Pete Olson

Mr. OLSON

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This bill authorizes the Office of Bombing Prevention within the Department of Homeland Security. In previous Congresses, it passed on suspension with bipartisan support. This office will provide the necessary analysis and coordination of our Nation's bomb prevention capability to best protect our citizens from the threat posed by explosive materials. We only need to look at terrorist activities overseas to understand that conventional and improvised explosive devices are a terrorist's weapon of choice to target military and civilians. Within the United States, we have been subject to our own share of explosive attacks, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, and others. State and local authorities have developed the capabilities to respond to potential explosive threats and to neutralize them. Yet without the office established in this bill, there would be no analysis of our nationwide capability to respond to explosive threats, or where gaps exist in training, equipment, and personnel against a national baseline. This analysis will assist State and local officials in applying for homeland security grants to fill these gaps. Further, this legislation will authorize the office to continue to promote information sharing and IED security awareness through advanced bomb prevention techniques and usable information. The office uses a secure Web site, known as ``TRIPwire,'' to provide to bomb prevention officials across the country access to current terrorist IED tactics, techniques and procedures, along with expert analysis and reports, making it a one-stop shop for actionable information. I previously mentioned our troops' experience with IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan. This legislation instructs the Secretary of Homeland Security to work closely with the Department of Defense to take advantage of what our troops have learned on the battlefield, both in tactics and technology, to improve the capability of our first responders here at home. Preventing a bomb from going off should involve more than just those first responders attempting to neutralize the threat once the bomb has been placed. Education and awareness programs regarding the threat of IEDs are also a piece of this legislation, providing information on explosive precursors to merchants who can recognize suspicious purchases. The continued need for the Office of Bombing Prevention is clear. It is important to note that this office is not designed to replace existing elements of counter-explosive expertise already found in the Federal Government, but to assist and coordinate State, local, and tribal capability. In fact, the National Tactical Officers Association supports this legislation. By supporting H.R. 549, we take another step in upholding our responsibility to protect the lives and livelihood of American citizens. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King).

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge members to support this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OLSON

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from the State of Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis).

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I rise today in support of the Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Redress Act of 2009. At the outset, I would like to thank Ms. Clarke of New York for her bipartisan outreach in crafting this worthy piece of legislation. Her efforts to ensure that Republican concerns were addressed before bringing this legislation to the floor are truly admirable and appreciated. Mr. Speaker, throughout numerous hearings and briefings by executives in the Government Accountability Office, our committee has heard repeatedly that the terrorist watch list works. Recent GAO reports have stated, ``The watch list has helped screening agencies assess the potential threat a person poses and take a wide range of counterterrorism responses. The watch list has helped support law enforcement investigations and the intelligence community by tracking the movements of known or appropriately suspected terrorists and collecting information about them.'' The bottom line is that the terrorist watch list keeps known or suspected terrorists out of our neighborhoods. However, this comes at a cost. Every month, Federal, State and local law enforcement officials screen some 270 million individuals against a new and constantly evolving consolidated terrorist watch list. Since 2004, a known or suspected terrorist has been encountered some 600,000 times. Some suspects were arrested, many were refused entry into the United States but all were identified to local law enforcement officials. Nevertheless, the system is not perfect and sometimes mistakes are made. The problem with this name-based system is compounded by the fact that some individuals have over 50 identities on the watch list. Occasionally this leads to misidentifications between law-abiding Americans and watch-listed identities. These misidentifications are not simply persons with Arab names, as the press would have you believe. Actors, writers, and yes, even Congressmen have been tripped up by the terrorist watch list. The legislation before us enables a reasonable process to ensure that once a misidentified individual seeks redress through the Department's Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, the results of that process are transmitted to DHS entities to prevent further inconveniences. Perhaps the single most important provision in this bill is the requirement that the Department better advertise its redress process. When I hear from constituents that they are being misidentified as a watch-listed individual, I am disturbed that they have not heard of the Department's process to seek redress. This bill requires the Department to advertise its redress process at each airport and have staff on hand at the largest airports to explain the process and answer questions from the travelling public. Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill. This is a bipartisan bill. I ask that all Members join me in supporting this legislation. I reserve the balance of my time

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe).

Mr. OLSON

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry).

Mr. OLSON. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson).

Mr. OLSON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 553, the Reducing Over-Classification Act of 2009, which seeks to address the problem of over-classification of sensitive information. While classification has an essential role in protecting our country from harm, over-classification is a very serious problem within the Federal Government, and Chair Harman should be commended for her hard work on the bill. H.R. 553 rightfully concludes that over-classification could interfere with sharing of critically important homeland security information. Unfortunately, because of jurisdictional issues, this bill only applies to the Department of Homeland Security. So, while the goals of this bill should be supported, we remain concerned that this bill may lead to policies that are not uniform throughout the Federal Government. As this legislation moves forward, we would encourage the Congress to adopt a government-wide approach to the problem of over-classification so that agencies and departments operate with a uniform set of classification policies. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I have one more speaker.

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy). (Mr. CASSIDY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. OLSON. I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close. Mr. Speaker, the bill we are discussing today rightfully focuses on our physical security. But what of our economic security? What of our future? What of our freedom? Mr. Speaker, I represent a State that is known for rolling up their sleeves and for working hard. Texans know that prosperity does not come from borrowing and spending but, rather, from working hard and from saving for the future. As I spent this last weekend down in my district, speaking with my constituents about the need to help the economy, the overwhelming message I heard was of the concern that, once again, Washington was out of touch. My constituents do not want to support a stimulus that creates 30 new government programs. They want a real stimulus that creates real, new jobs. They want tax relief for hardworking Americans, and they want economic relief for businesses, small and large, in order to rebuild our economy. They find the prospect of saddling their children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars of debt to be unthinkable. Make no mistake. The bipartisan coalition that opposed this misguided measure last week acted simply not to obstruct but, rather, to promote commonsense measures for economic growth. We voted for tax cuts, for better jobs, for long-term growth over short-term gimmicks, and for the post-partisan environment that we saw on the west front of this very building on January 20. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. OLSON

Mr. OLSON. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. I was just home. I am proud to tell the body I was just home in my home State this past weekend. After that and after our vote last week, it is clear to me that the American people and the people in the 22nd District of Texas get it. Quite simply, they realize we cannot spend our way out of the current predicament. It is not fair to future generations. God has blessed me. I have a beautiful 12-year-old daughter and an outstanding 8-year-old son. I ran for Congress because we cannot continue to spend like we see up here in Washington, D.C. We cannot put that burden on that generation. If we don't take courageous steps here now, this year, that generation, my son's generation, my grandson's generation, if God blesses me with grandchildren, they are going to be the first generation in American history that are going to be collectively less well off than the preceding ones; and that is wrong. We Republicans have a plan, a plan that will bolster our economy. It will offer jobs, get jobs created quickly by tax cuts, tax cuts to families, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. That works. It is proven. We had bipartisan opposition here on the floor of the House last week. The American people get it. The people in the 22nd District of Texas get it. We cannot continue to mortgage our children's future.

Mr. OLSON

Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I ran for this office and serve in this Chamber with great hope for our future, but on this occasion it is fitting that we take a moment to remember a very important part of our past. The success of our Nation's space program rests not just in technology and rockets, but in the ingenuity, innovation and bravery of its people. And I am proud to represent many of the thousands of dedicated workers who support our manned space program at the Johnson Space Center, an important component of our nation-wide NASA family. But today I rise to specifically recognize the 17 brave men and women who paid the ultimate cost to further the exploration of space. It's an odd quirk of history that NASA commemorates the anniversary of three of its most tragic episodes during the same calendar week. Yesterday, January 27, was the 42nd anniversary of the Apollo I fire that took the lives of the crew of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. Today, January 28, is the 23rd anniversary of the Challenger disaster and her crew, Commander Dick Scobee, pilot Michael Smith, mission specialists Judy Resnick, Ellison Onizuka and Ron McNair, and payload specialists Gregory Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space. This Sunday, February 1, is the sixth anniversary of the loss of the Shuttle Columbia and her crew of Commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, mission specialists David Brown, Laurel Clark and Dr. Kulpana Chawla, payload specialist Michael Anderson and payload specialist Ilan Ramon. One mission was on the pad, one had just launched, and one was coming home. Yet all three crews willingly took the risks inherent in space flight to help push man and science farther into the future. I will never forget President Reagan's stirring words when he addressed the American people following the Challenger tragedy. He said, ``We will never forget them nor the last time we saw them this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waived goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God.'' During this anniversary week, we must never forget and never stop exploring.