Nlc Gets Homeland Security Commitment
In a meeting with Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge last month, Ridge told leaders from the National League of Cities (NLC) the White House supports prompt approval of $3.5 billion in homeland security funding targeted to local and state governments.
“Cities have been providing homeland security across the U.S. with virtually no federal assistance for 15 months now,” said John DeStefano, president of the National League of Cities and mayor of New Haven, Conn. “Governor Ridge expressed the commitment by the White House to move the funding bill through Congress by the end of January, 2003 and to get the money to America’s first responders as soon as possible.”
“We hope that this backing from the White House for local homeland security funds translates into prompt action in Congress to make sure funds get to America’s cities and towns quickly,” DeStefano said.
The National League of Cities also expressed concern during the meeting that authorization of the $3.5 billion not come at the expense of other critical public safety programs such as Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Funds, and Bryne Grants.
Ridge and National League of Cities leaders discussed a distribution strategy for the $3.5 billion to ensure that the money gets to cities and towns quickly and equitably. NLC expressed an interest in maintaining a good working relationship between the National League of Cities along with the 18,000 cities and towns it represents and the new Department of Homeland Security.
Other National League of Cities leaders meeting with Ridge included first vice president Charles Lyons, selectman from Arlington, Mass., newly elected second vice president, Anthony Williams, mayor of the District of Columbia, and immediate past president Karen J. Anderson, mayor of Minnetonka, Minn.
Cities throughout the U.S. have been sending police and firefighter badges to President Bush to remind him and members of Congress about the importance of local funding for homeland security.
The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments. NLC serves as a resource and advocate for 18,000 U.S. cities that serve 225 million people.
