Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), a member of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) released a report detailing some of the most outrageous homeland security spending boondoggles from coast to coast.  The Congressmen also announced the Homeland Security Transparency Act, which would require public disclosure of all anti-terror spending by cities and states.

While New York and other large, high threat U.S. cities compete with small cities and low threat states for vital anti-terror dollars, millions of dollars that are supposed to fight terror are actually going to the very worst kind of pork barrel programs.

Under the current system, for example, funding for New York City terrorism cops could be spent on bulletproof vests for dogs instead.  In fact, Columbus, OH spent $7,348 on 11 bulletproof vests for dogs in 2005.  And when questioned about the purchase, Ken Morckel, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety defended his decision by saying, "I challenge anyone to spend $8 billion and not find something to pick on.”

What will these cities do with anti-terror funds?  Hard to tell, but here’s a possible list:

FUNDED WITH FEDERAL HOMELAND SECURITY DOLLARS:

Alaska: Security Cameras for Fishing Village (pop. 2,400)                                  $202,000

Arizona: A Tactical Robot for the City of Peoria                                                 $15,000

California: Kennels for Stray Animals in Modoc County                                     $3,500

Indiana:  Truck for A County Employee to Commute to Work                           $30,000

Indiana: Gym Equipment, Nutritional Counseling & Fitness Instruction                $55,000

Kentucky: A Grant to Protect Bingo Halls from Terrorists                                  $36,200

Maryland:  Eight Large Screen Plasma Television Monitors                                $160,000

Ohio:  Bulletproof Vests for Dogs                                                                      $7,348

South Dakota:  On-Site Paging System for the State Agricultural Fair                 $29,995

Texas:  A Custom Trailer for the October Mushroom Festival                            $30,000

Texas: A Trailer Used for Lawnmower Drag Races                                            $3,000

Wisconsin: Onalaska (pop. 16,150) Fire Dept. Clowns and Puppet Shows         $8,000

            After the federal government awards homeland security grants, the money trickles down to local emergency management agencies without adequate reporting back to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about how the money is used.  Because there is no central depository of homeland security grant information, Reps. Weiner and Flake had to cull through newspaper accounts and old press releases to compile the attached report on homeland security spending. 

Today, Reps. Weiner and Flake announced the Homeland Security Transparency Act, which would require any government entity that spends federal homeland security dollars to send quarterly expenditure reports to DHS.  The bill would also require that DHS post these expenditure reports on a publicly available website within one week of receiving them from a grantee.

 “It is an ongoing battle to keep New York and other large cities safe,” said Rep. Weiner. “We’ve got to fight for every homeland security dollar, or we’ll lose them to bulletproof vests for Fido.  That means a comprehensive approach, at every level, and proper disclosure of homeland security spending.”

“Terrorists don’t target cities based on the seniority of their congressional delegation, so that’s not how we should be distributing homeland security funding,” said Rep. Flake.  “We need to extract politics from this process and move to a more threat-based funding formula.”

Currently, under the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program, New York and other large cites have to compete for high density, high threat anti-terror dollars among 45 areas that include over 600 different cities and towns, covering 54% of the country’s population.  And, under the State Homeland Security Grant program, every state is guaranteed a minimum amount funds whether needed or not.

Rep. Weiner has also authored legislation, known as the THREAT Act (Targeting Homeland Security Resources Effectively Against Terrorism Act), to reduce the number of high density, high threat areas eligible for UASI grants from 45 to 15.  Focusing on the 15 cities most at risk would ensure that more high threat funding comes to New York City and other large cities with real, documented threats.

            To read the full report, click here.