Key House committee chairmen reach agreement on plan to reform DHS

The chairmen of key House committees announced an agreement on the first-ever plan to regularly reauthorize and reform the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure it can remain effective as the terror threat environment evolves.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, was among the committee chairs with jurisdiction over DHS who signed a memorandum of understanding detailing plans to maintain and update the department. The department has not been reauthorized since it was formed in 2002.

“We are finally on a solid path to overhaul the Department of Homeland Security and make sure it stays ahead of threats to our country,” McCaul said. “I am pleased that the committee chairmen with jurisdiction over DHS have come together — for the first time — and formally agreed on a path forward to comprehensively reauthorize the department in the 115th Congress and beyond.”

Overall terror activity in the West spiked in 2016, according to a recent report from the Homeland Security Committee. For example, ISIS-linked plots against Western countries totaled 74, a figure that exceeded the 67 plots for 2014 and 2015 combined. The United States remains the group’s most targeted country, with at least 37 ISIS suspects arrested in 18 states, the report said.

“This agreement is just what Americans need to see happening in Washington to have more confidence in our nation’s security,” McCaul said. “I look forward to working hand-in-hand with my colleagues in the House, the Senate and the new administration to reauthorize DHS and ensure it is equipped to protect the United States and our people more effectively, efficiently and decisively.”

Those who signed the memorandum include: U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; Devin Nunes (R-CA), chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee; Bill Shuster (R-PA), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee; Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee; and Kevin Brady (R-CA), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.