Funding on the Fly

Since September 2001, the Bush administration and members of Congress from both parties repeatedly have stressed the importance of boosting the capabilities of local police, fire, and emergency response officials. However, many cities have received no federal money to help meet new security requirements. To understand where that money went, and why so little of it ended up in the hands of first responders, is to delve into the messy world of politics, pork, and budget rhetoric. Moreover, the windfall in security spending may be over, leaving many on the home front of the war on terrorism without funds to pay for critical needs. According to national security analyst Frank Hoffman, the combination of current spending and the amount proposed by the Bush administration for 2004 is far too little for programs expected to secure U.S. borders and reduce the vulnerability of critical infrastructure to terrorist attack.