Statement Of Senator Patrick
Leahy
Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee
Subcommittee On Terrorism, Technology And Homeland Security On
“Terrorism: First Responders”
September 3, 2003
As we prepare
to mark the second anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it
has never been clearer that the role of our country’s state and
municipal emergency first responders is as demanding and dangerous
as ever. It is also clearer than ever that these real-life heroes
out on the front lines every day are lacking the federal support
they need and deserve to protect us.
The “First
Responders Partnership Grant Act of 2003,” which I introduced at the
outset of this Congressional session, would strengthen the federal
partnership with first-responder agencies by helping equip these men
and women with the tools they need to do what the Federal Government
is asking them to do for us. This bill would expand the federal
money available to state and local government units by between $4
billion and $5 billion a year so that they could fund overtime and
pay for equipment, training and facility expenses to support first
responders. I am delighted that after many months of calling for
action on this all-important issue, the Republican leadership has
finally decided to broach the topic. It is long overdue,
particularly for the local and state police, fire and rescue
agencies that we have tasked with new duties, which are augmented
whenever Washington elevates the color-coded threat level.
The gap between
Federal directives to state and local governments and the help
actually offered was highlighted in a revealing review led by former
Senator Warren Rudman, who has augmented his distinguished service
in the Senate with continuing public service. I welcome Sen.
Rudman’s insights today as he testifies before the subcommittee on
his findings.
The Warren
Rudman-Richard Clarke-Jamie Metzl June 2003 report, “Emergency
Responders: Drastically Underfunded, Dangerously Unprepared,”
concludes that the U.S. will fall approximately $98.4 billion short
of meeting critical emergency responder needs over the next five
years, if current funding levels are maintained.
Currently the federal budget to fund emergency responders is $27
billion for the next five years, beginning in 2004.
Clearly, the domestic
preparedness funds available are still not enough to protect from,
prepare for and respond to future domestic terrorist attacks
anywhere on American soil.
Since March 12th
of last year, the federal Homeland Security Advisory System has kept
state and local first responders on “yellow” alert, an elevated
threat level, which is declared when there is a significant risk of
terrorist attacks and which requires increased surveillance of
critical locations. And from Sept.10 to Sept. 24 last year, Feb. 7
to Feb. 27 this year, and May 20 to May 30 this year, Attorney
General Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Ridge declared our
country at “orange” threat level, a “high condition” when there is
high probability of a terrorist attack and when additional
precautions by first responders are necessary at public events.
In this
climate, first responders in communities across the country are
being stretched too thin. Many of our police officers are
struggling to get through unduly long shifts, firefighters remain
unprepared to respond to a biochemical attack and hospitals around
the country are ill-equipped to handle the fallout of a terrorist
attack.
At the same
time, Washington is buzzing about the literally hundreds of billions
of additional dollars that may be requested of Congress to finish
the job in Iraq. Unfortunately, the same urgency from the
Administration is not apparent for strengthening security here at
home.
Law enforcement
chiefs and sheriffs also shudder when they hear that the President’s
budget requests aim to drastically cut or eliminate altogether COPS
Program funding and Byrne and Local Law Enforcement grants. These
are funds police departments need to carry out their day-to-day
duties on which the public relies: to put officers on the streets,
to purchase crime-fighting technologies, and to
combat violent crime and serious offenders and enforce drug laws.
Police officers across the country also lack protective gear to
safely secure a site following an attack with weapons of mass
destruction. Fire
departments and EMS providers have been able to acquire with
homeland security grants new equipment to respond to emergency
situations, but lack the funds to train responders on how to use
that new equipment.
According to
the Rudman-Clarke-Metzl report, on
average, fire departments across the country have only enough radios
to equip half the firefighters on a shift, and breathing apparatuses
for only one third. Only 10 percent of fire departments in the
United States
have the personnel and equipment to respond to a building collapse.
Most states and communities do not have the necessary equipment to
determine what kind of hazardous materials emergency responders may
be facing.
The federal
government has failed to provide our first responders with the
additional support they need to meet these new federal demands.
Indeed, the National Governors Association estimated that states
incurred about $7 billion in security costs in the past year alone.
As a result, the national threat alerts and other federal homeland
security requirements have become unfunded federal mandates on our
state and local governments.
When terrorists
strike, emergency first responders are and will always be the first
people we turn to. We put our lives and the lives of our families
and friends in the hands of these officers, trusting and knowing
that when called upon they will protect our families and secure our
communities. All they ask is for the tools they need to do their
jobs for us. And for the sake of our own security, that is not too
much to ask.
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