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March 24, 2008
Albany Roundup:
Homeland Defense Theme for Congressional Exchange Event
This year’s Congressional Exchange in Washington is set for June 18-19; registration details will be out shortly but mark your calendars as planning is underway! Presentations for participants will focus on Homeland Defense, and the award for Congressional Leadership to the Homeland Security Industry will be presented to Congressman Peter King.
In preparation for the Congressional Exchange theme on Homeland Defense, Business Council staff are planning a meeting for Homeland Security Council members with senior leadership from the NYS Division of Military & Naval Affairs for sometime in early May. The goal of the meeting will be to attain a better understanding of the DMNA mission and role in homeland defense and to get an update on some of the recently completed IT investments made by DMNA and how that influences their future needs. More details will be forthcoming as a date and time are identified.
Washington Roundup:
House Appropriators Urge Department of Homeland Security to See if Grants are Improving Security
House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee members called on the Homeland Security Department to develop a plan to track how billions of dollars in grant funding have been spent by state and local governments since 2002. Lawmakers also want the Department to define the minimum standards that emergency responders around the country should be striving to meet. In a hearing set to examine the Department’s grant programs earlier this month, appropriators stressed that the federal government must articulate the minimum capabilities and requirements expected of them and their first responders, and the grant funding provided by Congress must be related to helping them meet those capabilities and requirements.
Although state and local governments have been given about $20 billion in grants since 2002, the Department has never developed a way to monitor and measure what has been achieved with that aid, or if national homeland security capabilities have been strengthened, according to the GAO. FEMA was given responsibility for Homeland Security grant programs last year, and in his testimony, FEMA Administrator David Paulison told the subcommittee that his agency will have a plan by August to measure the effectiveness of grant funding. Subcommittee members stressed the need for the Department to define minimum preparedness standards that state and local officials should have to meet with their grants.
Army Reliance on National Guard Won’t Diminish
During a breakfast with reporters recently, General Charles Campbell, who heads US Army Forces Command, noted that the Army’s reserve component will continue to function as an operational force for the foreseeable future. Despite efforts to increase the size of the active-duty Army to ease the straining of repeated deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military’s heavy reliance on the Army National Guard and Reserve will continue for “another generation.”
Over the next two years, the Army Guard will receive $17 billion in new gear to replenish stateside equipment coffers that have diminished since the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Billions of dollars more are expected to flow to Guard and Reserve units over the next several years, marking an unprecedented investment in these forces.
In The News
Buffalo News: SUNY Buffalo ‘s Germ Killing BioBlower Gets a Closer Look
The Defense Department is giving a closer look to technology developed at SUNY Buffalo. During testing, the BioBlower is said to have killed 99.9% of the bilogical agents thrown at it. The full article can be found at: www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/305284.html
Washington Post: Turf Battle Between NY Police Department & FBI
The Post writes no other police department in the United States has responded to the threats of terrorism in quite the same way as the New York Police Department -- or clashed as sharply with the nation's primary counterterrorism agency, the FBI. Read the full article at: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102980.html?referrer=emailarticle
Washington Post: Key Department of Homeland Security Positions Filled
Seeking to defuse criticism on vacancies in key homeland security positions, President Bush moved to fill the positions of White House homeland security advisor and director of the National Counterterrorism Center last week. Background can be found at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/19/AR2008031903226.html?referrer=emailarticle
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Senator Murray to Consider Procurement Law Changes
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) said she would consider pursuing legislation aimed at changing procurement laws to keep production of military equipment in the United States. Although her staff noted that she has no plans to propose a bill at this time, the Senator is reacting to the Air Force’s awarding of a $35 billion refueling tanker contract to a consortium including Airbus and Northrop Grumman. Read the full article at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/355553_murrayboeing19.html She also provides a link from her Senate homepage to express opposition to the award: http://murray.senate.gov/
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