May 13, 2003   COLLINS' COMMITTEEE TO HOLD HEARING ON STREAMLINING HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PROCESS State, County and Local Officials to Debate Who Should Get Federal Funding   WASHINGTON, DC—On Thursday, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the Department on Homeland Security, and the Committee’s Ranking Member Joe Lieberman (D-CT) will hold the third in a series of hearings to examine how the federal government can more efficiently and effectively provide first responders with the federal assistance they need. Witnesses at this hearing will discuss the challenges facing state and local homeland security efforts and how federal funding for those efforts should be distributed. Following the hearing, Collins plans to introduce the Homeland Security Grant Coordination and Simplification Act, legislation to create an interagency committee charged with eliminating duplication in planning requirements, simplifying the application process, and helping states and localities promote equipment interoperability. “Federal programs, both within and outside the Department of Homeland Security, provide much-needed support to ensure a basic level of equipment and training among first responders,” Collins said. “Yet despite these overlapping goals, federal programs lack the very coordination that we ask of our states and communities. My legislation will ensure that federal agencies help – not hinder—state and local efforts to promote interoperability by collecting information regarding state and local initiatives and developing coordinated plans to provide needed technical assistance.” WHAT: Hearing on “Investing in Homeland Security: Challenges Facing State and Local Governments” WHEN: 9:30 a.m., Thursday, May 15, 2003 WHERE: Room 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building WITNESSES: The Hon. Mitt Romney, Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Hon. Kwame M. Kilpatrick, Mayor, City of Detroit Art Cleaves, Director, Emergency Management Agency, State of Maine The Hon. Mark Stenglein, Commissioner, County of Hennepin (MN)   ###   Printable Version   « previous Press Release next Press Release »   1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 May 2003 Press Releases   May 30 - Governmental Affairs Nominations Hearing   May 28 - Governmental Affairs To Hold Hearing on Proposed Personnel Changes at the Department of Defense   May 21 - Senate Approves Collins' Amendment Limiting Defense Contract Bundling   May 21 - Collins' Committee Launches Investigation of WorldCom's Federal Contracts   May 20 - Collins to Introduce Amendment Limiting Defense Contract Bundling   May 19 - Passenger Screener Cutbacks at Portland Jetport Delayed   May 15 - Collins Introduces Legislation to Coordinate, Simplify Homeland Security Grant Process   May 13 current Press Release   May 13 - Governmental Affairs Committee to Hold Hearing onTissue Banks: The Dangers of Tainted Tissue and the Need for Federal Regulation   May 8 - Governmental Affairs Committee Hearing to Consider Nominations   May 8 - Hearing on Investing in Homeland Security: Challenges Facing State and Local Governments   May 7 - Collins Protests Plan to Eliminate Nearly 30 Percent of Portland Airport's Screeners   May 6 - Collins, Voinovich Insist Upon Safeguards in Defense Department Personnel Changes   May 2 - Senator Collins' Committee to Hold First Congressional Hearing on ULLICO Stock Deals   May 1 - Collins Outlines Legislation to Streamline and Strengthen Homeland Security Grant Programs
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510