Last night, the House defeated an amendment, introduced by Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY), which would have drastically reformed the formula used to determine how Homeland Security funds are allocated to state and local governments. The amendment would include “risk of terrorism” as criteria for determining allocations. The current criteria depends too much on state population without factoring in potential targets of terrorism. “With the number of high profile industrial, entertainment, historical and political venues scattered throughout Texas, I am disappointed that an amendment that would help protect Texans from terrorist acts did not pass,” said Rep. Michael Burgess. Congressman Burgess had championed bringing the amendment to the House floor for a vote in early June when he gave the following statement during an Economic Development Subcommittee on Transportation meeting: As our country continues to address the homeland security vulnerabilities it is prudent to periodically review how we prioritize threats and allocate funding to address these threats. Reorganizing thousands of federal employees and essential homeland security functions has not been easy, and there are sure to be additional bumps along the way. A troubling example of how inequitable our current system of funding local homeland security priorities came to my attention recently. The Department of Homeland Security allocated $12 million to Dallas in December 2004, but sent nothing to Tarrant County and Fort Worth. Working through the North Texas Council of Governments, Dallas has since made a much appreciated gesture by giving Fort Worth up to $350,000 of its own funds. Here is an instance when the City of Dallas recognizes that Fort Worth and Tarrant County are struggling to meet preparedness benchmarks, but the federal agency tasked with protecting our homeland has been lax in doing so. Tarrant County and Fort Worth is home to Lockheed Martin, a military base, the Texas Motor Speedway and is considered a major metropolitan area. I am hopeful that by reevaluating how the Department of Homeland Security allocates homeland security dollars, that we are able to rectify this inequitable situation. I believe that this legislation is a good first step to assist communities like Fort Worth, Texas. Although the Sweeny amendment did not pass, today, the Congress was successful in passing the Homeland Security funding package -- a plan that provides first responders with the tools they need to protect the nation’s citizens, borders and communications systems. H.R. 4567 provides over $32 billion for Department operations and passed in the House by 400-5. Highlights of the plan include:

Supporting State and Local First Responders - $4.1 billion for the Office of Domestic Preparedness, Firefighters and Emergency Management.

Protecting our Nation’s Borders - $9.6 billion to fund border protection and related activities - an increase of $630 million over last year’s levels.

Enhancing Transportation Security - $5.7 billion for the Transportation Safety Administration, to fund both aviation and non-aviation security.

Protecting the Nation’s Critical Infrastructure - $855 million to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure such as bridges, ports, roads, and financial markets.