The conference report also drops homeland security core
first responder grants program funds by 28 percent over
fiscal 2005, from $2.385 billion to $1.715 billion,
prompting Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., to
complain that first responders are being denied the funding
to carry out their responsibilities.
The measure also cuts the State Homeland Security Grants
Program, which provides grants for equipment and training
to states, by 50 percent from $1.1 billion to $550 million.
Lieberman and Committee Chairman Susan Collins, R-Maine,
recently introduced the Homeland Security Grant Enhancement
Act of 2005, which would have authorized $2.925 billion for
the three core first responder grant programs if it had
been included in the conference report.
However, Lieberman praised the conferees for funding rail
and transit security — a Senate cut of $50 million did not
make it into the final version — and the Coast Guard, which
got $933 million for its deepwater fleet modernization
program.
