Select Committee On Homeland Security News

A bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 30 that encompasses the policy provisions of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 legislative package, including a proposal that would establish a new inspection program for the towing industry. The bill, entitled the Maritime Transportation Amendments of 2004 (H.R. 4251), was quickly slated for action. On May 6, the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), convened a hearing on the authorization measure. During his opening remarks, Chairman LoBiondo stated, “Since the establishment of the Coast Guard, one of the Service’s primary duties has been to promote and protect the safety of life and property at sea. H.R.

The following members of the U.S. House of Representatives have been appointed to serve on the Select Committee on Homeland Security: Armey - Chair (R-TX), DeLay (R-TX), Watts (R-OK), Pryce (R-OH), Portman (R-OH), Pelosi (D-CA), Frost (D-TX), Menendez (D-NJ), and DeLauro (D-CT).

The General Accounting Office released testimony that it delivered before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. The testimony, entitled Homeland Security: Critical Design and Implementation Issues considered, among other things, challenges presented by the missions of agencies to be transferred to the new Department that are unrelated to homeland security. Specifically cited were the maritime safety and drug interdiction roles of the Coast Guard and collection of commercial tariffs by the Customs Service. The major question raised in this regard was whether those missions will receive adequate funding, attention, visibility, and support when subsumed into a department that will be under tremendous pressure to succeed in its primary mission. Source: HK Law

The Committee on Government Reform, chaired by Representative Dan Burton (R-IN), today voted to include the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the U.S. Secret Service as part of H.R. 5005, the Homeland Security Act of 2002. “The decision to retain all four of these entities is critical to the core mission and overall success of this new Department,” said Burton. The determination to keep these critical components intact comes on the heels of votes in other Committees today to remove all or portions of the Coast Guard, FEMA, INS, and the Secret Service from the President’s original proposal.