John Kerry: “I support the fiscal year 2008 Department of Homeland Security, DHS, appropriations bill. The underlying legislation…”

“I support the fiscal year 2008 Department of Homeland Security, DHS, appropriations bill. The underlying legislation provides $37.5 billion--$2.3 billion more than the President requested--to help DHS defend against what the recently declassified National Intelligence Estimate, NIE, concluded will be ``a persistent and evolving terrorist threat over the next three years.'' The President, however, has threatened to veto this bill and hold up essential security funding because its funding level is slightly above his budget request. After years of underfunding homeland security, cutting taxes for the wealthy at the expense of the middle class, and failing to veto one pork-laden spending bill passed by the GOP Congress, it is hard to take the President's sudden conversion to fiscal responsibility seriously. He has long since proven his appetite for spending beyond our means and has lost the support of his fiscally conservative base. In crafting this and other spending bills, the Democratically-controlled Congress is meeting our needs while adhering to pay-as-you-go rules which will help stem the record deficits of the last 6 years. This critical legislation funds important programs to protect the border, improve aviation security, fund and train first responders, and provide disaster relief to the States, and it does it without busting the budget.”