House Proceeding 02-03-09 on Feb 3rd, 2009 :: 2:37:55 to 2:45:10
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2:37:52 to 2:38:13( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: package to us for our subsequent consideration. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from mississippi. continuing to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi reserves the balance of his

2:37:55 to 2:45:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Bennie G. Thompson

2:38:14 to 2:38:35( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: time. the gentleman from texas. mr. olson: mr. speaker, i have no further speakers. i urge the passage of the bill and yield back t my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: mr. speaker,

2:38:36 to 2:39:00( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: while the practice of watch listing individual plays an important role in identifying possible terrorist suspects, we must keep in mind that the watch list is only as good as the information on it. without accurate, complete and reliable information, misidentifications persist. the database becomes unreliable and the purpose of the watch list is frustrated, leaving america vulnerable. for the watch list is to truly

2:39:01 to 2:39:22( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: be cleaned up, there needs to be direction from the obama administration to all of the consumers of the lis throughout the federal government that the way the list is populated and maintained nee reform. the intelligence community, federal law enforcement and d.h.s. must all come together in order to revamp the watch list.

2:39:23 to 2:39:45( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: in the absence of reform, america needs an immediate remedy. the fast redress act provides just that. i urge swift passage of this bill, h.r. 559, ensuring that business travel and other americans can fly without being misidentified against the

2:39:46 to 2:40:06( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: terrorist tch list will also stimulate the economy. air travel is already distressed. mr. speaker, this bill moves in a manner that protects our

2:40:07 to 2:40:27( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: homeland and our civil liberties. i yield back the balance of my time an encourage passage of the bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house spend the rules and pass h.r. 559. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no.

2:40:28 to 2:40:48( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 having responded in the affirmative -- mr. thompson: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from mississippi. mr. thompson: i demandhe yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this votby the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are

2:40:49 to 2:41:09( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: dered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 and the chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi rise? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i ve that the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 549. as amended. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of

2:41:10 to 2:41:30( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: the bill. the clerk: h.r. 549, a bill to amend the homeland security act of 2002, to establish the office for bombing prevention, to address terrorist explosive threats and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from mississippi, mr. thompson, and the gentleman from texas, mr. olson, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from mississippi.

2:41:31 to 2:41:51( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i also ask unanimous consent that an exchange of letters between the distinguished chairman of

2:41:52 to 2:42:14( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: the committee on science and technology, and myself, be included in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise in support of this bill and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, explosives remain the preferred weapon of choice for terrorists around the world.

2:42:15 to 2:42:39( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: yet in the immediate aftermath of the september 11 attacks, the bush administration placed a disproportion level of attention on unconventional emerging threats such as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction. despite the issuance two years

2:42:42 to 2:43:02( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: ago of h.s. -- hspd -- hspd-19, the focus needs to address the conventional explosives here has been lacking. time and again we've seen terrorists use explosives against the united states and our overseas interests. we've also seen and used to deadly effect against some of

2:43:03 to 2:43:24( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: our closest allies, including britain, spain and most recently india. because explosives, be they homemade or military grade, are relatively easy to obtain and use in an improvised explosive device, a focused and coordinated approach is needed.

2:43:25 to 2:43:46( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: passage of h.r. 549, the national bombing preventn act of 2009, is a critical step to putting up a path to do developing such an approach. specifically this bill, a re-introduced version of.r. 4749 from last congress, which

2:43:47 to 2:44:07( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: passed the house overwhelmin on june 18 of last year, establishes the office of bomb prevention at the department of homeland security. i wish to thank the gentleman from long island, the ranking member of the committee on homeland security, mr. king, for authorizing this legislation and

2:44:08 to 2:44:28( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: i'm proud to once again be an original co-sponsor. this is a straightforward bipartisan bill that authorizes the office of bombing prevention in law and set forth its responsilities for coordinating federal efforts to deter, detect, prevent, protect

2:44:29 to 2:44:50( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: against and respond to terrorist explosive attacks in the united states. to do so, the office is required to conduct analysis of the federal, state, local and tribal government capabilities and maintain a national database of the capabilities of bomb squads, explosive detection k-9 teams,

2:44:51 to 2:45:12( Edit History Discussion )

Bennie G. Thompson: tactic teams and public safety dive teams around the nation. additionally, the bill requires the secretary of homeland security to develop a national strategy to prevent and prepare for a terrorist explosive attack in the united states. this bill authorizes 0 million