Robert Berry: “I must say that I think the chairman and the ranking member of this committee have done as best they can with what they…”

“I must say that I think the chairman and the ranking member of this committee have done as best they can with what they have to do with. I also must note that 2 years later we are still struggling with getting the job done, and I think it is now time for us to press forward with all due haste to see that these homeland security issues are dealt with as quickly and as effectively as possible. The House bill has $650 million more for the Office of Domestic Preparedness. The conferees should give first responders this higher amount. The Senate bill has $50 million for port security grants. That higher funding is critical. The President has asked for $87 billion to make Iraq secure. Certainly, America deserves no less. We are spending about half as much, about half that much to try to make the American people secure. The motion also instructs conferees to include a provision that requires all cargo on passenger planes to be screened. Obviously, this is something that needs to be done. But we do not want to be on this floor anytime in the future talking about what happened, what went wrong, what we should have done. Now is the time to deal with homeland security funded appropriately and get the job done for the American people that we know needs to be done and we know how to do it.”