NY: NY City receives $29 million to combat radiological & nuclear attacks

New York: DHS said it would award New York City approximately $29 million in grants through the Securing the Cities (STC) initiative to prevent a radiological or nuclear attack on the metropolitan area by enhancing regional capabilities to detect and interdict illicit radioactive materials.

• Full article

U.S. gets a “C” grade in “WMD Report Card”

PSA (Partnership for a Secure America) released it’s annual “WMD Report Card” with side media attention on Sept 10.

• WMD Report Card
• Commentary [HS Daily Wire]

Terrorism grants can’t be used for chemical detection in subways

Federal guidelines exclude chemical detection systems for subways because it’s thought they won’t warn passengers quickly enough.

[Note: I saw some leaders to this story that weren't clear that the limitation is for subways only, which gave a very different impression of the limitations.]

• Full article

CA: Governor merges Office of Emergency Services and Office of Homeland Security

California: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a package of legislation that will strengthen the state’s ability to respond to emergencies and natural disasters. These include a bill that merges the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) and Office of Homeland Security (OHS) into the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA).

• Press Release

Tip from: San Francisco Bay Area Infragard Chapter, News & Events Blog

Clues on Homeland Security from the debate

From HSToday:

“In an important vote of confidence for the continuity of the homeland security enterprise, both presidential candidates committed themselves to bolstering that security during their debate Friday night.”

• First Debate Bodes Well for Homeland Security

DHS transition planning lagging

There have been some concerns that there has been no transition planning between DHS and the two major party presidential campaigns.

Homeland Security Watch says this may be due to directions the White House gave earlier this year.

[Note: Non-DHS components (at least the OMB) don't seem to have a problem cooperating with the campaigns.]

First ever authorization bill for DHS

[VIDEO]

Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins have introduced the Senate’s first ever authorization bill for the US Department of Homeland Security. The bill would increase authority for several key DHS positions and expand the ranks of several of its agencies.

• The Senate DHS Authorization Bill

Presidential candidates answers about plans to combat bioterrorism

Excerpt from Nature magazine article: US election: Questioning the candidates:

Barack Obama accepted Nature’s invitation to answer 18 science-related questions in writing; John McCain’s campaign declined. Here are Obama’s answers to additional questions that did not appear in our print magazine. Wherever possible, Nature has noted what McCain has said at other times on these topics.

What would you do that would make America less vulnerable to bioterrorism in 2012 than it is today?

Obama: It’s time for a comprehensive effort to tackle bioterror. We know that the successful deployment of a biological weapon — whether it is sprayed into our cities or spread through our food supply — could kill tens of thousands of Americans and deal a crushing blow to our economy. Overseas, I will launch a Shared Security Partnership that invests $5 billion over 3 years to forge an international intelligence and law-enforcement infrastructure to take down terrorist networks. I will also strengthen US intelligence collection overseas to identify and interdict would-be bioterrorists before they strike and expand the US government’s bioforensics programme for tracking the source of any biological weapon. I will work with the international community to make any use of disease as a weapon declared a crime against humanity.

And to ensure our country is prepared should such an event occur, we must provide our public-health system with the surge capacity to confront a crisis and improve our ability to cope with infectious diseases. I will invest in new vaccines and technologies to detect attacks and to trace them to their origin, so that we can react in a timely fashion. I have pledged to invest $10 billion per year over the next 5 years in electronic health information systems to not only improve routine health care, but also ensure that these systems will give health officials the crucial information they need to deploy resources and save lives in an emergency. I will help hospitals form collaborative networks to deal with sudden surges in patients and will ensure that the United States has adequate supplies of medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tests and can get these vital products into the hands of those who need them.

We also have to expand local and state programmes to ensure that they have the resources to respond to these disasters. I will work to strengthen the federal government’s partnership with local and state governments on these issues by improving the mechanisms for clear communication, eliminating redundant programmes and building on the key strengths possessed by each level of government. I introduced legislation that would have provided funding for programmes in order to enhance emergency care systems throughout the country. I will build on America’s unparalleled talent and advantage in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] fields and the powerful insights into biological systems that are emerging to create new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic tests and to manufacture these vital products much more quickly and efficiently than is now possible. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has failed to take full advantage of the Bioshield initiative. Because of the unpredictability of the mode of biological attack, I will stress the need for broad-gauged vaccines and drugs and for more agile and responsive drug development and production systems. This effort will strengthen the US biotech and pharmaceutical industry and create high-wage jobs.

McCain, in response to a ScienceDebate2008 question about a potential H5N1 avian influenza epidemic, outlined a four-part strategy to deal with pandemics or deliberate biological attacks; key aspects are preparedness, communication, surveillance/detection and response/containment. In terms of specifics, he called for more research into next-generation automated sensors to detect biological agents and real-time information sharing with first responders.

Congress questions TSA’s new ‘no screening’ policy for airport screeners

From 9News (Colorado):

Citing concerns, three members of Congress on the Homeland Security Committee have asked the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to explain its new policy that says screeners no longer have to go through metal detectors or have their personal belongings examined in the way that passengers do.

[Note: The Homeland Security Committee in question is the House Homeland Security Committee, and one of the members asking was Congressman Bennie Thompson, the chair of the committee]

[Update 10/15: See also reasons why this could actually be an issue, and see also this post from Bruce Schneier which describes how to mitigate the issue by continuing to screen off-duty screeners]

Experts point out that other airport workers, such as mechanics and food and fuel delivery persons do not go through security screening checkpoints every day either. Those workers, who have access to airplanes, have airport security badges and have been given background checks. The new TSA policy adds another group to the list of workers who are not physically screened every day at the airport.

• Full story

Cybersecurity report & recommendations due in November

The Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency, recently gave a “sneak peak” of some of their recommendations to a House homeland security subcommittee.  DHS has rejected many of the recommendations offered during the hearings (see also this post by Robert D. Jamison, DHS Under Secretary National Protection & Programs – look down the page for the post on Sept 20).

[UPDATE: Members of the subcommittee take up the recommendations from the Commission and urge the U.S. to go on offensive in cyberwar]

[Update 10/16: Robert Jamison, DHS Undersecretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate rebuts a GCN editorial on this subject]

The Commission is scheduled to release the final report and recommendations in November (1 year after it was formed).

See Also:

• Comprehensive National Cyber Initiative (CNCI)