Congressman Bishop Urges DHS for Charlotte Preparedness Funds

Statement

Congressman Dan Bishop (NC-09) and Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) urge the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fund preparedness grants for Charlotte.

DHS's Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grants provide essential funding that helps cities prepare for and respond to terrorist, cyber and other mass attacks. Historically, Charlotte received UASI funding on a consistent basis, but after changes in the formula intended to help cities like ours, Charlotte dropped off the UASI grantee list, and received $0 for Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020.

"As a hub for energy and banking, the millions received from UASI grants were vital to preparing Charlotte for the worst-case-scenario," said Congressman Bishop. "Our region's importance as a population center will only continue to grow. Over the last ten years, lifelong Charlotteans like myself have welcomed almost one million new neighbors to the area, and I look forward to welcoming many more as the area's population is slated to almost double in the next ten years. I believe flawed criteria used to determine grantees meant cities with smaller populations and less critical infrastructure were funded over Charlotte. I look forward to working with DHS to revise these criteria to accurately reflect Charlotte's risk and restore essential preparedness funding to important cybersecurity programs, technology purchases, and plans for city-wide exercises to improve community safety," said Rep. Bishop.

Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12), also a representative of the Charlotte area, was critical of the lack of funding directed towards the 16th largest city in the nation.

"The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Region has experienced rapid growth over the past 20 years and is home to several major financial institutions, making us particularly vulnerable to cyber and terrorist attacks," said Rep. Adams. "The decision to drop Charlotte from the list of UASI grantees, stripping our community of $2 million of security funds, is shortsighted and could endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of Charlotteans, as well as the 28 million visitors our city hosts every year."

"For the past year, I have been leading the fight to restore this funding, while also obtaining other needed funds to secure our city during events such as the 2020 Republican National Convention. I join Rep. Bishop in urging DHS to do the right thing and allow us to continue protecting our citizens," concluded Rep. Adams.

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