David Price: “Now, if the allegation is that the Department of Homeland Security has not been nimble enough, has not been responsive…”

“Now, if the allegation is that the Department of Homeland Security has not been nimble enough, has not been responsive enough in getting the grant funds out there, then you certainly won't get an argument from us. Our approach has been to work cooperatively with the Department to improve performance. There are two provisions in particular in this bill to ensure that Federal bureaucratic hurdles are lessened so that the funds can be used for their intended purpose more efficiently. As in prior years, the bill mandates that within 60 days of enactment, 80 percent of the State Homeland Security grant funds must be passed through from States to localities. And, as in prior years, the bill mandates a schedule for DHS to issue grant guidance and make grant awards, ensuring that funding reaches grantees in the shortest time possible. Now, we need to continue pressing. We need to continue working on this. But I think, in pressing the Department for responsive grant programs, we have bipartisan support on that. And in putting the money where we need to put it to make these additional areas safer, we have support on that as well. All I can say is it would be nice if we would get on to discussing the substance of the bill, as opposed to dealing with desultory tactics.”