Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007

Floor Speech

SECURE HANDLING OF AMMONIUM NITRATE ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - October 23, 2007)

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1680) to authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to regulate the sale of ammonium nitrate to prevent and deter the acquisition of ammonium nitrate by terrorists, as amended.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1680, the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007.

The committee has worked vigilantly to get this bill to where it is today. In fact, we've been working on this bill in a bipartisan way for two Congresses now.

We all know the devastating impact that fertilizer bombs can have. Over 12 years ago, domestic terrorists used an ammonium nitrate-based bomb to blow up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. That blast had a force equal to that of 4,000 pounds of TNT. It killed 168 people.

Since that time, ammonium nitrate-based bombs have repeatedly been used throughout the world. In 2002, a group linked to al Qaeda detonated a bomb outside a night club in Bali, Indonesia, killing 202 people. In 2003, an al Qaeda cell in Istanbul killed 57 people in two separate explosions. Last year, Canadian authorities arrested 17 people in Toronto for plotting to attack targets with ammonium nitrate-based bombs.

This threat is real, Madam Speaker. To do nothing about it is unacceptable. However, I have always believed that we must act in a thoughtful manner that recognizes the importance of ammonium nitrate in our agricultural sector.

I am proud of the work that the Committee on Homeland Security has done. The committee has worked hard to ensure that H.R. 1680 strikes the right balance between ensuring access to ammonium nitrate for farmers and making it difficult for terrorists to obtain.

Specifically, this bill directs DHS, in consultation with State agricultural authorities, to create a registry of facilities that manufacture and sell ammonium nitrate. H.R. 1680 requires the sales of ammonium nitrate to be limited to purchasers who register in advance and that the name, address, telephone number and registration number of the purchaser be recorded.

The tracking and registration functions are not new phenomena. The agriculture and fertilizer industry and some States have been engaged in voluntary programs to monitor sale of ammonium nitrate for some time. In fact, Madam Speaker, a handful of States, including New York, California, New Jersey, Nevada, Oklahoma, Missouri, South Carolina, Maryland, Michigan, and Iowa have enacted laws regulating the sale of ammonium nitrate-based fertilizer.

The time has come to put Federal rules in place to ensure that terrorists cannot cross State lines to buy ammonium nitrate without being registered or checked against the terrorist watch list.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to say that our committee has worked collaboratively with industry stakeholders in the agriculture industry on this legislation. We consulted State and local farm bureaus, fertilizer manufacturers and retail outlets, and mining and explosive makers. It is reassuring to know that we can all come together to come up with a reasonable approach to regulating ammonium nitrate.

I have somewhat of a vested interest in getting this right, Madam Speaker. There is an ammonium nitrate plant in my district. The Terra Yazoo City plant has been in operation for more than 50 years. The Terra plant is a major economic engine in our local economy, providing good-paying jobs and stable jobs for the community.

The Terra facility and many others like it across the country are committed to safeguarding ammonium nitrate, but they cannot do it alone. The Federal Government needs to show some leadership here. That is why H.R. 1680 directs DHS to take the lead in coming up with an approach to registering ammonium nitrate purchases.

I am pleased that through this bipartisan effort we've been able to come up with an approach to tighten control of ammonium nitrate, yet allow it to remain accessible for crop nutrition purposes.

This legislation is another of our ongoing homeland security efforts at preventing a future terrorist attack on our Nation.

I would like to thank subcommittee Chairman Langevin, Ranking Member King, and others, for their leadership on this critical issue. Each has put their mark on the bill through the committee process. Their efforts, without question, made this a better bill.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 1680.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, as DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff recently said, improvised explosive devices are the weapon of choice for terrorists. And when it comes to making an improvised bomb, regrettably, ammonium nitrate seems to be an easy access to use. That is why I authored the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act. It will put safeguards in place to keep ammonium nitrate out of the hands of terrorists while ensuring that farmers can still access it. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is a popular fertilizer because it is relatively inexpensive and highly effective.

In 2005 alone, 1.4 million short tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer was used to direct application to farmers' fields. Passage of H.R. 1680 will ensure that ammonium nitrate will remain available to those who need to access it for proper purposes. At the same time, passage of this bill is an important step toward ensuring that our Nation is more secure against the threat of improvised explosive devices.

I, too, would like to acknowledge the work of the minority committee as well as Colleen O'Keefe, who will be leaving the committee today. Karis Gutter on this side, has worked on the majority side on the committee, and I would like to acknowledge both of them. At an earlier comment, I referred to Ranking Member King's unfortunate tragedy in his family and why he was not here. So I would like to join with the comments of Mr. Lungren in that respect.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this critical homeland security legislation.

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