Homeland Security

If you were forced to look away from the Tigers' poor performance against the Aggies last night, you may have caught Billy Long in his first (I think) cameo on The Daily Show.  

The full story on Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) hearing is worth the watch, especially after reading Long's wholesale endorsement of the proceedings. 

Roy Blunt announced a $123,705 federal grant for the Nixa Fire Protection District this week. "The Assistance to Firefighters program has helped many area fire departments, like Nixa, to upgrade their services, equipment, training and effectiveness," Congressman Blunt said in a statement.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (stimulus bill) provided $210 for Assistance to Firefighters Grant, and the FY2010 Homeland Security appropriations bill included $810 million in Assistance to Firefighters Grant money.

Blunt voted against both bills; he was one of just 37 to vote against the Homeland Security budget. 

The KC Star unearthed a bizarre Roy Blunt vote today – in June, he was one of just 37 Republicans to vote against the 2010 Homeland Security budget. Every other member from Missouri (both parties) voted for the bill, which passed 389-37 in the House.

Among other things, the bill included:

• $1.1 billion to equip airports with explosives detection systems, almost double the existing funding
• Funding for more than 20,000 border patrol agents, about double the number employed before the 2001 terrorist attack
• Threat assessments for the terrorism suspects being held at Guantanamo Bay
• $10 billion for the Coast Guard, including $242 million in funding for operations in the Persian Gulf and against pirates off the coast of Somalia