Press Releases

On Tuesday, U.S. Congressman Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Rep. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led fifty-one (51) members of Congress in a letter to Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf concerning the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC).

 

The HSAAC is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Its mission is to provide advice and guidance to DHS on matters happening within our academic institutions that could affect national security. Specifically, the HSAAC seeks to:

Unfortunately, the HSAAC has not held a single meeting with academic institutions since July of 2017. Because U.S. colleges and universities play a significant role in our national security, it is vital that the HSAAC be actively engaged with its partners in academia. The Congressional letter strongly urged the HSAAC to re-engage on this front to ensure its mission is properly fulfilled.

 

“The spirit of curiosity, open inquiry, collaborative study, and shared wisdom is the pride of our educational system,” said Rep. Norman. “Many of the world's greatest minds are attracted to our institutions of higher learning because they cultivate excellence and ingenuity. Without them, many of our great inventions and much of our national progress would not be possible.”

 

Rep. Norman continued, “Because we must protect this great national asset, we are calling on better collaboration between our educational institutions and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The intense pressure from increased global competition and the escalation of hostile foreign intelligence operations exposes the vulnerabilities posed by open research environments to our national economic security. With an estimated loss of as much as $600 billion in intellectual property theft annually, we can only preserve our culture of openness if we can safely prevent its exploitation.”

 

In a statement, Rep. Krishnamoorthi said, “It is imperative that our academic communities and homeland security officials have ready access to each other – to increase the long-term national security of the United States, to engage experts across the spectrum, and to support our students. The Department of Homeland Security has an existing framework in HSAAC that will help do just this, and in turn protect the American homeland. I commend my colleagues, both Democrat and Republican, that joined me today in calling on the Administration to reengage the council.”

 

The bi-partisan letter signed by fifty-one Members of Congress includes the following individuals:

 

Ralph Norman, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Bill Foster, James P. McGovern, Peter King, Rodney Davis, Seth Moulton, Mike Levin, Anthony G Brown, Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann, Joe Wilson, Mark Walker, Jim Cooper, John P. Sarbanes, Juan Vargas, Gregory F. Murphy, M.D., Pramila Jayapal, Jason Crow, Jerry McNerney, Denny Heck, Zoe Lofgren, Andy Harris, M.D., Lauren Underwood, Ro Khanna, Greg Stanton, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Jim Langevin, Julia Brownley, Tony Cárdenas, Virginia Foxx, Joe Kennedy, Joe Neguse, Debbie Lesko, David E. Price, Adam Kinzinger, Ted Lieu, Linda T. Sánchez, Elissa Slotkin, William R. Keating, David N. Cicilline, David Schweikert, Karen Bass, Diana DeGette, Scott H. Peters, Judy Chu, Norma J. Torres, Ed Perlmutter, Lori Trahan, CA Dutch Ruppersberger, Ann Kirkpatrick, Ed Case.