Personal Reimbursement For Intelligence Cooperation And Enhancement Of Homeland Security Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6098, the Personnel Reimbursement for Intelligence Cooperation and Enhancement of Homeland Security Act, sponsored by a great Member, again, another great Member that I am fortunate to serve with on the Homeland Security Committee, Congressman DAVE REICHERT.

This bill, which I have cosponsored, would clarify that grant recipients under the State Homeland Security Grant Program, and the Urban Area Security Initiative, can use grant funding to help pay for analysts at State and local fusion centers.

This clarification is critically important because some of these fusion centers have had to limit their operations and some may have to cease operations altogether because of unnecessary restrictions on Federal funding, despite the intent of the 9/11 bill that became law last year.

Congressman Reichert's bill wisely updates current law to make clear that UASI and SHSGP funding can be used to hire and retain these intelligence analysts without a limitation on how long grants can be used for this purpose.

This bill also would allow grant recipients to use up to 50 percent of their annual grant award for personnel and operational costs, including overtime.

Mr. Speaker, state and local fusion centers play an important role in filling gaps in information sharing with the Federal Government and facilitating the dissemination of critical information to States and localities.

I encourage all of our colleagues to help these centers maximize our ability to detect, prevent and respond to criminal and terrorist activity by supporting H.R. 6098.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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