Homeland Security

Clearly, for this Department to operate effectively, DHS and the Congress needed to invest in upgrading its infrastructure.

We hold the men and women of the Coast Guard in the highest regard on this Subcommittee. Our job here today and through the appropriations process is to ensure that you have the resources necessary to fulfill your missions and that taxpayer dollars are allocated wisely

During this time of fiscal restraint, you have been asked to tighten your belt. In doing so, I question whether this budget is properly balanced in a way that maintains critical operations without robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The 2013 discretionary budget request for the Department of Homeland Security is $39.5 billion, plus an additional $5.5 billion in disaster relief funding that does not count toward the discretionary cap. At roughly the same level as 2012, this budget represents the first time an Administration has not sought an increase for homeland security activities since the Department was formed. Like all federal agencies, you have been asked to do more with less, and this has required some tough decisions.

Providing a total of $1 billion for all State and Local Grants, or 65 percent below the request, and providing $350 million for Firefighter Assistance Grants, almost 50 percent below an already reduced request, breaks faith with the states and localities that depend on us as partners to secure our communities.

I am deeply troubled by some of the cuts to homeland security programs in this bill. One of the worst decisions was to decimate funding for almost every grant program for state and local preparedness.

I am deeply troubled by some of the funding decisions contained in this bill. The two worst examples are the decimating of funding for almost every FEMA grant program and the cutting of research funding for the Science and Technology Directorate by more than half.