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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rock_nj who wrote (373612)	3/18/2003 4:33:07 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Sen. Kerry Criticizes Homeland Security Steps Tue Mar 18,12:47 PM ET Add Politics - Reuters to My Yahoo! WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender John Kerry criticized the Bush administration's homeland security strategy on Tuesday and proposed a domestic defense plan that would include hiring 100,000 new firefighters. The Massachusetts senator, one of nine contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination to face President Bush (news - web sites) in 2004, said the government must do more for domestic defense than creating a mammoth Homeland Security Department. "Thus far what has been offered is little more than a huge new bureaucracy and a run on duct tape," Kerry told the International Association of Firefighters. The U.S. government put the country on the second-highest level of alert on Monday as it warned of possible attacks if the United States took military action against Iraq Kerry proposed a six-point plan for boosting homeland security that included a "First Defenders Initiative" that would create a fund to hire up to 100,000 new firefighters and give them needed equipment. He also proposed steps to improve communication among domestic agencies and units that would respond to a terrorist attack, improve security screening at U.S. points of entry and bolster efforts to track and combat potential terrorist attacks using a deadly disease. Kerry said the National Guard should be enlisted more in homeland security efforts and that AmeriCorps, a volunteer national service program, should be expanded to make homeland security one of its core missions. A Kerry spokesman said the proposals would cost about $50 billion over five years. Kerry's speech was the latest in a series by Democratic candidates who have criticized Bush's homeland security efforts and said he had failed to provide enough money for equipment and training to police, fire and medical units that would be the first to respond to a domestic terror attack. Kerry, who supported the congressional resolution authorizing military action against Iraq but has criticized Bush's failure to achieve a broader international coalition of support, said it was time "to pay tribute" to U.S. troops preparing for war in Iraq. "Whatever differences any of us may have over issues of policy, it is time to stand united behind them as they put their lives on the line," he said of the troops.