Legislative Priorities
Martha McSally is the representative for Arizona’s 2nd congressional district in the Congress having served since January 6, 2015. Her term comes to an end in the next election that will be held in 2018. She is an influential figure in the House of Representatives as she has sponsored and cosponsored several bills with some of her recent sponsored bills in the 115th Congress including H.R.505- Border Security Technology Accountability Act of 2017 and H.R.677-CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2017. McSally sits on many committees including the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications, House Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Readiness, Subcommittee on Military Personnel, and Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces. Primarily, she sponsors bills in policy or issue areas including emergency management, immigration, public lands and natural resources, armed forces and national security, and taxation. The two bills in focus are representative of the policy area of armed forces and national security, which McSally emphasizes as a member of the 115th Congress.
H.R.505- Border Security Technology Accountability Act of 2017 was introduced by Martha McSally to the House on January 12, 2017. Its purpose was to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to have the DHS ensure that each border security technology acquisition program determined to be a major acquisition program has an acquisition program baseline that is approved by the relevant acquisition decision authority. It also sought to push the DHS to have a plan for each such program to meet program implementation objectives through management of contractor performance. Moreover, the bill was meant to push the DHS to document that each such program meets the cost, schedule, and performance thresholds specified (McSally n.p). One of the reasons why McSally focused on promoting this bill was to leave a mark as the chairperson of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Besides, she sought to address or curb the homeland security threats faced in Arizona’s 2nd congressional district, for which she was a representative.
On the other hand, H.R.677- CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2017 was introduced by Martha McSally to the House on January 24, 2017. Similarly, its purpose was to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the DHS to offer support to homeland security-focused intelligence analysis of terrorist actors as well as their plans to perform attacks involving radiological, biological, chemical, and nuclear materials against the US. Another purpose of the bill was to direct the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the DHS to provide support to homeland security-focused risk analysis and risk assessments of the mentioned homeland security hazards through the provision of quantitative and non-quantitative threat information. Moreover, it sought to direct the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the DHS to share information as well as provide analytical support on the homeland security threats mentioned above. The bill further clarifies that the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the DHS shall coordinate with other components of DHS, federal, state, and local authorities, and other intelligence community agencies in the provision of recommendations on the mechanisms of optimally sharing information and on how information can be provided to DHS (McSally n.p). The primary reason for McSally’s promotion of this bill was to ensure that the security threats and hazards such as frequent terrorism faced in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District for which she was a representative were solved. Moreover, being the chairperson of the House Committee on Homeland Security, she wanted to ensure that important strides are made in the United States as a whole, regarding homeland security and intelligence.
From these legislations, I strongly believe that McSally was and is appropriately representing her Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District. Of course, the legislations focus on the improvement of homeland security through the prevention of security threats and hazards such as terrorism that are rampant in parts of Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.
Works Cited
McSally, Martha. “H.R.505 – 115th Congress (2017-2018): Border Security Technology Accountability Act of 2017.” Congress.gov. N.p., 01 Feb. 2017. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.
McSally, Martha. “H.R.677 – 115th Congress (2017-2018): CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act of 2017.”N.p., 01 Feb. 2017. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.