Canine Detection Team Improvement Act of 2007

CANINE DETECTION TEAM IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (Extensions of Remarks - January 24, 2007)

* Mr. CARNEY. Madam Speaker, some of the nation's most dedicated citizens stand at the ready each and every day, working to detect and prevent the next terrorist attack on our soil. They are vital to our security and are to be commended. Often, they fulfill this critical homeland security work with significant help from what we have come to call ``man's best friend.' Canines trained to detect explosives and other dangerous materials regularly roam our nation's airports, subways, and ports, anywhere else that they are needed to deter, prevent, detect and respond to terrorist threats. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the United States Secret Service, the Coast Guard, and the Federal Protective Service regularly use canine detection teams to secure National Special Security Events and to protect Federal buildings and their occupants.

* As a consequence of September 11, demand for trained explosive detection dogs has increased dramatically. Today, there simply are not enough trained dogs to meet the demand. There also are no national standards to certify a dog as a capable bomb-sniffing dog or drug-sniffing dog. In the absence of national training and certification standards, there have been a number of cases of fraudulent operations and the use of inadequatelytrained canines and canine handlers. In one documented case, a Virginia man, Russell Lee Ebersole, was hired to protect several government buildings, including the Federal Reserve Board. In multiple tests his dogs failed to detect 50 pounds of dynamite, 50 pounds of TNT, or 15 pounds of C-4 in the agency's parking facilities.

* The ``Canine Detection Team Improvement Act of 2007,' which Rep. MIKE ROGERS of Alabama is introducing today and on which I am the Democratic original cosponsor, will make the United States more secure by addressing the shortage of trained canine detection teams and establishing standards for canine detection teams and an accreditation process to assure Federal, State, local and tribal authorities that the dog they look rely on to help defend the homeland can get the job done.

* Specifically, the bill directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to coordinate all training programs within the Department, including research and development of new canine training methods. The bill also directs the Secretary to consult on the use of canines with other Federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities, and private training facilities in order to increase the number oftrained canines available to Federal, State, and local law enforcement. By coordinating all programs within the Department and working with outside resources, section 2001 empowers the Secretary to build upon the synergy of multiple resources to enhance dog training programs.

* Section 2002 of the bill addresses canine procurement. It directs the Secretary to make it a priority to increase domestically bred canines used by the Department, and includes a provision encouraging the use of universities and private and non-profit organizations to accomplish this effort. This bill's section also directs the Secretary to consult with other public and private entities to not only encourage the use of domestic bred canines, but also to work with them to consolidate canine procurement wherever possible in the hopes to reduce the cost of purchasing canines across the Federal Government. Section 2003 of the bill is a ``Domestic Canine Breeding Grant Program' for further encouragement of the development and growth of canine breeds best suited for detection training purposes.

* However, perhaps the most significant accomplishment of this law is the establishment of an accreditation board, which will ensure proper certification standards. The board will consist of experts in the field of canine training and explosives detection from Federal and State agencies, universities, other research institutions, and the private sector. It is modeled after the executive board of the Scientific Working Group on Dog and Orthogonal Detectors, or SWGDOG as it is popularly known. This group has already done a tremendous job in bringing together the major stakeholders in canine detection and I applaud them for their work on this issue. This law will build upon the success of SWGDOG in order to ensure the proper standards for voluntary certification are applied and maintained. The board will maintain a public list of accredited entities upon which other agencies, Federal, State, and local can rely for qualified canines. The aim of this board is to reduce misrepresentative, fraudulent or otherwise improper certification of dogs and their training organizations, but ultimately the board will ensure public safety and the safety of law enforcement.

* Before closing, I want to personally thank MIKE ROGERS from Alabama. Under his leadership in the previous Congressional session, the Committee on Homeland Security began to address this issue. He held a hearing in the previous Congress entitled ``Sniffing Out Terrorism: The Use of Dogs in Homeland Security.' Many of the findings from that hearing were a source of guidance in writing this legislation and I thank him for his stewardship on this issue. I urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join me in passing this very critical legislation.

http://thomas.loc.gov/