[I've gotta stop reading Khan & Komo's "Rents, Rent Seeking and Economic Development"]
********ADVERTISEMENT********* Opportunities abound for growing your homeland security business. Find out how at Equity International's Homeland & Global Security Summit March 4-5, 2003 Washington, DC Convention Center For info on presentations & exhibitions, visit www.globalsecurity.bzor call 202-756-2244. *********************************** Sen. Clinton: Homeland security a 'myth' >From Phil Hirschkorn CNN New York Bureau Friday, January 24, 2003 Posted: 1:55 PM EST (1855 GMT) Proposes more federal funding for domestic security Clinton: 'The truth is we are not prepared.' NEW YORK (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, calling the nation's homeland security a "myth," Friday proposed remedies to beef up resources deemed necessary since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. "Our people remain vulnerable," she said, according to a copy of her prepared remarks released by her office. "The truth is we are not prepared. We are not supporting our first responders, and our approach to securing our nation is haphazard at best," she said in a speech at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. "We have relied on a myth of homeland security -- a myth written in rhetoric, inadequate resources, and a new bureaucracy -- instead of relying on good old-fashioned American ingenuity, might and muscle," Clinton said, according to the draft of her remarks. "Homeland Security is not simply about reorganizing existing bureaucracies. It is about having the right attitude, focus, policy and resources, and right now we are lacking in all four," she said. The senator acknowledged some progress, such as making airports more secure, pushing the FBI to cooperate more with the CIA and local law enforcement, and spending more on devices to detect materials used in weapons of mass destruction. "While these accomplishments matter, they are nowhere near enough. And today when people ask, 'Are we safer today than we were on the morning of September 11th, 2001,' the answer is, only marginally," she said. Clinton's criticism of President Bush's domestic security efforts were delivered the same day Tom Ridge was sworn in as the nation's first secretary of homeland security and four days before President Bush is scheduled to give the State of the Union address. (Full story) Funds for cities and counties In her speech, Clinton said 70 percent of cities and counties she surveyed have not received federal homeland security funds. Local government have spent a total $2.6 billion from their own budgets for steps such as protecting water systems and purchasing protective suits for emergency responders. "We expect people and cities and towns to react to oranges, reds, and yellows, but we do not give them the green light they need to do their jobs. It is too bad that the people who issue the warnings to our cities aren't the same people who write the checks to cover their costs," Clinton said, in a reference to the Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge's color-coded alert system. New York City, for example, needs more than $900 million to prepare responses for a future attack, she said. Clinton is proposing legislation she calls the "Provide for the Common Defense Act" to provide more federal funding for homeland security efforts. Her bill proposes: . Establishing a "public-private security task force" within the Department of Homeland Security "that would work with industry leaders and security experts to help develop minimum security standards for certain industry sectors to follow." If businesses were unable to adopt the standards within one year, the government would impose them, according to the proposal. . Establishing a "counter-terror technology fund" to finance new investments in technology. . Providing a homeland security coordinator for the New York metropolitan area and "requiring vulnerability assessments of our nation's 10 most populated metropolitan regions." The Homeland Security Act provided a coordinator only for the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region. . Designating a "northern border coordinator" within the Homeland Security Department. Clinton said a Justice Department study found that only 4 percent of border patrol agents work along the U.S.-Canadian border, while 96 percent of the agents patrol the southern border. . Tracking the health of the first responders who worked at Ground Zero and those who live near it, and establishing a national "2-1-1 line" to coordinate relief services. "Rhetoric won't stop the spread of anthrax or smallpox. Rhetoric won't help the Coast Guard track ships that are carrying dangerous cargo. Rhetoric won't secure our chemical and nuclear power plants," Clinton said. "We need to put our best ideas into practice and back them with resources."
