“When the SAFETY Act originally passed in 2002 it marked a good starting place for government to begin encouraging the development of advanced technologies to keep our nation safe,” said Langevin, Chair of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology. “However there is now an obvious need for improvement. With passage of this legislation, I am optimistic we will be able to streamline the application process and encourage participation in this program across all levels of government and the private sector.”

The SAFETY Act was designed to provide incentives for the development and deployment of anti-terrorism technologies, to address the liability concerns of businesses and to pave the way for innovative development of key anti-terrorism technologies.

“Unfortunately a lack of personnel within the Office of SAFETY Act Implementation, an excessively burdensome application process, and a lack of communication between the Department’s procurement and management divisions made for difficult implementation of the SAFETY Act,” continued Langevin. “This legislation, which I introduced along with Chairman Thompson, Subcommittee Ranking Member Rogers, and many other Members of the Homeland Security Committee, should fix many of those shortcomings.”

This legislation takes three important steps to improve the effectiveness of the application process:

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