CounterterrorismCongress restores funds to NYC counterterrorism program

Published 27 May 2016

Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) said on Thursday that Congress is set to approve a Homeland Security budget which would restore $600 million in anti-terror funding. The White House had proposed a budget with cuts to the anti-terror program. The proposed cuts involve reduction of the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), which would be funded at $330 million for fiscal year 2017, after being funded at $600 million in 2016.

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Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) said on Thursday that Congress is set to approve a Homeland Security budget which would restore $600 million in anti-terror funding. The White House had proposed a budget with cuts to the anti-terror program.

The New York Daily News reports that the White House’s proposed cuts involve reduction of the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), which would be funded at $330 million for fiscal year 2017, after being funded at $600 million in 2016. The UASI specifically aims to help New York City law enforcement prevent and respond to terror threats.

“From the moment these ill-advised cuts were proposed, we earnestly worked to overturn them,” Schumer said in a statement. “We successfully pushed to fully fund the vital anti-terror programs, like UASI, that help keep New York City safe in an era of rising and mutating terror threats.”

The Daily News notes that the UASI money also supports first responder training at the city’s Fire Department and Police Department. The training focuses on armed teams conducting patrols at airports, subways, waterways, and landmarks.

This program “is the cornerstone of effective preparedness and prevention against terror attacks and in an era of rising terror threats, our support for anti-terror programs should not be falling. With this increase in funds, the NYPD can continue to do all it does to keep New Yorkers safe and secure,” Schumer said.