House Approves Bill to Improve Prioritization, Collaboration in Critical Security Research
(Washington, DC) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 4842, the Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act of 2010. The bill reauthorizes the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, which is the primary research and development arm of DHS.
“I want to thank Chairman Thompson and Subcommittee Chairwoman Clarke for their efforts and willingness to work with our Committee,” said Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN). “I’m pleased we have a strong, bipartisan bill that we all can be proud of, that will help ensure DHS and state and local emergency responders have access to the state-of-the-art technologies they need to keep people safe.”
“We rely on the Department of Homeland Security to protect our country and secure our nation’s borders, ports, and waterways from a wide range of threats,” said Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation Chairman David Wu (D-OR). “As Chair of the Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, I fully recognize and appreciate the critical role that technology plays in enabling DHS to carry out this vast and important mission. The Science and Technology Directorate is responsible for ensuring that those who are responsible for keeping us safe have the best tools and most up-to-date technologies to get the job done.”
The bill requires that the Directorate develop and implement a strategic plan, based on risk assessments conducted by experts from both within and outside of DHS.
“The strategic plan will help make certain that the Directorate’s research activities are properly geared toward addressing the greatest threats to our safety and security,” said Wu.
The bill also strengthens coordination across relevant federal agencies, and state and local law enforcement.
“No one has a monopoly on good ideas,” said Gordon. “To that end, the bill calls for collaboration so the Directorate can draw on the knowledge at the National Academy of Sciences, our federally-funded Research and Development Centers, academia, and the National Labs. The bill also establishes a new office specifically tasked with engaging industry, especially small businesses.”
The Technology and Innovation Subcommittee has held multiple hearings on the work being carried out by the Directorate, including hearings focused on cybersecurity efforts at both DHS and NIST, the research priorities at the Directorate, and passenger screening R&D.
For more information, please visit the Committee’s website.
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