Homeland Security
Keeping the homeland safe and our citizens secure is the primary role of the federal government. We must be prepared for all hazards, natural disasters and terrorist threats, and to defend our nation and our way of life against those who want to harm us. I will focus on providing individuals and agencies that protect our country with all the tools necessary to do their jobs efficiently and effectively.
National security must be above partisan politics. As a former U.S. Attorney, I served as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Southern District of Indiana, where my top priority was protecting Hoosiers. Every day for six years, I was proud to be part of a remarkable team of federal, state and local law enforcement colleagues, intelligence agencies, and emergency responders who worked to strengthen homeland security and counter-terrorism measures. In Congress, I use that knowledge and experience to take all the necessary steps to protect our country from future attacks and to keep Americans safe at home and abroad.
Technology poses challenges and also opportunities in this effort. In 2015, I worked with my colleagues in Congress to establish a public-private working group that would set up guidance and best practices for using social media during a terrorist attack or other emergency. Signed into law in 2016, H.R. 623, the DHS Social Media Improvement Act of 2015, requires the Department of Homeland Security to bring together federal, state and local government and private sector representatives to improve communications and information sharing between the public and private sector in a crisis. This will help the public and the agencies involved be better informed in the midst of an emergency.
We must continue to be on the look out for suspicious behavior in our communities, as attacks could, and have, happened on American soil. The role of every citizen to combat national and international terrorism is essential. Social and digital media are at the center of effective response and prevention efforts. Law enforcement and intelligence organizations can gather information about and alert the public to persons of interest using social and digital media platforms. When the law enforcement community and the intelligence community works together, future attacks are prevented, ensuring the safety of Americans across the country.
To read an op-ed I wrote about the role social media plays in our national security, click here.
For more information on the A Better Way agenda for National Security, click here.
More on Homeland Security
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is working to determine the best method of crafting a 10-year global health security vision to protect national interests, according to a recent CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security meeting.
The lack of both a protective vaccine and a proactive worldwide plan for tackling the spread of a catastrophic global pandemic resulted in the death of 150 million people across Earth during the recent Clade X simulation exercise hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
The upcoming Clade X exercise hosted by the Center for Health Security, which is part of the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will show the world how United States presidential advisors would handle policy decisions for an unfolding mock pandemic crisis.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Susan W. Brooks (R-IN05) issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, commonly known as the Iran Deal, and re-impose sanctions lifted under the deal:
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Susan W. Brooks (R-IN05) issued the following statement after the President nominated former Member of Congress and current CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, to serve as Secretary of State:
A new Congressional Biodefense Caucus was launched last Monday. The caucus said it already has a bipartisan membership roll which includes twenty-seven Members of Congress. The caucus is “dedicated to strengthening our nation’s biodefense enterprise and national security.”
A new Congressional Biodefense Caucus was launched last Monday. The caucus said it already has a bipartisan membership roll which includes twenty-seven Members of Congress.
The caucus is chaired by Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Indiana) and Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-California).
U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN) this week maintained her laser focus on improving the preparedness of the United States to respond to a pandemic or chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats via formation of the new bipartisan Congressional Biodefense Caucus.
Rep. Brooks and U.S. Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) will serve as co-chairs of the caucus, which launched during a Feb. 26 reception held in Washington, D.C., that included more than 50 attendees from Congress and the biodefense industry.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House of Representatives passed a bicameral bipartisan budget agreement to keep the government fully operational, boost defense spending, increasing disaster relief funding, support community health centers and provide funding to combat the opioid crisis.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representatives Jackie Walorski (IN-02), Jim Banks (IN-03), Susan Brooks (IN-05), and Larry Bucshon, M.D. (IN-08), released the following statement after voting for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018:
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Susan W. Brooks (R-IN05) sent a letter requesting to suspend her pay during the government shutdown and signed onto H.R. 4852, the Pay Our Protectors, Not Our Politicians Act of 2018, introduced by Congresswoman Martha McSally (R-AZ02).