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 Home > News & Policies > April 2003

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 8, 2003

Securing the Homeland: Protecting Our States and Cities
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Today the Department of Homeland Security, through the Office of Domestic Preparedness, announced that approximately $100 million dollars from the FY '03 Funding will be dedicated to large urban areas within the United States. The money, dispersed under the Urban Area Security Initiative, will help enhance the local governments' ability to prepare for and respond to threats or incidents of terrorism. The funds announced today are in addition to the $566 million that the Office for Domestic Preparedness announced last month from the FY'03 Funding for first responder needs such as equipment, training, planning and exercises.

The cities were chosen by applying a formula based upon a combination of factors including population density, critical infrastructure and threat/vulnerability assessment. The cities have all previously received funding from the Office for Domestic Preparedness in the form of grants for First Responders and will also potentially receive funds from the FY '03 Supplemental Budget Request currently pending in Congress.

New York City, New York

An additional $24.76 million from the FY '03 Budget is being made available to the City of New York to protect the city's critical sites as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative. This money has been designated to the New York Urban Area to further enhance the local government's ability to prepare for and respond to threats or potential incidents of terrorism. This is in addition to the $26 million previously made available to the State of New York in the form of an ODP grant to be used for equipment, training, exercise and planning for the city's first responder groups.

Washington, D.C. - National Capital Region

An additional $18.08 million is being made available to the National Capital Region as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative. $4.91 million has previously been made available to Washington, D.C. from the Office for Domestic Preparedness within the Department of Homeland Security in the form of grants for First Responders.

Los Angeles, California

An additional $12.42 million is being made available to the City of Los Angeles as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative. $45 million has previously been made available to California from the Office for Domestic Preparedness within the Department of Homeland Security in the form of grants for First Responders.

Seattle, Washington

An additional $11.20 million is being made available to the City of Seattle as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative. $11.3 million has previously been made available to Washington from the Office for Domestic Preparedness within the Department of Homeland Security in the form of grants for First Responders.

Chicago, Illinois

An additional $10.89 million is being made available to the City of Chicago as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative. $18.8 million has previously been made available to Illinois from the Office for Domestic Preparedness within the Department of Homeland Security in the form of grants for First Responders

San Francisco, California

An additional $10.74 million is being made available to the City of San Francisco as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative. $45 million has previously been made available to California from the Office for Domestic Preparedness in the Department of Homeland Security in the form of grants for First Responders

Houston, Texas

An additional $8.63 million is being made available to the City of Houston as part of the Urban Area Security Initiative. $29.5 million has previously been made available to Texas from the Office for Domestic Preparedness within the Department of Homeland Security in the form of grants for First Responders

Future Funding...

  • President Bush has requested an additional $2 billion in funds from the FY'03 Supplemental Budget request recently sent to Congress to help the states and localities confront threats to the United States and the American people. This funding request includes $2 billion to further support enhancements to state and local terrorism preparedness efforts as well as coordinated prevention and security enhancement for first responders.

  • In FY'03, DHS/FEMA will provide $165 million in grants to the states in the form of Emergency Management Performance grants. These grants, expected to be announced soon, can be used by states for development, maintenance and improvement of state and local emergency management capabilities.

  • In FY'03, DHS/FEMA will also provide $750 million in grants directly to fire departments around the country for equipment, training and education under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. This $750 million -- the largest amount in grants ever for firefighters -- is twice as much as FEMA distributed to firefighters in FY'02, when $334 million was distributed through more than 5000 grants nationwide.

  • The President has requested $3.5 billion to be used for ODP grants dedicated to meeting state and local needs in his FY'04 budget request.

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