[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 56 (Wednesday, April 13, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H1665-H1667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATE AND HIGH-RISK URBAN AREA WORKING GROUP ACT
Mr. DONOVAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4509) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify
membership of State planning committees or urban area working groups
for the Homeland Security Grant Program, and for other purposes, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4509
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``State and High-Risk Urban
Area Working Group Act''.
SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATION AND COORDINATION OF CERTAIN DHS
GRANTS.
Subsection (b) of section 2021 of the Homeland Security Act
of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 611) is amended to read as follows:
``(b) Planning Committees.--
``(1) In general.--Any State or high-risk urban area
receiving a grant under section 2003 or 2004 shall establish
a State planning committee or urban area working group to
assist in preparation and revision of the State, regional, or
local homeland security plan or the threat and hazard
identification and risk assessment, as the case may be, and
to assist in determining effective funding priorities for
grants under such sections.
``(2) Composition.--
``(A) In general.--The State planning committees and urban
area working groups referred to in paragraph (1) shall
include at least one representative from each of the
following significant stakeholders:
``(i) Local or tribal government officials.
``(ii) Emergency response providers, which shall include
representatives of the fire service, law enforcement,
emergency medical services, and emergency managers.
``(iii) Public health officials and other appropriate
medical practitioners.
``(iv) Individuals representing educational institutions,
including elementary schools, community colleges, and other
institutions of higher education.
``(v) State and regional interoperable communications
coordinators, as appropriate.
``(vi) State and major urban area fusion centers, as
appropriate.
``(B) Geographic representation.--The members of the State
planning committee or urban area working group, as the case
may be, shall be a representative group of individuals from
the counties, cities, towns, and Indian tribes within the
State or high-risk urban area, including, as appropriate,
representatives of rural, high-population, and high-threat
jurisdictions.
``(3) Existing planning committees.--Nothing in this
subsection may be construed to require that any State or
high-risk urban area create a State planning committee or
urban area working group, as the case may be, if that State
or high-risk urban area has established and uses a
multijurisdictional planning committee or commission that
meets the requirements of this subsection.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Donovan) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
General Leave
Mr. DONOVAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and to include any extraneous materials on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. DONOVAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
As the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee
on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications, I rise in
support of H.R. 4509, the State and High-Risk Urban Area Working Group
Act, which was introduced by the subcommittee's ranking member,
Congressman Payne.
The Homeland Security Act requires States and urban areas that are
receiving State Homeland Security Grant Program and Urban Areas
Security Initiative funds to have planning committees to determine how
to efficiently and effectively expend these funds. H.R. 4509 expands
the stakeholders who are required to be involved in these committees to
include representatives from public health, educational institutions,
fusion centers, and interoperability coordinators, as appropriate.
In New York City, the New York City Police Department, the FDNY,
emergency management, and public health, along with other partners,
work together to ensure that these grant funds provide the biggest
return on investment for the city's security. Time and again, these
officials have told me how important these funds are to their ability
to ensure the security of millions of residents, commuters, and
visitors in the city each day. They have used these funds to train
personnel, to conduct exercises, and to procure helicopters, fireboats,
cameras, and radiation detection equipment.
This funding is vital now more than ever. Securing high-risk urban
areas, like New York City, becomes more challenging every day
considering the fact that we are at our highest threat level since the
September 11 terrorist attacks. That is why it is so outrageous that
the President's fiscal year 2017 budget proposes to cut more than $500
million from grants to support States, localities, ports, and transit
systems.
The Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and
Communications held a hearing last month on the proposed cuts. We heard
from representatives of emergency management, law enforcement, the fire
service, and fusion centers. They all had the same message: these
grants have made a difference, and cutting them now would have
disastrous effects on their ability to prevent, to prepare for, and to
respond to terrorist attacks. Not only would they be unable to make new
security investments, but the investments they have made since 9/11
would be eroded. In this threat environment, this is not the time to
back away from our support of our Nation's first responders.
Mr. Speaker, the States and urban areas that are receiving Homeland
Security grant funding take their responsibilities to secure their
areas very seriously. They diligently work through the planning
committees that are discussed in this bill in order to make sure they
make sound investments to secure their jurisdictions. The President
must take the security of these jurisdictions equally as seriously and
fund these programs accordingly.
I support the passage of H.R. 4509.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 4509, the State and High-Risk Urban Area
Working Group Act.
Before I begin my statement, I would like to support the comments
made by my chairman in his being very concerned about the cuts to the
grant that have been proposed.
{time} 1630
Mr. Speaker, I represent the 10th Congressional District of the State
of New Jersey. Communities throughout my district from Newark to Jersey
City have built robust capabilities to prevent, protect against, and
respond to terrorist attacks and natural disasters with State Homeland
Security grants and the Urban Areas Security Initiative funding.
I am proud of the progress New Jersey has made in preparing and
protecting against terrorist attacks with these important grant
dollars. I cannot stress enough the critical role these funds play in
my district's ability to protect itself from terrorist attacks and
natural disasters.
Over the past 3\1/2\ years, I have served as the ranking member of
the Committee on Homeland Security's Emergency Preparedness
Subcommittee. In this capacity, I have seen the benefits realized
across the Nation from DHS' Homeland Security Grant Program.
With this funding, State and local governments equip first responders
with the much-needed protective equipment and emergency communications
technologies as well. These
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grants also help jurisdictions develop and exercise disaster response
plans. These activities facilitate important relationships among the
individuals and entities that play critical roles in disaster
prevention and response.
As successful as DHS' Homeland Security Grant Programs have been,
however, more needs to be done to ensure those who are responsible for
the various aspects of the disaster response plan, train, and exercise
together before a disaster strikes.
Indeed, Save the Children testified before my subcommittee about the
disconnect in some communities between emergency planners and school
districts and childcare facilities.
A GAO report I requested with former subcommittee chair Susan Brooks
released earlier this week revealed that about 68 percent of school
districts surveyed incorporate the district emergency management plans
into the broader community's emergency management plan. That is good
progress, but we must do better.
The State and High-Risk Urban Area Working Group Act seeks to build
upon the relationships that the State Homeland Security Grant Programs
and the Urban Areas Security Initiative facilitate and to ensure
decisionmakers have a complete understanding of a community's
vulnerabilities so that investments can be prioritized appropriately.
H.R. 4509 would facilitate the whole community approach to disaster
planning by identifying key players to be included in the State
planning committee's Urban Area Working Groups.
From firefighters and police to medical community and school
officials, H.R. 4509 would ensure that the right people are at the
table when decisions are made about how Federal Homeland Security Grant
funds are to be spent at the State and local levels.
H.R. 4509 was approved by the Committee on Homeland Security by voice
vote, and similar language was approved in a larger package late last
year.
The legislation also has the support of the Security Industry
Association, and I include in the Record a letter from the Association.
Security Industry Association,
March 22, 2016.
Hon. Donald Payne,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Payne: On behalf of the Security
Industry Association (SIA), and its more than 600 corporate
members, I would like to express our strong support for H.R.
4509, the State and High-Risk Urban Area Working Group Act,
which clarifies the roles and responsibilities of state
planning committees and urban area working groups under the
Homeland Security Grant Program.
H.R. 4509 amends Title 6 U.S.C. 611 to include additional
stakeholder representation in committees and working groups
that set local priorities for grants awarded through the
Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and the State Homeland
Security Grant Program (SHSGP). We believe this is critical
in light of recent attacks and broader terrorist threats
against vulnerable targets such as schools and workplaces,
and the desire of state and local governments to provide
additional protections and response capabilities.
SIA and its members believe that the inclusion of
educational facilities, emergency communications coordinators
and fusion centers will help improve state and local homeland
security grant planning processes as they are aligned with
evolving threats.
SIA members have assisted many homeland security grantees
with technology solutions essential to securing critical
infrastructure such as maritime ports and airports, schools,
power generation and transmission systems, hospitals,
factories, transit systems, and governmental buildings.
SIA urges swift consideration of H.R. 4509 by the House
Homeland Security Committee, and on the House floor. We stand
ready to provide any further information you may need. Thank
you for your time and attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Don Erickson,
CEO, Security Industry Association.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4509,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DONOVAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers. If the gentleman
from New Jersey has no other speakers, I am prepared to close once the
gentleman does.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4509. I thank
the gentleman from New Jersey for his astuteness, along with Mr.
Walden, for a very important initiative.
Having been on the Homeland Security Committee since the tragic
terrorist attack against the United States, I have watched the
formation of this department and the issues that are important to
secure America.
I have lived through various processes and various disasters that are
not terrorist related to know how important these grants overall are.
The grants, in particular, that are dealing with this bill in
planning committee are extremely important to add to the planning
committee those individuals who are beyond the very able work of our
firefighters and police officers. Those are first responders. But it is
very important to engage the community, such as schools, medical
professions, and beyond.
I hope, as this legislation passes, we will also look to having on
the planning committee some of the leaders on Homeland Security issues
that are in our community.
For example, I have an individual by the name of Charles X. White who
has led issues on homeland security for a very long time. His activism
created an opportunity for there to be a homeland security specialty
and discipline at Texas Southern University because the community is
involved, involved on issues of evacuation, involved on issues of
restoration, involved on issues of making sure funding gets to those
necessary entities that may not be known on a global sense and, when I
say that, in a countywide, city-wide, or statewide sense.
They provide the insight into neighborhoods. I think it is important
that, as this bill makes its way, its interpretation will be that we
add community leaders who are the kind of persons who are engaged with
the day-to-day goings-on of neighborhoods, knowing how important it is
for them to be heard during times of a terrorist act or any other
disaster to be restored.
Again, I am grateful for this legislation and the leadership of Mr.
Payne and Mr. Walden. I ask my colleagues to enthusiastically support
this legislation.
To those who may be engaged all around America with preparedness, it
is important, of course, to have every aspect of our community involved
in these planning committees so that their voices can be heard on how
best to heal, to solve, and to restore after a tragedy has occurred in
our local communities.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4482, a legislation that will
require an analysis of the Southwest Border Threat from the Secretary
of Homeland Security and a Border Patrol Strategic Plan from the Chief
of the Border Patrol.
I support this legislation as a senior member of the House Committee
on Homeland Security and the Ranking Member of the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations;
I believe that Congress can and should do more to ensure the safety of
our southern border from terrorism and criminal threats.
My service in the House of Representatives has focused on making sure
that our nation is secure and prosperous.
The U.S. has thousands of miles of coastlines, lakes, and rivers and
hundreds of ports that provide opportunities for legitimate travel,
trade, and recreation.
Ports serve as America's gateway to the global economy since the
nation's economic prosperity rests on the ability of containerized and
bulk cargo arriving unimpeded at U.S. ports to support the rapid
delivery system that underpins the manufacturing and retail sectors.
A central component of national security is the ability of our
international ports to move goods in and out of the country.
According to the Department of Commerce in 2012, Texas exports
totaled $265 billion.
In 2012, ship channel-related businesses contributed 1,026,820 jobs
and generated more than $178.5 billion in statewide economic activity.
The Port of Houston is a 25-mile-long complex of diversified public
and private facilities located just a few hours' sailing time from the
Gulf of Mexico.
In 2014, the Port of Houston was ranked among U.S. ports:
1st in foreign tonnage;
1st among Texas ports with 46% of market share by tonnage and 95%
market share in containers by total TEUS in 2014;
1st among Gulf Coast container ports, handling 67% of U.S. Gulf Coast
container traffic in 2014; and
2nd in U.S. ports in terms of total foreign cargo value (based on
U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census).
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), reports that the Port of
Houston and
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its waterways and vessels, are part of an economic engine handling more
than $700 billion in cargo annually.
The Port of Houston houses approximately 100 steamship lines offering
services that link Houston with 1,053 ports in 203 countries.
The Port of Houston is home to a $15 billion petrochemical complex,
the largest in the nation and second largest in the world.
With the nation's largest petrochemical complex supplying over 40
percent of the nation's base petrochemical manufacturing capacity, what
happens at the Port of Houston affects the entire nation.
At the same time, these waterways offer opportunities for terrorists
and their instruments, drug smugglers, and undocumented persons to
enter our country.
U.S. seaports, like the Port of Houston, are vulnerable to terrorist
attacks.
H.R. 4482 will require the Secretary of Homeland Security to analyze
and assess the southwest border threat:
Terrorism and criminal threats seeking unlawful entrance to the U.S.
through the southwest border or exploiting border vulnerabilities;
Improvements needed in border ports to prevent the entrance of
terrorism into the U.S.;
Law, policy, cooperation between state, local or tribal law
enforcement, international or tribal agreements that hinder effective
and efficient border security, counterterrorism, anti-human smuggling
and trafficking efforts and legitimate trade along the southwest
border;
Current percentage of situational awareness and operational control
of U.S. borders achieved by DHS of international land and maritime
borders of the U.S.
H.R. 4482 will require the Chief of the Border Patrol to issue by
March 1, 2017, and every five years after, a Border Patrol Strategic
Plan:
Evaluation of southwest border threat analysis;
Assessment of principal border security threats;
Efforts to focus intelligence collection to disrupt transnational
criminal organizations outside of U.S. borders;
Ensure new border security technology can be operationally integrated
with existing DHS technologies;
Technology required to maintain, support, and enhance security and
facilitate trade at ports of entry;
Cooperative agreements and information sharing with state, local, and
federal law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction on the northern
and southern borders;
Prioritized list of research and development objective to enhance the
security of borders;
Assessment of training programs for detecting fraudulent documents,
understanding scope of enforcement authorities and the use of force
policies, and screening, identifying, and addressing vulnerable
populations;
Assessment of how border security operations affect crossing times.
Let me close by reminding my colleagues that earlier this year we
passed the Northern Border Security Act, which secured our border with
Canada.
Now it is time to protect our Southern Border, therefore I urge all
Members to join me in voting to pass H.R. 4482.
Mr. DONOVAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
close.
Time and time again, we have learned the true value of Homeland
Security grant dollars comes from the relationships built through
planning, training, and exercises that are done in these communities.
H.R. 4509 would facilitate the whole community approach to disaster
response and planning by adopting a more inclusive definition of
emergency response.
I would like to thank my colleagues on the Committee on Homeland
Security as well as the Security Industry Association for their
support.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. DONOVAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
close.
I once again urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4509.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Donovan) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4509, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________