President Bush Proposes $20 Billion Emergency Spending Measure to
Provide for the Disaster Recovery and Security Needs Related to the Attack on America
This Release Brings Total Spending for New York to Nearly $9 Billion
Washington, DC, October 17, 2001 -- President George W. Bush
submitted to Congress today legislation to allocate $20 billion for the
disaster recovery and security needs related to the September 11th terrorist
attack on America. On September 18, the President signed into law legislation
providing $40 billion in emergency appropriations to respond to the attacks.
For $20 billion of this amount, the Congress gave the President the authority to
spend the funds on activities directly related to responding to the attacks
without additional congressional action. To date, the Administration has
made three such transfers of spending totaling $7.2 billion to the Department
of Defense, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the Department
of Justice, and other agencies.
This fourth installment brings the total amount released from the $40 billion
emergency fund to $27.2 billion. Approximately $9 billion of these funds are for
New York, $9 billion are for defense and international affairs, and $9 billion
are for disaster recovery in other states and homeland security, including
aviation security, bio-terrorism treatment and law enforcement initiatives.
For this funding to be released, Congress must pass legislation for the President’s
signature.
"This funding installment aggressively addresses the nation's most
critical, immediate problems: fighting terrorism abroad, defending Americans
in our homeland, and repairing the damage evil has done in New York and elsewhere,"
said Office of Management and Budget Director Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr.
This $20 billion funding request consists of: $6.3 billion for New
York’s recovery needs, $7 billion for waging war on terrorism, and $6.9 billion
for all other disaster response and homeland security needs.
It is not the Administration’s intention to seek additional supplemental
funding for either domestic or defense needs for the remainder of this session
of Congress. The Administration will continue to work with the agencies to
determine additional funding needs during the second session of the 107th
Congress. However, this process is complicated by the scope of the undertaking
and the many unknowns at this time, including the amount of private insurer
liability, cost of debris removal, and infrastructure repair.