[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 9713-9714]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        EMERGENCY WARTIME SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 3, 2003

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill. (H.R. 1559) 
     making emergency wartime supplemental appropriations for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2003, and for other 
     purposes:

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the fiscal 
year 2003 supplemental appropriations bill, yet express my sincere 
disappointment that the amendment offered by Representative Obey to 
increase funding for our homeland security needs was defeated on a 
party-line vote.

[[Page 9714]]

  I support our troops in the field, and believe it is the 
responsibility of Congress to provide our armed servicemen and women 
with the resources they need to achieve victory in Iraq and return home 
quickly and safely to their families. Just as important, however, is 
the responsibility of Congress to ensure the safety and security of our 
hometowns. Representative Obey's amendment would have added $2.5 
billion for homeland security needs, including $150 million for State 
public health and environmental laboratories to deal with chemical 
weapons attacks, $800 million for the equipment and training needed to 
let local fire, police, and medical personnel meet the difficult 
challenges a terrorist attack would entail, and $66 million to help the 
Reserves train and relocate deployable military hospitals. This 
amendment would have taken a significant step to protect American 
communities and neighborhoods.
  By rejecting this amendment, the House missed an opportunity to 
address pressing unmet needs for protection of the American people from 
terrorist attacks. I am concerned that the failure of the amendment to 
be made in order will delay for months and perhaps longer the 
implementation of numerous simple, straightforward steps that we should 
be taking to prevent future catastrophic attacks against the United 
States.
  For the Record, I submit a copy of a letter I received from Minnesota 
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Rich Stanek, urging support of 
additional funds for homeland security in the supplemental to assist 
Minnesota's rising homeland security needs. Representative Obey's 
amendment would have gone a long way toward meeting this need, but 
unfortunately the Republican Party in Congress said ``no'' to Minnesota 
and ``no'' to this new funding.
  Protecting our homeland is a nonpartisan issue. Nothing is more 
important than the security of our hometowns and our families. As this 
bill moves to conference with the Senate, I hope we can agree that 
homeland security needs must be above party-line politics.

                                              Minnesota Department


                                              of Public Safety

                                     St. Paul, MN, March 28, 2003.
     Hon. Betty McCollum,
     Longworth House Office Building
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative McCollum: As the United States 
     continues military action to disarm and liberate Iraq, 
     Minnesota's Office of Homeland Security has taken a number of 
     security measures to assess any potential risks and to ensure 
     the safety of Minnesotans throughout the state.
       The State Emergency Operations Center (SEPC) was partially 
     activated at the onset of military action and was fully 
     activated at 8:00 a.m. on March 20, 2003. The SEOC remained 
     fully activated until 11:30 p.m. on Friday, March 21, 2003 
     and partially activated until 8:00 a.m. on March 24, 2003. In 
     addition, the Minnesota State Patrol was deployed on March 
     17, 2003 for security purposes to the Flint Hills Oil 
     Refinery, Ashland Oil Refinery, Prairie Island and Monticello 
     Nuclear Plants, and the Minneapolis and St. Paul Water 
     Treatment Facilities. On March 19, 2003, the Minnesota 
     National Guard relieved State Patrol troopers and continued 
     to provide facility security until 7:00 a.m. on March 26, 
     2003.
       State cost estimates to activate the SEOC and to provide 
     facility security total approximately $463,000. The major 
     costs incurred by the state were the facility security costs: 
     Department of Military Affairs, Minnesota National Guard 
     ($368,000) and Department of Public Safety, Minnesota State 
     Patrol ($65,000). There were also just over $30,000 in costs 
     to activate the SEOC which include some operating and 
     overtime costs for other state agencies. These costs do not 
     include any costs at the local level to provide security or 
     to prepare and respond to potential threats.
       The cooperation and coordination at the state level has 
     gone very well, and I am pleased that Minnesota has no 
     incidents to report. In a conference call with the Department 
     of Homeland Security, Secretary Ridge assured states that 
     every attempt would be made to seek reimbursement for costs 
     to provide heightened security at critical infrastructure 
     sites. As Congress prepares to act on a supplemental 
     appropriations bill, any funds you can secure for Minnesota's 
     extraordinary costs, particularly in light of the state's 
     budget crisis, will be greatly appreciated.
       Thank you for your efforts on behalf of Minnesota. Please 
     feel free to contact me if you have questions or need 
     additional information.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Rich Stanek,
     Commissioner.

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