[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 130 (Friday, October 7, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2076-E2077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2360, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 6, 2005

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the FY 2006 
Homeland Security Appropriations conference report. This bill does not 
fully address our homeland security needs. Still, it provides vital 
funds to make our country safer, and so I will support it today.
  Total funding in the bill is increased from this year's levels. 
Specifically, the bill increases funding over the requested levels for 
immigration and for customs and border protection. The agreement also 
provides $1.5 billion, 35 percent more than current funding, for 
science and technology programs.
  I am pleased that the conferees adopted an important amendment 
offered by Rep. David Obey that requires the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS) to provide details on how money appropriated for 
responding to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is spent. I am a cosponsor of 
H.R. 3737, a bill that would create a Special Inspector General for 
Hurricane Katrina Recovery who would have oversight over all federal 
Hurricane Katrina emergency funding. While the Obey amendment doesn't 
go as far as this legislation, it is a significant step forward.
  I am also pleased that the conference report includes funding to help 
states comply with the REAL ID Act. Estimates are that complying with 
the Act will cost the states between $100 million and $500 million over 
the next 4 years. Since the majority saw fit to push the REAL ID 
provisions through Congress, it is important that Congress also 
provides funding to do the job.
  Still, I'm concerned about shortfalls in the bill. It cuts fire 
grants by $60 million (8 percent) below FY 2005, even as a recent 
survey found that fire departments all over the country aren't prepared 
to respond to a haz-mat incident and lack equipment. The bill also cuts 
State and local domestic preparedness grants by $585 million (19 
percent) and Urban Area Security Initiative grants by $270 million (26 
percent) below FY 2005 levels. Funding for communications equipment for 
first responders is cut from the levels in the bill the House passed in 
May, before Katrina struck--from $27 million to $15 million. The bill 
does provide additional funding for border patrol, but the number of 
agents still falls 1,000 short of the 2,000 called for in the 
Intelligence Reform bill. Since September 11th, just 965 additional 
border patrol agents have been hired--less than a 10 percent increase 
in 4 years.
  The conference report fails to provide much more than basic funding 
for the security of rail and public transportation systems because DHS 
has not yet spent funds it was allocated last year. Despite the fact 
that passenger rail in the U.S. carries about five times as many 
passengers each day as do airlines, this bill only includes $36 million 
for ground transportation security and $150 million for State grants to 
protect mass transit systems, as compared to $4.6 billion for aviation 
security. I'm very concerned that crucial security upgrades to our rail 
and public transportation

[[Page E2077]]

systems--especially in light of the bombings in Madrid and London--
can't move forward more quickly. The bill also underfunds port security 
and does not include $50 million for chemical plant security that was 
included in the House-passed bill.
  I'm also concerned that this bill includes DHS Secretary Chertoff's 
proposal to create a new Preparedness Directory and take that 
responsibility away from FEMA, making FEMA a standalone office focused 
on response and recovery only. Secretary Chertoff's proposal was made 
in July--before Hurricane Katrina hit--and this bill would move it 
forward. This Administration crippled FEMA by making it just one of 
many organizational boxes under the Homeland Security Department. 
Splitting preparedness and response and recovery tasks now would weaken 
FEMA even further, at a time when we should be focusing on how to learn 
from the lessons of Katrina.
  Instead of making these changes in FEMA, we should remove it from DHS 
and make it an independent agency under qualified leadership, as would 
happen under the bill (H.R. 3816) I introduced last month.
  Mr. Speaker, much remains to be done to improve our defenses against 
terrorism. I do not believe this bill sets the right priorities or 
provides sufficient resources, but it does fund programs that are 
critical to our homeland security. The conference report is an 
important step, and I will vote for it.

                          ____________________