The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TURNING HIS BACK ON OHIO” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3482 on June 7, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TURNING HIS BACK ON OHIO
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to claim the gentlewoman's time and address the House for 5 minutes.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from Ohio is recognized for 5 minutes.
There was no objection.
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, the people of Ohio are wondering why the Bush administration has turned its back on them. After all, Ohio was the linchpin State in the Bush victory in 2004.
Now, what else can Ohioans think? The Bush administration has just cut the funding for homeland security in Ohio and its major cities by one-third. Over $8.5 million was cut. Last year, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, the four largest Ohio cities received $26.1 million in antiterrorism funding; this year $17.6 million, an $8.5 million reduction. Why?
Surely President Bush does not think the terrorist threat has diminished. If he does, perhaps he should read the newspapers. Dateline Toronto, the Canadian Government just broke up an alleged terrorist ring in Ontario Province. That is on the north side of Lake Erie, and Ohio shares a border across that lake with Canada. And that ring apparently possessed enough material, 3 tons of it, to cause an explosion three times larger than that which destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
If that is not enough to think about, Mogadishu, Somalia, has just fallen into the hands of Muslim militia groups in what the New York Times calls ``a setback for U.S. policy.'' Now that failed state might become another stronghold for al Qaeda. That is not good news.
How about Baghdad? The violence in Iraq continues to escalate. And in Kabul the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. And here in Washington the Bush administration responds by making deeper cuts to homeland security funding to the four largest cities in Ohio.
What did Ohio do that would cause President Bush to turn his back on her? Funding in Columbus, the largest city in the State, will fall from
$7.6 million last year to $4.3 million this year. Mayor Coleman said that Columbus is the 15th largest city in the country, ``and time and again we are being told to do it yourself. Best of luck.''
My own hometown of Toledo is being cut from $5.3 million to $3.85 million this year. I think the President spent almost that much just on ads during the last campaign in our region. Yet recently in our city, the U.S. Justice Department made national news with the arrests of three men whom it suspects of being potential terrorists. Indeed, Ontario's terrorists drove from Columbus through Toledo, up to Detroit, across the bridge to Windsor to their Ontario hideouts.
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Toledo is a major port on the Great Lakes, literally the crossroads of America.
Our position as a premier international transportation center, with such great proximity to our Nation's population center, is key to our economic vitality. We have to make sure that our air, water, rail, port and surface transportation infrastructure is safe and secure, and we need the Federal Government's help to do exactly that.
At this very moment, this crucial moment in our Nation's history, this President is turning his back on Ohio, the State that delivered for him, turning his back on Toledo and Columbus and Cincinnati and Cleveland. He is turning his back on virtually every city across our country, cutting homeland security funds by over one-third when our communications systems cannot even work interoperably.
No, Mr. President, mission not accomplished. There's still a lot to do. National security is the responsibility of the Federal Government. National security is the job of the Federal Government. Let the record show, Mr. Speaker, that the Bush administration has turned its back on the safety of Ohioans and across this country on the safety of Americans, including especially on our Nation's fourth seacoast.
I hope the Bush administration listens to this message this evening. We need help with homeland security in Ohio, in our major cities and across this Nation.
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