Hoyer Reacts to Cuts in Homeland Security Funds for DC Area

WASHINGTON, DC– Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) today released the following statement in response to the Department of Homeland Security's announcement that the National Capital Region's Urban Areas Security Initiative allocation is being reduced from last year's level of $77 million to $46 million, a 40 percent reduction.

"Today's announcement by the Department of Homeland Security is a deeply misguided decision by an Administration that has failed to adequately protect some of our nation's most vulnerable locales.

"No one needs to remind my Washington area constituents about the deadly threat of a terrorist attack. Distributing homeland security dollars without adequate consideration of risk is a dangerous practice that diminishes our ability to protect potential targets.

"Whether it's the failure to secure our ports, the refusal to fully implement the 9-11 Commission recommendations, or the insistence on driving critical homeland security dollars away from at-risk sites, the Bush administration has continually failed to make America as safe as it should be."