Bills Introduced – 04-12-13

Yesterday with only the House in session, there were three bills introduced that might be of interest to the chemical security community; two port security bills and another WMD bill. Those bills were:

HR 1534 Latest Title: To amend section 70107 of title 46, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the port security grant program through 2017. Sponsor: Rep Hahn, Janice (D,CA)

HR 1535 Latest Title: To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a study and report to Congress on gaps in port security in the United States and a plan to address them.  Sponsor: Rep Hahn, Janice (D,CA)

HR 1542 Latest Title: To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish weapons of mass destruction intelligence and information sharing functions of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security and to require dissemination of information analyzed by the Department to entities with responsibilities relating to homeland security, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Meehan, Patrick (R,PA)

I suspect that HR 1542 will be similar to HR 2764 that was passed in the House last year, but was never taken up by the Senate. Similarly HR 1534 will be similar to HR 4005 that suffered a similar fate. Both bills passed with bipartisan support and probably would have passed in the Senate if the leadership had been interested in bringing them to the floor for a vote.