Fighting for more federal homeland security money, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio spent the day in Washington, D.C. making his case to Congress. Washington bureau reporter Geoff Bennett filed the following report.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday explained in stark terms why proposed cuts to homeland security funding in President Barack Obama’s budget put the city at risk.
"New York is the most targeted city in the United States and one of the most targeted cities worldwide," de Blasio said.
De Blasio faced a receptive panel of mostly New York lawmakers Tuesday while testifying before a House Homeland Security subcommittee. The hearing was chaired by Staten Island Rep. Dan Donovan.
"Proposing cuts to the programs that keep the homeland safe would be foolish in any case, but they are particularly outrageous at a time when our threat level is the highest it has been since 2001," Donovan said.
The mayor and other city officials are fighting a White House proposal that would cut federal cash for counterterrorism programs across the country by nearly $300 million. Under the plan, New York City would lose about half of its funding.
The White House defends the cuts and says the money is sufficient. But de Blasio says it’s not enough to improve the city’s surveillance programs, train officers for active shooter scenarios and increase screening around One World Trade Center.
"My message today is simple and urgent. We need the Congress to do its part to protect New York City and, in fact, all of the United States from security threats," the mayor said.
As Tuesday’s hearing was underway, House Republicans were locked in their own budget battle over how to cut spending. As Congress and the White House work on reaching a final budget deal, de Blasio says security should come first.
"It makes no sense to take away security dollars from cities all over the country and especially the one that’s the number one terror target," de Blasio said.