Event: House HS Hearing with Janet Napolitano

The House Committee on Homeland Security will be having a full committee hearing on Wednesday Feb 25, with DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano as a witness. The title/subject is “DHS: The Path Forward.”

House passes law to improve sharing of threat information

Legislation passed by the House Tuesday (H.R. 553) would require DHS to produce a declassified version of threat information for state and local first responders who don’t have the security clearance to view classified material. The measure would also require portion marking, where certain classified parts of a document might be blacked out but the rest of the information would remain unclassified.

New bill calls for quarterly reports from DHS grant recipients

A bill that would require recipients of homeland security grants to file quarterly reports to Congress on precisely how they spent those funds has been filed by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and co-sponsored by five other congressmen. I’ll update this post as the bill’s status changes.

DHS IG Report: DHS’ role in fusion centers

The DHS Office of Inspector General issued a report last week on “DHS’ Role in
State and Local Fusion Centers”, in response to a request from U.S. Representative Bennie G. Thompson. Here’s a summary of the 7 recommendations made in the report.

FEMA’s relationship to DHS drawing attention and debate

One of the big decisions President-elect Obama will face when his administration takes over DHS is whether to leave FEMA as a part of DHS, or remove it from DHS and make it a cabinet-level agency, as it was before DHS was formed. Members of Congress, stakeholders, and prominent organizations are taking sides on the issue, but it’s not clear yet what stancethe Obama administration will take.

Expect changes in U.S. approach to cybersecurity

The U.S. approach to cybersecurity is likely to change significantly under the Obama administration, although it’s not clear yet exactly what priorities will be sacrificed to make room for the increased focus, or how the changes will all play out. But there’s agreement about our vulnerability from the front-line stakeholders through Congress and the White House, so expect some major changes in both leadership and policy. Increases in funding should also be expected, though whether funding comes as new expenditures or shifting of funding from other areas remains to be seen.

Event: House Homeland Security Committee roundtables on privacy, civil rights, & civil liberties at DHS

When:  Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
Where: 311 Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C.
Time:  9:00 am – 4:00 pm

On Wednesday, December 3rd, the Majority Staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security will host a series of roundtable discussions on the future of privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties at DHS.  The event, entitled “A Path Forward: [...]

Emergency Managers endorse removing FEMA from DHS

From CQ Politics:
The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), a prominent association of emergency managers, is recommending that the Obama administration pull the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) out of the Homeland Security Department and restore its leader to cabinet level status.  Larry J. Gispert, president of IAEM said this has been the IAEM’s “informal [...]

Committee leaders await findings on info sharing network

From FCW:
The House Homeland Security Committee’s Democratic leadership remains concerned about the Homeland Security Department’s effort to overhaul its platform for sharing sensitive but unclassified information with state and local authorities, dubbed HSIN Next Gen (HSIN = Homeland Security Information Network).
In July, the chairman, Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and a senior member, Jane Harman (D-CA), asked [...]

House Homeland Security chair faults DHS for unfinished scenarios

From HSToday:
In a letter to DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff on Oct 9., Congressman Bennie Thompson, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, charged that DHS has failed to draft national planning scenarios for specific threats as ordered in a presidential directive nearly five years ago.
The letter states that Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8 ordered DHS [...]