David Obey: “the gentleman from Kentucky, the chairman of the subcommittee, indicated that this bill needed ``sensible'' amounts of…”

“the gentleman from Kentucky, the chairman of the subcommittee, indicated that this bill needed ``sensible'' amounts of money. I would say that I would agree with that, except for one thing: terrorists are not ``sensible,'' and that means that we may have to spend more money than we would like to spend in order to stop nonsensible people from terrorizing the world. I think we need to understand exactly what this bill does, cutting through the rhetoric. This homeland security conference bill is 2.3 percent above last year's legislation. That does not even equal inflation. When the President addressed the Nation on September 7, he said, ``We will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary to achieve this essential victory in the war on terror to protect freedom and to make our own Nation more secure.'' Regrettably, Mr. Speaker, this conference report before us today does not live up to that promise made by the President just 2 weeks ago and neither do some of the President's actions. Let me give a few examples. First, the conference report provides no funding to improve security at the perimeters or backsides of the airports. Secondly, the conference report does not provide sufficient funding to secure ports in anything less than 20 years. Only $125 million is provided to port security grants in the conference report. Third, this conference report does not increase funding for first responders above that provided in the previous year.”