U.S. Representative John Linder (R-Ga) Holds Hearing On Dhs Nuclear Detection (Part I)

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U.S. Representative John Linder (R-Ga) Holds Hearing On Dhs Nuclear Detection (Part I)

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HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY: SUBCOMMITTEE ON PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR AND BIOLOGICAL ATTACKS HOLDS A HEARING ON DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY NUCLEAR DETECTION (PART I)

APRIL 19, 2005

SPEAKERS: U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LINDER (R-GA) CHAIRMAN U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DON YOUNG (R-AK) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R-CT) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DANIEL LUNGREN (R-CA) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JIM GIBBONS (R-NV) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ROB SIMMONS (R-CT) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE BOBBY JINDAL (R-LA) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CHRISTOPHER COX (R-CA) EX OFFICIO

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JAMES LANGEVIN (D-RI) RANKING MEMBER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE EDWARD J. MARKEY (D-MA) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE NORMAN D. DICKS (D-WA) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JANE HARMAN (D-CA) U.S. DELEGATE ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D-DC) U.S. DELEGATE DONNA CHRISTIAN-CHRISTENSEN (D-VI) U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JIM TURNER (D-TX) EX OFFICIO

WITNESSES: FRED IKLE, CENTER FOR SECURITY AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

GRAHAM ALLISION, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT AND DIRECTOR, BELFER CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

RANDALL LARSEN, CEO, HOMELAND SECURITY ASSOCIATES

[*] LINDER: The committee will be in order. We're here for discussion of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Organization, soon to be renamed, we hope. Here comes our ranking member.

I'd like to welcome our distinguished panel today who, it is to be hoped, will help us to better understand how to organize the federal government to prevent the release of a nuclear device in a U.S. city. This was once an unimaginable threat. But it is now real. And it is not going to go away.

Should America need to respond to such an attack, the federal government will have failed the American people. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 requires the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the government's efforts to identify and develop countermeasures to radiological and nuclear terrorist threats.

It is obvious, however, that the full task of protecting America against nuclear terrorism is not just centered on the Department of Homeland Security, but rather is shared by several entities, including the Departments of Defense, Energy, Justice and State. It strikes me that, with all the efforts in nuclear nonproliferation and counter proliferation conducted by the government, it remains unclear how these efforts are being coordinated, let alone who is in charge.

These are just a few of the many answers we will seek from today's panel of witnesses. Their charge today is to help us understand the roles and responsibilities of the principal partners and to provide us with any suggestions to better mitigate the nuclear threat.

The president's FY 2006 budget has requested $227 million for this program, which was recently placed by Secretary Chertoff as a high priority within his office. The missions of the new office include: detecting and preventing attempts to import or use nuclear or radiological materials; working with federal, state and local governments and the private sector to coordinate nuclear detection; developing and deploying detection equipment at ports of entry, transportation routes, critical infrastructure and in urban environments.

In addition, the Bush Administration stated that, "through this office, our overseas and domestic programs to defeat nuclear terrorism will work together to contribute to the nation's nuclear defense." Clearly, protecting the nation involves a multifaceted approach that begins with efforts overseas to reduce the inventory of nuclear weapons and material and to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists, which is in part managed by the Department of Defense's Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

The Department of Energy also is responsible for securing those materials via the Global Threat Reduction Initiative. Similarly, nonproliferation efforts are also managed by the State Department's Proliferation Security Initiative.

Protecting our borders is another facet of preventing nuclear terrorism. Currently, overseas efforts to screen cargo for nuclear materials are managed by the DOE through its Megaports Program. DHS has also led the effort to place radiation monitors at this nation's most vulnerable points of entry.

Given the intent of terrorists, the accessibility of nuclear material and the unlimited ways in which terrorists could smuggle a weapon or nuclear material through America's borders, a nuclear terrorist attack is highly conceivable. I agree with the January 2005 report that stated t...

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