To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the Securing the Cities Initiative of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.

I thank the gentlelady who chairs the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and has done an excellent job. I thank the ranking member that shares that responsibility with her, Mr. Lungren.

I rise today to congratulate these members for the Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act of 2010 and to make the point that under Chairman Thompson we have, in actuality, passed more authorization bills on our committee, and particularly those that relate to subcommittees. The Committee on Transportation Security has passed H.R. 2200 and is waiting for action in the Senate.

I join my friend from California and indicate that homeland security is not a partisan issue; it is a bipartisan issue, as he has indicated. And I join him in wondering when we can adhere to the 9/11 Commission report and get a more single-focused review of homeland security in the Homeland Security Committee. I hope that maybe we will have the opportunity to work in a bipartisan manner, to work with the other body, and to really accomplish the idea of maintaining homeland security issues in the Homeland Security committees, both in the House and the Senate.

This legislation shows what our committee can do under the leadership of Chairwoman Clarke and Ranking Member Lungren to be able to establish a roadmap for Science and Technology. After listening to the oversight findings of the Committee on Homeland Security, the GAO, and the DHS Inspector General, H.R. 4842 requires Science and Technology to establish requirements for how basic and applied homeland security research is identified, prioritized, funded, passed, and evaluated, and emphasizes the need to prioritize research around risk.

We all know that Science and Technology really is the backbone of our homeland security efforts. It is to keep us ahead of the terrorists who want to do us harm. H.R. 4852 authorizes the establishment of a more quasi-autonomous Testing, Evaluations and Standards Division within S&T to help ensure that technology is properly evaluated.

Additionally, in an effort to foster better collaboration between S&T and the private sector firms--most especially small firms--with promising homeland security technologies, H.R.

4842 authorizes the Office of Public-Private Partnerships. I want to congratulate the chairwoman and the ranking member on this issue.

Before my committee, the Subcommittee on Transportation Security, many times small businesses will come before us and really act in angst about the fact that their new technology is languishing at the Department of Homeland Security. Now we have, because of this legislation, the Rapid Review Division that is in charge of establishing an accessible, streamlined system to conduct timely reviews of unsolicited technology proposals in order to more effectively harness the ingenuity of the American private sector in an area where DHS continues to struggle. It is important that we do that.

I thank the gentlelady for her courtesy.

To be able to help our small businesses is a leap forward, and I congratulate them for this innovative division that will help move these technologies forward. I hope that small businesses are listening. They now have a rapid ear under Science and Technology to listen to them in the Department of Homeland Security.

I am very excited about handheld detectors for the Department of Homeland Security to do rapid detection of biological threats at ports and airports and the dual-use terrorist risks of synthetic genomics.

I think it is also important that we have enhancements to unmanned aerial surveillance technology for safe and effective deployment for border and maritime missions. We had a hearing on this just recently. Many of us questioned the safety or the results-oriented work of that unmanned aerial surveillance being used at the border. We need to have those results, and I believe that this legislation will help us do so.

So this is a great step forward, in addition to the authorization of $20 million for the Securing the Cities program for fiscal year 2011 and directs DNDO, in fiscal year 2012, to add at least two new cities, based on risk, to this radiation detection program in operation in New York City. We all know that the threat of nuclear attacks as a homeland security threat is evident, and radiation detection is crucial for us to be sure that we have a number of elements to assess the potential of that kind of threat.

This legislation takes advantage of the concerns we all have of making sure our science and technology is an integral part of defending the homeland. I believe this legislation, H.R. 4842, takes a giant leap forward in being part of the work that we do for defending this Nation, the work that is done by this committee, led by Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member King, and of course the work of this subcommittee, Chairwoman Clarke and Ranking Member Lungren. I thank them for their work and ask my colleagues to support this legislation, H.R. 4842.

H.R. 4842, the ``Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act of 2010'' reauthorizes the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) through 2012, and puts these two DHS components on a path to greater effectiveness and efficiency by requiring strategic plans, milestones, and accountability systems.

This bipartisan legislation was introduced by the Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology Chairwoman Yvette Clarke and Ranking Member Dan Lungren.

In advance of floor consideration, the Committees on Homeland Security and Science and Technology collaborated extensively on this legislation and worked together to deliver a bill with the bipartisan support of both committees.

Since 2003, S&T has been responsible for developing technologies to address homeland security capability gaps, as identified by DHS and its operational components--Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Infrastructure Protection (IP), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

DNDO was established in 2006 to develop detection technologies for nuclear and radiological devices--a high-consequence terrorist threat.

H.R. 4842 takes a two-layered approach to authorizing S&T and DNDO: an overarching approach aimed at creating more accountability and effective management of each component; and a more targeted approach focused on specific programs and activities.

In response to oversight findings of the Committee on Homeland Security, the Government Accountability Office, and the DHS Inspector General, H.R. 4842 requires S&T to establish requirements for how basic and applied homeland security research is identified, prioritized, funded, tasked, and evaluated and emphasizes the need to prioritize research around risk.

H.R. 4842 authorizes the establishment of a more quasi-autonomous Testing, Evaluations and Standards Division within S&T to help ensure that technology is properly evaluated.

Additionally, in an effort to foster better collaboration between S&T and private sector firms--most especially small firms--with promising homeland security technologies, H.R. 4842 authorizes the Office of Public-Private Partnerships. Within this office, the Rapid Review Division is charge with establishing an accessible, streamlined system to conduct timely reviews of unsolicited technology proposals in order to more effectively harness the ingenuity of the American private sector, an area where DHS continues to struggle.

With respect to specific programs, H.R. 4842 directs S&T to work towards giving DHS new tools to address the threat of terrorism and enhance homeland security by conducting researching and development regarding: Mobile biometric technologies for deployment at the border (Sec. 807), technology to enhance detection of border tunnels (Sec.804), and utilization of global positioning satellite systems for detection of unauthorized border crossings (Sec. 806);

Hand-held detectors for DHS to do rapid detection of biological threats at ports and airports (Sec. 411) and the dual-use terrorist risks of synthetic genomics (Sec. 407);

Maritime domain awareness enhancements (Sec. 410), technologies to improve the security of underwater public transportation tunnels against explosives (Sec. 408), and technologies to mitigate the threat of small vessel attack (Sec. 419);

Cyber compromises to federally-owned networks and devices that are essential to the reliable operation of critical infrastructure (Sec. 406);

Enhancements to unmanned aerial surveillance technology for safe and effective deployment for border and maritime missions (Sec. 803); and

Technologies to strengthen document security and authentication (Sec. 805).

H.R. 4842 requires S&T to give particular attention to the border security mission. Specifically, the Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act of 2010 authorizes S&T, in coordination with CBP, to pursue research and development to improve effective control of the international land borders of the United States within 5 years (Sec. 409).

In addition to the S&T directorate, H.R. 4842 reauthorizes the DNDO.

Important provisions regarding this vital agency include:

Language to codify in statute the movement of basic and transformational nuclear and radiological research and development activities to S&T;

Requirements for strategic planning, milestones, and accountability in place at DNDO that are parallel to the requirements for S&T;

Authorization of $20 million for the Securing the Cities program for fiscal year 2011 and directs DNDO, in fiscal year 2012, to add at least two new cities, based on risk, to this radiation detection program in operation in New York City. (The House approved H.R. 2611, which authorized the Securing the Cities program on January 20, 2010.)

Authorization of Appropriations

S&T--$1.12 billion for fiscal year 2011 ($12 million over the President's request to restore funding for the University Programs) and $1.15 billion for fiscal year 2012 (3% increase over the 2011 level).

DNDO--$305.8 million for fiscal year 2011 (President's request) and $315 million for fiscal year 2012 (3% increase over 2011 level).

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4842, the Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act of 2010. It gives me great pleasure to work with the gentlewoman in bringing forward this authorization bill to the floor.

This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the Science and Technology Directorate and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office for fiscal years 2011 and 2012, and I want to thank the chairwoman for her bipartisan leadership on this legislation.

This process started last summer with numerous stakeholder meetings, followed by meetings and recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security and concluding with the recent improvements and support of the House Science and Technology Committee. When it comes to homeland security, there is no room for partisanship. Chairwoman Clark and the chairman of our full committee, Chairman Thompson, working together with Mr. King from New York, the ranking Republican on the committee, all deserve a great deal of credit for reaching out across the aisle to craft a more effective bill, and, I must say, it does include provisions of importance to our Republican members.

These provisions would include the establishment of research initiatives to bolster border and maritime security; the 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; as well as an assessment of how useful rapid screening tools for influenza and other biological threats would be at our border ports of entry.

Our bill emphasizes management and administrative reforms that target the needs of the Science and Technology customers, those being the Border Patrol, TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA, and ICE, by most closely aligning the Directorate's research and development activities with identified homeland security risks so there will be a more rapid application of the technology to the true needs as identified by S&T's customers.

It will improve our homeland security by establishing a more rigorous process within the S&T Directorate for identifying, prioritizing, and funding these important research opportunities.

It recognizes the need to prioritize research around risk and authorizes the establishment of a Testing, Evaluation, and Standards Division within the S&T Directorate to help ensure that technology is properly evaluated.

So, Mr. Speaker, in order to foster closer collaboration between the Science and Technology Directorate and commercial companies with promising Homeland Security technologies, our bill authorizes the Office of Public-Private Partnerships to be established within the S&T Directorate.

Importantly, title VII of our legislation establishes a Commission on the Protection of Critical Electric and Electronic Infrastructures to assess the vulnerabilities of this infrastructure and make recommendations for better securing this critically important infrastructure in the future.

While we rely on the cyberworld for much of our embedded command and control systems, perhaps it is no more important than in the area of critical electric and electronic infrastructure, and it is our hope that this commission will help us in the Congress to prioritize those needs with respect to the vulnerabilities of the infrastructure and the protection of that infrastructure.

We depend on the Science and Technology Directorate to develop state- of-the-art technology to protect our citizens and critical infrastructure from terrorist attacks. Timely and accurate intelligence is always our best defense against the terror threat. However, when we have no actionable intelligence, we must rely on the skill of our personnel and the effectiveness of our technology in order to detect, deter, and defend against the terrorist enemy. The better technology we develop and deploy, the stronger, therefore, our homeland security. We believe this legislation will help provide the necessary technology tools to bolster our homeland defenses.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to highlight a very important provision in this bill that is critical to both Ranking Member King and the security of New York City, as well as to our Nation as a whole. It 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 radiological weapons such as a dirty bomb. The program has enabled the establishment of a network ring of radiological detectors on highways, toll plazas, bridges, tunnels, and waterways leading into and out of New York City, which, as we know, is perhaps the top terrorist target for al Qaeda and affiliated terrorist organizations.

The detonation of a nuclear or dirty bomb in the New York City Tri- State area or any other major metropolitan area would inflict serious damage to our country's economy in addition to the terrible tragedy of the human lives involved, and it would be much like the 9/11 attacks.

Securing the Cities is a successful program that can and should be replicated in other areas around the country. That's why language in this bill would expand the program to at least two additional high-risk cities where these capabilities are most needed, therefore leveraging what we already have learned about building defenses against nuclear and radiological weapons in New York City to erect similar security perimeters in and around other cities.

I want to remind our colleagues that the threat of nuclear or radiological terrorism is real. It's not just an academic exercise. It's not just some fiction. It is real. The Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, 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, appearing before our committee on April 21 of this year, repeated this warning.

The President's National Security Strategy that was released earlier this year concluded this: ``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. We believe that authorizing and expanding Securing the Cities will help protect our country, not just New York City but the entire country, from such a danger.''

Now, let me close, Mr. Speaker, by saying that while I'm pleased we are considering this bill today, I do believe that the House should be considering a comprehensive authorization bill for the Department of Homeland Security. This House has not done so since 2007, with one of the reasons being that we, frankly, have too many committees and subcommittees having jurisdiction over homeland security.

The 9/11 Commission recommended, in 2004, that ``Congress should create a single, principal point of oversight review for homeland security.'' Unfortunately, the current jurisdictional web of congressional oversight under the Department of Homeland Security results in conflicting guidance to the Department and is a serious drain on its time and resources. And, Mr. Speaker, I don't say this as a Republican criticizing the majority in the House. This was true when the Republicans were in control. It is the remaining recommendation by the 9/11 Commission that has not been enacted into law here by this House.

The chairman and the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Governor Kean and Congressman Hamilton, testified that this jurisdictional maze is unworkable, and they said it could make our country less safe. Those are strong words, but they repeated them in their testimony before our committee.

I hope that we can streamline congressional jurisdiction moving forward so that Congress can enact a comprehensive authorization bill for the Department, which, I say, 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 terrorism.

I want to again thank Chairman Thompson, Chairwoman Clarke, and Ranking Member King for all their help in crafting a very good bipartisan bill that strengthens our homeland security capabilities, and I would, of course, urge all my colleagues to support passage of the bill.

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

I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to a very valuable member of our committee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Austria).

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to say in my remaining time that I hope that this is a unanimous vote in support of this legislation. It gives a framework to the S&T directorate, and it is an assertion of the proper jurisdiction of this committee and of this House, and I do believe this moves us in the right direction.

I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4842) to authorize appropriations for the Directorate of Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal years 2011 and 2012, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who work day in and day out to protect our communities and our Nation. They perform a wide range of services for the country, responding to emergencies, screening bags and cargo, watching our borders. They are outstanding public servants, and we thank them for their service. We know that without them we are less secure. They know that without science and technology they can't accomplish their mission.

So today we consider H.R. 4842, to acknowledge the importance of science and technology research, development, testing and evaluation, to ensuring the safety and security of the American people and our Nation.

H.R. 4842, the Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act of 2010, reauthorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Science

and Technology Directorate, and Domestic Nuclear Detection Office through fiscal year 2012. Since 2003, S&T has been responsible for developing technologies to address Homeland Security capability gaps as identified by DHS and its operational components, most notably Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. DNDO was established in 2006 to develop detection technologies for nuclear and radiological devices, a high-consequence terrorist threat.

This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the activities of S&T and DNDO and puts these two DHS components on a path to greater effectiveness and efficiency by requiring strategic plans, benchmarking, and accountability systems.

For nearly a year, Mr. Lungren and I worked with my colleagues on the committee to craft this bipartisan authorization bill, which would ensure that the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate has the right tools available to be successful. Success in this context means delivering products into the hands of our first responders, law enforcement officials, or critical infrastructure owners, to help them achieve their mission and make America more secure.

In conducting our review, we examined the Homeland Security Act and the Department's use of the authorities the Congress has vested in it. We have also received insight and information from DHS leadership, stakeholders, the R&D community, private sector leaders, and independent analysts.

I believe that by reaching out to key stakeholders, we developed a very good bill that will authorize important management functions and programs within the S&T Directorate while emphasizing efficiency and cost savings.

Within this legislation, we institutionalize the process by which research and development is identified, prioritized, and funded within DHS. We emphasize the importance of strategic planning and require DHS S&T to do so every 2 years.

We establish training programs for developing technology requirements at DHS. We authorize an Office of Testing and Evaluation designed to prevent problems that occurred in major acquisition programs like SBInet, the infamous virtual fence, which will help curb wasteful spending in the Department.

We create an Office of Public-Private Partnerships and establish within S&T a streamlined review process for unsolicited proposals. We authorize twice the current amount of funding for cybersecurity R&D.

We explore alternatives for ASP technologies for detecting nuclear and radiological materials, and we affirm the committee's support for university programs and small businesses.

I look forward to discussing these and other matters with my colleagues today.

Finally, I want to express my appreciation and thanks to our chairman, Mr. Thompson, and Ranking Member King for their support of this important legislation.

Mr. Lungren was very instrumental in crafting the bill, and I thank him for working with me on it. I want to also thank the majority and minority committee and personal office staffs for their efforts.

We often say that Homeland Security is not a partisan issue, and that is evidenced today by this bipartisan legislation.

June 25, 2010.

Hon. Bart Gordon,

Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology, House of

Representatives, Rayburn House Office Building,

Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I write to you regarding H.R. 4842, the

``Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act

of 2010.''

I agree that provisions in H.R. 4842 are of jurisdictional

interest to the Committee on Science and Technology. I

acknowledge that by forgoing further consideration, your

Committee is not relinquishing its jurisdiction and I will

fully support your request to be represented in a House-

Senate conference on those provisions over which the

Committee on Science and Technology has jurisdiction in H.R.

4842.

This exchange of letters will be inserted in the

Congressional Record as part of the consideration of this

legislation in the House.

I look forward to working with you on this legislation and

other matters of great importance to this nation.

Sincerely,

Bennie G. Thompson,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas, the subcommittee chairwoman of the Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection Committee of Homeland Security, Ms. Jackson Lee.

I yield an additional 2 minutes to Ms. Jackson Lee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu), who is a leader on the Science and Technology Committee, who worked very closely with our committee to make this legislation a reality. We want to thank him for his leadership in that regard.

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

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important Homeland Security legislation. This legislation authorizes a program that has been very instrumental in keeping the City of New York and its environs safe, and that is securing the city. This initiative has proven to be an effective tool, and we are looking forward to a whole range of other important R&D programs to come forth as a result of this reauthorization. Securing the city should be expanded and will be expanded through this authorization to other environs throughout this Nation that could use that level of security through our efforts, as has been the case with securing the cities.

So I am urging my colleagues, once again, to make sure that this authorization passes.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 730) to strengthen efforts in the Department of Homeland Security to develop nuclear forensics capabilities to permit attribution of the source of nuclear material, and for other purposes.

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

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of concurring in the Senate amendment to H.R. 730.

H.R. 730, the Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act, was first introduced in the 110th Congress by the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff).

To strengthen our Nation's ability to prepare for and to respond to a conventional nuclear or dirty bomb threat, that measure, H.R. 2631, was marked up and adopted unanimously by the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology in October 2007, which is the subcommittee I now chair.

It was unanimously approved by the full Committee on Homeland Security on May 20, 2008, and in the House of Representatives on June 18, 2008. Though the measure was taken up, amended and passed by the Senate in late September, the stars didn't align, and it didn't clear the last hurdle to arrive on the President's desk. In this Congress, we started early and brought the measure directly to the floor where it passed on March 24, 2009. Now the Senate has acted, and it is time to pass this bill into law.

I would like to congratulate Congressman Schiff and my colleagues on the committee for recognizing the need to move quickly.

We know that our enemies, both terrorists and rogue nations, are interested in developing and using nuclear or radiological weapons. In the case of an attempted or, heaven forbid, a successful nuclear or radiological attack, rapid attribution is critical. Our government must have the capacity to quickly determine the source of the nuclear material so that key decision-makers have the information needed to respond.

The deterrent effect of a robust nuclear forensics capability should not be underestimated. Certainly, if terrorists know that we have a nuclear forensics capability that can pinpoint their role in creating a bomb, they are bound to have second thoughts. Unfortunately, today, the U.S. must rely on forensic expertise and technology developed during the Cold War to address both nuclear weapons and the emerging threat of a radiological dirty bomb.

The nuclear weapons workforce is aging just as its mission has shifted from traditional deterrent policy to the more complicated challenge of containing the terrorist threat. Our Nation's capabilities in the scientific fields of radiochemistry and geochemistry must be fostered to meet this new threat. That is the purpose of this bill. H.R. 730 expresses the sense of Congress that the President should pursue international agreements and develop protocols to share sensitive information needed to identify the source of a nuclear detonation.

I am heartened that the Obama administration has indicated its willingness to engage in and to reenergize such activities.

It also tasks the Secretary of Homeland Security with the mission of developing methods to attribute nuclear or radiological material both within the Department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, DNDO, and in partnership with other Federal agencies.

The legislation emphasizes that the development of a robust nuclear forensics capability depends chiefly on an expertly trained workforce in this area, and it provides support for education programs relevant to nuclear forensics.

H.R. 730 also authorizes the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Center, NTNFC, to enhance the centralized planning and integration of Federal nuclear forensics activities. It requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress on the Federal Government's efforts to enhance its nuclear forensics capabilities, including the status of workforce development programs; and it authorizes $30 million per year for the next 3 fiscal years for this effort.

H.R. 730 continues the Homeland Security Committee's practice of authorizing programs and offices within DHS that are of value to the agency's mission in order to assure that the work can continue and that progress can be achieved in the years to come.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), the author of this bill.

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

In closing, I would encourage my colleagues to vote ``aye'' on the pending question. Doing so will allow this important homeland security legislation to be sent to the President's desk for his signature without delay.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.