mr. schiff: thank you, madam speaker. and i want to at the outset thank and congratulate the homeland security committee and chairman thompson. the committee has taken important steps forward towards preventing nuclear terrorism, persevering with this legislation, and i appreciate all the hard work that the chairman and staff have put into it. i also want to thank other members who have contributed greatly to the effort, the ranking member, peter king, mr. king, once again, i thank you for your leadership in this area. the former chairman of the emerging threat subcommittee and early supporter, jim langevin. the current chairwoman of that subcommittee, yvette clarke, as well as the ranking member of the subcommittee, dan lungren. this will help us fight one of the most important national security threats that we face, that of nuclear proliferation. countries around the world now have access to technology that was once the realm of the few. and dangerous nuclear materials are unfortunately sprinkled around the world. this