Senators Clinton, Schumer Call on Congress to Retain Homeland Security Disaster Preparedness Funding for High Risk Areas

By admin - Posted on April 20th, 2007

Funding Under Threat of Being Stripped Out of Supplemental Appropriations Bill

April 17, 2007 -- Washington, DC - Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer today called on their colleagues in Congress to retain vital homeland security funding for high-risk areas in the upcoming supplemental appropriations bill. In a letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Homeland Security, the Senators, along with several of their colleagues, emphasized that the funding in question is vital to ensuring that high risk cities have the resources available to adequately plan and prepare for a major catastrophic event.

"High threat targets must be our highest homeland security priority. We need to make sure that our limited homeland security funds get to where they are needed most and that New York and other areas under the greatest threat receive adequate funding to prepare and protect themselves," Senator Clinton said.

"More than five years since the tragic World Trade Center attacks, New York remains in the terrorists' cross hairs along with the other top high risk urban areas across the nation," said Senator Schumer. "It's crystal clear that the little homeland security funding we have should be going toward protecting areas where residents are most at risk and this additional funding is a step in the right direction. We are going to continue to fight for the vital homeland security dollars New York desperately needs."

[A copy of the Senators' letter is attached]

The Honorable Robert C Byrd
Chairman
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
D-135
Washington DC 20510

The Honorable Thad Cochran
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
H-123
Washington DC 20510

The Honorable David E. Price
Chairman
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
B - 307 Rayburn
Washington DC 20515

The Honorable Harold Rogers
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
B - 307 Rayburn
Washington DC 20515

Dear Chairmen Byrd and Price and Ranking Members Cochran and Rogers;

As you move forward with conference negotiations on the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act, 2007 we ask that the $35 million in the Senate report for Tier One Urban Area Security Initiative cities for the purpose of developing regional catastrophic event plans and preparedness remain in the final version of the bill. In the wake of severe cuts in high threat UASI funding in recent years, this money is vital to ensuring that our highest risk cities have the resources available to adequately plan and prepare for a major catastrophic event.

On June 16, 2006, the Department of Homeland Security released its Nationwide Plan Review: Phase 2 Report. The DHS report states that "current catastrophic planning is unsystematic and not linked within a national planning system." The report found that 61 percent of States and 69 percent of urban areas do not have adequate plans to respond to a catastrophic event. It is critical that urban areas plan for response and recovery from threats such as a potential nuclear attack, a chemical incident or a major natural disaster. $35 million would serve as a starting point for the Tier One UASI sites for strategic planning, mass evacuation planning, and support for the impacted communities surrounding the urban area, public education, and outreach.

We recognize the difficult choices you will have to make in completing a final version of the bill, but we think this funding deserves special consideration. Thank you for your consideration of this important request.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Charles E. Schumer
Barack Obama
Dianne Feinstein
Frank Lautenberg
Robert Menendez

Source: Senator Hillary Clinton

Bookmark/Search this post with: