I’ve seen two things that seriously bother me in the last few weeks; one being budget cuts to New York City’s Homeland Security Funding and the other being pork barrel spending for Homeland Security needs. It is appalling that after the 9/11 tragedy our national security priorities are getting muddled up in partisan patronage. I seriously don’t feel safer knowing that it’s very possible that the country isn’t receiving the best protection, because a congressman wants to swing money to businesses in his district. We need the best and brightest working on keeping our homeland secure.
The official reason that the money was removed from NYC Homeland Security budget was the lack of national landmarks, which I find to be a preposterous reason. While New York may not have any national monuments (the Statue of Liberty doesn’t count?), it is the financial capital of this country and the world for that matter. It is home to over 8 million people and receives more than 40 million visitors a year. I cannot fathom any reason why New York should be losing money, while much smaller municipalities are gaining funds.
Every city this country should be safe, but that doesn’t mean that money needs to be distributed equally to every area of the country. Priorities should be made, because a terrorist attack on New York is going to be far worse than an attack on Lawrence, Kansas. Many of these cities are not even using the funds for counter-terrorism measures. Too much time is wasted on this one-size-fits-all approach in National Security.
Bill Maher often laments on how it’s ridiculous that a 70-year-old grandmother gets her shoes searched at the airport. And I agree, we need to focus on the threats and not worry about being politically correct or hurting the feelings of others. New York deserves more Homeland Security money than any other city in this country, primarily because it is the only city to be attacked twice within 10 years.
In the other area of my concern, I recently found a New York Times article regarding a Congressman from Kentucky. The esteemed Hal Rogers of Kentucky has decided to intervene in the appropriation of Homeland Security funds used to produce new tamper-proof IDs. Where the problem occurs is the fact that the Kentucky plant he is trying to shift production to does not have the most advanced technologies, but Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman Rogers preserves, regardless of that fact.
"The committee does not want T.S.A. to develop new technologies if existing ones, already developed by other federal agencies, are good enough," a 2002 Appropriations Committee report, signed by Mr. Rogers, said, referring to the Transportation Security Administration.Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2
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