Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel Exercise Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. KEATING. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4404, the Terrorist and Foreign Fighter Travel Exercise Act, sponsored by the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. McSally), a colleague on the Committee on Homeland Security.

Mr. Speaker, the threats our communities face are evolving rapidly, and we need to make sure our communities are prepared to respond. My community knows all too well the benefit exercises have on the ability of first responders to do their jobs safely and effectively.

The year before the Boston Marathon bombings, through the UASI grant, Boston participated in Urban Shield, a 24-hour exercise during which responders were rotated through various training scenarios. More than 1,800 emergency response personnel from over 50 Federal, State, and local agencies participated. The goal of Urban Shield was to assess capabilities achieved through grant investments, improve proficiency at core capabilities, and identify capability gaps.

Prior to that, the city of Boston participated in a Joint Counterterrorism Awareness Workshop, where more than 200 participants from Federal, State, and local governments took part in a 24-hour-long integrated response exercise in which multiple coordinated assaults were simulated, much like the terrorist attacks in India in November of 2008.

Regarding that 2011 exercise, then-Police Commissioner Ed Davis said: ``This workshop is like no other terrorism training exercise in which I've participated. The diversity of voices provides for robust and honest discussion about the common challenges we face--and new solutions necessary to address them.''

These and other exercises supported by the Urban Areas Security Initiative grant funds are what prepared our first responders to respond so bravely and heroically and effectively to the Boston Marathon bombings.

As we are learning through events in San Bernardino, Orlando, and abroad, the tactics of our adversaries are constantly changing, and we must ensure our first responders have the training they need to address them.

H.R. 4404 requires the DHS Secretary to carry out an exercise related to terrorist and foreign fighter travel. Additionally, the bill ensures that FEMA and FEMA's National Exercise Program includes scenarios designed, to the extent practicable, to include emerging terrorist threats.

To be clear, this language would not require FEMA's National Exercise Program to focus exclusively on terrorist threats but, rather, seeks to ensure that FEMA continues to develop exercises that are responsive to threats as they emerge.

In light of recent events, it is critical that we emphasize preparedness to evolving terrorist threats. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4404.

Mr. Speaker, one thing we learned in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings is that training and preparatory exercises contribute to preparedness. The lessons learned from the first responder exercise that occurred in Boston prior to the bombings saved lives.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4404 so that our first responders will continue to benefit from exercises that are responsive to the evolving threat environment.

I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. McSally) for her work in this regard. I am proud to be a cosponsor and proud to have the bipartisan effort that we do, as a whole, in the Committee on Homeland Security to try to work hard together to make our country safer.

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