Rhode Island will receive $16 million in federal homeland security funds to help local communities better prepare for and respond to acts of terrorism and other emergencies and disasters, U.S. Senator Jack Reed announced Monday.
The state will get $10.3 million through the State Homeland Security Grant Program, which funds equipment, training, exercises and planning for first responders, Reed said. It will also receive $3.7 million for state and local law enforcement efforts to prevent and deter terrorist attacks through the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Grant Program.
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Rhode Island has also been awarded $1.7 million through the Emergency Management Performance Grants Program, to help enhance state and local comprehensive emergency management programs and improve mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities for all hazards. And it will get two smaller grants: $130,653 through the Citizen Corps program to coordinate volunteer organizations called Community Emergency Response Teams, and $227,592 through the Metropolitan Medical Response System, which supports local communities’ abilities to remain prepared for an initial, coordinated response to emergencies with mass casualties.
Reed said money for all those programs was included in the 2005 homeland security appropriation bill, which became law Oct. 18. The state’s funding for the new year is $5 million lower than in fiscal 2004, Reed said, due to cuts in homeland security programs by President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress.
“I supported the homeland security appropriation bill because I believe it is imperative we provide our first responders with the proper equipment to respond to emergencies. This funding will help increase Rhode Island’s preparedness, and more importantly, save lives,” Reed said in a news release. “However, I cannot understand why the President and the Republicans in Congress would provide less funding to help state and local governments secure the country from terrorist attacks and other emergencies and disasters. The President and majority leadership in Congress should be doing more to protect America, not less.”
