By Judy Sheahan
July 14, 2003

Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor J. Christian Bollwage testified June 24 before a House Democratic Task Force on Homeland Security, outlining the tremendous unmet needs cities face on homeland security issues and stressed the importance of direct funding to local first responders.

During his testimony, Bollwage cited two Conference of Mayors Homeland Security studies. One study estimated that from September 11, 2001 though the end of 2002, cities spent an additional $2.6 billion on new homeland security priorities including equipment, overtime, and training. The other study estimated that cities nationwide spent $70 million extra a week as a result of the Iraq war and increased threat alert.

"Cities are America's frontlines in ensuring homeland security," Bollwage said. "When you call 9-1-1, the phone doesn-t ring at the White House or the State House but into your city's police, fire, and emergency personnel."

Bollwage expressed the desire of mayors to work with Congress and the Administration to make sure that dollars they provide are used in the most efficient and effective manner.

"It is our (the mayors) belief that funding must be provided directly to city and county first responders, rather than all flowing through the states," Bollwage said.

"I know that this Task Force may be hearing from governors, so I want to stress that I am very concerned that the needs of local first response community will not be met unless funding is provided directly to cities and counties," Bollwage stated.

"I want to strongly encourage the Congress to institute its own tracking effort and to require the Department of Homeland Security to provide timely and accurate information as to how much of this funding is reaching cities and how quickly," he added.

Bollwage announced that the Conference of Mayors was launching its own monitoring campaign to track how much funding was reaching cities and major population centers.

Bollwage outlined the concerns for his own community. Elizabeth is the fourth largest city in New Jersey and has one of the largest ports in the country. So far, the state of New Jersey has received $8.5 million. The county has received $400,000 with Elizabeth eligible to receive one-fifth of that money, or about $80,000. Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge was recently in Elizabeth and announced additional resources to address port security. Bollwage again stressed the need for mayors of those communities to know that the money would be spent effectively and efficiently.

Bollwage also urged Congress to not forget another basic mission of mayors and local governments: fighting crime. He called on Congress to not cut successful crime-preventing programs such as the COPS program and the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant.

"We must ensure that cities have the resources needed to fight both the domestic war on terrorism and the continuing war against crime," Bollwage said. "We simply cannot fund homeland defense by de-funding local law enforcement."