ACS Position Statement: FY 2010
Statement on Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology: FY 2010
ACS Position
The American Chemical Society (ACS) urges Congress to support the administration’s request for the Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at a funding level of $968 million for FY 2010 (3.8 percent increase over FY 2009). ACS recognizes the difficult budget environment facing our nation’s policymakers, and we welcome the president’s emphasis on research and development (R&D) at DHS.
DHS needs a strong and prominent S&T component because it is crucial to our nation’s ability to deter and respond to terrorist threats. Given the various science and engineering challenges involved in homeland security, a robust S&T Directorate is critical to developing new scientific knowledge, facilitating the deployment of new and existing technologies, and coordinating technology-related priorities across the Department.
ACS is encouraged by the increase in DHS coordination with various agencies involved in our nation’s homeland security mission. We urge DHS to continue moving forward in collaboration with agencies having legacy homeland security interests, such as the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Defense. These agencies continue to share overlapping missions with DHS, and each one makes significant contributions to identifying research efforts, coordinating stakeholders, and establishing policy.
A central mission of DHS is to advance R&D applicable to the prevention of, detection of, and response to chemical, biological, and nuclear threats. Given the availability, lethal nature, and proliferation of chemical weapons and other chemical agents that could be used in an attack, ACS supports increased federal coordination and R&D investment to address these threats. We support, for example, the recommendation by the National Research Council to increase federal coordination and support for R&D on sensors to improve accuracy, sensitivity, portability, and detection of a wider range of agents. A related area that demands more support is R&D to advance effective and affordable decontamination methods for chemical and biological agents. Such an effort should draw on current R&D advances in hazardous waste decontamination. Success in these and other areas, including new vaccines and diagnostics, will require major contributions from chemical scientists and engineers.
ACS urges DHS to increase its investment in multi-year research projects. These longer-term projects are essential for research stability. The addition of peer-reviewed research to homeland security R&D, combined with longer duration projects, would encourage the development of next-generation technologies, as well as a cadre of scientists and engineers focused on S&T for homeland security applications. A longer-term technology development outlook would promote novel methodologies and new technologies to enhance our current capabilities and build on the strong base of scientific knowledge developed in industry, academia, and federal laboratories.