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| | | | **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\                               |  |  |  |
| | | | \                                                      |  |  |  |
| | | | Statement of Chairman Bennie G. Thompson**             |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | **Markup: "Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of  |  |  |  |
| | | | 2007."\                                                |  |  |  |
| | | | **                                                     |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | April 17, 2007 (Washington) -- Today, Committee on     |  |  |  |
| | | | Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS)   |  |  |  |
| | | | delivered the following prepared remarks for the full  |  |  |  |
| | | | Committee markup for H.R. 1680, to authorize the       |  |  |  |
| | | | Secretary of Homeland Security to regulate the sale of |  |  |  |
| | | | ammonium nitrate to prevent and deter the acquisition  |  |  |  |
| | | | of ammonium nitrate by terrorists, the "Secure         |  |  |  |
| | | | Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007":             |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | "As the chief Democratic sponsor of this bill for two  |  |  |  |
| | | | Congresses, I am very pleased that we are here today   |  |  |  |
| | | | to mark-up this bipartisan legislation. My goal in     |  |  |  |
| | | | introducing this bill is to keep this valuable         |  |  |  |
| | | | fertilizer available to farmers across the country     |  |  |  |
| | | | while, at the same time, keeping it out of the hands   |  |  |  |
| | | | of would-be terrorists.                                |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | The timing of the mark-up is particularly appropriate, |  |  |  |
| | | | as we commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Oklahoma |  |  |  |
| | | | City bombing this week. This bill strikes the right    |  |  |  |
| | | | balance between the need to secure the handling of     |  |  |  |
| | | | ammonium nitrate fertilizer against the threat of      |  |  |  |
| | | | terrorism and the need to ensure that farmers can      |  |  |  |
| | | | still access it for legitimate use.                    |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is vital to U.S.           |  |  |  |
| | | | agriculture and is valued by our nation's farmers for  |  |  |  |
| | | | its uses on pasture lands as well as on citrus and     |  |  |  |
| | | | specialty crops. It is also used in no-till farming.   |  |  |  |
| | | | In 2004, nationwide consumption of ammonium nitrate    |  |  |  |
| | | | totaled 1.5 million tons.                              |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | During that same time, Mississippi farmers consumed    |  |  |  |
| | | | 59,000 tons of ammonium nitrate.                       |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | There is an ammonium nitrate plant in my District, in  |  |  |  |
| | | | Yazoo City, Mississippi, that has been in operation    |  |  |  |
| | | | for more than 50 years. The Terra facility is          |  |  |  |
| | | | important to the local economy, providing well-paying  |  |  |  |
| | | | and stable job opportunities. At the Yazoo City        |  |  |  |
| | | | facility, Terra employs 201 fulltime employees with an |  |  |  |
| | | | annual payroll of \$12.5 million. They also have 19    |  |  |  |
| | | | additional security related contract employees.        |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | Ammonium nitrate has been an effective nutrient source |  |  |  |
| | | | for agricultural crops for many years. As useful as    |  |  |  |
| | | | this chemical can be, we must recognize that it can    |  |  |  |
| | | | also cause devastation when used for harm instead of   |  |  |  |
| | | | good. Back in 1995, no Federal authority was           |  |  |  |
| | | | responsible for keeping track of who was buying        |  |  |  |
| | | | ammonium nitrate, and in what quantities.              |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | Back then, the sale of 108 fifty-pound bags of         |  |  |  |
| | | | ammonium nitrate to Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols  |  |  |  |
| | | | could not have been prevented or even tracked.         |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | H.R. 1680, "the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate    |  |  |  |
| | | | Act" will change that. Under this legislation, the     |  |  |  |
| | | | Department of Homeland Security would be responsible   |  |  |  |
| | | | for creating a system for registration and             |  |  |  |
| | | | record-keeping of sales and transfers of ammonium      |  |  |  |
| | | | nitrate from manufacturers and retail outlets.         |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | The Department of Homeland Security---with its dual    |  |  |  |
| | | | mission of deterring and preventing future attacks and |  |  |  |
| | | | maintaining the flow of commerce---is the right        |  |  |  |
| | | | Federal agency to oversee this process."               |  |  |  |
| | | |                                                        |  |  |  |
| | | | \#  #  \#\                                             |  |  |  |
| | | | FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Dena Graziano or  |  |  |  |
| | | | Todd Levett at 202-225-9978                            |  |  |  |
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| |   **United States** **House of Representatives\                  |  |
| |   Committee on Homeland Security** **\                           |  |
| |   H2-176, Ford House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515**   |  |
| |   **\                                                            |  |
| |   Phone: (202) 226-2616 \| Fax: (202) 226-4499\                  |  |
| |   [http://homeland.house.gov](http://homeland.house.gov/)**      |  |
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