Bush shifts emergency funds to aviation security
The White House announced on Wednesday that President Bush is transferring an emergency $270 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Transportation Security Administration to maintain aviation security.
In a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., Bush also urged Congress to pass an emergency spending bill for the two agencies. The funds transfer marked the second time Bush has requested a loan from FEMA to the TSA.
The transfer involves funds appropriated last September as part of the $40 billion emergency spending bill approved by Congress in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"In addition, I am further revising my request for supplemental funding originally transmitted on March 21 to account for this transfer by adjusting my administration's request for supplemental funding for FEMA and for TSA," Bush wrote in the letter to Hastert. "This will ensure that FEMA has the full resources necessary to meet my commitment to the recovery of New York."
The president said that unless Congress approves his supplemental funding request, he would not be able to allocate additional funding to TSA for a third time.
"It is imperative that the Congress quickly pass an acceptable emergency supplemental bill to prevent a disruption of commercial air travel," Bush wrote in the letter.
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