Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of its Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs, yesterday spoke on the Senate floor about the Merida Initiative, a bilateral proposal between the U.S. and Mexico designed to combat the drastic increase in drug related violence in Mexico. 

“The Administration’s foreign policy budget simply does not reflect reality.  Our troops have been operating in Iraq since 2003 and in Afghanistan since 2001.  And yet, after all our troops have sacrificed and endured, and America’s lost standing in the world, the President still refuses to account for this war’s full impact.  By keeping the wars out of his budget the President somehow thinks that he can pull the wool over our eyes and act as if our continued operations in Iraq and Afghanistan won’t contribute to the national deficit, or won’t weigh on the shoulders of future generations of Americans.

Today, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) responded to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff’s announcement that he will now support bombing prevention legislation.  This announcement comes 10 months after a National Bombing Prevention Strategy was due to Congress.

Senators write letter to Sec. Chertoff seeking status of overdue bomb prevention report

September 04, 2007

Concerned for the safety and security of all Americans at home and abroad, Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Robert Byrd (D-WV), today sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff demanding answers over a long overdue national strategy for bombing prevention.  The strategy, which was due to Congress by January of this year, according to the fiscal year 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, is a comprehensive plan to prevent bombings and a review of all current federal, state, and local efforts to secure the national from this threat. 

Senators Chris Dodd, (D-CT), and Joe Lieberman, (ID-CT), announced Thursday that Connecticut will receive more than $1.1 million in port security grants from the Infrastructure Protection Program within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). New London will receive $767,438, Bridgeport will receive $285,336 and New Haven will receive $48,500. Connecticut will also receive $728, 231 in Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPF) as part of the FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations. Furthermore, Connecticut will participate in a $37-million transit security grant program for the New York City metropolitan area

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) today announced important funding for key Coast Guard facilities in Connecticut. The funds, totaling approximately $120 million, are included in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2008, which was approved yesterday by the Senate.

Senators Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Richard Shelby, R-Ala., Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, today commended the President for signing into law the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007.  The bill, authored in the Senate by Dodd and Shelby, will reform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) by strengthening the role of the Director of National Intelligence, mandating the designation of a lead agency for each covered transaction, and providing for a thirty-day review of transactions covered by CFIUS to determine its effects on national security, among other provisions.

Bill strengthens national security review of prospective foreign investments in the United States

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Spencer Bachus (R-AL), and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), today applauded both the House and Senate for passing needed reforms of the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) for reviewing direct foreign investments for national security purposes.  The Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007, H.R. 556, which passed the House in February and the Senate last month, will strengthen the role of the Director of National Intelligence, mandate the designation of a lead agency for each covered transaction, and provide for a thirty-day review of transactions covered by CFIUS to determine its effects on national security, among other provisions.  The measure now moves to the White House for the President’s signature.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) applauded legislation approved on June 28 by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies that will provide funding for afterschool and gang prevention programs for Connecticut youth, equipment upgrades for Connecticut’s public safety systems, and research initiatives at the Institute of Exploration in Mystic, CT, among other things.  Dodd and Lieberman worked to secure funding for Connecticut projects in the bill that will provide more than $4.5 million in new federal funds for initiatives statewide.

Senator Dodd issued a brief statement today congratulating the 228 Coast Guard Academy cadets who received their diplomas at commencement ceremony held earlier today at the Academy’s New London campus.  

“I offer my warmest congratulations to the Coast Guard Academy Class of 2007 for your accomplishment in graduating and taking up your commissions as officers in the United States Coast Guard.  As the Coast Guard’s newest leaders, you have many challenges to face in your future career.  As a vital component of our domestic security you will patrol our shorelines - intercepting those who seek to subvert our laws, responding to environmental emergencies, and serving as our national first responders to save those in harm’s way on the seas.