Homeland security amendments add R&D

WASHINGTON, July 10 (UPI) -- The House Science Committee left its stamp on the Bush administration's proposed Homeland Security Department on Wednesday, passing a slate of changes to the agency's authorizing legislation meant to strengthen its scientific underpinnings.

The original bill drafted by the White House and congressional leaders, H.R. 5005, is on the right track, but needs sharper focus and clearer definitions of its duties, said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., the committee chairman.

"The war on terrorism will be won as much in the laboratory as on the battlefield," Boehlert said. "We will work tirelessly to ensure that in the final bill, the department has a clear and central research and development mission."

In order to do so, the committee's primary amendment, authored by Boehlert and Rep. Ralph Hall, D-Texas, creates the position of undersecretary for science and technology. This official would have the authority to create a specific homeland security research and development center, or contract with existing federal facilities for such work.

The undersecretary would coordinate homeland defense-related research currently underway at agencies as diverse as the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Animal Disease Center. The official also would create an office to coordinate the efforts of inventors and private companies seeking to offer technology to the government's anti-terror campaign.

The Boehlert-Hall measure also deals with cybersecurity by better defining what kinds of systems are critical to the country's normal operations, as well as preventing the new department from taking over the Computer Security Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The stability of that group is essential, said Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich.

"NIST has been working with the computer industry for many years in this field, and I see no need to upset something that's working well," Ehlers said. "Cleaving the division from the information technology lab and removing it from NIST would leave a gaping hole; they'd have to rebuild the entire lab."

The primary amendment also charters a volunteer group of experts in information technology, telecommunications and other technical fields to help communities recover from physical or cyber-attacks. This "NET Guard," first proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., would be deployed to major emergencies or natural disasters.

The committee also offered several secondary amendments to the Boehlert-Hall provision. The most contentious measures dealt with grants to local fire departments and a proposed academic center for integrating homeland security research.

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., proposed waving the local matching funds requirement for grants related to training and equipment for dealing with acts of terrorism. The measure was opposed, reluctantly, by Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich., who said it would remove some incentive for local communities to support their fire departments. Supplemental funding for such projects, agreed to after Sept. 11, needs no local match, Smith said. The amendment was defeated 17-16 along party lines.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, suggested adding a section to H.R. 5005 requiring the Secretary of Homeland Security to select a college or university, with expertise in several relevant areas, for the center. The measure was approved 17-15 in a bipartisan vote.

Other amendments included a measure from Reps. Lynn Woolsey and Michael Honda, both D-Calif., to create a Homeland Security Institute. Such an organization, as suggested by the National Academies in a counter-terrorism report issued last month, would provide independent, technical and policy analysis to help establish priorities for homeland security. The measure passed on a voice vote.

The Science Committee amendment package now moves to the Select Homeland Security Committee, which will formulate a final bill for congressional approval. Leaders of both houses of Congress, along with President Bush, have called for passage of the measure before the first anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.