Lieberman calls for $3.4B to boost first response

President Bush's proposed budget does not provide enough support for state and local agencies for training, equipment and planning, Lieberman said. The president's budget proposal keeps up with the rate of inflation, Lieberman wrote in a news release, but provides no substantial increase."This is the fourth straight year that the administration has proposed significant reductions in homeland security funds for first responders," Lieberman said. "If the President's budget were enacted, overall grant funding would be cut by a staggering 40 percent since FY 2004 ? seriously limiting the ability of state and local officials to protect their communities against the ever-present threats of terrorism and natural disasters."Lieberman criticized DHS for publicizing a new $1 billion grant program for interoperable communications, funded by the Federal Communications Commission's auctioning of radio spectrum as an offset for reductions in the DHS budget request. Those funds were not intended to replace overall grant assistance, Lieberman said.