Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federally funded research and development center in Livermore,California,United States. Originally established in 1952,the laboratory now is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and administered privately by Lawrence Livermore National Security,LLC.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within,and connecting to,the United States. It was created as a response to the September 11 attacks to improve airport security procedures and consolidate air travel security under a combined federal law enforcement and regulatory agency.
The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security,the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11,2001.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a laser-based inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research device,located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore,California,United States. NIF's mission is to achieve fusion ignition with high energy gain. It achieved the first instance of scientific breakeven controlled fusion in an experiment on December 5,2022,with an energy gain factor of 1.5. It supports nuclear weapon maintenance and design by studying the behavior of matter under the conditions found within nuclear explosions.
The Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. Its responsibilities include U.S. security legislation and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.
The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in the House. Its chair is one of only three in the House with the authority to issue subpoenas without a committee vote or consultation with the ranking member. However,in recent history,it has become practice to refrain from unilateral subpoenas.
Sensitive security information (SSI) is a category of United States sensitive but unclassified information obtained or developed in the conduct of security activities,the public disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy,reveal trade secrets or privileged or confidential information,or be detrimental to the security of transportation. It is not a form of classification under Executive Order 12958 as amended. SSI is not a security classification for national security information. The safeguarding and sharing of SSI is governed by Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 15 and 1520. This designation is assigned to information to limit the exposure of the information to only those individuals that "need to know" in order to participate in or oversee the protection of the nation's transportation system. Those with a need to know can include persons outside of TSA,such as airport operators,aircraft operators,railroad carriers,rail hazardous materials shippers and receivers,vessel and maritime port owners and operators,foreign vessel owners,and other persons.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a United States federal agency responsible for safeguarding national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety,security,and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile;works to reduce the global danger from weapons of mass destruction;provides the United States Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion;and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the United States and abroad.
Erroll G. Southers is an American expert in transportation security and counterterrorism. He is the author of Homegrown Violent Extremism (2013). Southers is a Professor of the Practice in National &Homeland Security,the Director of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies and the Director of the Safe Communities Institute at the University of Southern California (USC) Sol Price School of Public Policy. He is also the research area leader for Countering Violent Extremism at the DHS National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) and managing director,counter-terrorism &infrastructure protection at TAL Global Corporation. He was assistant chief of the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) police department's office of homeland security and intelligence. He is a former special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was deputy director of homeland security under California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 2009 he was nominated by President Barack Obama to become head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA),but Southers withdrew.
Edward Moses is an American physicist and is the former president of the Giant Magellan Telescope Organization. He is a past principal associate director for the National Ignition Facility &Photon Science Directorate,where he led the California-based NIF,the largest experimental science facility in the US and the world's most energetic laser,that hopes to demonstrate the first feasible example of usable nuclear fusion.
David Peter Pekoske is an American government official and retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral who has served as the seventh administrator of the Transportation Security Administration in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2017. He served as the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security from April to November 2019 and again from January to June 2021. From January 20,2021 to February 2,2021 he served as acting secretary of homeland security,during the Senate confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas. Pekoske retired with 33 years of active military service in 2010 as the 26th vice commandant of the Coast Guard.
A Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response team,sometimes Visible Intermodal Protection and Response (VIPR) is a Transportation Security Administration program. Various government sources have differing descriptions of VIPR's exact mission. It is specifically authorized by 6 U.S.C. § 1112 which says that the program is to "augment the security of any mode of transportation at any location within the United States". Authority for the program is under the Secretary of Homeland Security. The program falls under TSA's Office of Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service. TSA OLE/FAMS shares responsibility for the program with the Office of Security Operations and Transportation Sector Network Management.
Chad Fredrick Wolf is an American former government official and lobbyist who was named the acting United States secretary of homeland security in November 2019. His appointment was ruled unlawful in November 2020. Wolf was also the under secretary of homeland security for strategy,policy,and plans from 2019 to 2021.
Penrose "Parney" C. Albright is an American physicist known for his work with the U.S. Government,think tanks and National Laboratories,and government contractors. Since November 1,2014,he has been the president and CEO of HRL Laboratories,a research firm jointly owned by Boeing and General Motors. Until December 2013 he served as the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,and,in 2014,he served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The United States House Select Committee on Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi was created after Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner,on May 2,2014,proposed that a House select committee would be formed to further investigate the Benghazi attack on September 11,2012. During the attack,the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi,Libya,was attacked,resulting in the deaths of the U.S. ambassador to that country,J. Christopher Stevens,and three other Americans.
The TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2014 is a bill that would direct the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to review the data and methods that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) uses to classify personnel as law enforcement officers and to reclassify,as necessary,any staff of the Office of Inspection that are currently misclassified according to the results of that review. The TSA would be required to adhere to existing federal law about what positions are classified as criminal investigators,a fact that determines pay and benefits.
Douglas Hofsass is a former Assistant Administrator in the United States Department of Homeland Security,assigned to the Transportation Security Administration. In addition to his role as the Assistant Administrator overseeing risk based security and trusted traveler programs,he also served as the Federal Security Director in New York City. As part of his responsibilities in New York City,he oversaw the first implementation of federal security operations under DHS at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport and the East 34th Street Heliport for commercial helicopter flights to John F Kennedy International Airport,Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Hofsass also held the posts of General Manager of Commercial Aviation and Deputy Assistant Administrator for Policy and Industry Engagement for the Transportation Security Administration. He was heavily involved in launching the TSA PreCheck Program,and claimed a collaborative partnership with the US Customs Department and their Global Entry Program. Hofsass served at the Transportation Security Administration from 2002 until 2013,including several years working directly for Administrators John S. Pistole,Kip Hawley and Gale Rossides. Prior to his Federal executive service,Hofsass was with United Airlines management for nearly 10 years. Hofsass returned to the commercial aviation sector in 2013.
Kathleen Cordelia Bailey is an American political scientist and artist. She served as deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and as assistant director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. She is a senior associate at the National Institute for Public Policy in Washington,D.C.
Beginning in 2019,multiple appointments of acting officials in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were questioned,on the basis of whether the appointments were legal under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. After the departure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019,the Trump administration did not formally nominate a new secretary to be confirmed by the Senate,relying on acting postings.
