[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 29, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H3410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HOMELAND SECURITY AND TAX CUTS

  (Mr. UDALL of Colorado asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, as we prepare for the debate on 
taxes and spending, I want to call attention to an article in Sunday's 
Denver Post on the threat of shoulder-fired missiles to our airliners.
  The article quotes security experts as saying this threat is ``nearly 
impossible to defend against,'' and points out that equipping the U.S. 
commercial airline fleet with jammers or decoys could cost up to $10 
billion.
  There are other threats, as well. We need to do much more to prevent 
ship containers that would be used to smuggle in weapons of mass 
destruction.
  Of course, we cannot prevent every conceivable threat to our homeland 
security. We have to set priorities and we have to fund those 
priorities.
  One thing is for sure: when the President proposed and this Congress 
passed a budget resolution that includes more than $1 trillion in tax 
cuts, we cannot, in good conscience, tell the American people we are 
funding these priorities.
  Madam Speaker, our States need help in beefing up security. When our 
homeland security alert system goes to orange, our State budgets go 
into the red. I fear this President and this Republican Congress are 
sacrificing homeland security and other needs in favor of deep tax cuts 
that will have little positive effect on our economy.
  We need to do better.

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