Cut waste out of counter-terrorism

When terrorists strike the U.S. again -- and there is general agreement it is going to happen -- we will count on local police and fire personnel to come to our aid.

We also depend on local public safety agencies to be prepared to respond to such an attack when it does occur. This takes a huge commitment of manpower and tax dollars.

Yet the Bush administration wants to slash counter-terrorism funding for local police, firefighters and other rescue agencies, according to the Associated Press.

This is hard to fathom -- except in one regard. The Bush administration is weary of seeing so much of the money given to first responders being wasted on things that have little or nothing to do with preparing for or responding to a terrorist attack.

Here are a few examples of the kinds of things the administration doesn't want to see in the homeland security budget anymore:

• $345,000 for crash-proof barriers and 60 closed-circuit cameras to monitor the University of Arkansas Razorback stadium, which local officials think could be a terrorist target.

• $5 million for the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology to buy a nearly deserted town to use for counter-terrorism training.

• Several South Florida fire departments have used homeland security grants to beef up their gyms. Pompano Beach, Fla., spent $220,000 on fitness equipment for a wellness program, training and physical exams.

We found much of the same waste in our own 2005 analysis of how homeland security funds had been spent locally.

Like South Florida, some communities in the suburbs spent millions on exercise equipment, and other products such as T-shirts, gas masks and duct tape.

Thousands were squandered on soft drinks, snacks and dinners for citizen emergency response volunteers.

Homeland security funds were also spent on things like pickup trucks for state workers and a hotline to track terror threats to pets and livestock.

Some communities outright refused to account for how they spent federal emergency response dollars.

Certainly, the bulk of homeland security funds for first responders has not been wasted on nonessential equipment and initiatives.

And even as the Bush administration is right to insist this money be spent appropriately, we are alarmed that it also wants to make deep cuts in port security and protection of public transit. Congress cannot allow that to happen.

But first responders must spend money allocated for homeland security on protecting us, best they can, from terrorism, and saving lives and restoring order when we are again attacked. Because when this occurs, there is not a moment -- or a dollar -- that can be wasted.