Cord Byrd: “it was just 1 year ago that the Senate was preparing to begin debate on the creation of a Department of Homeland…”

“it was just 1 year ago that the Senate was preparing to begin debate on the creation of a Department of Homeland Security. The September 11 attacks had occurred just 9 months earlier, and fear that more had to be done to protect the homeland pervaded. In that atmosphere, at a time when few wanted to look too closely at the fine print for fear of being labeled a stumbling block to the enhanced security of the American people, the administration pushed through a bill to create a huge new Federal department, the Department of Homeland Security. The budget for the Department of Homeland Security is $28.5 billion, a level well below that needed to meet the Nation's true and pervasive homeland security challenges. Billions of those dollars are up for grabs in that budget for entities outside the Department, and outside the Government. The administration repeatedly reminds the American people that the next terrorist attack could come any day, any time, anywhere. Do not think that companies have not noticed. The Department's budget is being eyed like a huge honey pot. Thousands of U.S. companies are reinventing themselves, repackaging products, rearranging priorities, renaming operations, and just plain salivating to cash in on what they hope will be hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending on domestic defense.”