Protecting the National Capital Region from a terrorist attack, and reacting quickly and efficiently across borders if one does occur, is a principal priority for the elected executives of the District, Maryland and Virginia, the three said Friday.
In their first meeting together, Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Maryland Gov.-elect Martin O’Malley assembled at the District’s Unified Communications Center in Southeast to thrash out homeland security issues. It was also something of a get-to-know-you session, as Fenty only took office Jan. 2, and O’Malley doesn’t assume his seat until next week.
The three agreed to aggressively target federal dollars by working toward seven key goals, including communications, public preparedness, mass casualty and mass care, critical infrastructure protection and intelligence and information sharing. They will seek a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, develop a “first-hour plan” for immediate response to an attack, and perhaps engage their respective National Guard troops in joint exercises.
“I think the partnership has been a strong one after years of no dialogue,” said Kaine, the second-year governor and senior statesman of the group.
The NCR is one of six high-risk “Tier One” regions that will compete in 2007 for $410 million in homeland security funding, or 55 percent of all available dollars. The national capital and New York regions were shocked last year when their Urban Areas Security Initiative grants were slashed by 40 percent, while towns in rural America received boosts in funding.
But in 2007, Kaine said, “We don’t know how we’ll fare.”
“I don’t think any of us are satisfied with what the federal government has done to provide for the common defense,” O’Malley said.
The meeting was the seventh since 2003 involving the respective jurisdictional leaders. Previous topics have included transportation, air quality, the Chesapeake Bay and economic development. Never before, however, has the group focused on only one topic.
“The fact that we are talking about homeland security and counter-terrorism is no accident,” Fenty said. “We think it’s the key priority going into the future.”
