Mayors, lawmakers press for more urban security funds

House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., said Wednesday he does not think homeland security funding cuts to New York City and Washington, D.C., can be reversed this year, but he is searching for other ways to infuse money into the cities.

Members of his committee expressed outrage at a hearing Wednsday that the Homeland Security Department cut funding to New York and Washington in recent grant allocations. Both cities saw about a 40 percent reduction in antiterrorism urban area grants this year.

"I want to find a way with the department and with the Congress to get other monies into New York and into Washington," King told reporters during a break at the hearing. "It's going to be very difficult to get the actual grant process reversed. What I'm hoping to do is, by putting so much attention on this issue, get other federal monies into New York that can be used for [counter-terrorism], like in transportation for instance or on interoperability of radios and data equipment."

King also said the funding cuts have shaken his faith in Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "It's getting more and more difficult to defend Secretary Chertoff. I had very high hopes for him when he came in [but] I'm extremely disappointed by what's happened here and by his continuing refusal to acknowledge that a serious mistake was made," King said.

The District of Columbia's Democratic Mayor Anthony Williams and New York City's Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged committee members to examine the funding formula the department used to make grant awards. They both said they support the department's strategy of using a risk-based approach to make grant awards.

But Bloomberg said the process is "fundamentally broken" and should be reassessed by Congress. "The application process should not be a test for who can write the best college term paper for their class," Bloomberg said.

Both mayors said another problem involves the department's preference for financing technology and equipment over personnel and overtime. "The world is not what you see on CSI," Bloomberg said, referring to the popular television show where investigators use technology to solve crimes. "It is as personal a business as anybody can find."

Williams added, "I think that technology gets overbilled." Williams and Bloomberg also said that cities should be given multiyear funding streams in the grants process. King added he plans to meet with Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, Thursday in an effort to find agreement on legislation that would overhaul the department's funding formula.

Homeland Security Undersecretary for Preparedness George Foresman -- the only official from the department to testify Wednesday -- defended the grant allocations, saying the department has to look at risks and vulnerabilities across the nation.

"We are improving in our ability to measure urban risk beyond the borders of New York and Washington," he said. New York City is still rated highest for risk of a terrorist attack and has received more antiterrorism urban area grants than any other city, he said.

Listening to criticism from Williams and Bloomberg was "a phenomenally positive experience," Foresman observed. "This is how we're going to get better."