DEFENSE FUNDING PROMISED BUSH EARMARKS $3.45 BILLION FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT COSTS.Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Both cash and smiles were flashed Thursday at the White House as President George W. Bush unveiled a $3.45 billion program to help cities defray de·fray tr.v. de·frayed, de·fray·ing, de·frays To undertake the payment of (costs or expenses); pay. [French défrayer, from Old French desfrayer : des-, the growing burden of homeland defense. ``We're very pleased,'' said Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California , who estimated that the city has spent ``$25 million and climbing'' on added security since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Bush's proposal, aired in an address to 300 members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in the ornate East Room of the White House, is part of the 2002-03 budget he will detail Tuesday in his State of the Union speech to Congress. While it includes money for equipment, training and planning, no federal dollars are earmarked for costs already incurred by cities, including such local budget busters as overtime pay for police and firefighters. ``We don't expect to get every dime back,'' Hahn said. ``But we have also not given up on our efforts to recover our costs. We're still working with Congress on that issue.'' Hahn and other mayors had requested $2.6 billion in block grants to cover local expenses already incurred in the war on terrorism Terrorist acts and the threat of Terrorism have occupied the various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. government for many years. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by the usa patriot act . Bush's First Responder first responder First response personnel Emergency medicine A person employed in the public sector–EMT, fire fighter, police, volunteer EMS–whose duties include provision of immediate medical care in the event of an emergency; FRs have basic emergency Initiative would give states, counties and cities $2 billion to purchase equipment including protective gear for handling bioterror attacks, $1.1 billion to train personnel, $105 million for planning and $245 million to conduct joint federal-local exercises. Allocations of money and evaluations of local needs would be overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical . Hahn said he is working with city department heads to assess security needs, but said Los Angeles will likely use federal aid to purchase protective gear and to improve emergency communications systems In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and data terminal equipment (DTE) usually capable of interconnection and interoperation to form an integrated whole. . ``We're still under attack. They (terrorists) still want to come after us. These are evil people,'' said Bush, whose animated remarks, sprinkled with vows to vanquish terrorism, were part policy statement and part homeland defense pep rally. Bush saluted the efforts of local officials, police and firefighters, stressing that mayors and city employees are manning ``the second front in a two-front war In military terminology, a two-front war is one in which fighting takes place on two geographically separate fronts. It is usually executed by two or more separate forces simultaneously or nearly simultaneously, in the hope that their opponent will be forced to split their fighting .'' A Bush aide said the funding program will have some flexibility, allowing cities to use aid for their most immediate needs. He also indicated that the money could be used to pay for police and firefighter overtime in the event of a future terrorist attack. Hahn said he met with the president for only a moment as Bush worked the crowd after his speech. ``He asked me how things were going in Los Angeles and I invited him to come out and see,'' Hahn said. Glendale Mayor Gus Gomez, who had a front-row seat for the Bush speech, was equally enthusiastic about the president's message. ``I thought his speech was very inspiring and motivating,'' said Gomez. ``I left with a very good feeling.'' Gomez said Glendale will likely use federal aid to train police, fire and other emergency personnel. He said that between Sept. 11 and Dec. 31, the city piled up $800,000 in police overtime, primarily for patrols at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport and at ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , DreamWorks SKG SKG Stichting Kwaliteit Gevelbouw (Dutch) SKG Spielberg, Katzenberg,and Geffen (DreamWorks Studios) SKG Thessaloniki, Greece - Thessaloniki (Airport Code) SKG Smith and Kraus Global and other studios in the city. ``The airport and the studios reimbursed us $700,000 for the extra security, leaving us with only $100,000 to cover,'' said Gomez. The mayor said Glendale also had to absorb $100,000 in overtime for firefighters. ``It was my first time at the White House,'' said Gomez. ``I'm going back to Glendale inspired to make some improvements and hopefully get some of that (federal) money.'' |
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