Bill Clinton: “I am going to be offering two amendments that I believe are necessary. This first amendment is intended to do what every…”

“I am going to be offering two amendments that I believe are necessary. This first amendment is intended to do what every expert who has looked at homeland security has recommended and advised us to do. Most recently, the 9/11 Commission reached the very same conclusion; that is, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security should allocate formula-based State and local homeland security grants on the basis of threats and vulnerabilities and other factors that the Secretary deems appropriate. There are two major categories of grant money going from Washington out to the States and localities with respect to homeland security. One is called the State Homeland Security Grant Program. The other is the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Grant Program. As the Commission stated: We understand the contention that every State and city needs to have some minimum infrastructure for emergency response. But Federal homeland security assistance should not remain a program for general revenue sharing. It should supplement State and local resources based on the risks or vulnerability that merit additional support. Congress should not use this money as a pork barrel.”