Rep. Calvert Hails Appropriations Committee Support for Riverside County DHS Facility

June 11, 2014

Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) hailed the House Appropriations Committee's support for the Air and Marine Operations Center (AMOC), which is located in Riverside County. The Fiscal Year 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill contains language, supported by Rep. Calvert, that highlights the critical mission performed at AMOC. The bill provides $43.7 million for the operations at AMOC, $15.3 million above the President's request. The bill was approved today by the House Appropriations Committee.

"I am pleased that the Appropriations Committee continues to acknowledge and support the incredibly valuable work performed at AMOC," said Rep. Calvert. "The significant investments provided for AMOC in this bill will translate into increased capabilities and provide our homeland security officials with an increasingly clear air and marine awareness. I will continue to advocate my strong support to build upon AMOC's immense contributions. The AMOC mission, and the personnel who carry it out, are a true asset for Riverside County and the country."

Funding increases for AMOC activities provided in the FY 2015 Homeland Security Appropriations Bill include:

$5,900,000 to boost air surveillance operations from 60 percent to 95 percent;

$7,000,000 for necessary communication system upgrades that will ensure AMOC can connect with OAM air and marine assets;

$1,100,000 for upgrades to and maintenance of various surveillance systems, circuits, and equipment, including the Air and Marine Operations Surveillance System (AMOSS); and

$1,300,000 for PED Cell and AMOSS enhancements.

The following report language related to AMOC was also included in the bill:

"The Committee considers AMOC to be an asset, critical to fulfilling the national imperative for an air and marine domain awareness node that is capable of sharing and synchronizing information across DHS components, the government writ large, and appropriate foreign partners. For reasons rooted in DHS's history, AMOC has been minimalized to such a point that its budget is not even reflected in CBP's voluminous and rhetoric-filled budget justifications. To increase the visibility of AMOC's mission and budget requirements, the Committee establishes a separate AMOC PPA."

"Using advanced technologies and surveillance capabilities, AMOC unifies data from state of the art law enforcement radars into a common operating picture of the air, land, and maritime domains that can be shared with federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations. As such, AMOC is truly a national asset and, if properly resourced and empowered, can provide actionable intelligence and information to a range of partners across the U.S. government and overseas."

"For years, AMOC's charter has languished in unnecessary DHS bureaucracy. Despite its critical mission to establish comprehensive domain awareness, AMOC has been chronically under-funded and its mission remains unchartered. Currently, a proposed charter institutionalizing AMOC's missions and establishing its roles and responsibilities is in the Secretary's office waiting for a final decision. If the charter is not signed within 60 days of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary is directed to provide a report to the Committee that describes viable options with the same level of capability of the AMOC, the associated costs of the options, and the length of time it will take to study and implement them. The report shall be provided to the Committee not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act."

The Air and Marine Operations Center (AMOC) is the nation's only federal law enforcement center tasked to coordinate interdiction operations in the Western Hemisphere. Located at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., the AMOC was established in 1988 as a state-of-the-art law enforcement Domain Awareness center to counter the airborne drug smuggling threat. OAM has expanded the AMOC's role in air and marine interdiction, and today the AMOC provides detection, monitoring, sorting, tracking and coordination of law enforcement response to suspect airborne and maritime activity at, beyond and internal to our nation's borders.

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