DHS AND USDA BREAK GROUND ON $1.25 BILLION BIOCONTAINMENT FACILITY

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
DHS and USDA Break Ground for National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility
Release Date: May 27, 2015
For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office

MANHATTAN, KS – Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today broke ground to officially begin construction of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) main laboratory structure in Manhattan, Kansas.

"The NBAF laboratory will provide the nation with cutting edge, state-of-the-art, lab capabilities and help protect our food supply and the nation’s public health,” said Secretary Johnson.  “NBAF addresses a serious vulnerability. The economic impact of a bio agricultural threat – deliberate or natural – could have a substantial effect on the food supply of this Nation and have serious human health consequences.  We will soon be able to ensure availability of vaccines and other rapid response capabilities to curb an outbreak.  With the NBAF, our Nation will have the first Bio Level 4 lab facility of its kind – a state-of-the-art bio-containment facility for the study of foreign animal and emerging diseases.”

When completed and fully operational in 2022, the $1.25 billion NBAF will be a 570,000 sq.ft, biocontainment facility for the study of foreign animal and emerging zoonotic (transmitted from animals to humans) diseases that threaten animal agriculture and public health in the United States.

“This innovative new facility is capable of producing the research needed to protect our nation’s farmers, food supply, public health and the rural economy.  It has been a national priority for USDA, DHS, and our other partners as we work to replace aging facilities,” said U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Secretaries Johnson and Vilsack were joined by DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Dr. Reginald Brothers, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran of Kansas, Reps. Tim Huelskamp, Kevin Yoder and Lynn Jenkins of Kansas, Mayor of Manhattan Karen McCulloh, and Kansas State University President Dr. Kirk Schulz. A unique partnership among DHS, the State of Kansas, and the City of Manhattan came together to construct this facility.

NBAF, located in the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor—the largest concentration of animal health companies in the world, will replace the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) in New York, providing capabilities that exceed those of PIADC. Specifically, NBAF will boast a maximum biocontainment (ABSL-4) laboratory space. The first laboratory facility in the United States of its kind, this facility will allow researchers to study zoonotic diseases that affect livestock and other large animals. Underscoring the need for this research is the knowledge that approximately 75 percent of new and emerging infectious diseases over the last 30 years have been zoonotic diseases.

Similar to the work at PIADC, NBAF will be a strategic national asset, providing modern laboratory space for DHS and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to carry out their unique yet complementary missions. The key functions of the NBAF laboratory space will include basic research, sample receipt testing and diagnosis, veterinarian training, countermeasures and vaccine candidate development, and vaccine efficacy trials.

PRESIDENT OBAMA SPEAKS ON FUNDING THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

HOMELAND SECURITY AGENT RECEIVES PRISON TERM FOR IMPEDING GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION INVESTIGATIONS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Monday, December 15, 2014

Former Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General Sentenced to More Than Three Years in Prison
A former Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Homeland Security - Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) was sentenced to 37 months in prison today for a scheme to falsify records and obstruct an internal DHS-OIG inspection, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office.  The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the Southern District of Texas.

“While leading an office responsible for investigating misconduct at other government agencies, Pedraza sought to impede and obstruct the investigation of his own office,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell.  “Pedraza’s criminal conduct resulted in the premature closing of criminal cases without resolution, potentially endangering our national security and allowing others to escape justice.  We will root out and prosecute corruption wherever it may be found, including within the ranks of federal law enforcement.”

Former DHS-OIG Special-Agent-in-Charge Eugenio Pedraza, 50, of McAllen, Texas, was found guilty following a four-day jury trial on March 14, 2014, of conspiring with three other special agents to falsify criminal investigative reports to impede an internal DHS-OIG inspection and obstruct the underlying criminal investigations.  The jury also found Pedraza guilty of five counts of falsifying records.

DHS-OIG is responsible for investigating alleged criminal activity by DHS employees, including corruption by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel affecting the integrity of the U.S. borders.  Pedraza headed DHS-OIG’s McAllen Field Office (MCA) from January 2009 to January 2012.

According to evidence presented at trial, in September 2011, DHS-OIG conducted an internal inspection of the MCA to evaluate whether the agency’s investigative standards and policies were being followed.  In anticipation of the internal inspection, Pedraza and at least three other DHS-OIG agents, including Special Agent Wayne Ball, engaged in a scheme to falsify investigative documents to make it appear that criminal investigations were being conducted in a timely fashion and in accordance with DHS-OIG standard operating procedures.  The scheme’s purpose was to conceal severe lapses in DHS-OIG’s investigative standards and policies at the MCA and Pedraza’s failure to properly supervise agents and investigations.  Court documents reflect that Pedraza, Ball, and other special agents wrote and signed false criminal investigative reports.  Pedraza then approved the reports for inclusion in the official investigative case files.

For example, the evidence at trial showed that, at Pedraza’s direction, a special agent drafted false memoranda of activity (MOAs) to fill gaps of inactivity in a criminal investigation to which he was assigned.  The criminal investigation had been initiated in March 2010 and concerned allegations that a CBP officer was assisting the unlawful smuggling of undocumented aliens and narcotics into the United States.   Because the MOAs were intended to describe investigative activities that occurred when the drafting agent was either not present at the MCA or not employed by DHS-OIG at all, Pedraza directed the agent to attribute the investigative activity to Ball.  Ball then signed and backdated the false MOAs.  Pedraza also signed and backdated the false MOAs, which were then placed in the investigation’s case file in advance of the internal inspection.  Upon discovery of the falsified reports, the criminal investigation had to be closed without resolution.  According to evidence presented at trial, Pedraza similarly directed other special agents to falsify records related to at least four other criminal investigations.

On Jan. 17, 2013, Ball pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with Pedraza and at least two other special agents to falsify records in federal investigations and obstruct an agency proceeding.  Ball is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 7, 2015, by U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle of the Southern District of Texas.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Eric Gibson, Brian Kidd and J.P. Cooney of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY'S STATEMENT ON IMMIGRATION REFORM

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

Statement by the Press Secretary

It is extraordinary that the House of Representatives, after failing for more than a year to reform our broken immigration reform system, would vote to restrict a law enforcement tool that the Department of Homeland Security uses to focus resources on key enforcement priorities like public safety and border security, and provide temporary relief from deportation for people who are low priorities for removal.  In the face of Congressional inaction, the Administration’s use of Deferred Action for DREAMers in 2012, which has benefitted more than 500,000 young people who are Americans in every way except on paper, is the most significant progress we have made toward immigration reform in years.  By failing to act on an immigration reform bill that requires that people who are here illegally pay taxes, undergo background checks and get on the right side of the law, the House is instead driving an approach that is about rounding up and deporting 11 million people, separating families, and undermining DHS’ ability to secure the border.

DHS AND NASA WORK TOGETHER TO SAVE VICTIMS OF DISASTER

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Detecting Heartbeats in Rubble: DHS and NASA Team up to Save Victims of Disasters

In June 2013, Urban Search and Rescue team tested the FINDER’s human-finding abilities at the Fairfax County Fire Department training center.

When natural disasters or man-made catastrophes topple buildings, search and rescue teams immediately set out to recover victims trapped beneath the wreckage. During these missions, time is imperative, and quickly detecting living victims greatly increases chances for rescue and survival.

A new radar-based technology named Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response (FINDER) has been developed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the National Aeronautics Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to detect a human heartbeat buried beneath 30 feet of crushed materials, hidden behind 20 feet of solid concrete, and from a distance of 100 feet in open spaces. In the past several months, S&T and JPL have been testing and developing several FINDER prototypes. Last June, DHS and first responders used the prototype to conduct more than 65 test searches with two Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams: the Virginia Task Force One (VA-TF1) at the Fairfax County Fire Department training center and Virginia Task Force Two (VA-TF2) in Virginia Beach, Va.

“Testing proved successful in locating a VA-TF1 member buried in 30 feet of mixed concrete, rebar, and gravel rubble from a distance of over 30 feet,” said John Price, S&T program manager. “This capability will complement the current Urban Search and Rescue tools such as canines, listening devices, and video cameras to detect the presence of living victims in rubble.”

FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY AGENT ADMITS TO RECORDS FALSIFICATION ROLE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Thursday, January 17, 2013
Former Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General Agent Admits Role in Records Falsification Scheme

A former special agent of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (DHS-OIG) pleaded guilty today in a Southern District of Texas federal court to participating in a scheme to falsify records and to obstruct an internal field office inspection, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Wayne Ball, 40, of McAllen, Texas, entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Randy Crane to one count of conspiracy to falsify records in federal investigations and to obstruct an agency proceeding.

DHS-OIG is the principal component within DHS with the responsibility to investigate alleged criminal activity by DHS employees, including corruption affecting the integrity of U.S. borders. According to court documents, Ball served as a special agent with DHS-OIG at its McAllen Field Office from January 2009 to November 2012.

According to court documents, in September 2011, DHS-OIG conducted an internal inspection of the field office to evaluate whether its internal investigative standards and policies were being followed. Beginning in August 2011, Ball and at least two other DHS-OIG employees, identified in court documents as "Supervisor A" and "Special Agent A," allegedly engaged in a scheme to falsify documents in investigative case files. Ball admitted that the scheme’s purpose was to conceal lapses – including significant periods of inactivity in pending criminal investigations over periods of months or years – from personnel conducting the inspection and DHS-OIG headquarters, including by falsifying investigative activity which had not taken place.

According to court documents, a criminal investigation was initiated by DHS-OIG in March 2010 into allegations that a Customs and Border Protection officer was assisting the unlawful smuggling of undocumented aliens and narcotics into the United States. Special Agent A allegedly drafted false memoranda of activity (MOAs), at Supervisor A’s direction, to fill gaps of inactivity in the investigation, to which Special Agent A was assigned. With the intention of filling gaps that had occurred when Special Agent A was either not present at the office to investigate cases or was not employed by DHS-OIG at all, Special Agent A allegedly attributed the investigative activity to Ball, who signed and backdated the false MOAs. Supervisor A also allegedly signed and backdated the documents, which were placed in the investigation’s case file in advance of the internal inspection.

The charge of conspiracy carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Ball is scheduled to be sentenced on April 16, 2013.

SAPBER IS A BOMB DISMANTLING MACHINE

Photo Credit: DHS. SAPBER is DHS S&T's new low-cost device for dismantling dangerous pipe bombs
　
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Dismantling a Pipe Bomb - and Preserving the Evidence

　
multi-tool mobile mechanism from Homeland Security takes the edge off a pipe bomb—literally.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate’s (S&T) new low-cost device for dismantling dangerous pipe bombs may look like a tinkerer’s project, but that’s no accident. The Semi Autonomous Pipe Bomb End-cap Remover (SAPBER) is unassuming in appearance, but sophisticated enough to preserve the forensic evidence needed to track down the perpetrator.

"From ten paces away, you might mistake the contraption for a pressure washer," says S&T Program Manager Christine Lee. "But step closer and you’ll find an ingenious device bristling with four video cameras, radios, a telescoping mast, cutting wheels, a twisting wrist, an electric motor, and a chain-driven gear, all powered by a pair of 12-volt batteries."

Thousands of pipe bombs are made each year, and thousands of pipe bomb threats are called into local police and FBI authorities across the country. Many are false alarms, but those that aren’t can be deadly.

Dismantling a pipe bomb is tricky and serious business, and missteps during the dismantling process can produce catastrophic results. Law enforcement authorities ideally would like to preserve all evidence related to pipe bomb attacks, but the main focus of responders is the safety of the public and current pipe bomb render-safe techniques often limit the amount of evidence that can be collected. Not so with SAPBER (say-ber).

Pipe bombs can be constructed from many different pipe materials, and filled with many different explosive materials. Making it even more challenging, they can also be constructed with shrapnel on the outside. SAPBER is designed to carefully disassemble the pipe bomb without disturbing the deadly explosive materials inside. Once the pipe bomb is dismantled, the filler explosive materials can then be emptied, and both materials and the pipe itself can be preserved as evidence. The SAPBER system is able to use these special techniques on a wide variety of pipes including straight steel, galvanized steel, copper, and PVC plumbing plastic.

The prototype and its remote-control software were developed by RE2 Inc., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As an operator controls the device from a distance, SAPBER takes the pipe bomb from a bomb-disposal robot, disassembles it, empties the pipe, makes a video, and carefully preserves all of the evidence.

The 140-pound (64-kg) two-wheeler is small enough to squeeze into a current bomb-squad truck while sharing space with a bomb-disposal robot. Once off the truck, SAPBER is towed into place by hand or by the robot. On-scene, the robot lifts the pipe bomb and gently lays it onto SAPBER’s transfer tray to be cleanly disassembled. When the pipe is opened, the material inside—powder, detonator, shrapnel, and all—fall into SAPBER’s collection trough, to be studied later and used as evidence.

In May, SAPBER underwent trials conducted by the S&T Bomb Squad Test Bed at the Army’s Fort Meade. During these trials, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) fabricated "live" pipe bombs for the Baltimore County Police Department Bomb Squad to test in four different, operational scenarios and each operator had to control SAPBER remotely, using the tool’s video feed. The SAPBER system has also been tested using "live" explosives and has gone through an extensive evaluation by several bomb squads including the Allegheny County and Fairfax County Bomb Squads.

"To keep it affordable (currently around $12,000) and easy to maintain, RE2 Inc. designed and built the device from proven commercial parts that are mass-produced and easily replaced," says Lee.

Everything that S&T’s First Responders Group (FRG/R-Tech) funds must appeal to cash-strapped, cost efficient responders. If SAPBER looks more like a boy’s go-cart, and not a sleek racecar, that’s no matter to them. Cost saving is a practice encouraged by S&T’s First Responders Group (FRG), whose R-Tech program funded SAPBER’s development. The final design was shown to the National Bomb Squad Commander’s Advisory Board and municipal bomb squads, and SAPBER proved its mettle—at the conclusion of the user evaluation, two SAPBER prototypes were transferred to ATF to disarm the scores of pipe bombs its agents have confiscated.

Bomb Squad Commander Corporal Robert Conroy of the Baltimore County Police Department – Hazardous Devices Team says: "The most unique feature of the SAPBER is its simplicity and ease of use. Personally, I liked that the operating system was computer based and didn’t require any extra hardware outside of a standard modem and Wi-Fi hotspot (included with the SAPBER). In addition, the ability of the SAPBER to remotely dismantle pipe bombs in various ways is very unique."

According to Cathy Parker, RE2’s Manager of Business Development, "With the SAPBER system, bomb squads will be able to replace dangerous pipe bomb disassembly tools and techniques with a totally remote solution. This tool ushers in a new era of capability for dealing with pipe bombs."

"This means disarming a pipe bomb safely is no longer a pipe dream," says Lee.