organized crime) and defense support 
     of civil authorities (including domestic disaster relief 
     operations during wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and 
     floods) depend on interagency partnerships and cooperation.
       (4) During the past fire season, Air Force Reserve and Air 
     National Guard C-130 aircraft equipped with the United States 
     Forest Service Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System made 132 
     airdrops, releasing nearly 250,000 gallons of fire retardant 
     to combat wildfires.
       (5) The regional partnership of United States Northern 
     Command with Mexico and the Bahamas in combating the 
     trafficking of illegal drugs and persons and in training law 
     enforcement and disaster relief personnel depends on 
     cooperation with other agencies of the United States 
     Government such as the Department of State, Department of 
     Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
       (6) The Commander of United States Northern Command is also 
     the Commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command 
     (NORAD), the bi-national command with Canada. For more than 
     57 years, the United States has partnered with our vital ally 
     to the north to provide aerospace warning, aerospace defense, 
     and maritime warning in defense of North America. Since 
     September 11, 2001, North American Aerospace Defense Command 
     fighters have responded to more than 5,000 possible air 
     threats in the United States and flown more than 62,500 
     sorties in defense of our homeland. Successful execution on 
     the North American Aerospace Defense Command mission relies 
     heavily on timely communication and seamless integration with 
     numerous agencies of the United States Government such as the 
     Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Homeland 
     Security, and Federal law enforcement agencies.
       (b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) continued interagency cooperation is vital to the 
     successful discharge of the missions of the United States 
     Northern Command, including homeland defense, cybersecurity, 
     counterterrorism, counterdrug efforts, and defense support of 
     civil authorities; and
       (2) the United States Northern Command should continue its 
     efforts to integrate cyberspace operations into its 
     contingency plans and training exercises to understand better 
     how cyber-attacks could be mitigated or prevented and how 
     other Federal and

[[Page S3947]]

     State government partners can effectively respond should such 
     attacks occur.
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