National Bombing Prevention Act of 2008

NATIONAL BOMBING PREVENTION ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 18, 2008)

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill and yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Explosives remain the preferred weapon of choice for terrorists the world over. Explosives have been used against this Nation abroad and on American soil. Because explosives, be they military grade or homemade, improvised explosive devices are easy to obtain and use, the explosives threat needs a focused, coordinated approach.

In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attack, a great deal of attention was paid to the emerging threats, such as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, needed focus on the explosives threat has been lacking, despite the issuance of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 19, Combating Terrorist Use of Explosives in the United States, in February 2007. H.R. 4749, the National Bombing Prevention Act of 2008, will help fill this gap.

The legislation that the gentleman from Long Island (Mr. King) and I introduced was considered in committee in May. It was improved at full committee markup with the addition of some key amendments and reported unanimously by our committee.

This is a straightforward bipartisan bill. It establishes the Office of Bombing Prevention within the Office of Infrastructure Protection at the Department of Homeland Security.

As with other bills we have brought to the floor today, I strongly believe that this bill fits well with the priorities found in H.R. 1684, the DHS authorization bill that is pending before the Senate.

The Office of Bombing Prevention, in fact, already exists in the Department. This bill simply authorizes it and sets forth its responsibilities in law. The bill authorizes $10 million for FY 2009, a little over the administration's budget request.

For fiscal years 2010 through 2012, the bill authorizes $25 million annually. Then, for each subsequent fiscal year, such sums as may be necessary are provided. The Office is responsible for coordinating the government efforts to deter, detect, prevent, protect against and respond to terrorist explosive attacks in the United States.

To do so, the Office is required to conduct analysis of the Federal, State, local and tribal government capabilities and maintain a national database on the capabilities of bomb squads, explosive detection, canine teams, tactic teams and public safety dive teams around the Nation.

Additionally, the bill requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop and periodically update a national strategy to prevent and prepare for terrorist explosive attacks in the United States. A national strategy is also required under HSPD 19.

H.R. 4749 also authorizes the Office to support efforts, as well as research, into explosives detection and mitigation. An informed public is a prepared public. In this spirit, the bill directs the Office to develop and implement a public awareness campaign that can reach the private sector as well as ordinary citizens.

Finally, the bill ensures that we understand and enhance bomb detection through the proper training and use of canine detection units. For all these reasons, I encourage my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, H.R. 4749 is important legislation that will ensure that we are positioned to address explosive threats at all levels of government. We know that explosives are all too often terrorists' weapons of choice.

Under HSPD-19, DHS is tasked with researching, identifying, and communicating ``lessons learned and best practices, concerning the use of explosives as a terrorist weapon'' to enhance ``the preparedness of Federal, State, local, territorial, and tribal government personnel to deter, prevent, detect, protect against, and respond to explosive attacks in the United States.''

Passage of H.R. 4749 will put us on a path to enhance the Nation's terrorism response capability and ensure that first responders and first preventers have what they need.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this important homeland security measure.

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