Critical Releases in Homeland Security: September 14, 2016

"The mission statement of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is to enhance the economic and national security of the United States. To improve our security, we first must properly define the problems we face. In doing so, it is important to focus on areas of agreement. In the 114th Congress, the Committee has convened hearings, roundtables, field hearings, and site visits all with the same goal in mind: to look for areas of agreement and lay out the realities confronting the nation. The first area of broad agreement is the insecurity of our borders. Over the course of the Committee's 18 border-security-related hearings, many witnesses testified that our borders are not secure.[…] Accepting this reality, one root cause for our insecure border is America's insatiable demand for drugs. Although it is hard to calculate how much profit the drug cartels generate from supplying drugs in the United States, it is clear that this figure is in the billions each year. […] For these reasons, we can all agree that it is time to seriously reassess our strategies concerning America's insatiable demand for drugs, our war on drugs, and the resulting lack of border security. This report highlights the Committee's hearings on America's insatiable demand for drugs, including the Committee's four field hearings across the country. The report examines the effect that America's insatiable demand for drugs has had on U.S. national and border security, closely scrutinizes the current opioid epidemic in the United States, and considers possible approaches to curb illicit drug use and addiction."

"On December 2, 2015, at 10:59 a.m. the Inland Regional Center (IRC) in San Bernardino, California, came under attack. The incident began as what is now known to be two shooters, dressed in all black, entered the IRC --a building in which San Bernardino County Environmental Health Department employees were meeting--and began shooting. An intensive and chaotic search for the shooters began initially within the vast IRC complex and then in the city and surrounding areas. During the initial and subsequent witness interviews, law enforcement received differing accounts of the number of individuals--including shooters-- involved in the attack. Quick investigative work by a San Bernardo Police Department (SBPD) civilian analyst and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (SBCSD) Criminal Intelligence division developed an address for one of the shooters: Rizwan Farook (the male assailant). Before long, officers located the suspect vehicle and two suspects, which led to a midday shootout between the police and Rizwan and his wife Tashfeen Malik (the female assailant), as well as a search for a third subject some officers believed had fled the suspects' vehicle. Ultimately, law enforcement officers killed both assailants on a normally quiet residential street--but not before two officers were wounded. It was later determined that there was not a third suspect. The aftermath of the gun battle was witnessed in real time across the country as news helicopters hovered overhead. Press conferences were held throughout the day and evening as well as for several days following the attack as authorities attempted to quell rising fears and investigators scoured the region, as well as the Internet, in search of clues to determine why the couple had committed such a brutal attack that ultimately left 22 civilians wounded, 14 civilians dead, and 2 officers injured. Two days later, the answer came: a premeditated act of terrorism. San Bernardino had joined the ranks of New York City; Washington, D.C.; Paris; and Brussels as cities that have all dealt with extreme violence at the hands of terrorists."

"The '2014 Quadrennial Defense Review' (QDR) designates homeland defense (HD) as one of the three core pillars of the nation's current and future defense strategy. Defending the homeland from external threats and aggression requires a robust military capability. In this sense, both the federal Armed Forces (active and reserve components), as well as state National Guard forces play important roles in the defense of the nation. Further, HD often overlaps with civil support (CS) and homeland security to form a triad of domestic military operational domains. Where the roles, responsibilities, and limitations of the active and reserve components of the Armed Forces are relatively clear in this triad, the National Guard is a unique military entity capable of serving in either a state-controlled or federally controlled status during domestic operations. Whether the Guard operates in a state-funded, state-controlled status (State Active Duty [SAD]); a federally funded, state-controlled status (Title 32); or a federally funded and controlled status (Title 10) is a topic of ongoing debate during CS missions. Regardless of their duty status in such situations, the National Guard contributes to the security, protection, and well-being of the population. As such, it is important to continually assess the roles, responsibilities, and organizational orientation of the National Guard during domestic operations in support of civil authorities, and to ensure the states and federal government maximize the utility of this unique military capability when it matters most."