A Look Ahead: House Committee on Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, announced the following upcoming Committee events:

Tuesday, October 25

Subcommittee Hearing: Five Years Later: An Assessment of the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act

10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 25, in 311 Cannon House Office Building

Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications

Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Chairman

Invited Witnesses Include:

Hon. W. Craig Fugate
Administrator
Federal Emergency Management Agency
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Chairman Bilirakis on the hearing:

"Earlier this month marked the five year anniversary of the Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, legislation enacted to strengthen the Federal Emergency Management Agency's preparedness and response capabilities.  This hearing will provide Members with an opportunity to assess FEMA's progress since the passage of PKEMRA and consider areas in which FEMA's capabilities could be further enhanced, especially in light of the many disasters our country has experienced this year."

Wednesday, October 26

Joint Subcommittee Hearing: Iranian Terror Operations on American Soil

10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 26, in 311 Cannon House Office Building

Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Management

Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA), Chairman

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Chairman

Invited Witnesses Include:

General Jack Keane
United States Army (Retired)

Mr. Reuel Marc Gerecht
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Dr. Matt Levitt
Director
Stein Program on Counterterrorism & Intelligence
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Colonel Timothy J. Geraghty
United States Marine Corps (Retired)

Chairman Meehan on the hearing:

"This hearing will examine the capability and intent of the Iranian government to conduct terrorist attacks on American soil.  The complaint unsealed in New York on October 11th alleges that senior officials in the Iranian government ordered the assassination of the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC.  In my view, this represents the crossing of a 'red line' by the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism against the United States and Israel.  We will hear from an expert panel of witnesses with long personal experiences fighting the many facets of Iran's terrorist regime — as soldiers, CIA case officers and terror finance investigators.  This week marks the 28th anniversary of Iran's terrorist attack against the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 241 servicemen.  In light of Iran's reckless provocation revealed in recent weeks, we must do everything we can to ensure that nothing like this ever happens in the U.S. Homeland."     

Chairman McCaul on the hearing: 

“The Iranian Government is a threat to the international community; they are building weapons of mass destruction.  They are a threat to the Middle East, attempting to dominate the region through intimidation.  And now we discover the Iranian Government is a threat to the American homeland; attempting to assassinate an Ambassador from another country on our soil using drug cartels operating on America’s doorstep.  The Iranian Government needs to understand there will be consequences for their actions.  In the past we have attempted to use economic sanctions.  It is obvious these sanctions are not working because the Iranian Government continues to believe it can do whatever it wants without consequences.  This is no longer the case.  Our message to Iran is simple—continue your attempts at threatening the national security of the United States and have no doubt there will be a punitive response.  Our hearing will examine the threats from the Iranian Government, the timid US responses and examine alternative responses to their continual attempts to do us harm.”

Friday, October 28

Subcommittee Field Hearing: The State of the Northern Border Preparedness: A Review of Federal, State, and Local Coordination

10:00 a.m. on Friday, October 28, Marvin I. Danto Engineering Building Development Center Auditorium, 5050 Anthony Wayne Drive, Detroit, MI, 48202

Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications

Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Chairman

Invited Witnesses Include:

Panel I

Mr. Andrew Velasquez
Regional Administrator
FEMA Region Five

RADM Michael Parks
U.S. Coast Guard
Ninth District Commander

Mr. John Beutlich
Director of the Northern Region
Office of Air & Marine
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Panel II

Captain Thomas Sands
Deputy State Director 
Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security

Mr. R. Daryl Lundy
Director
City of Detroit
Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management

Commissioner Donald Austin
City of Detroit Fire Department
Administration Division

***See www.homeland.house.gov for updates.

***Coverage note:  All Committee on Homeland Security proceedings are webcast live at www.homeland.house.gov/live-video-feed.

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