Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2004

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, two weeks ago, when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he told us that the current cost of maintaining our troops in Iraq is $3.9 billion a month almost $1 billion a week.

The administration is prepared to meet that financial burden, even as the American people are beginning to question the future direction of the President's Iraq policies. Hopefully, the death of Saddam's sons will reduce the intensity of the guerilla war being waged against our troops. Hopefully, the administration will finally seek the support of the United Nations and NATO to ease the burden on our troops.

We all agree that when it comes to homeland security, there is no debate. Americans want our cities and our neighborhoods to be safe from terrorists, and the expect their government to do what is needed to accomplish that task.

Yet, while we are spending $3.9 billion each month in Iraq, this legislation includes only $3.9 billion for the entire year for first responders here at home—for the police and firefighters and emergency personnel who are the first line of defense against terrorism in our communities.

Perhaps the fact that we are spending more in Iraq each month than we are in the United States on our first responders would only be an odd coincidence if we were certain that we were doing all we can here at home. Unfortunately, all the available evidence suggests otherwise.

Just last month, the Council on Foreign Relation's Independent Task Force issued a report entitled "Emergency Responders: Drastically Underfunded, Dangerously Unprepared," and it points a very stark picture.

According to the report, America faces a $98 billion shortfall in first responder funding over the next 5 years and only 10
percent of fire departments across the country have the personnel, training, and equipment to respond to a building collapse. The report also asserts that American cities with between 250,000 and 500,000 residents have experienced a net 16 percent reduction in police personnel over the past 2 years.

Since September 11th, mid-size American cities have had to reduce police staffing by 16 percent. These figures are unacceptable, and they are getting worse.

And yet, time and time again during this debate, we have stood here and offered amendments to increase federal funding to help municipalities and public agencies with these new homeland security responsibilities. But the White House has put its foot down each time, and demanded that our colleagues on the other side oppose this badly needed funding.

Just this week we've offered eight critically important homeland security funding amendments, each of which has been voted down with little consternation about the magnitude of our pressing homeland security needs. Each was rejected on the basis of budgetary concerns, and with the belief that we are doing all we can. But clearly we are not.

We have offered amendments like Senator Byrd's to add $1.8 billion this year for a broad array of homeland security needs such as port security, air cargo security, energy security, and transportation security. It was rejected.

We have offered amendments like Senator Mikulski's to add $150 million to fully fund the firefighters grant programs. It was rejected.

We have offered amendments like Senator Murray's to add $100 million to the National Emergency Management Performance Grants program, which helps states develop and implement comprehensive security and emergency response plans. It was rejected.

We have offered amendments like Senator Hollings' to add $300 million to fund essential port security programs. It too was rejected, even though the security of our nation's ports is widely considered the most glaring vulnerability in our Nation's efforts to prevent terrorist attacks.

And finally, we have offered amendments like Senator Dodd's that would fund homeland security needs by reducing the recent tax cuts for millionaires. It wasn't even close.

Prudence would dictate that we pause and make absolutely sure that we are doing everything possible to provide for homeland security, and not simply continue to vote down these amendments because the administration doesn't want Federal spending to increase.

And we still have several more opportunities to do just that.

I strongly support the amendment offered by Senator Schumer and Senator Specter, because it is one such opportunity to make sure that our high-threat urban areas receive the assistance they so desperately need. This amendment would add $250 million to protect our largest cities, which face particularly daunting security challenges.

My own city of Boston feels this pressure immensely and feels it acutely. Boston is the regional economic engine of New England, and the center of the seventh-largest metropolitan area in the country.

Boston is also home to the Nation's oldest subway system, several underground highway tunnels, a bustling cargo port, and the only urban liquified natural gas facility in the country.

In short, protecting these pieces of critical infrastructure is a task too herculean for the city to handle on its own, especially
in the current budget climate. It is also a Federal responsibility.

Additionally, as an international city, Boston is home to over 36 foreign embassies and tens of thousands of international students. It attracts more than 10 million visitors a year from all over the world, who come to learn about this "cradle of
liberty," where the American Revolution began.

That history, and the numerous public monuments and structures that recall it, make Boston a powerful symbol of the American struggle for freedom, democracy, and liberty. Unfortunately, that symbolism also makes Boston an attractive target.

Finally, Boston is home to the Nation's mutual fund industry, the largest concentration of the world's leading hospitals, and more institutions of higher learning than any other city in the United States. An incident involving Boston would most
certainly cripple the nation's economy and dismantle the Nation's health care network.

I am grateful that Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has recognized Boston's unique needs and designated it as a high-threat urban area, and I also greatly appreciate that he recently visited Boston to see first-hand the challenges confronting Mayor Menino.

But while this assistance is welcome, it is simply not enough—in the face of massive municipal and State budget cutbacks—to meet Boston's extraordinary needs, which are only going to become more severe during next year's political convention when some 35,000 delegates, journalists, and visitors come to town.

Mr. President, we have voted down a great many important homeland security funding amendments in the past three days, and we are not doing all we can to protect the American people at home.

We have a $98 billion shortfall for first responders, at the same time we have approved a trillion in tax cuts for mostly millionaires and at the same time we are sending $3.9 billion each month to Iraq. We need to reassess our priorities, and this amendment provides us with one more chance to do that before this debate concludes.

Mr. President, the 9/11 Commission released its report today, the "Joint Inquiry, Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11." It is full, full of the missed opportunities that endangered the security of American lives. It catalogues missed opportunity after missed opportunity that contributed to the suffering of the 177 Massachusetts families that lost loved ones on that horrible day and thousands of other families across the country.

The best answer we can have in response to this report that was made available to the American people today is to make sure we are going to provide the kind of support for homeland security that this amendment provides.

I hope this Senate will accept the Schumer-Specter amendment because it is an important downpayment for the security of our most vulnerable American cities. If we are really interested in learning the lessons of this report today, we will make sure that the necessary resources are provided.

I yield the floor.