Department of Homeland Security Cbrne Defense Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, the Department of Homeland Security CBRNE Defense Act of 2015.

The threat from weapons of mass destruction is real and growing. We have seen groups like ISIS make makeshift chemical weapons; and on the battlefield last summer, a laptop reportedly retrieved from an ISIS hideout in Syria contained plans for weaponizing bubonic plague and documents discussing advantages of using biological weapons. They have also boasted about plans to smuggle radiological material into the United States. With recent FBI stings in places like Moldova, we know that there are sellers ready to supply the ingredients for these tools of terror, which brings us to the purpose of this legislation before us today.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Homeland Security must play a leading role in defending our homeland from CBRNE threats. Departments and agencies across the United States Government have centralized their weapons of mass destruction programs to provide clear focal points for dealing with this threat. Within the Department of Homeland Security, however, leadership, expertise, personnel, and resources related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive threats are disbursed across numerous organizations within DHS headquarters. By consolidating offices within the DHS headquarters with responsibility for CBRNE, H.R. 3875 will ensure better coordination within the Department and interagency.

Mr. Speaker, we are living in dangerous times, and we must ensure the Federal Government is prepared to address these threats. This bill will ensure that the Department of Homeland Security is able to do so.

Before I close, I would like to thank Chairmen Shuster and Smith for their cooperation in moving this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me first thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Ms. Jackson Lee and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, for their coordination on this bill. I think this committee, probably more than any other one, has operated in a very bipartisan fashion. I am proud of that, as a chairman. I think in matters of national security, that is how we should operate, to reach across the aisle to get good things done for the American people to make them safer. So let me just say thank you for that.

I don't have to remind you, Mr. Speaker, the threats are real out there. We got a classified briefing on San Bernardino, the pipe bombs that were manufactured. In Dabiq Magazine, ISIS' latest publication, they discuss the ease with which to move a nuclear device through transnational criminal organizations into the Western Hemisphere: through Mexico and across our southwest border. That is precisely the kind of threat that this bill is designed to stop.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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