[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             SUPPLEMENTAL LEAVES CRITICAL AREAS UNDERFUNDED

  (Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
speak against the supplemental bill proposed by the Bush 
administration.
  While Democrats strongly support the immediate passing of whatever is 
necessary to support our troops, the administration's war supplemental 
appears to leave critical areas severely underfunded.
  Under the bill, there would be no money, no money, to provide 
communication equipment for first responders, leaving many local 
police, firefighters, and emergency workers unable to communicate with 
each other during an emergency.
  There would be no money, no money, for homeland security grants, 
despite the Coast Guard's latest report that they are short almost $1 
billion to meet port security needs in this year alone.
  This bill also leaves nuclear security needs amounts unmet, providing 
only 7 percent of the $380 million which his own Secretary of Energy 
identified as an urgent homeland security requirement.
  This bill is bad for the economy, and it is bad for our Nation's 
first responders. Underfunding critical programs and operations puts 
our homeland at risk.

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