After September 11th, it became clear that our chief responsibility in Congress is to make sure we do all we can to protect American citizens. Fulfilling that objective means making our government more efficient, more responsive and finally, more prepared with the tools needed to win the War on Terrorism – at home and abroad.

In January 2003, I was selected to serve on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. Serving with my colleagues on this Subcommittee will allow me to ensure that resources are directed so we can accomplish this goal. In addition to having jurisdiction over the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the US Coast Guard, programs in the subcommittee include: Customs, Secret Service, Federal Protective Service, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (from Treasury-Postal), Immigration and Naturalization Service, First Responder programs, National Infrastructure Protection (from Commerce-Justice-State), Animal Plant Health Inspection Service and Plum Island (from Agriculture), National Communications System and Bio-Weapons Defense Center (from Defense), various energy and nuclear program (from Energy and Water), Metro Medical Response, Office of Emergency Preparedness, National Stockpile, National Disaster Medical System (from Labor-HHS) and FEMA (from VA-HUD). The Subcommittee will work directly with the Select Committee on Homeland Security, which is responsible for assessing and outlining the needs of the Federal agency tasked with protecting our homeland from terrorist attack.

It is also our responsibility to supplement this homeland security foundation with a strong military. This can be best accomplished by ensuring we provide our military with the best training, equipment and quality of life so that they may continue to provide the blanket of freedom that each of us enjoys today.

I am pleased that we have taken substantive steps in this Congress to achieve that goal, but much remains to be done. Working with the current Administration, Congress remains committed to improving the quality of life for our troops, providing a pay raise for our military personnel, improving housing opportunities, enhancing training and reviewing overseas deployments so that families are not separated unless necessary.

Accomplishing these goals will not only strengthen our security but it will create a military of the future -- one that is lethal, agile, and easier to deploy when conflicts requiring our presence arise.at grow agriculture for the future.