Hal Rogers

And is there not $125 million for port security? The last time I checked the ports were in large cities, were they not?

Then we restored the $50 million for the metropolitan medical response system. Metropolitan means large city, does it not?

In September 2002 a suspected terrorist cell was broken up in Lackawanna, New York, a city south of Buffalo, population 20,000. Five convictions. And on and on and on. Mr. Chairman, we have treated the urban areas in this bill better than…

The TSA is still operating under the system where they hire nationally. So that when there is a vacancy in San Francisco or New Jersey or where have you, that has to work its way up to the national headquarters, and it is a very…

in the same bipartisan spirit of cooperation that has characterized Kentucky delegations to this great body, it is my privilege tonight, as dean of our delegation, to present to you our newest Member and America's newest Congressman, Ben…

It is just not so that anyone can place cargo on a passenger plane without it being checked and screened. That is incorrect. We have a very sophisticated system in place today that verifies whether or not you are a known and trusted…

This is a good bill. As I said before, what we are after is sensible spending on a sensible plan. We are spending a lot of money on homeland security. This bill is $29.4 billion. Is it enough? I think it is enough for the plan that we…

is the gentleman not aware of the container security initiative where we are checking these containers at 24 megaports around the world, even as I speak?

I cannot believe the gentleman from Massachusetts would stand before the body and make the statements, as he did, without knowing the facts. The 16-ounce package the gentleman held before us and said this is not searched, this is not…

Madam Speaker, this is an historic day, consideration of the very first appropriations bill for the new Department of Homeland Security, which was stood up only March of this spring. This subcommittee was only stood up in March of this…

I am not characterizing the comment of the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey). All I am saying is do not be overly alarmed, for goodness sakes. There is a program in place while we get the machinery to actually x-ray the cargo that…

this is a stripped-down version of the disaster supplemental. It is $983.6 million purely for disaster relief activities. It fully funds all the anticipated Federal disaster relief activities for the balance of this year. The…

There is no way obviously to accurately predict what Mother Nature is going to do. This is not a huge amount of money, as it goes, for disaster relief. It is simply replenishing or allowing that fund to be able to exist until we can get…

assuming, and the gentleman is correct about its being in the budget as a request, but where is the reconciliation bill that makes that happen?

So, as it stands, probably until 2010 this highly radioactive material is sitting there exposed at most of the power plants in the country, outside the nuclear reactor building, waiting to be transported to Yucca Mountain. Is that correct?

So the cask you are talking about would serve two purposes, be dual use: one, it would safely protect the material while we are waiting around for Yucca to be finished; and, two, you would not need to change it into another container to…

Given the volume of the material we are dealing with and the volatility of that material and its being subject to being attacked, is there a better way to address the issue of storage between now and 2010 and then proper shipment to Yucca…

I strongly support quickly moving toward these dual-use, thick-walled containers which can be used for storage and transportation to Yucca Mountain, and, in the meantime, give us maximum protection from the attack on that material causing…

We have provisions in this bill that requires that the State to whom we give the money must send the money on to the localities within 30 days, and then 80 percent of the monies that we give to those States must be passed on to local units…

That is the way I understand the amendment. It would take $200 million away from all the States in order to beef up this cap from $500 million to $700 million just for the high-density/ high-urban area grants.

It goes to the so-called high-threat/high-density urban areas of the country, and I think they are talking probably of 20 cities or less, in the complete discretion of the Secretary.

I am compelled again to talk about New York. All of us here are sympathetic, understanding, we want to help; but I feel compelled to lay out some facts that have not been laid out here. The fiscal year 2003 bill, we gave $800 million in…

let us just look at it. The fiscal 2002 grants, the money we appropriated a year and a half ago, $495 million for grants for our local communities to apply for, $291 million of that money is still lying there unspent. Nearly 60 percent of…

there is $291 million available for first responders from fiscal 2002. Why do you not apply for it?

Mr. Speaker, this is an excellent conference report. It has significant benefits for homeland security and transportation activities in this country. I would like to take a minute, if I could, to highlight some of the aspects of the bill…