Lowey to Bush: Cuts to Homeland Security Grants 'Indefensible'

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) today released the following statement in response to news reports that the Bush Administration intends to slash counter-terrorism funding for police, firefighters, and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year:

“Reports that the Bush Administration intends to slash counter-terrorism grants to local first responders and eliminate programs for port security and transit security are deeply disturbing.

“This episode reveals once again the President’s misplaced priorities. Just days after excoriating Congress for not providing a $200 billion blank check for Iraq to be spent at a rate of $12 billion per month, we learn that President Bush would cut by more than half a highly effective and necessary $3.2 billion program for state and local governments to protect Americans in emergencies. This proposal is indefensible.

“As a New Yorker and a member of both the Homeland Security Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, I know that the Administration’s defense that many high-risk areas have “reached a saturation point for capital security projects” is simply not the case in New York where many critical security priorities remain unfunded. I will work with my colleagues to defeat any proposals for these ill-advised and short-sighted cuts.”