OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012

Floor Speech

Date: June 1, 2011
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Infrastructure

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Mr. ELLISON. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the amendment offered by Mr. CICILLINE of Rhode Island, which I am a proud cosponsor. This amendment will help protect our nation's most vulnerable cities and help effectively prevent and manage emergency situations in cities around the country.

Funding for Urban Area Security Initiative helps cities prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from disasters, including terrorism.

My district in Minnesota has benefitted greatly from the assistance of UASI. My district includes Minneapolis, a city that has been listed as one of the 31 most vulnerable cities by the UASI grant program and has received funding for projects to improve safety and response.

UASI Grant program funding has been essential to the ability of the City of Minneapolis to manage events such as the 35W Bridge collapse, the 2008 Republican National Convention and the response to the 2009 and 2011 Minneapolis tornados.

The UASI program has secured the metropolitan area's water supply, improved its emergency dispatch system, and provided protective gear for first responders. It also created special response teams for emergencies involving hazardous materials, the collapse of buildings and advanced bomb squads.

UASI grant dollars have paid for much of the technology associated with the city's new combined Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and first responder training facility providing real time situational awareness and communication capabilities that did not exist before.

Without these operations, the recent tornados in my district would have created confusion and chaos in the aftermath. The speedy and effective response by the city is directly related to the funding they have received through UASI grants.

Without these important investments, public warnings and communications, disaster response, and first responder training will be compromised.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment so that all American cities with real security needs continue to have access. to UASI funding.

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