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In this guest Op-ed, Representatives Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Peter King (R-NY) discuss the homeland security bill, which augments U.S.-Israel security ties
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) is the Committee Chairman and Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY) is the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
On August 3, President Bush signed the “Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007” into law. Also known as the 9/11 Bill, this legislation contains a number of important, bipartisan homeland security measures - one of which would likely never have been possible were it not for our close relationship with Israel.
Earlier this year, we sponsored the Promoting Anti-Terrorism Cooperation through Technology and Science (PACTS) Act, a bill based upon a long-standing research-and-development partnership with Israel, one of our most important allies.
Widely supported by the House when it first passed in September 2006 and again this February, the PACTS Act will enable the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to collaborate with our strongest allies in the war on terror -- including Israel, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Canada and Australia -- in the development of homeland security technologies and other science-based tools to fight terrorism. Thanks to bipartisan negotiations with our counterparts in the Senate we were able to include nearly identical language in the 9/11 Bill, and we are very pleased that this important tool in the fight against terrorism made it to the President’s desk.
The development and implementation of technology is critical to combating terrorism and implementing a comprehensive homeland security strategy. The United States and its allies in the global war on terrorism share a commitment to peace, freedom and democracy, and already there is tremendous collaboration among these countries in the fields of defense, intelligence and homeland security. It is time the United States’ relationship with all our key allies expand in the sharing and development of homeland security technologies as well.
By using our collaborative technology partnership with Israel as a model, we can better protect all our nations from terrorist attacks.
The PACTS Act language accomplishes this by establishing within DHS a Science and Technology Homeland Security International Cooperative Programs Office that is responsible for promoting cooperative research between the United States and its allies.
The new office will develop strategic priorities for international cooperative activity and address them through agreements with foreign entities; facilitate the matching of U.S. entities engaged in homeland security research with appropriate foreign research partners; ensure funds and resources expended for international cooperative activity are equitably matched; and coordinate the activities of the office with other relevant Federal agencies and departments.
Thanks to this provision, the 9/11 Bill will further strengthen our relationship with Israel as well. We anticipate that the International Cooperative Programs Office will continue to build on agreements like the February 2007 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the DHS and the Israeli Ministry of Public Security. This joint understanding sets a series of goals and terms for security collaboration, including a partnership on flight security, inspection and information sharing, as well as sharing research and development progress in the field of explosives detection.
The United States and Israel first began sharing technological development and information in 1977 through the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation. Since then, the BIRD Foundation has invested $225 million in 690 cooperative research-and-development projects, benefiting both Israel and the United States.
The development and implementation of technology is critical to the security of our homeland; and, for the past 30 years, we’ve benefited from a close working relationship with Israel and the Israelis’ great experience and success in combating terrorism. It’s time we developed similar relationships with all our closest allies, and the 9/11 Bill will do a great deal to help accomplish that goal.
