Frank Lautenberg: “I will be very brief. We just heard a reference to an investment made by the city of Newark. Newark Airport and the Port…”

“I will be very brief. We just heard a reference to an investment made by the city of Newark. Newark Airport and the Port of Newark have been identified as the two most dangerous miles for a terrorist attack in the United States, and they chose to use the money to make sure their access ways would be clear of debris. That was their choice. We are not going to talk about what any other State does with their money. That is not the argument. The argument is, what is the truth? The truth is, CRS, in a phone call just now, for the information of the Senator from Maine, confirmed exactly what they gave us as being correct. Under the Collins amendment, they come down with a conclusion that the percentage allotted for the risk would be 60 percent, and the percentage allotted for a guarantee, 40 percent. That is not what we are going into. Anything that we try to do to confuse the figures to say that oh, no, in fact we are getting more, well, New Jersey may get a couple more dollars under the Collins formula, but we have to look at where the bulk of the danger is to our country. Sure, rural States are entitled to be protected, but that is not done at the expense of having the most inviting targets in the country not get more money to protect themselves. The Senator from Maine asked for it. We are going to send over for her review the report from CRS, and we have clarified a couple of things.…”