Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from New York, the Honorable Tom Reed, be permitted to take the oath of office today.

His certificate of election has not arrived, but there is no contest and no question has been raised with regard to his election.

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I can't imagine an any more delicate moment to be sworn into Congress than when 434 Members are looking to leave, but if anyone is prepared for it, it is Tom Reed.

Tom Reed is well prepared to be in the House of Representatives. He was raised with 11 other children. He knows what turbulence is all about, and he is extremely, extremely well qualified. He is a former practicing attorney, a businessman, a mayor, and an absolutely dedicated man in his community. He is a good friend of all of ours and of Amo Houghton's.

He is here today with his wife, Jean, and with his children, Will and Autumn--beautiful children, a beautiful family.

Without any further adieu, I am really proud and privileged to present to you the newest Congressman from the State of New York, Mayor Tom Reed.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Marvin Scott and his fifty years of excellence in broadcast journalism.

Marvin began his foray into journalism as a 14-year-old in the Bronx, chasing celebrities and fire trucks and selling his pictures to local newspapers. Today, he is a seven time Emmy award winner in the category of outstanding journalistic achievement. He has covered 16 presidential nominating conventions, 8 mayoral elections, and 8 gubernatorial elections. Among those he has interviewed include former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and George Bush Sr., as well as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Israeli President Shimon Peres, Henry Kissinger, Rev. Billy Graham, Astronaut Gordon Cooper, Larry King, Sophia Loren, Tony Bennett, Charlton Heston, and Jerry Lewis.

Among his assignments, Marvin was in Wiesbaden, Germany after hostages were released from a hijacked TWA jet, and covered the McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California in which a gunman killed 21 people. Over his remarkable half a century of dedication to journalism, Marvin has not simply covered history, but has been a part of the important stories and events of our time. He was the first American reporter since the demise of the Soviet Union to go to sea aboard a Russian warship. His investigation into cheating on New York citywide tests led to legislation making it a crime.

According to Marvin, the most difficult story that he has had to cover was the terrorist attacks of September 11th. In his own words: ``I wasn't reporting something that was happening in some far-off place, but it was here and I was a part of the story, feeling the same anger and pain as our viewers.'' On the anniversary of 9/11 he gained an exclusive by flying over Ground Zero in the back seat of an F-15.

I want to thank Marvin Scott for not only being a truly outstanding broadcast reporter and newsman, but for being a great storyteller and true personification of New York. Most importantly, I am proud to call Marvin and his wife Lorri my friends.

Madam Speaker, this weekend I had the privilege of joining in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Massapequa Fire Department. Founded on September 25, 1910, the Massapequa Fire Department has a long history of dedicated volunteerism and service to the Long Island community including Massapequa, Massapequa Park, and East Massapequa.

The Massapequa Fire Department provides around-the-clock fire protection and emergency medical services to approximately 19,000 homes located within its district, responding to an average of 2,400 alarms annually.

As Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, I am proud to support our nation's firefighters in Congress. These brave men and women risk their lives day after day to protect our communities and save the lives of others. Through Federal programs such as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program, we can do our part in ensuring that these heroes get the equipment, vehicles, training, staffing and other resources they need.

I hope that this milestone in the Massapequa Fire Department's history reminds us of not only the traditional role that firefighters have always played in protecting our communities, but also how their role has changed since September 11, 2001, because now they are also faced with an increasingly complex and dangerous job of preparing for and responding to acts of terrorism. We must do all that we can to support them in their mission.

I want to thank Massapequa Fire Chief Peter Anglim for his leadership and service, and all of the firefighters, both active and retired, who have proudly served the Massapequa community. Congratulations on 100 years of dedicated service.

I thank my friend from Florida for yielding.

Let me at the outset thank the leadership in both parties for allowing this bill to come to the House floor. Whatever differences we have, I am sure today they will be resolved in a way that is fitting the Congress of the United States.

This is a real issue. Those of us who live in New York--and, as my friend Congressman Engel said, this is not a New York issue per se because it affects 431 districts across the country, but those of us who live in New York, we see the reality of this every day when we see our neighbors, we see our constituents who are so severely afflicted by their work at Ground Zero.

Many of these illnesses did not occur until several years later. But of the glass that is in their lungs, the toxins that are in their blood, all of that is now coming forward, and you see people in the prime of life, 40, 50 years old, people who would run marathons, people who were in the peak of shape, dying slowly in front of us. So this is a real issue.

I understand the points the gentleman made as far as procedure, as far as funding. Quite frankly, I would agree with him on that. But when we look at the overall bill, when we look at the good that would come from this, we really shouldn't allow the firefighters, the police officers, the construction workers, the EMS workers to have to wait longer to get the treatment and the care that they deserve while we try to resolve our internal differences.

We cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. And this is a good bill. On balance it is a very good bill, but for those who are suffering, it is absolutely essential that this bill pass.

So, I want to again thank the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership. It is being brought up today. Again, we can have differences about how it is being brought up, or when it should have been brought up, or how it should have been paid for, but the bottom line is we are talking about life and death.

We are talking about the life and death of men and women who put their lives on the line without asking any questions at all. They just went to Ground Zero, and they worked from September 11 for the next 6, 7, 8 months, day in and day out, and they put their lives at risk. And many of them, because of that, are now suffering the horrible, unspeakable consequences of the illnesses they incurred from that day.

With that, I just ask for the passage of the underlying bill.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 847, and at the outset, let me commend my colleagues, Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler, for the truly outstanding job they've done for all these years and for their directness and for their candor and for always being there when the tough decisions had to be made.

Let me also thank former Congressman Vito Fossella for the work that he did for a number of years when he was here in the Congress on this bill as well.

Let me commend the leadership in both parties. I commend the Democratic leadership for bringing this back up for a majority vote. I commend them for it. I know it's been tough. Some tough decisions had to be made, and they've made them. I thank them for that. I also thank the leadership for the Republican Party for working with a number of us to make sure that it would be a fair and open vote and debate here today. So I thank them for that.

Let me also say that all of us know this has been a long and tortuous route to get this bill to the House floor today. During that time, there's been frustration, tempers have flared, but also, probably most importantly, people have died, and that's what we have to keep in mind. This is a real human issue. We have people sitting here in the gallery today. Many of them have breathing problems. Many of them have pulverized glass in their lungs. Many have poisonous toxins in their bloodstream. So this is real. This is a real human issue.

And I share some of the concerns that Republicans have regarding, for instance, the funding stream, how this is going to be paid for. But the fact is, this is a good bill. We cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. It's more important to me, I believe, that we take care of those who are truly in need and we look at the bill in full perspective and in full view and keep that in mind. Keep in mind the victims, the men and women who went to Ground Zero on September 11 and stayed there for the days, weeks, and months afterward, and they were on that pile, and they're now suffering the most horrible diseases, diseases and illnesses which we see in our districts when we meet these people. We see them in the stores. We see them at ball games. We see them in church. So this, again, is for real.

So let's, today, try to have the debate as we are, I think, in a very civil way. Let's realize there are honest differences of opinions on both sides, but the reality is, the people in galleries, those who couldn't make it to the gallery today, they don't have the luxury of waiting another 1 year or 2 years or 3 years or 4 years.

I know that people on the Republican side have spoken about various programs that are available. The fact is this is such a unique type of disaster. The illnesses that have come from Ground Zero are very unique to Ground Zero, unfortunately. These are 9/11-type illnesses--the rarest types of cancer, the rarest types of blood disorders. It's essential we have a permanent registry so we will know exactly how these illnesses be treated, so that those in the other 430 districts around the country who could be suffering, for instance, from a cough, which a doctor may think is an innocent cough, will not realize it is a 9/11 cough; those who have symptoms which may otherwise be undetected, they will not realize how significant they are and how they could be directly related to 9/11.

And also, as far as whether or not this is an entitlement, or whatever term we want to use, the fact is, when it came to nuclear workers, Federal nuclear workers, we set up the exact same type of program. Call it entitlement, if you will. That program was set up to take care and compensate those who suffered serious illnesses resulting from their work in nuclear plants on nuclear projects.

As far as the issue of the Victims Compensation Fund and all those who were compensated, the fact is the people we are talking about today, the victims we are talking about today, were people who didn't realize their illness until after the deadline had expired, people who are today just finding out

about their illness. It's latent. It's in their bloodstreams. It's in their lungs. And back in 2003 when this program closed, virtually no one knew the extent of the illnesses and diseases that would stem from September 11.

The fact is they are there and they are getting worse and worse, and, as you know, Congressman Weiner just walked in, and he and I always haven't had the highest things to say about each other on the House floor. We're standing here together on this bill today. As he pointed out in the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, the one thing we can be certain of is that the number of those who are entitled to take part in this program, that number is going to diminish. It is going to diminish because they're dying one by one. So let's keep that in mind.

Again, it goes to the heart of what we should be as a Congress, what we should be as Republicans and Democrats, what we should be as Americans. And those of us, we all stood together on September 11, and 9 years have gone by. And to many people it's something that happened a long time ago, but for those who are suffering today, it's something they live with every moment.

So, with that, I urge everyone to make this as much of a bipartisan vote as possible. Send a message to the country, send a message to the world, and send a message to the victims that they are not forgotten. And not only that, we're not giving them any charity. We're not giving them anything. We're just rewarding them what they're entitled to receive for them putting their lives on the line for us.

With that, I urge adoption of H.R. 847.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 758, the Pediatric Research Consortia Establishment Act.

This legislation is an important step towards understanding and eradicating diseases in children. The consortia will lead to new insights to the major disorders that affect children and will empower researchers to discover innovative strategies for diagnosis and treatment.

Pediatric research and care is currently underfunded despite the fact that children comprise 20 percent of our nation's population. Enrolling and evaluating a sufficiently large group of children is the most effective way of understanding these disorders and to monitor how they manifest in adults. By having Pediatric research institutions collaborate and share information in a methodical way, we can speed up breakthroughs and treatments to fight diseases that affect children.

This investment in research is an important step in speeding up the development of therapies to combat devastating diseases in children. I am proud to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, this weekend I had the privilege of joining in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Massapequa Fire Department. Founded on September 25, 1910, the Massapequa Fire Department has a long history of dedicated volunteerism and service to the Long Island community including Massapequa, Massapequa Park, and East Massapequa.

The Massapequa Fire Department provides around-the-clock fire protection and emergency medical services to approximately 19,000 homes located within its district, responding to an average of 2,400 alarms annually.

As Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Chair of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, I am proud to support our nation's firefighters in Congress. These brave men and women risk their lives day after day to protect our communities and save the lives of others. Through Federal programs such as the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program, we can do our part in ensuring that these heroes get the equipment, vehicles, training, staffing and other resources they need.

I hope that this milestone in the Massapequa Fire Department's history reminds us of not only the traditional role that firefighters have always played in protecting our communities, but also how their role has changed since September 11, 2001, because now they are also faced with an increasingly complex and dangerous job of preparing for and responding to acts of terrorism. We must do all that we can to support them in their mission.

I want to thank Massapequa Fire Chief Peter Anglim for his leadership and service, and all of the firefighters, both active and retired, who have proudly served the Massapequa community. Congratulations on 100 years of dedicated service.

Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of House Resolution 1610 to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks and remember the nearly 3,000 innocent victims killed that day in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

As we give thanks for the first responders who heroically rushed to these sites to rescue victims, our Federal government must properly support them. Tragically, many of these first responders--fire fighters, police officers, and other emergency workers--are dying from days and weeks of exposure to Ground Zero toxins and are in desperate need of medical

care. I urge all Members to join me in supporting the James Zadroga 9/ 11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847) when it is considered by the House next week.

We must also thank the men and women of our armed forces, law enforcement officers, and members of the Intelligence Community who have saved innumerable American lives through their tireless efforts during the past nine years. As we celebrate their efforts, we must remain vigilant. Radical Islamic jihadists, who have pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and other terror networks, continue to target our Nation. Since last year's 9/11 anniversary, terrorists have continued in their quest to attack our homeland and kill more innocent Americans. In the past year alone, we have seen attacks at Fort Hood, in Times Square, and aboard Northwest Flight 253, as well as plots to blow up the New York City subway system and Federal buildings in Dallas, Texas and Springfield, Illinois.

As our citizens remain vigilant, our Federal government must remain diligent. Congress and the Obama Administration must work together in a cooperative and constructive manner to ensure that our military, Intelligence Community, and state and local law enforcement have the resources to detect and defeat the terrorists who seek to do us harm.

I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution, and never to forget the catastrophic events and lives lost on that tragic day in our Nation's history.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in memory of the upcoming anniversary of 9/11 in New York City, and the lives which were lost in the World Trade Center buildings, and aboard the planes. And in honor of all of those heroes, The fire fighters and police officers and regular citizens who gave That Last Full Measure to help save lives. Our prayers lie with the families and the children of all of those lost loved ones. The world on that day, truly saw the very heart of America, and why we have such a great nation. I ask that this poem penned in honor of them, by Albert Caswell, be placed in the Record.

Gotham Glory

In . . .

In this great city . . .

That which so towers . . .

High above all of those clouds, throughout all of the hours .

. .

But, lie such majestic buildings . . . that which so make

mere men so cower . . .

All in their presence and circumstance, as this Gotham City

they do so enhance . . .

With but all of their power . . .

But, nothing in this Gotham City rises . . . or will ever

reach any higher, than what so happened all in these

hours . . .

Then, all of those Brave Hearts . . . who so on that fateful

day of 9/11, would so inspire!

All in the midst, of America's darkest of all hours . . .

To bring their light! Showing us all, what lies within a soul

to take us higher!

As why high above all of this, their fine souls do so tower!

With all of their faith and love, that which now so showers .

. .

So showers, this Gotham City forever more . . . all

throughout her hours . . .

For in life, there can be no greater story . . .

Nor no Greater Gift, or so sacrifice . . . so then this their

Glory!

Then, to give up one's life . . . as was their fine story . .

.

All at the very height, of what a Hero can be . . .

For No Greater Love, burns brighter through eternity!

As why the face of God, they would see . . .

As on that morning that which hate, evoked . . .

As a time, now all so etched all in our hearts and souls that

spoke . . .

As when, there came such hope . . .

As to this our Nation that love conquers all, as their fine

hearts so spoke!

As a time when, mere men and women acted like Gods . . . So

Wrote . . .

So Wrote Their Book of Love, as Heaven for them lie close . .

.

Running up, into The Face of Hell . . .

You Go . . . I Go . . . as was but their fine heroes creed,

their actions spelled!

As all of those fine hearts, so chose to swell . . .

Running past death, as upward they climbed towards this fiery

hell . . .

With tear in eye, as they all knew that this might be their

last moments as well!

All in their most magnificent quest, but to save lives! As

they were all so at their very best!

With each new step, closer to Heaven they now so climbed . .

.

For on that morning, courage came in all shapes and sizes . .

.

All in what their fine hearts, as so comprised this!

Setting them all apart, from all of the rest!

Heroes, who our nation would so bless!

And too, all of these families now so left . . .

So left, without all of their greatest of loves of all, may

our Lord now so bless . . .

As each one but on their own, inside such sacred Hearts did

rest . . .

As to our Lord, they all came home . . .

But, to where they belonged . . .

And, what child may be born?

From all of this, their great love so worn . . .

Who might Save The World, as born?

Mothers, Fathers, Rabbis, Teachers, Priests and Preachers,

tell this story!

All about, The Greatest Love . . . all about, Their Gotham

Glory!

And when, There Comes A Gentle Rain . . .

Their tears from up in Heaven, shall wash down upon you to

ease your pain . . .

Until, up in Heaven you shall meet once again . . .

And you won't have to cry any more!

I thank my from friend from Texas for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise as an original co-sponsor and in support of H.R. 847. I have seen too many police officers, firefighters, and construction workers who responded to 9/11 who have pulverized glass in their lungs and toxins in their bloodstream and are dying one by one.

But what we are doing tonight is a cruel hoax and a charade. Everyone knows that this bill will not get the two-thirds majority required on the suspension calendar. Everyone also knows that this bill would pass with a clear majority if the Democrat leadership would allow it to come to the floor under the regular procedures of the House.

The reason H.R. 847 is not being brought up under regular order is because the majority party is petrified of having its members face a potential vote on illegal immigration. You can blame it on the Republicans--and I've been strongly critical on the Republican position on this issue--but the reality is you could pass this bill if you wanted to. You are in control. You have the power. You have the responsibility. This bill should be more important than a campaign talking point. You could have passed it at any time during the past 3\1/2\ years, but you want political cover. Thank God for our country that the first responders of 9/11 didn't look for cover before they did what they had to do and lived up to their oath.

As Mayor Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, said just today about the procedure we are following tonight, ``It's an outrage. A majority of people would vote for this bill but they know full well they will not get 66 percent. They know that. So this is a way to avoid having to make a tough decision. Our people who worked down at 9/11, whose health has fallen apart, did what America wanted them to do. This is an American problem and Congress should stand up. And I know it's a tough vote for some people. I don't have a lot of sympathy. They should bring this up and vote up or down on any amendments and vote up or down on the bill. And go on the record. And that incidentally is what the leadership should force.'' That was Mayor Bloomberg this afternoon.

They say they want Republican support, yet they never consulted even one Republican before they made the corporate tax increase as the pay- for. They say they want Republican support before they pass this bill, but they never applied that standard when they rammed through the stimulus, health care, cap-and-trade, or financial regulatory reform. No, you only apply it to cops and firefighters and construction workers.

What a sad and pathetic double standard. These heroes deserve better than they are receiving here tonight.

No matter what happens on this vote, I will continue to do all I can to pass this bill as soon as possible in the future.

Let me say, I look forward to continue working with Carolyn Maloney, who has always been honest, open, and direct.

Mr. Speaker, this is a sad moment for this body.

Madam Speaker, I regret that I was unable to be in Washington from July 12 through July 15 and missed rollcall votes 434 through 466 due to illness.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 415, the Fallen Heroes Flag Act.

I introduced this legislation to honor the brave rescue workers and law enforcement agents who lost their lives protecting their fellow Americans. While we cannot make up for the loss of these heroes, my bill will allow members of Congress to extend a gesture of sympathy and gratitude to the immediate family.

The Fallen Heroes Flag Act allows members of Congress to honor any deceased fire fighter, law enforcement officer, emergency technician, or other rescue worker who died in the line of duty by providing to the family, at their request, a flag flown over the United States Capitol. The flag will be accompanied by a certificate expressing a message of sympathy, that is signed by the Speaker of the House and the Representative providing the flag.

Our rescue workers and law enforcement agents commit selfless acts every day for our safety. It is truly a tragedy when one of their lives is lost while acting to save another's. They should be honored for their heroism and my legislation provides that opportunity. I am pleased that the Fallen Heroes Flag Act has been brought to the House floor. I fully support this bill and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H.J. Res. 83, a resolution approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act (P.L. 108-61). I am proud to have once again introduced this legislation this year with the gentleman from New York, Mr. Crowley.

In 2003 Congress passed the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act, legislation that I co-authored with my friend, the late Tom Lantos. President Bush signed this bill into law and we have reauthorized these import restrictions every year since. The legislation bans imports from Burma and the issuance of visas to those officials affiliated with the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military junta that rules Burma and brutally represses its people. This law also bans U.S. financial transactions that involve individuals or entities connected with the SPDC.

These sanctions are critically important to keeping the pressure on the Burmese junta. The government continues to have one of the worst human rights record in the world and routinely violates the rights of Burmese citizens, including the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, as well as slave and child labor. The Burmese regime has destroyed more than 3,500 ethnic villages, displaced approximately 2,000,000 Burmese people, more than 500,000 of which are internally displaced, and arrested approximately 2,100 individuals for expressing critical opinions of the government. And it continues to detain Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the National League for Democracy and the democratically elected leader of Burma.

We must continue to stand with the Burmese people and expose the despicable and reprehensible actions of the SPDC. Sanctions are critical to putting pressure on the junta. In 2008, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act (P.L. 110-286) which bans the importation of Burmese gems into the United States and freezes the assets of Burmese political and military leaders. But we still need others to follow ours and the EU's lead. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must impose multilateral sanctions against Burma's military regime including a complete arms embargo.

Finally, it is my hope that the Obama Administration promptly implements all the provisions of the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act, appoints a Special Coordinator for Burma, and supports the establishment of UNSC Commission of Inquiry on Burma.

I urge adoption of the resolution.

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.