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Steering Committee – Last week, I was unanimously reelected by my fellow Republican classmates from the 107^th Congress to serve as their representative on the Steering Committee. This prestigious committee is responsible for assigning Republican Members to House committees and selecting the committee chairmen for the 108^th Congress.

My goal as the sophomore class representative is to help my fellow Republican classmates get the committee assignments they need to effectively represent their constituencies. I will also work hard to help Texas’ newly elected members, Judge John Carter, Jeb Hensarling, and Dr. Michael Burgess, receive their first choice committees.

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DNA Amendment to Defense Authorization Act – My first legislative accomplishment in Congress occurred on March 7, 2002, when the Federal Highway Administration approved the Harris County Toll Road Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT’s) application for toll lanes down the center of the Katy Freeway. On November 12, 2002, I celebrated another legislative accomplishment when my DNA amendment to H.R. 4546, the Bob Stump Defense Authorization Act Conference Report, passed the House by voice vote. This amendment ensures that local and state law enforcement agencies can identify criminal suspects using the Department of Defense DNA repository. It now heads to the Oval Office where President Bush will likely sign it into law.

This amendment creates a predictable, statutory framework for local and state law enforcement to work with the military – under the supervision of a federal judge – to get access to the DNA samples to identify criminal suspects. I want to stop criminals from using the military consent form as a shield to prevent them from being caught.

In cooperation with military officials, I drafted this amendment after a Fort Hood soldier’s alleged rape of a female soldier went unsolved because Army officials could not access a DNA repository to identify the rapist. A DNA sample of all soldiers who joined the armed services after 1991 is on file in a DNA repository under strict directives from the Department of Defense. In April 2002, the rape suspect was arrested for the murder of a 20 year-old father of three, and other charges including rape. I believe that had the Army accessed the DNA repository to identify and catch the rapist, this murder could have been prevented.

State and federal law always makes an exception when human life is at risk or when there is an eminent threat of another serious attack—as was the case at Fort Hood. In this situation, the Army policy was wrong, and my amendment will fix it.

I am proud that this is my first legislative accomplishment as your representative, and I look forward to President Bush signing it into law.

H.R. 5710 – Homeland Security Act of 2002 - New Provisions in the Homeland Security Act:

Immigration: Brings all immigration responsibilities under the Secretary of Homeland Security. Immigration services, however, will be kept separate from enforcement functions within the Department. Reorganization authority included in the legislation cannot be used to merge the two functions. A separate director will be responsible for immigration services.

ATF: Moves the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms from the Treasury Department to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to better perform its law enforcement responsibilities. ATF revenue collection functions will remain at Treasury.

Personnel Flexibility: Maintains worker protections while developing a flexible and modern workforce that can respond to a shifting threat, and protect and defend the American people.

• Union representatives are permitted to negotiate, for up to 30 days, changes to current personnel policies. If direct negotiations fail to yield agreement, the President notifies Congress and the issues are referred to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for 30 days. If the FMCS is unable to resolve a disagreement, the Secretary may notify Congress of the proposed policy change and the reasons for the disagreement. After that, changes proposed by the Secretary may be implemented.
• If the President finds that union presence is having a substantial, adverse impact on Homeland Security (as provided for in the House-passed bill), he may not exercise his existing authority to exclude collective bargaining units from the Department until he has notified Congress and ten days have passed.
• A Senate provision making certain government-wide reforms in personnel policy is included. Chief among these is the creation of a Human Capital Officer within each agency whose mission is to improve opportunities for employee development.

• Allows the Secretary to designate a lead Homeland Security research organization to help coordinate homeland security research across the government, the academic community and the private sector. This is an addition to the original bill.
• A new provision, adopted from the Senate, establishes and funds a Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency, similar to DOD's DARPA, to help identify promising technologies and quickly get them in to the hands of people who need them.

• Adds two new provisions that encourage partnerships between government and the private sector to better protect civilian infrastructure such as telecommunications, transportation nodes and power grids.
• Establishes procedures to encourage private industry to share infrastructure vulnerabilities with the government to help identify and correct weaknesses.
• Allows the Under Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection to establish NET Guard, volunteer teams to help local communities respond and recover from attacks on information systems and communications networks.

Coast Guard: Strengthens the Coast Guard's position as a distinct organization within the Department while retaining and performing all current missions. Identifies separate funding for Coast Guard Research and Development activities.

Corporate Inversion: Allows the Department of Homeland Security to do business with U.S. companies that have inverted as long as there is a national security or economic security reason to do so. This measure will protect U.S. jobs.

Guns in the Cockpit: With slight modifications, the new bill includes H.R. 4635, Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act, to allow pilots to be trained and posses a gun in the cockpit of passenger planes. H.R. 4635 originally passed the House on July 10, 2002, by a vote of 310 to 112.

Airport Security: Provides for a one-year waiver for airports to comply with stringent security requirements for baggage screening to make sure the work is done properly with the most up-to-date technology.

Inspector General: Allows certain functions within Inspector General Offices throughout the Federal government to have law enforcement authorities.

Planning: Expands Federal planning for domestic preparedness and recovery from terrorist attacks from just Washington D.C. to the entire National Capital Region.

Agriculture: Expands cooperation and coordination within the Department of Agriculture and the Homeland Security Department.

Status: H.R. 5710 passed the House on Wednesday, November 13, by a vote of 299-121.

My position: I support this bill because it gives President George W. Bush broad authority over the Department of Homeland Security. We have to trust our commander in chief, who has proven to be such a magnificent wartime president, and to have such impeccable leadership skills. I will continue to give him all the legislative support he needs in our fight to protect our homeland and ensure the safety of its citizens.

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H.R. 3210 - Terrorism Risk Protection Act Conference Report:

Program Parameters

• The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act establishes a Federal backstop to protect against the risk of future catastrophic terrorist losses in the commercial property and casualty insurance marketplace.
• The Act is triggered when the Secretary of the Treasury, in concurrence with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, certifies that a terrorist act has occurred causing at least $5 million of covered insured losses in the United States.
• The backstop lasts for 3 years, terminating on December 31, 2005.
• State insurance pools and funds are protected with the Federal backstop; the Treasury has discretion to apply the Act to various classes of captives and self-insurance programs.
• Coverage for almost all lines of commercial property casualty insurance is provided, including workers compensation (for both terrorism and war) and business interruption, for all U.S. risks, including the U.S. territorial sea and continental shelf.
• The Treasury is directed to study the group life insurance marketplace, and include group life insurers in the backstop to the extent that group life insurance is not reasonably available to consumers. Treasury shall separately study the availability of terrorism coverage for other lines of insurance, including personal lines.

• Each insurance company will be responsible for paying out a certain amount of insured losses – a deductible – before Federal assistance becomes available. This deductible is based on a percentage of the insurer’s direct premiums for covered commercial property-casualty US risks. Insurers’ deductibles are 7 percent in 2003, 10 percent in 2004, and 15 percent in 2005. Example: if a terrorist event occurs in 2004, an insurer with $1 billion in direct premiums would have to pay the first $100 million in insured losses before the Federal backstop would kick-in.
• The Federal backstop pays 90 percent of insured losses in excess of an insurer’s deductible, while the insurer retains 10 percent of its insured losses above the deductible.
• There is a special transition period for the remainder of 2002, with a 1 percent insurer deductible, 90-10 percent Federal/private cost-share, and terrorism exclusions temporarily invalidated; insurers (after providing required notice) can offer the policyholder the choice of an immediate reinstatement of the exclusion, an adjusted premium, or cancellation of coverage.
• Insurers may reinsure their insurer deductibles and vertical co-shares.
• Losses covered by the program will be capped at $100 billion; after insurers have paid their deductibles and pro-rata share of the $100 billion, Congress determines the procedures and source for any additional payments.

• The insurance marketplace retains the first layer of losses in the amount of $10 billion in year 1, $12.5 billion in year 2, and $15 billion in year 3; Federal assistance within the retention that is not subsumed by insurer deductibles and 10 percent co-shares must be recouped; additional amounts may be recouped based on economic factors in the judgment of the Secretary.
• Mandatory payback/recoupment within the insurance marketplace retention is through terrorism loss risk-spreading premiums (surcharges) paid by all commercial p/c policyholders, based on a percentage of premium rates, with any year’s surcharge capped at 3 percent.
• Treasury has discretion over the timing of recoupment, and to adjust any amounts for urban, smaller commercial, and rural areas without lowering the total amount of payback, as well as for different lines of insurance or to avoid insolvencies.
• Treasury may assess civil penalties on participating insurance companies for submission of false or misleading information or failure to make required repayments.
• Affiliated insurers are treated as a consolidated entity for calculating direct premiums.

• Insurers providing commercial property and casualty insurance are required to participate in the program. Insurers must offer terrorism insurance to all policyholders during the first two years of the program. The Secretary has discretion to extend this requirement in the third year of the program.
• Insurers must disclose to policyholders the premiums that they charge for terrorism coverage and the existence of the Federal backstop.
• Insurers must submit premium and claims information to the Secretary who may investigate and audit all claims under the program.
• Insurers must certify insured losses and their compliance with the Act before receiving Federal assistance.
• State regulatory authority is generally protected; however, until the end of 2003, State prior approval authority is preempted for rate and form changes necessary to allow the Federal requirements to take effect.

Status: H.R. 3210 passed the House on Thursday, November 14, by voice vote.

My Position: The insured losses from the September 11 terrorist attacks are currently estimated to total as much as $70 billion. While the industry should be able to pay losses resulting from the attacks, it has warned that it would not be able to absorb such major losses from terrorism in the future. The House of Representatives recognized the urgency of this situation and crafted H.R. 3210. This bill provides for a three-year government commitment to backstop private insurance against losses resulting from confirmed terrorist events.

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If you would like to hear me discuss these issues and more at length, please tune-in to Jon Matthews' show on KSEV AM700 every Friday morning at 8a.m.

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November Press Releases: http://www.house.gov/culberson/press_releases.htm

November Email Alerts: http://www.house.gov/culberson/2002emailalerts.htm

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Thank you for entrusting me to represent you in the United States Congress.

Sincerely,

John Culberson