Washington, May 26 -  

The House of Representatives approved an amendment by Congressman Scott Garrett that will bring more homeland security funding to North Jersey. The amendment was offered during debate on the Fiscal Year 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. Garrett authored two amendments to that bill to ensure that taxpayer-funded resources at the Department of Homeland Security are used to their fullest potential for guarding against terrorist threats and recovering from natural disasters.

The House approved Garrett’s first amendment that will redirect homeland security grant funds so that areas of greatest risk for attack, such as North Jersey, would get a higher proportion of funding. "The funds are finite and the needs infinite," said Garrett. "But it is unconscionable that simply in the name of equity we’re sending funds to low-risk states for Q-tips, rakes, and leather jackets, while high-risk police departments in the metro New York area are struggling to acquire interoperable radio equipment, replace aging air packs, and purchase chemical and biological suits."

"This bill is all about protecting the American people from potentially devastating events, whether they be manmade or natural," said Garrett. "I consider it my duty to protect residents of the Fifth District from terrorist threats and from tax-and-spend raids. I want to ensure that every dollar that they send to Washington is spent so as to maximize security and minimize waste."

Garrett’s second amendment, which will be considered when Congress continues debate on this bill the week of June 5th, would prevent the expenditure of funds on clearly wasteful and even fraudulent items. "It is a real shame that such an amendment would need to be offered," Garrett stated. "But, report after report has illustrated such obviously egregious waste and fraud that it must be necessary. When serious and legitimate needs are not being met because of extravagant and frivolous spending, we must remind Washington bureaucrats how to set priorities."

This amendment’s language would have prohibited funding through the Homeland Security grant programs for such items as fitness equipment, nutritional counseling, and clown and puppet shows. While these funds are meant to be used by fire departments to purchase critical equipment, these are examples of actual grant awards. Similarly, Garrett drafted language to prohibit the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is housed within the Department of Homeland Security, from spending funds on adult entertainment, bail bonds, and traffic ticket payments. These also are examples of inappropriate spending that drained money from hurricane victim relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina.

Congressman Garrett was one of eleven Members of the House to vote against a second recovery aid package of $52 billion last fall because both the bill and FEMA lacked the appropriate measures for accountability and oversight to prevent such waste and fraud. This year alone, five separate government committees have detailed waste, fraud, and abuse in Katrina relief programs that squandered hundreds of millions of dollars that could have helped rebuild the lives of thousands of Gulf Coast residents.

###