Democrat seeks more money for DHS grants to colleges, universities

Lawmakers should give the Homeland Security Department more money to distribute to colleges and universities in grants to develop homeland security "centers of excellence," the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Monday.

"If we are going to build a technologically advanced Department [of Homeland Security], we need to pull from institutions that look like America," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the committee "I plan to develop centers of excellence at a variety of universities, including historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions."

Thompson praised DHS Undersecretary for Science and Technology Jay M. Cohen for his substantial outreach and cooperation in previous DHS centers of excellence grants. Thompson said he looks forward to working with Cohen as he aims to direct more funding to institutions, which could get up to $10 million each in grants.

DHS grant data indicates that from 2003 to 2005, the University of Maryland, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Southern California, Texas A&M and Johns Hopkins, received at least $10 million each to develop centers of excellence. Texas A&M was the biggest winner, with an $18 million grant in 2004.

The schools used the centers to focus on a range of studies, including preparedness, biological threats and agricultural security. Maryland and USC shared their federal grants with partnering universities, according to the DHS Web site.

Experts have said that college courses specific to homeland security have been on the rise since Sept. 11, 2001. Thompson did not say how many universities he would seek to fund, and he did not single out any institution for possible federal grants.