Arlen Specter: “by way of a brief reply and comment on the arguments that have been made, I agree with a great deal of what has been…”

“by way of a brief reply and comment on the arguments that have been made, I agree with a great deal of what has been said. It would be highly desirable to put in more money, but what we have seen today are efforts on the other side of the aisle to add funds, and a response on this side of the aisle, pretty much on party-line votes, to deny the addition. I have sought to find a figure that is significant, such as $600 million, which will be agreed to by votes significantly on this side of the aisle, and with some votes on the other side of the aisle. When the Senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton, made the comment that there are features of Senator Schumer's amendment that expedite the disbursement of the funds, that is not included in my amendment because we don't really know what the formula should be. When Secretary Ridge testified before the Appropriations Committee on March 27, he agreed that the current formula on a population basis was inappropriate, that high-risk areas need more money. At the moment, we do not have a determination as to what those costs are. We have directed the Secretary to make that determination. Once he makes that determination, then we can make an allocation. I certainly would like to see more money. I agree totally with the comments made about the bravery of the firefighters and of the police officers, and the threat of terrorism that has to be fought domestically as well as overseas.”