Congressman Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), the most senior member of the state’s Congressional Delegation, announced today that more than $34 million in federal homeland security dollars have been designated to help further safeguard New Jersey.

    “Today’s action confirms that New Jersey does have several unique security needs, that we deserve our own security region designation, and that we will be able to secure additional funding in the future,” Smith said.

    Smith and his colleagues have worked throughout the past year to secure Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) designations for areas in New Jersey to help increase the federal homeland security aid available to the state.  The lawmakers stressed that New Jersey is the nation’s most densely populated state and contains several vital pieces of infrastructure such as hundreds of miles of interstate highway and railway, chemical, nuclear, and pharmaceutical plants, airports, seaports, and historic landmarks.

    “When federal officials released the first allocation of homeland security dollars, they failed to recognize the unique security needs of New Jersey, mischaracterized our state, and thus did not provide sufficient aid to our state,” Smith recounted.

    “After we presented the facts during a meeting with Asa Hutchinson, the Under Secretary for Transportation and Border Security, the Department of Homeland Security rightly changed its mind and designated parts of New Jersey as Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) regions, making our state eligible for millions of additional dollars in homeland security funding.

    “Six months ago, New Jersey had no UASI-designated regions and therefore was ineligible to receive significant sums of homeland security funding.  Today, our state has two such designations, helping us secure millions in additional homeland security aid,” Smith added.

    The $34 million released today in Fiscal Year 2004 funding joins more than $100 million in homeland security funding earmarked for New Jersey, multi-state agencies and transportation authorities, and companies with unique security needs in FY 2003.  The $34 million released today is divided as follows:  $17,112,311 for the Jersey City region and $15,054,101 for the Newark area.  This area was determined by its population, number of critical assets, and threat estimate.  It includes the six counties of Essex, Bergen, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, and Union.

    An additional $1,257,150.82 was allocated to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for security along the PATH train; and $800,000 was set aside for security improvements on the PATCO line between Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia.