Madam Chairwoman, I have an amendment at the desk that was made in order under the rule. Madam Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that Representative Clarke be listed as cosponsor of this amendment. Madam Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute.…
Madam Chairwoman, I have an amendment at the desk that was made in order under the rule.
Madam Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that Representative Clarke be listed as cosponsor of this amendment.
Madam Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute.
I insert into the Record a letter dated June 4, 2009, to Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers from virtually every law enforcement first responder head in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
New York Regional Joint Working Group on Securing the
Cities,
June 4, 2009.
Subject: FY2010 Appropriations for Securing the Cities
Program
Hon. David E. Price,
Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on
Homeland Security, Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Harold Rogers,
Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on
Homeland Security, Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Price and Ranking Member Rogers: We are
writing to urge you to include $40 million to fund the
Securing the Cities (STC) program in your markup of the
FY2010 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill.
This funding would be equal to the FY2008 appropriation for
the program.
Securing the Cities is a vital, federally funded effort to
protect New York City from the threat of an improvised
nuclear device or a radiological dispersal device (a ``dirty
bomb''). The program involves equipping many different
agencies in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with state-
of-the-art mobile radiation-detection equipment, training
them in its proper use, and leveraging existing technology
and infrastructure to deploy a permanent defensive radiation-
detection ring around New York City.
The STC program is the only federal initiative designed
specifically to protect a U.S. city from a radiological or
nuclear terrorist attack, which President Obama has called,
``the most immediate and extreme threat to global security.''
We never saw the program as a ``pilot,'' as some have
suggested, but as an operational model, developed to protect
the city that suffered the most on September 11, 2001, and
that continues to be at the top of the terrorist threat list.
Since the STC program was proposed by the Department of
Homeland Security in 2006, we have:
begun taking delivery of approximately 4,500 units of
radiation-detection equipment;
prepared to train all of our response personnel in the
proper use of the equipment;
conducted three full-scale exercises in which radioactive
materials were intercepted by our agencies;
developed detailed operational nuclear-interdiction plans
for the region;
begun developing the fixed radiation-detection systems that
will be installed on bridges and tunnels into New York City;
and, begun to implement a situational awareness system that
will ultimately allow us to track and swiftly interdict
radiological threats anywhere in the region.
All of the money appropriated since FY2007 has been
programmed, and most of it has been obligated. We expect to
complete the purchase of our situational awareness system,
developed with FY2007 funding, by the end of this year; we
have begun taking delivery of radiation-detection equipment
purchased with FY2008 funds; and, we have submitted our
application for FY2009 funds. Additional funding is necessary
to complete the final stages of development of the fixed
radiation-detection system, which is on the verge of becoming
operational, and to establish wireless connections among and
between our mobile systems.
The STC program was designed as a joint federal, state, and
local initiative with significant investments and commitments
at all levels. Federal STC funding only pays for a fraction
of the cost of the total program. For example, the STC
program benefits from the absorption of manpower and
operational costs by state and local agencies. STC also
leverages major existing New York City investments, including
the fiber-optic lines that will be run to New York City
bridges and tunnels as part of the Lower Manhattan Security
Initiative and New York City's wireless network (NYCWiN). The
total cost of the STC program as seen by Congress does not
account for these significant outlays at the state and local
level.
Together, the STC partners represent three layers of
government, three states, 60 counties, and over 80 law
enforcement agencies. In our view, the STC program is an
extraordinary example of interagency and intergovernmental
collaboration, and one of the most successful DHS programs in
existence. Zeroing this program out, as the President's
FY2010 Budget has mistakenly proposed, would do great harm to
the security of New York as well as the quality of our
agencies' partnership with DHS. We understand the need for
fiscal restraint in the current financial climate. However,
this critical investment will ensure that law enforcement and
emergency response agencies have the resources needed to
protect our nation's largest city from the most damaging
terrorist threat imaginable.
For these reasons, we urge you to appropriate funding to
the STC program at a level equal to the FY2008
appropriation--$30 million for acquisitions and $10 million
for research, development, and operations. We welcome the
opportunity to brief members of your staff on the progress of
this program either in the New York region or in Washington,
I reserve my time.