Editing Rob Simmons (section)

===Overview===
[[Image:SimmonsPOW-MIA.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Rob Simmons at a POW–MIA memorial event in 2006]]
Simmons was a member of the [[House Armed Services Committee]] and was involved in issues concerning the district's major defense presence at the [[Electric Boat]] submarine shipyard in [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]] and the nearby [[Naval Submarine Base New London]]. In 2005, the [[Base Realignment and Closure Commission]] (BRAC) targeted the United States Navy's [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]] submarine base for closure. Simmons led the successful fight to save the base and the BRAC removed it from its closure list on August 24, 2005.

Simmons also served on the [[House Homeland Security Committee]] as chairman of the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment. He was a strong advocate of improved intelligence-sharing among federal, state, and local authorities. Simmons also championed [[Open Source Intelligence]] (OSINT) on Capital Hill, where he helped to legally define open source intelligence in the 2006 National Defense Authorization Act, requiring the Department of Defense to establish an OSINT program.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/olc/docs/PL109-163.pdf |title=Sec. 931 of Public Law 109-163, entitled, "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006"<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2018-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329142915/http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/olc/docs/PL109-163.pdf |archive-date=2017-03-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He also spearheaded an effort to establish an open source intelligence unit at the [[Department of Homeland Security]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cq.com/public/20050621B_homeland.html|title=CQ.com – Login|publisher=|access-date=2009-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194723/http://www.cq.com/public/20050621B_homeland.html|archive-date=2007-09-27|url-status=live}}</ref>