Seven years removed from the attacks of September 11, 2001, what are the key next steps for homeland security? In a testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight, I provided several answers to that question; my first answer, consolidation of congressional oversight of …
Data security is an issue within the federal government, according to a recent GAO report. The report indicated that, as of September 2007, only about 30% of sensitive information stored on the laptops and mobile devices of federal employees was encrypted. Concerns about the lack of data security in the …
Liberals and their pro-amnesty allies in the White House always try and frame the debate over illegal immigration as a binary choice: either we grant illegal immigrants already here citizenship or we spend massive resources forcibly deporting them. A study released yesterday by the Center for Immigration Studies provides more …
During Salim Hamdan’s U.S. military commission trial last week, defense lawyers pressed FBI agent’s on whether or not Hamdan (who has been accused of being Osama bin Laden’s driver) was ever read a Miranda warning (the Miranda v. Arizona U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1966, which held that potential criminal …
Kentucky is to be the recipient of $11.9 million federal dollars in pork. A Kentucky news station reported that the money was “to increase preparedness and response measures across the state,” however such federal grants are actually undermining state homeland security preparedness measures. According to a Heritage WebMemo by Homeland …
Congress has often criticized the Department of Homeland Security for its short comings, however in many ways Congress itself is to blame. When DHS was created 22 agencies and almost 200,000 people were pulled together into one entity. However, despite the 9/11 Commissions recommendation that congressional oversight should be consolidated, …
On May 20th Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement celebrating House passage of a bill preventing President Bush from adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. From the statement: “As the price of oil per barrel nears $130, suspending purchases will expand oil supplies and help bring down fuel costs …
Venezuela’s leftist leader Hugo Chavez isn’t set to arrive until tomorrow to meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimr Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, but two Russian media outlets are already claiming that Chavez will buy $1 billion to $2 billion worth of subs, helicopters and airplanes while in Moscow. Since …
