[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 21882-21883]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      PUBLIC SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE

  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to bring to our attention 
two distinct problems facing our States and particularly our 
communities in New York as a result of the attacks on September 11. I 
have just come from a meeting with a number of mayors from cities all 
over the country, including mayors who joined us by conference phone, 
Democrats, Republicans, large cities, medium- and small-sized cities. 
They all have said with a single voice that the impact on our public 
safety infrastructure of the attacks is such that they are bleeding 
dollars. They are paying overtime constantly to our police officers, 
our firefighters, our first responders. They do not have the funds to 
provide the protection and the quick response our citizens deserve and 
expect.
  I can speak specifically about New York. We have an economic 
situation where we face a $10 billion shortfall in State revenues over 
the next 18 months. In addition, our New York State comptroller, Carl 
McCall, has identified $940 million in potential State and local 
government costs due to the current congruence of events.
  This means that city governments, county governments, far away from 
Ground Zero, are faced with hundreds of calls about potential 
biological or chemical materials, particularly anthrax, to which they 
are responding as we expect them to. They are faced with threats coming 
in--both credible and, frankly, not, but we have to follow each one 
up--potential threats to our infrastructure, our powerplants, our 
bridges, our ports, our airports.

[[Page 21883]]

  As a result, we have a tremendous pressure buildup on our local 
governments. As I heard today, it is something that is being faced by 
governments across our country. That is why I strongly support the plan 
with which Senators Byrd and Reid are coming forward, to provide 
additional funding for public safety needs. I am calling on our 
colleagues and the Federal Government to create a public safety block 
grant program to help communities plan, strictly for our emergencies, 
and to be ready no matter what happens in their communities.
  Why is a public safety block grant so necessary?
  First, September 11 changed everything. Anybody who wants to pretend 
it didn't is sending a false message to the people we represent. Our 
cities and our counties are on the front lines in the war against 
terrorism. When a threat is called in to our local fire department or 
our local mayor's office, they cannot wait for some kind of Federal 
response. They have to send out those first responders. They are on a 
heightened state of alert as they have been told by our President, by 
Governor Ridge, and by Attorney General Ashcroft. A public safety block 
grant would help our communities provide these additional resources for 
police, fire, ambulance, emergency, airports, waterways, public transit 
infrastructure, chemical, and nuclear plants.
  I think we should reinvigorate the concept of civil defense, using 
more volunteers to supplement our first line responders. Some of our 
colleagues, including Senators McCain, Bayh, and Lieberman, have 
recently spoken out about the importance of encouraging Americans to 
become involved in civil defense. I believe a public safety block grant 
could use funds to further that idea and help us prepare better and 
involve so many of the citizens who want to participate in protecting 
our homeland front. If we are at war, which we are told we are, which 
we believe we are--we are fighting two wars. We are fighting a war 
abroad in Afghanistan against the terrorist networks, and we are 
fighting a war right here at home, and we need to be prepared on both 
fronts.
  The eligibility criteria would be based on several factors. 
Certainly, communities would have to be ready to use those funds for 
post-September 11 needs, not because they didn't budget well before the 
date of the attacks but because of the additional burdens they now 
face.
  I believe medium- and larger-sized cities and counties should receive 
direct assistance. Smaller communities could go through the State, 
based on the CDBG program. I hope communities would have to submit a 
plan explaining how they would use the funds, but that they would be 
given broad discretion because they are best able to defend their own 
communities. They should be given that opportunity.
  I think we need this legislation now because our homeland defense 
will only be as strong as the weakest link at the State and local 
level. We need our citizens more involved in civil defense to 
supplement those of our people on the front line in the uniformed 
services. I think we recognize this now is an absolute necessity. I 
certainly support the efforts of Senator Byrd and Senator Reid, 
combined with Senator Baucus, to have a homeland recovery and security 
package, but I do not think it will work unless we provide funds 
directly to our cities and counties, unless we recognize that they have 
to be the front line defense in the war against terrorism here at home.

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