Joe Lieberman: “the famous test pilot Chuck Yeager once said: ``Any landing you can walk away from is a good one. But a perfect landing…”

“the famous test pilot Chuck Yeager once said: ``Any landing you can walk away from is a good one. But a perfect landing is one where you can fly the plane the next day.'' When it comes to homeland security, the Omnibus appropriations bill which Congress approved last night is a good landing in the sense that we can all go home for the recess having improved funding for the Department of Homeland Security over the President's wholly inadequate budget request. But it is not a perfect landing because it leaves some important initiatives stuck on the ground due to either a lack of funding or misplaced priorities. First the good news: Overall the omnibus includes $38.7 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, for fiscal year 2008, including $2.7 billion in emergency funds for border security and other needs. This is significant improvement over the President's $34.3 billion request, with the additional money going to help our first responders and State and local governments purchase equipment and receive the training they need to effectively respond to man-made or natural disasters; to better protect our ports and railways; to increase security on our borders and in our airports, and to confront the looming threat of terrorists attacking us at home with improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.”