The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) recently held its 5th Annual Washington Fly-In in D.C. At the day and a half event, members heard from Congressional speakers, networked with fellow SOCMA members, and had the opportunity to directly voice their concerns on Capitol Hill. Over 30 SOCMA members met with approximately 60 Congressional offices, educating members of Congress and their staff about the batch, custom, and specialty chemical manufacturing industry.
ADT Commercial Security, soon to be called Tyco Integrated Security, met with key congressional committee staff to voice our support for the current Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program. Despite the December 2011 DHS report that highlighted implementation deficiencies by DHS staff responsible for the CFATS program, Congressional Committee staff indicated that support for the current CFATS program remains strong in both the House and Senate Committees on Homeland Security.
We joined several other SOCMA members in support of three pending chemical security bills that would extend CFATS for multiple years, all of which have passed their committees with significant bipartisan support. Those bills include H.R. 901 (sponsored by Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-CA)), to extend CFATS for seven years; H.R. 908 (sponsored by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA)), also to extend CFATS for seven years; and S. 473 (sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)), to extend CFATS for three years. However, given the busy congressional calendar and the fact that it is an election year, it is likely that we will see yet another one year extension of CFATS later this year.
I will continue to follow any CFATS-related legislative developments closely.
By guest blogger Craig Sharman, Director, Federal Government Relations, Tyco International
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