Subject: [NEXTEL-1] DHS says first-responder grants are not being used

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2004 05:58:00 -0400

DHS says first-responder grants are not being used
By HEATHER FORSGREN WEAVER 
April 09 12:11:00, 2004

WASHINGTON—Just as the Federal Communications Commission is grappling
with 

how to solve public-safety interference in the 800 MHz band, the
Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General Thursday said
federal grant money to first responders is not being used. 

"As of February 2004, the majority of the $2.4 billion in fiscal-year
2002and FY 2003 first-responder grant funds awarded to the 56 states and
territories remained unspent and in the U.S. Treasury. However,
draw-down statistics do not tell the whole story when trying to gauge
the progress being made by states, local jurisdictions and first
responders, because they only measure funds disbursed to the states.
Although only a small percentage of the funds had been drawn down, much
of the remainder had been committed or obligated by the states to local
jurisdictions for specific purposes," reads the report issued by Clark
Kent Ervin. 

There are a variety of reasons why states and localities are slow to use
the money made available in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, said the IG, but
most of them seem to boil down to bureaucracy atall levels of
government. 

"Many of the reasons given for delays point to administrative processes
that need to be streamlined," according to the report. 

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate Governmental
Affairs Committee, said the IG report justified the need for a more
coordinated first-responder grant process. 

"This report indicates that there is a clear need for legislation to
ensure that homeland-security funding reaches our first responders, who
are on the front lines in the war against terrorism. We need to untangle
the web of homeland-security grants to make sure our first responders
are receiving assistance they need to protect our communities," said
Collins. 

Collins is the sponsor of the Homeland-Security Grant Enhancement Act,
which has passed her committee and is
awaiting action by the full Senate. 

A similar bill in the House, the Faster and Smarter Funding for First
Responders Act of 2003, was reported to the House by its Select
Committee on Homeland Security. 

The first responder grant bill would prioritize funding for states and
regions based on a threat assessment. Grants would be awarded first on
the ability to save lives, then on protecting the food and water supply,
and finally on protecting economic sectors. 

The bill also must be approved by the House Transportation and
Infrastructure, Judiciary, and Commerce committees before being
considered by the full House. 

http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=17644

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