U.S. Response:  Budget Will Fund State and Local Defense Measures

U.S. President George W. Bush is expected to announce details today about the first stage of his proposed homeland security budget, which would provide funding for local police, fire and rescue departments for anti-terrorism efforts (see GSN, Jan. 22).

“Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical teams are America’s front line soldiers in the event of a terrorist attack,” said a White House fact sheet on the budget.

The $3.5 billion in funding would be split among plans to provide state and local first-responders with a variety of equipment and training, including:

*         $2 billion for protective clothing, chemical and biological agent detection systems and communications equipment;

*         $1.1 billion for training on how to handle chemical and biological threats;

*         $245 million for training and evaluation of emergency response systems; and

*         $105 million to aid state and local governments in creating terrorism response plans.

The federal funding will continue annually, said Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge before the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Wednesday.

“This is a major investment,” Ridge said.  “We want to empower cities and states to build upon their first response capability, then we want to help you sustain it in the future” (Reuters/New York Times, Jan. 24).

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U.S. Response I:  U.S. Plans Heightened Security for Olympics

Officials have increased security for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, including plans to protect against bioterrorism, at a total cost of $310 million, according to reports on Sunday and yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 11).

Mail delivery will be almost eliminated because of the anthrax incidents involving the U.S. postal system, the Boston Globe reported (see related GSN story, today).  Olympics planners have also stockpiled Cipro, the main drug used to combat anthrax, and installed air filters to detect biological attacks (Lynda Gorov, Boston Globe, Jan. 20).

The U.S. Secret Service and FBI have also increased security at an army depot that houses chemical weapons about 40 miles southwest of Salt Lake City (see GSN, Jan. 8). 

Other security measures will include:

*         Almost 300 surveillance cameras that can magnify an image 184 times so they can read an Olympics credential 10 football fields away;

*         Increased security for vendors, including limiting deliveries to early mornings;

*         A ban on handbags larger than a purse;

*         Tightened security around the Mormon Temple (AAP Newsfeed, Jan. 21);

*         Federal agents monitoring slopes on skis, snowshoes and snowmobiles;

*         2,000 Utah National Guard members patrolling the streets with rifles;

*         Surveillance planes flying overhead and F-16 fighter jets on alert;

*         A ban on all air traffic for 45 miles around the site during the opening and closing ceremonies;

*         10,000 law enforcement and emergency response agents working during the Olympics; and

*         Concrete barriers and razor-wire fences around venues and the Olympic village.

The Olympics, which last from Feb. 8-24, will be the first conducted under an overall security plan developed by the U.S. Secret Service and coordinated with 80 agencies.  The FBI will be responsible for crisis management, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be in charge of emergency response.  Security efforts will consume $235 million of the U.S. federal government’s $600 million contribution to the Olympics and $310 million of the total $1.3 billion Olympics budget. 

“Every aspect of terrorism has been addressed.  I believe people will be safe.  But in a world of terrorism, we live with a degree of risk which is impossible to know for certain,” said Mitt Romney, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.

“The days of attracting thousands of people to an event like this without additional security are over.  We’re trying not to turn it into a security event, but it’s hard to avoid,” said Robert Flowers, Utah public safety commissioner (Gorov, Boston Globe, Jan. 20).

“This will be among the most secured places in the world,” said Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt (AAP Newsfeed, Jan. 21).

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U.S. Response II:  Bush Proposes 2003 Budget With Security Priorities

U.S. President George W. Bush’s proposed fiscal 2003 budget will focus on the war against terrorism, homeland defense and economic revival to such an extent that there will little growth in other government sectors, Bush administration officials said, according the Washington Post. 

The budget, which the White House is expected to release Feb. 4, would increase homeland defense spending from $15 billion to $30 billion (see GSN, Jan. 14).  The Pentagon would receive the second-highest budget increase with $28 billion more than the fiscal 2002 budget. 

The fiscal 2003 budget proposal would plan for deficit spending for the first time after four years of budget surpluses, estimating that the United States would spend almost $100 billion more than it would receive in revenue.  The majority of the deficit spending would go to defense and homeland security.

Some Democrats expressed concern that the proposed budget would cut into social programs at a time when demand for such services has increased as the economy contracts.  “It really seems like they are throwing fiscal restraint to the wind,” said Thomas Kahn, Democratic staff director of the House Budget Committee. 

Administration officials and some Republicans, however, said the priorities were correct.  “We’re talking about the single most important responsibility of government — the physical safety of our citizens,” said Mitchell Daniels, Bush’s budget director (Allen/Goldstein, Washington Post, Jan. 20).

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