Nadler Blasts House Judiciary Republicans for Opposing 9/11 Commission Recommendations

Washington, DC -- Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today blasted House Judiciary Committee Republicans for voting on a party line vote to oppose the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, which were included in an amendment offered by Nadler and Representative John Conyers (D-MI).

"Today House Judiciary Republicans proved that they will risk the security of our homeland for partisan politics," said Nadler.  "I am extremely disappointed that the Committee could not rise above politics today to do what's best for the American people."

The Nadler/Conyers amendment was a simple implementation of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations and did not include excessive and unnecessary anti-immigrant and anti-civil liberties provisions.

Judiciary Republicans also opposed an amendment offered by Nadler that addressed the funding formula for federal homeland security grants.  The measure would strike language in the bill that guarantees all 50 states will receive a percentage of federal homeland security grants to ensure that high-threat states are the recipients of counterterrorism funding and that resources are not wasted on areas not considered highly vulnerable to terrorist attacks.  Nadler's amendment was in line with the 9/11 Commission's recommendation specifically stating that federal homeland security funding should be based on threat and should not fall victim to pork barrel politics.

"There are very real and known terrorist threats against specific targets in the United States. Homeland security grants were created specifically to address these threats.  My amendment called for distributing homeland security funding the way the 9/11 Commission recommended, not for pork barrel spending," said Nadler. 

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