"Today, the Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee will meet to receive testimony on domestic consequence management (CM) for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) attacks.  I want to thank all of our witnesses for attending and lending their expertise to the important discussion. General Renuart, I’d especially like to thank you for flying in this morning to be here with us. We welcome all of you and your thoughts.

"We must ensure that we have a framework of guidance laid out that clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of local, state and federal responders should a CBRNE attack take place domestically.

"While there are a variety of teams and resources available to respond to a domestic CBRNE attack – including, but not limited to Civil Support Teams, CBRNE Enhanced Response Force Packages, and CBRNE Consequence Management Response Forces – we must ensure we are training, resourcing, and utilizing these resources in the most efficient and effective way possible.  

"To ensure we are doing this, today this subcommittee would like to take a closer look at our overall domestic CBRNE response framework and the Department of Defense’s (DOD) role in responding to a domestic CBNRE attack, including the types of forces available and how they might be employed.

"We will also take a look at the coordination of responsibilities and forces between the DOD and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and explore preliminary findings of the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessing the DOD’s contribution to federal, state and local CM response capabilities. 

"Again, I thank the witnesses and look forward to an illuminating conversation on how we can more effectively tackle this critical challenge and ensure our efforts are coordinated in the event of a domestic CBRNE incident."