President Bush Releases $5.1 Billion in Emergency Funds; OMB Provides Details on Fund Allocation
Washington DC, September 21, 2001 - President George W. Bush today released $5.1 billion in emergency spending to assist in the humanitarian, recovery, and national security needs related to the attack on America. This is the first installment from the $40 billion in emergency funds enacted this week. Additional installments will be released in the coming weeks. The Office of Management and Budget released details of how this first release of emergency funds will be allocated.
The funding would assist victims of the attacks and address other consequences of the attacks, including funding for: debris removal, search and rescue efforts, and victim assistance efforts of FEMA; emergency grants to disaster-affected metropolitan area health providers; investigative expenses of the FBI; increased airport security and sky marshals; initial repair of the Pentagon; evacuation of high threat embassies abroad; additional funding for the Small Business Administration disaster loan program; and initial crisis and recovery operations of the Department of Defense and other national security operations.
OMB will continue to work with the agencies to determine additional needs. No further congressional action is required for this release of funds.
Allocation of Emergency Funding by Agency
Department of Defense -- Military: $2.548 billion - $1.772 billion of these funds will provide the Department of Defense with the funds necessary to begin the following activities: upgrading intelligence and security, enhancing force protection, improving command and control, and increasing full readiness. $776 million of these funds is for the support of initial crisis response, repairing the Pentagon, and providing for other recovery needs.
Federal Emergency Management Agency: $2 billion - These funds will support overall emergency assistance in New York and other affected jurisdictions. This includes costs associated with debris removal and emergency protective measures, as well as individual and family assistance, search and rescue, and other disaster assistance efforts.
Department of Transportation: $141 million - These funds will support increased airport security measures and expenses for additional Federal law enforcement officials to perform Sky Marshal functions; and New York Harbor patrols and the related recall of Coast Guard reservists.
Department of Health and Human Services: $126.2 million - These funds will provide assistance for the health-related needs of the disaster-affected areas of the New York metropolitan area, Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Activities that would be supported include: emergency grants for health care providers; community health centers; mental health and substance abuse services; assessments and services related to environmental hazards, and enhancements to the physical security of pathogenic agents and toxins in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration facilities; and social services, including services for the disabled, home-delivered meals, and transportation for senior citizens in affected areas.
Small Business Administration: $100 million - These funds will support $400 million in low interest disaster loans for renters, homeowners, and businesses in designated disaster areas.
Department of State: $48.9 million - Approximately half of these funds will be used to provide rewards for information to help apprehend terrorists. The State Department will also use these funds to improve emergency communications at domestic facilities and embassies abroad and to have funding available to evacuate personnel at high-threat embassies, should it be required.
Department of the Treasury: $48.4 million - These funds will support the immediate response and recovery needs of the approximately 1,000 Treasury employees who were located in or near the World Trade Center complex, most of whose offices were destroyed. These funds will also be used to establish a Foreign Terrorist Assets Tracking Center, as well as fund Customs Service air support for counterterrorism activities.
Department of Justice: $40.8 million - These funds will support the Federal Bureau of Investigation's extraordinary expenses incurred in investigating the attacks and will provide assistance to the U.S. Marshals Service for increased airport and courthouse security and other activities. (In addition to this amount, the Justice Department will administer $68 million that was previously allocated for death and disability payments for fire, police, and rescue personnel from the Public Safety Officer's Benefits account.)
Department of Labor: $29 million - These amounts will provide funding for: the Department of Labor's Dislocated Workers program to provide temporary jobs to assist in clean-up and restoration efforts in New York; assistance to cover immediate information technology and other costs of disaster recovery for unemployment insurance claims taking that need to be relocated; and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's monitoring of health and safety at the disaster sites.
General Services Administration: $8.6 million - These funds will support increased security coverage of Federal buildings; purchase of security equipment; structural studies of seven Federal locations affected by the New York City disaster; overtime and travel costs for law enforcement personnel; and other security costs.
District of Columbia: $6 million - These funds will be used for short-term response activities, including personnel and overtime costs of the Metropolitan Police Department, Fire Department, and the Public Works Department of the District of Columbia.
Department of Energy: $5 million -- These funds will support the heightened security needs at the Department of Energy's national laboratories.
International Assistance Programs: $5 million - These funds are primarily to cover the costs of the evacuation of Peace Corps volunteers in nine Peace Corps posts; improved overseas emergency communications; and the potential evacuation for high-risk U.S. Agency for International Development and Peace Corps posts.
Legislative Branch: $3.3 million - These funds will support increased security measures, including overtime compensation for the U.S. Capitol Police and the installation of protective window film for the U.S. Capitol.
Department of the Interior: $3.1 million - These amounts will provide funding for National Park Service and U.S. Park Police emergency response costs in New York City and Washington DC, as well as increased security patrols in both cities.
Judicial Branch: $1.3 million - These funds will be used to install protective window film for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Executive Office of the President: $500,000 - These funds will be used to install protective window film for the Executive Office of the President.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission: $200,000 - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's New York office, which was located in the World Trade Center, will use these funds to purchase computers and office equipment for its temporary space.
National Transportation Safety Board: $150,000 - The National Transportation Safety Board will use these funds for the recovery of flight recorders for the four planes and for assistance to the plane crashes victims' families.
Department of Commerce: $100,000 - These funds will enable the International Trade Administration to relocate six Foreign and Commercial Service officers who were located in 6 World Trade Center, which was damaged beyond repair, and purchase new equipment and furniture.
Export-Import Bank of the United States: $75,000 - These funds will be used to relocate the office of the Export-Import Bank previously located at the World Trade Center.