October 3, 2001

Mr. Chairman, today’s markup considers three bills to deal with terrorism. They reflect good policy and deserve our support. Certainly, this is just a beginning. Over the coming days and weeks we must take a hard look at a variety of potential terrorist threats, such as bioterrorism, the safety of the nation’s food supply, and sabotage of our energy and communications facilities. We also must take a look at the needs of our public health infrastructure to determine how it can be improved.

I commend you for keeping the Members of the Committee informed of these matters through a variety of briefings by government officials. On matters as urgent as the nation’s security, it is important that we continue to work in this collaborative bipartisan fashion.

We are moving rapidly on two measures that are contained in the Administration’s anti-terrorism bill. That legislation is also being considered at this time in the Judiciary Committee. The first provision makes sensible changes in our laws to keep dangerous biological agents out of the hands of terrorists. It makes clear that possession of very dangerous agents without authorization is a crime. The provision also tightens the regulation of the handling of such agents by authorized facilities. Many of these problems have been highlighted in hearings held by our Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

A second provision in the anti-terrorism bill would conform the nation’s laws so that when cable operators act as a telephone company or an Internet service provider they must comply with the same laws governing the interception and disclosure of communications that currently apply to other phone companies and Internet service providers. The provision continues to maintain consumer privacy rights under the Cable Act regarding an individual’s selection of video programming, which currently requires a court order subject to standards concerning the relevancy of the information.

The third bill was requested by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to strengthen security at nuclear facilities licensed by the NRC. The provisions in this bill have all been reported by this Committee in the past Congress, but unfortunately, have never been enacted into law. The provisions would authorize guards at NRC regulated facilities to carry arms, make arrests, and use force to protect a nuclear facility. The bill makes other conforming changes to law to provide enhanced authorities for NRC and its regulated community to address issues relating to the unauthorized introduction of weapons and the sabotage of nuclear facilities.

I am pleased we have been able to work in this bipartisan fashion on these measures, and in these difficult times, I hope will continue to do so.

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