Cord Byrd: “Providing agricultural disaster relief is not politics, no. It is good policy. The bill that is before the Senate also…”

“Providing agricultural disaster relief is not politics, no. It is good policy. The bill that is before the Senate also includes $2 billion for securing the homeland. In the State of the Union, the President said: The evil that inspired and rejoiced in 9/11 is still at work in the world. And so long as that's the case, America is still a nation at war. Despite hundreds of innocent people being killed in train bombings in London, Madrid, Moscow, Tokyo, and Mombai, India, and despite the aviation sector remaining at a high terrorist threat level since August, the President did not request one extra dime--not one thin dime--in the supplemental for securing the homeland. This bill includes funding for purchasing explosive detection systems for our airports, for grants to help secure our rail and transit systems, and for securing our ports and borders. The money is needed now. For 5 years, since the attack on 9/11, this administration has raised fears of another terrorist attack. The administration has announced a high, or orange, threat level for possible terrorist attacks on eight different occasions. In every State of the Union Address, the President has stoked the fires of fear. Periodically, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the FBI Director helped to fan those flames. Yet the President consistently sends to Congress budgets for homeland security that do not reflect this perceived threat.”