Building the Alliance for Freedom: An Agenda for Improving and Expanding the Visa Waiver Program heritage.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heritage.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Bioterrorism is a growing threat, but simply throwing more money atthe problem or creating bigger and more complex bureaucracies isnot the answer. Providing sufficient resources for bioterrorismpreparedness is important, but without the right organization,strategies, and programs, these efforts will be inefficient andwasteful. Congress and the Administration should move to ensurethat the federal government is better organized to meet thechallenge.
The global war against terrorism will be a long, protracted conflict. The federal government needs to be properly structured and to have the tools that it needs to protect Americans today,tomorrow, and 10 and 20 years from now, and Congress should beappropriately organized to support this effort. A balanced,forward-looking, and nonpartisan final report from the 9/11Commission would be a significant step in the right direction.
The Bush Administration's FY 2005 budget proposal calls for $47.4billion in homeland security funding: approximately 13 percent morethan estimated FY 2004 spending and a significant and appropriategrowth in homeland security expenditures. Most important, theAdministration's funding priorities dovetail well with the criticalmission areas established in the national homeland securitystrategy.
As Congress and the nation consider how to rebuild shattered lives and destroyed neighborhoods and businesses after the Katrina disaster, it is important that the need to take action swiftly does not lead to steps that cause dollars to be used inefficiently or to unwise decisions that frustrate rather than achieve long-term success. This makes it imperative that Congress keep the following guidelines firmly in mind.