Havre Daily News Staff
A Homeland Security Committee field hearing will be held in Havre on July 2. The hearing will focusing on security of the northern border, a press release from Sen. Jon Tester's, D-Mont., office announced Thursday. "Sen. Jon Tester will chair a Senate Homeland Security Committee field hearing in Havre next month to examine security challenges along the nation’s northern border with Canada," said Patrick Devlin, communications director. The hearing, called “Securing the Northern Border: Views from the Front Lines,” will begin at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 2, in Hensler Auditorium at the Montana State University- Northern campus. The hearing is free and open to the public. "Tester organized the hearing in response to security threats along the 4,000-mile northern border, which is in many places unguarded," Devlin said. "Tester’s hearing will look at how effectively the U.S. Department of Homeland Security works with state and local partners, as well as its own staff and technology to address the challenges of securing the border. Witnesses scheduled to testify during the hearing include Brenna Neinast, chief, U.S. Border Patrol-Havre Sector; Dan McGowan, administrator, Montana Disaster and Emergency Services; Robert DesRosier, director, Disaster and Emergency Services-Blackfeet Nation; Sheriff Donna Matoon, Toole County; Loren Timmerman, president, National Treasury Employees Union-Chapter 231 (Port of Sweetgrass); Kris Merkel, president, S2 Corporation in Bozeman; Dr. Alex Philp, president, GCS Research in Missoula; and a U.S. Department of Homeland Security witness to be determined. Following the hearing, Tester will take questions from the public on border issues.
