Department of Homeland Security Chief Data Officer Authorization Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6447, the Department of Homeland Security Chief Data Officer Authorization Act. H.R. 6447 would require the Department of Homeland Security to designate a chief data officer for the department. This official would be responsible for coordinating the organization and integration of data across the department for improved analysis and decisionmaking.

DHS generates, collects, and maintains vast quantities of data, but has difficulty uniformly analyzing it because of its inconsistencies in how data is collected and maintained throughout the department.

The chief data officer would serve as the lead official for coordinating internal data processes to achieve data and interoperability across DHS systems.

Importantly, H.R. 6447 includes language authored by the Representative from Florida (Mrs. Demings) to delegate responsibility for overseeing the Data Quality Act to the chief data officer.

Under the Data Quality Act, Federal agencies are required to issue guidelines to maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information, including statistical information they disseminate. Additionally, the law requires agencies to establish mechanisms for persons to correct data that does not comply with guidelines.

At this time, when truth is under assault, it is critical that there be vigilant watchdogs to help ensure that information provided by the Department of Homeland Security is accurate. With that, I encourage my colleagues to support this measure.

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