Department of Homeland Security Support to Fusion Centers Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3503, the Department of Homeland Security Support Fusion Centers Act of 2015. Mr. Speaker, this bill was passed unanimously by the committee last month, and I am pleased that it is being considered on the House floor today.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, there was broad recognition that the traditional stovepipes to the sharing of homeland security information needed to be cleared and that the Federal Government needed to do more to share timely information with State and local partners.

A key mechanism to fostering such information sharing has been the development of a network of fusion centers across the Nation. These centers allow Federal intelligence and homeland security information to be shared with State and local law enforcement and other key stakeholders. As of today, 77 fusion centers have been stood up by State and local governments and participate in the Department of Homeland Security's National Network of Fusion Centers.

For fusion centers to realize their full promise, it is critical that personnel assigned to fusion centers be able to access Department of Homeland Security information, data, and personnel. In the course of conducting oversight of fusion centers, the committee has learned that not enough State and local analysts and officials assigned to these centers have the TS/SCI clearances necessary to foster the timely sharing of homeland security information and intelligence. H.R. 3503, for the first time, authorizes DHS to sponsor State and local analysts for security clearances.

All of us, as the chairwoman has said, have heard from our State and locals that this is, indeed, a problem. The approach taken is consistent with ongoing DHS efforts to sponsor TS and SCI clearances on appropriate State, local, tribal, as well as territorial partners' levels.

In the 14 years since 9/11, there has been progress across the Federal Government at breaking down institutional stovepipes and moving away from a ``need to know'' to a ``need to share'' culture. Certainly with the right support and buy-in at the Federal level, the Department's National Network of Fusion Centers holds great promise for fostering more opportunities to interdict would-be terrorists before they attack and contributing to better awareness, preparedness, and responses at all levels.

Mr. Speaker, again, I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona for this legislation. Again, this is getting us all on the same sheet of music. We absolutely have to have fusion centers operating in uniformity, and we should not have fusion centers doing their own thing. We are fighting this together. The stovepiping of information is not good, and it is not healthy. We have problems identifying bad actors, terrorists, and what have you. So I urge passage of H.R. 3503, the Department of Homeland Security Support to Fusion Centers Act of 2015.

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

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