Pete Domenici: “I engage the distinguished Senator from Mississippi and chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee in…”

“I engage the distinguished Senator from Mississippi and chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee in a discussion about the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center--or NISAC--and its importance to the overall mission of the Department of Homeland Security. I understand the desire of the chairman to give the Department of Homeland Security the maximum flexibility to identify potential terrorist threats and to appropriately respond to them. However, there are ongoing programs that I believe deserve the Senate's support and that need to be put in place to assist with this important responsibility. The National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center was established in fiscal year 2000 by Department of Energy national laboratories at Sandia and Los Alamos in New Mexico to model critical infrastructure in the nation to identify vulnerabilities to potential terrorist attacks, prepare for such attacks, and to mitigate and respond to such attacks if necessary. Following the terrible events of September 11, NISAC was specifically authorized in the Patriot Act and received appropriations of $20 million in fiscal year 2002 to continue to implement the program.”