Administration plans drastic cuts in antiterrorism funds to large cities

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) Saturday led a chorus of outcry over a White House plan to slash antiterrorism funds for New York and other cities. Schumer, who vowed to “do everything in my power to stop” the cuts, said it was “inexcusable” to fund a war on terror in Iraq while shortchanging the one at home. “It’s as if the President said, ‘We’re in this game and we’re going to have no defense.’ Any coach will tell you you can’t win with no defense.” A Bloomberg spokesman called the proposal “stunning,” saying the city’s homeland security funding was already inadequate. “New York, the only American city to be attacked multiple times by terrorists, has made the case for risk-based distribution of funds instead of the usual pork-barrel politics that have plagued this program from the start,” Bloomberg spokesman John Gallagher said.

The comments came after AP obtained White House budget documents proposing drastic cuts — to $1.4 billion from $3.2 billion — to the fund that protects the nation’s most vulnerable cities. New York received $134 million from the fund for this fiscal year - about $94 million less than in fiscal 2003. The new proposed cuts were among recommendations offered to President Bush by the Office of Management and Budget, according to the AP. Sean Kevelighan, a spokesman for the budget office, would not confirm the report, saying, “We don’t speculate as to what may or may not be a part of the budget process until the final budget is released in early February.” If Bush includes the cuts in his annual funding request to Congress, “They’ll be dead on arrival,” Representative Peter King (R-New York) vowed. “This is not just shortsighted. It could be disastrous.” King said he will call on Bush to stop the cuts before they reach Congress. “I would be very surprised,” he said, “if the President would in any way support this.”