Dear Editor:
The release of the 9-11 Commission Report and the August 1, 2004 disclosure by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that al-Qaeda terrorists continue to plan deadly terrorist attacks against American targets – primarily those in or in close proximity to major cities – have caused federal, state, and local governments around the nation to ask the question: “Are we more prepared to deter and respond to terrorist attacks now than we were on September 11, 2001?” While I believe the answer is “yes,” there is still much more that needs to be done.
The present distribution system for homeland security funding wrongly sends a disproportionate share of federal dollars to states and localities that are not as likely to be attacked, such as the cornfields in Iowa and Nebraska, at the expense of states that have many more likely terror targets, like New Jersey. Our state in particular needs a greater portion of homeland security aid due to its vast number of potential targets of terror, such as the largest port on the East Coast, the third busiest airport in the country, four nuclear power plants, and six tunnels and bridges that connect New Jersey to New York City.
As the Congressman who represents the people of the Ninth Congressional District of New Jersey, which includes 37 municipalities in Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic Counties, I see the great burdens that many local and state law enforcement agencies struggle with due to Congress’ inadequate federal funding of our front-line First Responders. We must make sure that our First Responders, which include our police, fire fighters, ambulance corps members, emergency response teams, and receive the funds to which they are entitled without delay.
I believe strongly and have argued in the Appropriations Committee and on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives that Congress must reallocate our nation’s homeland security funding so that it fairly and fully addresses the threat of terrorist attacks on dense concentrations of population and on our nation’s critical infrastructure, instead of unnecessarily guaranteeing each state a minimum allocation regardless of its risk of incurring a terrorist attack. I regret that this Congress and this President failed to give appropriate relief to places like New Jersey – which are high on the terrorists’ hit list and filled with terrorist targets – and instead gave most of the money to rural, Midwestern agricultural states. I will persist in urging the Congress and the President to change the allocation formula. In the meantime, the President must expedite the release of the previously appropriated emergency federal funding for New Jersey’s First Responders so that they can continue to protect the citizens and critical infrastructure of this great state from terrorist attacks and help reduce the financial burden on New Jersey taxpayers. It is in our national interest to do so – and in New Jersey’s.
Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9th Dist.)
Steve Rothman is serving his fourth term in Congress, representing New Jersey’s Ninth Congressional District. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee.