Mark Kelly: “I rise today to express the shock, disgust and frustration that I have felt since the Department of Homeland Security…”

“I rise today to express the shock, disgust and frustration that I have felt since the Department of Homeland Security slashed homeland security money for New York and increased funding for other smaller, rural cities across America. For many months since 9/11, Congress has been working to convince this administration that a risk-based distribution formula is the right way to protect Americans in cities like New York that are the most vulnerable to terrorist attacks. If the mission at Homeland Security is truly to protect America, then Department of Homeland Security funding should never be a pork-barrel matter. Yet the lack of common sense displayed by cutting New York's funding by 40 percent, while increasing the funding of nearly every other city, demonstrates that the threat is clearly not foremost in the minds of the DHS. This is a slap in the face to all of us who experienced 9/11 in New York. We need to look no further than the 9/11 Commission report to understand that we must dedicate our resources to areas like New York where the risks are the highest and where multiple terrorist attacks have already occurred. Our constituents ask us to spend taxpayer money wisely. By cutting first responder funding for New York and instead sending it to other areas of the country that are not at as much risk, the administration has failed terribly in its responsibility to spend taxpayer dollars wisely.…”