Senators grill Chertoff on grants, FEMA trailers and more

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff received brief expressions of praise from the members of the Senate oversight committee for his department's achievements Thursday, then had to endure prolonged bipartisan grilling and protests over his proposed fiscal 2009 budget and a wide array of other issues.

Nearly every member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee protested the budget's proposed "cuts" in funding for state and local homeland security grants.

Chertoff repeatedly noted that the grant levels requested were the same as in the fiscal 2008 budget but that Congress had increased them. He said the latest request for $50.5 billion represented "very difficult tradeoffs" among many high-priority needs, but the grants were funded at an appropriate level.

Chertoff also got multiple rounds of sharp questioning on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new finding that the high levels of formaldehyde fumes in the trailers the Federal Emergency Management Agency provided for thousands of people made homeless by Hurricane Katrina made them too dangerous for use.

Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, led the barrage of critical questions over DHS's failure to warn people of the danger or to take swift action once the formaldehyde problem emerged.

The secretary said the department has tried to get people to leave the trailers voluntarily and when it tried to evict some it was blocked by protests and lawsuits. He repeatedly explained that no one has ever established a standard of acceptable levels for formaldehyde or other potentially harmful elements in the trailers, which were never intended for extended use.

Chertoff declared that DHS was going to get out of "the trailer business," which drew protests from several senators that the department was supposed to provide emergency housing for victims of natural disasters.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., engaged Chertoff in an extended debate over the continuing problems plaguing people in her Katrina-ravaged state, which she said were caused by a "virtually dysfunctional" agency. She said there were billions of dollars appropriated for relief of Katrina victims, which could not be released unless Chertoff agreed to a series of changes in law or policy.

The secretary said he had agreed to some of her proposed actions and was willing to discuss other steps, but noted the criticism his department has received for bending some rules in an effort to expedite relief.

In contrast to the criticism over Katrina, Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Norm Coleman, R-Minn., praised the Homeland Security Department's response to the tornados and floods that hit their states recently.

Committee members also expressed concerns over the department's program to ensure a smooth transition to the next administration. But Chertoff said they have ensured that career officials would be in place when the political appointees depart next January and that the emergency response system would function.

Chertoff also received a mix of praise and complaints about the progress in securing the borders, protecting against dangerous materials including possible nuclear devices and avoiding disruption of the nation's cyber networks.

But Lieberman and other senators noted that absence of a terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001, was not an accident, but due at least in part to the department's efforts.

"We grow safer every day," but the war against Islamic extremism continues and, Lieberman said, "we are not safe enough."