HR 7188 Introduced – CFATS Extension

Last week Rep. Ratcliffe (R,TX) introduced HR 7188, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Extension Act. The bill is a ‘clean’ extension of the current authority for the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program adding two years to the expiration in the current legislation.

While the original description of the bill included the phrase “and for other purposes”, there are no other provisions in the bill.

The bill is not currently on the schedule for consideration in the House, but the schedule this close to the end of the session is a tad bit more flexible than we normally see in the House.

This bill has the right sponsorship to see broad bipartisan support if/when the bill comes to the floor. As it currently stands there is one Senator firmly standing in the way of this bill being considered in the Senate, Sen. Johnson (R,WI). He said last week on the floor of the Senate that he would rather see the CFATS program shut down than see this bill pass.

Hopefully, the behind the scenes wrangling continues. And the possibility still remains that the same extension could find its way into the DHS spending bill that will probably be considered this week.