NORTON SAYS IMPROVED DHS RISK APPROACH STILL LEAVES HOT SPOTS - January 4, 2006

NORTON SAYS IMPROVED DHS RISK APPROACH STILL LEAVES HOT SPOTS, METRO AND RAIL VULNERABLE AND MILLIONS WASTED BECAUSE OF CONGRESSIONAL RESISTANCE
January 4, 2006

Washington, DC-- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), a member of the Homeland Security Committee, said that despite the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) more rigorous risk-based approach for the Urban Areas Security Initiative program (UASI) announced yesterday, the continuing vulnerability to at-risk facilities and cities like the District and New York City remains unnecessarily high because of congressional resistance to a similar approach to a DHS program almost as large, the State Homeland Security Grant Program. She said that the $120 million cut in UASI (from $885 to $765 million) “virtually compelled this long delayed administrative action, which is simply a more rigorous use of threat, vulnerability and consequences DHS should have begun using several years ago.” However, she said, Congress cut the State Homeland Security Grant Program, which is almost as large, by 50% while leaving millions of dollars of those funds to continue to be used for “inconsequential security purposes regardless of risk. Particularly considering the huge cut to that program, on which the nation’s capital is also dependent, Congress should have seized the opportunity to enact the long awaited risk-based approach formula approved by the House to the large State Program.” That new risk-based approach, however, has not moved in the Senate.

Norton, chief sponsor of the Secure Trains Act, for protection of rail and mass transportation, is investigating the full range of DHS pots the District, this region, and Metro might use for mass transportation because of the difficulty she has had in maintaining any dedicated funding for public transportation and rail security funding and her concern after the Madrid and London attacks that “terrorists have moved from the air to ground transportation.” She said that she was deeply concerned by Metro testimony before the Homeland Security Committee that its funding had actually decreased since 9/11.

The Administration’s budget for this year zeroed out all dedicated funding for rail and public transportation security, and DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff testified that states and cities could use Targeted Infrastructure Protection Program (TIPP) funds for this purpose. However, Norton said, “TIPP was a new administration proposal to fund a catch-all program where ports and other truly massive and vulnerable infrastructure needs for tunnels, bridges and other infrastructure would have had to compete. Fortunately, Congress had better sense and refused to fund this idea. To dump trains, buses, subways and the rest of public transportation on top of that would have been a crime.” Norton organized Democrats to get dedicated public transportation funded with restoration of a one-third cut that had been made by the Senate, but this increase only brought the amount back to $150 million, the prior year’s level.