N.Y. LAWMAKERS SAY FUNDING PLAN DOESN'T FULLY ADDRESS RECOVERY NEEDS
Group of House Appropriations Committee members from N.Y. say that proposed emergency supplemental funding in committee report on military spending measure fails to adequately address telecom and broadcast facilities damaged in terrorist attack on World Trade Center. Committee report (H.-Rpt. 107-298) for FY 2002 Dept. of Defense (DoD) spending bill (HR-3338) would provide additional funding for federal agencies and attack recovery efforts beyond what was approved in 2001 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 107- 38). However, N.Y. Reps. Hinchey (D), Lowey (D), Serrano (D) and Walsh (R) criticized committee’s “failure to include additional contingent emergency spending for the critical recovery efforts in New York City.” They said report contradicted recently enacted emergency funding law, which “explicitly states” that half of $40 billion fund must be devoted toward “disaster recovery activities” in N.Y. Va., Pa.
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N.Y. delegation emphasized in statement attached to report that telecom system switches were destroyed in Sept. 11 attack. Although members didn’t specifically recommend that federal govt. compensate particular carriers, they praised Verizon’s effort to restore service quickly: “Several hundred cables transporting telephone service from these switches to customers in surrounding neighborhoods were crushed and/or water damaged. Two million circuits were severely damaged at the New York Stock Exchange. By working 24 hours a day for almost a week, Verizon reconstructed the telephone lines in order to get the New York Stock Exchange up and running by September 17.”
Report recommended additional $8.3 million for NTIA’s Public Telecom Facilities Program, which provides matching grants to public broadcaster planning and construction projects. Supplemental appropriations for program would go to stations affected by N.Y. attacks. However, members said that at least $15 million in damages was sustained by WNET-TV (N.Y.-Newark, Ch. 13) and WNYC-FM, and that WNET lost both of its analog transmitters, new digital transmitter, other hardware.
DoD critical infrastructure protection and cybersecurity programs would get $275 million boost under report. It calls for additional DoD cybersecurity funding for Defense information operations such as network monitoring, vulnerability management, public key infrastructure: “Given the committee’s recommendation in [HR-3338], and the additional $184 [million] which the Administration has notified the committee that it intends to allocate for this purpose, the total proposed increases for information assurance and critical infrastructure protection will be $627 [million].” Report also requests emergency supplemental counterterrorism appropriations for non-DoD federal agencies, including additional $538 million “to cover extraordinary expenses” for FBI’s response to terrorist attacks.
Recommended emergency funds include: (1) $105 million “for continued implementation of Trilogy,” a project that will modernize and integrate the agency’s technical investigative network into a single Web-based system. (2) $74.5 million “for surveillance and counterterrorism needs and wireless intercepts.” (3) $64 million for FBI information assurance needs. (4) $35.3 million for the National Infrastructure Protection Center. (5) $13.4 million for computer analysis response teams. Additional funding for other Internet-related programs includes: (1) $7 million for the Dept. of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration to “accelerate deployment of near-term cybersecurity measures at all nuclear weapons complex sites.” (2) $3 million for DoD distance learning program, with recommendation for use of “Internet technology to provide these service to the widest possible audience.”
Committee report also criticized Army for its difficulty in developing “better collaborative ties” with commercial technology sector. It recommended $50 million for Army to develop not-for-profit corporation to oversee an Army venture capital fund, which would make equity investments in start-up communications and high tech companies: “The committee sees little hope for the Army to deliver the technological advances it promises without a major change in the way it exploits commercial technology to use the vitality, speed and intellectual power of the U.S. commercial sector to its maximum advantage.”