National Laboratories Mean National Security Act

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

I rise in strong support of H.R. 3438, the National Laboratories Mean National Security Act, legislation that I have introduced that would expand the way in which national laboratories can help protect our homeland.

I want to thank the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Mr. McCaul, and the ranking member, Mr. Thompson, for allowing this bipartisan bill to move to the floor.

I also want to thank my colleague on the committee, a fellow freshman, Mrs. Brooks, for working with me on this bill. Mrs. Brooks, I understand, is leaving the committee and will be going to the Committee on Energy and Commerce. We are going to miss her.

I have enjoyed working with you also as a fellow prosecutor and as someone who has been an active participant in the United Solutions Caucus, trying to find ways that freshmen, Republican and Democrat, can work together.

We are fortunate in this country to have a system of Department of Energy national laboratories, at which some of the brightest scientists in our country can work on some of the most complex issues of our time.

They are keeping our national nuclear defense secure, advancing clean energy sources, and changing ways to protect us from the threat of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear terrorist attacks. Now it is time to make sure that we maximize the way that our national laboratories and the gifted minds who work there can protect and secure the homeland.

I am honored to represent two of these national laboratories, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories, and I look forward to representing them again in the 114th Congress.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the thousands of employees at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and our laboratories across the country for their commitment to country and their faithfulness to science and advancing human progress.

Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, and the remaining DOE labs are truly unique institutions. One part of their uniqueness is their operating structure. This structure has caused an issue, and that is what this bill is designed to fix. It is to maximize and utilize the national laboratories in every way possible to keep us safe and secure at home.

Now, to maximize efficiency and agility at our national laboratories, almost all the laboratories are what is called government-owned, contractor-operated--GOCO. While the Federal government owns the labs, they are operated by private sector organizations. Only one is government-owned and government-operated.

Here is the issue. The Department of Homeland Security issues millions of dollars in grants every year to State and local agencies.

Some State and local homeland security grant recipients have expressed uncertainty about whether or not they can work with Department of Energy national laboratories on homeland security issues with these grant funding sources.

As Members know, FEMA offers grant programs, like the Urban Area Security Initiative, to help States, local governments, and other public servant entities to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks.

In fact, in my district, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, led by Sheriff Greg Ahern, uses this grant, the UASI grant, to support Urban Shield, which is a comprehensive, region-wide preparedness exercise that prepares first responders in the case of a natural or manmade disaster.

The confusion for some recipients may have been caused by the fact that they believe that they cannot use government-owned, contractor- operated laboratories with Federal funds. FEMA may have been under a similar impression or been unclear to recipients on this point as well.

These concerns are misplaced. There is no prohibition against using these funds. My bill will make sure, once and for all, that we use and we fully maximize our national laboratories and make sure that every recipient knows these dollars can be used there.

My bill would clarify the issue by explicitly including in law DOE national labs as entities with which FEMA homeland security grant recipients could work.

Providing this clarification would allow our DOE national labs to fully use their knowledge and experience to improve our homeland security. For example, at Sandia National Laboratories, they are providing modeling and simulations to help jurisdictions develop threat hazard identification risk assessments.

Lawrence Livermore houses the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center, which provides tools that help us predict and map how chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats might spread in the atmosphere.

H.R. 3438 is an important clarification in the law which will allow our scientists at Sandia, Lawrence Livermore, and across the country to more fully contribute to homeland security.

As Mrs. Brooks pointed out, it is also a bipartisan idea, and it is a measure that was sponsored by former Republican Congressman and former prosecutor Dan Lungren, so I think it is fitting that it takes two prosecutors to bring it back to the floor here today to fix this. It passed in the last Congress by a voice vote.

Some of the best and brightest minds in the world are toiling away right now at our national laboratories. Today, let's make sure that nothing stands in the way of maximizing these public servants' ability to keep our country safe.

I urge all Members to support H.R. 3438.

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

Mr. Speaker, on December 1, 2014, on Roll Call #532 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended H.R. 5629-- Strengthening Domestic Nuclear Security Act of 2014, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 1, 2014, on Roll Call #533 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 3438--National Laboratories Mean National Security Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 2, 2014, on Roll Call #534 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass S. 2040--Blackfoot River Land Exchange Act of

2014, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 2, 2014, on Roll Call #535 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 5050--May 31, 1918 Act Repeal Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 2, 2014, on Roll Call #536 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended H.R. 3572--To revise the boundaries of certain John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System units, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 2, 2014, on Roll Call #537 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass H.R. 5739--No Social Security for Nazis Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 2, 2014, on Roll Call #538 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and H.R. 3240--Regulation D Study Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 2, 2014, on Roll Call #539 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended H.R. 2366--World War I American Veterans Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 3, 2014, on Roll Call #540 on H. Res. 766, Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5771) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend certain expiring provisions and make technical corrections, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 647) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the tax treatment of ABLE accounts established under State programs for the care of family members with disabilities, and for other purposes. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On December 3, 2014, on Roll Call #541 on the Motion to Suspend the Rules and H.R. 5769--``To authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard for fiscal year 2015, and for other purposes.'', I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 3, 2014, on Roll Call #543 on the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 5771, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 3, 2014, on Roll Call #544 on Passage of H.R. 5771--Tax Increase Prevention Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 3, 2014, on Roll Call #545 on Passage of H.R. 647-- Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 4, 2014, on Roll Call #546 on the Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on the Rule, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On December 4, 2014, on Roll Call #547 on H. Res. 770--Rule providing for consideration of the Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment to H.R. 3979--National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015, H.R. 5759--``Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act,'' and H.R. 5781--California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On December 4, 2014, on Roll Call #548 on H. Res. 758--Strongly condemning the actions of the Russian Federation, under Vladimir Putin, which has carried out a policy of aggression against neighboring countries aimed at political and economic domination, as amended, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 4, 2014, on Roll Call #549 on the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 5759, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

On December 4, 2014, on Roll Call #550 on Passage of H.R. 5759, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY.

On December 4, 2014, on Roll Call #551 on the Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment to H.R. 3979, I am not recorded because I was absent for medical reasons. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3438) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize use of grants under the Urban Area Security Initiative and the State Homeland Security Grant Program to work in conjunction with a Department of Energy national laboratory.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, this bill simply clarifies that State and local governments and emergency management officials may use existing FEMA State Homeland Security Grant Program and Urban Area Security Initiative funds, known as UASI, to work with a national lab or research facility.

H.R. 3438 amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 by inserting a clarification into the ``allowable use'' section of the Homeland Security Grant Program Title. Providing this clarification will allow these State and local first responders to leverage the expertise at national labs, should they choose to do so.

This is a simple, good government measure that will help maximize the use of limited Federal grant dollars.

This bill will allow State and local officials to cut through FEMA's red tape, which makes it harder for first responders to work with Federal national labs and make the best decisions for their homeland security needs. This bill will eliminate hoops that State and local grant recipients have had to go through in order to gain access to this expertise.

H.R. 3438 is a commonsense, bipartisan bill. It is similar to a bill sponsored by former Congressman Dan Lungren in the 112th Congress, which passed the House by voice vote.

I want to thank my colleague from California (Mr. Swalwell) for continuing to work on this issue, and I urge passage of this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is a bipartisan bill, and I too want to thank my colleague from California for picking up the torch that Congressman Lungren started that will permit this very important security coordination between our first responders, who work day in and day out on our behalf, and the national labs.

As the Congressman from California has so eloquently stated, they have such incredible scientific expertise that needs to be shared with our first responders, and there is much good that can come from the passage of this bill.

While FEMA is very careful in the manner in which it administers its grant dollars, we believe that this is one of those commonsense pieces of legislation that will make it much more efficient to allow those first responders to gain the incredible knowledge from our national labs, and so I urge its passage.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably absent during the week of December 1, 2014. If I were present, I would have voted on the following: rollcall No. 532--On final passage of H.R. 5629--``yea;'' rollcall No. 533--On final passage of H.R. 3438-- ``yea;'' rollcall No. 534--On final passage of S. 2040--``yea;'' rollcall No. 535--On final passage of H.R. 5050--``yea;'' rollcall No. 536--On final passage of H.R. 3572--``yea;'' rollcall No. 537--On final passage of H.R. 5739--``yea;'' rollcall No. 538--On final passage of H.R. 3240--``yea;'' rollcall No. 539--On final passage of H.R. 2366-- ``yea;'' rollcall No. 540--On final passage of H. Res. 766--``nay;'' rollcall No. 541--On final passage of H.R. 5769--``yea;'' rollcall No. 542--On approving the Journal--``yea;'' rollcall No. 543--On motion to recommit with instructions--``yea;'' rollcall No. 544--On final passage of H.R. 5771--``aye;'' rollcall No. 545--On final passage of H.R. 647-- ``yea;'' rollcall No. 546--On ordering the previous question on the rule--``nay;'' rollcall No. 547--On final passage of H. Res. 770-- ``no;'' rollcall No. 548--On final passage of H. Res. 758--``yea;'' rollcall No. 549--On Motion to recommit with instructions--``yea;'' rollcall No. 550--On final passage of H.R. 5759--``nay;'' rollcall No. 551--On motion to concur with amendment on H.R. 3979--``yea.''

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, on rollcall vote No. 549 on the Democrat Motion to Recommit on H.R. 5759 I intended to vote ``no''; on rollcall vote No. 550 on H.R. 5759--Executive Amnesty Prevention Act of 2014 I intended to vote ``aye''; on rollcall vote No. 551 on the passage of H.R. 3979--Carl Levin and Howard P. `Buck' McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015--Concur in the Senate Amendment with a House Amendment I intended to vote ``aye''--I was away from the floor due to a family emergency.