[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18775-18777]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004--Continued

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, today the Senate takes up H.R. 2555, the 
Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill. This is the first 
homeland security appropriations bill in the history of the Nation. The 
Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee was created just 4 
months ago. Under the able leadership of Chairman Cochran, the 
subcommittee held six hearings to review the operations of the 
Department of Homeland Security. I commend Chairman Cochran and his 
staff for their work on this important legislation.
  The bill provides discretionary budget authority totaling $28.521 
billion, a level that is $1.039 billion above the President's request. 
The bill is at the level available under the 302(b) allocation. 
Regrettably, the allocation for homeland security programs is 
inadequate. This is not a criticism of Chairman Cochran, nor is it a 
criticism of full Committee Chairman Ted Stevens. Unfortunately, the 
budget resolution that passed this Congress limited discretionary 
spending to levels below the President's already inadequate request. 
The budget resolution severely constrains our ability to address known 
threats to the safety of the American people.
  With the Department of Homeland Security regularly changing the 
terrorist level from elevated to high and back, and with the Secretary 
saying publicly that another terrorist attack is inevitable, the 
demands for homeland security spending seem endless. Our job on the 
Appropriations Committee is to make careful choices. Unfortunately, the 
budget resolution has forced us to exclude from the bill some funding 
that both the Congress and the President have recognized as being real 
needs.
  All Americans, whether they live in rural communities or major 
cities, want to know that if there is a terrorist attack close to their 
homes, their local doctors and nurses have the training to treat the 
injured. Americans want to know that their local firemen have the 
ability and the equipment to handle a chemical or biological attack. 
Americans want to know that their local police officers are trained in 
identifying and responding to the variety of terrorist attacks that we 
could now face.
  Regrettably, this bill, while providing first responder funding at a 
level that is $303 million over the President's request, is $434 
million below the level that the Congress approved for the current 
fiscal year. The Federal Government needs to remain a full partner in 
local homeland defense efforts and adequate funding is essential to 
that task.
  According to the Secretary of Defense, the United States is spending 
$3.9 billion per month for the war in Iraq. Yet this bill includes only 
$3.9 billion for the entire year for equipping and training our first 
responders. Frankly, I believe that the President

[[Page 18776]]

and the administration have lost their focus on what really matters to 
American citizens; namely, the combating of terrorism and securing the 
homeland.
  One of the mysteries about the President's budget is the budget for 
the Transportation Security Administration or TSA. TSA was created by 
the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 and was supposed 
to focus on securing all modes of transportation. Yet the President's 
budget includes only $86 million or 2 percent of the TSA budget for 
maritime and land security.
  Yet the President's budget includes only $86 million.
  The rest of the President's budget request is for aviation security 
and for administration. What about securing our ports? What about 
securing our trains? What about securing our subways and our railway 
tunnels? What about securing our buses, or securing the trucks that 
carry hazardous materials? In fact, the President's budget requests 2.5 
times more for administering the Transportation Security Administration 
bureaucracy than the President does for securing the Nation's ports, 
trains, trucks, and buses.
  I commend Chairman Thad Cochran for recognizing this problem and for 
addressing some of these weaknesses. But he simply did not have the 
resources available to him to deal with several well-known 
vulnerabilities.
  For example, in November of 2002, President Bush signed the Maritime 
Transportation Security Act which established new standards for 
securing our Nation's ports. Despite the fact that the Coast Guard had 
estimated it will cost the ports $5.4 billion over 10 years to 
implement those standards, including $1.1 billion the first year, the 
President did not request a dime for port security.
  The bill that is before the Senate includes $150 million for port 
security grants, and I commend Chairman Cochran for finding the 
resources within the limited allocation for this important program. I 
hope we can do more to secure our ports.
  In October of 2001, the President signed the Patriot Act, which 
called for tripling the number of Border Patrol agents and Customs and 
immigration inspectors on the northern border. In May of 2002, the 
President signed the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform 
Act, which authorized significant new investments in Border Patrol 
agents and facilities. The goals with regard to Customs inspectors and 
border facilities cannot be met with the limited funding that was made 
available for discretionary programs under the budget resolution.
  Under the President's proposal for the Transportation Security 
Administration, there is a significant gap in securing commercial 
airlines. Under the proposal, each airline passenger is screened before 
he or she gets on a plane, and each passenger's baggage would be 
screened before being loaded on a plane. But commercial cargo on that 
same plane would be left unchecked. That is a dangerous security risk 
that needs to be addressed. This bill adds $30 million to the budget 
request to research, develop, and deploy air cargo security programs to 
enhance the secure transport of cargo on commercial airlines. I believe 
we need to do more to secure cargo on our commercial airlines.
  However, with the funds that were made available to the subcommittee 
under our allocation, I believe Chairman Cochran has produced a good 
bill. It is balanced. It is fair. It addresses a number of weaknesses 
in the President's budget request that we identified during our 
committee hearing.
  We increased funding over the President's request to equip and train 
our first responders. We continue to fund effective programs such as 
the Fire Grants Program and the All Hazards Emergency Management 
Performance Grants Program, which the President had proposed to 
consolidate into a single grant program. We increased funding for our 
airports to purchase explosives detection equipment and to install that 
equipment.
  We increased funding over the President's request for the Coast Guard 
in order to keep the Deep Water Air and Sea Modernization Program on 
schedule. We recognize that not all transportation security 
vulnerabilities are at our airports. We also fund grants for port 
security, bus security, and for securing hazardous materials.
  Additionally, this legislation takes an important step to protect 
personal privacy. The bill delays for 60 days the expenditure of funds 
on implementing the Department's proposed new Airline Passenger 
Profiling System--CAPPS II--until the General Accounting Office 
conducts a study and reports to the Congress on the privacy 
implications of the system. We must make sure that the privacy rights 
of individuals are protected and that individuals who are determined to 
pose a threat to security have an appeal mechanism.
  This is a good bill, but we must address several critical shortfalls 
that result from the budget resolution that put tax cuts at the front 
of the line and left homeland security to compete with every other 
Federal program for limited dollars. The result, regrettably, is a 
homeland security budget that leaves gaps in our security by leaving 
priority programs underfunded.
  After 9/11, Congress passed the Patriot Act, the Maritime 
Transportation Security Act, the Aviation and Transportation Security 
Act, and the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act. And 
the President signed them with great fanfare. But the President has 
done little to fulfill the promise of those laws. Now the Senate has 
before it the funding legislation that would either fulfill the promise 
of those acts or continue to leave the Nation and its citizens 
vulnerable.
  I urge all Members to be mindful of the solemn duty to ``provide for 
the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the 
blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity'' as we debate 
this important appropriations bill.


                           Amendment No. 1317

            (Purpose: Fulfilling Homeland Security Promises)

   Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I send to the desk an amendment for 
discussion and action, not this afternoon but tomorrow or subsequently.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from West Virginia [Mr. Byrd] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 1317.
       On page 75, Line 6, insert the following:

            TITLE VII--FULFILLING HOMELAND SECURITY PROMISES


  office of the under secretary for border and transportation security

                     customs and border protection

       For an additional amount for ``Customs and Border 
     Protection'', $238,500,000, to remain available until 
     December 31, 2004, for which not less than $100,000,000 shall 
     be for border ports-of-entry infrastructure improvements, and 
     not less than $138,500,000 shall be for staffing at the 
     northern border.


                 transportation security administration

                           aviation security

       For additional amounts for necessary expenses of the 
     Transportation Security Administration related to aviation 
     security services pursuant to Public Law 107-71 and Public 
     Law 107-296 and for other purposes, $100,000,000, to remain 
     available until expended, for air cargo security.


                 transporation security administration

                       maritime and land security

       For additional amounts for necessary expenses of the 
     Transportation Security Administration related to maritime 
     and land transportation security services pursuant to Public 
     Law 107-71 and Public Law 107-296 and for other purposes, 
     $532,000,000, to remain available until December 31, 2004, of 
     which not less than $57,000,000 shall be available for grants 
     to public transit agencies in urbanized areas for enhancing 
     the security of transit facilities against chemical, 
     biological and other terrorist threats, not less than 
     $460,000,000 shall be for shortfalls pursuant to Public Law 
     108-10, for port security grants for the purpose of 
     implementing the provisions of the Maritime Transportation 
     Security Act, and not less than $15,000,000 for inter-city 
     bus security grants for enhancing inter-city bus and facility 
     protection against terrorists threats.


                       united states coast guard

                           operating expenses

       For an additional amount for ``Operating Expenses'', 
     $70,000,000, to remain available until December 31, 2004, of 
     which not less than $70,000,000 shall be costs pursuant to 
     Public Law 107-295 for implementing the

[[Page 18777]]

     Maritime Transportation Security Act including those costs 
     associated with the review of vessel and facility security 
     plans and the development of area security plans.


                    office for domestic preparedness

       For additional amounts for the ``Office for Domestic 
     Preparedness,'' $729,500,000: Provided, That of the amount 
     made available under this heading: $250,000,000 shall be 
     available for grants pursuant to section 1014 of the USA 
     PATRIOT Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 3711); $250,000,000 shall be 
     for discretionary grants for use in high-threat urban areas, 
     as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security; 
     $79,500,000 shall be for interoperable communications 
     equipment; $150,000,000, to remain available through December 
     31, 2004, shall be for programs authorized by section 33 of 
     the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 
     U.S.C. 2201 et seq.).


             office of the under secretary for information

                   analysis infrastructure protection

       For an additional amount for the ``Office of the Under 
     Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure 
     Protection'', $80,000,000, to remain available until December 
     31, 2004, for chemical facility security assessments.

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
   The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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