Congressman Gregory Meeks Applauds Department of Homeland Securitys $700 Million Allocation for Urban Areas

St Albans, NY Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) applauded yesterdays announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), allocating $700 million to enhance the security of high density population urban areas and pledged to continue to address homeland security concerns in his district. The 6th Congressional District, New York Representative recently held a series of hometown security forums, providing his constituents with an opportunity to address security concerns and interface with first-responders and representatives from city and federal agencies.

The DHS has allocated $125 million from the FY '03 Supplemental Budget for the City of New York, its contiguous counties and mutual aid partners. Allowable uses of funds include operational activities conducted during the heightened alert level from January 2003 through April 2003, critical infrastructure security, training, exercises, equipment, and information sharing. Areas specifically targeted for grants include port security, mass transit security, radiological defense systems, pilot (developmental) projects and technical assistance to state and local jurisdictions.

Congressman Meeks, whose district encompasses Southeastern Queens stated, I am pleased that theDHS is focusing on the security of our urban areas and that they are in mind ofwhat weve been doing in my district all along. My staff and I have worked hard to establish a dialogue between the public and governmental agencies to make sure that our community is as secure as possible. This funding will allow us to do an even better job in keeping our neighborhoods safe.