Senator attacks Bush over 'voluntary' security at borders

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., Tuesday continued his war of words with the Bush administration, criticizing so-called "voluntary" border security efforts undertaken by the Treasury Department and attacking President Bush for "arrogantly" refusing to let Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge testify before Congress.

At a hearing on the fiscal 2002 supplemental budget request featuring Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Byrd blasted a recently announced program, known as the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, that encourages business leaders to augment security efforts in exchange for faster and less-expensive import processing.

Byrd said he felt "uneasy" about the administration's pursuit of voluntary programs with business leaders while not requesting funds in the 2002 supplemental to hire additional border agents.

"If this is the way we're going to look at the security needs of the American people, then I'm afraid they're not going to sleep well at night," Byrd said.

O'Neill countered by saying there was already enough money appropriated in 2002 and requested in 2003 to hire 1,751 new personnel, adding, "I don't think more people is the answer to the question."

Byrd then said, "Could you get a million volunteers from the business community?"

Byrd also made another request to get Ridge before his committee. "[Ridge] can meet with the foreign heads of state but not the elected leaders in the Congress of the United States," Byrd groused.

Powell, however, received a much warmer welcome from the committee. Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said most of the State Department's $1.6 billion supplemental request "looked reasonable," but said more funds would be necessary for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

Leahy also questioned the administration's request for aid to authoritarian governments that have promised to aid the United States in the fight against terror "with virtually no strings attached."

Powell defended the request, saying the United States has to be prepared to help countries that may not meet all acceptable standards, but are "moving in the right direction."