[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 27]
[Senate]
[Pages 36354-36356]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, last night I indicated my strong concerns 
about the omnibus appropriations bill, a bill that I expected to 
include all domestic spending as well as funding for the war in Iraq. 
Notably, I discussed my grave misgivings about funding for the 
President's disastrous, ongoing and ill-conceived war. I also raised my 
unease with last-minute additions of loan guarantees for questionable 
energy sources, such as the building of new nuclear power and for coal-
related energy, especially coal to liquids.
  Last night, I voted against an amendment to provide the President 
with a blank check for his war. Until even later in the evening, I 
thought that the war funding would be attached to the domestic spending 
legislation set for vote that evening. However, it was clear by the 
time of the domestic spending vote that the Iraq war funds were kept 
separate. I remain very concerned with the nuclear and coal loan 
guarantees that were inserted, I decided that, on balance, the domestic 
spending bill that would fund, among other important priorities, 
community health centers and health care for many Americans in need, 
deserved my support. I regret the insertion of the ill-conceived loan 
guarantees and will work with my colleagues to address them.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, the famous test pilot Chuck Yeager once 
said: ``Any landing you can walk away from is a good one. But a perfect 
landing is one where you can fly the plane the next day.''
  When it comes to homeland security, the Omnibus appropriations bill 
which Congress approved last night is a good landing in the sense that 
we can all go home for the recess having improved funding for the 
Department of Homeland Security over the President's wholly inadequate 
budget request.
  But it is not a perfect landing because it leaves some important 
initiatives stuck on the ground due to either a lack of funding or 
misplaced priorities.
  First the good news: Overall the omnibus includes $38.7 billion for 
the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, for fiscal year 2008, 
including $2.7 billion in emergency funds for border security and other 
needs.
  This is significant improvement over the President's $34.3 billion 
request, with the additional money going to help our first responders 
and State and local governments purchase equipment and receive the 
training they need to effectively respond to man-made or natural 
disasters; to better protect our ports and railways; to increase 
security on our borders and in our airports, and to confront the 
looming threat of terrorists attacking us at home with improvised 
explosive devices, or IEDs.

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  Specifically, the bill includes $950 million for FEMA's State 
Homeland Security Grant Program, SHSGP--the full level authorized in 
the Implementing the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 
2007, which Senator Collins and I authored. SHSGP grants provide 
critical support for prevention, planning and response efforts by State 
and local governments. They help fund training, exercises and equipment 
for our Nation's first responders and support fusion centers that allow 
officials to share information that can prevent terrorist attacks.
  The omnibus also includes a combined $750 million for the assistance 
to firefighters grants and SAFER grants programs, both of which provide 
vital support to the nation's courageous fire fighters.
  Also, the emergency management performance grants program, which 
supports all-hazards planning and preparedness, received an increase of 
$100 million over last year's level for a total of $300 million.
  And a new interoperable communications grant program, included in the 
911 implementation bill, will receive $50 million in funding a positive 
step towards what I hope will be a greater commitment to provide 
dedicated funding for what is still the number one priority of state 
and local officials.
  FEMA which is in the midst of a much needed transformation prescribed 
in the Post Katrina Emergency Management Act, which I also co-authored 
with Senator Collins also does well in the Omnibus, receiving $724 
million $189 million above its fiscal year 2007 level. This includes an 
additional $100 million for FEMA's core operations programs, which are 
critical to the agency's efforts to turn itself into a world-class 
response agency capable of leading our Nation in preparing for and 
responding to a catastrophe which it clearly was unable to do with 
Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
  Rail and transit security grants receive $400 million, $225 million 
above 2007. These much needed investments will help improve security in 
transportation modes which have been largely neglected, relative to 
airline security, even though terrorists have time and again 
demonstrated that they are primary targets.
  Port security grants are funded at $400 million as authorized by the 
SAFE Port Act $190 million above last year's level. The legislation 
also includes $13 million for the secure freight initiative and global 
trade exchange programs--funding which will further help close another 
glaring weakness in our homeland defenses.
  I am a vocal proponent of comprehensive immigration reform. This 
includes reforms to strengthen of our borders. The omnibus moves us 
closer to that goal.
  The bill provides $6.8 billion for Customs and Border Protection, 
CBP, to improve security at the borders, including funds to continue 
limited use of National Guard troops on the border and hire 3,000 
additional border patrol agents.
  The bill also provides $1.2 billion for border security fencing to 
complete 370 miles by the end of fiscal year 2008 and almost $15 
million for additional unmanned aerial systems to patrol the border.
  And the omnibus includes $475 million for the U.S. VISIT program used 
to track the entry and exit of foreign visitors and $36 million for a 
new electronic travel authorization for travelers from Visa Waiver 
Program countries which was authorized by the 911 implementation bill.
  I am also pleased that another initiative I advocated--the 
development of a national strategy for use of closed circuit 
televisions to enhance national security--was included in the final 
omnibus package.
  The omnibus also helps us strengthen chemical security by providing 
$50 million--a significant increase over the President's original 
request--to protect chemical facilities from terrorist attacks. We know 
that chemical sites pose a serious homeland security vulnerability and 
we must ensure that DHS can help them enact meaningful security 
measures as soon as possible. I am also pleased that this legislation 
safeguards the ability of states and localities, who are our partners 
in homeland security, to enact stricter chemical security standards 
where appropriate.
  Finally, the omnibus also includes a $10-million increase for the 
Office of Bombing Prevention that Senator Collins and I added as an 
amendment on the floor.
  We have to confront the fact that highly lethal and simple-to-make 
IEDs have become the preferred weapon of terrorists and the Department 
of Homeland Security must have adequate resources to help State and 
local officials defend against this likely threat.
  But, as I said earlier, there are some problems with this bill and I 
hope we can improve upon it next year.
  To begin with, this bill contains a record amount of earmarks for 
homeland security--$443.8 million by my count. Earmarks can be 
valuable, but I fear that at this kind of record level we run the risk 
of being forced to take money away from more important initiatives.
  For instance, the pre-disaster mitigation grant program, which was 
not previously earmarked, now contains 96 specific earmarks totaling 
$51.3 million--nearly half the total appropriation for this program 
designed to mitigate the impact of future disasters.
  Also, regrettably, the omnibus appropriations bill does not include 
funding for a consolidated headquarters for DHS, which is essential to 
establishing a unified culture at the Department.
  Currently, DHS is spread throughout 70 buildings across Washington 
and the Capital region, making communication, coordination, and 
cooperation between DHS components a significant challenge.
  The elimination of this funding simply prolongs an unacceptable 
status quo and hinders the homeland security mission, and I will work 
hard to restore this funding in future appropriations.
  Finally, I am deeply disappointed that the omnibus bill unnecessarily 
delays full implementation of the Western Hemisphere travel initiative, 
WHTI, until June 1, 2009.
  Inadequate inspection of travelers to the United States from Canada, 
the Caribbean, and Mexico was identified by the 9/11 Commission, the 
GAO, and the State Department as a critical vulnerability to our travel 
systems. The language hardening the implementation deadline included in 
the Omnibus bill ties the hands of DHS and prevents it from finalizing 
additional security enhancements before such date.
  Again, the Omnibus appropriations bill is a good landing but not a 
perfect one and I hope as we begin wrestling with next year's budget we 
can make the appropriate fixes that will get certain needed programs 
off the ground.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as vice chairman of the Senate Sportsmen's 
Caucus, I am concerned about misguided efforts by some in Congress to 
ban Federal funding from flowing to international wildlife conservation 
organizations and programs that support regulated recreational hunting, 
particularly on the African continent.
  The facts are clear. Twenty-three African counties currently license 
approximately 18,500 hunters, generating over $200 million annually in 
the process. Regulated recreational, sport, and trophy hunting is 
saving many animal species in Africa. Licensed and regulated tourist 
hunting boosts local economies and propagates wildlife by providing 
foreign governments and villagers a financial incentive to protect and 
conserve local wildlife populations.
  In September of this year, I joined my colleagues on the leadership 
team of the Senate Sportsmen's Caucus in sending a letter to our 
conferees negotiating the Department of State and Foreign Operations 
funding bill with the other Chamber. We laid out the facts and noted 
that even the National Geographic News reported in March 2007 that 
``trophy hunting is of key importance to conservation in Africa by 
creating [financial] incentives to promote and retain wildlife as a 
land use over vast areas . . .''
  Tourist hunting has proven to be a valuable tool to conserve wildlife 
and habitat and has contributed to the survival of the African 
elephant, white

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and black rhino, leopard, markhor, argali, and other species.
  Trophy hunting organizations such as the Dallas Safari Club located 
in my State of Texas have a vested interest in promoting the welfare of 
wildlife and they provide countless resources that eliminate human 
suffering and improve livelihoods in remote areas of the world by 
conserving wildlife, growing local economies, and reducing poverty.
  It is my hope that all Members of Congress will recognize the 
positive impact that conservation and hunting organizations have on the 
preservation of species, and that Federal partnership with these groups 
leverages significant private sector contribution to global wildlife 
conservation.

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