Next Generation Radiation Screening Act of 2008

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5531) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify criteria for certification relating to advanced spectroscopic portal monitors, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure, and yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 5531, the Next Generation Radiation Screening Act of 2008, and I ask my colleagues to support this bill. I would like to congratulate Ranking Member King for offering this legislation. I thank him for continuing to work in a bipartisan manner in accepting some of our recommendations to improve the bill in his amendment in the nature of a substitute, which passed out of our committee unanimously.

This legislation reflects the committee's oversight of next generation radiation portal monitors. It fits well within our package of DHS authorization bills, since H.R. 5531 will greatly improve DHS's operational effectiveness in the areas of border and port security, domestic preparedness, and nuclear detection.

Specifically, H.R. 5531 will put in motion a plan to deploy next generation radiological detection technology at our ports of entry to help more effectively and more efficiently scan cargo as it enters the United States. Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, as well as rogue nations, have made clear their plans to obtain fissile material and aspirations to detonate a radiological or nuclear device in the United States.

Events around the world continue to sharpen our focus on this growing threat. Just last year, it was reported that Pakistan was expanding its nuclear program, constructing new facilities capable of producing weapons grade plutonium. In November of last year, three men were arrested in Slovakia for illegally possessing highly enriched uranium. That same month, a coordinated attack took place in South Africa's most secretive nuclear facility, where a laptop containing sensitive information was stolen, only to be recovered during a shoot-out with guards.

It is imperative that we implement the best, most effective technology at our disposal to protect the American people from attack. This bipartisan legislation requires firm benchmarks for the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office to measure progress and to ensure that only the best technology is installed at our borders.

It also requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to clearly define what he considers a significant increase in operational effectiveness, the standard required by law to procure and deploy Advanced Spectroscopic Portals, or ASPs.

The Department expects to complete its certification this fall. H.R. 5531 will ensure the certification criteria are clearly laid out and quantified before a final decision is made. The bill also authorizes $40 million for the Securing the Cities Initiative, which my committee strongly supports. The initiative employs the concept of defense in- depth, and deploys an array of detection technologies, both stationary and mobile, throughout New York City, for added layers of security.

This initiative shows what is possible when Federal, State, and local authorities cooperate. Certainly, it is a model that can be replicated in other major U.S. cities.

H.R. 5531 will ensure that both the ASP program and the Securing the Cities Initiative are operationally effective and cost-effective too. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and if the gentleman from Florida is prepared to close, I am prepared to go after him.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

In closing, I once again want to express my strong support for H.R. 5531, the Next Generation Radiation Screening Act of 2008. I again thank Ranking Member King for offering this legislation and for continuing to work in a bipartisan manner as we move legislation to make our country more secure.

This bill will help to ensure the state-of-the-art technology that allows our Customs and Border Protection officers to effectively and efficiently scan cargo is procured and deployed. This was the promise of the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Monitors program.

We have to make sure that the ASP delivers and provides significant improvement of operational effectiveness. Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are interested in attacking us with dirty bombs, and we must do everything we can to find and intercept these materials. That means looking for materials not just at our borders and ports, but inside the United States too, and that is why authorizing the Securing the Cities Initiative is so important.

I am proud to support this critical bill that also advances the important process of providing congressional input to improve the Department. H.R. 5531 represents an important step in protecting the country from nuclear terrorism, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of these Homeland Security bipartisan measures. I would like to commend Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member King for their efforts to bring these bills to the floor today. I would also like to congratulate the authors of these bills Congresswoman Harman and Congressmen Carney, Langevin, King, Bilirakis, Reichert, and Perlmutter.

Individually, the bills presented today improve operations within the Department of Homeland Security, including issues related to privacy, information sharing and enhanced security. Collectively, they improve on the provisions of H.R. 1, the Implementing 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act.

Protecting the privacy of our citizens is an important but very difficult issue to balance in our Nation's war against terrorism. Under H.R. 1570, the presence of a full-time Component Privacy Officer would ensure that privacy considerations remain at the forefront and are integrated into the decisionmaking process at all of the DHS Components.

Through our oversight work, it is clear that DHS's information systems have been penetrated and remain vulnerable to cyber attacks. H.R. 5983, the Homeland Security Network Defense and Accountability Act of 2008, represents a critical step toward improving the cybersecurity network at DHS by ensuring a robust defense of its information systems, and holding individuals at all levels accountable for mitigating vulnerabilities.

While protecting DHS information systems is critical to our Nation's security, we also need to be mindful of the importance and need for information sharing. H.R. 6193, H.R. 4806 and H.R. 3815 address the need for information sharing in a secure manner. H.R. 6193--Improving Public Access to Documents Act of 2008--dovetails with H.R. 4086's effort to remove obstacles to more and better information sharing in the unclassified category.

Our offshore territories are the first point of entry to the U.S. for many foreigners and our shores are extremely vulnerable to illegal and possibly terrorist activities. I am pleased that H.R. 5531 will put in motion a plan to deploy next-generation radiological detection technology at our ports of entry to more effectively and more efficiently scan persons and cargo as they enter the United States. I fully support the ``Biometric Identification At Sea Pilot Project'' which has allowed the Coast Guard to collect biometrics from individuals interdicted in the Caribbean to run them against terrorist and criminal databases. H.R. 5531 and H.R. 2490 address the vulnerabilities of our Caribbean shores.

Madam Speaker, the implementation of these bills would not be possible without our State, local and tribal entities. Fusion Centers provide much needed support to these entities in the implementation of Homeland Security programs. H.R. 6098 requires DHS to allow State and local governments to use Homeland Security grant funding to hire and keep analysts in fusion centers--for however long State and local officials see fit.

I urge my colleagues to support these bills and their passage.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of H.R. 5531, the Next Generation Screening Act, sponsored by my Homeland Security Committee ranking member, Peter King. Since 2003, the Department of Homeland Security has deployed radiation detectors at our Nation's ports of entry. The Department has also engaged in an aggressive research and development program to test, evaluate, and deploy the next generation of radiation detection technology to detect and identify radioactive material.

This technology, known as the Advanced Spectroscopic Portals, has the potential to provide improved detection capabilities, while reducing the number of nuisance alarms caused by the legitimate transport of non-threat-related radioactive material, such as cat litter and fertilizer.

H.R. 5531 requires the Director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office and Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to enter into an agreement regarding the minimum standards of operational functionality in order to deploy ASP systems. This legislation also clarifies what is meant by previously passed statute.

Last year's omnibus appropriations bill stated 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 for 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, a pilot program to prevent the illicit transport of radiological material in the New York City metropolitan area. The Securing the Cities Initiative has fostered unprecedented collaboration and coordination among its Federal, State, and local partners, and has advanced the security of the New York metropolitan region.

The bill authorizes $40 million for the initiative, the same amount that was appropriated in fiscal year 2008 to ensure its continuation in fiscal year 2009.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting this important bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, before I yield back the remaining time, I just want to emphasize how important I believe it is for the House to consider both an authorization and appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security this year.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.