Homeland Security Legislation

Port and Maritime Security Act of 2001 (S. 1214)

sponsors: Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Bob Graham (D-Fla.)

The bill would:

• establish a National Maritime Security Advisory Committee to develop recommendations on port security enhancements;

• establish local port security committees to help improve coordination between the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that oversee port security. Committees also would help assess risks to ports under their jurisdiction and develop security plans;

• require that maritime security plans be developed by each port authority in consultation with the port security committees;

• require screening and background checks of port personnel;

• authorize $1 billion over six years for port security activities including training, hiring additional U.S. Customs agents and procuring of equipment; and

• provide $3.3 billion in loan guarantees for local port authorities to finance security improvements.

• Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response Act of 2001 (H.R. 3448)

  sponsors: Bill Tauzin (R-La.) and John Dingell (D-Mich.)

  The bill would:

• authorize $120 million in Fiscal Year 2002, along with “such sums as may be necessary” in 2003 and 2004, for local and state governments to improve protection against chemical, biological and/or radiological attacks on drinking water;

• provide $450 million for the Centers for Disease Control to upgrade its capacity to deal with public health threats;

• provide more than $1 billion for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand national stockpiles of medicines and other supplies, including smallpox vaccines, and to establish a national database of dangerous pathogens;

• require drinking water systems to conduct assessments of their vulnerability to terrorist or other intentional attacks;

• require development or revision of emergency response plans based on the results of the assessments;

• commission a study on Best Practices of local emergency response services; and

• increase Food and Drug Administration resources by $100 million for hiring border inspectors and the developing new methods to detect contaminated foods.

• Water Security and Research Development Act (H.R. 3178)

  sponsor: Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.)

  The bill would provide $12 million through the Environmental Protection Agency for Fiscal Years 2002 through 2006 for research organizations to:

• conduct research related to or develop vulnerability assessment technologies and related processes for water supply systems to assess physical vulnerabilities (including biological, chemical and radiological contamination) and information systems vulnerabilities;

• conduct research related to or develop technologies and related processes for protecting the physical assets and information systems of water supply systems from threats;

• develop programs for appropriately disseminating the results of research and development to the public to increase awareness of the nature and extent of threats to water supply systems, and to managers of water supply systems to increase the use of technologies and related processes for responding to those threats;

• develop scientific protocols for physical and information systems security at water supply systems; and

• conduct research related to or develop real-time monitoring systems to protect against chemical, biological and radiological attacks.