Congresswoman Kathy Hochul's First Homeland Security Amendment Adopted

Press Release

Today, the House Committee on Homeland Security voted in favor of Congresswoman Kathy Hochul's amendment to provide technical assistance to small businesses.

The amendment had near unanimous support from the Committee, and will be incorporated into the underlying bill when it heads to the House floor.

"Government regulation can sometimes be overly burdensome on the small businesses in this country," said Congresswoman Hochul. "The amendment I successfully offered today ensures that not only we meet national security requirements, but do so without hurting the true job creators in our country."

Congresswoman Hochul's amendment ensures the Department of Homeland Security provide technical assistance to any small business owner of a covered chemical facility who requests assistance to prepare a security vulnerability assessment or site security plan.

Small businesses, in particular, are less likely to have dedicated staff to undertake these time-consuming and complicated exercises and without technical assistance from the Department of Homeland Security, small businesses are at the mercy of contract firms -- some of whom charge upwards of $300 per hour for their specialized expertise.

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