Committee Democrats Discuss R&D to Detect Terrorist Threats, Including the Vital Role of Social and Behavioral Sciences
(Washington, DC) – Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing entitled, “Keeping America Secure: the Science Supporting the Development of Threat Detection Technologies.” The purpose of the hearing was to examine research and development of threat detection technologies across the federal government. Testifying before the Committee were representatives from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said in her opening statement, “Unfortunately, we live in a world where terrorist threats are growing and we have to be prepared to detect and respond to these threats… I am impressed by the technologies that have been developed in recent years. I am interested in learning about the challenges that remain, where we ought to be making future investments, and what this Committee can do to ensure that this new research is supported. The truth is that we must stay at least one step ahead of the terrorists and our threat detection research is our first line of defense.
Committee Democrats discussed a number of issues including: how agencies are leveraging limited resources; how agencies prioritize which types of threats receive research funding; how the 38% cut to DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate budget between fiscal years 2010 and 2012 impacts the work being done by the agency; what research is being done on alternative materials to prepare for a helium-3 shortage; and how the agencies work to ensure that the threat detection needs of local governments and states are met.
Ranking Member Johnson, Ranking Member of the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee Donna F. Edwards (D-MD), and Ranking Member of the Research and Science Education Subcommittee Dan Lipinski (D-IL) emphasized the need to not only focus on technologies that help detect threats, but on the social and behavioral sciences as well.
Ms. Johnson said, “We need to understand more than just the bomb or how to detect the bomb. We also need to understand the bomb maker. We need to understand not only what motivates someone to make or use that bomb, but also what specific groups and which specific individuals are most likely to make and attack us with that bomb.”
“To truly understand threat detection technologies requires expertise not only in engineering and physical sciences, but in life sciences, social and behavioral sciences and education as well” said Dr. Thomas Peterson, Assistant Director for the Directorate for Engineering at NSF.
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