WHAT IS THE EMP COMMISSION?
(Including information about Congressional Commissions: Their Role and Credibility)

When weighing evidence, making intelligence judgments and threat assessments, or even responding to self-proclaimed experts on EMP - it is important to understand why the threat assessment about EMP by the U.S. Congressional EMP Commission, the Strategic Posture Commission, and the National Academy of Sciences deserves to be taken very seriously (and given great weight):

• First, Congressional Commissions typically are formed as instruments of last resort to resolve some controversy, hopefully to arrive at a consensus, about a vitally important matter where there have been significant disagreements within or between the Defense, Intelligence, and Scientific Communities--in other words, the EMP Commission and Strategic Posture Commission Reports are not merely "op-eds" but a solid and substantial body of work, representing a consensus  that emerged after hearing all points of view and rigorous examination of all the evidence.  In the case of the EMP Commission, eight years of work went into its threat assessment and recommendations.

• Second, Congressional Commissions are established and their Commissioners selected on a bipartisan basis so that there can be no question about the Commission's objectivity.  In the case of the EMP Commission and the Strategic Posture Commission, Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate played an equal role in the nomination and selection of Commissioners--and both Commissions were established with unanimous consent of the House and Senate.  Moreover, in the case of the EMP Commission, it was first established under a Republican-majority Congress, and then re-established under a Democrat-majority Congress - so the EMP Commission's bipartisan credentials and objectivity are impeccable.
  
• Third, Congressional Commissioners are typically selected from among the most senior and respected statesmen, scientists and strategists - so there can be no question about the competence of their judgments. 
  
• For example, in the case of the EMP Commission, Dr. William R. Graham was appointed as the EMP Commission Chairman.  Dr. Graham is the foremost EMP expert in the United States, perhaps in  the world, having been among the scientific team that first discovered the EMP phenomenon in the Starfish Prime nuclear test of 1962, having worked on EMP his entire professional life.  Dr. Graham also served as President Reagan's Science Advisor and as Director of NASA, so his qualifications are "second to none" for making judgments about the larger strategic and societal implications of scientific phenomenon, like EMP.
  
• Another EMP Commissioner, Dr. John Foster, is the foremost nuclear weapons expert in the United States, and has served in senior positions in the Department of Defense and as a scientific and strategic advisor to both Democrat and Republican Administrations.

• As for the Strategic Posture Commission, its Chairman is Dr. William Perry, who served as Secretary of Defense under President Clinton, and is one of this nation's most respected scientists.

• The Vice Chairman of the Strategic Posture Commission is Dr. James Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense and former Director of the CIA, who has served in senior positions in both Democrat and Republican Administrations, and is widely regarded as one of foremost strategic thinkers ever produced by our nation.

• All of the EMP Commissioners and all of the Strategic Posture Commissioners have stellar qualifications, representing our nation's "best and brightest"--so their collective warning about the EMP threat deserves to be taken very seriously.

• A fourth reason to heed the EMP Commission and the Strategic Posture Commission warnings about the EMP threat is that both Commissions were empowered by law to command the cooperation of the vast resources of the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and the National Laboratories in collecting and analyzing evidence.
  
• A fifth reason to heed the EMP Commission in particular is that the EMP Commission actually conducted scientific experiments and systems analysis (including the use of EMP simulators to test the vulnerability of a broad array of modern electronics) as the basis for its judgments about the EMP threat, and as the basis for its recommendations to protect modern infrastructures against EMP.
  
• As for the National Academy of Sciences study, it too was staffed with award winning scientists; it too followed the most rigorous rules of evidence and peer review to ensure objectivity and factual accuracy; and it too agreed with the EMP Commission that a great geomagnetic storm, like a nuclear EMP attack from terrorists, could be catastrophic for the survival of the American People and the continued existence of the United States.
  
• Congressional Commissions are so highly respected and influential (rightly so because of their objectivity and competence) that the report of a single Commission can profoundly effect U.S. national security policy.  For example, the Rumsfeld Commission ("The Commission On The Emerging Long-Range Ballistic Missile Threat To The United States"), which Congressman Weldon played a major role in establishing, won widespread congressional support for Congressman Weldon's HR-1 and the creation of a U.S. National Missile Defense.  For another example, the 9/11 Commission resulted in sweeping restructuring and reform of the Intelligence Community.  Hopefully, this makes clearer why a consensus judgment by even a single Congressional Commission deserves our respect - indeed, typically represents the best, most accurate, and most prudential judgment that our government can produce.

• Now not one, but two Congressional Commissions and a third highly respected voice, the National Academy of Sciences, are all warning that we face a serious threat from EMP – and we think that everyone had better listen.

• Unfortunately, the EMP Commission was terminated in 2008. It is crucial that it be resurrected.  Since the EMP Commission’s work is not complete, our country needs to have the EMP Commission reinstated as soon as possible. It is also very important for Congress to reappoint as many of the original EMP Commissioners as are willing and able to serve.  They are key (and in many ways irreplaceable) national resources.

    The following is the original Public Law that created the EMP Commission in 2001:
“Public Law 106-398, Title XIV
SEC. 1402. DUTIES OF COMMISSION
(a) Review of EMP Threat. The Commission shall assess:
(1) the nature and magnitude of potential high-altitude EMP threats to the United States from all potentially hostile states or non-state actors that have or could acquire nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles enabling them to perform a high-altitude EMP attack against the United States within the next 15 years;
(2) the vulnerability of United States military and especially civilian systems to an EMP attack, giving special attention to vulnerability of the civilian infrastructure as a matter of emergency preparedness;
(3) the capability of the United States to repair and recover from damage inflicted on United States military and civilian systems by an EMP attack; and
(4) the feasibility and cost of hardening select military and civilian systems against EMP attack.
(b) Recommendation. The Commission shall recommend any steps it believes should be taken by the United States to better protect its military and civilian systems from EMP attack.”

There is subsequent legislative history that has not addressed here for simplicity.  The bottom line is that the EMP Commission is not currently active and we need it reinstituted immediately – with as many of the original members as possible.  There’s no time to waste.  Please join EMPACT America in its efforts, and help us take action to protect the critical infrastructures of the United States.