Critical Releases in Homeland Security: November 4, 2009

The U.S. Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism has published this progress report on WMD preparedness in the U.S. as a follow-up to its 2008 report entitled 'World at Risk'. This new report suggests that the U.S. has still not prepared itself enough for the threat of a WMD attack in the country. "The United States is failing to address its most urgent threat-biological proliferation and terrorism-concluded a report issued today by the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. The Commission also felt the Obama Administration has given appropriate high-level attention to the nuclear threat but noted the challenges loom large. The Commission cited a range of missteps on biosecurity that lead to its conclusion: No senior-level advocate for biosecurity in the Administration, attempted funding 'raids' on two critical biopreparedness programs, and lack of appropriate disease surveillance. […] The Commission found greater progress in regard to the nuclear threat, noting that 2010 is a critical year for global security and the international nuclear nonproliferation regime. President Barack Obama has made a series of significant speeches related to nuclear nonproliferation, endorsing the thrust of the Commission's recommendations. However, real action is still to come, not only from the United States but also the world community."

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) ability to translate foreign language material is critical to the FBI counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigations. Without accurate and timely translations, the FBI's ability to effectively investigate terrorist and criminal enterprises that communicate in a foreign language is significantly hampered. The FBI's Language Services Section (LSS) is responsible for overseeing the FBI's Foreign Language Program (FLP), including managing the FBI's translation efforts and the linguists who translate into English the vast amounts of foreign language material that the FBI collects. The LSS is also responsible for collecting and reporting data on the FBI's collection and review of material that is entirely in English. In fiscal year (FY) 2008 alone, the FBI collected 878,383 hours of foreign language and English only audio material, 1,610,091 pages of text, and 28,795,212 electronic files. In 2004 and 2005, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (DIG) completed audits of the FBI's foreign language translation operations. The 2004 audit found that the FBI had significant backlogs of unreviewed audio material awaiting translation that had been collected in its highest priority cases. Additionally, we found weaknesses within the FBI's FLP that hindered the FBI's ability to review and translate the counterterrorism and counterintelligence audio material it collected. In addition, the FBI did not consistently adhere to its standards for reviewing the work of its linguists."

"I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States... do hereby find and proclaim that, given that the rapid increase in illness across the Nation may overburden health care resources and that the temporary waiver of certain standard Federal requirements may be warranted in order to enable U.S. health care facilities to implement emergency operations plans, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in the United States constitutes a national emergency. Accordingly, I hereby declare that the Secretary may exercise the authority under section 1135 of the SSA [Social Security Act] to temporarily waive or modify certain requirements of the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance programs and of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule throughout the duration of the public health emergency declared in response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic."

"For over 30 years, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has maintained effective nuclear security, emergency preparedness, and incident response programs. The NRC requires safe and secure operations at nuclear facilities. Safety refers to operating the facility in a manner that protects the public and the environment. Security refers to protecting the facility from adversaries who wish to harm people and the environment. Safety and security are accomplished by using people, equipment, and physical protection. Security is achieved in layers, with multiple approaches at work. For example, nuclear power plants are inherently secure, robust structures that are designed and built to withstand hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. In addition, well-trained, armed security guards, physical barriers, access controls, and intrusion detection and surveillance systems protect certain NRC-licensed facilities, such as commercial power reactors. For other applicable NRC-and Agreement State-licensed facilities, the NRC has required implementation of enhanced security requirements. Another layer of protection is in place for coordinating threat information and response. The NRC works closely with Federal, State, and local authorities. These relationships ensure that the NRC can act quickly to disseminate threat information to licensees and allow effective emergency response in the event of an attack. Together, these layers of defense provide a level of security likely second to none in the national commercial sector."

"The purpose of the National Transportation Recovery Strategy (NTRS) is to help you, as a transportation industry stakeholder or a local, tribal, or State government official, prepare for or manage the transportation recovery process following a major disaster. Communities hit hard by disaster face a variety of complex issues and choices during the disaster recovery process. When dealing with a multitude of demands for limited resources, the transition to recovery will be easier if the community takes the opportunity to convene those responsible for overseeing the recovery of various infrastructure networks together with residents to plan for the overall community recovery process. It is vital that all essential service providers in the community participate in this discussion (including education officials, sewage and water treatment officials, energy providers, communication officials, etc.). As a key public works provider, local transportation officials need to lead the integration of transportation recovery into the community's overall restoration plans. The NTRS is designed to help transportation industry stakeholders and local, tribal, and State government officials prepare for and manage the transportation recovery process following a major disaster. The overall goal of this Strategy is to promote a recovery process for transportation networks-and subsequently of communities in general-that results in a greater level of resilience."

From the opening statement of Loretta Sanchez: "Today's hearing will examine cargo security at our land ports along entries on our northern and southern border. This subcommittee is focused on reviewing the growing challenge the Department of Homeland Security faces in identifying, interdicting and investigating cargo security threats. To put the challenge we face at land ports of entry into perspective, let's think about it this way. There are over 160 land border crossings between the northern and southern borders; 43 of these crossings are dedicated to commercial use only, and many of those are operated and staffed 24 hours a day. Over 11 million truckloads and 2 million railcars come through those ports annually, contributing to over $338 billion dollars and $109 billion worth of imports respectively." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Loretta Sanchez, Subcommittee Chairwoman (D-CA); Mark E. Souder, Representative (R-IN); Bennie G. Thompson, Committee Chairman (D-MS); Todd Owen, Executive Director, Cargo and Conveyance Security, Office of Field Operations, Customs and Border Protection; Janice Ayala, Deputy Assistant Director, Office of Investigations, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement; Colleen M. Kelly, National President, National Treasury Employees Union; and Stephen Russell, Chairman and CEO, Celadon Group, Inc.