DHS managed response to Hurricane Sandy with precision and timely and accurate information.
Welcome, Secretary Napolitano. It has been my pleasure working with you over the past four years to secure our borders, prevent acts of terrorism, improve cyber security and provide our first responders with the equipment and resources they need to protect our communities.
I would also like to thank you and Administrator Fugate for your handling of Superstorm Sandy. As our nation confronted one of the most severe and damaging storms in our history, you managed the federal response to the storm with precision. I also truly appreciate your regular updates for Members so that we could get timely information to our local partners on the ground in the immediate aftermath of the storm.
However, you come before us today with a budget that again would consolidate FEMA State and local grants into a large pot with little direction, without authorization from Congress, and expressly against the wishes of this Committee. I am concerned that efforts to consolidate these grants in such a way could result in diluting crucial anti-terrorism funds from areas most at risk of attacks and leave transit and port security in the nation's most densely populated areas without the resources necessary to prevent and respond to acts of terror. I look forward to discussing this with you shortly.
Again, I'd like to thank Chairman Carter and Ranking Member Price for holding this hearing today and you, Secretary Napolitano, for joining us.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
