On the recordDecember 21, 2010
When our colleagues from across the aisle blocked the Omnibus appropriations bill they decided to leave our Nation less safe and less prepared to thwart the next terrorist attack. They chose to put our homeland security on autopilot for the next few months--and that is just too risky. We had before us an Omnibus bill that addressed the evolving threats to our homeland security. As chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I can attest to the diligent, bipartisan work that went into crafting this legislation, which met our security challenges in a fiscally responsible manner. But our colleagues across the aisle chose instead to fund our homeland security at the status quo levels under a continuing resolution. The terrorists aren't operating under the status quo and neither should we. The terrorists are constantly searching for new ways to threaten our way of life. We are approaching the 1-year anniversary of the Christmas Day bombing attempt, when a terrorist boarded a flight to Detroit with explosives sewn into his underwear. And just in October, printer cartridges being shipped from Yemen were found to contain explosives that were meant to blow up on cargo planes flying over the east coast of the U.S. Homegrown terrorism is also a growing threat, as evidenced by the Fort Hood shooting, the Times Square bombing attempt and the New York City subway plot.
