The state?s congressional delegation is assailing a federal grant for security improvements to the Port of Baltimore. Announced on Wednesday, the port was awarded $1.9 million for security infrastructure improvements in the most recent phase of homeland secuity grants ? down from $4.8 million in the last phase ? an amount that Rep. Elijah Cummings called too low.
“I am deeply concerned that the shifting criteria for the award of security grants and the lack of funding for the grant program are leaving unmet needs not only at the Port of Baltimore but at all of our nation?s ports,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger said the port?s proximity to the nation?s capital made it a high priority target.
“This is outrageous,” he said. “The Port of Baltimore is being shortchanged. The potential terrorist threats to the Port of Baltimore, the Maryland economy and the nation?s capital have not decreased from last year to this year.”
Baltimore?s port was designated a “tier two” risk by the Department of Homeland Security, meaning the state-run facility is eligible to share $40 million in grant money with 16 other ports.
Tier one facilities, which include the ports of New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans, can draw from a $120 million fund.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski said the lack of adequate funding is the result of an underfunded Department of Homeland Security.
“The DHS budget for port security fails to acknowledge the role that our nation?s ports play in protecting the country from future attacks,” Mikulski said. “Port are now a high-threat target for terrorism. The president talks about homeland security, but where is the funding so that we can do our part?”
Money from the current grant is slated for gate access.
“We know it is going to be used for access for control, but we don?t know what the specific project is,” said Richard Scher, spokesman for the Maryland Port Administration.
The Port of Baltimore is the 14th largest port in the nation.
