Statement on President's Speech to Homeland Security Department

Pelosi Statement on President's Speech to Homeland Security Department

Washington, D.C.-House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on President Bush's speech marking the first anniversary of the Homeland Security Department:

"Once again, the President has missed an opportunity to provide a strong vision on the most important challenge facing our nation today: protecting America from terrorist attack.

"Many hardworking federal, state and local employees are doing their best, with limited resources, to help protect Americans from a terrorist attack. But the President's speech today, like the budget he submitted several weeks ago, did not address the fact that too many firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel do not have the equipment they need to communicate in a crisis. Only about five percent of the millions of cargo containers entering the United States annually are checked to determine whether they contain weapons of mass destruction. And only two states have enough public health workers to distribute vaccines in the event of a bioterrorist attack. This is unacceptable.

"These security gaps would not exist if the Administration made homeland security a priority. The President failed to adequately address these homeland security needs in his budget. And the President failed again to address those needs in his speech today. Democrats are fighting to make sure firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel have the resources they need."