Washington - According to news reports, a government report to be released today paints a disappointing and potentially dangerous picture of the federal government's homeland security preparedness. The Government Accountability Office will report that the Department of Homeland Security has failed to make even modest progress toward more than half of the 14 identified benchmarks and has met fewer than half of its performance objectives. Four and a half years after its creation and 6 years after 9/11, DHS apparently still lacks a guiding strategy and clear priorities.

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who while in the House of Representatives sat on the select committee that created DHS and was a key negotiator on the conference committee that finalized the first bill implementing 9/11 Commission recommendations, today said that the administration's handling of homeland security preparedness has been unacceptable. He also cited accomplishments of the Democratic majority in Congress that will begin to address the lack of preparedness.

"Protecting the citizens of our nation is the most important role our government plays, and the performance of the Department of Homeland Security ought to reflect that. Immediately after 9/11, the administration should have used every ounce of energy, committed every resource and called on all available brainpower to ensure that we are as safe as possible as quickly as possible. Instead, it at first resisted the creation of DHS and then spent the last four years only half-heartedly supporting this department that needs a clear mission and strong mandate.

"This report confirms in writing what the Katrina response laid bare before our eyes - the administration has not adequately prepared our government to respond to an emergency. With a resurgent al Qaeda along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and with a major terror plot uncovered this week in Germany, allowing DHS to languish is a dangerous proposition.

"Since the Democratic majority took control of Congress, we have taken some major steps that will increase preparedness. Most notably, the landmark 9/11 Commission bill will provide for better-equipped first responders in high-risk areas and more cargo screening, among other measures. We are certainly not finished with action in Congress. This report, however, signals that regardless of Congressional mandates, the department has yet to get its act together, and that is inexcusable."

Democratic accomplishments

This year alone, Democrats have passed legislation including the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act, the Foreign Investment and National Security Act, and the FY2008 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. These measures, two of which have already been signed into law, will:

· Reform the administration's national security review process of foreign investment in the U.S.

· Make homeland security grants distributed more based on risk.

· Increase scanning of cargo coming into U.S. ports and on airlines.

· Improve communications operability for first responders by creating new grants for states.

· Create a national plan for transit security and make key improvements to transportation security.

· Provide long-overdue investments in security funding, including doubling grants for port and transit security.

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