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CHAIRMAN LINDER CONDUCTS OVERSIGHT HEARING ON BIOLOGICAL AND NUCLEAR COUNTERMEASURES
September 14, 2006
Today, Congressman John Linder (R-GA), Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Prevention of Nuclear and Biological Attack, conducted a congressional oversight hearing entitled “The Science of Prevention.” The hearing today was the first attempt by the Subcommittee to gauge the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) progress in developing nuclear and biological countermeasures in the four years since it was created.
“Four years ago, through Congress, the American people entrusted the Department of Homeland Security with keeping them safe from the absolute worst case scenario, a terrorist attack with a weapon of mass destruction. It is prudent that we in Congress examine this effort closely and make sure the American people are safe, and quite frankly there are some areas that concern me.”
Today’s hearing probed all facets of DHS’ efforts regarding nuclear and biological countermeasures, including the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) and the Department of Science and Technology (S&T;) Directorate. The Subcommittee paid special attention to the S&T; Directorate and its shortcomings.
“We have made great strides and the DNDO is a great example. The DNDO has done an extraordinary job in making necessary changes, enabling them to push the envelope in furthering the goals of science and technology. The S&T; Directorate, on the other hand, has focused simply on improving existing technology to try to ensure a better solution. There is no innovation, which is what we must have if we are to be successful in improving the science of prevention.”
“We have heard that the S&T; Directorate has been plagued with bad morale, poor and biased management, unjustified funding decisions, a lack of peer review, and a general failure to effectively engage the scientific community. And that is what brought us here today, to shed light on how DHS is investing in technology development and making the necessary changes to get the most out of our nation’s scientific capital.”
The witnesses who testified before the Subcommittee today were Dr. John Marburger,
Director, Executive Office of the President, Office of Science and Technology Policy; The Honorable Jay Cohen, Under Secretary for Science and Technology, Department of Homeland Security; Mr. Vayl Oxford, Director, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, Department of Homeland Security; Dr. William Happer, Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics, Princeton University; and Dr. Ronald Atlas, American Society of Microbiology, Professor of Biology, Co-Director, Center for the Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism, University of Louisville.
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