Associated Press
WASHINGTON? Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner said Wednesday that federal homeland security money has been slow to get to state and local governments ? and what has arrived is less than adequate.
Speaking at a conference in the nation?s capital, Warner said that since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the nation has been fighting three separate wars: Afghanistan, Iraq and the battle against terrorism on the home front.
?The front lines of the domestic war against terrorism are being fought at the state level and at the local level,? Warner said.
?The much-promised federal dollars haven?t come nearly as quickly, or in the size and amounts that were initially promised,? he added. But he also noted that some federal money is now moving through states down to the local level where fire, police and other emergency service providers can access it for training and equipment.
?What we are asking of our people is, in effect, trust us in regard to homeland security,? said Warner, who joined other conference participants in calling for additional openness at all levels of government. According to Warner, if people believe they can hold the government accountable for tasks like road maintenance and tax collections, it could bolster confidence on domestic security issues.
Warner also said utility companies, telecommunications firms, banks and other key service providers are being called upon to share more information about their businesses with state and local authorities charged with protecting those assets.
?The public sector?s knowledge of our critical infrastructure that is 90 percent controlled by the private sector is quite thin,? Warner said.
The governor also warned that more changes may be ahead in laws for obtaining drivers licenses and other routine documents, particularly as biometrics information is added. The policies now in place haven?t been thought through ?other than on an ad hoc basis,? Warner said.
Warner was among several speakers taking part in a two-day conference entitled ?New American Strategies for Security and Peace.? The sessions, billed as nonpartisan, were sponsored by the Century Foundation, the Center for American Progress and the progressive political magazine ?The American Prospect.?