Anyone live in Florida?
Florida Ranks 47th Among 50 States in Homeland Security Funding
Wednesday July 21, 2:21 pm ET
The Foreign Policy Leadership Council calls for more to be done to secure Florida's critical infrastructure
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 2004--While the Administration has spent $200 billion in Iraq, it has yet to craft or fund a coherent plan to defend the homeland - including Florida. Millions of Floridians remain in danger:
One million cargo containers arrive in Florida every year, and only 5% of them are inspected
There are 4 chemical plants in Florida that, if attacked, could each expose more than 1 million people to toxins
Remarkably, Florida ranks 47th among the 50 states in per capita homeland security funding
Port Security: Florida has 4 of the 20 busiest container ports in the United States: Miami, Port Everglades, West Palm Beach and Jacksonville. They process roughly one million cargo containers every year. Only 5% of these containers are inspected -- despite the fact that experts believe it is a matter of "when, not if" a shipping container is loaded with a nuclear weapon. In the nearly three years since 9/11 the United States has spent only $500 million nationwide protecting our ports -- about the equivalent of what we spend in 4 days in Iraq.
Chemical Plant Security: An EPA study found that there are 123 chemical plants in the United States and 4 in Florida (3 in Southern Florida and one in Jacksonville) that, if attacked, could each expose more than 1 million people to toxic gases. There are another 3,000 chemical plants nationwide that could put 10,000 people in danger. Almost three years after 9/11, no standards for protecting these plants are in place. Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) proposed a bill that would have forced chemical plants to improve security, but the bill was blocked by the Republican leadership in Congress. Instead, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) proposed a system of "voluntary measures" with no mechanisms for enforcement. These steps are not sufficient for a threat that the Army Surgeon General considers second only to a nuclear explosion in a major U.S. city.
Funding First Responders: According to a study by the Council on Foreign Relations, America's first responders will be under-funded by roughly $100 billion over the next five years. Miami-Dade Homeland Security Director Joseph Pion referred to the current grant system by stating: "This is only a token in terms of the monies we need in South Florida." Because of poor management of funds and "pork barrel politics," a state like Florida -- with its many vulnerable targets -- is 47th in the country in receiving homeland security funding, on a per capita basis. It receives only $7.59 per capita for homeland security, while a small state like Wyoming receives $37.53 per capita.
The Foreign Policy Leadership Council (FPLC) is an organization comprised of former government officials, academics, writers and emerging leaders from the legal, business and non-profit sectors who seek to help shape the next generation of thinking about U.S. foreign policy and America's place in the world. The FPLC is building a national network of foreign policy experts and others interested in contributing to an ongoing dialogue over U.S. foreign policy, both at the national and local levels, through public debate and education and targeted messaging and outreach.
