Congressional Budget for the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2007
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007
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Ms. Stabenow. Mr. President, I actually have two amendments.
AMENDMENT NO. 3055
Mr. President, the first one I will send to the desk. I want to indicate what this is, and I appreciate the fact that I understand my leadership on the Budget Committee is willing to accept the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Michigan [Ms. STABENOW], for herself, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Kohl, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Reed, and Mr. Graham, proposes an amendment numbered 3055.
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Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I want to indicate that this amendment is a bipartisan amendment that is cosponsored by Senators Snowe, Reed, Lieberman, Kohl, DeWine, and Graham. It is an amendment that restores the critical funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, which has helped over 150,000 small- and medium-sized manufacturers in this country.
It is based on the cooperative extension model with Agriculture in that it is set up to provide best management practices, efficiencies, and support for our manufacturers as they compete in a global economy. It has helped them to maintain and increase jobs and be able to increase sales by----
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Ms. STABENOW. Actually, Mr. President, I think the confusion is that I am speaking for a moment about what was just accepted and wanted to say thank you to the chairman and the ranking member for accepting our restoration of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program funding. There was a 60-percent cut proposed by the President. This, in fact, restored it. And I want to say thank you, and then also indicate that the chairman of the committee, while there are not always amendments or policies or approaches we agree on, has been extraordinary as a leader of the Budget Committee. I want to say thank you to him and to our ranking member, Senator Conrad, who have worked so well together.
AMENDMENT NO. 3056
With that, Mr. President, I send another amendment to the desk.
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Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I rise today to offer an amendment to this budget resolution that would provide $5 billion for our first responders so they can effectively and reliably communicate with each other with equipment that can speak to each other: interoperable communications equipment.
I regret to say this administration has been dangerously incompetent in providing homeland security funding, and particularly when we talk about what is happening for our first responders in their ability to communicate, whether it is a terrorist attack, whether it is in the gulf and what has happened with our natural disasters, or any other kind of emergency in our communities.
We have seen a dangerously incompetent situation that has put our families and our communities at risk. We have known for a long time that too many of our police and fire and emergency medical workers and transportation officials cannot communicate with each other or they are not able to link up with State or Federal agencies.
The September 11 attacks highlighted this problem, when New York police and fire personnel were on different radio systems, couldn't communicate, people running into buildings when they should have been running out. The 9/11 Commission found that the inability to communicate was a critical element at the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and in Somerset County, PA, where multiple agencies and multiple jurisdictions responded.
Last December, the 9/11 Commission gave Congress a failing grade--an F--because it had not set a date for the transfer of analog spectrum to first responders for their interoperable communications needs.
A June 2004 U.S. Conference of Mayors survey found that 98 percent of cities do not have interoperable communications. In other words, the police department can't talk to the fire department or can't talk to emergency medical personnel, or they can't talk to folks at the county or the city or the township or the State. And 60 percent of the cities do not have the ability to talk with their State emergency operations centers. This is not acceptable. I believe this shows a dangerously incompetent situation. Almost half of the cities that responded to the survey said that a lack of interoperable communications had made a response to an incident within the last year difficult.
The most startling finding was that 80 percent of the cities don't have interoperable communications with the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice--80 percent of our cities not wired to be able to talk to Homeland Security or the Justice Department. This is a dangerously incompetent situation. Despite these warnings, the Federal Government still has not taken decisive action to solve the problem, and we saw the devastating cost of this with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In New Orleans, the police departments and three nearby parishes were on different radio systems. Police officers were calling Senator Landrieu's office here in DC because they couldn't reach the commanders on the ground in New Orleans. That is unacceptable. We can do better than this, and we must.
During my visit to the region with the Senate leadership, I had the opportunity to speak to many men and women who were working very hard in those initial days. Sitting in front of the New Orleans Convention Center talking to someone from the Michigan Army National Guard and the Michigan Coast Guard, which were both there working very hard, I asked them if they had radios, and they said yes. I asked if the radios could talk to each other, and they said no.
I said: What happens when you are out in a boat? What happens when you are trying to communicate?
One gentleman said: We use hand signals.
In the United States of America, in 2006, that is a dangerously incompetent situation.
We know this is an ongoing problem, not only because police and firefighters tell us that it is, but high-ranking Government officials concede this is a problem. In November of 2003, the White House Office of Management and Budget testified before a House committee that there was insufficient funding in place to solve the Nation's communications interoperability problem. It would cost over $15 billion to begin to fix the problem. Yet again we have been dangerously incompetent in addressing this critical threat.
The Federal Government must make a substantial financial commitment to solve this problem. At this time, our State and local governments are stretched too thin and have too many urgent and competing priorities to effectively and completely solve this on their own. In fact, we have an obligation. As we talk about security, as we talk about making sure we are safe, how in the world can we do that if we in 2006 have not figured out how to have the radios connected to each other so folks can talk to each other in an emergency? The Federal Government has not made the necessary commitment. My amendment begins to do that. It takes a major step in the right direction.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, from 9/11 through 2005, the Federal Government has spent only $280 million directly on interoperable communications. But none of those funds has been provided to help State and local emergency responders purchase equipment they need to talk to each other. I know our esteemed leader on the Budget Committee will argue that Congress has provided Homeland Security grants to our State and local emergency responders and that interoperable communications are an eligible expense. Saying that radio equipment is an eligible expense for funding and actually providing the funding are two different things.
The problem is, these Homeland Security grants have also been subjected to repeated cuts, including in this year's budget. Our first responders are being given less overall support in funding to try to meet a growing list of homeland security needs that includes radio communications. That is not a real solution. We can do better, and we must.
We need direct funding to solve this problem. That is what my amendment does. God forbid there is another terrorist attack or a natural disaster. Are we going to tell the American people that we didn't provide direct funding to fix a failed communications system because it was eligible under another underfunded grant program? This is a dangerously incompetent response to a critical threat to our families' safety.
I understand fixing our first responders' interoperability crisis is not only a funding problem but also a problem of allocating necessary spectrum. I know this is a difficult issue to solve. I believe we need to eliminate these barriers as quickly as possible.
I also agree that nationwide standards must be set to ensure that any money spent is spent wisely. I am a cosponsor of legislation introduced by Senator Lieberman and approved by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The Assure Emergency and Interoperable Communications for First Responders Act not only begins to provide the resources necessary to solve this problem but ensures that the Federal Government takes a strong role in leading our State, local, and Federal assets toward true communications interoperability.
I have offered several amendments since 9/11 to provide our first responders with the equipment they need to keep our communities safe. Last year, I offered this same amendment to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill and the Science-State-Justice-Commerce appropriations bill. While I have not yet been successful, I assure you, I will continue to fight until the men and women in Michigan and all across our country and their families, the people on the front lines of our homeland security, have the equipment they need and the ability to communicate effectively and reliably when we have an emergency. This is one of the most fundamental issues for us in making sure our families are safe. I am hopeful that my colleagues will support this amendment.
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This evening, there will be an amendment offered by Senators DAYTON, CHAMBLISS, and myself to address what is another important part of homeland security or law enforcement funding that the Federal Government provides, and that is through the Byrne/JAG grant program. This was proposed for complete elimination in the administration's budget. It provides critical support as it relates to addressing drug crimes, helping with juvenile delinquency, addressing community policing, other important items that help keep our communities safe. I am very pleased to be a sponsor. It is a bipartisan amendment. I am hopeful that it will pass.
In my State, we have 1,543 fewer police officers on the street since 9/11/01. Those are shocking numbers. The Byrne program is critically important in supporting our law enforcement officials. For example, in 2004 alone, Michigan drug task forces rescued 423 children from drug houses and arrested 659 major drug traffickers. They have been able to deal with the meth problem and assist victims of domestic violence. The list goes on and on. The Byrne program is an incredibly important part of supporting law enforcement. My colleagues and I will be offering this later this evening. I am hopeful we will receive support for it.
We are seeing too many cases where law enforcement is losing the resources they need to be effective. I am hopeful that the Byrne grant program will be reinstated and that we will join in a bold, effective approach for interoperability communications so that we know, whether it is natural disasters, a terrorist attack, or just keeping us safe in our communities, that, in fact, our local responders will be connected, not only to each other but to State and Federal agencies. It is critical that we get this done.
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