[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 78 (Thursday, June 2, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1027]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2012

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                               speech of

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 1, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2017) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Chair, I rise to support the amendment offered by 
the gentleman from Michigan, which would strike language from this 
legislation that would restrict Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) 
funding to only 10 urban areas across the country.
  Last year, as a result of Republican-led cuts, the number of urban 
areas eligible to receive funding in UASI to assist local law 
enforcement deal with the threat of terrorist attacks was dropped from 
64 to 31. Last week those cuts hit home, when two cities in my district 
were unjustly removed from the list of areas that received federal 
funding as part of this grant program. While we in Western New York 
appreciate the many national security needs across the country, it made 
me question our security priorities when two cities in an international 
border were denied funding only to have funding allocated to smaller 
cities in our nation's interior. I think that if you ask law 
enforcement officials in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, 
they'll tell you that denying this small amount of funding to Upstate 
does not mean we are less at risk. Rather we've shifted the financial 
burden of security on them. In turn we may all be less safe.
  Should this amendment fail to pass, it will effectively prevent 
cities like Rochester and Buffalo from competing for UASI grants in the 
future thanks to the plans of the majority to reduce funding even more 
in future years. At a time when the threat of terrorist attacks is 
high, we cannot lay the entire financial burden of securing our cities 
on local authorities, first responders, law enforcement and agencies 
and expect to adequately protect our citizens and make our cities safe.

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