A Senate Democrat on Thursday criticized President Obama’s latest budget proposal because it “slashes funding” for transportation security despite the rising threat of Islamic State-inspired attacks.
“All too often, in this place as well as in the administration, we fail to match rhetoric with resources,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Thursday.
Blumenthal raised that point with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who warned about the threat of Islamic State-inspired terrorist attacks in his prepared testimony. But Blumenthal faulted the administration for planning to cut funding to low-profile security programs, notwithstanding that threat.
“And I note with great regret that the administration released its proposed budget of 2017 and it slashes funding for many transportation security-related programs,” he said. “I think that, for example, the reductions in the Transit Security Grant program, the Urban Area Security Initiative, the State Homeland Security Program — these programs are probably unknown to most Americans but they are vital to protecting our homeland.”
That warning comes two days after a bombing at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul, Turkey, and weeks after the Islamic State-inspired shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando. “As we approach the July 4th weekend, [we see] the need for caution in many of our communities and the heightened vigilance and greater resources to agencies like yours that protect us in the face of that threat,” Blumenthal said.
