Hearing of the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee - Science and Technology Fiscal Year 2012 Budget

Statement

This afternoon we welcome Under Secretary Tara O'Toole in her
second appearance before this Subcommittee, as we examine the
President's fiscal year 2012 budget to fund the Directorate of Science
and Technology.

A relatively young enterprise, S&T was established in 2003 with
the new Department of Homeland Security, with its primary mission to
ensure that DHS, its agencies, and the broader homeland security
community can benefit from the application of science and technology.

As it has evolved as a component of the Department, S&T has touched
on virtually all the activities within DHS, and has established an
organizational structure that aligns with them.

We have had longstanding concerns about whether S&T is striking
the right balance between long-term, basic research, and targeting nearterm
research for technologies that are ripe for deployment. There is no
question some DHS research may not may not have a home anywhere
else than DHS itself. It may not be a priority for other federal agencies;
may have a long time horizon; or may lack a commercial market that
could attract private funding. Still, such research may have value, and
should be considered when looking at S&T's plans.

However, there seems to be an implicit consensus that S&T should
concentrate on fielding technology its customers need, a view I believe
you endorse, Dr. O'Toole. I hope to hear today about concrete impacts
S&T can point to, particularly for critical missions involving border and
travel security, biometrics, and infrastructure protection.

S&T's approach to technology is to serve as a reliable and
transparent clearing house for private sector homeland security --related
research. Despite there being specific examples where S&T has helped
discover or accelerate development, testing, or review of such
technology, there remains a perception in the private sector that S&T --
and the DHS agencies who procure technologies -- remain difficult to
connect with. Today, I hope you will address tangible ways in which
DHS, and S&T in particular, are working to attract and be more
accessible to private sector initiative.

More than anything, S&T has to sell itself to Congress as a good
investment, and not a place where ideas may be generated, only to be
ignored by front line operators. Last month's House action on H.R. 1
showed many in Congress are uninformed about S&T. S&T needs more
effective outreach about what S&T does, and how the multi-billion
dollar investment in the enterprise is valuable is producing results.
Until S&T's role can be made more visible and its impact
demonstrated more concretely, you will likely face challenges from
those who are unfamiliar with your work and will question the value of
funding R&D over other, operational programs.

Dr. O'Toole, we look forward to your testimony. As your written
record will be placed in the record, I ask that you take no more than five
minutes to summarize it for the Committee. But before you begin, I
would first like to recognize Mr. Price, our distinguished Ranking
Member, for his opening remarks.

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