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Release Date: March 28, 2007
Good Morning Chairman Price, Ranking Member Rogers, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. It is an honor to appear before you today to update you on the progress of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T Directorate) and discuss how the President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2008 will position us to develop and transition technology to protect the Nation from catastrophic events.
The S&T Directorate is committed to serving our customers, the components that comprise the Department of Homeland Security — and their customers — the hardworking men and women on the front lines of homeland security, especially the first responders, who need ready access to technology and information to perform their jobs more efficiently and safely. I am honored and privileged to serve with the talented scientists, engineers and other professionals who support these dedicated Americans in our shared mission to secure our homeland and defend our freedoms.
First and foremost, I am very appreciative of the leadership of the Congress in its support of the S&T Directorate, and of me personally, as I assumed the role of Under Secretary for Science and Technology last August. The informed counsel of Committee Members with homeland security oversight, and that of their staffs, has been invaluable to my efforts to position the S&T Directorate for accountability, tangible results and success, both for today and in the future.
Also, thank you for your vote of confidence in the Directorate, evidenced by the decision to appropriate $848 million in FY 2007. This has been enormously helpful in my efforts to better align people with our mission to develop a robust science and technology capability to protect the Nation as Congress envisioned in the enabling legislation for the Department. We look forward to working with the 110th Congress in a bipartisan and non-partisan manner to use science to better secure the Nation.
I am also grateful for the leadership of the President and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and for the vision and guidance that the Secretary and Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson have contributed to the realignment process.
My first six months on the job have been focused on laying the foundation in organization, people, and processes to enable the Directorate to skillfully apply the resources you have wisely provided in ways that best serve the American people and better secure our homeland. I am pleased to report that we are “open for business,” and your support of the President’s FY 2008 Budget Request will allow us to build upon that momentum.
As I’ve said on many occasions, the S&T Directorate must excel in four key areas if we are to accomplish these goals: We must get the organization, the people, the books, and the program content right. These four “gets” are the cornerstones of the realignment effort and we’ve made significant progress in each of these areas. In addition to the four gets, the four Bs — bombs, borders, bugs and business — provide the thematic approach to help keep us focused on the priority areas for the S&T Directorate.
I have realigned the S&T Directorate to help it fulfill its potential of becoming the customer-focused, output-oriented, science and technology management organization that Congress intended it to be and the Nation deserves. I thank Congress for its support of the new organizational structure that, in turn, is supportive of a broad and balanced range of activities that are aimed at identifying, enabling and transitioning new capabilities to our customers to better protect the nation. We have organized our program management into six technical divisions that are led by veteran S&T Directorate staff members and linked to three research investment portfolio directors in a “matrix management” structure. The technical divisions are focused on the enduring homeland security disciplines of Explosives; Chemical and Biological; Command, Control & Interoperability; Borders and Maritime Security; Human Factors; and Infrastructure Protection and Geophysical Sciences. The portfolio directors — Director of Research, Director of Transition, and Director of Innovation/Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) — provide cross-cutting coordination of their respective aspects of the investment strategy within the technical divisions.
Office of the Under
Secretary for Science & Technology
I am pleased to report that today the S&T Directorate has a strong leadership team in place with all key positions filled. Since August, we have also welcomed 20 new highly qualified subject matter experts and professionals to the S&T Directorate, including three former DHS S&T employees who had previously left the Directorate and who have returned. Overall, we are 66 percent staffed and plan to have 100 percent of staff in place by the end of 2007.
I have made significant strides in “getting the books right” by holding the S&T Directorate to a high standard of fiscal responsibility. Toward this end, I have established an Office of Strategy, Policy & Budget Division led by the S&T Chief Financial Officer that has put in place the systems and protocols that will enable the S&T Directorate to be fully responsive and transparent in the budget development process and in the sound fiscal management of S&T appropriations. This new office is enhancing the efficiency of S&T operations by integrating related functions of policy, planning, programming, budgeting and execution. Centralizing financial oversight has enabled the S&T Directorate to implement corrective actions to address financial management deficiencies and accelerate the distribution of funds to DHS Laboratories, Department of Energy National Laboratories, private industry and academia. As a result, the S&T Directorate has committed 47 percent of its FY 2007 budget compared to 6 percent at the same time last year, significantly accelerating the distribution of funds to DHS Labs, DOE Labs, industry and academia, which will result in accelerated technology development and delivery to keep our Nation safer.
In other developments, I have added a director of Special Programs to work in select, mission-critical areas. And a new director of Test & Evaluation and Standards is building upon the S&T Directorate’s previous work in homeland security standards and adding test and evaluation capabilities to advance this effort and draw greater industry participation in developing new technologies for homeland security applications throughout DHS. We have also established a Corporate Communications Office to inform and engage our customers and their customers in the S&T Directorate’s broad investment portfolios.
I also know that we must look beyond our Department, indeed beyond our nation’s borders, for solutions in combating domestic terrorism. Therefore, consistent with DHS enabling legislation, I have established Interagency and International Program Offices responsible for, respectively, coordinating with other Executive Branch agencies to reduce duplication and identify unmet needs, and coordinating our international outreach efforts to help us tap into science and technology communities across the globe for solutions to counter domestic terrorism. Embedded S&T Directorate liaisons in Europe, the Americas and Pacific/Asia are casting a wide global net to identify the most viable homeland security solutions and their providers.
Last December, we saw the “physical manifestation” of our restructuring plan spring to life with the relocation of 340 of our staff members within the Directorate. Staff are now physically co-located within their new organizational alignments. At the same time, I issued the first S&T Organization and Requirements Manual (STORM) that defines functions, duties and responsibilities for the administration and management of the Directorate. The STORM tells our customers who we are and how we function so they may better understand the capabilities we can bring to bear in support of their protective missions.
Throughout this process, it was very important to me personally that S&T staff be kept informed of our plans for the realignment and that they have a forum for asking questions and expressing their views and concerns. Since last August, I have held four “All Hands” meetings at regular intervals to brief all S&T staff, including teleconference links with staff in other locations such as the Transportation Security Laboratory in Atlantic City, Plum Island Animal Disease Center, and the Environmental Measurements Laboratory in New York City. These meetings also allow me to recognize the achievements of staff members, to answer questions and solicit input, and, most importantly, express my gratitude for their excellent work and for all the cooperation, support and patience they have exhibited during this transitional period.
During the first six months of my tenure as Under Secretary for Science and Technology, I have focused on building the organization, team and processes that are necessary for any science and technology management organization to succeed. While our effort to completely institutionalize these changes continue, we now have a foundation in place that allows us to focus on delivering products to our customers as we execute our FY 2007 appropriation. The S&T Directorate is striving to be effective, cost-efficient, responsive, agile and flexible, and with your support of the President’s FY 2008 Budget Request we will build on our current momentum.
The S&T Directorate functions as the science and technology manager within the Department. We invest in science and technology that supports DHS components in their efforts to protect our homeland against catastrophic events – technology that makes the Nation safer. In the last six months, we have established meaningful working relationships with our DHS operational component customers. As they appear before you this year, I encourage you to ask them about the ways that S&T is addressing their operational needs. Thanks to the support of the Congress and the leadership of the Department, we are gaining significant momentum, and I humbly ask for your continued trust and support so that we can build on those efforts.
The S&T Directorate develops and manages an integrated program of science and technology, from basic research through technology transition to customers that are the operating components of DHS, State, local and tribal governments, first responders and private sector entities. The managers of this program are predominantly active scientists and engineers in the many disciplines relevant to Homeland Security. They are guided by a multi-tiered investment strategy and review process based on higher guidance, the stated needs of our customers, and technology opportunities.
The President’s FY 2008 Budget Request includes $86 million for the basic research portfolio which addresses the long-term R&D needs for the Department in sciences of enduring relevance to Homeland Security. The transition portfolio, designed to provide mission-capability relevant technology in support of the Department’s acquisition programs, is driven by customer needs through a DHS customer-led IPT process. The President has requested $343 million in FY 2008 for this effort. The Director of HSARPA administers the $73 million innovation portfolio (includes the Small Business Innovation Research program) to promote revolutionary changes in technologies with a focus on prototyping and deploying technologies critical to homeland security. This portfolio, balanced around risk, cost, impact and time to delivery, produces capabilities of high technical quality responsive to homeland security requirements.
DHS Science &
Technology Investment Portfolio
The S&T Directorate’s basic research portfolio addresses long-term research and development needs in support of DHS mission areas that will provide the Nation with an enduring capability in homeland security. This type of focused, protracted research investment has the potential to lead to paradigm shifts in the nation’s homeland security capabilities.
The S&T Directorate’s basic research program enables fundamental research at our universities, government laboratories and in the private sector. Approximately $95 million is allocated for basic research in FY 2007 and $86 million, 13 percent, is allocated in FY 2008. Eventually, I would like up to 20 percent of the S&T Directorate budget allocated for basic research. It is critical that basic research be funded at consistent levels from year to year to ensure a continuity of effort from the research community in critical areas that will seed homeland security science and technology for the next generation of Americans and prevent technological surprise.
The centerpiece of the S&T Directorate’s product transition portfolio are Capstone Integrated Product Teams (IPT) that function in mission-critical areas to identify our customers’ needs and enable and transition near-term capabilities for addressing them. These Capstone IPTs engage DHS customers, acquisition partners, S&T technical division heads, and end users as appropriate in our product research, development, transition and acquisition activities.
The IPT process enables our customers to identify and prioritize their operational capability gaps and requirements and make informed decisions about technology investments. The S&T Directorate, in turn, gathers the information it needs to respond with applicable technology solutions for closing these capability gaps. The science and technology solutions that are the outcome of this process, referred to as Enabling Homeland Capabilities, draw upon technologies that can be developed, matured, and delivered to our customer acquisition programs within three years.
Capstone IPTs have been established in 10 major areas: Information Sharing/Management; Cyber Security; People Screening; Border Security; Chemical/Biological Defense; Maritime Security; Explosive Prevention; Cargo Security; Infrastructure Protection; and Incident Management (includes first responder interoperability).
DHS
Requirements/Capability Capstone IPTs
The S&T Directorate’s product transition/IPT process ensures that appropriate technologies are engineered and integrated into the DHS acquisition system for our customers. Approximately $343 million is allocated for product transition for FY 2008, a little over 50 percent of my budget.
The IPT process has created an excellent forum for the S&T Directorate to gain a better understanding of the most important issues of our customer agencies. Another tangible benefit of this Capstone IPT process has been improved coordination in addressing common functional challenges across the Department. This is due in large measure to the enthusiastic participation of DHS agency heads such as TSA Administrator Kip Hawley, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, and Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar and many other DHS leaders who have all personally chaired the IPTs relevant to their interests.
In FY 2008, the S&T Directorate plans to transition or transfer four programs that pre-date the IPT process. These programs have reached technical maturity and will be transferred to other DHS agencies who will be responsible for their continued operation. The budget request reflects the transfer to the Office of Health Affairs of the operations portions of BioWatch 1 & 2, the Biological Warning and Incident Characterization (BWIC) system, and the Rapidly Deployable Chemical Detection System, totaling $84.1 million. Moving the operations portions of BioWatch out of S&T allows us to focus on completing the development of BioWatch 3. BioWatch is a bio-aerosol monitoring system designed to provide cities the earliest possible detection of a biological attack. BWIC interprets warning signals from BioWatch and public health surveillance data using incident characterization tools (e.g., plume and epidemiological models) to quickly determine the potential impacts a release may have. Together, these two systems provide emergency personnel with the information they need to respond effectively and initiate life-saving medical countermeasures. In addition, the FY 2008 budget request reflects the transfer of the SAFECOM program to the National Protection and Programs Directorate, totaling $5.0 million.
It is important that the S&T Directorate also engage the emergency responder community and address operational issues to help them do their jobs more quickly, effectively and safely. S&T’s Technology Clearinghouse and TechSolutions initiatives provide direct support to emergency responders’ technology needs. The Technology Clearinghouse, created in accordance with a provision of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, is designed to be a "one-stop shop" for access to technology information for Federal, State, and local public safety and first responder communities. TechSolutions provides a Web-based mechanism for responders to register their input regarding capability gaps that need to be addressed to help them in their jobs. S&T responds by identifying existing technology that may meet the need, or if nothing is available, proceeding with the rapid prototyping of an appropriate solution to be fielded in less than 18 months. S&T also houses the Office for Interoperability and Communications, which aims to increase levels of emergency responder interoperability by developing tools and methodologies, as well as advancing standards that emergency response agencies can put into effect.
S&T’s Innovation/HSARPA portfolio supports a key goal of mine for the Directorate in its efforts to put advanced capabilities into the hands of our customers as soon as possible. It has made important inroads in research areas aligned with our DHS customers. Toward this end, S&T has introduced two important new initiatives. One of these, Homeland Innovative Prototypical Solutions (HIPS) are designed to deliver prototype-level demonstrations of game-changing technologies within two to five years.
The second initiative, High Impact Technology Solutions (HITS), is designed to provide proof-of-concept solutions within one to three years that could result in high-payoff technology breakthroughs. While these projects are very high-risk, they offer the potential for “leap-ahead” gains in capability should they succeed. While projects are separately budgeted in “Innovation/HSARPA” (based on moderate to high risk with a high payoff, if successful), ALL are executed within the six technical divisions.
The S&T Directorate also continues to manage an active Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program on behalf of DHS that currently issues two solicitations each year and generates multiple awards for the small business community. The first solicitation for FY 2007 opens in mid-February and the second solicitation is planned for release in May. The solicitations will address topics in areas that are aligned with the six technical divisions.
The Innovation/HSARPA portfolio is receiving $60 million in FY 2008 funding for the innovative/leap-ahead HIPS and HITS projects. Because of the short timeline for HIPS and HITS, we anticipate that these projects will respond to the urgent needs of the DHS components for solutions to fill capability gaps.
The S&T Directorate is developing a robust, results-oriented network of Homeland Security Centers of Excellence (COEs) to leverage the independent thinking and ground-breaking capabilities of the Nation’s colleges and universities. The COEs are conducting multidisciplinary research and education, each focused on an area critical to homeland security. The Office of University Programs is providing the communications and infrastructure to produce, share, and transition the Centers’ research results, data, and technology to customers and end users.
Currently, seven pre-existing COEs connect experts and researchers at more than 80 colleges and universities, including several Minority Serving Institutions (MSI). More than 20 partners representing industry, laboratories, think tanks, nonprofit organizations, and other agencies also participate. University Programs is coordinating COE efforts with other S&T Directorate-sponsored, university-based initiatives. Under the new S&T organizational construct, existing COEs are being strategically aligned with at least one S&T division, or to Directorate-wide activities such as Operations Analysis and the Homeland Security Institute, in a structure that will best support the Divisions’ fundamental research and development activities and other requirements.
We are proceeding with plans to establish four additional COEs over the next two fiscal years to help round-out the Directorate’s need for university-based fundamental research. The new COEs will combine the research missions of some existing COEs and add new research areas under the division-aligned construct to meet DHS needs. S&T has released Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) regarding plans to establish new COEs in the areas of explosives detection, mitigation, and response; border security and immigration; maritime, island, and extreme/remote environment security; and natural disasters, coastal infrastructure and emergency management. The competitive selection process is designed to ensure that institutions of high quality and academic merit participate from as many areas of the United States as practicable.
DHS education programs are helping to attract and nurture future scientific leaders for the homeland security workforce and to strengthen the expertise of our existing labor pool. University Programs is engaging high-performing students through the DHS Scholars and Fellows program. Increasingly, S&T’s scholarships and fellowships will become aligned to the Centers of Excellence and to the DHS mission. During this period of transition, we will honor our commitments to all currently participating Scholars and Fellows.
The FY 2008 budget requests $38.7 million for S&T’s University Programs, which includes the Homeland Security Centers of Excellence and the Scholars and Fellows Program.
In carrying out its mission, the S&T Directorate works to develop, sustain, and renew a coordinated network of DOE National Laboratories, Federal laboratories and University Centers, the infrastructure needed by multi-disciplinary teams of scientists, engineers and academics to discover, develop and transition homeland security capabilities to operational end-users.
The FY 2008 budget request includes $88.8 million for the Office for National Laboratories (ONL), through which the S&T Directorate’s laboratory facilities programs are executed. ONL provides the Nation with a coordinated, enduring core of productive science, technology and engineering laboratories, organizations and institutions, which can supply knowledge and technology required to secure our homeland. In addition to oversight of laboratory operations in direct support of the Department and its missions, ONL also has the specific responsibility for coordinating homeland security-related activities and laboratory-directed research conducted within the DOE National Laboratories.
Industry is a valued partner of DHS S&T and its continued participation in developing solutions for homeland security applications is vital to our effort to safeguard the nation. Consistent with S&T’s new structure, our Innovation/HSARPA portfolio and six technical divisions will be releasing BAAs that seek industry participation to address specific challenges in their respective areas. For example, Innovation/HSARPA has already posted BAAs seeking expertise in tunnel detection technologies, container security (SAFECON program), and a mobile screening laboratory to support human screening R&D in the field.
Innovation/HSARPA plans to release six additional BAAs shortly to address areas that include critical infrastructure protection, hostile intent detection and other key areas. No later than spring 2007, we intend to issue a BAA for longer-term efforts that cover our complete innovation topic area portfolio.
No one knows where good ideas come from and for that reason I have been personally proactive in both seeking out and receiving technology briefs and opportunities. This is a culture I am working to instill throughout the DHS S&T Directorate.
The Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act of 2002, administered in the S&T Directorate, is proving to be a valuable tool in expanding the creation, proliferation and use of cutting edge anti-terrorism technologies throughout the United States. Over the past year we have made significant improvements in implementing the Act, including a revised, streamlined Application Kit; new coverage for emerging technologies that are undergoing test and evaluation; increased use of pre-application teleconferences between SAFETY Act technology evaluators and applicants to review requirements and answer questions prior to submitting a full application; and procedures to expedite applications for technologies involved with pending government procurements. In 2006, 65 unique technologies and services were approved for coverage under the Act, with approximately 40 currently under evaluation. I am mindful of the interest in this program in the Congress and across the Nation.
As part of our outreach efforts to encourage greater industry participation, the Directorate is hosting the first Homeland Security Science & Technology Stakeholders Conference, May 21-24. The conference will inform government, industry and academia of the direction, emphasis, and scope of the research investments by the S&T Directorate, and provide information about business opportunities. The conference will present the Directorate’s new organization, explain how to do business with the DHS S&T research enterprise, and provide visibility into new and emerging technologies through an Innovation Gateway Marketplace. I hope you will join us for this event at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.
Science and Technology Directorate’s budget request of $799.1 million includes $142.6 million for Management and Administration (M&A) and $656.5 million for research, development, testing and evaluation. M&A funds federal employees’ salaries, benefits, travel, and other expenses at Headquarters and the S&T laboratories. This staff maintains oversight of S&T’s extensive day-to-day technical and administrative operations. M&A also funds business operations, including working capital fund, and management support. Research, Development, Acquisition and Operations supports the needs of the operational components of the Department and is categorized to match the new S&T organization.
In conclusion, I am pleased to report that the S&T Directorate is well positioned today to mobilize the nation’s vast technical and scientific capabilities to enable solutions to detect, protect against and recover from catastrophic events.
Our plans for restructuring the organization have been implemented and it is indeed gratifying to see that they appear to be working as we advance to the critical phase of product transition. Increasingly, our DHS customers are recognizing the substantial value that S&T’s technical expertise brings to their operations. We have engaged them, eliciting participation at the highest levels, to join us at the table to work constructively on solutions for countering the formidable threats this nation faces.
We appreciate the many demands on the taxpayers’ precious dollars and you have my commitment that the S&T Directorate will be wise stewards of the public monies you have entrusted to us. We are steadfast in our resolve to serve the best interests of the nation by investing in the talent and technology that will provide America with a sustainable capability to protect against acts of terror and other high-consequence events for generations to come.
Members of the Subcommittee, I thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today to discuss a newly realigned Science & Technology Directorate that is meeting homeland security challenges with a renewed sense of purpose and mission. I look forward to working with you throughout the 110th Congress.
This page was last reviewed/modified on March 28, 2007.