Arlen Specter: “there is no doubt that major cities, such as Philadelphia, with airports and seaports and Independence Hall and the…”

“there is no doubt that major cities, such as Philadelphia, with airports and seaports and Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, have much higher costs than cities which do not have these facilities. I have discussed the issue with Mayor Street. The letter which I have had printed in the Record is a succinct summary, so we can observe this very short time limit which has been agreed to. Similarly, I have conferred with Mayor Tom Murphy of Pittsburgh, who, again, makes the comment about the additional costs. I have had an opportunity--actually, I was called by Mayor Bloomberg of New York City about the very substantial increases in costs there, and during the markup in the Appropriations Committee earlier this week commented about these factors and have sought to increase the funding from the $100 million for high-risk urban areas to a total of some $600 million. Again, it would be highly desirable if we had more money, as suggested by Senator Schumer, but that simply cannot be accommodated within the current budget constraints. In the conversations with Mayor Bloomberg, he pointed out about the fact that police cost some $5 million a month, and there are other costs in the range of $8 million a month for the United Nations, with a very heavy imposition of costs on New York City, commenting in a way very similar to the mayors of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. There is no doubt these costs really ought to be borne principally by the Federal Government.”