Sheila Jackson Lee: “As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, I rise in support of H.R. 251, the ``Chemical Facility…”

“As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, I rise in support of H.R. 251, the ``Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Extension Act,'' which will extend by two years the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program (CFATS) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and for other purposes. I thank Chairman Bernie Thompson of the House Homeland Security Committee for his leadership in introducing this important bill to improve chemical facility security. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards CFATS program is the first in the nation to focus specifically on security at high-risk chemical facilities. Through this regulatory program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) works with facilities to ensure they have security measures in place to reduce the risk associated with certain hazardous chemicals, and prevent them from being exploited in terrorist attack. These facilities must submit their chemical holdings to DHS via a process known as a Top Screen, which in turn is used by DHS to determine if the facilities is considered high risk and must develop a security plan. The Department of Homeland Security reported more than 90,000 Top- Screen submissions from more than 40,000 unique facilities, of this number, CFATS program currently cover 3,355 facilities. Today, Texas is the national leader in petroleum refining and chemical products production.…”