[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 93 (Tuesday, July 12, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8093-S8110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 2360, which the clerk will
report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 2360) making appropriations for the Department
of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30,
2006, and for other purposes.
Pending:
Reid (for Murray) amendment No. 1129, to provide emergency
supplemental funds for medical services provided by the
Veterans Health Administration for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2005.
Collins amendment No. 1142, to provide for homeland
security grant coordination and simplification.
Feinstein amendment No. 1215 (to amendment No. 1142), to
improve the allocation of grants through the Department of
Homeland Security.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from California is
recognized.
Amendment No. 1215
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to call up amendment No. 1215.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. That amendment is currently
pending.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
Mr. President, this amendment is offered on behalf of the Senator
from Texas, Mr. Cornyn, and myself. It is identical to the Homeland
Security FORWARD Funding Act of 2005. That is S. 1013.
I am very pleased to be joined not only by my colleague from Texas
but, as well, by Senators Boxer, Hutchison, Kerry, Martinez, Schumer,
Clinton, Corzine, Kennedy, Lautenberg, and Nelson of Florida. And, Mr.
President, I ask unanimous consent to add Senator Mikulski to the list
of cosponsors.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, a great deal has been said about how
homeland security dollars should be allocated. I think it is pretty
clear that the American people, and certainly major opinionmakers such
as major newspaper editorials, major mayors and major Governors,
believe it is time our Nation adopt risk-based analysis to guide
critical resource allocation of homeland security efforts.
This legislation will do exactly that. The Cornyn-Feinstein amendment
is extremely simple in approach. Its key language, which appears at its
beginning, is clear. Let me quote it:
The Secretary [of Homeland Security] shall ensure that
homeland security grants are allocated based on an assessment
of threat, vulnerability, and consequence to the maximum
extent practicable.
This legislation will ensure that these priorities are set, and set
according to analysis of risk and threat.
This bill accomplishes this through five basic mechanisms.
First, the law requires the Secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security to allocate grants based on risk. The legislation will mandate
that funding decisions be designed according to an assessment of risk.
This is a key element of the law, which makes this clear in its very
first section, entitled ``Risk-Based Funding For Homeland Security,''
which reads--and I want to repeat it--
The Secretary [of Homeland Security] shall ensure that
covered grants are allocated based on an assessment of
threat, vulnerability, and consequence to the maximum extent
possible.
The bill defines ``covered grants'' as including the four major first
responder grant programs administered by the Department of Homeland
Security. That is: First, the State Homeland Security Grant Program;
second, the Urban Area Security Initiative; third, the Law Enforcement
Terrorism Prevention Program; and, fourth, the Citizens Corps Program.
In addition to these four core grant programs, the legislation also
covers grants ``provided by the Department for improving homeland
security,'' including grants for seaport and airport security.
The bottom line is that if Federal funds are going to be distributed
to improve first responders' ability to ``prevent, prepare for, respond
to, or mitigate threatened or actual terrorist attacks,'' those funds
should be distributed in accordance with a risk-based analysis. Al-
Qaida and its allies do not attack based on a formula. This bill
rejects the formula approach in favor of a framework that is flexible
and risk focused.
Second, the legislation requires that covered grants be designed to
meet ``essential capabilities.'' ``Essential capabilities'' is a
concept defined in this law. It is what we get for the money spent: The
ability to meet the risk by reducing vulnerability to attack and
diminishing the consequences by effective response.
Third, the bill requires States to quickly pass on Federal funds to
where they are needed. States should not hold Federal funds back from
where they are most needed. This bill will ensure that States quickly
and effectively move the funds through to the location.
And, fourth, the bill addresses the small State minimum issue. The
underlying bill requires each State to get .75 percent of the grant
funding. Now, what does that mean? That means that 37.5 percent of the
funds go on a formula basis to areas that might not have risk, threat,
or vulnerability. For instance, under the current appropriations bill,
of the $1.918 billion appropriated, $548 million is taken right off the
top, allocated to States regardless of whether they are vulnerable,
whether they have risk, or whether they have threat. Thus, that $548
million is not available to meet risk.
This legislation will significantly reduce this large set-aside. It
will reduce it from 37.5 percent to the .25 percent. Now, I must admit
I am uncomfortable even with the .25 percent minimum and would prefer
to eliminate any impediment to risk-based funding. I believe it is the
right thing to do. I would believe this regardless of what State I came
from. We set up a huge Department of Homeland Security and have given
them the basis and the ability to do the analyses that are required and
the intelligence that has moved in to determine what is vulnerable,
where it is, where the threats are, and what the risks are. And these
are going to be ever changing. But I understand the realities of the
Senate, so we decided to track what the President requested in his
budget.
In this post-Cold-War world of asymmetric threat, there are two
fundamental understandings which apply to efforts to make our Nation
more secure against a terrorist attack.
The first understanding is that predicting what terrorists will do
requires risk analysis. It is an uncomfortable fact that even with the
best intelligence we will never know exactly how, when, and where
terrorists will strike. The best we can do is to adequately assess
risks and threats and make predictions.
The second understanding is that our defense resources are not
infinite. The sum total of money, time, and personnel that can be
devoted to homeland security is limited.
Together these two understandings define the task for our Nation: We
must accurately assess the risks of an array of possible terrorist
attacks, measure the vulnerability of all of these possible targets,
and then divide up resources based on that assessment,
[[Page S8094]]
not based on some arbitrary formula that will exist regardless of what
kind of threat or vulnerability may emerge in the future.
The 9/11 Commission agrees with us, finding that ``nothing has been
harder for officials--executive or legislative--than to set priorities,
making hard choices in allocating limited resources.'' The Commission
concluded:
Homeland security assistance should be based strictly on an
assessment of risks and vulnerabilities.
The Cornyn-Feinstein amendment is the only amendment that clearly
does what the 9/11 Commission has recommended.
The New York Times has agreed. In an editorial entitled ``Real
Security, or Politics as Usual?'' the Times wrote:
Defending places where the terrorist threat is greatest is
not parochialism; it is defending America.
We think that last week's tragic events in London underscore the
point. The effectiveness of the British first response to these
terrible attacks illustrates that they put their resources where the
risks were: In London, not in some remote community, but where they
knew the terrorists were most likely to attack.
Despite all recommendations, we find again and again that scarce
resources are allocated based on factors unrelated to real security.
For instance, a small State minimum in the Collins amendment is
designed to ensure that every State gets a substantial portion of
scarce resources, regardless of the measure of risk or vulnerability.
As a result, a State such as Wyoming gets $27.80 per capita in funding,
while New York and California get $15.54 and $8.05, respectively.
The problem is not just in Congress. For example, a recent Department
of Homeland Security inspector general report found that in the
critical area of port security, grants are ``not well coordinated with
the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection.'' The result:
``funding of projects with low [risk and vulnerability] scores.''
Now, this is the IG of Homeland Security who is saying projects with
low risk and vulnerability scores are currently being funded. Frankly
and candidly, that is just plain wrong. It is a waste of money, and I
think, to an extent, it enables--well, it really is a kind of deception
because unless you can put your money where the intelligence indicates
and the assessments indicate there is threat and risk, you are not
protecting America.
A recently issued joint report from the Center for Security Studies
and the Heritage Foundation found that there is:
no funding formula that is based on risk analysis and
divorces from politics . . . [w]ith only limited resources
available to achieve the almost limitless goal of protecting
the entire United States . . . it is critical that we set
priorities.
That is what we are trying to do here. This amendment, and the bill
upon which it is based, builds on efforts last year by Representatives
Cox and Turner, the chair and ranking member respectively of the other
body's Homeland Security Committee. That effort passed the House of
Representatives as part of the intelligence reform bill but was dropped
at conference. Our amendment is similar to this House bill.
I understand and appreciate the efforts made by Senators Collins and
Lieberman to craft the bill now before us. I applaud their leadership
in this area. The Collins-Lieberman bill, while it purports to be risk
based, is actually not. It incorporates complex formulae with a
preordained list of factors which approximate what is believed to be
the risk. Candidly, I don't think that works for the following reasons.
First, the key to responding to al-Qaida and similar organizations is
flexibility. It is not a frozen formula. Al-Qaida doesn't make
decisions based on formula. While today it may seem obvious that mass
transit or ports are obvious targets, tomorrow they may not be.
Hopefully our intelligence community will be increasingly able to
ferret out our terrorist adversaries and our analysts will be better at
understanding and predicting their behavior. What are today's targets
could change and change yet again. Building a formula mechanism based
on our best guess about what al-Qaida will do is simply not good
policy.
Secondly, we created the Department of Homeland Security primarily to
do exactly what this legislation calls for. The first mission statement
for the Department stated:
[The Department will] identify and understand threats,
assess vulnerabilities, determine potential impacts, and
disseminate timely information to our homeland security
partners and the American public.
This is what the Department is supposed to do. It cannot be done by
arbitrary formula. It can only be done listening to intelligence
analysts, engaging in flexible interpretation, and being willing to
move the money where the risks show up to be. That is important to do,
and it should be important whether you are from a small State, a
middle-sized State, or a large State. The money should go where the
problems are.
This is exactly what President Bush said in announcing the creation
of the Department. He stated:
This new department will bring together the best
intelligence information about our vulnerabilities to
terrorist attack so that we can act quickly to protect
America.
He didn't talk about an arbitrary formula. He said, the Department
will bring together the best intelligence information so that
flexibility becomes the watchword of the day, and money can go where it
is truly needed.
Senator Lieberman was a leader in this effort, and we all worked with
him to create the Department of Homeland Security. In my view, the
biggest selling point for this new Department was, as the President
said, that for the first time, we would have a place in the Government
that would map threats against vulnerability and thus allocate our
defenses in an effective, efficient way. The Department of Homeland
Security can be seen as a department of risk analysis. That is what it
should be doing. So it is ironic that having provided the authority and
responsibility to do this, the Congress then handcuffs the Secretary by
restricting these resources based on geography, politics, and parochial
interests. Let's let the Secretary do the job we gave him.
Third, in addition to creating the Department of Homeland Security,
the Congress, again with the leadership of Senators Collins and
Lieberman, reorganized the intelligence community. The purpose of this
task was to ensure that the most important ingredient in risk
analysis--good intelligence--was enough to keep America safe. So there
is an irony that having gone to such trouble to improve the
intelligence community, we are prepared to pass legislation which for a
large percentage of funds will make intelligence irrelevant. All they
need is a map, a census, and a list of important places in each State.
That makes no sense to me.
I mentioned the difference in funding levels and amounts subject to
risk. Last week the Congressional Research Service issued an analysis
of the underlying appropriations bill, the Collins amendment, and the
Cornyn-Feinstein amendment. The results are startling. If we assume
that the base amount of Homeland Security grant funding contained in
the appropriations bill becomes law, that means the total amount
available for these programs will be $1.918 billion. The underlying
bill would allocate a considerable amount under the existing small
State minimum framework, $579.2 million, leaving $1.3 billion to be
allocated through a risk assessment process.
If the Collins-Lieberman amendment is adopted, $762 million will be
allocated according to the formula--not based on risk, not based on
threat, not based on risk analysis, not based on vulnerability, but
simply on population and geographical distribution. That leaves even
less to be allocated based on risk, only $1.155 billion. In other
words, the Collins-Lieberman amendment reduces the risk-based funding
in the underlying bill by nearly $150 million. If this amendment is
adopted, only $251.2 million will be allocated based on the .25 small
State minimum, leaving $1.66 billion for risk-based allocation.
Here is the bottom line: Put another way, under the underlying bill,
only 70 percent of available funds are allocated based on risk. If the
Collins-Lieberman approach is adopted, that drops to 60 percent; under
the approach embodied in Cornyn-Feinstein, 87 percent of funding to
risk. So between the two amendments, our amendment, 87 percent of
funding to risk, Collins-
[[Page S8095]]
Lieberman, 60 percent, and the underlying bill, 70 percent. The choice
is clear.
What is the bottom line? The bottom line is, our Nation faces danger.
We have a limited amount of resources available to defend ourselves.
Those resources must and should be targeted. They should be targeted to
where they can do the most good and where the risk actually is. That is
the simple question which faces us today. How can we best protect our
country? I believe the best way to protect America is to let the
Secretary of Homeland Security do the job we appointed him to do: match
resources to risk, using the best available intelligence analysis. That
is the only way to safety. That is the only way to reassure our people,
should there be a catastrophic event, that we have put the money in the
right places. Any arbitrary formula doesn't do this.
I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record a letter from the High
Threat Joint Working Group on Homeland Security. This is a group of
large cities that has banded together. The letter is in support of our
amendment. It is the city of Anaheim in California; city of Baltimore
in Maryland; city of Baton Rouge in Louisiana; city of Boston in
Massachusetts; the city of Charlotte in North Carolina; the city of
Chicago in Illinois; the city of Cleveland in Ohio; the city of
Columbus in Ohio; the city of Dallas in Texas; Jacksonville in Florida;
the city of Kansas City, MO; the city of Long Beach, CA; Los Angeles,
CA; Miami, FL; New York in New York; Newark in New Jersey; Oakland in
California; Philadelphia in Pennsylvania; city of San Diego in
California; the city of San Francisco in California; the city of San
Jose in California; and the city of Santa Ana.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
High-Threat City Joint Working Group on Homeland
Security,
July 11, 2005.
Hon. Bill Frist,
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Harry Reid,
Minority Leader. U.S. Senate, Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Majority Leader and Minority Leader: As cities on the
front line of the war on terrorism, we are writing to express
our support for S. 1013, the ``Homeland Security FORWARD
Funding Act of 2005'', introduced by Senators Feinstein and
Cornyn, which targets first responder funds to areas of
highest risk and highest threat throughout the nation and to
support homeland security funding for state and local
governments at least at last year's level. The recent events
in London underline the importance of homeland funding for
state and local governments.
The Feinstein-Cornyn legislation most closely tracks the
recommendations of both the 9/11 Commission and the
Administration in supporting the principle that homeland
security funds should be allocated solely on the basis of
risk of terrorism. According to the Congressional Research
Service, S. 1013 would increase the amount of money
distributed on threat to 87% of the funds, compared to only
60% distributed based on threat under S. 21.
S. 1013 also maintains the critical partnership between the
federal government, states and the nation's highest risk
areas by maintaining the Urban Area Security Initiative
(UASI) program. These UASI regions have for several years
been aggressively working to implement comprehensive plans
for terrorism prevention and preparedness approved by their
States and DHS. Maintaining the UASI program will preserve
and sustain the substantial planning, long-term projects, and
regional decision-making processes underway.
The homeland security bill as reported by the Senate
Appropriations Committee would cut homeland security funding
to state and local governments by almost a half billion
dollars, $467 million less than FY 05. Please restore this
funding.
We again commend you on your efforts to increase the amount
of homeland security funds distributed based on threat,
vulnerability, and consequences of a terrorist attack.
Sincerely,
City of Anaheim, California.
City of Baltimore, Maryland.
City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
City of Boston, Massachusetts.
City of Charlotte, North Carolina.
City of Chicago, Illinois.
City of Cleveland, Ohio.
City of Columbus, Ohio.
City of Dallas, Texas.
City of Jacksonville, Florida.
City of Kansas City, Missouri.
City of Long Beach, California.
City of Los Angeles, California.
City of Miami, Florida.
City of New York, New York.
City of Newark, New Jersey.
City of Oakland, California.
City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
City of San Diego, California.
City of San Francisco, California.
City of San Jose, California.
City of Santa Ana, California.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I also ask unanimous consent to print in the Record a
letter addressed to Senator Cornyn and me, signed by Governor Rick
Perry of Texas and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California. What
they ask is that we follow the 9/11 Commission report recommendation to
better allocate Federal resources based on vulnerability.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
May 12, 2005.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senator, Washington, DC.
Hon. John Cornyn,
U.S. Senator, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein and Senator Cornyn: We are writing
to thank you for your leadership in working to assure that
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) counterterrorism grant
programs recognize the homeland security needs of the United
States. Any effective strategy to secure our nation must
apply risk-based analyses to manage the threat from
terrorism. We believe that the Homeland Security FORWARD
Funding Act of 2005 will provide much needed changes to these
programs by better recognizing the risks and vulnerabilities
faced by larger states such as California and Texas.
We support the efforts of your bill to build a coordinated
and comprehensive system to maximize the use of federal
resources and to provide clear lines of authority and
communication. Your bill will further the efforts of DHS,
cities, counties and state agencies as they continue to work
together to detect, deter and respond to terrorism.
Specifically, we appreciate the following provisions of the
bill:
Follows the 9/11 Commission Report recommendation to better
allocate federal resources based on vulnerabilities;
Analyzes risks, threats, vulnerability, and consequences
related to potential terrorist attacks; current programs do
not give full consideration to our states' urban population
centers, numerous critical infrastructure assets, hundreds of
miles of coastland, maritime ports, and large international
borders;
Reduces the ``small state'' minimum from 0.75% to 0.25%,
providing each state a baseline award while allocating an
increased level of funds based on risk; the current base +
per capita method allocates a disproportionate share of funds
to states with small populations;
Continues the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program
and exempts the program from the base percentage, allocating
all funds based on risk;
Continues the central role of states, building on existing
systems that effectively coordinate planning efforts and
insure accountability;
Allows for limited regional applications from existing UASI
cities or other urban areas with at least a population of at
least 500,000; and
Recognizes the importance of national standards for
evaluating the ``essential capabilities'' needed by state and
local governments to respond to threats.
Your continued support for improving the nation's ability
to detect and deter and coordinate responses to terrorist
events is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Rick Perry,
Governor of Texas.
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Governor of California.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter
from the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Office of the Mayor,
City & County of San Francisco,
San Francisco, CA, May 11, 2005.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senate, Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein: I want to commend you for your
continued leadership on homeland security and express the
City's support for your ``Homeland Security FORWARD Funding
Act of 2005'', which prioritizes threat and risk and improves
the ability of local first responders to deter, prevent and
respond to terrorism.
Your proposal goes the furthest in supporting both the 9/11
and Administration's principle that homeland security funds
should be allocated on the basis of risk of terrorism. The
bill corrects the major formula imbalance that exists in
current law by reducing the current mandatory state minimums
from 0.75 percent to 0.25 percent. The current inequity has
resulted in, since 9/11, California receiving $5 per capita
compared to Wyoming collecting $38 per capita.
Your bill also reaffirms the federal government's critical
partnership with the nation's areas that are at highest risk
of terrorist attack by grandfathering existing high-threat
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regions under the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI). The
City and County of San Francisco has proudly, under its UASI
grant, aggressively been leading the Bay Area in a ten county
regional plan to help protect and strengthen the region
against terrorist attacks.
I want to again express my deep appreciation for you and
your staffs outreach to San Francisco and other stakeholders
throughout California who are on the front lines of the war
on terrorism. Thank you for your important efforts.
Sincerely,
Gavin Newsom,
Mayor.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from Mayor
Richard Daley of Chicago be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Office of the Mayor,
City of Chicago,
Chicago, IL, June 28, 2005.
Hon. John Cornyn,
Hon. Diane Feinstein,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senators Cornyn and Feinstein: I am writing to applaud
your collective efforts to develop the Homeland Security
FORWARD Funding Act of 2005. As a high threat urban area, and
a UASI grantee, the Chicago region is on the front lines of
our country's war on terrorism and I believe that this
legislation begins to more appropriately target first
responder funds to areas of highest risk and highest threat
throughout the nation.
Your proposal most closely tracks the recommendations of
the 9/11 Commission that call for funding to be distributed
based on risk. By reducing the small state minimum from .75
percent in current law to .25 percent, your proposal more
equitably distributes critical funds to states and localities
that are truly at the highest risk of terrorism. Your
legislation also recognizes the importance of the work that
has been done at the state and local government level since
September 11, 2001, by reaffirming the regional approach to
terrorism preparedness and prevention and grandfathering
existing UASIs. The City of Chicago has worked closely with
our regional partners and the State of Illinois to develop a
coordinated homeland security plan and we welcome the
opportunity to build on that plan.
I again thank you for your bipartisan leadership in
developing this important legislation and look forward to
working with you in the future to move this bill forward.
Sincerely,
Richard M. Daley,
Mayor.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from the League
of California Cities be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
League of California Cities,
Sacramento, CA, May 4, 2005.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senate, Senate Hart Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein: I am writing to express the League
of California Cities' (League) support and appreciation for
your leadership on homeland security legislation that would
allocate homeland security grants on the basis of risk of
terrorism. Your staff's work with our Washington staff is
very encouraging and we hope to continue this partnership.
California cities, together with the State and other
stakeholders throughout California, have advocated in favor
of bringing down the mandatory state minimums. Your draft
bill significantly corrects the major formula imbalance that
exists in current law by reducing the current state minimums
from 0.75% to 0.25%. We would ask that you consider going the
extra step and remove minimums altogether, but if there must
be a State minimum, we urge that your bill keep it as small
as possible. In addition, your bill clarifies the regional
approach taken in both the pending Senate and House bills (S.
21 and H.R. 1544).
California cities are on the front lines of the war on
terrorism and your legislation is very important to us. We
look forward to continuing to work closely with you as you
finalize your proposal, as well as providing support for your
legislation upon introduction. Thank you for your important
efforts.
Sincerely,
Christopher McKenzie.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from Laura
Miller, the mayor of Dallas, TX, be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
City of Dallas,
Dallas, TX, May 5, 2005.
Senator John Cornyn,
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Cornyn: I would like to thank you for your
work to improve Homeland Security programs. This legislation
you are introducing addresses many of the City of Dallas'
concerns with the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and
Homeland Security Grant programs. I am appreciative of your
effort to include certain measures that will allow the city
to receive an equitable share of Homeland Security funding
and spend it as we see appropriate. Your legislation is the
one which directs maximum funding to states and regions based
on risk. This change is critical.
The Dallas UASI has received approximately $35 million in
the last three years from the UASI program. This funding has
been used to enhance the metro area's first responder
capabilities to protect our citizens and critical
infrastructure. Unlike other proposed legislation, this new
bill allows for cities that are currently receiving Homeland
Security funds through the UASI program to be grandfathered
for future UASI funding. There are no provisions in the
legislation before the House or Senate to maintain current
UASI planning and the city greatly appreciates your concern
for our needs. The other bills could require a complete
revision of the approaches and strategies we have adopted.
Your proposal gives local governments a degree certainty
and ensures that we can make long-term plans. It also
includes provisions to ensure that state money will be passed
down to local governments quickly and efficiently. Your
legislation is the only measure that ensures that federal
funds reach first responders more expeditiously.
Thank you for your work this important legislation and for
including these important provisions. It will help the City
of Dallas and the nation as a whole to prepare.
Cordially,
Laura Miller,
Mayor.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I ask unanimous consent that a letter from the mayor
of Long Beach, CA, Beverly O'Neill, be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
City of Long Beach,
Long Beach, CA, June 28, 2005.
Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
U.S. Senate, Hart Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Feinstein: On behalf of the City of Long
Beach, I am pleased to support your Homeland Security FORWARD
Funding Act of 2005 (S. 1013). This bill would target scarce
Homeland Security dollars to areas of highest threat and
need, rather than maintaining the current system that
allocates dollars through a non-risk based minimum guarantee
formula. This legislation will truly benefit urban areas,
such as the City of Long Beach, that have a high terrorist
risk by targeting federal funds to help mitigate potential
threats.
The House has passed the Cox-Thompson Bill (H.R. 1544),
which is similar to S. 1013. While the City of Long Beach
supports the direction of H.R. 1544, we believe your
legislation is superior because it addresses two critical
local concerns.
First, under the Cox-Thompson definition of an eligible
funding region, effective and proven governance structures
such as the Long Beach Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI)
would no longer be eligible for federal Homeland Security
Funds. The member cities that comprise the Long Beach UASI
are Long Beach, Bellflower, Carson, Compton, Hawaiian
Gardens, Lakewood, Paramount, and Signal Hill, as well as the
County of Los Angeles. Long Beach is regarded as a model
because it has formed an effective partnership with its other
UASI member cities to implement the Department of Homeland
Security's regional approach to security needs. Under the
Cox-Thompson definition, this proven governance structure
would not be large enough to qualify for funding. Senate Bill
1013 would grandfather-in existing UASI structures, allowing
our effective model to continue to qualify for Homeland
Security funding.
Second, the Cox-Thompson bill would require a local match
of 25 percent after the first two grant years. This would
create a tremendous burden on cities across the nation that
are already struggling with difficult financial
circumstances. By directing cities to become more secure
while only providing 75 percent of the resources, the Federal
government would be creating an unfunded mandate that cities
would not be able to meet without reducing core services to
their communities. Long Beach already devotes more than 60
percent of its General Fund budget to public safety such as
Police and Fire first response, which helps contribute to
national Homeland Security goals. Senate Bill 1013 would
ensure that Homeland Security funding remains 100 percent
grants, and that cities would not have to sacrifice local
service to their communities in order to fund national
Homeland Security needs.
Finally, Long Beach is concerned with the dwindling
Homeland Security resources dedicated to state and local
governments. Funding for state and local agencies through the
Office of State and Local Government Coordination and
Preparedness (SLGCP) decreased this year for the second
straight year by 10.5 percent or $420 million. Over the past
two years, there has been an overall decrease of 15 percent
and $627 million. Last year, the Long Beach UASI experienced
a 40 percent decrease in UASI funding from $12 million to
$7.3 million.
For the next fiscal year, both the Senate and House
Appropriations Committees are contemplating reduced funding
on the premise that state and local governments
[[Page S8097]]
have not spent prior year's funding. The Senate
Appropriations Committee recommends reducing funding by 12.5
percent, while the House Appropriations Committee recommends
reducing funding by 7.5 percent. Many of the delays In
spending are not due to lack of need; rather they are due to
the multi-leveled approval process, the time-consuming
purchasing requirements, and the low-supply of sought-after
equipment and other delays. For example, the Long Beach UASI
received its UASI 05 allocation in December, yet as of the
end of June, the authority to begin spending it has not yet
been received.
In regards to funding, one of the City's biggest issues is
providing Homeland Security resources for staff, particularly
to support training requirements, exercise requirements,
planning requirements, inventory management, as well as
enhanced capabilities. To put this into perspective, the
recent interagency security exercise, Operation Lead Shield,
cost Long Beach approximately $100,000 in non-UASI refundable
staffing costs. Costs for ongoing maintenance will also
become a growing concern as the contracts that were funded
for the life of a particular grant are now coming to a close
with the costs being born by the City's General Fund.
We applaud you and your colleagues for proposing bold new
changes to how Homeland Security funds are distributed.
Senate Bill 1013 provides a rational blueprint for the
effective risk-based distribution of Homeland Security
dollars, while remaining cognizant of the needs of cities
that rely on this important grant program. We hope you are
also able to protect the current level of funding for these
important programs, and work on the funding issues mentioned
above.
Cordially,
Beverly O'Neill,
Mayor.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. All these letters are in support of this amendment
which earmarks money based on intelligence analysis of risk and threat.
I reserve the remainder of my time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Hampshire is
recognized.
Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, just to bring my colleagues up to speed as
to what the hoped-for game plan is, there has now been agreement
reached between the parties which will allow us at 11:30 to turn from
the debate on the formula proposal, offered by Senators Collins and
Feinstein, to the issue of the veterans amendment offered by Senator
Reid on behalf of Senator Murray. We will debate that for half an hour
equally divided. Then we will vote on that at 12:00. Then we will
return to the debate on the Collins amendment and the Feinstein
amendment, and that debate will continue, so that the entire debate
will encompass approximately 3 hours which would mean it would wrap up
somewhere around 3:30, 3:45. At that point, there will be a window
because we can't have a vote then due to outside circumstances. So
there will be a window of an hour, an hour and 45 minutes, during which
Members can bring amendments forward or, if they wish, during the
debate time maybe come and be recognized to set these amendments aside
for purposes of offering amendments.
In any event, there will be hopefully two votes occurring somewhere
around 5 o'clock. This evening there is a joint Senate event for
families. That is where we stand. We haven't reached that agreement
yet.
Mr. DURBIN. If the Senator will yield for a question, it is my
understanding we are working on a unanimous consent request, and we
hope to get it agreed to momentarily. To reiterate for my side of the
aisle and yours, if you have a pending amendment on this bill, there is
a window from about 3:30, 3:45 until 5 o'clock, if the UC is adopted,
to come to the floor and speak to your amendment and have it pending or
at least considered.
I think what I am hearing from the chairman is what we would give as
advice to all, and that is waiting until tomorrow or the next day is
not the wisest course. There are too many pending amendments, and there
is a lot to be done on this bill. This bill is urgent and is a
priority. I think that is good advice to both sides of the aisle.
Mr. GREGG. I think the assistant Democratic leader's counsel is very
appropriate and hopefully will be listened to.
The debate we have is a large State/small State debate over a
formula. This is authorizing language being put on an appropriations
bill, which we in the Appropriations Committee try to avoid. As a
practical matter, this bill allocates funds. I hope Members will take a
look at the allocation we did in this bill because this program has not
been authorized.
Our theory in this allocation process was to have a threat-based
allocation. I feel very strongly that this whole bill has been
redirected with the work of Senator Byrd--I note that this is his
belief also--we reworked the bill to be a threat-based bill. We did it
in the area of border security, weapons of mass destruction, and we did
it in the area of this formula. We protected and grandfathered all the
States so the States going through upgrades of trying to get their
first responder house in order will not see a devastating cut in what
they are receiving. Everything over the grandfathered amount
essentially moves on the basis of threat. So the actual appropriation
in the bill falls about halfway between the two theories being put
forward here by the competing interests relative to how this formula
should be designed on the authorizing side. I just note that for my
colleagues' edification.
At this time, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 11:30 today
the Senate resume consideration of the Reid for Murray amendment
regarding veterans health; provided further, that the time until 12
noon be equally divided in the usual form, and that at noon the Senate
proceed to a vote in relationship to the Murray amendment, with no
second degrees in order prior to the vote. I further ask that the
pending Feinstein-Cornyn amendment be modified in order to become a
first-degree amendment. I further ask that the time for Senator
Feinstein's statement until 11:30 be divided equally between Senator
Feinstein or her designee, and Senator Collins or her designee to
debate the Collins and Feinstein amendments concurrently; provided
further, that at 2:15, there be an additional 90 minutes divided as
stated above; finally, I ask that at 5 p.m. today the Senate proceed to
a vote in relation to the Collins amendment, to be followed by a vote
in relation to the Feinstein amendment, with no amendments in order to
either amendment prior to the votes.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I don't
object, I only make two points, and one perhaps the Senator from
California can help us clarify. Again, that is reiterating what the
chairman has said. We urge Members who have pending amendments to be
here in the neighborhood of 3:30 or 3:45 to call up their amendment and
make sure they are pending on the bill, so we can keep this moving
along. This is a very important bill. It is all the more compelling
because of the events of last week.
Second, relating to the Senator from New Jersey and how his time is
going to be credited to this unanimous consent request, it is my
understanding that the Senator from California has said that the time
used by the Senator from New Jersey was to be taken from the time
allocated to her amendment with Senator Cornyn; is that correct?
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. That is correct.
Mr. DURBIN. Otherwise, I have no objection to this unanimous consent
request.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. GREGG. I thank the Senators. ]
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Jersey is
recognized.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to voice strong
opposition to the amendment being offered by Senator Collins to this
Homeland Security appropriations bill. It is the wrong approach at a
critical time in the war on terror. Need any of us here be reminded
that it wasn't Portsmouth, England, that was attacked last week? I will
tell you that the odds are that it won't be Portsmouth, ME, that is
going to be under terrorist threats or that it compares in any way to
the most inviting targets in the country--one of which is in the State
of New Jersey,
[[Page S8098]]
where 12 million people could be killed if there is a raid on the
chemical plant that is very close to the New York border and within our
State.
Mr. President, I am a member of the Homeland Security Committee. For
the record, the Collins legislation didn't pass without dissent in the
committee. I strongly opposed the Collins bill offered by the chairman
in committee, and I strongly oppose it here as an amendment to this
appropriations bill.
The Collins amendment flies in the face of the recommendations of the
9/11 Commission. Everybody says they worked hard. As a matter of fact,
Senator Collins was a leader in getting the legislation done to reform
the intelligence operation. I commend her for that. But they are very
clear in the 9/11 Commission report that distribution should be made on
the basis of risk. And it also, by the way, defies the wishes of
President Bush and Secretary Chertoff.
The Commission stated in no uncertain terms that homeland security
funding should be allocated on the basis of risk, not political pork.
Unlike the Collins amendment, the underlying appropriations bill and
the Feinstein amendment move toward the goal of more risk-based
funding.
I salute the senior Senator from New Hampshire, Senator Gregg, and
the ranking member, Senator Byrd, for their efforts to move us toward
more risk-based funding in this appropriations bill. Their bill greatly
improves the confusing status quo by allocating 70 percent of homeland
security funding based on risk and threat. Very frankly, we ought to be
at 100 percent, if we were consistent with the report produced by the
9/11 Commission. I checked this again directly with former Governor
Kean from New Jersey. He reaffirmed his belief that you ought to put
the money where the risk is. But the Collins amendment before us today
is a step backward, not forward. The Collins amendment would change the
appropriations bill by reducing the amount of risk-based funding to
just 60 percent.
This is an affront to the 9/11 Commission. What they said about how
homeland security funds should be distributed is clearly stated here.
Their recommendation No. 25 said this:
Homeland security assistance should be based strictly on an
assessment of risks and vulnerabilities.
Federal homeland security assistance should not remain a
program for general revenue sharing.
That is clear. They went on to make the point in very blunt language:
Congress should not use this money as pork barrel.
It is not just the 9/11 Commission that said that. Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff has stated numerous times the need for
homeland security funding should be based more on risks, threats, and
vulnerabilities.
This past Sunday on ``Meet the Press,'' Secretary Chertoff said:
We have to be risk-based in our funding.
He went on to define ``risk-based'' funding this way:
It means we look not at the question of political
jurisdiction, we look at where the consequences would be
catastrophic, where the vulnerabilities would be, where the
threats are.
He is right. We need to protect our Nation where the risks and
vulnerabilities are. If we want to peel off pork, then we have to go to
some other bill to do it. I am not saying these are casual programs
that are being funded by a reduction in risk-based grants, but it is
the wrong thing at the wrong time, and everybody knows that. We are all
in a semistate of shock as a result of the bombing in London.
Mr. President, 700 of my fellow New Jerseyans lost their lives on
September 11, 2001. Families, in many cases, are ruined forever, with
the lack of a daddy, a husband, a brother, a sister or a mother.
Throughout that tragic day, people in northern New Jersey could see
the smoke rising from the Trade Center, where many of our friends,
neighbors, and loved ones worked. It could be seen from my house. The
New York-New Jersey region bore the brunt of the attacks on 9/11, and
it continues to be the area of our Nation that is most at risk. But I
don't plead for this on a parochial basis. I plead for it for the
safety of our country as a whole.
In fact, the FBI determined that the 2-mile stretch in New Jersey,
between the Port of Newark and Newark Airport, is the most at-risk area
in the country for a terrorist attack.
The New York Times recently reported that an attack on just one
particular chemical plant in this area could kill or harm millions of
people.
I ask my colleagues to think about that. With the potential loss of
life in the millions, this is no time for putting parochial interests
before the security of the Nation.
The tragic attacks in London only reinforce the need to protect the
high-threat areas. As I said earlier, it is not Portsmouth, England, or
Portsmouth, ME, that was attacked. That is not where the principal
focus of the terrorist is. We have to protect our entire country, but
there ought to be a system of priority that says this is the most
important area. We should not casually dismiss an area that is one of
the largest population centers of our country or of the world, in fact.
Mr. President, I pose the question: How can we, in the wake of the
London attacks, with all of the alerts that we have around the country,
now move to take funding away from where the threats are? It makes no
sense. We ought to have more funding, not less, and we ought to have it
directly aimed at the area of highest risk.
Under the amendment proposed by the Senator from Maine, 40 percent of
homeland security funds will be distributed not based on risk, but
simply distributed to every State and territory, regardless of the
risks they face. The Congressional Research Service has analyzed how
the Collins legislation would change the amount of funding going out
based on risk under this bill. They concluded that the Collins approach
would reduce risk-based funding by over $183 million--$183.53 million--
compared to the underlying appropriations bill.
It is absolutely critical that the Senate reject the Collins
amendment. In the wake of the London attacks, we need to show the
American people we are serious about protecting the country and not
just interested in another back-home project.
In addition to opposing the amendment, I urge my colleagues to
support the Feinstein-Cornyn-Lautenberg amendment. Our amendment moves
us much closer to the goal of risk-based funding as called for by the
9/11 Commission and the President of the United States.
The issue before us is bigger than politics. We are talking about the
best way to protect fellow Americans from another terrorist attack but
also, in protecting our ability to function in the event of an attack,
making sure we have the communications link and the transportation
link. We ought to make certain that we pay attention to securing those
areas that are most likely to be inviting targets for terrorism. This
is not about regional rivalries. It is about protecting our most
vulnerable communities.
With our votes on these two amendments, we are going to decide
whether we are going to follow the guidance of the 9/11 Commission or
simply ignore their recommendations. I do not know how we do that. It
is fairly simple. I urge my colleagues to reject the Collins approach
and support the Feinstein-Cornyn-Lautenberg amendment.
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Who yields time? The Senator from
Maine is recognized.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, it is my understanding that Senator
Cornyn, who is the prime cosponsor of the amendment of the Senator from
California, wishes to go next. If he is not going to go next, I will be
happy to speak on my time. But it was my understanding he wanted to
speak first.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, if I may respond.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from California is
recognized.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank the Senator for her courtesy. It is my
understanding we have 45 minutes this afternoon at 2:15 and Senator
Cornyn will lead off at 2:15. I thank the Senator.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from California for
that clarification.
Mr. President, the Collins-Lieberman amendment has picked up a number
of cosponsors, so I want to bring my colleagues up to date by reading
the full list of the cosponsors of the Collins-
[[Page S8099]]
Lieberman amendment. They are as follows: Senators Voinovich, DeWine,
Coburn, Akaka, Carper, Salazar, Coleman, Ben Nelson, Pryor, Snowe, and
Dayton. I ask unanimous consent that all of those cosponsors be added
to the Collins-Lieberman amendment.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, my friend from California, as well as the
Senator from New Jersey, have both referred to a memo the Congressional
Research Service put together for Senator Lautenberg. First, let me say
I have not seen this memo despite my staff repeatedly requesting a copy
from Senator Lautenberg's office. The memo appears to have been widely
distributed to the press but, unfortunately, the Senator has chosen not
to share it with the two sponsors of the amendment.
Why would that be? Perhaps it is because the last time my colleague
from New Jersey asked CRS to put together a memo attacking S. 21, we
quickly discovered it was based on fatally flawed assumptions.
The memo purported to show that S. 21 would lead to less risk-based
funding than under current law, but that was just plain wrong. And CRS,
once the analysts talked with my staff, agreed they had made a mistake.
In fact, CRS issued the memo I hold in my hand correcting the flawed
conclusions of the Lautenberg memo.
I ask unanimous consent that the CRS analysis be printed in the
Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
To: Honorable Susan M. Collins, Attention: Michael Bopp
From: David C. Huckabee, 7-7877, Specialist in American
National Government Government and Finance Division
Subject: Homeland Security Minimum Allocation Comparisons:
Figures From FY 2005 Appropriation Act, and S. 21, As
Reported
This memorandum responds to your request for a comparison
of S. 21, as reported, and the FY 2005 Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) appropriations act with regard to the
allocation of funds in three homeland security assistance
programs: the State Homeland Security Grant program (SHSG);
the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program (LETPP); and
the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program.
You asked for comparisons of percentage change figures
between funds that were guaranteed to be distributed to the
50 states, the District of Columbia, and specified U.S.
possessions. For the purpose of this analysis I used the
$2.303 billion that DHS distributed in FY 2005 using the
rules in place for that year, and procedures included in S.
21, as reported. Comparisons of funding to jurisdictions in
FY 2005, and what would occur if S. 21 (as reported) were
enacted, are complicated by several factors:
S. 21's guaranteed minimum funding to states (0.55% of the
total) is computed on a larger base ($2.303 billion, the
entire aggregate appropriation for SHSG, LETPP, and UASI) as
compared to the FY 2005 appropriation where states' 0.75%
base is applied to $1.448 billion (after excluding UASI
funds), and;
The FY 2005 appropriation act required DHS to allocate all
the funds remaining after the required mininl.um percentages
were distributed among the states and territories (excluding
VASI funds) in the same manner as in FY 2004, i.e., by
population.
The addition of the population distribution requirement in
FY 2005 increased state ``guaranteed minimum'' funds for that
fiscal year. If the S. 21 distribution formula were to be
adopted and appropriations remain at the FY 2005 level for
the SHSG, LETPP, and UASI programs in FY 2006, ``guaranteed''
funding would decline by 39% (from $1.488 billion to $906
million), and risk-based funding would increase by 71% (from
$815 million to nearly $1.4 billion).
TABLE 1. PERCENT CHANGE IN GUARANTEED, AND RISK-BASED FUNDING BETWEEN S.
21 AS REPORTED, AND FY 2005 APPROPRIATIONS ASSUMING A $2.385 BILLION
APPROPRIATION
[Figures are in millions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FY 2005 S. 21, as Percent
Description funding \1\ reported change
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``Guaranteed'' funding........... $1,488.40 $906.36 -39.1
Risk-based funding: For FY 2005, 814.80 1,396.84 71.4
figure included only UASI; S. 21
would include UASI and funds not
allocated by ``sliding scale''
formula.........................
--------------------------------------
Total...................... 2,303.20 2,303.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ ``Guaranteed'' funding included all SHSG and LETPP funds in FY 2005
because the FY 2005 DHS appropriations act required population to be
used to distribute funds not allocated by the PATRIOT act formula in
2005.
Congressional Quarterly's coverage of the Senate Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs mark-up of S. 21 cited
information from the Congressional Research Service (CRS)
indicating that risk-based funding ``would fall by 19
percent'' under the S. 21 formula. The earlier CRS analysis
had compared funding levels required in authorizing
legislation. Thus the FY 2005 appropriation language
requiring DHS to do a population-based distribution of the
remaining funds after each state received its 0.75% base
amount was not included in the analysis.
The FY 2005 DHS appropriations act required all SHSG and
LETPP funds to be distributed by a combination of a
guaranteed base, with the remaining funds allocated by
population. Thus, no SHSG or LETPP funds were available to be
allocated by risk in FY 2005 (or any other method DHS could
have chosen to use) because the PATRIOT act does not specify
how remaining funds will be distributed.
If the funding formula is not changed for FY 2006, and the
DHS appropriations act omits the requirement that ``formula-
based and law enforcement terrorism prevention grants . . .
shall be allocated in the same manner as fiscal year 2004,''
funds guaranteed to states in 2006 would only include the
PATRIOT Act minimums.
I trust that memorandum will meet your needs in this
matter. Please feel free to call me if I can further assist
you.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, as I understand it, the latest CRS
analysis--as I understand it from press accounts since, again, the
Senator has not been willing to share it with my office--is once again
flawed. It does not take into account the sliding scale minimum
allocation that is included in the Collins-Lieberman amendment.
This sliding scale minimum distributes 10.7 percent of the funds in
our bill based on population and population density. Those are two risk
factors that are used by the Department of Homeland Security to
distribute risk-based funds.
I note, because I want to give credit where credit is due, that the
proposal for this sliding scale minimum came from our colleague, a
senior member of the committee, Senator Levin of Michigan.
Let's look at the real numbers. The fact is there is a doubling in
the amount of money that is based on risk under our amendment. The
legislation before us emphasizes risk-based funding and doubles the
amount of money compared to current law that would be allocated based
on risk.
The Committee on Homeland Security has done a great deal of work on
this formula. I think we see today the problems that occur when we try
to write a formula not in committee, not based on careful hearings,
input from all interested parties, two markups, 3 years of
deliberations by the committee, but instead try to cobble together an
amendment on the Senate floor.
I have heard again today the comparison that Wyoming gets more money
on a per capita basis. The Senator from California, my friend and
colleague, made that argument. Over and over again we hear the argument
that homeland security dollars are unfairly allocated because less
populous States generally get more per capita than more populous
States. But the truth is, that argument does not hold water.
What is the point of that argument? That homeland security dollars
should be distributed on a per capita basis rather than risk and a
minimum free each State? The fact is, risk-based allocations lead to
per capita disparities as well.
Let's take the District of Columbia as an example. I think every
single Member of this distinguished body would agree that the District
of Columbia, despite its relatively small population, is an extremely
high-risk area. In fact, the District of Columbia gets by far the most
on a per capita basis, nearly $217 per resident, because it is a small
population, high-risk area.
Taken to its logical conclusion, the argument of these advocates is
fewer dollars to the national capital region. The fact is, distributing
funds based on risk does not necessarily lessen the per capita
disparities among recipients.
We took a look at the distribution of fiscal year 2005 urban area
security initiative funds which are allocated based on risk. What we
found were the same or even greater levels of per capita disparities
compared to an analysis of the urban areas and State grant funds
combined. For example, Boston received nearly $48 per capita, where
Houston, with over three times the population, received under $10 per
person. Los Angeles received about $18 per capita; Pittsburgh, $29.
The point is, moving from a formula to a risk-based distribution does
not necessarily bridge those per capita divides.
Second, let's look at what this is really all about. Under S. 21, the
[[Page S8100]]
amount the small States would be guaranteed beyond their per capita
shares amounts to less than 3 percent of the funds that are allocated--
3 percent. Let's use the real example.
S. 21 would authorize $2.9 billion for homeland security grants. The
total that small States are guaranteed in excess of their per capita
share is just $85.4 million out of that $2.9 billion. Here is the chart
that demonstrates what this allocation is all about.
In contrast, the 19 most populous States receive some $619 million in
guaranteed funds under the bill, seven times more than the less
populous States are guaranteed beyond their per capita share.
In short, we are not talking about a major redistribution of homeland
security dollars.
The fact is also that the potential of terrorist attacks against
rural targets is increasingly recognized as a national security threat.
I quoted yesterday the Harvard study that talked about rural areas
facing unique and profound homeland security challenges. Bioterrorism,
an attack on our food supply, where would those most likely occur? The
food supply is outside our urban areas. A great many power grids, water
supplies, nuclear plants--all of those are outside of urban areas.
Likewise, a report from the RAND Corporation, prepared for the
National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, assessed
how prepared State and local law enforcement is. It noted that homeland
security experts and first responders have cautioned against an
overemphasis on improving the preparedness of large cities to the
exclusion of small communities or rural areas.
The report recognized that much of our Nation's infrastructure and
potential high-value targets is located in rural areas.
The Department of Homeland Security said that it is well known that
terrorists choose to live and train in small and rural communities.
Communities that my friends from California and New Jersey would say
are at no risk, they are low risk, they should not receive risk money.
These small and rural communities are where the terrorists live, train,
and hide.
That is why law enforcement has overwhelmingly endorsed the Collins-
Lieberman amendment. We have letters from the National Troopers
Coalition, the Grand Lodge Fraternal Order of Police, the National
Association of Police Organizations, the International Union of Police
Associations, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the
United Federation of Police Officers, the International Brotherhood of
Police Officers, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement
Executives, the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
All of these groups representing law enforcement and representing our
firefighters are endorsing the approach taken in the Collins-Lieberman
amendment. One reason they do is for the first time we are going to
have standards, we are going to tie spending to standards, and we
recognize that the first responders in each and every State deserve our
support.
We need to bring every State up to a minimum level of preparedness,
and we are not there now. That is why the National Governors
Association and the National Emergency Management Association strongly
endorse our approach.
Over and over again we hear from these organizations that the funding
formula proposed in the Collins-Lieberman amendment ``promotes a better
level of preparedness and brings some predictability to States for
planning purposes.'' That is from the National Troopers Coalition.
The Fraternal Order of Police says our legislation--this is the
Collins-Lieberman legislation--recognizes the fact that the majority of
Federal funds have been previously directed toward recovery response
operations, too often at the expense of the efforts to prevent future
attacks. Ensuring that all communities achieve and maintain the
appropriate response-and-recover capacity for terrorist incidents is a
critical component. However, it is the goal of law enforcement to
ensure that we never have a terrorist incident to respond or recover
from. We want to stop the attack before it even occurs.
Those are important advantages of the Collins-Lieberman approach. The
accountability measures in our bill are absolutely critical and are
missing from the Feinstein-Cornyn-Lautenberg approach.
We know there has been wasteful funding. We cannot tolerate
inappropriate and wasteful spending of critical homeland security
funds. That is why we have strong accountability measures in the
Collins-Lieberman proposal, measures that are lacking completely from
the alternative put before us today. These accountability measures will
ensure that no longer will homeland security funds be spent to purchase
air-conditioned garbage trucks in the State of New Jersey--that is the
kind of wasteful spending that we want to guard against--or leather
jackets for the District of Columbia. Instead, spending would be tied
to achieving essential capabilities for our first responders to meet
national preparedness goals.
This is a carefully thought out bill. It is a comprehensive bill. It
reflects many hearings and input from the first responder community.
I reserve the remainder of my time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Who yields time?
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I yield such time as he may consume to the Senator
from New Jersey.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). The Senator from New Jersey is
recognized.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I will be very brief. We just heard a
reference to an investment made by the city of Newark. Newark Airport
and the Port of Newark have been identified as the two most dangerous
miles for a terrorist attack in the United States, and they chose to
use the money to make sure their access ways would be clear of debris.
That was their choice. We are not going to talk about what any other
State does with their money. That is not the argument. The argument is,
what is the truth? The truth is, CRS, in a phone call just now, for the
information of the Senator from Maine, confirmed exactly what they gave
us as being correct. Under the Collins amendment, they come down with a
conclusion that the percentage allotted for the risk would be 60
percent, and the percentage allotted for a guarantee, 40 percent. That
is not what we are going into. Anything that we try to do to confuse
the figures to say that oh, no, in fact we are getting more, well, New
Jersey may get a couple more dollars under the Collins formula, but we
have to look at where the bulk of the danger is to our country.
Sure, rural States are entitled to be protected, but that is not done
at the expense of having the most inviting targets in the country not
get more money to protect themselves.
The Senator from Maine asked for it. We are going to send over for
her review the report from CRS, and we have clarified a couple of
things. But at 60/40, we are far worse off than we were when we left
the committee, and I do not understand why that is. Perhaps the Senator
from Maine does not see threats in the country in the same way that the
9/11 Commission or the Secretary of Homeland Security does. Dismiss
that and make sure that everybody gets a little bit of the pie, that is
not where we are.
This is the second front in a war against terrorism, and we ought to
make sure we put plenty of funding here. We spend over $200 billion a
year in maintaining our fighting force in Iraq, and I want to do it as
well as anybody else, but we sure do not say we ought to distribute
funds throughout the Army, whether they are based in Georgia or some
other State. No, we want to take care of them in the area where the
risk is greatest, and that is the same thing we ought to be doing, and
not trifling with this and trying to defend the numbers as not really
saying what they say.
They say what they say, and I ask unanimous consent that the report
from CRS be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[[Page S8101]]
Congressional Research Service,
Washington, DC, July 8, 2005.
memorandum
To: Honorable Frank Lautenberg, Attention: David Garten.
From: Shawn Reese, Analyst in American National Government,
Government and Finance Division.
Subject: ``Guaranteed'' Base Homeland Security Grant Amounts
in S. 21 and Senate Reported H.R. 2360.
This memorandum responds to your request for information on
homeland security grant base amounts that would be
distributed in FY2006 to the states, U.S. possessions, and
territories (``guaranteed amounts'') in S. 21, as reported by
the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee on May 24, 2005, and H.R. 2360, as reported by the
Senate Appropriations Committee on June 16, 2005.
Specifically, you requested a chart (see Table 1) that
depicts allocations to the states, U.S. possessions, and
territories assuming an appropriation of $1.918 billion, the
amount recommended by the Senate Appropriations Committee in
H.R. 2360, and you requested the percent of funds that S. 21
and H.R. 2360 would allocate for such base amounts, as well
as the percent that would remain to be allocated through risk
assessments conducted by the Department of Homeland Security
Secretary. The first column of Table 1 depicts S. 21 base
amount allocations, and the second column depicts H.R. 2360
allocations. Additionally, you requested a third column to
the chart depicting a 0.25% guaranteed base.
H.R. 2360. Of the $1.918 billion appropriated in H.R. 2360
($1.518 billion for state and local grants and $400 million
for law enforcement terrorism prevention grants), $580
million would be distributed through the same distribution
process applied in FY2005. From the total of $580 million,
each state, DC, and Puerto Rico would receive $10.86 million,
and each U.S. possession and territory $3.62 million. After
the distributions, roughly $1.3 billion would be available to
be distributed through the risk assessment process.
S. 21. The bill would allow states, U.S. possessions, and
territories to select either of two options that yields the
highest funding level. First, funds would be divided among
the states, the District of Columbia (DC), and U.S.
possessions and territories as follows: Puerto Rico and
specified U.S. possessions and territories 0.055%; these
total 28.62%. Second, states could alternatively choose to
receive an amount based on a ``sliding scale baseline
allocation'' calculated by multiplying 0.001 times (1) a
state's population ratio and (2) a state's population density
ratio. After the funds are distributed ($763 million as shown
in Table 1), the remainder is distributed through the risk
assessment process, with a maximum of 50% to be distributed
to high-threat urban areas, and the remainder to the states.
I trust that this memorandum meets your needs; please
contact me if you need further information.
TABLE 1.--S. 21 AND SENATE REPORTED H.R. 2360 GUARANTEED BASE AMOUNTS
[All amounts in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate
State S. 21 Reported 0.25% Base
H.R. 2360
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.......................... $10.55 $10.86 $4.80
Alaska........................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Arizona.......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Arkansas......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
California....................... 57.59 10.86 4.80
Colorado......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Connecticut...................... 13.82 10.86 4.80
Delaware......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Florida.......................... 30.38 10.86 4.80
Georgia.......................... 15.29 10.86 4.80
Hawaii........................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Idaho............................ 10.55 10.86 4.80
lllinois......................... 22.12 10.86 4.80
Indiana.......................... 11.57 10.86 4.80
Iowa............................. 10.55 10.86 4.80
Kansas........................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Kentucky......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Louisiana........................ 10.55 10.86 4.80
Maine............................ 10.55 10.86 4.80
Maryland......................... 15.15 10.86 4.80
Massachusetts.................... 19.39 10.86 4.80
Michigan......................... 17.55 10.86 4.80
Minnesota........................ 10.55 10.86 4.80
Mississippi...................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Missouri......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Montana.......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Nebraska......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Nevada........................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
New Hampshire.................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
New Jersey....................... 27.03 10.86 4.80
New Mexico....................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
New York......................... 34.17 10.86 4.80
North Carolina................... 15.11 10.86 4.80
North Dakota..................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Ohio............................. 28.80 10.86 4.80
Oklahoma......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Oregon........................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Pennsylvania..................... 22.21 10.86 4.80
Rhode Island..................... 13.75 10.86 4.80
South Carolina................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
South Dakota..................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Tennessee........................ 10.70 10.86 4.80
Texas............................ 35.40 10.86 4.80
Utah............................. 10.55 10.86 4.80
Vermont.......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Virginia......................... 13.61 10.86 4.80
Washington....................... 10.58 10.86 4.80
West Virginia.................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Wisconsin........................ 10.55 10.86 4.80
Wyoming.......................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
DC+NCR........................... 10.55 10.86 4.80
Puerto Rico...................... 6.71 10.86 4.80
U.S. Virgin Islands.............. 1.05 3.62 1.60
Guam............................. 1.05 3.62 1.60
American Samoa................... 1.05 3.62 1.60
Northern Marianas................ 1.05 3.62 1.60
--------------------------------------
Guaranteed Base Total........ 762.73 \1\ 579.20 251.20
Remainder to Be Allocated Based 1,155.27 1,338.80 1,666.80
on Risk.........................
======================================
Total...................... 1918.00 1918.00 1918.00
Percentage Allocated for 40% 30% 13%
Guaranteed Base.................
Percentage Allocated for Risk.... 60% 70% 87%
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Due to rounding in CRS calculations, this amount is $800 thousand
less than $580 million.
Source: CRS calculations based on formulas in S. 21 and Senate reported
H.R. 2360.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. We will see that the Senator from Maine gets a copy
immediately.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, the Senator from New Jersey is mistaken
in saying this bill provides less risk-based assistance than the
legislation reported from the committee in April. It does not. The
Senator is in error. It is exactly the same as the committee-reported
bill, which was reported without dissent on a voice vote.
The fact is, the Collins-Lieberman amendment doubles the funds that
would be distributed based on threat, risk, and consequences while
maintaining a predictable and meaningful level of funding for each
State.
For the Nation to be prepared, all States must achieve a baseline
level of essential capabilities. The Federal Government is a partner
with our State and local governments and with our 9 million first
responders in this regard. Unfortunately, what we are seeing today is a
regrettable and corrosive argument that is pitting urban centers
against rural States. Our bill does not do that. We have carefully
crafted a compromise that ensures that every State receives a baseline
level in order to recognize that every State has homeland security
needs and vulnerabilities and that first responders throughout the
country need to be properly equipped, trained, and supported.
We know the terrorists traveled through, trained in, and stayed in
rural States. Two of them left from my home State of Portland, ME, to
begin their journey of devastation and death on September 11. A
predictable stream of funding is essential to achieving the goals, but
the fact is, S. 21 doubles the amount of money for risk-based funding
compared to the current law. If one looks at this chart, the Senator
from New Jersey repeatedly ignores the 10.7-percent distribution, which
was Senator Levin's proposal, which means that risk-based factors
account for more than 70 percent of the funding. That is more than
double what is involved in current law.
So we have doubled the amount of money that would be allocated based
on risk factors while maintaining a steady, predictable base line
funding so that all States can achieve a level of preparedness. Again,
the Senator from New Jersey----
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Will the Senator yield?
Ms. COLLINS. I will be happy to yield once I conclude my explanation.
The Senator from New Jersey again ignores the amount of money in this
bill that would go to the law enforcement terrorism prevention program,
which would be authorized for the first time in this legislation.
Prevention takes a back seat to responding to a terrorist attack, and
that is why virtually every police association in this country has
endorsed the Collins-Lieberman bill, virtually every one, because of
our emphasis on prevention as well.
The National Association of Police Organizations wrote: Unlike other
homeland security grant proposals, S. 21 ensures that the prevention of
terrorist attacks, not just response efforts, receives a significant
share of homeland security funds.
I would be happy to yield to the Senator from New Jersey on his time
or on the time of Senator Feinstein.
I yield the floor but reserve the remainder of my time.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. I thank the Senator from Maine.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I strongly support the Feinstein
amendment which is a sensible and vital reform of the way our homeland
security dollars are distributed.
The 9/11 Commission wrote in its report that:
Homeland security assistance should be based strictly on an
assessment of risks and vulnerabilities.
All communities, large and small, need to be prepared for the worst.
However, with limited and, frankly, inadequate resources, we have to
make
[[Page S8102]]
choices about how to prioritize homeland security spending.
The 9/11 Commission stated in its report:
Federal homeland security assistance should not remain a
program for general revenue sharing. It should supplement
state and local resources based on the risks or
vulnerabilities that merit additional support.
That is exactly what the Feinstein amendment does. It requires
homeland security grants to be allocated based on an assessment of
threat, vulnerability, and impact on the Nation.
According to the Congressional Research Service, under the Feinstein
amendment, 87 percent of homeland security spending would be based on
risk.
Today, by comparison, fully 37.5 percent of homeland security funds
are allocated for distribution before any risk analysis is done.
A Washington Post editorial of May 17 asked the question:
What, exactly are Federal ``first responder'' grants
supposed to do? Are they intended to give extra financial
help to firefighters and police officers who work in places
where the risk of a terrorist attack is highest? Or are they
meant to spread Federal pork evenly around the country?
This is not an attempt, however, to deny any Federal homeland
security funding to those areas that we know are the least likely to be
targets.
Under the Feinstein amendment, $251 million in Federal homeland
security aid would still be spread evenly across the States.
However, the vast majority of funding--over $1.6 billion--would be
allocated based on actual risk.
In practical terms, the amendment will guarantee $300 million more
than the underlying bill for high-risk areas.
It means that cities like Boston, with its dense concentration of
high-risk targets, will get the support it needs and deserves.
The city is a major financial hub with more than 130,000 people
employed in the securities, banking and insurance sectors. Any
interruption in the ability of these industries to function would
undoubtedly reverberate far beyond the city, and be felt across the
Nation.
The city was also a major part of the high-tech boom years of the
1990s. Today, it remains one of the Nation's most innovative high-tech
corridors. It employs over 100,000 professionals whose inventiveness is
not limited to the city, but is a major component of the Nation's
economic recovery.
The $7 billion tourism industry is also a major driver of economic
growth. September 11 had an acute impact on Boston's ability to attract
visitors. Undoubtedly, if another attack were to happen, a similar
chilling affect would occur.
The danger is not theoretical. In 2001, an Algerian citizen, who
later joined al-Qaida entered Boston as a stowaway on an Algerian gas
tanker.
Security experts said that if the tanker's hull and cargo tanks had
been successfully breached, the result could have been a disastrous
fire in the port of Boston.
Another key aspect of the Feinstein amendment is its preservation of
the Urban Area Security Initiative, which has funded preparedness and
prevention efforts in 56 of the most likely target regions that are
home to more than 75 million people.
Yesterday, the mayors of 22 cities, including Boston, wrote the
distinguished majority and minority leaders expressing their support
for the Feinstein amendment. They wrote:
It maintains the critical partnership between the Federal
government, States and the Nation's highest risk areas by
maintaining the Urban Area Security Initiative program. These
Urban Area Security Initiative regions have for several years
been aggressively working to implement comprehensive plans
for terrorism prevention and preparedness approved by their
States and the Department of Homeland Security. Maintaining
the Urban Area Security Initiative program will preserve and
sustain the substantial planning, long-term projects, and
regional decision-making processes underway.
Without the Feinstein amendment, we could see a funding cut in the
Urban Area Security Initiative.
We all agree that every community in America deserves to receive its
fair share of Federal homeland security assistance. No community should
be left unprotected. But it makes no sense to use limited resources to
provide maximum preparedness in the least at-risk communities, when we
still have not yet achieved even the minimum level of preparedness in
our most high-risk areas. The Feinstein amendment reflects that obvious
priority for communities across the country, and I urge my colleagues
to support it.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Collins amendment
to the Homeland Security appropriations bill before this body. I want
to thank Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Chairwoman Collins and Ranking Member Lieberman for the diligent and
considerate effort they have made to bring this legislation forward.
Also, I would like to thank Jeffrey Highley, a civil engineering
fellow in my office, for all of his hard work on this issue. He has
been a valuable asset to my office.
I know there will always be more that we can do to prepare for and
prevent against the threats to our security. Yet the Homeland Security
appropriations bill before this body continues to reduce the level of
State funding that began as a response to an attack on our Nation.
That is why this amendment is so necessary. It restores threat-based
funding to the level States received in 2004 and increases the amount
in the underlying bill by more than $1 billion. Furthermore, it
provides a smart and responsible approach to funding.
In order for our State and local emergency response teams to plan a
long-term strategy of preparedness, they need to have a level of
predictable funding. States are required to submit plans to DHS 3 years
in advance. This amendment will establish a fair and stable funding
formula that States such as Arkansas can use to plan ahead.
Furthermore, this amendment will ensure that critical prevention
efforts receive funding. The National Association of Police
Organizations agrees, ``[this amendment] ensures that the prevention of
terrorist attacks--not just response efforts--receive a significant
share of the homeland security funds.''
I know there are some in Congress who believe that the funding
formula for homeland security grants should solely reflect perceived
threat and risk. While I understand these concerns, I respectfully
disagree with my colleagues on the merits of their arguments.
Conventional wisdom might suggest that another terrorist attack will
involve a target-rich environment--a big bustling city with skyscrapers
and millions of people. Conventional wisdom suggests that terrorists
might strike at a location or at a symbol that personifies America. I
say, however, that to only rely on conventional wisdom sets ourselves
up for unforeseen but certain tragedy down the road.
I ask my colleagues: Four years ago could we have fathomed 19
terrorists hijacking American airliners with box cutters no less? Could
we have fathomed these hijackers using those airliners to conduct
suicide missions? Could we have fathomed watching as two airplanes
struck the World Trade Center and yet another crashing into the
Pentagon?
And as you ponder those questions, I also ask: Just 1 month after
that, as America was pulling itself out of the ashes, still recovering
from the horrific acts of September 11, 2001, did anyone foresee an
envelope being sent to Senator Tom Daschle's office that would cause
the largest biological attack on American soil and effectively shut
down the Senate Hart Building for several months?
We look back at these events now in hindsight and I think we have
learned a lot about our enemy and what it will take for us to both win
the war on terror and defend our homeland.
But let us remember: we must be prepared for the next terrorist
attack, not the last. And that terrorist attack could come in many
shapes and sizes.
I understand how some might think that big cities on the east and
west coasts are those most vulnerable, most at risk for another
horrific attempt. But I think it is obtuse to write off a large section
of this country because of conventional wisdom.
I think it is naive to believe terrorists would never strike at our
heartland, that they would not attempt to attack our food supply or our
nuclear and chemical plants located in both large and small States.
[[Page S8103]]
I think it is shortsighted to think that the next attack will be
similar to the first and to prepare with such narrow vision.
In order for America to be protected from terrorism, we need all
parts of the country to be prepared.
Local and State entities and first responders across the Nation have
worked doggedly to make our Nation safer, and they have. Our civilian
authorities must be able to respond to whatever may confront them in
the future. But how can they properly respond when they are not given
adequate resources?
With the amendment offered by Senators Collins and Lieberman, State
homeland security will be based on the essential capabilities necessary
to prepare for potential terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other
emergencies--no matter where they might occur.
September 11 made us acutely aware that there are vulnerabilities in
our homeland but it also made us acutely aware of the need of genuine
partnerships that involve all segments of our communities and all
levels of government--we all have a role in keeping our community safe.
So I submit that part of our job of the Federal Government must be to
ensure that local governments are given the resources to protect their
citizenry and that we all share the responsibilities for homeland
security wisely and fairly.
This is why I urge my colleagues from States small and large to
support the Collins amendment. It strikes a fair balance between the
critical need to provide a baseline of protection and providing risk-
based funding.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, While I support the underlying amendment
and hope my colleagues will support it, I rise to strongly object to a
provision in this amendment which lies within the jurisdiction of the
Senate Finance Committee. Section 1808 requires the Bureau of Customs
and Border Patrol to conduct a study on the screening of municipal
waste. The Bureau is then required to ban the importation of such waste
6 months after the report is submitted unless certain certifications
are made.
I have been in consultation with the Office of the United States
Trade Representative and believe that this provision raises serious
international trade concerns. In fact, this provision could violate
trade responsibilities under both the World Trade Organization and the
North American Free Trade Agreement. If that is the case, our exporters
are likely to face retaliation. I don't want that to happen.
Furthermore, it could also provoke similar restrictive actions by our
trading partners against U.S. waste exports. According to the
Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 250 U.S. companies in
over 30 States sent hazardous waste shipments to Canada in 2003 alone.
I am especially disappointed that this provision was reported out by
the Committee on Homeland Security. Last year we engaged in significant
debate regarding appropriate jurisdictional responsibilities of each
committee. The Senate determined that provisions relating to Customs
and border protection and international trade clearly lie within the
jurisdiction of the Finance Committee.
Just a cursory reading of the scope of the Finance Committee's
jurisdiction under Rule 25 of the Standing Rules of the Senate provides
that:
The following standing committees shall be appointed at the
commencement of each Congress, and shall continue and have
the power to act until their successors are appointed, with
leave to report by bill or otherwise on matters within their
respective jurisdictions:
Committee on Finance, to which committee shall be referred
all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and
other matters relating to the following subjects: Customs,
collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery;
reciprocal trade agreements; revenue measures generally; and
tariffs and import quotas, and matters related thereto.
An elaboration of the scope of the Finance Committee's jurisdiction
can be found on our web site where it is clearly explained that:
The Senate Finance Committee's jurisdiction is defined by
subject matter--not by agency or Department.
As a consequence of the committee's broad subject matter
jurisdiction, the Finance Committee has sole or shared
jurisdiction over the activities of numerous agencies and
offices: the Office of the United States Trade
Representative; the Department of Agriculture Foreign
Agricultural Service on matters relating to foreign barriers
to U.S. agriculture goods; numerous divisions within the
Department of Commerce; and Broad Jurisdiction over the
Department of Homeland Security.
This provision of this amendment clearly falls within the
jurisdiction of the Finance Committee. And there is a reason for
committee jurisdiction. We need to ensure that those committees with
appropriate expertise have an opportunity to weigh the implications of
these provisions before they become law. Otherwise, we end up exactly
where we are today--exposing our exporters to unnecessary trade
retaliation due to ill conceived and short-sighted provisions.
I urge the conferees to reject this provision during conference
consideration.
Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the need for
risk-based homeland security funding. This concept is as urgent as it
is simple.
Homeland security grants related to terrorism prevention and
terrorism preparedness should be allocated based strictly on an
assessment of risk, threat, and vulnerabilities.
The best approach is to ensure that all homeland security funds are
allocated to States based on the vulnerabilities of each State. Earlier
this year, Senator Lautenberg and I introduced a bill to ensure that
the distribution of Homeland Security funds would be 100-percent risk
based. This is the right way to ensure that our homeland is truly
protected. It is not an issue of believing that larger, more populous
States deserve more funding; it is simply a question of believing that
the places with the greatest need deserve the most resources.
The Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill on the Senate
floor includes a 70-percent risk-based formula that would ensure that
$1.3 billion in funding would be allocated based on risk. Senators
Feinstein and Cornyn have proposed an amendment to improve this and
ensure that 87 percent of the funds--$1.9 billion--would be allocated
based on risk. While I would still prefer 100 percent, I support the
Feinstein-Cornyn amendment.
New Jersey and the rest of the country will be much safer under the
Feinstein-Cornyn proposal than under the Collins-Lieberman amendment,
which would only allocate 60 percent of the funds based on risk. Under
the Collins-Lieberman amendment, all of the homeland security grant
money would be combined into one fund; of that, 40 percent would be
allocated as guaranteed funding for the States and would be distributed
either on the basis of .55 percent per State or on a sliding scale
baseline allocation, which would be determined by a State's population
and population density. Even given the enhanced funding allowance for
densely populated States, New Jersey and other high-risk States would
still fair worse under the Collins-Lieberman amendment. That is because
the amendment combines all funding sources into one fund and allocates
too much funding, 40 percent of the total allocation, as minimum,
guaranteed grants to each State. Under a more risk-based formula, New
Jersey would receive greater homeland security funds to handle the
substantial risks that face my State.
Mr. President, those of us who live in high-risk areas are acutely
aware of the threat of terrorism. But protecting our homeland is not
something that can, or should, be looked at as an exclusively ``local''
issue. Experts throughout the Nation support a risk-based approach.
Protecting America, in the places where we are most vulnerable, in
places where we know that terrorist want to inflict the greatest harm,
is in fact a national issue--which is why the 9/11 Commission
recommended pure risk-based allocation.
To quote the Commission:
Homeland security assistance should be based strictly on an
assessment of risks and vulnerabilities. . . . [F]ederal
homeland security assistance should not remain a program for
general revenue sharing. It should supplement state and local
resources based on the risks or vulnerabilities that merit
additional support. Congress should not use this money as a
pork barrel.
Mr. President, one of the reasons this is such a national priority is
because of the economic issues at stake. An attack on our Nation's
economic assets, our capital markets, or our financial institutions
would have a ripple effect
[[Page S8104]]
throughout the country and have a serious long-term effect on our
Nation's economy.
Protecting these assets has to be part of our national strategic
considerations. In my State, New Jersey, we have many such targets. We
have areas like the Port Newark. Eighty percent of the cargo containers
that come into the east coast arrive at that port.
Then there is the 2-mile stretch, from the port to Newark Airport, a
stretch of terrain the FBI has called the ``most dangerous 2 miles in
America.''
And Mr. President, Newark Airport is not only the busiest airport in
the tristate area, it is, depending on the time of year, the third or
fourth busiest airport in America. A terrorist attack on Newark
Airport, or on any of these other possible targets, would have a wide-
ranging, long-term effect on our national economy. Protecting these
critical national assets must be a national priority.
Regrettably, the current homeland security grant system results in
funding allocations that fail to adequately consider the risk,
vulnerability and threats posed to specific communities. And that is
just plain wrong.
To understand why, we need to look at the practical realities of
homeland security.
My home State of New Jersey is on the front lines of terrorism. We
lost 700 people on September 11, 2001. Two of the 9/11 terrorists were
based in New Jersey and the anthrax that hit this institution
originated in New Jersey.
In addition to Port Newark and Newark Airport, the Ports of
Philadelphia and Camden are critical vulnerabilities.
New Jersey is home to rail lines, bridges, and tunnels to New York
City, as well as chemical plants and nuclear facilities.
Atlantic City has the second highest concentration of casinos in the
country.
Wall Street and other financial services firms house important front
and back office operations, including clearance and settlement
services, and other operations essential to functioning of America's
capital markets in Newark, Jersey City, and Hoboken.
To underscore those risks, in the summer of 2004 Newark was one of
three locations--including New York City and Washington, DC--that was
put on Orange Alert for a possible terrorist attack as intelligence
suggested that the Prudential building in downtown Newark could be a
target.
And Mr. President, the costs associated with protecting Newark during
that period of heightened security alert were very real.
Last year wasn't the first time that New Jersey has incurred
substantial costs because of its unique vulnerability.
The post office in Hamilton, NJ, where the anthrax was sent, has had
to be cleaned up. The costs are expected to be $72 million for
decontamination and $27 million for the refurbishment of the facility.
Yet despite these growing threats to New Jersey--from anthrax to the
Orange Alert, and the ever-expanding costs associated with protecting
the most densely populated State in the country, remarkably homeland
security grants to New Jersey were cut in 2005.
Funding was reduced from $93 million in 2004 to $61 million in 2005.
Newark has seen a 17-percent reduction in funds, from $14.9 million to
$12.4 million. And, incredibly, Jersey City's homeland security funds
have dropped by 60 percent, from $17 million in 2004 to $6.7 million in
2005.
These cuts leave New Jersey--home of countless businesses and people
that keep our economic engine moving; home of one of the most active
and exposed ports in the country; home of one of the busiest airports
in America; home of our Nation's new Homeland Security Secretary--36th
in the Nation in per capita homeland security funding.
That, Mr. President, is a travesty.
We must allocate assistance to cities, municipalities and communities
according to risk and vulnerability.
Mr. President, it is hard for the people of New Jersey to live
through what they have and then see cuts in homeland security. This is
an extremely important issue to them and they want and expect change.
I am not seeking to deprive other parts of the country of the
homeland security funding they need. But I believe that we must leave
it to the Department of Homeland Security to make the determination of
what States should receive funding based on need, vulnerabilities, and
threats.
The Department of Homeland Security was created to stop terrorism. It
is responsible for analyzing intelligence on threats to our Nation and
for protecting our people and our infrastructure.
Mr. President, directing our homeland security funding toward those
areas that are most at risk is especially critical in times of
shrinking budgets. And let me note that the President understands the
need for risk-based funding and suggested an approach similar to the
Feinstein-Cornyn amendment in his budget for 2006 when he proposed the
allocation of $251 million to each State and $1.7 billion, or 87
percent of total funds, for higher risk areas based upon need.
By passing the Feinstein-Cornyn amendment, we will continue the
critical work of post-9/11 reform that included the creation of the
Department of Homeland Security itself, the establishment of the 9/11
Commission, and the passage of the intelligence reform bill.
Mr. President, we need to deal with homeland security as we do
national security. That means directing our resources toward making us
safer by targeting need, vulnerability, and threat to address the
Nation's homeland security funding needs.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, how much do I have remaining this
morning?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California has 4 minutes 10
seconds remaining. The Senator from Maine has 14 minutes remaining.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I yield, then, to the Senator from New Jersey.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I had asked to be yielded to for a
question, but if there is no yielding, if the time is charged to me, I
do not need consent from anybody. If it is our time, we are going to
use it.
I thank the Senator from Maine but would say no thank you, and I will
take this brief minute because what we are looking at is what has
passed through the committee and what is actually on the floor as an
appropriations bill.
Under the appropriations bill--this is CRS--it very simply says
$1.338 billion for the underlying bill creates a shortage for the risk-
based of $183.53 million. We can turn the table, we can play with the
numbers, but we are looking at an appropriations bill. And if we do not
believe CRS, then I do not know to whom we ought to turn for advice and
for understanding.
When the Senator from Maine suggests that my numbers are incorrect,
do not take my numbers, please. Just take CRS and see what they say. It
makes it all very clear. It is a 60/40 relationship, far different than
that which we intended when the amendment passed the committee.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? The Senator from California.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. How much time do I have remaining?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California has 2\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I will use the time, if I might, then. The
distinguished chairman of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
mentioned something which affected me a little bit, and I would like to
respond to it respectfully, that our amendment was cobbled together on
the Senate floor. I point out that our amendment was introduced as a
bill on May 12. I also point out that prior to that we worked on this
amendment for at least 6 months with high-risk areas, with cities, with
States, and with law enforcement.
This amendment is born in the belief that just as terrorists in Great
Britain did not go to Stratford-on-Avon, they went to London; just as
9/11 did not take place in Milpitas, CA, it took place in the financial
center of America; and just as the bombers in Spain did not go to a
rural Spanish community, they went to Madrid.
[[Page S8105]]
Now, I can only use my experience as a member of the Intelligence
Committee to say whether it is advisable to have a fixed formula or
advisable to give those people who have access to all of the
intelligence--intelligence from CIA, intelligence from counterterrorism
people, intelligence from the FBI, and all of those who do the risk
analysis, whether they should have the flexibility to determine where
the moneys go. From my perspective, that is the way to go. From my
perspective, America is best protected if we give the people with the
knowledge and the intelligence the maximum flexibility to allocate
funds based on quality of grants to areas that are likely targets.
Nothing can change my mind on this. If you review intelligence, you get
an idea of what might be a target and what is not a target.
That is just today. It could change in 6 months. It could change in 2
years. There are many of us who believe we are in this war, this
asymmetric, terrible, non-state-actor war, for a long period of time.
For me, just as you would give the Joint Chiefs of Staff the ability to
mount a battle plan, I think we should give Homeland Security the
ability to mount the risk analysis that enables the distribution of
grants in the most effective way.
We have tried to do this in our bill. The underlying bill has 70
percent of the funds based on risk; the Collins-Lieberman amendment, 60
percent on risk; and Feinstein-Cornyn, 87.5 percent on risk.
The choice is clear. People who believe differently will vote
differently. There is always a question because we know the composition
of this body, we know the number of small States, and we know the
likelihood that people are going to vote their State. I say to them,
whether they do the best thing, if something happens and people look
back as to how the money was allocated, I would much prefer to be able
to say that the best experts we have have made the decisions on the
allocation of funds, rather than that I would doing it on any other
basis, whether that basis is population, whether it is geography,
whether it is based on whether you produce food or whether you produce
high tech or anything else. The money must go where the threat and risk
is, the money must go where the vulnerabilities in the eyes of the
terrorists are, and no formula can know where those vulnerabilities
are.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator has expired.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine has 14 minutes
remaining.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, before the Senator from California leaves
the floor, let me say I admire the Senator from California, who is one
of the most careful, thorough Members of this body.
The point that I was trying to make, and perhaps not as artfully as I
should have, is that the Homeland Security Committee has held extensive
hearings on the Homeland Security Grant Program. I am not aware of
other committees in the Senate having done that. We have held extensive
hearings over 3 years. We drafted a bipartisan bill. We received input
from a number of groups. We have had two different markups, and the
bill was reported unanimously last year, with only Senator Lautenberg
in dissent this year. So our bill has had a great deal of
consideration. That was the only point I was trying to make.
As the Senator knows, I have a great deal of admiration for what a
careful legislator she is.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. If I might say, Mr. President, I have great
admiration for the Senator from Maine in the way she has conducted
herself and the leadership she has shown.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, let me clear up a couple of
misperceptions surrounding this debate. First of all, this debate is
not about big States versus small States, although it certainly sounds
that way.
Our amendment, for example, is cosponsored by both Senators from Ohio
and, in fact, was heavily influenced by and contributed to by the
Senator from Michigan, Mr. Levin. I ask unanimous consent he be added
as a cosponsor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. COLLINS. One reason our amendment bridges the small State-big
State divide is that unlike the alternative amendment, the underlying
bill, or current law, our amendment breaks away from a one-size-fits-
all approach by establishing this sliding scale minimum allocation.
Does a more populous State require more funds to achieve adequate
levels of preparedness and prevention? The answer is yes, which is why
the 19 most populous and densely populated States would get a higher
baseline allocation than the .55 percent that other States would
achieve. That includes the State of New Jersey, I would note, which
receives considerably more.
Second, the underlying bill is not a middle point between the
amendment that Senator Lieberman and I have offered and the Feinstein-
Cornyn amendment. In fact, the underlying bill in our amendment
includes substantially the same type of baseline allocation for most
States. The difference is that under our amendment, the 19 most
populous and densely populated States would receive a greater baseline
allocation.
If you take into account the sliding scale minimum, which neither of
my friends on the other side of the aisle have taken into account when
they look at our bill, our amendment and the underlying bill allocates
substantially the same amount of funds based on risk.
When we talk about the significance of preventing the next terrorist
attack, it is important to note that terrorists have been proven to use
staging areas away from the most obvious targets. So while New York
City, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, are clearly targets, let us not
forget that opportunities to catch terrorists, to stop them, exist in
places such as Portland, ME; Norman, OK; and Norcross, GA.
As a recent publication of the International Association of Chiefs of
Police notes:
Several of the terrorists involved in the September 11
attacks had routine encounters with State and local law
enforcement officials in the weeks and months prior to the
attack. If State, tribal and local law enforcement officers
are adequately equipped and trained, they can be invaluable
assets in efforts to identify and apprehend suspected
terrorists before they strike.
Let's again look at some of the facts. As the 9/11 Commission report
notes, terrorists trained and operated in different parts of the
country to prepare for and carry out the September 11 attacks. For
example, two of the terrorists were pilots and visited the flight
school in Norman, OK. Norman is also where Moussaoui and another
terrorist resided while attending school. Two of the terrorists stayed
in Georgia, visiting such small communities as Norcross and Decatur
before living in Stone Mountain, GA.
Although the 9/11 Commission found no explanation for these travels,
the terrorists' mobility reveals an unpredictable pattern that shows
that their presence was not confined to large cities. Over and over
again, if you look at the list from the 9/11 Commission, you will see
that the terrorists trained and lived in rural America, in small
communities. As I have said earlier, this issue is very real to us from
the Northeast, from the State of Maine in particular, because two of
the terrorists started their day on 9/11 from the Portland, ME,
airport.
Over and over again, we have seen, from law enforcement, warnings
that we need to pay attention to prevention, and that is exactly what
this bill does. Local police departments and sheriff's offices provide
the bulk of law enforcement services to rural communities, and they are
severely constrained by a lack of resources. That is why so many law
enforcement groups have endorsed the Collins-Lieberman proposal.
There are other challenges; for example, to our food supply. But I
see the Senator from Connecticut is now on the floor, so I yield to him
the remaining time before we return to the Reid amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I thank my friend and colleague from
Maine. I regret I had other commitments that did not allow me to join
with her in defense of our very worthy amendment. I look forward to
being back here at 2:15 when we return to it.
Yesterday, I explained why I believe that our amendment is the right
thing to do. It is balanced. It increases the funding based on risk to
those areas
[[Page S8106]]
that have been deemed to be highest risk. But it recognizes a reality
that terrorists strike at vulnerable targets. Because they struck
Washington and New York on September 11, 2001, doesn't mean that they
are not going to strike smaller areas of our country, less populated,
in the years ahead. In fact, one of the great fears people have had is
of a coordinated series of terrorist attacks on public places outside
of large urban areas.
The fact is, those places in America need to have some support from
us as well for their first responders and to serve also as first
preventers. That is exactly what our amendment does.
The amendment introduced by the Senators from California and Texas
would all but eliminate the minimum amount of Homeland Security funding
guaranteed to each State and would give the Secretary of Homeland
Security almost unfettered discretion over more than 90 percent of
Homeland Security grant funds. This amendment that Senator Collins and
I have introduced dedicates significantly more funding to purely risk-
based grants than has been the case in previous years. Under our
amendment, it is fair to say that everybody gets more support to
protect their citizens against the terrorist threat, including those
areas that are deemed to be the highest risk, but at the same time we,
in the Collins-Lieberman amendment, strike a judicious balance that
would allow each State to achieve basic preparedness.
Further, substantial reductions in the minimum would make it more
difficult for States to achieve those essential capabilities, as
outlined in the National Preparedness Goals that the Department of
Homeland Security has set out for our Nation.
I want to very briefly outline, in the minute or two left before we
go to another matter, several reasons why I think we should stick with
the balanced approach in S. 21, which is the Collins-Lieberman
amendment that came out of the Homeland Security Committee with
overwhelming bipartisan support--only one vote against it. While there
is a need for more risk-based funding, risk-based methodology is an
art, not a science. The bottom line is that while we think we know
where terrorists wish to attack based on past experience, the fact is
we don't know for sure. They strike hard targets, they strike soft
targets.
Risk-based methodology is an art the Department of Homeland Security
is still struggling to develop. So let's not talk about it as if it is
science. It is prediction. It is a probability. If we focus all of our
funding on where those probabilities lead, it will leave most of the
country undefended.
Terrorists have demonstrated a willingness to attack a wide variety
of targets in a wide variety of places. In 2001, a plot was uncovered
by intelligence agencies to attack an American school in Singapore. In
2002, in Bali, terrorists targeted a discotheque. In 2003, terrorists
struck a residential compound in Riyadh. In 2004, terrorists targeted a
school in Beslan, Russia. Most of these may not have been considered to
be high-risk areas, but nonetheless they were targets of terrorists.
Our own distinguished FBI Director Bob Mueller has said America is
awash in desirable targets for the terrorists throughout this country.
Funding provided to States outside of the so-called high-risk areas
could well be the key to preventing an attack in another State, which I
will speak to later in the day.
The Collins-Lieberman amendment will assure that every State can
achieve the level of preparedness the Department of Homeland Security
has defined for the Nation. It will be a predictable, reliable stream
of funding. The bottom line is more States have more to gain from our
amendment in defense of our homeland security.
I thank the Chair. Noting the hour, I yield the floor.
Amendment No. 1129
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the time until 12
o'clock will be equally divided in the usual form for debate on the
Murray amendment.
The Senator from Washington is recognized.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, would you state the pending amendment?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there is 30 minutes
of debate on the amendment offered by Senator Reid on behalf of Senator
Murray of Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to add Senators
Corzine, Dayton, Conrad, Bingaman, and Salazar to my amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago the Senate came together, not
as Republicans and Democrats, but as Americans, to do what is right for
our Nation's veterans. By a vote of 96-0, we all agreed to increase
veterans funding by $1.5 billion. We agreed to fill the appalling
shortfall the VA faces this year by agreeing to that amendment for $1.5
billion. It was a very clear message that we will be there for the
people who have served our country. I was very proud of the Senate when
we passed that amendment to do the right thing.
Shortly following that unanimous vote, the majority leader stood on
the Senate floor and moved to have the Senate yield to the House of
Representatives' lower figure of $975 million. That would have gone
against what this Senate had just agreed to. That proposal by the
majority leader also went against what the Senate Appropriations
Committee had agreed to earlier that very same day. On a bipartisan and
unanimous basis, the Senate Appropriations Committee members reaffirmed
that the Senate should approve the full $1.5 billion in immediate
funding for the VA. The Appropriations Committee and the full Senate
unanimously agreed that America's veterans deserve the full $1.5
billion for this fiscal year. Then there was an attempt to accept a
lower number.
We need to make sure in this Senate there is no backtracking and that
veterans in this country who have served us honorably do not get
shortchanged. To make it clear to our Nation's veterans and to the
American public, I am here with my colleague Senator Akaka and others
in the Senate, offering an amendment that clears up this confusion. It
clearly says the Senate stands firmly behind our unanimous vote of $1.5
billion in emergency spending for veterans health care.
If we backtrack, if we walk away from the $1.5 billion we promised
this year for our veterans, our men and women who have served this
country honorably will be hurt. If we yield to the House's $975
million, the VA hiring freeze will remain in place. That means no new
mental health specialists will be hired to help our veterans who are
dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder.
If any of my colleagues went home as I did last week and talked to
returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, they will know as I do
that these mental health specialists are absolutely needed for our men
and women who are serving America today.
If we yield to the House's $975 million, the VA will not be able to
build any of the new clinics our veterans have been promised. That
means inconvenience and less access to care for the people who have
sacrificed for our country. That is not what we promised our veterans.
This is a critical priority.
We have a huge problem right now in this fiscal year 2005. Secretary
Nicholson has made it very clear that the VA is at least $1 billion
short this year. My colleagues know I have been here since the
beginning of the year warning that this problem goes much deeper. Go
out to any of your VA facilities and talk to any veterans who are
trying to get access and Members will know as I do that veterans are
waiting today 3 years for surgery.
The Associated Press reported in the papers today that the Army
National Guard is having trouble recruiting the soldiers it needs.
I ask unanimous consent to have that article printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Associated Press]
National Guard Misses Recruiting Goal Again
Washington (AP).--The Army National Guard, a cornerstone of
the U.S. force in Iraq, missed its recruiting goal for at
least the ninth straight month in June and is nearly 19,000
soldiers below its authorized strength, military officials
said Monday.
The Army Guard was seeking 5,032 new soldiers in June but
signed up only 4,337, a 14% shortfall, according to
statistics released Monday by the Pentagon. It is more than
10,000 soldiers behind its year-to-date goal of
[[Page S8107]]
almost 45,000 recruits, and has missed its recruiting target
during at least 17 of the last 18 months.
``The recruiting environment remains difficult in terms of
economic conditions and alternatives,'' the Army said in a
statement released Monday. ``We are concerned about meeting
the fiscal year 2005 recruiting missions, but we are
confident that our recruiting initiatives will take hold and
the American public will respond.''
Jack Harrison, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau,
said that despite the shortfall, the service is still able to
meet its commitments to the Pentagon as well as to state
governors, who call on the Guard during disasters and other
emergencies.
Some governors have complained about shortages of troops
and equipment in their Guard units, prompting the Guard to
set a goal of keeping half of each state's Guard forces at
home at any given time.
The Pentagon has already significantly reduced its use of
all Guard and reserve forces in the last two years. In April
2003, during the height of the Iraq invasion, some 224,000 of
them across all the services were mobilized for all federal
missions both at home and overseas; that figure now stands at
138,000, according to Pentagon statistics.
Harrison acknowledged the heavy use of the Guard in
missions in Iraq and Afghanistan has affected recruiting
efforts, but noted that the service is ahead of its goals in
retaining soldiers who have the option to get out.
``We have folks that are coming back from long periods of
time in Iraq and Afghanistan who are reenlisting,'' he said.
Guard troops make up more than one-third of the soldiers in
Iraq, numbering six brigades plus a division headquarters. In
the next rotation of troops, to take place over the next two
years, the Guard's portion of the total force in Iraq is
expected to drop substantially as newly reorganized active-
duty Army units come online and take up more duties there,
officials said.
In total, the Army Guard has about 331,000 soldiers, 94.5%
of its authorized strength of 350,000, officials said.
Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke said the Army
Guard last made its monthly goal in September 2004, when it
exceeded its target by 27 recruits. The last time it made its
goal before that was December 2003.
Harrison, however, said the Army Guard had not met its
monthly recruiting goal for 20 straight months, since October
2003. Officials could not immediately explain the
discrepancy. The Army Guard also missed its annual recruiting
goals for 2003 and 2004, Krenke said. The entire Army is
suffering from recruiting problems, but the other components
of the service--the active-duty force and the Reserve--made
their goals for June. Both, however, remain well behind their
annual goals, which they measure from October 2004 to
September 2005.
The regular Army has recruited 47,121 soldiers, or 86% of
its goal of 54,935 for this point in the year. It is trying
to reach 80,000 by the end of September. Officials are
becoming less hopeful they will make it, even though the
summer is considered the high season for recruiting, as
recent high school graduates look for jobs.
To deal with the problem, the Army has increased the number
of recruiters in its ranks, and augmented incentives for
those signing up.
``We think these adjustments will begin to take hold in the
upcoming months,'' the Army statement said.
The Army Reserve has recruited 15,540 soldiers, or 79% of
its goal of 19,753 at this point in the year.
All three components of the Army are ahead on their efforts
to retain current soldiers. Officials credit that to a desire
on the part of the troops to finish the mission of making
Iraq a stable democracy.
The only other arm of the military that missed its June
recruiting goal was the Navy Reserve, which fell 8% short and
remains the same percentage behind its annual goal of 8,733
recruits. The active Navy, Air Force and Marines made their
monthly goals, and are at or ahead of their year-to-date
targets, the Pentagon said.
The Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and Marine Corps
Reserve made their June goals; of those, the Air Force
Reserve and Marine Reserve are at or ahead of their year-to-
date goals. The Air National Guard is 17% behind its year-to-
date goal of 7,619 recruits.
The Air Force and Navy are seeing far less action in Iraq
and Afghanistan than their counterparts in the ground combat
forces of the Army and Marines, who have suffered most of the
casualties.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, that article states:
The Army National Guard . . . missed its recruiting goal
for at least the ninth straight month in June and is nearly
19,000 soldiers below its authorized strength, military
officials said Monday.
Further, the Army Guard:
. . . is more than 10,000 soldiers behind its year-to-date
goal of almost 45,000 recruits and has missed its recruiting
target during at least 17 of the last 18 months.
Many factors, as we all know, affect recruiting, but how we care for
our veterans is absolutely one of them. As George Washington said:
The willingness with which our young people are likely to
serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly
proportional as to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier
wars were treated and appreciated by their country.
That was George Washington back in 1789. It is still true today.
We need to show our veterans--today's veterans and those considering
military service--we will be there for them. If the Senate retreats
from what we agreed to 2 weeks ago, it will tell potential recruits the
VA will have a hiring freeze and the VA will not have new clinics and
we will not be there for them. That is the wrong message to send.
The Senate agreed our veterans need $1.5 billion. We agreed on a
bipartisan basis. I am offering this amendment today to make sure there
is no backtracking and that our veterans get the help they need, they
deserve, and they were promised. This is a basic American issue we can
and must all support.
If Members vote for this amendment, we are giving the VA money to
lift the hiring freeze to hire the medical staff it needs and to open
new clinics. We are telling today's soldiers and tomorrow's recruits we
will be there for them. But if members choose to vote against my
amendment, they are simply voting to keep their local VA hospital
overwhelmed and understaffed, telling veterans in your State that they
will not get the new clinics they were promised. This vote will send a
strong message to today's veterans and tomorrow's recruits.
This Senate needs to make sure we will show those who serve our
country that we will be there for them just as they have been there for
us.
My colleague from Hawaii is here. He has been a tremendous advocate
for veterans. I thank him for all his work.
I yield 5 minutes to the Senator from Hawaii.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii is recognized.
Mr. AKAKA. I thank my colleague for her efforts today.
Mr. President, I rise today to once again address the tremendous
funding crisis in the VA. I thank my colleague, the Democratic leader,
Senator Reid, for his determination at this time to ensure that $1.5
billion is provided without delay. Again, I thank my colleague Senator
Murray for her efforts as a member of the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs.
While we have consensus in both bodies of Congress that VA is facing
a tremendous funding shortfall this year, we are lacking consensus on
how much should be provided this year. The Senate clearly believes that
$1.5 billion is needed.
The House, on the other hand, has taken the administration's view
that only $975 million is needed.
While I am delighted that the administration has admitted that there
is a shortfall, I don't believe that we can now put our faith in their
estimate of what VA needs.
As I said last night, judging by the supplemental sent forward by the
President, VA officials are less than generous and, frankly, less than
accurate.
The $975 million now proposed by the administration--and carried
forward by the House--falls way short of addressing all of VA's
problems. Just examine one part of their estimate--their new costs
associated with returning service members.
VA now believes that 103,000 more veterans will be treated this year.
The cost of treating this kind of patient is $5,437 a year--as
documented by VA data.
Yet, the administration wants to now convince Congress that, in fact,
the cost of treating a patient is less than half of this amount. Again,
using VA data, the cost of caring for an additional 103,000 returning
veterans is $560 million and not the $273 million suggested by the
administration. And other key programs such as readjustment counseling
and dental care were ignored by the House in the VA supplemental.
It is imperative that the Senate again send the House a message that
we intend to provide adequate funds.
The Senate has already spoken in a clear and bipartisan manner on
this issue.
Given the House's work to provide less than the full amount needed,
it is clear that we have more work to do for this year. This amendment
reiterates that point.
[[Page S8108]]
The battle for next year's funding will be upon on us shortly, but we
need to shore up hospital and clinic operations today.
I am hopeful that we all learned a clear lesson from this experience,
that talking with health care providers in VA hospitals and with the
veterans service organizations is invaluable. They told us what was
really going on months ago. They are continuing their call for full
funding for VA now.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
The Senator from Texas is recognized for the time in opposition.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Is there a time limit?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Each side controls 15 minutes. There is 2\1/2\
minutes remaining controlled by the Senator from Washington and 14
minutes remaining controlled by the majority leader.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I commend Senator Murray, Senator
Akaka, and all Members who have worked together with Senator Feinstein
and myself on this veterans issue.
I spent last Thursday with Veterans' Administration Secretary
Nicholson. I am very pleased Secretary Nicholson has done so much to
address this issue once he determined from an audit of the agency that
we were not going to get through 2005 for the Veterans' Administration
without taking from maintenance funds and other funds to cover our
operating expenditures. The Secretary could have tried to put this
Band-Aid on, but he did not. Secretary Nicholson came right out and
said we do not have enough for 2005. We have models that show us what
the growth rate for service in the Veterans' Administration would be.
The models show about 2.3 percent. That has been the norm throughout
the last number of years. But in fact the growth rate is 5 percent. So
Secretary Nicholson, Josh Bolton, at the Office of Management and
Budget, and the President himself said we are not going to put a Band-
Aid on the Veterans' Administration.
Senator Murray saw this coming early on. She did believe there were
more veterans coming into the system from what she was hearing in the
field, and the Veterans' Administration at that time did not see the
model that was not working. But when they did, they stepped up to the
plate. They have now come back with numbers that are higher than the
$975 million that has been put in an emergency appropriation on the
House side just for 2005. Now, our $1.5 billion that I intend to
support is to be spent this year or going into next year if necessary.
I am going to support this amendment and, in fact, Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent to be added as a cosponsor of the Murray amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHINSON. I do want to say we are continuing to push the ball,
but this is not where I want it to end. What I hope we would be able to
do, once we talk in a little more detail to the Veterans'
Administration Secretary and to Mr. Bolton at the OMB, is to go ahead
and pass the emergency supplemental for 2005 that will be more than
$975 million, probably more in the range of $1.2 billion or $1.27
billion for 2005, and then come in with another supplemental from OMB
to the budget that we would put into our 2006 appropriation, because
Senator Feinstein and I are the chairman and ranking member of Veterans
Appropriations. Senator Murray sits on that committee as well. And we
want to do 2006 the right way. We already, through the cooperation of
the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the ranking member,
Senator Cochran and Senator Byrd, added $1.3 billion to what was in the
President's original request. I believe the President will agree to
come in with another add to that of $1.6 billion or so. So I think if
we can continue to work together as we have been, we will have a more
definitive answer, but I do not think we ought to stop with what
Senator Murray is trying to do until we do come to the agreement to
solve this problem both for 2005 and for 2006 in the most responsible
way.
So I am very happy to cosponsor the amendment knowing we hopefully
will finish the emergency supplemental before this bill actually makes
it to the President. That would be the goal of all of us, I believe--to
have the emergency for 2005 passed this week or at the earliest
possible moment and send it to the President so that money becomes
available.
In the meantime, I know the Veterans' Administration is not turning
anyone away. They are not stopping any dirt from flying for the clinics
that are in the process of being built and the hospitals that are on
the drawing boards. I know the sincerity of Secretary Nicholson, having
traveled with him on Thursday and seeing how much he cares about our
veterans getting the best care. This is a decorated Vietnam war
veteran. He is a man who graduated from West Point and knows the
veterans community very well.
So with that, Mr. President, I am very appreciative of Senator Murray
bringing this matter to everyone's attention. With Senator Akaka, we
all serve on the Veterans' Affairs Committee as well as the Veterans
Appropriations Committee. And speaking of that, Senator Craig, the
chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, has been a real leader
here as well in trying to work this through. I think all of us intend
to work on a bipartisan basis, Senator Feinstein and myself on the
appropriations side, Senator Craig and Senator Akaka on the Veterans'
Committee side, Senator Murray as the leader in bringing this to
everyone's attention before it became a fact.
I think we have the nucleus here, working with the administration, to
do the right thing and to do it in the right way. I think Secretary
Nicholson is to be commended for stepping up to the plate and working
with Josh Bolton to do that right thing. There will be no dollar, no
dime spared in treating our veterans. It is a part of our war on
terror, to make sure those coming home do have the care and service
they need. In this war we are seeing many more injuries. That is one of
the reasons the tables were skewed, the models that have been used for
the future. We have fewer deaths in this kind of conflict on a normal
basis, but we have more injuries. And that means we are going to have
to take care of these people because they have been taking care of us.
We intend to do that and we need to do it on a bipartisan basis. I
thank Senator Murray, Senator Akaka, Senator Craig, and Senator
Feinstein for taking the lead on the Senate side, working with the
administration, and I think the veterans can be assured the right thing
will be done and this is one more step to make that happen.
I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from
Washington for raising this issue again. Before the Fourth of July
recess, the Senate passed this amendment 96 to 0 showing this body's
united commitment to our Nation's veterans.
We worked hard with our colleagues across the aisle to ensure that
the Veterans' Administration's shortfall in Fiscal Year 2005 was
addressed by passing a $1.5 billion emergency supplemental.
I was disappointed that the House of Representatives did not follow
our lead and instead passed a nonemergency $975 million supplemental
appropriations.
I understand that the administration will be submitting a Budget
amendment, shortly to address the Fiscal Year 2006 needs of the
Veterans' Administration and I look forward to working with Chairman
Hutchison to ensure that adequate resources are available for veterans
health care next year.
In the meantime, I would urge my colleagues to support the Murray
amendment which addresses this year's shortfall and reaffirms our
commitment to our veterans.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, how much time remains?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington controls 2\1/2\
minutes.
Mrs. MURRAY. How much does the other side control?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Five minutes.
Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I would ask if the other side would mind,
if they have no other speakers, yielding Senator Durbin 2\1/2\ minutes
of their time or if they want to continue.
Mrs. HUTCHINSON. I would give some time away, but I would like to be
[[Page S8109]]
able to respond. I don't know, because I haven't been on the floor,
what the Senator's comments are going to be. If I could reserve a
couple of minutes also for rebuttal if I need to, the other side is
welcome to go forward.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the Senator from Illinois
is recognized for 2 minutes.
Mr. DURBIN. I say to the Senator from Texas, she will not have to
rebut any of these remarks because we agree completely. The good thing
is we are talking about money for the Veterans' Administration. This is
not a hard call. We have veterans returning who need help. Millions of
Americans have been promised they will have a helping hand once they
serve our country and need assistance in the VA system, and so we try
to guess how many dollars will be needed to meet that obligation. It is
a very tough calculation, tougher still because we have soldiers coming
back from Iraq and Afghanistan and other places who are seriously
wounded, as the Senator from Texas has just mentioned, and they, of
course, are our high priority.
Senator Murray came to the floor months ago and said the
administration is not making an appropriate calculation of how much
money this is going to cost. We are going to end up having more
veterans needing assistance than money to take care of them. For a long
time she was a lonely voice, offering amendments to appropriations
bills that were being defeated. It turns out 2 or 3 weeks ago she was
proven right and the Veterans' Administration came forward and said, We
need more money; we don't have enough.
The most positive thing that occurred was immediately Senator Larry
Craig, the Republican chairman of the committee, and Senator Murray
came together and said, Now let's deal with this on a bipartisan basis,
and the Senate did, putting $1.5 billion in emergency funding for the
Veterans' Administration.
That is the good news. The bad news is the message did not get across
the Rotunda to the House. They decided they were going to cut that
amount to $900 million, almost in half.
You think to yourself: What are they doing here? Aren't they hearing
the same things we are hearing? The Veterans' Administration needs the
money, the veterans need the money.
So our message is not just to the veterans that we stand behind you.
Our message is to the House of Representatives: Stand behind us, join
us in the battle for $1.5 billion to make sure we keep our promise to
veterans.
What we are doing, when we are not debating this, is the Homeland
Security bill in light of terrorism and threats to the United States.
As Senator Stabenow of Michigan has said, we need to be prepared and
protected both at home and around the world. If we are going to be
protected, we need the best military in the world with our support.
This money for the Veterans' Administration keeps that promise to our
soldiers and to our veterans.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
The Senator from Washington.
Mrs. MURRAY. I thank my colleague from Illinois, and I also thank my
colleague from Texas.
Mr. President, I saw the Washington Post article yesterday on ``VA
Hospital in Texas Fights to Stay Open.''
I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Washington Post, July 11, 2005]
VA Hospital in Texas Fights to Stay Open
(By Sylvia Moreno)
Waco, TX.--Building 7 on the campus of the Veterans Affairs
Medical Center here is called Blind Rehab, a special unit for
aging vets who have macular degeneration or diabetes-induced
vision problems.
But this past year, Blind Rehab began to see a new type of
patient: veterans barely past their 20th birthdays, blinded
by gunshot wounds and bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq.
``These soldiers now have flak jackets and armor that
protect their bodies and keep them alive, but we see
traumatic limb injuries and traumatic head injuries,'' said
Stan Poel, chief of Blind Rehabilitation Services at the Waco
hospital. ``Those are the things that are presenting a
challenge to the VA.''
These are also the kinds of patients the Department of
Veterans Affairs now projects will flood an already overtaxed
and underfunded health care system that treated more than 5
million veterans last year.
``Our number one priority is returning service members from
the combat theater . . . and to provide world-class health
care to veterans, as well as benefits,'' Veterans Affairs
Secretary Jim Nicholson said after a tour late last week of
the 127-acre Waco campus, whose neighbors to the west include
the huge Army base of Fort Hood, with 41,000 soldiers, and
President Bush's ranch in Crawford.
``The increase in demand for our services from what we
projected is up 126 percent,'' he said. ``We have to
obviously be prepared to ramp up.''
The-Waco hospital, with its well-kept pre- World War II
red-brick, red-roof-tiled buildings, has provided health care
for veterans in central Texas for 73 years. Now it is on the
chopping block, scheduled along with 17 other VA hospitals to
be closed or downsized as part of an agency plan to
restructure the health care system. A 1999 government study
found the VA was spending $1 million a day on buildings it
did not need, and in 2003 a government commission recommended
closing older, underused hospitals, including the one in
Waco. The Waco facility is part of the Central Texas Veterans
Health Care System, which also includes a hospital in Temple
and outpatient clinics in Austin and five other communities.
For the past two years, Waco officials, residents and
veterans groups have been fighting back, emphasizing the
importance of the facility's specialized blind
rehabilitation, psychiatric and post-traumatic stress
disorder units; the large and aging veteran population (Texas
has the third-largest population of veterans in the country
with 1.7 million, a third of whom received VA health care
last year); and, now, the wave of veterans from the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq who will need its services.
``They guaranteed so many years ago that they will take
care of [veterans], and I would say they're pretty much going
back on their word,'' said Ron Peterson, 35, an engineer
with the 91st Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division at
Fort Hood. Peterson used a day off last week to provide a
motorcycle escort for Nicholson's visit to Waco and to
register his support for keeping the hospital there open.
Peterson was deployed to Iraq from January 2004 to this
February. He was wounded twice, receiving the Bronze Star,
two Purple Hearts and an Army Commendation Medal for valor in
combat
``They're not ready for everybody coming back,'' Peterson
said. ``They're trying to shut everything down and they're
going to need PTSD units. The guys aren't seeing the things
they saw in Vietnam, but they're seeing a lot of stuff.''
This year, the post-traumatic stress disorder in-patient
unit in Waco has seen more than 75 new cases of veterans from
Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 15-bed blind rehab unit, which
has helped 106 blind veterans this year learn skills such as
how to use a walking cane, cook and negotiate e-mail, has a
wait list of 73.
``This is the best PTSD facility in the union, and these
[guys] are trying to close it down,'' said Bill Mahon, a
Vietnam War veteran and the McLennan County veterans service
officer. In the past two years, Mahon has organized several
motorcycle rides to the gate of Bush's nearby ranch to
protest the proposed closing. ``This is not their hospital;
it's our hospital.''
Nationwide this fiscal year, 250,000 new patients--40
percent of them veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq and 60
percent of them veterans from other eras--have entered the VA
health care system, Nicholson said.
As Congress works to eliminate an emergency funding
shortfall this year of at least $1 billion and a projected
shortage in the VA health care budget of more than $1 billion
in the coming fiscal year, VA hospitals have felt the impact
nationwide.
According to documents released at recent meetings of the
House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees, the VA hospital
in White River Junction, Vt., was forced to shut its
operating rooms temporarily because of a lack of maintenance
funds to repair a broken heating, ventilation and air
conditioning system. Hospitals in Arkansas, Oklahoma,
Mississippi, Louisiana and eastern Texas stopped scheduling a
appointments for many veterans. The VA medical center in San
Diego, with a waiting list of 750 veterans, diverted $3.5
million in maintenance funds to partially cover operating
expenses and delayed filling 131 vacancies for three months
to cover operating expenses. The Portland, Ore., hospital
delayed non-emergency surgery for at least six months, and
7,000 veterans who use the VA facility in Bay Pines, Fla.,
are waiting longer than 30 days for a primary care
appointment.
``I'm going to go to a civilian doctor rather than wait 70
to 90 days,'' Douglas McKee, 63, of Chilton, Tex., said as he
left the Waco facility on Thursday afternoon. McKee, who said
he was disabled by a mine explosion in Vietnam while serving
with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, had just learned that his
regular doctor was on duty in Iraq and that he could not get
an appointment with a new physician until mid-October. He
would also have to wait for some of his prescription refills,
he said.
``We laid our life on the line and then got blowed up and
then you come here and you get turned away. That ain't
fair,'' said McKee, who suffers from a variety of ailments
and uses a walker to get around. ``And then they got all the
kids coming back from Iraq.''
[[Page S8110]]
Nicholson assured hospital employees and veterans gathered
for his visit that no decision had been made about the
facility's fate and that he had ``no predispositions about
this at all.''
Nicholson, who visited the facility at the request of Sen.
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), said he was concerned about
the 300,000 square feet of vacant space at the Waco VA. A
local advisory group suggested filling the space with
nonprofit organizations such as the Salvation Army, which
could tailor their services to veterans' needs.
Nicholson will make his decision about the Waco VA early
next year, including a proposal to transfer its psychiatric
and post-traumatic stress disorder services to Austin and
Temple. He warned those gathered that his visit should not be
interpreted as ``an interception of the process.'' And he
complimented the hospital for its track record. ``This is the
way the American people want veterans to be taken care of,''
he said.
As for the hospital's fate, Nicholson said, ``the binding
question is what's going to be the best for our vets? . . .
They did what was best for us and for our country.''
Mrs. MURRAY. I know the Senator from Texas was there and was quite
startled to hear about the blind rehab unit at the Veterans Affairs
Medical Center in Texas and how they have been serving older veterans,
but in fact this year they are begining to see a new type of patient--
veterans in their early 20s with macular degeneration or diabetes-
induced vision problems. I think it goes to the point of exactly why we
are seeing such a tremendous shortfall in the VA today--because of the
types of injuries our returning soldiers are having.
I welcome my colleague's cosponsorship, and I agree we do need to
look at 2006. We will work with her and the VA Secretary and all
Senators on making up the shortfall. But we are here today with the
Murray amendment because there has been some confusion in the Senate
about how much aid we are going to send to the Veterans Department. We
have heard a lot of numbers thrown around and a lot of discussion, but
I think why I am here today and why it is so critical is because in the
early morning hours just before our July 4 recess, some Senate leaders
moved we lay down in deference to the House of Representatives' lower
number.
I think in the Senate we need to say there is no confusion. On a
unanimous vote we supported $1.5 billion. The Appropriations Committee,
hours after the House tried to limit funding for veterans, unanimously
affirmed our support for $1.5 billion and now the Senate has an
opportunity before us to tell our veterans we will do all we can, all
we promised, to support and care for them when they return home.
Make no mistake, this Department needs the money. Even before the
dramatic, unconscionable shortfall at the Department was revealed,
veterans around the country were facing long lines and crumbling
facilities. We know the promised clinics are not there, and we know the
soldiers returning with posttraumatic syndrome are not being served.
The money is critical. I ask the Senate this morning to say we are
sticking with the $1.5 billion shortfall.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Feinstein be
added as a cosponsor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I would be happy to yield the
remainder of our time to Senator Murray.
Mrs. MURRAY. How much time remains?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is a total of 2 minutes remaining.
The Senator from Washington is recognized.
Mrs. MURRAY. I thank my colleague from Texas.
I remind all of our colleagues we should not be nickling and diming
the Department of Veterans Affairs today. For all of us who have been
out on the ground visiting our VA clinics, talking to our soldiers who
are returning, it is very clear this war has created a need and demand
for us to be there. When we call up our soldiers, we promise them we
will be there for health care. It is not right that we sit in hearings
and community meetings as I did last week and hear veterans saying: I
finally gave up; I went and paid for health care out of my own pocket.
That is not what we promised them and that is not a way to get new
soldiers which we obviously need to do today.
A train wreck is coming in 2006. I will work with all of my
colleagues. I know the administration is looking at sending over a
budget amendment and I agree we need to find the money. But for right
now we need to pass an emergency supplemental. This Senate has gone on
record in the full Appropriations Committee and in this full body and
we should have no backtracking. That is why we are voting on this
amendment today, once again, to reaffirm our commitment and tell all
the men and women who have served us both in this war and in previous
wars that we will be there for them.
I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Burr). The Senator from Texas has 30
seconds remaining.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, have the yeas and nays been ordered?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. They have not been ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second. The yeas and nays are
ordered.
All time having expired, the hour of 12 o'clock having arrived, the
question is on agreeing to the Murray amendment. The yeas and nays have
been ordered. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant journal clerk called the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senators were necessarily absent: the
Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander), the Senator from Mississippi
(Mr. Lott), the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions), and the Senator
from South Dakota (Mr. Thune).
Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr.
Alexander), and the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions) would have
voted ``yea.''
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski)
is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber
desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 95, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 174 Leg.]
YEAS--95
Akaka
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Burr
Byrd
Cantwell
Carper
Chafee
Chambliss
Clinton
Coburn
Cochran
Coleman
Collins
Conrad
Cornyn
Corzine
Craig
Crapo
Dayton
DeMint
DeWine
Dodd
Dole
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Ensign
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Frist
Graham
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Isakson
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lugar
Martinez
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Obama
Pryor
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Rockefeller
Salazar
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Shelby
Smith
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Sununu
Talent
Thomas
Vitter
Voinovich
Warner
Wyden
NOT VOTING--5
Alexander
Lott
Mikulski
Sessions
Thune
The amendment (No. 1129) was agreed to.
Mrs. MURRAY. I move to reconsider the vote.
Mr. DORGAN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business for 6 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The
Senator from Massachusetts is recognized for 6 minutes.
Mr. KENNEDY. I thank the Chair.
____________________