good morning the committee will come to order pursuant to notice the committee on science and technology meets to consider the following measures h r forty eight forty seven the united states fire administr thousand and seven h r fifty one sixty one the green transportation infrastructure research and technology transfer act and h r thirty nine sixteen to provide for the next generation of border and maritime security technologies i'd like to welcome everyone to this morning's markup the first full committee markup two thousand and eight today we will consider the three bills reported out of a technology and innovation subcommittee with unanimous support these three bills deal with public safety proving the environment and border security addressing some of the nation's most pressing issues h r forty eight forty seven introduced by vice chair of the subcommittee represented m suppression and prevention research and technology this important bill will help ensure the continued success of the u s f a a in its mission to protect labs and property from fire we will also consider h r fifty one sixty one the green transportation infrastructure research and technology transfer act introduced by chairman this bipartisan bill supports the development and use of green technology to protect our nation's water supply through innovative technologies and materials that can be integrated into transportation infrastructure such as roads and parking lots but filtering storm water and slowing runoff green infrastructure mitigates pollution while saving  energy the bill the bill builds upon the good work going on now in the department transportation to promote going infrastructure widespread use finally h r thirty nine sixty introduced by ranking member hall authorizes of homeland security to improve technology used to protect the nation's borders and ports of entry for patrol agents are responsible for securing nearly seven thousand miles of land borders to the north and south as well as ninety five thousand miles of shoreline technology can play a vital row in extending observational capabilities helping border patrol agents locate suspects and monitor the border more efficiently  authorizes important programs to enhance the border patrol's ability carry out its mission by supporting short and long term research priorities it also ensures that new technologies will be useful to border patrol agents by mandating work to meet cost in training needs to end users when developing these technologies i want to commend the t n i subcommittee for bringing these issues to the committee's attention all three of these bills were developed a regular order process identifying the problem holding a hearing in developing legislation strong support each of these bills i look forward to working with my colleagues on the committee to advance this important legislation i now recognize mr hall to present his opening remarks chairman garden looking forward to a productive start for the committee in this second session of the hundred tenth congress today the full committee is considering three bales previously considered by the technology and innovation subcommittee as you said to begin with would be considering the reauthorization for the united states fired ministration u s f a provides critical support our nation's firefighters through training through research and development and logistical support this is an extremely important transportation the university transportation center to take exam and hopefully ample amount technologies that significantly reduce non point source of water pollution from my roadways and other base services finally h r thirty nine sixteen  bill near and dear to me focuses on the technology needed for the market patrol the u s coast guard started writing this bill last year in response to a real need to develop an employer and next generation technologies to help secure our border plays that many committee can be proud of advancing i look forward to working with chairman gordon ensure that these mails continue to progress through their other committee referrals and on to the house floor i yield back thank you mr volume assured that we will all be working together to save these bills protecting our communities in emergency events from house fires to terrorist events to tornadoes firefighters are generally the first on the scene and the last to leave however fire continues to be a major problem in the u although fire related deaths and injuries have been reduced significantly since the fired ministrations creation in the early one nine hundred seventy s over three thousand americans a year still die in fires and many more are injured there are also eleven billion dollars in annual direct property losses caused by fires the u s fired ministration is an invaluable resource for the thousands of firefighters and emergency personnel around the country through training education materials that a collection other services u a provides tools and leadership to the fire service and the communities they serve h r forty eight forty seven reauthorize is this important agencies for four years at the funding levels consistent for us f a a to fully carry out its mission it also addresses a number of priorities that members of the fire service unity raised in the technology innovation subcommittee at a hearing last fall this legislation authorizes u s f a a to focus its resources on pressing challenges for today's first responders like fighting fires in the wild land urban interface and responding to incidents involving hazardous materials it directly it directs us f a a to improve the national fire incident reporting system which provides important data on fire events to policymakers at all levels of government this bill also addresses a very serious issue for the fire service and that is firefighter health and safety as we heard of the hearing last october every year over one hundred  firefighters die in the line of duty u s f a a has shown strong leadership in promoting firefighter health and safety h r forty eight forty seven directs the u s f a a administrator to continue his this leadership by educating local fire departments on national voluntary consensus standards for firefighter health and safety and encouraging communities to adopt these standards this legislation is the product of bipartisan collaboration and considerable him put from the fire service community two weeks ago the technology and innovation subcommittee unanimously reported this bill favorably the resources and leadership of us f a r is an essential part of the ability of the fire service to protect our cities towns and communities and i urge all my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill and i yield back to hollis recognize for any remarks he might have thank you mr chairman and i am pleased of course the committee held a hearing on this bill and took the time to consult with both sides as you did and as like to commend my colleague from arizona mr mitchell for bringing forward this alleged lation to reauthorize the united states fired ministration i'm very pleased that we have worked in a bipartisan manner over the past few months to prepare the bill that we have before us today mr chairman i'm also pleased that this bill is also gone through the regular order process in october the technology innovation subcommittee held a hearing on the reauthorization of u s f a a and just three weeks ago h r forty eight forty seven was unanimously reported back to the full committee from the from the to the full committee from the technology and innovation subcommittee chaired by chairman the mission of u s f a a is to reduce life and economic losses due to fire related emergencies through leadership advocacy coordination and support this organization provides vital assistance in the areas of training fire education and awareness and awards grants to a number of local fire departments across the country these activities have made a substantial impact over the last thirty years as a gentleman from arizona has just pointed out mr chairman it's important to note that because of the work the u s f a a smoke alarms are now standard issue and resins across the country over a million firefighters have received advanced training and fire five a month and safety continues to improve us f a should be proud of his record of achievement however it's also clear that improvements can still be made in the last ten years d s related to fires have decreased by approximately twenty five percent from nearly five thousand nine hundred ninety six to thirty six hundred seventy five in two thousand and six although that decrease and by related deaths is commendable the united states still has one of the highest death rates from fire in the industrialized world additionally mr chairman despite decreased decreases in the number of fires direct damage costs are increasing and have surpassed ten billion that's where the b ten billion dollars per year put another way an average year fire causes as much damage in the united states as do hurricanes the  a will allow the agency to continue to improve our preparedness and reduce our vulnerable balder ability to fire unfortunately mr chairman last year we saw wildfires that ravaged southern california and the need to develop a more cohesive way of combating these fires i am happy to see this legislation specifically addresses the issue of fighting fires in urban while land interface by implementing methods  that in the past curt weldon who is no longer you're an awful lot of time on this issue and actually did a lot of the laying the groundwork for the things that will bear fruit in the future and that we're building on right now and so i'm just like to make sure that we put curt weldon's name in the record and when dealing with these issues he spent so much time and effort as a member of congress on authorization that that's one of the projects that they look at so with that said thank you very much for your leadership as well as the hard work of our two colleagues i think mr obama anybody else wish to be recognized if not let me just also think  dr gingrey said going through regular order i think that we develop a good bill here you know oftentimes we don't think much about our firefighters until we need them and this is legislation that affects real people my mother grew out grew up way out in the country i mean way out in the country and when she was a child their house burned and literally it was just their lives in the clothes on their back is all that that survived and even today when my mother hears a fire truck or a fire engine or siren she tells me that story just like she had never told me before it's just like pavlo and it is such you know it's such a traumatic experience for folks to go through that they will never get over it and so we're not going to stop all the fires but hopefully this bill will help reduce some of those fires and help reduce some of that trauma that to give us guidance and bring fineness to committee and as you said it's kind of a shame that it took a nine eleven to make people really and truly appreciate firefighters and men and women that protect us day and n contract with other federal agencies to deliver training on their behalf to state and local emergency response personnel and i yield back is there a further discussion on the memo if not perform studies related to the management of emergency medical services all fire departments have a significant role in pre hospital care whether through in house c m s or coordinating with third parties firefighters are called upon to extract victims from car crashes building fires or collapses or other emergencies it's critical that patients receive consistent care under medical direction i do not transportation safety administration but instead mr chairman this amendment simply seeks to give the administrator the authority to conduct studies into training systems and on scene patient management while making sure to work with appropriate federal agencies and existing medical services in these local communities basically mr chairman to cut to the chase to just be able to  d forty eight forty seven offered by miss richardson of california i consent to dispense with the reading without objection so ordered the gentle lady reckon asked for five minutes to explain the matter thank you mr chairman ranking member hall and fellow members of the science and technology committee this amendment that i propose for you is very clear cut amendment calls for the administrator of the united states fire ministration to consult and work with the superintendent of the national fire academy in order to consolidate integrate into the current fire academy curriculum a course on incident command training for fire service personnel for fighting for fighting fires at ports and also responding to emergencies at ports and marine environments in general when we recall incidences such as hurricane katrina and rita the one thing we have learned is how vulnerable our nation's one hundred twenty six shipping ports can be in their reaction to a disaster in the aftermath of that storm ports from alabama to texas were entirely shut down and many are still recovering as in port fourchon a major supplier of gas and natural oils also i would point out to you that the key of having integrated training we also learned from hurricane katrina and the aftermath of nine eleven that oftentimes we are calling from personnel in various different states so where one particular state may not need the expertise of responding to a port may be called upon to assist in another area likewise we also know how valuable our nation ports are in terms of the goods movement and their impact on our economy in some areas ports can impact the nation's economy to as high as a billion dollars a day that can be lost when they're shut down therefore it goes without saying how crucial it is for our firefighters to have the ability to respond in a swift and efficient and coordinated manner every second in a response can make a difference between life or death and also the loss of valuable goods that we all depend upon in our daily lives always being mindful of creating being mindful of not creating additional cost to our federal agencies and the limited budgets that we have this amendment creates no new costs for the united states fire ministration in fact this is not a new standalone course but it allows for valuable lessons to be taught and learned that will be implemented in already existing courses at the fire administrator and the superintendent the discretion to determine how they will integrate this course into already existing courses this amendment provides for two years to implement this course so that there will be ample time for the fire academy to develop and deliver to our brave men and women the necessary instruction on how to respond to an emergency if necessary at our nation's ports i want to thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle mr bartlett for his kind  sponsorship and support mr roy boxer's ongoing port partnership as we work together in our neighborhoods and i'd also like to thank the science and technology staff in particular megan house right for all of her hard work and i would also be remiss not to acknowledge representatives from the united states firemen who worked with us on this effort in closing chairman thank you for your support of this amendment and it is straightforward as i've laid out it's essential for the readiness of our men and women that we have an opportunity to learn from lessons across this country it's vital that we provide them with that support and we protect our nation's economy i yield back the remain of great significance fires at our port areas that can be mentally threatening to life but that are tremendously of threatening to our economy a out of control fire at a port can cripple an economy we have had slowdowns and problems at our ports that cost billions of dollars to the american economy and a low cost preventive measure that she's offering could yield great  national fire academy in my district and i go there a couple of times each year very impressive ceremonies and i'm very pleased that our committee has a large role to play and support of this very important institution thank you but i do have some concerns i worry that the current language of the amendment may shift scarce resources from party needs in order to fund course development in this particular area mr chairman the u s a a is consistently funding as we all know below the authorized levels and i believe the committee should resist the urge to micro manage these limited funds unless absolutely essential i'm not saying that this is not absolutely essential by the way but it issue really i think that before implementing this amendment hopefully the u s f a a needs to have a more complete understanding of the needs and current training protocols of marine firefighting i mean it's very possible that we are already doing a lot of that and the current curriculum us that they should have the discretion i think to utilize their limited resources to best serve the needs of the one point three million have the discretion to implement this amendment ms richesses amendment as it sees fit to best address this issue within the context of his greater role supporting the most pressing needs of firefighters across the country  're very clear first of all we met with the u s several times and had the discussions and it's my understanding they are in support of this amendment as proposed we did have other options but for several reasons why i think it address your concerns number one the u s f a a is given the full discretion in conjunction with the superintendent number two they do have two years to implement this so it's not something they have plenty of time to implement it into the curriculum with the normal printing except for a not to increase any costs further it's very clear according to the amendment that this is to be incorporated into existing courses so there is no additional courses or time or anything of that matter so thank you for your support of this amendment and i look forward to working with you on its implementation it's my understanding from all of that this package that mr richardson spent a great deal of time massaging this issue and trying to get it right in consultation with all those involved in that that the final product to offer a motion mr chairman i move that the committee favorably report h r forty eight forty seven as amended to the house with the recommendation that the bill to pass furthermore i move the staff be instructed to prepare the legislative report and make necessary technical and conforming changes and that the chairman take all necessary steps to bring the bill before the house for consideration the question is on the motion to report the bill favorably those in favor of the motion will signify by saying ab i opposed opposed no that having the bill is favor reported that objection the motion table is reconsidered and laid upon the table members will have two subsequent calendar days in which to submit supplemental minority or additional views on the measure ending monday march the third at nine a i move pursuant to clause one of rule twenty two of the rules of the house of representatives that the committee authorize a chairman to offer such motions as may be necessary in the house to adopt and pass h r forty eight forty seven the united states f witnesses from the environmental protection agency the u s department of transportation and representatives from local government and private industry the witnesses agree that we have a great opportunity to manage and protect our nation's water resources through the use of innovative techniques and technologies that are simultaneously a part of transportation infrastructure and a means for managing and filtering stormwater green infrastructure includes materials and design techniques that help mitigate water pollution by managing and filtering runoff the e p a witness at the may hearing assistant administrator for water ben grumbles is already making great efforts to promote the use of green infrastructure around the united states but he and the other witnesses describe a number of barriers to implementation of green programs barriers which this bill works to overcrowd come through research and education efforts at the u s department of transportation h r fifty one sixty one the green transportation infrastructure research and technology transfer act authorizes research and education programs within the federal highway administration and research  innovative technology administration's university transportation centers these new programs at the apartment transportation will advance the understanding of the benefits of green transportation infrastructure and its impact on the environment and help policymakers and builders make informed decisions about where and how to include green infrastructure in their transportation systems bill authorizes grants to existing university transportation centers for research and development of green infrastructure technologies technology transfer programs assessment of the impact of regulations on the adoption of these green technologies at a local level and education campaigns and at low officials and builders i'll offer a manager's amendment today that will allow other universities with existing expertise in green infrastructure to corps to form consortia with university transportation centers the bill also authorizes to incorporate green infrastructure design and construction training in the national highway institute curriculum which is offered to state and local highway contractors and workers green transportation infrastructure is a simple and exciting set of technologies that can help solve substantial pollution problems in our communities by increasing energy efficiency and potentially decreasing total costs i look forward to working with members of the committee to pass this bill i greatly appreciate the cooperation of members on both sides of the aisle and i strongly urge every committee member to support this common sense of legislat provides a direction as a guide exactly as mr wu indicated it provides for dissemination additionally of information through technology transfer program and also encourages state and local governments and private industry to green at the structure systems  and construction techniques i would have preferred to stick to the language of their dollars amendment but that was agreed to and subcommittee it was but i understand a majority desire to ensure that relevant expertise and other institutions may be included at the discretion transportation centers to develop consortium with other universities with particular expertise in the topic before them and i just want the committee to know that i have no objection to that amendment i think i this bill to go towards research instead of additional overhead and administrative costs my management makes a small change to h r fifty one sixty one to allow other universities which may have existing expertise in related topics to form consortia with existing u t c s in order to apply for grants this amendment preserves the benefits of the earlier limitation but allows us to take advantage of the expertise of researchers at other institutions this amendment also clarifies that university receiving grants must have strong relationships with local and state governments in discussing research priorities as we heard during our may hearing during a recent subcommittee markup the types of green transportation infrastructure that affected that are most affected very strongly from region to region and the bill deliberately provides grass to universities in different parts of the country to address this regional variability ensuring that state and local transportation officials explain his amendment and i'll be brief in that mr chairman to say this that we have this amendment would make it so that industry and other in the prior others and private sector could participate in the centers both in the funding and in the progress of the research as i understand it that that concept is best considered under safety lew reauthorization and so with the chairman's commitment to work toward that in to allow a cooperation between the private sector in the public sector i'd be happy to withdraw my men thank you mr inglis and i'm sorry ok so give possible for the private sector to participate and set up a structure so the private sector could participate in the funding and the research at the centers then perhaps we could take it up as part of the safety lou  ok i recognize mr baird for motion the chairman i move that the committee favorably poured h r fifty one sixty one as intended to the house for the recommendation the bill to pass furthermore i move the staff be instructed to prepare the legislative report and make necessary technical and conforming changes and that the chairman take all necessary steps to bring the bill before the house for consideration the question is on the motion to report the bill favorably those in favor of the motion will signify by saying at all close i have it the motion is reported favorably that objection the motion is is reconsidered to reconsider is laid upon the table members will have two subsequent calendar days in which to submit supplemental minority or additional views on the measure ending monday march the third at nine a m a move for someone to call is one of rule twenty two of the rules of the house of representatives that committee authorize the committee to offer such motions as may be necessary in the house to adopt and pass h r fifty one sixty one the grain transportation infrastructure research technology transfer act as many without objection so ordered let me make this suggestion mr hall has put a great we have one more bill mr hall put a lot of work into this bill and i will let you know i don't think we should should give it short change here so we can either move forward or this important bill my time it's your time in this and the committee's time they've really worked hard on this and i think what they're there and put forth are great and so this shouldn't be rushed we have one vote let's go vote and we'll come all right the committee will come to order we will now consider h r thirty nine sixteen to provide for the next generation of border and maritime security technologies and also like to thank mr mccall for the substantial contributions he made to the bill and his state of the union address president bush emphasize the great importance of securing our nation's borders and i believe this is a critical issue for this committed to address and  pleased to see h r thirty nine sixteen making steady we wrote this bail that where meeting the research is to ensure that we are meeting the research and technology needs of the over six hundred  thirty thousand men and women protecting our borders on the coast guard and the border patrol we have nearly seventy five hundred miles of land border with canada and mexico over which half a million people and over two million rail cars pass per year in addition we have over three hundred see over nine million cargo containers each year we have a number of reason for wanting strict control over this traffic drug trafficking for example remains a major border protection problem according to the department of justice statistics over thirty thousand kilograms of cocaine heroin and math were seized within one hundred fifty miles of the u s border mexico border in two thousand and six i know many members of this committee work tirelessly than the scourge of math in this nation yet success restricting access to math and gradients here in the states has led drug dealers to import more across our borders stopping the flow of narcotics across our borders remain their efforts to curb illegal drug use that in fact their cities and our small towns the threat of terrorism also compels us to reexamine our border whether we're talking about foreign groups trying to infiltrate our country or homegrown terrorists seeking weapons and supplies our borders remain a crucial element of our defense is finally  year two thousand and seven the u s border patrol agents apprehended eight hundred eighty thousand people attempting to enter the country illegally while i understand the concerns many members have regarding comprehensive immigration reform we should not allow that issue to st the border patrol can use the technologies created for them in our regular they didn't meet their need section four addresses the important issue of safety of safely incorporating unmanned aerial vehicles into the national airspace before this promising technology can be used regularly the the safety and effectiveness of quote sense and avoid unquote technologies must be demonstrated the a t f has an excellent opportunity to work collaboratively with the federal technology program will focus on will ensure that travel import and identification documents are safe and secure finally section seven urges department of homeland security to conduct a study on the potential for g p s technology to aid border patrol agents in the field these provisions will help local state and national agents control our borders this bill also ensure that we carefully plan and coordinate border technology so that we protect the american taxpayer i urge my colleagues to join me and support your thirty nine sixteen today i believe this committee is really an ideal a position to strengthen control of our nation's borders through this legislation supporting effective efficient and evolving border defenses i also believe that this bill will be merged in any future and final immigration act that this congress should pass before the senate that this hundred tenth session of congress we are really built and toward a secure america i thank the chair and i yield back first i must draw let me say that i very strongly support this bill you've done a lot of work on it but but also it provides a common sense approach i was just showing hall the headlines of one of our publications come out here this morning says the first twenty eight as a virtual border fan fail to meet expectations j o say as the other words we've got about one hundred  one point two billion dollars spanner in contracts and let me tell you what the g a o director says and this is what he going to say today and quote border patrol agents had a minimal role in developing the virtual fence and now say it does just recognize thank you very much mr chairman this legislation is very important for texas which has so many miles of land border with mexico and dallas is also the location of a major inland port facility that dallas reason is home to five in a state good rail service foreign trade zone a great in a motor facilities and to relieve or am ports that could be expanded in the future this infrastructure is susceptible to security breach this committee has held hearings on border security and is aware that significant gaps exist in our technology to detect individuals illegally crossing our borders into the united states we've heard that the current technology also gave us false alarms as well the statistics on illegal border activity our law me and fiscal year two thousand and five u s border patrol agents apprehended one point nineteen million people attempting to enter the country illegally into about and six over thirty thousand kilograms of cocaine heroin and medical amphetamines were sees within a hundred fifty miles of the us mexico border the on science and technology has taken a leadership role by passing a job thirteen and sixteen the legislation directs the secretary of homeland security and director of joint planning and development office to research and develop technologies to prevent to permit routine operation of on man aerial vehicles for border and maritime security missions it also specifies that the technology is being developed within without the gradation all the existing safety levels for will direct the research to strengthen border security is very very important it takes is thank you now you're back to balance my time anyone else wish to be recognized can transport large amounts of material across the border and all those other sections are also very important so i commend your work i urge everyone to support the bill but no one else wants to be recognized good things about mr hall amendment number zero three six amendment in the nature of a substitute to h r thirty nine sixteen offered by mr hall of texas ice unanimous consent to dispense with reading without objection so ordered also ask unanimous consent the manager's amendment venit is today closely matches a major report by the subcommittee but makes a number of needed clarification as to the original first amendment makes clear that the technology transfer agreement requirements apply only to projects at the science and technology directorate and do not apply government wide during my discussions with interesting parties over the last few months i discovered that the original language gave some of the impression  that they require months extended throughout the federal government the changes in this amended make clear that the technology transfer agreements are those between the undersecretary and another agency such as common customs and border protection next the amendment specifies a one year time period for the national research council study on the basic research needs of the border and maritime division of the science and technology directorate this announcer will allow the preeminent scientists and engineers at the national academies to give input into the research broward use of the directorate after being appropriately raised on the technology technological needs and problems faced by furthermore the section on unmanned aerial vehicles now specifically includes research on autonomous fully piloted drones and collaboration with the joint planning and development office these drones are designed to fly without human  without direct human involvement using on board computers to land and perform a preprogrammed mission and dependently the research ship or farm down to this section will prepare for the safe inclusion of unmanned aerial vehicles in our nation's airspace finally and at the suggestion of my colleagues on the majority the amendment ensures that the u s geological survey and the u s coast guard appropriately consulted for the tunnel detection and counterfeit programs finally of great import our budgetary and economic fears and as in mrs richardson's amendment a little bit ago this legislation should not have any cost associated with it because it authorizes studies and creates no new the nature of a substitute offered by mr hall of texas i should animals can santa dispense with the reading without objection some order and i was recognized for five minutes to explain the amendment thank you mr chairman i would also like to thank again ranking member hall for introducing this fine bill it's a good bill it will in improve our country's security and i'm proud to vote for it i would ask all my colleagues here to support the amendment mind then that is a modest but important addition which requires the department of homeland security to analyze scientific research needs across a variety of disciplines specifically my men make sure that the department's assessment includes an analysis of technologies that provide real time and actionable data to the border patrol and other agencies and protect our country i was fortunate a few weeks ago to travel in my home state to visit the border patrol and immigration and customs of in forstmann agents i was impressed by their commitment and dedication by their professionalism and i also came away with a greater sense of the dangers and challenges they face on a day to day basis after my visit i believe that the proving in technologies for real time tactical sense awareness will help the department of homeland security better respond to potential threats and illegal activities on our borders these agents and national guard assigned to securing our border need all the tools we can provide and must have confidence in the effectiveness and accuracy of the information provided continuing to develop this capability which includes but is not limited to those technologies already  national interest better realtime technologies will make our country safer and more secure reduce illegal border crossings and allow law enforcement officers to respond to developing situations more safely chairman gordon i would thank you and making member hall again and you know the balance of my time that will really bring some technology resources to the border to provide better security at the border it's an important issue for mr hall and i obviously it's important for all americans to have a more secure border and i think this is probably one of the first and only border bills i've seen get through the house and hopefully it will pass well on the house floor so thank you so much i support the committee's efforts to provide increased border security that's through the use of next generation technologies that border technologies represent a key area for departments research and development efforts my proposal calls on the under secretary to establish a research program to consider mobile biometric technology that can be implemented at the border between the ports of entry currently biometric scanners and access to databases such as for fingerprints are available only at the ports of entry and at the border patrol field stations thousands of suspects for crimes ranging from assault to homicide have been arrested as a result of this advanced technology but there is a disconnect between the capabilities at the ports of entry and those within the many miles between the ports agents in the field do not have bio metric capability in their vehicles the coast guard has undertaken a pilot fingerprint collection program employing mobile biometric technologies that see that program as result in one hundred fourteen prosecutions and  fifty three percent reduction in migrant flow or patrol could also greatly benefit from such a capability making this portable technology available in the field will allow agents to identify unauthorized border crossers with criminal backgrounds on site in real time initiation of biometric checks in the field while waiting for transport vehicles to arrive also increase the general efficiency of border crosser processing i think the committee for  a ranking member of the subcommittee emerging threats sabur security and science and technology with the committee on homeland security and has a knowledgeable and he's been a very valuable partner on this bill his amendment today has a potential to significantly improve the operations of the border control patrol and certainly my colleagues to support them and you know back thank mr i didn't realize you were the ranking member there that's good that's another connection hopefully we'll be able to ok i recognize mr hall to offer a motion mr chairman i move that the committee favorably report h r thirty nine sixteen as amended to the house with a recommendation to build to pass furthermore i move that staff be instructed to make necessary technical and the bill this favor reported that objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table members will have two subsequent calendar days in which to submit supplemental minority or additional views on the measure ending monday the third at nine a m i move pursuant to calls one of rule twenty two of the rules of the house of representatives at the committee authorize the chairman to offer such motions as may be necessary in the house to adopt and pass h r thirty nine sixteen to provide for the next generation of border and maritime security technologies an amendment without objection to order let me thank the members for coming back for the last vote this was an important bill and we are appreciate your tenets i want to thank the staff for the hard work that they have put in and the