Bangor Daily News - Sen. Collins Seeks Funds for Local Bomb Squads

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Bangor Daily News - Sen. Collins Seeks Funds for Local Bomb Squads

By Rebekah Metzler

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Maine law enforcement officials braved an acorn storm Thursday morning to discuss legislation that would help local police around the country better understand bombs and improvised explosive devices, also called IEDs.

Collins, standing outside her Senate office building as acorns dropped from oak trees at a steady rate, was joined by Bangor Police Chief Ron Gastia and Maine State Police Chief Col. Patrick Fleming at a press conference to promote the National Bombing Prevention Act of 2007.

The bill's main goal, Collins said, would be to increase funds for the Office of Bombing Prevention, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The office would receive $10 million in 2008 and $25 million annually for 2009 and 2010 under the new bill. Its current budget is $7 million, according to Collins.

The funds would be expected to help the office maintain and update a database called TRIPwire, which is supposed to provide military information about terrorist bombing tactics and procedures to local law enforcement agencies around the country.

TRIPwire is underfunded, according to Collins.

"This computerized database called TRIPwire can allow police departments across the state to learn more about the techniques terrorists are using, to identify bomb components and other warning signs such as the unwarranted purchase of chemicals that could be used to make a bomb," Collins said after the press conference.

The bill's co-authors were Collins and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Collins is the highest-ranking Republican member of the committee.

"The act designates [the Office of Bombing Prevention] as the Department of Homeland Security's lead agent for combating terrorist explosive attacks and directs it to promote counter-IED security planning, information sharing and training programs," Collins said at the press conference.

Gastia and Fleming both expressed their support of the proposed bill.

"As the chief of a small, local law enforcement agency, I can't express the importance of this," Gastia said at the press conference. "Without this funding, our community remains vulnerable. This act will drastically enhance our efforts, particularly when it comes to IEDs. These types of devices are the most difficult to detect and the hardest to prevent."

Fleming said the bill would give police access to vital knowledge possessed by the military.

"It is not difficult to learn how to make a bomb," Fleming said at the press conference. "It can happen anywhere, including a rural state like Maine."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was also on hand to promote the new bill.

"We all know the weapon of choice for terrorists are bombs and IEDs," Chertoff said. "Bombs spread fear and threaten our way of life, and that's why terrorists use them. This bill will allow us to work with local law enforcement to make sure they have the resources and knowledge they need to deal with this threat."

Gastia stressed the importance of information-sharing between federal and local departments.

"The information is out there, the military has a lot of it; they are the experts," Gastia said after the press conference. "We just need to get a hold of that information, we need to have that at our disposal also, and that's what this act is going to do."

Collins said that Fleming told her over breakfast on Thursday that there has been a considerable rise in the number of younger people in Maine making explosives using recipes found on the Internet.

The bill, Collins said, would be useful "not only for [use against] the terrorists, but also to counter explosives that may be made by misguided students."

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