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Newsday- More federal anti-terror money will come to city
Wednesday January 04, 2006From Newsday:
More federal anti-terror money will come to cityBY J. JIONI PALMER
January 4, 2006
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said $765 million of the department's $2.5 billion budget will be distributed this year directly to "high-threat urban areas."
"What we have to do is drive these decisions by looking at where the major risks are and allocating our priorities accordingly," Chertoff said Tuesday. "We have to invest our federal money strategically, protecting those communities where there are national and regional implications, using a disciplined analytical method that properly evaluates the risks."
Local officials couldn't agree more, and they are confident that the metropolitan area will benefit as a result. "I think that's exactly what we've been screaming for all along," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday.
Chertoff said the department has already identified "35 areas" that will be eligible to compete for these funds.
A congressional source familiar with the plan said it appears to include parts of
He said risk would be determined by analyzing several criteria. Among them: proximity to an international border; population and the vulnerabilities of ports or important regional infrastructure.
"The fact of the matter is our ability to analyze risk using these three general criteria has gotten more sophisticated every year," he said.
Since Congress created the Department of Homeland Security in 2002, the agency has been under constant fire from most government watchdog groups, think tanks of various ideological stripes, big city mayors and the lawmakers who represent those areas, because funds were doled out on the basis of population rather than threat.
But Tuesday's announcement was widely welcomed by those who have long argued that the Homeland Security budget should not be dispensed like a goody bag.
"It never goes far enough, but it's a very significant step in the right direction," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-Seaford) said. "We will have to monitor to make sure it's done in the right way."
King said he is encouraged that at least a portion of the money will be directed on the basis of the threat, which will likely mean an increase for
He said he is in ongoing talks with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who chairs the Senate committee with homeland security oversight, to expand the pot of money that's assigned according to risk.
"My philosophy is it should all be entirely threat based, that it should go to only those areas," he said. "The reality is you have to deal with smaller states and deal with their entrenched interests."
Bloomberg said he agreed that localities should be required to justify their request for funds and in that competition the Big Apple would likely do well.
"When it comes to identifying ways cities that run the highest risk of terror, it seems to me that's very, very clear," Bloomberg said Tuesday. "Whenever you catch somebody, they have a map of
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been among one of the leading members of Congress pushing for the change, said he too was optimistic.
"This seems to be a good step in that direction and we applaud it," Schumer said. "But the proof in the pudding will be when the funds are distributed to
Staff writer Melanie Lefkowitz contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2006, Newsday, Inc.
January 4, 2006
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said $765 million of the department's $2.5 billion budget will be distributed this year directly to "high-threat urban areas."
"What we have to do is drive these decisions by looking at where the major risks are and allocating our priorities accordingly," Chertoff said Tuesday. "We have to invest our federal money strategically, protecting those communities where there are national and regional implications, using a disciplined analytical method that properly evaluates the risks."
Local officials couldn't agree more, and they are confident that the metropolitan area will benefit as a result. "I think that's exactly what we've been screaming for all along," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday.
Chertoff said the department has already identified "35 areas" that will be eligible to compete for these funds.
A congressional source familiar with the plan said it appears to include parts of
He said risk would be determined by analyzing several criteria. Among them: proximity to an international border; population and the vulnerabilities of ports or important regional infrastructure.
"The fact of the matter is our ability to analyze risk using these three general criteria has gotten more sophisticated every year," he said.
Since Congress created the Department of Homeland Security in 2002, the agency has been under constant fire from most government watchdog groups, think tanks of various ideological stripes, big city mayors and the lawmakers who represent those areas, because funds were doled out on the basis of population rather than threat.
But Tuesday's announcement was widely welcomed by those who have long argued that the Homeland Security budget should not be dispensed like a goody bag.
"It never goes far enough, but it's a very significant step in the right direction," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-Seaford) said. "We will have to monitor to make sure it's done in the right way."
King said he is encouraged that at least a portion of the money will be directed on the basis of the threat, which will likely mean an increase for
He said he is in ongoing talks with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who chairs the Senate committee with homeland security oversight, to expand the pot of money that's assigned according to risk.
"My philosophy is it should all be entirely threat based, that it should go to only those areas," he said. "The reality is you have to deal with smaller states and deal with their entrenched interests."
Bloomberg said he agreed that localities should be required to justify their request for funds and in that competition the Big Apple would likely do well.
"When it comes to identifying ways cities that run the highest risk of terror, it seems to me that's very, very clear," Bloomberg said Tuesday. "Whenever you catch somebody, they have a map of
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been among one of the leading members of Congress pushing for the change, said he too was optimistic.
"This seems to be a good step in that direction and we applaud it," Schumer said. "But the proof in the pudding will be when the funds are distributed to
Staff writer Melanie Lefkowitz contributed to this story.