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| Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to visit Sandia and Los Alamos |
February 15, 2002 |
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Albuquerque, NM-Congresswoman Heather Wilson and U.S. Senator Pete Domenici announced today that Tom Ridge, Director of President Bush`s Office of Homeland Security, will tour Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories on Thursday, February 21, 2002. Ridge will tour Sandia in the morning and is scheduled to be in Los Alamos that afternoon.
Wilson wrote to Ridge earlier this year and invited him to Sandia to see the advanced technologies being developed in New Mexico in support of homeland security. Sandia, Wilson told Ridge, has worked for years on sensor and detection technologies for nuclear, biological, and chemical events.
Domenici facilitated a White House meeting with Ridge and the directors of the nation`s three nuclear laboratories last November to discuss the best way to bring the vast capabilities of the labs to bear in the U.S. war on terrorism. Last November, lab personnel demonstrated much of their technology to Ridge in the nation`s capital, but next week`s visit will give the Director a chance to see up close the full breadth of research and innovation at the two federal facilities based in New Mexico.
Ridge will be formally briefed on the homeland defense capabilities of NISAC, the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center. Wilson first pushed the idea of such a center in 1999 after meeting with lab scientists. Wilson and Domenici were successful in securing $4 million to establish and support the project. Through Wilson`s and Domenici`s efforts, the nation`s new Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 authorized $20 million for the program. In December, Domenici secured full funding for the effort, centered at Los Alamos and Sandia labs to provide vital tools for modeling the interactions and interconnections among the complex infrastructures that underpin national security and the U.S. economy.
The Homeland Security office`s mission is to develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks. The Office coordinates the executive branch`s efforts to detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks within the United States.
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