The anti-terrorism grants flowing to the region from the federal government this year will fall short of what is needed to protect an area that is a prime target for al Qaeda, local officials said Wednesday.
The Department of Homeland Security increased the D.C. region’s grant allocation by 32 percent over last year, but the $61.6 million coming to the area will still leave gaps in security, local officials said.
“It is not enough — it never is,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. “But it is a step in the right direction that DHS again recognizes that not all areas of the country are the same when it comes to homeland security needs.”
The National Capital Region had asked for more than twiceas much as the federal government delivered — requesting $140 million.
Darrell Darnell, D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency director, said, “The Washington, D.C., area is a target, and we think it warrants commensurate funding.”
Still, the increase reversed last year, when grant funding for the capital area was slashed to $46.4 million from $77 million. That led D.C. and New York City to charge that the system was politically tilted toward cities like Omaha, Neb., and Louisville, Ky., which were much less likely to be targeted by terrorist groups.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., said the allocations appear to be awarded based on politics rather than risk. The amount of money given to D.C. dramatically rises and falls each year, and hundreds of millions of dollars are awarded to cities that Islamic terrorists have never heard of, she said.
“This does not reflect an understanding of al Qaeda modus operandi,” Norton said. With a National Intelligence Estimate announcing a regrouping of al Qaeda, it was imperative to shore up the defense of high-value targets, she said.
The $140 million requested by the local region is to go to areas of lingering vulnerability, including a communication system that allows the region’s emergency responders to talk with one another, a problem that first responders encountered during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
