Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2014 and 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding and
for all the good work you did on the committee as the ranking member. I
also want to thank Chairman Rogers for the good work that he did as the
chairman.

Working together, he was very accommodating and allowed all of us to
be able to address specific issues that were of concern to us and
regarding the security of our great Nation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We
are going to miss you.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the passage of this
bill. This bill will provide greater national security for our country
and the people that we all represent.

The bill contains two important provisions that I authored that
protect our communities at home and diplomatic facilities abroad.
My district is home to several oil refineries, employing thousands of
people, providing well-paying, good, middle class jobs, and are a key
part of our regional economy.

As domestic oil production continues to increase in the region, I
have heard from several of my constituents and my local governments
about their growing concern regarding the security of the shipment and
storage of crude oil and subsequent refined products. I believe we have
the responsibility to protect our workers, our domestic refineries, and
our communities from potential threats.

Included in this bill is a provision that directs the Department of
Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis to conduct an
assessment of the security of our Nation's oil refineries and related
rail transportation infrastructure. It directs the office to make
recommendations on how to improve intelligence collection and sharing
of information to better protect those facilities in the surrounding
communities from any harm.

Additionally, studies conducted in response to the terrible 2012
attack on Benghazi identified the need for security personnel at U.S.
diplomatic posts to receive threat information in a more timely manner.

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. In response to this need, this bill
requires the Director of National Intelligence to provide an assessment
of the status of threat information sharing between the intelligence
community and diplomatic security personnel and to propose actions to
help make sure security personnel at U.S. Embassies are better able to
request and receive security enhancements in a timely manner.

By making sure our intelligence community is taking concerns
seriously and sharing the necessary information, we can better assess
and mitigate threats and increase security at home and abroad and make
our country safer.

I urge my colleagues to join me in passing this good piece of
legislation.

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