John Kerry: “I support the fiscal year 2007 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill before us today. Our Nation faces a…”

“I support the fiscal year 2007 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill before us today. Our Nation faces a serious terrorist threat and we need to adequately fund our security agencies. I am concerned, however, that the bill falls short in some areas of what is needed to effectively protect the homeland. For instance, the bill makes significant cuts to State grant programs from FY 2006 levels and does not ensure that funds are distributed using risk as the guiding principle. Although DHS Secretary Chertoff has assured us that the Department would follow the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and distribute funds based purely on risk, when funding for the Urban Area Security Initiative was released in May the cities most at risk--New York, Washington, and Boston among them-- received the deepest cuts. I supported amendments during consideration of this bill that sought to rectify this problem and I hope that the bill can be improved in conference to ensure that funding is distributed where it is needed. I am also concerned that the bill calls for shutting down a large portion of the LORAN navigation system infrastructure, limiting it to Alaska and the northwest and northeast coasts. Although I realize that this is the result of a compromise, I strongly support maintaining the LORAN system nationwide and intend to work with Senator Stevens, Senator Murray and others in conference to prevent the premature shutdown of this important asset. Mr.…”