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

Madam Speaker, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, or CFATS, program is a vital national security program whereby DHS works with the Nation's highest risk chemical facilities to make sure they are secure against an attack by a terrorist or other bad actor.

Since 2007, CFATS has helped thousands of facilities strengthen their security posture and reduce on-site risks, sometimes lowering their risk profile so much that they are no longer subject to regulation.

This program has been so effective that in the 15 years since it was established, the number of high-risk facilities has dropped by half, from more than 7,000 to fewer than 3,500.

Once more, CFATS-regulated facilities are some of the program's most avid supporters. That is because the regulations are flexible, nonprescriptive, and focused on outcomes rather than micromanaging security decisions or imposing one-size-fits-all requirements.

Still, the CFATS statutory authority will lapse a few days from now if Congress does not act. We cannot let that happen. CFATS is far from perfect. The program suffers from longstanding, well-documented issues that need to be fixed in legislation. However, H.R. 4470 makes no effort to address them.

In committee, I joined with my Democratic colleagues to offer 10 modest, targeted amendments that sought to improve information sharing with first responders, training for inspectors, and our understanding of potential weaknesses in the program.

We had hoped that our Republican colleagues might have adopted at least a few of these modest measures. Unfortunately, they did not, but not because they disagreed with the substance. They did so, they said, out of fear that any change might complicate reauthorization in the Senate.

It is a shame that it took so long for the committee to act on a reauthorization, especially since it is just a date-change bill.

When Democrats took the gavel in 2019, CFATS was just a few weeks away from sunsetting. We had a short-term extension bill on the floor within a few days and immediately got to work on legislation to improve the program, not just extend it.

I was, however, heartened to hear many of my Republican colleagues acknowledge the longstanding issues with the program and express support for many of the amendments that we offered. We also appreciate that at the markup the chairman committed to standing up a bipartisan working group within the committee to get these changes enacted into law.

I hope that once we get this date-change bill done, our committee will get to work on making the program better in short order.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, while H.R. 4470 is not the CFATS reauthorization bill I had hoped for, it is absolutely necessary that we pass it for one simple reason: It will prevent CFATS' statutory authority from lapsing and will allow the program to keep working to protect chemical facilities from terrorist attacks.

I am pleased that, in the course of debate in committee, the chairman has committed to work with the committee Democrats on a more fulsome reauthorization bill. I look forward to starting that work in short order.

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

Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 4470, and I urge all Members to support this important legislation.

Keeping our American homeland secure has been a part of my life for over four decades. Though the threats to our Nation have changed since I first entered the United States Air Force in 1973, I am reminded of our former Commander in Chief Ronald Reagan, who once said: ``Yet peace does not exist of its own will.''

``We must always remember that peace is a fragile thing that needs constant vigilance.''

This is an important admonition we should keep in mind because on July 27, 2023, this week, the legal authority for the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program, or CFATS for short, will sunset.

This means that everything about it--right down to its fundamental legal structure--disappears, including Federal outreach and networking to prevent terrorism against these facilities.

Now to be clear, from our perspective on the Energy and Commerce Committee, we should be authorizing this program for longer, but time is of the essence, and today it is vitally important to pass this clean, 26-month CFATS extension.

American businesses have invested billions of dollars in security, expecting a strong return for their efforts. We should not nullify investments that would send a bad message to those who wish to do our Nation harm, a message that Congress doesn't take security at our chemical facilities seriously.

The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act is an important anti-terrorism-focused program. It is not a perfect tool, but CFATS is an important, unique program based upon collaboration between the Federal Government and the private sector.

Unlike other programs at the EPA or the Department of Labor, CFATS is focused and it serves as an important bulwark against the threat of terrorism here in the United States. It doesn't mandate the answer or the specific technology but, rather, asks facilities to identify their own vulnerabilities and meet risk-based performance standards in a way that makes sense for them.

I am aware that there are those who, because CFATS is a compulsory program for some, might question the value of the current program.

CFATS does not need to be stripped or have its mission overhauled. Though no Federal program is without need of improvement in some area, but the immediate answer should not lie in trying to destabilize or dismantle it all together.

Rather, the question should be whether Congress has thoroughly overseen the program to understand the program's statutory authority; how its operation lines up with congressional direction; whether it is effective and efficient; and if it has the will and statutory authority to correct deficits or if the law needs to be changed.

Because of that ongoing oversight work and the seemingly improved history of the program, I am comfortable voting to continue it.

To those colleagues who are still skeptical of the CFATS program----

While this extension gives time for not only more assessment and for CFATS to demonstrate its progress, I would urge you to see past this as a time to take this program hostage or distract from its security-related, terrorism prevention focus.

I urge all Members to vote for the passage of H.R. 4470, and I urge the Senate to not delay in its passing, as well.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill to extend the authority for the Department of Homeland Security's Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program for another two years. The CFATS program provides critical national security protections for chemical facilities and for the people who work and live near these facilities. We should all be alarmed that it is on the verge of lapsing.

Unfortunately, we have come down to the wire again to reauthorize this program. Without passage of this bill, the CFATS program will expire in two days. The program is not perfect, but it should be continued. This two-year extension will give the committees of jurisdiction time to consider important improvements to the program without fear that the program will lapse. To that end, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Green has begun the process of creating a CFATS reauthorization working group and Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats plan to be vocal members. We are prepared to push for our jurisdictional priorities in those conversations, specifically advocating for environmental justice communities, first responders, and worker safety.

Chemical facility safety is not only important to the Energy and Commerce Committee, but also to my home state of New Jersey, where the high concentration of industrial chemical facilities coupled with densely populated cities makes safety and security of these facilities of the utmost importance. Programs like CFATS and the EPA's Risk Management Plan program are critical to maintaining the health and safety of the people who live and work near these facilities, so the consequences of this program expiring are as personal to me as they are dire to the safety of our country.

The last few weeks have brought record heat waves, Canadian wildfires, and catastrophic flooding, all markers of what is to come. And yet, House Republicans continue to turn a blind eye to the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. Instead, they work to rollback our historic investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act and make drastic cuts to critical programs across the board. It would be dangerous of Congress to believe that these same extreme weather events don't have the potential to undermine and threaten our nation's chemical facilities.

We must work in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the safety and security of the workers, first responders, and communities living near our nation's chemical facilities. That means extending this program while taking serious

steps to improve it for the future. So, I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Homeland Security Committee for working to ensure the continuity of this program. I urge my colleagues to support passage.

Madam Speaker, in 2006, Congress authorized the Department of Homeland Security to regulate security practices at chemical facilities to reduce the risk of terrorists triggering an intentional release or stealing chemicals for use in an attack elsewhere.

CFATS, as it is known, requires certain facilities, whose possession of chemicals above certain levels present high levels of security risk, to assess their vulnerabilities and implement security measures to minimize terrorism risks posed by these vulnerabilities.

On July 27, this Thursday, the statutory authority for the CFATS program

is scheduled to sunset. As I said previously at a Homeland Security markup of this legislation, I will support this legislation to cleanly extend the program for an additional 2 years, but I am disappointed that it is such a short authorization period.

Companies of all sizes invest millions of dollars into CFATS compliance, and they deserve the certainty of knowing what the long- term standards for compliance will be as they look to reinvest money into technologies and infrastructure.

It is important to note that these facilities fall under a variety of sectors critical to our communities, including energy and utilities, food production, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, laboratories, and more.

I will support this legislation today to cleanly extend the program, but I hope that this body can work towards a long-term reauthorization in the future. It is clear that the threats that gave rise to CFATS persist today, and we must take these threats seriously.

In addition, it is also important to note that industry is asking for this authorization, which is unlike some of the other regulatory overreach that we see from the administration today. What we are talking about is industry asking to work with government.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 4470.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4470) to extend the authorization of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program of the Department of Homeland Security, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 4470.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4470, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program, also known as CFATS, which is the only Federal program that focuses on security at facilities with chemicals of interest. The authority for this program expires in just 2 days.

While Congress continues to look at improvements and changes with feedback from industry, it is imperative that we reauthorize the program to remain in place to continue to provide stability to the chemical facility industry.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Lee) for her work leading this initiative. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4470, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from the great State of Florida (Ms. Lee).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Texas (Mr. Pfluger).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Ohio (Mr. Johnson).

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Ohio.

Madam Speaker, I have no more speakers and I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

I, once again, urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4407 and to quickly move this legislation to the Senate.

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

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