Homeland Threat Assessment Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2470, the Homeland Threat Assessment Act of 2017.

Mr. Speaker, since the attacks of September 11, 2001, which claimed the lives of over 3,000 innocent people, the terrorist threat has metastasized and is decentralized. That was how then-DHS Secretary John Kelly described it in April. He went on to warn that ``the risk is as threatening today as it was that September morning almost 16 years ago.''

Whereas, in 2001, there was a centralized, well-funded terrorist organization planning and carrying out major attacks, today the landscape is a patchwork of small cells and lone wolves eager to embrace violence in furtherance of their terrorist ideology.

Today, we consider H.R. 2470 a bill that requires DHS to conduct an assessment of the terrorist threat to the homeland on an annual basis.

The factors to be considered include: data on terrorist incidents and activity in the U.S.; current and potential future terrorist tactics; cyber threats, particularly those to critical infrastructure and Federal IT networks; threats to surface and aviation transportation; and the efficacy of foreign terrorist propaganda.

In my district, these threats are an everyday reality for the Port of Los Angeles, which has the largest container volume in the country and faces threats to their shipping, cybersecurity, and infrastructure.

This bill will help DHS assess those threats and provide the right response after an incident.

We learned from the September 11 attacks about the importance of recognizing and analyzing the ever-evolving terrorist threat landscape.

This annual assessment will ensure that DHS comprehensively examines all forms of terrorism and extremism that could damage the homeland today so that, as a nation, we can be vigilant.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to again express my support for this bill and highlight a particular provision that seeks to strengthen interagency collaboration on examining the threat.

The provision requires DHS' Office of Intelligence and Analysis to continue working with fusion centers, which are the focal points for sharing threat-related information between Federal, State, local, and private sector partners.

DHS must continue to address and improve the Nation's fusion centers' capabilities in gathering, analyzing, and sharing threat-related information between partners on every level.

I thank the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers) for sponsoring this legislation.

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

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