Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act.  In four years, Congress has not been able to successfully pass an authorization measure into law.  Today the Democratic majority is changing paths by making homeland security and appropriate oversight a priority for Congress, and under the leadership of Chairman Thompson, we will pass a bill this year. This bill provides us that opportunity, while authorizing an additional $2.1 billion for the Department.  While I applaud many provisions of this bill, I would like to focus on a few key elements that will significantly improve America’s security.

As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity and Science and Technology, I am pleased that this bill incorporates legislation I introduced to improve the material threat assessment process under Project BioShield.  This language requires the Secretary to effectively group similar threats together in order to move towards a “one drug, many bugs” approach to biosecurity that will allow us to combat multiple threats simultaneously.

H.R. 1684 also establishes a National Biosurveillance Integration Center based on a measure I introduced.   Biointelligence and biosurveillance provide the early warning systems necessary to detect the spread of disease, whether natural or intentional.  This Center will integrate data from biosurveillance systems with other intelligence to provide a comprehensive and timely picture of existing biological threats. 

This legislation also incorporates the SAFETY Reform Act of 2007, a measure I introduced to help ensure that safe and effective anti-terrorism technologies are being deployed by the Department of Homeland Security.  The provision will increase personnel trained to apply economic, legal and risk analyses involved in the review of anti terrorism technologies, which will streamline the application process and encourage participation in this program across all levels of government and the private sector.

Lastly, this bill recognizes the importance of investing more in cybersecurity.  We authorize an additional $50 million for cybersecurity research and development activities at DHS, critical resources to address one of our most pressing and under-funded needs. 

I thank Chairman Thompson for including these and many other critical provisions.  I am proud that we are well on our way to seeing the first-ever DHS Authorization bill signed into law, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure.