From In Homeland Security
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is one of the biggest threats to our national security, with worst-case scenarios showing a doomsday scene right out of an apocalyptic movie. However, President Donald Trump’s important March 26 executive order is a huge step toward making America prepared for an EMP.
EMPs are not a new concern. The Congressional EMP Commission has warned for nearly 20 years that an EMP is capable of destroying civilization and killing millions of people, but the Commission’s findings have largely gone unnoticed. President Trump’s executive order should make the nation take notice.
President Trump’s EMP Executive Order
The Executive Order on Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Threats mandates that the White House take charge of national EMP preparedness. This order circumnavigates the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Energy (DOE).
Putting the White House in charge of EMP preparedness is a bold, but vital, component of the president’s executive order. Traditionally, cabinet departments – including DOE and DHS – have a long history of playing down the seriousness of the EMP threat.
The new executive order states that the president’s National Security Advisor, coordinating with the National Security Council and the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, “shall coordinate the development and implementation of executive branch actions to assess, prioritize, and manage the risks of EMPs.”
President Trump’s executive order also directs DHS to liaise with DOE and other agencies, along with the private sector, to “develop a plan to mitigate the effects of EMPs on the vulnerable priority-critical infrastructures.”
Rare Bipartisan Progress on EMP Preparedness
Getting an EMP preparedness executive order is one of those extraordinarily rare bipartisan successes on Capitol Hill. Republican and Democratic factions in Congress have emphasized for years how important EMP preparedness is, but past administrations were mostly indifferent.
Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and former Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) have all led calls for EMP preparedness legislation. U.S. Representatives Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Doug Lamborn (D-Colo.) also played a big part, as did many other current and former lawmakers at the state and federal level.
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