Letter to The Honorable Robert C Byrd, Chairman, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Committee on Appropriations and Honorable Thad Cochran....

Letter

Letter to The Honorable Robert C Byrd, Chairman, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Committee on Appropriations and Honorable Thad Cochran, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Committee on Appropriations and Honorable David E. Price, Chairman, Subcommittee on Homeland Security Committee on Appropriations and Honorable Harold Rogers, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Homeland Security Committee on Appropriations

The Honorable Robert C Byrd
Chairman
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
D-135
Washington DC 20510

The Honorable Thad Cochran
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
H-123
Washington DC 20510

The Honorable David E. Price
Chairman
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
B - 307 Rayburn
Washington DC 20515

The Honorable Harold Rogers
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Committee on Appropriations
United States House of Representatives
B - 307 Rayburn
Washington DC 20515

Dear Chairmen Byrd and Price and Ranking Members Cochran and Rogers;

As you move forward with conference negotiations on the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act, 2007 we ask that the $35 million in the Senate report for Tier One Urban Area Security Initiative cities for the purpose of developing regional catastrophic event plans and preparedness remain in the final version of the bill. In the wake of severe cuts in high threat UASI funding in recent years, this money is vital to ensuring that our highest risk cities have the resources available to adequately plan and prepare for a major catastrophic event.

On June 16, 2006, the Department of Homeland Security released its Nationwide Plan Review: Phase 2 Report. The DHS report states that "current catastrophic planning is unsystematic and not linked within a national planning system." The report found that 61 percent of States and 69 percent of urban areas do not have adequate plans to respond to a catastrophic event. It is critical that urban areas plan for response and recovery from threats such as a potential nuclear attack, a chemical incident or a major natural disaster. $35 million would serve as a starting point for the Tier One UASI sites for strategic planning, mass evacuation planning, and support for the impacted communities surrounding the urban area, public education, and outreach.

We recognize the difficult choices you will have to make in completing a final version of the bill, but we think this funding deserves special consideration. Thank you for your consideration of this important request.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Charles E. Schumer
Barack Obama
Dianne Feinstein
Frank Lautenberg
Robert Menendez

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