Two GOP congressmen describe three security-related earmarks

Rep. W. Todd Akin

Two Republican congressmen have disclosed the details of three different homeland security-related earmarks they have had included in the Defense Department’s appropriation bill for fiscal year 2010.

Rep. W. Todd Akin, of Missouri, described his request for just over $1 million for TechGuard Security, LLC, of Chesterfield, MO, to enhance the U.S. Army’s cyber-security by putting the security capability of the High-speed Internet Protocol Packet Inspection Engine, or HIPPIE, on a silicon chip.

“This funding will allow for development of a nano-power supply and a nano-memory capability,” explained Rep. Akin, in a statement in the Congressional Record on February 4. “It will enhance the coalition warrior and the U.S. Warfighter’s communication security and access control through discreet deployment with secure remote-controlled chip-level destruction in the event a device is compromised.”

In the same Congressional Record statement, Rep. Akin also described a $1.6 million earmark he requested for Clean Earth Technologies, LLC, of Earth City, MO, to further develop the Hyper spectral Sensor for Improved Force Protection.

“The introduction of Hyper-IFP in FY08 is allowing the detection and recognition of humans (with a near zero false alarm rate) and providing indication of other certain physiological triggers that can indicate that a person is under extreme stress such as contemplating ‘bad’ behavior,” explained Rep. Akin.

The Hyper-IFP is focused on the missions of perimeter security, suicide bomb detection and urban route recon, he added.

A second congressman, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, described a $4 million earmark he sought for the Intergraph Corp., of Madison, AL, for the National Incident Management System-compliant installation operations center at Fort Benning, GA.

“This funding will go towards meeting the implementation of a NIMS-compliant installation operations center that will directly support Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5 by providing interoperability and cross-jurisdiction capabilities among local and multi-state response agencies,” said Rep. Rogers.