Senators say Homeland Security budget proposal falls short
Additional money is needed for Coast Guard, first responder grants, lawmakers from both parties argue.
Senior members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday said the Homeland Security Department's $42.7 billion proposed budget for next year is too low and is misdirected in some areas.
Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff during a hearing she was particularly concerned the budget does not provide enough money for the Coast Guard or for grants to state and local governments.
Committee ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., called the budget "shortsighted and shortfunded, given the dangers -- both natural and terrorist -- that this department was created to confront."
Lieberman said he will send a letter to Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., requesting an additional $8 billion in homeland security funding.
He said the request will seek an additional $1.2 billion for first responder grants, $1.7 billion for critical infrastructure, $465 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, $1.1 billion for the Coast Guard, $158 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $752 million for aviation security.
Lieberman made a similar request last year that was not enacted.
"There is no cheap way to be better prepared," Lieberman said. "It takes money -- more money than this budget offers."
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, agreed. "We're asking this man to do an almost impossible job because we're not giving him the [necessary] resources," the senator said, referring to Chertoff. "I think we need to get real here."
Collins and Lieberman said they also are upset that the department again has proposed to consolidate separate funding streams for grants to secure disparate infrastructure, such as ports, chemical plants, rail and transit systems and public utilities, into one program.
Homeland Security wants to create a $600 million Targeted Infrastructure Protection program, through which states can compete for such grants. The department proposed the consolidated program last year, but Congress rejected it.
Chertoff defended the budget request, saying the department cannot fund everything and is focused on "risk-based, outcome-driven priorities."