Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Politics

Bush aims to slash port, other antiterror funds

The president's plan is predicted to be "dead on arrival" in Congress.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents.

The Homeland Security Department has given $23-billion to states and local communities to fight terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks, but the administration is not convinced that the money has been well spent and thinks the nation's highest-risk cities have largely satisfied their security needs.

The department wanted to provide $3.2-billion to help states and cities protect against terrorist attacks in 2009, but the White House said it would ask Congress for less than half - $1.4-billion, according to a document from this week.

The plan calls for outright elimination of programs for port security, transit security and local emergency management operations in the next budget year.

This is President Bush's last budget, and the new administration would have to live with the funding decisions between Jan. 20 and Sept. 30, 2009.

The Homeland Security Department and the White House Office of Management and Budget, which is in charge of the administration's spending plans, would not provide details about the funding cuts because nothing has been finalized.

"There's been staunch support of our department, and you'll see it again this February" when Bush's 2009 budget emerges, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke predicted.

The proposal to drastically cut Homeland Security grants is at odds with some of the administration's own policies. For example, the White House recently promised continued funding for state and regional intelligence "fusion centers" - information-sharing centers the administration deems critical to preventing another terrorist attack. Cutting the grants would limit money available for the centers.

The White House's plan to eliminate the port, transit and other grants, which are popular with state and local officials, would not go into effect until Sept. 30, 2008. Congress is unlikely to support the cuts and will ultimately decide the fate of the programs and the funding levels when it hashes out the department's 2009 budget next year.

The White House routinely seeks to cut the budget requests of federal departments, but the cuts proposed for 2009 Homeland Security grants are far deeper than the norm. Congress has yet to approve the department's 2008 plan.

"This budget proposal is dead on arrival," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "This administration runs around the country scaring people and then when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they say, 'Sorry, the bank is closed.'"

California receives a large share of the counterrorism money each year and could lose more than $200-million under the White House plan.

Boxer was particularly incensed about the proposal to end money for port security - a big concern on the West Coast. "California's ports carry over 47 percent of all goods imported into the United States," she said. "A terrorist attack at any of California's ports could shut down our nation's port system and result in a mind-boggling loss for our nation's economy."

Fast facts

Florida cities' aid

Antiterror aid to Florida cities in the past fiscal year:

Tampa: $8.6-million

Fort Lauderdale: $6.6-million

Jacksonville: $5.9-million

Miami: $12-million

Orlando: $5.6-million

[Last modified December 1, 2007, 01:19:42]