SUBCOMMITTEE
ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY,
PROLIFERATION AND FEDERAL SERVICES
HEARING
Critical
Skills for National Security and The
Homeland Security Federal Workforce Act (S.1800)
March
12, 2002
The Committee will please come to order.
We are beginning to find that many of my colleagues
and many in the public have much interest in what we are
discussing today. I
want to thank our witnesses for joining us this afternoon.
The terrorist attacks of September 11th,
exposed the strengths and weaknesses of our great country.
We saw firsthand the impact of the lack of critical
personnel and needed skills in our national security
agencies. These
events also gave us a preview of the problems we will face
tomorrow if these skills are not strengthened.
Federal agencies did not have the critical personnel
with the language capabilities needed to investigate the
attacks. Some
agencies, like the FBI, were forced to post urgent job
announcements for foreign language speakers to translate and
investigate crucial evidence.
According to the President’s science advisor, there
is not enough scientific expertise in government to evaluate
proposals to combat terrorism in a timely fashion.
In today’s Washington Post, we are reminded that
agencies have a shortage of analysts to translate and
analyze the large volumes of intelligence data acquired
since U.S. forces entered Afghanistan.
This has led some officials to admit that there is a
risk that information valuable to our efforts against
terrorism could slip through.
The importance of national security critical skills in
government has been recognized for some time.
Congress passed the National Defense Education Act of
1958 in response to the Soviet Union’s first space launch.
We were determined to win the space race and make
certain that the United States never came up short again in
the areas of math, science, technology, or foreign languages.
Members of this Subcommittee have worked on this issue
more recently.
Under the guidance of Senator Cochran, this
subcommittee held a hearing a year and a half ago to define
more clearly the United States’ need for foreign language
proficiency and to examine whether appropriate resources were
made available to strengthen these skills among federal
workers. At that
time, we heard that the intelligence community lacked
individuals with the translating skills needed to respond in
times of crisis.
Last March, Senator Voinovich held a hearing on the
national security implications of the human capital crisis.
Witnesses from that hearing sent a strong message :
strengthening math, science, and foreign language capabilities
in government is a precondition for fixing virtually
everything else in our U.S. national security complex.
Let me thank Senator Cochran and Senator Voinovich for
their leadership in these areas.
Senator Voinovich has also asked me to announce that he
thinks this hearing is very important and although he has been
unavoidably delayed, he expects to be here later.
Our math, science and foreign language capabilities in
the federal government are at risk, and there is no quick
solution.
It has taken years of neglect to reach this deficit in
trained workers, and it will take sustained efforts to hire,
retain and retrain employees with critical skills.
We must use every tool at our disposal to defend
America against present and future threats.
To do this we must ensure that the talented people in
government have the right expertise to meet their changing
missions.
Senators Durbin, Thompson and I introduced S.1800, the
Homeland Security Federal Workforce Act as a comprehensive,
long-term approach to addressing these shortfalls in
government. I am
pleased that the Ranking Member of this Subcommittee, Senator
Cochran, as well as Senators Voinovich and Collins are
cosponsors of S.1800. Our bipartisan approach takes important steps toward
recruiting more people into government with critical national
security skills.
Complementing this legislation is S.1799, the Homeland
Security Education Act, which addresses shortages of those
students pursuing degrees in math, science and critical
foreign languages.
The Homeland Security Federal Workforce Act proposes
several measures to ensure that government preserves its
expertise in matters of national security.
This bill increases student loan forgiveness programs
for those who work in positions of national security and
offers fellowships for existing federal employees and those
who commit to serve in federal national security positions.
It also offers a rotational assignment program for
mid-level federal employees and provides training and
professional development opportunities.
We must make certain that those entering federal service have the needed
skills and that our existing workforce has the opportunity to
acquire specialized training.
As we seek new government employees, we cannot ignore
the people whose expertise and talents guide agencies daily in
meeting their missions.
With our witnesses help, we will explore the skills
that agencies need to accomplish their current national
security missions and how the Homeland Security Federal
Workforce Act can help meet the challenge of strengthening
these skills in the future.
I want to thank all of our witnesses for being with us
today and I look forward to an interesting and lively
discussion.
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