Congress Questions Napolitano On Role Of DHS

By Julianne LaJeunesse, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

If you could count all of the concerns that were thrown at U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, it might make you more than a math whiz, it might make you curious. Curious as to why and how the department is going to handle international border issues, cyber terrorism and how the U.S. legal system will adequately handle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s New York City trial.

The committee hearing was intended to provide oversight over DHS, and several times the role of the department was questioned. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) asked Napolitano about the department’s role in protecting cyber security, suggesting the entity may not be the best group for the job.

“When you take out the technical aspects, and the legal aspects, it’s hard to see how Homeland Security ends up with a very strong platform for persistent leadership, unless there’s some vehicle for coordinating the DNI [Director of National Intelligence], and you, and the Attorney General, and everybody together, and I’m not comfortable that that presently exists,” Whitehouse said. “I think the NSC [National Security Council] is a good interim measure, but it would seem that that should evolve into a more formal cyber-specific government structure at some point.”

Though Whitehouse suggested that cyber security could be handled by another government arm, too much government role was a theme that Senators Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) and Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said may be unnecessary. The two said transportation measures, such as some airport securities and aggressive border patrol practices, could be safely downgraded if proof of their need doesn’t exist.

“I wonder, do you have results as to what all of these elaborate tests at airports show?” Specter asked. “Is all of it really necessary? Because if it is, fine.”

Generally, however, the committee was not ready to dismiss the precautions taken by the department, and indeed did call for more action from Napolitano and her staff in regard to answering questions about how best to deal with issues of illegal immigrant labor and its good and bad effects on U.S. farming. Napolitano didn’t have a direct comment on the utility of illegal immigrant employment, but did say that the DHS is starting to better track immigrants who have overstayed the Visa allowance.

Similarly, the Secretary left Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to prosecute Khalid Sheik Mohmmamed, one of five suspected September 11th terrorists, to the U.S. Department of Justice, saying, “that is a prosecution decision, as to where, and in what venue to bring a case.” “I believe that is properly held by the AG.”

Leahy Lauds Passage Of Federal Anti-Hate Crimes Legislation

Travis Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

A decade of work done by the Senate culminated in the passing of Federal hate crimes legislation on Thursday. The legislation now heads to President Barack Obama’s desk where it will await his signature.

The fight, which began almost 11 years ago, was a long-time priority of the late Senator Edward Kennendy (D-Mass.), who worked closely with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to finally advance the bipartisan Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.

Said Leahy, "This historic hate crimes provision will improve existing law by making it easier for Federal authorities to investigate and prosecute crimes of racial, ethnic, or religious violence.”

Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, defended his reasoning for including the provision within the Defense bill.

“This is domestic terrorism... When you attack someone because of membership in a group, you are attacking this country itself. This belongs in the Defense Reauthorization Bill!” he exclaimed.

Both Senators also responded to recent actions by Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to include a public option in the Senate’s health care bill. The Senators argued that a public option was very important in that it would represent progress in the legislation, but noted that any such provision must include an op-out for states, which they said would promote competition.

Lawmakers Introduce Legislation To Retire Age Discrimination

Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) introduced bicameral legislation called the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act that would make it easier for older workers to show that they have been victims of age discrimination.

The legislation is aimed at combating a recent Supreme Court decision, Gross v. FBL Financial, that essentially resulted in victims of age discrimination no longer being able to prove that age was a motivating factor in an adverse employment decision.

“We intend to make certain that ... all older workers in this country enjoy the full protection of the law,” said Harkin.

“Preserving the Age Discrimination and Employment Act is important to ensure that the great progress we have made in widening the doors of opportunity for all Americans continues in the future. I am concerned that the [aforementioned Supreme Court decision] will allow employers to discriminate on the basis of age with impunity,” said Leahy.

Give me a peanut butter & jelly sandwich with no peanut butter please: Salmonella Outbreaks in the U.S.

by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service



"To say that food safety in this country is a patchwork system is just giving it too much credit. Food safety in America has too often become a hit-or-miss gamble, and that is truly frightening... When Americans can't count on the safety of basic items like peanut butter that goes into our kids sandwiches... It's a healthy food... if that's not safe then we have to ask what is." said Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA.)

In a full hearing today, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry listened while witnesses and Senators discussed the most recent peanut butter recall. On January 16, the Connecticut Department of Public Health Laboratory discovered where an outbreak strain of Typhimurium, a serotype or a different kind of Salmonella, was coming from. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigators reported that the peanut processing plant, Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) in Blakely, Georgia, which produces peanut butter, peanut paste, and other peanut products was selling their products to many food companies which then was spread out and created the outbreak strain.

"As of yesterday we've had 575 persons from 43 states and one person from Canada who have been infected with this outbreak strain. Starting from September 1st of last year until January 21st of this year a total of 127 people have required hospitalization and the infection tragically contributed to the death of 8 persons." said Ali S. Khan, Assistant Surgeon General and Deputy Director of the National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-borne, and Enteric Diseases, at the Center for Disease Control.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) didn't like hearing that PCA had been involved in past cases of Salmonella distribution. He said, "This kind of company should have been shut down immediately. A full sign of Salmonella, you go back and clean everything out. I'm even asking for criminal prosecutions for this. If they think well we get caught, maybe a recall, maybe we'll get a fine as a cost of doing business well in this case its been people who have lost their lives. It's certainly been an enormous cost to companies who may have totally safe products but they've had to recall it... I want to see some people go to jail!"

Because an investigation is timely Khan suggested what would help speed up the process. "We need new tools at the local, state and national level to investigate these outbreaks... We need new information tools... We need new ways to standardize, analyze bring information together in real time to so right away to understand what is going on...We need better investment at the state and local level to actually make these diagnosis quickly, do the testing very quickly, do the interviews quickly... and then hand that off to FDA so they can do their timely response." he said.

According to the FDA website on January 30, 2009, the FDA confirmed that their Office of Criminal Investigations was involved in a Justice Department investigation of PCA. Consumers are urged to check FDA's web site to determine which products have been recalled and those that will be recalled in the coming days.